Mother Brain
Mother Brain has been killed multiple times by series protagonist Samus Aran. Her Super Metroid design was originally milder than its final version, resembling an "old lady living in an apartment complex" when designed by Toru Osawa. This design was altered by Tomomi Yamane, who gave her an overall more monstrous appearance. She takes the form of a large brain that sits within a jar, from which she controls the Space Pirates on the fictional planet Zebes. Since "Super Metroid" (1994), she has had a single large eye. Mother Brain has made several appearances in other media, most  notably as the primary antagonist in "". Since appearing in the "Metroid" series, she has received positive reception. Concept and characteristics. Mother Brain is depicted as a very large brain with cybernetic spikes, usually contained in a glass tube which Samus must break to attack it. However, in the Super NES video game "Super Metroid", she is seen in a bipedal form. When designing the bipedal version of Mother Brain for "Super Metroid", Toru Osawa described what he wanted her to look like as being an "old lady living in my apartment complex". However, Tomomi Yamane added to the design, giving  her dripping saliva, foul breath, and a filthy appearance. Appearances. In video games. Mother Brain first appeared in the NES video game, "Metroid", and again in the third "Metroid" title, "Super Metroid". She would appear again in the Game Boy Advance video game "", a remake of the NES "Metroid", which explains what happens after Mother Brain's defeat. The Wii video game "" revealed that the Galactic Federation had constructed biomechanical supercomputers called Auroras, and that there were plans for a "Future Aurora Complex", which appears to be the Mother Brain depicted in "Super Metroid". In "", the scene of Mother Brain  destroying the baby Metroid is reenacted in an FMV cutscene. Also, the primary antagonist of "Other M", MB, is an android partially constructed from Mother Brain's DNA, hence the initialism (which is shared with its human matrix, Madeline Bergman). Mother Brain makes cameos in various video games, including "", "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", and "Tetris DS". She appears as an Assist Trophy in "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U" and "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" which when summoned, appears in her glass tube and spawns Rinkas around the stage. She also fires her Hyper Beam as seen in  Super Metroid. In other media. Mother Brain makes multiple appearances in other media, most notably in "", where she serves as the series' primary antagonist. She has three minions under her command—King Hippo from the "Punch-Out!!" series, Dr. Wily from the "Mega Man" series and Eggplant Wizard from the "Kid Icarus" series. In the show, she was voiced by Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops. This depiction of Mother Brain appears in other media, including the Nintendo Comics System and the "Captain N" comic books. The character appears in other comics as well, including a manga based on "", as  well as a "Nintendo Power" comic book based on "Super Metroid". Reception. Since her appearance in the original "Metroid", Mother Brain has received mostly positive reception. She ranked in as the ninth-best video game villain by IGN, stating that it would win an ugly contest "hands down". She placed seventh on a reader poll conducted by GameSpot. She made 1UP.com's 25 most badass boss fights list, the authors calling it one of the most emotionally moving climactic battles in video game history. The GameSpy staff included Mother Brain as one of their favourite bosses; Ryan Scott specifically praised  it as being one of the most "jaw-dropping" battles in video game history. Developer Ron Alpert described Mother Brain as being iconic. A brief mention of her is made in an article written by IGN about fellow "Metroid" antagonist Ridley, commenting that he is the true antagonist of the series. While discussing Mother Brain's possibility as a character in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", IGN editor Lucas M. Thomas comments that while she would not make a good playable character, she could be a quality part of a level. "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" listed Mother Brain as  36th in their list of "top 50 video game villains". "Cracked" named her one of the best Nintendo villains, joking that she was the "Osama Bin Laden of space", due to her hiding in an underground lair giving orders to dangerous fanatics. They also mocked her depiction in "Captain N", commenting that "for want of any actual comedy, she was given the voice of a sassy black woman, which was an acceptable substitute at the time." The "Boston Phoenix" editors Ryan Stewart and Mitch Krpata named Mother Brain the fourth-greatest boss in video game history, stating that while she  had triumphant roles in "Metroid" and "Captain N", she didn't come into her own until "Super Metroid". They cited the overall quality of the ending for why she was so notable in this role. GameDaily listed Mother Brain as the 12th-best evil mastermind in video games. GamesRadar+ editor David Houghton listed Mother Brain as one gaming's most hideous mums, describing her as looking like a "turd on a stick jammed into the top of a long-dead chicken." In explaining why "Metroid" was among gaming's greatest games, GameSpot editor Avery Score cited the battles with Mother  Brain and Kraid, describing the battles as epic. Fellow GameSpot editor Giancarlo Varanini described Mother Brain as "appropriately disgusting". "GamePro" listed Mother Brain as the sixth-most-diabolical video game villain, describing the battle with her as one of the most notorious and epic assaults in gaming history. UGO.com listed Mother Brain as one of the runners-up for the "Miss Entertainment", commenting that she has sadly diminished in her attempts to thwart Samus, though they hope that she returns. Mother Brain is also featured in the ongoing GameSpot's all-time greatest game villain. In 2011, "Complex" ranked her  as sixth on the list of "most diabolical video game she-villains".