Ing
A Warrior Ing.
Featured in	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Known worlds	Dark Aether
Attacks	Possession, interdimensional beam, Various Dark related attacks.
Weakness(es)	Bright, pure Light.

“	It was the end of peace on Aether, for a new race was born that day on the dark world...one filled with hate and terrible power. They are the Ing. The Ing are creatures of shadow and darkness, knowing nothing of peace or mercy. For decades, we stood against them...yet we now lie on the verge of defeat.	„
—U-Mos

The Ing are a warring, ferocious race of tribal beings native to Dark Aether, and are the arch-nemeses of the Luminoth. "Ing" (meaning "terror") is the Luminoth name for these creatures; it is unknown if the species have a name of their own.

Contents 1 History 2 Description 3 Ing forms 3.1 Emperor Ing 3.2 Larvae 3.3 Warriors 3.4 Hunters 3.5 Ingstorm 3.6 Inglets 3.7 Minor Ing 4 Other appearances 5 Trivia 6 Gallery

HistoryEdit

During the Golden Age of the Luminoth, a stellar object (now revealed as a Leviathan) struck Aether with such great force that it caused a rift in space and time, creating Dark Aether and giving birth to the Ing. After having fought the Luminoth for decades of war, the Ing were on the verge of defeating them, having stolen all but one of their planetary energies, and with all but one of the Luminoth in stasis tubes in the Great Temple. However, after Samus Aran came to Aether, she eliminated their kind by destroying Dark Aether. Since their dark-aligned bodies could not stand Aether's different atmosphere, they were left without a dimension to reside in and collapsed within it.

DescriptionEdit

While Ing appear as nearly every Darkling creature in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, there are much fewer "pure" Ing, and they are always found on Dark Aether. The reason behind this is that Ing, in their true forms, cannot survive outside of their dark world; as such they possess beings from the opposite dimension and by doing so, gain the ability to resist to the atmosphere of the normal dimension, allowing them to invade it. Most "pure" Ing appear as stationary and largely ignorable growths, such as the Bladepod and Ingclaw, but the Warrior and Hunter strains of Ing are much more formidable. These Ing are best fought from the safety of a Light Crystal, which produces a field that they rarely penetrate to avoid harm. Even when Samus obtains the Dark and Light Suits, the Light Crystals can still be energized with the Light Beam or Annihilator Beam in order to produce deadly traps for the Ing. While a good quantity of pure Ing appear in quite small forms, such as the Inglet or Ingstorm, Warrior Ing are almost the same height as a Luminoth. Samus also encounters two Warrior Ing who have been mutated after absorbing her stolen equipment, the Jump Guardian and the Boost Guardian. Though each type of Ing has its own strengths and weaknesses, they share a common weakness to light energy.

During their war against the Luminoth, the Ing would generally attack by forcefully possessing nearby creatures or machines, which would darken and possibly mutate their form, and generally increase their offensive prowess. They preferred to possess creatures with a natural talent for combat, such as Aether's predators, the Luminoth warmachines and the Luminoth themselves. Later on, the extraterrestrial Space Pirates and Metroids became favorite hosts. These possessed creatures were dubbed "Darklings" by the Luminoth. Though these hybrid creatures were generally more powerful than their original forms, they gained the Ing's signature weakness to light energy. Ing can also possess corpses and bring them to a form of pseudo-life, but these tend to be much weaker, as the Ing cannot properly bond with the host. Specially armored Luminoth and Samus were safe from Ing possession, the latter from having acquired the Energy Transfer Module, which constantly generates light energy from within. It is unknown if any of the Darklings living on Light Aether survived the destruction of Dark Aether, but it is unlikely they would live long if they did. It is known that one Dark Tallon Metroid was captured and dissected, and put on display in Metroid Processing on the Space Pirate Homeworld; however, an unreleased scan reveals that the dissected darkling was originally meant to be the result of Pirates attempting to create a possessed Metroid without needing an Ing.

