History NightmareFuel / MegaManX

** What takes the matter of Zero further into nightmarish territory is the foreknowledge from ''both'' later in the X series and from the Classic series at the end of the ''Power Fighters'' arcade title, in conjunction with the potential boss fight. SIgma's own death quote about Zero being "The last of the doctor's creations" heavily implies that some of the Mavericks did know about Zero's past. Zero's initial appearance was a little 'incomplete' at the start of the first game compared to Wily's schematics of him at the end of Power Fighters and the wireframe schematics of himself and X that Sigma used as the backdrop for his final battle in ''X5''. All this points to Serges having enough of Wily's knowledge to complete Zero's design, improved buster, Z-saber, and all.

** What takes the matter of Zero further into nightmarish territory is the foreknowledge from ''both'' later in the X series and from the Classic series at the end of the ''Power Fighters'' arcade title, in conjunction with the potential boss fight. Serges's own death quote about Zero being "The last of the doctor's creations" heavily implies that some of the Mavericks did know about Zero's past. Zero's initial appearance was a little 'incomplete' at the start of the first game compared to Wily's schematics of him at the end of Power Fighters and the wireframe schematics of himself and X that Sigma used as the backdrop for his final battle in ''X5''. All this points to Serges having enough of Wily's knowledge to complete Zero's design, improved buster, Z-saber, and all.

*** The worst part is finding out from WordOfGod that this is ''not'' what Wily intended on. An AxCrazy Zero willing to torture, murder and kill everyone while LaughingMad without even a hint of hesitance? Wily sealed him away because he was too uncontrollable, and the Maverick Virus causing Zero to stabilize was a ''happy accident''. Compare and contrast [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Awakened Zero]], who is a SoftSpokenSadist and wants to destroy X to fulfill Wily's legacy; by all means, the bad doctor had horrible things planned, but even the murder robot in his initial unsealing was [[EvenEvilHasStandards too far for him.]]

*** An image of that stage select screen can be seen [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/5/5e/X5StageSelectB.png/ here]].

-->'''[=ViA=]''': ...... ...... Don't make a move yet. I'd like to observe them for a little longer.
-->'''Unknown''' ([[spoiler: [=RiCO=]?]]): Hmmm... Sigh... Well, I'm fine either way... Let's hope it will not create more work for me.
-->'''[=ViA=]''': That's not up to you to decide...the fateful day shall come eventually. Afterall, that's the "mission" we have been given.

** Admit it, you probably jumped a little when you first saw Sigma's face appear on the Stage Select screen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtdhHN29iBg and this music played]].

** The first time you play through Stage 5-6, you are thrown into a HopelessBossFight against Vile in the Goliath Ride Armor. Much like in the first game, it plays out as a ContinuityNod with [=ViA=] filling in for Zero. Unlike Zero, he survives his seeming kamikaze attack on Vile, which leaves half of his [[SurpriseCreepy face warped]], much like Two-Face.

** Zero's ending. It starts with Zero standing in a blank white area, before seeing X in the distance, who's charging up his X-Buster while spouting "[[MadnessMantra Eliminate...eliminate the Mavericks...the Mavericks...]]". X then shoots Zero...before it's revealed that it was Zero's nightmare. The unsettling music that plays in the ending doesn't help. This was {{foreshadowing}} of what would happen in the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero Zero]]'' series.

** In X's side of the story, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53_NGLyErE this cut-scene]] where [[ObfuscatingStupidity Double]] finally [[TheMole reveals his true nature]]. After being ordered by Sigma to go after X -- with the terrible timing of being mocked once too often as his clumsy disguised self by a room of jerkish Reploids -- he changes into a more stylized and dangerous form, then [[BladeBelowTheShoulder single-handedly]] and [[{{Gorn}} bloodily kills them all in a few seconds]]. The scene ends with Double [[LeaveNoSurvivors cutting the last injured one down as he tries to call for help]], before falsely reassuring X that there's nothing to worry about when he does answer; [[AxCrazy clearly in absolute]] ''[[AxCrazy delight]]'' [[AxCrazy at the thought of inflicting the same torture]] on his former teammate. For reference, the game was originally [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Rated E for Everyone]]... and by the time the ''Mega Man X Legacy Collection'' re-release came around, it was [[SameContentDifferentRating bumped up to a T Rating]] due to the horrors of this and Zero's opening cutscene.

*** An image of that stage select screen can be seen [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/5/5e/X5StageSelectB.png/revision/latest?cb=20131114203513 here]].

