Lumine

"Am I OK? Of course. Now that you've defeated Sigma, I suppose you're satisfied. Thanks to you, the plan has gone smoothly."

- Lumine

Lumine (ルミネ) is a new generation Reploid that X, Zero, and Axl encounter in Mega Man X8.

History
At the end of the intro stage, Vile "kidnaps" Lumine and takes him away. After vanquishing Sigma in Normal or Hard mode, Lumine reveals that Sigma had fulfilled his purpose (thus, Mega Man X8 is considered "the end of Sigma"), and that it was in fact he who had manipulated Sigma, and not the other way around. Upon revealing himself as the leader of the new "turn-Maverick-at-will" generation of Reploids, as well as the true mastermind behind the events of Paradise Lost, Lumine will try his hand at defeating the Hunters.

After being beaten the first time, Lumine will explain to X, Zero, and Axl that the copy chips included in the New Generation were composed of hundreds of old model reploids, including Sigma. He also mentioned that Axl, as a prototype, is incapable of becoming like Sigma, and Sigma did not turn insane from the virus, but rather rebelled of his free will, as has the new-generation reploids. He also promptly taunted X if he could stop them, who have evolved far enough, even though he is a tool of humanity, before declaring that, as a tool of humanity and having run his course, he will have him exterminated. Axl, however, managed to shoot at Lumine, and declare him an enemy, although Lumine claims that time and existence has "irrevocably changed," declaring that they are no longer needed in the new world before fighting them at Heaven's Gate.

Lumine expresses disbelief at his defeat, but then claims that its already too late to stop what has begun, and also implies that it will take far more to stop the upcoming event than simply eliminating every single one of the New Generation Reploids before drawing his last breath. Afterwards, Lumine's "corpse" flings out a giant tentacle at Axl (who approached it to investigate his remains), managing to implant itself with a pinkish object in Axl's head crystal before Zero destroyed the tentacle, and X finished it off by destroying Lumine's remains.

Appearance
Lumine appears as an androgynous Reploid with long lavender hair, most of it styled into a half-moon motif with a fringe covering one half of his face, which features gold eyes, but no eyebrows. His armor is of a slim design, having a white and dark purple color scheme with green accents and a large blue jewel on his chest. In his final form, Lumine's armor changes and he gains a helmet similar to Zero's, his skin turns pale white, and his hands become claws. He also gains a unique set of wings, with four large compartments, connected to him by thin appendages. Lumine's overall design and abilities, along with his voice, invoke feelings of him being a transcendent or divine being, not limited to any specific form or gender.

Personality
Lumine's personality isn't explored deeply, however in his short appearances he has shown instances of multiple personalities, though it maybe more accurate to say that they change drastically between each other. First, Lumine can be rather calm and somewhat talkative (mainly while he's explaining something). In this sense he also seems incredibly intelligent, as he is able to tell what the characters are thinking as well as provide a highly detailed explanation.

However, despite his "positive qualities" he has shown some traits of madness. This being when he reveals his plans to the Maverick Hunters and his eyes shine red (which is considered a symbol of evil or madness), his tone also changes drastically to something more wicked, followed by maniacal laughter. After he is defeated his body is shown in a kneeling position, with his face resembling insanity. Further evidence of how twisted his mind could be is when he stands before Sigma's remains, and starts to crush them with his foot, showing that he may be sadistic, and that he cares nothing about the ones he use, making him also cruel.

