MegaMan.EXE

General CVG character
name=MegaMan.EXE


caption=
firstgame="Mega Man Battle Network"
series="Mega Man Battle Network" series
creator=Keiji Inafune
voiceactor=Andrew Francis
japanactor=Akiko Kimura
inuniverse=Mega Man character
type=Navi
weapon=MegaBuster (Rock Buster), Battle Chips

MegaMan.EXE, known in Japan as nihongo|Rockman.EXE|ロックマン.EXE|Rokkuman.exe, is a fictional character and the main NetNavi protagonist in the "Mega Man Battle Network" series of video games and the "MegaMan NT Warrior" anime and manga. His design is based on Mega Man of the original "Mega Man" series. In the anime, he is voiced by Andrew Francis in the English version, and Akiko Kimura in the Japanese version of the anime and Mega Man Network Transmission.

History

Game

In the "Battle Network" version of the story, MegaMan (often referred to as "Rock" in the Japanese game and manga, and "Rock-kun" on occasion) has been Lan Hikari's (Netto Hikari) partner for some time, in a world where NetNavis are essential to everyday life.

At the beginning of the game, MegaMan's main goal in life seems to be to wake Lan up for school each morning. When the threat of World Three seizes upon their small town, however, the two rise to the challenge of eradicating its evils from the cyberworld.

It is revealed at the end of the first game that MegaMan is more than just a typical Navi. The reason why he is so talented and works so well with Lan is because of his tragic origins - a young Yuichiro Hikari had long desired to create the "perfect" Navi and theorized that by combining human DNA with modern technology, he could create one that worked in complete sync with its creator, though he had not yet succeeded. At that time, he became the father of two twin boys, Lan, the younger brother, and Hub (Saito Hikari; _jp. 光彩斗 "Hikari Saito"), the older. Upon birth, Hub was diagnosed with a rare heart condition known as HBD, and his chances of survival were slim. In order to save his son's life, Yuichiro used Hub's DNA, converted into data, for the creation of the first perfect Custom Navi. From this project, MegaMan.EXE came into existence.

Since Hub's DNA would be identical to that of his partner, there was the possibility that they would end up being completely synchronized and thus feel each other's pain. That would have made Hub completely useless as a Net Navi. In order to resolve this problem, Yuichiro altered Hub's DNA by 0.001% (this .001% is likely eye color, as, even though they are identical twins, Lan has brown eyes, while Megaman has Green). In the first game, the program Hub.BAT (Saito.BAT) rewrites the fraction that he had changed in order for MegaMan's life to be saved, thus enabling Lan and MegaMan to become synchronized completely. A gameplay effect made it so that in every subsequent game, Megaman would not heal wounds immediately after battle. This plot device is not used again until the third "Battle Network" game, but MegaMan's true identity as Hub is usually mentioned at least once per game, and in "Battle Network 5" (as well as on the HubBatch (Saito) chip in "Battle Network 6"), we see an "under-the-armor" version of MegaMan that seems to reflect what Hub might have looked like had he gone on living as a human.

In "Mega Man Battle Network 6", Lan and Hub discover one of the latest inventions designed to bring the cyberworld and the real world closer together - the CopyBot (Copyroid). A CopyBot allows the user to jack a Navi into it, matching its structure to resemble the Navi in question. In other words, it connects to a Navi's senses and allows the program to move around the real world - the Navi program itself becomes the brain. When a Navi is inside a CopyBot, however, it cannot deploy weapons unless an inhibition unit is removed (this is contrary to the anime, in which they essentially gain means of causing havoc), and the Navi only has the strength of an average human adult. At the end of the game, it is explained that, twenty years after the events in "Battle Network 6", MegaMan is spending most of his time in the real world - the world he "missed so much."