** Plus there's the fact that if the colony crashes, Earth is almost annihilated.

** After being little more than a petty MadScientist that was brilliant but not quite comparable to Dr. Light in the ''Classic'' series, the revelations that Dr. Wily conspired with Sigma for his new battle body, the Zero Virus, and the Eurasia ColonyDrop plan shifts the man from a NobleDemon straight into JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. Realizing that the inevitable future of one man's ego bruised too far will cause him to attempt ''global extinction'' just to prove his creation better than his rival's for his own delight may completely change one's interpretation of Wily forevermore.

** The manga adaptation of Frost Walrus's fight with X, plus the ensuing fallout, is unexpectedly violent. X is accompanied by a reformed Blizzard Buffalo to attempt to apprehend Walrus, only he gets impaled by a giant icicle and kills him during their first bout of conflict. When he recovers consciousness, he sees Buffalo's shadow and thinks that he won, only to find after getting a closer look that Walrus ''murdered'' Buffalo by impaling him ''and'' preserving his corpse with the visible wound inside a large block of ice. X proceeds to procure a suit of Ride Armor and pursues Walrus with murderous vengeance on his mind, only to nearly lose to Walrus. However, General appears before them and saves X by killing Walrus for his bad conduct, and leaves while essentially [[NoSell shrugging off]] X-Buster shots from the wounded hunter. In frustration, X screams and smashes and damages his arm on the floor. This would lead to X hunting down the Light Capsule that contained the Ultimate Armor, which Light warns his son is unstable. The next time Zero meets X, he had just brutally murdered Slash Beast on the Repliforce train, vaporizing most of him with a charged shot that left one of Slash Beast's hands as the largest surviving fragment of him. X threatens Zero not to stand in the way of his vengeance, otherwise he would ''kill Zero as well'', before taking flight with the Ultimate Armor and leaving the scene. Later, he tracks down Storm Owl and shoots him down along with the entirety of the Repliforce air brigade he commanded over a volcano. Badly injured, Owl is befuddled at how X could have such power, and yells that 'he' is the true Maverick, not Repliforce. X then coldly shuts him up with a charged shot to the chest, killing him, with a sinister SlasherSmile on his face. The coldly murderous antics of X will really give you chills if you perceive this as a very dark foreshadowing to Master X's ruthlessness and the dystopia that is Neo Arcadia in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' timeline.

** The manga adaptation of Frost Walrus's fight with X, plus the ensuing fallout, is unexpectedly violent. X is accompanied by a reformed Blizzard Buffalo to attempt to apprehend Walrus, only he gets impaled by a giant icicle and loses consciousness during their first bout of conflict. When he recovers consciousness, he sees Buffalo's shadow and thinks that he won, only to find after getting a closer look that Walrus ''murdered'' Buffalo by impaling him ''and'' preserving his corpse with the visible wound inside a large block of ice. X proceeds to procure a suit of Ride Armor and pursues Walrus with murderous vengeance on his mind, only to nearly lose to Walrus. However, General appears before them and saves X by killing Walrus for his bad conduct, and leaves while essentially [[NoSell shrugging off]] X-Buster shots from the wounded hunter. In frustration, X screams and smashes and damages his arm on the floor. This would lead to X hunting down the Light Capsule that contained the Ultimate Armor, which Light warns his son is unstable. The next time Zero meets X, he had just brutally murdered Slash Beast on the Repliforce train, vaporizing most of him with a charged shot that left one of Slash Beast's hands as the largest surviving fragment of him. X threatens Zero not to stand in the way of his vengeance, otherwise he would ''kill Zero as well'', before taking flight with the Ultimate Armor and leaving the scene. Later, he tracks down Storm Owl and shoots him down along with the entirety of the Repliforce air brigade he commanded over a volcano. Badly injured, Owl is befuddled at how X could have such power, and yells that 'he' is the true Maverick, not Repliforce. X then coldly shuts him up with a charged shot to the chest, killing him, with a sinister SlasherSmile on his face. The coldly murderous antics of X will really give you chills if you perceive this as a very dark foreshadowing to Master X's ruthlessness and the dystopia that is Neo Arcadia in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' timeline.

** Agile, the [[AffablyEvil most polite]] of the X-Hunters is a [[AdaptationalVillainy pretty sadistic villain]] in the manga adaptation of the game, with his most heinous crime [[OffWithHisHead beheading]] a Disk Boy 08 just for trying to escape the X-Hunters' base in the North Pole, and [[LickingTheBlade even tastes the blood of the poor Maverick mook on his laser sword]]! [[note]] This also predates [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong64 King K. Rool's execution of the Kasplat during Creepy Castle's intro]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword one of Ghirahim's usual traits]] [[OlderThanTheyThink by 4 and 16 years respectively]]!

