Video Game / Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X

"I urge the people of the future to remember that X is my... nay, the world's hope!"

— Dr. Thomas Light, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X.

Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X is a remake of the first game in the Mega Man X series, released exclusively for the PlayStation Portable.

In this expanded retelling of the original Mega Man X, our hero X was discovered by Dr. Cain and used to create a new generation of free-thinking robots called Reploids. After rebellious or defective Reploids began threatening to harm humans, X joined an organization called the Maverick Hunters to ensure peace. He befriended the skilled Zero and his commander Sigma in the 17th Elite Unit. However, X's mercy and pacifism limited his efficiency in battle, keeping him a B-Class Hunter.

Then Sigma himself suddenly goes Maverick, taking the unpredictable Vile and many other Hunters with him. X and Zero must band together to stop his rebellion from wiping out the humans and creating a society of only Reploids. Sigma shows fascination with X, believing he has the power to further shape the future of Reploids, as well as with Vile, who holds a personal vendetta against the heroic X. After completing the game once as X, the player can play as Vile in his own unique scenario.

This game has the same eight Maverick bosses as the original, though they've all been redesigned and their personalities are expanded on:

• Chill Penguin of the 13th Polar Region Unit. X earns Shotgun Ice from him, and Vile earns Frozen Castle.
• Spark Mandrill of the 17th Elite Unit. X earns Electric Spark from him, and Vile earns the Rocket Punch system.
• Armored Armadillo of the 8th Armored Division. X earns Rolling Shield from him, and Vile earns the Ball system.
• Launch Octopus of the 6th Marine Unit. X earns Homing Torpedo from him, and Vile earns the Missile system.
• Boomerang Kuwanger of the 17th Elite Unit. X earns Boomerang Cutter from him, and Vile earns the Cutter system.
• Sting Chameleon of the 9th Special Forces. X earns Chameleon Sting from him, and Vile earns the Laser system.
• Storm Eagle of the 7th Air Cavalry Unit. X earns Storm Tornado from him, and Vile earns Speed Devil.
• Flame Mammoth of the 4th Overland Unit. X earns Fire Wave from him, and Vile earns the Flamethrower system.

The game also included a bonus animated movie, The Day of Σ, which expands on the characterizations of X, Zero, Vile, and Sigma. It focuses on the fateful day that Sigma made his Maverick status known, and led his Reploid rebellion with the ultimate goal of testing X's evolutionary potential against his own ambitions.

This game, along with Mega Man Powered Up, were released in hopes of rebooting each of their individual series. Due to poor sales, however, hope for any additional sequels ended with these titles.

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This game provides examples of:

