Mega Man X (series)

The Mega Man X series made its debut in December of 1993 on the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The series is set in the 22nd century, almost one-hundred years after the events of the Mega Man classic series. The story revolves around Mega Man X, the final creation of Dr. Thomas X. Light, who is discovered by world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Cain and used to create an advanced race of robots known as "Reploids" (called so because they are literally reproductions based on the design of X). However, not long after their creation, some of the Reploids begin to go "maverick" and attack humans. Because of this, Dr. Cain is asked by the council to put a stop to this, and as such, forms a special unit to stop these "Mavericks" known as the "Maverick Hunters." However, the leader of the Hunters and Dr. Cain's initial creation, Sigma, goes maverick himself, taking many of the Hunters with him. Thus, the beginning of the First Maverick War begins to take shape...

Below is a time-line of the events that precede, include, and directly follow the Mega Man X series:

21st Century

 * ca. 2050 : Dr. Cain is born (the exact date of his birth is unknown, but he appears to be in his late-60s to early-70s by the events of Mega Man X and Mega Man X2).


 * 2078 : Dr. Cain receives his PhD in Archaeology.

22nd Century

 * April 8, 2116 : Dr. Cain's archaeological team searches for fossil records relating to mesozoic plant life, but is unsuccessful. Thus, he decides to change locations.  According to his journal:  "Still nothing.  Tomorrow I'll move my dig to a new site and maybe have better luck."


 * April 9, 2116 : Cain's team finds something: "I got some odd readings...It looks like something metallic is buried below the surface." (From the Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 10, 2116 : "I can't believe what I've found! The lab that belonged to the famous robot designer, Dr. Thomas Light." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 13, 2116 : "I found it! There's a warning on the capsule, but it should be safe to open..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 14, 2116 : "I met "X." Light gave him the ability to think and make his own decisions..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 15, 2116 : "Light was a genius! I may be able to replicate his design..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * November 22, 2116 : "With X's help I have completed my first "reploid." His strength and intelligence seem limitless."  (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain") A Reploid is what Dr. Cain calls a "replication" of Dr. Light's work.




 * January 3, 2117 : "The new reploids have been running off the assembly line for several weeks..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * 2118 : The Maverick Hunters discover the ruins of another laboratory dating to the 21st century. Inside, they discover a capsule that contains a robot, and upon opening it, the robot goes "maverick," taking out several members of the team.  Sigma is called to see if he can neutralize the maverick and, after an intense battle, he takes him down.  The only way for Sigma to defeat the maverick is to destroy a crystal on his forehead, and upon doing so, it releases a vapor into the air.  At the moment, no one thinks anything of it, but later, this seems to be the origin of the Sigma Virus (which is later renamed the Zero Virus after its true origin).  Dr. Cain repaired the robot when he was taken back to the Hunter HQ.  The robot turned out to be Zero and, although it wasn't known at the time, he was the creation of Dr. Wily (who Bass and Treble was a prototype for).  Zero soon became a member of the Hunter team.


 * February 16, 2118 : "Three reploids went "maverick" today and injured two people...Council has decided to set up a group of "Hunters" to destroy any maverick before it can cause injury. The reploid Sigma has been assigned to lead.  Sigma contains my latest circuit designs.  His systems should be immune to problems..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * May 16, 2118 : "Sigma and his Hunters have been able to prevent further injury. Everyone is starting to breathe easier.  I'm worried about X.  He seems unsure of his place in life.  Given time, I'm sure he'll find his way..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * June 4, 2119 : "My worst nightmare...Sigma went maverick! X wants to join Zero, the new leader of the Maverick Hunters, and go after Sigma.  I'm doubtful, but I won't stop him.  Something has to be done!"  (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * (The Day of Sigma) Sigma went "maverick," most likely because of his exposure to the Zero Virus, but possibly due to some faulty system design, and being the leader of the Hunters, he took a large portion of them with him. Then, believing that Reploids were destined to be the masters of the Earth, he launched a large-scale attack against Able City, where Hunter HQ was located, greatly damaging it with warheads.


