MegaMan.EXE

"Let's bust some viruses!"

- MegaMan.EXE

MegaMan.EXE, known as Rockman.EXE (ロックマンエグゼ) or simply Rock (ロック Rokku) in Japan, is the NetNavi (short for Internet Navigator) operated by Lan Hikari. He was created by the scientist Yuichiro Hikari, Lan's father. MegaMan.EXE is very powerful, and along with his operator Lan, is a very skilled virus buster. He is also Lan's twin brother, Hub Hikari, known as Saito Hikari (光 彩斗) in Japan, who died at birth, because of a rare heart condition that is known as HBD. Dr. Hikari then used his data to revive him as a NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE.

Personality
MegaMan is very loyal to Lan and his friends and is willing to sacrifice himself to save them. His continuous bravery and hard work earns him respect from others. Despite their similarities, especially in Net Battling, MegaMan is more polite and well-behaved compared to Lan. He is often reminding Lan of his obligations such as his schoolwork and his laziness, which mostly is the main reason they argue a lot.

In the anime, he is not so different from the game, but he displays a fear of ghosts. MegaMan is quite dense when it comes about how others feel towards him. The notable example is that he is quite popular among female Navis, perticularly Roll and Meddy, but he remains oblivious when the two fight over being with him. He doesn't mind when either of them are holding him close since he thinks that they are just being friendly.

In the manga, MegaMan is still as polite like in the game and anime, but he is more cheerful and even likes to tease Lan often. He is far more comical and sometimes can even be somewhat childish. One of the examples is when he is the only one who is excluded from the battle against Nebula Grey and complained like a child. He is also easier to anger, since he even handily beat up those who angered him. However, the prominent difference is MegaMan's (together with Lan's) enjoyment for battle is shown and expressed much clearer. He and Lan are always getting excited whenever a strong opponent appears and aims to be the strongest. This, however, can also make him reckless to the point that can be nearly considered as suicidal since he charges straight at his enemy even though his opponent is clearly stronger than him.

Description
MegaMan is small (for a NetNavi), but his abilities are many. He has indigo biceps, with cyan stripes down his sides, ending at his blue boots which are tipped with black soles. He has two yellow shoulder guards and his blue helmet has two ridges running along the top. These ridges come to a stop at the helmet's base and allows his dark hair to stick out in four spikes. He has green eyes and, unlike most other NetNavis, an overall human appearance. As a customized NetNavi, MegaMan sports the symbol of the Hikari family on his chest and both sides of his helmet. This symbol is a red circle with a black line running diagonally through the center which ends in two triangles, all of which are surrounded by a gold ring. MegaMan stands at 148 virtual centimeters (roughly 4'9").

In the games and in the manga, MegaMan is shown with a faceplate covering his mouth and nose when in battle and in most of the Battle Chips with images of him. In the manga, (or more specifically in some stories), MegaMan dons on the faceplate when he usually finishes off an enemy Navi. In the anime, this kind of facemask closes when MegaMan equips a sword or shotgun. It is revealed that MegaMan has brown hair under his helmet.

Biography and Relationships
MegaMan is considered as part of the Hikari family, even going as far as to calling Lan's parents as Mama and Papa, and in turn, both parents consider MegaMan as their son. This is largely because MegaMan's true nature is Lan's older twin brother, Hub, making him the eldest son of Haruka and Yuichirou. In the anime, he and Lan have been known to receive gifts from Yuichirou while he is away. In the manga, at one point, both Yuichirou and Haruka have been shown more worried about MegaMan than Lan when they came back after the battle against Nebula Grey (though this may have been because both Nebula Gray and Mega Man were digital and therefore could be hurt by each other, but Lan, being non-digital, could not have been hurt).

Outside his family, he spends his time Net Battling with other Navis, or with his friends, Roll, GutsMan, and Glyde. He is often Net Battling with GutsMan, whom he always easily defeats. GutsMan sometimes is jealous of MegaMan's capability in Net Battling and also his closeness with Roll whom he has a crush on, but both remains on friendly terms. Roll has a crush on MegaMan and gets easily jealous whenever there's another girl getting close to him. MegaMan is oblivious of Roll's feelings towards him, however, it has been shown that MegaMan also harbors feelings towards her, but like Lan, is shy to express it. The three always defends MegaMan if anyone insults him and do their best to support him.

