Samus Aran

Samus Aran (Japanese: サムス・アラン, Hepburn: Samusu Aran) is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) She broke ground by being the first female heroine in gaming and set the standards of what a strong and independent female character should be
 * 2) Her backstory on how she became a bounty hunter is both sad and interesting
 * 3) She's saved the galaxy countless times from many dangerous threats such as Ridley and the Space Pirates, the Phazon Crisis, the X parasites and the Metroids just to name a few
 * 4) She's very powerful and badass and has a wide variety of weapons and abilities at her disposal. Her Chozo DNA also allows to do amazing superhuman feats and she's had tons of combat training as well
 * 5) She's taken down some of the most powerful threats and Space Pirates in the galaxy.
 * 6) She's fearless, focused, and takes on any challenge or threat without hesitation.
 * 7) While she may come off as aloof and distant, she's also caring towards those that she considers her ally and will never hesitate to lend out a helping hand to those who need it
 * 8) She's very beautiful and cute of course, which can easily be seen when she's not wearing her Power Suit
 * 9) Her compassionate side can also be seen where she spares the life of a baby Metroid as opposed to destroying it after defeating the Queen Metroid
 * 10) She has a strong sense of duty and justice and will always carryout and complete her missions successfully
 * 11) Even without her Power Suit, Samus is far from weak and is still really fast, resourceful and agile due to her training with the Chozo as well as her Chozo DNA

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Her characterization in Metroid Other M was pretty bad. She got reduced to being a damsel in distress who constantly needs to be saved and is constantly concerned about Adam's opinion on her. There's even a rather infamous scene where she seems traumatized by Ridley despite having already defeated him countless times by this point.
 * 2) There was no way to tell her gender in her debut unless the game was a hundred percented.
 * 3) Her bloodcurdling death scream in the Metroid Prime series is VERY annoying to listen to.

Reception

 * As a woman in a male-dominated role, Samus has been widely considered a breakthrough for female characters in video games and is one of the most beloved video game characters of all time. Samus is one of the first major female protagonists in a video game, predated by one year by Toby Masuyo ("Kissy") from Namco's Alien Sector (Baraduke).
 * Samus was based on Ellen Ripley, from the Alien series.

Trivia

 * One of Samus Aran's voice actors, Alesia Glidewell, also voices Krystal from the Star Fox series.