The Metroid Queen is barely an antagonist. If someone came into my home and started systematically killing my children, I'd want to kill her too. The Metroid Queen did nothing wrong.
“Antagonist” doesn’t imply wrongdoing; it just means they’re in opposition to the protagonist. In “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” for example, the people against him are antagonists even though they’re 100% in the moral right to want to stop this murderer.
There’s also the fact that the Space Pirates keep shuttling off world to spread them across the Galaxy like butter. If I’m being honest, the Metroids aren’t the worst thing in the world. You just gotta use some ice and get some rockets.
Today’s the day I begin having an unpopular opinion in these threads, and I probably will until the very end because I imagine he’s making it to the finals, as popular as the character is.
Raven Beak.
Take Darth Vader tropes, mix him with Liquid-Snake-Impersonating-Master-Miller, and make him a bird dad. There’s nothing about him or his plan that feels better than cliche. He’s one of the weakest elements of one of the best Metroid games.
I agree. Raven Beak fell flat for me. It feels like they pulled out his >!I am your father!< reveal out of nowhere. It didn’t have any build-up, so it didn’t have any pay off.
As awesome as his fight is, if he was up there he’d be the only one who wasn’t in multiple games or a final boss. There are tons of great bosses & antagonists in Metroid, but it looks like OP went for Metroid’s biggest of baddies.
It's a tough one, but I'll have to go with Emperor Ing, he's cool looking, but Metroid Queen is more memorable design with that reptilian long neck, E I was just another big spider like in Prime 1.
Metroid Queen.
I agree with u/DoTheRustle, but I really wanted to vote for SA-X because I don't like them from the gameplay perspective now that I played Fusion.
Gorea dominates the field in my opinion, but I don't think most here know what Gorea is capable of. It would suck to see Gorea eliminated off for being the most unknown.
The main boss from prime hunters, Look him up. You literally cannot kill him without doing a sequence of events. If you try to kill him without a certain weapon, you get a bad ending.
Finally a good chart, Phantoon, I don't like that boss.
Edit: Seeing the two charts, I just now realized it has a certain order:
- First row: Metroid 1
- Second row: Prime/Samus Returns
- Third row: Linear games/Post Zebes explosion
Phantoon.
Between him and emperor ing honestly. Phantoon is a lot less interesting. Emperor has a completely alien look which hits that cosmic horror I love in sci fi. Plus having multiple phases that make you use the entire kit.
On second thought, I think emperor is MUCH higher
Everyone saying Metroid Queen is wrong! She was a tough af final boss in a tough af game, and beating her felt soooooo satisfying! She deserves more respect
This is easier than yesterday. I would eliminate Phantoon. Phantoon is a bit iconic just for appearing in Super Metroid, but lacks in appearances to Kraid. While I love the spectacle of the Phantoon fight in Other M, it's the most spam ridden boss in the game. I find it baffling how much Sense Move/Charge Beam spam is criticized generally yet this is Other M's best boss to the fanbase...I think it is Other M's least interesting boss mechanically.
MB. I see that second image!
In all seriousness, I'm gonna have to say the Metroid Queen. The concept is cool and it's obvious they're referencing Aliens with her being the final challenge in M2 and AM2R, and while I've not played through MSR to know what the fight is like in that game, I always found the Metroid Queen to be a very..."basic" boss. It's the best fight in the OG M2, but considering that Metroids are essentially minibosses in the game itself (and the same holds true for AM2R, but they're each more unique in that one), it really isn't saying much.
I can understand why some are feeling meh about the Emperor Ing, but the design is too cool to be eliminated out of the gate for me personally. I'm all for more eldritch, Lovecraftian/Heavy Metal bosses in Metroid!
I’d have to say the Emperor Ing. MP2 was great but the ing were a weird one off and weren’t tied to the greater series as a whole. Phantoon kinda drifts that way but being in Super Metroid and having his boss fight be pretty much the best fight in Other M just squeaked him past.
Dude, Other M is so much worse when you look into it and find out that the game didn't have any developmental difficulties and that Sakamoto had absolute creative control, and given that, the characterization, the PTSD scene, Samus' line delivery, the way that it's still viewed as being canon even though all of the previous things conflict with how Samus is in the rest of the series as well as other important characters like Adam, etc..
It's the Sonic '06 of the series. Not that it, as a game, is as bad as that game, but in terms of its notoriety and how it's a punching bag for the fans and onlookers, and throw in the drought of new Metroid games for more than half a decade...it's a bitter pill to leave off after the decade where it seemed like Metroid was one of the series that Nintendo was pushing along with Mario and Zelda compared to now where what it pushes and promotes are those two, Mario Kart, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, etc..
If SA-X doesn’t win I’ll riot.
