Navi Chips

Navi Chips (ナビチップ) are a special kind of Battle Chip in the Mega Man Battle Network series that summons the depicted NetNavi to perform their signature attack. They are replaced by Summon Cards in the Mega Man Star Force series.

Properties
Navi Chips are obtained chiefly by defeating their respective Navi (i.e., a ProtoMan Navi Chip is won by defeating ProtoMan). They can also be obtained through the Chip Trader or from other characters during the course of the game. All Navi chips have a 5-star rarity, and with the exception of the first and second Mega Man Battle Network games, where Battle Chip classes did not exist, all Navi Chips are Mega-class, with certain higher level chips being Giga-class. Navi Chips are usually marked with a black star icon on the Custom Screen, however certain chips, especially Giga-class Navi Chips, have other icons, such as the Navi's face. When used, the screen will darkened, time will freeze, and the Navi will appear briefly where they will attack and disappear. Navi Chips can be powered up with Navi+20 and Navi+40 chips as well as corresponding element+ chips and normal Atk+ chips. In the original Mega Man Battle Network, damage done by a Navi Chip was only applied after the summoning sequence was done, making it difficult to know if the Navi had hit its target until the sequence was done. This was changed in later games where the damage was dealt during the summons sequence.

Depending on the circumstances, the summoned Navi can attack differently. Examples are the player being able to hold the A button to move MetalMan to the enemy before attacking and AquaMan attacking with his Aqua Stream instead of an Aqua Bomb if the player in on the left most middle panel when AquaMan is summoned.

In PvP, Navi Chips can be countered Anti Navi battle chip and the Beat Navi Customizer Program. The Giga Chip Navi Recycle will replicate a Navi Chip or any Program Advance that uses one.

Some Navi Chips (BassGS, Duo, etc.) could only be obtained in Japanese exclusive events, but were later added into the Wii U eShop re-release of the games internationally. The eShop will close down on July 31, 2020, making these versions inaccessible.

Navi Chips for crossover characters can also be obtained, such as Django and The Count of Groundsoaking Blood, or Rogue and Star Force Mega Man in Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star.

Levels
Besides Giga-class chips such as Serenade and the the Mega-class Punk chip, Navi Chips come in several different levels, with an increase in attack damage with each subsequent level. One can only obtain higher level chips by defeating more powerful versions of the Navi they want the chip of. When a Navi is fought in their strongest form, one can obtain the weakest version of their chip by getting a busting level of 1-5, the mid-version chip by getting a busting level of 6-9, and the strongest version by getting a busting level of 10 or S. In some games, Navis will instead drop a unique chip, such as GutsMan.EXE dropping GutsPunch and ShadowMan.EXE dropping Muramasa.

In the original Mega Man Battle Network, each level was simply numbered (1, 2, and 3). In Mega Man Battle Network 2 and 3, they were classified by version (V1, V2, and V3), with Battle Network 3 adding in V4 chips as well as Giga-class V5 chips. In Mega Man Battle Network 4, 4.5, and 5, Navi Chip levels were changed to reflect the dark and light theme of the games (normal, SP, and DS). SP chips can only be used by MegaMan if he is light colored, while DS chips can only be used if MegaMan has a Dark Soul. In Mega Man Battle Network 6, Navi Chips return to three levels (normal, EX, and SP). In Mega Man Network Transmission, there is only one Navi Chip per boss. DS Navi chips increase in damage the more hits the player has taken, while SP chips increase in damage for every second the boss is beaten under 30 seconds, stopping at 10 seconds. In Rockman.EXE Phantom of Network, Navi chips have four levels (normal, V2, V3, and SP).

Notably, Bass only has normal Navi Chips in the first and second games. Later games feature him only as Giga-class chips with special designations (i.e. Bass Another, Bass Anomaly, etc.). Different versions of the games have different Bass chips, each performing different attacks.

Program Advances
Navi Chips can be used in several Program Advances in the series. The most recurring Program Advances are DeuxHero/2xHero/DblHero, GtsShoot, and BodyGrd. PoisPhar also summons a purple statue of PharaohMan.EXE to poison the battle field.

Merchandise
Navi Chips were made into real-life toy Battle Chips alongside all other chips from the series from Mega Man Battle Network 4 onward. Special chips called Navi Data Chips are colored chips that unlock the depicted character to be played in Rockman.EXE 4.5: Real Operation as well as the Japanese versions of Battle Network 5 and 6.

Anime
Navi Chips are never used within the anime, and the only acknowledgment they have was in the third episode of Rockman.EXE Beast+, where they were mentioned and seen on the screen of the Battle Station. Images of GutsMan and NumberMan's original Mega Man Battle Network chip art is shown in the background of Higsby's in episode 30 of MegaMan NT Warrior Axess.