Elephant Bird

:"Fake Chozo Statue" redirects here. For the bosses in Super Metroid, see Torizo.
The Elephant BirdMetroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide pg. 82 is an X Parasite mimicking a Chozo Statue. Samus Aran encounters it in Sector 1 (SRX) of the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion.
==Description==
The Elephant Bird's similarity to an actual Chozo Statue is spot-on, and it even appears to hold an Item Sphere containing the Morph Ball upgrade; however, this is a power-up that Samus already has obtained, subtly giving away the ruse. The sphere damages Samus by one energy point if she touches it. Once Samus shoots the Item Sphere with her beam and reveals the fake Morph Ball, the entire statue transforms into a Beam Core-X firing Charge Beam shots. Once Samus defeats this X Parasite, she obtains the true item it had in its possession: the Charge Beam.
==Origins==
How the X Parasite managed to "absorb" the form of an inanimate statue is unknown. It might be possible that Chozo Statues, like Samus's Power Suit, are partially organic. The Chozo Lore in Metroid Prime describes the statues as sentinels and heavily hint at them being partially alive and aware of their surroundings. This is further supported by their ability to "bowl" Samus in her Morph Ball form in Metroid Prime and their ability to walk and change from standing to sitting positions in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission.
Putting aside all theories, this certainly seems to be an in-game reminder of the first Torizo battle in Super Metroid, or simply an homage to the famous item-holding statuary that have appeared throughout Metroid history, especially since the X-mimicked statue is the only Chozo Statue to be seen in Fusion. Additionally, Nettori appears similar to a Chozo Statue and is even referred to as such on the soundtrack. Unused sprites of the beam weapons suggest they would have been obtained normally from Chozo Statues instead of fighting special Core-X in early versions of the game.
==Trivia==
*The Elephant Bird is featured on the packaging for the Game Boy Player.
*The name "Elephant Bird" is the result of a mistranslation, similar to Varia Suit. The Japanese name for this creature is simply or, as commonly translated, Chozo Statue. However, "Zō" also means "elephant" in Japanese, with a similar kanji, 象. Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, the source of the "Elephant Bird" name, does refer to the boss with the correct "Chozo Statue" translation in a later instance.Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, pg. 94
*The Elephant Bird shares its name with a bird species on Earth. Real-world elephant birds were the largest known birds, although they were flightless and are now extinct. While likely coincidental due to being a mistranslation, it is an appropriate species to reference for a Chozo Statue's name, since the Chozo are avians that are taller than humans, have lost their natural flight (with the possible exception of Raven Beak), and are presumed to be nearly extinct.
*The Elephant Bird's theme is shared with Nettori's Core-X form. Coincidentally, both bosses mimic the appearance of Chozo Statues.
==Gallery==
MF Elephant Bird Bomb.gif|Elephant Bird pretends to be holding the Morph Ball.
MF Elephant Bird Core-X.gif|Elephant Bird as a Core-X.
Fusion Chozo Statue.png|Sprite of the "Chozo Statue".
Core-X Chozo Statue (shield).png|The Core-X that mimicked the Chozo Statue and item.
Core-X Charge Beam.gif|Its exposed Core-X, which possesses the Charge Beam.
Fusion_chozo.png|Unused Chozo Statue sprites for beam weapons in Fusion.
==References==
ru:Птица-Слон
es:Estatua Chooz Falsa
Category:Deceptive
Category:Chozo
Category:X
Category:BSL
Category:Sector 1
Category:Statues
Category:Bosses
Category:Core-X Bosses