List of Mega Man X characters

This is a list of recurring characters appearing in the Mega Man X series of video games developed and published by Capcom. Unless otherwise stated, each of these characters is a reploid; an artificially intelligent android. Names are organized in order of appearance, and characters who only appear in a single game are covered in the article for the corresponding game.

Maverick Hunters

The Maverick Hunters (Irregular Hunters イレギュラーハンター in Japan) are a group of Reploids who protect humans and other Reploids from Mavericks and the heroes of the Mega Man X series, and the protagonists of each game are prominent Maverick Hunters. When they are introduced in Mega Man X, they have already existed for quite a while, having been previously founded by Dr. Cain (who has since retired). From Mega Man X on, they battle Sigma and the other Mavericks.

X

Voiced by (English): Michael Donovan (Ruby-Spears cartoon), Peter Von Gomm (2003), Mark Gatha (2004-2005)
Voiced by (Japanese): Megumi Ogata (1993), Kentarō Itō (1997), Showtaro Morikubo (2000-2003), Takahiro Mizushima (JP, Mega Man Zero series), Takahiro Sakurai (2004–present)

As is explained in the original game Mega Man X, he is the template on which all non-Light model Reploids (except Zero) are based, and he battles against Mavericks to protect humans and assuage his guilt for his part in their creation. He was created by Dr. Light sometime in 20XX. Light named him X after the variable "x" which, in algebraic terms, represents limitless possibility, as do X's advanced systems.

Light feared the ramifications of giving robots free will, so he chose to seal X inside a capsule for 30 years to test the integrity and reliability of X's systems.^[1] Unfortunately, this landed well beyond Dr. Light's predicted life expectancy, and he died before X's diagnostics were complete. X was discovered in his capsule 100 years later by another scientist, Dr. Cain, who attempted to emulate X's technology and, with X's help, produced the first mass-produced Reploids: humanoid androids based upon X's designs. When Reploids began to rebel against humanity (such rebels are termed Mavericks), the Maverick Hunters were formed to combat them, under the leadership of Sigma, the strongest and most advanced Reploid created at that time, as well as the first Reploid created by Cain. This proved to be disastrous when Sigma himself was eventually infected with the Maverick Virus, and went Maverick himself, taking most of the Maverick Hunters with him as he leads a massive revolt. X, feeling guilty for being the catalyst of the Maverick outbreak, takes it upon himself to help put a stop to Sigma and his plans, and teams up with Zero, one of the last remaining Hunters, in an attempt to find Sigma and put a stop to his revolt.

An X outfit can be unlocked and worn by the character Frank West in Dead Rising, who also uses it as part of his hyper combo in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars and also appears as Frank's DLC costume in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. X himself also appears in Zero's ending. Also, X appears as a cameo in Zero's appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. One of Zero's alternate color schemes is based on X's and later in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with another one that resembles X's white armor from the first game, and even a DLC costume with the look of X. X also appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as part of Mega Man's Final Smash. Mii Gunners also have access to X's armor through paid DLC in both versions. X is also seen along with Zero in Project X Zone and its sequel. X himself will be a playable character in the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

Zero

Originally intended to be the protagonist of Mega Man X,^[2] he was recast as the mentor and, later, partner of X in favor of an X who looked "more like Mega Man". He is a top class Maverick Hunter who undergoes constant inner turmoil regarding his mysterious past and purpose, of which he seems to see glimpses of in nightmares, and the fact that the Virus does not affect him like it does other reploids, who have their programs corrupted and turn erratic and violent and bent on human destruction, becoming "Maverick". Quite the contrary, it in fact makes him stronger, and causes him absolutely no ill effects, much to his grief and fear. In Mega Man X to X3, his main weapon is the Z-Buster, with the Z-Saber being introduced to his arsenal in X2 and being usable by both Zero and X in X3, but as more of a sub weapon. In Mega Man X4 onwards, Z-Saber becomes his main weapon, and the buster his sub weapon (It actually has not been seen in use since X6, but a similar weapon called Buster Shot is one of his weapons in the Mega Man Zero series). Zero can also wield other weapons as well as seen in X7, X8, and the Zero series. He was actually created by Dr. Wily as his "masterpiece" in order to replace Bass and later destroy X, Light's masterpiece, thus settling his grudge rivalry with Light, and prove his superiority. In Mega Man X6 Zero's ending, he is shown some time in the future, entering a sleep capsule where he will awaken 102 years later on August 15, likely setting the stage for the Mega Man Zero series, in which Zero becomes the main character. This would be the first of two times Zero seals himself away. Zero is a playable character in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite and Project X Zone and its sequel.

