{
  "id": "metroid",
  "title": "Metroid",
  "description": "Samus’s missions in story order: Zebes, the Phazon campaign, SR388 and the X crisis. Remakes and licensed retellings share their adventures; Ravenous has a clearly estimated placement.",
  "continuities": [
    {
      "id": "samus",
      "label": "Samus’s history — 2D, Prime & licensed stories",
      "note": "One connected game history. Prime 4 begins after Super Metroid and before Fusion according to Nintendo’s Japanese developer interview; its order against Other M is unspecified. Unplaced licensed stories remain included below, without being declared separate universes."
    },
    {
      "id": "crossovers",
      "label": "Licensed crossovers — no shared Samus calendar",
      "note": "Videoland and Smash use explicit crossover settings, rather than the Galactic Federation mission chronology. These works are inventoried together for access, not asserted to share one another’s universe or a fictional date."
    }
  ],
  "entries": [
    {
      "id": "origin1",
      "title": "Metroid — Magazine Z, volume 1",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Before the first Zebes mission; childhood → early career",
      "order": 5,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2003-11-21",
      "description": "Samus’s origins and Chozo upbringing.",
      "note": "Broad prequel placement is verified bibliographically; no precise chapter ages asserted without interiors. Volume 2 continues toward the first mission. Coyne recalls being told the origin manga was canon when Nintendo briefed the commercial team; specific uninspected scenes remain qualified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "magz1",
        "magz-scope",
        "past-prologue"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Before 20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000037519",
      "productName": "View publisher record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View publisher record",
      "storyGroup": "origins"
    },
    {
      "id": "ecomic",
      "title": "Metroid e-comic — chapters 1–2",
      "type": "Motion comic",
      "date": "Same early-life material as the opening manga chapters",
      "order": 5,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2002–2003",
      "description": "Animated and voiced web presentation of the opening origin chapters.",
      "note": "A format adaptation beside the origin manga; historic Flash is unavailable here. Exact release day and spoken dates not verified. Coyne recalls being told the origin manga was canon when Nintendo briefed the commercial team; specific uninspected scenes remain qualified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "ecomic",
        "magz-scope",
        "past-prologue"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Before 20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://metroid.jp/metroid_version1/ecomic/index.html",
      "productName": "View historic official page",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View historic official page",
      "storyGroup": "origins"
    },
    {
      "id": "original",
      "title": "Metroid — original game",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Cosmic Calendar 20X5",
      "order": 10,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "1986",
      "description": "Samus infiltrates Zebes to stop Mother Brain.",
      "note": "The symbolic year is explicitly stated. Zero Mission retells and expands this mission.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-year",
        "jp-2d"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/vc_me/vc_me_02.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "zebes"
    },
    {
      "id": "zero",
      "title": "Metroid: Zero Mission",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Cosmic Calendar 20X5; same first Zebes mission",
      "order": 10,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2004",
      "description": "The Zebes operation and its expanded escape.",
      "note": "Placed beside the original, not after Fusion because it released later. Includes the suitless pirate-ship sequence.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "zero",
        "jp-2d",
        "jp-year"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy-Advance/Metroid-Zero-Mission-267057.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "zebes"
    },
    {
      "id": "origin2",
      "title": "Metroid — Magazine Z, volume 2",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Before and during the first Zebes mission",
      "order": 10,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2004-05-21",
      "description": "The origin serial continues toward Samus’s first major mission.",
      "note": "Indexed with the mission it leads into. Earlier scenes extend before this position; full interior/chapter chronology is still open. Missing inspection is not a canon dispute. Coyne recalls being told the origin manga was canon when Nintendo briefed the commercial team; specific uninspected scenes remain qualified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "magz2",
        "magz-scope",
        "past-prologue"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000037546",
      "productName": "View publisher record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View publisher record",
      "storyGroup": "zebes"
    },
    {
      "id": "wanpakku",
      "title": "Metroid — Wanpakku Comics guide-manga",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Original Zebes adventure — adaptation position",
      "order": 10,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "1986",
      "description": "A manga and strategy-guide interpretation of the original mission.",
      "note": "Grouped with its source adventure. Comedic additions are not assumed new game-canon missions; full panels and dates unavailable in this audit.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory",
        "joey-ex"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "zebes"
    },
    {
      "id": "gamebook",
      "title": "Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order",
      "type": "Gamebook",
      "date": "Original Zebes adventure — branching retelling",
      "order": 10,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "1986",
      "description": "An interactive prose/gamebook version of the Zebes mission.",
      "note": "Branching choices belong to this licensed retelling, not a new timeline per ending. Library record checked; interior differences remain uninspected.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "book"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X5",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000001832764",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "zebes"
    },
    {
      "id": "prime",
      "title": "Metroid Prime / Remastered / Wii editions",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After the first Zebes mission; before Hunters",
      "order": 20,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2002 / 2009 / 2023",
      "description": "Samus investigates Tallon IV and Phazon.",
      "note": "Remaster, Wii version and Trilogy inclusion share this adventure. The 20X5 backstory does not fix a separate exact Tallon IV year.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "prime-story",
        "trilogy-manual",
        "hunters-interview"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Tallon IV",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YZNRQ7S",
      "productName": "Metroid Prime Remastered — Nintendo Switch",
      "productMatch": "Exact Switch remaster of this adventure; not the original GameCube or three-game Trilogy edition.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "prime"
    },
    {
      "id": "prime-pinball",
      "title": "Metroid Prime Pinball",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Same Tallon IV adventure — stylized rendition",
