Zero (Marvel vs. Capcom series)

Zero is a playable character from the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Zero's debut as a playable character in the series, appearing with his Mega Man X series appearance, with his battle music from Mega Man X2 as his theme music. Zero's gameplay is similar to his Tatsunoko vs. Capcom appearance, but with a few modifications: he has most techniques that he had, plus new moves like Raikousen from Mega Man X8 and a powerful wave slash attack known as Genmu Zero, which is his final attack as a boss in Mega Man X5, replacing his Dark Hold move. Other than that, not much else has changed other than his normal attacks undergoing some minor tweaks and many of his combos working differently than in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

His fighting stances in the fighting games are inspired by his Mega Man X series' stances (even though they look very different from each other), with his TvC stance having Zero's both fists clenched (Mega Man X4-X5 stance), and his MvC stance with the leading hand open (Mega Man X6 stance). His standing light, medium and heavy attack in both games are based on his basic attack combo, his crouching medium based off of his crouching attack, and his jumping medium is his normal midair slash. However, all animations look different because the Z-Saber is holstered on the leading shoulder in his stance, rather than the following shoulder like in the X series' sprites (and in canon via the artworks, also being sheathed over his left shoulder).

In his ending, Zero is assisted by Silver Surfer in returning to his world, but winds up in the Neo Arcadian era instead. Silver Surfer informs him that this time and world already have a Zero, but goes by the name of "Mega Man Zero", expressing his confusion over this. In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the ending has an additional line of dialogue. After Zero claims he is not Mega Man Zero, he further adds that "if there ever was such a being" in his bewilderment. This is only semi-ironic in that the other Zero is in fact his future self (not that Zero himself would know about it). The Surfer's bewilderment may be a nod to early confusion in the fandom about Zero being considered a "Mega Man" or not, what with the title of his own series.

Zero also appears in Nova's ending as part of the new Mega Nova Corps alongside Mega Man, Roll, Proto Man and Beat.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Zero appears as a playable character alongside X, marking the first time the duo to be playable in the same crossover fighting game. In the story mode, it is shown that his routine core is being altered by Grandmaster Meio from the Strider series via Power Stone, looking somewhat similar to his Maverick form, until X and Rocket Raccoon beat him inside Knowmoon. After Zero returns to normal, he joins X and the others and they proceed to gather the Power Stone.

Aside from property-changes on his moves' effects, a new ability of Zero's is instead of being able to cancel into his Hyper Zero Blaster firing animation from any of his special moves (from Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3), is being able to release a maxed-out charge of the said blaster during any of his specific moves to pave way for new followups (Hadangeki into Rakuhouha, Ryuenjin into Hyouretsuzan, Sentsuizan into F-Splasher and Raikousen into C-Sword). Another new move to his arsenal is the Raijinshou as one of his new Hyper Combos. His Premium Costume is an original creation called "Special Zero" that gives him a more more detailed mecha appearance, patterned after X's TruForce Collectibles Ver.Ke figurine design.

Alternate colors and costumes
In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Zero's alternate colors all resemble other characters from the series: The blue one is based on X, the black one having a resemblance to his "older brother" Bass, and the purplish one resembling Axl.

In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Zero gains three new colors, one for his Mega Man Zero version, another based on Vile, and the last based on X's first armor. His normal X scheme, however, is removed in this version, since he gets a downloadable X alternate skin.

Trivia

 * One of Zero's winquotes in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 snidely mentions X ("If X were here, he would have tried to talk things out first. Unfortunately for you, X isn't here."), which some see as a response to many fans' negative response of X's absence in the game. Ironically, X himself is his DLC costume in the same game.