Somewhat mirroring Lan, several of MegaMan's relationships are studies in contrast; his relationship with ProtoMan being the foremost example. Both have a rivalry during the first part of the series. While they are both very similar in one respect—both are accomplished and intelligent Navis with impressive Net Battling skills and impressive pedigrees—they differ incredibly from one another. With time, like his NetOp, ProtoMan eventually begins to recognize MegaMan's skill, and their rivalry has become friendlier than the time when they first met. In the anime and manga, their friendship is much more shown; ProtoMan often fights together with MegaMan as a partner. A running gag in the manga is they sometimes argue with each other over a trivial thing (with ProtoMan smacking him first).

MegaMan's potential often attracts many strong Navis, the most particular being Bass. MegaMan and Bass have clashing opinions due to their different views of humans. Bass initially doesn't pay much attention on MegaMan until his defeat at the hands of the latter. Even after he became an amnesiac, he was still obsessed about fighting MegaMan and constantly hurl taunts at him. In the manga, however, their relationship become closer as the story progress. Bass was initially sickened by MegaMan's faith in Lan as well as his bonds with his friends, deeming him weak for it. However, Bass' heart started to change after realizing MegaMan's true source of power and came to see him as a worthy rival for him. MegaMan, in turn, respects Bass after the latter decided not to delete ProtoMan who is in no condition to fight. Recognizing Bass' honor, MegaMan spares Bass and promises him that they will fight again as rivals without any anger or hatred involved, hoping to reach an understanding. The extent of their bond is very deep that both have risked their own lives for one another in many occasions because of the bond they have. Serenade implies that Bass has started to consider MegaMan as his only friend, though Bass remains insistent that they are enemies.

Lan's relationship with MegaMan is the most significant among all others. While Lan is often recognized for his skill, many of his achievements might not be possible without the high specifications that MegaMan was built to, including the MegaMan's incredible powers and abilities. Lan and MegaMan are as close as brothers. MegaMan often behaves as the dutiful older brother, reminding Lan of his obligations and trying to serve as a voice of reason, and sometimes even acting as his conscience. Even though they sometimes argue, they always manage to reconcile. MegaMan is loyal towards Lan and is willing to sacrifice his own life to save Lan. In the manga, he sacrificed himself twice to save him, and once, even lost to his anger, when Lan is hurt by ShadeMan that he mercilessly deleted the latter. In return, Lan is also willing to go through great length in order to save MegaMan even with the risk of him losing his own life. The close bond between the two actually forms the basis of one of MegaMan's strongest powers, Full Synchro. All of this is quite fitting, given MegaMan's true nature as Lan's twin brother.

Game History
MegaMan.EXE is a unique NetNavi in the fact that he is the ultimate result of the Navi Project, an experiment undertaken by all of SciLab and led by Yuichiro Hikari. The Navi Project was designed to successfully graft a human's DNA and soul into a NetNavi. The process took a NetNavi's data and made it able to adapt to almost any situation. Yuichiro was only able to create about 95% of the actual project but no further when he and his wife had two children: twins Lan and Hub. Hub was quickly diagnosed with HBD and died shortly after birth. To keep Hub's soul alive, Mr. Hikari decided to use Hub's DNA to create MegaMan.EXE and gave the Navi to Lan. As Lan and Hub were identical twins, Lan and MegaMan developed a brotherly bond perfecting Yuichiro's Navi project. However, it was presumed that if Hub's exact DNA were to be used, the 'Twin Link' effect would take place, and any sort of reception of senses that Lan or Hub would experience would affect the other by brainwave synchronization, much like Full Synchro. As such, Dr. Hikari had modified Hub's DNA by .001% (this is presumed to be eye color, as despite being identical, they have different eyes). This remaining .001% was programmed into the Hub.BAT (Saito.batch) if the need to reset Hub's DNA to the original was necessary. Largely because of how he had originally died, MegaMan.EXE was also able to instantly recognize the symptoms of HBD, which is evident by his meeting Mamoru at Seaside Hospital.

