Bass.EXE

"Navis have no need for operators. All that we need is the strength to exist on our own! Absolute power, so that we need cower before none. I will weed out weak Navis who cannot fight on their own!"

- Bass.EXE

"Pathetic weakling! Return to the 0's and 1's you're made of!"

- Bass.EXE

Bass.EXE, known as Forte.EXE (フォルテエグゼ) in Japan, is a NetNavi from the Mega Man Battle Network series.

Game
In each game he appears in, Bass's final form is the hardest boss in the game. Bass usually has a unique "form identifier". Where most Navis would be 1-2-3 or normal-EX-SP, Bass's ultimate forms have been, variously, Bass DX, Bass GS, Bass XX and Bass BX amongst others. Bass is the most powerful Navi, capable of easily defeating many strong Navis.

Background
Bass.EXE was created by Dr. Cossak as part of SciLab's project to develop a new generation of independent NetNavis that do not need an operator to function on the net. Bass was also installed with a special "Get Ability" program that allows him to assimilate the abilities of deleted viruses and Navis.

A series of disruptions and errors began to plague the net, caused by Alpha. However, SciLab initially blamed Bass for the disruptions and sent an elite force of Navis to delete him. Bass survived the attack, but clung to life. Bass crawled through the internet, frequently attacked by enemy viruses. Over time, Bass absorbed the deleted data of viruses and Navis in order to grow stronger and recover his strength. Bass eventually became one of the most powerful Navis the net had ever seen, the SciLab attack leaving him with a glowing scar across his Navi emblem and a deep-seated hatred against the humans that had betrayed him.

Mega Man Battle Network
Bass apparently copied the Life Aura data from the Life Virus (the game's final boss), gaining a powerful defense.

Bass is an optional boss that MegaMan can find as a random encounter in the deepest part of the Internet. He can only be encountered after completing the game if the player has 174 chips in the library (all except for Life Aura, which is obtained from Bass, and the Bass chip, which is event exclusive).

Mega Man Network Transmission
Bass appears as a hidden boss in this game. In order to fight him, the player must have obtained every Navi Chip in the game (except for the Bass Navi Chip). This can be done through the Net Battle Simulator, and requires the player meeting the requirements for the good ending, as that is the only way to obtain the Zero Navi Chip. Once that has been done, Lan receives an email from Mayl about a "secret area" in Den Area 3 where a powerful Navi is found. This is where the player can find Bass. He constantly hovers and has a variety of defensive Auras, and has a large number of wide-range attacks at his disposal. Even after removing his Aura, he is immune to the Mega Buster, and quickly regenerates his Aura in a matter of seconds. He actually has 10,000 hit points, but the fight is scripted to end when he receives damage from six Battle Chips (so even six ZapRing1 chips, for 120 damage total, will end the fight). After the fifth hit, he'll cease to regenerate Auras, and the sixth hit blows off his cloak. He foreshadows his actions in Mega Man Battle Network 2, and the player earns the Bass Navi Chip with the battle's conclusion.

Mega Man Battle Network 2
This time, he played a larger role in the plot, where the Gospel Netmafia was trying to clone him through the use of BugFrags. Initially, it seemingly produced a perfect copy of Bass, although it proved to not be completely perfect due to MegaMan.EXE defeating the copy easily. Gospel's leader (revealed to be Sean), however, was unwilling to give up and decided instead to max out the servers capacity to 200%, not caring if he ended up killed by the intense radiation in the process. This failed, and the clone mutated into the giant Gospel bug beast. The monster overcharged the server to 600% before MegaMan could destroy it. He also appears after the credits of the game, where he destroys a Bass clone and states that he is angry at Sean for attempting to clone him. He roams looking for strong enemies to fight while never fighting for WWW. He then finds his match in MegaMan where he is injured, saying that he is impressed. He also leaves a Bass chip behind.

Mega Man Battle Network 3
As well as being implied in the previous game, it was later revealed that Wily had been behind everything, and was trying to copy Bass in order to free Alpha. Wily allied himself with Bass, who helped steal Alpha's data and the TetraCodes. In exchange, Wily proposed to give Bass the power to attack the humans. Prior to the climax of the game Bass notices MegaMan and challenges him after his battle with FlameMan. Because FlameMan got in his way, Bass swatted him aside since he wanted to fight MegaMan himself.

