Samus Aran

0:17 Samus Aran is the hero of every Metroid game: a bounty hunter "raised by mysterious creatures," as Nintendo's own Dread trailer puts it, who has faced Space Pirates, Metroids, Phazon and the X parasite since 1986. She is human by birth, part Chozo through a DNA transfusion in childhood, and part Metroid since the vaccine that saved her in Metroid Fusion; in Metroid Dread that Metroid side woke up, and Metroid Ravenous is built around it. The original game hid that she was a woman until its ending. She has spoken in only a handful of games, which makes her narration in the Ravenous trailer the biggest change to her in years.

Quick facts

Sources: GameRant, Jun 7, 2025; Siliconera, Dec 2, 2016; OpenCritic (TheGamer), Dec 3, 2025.

Where Samus comes from

0:27 Samus was born on K-2L to Rodney and Virginia Aran. When she was three, Space Pirates led by Ridley raided the colony and killed both parents. The Chozo took her in and raised her on Zebes, where Old Bird trained her and became a father figure, and they infused her with Chozo DNA, which also lets her use the Chozo technology scattered across the galaxy, as GameRant's lore video tells it. This childhood comes from a Japanese manga rather than from the games themselves.

1:09 As an adult she joined the Galactic Federation Police under Adam Malkovich, a commander she clashed with but came to respect, and later left to work as an independent bounty hunter whom the Federation keeps hiring. After Adam's death, GameRant says, she modeled her ship's AI on him, and the computer that guides her in Fusion is called Adam. Their history is the core of Metroid: Other M.

The reveal: a woman in the suit

The first Metroid did not tell players who was inside the armor until its endings, which depended on how fast you finished. In Nintendo's NES Classic developer interview, director Yoshio Sakamoto recalled that a staff member suggested near the end of development that it "would be a shocker" if Samus were a woman, and the team agreed at once; designer Hiroji Kiyotake said they decided "in a flash" to have her take off her helmet or suit, with four endings based on clear time (Siliconera, Dec 2, 2016). Clear-time endings have stayed: Dread unlocks different artwork for finishing under four or eight hours (Inverse).

Her suits

3:42 The Power Suit is Chozo work. In Zero Mission's added epilogue Samus loses it, crosses the Pirate mothership in the Zero Suit, and wins a new suit in the ruins of Chozodia, which GameSpot's timeline video notes is where we learn the Chozo made it. The suits that matter most:

7:53 The Metroid Suit is the one Ravenous is selling: the Special Edition's amiibo is "Samus (Metroid Suit)," and Nintendo's copy talks of "the overwhelming power of her Metroid Suit" (Nintendo). Dread speedrunner Charlotte Aranea, frame-counting the trailer, describes it as slimmer than Dread's, with no arm cannon and a blade at the hand. More on Metroid Ravenous Gameplay and Abilities.

Chozo, then Metroid

6:00 Samus's DNA has changed twice. In Fusion, an X infection nearly kills her and doctors save her with a vaccine made from the baby Metroid's cells, "so now Samus is part human, Chozo, and Metroid," in GameRant's words, and immune to the X. In Dread, Raven Beak lures her to ZDR to awaken those Metroid genes and use her as a weapon; the gene wakes, and he loses to it (Metroid Dread Ending Explained). Ravenous builds its combat on what is left: Nintendo's store page tells players to "use your newly awakened Metroid instincts to devour your foes."

We think Ravenous will make the Metroid side a cost as well as a power, an energy that drains her unless she feeds, because Dread's ending showed that very danger: Inverse's account of the ending has her unable to fly her ship without draining its power. Whether Nintendo goes that way is a prediction we will check at launch.

Samus's voice, game by game

1:14 For most of the series Samus has screams and grunts and no lines. That silence is deliberate: Dread producer Yoshio Sakamoto told GameSpot that the game's theme was dread, so Samus's state was shown "more with acting or visuals" (My Nintendo News, Oct 16, 2021). The exceptions are few, and The Orpheon's lore video lists the one that thrilled Dread players, "that awesome moment when Samus spoke in Chozo," a language she would know from her childhood.

The Prime credit is less firm than it looks. TheGamer wrote in December 2025 that Hale voiced Samus "throughout the Prime series," but Clark Wen, the audio director of Metroid Prime and Echoes, told an interviewer in 2021 that Nintendo recorded several actresses, rejected early placeholder screams as too "sensual," and that he is not sure Hale was the one used (NME, Oct 25, 2021).