Ing formsEdit

It can be assumed that the larval form is the basic form of Ing life, and will eventually grow into one of the adult forms to fit the roles necessary for the Horde.

Emperor IngEdit

Main article: Emperor Ing

The eldest and highest ranking member of the Ing Horde is the Emperor Ing, who resides within the Sky Temple. It is the keeper of Dark Aether's primary energy source and of a substantial amount of Phazon, both from which it feeds upon in order to grow in power.

LarvaeEdit

Main article: Ing Larva Swarm

When Ing are still larvae, they are constantly in danger and travel in swarms to lessen this threat. As such, they grow to be aggressive and hateful of all other living things, making perfect soldiers. Ing Larvae are not common around Dark Aether, and are only found in the Ing Hive. It is unknown how these creatures are produced.

WarriorsEdit

Main article: Warrior Ing

Warrior Ing are the basic soldiers of the Horde. They are somewhat powerful, exercising extra-dimensional laser attacks along with various kinetic offensives. Like most Ing, the Warrior Ing can melt into a shadowy fluid, and slide across surfaces. Warrior Ing have only one eye, though with multiple pupils. Warrior Ing tend to congregate about rooms of importance, usually containing a Sky Temple Key or power-up.

HuntersEdit

Main article: Hunter Ing

The Ing also retain elites to help in destroying specific enemies of the Horde, called Hunter Ing. These creatures are viewed as the second most powerful of all Ing, second only to the Emperor. They can avoid damage by phasing out of the local timespace, and are the only ones allowed to possess Pirate Commandos.

IngstormEdit

When faced with large amounts of enemies, the Horde depends on the Ingstorm, tiny Ing that float in the air and emit a destructive energy that can chew through any substance. Luminoth are easily eradicated by Ingstorm. They are only found in the Ing Hive, Sky Temple Grounds and Dark Agon Wastes. The Light Suit is the only known item that can guard against the Ingstorm's corrosive attacks.

IngletsEdit

Of course, not all Ing are used as soldiers to attack the Luminoth. Some, like the Inglets, are worker drones who labor for the Horde, carrying around vital materials and essentials for the soldiers. When attacked, Inglets can defend themselves, although their attacks are somewhat pathetic, and they can be destroyed easily. Inglets can, like Warrior Ing, shift into a liquid state and flow around areas. They are easy to destroy by Luminoth, and Samus as well.

Minor IngEdit

• Bladepod - Storage unit (Sky Temple Grounds/Dark Agon Wastes).
• Ingworm Cache - Storage unit (Ing Hive).
• Flying Ing Cache - Floating storage unit that is used to hold important items, such as Sky Temple Keys.
• Ingsphere Cache - Storage Unit (Dark Torvus Bog).
• Ingclaw - Stationary Ing growth that spews a poisonous gas. Ingclaws are not invulnerable to Dark Aether's atmosphere, and can enter a torpor when they are too affected..
• Ing Webtrap - A creature used by the Ing to block doors.
• Webling - A creature used by the Ing to block walls, which can be destroyed by a light beam.
• Darkling Tentacle - A tentacle of a possibly large unknown creature.

Other appearancesEdit

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, there is a Phazon-based creature known as the Phaz-Ing, which strongly resembles the Inglet. Because of the similarity in name and form, it is possible that this species, native to Phaaze, has some connection to Dark Aether's Ing Horde.

TriviaEdit

• The Ing Horde's ability for possession is strongly reminiscent of the mythology behind demons.
• Though never seen in-game, the Ing can separate themselves from a possessed host at will, according to the log scan of the Dark War Wasp.
• In function, this ability to enter, take complete control of and endow their host makes the Ing similar to the X Parasite, although the Ing have the advantage of being able to control inorganic machines, energy constructs, and Metroids.
• The Ing have 5 limbs, suggesting that their design may have been based on the human hand.
• Not only that, but they also appear to resemble one-eyed spiders.

• The Ing also behave similarly to a horse, particularly due to the way that they run, resembling a galloping horse.

