Proteus Ridley - Blog Posts

I have a (baseless) hunch as to why that may be. MercurySteam, the studio behind it, and subsequently Dread, first pitched Sakamoto on a remake of Metroid Fusion. Sakamoto turned the concept down, as he thought that Fusion needed no improvements at that age. Instead, he proposed that a remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus would be more needed. Thus Metroid: Samus Returns was made. I am not too knowledgeable in game design so this may be fairly baseless, but I suspect that part of the initial pitch involved concepts and ideas for a Neo Ridley boss fight. If that were the case, it stands to reason that they may have attempted to utilize the work that they were proud of and Sakamoto liked in the game they ended up actually making. So they gave him a couple of cybernetics, sent him after the last Metroid, and called it a day. It would make the third phase of his boss theme, which has the tempo of Neo Ridley’s theme, a fun callback. Once again, I could be just way out there and overstepping.

what a weird way to end an otherwise great game. that ridley fight was there for no reason and makes super really weird, the metroid baby gets kidnapped by the guy samus killed like 20 minutes ago. samus returns is a really good game apart from that.

And now for part 3! I have finally learned how to collapse text (is that the right word?) so that this will be much less cluttered. I love seeing all the tags in reblogs mulling over the specifics here. It’s always great to see these ideas leaving an impact.

Day 15: Nemesis

System Stress Alert

“Warning: Cortisol at dangerously high levels. Continued use of Power Suit can result in endocrine-

Warning: Stress levels continuing to rise. Please cease use of this Power Suit to avoid systemic-

Warning: Power Suit Emergency shutdown initiated. Due to critically high stress levels, wielding of weapons grade force multipliers has been deemed unsafe for you and anyone in your vicinity. Reactivation can be initiated once stress levels have subsided to stable levels.”

Day 16: Hatchling

Recommendation on Adaptation Procedure on Human Child

“The life readings of the child, Samus Aran, have stabilized for the fourth time. However, according to various shamans, spiritual harmonics remains an issue. This is likely due to her traumatic past before arriving in our care. In spite of being sedated too heavily to dream, and being supplied air filtered for human consumption, she can still, somehow, feel the pain of her past. This is an issue that must be resolved once she leaves sedation. As it stands, this is an area of healing which I can only offer minimal assistance in.

Nevertheless, preparations are being initiated for gene tailoring and conjoining. A problem still remains. Much of the Chozo bloodline on Zebes has become too old and frail to provide samples not liable to produce genetic defects. The only individual on Zebes who is not in too great a state of atrophy is Grey Voice. However, without multiple donors, genetic aberrations are likely to occur unpredictably. Without a second donor, regular genetic tailoring procedures will be required in order to stabilize any potentially hazardous mutations or cancers. To solve this issue will require political discussions with another Hasana.”

Day 17: Proteus

Administrator Command Log of Aurora Unit 059

“System Plugin initiated.

Please input credentials

Response: System Admin Proteus

Administrator Identity Confirmed. All functions available.

Command: Initiate Self Destruct Sequence

Initiating Self Destruct. Alerts placed to all personnel onboard. Evacuation Procedure Underway.

Command: Expedite

Timer reduced to thirty seconds.

Command: Quarantine

All access to exits now blocked without valid confirmation.”

Day 18: Thief

Space Pirate Archeological Report

“We have successfully located and secured one of the three artifacts needed to unlock the seal around the meteorite. The so called ‘Artifact of Study’ appears to be a miniature display of a solar system. Studies have begun on the artifact by science team to discern what its functionality may be in the seal’s mechanism. With sufficient study, we may be able to unlock the seal without locating the other two artifacts. This will be very beneficial to our time table and personnel resources. It took expenditures of 17 teams in order to obtain our first artifact, due to both the physical traps and defenses surrounding the artifact as well as the presence of one or more spectral entities. Regardless of if opening the seal takes study of the first artifact, or capture of the other two, we are closer than ever before to gaining access to the crater.”

Day 19: Sinewy

Combat Scan of Meta Ridley

“Various armor plates have been damaged, revealing fleshy layer beneath. Ridley is still undergoing a healing process from the confrontation on Zebes. Various areas destroyed during the battle have begun to regenerate, such as the eyes, tongue, internal organs, wings, and arms. This regeneration is not fast enough to overcome direct arms fire. Recommend targeting these weak points.”

Day 20: Tail

Scan of Space Pirate Carcass

“Unlike many other corpses on the Orpheon, this does not appear to be the work of Space Pirate bioweapons. The lacerations have severe heat trauma within the wounds. The killing blow dealt to the torso has begun to melt the internal organs through excessive burning. Whatever was in the blade that pierced this individual’s chest was at least 475°F.”

