Headscratchers for the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series.

'''Spoilers ahead!''' You have been warned.

[[index]]
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManX2''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManX4''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManX5''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManX6''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManX8''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManXCommandMission''
* ''Headscratchers/MegaManMaverickHunterX''
[[/index]]

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* So, Reploids are defined by their complete free will and advanced thought processes. However, not all Reploids are created the same - while many of them are built like humans, there are also Reploids specifically built like animals or plants or what may have you. Because of their free will, do there exist procedures to transform one's mechanical body into another form, akin to gender transitioning? Was Chill Penguin a humanoid Reploid who decided to get his body converted into that of a penguin's? Or if he was "born" a penguin, would he be able to get converted into a humanoid?
** Additionally, we see that characters have their bodies rebuilt and upgraded on various occasions, from Zero to Sigma to Vile. However, the similar technology of DNA resurrection is supposedly illegal. So would these body-creating procedures even be legal? What kind of impacts would this have on Reploid society? How far does their supposed free will go?
** What about mass-produced Reploids, such as the scores of visually-identical Reploids seen in factions such as Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters? What would it be like to be part of an army of clones? Would they really have free will if they are constructed for a specific task? Would they be able to quit and alter their body to fit another job better?
*** This is somewhat explored with Marino from ''Command Mission''. An NPC recognizes her as a model, implying that she was once a fashion model who somehow got into the corporate espionage business.
* Related to the above, Reploids are distinguished from robots by their free will. So, does that mean that the original Mega Man from ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' had no free will? Was our childhood hero a slave to his design? Was he unable to disobey Dr. Light's commands? If he were a Reploid, would he still choose to serve Dr. Light?
** We see robots in ''Mega Man Classic'' exercise free will on multiple occasions. For example, King made his own army to free robots from human suppressors, Blues ran away from Dr. Light, and Bass has rebelled against Wily multiple times. These were not intended results by their creators. I believe Reploids are distinguished by possessing free will ''by design'', not due to glitches.
*** Arguably those three examples were all still following their programming. The twist is that King was being ordered by Wily to make his robot army (though King really did desire freedom), Blues was following self-preservation protocol lest he be dismantled, and Bass was proving he is the strongest robot to Wily by defeating all the others. Were those decisions really free will?
*** Also, each of those examples was still acting within a predefined set of parameters, within which they had somewhat free will. For example, Blues was acting within the constraints of "Preserve your own existence", but he also came to the independent decision on HOW. Whereas Reploids have truly free will, and no preset parameters (for example, whereas a Robot might feel despair, self-preservation protocols would prevent them from trying to die. Whereas a Reploid has no such protocol.
*** What about robots like Tundra Man and Bounce Man who chose to change their careers? Do they count as free will, even though their choices were ultimately harmless?
** This has more to do with obeying the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]] than having general free will. In the ''Classic'' series, robots are totally incapable of harming humans because their programming outright forbids it. Wily's MO is to remove that limitation and make them evil on purpose (e.g. Tundra Man was free to change jobs as he pleased, but he couldn't attack humans until Wily got to him). Conversely, Reploids are not technologically bound by the Three Laws at all - without this moral restriction hard-wired into them, the Three Laws are just guidelines that Reploids are expected to follow. This makes them more human, but also ''much'' more dangerous.
* ''Why'' couldn't Dr. Light have asked Dr. Cossack to help him build X? He's obviously a skilled robotics expert with a good working relationship with Dr. Light, and he would've lived long enough to activate X after the 30 year testing phase. Also, the opening of the first X game, which is a century after the Classics series, shows the year 2114 on Dr. Cain's equipment, meaning X, at the very least, is sealed on September 18, 2014. There's no reason to assume Dr. Cossack is unable to care for X.
** My guess is that Dr. Light wanted to keep X a secret from everyone else. Why? Because like he said himself, making a robot with the ability to act and think completely for itself can be a very dangerous thing. If ''any'' information of X leaked out, it would have possibly become a disaster, or so he thinks. With his years going through, it may be justified that the good ol' doctor wants to give humanity its last hope, and doesn't want to mess that up.
*** Why didn't Dr Light himself work on X? His hologram is, at the very least, a replica of his astounding intellect. Similar to Wily, Light should be able to create a robot clone to continue his work. Plus he has Auto to help, and given X3 Auto managed to live long enough for it.
*** Auto being alive in X3 was just a mythology gag. Still, it's hard to believe that the world's foremost expert on robotics doesn't have a single apprentice or colleague he trusts enough to carry on with X, or that he couldn't have built a robot designed specifically to wake X up when the time came. Light seems to have just left X in his capsule hidden away for any random person to find, which is very irresponsible of him IMO and [[NiceJobBreakingItHero as it turned out indirectly caused the events of the X series due to Dr. Cain imperfect attempts at copying him,]] something an apprentice or former colleague would've been equipped to avoid doing.
** Well, the continuity nonsense with new games negating stuff that was supposed to be true aside, at a best guess he could have had someone who would take care of X. I mean, if you think about it, Roll was someone who would have been able to take care of it and as a personal robot of Dr. Light she would have been suitable ... and yet, if you think about it a bit more, whoever he did choose, be it Roll or be it anyone else, would likely be a robot who would not tell anyone else what their purpose was and as such those who came after Dr. Light might have decided to deactivate them because to them they served no purpose.
** It is possible that he didn't choose any of his robots because of the Expiration Date law established in Megaman 9. So that leads to the possibility that Roll and any of the other Light Numbers were taken out of service before or after he started working on X.
* So what's the deal with Redips and Spider? Was posing as Redips Spider the whole time you've seen him (including the boss fight)?
** I honestly believe so, just nudging the heroes along with his plan.
** [[AceOfScarabs I]] believe that the original Spider was indeed in your party early in the game. At one point, Redips would have killed him and assumed his identity, then faked his death so that he could shuck the disguise.
