#SAME WITH WEAVEL AND KANDEN GOD DAMMIT

[postal-ech]

Hunters Lore: Because I am feeling powerful and must exude my autism more

Thanks to a recent reblog, I have never felt this more powerful as a fucking metroid fan

and given all that's been posted here is autism, some deltarune and undertale fan art, alongside metroid and lisa fan art, It is time I flex my shit even more, once again underneath a dreaded break

This is gonna cover the Hunters from Metroid Prime: Hunters. Why? Because shit's sake SYLUX IS BACK, and we need some context to cover why he (or she [or even fucking they at this point, we REALLY don't know]) is going to be so important, alongside other hunters that could play a role in Metroid Prime 4

Venture forth, if ye dare.

So to begin, let me start by giving you all this happy family photo here of the hunters all together, moments before they proceeded to get into a bar fight with one another and resulted in several broken bones and mixed feelings between each other:

So from left to right, you have:

Weavel

Trace

Noxus

Samus

Kanden

Sylux

Spire

We'll skip over Samus because this autist assumes you know here if you know Metroid, and we'll start with one of my favorites and heavily biased hunters:

Weavel

So who in the metric FUCK is Weavel?

(Image may be shit because the background, bear with me here, its the only ones I could find that weren't already on the hard drive of metroid images)

WEAVEL is a cybernetically rebuilt Space Pirate General. What do I mean by cybernetically rebuilt? I mean this mother fucker is essentially a brain in a jar piloting a power suit. The most notable thing to understand about Weavel is that he had an encounter once with Samus

Once

It ended so badly, so terribly for him, that the only thing they could recover from Weavel's broken and mangled body was his brain and spinal cord, stuffed into the most advanced custom suit the space pirates had at the time, and sent him off to do his shit.

He made his way out as a bounty hunter, except primarily taking contracts with the Space Pirates - kinda like how Samus primarily takes contracts from the Federation, he's more or less Samus' figurative other half in the narrative of Metroid.

His role in Hunters was much like any of the others, he came to the Amblic Cluster to obtain the "ultimate power", though it was a bit unknown as to if he was there on behalf of the Space Pirates, or if he was just gonna steal this shit for himself.

Because like any other space pirate, Weavel is an untrustworthy bastard. Power hungry, too.

Weavel is equipped with a multitude of weapon systems, one energy-grenade launcher known as the Battlehammer, one Energy Scythe similar to that of the pirates' energy blades you see in Prime 1, and his morph form known as the Half Turret. The Half Turret is essentially as the name implies, a turret from the waist down, and Weavel just crawls on his fucking arms at mach speed at you while his turret covers from a distance, both of which are a dangerous combo if you fuck around and wish to find out.

Currently, the whereabouts of Weavel are unknown, and get used to this answer because its gonne be applying to a lot of the other hunters, but if we're gonna be getting into PRIME 4 SPECULATION:

While I don't have high hopes for him showing up knowing Tanabe's own hyperfixation of Sylux, one could assume that he could be employed by the space pirates much like Sylux himself, though given the tennuous relationship of space pirates he could have very well been ousted between Dark Samus' take over of the homeworld in Prime 3, and the destruction of the Space Pirate mega base of Zebes in Super.

Now that ISN'T TO SAY there aren't any remnants left, lets be real - they're space pirates. Though their homeworld is under Federation Occupation, they always find a way to regroup, reorganize, and fuck around some more - especially given how diverse they are species wise.

My guess is that if Weavel DOES show up, he will either be:

Working for Sylux and his little branch of Space Pirates as a contracted Bounty Hunter

Working with his own splinter group of Space Pirates that, while potentially unfriendly with Sylux, gameplay wise will just be more space pirates.

I do hope we get to see Weavel working together with Sylux though cause god dammit, a tag-team boss fight with both of them like its some Hunters type shit would be god tier.

Fun fact too! He is the ONLY OTHER HUNTER in the Hunters game apart from Sylux to have his own ship shown off. We do not know the name unfortunately.

NEXT UP ON THE LIST WE HAVE:

Trace

Trace is another interesting fellow, given the entire Kriken Empire being a thing in metroid to begin with.

Trace is literally just a young member of the Kriken Empire, whose coming-of-age ritual is to be exiled alone to search out for a viable planet in order for the empire to expand and conquer. Kriken are biological entities despite what their appearance may look like, with tech comprable to the space pirates, probably even the Chozo given their own bodily modifications which allow them to morph into the image above, the Triskelion.