** The manga adaptation of Frost Walrus's fight with X, plus the ensuing fallout, is unexpectedly violent. X is accompanied by a reformed Blizzard Buffalo to attempt to apprehend Walrus, only he gets impaled by a giant icicle and loses consciousness during their first bout of conflict. When he recovers consciousness, he sees Buffalo's shadow and thinks that he won, only to find after getting a closer look that Walrus ''murdered'' Buffalo by impaling him ''and'' preserving his corpse with the visible wound inside a large block of ice. X proceeds to procure a suit of Ride Armor and pursues Walrus with murderous vengeance on his mind, only to nearly lose to Walrus. However, General appears before them and saves X by killing Walrus for his bad conduct, and leaves while essentially [[NoSell shrugging off]] X-Buster shots from the wounded hunter. In frustration, X screams and smashes and damages his arm on the floor. This would lead to X hunting down the Light Capsule that contained the Ultimate Armor, which Light warns his son is unstable. The next time Zero meets X, he had just brutally murdered Slash Beast on the Repliforce train, vaporizing most of him with a charged shot that left one of Slash Beast's hands as the largest surviving fragment of him. X threatens Zero not to stand in the way of his vengeance, otherwise he would ''kill Zero as well'', before taking flight with the Ultimate Armor and leaving the scene. Later, he tracks down Storm Owl and shoots him down along with the entirety of the Repliforce air brigade he commanded over a volcano. Badly injured, Owl is befuddled at how X could have such power, and yells that 'he' is the true Maverick, not Repliforce. X then coldly shuts him up with a charged shot to the chest, killing him, with a sinister SlasherSmile on his face as seen above for the page image. The coldly murderous antics of X will really give you chills if you perceive this as a very dark foreshadowing to Master X's ruthlessness and the dystopia that is Neo Arcadia in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' timeline.

*** Along those same lines, regardless of whether or not you destroyed Eurasia, once you reach the end of the third Zero-space stage, you'll get the familiar "Warning" message, and like the ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' example above, you immediately knew and realize that Zero isn't there to help you out. The fated battle that has been foreshadowed for four games is now happening.

** In X's side of the story, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53_NGLyErE this cut-scene]] where [[ObfuscatingStupidity Double]] finally [[TheMole reveals his true nature]]. After being mocked once too often -- as his clumsy disguised self -- by a room of jerkish Reploids, he nightmarishly changes into a more stylized and dangerous form, then [[BladeBelowTheShoulder single-handedly]] and [[{{Gorn}} bloodily kills them all in a few seconds]], complete with Double [[LeaveNoSurvivors cutting the last one down as he tries to call for help]]. For reference, the game was originally [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Rated E for Everyone]]... and by the time the ''Mega Man X Legacy Collection'' re-release came around, it was [[SameContentDifferentRating bumped up to a T Rating]] due to the horrors of this and Zero's opening cutscene.

** You know you're screwed when Magna Centipede drains X's ability to charge his X-Buster, rapid fire, jumping, and dashing abilities thanks to his poison attack. The sheer helplessness of you in that situation can be pretty unnerving, especially if you've made it that far.
** Here's a nice bit of VideoGameCrueltyPotential in any game from the ''Mega Man X'' series-- X can tear Wire Sponge ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in half]]'' by finishing him off with the [[RazorWind Sonic Slicer!]]

** In X's side of the story, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53_NGLyErE this cut-scene]] where Double [[TransformationSequence finally]] [[TheReveal reveals]] [[TheMole his]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing true]] [[AxCrazy nature]]. He [[BladeBelowTheShoulder single-handedly]] and [[{{Gorn}} bloodily]] slices up an entire room of Reploids! [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Rated E for everyone]], ladies and gentlemen.[[note]]The ''Mega Man X Legacy Collection'' re-release was [[SameContentDifferentRating bumped up to a T rating]] due to this scene and Zero's opening cutscene.[[/note]]

** Doppler's Final Stage is very unsettling with a sinister BackgroundMusic and there are actual reploids trapped in tanks in the background.

** The X3 manga adaptation has X knocked out and awakened in a world where humanity and Reploids don't have to fight anymore

** While it's certainly a nice touch to see shoutouts to defeated Mavericks in the background of various chambers, it's also rather ghoulish. Chill Penguin and Blizzard Buffalo are seen in the background frozen inside chunks of ice, giving the impression that either their corpses were left on the battlefield ''for years'' or that Frost Walrus had a macabre hobby of preserving the corpses of ice-elemental reploids.

** Sigma's final form here can also invoke this a bit. With its 3D model, [[UncannyValley it clashes with the overall 2D game]].

** Lumine. Expressionless, doll-like face, CreepyMonotone, shapeshifting powers, and ready and willing to go utterly AxCrazy. A little further into the UncannyValley and we'd be looking at ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion'' flashbacks!]]

