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X is the most unfortunate MegaMan character

Stopdoor

Member
I still don't really "get" the Mega Man X games. He has way less health than classic Mega Man which makes bosses really tough! I tried Mega Man Xtreme the Game Boy game and found it hard to beat any of the bosses. But about his character, he seemed cool.

You do know (most?) Megaman X games have Heart Tanks that upgrade your permanent health, you just have to explore for them?
 

Wonko_C

Member
Correction: He's stuck inside a Power Ranger morpher.

latest

It's never really cleared up but it is stated in MMZX that Model X, Model Z and the rest were just modeled after X and Zero, etc. That would imply they don't actually contain their heroes' cyber souls and are just mere copies made by Ciel. So they're actually dead.
 

Syril

Member
The Maverick Hunter remake was actually trying to correct it by having him actually be the focus for once, but that whole project was kind of stillborn.
 

Bulzeeb

Member
I agree, X is the best, he is a pacifist but he still gets shit done, he always tries to save as much humans/Reploids as possible but he knows when to pull the trigger to avoid mayor casualties, even by the time of X6, Sigma shifted his attention from Zero to X because he was always the cause of his demise.

On contrast, Zero is suppose to be a "badass" however, he seems really boring in contrast, just a mindless Killing machine who always does what he is told without a second though, the only time in the whole series he seemed to care about something else was the whole Iris situation in X4
 

Jaeger

Member
I agree, X is the best, he is a pacifist but he still gets shit done, he always tries to save as much humans/Reploids as possible but he knows when to pull the trigger to avoid mayor casualties, even by the time of X6, Sigma shifted his attention from Zero to X because he was always the cause of his demise.

On contrast, Zero is suppose to be a "badass" however, he seems really boring in contrast, just a mindless Killing machine who always does what he is told without a second though, the only time in the whole series he seemed to care about something else was the whole Iris situation in X4

Mindless killing machine? I dont think we are speaking about the same character. The one who constantly encourages X when he feels he isn't a strong enough warrior, and tells him that his potential is far greater than his own. The one who sacrifices himself to save X at a defining hour. And that's just the first game.
 

TreIII

Member
It's never really cleared up but it is stated in MMZX that Model X, Model Z and the rest were just modeled after X and Zero, etc. That would imply they don't actually contain their heroes' cyber souls and are just mere copies made by Ciel. So they're actually dead.

The Live Metals are modeled after the heroes, yes, but they do indeed contain their souls. Not unlike how Model V contains the rancorous soul of Dr. Vile/Weil, himself.

The only outlier is Model A, who
is just a 'backup' of Dr. Albert, who somehow ended up being a remarkably similar character to Axl...
 

Ishida

Banned
i thought those are just redesigns, MM is a robot so he can switch out parts.

From left to right.

*Mega Man EXE (Alternate reality)

*Mega Man X (His story is set around 100 years after the Classic series. Brother to the original Mega Man)

*Mega Man (The original one!)

*Mega Man (Combined form of a human and an alien thing. From an alternate reality).

*Mega Man Volnutt, also known by his original name of Mega Man Trigger (His story is set several millenia after the X series)
 
I don't know shit about Megaman, but is this the one who was shunned in Marvel VS. Capcom 3, where Zero got in? I remember people being upset about that.

Haha, this is also literally all I know about the character. As someone following that game, people seemed to be fuming.

The main issue is that no version of Mega Man joined and all of Niitsuma's excuses (guy behind MvC3) for not having a single variant all contradicted not only past VS titles but MvC3 itself. Crossovers are about having respect for all the franchises involved so all the communities have something to share together. How can you claim to have properly represented the Mega Man franchise and not have a single version of Mega Man in it? Phoenix Wright cannot fight at all and there are plenty of characters from his games that could easily be in a fighting game, yet they still went with Wright because he symbolizes the series as the primary lead and icon. There'd be a similar stink made by DMC base if Vergil and Trish joined but no Dante with Niitsuma saying he couldn't find a moveset for Dante that Vergil didn't do better.