 * (Mega Man X) Although X was by nature a pacifist, he had to do something, so he set out to stop the ambitions of Sigma and the maverick Hunters. Fortunately, he found capsules that contained the artificial intelligence of Dr. Light that explained X's purpose and, at the same time, provided system upgrades for him.  X managed to defeat the rogue Hunters and, along with Zero, find the secret base of Sigma.  In their battle with Vile, one of the powerful ex-Hunters, Zero sacrificed himself to destroy Vile's ride armor, but provided X with a stronger "buster."  In the end, X managed to destroy Sigma and bring the unrest to an end...


 * December, 2119 : (Mega Man X2) Six months after the original Maverick Revolt, a group of mavericks break away from the control center and occupy an abandoned production factory. The Maverick Hunters are mobilized, under Mega Man X, to contain the crisis, but the plot thickens.  A new maverick uprising begins to develop under a group of mavericks that identify themselves as the X Hunters, and X is faced with a new wave of mavericks to face.  Dr. Cain, of course, tells X that he has no choice and must once again stop the chaos that was developing.  However, the X Hunters also had the pieces of Zero, X's former partner.  X manages to collect them before they could reconstruct him and program him against X.  X manages to defeat the mavericks and penetrate the X Hunter fortress at the North Pole, defeating Serges, Violen, and Agile, X returns to Hunter HQ and is informed by Dr. Cain that something is located in the location of Magna Centipede's stage.  He goes there and finds a copy of Zero, constructed by the previously-defeated Sigma, but the real Zero blasts him away with his buster (having just been repaired by Dr. Cain), and Sigma reveals himself.  X then fights and once again defeats Sigma, restoring peace and order for a second time...


 * It is speculated that Serges (the so-called leader of the X Hunters) was actually a reincarnation of Dr. Wily, who had is artificial intelligence placed inside the reploid body of Serges, which would explain how he was familiar with Zero's design. However, Capcom has never given any official word on this.


 *  Early-2120s : (Mega Man Xtreme) A hacker named Techno (from a group known as the Shadow Hunters) has hacked the Mother Computer and sent the world's networks on a fritz. X, with the help of Dr. Cain and Middy, volunteers to be sent into cyberspace to put a stop to the threat.  X defeats the mavericks that are revived from the past and, eventually, defeats the Shadow Hunters (Zain and Gemeel), but upon defeating Techno, Middy (who shared the same CPU) dies.  In the end, however, order is once again restored.


 * ca. 2125 : (Mega Man X3) Cain Labs creates Dr. Doppler, a Reploid scientist who would head up a "utopian" community where humans and Reploids could live in peace named Doppler Town.  However, not too long after his creation, Doppler inspires a revolt and forms the Doppler Army, attacking Maverick Hunter HQ!  The anti-virus that he was creating to counter the Sigma Virus was found to be a placebo, and with HQ and Cain Labs under attack, X and Zero were called into action.  X and Zero defeated the mavericks in charge of Doppler's army and Cain pinpointed the location of his hidden lab.  When they confronted and defeated Doppler, they found out that he was not responsible for the revolt- Sigma was.  Doppler had been infected and had built a new body for Sigma, so X and Zero go after him.  Sigma has a powerful new "Kaiser Sigma" body, but in the end he is defeated.  However, he turns into a pure viral form, yet Doppler comes with an anti-virus to save them.




 * ca. January 1, 2130 : Repliforce v. 3 is initiated by Cain Labs. General, Colonel, Iris, and all Repliforce personel are created.


 * 2130 : (Mega Man Xtreme 2) When Reploids begin to lose their DNA Souls, Dr. Cain traces the source of this epidemic to Laguz Island. There he finds that a group called the Soul Erasers (Berkana and Gereth) are behind the plot, and after defeating the eight guardians of the island, he confronts them, and ultimately Sigma, foiling the plot.


