Ripper

Rippers are small, floating insect-like creatures native to Zebes. They are featured in most of the canon 2D entries within the Metroid series, and are best known for their near-invulnerability to damage.
Several subspecies of Ripper exist, along with an ambiguously related species known as Tripper.
==Physiology and characteristics==
At quick glance, a Ripper appears visually akin to a brown, smooth-shelled turtle, but a closer inspection will reveal three pairs of segmented legs on its sides, confirming the animal as insect-like. On its rear is a short tail and, in later designs, the head is partially enclosed by three horn-like protuberances which result in the Ripper's face being shrouded in shadow apart from its glowing eyes.
One of the two most notable qualities of Rippers is their ability to perpetually fly, albeit very slowly, in a strictly horizontal and straight line. When they eventually touch a surface, they will turn the opposite way and move straight ahead until they touch another surface, repeating a back-and-forth flight pattern without ever gaining or losing neither speed and vertical reach.
The Rippers' second quality is their invulnerability to the majority of Samus's arsenal despite the creatures' small bodies. Only a few select potent weapons can kill them, such as a Super Missile, the Speed Booster/Shinespark or the Screw Attack. However, the original Famicom/NES Metroid game features less durable, red colored Rippers alongside the common brown type, the former which require either 100 Beam shots or a mere single Missile to kill, while the latter are completely invulnerable. In the game's remake, Metroid: Zero Mission, purple Rippers replace the red type; they're as durable as brown Rippers, yet faster in movement. Super Metroid was initially going to feature two different colored Rippers, brown and green types, but the latter was removed in the final version of the game.
Because of their sluggish, unceasing flying movements and near-indestructability, they are infamously inconvenient when Samus moves through halls or shafts filled with Rippers, particularly when using her Wall Jump technique. If she possesses the Ice Beam, Rippers can be frozen and used as platforms to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. In Super Metroid, Samus can also use them as Grapple Points for her Grappling Beam to cross over hazards and, with enough momentum, she can throw herself high up into the air; the Rippers halt in midair each time they are linked to the Grappling Beam.
They have been encountered mostly on Zebes, though X Parasite-infected Rippers or mimics created by the former were found on the Biologic Space Laboratories in Metroid Fusion.
==Canon Appearances==
===Metroid & Metroid: Zero Mission (1986/2004)===
In the original Metroid game on the NES, Rippers can be seen in brown and a weaker red variants. While brown Rippers are invulnerable, red Rippers can be killed with either 100 beam shots or a single missile. They appear in Brinstar, Norfair, and Kraid's Lair.
In Samus' so-called "Zero Mission"—a remake of the original game—, Rippers now appear in the typical brown as well as purple. Both are now equally durable but purple Rippers are faster. They now appear in Crateria, Brinstar, Kraid's Lair, Norfair, and Maridia. The game also features a unique subspecies only seen in one boss battle known as a Winged Ripper.
===Metroid 3: Super Metroid (1994)===
In this SNES game, Rippers only appear in a brown coloration, which is durable to everything except Super Missiles, Speed Booster-related attacks, and Screw Attack. However, a green variant was originally planned to also appear in the game but got cut before release.
===Metroid 4: Metroid Fusion (2002)===
Though the planet Zebes has been destroyed, it is revealed that numerous Ripper specimens have been brought to the Biologic Space Laboratories in lower orbit over SR388. However when Samus inadvertently infects the entire station with the X Parasites endemic to the celestial body below, Rippers are among the creatures killed and mimicked by the X, creating the Ripper-X. Thus, no living Rippers are actually seen in this game.
==Fanon Appearances==
===Metroid Trials (1995)===
Rippers appear in the Ancient Hive, Rhoneia, and Skaldaun regions of the desert planet Tozect, where most of the game takes place. Although only one type of regular Ripper appear in the game, it reveals that some of the different colors of Ripper in the canon games are the same subspecies; as Adus Lesk arrives on the planet, they start out as red and can be killed with either a missile or numerous energy beam blasts. After a set point in the game, all red Rippers advance into typical brown Rippers, being vulnerable now to Concussion Missiles as well as the Bullrush and Screw Attack techniques. By the end of the game, they become purple, becoming much faster in flight. Though not directly stated, it is intended to show their exoskeleton changes colors as they mature and increase in durability and threat level. Although Winged Rippers were intended to appear as well to show them as an alternate gender to normal Rippers in a planned mating dance sequence, this is currently considered a cut concept.
Ripper IIs also appear in the Gleamia region.
Category:Metroid (series)
Category:Enemies
Category:Metroid Enemies