WARNING!: These works were only released in Japan and, for a time, were near-impossible to access since their delistings in January 2018. This, combined with how it is near impossible to talk about the storylines of both games without revealing the major twists, means this page will have unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned.
Phantom of Network
Sometime after the end of Mega Man Battle Network 3 and the fall of WWW, the world has come to a time of peace; however, while searching around Mayl's computer, Lan and MegaMan suddenly encounter a revived FireMan who is swiftly deleted Further incidents are eventually traced to an entity named Cache, an amalgamation of a Ministry of Science server's cache data who hates the relationship between NetNavis and their operators.
Legend of Network
Upon being enlisted as part of the Net Patrol, made to keep the Cyber World from getting attacked, Lan and MegaMan hear of a new museum exhibit opening showcasing the artifacts of the ancient Atlampian civilization; while returning to the Ministry of Science, both of them receive an email from "L.o.N" before the servers are suddenly infiltrated by an infected ThunderMan. They are soon joined by Sherrice and her Navi RideMan.EXE, who have been chasing a virus known as Reverse, which has the ability to control Navis.
Both games feature the same gameplay as the main series, with Phantom of Network moreorso taking after Battle Network 3 with its use of Style Change and the "ADD" function; meanwhile, Legend of Network takes after Battle Network 4 with its use of the Trans Arm system, a successor to the Double Soul system which allows MegaMan to swap arms with Navis for a limited time. As of January 1, 2018, both games are no longer available for purchase, although fans eventually managed to preserve them
; full playthroughs for both can also be found here and here.
Phantom of Network and Legend of Network contains examples of...
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General
- Art Shift: These two are the only games in which the internet lacks a isometric view, instead going with a more overhead view.
- Big Bad: Cache in Phantom of Network, Nobody in Legend of Network.
- Canon Foreigner: Mr. Hat, Shuuichi Eboshi, HatMan.EXE, Phantom Navis and Cache in Phantom of Network, and Sherrice, RideMan.EXE, Nobody and Trojan Horse in Legend of Network.
- Evil Knockoff: Most of the bosses in Phantom of Network (and FlameMan in Legend of Network) are cache copies of Navis previously deleted (known as Phantom Navis); these include FireMan, IceMan, WoodMan, ShadowMan, DrillMan, and even Bass.
- Gaiden Games: Considered ones; their exact placement in the timeline isn't stated, but it can be guessed with context clues.
- Phantom of Network likely takes place between Battle Network 3 and 4 since, although it features the Advanced PET, MegaMan is still able to utilize Style Change, and only characters from the first three games show up.
- Legend of Network likely takes place shortly after Battle Network 5 due to MegaMan's Double Souls being replaced with the Trans Arm system.
- Mobile Phone Game: Specifically, for docomo and au-themed phones, although the docomo versions weren't released until later.
- Oddball in the Series: Both games are quite odd compared to the mainline entries for several reasons:
- Both games are the only ones to use a more overhead view for the internet areas; meanwhile, the real world are just static images with character portraits and options.
- The graphics for battling have also been simplified; frames are often missing, as well as the background; Battle Chips also lack any icons.
- Both games are the only ones to use both the V2/V3 and SP Navi Chip naming schemes at the same time, with SP being for the strongest ones.
- The selection on which chips are Mega Chips are also quite odd; Sanctuary and Barrier200 are both considered Mega Chips, despite being Standard Chips in the rest of the series.
- And finally, music uses a standard MIDI font rather than the unique sounds the GBA games use.
Rockman.EXE: Phantom of Network
- The Bus Came Back: Excluding FireMan and WoodMan (who reappeared in Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun and Blue Moon), ShadowMan and DrillMan both re-appear as Phantom Navis.
- Call-Back:
- The first two chapters (FireMan attacking Mayl's computer and IceMan getting trapped in the water filtration system) both directly call back to the first game.
