Blast Hornet

Blast Hornet, known as Explose Horneck (エクスプローズ・ホーネック) in Japan, is a hornet based Reploid that appears as a boss in Mega Man X3. Blast Hornet is not a very powerful Reploid, so he uses agility and good planning to his advantage, flying quickly with his lightweight body when danger draws near and swarming his foes with bee bombs.

Characteristics
Blast Hornet is a Reploid whose body was modeled after a hornet, more specifically resembling a queen hornet. Thus he has large wings, thin legs, long antennae, and a bulbous abdomen full of eggs. His mouth is covered by a mask and his shoulderpads possess the signature stripes of a hornet. His right arm is also a buster.

Blast Hornet is a former coworker of Zero's. In the manga, he was very self-aware of his weaknesses and consciously trying to become a better person. However, he was corrupted by the Sigma Virus, turning him into an aggressive terrorist.

Mega Man X3
Blast Hornet is one of the eight stage select bosses. Blast Hornet used to be the second in command of the Maverick Hunter's Special 0 Unit. When his superior Zero received a message from Dr. Doppler inviting him to Dopple Town, Blast Hornet went in his stead as Zero was busy. When the Sigma Virus began infecting Reploids in the town, Blast Hornet fell victim to the virus and became a Maverick, joining Dr. Doppler's army. He protects the army's weapons factory and was defeated by X.

Mega Man Xtreme 2
Blast Hornet is one of the eight revived Reploids protecting Laguz Island, being one of the four stage select bosses fought by Zero in Zero Mode and one of the eight bosses in Extreme Mode. He is fought inside an aerial battleship.

Other appearances

 * Blast Hornet has a cameo appearance in Mega Man X6 as one of Metal Shark Player's attacks.
 * Blast Hornet is fought alongside Toxic Seahorse and Blaze Heatnix in two stages from the X Challenge in Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2.
 * Blast Hornet appeared as an unit card in TEPPEN.

Strategy
Blast Hornet buzzes around the armory, shooting his Parasitic Bomb at enemies or launching himself at the player with his stinger out, but the Gravity Well will bring him down. If the player moves toward the Gravity Well ball as it is about to return, the weapon can be used rapidly, preventing Blast Hornet from attacking X altogether. In Mega Man X3 when at around half health he begin fire four Parasitic Bombs in a row as they try and home in on X's position if he is caught be the pink crosshairs.

When playing as Zero in Mega Man Xtreme 2, the player can defeat him easier with Dash.

Mega Man X3 stats

 * Power: 3400rp
 * Speed: 8600rp

Stage names

 * Mega Man X3: Weapons Factory Stage (兵器工場ステージ, from Compendium of Rockman X)
 * Mega Man Xtreme 2: Aerial Battleship Stage (空中戦艦ステージ, from Compendium of Rockman X)

Stage enemies
Enemies in Blast Hornet's stage from Mega Man X3:
 * Sub-boss: Genjibo and Shurikein
 * Carry Arm (before completing Gravity Beetle's stage)
 * Hangerter (holding Ride Armor)
 * Head Gunner customer (before completing his stage)
 * Head Gunner masspro (after completing his stage)
 * Helit
 * Meta Capsule (before completing Gravity Beetle's stage)
 * Notor Banger

Enemies in Blast Hornet's stage from Mega Man Xtreme 2:
 * Sub-boss: Core
 * Flamer
 * Kyunnbyunn
 * Spycopter (harmless platform)
 * Turn Cannon

Rockman X3 manga
In the manga, Blast Hornet was originally the leader of a group of hoodlums. Three years before the events of Sigma's first rebellion, he met Zero in a park and was beaten by him with a single punch. Admiring Zero's strength, Blast Hornet decides to join the Maverick Hunters and became a good friend and comrade of Zero. Blast Hornet was brought under Dr. Doppler's control after being kidnapped by Bit, when he made a failed attempt at defeating him during Doppler's armies attack on the Neo Maverick Hunter Base.

Blast Hornet later confronts Zero at an abandoned armory piloting a small, but heavily armed combat armor. However, Doppler's upgrades just gave him more raw firepower with no real control or skill behind them, as Hornet ended up missing every shot of his blast volley at Zero because of the massive recoil snapping his hand back and forth. Zero, noticing Hornet's hesitation and inability to shoot him directly, drops his saber and disables his buster and Earth Crush to show Hornet that strength doesn't come from weapons, confident that he would not kill him. Hornet, amused by Zero's display, fires on him with his entire arsenal, but as the smoke clears Zero still stands, somewhat injured but not badly. Confused and frustrated, Hornet abandons his armor, snatches Zero's dropped saber and attempts to slice him in half, but once again hesitates, stopping short, only breaking his helmet in half instead. Zero, taking advantage of this opportunity, wrests his saber from Hornet's grasp and floors him with one swift punch. The shock breaks Doppler's hold and Hornet returns to his right state of mind. After a brief moment to recover, the two of them, with their renewed friendship, team up to clear out the remaining Maverick forces in the facility.

Later, Blast Hornet is seen alongside Blizzard Buffalo, Tunnel Rhino, and Neon Tiger being analyzed by Dr. Cain in the Neo Hunter Base to discover why they became Mavericks. After the Worms leave their bodies, the four assist X and Zero in their first battle against Bit and Byte. During the second battle of X and Zero against Bit and Byte, the four Reploids reappear alongside Volt Catfish in Dr. Cain's underground lab, talking with Dr. Cain in a cryptic manner and leaving him tied. They later return and release Dr. Cain, explaining that they pretended to have returned to their areas to retrieve the four Power Up Parts for X. While Dr. Cain went with Marty and her pirate crew to give the parts for X, the five Reploids stayed behind to hold Dr. Doppler's army

After Sigma's defeat, Blast Hornet had a brief appearance in the Zero chapters, where he informs Zero and Dr. Cain about the sudden appearance of an island.

Rockman X Mega Mission 2
After the events from Mega Man X3, Blast Hornet was revived by the Limited, under the name of Explose Horneck L, which increased his abilities. His bee shaped bombs are now more powerful and mobile, and able to attack in huge swarms. When Explose Horneck L attacks Zero, he defeats him with Gravity Well.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Although Blast Hornet himself does not appear in the crossover Worlds Collide, due to the time period taking place long before the Mega Man X series, he was briefly alluded to when Sonic the Hedgehog mockingly suggested to name Charmy Man such (although he wasn't able to say the full name due to being cut off).

Blast Hornet, or a similar Reploid, eventually made a formal appearance, albeit in cameo form, in the X Factor Part 2 in Issue 35 of the comic series, where it befriended a boy with a balloon. Blast Hornet would later appear in Worlds Unite, having been revived by Sigma as part of a massive Maverick army. He engaged Break Man and Rush during the Maverick attack on the Sky Patrol, before departing to plant Unity Engines on various worlds with his fellow Mavericks.

Trivia

 * In Mega Man X3, several docked Spycopters can be seen in the background during the interior portions of his stage, including the boss room, but none appear as actual enemies.
 * Blast Hornet is one of the six Mavericks of the Rockman X3 manga to survive and reform.

Blast Hornet