      "order": 20,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "2005",
      "description": "Samus collects artifacts and confronts Metroid Prime through pinball missions.",
      "note": "At Prime’s story position; board mechanics are not a literal new journey. Official progression description checked.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "pinball"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Tallon IV",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2007/Metroid-Prime-Pinball-launches-across-Europe-249816.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "prime"
    },
    {
      "id": "prime-comic",
      "title": "Metroid Prime — Dreamwave / Nintendo Power #164–166",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Same Tallon IV adventure — adaptation position",
      "order": 20,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "2003",
      "description": "A short illustrated rendition of Prime.",
      "note": "Issue headings cross-checked against the archival index. A reported two-years-after-Zebes line needs legal interior verification and is not imposed on the games.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "prime-comic-index",
        "print-inventory"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Tallon IV",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "prime"
    },
    {
      "id": "hunters",
      "title": "Metroid Prime Hunters",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After Prime; before Echoes",
      "order": 30,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2006",
      "description": "Samus and rival hunters seek a mysterious power in the Alimbic Cluster.",
      "note": "Direct developer interview supports this insertion. The title does not mean it predates the first Prime mission.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "hunters-interview",
        "hunters-game",
        "amz-hunters"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Alimbic era",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009Z3MQ0",
      "productName": "Metroid Prime Hunters — Nintendo DS, game-only listing",
      "productMatch": "Full DS game, not First Hunt. Listing checked as pre-played/game only; check current condition, language and seller.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon"
    },
    {
      "id": "echoes",
      "title": "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes / Dark Echoes / Wii edition",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After Hunters; six months before Corruption begins",
      "order": 40,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2004 / 2009",
      "description": "Samus reaches the divided world of Aether.",
      "note": "Trilogy and Wii versions are presentations of the same mission. No exact year assigned.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "trilogy-manual",
        "hunters-interview",
        "amz-trilogy"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Aether",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ATY7JE",
      "productName": "Metroid Prime Trilogy — Wii collector edition",
      "productMatch": "Official Wii compilation includes this adventure (and Prime 1–3), not a Switch remaster. Check used condition, completeness and regional compatibility.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "echoes"
    },
    {
      "id": "aether-manga",
      "title": "Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether — chapters 1–7",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Same Aether mission — adaptation position",
      "order": 40,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "2005–2006",
      "description": "A licensed manga interpretation of the Echoes conflict.",
      "note": "One compact serial beside Echoes. Character and ending differences are adaptation qualifications, not an additional mission after the game. Full interiors not inspected.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "joey-ex",
        "print-inventory"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Aether",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://hakutaku.us/2018/06/16/metroid-manga-universe/",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "echoes"
    },
    {
      "id": "valhalla",
      "title": "Prime 3 — Valhalla attack, remembered event",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "About four months before Corruption’s opening; est. two months after Echoes",
      "order": 45,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2007",
      "description": "Space Pirates seize the Valhalla’s Aurora Unit.",
      "note": "Optional embedded event, not another game. Four months comes from the actual manual; two months after Echoes is an arithmetic approximation within the stated six-month gap.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "trilogy-manual",
        "amz-trilogy"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Before briefing",
      "segment": true,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ATY7JE",
      "productName": "Metroid Prime Trilogy — Wii collector edition",
      "productMatch": "Official Wii compilation includes this adventure (and Prime 1–3), not a Switch remaster. Check used condition, completeness and regional compatibility.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon"
    },
    {
      "id": "corruption",
      "title": "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption / Trilogy edition",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Six months after Echoes; campaign continues after Samus’s recovery",
      "order": 50,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2007 / 2009",
      "description": "Samus and other hunters confront the spreading Phazon crisis.",
      "note": "Manual printed p.33 explicitly supplies six months. The later one-month recovery is reported in game summaries; no exact calendar conversion is made.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "trilogy-manual",
        "corruption-recovery",
        "amz-trilogy"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "6 months later",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ATY7JE",
      "productName": "Metroid Prime Trilogy — Wii collector edition",
      "productMatch": "Official Wii compilation includes this adventure (and Prime 1–3), not a Switch remaster. Check used condition, completeness and regional compatibility.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon"
    },
    {
      "id": "federation",
      "title": "Metroid Prime: Federation Force",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Cosmic Calendar 20X6; after Corruption",
      "order": 60,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2016",
      "description": "Federation marines pilot Mechs against a renewed pirate threat.",
      "note": "Japanese official caption states 20X6. UK synopsis additionally says several years after Phaaze; retained as attributed wording, without replacing the Japanese symbolic date. Before II in the established early Prime sequence.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "ff-jp",
        "ff-uk",
        "prime4-interview",
        "early-prime"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X6",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/bcaj/index.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "federation"
    },
    {
      "id": "blastball",
      "title": "Metroid Prime: Blast Ball — training mode / standalone demo",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Federation Force era; exact training session unresolved",
      "order": 60,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2016",
      "description": "Marines practice Mech handling in a three-on-three sport.",
      "note": "The Japanese site explicitly frames this as troop training. Bundled mode and former free demo are one activity, not two campaigns; historic demo download is no longer promised.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "ff-jp"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "20X6",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/bcaj/index.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "federation"
