Metroid Prime, up until this week’s Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, at least, is mostly free of spoken dialogue — especially
when it comes to its mute protagonist, Samus Aran. But an unused monologue was recorded for the original Metroid Prime,
and eventually uncovered by fans, with its performer remaining unknown. Until now.
That monologue goes as follows, for those who are unfamiliar:
“Ten years ago, below the surface of planet Zebes, the mercenaries known as Space Pirates were defeated by interstellar
bounty hunter Samus Aran. Descending to the very core of the Pirate stronghold, Samus exterminated the energy-based
parasites called Metroids, and defeated Mother Brain, the leader of the Pirate horde. But the' Space Pirates were far
from finished. Several Pirate research vessels were orbiting Zebes while Samus fought on the surface below. After the
fall of Mother Brain, the ships escaped, with the hopes of finding enough resources to rebuild their forces, and take
their revenge. After discovering a possible Pirate colony on planet Tallon IV, Samus has again prepared for war, hoping
to end the Pirate threat forever.”
With Hale being the most famous voice of Samus, you’d perhaps assume she also recorded these introductory lines to the
world of Prime. Well, you’d be wrong.
“That's Vanessa. Vanessa Marshall," Hale reveals. It's perhaps not a surprise, as Marshall is already credited with also
lending her talents to the voice of Samus in Metroid Prime, notably contributing her death scream to the sound library.
Marshall also starred alongside Hale in Marvel’s Midnight Suns, as well as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as Olga,
and may be familiar to fans of animated TV as the voice of Hera Syndulla in Star Wars' Rebels and Bad Batch series.
As to why Retro Studios and Nintendo went with Marshall over Hale for this prospective monologue, only to then ditch it
anyway, Hale says she's unsure. “I adore Vanessa,” Hale adds. “I love that we actually shared this role. It's so crazy,
and I'm not sure why. I never remember saying no to this. I would never have said no to doing this. They may have
preferred her work. I have no idea.”
While not getting to record these fully formed sentences, Hale did get the lion's share of the grunt work on Metroid
Prime. It sounds an intriguing process, which she went on to explain in more detail:
"I like to have identified a character's way of speaking before I do grunting for them, because how you grunt is
different to how I grunt, to how anyone else grunts," Hale explained. "It's very specific. If you are a civilian and
you're grunting, you're like... [makes surprised grunt noise] because it's all surprising and it's all new. If you've
done it a million times, you're like [makes short grunt noise], because you've gone under fire 1,800 times and you're
While that once-lost intro narration was never used in the original Metroid Prime, parts of the monologue would later
see the light of day, thanks to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Jay Ward, who voiced Star Fox’s Wolf O’Donnell in the Nintendo
fighting game series, rerecorded certain lines of it that were laid under the Opening/Menu - Metroid Prime track on the
Who knows where this monologue will turn up next, or why it was never actually used in the final game. At least for now,
thanks to Samus herself, part of this mystery has been solved. Would you have liked the intro narration to have been
kept? Although I do love the lonely, wordless nature of Metroid Prime, I do like the “Ripley at the end of Alien” feel
this gives to the game. Let us know what you think in the comments.
For more on Metroid Prime, make sure to check out our review of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and for more from Jennifer
Hale, read all about why she’d love to return to the Mass Effect series as Commander Shepard or “anyone” BioWare want.