Metroid Musing: Does Samus’s Metroid DNA Make Her Immune to Diseases or Dangerous Parasites Like the Flood?
After Samus was infected by an X Parasite in the events directly preceding the beginning of Metroid Fusion, Samus was given a vaccine created from a cell culture of the Baby Metroid that’s saved Samus life more than once beforehand. This vaccine worked flawlessly, immediately killing all X Parasites in her body. However, this also infused that Metroid DNA into Samus’s body, causing Samus to become part Metroid. As a result, Samus is now immune to the X Parasites, and can even absorb them for health, ammo and to regain Power Suit abilities new and old.
This immunity to X Parasites was invaluable for Samus’ mission in Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread, allowing her to be the only one that can combat the X Parasites, growing stronger and stronger. But think about this — considering that the X can almost instantly kill their hosts, does Samus’ immunity to the X also mean she’s immune to other diseases as well?
The word “Metroid” is the Chozo word for Ultimate Warrior, so being immune to parasites and diseases would be something that the Ultimate Warrior could not be burdened with. Samus has only been part Metroid for two games and in her most recent adventure Samus unleashed new Metroid powers few saw coming, so there could be more to Samus’s Metroid DNA that we know. That said, we can still theorycraft what Samus could also be immune to and why. One place to start is another galactic parasite that has been compared to the X for years, the Flood from Halo.
An important note to keep in mind is that the Chozo created the Metroids to be a direct counter to the X parasites on top of their energy draining abilities. From what’s been shown, Metroid tissue itself kills X immediately on contact. The manual for Metroid Fusion even states that X Parasites display a negative reaction to being in the presence of Metroid tissue. This makes it seem like Metroids are essentially super-Kryptonite for X Parasites. Granted, the Metroid’s immunity to the X Parasites and potentially other infections could also be due to the energy draining properties on top of some inherent immunity to the X built into their tissue – these two traits don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
As for the X vs the Flood, the X are able to shrink down to infest their hosts all over; in the section of Metroid Dread’s prologue that covered Metroid Fusion’s events, the X are shown attached to Samus’ DNA, which means they can shrink down to incredible sizes. The X are stated to absorb their hosts DNA so that their form can be replicated later on top of using their biomass for whatever they see fit. It’s also worth noting that Dread showed what it’s like when the X are released onto a planet, and although the amount of X that were released are unknown, they were able to infect essentially all wildlife on ZDR in about 2 hours max.
One of the first things Samus sees when arriving in Ghavoran after the X have been released are multiple creatures getting infected. It’s essentially instant death, the process is extremely quick. This is why the X are so dangerous. The Flood, on the other hand, infect their hosts using the Flood Super Cell (FSC for short). An FSC can interface, analyze, break down, and convert the cells of other organisms into more Flood Cells or replicate that cell’s functions. The main method of infection seen in the Halo games are small Infection Forms that burrow into potential hosts and attach to their central nervous system to take complete control over their bodies. The Flood can also spread by releasing spores into the air and infect organisms that way. Even if an animal doesn’t have a central nervous system, it’s possible to use their biomass to create more Flood, such as the multiple types of Pure Forms seen in Halo 3.
Both the X Parasites and the Flood are formidable parasites that could end galactic civilization is they spread too far. Although their methods are different, they both act as a more dangerous version of John Carpenter’s The Thing, hence why these two Parasites have been compared throughout the years.
Now I turn it over to you. Could Samus’s Metroid DNA make her immune to other diseases and parasites beyond the X? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments down below!
Griffen Olney is a Website Reporter for Omega Metroid. You may know him as TheAccursedHunter01.