    },
    {
      "id": "ii",
      "title": "Metroid II: Return of Samus",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After the early Prime missions; before Super Metroid",
      "order": 70,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "1991",
      "description": "Samus descends into SR388 on the extermination mission.",
      "note": "Original and Samus Returns share the mission and encounter with the infant. No precise gap from Federation Force verified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-2d",
        "returns",
        "early-prime"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "SR388",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/ayl8a/report/vol4/index.html",
      "productName": "Read official story recap",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "Read official story recap",
      "storyGroup": "sr388"
    },
    {
      "id": "returns",
      "title": "Metroid: Samus Returns",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Same SR388 mission as Metroid II",
      "order": 70,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2017",
      "description": "The SR388 expedition retold with added encounters and Chozo memories.",
      "note": "Added material expands this story position. Do not put the remake after Dread because it uses similar mechanics.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "returns",
        "jp-2d"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "SR388",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/a9aj/index.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "sr388"
    },
    {
      "id": "chozo",
      "title": "Samus Returns — Chozo Memories",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Before Samus’s SR388 mission; exact earlier interval unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2017",
      "description": "Unlockable images reveal SR388’s earlier Chozo history.",
      "note": "Optional embedded backstory from the remake; the game unlock order is not a calendar. Placement against Samus’s childhood is unspecified. Not sorted ahead of Samus’s childhood because their mutual order has not been established.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-2d",
        "returns"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Before SR388",
      "segment": true,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/a9aj/index.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game"
    },
    {
      "id": "super",
      "title": "Super Metroid",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After II / Samus Returns; before Other M and Prime 4",
      "order": 80,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "1994",
      "description": "Samus pursues the stolen infant back to Zebes.",
      "note": "Follows the infant’s delivery to the research station. Neither release years nor fan calendar reconstructions establish an exact interval.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-2d",
        "prime4-interview"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Return to Zebes",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/vc_sme/vc_sme_01.html",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "super"
    },
    {
      "id": "super-comic",
      "title": "Super Metroid — Nintendo Power #57–61",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Same return-to-Zebes story — adaptation position",
      "order": 80,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "1994",
      "description": "Benimaru Itoh’s five-part rendition of Super Metroid.",
      "note": "Serial grouped at the source-game position. Added backstory and characters do not automatically rewrite game history; backup/flashback interiors still need legal review.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Return to Zebes",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "super"
    },
    {
      "id": "super-gag",
      "title": "Super Metroid — Shounen Oh Game Comic strips",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Super Metroid adaptation position",
      "order": 80,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "1994",
      "description": "A short gag-manga take on the Super Metroid setting.",
      "note": "Adaptation placement only; no assertion that gag scenes occurred literally. Interior dates and individual strip ordering unverified.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory",
        "joey-ex"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Return to Zebes",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "super"
    },
    {
      "id": "otherm",
      "title": "Metroid: Other M",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After Super Metroid; before Fusion",
      "order": 90,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2010",
      "description": "A distress signal reunites Samus with Adam’s unit aboard the Bottle Ship.",
      "note": "Same broad interval as Prime 4; their mutual order is not fixed by the Japanese interview. Group heading means shared interval, not the same story. Includes its playable epilogue.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "otherm",
        "otherm-position",
        "prime4-interview",
        "otherm-game",
        "amz-otherm"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Super → Fusion",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BSC4ZS",
      "productName": "Metroid: Other M — Wii, pre-played listing",
      "productMatch": "Exact Wii adventure. Listing checked as pre-played/CIB; check current condition, seller and regional compatibility.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon",
      "storyGroup": "middle",
      "groupLabel": "SHARED INTERVAL · MUTUAL ORDER UNRESOLVED"
    },
    {
      "id": "prime4",
      "title": "Metroid Prime 4: Beyond / Nintendo Switch 2 Edition",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Cosmic Year 20X9 opening; after Super and before Fusion",
      "order": 90,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2025-12-04",
      "description": "Samus is transported to Viewros and faces Sylux’s threat.",
      "note": "Japanese developer answer overrides older blanket rules placing every Prime before II. Both platform editions are one story. Order against Other M remains unknown; Viewros’s temporal setting does not invalidate the departure’s placement.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "prime4-interview",
        "prime4",
        "prime4-year"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Super → Fusion",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/metroid-prime-4-beyond-nintendo-switch-2-edition-switch-2/",
      "productName": "View official game",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official game",
      "storyGroup": "middle",
      "groupLabel": "SHARED INTERVAL · MUTUAL ORDER UNRESOLVED"
    },
    {
      "id": "fusion",
      "title": "Metroid Fusion",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After Other M and Prime 4; before Dread",
      "order": 100,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2002",
      "description": "The X infection sends Samus to the B.S.L. station.",
      "note": "Vaccination and the station crisis occupy one adventure. No unsupported exact year or age assigned.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-2d",
        "prime4-interview"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "X crisis",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/ayl8a/report/vol4/index.html",
      "productName": "Read official story recap",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "Read official story recap",
      "storyGroup": "fusion"
    },
    {
      "id": "rebirth",
      "title": "Metroid Fusion Special Edition: Rebirth of Samus",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "Fusion’s opening — adaptation position",
