Ing

Overview

The Ing are a shadowy race of creatures that arrived on the planet Aether when a Leviathan hit the planet and began corrupting it with Phazon. Samus Aran encounters these creatures in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Being a race of pure darkness, they tore a rift in Aether, splitting its energies between two dimensions: dark and light. The Ing are the scourge of the Luminoth, sentient creatures native to Aether, and after a long and grueling war between the races, the Ing are almost victorious, having stolen all but one of Aether's energy sources and pushing the Luminoth back into their only remaining bastion, the Light Temple. Samus is charged with restoring Aether's power, and as a result, the Ing, as well as their home of Dark Aether, ceases to exist. The Ing, being creatures of darkness, are very weak to Samus' Light Beam. Samus also encounters Ing on Phaaze, known as Phaz-Ing, signifying that the Ing may actually be native to Phaaze and were aboard the Leviathan headed for Aether, mutated into creatures of darkness in order to rip the planet between two dimensions to protect the Leviathan from the Luminoth.

Morphology

The Ing are creatures of pure darkness, and can only manifest tangible forms on Dark Aether. They can, however, shift their bodies into puddles of darkness and infiltrate Aether, possessing the creatures there and turning them into Darklings. Any race on Aether is susceptible to this form of attack, including the Space Pirates that have invaded Aether in order to mine more Phazon for their purposes. Along with this ability, the Ing manifest into several forms on Dark Aether.

Warrior Ing

Mainstay of the Ing Horde, the Warrior Ing are the most abundant morphology of Ing that Samusencounters. They are spider-like creatures with a red, eye-like core that is generally their weak point. The Ing Warriors are extremely resilient and very strong, being able to fire waves of dark energy at Samus and slash at her with their razor-sharp talons. They can also morph into pools of darkness, able to climb walls and ceilings to move around, although they are still able to be harmed in this form. Like all Ing, they are weak to fire from Samus' Light Beam, and charged shots can stun them as well as dealing huge amounts of damage. They are best fought within a bubble of light energy from a Light Crystal, as entering these areas will harm them, forcing them to use ranged attacks against Samus. There are also more powerful boss variants of Warrior Ing, including the Jump Guardian and Boost Guardian, that use Samus' stolen powers to attack her, the strategy for both being to avoid their attacks until they morph back into their normal form and fire at their red core, the Light Beam being the most effective against them.

Hunter Ing

Hunter Ing are a form dedicated to stealth and raid attacks, being able to phase themselves from reality and become impervious to damage. Their form differs greatly from Warrior Ing, their core surrounded in wiry strings of darkness, ending in long tentacles which they use to lash at Samus and generate large blasts of dark energy. Using charged shots against the Hunter Ing will cause them to phase from reality and only be located by use of the Echo Visor, so using basic Light Beam shots is recommended. Hunter Ing will often ambush Samus in packs of two or more Hunters.

Inglet

The Inglet are the worker sect of the Ing. They are small and very weak, resembling an uvula-shaped blob of darkness with the Ing's characteristic red core eye. The Inglets can fire weak blasts of dark energy, as well as morphing into puddles of darkness in order to traverse walls and ceilings. They are incredibly weak, however, and normal Power Beam shots are enough to destroy them with ease. There are also Phazon forms of Inglets, known as Phaz-Ing, that Samus encounters on Phaaze in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Emperor Ing

The Emperor Ing is the ruler of the Ing Horde, and also the guardian of Dark Aether's Leviathan. It is surmised that the Emperor Ing was a Phaz-Ing from Phaaze that was corrupted and mutated by the Leviathan core, allowing it to rip both itself and the Leviathan into an alternate dimension in order to protect the Leviathan from the Luminoth. The Emperor Ing appears in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as a major boss near the very end of the game, guarding the Ing's final source of dark energy.

The Emperor's first form resembles that of a giant Inglet, and will use its tentacles to try to hit Samus into the raw Phazon that surrounds the arena, as well as phasing its tentacles through dark portals in order to stab at Samus directly. Firing at the red core on the ends of the tentacles will cause them to retract, and once all are retracted the Emperor will open up revealing its core. The core will fire a strong laser at Samus to try to stop her from damaging it directly, as well as erecting a shield which will spin around the core. Samus must fire between the gaps in the shield to damage the core, the Annihilator Beam being the most effective but also draining alot of ammo from Samus' reserves. Super Missiles are also very effective. If Samus does not deplete the cores health fast enough, the Emperor will close up and will have to repeat the process of retracting the tentacles again.

Once Samus defeats the core, the Emperor will revert into a chrysalis state, requiring Samus to morph into Morph Ball mode use the Spider Ball upgrade to climb onto the Emperor. The Emperors chrysalis is dotted with yellow holes which tentacles will sprout from to attack Samus. While a yellow hole is bubbling with dark energy, Samus can drop bombs on the hole to damage the tentacle and the Emperor. This phase must be completed quickly as the Emperor generates poison gas that slowly rises and will damage Samus while she is inside the cloud. Inglets also appear that can be destroyed for pickups

Once this form is defeated, the Emperor will hatch, turning into a giant creature resembling a Warrior Ing. Its weak point, its glowing core eye, will change colors during the battle, signifying a change in weakness and attacks. In its orange form, the eye will not attack directly and is susceptible to damage from the Power Beam (and Super Missiles) and the Annihilator Beam. In its purple form, the Emperor will fire a beam of dark energy that will freeze Samus, and can only be hurt by the Light Beam or Annihilator Beam. In its white form, it can only be harmed by the Dark or Annihilator Beams and produces portals of light that fire intense beams of light energy. It can also spawn Nightbarbs, a swarm creature that can be destroyed for health and pickups. After its health is depleted the Emperor Ing will fall, allowing Samus access to the final energy controller.