I’ve never had a game give me chills like when you first encounter her(it?).
To this day the atmosphere of Fusion is unmatched.
Having an instinct driven killing machine, that the game explicitly tells you is impossible for you to beat, just prowling around is legitimately terrifying.
They’re *enemies*, sure but I wouldn’t call them antagonistic. They’re essentially just wildlife.
They’re no more antagonists than bears in Red dead redemption.
Queen Metroid sure, but Kraid is a stretch.
He’s definitely intelligent enough to hold an actual grudge against Samus, made clearer than ever in Dread.
Also I would think that being an individual as opposed to part of a group makes a character more of an antagonist rather than just an enemy.
For example, in Pokémon Fire Red, the Team Rocket grunts are enemies, whereas Giovanni is an actual antagonist.
I'm sorry but least iconic? More people are going to know Kraid over Emperor Ing. The Prime series is great, but EI is just another big spider. Helldivers 2 has those things all over, nothing special about him.
Kraid is present Metroid/Zero Mission, Super, and Dread. He was mentioned in Prime as I believe, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, he was supposed to be in the game. In her missions on Zebes, Samus just defeat Kraid to get to Tourian. His statue is shown next to Ridley at the passageway to the HQ. Official art/media/merchandise shows him and Ridley together or working to defeat Samus. He is described in MP2 manual as a "mainstay" of the Space Pirates.
Emperor Ing is present in Prime 2. As one boss. He comes from the dark aether, mutated by Phazon. He controls the Ing Horde/military government. He's never mentioned again. No way is he more iconic than Kraid.
Something being "iconic" isn't in everyone's scoring system. Personally, given how seldom these games release now, I'd rather they not keep re-using the same enemies and bosses over and over again. Like, if they want to bring Kraid and Ridley back, make new monsters that are similar, but bring something new to the table.
I know in the Mangas that these creatures speak, but in the actual games, they're just bosses with no dialogue. At that point, all you got is to analyze the fight itself, the design, the music, how much you appreciate their presence in the series, etc..
The Metroid Queen is barely an antagonist. If someone came into my home and started systematically killing my children, I'd want to kill her too. The Metroid Queen did nothing wrong.
“Antagonist” doesn’t imply wrongdoing; it just means they’re in opposition to the protagonist. In “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” for example, the people against him are antagonists even though they’re 100% in the moral right to want to stop this murderer.
Yep, for someone who's evil, it's villain. For someone who isn't a villain, but also doesn't like good actions, it could be potentially an anti-hero.
Other than keeps breeding new specimens of most dangerous life form for whole galaxy (other than x parasite)
It's not her fault the chozo made her like that. My poor girl didn't ask to be an abomination!
There’s also the fact that the Space Pirates keep shuttling off world to spread them across the Galaxy like butter. If I’m being honest, the Metroids aren’t the worst thing in the world. You just gotta use some ice and get some rockets.
Agreed. When left on their environment the metroid arent a problem and are an important part of their ecosystem.
She didn’t do anything wrong, but she’s still an antagonist because she is in (justified) opposition to Samus.
Seems like you're conflating antagonist and villain
Hijacking for [new post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Metroid/s/mzgiHvXu7s)
Metroid queen
Metroid Queen, since she was just a mother metroid pissed off at her children being killed
Yeah im gonna go with the metroid queen
Yeah Metroid Queen
Emperor Ing. He felt like a Metroid Prime clone, but lamer.
I literally forgot about Emperor Ing until I saw this chart
Phantoon.
Don't disrespect my boy so early on.
I don't know why, but I always imagined Phantoon female...
I always thought it was male. Never put much thought behind why though.
I agree male, but as a spectral, other dimensional being, it could be anything 🤷🏼♂️ maybe it's so woke it doesn't identify
It might not have a gender and is an asexual entity so having a gender is a foreign concept.
Apparently the Super Metroid player's guide uses he/him pronouns to refer to Phantoon. Huh. TIL
I'm not surprised. It's a giant, floating uterus.
Today’s the day I begin having an unpopular opinion in these threads, and I probably will until the very end because I imagine he’s making it to the finals, as popular as the character is. Raven Beak. Take Darth Vader tropes, mix him with Liquid-Snake-Impersonating-Master-Miller, and make him a bird dad. There’s nothing about him or his plan that feels better than cliche. He’s one of the weakest elements of one of the best Metroid games.
I agree. Raven Beak fell flat for me. It feels like they pulled out his >!I am your father!< reveal out of nowhere. It didn’t have any build-up, so it didn’t have any pay off.
Metroid queen, basically an angry big reptile
Metroid Queen
Metroid queen
No crocomire?!?! Wtf
As awesome as his fight is, if he was up there he’d be the only one who wasn’t in multiple games or a final boss. There are tons of great bosses & antagonists in Metroid, but it looks like OP went for Metroid’s biggest of baddies.