Reploid Form
In the first round, Lumine will be surrounded by eight colored orbs--the same colors corresponding to the transporters in Gateway, and thus the same powers of the Maverick in said transporter. When he absorbs an orb, he will gain the Overdrive attack and weakness of the chosen Maverick. He'll waste no time in using his DNA-copying abilities to mimic the attack patterns of the eight Mavericks. Floating around the room for the entire battle, the eight colored balls spinning and rotating around him represent each of the Mavericks. Among his random taunts he'll eventually summon an energy surge and a small colored sphere appear above Lumine descends back down into his chest.
 * Crystal Waves: Jumping down into the right corner and creating the purple crystal walls. They'll travel across the top and bottom of the screen attempting to crush the character against the wall.
 * Graviton Blocks: He will summon large portals (up to three at a time) and proceed to rain huge blocks from above in a set pattern.
 * Levitation: Stay on the floor as he hovers over to a corner, then quickly jump or move away.
 * Hail Storm: With Avalanche Yeti's power Lumine will blast cold air to the top of the screen, causing large floating snowflakes to fall. If Lumine's health is low when he summons them, they will keep falling for the remainder of the battle.
 * Shadow Blades: Lumine performs a massive swipe attack; he'll float up to the top middle of the screen before initiating the attack.
 * Earth Blazer: Lumine fires an tracking beams and fires. Lumine will drop his raised arm seconds before a beam fires, making him a good visual indicator.
 * Blast Burn: Lumine fire flamethrower/fire pillar attacks. Simply stay behind Lumine as he sets one corner of the room ablaze and jump over him as he does the other.
 * Bolt Discharge: Summons a massive electrical attack from above. Watch for where the blue sparks appear on the floor and stay in the gaps to avoid major damage, or use Crystal Wall to focus the electric rays AT the wall.

Seraph Form
After his first form, players are transported to "Heaven's Gate", where Lumine transforms into his Seraph form. Lumine's last encore will have him assume the form of a winged Reploid. Lumine's attacks will keep players on their guard at all times. The confrontation takes place out on a large platform before a golden cloudy backdrop. Lumine's weakness is X's Shadow Runner, Zero's Rasetsusen, and Axl's Black Arrow. All three are effective against him as he floats motionless in the air. Lumine will keep repeating the same attacks until he has been damaged enough. Lumine will begin on the right of the screen (where he positions himself for the majority of the battle) before flying low across the screen.
 * Solar Barrier: During attacks Lumine will at times create a semi-transparent blue sphere around himself for protection.
 * Photon Collider: Once Lumine floats back on screen, his wing tips will glow before emitting thick laser beams that fire on a single point on the ground. Afterwards, he will fly across screen.
 * Halo Station: After ascending back down into the arena Lumine will charge up energy in his hands before emitting a circular barrier of energy crystals around himself. The yellow bolts will slowly expand out as they rotate, Once the bolts reach the edge of the screen Lumine will send out another ring as he pulls the first slowly back towards himself.
 * Meteoric Light: Once he charges up flames around his body he'll spread his wings again as the tips glow white. Each one will expel a small laser beam into the air. The beams streak down in sets of two, homing in on the character, so keep dashing back and forth to avoid the barrage as they hit the floor. Afterwards, he will fly across the screen again.
 * Harmonic Field: Lumine fires pulses of yellow crystals up in two variations below:
 * After a second several horizontal rows of crystals (in sets of five) will fall straight down from above in a set pattern, followed by several more rounds. Once they've all settled into the ground, each set will travel back up the screen.
 * Horizontally off the left side of the screen, and several individual rows of crystals will then slowly move into the screen from both sides at varying height. Once the screen is full they will stop briefly before traveling back the way they came.

Ascension Phase
He does multiple attacks, and in Overdrive he, after a few seconds, says "Paradise Lost!" (the subtitle of the game). In that, the sky begins to darken, and the player must defeat Lumine before the screen completely darkens, or they will lose a life and have to start the entire end game battle sequence again. In this phase, Lumine covers himself up with his wings, invulnerable to attacks, and must be struck repeatedly with guard breaking attacks to open them. After every hit through his defense, Lumine will quickly teleport to another area on screen.
 * Paradise Lost: The whole screen turns dark every second, and there's a time limit; the screen grows darker for every second (up to approximately 30 seconds), and as soon as the screen goes completely black, it will be an instant defeat, and the entire end battle sequence must be repeated.

Dialogues
*The following scene takes place when starting a new game.

