Sylux

About

Sylux is a Bounty Hunter and recurring character in the Metroid Prime franchise. It is clad in deep blue armor with neon green lighting and is considered to be one of Samus's rivals, akin to that of Dark Samus. Sylux is considered to be the most popular bounty hunter in Metroid Prime Hunters and has plenty of fan art and speculation about the real identity and motives of said character.

History

Sylux is a bounty hunter whose character is shrouded in mystery. It was first introduced in the Nintendo DS Game Metroid Prime: Hunters. In the introductory cutscene, it is revealed that Sylux hails from the planet Cyclosis, and its species and possibly gender^[1] are unknown (shown left). Scans reveal Sylux also wears stolen experimental armor and banned weaponry from the Galactic Federation (shown right), and has an unclear and undisclosed hatred between them and Samus Aran (seen below, center).

While this hunter is rather unknown and often makes sparse Easter Egg appearances throughout the later entries, diehard fans of the Prime series of Metroid games have often speculated his actual endgame motives, and whether or not he would make an official presence as a major villain. This information would be confirmed in the June 18th trailer of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, where Sylux is confirmed to be in the game as a major antagonist.

Appearances

While often shrouded in mystery, Sylux has been documented to have some noteworthy appearances throughout the Prime series. Examples are as follows.

Metroid Prime: Hunters

In the intro to Metroid Prime: Hunters, Sylux is the first hunter shown off. Sylux is often deliberately referred to without pronouns, due to the nature of its unknown identity, going as far as being referred to as “It” in several reference materials^[1], such as in its Super Smash Bros. Brawl Trophy description (shown below). This is considered to be its most significant appearance until Prime 4.

In-game, Sylux is the Bounty Hunter who wields the Shock Coil, a deadly short-range weapon that is the campaign's hard counter to Trace and enemies with the "Imperialist" weapon^[2]. It makes slightly more significant appearances compared to the other five rival Bounty Hunters, noted by the fact that its ship (The Delano 7) can often be seen alongside it. An example of the first fight can be seen below (timestamp 1:49)

Sylux is also one of seven playable Bounty Hunters in the game's multiplayer mode alongside Samus and her other rivals. Sylux has the signature ability to drain the health of its opponents to heal itself, making this hunter a deadly match-up in enclosed spaces.

Metroid Prime 3

After completing Metroid Prime 3 100%, a ship resembling the Delano 7 can be seen pursuing Samus. This is an Easter Egg, and Sylux itself does not show up on-screen. Speculation on the ship's owner can be seen as early as February 23rd, 2008, when Youtuber "NESzebes" posted their own video about the mysterious ship.

It is, however, believed to be Sylux by many speculators, though it does not appear to have any official source commenting on it. Gaming News Site "Nintendo World Report" would say that the ship belongs to Sylux^[3] (left). Some at the time, however, would question the credibility of a non-official source, as seen in a Gamefaqs Board conversation (right).

In E3 of 2015, IGN approached Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of Metroid Prime, to ask about the future of the Prime series. In the interview, he confirmed the identity of the ship's owner to be Sylux.^[4] Tanabe would also address Sylux with male pronouns as well. He commented the following in the article:

"He’s actually chasing after Samus, and that’s where that game ends," Tanabe said. "There’s still more I want to build around the story of Sylux and Samus. There’s something going on between them. I want to make a game that touches upon [it]."

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

If the player chooses to complete a bonus objective in Federation Force, another Easter Egg and cutscene will play after beating the game.

In it, a mysterious figure is shown in first-person view infiltrating a Federation base and stealing a Metroid Egg. Based on the armor design, the figure is heavily implied to be Sylux. This information would eventually become confirmed by Logan Foster, an environment artist who worked on Federation Force^[5][6]. Foster would go on to say:

"For the Bonus Ending level this was one of the first tasks that I was given when I came onto the project. The team wanted a cinematic where Sylux is sneaking through a Federated Force research station and uncovers the Metroid egg that has been researched here."

By hacking the game, Wikitroid user "Bearborg" was able to find Sylux's model to be that of a generic Federation Engineer with Sylux's trademark cobalt blue and angular shoulder pads.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

On June 17th, 2017, Nintendo announced the development of Metroid Prime 4 to the public. Many speculated what the game would be about, and fans especially pondered whether Sylux would be present in the game. However, because no in-game footage would show up for several years, this speculation would go nowhere.

Multiple fan theories would show up shortly after the reveal. On July 2nd, 2017 for instance, Youtuber "ThatMetroidGuy" suggested that Sylux was a failed experiment seeking revenge on the Galactic Federation, which could make for a major plot thread in Metroid Prime 4 (left). Another theory, made by "Macintyre" on June 22nd, 2017, theorized that Sylux could be the half-brother of Samus Aran – known as Solomon Aran^[7] – and make this revelation known in the events of Prime 4.

Finally, in the June 18th, 2024 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo finally released footage of Metroid Prime 4, now titled Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. In it, a single shot of Sylux can be seen, with a couple of Mochtroids beside him.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References