Line #26 Fridge/MegaManZero


1	!!FridgeBrilliance
2	* Zero's decision to kill Weil seems to be spitting on the laws of robotics that were so important to the series. However, his decision is in accordance to the Zeroth Law of Robotics, which in essence is a [[GodzillaThreshold threshold]] law designed to protect the human race, as obeying law 1 would cause humanity to be harmed through inaction. It's made especially ironic given that Zero was never built with the laws in mind (Wily made him and all, and he's technically a "Robot Master"), yet he unwittingly follows the most important law.
3	** Another possibility is that the Zeroth Law doesn't exist in-universe: one can argue that letting Wily live endangers humanity thru inaction. Alternatively, it does exist but it wasn't until ''Zero 4'' that it could actually be applied: Wily isn't an active threat when he's defeated, nor was Weil in the backstory. But Weil became an active threat when he fused with Ragnarok.
4	** Also: ''[[MeaningfulName Zer]][[PunnyName oth]]'' Law.
5	*** Weil is also a mass murderer despot. The spirit of Law Zero was intended specifically to stop people like him (think of Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot), and will override the first law.
6	*** All of this comes up because Weil himself brings up the topic, that Reploids like Zero should serve, and never harm, humanity. It basically blows on Weil's face due to the Zeroth Law.
7	*** Also, Dr. Light's dream was for humans and robots to live and treat each other as equals. Zero treated Weil like any other Reploid he's fought, demonstrating that equality. He even outright calls him "just another Maverick," a term which up until the fourth game was [[FantasticRacism used exclusively for Reploids]]. This also explains why it fell to Zero to realize Light's dream: for all his talk, Light subconsciously ''did'' still put human life higher than robots, hence Rock being ThreeLawsCompliant and X's 30 years of testing. If he had accepted that there are times to kill, Dr. Wily would've been picked off before Zero could be built, preventing so much pain and suffering.
8	*** Speaking of which, remember the ending of ''VideoGame/MegaMan7''? Wily got away because Mega Man couldn't follow the Zeroth law. Then he went on to create the Maverick Virus, and you know the rest. By following the Zeroth Law, Zero was able to do what Mega Man could not — destroy the villain and create an era of peace.
9	** Then again: since so much of Weil has been mechanized (even to the point that they digitize his mind so that he'll forever reflect on his sins), it's hard to argue that he's human anymore; hell, at this point he's might as well be the last legit Maverick that Zero ever fought.
10	** But maybe breaking the laws of robotics was the ''point''. Zero was originally designed by Dr. Wily to bring the world of humans into ruin, breaking the laws of robotics - Zero killing Weil is an ironic flip of that destiny, having Zero break the laws in order to ensure the survival of those he loves.
11	* The final battle with Zero and Omega Zero can mirror the fact that Zero is fighting his [[SuperPoweredEvilSide old self]]. Remember that in ''X2'', Sigma made reference to Dr. Wily for Zero being his last creation. In ''X4'', we know who the silhouette is in the beginning of Zero's nightmare. And ''X5'', everyone obviously knows, but Sigma does not refer to him by name to X and Zero. Also, Zero was ''AxCrazy'' within Sigma's flashback. All the plot build-up from the entire ''X'' series to ''Zero 3'' makes a true resolution of the story of Zero finally taking down what represented his evil side. And since Zero lost his original body, Dr. Wily's final creation is technically destroyed, but the original Zero's mind still exists.
12	* Why doesn't X show up in ''Zero 4''? He's finally dead. In ''Zero 2'', his physical body's destroyed, and in ''Zero 3'', he leaves Zero to return to Cyberspace.
13	* The [[NoExportForYou Japan-exlcusive]] e-Reader cards also appearing in the CompilationRerelease on the DS (this time in all regions) includes a poster of [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork [=MegaMan.EXE=]]] alongside a poster of Ciel. It may seem a bit of a stretch, but both of these series were released around the same time and were the first two series to finish their storylines. Another thing they have in common: Cyberspace!
