X's armors

X's armors, occasionally referred to as armor programs, are unique power ups that Mega Man X can equip to enhance his abilities.

Characteristics
Although each armor is unique and provides a different set of enhancements, most of them share a few common themes, being generally white with details in blue, gold and red (the latter being more uncommon). Some armors are based on specific motifs, such as the Falcon Armor's birdlike features and the Shadow Armor's ninja aspect. The armors themselves are separated in four parts: head, body, arms and legs, each hidden away in one of Dr. Light's Hidden Capsules. When a capsule is discovered by X, a blue hologram of Dr. Light explains the function of the part stored before allowing X to step inside and receive it.

Usually, X can equip the part and enjoy its benefits immediately upon receiving the upgrade, but there were circumstances which forced him to acquire all parts before the full armor could be used. The fate of each armor with the end of an incident is unknown; most of them disappear completely, while others such as the Fourth Armor are damaged in action. It is possible to repair and reuse an armor, although repaired armors tend to lose some functionality depending on the situation. Some armors such as X's second armor could be even acquired from Dr. Light a second time, with minor modifications.

Generally, the armor parts are strictly designed for X's use; although Zero could occasionally download the programs for X, he could not use the power ups himself. The one exception was during the Erasure Incident, where he could receive enhancements from Dr. Light's capsules, although there were no visual changes like in X's case.

History
When Dr. Light created X, he predicted that the world could need a new champion in the future and designed armor upgrades to assist his creation, storing each part in a capsule containing a holographic representation of himself. As if to test X, the capsules are often found very well hidden throughout the landscapes of the different areas X visits.

With the Sigma Virus and later the Nightmare rampant during the Earth Crisis and the Nightmare Incident respectively, Dr. Light would not allow X to use any of the parts until he had completed the entire set of armor for security reasons. When the armor was completed, Alia would analyze it and allow X to upload it. Zero could also help X by delivering any parts he found.

During the uprising of Giga City, X was equipped with an armor called the X Fire as his Hyper Mode, and could uncover a new version of the Ultimate Armor hidden away in Tianna Camp. The origins of these two new armors are unknown.

Rockman X by Yoshihiro Iwamoto
The Rockman X manga series by Yoshihiro Iwamoto follow the game locations of the armor parts for the most part, although they do not necessarily come from the capsules. Some examples would be the helmet of his first armor, which Zero presents to X after his defeat of Storm Eagle, claiming it to be a "medal" from Eagle to X. Or in cases such as his third armor, of which X did not collect any parts himself; instead, the program chips are obtained by the cured DopplerTown Mavericks and delivered by the pirate Marty. During his battle against Kaiser Sigma, X is completely obliterated, but the circular core gem of X's armor survives and regenerates him in his gold variation of the armor. At the very end of the X4 series, the Ultimate Armor obtained by X dispells from his body, revealing the Fourth Armor underneath.

Rockman X Mega Mission
X has obtained unusual armors of varying origins during the Limited incidents.

The first power up was the Clear Armor, an armor forged by Limited after X was contaminated with it in his fight against Limited revived Mavericks. Although the armor was powerful, it threatened to take over X's body, forcing him to take advantage of his enemy's power to destroy the armor.

The second armor was the Giga Armor, the final form of the Energy Armor given to Zero by Dr. Light. Zero passed on the armor to X after freeing him from the control of a Limited device, and X who used the Giga Armor's stored energy to destroy Tackione with a Giga Crush.

During the final Limited incident, X and Zero received unexpected help from their former enemy Return X, who merged with them to create the X Armor in order to fight the Hyper Limited Mavericks. When Zero was defeated by Sigma Limited, his half of the X Armor combined with X's to create the All X Armor, which X used to defeat the enemy with the Double X Buster. The All X Armor melted away from energy depletion, although Return X regenerated later.

