Portal

:For other uses, see Portal (Disambiguation).
Portals are rifts in the fabric of space that can transport matter across large distances or to other dimensions without permanently scattering their atoms. Several types of portals and rifts are featured in the Metroid series, both artificial and appearing through other phenomena.
They first appeared in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and transported Samus from Aether to corresponding locations on Dark Aether, or vice-versa. There were also artificial Portals (portals created by the Alimbic race for matter transportation both within and between dimensions) in Metroid Prime Hunters. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption features rarely appearing portals to Bryyo Ice and the Leviathan Battleship.
==Portals==
===Hunters===
In Metroid Prime Hunters, portals are present throughout the Alimbic Cluster and used for various purposes. They are color-coded according to the area.
The four main areas (the Celestial Archives, Alinos, the Vesper Defense Outpost, and Arcterra) have two portals each to Samus's landing site, easing backtracking and allowing her to more easily return to the Hunter Gunship where she can save and replenish energy and ammunition. These are initially unpowered and must be activated by scanning switches on the opposite side from the landing site. They temporarily cease to function during countdowns in order to prevent Samus from escaping too easily.
Stronghold Portals are larger and lead to the otherwise inaccessible Stronghold Voids, which contain the Octoliths that are required for progression. They require three Alimbic Artifacts each to activate. After capturing Gorea, the Alimbics imprisoned the beast in the Oubliette. They then used the Alimbic Cannon to open a portal to and hide the Oubliette in the Infinity Void, a vast parallel dimension where Gorea could neither escape by itself nor be found by accident. Only by collecting the eight Octoliths and activating the Alimbic Cannon a second time can Samus access the Oubliette and face Gorea.
On Samus's second visit to the Celestial Archives, she must use many portals to travel between rooms that do not link to each other via Doors. The inside of the Oubliette contains some portals for the same purpose.
===Echoes===
Portals on Aether are transdimensional links to the opposing world. Portals are links that help prevent the subject's atoms from being scattered across the interdimensional void.
Portals were first discovered on Aether as a side-effect of the Leviathan impact. After an initial attraction to these strange appearances, the Luminoth began to fear them as an unknown evil, later named the Ing, poured from them. By default, these dark creatures evaporated in Aether's light, but some began to engulf and possess local creatures and thereby became capable of surviving on Aether, making it much easier for them to attack the Luminoth.
As war began between the Luminoth and the shadowy Ing, the Luminoth developed portals to venture into the enemy's territory. However these portals are unstable and last for only short periods of time.
The first portal discovered by Samus, the Portal Terminal in the Agon Wastes, had to be activated through a series of tasks in order to power it with solar energy. These synthetic portals are always two-way (entering a portal on Aether brings Samus to a portal on Dark Aether, so she can return immediately) and the ones on Dark Aether are invariably protected by a field of light. They must be activated by being scanned. Samus also encounters naturally formed portals on Light and Dark Aether; see #Rifts below.
The portals created by the Ing at will are small in size and only open for a very short time, but this is enough for the creatures to enter the light dimension in the form of a "black fog" (as gas particles, they can resist the light atmosphere for an undetermined amount of time) and remain so until they possess any physical being. They choose their destinations carefully, always appearing near their victims. The Warrior and Emperor Ing are capable of using their portal-creation abilities in combat; both creatures may channel piercing beams of light through several mini-portals in quick succession. The Emperor, in addition, can open numerous portals near itself, then push its tentacles through them to make them appear wherever the foe is located for close combat attacks.
Kralees are a species of insects living on Aether that can open portals with the crystals growing on their backs.
===Corruption===
During the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, there were several Warp Sites that acted similar to portals. However, these portals only transferred beings to a different location, and were not interdimensional. They resembled Save Stations and were scarce. One linked Bryyo Fire to Bryyo Ice, and there was one that linked the Space Pirate Homeworld to the Leviathan Battleship. Pirate Commanders are known to carry devices that allow them to teleport from one location to another, as well as instantly summoning weaker Commando Pirates for aid when necessary. Other, larger portals appeared in Corruption, called wormholes. These Portals could transport anything from individual beings to spaceships and meteors great distances. The ability to create these rifts was a trait of the Leviathans, gigantic, living Phazon meteors that were launched from the planet Phaaze, with the sole purpose of corrupting other planets with Phazon. The Leviathans could rip open wormholes after launching, and travel through them to reach planets great distances away.
