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Metroidis a series that, for the most part, has been somewhat light on storytelling. Most of the plot is explained through an opening cutscene, the rest being simply intuited. Yet with that said, just about every entry has given some highlight to the enigmatic Chozo.
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The Chozo are a species of bird-like aliens in the Metroid universe, though information on them is incredibly light, especially in material released in the Western world. They are an essential part of just about every game, connected to pivotal enemies or even the beloved protagonist of Samus herself.
The Culture And History Of The Chozo
An important thing to note is thatthe Chozo are basically non-existent by the time of the games. There are many theories as to this, both in reality and within the games themselves. Some assume they all died out due to their long ages and a rapidly declining birth rate.
Others positthey were killed off by pirates or even their own creations. Others even think that, due to their advanced technology, they managed to escape to a plane of existence unreached by others. The most likely scenario is a combination of them all, witha limited number simply in hiding.
Due to no living Chozo appearing until Metroid Dread,much of what we know of their history comes from Japan-exclusive mediaand tidbits within the games themselves. From the very beginning, Chozo statues have existed, acting as power-up points for Samus. They always hold some artefact of the Chozo, typically of a technological variety.
The Chozo, at least those of the Thoha Tribe, werea non-violent people. Much of their art shows the warrior culture they used to partake in, though their actions as seen in other Metroid media show how they have evolved.
It is said thattheir technology reached a plateau, and they decided at this point that the best way for them to continue as a species was to share their culture and technology with other people of the world.
In Metroid Prime,the Chozo that settled on Tallon IV were an exception, forgoing even their technology in favour of a life of spirituality.
In this way, we seethe Chozo as both observers and guardians of the universe. They use their advanced tech to protect those who cannot do so themselves, like Samus as a child, creating the Metroid to destroy the X Parasite, or a trade of technology with the Luminoth.
Much of this may havecome as recompense for their previous war-like nature, or a simple will to help the universe be better than it is.
The Technology Of The Chozo
While the Chozo themselves are an exceedingly rare appearance in the games, their technology is not, appearing in every game where Samus herself appears. This is down squarely to the fact thatthe majority of Samus' equipment is of Chozo creation. Every Chozo statue that Samus picks up a new ability from is an old tool of the Chozo designed to function with her Chozo-made Power Suit.
The technology of the Chozo was amongthe most advanced in the known universe. The Chozo could travel across the galaxy with ease, had weapons and tools that could assist in traversal, excavation, and in the case of Samus, combat.
The Chozo even created artificial life. Some of their statues could come to life, and they also created the Elysians, statues with the gift of sentience. Finally, and most catastrophically,the Chozo created the Metroid, a lifeform designed to wipe out the X Parasite that instead sought to absorb all life instead.
The technology of the Chozo is innumerable, spread across a multitude of planets and taking many different forms to adapt to the cultures they were created for. It wasone of the most prominent aspects of their cultureand one of the few relics that remains of them.
As seen in the Metroid Prime series,some Chozo could see visions of the future. It has not been explained if this is a trait of the Chozo species or a specific technology they possess.
The Two Tribes Of The Chozo
We are told that the Chozo were once a people drawn to war.We never see explicit depictions of these old ways, whether it was an internal conflict or if they engaged in extraterrestrial warfare.
Artwork for Zero Missionfirst depicted Chozo dressed in armour and wielding weapons, a far cry from the long, studious robes of previous depictions. Metroid Prime also has some indications of the Chozo’s more violent history, with statues of similarly armed warriors.
However, Metroid Dread makes this cultural divide within the Chozo all the more apparent. Though this history may apply to the Chozo as a whole, it is clear that a split occurs.The Thoha are the Chozo that have been depicted in all other games, peace-loving and gracious with their gifts. A mental block was implanted in them most likely to stop their old violent tendencies from ever arising, and punishing them for doing so.