14	* This may count as Fridge Heartwarming: At the end of the series, Zero is dead and is supposedly in Cyberspace. Fastforward to VideoGame/ProjectXZone, Iris is brought back thanks to the representatives of Franchise/DotHack. Now, what does .hack have in common with the ''Mega Man'' series? Cyberspace. Zero also vows to find Iris once again. So, in essence, at the end of the series, Zero and Iris are finally [[TogetherInDeath reunited]].
15	* In the manga adaptation of the first game, Copy-X (here called the "Perfect Reploid") is a fusion of the Four Guardians created by [[CanonForeigner Ciel's younger sister, Cial]], rather than a copy of X himself. It may sound crazy, but the Four Guardians were made from four pars of X's DNA in the series.
16	* Of course the Proto Form/Junk Armor would reduce your defense. WordOfGod says it's the Black Zero armor from the ''X'' games. Where does Black Zero appear the first time? At the end of ''X2'', when it was easily destroyed with a single slash.
17	* Due to Copy X's nature, he was doomed to go crazy. When Copy X finally meets Zero, he freely admits that he is a copy of the original. But how exactly did he come to this conclusion? ''Everyone'' believed him to be the true X, except for Ciel. Imagine how his life would have been ever since he was born; he's activated as a newborn reploid with the experience of a child, but everyone around him believes that he's their beloved X come back to them. Already, he's had an impossibly heavy mantle of expectations hefted onto his shoulders before he even really knows what's going on. So he tries to fit into these large shoes and be the 'X' they want him to be — after all, they say he's X, so he ''must'' be X, right? But...he doesn't have any of the memories or experiences of the original X. Eventually, he comes to the only real conclusion; that he's only a copy of the original. His entire life is based on a gigantic lie. If everyone knew the truth, they would abandon him, because he's not the X that everyone loved and respected. He, understandably, suffers a psychotic break. It's at this point that he begins his campaign of iron-fisted rule, because if he can't ''be'' the beloved X, then he has no choice but to be ''better'' than him in order to earn that love by his own merits. Copy X might be a cruel tyrant, but his upbringing really didn't leave any room for anything but an unstable, emotionally skewed individual. Bonus: he ''wasn't'' put into 30 years of morality testing, unlike X. He really doesn't know better about the right thing to do.
18	** It also tragically [[{{Foil}} mirrors]] Zero's development by Mega Man Zero 3. Zero is always hailed as the real hero, even if he lacks the memories of his past. Zero never considers himself an hero and his only concern is helping the Resistence as a warrior regardless if he's the legendary Zero or not. However, not only Zero's subconcious actually can in some way call back his past experiences highlighting he's the real deal; when the Resistence learned that Zero's body it's a copy, no one of his allies really care about it and are not willing to let a small detail like a copy body deters them from aknowledging how much good he has done for them. Copy X however was so obsessed to be perceived as a hero he forgot (or never learned) how to ACT like an hero, his immaturity and lack of proper guidance and experiences ended up being his pathetic undoing unlike the revered to the end Zero.
19	* In the first game, you're sent to retrieve data from the intro level. When you get back with it, Ciel laments that aside from the Triple Rod and Shield Boomerang blueprints, most of the data was corrupted and useless. It was in a server in Maha Ganeshariff's body. Maha Ganeshariff's elemental weakness was the Thunder Chip. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero What happens to data when the server it's stored on gets zapped by lightning multiple times?]] It was also in the underground lab Ciel found Zero in, so that data probably included backups of Zero's memories, in addition to blueprints for his weapons. So this mission might also be why he never completely recovers from his IdentityAmnesia.
20	** Adding to this, Maha Ganeshariff's weakness to the Thunder Chip might seem odd due to him being a NonElemental boss...until you notice he's fought in a room [[ElectrifiedBathtub with knee-high water]].
21	* The low-orbit spaceship that Omega was exiled to is shaped like a sword. Omega was an almost ''literal'' Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Neo Arcadia.
22	* In the fight with Phoenix Magnion, the appearance of Colonel alongside violent Mavericks such as Vile, Agile, and Bit initially seems odd. Until you realize how draconian Neo Arcadia has become; if they’d label someone like Alouette as a Maverick, they would of course lump Colonel in with those sorts of crooks!
