Ing

The Ing are a deadly parasitic alien species that serve as the main antagonists of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Originating from a dark parallel version of the planet Aether, they have warred against that planet's inhabitants, the Luminoth, for decades by possessing the planet's life-forms and slowly taking over. In the Luminoth language, the word ing means "terror".

History
During the Golden Age of the Luminoth, Aether was struck by a stellar object that would later be discovered to be a Leviathan. The object struck the planet with such force that it generated a rift in time and space, essentially splitting the planet into two separate dimensions: Light Aether and Dark Aether. Dark Aether was a bleak and hostile environment inhabited by the savage beings that the Luminoth would come to know as the Ing.

The Ing could only make short, sudden incursions into Light Aether as they could not survive for long in its environment, but these incursions would be enough for them to infect and possess the native life-forms of the light world, bending them to their control and using them to wage war against the Luminoth. For over fifty years, the Ing lay siege to Aether in this manner, stealing the Luminoth's energy resources and driving them to near extinction. Most of the surviving Luminoth sealed themselves away in stasis within their Great Temple, leaving only their sentinel U-Mos to take care of maintaining their slumber and preparing and praying for salvation.

With the Luminoth defeated, the Ing continued scouring Aether for other life-forms and technology to incorporate into their horde. As well as the native creatures and machines left behind by the Luminoth, the Ing would also have access to the mutagenic resource known as Phazon which had lingered following the Leviathan's impact. The presence of Phazon on the planet also attracted the attention of both the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation, giving the Ing the opportunity to corrupt off-world entities.

The Ing's domination of Aether was brought to an end by the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who ventured into Dark Aether and removed the planetary energy seized from the light world. With the energy restored to Light Aether and the Emperor Ing slain, Dark Aether collapsed on itself and the Ing were exterminated.

Pure Ing
Pure Ing are unable to survive in the environment of Light Aether and so can only be encountered in Dark Aether. Ing that travel to Light Aether take on the form of a dark purple vapour and possess any native life-form or mechanoid they encounter. In Dark Aether, pure Ing come in many shapes and sizes and are all extremely deadly.
 * Emperor Ing
 * Warrior Ing
 * Hunter Ing
 * Inglet
 * Black Fog

Darklings
Darklings are creatures that have been possessed by the Black Fog. With these hosts, the Ing can survive the atmosphere of Light Aether. Ing are able to possess organic creatures both primal and sentient and can even possess certain types of machines.
 * Amorbis
 * Chykka
 * Quadraxis
 * Dark Splinter
 * Dark Alpha Splinter
 * Corrupted Sentreye
 * Chykling
 * Dark Blogg
 * Dark Grenchler
 * Dark Trooper
 * Dark Missile Trooper
 * Dark Pirate Trooper
 * Dark Pirate Commando
 * Dark Ingsmasher
 * Dark Phlogus
 * Dark Tallon Metroid
 * Dark Quad
 * Dark Preed
 * Dark Shredder
 * Dark War Wasp
 * Bomb Guardian
 * Grapple Guardian
 * Jump Guardian
 * Power Bomb Guardian
 * Spider Guardian
 * Boost Guardian