Flying Pirate

A Flying Pirate is a specialized unit of Space Pirate encountered on Tallon IV, Bion, and Talvania.
==Description==
As the moniker suggests, the Flying Pirate is outfitted with a large jet pack apparatus capable of launching missiles, which home in on enemies in a swirling flight pattern. Their left wrists are equipped with modified green Galvanic Accelerator Cannons. In addition to their armaments, Flying Pirates' morphology is drastically different from the other Pirate forces on Tallon IV: Their bodies are extremely slender, with two long toes on each foot, and their spiked, full-head helmets end in a curved hook reminiscent of a beak.
If critically injured, Flying Pirates will perform a last-ditch suicide strike, spiraling to the ground and exploding on contact. A charged Plasma Beam shot will incinerate Flying Pirates before they can commence this strike. Freezing and shattering their body with the Ice Beam also prevents a Suicide Strike. In the other Prime games a similar unit is called the Pirate Aerotrooper, which is presumably a more advanced version of the Flying Pirate.
Samus can easily target the jetpack with the Thermal Visor, once acquired. Due to the high combustibility of the fuel used for the jetpack, they are highly vulnerable to the Plasma Beam. Despite this, it is often easier to use the Ice Spreader to freeze large groups of them and then pick them off with missiles--the Ice Beam works too, but they are often nimble enough to avoid its slow, non-homing shots. A Super Missile can instantly dispatch a Flying Pirate, but if the difficulty is set to Hard/Hypermode, a Flying Pirate will always commence with its Suicide Strike should it be struck with a Super Missile. 
Flying Pirates also appear in Metroid Prime: Federation Force. They attack the Federation Force during the Pirate Warship battle in M16: Slipstream and drop their own cannon balls. These can be placed into catapults to attack the Warship, and count toward the bonus objective of not losing any spheres. They explode after a period of time. The Flying Pirates' jet packs can be attacked separately this time. They also attack the Force when they are attempting to Drill into the Space Pirate HQ on Talvania during M18: Hightower. Elite Flying Pirates also appear in the game, which are simply stronger and more durable versions of Flying Pirates.
==Locations==
===Metroid Prime===
*Control Tower
*Ruined Courtyard
*Research Core
*Monitor Station
*Triclops Pit
*Frozen Pike
*Frost Cave
*Hunter Cave
*Frigate Crash Site
==Official data==
===Logbook entry===
===Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide===
;Flying Pirate
:"These Space Pirates are equipped with jetpacks that allow them to fly. They use homing missiles to assault their enemies while skillfully dodging counterattacks. Because of their increased mobility, you must employ special tactics against them. Use missiles or Super Missiles to bring them down quickly. They almost always attack in groups, so the faster you act and the more powerful your attacks, the less damage you'll take. Also be careful when knocking them out of the sky: they try to dive bomb you as they crash."
;Flying Pirate
:Found In: Phendrana Drifts, Magmoor Caverns, Tallon Overworld
:Recommended Weapon: Missile Launcher, Ice Beam, Plasma Beam
:"Flying Pirates are the airborne versions of the Space Pirates. They fly around with their thermal jetpacks and shoot missiles at their targets. Space Pirates are one of the most dangerous common enemies in the game. Their missiles inflict a lot of damage and are hard to avoid. The Plasma Beam is most effective against them. If you don't have the Plasma Beam yet, freeze them with your Ice Beam and blow them up with missiles. No Ice Beam either? You'll just have to destroy them the old-fashioned way: missiles. But be careful if you are only using missiles; after you destroy them, they come crashing down on you in a violent explosion. Dash out of the way if you see them headed toward you."
===Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide===
;FLYING PIRATE
:"As if land-based pirates weren't enough, five of them have strapped on jet packs and taken to the skies. The Flying Pirates have many attacks, and the most devastating is a huge barrage of Missiles. They can be hard to locate, so hold R and look around if you can't track them down."
:CRASH LANDING
:"When you destroy a Flying Pirate, he will go careening out of control and crash to the ground. That's bad if you happen to be standing near the crash site, but even worse if he runs into a stack of exploding crates. Stay away from the crates as best you can while fighting the airborne foes."
:MAKE THEM WALK THE PLANK
:"Missiles are your best bet when dealing with Flying Pirates--they are so fast and agile it's nearly impossible to hit them with anything else. If you cause enough damage, they will sometimes bombard you in a suicide run, so take them out one at a time and as fast as possible."
===Metroid Prime Official Strategy Guide===
;FLYING PIRATE
:MORPHOLOGY
:"Space Pirates equipped with thermal jet packs. Flying Pirates are extremely agile in the air, but the heat signatures of their jet packs can be tracked with thermal imaging. While their missiles are extremely potent, their jet packs can be even more so. If the pack fails, they attempt a suicide strike."
:COMBAT TIPS
:"It's best to take out Flying Pirates from afar using Missiles. If a Flying Pirate gets close enough to Samus, it may do a suicide run (if damaged) that costs plenty of energy."
===Metroid Prime Official Perfect Guide===
;FLYING PIRATE
:"Pirates that fly, essentially. But stand back--their anti-gravity mechanisms will malfunction and go haywire once the creature's been taken out, resulting in a wild kamikaze return to earth. You will take damage if you get hit."
