this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2024
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Not sure if it's mentioned yet but the "secret ending" of Metroid was that she takes off her helmet and reveals herself to be a woman in the end. It was actually written to be a surprise for people who beat the game very fast, which makes this a really weird example.
And honestly, I think that's them being accidently progressive for shock value, since subsequent secret speed run endings in later games had her in a bikini...
Is that true tho. I remember playing metroid a lot, but i don't think i ever beat it, because i was to young to really understand the whole backtracking thing. The only map i ever had to "read" untill metroid was the overworld map of super mario 3.
But i still knew she was a girl because when you died the armor flicked out or something.
I think you're confusing the original Metroid with Super Metroid. In the original, she bursts into particle effects upon death. It's not until Super Metroid that the armor actually disappears briefly on death, but by then the "secret" was already well known. https://youtu.be/OUNb_DF1zwI?si=bIjQfvjoQTiXRBjo
The original Metroid instruction manual - at least in English - refers to Samus as "he" throughout, so it was definitely set up as a surprise at the time. Still, while it could be better I still consider it subversive and cool and something similar happening today would probably still piss chuds off.