Samus's butt in Metroid: Zero Mission

[Sybbie]

As you might know, Zero Mission was the first game in the Metroid series where Nintendo really focused on Samus's sex appeal (if you haven't see the Japanese TVCM for the game yet, you should), and it was also the game introducing the zero suit. And, it was the first game to give us a blatant butt shot of Samus:

On the left, you see Samus from Super Metroid.

On the right, you see Samus from Metroid: Zero Mission.

Notice any differences in muscle mass and body?

Now, I really just want as many opinions as possible here... how many people think that Samus's butt looks fat in Zero Mission? I don't mean that as a negative thing. Fat isn't bad when it comes to the female butt, is it?

The thing is... I think it looks fat in this image. Fat and sexy. Logically, Samus wouldn't have a fat butt, but logic doesn't always apply to videogames. And in this case, I think Nintendo went more with sex appeal, while in Super Metroid they went more with logic (she looks all buff in Super Metroid, while she looks all soft in Metroid: Zero Mission).

But the above is just my opinion. Do you agree that her butt looks fat in that image, or do you disagree with me?

Oh yeah, I should also explain why I think it looks fat (this is my subjective eloboration):

- First, her butt looks very big in comparison to her body.

- Second, her body doesn't look toned at all, it looks slim. So why should the size of her butt come from muscle when the rest of her body looks all soft?

- Third, if you look closely at her left butt cheek, you can actually tell that there's a faint line (the creasing that separates her buttock from her thigh) running all the way out to her hip, making it look like her buttocks are folding over her thighs quite a bit.

To me, she has a big, fat butt - which is very attractive and good looking. I think her body looks much better in Metroid: Zero Mission than in Super Metroid where it's all muscle.

Am I the only one of this opinion? I need to know!

 

[Rusky]

I erm...don't think your pictures loaded properly there champ.

 

[ShinyTentacruel]

Try uploading your stuff to imgur next time, OP

 

[Rusky]

Also, this is a very weird topic of conversation.

 

[Edware]

Try uploading your stuff to imgur next time, OP

Yep, Imgur is definitely the best site for uploading pictures lol.

 

[ShinyTentacruel]

This is a very weird topic. I guess OP isn't going to fix his pictures, a shame.

 

[aboleth_lich]

Let's begin by contrasting the two very different looks for Samus Aran, since there are issues with the original post's images.


Here we see Samus in various versions of her traditional bulky, badass battle armour from earlier Metroid games:

And here we see Samus Aran in the skin tight, curve hugging Zero Suit from Metroid: Zero Mission onwards:

In general, I fully understand why one would attempt to inject abject sexual appeal into one of their franchise's characters as it's being developed. Moreover, the femme fatale in a skin-tight jumpsuit image ala Black Widow, Catwoman, Emma Peel, etc is usually particularly well suited to a character who is a bounty hunter, assassian, spy, etc. And I am indeed a fan of such characters.


However, it's an entirely different matter when you're talking about a well-established character who has existed for decades and whose sexuality was completely irrelevant and superfluous to her appeal. In the previous Metroid games, Samus' gender was totally irrelevant to her character and Nintendo rightfully felt no need to superfluously inject sex appeal into her character. It was enough that she was a lone, badass bounty hunter in an intimidating and practical bulky battle suit. At the time of the original Metroid, back in the 1980's: it was a fairly positive feminist move on the part of Nintendo to cast a woman into a such a traditionally masculine badass role without the accompaniment of an appeal to superfluous sexual objectification.


As such, in the very specific case of Samus Aran: I feel like this change from the traditional battle armour to the Zero Suit is a major step backwards for her character!


The Zero Suit truly brings to mind the Justin Bailey codes from earlier Metroid games, which replaced Samus' battle armour with laughable swimsuits. It moreover also brings to mind the Samus Aran episode of Doug Walker's Video Game Confessions series that mocks the sexualization of such a character via this suit and those codes!

 

[Esperahol]

Correct - the point of Samus is that she is awesome. That's it. She isn't suppose to be sexy or titilating or whatever. Samus is just supposed to be AWESOME. Oh well - Laura is a boy now and Samus is smexy... I am so disappointed.