** There's three theories - 1. Redips killed Spider and assumed his identity before the game even started; 2. Spider was real with his first encounter with X and then Redips took his form so he could get close to X; 3. It was the real Spider until mid-way through the game.
** According to the Mega Man Database, [[WordOfGod Capcom confirmed that number 3 is the case]] (specifically, the cutscene before the start of chapter 6 where X sees Spider come out of a blue light is when Redips began to impersonate Spider).
### Except in the cutscene during chapter 3 upon arrival at Tianna Camp, a mission implied to be an ''immediate'' order following chapter 2, Spider is clearly uncomfortable taking orders from Chief R (despite having no beef with him plus any all indication being the R is specifically a ''strategy Reploid''), and even blurts out that he has "his own goals". X catches this, and part of his excuse is "no more small time work".
### Except the cutscene before chapter 5 has Redips suddenly "losing communication" after informing X that he was able to reach Zero for a moment at point A6 (the Preon factory with Mach Jentra), then Spider showing up, being questioned by X on where he's been, and saying vaguely that he's been around.
### Except during the onset to chapter 10, if X talks to Marino, she says she once learned that Spider was at a place where they researched copy chips.
### Except that after attacking Zero as Spider in chapter 10, while switching back to Redips he says it was "exhausting playing buddy-buddy with you twerps". (This particularly defeats theory 3, as it would make no sense for one mission as Spider concluding with fake death would be particularly exhausting for a [[HiddenEvil Hidden]] [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]].)
### Except right after the previous example, Zero asks himself how badly his team's been duped, with the apparent light bulb going off in his head being that Spider as they've known him has always been Redips.
### Except that Spider/Redips is a clear case of SdrawkcabName, and that is ''never'' just a coincidence.
** In the face of all this evidence toward theory 1, no wiki can just say Capcom confirmed one of the others and not actively show where this was said for it to be accepted as WordOfGod.
** So about that blue light that marks Spider's transformation... doesn't it ever occur to X that he's seen that light before?
** Check out the game's [[WMG/MegaManXCommandMission WMG page]] for more info - they left it ambiguous on purpose. And this time, it has a ''sourced'' interview with the developers.

* Speaking of Repliforce -- why in god's name did they put their pride above being reasonable? They could have been programmed to be prideful, but since reploids still have free will, they voluntarily chose to take a course of action that would mark them as Mavericks. And... why exactly?
** HonorBeforeReason.
** TooDumbToLive.
** And maybe Sigma's subtle influence could have had something to do with it. Perhaps he convinced them at, in a time of crisis where trust in them was put in doubt the humans wouldn't be very fond of Repliforce so they'd be better off on their own.
*** Yeah, but why didn't they mention concerns about the Maverick Hunters/Humanity if that was the case? If you're worried about a disproportionate response, saying you're not coming in due to pride while suspected of a massacre is only going to not provoke that disproportionate response in as much as now you really do appear belligerent and dangerous.
* Why doesn't Command Mission acknowledge something as minor as, oh, ''Zero being immune/empowered to/by viruses since at least X5''? The fact he loses LE while in virus state doesn't make sense! He eats the Sigma Virus for breakfast! He's the Typhoid Mary of Reploids! And then a measly generic virus gets through his defenses!?
** He isn't immune to viruses. He's immune to viruses that derive from his own body/programming. The Sigma virus is a product of Sigma being infected by and fusing with pre-[[AmnesiacDissonance amnesia]] Zero; it only makes sense that he's immune to that virus. Viruses not so derived affect him the same way any other 'bot would.
** Not to mention that he's a very, ''very'' old reploid at this point -- eventually an advanced virus would come along that would screw up his body despite any immunity he may have. Like if you made a computer today that was immune to all viruses, but then subjected it to the mercy of virus made a century in the future.
** Also, maybe his body would have chowed down on those viruses -- ''given enough time''. In the meantime, his ability to fight has been compromised and that means he doesn't have the luxury to wait until the virus quits screwing with his systems.
* What caused X's hand to glow with a blue energy strong enough to ''scar Sigma'' during the Day of Sigma movie? Was it something X did consciously? Was it a part of X's ability to 'evolve'? And if you want to be really nerdy, is it like his Hadoken upgrade somehow?
** It's the "limitless potential" Light was talking about moments before. Also doubles as a nice reference to ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', intentional or otherwise; especially considering X was voiced by Domon in that movie.
** X is charging his hand with X-Buster energy to augment a melee attack--an ability he'll later adapt into many of his {{Game Breaker}}s. He isn't the first to do this, either; Mega Man also used Buster-charged kicks and punches in the rare occasions that he's been in melee combat.
** X had ''literally'' disarmed himself of his X-Buster moments prior. Turning his hand into an improvised weapon is exactly the kind of adaptational and evolutionary potential that got Sigma so interested in him. It was just meant to show how special X is.
* What exactly ''is'' the Light hologram? Is it just a smart AI designed by Light? Is a direct copy of his mind? Is it actually him in a 'ghost in the shell' existence? And why the hell does Capcom go from Light having a conversation with Zero and saving X and then back to being a mere recording?
** The hologram is obviously either an uploaded Dr Light or an A.I. that emulates him, otherwise he could never have repaired X after ''X5''. The times when the hologram appears to be a recording? Clearly Holo-Light has gone [[Series/RedDwarf computer senile]].
*** Or, Light has decided that his guidance is unnecessary, and that X and Zero are on their own.
* Did Light actually create all of these armours before he died, or is the hologram capable of creating more over time? If so, where and how is he making them?
** One thing to note is the location of the capsules. They appear on places that simply didn't exist in 20XX, the most blatant exemple being the capsule in the Dinosaur Tank in X2, which is a mobile, modern airship! They probably teleport near to X's location, but it was never explicitly stated.
