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[Ryouji Gunblade]

The Mega Man lore is surprisingly good. Not many people bother to learn it. It's got a great timeline.

Only one thing bothers me about it and that is the unexplained gap between the classic series and the X series. Do you have an explanation? I've heard a few ideas like Zero murdering everyone or Wily nuking everything, but none were completely satisfying.

 

[SkyOdin]

Only one thing bothers me about it and that is the unexplained gap between the classic series and the X series. Do you have an explanation? I've heard a few ideas like Zero murdering everyone or Wily nuking everything, but none were completely satisfying.

No official explainations, but there really isn't much that needs to be explained. When Light built X, he already knew that the testing process would last beyond his lifetime. So no need to explain what happened to Light and Wily, they just passed away from old age. Presumably, Mega Man and the other robots would not have lasted forever either.

Now, there is the oddity of Light's lab being excavated by an archeologist. The lab where X was kept must have been destroyed and buried somehow. Maybe there was a natural disaster?

However, I don't think there is much evidence of Zero going on a rampage or anything like that. The only murderous rampage that Zero did was the one where he killed some Maverick Hunters and was beaten by Sigma.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I always thought the robots would last long due to being robots and being able to self maintain.

 

[Quadraphonic]

Only one thing bothers me about it and that is the unexplained gap between the classic series and the X series. Do you have an explanation? I've heard a few ideas like Zero murdering everyone or Wily nuking everything, but none were completely satisfying.

And that's why Megaman 9 and Megaman 10 were frustrating, because they existed purely as fan service, and not to bridge the long awaited gap between the two games.

 

[Jaeger]

Elf Wars to us Mega Man fans is like the Battle of '99 for the CV fans.

 

[KingJ2002]

The best and definitive MegaMan char.

^^^crying shame


but Mega Man is in need of a reboot. take it back to the classic design and keep it that way.

 

[ZenTzen]

i'm the other way around never liked X and vastly prefer Zero, while in the original and legends games, i love megaman

 

[Videoneon]

I really wish that the Elf Wars and the lead up to the X series were more fleshed out, but they'll keep it open so that they can give themselves the opportunity to make more games in the future

You just haven't seen the director's cut.

I think Lucas Gilbertson did a take on this too, IIRC?

Just makes me sad that we'll not see the X8 Maverick Hunter voice cast back again...

 

[Reset]

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.

I wouldn't call Zero a jobber. In X1, even X couldn't touch Vile in his Mech armor. X was only able to damage him once Zero takes out the Mech armor.
Even in X3 him having one life hardly makes a him a jobber, X's intro scene where he gets captured by a no name hunter was probably the most pathetic thing that happened in that game. Also yeah if you get all the armor upgrades he does end up being more powerful than Zero, I never said he didn't.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Isn't X's VA (since CM up to MHX) retired, the one who did Domon Kasshu's VA?

 

[Magnet_Man]

Mark Gatha.

He was actually really legit as X's voice.

 

[Talon]

This kinda relates to my post above (and Maverick Hunter X goes into detail about this).

The reason that X is ranked lower is because he holds back when fighting/has a conscience/not a total killing machine, and is considered a pussy for doing so (save for Zero thinking otherwise)

I swear, one of Inafune's greatest fuck ups MM wise is pussing out when suggesting that Zero

Spoiler

killed the main players of the MM Classic series

and then going back on it. It's almost as bad as Miyamoto going back and forth on the Zelda timeline.

So not bad at all, then.

 

[Mizerman]

Isn't X's VA (since CM up to MHX) retired, the one who did Domon Kasshu's VA?

Yup.

Went to be doctor.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

No official explainations, but there really isn't much that needs to be explained. When Light built X, he already knew that the testing process would last beyond his lifetime. So no need to explain what happened to Light and Wily, they just passed away from old age. Presumably, Mega Man and the other robots would not have lasted forever either.

Now, there is the oddity of Light's lab being excavated by an archeologist. The lab where X was kept must have been destroyed and buried somehow. Maybe there was a natural disaster?

However, I don't think there is much evidence of Zero going on a rampage or anything like that. The only murderous rampage that Zero did was the one where he killed some Maverick Hunters and was beaten by Sigma.

Proto Man probably died out from whatever malfunction he had, Mega Man was captured by future Dr. Wily and turned into Quint (where he then destroys himself), and Bass probably died fighting Zero because he has to be the best and is always picking fights anyway (but Zero is much more powerful).

