Characters / X Chronicles X And Zero

Main Character Index | X and Zero | Other Heroes | The X-Hunters | Villains

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Mega Man X

The first of a new breed of robot with the ability to think and feel, X was the last creation of Dr. Thomas Light. Of course, Light had experience with about ten or so doomsday scenarios courtesy of one Albert Wily, and decided to give X a Hyperspace Arsenal and an endless array of power ups in the expectation that, come the next one, X would become the world's new champion. In spite of his own pacifistic leanings, X did just that.
X's ultimate goal is to prevent as much death as possible, going to the point when he tries (and succeeds most of the time) to invoke a Heel–Face Turn onto the Mavericks.

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• Adaptive Ability: This is the true reason behind his "limitless potential." He has the ability to learn and grow stronger according to his experience.
• Adaptational Intelligence: If him getting the idea of salvaging Storm Eagle's Personality Chip says anything.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Defied. Being a robot with 100% free will, Dr. Light makes sure that this trope doesn't happen by sealing him in a 30-year morality testing to ensure that he would do the right thing.
• Almighty Janitor: He's a B-Rank Maverick Hunter for most of the series because of his adherence to non-violence, despite stopping The Virus and saving the world multiple times.
• Ancestral Weapon: His X-Buster has gone through 16 previous iterations during its life as the Mega Buster, and its latest version is at least a hundred years old.
• Arm Cannon: The X-Buster, aka the Mega Buster Mark 17.
• Badass Army: If the X-Hunters can be counted to be X's own army.
• Badass in Distress: He's this whenever Zero pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment. Moreso in Doppler Effect.
• Beware the Nice Ones: X killing Vile and nearly killing Magma Dragoon show that X can be downright terrifying when he gets mad. X's enemies tend to forget that he's a Maverick Hunter that's defeated countless opponents, and saved the world multiple times.
• Big Damn Heroes: Pulls one after the battle between Zero and Iris, arriving just in time to prevent Iris from dying. This is moreso considering X just fought Double. Considering Zero pulled five Big Damn Heroes moments to save X, pulling a Big Damn Heroes to save Iris is X's way to thank Zero.
• Black Box: His design and mechanisms are so hard to understand and looks complex even by the future's standards (i.e when they found him a century after his sealing). Dr. Cain notes that he couldn't replicate X completely due to this (that, and he was actually an archeobotanist).
• Blade Below the Shoulder: He got one after his forth upgrade, as seen when blocking Colonel's Laser Blade.
• Blue Is Heroic: Yup.
• Car Fu: In the beginning of "Lazarus Zero", he jumps out from his speeding Ride Chaser, which then hits the Mechaniloid guarding the facility he's trying to infiltrate. Later he does it when hunting Overdrive Ostrich and, later, Jet Stingray.
• Character Development: Unlike in the games, where it's subverted, X Chronicles actually plays this trope straight. From Zero's point of view, it appeared to be subverted at first, but he changed his mind about it after his battle with Iris.
• Character Title: The series is named after X.
• Charged Attack: One of his main features.
• Color-Coded Characters: Blue, of course.
• Dude, Where's My Respect??: Despite being the reason Reploids exist, and the one with the most potential power, X is a B-class Hunter for most of the series, though those who know him realize this is entirely because he hates to fight.
• Evolving Weapon: Once he got the first buster upgrade, almost every Maverick weapon counts as this.
• The Fettered: He's averse to innocent deaths, to the point that he refuses to bend his morals if someone he cares for is in danger.
• Foreshadowing:
  • X originally planned to name his team "the Reploid Defense Force", but the other members of the team were all for "X-Hunters". A Reploid Defense Force was made (it's nothing else than Repliforce).
  • Speaking of, X's X-Hunters were foreshadowing the Counter Hunters, who also refer to themselves as "X-Hunters".
• Good Is Not Dumb: X, a Reluctant Warrior who lives in an increasingly Crapsack World infested with The Virus, capable of turning even the most peaceful people into killers. Often referred to as 'too trusting' in-universe and 'emo' outside of it because he doesn't like killing people. He's also a Sealed Good in a Can Super Prototype One-Man Army with lots of combat experience and what he can't handle, his team will.
