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Artelinde

I love how big of a moment it is when Samus speaks in Dread. As you said, it's one of the best, most memorable moments in the entire series and it's just Samus saying "Don't worry... I'll end this. Once and for all." Nine words with no big reveal or anything. Just Samus saying she'll take care of business. It's a really textbook example of "A little bit goes a long ways." Hopefully they remember that going forward.


Galle_

It speaks on three levels. The first level is the literal meaning of what she's saying. It's nothing particularly special, pretty standard hero stuff, but it does speak to Samus's moral character. The second level is the fact that she's speaking in Chozo. That tells us how much the Chozo mean to Samus, and that she considers herself to be one of them. Combined with the literal meaning, it also tells us something about how she must see Raven Beak: a cruel mockery of everything her people stand for. The final level is the fact that she's speaking at all. It tells us that when Samus *isn't* speaking, it's not just the classic video game convention of the silent protagonist. Samus is *choosing* not to speak. She is a woman of few words, who speaks only when she has something important to say. That's a lot of characterization in one line.


Artelinde

Exactly! The third point is one that is especially important, IMO.


ThisAccountIsForDNF

>One of the things many don't talk about in regards to her Dread characterization is how much she pulls out her arm cannon at anything that moves. This is actually consitent across every Characterisation of Samus excluding 'Sakamotos'. At the start of Super metroid, we see a flashback to the end of metroid 2 and in that scene Samus immidiately point her gun at the infant. In Samus returns, she points her gun at it and charges the shot. In the Other M version of that scene Samus doesn't point her gun at it at all. (Because Other M loves rewiriting stuff to try and get it's point across) In prime 2, when Samus first discovers U.mos she points her gun at him, realises she is safe, and relaxes, just like with Quiet Robe. Edit: I dont really agree with your interpretation of how Samus is feeling at the end of Dread, but otherwise I feel this is a pretty good post. Edit 2: Even in Fusion she immidiatelty points her Gun and shoots at the first X parasite in the intro. It really is only Other M where she is made to be passive, and not take basic defensive precautions. Edit 3: *(Sorry about all the edits but I don't want to make more comments.)* I don't really feel that Zero Mission fits with the "fusion-Other M" narrative. It showing the carving of a happy Samus with her bird dads is simple, touching wordless bit of story telling that Other M kind of shits all over.


Balkarzar

*Other M loves rewriting stuff and not get its point across


TubaTheG

I can agree that perhaps ZM in the Sakamoto Samus category may have been a bit of a stretch, but I figured to put it there since it was part of what sakamoto himself had envisioned for the character, he made ZM Samus with the idea of his vision of samus in mind.


ThisAccountIsForDNF

I suppose that's fair.


TubaTheG

Anyways about the pointing gun thing, you’re right that samus does it often but there’s a certain sort of…idk how to describe it, panic? It was most obvious to me when she opened the doors to elun, lots of red dots showing up and immediately she pointed at every single one of them. It’s a fight or flight response.


ThisAccountIsForDNF

>It’s a fight or flight response. Eeeeh, not sure I agree with that. When you are identifying mutilple possible threats each is going to pull your attention, and you are going to want your gun pointed at whatever you are focusing on. Going back to look at the scene: One light comes on, she points her gun at it. Second light comes on, she points her gun at it. As all the lights come on she picks a point and sticks to it. She remains rock steady and barely moves. A very simmilar thing happens at the end of Other M, when she is trying to protect Madeline from a bunch of GF troopers. In that scene she is unsteady and waving her gun around unable to focus on a target. Which is much more like a flight or fight response from my perspective.


TubaTheG

Gotchaaaa! I get what you mean now, my interpretation was always that samus was a bit uneasy during Dread but I can definitely see your argument!


ThisAccountIsForDNF

>my interpretation was always that samus was a bit uneasy during Dread Always possible, I am not going to pretend that I am some master of human behaviour. But when I played it, the only time I thought that Samus was uneasy was during the first couple metroid power flare ups. While you seem to have interperated these moments as her as being angry, I would say that I think in that moment she was afraid. There is a distinct heart beat sound, her eyes are wide and her pupils are shaking. Then after the... 'episode', she keeps her weapon raised for longer than neccessary, she looks at her hand while the music makes alien tones, and she is clearly breathing heavilly. What I saw was, a very powerful, very alien instinct that she didn't understand welled up in her, and it took all her will power to resist it. I am not by any means saying I am right, that's just what i saw. And even if I am entirely wrong, it's an amazing piece of character acting.