List of armors
Below is the list of armors divided by similar traits:

Enhanced Armors
Those armors simply increase X's capability over his default body armors in all sides and usually comes with a powerful Giga Attack:
 * First Armor: The first armor that Mega Man X obtains in the Mega Man X series. It made its debut appearance in Mega Man X.
 * Second Armor: The second Normal Armor that Mega Man X obtains in the Mega Man X series. It made its first appearance in Mega Man X2.
 * Third Armor: The armor from Mega Man X3.
 * Hyper Special Armor: When X obtains the Hyper Chip, it gains a golden color and becomes the Hyper Special (ハイパースペシャル) armor.
 * Fourth Armor: An all-around armor first found in Mega Man X4. In its debut game, it was collected in four parts and slowly became more powerful as the parts were collected. The armor can also be obtained in Mega Man X5. If X is chosen at the Character Select screen at the start of a new game, he will begin the game with the armor equipped. The second Arm Capsule ability is in effect, enabling the Plasma Shot, but the effects of the Helmet Part are disabled for the duration of the game. The Nova Strike is also unavailable.
 * Ultimate Armor: The Ultimate Armor is an upgraded version of the Fourth Armor. This armor is usually secret, activated by using a code before starting the game. In X5, however, X can get the armor without using the code (thus, retaining the Force Armor as well). X also uses this armor during his battle against Zero in the same game. It is always given to X as a whole, though the Capsule shows an image of the Ultimate Armor Helmet. For reasons unknown, the Ultimate Armor is black in X6.
 * Glide Armor: The Glide Armor is found in Mega Man X7. It is different from the armors in Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X6 in that it can be collected one piece at a time, slowly getting stronger with every part, in contrast to X5 and X6 in which all parts of the armors must be collected to be functional. Also, X can remove the armor and be used without it once it has been fully assembled. It is a fairly all-around armor, as it is the only armor in the game.

Special Armors
Those armors below have been made specifically for numerous special functions, with both new abilities as well as lost ones. Their parts can't be traded with each other.
 * Falcon Armor: is found in Mega Man X5. The main feature is a flight function, which allows multi-directional maneuvering in a Nova Strike-like air dash. While in flight, X is invulnerable to everything except for instant-kill objects such as spikes and lasers. However, it sacrifices the ability to charge special weapons for this feat. The Falcon Armor's charged shot is a small, fast-moving, thin beam similar in appearance to a needle. The shot can pierce through walls and shields.
 * In Mega Man X6, X begins the game with the Falcon Armor. Alia had to repair it quickly, and its flight function is unavailable for the entire game. The charged shot is now essentially a fast-moving, smaller projectile with no piercing properties, but can now charge weapons.
 * Gaea Armor: It is found in Mega Man X5. It is a heavy armor that sacrifices maneuverability and special weapons in exchange for both greater offensive and defensive strength. The armor grants X complete immunity to spikes at all times, as well as mitigating the damage he receives. Additionally, X is surrounded by a green field which pushes back blocks with a tell-tale "V" on them when he dashes, and his grabbing strength is increased, allowing him to hang onto walls without sliding indefinitely.
 * Blade Armor: It is an armor focused on mobility and using the Z-Saber (which is physically adapted into X's buster, rather than a separate entity). The most significant feature is an upgraded air-dash. If the jump or dash buttons are pressed while X is airborne, X will freeze mid-air until the button is released. After this, he will perform a quick air dash that covers a lot of distance. X can air-dash vertically or horizontally, a feature from Mega Man X3, and he can also air-dash down.
 * Shadow Armor: It is a modified version of the Gaea Armor from Mega Man X5. It keeps many of the main features of the Gaea Armor, including invulnerability to instant-kill spikes, being able to hold on to walls without sliding down them, and the lack of an air dash. The Shadow Armor sacrifices the Gaea Armor's ability to push V-Blocks while dashing for a ninja-like maneuver. The X-Buster has been heavily modified for the Shadow Armor. X's normal shot fires shurikens, and behaves similar to the C-Shot from Mega Man X5.

Custom Armor
Even though there in fact was only one armor as the basis, at least three different armors have been created from it. Except the last one which parts can't be traded.
 * Neutral Armor: The Neutral Armor gives X no enhancements on its own. However, it has the ability to mix and match parts of the other two armors to give a customized group of abilities. Having a complete suit will unlock the Giga ability of that armor. It will, upon completing a set, glow more brightly, compared to a dull glow as an incomplete armor.
 * Icarus Armor: An Armor system that focuses on power, with defense and movement undertones. When the armor set is complete, X can use the Giga Crash.
 * Hermes Armor: An Armor system that focuses on mobility, with defense undertones. When the armor set is complete, X can use the X-Drive.
 * Ultimate Armor: The Ultimate Armor appears to be a black version of the Neutral Armor, with its own violet glow. It is a separate option within the Neutral Armor selection, and thus cannot mix its parts with those of the Hermes and Icarus Armor. It is also the most powerful armor in the game apparently.

