Mogenar

Mogenar is a Mogenar-class War Golem that is summoned to be the guardian of the Bryyo Leviathan Core in the Bryyo Seed. It is a boss in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Mogenar

The only fully functional Mogenar that Samus Aran encounters is the one located in the Leviathan Seed on Bryyo, which has been infused with Phazon spouting out of the Leviathan's Phazon Core and thus become rogue. It boasts an imposing figure that, while not on the level of the massive Quadraxis or the gigantic Space Pirate enforcer Kraid, is at least eight times taller than Samus, with an immense frame that causes it to resemble some kind of Mesoamerican idol. It has three eyes on its reptilian-looking face, keeping in touch with its Bryyonian origins.

All evidence seem to point that the Mogenar in the Bryyo Seed is one of the special golems built out of stone by the last Lord of Science. Taking into account the advice given to him long ago by the Chozo, the special Mogenar-class War Golems were built with a combination of technology and ancient "magic"; these golems have advantages over the purely mechanical Mogenar-class War Golems seen scattered throughout ruins of Bryyonian society.

Battle

When Samus approaches Mogenar, it activates, and using a unique ability, uses a form of immaterial projection of its hands to pull four red energy orbs off nearby pedestals, putting two into slots on its shoulders, one on its belly, and one on its back. These orbs act as Mogenar's weak points and energy generators, and all four must be destroyed; initially, any weapon can be used to damage them, but once they explode, Phazon energy from Hypermode must be used to detonate each slot, rendering it useless. The three spheres on the golem's front can switch positions to avoid damage.

Attacks

Mogenar's attacks include ramming charges, energy streams, jumps that release a Phazon shockwave, generating additional immaterial hands to attack Samus directly, slamming its hands against the floor to create a massive barrage with Phazon rocks, or, when its energy orbs are near destruction, standing in the middle of the room and using its immaterial hands to retrieve more unharmed spheres from the pedestals of the room to regenerate its damaged ones. This does not restore its health bar, but does reset these weak points before Samus has another chance to destroy them and actually damage the golem. If Samus is quick enough, the orbs can be destroyed before they make it to Mogenar. Also, if Samus uses an Ice Missile while Mogenar is using its laser breath, its face will be temporarily frozen, rendering the energy orbs vulnerable to attack, but Mogenar sweeps its face from left to right quickly, so good timing is required to hit it squarely on the face.

Battle continued

After destroying Mogenar's first sphere and overloading its Phazon core, Mogenar will generate a form of Phazite on its feet for additional invulnerability, though this limits its attack range to only two attacks: its ramming dive and its shockwave jump. This Phazite plating can be destroyed by simple Morph BallBombs, but Samus should be wary of remaining in Morph Ball mode for too long; the shockwave blast the golem employs is too tall to be jumped over with the Spring Ball. When the second of its energy orbs has been destroyed, Mogenar no longer uses its former regeneration technique; rather, the last remaining sphere on its front will start acquiring more armor as time passes, and speed is necessary to blast off the sphere's cap before it regenerates and overload it with Hypermode weaponry. When three of its spheres have been destroyed, the golem can no longer defend itself adequately and is mostly reduced, again, to its ramming dive attack and shockwave, though it can still throw in any of its attacks in between. The last orb on its back will be exposed when its back is turned to Samus after its ramming dive, but it needs to be hit quickly before Mogenar turns around again. Also, Samus can enter Morph Ball mode and go around the back of Mogenar, as the Morph Ball is faster than the side dashes; again, Samus must be quick before Mogenar turns around.

When the final orb is overloaded, Mogenar explodes, leaving behind the Hyper Ball upgrade and raising Samus's Phazon corruption level to 25%, which in turn causes Samus to regurgitate Phazon.

Official data

Logbook entry

Mogenar

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Temporary scan

Morphology: Mogenar
Ancient Reptilicus War Golem.
Orbs appear to be source of power.

Phazon Crystals are powering a protective barrier. An explosion near his feet could probably destroy them.*

Logbook entry

Corrupted War Golem reanimated and energized with Phazon. Relies on socketed energy orbs as a source of power. The orbs themselves have a fragile exterior but contain pure Phazon energy within. This energy must be completely overloaded before it will be destroyed. Eliminating all power sources is the only way to bring Mogenar offline.

