History Characters / MegaManXHeroes

* GoodOldRobot: In a similar way to X; he isn't technically a Reploid, was made with a similarly high-level technology as X, and due to being meant to work with the Maverick Virus, he's strengthened by them instead by getting weakened and/or crazy.

* GoodIsNotNice: He tends to shoot first (or rather, in most cases, "slash first", though he still uses his Z-Buster from time to time), ask question later when encountering Mavericks. What makes it worse is that those Mavericks sometimes [[VillainHasAPoint have a point about what they did]]. After his CynicismCatalyst, he gets even less nice.

* GoodIsNotNice: He tends to shoot first, ask question later when encountering Mavericks. What makes it worse is that those Mavericks sometimes [[VillainHasAPoint have a point about what they did]]. After his CynicismCatalyst, he gets even less nice.

* SirSwearsALot: Downplayed due to the fairly kid-friendly nature of the games, but Zero throws out "damn" and "hell" far more than his partners do.

* TheAce: In the original ''Mega Man X'', his portrayal boils down to "Here's Zero, he's infinitely cooler than you are, but if you DareToBeBadass you can be as cool as Zero". His later appearancess take him down a few notches (or, m more accurately, depict X as having caught up to him), but he's still consistently considered the highest rank Maverick Hunter and, in ''[=X5=]'', the best spaceship pilot on the roster.

* TheAce: In the original ''Mega Man X'', his portrayal boils down to "Here's Zero, he's infinitely cooler than you are, but if you DareToBeBadass you can be as cool as Zero". His later appearancess take him down a few notches, but he's still consistently considered the highest rank Maverick Hunter and, in ''[=X5=]'', the best spaceship pilot on the roster.

* MagnumOpus: Of Dr. Light, who took great pride in creating a robot capable of making moral decisions for himself. Sadly, Dr. Light would not live long enough to see X completed as he wants, so he contained him in a capsule where X would undergo three decades of testing to make damn sure X isn't going to be morally corrupt.

* ShootTheDog: Zero does this in the manga version of Mega Man X4. During the Repliforce rebellion, Iris is working as a nurse treating both sides and has been severely injured and put in a stasis pod in her base due to a computer terminal blowup caused by Cyber Peacock. Zero gets the vaccine from Slash Beast to cure her of the bugs that are killing her. Colonel breaks military regulations to go to the base save his sister Iris and clashes with Zero, telling him it is their destiny to fight because of their irreconcilable ideals. Zero agrees and holds nothing back, slicing off Colonel's right arm. Zero then notices that Iris's right arm was suddenly corroded in her pod, and realizes that because Colonel and Iris are Reploid siblings, damage to one sibling is extended to the other. Colonel charges at Zero one last time with his remaining arm, and Zero, with a very pained look on his face ultimately kills Colonel by slicing him in half, despite knowing that Iris would die as well, and the fact that he could have been able to stop him without killing him. Sure enough, Iris does die a short time later, directly because of Colonel's death. Colonel himself did not die with hate and bitterness in his heart, and even smiled at Zero in the end, realizing that Zero did what he felt was necessary to stop a lethal opponent and to end the Repliforce war.

** Double Bullets (''X7'')
** [[RevolversAreJustBetter Spiral Magnum]] (''X8''), a revolver that can penetrate through walls and enemies
** [[HomingProjectile Black Arrow]] (''X8''), a homing cross-bow
** [[LightningGun Plasma Gun]] (''X8''), an electric gun
** [[PinballProjectile Bound Blaster]] (''X8''), which fires projectiles that can bounce of surfaces
** [[FireBreathingWeapon Flame Burner]] (''X8''), a flame thrower
** [[GatlingGood Ice Gatling]] (''X8''), a gatling gun that sprays ice shards

* MultiRangedMaster: In X8, his copied ability grants him multiple kinds of guns that he can use with near-equal proficiency.

* {{Spiky|Hair}} ShonenHair
* [[KnightKnaveAndSquire The Squire]]

* YoungGun

* AIIsACrapshoot: 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.

* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Of the PowerTrio that is him, Zero and Axl, he is the Knight. X is not only the main protagonist but also a warrior known for fighting for the sake of achieving peace in the world. Though not as optimistic as most examples: while he can be trusted to fight with no mercy when there are no other options left, he ends up feeling much grief for the many deaths in the Maverick Wars.

** And in ''Maverick Hunter X'', to Sigma.

* HeroicFatigue: A major part of his character. Even by the end of ''X1'' he's wondering when the fighting will stop, culminating in his TenMinuteRetirement in ''X7''. Even when he comes back to the front lines, his dialogue with his fellow Hunters and Maverick enemies shows that he's sick and tired of the conflict and wishes he could have some peaceful rest (something he only finds later in the ''Zero'' series).

* HeroicResolve: 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 breaks his bonds and restores his meter to full.

The beloved EnsembleDarkhorse of the series, Zero has been described by the series creator as "the other main character who gets all the good scenes."\\

* {{Wimpification}}: Happens mostly to X in fan works, because he's a peace-loving ReluctantWarrior[=/=]TechnicalPacifist who has a moral conflict, and is quite {{angst}}y about it. Remember that, despite all of them, he's still have a strong will to defeat his enemies. It ''did'' happen in canon, however, in ''X7'', where he took a TenMinuteRetirement and during and afterwards, constantly whined about having to fight.

** ''X5'': All armors reduce damage taken by 50%. The Force/Fourth Armor has normal mobility, its charged shot being the multi-hitting Plasma Shot (but only on the first thing it hits), energy consumption for special weapons is reduced by 50% and is able to charge special weapons. The Falcon Armor has high mobility with its flight capability, it's invulnerable to collision damage and can hurt enemies by clashing at them while flying, its charge shot can pierce through walls but deals comparatively weak damage and has small hitbox, it cannot charge special weapons, and its Giga Attack is a full-screen blast that is good for clearing the screen. The Gaea Armor moves slowly, has a slow dash and cannot airdash, and it can't use special weapons, but it is invulnerable to spikes, will not slide down walls when wall-jumping, can push special blocks with his dash, and its Giga Attack is a short-ranged blast in front of X that causes massive damage to things in front of it, even bosses. His buster shot lacks range, but is very powerful and can be used to dissipate other projectiles in its way and destroy special blocks. The Ultimate Armor is a more powerful version of the Force Armor in that its Plasma Shot will have effect on everything it blasts through and its Giga Attack, the Nova Strike, is not only useful for damaging but also moving around and avoiding damage, and its uses is unlimited (while the others' Giga Attack needs you to fill its gauge first).

* AntiAntichrist: Red body armor with pointy horns? Check. Aryan-esque [[IcyBlueEyes blue eyes]] and [[LightIsNotGood golden hair]]? Check. InTheBlood to become a destroyer of Reploids everywhere? Check. Depicted to rival the power of the [[FanNickname Father of Reploids]], X? Check. Heck, the only thing separating him from being TheAntichrist is IdentityAmnesia, as the bad end of ''X5'' can attest.

* CharClone: WordOfGod confirms it. Being a Proto Man clone (himself a CharClone) helps; see {{Expy}} below.

* {{Expy}}: Of the Classic series Proto Man in the first ''X'' game, and was even referred to as "a Blues like character" in early Japanese publications that came out before the game. However his CharacterDevelopment in ''X4'' and in ''X5'' onward (becoming cold, stoic, and no-nonsense) and his use of swords has then become a FountainOfExpies basis for future Proto Man clones like [=ProtoMan=].EXE, Girouette, and Model ZX -- they even share Zero's long hair.
** He also has a personal non-Proto Man avatar in Zero.EXE from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork Network Transmission]]'', who was made as a computer virus to infect other Navis and computer systems before being defeated by [=MegaMan.EXE=] (and becoming a purified Navi in the good ending).