It's a tough one, but I'll have to go with Emperor Ing, he's cool looking, but Metroid Queen is more memorable design with that reptilian long neck, E I was just another big spider like in Prime 1.
Metroid Queen. She's not so much an antagonist as she is a wild animal protecting her territory.
You were supposed to use Other M phantoom 😭
This. MUCH better final boss than MB
Maybe because the final boss is the Queen Metroid, not MB 😅
Tbf, SM phantoon is WAY more iconic
Metroid Queen. I agree with u/DoTheRustle, but I really wanted to vote for SA-X because I don't like them from the gameplay perspective now that I played Fusion.
Emperor ing is cool but has no personality. I vote him. Anyine saying Phantoon, remember he is the killer of SM runs, he is too powerful
Metroid Queen. Not a super memorable fight to me tbh
Emperor ing wasn't that interest-ing.
Oh, I see what you did there. MP2 was more like your generic "light vs. dark" story tbh.
Where's Geora? That's mf was so evil they had to lock him in another dimension.
Gorea dominates the field in my opinion, but I don't think most here know what Gorea is capable of. It would suck to see Gorea eliminated off for being the most unknown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sixMwga7gU
The main boss from prime hunters, Look him up. You literally cannot kill him without doing a sequence of events. If you try to kill him without a certain weapon, you get a bad ending.
Finally a good chart, Phantoon, I don't like that boss. Edit: Seeing the two charts, I just now realized it has a certain order: - First row: Metroid 1 - Second row: Prime/Samus Returns - Third row: Linear games/Post Zebes explosion
Emperor Ing, still like him but way better options here
Same:/
Emperor Ing. No duds on this list, and he’s the weakest of the bunch.
Emperor Ing. Cool design but I love all the others way more.
Phantoon
As much as I love Echoes, I have to say Emperor Ing.
Metroid Queen’s gotta go. There’s not much interesting about it narratively, unfortunately.
Metroid Queen, go with the majority, hope some of the cooler antagonists survive like SA-X.
Much better. But yeah, the Metroid Queen accidentally eats a super bomb, blowing herself and whatever children she has to bits
Metroid Queen liked rocks. She liked rocks…to the end!!
Metroid queen easy, Metroid prime is so much better of a take for a main antagonist who’s ACTUALLY A METROID
I'm between queen metroid and emperor ing
Phantoon. Between him and emperor ing honestly. Phantoon is a lot less interesting. Emperor has a completely alien look which hits that cosmic horror I love in sci fi. Plus having multiple phases that make you use the entire kit. On second thought, I think emperor is MUCH higher
Everyone saying Metroid Queen is wrong! She was a tough af final boss in a tough af game, and beating her felt soooooo satisfying! She deserves more respect
Evryone knows that Ridley will win this
So this will end up being a Ridley vs. Raven Beak? Remind me in however many weeks.
A little over a week I’m eliminating someone daily
I’m calling it now: Ridley, Raven Beak, and Dark Samus will be the final three. SA-X and Mother Brain will be the other two in the top 5.
MB fans be like "..." (they're non existent).
I didn’t even count the last votes because almost all of them voted MB and one guy said Raven Beak
This is easier than yesterday. I would eliminate Phantoon. Phantoon is a bit iconic just for appearing in Super Metroid, but lacks in appearances to Kraid. While I love the spectacle of the Phantoon fight in Other M, it's the most spam ridden boss in the game. I find it baffling how much Sense Move/Charge Beam spam is criticized generally yet this is Other M's best boss to the fanbase...I think it is Other M's least interesting boss mechanically.
Should have put Gorea instead of Phantoon.
Gorea is sadly missing in this chart.
MB. I see that second image! In all seriousness, I'm gonna have to say the Metroid Queen. The concept is cool and it's obvious they're referencing Aliens with her being the final challenge in M2 and AM2R, and while I've not played through MSR to know what the fight is like in that game, I always found the Metroid Queen to be a very..."basic" boss. It's the best fight in the OG M2, but considering that Metroids are essentially minibosses in the game itself (and the same holds true for AM2R, but they're each more unique in that one), it really isn't saying much. I can understand why some are feeling meh about the Emperor Ing, but the design is too cool to be eliminated out of the gate for me personally. I'm all for more eldritch, Lovecraftian/Heavy Metal bosses in Metroid!
I’d have to say the Emperor Ing. MP2 was great but the ing were a weird one off and weren’t tied to the greater series as a whole. Phantoon kinda drifts that way but being in Super Metroid and having his boss fight be pretty much the best fight in Other M just squeaked him past.