Mega Man X became the most requested of the group simply because he was 2nd oldest of the franchise and the only "Mega Man" to not be in a crossover title at that point. Classic was in MvC1&2, Volnutt (Legends) was in TvC, EXE was in Onimusha Blade Warriors (a weak entry obviously) and MMZero was in SNK VS Capcom Chaos.

On topic, I gave my thoughts on the X series here, including what I thought of Inafune's blatant favoritism. There was so much potential to X, the setting, the games, and even the story but was wasted because of all the in-fighting at Capcom...
 

Celcius

°Temp. member
Megaman X is the best series... I wish we could get some new MMX games in the same art style of the first one, like they did with the regular MM series.
X > Zero, but I have to admit that I was on the Zero hype train for a while haha, especially when I finally got a chance to play as him.
If they could only bring back one megaman series, I would want it to be this one.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
The main issue is that no version of Mega Man joined and all of Niitsuma's excuses (guy behind MvC3) for not having a single variant all contradicted not only past VS titles but MvC3 itself. Crossovers are about having respect for all the franchises involved so all the communities have something to share together. How can you claim to have properly represented the Mega Man franchise and not have a single version of Mega Man in it? Phoenix Wright cannot fight at all and there are plenty of characters from his games that could easily be in a fighting game, yet they still went with Wright because he symbolizes the series as the primary lead and icon. There'd be a similar stink made by DMC base if Vergil and Trish joined but no Dante with Niitsuma saying he couldn't find a moveset for Dante that Vergil didn't do better.

Mega Man X became the most requested of the group simply because he was 2nd oldest of the franchise and the only "Mega Man" to not be in a crossover title at that point. Classic was in MvC1&2, Volnutt (Legends) was in TvC, EXE was in Onimusha Blade Warriors (a weak entry obviously) and MMZero was in SNK VS Capcom Chaos.

On topic, I gave my thoughts on the X series here, including what I thought of Inafune's blatant favoritism. There was so much potential to X, the setting, the games, and even the story but was wasted because of all the in-fighting at Capcom...

Pretty much sums up my thoughts. They made X a second fiddle despite being the lead, and this becomes more apparent when Zero gets to be playable.
 

120v

Member
i always took it X and Zero was that series' variant of mega man and proto man

MMX series became such a mess i never cared that they gave him the shaft. i never played Command Mission and a handful of the latter games but i don't remember the two characters even having a distinct personality. in the first game X was sort of a rookie archetype and Zero swoop in to set him straight and it kind of didn't go anywhere from there
 

Jaeger

Member
i always took it X and Zero was that series' variant of mega man and proto man

MMX series became such a mess i never cared that they gave him the shaft. i never played Command Mission and a handful of the latter games but i don't remember the two characters even having a distinct personality. in the first game X was sort of a rookie archetype and Zero swoop in to set him straight and it kind of didn't go anywhere from there

MMX-X6 + MMZ1-4 are amazing.
 

trixx

Member
EXE is the best mega man. I love the whole thing about him being Lan HIkari's brother and his relationship with Father etc.. Good stuff
 
X6 is a mess.

I still find it hard to go back to Zero 2 but that's just because it feels like Inafune is cackling in the background during the whole last hour or so. X would have DEMOLISHED Elpizo.
 

ChouGoku

Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS46EDfbD3o

Megaman X4/5 spoilers

It is revealed that Dr. Wily created Zero, the Maverick virus that Sigma now carries, and ordered him to destroy his "nemesis." (Followed by flashes of blood in a trashed laboratory - the OVA in MHX kinda collaborates that...) And if I'm correct, there is a scene in MMX5, where Zero comes across a Dr. Light capsule, where Zero kinda rebukes him coldly...

Wait is that OG Megaman at :49?
 
I still find it hard to go back to Zero 2 but that's just because it feels like Inafune is cackling in the background during the whole last hour or so. X would have DEMOLISHED Elpizo.

Yo. I was literally about to post something similar.

You know what gets me about the first Zero game tho? It's the epilogue where X tells Zero about how he stopped caring about the enemies he was fighting. So you're like "okay, who cares?"