* BerserkButton: His greatest strength and AchillesHeel is his emotional bond with his allies. Threaten them. Cause them harm. Use them as leverage against him. Turn them against him if you want. He'll blast a trail through your minions to see that you pay for it in blood.
--> '''Sigma:''' "Hmm...I see a new clarity in your eyes. You are no longer troubled."\\
'''X:''' "'''[[ThisIsUnforgivable WHAT YOU'VE DONE IS UNFORGIVABLE, SIGMA!]]'''"
** ''Maverick Hunter X'' shows what happens when X has to deal with the loss of his friend. He goes from being a little detached from the conflict and reluctant to fight to full-on scary voice, angry eyes, and absolute lethal intent. The change is ''jarring''.
** He also has no tolerance for those that [[AxCrazy take pleasure in causing chaos and collateral damage.]] For the Mavericks that are a WellIntentionedExtremist, he'll debate with them, and for those that just happen to be in his path, he might even apologize to them - but if your response is ForTheEvulz, like Vile in particular, he'll drop trying to understand you and put you down.

* {{Keigo}}: Post-''Command Mission''[='=]s [[Creator/TakahiroSakurai Japanese]] X speaks very politely to everyone, even going so far as to use ''[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns Watashi]]''.

* ShootTheDog: Zero does this in the manga version of Mega Man X4. During the Repliforce rebellion, Iris is working as a nurse treating both sides and has been severely injured and put in a stasis pod in her base due to a computer terminal blowup caused by Cyber Peacock. Zero gets the vaccine from Slash Beast to cure her of the bugs that are killing her. Colonel breaks military regulations to go to the base save his sister Iris and clashes with Zero, telling him it is their destiny to fight because of their irreconcilable ideals. Zero agrees and holds nothing back, slicing off Colonel's right arm. Zero then notices that Iris's right arm was suddenly corroded in her pod, and realizes that because Colonel and Iris are Reploid siblings, damage to one sibling is extended to the other. Colonel charges at Zero one last time with his remaining arm, and Zero, with a very pained look on his face ultimately kills Colonel by slicing him in half, despite knowing that Iris would die as well, and the fact that he could have been able to stop him without killing him. Sure enough, Iris does die a short time later, directly because of Colonel's death.
** Colonel himself did not die with hate and bitterness in his heart, and even smiled at Zero in the end, realizing that Zero did what he felt was necessary to stop a lethal opponent and to end the Repliforce war.

* ShootTheDog: Zero does this in the manga version of Mega Man X4. During the Repliforce rebellion, Iris is working as a nurse treating both sides and has been severely injured and put in a stasis pod in her base due to a computer terminal blowup caused by Cyber Peacock. Zero gets the vaccine from Slash Beast to cure her of the bugs that are killing her. Colonel breaks military regulations to go to the base save his sister Iris and clashes with Zero, telling him it is their destiny to fight because of their irreconcilable ideals. Zero agrees and holds nothing back, slicing off Colonel's right arm. Zero then notices that Iris's right arm was suddenly corroded in her pod, and realizes that because Colonel and Iris are Reploid siblings, damage to one sibling is extended to the other. Colonel charges at Zero one last time with his remaining arm, and Zero, with a [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/7/7a/The_cost_of_war.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200818200917 very pained look on his face]], ultimately kills Colonel by slicing him in half, despite knowing that Iris would die as well, and the fact that he could have been able to stop him without killing him. Sure enough, Iris does die a short time later, directly because of Colonel's death.
** Colonel himself did not die with hate and bitterness in his heart, and even [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/3/36/Colonel_Happiness_in_Death.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200601150848 smiled at Zero in the end]], realizing that Zero did what he felt was necessary to stop a lethal opponent and to end the Repliforce war.

'''Zero:''' "Vile...You're nothing but a Maverick now."

* InSeriesNickname: In the earlier games, other characters would call him anything from his full name [[DubNameChange (Rockman X, or Mega Man X)]] or even [[OneMarioLimit Mega Man]], to just [[OneLetterName X]]. While he continues to be called Mega Man X or sometimes Mega Man in promotional materials, he is consistently called X in the games from ''X4'' onwards, creating a lot of confusion with people who thought Mega Man was just an ArtifactTitle.