Anime

In "MegaMan NT Warrior" (Rockman EXE), Lan receives MegaMan.EXE from his father as a sign of passage into the fifth grade. He is the sole Navi who is referred to by his ".EXE" designation when entering the cyberworld. Lan and MegaMan are not related in the anime version; rather they are simply good friends, and after only knowing each other for a short time, attain the close partnership shown in other incarnations. In "EXE" he gains the ability to Style Change, while in "Axess", the power is replaced by Soul Unison and Cross Fusion. In "Beast", he is able to "Beast Out," initially with the aid of Trill, and later with chips formed from the remnants of Trill's data in his body. As of episode 11 of "Beast+", MegaMan can incorporate another Navi's data into his Beast Out file to perform Cross Beast, and as of episode 14, he can perform regular Crosses as well.

Manga

A special chapter at the end of the first "tankōbon" details what little is known of MegaMan's history in the manga. The nickname "Rock" makes a comeback here (in the Japanese-language version only) and the story details how a younger Lan received MegaMan, who had been programmed by his father, only to be disappointed by his "nagging" personality. MegaMan wished for friendship with his operator, but was always thinking first about Lan's welfare and his own duties, ensuring that his partner got enough sleep, did his homework and got up for school on time. This treatment was seen as harsh by Lan, and after a fight, he left his PET at home when going out to play with friends. The scenario that followed was what truly cemented their friendship - during a game of hide-and-seek, Lan became trapped in a metal crate that was taken to be demolished. As Lan was suffocating, MegaMan began to search for him and located him through the computer system in the crate as it was being crushed, encouraging Lan to keep trying to get out, and pledging to stay with him even if they were both killed. MegaMan told him that there was no point of him going on without his partner. Finally, Lan managed to yell loud enough to alert workers nearby who freed him, and the two came to value each other's friendship from then on.

Megaman is much more aggressive here compared to the other mediums, and the story mostly focusses on him rather than Lan. He gets mad easily, proven during his "special training" to eradicate his feelings of hate before the battle with Megaman Dark Soul.

Abilities

At first glance, Megaman has little to make himself unique compared to other, specialized Navis, though his fighting spirit and synchronous fighting style with Lan make him more powerful than others.

--Megabuster--Megaman's basic means of attack. Unlike other Navis, Megaman's non-chip abilities are far less sophisticated and powerful than others. The Megabuster only does 1 HP of damage per hit, and 10 damage for a charge shot. However, Megaman can enhance the specs of his buster either with manual upgrades, or with the navi Customizer. It reaches a Natural Max of 5 levels in any of the 3 categories: Power, Rapid, and Charge.

--Style change--An ability that is inherently unique to Megaman, though it is suggested that other Navis can use it in the 3rd game, or they may have been suggesting a literal 'fighting style'. Style change basically enhances Megaman's fighting abilities to fit with the player's fighting style. A player who constantly deletes Viruses with the Megabuster, will, for example, get Guts Style. Each style also has an element randomly attached to it, either in Heat, Aqua, Elec, or Wood. This ability is only used in the 2nd and 3rd Games.

--Soul Unison--At the end of the 3rd game, Megaman sacrificed himself to save his operator, Lan. However, Dr. Hikari found a special file that had backup data of Megaman. He used this to recreate him. However, the reborn megaman was largley incompatible with the Style Change system, and as such, the Soul Unison system was made as a proper substitute. When Megaman forms a bond with another Navi, he can preform Soul Unison by sacrificing a Chip that corresponds with the Navi's abilities. Protosoul, for example, is initiated by sacrificing a Sword Chip. Soul Unisons last for 3 turns, and change the Charge shot to something similar to the original Navi's special abilities.

--Chaos Unison--Making it's appearance in the 5th game, Megaman was tainted by dark energy. Having eventually gaining control of it, he gained the ability for a Chaos unison. These work much like Normal unisons, except that a Dark chip (which there is 1 chip of each element) is sacrificed instead. Megaman will go into the Double Soul as normal, but will also combine with Megaman DS. Aside from getting a color change, Megaman will also replace his charge shot with that of the dark chip sacrificed. Benefits include the fact that the 'chip' can be used repeatedly, Chaos Unison can be activated in -any- emotion, Bugs do not come into effect from the chip, and Megaman will not permanently lose HP. The catch, however, is that when charging, megaman will flash green and purple. If shot when purple, it will be used normally. If green, however, Megaman will instantly lose his unison, and Dark Mega will join the foe's side. Chaos unisons only last 1 turn.