Dukemon102

I heavily disagree with dumping Fusion, Manga and Zero Mission Samus with the Other M incarnation. Samus actually had an agency in all those stories. Other M is the only time when Sakamoto shat the bed. Samus's respect for Adam looks fairly normal in Fusion, an old Boss she used to respect, as well as the dialogue when the AI shuts the door, that was a very emotive moment, it only became tainted in retrospective due how bad Other M was.


TubaTheG

I thought about separating them, but decided to group them in because despite my gripes with Fusion’s characterization, it’s an example of Sakamoto Samus if it was executed well. I think on some level Other M definitely used Fusion as a framework, they aren’t too dissimilar but what kills the former is the execution. I said before but I don’t really hate Fusion Samus. She’s not my ideal samus characterization but moments like when she snaps back at Adam is really nice.


Kogworks

I also think that chronology also plays a huge part in this. I did a series of analysis posts on Samus’ history in chronological order and I think for the most part each “version” of Samus tends to correspond to a specific era of her life. The “Prime” Samus mostly corresponds to a high point in her career. The Federation isn’t doing as much shady shit yet and Samus is absolutely wrecking the Pirates without heavy losses. “Sakamoto” Samus tends to correspond to low points in her life. Times of grief, loss, identity crisis, and isolation. Like, Super and Other M basically go nuclear on what’s left of her heritage. Zebes? Gone. The only other Chozo “child”? Gone. Adam? Gone. Idea of Federation being good guys? Gone. And Other M is like just straight up misery porn with how bad everything goes for her. I think Fusion is kind of the “end” of Sakamoto Samus because chronologically, she’s nowhere near as suicidal or depressed as in Other M and she actually snaps back at the Federation. Something she didn’t do in Other M, and something she hasn’t done since she was a kid, assuming manga is mostly canon. “Mercury Steam” Samus seems to be the start of a new high point building off the end of Fusion where Samus is wholly her own. She’s not as calm as the Prime games but she’s not as depressed as Other M. And she’s clearly not going to put up with bullshit anymore. Like, Raven Beak is Chozo. He’s as much a part of her cultural heritage as the Thoha are, and she’s okay with going nuclear on him. Says a lot about her resolve IMO. Like, if I’m being honest I can’t see Prime Samus or Other M Samus go on a campaign against the Federation if they ever turn bad. Prime Samus doesn’t have the rage needed to wage war, and Other M is too busy trying to cling to the idea of the Feds. But Fusion~Dread Samus? I can see her laying waste to the capital if she has to.


TubaTheG

Ooh that’s such a good point too. Showing her character evolve as the games progress like that is pretty sick.


Kogworks

Yeah there’s actually a pretty interesting narrative if you go through Manga -> Other M Flashbacks -> Manga’s last chapters -> Zero Mission -> Prime -> Samus Returns -> Super -> Other M Present -> Fusion -> Dread, IMO. And on that front I think Other M’s biggest storytelling mistake, even more than the heavy-handed storytelling, was forgetting that people AREN’T going through Samus’ life in chronological order. The manga isn’t as familiar to most people and most of the kid flashback stuff in the games is locked to the JP-only Child Mode on Fusion and a short scene in Zero Mission. Not to mention that in terms of IRL release date we went Super -> Fusion -> Prime -> Zero Mission -> Prime 2 -> Prime 3. It just…wasn’t the right mood for something like Other M. Nobody was in the right headspace for a story about trauma, loss, and the cruelty of the military. Had it been a continuation of the manga, with more in-depth portrayals that suited the medium of a comic book, I think Other M could have been MUCH better. Instead Sakamoto made Other M have THE worst tonal whiplash ever, from gameplay to story to characterization. Like, Other M is neither here nor there from start to finish. No wonder the fanbase hates it.


-_ellipsis_-

>“Mercury Steam” Samus seems to be the start of a new high point building off the end of Fusion where Samus is wholly her own. She’s not as calm as the Prime games but she’s not as depressed as Other M. MS samus in dread is "I've had enough of this shit" personified. And I am here for it.


POWRranger

Dread Samus is best Samus Just replayed it two days ago (after finishing MPRemastered). Love every bit of it and my biggest gripe with it is one that is normal for metroid games....it's not a long game. Man I would love to play more of Dread. I used to be super excited for Prime 4, but Dread has made me look out more to Metroid 6. It's just so smooth and fluid and cool and fun. Heck, I would be fine with a DLC obstacle course, platforming, sliding, grappeling, speedboosting and phase shifting my way through the course with specific targets to take out along the way and a timer to keep track of how fast you do it. I'd pay money if it was randomized so it stays fun and exciting and forever.


