Bass.EXE

"Navis have no need for operators. All that we need is the strength to exist on our own! Absolute power, so that we need cower before none. I will weed out weak Navis who cannot fight on their own!"

- Bass.EXE

"Pathetic weakling! Return to the 0's and 1's you're made of!"

- Bass.EXE

"......Of course. Battle is my forte!"

- Bass.EXE (copy)

Bass.EXE, known as Forte.EXE in Japan, is a NetNavi from the Mega Man Battle Network series.

Background
Bass.EXE was created by Dr. Cossak as part of SciLab's project to develop a new generation of independent NetNavis that do not need an operator to function on the net. Bass was also installed with a special "Get Ability" program that allows him to assimilate the abilities of deleted viruses and Navis.

A series of disruptions and errors began to plague the net, caused by Alpha. However, SciLab initially blamed Bass for the disruptions and sent an elite force of Navis to delete him. Bass survived the attack, but clung to life. Bass crawled through the internet, frequently attacked by enemy viruses. Over time, Bass absorbed the deleted data of viruses and Navis in order to grow stronger and recover his strength. Bass eventually became one of the most powerful Navis the net had ever seen, the SciLab attack leaving him with a glowing scar across his Navi emblem and a deep-seated hatred against the humans that had betrayed him.

Mega Man Battle Network
Eventually, he stole the Life Aura data from the remnants of the defeated Dream Virus (the first game's final boss) and encountered MegaMan on the Net, but was defeated.

Mega Man Network Transmission
Bass appears as an hidden boss in this game. In order to fight him, the player must have obtained every Navi Chip in the game (except for the Bass Navi Chip). This can be done through the Net Battle Simulator, and requires the player having met the requirements for the good ending, as that is the only way to obtain the Zero Navi Chip. Once that has been done, Lan receives an email from Mayl about a "secret area" in Den Area 3 where a powerful Navi is found. This is where the player can find Bass. There is no way to defeat Bass, but once his HP is low enough, Bass throws off his cloak, the fight ends, and the player earns the Bass battle chip.

Mega Man Battle Network 2
This time, he played a larger role in the plot, where the Gospel Netmafia was trying to clone him through the use of BugFrags. Initially, it seemingly produced a perfect copy of Bass, although it proved to not be completely perfect due to MegaMan.EXE defeating the copy easily. Gospel's leader (revealed to be Sean), however, was unwilling to give up, and decided instead to max out the servers capacity to 200%, not caring if he ended up killed by the intense radiation in the process. This failed, and the clone mutated into the giant Gospel Megavirus. The monster overcharged the server to 600% before MegaMan could destroy it. He also appears after the credits of the game, where he destroys a Bass clone and states that he is angry at Sean for attempting to clone him. He roams looking for strong enemies to fight while never fighting for WWW. He then finds his match in Mega Man where he is defeated, saying that he is impressed. He also leaves a Bass chip behind.

Mega Man Battle Network 3
As well as being implied in the previous game, it was later revealed that Wily had been behind everything, and was trying to copy Bass in order to free Alpha. Wily allied himself with Bass, who helped steal Alpha's data and the TetraCodes. In exchange, Wily proposed to give Bass the power to attack the humans. Prior to the climax of the game Bass notices MegaMan and challenges him after his battle with FlameMan. Because FlameMan got in his way, Bass swatted him aside since he wanted to fight MegaMan himself.

To his disappointment, MegaMan provided no challenge (he is actually fought at that point game, but is impossible to defeat because he can't be damaged). Just as Bass was about to finish MegaMan, one of the Official NetNavis appeared to protect him by using the Dark Aura. Goaded by the boasts of its power, Bass attacked the Navi and the Dark Aura barely withstood his power. Bass likely would've finished him off if Wily hadn't called him away. Later, Bass aided in freeing Alpha. When MegaMan tried using the GigaFreeze program, Bass revealed that he could control it and stopped it.

At the climax of the game, Bass reveals his past to everyone - he was initially created by Cossak, but was blamed for the incidents caused by Alpha, and was left to wander through the Undernet, with a scar across his body and a grudge against humans. Bass then smashed and absorbed the Guardian program, which was the last thing keeping Alpha sealed away. Bass is then fought and defeated by MegaMan (this is the only time that Bass is fought in a battle that's part of the storyline). Wily betrayed Bass and let Alpha swallow Bass, but got eaten as well.

After Alpha's destruction, Bass was near death, but found by a remnant of the Gospel Multibug Organism, who merged with Bass and saved his life, forming Bass GS. After Serenade's defeat, Serenade mentioned that the only other Navi who could defeat him was Bass. Bass GS consumed at least 300 BugFrags, courtesy of MegaMan, and attacked MegaMan to test this new power. After a close battle, Bass lost, and it is revealed that he had lost most of his memory while fused with Gospel. He then vanishes from the Secret Area.

Mega Man Battle Network 4
Bass resurfaced in the Undernet, and later Black Earth. MegaMan accidentally woke the Dark Messiah, who attacked MegaMan wielding the power of the Dark Chips. Bass lost again, and fled to Black Earth where he fought MegaMan one last time after the defeat of the Dark Soul Navis.

Mega Man Battle Network 5
When MegaMan gained the power of Bass (Bass Cross MegaMan), Bass feels his power, then reappears and challenges MegaMan at a secret corner of the Net. He lost, then fled to Nebula Area and challenged MegaMan a second time. This time, Bass's soul has been consumed by the darkness and became "Bass Alpha". Finally, Bass could be encountered as the Chaos Lord, an amalgamation of the Dark Power in the deepest part of Nebula Area, but with no dark power inside. After defeated as the Chaos Lord, he can be found randomly as Bass XX, the most powerful boss in the game. But he's defeated again, admitted he was too weak and left to become more powerful.

Mega Man Battle Network 6
Having challenged MegaMan in both the Undernet and the secret Graveyard zone, he went to the Underground, former prison of the Cybeasts, and absorbed their data fragments and gaining the power of the Cyber Beast of the opposing version. After forcing MegaMan to fight a clone of Beast-Out MegaMan, Bass moved in for the kill, but was defeated. It is unknown if he survived the last battle, although Lan suggests so by convincingly saying "Bass is Bass". His survival later proves true, as from his final defeat onward, he can be found at the Graveyard as a random encounter.

