Variant

Variant (バリアント) is a type of enemy from Mega Man Zero 4. They are Dr. Weil's new foot soldiers, replacing the Pantheons after the events of Mega Man Zero 3. They are similar to Pantheons in design, but there are only 4 types of Variants while there are a wide variety of Pantheons. They are a bit tougher than Pantheons that even one saber slash cannot defeat them.

Variant Fire
Variant Fire (バリアント・ファイア) is the most common type of Variant armed with a buster on the right arm that shoots incendiary rounds which erupt into flames on contact with anything. They are found in most stages in the game. The Blaze Shot weapon stolen from these Variants via Zero Knuckle can be used to melt the snow in Fenri Lunaedge's stage. Sometimes they will come down from the air, having jet thrusters on their backs.

Variant Missile
Variant Missile (バリアント・ミシル) is a type of Variant equipped with a rocket launcher on the right shoulder that shoots out 5 missiles in front of it. They are found in Heat Genblem's stage, Particle Beam, and the final stage. They bear a slight resemblance to Vile.

Variant Claw
Variant Claw (バリアント・クロウ) is an assassin type Variant that uses sneak attacks. They can be found in Fenri Lunaedge's stage, Hibernation Chamber, and the final stage. If the weather is snowy, they hide in the snow and jump out when Zero approaches them. The snow that explodes when they jump out can also hurt Zero.

Variant Fencer
Variant Fencer (バリアント・フェンサー) is a type of Variant that hangs from power lines and stabs with a flame sword when Zero comes too close. They are primarily found in Mino Magnus' stage, Magnetic Zone, and Randam Bandam's stage, Teleporter Base.

Trivia

 * Due to the sound of r and l being identical in Japanese, its name could be "Valiant", which can be also transcribed as バリアント (Barianto) in Japanese.

Similar enemies

 * Pantheon
 * Galleon