Operator

An Operator (オペレーター), named Navigator (ナビゲーター) in some games, is a person in a facility who establishes contact with another person deployed on the field to give assistance during a mission. They stay in permanent contact to provide information regarding their current location, surrounding enemies, and general data.

Appearances
In the original Mega Man series, Dr. Light, Roll, Proto Man, Kalinka and Dr. Cossack are Navigators in the Navi Mode of the six Rockman Complete Works games and Mega Man: Anniversary Collection.

In the Mega Man X series, the Maverick Hunters have a female Reploid operator to support them, including Iris, Alia, Layer, Pallette, Nana, RiCO and mass-produced Reploids. Although technically not an operator himself, the Maverick leader Sigma served a similar role in Vile Mode.

In the Mega Man Zero series, Rouge and Jaune are the operators of the Resistance.

In Mega Man ZX, the Guardians have three operators named Gardénia, Tulip and Marguerite. In Mega Man ZX Advent, Nana is the operator of the Hunter's Camp.

In the Mega Man Legends series, the function of Spotters (known as Operators in Japan) is to assist Diggers. Roll Caskett is the Spotter of Mega Man Volnutt. In The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Tron Bonne acts as a Spotter for Teisel Bonne and the Servbots in some missions.

Kalinka is OVER-1's Navigator in Rockman ×over.

In the Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force series, an Operator is a human person that uses or owns a self-aware program, such as NetNavis and Wizards, and gives instructions to them.

Archie Comics
During the events of Worlds Unite, X loses contact with Alia and other Reploids from his world. During the mission on the Lost Hex, Sally Acorn, Nicole, Cream the Rabbit, Cheese, and Roll act as Navigators for the heroes.

Other appearances
Alia's function as an operator is parodied in some strips of Rockman X7 4Koma Manga Kingdom. In some of them she gets angry with the Hunters for not paying attention to her advices.

Trivia

 * Although characters such as Ciel, Prairie and the Sage Trinity aren't referenced as operators, they often contact the player's character to assist them. Roll can also be contacted for advice in Mega Man & Bass.
 * Roll, Dr. Light, and other characters also have a similar role in the Mega Man comic.
 * The cancelled game Rockman Online would have an operator named Irene.
 * There were early concepts made for female operators as early as the first Mega Man X. However, they did not begin appearing in gameplay until Mega Man X5.