In the ’80s, gaming — especially action-adventure gaming — was largely marketed as a boys’ hobby, and developers believed players would connect best with strong, male heroes. The ‘hero’ would be a strong male character, valiantly striving to defeat an evil being. Usually, there would be a ‘damsel-in-distress‘, such as Princess Toadstool (later, Princess Peach) in Super Mario Bros. or Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda. It was a formula that gamers came to accept as normal, even in an era where there was very little in the way of characterisation in most games.
In 1986, Metroid broke this mould.
The game opened in a dark, alien corridor, where a lone, armoured bounty hunter appeared in the centre of the screen. Any gamer at the time would have naturally assumed a man was wearing that suit, but a secret lay hidden beneath. Beating the game with a time of under 2 hours and 58 minutes on the PAL version resulted in the now-legendary reveal of the unmistakably female Samus Aran underneath the armour. While the choice to show Samus wearing a leotard or a bikini based on time played resulted in some retroactive criticism, it shattered the perceptions of gamers at a time when the most famous female gaming protagonist was Ms. Pac-Man.
Her name was included in the sequel’s title, Metroid II: Return of Samus, but as in the first game, the only acknowledgment of her as a female protagonist came in the ending shot. However, the 1994 SNES title Super Metroid, one of the greatest video games ever made, would add layers to her character. Not only do we get expository dialogue from Samus’ perspective at the start of the game, the core of the plot revolves around the last of the Metroid creatures treating Samus as its ‘mother’, eventually resulting in it sacrificing itself to help Samus beat the final boss, Mother Brain.
This maternal bond adds an emotional depth rarely seen in action games of the era, redefining heroism through protection and sacrifice rather than sheer strength. This brief subtlety only bolstered Samus’ reputation as a ground-breaking example of a female protagonist.
Metroid Fusion, released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance, would also add depth to these themes. The main antagonist of the game is the SA-X, a copy of Samus herself devoid of emotion or sympathy, a contrast that highlights Samus’ own humanity. The game also features extensive internal monologues, giving us a window into Samus’ thoughts not seen in earlier titles.
As with Super Metroid, Samus is saved by creatures she rescued earlier in the game, namely animals she finds on the ship’s habitation deck. To get an unyielding computer system to comply with her demands, she appeals to its underlying programming, revealing that it contains the consciousness of her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Samus doesn’t just triumph because of her physical strength, she also uses her emotional intelligence and ability to connect with others.
However, things wouldn’t be so well executed in 2010’s Metroid: Other M. The game aimed to provide a more cinematic narrative, but in doing so, it fundamentally changed the perception of Samus’ character. In contrast to her traditionally independent and composed demeanour, Other M depicted her as emotionally fragile, particularly in her interactions with Malkovich. The game framed her respect for Adam in a way that made her seem overly submissive, and in a particularly reviled moment, she hesitated in terror when encountering the boss Ridley despite having defeated it multiple times before.
Many fans and critics saw this as a regression, as it undermined the self-reliant and quietly confident persona Samus had embodied for decades, and made her seem more like a damsel-in-distress than ever before, although the attempt at further characterisation was respectable.
Even after the missteps of Other M, Samus remains one of gaming’s most enduring and respected female protagonists. She’s not just eye candy for a male audience, she’s a fleshed-out, intelligent, and deeply human character, who uses both traditionally male and female traits to succeed and persevere. In the ending of the latest entry of the series, Metroid Dread, we see her fully embracing her connection to the Metroid species while maintaining her autonomy, a unique twist on her character and a reminder that she is still one of the most compelling protagonists in video game history — regardless of gender.