By channeling enough power, MegaMan can transform into a holographic version of Hub and if he overloads himself, he will be destroyed as was shown when he sacrificed himself to make sure Lan could escape from Alpha albeit at the cost of his life although later on his remains were discovered through a deciphered GramNote, which Yuichiro Hikari quickly used it to resurrect MegaMan on Mega Man Battle Network 3. Although never shown fighting, Mega Man Battle Network 5 and Hub Style in Mega Man Battle Network 2 imply that this form is immensely powerful, since it is able to defeat bosses like Nebula Grey with just a wave of his hand, cannot be corrupted by Dark Chips, and gains every single Navi Customizer Program without trouble. His only downside is that he loses all possible transformations and the Mega Buster, which probably isn't needed. This form is possibly even more powerful than some of the strongest NetNavis like Bass, Slur, Duo, or even the Super Cybeast. Unlike most characters that need full power to access their powers, if he has enough power, he can temporarily tap into his powers to do outrageous things, like sealing the Cybeast, controlling the Dark Chips influence on him when used, and becoming Bass Cross MegaMan when Bass failed to maintain the fusion and used Double Soul instead of self-destructing.

Throughout the games, MegaMan is used by Lan to Netbattle and communicate with his friends' NetNavis. MegaMan is able to transform into a new form in most of the games and in Mega Man Battle Network 5 and 6 has an uncontrollable form, such as Dark MegaMan and Beast Out MegaMan.

Anime History
In the MegaMan NT Warrior anime, MegaMan is not related to Lan in any way, shape or form. Being a main character, he appears in almost every episode. MegaMan was created by Dr. Hikari and was given to Lan as a present. He appears in the first episode when Lan uses a disk his dad gave him to customize his NormalNavi. In the following morning, MegaMan wakes Lan up like he usually does in the games. Lan is initially disappointed that MegaMan is small, but when viruses attack, MegaMan displays amazing skill, which made Lan take back what he said and accepting MegaMan as an awesome present.

MegaMan NT Warrior (manga)
In the MegaMan NT Warrior manga, although not explicitly, there were hints regarding MegaMan's relation with Lan. Mayl once commented that Lan and MegaMan are like true brothers, and Miyu, who is able to read and hear the "hearts" of objects sensed that MegaMan has a human heart even though he is a NetNavi. MegaMan was created by Dr. Hikari and was given to Lan as a present when he was five years old. Lan was initially annoyed by MegaMan constantly reminding him about school or commenting on his behavior and ignores him for days. However, after a life-threatening incident, Lan understood what his father meant by MegaMan being 'special' and since then the two became inseparable.

Solar Boy Django
MegaMan (mistranslated as "Rocket-Man" in the English manga) appears in Django's world to stop ShadeMan (mistranslated as "ShadowMan").

Abilities
Despite having the physical size of a young person, MegaMan possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, stamina and durability on the field, being able to fight against bigger NetNavis and even more dangerous programs like the Life Virus, Alpha, and Nebula Gray. MegaMan is the only NetNavi who can use various transformation systems like Double Soul, Style Change, Cross System and Beast Out. These draw powers from another NetNavi/Cybeast in order to associate with MegaMan to create a new form. MegaMan can also be customized in many ways, like charge shot (Trans Arm), fighting style (Style Change), special abilities (Navi Customizer), so MegaMan can be considered as a "Custom Navi". Due to his many abilities and transformations, combined with Lan's support and Battle Chips, MegaMan is one of the most powerful NetNavis in the series.

Offensive Abilities
 * Mega Buster: This is MegaMan.EXE's standard weapon, like all other Mega Man incarnations before him. MegaMan can either shoot the buster rapidly or charge the buster to do more damage. Typically a charged shot deals out 10 times as much damage as an uncharged shot. In Network Transmission, the Buster will attack through a unique formula that takes away a certain amount of health based on an enemy's Max HP, the kind of buster shot being used, and overall upgrades made to the MegaBuster over time. The MegaBuster's power changes depending on the upgrades or NaviCust programs equipped to him, and charged shot changes depending on the Style Change, Double Soul, or Cross System. It is a powerful and effective weapon for MegaMan to utilize.
 * Giga Buster: In the final extra chapter of the Manga, MegaMan uses the new version of his Mega Buster while entering the Giga mode (by removing his limiters). Its appearance changes greatly, now looking like the barrel of a tank, and its power greatly increases to the same level of power as the Giga Cannon Program Advance.

