Editing Samus Aran

|caption      = [[File:MetroidSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert]]

|lastappearance= ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)}}'' (2023, cameo)

'''Samus Aran''' ({{ja|サムス・アラン|Samusu Aran}}, ''Samus Aran'') is the protagonist of the {{uv|Metroid}} series. Samus is the galaxy's most famous bounty hunter, thanks to her constantly helping the Galactic Federation in their fight against the Space Pirates. Samus is widely praised as one of Nintendo's most iconic heroes, and a groundbreaking example of proactive, powerful female protagonists in gaming.

Samus made her first appearance in ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'' (1986) for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The original game concepts for ''Metroid'' were done by director Makoto Kanoh and designer Hiroji Kiyotake. Much like [[Link]], Samus is largely silent during gameplay and acts as a conduit for the player. Unlike Link, she is occasionally given spoken dialogue or monologues, with her level of expressiveness varying between games. This carries over to both her incarnations in ''Super Smash Bros.'', where the "standard" Samus is completely silent (although the [[Galactic Avenger]] event description in ''SSB4'' is written as if spoken by her) and her [[Zero Suit Samus|Zero Suit]] self has a small number of spoken lines. ''Metroid: Other M'' attempted to introduce more personality, characterization, and backstory to Samus; however, the game's approach was poorly received by fans and critics, discouraging this kind of storytelling in future games. ''Metroid: Samus Returns'' and ''Metroid Dread'', in addition to subsequent ''Super Smash Bros.'' games (particularly through small amounts of characterization such as in {{SSBU|Ridley}}'s reveal trailer), would revert Samus to her traditional silent and stoic depiction, with body language helping to get her thoughts across. Samus is a hardened warrior who is fearless in the face of danger, willing to take on enemies much larger than herself. However, her refusal to kill the baby Metroid shows a softer, sympathetic, even maternal side of Samus, and her hopeful desires for peace. She also greatly respects her Chozo heritage, seen in ''Dread'' where, after Quiet Robe beseeches her to stop Raven Beak's plans, she responds in the language of the Chozo people with a promise to end the warlord's ambitions.

The first ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'' game saw Samus on her initial mission on the planet {{s|metroidwiki|Zebes}}, sent to stop the {{s|metroidwiki|Space Pirate}}s from harnessing the dangerous {{b|Metroid|creature}}s. Samus successfully carried out the mission by defeating [[Ridley]] and [[Kraid]], and finally destroying [[Mother Brain]], the mechanical lifeform controlling the Space Pirate fortress. The original ''Metroid'' kept Samus' gender a secret (with the intent of surprising gamers after they completed it); even the game's instruction manual refers to Samus as a male. However, clearing the game would unlock an ending where Samus would remove her Power Suit to reveal a bikini, and the well-known "JUSTIN BAILEY" cheat code would allow her to be playable in a leotard. Since then, almost every game in the series would depict an unsuited Samus in some way, typically as part of an ending sequence. In the game's remake, ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Zero Mission}}'', an epilogue allows the player to play as [[Zero Suit Samus]] for the first time. After being shot down during her escape from Zebes, she fights her way through a Space Pirate mothership to recover her new Power Suit and escape.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid II: Return of Samus}}'', Samus is sent to SR388, the homeworld of the Metroids, to exterminate them all after they were deemed too dangerous to exist. Samus accomplishes this mission, destroying even the Queen Metroid, but after completing this task, one last Metroid egg hatches and follows Samus as though she were its mother. Samus chooses to spare the baby Metroid, and decides to take it to the Ceres Space Colony. The game's story is retold and expanded upon in the remake ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Samus Returns}}'', most notably by having Samus and the baby Metroid encounter Ridley once again after the completion of her mission.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Super Metroid}}'', with the last Metroid in captivity, the galaxy is at peace. The human scientists study the Metroid, but just as Samus leaves the colony, it is attacked by the Space Pirates. Samus returns and witnesses Ridley making off with the infant Metroid. Samus chases him to Zebes where she once again defeats Kraid and Ridley, along with many other creatures, but is attacked by a giant Metroid on her way to Mother Brain. Recognizing Samus just in time, the Metroid, which was the previously captured baby Metroid, releases Samus, who goes on to confront Mother Brain once again. In a final epic battle, Samus fights Mother Brain, who is using a mechanical body, but is almost defeated. But she is saved by the baby Metroid at the last moment, though it is killed by Mother Brain. Using the Hyper Beam the Baby Metroid had taken from Mother Brain, Samus easily avenges her "first child"'s death and kills Mother Brain, then escapes Zebes before the entire planet explodes.

