Mega Man X: Our main
protagonist. X is the robot built who
has the ability to think, feel, and make his own decisions. He’s the culmination of AI as we know it. X was built by the Dr. Light of Mega Man
fame, and then buried in a capsule. The
capsule was designed not to open for at least thirty years, so it could test
his systems. Finally, in 21XX, he was
discovered by Dr. Cain. After the
second Maverick outbreak, triggered by Sigma, X decided it was time to put a
stop to the nonsense. He’s succeeded in
defeating Sigma four times, all the while questioning why he was fighting and
why he was built then buried. Many
people think he was an upgraded version of the original Mega Man, but whether
that is myth or reality has yet to be seen.
Zero: Zero is the second
hero of the story. He doesn’t really
remember anything about his past, as far as we’re told, but the mystery is
slowly unraveling. So far it’s been determined
that Zero was built by Dr. Wily, Dr. Light’s evil rival from the previous
century, and that he used to be a Maverick.
He almost killed Sigma, who was a Hunter at the time, but something
stopped him (it involved a W appearing in his crystal…). I think it was because we about to kill a
robot that wasn’t X, which was in Zero’s original programming; in any event,
Sigma survived and stopped Zero, who was examined and apparently turned away
from evil. When Sigma became a
Maverick, Zero became the leader of the Hunters for awhile, then got his own
Special 00 unit, probably because he’s a bit of a loose cannon, or because his
beam saber was powerful enough to put him in his own category… In any case, Zero’s been saving X’s keister
in almost every game in some form or other.
Sigma: When Dr. Cain
replicated X’s circuitry to make Reploids, some of them (seemingly)
spontaneously turned evil (“went Maverick”).
When Sigma was built, he became the leader of the original Maverick
Hunters. However, he apparently decided
that humans were inferior to Reploids, and that they should be destroyed, so he
became a Maverick himself, and has been showing up every game to try and
destroy civilized humanity as we know it.
Thankfully for us, X and Zero have foiled all his schemes to date.
Vile: Sigma’s right-hand
Mav. He first appeared in the first
game in a Robot Ride Armor (mech). He
was almost unstoppable, and was only defeated because Zero sacrificed himself
to take out the mech, then X killed him.
He was resurrected in the third game by Dr. Doppler to extract his
revenge on X and zero. He upgraded and
created/was given the Goliath mech.
Still, he was no match for X and Zero, who nuked him again. It was speculated that he’d resurface in X5,
but I haven’t heard anything about it.
The
X-Hunters: Agile, Serges, and Violen appeared in X2. They were inspired by Sigma and apparently
knew something about Zero that made them want to get his parts and reassemble
him while reviving Sigma. Sigma
apparently told them of some “prophecy,” which they were trying to enact, but
they got toasted before they could, and X restored Zero to his old new self.
Dr. Doppler: Dr. Doppler was a
Reploid scientist who built a Neuro-computer that prevented Reploids from going
Maverick. Then the Sigma virus showed
up for the first time, and infected the good doctor, making him the bad
doctor. He souped up himself and his
henchmen, revived Vile, and set out to kill X and Zero. When he was defeated in battle, he broke out
the virus’ control and used an anti-virus program to stop the virus from
getting X at the end of the game (or, depending on how you played, he gave the
program to zero, who saved X…again.)
Bit: One of Doppler’s
henchmen. He has a shield in all the
pics, and apparently an energy sword, which he uses in the game.
Byte: Doppler’s other
henchman. A big guy, he uses hi dash
and punch as his primary attacks. He
and Bit merge together to form the Goodkarmachine O Inary, a powerful,
dragonlike beast robot.
Double: A rookie Hunter who
started out by assisting X during the fourth game. However, he revealed himself as Sigma’s spy when he met X on the
Final Weapon. He was a transforming
Reploid, the first and maybe only one we’ve seen, who could change his shape
from that of a well toned killing machine to that of a rotund, clumsy dork.
Iris: The sister of
Repliforce’s Colonel and Zero’s first known romantic interest. She was torn by the strife between
Repliforce and the Hunters, trying to stop Zero and Colonel from fighting. Eventually, after Zero killed Colonel, she
went kinda cuckoo and fought Zero in a Gargoyle-styled Ride Armor. Zero defeated her in self-defense, and she
died shortly thereafter. Most people
think she’s just an annoying pain, and I’m tempted to agree with them.
Colonel: The
second-in-command of Repliforce. His
pride and hot-headedness helped start the war between Repliforce and the
Hunters. He believed he was fighting
for his freedom and independence, though it ended up being a pointless battle
that was a cover-up for Sigma’s plans to kill X, Zero, and the humans.
General: The head of
Repliforce. He was goaded into fighting
the Hunters from the start, but only after being accused of starting the mess
at the Sky Lagoon did he give the word to fight. At the end he realized what a fool he was to listen to Sigma at
all, and sacrificed himself to save Earth.
Dynamo: Sigma’s hired
gun. Cool and cocky, he’s been hired to
take down the colony and get in X and Zero’s way. He’s a skillful fighter, above SA, so he gives X and Zero a run
for their money, but he doesn’t actually want to hurt them per se.
Douglas:
One of the new hunters, he works on fixing the Enigma
and the Shuttle. He’s not seen much in
the game, but he’s apparently pretty skilled at mechanics.
Life-Saver:
A medic for the Maverick Hunters. He only shows up once or twice in the
game. He supports X and Zero by healing
them and researching the Sigma Virus.
He gets concerned about the virus’ effects on Zero, but isn’t sure what
to make of it.
Alia: The Hunter dispatcher.
She guides X and Zero through the levels and provides information on the
bosses and their DNA. She analyzes
armors and DNA for Douglas, and in some cases Life-Saver, to make upgrades.
Signas: The new Hunter Commander in Chief. He gives X and Zero their primary missions,
like getting Enigma pieces or shuttle parts, and he gives out the major orders
and plans. He reminds me visually of
Colonel, but he is much more personable, cool, and calm.