Samus Aran (Japanese: サムス・アラン, Hepburn: Samusu Aran) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid. Samus Aran is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who became a galactic bounty hunter, usually fitted with a powered exoskeleton that is equipped with weapons such as directed-energy weapons and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation and the Chozo while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader Ridley, along with the parasitic energy-draining organisms called Metroids and the manipulative cybernetic supercomputer Mother Brain.