Storm Owl

"How dare you destroy my unit! You'll pay for this with your life!"

- Storm Owl

Storm Owl, known as Storm Fukuroul (ストーム・フクロウル) in Japan, is a horned owl-based Reploid from Mega Man X4 who is a member of the Repliforce, an organization branded as Mavericks because of their desire for independence.

Characteristics
Storm Owl is a Reploid with an appearance derived from an owl, featuring round eyes and a hooked beak. His body is round, and he wears a military beret on his head. He has large epaulet-like shoulderpads that function as wings.

One of the Repliforce's most resourceful generals, Storm Owl is a well-regarded member by the entire staff. He is a very proud soldier, and was extremely resentful when he and his associates were branded as Mavericks by the Maverick Hunters. After the Repliforce coup began, he commanded the Air Force to attack a city in a ploy to divert the attention of the Maverick Hunters. He is especially skilled at night-time operations, and is so proud that he will absolutely refuse to follow orders that do not come directly from his superiors. He was good friends with Storm Eagle, so he developed a grudge against X when the Maverick Hunter defeated him. He also does not get along with Chill Penguin at all, due to somebody once confusing him with a penguin as a result of his appearance and short stature.

His unbending loyalty toward the Repliforce would prove to be his undoing. After the Hunters' confronted him on his airship after he used it to attack a city, Owl refused their requests to stop his part in the coup and surrender. Owl engaged them in battle, forcing them to destroy him, his pride going before his fall.

Powers and abilities
Storm Owl can fly, being airborne most of the time during the battle against him. When hit, Storm Owl reduces the impact of enemy weapons with a wind barrier.


 * Swoop - Storm Owl will divebomb his foe and grasp them in his talons, then slam them into the ground.
 * 3 Way Shot - Storm Owl goes to a corner and fires streams of feather darts in three directions. These projectiles can be destroyed with the X-Buster or Z-Saber. Storm Owl stops using this attack after losing half of his energy.
 * Cyclone Attack - Storm Owl attacks with spherical projectiles, being the base of X's Double Cyclone. This attack has three variations:
 * Releases a single sphere in the Hunter's direction.
 * Storm Owl flies to a corner and releases four spheres to random locations, then makes the spheres move in the Hunter's direction.
 * Storm Owl flies to the center of the area and releases several spheres diagonally. Owl refers to this attack as his "trump card" (奥の手だ！) in the Japanese version, and he only uses it after losing half of his energy.
 * Giant Tornado - Used after losing half of his energy. Three close wind funnels that inflict heavy damage. Storm Owl will generate these tornadoes where his foe is standing.
 * In the Legacy Collection version of X4, If Storm Owl is injured with his weakness by the player during this attack, the attack will be interrupted and Storm Owl will be injured with the regular weakness animation to go along with it. However, the next time he attempts to perform the Giant Tornado attack, the wind spheres will already be firing from four corners of his body as he is flying to the center, stop when he reaches the center, and then resume again once he performs the animation, making it even harder to dodge.

Strategy
Storm Owl has a variety of attacks at his disposal. Almost constantly in the air he likes to dive in and grab his opponent, then slam them into the ground. With his ability to manipulate wind he can fire four homing air shots, create small vortexes, and powerful tornadoes. When his health is down by half he tends to move to the center of the screen to release a constant, four-way rotating stream of air shots for a short duration. X will have no trouble dealing with him using the Aiming Laser gained from Cyber Peacock (even easier with the Helmet Upgrade, as uncharged shots won't drain energy). Zero, however, will have very few opportunities to effectively attack with Rakuhouha (the damage Storm Owl takes from the attack multiplies with each projectile he his hit by) without being hit in turn. The most effective strategy is to bait Storm Owl into swooping down and triggering Rakuhouha just as he dives. This ensures 3-4 hits on Storm Owl with one usage, and if timed correctly will cause him to abort his dive and exit the screen without damaging the player.

