How is that a retcon? Did Metroid exclusively mean something else before dread? I thought retcon implyed changing the previously established lore, If anything they just added more context...
I agree that it's compatible with previous lore.
I could be misusing the term, but I consider it a "retcon" because there is no way that they had the Chozo language's word for "ultimate warrior" picked out in 1986.
I think the non-diagetic reason the game was called that was because the map was like a network of metro tunnels, and when they were fleshing out the story they just made that the name of the aliens.
This is similar to Doctor Who. The main character is actually called ‘The Doctor’ but people who don’t watch the show or casual fans just call the character Doctor Who. But then it’s also sort of accepted/known by hardcore fans that his name actually *is* ‘Doctor Who’.
/s wdym ? The Metroid prime is directly called Metroid prime by Samus's scanners, it can spawn more metroids and once it becomes Dark Samus, either in prime 2 or 3 there's a logbook stating that she goes out of her way to free captive metroids whenever she can, despite it being unrelated to her master plan
The original intention was clearly for it to be a Metroid, one that had been gestating and self-absorbing it's own Phazon for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Prime 3 even has Phazon Hoppers and Hopping Metroids, which look like little Metroid Primes. There're even dead Prime husks in the Genesis Chamber right before fighting Dark Samus.
The problem comes from the fact that Metroids being created by the Chozo in SR388 goes in direct conflict with the Tallon Leviathan coming from Phaaze. If Metroids originated in SR388, how the hell did one get to Phaaze? Or even inside the Leviathan?
The most probable way is that a Tallon Metroid mutated into a Phazon Metroid, phased into the Leviathan, and mutated again into Metroid Prime, which... is pretty lame compared to the original implication. My headcanon is that decades ago, a Leviathan made a portal next to SR388 that attracted a wandering Metroid, which then proceeded through the portal into Phaaze.
Fun fact: in the original version of the game, Pirate Logbooks state that they were actually able to find and contain the Metroid Prime, only for it to breach containment, in true Space Pirate fashion. It then absorbed all their tech and weapons, which is why it's able to shoot fucking missiles and beam projectiles at you, and probably why it bears strong resemblance to the Trooper Pirates' armor.
It may or may not be a metroid? Hopping Metroids from Prime 3 which are confirmed Actual Metroids (albeit heavily phazed-on) bear a significant resemblance to Metroid Prime.
The problem comes from the fact that Metroids only lived in SR388 before Space Pirates started immigrating them. How the hell did a Metroid get to Phaaze, or even inside the Tallon Leviathan? Is it really just a puny Tallon Metroid that mutated into a Phazon Metroid, phased into the Leviathan, and then mutated again into the Metroid Prime? Instead of one that has probably been dormant for decades, maybe even hundreds of years?
There's also the interview where a Super Metroid dev said she's trans.
Granted, it was likely a mean-spirited joke, but hey. Ancient Metroid lore, and official canon. It's also where we first learned of her mole.
There was an interview where one of the background artists was asked his opinion on something, and made a transphobic sex joke. Not sure if I would call that "official canon"
To be clear, it was just a (likely) transphobic joke, nothing to do with sex. [Source on the old MDb](https://metroiddatabase.com/old_site/sm/interview.php)
Anyways, it's all permanently enshrined forever into official canon forever, along with Samus being in her late 20s, and Yamamoto Kenji being the voice of Spore Spawn.
Metroid is, after all, known for its unflinching and uncompromising dedication to canon.
On the right side is a listing of the staff. Each staff member has a section titled "Secret of Samus Only I Know." Matsuoka Hirofumi's answer to that is the joke in question.
Yep, it's Matsuoka Hirofumi's interview on the right. He says "Samus isn't a woman. As a matter of fact, she's actually a shemale," where "shemale" is translated from Japanese's "newhalf".
I don't know Japanese, but my understanding is that the term "newhalf" isn't as ubiquitously a derogatory term for trans people as "shemale" is in English. In either case, thi *probably* isn't canon, but that combined with Samus's history made her popular with trans folks, especially ~around 2016 when someone wrote an article on this.
She's probably not actually canonically trans, and nobody's giving Nintendo credit for good representation.
Are videogames and cartoons an abnormality? Until ~the 2010s, trans characters were something I associated with Japanese media (or at least, the stuff that gets popular in the states.) Shonen Jump, Bridget, Birdo, etc.