• 2½D: The updated graphics in this remake were done in this style.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: Here Sigma seems to have less to do with the Maverick Virus in general, since the post-credits message about his "soul" was removed and he makes no mention of any encounters with Zero in the past. Plus he gets his trademark eye scars from X in the missile base during The Day of Σ rather than from Zero in Wily's lab, meaning that confrontation may not have even happened. Due to how important the Virus is in future installments, it's likely that Sigma would have found the Maverick Virus himself later on.
• Adaptational Expansion: The Maverick bosses are given much clearer personalities than the All There in the Manual bios in the original game, due to the inclusion of pre-battle dialogue and mid-battle Boss Banter.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • While they've always been on the same side, X and Zero had more of a Senpai/Kohai dynamic at the beginning of the original continuity before the two began to grow close to each other, with Zero showing a bit of an arrogant streak. In this game, the two are already fast friends who respect and care for each other, evidenced and fleshed out in The Day of Σ OVA.
  • In the original series, Vile saw X as little more than an outdated model, a non-threat to his agenda, until X defeated him in X1 and he developed a grudge. His hatred of X is much more fleshed out in Maverick Hunter X, showing that he despises X not only because he's outdated and weak, but because everyone sings his praises anyways. It's a bit of a Green-Eyed Monster dynamic where Vile wants to prove he is the one with the potential to change the world, not X.
• Adaptational Villainy: Sigma is much more evil, shown here and in The Day of Σ. On top of his villainy being much worse than anything he did until the later games, his actions are of his own free will and not because he was infected by the Maverick Virus (as far as we know).
• Alas, Poor Villain: At the end of Vile's storyline, Sigma questions Vile as to what he planned to do after challenging X. Severely damaged, Vile admits he didn't really have any goals beyond defeating X, but in doing so, he validated his own existence, which was enough for him. His story ends with him weakly declaring his own name and reaching for the sky before losing power completely.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: Compare the Japanese boxart◊ to the American boxart above, whereas in the original art it's a dynamic display of a calm and focused X, with Zero, Vile, and Sigma in the background, the American boxart shows a snarling X with his Arm Cannon blazing surrounded by explosions and a sinister looking Boomerang Kuwanger in the background.
• And Then What?: Given to Vile by Sigma; after Vile fails to defeat X, Sigma asks him what he planned on doing if he had succeeded — if he intended to try to defeat him himself, or join him in the rebellion as a willing pawn. Vile admits he doesn't know, but also that he doesn't care, he just wanted to prove he was superior to X.
• Anime Theme Song: "Don't Wanna Be" By Spinwake.
• Anti-Armor: The Electric Spark will cause most of Armored Armadillo's armor to fall off.
• Anti-Hero: Vile has shades of this; he fights against Sigma's reploid rebellion, but only does so to try and prove his superiority over X.
• Apologetic Attacker: When X confronts Storm Eagle as being a Maverick, Storm Eagle asks for X's forgiveness before attacking him.
• Arm Cannon: X's weapon, a Plasma Cannon by default. Vile also has one, which starts with the Vulcan, but can be upgraded with Missiles or a Rocket Punch.
• Armor of Invincibility: X's body enhancements from Dr. Light's capsule reduce the damage he receives by 50%.
• Axe-Crazy: Vile has no problem with attacking other reploids just for getting on his bad side, or for mentioning X. In The Day of Σ, Vile has actually been detained by the Maverick Hunters due to his reckless and dangerous behavior, being led to containment in shackles.
• Background Boss: Sigma's final form, complete with a Colossus Climb on his Giant Paws Of Doom to hit his only weak point, his head, all while dodging his Breath Weapon, Electric Attacks, and Beam Spam.
• Badass Boast:
  • Flame Mammoth has a few of these, going as far as to turn Sigma's notion that X is the future of reploids into that he'll have the chance to stomp the future into dust, and starts every fight with a Battle Cry of "Power!"
  • Vile is also quite full of these, especially when it comes to his superiority over X.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted when Vile completes his story: he gets ambushed by X after the fight, and X delivers the Coup de Grâce on him.
• Battle Boomerang: X's Boomerang Cutter and Vile's Cutter weapon system, both from Boomerang Kuwanger.
• Bequeathed Power: Just like in the original release, if X has not obtained Dr. Light's arm enhancements by the time Zero makes his Heroic Sacrifice versus Vile, Zero will bequeath his Zero Buster to X. Unlike in the original release, where the Light upgrades and Zero Buster were exactly the same, in this game the Zero Buster is actually superior to the standard upgrades.
• Berserk Button: Vile isn't a very stable reploid most of the time; however, if someone mentions X or his potential, he quickly goes off the deep end.
• BGM Override: In Vile Mode, all the 8 stage themes, as well as the intro stage, have their music replaced with Vile's theme.
• Big "NO!": When Storm Eagle is defeated, he shouts, "No!" while he topples.
• Blood Knight: Boomerang Kuwanger, despite the fact that he and X are old friends, won't pass up the chance to fight X to the death, finding the idea of testing himself against X's potential too much fun.
• Boring, but Practical: Vile's Distance Needler isn't as flashy as his other arm weapons, just being a single ice projectile with a low fire rate, but it travels the entire length of the screen, punches through shielded enemies, and does enough damage in one shot to make it superior to a lot of the more rapid fire weapons when used against bosses. It also has a low point cost, meaning you can equip it almost immediately and it won't take away too much space from other, bigger weapons.

