1UP Retro Divides by Zero
October 18, 2009 by LBD "Nytetrayn"
Filed under Community Developments
Just what is it about Zero that Mega Man fans find so darn appealing?
Well, we might find out in a few ways soon enough, but Nadia Oxford of the 1UP Retro Blog has some ideas of her own. The red Reploid has received a rather warm reception upon his reveal in the upcoming Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars for the Wii as a playable character, with some especially happy that it is the version well known and loved from the X series, rather than the radically redesigned version from his self-titled series or the Double MegaMerge partnership from ZX.
Whatever the reason, the “Z” in the A to Z of TVC’s roster seems to prove that the crimson crusader is as popular as ever.
I am really hoping for Irregular Hunter X2 or Rockman X9
Zero is by and large one of the most compelling video game characters ever created.
I love Mega Man and X… they are the original legendary hero. Zero though is THE epic hero. Much like X he does have a legendary quality, but he’s got so much more going on in a straight forward way.
For starters he’s a man (or should I say reploid) of duty. He upholds justice and with great skill and talent, considering he was X’s mentor after X’s reawakening at the start of the X series. Taking him under his wing and ultimately even sacrificing his own life for his friend (and equal in the end). Again already mentioned is Zero’s willingness to sacrifice himself for duty or loyalty… looking on every instance he’s met his demise it’s come down to one of those reasons.
Also he has one of the best stories as a character, and I’m not specifically talking about Zero from the X series… but Zero as a whole, spanning from the X series, to the Zero series, and even into ZX. Zero whole heartedly has the best character. Not only that it’s consistent and true to what makes Zero, well… err… Zero. I know many do not like how Zero appeared in the Mega Man Zero series, but regardless Zero was still the same Zero I knew and loved from the X series. In fact the story of the Zero series is far stronger in my opinion despite Zero’s altered form.
Which leads me to the pivitol reason I consider Zero my favorite character… for starters it began with his creation by Wily with the sole purpose of spreading the Maverick virus. Which although removed from Zero at some point, he retained the ability to actually go maverick believe it or not (Maverick in the series usually refers to the fact that a robot or reploid is able to break the laws of robotics and attack/kill humans or for the most part run amock in chaos), although that really isn’t brough to light until his final moment in his fight with Weil. Weil even mentions that he is human and that he as a robot can’t be brought to harm or kill him… mind you Zero reiritates by simply saying he will do what it is that he deems needs to be done, then preceding to destroy him.
Weil is the only human who ever is killed by Zero… even Mega Man and X weren’t able to do this (which is why Mega Man always did, and always will, allow Wily to live lets face it) because they follow the principles of robotics to protect humans. Zero was able to, and had always been able to over ride whatever protocals prevented other reploids from doing harm to humans. Yet throughout his life span he still choose to do the right thing, and never abused his power.
It’s compelling to think about, and makes him a deeper character for it. Perhaps this is my own personal interpretation of game events but it’s how I view Zero for the most part. He’s always been more epic, doing what needs to be done and seeing it through to the end no matter whatever the cost. Defying his very destiny that he was created for, yet in the end using it as a means to finally bring about an age of peace for humans and reploids. Now that’s a character that I can’t help but love.
I just had to say that and get it over with. Mind you I can’t help, hope and wait for the day there is a retro style Mega Man X9 which may bridge the gap between the X series and the Zero series. Maybe even explain the aesthetic change even (I have always chalked it up to his armor being downgraded). Another nice touch would be perhaps a Mega Man 10 which would give the back story to Zero in 8-Bit form.
^Zero’s original body was destroyed during the Elf Wars, I believe. It was explained in the Zero games.
Since there’s no way I can compare to your post, I’m just gonna have to say it’s because he’s red. =)
^No, it wasn’t. Omega is stated to be the original body, Weil just mentions upgrades, likely to get it up to speed with the times.
^Not to mention aesthetically they changed it because they thought that Zero’s Original Design was too bulky and not nearly swift enough. If you’ve read the Mega Man Zero Complete Works, you’d realize the deciding to redeisgn it came before they actually put a story together. They didn’t plan it out in the beginning, but it worked out for them in the end.
Omega did have it, but they hadn’t decided a real story plot until after they actually made the first game.
I just don’t want no more 8-bit Megaman games. MM9 was enough.
I stand corrected. While the Zero you play in the game is a copy, they made it unclear if he had the “soul” of the original Zero. While Cyber Elf X does say that his heart is the real thing, it’s still questionable.
While you do fight the original Zero in MMZ3, he is the redesigned version as well. I would think something happened to his body from the MMX series. Whether through upgrades or a different body I don’t know. They never did explain how both Zero and Omega looked exactly the same in MMZ3. I would have thought that Omega would look like the X series version.
Dante + Ken + Mega Man = Zero
@ Furysetzer
If you look at Omega’s out shell body, it closely resembles Zero’s original armor from the X series (the helmet and shoulder blades especially).. mind you it becomes clear that this is more of a mech style outer shelf housing Zero’s original body on the inside.
I do believe though that the Zero that stars the Mega Man Zero series is in fact the the true Zero in terms of soul (my belief is his cyber elf soul that is… seeing as how X was able to remove his consciousness from his own body, I would assume the same could’ve happened with Zero). It’s heavily implied that his body is merely a copy… and that his original body was stolen because it was believed to be the ultimate source of power.
My guess is that Zero removed his soul from his body since it may in fact have been tainted by the maverick virus. So either his soul was transferred to a substitute body so his original body could be completely cleansed of it’s negative purpose (which Wily had created Zero for)… and then Weil seized the moment to swipe the body with that power for his own gain. Of course this leads into the elf wars where I assume Zero must fight in his substitute body and in the end is sealed away for some reason or another.
Weil also mentions that Omega inhabits Zero’s body… suggesting Omega is a separate entity from Zero. Which makes sense… since Zero’s original body would need a reploid soul in it, in order to function, and being smart Weil would want to make sure to put a reploid soul in it that would be loyal to him.
Zero is popular for the same reason Sephiroth is popular. There’s really nothing to get.
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW*
RegalX7: Except Sephiroth’s sword is twice as long, X1 did not spend a good deal of time developing lore that revolves around him, and the most seen of Zero’s actual “Nibelheim” moment was in a few flashbacks in X4. …In fact, the only part of the X series as far as I remember that can start to compare to the amount of hype that Final Fantasy VII placed in Sephiroth was the propaganda launched against the “Zero Nightmare” in X6. The rest of the “hype” is common fare for heroes/protagonists in general…with the natural exception of the “failed launch” scene in X5, although that was more to explain what had just happened than anything else.
the.maverickk: Actually, Dr. Light sealed X away specifically because X had the ability to break those laws, and it was more by luck that he never did. As for the original…well, the ending of Mega Man 7 speaks for itself.
Also, calling Weil “human” at the end of Zero 4 is really a stretch, if even true at all, considering what his body was. If anything, I would consider Weil’s declarations to have been an attempt at mindgames, just like the one he tried at the end of Zero 3. He might have been human once, but his new body provided the loophole that, if I remember correctly, was the basis that allowed Zero to fight.
That’s an awesome pic of Zero…
@ Forci
I believe Weil states he’s one of the humans he had swore to protect… Zero completely disregards his statement though and says that he never fought to be a hero of humanity, instead saying “I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won’t hesitate… If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!”… it wasn’t simply because of a loop hole, but that Zero has only ever fought on the basis of those around him.
If I’m not mistaken there is no doubt that Zero has the free will to do whatever he likes, much like X. They were both created under different circumstances then other reploids and machines. Reploids being built on X’s framework and design.
Back to the topic though… Zero simply just rocks. Just as interesting to discuss too.
I’d like to point out I do very much like Zero, in case it came off that I didn’t. I used to prefer X, then X7 came along, and I started to look to Zero for a non-whiny-main-character. Zero 4, though, is what made me actually really like him. The fact that he has a cool design and a sword is a plus.
Well, getting back to the point of this thread i.e.- Why is Zero popular? (not what is the true plot of the Zero series?):
To understand his popularity you have to go back to the beginning of the X series. The X series was created as Mega Man’s evolution to the SNES now that the NES had died. Capcom knew they had to do more than simply re-release old games on the new system so they felt that their little blue creation needed a new upgraded look for the new upgraded system, thus they created “Mega Man X!”. He looked older, taller, and overall more sophisticated. But like the classic version of Mega Man, they knew that X would need support characters to go along with him. The original Mega Man after all had Proto Man backing him up and Bass acting as a rival. So they made what was originally intended to be a female counterpart for X (hence where the long blond hair and interesting green chest lights came from). However for some reason or other Capcom opted to make X’s counterpart in battle male instead (if you recall, playable female protagonists were few and far between in the old days of video games….the barrier was slowly broken down by characters like Samus Aran, Princess Toadstool, and Lara Croft). Regardless of the reason, X’s new counterpart was made into a male character and was donned the name “Zero”.
Now, Zero was originally intended to fill the roles that Proto Man/Bass filled in the classic series….popular, but still only a support character (which is why we didn’t see too much of him in X1). What was unexpected was how much the fans took to him. His popularity took off like a rocket and leads most of us to believe that he was originally going to be killed off in X1 (after self destructing on Vile). The overwhelming fan response though prompted Capcom to have Zero restored in X2 while giving the player the added little gimmick to have to rescue Zero themselves. This only fueled his popularity even more and caused Capcom to finally make him as an (albeit brief) playable character in X3. The rest is really just history after this. Zero got more and more screen time becoming on par with X in the Z series games until he eventually took over and garnered his own series (with again an upgraded and new design).
But the question that still remains is “Why was Zero so popular?”. The answer remains with each individual fan however, my theory stands as follows;
to put it simply, he was different, fans loved X just as much as the original Mega Man, however Zero brought a new look and feel to the game that hadn’t been seen before. Just as Mega Man was “maturing” in his games, so were his fans. Those that were captivated by the classic series Mega Man in the 80’s (as I was) were now becoming adolescents and thus wanting a more mature look from their games. While X provided this to a degree, Zero looked more rebellious and strong and fans picked up on it, and really ran with it. So, in then end the reason you like or don’t like Zero is up to you, but to most fans he will always remain as the awesome badass robot that comes to save the day….and still look really cool while doing it.
Im also curious why fans see Zero as an awesome character, personally I never liked him that much, he most of the time dies in the most cliche way leaving X do the dirty job and somehow he keeps stealing the spotlight
to me he’s just the second main who loves to act all cool, that doesn’t amuses me
and I know there may be Zero fans reading this who may probably want to Hadouken me now, but hey, not just everybody has the same opinion
He was not supposed to be the second main, as was stated. He was in fact supposed to be the new Rockman, but was replaced by X because he was not as similar looking to the original Rockman.
I must admit, I was playing X1 13 years ago, and the intro music of Zero really did it for me. I’m like whoa, this guy’s cool, why can’t I play him?
@Axl-fox
No worries man, if you don’t like him, you don’t like him…to each his own. You do make amusing and interesting points and like I said prior to this, Zero was always intended to mereley be a support character but the fans made him the star. I personally love Zero…..but there are other Mega Man series characters that I love more.
@HunterIO
No, he was intended to be a support character….Capcom wanted to change and improve Mega Man (hence where X came from) but changing the main character to look like Zero? No way, that was way too far of a stretch. What did happen though (where this might be the confusion issue is coming from) is that Zero’s design was thought of and planned out before X was designed, but Zero was never intended to be the new Rockman.
@ZEROmaverick:I’m looking forward to some really good remakes from Capcom as well. In particular, remakes of the Game Boy Mega Man games not many remember.
Or perhaps they’ll work on an original title of “Mega Man Maverick Hunter Zero”, (taking place during MMX1) that’ll show us exactly what Zero was up to the whole time.
I’m certain I’m not the only one who’d like to know what he’s been doing behind the scenes in X1, X3, and/or perhaps a special Command Mission that shows what happened to him after the encounter in the beginning. Sounds like a relevant thing to ask for, I’d say.
As for as the Zero series, I’d sure want to know what happened to Zero before and after the series. a helmet submerged in sand says nothing to me.
Who else agrees?
@Keso_R
I like your ideas….you really raise valid points. Although the behind the scenes for Zero was definetly prominent throughout the X-series (especailly X1-X4…for X4 you chose either X or Zero and then you were stuck with them for the game…..and the other guy (you didn’t choose) is doing….what….exactly?) I would like to see an X-series game focused more on Zero’s activities but I would more like to see new X-series games first. Plus if they’re going to do a new Maverick Hunter X game, then I’d rather see Maverick Hunter X2 but more focus on Zero never hurts.
Don’t get into the re-release of the old Mega Man Game Boy games. I have been angry with Capcom for some time now because of what they with them. About 5-6 years ago, they talked about and actually advertised releasing an “anniversary collection” for the game boy games ported onto the GBA called “Mega Man Mania!” This was shortly after the Mega Man Anniversary Collection was released for the GCN/PS2 etc. I got all worked up and excited for it to be released…..and I waited….and waited…..and waited! Then about a year later I knew something was wrong so I looked it up….it had been put on indefinite hold…my heart sank….then about a month later it had been officially cancelled. I love Mega Man and I love Capcom for bringing him to us…but I will always be at least a little angry with them for doing that.
So yes, if they EVER decide to pick it up again I will be waiting with open arms.