Remember this is X we're talking about. Mr. "WHY MUST WE REPLOIDS FIGHT EACH OTHER"

As for X's "own" series, probably the first game is the only one about X. Everything after is the Zero series 0.5.

At least X is treated mostly better in PXZ. Bless Monolith Soft and Bamco.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
And then there's Mega Man Zero. Originally X was meant to be the villain. If it weren't for Capcom it would have been true. Imagine being an X fan only to hear that for some odd reason your favorite character becomes a villain in the most stupid reasoning.

it's not stupid reasoning. it's a plot point that the entire x series was always building towards in some form or another. they were constantly dropping hints that x and zero would eventually have to fight (and not in the way that happened in x5 and x6) and that x was constantly terrified that he would become the very thing he was fighting against. let's not act like that came out of left field here.

it does feel like most of the backstory for zero was just trying to undo the damage caused by executive meddling and x5/6, so i'm sure the actual planned narrative would have been better developed if it all went as intended.
 
I really do prefer X over Zero, with my favorite armor for X being the Nova Armor in X4, and never really liked how he was shafted in the X series to prop up Zero.

That being said, as someone mentioned earlier, I too saw X and Zero as Ryu and Ken respectively. X missing out in UMvC3 also burns badly.
 
X is to Zero as the Red Ranger is to the Green Ranger. Both are cool but one just has more style and steals all the spotlight until people start ignoring the Red Ranger altogether. And then you feel for bad for the red ranger because he was supposed to be the leader.
AIHBN11.jpg


soxl7Pq.jpg
 

Reset

Member
The only problem with this narrative is the fact that Zero got broken into little pieces and it was X who saved the day times 3. But besides that glaring fact, sure Zero was "better"...empty suit I tell you.
Nah, if I remember correctly in X3 Zero saves the day by bringing the vaccine and in the intro he saves X from a fodder enemy.
Even in X2, he has the coolest scene by one shoting the fake.


Zero has the better gameplay as well. Zero is just better than X.
 

Narroo

Member
I agree with you OP, he often gets shafted in crossovers too ;_;

Maverick Hunter X gave me high hopes, alas it didn't bring a MHX2.

>And then there's Mega Man Zero. Originally X was meant to be the villain. If it weren't for Capcom it would have been true. Imagine being an X fan only to hear that for some odd reason your favorite character becomes a villain in the most stupid reasoning.

I'm glad that didn't happen. Would have been so bad.

Word.

Even executives can occasionally make editorial saves. Never underestimate the power of a good editor.
 

Narroo

Member
Perhaps darker - I wouldn't say edgier - X is purposely boring.

Remember, the original MM (or Rock) always had Light by his side to help him out or give fatherly advice. X doesn't have that - all the poor fucker has is a bunch of pre recorded messages (a la Rusty Venture) in a capsule here and there. It's sad because when you think about it, besides Zero in a limited way, X is all alone in the world...



True, but that's kinda why I love the ending of MMZ4, where everything kinda comes around full circle, but again, a last minute change where rumor has it that Dr. Weil =
Dr. Wily
. Then again, I always presumed that the Great Elf X imprisoned what made
using the soul of Iris.



^good point, too!

"Pre-recorded." Right. The idea that the capsules were pre-recorded eventually got silly. Also, the hologram has a conservation with Zero at one point. (X5) Actually, I think it interacts quite a bit in X6...if you consider that cannon.
 

galvatron

Member
And then there's Mega Man Zero. Originally X was meant to be the villain. If it weren't for Capcom it would have been true. Imagine being an X fan only to hear that for some odd reason your favorite character becomes a villain in the most stupid reasoning.

This was me and that's why I stopped buying those games after finishing Mega Man Zero. Well, that and the whole elf system just seemed to inelegant and then the open map thing was just some other series I didn't much feel like playing.
 

Shadoken

Member
Always saw X as Ryu and Zero as Ken.