 * ca. June 1, 2130 : Repliforce v. 3 is deemed "ineffective and potentially dangerous" by Cain Labs. X is made commander of unit #17 and Zero is made commander of unit #0 of the Maverick Hunters.


 * (Mega Man X4) After the Repliforce is deemed to be ineffective, the Sky Lagoon, a floating city, falls onto the city below and kills thousands. X and Zero are sent to investigate and find Colonel on the scene searching for his sister (Iris), and although this seems to be a legitimate claim, the Council finds this suspicious and after that point considers Repliforce to be a group of mavericks.  Behind the scenes, a mysterious cloaked figure (Sigma) tries to convince the General to work for him, but at first the General refuses.  In the end, the Repliforce rebels against the humans, wanting to form their own society.  X and Zero are called by Dr. Cain to put a stop to the uprising and must fight the Reploid leaders of the Repliforce.  Then, once the revolt is stopped on the basic level, they have to fight the Colonel, Iris (which greatly saddens Zero, since there seems to be a love interest between them), Double (a new Hunter that was working at the HQ, but who turned out to be a spy), and then the General.  However, Sigma was behind the plot and was up in space with them, planning to use a satellite weapon to attack the humans, but Zero and X defeat him and, with the help of the damaged General, blow up the satellite/space station.


 * Early-2130s : Dr. Cain resigns his command of the Maverick Hunters and leaves Cain Labs out of his guilt for the failure of the Doppler Project and the Repliforce as well as the fact that his first creation, Sigma, seemed to be the cause of the ongoing "Reploid Wars" (at the time). He creates a Reploid named Signas, with the most advanced CPU of all existing Reploids, to assume command of the Hunters.


 * ca. 2135 : As Dr. Cain doesn't appear again through the series, it is believed he died of "old age" (he would be 85 years old).