• Good Old Robot: He's this, as he isn't technically a Reploid ("Replicated Androids"), but rather the original robot all Reploids are (imperfectly) based from. Though he's just referred to as a Reploid altogether (in-story) to avoid confusion because of their similar mental capacities.
• Guns Akimbo: Lazarus Zero and Doppler Effect upgrades, sort of. By charging up enough, he fires a blast from one arm, then the other.
• Heroic Resolve: In the fight against Vile in the first stage of Sigma's castle, X loses the fight much like he did in the beginning of the game, left paralyzed and with little health. Zero makes a Heroic Sacrifice and destroys Vile's mobile suit with his remaining energy. Vile still thinks he has won, to which X goes in Unstoppable Rage mode.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Zero.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: A Reploid fighting against other evil Reploids.
• Iconic Item: His X-Buster and his helmet.
• Infinite: X's most valuable trait is his limitless capacity for growth. He has no limits, no set parameters, and no way of knowing just what he can become. His thinking more deeply than other Reploids is a sign that his mind operates under this principle as well, but it manifests most clearly in action.
• It's All My Fault: He takes the Maverick Wars as he is the one responible... at least until he learns that The Virus was created by Dr. Wily. Even then, he believes deaths caused by Mavericks are his fault, since he wasn't there to protect the victims.
• Let X Be the Unknown (Exact Words here): Aside from being a Black Box, his name represents limitless potential. It also carries connotations of danger.
• Long-Range Fighter: Specializes in buster combat.
  • Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The Long-Range Guy to Zero's Short-Range Guy.
• Martial Pacifist: X is a gentle-hearted soul by nature, the only character in the series who's naturally predisposed to deeper levels of introspection and compassion thanks to his century of stasis testing, and longs for the day that The Virus is destroyed. However, he knows full well that The Virus can only be destroyed by fighting it. He is more of a pacifist than in the games, as he rarely kills. However, he can and does kill, as he killed Vile, Violen, Serges and Agile, nearly killed Magma Dragoon and is intent on killing The Virus.
• Meaningful Name: X stands for an unknown variable (like in algebra) containing unlimited potential. X also denotes danger, such as the tragic results that could occur if X was to violate the First Law of Robotics (cannot harm humans), hence his being kept in stasis before he could be safely released.
• Mechanical Evolution: He's apparently the key to this. As he's forced to fight and evolve, all aspects of himself grow in turn. As such, in theory, the reploid race as a whole may be influenced or directed by his growth.
• Morality Pet: Yes, he has some of these. Twenty, in fact. And in spite of his hundred year of testing. The craziest thing is that most of them were ore are meant to be enemies with him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When he kills Vile.
• Mysterious Past: In-Universe. Perhaps a major contributor to the ongoing case of Underestimating Badassery X is subjected to no matter how much time passes, is that nobody actually knows he's not a Reploid, but rather the template the entire Reploid race was built off of. The only two who are known to have this knowledge are Dr. Cain for obvious reasons, and Sigma, most likely from Dr. Cain.
• Nice Guy: X is a caring, compassionate and kind-hearted individual, who takes the deaths of everyone, Human or Reploid and even his Maverick foes, very personally. However, god help you if you target his friends or intentionally incite mass genocide just to get at him and said friends. He drops negotiations for immediately taking you down as soon as possible, and would kill you if it weren't for his friends holding him back.
• Odd Friendship: A pacifist becoming best friends with no-nonsense warrior? Not to mention that they're destined to fight each other...
  • Heck, nearly all the Maverick Hunters fall under this, having been at X's throat once.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Aside from Wily, X is much older than any of the characters he fights against.
• One-Man Army: Especially in the first half of the first chapter.
• Perpetual Frowner: Not as much as Zero, but still qualifies.
