Samus's new kicks

[19]

Hey guys, it's Snot with a topic of his own for once!

I noticed no one was really chatting about Samus and her new kicks in Smash Brothers, call me a massive sci-fi nerd but I'm looking at them and scratching my head wondering "Why?" amongst other things. Here's an image:

My thoughts on them are:
Heels are stupid for combat regardless of in built rockets.
They're not fitting with the lore, the character.
They look like repurposed nerf guns. :|
There's better ideas.
It goes against the original design of Samus's Zero Suit.

Spoiler

I figure if anything, she'd salvage her boots from her power armor like so:

Added kicking power, already with some beefy upgrades.

Jesus, that is an offensively stupid design, both visually and to Samus as a character.
Nintendo has been sexualizing Samus for a while now and I'm really not a fan. Her waist is the size of my bicep, her breasts are way bigger than they used to be (and breasts don't look like that unless she's not wearing a bra under that suit) and I'm not sure if she was ever a brunette, but her hair used to be way darker than that.
Personally, I don't want to think of Samus as a sex object. The mere existence of the Zero Suit was brushing up against my personal line and Nintendo has been walking around in the off-limits area ever since.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Jesus, that is an offensively stupid design, both visually and to Samus as a character.

Uh, yeah, she was ALWAYS sexualized. Ever since her first appearance in Metroid back in '86. This isn't anything new.

 

[carnex]

Sometimes fan pandering goes horribly wrong. And this is prime example. Samus Aran is well established character and her outfits were also seen many times. This is just sad, not to say dysfunctional too.

I don't mind her being sexualized to a certain extent, she was always portrayed as well endowed, extremely fit female with pretty face. But this is going beyond reasonable and even is borderline to totally unacceptable.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

A couple of points:
1. She can't really use normal boots if she wants the jet propulsion. Hell, I'm pretty sure every iteration of it in her normal suit was in the back part of her suit, around the shoulders.

2. While heels aren't the best for being agile, I wonder if a large clunky boot (as her normal boots wouldn't do anything) would be worse.

Put simply, while it isn't a good solution, it's far from the worst. I realize one could simply argue suspension of disbelief and all that, but I like it when when one doesn't have to resort to that.

I will agree the yellow looks terrible though.

 

[carnex]

Usually that problem is handled much more elegantly by forgoing any notion of reality and giving thrusters no visual depth or mounting them behind the heel. There is no reason to ruin the iconic costume and character this way. Giving her evening dress costume with high heels would be OK with me but this is just plain stupid. Not that I'm going to buy WiiU or 3DS to play this game in the first place, but Metroid games are only mainstream Nintendo property that I really enjoy outside Mario Galaxy and WarioWare games.

 

[Snotnarok]

A couple of points:
1. She can't really use normal boots if she wants the jet propulsion. Hell, I'm pretty sure every iteration of it in her normal suit was in the back part of her suit, around the shoulders.

2. While heels aren't the best for being agile, I wonder if a large clunky boot (as her normal boots wouldn't do anything) would be worse.

Put simply, while it isn't a good solution, it's far from the worst. I realize one could simply argue suspension of disbelief and all that, but I like it when when one doesn't have to resort to that.

I will agree the yellow looks terrible though.

Space jump is a function of the boots, always has been, the double jump in Prime is a function that could be the thrusters in the back- or that is for the speed booster function <=most likely.

Given that her suit allows her to move so easily and not be thrown off balance, it's not far off to wager they have an function to lighten the weight of components such as shoulders. She's highly acrobatic in that suit, synthetic muscle under it wouldn't be enough to help with the crazy shoulders and chest armor. This is really supported by the Gravity suit allowing her to ignore gravity and mobility loss of water.

TL;DR: I am a massive nerd, the suit seems to have functions to make it weigh less than it does.

Edit: The captcha said "Type: Switch to Time Warner Cable" I typed "No" and it worked, I'm wondering if I misread but it's amusing either way.