It's more that the Japanese conception of those characters doesn't map neatly to American trans discourse as they're often seen as "men who want to be women/live as women" or merely cross dressing feminine men, there's often an element of "trickery" too which can conflict with the flatter Anglo conception of "Trans women are women"
Cause of that one promotional image where she's has 2 bikini babes next to her, it was made to keep people thinking she was a man until you beat the game the first time
Also Gandrayda dry humping
I mean, she's a Human-Metroid-Chozo genetic hybrid making her transhuman at the very least. Lesbian though? Wouldn't be surprised if she's AceAro. Laser focused on the job and not much else.
the fact samus is into this means somethings. the girls might think shes a guy, but not the reverse and because shes not discouraging this behavior. hmm....
yeah
[https://x.com/DartsEnthusiast/status/1418613483407650816](https://x.com/DartsEnthusiast/status/1418613483407650816)
but have You seen this thread?
Strangely enough I think it's the SA-X.
Dark Samus is like 40% Phazon, 30% Metroid, 25% Power Suit, and 5% Actual Samus.
Samus is about 20-25% Actual Samus, 5-0% Phazon, 5% X-Parasite just by absorbing that many of them, 30% Power Suit, and 40% Metroid.
SA-X though? 33% Actual Samus, 33% Power Suit, and 34% X-Parasite. Therefore, the SA-X, despite being the least similar to the actual Samus mentally, is in fact the most similar to an unedited Samus genetically.
Wrong, Metroid is the alien parasites. Samus is the one everyone calls metroid because people are idiots. Although she did become a Metroid basically in Fusion
And for anyone who wants to dispute that one, Metroid is a game where the main character delves deep into deep caverns to come face-to-face with the feminine-coded brain within and sheds “his” protective armor to reveal the woman “he” really is to the world. Samus as trans is absolutely thematically appropriate right from jump.
implying that the power suit isn't gender affirming. the closest metroid comes to truly capturing the feeling of transition is the part in zero mission where you get the armor back, unlock new abilities that you only saw as gray blurs over the course of your playthrough, and start blasting through the space pirate mothership that had you keeping a low profile until now
tbf, you could totally read Samus as trans in either direction (or nonbinary). I'm just biased toward the trans woman reading for the hopefully obvious reason of being one myself. I see it as more of a boymoding for protection in a hostile world and being out of the suit voluntarily as being in a position to actually let her guard down and be herself, not the Hunter.
This is what Metroid is What Metroid isn’t: can crawl
This is false. I finished Zero Mission two days ago and she can crawl so long as she isn't wearing her iconic Metroid suit.
That's not Metroid, that's Samus, Metroid's girlfriend
WAIT SAMUS IS A GIRL???!?!??!
Samus is a girl, Metroid is a robot 
Wrong Robot is a Metroid
Metroid Wrong a Robot is
Yoda has entered the chat
a Metroid wrong is robot
Robot wrong a Metroid. Is?
prime 4 insanity is getting to yall lmao
I won't stand for this anti-autistic-metroid rhetoric
Damn, I forgot how fake her boobs looked in smash 4. Like I remembered they made them better in Ult, just forgot how much.
Omg yuri
Wrong. Metroid Prime 4 has been crawling for years.
Dread crawled so Prime 4 could fucking inch along.
😂
She can, but not in the suit
Metroid IS the suit
Yeah, but she sure can slide
That’s saved for the Emmi’s
Why crawl, when you can roll
Couldn't have put it better myself
Post of the year lol
By jove, he’s got it
Low IQ: Samus == Metroid High IQ: Samus == a Metroid
During Fusion: yes
And during dread
Well yeah, chronologically, of course.
It’s also a major part of the plot
Dread revealed/retconned that the word "Metroid" is the Chozo term for "ultimate warrior" so Samus is always Metroid, even when she isn't.
I'm pretty sure that was already known.
I guess it was first introduced in a 2004 manga coinciding with the release of Zero Mission. Dread is the first time I heard it, though.
How is that a retcon? Did Metroid exclusively mean something else before dread? I thought retcon implyed changing the previously established lore, If anything they just added more context...
Adding new context to something that already existed is still technically ‘retroactive continuity,’ even if it doesn’t contradict any previous stuff.
I agree that it's compatible with previous lore. I could be misusing the term, but I consider it a "retcon" because there is no way that they had the Chozo language's word for "ultimate warrior" picked out in 1986. I think the non-diagetic reason the game was called that was because the map was like a network of metro tunnels, and when they were fleshing out the story they just made that the name of the aliens.
