Marino

"I don't care who this Rebellion Army is. All I know is I'm not gonna stand by while they steal stuff I could be stealing!"

- Marino, when joining the party

Marino (マリノ) is a female Reploid encountered by X in the Giga City region, at Gaudile's laboratory. Marino prides herself a thief, akin to Robin Hood and sought to steal Professor Gaudile's new technology from him.

She specializes in targeting trade secrets, such as new information, inventions and data on the latest developments in curing modern illnesses (including the Sigma Virus). Marino then spreads the acquired information throughout the world without seeking compensation.

History
First appearing in Chapter 4, Marino uses X's group's entry as a cover to intrude unseen into Gaudile's laboratory, where she discovers Cinnamon. The two quickly form a bond, as Marino realizes she must take Cinnamon with her, especially if she is to make off with the new technology she is after. During her escape, Dr. Psyche soon finds them and she ends up nearly killed by his Preon companions. While Marino survives thanks to Cinnamon's healing ability, she falls unconscious until X rouses her. She decides to join forces with X to get Cinnamon back. After the party defeats Dr. Psyche, Cinnamon encourages Marino to join X's group with her.

At the start of the final chapter, before heading up to the Heliport to await the transport that Colonel Redips had arranged to ferry X, Zero, and Axl back to base, Marino mentions that she's going to try a more legitimate lifestyle, though she does admit to maybe just stealing on the weekends. When Redips later exposes himself to be a Maverick and frames X and his friends, she compares his actions to that of a corrupt corporate executive: "That's the way suits operate. Once you're no longer useful, they toss you out like so much garbage."

Weaponry
In battle, Marino fights like a ninja, or more specifically, the kunoichi. She utilizes a pair of Beam Knives initially, which she draws with lightning speed (moderate hit radio). Later on, she can be equipped with elementally themed bō shurikens and even a laser-bladed Chakram, with which she shows off her martial arts prowess and performs a 1-2-3 combo of slashes and a high-kick. She is the only playable character in the game able to equip either a shot or combat type main weapon, while others are limited to one type. Her equipped weapon is held to her back by a holder/sheathe Mechaniloid called Hayohn (ハヨーン), which floats close to her. Also, she has a visor with some kind of sensor attached to her helmet that can be pulled down over her eyes.

Marino's weapons:
 * Beam Knife: Marino's starting weapon, a pair of small laser knives that she uses to attack with Two Strike.
 * Beam Blade: A pair of short laser swords with straight blade (similar to a Ninjatō) that attack with Two Strike.
 * Beam Sword: A pair of short swords that attack with Two Strike. They posses slightly better defensive stats than her other weapons (Second only to the Vengeful Needles), but they weigh more than most of her other weapons as a trade-off (Again, second only to the Vengeful Needles).
 * Beam Chakram: A pair of laser chakrams that Marino uses to attack with Three Strike.
 * Beam Wonder / Beam Miracle: Both weapons are a pair of purple laser blades shaped like a question mark that Marino uses to attack at close range. Beam Wonder attacks with More Learning, and boosts the amount of EXP obtained from the enemy if it gives the final blow, while Beam Miracle attacks with A Little Rich and the final blow boosts the Zenny obtained.
 * Beam Dagger: A pair of laser daggers with two blades that attacks with Eye Closer, which may cause Blind status to the target.
 * Vengeful Needles: A pair of hand-held paper fans that attack with "Sweet revenge!", causing the same amount of damage Marino received before her attack. If she isn't attacked before her attack, no damage is inflicted. The damage received can be accumulated by not attacking with the weapon, inflicting more damage when used in her turn. The damage is lost if she is defeated. In the Japanese version of the game, this weapon was originally named Revenge Harisen.


 * Fire/Ice/Thunder Star: Elemental bō shurikens that Marino uses to attack with Triple Arrow, throwing three of them at one enemy.
 * Fire/Ice/Thunder Comet: Same as the Fire/Ice/Thunder Star, but Marino attacks with Quintuple Arrow, throwing five shurikens at the enemy instead of three.
 * Fire/Ice/Thunder Stella: Same as the Fire/Ice/Thunder Star, but Marino attacks with Arrow Barrage, throwing one shuriken at each enemy present.

Trivia

 * Inspirations for this character are a mix of the popular female ninja (above mentioned kunoichi) and the female thief character archetype which emerges in several Japanese video game, manga, and animation characters, Rouge the Bat for example. This could explain why Marino's garb consists of Go-go boots and not sandals and tabi socks, like a more traditional ninja; and to also better fit the Mega Man X character style.
 * After her introduction chapter, Marino never appears in any following cutscenes, only in dialogue exchanges.


 * One of her early designs resembles a character style from the Mega Man Zero and ZX series.


 * Marino is a male given name (meaning "man of the sea" or "son of Mario").
 * Her theme song is played during Rafflesian's boss battle.
 * An NPC recognizes Marino as a former fashion model (though context doesn't make clear if it is meant as 'celebrity' or 'production' model).