In each game he appears in, Bass's final form is the hardest boss in the game. Bass usually has a unique "form identifier". Where most Navis would be 1-2-3 or normal-EX-SP, Bass's ultimate forms have been, variously, Bass DX, Bass GS, Bass XX and Bass BX amongst others. Bass is the most powerful Navi, capable of easily defeating many strong Navis.

MegaMan NT Warrior
In the anime, he and Gospel were created from data of PharaohMan by Lord Wily. As Wily explains Bass came to exist from the left over data of PharaohMan that Wily didn't use to make Gospel. Also while Gospel contains PharaohMan's ultimate program; Bass on the other hand is the reincarnation of PharaohMan's soul but lacking any memories which where used in making Gospel. At first he has no memories and wanders the Net in a curious, confused state.

When Gospel attacked the Net and was about to consume MegaMan, Bass got in its way and made it leave. Part of him also senses the connection between himself and Gospel which draws him to the beast. He later kidnaps MegaMan in order to find out who he really is and reads MegaMan's memories and learns about his origins.

After that, he attacks Gospel and initially defeats him. Bass tries to absorb him so that they could become one again and gain his powers but Gospel is too strong and Bass's data disperses and is absorbed himself. After Gospel's destruction, Lord Wily was baffled to see that BugStyle MegaMan had actually rebuilt the whole Network including all data absorbed by Gospel when Kid Grave suddenly gets back up. The robot is possessed by Bass and he walks away after proclaiming that he'd use it to conquer both worlds.

Despite the fact Bass doesn't have all of PharaohMan's powers, he was still incredibly strong with a multitude of abilities including teleportation, energy blasts, regeneration, absorption and many other powers. He also possessed the ability to shrug off fatal attacks, like when FreezeMan impaled him and then froze him solid; both attacks did nothing and Bass responded by breaking the floor beneath FreezeMan without having to move an inch. He showed no ill effect from the attacks either.

He also appeared to possess some kind of a telepathic link with MegaMan, or at least some kind of extrasensory awareness of MegaMan, which might have something to do with the fact he also has an ultimate program like MegaMan.

Also, contact with MegaMan caused the dormant virus that originally infected PharaohMan to transfer to a new host since Bass no longer had the Ultimate program; leading to MegaMan's Bug style rampage. After Gospel is defeated though, Bass regain the Ultimate program he had lacked.

MegaMan NT Warrior Axess
In Axess, his appearances are short. He appears once in his Kid Grave body when Lan and his friends cornered Allegro. He claims that Allegro was a robot he created in order to develop Dimensional Areas so as to allow solo NetNavis like him to enter the real world, but was disappointed with the end result and destroyed him. He reappears in the pit where ShadeMan was trapped when he was overthrown by LaserMan and shatters the tomb he is in, freeing him. He declares that he is a Darkloid and supports the true solo data beings. He then watches the battle between ShadeMan and Dr. Regal and LaserMan Cross Fused but leaves when he realizes ShadeMan lost.

Rockman.EXE Stream
In Stream, he plays a more prominent role. He is seeking power; and attempts to kidnap MegaMan for his Ultimate program, but is forced to retreat when ProtoMan joins the battle. He appears again in the Outer Space Development Center to try and infiltrate Duo.EXE's comet at the same time MegaMan and ProtoMan were going to do so, but is defeated by Slur pretty badly and is banished to the Undernet.

He is last seen in a battle against Slur, at the end of Stream. This time, it is implied that he has absorbed the remnants of Nebula Grey, and uses it's power to defeat Slur without a scratch (he also makes a remark to MegaMan stating that since Earth was safe for the time being they should meet again before logging out). Although he doesn't reappear in Rockman.EXE Beast, it is implied he is still alive and wishes to take no more action in the present and just wants to settle down, unlike the games where he continuously attacks MegaMan for "revenge", as he claims.

Rockman.EXE: Program of Light and Dark
Bass resurfaces in the movie, first seen when he was floating in the Undernet and encounter Nebula Grey, being controlled by Dr. Regal in the process. He then attacks MegaMan to prevent him from destroying the Tadashi Hikari Program, but Colonel arrived in time to help MegaMan and fights Bass in his stead, eventually freeing Bass from Regal's control. Bass then confronts Regal, furious for being used by him. He and MegaMan team up to fight Nebula Grey, but they are defeated. However, MegaMan gives Bass his Ultimate Program and both Navis fuse and, forming the synchronized Bass Cross MegaMan, which promptly proceeds to defeat Nebula Grey effortlessly with tremendous power. After its defeat, Dr. Regal opens a portal to try and delete them. Before they are sucked into the portal, Bass fires an energy blast at MegaMan which forces him to jack out. Bass is then drawn into the vortex, laughing maniacally.

History
Around ten years before the start of the series, Bass is created by Dr. Cossak as first independent NetNavi that does not require an operator. Since the CyberWorld at that time is still in the middle of development, Bass stands out from other Navis and constantly try to proof that the security systems that supposed to protect the CyberWorld are useless by attacking many Navi units, destroying 15 programs and 72 Navi units in total. This caused people to fear him and choose for him to be deleted. The only person who objects this decision is Dr. Cossak, the only person that Bass trust and the only one to come to his defense. They were close to the extent Dr. Cossack refers Bass as his 'son'. To prevent Bass from being deleted, Dr. Cossak reluctantly  imprisoned Bass and forced him to wear limiters that restricted his power.

Later, Bass is blamed for disrupting the Net and is ordered to be deleted by the officials. Bass easily defeats them one by one despite the limiters he was wearing. It was at this time Bass ponders why Dr. Cossak didn't clear the misunderstanding soon and began to think that Dr. Cossak abandoned him. One of the Navis slashed him, leaving the trademark scar on his Navi Mark. The Navi's praise for the limiters created by Dr. Cossak makes Bass finally comes to conclusion that Dr. Cossak has betrayed him. Before he could be deleted, they realized that it was actually the Net itself that caused the destruction and it's not Bass' fault. All of the units jack out, but one stayed behind to delete Bass, holding a grudge against him. However, the limiters that Bass was wearing changed his program and Bass defeated the Navi in a second, swearing he will never trust anyone again.

