Xander Payne

Xander Payne is a character from the Mega Man comic series by Archie Comics. He is a short-tempered man that used to be a military recruit, but after an incident that caused the loss of his left eye, he became a member of the terrorist group Emerald Spears.

Background When the city is attacked by Dr. Wily in Let the Games Begin!, Xander disobeys his orders to stay put and attacks Elec Man to protect the people. Xander is no match for Elec Man and is injured by his electricity, and is taken to a hospital. As his left eye could not be saved, his young brother Theo Payne allowed the hospital staff to implant a cybernetic eye so he can see with both eyes. Xander covers his robotic eye with an eye-patch and becomes obsessed in eradicating robots, considering them a threat to humanity that must be destroyed at any cost, even if that results in the death of other people. Later, Xander becomes the second-in-command of the Emerald Spears, being responsible for most of the group's organization and logistics.

In Spiritus Ex Machina, the Emerald Spears takes over the A.R.T.S. convention and set up bombs in several parts of the area. Xander is not pleased with the way the leader of the group, Harvey Greenleaf, is dealing with the situation, so he knocks him down with a kick and promotes himself the leader of the Emerald Spears, planning to explode the convention with Dr. Light, Dr. Cossack, Dr. Noele Lalinde and all robots inside. He almost succeeds, but Mega Man, Rush, Elec Man, Pharaoh Man and Quake Woman disarmed most of the bombs and captured several members of the group. When Xander explodes the remaining bombs and tries to escape, he sees Elec Man and becomes enraged, attacking him. He is stopped and Elec Man apologizes for what he had done, as he wasn't himself at the time, and he leaves Rush in charge of looking over him. While the robots where busy, Xander shots Rush and escapes with the members Theo and Simone.

In Countdown, Xander attempts to explode a giant light-ball in New Years Eve, but he is stopped by Mega Man and Gilbert D. Stern and taken to jail alongside Theo and Simone.