Chykka

!	This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters.

Chykka
Featured in	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Location	Dark Torvus Temple, Dark Torvus Bog
Attacks	Larva: Tongue whip, dark bombs. Adult: Dark liquid spray, ramming. Dark Adult: Chyklings, stinger.
Weakness	Chest and mouth in larva form, abdomen and wings while adult.
Battle Music	Swamp Boss Stage 1 Swamp Boss Stage 2
Reward(s)	Dark Visor

The Chykka was a massive dragonfly-like creature that lived in the Dark Torvus Bog on Dark Aether. It is fought in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as the Guardian of Dark Torvus Temple.

The creature was born as a larva, and soon cocooned itself to turn into the Chykka Adult. If the Chykka Adult is exposed to the poisonous water of Dark Aether, it will transform into the Dark Chykka, which can hatch mutated Chyklings.

Defeating it will reward Samus with the Dark Visor.

Battle

Chykka Larva

Samus battles the Chykka's Adult form in Dark Torvus Temple.

After inserting the three Dark Keys within the Temple, Dark Water begins to flood the chamber until the platform on which Samus stands floats upward into the massive room where the Chykka is found. The creature is initially inside a cocoon held up on a wall by four supports that Samus must destroy with her Power Beam, Charge Beam or Missiles; normal uncharged shots of any other Beam have no effect. Each support possess 15 HP (Hard Mode), and destroying the last one causes the cocoon to fall into the Dark Water where it promptly hatches as the Chykka Larva, beginning the battle.

As the Larva swims around Samus' platform, Dark Shredders will frequently come out of the toxic water. These Darklings will attack Samus by exploding in close proximity, but can be stopped by quickly shooting them with beams, thus turning them into a reliable supply of Energy and Ammo. The Chykka itself is mostly vulnerable to beam fire overall and can be damaged at just about anytime during this battle. Using the Power Beam, Samus can damage the Chykka as it exposes its head while swimming. The Chykka will eventually dive down, then burst up, and crash back into the water with a massive splash, which sends a damaging shockwave of dark water at Samus that she must jump over or else risk being pushed into majority of the hazardous liquid. As it rises, the Chykka also spews a blast of dark matter directly at Samus, giving her another obstacle to avoid simultaneously. It performs this dual attack twice in succession before returning to its swimming pattern. After Chykka has received some damage, it will alternate its strategy with a new attack; the Larva will sometimes leap onto Samus' platform, and attempt to ensnare her with its tongue. Samus must dodge the tongue three times in succession to cause the creature to return into the dark water. If the tongue grabs hold of her, she will have a limited time to escape its grip by firing at the creature directly. During this attack, if the Chykka receives enough damage, it will be stunned momentarily as it slowly sinks back into the dark waters below. While stunned, Samus can deliver quite a bit damage to the creature, and she can take this opportunity to Lock-on to the creature's belly and fire a Super Missile at it to inflict massive damage. In the NTSC version, a Super Missile will cause the creature to fall back into the dark water. When it only has a small fraction of health remaining, it will cease its jumping, resorting to only swimming and the tongue attack.

The Chykka in its adult form

Once the Chykka is sufficiently wounded, it will collapse into the water. The toxic liquid then slightly recedes and Samus' platform will split into three pieces that distance themselves from the center, each with an untouchable Light Crystal and a hovering Grapple Point in-between each platform. As the water and platforms lower in height, the Chykka's body is revealed to have quickly entered a chrysalis stage against a wall, where it immediately metamorphoses into its adult form.

Adult Chykka

The Chykka possesses great agility and flits from side to side, making it a more difficult target to hit than its size would suggest. It can also collect and shoot streams of Dark Water at Samus, being its only means of attack during this phase. The Adult Chykka can redirect Missile and Super Missile fire using its large wings. Samus must stun the Chykka with Beam weapons, with Dark Beam shots being most effective. Once stunned, it will scream and hover in place, where Samus must utilize her Grapple Beam and Grapple behind the large winged creature, where she will see four weak spots on its wings. Samus must severely damage all four of its wings to end this phase of the fight, however the Chykka will not be stunned for long, and destroying one wing will instantly cause the boss to recover, requiring Samus to stun it yet again. Its wings can be targeted with Missiles when stunned. A Super Missile will destroy one weak point in one hit. Although Seeker Missiles can inflict less damage, it is possible to destroy multiple wings in one session using it, thereby saving time and resources if these are aimed well.

Once all of the Chykka's wings are severely damaged, it will fall into the water, sending a shockwave at Samus the same way its larval form did. After a brief moment of "victory", the insectoid will viciously return back into the skies and fill its abdomen with the toxic water, becoming the Dark Chykka. Note that it can be scanned briefly before it enters the water. As Dark Chykka, it will constantly fill its egg sac with Dark Water and spew it all across the arena at Samus. At times, the Dark Chykka's wings will glow a reddish orange, with dark water drops blowing into the sky; this signifies the creature is charging up its wings for a massive wind capable of knocking back Samus far off the current platform she is on and into the dark water behind her. Occasionally, it will also release Chyklings at her. Samus must target the large egg sac to damage the creature; as a dark creature, charged Light Beam shots are most effective, and thanks to the egg sac's rather large size, makes this phase of the battle quite easy. When enough damage is received, the dark matter is released from the Chykka, reverting it to its normal Adult form once more, and Samus must repeat the process from there. In its second normal Adult battle, it will now perform a ramming attack where it flies around the battlefield for a brief moment. During this entire repeated phase, the platform pieces will also start to sink into the water temporarily, one at a time, causing another danger for Samus to watch out for. During the second Dark Chykka phase, two platforms can sink at a time, increasing the danger.