** Maybe the hologram capsule is capable in creating armour. If Dr Light can develop a robot that people 100 years can't fully decode and transfer his consciousness into the world of the virtual, it stands to reason he can build a more hands-on vessel. That, or just copy Wily's spring-neck robots.
* Okay Zero. You're harbouring a serious suspicion that your commander might be involved in the latest crisis consuming the city. You admit to having a really bad feeling when HQ tells you that you can't contact said suspicious commander. You're so sure he's up to something you saw his attack coming when he tried to stab you in the back. And it never once occurred to you that maybe ''you should have told X about these suspicions''? God knows how the incident in the missile silo would have gone if X had ''also'' been ready for Sigma to pull something.
** Zero already knew that X was a bit of a worrier. Perhaps he didn't want to give him something else to worry about before confirming his suspicions.
** Zero also knew that X is TooDumbToLive about things like this. X doesn't think through his actions before carrying them out, and so does stupid things like [[LeeroyJenkins run in to confront the villain by himself without proof, plan, or backup]]. The HopelessBossFight with Vile in the intro level is exactly the scenario Zero is trying to avoid by not talking to X about Sigma.
* What ''is'' Sky Lagoon? We know that it's a floating ... thing of some sorts, but what the hell is it?
** It looks like a floating city to me.
* Why was the Rebellion Army's Maverick status deferred at the end of Command Mission? While it is true that Redips manipulated everybody and the Rebellion might have been falsely accused Maverick at the start, the Rebellion did ''more'' than enough to earn the label. They took over Giga City, ruthlessly oppressed its citizens (including the torture of the original Massimo), acted like general psychopaths, and then planned to launch a missile that would spread SFM over the area to make normal reploids 'evolve' whether they wanted to or not (but would most likely send most of them insane). Redips didn't manipulate them to do ''any'' of those things; they chose to do it. Just because it turns out Redips was behind it all and the Rebellion ''thought'' that they were [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremists]] doesn't excuse any of their actions. (Even Scarface, noble as he was, didn't think twice of shooting that missile and dooming thousands to insanity.) They're Mavericks, plain and simple.
** I want to note that it was only ''Epsilon'' who was deferred, not the entire Rebellion Army.
** I've pondered this as well, and I wonder if it is partially to do with "Choice vs. Programming". Redips chose to turn Maverick so he could rule over everyone else as a God. In so doing, any information he gave the others would likely have a very strong bias towards defeating Epsilon and the Rebellion to further his ends. Epsilon, on the other hand, appears to have been subject to some sort of programming issue, if I read the error message back in Lagrano correctly. (If I did read it correctly, he was probably programmed by a distant cousin of the technician who programmed G0-T0 in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''.) It almost seems like he was programmed with some kind of order that caused him to go off the deep end (and likely take any connected Reploids with him), something that his programming would find impossible to achieve without causing a rebellion. If it was something as innate as programming, then the higher-ups could likely annotate the records associated with him in such a manner. As for the Supra-Force Missile, remember that the Rebellion knew quite a bit about the movements of the Resistance (as the trap in Giamala Mine can show). I wouldn't be surprised if Epsilon had plants/spies/sympathizers in relatively good positions in the government who could feed him useful information. Couple that with the damage the Hunters have been doing to the Rebellion Army's operations, and I wouldn't be surprised if Epsilon and Co. were getting a wee bit desperate. Not to excuse them, but you know what they say about desperate times...
*** You mean that perhaps in the future, the Federation would distinguish between reploids that chose to be Mavericks and reploids that were simply buggy, and only gave true 'Maverick' status to the former? That's a pretty neat idea. I don't remember that report on Epsilon's programming errors, but it makes sense if he was crazy -- SFM kinda tends to do that.
*** It was something very easy to gloss over, as it wasn't anything terribly specific, but I recall the output saying that an "error" had occurred. Also, going back to the original question about Epsilon's Maverick status being deferred, I've been thinking on it more as I've been replaying the game. I noticed that, up until the SFM-missile comes into play, the core Rebellion cadre (Epsilon, Scarface, Ferham, Botos to a degree) don't commit acts of the same nature as those committed by the earlier bosses (Wild Jango up through Incentas). It makes me wonder if Epsilon had given them specific orders that they at least partially disregarded, whether in the hopes of currying Epsilon's favor or because they felt it was necessary. As examples, seeing as how Chief R. and the original Steel Massimo were seen as symbols for the Resistance's cause, it wouldn't make sense (at least, not to me) to target them, asides from maybe imprisoning them in an attempt to get them to see the Rebellion's side. They would be seen as martyrs if they were killed, and that would likely strengthen the support for the Resistance. However, the fact that they were targeted, whether by imprisonment/bomb threat (R.) or by torture (Massimo), it makes me wonder how privy Epsilon was to the minutae of his underlings' missions, or how dense he was if he ordered them to be targeted.
** Was the entire Rebellion's Maverick status revoked, or just Epsilon's core cadre? Because most of the evil that's done is due to JerkAss underlings like Silver Horn, whom the cadre probably just didn't have time to deal with.
* As I've played through Command Mission, this has kind of nagged at me. Are all of the bosses you face throughout the game the cadre, or is that title reserved for Epsilon and his "Inner Circle" (Scarface, Ferham, Botos)? The prior bosses refer to themselves as being part of the "Rebellion Army", but Botos clearly states he is "a cadre of the Rebellion Army". I know the cadre is a subsect of the Rebellion Army, but what's the difference?