Axl

CV: Minami Takayama (JP), Lenne Hardt (US, 2003), Jeffrey Watson (US, 2004-present)

Axl (アクセル, Akuseru), a black and red-armored reploid with an X-shaped scar above his nose. With the attributes of a child in X7, he is a fairly recent introduction. Having first appeared in Mega Man X7, he displays the unusual ability known as A-Trans allows which allows him to take on the appearance and abilities of any reploid he defeats which matches his size, an ability that is initially unique that allows him to explore normally inaccessible areas. Axl is also armed with a pair of handheld blaster pistols (although, in most cases Axl only uses one), which he calls Axl Bullets, and the ability to hover in midair and roll through enemy shots. While his gameplay style was originally similar to X, in Mega Man X8, Axl's gameplay had been reworked to create his own distinctive fighting style. His shots now have intense rapid-fire abilities and can fire in any direction, (similar to Bass from the Classic Mega Man series) and instead of copying the same Maverick weapons like X can, Axl instead gains a new type of gun for each boss he defeats which has unlimited ammo (unlike X7 where Axl could only receive three new guns which he switches to when he uses the Maverick weapons that come with them), and these special guns can be fired in the same way as Axl's regular attacks (multi-directional and rapid-fire). While overall the weakest in attack, Axl's fighting style relies more on rapid-fire than power.

Axl is introduced in Mega Man X7, having just left the mercenary Red Alert Syndicate and seeking membership in the Maverick Hunters. The Red Alert Syndicate, which hunts Robots and also takes on less savory assassination jobs, has been infiltrated by Sigma, and confronts the Maverick Hunters. X, Zero, and Axl work together to defeat Red Alert, and destroy Sigma, but in so doing, destroy both Red Alert, and its leader, Red, the only one Axl knows of who knows about his origins. He has a very special ability called Copy Shot, which allows him to disguise himself as certain non-boss enemies with A-Trans, the enfusing of the enemy's DNA data. In Mega Man X: Command Mission, Redips, initially the leader of the maverick hunters, also has the ability to transform. In MMX:CM, Axl's Action Trigger allows him to turn into defeated bosses such as Wild Jango, Silver Horn, Mad Nautilus, Mach Jentra, Incentas, Depth Dragoon, Rafflesian, and Ninetails. His Hyper Mode, Stealth Mode, allows him to avoid enemy attacks, similar to that of Spider's Hyper Mode, Trickstar.

Mega Man X8 reveals that Axl is a prototype for a next-generation reploid. These next-generation reploids all have the ability to copy other reploids through a chip that contains a reploid DNA database, and, due to its DNA changing nature, prevents them from going Maverick, as harmful changes are simply reverted. These next-generation reploids are pawns in two different plots:

• With the copy chip containing a copy of Sigma's DNA within the library of hundreds of others, they inherit Sigma's mindset and way of thinking, thus giving them the freedom to go Maverick at will. Sigma wants to destroy the old world and start a new age with his "children"
• Lumine, leader of the next-generation reploids and the one whom all of the next-generation reploids are based on, also plans to use them to destroy all the humans and old-model reploids so he can repopulate the Earth with next-generation reploids, fulfilling Sigma's ambition.

X, Zero, and Axl defeat them both, but when Lumine is defeated, he lashes out in his death throes, cracking the blue crystal on the red headpiece of Axl's helmet, knocking him unconscious, and X carries him out with Zero. This scene is not unlike the scene in X4 where Sigma and Zero fight in which Zero's "virus" is transferred to Sigma. Axl's ending of the game shows an ominous purple sparkle in his broken headgem, and Axl, unconscious, groans a bit, yet the significance of the sparkle is not yet known. Eventually, Axl is somehow revived, possibly to indicate that next-generation reploids have the ability to revive themselves while at death's door, and joins the fight along with X and Zero in Mega Man X: Command Mission. According to popular belief, the name "Axl" is a pun off of the name Axl Rose from the hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

In Mega Man ZX Advent, there was a black biometal named Model A. Before the end of the game, Master Albert claimed that it is "Model Albert," as it contains his plan and ability, but the design of the Biometal is heavily based on Axl, using the left and right side hand guns and carrying the A-Trans ability, which creates some speculation about Model A's true identity. Model A is voiced by Yu Kobayashi in the game's Japanese version and by Katie Adler in its English version.

