Headscratchers / Mega Man ZX

Mega Man ZX

• Why does nobody figure that all four playable protagonists of the Mega Man ZX games could actually exist in the same universe? It's already implied that Vent and Aile are separate characters, the anime trailer shows them together, and for goodness sake, Grey and Ashe have entirely different backstories, so it's not far-fetched for them to exist in same story. It's just Capcom extending the replayability, methinks. I mean, Nintendo did the gender thing in Pokémon Ranger, and both characters exist in the same story. Speaking of which... Solana has blue hair and a red headband like Ashe. Coincidence?
  • Sure, the characters could all live in one universe together somewhere, but Aile/Grey and Vent/Ashe are almost certainly alternate universes; how could Aile/Vent and Grey/Ashe do all the exact same things? And how could both of them kill Serpent and Albert?
    • That's just how the story was told, really. They're not all the same, there's some differences. You'd think it would be bloody easy to meld everything together. From my own examinations, it actually would.
    • The answer came to me in a fanfic: Vent turns into Aile (or vice versa) Ranma ½-style whenever s/he reverts to human form after Megamerging. Fill in for Grey and/or Ashe as you see fit.
    • Considering that Vent/Aile have just about the same backstory until you get to near the end of the game, it's sort of obvious that they are separate continuities. That said, the Vent/Ashe path seems to be more focused on free will, and the Grey/Aile path seems to be focused on destiny, as neither Vent nor Ashe were really all that important, just schmucks who got Biometals, and Grey/Aile were important figures who were related to Model W and Albert, if I recall correctly.
    • But it's not like it isn't said Vent hasn't got the same blood as Albert either (and Advent practically confirmed that it's a requirement for a Mega Man), and Ashe happens to be Albert's great-great granddaughter. Then you have the bridge in the abandoned lab, which is conspicuously destroyed even in Ashe's story, even though it was blatantly destroyed in the beginning of Grey's story. And don't forget the original profiles in ZX which imply that Vent and Aile exist together, and the anime trailer. I think there is no Road Cone, Capcom just makes it look like one for the sake of re-playability.
    • The same blood thing is because Albert injected them to the Chosen Ones, which contains his DNA, which is supposedly the thing that could make them able to Megamerge. The anime trailer? Well I could agree that Vent/Aile can exist together, but... As Mega Men (as in, the ones who can Megamerge)? NO. Cutscene Power to the Max indeed; think about it, how can one Biometal can be used to merge with 2 person... At the same time? (So Vent and Aile, both as Mega Man Model X - and later Model ZX - can exist at the same time? Unbelievable, isn't it?)
    • Of course, it could simply be that Vent and Aile are actually siblings, and one of them dies in the same event that their mother dies in, and in ZX Advent, Pandora might end up succeeding in killing Grey, or Prometheus might succeed in killing Ashe depending on which of the above siblings survived. (you know, a chaos theory approach)
    • Well actually they ARE in the same universe, if you play ZX Advent you actually meet the first character (if you're Ashe you meet Vent, if you're Gray you meet Aile) in a cut scene which basically explains that there are multiple Rockmen using the R.O.C.K. system (which you kind of figured by now) and that model ZX is a unique Live Metal just like Model A (which we all assume is Axl due to copy-power) I do not know if its cut out of the English transliteration of the game as I played it PRIOR to it being released in the UK in the Japanese version. Also ZX takes place about 4 years and 8 months prior to ZX Advent.
  • My interpretation is that there are 2 continuities, and both Vent/Aile and Grey/Ashe live in both continuities. But in the first game, consider yourself Girouette, who chooses between Vent and Aile to accompany him to the Biometal escort mission in the intro cutscene. The one you chosen will be the protagonist, while the other will just stay in the Giro Express office (if there is one), never mentioned in the story but nevertheless still exists. And in the second game, if you choose Ashe, then Grey would be dead in the intro stage after beating the boss, breaking the bridge and falling down to the waterfall, while if you choose Grey, then Ashe would be dead after the Prometheus encounters her and the Hunters. So in Grey/Ashe's case, both exist, but one will die in the another's storyline. (Please note that being dead is not the same as being unexisted.)
    • This troper doesn't have a problem with this interpretation, but he does have to wonder what the character that wasn't chosen by Giro is doing during the events of Advent.
    • As a slightly less grim perspective, maybe the un-chosen character does survive and get picked up by the Hunters, but is simply not healed up enough to guard the Model A Biometal, thus going on to become something of an anonymous hero.
  • This troper thought that Vent and Aile worked together during the first game, and Grey and Ashe each took care of half the work unknowingly, coming together at the end in both cases. Gameplay and Story Segregation results from having this interpretation being impractical for gameplay.
• Why did nobody suspect Master Albert of some sort of evil plot? I mean, wouldn't choosing to name himself after the evilest guy in history, the guy who literally introduced the concept of Evil to robot/reploid-kind, be kind of a clue that he has less than benevolent plans?
  • Isn't it obvious that by this point in the timeline, that everyone has pretty much forgotten Wily completely? Considering the man managed to govern the Earth with his fellow Sages fairly well over 200 or so years while keeping his plans a secret (to everybody-sorry, couldn't resist), I would suppose he's just that good.