It should be noted that Rakuhouha's energy meter refills upon taking damage. If the player has adequate life to absorb an attack, timing Rakuhouha so that Storm Owl hits the player upon unfreezing can allow the move to be used more liberally.

Most bosses show the ability that the player character gains during the battle. For X, his Double Cyclone is based on Storm Owl's similar attack. As for Zero, Tenkuuha is from Storm Owl's ability to absorb normal damage by surrounding himself with a small air current after being struck once.

In-battle quotes

 * Note: These are only present in the Japanese version of the game.

When playing as X
Storm Owl: How dare you destroy my unit! You'll pay for this with your life!

When playing as Zero
Storm Owl: Why did you judge us as Mavericks!?

Zero: Wait! Stop the coup!

Storm Owl: No. We're justified in doing this!

Other appearances
Storm Owl is fought alongside Storm Eagle in the X Challenge from Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2.

Archie Comics
Storm Owl was among the various Mavericks revived by Sigma-1 during the Worlds Unite crossover event in order to invade other worlds. Following the mass attack on the Sky Patrol, they scattered to various worlds to plant Unity Engines. Storm Owl was teamed with Storm Eagle to attack the world of NiGHTS into Dreams..., only to be defeated by their habitants upon the arrival of Tails and Air Man.

Rockman X4 (manga)
Storm Owl appeared in the manga as a Repliforce member, same as in the game. He is first seen with the rest of his Repliforce compatriots helping Zero stop Maverick activity near a dangerous volcano. After the incident with Eregion, where a city is decimated and Repliforce is under suspicion as being responsible for the attack, he is seen in the Repliforce's private conference room with the General and the Colonel, where they discuss what their next move should be. Owl is then present for the General's speech announcing the Repliforce's defection from the human government and decision to become independent.

Owl, and the entirety of the Repliforce air brigade that he commanded, are brutally shot down by a vengeful X who had also received a massive power-up thanks to the Ultimate Armor he got from one of Dr. Light's capsules. As he lays dying, he sits in befuddlement at X's amazing power, saying it far exceeds what Reploids can normally have, and accuses X of being the true Maverick, not Repliforce. X then abruptly kills him with a charged buster shot, and tells Owl that he was a Maverick and the humans made no mistake in deeming Repliforce as such, unaware of the real culprit behind Repliforce's coup.

Trivia

 * In the Mega Man X Legacy Collection version of Mega Man X4, the sound effects of Storm Owl's third Cyclone Attack is slightly different than the original English version. In the original version, he makes no sound as he prepares the attack, and then the sound effects of the spheres are repeatedly heard until he stops firing them. In the English Legacy Collection version, he makes the same laughing sound that he does when he picks up the player to slam them to the ground. Then, when firing the spheres, the sound effects are cut entirely, except for a brief second when he starts firing counter-clockwise, after which time the sound is gone again.
 * Storm Owl is the second boss in the X series to share a name prefix with a previous boss, Mega Man X's Storm Eagle (the first one being Flame Stag, who shares his prefix with Flame Mammoth). The two don't appear to have any relation beyond being based on predatory birds. Coincidentally, the names of both species can be combined to form the name of another, the Eagle Owl.
 * In Storm Owl's X4 concept art however, it is established that the two were close friends; which in turn led to Storm Owl developing a grudge against X after he defeated Storm Eagle during Mega Man X. This story is nearly identical to Overdrive Ostrich's, with the exception of Ostrich having served under Storm Eagle prior to Sigma's rebellion, causing him to go Maverick in grief.
 * In Storm Owl's level, there are two powerful laser cannons fired from above that will destroy a group of Metal Hawks in its laser fire (a Heart Tank is on a Metal Hawk in the first laser's line of fire). The lasers are a possible reference to the film Independence Day.
 * Storm Owl's Japanese name, Storm Fukuroul, is a combination of the Japanese word for owl, fukurou (フクロウ), and the English word "owl."