X's armors

X X has access to a large amounts of customized armors throughout the Mega Man X series.

New Armor
The New Armor 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.

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.

Functions:
 * Foot Parts: Allows X to use the Glide Dash. Activated by jumping in the air, X will glide while losing altitude slowly. It is similar to the Falcon Armor's flying function.
 * Body Parts: The damage and recoil X takes are halved, and supplies him with the full-screen Giga Crash attack.
 * Arm Parts: Add three homing shots after X fires his regular Charge Shot that deals bonus damage, allow X to damage multiple enemies at once. He can also charge his special weapons.
 * Head Parts: X is able to absorb energy capsules from a farther distance, and energy pellets are worth more energy and are attracted to X from a greater distance.

Locations:
 * Helmet Part: In Snipe Anteator's stage. In the second half of the stage, look for the capsule on a disconnected orange hexagon. Gravity must be flipped several times to reach the Helmet Capsule.
 * Body Part: In Wind Crowrang's stage. In the mother ship, look for a path that splits into three paths. Take the left one to find the Body Capsule.
 * Arm Part: In Flame Hyenard's stage. In the first section of the stage, after the second snake enemy, drop down underneath the ledge. There will be a 1-Up and the Capsule.
 * Leg Part: In Soldier Stonekong's stage. Past the area with the spikes, look for two ape-head statues stacked on top of each other. Make sure they are not destroyed, climb on top of them, and jump-dash to the left to find the Leg Capsule.

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. Like the previous version, it will attack all on-screen opponents. The damage dealt is strictly proportional to the amount of weapon energy X has at the time of activation.
 * Foot Parts I - X's jumping height is increased.
 * Body Parts I - Damage done to X is reduced to 50%. In addition, recoil is eliminated.
 * Arm Parts I - X's charge shot is changed to a powerful beam attack. He can also charge special weapons. In addition, his standard shots now become level 1 charged shots.
 * Head Parts I - X will create a force field while jumping that can damage enemies.


 * Hermes Armor - An Armor system that focuses on mobility, with defense undertones. When the armor set is complete, X can use the X-Drive. Upon activation, X will receive a boost in movement speed, jump height, charge speed and number of charged projectiles. The enhancement will last until the weapon energy is drained or a character switch is made.
 * Foot Parts H - X's movement speed will increase. He will also be invulnerable when dashing.
 * Body Parts H - X will take 2 less units of damage than he normally would. Against enemies that only hit for 1 or 2 units of damage, X is completely invulnerable.
 * Arm Parts H - X's charge shot will be changed to a 3-way blast. He can also charge special weapons.
 * Head Parts H - Charge time will decrease.

X Fire
The X Fire (Ｘファイア) is 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
X4-6 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. X8 Ultimate Armor - A purple and black colouring of the Neutral Armor, this Ultimate Armor can perform special moves. It combines certain abilities of both the Icarus and Hermes armors and can only be equipped as a whole, not as separate pieces. It retains the Nova Strike of the previous version, however, it works more like the Icarus' Armor's Giga Attack in that it consumes weapon energy, but the weapon energy recovers itself. (Although the Ultimate Armor's Nova Strike weapon energy refills itself almost instantly while the Icarus Armor takes time to fully refill.) Command Mission 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. X hovers perpetually in the air with this armor (presumably being too heavy to stand), and a large disc-like object protrudes from his shoulders horizontally behind him. A large, green gem forms his chest, and a targeting display covers his left eye. Gatling batteries are on the front of his shoulders, and his arms change into a pair of large, pistol-like appendages from the elbow down. The legs and the top of the disc are also translucent. X's standard attack becomes a devastating beam attack fired from his chest, and his sub weapons are Impact Cannon and Strike Bullet. The Action Trigger associated with this armor is called "Nova Strike", which is similar to the Final Strike attack. This armor is also completely immune to status ailments, but is also immune to assists as a drawback.
 * Foot Parts- Grants X the ability to air dash or hover in midair. Midair hovering time is decreased if X moves.
 * Body Parts- Reduces damage taken by X by 50%. Allows X to use a wider range Nova Strike that does not consume any weapon energy. It also covers more distance than its X4 counterpart. Note, however, that it does require X to touch solid ground/cling to a wall before it can be used again.
 * Arm Parts- Grants X the powerful Plasma Shot.
 * Head Parts- In X4, uncharged weapon usage was reduced to zero. In X5 and X6, this reduces weapon energy consumption by 50%, like the Falcon and Blade Armor Helmets.
 * Foot Parts U - X's movement speed and jumping height will increase. He can also dash through enemies without damage.
 * Body Parts U - X will take half damage and will not be subjected to recoil from collisions with enemies/hazards.
 * Arm Parts U - The X-Buster will have the Plasma Shot attached, which will temporarily cause damage at a constant rate.
 * Head Parts U - Weapon energy usage is reduced to zero, and X can use the Shouryuken (uppercut) technique.

Clear Armor

 * Note: Japanese names will be used for best effect, with English names in brackets, due to the Japan-only release.

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 (クリアバスター). Later on, after defeating all eight Irregulars, the Clear Buster evolved to the Clear High Buster (クリアハイバスター) 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 (クリアアーマー). The armor is then destroyed by iX's final attack before him perishing.

Replicapture

 * Note: Japanese names will be used for best effect, with English names in brackets, due to the Japan-only release. Even though its not an armor, it is similar to one.

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 (ギガアーマー) 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 (イクスアーマー) 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 (アルイクスアーマー). 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

 * 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.


 * In Mega Man X8, due to design changes, X's armor was slimmed down in the arms and legs, to give him a more streamlined appearance. Also, his head crystal was increased in size.


 * Excluding X8, there is always at least one armor that has a white base with blue, yellow and red details. This includes the special armors from X1-4 and the Falcon, Blade, and Glide armors.


 * The Plasma Shot, besides the regular charged shot, is the most used special charge attack in the games (mostly due to it being in the Ultimate Armor). It existed in X4-6, and then again in X8.


 * Like the Plasma Shot, the Nova Strike is also the most used Giga Attack.


 * 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.