• Personality Chip: What makes X unique from his big brother is the fact that X can actually feel and make decisions independent of any kind of hard programming. Dr. Light recognized there was an inherent danger to giving X free will, however, and put him into stasis for thirty years of ethics testing so he could better differentiate right from wrong. His personality chip is the basis for the ones in all other Reploids in the series; sans the thirty years of ethics testing, which had predictable results.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Relatively, anyway. X's base frame measures at 5'5" which is perfectly average for the young adult he's meant to physically be on a human scale, but by Reploid standards, X is tiny.
• Power Copying: His Variable Weapons System, directly lifted from his predecessor's.
• Powered Armor: One per saga.
• Primary-Color Champion: Most of his armors often give out this vibe.
• Readings Are Off the Scale: His potential is unlimited. This is read by Cyber Peacock, and even his analysis shows that his potential cannot be measured.
• Reduced Mana Cost: Many of his armor upgrades give him the ability to reduce the amount of energy needed for firing special weapons. This goes to the point of X becoming able to use multiple Special Weapons at the same time (i.e. combining the shield modes of the Rolling Shield and the Bubble Splash)
• Ridiculously Human Robots: The predecessor to all the sentient Reploids seen in the series.
• Screaming Warrior: Spends much pre-fight dialogue yelling at bosses to stand down. Reaches Ham-to-Ham Combat territory against The Virus.
  • In Rise of Sigma, he starts off more or less calm and collected. When Zero dies, he goes into full-on Unstoppable Rage, and he can't communicate in anything less than a shout.
• Screw Destiny: Many see X as a miracle bringer. Even the ultimate badass, Zero.
• Sealed Good in a Can: By the start of the series. He ends up being the template for all kinds of evil, but then his best buddy has it even worse there.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Zero's Manly Man. While both are powerful warriors capable of destroying armies of enemies by themselves, X is the only who displays guilt for the casualties in the Maverick Wars, even if he's not truly the one responsible. He is also the one who is more dedicated to peace.
• Shoot the Dog: Despite the fact he's against killing, X still tears Mavericks to pieces when they wouldn't listen to reason.
• Story-Breaker Power: He literally has unlimited potential, being designed with an ability that's frankly miraculous in an artificial lifeform: growing in all aspects from his experiences, mind and body alike, with no external modification or tampering required. The only reason he has problems in battle is his kindness causes him to hold back, but even then, he's doing everything in his power to prevent as much death as possible.
• Super Prototype: Though only because Cain did a really half-assed job duplicating his technology. Not that it's entirely his fault, mind you, Dr. Light was just that damn good, but basically the plot of almost the whole series is the result of The Virus exploiting the inferiority of Cain's skills.
• Superior Successor: To the original Mega Man. Notably, this has far less to do with power, not that X isn't immensely higher in that regard, but that X is the realization of Dr. Light's dream, a robot with perfectly human level thought, feelings and capabilities, whereas Rock for all his freedoms was still a robot bound by his programming.
• Swiss-Army Hero: Not with his armors, but with the Special Weapons. Since the armors reduce the energy cost required to fire the Special Weapons, he can use them more and more efficiently, to the point he combines the charged states of the Rolling Shield and the Bubble Splash.
• Sword and Gun: He uses a Blade Below the Shoulder against Colonel, but he tends to fare more in the "Gun" department.
• Taking the Bullet: Takes a shot meant for Slash Beast.
• Took a Level in Badass: As Signas states, X just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
• 24-Hour Armor: Keeps onto him any armor he gets from Dr. Light. Will be subverted after The Virus is destroyed, as X promised Signas to remove all of his weapons after The Virus is destroyed.
• Violence Really Is the Answer: He had always tried to be a pacifist, but he quickly concluded at the beginning of the very first chapter of the first saga that fighting was necessary to bring about peace.
• Weak, but Skilled: He's almost always smaller and less technically able than the opponents he faces, but he's goddamn unstoppable once he starts fighting.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He gives Zero a look that says this (although the "H" can easily be changed with a "Z") when Zero killed Mac.
• "X" Makes Anything Cool (heh): His name.

