Ezra Duke is one of the most notable supporting characters in Nintendo’s Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. He’s not my favorite of the supporting cast, but he’s pretty cool in his own way.

He’s a notable sergeant in the Galactic Federation, but I imagine he’s low enough in the ranks to actually see combat instead of just commanding from a faraway outpost, sitting on a space chair while eating Galactic Donuts. I would imagine this guy would hate that kind of job, at least until he’s about 60 years old.

When you finally meet up with him, he comes with his subordinate Nora Armstrong, a young private-ranked soldier. He and Samus obviously sees her immaturity, especially when she starts fangirling over Samus Aran. But I like them as a team, especially because their personalities are so different. They have a sweet-and-salty kind of contrast.

After their initial appearance, they show up again in that great mines area, where he accompanies both Samus and Nora deep into the mines and helps them fight the grievers. You see him presumably sacrificing his life to buy Samus and Nora more time, which was honestly pretty emotional and sad when I played it.

I was very relieved when he turned out to still be alive. He then helps you fight the final battle against Sylux, although technically he’s controlled by the CPU, so he’s programmed not to help all that much. During the story’s final climax, he stays behind with the others to prevent Sylux from reaching wherever Samus needs to go. I really hope he’s not dead again and that he shows up alive and well in Metroid Prime 5.