That's my headcanon anyway

 

[poodaddy]

Mega Man X is probably my favorite series of all time, and I love X so much.....but honestly Zero's just way the fuck better in every way. Better design, (just way more going on there), funner to play, more interesting as a character, (flaws are a good thing! Perfect characters are kinda boring), and I don't think there's anything wrong with Inafune showing love to his character when it's the character he wanted the series to be about. Zero's amazing man.
God they need to revamp this series so hard.....I know it's become akin to a meme on gaf at this point but this time it makes sense, give this shit to Platinum man. Can you imagine the co-op potentials of Zero and X working together, X effectively being a slower third person shooter type character and Zero basically being Raiden? Oh my god dude, I don't know if I can handle thinking about how amazing that would be for too long, my wife might find the noises I'd be sure to making to be somewhat offputting and strange.

 

[Boss Doggie]

The thing is though you can do that without overshadowing X.

 

[Magnet_Man]

flaws are a good thing! Perfect characters are kinda boring

Excuse me? Did you just say that Zero has character flaws? And you think X was a perfect character? I'm reaching for a "not sure if serious" image...

Throughout the X series and Zero series, Zero has never done anything wrong and never made a mistake. He's also the character that everyone defers to for advice, support, or to just outright solve the problem. Him being sad at Iris's death is not a character flaw. That's being sad at a character dying.

How about the entirety of the Zero series? Zero is completely devoid of personality. He does everything flawlessly, he never hesitated at any point, never questioned any thing, the entire Resistance group is literally worthless without him, looks to him to solve every single one of their problems or dispose of whatever the current threat is, and is who Ciel turns to for emotional guidance to which his answer is always "I'll handle it" as he just kills everything in front of him.

Zero's so perfect and clean he squeaks.

X on the other hand, the very first line we hear from him in the very first game is him with no confidence and questioning his worth. Those are character flaws. After that his character constantly questions and regrets his actions for perpetuating the violence he wants to stop, but since that became his only character trait thanks to Inafune never giving any attention to the guy, his character never moved past that point across the 7 sequel games so he just became whiny and annoying.

That's the entire point of this topic. X and his series and its setting and its story had so much potential but all of it was wasted with Inafune's selfish and blatant nepotism being one of the primary factors.

Enjoy and like Zero more than X, sure, nothing wrong with that but claiming that X was perfect is outright wrong. One of the main reasons most people dislike X is because he never shuts up about his flaws since Inafune never gave him a chance to do anything else.

 

[Ishida]

Only one thing bothers me about it and that is the unexplained gap between the classic series and the X series. Do you have an explanation? I've heard a few ideas like Zero murdering everyone or Wily nuking everything, but none were completely satisfying.

No official explanation as of yet, and I highly doubt there will ever be one. We know absolutely nothing of what happened to the original cast.

Inafune himself had to debunk the theories that say that Zero killed the original cast. He said this was not the case. I guess we will never know. To be honest, I think it is fine this way.

All we know is that Dr. Light and Dr. Wily both uploaded their minds/consciousness to digital stuff. Both of them are present and active in the X series. Wily's conciousness exists inside the Maverick Virus, according to Inafune, and this is how he travels around and contacts Zero from time to time.

 

[Boney]

Real X should've always been the villian in the Zero games. Worst back pedaling in videogame history

 

[studyguy]

MMX was still my favorite MM, but absolutely Zero steals the show.
Fucking Zero was such a bro through and through to the bitter end.
The subsequent sequels got suuuuuper dumb with the story though.
ZERO IS DED, NOW ALIVE, ZERO IS AN ALLY, JK HE'S AN ENEMY, ZERO IS A VIRUS, NO HE'S THE CURE!

Also Mega Man X armor system has been and always will be my favorite feature of those games. I thought it was cool as all hell.

 

[Ishida]

Real X should've always been the villian in the Zero games. Worst back pedaling in videogame history

Holy shit, no. Thank goodness they went for the copy stuff.

 

[Azure J]

I love the fuck out of both X and Zero and I totally agree with this thread's premise. Throughout the X series, we were basically forced to accept Zero as the too cool for school superior despite X's struggle being far more interesting overall. Even when the two finally approached a mutually accepted level of importance within their world, we still saw things like X7 (the game that shall not otherwise be mentioned) having X sit out because they had to introduce the new character and as such had to let X take an L in character (no fighting the new Mavericks because reasons).

The Zero series simultaneously did him some justice (the notion of X becoming the far better hunter -- to the point that he himself forgot how to mercy; giving him a really cool set of progeny in the Neo Arcadian Guardians) and really hurt me as a fan of his character (never forget that a fucking mass production unit has the greatest combat feat in the franchise history - killing X).

