High Max

"Data-wise, I've surpassed you... There's no chance for me to lose!"

- High Max

High Max, known as HI-MAX (ハイマックス) in Japan, is an antagonist from Mega Man X6. Created by Gate from a piece of Zero's DNA, he acts as a false leader in the "investigation" of the Zero Nightmare, goading other Reploids into working with him.

Characteristics
High Max is a tall Reploid who towers over X, Zero, and even Isoc. He has black and white armor with yellow highlights. Like Gate and Isoc, he possesses a white shape on his chest with a jewel, reminiscent of a formal shirt under a suit. He has pale skin and blank eyes, and his helmet possesses two horn-like structures.

High Max is incredibly arrogant, and not without good reason. He is aware of his technological superiority over most other Reploids and confident in his combat abilities. This makes him a natural leader and symbol to rally around for the Nightmare Investigators. When defeated, he shows quiet frustration and surprise.

Mega Man X6
High Max first appears in the opening stage, having witnessed the Zero Nightmare land the finishing blow on the D-1000. This affirms his idea that Zero is behind the Nightmare Phenomenon, and when X questions him on this, he attacks. He easily overpowers X, but lets him off with a warning to stay out of the investigation before departing.

High Max can then be encountered in any of the Nightmare areas found throughout the game's eight stages. In these encounters he can be defeated strategically using the Nightmare Investigators' Special Weapons, though still posing a challenge. If X or Zero defeats High Max, Isoc will retrieve him. Gate will then personally invite the Maverick Hunters to find him in his Secret Lab, potentially opening the final stages of the game early.

High Max is encountered again as the boss of the first segment of Secret Lab Stage 2. His strategy remains somewhat unchanged from his appearance in the Nightmare areas, and here he is defeated and destroyed for good.

Strategy
High Max will descend alternately from either the left or right side of the screen. He will ascend and change his position each time he is damaged or when he finishes an attack. When first encountered, he is practically invincible and X must simply outlast him. When encountered again, whether in the secret areas (after Zero is unlocked) or in Gate's Lab, the player must get creative to defeat him. X should stun him with charged X-Buster, then use any special weapon to damage him. Even though Magma Blade is considered his weakness, any one of them is effective damage wise, with Metal Anchor recommended for its firing angle that can hit from diagonally below to damage him or the Yammar Option would be a good option to damage High Max because Dragonflies (Yammar Option) can fire in all directions, having a chance to hit with accuracy to High Max when he is stunned. The Shadow Armor's charged attack is also effective against him, and High Max also takes considerable damage from said armor's Giga Attack; likewise, the Ultimate Armor's Nova Strike is also highly damaging. Zero should do the exact reverse of this strategy — use Shouenzan or any other special move to stun him, followed by regular Z-Saber strikes. During the final confrontation, High Max will immediately surround himself with two destructible rectangular shields. His new attack patterns include:


 * High Max will fire off several quick energy balls at X/Zero. Dashing from one spot to another can evade this attack easily.


 * After an attack or after he is damaged, High Max will drop down and hover from one end of the screen to the other and disappear off the top. Squatting down can avoid this easily.


 * High Max will charge a small energy ball, then surround himself in two rings. He is invulnerable during this period. Alternately, during the final confrontation, he will instead surround himself with two rectangular shields, one at the front and one at the back. These can be destroyed with a powerful attack in a single hit such as Zero's Rekkouha or Ensuizan. High Max also takes considerable damage from Zero's Z-Buster, Sentsuizan or Rakukoujin, as well as X's charged Guard Shell once the shields are down. The player should also note then when High Max goes from one side of the screen to the other (and that the player has not destroyed the two rectangular shields) the player will still take damage even when squatting down.


 * High Max will charge a large energy ball and slam it against the wall. Alternately, he will stay in one spot and fire off the large energy ball from his chest that follows the same pattern as his hovering.


 * High Max will hover to the center of the screen and repeatedly fire off large energy balls until the end of the battle. He performs in both confrontations, however in the second battle he is able of using this attack immediately if the player manages to destroy High Max's shields five times in a row.

Other appearances
High Max appeared as an Unit card in TEPPEN.

Trivia

 * High Max has two common quotes during battle - one is "Death Ball" (デスボール) which is the name of the large blue energy sphere attack he utilizes when saying the line, and he will often follow up with "Muda da" ("It's useless"), presumably referring to X's inability to damage him.
 * High Max bore several similarities to the Dragon Ball Z villain Cell. Both characters were created by mad scientists with a particular obsession/grudge against the main protagonist(s), both characters were developed using in part the protagonists' template, both characters emphasized perfection to such an extent that they came across as haughty as a result, and both characters even shared the same Japanese voice actor, Norio Wakamoto.
 * Both characters also possess a technique named "Death Ball"; in Cell's case however, his version is a copied variation of another character's technique from his home series.
 * High Max is one of a handful of Mavericks absent from the Worlds Unite crossover event from Archie Comics.