• Cain and Abel: Used for symbolism. Dr. Cain is the one who unearthed X, inadvertently causing the Maverick uprising and "betraying" mankind. And then Abel City is destroyed at the very start of Sigma's rebellion.
• Call-Forward: X hesitates when attacking a Maverick Mechaniloid because it has a reploid hostage, attributed to his deeper thinking, even though the risk of hitting the hostage was actually pretty low. Later, when Zero is running a simulation of the same scenario, he visibly hesitates (although he does ultimately take the shot), alluding to the fact Zero also is more than meets the eye, just like X.
• Calling Your Attacks: X does so every time he fires one of his special weapons.
• Came Back Wrong: This is X's first guess as to what happened to the Maverick Bosses in the Boss Rush.
• Charged Attack: X's Arm Cannon already has a charged shot by default; however, there are two sets of arm enhancements that allow an even higher boost. Dr. Light's Plasma Cannon upgrades give a standard larger charged attack, as well as the ability to charge special weapons; however, the Zero Buster, which is only gained if X does not get Dr. Light's enhancements before facing for Vile the second time, actually provides a charged attack even stronger than the Light upgrades.
• Checkpoint Starvation: Storm Eagle's level. The checkpoint only appears after an annoying sequence of platform-jumping.
• The Chosen One: Dr. Light, Dr. Cain, and Sigma believe that X is this, what with his unlimited potential to evolve robotkind.
• Continuity Snarl: The Day of Σ OVA features Sigma launching a nuclear attack on Abel City and Dr. Cain being caught in the blast and presumably being killed. This wasn't an issue in MHX since it was a reboot following an Alternate Continuity. However, the OVA would also be featured in the Mega Man X Legacy Collections as the official backstory to the entire X series. The problem is that the collections contain the games from the original timeline where Dr. Cain is up and about.
• Cool Airship: Storm Eagle's airship, the Death Rogumer.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: At the end of Vile's story, Vile is fatally wounded by one of X's charge shots. No matter how much health you have after finishing the boss fight.
  "Not a charge shot!?"
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: The same button that, when playing as X, triggers your dash ability (once you have the leg armor), activates Vile's leg cannon in Vile Mode, causing you to stop in place rather than dash forward.
• Darker and Edgier: Not that the original game was sunshine and rainbows, but X1 was relatively upbeat in its tone and storyline. Maverick Hunter X thanks to a greater means of storytelling, goes deeper into the storyline of Mega Man X1, and as a result, we learn just how serious everything really is in X's world. Especially in the Day of Sigma OVA.
• Death Cry Echo:
  • Spark Mandrill: "So this is what it's like..."
  • Armored Armadillo: "It was a good fight..."
  • Launch Octopus: "Even my explosion is beautiful!" (In Japanese, Launch Octopus, as Launcher Octopuld, has "The artist's explosion...!" as his line.)
  • Boomer Kuwanger: "So...strong..." (In Japanese, he comments on X's power, and then his own explosion cuts him off: "This... power's...")
  • Sting Chameleon lets out a creepy screech during his dying animation.
  • Storm Eagle lets out a Big "NO!".
  • Vile: "No! I can't lose to X!"
  • Sigma's humanoid form: "I should've known you could do it, X..."
  • In his Wolf Sigma form, Sigma lets out a dying scream.
• Didn't Need Those Anyway!: X's Boomerang Cutter or Vile's Cutter weapons can lop off Launch Octopus's Combat Tentacles to remove his Life Drain ability, and Flame Mammoth's trunk to remove his Oil Slick move.
• Didn't Think This Through: It's implied that Zero figured out Sigma's treachery before he revealed his betrayal, but he never bothers to tell X; something which, frankly, costs him dearly.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Armored Armadillo tells Vile he pities him for having no respect for authority, Vile responds angrily by claiming Armored Armadillo knows nothing about him.
• Double Unlock: Most of Vile's weapons require you to beat one boss for the weapon type to be unlocked, and another for the weapon itself. For example, one of Chill Penguin's weapons is a flamethrower, but you need to beat Flame Mammoth in order to unlock flamethrowers before you can use it.
• Downer Ending: Vile experiences this at his own trek's end: he gets shot by X after taking him and Zero down.
• Dual Boss: The Final Boss of Vile's playthrough is a battle against both X and Zero simultaneously.
• Dumb Muscle: Spark Mandrill has shades of this, he admits he's not very smart and does not like thinking, but feels that what Sigma is doing is right.