Apart from the Color scheme. I think Zero is more akin to Akuma. He doesn't hesitate , he realizes X has a lot more power but he is holding back. Akuma/Zero is always shown as much more powerful than X/Ryu. Ken would be Axl lol.
 
To be honest, I never really liked X. I previously said he was a edgier version of Mega Man but that's not exactly how I feel. He's basically just a stronger, older-looking, and more sentient version of Mega Man. That's literally it. All the other interpretations of Mega Man have unique things going for them but X is just Mega Man 2099.

Plus, I can't see him as being anything but a product of pure corporate meddling by Capcom that forced him to exist out of a desire to have a derivative of Mega Man be the protagonist and not the uniquely designed Zero. Inafune clearly did not approve of this which is why the X series completely revolved around Zero plotwise.
 

SkyOdin

Member
I'm a big fan of X. I agree, Capcom really dropped the ball on X past Megaman X3 or so by not properly developing him as the main character and instead centering the plot around Zero. When the later Mega Man series entries are done well, X and Zero stand as equals who have contrasting ways of thinking but are defined by an unshakable friendship. X is the altruist and idealist who is always thinking about the big picture, whereas Zero is the pragmatist who focuses on the present. They both know that they have the potential to take the wrong turn, but rely on the other to set them straight if they take the wrong path. That dynamic was central to X5, and could have served to make a battle against the real X work in Mega Man Zero 1 if they hadn't written X as such a simple villain (necessitating the executive intervention to make it a Copy X instead, which I am thankful for).

The big problem is that X got almost no character development. On a conceptual level, he should be fascinating: he is a centuries-old android who served as the first of his kind, and eventually becomes the benevolent (yet imperfect) mechanical god ruling over all mankind. And yet, every Mega Man X game past the first treat him as just a Maverick Hunter foot-soldier, while he exists almost entirely in the background in the Zero series. His character arc takes place almost entirely off-screen. X doesn't even get a whole lot of development in Command Mission, despite being the team leader for a full-length RPG.

At least X's gameplay mechanics are solid for the entire series. While the original Mega Man probably had better boss weapons, X has the better main weapon, some really fun mobility, and the great armor mechanic (which reached its pinnacle in X8). Vaporizing an entire screen of mooks with a single charged X Buster shot never gets old. My biggest disapointment though was that X lost the double charged shot after X3. I was really happy to see it return stronger than ever for Model X in Mega Man ZX. Vent and Aile were pretty good successors to X's legacy (though it says something about the franchise that they spent most of the time using nothing but Model ZX mode).

Nah, if I remember correctly in X3 Zero saves the day by bringing the vaccine and in the intro he saves X from a fodder enemy.
Even in X2, he has the coolest scene by one shoting the fake.


Zero has the better gameplay as well. Zero is just better than X.
Zero only saves the day with the vaccine if the jobber doesn't use up his single extra life. Otherwise Dr. Doppler just shows up to bring the vaccine itself, rendering Zero's role completely unnecessary. X3 X is way stronger than Zero, since if you give the saber to X, he can actually use the ranged beam slash. Fully armored X has way better armor, mobility, and versatility than X3 Zero. It is only in X4 where Zero drops any pretense of trying to match X in ranged combat and just focuses on his own gimmick that he becomes good.
 
*Mega Man X (His story is set around 100 years after the Classic series. Brother to the original Mega Man)

Just X, no mega man. He is never referred to as mega man in any of the X or Zero series. Mega Man X is just the title of the games. Just like Zero isn't "Mega Man Zero", despite the games titles.
 

Jaeger

Member
I love how there are so many differing views and feelings with this franchise. It actually shows how good it was.
 

Serrato

Member
You know, after they made Mega Man 9 as a love letter to the franchise, I waited a Mega Man X 9 with the SNES style.

And what a travesty it was that we didn't get it.

But I guess after that Mega Man became an after thought at Capcom.

On the subject, X felt always the best character compared to the jobber and edgy (WHAT AM I LIVING FOOOOOORRRR) Zero.
 
Reading this thread makes me wish Capcom released an X legacy collection on PS4. Besides X7&X8, I've played all of them except X3.

