Mother Brain (Metroid)

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Image of Mother Brain from a cut scene.

Mother Brain (often referred to as the Mother Brain) is a major antagonist and boss of the Metroid video game series, acting as the cyborg computer of the Space Pirates. The villain generally appears as an enormous human brain with a single, lidded eye, protruding metal spikes and power cables, which is surrounded by a glass tank, various automated defense systems, and a pool of lava or acid.

Mother Brain is depicted as being female in the television show , as well as in other lesser-known comic books. However, these all fall outside the established storyline canon, as the Metroid game manuals and other official Nintendo sources refer to the Mother Brain as a gender-neutral creature.

The Metroid Fusion manual however does make a reference to Mother Brain as a female by stating, "On Zebes, Samus also encountered the biomechanical Mother Brain, leader of the Space Pirates, and dispatched her in a bitter fight."

Contents

1 Position
2 Appearances
3 Other appearances
4 External links

Position

Samus Aran encounters Mother Brain in the original Metroid.

There is debate on whether or not Mother Brain is the true leader of the Space Pirates. According to Super Metroid's manual, 's manual, and both official mangas, Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates while Mother Brain is just a biological computer which controls Zebes' defenses. However, the instruction manual for the original Metroid game, the manual for Metroid Fusion, the Nintendo Power comic, and the in-game introduction in Super Metroid refer to Mother Brain as the leader of the Space Pirates, with the original Metroid instruction manual going so far as to say that Ridley is actually controlled by Mother Brain. Metroid Prime confuses the issue even further in the Pirate Data logs by alluding to a Security Command that issues orders, including the reconstruction of Ridley himself. In the Metroid E-manga (which acts a guide to Samus's past), Mother Brain is actually an ally of the Chozo, who use it to keep track of data and reports (the story has not yet revealed why Mother Brain is an enemy in the games).

Some argue that the original intention was much more simplistic and obvious than it is currently made out to be. Mother Brain was the final boss of the game, both the stated and implied leader, while Kraid and Ridley were mere subordinate mini-bosses. Subsequent games have only altered this after new people took over the series following the death of creator Gunpei Yokoi. Others attribute this inconsistency to translation errors in the original Metroid manual that Zero Mission and other games have since corrected. Whatever the original intention may have been, most evidence points to Ridley being the current Space Pirate leader.

Appearances

Mother Brain's second form from Super Metroid.

In all three games, Mother Brain is defended by Zeebetites, life support units that block Samus' path.

Mother Brain is defeated by first breaking its tank with missiles, and then pummeling the brain itself. In Super Metroid, the cyborg has an ace up its sleeve: after the destruction of the tank, Mother Brain is revealed to be part of a large, bipedal creature, with a range of powerful attacks. In Metroid: Zero Mission, not only are there rinka launchers and gun turrets, but the brain itself can fire a bolt of energy.

In each game, Mother Brain's apparent destruction initiates a self-destruct device, giving the player only a few minutes to escape before the area/atmosphere/planet is incinerated. Catastrophic self-destruction countdowns are a well-known trademark of the Metroid series, and most of the Metroid games feature at least one.

Other appearances

Mother Brain has appeared in various installments of Wario Ware, seen from its appearance in the first Metroid game. Planet Zebes stage of the game.

The version of Mother Brain.

In the TV show ', Mother Brain is portrayed as a female supervillain, with a more human-like face, and two eyes instead of one. This depiction was also used in the Valiant-published comic book based on the series, and in an obscure German comic, with even larger and more grotesque lips. Mother Brain's voice in the ' cartoon was provided by Levi Stubbs of Motown act The Four Tops, who also played the voice of Audrey II in the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors.

External links

Metroid series

2D games	Metroid \| *' \| Super* \| Fusion \|** ' \| Dread
Prime subseries	Prime \| Prime Pinball \| ' \| ' \|
Characters	Samus Aran \| Chozo \| Dark Samus \| Ing \| Kraid \| Luminoth \| Metroid species \| Metroid Prime \| Mother Brain \| Ridley \| X Parasite \| Space Pirates
Creatures	Metroid - Super Metroid \| Prime - Zero Mission \| Prime 2 - Prime 3
Other	Gunship \| Items \| Areas \| Phazon \| Shinespark \| Metroid Metal \| Relics of the Chozo \| Gunpei Yokoi \| Satoru Okada \| Metroidvania

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