--Cross Megaman--Technically introduced in the 5th game, but properly utilized in the 6th. In the 5th game, there are 3 crosses. 2 of them are Bass Crosses, Gold and Silver. The other is Sol Cross, provided from Boktai 2. They provide abilities to Megaman, increase his HP, and change his buster attack. They do not overwrite Soul unisons, and can be used at any time.

In the 6th game, they worked similarly to Unisons, but could be activated anytime, and do not require a sacrificial chip. They also have no time limit. However, being hit by the cross' weakness (a new weakness circle was made: Wind->Cursor->Break->Sword->Wind) instantly knocks Megaman out of the cross. He can apply a different cross, but can no longer use that one cross for the rest of the battle. In most cases, chips of the same element as the cross gain a boost, while (usually) non-elemental chips can be charged to be given certain properties. Elec Cross, for example, gives a +50 boost to elec chips, and can charge non elemental chips for a paralysis effect.

--Beast Out--

In the 6th game, Megaman absorbs one of the powerful Cybeasts into his body, and gains the ability to Beast out. In usage, it is like unisons, lasting for 3 turns, if the player has Max emotion points. Falzer gives Megaman the ability to fly and a special 'talon' buster, while Gregar gives him Superarmor and an incredibly fast (yet unchargable) Vulcan Buster. Both give a special 'homing' ability that brings them in proper range to use certain chips. Charging a non-elemental chip causes the player to lock on and swing with their talons/claws twice, once in widesword range, once in longsword.

As a last resort, when the player loses his beast out by the 3 turn limit, he'll enter tired mode. When Megaman uses beast out again with 0 emotion points and Tired mode, he'll enter "overbeast", which is similar to DS megaman of the previous games. The Cybeast will take over and randomly move and attack, using chips randomly for twice the original power. After the Cust. Gauge fills up, Megaman will lose the beast and enter extreme mode, losing HP rapidly and having lowered stats.

If a Beast out is used when a Cross is in effect, or Vice versa, Beast Cross is used. Megaman will now take on the form of the Cybeast, while applying elements of the cross (albiet beastier). It provides Beast out abilities along with cross abilities, and also gives a completely new charge attack. Using a Cross First, then a Beast Out is more beneficial, as the player has 3 turns in the Beast cross. Using a beast out then cross means the player only has 2. The main purpose to Cross beast is to utilize the powerful chip charge. Like normal Beast out, Cross Beast can charge Non-elemental chips to preform a special attack. This attack is unique to the Cross Beasts, and carry Buster-stat dependent damage.

Megaman can re-activate a cross before Over-beasting if he desires, though the effects are largely similar.

Personality

MegaMan is sometimes accused of being uptight by his partner and best friend. Realistically, he is looking out for Lan's best interests, and the two of them have a solid friendship. He is usually optimistic even in the worst of times, and extremely determined. He is also usually very polite with other characters, where even in a bad situation unrelated to him he'll feel the need to apologize and make peace with others. Outside of that however, he often cracks jokes about "not being around" for Lan to wake him up or help with his homework.

His biggest weakness (anime only) is ghosts, the mere concept of which he is scared by, occasionally to the point of near-incapacitation when he must face his fears in episodes featuring the appearance of ghosts or ghost-like entities. The last incident detailing his fear before the end of the series occurs in episode 4 of "Beast", in which he is forced to sit through a scary movie with Roll and Trill, the latter of whom repeatedly torments him with frightening disguises.

Relationships

Lan - MegaMan's closest friend, his brother, and his operator. They have a detailed history and share a strong relationship, repeatedly risking their lives to protect the one another.

Roll - The most frequently-appearing female Navi in the series, and an important one by far. In the game, Roll cares very deeply for MegaMan (or "Rock-kun" as she calls him in the Japanese version), but focus on the human world and natural dialogue limitations to keep the game flowing limit players to having to guess at what their relationship really stands for. In the anime, the coupling is considered near-canon, as Roll becomes incredibly jealous whenever MegaMan's attention strays too much. Aki-chan and Meddy ("Medi") are two females who appear as somewhat-rivals for Roll, though the latter's intentions are on the same level with her own. Roll as she appears in the manga is not explored in much detail; it is difficult to tell from the exchanges between the two whether they are close friends or something more.