Upon killing the Chykka, it sinks to the bottom of the pool and the temple's Dark Water completely drains to reveal the Dark Visor. Once collected, stealth platforms rise up from the ground. Samus can use the newly acquired Dark Visor to reach the door to the Dark Torvus Energy Controller, allowing her to reclaim the stolen Planetary energy of Torvus. After the Chykka is defeated, Samus can scan its corpse at the bottom of the massive room, which assures her that the boss is finally deceased. Its corpse remains throughout the rest of Samus's quest, though it is believed to be completely destroyed along with the destruction of Dark Aether.

Scans and Logbook entries

Chykka cocoon

"Object scan complete.

Target is a cocoon. A field of dark energy is disrupting deep-scanning ability: unable to scan bioform within cocoon. Energy may be mutating the bioform, as there are signs of extreme growth present in the cocoon's structure."

Cocoon supports

"Object scan complete.

Organic structure designed to support cocoon. Destruction of supports will release cocoon."

Chykka Larva

Temporary scan

Morphology: Chykka Larva
Infant insectoid Guardian.
Vulnerable area detected; target has a soft underbelly. Adjusting lock-on point to take advantage of this.

Logbook entry

Scans indicate that this bioform is an infant, but aging rapidly. The creature can ensnare targets with its tongue, drawing them into its mouth. It then covers its prey with acidic globs of biomatter to break it down for digestion. This is an exceptional bioform with both a dark and light nature.

Chykka

Temporary scan

Morphology: Chykka
Flying insectoid Guardian.
This light creature can be stunned, especially by dark energy. While stunned, look for weak spots to target.

Logbook entry

The Chykka has rapidly aged to its adult form. It will attack by firing high-powered bursts of dark water at rapid speed. If frustrated, it will attempt to dive and ram you. Most of the Chykka’s body is vulnerable to weapons fire, but scans indicate that such fire will only stun it. When stunned, however, four weak spots will appear. These spots are vulnerable to attack: target them to damage the enemy.

Dark Chykka

Temporary scan

Morphology: Dark Chykka
Dark energy-charged flying guardian.
Target is charged with dark energy. Most of its body is immune to damage, save for the lower eggsac. Avoid attacks by target's offspring swarms.

Logbook entry

The Chykka has recovered, and energized its body with dark energy. This energy has rendered most of the creature immune to attack, including its wings. Tactical scans indicate that its eggsac is vulnerable, however. Target it to damage the creature.

Chykka corpse

"Bioscan complete.

Target Chykka has been terminated.

Lifesigns are at flatline. No regenerative ability in effect. No evidence of symbiotic corpse possession. Resurrection does not appear likely."

Development notes

A comparison of the demo and final models, with the demo model on the left, and the final model on the right.

Paul Tozour programmed the Chykka Larva's artificial intelligence.

The Chykka battle changed significantly during development, as evidenced by leftover data present on the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc. The Chykka Larva had a different model and scan data, possessing jets on its belly that it would use to attack Samus with sprays of water, as well as a tongue that was constantly outside of its mouth. Additionally, the developing wings present on the final model were absent in the beta. Altogether, this model more strongly represents its concept artwork. Unused scan entries can be found within the Data Network's Logbook via hacking.

Chykka Larva

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc

Temporary scan

Morphology: Chykka Larva
Infant Insectoid Guardian. High pressure water jets used for primary attack are also a weak spot. Target them to defeat this enemy.

Logbook entry

Scans indicate that this bioform is an infant, but aging rapidly. Its primary attack comes from powerful water jets on its belly. The creature can also ensnare targets with its tongue, drawing them into its hungry mouth. Finally, it can fire exploding globs of biomatter at its prey. The water jets appear to be the only vulnerable spots on its body; target them to defeat this enemy.

There was also an additional form in the battle called Chykka Swimmer (or Chykka 3) which occurred after Chykka's metamorphosis into its adult form. It has an unused scan entry, but has no proper model associated with it- instead, the Artifact of Chozo is used as a placeholder. In the final game, the Chykka will occasionally use a ramming attack followed by flying around the temple during the second "light" Chykka phase. The circular flying bears a resemblance to a swimming motion though it is unknown if this is indeed a swimming animation that was repurposed for a normal attack instead.

Chykka Swimmer

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc

Temporary scan

Morphology: Chykka Swimmer
Swimming Insectoid Guardian. Target has entered a state of frenzy. Evasive action recommended.

Logbook entry

The Chykka has been temporarily disabled by your attacks. Evasive action recommended.
Target has become enraged and entered a state of frenzy. Collision-based attacks are likely.