• Easily Detachable Robot Parts: To stop Sigma from launching a Macross Missile Massacre against Abel City, Sigma tells X to disarm himself...since X's Arm Cannon is his arm, he detaches his arm at the elbow, letting it drop to the floor.
• Evil Is Hammy: Sigma.
• Elemental Armor: With the Frozen Castle upgrade gained from Chill Penguin, Vile gains a thin coating of ice over his armor, reducing the damage he takes.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: The Zero Buster. Unlike in the original game where Dr. Light's arm parts and Zero Buster are exactly the same, the Zero Buster is stronger in this version. However, to get the Zero Buster, X has to skip getting the Light arm parts until midway through the second to last level, where when he obtains Zero's blaster he only has penultimate and Final Boss to go before the game is finished.
• Energy Ball: X's Rolling Shield and Vile's Ball weapon system, each obtained from Armored Armadillo.
• Energy Weapon: X's Chameleon Sting and Vile's Laser weapon system, both gained from Sting Chameleon.
• Every Man Has His Price: Chill Penguin says that Sigma has met his price for joining his Maverick rebellion. He does not say what Sigma gave him, but does add that working for Sigma is a million times better then piddling around in the South Pole.
• Evil Laugh: Vile does this as part of his victory cheer whenever he defeats a Maverick.
• Evil Overlooker: Sigma in the original Japanese boxart, complete with Slasher Smile and Glowing Eyes of Doom.
• Explosive Overclocking: After Sigma's Macross Missile Massacre against Abel City, and being impaled through the abdomen by Sigma's Laser Blade, X taps into a raw power inside of him and attacks Sigma with just his bare hand, scarring Sigma's face. Unfortunately, X soon burns out before he can continue attacking Sigma.
• Face–Heel Turn: Sigma, Vile, and all the former Maverick Hunters who joined Sigma's rebellion.
  • Some like Chill Penguin and Flame Mammoth joined willingly, others like Storm Eagle tried and failed to stop him and were forced into joining while Boomerang Kuwanger joined at the opportunity to fight X.
• Face Fault: Most of the Maverick bosses do this. Storm Eagle falls on his back, thus performing an inversion, while the water in which Launch Octopus is fought during his fight defies this by holding up Launch's corpse.
• Fat Bastard: Flame Mammoth, who's extremely arrogant and looks down on smaller people (who's just about everyone because he's elephant-sized). As an added bit of karma, he's also the only one of the former Maverick Hunters that defected to Sigma's side to not have any of his unit go with him.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Launch Octopus and his artistic battle style, this is why it was so easy for Sigma to convince him to join his rebellion, Sigma fed into Launch Octopus's ego.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: X's Fire Wave and Vile's Flamethrower weapon system, both gained after defeating Flame Mammoth.
• For Great Justice: As Dr. Light predicted when he sealed him away, this is what X fights for.
• Futile Hand Reach: Sting Chameleon reaches out feebly after he's defeated, just before he explodes. Also done by Vile in the end of his playthrough.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In Vile Mode, although it's Vile who defeats all the Mavericks, X still has all the reploids' signature weapons during the final battle.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: When fighting the Mavericks during the Boss Rush segments of Sigma's Palace, the chattier Mavericks like Chill Penguin and Sting Chameleon have their cries delivered in a more stilted monotone, reinforcing X's theory that their corpses have been reanimated. Mavericks that speak in fuller sentences however don't show this trait.
• Giggling Villain: Sting Chameleon giggles madly as you fight him. Nyah hah ha!
• The Good Guys Always Win: Even when playing as Vile, X will still ultimately win, leading to a Downer Ending for Vile.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Zero, just like in the original game. In X's playthrough he does this by destroying himself and Vile's Mini-Mecha, in Vile's playthrough, he grabs Vile around the legs so that X can destroy both of them with a Explosively Overclocked Charged Attack.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Vile's Final Boss fight against X and Zero. Unlike most examples, Vile has actually won in the cutscene afterwords, he just got careless and Zero managed to hold him place long enough for X to kill him with a charge shot.
• Homing Projectile: X's Homing Torpedo, and Vile's Infinity Gig Rocket Punch.
• Honor Before Reason: Armored Armadillo continues to follow Sigma's orders because since Sigma only just officially went Maverick, he is still technically the commander of the Maverick Hunters, as there has not been time to strip Sigma of his rank yet.