 * 2140 : (Mega Man X5) Ten years after the battle with the Repliforce, the world thought a new age of peace might exist. People had begun to expand into outer space due to a boom in population on Earth and colonies began to spring up orbiting the planet.  However, the largest colony, Eurasia, was taken over by an unknown group of Reploids, lead by Dynamo, and its gravitational device was altered so that it would head on a direct course to Earth (the colony will hit the Earth in just 16 hours).  A large energy readout of the colony returned a signature that it was infected with the Sigma Virus, so the Maverick Hunters saw no other solution except to alter the colony's path by hiting it with the Enigma laser canon.  Yet, the laser required four pieces, each of which was being held by a Maverick, so Mega Man X and Zero were called into action by Signas, the Hunter's new commander (created by the late-Dr. Cain), and assisted by a navigator named Alia.  When they recover all the pieces and use the laser on the colony, it hits it and only destroys part of it!  Thus, Douglas (the Hunter engineer) tells them that they must recover four parts of a space shuttle (a relic from the past) that the Mavericks have if they want to have one more chance to put the colony off of its course.  X and Zero collect the parts and Zero flies the shuttle into the colony, and destroys it, although the pieces and debris from it still fall towards the Earth, with the majority burning up in the atmosphere. Zero however, still in the now trashed space shuttle, also falls down to Earth. Alia then pinpoints the location and Lifesavor, (the Hunter Medic) goes to recover him from the crash site. He finds him, and brings the exhausted Zero back to the base. However, Alia then notices a strange energy reading from the area where the debris from the colony landed. It indicates the Colony virus and the Sigma Virus having merged into a new virus, even more powerfull than the previous two. She dubs it the "Zero Virus". Zero then begins to investigate around the area, which seems to be a fusion of Cyberspace with the real world, where he encounters strange Mavericks like the Shadow Devil, and Rangda Bangda, which resembles Mavericks defeated before. However, when he investigates deeper he finds X, who believes that Zero had become a Maverick upon looking at his Virus readings (which indicated that he was being powered up by it instead of taking damage) or that he could become one if he kept being so close to it, threatening to bring him back to the base by force. The two fight each other in a room reminiscent of one of Dr. Wily's 21st century labs (with a "Dr. W" neon sign on the back wall), and in the end, the battle results in a draw. Sigma then reveals himself to destroy X, who is unconscious at this point, but Zero stops the attack and returns it. Sigma then retreats, but Zero goes deeper in, and finds Sigma's lair. It is revealed that Sigma was behind the whole plot, and the hunter manages to defeat him, but Sigma's final form is so strong, that its explosion damages Zero severely, to the point where he is missing his left arm and his entire lower half. X finds Zero's body lying on the ground and picks it up trying to get Zero to respond, but is attacked by Sigma's remains, which shoots a laser through them both. Zero briefly awakes then, and fires a charged buster at Sigma, finishing his remains off, afterwards proclaiming that X should live. Some time afterwards, X's broken remains, (he is missng his entire lower half, and both his arms) is seen lying on the ground, where it is repaired by Dr Light's hologram. X returns to the hunters fully repaired, and searches for Zero's remains... But all that X finds of Zero is his signature "Z Saber," which he carries with him away from the battle...
 * (Mega Man X6) Three weeks after the crash of the Eurasia colony, the Earth's surface is badly damaged and the Sigma Virus is rampant. As such, humans have been forced to live underground and Reploids have been sent to the surface to attempt to make it liveable once again, with the Maverick Hunters, under the command of Signas, cleaning up the world of Maverick resistance.  Gate, a Reploid scientist who was once a former colleague of Alia, stumbles upon the crash site of the colony, finding something unusual.  After that, a strange set of Maverick outbreaks occurs, and when X is called to investigate, he sees a purple virus-like form of Zero appear to help him.  However, this virus later starts to infect mechaniloids and Reploids, and becomes known as the Zero Nightmare.  Around the same time, a powerful Reploid named High Max appears and claims to be investigating the source of the Nightmare, along with a Reploid scientist named Isoc, but X doesn't trust High Max and challenges him.  High Max, however, proves too strong and X cannot damage him with his X Buster. High Max and Isoc declare that they will stop the eight Mavericks that are on Gate's "research" team and, in the meantime, create a new "Utopia" for Reploids to live in (which seems reminiscent of what the Colonel and General did during the Repliforce Incident).  X goes off to the Nightmare zones (which are disorienting and filled with viruses) and defeats the Mavericks, impressing Gate and making him challenge X to a duel. He shows X the piece of rubble he found at the wreckage site was anything but a "piece of Zero" and gloats gleefully at how "wonderful" its contents were. And allows the Hunters access to his hidden laboratory. Before going to the lab, X defeats the incarnation of the Nightmare and finds Zero, who was believed destroyed after the last encounter with Sigma.  Signas and Lifesavor (the Hunters' medic) are reluctant due to the Nightmare Incident, but Zero is allowed to come back onboard.  X and Zero go to Gate's lab, and High Max, the "indestructable Reploid," is ultimately destroyed while Isoc is "erased" afterwards, right before Zero. (Alia comments that it is reminiscent of the "Erasure Incident" prior to the Repliforce's revolt).  X and Zero manage to defeat Gate himself, and upon his defeat, Gate reveals the truth: at the wreckage of the colony, he discovered the "DNA" of Zero, and thus he used it to create the Zero Nightmare. (and seemingly made him go Maverick as well, as Zero's DNA is infested with viral code, and moreso during the events of X5, where the entire Earth was covered with it.) This, however, was not the end of it  He also found the badly damaged body of Sigma, and he had been slowly reconstructing him ever since. He awakens Sigma, But Sigma declares that he never died, and hadn't needed Gate's help, shooting him with an energy beam. X and Zero rush of to the location of the reconstructed Sigma and battle him, and although he was not fully complete, he puts up a good fight. In the end, the Hunters prove victorious, defeating Sigma and removing Gate's body from the wreckage of his lab in an act of mercy, as he was Alia's old friend, and he knew what it was like to lose a friend. And so the threat was averted...
 * Note: It is generally assumed that Isoc, although not directly stated by Capcom, is a reincarnation of Dr. Wily. Many people believe that Dr. Wily had his artificial intelligence somehow put into the "body" of this Reploid, which explains Isoc's obsession with Zero and how Isoc can "stop" Zero from moving when he confronts him and how he claims to "know his systems inside-and-out."  Additionally, Zero says that he does not fully understand how he was repaired, but when he talks to Dr. Light's artificial intelligence (via one of the capsules), Light tells him that he does not know who repaired him. However, many believe that either Isoc or Dr. Wily himself in another form repaired Zero. Either way, someone with knowledge of Zero's systems repaired him.