** Botos, Scarface, and Ferham are the cadre, the special elite inner circle working closely with Epsilon. Wild Jango, Silver Horn, Dr. Psyche, Mach Jentra, Incentas, and Duckbill Mole are the top soldiers/scientists/commanders of the Rebellion, with all of the other Reploids and Mechaniloids as their minions. Note that Rafflesian, the Beladonnas, and Ninetails are not part of the Rebellion, and Depth Dragoon is one of Redips' underlings.
* According to the backstory, Zero is the commander of the #00 unit, also known as the Shinobi or 'ninja' unit. Now, obviously, shinobi need to blend into their surroundings, not attract attention, be stealthy, and so forth, right? Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Zero is '''fire-engine red'''. He's got nearly six feet of golden hair, a glowing beam sabre, and a set of incredibly flashy martial arts moves. How in the ''christ'' is he supposed to be a shinobi? He's obviously ''designed'' to draw attention by being a loud, intimidating, awe-inspiring death machine. Not exactly the kind of guy you'd send in to sneak into a Maverick base. If anyone is best for the Shinobi unit, it'd be X -- he's small, has subdued colors, a wide range of specialist weapons, and lots of restraint. This is even demonstrated in the early games; Zero rushes in first to blow shit up/attract attention, X sneaks in behind him to go after Sigma. If anything, Zero would be the leader of the [[HotBlooded Berserker Unit]] or -- as I would call it -- Rush In Guns Blazing And Scaring The Shit Out Of Everyone Unit.
** So the Shinobi unit is really the HighlyVisibleNinja unit.
*** Basically yeah. Except, like I should have mentioned, Zero hardly acts like a ninja either. Marino ''was'' a ninja at least, despite being bright pink.
*** It could just have been a nickname.
** It's also referred to as "Special Operations Unit 0".
** It could be theorized that more subtle colors don't work as well on Reploids as they do on human eyes. They also come from a time with more advanced technology available to them. Remember, they most likely have sensors built into their systems and bases that can see past less noticeable colors. Zero may be highly visible, but he's been shown to be very quick and may be very good at evading certain systems meant to detect intruders. His systems may also contain components that make him less detectable.
** It could be possible that Zero is more the exception than the rule, and the rest of the shinobi unit does fit the expected profile better, that being said, it also implies they have the [[FragileSpeedster expected strengths and weaknesess of a warrior designed to be light and agile]]. Also note that [[GameplayAndStorySegregation even in the PS1 games and Zero series]], [[GlassCannon Zero can deal big amounts of damage, but he doesn't react very well when receiving it himself]]; this troper would expect the ninja unit to be even more fragile. It's probable that their battle strategy involves Zero acting as a bait, calling the attention of most enemies to one point, calling the strongest members of the enemy forces to try to [[NeverSayDie retire him]] while the rest of the unit goes to do whatever business they are doing there (infiltrating, retreiving data, retiring their objetive) taking advantage of the fact that most threats to the mission are busy fighting with their unit leader, who [[PersonOfMassDestruction has a reputation of]] [[OneManArmy taking entire armies by himself]].
*** This strongly seems the case that Zero is the exception, especially considering the other known members of the unit are as follows: Magna Centipede (who was commander of the unit before Zero), Blast Hornet, and a pre-Repliforce Web Spider. These three are very much like typical shinobi as portrayed in pop culture, especially Magna Centipede. Centipede could cling to ceilings, throw shuriken, teleport, and used a virus that could disable functions of his opponents like a nerve toxin. Don't remember much about hornet, but he does resemble a ninja in appearance, and the sub boss for his stage is named Shurikein (which looks and acts exactly how it sounds, basically a projectile instead of an enemy). Finally we have Spider, who of course could climb very well, rappel from ceilings, stun opponents with his electric webs, and most definitely could climb along most vertical surfaces. Zero didn't become commander of the unit until after X2, which was the game that Centipede went maverick, so maybe a rift needed to be filled somehow and he was one of the best hunters to where his strength could stand on its own to make up for his lack of stealth in special ops.
** I wikisurfed the other day, and might have found an explanation for it: they infiltrate, in the same way SWAT teams infiltrate. They break in and overcome the enemy before anyone can react, and that way the typical "ninja" stealth isn't really required as long as you can overwhelm. And Zero is, honestly, built around being visually overwhelming, between fire-engine red and that giant yellow puff that his hair is in most games.
*** That's what I thought. I couldn't find the exact term, but there is a 'shock and awe' tactic that you just described, where the unit only needs to be unseen long enough to get into position before they charge in through the windows in a massive wave of dynamic force. And since it's Zero, whose reputation would precede him by a ''lot'', the Mavericks inside would only be able to go "Oh holy shit it's Zero --" before he shreds them into pieces. It'd basically be a small-scale Blitzkrieg on the poor bastards.
* Zero and X become the leaders of the Maverick Hunters in X1/MHX and X2 respectively, according to the manual. But how can they be the leaders when they're on the field fighting during those two games? You may argue that Sigma was the leader of the Hunters and he still went off to fight (against Maverick Zero, for example), but that was back when the Hunters were still essentially reploid cops. But the games are about full-blown ''wars'', which necessitates someone staying behind to coordinate battle plans and such -- someone like Signas, basically. Even if there was no one else to take the job except for them, it's really not plausible.
** They were commanders of their units, not of the Hunters as a whole. The real question is, where the eff are the ''rest'' of the 17th and 00th units.
*** The entire 17th Unit besides X and Zero defected with Sigma in X1. And the 00th Unit ARE ninjas...
*** The only known members of the 00th unit either defected or were corrupted by the Maverick Virus. Kinda a bad track record for both teams...
*** Well, various well-known wikis, like Network and the Wikia, have mentioned X leading the Hunters in X2 in numerous places. Not to mention that Sigma was the commander of the 17th ''and'' the leader of the Hunters at the same time. Since I've never gotten my hands on the earlier games myself, I've kinda had to rely on wikis to get the full story.
