Samus Aran

Samus Aran (Japanese: サムス・アラン, Hepburn: Samusu Aran) is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano and introduced in the first Metroid (1986) for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Raised by the birdlike Chozo and infused with their DNA, Samus is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who became a galactic bounty hunter. She uses a powered exoskeleton that is equipped with an arm cannon that fires directed-energy weapons and missiles. She executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation and the Chozo, and is tasked with hunting various antagonistic forces, including the Space Pirates and their leader Ridley, the cybernetic supercomputer Mother Brain, the energy-draining X Parasites and Metroids, and the rogue Chozo warrior Raven Beak.

Samus appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. She also features in other media, including films, manga series, and the comic book continuation of the television series Captain N: The Game Master. As one of the earliest female video game protagonists, Samus is noted for her role in establishing positive gender representation in video games, though her portrayal in Metroid: Other M received criticism.