shoz999
Back when Tigers used to smoke.
A common trope in video games are "Dark" Doppelgangers. It's a very beloved trope in Japanese video game and is used to usually show the repressed emotions or "what if" version of a heroic character. So let's get started.
My personal favorite is not one that represents a "darker" clone of a hero but is actually an original villain that has taken a twisted darker shape modeled after that hero later on in the series. I'll give you a hint. This is a "she" and this "woman" laughs manically with a deep manly twisted voice. You probably know what I'm talking about and that is none other than Dark Samus who has one of the best boss themes. In fact, it'd be pretty far-off to describe Dark Samus as simply a dark doppelganger of Samus except in shape only.
Concept art of Dark Samus
Dark Samus didn't debuted as Dark Samus but was originally a monstrous being called the Metroid Prime, the final boss of the first Metroid Prime game. Metroid Prime is a massive metroid heavily mutated by the corrupting effects of Phazon, a mysterious infectious substance. When Samus defeats Metroid Prime, in a last desperate attack, Metroid Prime attempts to drag Samus with her only to take her suit instead. Samus quickly runs away as the temple holding Metroid Prime falls apart, thinking it's dead. Only what do you know, a twisted arm embedded with an eyeball pushes out of Metroid Prime's corpse. Metroid Prime is reborn as Dark Samus and is one of the most cruelest merciless and most terrifying Nintendo villains ever to live, always laughing at the death of others as you can only stand to watch in Samus's shoes.
You know how in sci-fi games, there's always a "alien zombie" infection going around like Halos Flood or Gears of Wars Lambent? Dark Samus is literally that but with personality and character. In fact it's thought that Gears of Wars Lambent is heavily inspired by Dark Samus's similar properties such as Phazon being both an infection and a fuel source. So what makes Dark Samus so utterly cruel? Whether it comes to allies or opponents, their lives hold absolutely no meaning to Dark Samus. She will never hesitate to kill her allies as seen when she killed and absorbed corrupted bounty hunters with Samus helplessly shooting her. According to the Space Pirates log, her cruelty extends to the fact that she order her Space Pirate forces to jettison the surviving crew members who helped destroyed a space ship called the G.F.S Valhalla into space. If you know who the Space Pirates are, they are arguably the main villains of the series often lead by Ridley or Mother Brain. Here. They are absolutely terrified of Dark Samus.
The only compassion she's ever shown for are Metroids itself, such as attempting to free Metroids or going on a murdering spree if her fellow Metroids get hurt as Dark Samus isn't really a Samus doppelganger but is actually Metroid Prime herself. Part of the reason for her kill intent is her endless neverending hunger for Phazon and she destroys anyone who gets in her way of satisfying her hunger through either absorbing a few corrupted bounty hunters or entire planets.
What's interesting about Dark Samus is how she actually progresses as a cruel villain. In the original Metroid Prime, she was an animalistic monster. In Metroid Prime 2, she took "human" form, having a cocky unstable, unpredictable maniacal personality whose boss battles leave so much chaos and destruction in it's path. Then we get to Corruption where Dark Samus has "matured". Dark Samus learned from her chaotic mistakes from being outsmarted by Samus too many times. She is no longer the unstable, unpredictable insane maniac we knew, she doesn't even laugh at you anymore but rather has this silent anger towards you or surprisingly maintained a rather calm presence at times rather than laughing at you. In Corruption, she's no longer the unstable laughing maniac but is now a smart cunning and calculating villain that is able to organize long-term planning with specific targets in minds. A lot of fans have theorized that Dark Samus was originally a concept villain called the "Mad AI" which matured from a villain called the "child" and into the "martyr", the "killer" and later the "mother" which is similar to how Dark Samus matures, some theorizing that as Dark Samus lives, she only gets smarter and smarter over time.
Other than a huge difference in character progression, there's also the matter of how Dark Samus fights. Many are familiar with Samus's gun n' missile fight style but Dark Samus is much more different as she has complete access to Phazon abilities. She can dive-crash like a missile herself into areas causing wide-radius explosions, she can create a tentacle of Phazon to keep a distance to those who get too close, she can regenerate and shield herself and she can also turn invisible, turn into a ghostly form, levitate and can create fake doppelgangers like something out of the Matrix.