- The post-game involves MegaMan heading into the Secret Area and fighting Bass again; not only is it the same post-game area as Battle Network 3, its presence and Bass asking the player to "challenge him again" (when he's lost his memory) suggests the post-game of that game actually took place.note
- Downloadable Content: Battlers' Tower, which attempted to emulate the multiplayer aspect of the GBA games by making players download the data of other players, and fighting in rounds of 10; it also included a boss rush with the main game bosses, and even Dark Soul Navis.
- Unexplained Recovery: Nearly all of the bosses in the game are Navis who have been deleted in the past, returning without any warning; Subverted when it is revealed they are Phantom Navis.
- We Will Meet Again: Cache states that even with his defeat, he will return if other forgotten servers are allowed to continue running without checks.
Rockman.EXE: Legend of Network
- Animalistic Abomination: The Trojan Horse, a computer virus created by Dr. Troy of the Atlampian civilization, which also lead to its collapse that takes the form of the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology; it chronologically predates the Cybeasts by 3000 years.
- Artifact of Doom: The three goddess codes (Code Aphrodite, Code Hera and Code Athena), used to reform the Golden Apple program and to revive the Trojan Horse.
- Atlantis: The Atlampian civilization.
- Beat the Curse Out of Him: Unsurprisingly, how Navis infected with the Trojan Horse are freed.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Shuuichi is seen again in this game, now a fair bit more confident after he's gotten to bond with his father better.
- Serenade.EXE makes a return to bestow a fragment of the GigaFreeze's power to Mega so that he can get through the buffed firewall that Phantom FlamMan is generating
- The Corruption: Sherrice and Nobody attempt to invoke this with MegaMan's Trans Arm system, which allows him to swap arms with other Navis, but is infected with pieces of the Trojan Horse virus. It doesn't work.
- Demonic Possession: The Trojan Horse is able to take control of Navis against their will, including ThunderMan, AquaMan, TomahawkMan, SearchMan, ProtoMan, RideMan and Phantom!FlameMan; the Trans Arm system was also meant to infect MegaMan, but couldn't.
- Fling a Light into the Future / Write Back to the Future: The mysterious "L.o.N." is eventually revealed to be Nobody, who was sucked into the past following the defeat of the revived Trojan Horse, reunited with Atlampian survivors, and then penned back several messages programmed to be read in the present day to help the recipient avert disaster he once caused.
- Heel–Face Turn: Sherrice and Nobody; Sherrice stays in present time, while Nobody is sent back to just after the Atlampian civilization collapsed. It is also revealed he was the one sending Lan emails with the signature "L.o.N" (Legacy of Nobody).
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Trojan Horse, a computer virus created by the Atlampian civilization, ended up causing its collapse.
- Human Popsicle: Although not explained how, both Sherrice and Nobody were put to cold sleep 3000 years before the events of the game, and just before the fall of the Atlampian civilization.
- Identical Stranger: Sherrice, whose School Uniforms are the New Black, blonde twintails and Proper Tights with a Skirt appearance makes her look close to Luna Platz from Mega Man Star Force; indeed, it's possible this may have been intentional, as well as a case Red Oni, Blue Oni since Sherrice is an Emotionless Girl, while Luna is Hot-Blooded.
- Last of His Kind: Following the ending of the game, Sherrice becomes the last of the Atlampian civilization.
- Meaningful Name:
- "Nobody" and its Greek word "Outis" was the name Odysseus used during The Odyssey; Odysseus was also the one who came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse to defeat his enemies.
- The Trojan Horse itself, although it takes more after the computer variation of the name (which is a malware that misleads the user of its true intentions, often by disguising itself as an innocent program, tying into the Trans Arm system).
- Really 700 Years Old: Both Nobody and Sherrice are at least 3000 years old, although Subverted in that they were put to cold sleep for most of that time, making them around 50 and 12 respectively.
- Shout-Out: Chapter 4's title, translated, is "From Sharo With Love".
- Stable Time Loop: After the destruction of the Trojan Horse, Nobody was sent back into the past and was reunited with several Atlampian survivors, showing that his civilization wasn't completely doomed. To atone for what he did, he writes several messages programmed to be read in the present day as "L.o.N", which serve to be motivators and guides that help Lan and Mega avert the disaster that he would have caused.
