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sepublic · 3 months ago

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Metroid and F-Zero GP

So un-ironically I'd really like the F-Zero GP anime to cross over with a Metroid show; Specifically, let’s make it canon and even a recurring element within the series.

Because it takes place in space, in the future, there's a Galactic Federation, Captain Falcon is a bounty hunter. And the way I'd incorporate it would be as seamless and natural as I could; Like these are just new characters, the same way Rundas or Sylux would be. The fact that they're F-Zero is not made loud and apparent, not that I'm ever against those types of crossovers... But it'd be a fun writing exercise to try merging these stories organically, even making crossover elements and individual episodes relevant to Samus' character arc.

So there's a couple of F-Zero elements that might show up here or there, a reference to the races. There's an episode where Samus has to face off against yet another bounty hunter, this one being expert marksman Pico, whose fighting style revolves around his perfect aim, and eludes her due to his distant nature as a sniper. Dark Million shows up and maybe it’s the criminal organization that disastrously hired Kanden for the Metroid. And eventually...

Well, I'd discussed the idea of Samus going to Earth, the Earthians' ancestral homeworld, after the events of the Fusion arc. It's her way of reconnecting with her Earthian side, with the ancestry of Rodney and Virginia, after focusing so much on Chozo affairs. In a way it's Samus re-exploring her identity after becoming part-Metroid, who she is as a person, all that stuff; And it sets her up to occasionally question her Chozo heritage, who they raised her to be, which transitions nicely into the Dread arc and the Mawkin representing the worst of the Chozo.

But before that, Samus is interested in tracing her Earthian genealogy and all that. Considering the kind of life and community she might've had if the Space Pirates never attacked K-2L. I'd love for Anthony Higgs to be present here, but his standing in the Federation would make it really awkward for him, so I'm not sure how it'd work out; I'm working on the idea of Samus getting pardoned thanks to Adam helping her leak the BSL corruption, which leads to public outcry defending Samus, as a callback to Fusion's ending monologue about people who understand. Even so, Samus is still on uneasy terms with the Federation, so I dunno if Anthony could make it.

We get an episode or two about Samus awkwardly trying to be Earthian and it not exactly working out? Is she just a tourist here? She has an existential conversation with Adam, who is also possibly struggling with the fact that he's no longer human, but a machine. So like Samus he's rediscovering himself too, and maybe Malkovich had a life and/or ancestry on Earth he left behind...

Eventually, this segues into the next storyline; Samus decides to visit Mute City, a popular site for tourists and immigrants alike. In F-Zero GP continuity (which differs from the games), Mute City is just a renamed New York City, meaning most of the action takes place on Earth. Samus crosses paths with Captain Falcon, a fellow bounty hunter like herself. She also witnesses the F-Zero races, questioning how they're even legal; This could tie into Samus questioning everything she's believed in regarding the Galactic Federation. Are these death races, performed for the entertainment of the upper classes, just further proof that Sylux was right???

This also gets me to another thing; I'm interested in Joey Apronika, from the Samus and Joey manga. I'd also like to adapt that, with various story arcs spread out across the Metroid show; It's not done all in one sitting, Joey is a recurring character. And being human, he could maybe show up alongside Samus, as she explores reconnecting with her 'human' side and understanding just what she's made up of now.

Joey wields the Field Knuckle, which is basically a tech gauntlet that allows him to generate protective barriers around his fist, himself and others, etc. This comes in handy for just punching enemies really, REALLY hard. And this reminds me of the Falcon Punch...

F-Zero GP follows its own take on the classic roster, with Captain Falcon's true identity being Andy Summer, not Douglas J. Falcon. However, it's also established that the title of Captain Falcon is a mantle, passed down from mentor to apprentice; Andy is not the first, so it's possible, if not implied, that his predecessor and/or the original Falcon was Douglas. The anime ends with Andy sacrificing his life to defeat Black Shadow, and the main character Ryu Suzaku becomes the new Captain Falcon.

