Copy X

"You are an interesting individual, as I thought you might be."

- Copy X

Copy X (コピーエックス) is a character from the Mega Man Zero series. He is a clone of X created by the scientist Ciel, and is the main antagonist in the first Mega Man Zero game. He has the distinction of being the only incarnation of Mega Man who is outright evil.

Mega Man Zero Official Complete Works Bio
A Reploid based on X's DNA, Copy-X governed Neo Arcadia after X sacrificed his body to seal Dark Elf. When faced with the energy shortage, he labeled innocent Reploids as Mavericks and, as the leader of Neo Arcadia, ordered his subordinates to begin destroying them with extreme prejudice.

Design
Copy X, as his name would suggest, is in his own words a perfect copy of Mega Man X, although there are some differences. The most noticeable of these are his red eyes, which help to establish his role as the primary antagonist, and his distinct differences in ideology from the original X. In battle, he dons his Ultimate Armor, which changes his base color scheme from dominately blue to white and gold, with the exception of his helmet, allows him to change elemental affinities (with matching color motifs), and which allows him to use a guided imitation of the Nova Strike. The armor also becomes adorned with an angel wing motif, with two wing-like extensions protruding from the upper back, an additional five from the helmet, and a final two from the sides of the X-Buster. The imagery here likens him to the Seraphim of Judaism, who were said to be the highest ranking angels, and this was signified by their six wings. This casts Copy X, who believes himself to be a savior and a hero, in an arrogant, self-praising light. This contrasts sharply with X himself (now a Cyber Elf), who also appears angelic, but in a much more modest manner, simply wearing a cassock over his armor with a blue and light grey halo that rains all colours of the palette appearing above his head, with no visible wings. Cyber-Elf X also has a different helmet design to Copy X, with Copy X's helmet staying much closer to its original design in all forms.

In his Seraph form, Copy X completely reforms himself into a much larger being. His lower body disappears and his arms detach from his body, becoming large and clawed, and six large wings appear on his back, creating a striking resemblance to a Seraph. This divine, angelic appearance is sharply contrasted by the demonic red glare in his eyes. He traps his enemy with halo-like rays and tries to purge them with searing flame set off by lasers from his eyes, further emphasizing the resemblance.

Personality
As he lays claim to being a perfect copy, one would expect that his personality would be identical to X's own; however, there are many major differences. One major difference to note is the degree to which he idealizes perfection: instead of identifying himself as a copy of X, he is persistant in making the distinction that he is a perfect copy, and to that effect feels that he is incapable of making mistakes. The standard by which he views himself creates a warped sense of justice in which any decision he makes is right by virtue of being perfect copy. Zero makes note of this difference after defeating Copy X the first time by calling him naive, suggesting that he lacked the experiences and memories of the original X to properly understand justice and rule Neo Arcadia as X did. However, Copy X disregards this, and doesn't hesitate to stand up for himself and his perfection, as shown when he was attempting to switch into Seraph Form by exclaiming,"Everyone treats me like a fool. Let me show you my true power." An important trait not seen in the original X because he had no need to do this being a hero. Unlike X, he is also violent, like Fefnir, when enraged. This greatly contrasts with the original X, who avoided conflict and had a strong aversion to violence. Because of these traits it can be concluded that Copy X is an imperfect Reploid copy of X, absolutely nothing like the original in every aspect except for basic physical design.

Before the events of Mega Man Zero
During the events of the Mega Man X series, Mega Man X put an end to the Maverick and Elf Wars (two worldwide conflicts). However, the Neo Arcadian Central Council was thrown into chaos since X eventually had to physically use his body to seal the Dark Elf away and his Cyber-elf form was nowhere to be found. As an emergency remedy prior to the events of Mega Man Zero, a brilliant scientist named Ciel designed and built Copy X, a supposedly perfect copy of the original.

The only problem facing them was this new copy, not having any of the battle experience or memories of the original, was thus fairly naive in his thought processes. With Neo Arcadia facing an energy crisis while the Reploids increased in number, Copy X decided that Reploids were at the heart of the problem. So began Neo Arcadia's "iron-fisted" policy of justice in which Reploids were mercilessly executed and branded as Mavericks without cause or provocation in the events of the first Mega Man Zero game.

During his rule, he regularly held trials with the Hachishinkan (Eight Gentle Judges), prior to their upgrade by Dr. Weil. This occurs within the track "Decision_Eight Gentle Judges" on the "Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Telos" CD (available for purchase in Japan only). The track suggests that the Hachishinkan noticed the change in X's personality and that Copy X (as well as his original) presided over many trials. It is possible that Elpizo was also tried by Copy X before his leave of Neo Arcadia. The disposal of innocent Reploids led to the creation of a Resistance.