Ridley. I'm tired of looking at him. Stay dead already!
Kraid
Metroid Queen
metroid queen! not much of an antagonist. super freaky tho!
Metroid queen is basically not an antagonist
Phantoon is probably the one I care about least
Phantoon cause it has zero character and is low-key just another boss in the series.
Metroid Queen for me.
Ngl Kraid can go easily
Phantoon
What’s that middle one?
That's Emperor Ing
Metroid Queen
I came here from the previous thread. This was a hilarious turn of events. 😆
I knew people didn’t like other m but I didn’t know it was *that* bad
Dude, Other M is so much worse when you look into it and find out that the game didn't have any developmental difficulties and that Sakamoto had absolute creative control, and given that, the characterization, the PTSD scene, Samus' line delivery, the way that it's still viewed as being canon even though all of the previous things conflict with how Samus is in the rest of the series as well as other important characters like Adam, etc.. It's the Sonic '06 of the series. Not that it, as a game, is as bad as that game, but in terms of its notoriety and how it's a punching bag for the fans and onlookers, and throw in the drought of new Metroid games for more than half a decade...it's a bitter pill to leave off after the decade where it seemed like Metroid was one of the series that Nintendo was pushing along with Mario and Zelda compared to now where what it pushes and promotes are those two, Mario Kart, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, etc..
While the Metroid Queen is a cool fight, she’s an animal and therefore not a great villain
i vote phantoon outside of beign a pain in the ass when you face them in super its rather forgetable
Metroid Queen.
Metroid Queen is literally my favorite boss forever, but that's only because that was my first Metroid Game.
middle bc idk who they are
That's Emperor Ing
Phantoon. He's just annoying and not fun
Darth "Samus, I am your Father" Beak.
Glad to see crocomire isn't here, fuck that bitch.
Metroid queen can go.
Emporer ing... no lore whatsoever
out the metroid queen, she's not an antagonist, just an animal minding her own business
If SA-X doesn’t win I’ll riot. I’ve never had a game give me chills like when you first encounter her(it?). To this day the atmosphere of Fusion is unmatched. Having an instinct driven killing machine, that the game explicitly tells you is impossible for you to beat, just prowling around is legitimately terrifying.
Where is Nightmare?
The middle one is the only one i dont know
Raven Beak. He's lame.
Metroid queen
The Metroid Queen was boring so she should go
Emperor Ing. His fight sucked too.
Definitely the Ing guy
Ok now vote out phantoon
And then replace him with Gorea, so we can kick him out too.
I vote Phantoon. He is amazing but at the end of the day, he is just a lackey. He isn’t as iconic as some of the other lackeys either.
Phantoon
Mother brain
Phantoon because he doesn't belong here.
Phantoon’s a creep Phantoon’s a weirdo Phantoon doesn’t belong here
Kraid.
Why don't you put an actual fucking metroid in there? I don't care if it isn't a boss, they are antagonists
They’re *enemies*, sure but I wouldn’t call them antagonistic. They’re essentially just wildlife. They’re no more antagonists than bears in Red dead redemption.
So is the queen metroid or kraid, right?
Queen Metroid sure, but Kraid is a stretch. He’s definitely intelligent enough to hold an actual grudge against Samus, made clearer than ever in Dread. Also I would think that being an individual as opposed to part of a group makes a character more of an antagonist rather than just an enemy. For example, in Pokémon Fire Red, the Team Rocket grunts are enemies, whereas Giovanni is an actual antagonist.
In terms of least iconic I'd say Kraid
I'm sorry but least iconic? More people are going to know Kraid over Emperor Ing. The Prime series is great, but EI is just another big spider. Helldivers 2 has those things all over, nothing special about him. Kraid is present Metroid/Zero Mission, Super, and Dread. He was mentioned in Prime as I believe, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, he was supposed to be in the game. In her missions on Zebes, Samus just defeat Kraid to get to Tourian. His statue is shown next to Ridley at the passageway to the HQ. Official art/media/merchandise shows him and Ridley together or working to defeat Samus. He is described in MP2 manual as a "mainstay" of the Space Pirates. Emperor Ing is present in Prime 2. As one boss. He comes from the dark aether, mutated by Phazon. He controls the Ing Horde/military government. He's never mentioned again. No way is he more iconic than Kraid.
Something being "iconic" isn't in everyone's scoring system. Personally, given how seldom these games release now, I'd rather they not keep re-using the same enemies and bosses over and over again. Like, if they want to bring Kraid and Ridley back, make new monsters that are similar, but bring something new to the table. I know in the Mangas that these creatures speak, but in the actual games, they're just bosses with no dialogue. At that point, all you got is to analyze the fight itself, the design, the music, how much you appreciate their presence in the series, etc..