Metroid Timeline

The Metroid series has one of the more concrete timeline of the Nintendo franchises. The games have been released in chronological order, with the exception of the games bearing the name Metroid Prime (which are side stories taking place between the original Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus) and Metroid: Other M (which takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion).

Timeline

Legacy of the Chozo

The events that follow take place in an unknown order, except where specified by year, although recent games have implied that the creation of the Metroids take place closest to the timeline of the games.

SkyTown

Over fifteen hundred years ago, the Chozo created a home on Elysia. They spent seven hundred years there. During this time, they constructed the Elysians, a race of sentient mechanoids who assisted the Chozo in the upkeep of the city and in researching the heavens. During the end of their seven hundred stay on Elysia, one Chozo researcher caught glimpse of Phaaze through the information sent by a satellite that had been thought to be lost. From then on, the Elysians were charged with locating that mysterious living planet.

The Sharing of Science

At an unspecified time, the Chozo became space-faring creatures. As perhaps the very first travelers, they have left profound effects on many planets around the galaxy. Throughout the Chozo's time wandering the stars, they often interacted and traded technology with other species who had advanced like themrselves. Among them were the Luminoth, the Vlla, the N'kren, the Bryyonians, and other races. During the war on Bryyo, the Chozo attempted to prevent the Lords of Science from going to war with the Primals, but to no avail.

The Exodus of the Chozo

The Chozo culture was one full of prophecy, and as they began to see the decline of their civilization linked to the ever-growing hate and violence throughout the galaxy, the Chozo sought a simpler life away from technology. As such, many sanctuaries were built on secluded planets, and were intertwined with their natural environment. The Chozo grew closer to nature there, and began to be less and less dependent on the physical world; to the point they left it and their homes behind in favor of an existence in a dimension beyond our comprehension.

Not all of them chose that path, however. Some tribes continued their work in the material world. These included the Thoha Tribe, who were peaceful scientists and the Mawkin Tribe, who were a warrior tribe who sought greater power. The Mawkins were based on the remote planet of ZDR, while the Thoha were known to inhabit the planet Zebes.

The Creation of the Metroids

One of the Chozo's most important legacies was on SR388. The planet's ecosystem was horribly unbalanced thanks to the parasitic virus known now as the X Parasite. To counter the effects of the X Parasite, the Chozo of the Thoha Tribe bioengineered the Metroid. The Metroid prayed on the X and became the new dominant species on the planet. The Thoha Tribe contained the unique ability to control the Metroids. However, the Metroids on SR388 mutated over the years to become dangerous and uncontrollable.

The Spread of Phazon

The Poisoning of Tallon IV

Over five decades ago, the Chozo were aware of a meteor impact on Tallon IV, but in the vastness of space and time the event was seemingly unimportant. When a cancerous element now identified as Phazon began to spread across the planet, the Chozo were pulled into our reality and brought back to Tallon IV as mere shadows of their former selves. On the surface of their old home, they watched in horror as the Phazon consumed their lands, twisting and corrupting whatever was not destroyed. Not wishing to stand by and let this evil spread forth, the Chozo built what uncovered texts have identified as a cipher, a giant gateway powered by twelve Chozo artifacts, which was designed to seal off the impact crater of the Phazon-infused meteor. The Chozo then waited, in hopes that an old prophecy foreseeing the salvation of Tallon IV by the hands of a great warrior would soon come true, before they would be consumed by the evil.

Splitting of Aether

At the same time, Aether was devastated by a similar impact. This brought a dimensional shift that created Dark Aether and with it, the Ing. For fifty years, the Luminoth fought valiantly against the Ing. However they were fighting a losing war and eventually, to prevent all from being possessed by Ing, the remaining Luminoth put themselves into suspended hibernation while U-Mos, the last sentinel, guarded the last of Aether's temples.

Age of The Federation

The Formation of the Federation

In the 2000th year of the cosmic calendar, the many planets in the galaxy formed the Galactic Federation. From this alliance ensued an age of prosperity as a successful exchange of cultures and trade goods began. But as thousands of interstellar ships transported goods across the galaxy, the Space Pirates came. Using brutal tactics and new technologies, they wreaked havoc on Federation trade lines, damaging ships and plundering them of any valuable goods. In an attempt to stop the pirates the Federation formed the Galactic Federation Police. However, this police force was unsuccessful in completely eliminating the pirate threat, and as such elite bounty hunters were hired by the Federation to seek out and capture the pirates.