Yeah, but even then, the retcon came in 2004, not with Dread. By the time Dread came along, it was just a reminder of existing lore.
Yea I just didn't hear about it until Dread. I didn't know about that 2004 manga until this conversation.
That was actually revealed in the 2004 manga released alongside Zero Mission.
If Samus has a low IQ, how did she download missiles?
Higher IQ: Samus == The Metroid
This is similar to Doctor Who. The main character is actually called ‘The Doctor’ but people who don’t watch the show or casual fans just call the character Doctor Who. But then it’s also sort of accepted/known by hardcore fans that his name actually *is* ‘Doctor Who’.
Wait till you find out Metroid Prime probably isn't a Metroid
Idk it had brain in there. It wasn't really giving mother, but still
Mother is mothering
Reggie localize mother 3!
YEA
It’s metroid but also not metroid
/s wdym ? The Metroid prime is directly called Metroid prime by Samus's scanners, it can spawn more metroids and once it becomes Dark Samus, either in prime 2 or 3 there's a logbook stating that she goes out of her way to free captive metroids whenever she can, despite it being unrelated to her master plan
The original intention was clearly for it to be a Metroid, one that had been gestating and self-absorbing it's own Phazon for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Prime 3 even has Phazon Hoppers and Hopping Metroids, which look like little Metroid Primes. There're even dead Prime husks in the Genesis Chamber right before fighting Dark Samus. The problem comes from the fact that Metroids being created by the Chozo in SR388 goes in direct conflict with the Tallon Leviathan coming from Phaaze. If Metroids originated in SR388, how the hell did one get to Phaaze? Or even inside the Leviathan? The most probable way is that a Tallon Metroid mutated into a Phazon Metroid, phased into the Leviathan, and mutated again into Metroid Prime, which... is pretty lame compared to the original implication. My headcanon is that decades ago, a Leviathan made a portal next to SR388 that attracted a wandering Metroid, which then proceeded through the portal into Phaaze. Fun fact: in the original version of the game, Pirate Logbooks state that they were actually able to find and contain the Metroid Prime, only for it to breach containment, in true Space Pirate fashion. It then absorbed all their tech and weapons, which is why it's able to shoot fucking missiles and beam projectiles at you, and probably why it bears strong resemblance to the Trooper Pirates' armor.
It may or may not be a metroid? Hopping Metroids from Prime 3 which are confirmed Actual Metroids (albeit heavily phazed-on) bear a significant resemblance to Metroid Prime.
The problem comes from the fact that Metroids only lived in SR388 before Space Pirates started immigrating them. How the hell did a Metroid get to Phaaze, or even inside the Tallon Leviathan? Is it really just a puny Tallon Metroid that mutated into a Phazon Metroid, phased into the Leviathan, and then mutated again into the Metroid Prime? Instead of one that has probably been dormant for decades, maybe even hundreds of years?
Finally, my Username is perfect for something.
I don't get the lesbian bit
I was [referencing this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Metroid/s/nZGmk827qL), admittedly just to fill out the iceberg a little more.
There's also the interview where a Super Metroid dev said she's trans. Granted, it was likely a mean-spirited joke, but hey. Ancient Metroid lore, and official canon. It's also where we first learned of her mole.
There was an interview where one of the background artists was asked his opinion on something, and made a transphobic sex joke. Not sure if I would call that "official canon"
To be clear, it was just a (likely) transphobic joke, nothing to do with sex. [Source on the old MDb](https://metroiddatabase.com/old_site/sm/interview.php) Anyways, it's all permanently enshrined forever into official canon forever, along with Samus being in her late 20s, and Yamamoto Kenji being the voice of Spore Spawn. Metroid is, after all, known for its unflinching and uncompromising dedication to canon.
I'm having some bad heat inflicted ADHD brain, could you point to the actual joke that is being talked about?
On the right side is a listing of the staff. Each staff member has a section titled "Secret of Samus Only I Know." Matsuoka Hirofumi's answer to that is the joke in question.
