Mega Man ZX (series)

The Mega Man ZX series made its debut in 2006 on the Nintendo DS and is set about a century after the events of the Mega Man Zero series. In the 26th century, about 200 years after the Mega Man Zero series, the difference between humans and Reploids has become nonexistent, and a new combination of "man and machine," called "humanoids" has emerged. Although the series of events known as the "Second Maverick Wars" has long since ended, a new series of "maverick" uprisings begins to occur, which proves to be a dangerous threat since all beings on earth are now part machine in nature and thus susceptible to the outbreak. Vent and Aile, orphans from a maverick outbreak that occurred ten years ago, get drawn into the new conflict, along with Giro, the head of their delivery team.

The following is the time-line of events that precede and include the Mega Man ZX series:

24th Century

 * ca. 2360: After the fighting of what can be termed as the Second Maverick War comes to an end, Ciel and her research team begin doing research in an area known as the Outlands- a generally uninhabitable area outside of Neo Arcadia. The team comes across the remains of Doctor Weil's core from when he had merged with Ragnarok a decade earlier, and when the team comes into contact with it they begin to experience severe migraines. This core, which Ciel calls the W Core, begins to turn members of Ciel's team Maverick, mainly a Reploid named Serpent. Serpent ends up destroying the research team, and possibly Dr. Ciel, so Alouette, a young Reploid raised by Ciel, assumes command of the Resistance (who later become the Guardians).

25th Century
In order to ensure that the violence of the First Maverick War, the Elf Wars, and the Second Maverick Wars do not recur, a truce between humans and Reploids is agreed upon. Furthermore, Reploids agree to have lifespans and humans begin to have mechanical parts integrated into their bodies. In essence, the difference between "man and machine" become negligible as humanoids emerge. The ones who do not choose to follow this truce are branded Mavericks. Also during this period nations emerge, such as Innerpeace. Slowly during this time, these new fledgling states begin to form a centralized, somewhat representative government at Legion under the leadership of the "Sage Trinity" - a triumvirate of men

26th Century



 * ca. 2540s: (10 years prior to the events of Mega Man ZX) Serpent emerges as a hero to society as he is able to solve most of the world's energy crisis using technology unearthed in the Outlands. Thus, Serpent founds Slither, Inc., which becomes prevalent in most major cities of Innerpeace.  At the same time, Maverick Raids become more widespread, reaching beyond the Outlands and into the supposed safety of the cities (Vent and Aile lose their parents in the raids and Giro takes them under his wing).




 * ca. 2550s: (Mega Man ZX) Giro Express is hired to deliver a package to the Guardians, but during the delivery the team falls under attack by Mavericks.  Giro, Vent, and Aile are split up during the attack.  They wake up in a forest near their rendezvous point where the Guardians, under the guidance of Prairie (a.k.a. Alouette), have fallen under attack from Mavericks as well.  Thus, they find that the package contained a substance known as Biometal (in this case, Biometal Model X), which can link with them and essentially transform them into Mega Man X.  They use the Biometal to defeat the Mavericks and save the Guardians who were under attack.  Then, the Guardians believe that they are trustworthy and give them a small test that they can complete to have access to their HQ (a flying battleship that hovers above one of the major cities at which Slither, Inc. is headquartered).  Vent and Aile find that Giro is located near an old highway area (from the original Mega Man X) and set out to investigate, but Giro too has been transformed (using the Model Z Biometal).  A power forces Giro to battle them and they defeat him, and then a lightning-like attack strikes him to the ground.  Serpent reveals himself, along with other Mega-Men (those capable of Megamerging, or using the Meta-Encapsulated Granule Awareness System) and claims that he has the power to make the world go Maverick with his Model W Biometal, although it won't matter to Vent and Aile.  They too are struck to the ground and left for dead, but Giro, realizing that he will soon die, tells Model Z to lend them its power, although Z at first refuses because if Giro transforms he will die.  In the end, Z agrees and Giro dies.  The result is the merging of Model X and Model Z into Model ZX.  What happens next is a series of events which can be summed up in a quest to regain the rest of the Biometals- it is revealed that Ciel created the Biometals all those years ago in order to stop the power of the original W Core (what remained of the consciousness of Dr. Weil after he merged with Ragnarok in Mega Man Zero 4).  The Biometals were essentially created by downloading the "DNA" and AI of past "legends," such as Mega Man X, Zero, and the four Guardians.  However, Serpent found these Biometals and wanted to keep them away from the Guardians, so he created Pseudoroids (Reploids with regenerative power, thanks to the W Core's regenerative effects) that could wear the Biometal and split them in half, each containing part of the password that could unlock the W Core.  In the end, Vent and Aile face down Serpent in order to stop him from causing the world (of which everyone is humanoid or mechaniloid) and learn that Serpent had been with Prairie's sister's (Ciel) research team and had found the W Core, which had in turn made him turn maverick and destroy everyone around him.  They learn that Prometheus and Pandora, two Reploids, were simply "using" Serpent as a means to unlock the Core's true power (they needed someone to use the core and become maverick in order to unleash its true potential, but they were not willing to do so themselves).  However, Vent and Aile defeat the two and then make their way into Slither, Inc. HQ and battle Serpent himself, who admits that all of the maverick incidents which Slither "stopped" were actually created by him using the W Core!  The Core "fed" off of the power of human suffering and needed to absorb the Cyber Elves created by the destroyed Reploids and Humanoids.  Thus, realizing that their parents were killed in the attacks ten years ago, Vent and Aile attack and defeat Serpent in a fit of rage.  However, Serpent tells them that they are simply using "rage" to drive their attacks, thus empowering the Core.  He then merges with the W Core, and thus all of the Biometals tell them to fight with courage, not rage and hatred.  In the end, they do so and defeat Serpent, severing him from the Core and destroying Slither, Inc.'s Headquarters.  After the explosion, they see the spirit of Giro, who tells them to continue to fight for justice and then they meet up with Prairie and the rest of the Guardians and promise to continue to work with them...

Trivia

 * The ZX series heavily references the other Mega Man series, such as the Classic and X series through character appearances, references, and name usages.
 * Mega Man ZX and Mega Man ZX Advent could, and should, be seen as Mega Man Zero 5 and Mega Man Zero 6 respectively as they directly build off of the events of the Mega Man Zero series.
 * The Mega Man ZX series references the Mega Man Legends series, somewhat filling the gap between it and the other series, by referencing why the world might have been "purged" and "reset" at some point.