A ''Nintendo Power'' comic adaptation of ''[[Super Metroid]]'' was the first depiction of Samus's backstory, which was later fleshed out in the ''Monthly Magazine Z'' {{s|metroidwiki|Metroid e-manga}}. These comics established that she was born on the Earth colony K-2L to parents Virginia and Rodney Aran, the latter being a member of the Galactic Federation. When Samus was 3 years old, her parents were on a mission in the K-2L mines to retrieve a precious mineral known as Afloraltite when the Chozo arrived as observers. The Chozo quickly befriended Samus and left when they believed all was well. Soon after, the mining team were ambushed by the Space Pirates, led by a creature known as [[Ridley]]. While Ridley considered Samus cute when they first met, he decided to kill her out of mercy, but accidentally killed Virginia as she jumped between the two. A wounded Rodney then shot at the Afloraltite, causing it to explode, killing him and most of the space pirates. Anyone left alive quickly fled. The Chozo returned soon after to assess the damages when they came across Samus as the sole survivor of the incident. They decided to adopt the now orphaned girl and took her to planet Zebes. As she grew up, she trained with them and was given a Chozo Power Suit. Eventually, Samus left the planet and joined the Galactic Federeation, but quickly left due to her disagreements with the higherups over procedures and general distaste for authority, as well as an incident in which her superior officer, Adam, was forced to sacrifice his brother Ian to save a civilian shuttle, despite Samus' protests. Samus became a bounty hunter instead, and quickly developed a reputation as the best in the galaxy.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Fusion}}'', Samus is assigned to defend a research expedition on SR388 when she is infected by an X-Parasite, and subsequently crashes into an asteroid when she passes out in her ship. Unconscious, her suit is surgically removed due to the X-Parasite infecting it. Her life is saved only after she is given the {{s|metroidwiki|Vaccine "Metroid"}}, which was made from the Baby Metroid, giving her Metroid-esque qualities such as immunity to X-Parasites and weakness to cold. Her Power Suit is also massively altered into what is colloquially called the {{s|metroidwiki|Fusion Suit}}. After this, Samus is sent to the BSL Research Station to investigate an explosion in the Quarantine Bay. There, she encounters the SA-X, an X-Parasite that merged with her infected Power Suit. Learning that a rogue Federation branch is planning to clone Metroids as a bioweapon and secure the X-Parasites for the same purpose, Samus resolves to destroy both the station and planet SR388 to prevent such an outcome. Samus is able to complete the mission, sending BSL crashing into SR388 and escaping after absorbing the SA-X and destroying an escaped Omega Metroid.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime}}'', set between ''Metroid'' and ''Metroid II'', Samus investigated a Space Pirate distress call from the Frigate Orpheon. She discovered the Pirates had been studying a new form of mutagen called Phazon, and encountered Ridley, who was thought to have been destroyed in their initial battle. Samus pursued the reborn Meta Ridley to Tallon IV, where she learned that a meteorite had landed on the planet long ago, warping a Metroid into an evil creature known as Metroid Prime. Additionally, Samus learned of a Chozo colony that once made Tallon IV their home in order to seek a more spiritual existence, only for the Phazon to destroy them and corrupt their spirits. Samus searched through Tallon IV, uncovering not just Space Pirate research on the Phazon mutagen and the Metroid Prime itself, but Chozo lore as well, detailing their serene life on Tallon IV before their end. Samus tracked down the creature, once again destroying Ridley, and seemingly destroying Metroid Prime. Unbeknownst to Samus, Metroid Prime was reborn as [[Dark Samus]], taking on the bounty hunter's image after stealing one of Samus's Power Suit upgrades.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime Hunters}}'', Samus is sent to the Alimbic Cluster after Galactic Federation empaths intercept a message claiming that "Ultimate Power" lies in the center of it. Samus explores four separate areas: Alinos, Arcterra, Vesper Defense Outpost, and the Celestial Archives, and secures the Octoliths, keys to the Infinity Void, where the ultimate power was said to be. Other bounty hunters named Sylux, Trace, Noxus, Spire, Kanden, and Weavel, stand in her way, each seeking the ultimate power for their own ends. The message turns out to be a trap, an attempt by the monstrous evil being Gorea to escape Alimbic imprisonment. Samus, after securing an ancient Alimbic superweapon called the Omega Cannon, vanquishes Gorea and earns the respect of the Alimbic people.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 2: Echoes}}'', Samus was sent to the planet known as Aether to find a lost group of Federation troopers. It was there that Samus encountered [[Dark Samus]], a doppelganger of herself born from her Phazon Suit and the remains of Metroid Prime. A Phazon meteorite had struck Aether, splitting it in two at the dimensional level: one dimension being regular Aether and the other an oppressive world called Dark Aether, which boasted a literally corrosive atmosphere of evil. Samus went through the planet, destroying dark elements and reclaiming the light of Aether. With the help of the Luminoth species, Samus stood against the Dark Aether-born Ing creatures, destroyed Dark Aether and apparently Dark Samus as well, but her dark counterpart reformed above Aether orbit once Samus was out of the system.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption}}'', Dark Samus, now leading the Space Pirates, plots to corrupt the entire galaxy with Phazon, rendering them under her control. Samus also confronts Meta Ridley again. Dark Samus manages to "corrupt" Samus, along with three bounty hunter allies, Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda, while they are attempting to assist with the defense of Norion. The other three are sent off to 3 planets, Bryyo, Elysia, and the Space Pirate Homeworld. But they are completely corrupted and Samus is forced to kill them as she makes her way to the Space Pirate Homeworld. Once there, she and the Galactic Federation travel to the planet Phaaze where Samus defeats Dark Samus once and for all and wipes Phazon off the face of the universe. As Samus once more flies off into space to resume her life as a bounty hunter, an unknown ship (confirmed later on to be Sylux) follows behind her.