Voice from Speaker: There has been an accident on board the No.4 descending container. All personnel...

X: This is X. I’ve encountered an accident while on patrol of the Orbital Elevator... Dispatch rescue Mechaniloids immediately...

X: Si... Sigma!?

Lumine: To protect ourselves from damage during the accident... We had to copy a sturdy Sigma Body. We new generation Reploids enjoy complete and total immunity to all viruses... So even copying something as dangerous as Sigma provides no risk.

X: Who are you?

Lumine: I’m Lumine. I’m the director in charge of the Elevator, and of the Jakob Project. X: Oh, Lumine. Are you OK?

Lumine: Am I OK? Of course. Now that you've defeated Sigma, I suppose you're satisfied. Thanks to you, the plan has gone smoothly.

Axl: But Lumine, weren't you just used by Sigma?

Lumine: Used? I don't think so. You see, he merely helped my plan along...

(Lumine begins to power up.)

Lumine: The new generation Repolids have been awakened, and the new world is at hand! X: Lumine! What are you doing? Don't tell me you've gone Maverick, too...

Lumine: Maverick? You don't really think that's the case, do you? That's why you can't finish me off, right? You don't have it in you...

X: .........!

Lumine: The copy chips we new generation Reploids possess... They were derived from data from hundreds of old model Reploids. That means, of course, that Sigma was also included in the mix. Do you understand what I'm getting at here?

Axl: Copy chip? Sigma? Does that mean that I'll go nuts like he did?

Lumine: Sorry, but prototypes like you don't have the specs to cause something like that. Besides... Was Sigma really crazy?

Axl: .........?

Lumine: He rebelled against your world. But he had his reasons... The rest of us new Reploids could turn like that at any moment...

Lumine: This decision to wage battle against the old world was made consciously. In other words... We possess the power to go Maverick at will! (Lumine begins to chuckle.) X... Do you really have what it takes to stop us? You're merely tools of the humans. Tools of the old world... You think you can stand up to those of us who have evolved this far? (Lumine begins to laugh.) The world is changing! Therefore it's only natural that evolution take its course. Now, line up to be exterminated!

(Axl shoots Lumine with his pistol.)

Axl: Don't let him get to you, X. He's the enemy.

Lumine: Enemy. Ally... This issue isn't so black and white. Reploids, along with humanity, have irrevocably changed. The nature of their existence has also changed. You are not needed in our new world!

Zero: You can babble all you want, but we're not going to let you get away with this! Lumine: Unbelievable... You may have defeated me, but it's too late to stop what's already begun...

Axl: I'll take on plenty more like you, if that's what it takes.

Lumine: Ha ha ha. You really don't have a grasp of the situation, do you? Oh well... You'll find out soon enough...

X: .........

In-battle Quotes

 * "Hmmhmmhmmhmm..."


 * "Come on."


 * "Farewell."


 * "Taste destruction."


 * "You've made me angry."


 * "Give up now."


 * "You're doomed!"


 * "You're all...doomed..." (defeat quote)

Music


Trivia

 * Lumine is based on Satan (formerly known as "Lucifer") from the epic poem Paradise Lost, while Sigma's current form is "Belial Sigma", named after Belial, one of the rebel angels that followed Satan in the rebellion against God.
 * The attack, "Paradise Lost", is also the subtitle of Mega Man X8, as seen in the game's intro movie and the ending credits.


 * Lumine's second form has a seraph-like appearance, similar to the second form of other bosses like Copy X, Albert, and Sera.


 * Lumine is the first antagonist to best the main antagonist of the respective series, a second one possibly being Albert towards Model W, though this is still debatable.


 * Lumine is one of the two antagonists shown to have copying abilities (the other being Albert), as he can use the powers of all the eight Mavericks of the game due to his copy chip.


 * There are several dialogue errors in the conversation between Lumine and the Hunters. After defeating Lumine's first form, he'll say: "They were derived from data from hundreds of old model Repolids". The word "Reploids" is misspelled.