Axl also appears in Zero's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Even though he doesn't appear, one of Zero's alternate color schemes in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is based on Axl.

Dr. Light

CV: Unknown (JP, 2004), Tomohisa Asou (JP, 2005-present), Randall Wiebe (US)

In his later years, Dr. Thomas Light, worrying about the future of Earth, developed his magnum opus, the battle robot Mega Man X. As the "X" in its name signified, this battle robot was given "limitless evolutionary potential": the power to grow and evolve as he fights. To assist X in his future battles, Dr. Light developed a great number of armors, and after an incident occurred where an unknown computer virus came from space and caused robots to become violent and riotous, he also hypothesized that X could battle robots infected by viruses. To that end, he equipped X with the perfect virus counter-measure. However, X was not just a battle robot. He was also intended to be a new generation of "thinking robot", having advanced mental capacities roughly the same as a human’s. Dr. Light made X so that utilizing his conscience, he is capable of thinking, feeling, and making his own decisions through the "act of worrying", which he considered a new epoch in robotics. Because of these advanced mental capabilities, X presented many problems inconceivable in existing robots. As this was the first time that this experiment had succeeded, there was a danger that X may worry over or question even the absolute requirement for robots, “Robots may not harm humans.” If the act of worrying extended to matters that by the nature of robots must not be questioned, it would be disastrous. Dr. Light figured that in the worst case, if a robot were to harm humans deliberately, humankind would tremble with fear the like of which was unknown even in the days of the “Dr. Wily” incidents. As such, also taking into account X and his armors' combat capabilities, Dr. Light concluded that X was an extremely dangerous being that could become a threat to mankind. To determine X's reliability, Dr. Light considered subjecting X's cognitive program to 30 years of ethical testing, but because human life is short and fleeting, Dr. Light would never live to confirm the safety of the X project. It is for that very reason that he decided to seal X away in a capsule, hoping that he would be discovered in a far flung future, urging through a warning that the capsule should not be opened before the aforementioned 30 years had passed.

Though that was his logical conclusion, his feelings had always considered his final creation as a hero that would fight for justice and peace for all people; not as a robot potentially dangerous to humankind. Because of this, he talked to X about how he feared that humanity was not yet ready to accept him. According to him, humanity was not yet mature, and they would judge X's name, limitless potential, and human like mental capabilities as something to be feared. Making clear his true intentions before sealing X away, Dr. Light continued telling him that he considered X as the world's one true hope, somebody that could guide the people of the future. These same feelings he also left in a message to whoever would find X, but at the same time also expressing his concern that X would be swept up in a war called "progress." As Dr. Light himself expressed, there was little chance he would live another 30 years to see X come into the world. The construction took a very long time, to the point that Dr. Light had aged considerably by the time of his completion. His health failing, he died soon after sealing X away. He continues to live on, however, as a sentient hologram, who aids X in his battles by upgrading his armor with stronger enhancements.

Dr. Cain

CV: Tadashi Miyazawa (JP), Michael Shepherd (US)

Dr. Cain, a human archaeologist-turned-robot expert, serves a vital, yet shrinking role in the Mega Man X games and their backstories. In the story of Mega Man X (told in the form of Dr. Cain's journals), Dr. Cain discovers the dormant Mega Man X in the ruins of Dr. Light's lab. After awakening X, Cain invents Reploids, sapient robots based on X's design, with the most notable being Sigma. Sigma, being the most advanced robot at the time, was placed as the head of the Maverick Hunters (Irregular Hunters in the Japanese version), a group of reploids dedicated to destroying any reploid that violated the three rules of robotics. Dr. Cain's role in later games diminishes. In Mega Man X2 he rebuilds Zero after X recovers his parts from the X-Hunters. In X3, he has next to no role, only appearing when you lose Zero, in the scene in which Zero says he cannot fight any more. X3 marked his final appearance in game. The American Manual to "Mega Man X4" has a note stating that he in fact was responsible for the creation of Doppler and Repliforce, however, this was added by the localization team, and not present in the original Japanese manual, and is thus, not to be considered canon.

In Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, a remake of Mega Man X, his role is expanded on slightly, showing Sigma giving periodic reports to Cain on Maverick Hunter activities, and X's progress. He is shown to periodically connect to a large machine when he eats, possibly a dialysis machine, or to aid in digestion, as concept artwork of Cain shows that while he has 4 ports on his back to connect to the machine, he is fully capable of standing upright with his cane. When Sigma launches the missile strike at the city, his home is seen engulfed in a nearby explosion, and he fades to white while musing over how reploids were created by humanity and humankind was too arrogant. His death in this version of events is heavily implied since a missile struck his home.

It is interesting to note that, while responsible for awakening and assisting X, his invention of Reploids was the direct cause of all the major wars throughout the X, Zero, and ZX games, resulting in rapid, dramatic changes of society that are often for the worst. In this spirit, it is also interesting to note that his original background was in archaeology and botany.

Another note is that his name is Cain, the biblical man who betrayed and killed his brother, Abel. In a similar fashion, Dr. Cain unintentionally betrayed humanity to doom and destruction for generations to come in his creation of Reploids. The city that he lives in, and the Main maverick Hunter base was stationed in Maverick Hunter X, also, was aptly named, "Abel City"

It should also be mentioned that in the original SNES series that Cain never died. He appears in Mega Man X2 and X3, perfectly healthy and advising X and Zero on their next moves.

Iris

CV: Yūko Mizutani (JP)

Iris was developed by Repliforce scientists as half of the "Perfect Soldier program". Colonel, her brother, was the other half. Her half was of the compassionate and peaceful one, and Colonel's was of the strong-willed Reploid warrior. Repliforce scientists had struggled to make these two factors into one Reploid, but the differences were irreconcilable, so they split them into brother and sister Reploids.

Iris trained with the Maverick Hunters, and during this time she developed feelings for Zero. Later, she acted as a navigator at the Maverick Hunter Headquearters, instructing Zero on where to go for his missions. Despite her willingness to instruct Zero, she constantly urged him to withhold his fighting, especially from her brother. When her brother was later destroyed, the pain drove Iris mad and she made a trip to the Final Weapon. She waited for Zero in a laboratory ready to avenge her brother, where she used Colonel's fighting will to gain a powerful body armor. Zero defeated her, and rushed to her side instantly after; but it was too late at this point, as Iris was already dying from program failure caused by attempting to use her brother's fighting will on her systems; the systems clashed and caused Iris terrible pain as she fought against Zero. Before she dies, she told him that she wishes for a world where there are only Reploids. Her death causes Zero to question his beliefs and causes him much pain. Later it was revealed that Sigma was behind those events and also taunts Zero before their battle saying that Iris was waiting for him. After the Final Weapon is destroyed and Zero was on his way back to Earth, he thinks about the friends he couldn't save, especially Iris. The thought that he might not be able to save anyone tortures him for a long time.

Iris makes a small cameo in Mega Man X5, when using Zero to destroy Sigma's latest incarnation. She also appeared as X's and Zero's guide in Mega Man Xtreme 2 for the Game Boy Color, which does follow the X series characters. An alternate universe version of her appears in the last installment of the Battle Network series, Mega Man Battle Network 6, and plays a significant role in the storyline.

Iris also had a cameo appearance in Project X Zone, a 2012 crossover game for the 3DS. In Chapter 29, she was brought to The World from the .hack series and used as bait by Vile to cause Zero anguish over her death, especially when she told him she still wishes for a world where only Reploids exist. Though the non-Mega Man X characters are confused about the situation with Iris, they still realized that Zero was in trouble and came to his rescue. Once Zero has recovered and remembers his duties as a Hunter, he tells Iris that her dream is not possible. At that moment Aura (the AI from .hack) tells her she is not supposed to be present, thus causing her to fade. As she vanishes, she tells Zero that the situation between them has been resolved and to never give up. After she disappears, Zero with a renewed spirit declares that he will see her again one day, finally giving him closure over her death.

