I Love a Girl in Power Armor

Samus Aran has always been one of my favorite characters in video game history. Samus is calm, stoic, efficient, capable, and calm. I think that she's the best representation of the female gender in video games. Yet, that's rather unfortunate.

For as awesome as I think that Samus is, she seems to be represented by the fact that she's a girl. Most promotional art of Samus accentuates her femininity to a rather excessive degree. For example, this piece of promotional art for Super Smash Brothers Wii U:




That's a rather sexy looking walk for someone who has suffered the loss of her parents right in front of her, fought and defeated a legion of space pirates, nearly exterminating an entire species, nearly losing her life several times, and a trained killer.

When I was first introduced to Samus, I like most other people did not know that she was indeed female. The first Metroid game that I ever played was Metroid II: The Return of Samus, for the original Gameboy. It was my favorite game to play. I loved to explore and go deeper and deeper into the planets core, fighting off the terrible monsters that dwell there. I always thought that the main character was a robot, with some kind of sense of morality, whose goal was to find and kill all of these terrible creatures for the good of the galaxy. I first learned of the characters name while looking at the instruction booklet to the first Super Smash Brothers game for the Nintendo 64. My brother then told me that Samus was her actual name, and that she was a girl as well. My response was that of awe, then something to the extent of "huh." as her being female wasn't really that big of a deal to me. I still loved Metroid, and all of the games that came out for the series, as I've played most of them. Samus became one of my favorite characters.

However, I must admit that I would not want to meet Samus in real life. I've built her up in my mind as someone who doesn't talk much to anyone. Samus works alone, and she accomplishes most things on her own, in solitude. I'd imagine the interaction would be rather awkward and quick as she would most likely not have time for small talk as there is more than likely some planet that needs saving. I imagine Samus as being a stoic and aloof person. However, that isn't what most depictions of Samus seem to paint her as.

Back when the original Metroid came out, there was a big shock when the main character was revealed to be a woman. The ending, played well enough, revealed Samus standing in a bikini.




This makes it pretty obvious that Samus is indeed female, but the thing is, there are better ways to do this. In fact, here they are.

Here's one where she's just wearing a one-piece suit.



It's rather easy to tell that Samus is a woman, without accentuating her figure in a sexual way.

Here's another where Samus just has her helmet off.



Maybe this one doesn't get the message across quite as well, because it was still the 1980s and dudes with big hair was still kind of a thing.

Samus' sexuality was a pathetic reward for the most hardcore of players who were able to complete the game under the very particular requirements. Is this really how we should be treating the first major female character in a  video game?

Unfortunately the cycle continues with future installments of Metroid games. In Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo, Samus got fleshed out a bit and became more of a character than a vehicle. Super Metroid is hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, and rightfully so. That game rules. However, with greater technology, come better graphics. Which the developers didn't hesitate to use toward fleshing out other aspects of Samus



Why does Samus have to lose all of her armor, and reel back as if she were in throes of ecstasy as opposed to pain. Why not just remake the death from the original Metroid, but more fantastic? What was wrong with this?





Griping aside, the sexuality of Samus is made further evident by the endscreen of Super Metroid.



YES WE GET IT! SHE'S A GIRL! Of course she would be fit, because she's an adventurer. Yet, I don't think that she would be wearing some kind of future space bikini. It just isn't practical. What would be more practical is some kind of suit that covers the entire body, and connects to the power armor in some way. Oh wait.....



This is kind of a double edged sword when it comes to the character design of Samus. It is practical, and it does suit her needs, yet it also shows off every possible curve of her body. I really do like Samus, and not because she's attractive. I like Samus because she manages to accomplish impossible odds, all on her own. She doesn't use clever one liners, or give any sass, because those things are unnecessary. Samus is brutally efficient, and that's part of what makes her such a cool character. She may be a lady, but she a ruthlessly cold bounty hunter.

Samus' sexuality has been used as a treat for every single one of the Metroid games. It really is pathetic. From the early days of the NES to the Gameboy



It gets worse with Metroid Fusion. Check out some of the bonus art, that is all official Nintendo license!












All of these are unlocked after beating Metroid Fusion. There are others that show Samus in her suit taking off her helmet, making the big reveal of "Samus is a girl", yet they still feel the need to include pictures of Samus, catching some R&R after a hard days work of being infected with a virus that nearly killed her, fighting off giant robots and abominations, killing a giant dragon (again), and barely escaping with her life. Don't get me wrong, I like to unwind a little after a hard days work, but I think I might be a little bit traumatized after the crazy things that transpired during that particular adventure. Conversely, the art that is unlocked in the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion shows Samus fully clothed, and reflecting on her past, remembering what it is that she's fighting for.

I just think that Nintendo is spoiling, what has the potential to be, a fantastic character. I know that Samus Aran is not my character, and I've built up a lot of her character in my mind. Though, I think that having a female character that isn't shoved around like some kind of sex object would be a really positive thing. I like the character of Samus that I've made up. She's kind of awkward, and quiet. She probably wouldn't know the right thing to say in a conversation. Samus should be some kind of stoic, estranged badass of a character, but instead we get all of this nonsense.

Samus is a girl, and a pretty one at that. She can dress however she wants. Even though she can't, because she's a video game character, designed by a bunch of dudes. That's kind of sad. Also, how does she fit all of that hair into her helmet?

That's all for today! Hope you had a good new year. I'm looking forward to 2014.

Thanks for checking out my blog, see you next time!

P.S. I didn't include any citations from Metroid: The Other M, because it was not developed by Nintendo. It was made by Team Ninja, who is normally headed by Tomobu Itagaki, whose design philosophy is "unless there are elements of both sex and violence, then it is not entertainment". That guy's kind of a jerk, and although he wasn't around for the development of Other M, the game still sucked and it still adhered to that philosophy. Besides, if a Nintendo game isn't made by Nintendo, it doesn't count. The Legend of Zelda games had a few that weren't made by Nintendo, and we all know how that turned out.



SHUT UP!