Frigate Orpheon

:For other uses, see Frigate Orpheon (Disambiguation)
Orpheon is a Space Pirate frigate from which Samus receives a distress signal in Metroid Prime. It is the first area explored in the game. The vessel is operated by the Space Pirate Science Team as a transport and research vessel and was key in the transportation of Metroid samples from the fallen base of Zebes to the research facilities on Tallon IV. Other than Metroids, the vessel housed various other bizarre species that the Space Pirates were running tests on, most likely for militaristic purposes; the most notable being the Parasite Queen and reborn Ridley. Phazon could also be found on the frigate. The ship was crippled in orbit due to a fusion core accident (caused by a dying Parasite Queen falling into the Reactor Core). The frigate later crashed into the surface of the planet shortly after Samus defeated the Parasite Queen. Samus would later find the wreckage and have to traverse through it to reach the Phazon Mines.
The Orpheon is where the defeated Ridley was resurrected/rebuilt into Meta Ridley after his defeat on Zebes. It is also where Samus first encounters him (in his new cybernetic-enhanced form) during her escape from the crippled Orpheon. It is unclear exactly why Meta Ridley was still aboard as most of the able-bodied crew had evacuated six hours before Samus' arrival. He may have chosen to stay and guard the ship, or at the time still needed time to recuperate before moving.
==Areas and main rooms==
====Main section====
The main area of the frigate, composed of three decks; by name, these are Alpha, Beta and Gamma, serving as the emergency evacuation, biohazard research, and propulsion areas, respectively. Samus lands here and traverses it to reach the Parasite Queen.
====Main rooms====
*Exterior Docking Hangar
*Emergency Evacuation Area
*Reactor Core
===Ventilation system===
After the reactor core is sent into critical condition, Samus is forced to escape through this area of the ship.
====Main rooms====
*Biotech Research Area 2
==Music==
The theme that plays in the first couple of rooms before the Emergency Evacuation Area is titled Intro Space. The general theme begins when Samus encounters the dead Parasite Queen. Frigate Orpheon Escape plays during the evacuation sequence.
Upon Samus's return to the submerged Frigate, Crash-Ship-MAE plays in the first few tunnels that formerly served as ventilation shafts. The music transitions to Crashed Ship when she enters the Reactor Core.
==Data==
==Development notes==
The orbited Frigate Orpheon region is internally named IntroLevel.
According to Jack Mathews, the technical lead engineer for Prime, the crashed Orpheon was implemented to reuse the area's assets.Mathews, Jack (jack_mathews). "The whole idea of the wrecked ship was to reuse the assets from the intro." 18 Sep 2018 3:03 a.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/jack_mathews/status/1041930817772105733
Ashley Rochelle worked on the redesign of the Orpheon for Metroid Prime Remastered.Ash (AlpacaAsh). "Thank you so much! I’m an environment artist so I made art for the levels (lots of rocks XD). I worked a lot on the very first level, for example. Lots of look development on environment style. Favorite thing I did was the big boy chozo bowling statue (he’s mah boy)." 10 February 2023 11:32 p.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/AlpacaAsh/status/1624265066232029186
==Super Smash Bros. Brawl==
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl the Frigate Orpheon stage is based on this area. A Parasite Queen watches from the background and the stage flips occasionally with the power occasionally going out (both similar to its crashed state).
==Trivia==
*Three more Parasite Queens are encountered on the Orpheon by Samus (two already dead, one in hibernation, with the fourth being the Reactor Core boss). The first one is encountered in the Emergency Evacuation Area (either killed by the Pirates or succumbed to Phazon poisoning). The second is located in Biohazard Containment (died due to infusion of Phazon Batch 0732.C, it being incompatible with its DNA). The final Queen is found in Biotech Research Area 1, in hibernation. After Samus defeats the Reactor Core Queen, she must return to this room during her escape from the crippled Orpheon, where she witnesses the Queen battling two Space Pirates as it tries to escape its stasis tank. The Pirates manage to subdue it, but are subsequently killed by an explosion caused by the Queen falling. Samus can collect whatever items come out of the two Pirates. Strangely, this third Queen disappears from Biotech Research Area 1, possibly incinerated, crushed, or flung out of the vessel.
*Before the Reactor Core's meltdown, most of its crew had evacuated the vessel 6 hours before Samus's Gunship arrived due to the escape of two Parasite Queens (the one Samus defeats in the Reactor Core and the one found dead in the Emergency Evacuation Area). It is likely that some if not most of the crew who fled the Orpheon were members of the Space Pirate Science Team. A small number of the frigate's still living crew remained on board, mainly those unable to evacuate (the injured) and possibly those who were either forced (or bravely chose) to remain there (as the Pirates may have also been trying to retake the ship). The injured were likely left behind as they were no longer useful (or beyond help).
