The Hunter

Recommended song:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKh6tS… (Assault on the Space Pirates from Metroid Zero Mission)

Samus had defeated Mother Brain, and was shot down by Space Pirates.  Stripped of her Power Suit and her weapons, she snuck her way through the nearby Space Pirate Mothership and the Chozo temple, narrowly avoiding detection along the way.  She entered a secret room and passed the test inside.  She was given a brand new Power Suit, complete with all the items she had before, plus the additional three she couldn’t use.  A wonderful remix of the item fanfare plays, followed by a heroic sped up version of Brinstar’s theme blaring throughout.  A bright purple flash fills the screen as Samus dons her new armor.  She emerges from the room, confronts two Space Pirates, and blasts them to smithereens in a single shot.

At this point, every voice in your head, and likely Samus herself, is screaming “The Hunter is back!  It’s payback time!”

I can’t describe how awesome that feeling is.  You simply must track down Metroid Zero Mission on GBA, and experience the game’s climax for yourself.  Or you can get it on the eShop to save yourself some time and money.  There are no words to do it justice.  It is bar none my favorite moment in the entire series.  This moment inspired me to create a level in Mario Maker replicating this event (which is titled Get Your Suit Back, appropriately enough). 

This picture was made to celebrate not only Metroid Zero Mission finally arriving on the eShop, but for clearing it with all the items collected in less than two hours, and on the hardest difficulty.  In addition to that, Metroid turns 30 this year!

I worked on this picture for more than three hours.  All the details in her suit made this difficult to draw.  I used one of the concept arts from Zero Mission for the pose, but I didn’t want her to wear the default Power Suit.  I decided she should be wearing the Gravity Suit, which is a palette swap of the Varia Suit in the 2D games.  It reduces damage you take, and makes you move through liquids easily.  It’s often the final suit you get, and Samus looks like a badass wearing it.  A Samus figure I bought at a con one year helped out a lot on the details.

 I would like to dedicate this picture to   and   They are three of my favorite Samus cosplayers.  Varia Suit or no, these girls portray Samus beautifully, and they all deserve recognition and praise.