To his disappointment, MegaMan provided no challenge (he is actually fought at that point game, but is impossible to defeat because he can't be damaged due to impervious damage from Life Aura that can't be broken by any chips). Just as Bass was about to finish MegaMan, one of the Official NetNavis appeared to protect him by using the Dark Aura. Goaded by the boasts of its power, Bass attacked the Navi and the Dark Aura barely withstood his power. Bass likely would've finished him off if Wily hadn't called him away. Later, Bass aided in freeing Alpha. When MegaMan tried using the GigaFreeze program, Bass revealed that he could control it and stopped it even absorbing it.

At the climax of the game, Bass reveals his past to everyone - he was initially created by Cossak, but was blamed for the incidents caused by Alpha, and was left to wander through the Undernet, with a scar across his body and a grudge against humans. Cossak attempted to stop Bass, even opting to sacrifice himself by detonating his jacked in consciousness in order to do so, though Bass instead forced him back into his original body (with it being implied that Bass did this because he didn't wish to see Cossak die). Bass then smashed and absorbed the Guardian program, which was the last thing keeping Alpha sealed away. Bass is then fought and defeated by MegaMan (this is the only time that Bass is fought in a battle that's part of the storyline). Wily betrayed Bass and let Alpha swallow Bass, but got eaten as well.

After Alpha's destruction, Bass was near death, but was found by a remnant of the Gospel Multibug Organism, who merged with Bass and saved his life, forming Bass GS. After Serenade's defeat, Serenade mentioned that he did fight against Bass in the past, only winning after a battle that lasted days. Bass GS then consumed at least 300 BugFrags, courtesy of MegaMan, and attacked MegaMan to test this new power. After a close battle, Bass lost, and it is revealed that he had lost most of his memory while fused with Gospel. He then vanishes from the Secret Area.

Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge
Bass can be fought after completing the game and is an unlockable playable character.

Mega Man Battle Network 4
Bass resurfaced in the Undernet, and later Black Earth. MegaMan accidentally woke the Dark Messiah, who attacked MegaMan wielding the power of the Dark Chips. Bass lost again, and fled to Black Earth where he fought MegaMan one last time after the defeat of the Dark Soul Navis.

Rockman.EXE 4.5 Real Operation
Bass is an unlockable playable character.

Mega Man Battle Network 5
When MegaMan gained the power of Bass (Bass Cross MegaMan), Bass feels his power, then reappears and challenges MegaMan at a secret corner of the Net. He lost, then fled to Nebula Area and challenged MegaMan a second time. This time, Bass's soul has been consumed by the darkness and became "Bass Alpha". Finally, Bass could be encountered as the Chaos Lord, an amalgamation of the Dark Power in the deepest part of the Nebula Area, but with no dark power inside. After being defeated as the Chaos Lord, he can be found randomly as Bass XX, the most powerful boss in the game. But he's defeated again, admitting he was too weak and left to become more powerful.

Mega Man Battle Network 6
Having challenged MegaMan in both the Undernet and the secret Graveyard zone, he went to the Underground, the former prison of the Cybeasts, and absorbed their data fragments and gaining the power of the Cyber Beast of the opposing version. After forcing MegaMan to fight a clone of Beast-Out MegaMan, Bass moved in for the kill but was defeated. It is unknown if he survived the last battle, although Lan suggests so by convincingly saying "Bass is Bass". His survival later proves true, as from his final defeat onward, he can be found at the Graveyard as a random encounter.

Rockman.EXE Phantom of Network
A cache copy of Bass can be fought in the Undernet. However, he is not a perfect copy, having only part of his memory, not even remembering his name. Despite his great power, he is not as strong as the original. MegaMan believes that Bass's power was too great to be fully kept on cache data.

After completing the game, the real Bass can be fought in the game's secret area.

MegaMan NT Warrior anime series
In the anime, Bass has a vastly different origin as a being born from PharaohMan’s residual data. A blank and empty being, after recovering the memories of his past self’s purpose from MegaMan and his Ultimate Program from the Grave Virus Beast, Bass claims Kid Grave’s empty robotic body for his own and begins observing humanity. After learning of the looming threat of Duo, Bass attempts to use the Darkloids to combat the threat before attempting to take Duo on his own, becoming the main nemesis of Slur.