For the past ten years, Bass spends his life in the Undernet, defeating and absorbing any Navis that he met until he is finally known as the Black Shadow of the Undernet. One day, he defeats several Navis and questions one of them the whereabouts of the King of the Undernet, Serenade, before destroying him when he don't know the location. Soon after, Serenade appears before Bass, reprimanding his violent and cruel way. Excited that they finally met, Bass fiercely attacks Serenade, but none of his attacks even put a scratch on him since Serenade dodged them all. Serenade reflected Bass attacks, injuring him. Bass didn't give up, resoluting to continue the fight, but Serenade tells him that he came not to fight, but to give him a message from Dr. Cossak, much to Bass' shock.

Dr. Cossak reveals that before he could save Bass, he is branded as traitor and is arrested. He apologized to Bass and wish for him to come back to him after knowing that he's still alive. Serenade shows a data that will allow Bass to jack out and goes straight to Dr. Cossak's PET. Bass crawling towards Serenade as he wonders if he could go back to Dr. Cossak. However, Bass, who has already suffered and overcome by his anger and hatred for far too long, decides that he doesn't need bonds with anyone anymore and with his hatred, he will become stronger. Crushing Serenade's hand and keeps him close-range, Bass unleashed his Earthbreaker. Much to his disbelief, Serenade remained unscathed, and instead it was he himself who got injured. As Bass fell, he warns Serenade that it's not the end of him and one day he will defeat him.

Meeting MegaMan
Bass was first mentioned by Miyu as the Black Shadow from the Undernet. He makes his first appearance after MegaMan and ProtoMan defeated ElecMan and BomberMan. He creates a barrier as MegaMan and ProtoMan attacks him until they destroyed the barrier. When the barrier was destroyed, he states that they are weak before going offensive, easily destroyed MegaMan's sword with light velocity speed before preparing to unleash Earthbreaker. However, seeing MegaMan flies straight at him without any fear, Bass decides to spare MegaMan. At the top of PharaohMan's pyramid, he says that he will give treasure and such to MegaMan, deeming him a worthy opponent and wait for him to become strong enough to fight him once again.

Battle at Queen Ocean Cruise
He briefly cooperates with Kei Yuki to go the Queen Ocean ferry where MegaMan is along with Grave. He uses Dark Messiah with Grave, but MegaMan is able to dodge it. Content that MegaMan has become strong enough, both start to clash with each other, but in the middle of their battle, MegaMan is distracted by one of their attacks; almost hit Roll, thus giving Bass an opening. Cornered, Grave starts to absorb MegaMan's Hub Style power, but Bass destroys Grave and tells Kei that he never remembered working with the likes of them and proceed his battle with MegaMan. Both were able to fight in equal footing until Bass gained MegaMan's Hub Style with his Get Ability program, turning the tide in an instant. MegaMan receives damages grave enough to split MegaMan and Lan's Full Synchro, making the latter unconscious. Bass continues to beat up MegaMan as he tells him how he was betrayed by humans and the vast difference in their strength.

At the verge of defeat, Bass begins to taunt MegaMan. MegaMan then tells Bass that there was another difference between them, and in his case, he has Lan and will never stop believing him, surprising Bass, who then shows the scar he got from his betrayal, but MegaMan still trusts Lan. As he says this, Lan regains his consciousness and once again uses Hub Style to defeat Bass, but their conditions didn't allow them to perfectly enter Hub Style. Bass prepares to use Earthbreaker to finish MegaMan, but he was eventually defeated when MegaMan focused all of his Hub Style powers into his finger. As Bass starts to disappear, he persisted that his hunger and thirst had yet to disappear.

Revival
Later, Bass is revived through the power of darkness as Bass GS. He becomes so strong enough that he turns his back on both MegaMan and ProtoMan, not considering them a threat. He proceeds to Densan City and prepares to carry out his vengeance by destroying the city. MegaMan arrives just before Bass could unleash Vanishing World with Grave. Bass easily overpowers MegaMan, claiming that the darkness didn't control him, but he was the one who controled the darkness. MegaMan is saved by Serenade, but shortly afterwards, the latter was absorbed by Bass, deleting him. Having absorbed Serenade's power, Bass continues to fight MegaMan and ProtoMan. As they are fighting, he notices that even though both MegaMan and ProtoMan are badly injured, that instead of getting weaker, they are getting stronger. Bass realizes that the program that Serenade left behind began to react through the power of MegaMan and ProtoMan's unity. Refusing to accept feelings for friends or bonds with others, Bass unleashes another powerful attack to end their battle. But once again, MegaMan, using Double Soul with ProtoMan, easily counters Bass' attacks and turns the tide to their favor.

Bass still refused to give up and claimed how he was able to survive to this day without trusting nor depending on anybody and suddenly unleashes Earthbreaker. While MegaMan defends himself, Bass launches at him and chokes him as he tells him that MegaMan's weakness is that  he is always helped and supported by his friends. However, MegaMan counters back that it's not his weakness, but his power, shocking Bass. Bass is punched to the ground and lands near ProtoMan's body. Instead of destroying ProtoMan like everyone thought, Bass floats to MegaMan, telling him that he will defeat him while maintaining his honor. He uses two Graves in both arms and unleashes Double Vanishing World, which MegaMan easily overcomes and defeats Bass. As Bass is falling, he ponders how strangely his hunger and thirst for revenge started to disappear.

The attack, however, didn't kill him and he reveals himself to MegaMan and the others. He tells MegaMan to delete him since he no longer has any power to fight. To everyone's shock, MegaMan instead offers him to fight again next time without any anger or hatred. Before Bass could respond, he senses something and punches MegaMan out of the way, receiving a beam that was intended for MegaMan. Bass then tells MegaMan to keep living until the day he defeated him, declaring he will be the one to kill him and that is their bond. Dark MegaMan attacks him from behind, rendering him unconscious and he is taken away by Dark MegaMan and LaserMan, much to MegaMan's dismay.

Darkloid Battle
Bass is held captive so Dark MegaMan could absorb his power. However, Bass' strong will resist against the absorption, preventing Dark MegaMan from absorbing him completely until MegaMan arrives. Realizing that the source of Bass' resistance is the promise he made with MegaMan, Dark MegaMan seemingly kills MegaMan, nulling their promise. Seeing MegaMan defeated, Bass is finally absorbed completely by Dark MegaMan.

