Do we like them?

Do we like Samus Aran?

A character from Metroid (1986–2025)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, we'd back her. She's brave, resourceful and compassionate, and she keeps saving the galaxy for people who barely thank her. Her mercenary streak is the only blemish.

Samus Aran is the lead of Nintendo's Metroid series, which began in 1986. She lost her family as a child in a Space Pirate attack, and the Chozo raised her on planet Zebes. To stop the Space Pirates, the Galactic Federation turns to the most powerful bounty hunter in the galaxy: Samus. The games are mostly solitary exploration. She rarely speaks, and her actions do the talking.

She is a freelancer, not a Federation soldier. In Metroid Dread, a character notes that her bounty for the ZDR mission "does not seem appropriate", which shows she is paid per job. That's the "mixed" part of her score. Still, her record is hard to argue with. Nintendo describes her as a bounty hunter who has single-handedly confronted and defeated multiple galactic threats. She does it all with grit and very little fanfare.

What lifts her to a 9 is her heart. In the series, a newborn Metroid hatches in front of her and imprints on her as its mother. A cold mercenary would have just completed the job. She protects the hatchling and puts the galaxy's safety above her paycheque. Later games add real vulnerability: in Dread she is sometimes reduced to cowering in a corner, hoping the robot hunting her moves on. She is tough and also human.

The Metroid hatchling pays off emotionally. When Samus faces certain defeat at the hands of Mother Brain, the young Metroid bravely sacrifices itself to save her. She then destroys Mother Brain, the Space Pirates, and planet Zebes for good. Her later missions keep her paying for that bond, as Metroid-linked changes to her body keep shaping what she can do.