Imago

ImagoMetroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide pg. 62 is a boss encountered in Metroid: Zero Mission. It is a giant Hymenoptera-like creature encountered in Ridley's Lair that attacked Samus Aran for destroying its eggs.
In the Metroid Zero Mission Official Site, the Imago's larval Kiru Giru forms are given the title , presumably referring to their ability to metamorphose into Imago.
==Description==
Imago's larval form, the Kiru Giru, was found in Norfair. After traveling through a Norfair tunnel infested with parasitic Tangle Vines, Samus encountered a larva that had been suspended in midair by the Tangle Vines ensnaring it. She freed the larva by using a nearby Winged Ripper to reach a position where she could fire Missiles at the vines holding the larva up. Once freed, the larva plunged into a stone platform, opening a passage leading to Ridley's Lair. If the Ripper is directly underneath the larva when it falls, it is killed instantly.
Soon after arriving in Ridley's Lair, Samus saw the Kiru Giru larva forming a cocoon after having dug deeper underground. Samus returned to Norfair and followed the larva's tunnel only to find that it had already molted. Following its burrow further, Samus discovered Imago's hideout lined with eggs; as she approached a blocked-off Super Missile Tank, she accidentally broke several of the eggs. Enraged at the threat to its offspring, the fully-grown adult Imago promptly attacked Samus.
===Combat===
Upon entering the room, Samus encounters five eggs on the floor but must reach and destroy the egg closest to the Super Missile tank to cause the Imago to appear. The eggs otherwise do nothing during battle besides being a minor walking and firing hinderance.
Imago attacks by flying around and attempting to impale Samus with its deadly stinger. It will also fire needles from the stinger, and they can be destroyed for power-ups if necessary. This can be easily avoided, though, as Imago flies at a height that allows Samus to simply duck or use the Morph Ball to pass under it. If Samus is hugging the door or the Super Missile nest, the Imago will continuously bombard Samus with aerial strikes until she moves away from the said area she is bunkering on, where the creature will then return to its usual flying pattern. Samus must deliver damage to the creature's large glowing abdomen using the Charge Beam or Missiles. Doing so will eventually turn the beast green, then red after receiving a certain amount of damage. The creature will constantly speed up movement within each of its damaged phases, with red being its fastest flight speed as it fights for survival. Once enough damage is dealt to the winged beast, the Imago's stinger falls off and explodes, leaving the creature flashing as it flies around the stage invulnerable until it reaches the rightmost edge of the room off-screen. At this point, if Samus approaches the wall that blocks off the Super Missile Tank, the mortally wounded Imago will crash through the wall and expire, giving Samus access to the power-up.
There is a method to avoid damage entirely when facing Imago. By positioning Samus barely at the bottom of the first slope upon entering the chamber (her feet should be even with the first 'indent' near the bottom of the slope) and crouching, Imago's stingers will hit just in front of her and sail over her head while Imago remains unable to ram Samus. Samus will remain able to shoot Imago's abdomen at least twice per pass. Another method is to stay behind Imago as it begins its fly-by and run directly behind it while firing as many Missiles as possible. This strategy allows for many hits to be inflicted within a short amount of time, though hits become more difficult to land once the Imago begins to speed up, making it quite harder to catch up to it on the fastest flying speed.
===Metroid: Volume 2===
In Chapter 15 of Metroid: Volume 2, Samus is attacked by an Imago while fighting the Charge Beam Beast. Her dialogue implies that the Imago (along with the rest of the Zebesian ecosystem) has heightened aggression due to being controlled by Mother Brain.
The Imago and Charge Beam Beast fight Samus together, with Imago holding her in the air while the Beam Beast strikes with its pincers. After shooting the Charge Beam Beast in the eye, Samus breaks free of the Imago's grip and shoots it as she falls to the ground.
==Official data==
===Metroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide===
;154 imago (pg. 62)
:"As you run through the room that houses several small eggs, break the leftmost egg to trigger a battle against a miniboss, Imago. Hit Imago in the tail with missiles or charged shots.
:Imago flies side to side through the long room. Chase it and hit it in the tail with missiles or charged beam shots. Aim straight to the right while running downhill. Aim up and left while running uphill."
;155 super missile tank (pg. 62)
:"Once you shoot the tail off the bee, the buzzer will break through the left wall, giving you access to a Super Missile Tank, which will allow you to hold a pair of Super Missiles."
===Development Room===
The Violence-Loving Knight: "Are the Kiru Giru captured by the Karamutsuta in inner Norfair and the Kiru Giru Imago in Ridley the same life form? If so, it has amazing tenacity..."
Yoshio Sakamoto: "They're the same life form. But I don't know if it has tenacity. Samus only coincidentally narrowly saved the Kiru Giru captured by the Karamutsuta from certain death, and afterward, the reason Kiru Giru that became an Imago attacked Samus was because Samus had trampled on the eggs it had created."Metroid Zero Mission Official Site Development Room, as translated by Metroid Database
==Development notes==
In the Event Viewer flag list of Metroid: Zero Mission, the death of Imago triggers event #35: SEICHUSI. This flag, when active, prevents Imago from respawning, though this flag is active normally only once and will not reactivate if Imago is destroyed a second time. Activating the flag during a second encounter will not unlock the door. This will cause Samus to be stuck in the room, forcing a reset. The flag's name implies that the creature's internal name is , which appears to be a Japanese translation of Imago; both words translate to "adult insect" when reading Kanji text.
==Trivia==
*Since they are the same species, Imago's theme is a sped-up remix of the themes for the Kiru Giru.
*If Samus attempts to kill the Imago using a Spin Jump Attack, a glitch will stop it from moving. This forces the player to reset the game.
*Imago is the scientific word for the adult stage of an insect, such as a butterfly.
*Imago is called in Japanese (sharing its name with the larvae),:File:Kirugiru final.jpg while its English name originates from Metroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. However, Yoshio Sakamoto referred to the adult form as 成虫, which can be translated as imago.
*If Samus has acquired an early Super Missile Tank through Sequence Breaking, she can open the Green Hatch and skip the Imago entirely. Additionally, Samus can make use of her regular Missiles and the Bomb Jump to enter the other side of Ridley's Lair through a shortcut, allowing her to battle Ridley without ever going anywhere near the Imago.
*Imago's protectiveness of its eggs is a rare trait among insects but particularly common among the order Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, bees, etc.), which Imago resembles.
==Gallery==
Imago normal animation.gif|Imago's sprite animation.
Imago Dying.gif|Imago's torn-off abdomen and dying animation.
Imago egg.png|Individual egg sprite
Imago Battle Color 2.png|Imago's lime-green body color, when it has received some damage. Samus is in a spot where she cannot be harmed by the insect or its attacks.
MZM Ridley's Lair Super Missile Tank 1.gif|Imago's destroyed nest
==References==
es:Imago
ru:Имаго
Category:Characters
Category:Species
Category:Bosses
Category:Zebes
Category:Ridley's Lair
Category:Imago Family