23	* The battle with Omega at the end of the third game can be a bit of an AntiClimaxBoss, given that for his massive pool of moves that can potentially be quite dangerous, a properly-upgraded and prepared player can potentially take him down in less than a minute. But this makes sense for two reasons: one, both Zero and Omega are wielding Z-Sabers, which have rendered short work of just about everything else, so this turns their climactic duel into RocketTagGameplay. And two, besides all the EX-Skills and chips he can acquire, including one that lets him ''phase through attacks'', Zero's memories and experiences grant him a significant advantage in precision and effectiveness over Omega basically jumping around and blowing everything up recklessly - after all, Zero in the copy body beat Omega once before alongside X, and that was when he was ''fresh'' to that body.
24	* Players new to the ''Zero'' series may wonder why charged shots and sabre slashes do so much damage to bosses (chopping off a good quarter of their life bar), in comparison to the ''X'' series, which may see, at most, three or four ticks off of the health bar at best. A clue might be found in the design overhaul the game took - by getting rid of the bulkier designs (such as the heavy armor and huge metallic boots), the Reploids have effectively traded defense for a slimmer, more streamlined design.
25	* Why does "Fate ~ Theme of Weil" play before every boss in ''Mega Man Zero 4''? Because these are not just any old Mutos Reploids; these are the Einherjar Eight Warriors, an elite squadron of Neo Arcadia's most fearsome soldiers. Many of them proclaim their loyalty to Weil specifically in pre-boss dialogue, and they are all eager to see Ragnarok destroy Area Zero. Unlike previous series bosses, who had a wide variety of motives and loyalties, and the Einherjar are true extensions of Weil's cruel will. (with exception of Tech Kraken, who merely wants to avenge Phantom).
26
27	!!FridgeHorror
28	* Copy X was designed when Ciel was herself a child, and she's barely a teen as the games happen. Combine that with the brilliance above about himself realizing he was a copy designed to match up to a legendarily impossible expectation, and you realize Copy X is fundamentally only maybe a decade old or so ''at best'' and several years old at worst, with none of the original's memories or experience. He's literally a child thrown into the position to rule with no morality testing, no one able to oversee or correct him, and expected to fill in for the greatest hero of all time. This also recontextualizes his transformation freak-outs when Zero mocks him or he's losing badly; it's not just that he's comparing unfavorably to the vastly more experienced Mega Man X, but that he's a child with a big stick at his disposal, and finally being scolded and put in his place by someone his technical superior. He's effectively throwing a temper tantrum, and in the second case, his blind, reprogrammed trust in Weil and the expectation that he'd childishly flip out again gets him KilledOffForReal.
29	** Consider that to save the Resistance, and not even strictly the world itself, Zero knowingly assassinates what is basically an irresponsible child duplicate of his best friend while said friend is [[KnightInSourArmor openly encouraging it with extreme prejudice]] compared to his past wishes for peace. And then Weil [[CameBackWrong restores said child]], and then proceeds to [[WouldHurtAChild assassinate him too]] to take total control of Neo Arcadia.
30	* The forgotten laboratory, where Zero is found and resurrected as well as the final stage of his fight against Omega, is in complete and utter disrepair. Considering canonically that Zero's data was expunged from the records so he wouldn't be found, that's one thing, but the place was also the origin of Cyber-Elf research -- and where Omega was created, and likely the Mother Elf's corruption into the Dark Elf. Even if the facility was damaged and abandoned from the Elf Wars before Zero sealed himself there, it also doesn't explain why he's so tattered and torn up that it took Passy's HeroicSacrifice to revive him. What in the hell happened that Zero's own resting place looks like an apocalyptic bomb shelter rather than a proper research facility?
31	** Even worse, [[NoExportForYou in Japan-only audio drama material]], we get the details of Zero's last conversation with X before he (intended to) permanently seal himself after the Elf Wars. As far as the characters are concerned, Zero all but committed the Reploid equivalent of self-euthanasia short of actually retiring himself in a hope that he'd never be used for evil again, ''and X was right there to see the sealing happen''. Whatever humans had been overseeing the project are likely long dead, and with no X around after using himself as a seal for the Dark Elf to keep the place in check, it fell apart in the deep, abandoned recesses of Neo Arcadia.
