Every planet Samus has destroyed in the Metroid series:

Sometimes, one simply needs to blow things up. On an especially rough day, one might even desire to do so on an interstellar scale. If you happen to be Samus Aran, you'll also be saving the day in the process. It is somewhat disconcerting that most of her missions in the Metroid series conclude with a "scorched earth" approach, but perhaps that is the price to pay for preventing the resurrection of a biological superweapon.

Samus Aran is the person you wouldn't want to have on your planet, as there is a rather high probability that it won't be intact once she departs. It is almost a guarantee nowadays that her presence leads to galactic destruction. Therefore, if you hear that she is paying a visit, it would be best to be prepared for an evacuation.

5 Zebes

The very beginning of the entire series. The original Metroid takes place on Zebes as Samus hunts down the malevolent Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley, which ultimately culminates in the destruction of their base along with Mother Brain. For Samus, Zebes holds a deeper history. It is where she was raised by the Chozo, thus providing a rationale for the presence of Chozo technology on the planet and Samus' ability to utilize it.

Of course, as with many things associated with Samus, Zebes ultimately ends up being destroyed. Upon revisiting the planet in Super Metroid, the Space Pirates have regrouped, and Samus is tasked with eliminating them once and for all. While she destroyed the Space Pirates' base the first time around, this time the entire planet is obliterated in the explosion. No more Space Pirates, no more Metroids, and no more home for Samus.

4 SR388

If you've played a Metroid game, you know that the statement "the Metroids were destroyed" is, well, not entirely true. They always find a way to persist, often in the hands of individuals unwilling to leave a weapon of war unused. Nevertheless, Samus was tasked with venturing to the planet SR388, an unnamed planet on the fringes of space. Although expanded upon in later games, SR388 was the birthplace of the Metroids, created to eradicate the endemic X-Parasite before it spiraled out of control.

While Metroid 2 can be quite challenging in terms of gameplay, the main objective revolves around eradicating all remaining Metroids, except for the small Metroid baby that Samus ends up saving. In contrast to Samus's usual approach, she doesn't actually destroy the planet this time. Instead, she later visits the BSL Station in Metroid Fusion, where she discovers that more Metroids have been created and the X-Parasite has been unleashed. The only choice left for Samus to eliminate both threats is to take control of the space station on SR388 and destroy them both, perhaps finally putting an end to the Metroids.

3 Dark Aether

While Metroid Prime is the preferred part of the Prime trilogy and Samus doesn't actually destroy any planets in the original game, the same cannot be said for its two sequels. In Metroid Prime 2, Samus visits the planet Aether and becomes embroiled in a war between the light and dark versions of the planet. Leviathans from the planet Phaaze had crashed onto Aether, spreading a Phazon-like corruption, causing the planet to split into two parts across separate dimensions.

With this separation, a new problem emerged: Neither of the two planets could sustain itself fully without the energy from the other. Caught in a dilemma, Samus chooses to save the planet Aether. She travels to this parallel dimension and destroys the source of Dark Aether, restoring the full planetary energy to Aether. As you might have expected, this leads to the destruction of Dark Aether and the pocket dimension in which it existed. For Samus, this is nothing out of the ordinary at this stage.

2 Phaaze

Dark Samus is an iconic character at this point, inseparably linked to the Metroid Prime games and the character of Samus. As a being of pure Phazon, created from Samus and the titular Metroid Prime, Dark Samus serves as the antagonist in Metroid Prime 2 and ultimately as the final enemy of the entire series. Like the substance from which she was created, the final confrontation with her takes place on the planet Phaaze, the conscious planet of Phazon.

Phaaze itself is an antagonist of the series, as Phazon has caused many of the problems that occurred in the galaxy throughout the trilogy. In Metroid Prime 3, Dark Samus brings the Space Pirates to Phaaze and merges with the planet using the Aurora Unit 313, effectively becoming one with it. At the climax of the game, Samus confronts her dark counterpart and, in turn, the entire planet of Phaaze. With Dark Samus's defeat, the planet itself collapses. Phaaze is destroyed, and the Metroid Prime trilogy comes to a conclusion.

1 ZDR

The story of Metroid Dread is a long one, which is evident in the game's own storyline. Originally planned as a sequel to Fusion for the DS, the game disappeared until it resurfaced in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, marking the first side-scrolling Metroid game to be released in over a decade. This time, the story takes place on the planet ZDR, the home of the Mawkin tribe of Chozo. This also marks the first appearance of living Chozo in the series.

With a stronger focus on storytelling than any other side-scrolling entry in the series, Metroid Dread follows Samus as she hunts down the threat of a revived X parasite, only to encounter the Chozo who raised her as a child. However, this doesn't stop Samus from fighting for the protection of the galaxy and defeating the Chozo, who have a significant history with her. Although it is somewhat unclear what exactly leads to it, after the defeat of the final boss, ZDR is hit by a self-destruct sequence, and Samus narrowly escapes before the planet becomes nothing more than space debris.