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Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identity

Posted Feb 23, 2011 at 3:38AM EST by Mabie A.

Listed in: Wii Tags: Metroid, Nintendo
Ó

Samus Aran, the enigmatic heroine from the beloved Metroid franchise, has always had a mysterious air about her. This mystery, apparently, did not only bother gamers, but also people working in the franchise themselves. As it turns out, only one man held the key to her identity, and that would be co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto.

 

 

 

 

Senior locatlization manager/ primary writer for Metroid Prime, Nate Bihldorff, had pinpointed Sakamato as "the only one who really knows" Samus. Talking to Shinesparkers, he said, "We're dealing with a beloved seires that's almost 25 years old, and since Metroid has traditionally been extremely light on exposition, fans have filled in a lot of the blanks with their own imaginations."

 

 

 

 

He furthered, "Mr. Sakamoto is the only one who knows who she really is, and his vision for her and her voice was always going to be different than the character people had built in their heads." He also delved into the formed notion about Samus's personality, particularly by critics, that she lacks the balls, and that she heavily depends on authority in order for her to function (spoilers included, so tread carefully ahead).

 

 

 

samus_years

 

 

 

"For me, Samus's detached monologue speaks to the reticence of a wounded character, one scarred by the tragic events of her childhood. The glimpse of the pain and fear she carries -- shown in the flashback scene when she sees Ridley -- is not a sign of weakness, but of strength."

 

 

 

 

"People who call out that scene as anything but empowering are kind of missing the point, in my opinion -- she does end up torching Ridley, after all. There is no courage without fear, in my mind, and knowing that Samus overcomes that repressed terror makes her all the more heroic than someone who plods forward without a hint of humanity."

 

 

 

 

Bihldorff has got more interesting things to say about Samus and the Metroid franchise, so for the rest of the full interview, just head on over to the source link below.

 

 

 

 

 

Via [Shinesparkers]

 

 



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Comments 


 
# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identityMabie A. 2011-02-23 06:06
what do you think of his explanation on samus's personality? did you see her in the same way too?

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# ...Fuzzy Palms 2011-02-23 09:03
Sakamoto needs to fall off a cliff, he can believe what he wants, but he is a terrible writer, no matter how he explains it in his own head it doesn't change that he made Samus look like a submissive masochistic 12 year old with emotional issues up the yin yang. I understand what he wanted with Other M, and not only was that already a bad idea, but he played it out in the most horrible way he can! He made Samus look like an obsessive creep who wants to bang her father figures brains out after getting shot in the back multiple times actually and figuratively; he basically created the most poisonous relationship in gaming between Samus and Adam. If I wanted a hero who cries and whines about everything and is easily pushed around id go watch a Saturday morning cartoon, but I wanted a hero who was basically Ripply from the Aliens Series in the Iron Man Suit.

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# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identitySniphles 2011-02-23 09:04
The way I imagined Samus is fairly hard to explain.

Basically, in my mind, Samus is a complicated mix of aspects. These aspects would be as such: Attractive, passionate, caring at times, possibly stern at times when assertiveness is necessary to get the job done, and 100% badassery ALL the time. Some one who may fall into a frightening situation even for herself, but pulls through in the end because it's her only choice. And most certainly not someone who would let their friends get hurt because they're afraid, but instead someone who would protect them at all costs.

Sure she may follow orders if requested to, but she would not go through a fucking volcano without the Varia Suit because it wasn't "authorized".

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# Other Mhypercoyote360 2011-02-23 10:15
I actually thought Other M did a great job, that was almost exactly how I had pictured Samus to be honest.

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# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identity8675309 2011-02-23 18:08
thisd is not the 1st nintendo franchise to have inconsistent story lines example loz

Reply
 

 
# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identityHeath 2011-02-24 07:39
I understand what he was doing, but it didn't work. It really was his execution. He can "believe" he is the only person who knows Samus, but when the vast majority of not just critics but fans from around the world say "You're WRONG", guess what? You're wrong. Adapt, and understand the character is no longer yours but everyone's, or get out of the business.

Personally, I always liked the idea of Samus being a very hardened, almost masculine-in her personality, kind of character not because she's some kind of hero, but because she's the opposite. Her experience scarred her, but I always imagined it scarred her on a psycological level. This experience as a child fucked her up, bad, and she never adjusted back into being a normal human afterwards, especially after being raised by Chozo. I imagine everything, from her solitary nature to her hatred of authority as being directly caused by her experience, keeping her from being able to relate to other humans. She's the heroine she is not because she's better, but because she's broken. And that's a far more beautiful picture of her than anything Sakamoto could come up with.

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# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identityHeath 2011-02-24 07:49
I understand what he was doing, but it didn't work. It really was his execution. He can "believe" he is the only person who knows Samus, but when the vast majority of not just critics but fans from around the world say "You're WRONG", guess what? You're wrong. Adapt, and understand the character is no longer yours but everyone's, or get out of the business.

Personally, I always liked the idea of Samus being a very hardened, masculine, and almost pathological in her personality. I imagine personally she being OCD, a control freak, serious serious issues that might be frightening to see her act out. And I think of her as this kind of character not because she's some kind of hero, but because she's the opposite. Her experience scarred her, but I always imagined it scarred her on a psycological level. This experience as a child fucked her up, bad, and she never adjusted back into being a normal human afterwards, especially after being raised by Chozo. I imagine everything, from her solitary nature to her hatred of authority as being directly caused by her experience, keeping her from being able to relate to other humans. But she uses that, she bottles it up and continues anyway, using her situation to do things no one else could possibly have the time, focus, and dedication to do. She's the heroine she is not because she's better, but because she's broken. And that's a far more beautiful picture of her than anything Sakamoto could come up with.

Reply
 

 
+1 # real nametrainwreck 2011-02-25 16:57
it's JUSTIN BAILEY ------ ------

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# RE: Sakamoto holds the key to Samus Aran's identityDro 2011-02-27 07:15
She's a woman!! of course its complicated

Reply
 

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