• According to the scan of the hologram of A-Voq, one of the Luminoth Sentinels of Torvus Temple, it is possible for beings with high stamina and determination to resist multiple Ing possession attempts.
• Since Emperor Ing's mutated form (final phase) resembles a Warrior Ing, it is possible that the Warrior Ing are just mutated forms of Inglets.
• Despite the Ing's usual inability to maintain their physical form outside of their homeworld, a Warrior Ing can be seen forcing its limbs through the portal during the ending sequence in a desperate attempt to escape its dying dimension but is unable to exit and perishes as the portal and Dark Aether collapses.
• Exactly what the Ing's tolerance for Phazon is unclear; The Logbook for the Dark Tallon Metroid indicated that the reason why they possessed the Tallon Metroids were because of their connection to Phazon. However, if Samus shot a Phazon canister near an Ing Warrior at the Agon Wastes, it would disintegrate in a blue light, which would indicate that exposure to Phazon would kill them outright. If this is the case, then the Emperor Ing is the only pure member of its race to be capable of withstanding and absorbing Phazon.
• In Trial Grounds, it is mentioned that the Ing have a "Rite of Passage" that involves young ones fighting fierce opponents in order to prove themselves in battle.
• The Ing makes a cameo in the Metroid Prime Hunters Spanish commercial, where one can be seen in the background along with a black Luminoth.

GalleryEdit

Ing
Ruling caste	Emperor Ing
Battle forms	Warrior Ing • Hunter Ing • Boost Guardian • Jump Guardian • Ingstorm • Darkling Tentacle
Submissive	Darkling • Inglet • Ing Webtrap • Flying Ing Cache
Immobile	Bladepod • Ingsphere Cache • Ingworm Cache • Ingworm • Webling • Ingclaw
Misc	Black Fog • Ing Horde • Ing Larva • Phaz-Ing

Sentient Species in the Metroid Series
Extant Sentients
Human | Space Pirate | Kriken | Luminoth
Former Sentients
Bryyonians | Diamont | Elysian | Ing
Unknown Status
Alimbic | Chozo | N'kren | Phrygisian | Vhozon | Ylla | Jovian
Unnamed Sentients
USR 1 | USR 2 | USR 5 | USR 6

Phazon Organisms
Native to Phaaze	Leviathan • Leviathan womb • Leviathan Infant • Phazon Core • Phaz-Ing • Jelsac • Liquid Phazon • Phazon Grub • Phazon Leech • Phazon Fungus • Phazon tendril • Phazon Vine • Glow Stem • Aazelion • Tangle Weed • Massive Tentacle • Parasitic fungus • Fungus • ULF 11 • ULF 12 • ULF 14 • ULF 17 • ULF 36 • ULF 49
Corrupted Creatures	Phazon Hopper • Phazon Nightbarb • Phazon Shriekbat • Phazon Puffer • Phazon Pillbug
Space Pirates	Aurora Unit 313 • Elite Pirate • Phazon Elite • Omega Pirate • Berserker Knight • Berserker Lord
Phazon Metroids	Class I Energy Harvester • Tallon Metroid • Hunter Metroid • Fission Metroid • Miniroid • Phazon Metroid • Hopping Metroid • Metroid Hatcher
Leviathan Core Guardians	Metroid Prime • Emperor Ing • Mogenar • Helios • Omega Ridley
Born of Phazon	Phaazoid • Red Phaazoid • Ing • Dark Samus

Dimensional
Species	Alimbic • Boost Guardian • Chozo (Ghost) • Dark Pirate Commando • Darkling • Darkling Tentacle • Gorea • Ing (Hunter, Emperor, Warrior) • Ingsphere Cache • Kralee • Leviathan • Luminoth • Phantoon • Warp Hound • Phazon Metroid
Gateways	Alimbic Cannon • Artifact Temple • Portal • Stronghold Portal • Wormhole
Alternate Dimensions	Dark Aether • Infinity Void • The Locker • Oubliette • Stronghold Void
Other	Black fog • Dark Visor • Darkburst