1:08 Other M is the only game where Samus talks throughout. Jessica Martin told Nintendo World Report that she played two voices: a "detached" inner monologue looking back on events, and an urgent real-time voice in the action, and that she came to the role with no previous contact with Metroid. IGN's review of Metroid Prime Remastered still joked about Other M's dialogue in 2023.

0:48 Ravenous breaks the pattern again. Nin10doland notes that Samus "had one small line in Chozo language in Metroid Dread and a very long yell," and that the Ravenous trailer opens with her narrating. CGMagazine pointed out that she had not spoken like this since Other M (CGMagazine, Sep 9, 2026). Nintendo has not named the actor as of Nov 8, 2026.

0:14 We think the narration is in the game and not only in the trailer, as a short log at the start and at key moments in the style of Fusion's mission briefings, because the trailer's lines ("Getting back to the surface won't be easy") read like a mission report. We expect Nintendo to credit an English actor in the game's credits on Jan 28, 2027, and we would bet against the return of Other M-style cutscene dialogue.

Samus outside Metroid

Samus is one of the fighters of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where many players first meet her. She has her own amiibo for each recent Metroid: in Samus Returns, the Samus figure added a reserve tank for Aeion energy, per 3:39 Nintendo's overview trailer, and Ravenous adds two Samus figures, one in the Special Edition only (Metroid Ravenous amiibo).

Frequently asked questions

Who is Samus Aran?

Samus Aran is the bounty hunter of the Metroid series, a human orphan raised by the bird-like Chozo, who gave her their DNA and the Power Suit she wears.

Who voices Samus Aran in Metroid Ravenous?

Nintendo has not credited anyone for Samus's English narration in the Metroid Ravenous trailer as of Nov 8, 2026. Erin Yvette voiced her in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, according to that game's credits.

Does Samus talk in Metroid Dread?

Barely. Samus says one line in the Chozo language in Metroid Dread, voiced by Nikki García, and otherwise only screams and breathes, which producer Yoshio Sakamoto said was a deliberate choice for the game's theme of dread.

Why is Samus part Metroid?

Samus became part Metroid in Metroid Fusion, when a vaccine made from the baby Metroid's cells cured her X infection. Metroid Dread awakened those Metroid genes, and Metroid Ravenous builds its combat on them.

Is Samus a woman?

Yes. Samus Aran is a woman, which the first Metroid revealed only at its ending in 1986, an idea a staff member suggested near the end of development.

Sources

• Metroid Ravenous, Nintendo, as of Nov 8, 2026
• Metroid Ravenous, Out in January 2027, Gives Samus the Power to Devour, CGMagazine, Sep 9, 2026
• Metroid Prime 4's Credits Has Finally Revealed Samus' New Voice Actor, OpenCritic (from TheGamer), Dec 3, 2025
• Nikki García, la actriz de doblaje de Samus en Metroid, Vida Extra, May 28, 2024
• Nintendo rejected "sexual and sensual" Samus voice for Metroid Prime, NME, Oct 25, 2021
• Metroid producer explains why Samus is mostly silent in Metroid Dread, My Nintendo News, Oct 16, 2021
• What that explosive Metroid Dread ending means for the future of Metroid, Inverse, Oct 12, 2021
• Metroid Developers Discuss Why They Decided To Make Samus Aran A Woman, Siliconera, Dec 2, 2016
• Samus, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo
• Metroid Ravenous - Nintendo Direct 9.9.2026, Nintendo of America, Sep 9, 2026 (video)
• EVERYTHING You MISSED in the Metroid Ravenous Trailer!, Nin10doland, Sep 9, 2026 (video)
• Dread Speedrunner Analyzes Metroid Ravenous Trailer, Charlotte Aranea, Sep 10, 2026 (video)
• The Story of Samus Aran from Metroid - Bite-Size Lore, GameRant, Jun 7, 2025 (video)
• Solving Metroid Dread's story mysteries, The Orpheon, Apr 25, 2022 (video)
• Metroid Dread - Discover the Hunter Trailer - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo of America, Oct 28, 2021 (video)
• The Complete METROID Timeline Explained!, GameSpot, Oct 5, 2021 (video)
• Metroid: Samus Returns - Overview Trailer - Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo of America, Aug 24, 2017 (video)
• Metroid: Other M Jessica Martin Interview, Nintendo World Report, Dec 2, 2010 (video)