Dark Necrobat

"Squeak! This is GREAT! Very funny! The Earth has been severely damaged... Very cool, brother! Squeak! Let's retire all of the Reploids together!"

- Dark Necrobat

Dark Necrobat (ダーク・ネクロバット), also known as Dark Dizzy, is a vampire bat-based Reploid from Mega Man X5.

Necrobat was a Maverick created by Sigma three years before the events of Mega Man X5, but escaped from his control and remained in hiding since then. Sigma, not considering him a serious fighting power, forgot about him. The Maverick Hunters encounter him in a planetarium somewhere in northwest Sudan while they are looking for a Fuel Tank for the Space Shuttle. However, he proves to be a fighting serious power to both X and Zero, proving Sigma wrong indirectly.

Even though he is a Maverick, he has been in hiding rather than serving Sigma, and if anything also wanted to take Sigma's viral Mavericks out. He also implies that he knows about Zero's original status as a Maverick when encountering him. He has a verbal tic where he squeaks, similar to bats.

Strategy
In battle, Necrobat flies about, sometimes teleports, and can summon Batton Bones to attack the player. Like bats, he doesn't like light, and is weak to Shining Firefly's weapons, F-Laser (with X) or C-Flasher (with Zero). It is possible to defeat Dark Necrobat with a single F-Laser by hitting him only with its trail.


 * While he's flying around, he may sometimes dive at the player, grab them and bite the player's character to drain his life energy, like a vampire.
 * If Necrobat is low on health, he will release Sonic Waves up and down the screen. After that, he will use Dark Hold to freeze the player and attack with either a Sonic Wave or Batton Bones. If the player hits Dark Necrobat while he is casting Dark Hold, he will be stunned and drop to the floor.

After his defeat, the player obtains his weapon, Dark Hold.

Other appearances

 * Dark Necrobat appeared in two battles from the X Challenge mode from Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, where he is fought alongside Spiral Pegasus (stage 5-1) and Blizzard Wolfang (stage 8-2).
 * Dark Necrobat appeared in a Battle Memory from Rockman Xover.
 * Dark Necrobat appeared as an unit card in TEPPEN, and is present in the illustration from the Dark Hold card.

Data
Nickname: 忘れ去られし闇の戦士 (Wasure sarareshi Yami no Senshi, Forgotten Soldier of Darkness)

Stage enemies

 * Batton Bone B82
 * Killer Sphere
 * Sigma Virus
 * Sniper
 * Spark Gunner
 * Star Dust

Powers and Abilities

 * Batton Attack: Necrobat will summon Battons in swarms to attack X or Zero.
 * Bloodsucking: Necrobat will swoop down and drain health from X or Zero while replenishing his own.
 * Dark Wave: Necrobat will create sonic waves in order to attack X or Zero.
 * Dark Hold: Necrobat will freeze time in order to attack X or Zero while they're helpless.

When playing as X
Needing the Fuel Tank= Dark Necrobat: Squeak! I've been waiting for you!

X: Hey! Can't you understand the urgency of our present situation? There's no time to fight.

Dark Necrobat: Squeak! Who cares?! I don't take orders from anyone! The word 'Sigma' means nothing to me!

X: I'll destroy all Mavericks like you!

Dark Necrobat: Squeak! I'm always ready! Without needing the Fuel Tank= Dark Necrobat: Squeak! I've been waiting for you!

X: Hey! Don't you understand what's happening?

Dark Necrobat: Squeak! Who cares? In situations like this everybody dies, not only Mavericks but also Maverick Hunters. Squeak! But just to make sure, I'll kill you myself!

When playing as Zero
Needing the Fuel Tank= Dark Necrobat: Squeak! I know that smell...

Zero: Is he insane already?

Dark Necrobat: Squeak! We are comrades! Squeak! Let's not fight each other, squeak!

Zero: Crazy fool... What are you on about?

Dark Necrobat: Let's retire the Mavericks! Squeak!

Zero: You're one of them, I'll do you first! Without needing the Fuel Tank= Dark Necrobat: Squeak! This is GREAT! Very funny!

Zero: Is he insane already?

Dark Necrobat: The Earth has been severely damaged... Very cool, brother! Squeak! Let's retire all of the Reploids together!

Zero: ... You are the one who'll be retired.

Archie Comics
In the Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog comics crossover Worlds Unite, Dark Necrobat is one of the dozens of Mavericks revived by Sigma-1 as part of his plan to conquer various worlds and absorb their power. He joins Wind Crowrang in attacking the world of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, but is defeated by its heroes and their new allies from the Sky Patrol.

Rockman X5 (manhua)
Necrobat appears in the Rockman X5 manhua, helping Crescent Grizzly attack some humans with his men.

Production Notes
Developer Comments

"This was also influenced by a certain manga, so perhaps they asked the designer, "Please give him a Bat XXras feel!" (grin) [The character/manga he refers to might be Karas. The name is "Kohmori ??ras," where ?? is one kana blotted out.] However, as you can see from the results, he finished up as a smart design, and I really like it. Just before the game was completed, we discovered a bug that made the Dark Hold perpetually freeze the game. Gave me a real chill. (grin)"

Designer Comments

"Being a bat, he was established as draining his opponents' energy, so in short, he was Count Dracula, and I gave him form straight from that. A monster in full dress. He's the only one this game to have the Sigma mark on him."

"I shamelessly went for the Count Dracula look here. His right eye is a monocle, and he has a haughty air about him." -Haruki Suetsugu, Mega Man X Official Complete Works, 2009

Trivia

 * In the Mega Man X Legacy Collection version of X5, when Necrobat is defeated, he does not have the rapidly-white-flashing animation that other X5 Bosses have when they start exploding. It happens for a few seconds after he is hit with a killing blow, and abruptly stops when the explosion animations start. This marks a charge from the initial X5 release, when Necrobat had the white-flashing animation for both instances: the seconds after he is defeated and when the explosion animations start.
 * In the initial American release, Necrobat was named Dark Dizzy, after Dizzy Reed, the stage name of the keyboardist of the band Guns N' Roses.


 * Dark Necrobat shows many similarities with Shade Man, a boss of the classic Mega Man series who is fought in Mega Man 7. They're both bat/vampire themed, use soundwaves as an offensive weapon, and have the same life stealing ability, although Dark Necrobat uses it very rarely.


 * His "Dark Hold" (ability to freeze dimensions) is the only special weapon in the Mega Man X series that doesn't have any higher power when X is equipped with an armor that allows special weapons to be charged.


 * In the game, he is the only boss out of the eight to have Sigma's Maverick symbol shown below his health bar.