==Rifts==
Rifts are tears in the space of the world, and can function as portals, appearing as flattened, swirling vortexes. Unlike the other portals Samus encounters, they are not supported by machinery to allow them to open and close. Rifts are instead activated by firing the corresponding energy to energize them. For example, firing light energy at a Light Rift will allow transport back to Aether. The Annihilator Beam, however, can activate both portals as it contains both light and dark energy. Attempting to use a rift that has not been energized will cause the user to be forced back by some form of static discharge, although this is harmless.
Rifts can be one-way, that is, entering a rift on Aether does not necessarily lead to one on Dark Aether. In this case Samus will have to locate another Portal with which to return to the light world. Another thing of note is that rifts will often cause damage to the area around them; usually this produces a circular crater in the wall or surrounding area around them. This crater also seems to contain flecks of purple, which could be some form of substance imbued by the rift during transport.
Dark Samus also seems to be capable of activating inactive rifts for her own uses, as when she is first encountered she somehow manages to activate a Dark Portal to get to the Portal Site in the Sky Temple Grounds. She appears to shoot it open, though this is difficult to ascertain. The portal stays in position long enough for Samus to get back to Light Aether through it, and disappears shortly afterward. Space Pirate scans also mention Dark Samus 'teleported' in and out of their base, though this could be referring to Dark Samus's ability to phase in and out of local timespace (ignoring all physical matter) similarly to its original core essence form as the Metroid Prime and the closely related Phazon Metroids.
==Space Pirate use==
The Space Pirates found that there were large amounts of Phazon on Dark Aether, and started venturing there. In the Agon Wastes, a Portal Terminal existed near the Pirate base, then inactive. Samus turned it on, releasing War Wasps into the room at the same time. The Pirates also have the Dark Beam enabling them to open and keep open rifts. Later, the Pirates were able to use portals on their Homeworld, enabling quick transport to and from the orbiting Leviathan Battleship.
==List of rooms containing Portals==
===Hunters===
====Gateway Portals====
*Celestial Gateway
*Synergy Core
*New Arrival Registration
*Alinos Gateway
*Elder Passage
*Council Chamber
*Arcterra Gateway
*Ice Hive
*Fault Line
*VDO Gateway
*Weapons Complex
*Ascension
====Other, non-Stronghold Portals====
*Synergy Core
*Transfer Lock
*Docking Bay
*Incubation Vault 01
*Incubation Vault 02
*Incubation Vault 03
*Tetra Vista
*Oubliette:
**"Elevator shaft"
**"Lore chamber"
**"Clearing"
**"Cache"
===Echoes===
====Dark Portals====
*Aerie
*Catacombs
*Command Center
*Dynamo Storage
*Dynamo Works
*Forgotten Bridge
*Gathering Hall
*Grand Windchamber
*Generator Room
*Hall of Combat Mastery
*Hall of Eyes
*Hall of Honored Dead
*Hive Chamber B
*Hydrodynamo Shaft
*Main Hydrochamber
*Main Research
*Meditation Vista
*Mining Station B
*Portal Chamber
*Portal Terminal
*Sacred Path
*Temple Assembly Site
*Transit Station
*Transport Center
*Vault
*Watch Station
====Light Portals====
*Abandoned Base
*Aerial Training Site
*Base Access
*Crossroads
*Culling Chamber
*Dark Forgotten Bridge
*Dark Oasis
*Duelling Range
*Dungeon
*Gloom Vista
*Hive Cache 2
*Hive Dynamo Works
*Hive Portal Chamber
*Hive Summit
*Ing Windchamber
*Judgment Drop
*Plain of Dark Worship
*Portal Chamber
*Portal Site
*Profane Path
*Sky Temple Gateway
*Staging Area
*Trial Grounds
*Undertemple
*Vault Attack Portal
==Official Data==
;Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Hive Chamber B) scan
:"Scan complete.Unknown dimensional anomaly.Anomaly seems to be a dimensional rift. Target destination unknown."
