Metroid starred Samus Aran in her first video-game appearance.
Nintendo released Metroid for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan in 1986 and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1987. Players control a bounty hunter exploring the planet Zebes while battling Space Pirates and collecting upgrades.
Samus’s identity was a notable surprise in the original game. The character is presented for much of the adventure as an armored space warrior, and the ending can reveal that Samus is a woman depending on the player’s performance and completion time.
Super Metroid and Metroid Prime are major later entries, but neither introduced Samus. Metroid: Zero Mission is a remake of the original adventure rather than her debut.