 

[default]

Regardless of any 'politics' or 'sexism', from a purely character design standpoint they just look fucking gross. Throws out the whole balance and elegance of the design of Zero Suit Samus. Go back to the drawing board Nintendo, if you REALLY have to have these stupid bloody things.

 

[SD-Fiend]

There really isn't much I can say other than:

Spoiler

I really don't have a problem with them other than the poor choice of that particular shade of yellow.

 

[Jenvas1306]

I have more of a problem with her being so small in Other M. she is 1.9meters tall, but in cutscenes she looks smaller than the men, I guess they must all be basketball players.
Putting on a different pair of boots is easy, changing a characters anatomy is more drastic.

The boots are stupid, she is supposed to be like a crossbreed between a ninja and an acrobat in her zerosuit, those heels don't look like they are dampeners and dont get me started about running in heels...

Female character gets bad design in attempt to make her more sexy? I'm shocked!

Samus has always been a great character for female powerfantasies, its actually one of my favorites and now her design gets more and more blurred to be the same mush we see everywhere else. Its sad.

That's her look from Metroid Prime

Her hair has natural blond colors, not the yellow stuff that's going on these days. she has actual facial structures like a human being and less like an anime character. Her look from MP1 will always be how I see her.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

A couple of points:
1. She can't really use normal boots if she wants the jet propulsion. Hell, I'm pretty sure every iteration of it in her normal suit was in the back part of her suit, around the shoulders.

2. While heels aren't the best for being agile, I wonder if a large clunky boot (as her normal boots wouldn't do anything) would be worse.

Put simply, while it isn't a good solution, it's far from the worst. I realize one could simply argue suspension of disbelief and all that, but I like it when when one doesn't have to resort to that.

I will agree the yellow looks terrible though.

Space jump is a function of the boots, always has been, the double jump in Prime is a function that could be the thrusters in the back- or that is for the speed booster function <=most likely.

Given that her suit allows her to move so easily and not be thrown off balance, it's not far off to wager they have an function to lighten the weight of components such as shoulders. She's highly acrobatic in that suit, synthetic muscle under it wouldn't be enough to help with the crazy shoulders and chest armor. This is really supported by the Gravity suit allowing her to ignore gravity and mobility loss of water.

TL;DR: I am a massive nerd, the suit seems to have functions to make it weigh less than it does.

Edit: The captcha said "Type: Switch to Time Warner Cable" I typed "No" and it worked, I'm wondering if I misread but it's amusing either way.

Upon looking it up, it was indeed the speed booster function, my mistake.

However, what I meant by the part about "clunky boots" was based on reading other people (Not always on The Escapist) saying she could just use normal boots. While the suit likely has a way to make it weigh less, I would think it would be less effective if she only had part of the suit, in this case the boots.

 

[Goliath100]

...she is 1.9meters tall...

...In the suit, she has to be 1.9 in the suit. Last time I checked, it was never specified if it was in suit or not, so it have to be in suit.

 

[Jenvas1306]

...she is 1.9meters tall...

...In the suit, she has to be 1.9 in the suit. Last time I checked, it was never specified if it was in suit or not, so it have to be in suit.

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130627200806/metroid/images/d/d8/Samus_Aran_Varia_suit_Super_Metroid_Player%27s_Guide_1994.jpg

ill link this not as direct image here as its big, its a page from the super metroid players guide, stating her personal data to be 6'3" which is about 190cm and her weight to be 198pounds, which lets her still look slender due to her height. those numbers couldnt be meant to fit her in the suit as its sure heavier than that.

 

[DrOswald]

...she is 1.9meters tall...

...In the suit, she has to be 1.9 in the suit. Last time I checked, it was never specified if it was in suit or not, so it have to be in suit.

I actually saw some art that reconciled the size of Samus out of suit with the size of Samus in suit while mixing in some ideas the artist had of how the powersuit would work. The basic idea is that the suit is in some ways, especially in the legs, a replacement for her real body. Not that her real body disappeared. The armor was literally skin tight everywhere but the head, holding her body in place, evenly distributing her weight across her entire body, and keeping it safe while Samus controlled the armor with her mind. She does not flex her muscles to move her legs, the armor moves and her leg would bend with it.

