Carvex

Carvex is a giant carnivorous, sapient plant organism featured in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Samus battles it as a boss due to its madness caused by the fusion with a Sylux-Metroid.

Description

According to the Sanctum of the Guardians, Carvex was originally a small carnivorous plant that absorbed poison from a meteor that crashed into Viewros, and it grew into the ruler of the Fury Green jungle. The Lamorn priest Thesarh was the first Lamorn able to communicate telepathically with the sapient plant, which Thesarh named "Carvex". Carvex relocated to the Temple of Memory's Garden of Remembrance, where it presided over Lamorn funerals and continued to communicate with Lamorn priests.

Carvex has been entrusted with guarding the Master Teleporter Key in Fury Green. This made it a target of Sylux, who sent one of his Sylux-Metroids to fuse with Carvex and obtain the Master Teleporter Key. Although the Metroid fusion failed to control Carvex's mind,^[1] its thought patterns have been disrupted and it can no longer communicate, causing it to view everyone as enemies. Therefore, it attacks Samus Aran when she enters the Garden of Remembrance.

Carvex resembles a flower with large purple leaves obscuring its pistil-like body, which possesses a green mucous membrane following its Metroid fusion; this is its weak point and is vulnerable to Beams and Missiles. While exposed, it attacks by shooting thorn-like projections across the floor of the chamber. It possesses up to three long tentacle-like appendages called Carvex Vines, which resemble purple flower with thorns along its stem. These vines attack by slamming the ground and are also capable of releasing Carvex's Pollen Sacs that home in on Samus's position.

In order to lower Carvex's leaves and expose its weak point, Samus must destroy all Carvex Vines at once. She must first shoot the vines' bulging portions to remove their thorns, and then use the Control Beam to target these bulging portions, which immediately destroys the vine. If she fails to destroy all vines in a single shot of the Control Beam, any destroyed vines will immediately regenerate and regrow their thorns. During the final phase of the boss fight, branches extend outward from Carvex to make navigating the Control Beam more difficult.

Upon Carvex's defeat, Samus attains the Psychic Bomb and the Master Teleporter Key.

Official data

Logbook entries

Carvex

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Temporary scan

(V • E)

Plant Morphology: Carvex
A giant carnivorous plant possessing consciousness, intelligence, and considerable physical strength. It is unable to communicate due to fusion with a Metroid.

Destroying all tentacle-like vines will cause its protective leaves to briefly drop, exposing a body enveloped in only a thin mucous membrane.

Note that the tentacles quickly regenerate. The only way to delay their regeneration is to destroy them all at virtually the same time.

Logbook entry

A giant carnivorous plant that possesses self-awareness and cognitive thought. While it once coexisted and communicated with Lamorn priests using telepathic waves, one of the effects of Metroid fusion is a disruption in its thought pattern, preventing it from communicating. It now sees everyone as enemies and will attack indiscriminately.

It primarily attacks using its tentacles. These tentacles can be destroyed, but individual tentacles will grow back quickly through rapid cell proliferation and cell transfer from any remaining tentacles. If all of its tentacles are destroyed simultaneously, the regeneration process requires its body to generate considerable heat, forcing it to open its protective calyx to cool down. This will expose a thin mucous membrane that is vulnerable to damage.

Carvex Vine

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Temporary scan

(V • E)

Plant Morphology: Carvex Vine
Tentacle-like appendage capable of being both rigid and flexible. It can be temporarily destroyed by damaging the bulging portion along its length.

Logbook entry

Carvex's tentacles are normally hidden beneath the ground, but it will reveal them if it detects danger. The tentacles have extreme elasticity, making them very flexible. This allows Carvex to attack by swinging them around like long whips. Swollen protuberances on the tentacles indicate the areas that facilitate Carvex's fine control of its limbs. If these are destroyed, the resulting loss of control will rapidly expand and rupture the affected tentacle.

!	This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters.

Carvex's Pollen Sac

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Temporary scan

(V • E)

Plant Morphology: Carvex's Pollen Sac
Pollen bags released from the ends of Carvex's tentacles. They possess propeller-like wings and fly by riding wind currents.

Logbook entry

Carvex is capable of ejecting pouch-like pollen sacs at will. These sacks have four wings that function like propellers, allowing them to move slowly through the air and home in on targets detected using a natural thermal sensor. When a pollen sack lands on a target, the sack will rupture, causing damage. This behavior indicates that the sacks primarily serve as a means of attack rather than a method of pollination.

!	This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters.

Sanctum of the Guardians scan

Carvex

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Temporary scan

(V • E)

In the distant past, a mass of burning rock fell from the sky to the jungles of Viewros. Once this rock, which was itself poisonous, had cooled and hardened, a small carnivorous plant took in the poison it carried.

The plant did not succumb to the poison—it thrived, growing to rule over the jungle. In time, the priest "Thesarh" became the first the plant could convey its thoughts to and named it Carvex.

Later, at their urging, Carvex eventually relocated to the garden within the Lamorn Temple of Memory. There it ruled as it did in the jungles, and it came to preside over Lamorn funerals.

Trivia

• Carvex echoes several traits of Flaahgra. Both are flower-like plants that were mutated by a poisonous meteor, possess tentacle-like vines, and require Samus to strike multiple targets within a short timespan in order to expose their weaknesses.
• Carvex and Sylux are the only two bosses in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond that have multiple Logbook entries, due to the Carvex Vine and Carvex's Pollen Sac having separate scans. While Carvex itself can be scanned in the Sanctum of the Guardians, the Vine and Pollen Sac can only be scanned during the boss battle and therefore can be permanently missed.

Gallery

Official screenshot

Carvex Vine

Carvex's exposed membrane

Gallery

References