DWN-∞ Zero

The final creation of Dr. Albert Wily, Zero was created to destroy Mega Man once and for all, but because Dr. Light hid X away, ensuring X would go through his 30 years of ethical testing, his creator sealed him away. After a violent rampage upon waking up, Zero was quelled following a fateful fight with Sigma, becoming a high-ranking Maverick Hunter and close friend to X.

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• The Ace: He's one of the highest ranked Maverick Hunters.
• Act of True Love: When X explains Iris needed a new power core, Zero begs X to give her his (Zero's) power core.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Inverted. He originally was a Maverick, but after a fateful confrontation with Sigma, he had a Heel–Face Turn. Furthermore, he was the first vessel of The Virus.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: He was originally designed by a certain Mad Scientist for the express purpose of destroying all in his path before losing his memory. The only difference between then and now is he's one of the good guys.
• Ancestral Weapon: It's easy to miss, but the Z-Saber as we've come to know it, introduced in X2, is the very sword that Sigma in his original form wielded before Zero inherited it in his updated body.
• Anti-Anti-Christ: Red body armor with pointy horns, Aryan-esque blue eyes and golden hair, In the Blood to become a destroyer of Reploids everywhere, depicted to rival the power of the "Father of Reploids"... the only thing separating him from being The Antichrist is Identity Amnesia.
• Arm Cannon: The Z-Buster is always there. He just barely uses it post-upgrade.
• The Atoner: He served the Maverick Hunters and eventually joined the X-Hunters to stop what he started, i.e Maverick uprisings. It doesn't help that The Virus came from him by design.
• Ax-Crazy: Before his Heel–Face Turn, he was Laughing Mad and sporting a Slasher Smile, cutting down anything in front of him. Sigma described him as "mad and ferocious" and "a vicious and terrible creature", and that he admired the "new" Zero.
• Back from the Dead: He was killed in Rise of Sigma but was later brought back in Lazarus Zero. Justified since he's a robot, but noteworthy in that a sticking point in the X series is that generally there's no one around capable of rebuilding him or X if they go down, being far too advanced for anyone to rightly puzzle out.
• Badass Boast: From Lazarus Zero:
  "You should have read the blueprints closer. There is only one Zero!"
• Badass in Distress: He was kidnapped by Vile as a bait for X in the first saga. Then, after Vile gets his hands on X, Zero breaks out of the cage and then he does the Heroic Sacrifice to destroy Vile's Ride Armor.
• Barbarian Long Hair: His very long hair is frequently used to make him look more badass.
• Berserk Button: Iris's apparent death in Rise of Repliforce.
• Big Damn Heroes: Twice in Rise of Sigma, once in Lazarus Zero, and twice in Doppler Effect. X getting his own Big Damn Heroes moment in which he saves Iris is X's way to thank Zero.
• Big Brother Mentor: Towards X in Rise of Sigma. However, X realizes Zero's methods are flawed.
• {{Bishōnen}}
• Black Box: Same case as X, though not as pronounced.
• Blood from the Mouth: The first saga has him with blood/mech fluid/oil/some red substance running from the corner of his mouth after sacrificing himself to destroy Vile's Ride Armor. Notably, he does not bleed from anywhere else despite having been torn in half.
• Bring My Red Jacket: He's a red robot, and he mainly uses melee attacks, and he's a Glass Cannon. Do the math.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": The stylized "Z" insignia on his shoulder(s). According to Sigma, Wily's own insignia can be found on his Power Crystal.
• Character Development: Ever since meeting Iris for the first time, he gets this in spades.
• Close-Range Combatant: From Lazarus Zero on, he focuses on his Z-Saber rather than his Buster.
  • Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The Short-Range Guy to X's Long-Range Guy.
• Color-Coded Characters: Red, of course.
• Easily Forgiven: Iris easily forgives Zero for their fight.
• Establishing Character Moment: X getting his ass handed to him by the very first Hopeless Boss Fight in the series? Cue an Arm Cannon being charged, and then Vile goes Oh, Crap!
• Everything's Better with Samurai: He's supposed to be a robot version of these feudal warriors, if his exaggerated Samurai Ponytail and katana-esque Laser Blade didn't tip you off.
