Fire

Fire is a common element in the Metroid series, seen in enemy attacks and environments, such as Norfair, Sector 3, the Magmoor Caverns, Alinos and the Pyrosphere.

As an environmental feature[]

If Samus stands in a flame, in most games her energy will slowly deplete, with her not making any sound; this may be because the Power Suit is preventing the fire from directly harming her, unlike other attacks. Examples of open flame in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes include those on Samus's Gunship (which disappear with sufficient auto-repairs) and in the ruined Main Reactor after the first battle with Dark Samus, where the pillars surrounding the reactor will likely have been destroyed. It should be noted that Samus receives damage from open flames even if she possesses the Varia Suit.

Flame jets exist in the Magmoor Caverns and some other locations. They fire either indefinitely or for short periods of time. In Metroid Prime, Samus can freeze these with her Ice Beam if necessary, and in Metroid Dread, the Gravity Suit offers protection from flame jets. These deliver more damage than open flames, likely due to being concentrated jets of fire.

One room in Ridley's Lair features Puromi, round objects or creatures that greatly damage Samus unless she passes through them with the Screw Attack. These float in a circular motion and may be related to Polyps.

Unusually for a plant, the Enky species native to ZDR is always spewing out fire around itself, making it dangerous for Samus to touch. They are very durable and can only be destroyed with an Ice Missile.

Fuel Gel, while not a true form of fire, ignites when shot at. Proximity to explosions of Fuel Gel cause great damage.

In the superheated areas of Sector 3, fire periodically explodes from pools of lava. If they hit Samus while she is climbing over the lava via Ladders, she will be hurt and fall into the lava, where she can be damaged even further. These flame bursts can also harm Samus directly if she happens to be standing inside the spot in the pool where a burst would spawn or makes contact with a burst from inside a pool before it bursts upward; the burst is spawned inside a pool just before it is shot out. The Gravity Suit will not prevent damage from a burst's contact but a burst can be passed through harmlessly using the Speed Booster and Screw Attack. Within the same game, X-infected Sovas that hang from ceilings have the ability to drop a small flame toward the ground. This flame lingers for a second or two and can damage Samus upon contact.

Before obtaining the Varia Suit in Artaria, Samus must quickly ascend an overheating room that is being engulfed in flame, much of which appears in front of her and blocks her path, forcing her to find another route to survive.

In combat[]

The Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption the Plasma Beam, in contrast to its green piercing effect in other games, takes on a fire theme, with shots being able to ignite and burn enemies and objects. In Prime, the Plasma Beam has the Flamethrower, a Sustained Fire Charge Combo that depletes her Missile supply while allowing her to unleash a stream of flame, though it is only effective on a swarm of small enemies and cannot be used underwater. The similar Light Beam in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes can also set enemies on fire.

The Trooper Pirates and Metroid Prime possess Plasma Beam attacks similar to Samus, with the Pirates' being a reversed engineered version of her Beam (in the NTSC version of Prime, Metroid Prime was stated to have been captured from the Impact Crater to the Phazon Mines only for it to escape and assimilate Pirate technology, but as the PAL and Wii versions have effectively retconned this with altered Chozo Lore and Pirate Data it is no longer known how Prime has a Plasma Beam). Prime can also spawn Plasma Beam Particle Waves which will ignite Samus unless she destroys them. In Corruption, Samus has to kill Ghor for his Plasma Beam when he destroys SkyTown's network circuitry.

The Bounty Hunter Spire, the Alimbic Psycho Bit v3.0, the Red Barbed War Wasps, Magma Voldrums, Guardians and Gorea utilize the Magmaul, a fiery lobbing weapon that Samus can obtain for herself and use. It is particularly effective on Judicator users such as Noxus due to the contrast of fire and ice. The Fire Spawn is the Magmaul's guardian, and must be killed before Samus can obtain the weapon. Slench 2 is also capable of fire attacks.

Mellas, Multiviolas, Magdollites and Sovas are all creatures that are made of flame and lava. In Metroid: Other M, Sovas can be "cooled" (that is, their fire dispersed) with a shot of the Ice Beam, which usually kills them.

Dragons and their bipedal counterparts, Alcoons, as well as Funes, Namihe and Dragotix spit fire at Samus on Zebes. The Fune, Namihe and Dragotix attack with blue flame, which interestingly is hotter than red, next to white (which is seen with the Light Beam). Additionally, Magmoors breathe flame, and ironically are vulnerable to the Plasma Beam. The Goyagma often slams its hands down on top of the Crater Interior where it is fought, triggering a fiery geyser. Obsydomithons on ZDR attack Samus using a high-temperature burst, and by combining their DNA with that of the Rodotuk, the X Parasites create the hybrid Rodomithon-X which breathes fire in a more sustained manner. Likewise, the Vulkrans attack using globules made of magma, and by combining them with the Muzby, the X create Bigkran-X.

Ridley demonstrates the ability to breathe fire as an attack in all of his appearances. The 2-D games have him unleashing spinning fireballs that Samus can either freeze or destroy (sometimes they net Energy Capsules or Missile Ammo), but as Meta Ridley, Omega Ridley, Proteus Ridley and his clone in Metroid: Other M Ridley unleashes far more devastating attacks (due to the higher capability of the 3-D console games) such as fire beams or in the case of Other M and Samus Returns a large fireball shockwave, which Samus must jump over.

Phantoon's signature attack is the consistent release of "tears", blue eyeball flames in both Super Metroid and Other M. Also in Other M, the Queen Metroid breathes a stream of fire, turning her head across the room. Though Samus successfully SenseMoves over the attack in a cutscene, the attack cannot be dodged as such in gameplay.

On SR388, Wallfires and Automs are Chozo-designed security systems that emit either streams or balls of fire. Metroid: Samus Returns introduces certain "Evolved" Alpha and Gamma Metroid variants that produce fire instead of electricity, making them slightly more dangerous than the regular variants. The Zeta, Omega, and Queen Metroid can breathe fire regardless of "Evolved" status.

The B.O.X. Security Robot, in its first encounter, will launch metal balls that explode into flame currents that shrink and increase while moving across the ground, posing a threat to Samus.

When one of the orbs in Mogenar's body is destroyed, its slot will be lit aflame.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Samus's Front Air Attack (a series of explosions from her Arm Cannon) is called the "Flame Thrower" in strategy guides. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, her forward smash has a fire effect.

Trivia[]

• In Metroid Prime, environmental fire strangely has no heat signature when viewed through the Thermal Visor, but fire attacks do.