Alia

CV: Rumi Kasahara (JP), Rumiko Varnes (US, 2003), Mariette Sluyter (US, 2004-present)

Alia is a character in the Mega Man X series. She acts as a Navigator for the Maverick Hunters in Mega Man X5 and onwards.

Alia began her career as a simple researcher in Reploid engineering. She and her colleague Gate whom she was said to have feelings for, were ahead of their time in their research on Reploids, though she contends that Gate was always a better programmer than she was. However, Gate's inability to follow the rules made him a social outcast, and his creations were systematically destroyed, sometimes even with the assistance of Alia herself. She soon mastered all programming languages and was chosen on these merits to be a spotter for the Hunters. In Mega Man X5, Alia then served as the Hunters' spotter (navigator) during the Sigma Virus outbreak, while simultaneously lending her technical talents to the cause by uploading and letting X utilize his two new armors, the Falcon and Gaea armor. She supported the Hunters throughout the ordeal until it was resolved. And most of the time, she worries for her comrades.

In Mega Man X6, she spotted X and Zero as they dealt with the Nightmares, and her past with Gate came back to haunt her. Though feeling guilty throughout the happenings, she assisted the Hunters in bringing Gate to justice. When Gate was defeated, though, X brought his remains to Alia, and she said she would do her best to repair him, although it's unknown if she ever succeeded or not. As the Earth Recovery proceeded, Alia continued to act as a Hunter navigator. Her skills were brought to good use when Axl escaped from the Red Alert Syndicate, a new hunter organization that had risen to power, in the Mega Man X7 installment. With X having retired from the Hunters, he assisted Alia with her work at the base. During the crisis, Alia continued to guide Zero and Axl - and X, once he decided that he needed to help out - on their missions, eventually helping them locate Red Alert's base.

In Mega Man X8, Alia continued her spotter position, assisted by two new navigators (Layer and Palette). Working in tandem, she assists in the discovery of the new generation chips and Sigma's plot. Alia is also a secret unlockable character in the game and is similar to her counterpart, X in terms of controls. She has her own arm cannon, the Alia Buster, and a Weapon Copy system, but lacks X's armor and its abilities.

Douglas

CV: Wataru Takagi (JP)

A mechanic for the Maverick Hunters. In X5, he constructed power-up parts (or "modules") for X and Zero and reinforced the Enigma Cannon and Space Shuttle with the parts they gathered from the Mavericks. During the Nightmare outbreak (X6), Douglas helped X and Zero by refining power-up parts for them. Although he is still employed by the Maverick Hunters, he has not appeared in-game for a while. He is a somewhat eccentric character who prefers to look on the lighter side of things. He can fix about anything.

Signas

CV: Hirotaka Suzuoki (JP, 2000-2003), Tsuneyoshi Iwatsuru (JP, 2005-present), Robert Belgrade (US, 2003), Roger Rhodes (US, 2004-present)

Signas is the newest leader and commander of the Maverick Hunters, introduced in X5. He was originally a private investigator before being assigned to the Maverick Hunters. Signas commands every mission executed by the Hunters, and he often plans out major operations, overseeing them carefully. Very loyal to humans and reploids, Signas will stop at nothing to ensure that all Mavericks are eliminated, as he has already proven to be a worthy leader and valuable Hunter. He has the most advanced CPU of all current Reploids and is somewhat similar to X4's Colonel in appearance. *Not to be mistaken with Sigma

Mavericks

Maverick (Irregular (イレギュラー, Iregyurā) in Japan) refers to Reploids who turned against humanity due to the effects of the Maverick Virus or of their own accord, depending on the individual.

The Mavericks also appeared as the main villains in the Worlds Unite crossover from Archie Comics, which took place between the Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, Mega Man, and Sonic Boom comic lines. Following the events of X7, Sigma traveled back in time to Sonic the Hedgehog's home world, and later cloned the vast majority of the Mavericks featured in the series. The only exceptions are those featured in Command Mission and a handful from the other games.