• Evil Knockoff: He gets one in Lazarus Zero, that, thankfully for X, Zero oneshot before the copy had a chance to attack.
• First-Episode Resurrection: Well, okay, he dies in the first saga and is resurrected in the second, but he otherwise fits the trope entirely.
• Flashback Nightmare: In the beginning of X4, Zero has a nightmare about the circumstances of his creation, as well as slaughtering several Reploids upon being reactivated. It's also implied that he's had this nightmare at least once before.
• Good Is Not Nice: He tends to shoot first, ask question later when encountering Mavericks. By contrast, X first asks the Mavericks to stand down and only shoots when they refuse. What makes it worse is that those Mavericks sometimes have a point about what they did, such as Repliforce, who was acting in self-defense.
• Good Old Robot: In a similar way to X; he isn't technically a Reploid, was made with a similarly high-level technology as X.
• Heartbroken Badass: In a variant, he nearly lost his lover because she went berserk on her own merits and he has to put her down himself. Even when X saved Iris, Zero still is heartbroken over the fight.
• Heel/Jerkass Realization: Whether it's more "heel" or "jerkass" is debatable. But when Iris gives Zero a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, in which she states he and Colonel aren't so different, Zero realizes how much of a jerk he was, and the meaning behind X's "What the Hell, Hero?" look when Zero killed Mac. Needles to say, he didn't take this (and Iris' apparent death) well.
  • In all honestly, Iris' "The Reason You Suck" Speech is a Jerkass Realization. However, given that X knows it was Wily who created Zero, Zero might have a Heel Realization as well when he finds out that the Maverick Wars are entirely his fault. Poor Zero...
• Heroic B So D: Because of his fight with Iris, he anguishes himself over "being an useless jerk" who can't save and/or protect anyone he cares about.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Ah, his well known sacrifice to destroy Vile's Ride Armor...
• He's Dead, Jim: After he accidentally killed Iris, he realized she was dead after calling her name and trying to shake her back to consciousness.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: And he is the original of his kind, in fact.
• Humble Hero: Although it's his power core that kept Iris alive, Zero gave X all the credit for saving her.
• I Am Who?: Zero struggles with various levels of amnesia in the this series. He keeps getting flashbacks of his creator, Dr. Wily, but remembers nothing else from before Sigma captured him.
• Iconic Item: His Z-Saber.
• Identity Amnesia: We learn from Sigma that Zero was an evil Maverick when Sigma first found him, and he lost his memory in the fight, waking up sane and sober.
• Infinite: DWN-∞ is the serial number of Zero; it's implied that his creator sees Zero as having an unlimited potential.
• Informed Attribute: Ever since the second saga, he's gained the position as the leader of the 0th Maverick Hunters Unit. Never does any of that help him in the sagas afterwards.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: His fight against Iris, as he tries to convince her what she does isn't what anyone wanted. Unfortunately, she nearly dies, and X had to connect her to Zero's core to keep her alive.
• Irony: His best friend happens to be the creation of his creator's nemesis. Yet, neither X nor Zero have any ill will towards each other. Of course, Zero doesn't appear to ever comprehend who made him or what his purpose is. By contrast, though, X knows Zero was made by Wily with the sole purpose of killing X, although he only learns it in The Stinger of Rise of Sigma, not from the beginning, and from none other than a resentful Sigma.
• Katanas Are Just Better: His Laser Blade has a katana-like form.
• Laser Blade: His Z-Saber.
• Laughing Mad: How he reacted when fighting Sigma in their first encounter (not to mention later beating Sigma to a bloody pulp when the latter was at his mercy).
• Master Swordsman: Yup.
• My God, What Have I Done??: After he beats Iris.
• My Hero, Zero: Duh.