Samus Aran

The planet of K-2L, a colony of Earth, is attacked by the Space Pirates and the population wiped out. Only one survivor, a young girl Samus Aran, survives. She was discovered by the Chozo and was taken to their home on Zebes. There, she was infused with Chozo DNA so that she could survive on the planet. She received DNA from at least two donors: one Thoha and one Mawkin (specifically Raven Beak). After Samus grew into an adult, she joined the Galactic Federation and worked under her CO Adam in the Federation Police. She served with the Federation for some time, alongside Anthony Higgs and Adam's brother Ian. There was eventually an incident in which a drive unit went critical while Ian was on it, and Adam had to eject it in order to protect the rest of the ship. Samus was enraged at Adam for sacrificing Ian, and it was implied that this incident caused her to leave the Federation and become a bountyn hunter.

During this timeframe, Zebes was taken over the Space Pirates, who corrupted Mother Brain into serving their purpose.

The Tragedy of the Chozo

At some point after Samus parted ways with the Chozo, the Thoha Tribe returned to SR388 and learned that the Metroids had grown out of control. They enlisted the help of the Mawkin Tribe in repelling the Metroids and sealed them within the crust of the planet. The Thoha Tribe saw the only solution would be to destroy SR388 to eliminate the threat of the Metroids and the X Parasite. The Mawkins disagreed, as Raven Beak wanted to weaponize the Metroids and use their powers to conquer the universe. Raven Beak had his Mawkins massacre the Thoha and left only one of them alive, Quiet Robe, so that he could be used to control the Metroids. Raven Beak returned to ZDR with the rest of his tribe and Quiet Robe to make their preparations for capturing the Metroids. After they returned to ZDR, dissenters were fed to a Drogyga, and they also restrained Kraid there at one point (although it is unclear if it is the same Kraid as in other games due to how the timeline lines up). It eventually turned out that one of the Mawkin soldiers was actually an X Parasite in disguise, having infiltrated their ranks on ZDR. The X infected all of the Mawkin soldiers, leaving Raven Beak and Quiet Robe as the only survivors. Raven Beak ultimately succeeded in somehow containing the X Parasites within Elun, but by the time he had accomplished this, the events of Metroid II/Samus Returns had occurred.

Metroid/Zero Mission

The original Metroid featured Samus Aran infiltration of Zebes and the destruction of the Metroids and Mother Brain. The remake, Zero Mission, greatly expanded on these events and the events in the remake are the ones used on the Wiki.

A team of Federation scientists discovered and captured live Metroid specimens that they intended to take back to research. Before any such progress can be made, the Space Pirates stole the Metroids back and headed towards Zebes so that they could study and weaponize the unique species. The Federation's attempts to foil their cloning efforts failed, and they then resorted to hiring Samus Aran, now a bounty hunter, to infiltrate the pirate base and kill the Metroids. She succeeded in her mission and destroys Mother Brain, setting off a timed explosion of the Pirate Base known as Tourian.

The Space Pirates responded quickly. Their frigates, carrying their own Metroid populations, depart to find a new base. While Samus Aran tried to leave the planet, she was shot down and crash landed on the surface, destroying her Power Suit in the process. She was forced to infiltrate a grounded Pirate frigate and made it to an old Chozo ruin that restored her Power Suit. Back at full power, she was able to defeat the pirates and commandeered a pirate vessel to escape. During her battle to escape, Weavel was seriously injured by Samus Aran. He was later rebuilt as a cyborg. Ridley's body was also recovered and given cybernetic enhancements, making him into Meta Ridley.

Metroid Prime

The game Metroid Prime Pinball features scenarios from Metroid Prime and is not considered canonical within the timeline.

While half of the Space Pirate forces returned to rebuild their Zebes base in secret, the other half settled on Tallon IV. On this planet, they made the extraordinary discovery of Phazon, a substance that could cause mutations in lifeforms, including Metroids. They also discovered the Great Worm, Metroid Prime and made what attempts they could to contain it. The effects of Phazon proved unpredictable, and so one of the orbiting Space Frigates, Orpheus, suffered extreme damage when the experimented creatures begin causing havoc on the ship.

Samus Aran arrived on Orpheus after most of the major damage has already been done. After disposing of the surviving pirates and the Parasite Queen, Samus Aran followed Ridley to Tallon IV to investigate. She soon discovered that the Chozo had settled on the planet, but were suffering a spiritual battle against the Phazon corruption. She fought and defeated Meta Ridley over the course of her journey. By gathering the twelve Chozo Artifacts, she was able to unlock the way to Metroid Prime and defeat the creature. After leaving the planet, unknown to Samus, Dark Samus was born from Prime's remains and went off on its own path through the galaxy.