Arsenal Armors
These armors were explicitly designed for the Command Mission game, possessing a vast arsenal of weapons, mostly enable combat capabilities without less special ones.
 * New Armor: It allows X to equip the Booster Parts he finds in the mines, as well as multiple Busters. It is a stockier armor than X's original. The most notable difference are the openings in the back, which, while X is moving, produce energy trails referred to in-game as a "scarf" ("Beam Muffler" in Japan). While this armor isn't traditionally exchangeable (excluding X Fire and Ultimate Armor), the scarf's color can be replaced with different colors.
 * X Fire Armor: X's Hyper Mode in Mega Man X: Command Mission. It is a special armor system that focuses on melee combat and is Fire-elemental. In this state, X's LE and attack increase by 50%, his speed and WE gain increase by 25% and he takes half damage from attacks. X's buster is replaced with a tri-pronged attachment called the "X Collider" that stuns with electricity, much like a taser, and can be charged with his Action Trigger to use the "Charge Collider". X's sub weapons are replaced by a Power Charge and a Shell Buster. It however, cannot be used indefinitely and has a cooldown phase, reverting X back to normal after some turns. It presumably does not have long range combat capabilities.
 * Ultimate Armor: The second Hyper Mode of X, obtainable after defeating Rafflesian. A stark change in appearance from previous armors in terms of design, but the color-scheme is back to the white, blue, red, and yellow detailing.

Mutation Armors
These armors are specially derived from the Limited substance, having special but bizzare strengths of their own.
 * Clear Armor: During the first Rockman X Mega Mission, upon defeating the first Irregular (Maverick), Wire Hetimarl Limited, (Wire Sponge L), a Limited parasite was released, and infected X, giving him the very powerful Clear Buster. Later on, after defeating all eight Irregulars, the Clear Buster evolved to the Clear High Buster during the fight against Schmitt. During fighting the unleashed iX (named so to differentiate 'Ikusu' pronunciation from Rockman X's 'Ekkusu'), X gains the full Clear Armor. The armor is then destroyed by iX's final attack before him perishing.
 * Replicapture Armor: After defeating four of the Irregulars (Mavericks), and then passing out, X is captured by the Order Breakers. When the remaining four Irregulars are defeated by Zero, Zero verses X. The reason behind this is that Tackione had used a Limited created by him to control X and make him fight (and kill) Zero. The Limited resembles an armor with tubes connecting to X's arms and legs. It was destroyed by Zero and X returned to normal.
 * Giga Armor: The Giga Armor was used by X in the fight against Tackione's final form. As Zero was tired because of his previous battles, he gave all his remaining energy to X, along with the Neo Armor and Neo Buster. The armor became the Giga Armor, a powerful armor equipped with the Giga Buster and Giga Saber (Tackione's Saber Grap). With it, X is able to use the Giga Crush attack, which destroyed both Tackione and the Giga Armor itself by using all of its energy.
 * EX Armor / All-X Armor: The EX Armor was obtained by X when Return X decided to suspend their fight and temporarily join with X and Zero to become the two EX Armors. After defeating the Hyper Limited Irregulars when formed together as Mix Forte, Enemice used his Sigma Chip to turn into Sigma Limited, and knocked down Zero. When Zero got unconscious, the part of Return X that was on him attached to X, becoming the All-X Armor, X and Return X combined their busters into a powerful attack that defeated Sigma Limited, but the armor vanished because of the amount energy used, presumably destroying Return X.

Trivia

 * Due to design changes, X's armor was slimmed down in the arms and legs, to give him a more streamlined appearance. It affects such armors have always had one red, triangular or diamond-shaped crystal situated in the forehead. The first and only armor to not have this is the Neutral Armor and its variations. It appears to be situated on the front of the collar instead and changes color depending on the version of this armor, however a glowing triangle is visible on his forehead.
 * The idea of armor parts was thought of in a time RPGs were popular in the market, along with the concept of characters gaining experience points and new powers as they reached higher levels. Reflecting on this fact, the staff working on the first Mega Man X game decided on armor power ups to stand out in this trend. Hayato Kaji joked about the headbutt ability of X's first armor.
 * The Armor from X1 is sometimes referred to as the Light Armor by fans, due to it being the first special armor created by Dr Light; setting the standard for nearly every armor afterwards.
 * Similarly, the X2 Armor is sometimes called the Giga Armor in reference to the Giga Crush provided by the Body Part. However, this conflicts with the Giga Armor from the Mega Mission 2 trading card story.
 * Likewise, fans sometimes refer to the X3 armor as the Max Armor, and it's gold version as the Gold Max Armor.