The subject of this article is not named in-game.
The current title is from a guide or other published source.
A Mochtroid.
Mochtroids are hostile organisms encountered in Super Metroid. They resemble Larva Metroids, but are in fact the result of Space Pirates' failed attempts at cloning the last Metroid stolen from the Ceres Space Colony. Mochtroids were only found in a sub-aquatic Pirate outpost in Maridia.
A Mochtroid is far weaker than any type of Larva Metroid encountered in Samus' previous missions, as its green membrane is extremely fragile and offers poor protection. Housed within this dome is a single, tiny nucleus. Connected below the red organ are the roots of its four fangs, which extend outward to the outside of the membrane where they end in sharp, hooked tips. The fangs themselves are brown in color.
Mochtroids can drain life energy by latching onto their prey like their ordinary counterpart, but they do not possess the powerful grip of the former. As a result, Samus can easily remove a latched Mochtroid with quick movements. This may be due to the lack of muscle-like tissue at the base of its fangs; other Larva Metroids possess a large mass of this tissue between their four large nuclei and fangs.
As previously stated, Mochtroids have extremely poor defenses which allow Samus to easily destroy these failed clones without resorting to the Larva Metroids' main weaknesses: Ice Beam and Missiles.
Possible homage
First Hunt
In Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Samus trains in several arenas by battling against various holograms. Some of these bear an extremely similar appearance to Mochtroids, but behave quite differently.
Though never given an official name, the description of Survivor Mode describes them and other types of holograms collectively as Xenomorphs.
Trivia
- It is unknown why Mochtroids were only encountered in Maridia. It is quite possible that the Space Pirates "dumped" them in Maridia when they were deemed failures.
- Considering their crippling defeats during the Phazon crisis, the loss of one of their homeworlds, along with the eradication of Metroids on SR388, the Pirates were possibly forced into a last stand scenario. Ideally, they would want to create as many Metroids as possible in a shorter time period, thus explaining their reason for resorting to not only beta-ray usage, but also to an unspecified cloning procedure, the latter of which led to the creation of Mochtroids.
- Ironically, the Galactic Federation, enemy of the Space Pirates, was successful in perfectly cloning Metroids on two occasions and did not create weaker variants. These perfectly cloned Metroids were seen in the BOTTLE SHIP in Metroid: Other M and in the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion.
- The Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide suggests Mochtroids are young Metroids that never matured. Mochtroids may be a mutated stage found between Infant Metroids and Larval Metroids.
- Some Metroids featured in Samus and Joey as a flashback are erroneously featured with a single nucleus, making them slightly resemble Mochtroids. [2]
- Their name is a pun on the word "mock-up", making them "mock Metroids".
- Their appearance is somewhat similar to a Phazon Metroid, as they have similarly shaped bodies and talons.
- Mochtroids are mentioned in the Metroid Trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Melee: "Mochtroids, which look like Metroids, are weaker, with fewer internal nuclei.".
- Mochtroids are extremely vulnerable to the Grapple Beam, as a single Grapple Beam shot can kill it. Although it is unclear as to why, a possible explanation would be that their weak membranes are vulnerable to electricity or physical stress.
Official data
Super Metroid manual
"Mochtroids are the Space Pirates' first attempt at Metroid clones. These creatures, unlike the real Metroids, are easy to defeat."
Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide
| Enemy Data | Description | |||||||
| Color | HP | ATK | E | BE | M | SM | PB | Maridia. These small Metroids didn't make it to maturity. |
| Normal | 100 | 90 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 3 | |
Information