This version of Bass is more reclusive and his character never been explored further since he rarely appears. But it can be assumed that he still retains his desire to fight strong opponents as well as his high self-esteem just like when he desires to fight Nebula Grey and kill Regal for using him. He doesn't have a rivalry with MegaMan, and has no interest in him in particular other than the Ultimate Program MegaMan has. Also, while he views that humans and their world are worthless and hates the mere thought of being used by them, Bass doesn't seem to hate humanity as much as other counterparts and is only concerned of becoming more powerful.

MegaMan NT Warrior (manga)


Similar to the games, Bass was created as the first independent NetNavi. Bass was blamed for an incident that he was not part of and is attacked, almost being deleted. Bass come to the conclusion that Dr. Cossak has betrayed him, and leaves, swearing he will never trust anyone again, being lonelier than other counterparts. Bass slowly uses his Get Ability to become stronger, and over the years, he became a powerful and feared legend in the Undernet known as the "Black Shadow". After hearing about him, Lan Hikari and MegaMan train to challenge him, which would lead to several encounters with Bass.

Battle Story MegaMan NT Warrior
This version of Bass is somewhat different than what he is usually portrayed, for the fact that it explores more of his good side. He was created years ago to maintain network energy, and to improve system functions in SciLab's systems. He is shown to be very powerful in the beginning. The power he possesses causes him to go crazy and destroy everything in his path, somewhat similar to how he acts in other media. However, it is that power that made Bass realize that he is a threat to the Cyberworld. Not wanting to harm anyone, he willingly seals himself away. He is also shown to be polite, even addressing himself in Japanese as "watashi" (わたし) rather than "ore" ( おれ - though he uses "ore" when the power he possesses overwhelms him), and is good friends with ShadowMan.EXE.

Appearance
As with his original counterpart, Bass.EXE appears to resemble an elaborately darker version of MegaMan.EXE. He looks almost identical to his original counterpart, but his cobra-like helmet has been altered as the "fins" are mostly straightened out and split off at the bottom to show off the second pair of smaller fins. Golden shoulder pads are also adorned on his body as well. While in the manga and anime his height is comparable to Megaman's and Protoman's, in the games he appears visibly taller, like an adult person compared to a child. The fins of his helmet are also portrayed as noticeably longer and wider spreading in the games than in the anime and manga, giving him a more menacing appearance.

The chest jewel that was present in the original version is replaced with his emblem, a solid black circle with no features or characteristics, but a white scar is embedded across it diagonally. Bass.EXE's most famous characteristic however is a long flowing light brown cloak that usually covers the lower portion of his face as well as the rest of his body, which invokes a vagrant appearance. In the Manga, his cloak is much more worn and black color.

Though his original emblem is never displayed in the games and anime, in the MegaMan NT Warrior manga it is shown to resemble a f. Also in the manga, the origin of the scar on his emblem was revealed to have been caused by a Heat Blade used by a SciLab security NetNavi during the Alpha Revolt.

Hub Style (Manga Only)

After copying Hub Style in his battle with MegaMan.EXE he takes on similar features to MegaMan's Hub Style. Including what appears to be a data streaming flowing all over his body. Also, like MegaMan's Hub Style he has two flat rings of light circling around him. However, in one illustrated picture, it has shown that the data stream on Bass.EXE's body is purple, rather than green like MegaMan.EXE.



Beast Out

Unlike MegaMan.EXE who used Double Soul to trigger Beast Out, Bass.EXE forced his transformation by using his Get Ability Program to absorb data from a weakened Falzar. In this form, the top two fins on his head change and have a beak-like shape, his long cloak is reduced to a scarf that covers his neck and mouth, his hands and feet change to the equivalent versions of MegaMan.EXE's hands and feet during Falzar Beast Out, he also gains wings similar to Falzar's. Finally, the crest on his head now changes to the symbol of Falzar.