Believing that Bass is still exist, MegaMan keeps reminding him of their promise to fight again and what kind of Navi Bass truly is. MegaMan's voice reached Bass, causing him to rebel against Dark MegaMan from the inside. He managed to free himself from Dark MegaMan and protected MegaMan from the former's attack before disappearing, telling MegaMan to show him the proof that he is his worthy rival. When MegaMan was unable to move because of Dark MegaMan's laser attack after eating LaserMan, Bass questions has he already given up and says that if that's the case, they'll never meet again. This urges MegaMan to fight again as he tells Bass to watch him until the end. After MegaMan finally defeated Dark MegaMan, Bass reminds him that he will be the one who defeat him and left.

Versus Nebula Gray
Bass appears and fiercely attacks Nebula Gray to defeat him and absorb his power, much to Colonel's shock. But instead of weakening, Nebula Gray only grew more powerful by absorbing Bass' attack and captures him. Unexpectedly, Colonel helped Bass, knowing that defeating Nebula Gray comes first before his revenge. Disgusted hearing that they will defeat Nebula Gray together, Bass intended to attack Colonel, but is stopped by MegaMan's arrival. Bass reminds MegaMan that he will be the one to defeat him, but after he defeat Nebula Gray first. MegaMan and the others unleashes their most powerful attack and combined it with Bass' so Nebula Grey won't be able to absorb it. Unfortunately, Nebula Gray has already becoming strong enough to  immune against the attack and counterd it with his own attack, leaving everyone but Bass, MegaMan, and Colonel to fight.

MegaMan asked for Bass' help to perform Double Soul with him. Hearing this, Bass punches MegaMan, asking has he gone crazy, reminding that they are enemies and could never work together since they could only reach understanding through fighting. They are interrupted by another attack from Nebula Gray as MegaMan continue to persuade Bass to fight together, but Colonel interjects. Bass persists on his pride and attack Nebula Gray alone, but Nebula Gray slowly overpowering his attack. Just before Nebula Gray's attack hit him, MegaMan pushes him out of the way, taking the attack instead. The attack heavily injured MegaMan that he's near deletion. Shocked by MegaMan's action and hearing that MegaMan want to fight him again, Bass saves MegaMan's life by absorbing him to prevent deletion with his Get Ability program, reminding the latter of their bond, merging them into Bass Cross MegaMan.

Bass Cross MegaMan easily overpowers Nebula Gray, but his body unable to whitstand the burden of both Bass and MegaMan's power since it was too strong. Knowing his limit, he prepares to unleash final attack to defeat Nebula Gray for good, but he halts when CosmoMan takes out ProtoMan, TomahawkMan, and GyroMan from Nebula Gray's stomach, threatening that if he attacks, they will be killed as well. At this, Bass Cross MegaMan defends himself instead of continue attacking to protect his friends. In their subconscious, Bass questions MegaMan does he intend to throw away their victory, which MegaMan replies that victory will mean nothing if he let his friends die. Finally able to trust Bass Cross MegaMan, Colonel open a path for them to attack with Screen Divide, allowing them to unleash their final attack.

The attack turns out didn't kill Nebula Gray and it barely survive by fusing with CosmoMan. Realizing this, Bass  separates himself from MegaMan and got bitten by Nebula Gray as his power is absorbed. Seeing MegaMan discouraged since he don't have any power left to fight, Bass encourages him to keep fighting until the end if he is truly his rival. MegaMan finds a new power to defeat Nebula Gray and use Beast Out to fight. CosmoMan reminds him that he will kill Bass as well if he keeps attacking, but MegaMan continues, making Bass commented that he is indeed his worthy rival. Bass survives the attack and appears in Regal's ship, forcing it to self-destruct, destroying the ship along with Regal.

Final Battle
Iris summons Bass so he could participate in battle to decide who is the strongest Navi. He protected MegaMan from Falzar's attack and then absorbed it to himself. He then challenged MegaMan to fight him now that both of them had acquaired Cyber Beast powers. However, Falzar is not completely absorbed by Bass due to its great power and remove part of himself from Bass and merges with Gregar. Bass goes to fight Falzar and Grega, but was surprised when they are transported into the real world. mused, Bass attacks the Cyber Beast, but the Cyber Beast was unschated and immediately defeated Bass. MegaMan then appears and attacks the Cyber Beast with the Ultimate Program, seemingly overpowering him, much to Bass' astonishment.

This didn't last long once the Cyber Beast started to absorb the real world into the Cyber World, leaving only MegaMan, Lan, and himself remain. Bass confronts MegaMan, telling him to give up since it was already too late. Satisfied that he could watch the end of mankind, he challenges MegaMan to finish their battle. Disappointed with Bass' answer, MegaMan goes to confront the Cyber Beast, having yet to give up hope. Bass wonders is this really the ending he had been hoping for.

Bass finally decides to assist MegaMan in defeating the Cyber Beast, claiming that he will watch his deletion with his own eyes. Once they finally reach the core of the Cyber Beast, they are stopped by the last defense system of the Cyber Beast. When all hope seems lost, MegaMan's friends stopped the Cyber Beast's movement before it could devour them. Serenade then appears in front of Bass, telling him to give all of his power to his only true friend, MegaMan. Hearing this, Bass interjects that MegaMan is his enemy and break free from the defense system. Gathering all the powers he has gathered throughout his life, Bass gave it to MegaMan to give him enough energy to move, telling MegaMan to win as he disappears.

Appearance
As with his original counterpart, Bass.EXE appears to resemble an elaborately darker version of MegaMan.EXE. He looks almost identical to his original counterpart, but his cobra-like helmet has been altered as the "fins" are mostly straightened out and split off at the bottom to show off a second pair of smaller fins. Golden shoulder pads are also adorned on his body as well. While in the manga and anime his height is comparable to Megaman's and Protoman's, in the games he appears visibly taller, like an adult person compared to a child.

The chest jewel that was present in the original version is replaced with his emblem, a solid black circle with no features or characteristics, but a white scar is embedded across it diagonally. Bass.EXE's most famous characteristic however is a long flowing light brown cloak that usually covers the lower portion of his face as well as the rest of his body, which invokes a vagrant appearance.

