MegaMan.EXE

"Did you do your homework yet, Lan?"

- MegaMan

MegaMan.EXE, known as Rockman.EXE (ロックマンエグゼ) in Japan, is the NetNavi (short for Internet Navigator) operated by Lan Hikari. He was created by the scientist Yuichiro Hikari, Lan's father. MegaMan.EXE is quite powerful, and along with his operator Lan, is a very skilled virus buster. He is also Lan's twin brother, Hub Hikari (Saito in Japan) who died at birth, because of a rare heart condition known as HBD. Dr. Hikari then used his data to revive him as a NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE.

Personality
MegaMan is very loyal to Lan and is willing to sacrifice himself to save him in MegaMan Battle Network 3. Their friendship also allows for powerful abilities like Full Synchro and Cross Fusion. MegaMan is also more responsible than Lan, reminding him to do his homework and waking him up in the morning for school. They do argue sometimes like in MegaMan Battle Network 2 but they always manage to reconcile. In the anime, he also displays a fear of ghosts, which doesn't appear in the games.

Description
MegaMan is small (for a NetNavi), but his abilities are many. He has indigo biceps, with cyan stripes down his sides, ending at his blue boots which are tipped with black soles. He has two yellow shoulder guards and his blue helmet has two ridges running along the top. These ridges come to a stop at the helmet's base and allows his dark hair to stick out in 4 spikes. He has green eyes and, unlike most other NetNavis, an overall human appearance. As a customized NetNavi, MegaMan sports the symbol of the Hikari Clan on his chest and both sides of his helmet. This symbol is a red circle with a black line running diagonally through the center which ends in two triangles, all of which are surrounded by a gold ring. In virtual centimeters, MegaMan stands at 148 cm (roughly 4'9).

Game History
MegaMan.EXE is a unique NetNavi in the fact that he is the ultimate result of the Navi Project, an experiment undertaken by all of the SciLab and led by Yuichiro Hikari. The Navi Project was designed to successfully graft a human's DNA and soul into a NetNavi. The process took a NetNavi's data and made it able to adapt to almost any situation. Yuichiro was only able to create about 95% of the actual project but no further when he and his wife had two children: twins Lan and Hub. Hub was quickly diagnosed with HBD and died shortly after birth. To keep Hub's soul alive, Mr. Hikari decided to use Hub's DNA to create MegaMan.EXE and gave the Navi to Lan. As Lan and Hub were identical twins, Lan and MegaMan developed a brotherly bond perfecting Yuichiro's Navi project. However, it was presumed that if Hub's exact DNA were to be used, the 'Twin Link' effect would take place, and any sort of reception of senses that Lan or Hub would experience would affect the other by brainwave synchronization, much unlike Full Synchro. As such, Dr. Hikari had modified Hub's DNA by .001% (this is presumed to be eye color, as despite being identical, they have different eyes). This remaining .001% was programmed into the Hub.BAT (Saito.batch) if ever the need to reset Hub's DNA to the original was necessary.

By channeling enough power, MegaMan can transform into a holographic version of Hub. Although never shown fighting, MegaMan Battle Network 5 and Hub Style in MegaMan Battle Network 2 infer that this form is immensely powerful, able to defeat bosses like Nebula Grey with just a wave of his hand, cannot be corrupted by Dark Chips, and gains every single Navi Customizer Program without trouble. His only downside is that he loses all possible transformations and the Mega Buster, which probably isn't needed. This form is possibly even more powerful than some of the strongest NetNavis like Bass, Slur, Duo, or even the Double Cybeast. Unlike most characters that need full power to access their powers, if he has enough power, he can temporarily tap into his powers to do outrageous things, like sealing the Cybeast, controlling the Dark Chips influence on him when used, and becoming Bass Cross MegaMan when Bass failed to maintain the fusion and used Double Soul instead of self-destructing.

Throughout the games, MegaMan is used by Lan to Netbattle and communicate with his friends' NetNavis. MegaMan is able to transform into a new form in most of the games and in Battle Network 5 and 6 have an uncontrollable form, Dark MegaMan and Beast Out MegaMan.

Anime History
In the anime, MegaMan is not related to Lan in any way, shape or form. Being a main character, he appears in almost every episode. MegaMan was created by Dr. Hikari and was given to Lan as a present. He appears in the first episode when Lan uses a disk his dad gave him to customize his NormalNavi. In the following morning, MegaMan wakes Lan up like he usually does in the games. Lan is initially disappointed that MegaMan is small, but when viruses attack, MegaMan displays amazing skill. He quickly made friends with Roll (eventually leading to her loving him) and had a minor rivalry with GutsMan.EXE. Throughout the first season, MegaMan and Lan fight against the WWW and make new friends. MegaMan and Lan also have a heavy rivalry with Eugene Chaud and ProtoMan.EXE.