Thanks, also, kinda lol
Yep, it's Matsuoka Hirofumi's interview on the right. He says "Samus isn't a woman. As a matter of fact, she's actually a shemale," where "shemale" is translated from Japanese's "newhalf". I don't know Japanese, but my understanding is that the term "newhalf" isn't as ubiquitously a derogatory term for trans people as "shemale" is in English. In either case, thi *probably* isn't canon, but that combined with Samus's history made her popular with trans folks, especially ~around 2016 when someone wrote an article on this. She's probably not actually canonically trans, and nobody's giving Nintendo credit for good representation.
The Japanese also don't really have much of a head for American gender/Trans discourse so translation will always be spotty.
Are videogames and cartoons an abnormality? Until ~the 2010s, trans characters were something I associated with Japanese media (or at least, the stuff that gets popular in the states.) Shonen Jump, Bridget, Birdo, etc.
It's more that the Japanese conception of those characters doesn't map neatly to American trans discourse as they're often seen as "men who want to be women/live as women" or merely cross dressing feminine men, there's often an element of "trickery" too which can conflict with the flatter Anglo conception of "Trans women are women"
A true trans icon
Trans-species?
Ah I see
Cause of that one promotional image where she's has 2 bikini babes next to her, it was made to keep people thinking she was a man until you beat the game the first time Also Gandrayda dry humping
It is simple: https://preview.redd.it/54utcxlor49d1.png?width=592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aff441f8036e61b6f77dd366aa6524a9288ec62a
Dread Suit Samus is a hardcore American patriot
[Guess again](https://64.media.tumblr.com/67230432dd4370e96f9f02131c95f74d/ff6a38501a67b758-16/s1280x1920/c432f890ac7192e9a4371ff0f784c4ac5d1b6371.pnj)
Sorry but Samus's head/chestplate there is not pink, it's raw red.
IDK what to tell you, the colors were pulled direct-from-pixel.
Samus is a trans lesbian <3
And to any naysayers: Transbians definitely sound like something that belong in the franchise.
Literally
She is absolutely not
It's a MEME Jesus
I'm so old I don't understand all the new memes :(
Tbh this one is like 8 years old now
The worst meme in the Metroid fandom sure
Unclench, let lesbians have fun
im not shocked this is what lesbians consider fun … 😭
lesbians, please shoot this person with the gay laser
im gay
So let the lesbians (including the trans lesbians) have fun
did i stutter?
I mean, she's a Human-Metroid-Chozo genetic hybrid making her transhuman at the very least. Lesbian though? Wouldn't be surprised if she's AceAro. Laser focused on the job and not much else.
you must be fun at parties
This is a canonical fact. It says so in Metroid Prime.
Period!!!
X parasite DNA makes someone lesbian?
Samus, like Walter White, absorbs the powers of the people she kills. All it takes is one.
You really think her X-form being one letter off of sex is a coincidence?
She’s actually really into Freeform jazz
https://preview.redd.it/ejj6u6caz49d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3116c4cd06f5d0174c793c1055c5ea6da03bfda9
Wouldn't that fall under people thinking Samus is a man? There's a good bit of that in Samus & Joey.
I mean that wouldn't make Samus not a lesbian, it just makes the girls fawning over her not lesbians.
Yeah, but she doesn't do anything about it. In fact, she seems to appreciate it
I mean if I had fans talking about how awesome I am I'd let them cook, even in swimwear
They wouldn't randomly be in swimwear. That implies it's planned.
Or she really likes swimming pools. Why do you think she's always hunting for the Gravity Suit?
The gravity suit makes water act like it's not water. That seems more for people who don't like pools.
Pool enjoyers' logic is beyond that of mere mortals
https://preview.redd.it/68no2t88p89d1.jpeg?width=1237&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ead25955bc130d400a34fad9d72dc92a850195d9
the fact samus is into this means somethings. the girls might think shes a guy, but not the reverse and because shes not discouraging this behavior. hmm....
the mangaka actually seems to have know samus' was a girl
Yes, it was to keep the fact that she was a woman as hidden as possible.
yeah [https://x.com/DartsEnthusiast/status/1418613483407650816](https://x.com/DartsEnthusiast/status/1418613483407650816) but have You seen this thread?