I can't find the art now, but in the image her feet don't reach the end of the armor boots. She was "standing" on her toes (her feet angled as if she were wearing very high heels) and her toes didn't quite reach the heal of the boot. This was supposedly so Samus could take a much more powerful impact (fall from a much greater height) without shattering the bones in her feet. Even if the armor wouldn't take damage from the fall the sudden force of deceleration inside the suit would result in damage to Samus if her weight was resting on her feet. This way instead of the impact being focused in her feet it is spread evenly across her entire body.

This is where the extra inches come from, plus a couple inches for her armored helmet. That is how a 5'6"ish Samus fits into a 6'2"ish power suit. Of course, this is all completely non cannon. I just like the explanation.

 

[Pseudonym]

Not only are they poinless and do they draw attention to things that shouldn't matter in metroids, the heels also look like they are made of plastic. I don't like them.

 

[Dragonpit]

There is NO WAY those heels will work. Traditionally, heels cannot stand punishment caused by athletics; the heel would snap off. But since these were clearly made with "future tech", it's safe to say these won't. Still, the punishment on the feet would STILL be great. Sure, you could "get used to them", but Samus has never been big about wearing them. So why would she wear them NOW?

And then there are the other hazards with wearing heels. I work at a clothing store, and I've been treated to horror stories involving heels and loose debris on hardwood floors. One employee talked about wearing heels in a dressing room, slipping on a loose hanger, and becoming severely injured from it as a result. Samus could literally slip on something like a unclaimed item on the Pokemon Elite Four stage and become incapacitated from that, provided her Chozo athletic skills don't help her catch herself mid-fall. Heels are not great for traction!

 

[Olas]

I really find the obsession with Samus sans armor annoying. Not only is it not what she wears in the games (except in a few very special cases) but it's also not really meant for combat at all, and unlike her power armor which gives her a unique look, it just makes her look like a generic blond chick in a jumpsuit.

I am consistently surprised that people complain about Samus' character when for a good chunk of her games she didn't have one and then when she finally was given one it was awful.

But yeah they look dumb, though the whole Zero Suit thing always did look kind of silly.

It shouldn't be that surprising, having a character who's an undefined blank slate is better than having one you actively dislike. Not that Samus didn't already have a personality before Other M, it was just conveyed more subtly.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

...In the suit, she has to be 1.9 in the suit. Last time I checked, it was never specified if it was in suit or not, so it have to be in suit.

There WAS an offhand comment in a player's guide, but its canonical status is dubious. The closest I've seen to a comparison is the Mac Factory Zero Suit statue which (if you convert properly) would make her 5'5" out of her heels.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Maybe she wanted to wear heels? No one cares about what the woman wants. ;-)

 

[KazeAizen]

Personally, I think if a woman can walk in stilettos, let alone fight in them, she instantly the most badass person I can think of.

Case and point. Bayonetta. I saw absolutely no one complaining she was fighting in high heels.

 

[KazeAizen]

Gotta sex her up somehow. People were used to the zero suit by now. They were starting to chafe.

"Okay we've got this badass space bounty hunter! She wears this heavy armor with a gun for her right hand!"

"Hmmm... that's good, I guess... But how about a skin-tight catsuit? Ooh! Maybe give her a whip, and some high heels too!"

Gotta ***** about her design somehow. Who cares if the design actually looks good. If it is in any way shape or form deviated from her original design or the one I've had in my head for 20 years gotta ***** about it somehow.

Seriously the fact that she is wearing a cat suit and ROCKET POWERED HEELS! does not change the fact that Samus will always be a bad ass space bounty hunter. List of other female heroes that fight in catsuits and high heels occasionally. Catwoman, Black Cat, and Bayonetta. Yet I see absolutely no one complain about them.