Black Zero

Black Zero (ブラックゼロ)', also known as ??? in Mega Man X8 and referred to as Nightshade Zero on the box of a figure by Jazwares is an upgrade for Zero that appears in most of the Mega Man X series games. It is similar to the Ultimate Armor in that it is usually accessible by a secret code, save for Mega Man X: Command Mission where it is used as his Hyper Mode. Except for Command Mission, this armor is never actually named in-game, and cannot be unequipped in Mega Man X4-X6 once received.

Characteristics
The effects of the Black Zero enhancement are not consistent throughout the games it appears in. In its first appearance in X4, it is simply aesthetic and has no effect on his combat abilities. In X5 and X6, it enhances his defense and saber power, and also adds 50% to Zero's weapon energy, like all of X's armors in these games do. However, three power-up parts will be automatically added for black armor in both games if he has them: In X8, it doubles Zero's dash speed and distance, doubles the damage power of his weapons, but halves his defense as a tradeoff. This is Zero's only "armor" in those games, and considerably increases his already great power. For Command Mission, it doubles his attack power, increases his speed by 1.5, bumps up his WE gain per turn by 25% and cuts his fire damage to 75%, but has an extremely short number of usable turns without using Build Hypers.
 * In X5, Black Zero has Shock Buffer (Damage & stun are reduced by half), Shot Eraser (Z-Saber can destroy enemies' energy shots akin to Tenkuuha) and Virus Buster (Z-Saber can destroy Sigma Virus drones).
 * In X6, Black Zero's Virus Buster is replaced by Z-Saber Plus (Damage per Z-Saber's slash is increased) . This replacement is obviously due to the disappearance of Sigma Virus drones & Zero Virus drones (following X5 canon that Eurasia is successfully destroyed by either Enigma or Shuttle).

Secret Codes
Refer to the table below for codes used to gain use of Black Zero. The codes are listed with the button pressed and the number of times pressed next to it. In Mega Man X4 and X5, highlight Zero on the Character Select screen and enter the codes. In Mega Man X6 and X8, highlight Game Start, complete the sequence of buttons, and press Start. While there is no way of knowing if the code is completed in X4 until the opening stage is accessed, in X5 and X6 a sound clip is heard if entered correctly, while a sound clip of Zero is used for X8.


 * In Mega Man X5, there is a way to receive the Black Zero enhancement without using a code. In the third Zero Space stage, there is a vertical shaft that leads to a capsule. Enter the capsule as Zero to enhance him into Black Zero (alternately, X can enter a similar capsule in the same area to obtain his Ultimate Armor). According to the conversation that Zero has with Dr. Light, he (Light) says he wasn't able to create any armor for Zero, but he is able to enhance his abilities. Zero is welcome to either take it or leave it, though Zero claims he doesn't need any upgrades. The Black Zero's enhanced saber can destroy energy shots (even Ultimate Armor X's Charge Shot).
 * In Mega Man X8, the player must redeem all of Zero's available power-up chips and complete the game to save into a New Game Plus, by which the final power-up chip will be made available (Sigma Blade). Once that final power-up chip is redeemed, Black Zero will be made available immediately for selection. Black Zero will show up as "???" in the character selection screen when made available. But unlike previous games where Black Zero will override the Normal Zero, this game can still allow the player to select Normal Zero even if Black Zero has been unlocked. This method is the only method available for the PC version of the game where pressing codes on the title screen will not work unless a controller is used.

Fake Zero
"Sigma, you should have studied the blueprints closer! There is only one Zero!"

- Zero, after destroying his copy

The Black Zero armor is most likely a reference to the fake Zero in Mega Man X2, where if all three Zero Parts are collected by X, a Zero with black-hued armor created by Sigma appears in the last stage, and Sigma tries to convince X that he is the real Zero. The fake Zero is destroyed by the real Zero shortly after his appearance. If the game is completed without collecting all of Zero's parts, a black Zero will appear after the credits and reveal the Capcom logo. The false Zero also had a brief appearance in Mega Man X5's opening scene. He also appeared as a Secret Boss in Rockman Xover, on the X Special World.

Other media
In the Rockman X2 manga, Zero's armor becomes black when he is influenced by the Sigma Chip in his forehead, increasing his strength but making him a Maverick.

Merchandise
Bandai released two different model kits for the black armor as part of its Mega Armor model kit series. The first kit that was released featured Zero with pink upper arms and thighs, and purple hair, buster, and Z-Saber. The kit was later re-released and instead featured grey limbs and brown hair, buster, and saber.

Jazwares released an action figure of Zero sporting the upgrade in 2004. It came in two sizes, and was referred to as "Nightshade Zero" on the box.

Trivia

 * A form similar to the Black Zero upgrade appears in Mega Man Zero 2, called the Proto Form. Both have black color schemes, and both have similar effects when equipped.
 * In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, when Zero is facing himself he will say, "Another soulless copy," which is most likely a reference to the Fake Zero.
 * In Mega Man X6, the Black Zero enhancement was intended to be accessible without use of the code by defeating the Zero Nightmare when it is at level 4. However, because of a design oversight, this isn't possible, as bosses will only be at level 4 when the PA rank is achieved, which requires 5000 Nightmare Souls. As one way to unlock the endgame is to collect 3000 Nightmare Souls and since unlocking the endgame prevents the player from fighting Zero Nightmare and High Max if they have not yet done so, obtaining the Black Zero enhancement without the use of codes in Mega Man X6 is thus impossible. Despite this design oversight, the Black Zero enhancement is still coded to be rewarded to players that beat Zero Nightmare when it is at level 4. This can be achieved through cheating devices such as GameShark (The NTSC version of the code to fight Zero Nightmare and other bosses at level 4 is 300CCF5F 0003﻿)
 * It is worth noting that there is no special text or notification if the player achieves the enhancement through this method.
 * In Mega Man X4, Zero was actually going to have his own Ultimate Armor, known as "Mega Armor", instead of his Black Zero recolor. The designer of the original X's Ultimate Armor said, "The truth is, Zero was going to have a Mega Armor, too. For various circumstances, we wound up with just X this time. You want to know what his Mega Armor would have been like? Well, it has to do with Zero’s connection to W… actually, I’m not allowed to say any more than that. But, at least I can show you the rough design. I hope that sometime it will see the light of day. That’s all for now! Enjoy Rockman X4!"
 * In the Rockman X2 Manga, the X-Hunters successfully revive Zero after exhuming his inactive remains from an underground lab where Dr. Cain had stored him following his sacrifice in the first Maverick War. In order to control him, the X-Hunters installed a Maverick chip within his helmet, which had the side effect of changing his armor black, resembling Fake Zero. Despite being under their control and looking to destroy X, Zero's rebellious personality still asserted itself, causing him to destroy Serges after being ordered to fight. Although Zero briefly managed to regain clarity during his fight with X, he soon returned to his brainwashed state, resuming the fight until X managed to destroy the Maverick chip, freeing him from Sigma's control and restoring his armor back to red.
 * Zero's Black Armor also shares a resemblance to Bass from the classic Mega Man series, with a black primary color, grey soft armor and yellow highlights and hair.
 * A Black Zero model kit was released twice in Bandai's Mega Armor model kit line. The original release, a black-colored version of the Zero model kit, was packaged in a 4-armor "Double Impact" set along with a base body that included hot-purple limbs, a smirking face with red eyes, blue hair/saber parts and deep purple decals, a color scheme seen nowhere else. The Black Zero armor was later released as an individual figure, including the original black-limb blue-eyed Zero figure using the non-smirking face, as well as the original Zero model kit's silver and gold decals and gold-hair/saber parts.