Headscratchers / Mega Man X6

• Every single thing about Zero coming back to life in X6 is just insane. First off, him even being there at all opens up enough plot holes to rip the space-time continuum in half. The epilogue of X5 shows that he's still dead three years later, while X6 takes place three weeks later. You might be able to Hand Wave this by saying he sealed himself before then (which would lead into Mega Man Zero). Of course, for that to work, it would mean that X6, X7, and X8 all took place within those three years. I haven't played X7 or X8 yet, so I'm not sure if that could be true. But then there's the issue of how he survived. He says that he... repaired himself? Okay Zero, that's cool, except for the fact that you got ripped in half three weeks ago (and it's even shown in the freakin' intro of X6 itself). Yes, X was ripped in half too, but Dr. Light had to save him. There is no way Zero could have repaired himself. Even he isn't that badass... is he? I don't think X6 is really that bad of a game, but after starting it I just don't know what the hell is going on anymore.
  • Actually, the 3 years later ending of X5 is non-canon, I think.
    • You're right. X5 had three endings; One for Zero and two for X (good or bad depending on whether or not Zero temporarily turns Maverick). The bad ending has X's memories of Zero erased and finishes off three years later. The good ending has X keeping his memories of Zero (and using Zero's saber) and finishes a mere three weeks after Zero dies. X6 follows the good ending. Given how nothing in the timeline has a definite date, an indefinite number of X games can take place before the Elf Wars. Zero's ending in X6 can be seen as taking place somewhere near the end of the X series. If I'm not mistaken, he was awoken for the Elf Wars and then resealed in a different body at the end of that war. As for him coming back... I'm almost sure that there was a better reason than "I hid myself so I could repair myself", although I don't think that was mentioned in the game. If X6 were never made and the Zero series followed X5's bad ending like Inafune originally planned, I doubt his reasons for being repaired would sound like any less of an ass pull.
    • Nope. The good ending in MMX5 is also three years later. Three weeks is only first brought up in X6. X5's good ending, with Zero gone, X having the saber, and jumping three years later, was meant to be the canon one — the end of the X series.
    • Thanks for correcting me. Huh. So then we should just consider the three weeks thing a retcon because it makes no sense in the grand scheme of things. As for which ending was meant to be canon, I'm not gonna pretend that I know for certain which was supposed to be the true ending to the series. I keep hearing that it was supposed to be the bad one, which makes sense considering how X loses some important memories that affect his personality and how he makes a reference to a locale from the Mega Man Legends games. This is just speculation, but I wonder if Neo Arcadia was originally meant to be called Elysium.
    • I'm pretty sure it's got to be the good ending, based on two things: One, X ends up with the Z saber, which he has until MMZ and gives to Zero. Two, in the bad ending, not only does X lose his memories of Zero, but Dr. Light makes it so he's incapable of retaining any new information pertaining to Zero. X, in MMZ, clearly remembers who Zero is.
  • How about Zero's own ending? In which X isn't shown, only his wrecked body and his last message for Iris?
    • I think that Zero's ending is X's good ending, only you just see Zero's perspective of it. You don't see what happens afterward because, well, Zero's dead.
  • Maybe the "Three Weeks Later" is just a typo.
    • More likely a retcon or lack of communication.
  • "I hid myself while trying to repair myself" is the result of "Blind Idiot" Translation. In the original Japanese he basically says he has no idea who fixed him, and in context of the storyline hints toward the possibility that either Light or Isoc did it.
• If you pay attention to the layout of Gate's boss room, you'll notice that, upon entering the room, X/Zero lands on thin air and runs to the nearest platform. They mask it by suddenly turning off the lights when you enter.
• How the Nightmare works is incredibly inconsistent or most generously is very versatile in application, to the point that it feels like it just does whatever is convenient to the story or level design. On paper, it causes deadly hallucinations, but it can also irreparably corrupt Reploid civilians, power a giant robot in such a way that it's invisible to scanners, teleport X and Zero to other areas that are effectively communications dead zones (no explanation as to why it doesn't just cut off comms entirely), create an evil clone of Zero, and somehow allow Gate to control all of Reploidkind. About the only thing that's actually clear about the Nightmare is that it was reverse-engineered from Zero's viral DNA, effectively making it a sub-species of the Maverick/Sigma/Zero Virus.