Custom Abilities
 * Navi Customizer: Exclusive to the games. Debuting in Battle Network 3, this system allows MegaMan to equip different programs in the form of colored blocks, each of them having a different effect on him. These effects range from upgrading his Buster strength or his battle chip folder capacities, to giving him special abilities, such as generating defensive Reflective Shields or surviving fatal blows with 1 HP of auxiliary energy. However, the Customizer has its own rules, and breaking these will result in bugs on MegaMan.


 * Style Change: Debuting in Battle Network 2, this allows MegaMan to change his elemental alignment and get upgraded power depending on the change. There are twenty-eight different customized styles (four elements and seven Styles).


 * Trans Arm: Introduced in Rockman.EXE Legend of Network, the Trans Arm is similar to the Double Soul, but only changes MegaMan's charge shot and color.

Transformation Abilities
 * Cross Fusion: Exclusive to the anime, by the use of a special Battle Chip inside a Dimensional Area, MegaMan can synchronize with Lan and fight in the real world. However, if not in full sync, the Cross Fusion can deteriorate.


 * Double Soul: Also known as Soul Unison, by resonating with another Navi's soul, MegaMan can gain the abilities of the Navi along with additional powers. In both Mega Man Battle Network 4 and 5, MegaMan gains six Souls, each of them varying depending on the game version. In the anime, the side effects of Cross Fusion removed the use of the Style Change and Double Soul was acquired as a replacement. A dark form of it is known as Chaos Unison.


 * Chaos Unison: Appearing only in Battle Network 5, Chaos Unison is an alternate version of Double Soul that involves sacrificing a Dark Chip instead of a normal Battle Chip. The Chaos Unison can only be available for one turn, as opposed to the Double Soul's three turns, and the charge shot is replaced by the sacrificed Dark Chip. However, the charging method has been altered; as it shifts from teal to purple. When the player stops charging while teal, MegaMan uses the charge attack' if the player does so while purple though, the Chaos Unison ends instantly, while MegaMan DS appears on the opponent's battlefield, using random battle chips and buster shots to attack MegaMan. MegaMan DS cannot be damaged, but will dissipate after 13 seconds.


 * Cross MegaMan: This is the prototype/alternate/advanced version of Cross System exclusive to Mega Man Battle Network 5. It provided an alternate base form for MegaMan with several Navi Customizer programs already installed, as well as an altered charged shot. However, it is much more potent than the Double Soul and Cross Systems due to no elemental weakness, permanent transformation and a lot of special abilities.


 * Cross System: This is similar to Double Soul, but with certain differences. Exclusive to Mega Man Battle Network 6, this becomes his new means of transformation, combining the abilities of Double Souls with the long duration of Styles. MegaMan gains 5 Crosses per game in Battle Network 6, each of them varying depending on the game version.


 * Beast Out: There are two different Beast Outs, Falzar and Gregar, and the one you get is dependent on the version played. It can be activated at any time between turns. It expires after three turns, and if Beast Out is used again immediately afterward, MegaMan enters Beast Over and goes berserk. Beast Out can combine with Crosses to form Cross Beasts, each with their own chip charge attack.


 * Style Change: Debuting in Battle Network 2, this allows MegaMan to change his elemental alignment and get upgraded power depending on the change. There are twenty-eight different customized styles (four elements and seven Styles). The elements vary from Fire, Aqua, Elec and Wood, while the following styles are:


 * Trans Arm: Introduced in Rockman.EXE Legend of Network, the Trans Arm is similar to the Double Soul, but only changes MegaMan's charge shot and color.


 * Hub: Appearing only once during the climax of Megaman Battle Network 5, MegaMan turns into Hub(his human form) in order to defeat Nebula Grey. He does so by simply depleting its energy through a wave of his hand, implying that this form is immensely powerful. However, it drains a lot of MegaMan's energy, as seen in the game where MegaMan is unable to even fire with his Mega Buster after reverting to his normal state after using this transformation.

Special Abilities
 * Dark Power: MegaMan is the only Navi who can use Dark Chips without becoming evil, and can even merge them with Double Soul as Chaos Unison. Usually, they permanently reduce his maximum HP by one per battle used. The only way he can't be hurt by one or suffer side effects is by using Double Soul or sacrificing bug frags. Like Beast Out, the player can trigger a berserk state upon receiving fatal damage.


