Craft

Craft (クラフト) is a boss and the secondary antagonist from Mega Man Zero 4. He was an old friend of Neige, and is working for Dr. Weil as the commander of the Einherjar Eight Warriors, with the objective of destroying Area Zero.

Personality
He appears calm, controlled and loyal to Dr. Weil. Craft said that he loved Neige and promised to protect her, which is why he kidnapped her. In the beginning of the game, he followed Weil because he had all the world's energy in his grasp. He had a crisis of faith and thought that the dismal state the world was in couldn't be changed, even by heroes, which he believes are now a thing in the past. However, throughout the game, he experiences a change of heart. Inspired by Neige, he rebelled against Dr. Weil and used Ragnarok in an attempt to kill him. In the end, he finally becomes his old self again, albeit after taking fatal wounds from facing Zero, requesting him to watch over the world.

Mega Man Zero 4
He first appears in the second stage, where he and the eight warriors are introduced. After defeating four of the Einherjar Eight Warriors, Craft goes to Area Zero and fights against Zero to capture Neige. He captures Neige to protect her, as Weil plans to destroy the locale. When Zero goes to rescue Neige from the prison, Craft and Weil appear, but Neige and Zero manage to escape, and Craft has doubts about the actions of Weil and Neige. After the defeat of all Einherjar Eight Warriors, Craft betrays Weil and fires the Ragnarok at Neo Arcadia, also destroying Weil's remote control device on him to ensure Weil cannot force him to not do it. However before he can fire it again, Zero arrives and battles him as a second attack would be devastating. Zero defeats him, and before collapsing, he says he can't face Neige after what he did, and, in his last breath, he extracts a promise from Zero that is similar to X's in the previous game, as well as to leave his body in Ragnarok.

Attacks
Craft is a menacingly adept Reploid, capable of improvising battle tactics and stealthy maneuvers with deadly accuracy:


 * Dodge Dash: Craft swiftly moves across the screen in a blurring flash, often to Zero's backside to get into position for a counterstrike.


 * Laser Cannon: Craft aims his laser cannon straight forward and a laser scope shoots out a red focusing beam. This isn't the actual attack, but a warning sign of the one coming. Moments later, a massive wave of blue fusion energy will pour out of the cannon and blanket most of the lower battlefield. This attack cannot be blocked or stopped, but a dash-jump will save Zero from being hit- unless the timing is off or the jump is poorly executed; however, if Craft uses this attack from a corner of the screen, the attack can be avoided with a well-timed dash under the beam. Use of the DoubleJump chip will give Zero the added benefit of a second jump mid-air and delay his descent long enough that the laser blast will likely fade out before he lands.
 * Rocket Launcher: Craft shoots out a slow-tracking rocket that explodes after being hit.


 * Grenade Lob: Craft throws three concussion grenades that explode the second they make impact with the ground.


 * Scatter Bomb: Craft tosses an artillery bomb at Zero, and its armored shell scatters into six pieces of shrapnel that fly out in hexagonal directions. The bomb can be destroyed, but the explosion it produces is still dangerous.


 * Serrated Bayonet Stab: Craft suddenly rushes Zero and extends a sawtooth bayonet knife from his cannon to run him through. If he succeeds, Craft launches the knife from his cannon via hidden eject thruster to worsen the impact force and do further damage by wedging it into Zero even deeper. The teeth will chip away at his health as they tear into his body- unless he can shake off the knife. The knife can be extracted by using the Z-Knuckle, but Craft attacks swiftly so this may make the maneuver difficult to perform.


 * First EX Skill: Acute Laser Cannon: A deadlier version of Craft's laser attack. Craft jumps into the air and fires his cannon at a 45 degree angle, sweeping across the battlefield. He uses this ability in the first fight if Zero is at A Rank or higher, and as a normal attack in the second fight. However, if Craft is struck with a jumping slash, he'll be knocked off-balance and fail to complete it.
 * Second EX Skill: Exodus: Used in the second fight if Zero is at A Rank or higher. In a surprise move, Craft points his cannon straight down and opens fire on the ground, propelling him with enough force to stay suspended mid-air. From above, the side compartments of Craft's cannon snap open, uncovering two missile banks. Finally, Craft launches a three-wave missile salvo from both sides, each set spreading out further than the last. The ferocious barrage is barely avoidable by keeping to the very corners of the screen.

Archie Comics
Craft appears alongside other Mega Man Zero characters in Issue 55.

Trivia

 * Craft's name in the Japanese version, Kraft, is derived from the German word for "strength" and "power". His name was most likely changed in the localized versions to avoid confusion with a food company of the same name.


 * Personality wise, Craft slightly resembles Colonel from the Mega Man X series, Colonel.EXE from the Mega Man Battle Network series, and Acid Ace from Mega Man Star Force 3, as he holds back his full ability during the first battle, similar to Colonel's first battle in Mega Man X4. His relationship with Neige is similar to Ace's relationship with Tia.
 * Craft's design seems archaic when compared to other Reploids of the era, such as the Four Guardians.
 * The head design B for the earlier Craft model closely resembles Cyborg Guy's helmet from the anime series King of Braves: Gaogaigar.
 * While not mentioned in game (save for Weil reminding him that he has a significant amount of humans and Reploids still under his control in an attempt to get him to back down and Ciel's horror upon learning Craft's target change), him killing civilians (non-combatants) by using Ragnarok on Neo Arcardia made Craft a war criminal, as he broke the 4th Hague Convention: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land Section II Hostilities Article 23. (Note: It belongs to the International Laws, which is also still in force.)
 * When declaring that he destroyed Weil's remote control on himself while hijacking Ragnarok, he declares himself to no longer be Weil's "dog to be yanked around by the chain", which ironically referenced Fenrir, a chained wolf who during Ragnarok was released and proceeded to devour its master, Odin.
 * Craft is very similar to Sol Badguy, the main protagonist of the Guilty Gear fighting game series. Both of them have a noticeable red head accessory of similar design and have worked with a scheming scientist before. Both of them are also soldiers who went through redesigns to appear more buff, and have a rivalry with a special sword-wielding blonde-haired idealist legendary hero figure. Craft's hair also bears resemblance to Sol's. While Craft mainly uses a cannon whereas Sol uses the fireseal blade, Sol can fire bullets and other ranged attacks while Craft uses slashing/stabbing attacks with a bayonet himself. Furthermore, Craft and Sol were lovers to redhead female characters, those being Neige and Aria, respectively. Finally, Craft fights against reploids while Sol fights against gears, both of which are manufactured human-like beings that went maverick and attempted world domination. However, both Craft and Sol are noted to hold back their immense power.