*** Considering in-story X was never more than a B-class Hunter (until X8 or so), who was known for his hesitation in battle, if he was the Hunters' leader in those games, it was probably a de facto thing because there just weren't many of them around in the first place.
*** I suppose so, yeah. Although I wonder who was leading the Hunters during X3 and X4. I don't think it was ever stated anywhere ...
*** Dr. Cain led the Maverick Hunters after Sigma went Maverick for X1 through X3. By X4, he had retired/passed away and someone else, most likely a Reploid, had taken over. After the Repliforce debacle, that person resigned and Signas stepped in and has led the Hunters ever since.
** The titles were probably de facto/honorary. While they were only Commanders in rank, (Captains post X5), they still commanded a great deal of respect, and likely had clout to go with it.
* The naming for secondary characters. Was "Alia" supposed to be "Aria" to go with the music theme? And it sounds really out of place to have a guy with a name as normal as Douglas (though I'm guessing that one was supposed to be funny).
*** It could be a reference for something. Capcom never really was too good with names concerning the X series.
** Besides, the music theme naming seems restricted to the classic series, so Alia fitting in would be more than a bit odd.
*** Yep. As far as name themes go, X, Zero, and Sigma could be thought of as being based on math. Then there's the X5 Mavericks, who were named for Guns N' Rose members. Alia ''was'' introduced in X5, but she would've been the only non-Maverick with a music related name, though her musical name would've been completely unrelated to the others, which would probably be symbolic... Anywho, that's it for theme names, as far as I know.
** In Japanese, and in X8 at least, the A in Alia is pronounced like the the letter "A" rather than a soft vowel, so misromanization of "Aria" is right out.
*** I like to think sometimes that Alia's name and pronounciation on both sides is a reference to "Area", though that's just me. The way Japanese people say it would sound similar.
** On the main page, Alia is mentioned in connection with two other girls named Layer and Palette. Anyone who has ever used Photoshop should see a theme there. Surely you've heard of "Aliasing" before?
* Can someone explain how theses robots (is that really what they are?) have DNA? Are they suppose to be semi-organic? Biotech? Or some form of super nanite machines? Seriously... I can understand the ZX series stating boldly that humans and reploids have merged over time to become so similar that there are no differences anymore... they both live, die, have metallic, organic, and similar functional systems. But that's not until the 26th century and well noted that this didn't take place until after Zero saves the day as one of the BigDamnHeroes in the 24t century according to the time line, which doesn't happen until some long time after the X series.
** It's possible that Reploids have a special type of programming that's referred to as "DNA Data" because it acts in a similar manner to organic DNA (storing all of the information of the Reploid: height, weight, abilities, personality, etc).
** That makes sense I suppose, thanks!
** Another reason is, it's easier and faster to type that than "Blueprint".
*** Yes, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint because "deoxyribonucleic acid" just rolls off the tongue like a greased marble off an icy precipice]].
*** Xtreme 2 explains it, actually! Iris coins the term DNA Soul and explains that it's because what the Erasure erased is very similar to human DNA. Which makes the "blueprint" explanation valid!
* How the smeg was Cain able to replicate X as well as he did? We know the reploid creation process only produced inferior-to-X products until Ciel managed a perfect Copy X and guardians, but how did Cain manage to create ''anything'' robotic and self-aware at ''all'' with degrees in ''botany and archaeology''?
** Perhaps there are robotic plants? In MMX5 (heck, even in X1), we've seen forest where the trees have cybernetic implants, so it's possible that part of the curriculum of a botanist of the year 21XX includes some knowledge on robotics. As for the archaeology, it may be similar to the "Diggers" on the Legends series, explorers who look for/accidentally find ancient technology and bring it back to the surface to be analyzed and used.
* ''Why'' couldn't Dr. Light entrust X to Dr. Cossack? Dr. Cossack has built at least nine high-end robots (the MM4 bosses and Beat), has good moral character (loving father), and is considerably younger than Dr. Light (seems to be in his 30's). Also, the opening of the first X game, which is a century after the Classics series, shows the year 2114 on Dr. Cain's equipment, meaning X, at the very least, is sealed on September 18, 2014. There's no reason to assume Dr. Cossack is unable to care for X.
** We don't know if Cossack is still alive when Light made X, or when he is sealed. Or perhaps Light just kept it a secret. And of course, the reason he sealed X is because he (X) has full human emotions and freedom, as well as limitless potentials, and Light feared the potential that his magnum opus will instead be a grave threat to the world, so he gave X the 30-year morality testing inside the seal. Giving X to Cossack would result in a different X.
*** Mega Man's ending in the arcade title "VideoGame/MegaManThePowerBattle", which is after MM7, has Dr. Light state he needs to research more into AI to prevent the uprisings Wily causes, as a robot that can ''choose'' right or wrong is better than a simple robot that can be reprogrammed. This is when Cossack, who was in an [[http://www.themmnetwork.com/community/index.php?showtopic=2055 official prequel manga for MM9]], could've been brought on board. Even if Dr. Light insisted on the testing period before X could be activated, that would still give Dr. Cossack 30 years to study X's design.
*** I don't know much about how roboticists carry out independent work, but I'm pretty sure that Dr. Light wouldn't be able to convince Cossack to study X for that long. Think about this: if you were a scientist, especially a younger scientist (say, in your 30's), and an old, OLD colleague came up to you asking about whether you'd be interested in taking on a full-time, 30 year project they couldn't finish, how would you feel about it? You wouldn't agree to do it, and even if you did, you wouldn't be happy. You could either help your friend, and take on a lifetime of their own work that they'll undoubted get all the credit for in the end anyway, or you could politely refuse and say you're busy with a project of your own. After all, you may well be working on a new robot or something else. What about that? Your project will almost certainly have a greater chance of success in the future than this shady-sounding business; you're not going to throw everything away for a pipe dream! Besides, imagine if you were Cossack. He doesn't just have a career to uphold, he also has a daughter to raise. He needs to know where the next meals are coming from, and he needs to know exactly what kind of work to do to buy those meals. Work like this wouldn't have a guaranteed payoff attached to it - who's going to pay him when Light's dead? And what about budgeting? Even if he considered doing this favour to an old friend, he would still have to think about his family and their security.