Metroid Prime Hunters

An unusual telepathic signal was sent throughout the galaxy from the Alimbic Cluster speaking of a great power. The Federation, along with several others, received the message and recognized that the Alimbic society once held great technological prowess. Samus Aran was sent to investigate, lest the power fall into corrupt hands. Six other bounty hunters also went to investigate, each for their own ends.

All that remained of the Alimbic Society were two of their planets and two abandoned space stations. From their remaining logs, Samus was able to peace together what fate befell their society and what the 'ultimate power' truly was. As it turned out, the distress signal was sent by Gorea, a creature that destroyed the Alimbic and was imprisoned in the Oubliette as a last ditch effort by the Alimbics.

After Samus collected the eight octoliths and engaged in countless fights with the other bounty hunters, she unlocked the seal on the Oubliette. The other bounty hunters were able to beat her there, but upon arriving, they ran afoul of Gorea and were quickly defeated. Samus Aran was able to defeat Gorea and fulfill the prophecy. She and the other bounty hunters were able to escape before the Oubliette escaped.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

A year and a half after Metroid Prime, a ship full of Galactic Federation Troopers crash landed during a battle with a Space Pirate ship. Both forces ended up on the planet Aether, prompting the arrival of Samus Aran to investigate. She soon discovered the crash site of the Federation Troopers, who had all been slain by the wildlife on the planet. Some of these troopers had been possessed by the unusual force known as Ing. Samus soon met up with U-Mos, the only Luminoth not yet in stasis, who explained what had happened.

An unspecified amount of time before Echoes, a meteor impacted Aether, carrying with it Phazon. The corruption created a 'Dark Aether' and with it the Ing. Because the Ing could not tolerate light, they could only enter normal Aether by means of possession. It had been their goal to make Dark Aether into the only dimension by transferring the energy from Light Aether to Dark Aether. Samus Aran resolved to bring that energy back so that Dark Aether will be destroyed.

Her objective was made difficult by the Space Pirates, who had a larger crew personnel than the Troopers and had set up base on the planet. Furthermore, Dark Samus had arrived on the planet, seeking to use the large amounts of Phazon to feed on. Although the Pirates fell to Ing possession, Dark Samus proved to be the greatest threat of all. After the defeat of Emperor Ing, Samus Aran was forced to fight and destroy Dark Samus before escaping into Light Aether. After Samus left Aether, Dark Samus began to reform from a cloud of Phazon.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Six months after the incident on Aether, Phazon had become a substance known across the galaxy. The corruption spread to other planets thanks to the return of Dark Samus and her alliance with the Space Pirates. They discovered Phaaze, the homeworld of Phazon, and they led a daring attack on the G.F.S. Valhalla to steal its Aurora Unit. The Federation Network was knocked out by Phazon virus that disabled every single Aurora Unit. To combat that, Admiral Dane summoned Samus Aran, Ghor, Rundas, and Gandrayda to deal with the threat for them. During their briefing, the G.F.S. Olympus and planet Norion are attacked. The four bounty hunters barely prevented a Leviathan from impacting Norion, but not without the cost of the four all being corrupted by an encounter with Dark Samus.

Two weeks later, Samus learned that Leviathans had collided into Elysia and Bryyo, and that the other three bounty hunters have already recovered and been deployed. Samus was equipped with a Phazon Enhancement Device and dispatched to help with stopping the spread of Phazon. She traveled to Bryyo, Elysia and the Pirate Homeworld on missions involving the repulsion of Phazon. Although each mission was successful, each one also ended up involving killing one of the other three bounty hunters (Rundas, Ghor and Gandraya, respectively), as each of them had lost themselves completely to the Phazon corruption. Bryyo and Elysia were freed from the spread of Phazon, and the Phazon seed on the Pirate Homeworld was destroyed after a battle with Omega Ridley.

Her final mission took her on to the GFS Valhalla to find the access codes to the Space Pirate Leviathan in orbit around the Pirate Homeworld. She was then able to use that Leviathan to create a wormhole to the incredibly distant Phaaze, and while the Galactic Federation fought with the Space Pirates in space, Samus landed on Phaaze to deal with Dark Samus. The immense Phazon presence caused her to enter permanent Hyper Mode, which proved useful in defeating Samus Aran and the corrupted Aurora Unit 313.