Music

• This is the music heard when battling the larval form of the Chykka.
• This is the music heard when battling the adult form of the Chykka.

Trivia

Larva concept art

Adult concept art

• If Samus destroys the Chykka's cocoon while in the Dark Water, a glitch will occur wherein Samus' jump becomes much higher, and she falls much more slowly. Among speedrunners, this is referred to as the "floaty jump", and it is primarily used to obtain the Energy Tank in Meditation Vista early. The glitch is canceled when Samus steps in Dark Water again, enters water, or leaves Torvus (travelling between Light or Dark worlds does not cancel the glitch however). This glitch was fixed in later versions of the game.
  • Samus can use the floaty jump to reach the Dark Torvus Energy Controller immediately during the first phase of the battle, however this is not recommended. Skipping the Chykka Larva battle and reloading the Dark Torvus Temple will not remove the Dark Water flooding the room, causing Samus to be stuck and forcing the player to reset the fight. The Dark Visor is also not dropped as a result of the boss's disappearance.
  • If Samus stays on the Blue Doors ledge during the Chykka Larva battle, when it performs its tongue attack in a position where it faces Samus across from the ledge, the Chykka's head will rapidly shake from left to right.
• In the GameCube version, when the Chykka Larva is stunned during its tongue attack, firing a Super Missile at its chest will cause the creature to fall backwards into the Dark Water. This effect no longer occurs in the Trilogy version.
• Likely due to its Light/Dark nature, the Chykka can be heavily damaged by the Annihilator Beam (via Sequence Breaking).
  • Its cocoon weak points curiously repel uncharged Annihilator Beam shots.
  • When stunned, the Chykka Larva flinches from every uncharged Annihilator Beam shot like most other enemies do.
  • The Dark Chykka is unaffected by normal Annihilator Beam shots, likely due to enhanced dark shielding. However, the creature will take massive damage from a direct Sunburst shot (also via Sequence Breaking). Strangely, only its wing sockets will catch on fire.
  • Unlike most other enemies, including each of its Adult forms, the Chykka Larva takes neutral damage from both the Dark and Light Beams. This makes charged Light Beam shots effective while it swims due to their superior speed and power, while individual Dark Beam shots are effective while the Larva is stunned.
• The Chykka is the only Guardian whose nature is not foreshadowed in any way by something in the Light version of its realm; it is also the only Guardian to leave behind a corpse.
• The Adult Chykka's theme resembles the "minor boss" theme from Super Mario 64[1]. Gandrayda's theme in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a remix of this theme, using the same beat.
• The Chykka Larva resembles the Chestburster from the Alien film series, which heavily inspired the Metroid series. Additionally, the cocoon that the Larva encases itself in after its first battle is unmistakably Giger-esque in appearance.
• The Chykka is called Anophelia in the Italian version of Echoes.
• The roars of the Larva form are recycled sound effects from the death of the Metroid Prime.
• The Chykka Larva is similar to the Korakk Beast, in that both have double K's in their name, neither have visible eyes and both fire their tongues to pull Samus towards their mouths.
• The Chykka Larva resembles a silverfish. Interestingly, silverfish are also called "fishmoths".
• The Chykka Larva emerges from a cocoon, this is the opposite metamorphosis as it happens with insects on earth, where the larva turns into a cocoon (although another cocoon appears after the Dark Water level lowers, which the Chykka's adult form quickly emerges from - the first "cocoon" may in fact have been an "egg").
• The battle with the dragon Perkele in Avalon Code is similar to the fight with the Chykka Larva.
  • The battle with Gyorg in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is somewhat different to the battle in the original version of the game; it features different movement patterns and attacks greatly similar to that of the Chykka Larva.
• The Chykka is the only "non-final" boss in the entire Metroid Prime trilogy that has separate health bars for each stage of the fight.
• The Sawken boss in Metroid Prime: Federation Force is fought in a very similar manner to the Chykka Larva.
• The way the Chykka Larva's wing-like structures protrude from the surface of the Dark Water appears to mimic how a shark's dorsal fin sometimes sticks out of the ocean.

Gallery

Samus observes the organic vessel in the Dark Torvus Temple.

She uses the Seeker Launcher to destroy its support structures.

The vessel falls into the Dark water and splits in two.

The Chykka Larva emerges from the waters.

Chykka Larva

The Chykka Larva attacks Samus.

The Chykka Larva jumps out of the toxic liquid.

The Chykka Larva fires its tongue at Samus.

The Larva is defeated.

The waters lower and a cocoon is revealed.

The Cocoon glows with Dark energy...

And the Chykka emerges, in its adult form.

Chykka Adult

Samus engages the Chykka.

The Chykka in its adult form.

The Chykka spits acid.

The Adult Chykka in flight.

The creature is possessed by the Ing.

The Dark Chykka sucks up dark water.

Its wings glow as it charges for a massive wind attack.

Samus discovers the creature's corpse after the waters lower again. It appears the Ing died along with it.

Chykka Adult viewed with the Echo Visor (via sequence Breaking). Here, Samus cannot visibly see the clear wings.