      "order": 100,
      "canon": "Licensed retelling",
      "release": "2003 collection",
      "description": "A short Fusion adaptation collected with Samus & Joey volume 1.",
      "note": "Actual publisher preview contents identifies the bonus at printed p.175. Backup interior has not been inspected; placement follows its verified adaptation premise, not the date of the main Joey story.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "joey-preview",
        "joey-ex",
        "joey-volume"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "X crisis",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Actual legal contents page viewed; backup story interior not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09QKLPN3Q",
      "productName": "Samus & Joey volume 1 — Japanese Kindle edition",
      "productMatch": "Exact official collected volume containing the listed Fusion special. Japanese text; not a standalone English edition.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon Japan",
      "storyGroup": "fusion"
    },
    {
      "id": "dread",
      "title": "Metroid Dread",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "After Fusion; exact elapsed time unspecified",
      "order": 110,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2021-10-08",
      "description": "Samus investigates the missing E.M.M.I. unit on ZDR.",
      "note": "The direct continuation of Fusion’s X/Metroid arc. Difficulty and boss-rush updates are not additional dated stories.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "jp-2d",
        "dread-story",
        "amz-dread"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "ZDR",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097BP5DLQ",
      "productName": "Metroid Dread — Nintendo Switch",
      "productMatch": "Corresponding official edition. Confirm platform, language and edition at the retailer; stock is not asserted.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon"
    },
    {
      "id": "ravenous",
      "title": "Metroid Ravenous",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "est. after Dread; exact fictional date unannounced",
      "order": 120,
      "canon": "Confirmed canon",
      "release": "2027-01-28",
      "description": "An ambush strands Samus on an unfamiliar moon.",
      "note": "Provisional insertion based on the official newly awakened Metroid-instinct premise and the preceding arc. Release is confirmed; this story placement is inference and may change before launch.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "ravenous",
        "ravenous-store"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "After Dread",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Evidence-based estimate",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": true,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/metroid-ravenous-switch-2/",
      "productName": "View official preorder",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official preorder",
      "upcoming": true
    },
    {
      "id": "joey",
      "title": "Metroid: Samus & Joey — volumes 1–3",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "After a defeat of Zebesian Pirates / Mother Brain; exact mission interval unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Assumed canon",
      "release": "2003–2004 / digital 2022",
      "description": "Samus meets Joey and journeys with the aspiring young fighter.",
      "note": "Actual p.5 is a real relative clue, not an undated-by-default label. It does not uniquely identify first Zebes versus Super. Retained in the connected history with unresolved insertion; no invented alternate universe. Link is volume 1, not all three volumes. Separate volume 2 and 3 links are provided below.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "joey",
        "joey-preview",
        "joey-volume"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "After Zebes",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Legal preview contents and printed pp.4–7 inspected; later chapters/volumes not read",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09QKLPN3Q",
      "productName": "Samus & Joey — volume 1, Japanese Kindle",
      "productMatch": "Nearest official starting volume for the three-volume run; this purchase contains volume 1 only. Volumes 2 and 3 are sold separately.",
      "actionLabel": "View on Amazon Japan",
      "storyGroup": "joey-unplaced",
      "groupLabel": "CONNECTED RUN · SAMUS & JOEY → EX",
      "productLinks": [
        {
          "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09QKKXQRH",
          "productName": "Volume 2 — Japanese Kindle",
          "productMatch": "Exact separate Japanese volume 2; retailer title matched to publisher inventory.",
          "actionLabel": "View on Amazon Japan"
        },
        {
          "productUrl": "https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09QKLQWYK",
          "productName": "Volume 3 — Japanese Kindle",
          "productMatch": "Exact separate Japanese volume 3; retailer title matched to publisher inventory.",
          "actionLabel": "View on Amazon Japan"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "joey-ex",
      "title": "Metroid EX: Samus & Joey — sequel serial",
      "type": "Manga",
      "date": "After Samus & Joey; exact game placement unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Assumed canon",
      "release": "2004–2005",
      "description": "Samus and Joey’s adventures continue in a separate sequel serial.",
      "note": "Relative sequel ordering retained without guessing a game-era year. No official collected edition verified; link is bibliography, not unauthorized full scans.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "joey-ex"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "After Joey",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://hakutaku.us/2018/06/16/metroid-manga-universe/",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record",
      "storyGroup": "joey-unplaced",
      "groupLabel": "CONNECTED RUN · SAMUS & JOEY → EX"
    },
    {
      "id": "firsthunt",
      "title": "Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt",
      "type": "Game demo",
      "date": "No independent fictional date established",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "2004",
      "description": "A Nintendo DS pack-in demonstration of Hunters-style play.",
      "note": "Not assumed a separate story before Hunters merely because the demo released first. Narrative significance requires original demo/manual review.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "firsthunt"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Demo",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/11162/nst-discusses-metroid-prime-hunters",
      "productName": "Read developer interview",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "Read developer interview"
    },
    {
      "id": "past",
      "title": "Past is Prologue — Other M live-action commercial",
      "type": "Short film",
      "date": "Childhood and earlier missions recalled before Other M",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "2010",
      "description": "A live-action promotional reflection on Samus’s history.",
      "note": "Contains narrative images; retained as promotional material. Montage spans different earlier periods and is not a new mission between Super and Fusion. Creator interview supplies context and embedded presentation.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "past-prologue"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Earlier memories",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://shinesparkers.net/interviews/micky-coyne/",
      "productName": "View creator interview & video",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View creator interview & video"
    },
    {
      "id": "super-ad",