• I Shall Taunt You: Sting Chameleon loves to giggle madly and taunt while he fights.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Sigma impales X through the abdomen with his Laser Blade. Despite massive damage, however, this is not a killing blow, since X is a robot.
• Interface Spoiler: The boss's name appears at the top-right over what's highlighted in the Stage Select. In Vile Mode, the boss of the final stage is labelled "Unknown," their features obscured by shadow. If you squint just a little though, it's easy to make out that it's X and Zero.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Like in the original, X can obtain this as an Easter Egg. It kills most things in one hit, but you have to be in full health to perform it.
• Kick Them While They Are Down:
  • After beating X and Zero in his playthrough, Vile will angrily berate and kick X... this ends up being his undoing, since he's so focused on X, Zero is able to get the drop on him from behind.
  • Also done in Vile's intro stage, where he shoots the downed X with his Shoulder Cannon twice before Zero comes to the rescue.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Vile shuts down mid-sentence as he claims that by defeating X he has validated his own existence. He starts by declaring his own name, but after that he trails off weakly before he powers down completely. Subverted in that being a reploid Vile doesn't really die, he can (and will be) rebuilt.
• Kill One, Others Get Stronger: If you kill either Zero or X, the other will get angry, lets off a Battle Aura and whips out more powerful attacks.
• Large Ham: Vile and Sigma, especially the latter.
• Laser Blade: Sigma's weapon, even before he officially went Maverick.
• Leg Cannon: In addition to a Shoulder Cannon and an Arm Cannon, Vile also sports one of these. At the start it can only launch Napalms, but can be upgraded with Balls and Flamethrowers.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Although their stages remain intact and allow Backtracking, Storm Eagle's, Launch Octopus's, and Chill Penguin's defeats have their levels interact drastically with other levels in the game:
  • Storm Eagle's Cool Airship crashes into Spark Mandrill's power plant, causing rolling blackouts.
  • Launch Octopus's Underwater Base floods into Sting Chameleon's Forest Base.
  • With Chill Penguin defeated, the frozen winds from his Arctic base seep into Flame Mammoth's prototype weapon's factory.
• Macross Missile Massacre:
  • X's charged Homing Torpedo fires six missiles simultaneously. Vile's Missile weapon system allows rapid firing of missiles. Special mention goes to the Popcorn Demon missile, which can fire two additional missiles from the original shot, meaning with rapidfire it's very easy to fill the screen with missiles.
  • Also, Launch Octopus can attack using this tactic.
• Noble Demon: Storm Eagle is very apologetic to X when he confronts him, and fights at his full strength out of respect for X. Against Vile, Storm Eagle actually tries to talk the latter down, although it doesn't work.
• No Name Given: X's Navigator is never named in game, despite having several lines in cutscenes and The Day of Σ.
• Not His Sled: For players of the original Mega Man X, all the Dr. Light upgrade capsules are in a different spot, or give out a different part from the original.
• Promoted to Playable: Vile.
• Pyrrhic Victory: For everyone - Sigma included. While X did put a stop to the rebellion, he lost Zero in the process and crossed the threshold from a struggling young robot into a bonafide warrior who is destined to fight. While Sigma's rebellion was stopped, he successfully proved X's unlimited potential to grow and thereby proved the potential of all Reploids to do the same.
  • Then in Vile Mode, Vile successfully overpowers X and Zero and "proves his own existence", in his own words. However, he suffers so much damage in the process (not to mention getting shot by X) that he shuts down and is taken away by Sigma's men.
• The Resenter: Vile's resentment of X is really played up in this remake, he just does not understand what makes X so special compared to his own raw, superior strength and power.
• Retcon: A mild variation; while it's mostly expansion, this retelling notably gives X far more presence as the protagonist, gives Vile greater explanation not just as a traitor but a Reploid who chose to go Maverick^note Whereas for the rest, it's known Sigma was passively infecting others, and gave Sigma and X a far more It's Personal relationship rather than X just happening to be the one who stops him. It seems Capcom would later agree, as the Day of Sigma OVA included here that establishes these things would later be included with the X Legacy Collection as the official origin story.