First depicted in Samus Returns and explicitly shown in Metroid Dread,the Mawkin is a more radical tribe of the Chozo. They relish warfare, seeing their great technology as proof of their prowess. In many ways, the story of Dread even shows that they view themselves as arbiters of the universe, the only ones with the power to end war and strife by putting everything under their ultimate control.
The Mawkin and Raven Beak himself are both shown in Samus Returns in the Chozo Memories, though they are not directly named until Metroid Dread.
The Thoha and Mawkin exist as polar opposites to each other. The Thoha bear their skin, wearing long robes and allowing the emotion of their faces to be seen. They want to make the universe a safer place, nudging along those that need assistance without ever making others reliant on them either. They are benevolent but never depict themselves as great saviours.
The Mawkin, meanwhile, are clad in heavy metal armour, showing no skin but rather their imposing forms. They are mechanical in every way that matters,their bodies fit only for warfare. They come equipped with weapons indistinguishable from limbs, and have no qualms about killing off the few remnants of their people to bring back their colonial ambitions.
The Chozo And The Metroids
Though the Chozo are indeed a benevolent people in most ways regarding the Thoha, they also made the grievous error of creating the Metroids. In this way,they caused more harm to the universe than good, and ultimately left this error to be resolved by Samus Aran, herself a consequence of the Chozo’s intervention.
Though no specific homeworld is known for the Chozo, it is well-stated that they settled on various planets, SR388 being one of them. However,this planet was overrun by the X Parasitewhen they arrived, a presumably natural lifeform of the planet that could infect any host and absorb their whole form. To combat this, in an effort to make SR388 habitable to them and also preserve all other life on the planet,they created the titular Metroids.
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As we have seen many, many times,this went wrong. At first, their plan succeeded.The X Parasite was rendered next to extinction, yet the Metroid continued to grow off their energy.
Despite being made to view all but the X Parasite as non-hostiles, they grew well past what the Chozo expected. As a result of this,they had to trap them beneath SR388in hopes they would never escape, even flooding their own cities to halt them.
In a final desperate stretch,they aimed to destroy the planet of SR388to stop the Metroids from ever escaping. This was a plan of the Thoha Tribe, and one that subsequently led to their destruction.
The Mawkin Tribe saw potential in the Metroids in the same way the Space Pirates later would — asbiological weapons of war. To this end, they annihilated the Thoha Tribe but had to isolate themselves afterbecoming infected with the X Parasite themselves.
How Are The Chozo Are Connected To Samus?
The only thing more central to the Metroid series than the Chozo and Metroids is Samus Aran herself. She is the protagonist of (almost) every entry, a bounty hunter extraordinaire who happens toclean up every mess left behind by the Chozoand the consequences of human greed and experimentation.
You see,Samus herself is not strictly human, not anymore. She was born as a human on the Earth colony of K-2L when the Space Pirates raided it, killing her parents. Being a neighbour planet of Zebes, an important location to the Chozo, they picked up a distress signal and though they could not prevent the Space Pirate attack, they managed to save the dying young Samus.
To help her survive, and to fit in better with their society,they infused her with Chozo DNA. This, in turn, gave her the incredible athletic ability and reflexes she is known for.
This was not the end of the Chozo’s interventions in Samus’s life, however.She was trained as a warrior, one the Thoha Tribe themselves could not become due to their mental block. Part of this may have been the influence of Raven Beak, leader of the Mawkin Tribe, asRaven Beak’s DNA was used to heal Samusafter her near-death experience on K-2L.Even Samus’s Power Suitand arm cannon are fashioned after those belonging to Raven Beak.
As we have seen in later games,Samus' goal is to wipe out the Metroids, another failure of the Chozo. Yet in Metroid Fusion, we see that no good deed goes unpunished.
After an encounter with the X Parasite,Samus is infused with Metroid DNAfrom the sole Metroid that she saved to let her live once again, making Samus effectively the last living Metroid, and the culmination of everything the Chozo are —warlike, compassionate, and a biological weapon to be used to others ends.