      "title": "Super Metroid — Japanese live-action commercial",
      "type": "Short film",
      "date": "Super Metroid opening — promotional interpretation",
      "order": 80,
      "canon": "Promotional only",
      "release": "1994",
      "description": "Live-action research-facility imagery evokes Super’s opening.",
      "note": "Director explains the facility’s connection to the game prologue. Kept beside Super; commercial staging does not establish an extra game-canon incident.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "super-commercial"
      ],
      "continuity": "samus",
      "railLabel": "Return to Zebes",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Relative / stated chronology",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://shinesparkers.net/interviews/yasuo-kanemaki/",
      "productName": "View director interview & video",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View director interview & video",
      "storyGroup": "super"
    },
    {
      "id": "captain",
      "title": "Captain N: The Game Master — Valiant #1–5",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Videoland; relation to the cartoon episodes unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "1990",
      "description": "Samus joins Captain N’s Videoland adventures.",
      "note": "One short licensed run for inventory. Backup-story ordering, guidebook pages and possible issue jumps require legal interiors; no calendar or shared game history asserted.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "captain-comics",
        "valiant-record"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Videoland",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=121021",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record"
    },
    {
      "id": "coming",
      "title": "The Coming of a Hero",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Videoland-related licensed material; date unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "1990",
      "description": "A short Valiant introduction to Samus.",
      "note": "Listed separately from the Captain N serial. Actual legal interiors were not located; no invented order from the anthology table of contents.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory",
        "captain-comics"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Valiant",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record"
    },
    {
      "id": "metroid-page",
      "title": "Metroid — one-page Valiant story",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Videoland-related licensed material; date unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "1990",
      "description": "A one-page Metroid comic feature.",
      "note": "Listed separately from the Captain N serial. Actual legal interiors were not located; no invented order from the anthology table of contents.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory",
        "captain-comics"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Valiant",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record"
    },
    {
      "id": "deceit",
      "title": "Deceit Du Jour",
      "type": "Comic",
      "date": "Videoland-related licensed material; date unresolved",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "1990",
      "description": "Samus stars in a short standalone Valiant adventure.",
      "note": "Listed separately from the Captain N serial. Actual legal interiors were not located; no invented order from the anthology table of contents.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "print-inventory",
        "captain-comics"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Valiant",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "productName": "View edition record",
      "productMatch": "Exact bibliography or publisher record; this is information about the work, not free full-story access. No exact purchasable Amazon edition verified.",
      "actionLabel": "View edition record"
    },
    {
      "id": "subspace",
      "title": "Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Smash narrative; no Metroid calendar connection",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "2008",
      "description": "Samus participates in the conflict with the Subspace Army.",
      "note": "The explicit crossover campaign is not inserted between Galactic Federation missions. No chronological relationship to World of Light claimed.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "subspace"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Smash",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea03.html",
      "productName": "View official story introduction",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "View official story introduction"
    },
    {
      "id": "light",
      "title": "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light",
      "type": "Game",
      "date": "Smash narrative; no Metroid calendar connection",
      "order": null,
      "canon": "Official crossover",
      "release": "2018",
      "description": "Samus and the other fighters face Galeem’s attack.",
      "note": "Official narrative trailer retained. Release order does not establish a sequel relationship with Subspace.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "light"
      ],
      "continuity": "crossovers",
      "railLabel": "Smash",
      "segment": false,
      "confidence": "Placement unresolved",
      "inspection": "Source / inventory checked; full work not inspected",
      "estimated": false,
      "productUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WShCN-AYHqA",
      "productName": "Watch official trailer",
      "productMatch": "Official work information / edition page. No exact Amazon match verified in this audit; historic storefront availability is not promised.",
      "actionLabel": "Watch official trailer"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "jp-2d",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — Dread Report 4",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/ayl8a/report/vol4/index.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Japanese story recaps read: original → II → Super → Fusion → Dread; Zero Mission and Samus Returns identified as remakes. This five-part arc is not a declaration that Prime or Other M is non-canon."
    },
    {
      "id": "jp-year",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — original Metroid story",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/vc_me/vc_me_02.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "The original Zebes operation is explicitly in Cosmic Calendar 20X5. Keep the placeholder year; do not turn it into 2005 or an estimated Gregorian year."
    },
    {
      "id": "prime-story",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — Prime Remastered story",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/a3sda/story/index.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official backstory and Tallon IV premise; 20X5 in its backstory belongs to the earlier Zebes incident, not automatically to the entire Tallon IV mission."
    },
    {
      "id": "trilogy-manual",
      "title": "Nintendo — Prime Trilogy instruction booklet",
      "url": "https://m1.nintendo.net/docvc/RVL/EUR/R3MP/R3MP_E.pdf",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Actual manual text inspected: printed p.33 / PDF p.18 says Corruption begins six months after Aether, and the Valhalla was attacked about four months before that briefing. Trilogy contains three adventures, not a fourth sequel."
    },
    {
      "id": "hunters-interview",
      "title": "NST developers — Hunters chronology interview",
      "url": "https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/11162/nst-discusses-metroid-prime-hunters",
      "kind": "Primary interview",
      "note": "March 2, 2006 interview with director Masamichi Abe and engineer Colin Reed: Hunters fits between Prime and Echoes. No fixed month interval is supplied."
