Crescent Grizzly

"So, you are the famous Maverick Hunter... I never expected to see you... What an honor."

- Crescent Grizzly

Crescent Grizzly (クレッセント・グリズリー), also known as Grizzly Slash, is a grizzly bear-based Reploid from Mega Man X5. He is a weapons broker that sells illegal weapons from his secret warehouse in northern Siberia, Russia, and happened to have a Crystal Ball in his possession, a part necessary for the Enigma laser cannon.

Characteristics
Crescent Grizzly is a large Reploid with a bear-like appearance. His armor is predominantly brown in color, although his left arm is larger than the other and also red in color. He can transform this arm's claws into a drill in order to burrow through the ground. He also retains a large scar across his right eye.

Despite selling weapons, Crescent Grizzly seems to not like violence, saying that he is just a weapons dealer. His illegal weapons dealing once put him on the radar of the Maverick Hunter Zero, who gave him a scar in their past confrontation, but left him alive. If the player encounters Grizzly with Zero, Grizzly will directly chastise Zero for giving him the scar, saying "seeing you re-opens old wounds...". He believes that both Mavericks and Maverick Hunters are the same: too violent and overconfident. By the time the Maverick Hunters reached his warehouse to get the Crystal Ball, he was infected by the Sigma Virus and was starting to become a Maverick, wanting to die in a fight before he fully turned.

Strategy
Crescent Grizzly attacks by throwing three small crescent shots from his clawed hand and jumping. When a third of his energy is depleted he will burrow, appearing at times to attack: using his hand as a drill when appearing from the floor, slashing when appearing from the walls, or dropping down onto the player from the ceiling. After two-thirds of his energy is gone he will stop burrowing and use giant crescent attacks. Some walkthroughs recommend defeating him first as he can be easily dealt with using default weapons. His weakness is Spike Ball if playing as X or Twin Dream if playing as Zero.

Data
Nickname: 暴走アイアンクロー (Bousou Iron Claw, Berserk Iron Claw)

Powers and Abilities

 * Crescent Shot: Fires three small crescent shots from his hand
 * Drill Arm: Uses his drill to dig into the ground and attack from different locations with it
 * Crescent Claw: Takes a huge horizontal swipe with his claws after emerging from the back wall
 * Mega Crescent Shot: Fires two enormous crescents from his hand (one high and one low)

When playing as X
Needing the Crystal Ball= Crescent Grizzly: So, you are the famous Maverick Hunter... I never expected to see you... What an honor.

X: We have no time to fight you. Just give me the Crystal Ball...

Crescent Grizzly: The virus is already taking control of me... Soon I'll become one of the Mavericks... We are destined to fight anyway... Fight me while I'm still conscious! I don't want to waste you when the Virus has taken control!

X: I understand your situation, but we don't have time! Please understand! We're dealing with the fate of the entire Earth. We can't waste time fighting you...

Crescent Grizzly: Everything is meant to be... No one can escape their destiny... I'm sure you know that, too. Besides, this is part of your mission, isn't it? Now! Fight me, Maverick Hunter! Without needing the Crystal Ball= Crescent Grizzly: So, you're the famous Maverick Hunter... I never expected to see you... What an honor. I don't understand why you bother coming here in this situation, but... As you can see, I'm already infected by the virus... Soon, I'll become one of the Mavericks... Anyway, we are destined to fight. I want to fight you while I'm still conscious! Come on, fight me now, Maverick Hunter!

When playing as Zero
Needing the Crystal Ball= Crescent Grizzly: Zero! Seeing you re-opens old wounds...

Zero: You should have that looked after. I don't have time for small talk. Give me the Crystal Ball...

Crescent Grizzly: Why don't you do what you usually do, and force me to? You used to be a Maverick, right? That's what I heard. And, you destroyed Sigma, didn't you?

Zero: What, that old story...? If you dare to try and fight me, then I accept your challenge anytime, anywhere.

Crescent Grizzly: Hunters and Sigma are very similar. Very aggressive and overconfident.

Zero: What? We're nothing like that scum!

Crescent Grizzly: Oh yes, you are... I'm just an arms dealer... But you... You destroy anyone who stands against you. Now I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me, Maverick Hunter! Without needing the Crystal Ball= Crescent Grizzly: Zero! Seeing you re-opens old wounds... Hey, you look depressed... What, did you make a mistake, or something? Even the Hunter who destroyed Sigma makes mistakes! Ha ha ha!

Zero: Your childish antics grow tiring. If you dare to fight me, then I accept your challenge: Anytime, anywhere.

Crescent Grizzly: I'll make you pay for what you did to me, Maverick Hunter!

Archie Comics
Crescent Grizzly was amongst the many Mavericks revived by Sigma-1 during the Worlds Unite crossover event, identified by his Japanese name instead of his American name. When he and his fellow comrades are weaking the Unified Army, he attacks Axl.

Rockman X5 (manhua)
Crescent Grizzly appeared in the Rockman X5 manhua. In the manhua, he is the big boss leader of smaller bear Reploids similar to himself. His personality seems to be that of a hot-tempered foreman. At the beginning of the first chapter, he and some of Dark Necrobat's henchmen are holding one particular human hostage, crucifying him for everyone to see. Other humans speak out against the cruel treatment and insult Grizzly, who loses his temper and attacks the crowd with crescent slashes. As he is about to crush a little girl with his fist, X intervenes and stops him.

Production Notes
Developer Comments Actually, he started off as a pig. (grin) I wanted to make him a largish boss, so I'd established him as a pig with poison gas, but I was worried over how ethical poison gas would be as a weapon [Cultural impact: Remember that subway incident?], so I scrapped that idea. (sweat) He's the first boss, but I wanted him to be big and impressive, but all bark and no bite, so I got some feedback from my seniors here and decided to make him a bear. The instant I decided on a bear, I easily figured out his attack methods and name.

Designer Comments He's a bear and a drill besides. (His red hand transforms.) Working from that, there was no way he couldn't look powerful. That's why I tried emphasizing his drill arm by painting it red. Being that he's a Japanese bear [lit., "Ring-around-the-Moon bear"], I was lost as to how to work in the moon marking, but I eventually inserted it as part of the structure around his neck.

I drew Grizzly to look like a construction foreman; the kind of guy you'd want to call "Boss!" He has heavy machinery on one hand, and has a neck like a log from working out. -Haruki Suetsugu, Mega Man X Official Complete Works, 2009

Trivia

 * His weapon, the C-Shot, is a possible homage to Quick Man's weapon the Quick Boomerang from Mega Man 2. X fires yellow boomerangs, and Zero's spin slash forms a large crescent silhouette.


 * Crescent Grizzly has a cameo appearance in the Rockman Zero manga.


 * Coincidentally, his base appears to be in Russia; the bear is considered a symbol of Russia.


 * In the original American release, Crescent Grizzly was named Grizzly Slash, as an homage to Saul "Slash" Hudson, former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses.


 * Crescent Grizzly's dialogue towards X and Zero is similar to Magma Dragoon from Mega Man X4, only it's the opposite towards the two Maverick Hunters; he holds a grudge against Zero over a previous encounter, even going as far as comparing him and the rest of the Hunters to Sigma and wanting to kill him while seemingly encouraging X to fight and put aside his reasoning. Notably, he only mentioned being affected by the Sigma Virus if X encounters him. He may have great respect for him for his pacifism, claiming it to be an honor to meet the pacifist Hunter, as he himself states disliking violence and not wanting to fight out of his own control by the virus. This may make him one of the few Mavericks, if not the only one, to respect X for wanting peace, compared to the other Mavericks who despise him for it.