Day 21: Deceptive

Last Words of a Lone Chozo

“To any who may read this message, Mother Brain has betrayed us. Even as the battle raged on Zebes’s surface, she refused to call for aid. Little did we know she was communicating to find some arrangement with the Space Pirate commander, the demon. I have retreated into Norfair, separated from my kin. I have no food or water. I do not expect to live for long. The demon and his minions come for me, aided by the betrayer. Safe havens have become kill houses. Security doors have become open halls. I have no protection, no weapons, no armor. But I will ensure that the world knows this. The Chozo did not sit idle as we were slaughtered. A great betrayal cut us down. The one we relied on turned our own world against us. I am Onyx Vow, and Mother Brain is not one of us.”

Maytroid 2024 is here!

I am so excited to get to work on these new prompts. Last year, my entries for each day were fairly sloppy, and I was new to the series, so I was lacking a fair bit of information. Now, I’m armed with more knowledge and am eager to use it.

For those who haven’t seen what I did for Maytroid last year, what I’m going to be doing instead of art is something more writing focused. These little text entries are mostly styled after the scans from the Metroid Prime series. Matter of fact, this new set of prompts actually lends itself much better than last year’s, as I have a lot more leeway to play to my own strengths than last year (I still don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do with Gorea). These are all canon to my own Metroid AU currently, though as things change in development, these may become out of date. They will give the vibe my stories are going for, but these shouldn’t be held to as the absolute canon for them. I’ll be posting these week by week, around 7 at a time, starting today.

Day 1: Ridley

Transcript of Security Footage

Several individuals in this footage cannot be identified at this time. They shall be identified as Pirate 1, Pirate 2, and Pirate Major.

Ridley: What I want to know… is why he is not in custody.

Pirate Major: I gave them their orders, they knew he was to be brought in alive, and instead they killed him.

Pirate 1: You told us to take care of him! We thought you meant an execution, not milk and cookies!

Pirate Major: Insolent Wretch! You say such things about your orders in front of our Commander?! You know how we handle that sort of insubordination!

Pirate 2: Cool it, we’re already in hot water.

Pirate 1: We’re in hot water because of the life of some winy little nobody that begged for his life with money he didn’t even have.

Ridley: While your insolence is… aggravating… I am willing to forgive this misstep.

Pirate Major: What?

Ridley: He was an insignificant pawn. We can always find another. As I was saying, I am willing to forgive this on one condition. Did he die in pain?

Pirate 2: Yes. He did suffer before he died.

Ridley: What methods or torture did you employ?

Pirate 1: Waterboarding. Works wonders on humans. I always liked how they sound when they cough and gasp for air.

Ridley:Mmmmm… was blood shed before his end?

Pirate 2: Yeah. My partner here has… quite the way with knives.

Ridley: Do tell.

Pirate 1: Slashed his wrists. Those arteries gush lots of blood from humans. And we started pulling teeth when he lied.

Ridley: Delicious. You have escaped capital punishment, but you will still be serving as guards for the Metroid containment units. For further forgiveness, you will need to be more creative with your implements. I find Revine’s death, by your account, to be quite dull. Your are dismissed, unless you wish to enlighten me further.

Day 2: Fiery

Scan of Pipe System in Norfair

“These pipes appear be delivering superheated magma into the Norfair region. Given the proximity to Ridley’s personal quarters, likely explanations include terraforming the area for Ridley’s own comfortability, additional protective measures, or the intentional destruction of Chozo artifacts not deemed useful. The latter is most likely, as the immediate area was once a Chozo burial tomb. It is now completely submerged in magma, disintegrating much of the artifacts within.”

Day 3: Winged

Scan of SA-X Mutations

“This X-Parasite copy has suffered some form of destabilization of its copying abilities. Abnormalities include a malformed, beak like structure around the mouth, several atrophied fingers, several hypertrophied fingers, small patches of feathers, and an extraneous structure protruding from its back resembling a Chozo wing bereft of feathers. These unusual deformities could be the result of DNA infusions during childhood complicating the process of anatomical replication within X-Parasite offspring. This individual seems to suffer great stress from its predicament, but it is unsafe to assume that its combat functionality is greatly hampered. Adaptation is this species’s main trait.”

Day 4: Pirate

Scan of Space Pirate Elite

“Subject is a member of an unknown species known only from individuals working within Ridley’s special operations group, The Revenants. This group acts as Ridley’s personal enforcers and assassins, fanatically worshipping their commander as a literal God of Death. They wield melee weapons personalized to their unique fighting styles. Each weapon is charged with electricity, giving them an additional ranged attack capability. They have operated since before the Galactic Federation, making a name for themselves in fighting Chozo warriors. Their endurance, agility, and strength cannot be overstated, in spite of their gaunt appearance.”

