Metroid (NES)
The year was 1986. Metroidvania was still in its infancy but Nintendo’s Metroid was a big part in shaping the genre. It also provided us a cool new hero in Samus Aran who was silent, mysterious and totally a guy. That is, until the ending when Samus removed his helmet and was revealed to be a woman. For an era that didn’t have too many female protagonists, this was certainly on the “Didn’t see that coming” scale of things.