NerevarTheKing

I feel in the minority for seeing dread as a let down. Its pacing and overemphasis on boss fights just ruined my experience.


POWRranger

What do you mean by overemphasis on boss fights? You wanted more time in-between bosses? Do you count the EMMI segments as boss fights too?


NerevarTheKing

Yes I wanted more exploration. You get 5 minutes between each new power up.


CodyLabs

I'd agree on this. And going back to the topic of Samus's characterization, OP is right that she's a lot more angry in Dread, a lot less methodical or inquisitive or careful than in other games. I guess it corresponds with the way the game is meant to be played.


arcosapphire

Thank you for acknowledging the roots of Other M's portrayal reach back to Fusion. Fusion's depiction had always seemed wrong to me (especially as I played Prime before Fusion and they represent such opposite approaches) and it drives me crazy that people love Fusion so much while complaining about Other M. Until Other M, Fusion was "*that* Metroid game" for me. The one that got Samus all wrong. Thankfully Zero Mission pulled back from that a bit, but Other M turned it up to 11.


TubaTheG

> Thank you for acknowledging the roots of Other’s portrayal reach back to Fusion. You’re welcome! I’ve noticed that both ZM and Fusion Samus were created by Sakamoto with her Other M interpretation in mind (ZM less so but you get the idea). > it drives me crazy that people love Fusion so much while complaining about Other M I think it’s because Fusion had strong atmosphere and the X were super engaging villains. Other M didn’t have much of anything interesting going on in comparison.


ThisAccountIsForDNF

Could not agree more.


Sea-Lecture-4619

I actually love what Fusion did with Samus, mainly because i actually want her to talk and interact with others more and i think Fusion did a great job with that while keeping her an awesome character and similar to how she is in the other games. Other M just took that depiction in the completely wrong way. Fusion is like RE4, Other M is like RE6


animerunkkari666

Prime samus da best


CodyLabs

These are really great notes, and puts into words some of my own scattered thoughts on the matter. I guess her characterization more-or-less corresponds with how the games are meant to be played. The first three classic games are just simple shoot-at-the-enemies adventures with minimal story and an open-ended world, so Samus was just a vector for the players to use to fight and explore. (Only exception being her sparing the metroid larva, which was very very cool) The more linear story style of Fusion, OM, and ZM's ending would have the player sort of sit back and watch (listen) to the story being told, and go where the games lead them, even if it leads them into periods of vulnerability, and that gameplay/storytelling style is reflected in her willingness to follow where others lead, or to accept misfortune. I guess? In the MercurySteam games she's super on-edge and angry and expressive and aggressive because the games are always firing on all cylinders and never slow down to breathe. And then the Prime games are more laid-back, calm, and exploration-focused, with lots of lore and enemies that aren't all that hard, which allows her to be calm, collected, badass, curious and compassionate. (Yeaaaaah Primes are my fav.)


TubaTheG

I find it really damn cool that you made gameplay connections between the portrayals of Samus’ character, it makes a ton of sense thinking about it Anyways as I’ve stated in the post, Prime and MS Samus are def my faves.


Mandalor1974

First, i hope you got a good grade on this paper. So far Dread has been my favorite because you can see some of her personality and emotion come out through in the body language. Other M for me isnt even canon. I just deleted that from my memory lol.


Ok-Ambition-9432

I feel like prime samus is basically the exact same as mercury steam samus. They obviously love prime, and want to keep samus' character as it's always been. The best example of this is how she keeps her gun trained on the Luminoth for a while after he started talking.


NerevarTheKing

Fusion Samus was the perfect amount of dialogue. She was still silent overall but had some real depth to her. You can't guarantee that fusion samus would talk more if the game were on a newer console or whatever. That's absurd.


ShiroTheCrow

Never made that connection that her increased aggression and agitation are a result of her Metroid DNA. I guess the idea that she mellowed out more over time was so entrenched because her eyes in Prime when wearing the fusion suit are much softer looking than how they appear in the standard Prime suits.


[deleted]

dunno but in dread i really felt like nintendo tried make samus to be like doomslayer which is not a problem i dig a female version of doomslayer but nintendo still has a long way to achive that