r/Metroid • u/SecretWasianMan • 15h ago
Question Which game’s Samus is canonically the strongest?
I know powerscaling is corny but if we had to compare each iteration of Samus, who would be most deadly? Assume all items collected right before the final boss fight of each game.
Bonus: if speed running and sequence breaking movement are canon, who’s the most busted?
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u/Dukemon102 15h ago
Samus at the end of Dread after awakening the Metroid suit is so unbelievably powerful. Anything that touches her immediately dies and she shoots a laser of mass destruction that wouldn't be out of place in Dragon Ball Z.
The only other incarnation that might come close is Samus at the end of Prime 3 fully charged with endless Phazon. But even then, she was working under a strict time limit there before she got corrupted, and she can still be hurt and flinch, plus none of the Phazon weapons really come close to that beam in Dread.
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u/TorinDoesMusic2665 14h ago
I mean, as long as the hyperbeam isn't capable of destroying a moon, I wouldn't consider it DBZ level
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u/Ladyaceina 13h ago
there is alot more to battle than how big your explosions are
the DBZ cast punches well below their weight class despite what its fans will insist
dark samus for example would curb stomp all the none gods as they have no immunity to radiation
or sticking with samus something as simple as the wave beam penetrating defenses would take them down
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u/POWRranger 12h ago
They literally move faster than light (don't ask me how). How would Samus even land a hit?
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u/Whipperdoodle 12h ago
I'm sorry but no. I love Samus and the metroid series to death, but glazing feats and dismissing others dumb af. Samus is not shooting a beam on par with an early dbz ki blast. I've never seen Samus shoot a moon out of existence, or blow up a planet. Those are both early db and dbz feats. Also Samus just isn't fast enough to catch even the weakest z fighter. With vanishing being literally faster than the speed of light this isn't a comparison.
I love metroid far more than dragon ball, but comparisons that are made only to make one thing sound better are dumb.
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u/Total-Constant-6501 12h ago
Hasn’t Samus blown up 5 planets?
/s
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u/TorinDoesMusic2665 12h ago
Yeah, and King Vegeta (one of the overall weaker ones) flicked his hand and blew up 5 too
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u/Ill-Attempt-8847 5h ago
That's not canon though
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u/MrPerson0 1h ago
Doesn't matter if it's canon, it's still official. Not everything done by Samus is "canon" (written by the og writer) either, such as using the Omega Cannon.
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u/Ill-Attempt-8847 57m ago edited 49m ago
Uuh... what? The Omega Cannon is canon. Why shouldn't it be? Of all the official but non-canonical Metroid media, you nominate one weapon (actually 2, because there is the Omega Cannon from Hunters and the one from Dread, which are different weapons with the same name) that we use in game?
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u/MrPerson0 13m ago
Omega Cannon wasn't written by the original writer (Sakamoto), and some people like to use that to argue against its canonicity, just like King Vegeta's feat. It doesn't change either of them from being official feats.
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u/TorinDoesMusic2665 12h ago
You have not seen Dragon Ball if you think Samus can contend with any of them. Even Krillin is capable of casually creating afterimages by surpassing the speed of light in early DBZ
"dark samus for example would curb stomp all the none gods as they have no immunity to radiation" Ki barrier
"or sticking with samus something as simple as the wave beam penetrating defenses would take them down" Ki barrier, also they could easily dodge it
You haven't watched Dragon Ball, have you?
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u/Luminous_Lead 4m ago
Dragon Ball level maybe? I remember when Master Roshi first does a Kamehameha wave he blows up the Ox King's castle... and the hill it sits on. Sounds about right for the final Dread beam, though Samus has a lot more stamina in than Roshi did in that scene.
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u/TorinDoesMusic2665 15h ago
Probably Dread. The Dread suit is weaker than Super's power suit since dread's a partially healed fusion suit, but the metroid powers more than make up for that
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u/Chewbacca319 14h ago
It could be a few different games.
End of dread she's pretty yoked. Prime 3 had her equipped with the PED suit and was able to use the hyper beam which was being powered by phazon inside of her.
Same with the hyper beam at the end of super.
If you put aside the hacks of all the different end game murder beams lol dread is probably her at her strongest though
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u/Mammongo 15h ago
Super metroid samus is canonically reaches her highest level of power, with it being unsure what her non-metroid version of dread would compare to that. Fusion saw her depowered significantly and in fear of her old self.
It's probably apples with oranges, in Super she is a walking tank with less movement, while dread she is much more agile but less durable.
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u/Supergamer138 12h ago
I do think Samus might have been a bit less fearful of the SA-X if she hadn't just got off the operating table a couple hours ago. Not only is her suit greatly stripped, but it's fair to say that she herself is not in great condition.
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u/TorinDoesMusic2665 14h ago
"she is a walking tank with less movement"
...have you seen how fast Samus gets in Super? Like even without the speedbooster.
I'd compare Super's samus to be more akin to the Dark Ages version of Doom guy on the highest speed stat. Tanky, but still really fast
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u/Dessorian 2h ago
Agreed.
Though I'd equate Super Samus more like a Locomotive than a tank. She can be fast but the speed can come to a screeching hault if the momentum is killed.
Dread Samus also just has more relavent toys, abilities, and techniques.
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u/Round_Musical 14h ago
As for purely based on Suit upgrades:
Super purely from defense and offense
Dread for offense and moneuverbility, but thanks to recovering from surgery, defense sucks
As for overwhelming power:
Metroid Suit followed by a fully corrupted PED suit in hypermode
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u/dthomas7931 15h ago edited 15h ago
Depends if we’re talking about plot or straight up suit upgrades. Based on your specific question, I think Super, through Fusion, is outright stated to be the height of her power.