Trace is equipped with an energy sniper known as the Imperialist, as well as a biomechanical cloaking field that allows him to become invisible when standing still, even in his Triskelion form. Essentially, this implies that the Kriken's main strategy of expansion involves assassination from long ranges given the cloaking field and the sniper, and this is very much needed given despite their build Kriken are spindly, fragile critters (at least the one's we've seen so far, nothing has been revealed about other weaponry or kriken soldier types, so the only basis we have to go off of so far is what's been provided here.)

I HIGHLY doubt Trace will show up in Prime 4, even speculation wise the Kriken haven't really been expanded outside of Hunters, but who knows! We could very well get them as a potential antagonist in a future metroid game - though more likely it'll be a prime game over a 2D metroid game.

It is ODD that we don't really hear about the Kriken post Hunters, especially given their well-known status and threat to the galaxy, but that could be explained in future material - perhaps while they're constantly expanding, they're also constantly shrinking as a result of other factors, thus leaving them in a perpetual state of growth and decay in the empire - which is why they haven't gone so far as to attack Fed strongholds like Norion or the outer rim areas like Aether and what not.

Then we have Trace's hated mother fucker (at least imo, judging from the time you encounter the both of them in one go):

Noxus

Now this isn't his morph form but don't worry, we'll get to it eventually.

Noxus is a Vhozon (no relation to Phazon) from the planet of Vho. Vhozon are essentially space paladins of a sort, very similar to Samus actually in their philosophy of administering justice across the galaxy. Noxus is one such Vhozon who came to the Amblic Cluster in order to use the Ultimate Power for the greater good - and if he couldn't, then destroy it so that no one else would.

Noxus, if you ask me, is more akin to a very LAWFUL, elitest-tier kind of alien - where its more akin to "you will do this shit for the greater good or die" whereas Samus is more akin to helping those in need, which is what I feel like separates these two and why they would come into conflict in Hunters. To help paint the picture, think of it like a generic Fantasy Elf - someone who thinks they know what is best for the "lesser races" and will intervene or crush them if they stand in their way.

However that's more speculation on my part, we don't really know the FULL motivations of the Vhozon or even Noxus for that matter, if he's more akin of a Vhozon loyal to the philosophy, or a bounty hunter that adheres to it but still takes bounties from other parties.

Noxus comes from a freezing cold planet, so his weaponry reflects that too. He is equipped with one Judicator which can freeze people - Samus included - right on the spot, very similar to the Ice Beam actually. His morph form is the Vhoscythe, which is more akin to a biological and evolutionary adaptation rather than a technological defense.

Essentially he just spins around like one of those wooden spin toys and extends his arms out to beat the shit out of people that get too close to him.

Much like Trace, I don't really expect to see him to show up, though it WOULD be nice if he did, especially considering the reputation of Sylux and the Space Pirates as sort of a neutral allied party. Again though, we'll just have to see if Tanabe is cooking up any of the other hunters' appearances or if it'll just be his baby Sylux.

Though I WILL Add: Some people speculated the Vhozon may be related to Rundas given their similar cold tech, but that remains to be proven given the lack of evidence and the morphological differences between Rundas and Noxus

Now comes my second favorite mother fucker:

Kanden

Kanden is a fucking biological freak of nature, again similar to Samus' condition but on a more fucked-up scale.

Where as the Chozo engineered Samus with the ability to survive on Zebes, Kanden was made with the intent to make an immortal super soldier enhanced with insect DNA, but the process essentially turned Kanden into a bat-shit unpredictable god damn menace to society. Resulting in the lab that enhanced him being blown to fucking smithereens and him escaping the planet it was on.

Kanden is an Enoma, but we don't really know who they are or what they really look like, as Kanden is just a biological experiment - we don't even know if the Enoma are just the name Kanden was given on his enhancement, or if there's any more as a matter of fact, but the enhancements - while they failed in making him immortal and damaged his sanity, made him into an effective killing machine with a killer instinct to boot. The Insect DNA allowed him to thrive as a Bounty Hunter, granting him a very notable reputation to those looking for someone that can get the job done, and his very alien-like appearance is pretty god damn unsettling too.

Kanden is equipped with the Volt Driver, which is essentially a powerful electromagnetic blast, like Prime 1's wave beam except its a single shot that can still fuck someone up pretty good. His morph form is known as the Stinglarvae, which just further proves how absolutely fucked up his genetic code ought to be where he essentially morphs into a slug-like creature that drops homing bombs on a mother fucker.