''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime: Federation Force}}'' marks Samus' first appearance in the series as a supporting character. During the events of the game, Samus is hired to investigate the Bermuda System, a three-planet system with abandoned Galactic Federation resources. As the mech suit-equipped members of Federation Force are already undertaking missions there, Samus occasionally intervenes to assist them. Samus eventually discovers that the Space Pirates are building a "strategic weapon", the battleship ''Doomseye'', to attack Federation headquarters; however, she is kidnapped and brainwashed, and serves as the game's final boss under Space Pirate control. Once freed from the brainwashing, Samus helps the Federation troopers escape from the ''Doomseye'' and rescues them from the void of space using her [[gunship]].

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Other M}}'', which is set just after ''Super Metroid'', Samus responds to a distress signal from the Bottle Ship, a Galactic Federation research station. There she reunites with Adam Malkovich, her former commander in the Galactic Federation, and his platoon. Samus soon discovers that the scientists on the Bottle Ship were creating illegal bioweapons from the Space Pirates and their technology, but they had broken out and the ship was riddled with monsters. She later discovers that they had used the remnants of the Baby Metroid from Zebes, which were attached to her suit, to create Metroids for use as bioweapons. However, in order to control them, they created an android with Mother Brain's AI, naming her "MB." When the MB began to develop emotions and opposed the Bottle Ship scientists' policies, she was scheduled for reprogramming. She tried to protect the Metroids when everyone else wanted to destroy them and abandoned the project, leading to chaos throughout the Bottle Ship. In the end, Adam sacrifices himself to kill the remaining Metroids, Samus destroys the Metroid Queen, and the Galactic Federation kills MB. Samus is able to leave the Bottle Ship with Anthony Higgs (a Federation Platoon 07 survivor and an old friend) and Madeline Bergman (a surviving scientist and MB's former companion). After Samus leaves, the Galactic Federation decides to destroy the Bottle Ship via self-destruction. Samus is allowed to return to secure Adam's armor helmet, which she succeeds in after a brief battle with Phantoon. Samus makes her escape just as the station is destroyed.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Dread}}'', which is set after ''Metroid Fusion'', Samus is dispatched by the Galactic Federation to ZDR, having received supposed video evidence of X-Parasites on the planet despite their supposed destruction in the BSL. As the only being in the universe with immunity against the X Parasites, Samus seeks to uncover whether they truly still exist. Soon after arriving on ZDR, Samus encounters a hostile, living Chozo named Raven Beak, leader of the warmongering Mawkin tribe (who previously appeared in the Chozo Memories of ''Metroid: Samus Returns''). Raven Beak attacks her and steals her abilities, though a new power awakens in Samus enabling her to temporarily escape his grasp. As she wakes up and explores the planet in search of a way back to her ship, Samus encounters the E.M.M.I. robots, which have gone rogue and now seek to kill her and extract her DNA. A friendly Chozo chieftain, Quiet Robe (leader of the peaceful Thoha, rival tribe to the Mawkin) warns Samus of Raven Beak's plans to dominate the galaxy using the power of the Metroids, with Samus vowing to stop him. Samus' latent Metroid abilities begin to awaken, one of many side effects of the Chozo DNA granted to her by Raven Beak along with the "Metroid" vaccine that saved her from the X. This culminates in Samus obtaining the Metroid Suit and unleashing tremendous, but wild power, destroying Raven Beak, the remaining X and ultimately, ZDR itself. Samus' new condition almost dooms her when she nearly drains her ship's batteries inadvertantly, but an X-possessed Quiet Robe restores her original condition, allowing her to escape once more.