* I wonder if X is an upgrade of the original Mega Man or a totally different robot. If the latter, then what happened to the original Mega Man?
** WordOfGod josses the possibility that Mega Man X is the same as the original Mega Man. As for what happened to the original? We simply don't know at this point.
*** It's like a hundred years later, and machinery does not last indefinitely, especially complex ones. I tend to think Rock, Roll, and the others simply succumbed to robot old age.
*** Iirc, canon states that original Mega Man became Quint from Mega Man II on the Game Boy.
* Something that I was always curious about is how organic are the human look-alike robots like X, Zero, or Axl? We never see them without their armor, and when they get blown up we end up seeing robotic innards. Is the skin like the Terminator in that it is genuine organic flesh over a robotic skeleton, or is there a degree of bio-mechanical parts where it's hard to tell where the flesh begins and the machinery begins?
** You're completely wrong; Reploids' body are 100% mechanical. Their minds are humanlike.
*** I understand that their minds are like that of a human, X and all machines based off of him have free will. I was asking about the skin because it looks real to me and not something fake like rubber.
*** I believe it's some sort of artificial skin; as in, it is composed of the materials of the natural skin itself, except that it's artificially made. BTW, somewhat related: reploids can "bleed", too. (The discussion is up above.)
*** Has to be some sort of crimson oil. They're androids.
* Wily was shown working on Zero during Bass' ending in ''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters'', so he'd apparently developed the Maverick Virus by that time, but but there's no exact chronology for the original games. Does this indicate that the Maverick virus an upgraded version of Wily's Roboenza virus, possibly by combining it with the Evil Energy? WordOfGod states he intended to use Zero to kill both the original Mega Man and [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Bass]], but that Zero proved to be too AxCrazy for Wily to control and was sealed away until Sigma found him,
* From some sources I've read, Wily was inspired by Dr. Light's X and built Zero based on him. Some other sources however stated that Wily started to make Zero first and Light tried to counter it with his own creation, X. Which one is right?
** Neither, as far as I can tell. Both seem to have been made independent of inspiration from the other.
* This is about the stage changes in Mega Man X. I can imagine that the destruction of Launch Octopus' base caused a minor tsunami that flooded the caves below Sting Chameleon's forest, and it's all but outright stated that when Storm Eagle was defeated, the Death Rogumer crashed into Spark Mandrill's power plant, but is there any sort of logical theory as to why defeating Chill Penguin would cause the lava/molten metal in Flame Mammoth's factory to freeze over?
** an Avalanche perhaps? also as for launch octopus you can also see behind his boss room some sort of redierction system, perhaps it was a dam/purification center, or some sort of generator that was stoling the water from Sting Chameleon's forest/swamp, after you defeat him, the water was returned to it's original location
* Maybe I'm missing something from the Playstation era that I'm not completely familiar with, but how the hell was Zero mistaken as a ''Reploid?'' X's original design was apparently never leaked, especially not to Wily himself else he would have built an army instead of just Zero. X's original design was then reverse-engineered to create Reploids, which then begin to go Maverick, and at the core of it all is a remarkably Reploid-like red robot. A robot that, after getting it's ass kicked, was reprogrammed and put to work hunting Mavericks. Did absolutely ''no one'' sufficiently analyse Zero? Did no one figure out that he wasn't manufactured in any known Reploid factory? Did anyone check his serial number? Either a lot of people were lazy when it came to ensuring that Zero was fit to enter Reploid society or Wily was a sufficient enough genius to develop a robot close enough to be mistaken for Reploid out of sheer coincidence.
** He was found long after X's discovery and Reploid manufactures, so yeah, maybe they just assume that he's just another (insanely powerful) Reploid at the time. And as long as he works and behaves like a (good) Reploid, then a Reploid he is (though I know he technically isn't). He only becomes good, somehow (the games put it in a slight ambiguity) after Sigma beats him unconscious. Oh, and the factory Zero was in looks old and abandoned, so I assume there isn't much things to investigate there?\\
On a second note, though, even X is referred to as a Reploid sometimes.
** Defining "Reploid" as "an android based on X's design", thereby excluding X and Zero, is (from my experience) only seen in [[AllThereInTheManual supporting material]]. The characters use the word much more loosely.
** Basically, in the MMX world, 'reploid' has become a generic term. Just like how 'droid', even though it's derived from 'android' meaning 'human like' is used to mean all robots in ''Franchise/StarWars'', even the ones that look like dumpsters. To the average people of the MMX world, 'reploid' just means 'sentient, free-willed robot', the same way all tissues are Kleenex and all copy machines are xeroxes.
** When you consider that the virus from Zero's body is capable of infecting reploids and, as shown in X5, harming X, Zero having a similar design to most reploids makes sense. There's also the fact that reploids are essentially fully sapient robot masters and both Wily and Light specialized in making them, so the two creating, at their core, two extremely similar robots isn't that farfetched.
* Why are there never any good-guy animal Reploids?
** Aside from Storm Eagle playing the double agent in some continuities, we see numerous once rescuing becomes a mechanic, specifically the [[http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Wolfloid Wolfloids]] in ''X6''.
** In the manga series for ''X3'', several of the eight Mavericks revert to normal and fight alongside X and Zero against Bit and Byte.
** In ''Command Mission'' there's the friendly Professor Gaudile who's a platypus. It's also implied that the original Steel Massimo was a dragon Reploid.