On a total tangent, X will always have one W over Zero that can never be debated -- he had the best character design in the entire franchise with that basic Command Mission armor.

Edit: This isn't a slander piece against Zero though, the guy is as BRO/"Determination" as it gets in video games.

 

[Ishida]

On a total tangent, X will always have one W over Zero that can never be debated -- he had the best character design in the entire franchise with that basic Command Mission armor.

I think that all or most X armors are better than Zero's. I've always had a soft spot for X3's armor.

 

[21XX]

And that's why Megaman 9 and Megaman 10 were frustrating, because they existed purely as fan service, and not to bridge the long awaited gap between the two games.

"Fan service" that was every bit as good as the top-tier MM games that came before (in 9's case, at least). Not everything needs to be explained.

Re: X armors-- I think the X2 armor is pure perfection. X3's weirdly shaped buster never did it for me.

 

[Azure J]

That is one thing I do agree with, the Megaman fandom's desire for a hard line linking Classic to X and beyond is pretty weird. It might be nice to see the developer's intent sure, but I'm totally fine with things being vague just because of the differences in tone between both eras of the franchise. I'd really hate to get some silly reasoning to why figures prominent in the world of 20XX stopped being relevant in 21XX.

 

[casiopao]

I don't know here. I just feel X is a bit boring i guess? While many can said Zero can be the same with how cold he looks and talk, through some drama CD and of X-treme 2, it is shows that Zero is more or less the "Bros" in Maverick Hunter team lol. He is the most powerful Hunter in the organization but he never ever put himself higher than others and always tries helping others to discover what they are able to do.

X on the other hand, while should be showing about limitless potential end up being character who end up being stop from development thanks to X himself becoming more and more like Human who wanted tor reach true peace. While Zero himself is more of a realist who know that sometimes battle is simply the only way and of course the shear fact that Zero who is supposed to be the God of Destruction, end up being the savior is always a chill for me here.

 

[Puruzi]

EXE>X> the rest

 

[Village]

Holy shit, no. Thank goodness they went for the copy stuff.

Nah, they should have done that.

X as a character, would have actually progression besides, I don't like to fight I might be the messaiah. That trope isn't interesting most times. I would think someone with a metal gear avatar would appreciate that.

 

[Reset]

Out of all the armors X had, the fourth armor was probably my favorite to use.

 

[Zero-ELEC]

Nah, they should have done that.

X as a character, would have actually progression besides, I don't like to fight I might be the messaiah. That trope isn't interesting most times. I would think someone with a metal gear avatar would appreciate that.

I don't get this, why would someone with a Metal Gear avatar want a X's character assassinated?

 

[Candescence]

I would have appreciated X being an antagonist if he wasn't actually really a villain, but someone who perhaps eventually became so desperate as to take control of the world for the sake of peace, through popular support rather than Sigma's violent methods, but ends up overstepping his boundaries and even possibly loses control of his own subordinates who become zealous in their service to him. By the time Zero finally reaches him for their confrontation, X is practically in tears trying to figure out why it all went so wrong and whether he was doing the right thing or not.

... That would actually be more interesting than the whole Copy X plot, maybe.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I myself love the Shadow Armor.

 

[Azure J]

I myself love the Shadow Armor.

Shadow Armor is absolutely lovely. <3

Shadow, Fourth (aka Ultimate in everything after), & Third with Gold Enhancements are probably my favorite three armors in the series (though third comes with the caveat that the buster fucking sucks at hitting things unless you sacrifice Zero for based beam blade). In terms of looks, Command Mission's default look >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fourth/Shadow > everything else.

 

[TreIII]

That is one thing I do agree with, the Megaman fandom's desire for a hard line linking Classic to X and beyond is pretty weird. It might be nice to see the developer's intent sure, but I'm totally fine with things being vague just because of the differences in tone between both eras of the franchise. I'd really hate to get some silly reasoning to why figures prominent in the world of 20XX stopped being relevant in 21XX.

This. Plus even in the Original series, there are a number of mysteries that haven't been fully answered, and of course, their plot points, as a whole, have been dropped by the X series' timeframe.

Take, for example, all of the "alien robot" shenanigans that have been a part of series since MM3 introduced Shadow Man. Shadow Man was explicitly stated to be an extraterrestrial robot from an ancient civilization that Wily found and modified. And it seemed like they were continuously building on this point, thanks the Stardroids, Sunstar, Ra Moon, Duo and the "Evil Robot". But since 8 (or Power Fighters, if you will), the "robots from outer space" angle hasn't been explored in-game, since. Even though the setup for the crew to meet up with Duo again "someday" is there.

It's the kind of thing that made me wonder if consciously making an attempt to link the Original and X series was really worth it, in the end. Cute references aside, it looks safe to presume that the Original series is just fine continuing onward without really going out of its way to setup for X. Likewise, I feel as if the opportunity for whatever "big ****ing deal reveal" they were planning for the X/Zero series has long since set sail, and it's not as if anybody/anything else from 20XX is relevant to 21XX+.

At this point, I wouldn't at all be surprised if, by the time Capcom is seriously ready to launch MM again, anything pertaining to the previous "expanded universe" timeline(s)/lore is expunged in order to give the brand a clean slate, and you wouldn't need to have read Zan's in-depth write ups to get an idea on what's going on.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yeah there's a huge gap between the two that linking them would be kinda pointless

Shadow Armor is absolutely lovely. <3

Shadow, Fourth (aka Ultimate in everything after), & Third with Gold Enhancements are probably my favorite three armors in the series (though third comes with the caveat that the buster fucking sucks at hitting things unless you sacrifice Zero for based beam blade). In terms of looks, Command Mission's default look >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fourth/Shadow > everything else.

I thought Fourth/Force is different from Ultimate

 

[Vex_]

X is cool, but I only like him because his series eventually leads to an alternate timeline where Zero is badass and the story gets darker (MMzero).

...man, you guys ever think what would happen if Platinum got to make a new Megaman Zero game? Holy shit the combos.

 

[Ishida]

X is cool, but I only like him because his series eventually leads to an alternate timeline where Zero is badass and the story gets darker (MMzero).

MMZero is not an alternate timeline.

 

[Vex_]

MMZero is not an alternate timeline.

Axl? His story never happened then?

 

[Ishida]

Axl? His story never happened then?

Everything happened, including Axl. He is not mentioned on the Zero series, though.

 

[Vex_]

Everything happened, including Axl. He is not mentioned on the Zero series, though.

Interesting. How does this work? I thought Zero takes place after X5?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Zero

 

[SolVanderlyn]

This. Plus even in the Original series, there are a number of mysteries that haven't been fully answered, and of course, their plot points, as a whole, have been dropped by the X series' timeframe.

Take, for example, all of the "alien robot" shenanigans that have been a part of series since MM3 introduced Shadow Man. Shadow Man was explicitly stated to be an extraterrestrial robot from an ancient civilization that Wily found and modified. And it seemed like they were continuously building on this point, thanks the Stardroids, Sunstar, Ra Moon, Duo and the "Evil Robot". But since 8 (or Power Fighters, if you will), the "robots from outer space" angle hasn't been explored in-game, since. Even though the setup for the crew to meet up with Duo again "someday" is there.

It's the kind of thing that made me wonder if consciously making an attempt to link the Original and X series was really worth it, in the end. Cute references aside, it looks safe to presume that the Original series is just fine continuing onward without really going out of its way to setup for X. Likewise, I feel as if the opportunity for whatever "big ****ing deal reveal" they were planning for the X/Zero series has long since set sail, and it's not as if anybody/anything else from 20XX is relevant to 21XX+.

At this point, I wouldn't at all be surprised if, by the time Capcom is seriously ready to launch MM again, anything pertaining to the previous "expanded universe" timeline(s)/lore is expunged in order to give the brand a clean slate, and you wouldn't need to have read Zan's in-depth write ups to get an idea on what's going on.

I can't help but totally disagree with the first part of this post; dropping plotlines and not connecting Classic -> X is the greatest storytelling sin in the franchise. Especially with the way the X series was handled - Wily is hinted to be alive and active, Serges may or not have been Wily or related to Wily, Isoc was definitely Wily, and then woops! He's gone, never mentioned again. The alien thing should have been expanded upon as well, but it's not as big of a deal that it was dropped. Classic -> X series gap is just unacceptable.

If it ever got rebooted we'd see a new series though, I agree there.

 

[Ishida]

Interesting. How does this work? I thought Zero takes place after X5?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Zero

It was originally supposed to be that way. However Capcom kept releasing (canon) games after Inafune left the X series.

Zero's ending on X6 shows his sealing, but this ending takes place several years later and not immediately after the game's events. Basically, Zero's ending in X6 (Which connects to the Zero series) happens some time later after X8 or Command Mission.

