
Metroid protagonist Samus Aran is one of Nintendo's more formidable leading ladies. Not only is she a bounty hunter with an impressive résumé, she's also one of the first female characters to gain fame within the realm of video gaming; it's little wonder, then, that fans are keen to know as much about her as possible.
One question that crops up more often than you might expect relates to Aran's height, and the confusion can be traced back to a Nintendo Power image produced for the North American release of Super Metroid on the SNES (thanks, Memory Card):

As you can see, the image shows Aran with and without her iconic Power (or Varia) Suit, and claims that her natural height is 6'3" – making her a pretty striking figure.
However, another official source lists Aran as measuring the same height when inside her suit, which doesn't make much sense; the suit would, one might assume, add inches to her overall height rather than keep it the exact same.
This is clearly a puzzle which requires further investigation, and that's precisely what Reddit user Hunter The Holy has done. By closely analysing footage from Super Smash Bros., they've concluded the following:
"Samus in her power suit measures up to around 1.8 m or 5'11". Meanwhile in her Zero Suit, Samus measures up to around 1.75 m or 5'9" as shown at 1:10. Since Smash isn't canon to Metroid, we will ignore these aforementioned heights, but will still acount for the two inch height difference between regular Samus and power suit Samus.
Since 6'3" is four inches taller than 5'11", it only makes sense for us to add another four inches for regular Samus' Smash height of 5'9". If we were to do this, this would leave us with a height of 6'1".
However, we are not done quite yet. Since Samus is often shown wearing high heels, surely that would add on to her height as well. From what I know, the average height of the heel for high heels is three inches tall. This means that Samus should really be three inches shorter than 6'1" and therefore should stand at 5'10".
In conclusion, Samus' heels add three inches to her height, while the helmet of her power suit adds another two inches, ultimately bringing her up to 6'3"."
But what about the size difference between Aran and other characters in Metroid: Other M – are they all just freakishly tall giants or something?

Do you think Aran really is 6'3" without her suit, or should that measurement only apply when she's wearing it? Maybe you think the way she's represented in Other M is more accurate? Or perhaps you think there are more pressing questions to answer these days? (And you'd be right.)
Let us know with a comment.
How tall do you think Samus Aran is? (471 votes)
- 6'3" without the Varia Suit
- 6'3" with the Varia Suit
- Less than 6'3", with or without the suit
- Did you really do a poll for this, of all questions?!
Comments 25
Given that the morph ball totally mash-potatoes her body into a fine Samus paste, I’d assume the power suit does the same and is able to alter her shape/DNA to basically ‘become’ the suit. Even looking at those drawings, her body just doesn’t fit into the suit (namely the shoulders). So… let’s not worry about it?
6’3” is in my opinion very plausible. I prefer her being visualised as having an impressive and strong figure, so from above options her original height (canon) suits her best in my opinion.
I'm still curious how Samus manages to seperate her shoulders that much that her arms can fit in the suit's arms.
@Guru_Larry The first Smash Bros. has models of skeletons when characters get electrocuted. In the case of Samus, it's the model of a woman with shoulders, arms and legs long enough to fit within the suit.
I'm assuming it's the same in Metroid. Or maybe not.
@Ear_wiG I want some Samus paste to go on my toast in the morning now.
6'3" without the suit. She'll always be a freaking valkyrie in my headcanon regardless of how dirty games like Other M or all her appearances with heels do her.
6’ 3”, next question.
@HammerGalladeBro Well that's just pure nightmare fuel!
The only real question is who would win in a boxing match between suitless Samus and Lady Dimitrescu.
She taller than me that's all that matters.
A shade under 6ft in her Zero Suit, but it matters not. She’d snap all of us in two, and we’d let her.
5'5" without the suit. She was created in Japan after all!
@Ear_wiG According to the Metroid Prime games, the morph ball has a 1-meter diameter. It is not small.
Tall lady good, that’s all that matters!
She's the right height such that Ridley would be too big to be in Smash.
Ah, yes, the "centerfold" from the Player's Guide. Classic image.
If Nintendo really wants to sell more copies theyll make her come out as trans
@Guru_Larry Haha, glad I'm not the only one who was bothered by that!
However, images like the one above reveal that her shoulders don't really extend outside the torso section- she has to lift her arms out towards the sides a bit, even when the suit's arms are down, and the shoulder pieces are always basically empty.
The source that claims Samus is only 190cm with the suit is derived straight from the original Japanese manual for Metroid II, if I recall correctly. Between that and the less-specific reference in the American promo image, I'd say the former seems more likely to be "canon".
Still, Samus is pretty tall, regardless (nice try, Team Ninja).
Not that it really matters, but does she even wear heels inside the suit? That seems silly, not to mention those are a new addition. More likely that the Power (or Varia, Phazon, etc.) Suit's boots add 1-2 inches, and the Zero Suit effectively adds nothing to Samus's height when she's in the Power Suit.
Samus is an easy 5'9" - 5'11", no suit, anyone who understands human proportions can see that from the way she's drawn. The suit probably adds 3 inches.
Despite an attempt to provide an answer or two, I am left with even more questions than before. Funny how that happens.
In the suit, she should definitely be over 6 feet. It should be a somewhat imposing thing. Without it... upper end of 5 foot, I guess?
It says 6' 3", and tall women are a naturally-occurring phenomenon in both reality and fiction, so yeah....6' 3". Have ya'll never been to a women's basketball game before? Samus is just a big girl.
@daveMcFlave A what?
Samus is tall because Samus is Intersex, more specifically has Klinefelter syndrome.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...