 

[averus]

I don't see anything wrong with her butt
I actually think she looks great, without anything being too big or too small or whatever

 

[Esperahol]

It's not that she has a butt, it's that you're actually bothering to notice she has a butt that's the problem. I mean I like a nice behind as much (if not more) then the next guy... or gal, but that was never supposed to be the point with Samus. She's a space marine - not a model.

 

[jbeavis100]

It's a nice butt but I don't think that should be the focus of her charachter. She's a BADASS BOUNTY HUNTER and shes out to kick ass not to show it!

 

[Livvy]

Correct - the point of Samus is that she is awesome. That's it. She isn't suppose to be sexy or titilating or whatever. Samus is just supposed to be AWESOME. Oh well - Laura is a boy now and Samus is smexy... I am so disappointed.

Just because a girl is sexy, doesn't mean she can't also be awesome.

 

[Thomas Ennis]

Wow, I didn't expect so many replies here hahahahah. I guess with a mostly male page, I should have Anyways, I think Samus should not have any extra titillation involved in her character; it only makes her cheaper.

 

[Livvy]

Wow, I didn't expect so many replies here hahahahah. I guess with a mostly male page, I should have Anyways, I think Samus should not have any extra titillation involved in her character; it only makes her cheaper.

As I said, just because a girl happens to be sexy doesn't take away from her character at all.

 

[polski691]

Also, this is a very weird topic of conversation.

I think "sad" is a better way to put it, not "weird".

I remember when Samus was most discussed because she stood for gender equality and was a symbol against sexism and all. And now, here we are, discussing, of all things, her.... rear. I don't know whether to be ashamed, sad, or continue ogling her... rear. :3

 

[Livvy]

I think "sad" is a better way to put it, not "sad".

I remember when Samus was most discussed because she stood for gender equality and was a symbol against sexism and all. And now, here we are, discussing, of all things, her.... rear. I don't know whether to be ashamed, sad, or continue ogling her... rear. :3

Honestly I think you'll still find more people talking about her as evidence that girls can be great characters too rather than just her butt. Not that I wouldn't mind having some fun with her myself. Not sure she'd be into girls though.

 

[polski691]

Honestly I think you'll still find more people talking about her as evidence that girls can be great characters too rather than just her butt. Not that I wouldn't mind having some fun with her myself. Not sure she'd be into girls though.

As much as I want to believe that, the number of fan-fiction floating around on the internet is a surefire sign that that is simply not true. For every video game activist out there, I am sure there are at least four or five video game perverts.

.... like me. Girl on girl action featuring Samus and you? I'd pay to watch that!

Kidding. Kidding.

 

[aboleth_lich]

I think "sad" is a better way to put it, not "weird".

I remember when Samus was most discussed because she stood for gender equality and was a symbol against sexism and all. And now, here we are, discussing, of all things, her.... rear. I don't know whether to be ashamed, sad, or continue ogling her... rear. :3

It's worth noting that, although this thread did indeed begin as a somewhat misogynistic, male-gaze-objectification-oriented discussion of the evolving size and shape of Samus' derrière, many of the above posts moved well beyond that and instead more deeply discussed Samus historical role as an unsexualized bad-ass just-happens-to-be-female bounty hunter versus her modern sexualized appearance vis–à–vis Zero Suit, whether this revision to her character is a step backward for what was one of the few unsexualized feminist icons within video games or is simply harmless titillation, whether she's in fact been sexualized from the start vis–à–vis the Justin Bailey bikini codes, etc, etc.

 

[Livvy]

As much as I want to believe that, the number of fan-fiction floating around on the internet is a surefire sign that that is simply not true. For every video game activist out there, I am sure there are at least four or five video game perverts.

.... like me. Girl on girl action featuring Samus and you? I'd pay to watch that!

Cheeky!

Although I wouldn't be surprised if there was someone out there willing to do this sort of thing. I mean, I know there's girls who do stuff as Power Girl or Super Girl, so at the very least you could pay someone to dress up as Samus and stuff.