Kanden's goal in the Amblic Cluster was to get that Ultimate Power essentially just because he wanted to, just to prove he is THE bounty hunter to have it, almost obsessed with being the most powerful bounty hunter in the galaxy. Of course its a pretty shallow reason, but when you're an unhinged escape biology experiment from a hellish planet, do you really need any other excuse than "fuck it, we go Vergil on this bitch"?

He is truly my beloved, and I doubt he will show up in Prime 4, but I fucking want him to just so he can be a pain in the ass for Sylux, Samus, whoever he encounters. A true wildcard in every sense of the word.

Next up is the one we all know and love, the one that's featured on the front page, the ultimate hater, hyperfixated rage incarnate:

Sylux

Sylux, my beloved. The greatest hater in the galaxy right next to Kanden the insane bastard.

We don't know a god damn thing about Sylux's true origins.

All we know is that he is from the planet of Cyclos, and he has an intense hatred for the government.

He's made a name for himself as an excellent scout and saboteur across the galaxy. A genuine menace to government bureaucracy if you will.

His equipment is all stolen Federation Prototypes - from his ship the Delano 7, to the Suit and his signature weapon, the Shock Coil - even his morph form, the Lockjaw - which has led to some issues, like a design flaw preventing the on-board weapons of the Delano 7 being unable to fire after taking a few hits from infantry-based weaponry - or in Samus' case, her god damn missiles and arm cannon.

Sylux's only goal for obtaining the Ultimate Power was to use it against the Federation - and also Samus by extension - and that's about the most of it

What we CAN predict from his appearance in Prime 4 is simple enough - chances are, with the mochtroids he has in tow, alongside a contingent of Space Pirates and given his weaponry is almost eerily similar to the way metroids harvest energy from their prey, Samus is definitely gonna take a beating from the combined ambush and I don't doubt she'll suffer from Physical Amnesia yet again because of it.

As for what he's after? We don't really know. All we know is that it could be big enough to really fuck up the Federation, especially if he's involved in a Space Pirate assault like this, with tamed mochtroids to boot too. It could be something that'll enhance the mochtroid program he's potentially involved with further or - and there is a bit of further speculation to this - it could be something that allows him and the space pirates to teleport far beyond the galactic rim, judging by the portal we see at the end of the trailer leading to this Talon IV-esque planet.

Who can really say what'll be in store there, but it sure as shit won't be pretty.

FINALLY, HE'S HERE FOR YOU, ITS THE LAST MEMBER OF THE METROID CREW, IT'S:

Spire

Spire is another beloved of mine, as he is the Last of his race - the Diamont, an entirely silicon-based species of rock people.

If you ask me he's essentially the Knuckles of the Metroid games, except instead of sitting on an island all day guarding a big ass emerald while occasionally helping ya boy Sonic out, Spire became a Bounty Hunter specifically because it was to figure out what the HELL happened to his people - kinda in the same vein as Samus almost, except where she manages to stumble onto Chozo ruins and learn of her adoptive people's history, Spire is actively looking for it with no sign of them anywhere in the galaxy.

Spire is a rock based dude, no other mechanical enhancements - its all stone and lava in this bitch, and he's even the only character that can just outright walk on lava whereas Samus needs a Gravity Suit or something similar to withstand such extreme temperatures. Spire comes equipped with the Magmaul, which essentially throws out bouncing projectiles of super-heated rock/magma that can also set people on fire. His Morph form is actually very similar to the Morph Ball, called the Dialanche - where he slams into the ground causing damage to anyone nearby, and becomes a SPIKY ROCK BALL.

Said spiky rock ball functions similar to Noxus' morph ability where attacking sends out orbital rock projectiles to the closest enemies. He also has the ability to WALL CLIMB with the Dialanche, making it objectively superior to the base morph ball and the prime spider ball modification.

Spire's goal for obtaining the Ultimate Power is a little bit more depressing in that he hopes it'll lead to answers of his race's ultimate fate, but even then its essentially a small stepping stone towards his ultimate goal of finding out this mystery - whether they're still alive, and if not, then what the hell happened to them.

Again, I doubt he'll show up, but I really hope he does, cause his story is so god damn compelling and interesting that I feel like we're missing out on something good here. I don't care if its through a video game, like a spinoff exploring some of the hunters and their own missions, or if its explored in a comic or manga, I really just wanna see my boy get his story resolved here god dammit.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! The Hunters!

Now granted there's plenty of more hunters out there like Rundas, Ghor, Gandrayda, but this post is already long as fuck as is. Hope you all enjoyed the read, cause god dammit I enjoy talking about the Hunters SO, SO MUCH.

They need more exposure god fucking dammit, fan art too.