Acid Rain

Acid Rain is a hazardous substance found on Zebes and the Pirate Homeworld.
==Description==
===Zebes===
Acid Rain appears on the surface of Zebes (specifically, Crateria and Chozodia) in all appearances set after Metroid. In Metroid: Volume 2 (set prior to the events of the Zero Mission), Samus Aran states that they will have to take a detour through Brinstar to avoid the Acid Rain, implying that this precipitation has always been part of the Zebesian climate. In Metroid: Zero Mission, the Acid Rain begins after Samus Aran's Starship is shot down by Space Pirate vessels. It can be seen at the respective landing sites of Samus's Starship in Crateria and the Space Pirate Mother Ship in Chozodia, although the latter will clear once the Fully Powered Suit is acquired. In Super Metroid, the rain permanently clears once Power Bombs are obtained. In Crateria, the rain is always accompanied by a thunderstorm, while Chozodia rain does not feature any lightning.
The Acid Rain seems to be less potent than normal acid. In Super Metroid, the basic Power Suit provides sufficient protection against the rain; in Zero Mission, Samus suffers no ill effects when standing in the rain in only her Zero Suit. One possible explanation is that the physical adaptations Samus has gone through allow her to pass safely. A more reasonable explanation for the Acid Rain's lack of corrosiveness is due to the fact that the acid in the rainwater is too dilute to have direct adverse effects.
===Pirate Homeworld===
Acid Rain falls in unshielded areas of the Homeworld and can kill Samus if is exposed to it without the Hazard Shield. The acid rain's damage starts out very slowly, but gradually ramps up the longer Samus is exposed to the rain and eventually builds up to a massive rate where even full energy tanks are depleted almost immediately. The build-up resets once Samus takes shelter. This slow-to-fast-paced energy draining is similar to the effect of Phazon.
There are some areas where small hangovers let personnel pass through the Acid Rain by providing cover, like in the Command Courtyard.
Although the Varia Suit provides sufficient protection against Acid Rain in Zero Mission, it fails to do so in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This may be due to the suit's alterations at the beginning of the game. It may also be that the type of acid in the rain is different, or has a differing level of acidity and that the acid rain on the Pirate Homeworld is so corrosive that the Varia Suit is unable to handle it. This is similar to how the Gravity Suit in Metroid Prime does not protect against the magma/lava in Magmoor Caverns.
It is strongly believed that the impacted Leviathan may have been affecting the atmosphere with its Phazon corruption, especially given the Pirates' will to allow so. It is unknown if traces of Phazon were present within the Acid Rain as a result, though this could explain the Pirates' immunity as many of them were corrupted. If so, then the Acid Rain would play a similar role as the hazardous material discovered in the Impact Crater on Tallon IV known as Red Phazon, where both hazards were able to damage Samus in a rapid identical manner while she was protected from normal unaltered Phazon. Coincidentally, both Acid Rain and the Red Phazon from the Impact Crater appear as an orange color in-game, with the latter substance bearing an unspecified connection to Tallon IV's Leviathan Seed.
==Logbook entry==
Note: This Logbook entry is provided with Aurora Unit 242's transmission concerning the discovery of the Skyway. Acid Rain cannot be physically scanned in the game.
==Scans==
;Drain (Courtyard Passage, original NTSC vers.)
: "Drain releases acid rain into a piping network in the floor to be pumped out of the facility."
==Trivia==
*Likely due to hardware limitations, there is no sound effect for the Acid Rain in Super Metroid.
*In Zero Mission, the Crateria Acid Rain is limited to the Starship's former landing site. Other locations in Crateria, such as the neighboring Chozo Ruins, will still have clear skies.
*Oddly enough, unarmored Space Pirates, Gandrayda, and the Demolition Troopers do not take damage from the rain. Even stranger is that Samus must acquire the Hazard Shield to withstand the substance, but they do not. On Gandrayda, this may be a result of her resilient transformations or her Hypermode. Space Pirates have a hard, protective exoskeleton, or their species may be immune to acid rain.
*Entering the acid rain while in Hypermode will result in Hypermode failure. This is likely to prevent players from using the invulnerability granted by Hypermode to access areas saturated with acid rain before the Hazard Shield is acquired.
*When Samus explores Courtyard Passage, she will come across numerous drains. If she scans them, it will state that it is releasing acid rain into a piping network in the floor to be pumped out of the facility. The Hazard Shield will not trigger if Samus stands under them. In the PAL and Trilogy versions of the game, the substance is instead said to be sewage.
**Coincidentally, the Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide labels Red Phazon as "Radioactive Sludge".
==Gallery==
Craterian thunderstorm (SM).gif|Acid rain in Crateria (Super Metroid)
Crateria SM comic.png|Acid Rain in Crateria (Super Metroid comic)
Samus in the rain.gif|Acid Rain in Chozodia (Metroid: Zero Mission)
Craterian thunderstorm (MZM).png|Acid Rain in Crateria (Metroid: Zero Mission)
ru:Кислотный дождь
Category:Obstacles
Category:Substances
Category:Zebes
Category:Chozodia
Category:Crateria
Category:Pirate Homeworld
Category:Research