Eregion

Eregion (イレギオン) is a mysterious Maverick that appears as the boss of the Opening Stage in Mega Man X4. In the first half (Sky Lagoon), the player must outrun Eregion to avoid its claws and shots, and must also destroy the locked doors to get away. In the second part (the city ruins), the player must fight him.

It is possible to "defeat" Eregion in the first area of the Sky Lagoon. By attacking its claw when it slams the ground (dash to left or right when it raises its hand, and attack), the player can damage and eventually reduce Eregion's health to zero. However, this won't change anything, as Eregion will simply escape (while covered in small explosions) and appear again as a real boss in the second area of the stage, without any difference at all in the fight should the player choose to escape from it before.

Despite its huge size, Eregion has an easy-to-get-hit weakness, the torso. After Eregion is defeated, the player will encounter Colonel for the first time and learn that this event led to the Great Repliforce War.

Characteristics
The enigmatic Reploid Eregion is a massive mechanical monstrosity with a body that resembles a dragon, greatly towering over ordinary Reploids. Eregion has massive wings located on his jetpack, giving him the ability to fly, with small tubes connecting his shoulder joints to the jetpack. He has thick, long claws protruding on his hands, and a long tail. His armor is primarily dark green in color.

History
The massive Maverick Eregion's creation and background is a mystery, but his actions would have devastating repercussions for years to come and lead to the deaths of countless Reploids and humans alike. At some point, Eregion would come under the control of Magma Dragoon of the 14th Special Unit of the Maverick Hunters. It all started when he kidnapped Iris from the Repliforce command center. He then brought her to a large metropolitan city located underneath the aerial city of Sky Lagoon. And while under the influence of Dragoon, he wreaked havoc on Sky Lagoon, drawing the attention of the Maverick Hunters. During this time, Dragoon would damage the core of Sky Lagoon beyond repair, while making it seem as if Eregion did it on his own. This caused the Sky Lagoon to fall on the populated city below, causing millions of deaths.

Eregion then retreated to the wreckage of the city, where he battled against the Maverick Hunters and was then destroyed in combat. Repliforce field commander Colonel then arrived for his sister, who survived thanks to the Hunter Zero's intervention. Because of the fact that Repliforce was on patrol near the area at the time, the Hunters suspected that Repliforce might have been involved in the disaster and demanded that they disarm and come in for questioning. Colonel stubbornly refused to do so, and as a result the Repliforce were labeled as Mavericks, which lead to Repliforce launching a violent campaign for independence known as the Great Repliforce War.

Powers and Abilities
Eregion resembles a large mechanical dragon with a pair of wings that allows it to fly, huge claws used to slash enemies, and a very long tail.


 * Electromagnetic Shot - Eregion can shoot energy spheres from the mouth, firing either three single shots or a stream of rapid fire. Eregion will use the rapid fire only after his health has been significantly reduced.
 * Body Strike - Eregion flies to try to crash into his enemies.
 * Claw Attack - Eregion can perform slash attacks with his claws.

Strategy

 * When Eregion manages to get close to players, dash constantly to the other side of the screen to avoid his claw attacks and crash attack.
 * When Eregion shoots energy balls in single-shot mode, simply move or dash on the ground to avoid. He only uses this attack when he is still near max health.
 * When Eregion shoots energy balls in rapid-shot mode, use Dash Jump to jump near to Eregion's feet once the enegy balls are about to hit. He will start firing rapid shots when his health has been significantly reduced.

As X, players should use fully-charged shots of X-Buster to deal enough damage on Eregion's torso. X should stay away from Eregion as far as possible.

As Zero, players should come close to Eregion and perform jumping Z-Saber slashes as fast as possible on Eregion. Zero should use Z-Saber alongside with his mobility.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
In Worlds Unite, Eregion is one of the Mechaniloids in Sigma's army that he recreated and placed under the command of the Deadly Six.

Rockman X4 manga
In the Rockman X4 manga, an unnamed city on the ground was attacked by Eregion like Sky Lagoon in the game, injuring Iris as a result. X, Zero, and the Maverick Hunters fight Eregion while Double goes to assist them. Eregion is eventually destroyed by X, and Zero saves Iris. As Zero hands Iris back to the Colonel, Double eventually catches up with a used piece of equipment bearing the Repliforce insignia on it, claiming he found it next to the corpse of Eregion. This causes suspicion to fall on the Repliforce as being responsible for the attack, especially when Colonel refuses to disarm while under investigation. This rampage is later stated to have caused countless injuries to the population of the city.

Trivia

 * The name "Eregion" is not to be pronounced as "region"; the g should sound exactly as the g in the word get.


 * Eregion is part of J. R. R. Tolkien fiction, as it was a kingdom of the Noldorin Elves in Eriador.
 * Ironically, years later, a very similar name to Eregion is used in the popular book series "Eragon", which coincidentally also features dragons.