Nintendo/Kiichiro Sato/AP
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he's playing Zero Suit Samus as his main character in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."
- "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is a fighting game for the Nintendo Switch featuring an all-star lineup of characters from different video game franchises.
- The game has sold more than three million copies in the US since its December 7 release.
- Bounty hunter Samus Aran first debuted in "Metroid" (1986). Samus usually wears armor for space travel; the Zero Suit is her last defense when her armor is destroyed.
With more than three million copies sold in the US in less than two weeks, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is one of the most popular video games of 2018 - and Nintendo can count Tesla CEO Elon Musk as one of its many players.
At its core, the Super Smash Bros. series is Nintendo's love letter to video games. It's a massive crossover between historic franchises that lets players battle each other with their favorite characters.
Seeing Nintendo's iconic characters duking it out side by side is the gaming equivalent of watching The Avengers assemble on screen.
When a Smash fan tweeted at Musk to ask which character he was playing in the new game, Musk responded with Zero Suit Samus, the protagonist of Nintendo's Metroid series.
"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate"/Nintendo
"Metroid" introduced bounty hunter Samus Aran in 1986, but it's not until the end of the game that her face, and more notably her gender, are revealed.
As a space adventurer Samus understandably spends most of her time in her power suit, which also appears in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate." Zero Suit refers to the rare occassions where Samus is forced to fight without her suit, equipped with rocket boots and her paralyzer pistol.
For dedicated players, choosing a "main" character to play in Smash often says something about your identity as a player. Your character dictates your strategy and also reflects your aesthetic taste.
Read more: What are Elon Musk's favorite video games?
In her skintight outfit, Zero Suit Samus seems ripe for objectification, but she also reflects a cool confidence with a fighting style that remains both lithe and lethal after she's been (literally) stripped of her powerful arsenal of missiles, bombs, and energy cannons.
She also happens to be pretty darn good in the game.
There are plenty of reasons for Musk to choose Zero Suit Samus as his favorite "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" character, and plenty of fun to be had speculating just how much he knows about the femme fatale. Musk's general love of video games is no secret, so maybe someday we'll see just how well he can smash with Samus.
Zero Suit 😉
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2018
maybe i should still play zss
hmm pic.twitter.com/5qDcVNst3y
- zac (@KIMB0RAS) December 14, 2018