Classic Sci-Fi Films That Inspired the Metroid Franchise

Metroid is Nintendo's answer to the sci-fi genre -- an exhilarating descent into alien worlds and suspenseful horror made all the more intense by...

By agramuglia

Published 4 years ago in Ftw

Metroid is Nintendo's answer to the sci-fi genre -- an exhilarating descent into alien worlds and suspenseful horror made all the more intense by the parasitic aliens living around the corner. However, the series often drew from established sci-fi culture. Here are ten specific elements from Metroid lifted from other works of sci-fi.

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Samus Aran is one of the most iconic video game heroines of all time. However, she would not be here if not for the presence of Ellen Ripley and Princess Leia Organa – two of the most iconic sci-fi heroines from the 70s and 80s. Ripley is a lone figure who wages a one-woman war against an alien race: the Xenomorphs. This is much like Samus’s missions that pit her against the Metroids. Get used to Xenomorphs, by the way. They come up a lot. Also, both Sigourney Weaver and Samus Aran are over six feet tall.

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However, Samus is also very similar to Leia Organa. Sure, appearance-wise Samus looks like a cross between Ripley and Leia, but one of Ripley’s most iconic early looks is basically a copy of one of Leia’s most iconic looks. Specifically, that bikini. Both Samus and Leia are strong female protagonists who in a very fan-servicey moment wear a bikini. This might sound general, but, given Samus’s physical similarities to Leia, this sounds almost like a reference.

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One direct reference comes in the form of Ridley, Samus’s adversary. Ridley’s name is very obviously taken from director Ridley Scott. Scott is most famous for directing the sci-fi films The Martian, Blade Runner, and – yes – Alien. Get used to seeing Alien here.
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Another similarity – yes, with the Alien franchise – is how the Metroids resemble the Facehuggers. Both alien races are parasitic life forms that latch onto your face. While the Metroids suckle your life juices from you, the Facehugger plunges an embryo into your system in order to reproduce. Both are considered dangerous.

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The Chozo themselves – especially their statues that you encounter throughout the game – also bear a strong similarity to the Space Jockey from the beginning of Alien, complete in design and appearance – or, at least, its exoskeleton. We would later see that the Engineer is a white humanoid, not a quasi-reptilian creature.
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In Metroid Fusion, the Federation uses a parasitic life form as a superweapon. This parasite – SA-X – infuses Samus’s space armor, resulting in it becoming a sentient life form that hunts Samus around. SA-X exists as a reference to multiple franchises. The Federation’s intended use for SA-X as a weapon is akin to how Weyland-Yutani from the Alien franchise tries to use Xenomorphs as weapons.
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On the other hand, SA-X’s ability to shape-shift and replace a target resembles both the Body Snatchers from Invasion of the Body Snatchers AND the Thing from John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing. In both cases, the alien parasite replaces a host and becomes something monstrous in its place.

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Metroid Prime introduces the Amorbis, a worm-like alien that burrows underground on Dark Aether. The Amorbis resemble two infamous worm aliens: the Sandworms from Dune and the Grabboids from Tremors. Though obviously they’re tied to the Dark Energy – much like how sandworms are tied to the Spice – they are more like the Grabboids in that they hunt by detecting vibrations through the ground and have a soft spot in their mouths through which they can be killed.
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There are of course numerous aliens in Metroid, many of which are insect-like. These feel often like an obvious parallel to Starship Troopers, the iconic novel by Robert E Heinlein. In fact, the presence of Space Marines at all can tie back to this iconic novel, written back in the 50s. The film Starship Troopers was later made in the 90s, but by this point, the novel had influenced the entire genre of military sci-fi. Including – yes – Aliens.
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The final bit of trivia is one of the most commonly known surrounding the Metroid series: the first four games in the series feature parallel plots to the first four Aliens films. Alien and Metroid centers on its protagonist answering a distress call on an alien world. The sequel follows that same heroine rescuing a child – Newt in Aliens and the Baby Metroid in Metroid II.

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Super Metroid features that child being sacrificed as the heroine destroys the evil once and for all. However, then Metroid Fusion and Alien: Resurrection comes around, where a genetic hybrid between the hero and the aliens emerges to cause havoc. It’s not a one-to-one similarity, obviously, but the similarities are hard to dismiss between the two franchises.