32	*** X probably had all records of Zero being sealed in said laboratory erased in order to honor Zero’s desire to be allowed to slumber forever undisturbed and lessen the chances of someone finding and taking off with him. Unfortunately this resulted in the lab being abandoned and left to fall into the ruins we see in the first game along with Zero’s body, more over Zero might’ve been lost forever (like he’d wanted) if X hadn’t been left with no alternative but to have him awakened.
33	* Omega, the AxCrazy psychopath whose HatePlague powers and ceaseless thirst for blood that ended up killing 75% of sentient life. The horror kicks in when you realize that Omega was exactly what Dr. Wily ''intended Zero to be.'' In fact, given what happens in the whole timeline, actually ''letting Dr. Wily win'' seems to be genuinely preferable to just thwarting his plans. As bad as his schemes got, they never went as far as what Sigma or later villains wanted.
34	* Remember, Wily became evil because his pride was hurt. Meaning if he won, it would be more or less just to prove he's better than Dr. Light. If he won, mankind would probably just have to deal with his ego for a couple decades until Dr. Wily dies (he's already quite old). Compare that with the nigh-undying [[WellIntentionedExtremist Sig]][[KillAllHumans ma]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe Doc]][[FantasticRacism tor]] [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans Weil]], and [[RootingForTheEmpire you'll be rooting for Dr. Wily in no time]].
35	* Think of the attitudes humanity has towards genuinely non-violent robots: in ''9'', we see the Robot Masters are still online when Wily finds them. In ''X6'', Gate's Reploids are killed off due to their potential risks instead of merely reassigned; in the context of this series, robots are basically sentient, so humans are willing to leave living people ''to basically starve to death, or outright kill them, out of convenience.'' Yet, people like Dr. Wily and Weil get to live, with no "kill on sight" orders established before being captured. How ''horrifically'' skewed are humanity's priorities towards robots and humans to even allow this to happen? The worst part about this? This means that Dr. Weil's BreakingSpeech ''[[StrawmanHasAPoint has ground]]''. [[HumansAreBastards Only humans understand the joy of power, indeed.]]
36	** Even worse, the Official Complete Works states that it was the Eight Gentle Judges that Weil created who sentenced him to exile. Humanity not only didn't have it in them to pass judgement on a fellow human for his horrific crimes and left it to the Reploids to solve for them, but they gave his fate up to something he could easily have manipulated, to which it's stated [[BrainwashedAndCrazy he did]]. They basically handed Dr. Weil his long-term revenge plans on a silver platter by giving him the perfect out to exploit, because no one wanted to take responsibility or charge on any of it. And yet they put him in a regenerating armor that kept him alive, just so [[AndIMustScream he could die over and over again to suffer for eternity]], not only justifying said vengeance further but showing a gross incompetence for immortalizing a madman and an almost petty and vindictive attempt at punishment only humans could have chosen to inflict upon another human... the exact thing Weil attempts to do in ''Zero 4'' by giving humanity a slow, torturous extinction. Weil is a monster of his own making, and yet humanity's decisions in regards to him only help reiterate that he's the worst of a complacent and vengeful humanity.
37	** Speaking of a monster of his own making, the entire reason Dr. Weil caused the Elf Wars in the first place was because of his indignant anger over the Reploids getting a slap on the wrist because the Maverick Virus was cured. While not wholly justified, given the nature of a corruptive computer virus that makes one BrainwashedAndCrazy versus the ambiguity with someone claiming they were JustFollowingOrders, it also means Weil himself had vindication, as he was likely only one of many humans enraged about the aftermath of the Maverick Wars (which consists of several large-scale conflicts and a ''ColonyDrop'' that devastated the planet's ecosystem), and the persecution of Reploids in the ''Zero'' series' present only further proves him right. And as the villains of ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' would go on to show, there really would be more people willing to commit atrocities in the name of what they believe in; Weil may be the absolute worst of the ''Mega Man'' franchise, but put anyone in his shoes and the series goes to show that ''any human'' could become another Weil.