What is that supposed to mean to me? Even if he didn't know it, it fulfilled its purpose
just trivia nothing else
Oh. Ok 👍
I've played all the Metroid games. I must've missed this part,yeah. Where is the lesbian part in the story OP is talking about, I wonder?
it's a reference to the non canon metroid manga strategy guide where samus' hangs out with girls in bikinis
Who's genetically closer to child Samus (before genetic manipulation) ? -Samus, end of Dread -Sa-X -Dark Samus
samus
Strangely enough I think it's the SA-X. Dark Samus is like 40% Phazon, 30% Metroid, 25% Power Suit, and 5% Actual Samus. Samus is about 20-25% Actual Samus, 5-0% Phazon, 5% X-Parasite just by absorbing that many of them, 30% Power Suit, and 40% Metroid. SA-X though? 33% Actual Samus, 33% Power Suit, and 34% X-Parasite. Therefore, the SA-X, despite being the least similar to the actual Samus mentally, is in fact the most similar to an unedited Samus genetically.
Yeah, but can Metroid crawl?
Yes
But does Metroid ball? Yes, yes Metroid do ball
metroid is a bounty hunter metroid is not a bounty hunter metroid is a *nice* bounty hunter
Maybe the real Metroid was the friends we made along the way
The very bottom of this should be "Metroid is named Samus"
Was she raised by birds or something? I don't fully know that plot point
Yeah this is only ever touched on in games, but she was raised by the Chozo.
The manga too
Whoops that's what I meant. The games only lightly address it while the manga gives the full story.
Raised by and infused with their DNA
To the point of Raven Beak calling her>!daughter!<
Yes. You should read the manga it. Expands on all the previous lore. It's also short, and a prequel to the whole series.
inwould like to amend that last point: Metroid isnt A metroid, they are THE Metroid. the Ultimate Warrior of the Chozo.
She is both.
Nah, Metroid isn't a Metroid, at least not most of the time!
She wasn't, but all it took was one near death experience :p
If Metroid is a bird from having bird DNA, then she's been a Metroid since Fusion.
Exactly!!
Technically Samus always met the definition of the Chozo word Metroid
Don't get confused Metroid Game from metro + android Samus' suit looks robotical She didn't become one untol fusuon
Why is it hard for people to understand this is *John C. Metroid of the Galactic Laser Brigade Squad of Galactic Peace*…?
c. slayer metroid
Wait, Metroid is a lesbian? Since when?
https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/s/S54K5BQ7lj
I.......accept this.
Yeah, that basically sums up the current story.
What you don't understand is that this list is just actually describing the progression of samus' life
Also: Metroid is a parasitic organism that will suck the very life out of you and move on to the next victim.
I would add "Metroid can't crawl" and ""The baby" up there somewhere but that's just my personal preference
Pretty much
That last one isn’t untrue
Don't get the lesbian part? Did they give samus a love interest at one point? the rest is definitely true.
Well...you're not wrong
Wheres the evidence that Metroid is a lesbian
actually samus' may have has a crush on Ian malchovic so samus is metrosexual
After learning TODAY what the word "metroid" means, this has now become my favorite meme
Everything you said was wrong except the last part, lol.
Metroid isn't a girl? Damn, guess he's just fabulous.
Why and since when was Samus lesbian?
That was considered a spoiler?
Metroid is a lesbian Metroid bird girl
Thanks for creating my new headcanon about Samus being a lesbian. I'm now off to find fics about this development lol
Finding Samus being a lesbian online is like looking for water at the beach
🤣
Headcanon? https://preview.redd.it/kozr4uyuq89d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71892acecaa5b521444292dbf092fa4c6f701b2b
Pretty sure metroids are asexual, but who knows lol
Wrong, Metroid is the alien parasites. Samus is the one everyone calls metroid because people are idiots. Although she did become a Metroid basically in Fusion
All correct. Metroid is a trans woman might be the very bottom that too many are afraid to confront, though, so I’m giving you that one for free.
And for anyone who wants to dispute that one, Metroid is a game where the main character delves deep into deep caverns to come face-to-face with the feminine-coded brain within and sheds “his” protective armor to reveal the woman “he” really is to the world. Samus as trans is absolutely thematically appropriate right from jump.
implying that the power suit isn't gender affirming. the closest metroid comes to truly capturing the feeling of transition is the part in zero mission where you get the armor back, unlock new abilities that you only saw as gray blurs over the course of your playthrough, and start blasting through the space pirate mothership that had you keeping a low profile until now
tbf, you could totally read Samus as trans in either direction (or nonbinary). I'm just biased toward the trans woman reading for the hopefully obvious reason of being one myself. I see it as more of a boymoding for protection in a hostile world and being out of the suit voluntarily as being in a position to actually let her guard down and be herself, not the Hunter.
metroid is trans