• The Rival: Whereas Vile was the Dragon to Sigma in the original release, this game plays up Vile's feelings of personal rivalry and resentment with X, having no real loyalty to Sigma or his reploid rebellion whatsoever. In Vile Mode, he even fights and kills the eight Mavericks just to prove he was better than X.
• Rocket Punch: The weapon system Vile gains for defeating Spark Mandrill.
• Rule of Symbolism: Dr. Cain and Abel City (the latter of which didn't appear or wasn't named in the original game). Parallels can even be drawn in that it's Dr. Cain who creates the Reploids, including Sigma, who ultimately destroys Abel City.
• Shoulder Cannon: Vile's signature weapon, a Plasma Cannon by default, although it can be upgraded to shoot Lasers and Cutters as well.
• Savage Wolves: Velguarder, Sigma's Reploid Wolf.
• Sprint Shoes:
  • Vile gets the Speed Devil boost from Storm Eagle, which adds a layer of atmospheric pressure to his body, increasing his speed by reducing wind resistance.
  • Just like in the original game, X gains a speed dash via a leg upgrade from Dr. Light.
• Taking You with Me: Following his and Zero's defeat in Vile's story, X shoots Vile with his Arm Cannon. Vile experiences a Downer Ending due to the damage his rival dealt.
• This Cannot Be!: In his story, if he dies Vile will shout out in disbelief "No! IMPOSSIBLE!" The same also applies to him as a boss when playing as X, and he shouts the same line when X depletes his health in the opening stage, and when X defeats him in their second encounter, Vile screams "No! I can't lose to X!" before exploding.
• This Is Unforgivable!: X delivers to Sigma a well-deserved one before the final battle, and that's especially considering all the sins he committed thanks to his case of Adaptational Villainy here.
  Sigma: I see a new clarity in your eyes. You are no longer troubled.
  X: What you've done is unforgivable, Sigma...
• Title Scream: In this remake.
• Title Drop: After Zero sacrifices himself to destroy Vile's Ride Armor and after X defeats Vile.
  Zero: Go now... Maverick Hunter X...
• The Unchosen One: Vile in his playthrough, in contrast to X as The Chosen One.
• Undying Loyalty: Armored Armadillo towards Sigma.
• The Unfought: Sigma in Vile Mode, thanks to Vile dying before he could even reach him. Vile admits he hadn't actually thought about whether he would have fought Sigma or joined him.
• Use Your Head: X's helmet upgrade allows him to smash blocks using his head.
• Victory Pose: X does a backflip, Vile has an Evil Laugh. The Mavericks do this when they defeat you.
• Video Game Dashing: X's leg upgrades give him access to his classic dash move.
• Video Game Remake: Of the SNES game.
• Villain Mode: After defeating the game as X, you can play an alternative Perspective Flip as Vile.
• Walking Armory: Vile can simultaneously equip three weapons at once, but can only change weapons before entering a level.
• Wall Crawl / Wall Jump: Standard move for X and Vile.
• Wave-Motion Gun: 2 of Vile's Laser weapons (Nervous Ghost and Necro Burst) fire a continuous, long-ranged laser.
• We Can Rebuild Him: The Boss Rush has been a staple since the Mega Man Classic series, however in this game it's clearly stated that Sigma had his Maverick rebels rebuilt, but only as far as restoring their bodies and powers, but not bothering to restore their minds. As a result during the refights each Maverick will sound strangely distorted and half-dead.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Light and Dr. Cain truly believe that X's deeper thinking and heart will usher in a new evolution for robots/reploids. Sigma eventually believes the same thing, but doesn't want to wait for X to mature to that point, so he launches a missile strike on the city and raises a reploid rebellion to force X to realize his potential in evolving reploid-kind.
• What If?: Vile's story is only an alternative retelling through Vile's point of view, and is not canon with X's story, since it directly conflicts by having Vile defeating the Maverick Reploids instead of X.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: X is unique among all other reploids because he has the power to worry, whereas reploids are supposed to make decisions based on percentage of risk versus the situation's needs, X will hesitate because he worries about the outcome. Vile, and Sigma (at first) think this makes X weaker, but in reality ...
• The World Is Not Ready: In contrast to the original game, this is Dr. Light's reason for sealing X away, because the world would not be ready for a free-thinking robot. He still states that he needs to test X's safety in the final cutscene, but that might just be something he said to assure whoever discovered X would be willing to let him out.
• You're Insane!:
  Sigma: Our potential is limitless.
  X: You think you have potential? You're insane, Sigma!