Following the defeat of Dark Samus, she and the Galactic Federation escaped into the wormhole while Phaaze exploded. While Samus flew off into space though, she was pursued by the pilot of the Delano 7.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

The Galactic Federation set Operation Golem into motion, which involved the creation of Mechs that acted as Power Suits for Federation soldiers. These Mechs were piloted by an elite unit of soldiers who became known as the Federation Force. Some time after the Phazon crisis was resolved, the Federation Force was deployed on an archeological survey of the Bermuda System. The Space Pirates were also based in the area, where they had developed special projects. One was a special beam that could make beings giant, and the other was a powerful battleship called the Doomseye. After the Federation Force discovered the Space Pirates' presence in the system, Samus was deployed to help them deal with it. Samus was at one point captured, at which point the Space Pirates amplified her to giant size and somehow controlled her while she was in Morph Ball form. She was restored to normal after the Federation Force defeated her. The Force helped to destroy the Doomseye and were saved from its destruction by Samus.

Along the course of the journey, the Federation Force discovered a Metroid egg that was sent to a secret Federation facility. It was somehow infiltrated by a being who appeared to be Sylux, who used a beam to make the egg hatch into an infant Metroid.

Metroid II: Return of Samus/Metroid: Samus Returns

With the last remnants of the Space Pirates' supply of Metroids eliminated, the Galactic Federation sent a Federation team to investigate the Metroid presence on SR388. The entire team was wiped out by the Metroids, but they were able to send the data needed for the Federation to make their decision. Determining that the Metroids were too great of a threat to the galaxy's safety, they dispatched Samus on a special mission to wipe out the entire Metroid population.

After arriving on SR388, Samus discovered that Metroids, due to Gamma Radiation, had further evolved into Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, Omega, and the Queen Metroid. She was ultimately able to wipe them out with the destruction of the Queen Metroid, but a newly hatched infant Metroid was born at the same time. Rather than destroy it, she took the infant with her as she escaped. She was ambushed by Ridley, who still had some cybnernetic enhancements and was known as Proteus Ridley. Samus defeated him once again and escaped from the planet. She turned the Metroid hatchling over to the Ceres Space Station for study.

In the aftermath of the Metroids' destruction, the X Parasite quickly began to spread across SR388. It was also implied that Ridley was able to regenerate the rest of his body and no longer needed cybnertics. At some point after this, Raven Beak finished dealing with the X Parasites on ZDR and sought to resume his plan to take the Metroids as his army, only to discover that Samus had wiped them all out.

Super Metroid

No sooner had Samus left the sector when Ridley attacked Ceres Space Station. By the time Samus Aran arrived, she was just in time to witness Ridley capturing the infant Metroid and escaping from the station. Samus tracked him back to Zebes where she discovered the Zebes pirate base had been rebuilt and expanded. After wiping out many of the Pirate Sentinels, including Ridley, Kraid, and others; she finally reached the lair of Mother Brain.

At the new Tourian, the infant Metroid had grown to an enormous size and was preying on the Space Pirates themselves. Other Metroids had been cloned, but most of them were failed copies known as Mochtroids. During Samus Aran's final battle with Mother Brain, she was nearly killed. The infant Metroid intervened by draining a large amount of energy from Mother Brain, which it then transferred it to the weakened Samus. The Mother Brain disposed of the Metroid, but soon fell to the fully powered Samus Aran. Another self destruct was initiated by this, but this time the entire planet of Zebes was destroyed. This sealed the extinction of the original Metroid species. However, the Federation were secretly able to extract a sample of Metroid DNA off of Samus's Power Suit in the afermath of this mission, which was used for later Metroid cloning experiments.

Metroid: Other M

Members of the Federation sought to create clones of various creatures that were bred to be loyal to the Federation, including Space Pirates and Metroids. This was known as the Metroid Militarization Project, or Project Metroid Warriors. Adam disapproved of the project, and the Federation at large rejected it, but one sect of the Federation secretly put it into motion on board the Bottle Ship. Unfreezable Metroids were bred in the secret Sector Zero, and other creatures were bred in other parts of the Bottle Ship. Madeline Bergman helped to create and android named MB who was created based on Mother Brain's brain patterns to act as a maternal figure who would guide the new Metroids. However, MB developed human emotions and went on a rampage when the Federation attempted to suppress those emotions, which caused all of the wildlife under her control to turn hostile. She killed all of the humans on board except for Madeline, who sent out a Baby's Cry distress signal. It was answered by two parties: Samus and a Federation squad led by Adam. The squad contained a Deleter sent by the Federation to kill everyone on board and destroy all evidence of the project. The Deleter was James Pierce, who caused the deaths of most of the members of the squad before being killed by MB. A Ridley clone was also unintentionally created as a result of the cloning program, but it was ultimately taken down by MB.