Mega Man Zero
Copy X's Four Guardians led attacks on the bands that fled Neo Arcadia, often wiping out mass amounts in single strikes. When the Resistance discovered the legendary hero, Zero, it became a problem for Copy X and his armies as Zero began decimating his forces without much effort.

Highly impressed with Zero's skill, Copy X confronted Zero when he battled his way into the armored core of the city, Area X. Copy X maintained that he was the perfect copy, telling Zero that he was superior to both he (Zero) and the original X, and that he achieved true peace. After bantering for some time, Copy X challenged Zero to battle, a battle which Copy X ultimately lost. Zero tells him that despite his memory loss, he was sure the original X was much stronger. Furious at Zero's mocking tone, he assumed a gigantic Seraph battle form, but he was brought down, once again. Copy X then set his base to self-destruct in one final attempt to kill Zero, but Zero escapes the blast.

Mega Man Zero 3
Copy X, though defeated, was still an ominous presence in the mind of the Resistance, for Elpizo wished to lead his strikes on the army before X was revived in Mega Man Zero 2. Once the Dark Elf had been unleashed, Dr. Weil, using his advanced powers of DNA Resurrection, brought back Copy X along with three of his army commanders. Copy X MK-II (to whom the characters referred only as Copy X) this time assumed control of Neo Arcadia once more, with Dr. Weil as his chief adviser, though it seemed he was obeying Weil's every suggestion or command. In this incarnation, he also had a profound stutter, expressed in such a way as to imply his speech was glitched, exposing his further imperfection following a second revival.

Also, Copy X shows signs of having gone Maverick by ordering a missile raid on Area Z-3079, as that location was a human residential area.

Once Neo Arcadia began launching constant attacks on the Resistance Base, Zero destroyed the previously-mentioned three commanders before assaulting X's base of operations, Area X2. Here Copy X attempted to convince Zero that what he was doing was wrong, and that Neo Arcadia was right. Once more, it resulted in a battle between the two, which Copy X again lost. This time, the original X appeared and spoke to both Zero and Copy X - but Copy X wouldn't listen, instead growing angrier with each passing moment. The real X stated that Dr. Weil was using Copy X as a tool. In light of this, Copy X attempted to morph into his powerful battle form once again, but a sabotage device planted on him by Dr. Weil to prevent any rebellion caused Copy X to self-destruct instead. Copy X used phraseology that could both mean that he was attempting revenge on Dr. Weil or that he was showing X and Zero what he really was made of; he did, however, make a clear fact by showing his frustration at being taken for a fool by everyone.

Rockman Zero manga
Copy X appears shortly with his Ultimate Armor in the Rockman Zero manga, where he is an unnamed fusion of the Four Guardians created by Cial, who refers to him as the "Perfect Reploid". He overwhelms the battle-weary Zero using his Nova Strike and deals a serious blow, reverting Zero into his meek self. Believing he had already won, he prepares to kill Zero, but Lito tries to protect Zero. Angry, he throws Lito away and would have killed him, but Zero gathers up the courage and strength to fight back without his helmet, impaling the Perfect Reploid from behind using his Z-Saber. Without the Four Guardians, the Resistance was able to defeat the Neo Arcadian armies. Copy X was noticeably much more psychotic than his original depiction as seen through his facial tick.

Ultimate Armor
An armor that is capable of bestowing different elemental affinities, with each element a powerful different attack, and implements an air dash feature bearing a resemblance to the Nova Strike X used with his own Ultimate Armor.

Copy X equips himself with this armor before first clashing with Zero in the first Mega Man Zero title. Whether Ciel equipped him of this armor, or he had it installed upon himself, is not exactly made sure of; if she wished to make a perfect copy of X, it would mean the original X also had the armor equipped on him, which means that Ciel wanted to create a new X that still could fight. If the player's rank is A or S, Copy X may be able to recover a single health bar once, in a similar fashion to the original X in the first Mega Man X game. Although in Mega Man Zero 3 he heals himself when the player is at lower ranks.

Seraph Form
A winged, angelic transformation of Copy X, technically considered an Armed Phenomenon, an ability that was also present in his Four Guardians. Bearing no legs, but with an ability to levitate, this destructive form allows Copy X to easily destroy his enemies, using his halo to paralyze them, summon laser beams to torch the floor, and fire multiple beams. Strategically thinking, Copy X limits Zero's movements by destroying enough floor to trap him in the encounter and limiting his ability to dodge. Unfortunately, Copy X uses two floating platforms at his sides, which Zero can use to jump on/against. Surprisingly, touching the spikes on the pillars will not instantly kill Zero, only harm him. But even so, Zero will most likely fall into the pit when touching the spikes. If the player had achieved Rank A or S when fighting this form of Copy X, Copy X would sometimes attack using his floating pillars, bringing them crashing down onto the floor area in set patterns. Only the original Copy X was capable of reaching this stage in the first game. Copy X Mk.II was set with a bomb that would explode if this form were to be activated or if any sign of rebellion were to occur.