They later enter the N1 Grand Prix, during which Lan and MegaMan try to master the Program Advance. In the final round, MegaMan and ProtoMan fight each other, with ProtoMan as the victor. However, their battle awakens PharaohMan.EXE who deletes MegaMan. He is later rebuilt and defeats PharaohMan with the help of ProtoMan using a double Program Advance. In the second season, MegaMan and Lan face of against the criminal organization Grave using various style changes.

Abilities
MegaMan is the only NetNavi who can use various transformation systems like Double Soul, Cross MegaMan, Cross System and Beast Out. These draw powers from another NetNavi/Cybeast in order to associate with MegaMan to create a new form. MegaMan can also be customized in many ways, like charge shot (Trans Arm), fighting style (Style Change), special abilites (Navi Customizer), so MegaMan is considered as a "Custom Navi".

Offensive Abilities
 * Mega Buster: This is MegaMan.EXE's standard weapon, like all MegaMen before him. MegaMan can either shoot the buster rapidly, or charge the buster to usually deal out 10 times the amount of an weaker uncharged shot. In Network Transmission, the Buster will attack through a unique formula that takes away a certain amount of health based on an enemy's Max HP, the kind of buster shot being used, and overall upgrades made to the MegaBuster over time. The MegaBuster's power changes depending on the upgrades or NaviCust programs equipped to him, and charged shot changes depending on the Style Change, Soul Unison, or Cross System. It is a powerful and effective weapon for MegaMan to utilize.


 * Dark Power: MegaMan is the only Navi who can use Dark Chips without becoming evil (but suffers some of the side effects as a result), and can even merge them with Soul Unisons. The only way he can't be hurt by one or suffer side effects is by Soul Unison or sacrificing bug frags. Like Beast Out, the player can trigger a berserk state.

Custom Abilities
 * Navi Customizer: Exclusive to the game. Debuting in Battle Network 3, this system allows MegaMan to equip different programs in the form of colored blocks, each of them having a different effect on him, such as upgrading his Buster strength and his battle chip folder capacities, to even giving him special abilities such as generating reflective shields at will and surviving fatal blows leaving 1hp of auxiliary energy. However, the Customizer has its own rules, and breaking these will result in bugs on MegaMan.


 * Style Change: Debuting in Battle Network 2, this allows MegaMan to change his elemental alignment and get upgraded power depending on the change. There are 28 different customized styles (4 elements and 7 Styles).


 * Trans Arm: Introduced in Rockman.EXE Legend of Network, the Trans Arm is similar to the Double Soul, but only changes MegaMan's charge shot and color.

Transformation Abilities
 * Cross Fusion: Exclusive to the anime, by the use of a special Battle Chip inside a Dimensional Area, MegaMan can synchronize with Lan and fight in the real world. However, if not in full sync, the Cross Fusion can deteriorate.


 * Double Soul: Also known as Soul Unison, by resonating with another Navi's soul, MegaMan can gain the abilities of the Navi along with additional powers. In the games, Soul Unison was acquired when MegaMan was deleted, then restored, after destroying Alpha, as a replacement for the Style Change. Through Battle Network 4 and Battle Network 5, MegaMan gains 6 Souls, each of them varying depending on the game version. In the anime, the side effects of Cross Fusion removed the use of the Style Change and Double Soul was acquired as a replacement. A dark form of it is known as Chaos Unison.


 * Cross MegaMan: This is the prototype/alternate/advanced version of Cross System exclusive to Battle Network 5. It provided an alternate base form for MegaMan with several Navi Customizer programs already installed, as well as an altered charged shot. However, it is much more potent than the Double Soul and Cross Systems due to no elemental weakness, permanent transformation and a lot of special abilities.


 * Cross System: This is similar to Double Soul, but with certain differences. Exclusive to MegaMan Battle Network 6, this becomes his new means of transformation, combining the abilities of Double Souls with the long duration of Styles. MegaMan gains 5 Crosses per game in Battle Network 6, each of them varying depending on the game version.


 * Beast Out: One is that just like MegaMan, if a counter is performed, the Full Synchro line comes out. It has no innate Charge Shot, but charging non-elemental chips will let you unleash a special attack. It can auto-lock, and hence will always move up to the locked on enemy to execute a chip attack, regardless of position. It expires after 3 turns, and Beast Out is used again immediately afterwards, MegaMan enters Beast Over, and goes berserk. There are two different Beast Outs, the one you get is dependent on your version. Beast Out can combine with Crosses to form Cross Beasts, each with their own chip charge attack.

Special Abilities
 * Bugs: Though not an actual ability, bugs are glitches in MegaMan, but only he can utilize and use its power. These glitches may cause a variety of side-effects during a battle.


 * e-Reader Cards (Japanese only): Players can insert e-Reader Cards to customize Rockman in special ways. These cards caused various effects as, such as Base HP, Abilities, Buster Changes, Charge Shot Modifications, B+ Back Abilities. There are even Item Cards which can give out sets of Battle Chips, Sub Chips, BugFrags, Zenny, and even Navi Customizer Programs (only introduced in Rockman EXE6 Modification Card Part 1 & Rockman EXE6 Modification Card Part 2). They could also cause negative effects ('Bugs') to happen, causing such effects as the causing Rockman to lose health and move the wrong way, or causing the player to be unable to control it.