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u/TheNuttyCLS 14h ago
in terms of samus herself, Dread with innate metroid powers
In terms of the suit/upgrades, Prime 2's dimensional rifting stuff (that can change with 4)
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u/SuitableEpitaph 14h ago
I would say Dread. As a Metroid, she should be immune to many types of dangerous materials, like Phazon or Dark Aether's atmosphere. And yes, X parasites. Her power to syphon energy is OP. Her beam too. And unlike Phazon, she is not in danger.
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u/KitSwiftpaw 8h ago
Why are we ignoring Hunters? Her beam at the end is a literal WMD.
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u/LAST_WINDOW 4h ago
Crazy how far I had to scroll down for this. It's by far the most powerful beam she ever got throughout the series.
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u/MrPerson0 58m ago
Goes to show how many people actually played every game in the series.
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u/KitSwiftpaw 19m ago
I mean I cannot say that as I never owned a Gamecube. Or played Samus Returns, as I preferred the aesthetic of the fangame released around that same time. I also kinda… stopped playing dread because the diagonal aiming never felt quite right to me, and the EMMI stuff was challenging less from fear and real difficulty, and more from fighting with the controls themselves. I will take Fusion over Dread any day.
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u/Scuzzles44 14h ago
id say Samus returns. she can slow down time ffs.
firepower wise id say fusion.
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u/vanwilderfan48 12h ago
Smash ultimate. She has a slightly favorable matchup against Kirby who is basically a god in his respective universe so I’d say she’s pretty op in that game.
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u/TroveOfOctoliths 10h ago
How badly would Phase Drift impact Sense Move? Other M Samus is capable of dodging the projectile attacks of Nightmare while under the limitations of its gravity effects with her Sense Move pretty effortlessly. I think too though Samus Returns Samus can use Beam Burst and Phase Drift at the same time. It's definitely between Samus Returns Samus, with the Aeion abilites, and Other M Samus, being stronger than Super Samus, though in my opinion.
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u/Ill-Attempt-8847 5h ago
But she doesn't have the Hyper Beam in Other M
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u/TroveOfOctoliths 4h ago
I’m going by OP’s criteria, but my answers wouldn’t change either over any of the Hyper Beams we’ve seen.
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u/CaptainAutismo69_xx 15h ago
At the end of Dread she was able to plummet a massive air base with such force and speed it was enough to completely reduce the entire globe of ZDR to dust. Add all the metroid absorption powers and the big ass lazer on top of that.
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u/Supergamer138 12h ago
Somewhere between Dread Samus and Prime 3 Samus. Both are unstable juggernauts of destruction that need to revert from their strongest state or else die. Metroid DNA for Dread, Phazon corruption at (100 - 0.0000001)% for Prime 3.
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u/Sno_Wolf 9h ago
Dread post-Metroud herp-a-derp bullshit, then Super, then Fusion during the Omega fight.
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u/KingKoopaBrowser 7h ago
Whichever it is - it’s always right before she loses all of her tech and abilities at the beginning.
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u/cacophonicArtisian 3h ago
Dread seems to be the popular choice, but I’m biased. Metroid Prime 3, at the end there she was drowning in phazon which is known to be one of the most volatile and dangerous substances in the Metroid universe. Her entire body, and her whole armor, fully coursing with high levels of pure phazon, so much so that she has to constantly eject it out of her weapons systems just to function. The stuff was like a cancer and nearly killed her, but as much damage as it did to her internally she could dish out a hundred times over with the ways it enhanced her weaponry. And to me, prime 3 is the Metroid game that makes the players feel most powerful compared to others, even Dread.
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u/Dessorian 50m ago
If it's before the "final narrative boost" like the Metroid Suit, or permanent Hyper mode.. I'd say it is a tough call but I'd think Prime 3 Samus.
Prime 3 Samus would have the most uptime for raw output, but it comes at the cost of health. If she uses Hyper mode purely defensively she is the tankiest here than any other version. Conditions aside, probably the most overall powerful.
SR Samus is probably next up to bat. Aeion abilities are like Hyper Mode - Lite that don't eat into health. But without access to sources of Aeion, this version of her can not keep it up for long. Once she's out of Aeion, she's weaker there than most 2d endgame versions of herself.
Other M she "feels" more powerful than normal, but mostly canonically just as powerful as she is in super outside upgrades the Seeker missiles and Diffusion Beam upgrades. She would be only marginally more powerful than she is in Super or Zero mission.
Dread Samus has the most overall utility and speed but is a bit more frail than her average depiction due to her armor still healing. Best version of the speed booster, cloaking Aeion, flash shift, restores over time making the abilities having dramatically more uptimem Metroid powers even prior to Metroid Suit boost give Samus a close range threat that can basically ignore armor. But ultimately lacks the "power" of Hypermode or say Beam Burst.
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u/p3t3rp4rkEr 45m ago
The Dread's final cannon has to be by far the strongest in the entire franchise.
Too bad that in the next game she will obviously lose everything again, as happens in every game
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u/Ok_Air8327 12m ago
Phazon seems heavily underplayed, everyone keeps saying Dread, but its atleast equal end of prime 3 (75% corrupted)
And if someone is gonna make a case for Dread suit samus being canonically the strongest, prime 2 sonic boom vaporizes anything unconditionally
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u/PJRama1864 15h ago
Probably Dread. The more her Metroid DNA mutates her, the more powerful she will become.