    },
    {
      "id": "ff-jp",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — Federation Force",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/bcaj/index.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Japanese story caption explicitly gives 20X6. Blast Ball is described as Federation troop training and is included as a mode and former standalone demo."
    },
    {
      "id": "ff-uk",
      "title": "Nintendo — Federation Force story interval",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-3DS-games/Metroid-Prime-Federation-Force-1025884.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "UK story says several years after Phaaze while giving 20X6. Japanese page gives 20X6 without that interval. Preserve the attributed wording; do not compute one year from symbolic X dates."
    },
    {
      "id": "prime4-interview",
      "title": "Nintendo developers — Japanese Famitsu interview",
      "url": "https://www.famitsu.com/article/202512/60211",
      "kind": "Primary interview",
      "note": "December 29, 2025 Japanese answer directly read: after Super, before Fusion; Samus crosses spacetime into another dimension. Does not specify before/after Other M. Sylux flashbacks are identified as earlier events, not a second game."
    },
    {
      "id": "prime4",
      "title": "Nintendo — Prime 4: Beyond, Switch 2 Edition",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/metroid-prime-4-beyond-nintendo-switch-2-edition-switch-2/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official released game and enhanced edition. Viewros setting; edition is not a sequel to the Switch release."
    },
    {
      "id": "prime4-year",
      "title": "Prime 4 reveal — opening year cross-check",
      "url": "https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/06/seven-years-later-nintendo-proves-metroid-prime-4-still-exists/",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Reports the official reveal’s Cosmic Year 20X9 opening card. Secondary cross-check; final-game intro has not been independently frame-audited here."
    },
    {
      "id": "otherm",
      "title": "Nintendo — Other M creator discussion",
      "url": "https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/metroid-other-m/0/0/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official creator interview about Samus’s dramatic history and the game’s production; not an exact calendar date."
    },
    {
      "id": "otherm-position",
      "title": "Other M story placement cross-check",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid:_Other_M",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Bottle Ship story after Super and before Fusion; no exact elapsed months assumed."
    },
    {
      "id": "dread-story",
      "title": "Nintendo — Dread story",
      "url": "https://metroid.nintendo.com/dread/story/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Samus investigates ZDR following the X crisis. No exact Fusion-to-Dread gap supplied."
    },
    {
      "id": "ravenous",
      "title": "Nintendo — Ravenous announcement",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/sg/news/article/r4YhVFgDRDvAH4AcD9j9r",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "September 11, 2026 official announcement: January 28, 2027 release. Release date is not a fictional date."
    },
    {
      "id": "ravenous-store",
      "title": "Nintendo — Ravenous official game listing",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/metroid-ravenous-switch-2/",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Ambush on an unfamiliar moon and newly awakened Metroid instincts. Supports an estimated post-Dread reading; no exact fictional interval or completed story inspected."
    },
    {
      "id": "zero",
      "title": "Nintendo — Zero Mission",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy-Advance/Metroid-Zero-Mission-267057.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Officially called a retelling of the original mission; includes the expanded suitless escape. Historic Wii U purchase offer is no longer available."
    },
    {
      "id": "returns",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — Samus Returns",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/a9aj/index.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official remake of II and SR388 mission. Historic 3DS eShop sales have ended; information page is not a current download promise."
    },
    {
      "id": "pinball",
      "title": "Nintendo — Prime Pinball",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2007/Metroid-Prime-Pinball-launches-across-Europe-249816.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Multi Mission gathers artifacts and culminates against Metroid Prime. Treat as a stylized rendition at Prime’s story position, not a new invasion after Hunters."
    },
    {
      "id": "firsthunt",
      "title": "Hunters: First Hunt — demo inventory",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Prime_Hunters",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Pack-in demonstration released before the complete game. No independent dated mission established."
    },
    {
      "id": "magz1",
      "title": "Kodansha — Metroid volume 1",
      "url": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000037519",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Live publisher record read: Nintendo original credit, November 21, 2003, ISBN 9784063491432; original serialization January–July 2003 issues. No trial/interior control exposed."
    },
    {
      "id": "magz2",
      "title": "Kodansha — Metroid volume 2",
      "url": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000037546",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Live publisher record read: final volume, May 21, 2004, ISBN 9784063491722; August 2003–May 2004 magazine issues. No full interior read."
    },
    {
      "id": "magz-scope",
      "title": "Metroid manga — origin/mission coverage",
      "url": "https://metroid.retropixel.net/features/comics/metroidmanga/",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Bibliographic prequel premise. Fan-hosted translations are not represented as publisher-authorized full reading access. Precise chapter boundaries and ages remain open."
    },
    {
      "id": "ecomic",
      "title": "Nintendo — historic e-comic landing page",
      "url": "https://metroid.jp/metroid_version1/ecomic/index.html",
      "kind": "Primary archive / inaccessible",
      "note": "Search-indexed official page advertises first two chapters and Kodansha continuation. Historic Flash reader could not be inspected; first two chapters are a presentation of the manga, not new missions."
    },
    {
      "id": "joey",
      "title": "Kodansha — Samus & Joey",
      "url": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000003604",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Live publisher inventory: three volumes, Nintendo original credit, digital reissue, legal first-chapter preview. Not a five-volume series."