My personal favorite is not one that represents a "darker" clone of a hero but is actually an original villain that has taken a twisted darker shape modeled after that hero later on in the series. I'll give you a hint. This is a "she" and this "woman" laughs manically with a deep manly twisted voice. You probably know what I'm talking about and that is none other than Dark Samus who has one of the best boss themes. In fact, it'd be pretty far-off to describe Dark Samus as simply a dark doppelganger of Samus except in shape only.
Concept art of Dark Samus
Dark Samus didn't debuted as Dark Samus but was originally a monstrous being called the Metroid Prime, the final boss of the first Metroid Prime game. Metroid Prime is a massive metroid heavily mutated by the corrupting effects of Phazon, a mysterious infectious substance. When Samus defeats Metroid Prime, in a last desperate attack, Metroid Prime attempts to drag Samus with her only to take her suit instead. Samus quickly runs away as the temple holding Metroid Prime falls apart, thinking it's dead. Only what do you know, a twisted arm embedded with an eyeball pushes out of Metroid Prime's corpse. Metroid Prime is reborn as Dark Samus and is one of the most cruelest merciless and most terrifying Nintendo villains ever to live, always laughing at the death of others as you can only stand to watch in Samus's shoes.
You know how in sci-fi games, there's always a "alien zombie" infection going around like Halos Flood or Gears of Wars Lambent? Dark Samus is literally that but with personality and character. In fact it's thought that Gears of Wars Lambent is heavily inspired by Dark Samus's similar properties such as Phazon being both an infection and a fuel source. So what makes Dark Samus so utterly cruel? Whether it comes to allies or opponents, their lives hold absolutely no meaning to Dark Samus. She will never hesitate to kill her allies as seen when she killed and absorbed corrupted bounty hunters with Samus helplessly shooting her. According to the Space Pirates log, her cruelty extends to the fact that she order her Space Pirate forces to jettison the surviving crew members who helped destroyed a space ship called the G.F.S Valhalla into space. If you know who the Space Pirates are, they are arguably the main villains of the series often lead by Ridley or Mother Brain. Here. They are absolutely terrified of Dark Samus.
The only compassion she's ever shown for are Metroids itself, such as attempting to free Metroids or going on a murdering spree if her fellow Metroids get hurt as Dark Samus isn't really a Samus doppelganger but is actually Metroid Prime herself. Part of the reason for her kill intent is her endless neverending hunger for Phazon and she destroys anyone who gets in her way of satisfying her hunger through either absorbing a few corrupted bounty hunters or entire planets.
What's interesting about Dark Samus is how she actually progresses as a cruel villain. In the original Metroid Prime, she was an animalistic monster. In Metroid Prime 2, she took "human" form, having a cocky unstable, unpredictable maniacal personality whose boss battles leave so much chaos and destruction in it's path. Then we get to Corruption where Dark Samus has "matured". Dark Samus learned from her chaotic mistakes from being outsmarted by Samus too many times. She is no longer the unstable, unpredictable insane maniac we knew, she doesn't even laugh at you anymore but rather has this silent anger towards you or surprisingly maintained a rather calm presence at times rather than laughing at you. In Corruption, she's no longer the unstable laughing maniac but is now a smart cunning and calculating villain that is able to organize long-term planning with specific targets in minds. A lot of fans have theorized that Dark Samus was originally a concept villain called the "Mad AI" which matured from a villain called the "child" and into the "martyr", the "killer" and later the "mother" which is similar to how Dark Samus matures, some theorizing that as Dark Samus lives, she only gets smarter and smarter over time.
Other than a huge difference in character progression, there's also the matter of how Dark Samus fights. Many are familiar with Samus's gun n' missile fight style but Dark Samus is much more different as she has complete access to Phazon abilities. She can dive-crash like a missile herself into areas causing wide-radius explosions, she can create a tentacle of Phazon to keep a distance to those who get too close, she can regenerate and shield herself and she can also turn invisible, turn into a ghostly form, levitate and can create fake doppelgangers like something out of the Matrix.
Last edited: