Vile (Mega Man X)

General CVG character
name=Vile|
caption=Vile in "Mega Man Maverick Hunter X".
firstgame="Mega Man X"
series="Mega Man X" series
creator=Keiji Inafune
voiceactor=Roger Rhodes
japanactor=Mugihito
inuniverse=Mega Man character
type=Reploid
weapon=Mounted shoulder cannon, bomb launcher, vulcan buster, various Ride Armors
loyalty= Maverick, Himself

Vile, or VAVA (ヴァヴァ) in the original Japanese versions, is a fictional character from the "Mega Man X" series of video games. Vile was once a Maverick Hunter, but was deactivated and imprisoned because of his overly violent tendencies, and was considered a rogue hunter. He was later reactivated by and sided with Sigma against the Maverick Hunters, X and Zero in particular, whom he had a deep hatred for. Vile was also placed in command of Sigma's Maverick army. Vile is a frequently recurring character in the series, similar to his master Sigma.

History

Vile was in the Maverick Hunters Unit 17, the best of the best. Despite this, he was an incredibly violent Hunter (for example, destroying a building and killing everyone inside when he was only supposed to restrain one Maverick), and was shut down as a punishment. When Sigma began his revolt, he reactivated Vile, using him in his war against the humans. From there, he was Sigma's right-hand man, using his vicious attitude and powerful Ride Armor to defend and destroy. When he was confronted by Mega Man X, he simply captured him and laughed until Zero destroyed one of the arms of his Ride Armor.

He escaped on a ship, only to face X and Zero once again later. Zero was captured, and X followed. But Zero sacrificed himself to destroy Vile's Ride Armor. With this advantage removed, X destroyed Vile. When he was reconstructed by Dr. Doppler, his mind was overcome with rage and virus infection, causing him to go completely mad with vengeance for X. He faced him once again, but was again defeated. As he died, he vowed to haunt X till the day he dies.

Later in "Mega Man Xtreme", a computer hacker Reploid named Techno hacked into the Mother Computer Maverick Hunter system and stole the battle data to digitally revive many Mavericks previously destroyed by X. One of the battle data was Vile's, who was rebuilt and fought X once again. Afterwards in Mega Man X3, Vile's battle data was given to Maverick scientist Dr. Doppler (possessed by Sigma) who upgraded Vile, changed the look of his armour, and infected him with the Maverick virus, making him more powerful and more determined to destroy X and Zero. He was eventually defeated again, but swore to X that just like Sigma, he could never be truly dead.

This came true, as Vile was once again re-activated by Sigma in "Mega Man X8" to serve as a lackey and coup-out for Sigma's (and indirectly Lumine's) plan. In this iteration, he was upgraded once again, donning a new design and more powerful weaponry. He engaged X, Zero, and Axl on several occasions, each time losing until his final defeat. However, he is not seen getting destroyed in the game's "Hard mode", which contains the full ending.

Maverick Hunter X

In the the remake "Maverick Hunter X", Vile's backstory is modified. Like in the backstory to Mega Man X1, Vile is put into custody after causing severe collateral damage while fighting Mavericks. However, later in the story, Vile is broken out by Sigma and set loose to cause as much trouble for the Maverick Hunters as possible. Vile eventually ends up turning against Sigma, and attacks the Maverick army, intending to "change the world" in his own. He does not make it to Sigma, however, since he runs into Zero and X along the way. After seemingly defeating both of them, Vile began to gloat and kick X around the room, questioning X's rationale for fighting. Vile does make a serious mistake in ignoring Zero, however, for Zero distracted Vile long enough for X to fire a fully powered charge shot through Vile's chest, effectively ending his operation for the time being.

As playable character

Vile is playable in the remake "Mega Man Maverick Hunter X", and plays very differently from X. Vile has three different weapons: his trademark shoulder cannon, a bomb launcher that is built into his leg, and a new arm-mounted vulcan buster. Like X, Vile gains new weapons from defeating Mavericks, but his weapons use no energy. Vile's new weapons are set up on the stage select screen before going to a stage, after which they cannot be changed. Vile also has noticeably more weapons than X, making Vile's gameplay style more difficult than X's. Unlike X, Vile cannot perform a dash (a curious fact since he could do so in the original version of the game, and can even dash when you fight him out of his ride armor in the remake.) He will fight X in the Intro Stage and both X and Zero at the second fight, and his game will end there. Also, in the Intro Stage, Vile can now be defeated in his Ride Armor while playing as X, and his brief second fight in the Ride Armor then stunning X is taken out as a sneak attack. It should also be noted that the emblem on Vile's helmet in Maverick Hunter X is a red V rather than the Sigma symbol his helmet had in the original game.

Trivia

*"Mega Man Maverick Hunter X" is the first mention of Vile being X's arch rival.
* In the USA "Mega Man" cartoon, Vile appeared with Mega Man X, Sigma, Spark Mandrill and Dr. Cain in the episode "Mega X".
*In "Mega Man Zero 2", Vile can be seen when a certain attack is used by Phoenix Magnion in the destroy P.R. mission in the power room area.
*In "Mega Man Battle Network", there is a poster of Vile behind the counter in Higsby's chip shop.

References

# cite web
author = N/A
publisher = N/A
year = 2003
url = http://www.megaman-network.com
title = The Mega Man network
accessdate = N/A
accessyear = 2003