This is the character page for the Metal Max franchise. For individual pages on specific installments, see the following:
WARNING: SOME SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED.
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Recurring Characters
Dr. Minche/Mortem
The scientist who excels in the science of revival through electricity. Whenever the party gets wiped out, he collects their corpses and revives them, allowing the players to avoid Game Over.
- Bootstrapped Theme: Always plays in his laboratory.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: This is the case in most games thanks to him.
- Einstein Hair: Sports this in many games.
- Irony: Metal Max 4 reveals that Laura, the Brain in a Jar he keeps around in his laboratory, is that of the woman whom he loved. When she died, he preserved her body and worked hard to find the way to revive the dead. Unfortunately, by the time he found the way, her body was damaged, forcing him to extract her brain. As a result, he is unable to revive the person whom he wishes to bring back most.
- Mad Scientist: He is quite eccentric to say the least but he means well.
- Magical Defibrillator: Sums up what he can do nicely.
Dog
The gun-mounted dog is a recurring character in the series as a potential companion and an enemy. Their default name is Pochi.
- Non-Player Companion: The dog is controlled by ally AI in all games.
- Series Mascot: Easily one of the most memorable features in the series, aside from tanks.
- Team Pet: Naturally, being a dog in an adventuring party otherwise comprised exclusively of humans (and the occasional Robot Girl).
- Weaponized Animal: They have a gun mounted on their back and will not hesitate to use it.
Red Wolf
While it is not a character, this tank has featured in most games as an available mount for characters to ride in.
- Jack of All Stats: While it varies from game to game, many of its upgrades tend to feature balanced spread among cannons, machine guns, and missile in its slots.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Of a rather uncommon inanimate variety; the Red Wolf, in all appearances, is based off the IDF's Merkava
line of tanks. - Red Is Heroic: True to its name, the Red Wolf is consistently, well, red. Of course, the player can change its color if they want, just like any other vehicle.
The Cause of the Great Annihilation
Noah/NOA
The AI responsible for causing the Great Annihilation, the event which destroyed much of the old world and created the apocalyptic setting of Metal Max games. While it only makes a physical appearance in Metal Max 1, it is mentioned frequently by characters and journals found in each game and much of the conflicts in games originate from its attempts to exterminate all humans (even posthumously) and/or humanity's efforts to fight back.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A supercomputer designed to save the world and humans from pollution, it came to the conclusion that the Earth will be in peril as long as humans exist and decided to wipe out human civilization.
- Big Bad: Of Metal Max 1.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Outside of the first game as its attempts to destroy humans have influenced the events of each game in one way or another.
- Healing Factor: Though not reported by the battle narration, it recovers some HP each turn, which can cause the fight to drag if your damage output isn't high enough.
- Humans Are Bastards: Noah does not mince words about seeing humans this way.Noah: Mankind... Evil primates, brandishing intelligence as a weapon.
- Kill All Humans: Its main goal.
- Nature-Loving Robot: An extreme case of it. Ironically, it seems to have overlooked the fact that the Great Annihilation ruined much of the nature it sought to protect in the first place.
- Omnicidal Maniac: It specifically wants to wipe out all humans.
- Posthumous Character: In the games that take place after its destruction.
- Restart the World: Its reasoning for causing the Great Annihilation.
- Turns Red: More literally in the NES original than in the remake, but in both versions, dealing enough damage to Noah shatters its glass casing and causes it to go berserk, switching over to more intense attack patterns... Kind of. It does ramp up the frequency of its attacks, but their power is actually lowered, as are Noah's defenses. It does launch a barrage of several significantly stronger attacks in retaliation on the turn its casing is shattered, however.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The strongest weapon it can use in the first game.
- Weaksauce Weakness: In defiance of Contractual Boss Immunity, Noah is vulnerable to, of all things, the Panic status. The odds of it being inflicted aren't great, but hitting Noah with Panic shells can potentially take a lot of the pressure off. In fact, it's even possible for its first phase to "run away" while under the effects of the status, immediately skipping to the second phase.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Its AI is... not the most complex. All it does is hurl two or three single-target attacks at random party members every turn, though this still manages to be quite deadly.