===Logbook entry===
;Inactive portal scan (Metroid Prime Hunters)
:"This teleportation device is not receiving power."
;On-screen message (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc)
:"Light Portal active."
===Metroid Prime 2: Echoes manual===
;PORTALS
:"To travel between the two worlds, Samus must utilise portals. Samus will have to activate most of them with a shot from either the Dark or Light Beam, or by scanning nearby equipment. Navigating the mazelike areas of both worlds will depend on jumping back and forth through these portals, solving puzzles on both worlds, so remember where each of them is and utilise them frequently."
===Metroid Prime Trilogy manual===
;Portals
:"These are the doors that connect the two worlds. When you find and start up the Light and Dark portals, Samus will be able to travel between the two worlds."
===Metroid Prime Hunters manual===
;Portals and Returning to the Gunship
:"If you activate a Portal while exploring, you can use it to return to a location near the Gunship. This comes in handy when you want to save your progress."
==Development notes==
Storyboards for the Portal Terminal scene in Echoes reveal that the Portals are partly inspired by the Time Displacement Equipment from the Terminator series.
Zoid Kirsch created the transition that occurs when Samus uses a Portal between Aethers, which was hidden in a loading cutscene of Samus atomizing.Kiwi Talkz. "#121 - Zoid Interview (Metroid Prime, Cameras, Scripting, Sequence Breaking , Programming etc.)" YouTube. January 22, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022. (starts at 14:17)
==Trivia==
*In the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc, the Dark Portal in Command Center has the effect of sucking in nearby projectiles. This behavior is not present in the final game.
*If Samus activates a portal in the Sanctuary Fortress, the cutscene following will still show dirt being pushed out from under it, despite the fact that the Fortress has no natural ground or soil. This may however simply be dust.
*The Command Center has the first Dark Portal that requires the use of the Dark Beam. In the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc it is instead opened with a device that is normally unscannable in the main game.
*If Samus tries to grapple something and quickly enters a Portal, her arm will be raised as if she were grappling something, although she is not. This event is most noticeable in the Vault Attack Portal. Using the Grapple Beam again will fix this glitch.
*Scans of both Light and Dark Portals share the same Logbook entry, albeit with obvious differences.
*In Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether, Portals do not need energizing, and suck people in by themselves.
*If in Echoes, Samus suffers a Terminal Fall while activating an artificial Portal, the cutscene will initiate as normal, but a white flash will occur briefly, Samus will respawn on whatever platform she was last, as normal.
*Teleport Stations and Teleportals in Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread have a similar purpose to Portals, especially those in Hunters.
* Unused models and animations are present in the data of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, seemingly intended as effects for the appearance of a Dark Portal. In this version of the effect, an ordinary rock wall is gradually ripped open to reveal a swirling Dark Portal behind it.
==Gallery==
Arcterra Gateway (top).png|A ship deck portal in the Arcterra Gateway, Metroid Prime Hunters.
Portal to Dark World.png|Portal Terminal
Portal6.png|Dark Portal, after entry
Varia_suit_portal_site.jpg|Portal Site
Meditation_vista_dark_portal.png|Meditation Vista
Lightportal.jpg|Trial Grounds
Portal Rift 3.png|Inactive Light Rift.
Portal9.png|Sky Temple Gateway
Portal 10.png|Light Portal
Portal 4.png|Dark Portal forming.
Portal 7.png|A Light Portal in Dark Agon Wastes.
Portal EoA.png|Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether
SamusPortalBryyoFire.jpg|Bryyo Fire portal
==References==
ru:Портал
Category:Alimbic Cluster
Category:Celestial Archives
Category:Alinos
Category:Vesper Defense Outpost
Category:Arcterra
Category:Oubliette
Category:Aether
Category:Dark Aether
Category:Bryyo
Category:Pirate Homeworld
Category:Alimbic Technology
Category:Transportation
Category:Dimensional
Category:Research
Category:Metroid Prime Hunters Minor Objects
Category:Teleporters
Category:Fast Travel