Though his original emblem is never displayed, it has been believed that the symbol would be similar to the jewel on his forehead. The origin of the scar on his emblem was revealed to caused by a fire sword battle chip used by a Sci-lab security navi.

Hub Style (Manga Only)

After copying Hub Style in his battle with MegaMan.EXE he takes on similar features to MegaMan's Hub Style. Including what appears to be a data streaming flowing all over his body. Also like MegaMan's Hub Style he has two flat rings of light circling around him. However in one illustrated picture it has shown that the data stream on Bass.EXE's body is purple, rather than green like MegaMan.EXE.

Beast Out Unlike MegaMan.EXE who used Double Soul to trigger Beast Out, Bass.EXE forced his transformation by using his Get Ability Program to absorb data from a weakened Falzar. In this form the top two fins on his head change and have a beak like shape, his long cloak is reduced to a scarf that covers his neck and mouth, his hands and feet change to the equivalent versions of MegaMan.EXEs hands and feet during Falzar Beast Out, he also gains wings similar to Falzar's, and finally the crest on his head now changes to the symbol of Flazar.

Personality
Bass's personality is added to during the first three games. In the first game, nothing is known about him. In the second game, because Bass is still only briefly seen, not much is seen about him. What is shown is that due to his own pride, he hates anybody that would try to create copies of him and his disdain towards humans. After his battle with MegaMan, he displays shock and interest in that MegaMan could hurt him and leaves. This battle and some events in the third game indicate that Bass likes fighting, but he's only interested in stronger opponents.

The third game reveals far more about him. Because Bass felt betrayed by humans, he grew to hate them and longed for revenge. He displayed no sense of loyalty as well. When he first wanted to fight MegaMan, even though Bass was working with Wily; he attacks FlameMan, one of his "ally's" subordinates. After being freed from Alpha, Bass has no memory of his past but retains his interest in fighting which causes him to continue to challenge MegaMan. Because of his odd way to change roles depending on the situation he is in, his personality is more of an anti-hero based but his ego seems to always get the best of him and uses fighting as a resort to any means necessary.

To Bass, if there is a problem that bugs him, he blows it up. End of story, end of problem. So, he finds it either interesting, annoying, or frustrating if he can't blow the problem up (like MegaMan) so he'll keep an eye on the problem. Bass puts his own survival before anything else because basically, for the last ten years of his life, that's all he did. Survive, little else, and hate humanity for what they did to him.

In the second game (being the first where he has dialogue), Bass is shown to speak in an intellectual and formal yet surprisingly polite manner. In the third game he drops the politeness altogether but retains his verbose, analytical rhetoric, giving off an aloof and distant matter-of-fact vibe. This aspect of his personality is greatly downplayed in the last three games - possibly due to his dialogue being more limited and less relevant to the main plot - he also starts to speak in a more colloquial manner like most other characters. He notably becomes more aggressive and hotheaded in the sixth game, much more eager to hurl taunts at MegaMan than to praise him.

In the anime, Bass is more reclusive and his character never been explored further since he rarely appears. But it can be assumed that he still retain his like to fight strong opponents and his high self-esteem just like when he desires to fight Nebula Grey and kill Regal for using him. He doesn't have the rivalry with MegaMan like he is in the game and manga, and has no interest in him in particular other than the Ultimate Program MegaMan has. Also, while he views that humans and their world are worthless and hates at the mere thought of being used by them, Bass doesn't seem to hate humanity as much as he is in the game and manga, and only concerned of becoming more powerful.

In the manga, Bass' personality is far more sinister and darker. He is arrogant, merciless, and hungry for power. Due to his past, Bass is distrustful towards anybody but himself, viewing bonds with others as a weakness. This, however, seemed to change when he was defeated by MegaMan for the second time, resulting him to acknowledge MegaMan as his rival, finally allowing himself to have a bond with someone for the first time after long times. Also, despite his ruthless behavior, he never stoop so low as to attack someone who cannot fight back, showing he at least has an honor to uphold. Serenade implied that behind their rivalry, Bass started to consider MegaMan close enough as a friend. Though, Bass denied this statement and insisted that MegaMan is his enemy. Regardless, MegaMan become the first person that Bass able to place his trust in, demonstrated when he gave MegaMan all of his power to defeat the Cyberbeast and tells him to win. In volume 10, discussing the difference of the series between manga, game, and anime, Takamisaki stated that Bass is "lonelier" than he is in the original game.

The Battle Story Rockman.EXE manga version of Bass is somewhat different than what he is usually portrayed in the games and Mega Man NT Warrior anime, for the fact that it explores more of his good side. He was created years ago to maintain network energy, and to improve system functions/ in si-lab systems. He to be very powerful in the beginning. The power he possesses causes him to go crazy and destroy everything in his path, somewhat similar to how he acts in other media. However, it is that power that made Bass realize that he is a threat to the Cyberworld. Not wanting to harm anyone, he willingly seals himself away. He is also shown to be polite, even addressing himself in Japanese as "watashi" (わたし) rather than "ore" ( おれ - though he uses "ore" when the power he possesses overwhelms him), and is good friends with ShadowMan.EXE.

Forms
Normal Forms
 * Bass: This is the basic form, when he is first encountered in each game. In Mega Man Battle Network, the player must perform certain conditions and go to Internet Area 16. Bass in that game, is immensely powerful. His attacks are substantial and dangerous, inflicting an extreme amount of damage. Battle Network 2 introduces him as a copy of the original Bass (the player will also fight the true Bass in the WWW Area), whilst this form is fought twice in Battle Network 3 - once where he is completely unbeatable, and the other just before fighting Alpha. In Battle Network 4, the player must obtain six Soul Unisons, to open a door in UnderNet4 which will eventually lead to him. In Battle Network 5, Bass is encountered in a dead end in Oran Area 3 and Nebula Area 4(with Bass/Sol Cross MegaMan) after the Dark MegaMan Liberation Mission. In Battle Network 6, the player can jump into a pit behind a giant tree in Green2, which will lead them to UnderNet Zero, once there approach the gravestone, which is titled "Cyberworld's God of Destruction".


 * Bass α (Alpha): Only encountered in Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS, Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and ProtoMan (if the player use the Bass Cross MegaMan E-Reader Card or cheat). All of Bass's attacks are more powerful and damaging.


