Shinesparkers team members Quadraxis and Darren set out on a digital excursion in hopes of finding areas in the world with names that exist in the Metroid universe and any resemblance to the nature of these spots. Darren was tasked with searching for companies/businesses while Quadraxis searched for environmental areas. We both tried our best to spread out our search in covering globally as much as possible and down below, six examples of each case can be found and read about.
Quadraxis
Quadraxis is a software company in Saint-Lô, France, which specialises in 3D shape solutions, covering the European, Americas and Asia continents. Quadraxis is one of the major bosses in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, but we are starting to wonder if it was doing any 3D printing in its spare time, before Samus came in and destroyed it…
Mother Brain Gaming & Computer Exchange
Mother Brain Gaming & Computer Exchange is a business based in Hastings, United Kingdom. Opened in October 2018, they buy and sell gaming and electronic items, and have a treasure trove of products that any bounty hunter would love to own. There were quite a few video game businesses with Metroid-themed names, but this one stood out to us the most!
Sylux
Sylux is a lighting specialist business based in Slovenia, with an aim to understand and meet customer needs, and become one of the leading companies in the lighting sector. Thankfully, they seem to be too busy selling lights, and not trying to cause Samus Aran any problems on her mission within the Alimbic Cluster.
Metroid Electrical Engineering
Metroid Electrical Engineering are specialists in design, construction, programming and commissioning of industrial electrical control systems. Based in Victoria, Australia, they’ve been in business since 1993 and employ around 40 members of staff. We were quite surprised to find a business that literally calls themselves Metroid; even the logo looks quite futuristic!
Elysia Park
Elysia Park is a hotel apartment in Paphos, Cyprus. It offers a range of accommodation, from Deluxe Studios to luxury three bedroom penthouses. In Metroid, Elysia is an inhospitable planet, but has a rather beautiful outpost named SkyTown that orbits above it. We are sure your stay at Elysia Park will be far from inhospitable!
Samus Acessorios
Samus Acessorios offers electronics, repairs and accessories at low prices, and is located in Bahia, Brazil. There isn’t too much we could find to say about this business, but it was cool to find one named after our favourite Bounty Hunter, Samus Aran!
Ghor Province
Located in central Afghanistan, it is an area full of mountains which makes it difficult to grow much food. The closest resemblance to Ghor himself would be the war fought against the Soviets, and the Soviet-backed regime by the Afghan National Liberation Front and its allies in the past. Ghor was a veteran warrior that fought in the Liberation War of Wotan Vll, but what the liberation war was fought over or the factions involved are currently unknown.
Kriken Lake
A small lake in northern Sweden that is divided into two sections, Upper and Lower Kriken, and is primarily used as a partial sub-catchment area. Its name most likely originates from the Old Norse word Krikr/Kriki, which often translates to angle. A more modern Swedish version, Krik, means a small tongue/needle that shoots out from something bigger, like a landmass in this case. Since the Kriken bounty hunter Trace has an odd physiological shape, not to mention its floating head that seems to “stick out” from the rest of its body, and his choice of weapon, the Imperialist, which basically is a Kriken precision target rifle that needs a specific angle in order to kill. Even more terrifying is that the lake itself is situated in an area that could best be translated to Victim Valley.
Ruta de los Chozos
In English, this translates to Path of the Chozo. It is a mountain hiking route in Spain created for visitors that takes them around Monte de Dueñas, the Mountain of Owners . This path includes visits to “Chozos” found in different parts of the area. They were sanctuaries made from rocks by nomadic travellers and were frequently used by people such as herders and farmers. Even more connection to Metroid, at one Chozo, there is an area called Ruta Ornitológíca where you can watch the Aves del Monte, literally meaning “Birds of the Mountain”, pretty fitting I would say for a real-life location sharing the name of our mysterious Chozo civilisation.
Tourian Village
A small village on the Iranian island Qeshm Island has a rich agricultural landscape primarily consisting of vegetables, sunflowers and palm trees. The village got its name from a self-proclaimed king called Tourian, among other names. There have also been studies conducted on the Tourian aquifers due to the risks of seawater potentially contaminating the fresh water that exists there. Let’s hope the fertile lands of Tourian village don’t become like the first Tourian area of Zebes in Mother Brain’s chamber.
The Nightmare
It is a name given to a very narrow paddling mangrove passage that is used as a shortcut between the Broad River and Broad Creek, located in the Everglades National Park in the United States. The name came from people getting stuck there in the nighttime and then dealing with all the horrors that come with it – if the tides go out, they are trapped in mud and at the mercy of the wildlife, like insects and alligators. While gravity might not be ravaging the area, the two things that it has in common with Nightmare, is that like Samus, you can only be relatively safe in between its “arms”, and of course the full-blown nightmare some might experience due to the risks, paranoia and fear that come with the territory.
Thoha Khalsa
A village in Pakistan that was founded by the Sikhs long before it became part of Pakistan. The village also holds great religious significance primarily due to the Dukn Bhanjni, sacred hymns about destroying ailments and sorrows. However, a dark past lingers over the village. Like the Mawkin under Raven Beak, when he ordered the killings of the Thoha Chozo since they refused to cooperate, some by throwing them down into a “well” so that they could be eaten by the creature Drogyga. The Thoha Khalsa people were given an ultimatum to convert to Islam or suffer as a last warning. Over ninety-three women committed suicide by jumping into a well to drown in order to escape a fate worse than death, which would have been committed by the extremist forces that invaded. Quite the similarities for a village with the name Thoha Khalsa.
Honourable Mentions
- Samus, a rural settlement in Tomsk Oblast, Russia
- Cataris, a mountain peak in France
- Norfair Loop, a street in Stonecrest, Georgia, United States
- Magmoor Street in Puducherry, India
We hope that you enjoyed this funny and interesting feature about Metroid in the real world and our findings in any resemblances or differences in between (we have a slightly longer list than these too). Now that you have seen our twelve top selected locations and honourable mentions, can you find a location that we have not listed above?
Written by Quadraxis and Darren