Wily is hinted to be alive and active, Serges may or not have been Wily or related to Wily,

Even if not confirmed officially, I think we can safely state that Serges was indeed Wily. Way too many hints to ignore. Inafune being cryptic about the subject is almost a confirmation, anyways.

 

[Vex_]

It was originally supposed to be that way. However Capcom kept releasing (canon) games after Inafune left the X series.

Zero's ending on X6 shows his sealing, but this ending takes place several years later and not immediately after the game's events. Basically, Zero's ending in X6 (Which connects to the Zero series) happens some time later after X8 or Command Mission.

You just blew my mind. After all these years... I have been lied to. MMCM was canon?


I think I am feeling a bit light headed...

 

[Zero-ELEC]

Interesting. How does this work? I thought Zero takes place after X5?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Zero

[citation needed]

Spoiler

XZ Advent references Axl's design and ZX a direct sequel to the Zero series. Everything just indicates that the Zero series starts 100 after the end of X but they never say what went down when Zero was sealed. It was supposed to come after X5 but since the series continued Zero was pushed back. Zero series happens 100 years after Command Mission, even.

e;fb

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Even if not confirmed officially, I think we can safely state that Serges was indeed Wily. Way too many hints to ignore. Inafune being cryptic about the subject is almost a confirmation, anyways.

Oh, right, I forgot Inafune's non-answer. That was pretty telling.

Sigma mentioning Wily almost directly in X5 was the biggest tease ever. y u so bad at plot capcom

 

[Ishida]

You just blew my mind. After all these years... I have been lied to. MMCM was canon?


I think I am feeling a bit light headed...

To be fair, Command Mission being canon is kind of a gray spot. Mainly because, if I recall correctly, the dates (rough year estimations) almost overlap with the Zero series' timeline. I could be wrong about this, though.

 

[lazygecko]

I don't want the classic to X gap to be explained nor does it need to be. It would never live up to whatever headcanon individual fans have conjured up. A little mystery is what any compeling fiction needs. The origin and motivations of Kane in the C&C series was another one of those which was finally explained and pretty much left everyone universally disappointed.

The only reason this stuff was teased in X5 was because Infaune intended for it to be the final X game. He never intended to explicitly answer those questions.

 

[21XX]

I think that all or most X armors are better than Zero's. I've always had a soft spot for X3's armor.

It was originally supposed to be that way. However Capcom kept releasing (canon) games after Inafune left the X series.

Zero's ending on X6 shows his sealing, but this ending takes place several years later and not immediately after the game's events. Basically, Zero's ending in X6 (Which connects to the Zero series) happens some time later after X8 or Command Mission.



Even if not confirmed officially, I think we can safely state that Serges was indeed Wily. Way too many hints to ignore. Inafune being cryptic about the subject is almost a confirmation, anyways.

I always thought that was a cool connection (definitely a visual callback, at the very least), but I wonder why Wily would exist as a Sigma lackey instead of trying to run the show?

 

[Zero-ELEC]

To be fair, Command Mission being canon is kind of a gray spot. Mainly because, if I recall correctly, the dates (rough year estimations) almost overlap with the Zero series' timeline. I could be wrong about this, though.

Zero is 100 years after the end of X. People normally assumed that to be 22XX but CM takes place c.22XX so Zero is probably 23XX, which pushes back ZX to 24XX. Legends stays way after ZX, so that's OK.

 

[Ishida]

I always thought that was a cool connection (definitely a visual callback, at the very least), but I wonder why Wily would exist as a Sigma lackey instead of trying to run the show?

Wily's objective in the X series is just to prove Zero is the absolute superior robot and little else. This including making him fight and defeat X. Highly doubt Wily is interested in the world's affairs unless he can use them to "awaken" Zero to his true self.

I don't think Wily is Sigma's lackey. They are just working together in order to get the most of both X (Which is Sigma's main interest) and Zero (Wily's main interest). Wily also built Sigma's body in X5, and possibly in X2 also.

Sergess' japanese dialogue in Mega Man X2 is basically a direct confirmation of him being Wily. Sadly, the script was butchered in the localization and all references were removed.

Zero is 100 years after the end of X. People normally assumed that to be 22XX but CM takes place c.22XX so Zero is probably 23XX, which pushes back ZX to 24XX. Legends stays way after ZX, so that's OK.

Makes sense. But wasn't the Zero series stated to happen during 22XX in official materials or something? Could be wrong on this.