Yeah, did I mention? F-Zero GP follows a similar premise to the Samus and Joey manga, in that we have a plucky young rookie, who is mentored by the mysterious face of the franchise. Interesting! The F-Zero GP even ends with a "To be continued...?" tagline.

Now, with Ryu as the new Captain Falcon, shouldn't he have his own successor considered, just as the show up until then was him and the previous Captain Falcon going on the occasional adventure together? Enter Clank Hughes, a young, tech-savvy boy who has a visor he can scan things with...

In the epilogue, Clank is a grown-up young man, and explicitly named as Ryu's successor; He will eventually become Captain Falcon. In the meantime, he learns from Suzaku, who fits quite nicely into his new outfit and identity.

Clank Hughes bears a decent resemblance to Joey Apronika... Joey fights similarly to Captain Falcon... Clank has his own scan visor, not unlike Samus Aran. Thus, I've considered two different options for how I want to approach the mantle of Captain Falcon in a Metroid show:

The first is to follow up directly where F-Zero GP ended, with Ryu as Captain Falcon, albeit more muscled and chiseled now. Him and Samus have some bonding moments and parallels; They both have young apprentices who look quite similar to one another! They both carry on where their friend(s) have died, and are quite lonely and out of their world;

See, Ryu Suzaku is not from this century; He's from the 21st century. This was back when Earth had yet to make contact with the Galactic Federation; He used to be a regular police officer and racer, but when he got into a car chase with escaped convict Zoda, Ryu was badly injured. It left him in a coma so severe, that doctors gave up and decided to put him into cryogenic sleep, and wait for the time when medical tech had advanced to heal him fully.

This would happen 150 years later; Ryu gets revived and makes a full recovery thanks to Doctor Stewart, and is a man out of his time. The only people from his time are his fiancee, who also went through the same treatment... And Zoda, who also got the same treatment.

Point is: There's a lot of people that Ryu left behind! And while this concept does make me consider a 'Frozen generation' of others who also waited things out cryogenically... It's still not a lot to work off of. So for Ryu, he's trying to reconnect with his lost past, and Samus is trying to explore one aspect of her ancestry. These are difficult things to bond over, as is them not being able to relate to a lot of people over their experiences.

Likewise, as Samus worries about destroying everything she touches (wait until she unlocks her Metroid DNA and that happens literally!), she's concerned about possibly hurting Joey, and Captain Falcon is someone who can listen and understand. He even calls back to when Clank was a young boy, just like Joey himself!

As for Clank himself, he knows he's got big shoes to fill in; He bonds with Joey over their mentors, although Clank has known his for much longer, and is tbh closer to him. Still, he gives Joey much-needed reassurance as an older brother figure. Captain Falcon helps Joey master his Field Knuckle, imparting the technique of the Falcon Punch; Its nature in Metroid might be technology, secret martial arts, a mix of magic and pseudo-medical science, IDK. Ghosts canonically exist in Metroid, as do telepaths.

Clank's scan visor compliments Samus' quite nicely, and the arc comes to a close with Clank, who has been considering how HIS successor will be, realizing Joey is a pretty good candidate! Joey's too young and Clank isn't Captain Falcon yet, but there's setup for his own future to look forward to... Captain Falcon, Clank, and a couple other F-Zero characters also return every now and then, depending on how long the show keeps going after the Dread arc's conclusion.

That's Plan A... For Plan B;

Clank Hughes is already Captain Falcon. Samus sees a fellow bounty hunter who also has a scan visor incorporated into his helmet. Cap helps Joey master his Field Knuckle in ways even his father, whom he inherited it from, didn't; Captain Falcon and Samus both bond over mentoring this young and impressionable kid, it makes Samus feel a lot less scared and lonely handling Joey. And Captain Falcon sees a lot of his younger self in Joey.

Eventually, Falcon elaborates on his backstory; His true name is Clank Hughes. He is not the first Captain Falcon, just another in a lineage. His predecessor was Ryu Suzaku, who gave his life to protect innocents... Cue a flashback to the first Metroid Crisis; Space Pirates have deployed some Metroids on the F-Zero Grand Prix, because they're petty like that.