Adam ultimately sacrificed himself to destroy Sector Zero and all of the Metroid clones. MB was convinced to cease her hostilities and was abruptly killed by the Federation back-up. Samus, Anthony Higgs and Madeline Bergman were the only survivors of the operation. Bergman was taken into Federation custody for questioning. Samus also returned to the Bottle Ship just before it was destroyed to regain Adam's helmet and battled Phantoon in the process.

Metroid Fusion

Years later, the BioLogic Space Labs began to do research on the planet SR388 now due to the absence of the Metroids. Samus Aran was hired to guide and protect their researchers. After killing a hostile creature, she was infected by the X Parasite, which had taken over the planet again in the absence of the Metroids. Samus was rushed off the planet, and her Power Suit was surgically removed so that they could treat her.

In order to eliminate the X from her system, Metroid DNA was injected into her bloodstream. Within minutes. the X was completely eliminated, making Samus herself into the only being capable of resisting and destroying the X Parasite. This also made her part-Metroid, but as Raven Beak later hypothesized, her Thoha DNA seemed to surpress her Metroid DNA from fully manifesting. However, Samus's Power Suit had been sent to BioLogic Space Labs, and the X escaped containment and infected the scientists and other creatures on the space station. Samus was sent to investigate under the orders of her new CO, the computer in her new ship which was an AI based on Adam.

Trying to outmaneuver the X proved impossible, especially with the presence of the SA-X, clone of Samus that was formed from the pieces of her Power Suit and genetic code. She also discovered a secret Federation Metroid breeding program, as did the X who instantly went to war with their age-old predators. Samus eventually discovered the Federation had aims to use the X as a weapon. She decided to destroy the entire BSL Space Station to prevent the X from spreading and directed it into collision with SR388, destroying the entire X population on the planet as well. Samus Aran escaped from the ensuing explosion, but with the knowledge she would face a harsh punishment by the Federation for her actions.

The direct aftermath of Fusion is unclear, but it was shown that Samus was working with the Federation again without any apparent problems in Dread. Additionally, Raven Beak somehow found out about Samus gaining Metroid DNA and formed a new plan based around it.

Metroid Dread

Raven Beak had video footage of an X Parasite sent to the Federation in order to draw their attention to ZDR, for the ultimate purpose of luring Samus over for his plans. With the Metroid race gone, he wanted to awaken Samus's dormant Metroid powers from her Metroid DNA and work with her on his new conquests. The Federation initially sent a squad of seven highly advanced EMMI robots to investigate, but Raven Beak was able to knock them offline and reprogrammed them to target Samus. With the EMMIs offline, Samus was sent to ZDR to investigate. Raven Beak attacked her, and presumably in response to his Mawkin DNA, Samus's Metroid powers began to awaken. Samus was knocked out and left in the lowest region of ZDR. She proceeded to explore the different regions of ZDR while trying to make her way back to the Gunship. Along the way, she took down all of the EMMI units and let all of the X Parasites out upon reaching Elun. Quiet Robe met with her at Elun and explained past events to her before he was killed by an X-possessed Chozo Soldier.

Samus ultimately confronted and defeated Raven Beak, but her Metroid powers fully awakened in the process, and she transformed into an inhuman being who resembled an organic version of her power armor. Raven Beak and the X Parasite were both destroyed by her new power, and the planet of ZDR was destroyed soon afterwards. When escaping, Samus found that her new form could not operate her Gunship without draining its energy. Quiet Robe intervened, having somehow retained his consciousness while possessed by an X. He sent the X Parasite into Samus while he dissipated, which restored Samus to her normal self and allowed her to escape the planet's destruction.

Notes

• The Metroid timeline has no specific year, but Metroid begins in the ambiguous year of 20X5. The Galactic Federation was created in the year 2000, meaning it at most only 95 years in age at the beginning of the series. Throughout the series, no other date is ever given for the events of any particular game.
• The games Metroid II and Super Metroid happen in succession of one another, with little lapse of times falling between them. The rest of the series has no specific amount of time falling between each game.