%%Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649563695083095100
%%Please start a thread to discuss a new image.

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** Metal Shark Player's stage is no better. Taking place in a recycle laboratory, you can see scrapped machines in the background. The boss room takes it UpToEleven, where the floor itself is made of nothing but ''pieces of junk!'' Made even ''worse'' with Metal Shark Player, who is a Maverick {{Necromancer}}.

As the DarkerAndEdgier SequelSeries of [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the Classic series]], this was to be expected.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/execution_of_storm_owl.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:X sadistically flashes a SlasherSmile after killing Storm Owl, mad with power from the Ultimate Armor in the ''Rockman X4'' manga.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:X sadistically flashes a SlasherSmile after killing Storm Owl, mad with power from the Ultimate Armor in the Rockman X4 manga.]]

** In X's side of the story, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53_NGLyErE this cut-scene]] where Double [[TransformationSequence finally]] [[TheReveal reveals]] [[TheMole his]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing true]] [[AxCrazy nature]]. He [[BladeBelowTheShoulder single-handedly]] and [[{{Gorn}} bloodily]] slices up an entire room of Reploids! [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Rated E for everyone]], ladies and gentlemen.

** Doppler's Final Stage is very unsettling with a sinister background music and there are actual reploids trapped in tanks in the background.

** Iris' death is mostly a TearJerker, but the sheer atmosphere, chilling background music and the horrific fact that Zero had to kill his LoveInterest with his own hands bring this in NightmareFuel territory too. Even worse when Zero suffers a HeroicBSOD afterwards, realizing for the first time that all his war efforts could have been for nothing. The English version's [[{{Narm}} cheesy voice acting]] [[NightmareRetardant can lessen the impact]], but the original Japanese audio (especially Zero's screams of anguish) is certainly bone-chilling.

** The {{Stinger}} at the end of the credits can be rather unsettling the first time you see it. Sigma taunts X from beyond the grave, threatening to gather new Mavericks to continue his war. The same disturbing minimalist music that plays during the final stage also plays during this scene. It doesn't help that like most early Mega Man games you can't exit to the title screen, leaving you hearing the music and staring at Sigma's visage until you turn the game off yourself.

** The manga adaptation of Frost Walrus's fight with X, plus the ensuing fallout, is unexpectedly violent. X is accompanied by a reformed Blizzard Buffalo to attempt to apprehend Walrus, only he gets impaled by a giant icicle and loses consciousness during their first bout of conflict. When he recovers consciousness, he sees Buffalo's shadow and thinks that he won, only to find after getting a closer look that Walrus ''murdered'' Buffalo by impaling him ''and'' preserving his corpse with the visible wound inside a large block of ice. X proceeds to procure a suit of Ride Armor and pursues Walrus with murderous vengeance on his mind, only to nearly lose to Walrus. However, General appears before them and saves X by killing Walrus for his bad conduct, and leaves while essentially shrugging off X-buster shots from the wounded hunter. In frustration, X screams and smashes and damages his arm on the floor. This would lead to X hunting down the Light Capsule that contained the Ultimate Armor, which Light warns his son is unstable. The next time Zero meets X, he had just brutally murdered Slash Beast on the Repliforce train, vaporizing most of him with a charged shot that left one of Slash Beast's hands as the largest surviving fragment of him. X threatens Zero not to stand in the way of his vengeance, otherwise he would ''kill Zero as well'', before taking flight with the Ultimate Armor and leaving the scene. Later, he tracks down Storm Owl and shoots him down along with the entirety of the Repliforce air brigade he commanded over a volcano. Badly injured, Owl is befuddled at how X could have such power, and yells that 'he' is the true Maverick, not Repliforce. X then coldly shuts him up with a charged shot to the chest, killing him, with a sinister SlasherSmile on his face. The coldly murderous antics of X will really give you chills if you perceive this as a very dark foreshadowing to Master X's ruthlessness and the dystopia that is Neo Arcadia in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' timeline.

** Let's chat about the current page image, one of the Nightmare enemies. These floating torsos with DNA-strand tendrils are usually content to try and fire at X or Zero, but if an injured Reploid is on-screen, one of them will beeline for it, and if it successfully reaches them, it infects / possesses them and turns them into an enemy. Said Reploid will be considered ''lost'', or ''dead'' if killed afterwards. (Considering that some of these injured Reploids are holding upgrade parts, it's a valid reason to load a save). To make matters slightly worse, when the Nightmare enemies are killed, they sometimes drop their Nightmare Soul. If it's not collected in a short amount of time, the enemy will regenerate for another attempt. Thankfully, they can only do this once.