Sigma

CV: Mugihito (JP), Jim Byrnes (Ruby-Spears cartoon), Walter Roberts (US, 2003), Dave Pettitt (US, 2004), Gerald Matthews (US, 2006)

Sigma (シグマ, Shiguma) is the primary antagonist of the Mega Man X series, considered to be the finest reploid of the time with circuitry designs meant to keep him from going Maverick. He was once the leader of the Maverick Hunters, but during a mission, he came into contact with Zero, who at the time was a Maverick. During their battle, Zero leaves Sigma badly damaged and infected with the Zero Virus. Although Sigma was initially stable after the incident, he soon became a Maverick and declared war on humans. He was defeated by X and Zero numerous times before being finally defeated on the moon in Mega Man X8, where they believed the Zero Virus will eventually die out. He is voiced by Mugihito from Mega Man X4 through Maverick Hunter X in Japanese, Charlie Fontana in the English adaptation of X4, Walter Roberts in the English adaptation of X7, Dave Pettitt in the English adaptation of X8, and Gerald Matthews in the English adaptation of Maverick Hunter X.

Sigma appears as a tall, bald humanoid in most of his forms. Although he has been destroyed countless times, Sigma's programming is able to survive the encounters in viral form, allowing him to build new bodies. It is implied that he grows more insane with each transformation, the most dramatic example being in X6, where, having deteriorated to a form that is barely coherent, screaming in broken sentences, and merely out for blood, only looks to destroy X and Zero directly. He manages to develop his data into the Sigma Virus, which allows him to easily infect numerous Reploids. He is fond of transforming himself into a larger and stronger form after his first normal form is defeated. He is a capable military leader, rendering him a devious and strategic opponent and allowing him to turn various Reploids, Mavericks, even other Maverick Hunters to his side, which is especially shown in X4, where he pushes the Repliforce and Maverick Hunters into nearly destroying each other. After his defeat in Mega Man X8, Lumine claims that Sigma is dead for good and will be unable to ever return, though it could be implied that the "Sigma" that was destroyed is actually a clone, and that Lumine is the real Sigma in disguise.

Sigma is set to appear as a playable character in the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite via downloadable content. Sigma is also one of the main antagonists of the game, alongside Ultron, with the two using the Infinity Stones to merge and become "Ultron Sigma".^[3]

Lumine

CV: Junko Noda (JP), Elinor Holt (US)

Lumine is the main antagonist of Mega Man X8. Due to being a new generation reploid, he can transform into other reploids. Lumine is introduced as the director of the Jakob project, the Orbital elevator in the beginning of X8. He was soon kidnapped by Vile, due to his knowledge of the elevator. After defeating Sigma (originally thought to be the instigator of the events of the game once more) on normal or hard mode, Lumine is revealed to have been manipulating a weakened Sigma this time around, though he really means that he is essentially Sigma himself, and is carrying out his plans. He knows that Sigma could not do what he did in the whole series forever. He goes onto claim that this was Sigma's final death and that would be unable to return.

Lumine then reveals his own plan; to exterminate all humans and old generation Reploids and create a new world only for the new generation models. Lumine is fought in his normal form and then in an angelic form in a heavenly arena. After his defeat, he strikes Axl with what appears to be a tentacle and shatters the orb on his head, and appears to lodge a piece of the tentacle in the gem of his helmet.

Vile

CV: Mugihito (JP; 2004), Hiroshi Shimozaki (JP; 2005-present), Lee Tockar (Ruby-Spears cartoon), Roger Rhodes (2004-present)

Vile (VAVA (ヴァヴァ) in Japanese) is a recurring major villain in the Mega Man X series, and frequently reappears as a mid-game boss. He has a distinctive helmet with a T-shaped visor, similar to that of Boba Fett. Vile is introduced in Mega Man X, where he is a former Maverick Hunter now serving Sigma as his right-hand man. When he first fights X (while in his ride armor) in Mega Man X, Vile reveals the fact that he is stronger and more powerful than X and his "antiquated weapons". He and X fought, and X was almost defeated, but Zero came to his rescue by blasting the arm from Vile's ride armor. Vile escapes and vows to confront X and Zero later. When Zero later tells X that he has found Sigma's fortress, they split up. Zero and Vile meet at the fortress entrance just as X arrives. They battle (with Vile in his repaired ride armor), and by the time X confronts Vile, he has captured Zero. X is then again nearly defeated by Vile. Zero once again comes to the rescue, as he regains strength, jumps on Vile's back, and destroys Vile's ride armor. The resulting explosion also destroyed Zero's legs, fatally damaging him. With Vile's ride armor destroyed, X defeats Vile, enraged, and continues on into Sigma's fortress. Zero gives X his arm cannon before he dies (only if the player did not obtain arm cannon upgrade hidden in the game).

