Zebes

Zebes as seen from space.
Zebes
Type	Planet
Status	Destroyed
Mass	5.1 trillion teratons
Class	XIX Planet
Affiliation	Space Pirates
Debut	Metroid

Zebes is one of the major locations from the Metroid series. It serves as the setting for the original Metroid (as well as its remake) and Super Metroid.

History

Zebes was a diverse planet with a variety of regions and an extensive network of underground caverns. At one time, the planet was home to the Chozo, who resided in an area called Chozodia. A group of Chozos raised the orphaned Samus Aran on Zebes. In later years, the planet fell under the rule of the Space Pirates, who emigrated from the far more inhospitable Pirate Homeworld. The Chozo eventually vacated the planet, but they left many of their relics behind, including various Chozo Statues.

During the time of Metroid, the Space Pirates had brought Metroid lifeforms to their base at Tourian and began using beta rays to clone them in hopes of using them as a biological weapon in their battles. Samus arrived to put an end to the Pirates' operation. However, before she could access Tourian, she had to defeat Ridley and Kraid in different areas of the planet. This caused the path of Tourian to open. There, Samus fought against and defeated Mother Brain. The area self-destructed in the aftermath. In Zero Mission, her ship was shot down by the Space Pirate Mothership when she attempted to leave the planet. She had to regain her Power Suit and its functionality from the ruins of Chozodia. She then defeated Mecha-Ridley within the Mothership, which self-destructed.

The Space Pirates later rebuilt their forces on Zebes in Super Metroid, which included a new Tourian. They captured the last surviving Metroid, a larva that had been saved by Samus, in hopes of using it for their own purposes. Samus once again had to defeat Ridley and Kraid in the same regions, as well as two other bosses in other regions (Phantoon) in order to access the new Tourian. There, Mother Brain was fought and defeated in two forms, with the Metroid larva sacrificing itself to save Samus in the process. In the aftermath of Mother Brain's destruction, a self-destruct sequence was initiated that resulted in the entire planet exploding. In the game's good ending, Samus would escape with several Zebesian lifeforms on her ship.

Native Species

The planet itself was teaming with a variety of unique lifeforms, most of which tended to be of a reptilian or invertebrate nature. However, other lifeforms such as the Drachoras and Etecoons were also native to the planet as well. Although the planet was a class XIX, the atmosphere was capable of sustaining human life. The underground areas still contained conditions that would be considered too extreme for most humans, such as various lava-filled areas. The pirate Ridley was referred to as being the original life form of Zebes, suggesting that the planet might have once been filled with other 'Zebesian dragons' similar to him as the dominant species of the planet.

Though the Space Pirates were not native to the planet, they were often referred to as Zebesians, which has caused confusion over whether it is their home world (later disproven by Metroid Prime 3: Corruption). The name Zebesian is likely just a way of distinguishing a certain branch of the Space Pirates from other Pirate installations on their Homeworld and Tallon IV.

Geography

The core of Zebes is composed primarily of Urthic, which made it ideal for the subterranean construction by the Chozo (and later the Zebesians). The Space Pirates chose to make their home in the extensive network of underground tunnels on Zebes. Initially they made their base solely in their own underground base known as Tourian, although their guardian minions Kraid and Ridley took residence in Brinstar and Norfair. After the Space Pirates' first defeat, they rebuilt Tourian at a deeper location and expanded their territory on the planet. Tourian itself was relocated to a deeper facility in order to protect the research being performed by the pirates.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Stages set on the Planet Zebes have been featured throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. Four of the six Metroid stages featured in the series are set at Zebes. Specifically, they are set within the lava-filled caverns of the planet. Most of them specifically feature lava that rises and lowers periodically.
  • Planet Zebes - From the original Super Smash Bros.. This stage simply consists of a series of platforms above a sea of lava that periodically rises. Fighters have to take cover on the uppermost platform to avoid taking damage from the lava. This was one of the few stages from the original Super Smash Bros. to never make a return appearance, likely due to being replaced by the Brinstar stage.
  • Brinstar - This stage was introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is largely an updated version of the original Planet Zebes stage, complete with the rising lava. The main difference is that the main, rocky platform has an organic structure attached to part of it that can be destroyed to temporarily segment part of the stage. This stage returned in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
  • Brinstar Depths - This was the second Metroid stage introduced in Melee and is the only one that does not involve any rising lava. The battle is fought along a large, uneven chunk of earth that floats within the cavern, and two small plaforms floating near different edges of the area. Periodically, Kraid will emerge in the background and slap the stage, which will cause it to rotate so that a different side is facing upwards. This stage returned in Ultimate.
  • Norfair - This stage was featured in Brawl. This stage was similar to other levels in that it took place in a volcanic cavern, was set on a series of floating platforms and featured periodically rising lava. However, this stage threw in several additional twists. In addition to lava rising from the bottom of the screen, occasionally lava would pour down different sides of the screen. There were also some points were a capsule appeared in the center of a screen while a tidal wave of lava approached. The only way to avoid the wave was for fighters to take cover in the capsule before it closed. This stage returned in the Wii U game and Ultimate.
  • In addition to those stages, the Adventure Mode of Melee featured a segment (following a battle on the Brinstar stage) in which the player had to reach Samus's ship within a time limit to escape the destruction of Zebes, in reference to the escape sequences from past Metroid games. Zebes's destruction was seen in the ending of the segment.

Trivia

• The original English localization of Metroid referred to the planet as "Zebeth", but it was renamed Zebes in all later games.
• Zebes had two moons. It is unknown if either survived the planet's destruction.