** The ''Zero'' series has non-Maverick animal Reploids, but only by the definition that they don't fight the law. They're still the Resistance's enemies.
** What about Repliforce? Just because they're not on your side doesn't mean they aren't good guys.
*** According to the manual, Repliforce was dubbed ineffective and potentially dangerous, and their actions during X4 included attacks and occupations of cities, the worst being Jet Stingray's ''decimation'' of one of them. That solidly puts their actions as at least grey, and at worst black.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation aside, is anyone able to think of a reason for why X has both Storm Tornado and Homing Torpedo when you fight him in [[VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX Maverick Hunter X]]? Vile was the one who killed Storm Eagle and Launch Octopus. I could understand X, Zero, and Axl sharing powers since it's implied that the Maverick Hunters are capable of analyzing and utilizing the reploid DNA collected after defeat bosses, but Vile was on his own and would never help them.
** What I'm thinking is that, perhaps, the 8 bosses you (as Vile) fought in the BossRush actually revived themselves, and X fought them and take their weapons from there. How did they revived themselves then? Maybe the boss rooms are in fact just HardLight simulations of the bosses that meant as defense. I may be wrong though.
* How come even though Sigma was deleted at the end of X3, he comes back somehow by X4? This plot point is never explained in either story.
** Backup of his programming somewhere?
** Fans have noticed that in the ending of X3, there was one extra beam out noise before the ending. Also, the next game in the timeline is Megaman Xtreme 2, where the villain Berkana is stealing Reploid data to resurrect dead Mavericks. The implication here is that Sigma survived enough to escape Doppler's lab, and Berkana brought him back.
* Reploids are robots, therefore they are unable to reproduce. So what's the point of making "female" Reploids?
** Aesthetics. Plus, reploids are fully capable of modifying their own bodies, what's to say they don't choose their own gender?
** You've also never seen sex dolls have you?
* OK, so all reploids are supposed to be imperfect copies of X and his technology. X was made near indistinguishable from humans and is therefore an android. Now explain to me please, the non-human characteristics almost all boss mavericks have. I mean several bosses can pass for humans and only have animal heads like Slash Beast, Flame Stag, Commander Yammark, etc. But then we have Armored Armadillo, Wire Sponge, Sting Chameleon, Web Spider, etc. who don't even look remotely human other than being bipedal.
** X was originally unique in that he was a fully sapient machine. That's the only thing that matters when being considered a reploid. Anything else that isn't his ability to truly be a person is window dressing. Copy X was a perfect copy of X and he could become that giant angel thing, and that was pretty non-human in appearance.
*** I'm not arguing design aesthetics or programming features, I'm arguing over semantics. Reploids are "Replicant Androids" because they are imperfect replicas of X, who is an android, which makes them androids as well. Android is defined as a robot that is built to look and act like a (male) human with the female androids being gynoids. So true named reploid villains can be counted on both hands and one foot. Sigma, Serges, Agile, Doppler, Bit, arguably Byte as well, Colonel, General, Iris, Double (in disguise), Dynamo, Gate, Red, Lumine, and Hi-Max. The heroes are more likely to be true reploids and usually unnamed characters fit the bill as well. But the number of maverick bosses that don't look human (more like anthromorphs) far outnumber the fifteen listed that are human looking.
*** Then your arguing is pointless because that is simply not the definition that the series uses. Reploid just refers to them having the same mental processes and free will as X. It has nothing, in universe, to do with physical design. That's your answer, and the answer's already been stated.
* How do laser swords know when to stop?
** It's probably a "laser" sword the same way a "light" saber is--that is, not a laser at all, but more likely some sort of plasma-based weapon.
** Ask ''[[Headscratchers/StarWars Star Wars]]'' or literally any other media with the LaserBlade trope.
* In Mega Man X: Legacy Collection's X Challenge mode, sometimes, if you defeat Iris, instead of her simply blowing up and lying on the floor, the ghost of Colonel will appear and take her away. Also, defeating the entire mode on the Hard Difficulty will unlock a poster of Iris. Is Capcom trying to toss us a hint here as to Iris' possible return to the series?
** Possibly, but it might have to do with her popularity. The reason she appeared in Xtreme 2 is that the staff felt bad for what happened to her in X4. It might be why she didn't explode in the challenge mode - she's too popular to go out like that.
* How does Sigma keep coming back so consistently? Why doesn't this happen to every other Reploid who's died, like Iris or Gate? They even still had both of their bodies intact. Can't they just rebuild bodies for their friends, like the Mavericks keep doing for Sigma? Or Vile or Zero, for that matter?
** It's possible that the reason Sigma is so easy to resurrect is because of his connection to the Sigma Virus. After Sigma's death in ''X1'', the X-Hunters spend most of ''X2'' working on reviving him out of loyalty to his cause. Then he dies in ''X2'', but his virus manages to infect Dr. Doppler in ''X3'', resulting in Doppler reviving him again. He dies again in ''X3'', even being neutralized by Doppler's vaccine... but yeah, his reappearance in ''X4'' is totally unexplained. You got me there. And it seems like after ''X4'' they don't bother trying to explain his reappearances at all, besides in ''X6'' and briefly in ''X8''. Yeah I don't get it either lol.
** It's possible Sigma was actually revived after X3 [[VideoGame/MegaManXtreme2 by Berkana]] thanks to her DNA data experiments. It explains why no one questions how survived Doppler's anti-virus - he didn't, not at first at least.
** Iris and Gate's deaths are also quite different from Sigma's. Iris was beaten by Zero and had also overloaded her body by fusing with Colonel's chip - Iris and Colonel's backstory makes clear that the two as one being was too dangerous and unstable. Meanwhile, Gate got totally messed up by Sigma, and it's possible that he did him in so bad he couldn't be recovered. However, after Zero's defeat in ''X1'', they still had most of his essential circuitry left and he only died because he got his body torn in half (also in ''X5'' for that matter... dude gets torn in half a lot).
