Rockman Zero (manga)

Rockman Zero is a manga that initialy follows the plot of the Mega Man Zero game series, but soon cuts away and starts its own story that only loosely connects to the games, being more focused on humor than action. It was illustrated by Hideto Kajima and published by CoroCoro Comics in three volumes.

Volume 1

 * Story 1: The Hero Awakens!! (目覚めたヒーロー！！) - The opening mirrors that of the first game, with some key differences. Zero is still found in a hibernation state, but is discovered by Lito and his friends. However, before he is reawakened, Fefnir arrives and attempts to destroy Zero, but not before he finally awakens and easily pushes him and his attacking force away. Shortly after, Zero collapses and when Lito goes to recover him, his helmet has mysteriously disappeared. Unlike the game, Zero suffers from a bi-polar disorder. As Zero, he appears virtually the same, but without his helmet, and appears to be comically frail, easily frightened by the slightest problems. However, when under extreme stress or when someone is in grave danger, he turns into his familiar self with his helmet returning, referred to as Rockman Zero.
 * Story 2: Fight! A Warrior That Evolves (戦え！　進化する戦士) - Zero and Lito hear about the Resistance and fight against Phantom.
 * Story 3: Coward Zero, Do Your Best!! (弱虫ゼロ、がんばる！！) - Zero fights against Blizzack Staggroff.
 * Story 4: The Female Leader - Enter Ciel!! (女リーダー・シエル登場！！) - Zero and Lito meet with the Resistance leader, Ciel. They fight against Leviathan.
 * Story 5: One For Sake of All...! (ひとりはみんなのために…！！) - Ciel takes Zero and Lito to the Resistance base, and they are attacked by Fefnir's forces. Zero is injured during the battle to protect Ciel, and Passy uses her power to heal him. Fefnir retreats after seeing Zero survived.

Volume 2

 * Story 1: To Heaven Base!! (本拠地 ヘブンへ！！) - Zero separates from the Resistance. Harpuia sents Aztec Falcon to fight against Zero and analyses the battle to prepare himself against Zero.
 * Story 2: The Worst Enemy, Appears!! (最凶の敵、現る！！) - Harpuia fights against Zero and uses Cyber-elves to help him, but one of them betray Harpuia and helps Zero. After his defeat, Harpuia convinces Zero join Neo Arcadia.
 * Story 3: The Truth of the Hero and the Legend (英雄の真実　そして伝説へ) - The final chapter of the first part. It is discovered that the mastermind behind the tyrannical rule is Cial, Ciel's older twin, whose ideals of a better world mirrored Copy X's as she tried to eliminate all Reploids. Copy X appears in his Ultimate Armor only as the fusion between all four of the Guardians, but is not named in the manga. He outmatches Zero who spent a great deal of time in his Rockman Zero form before reverting back to his meek self, but manages to narrowly defeat him with the Z-Saber. Ciel talks with Cial and she comes back to her senses, making a truce with Ciel. Humans and Reploids can now reside together.
 * Story 4: Hero of Justice! The New Zero!! (正義のヒーロー！　新生ゼロ！！) - 50 years after the previous chapter, a new Zero is created by Lito in a more child-like form with a ponytail, similar to his X series counterpart, with a new 'Hero Chip' installed, giving him a brave attitude to contrast with the original Zero's frail nature. Unlike before, Zero doesn't actually transform, but runs into hiding and dons his helmet before rushing into battle. In addition, he appears to have poor accuracy with the Buster Shot Gun. The plot appears is somewhat similar to Mega Man Zero 3. Here, Omega appears as the 'antagonist'. However, he appears somewhat less frightening and Omega is radically different from his video game counterpart as he is no longer a gigantic armor inhabiting Zero's original body, but is an actual Reploid. He appears without Weil, commanding a legion of Pantheons, still searching for the Dark Elf, but his obsession borders on humor as he eventually breaks down laughing just thinking about her.
 * Story 5: Important Mission!? Protect Kwappa!! (大事な子分！？　クワッパを守れ！！) - Omega is after an animal Cyber-elf, Kwappa, believing he is the Dark Elf, and Zero protects him. Zero gains a Chip for a EX Skill and defeats Omega.
 * Story 6: Cooperating with Omega!? Zombie Battle!! (オメガと協力！？ ゾンビバトル！！) - Zero investigate an abandoned junkyard where Omega reveals his fear of zombies. The two eventually encounters the junkyard zombies and combats them together.

Volume 3

 * Story 1: Omega, Serious Mode Explosion!? (オメガ、本気モードさくれつ！？) - Dr. Weil gave one more chance to Omega for destroying Zero, so Dr. Weil gave Omega a new weapon - known as Omega DX, which must be assembled first, however this failed.
 * Story 2: Showdown!! Zero versus Roze! (対決！！ゼロ対ロゼ！) - After Omega's failure, Dr. Weil decided to kill Zero, starting with building a duplicate known as Roze. However this doesn't work.
 * Story 3: The Wandering Warrior Craft Appears!! (さすらいの戦士クラフト現る！！) - Dr. Weil called Craft to kill Zero, and later Mino Magnus.
 * Story 4: The Treasure Hunt Full of Traps!! (宝さがしはワナだらけ！！) - One part of the story showed Zero, Craft, and Neige looking for a treasure, located inside a jungle before they found out it actually contained a "dead" Omega.
 * Story 5: Zero, Evil Stain!? (ゼロ、悪に染まる！？) - Zero goes out of control, and many believed he was possessed by the Dark Elf. He later returns to normal.
 * Story 6: Christmas' Great Battle!! (クリスマスの大激闘！！) - The last story takes place in Christmas, where Dr. Weil battles Zero himself using a giant mecha.

Part 1

 * Zero/Rockman Zero
 * Lito
 * Ciel
 * Cerveau
 * Passy
 * Cial
 * Fighting Fefnir
 * Hidden Phantom
 * Fairy Leviathan
 * Sage Harpuia
 * Blizzack Staggroff
 * Aztec Falcon (Aztefalcon)
 * Pantheons (Pantheon Hunter and Pantheon Flyer)
 * Golem

Minor characters:
 * Manga only characters: Lito's two friends, Lito's grandfather, villagers that helps Zero against Blizzack Staggroff.
 * Resistance members
 * Four Cyber-elves
 * Carryarm and Spiking
 * Garm
 * Gli-Eye
 * Unnamed snake Mechaniloid

Part 2
This happens 50 years after the first part of the manga. Omega appears in Lito's village looking for the Dark Elf.
 * Zero (This is not the same Zero from part 1, this Zero was built by Lito. Also known as "New Zero".)
 * Lito (and his two unnamed friends)
 * Omega
 * Kwappa (a frog Cyber-elf)
 * Pantheons
 * Dr. Weil (Dr. Vile)
 * Craft
 * Neige
 * Mino Magnus (Mino Magnaxe)
 * Noble Mandrago
 * Roze

Reception
Readers have mixed feeling toward the manga, as the plot is very different from the games. Some of the most notable changes include: Characters that were never heard in the game, like Lito, gain a great deal of importance in the manga. Zero has two personalities, one being cowardly and other resembling his game counterpart, and Lito created a new Zero with a different personality.

Trivia

 * Sigma, Rockman X, Crescent Grizzly, and Spiral Pegacion makes a cameo appearance in the manga.
 * When Zero and Omega have to fight the zombies, Omega says he is scared because he isn't good at Resident Evil, a reference to another game done by Capcom.