Personality
Bass's personality is primarily developed during the first three games. In the first game, nothing is known about him. In the second game, because Bass is still only briefly seen, not much is seen about him. What is shown is that due to his own pride, he hates anybody that would try to create copies of him and his disdain towards humans. After his battle with MegaMan, he displays shock and interest in that MegaMan could hurt him and leaves. This battle and some events in the third game indicate that Bass likes fighting, but he's only interested in stronger opponents.

The third game reveals far more about him. Because Bass felt betrayed by humans, he grew to hate them and longed for revenge. He displayed no sense of loyalty as well. When he first wanted to fight MegaMan, even though Bass was working with Wily, he attacks FlameMan, one of his "ally's" subordinates. After being freed from Alpha, Bass has no memory of his past but retains his interest in fighting which causes him to continue to challenge MegaMan. Because of his odd way of changing roles depending on the situation he is in, his personality is more of an anti-hero but his ego seems to always get the best of him and uses fighting as a resort to any means necessary.

To Bass, if there is a problem that bugs him, he blows it up. End of story, end of problem. So, he finds it either interesting, annoying, or frustrating if he can't blow the problem up (like MegaMan) so he'll keep an eye on the problem. Bass puts his own survival before anything else because basically, for the last ten years of his life, that's all he did. Survive with little else, and hate humanity for what they did to him.

In the second game (being the first where he has dialogue), Bass is shown to speak in an intellectual and formal yet surprisingly polite manner. In the third game, he drops the politeness altogether but retains his verbose, analytical rhetoric, giving off an aloof and distant matter-of-fact vibe. This aspect of his personality is greatly downplayed in the last three games - possibly due to his dialogue being more limited and less relevant to the main plot - he also starts to speak in a more colloquial manner like most other characters. He notably becomes more aggressive and hotheaded in the sixth game, and is much more eager to hurl taunts at MegaMan than to praise him.

Normal forms

 * Bass: This is the basic form, when he is first encountered in each game. In Mega Man Battle Network, the player must perform certain conditions and go to Internet Area 16. Bass in that game, is immensely powerful. His attacks are substantial and dangerous, inflicting an extreme amount of damage. Battle Network 2 introduces him as a copy of the original Bass (the player will also fight the true Bass in the WWW Area), whilst this form is fought twice in Battle Network 3 - once where he is completely unbeatable, and the other just before fighting Alpha. In Battle Network 4, the player must obtain six Soul Unisons, to open a door in UnderNet4 which will eventually lead to him. In Battle Network 5, Bass is encountered in a dead-end in Oran Area 3 and Nebula Area 4(with Bass/Sol Cross MegaMan) after the Dark MegaMan Liberation Mission. In Battle Network 6, the player can jump into a pit behind a giant tree in Green2, which will lead them to UnderNet Zero, once there approach the gravestone, which is titled "Cyberworld's God of Destruction".


 * Bass α (Alpha): Only encountered in Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS, Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and ProtoMan (if the player uses the Bass Cross MegaMan E-Reader Card or cheat). All of Bass's attacks are more powerful and damaging.


 * Bass β (Beta): Only encountered in Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS, Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan and Colonel. All attacks from Bass are more powerful and damaging than his original and alpha forms. It is also named as "Chaos Lord", the form the Chaos Lords takes in.


 * Bass Ω (Omega)/SP: This is often Bass's ultimate form, randomly encountered after beating the original, in Mega Man Battle Network 4 and 5. These forms often sport about 3000 HP or 3500, along with a slew of highly damaging attacks. The SP form is fought in Battle Network 6, with 2700 HP instead, and slightly weaker than expected from the other forms. Defeating him in Mega Man Battle Network 6 will net the player a Bass F or BassAnly F Chip.
 * Mega Man Battle Network 3 Bass Omega has 3000HP, now actually shoots 6 (six) orange/golden-yellow energy shots, totally replacing the regular green Air Burst shots, has a 200 Life Aura (for an unknown reason, he could have the Dark Aura instead in this form), along with all the other attacks carried over from his GS form. It is his most powerful form, and is much more powerful than the previous forms of Bass.

Special Forms

 * Bass Deluxe: Encountered in WWW Area 3 only as a random encounter in Battle Network 2 after beating the true Bass, this form sports 2000 HP, a 150 Life Aura. They also inflict more damage than usual. This form is a very balanced final form.


