Helios

Helios is the guardian of Elysia's Leviathan. This mechanoid looks like a small round sphere with four tentacle-arm like appendages. He is the prime robot of a group of Swarmbots, also inhabiting the Leviathan. Helios has seven forms. All but the final form are invulnerable, and he only takes this form after being hit in his other forms many times.
==Battle==
The first form he appears in is his neutral form. He has a large sphere of Swarmbots that surround him and act as a shield. He will just float in the middle of the arena. He will change into any of these:
*Sphere: After arranging the Swarmbots into a large sphere, he will fall to the ground and try to roll at Samus, who can strafe out of the way and fire at the core in between the Swarmbots. "Helios is using the Swarmbots to form a fast-moving ball of energy. Avoid contact with the sphere."
*Disc: He will arrange the Swarmbots into a large disc which has five weak points, which must be shot all at once with the Seeker Missiles. If he remains in this form for an extended period of time, the disc will increase in size, making it harder to dodge. The disc can also charge up and fire a large beam of Phazon. "Helios is using five separate bots to maintain his form. Destroy them simultaneously to stop his attack."
*Beam Array: He will arrange the Swarmbots into many small groups that will in turn charge up and fire at Samus. The glowing groups can be destroyed before they fire. "Helios is charging each group of Swarmbots for a powerful attack. Overload their energy to damage them."
*Tornado: He will arrange the Swarmbots into a large tornado with him at the base and start spinning toward Samus, sucking her towards it to deal contact damage. Morph Ball Bombs and the Hyper Ball can attack this form. “Helios is creating strong currents of air to deflect attacks, but can still be damaged by ground-based explosions.”
*Humanoid: Helios will split the Swarmbots into four groups which will become "arms" and "legs". These will sometimes fire giant orbs (that create a small, horizontal explosion) at Samus. The legs also can make a strong shockwave. The joints at which the limbs are connected can only be damaged when the corresponding limb is preparing to strike; once Samus destroys each of these joints, Helios will collapse. "Helios's bots have assumed a humanoid form, but the arm and leg joints appear to be weak."
*Exposed: Once he's been hit enough in the previous forms, he will open his core and dispel his Swarmbot backup. His mechanical arms will extend blades and he will charge repeatedly at Samus, who must go into Hypermode and fire her Hyper Beam into the front of his core to deal damage to the mechanoid. Note that coming into contact with the blades can disrupt Samus' visor, leaving her open to more attacks. "Helios's outer shell is open. Core is exposed and vulnerable to Phazon-based attacks."
As Helios dies, he explodes and leaves the Hyper Missile upgrade behind. The explosion releases a large amount of gaseous Phazon which Samus's PED Suit then absorbs, causing her corruption level to rise to 50%.
==Logbook entry==
==Development notes==
Ian Olsen modeled and skinned Helios.
Helios was created by Paul Tozour, who also engineered its attacks and artificial intelligence. Tozour wanted a boss that consisted of a swarm of small bird-like mechanisms. He had a Retro Studios artist (possibly Olsen, see below) create a very basic mockup, and developed and tested its attacks before showing it to Mike Wikan.Kiwi Talkz. "#138 - Paul Tozour Interview (Metroid Prime 2 & 3, Boss Design, A.I., Leadership, Four Swords etc.)". YouTube. June 25, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022. (starts at 1:44 and 47:30) He discussed the design of Helios in an interview with the defunct website AIGameDev.com. This interview was never released to non-premium subscribers and is no longer available.
===Paul Tozour===
==Trivia==
*Interestingly, Helios' Logbook entry uses male pronouns despite the boss appearing to be a mechanoid.
*Since Helios is the commander of so many Swarmbots and seems to connect with them, it is possible Helios is either a corrupted Swarmbot or a corrupted version of a sort of Swarmbot commander, similar to the Steamlord in comparison to the Steambots.
*He appears to be partially organic, as evidenced when his interior is exposed.
*This is the music heard when battling Helios: .
==Etymology==
In Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios (pronounced /ˈhiːliəs/ or /ˈhiliˌɑs/) (Greek: Ἥλιος, Latinized as Helius). Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod (Theogony 371) and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia (Hesiod) or Euryphaessa (Homeric Hymn) and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. The names of these three were also the common Greek words for sun, moon and dawn. The best known story involving Helios is that of his son Phaëton, who attempted to drive his father's chariot but lost control and set the earth on fire.
This ties well into the planet Elysia's name connection with Greek mythology, especially given how the entirety of the action on the planet takes place in the sky, other than the attack on the Leviathan.
==Gallery==
Steambots Orb formation Helios.jpg|The Swarmbots surround Helios in the formation of an orb.
Swarmbots formation O Helios Leviathan Seed Elysia Core.png|Swarmbots in a circular formation surround Helios.
Helios swarmbots Plasma Beam Charge.jpg|The Swarmbots break formation.
Helios core revealed.jpg|Helios' core is exposed and Phazon energy pours out.
Image:Helios_is_defeated.jpg|Helios is defeated.
File:Sphereboss01a.jpg|Ian Olsen
File:Sphereboss02a.jpg
==References==
ru:Гелиос
de:Helios
es:Helios
ru:Гелиос
Category:Characters
Category:Robots
Category:Bosses
Category:Elysia
Category:Elysia Seed
Category:Ian Olsen
Category:Paul Tozour
Category:Guardians of Phazon Cores