In Mega Man X3 Vile is sent along with Bit and Byte to destroy X. There is little dialogue from Bit and Byte, showing that they don't have much of a personality, unlike Vile, who even states to Dr. Doppler that he has a score to settle with X, apparently angry about being destroyed in the first installment of the Mega Man X games. In the first Mega Man X game Vile controls a large mobile carrier, and in X3, he uses a similar carrier, although according to Vile the carrier is the new "Goliath" model. Vile also uses a carrier in X8, but unlike in the first and third games, he switches in and out of his carrier, giving the battle a bit more variety. The first encounter with Vile in X3 takes place in what appears to be a recently abandoned factory. Vile's plan is to blow up the factory with Mega Man X still inside. This event does not have to take place, since the factory is a hidden stage. If you win the battle with Vile you will still have to escape the factory before it explodes. Even if you succeed in this battle with Vile, he will still return in the second part of Dr. Doppler's stage, unless you deal the final blow with the Spinning Blade or Ray Splasher weapon. The battle in Dr. Doppler's stage is different only because the room that you battle in is larger, and Vile has a few new moves, including shooting paralyzing sparks at you. In Viles' last words he tells X that he will haunt him till the day that he dies, then he explodes in the same way as the other bosses from X3.

Vile returns yet again In Mega Man X8, and tries to convince Mega Man X, along with Zero and Axl to "give up", whether or not he was being serious in this attempt, or just taunting them is unknown. After being defeated at the final stage, when the primary playable character exits through the door, Vile makes a last-ditch effort to take whatever secondary playable character left behind with him while the other character is forced to go through the rest of the stage alone until the two are reunited during the Sigma fight. His ultimate fate is unknown, but it is implied that the other character destroyed him.

Vile is a playable character in Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, and in his version of the single-player story he is recast as a loose cannon who is freed from imprisonment by Sigma to wreak havoc (his change of allegiance is reflected in his appearance; unlike in the original Mega Man X, the symbol on his forehead is a V instead of Sigma's stylized Σ). He turns against Sigma's Mavericks, but in his final battle, instead of fighting Sigma, he confronts both X and Zero, though he ends up being destroyed in the end. In Vile mode on Maverick Hunter X, Vile gets a very large amount of weapons for his carrier, his legs and his arms. It was discovered in X mode on Maverick Hunter X that Vile uses his ride armor all the time and almost never gets off of it, which protected Vile when Zero wrestled him, so instead of destroying Vile, like Zero hoped, he only destroyed Vile's ride armor, leaving Vile himself unaffected.

He made a one-episode appearance in the 1994 Mega Man cartoon by Ruby-Spears alongside X and Spark Mandrill. In this appearance, he was surprisingly similar to his game's counterpart in terms of appearance, when compared to many of the other characters. The addition of a neck and a taller, slightly more detailed head are the main differences, although it should also be noted that whenever he is about to attack, he grabs his shoulder cannon and aims manually, unlike the games (with the exception of his Maverick Hunter X ending, which came out years after the cartoon was made). Mega Man didn't stand a chance against Vile because the shots from his arm cannon were just deflected off of Vile's armor. His personality is vastly different; in the games he is relatively crazy, possibly psychotic, but in the cartoon he is a collected character and has a deep, calm voice. He's very arrogant, often calling Mega Man "puny", and when he hears Dr. Wily come up with what he views a good plan, Vile says "not bad, for a puny human". His actual objective was to steal Lightanium rods developed by Dr. Light, which according to X were worth billions in the future, and which Sigma planned to use them to fund his war against the humans. Vile is also heavily implied to have a grudge against X, though the reasons behind their rivalry have never been explored. During the episode, Vile entered an alliance with Wily into obtaining the Lightanium rods in exchange for the Plasma energy that Wily needs to power up a new blaster weapon to conquer the world. Eventually, Mega Man and his X counterpart stop them in their paths by destroying the blaster weapon, and X pushes both Vile and Spark Mandrill back to their time while Wily and his cohorts escape the scene.

