Etecoon

The Etecoon (Etekon in the Metroid Fusion debug data) is a species of friendly monkey-like creatures that appear in Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
==Description==
Etecoons inhabited the planet Zebes, dwelling in the overgrown caverns of Brinstar. They appear similar to primates, albeit with two alien antennae. Their in-game sprites are a greenish color in Super Metroid, but are depicted blue in artwork; Fusion consistently depicts them as blue. They are one of the few non-violent species Samus Aran encounters on Zebes. In Super Metroid, these rather intelligent mammals teach Samus how to Wall Jump to reach greater heights. When Samus enters their room, they sing the Item Acquisition Fanfare before performing the Wall Jump, and then Samus must repeat their motions to master the technique.
Later in the game, they are trapped along with the Dachora in the "Torizo's chamber", which is now being flooded with scalding-hot lava. Samus is able to save them by shooting out the wall so they can escape, and they flee Zebes using a spacecraft.Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide One Etecoon briefly approaches Samus before fleeing with the others.
The Etecoons and Dachoras appear again in Metroid Fusion, on board the Biologic Space Laboratories research station as the sole survivors of the X Parasite infestation. They are found on the Habitation Deck, confined in a sealed, tropical themed area with hanging tires for the Etecoons to play on. It is unknown why these creatures were on board, or why the X did not target them as potential hosts, though Adam suggests the creatures had no useful capabilities for the X. After Samus releases them, the Etecoons and Dachoras went to Samus's Starship, and they later save Samus from the space station's explosion after the defeat of the Omega Metroid by piloting her Starship into the room to rescue her.
The further fate of the Dachoras and Etecoons is unknown, as they neither appear nor are mentioned in Metroid Dread.
==Metroid Prime 3: Corruption==
Though Etecoons do not appear in the game, files are present for an unused Logbook entry for a similar creature called an Endocoon. It is described as a cute, non-threatening mammal in the Logbook, which matches the description of the Etecoon. No models, textures or scripts exist for it in the game's internal files, but the room Xenoresearch Lab, on the G.F.S. Olympus, is internally named "04_gfship_endocoonlab", presumably indicating they were to appear there. The room's counterpart, on the G.F.S. Valhalla, is correspondingly named "04_abandoned_endocoon".
Asked about this, Corruption technical lead Jack Mathews suggested someone was "being cute" with an Etecoon reference that did not end up being added. He suggested that if Etecoons were intended to make an appearance, it was scuttled. (starts at 19:50)
==Official data==
===Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide===
ETECOON
;C. JUMP LIKE THE ETECOONS (pg. 49)
:"These three little guys will show you the Triangle Jump technique. You can jump back and forth off of the walls as you go up the long shaft."
===Unused Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Logbook entry===
===Super Metroid Developer Interview===
Akinori Sao: Yamamoto-san, what part of Super Metroid do you recommend?
Yamamoto: This is a bit detailed, but after you beat the last boss, Mother Brain, Samus escapes, right? The planet is beginning to explode, so you really have to hustle. But at a certain spot, there's a Dachora and some Etecoons…
Sakamoto: Dachoras and Etecoons are alien creatures who teach Samus new moves, and they've gotten trapped while trying to evacuate.
Sao: If you help them, the ending changes. Is that right?
Sakamoto: The ending doesn't exactly change, but when the planet explodes and Samus just barely clears the blast in her ship, out to the side you can see…
Yamamoto: The Dachora and Etecoons escape, too.
Sakamoto: About one dot of light shoots out from the exploding planet! (laughs)
Sao:(laughs) You understand from that one dot of light that they survived.
Sakamoto: I tried it myself, and the dot was so small I could barely see it! (laughs)
Sao: Is that because it was an old tube TV?
Sakamoto: Yes. With the high resolution screens today, you should be able to see it clearly. I hope people will check that out for themselves.
Yamamoto: There may also be people who played Super Metroid before who don't know about that. I hope they will play the game again and help those creatures! https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/interview-super-metroid
==Trivia==
*Although it is stated in Metroid Fusion that the Etecoons teach Samus to Wall Jump, she has this ability in Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid: Samus Returns, all of which chronologically happen before Samus first encounters the Etecoons in Super Metroid.
*In concept storyboards, it says there are four Etecoons. However, only three are ever shown in both Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
*Yasuhiko Fujii stated that the idea of saving the Dachoras and Etecoons was conceptualized by another programmer on the game, but did not say who that was."That was something a different programmer came up with on his own. And if you save them, when the planet explodes there’s some extra graphics showing them successfully escape too." http://shmuplations.com/yasuhikofujii/
*An Etecoon appears as a stuffed toy in Samus & Joey.
==Gallery==
Smart etecoon.jpg|Super Metroid artwork
Etecoon 3 flex look.gif|Super Metroid animated sprites
Metroid-etecoons.gif|Jumping sprites
EteRoom.jpg|Etecoons in Brinstar
Trapped animals.gif|Etecoons trapped in Crateria
Lava Tides in Torizo room.gif|One of the Etecoons pauses to look at Samus before escaping.
Super Metroid Manga 2.png|Etecoons appear in the Super Metroid manga stories "Gourmet" Expert and Peeping.
Metroid F-Etecoon-Running-R.gif|Etecoons running sprite animation from Metroid Fusion
Metroid F-Etecoon Hanging.gif|An Etecoon hanging from a tire in Metroid Fusion
Mfusionguide i 01i.jpg|The Etecoons and Dachoras freed by Samus.
Fusion Etecoons aboard Ship.gif|The Etocoons and Dachoras, aboard Samus's Starship, filmed on a security sensor, in Metroid Fusion.
DachoraFusion.png|The Dachoras and Etecoons at the end of Metroid Fusion.
Stuffed Etecoon.png|Appearance in Samus & Joey as a stuffed toy.
==References==
ru:Этекун
Category:Species
Category:GFS Olympus
Category:Zebes
Category:Brinstar
Category:BSL
Category:Habitation Deck
Category:Main Deck
Category:Intelligent Species
Category:"Friendly" Creatures
Category:Recurring Species
Category:Unused Bosses and Species
Category:Mammalian
Category:Indestructible Creatures