GutsMan - Though GutsMan and MegaMan are clearly intended to be rivals, it is presented on multiple occasions that they are not just out to fight. GutsMan is extremely envious of Roll's affection towards MegaMan, a fact that sometimes comes between them, but in storylines which one must come to the other's aid, it is apparent that they are, indeed, friends. GutsMan as he appears in the manga is particularly self-sacrificing, and his deletion at the hands of NumberMan in the first volume brings MegaMan's power to its limit. Also in the manga, when Gutsman was controlled by Laserman, Gutsman pleaded Megaman to delete him, but end up doing a Soul Unison instead. In the anime, a quest to retrieve the remnants of MegaMan's data from deletion results in near-destruction for GutsMan, who is crushed as he prevents a boulder from falling on Roll.

ProtoMan / Blues - As Chaud is to Lan, ProtoMan is MegaMan's rival, though it is notable that MegaMan would rather have him as a friend. Fortunately, as Chaud warms up in all versions, ProtoMan as well is freed from his "perfect soldier" attitude, and though he is still confident to the point of cockiness and more than slightly disapproving of MegaMan's "soft" ways he seems to consider MegaMan a formidable ally. ProtoMan's relationship with MegaMan is explored more often in the manga than in other versions, though none are very in-depth - it is emphasized that he wishes to be better than MegaMan, but he is humbled by MegaMan's incredible courage and determination in the face of defeat. He was the first (and the most) to perform Soul Unison with Megaman.

Trill - In "Beast", MegaMan is a big-brother figure to little Trill, a child Navi created by Tadashi Hikari of Beyondard. Though he eventually comes to like Roll and others, Trill initially responded only to MegaMan, and cried whenever the blue Navi was not close by. He enjoys scary things (to MegaMan's dismay), and possesses the ability to initiate MegaMan's "Beast Out" transformation, as he is known as the "Synchronizer". It is later revealed that, because Trill and MegaMan were created similarly, that "Beast Out" is possible.

Bass / Forte - Due to the fact that MegaMan and Lan share a very close relationship, their bond is confusing to Bass, who hates humans and believes that they only see Navis as tools. While he respects MegaMan's strength, he does not understand why he cares so much for Lan, and (in the games) believes that if MegaMan continues to protect Lan and humans, that he (Bass) has no choice but to delete him. MegaMan and Lan constantly try to reason with Bass, but almost always end up battling him. In the manga, Bass eventually does acknowledge both Megaman and Lan as formidable rivals, and seems to genuinely respect their bond, though he continues to despise the premise of relying on others for strength, while in the anime, he does not recognize him as such, instead viewing him merely as a tool to become stronger.

Haruka Hikari - Lan (and Hub)'s mother is referred to as "Mom" by MegaMan in most incarnations. It is she who initially encourages MegaMan to pursue friendship with Lan in the manga, and though her appearances are limited in the other versions, in the game she is always looking out for both her sons' well-being.

Yuichiro Hikari - In the anime, Yuichiro's main role was at first to repair MegaMan and upgrade him. Later, as Yuichiro appeared more often, his duty shifted towards explaining the science behind the plot of "Axess" and "Stream". In the manga he is mostly absent, but is shown thinking of MegaMan in the second volume when he is being tortured, and begging MegaMan and Lan to watch over Haruka. In the game, Yuichiro and MegaMan's relationship is more founded. Unfortunately most of their history together takes place prior to the first game. The dialogues and interaction that occurred when Yuichiro was creating, programming and testing MegaMan must be left to imagination. Yuichiro is always encouraging of MegaMan and Lan, seemingly having come to terms with the fact that the two place themselves in danger all the time. The emotional speech about Hub that occurred at the end of the first game is about all the insight players are given into Yuichiro's relationship with his elder son.