Aeolus

"Such a beautiful resolve... To throw away your life, for a friend..."

- Aeolus to Model Z

Aeolus (ヘリオス) is the Biomatch for Biometal Model H and a boss character in Mega Man ZX Advent. He is fought in the Floating Ruins.

Model H grants Aeolus many superhuman abilities, such as wind manipulation, the ability to dash at super speed, and the ability to fly or hover for short periods of time.

Appearance
Aeolus appears as a young man with pale skin and long silver hair with a pale green tint and a very thick, pointed fringe that covers one half of his face, which is characterized by a sharp, stoic expression. Like his fellow Mega Men, he wears the typical ZX Mega Man vest, but specific to only him, he wears a cape along the waist that is stylized in a way that somewhat resembles the coat Serpent wore. In game, he is always seen with a sword in hand (which is notably not of the plasma sort), however it is never used in battle. Interestingly, his ear pieces have been given earring-like attachments.

Due to Aeolus's hair style, which covers his forehead (the location of the possible red triangle identifying Reploids), it is impossible to tell if he is human/humanoid or Reploid.

Personality
Aeolus is arrogant and very much a perfectionist. He behaves in a superior manner to all whom he encounters, and these mannerisms, when coupled with his appearance, imply that he is a member of some higher tier of society. He deems the human race ignorant (himself excluded), thereby setting him as a misanthrope, and cites this as the root cause of all conflict; thus, he plays the Game of Destiny to rid the Earth of ignorance, in order to ultimately end conflict. It is therefore curious that he would cooperate with his Mega Man opponents, Atlas and Thetis in particular.

His personality partially mirrors that of Model H's persona, Sage Harpuia from Mega Man Zero series, particularly in his perfectionist attitude.

In spite of his perfectionist attitude and misanthropist beliefs, he is somewhat touched by individuals sacrificing themselves for others, as evidenced by his remark to Model Z when the latter decided to take them on by itself to give Vent/Aile enough time to retrieve Ashe/Grey.

Mega Man ZX Advent
Aeolus makes his first appearance alongside Siarnaq after Grey/Ashe defeats Rospark and witnesses a Raider's soul being absorbed into Model W. Grey/Ashe prepares to do battle, but the two apparently have more pressing issues to attend to, instead taunting the inexperienced Mega Man before leaving with the Model W. Aeolus meets them again on the Floating Ruins and engages them in combat for the Model W that is disturbing the area's gravity, but is defeated, much to his dismay, and he vows to fulfill his goals before escaping with the Model W.

Aeolus appears next to the other Chosen Ones on one of Model A's ciphers, (excluding Grey/Ashe). He appears once again to block the player's path to Albert on Ouroboros, along with Atlas, Siarnaq, and Thetis. Even with the revelation that he had been used by Albert, he is nonetheless confident that he can best all of his opponents and ultimately defeat Albert. However, a well-timed arrival of Aile/Vent distracts the four long enough for Grey/Ashe to escape and continue on, and the five begin to battle.

(the following is possibly irrelevant to Aeolus)  When Ouroboros begins to crumble after the defeat of Albert, Model Z decides to hold off the four alone, allowing Aile/Vent to go to the aid of Grey/Ashe, who had fainted after the battle. Model Z manages somehow manages to disable their movement, claiming that he knows far more about their Biometals than they do. The outcome of this battle is yet unknown. However, if the player clears the game on Expert/Maniac Mode, a hidden ending shows the four Mega Men alive and well in their transformed states, though the implications of this are unclear. However, Master Thomas asks Master Mikhail what he thinks happened to the original Reploid data when Reploid lifespans were being limited; the appearance of the Mega Men at this point therefore implies some relation to this matter.

Attacks

 * Aeolus will perform a 3-slash combo, the last slash emitting a sonic boom that travels through the screen. In Expert Mode, Aeolus will emit two sonic booms instead, and they will travel across the screen faster.


 * Aeolus' charge attack will fire two plasma cyclones, and the direction of the cyclones depend on the character being played as. If playing as Grey, the cyclones will travel in a V pattern in front of Aeolus. To evade this attack, simply dash through the opening between the cyclones. If playing as Ashe, one cyclone will fire in front of Aeolus in a horizontal path, and another one behind him.


 * Aeolus will dash towards the player character and slash at them.


 * Aeolus will jump forward and slash at the player character.


 * Aeolus' ultimate move will result in him dashing upwards and hover above the ground, while summoning two electric pinwheels. Evading this attack takes timing, and the player must time their dash correctly in order to avoid taking any damage.

Etymology

 * Aeolus and Helios are alternate names for Hyperion, which is yet another Moon of Saturn, thus keeping with the theme naming that Pandora, Prometheus, Tethys, Atlas, and Siarnaq share.

Trivia

 * Aeolus has a high sense of arrogance, alike Pegasolta Eclair, a lightning-centered boss from Mega Man Zero 4.
 * He is the first villain in the series to carry a weapon outside of a transformation, though he is never seen using it.


 * Aeolus' Megamerged design appears to be based on Harpuia's; the helmet ornaments and jet thrusters create a distinct bat-like motif, giving a much more sinister impression. This could be viewed as a visual representation of the noble Model H being used for evil purposes against his will.


 * Like Harpuia, Aeolus is able to create whirlwinds and use external devices to generate electricity in battle, albeit in a somewhat different manner.


 * Unlike Harpuia, Aeolus' flight capabilities are limited, as they are based on those that become available to the player; however, they are still superior to those of the player - he is able to perform two consecutive Air Dashes compared to the player's single Air Dash, and he can remain airborne for much longer than the player while hovering.
 * The flight limitations appear to be purely for gameplay purposes, as he can hover indefinitely during cutscenes.


 * His classification of "fools" appears to be very similar to that of Dr. Regal and Dr. Vega.
 * Aeolus in the Japanese version is the only one of the four enemy Mega Men to have his name share the same first letter as his Biometal (Helios and Model H), and is one of only two Mega Men in the ZX series to share the same first letter as their biometal (the other being Ashe and Model A).