Dark Samus
- Planet
- Light Aether
- Region
- Agon Wastes, Sanctuary Fortress, Sky Temple
Samus's doppelganger was born from the Phazon Suit and the extremely volatile core of Metroid Prime on the brink of death. This evil twin possesses the strength and agility equal to Samus, but with a complete lack of humanity. Did we mention she can fly, too? Dark Samus has an intense craving for Phazon and will do anything to get more of it.
During Samus's trek through the alien wilderness of Aether and Dark Aether, she goes cannon-to-cannon with Dark Samus 3 separate times. Each battle will push Samus to the limit of her power. Dark Samus is Samus's most powerful foe and she will stop at nothing to destroy her once and for all.
--BATTLE 1: AGON WASTES - MAIN REACTOR--
Rule #1: Always keep your distance. If you get too close, Dark Samus will push out out a phazon wave that will hurt you. When you damage Dark Samus, she will glow red, so you know you are making contact if you see this. Dark Samus never touches the ground and glides around the arena very quickly in between the pillars making it very difficult to lock on. During her main attack, she will raise up her cannon and shoot a huge array of phazon bullets that cover a wide distance. Try to avoid by sidestepping behind a pillar or Space Jumping. After she loses half her health, a short cutscene will play. This is to prepare you for her next attack: phazon-charged Super Missiles. Samus will continue flying and teleporting around very quickly making her hard to hit. She will then fly straight up and charge her beam, locking on to you and shoot a Super Missile. These are extremely powerful and can even destroy the nearby pillars. They can deplete half an energy tank, so avoid them at all costs. At some point she will fly into the air and then do an airboost right at you, so make sure you dodge that as well by locking on and dodging at the last moment. After her airboost runs into the ground, Dark Samus will stay on the ground for a moment or two. When her shield lowers, shoot a charge shot right into her. Keep charging up your cannon and blasting her when you see an opening. She should eventually go down.
--BATTLE 2: SANCTUARY FORTRESS - AERIE--
This battle is foreshadowed - right before you fight her, you will see a short real-time animation where Dark Samus destroys a bunch of Space Pirates, laughs, and starts consuming canisters of nearby phazon. Destroy the crates in the room before her to recharge your resources. Once the elevator starts, Dark Samus is happy to show off her new ability: Phazon Boost Ball. Similar to the Boost Guardian, Dark Samus will roll into Morph Ball and boost around the room, bouncing off the walls she hits at high speeds. Use Space Jump to avoid this attack. Instead of multiple shots, DS will also shoot a lazer of phazon that ranges the entire room so you must also Space Jump to avoid getting hit. Keep your distance as usual or DS will use her Phazon shield attack she used in the previous battle. Once the elevator has reached the top floor, the real battle begins. It is very similar to the first battle, but now the pillars are smaller and she can shoot a rapid fire charge shot. When DS destroys the pillars with her attacks, they will usually make energy drops appear so use the Charge Beam to suck those in frequently. At some point Dark Samus will seemingly dissipate into phazon particles - but she's not invisible! Use this time to switch to your Echo Visor, which makes Dark Samus visible. The same strategies still apply. You can also use Super Missiles or Charged Dark Beam shots, but just make sure that they'll hit her or you'll waste them. When Dark Samus has about 25% health left, she will resort to using her Boost Ball again. It can get quite annoying, but have patience and do your best to avoid it by jumping over it. You're in the home stretch at this point.
--BATTLE 3: SKY TEMPLE GATEWAY--
The massive amount of nearby phazon has given Dark Samus unimaginable power. Try to use that power against her when she generates a phazon sphere around herself. You have less than eight minutes to beat her. Good luck!
No one knows the gender of Dark Samus, or if it has one at all, but due to it having some of Samus's DNA, most people like to refer to Dark Samus as a "she."
Like all bosses, Dark Samus should be scanned every time she is battled or the chance will be lost forever.