The Day of Σ has examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Prevalent on the mechaniloid gone maverick that X and co. fight at the start of the short.
• Artistic License – Physics: Sigma launches several large missiles, think ICBM sized, at Abel City. Several of these missiles touchdown and explode, leaving massive, smoking craters. Obviously, the shock waves from the explosions should've leveled the city outright.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Since it's set before the games, X is nothing more than a hesitant, unsure Hunter who takes down criminals. Zero even remarks on how kind and sensitive X is. Then X scars Sigma's face with his bare hand after being stabbed in the gut.
• Big "NO!": Done by X when Sigma launches the missiles at Abel City.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: After X shuts down from the the damage he has taken, Sigma uses to the opportunity to just laugh and leave.
• Death by Adaptation: Dr. Cain is killed off in a missile attack caused by Sigma. In the original MMX continuity, he's a major character in the first three games and dies of natural causes sometime between X4 and X5.

• Downer Ending: A Foregone Conclusion, since there would be a MMX series otherwise: Abel City gets destroyed, X and Zero are in a bad condition, and the Mavericks led by Sigma are going to take over the world.
• Easily Detachable Robotparts: Sigma tells X to lay down his arms, and X then simply drops his buster off, which then turns back into his forearm by itself.
• Evil Laugh: Sigma has a rather chilling one at the end of the short.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Those marks across Sigma's eyes are revealed to be this, delivered by X near the end of the short.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: The fact that X worries is because his ability to think is deeper than other reploids, and as such Dr. Light, Dr. Cain, and eventually Sigma, believe that X's potential to think and worry will usher in a new age of reploid evolution.
• Heroic Second Wind: After being lethally impaled by Sigma's Laser Blade, X gets a sudden boost of energy out of seemingly nowhere and retaliates, giving Sigma his signature face-scars.
• Human Shield:
  • The mechaniloid in the opening fight scene seizes a Hunter in its claw which is conveniently in front of its weak point, causing X to hesitate when he can't get a clean shot.
  • After revealing his treachery, Sigma uses Zero as a shield, and dares X to shoot him through his friend.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Dr Light does this during the flashback showing him creating X on his final days.
• Ironic Echo: Sigma tells X that there are times that X should never hesitate to pull the trigger as words of encouragement and also as a lecture after an incident where Sigma had to get involved in decommissioning the Maverick due to X hesitating after it used a captured soldier as a reploid-shield. Sigma later says that exact thing when he is strangling X after becoming Maverick, and unveiling that he's going to nuke Abel City to the ground as the start of his reploid rebellion.
• It's Raining Men: Trying to stop a maverick outbreak, X is airdropped into the area the attack is going to occur at. When at close range, he fires an immense charge shot at the maverick, knocking it down temporarily.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Sigma launches one of these against Abel City.
• Neck Lift: After dealing with Zero, Sigma lifts X up in the air by his neck.
• Pull Yourself Down the Spear: Played with. After Sigma stabs X, X stops his charge from the shock - at first. He then gets his Heroic Second Wind and walks down Sigma's sword, but he can't reach Sigma's face even when he's nearly on the sword's hilt, so he kicks himself off the sword before attacking again.
• Say My Name: One of the last lines in the OVA is this from Zero as he's regaining consciousness: "Sigma...X...X? X! X!"
• Shoot the Hostage: When X hesitates to shoot the maverick mechaniloid's power core in fear of harming the hostage, Sigma takes over the situation by slicing it with his Laser Blade, cutting off the hostage's right arm in the process.
• Unexplained Recovery: The short ends with X and Zero both severely damaged (with X having a gaping hole in his torso, no less). Both of them are inexplicably repaired at the start of the campaign proper.
• Virtual Training Simulation: After the hostage situation in the prologue, Zero tries his own hand at hitting the maverick mechaniloid's power core without hitting the hostage. He fails.
• What If?: Vile Mode is an alternate continuity where Vile, instead of begrudgingly joining Sigma's rebellion to fight X, went off to prove his worth on his own. He defeats the eight Mavericks before X can, then faces X and Zero simultaneously sans Ride Armor in the Sigma Palace. It's a fun bonus story that gives the audience more insights into who Vile is.
• What the Hell, Hero?: X gets chewed out hard by Chill Penguin, and then Sigma over his hesitation to pull the trigger on a maverick mechaniloid's power generator after it had taken a hostage. Chill points out that the mechaniloid would've done even more damage if Sigma hadn't intervened when X hesitated, and Sigma stresses that X could've easily hit the generator without causing lasting harm to the hostage. Sigma's annoyance at X over his hesitation to act decisively later becomes his motivation for turning Maverick to become the Big Bad in MMX series.
• You're Insane!: X says this to Sigma, who deconstructs it. Sigma points out that X doesn't really care whether he's deemed "insane" or not, and he's not really fighting for justice at this point - he realizes that X is just tired of the conflict, tired of watching his friends like Zero suffer, and is ready to put a stop to Sigma's madness. All According to Plan, of course.

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