As a boss
In the game series, there are several times where MegaMan goes berserk, and Lan must fight against him using another Navi. Additionally, many villains have tried to create mirror images of MegaMan, but fail because they copied him using a certain power (namely Dark Power and Beast Out).

Dark MegaMan/MegaMan DS
The boss pattern of MegaMan DS (MegaMan Dark Soul) is an almost complete mirror of that of the player's. He has the exact same Max HP at the start of the battle and uses Battle Chips, preferring those in the player's folder. A good way to counter this is by putting several chips together that would be need for a Program Advance or special combo (e.g. Sanctuary and Holy Dream), as MegaMan DS has a tendency to use chips at random and can't use PA's, but on some rare occasion, Dark MegaMan can use LifeSword. In MegaMan Battle Network 5, when MegaMan uses the Dark Chip DarkInvis, MegaMan will enter a state just like MegaMan DS. Also in Battle Network 5, if MegaMan uses a Chaos Soul and fails to use the charge attack correctly, MegaMan DS will form and try to kill MegaMan until the viruses are deleted. This MegaMan DS has no HP, but will dissipate after a long time.

It's worth noting that Dark MegaMan only appears in Battle Network 5, and that there is a difference between him and MegaMan DS. Whereas Dark MegaMan is MegaMan overwhelmed and transformed by Dark Power, MegaMan DS is the embodiment of MegaMan's evil.

GBeast and FBeast
GBeast (Gビースト) and FBeast (Fビースト) are bosses from MegaMan Battle Network 6, each appearing in a different version. Contrary to Dark MegaMan, they have more of a fixed battle pattern. When MegaMan is consumed by the Cybeast Gregar or Falzar, Lan must use one of his Link Navi partners to fight against him. Later, a copy made of data bits appears in the Underground, and MegaMan has to fight against it and Bass.

GBeast
GBeast is a boss from MegaMan Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar. In this form, he uses a rapid fire blaster.

Attacks:
 * Thunder: Same as the Battle Chip.
 * Gregar Claw: GBeast homes in on the player and slashes twice, first in a LongSword fashion and second in a WideSword fashion.
 * Stun Claw/Gregar Buster Combo: GBeast uses a stunning LongSword slash, and then fires with his Gregar Buster.
 * Gregar Breath: GBeast uses a Gregar breath similar to the one used by Gregar.

FBeast
FBeast is a boss from MegaMan Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar. In this form, MegaMan can rapidly shoot metal feathers on his row and two ahead on the rows he is.

Attacks:
 * Aqua Needle: He launches needles at the playable character's field. Dodging is easy; simply move away from the glowing panels.
 * Boomer: He summons one boomerang to attack the top, bottom and the last panel of the center row like the battle chip.
 * Falzar Claw/Buster Combo: He jumps in front of the playable character and slashes twice. If stunned after the second slash, he will fire a total of 30 sharp feathers at the opponent. This can also be done if the stun takes effect after the first slash as well.
 * Falzar Storm: He blasts wind at the center row and the last panel of the top and bottom row.

Trivia

 * Normally, in both the games and the anime, MegaMan is often the character who breaks the fourth wall (sends a humorous message or joke straight to the audience) normally in the intro or during a lull in the plot.


 * This is the first Mega Man so far to have an actual logo. Mega Man from the Star Force series later bears his own logo.


 * As default, MegaMan.EXE doesn't have a pre-installed shield like Mega Man. That's why all attacks of all bosses form Battle Network series don't attacks in all MegaMan.EXE panels. For an example, MegaMan EM can block Crimson Dragon's laser attack with his shield, but MegaMan.EXE (if he was there) can't do that. Another example, in Battle Network 5, Bass' Darkness Overload attack doesn't damage all of MegaMan's panels, but only a 2x3 area so that MegaMan.EXE can dodge it without a shield.


 * MegaMan's eyes are green, but in the first three Battle Network games his mugshot shows him with blue eyes. It was fixed in later games.


 * He has unused overworld sprites in MegaMan Star Force 2 and 3.
 * MegaMan.EXE, however, makes a cameo appearance in the first Star Force game in one of the side quests. If the player completed the side quest and returned the "SciLab" data for MegaMan.EXE, he will make a short appearance from the portal and gives Geo the "BNBlaster", or "Battle Network Blaster".


 * Star Force always keeps the weapon "BNBlaster" in the series, players can get the advanced version, "BNBlaster-EX" with a Cipher Code in Star Force 3.


 * Geo Stelar, the main character in Star Force shares many traits with MegaMan.EXE such as his fear of ghosts, and both being more level headed than their respective partners.


 * In MegaMan Star Force 2, Lan's diary entries can be obtained through side quests. One entry reveals that Patch, Lan's son from the epilogue of MegaMan Battle Network 6, had his own Net Navi: MegaMan.EXE Junior, a program combining the best qualities of MegaMan and Roll, making Junior the son of both Navis.