 * Synchronization: Also known as Full Synchro, the effects of it in the games and in the anime and manga and different. In the games, Full Synchro is obtained when the player manages to perform a counter hit using a non-dimming chip attack. MegaMan glows bright blue and a pink spinning ring surrounds him. In this state, the player's next chip attack has double power, and attacking enemies will flash during the timings when they can be countered, encouraging the player to remain in Full Synchro. Full Synchro expires when MegaMan is hit by an enemy attack, or when he performs a chip attack. It cannot be accessed when MegaMan is using a Double Soul or Cross, but can be used while he is in Beast Out. In the anime and manga, Full Synchro is a state where NetNavi and NetOp become one to improve focus and it puts the NetOp into direct contact with their NetNavi, transmitting effects on the NetNavi back to the NetOp. So, a high level of synchronization should complete the circuit enabling transmission of a NetOp's very will to their NetNavi, which greatly raises a NetNavi's fighting capabilities. Full Synchro fuses the mind of NetNavi and NetOp into one consciousness, getting rid of the delay between command and reaction, which can make a big difference between life and death during a battle.


 * Bug: Though, not an actual ability, bugs are glitches in MegaMan, but only he can utilize and use its power. These glitches may cause a variety of side-effects during a battle.


 * Hub.BAT/Hub Batch: The Hub.BAT is a program that when equipped on to MegaMan's system completes Hub's DNA within him. It gives MegaMan all powers from style changes in Battle Network 2(as Hub Style), and all NaviCust programs installed with a halved-HP bug in Battle Network 3. In Battle Network 6, it appears as a Giga Chip and with the same effects as in Battle Network 3, but with the exclusion of the HP Bug.


 * e-Reader Cards: (Japanese only): Players can insert e-Reader Cards to customize Rockman in special ways. These cards caused various effects as, such as Base HP, Abilities, Buster Changes, Charge Shot Modifications, B+ Back Abilities. There are even Item Cards which can give out sets of Battle Chips, Sub Chips, BugFrags, Zenny, and even Navi Customizer Programs (only introduced in Rockman.EXE 6 Modification Card Part 1 & Rockman.EXE 6 Modification Card Part 2). They could also cause negative effects ("Bugs") to occur, such as causing Rockman to lose health and move the wrong way, or causing the player to be unable to control him.

As a boss
In the game series, there are several times where MegaMan goes berserk, and Lan must fight against him using another Navi. Additionally, many villains have tried to create mirror images of MegaMan, but fail because they copied him using a certain power (namely Dark Power and Beast Out).

Dark MegaMan/MegaMan DS
The boss pattern of MegaMan DS (MegaMan Dark Soul) is an almost complete mirror of that of the player's. He has exactly the same Max HP at the start of the battle and uses Battle Chips, preferring those in the player's folder. A good way to counter this is by putting several chips together that would be needed for a Program Advance or special combo (e.g. Sanctuary and Holy Dream), as MegaMan DS has a tendency to use chips at random and can't use PA's, but on some rare occasion, Dark MegaMan can use LifeSword. If MegaMan receives a fatal blow while in a Dark state, he ignores that damage and turns into a state just like MegaMan DS, becoming completely immune to damage for a few seconds. In Mega Man Battle Network 5, when MegaMan uses the Dark Chip DarkInvis, MegaMan will also enter a state just like MegaMan DS. Also in Mega Man Battle Network 5, if MegaMan uses a Chaos Soul and fails to use the charge attack correctly, MegaMan DS will form and try to kill MegaMan until the viruses are deleted. This MegaMan DS has no HP, but will dissipate after a long period.

It's worth noting that Dark MegaMan only appears in Mega Man Battle Network 5, and that there is a difference between him and MegaMan DS. Whereas Dark MegaMan is MegaMan overwhelmed and transformed by Dark Power, MegaMan DS is the embodiment of MegaMan's evil but was removed after then ending of Battle Network 5.

GBeast and FBeast
GBeast (Gビースト) and FBeast (Fビースト) are bosses from Mega Man Battle Network 6, each appearing in a different version. Contrary to Dark MegaMan, they have more of a fixed battle pattern. When MegaMan is consumed by the Cybeast Gregar or Falzar, Lan must use one of his Link Navi partners to fight against him. Later, a copy made of data bits appears in the Underground, and MegaMan has to fight against it and Bass.

