Metroid

Samus Aran is widely recognized as one of the earliest female protagonists in video game history, and her reveal at the end of the original Metroid in 1986 was a groundbreaking moment. While there were earlier female characters in games, Samus was the first to headline a major console action-adventure title with the reveal subverting player expectations.

The original Metroid was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES/Famicom Disk System) in 1986 in Japan and in 1987 in North America. It was later ported to the Game Boy Advance and released on Nintendo's Virtual Console services across multiple platforms.

The original Metroid features five different endings depending on how quickly the player completes the game. The fastest completion times reveal Samus out of her power suit, which was the famous moment that shocked players who had assumed the protagonist was male throughout the game.

JUSTIN BAILEY is one of the most famous passwords in the original Metroid's password system, which starts the player in Varia Suit-less Samus with most upgrades. Despite persistent fan theories about its meaning, the password is widely considered to be a coincidence of the game's password generation algorithm rather than an intentional code.