 * Bass β (Beta): Only encountered in Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS, Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan and Colonel. All attacks from Bass are more powerful and damaging than his original and alpha forms. It is also named as "Chaos Lord", the form the Chaos Lords takes in.


 * Bass Ω (Omega)/SP: This is often Bass's ultimate form, randomly encountered after beating the original, in Mega Man Battle Network 4 and 5. These forms often sport about 3000 HP or 3500, along with a slew of highly damaging attacks. The SP form is fought in Battle Network 6, with 2700 HP instead, and slightly weaker than expected from the other forms. Defeating him in Mega Man Battle Network 6 will net the player a Bass F or BassAnly F Chip.
 * Mega Man Battle Network 3 Bass Omega has 3000HP, now actually shoots 6 (six) orange/golden-yellow energy shots, totally replacing the regular green Air Burst shots, has a 200 Life Aura (for an unknown reason, he could have the Dark Aura instead in this form), along with all the other attacks carried over from his GS form. It is his most powerful form, and is much more powerful than the previous forms of Bass.

Special Forms

 * Bass DX (DeluXe): Encountered only as a random encounter in Battle Network 2 after beating the true Bass, this form sports 2000 HP, a 150 Life Aura, and alternate charged forms of his Shooting Buster attack. They also inflict more damage than usual. He can now use his new move, the Earth Breaker attack, which inflicts a great amount of damage. This form is a very balanced final form.


 * Bass GS (GoSpel): Encountered only in Battle Network 3 near the BugFrag Trader, and only after the player has spent at least 300 BugFrags on it. Bass GS sports 2000 HP, a 200 Life Aura, and several new, highly powerful attacks, thanks to his synchronized fusion with Gospel. This form is focused more on offense, due to Gospel's powers.


 * Bass XX (Double X) Encountered only in Battle Network 4 and 5. These forms sport 4000 HP, a 200 barrier (BN4 regenerating but in BN5 it can be permanently removed if Northwind is used), and their attacks are exceedingly damaging. It is one of the most powerful forms in the Battle Network series. This form is extremely strong, but seems to adopt a speedier and more defense-like stance, unlike most final forms. This form is also a very balanced final form.


 * Bass BX (Beast eXpansion/eXtension): Encountered only in Battle Network 6, after defeating Bass SP in the Graveyard. This form sports 3400 HP, a series of exceedingly damaging attacks, and also a vast signature attack from the Cybeast of the opposite version. Bass BX is the most powerful form for any challenger in the entire Battle Network series. This form removes Bass's Life Aura entirely, but replaces it with extremely speedy and powerful, almost unavoidable attacks (His cape becomes the shield instead, repelling attacks unless he attacks). This form is best suited for quickly crushing an opponent and wearing them down. Defeating him in the Gregar version will give the player a Colonel Army chip and in Falzar a Hub Batch chip.

Abilities
Bass has tremendous potential that no other Navi ever had and is considered to be the strongest Navi in the MegaMan Battle Network games. He possesses plenty of attacks, abilities, and a constantly changing arsenal throughout the games. Bass is also by far MegaMan's strongest opponent, outranking even the final bosses by great power, and if not, by agility and defense (as mirroring the original Bass and Mega Man).

In the anime, Bass is extremely powerful, being one of three Navis who possesses the Ultimate Program. Because Bass was made from fragments of another Navi, he has an almost virulent hunger and consumes raw data to replenish the missing code, as shown when MegaMan saw him consuming raw data in the form of an energy ball. Despite this he doesn't attack Navis and seems to feed almost on instinct.

In the manga, Bass is one of the strongest Navis in the series. He is infamously known as the strongest Navi in the Undernet who destroys any Navi or virus that he met and absorbs their ability. He gets even more powerful after being revived as Dark Navi and absorbed Serenade's power. However, since Bass became a Dark Navi, his attacks has no effect on Navis made from pure darkness like Nebula Gray, which only making the latter stronger since his attacks are absorbed.

General Abilities

 * Get Ability: This is Bass's most important and essential ability. Like the classic Bass, Bass can absorb the abilities of defeated foes. He used this to survives and gains every abilities of defeated foes, including Life Aura, Gospel, Alpha, Dark Soul and Cybeasts.
 * In the anime, he has no such program as he merely feeds on any data program. It is assumed that because of this, Bass is able to consume any other types of power to refill his original strength. In Rockman EXE Stream movie, he utilized this ability in an attempt to absorb MegaMan's Ultimate Program to defeat Nebula Grey, though this backfired and created Forte Cross Rockman. Following Nebula Grey's defeat, it is implied that he absorbed its remains, gathering enough power to exact his revenge on Slur.EXE.
 * In the manga, unlike in both game and anime, this program can automatically absorb other Navis' power before Bass defeat them, though the only time it did so was when Bass gain Hub Style. Bass utilized this ability to get Serenade.EXE's attack reflection power, in attempt to save MegaMan's life by absorbing him into himself and become Forte Cross Rockman, and to gain Beast Out Falzar power.


 * Giga Freeze: This ability is mentioned only in MMBN3. This attack isn't used in in-game battles. Bass obtained the Giga Freeze data by the Get Ability ability towards the end of MMBN3 storyline when MegaMan tried to use it to prevent the Cyberworld monster Alpha from rampaging. This was because he was one the only Navi besides MegaMan who could make contact with the program without being permanently frozen by it. Whether Bass still has this program and/or uses it, remains unknown.

Transformation Abilities
These are taken through the Get Ability program above.
 * Style Change: Bass used his Get Ability to copy MegaMan's Hub Style in MegaMan NT Warrior (manga). Just like MegaMan.EXE, Bass's strength, speed, and power greatly increase while using Hub Style.
 * Beast Out: In MegaMan NT Warrior (manga), Bass used his Get Ability to absorb Falzar and attained the power to Beast Out in order to fight MegaMan, who had already gained the ability to Beast Out from Gregar.