Clank is present racing alongside Captain Falcon. It's a pretty tense scenario, civilians are being attacked by Metroids, some of the racers find their vehicles being drained by the vampires, which leads to crashes. The Blue Falcon gets attacked by Metroids and is damaged; Captain Falcon can't get the cockpit to open, he's trapped inside...

They're on a racetrack atypical of the usual ones; A ring contained within a stadium, built on the premise of high-speed circular racing. With the speed that racers go, they can heat up the track really fast. To make up for this, beneath the stadium is a giant cooling reactor to keep the racetrack from melting... How does Captain Falcon know of the Metroid weakness to cold? This could be after the first wave of attacks, when the Galactic Federation has already posted PSAs about this vulnerability.

Falcon messages Clank, explaining the emergency eject has been disabled; There's no getting himself out of this situation. But for everyone else...

In some really expert maneuvering, he drives the Blue Falcon into the Metroids, letting them cling onto his vehicle and start draining it. He even bumps into other racers, the speed and force tearing off the Metroids, who then choose the Blue Falcon instead. Hell maybe he even drives onto the abandoned seats to lure the Metroids away from the audience.

With all of the creatures latched onto his vehicle and its power draining fast, Falcon makes a final send-off message to Clank, declaring him the new Captain Falcon. The entire scene is in blatant, shot-for-shot homage to the previous Falcon's heroic sacrifice, down to an instrumental version of the song that plays; Captain Falcon activates the boosters, ramming through doors and into an underground track leading to the cooling reactor.

Captain Falcon rams the Blue Falcon into the center of the cooling reactor, freezing the outside, as well as the Metroids latched on. His helmet flies off, revealing an older Ryu Suzaku, who charges up a Falcon Punch that he rams right into his console; The force is so great it causes the Blue Falcon to explode, shattering the frozen Metroids. We get a final shot of Ryu smiling in his heroic sacrifice, just like Andy Summer, before disappearing in the explosion.

The detonation leads to a chain reaction within the cooling reactor; This causes all of the ice to funnel upwards and through the racetrack above, leading to some very pretty snowflakes falling around the stadium. Clank Hughes mourns Captain Falcon, and vows to fulfill his role, just as Cap did the previous one before him!

Cut back to the present; Earlier, Hughes had expressed admiration to Samus for ending the Metroid Crisis. You can see he really, REALLY means it. He imparts his own advice to Samus about keeping the hearts of your friends alive, and their sacrifices not in vain, and he knows what it's like to lose multiple father figures; Samus takes that into consideration (and it sets up Samus having to deal later with a 'father figure' she takes great shame in). Samus and Captain Falcon's friendship is furthered, since he basically takes joint custody with her over Joey, and realizes Joey has the shapings to become a Captain Falcon himself!

The training won't begin, not yet; But it's an invitation for Joey to consider. And it's something for Samus to look forward to; Joey doesn't have to follow in her lonely footsteps. But with Captain Falcon, he's got a lot of friends and confidence and charisma... Adam reminds Samus not to be so dismissive of herself though. Who knows?

(One of my main reasons for hesitation with Ryu being posthumous and Hughes having already taken his position, comes from me... Honestly not wanting to crush the hearts of fans who grew attached to Ryu, and really wanted to see him be Captain Falcon. Granted a badass heroic sacrifice helps to assuage that disappointment but still. And also yeah I kinda DO want to see Ryu as Falcon, myself!!!)

As a side note: There's also a storyline about Rockets, a racer from Samus and Joey, competing in the F-Zero. He's an antagonist, hoping to use the prize money to help fund his boss Greed's operations and all that. Jody Summer is also present, and things could get complicated given she's a member of the Galactic Federation, which has VERY tense feelings towards Samus because of the BSL incident; She probably leans towards sympathizer, but it's still awkward. And at some point Captain Falcon has to clarify she's the sister of a previous Falcon, so Jody's family to him too.

#Metroid #Captain Falcon #Samus Aran #Ryu Suzaku #Clank Hughes #Joey Apronika #F Zero #F Zero GP #Falcon Densetsu #Samus and Joey

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