 * ca. 2170: (Mega Man X7) Many years have passed since the Eurasia and Nightmare incidents that left the Earth's surface in ruins and raging with viral outbreaks. Since then, Reploids have worked diligently to clean up the world and make it inhabitable for humans once again.  With the Earth cleaned up once again, humans have repopulated the surface and ushered in a new age of technology.  Next Generation Reploids begin to be developed- Reploids which have the ability to copy the DNA of other Reploids and, thus, adapt to their environments.  Over time, the Maverick Hunters begins to be seen as an ancient institution that is no longer "with the times," so a faction called the Red Alert Syndicate is created under the command of a Reploid named Red.  Yet, when one of their recruits named Axl goes AWOL and defects to the Hunters, Red issues a challenge- they release eight mavericks imprisoned by them upon the world, stating that whichever group manages to defeat them is obviously superior.  In the end, it is revealed that Sigma is behind the plot, having been drawn to Red Alert after realizing the power of the Next Generation Reploids (such as Axl).  Once again, the Hunters face Sigma and in the end he is defeated.


 * ca. 2175: (Mega Man X8) A few years after the Red Alert incident, Next Generation Reploids are being produced in large quantities and technological development has really taken off. One major project is the Jakob Project by which an orbital elevator, called the Jakob's Tower, is created.  This elevator/tower stretches from the Earth all the way up to outer-space, making space travel far easier.  Next Generation Reploids have been used in the construction of the tower because of their powerful bodies that are able to withstand great pressure and which are considered "maverick proof."  However, an explosion at the tower and the appearance of a crab-like mechaniloid brings X, Zero, and Axl to the tower's base where Vile (defeated in Mega Man X and Mega Man X3) appears and kidnaps the program director, Lumine.  Who is Vile working for and what's going on?  The Hunters don't have time to find out because eight new mavericks appear at various spots around the world to keep them occupied.  However, it appears that Sigma is once again up to his "same old tricks-" but is he?  This time he plans to use these so-called Next Generation Reploids' abilities against them- he has placed his DNA within their copy chips, meaning that they can go maverick at will.  Sigma plans to wipe out the world ("scorch it") and repopulate it with his "children."  Of course, the Hunters plan to stop him and a major confrontation results on the Moon where the Hunters defeat Sigma, but Lumine appears, finishes him off, and declares that he "will rule in his place."  X, Zero, and Axl battle Lumine in an intense fight and in the end prove victorious.




 * Note: In light of the fact that Sigma is destroyed on the Moon in Mega Man X8 and there are no Reploids around for his "virus" to infect, it is generally considered that he "dies" at this point. Therefore, most people believe that he will not appear in any other games that take place chronologically after Mega Man X8 (especially since he is not seen in Mega Man X: Command Mission).


 * 2176-2200: Thanks to the Jakob Project, humans and Reploids have been able to develop more efficient space-traveling technology. The rapid population growth on Earth has furthered the need for colonial expansion into space, just as it had earlier in the century, so space technology becomes far more important towards the century's end.