Offensive Abilities

 * Air Burst (MMBN 1-3): Bass fires a green, speedy and powerful energy shot at the player.
 * Buster Rake A.K.A the Bass Buster, Shooting Busters, Bass Supreme Buster, Explosion, and Ω Buster: Bass will fire several air bursts down all three rows extreamly fast.
 * Gospel Power (MMBN 3)
 * Gospel Claw: He'll point at player's area, and two of Gospel's claws will attack 2 of the player's panels from the air, cracking the panels they hit.
 * Gospel Breath: Bass first uses Gospel Claw, then unleashes a one-panel Gospel Breath attack that spreads to the 3 panels in the back, inflicting great damage.
 * Vanishing World: A.K.A Banishing World.  Bass can only use this when his HP is 500 or less. Bass morphs his hand into a huge Gospel Cannon and then fires a very destructive white laser which destroys nearly all of player's panels, pierces through player's defenses, and inflicts heavy damage to player. However, while this attack is his strongest here, it can only be used once, unlike his other attacks. This move was also used in MegaMan NT Warrior Vol. 7 and was also Bass GS's finishing move.
 * Alpha Power:
 * Earth Breaker: A.K.A Earth Breaker Fist, Earth Impact (MMBN 2-3). The aura protecting Bass will disappear when this move is used (but then again, Bass will fly out of reach or use the move very quickly). He will float on his side of the field, hitting his opponents by slamming his own hand to the ground with tremendous force. It also pierces defenses and breaks the column that the player's standing on. Bass is vulnerable for a split second after this attack lands.
 * Neo Buster Rake (MMBN 4-6):  Bass uses both of his busters to fire at player's field's random points at the same time. In MMBN 4 and 5, this attack will take out his Dark Aura (if available) for a moment, and a "barrier" is created before his hands before he shoots. In MMBN 6, the attack no longer induces temporary invincibility, resulting in undefended players taking multiple hits of 200 damage or so each. Accuracy and rate of fire increase as Bass's forms get stronger.
 * Dark Power
 * Hell's Rolling: Bass charges up, then shoots 2 to 4 cutting rings/wheels that can change its path to hit player, pausing at player when hit and inflict great damage. In MMBN6, instead of 4 rings/wheels, he now summons 2 rings/wheels simultaneously, which will converge at the player's position if player does not move soon enough. (MMBN4-6 )
 * Dark Arm Blade:  Bass will appear next to player and swing his arm in a wide sword and/or long sword motion, often does multiple times in combination. In the anime, it is depicted as if Bass was clenching his fists with darkness shooting out from the top of his hands, similar to Zero's Recoil Rod.(MMBN4-6)
 * Darkness Overload: He rushes onto the front center panel of the player's area, greatly damaging and cracking the back two columns with a large overloading sphere of darkness. If the player is standing on the same panel he is, they will still take obstacle damage.(MMBN4-5)
 * Chaos Nightmare: A midair version of Darkness Overload where Bass will float up, then creates a very devastating and overwhelming large overloading sphere of darkness in the air. He then targets player's current location before hurling it down on player, damaging and cracking a 3x3 area, piercing invisibility. It also inflicts quite a lot of damage.(MMBN5)
 * Battle Chips (MMBN 6): Bass is capable of using attacks similar to Battle Chips. Except Tank Cannon and Dark Sword, all other chip attacks aren't used by Bass BX and are able to dispel certain Crosses.
 * Tank Cannon: Null element. Crack last player's row if it misses.
 * Golem Hit: Break element. Bass can target it where player is standing, not just the front of player's area. Replaced his Earth Breaker.
 * Fire Burner: Fire element.
 * Dark Sword: Sword element. Acts like the similar Dark Chip. Replaced his Dark Arm Blade.
 * Cybeast Power (MMBN6) These attacks inflicts great damage and penetrates player's defensive abilities such as invisibility.
 * Falzar Storm: Exclusive to Gregar's players. Bass uses the Cybeast Falzar's head to brew a powerful wind-based Falzar Storm. This attack also removes auras and barriers.
 * Gregar Breath: Exclusive to Falzar's players. Bass uses the Cybeast Gregar's head to unleash a powerful fire-based Gregar Breath.
 * Attacks used in Mega Man Network Transmission:
 * Spark Chaser: Bass fires a laser beam that moves at 90 degree angles, and can turn twice.
 * Homing Spark: Bass fires a slow-moving spark that home in on the enemy.
 * Delete Tower: Bass throws a pair of bombs to the ground that erupt into huge energy pillars.
 * Cross Burst: Bass throws sparks creating 4 beams in a cross pattern.

Defensive Abilities

 * Float: Bass always floating so changes in panels and attacks whenever he's moving never affect him. In MMBN6, he cannot cross over broken panels.


 * Aura: Bass's protection in MMBN 1-5:
 * Life Aura This ability is used only in MMBN1, 2, 3. A self-regenerating aura that Bass adopted. Its HP of 100-200(MAX). Only wind attacks or certain attacks equal/higher than the aura's HP can remove it, and Bass then regenerates the aura after using certain attacks. Causing him to flinch while he's executing the attacks may prevent him from regenerating the aura. He obtained this ability presumably by absorbing it from a piece of the Life Aura data of SciLab with his Get Ability ability.
 * Dark Aura: This ability is used only in MMBN 4, 5 by Bass XX. This aura acts like a Barrier 200, but with a self-regenerating ability. When the player uses a Northwind Chip; however, the barrier is dispelled and will not regenerate for the rest of the fight (except in MMBN4).


 * Cape Shield: Bass (excluding Bass XX form) doesn't have an aura or barrier of sorts in MMBN4, 5, 6. Instead, he uses his cape as a shield, which can block just about anything if he isn't attacking, with the exception of breaking attacks. In MegaMan NT Warrior (manga), his cape emit an aura that form a barrier. However, whenever he unleash Earth Breaker or any strong attack, the color of the cape will fade, and at that moment his cape is not functioning, leaving Bass defenseless.

Battle Chips

 * Bass (フォルテ, Forte in Japan) summons Bass to attack with Explosion.
 * Bass+, known as Forte Another (フォルテアナザー) in Japan, summons Bass to attack with Earth Breaker.
 * Bass GS (フォルテGS) summons Bass to attack with Vanishing World.

Later, the pattern of Bass's Battle Chips changed in Mega Man Battle Network 4 onward:
 * Bass (Forte) summons Bass to attack with Shooting Buster.
 * Bass Anomaly (フォルテアナザー) summons Bass to attack with Hell's Rolling.

