Baby Sheegoth

Baby Sheegoth
Official artwork of a Baby Sheegoth.
Featured in	Metroid Prime
Knownlocales	Phendrana Drifts
Known worlds	Tallon IV
Behavior	Tends to sleep in small spots of snow. Will wake and attack violently if disturbed.
Attacks	Ramming attack, bursts of ultra-cold gas, biting.
Weakness	Trauma to the ice shell on its back and focusing firepower on the exposed flesh.

Baby Sheegoths are the young of the Sheegoth species. They have two legs, six eyes covered with ice plating as seen in the official artwork, no arms, and are protected by a thick shell of ice on their backs; this shell is grown to protect the flesh that, when fully matured, develops into ridges of energy-absorbing crystal. These infants' six eyes will fully appear as they reach maturity. They have huge, gaping mouths with incredibly sharp teeth. Baby Sheegoths are powerful hunters and can fire bursts of ultra-cold gas at prey, as well as ram their prey. The adult Sheegoths reign supreme in the Phendrana Drifts.

Behavior

Samus encounters Baby Sheegoths in Phendrana Drifts on Tallon IV. They can be found in various rooms, in a state of slumbering with their heads buried in the snow. They will attack Samus if disturbed, making them a constant threat.

Baby Sheegoths attack primarily using their breath attack: a projectile sphere of cold energy. However, the most unique feature of these creatures is their dorsal shells. A hard, smooth shell covers their backs, their only vulnerable area.

Samus engages a Baby Sheegoth in Ice Ruins East.

This shell is extremely durable, but once it is destroyed, the Baby Sheegoth's bare flesh is exposed, and a few shots to that tender area are sufficient to end them.

A charged Plasma Beam shot will instantly incinerate them regardless of whether the back is exposed or not. Doing so will make them create an odd screaming noise before they die.

After the first adult Sheegoth is killed, several infant Sheegoths throughout the Phendrana Drifts mature into their adult form. These adults, however, do not possess the powerful strength and large size of the first adult. It is possible that these recently matured Sheegoths will eventually acquire the original adult's characteristics as they grow older.

Baby Sheegoths can be found in Phendrana Shorelines, Phendrana Canyon, Ice Ruins East, Ruins Entryway, Chapel of the Elders, Ice Ruins West and Chozo Ice Temple.

Similarities to Grenchlers

The Sheegoths of Tallon IV and the Grenchlers, along with the Grapple Guardian (a large, darkling-possessed Grenchler) of Aether are often notable for their striking similarities to each other: for instance, both have only two limbs and are vulnerable on the shells on their backs. The Luminoth and the Chozo, the dominant species of Tallon IV and Aether, had close ties in the past, and it is possible that either Sheegoth, Grenchlers, or some more ancient ancestor of the two species could have been brought from one planet to the other. On the other hand, they could simply be an example of convergent evolution.

Official data

Early Logbook entry (Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc)

"Morphology: Baby Sheegoth
Glacial predator retains ice shell until maturity to protect vulnerable dorsal area."

Logbook entry

Baby Sheegoth

Metroid Prime

Temporary scan

Morphology: Baby Sheegoth
Glacial predator. Ice shell protects vulnerable dorsal area.

Logbook entry

Young Sheegoths grow a resilient shell of ice on their backs which serves to protect a layer of vulnerable flesh. With this being their only weak point, Baby Sheegoths will turn quickly in order to not allow predators the opportunity to strike at their backs. Powerful hunters, they fire bursts of ultracold gas at potential prey, then feast on their frozen victim.

Official website

"Young Sheegoths grow a resilient shell of ice on their backs, which serves to protect a layer of vulnerable flesh that eventually becomes a ridge of energy-absorbing crystal. Powerful hunters, they fire bursts of ultra-cold gas at potential prey, then feast on their frozen victims.

Two strong legs support the Baby Sheegoth's body, which is armless and protected by a thick ice shell. The head is dominated by a gaping maw filled with rows of sharp teeth."

Trivia

• The body of the Baby Sheegoth somewhat resembles the head of the Xenomorphs from the Alien films, from which it is thought the Metroid series took some inspiration.
• The Baby Sheegoths, along with their adult form, have a body structure quite similar to the Motos, Grenchlers, Grapple Guardian, Ithraks, Gigafraugs and Dragotix. Whether or not their designs were inspired by one another is unknown.
• Sometimes, upon dying, it can release a small amount of its freezing breath which is easily avoidable. This will happen if the creature immediately falls to the ground. If it stumbles and then falls, this will not happen.
• If a Baby Sheegoth happens to fall into water, it dies immediately.
• If a Sheegoth or Baby Sheegoth dies while it's using its ice breath attack, it will continue using it even after death, until it disappears.
• Although the amount of damage required to destroy a Baby Sheegoth's ice covering varies with the game's difficulty level, it always requires the same amount of damage to kill once its back is exposed.
• Sheegoths seem to resemble the "Shrieker" from the Tremors series.
• If Samus shoots a dead Baby Sheegoth with the Wave Beam, it will twitch, opening and closing its mouth and moving its legs for a short time.

Gallery

Scan

Baby Sheegoth development from the Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc DVD.

Metroid.jp screenshot.