    },
    {
      "id": "joey-preview",
      "title": "Kodansha — Samus & Joey volume 1 legal preview",
      "url": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000032470/trial",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Actually viewed contents and printed pp.4–7. Printed p.5 recalls defeat of Zebesian Pirates and Mother Brain but names no game/year; pp.6–7 show Joey and renewed pirate danger. Contents lists Fusion special story at p.175. The backup interior is outside the pages inspected."
    },
    {
      "id": "joey-volume",
      "title": "Kodansha — Samus & Joey volume 1 edition",
      "url": "https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000032470",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "June 4, 2003 paperback; January 28, 2022 electronic reissue. Publisher’s Kindle control resolved to search; actual matching Kindle volume listing then verified, rather than using the search URL as a product."
    },
    {
      "id": "joey-ex",
      "title": "Samus & Joey and EX — serial bibliography",
      "url": "https://hakutaku.us/2018/06/16/metroid-manga-universe/",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Identifies original series, separate EX sequel and Fusion bonus. Also identifies Episode of Aether and early manga. Full serial interiors not inspected."
    },
    {
      "id": "print-inventory",
      "title": "Metroid printed-media checklist",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metroid_media",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Inventory lead for Nintendo Power adaptations, Wanpakku guide-manga, Shounen Oh gag manga and three Valiant shorts. Bibliography is not an interior date audit."
    },
    {
      "id": "prime-comic-index",
      "title": "Dreamwave Prime comic — issue labels",
      "url": "https://metroiddatabase.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/metroid_prime_dreamwave.pdf",
      "kind": "Secondary archival index",
      "note": "Search-indexed wrapper lists chapters in Nintendo Power #164, #165 and #166. Resolves conflicting #164–167 reference; no full copyrighted comic interior claimed read."
    },
    {
      "id": "book",
      "title": "National Diet Library — Zebes Invasion Order",
      "url": "https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000001832764",
      "kind": "Primary bibliography",
      "note": "Official library record for Futabasha’s 1986 branching gamebook; ISBN 9784575760163. No interior accessible in this audit."
    },
    {
      "id": "captain-comics",
      "title": "Captain N — Valiant comic inventory",
      "url": "https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=121021",
      "kind": "Secondary retailer",
      "note": "Five-issue licensed series, with Samus in Videoland. Listing is an edition record, not a promise of full reading access. Issue/backup time gaps not inspected."
    },
    {
      "id": "valiant-record",
      "title": "Grand Comics Database — Captain N #5",
      "url": "https://my.comics.org/issue/339024/",
      "kind": "Secondary bibliography",
      "note": "Issue/story record cross-check for the five-issue run and Samus material; guidebook pages and backup stories still need interior review."
    },
    {
      "id": "subspace",
      "title": "Nintendo — The Subspace Emissary",
      "url": "https://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea03.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Explicit Smash narrative setting; no placement in Samus’s Galactic Federation history."
    },
    {
      "id": "light",
      "title": "Nintendo / Smash — World of Light trailer",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WShCN-AYHqA",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Official Smash channel narrative trailer. Campaign retained as a crossover, not a later Metroid mission."
    },
    {
      "id": "past-prologue",
      "title": "Creative-team interview — Past is Prologue",
      "url": "https://shinesparkers.net/interviews/micky-coyne/",
      "kind": "Primary interview",
      "note": "Creative-team interview read directly: Coyne recalls Nintendo briefing the team that the origin manga was canon. Describes Sakamoto’s scene requests; links Coyne’s own alternate reel. Recollection does not remove interior-inspection gaps."
    },
    {
      "id": "super-commercial",
      "title": "Director interview — Japanese Super Metroid commercial",
      "url": "https://shinesparkers.net/interviews/yasuo-kanemaki/",
      "kind": "Primary interview",
      "note": "Director Yasuo Kanemaki describes the official live-action commercial’s research-facility scenes and its connection to the game opening. Not a new post-Super adventure."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-dread",
      "title": "Amazon US — Dread edition",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097BP5DLQ",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Actual listing title checked: Metroid Dread (Nintendo Switch)."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-prime",
      "title": "Amazon US — Prime Remastered edition",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YZNRQ7S",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Actual listing title checked: Metroid Prime Remastered — Nintendo Switch."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-joey",
      "title": "Amazon Japan — Samus & Joey Kindle volume 1",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09QKLPN3Q",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Japanese volume 1 matched to Kodansha and its Kindle listing; contains the listed Fusion backup, not the entire three-volume run."
    },
    {
      "id": "early-prime",
      "title": "Early Prime sequence — current chronology cross-check",
      "url": "https://nintendoeverything.com/metroid-prime-4-timeline-placement/",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Prime 1–3, Hunters and Federation Force are identified before II; Japanese developer interview directly supplies the separate Prime 4 interval."
    },
    {
      "id": "corruption-recovery",
      "title": "Corruption — one-month recovery cross-check",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Prime_3:_Corruption",
      "kind": "Secondary",
      "note": "Secondary account of the in-game one-month recovery after Norion. This is not a direct frame inspection."
    },
    {
      "id": "hunters-game",
      "title": "Nintendo — Hunters official game record",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-DS/Metroid-Prime-Hunters-271694.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Corresponding DS title record; historic Wii U eShop purchase offer is not current."