Copy X Mk. II
Rebuilt, and thus resurrected, by Dr. Weil, this recreation of Copy X takes back the position of leader of Neo Arcadia. Due to a vocal bug, Mark II has a stutter (in the Japanese version, he emphasizes strange syllables), but is equipped with the same combat capacities of his first form. Other than the stutter, the only differences he has over his first version are the addition of the Reflect Laser, a powerful shot that bounces off walls that he only uses when confronted with an A or S rank (though his original A or S technique becomes a standard move) and that when he attempts to access his Seraph Form, a bomb planted within him triggers, blowing him into pieces. It is later discovered that Weil planted it on him, and since he was of a high position of trust next to Copy X, he gained leadership. The other difference is that he has blue eyes in his standard form, rather than red eyes; however, they change back to red when donning his Ultimate Armor for the battle.

Trivia

 * Copy X, in his reappearance in Mega Man Zero 3, follows the long tradition in the Mega Man franchise of a "fake villain", as he was manipulated by Dr. Weil, similar to how Dr. Wily and Sigma manipulated other villains in their respective eras.


 * The original X was originally slated to appear as the antagonist of the Zero series, instead of Copy X (in fact, Copy X wasn't even going to exist), but due to the release of Mega Man X6, this idea was omitted in the list of original concepts meant to connect Mega Man X5 with the first Zero game.


 * Even though Copy X is the fifth Mega Man incarnation, he is only quasi-playable in his Mega Man Zero 3 mini-game.


 * Copy X is one of two Mega Man incarnations to not appear in all installments of "his" series (the other one is Mega Man Volnutt, who isn't involved in one installment of his series).
 * In this regard, Copy X is also the only one in which the series doesn't revolve around him (besides being one of the main antagonists), instead revolving around Zero.


 * Oddly enough, Copy X features a slide attack, a technique that was shared with the original Mega Man, although it was only used as a dash technique.


 * In actual gameplay, both of Copy X's forms has the least health of the final bosses in the Mega Man Zero series, with both of his forms having only two life-bars, in a contrast to the later final bosses, and some bosses earlier in the first game (which includes the Four Guardians), which had three life bars. Because he has two forms however, he still has the most health of the bosses in the first Mega Man Zero game. Additionally, Copy X's first form is rejuvenated by his EX Skill, adding the equivalent of another health bar.


 * If the player loses to Copy X not in Seraph form, he will continuously jump around the room executing his attacks in a taunt-like manner while yelling his you-are-defeated sentence.


 * Copy X is one of the few blue male Mega Men to have red eyes, the other being Thetis from Mega Man ZX Advent.


 * Copy X's personality might be a result of not having to go through Dr. Light's extensive 30-year-long testing. In other words, he might be a perfect copy of X physically, but never mentally conditioned to be at all like him, proving that even the original X could have been evil if it wasn't for Light's precautions.


 * X's ending in Mega Man X4 may be the first foreshadowing to Copy X, or likely the original intention for X to become the villain in the Zero series. While escaping from Final Weapon, he contacts Zero and begs him to destroy him in case he ever goes Maverick.


 * In Zero's Mega Man X7's ending, Zero has a nightmare where X apparently goes berserk and tries to eliminate all the Mavericks, even Zero. This was most likely foreshadowing Copy X's rise to power.


 * In both of his appearances, his attacks reference special weapons from Mega Man X.
 * The ice element is very similar to Shotgun Ice, especially the weapons look in Maverick Hunter X, while the charged form is similar to Storm Tornado.
 * The fire element is very similar to Fire Wave, although Copy X's version launches instead of being a constant stream.
 * The electric element is very similar to Electric Spark, although Copy X's version has a minimal tracking ability.


 * In a sense, Copy X's destruction can be seen as an indirect success on Zero's original objective that was given to him by Dr. Wily when he was created, which was to destroy Dr. Light's creation.


 * Copy X is possibly a homage to the Copy Robot of the Classic series.
 * Oddly, the original Copy X's helmet is seen with more lines and details, while Copy X Mk II has a smoother, less detailed helmet.
 * If one closely listens to Seraph Mode Copy X's theme "Fake", it sounds like a reimaging of Vile's theme from the first Mega Man X game.
 * Amusingly, both the Original and Copy X have only one unique theme dedicated to them. It's "Cyberelf" for Cyber-Elf X, and "Fake" for Copy X.
 * It should be noted that the first Copy X had a shorter start-up time for his "Ultimate Armor", while Copy MK II had a much longer start-up for the armor.