GBeast
GBeast is a boss from Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar. In this form, he uses a rapid fire blaster.

Attacks:
 * Thunder: GBeast fires an Elec-type lightning orb that slowly moves to home in the player's position. If it hits, the player will be stunned and GBeast will use Beast Buster and rapidly shoot the player.


 * Gregar Claw: GBeast homes in on the player and slashes twice, first in a LongSword fashion and second in a WideSword fashion.(in Double Beast Gregar will use Wide Blade while Falzar will use Long Blade)


 * Gregar Claw/Beast Buster Combo: GBeast uses a stunning Long Blade slash. If the player gets stunned, GBeast will use Beast Buster to fire a barrage of shots at the player.


 * Beast Breath: GBeast launches a flaming breath to incinerate the player. The flaming breath covers one panel ahead, and then another six panels(two columns) behind.

FBeast
FBeast is a boss from Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar. In this form, MegaMan can rapidly shoot sharp feathers on his row and two ahead on the rows he is.

Attacks:
 * Aqua Needle: FBeast launches Aqua-type needles at the players's field. Dodging is easy; simply move away from the glowing panels.


 * Boomer: FBeast summons one Wood-type boomerang to attack the top, bottom and the last panel of the center row like the battle chip.


 * Falzar Claw/Feather Shoot Combo: FBeast jumps in front of the playable character and slashes twice(the first in a LongSword fashion while the second has the range of a Wide Sword). If stunned after the second slash, he will fire a total of 30 sharp feathers at the opponent. This can also be done if the stun takes effect after the first slash as well.


 * Sonic Storm: FBeast blasts a hurricane that damages the center row and the last panel of the top and bottom row.

Trivia

 * Normally, in both the games and the anime, MegaMan is often the character who breaks the fourth wall (sends a humorous message or joke straight to the audience) normally in the intro or during a lull in the plot.


 * MegaMan's eyes are green, but in the first three Mega Man Battle Network games his mugshot shows him with blue eyes. It was fixed in later games.
 * In Mega Man Battle Network 6, the sprite used for walking in the cyberworld make his eyes look blue. However, his battle sprite has brown eyes, but his mugshot shows that his eyes are green which is their true color.
 * He has unused overworld sprites in Mega Man Star Force 2 and 3.
 * MegaMan.EXE, however, makes a cameo appearance in the first Mega Man Star Force game in one of the side quests. If the player completed the side quest and returned the "SciLab" data for MegaMan.EXE, he will make a short appearance from the portal and gives Geo the "BNBlaster", or "Battle Network Blaster".
 * Mega Man Star Force always keeps the weapon "BNBlaster" in the series; players can get the advanced version, "BNBlaster-EX" with a Cipher Code in Mega Man Star Force 3.


 * Geo Stelar, the main character in the Mega Man Star Force series shares many traits with MegaMan.EXE such as his fear of ghosts, and both being more level-headed than their respective partners.
 * In Mega Man Star Force 2, Lan's diary entries can be obtained through side quests. One entry reveals that Patch, Lan's son from the epilogue of Mega Man Battle Network 6, had his own NetNavi: MegaMan Junior, a program combining the best qualities of MegaMan and Roll, making Junior the son of both Navis.
 * According to concept art, MegaMan has brown hair, yet when his helmet is on, it's black, suggesting the back is actually part of the helmet, or was a glitch in MegaMan's programing.


 * MegaMan appeared as a secret playable character in Onimusha Blade Warriors.
 * A downloadable costume for the Mii Gunner in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate portrays them as MegaMan.EXE.


 * MegaMan.EXE is the only Mega Man in the franchise to have his Mega Buster mainly on the right hand instead of his left. This is notable on the side by side comparison of the Mega Legends in the Super Smash Bros. games.


 * Due to the publishing rights for Mega Man Battle Network being held by another company, MegaMan does not appear in the Archie Comics Mega Man series. However, in the Short Circuits for Issue 55, a pair of silhouetted figures resembling him and Star Force Mega Man appear behind X, Zero, Model A, and a Servbot.