    },
    {
      "id": "otherm-game",
      "title": "Nintendo Japan — Other M official edition record",
      "url": "https://www.nintendo.com/jp/titles/20010000010287.html",
      "kind": "Primary",
      "note": "Corresponding Wii U edition of the Wii adventure. Historic eShop offer is not a current availability claim."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-trilogy",
      "title": "Amazon US — Prime Trilogy collector edition",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ATY7JE",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Actual title checked: Prime Trilogy Collector’s Edition; official Wii compilation contains Prime, Echoes and Corruption. Condition and included packaging vary."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-otherm",
      "title": "Amazon US — Other M, Wii",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BSC4ZS",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Actual listing identifies Other M on Wii, pre-played/CIB. Do not promise a sealed copy or unchanged seller condition."
    },
    {
      "id": "amz-hunters",
      "title": "Amazon US — Hunters, DS",
      "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009Z3MQ0",
      "kind": "Retail edition",
      "note": "Actual listing identifies full Hunters on Nintendo DS, pre-played/game only. This is not the First Hunt demo."
    }
  ],
  "scope": [
    {
      "title": "Captain N animation — seasons 1–3 (34 episodes)",
      "type": "TV series",
      "status": "Known licensed crossover; episode and legal edition audit pending",
      "note": "Mother Brain appears in Videoland; Samus does not appear in the cartoon. Preserve season boundaries and inspect genuine episode chronology before claiming a full viewing order.",
      "sources": [
        "captain-comics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Nintendo Land: Metroid Blast; Melee Adventure; other cameo modes",
      "type": "Game crossover",
      "status": "Known related games; narrative scope not fully audited",
      "note": "Theme-park attractions, collectible trophies and ordinary match modes are not automatically distinct Metroid stories. Campaign/cameo boundaries require a focused audit.",
      "sources": [
        "subspace"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Other M and Prime 4 flashbacks; Prime logbook histories; Dread archives",
      "type": "Embedded narrative",
      "status": "Included within full games; individual periods need audit",
      "note": "No game is omitted by not splitting every log entry. Chozo Memories and the manual-dated Valhalla attack are separately selectable examples; further chapter-level chronology remains open.",
      "sources": [
        "jp-2d",
        "prime4-interview",
        "trilogy-manual"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Additional commercial variants, regional magazine comics and backup stories",
      "type": "Promotional / print",
      "status": "Carry forward inventory and legal interior research",
      "note": "Live-action commissions confirmed by creator interviews are indexed. Unverified fan uploads are not presented as official watch links. Further print/promotional narratives may remain.",
      "sources": [
        "past-prologue",
        "super-commercial",
        "print-inventory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Feature films, novels, audio dramas and fan productions",
      "type": "Coverage check",
      "status": "No additional official narrative verified in these categories",
      "note": "Zebes Invasion Order is a verified gamebook. Soundtracks/art books are not automatically stories; The Sky Calls is a fan film, not a Nintendo-licensed feature.",
      "sources": [
        "book",
        "print-inventory"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "audit": {
    "checked": "2026-10-16",
    "status": "Research edition — verification gaps disclosed",
    "checks": [
      "Research table generated before any franchise page build; compared against current games and print inventory.",
      "Original/Zero Mission, II/Samus Returns, remasters, pinball and print adaptations share their respective story positions.",
      "Nintendo Japanese Famitsu answer read directly: Prime 4 after Super, before Fusion. Other M/Prime 4 share an unresolved interval, not invented consecutive dates.",
      "20X5 and 20X6 retained as stated eras without est.; Prime 4’s reported 20X9 opening is explicitly sourced secondarily.",
      "Actual Prime Trilogy manual supplies six-month Aether interval and approximately four-month Valhalla interval.",
      "Actual Kodansha preview: contents identifies Fusion special at p.175; p.5 recalls Mother Brain/Zebesian defeat. No calendar date on the inspected pp.4–7.",
      "Three Samus & Joey volumes verified in Kodansha inventory; EX is separately listed. Full backup and later-volume interiors are not claimed read.",
      "Missing confirmation is not Disputed canon; Joey stays assumed. Origin manga uses confirmed status supported by Coyne’s first-hand Nintendo briefing recollection, with unread-scene caveats. Only explicit crossover settings are separate.",
      "Dread / Prime Remastered Amazon US editions checked; Japanese Kindle volume 1 checked through the publisher’s retailer path. No search URL used as a product."
    ],
    "gaps": [
      "Full origin-manga interiors, individual ages/chapter jumps, EX chapters, Valiant shorts/backups, Nintendo Power adaptation interiors and early gag/guide-manga panels remain uninspected. Publisher records and limited previews are not full reads.",
      "Captain N animation’s 34 episodes and further crossover modes remain in the scope ledger rather than a fabricated dated timeline. Historical print/promotional inventory is not certified exhaustive.",
      "The exact Other M versus Prime 4 order is unknown. Ravenous’s after-Dread position is estimated from the official premise; full upcoming story unavailable.",
      "Game intro frames, the one-month Corruption recovery and game logbook backstories need direct frame-by-frame inspection before more detailed dating.",
      "Several out-of-print records have information links only. Matching purchasable editions remain open; no unrelated merchandise is substituted."
    ],
    "publishReady": true
  }
}