Beetle

Beetle
Official artwork from Metroid Prime Remastered
Featured in	Metroid Prime Metroid Prime Pinball
Knownlocales	Tallon Overworld Chozo Ruins
Known worlds	Tallon IV
Behavior	Normally active below ground, emerges to attack surface intruders
Attacks	Leaps at foes with jaws
Weakness	Any weapons fire
Battle music	VS. Giant Beetle

Beetles are an insect species native to Tallon IV. Predatory tunnel diggers, Beetles lurk underground and often spring up on unsuspecting prey, charging at them at top speeds.

Appearance and behavior

Beetles have a dark blue and orange carapace with a single, forward-curved dorsal spike and two additional spikes curving out from either side of its main body. They have two pairs of beady green eyes, and two small tusks jut out below their most prominent feature: Their powerful, beak-like mandibles, which they use to attack and ingest prey, as well as rapidly dig tunnels.

Beetles are very territorial and extremely aggressive, and will attack much larger organisms who wander into their territory. They usually lurk beneath the earth, waiting to ambush anything that wanders too close (though these hiding spots can be detected with Thermal Visor technology). When attacking, a Beetle will utter a high-pitched screech before launching themselves at an opponent at high speeds. They often use their tunneling ability in combat as well, quickly escaping underground and bursting back up from another location; they will also tunnel back underground if an opponent leaves their territory. Beetles tend to thrive in the Tallon Overworld and the Chozo Ruins.

Metroid Prime Pinball features the species in the Mini-Game Beetle Blast.

Locations

• Canyon Cavern
• Tallon Canyon
• Root Cave
• Frigate Crash Site
• Ruins Entrance
• Main Plaza
• Ruined Nursery
• Ruined Shrine
• Plaza Access
• Furnace

Related species

Ice Beetle

Ice Beetles, a related species, can be found in Phendrana as well. They have reinforced ice carapaces, which provides extra protection and augmented burrowing strength and abilities, and they despise any type of heat. Usage of any beam, excluding the Ice Beam, causes it to flee back into the ground, although the Plasma Beam makes short work of them (they even have a special death animation used for it). Ice Beetles burrow quickly and are even faster in their attacks, so getting hits against them are difficult. They are short-lived enemies, appearing in only one or two areas in the game and in small numbers.

Plated Beetle

A Plated Beetle challenges Samus in the Ruined Shrine.

There is also a larger species related to the Beetle called the Plated Beetle that is also found in the Chozo Ruins. This Plated Beetle species is potentially a fully grown "Alpha Beetle", the reason being that these larger variants start appearing in areas where regular Beetles were initially found. These have many distinct differences, such as a plated exterior, and a vulnerable abdomen at the rear.

Official data

Logbook entries

RemasteredOriginal

Beetle

Metroid Prime

Temporary scan

Morphology: Beetle
Burrowing insect with a resilient carapace. Extremely aggressive.

Logbook entry

Insect's massive mouth enables it to tunnel through solid rock at high speeds. Above ground, Beetles can cover short distances rapidly. They attack anything that moves near their lair.

[Remastered][Original]

Official Metroid Prime website

"The Beetle is an extremely aggressive burrowing insect. Its massive mouth enables it to tunnel through solid rock at high speeds. Above ground, Beetles can cover short distances rapidly. They attack anything that moves near their lair.

The Beetle is a heavily armored insect with highly developed jaws and a resilient carapace."

Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide

Beetle

"Beetles pop suddenly out of the ground. They are easy to destroy with a few shots from your Power Beam. They like to strafe back and forth before charging at you. Keep a lock on them by holding down [L] and fire repeatedly. If there are more than one, continue to switch targets to ensure that you destroy the nearest ones first."

Beetle

Found In: Tallon Overworld, Chozo Ruins

Recommended Weapon: Any

"Beetles live underground and pop out of the ground as you approach them. Quickly destroy them with any weapon you have. The Power Beam's speed helps when fighting more than one Beetle. Be ready to dash out of the way of their charge attack. Beetles are unwilling to travel very far when pursuing an enemy. If you back up quickly, you'll find that they dig back into the ground after a few steps. They then reappear where they first entered the scene."

Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide

BEETLE

"The first enemy you'll encounter is a Beetle, a burrowing creature that attacks by charging at its prey. You can destroy an oncoming Beetle with a few shots from your Arm Cannon. If multiple critters attack you, target them by pressing and releasing the L Button. As soon as one is destroyed, move on to the next."

Metroid Prime Official Strategy Guide

BEETLE

MORPHOLOGY

"A burrowing insect with a resilient carapace that's extremely aggressive. Beetle's massive mouth enables it to tunnel through solid rock at high speed. Above ground, Beetles can cover short distances rapidly. They attack anything that moves near their lair."

COMBAT TIPS

"The Beetle is an insect that pops up out of the ground quickly. Take out Beetles with four or five Power Beam shots. It's not necessary to waste Missiles on them unless overwhelmed with more than six of them at once. If attacked by a group of Beetles, expect some of them to drop back down underground and come up later. They rarely stay above ground for more than a few seconds if they're not actively engaging in battle."

Metroid Prime Official Perfect Guide

BEETLE

"These are aggressive monsters that erupt from the ground to attack you with fast charges. Just blast them away. You might come across different colored Beetles--these are all within the same species."

Metroid Prime Pinball manual

"A burrowing creature that attacks by charging its prey."

Development notes

According to Jack Mathews, the tech lead for Prime, the Beetle's AI was the first to be programmed into the game. The reason they burrow underground is to control how many of them are onscreen at one time, so the game's performance is not impacted. Since they were the first enemies to have AI scripted, they served as a testing bed for further enemies. Their AI survived to the finished release of Prime.

Mike Wikan wrote his wife's initials and the names of his two children into the paths of the Beetles in Prime.

In an early version of Metroid Prime, the Beetle was instead named Beetal.

Trivia

• As seen within the Frigate Crash Site, Beetles are unaffected by water and will usually burrow themselves quickly out of it when submerged or stray too far from their spawning point.

Gallery

Concept art

Unused Beetle colorations, seen in one of the earliest trailers for Metroid Prime.

Early version of Metroid Prime with Beetal name.

Scan

Several Beetles emerge to defend their territory in the Ruined Shrine.

Beetles seen in Frigate Crash Site.

Samus locked-on to a Beetle underwater.

Metroid Prime comic in Nintendo Power.

Unused scan image

Martin L'Heureux

Metroid Prime Pinball render

Beetles in Metroid Prime Remastered

Metroid Prime Remastered Character Gallery

Metroid Prime Remastered artwork