* What's the difference between rebuilding a Reploid's body and DNA resurrection? In X2 they just take Zero's parts and rebuild him again, no problem, and he's good as new. But come X6 and we learn that DNA resurrection is apparently illegal. How is rebuilding someone using their digital DNA any different from reconstructing their body?
** It seems like rebuilding a Reploid's body requires their mind/AI to still be intact to work - remember Dr. Cain had Zero's control chip - and is therefore less sketchy and less illegal. But I think DNA resurrection completely reconstructs a Reploid's mind from the ground up, possibly from the moment the sample was collected, which makes it a bit more existential and freaky. It's like resuscitation of someone comatose versus cloning someone long dead.
* After being a screwed up zombie-Reploid in ''X6'', why was Sigma in such good shape in ''X7''? Only to go back to being broken again in ''X8'', but now with his normal mind back?
** In ''X7'', the cutscenes where Sigma's meeting with Red show that he's hiding his body under a cloak. Sigma then makes power-ups from the DNA data Axl steals for Red Alert, and uses them to restore his body back to normal for a while. However, Sigma goes back to his messed-up zombie look at the end of ''X7'', showing that the DNA power-ups were only temporary and easily reverted by a solid fight with the Hunters. It's also possible that the DNA power-ups helped him get his sanity back for ''X7'' and ''X8''.
** Maybe he just needed some time after ''X6'' to recover? It sounds like there was a long gap between ''X6'' and ''X7'', since they managed to mostly fix the entire Earth after the Eurasia Crisis in that time. When Sigma first approaches Red Alert, he seems to be mostly himself, despite hiding his body under a cloak. Self-repair systems aren't completely out of the realm of possibility - Zero mentions having one in ''X1''.
* The efficacy of Dr. Doppler's anti-virus seems inconsistent. It appeared effective on the reformed Mavericks of Dopple Town. However, the game manual refers to the anti-virus as a mere "placebo", implying that it didn’t actually do anything. Then at the end of the game, Doppler/Zero uses an anti-virus to save X from the Sigma Virus. How much of a placebo can it be if it defeats ''Sigma''?
** Maybe it's not ''literally'' placebo, but rather very easily reversible? Doppler likely knew how to deactivate it, thus rendering it useless ''as if'' it were placebo. Not to mention Sigma was able to make a swift recovery from it instead of being supposedly deleted.
*** Another possibility is that Doppler had a placebo version that was widely distributed to the town, but also had a full version in development that they used on X. Something like a minor antibacterial versus medical grade stuff.
** The nature of the anti-virus is also confusing; "anti-virus" implies it's a program that deletes the Maverick Virus from a Reploid's system. But it's also sometimes called a "vaccine", which implies it offers outright immunity to the Maverick Virus. But the intro claims that all it does is "suppress any abnormal behavior", implying it doesn't get rid of the virus and merely keeps Mavericks from acting out.
* Why keep making reploids? Even if the benefits to humanity outweigh the costs (and that'd be a pretty hard argument to make after x5), surely reploids don't need free will in order to function as laborers, or in whatever capacity they serve to make the lives of humans easier.
** One possibility is just plain old greed/ease of life. Reploids seem to be far beyond any other kind of machine when it comes to energy vs work output. You could think of it like why do we keep using cars when they're so dangerous and cause tons of pollution? Because no one wants to go back to the older inefficient ways.
* I've always wondered how Reploid society/culture works. None of them seem to be aware that X is their progenitor. If they did know that would they look at him as some kind of God? Do Reploids know how old each other are? Do they treat each other differently based on that? Is there any animosity between the Human models vs the Animal ones?
** Regarding X: It's implied Dr. Cain kept X's existence hidden until there were enough Reploids around that he had X slip in unnoticed. Sigma knows his true history, as Dr. Cain was able to find and whatever he learned before ''VideoGame/MegamanX5''. Whether other Reploids know or not depends on the script: Serges knew in the original Rockman X2 but not the English version, whereas Byte knew ''VideoGame/MegamanX3'' but not the original version. Jump ahead to Command Mission and Redips refers to the PowerTrio as "young subjects" despite X and Zero being a century older.
** Regarding other Reploids: It depends. The X6 bosses, being inspired by X and Zero, are certainly younger as Ground Scaravich called X a "fossil."
** Since we never see an Animal type Reploid as a major boss, I'd assume that Human models have a higher position in the setting's social hierarchy.
* Robots like Slash Beast who is missing an eye and Axl who has facial scars really makes you wonder why ''machines'' would be in such a state. Are their parts so unique they're irreparable? Do the robots intentionally keep themselves that way for whatever reason? Were they ''designed that way to begin with''?
** ''Sigma'' has facial scars that are based on both the time Zero nearly beat him to death and the time X gave him the Shining Finger treatment in the Day of Sigma event. Even when creating new incarnations of himself, he keeps these scar-like markings on his face. Slash Beast, being a Proud Soldier Reploid, would probably keep the scarred appearance of his face out of pride.
** Recurring Reploid Alia receives a complete cosmetic makeover between ''Mega Man X7'' and ''Mega Man X8''. In ''Mega Man Zero'', you meet Old Man Andrew, another Reploid that deliberately had himself aged so that [[MayflyDecemberRomance he could grow old with his human wife]]. The short answer, then, is that if a Reploid loses an eye or receives a scar and decides he kinda likes how it looks on him, there's nothing at all stopping him from wearing an eyepatch or keeping the scar as part of his personal asthetic.
** There's also Scareface from Command Mission, who has this going on even though he was just recently built. This suggests that it's being done on purpose in certain instances, most likely as way to increase their intimidation factor.
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