*The images on the screens of the computers on the frigate are reused for the screens of the computers in the Pirates' Glacier One facility in the Phendrana Drifts, as well as the Phazon Mines. Some of the images were also reused for screens on the crashed G.F.S. Theseus in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
*In the Parasite Queen trophy from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it is said that the frigate had a nuclear power reactor.
*The destruction of the Frigate Orpheon is similar to that of Ceres Space Colony in Super Metroid; specifically the scene where Samus pursues Ridley to Tallon IV. In both games, a crashed ship is also explored later, although Super Metroid's equivalent is unrelated to Ceres Space Colony.
*The Frigate is the first location visited in Metroid Prime, and is therefore the first location in the Prime series, as well as the first location explored in 3-D.
*The Orpheon, before its crash, is the only area in Metroid Prime besides the Impact Crater to not contain any upgrades. Rather, it is one of the two locations where Samus loses upgrades (The Varia Suit, Morph Ball, etc. at the Orpheon, and the Phazon Suit in the Impact Crater.).
*Scanning the dead, dying, or wounded Space Pirates will reveal how each was killed or injured. For example, a scan might tell that the Space Pirate was immoblilized due to acid fusing its joints together.
*Certain screens in the ship reveal that the ship's shape resembles that of the Space Pirate Mother Ship possibly indicating that it may be of the same class as the Mother Ship. The Orpheon is identified as a Zebian-class research frigate in an unused scan in Metroid Prime Remastered, potentially furthering the similarity since Zebian could be an alternate spelling of Zebesian.
*Issue 163 of Nintendo Power and page 14 of Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide refer to the Orpheon as the Pirate Ship. This is also an alternate name for the Space Pirate destroyers in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
:*Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide refers to it as a "Spage Pirate frigate"; this is also the name of Space Pirate starships.
*The frigate Samus boards is explicitly stated to have been the Orpheon on a panel in the Storage Cave, Phendrana Drifts.
*The Frigate is the only location where the hatch of each room can be scanned, telling what room each leads to.
*In Metroid Prime Remastered, each area has a unique loading screen when a file is selected from the Samus Data Screen. The crashed Frigate is the only sub-area with a different loading screen from its parent area; in this case, a screenshot is shown of Reactor Access (the room right beside the local Save Station) instead of the Landing Site.
==See also==
*List of rooms in Metroid Prime/Frigate Orpheon
*Pirate Frigate (Pinball)
*Frigate Orpheon (stage)
*Frigate Orpheon (theme)
==Gallery==
Unused.png|Unused intro from early demo.http://tcrf.net/Proto:Metroid_Prime
Mprime 17 big.jpg|Official render
Mprime 18 big.jpg|Official render
Mprime 20 big.jpg|Official render
Mprime 21 big.jpg|Official render
Parasite Queen render.jpg|Official render of Samus encountering the Parasite Queen.
E3_metroidprime_gcn_ss03_640w.jpg|Exterior Docking Hangar
Frigate_Orpheon_2.png|Air Lock
Frigate_Orpheon_3.png|Emergency Evacuation Area
Frigate_Orpheon_4.png|Biohazard Containment
Frigate_Orpheon_5.png|Reactor Core Entrance
Parasite_Queen.jpg|Samus battles the Parasite Queen in the Reactor Core
NPC!_MP_Screen_3.png|Samus escapes inside one of the many ventilation shafts in the Orpheon.
Exterior_Docking_Hangar_Orpheon_escape_Dolphin_HD.jpg|Samus exits the vessel, tracking Ridley.
Frigate_Orpheon_7.png|Samus escapes the frigate just in time.
Crashed Orpheon - Transport Tunnel C.jpg|The crashed frigate seen through a crack in Transport Tunnel C.
Crashed Orpheon narrow - Transport Tunnel C.jpg|Another angle from the same room.
Frigate-Scan-Animated.gif|Scan images
Frigate_Orpheon_scanpic_2.png
Prime Demo Map Frigate.png|Map of the Frigate in the Metroid Prime Demo.
==References==
de:Fregatte Orpheon
ru:Фрегат Орфеон
Category:FS-176 system
 
Category:Space Pirate technology
Category:Spacecraft
Category:Tony Giovannini
Category:Space Pirate Vehicles
Category:Metroid Production facilities
Category:Vehicles