38	* Weil's "warning shot" with the Ragnarok was the only reason Zero & co. were able to defeat him. If Weil had just kept his mouth shut and improved his aim (which he had plenty of time for, since he was presumed dead from the destruction of Neo Arcadia), he could have used that shot to annihilate Area Zero ''or'' the Resistance base where Zero and Ciel were at the time. That's right, if it weren't for the VillainBall, [[TheBadGuyWins Weil would have won]], [[YouAreTooLate right then]], [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt right there]], [[DownerEnding with nothing you could do about it]].
39	* From the manual: Weil was among the scientists who tried to resolve the Maverick Wars; specifically, he and his colleagues studied Zero's empty body. However, while Ciel's ancestor studied Zero's cognitive program for a cure, Dr. Weil viewed Zero's body as the ideal weapon to end the wars and used it to develop Omega, while Ciel's ancestor created the Mother Elf, which would be used by the original X to purge the Sigma Virus for good. Dr. Weil then proposed Project Elpizo, a plan to combine the Mother Elf with Omega to exert control over all Reploids. This put Dr. Weil at odds with X's ideals of coexistence between humans and Reploids. Undeterred, Dr. Weil placed a "curse" on the Mother Elf that turned her into the Dark Elf, and created clones named Baby Elves to control Reploids and make them fight each other in a massive battle royale. The panic and destruction caused the people to favor Project Elpizo, but X and Zero (whose program was put in a new body) recaptured the Dark Elf, forcing Dr. Weil to unleash Omega in the battlefield. Omega would move on to slay a large number of humans and Reploids before being finally defeated by X and Zero. Omega was sent away to Earth's orbit in the Forbidden Ark, while a group of humans converted Dr. Weil into a cyborg and cursed him to wander the wastelands of Earth as punishment for his crimes.\
40	Now remember when he said "I am The Devil"? Now consider these: Being one of the good guys at the start? Check. Being envious to one of the good guys that solved all the problems? Check. Cursing the tool (i.e the Mother Elf) that was previously used for peace, and created an AntiChrist to wreak chaos, just to spite said good guy? Check. Being banished to "hell" after all he had done? Check. [[MemeticMutation Falls from the "heaven"]] [[Franchise/StreetFighter like]] [[LargeHam lightning]]? Double check. Said good guy sacrificed himself to stop the whole mess? Check. Now sum them up, and then you'll think of him as ''[[{{Satan}} Lucifer, a.k.a. the Devil itself]].''
41	* Because of the destruction of Neo Arcadia, where else would the Resistance take the survivors but to Area Zero? (The presence of Colbor, the leader of the rescue team, in the Caravan's campsite during the ending supports this logic.) If so, then Weil's ColonyDrop wouldn't just destroy the environment and those dissidents in the Caravan. So much for a slow and painful death as Weil wanted the Neo Arcadians to go through.
42	* The fact that the rank-and-file Pantheon troops look like CyberCyclops versions of X. Zero spends three games butchering robotic mockeries of his best friend en masse.
43	** Concept art shows that at one point in development those cyclops eyes were mind-control masks placed on unwilling Reploids to make them loyal soldiers. Yikes.
44	* The Retirement Facility is already creepy enough with dead Reploids everywhere, but once Weil takes over, there’s probably also bloody dead human remains in there too.
45	* In ''Zero 3'', Omega is powerful enough to release a world wide signal that mind controls any reploid on Earth, and just when it seems like Zero will have to kill the Resistance members who have fallen prey to this, X shows up and knocks all of them out. Not only does X knock them out but he puts shielding around the Resistance Base, making it immune to Omega's signal. Consider for a moment that Omega has access to Zero's original body and the Dark Elf, making him arguably the most powerful machine in the entire franchise's history, and even without a body X is powerful enough to shield against Omega's signal. This speaks volumes of how powerful X became after the Elf Wars, that even a shadow of himself, and in a form where he's actively dying and losing his ability to manifest in the real world, he's still capable of doing that. If the real X had become the tyrant of Neo-Arcadia rather than a copy, he would be a danger on par with Omega, and arguably even worse.

Context Fridge / MegaManZero