Mega Man Battle Network 3
The Bass/Bass+ Battle Chip is obtained by defeating BassGS in Secret Area 3. Bass GS could only be obtained in Japanese events, and it overwrites Bass / Bass+.

Mega Man Battle Network 4
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating him in Undernet 5.

Mega Man Battle Network 5
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating him in Nebula Area 6.

Mega Man Battle Network 6
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating Bass SP in Graveyard Area.

Mega Man Network Transmission
(Megaman.EXE stumbles upon a secret area, which open entering, encounters Bass.EXE hovering in the air.)

Bass.EXE: You are nothing...

(Bass.EXE's cape billows in the air as he gives off an intense energy field.)

Bass.EXE: Little boy... How did you get in here...?

Lan Hikari: What!?

MegaMan.EXE: This surge... If I get any closer, it'll blow me away!

Lan Hikari: Grrr...! This is more than just a Navi! Careful, MegaMan!

Bass.EXE: ...? ...You...scum... You defeated Zero... Now, that's interesting. How powerful are you worms...?

Lan Hikari: He's attacking!? MegaMan. Battle routine! Set!

MegaMan.EXE: Execute!

(MegaMan.EXE and Bass.EXE engage battle. Because Bass.EXE is so powerful, he is invincible and cannot be harmed, so MegaMan.EXE has to endure the barrage of attacks until Bass stops.)

Bass.EXE: ...How did you withstand my attack... Now I know why Zero lost to you... Interesting... I think I'll actually try this time...

MegaMan.EXE: It's no good, Lan! He's too powerful!

Lan Hikari: Argh!

Bass.EXE: ...Nah... Not this time...

Lan Hikari: !?

Bass.EXE: It won't be long until judgment day... You'd better be ready...

(Bass.EXE leaves.)

Trivia

 * Bass is the only Navi with a missing Navi mark. Instead, a large scar is placed where the mark should be. The official Navi mark never appears in any game, but the manga and Rockman.EXE Official Complete Works depicts it as the "Forte" symbol, the musical term for "loud" or "strong."
 * In addition, Bass is also missing his violet eye streaks in the beginning, and later has them after receiving his scar. This may be a result of Bass absorbing many abilities (namely embedded with some sort of dark power from the Undernet) while plotting his revenge.


 * As part of the Rockman.EXE and Duel Masters crossover, Bass had a promotional card named "Forte, Brave Fear Lord" (勇騎恐皇フォルテ) in Duel Masters, and two Phoenixes appear in Mega Man Battle Network 5 as Giga Chips.
 * In the manga volume 7's color page, it's shown that Bass GS' cape become darkish green.


 * One of his official chips always summons a Buster Rake or Hell's Rolling, except in BN3, where he uses Earthbreaker for he did not have Hell's Rolling at the time. BN5 follows this tradition, but adds a variant where Bass summons Chaos Nightmare when the Giga Chip "Chaos Lord" is used.


 * There is also a Giga Chip 'Bass GS' (with an X symbol) that can only be gained from a Capcom promotional event for MMBN3 in Japan or through cheating. The chip involves Bass using the Vanishing World attack, inflicting 700 damage (but those standing in specific squares before the attack, standing right in front, or are invincible in specific manners are unaffected). This chip replaces the original Bass (White version) and Bass+ (Blue version) chips in the game when received (even if Bass GS is beaten before the promo event) and is also similar to the chip in the first BN game that also has been said to only be received through cheating, but like the traditional, Bass uses Air Burst/Buster Rake. The GS (X) Giga Chip can be stated to be Bass's strongest chip in the whole Battle Network series.


 * Bass is the first non-DS boss in the entire Battle Network Universe (including Star Force) to use chip attacks, the second being Acid Ace. (This does not count Area Grab, because it is too easily abused and often appears as a step in a Program Advance or a move unique to a Navi.)


 * The dark barrier which Bass created in front of him before shooting Buster Rake is very similar to Serenade's Holy Shock, only varies in color. This might be the proof that Bass has defeated Serenade.


 * In Mega Man Battle Network 2, a Bass copy makes a reference to his Japanese name with the line, "Battle is my forte!" Which is never said on the original Japanese dialogue, where he simply states, "...Understood... You can leave the fighting to me!"


 * Bass in MMBN2 (or rather, his copy) started the tradition of the double final boss battle. This tradition was also in Battle Networks 3 (where the real Bass was the first boss) and 4. A similar battle is also in MegaMan Star Force 3.


 * A dark silhouette of Bass appears on the "Dream Aura" Giga-Class Card of Mega Man Star Force.


 * According to a side story Ryo Takamisaki's manga, Bass's first ability absorbed via the Get Ability program was a Heat Blade, which he took from a bitter Elite Corps Navi who had stayed behind in order to delete Bass after his orders to do so had been changed to focus on the Alpha program.


 * While Bass.EXE's personality is pretty similar to that of the original Bass, the original Bass does not hate humans, he has some degree of respect for humans, since they were the ones that created robots.


 * UDON's English translation of Rockman.EXE Official Complete Works stated that a rule was made in which Navis could not have any cloth in their designs. Yuji Ishihara, the character designer for the Battle Network games, confessed to breaking this rule upon designing Bass, for he wanted to give him his trademark cape because of the Navi's tragic past.


 * In Mega Man Battle Network 2, a Program Advance involving Bass and Gospel can inflict of upwards to 6000 damage in which Gospel attacks with its breath, then if the enemy is still alive, Bass uses Earth Crusher that inflicts another 3000 damage. However, one of the chips required cannot be obtained normally without a Japanese exclusive event or a cheating device. This Program Advance is easily the most powerful in the entire Battle Network series, although it makes an appearance in Mega Man Battle Network 6 as a greatly watered-down version. The only possible way to get a higher damage is with Meteor in the second game, which can be done by areagrabbing three times (and the enemy locked into one panel), changing the stage to Grass and using Meteor with 4 Fire+40 chips for a total of 6200.
 * Curiously, Bass is the only being in Mega Man Battle Network - NetNavi or otherwise - that outright copies abilities, rather than using Battle Chips to perform the abilities of other Navis and viruses as MegaMan does.
 * Solo, a character from Mega Man Starforce, shares some trait with the manga version of Bass, such as their solitary attitude, and both despises the idea of friendship or bonding with others, but started to change after meeting their respective rivals.