Tallon IV is a planet in the Metroid universe and the primary setting of Metroid Prime. Once a lush, vibrant world teeming with different forms of life, Tallon IV was colonised by the nomadic race known as the Chozo. However, the planet was struck by a meteor - actually a Leviathan - and its ecosystem became contaminated and corrupted by Phazon. The many native creatures began to undergo horrific mutations and became excessively violent, forcing the Chozo to abandon the planet.
Around 50 years later, the bounty hunter Samus Aran arrived at Tallon IV responding to a distress call sent out by a Space Pirate frigate. Investigating the planet, she discovered that the Pirates had built a new research facility there and were mining the radioactive Phazon material from deep underground. Samus manages to severely disrupt the Space Pirate operations, reassemble the Cipher left behind by the Chozo, and destroy the source of the Phazon in the Impact Crater, Metroid Prime, halting the planet's decay.
Topography and Ecosystem[]
Tallon IV has diverse geography and climate, ranging from frozen drifts to volcanic caverns, and each has its own unique biosphere of herbivores, scavengers, and predators. While some areas have been completely devastated as a result of Phazon exposure, others are less effected.
The colonized portion of the planet is divided into six main explorable areas, including the site of the meteor impact that brought Phazon to Tallon IV.
Tallon Overworld[]
The Tallon Overworld is the rainforest continent where Samus first arrives, host to a plethora of local plantforms, fungi, and wildlife. It is the site of the Artifact Temple, the great Cradle of the Chozo, and consequently the only area from which Samus can access the Impact Crater. The natural predators here pose no real threat to Samus as she explores, incurring minor damage during confrontations.
The Overworld is also the location of the crash site of the Space Pirate frigate Orpheon, which is mostly submerged.
Chozo Ruins[]
The Chozo Ruins are the location of the first area of Tallon IV first colonized by the Chozo. Most of the lore left behind by the Chozo can be found here, as well as multiple upgrades for Samus's arsenal. This location is one of those hit hardest by the devastation of the meteor impact; water sources are poisoned and some local life-forms have undergone severe mutation.
Hauntings by spectral entities here known as Chozo Ghosts led to several casualties for the Space Pirates who were studying the Ruins for their own gain.
Magmoor Caverns[]
The Magmoor Caverns are a subterranean network of lava-filled caves, so named because of the large local predators of this habitat, the Magmoors. Because of the abundance environmental hazards, the Spider Ball and Grapple Beam upgrades are utilized often here.
Chozo Statues evidence the remains of Chozo colonization here, but most unnatural structures here are the result of Space Pirate geothermal processing operations.
Phendrana Drifts[]
The frozen Phendrana Drifts are home to the fearsome Sheegoth, a dangerous local predator. There are also several Chozo religious sites here.
The Space Pirates set up multiple research bases here and still inhabit the area when Samus arrives. Among the Phazon experiments conducted here was the failed Project Titan, one specimen of which ended up being too aggressive for the Space Pirates to tame, resulting in the abandonment of the project; they immobilized the test subject in the Quarantine Cave, where Samus engages it in battle.
Phazon Mines[]
The Phazon Mines are an advanced mining facility installed on Tallon IV by the Space Pirates when they discovered the potential of Phazon as a power source.
In addition to harvesting raw Phazon ore here, they also conduct various experiments with Phazon mutations, including inducing gigantism in local fungi, Phazon injection into Metroids, and the infamous Project Helix, which resulted in the powerful Elite Pirates and Omega Pirate.
Impact Crater[]
The Impact Crater is the final section of Tallon IV that Samus explores in Metroid Prime. It is only accessible after Samus collects all twelve Chozo Artifacts scattered across the planet and she defeats Meta Ridley at the Artifact Temple.
This place is full of Orange Phazon, a highly concentrated form of Phazon that damages Samus even through her protective Phazon Suit. It is also inhabited by Lumigeks and Fission Metroids, and is where the Leviathan polluting the planet and Metroid Prime had landed some fifty years before Samus arrived.
Species[]
Below is a list of creatures native to Tallon IV.