Scans

Before battle

"Ancient Reptilicus War Golem appears to be receiving energy from the core of the Seed."

Orb broken

"Shattered orb has exposed a Phazon core. Overload the core with Phazon energy to destroy it."

* If Mogenar's feet are scanned when the crystals materialize.

Development notes

Mogenar's concept art depicts its spectral hand attack with the caption "Hand Of Ur".

Trivia

• Due to its reptilian appearance and three eyes, Mogenar bears a resemblance to Kraid. Its boss music is similar to the battle theme of Kraid in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission. Finally, Mogenar has three ball slots on its front and one on its back. Kraid from the original Metroid can shoot three spikes from the front and one from his back.
• Mogenar is the only boss who is found directly under the Phazon Core and is receiving energy from it.
• Samus can freeze Mogenar's face solid by firing an Ice Missile while it is doing its mouth-based Phazon laser attack or any other time it opens its mouth, causing it to flail its arms around while fruitlessly trying to remove the obstruction. Freezing Mogenar's face is also strategically useful, as all its orbs will be susceptible to attack while it tries to bite its way out of the ice.
• Mogenar's orb holders resemble Bomb Slots. It is possible that it was compatible with Morph Ball Bombs in its normal state (like other Bryyonian Golems encountered in the game).
• Mogenar's two upper orb holders look similar to the rounded shoulderpads of Samus's Varia Suit or those of certain Chozo Statues. The Reptilicus and Chozo are known to have contacted one another.
• Some players may find Mogenar harder to defeat than some later bosses in Corruption, mostly due to its size, which makes many of its physical attacks such as the ramming dive difficult to dodge, and the fact that Mogenar's multiple weak points make it difficult to use Hypermode to attack it, since Hypermode can only be entered a set number of times based on how many Energy Tanks that Samus obtains. At this early stage in the game, Samus can collect very few Energy Tanks, thus using Hypermode to defeat Mogenar rapidly can leave her at a disadvantage, with low health and no remaining Energy Tanks.
• The explosion of Phazon after Mogenar's defeat is the cause of Samus's visor turning from green to turquoise. This effect of Samus's Power Suit becoming increasingly blue in coloration gradually builds up with each following increases of corruption: Helios's defeat, Omega Ridley's defeat, and landing on Phaaze.
• Mogenar, or a very similar war golem, is depicted in two of the Bryyo Lore plates ("The Hunted", located in the Jungle Generator in Bryyo Thorn Jungle, and "Our Plea" in the Imperial Caverns within Bryyo Ice). The first plate explains the creation of the special Mogenar-class War Golems that use both "magic" and science, and is the only one on Bryyo that can be rescanned at any time.
• Mogenar can be observed roaring, laughing, and otherwise displaying emotional reactions during its battle with Samus, suggesting that it possesses considerable intelligence, if not true sentience.
• Mogenar's battle is similar to Thardus, in that both are composed of inanimate objects, and yet are energized with Phazon to come "alive".
• Mogenar is also similar to Metroid Prime, as when it uses different attacks, a different color flashes on the golem (namely white, purple, yellow, and red, representing the four Beams in the first game).
• If Mogenar is somehow skipped and defeated after beating Helios or Omega Ridley, Samus's corruption level will revert to 25%.^[1]

Gallery

Mogenar, being fed Phazon energy before the battle.

Mogenar tries to crush Samus while she escaped in her Morph Ball in a Diorama.

Mogenar Diorama 2.

Mogenar Diorama 3.

Mogenar

Mogenar fires a giant Phazon laser from its mouth. However, this attack can be stopped by the use of an Ice Missile.

Mogenar creates a large expanding energy quake.

Mogenar regenerates its orbs using the four "fountains".

After assimilating Phazon armor to generate a force field, Samus uses the Morph Ball to lay Bombs nearby.

Mogenar's frontal orbs have been destroyed.

"The Hunted" lore plate

"Our Plea" lore plate

References