23rd Century

 * 2202: "An unheard-of mineral substance known as Force Metal was extracted from the debris of the small planet 2202XA8" (From the manual of Mega Man X: Command Mission).


 * ca. 2210s: (Mega Man X: Command Mission) Several years after the discovery of Force Metal, technology based on it has revolutionized the field of Reploid Engineering. Giga City, an island in the middle of the ocean, has been built for the sole purpose of mining and smelting the material.  Peace had existed for decades and the world was peaceful until a rebellion began to rise on the island.  Epsilon, the leader of the revolt, was branded a Maverick by the Government, and Colonel Redips of the Maverick Hunters' Far Eastern Division dispatch X, Zero, and Shadow to investigate.  Shadow betrays the team and X and Zero are separated when part of the ruins they enter at collapses.  They eventually meet up, come in contact with a group known as the Anti-Rebellion Resistance led by Chief R.  X and Zero eventually meet up with Reploids such as Spider (a bounty hunter), Steel Massimo, Cinnamon, and Marino.  In the end, X, Zero, and Axl recover the Supra-Force Metal from Epsilon after defeating him and hand it over to Redips, who offers and escort fleet back to Hunter HQ.  However, when the fleet arrives at the Resistance HQ, it opens fire and destroys Chief R and others in the process!  Then, Redips appears on the monitor and declares them all "traitors."  X, Zero, and Axl head over to the Eastern Division HQ where Redips reveals himself to be Spider ("Redips" backwards is "Spider!").  Redips is a Next-Generation Reploid who used his copy-chip to change DNA (the ability was greatly enhanced by the power of force metal).  Redips retreats to up the Babel Orbital Elevator and, in the end, despite changing into a large and powerful form using the Supra-Force Metal, X, Zero, and Axl defeat him (one of the previous "Mavericks," Ferham, comes and takes a Supra-Force Metal off of Redips to make him easier for the team to destroy).  In the end, Ferham takes the metal and jumps off the elevator, detonating herself and destroying the substance to ensure that it won't ever end up in the wrong hands again...




 * ca. 2210s-2220s: The Maverick Wars continue.


 * ca. 2230s:


 * Dr. Weil is born.


 * Fefnir, Harpuia, Leviathan, and Phantom are created (the Guardians).


 * Cyber Elf technology is invented.  Cyber Elves are pure energy with artificial intelligence.  They were invented for the sole purpose of ending the Maverick Wars.  Their creators designed them to amplify the power of Reploids and to combat the effect of the Maverick Virus.  Key in this development was the creation of the Mother Elf, which Mega Man X used in order to permanently destroy the effects of the Maverick Virus and thus end the Maverick Wars.


 * ca. 2240s-2250s: Neo Arcadia is built as a major city-state at the end of the Maverick Wars as a place where humans, Reploids, and Cyber Elves can live in peace.




 * ca. 2260s: The Mother Elf is stolen by Dr. Weil, who turns it into the Dark Elf and instigates the Elf Wars. This four-year period is so violent that it destroys 90% of the planet's Reploids and kills 60% of the planet's humans.  During this time Zero's original body is destroyed (though not completely) and his "soul" (Reploid DNA and AI) is transfered into a "copy" body while Dr. Weil uses his "remains" (the original body) to construct Omega.  The Dark Elf and its baby elves attempt to control the Reploids, so X and Zero fight against them and, in the end, go up against the powerful Omega, defeating it with the Final Strike attack.  Dr. Weil is punished and banished (Weil is given regenerative armor before his exile so that he will survive and "suffer" psychologically and his crimes are downloaded into it as data so that he won't forget them) as is Omega and Zero seals himself for a period of 102 years (according to Mega Man X5 it was to "cleanse" his Reploid body).

Trivia

 * At the end of Mega Man X3, it is said: "To save mankind, he (X) must destroy Zero." However, such thing never actually happened.