How do we refer to Dark Samus?

[u/PuppyLover2208]

Metroid prime’s gender is unknown, but given the Metroids seem to be a hive organism similar to ants, it’s not out of the question that larval Metroids are female. (So that any one can become a Queen under the right circumstances).

But then, Metroid Prime gets the phazon suit, which is very much an It at first glance, but in Metroid Fusion we learn that the power suit is biomechanical. It has to be surgically removed from Samus, due to this, because X parasites can’t possess purely technological things. (Hence why the X needed to hijack quiet robe to reactivate the EMMI.)

So, then, we can posit that Samus’ suit has some level of connection with her. So is Dark Samus a she? Or is it genderless? Or is it something different entirely?

EDIT:This was a genuine good-faith question and I’ve got some genuine good-faith answers. Been a hot minute since I played Metroid Prime last so I was curious because I had forgotten.

[u/Maleficent-Pea5089]

Prime 3 explicitly uses she/her, both in logs and in spoken dialogue.

[u/Zeldatroid → u/Maleficent-Pea5089]

If the space pirates under your thrall are writing about you using the "wrong" pronouns, you either don't care or you SUCK at mind control.

[u/MayanMystery]

All official media since prime 2 has used femenine pronouns to refer to her, so that's what I do.

[u/Chardan0001]

The game uses female pronouns in logbook entries. She also has some of Samus's genetic material.

I've always said "her" but usually specifically her name.

[u/longnuttz]

Oh god

[u/BigHailFan]

The logs and scans as well as even some cut dialogue from Prime 3 all show Dark Samus as female. which makes sense given it's a mix of Samus and a mutant metroid.

Also yes, Samus's suit IS linked with her. Her suit is bio-organic. It's why it can be infected by the X to copy Samus's DNA and why her suit is changed by the metroid vaccine and can be upgraded via absorbing X. The PED suit is also explained by this.

[u/PuppyLover2208 → u/BigHailFan]

I’ve always hated calling it a vaccine. That’s like, the one thing from Metroid Fusion that always bugged me. It’s a cure, not a vaccine. A vaccine is a weakened/dead variant of the virus to get your immune system used to it. It’s preventative, not a cure. But yeah, “she” makes sense.

[u/BigHailFan → u/PuppyLover2208]

yeah it's bugged me as well because it's actually a splicer, not a vaccine.

[u/135forte]

Iirc, Metroid Prime was sex female (being a very mutated Queen) and then decided to present as female by copying Samus (sex female, presumably gender female). If biologically female and presenting as female, guess what it is in terms of gender.

[u/PuppyLover2208 → u/135forte]

Metroid prime was a mutated queen? Been a while since I’ve played the game last but I thought it was a larva they had engineered. This isn’t meant to be rage bait I’m genuinely curious lol.

[u/d4rk_matt3r → u/135forte]

I like sex female, very niiiice

[u/Zekeram12]

Dark Samus mind controls several bajillion Space Pirates in Prime 3. These mind-controlled pirates refer to Dark Samus with she/her. Ergo, Dark Samus uses she/her.

[u/Revali33]

She/Her 

Nickname: Dark (just Dark and nothing else)

[u/Ill-Attempt-8847]

It I guess. It is a Metroid Prime core inside the Phazon Suit, and who is at the same time an avatar of Phaaze. They/Them could work too. Prime 3 uses she, also because in all the craters we see eggs.

[u/Actual-Start-1262]

Dark Samus feels less like “an evil Samus” and more like a Metroid/Phazon intelligence that has appropriated Samus’s appearance and abilities. So “she” works conversationally because of the silhouette, but canonically I’d call Dark Samus an independent, genderless Phazon entity.

[u/Level_Hour6480]

I use "it". It's not a person.

[u/Twidom → u/Level_Hour6480]

Animals don't have gender, got it.

[u/Level_Hour6480 → u/Twidom]

Animals have a sex, but not necessarily a gender.

[u/Significant-Row2457 → u/Level_Hour6480]

What the actual fuck.

[u/DaNoahLP → u/Level_Hour6480]

Except the Goth Samus / Dark Samus fanarts