Day 5: Mecha

Scan of automaton codenamed Mecha Ridley

“Subject is a battle ready drone, seemingly created by Ridley’s fanatical special forces, the Revenants. Mecha Ridley is heavily weaponized, as there could be no altar to the God of Death without the ability to take a life. Weapons include flamethrowers, guided munition launchers, and superheated claws. Mecha Ridley’s armor is highly durable, but greatly hampers mobility compared to its inspiration. Additionally, as a cult idol of worship, advanced artificial intelligence was not prioritized during production. Mecha Ridley displays average combat intellect for a war drone. Recommend staying moving and outsmarting the automaton.”

Day 6: Fang

Scan of Rundas’s Necklace

“Rundas appears to have begun collecting Metroid Fangs as trophies since last he was approached. Assuming one fang was taken from each Metroid he has eliminated, he has defeated 15 Metroids in the two months since he was last seen. Unfortunately, his ego has grown with his kill count.”

Day 7: Cunning

Scan of Abandoned Home

“Old Bird and Grey Voice’s abandoned home has been left mostly in tact, minus the usual signs of neglect. However, there appear to be a plethora of traps lain around the home. Various grapple snares have been detected, alongside explosive charges, beam emitters, and microphones. Much of these systems appear to be inert, and once reported directly to Mother Brain. It is clear she anticipated you might return here before confronting her. Given her destruction, several trap systems remain completely dormant. Still, any approach must be made with great caution.”

I feel like this more sympathetic tone towards them could have made Ridley’s appearance in Metroid: Samus Returns a bit more impactful by having him be a sort of narrative symbolism for the use and abuse of the Metroids by higher powers who wanted to play god. Maybe start the game with Samus delving into the desolate, barren husk of a landscape that is SR388. The planet is cold and dead on the outside, dust fluttering about in the wind, harkening back to all the dry, lifeless bodies left behind in the wake of the rampaging Metroids we’ve seen throughout the series. As she delves deeper into the underground cave networks, it becomes clear that, while many have become terrifying, dangerous predators, there is an ecosystem that some that aren’t Ridley may call beautiful. There are creatures that take on different roles in the food chain, with different mutations of Metroids having many different roles in this natural, albeit highly competitive, web of life.

Maybe have some monologues about the tragedy of it all. The capabilities of these creatures are sure to be exploited if ill-intentioned people acquire them, and moving an entire, dangerous ecosystem off world simply not be feasible for a simple Bounty Hunter, even one of such renown as Samus Aran. It’s a very unique dilemma to explore. Either kill an entire ecosystem of innocent creatures, or let them live and possibly end up with your inaction causing hundreds, even thousands of deaths in the long run, all passing on in incredible agony.

Then, all is said and done. An entire biological order has been wiped from existence. The Queen Metroid, which spawned all this blooming life like a goddess of creation, has been slain. With her gone, the possibility of an ecosystem of this type is gone forever. But one Metroid remains. A single, lone hatchling, oblivious to all of Samus’s terrible deeds on this world, innocent and friendly. The possibility still remains. The Space Pirates have already succeeded in asexually multiplying Metroids to orders of magnitude of their original supplies in the past. This one single specimen could make a legion if it falls into the wrong hands.

But this is a child. A lone child, without its mother, sitting in an afterglow of ash and death, with none of its kind left for hundreds of light years. It looks up hopefully to a stoic, alien figure, sigils in its technology baring the mark of the Chozo. Quite familiar, no?

As Samus and the last child of the Metroids leave this barren waste behind, she believes that maybe some good can come of this. If nothing else, she has done some small favor for this weary conscience of her’s.

Then, who else should show to complete the metaphor but the Cunning God of Death himself? Contrasting Samus’s gentle approach with the baby Metroid, Ridley is brutal, shrieking alien obscenities at this frightened child, beating it into submission as it fights back against his taloned grasp. This is the face of heartless control and abuse, this is the face of those who made the Metroids an enemy to life in the galaxy. They used these animals to commit atrocities, like throwing the condemned to a pack of starved wolves. This is what playing god looks like. And now the Hunter must cut him down to size.

Really nice thing about Metroid as a series? The Metroids themselves are both presented as incredibly terrifying creatures with the after-effects of their lifeforce draining being showcased disturbingly, particularly in Super Metroid and Prime 3 (GFS Valhalla, anyone?) yet the overall narrative framing of them still makes it pretty clear that nothing in the series is really their fault, the danger they pose is entirely due to outside factors like the Space Pirates and Phazon. Even though them starting to show up in any given game is usually a sign that you're entering The Hard Part, they're still just creatures at the end of the day and treated very sympathetically; Space Pirates abusing them is specifically called out in some of the Prime 2 scan entries.