    • Well, he's obviously not forgotten if Master Albert knew his name in the first place. The fact that the three sages all named themselves after founding roboticists is too much to be a coincidence, and so it must be concluded that the three are, to some extent, remembered. And it is highly improbable that any historical entry on Wily would neglect the whole "evil incarnate" thing, especially of said entry was detailed enough to mention Cossack.
    • Counterpoint: There are only three founding roboticists for the Sage Trinity to take their names from... One of them had to take his name from Wily.
    • Or Albert chose that name in honor of Zero's creator, neglecting/ignoring Wily's previous works.
  • It's a name. Sure, if you were working with a guy named Adolf, you might be wondering why his parents would choose to name him after a dictator, but you probably wouldn't go "OMG! That guy's evil!" Also, was it ever said that the Sage Trinity named themselves after the three founding roboticists? It's likely that the events of the original series, while probably still taught in schools, is only of real interest to history buffs at this point. At this point it's likely to just be a coincidence.
    • Besides, the evilest guy in history goes to Dr. Weil at this point.
  • It's been centuries. Given Zero's heroic state and Wily being a relatively minor threat compared to Sigma and Dr Weil, Albert Wily has probably been given a Historical Hero Upgrade.
  • Given that the world has suffered nearly half a dozen major wars at this point, with mankind itself coming dangerously close to extinction on several occasions, its possible that some (or all) knowledge of the Classic era just didn't survive that long.
• One has to wonder why Prometheus and Pandora, when they were half-obeying Albert (they were being Stalked by the Bell themselves, so total disobedience before the end wasn't an option - Mysterious Lab 3 capsules, remember?), rather than plot out how to kill Albert, didn't instead try to figure out how to demolish or sabotage Model W, given how integral it was to Albert's scheme. Hey, if destroying it's good enough for Aile and Vent...
  • Because they're sociopaths that don't care if the world ends, so they just aimed for freedom and nothing more. Demolishing his plans would just make Albert start the PLANS from scratch, not everything and anything.
  • I think part of it was that killing Albert was their top priority. If they started destroying Model W before Albert was dead, he would have quickly caught on and retribution would have been swift. It was a better strategy for Prometheus and Pandora to wait for the right moment, then kill him, then ruin everything he ever made.
• Judging at these official artworks, I wonder why Aile always use the Buster form of her weapon, while Vent always use the Saber form. I hate to say this, but I found some Unfortunate Implications here... Also see their Megamerging process in Advent for Aile and Vent.
  • For that matter, why Aile's Megamerging sequence is longer (by approximately 30 seconds) and more over-the-top than Vent's?
  • Ruleof Cool and Magical Girl moments mixed? I mean Vent gets jipped for sure however Aile is the mostly less played character (yes believe it or not, she doesn't get a lot of play from casual players who happen to be young boys between 8 and 15 years old)
  • see Guys Smash, Girls Shoot
  • Alphabetically, the word 'Buster' comes before the word 'Saber', much like how Aile's name comes before Vent's alphabetically.
• Can we please decide if "it" or "he/she" is the proper pronoun for Biometals?
• Biometals are apparently conscious and capable of making decisions, such as whether to merge with someone. Model Z, for instance, disengages from Aile/Vent on his own. So how come the stolen Guardian Biometals in Advent are willing to merge with obviously evil Biomatches? There are excuses to be made for the first game (being split in two can't be good for the ol' consciousness, and they were only used by Pseudoroids), but they seem perfectly intact in Advent.
  • Remember that they were stolen, by Prometheus and Pandora, for Master Albert, who is, if not the creator of Biometal then is at least the reigning expert on them. It's more than likely he did something to suppress/reprogram their consciousnesses in order for his game to play out like he wanted.
• Why does a universe with teleportation need physical transporters? Can't they teleport small objects basically anywhere?
  • Over ninety percent of all teleporting in the ZX games is from one Transerver to another. Though there are exceptions (like the portable Transerver used in the burning building mission in the first game), they seem to be rather rare. So, it would be logical to assume that "mass produced" teleporting can only be done from one Transerver to another, and you can't just build a Transerver anywhere. The technology for free teleportation exists, but is not yet feasible for mass production just yet.
• Now, this is just a minor thing, but last time I checked Giro was a Reploid so... Why, again, does he need glasses?
  • He probably doesn't, he most likely just prefers the look.
  • On that same token, that would make Aile and Vent Reploids as well.
  • Everyone's a cyborg, really, the only difference is whether they started out more biological or more mechanical. Case in point, Reploids have parents, too.
• So, with that skintight black bodysuit everybody seems to be wearing, why is Ashe the only one not to wear any sort of pants? Is nudity just a non-issue?
  • Methinks that the outfit she wears is more along the lines of the undersuit that Kouta Kazuraba wears when he transforms into one of the various arms of Armored Rider Gaim.
• If, to be a Chosen One to begin with, a person requires the DNA of Master Albert, how is it that Reploids, who don't have biological DNA are able to Megamerge? Maybe I just missed something, it has been a while.
  • Reploids having DNA has been a thing for a long time, starting back in one of the X games.