Charge Beam Beast

The Charge Beam BeastMetroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide pg. 31, also known as ,Metroid Zero Mission Official Site, romanized by Infinity's End from Metroid Database. Infinity's End has also suggested the moniker "King Worm" as a fanon name. See Talk:Charge Beam Beast#Name Romanization. Beam Beast,Metroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide pg. 11 and X-56V, (dead link), is the first boss Samus Aran may face in Metroid: Zero Mission (and thus, the entire timeline) on planet Zebes.
On the official Japanese website for Metroid: Zero Mission, this creature is given the title .Metroid Zero Mission Official Site, as translated by Metroid Database
==Description==
Once Samus obtains her first Missiles in Corridor No. 5 and heads back to the door, she will encounter this creature. It will entrap Samus by using its elongated body to block all exits and force her to fight it. The Charge Beam Beast attacks by rushing its head towards its target, damaging her with its horns and spikes. The worm's second method of attack is to shake the segment of its body that is closest to Samus; several thorns which cover its body will start falling off and rain down on her.
All Samus has to do is fire a Missile at the creature's eye when it opens its eyelid. Once Samus defeats it with three Missiles, she will obtain the Charge Beam. However, if the battle goes on for too long after Samus lands her first Missile, then the Charge Beam Beast will grow tired of fighting and leave.
If Samus does not kill the Charge Beam Beast in the first encounter in Corridor No. 5, she will also encounter it at Corridor No. 4 as she explores Brinstar. It will alternate between the two corridors until it is killed. Because this boss can be skipped, it is possible that the Charge Beam Beast will not be the first boss she defeats, and it is even possible to fight it after defeating Mother Brain. It can be killed with just one Super Missile.
It is possible to get an extra hit on the Charge Beam Beast the instant the battle starts, as it opens its eye for a second, making it vulnerable to a Missile. Additionally, the Charge Beam Beast keeps its eye open during its final dive into the floor while retreating from battle; therefore, it is possible to kill it in the process of retreating.
===Metroid: Volume 2===
The Charge Beam Beast also appears in Chapter 15 of Metroid: Volume 2. While fighting it, Samus notes that Zebes's entire ecosystem appears as if it is trying to protect Mother Brain.
The Charge Beam Beast ambushes Samus by emerging from the ground, and then it repeatedly lunges at her and rams her against a wall. During the fight, an Imago joins in and grabs Samus, holding her in the air while the Charge Beam Beast attacks with its pincers. When it tries to attack again, Samus has learned its attack pattern and fires at its head, blowing off its eye and one of its pincers. The defeated Charge Beam Beast collides with the Imago just after Samus breaks free of the latter's grasp.
==Development notes==
In the Debug Menu Event Viewer for Metroid: Zero Mission's prototype build, the Charge Beam Beast is associated with the event flags MUKADEA, MUKADEB, and MUKADEORB. For example, activating MUKADEA disables the Charge Beam Beast's appearance in Corridor No. 5, and activating MUKADEB removes its appearance in Corridor No. 4. This suggests that the Charge Beam Beast is internally named , the Japanese word for centipede. Potentially, the Charge Beam Beast could have been inspired by the yōkai Ōmukade, a giant man-eating centipede.
==Trivia==
*The Charge Beam Beast's battle theme is shared with the Acid Worm.
*It is neither revealed nor explained how and why the beast possessed the Charge Beam. Despite the beast having the Charge Beam, it never uses the item's abilities, contrary to other beings Samus encounters in her later missions who use their respective Chozo items in some shape or form. A logical theory would be that the Charge Beam Beast has no beam weapon to begin with, thus making the Charge Beam item useless (one can easily imagine the Bomb item unusable without the Morph Ball). However, the boss's charge attack, in which it attempts to ram itself against Samus, can be a reference to the "charge" aspect of the item.
:*Similarly, Neo-Ridley in Metroid Fusion does not use the Screw Attack.
*The Rhedogian in Metroid: Other M bears similarities to the Charge Beam Beast in terms of fighting, such as their weakpoints in the form of their eyes. When Samus is unable to completely defeat them, they will retreat only to reappear in another area. However, it is possible to defeat the Charge Beam Beast any time it appears (depending on the player's skill), while the battles with Rhedogians and their outcome are determined entirely by the game's plot sequence.
==Gallery==
Charge Beam Worm.png|Samus encounters the Charge Beam Beast
Charge Beam Worm1.png|The Charge Beam Beast attacking Samus.
Metroid Zero Mission Charge Beam.png|The Charge Beam after defeating the Charge Beam Beast
07.jpg|The Charge Beam Beast, as seen in Metroid: Volume 2.
MZM Site Brinstar.png|The Charge Beam Beast on the Metroid Zero Mission Official Site
Ridleymzm.PNG|Concept artwork
==References==
es:Gran Gusano (Brinstar)
ru:Королевский Червь
Category:Zebes
Category:Species
Category:Bosses
Category:Brinstar