Reploid

A Reploid, or Repliroid (レプリロイド) in the original Japanese games, from the science fiction video game series Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX, is an android with complete free will and thought processes comparable to that of humans. The term was originally reserved for robots whose design was ultimately derived (or "replicated") from the original Mega Man X design, but throughout the series the term has been extended to cover any android with similar intellectual capacity, like X and Zero, which aren't Reploids due to the fact they are originals (created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily respectively) but are referred as by common terms.

History
In 21XX, some 100 years after the events of the original Mega Man series and the apparent death of Doctor Thomas Light, an archaeologist named Doctor Cain excavated one of Doctor Light's laboratories and discovered a capsule which contained the highly advanced robot named "X". X represented a substantial jump in robotics technology, prompting Cain to reproduce X's technology from Light's original work and notes. Being unable to reproduce the technology perfectly, Cain was forced to invent alternative solutions. All robotic designs based on X's technology have been referred to as "Reploids," since they are imperfect "replicas" of the original X. Despite being the original, X is often referred to as a Reploid, and refers to himself as such.

By the time of Mega Man ZX, set around 200 years after the Mega Man Zero series, Reploids and humans have eventually become one and the same due to Reploids being given human mortality and humans receiving cybernetic implants. This has blurred the lines between humans and Reploids so much that the entire race (both humans and Reploids) is now known as Humanoids. Nevertheless, Reploids have triangles on their foreheads to make a distinction between them and humans.

Technology: Mind
In 200X-20XX, robots such as Mega Man were not entirely capable of free will. For example, Dr. Wily's Robot Masters were capable of limited thought and moral decisions which lead to such things as hobbies and preferences, though these aspects were already set in their programming, giving the programmer some kind of status as a god. Wily usually abused this aspect and mostly programmed or reprogrammed his robots to feel extreme hatred for Mega Man.

Reploids, on the other hand, do not possess a similar structure in their AI, giving them absolute free will to the same extent as human beings have, which allows them to exist as civilians. This however has led to some Reploids becoming criminals or rebels, which leads to the classification of "Mavericks" ("Irregulars" in the original Japanese versions).

New Generation Reploids


First appearing in Mega Man X8, the New Generation Reploids were created from the prototype Axl. Their main purpose is to serve as workers for a space elevator project, known as "Jakob". These Reploids are fitted with a chip that grants immunity from all viruses known at the time, and also permits these Reploids to change the shape of their bodies (like Axl). However, this ends in failure, as the advanced chip also incorporates data from the Maverick Sigma, causing the Reploids to go Maverick at will.

Lumine, the main supervisor of Jakob, believed himself and all new-generation Reploids to be superior to even the original Reploids, and plotted to destroy both humans and old-generation Reploids alike. Lumine ultimately fails, and the production of the new generation Reploid line was discontinued after the news of Lumine's Maverick status was revealed. The use and manufacture of copy chips was also terminated; however, with space development in full swing, there was still a demand for the advanced new generation Reploids and "years later" copy chip production resumed.

Trivia

 * Despite their overwhelming global presence in the series, no Reploid gained a playable role up until Mega Man X7 with the introduction of Axl.


 * There are only three Reploids based on Zero's architecture instead of X's: the copy of Zero from Mega Man X2, the Zero Nightmare, and Zero's newer body from the Mega Man Zero series.
 * Although not fully based on his design, High Max from Mega Man X6 was constructed by the Reploid scientist Gate using Zero's DNA.