• Mysterious Past: Even after all this time, all Zero knows of his "father" is a silhouette.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He is a samurai robot who is also supposed to be some sort of The Antichrist- though it canonically didn't happen.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In his first fight against Sigma, at first it seemed like Sigma is controlling the fight, but Zero just keeps getting up, laughing, and finally winning a Single-Stroke Battle, fist to Beam Saber, and then turns the tables completely and goes to brutally maim Sigma. Zero is only beaten when his head crystal glows, causing him a headache, and then Sigma punches it, rendering his opponent unconscious. Sigma later states that this punch was "a lucky blow, nothing more."
• Not So Stoic: His Freak Out after Iris' apparent death.
• Palette Swap: In Lazarus Zero, X meets with a black replica of him when returning to the area where he fought Magna Centipede. He seems poised to fight, but the real Zero destroys him in one shot before the replica gets a chance to attack.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: Zero is the pinnacle of Dr. Wily's robotics career, and was originally intended as Wily's post-death revenge. Unfortunately (actually, fortunately, unless you're Wily), Zero dedicated himself to fighting The Virus and completely subverted Wily's intentions.
• Patient Zero (Heh, "Zero"...): He was the very first robot to get infected by the Maverick Virus (because Wily installed the primary vector of The Virus into him).
• Pietà Plagiarism/Cradling Your Kill: In Iris' "death" scene, he carries the dead Iris this way.
• Personality Chip: In a series where every Reploid has free will, Zero is unique in that it's left ambiguous if he has the same level of free will as others or is following some form of hardcode Dr. Wily put in him. Since he was designed specifically to take down the original Mega Man it's hard to believe Dr. Wily would find reason in giving him truly free will since it wouldn't aid in that purpose outside of the old motive of trying to prove himself better than Dr. Light in all ways possible. He does seem to display the same level of decision-making skills as other Reploids, yet he also isn't nearly as conflicted about taking down Mavericks with lethal force as X is, the sole exception being Iris.
• Person of Mass Destruction: This was Zero's original purpose.
• Pragmatic Hero: He's every bit as determined to achieve an everlasting peace as X is, but is more willing to fight than his friend is.
• Predecessor Villain: Before his Heel–Face Turn, he was this.
• The Rival: Colonel. Both are swordsmen who fight for what they want to protect. Zero is more concerned with getting the job done by any means necessary; Colonel is so beholden to his honor that it gets in the way.
  • According to Iris, both of them are Jerkasses whose Fatal Flaw is pride. Zero is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and even has a Jerkass Realization; Colonel is so closed in his pride, he calls Iris a traitor for helping the Hunters who, mind you, were trying to clear Repliforce's name.
• Samurai Ponytail: He has his hair styled this way.
• Screw Destiny: One of the most important character themes for Zero is how he gives destiny the middle finger and defies it every step of the way. Or tries to, anyway. As Colonel and Iris demonstrate, he's still a threat to those close to him under the wrong circumstances — which The Virus is all too willing to provide. Needless to say, he's more than thankful when X defies the schemes of The Virus (or in Zero's terms, pulls a miracle.)
• Sealed Badass in a Can: Yup.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He only pulled a Heel–Face Turn because Sigma opened the can.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Being the {{Bishōnen}} of the two, that's saying something that he is the Manly Man. In contrast to the more peaceful X, Zero has little compunction or hangups about killing his opponents, at least prior to his Jerkass Realization.
• Suicide Attack: Capable of one in Rise Of Sigma which he uses to obliterate Vile's upgraded Ride Armor. It's clearly treated as a Godzilla Threshold, but it's never seen again in the series after the first saga.
• Token Heroic Orc: The only one of Wily's creations who turned good.
• The Virus: He is it's source.
• We Can Rebuild Him: After he died in the first saga, the second had the Counter Hunters rebuild him, or at least the parts of it, which X stole for the Maverick Hunters to rebuild him.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The first thing he tells X in the series is "Trying to get yourself killed, X?"
• White Hair, Black Heart: Played With; he's obviously part of the heroes, but he was created by Dr. Wily to be evil.
• World's Strongest Man: By Dr. Wily's design, Zero manages to be this for the entirety of the classic Mega Man timeline... Well, at least until X caught up to him. Still, Zero died and came back, meaning Wily made him to last.