===Gene Kohler design notes===
Though originally created by another artist at Retro, Gene Kohler tweaked and refined the Flying Space Pirate design to better fit his UV layout style and skinning technique. "I did skin the final asset from scratch. It took me about two days to create the skin (texture)," recalled Gene.
While in the process of writing this article I went back and played through Metroid Prime a bit to refresh my memory on certain portions of the game. When I finally came to my first encounter with the Flying Space Pirates, I couldn't help but notice their eyes were made of flames. Even more intriguing was the fact that I realized that nearly all of the Space Pirates had flaming eyes. I couldn't help but ask why this was. Was this to make them appear more menacing? Gene confirmed my suspicions, "Yep… you hit the nail on the head. I think it is simply to make them look cooler to view and visually more enjoyable to fight."
Another artistic style I noticed while playing was the varying designs of the Space Pirates. Gene explained by telling N-Sider that, "Andrew [Jones] wanted the Pirates to look like they belong to the same race, but also strived to give them a different look that pertained to their combat specialty. It would have been pretty boring to simply see a regular pirate with a jet pack on for the Flying Pirate… put a glowing purple helmet on a regular pirate and call it a Trooper… you know?" A Good move on Andrew and Retro's part. By giving the Space Pirates different appearances, they were able to successfully diversify the creatures - a feat that no doubt enhanced the overall experience of the game.
==Trivia==
*When shot with the Ice Beam they remain frozen in the air despite the fact that their jetpack is frozen solid (however the jetpack thruster appears to remain operational in this state).
*The Flying Pirates were modelled and skinned by Gene Kohler.
*A computer screen in Omega Research contains a scan saying "Scramble all aerial units immediately. Flight pattern Sigma 4 is in effect." Whether this corresponds to the actual flying patterns that Flying Pirates demonstrate in Prime, or subsequent Pirate Aerotroopers throughout the series, is unknown.
*Should a Flying Pirate enter water, it will immediately fall to the surface and explode. This can be seen within a few rooms containing large bodies of water around the Phendrana Drifts.
*Although normally impossible to view due to their aerial combat and mobility, Flying Pirates can receive damage from Morph Ball Bombs.
**This can be achieved via a sequence break within Phendrana's Edge. If the room is entered from the Lower Edge Tunnel and for the first time, The Flying Pirates remain stationary until shot at with the Arm Cannon or when Samus reaches the door to the Upper Edge Tunnel. The stationary Flying Pirates can also receive knockback damage from Bombs, allowing them to fall into the icy waters below and explode upon contact.
*If a Flying Pirate is somehow killed with the Boost Ball it will immediately explode in mid-air.
*Should a flying Pirate be hit with the Phazon Beam (via hacking), its body will rapidly fall and disintegrate without any explosion.
*Despite being called Flying Pirates in Federation Force, their design is more similar to the Pirate Aerotroopers from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
*Flying Pirates in Federation Force were known as Jetpack Troopers in E3 2015 footage."Nintendo Treehouse Live @ E3 2015 Day 1 Metroid Prime: Federation Force". Nintendo, via YouTube. 17 June 2015, retrieved 6 February 2022.
==Gallery==
Flying_Pirate_Render_Gene_Kohler.jpg|Flying Pirate render and textures.
Flying Pirate.jpg|Concept art which resembles a Kihunter with what appears to be a Metroid strapped to its back.
Greg Luzniak Flying Pirate concept art.png|Concept art by Greg Luzniak
Flying Pirates.png|Flying Pirates encountered at the Control Tower.
Flying Pirate2.png|A Flying Pirate in the Frigate Crash Site.
flying pirate.png|A Flying Pirate on guard at the Ruined Courtyard
Flying Pirate Back.png|Backside of a Flying Pirate from Phendrana's Edge, its large Thruster Pack currently offline and within view.
Flying Pirate Thermal.png|Flying Pirate in Phendrana's Edge viewed with the Thermal Visor.
Flying Pirate X-Ray.png|A Flying Pirate viewed with the X-Ray Visor.
Kamikaze-Pirate.gif|A Flying Pirate's suicide strike.
Flying Pirate beta.gif|Animation of Greg Luzniak's Flying Pirate from Mike Sneath's reel.
Flying Pirate beta 2.gif|Martin L'Heureux
UnusedFlyingPirateScan.png|Unused scan image seen in concept art.
MPFF Elite Flying Pirate.jpg|An Elite Flying Pirate in Federation Force
Flying Pirate Fed Force.png|Federation Force
Biology - Remastered 20.png|Metroid Prime Remastered artwork
Character Gallery - Flying Pirate.png|Character Gallery model in Remastered.
==References==
ru:Летающий Пират
Category:Space Pirates
Category:Pirate Classes
Category:Aerotroopers
Category:Tallon IV
Category:Tallon Overworld
Category:Magmoor Caverns
Category:Phendrana Drifts
Category:Glacier One
Category:Frigate Orpheon
Category:Bion
Category:Talvania
Category:Doomseye
Category:Lavalife
Category:Gene Kohler
Category:Greg Luzniak
Category:Mike Sneath