Love the X series and X1 is one of the first games I played as a kid.

Like another poster said, I also wish Capcom made sequels in the style of X1-X6 like they did with Classic Mega Man 9&10
 
Just X, no mega man. He is never referred to as mega man in any of the X or Zero series. Mega Man X is just the title of the games. Just like Zero isn't "Mega Man Zero", despite the games titles.

He's referred to as "Mega Man X" in the boot up screen from Light in the first game. This is also in the Japanese version.

Dr. Light also refers to him as Mega Man X / Rockman X in Maverick Hunter X, both versions.

He's called X for short, but his full name is canonically Mega Man X / Rockman X.
 
He's referred to as "Mega Man X" in the boot up screen from Light in the first game. This is also in the Japanese version.

Dr. Light also refers to him as Mega Man X / Rockman X in Maverick Hunter X, both versions.

He's just called X for short, but his full name is canonically Mega Man X / Rockman X.

Sigma also calls him Mega Man X in X2.
Adding on to this, IIRC, in the Japanese version of X2, Serges confuses X for the original Mega Man calling him Rock and of course name dropping Dr. Light. Never understood why it was changed for the English translation.
 

Ishida

Banned
Sigma also calls him Mega Man X in X2.
Adding on to this, IIRC, in the Japanese version of X2, Serges confuses X for the original Mega Man calling him Rock and of course name dropping Dr. Light. Never understood why it was changed for the English translation.

All the hints linking Serges to Doctor Wily were completely deleted in the terrible X2 localization.

It's basically a fact that Wily is both Serges and Isoc.
 
Reading this thread makes me wish Capcom released an X legacy collection on PS4. Besides X7&X8, I've played all of them except X3.

Love the X series and X1 is one of the first games I played as a kid.

Like another poster said, I also wish Capcom made sequels in the style of X1-X6 like they did with Classic Mega Man 9&10
God I wish. I played them all but 8 and Command. I loved X.
 

Kasumin

Member
The treatment of X throughout the X and Zero series is one reason I dislike Inafune. He really let his love for Zero get out of hand. He's like a less creepy Motomu Toriyama. Except in this case, I suppose people don't mind having Zero shoved down their throats.

I do like Zero, but X is my favorite. I always liked their dynamic, which I felt was really undermined by Inafune's favoritism. They played off each other really well in terms of their history and their personalities. And they both had their strong points and weak points that compensated for each other. That potential was squandered so much because X would end up ignored.

I found Zero so boring in the Zero series because he had no one to play off of as an equal. And, well, he had almost no personality anyway, but that's another post.

Oddly enough, I've found that their dynamic was done best in properties where Inafune wasn't involved. Project X Zone is one. The Archie comics' MMX storyline was good about that, too.

From reading the comments in the translated fan book, I got the sense that other people working on the games understood how X and Zero were both great by Inafune was so close-minded that he only ever cared for Zero. It really hurt the series, and to this day I hold that against Inafune.
 

JediLink

Member
Apart from the Color scheme. I think Zero is more akin to Akuma. He doesn't hesitate , he realizes X has a lot more power but he is holding back. Akuma/Zero is always shown as much more powerful than X/Ryu. Ken would be Axl lol.
More like Axl is Dan.
 
Zero's one of my favorite video game characters, and I prefer to play as him in X4 and above, but I really do think that the focus shouldn't have shifted so much from X.
 

SkyOdin

Member
More like Axl is Dan.

Nah, Axl isn't that bad of a character. Axl's one and only sin is effectively replacing X in Mega Man X7, a game that was loaded with flaws well beyond Axl alone. Axl was actually pretty darn good in X8. He gained a cool and unique gameplay style that made him unique from X and Zero, and he served as the basis for an interesting new plot direction for the X series (that was never followed up on). I actually like having Axl as an addition to the cast, since he played the part of the brash young rookie who needed Zero and X to keep an eye on him. His presence thus emphasized X and Zero's experience and maturity in comparison.

He also served as the inspiration for Mega Man Model A, which might be one of my favorite forms to use in ZX Advent.
 
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