Although Vile is a recurring villain in the Mega Man X series, he is a different color in each game; purple in the first, blue in the third, and green in the eighth.

X Hunters

The X Hunters, known as the Counter Hunters (カウンターハンター Kauntā Hantā^?) in Japan, are a group of three Mavericks, the main antagonists and major bosses in Mega Man X2. The members of the group are Violen (バイオレン Baioren^?), Serges (サーゲス Sāgesu^?), and Agile (アジール Ajīru^?). as they led a Maverick rebellion after Sigma's supposed death and took over the North Pole. They were also in possession of Zero's parts and they challenge X in a dual for the parts after some of their Mavericks were defeated. Each member is fond in a secret area of a stage and will move to another stage. After X beat each of the X Hunters, he recovered all three parts and has a final battle with them at their lair. One by one, all of the X Hunters were destroyed and eventually X confronts a newly revived Sigma.

Dr. Doppler

Dr. Doppler (Ｄｒ．ドップラー, Doppurā) is the main antagonist of Mega Man X3. Dr. Doppler is depicted as a Reploid researcher who supposedly discovered a cure for Maverick Reploids, and even founded a city, Dopple Town, in honor of it. When the supposedly cured reploids began causing riots in Dopple Town, the Maverick Hunters held Doppler accountable. After X and Zero defeats him, Doppler reveals that he was corrupted by the viral form of Sigma, who ordered him to create a new body for him. Eventually, Zero would learn that Dr. Doppler has the true antivirus, and applies it to his Z-Saber to finish off Sigma and get X and himself out of Doppler's exploding laboratory. (Alternatively, if Zero is injured, Dr. Doppler uses his own body as the true antivirus and sacrifices himself.)

Dr. Doppler also plays a role in Carddass-exclusive storyline series called Rockman X: Mega Mission, where he unleashes his own virus, the Limited Virus, which is responsible for revival of some of Mavericks that X had previously defeated in previous games, as well as a copy of X himself (written as イクス, Ikusu), also known as iX by the fans to distinguish it from the original.

Dynamo

Dynamo, introduced in Mega Man X5 and later recurring in Mega Man X6 as an optional boss, is a Reploid mercenary who works for Sigma. He is voiced by Showtaro Morikubo.

Dynamo portrays a very cocky and arrogant character. He was hired by Sigma to help his execution of the plan to spread the Maverick virus all over Earth. Once Sigma had executed the plan, Dynamo's job was to slow down the progress of X and Zero as they gathered parts for the Enigma cannon and the Shuttle, both of which were intended to stop the colony's crash, which was an integral part of Sigma's plan. Despite his arrogant claims, he escaped in a fit of cowardice when X and Zero defeated him, bringing him to the realization that he could die. This showed that he was still intelligent and hasn't turned Maverick, as most Mavericks would refuse to back down and fight till their destruction. With Sigma no longer around to protect him during Mega Man X6, he attempted gathering Nightmare Souls to enhance his power. However, he still failed miserably at fighting X and Zero, and escaped from them again. For unknown reasons, he has made no subsequent appearances after X6.

In X5, Dynamo is somewhat notable as the only boss other than the eight Mavericks that gets his own intro sequence.

Double

Double was a supporting character in Mega Man X4. He quickly befriended X during his mission and acted as his mission operator, but as X headed off to the Final Weapon, Double revealed his true purpose: he was a spy sent by Sigma to infiltrate the Maverick Hunters. After slaughtering some Maverick Hunters in their headquarters, Double went after X inside the Final Weapon, and revealed his true form to him, causing a disbelieving X to realize he was betrayed, and confronted him in combat. However, X managed to destroy him.

As his name suggests, Double has two forms: the first is a short, overweight amicable form, but his second and true form is a much taller, thinner and stronger battle-ready Reploid, with sabers within the top of his hands and a gelatin-like substance present in his body. His name is also believed by some to signify that he is a double agent. Double's weakness is, coincidentally, the Double Cyclone.

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