Double Soul
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Double Soul, known in Japan as Soul Unison (ソウルユニゾン Sōru Unizon?), is a fictional term used in the Mega Man Battle Network series of video games and MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman EXE) anime and manga. It is an ability employed by MegaMan.EXE (Rockman) to gain added powers and techniques in combat using the powers of an allied NetNavi.
Double Soul was first introduced in the two incarnations of Mega Man Battle Network 4. Out of twelve souls, six were exclusive to either game. It appears once more in Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan. It replaced MegaMan's Style Change capability of previous iterations.
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[edit] Description
[edit] Games
In the events of Mega Man Battle Network 3, MegaMan.EXE sacrificed himself to save his operator, Lan Hikari (Netto Hikari) from absorption by the horrific Alpha (Proto) program revived by Lord Wily near the climax of the game. Lan thought his ally and brother to be gone forever, only to be revived using data from his grandfather Tadashi Hikari. The backup data used, however, did not include the powerful Style Change programming option. Hence "Double Soul" was developed as a suitable replacement.
Unlike Style Change, which can be performed by a single NetNavi, Double Soul occurs when a Navi's soul communes with MegaMan. This usually happens after battling against or completing a "Liberation Mission".
[edit] Chaos Unison
Introduced in Mega Man Battle Network 5, Chaos Unison occurs when sacrificing a Dark Chip. MegaMan gains the soul's attributes, but his charged attack, depending on the element of the sacrificed Dark Chip, changes and can be used repeatedly without any ill-effects. Should the charge shot go awry, however, MegaMan reverts to normal and his Dark Soul is unleashed, fighting alongside the enemy.
[edit] Cross MegaMan
Also introduced in Mega Man Battle Network 5, Cross MegaMan provided an alternate base form for MegaMan with several Navi Customizer programs already installed, as well as an altered Charged Shot. In the Game Boy Advance version, Bass Cross MegaMan was made available in two different forms, a Gold form available only in Team Protoman, and a Silver form available only in Team Colonel. They could only be acquired legally in the Japanese versions by use of an e-Reader card, but could still be obtained internationally by use of a cheating device. In Double Team, Bass Cross is acquired instead by having a GBA version with all 7 icons in Slot-2. A third Cross, Sol Cross MegaMan was made available by having Konami's Boktai 2 in the second slot. Cross MegaMan does not overwrite Double Soul, and all of the non-Buster related abilities remain present in the Double Soul.
[edit] Cross System
Introduced in Mega Man Battle Network 6, the Cross System is a combination of the previous Double Soul and Cross Megaman system. Like the latter, it involves aligning MegaMan's strength with that of a Link NetNavi. It does not require chips for its initiation and can last indefinitely unless MegaMan is hit with an opposing elemental attack. If MegaMan Beasts Out while a Cross is already active, he will gain further advantages through Cross Beast.
[edit] Anime
[edit] Double Soul
In Axess, MegaMan is able to perform Double Soul initially through a special bond between fellow Navis; he usually obtained new souls in dire situations, during which either he or the other Navi in question were subject to great peril. After initiating a given Double Soul once, Lan received a corresponding chip, allowing MegaMan to freely access it when needed.
While it is Double Soul that overrides MegaMan's Style Change option in the games, it is a side effect of Cross Fusion that serves this purpose in the anime.[1]
All twelve Souls from Mega Man Battle Network 4 appear in Axess. Only one Soul from Mega Man Battle Network 5 (Gyro Soul) appears in Stream.
[edit] Cross System
Cross Beast makes its appearance during Beast+. The process occurs whenever Lan links the data of another Navi with the Beast Out file housed in his PET. As a result of Cross Beast, MegaMan not only becomes more powerful through the incorporation of another Navi's data into himself, he also takes on that Navi's personality; in the original version of the series, Rockman acts more childish after a Cross with Aquaman.[2] MegaMan also displays the ability to perform regular Crosses as well through identical methods.[3]
[edit] Examples of Double Souls
| Double Soul | Description |
|---|---|
| Colonel Soul | Double Soul with Colonel.EXE. Fits MegaMan with a sword in place of his buster and allows him to command various forces against the enemy. This allows Megaman to use Colonel's Screen Divide and Colonel Army techniques, the latter of which summons soldiers from obstacles. Normal attack chips can be used in place of MegaMan's Charge Shot while this soul is in effect. |
| Fire Soul | Double Soul with Fireman.EXE. Fits MegaMan with Fire Arms, allowing him to attack with Fire Towers in the anime (Flamethrower in the game), and improving the effectiveness of fire-based Battle Chips. Has a weakness to water-based attacks, but promotes recovery on Lava Panels. |
| Guts Soul | Double Soul with GutsMan.EXE. MegaMan's strength increases significantly, with the ability to break barriers and obstacles. Guts Punch is used in place of MegaMan's Charge Shot, while his regular Buster is replaced by Guts Machinegun. |
| Gyro Soul | Double Soul with GyroMan.EXE. MegaMan is imbued with the ability of flight, able to overlook holes in the battlefield and use wind-based attacks. Using a wind chip grants the next wind or neutral chip double damage. |
| Knight Soul | Double Soul with Knightman.EXE. Fits MegaMan with the Royal Wrecking Ball capable of inflicting heavy damage. Armor also provides a sturdy defense, able to withstand stun status. While in the front row, using a Battle Chip makes MegaMan adopts a state of invincibility. |
| Proto Soul (Blues Soul) | Double Soul with ProtoMan.EXE (Blues). Fits MegaMan a Proto Sword (Blues Sword) in place of his buster, and a Proto/Blues Shield for deflecting attacks. Sword chips can be charged to perform StepSword (Fumikomizan). |
| Aqua Soul | Double Soul with AquaMan.EXE. (Later renamed SpoutMan.EXE) Fits MegaMan with a Bubble Shot in place of his normal buster, and improves the effectiveness of water-based Battle Chips. Has a weakness to electricity-based attacks, but an added grip on surfaces of ice. |
| Meddy Soul | Double Soul with Meddy.EXE. MegaMan is able to throw Medi Capsules, charged with status effects such as healing and confusion. MegaMan can also mix status effects with attack chips, including hitpoint recovery. |
| Roll Soul | Double Soul with Roll.EXE. MegaMan is able to attack with Roll Arrow, which has the ability to shatter Battle Chip data, and recovers hitpoints when using chips. |
| Number Soul | Double Soul with Numberman.EXE. MegaMan is able to attack with a Dice Bomb. The effectiveness of neutral Battle Chips is improved and a greater amount of chips is made available in the selection screen. |