 * Bass GS (Gospel Style): Encountered only in Battle Network 3 near the BugFrag Trader, and only after the player has spent at least 300 BugFrags on it. Bass GS sports 2000 HP, a 200 Life Aura, and several new, highly powerful attacks, thanks to his synchronized fusion with Gospel. This form is focused more on offense, due to Gospel's powers.


 * Bass XX (Double X) Encountered only in Battle Network 4 and 5. These forms sport 4000 HP, a 200 barrier (which regenerates in BN4, but in BN5 it can be permanently removed if Northwind is used), and their attacks are exceedingly damaging. It is one of the most powerful forms in the Battle Network series. This form is extremely strong, but seems to adopt a speedier and more defense-like stance, unlike most final forms. This form is also a very balanced final form.
 * One of the biggest distinctions is that his yellow-colored plating changes to a dark purple color, signifying his total descent into darkness. This form also makes use of a unique frontal-barrier not seen in other forms.


 * Bass BX (Beast Crossed): Encountered only in Battle Network 6, after defeating Bass SP in the Graveyard. This form sports 3400 HP, a series of exceedingly damaging attacks, and also the signature attack from the Cybeast of the opposite version. Bass BX is the most powerful form for any challenger in the entire Battle Network series. This form is best suited for quickly crushing an opponent and wearing them down. Defeating him in the Gregar version will give the player a Colonel Army chip and in Falzar a Hub Batch chip.
 * This form also removes Bass' iconic Life Aura entirely, with his cape being able to shield attacks in its place. Thus, while he can be damaged in the middle of any of his own attacks, much of them become extremely speedy and powerful; albeit even almost unavoidable.

Abilities
Bass has tremendous potential that no other Navi ever had and is considered to be the strongest Navi in the Mega Man Battle Network games. He possesses plenty of attacks, abilities, and a constantly changing arsenal throughout the games. Bass is also by far MegaMan's strongest opponent, outranking even the final bosses by great power, and if not, by agility and defense (as mirroring the original Bass and Mega Man).

In the anime, Bass is extremely powerful, being one of three Navis who possesses the Ultimate Program. Because Bass was made from fragments of another Navi, he has an almost virulent hunger and consumes raw data to replenish the missing code, as shown when MegaMan saw him consuming raw data in the form of an energy ball. Despite this, he doesn't attack Navis and seems to feed almost on instinct.

General Abilities

 * Get Ability: This is Bass's most important and essential ability. Like the classic Bass, Bass can absorb the abilities of defeated foes. He used this to gain every ability from defeated foes, including Life Aura, Gospel, Alpha, Dark Soul and Cybeasts.
 * In the anime, he has no such program as he merely feeds on any data program. It is assumed that because of this, Bass is able to consume any other types of power to refill his original strength. In Rockman.EXE: Program of Light and Dark, he utilizes this ability in an attempt to absorb MegaMan's Ultimate Program to defeat Nebula Grey, though this backfires and creates Forte Cross Rockman. Following Nebula Grey's defeat, it is implied that Bass absorbed its remains, gathering enough power to exact his revenge on Slur.EXE.
 * In the manga, unlike in both game and anime, this ability allows Bass to automatically absorb other Navis' powers before defeating them, though the only time it did so was when Bass gains Hub Style. Bass utilizes this ability to get Serenade.EXE's attack reflection power, in an attempt to save MegaMan's life to absorb him into himself and become Forte Cross Rockman, and to gain Beast Out Falzar power.


 * Giga Freeze: This ability is mentioned only in MMBN3. This attack isn't used in in-game battles. Bass obtained the Giga Freeze data by the Get Ability ability towards the end of MMBN3 storyline when MegaMan tried to use it to prevent the Cyberworld monster Alpha from rampaging. This was because he was one the only Navi besides MegaMan who could make contact with the program without being permanently frozen by it. Whether Bass still has this program and/or uses it, remains unknown.

Transformation Abilities
These are mostly taken through the Get Ability program above.
 * Style Change: Bass used his Get Ability to copy MegaMan's Hub Style in the MegaMan NT Warrior manga. Just like MegaMan.EXE, Bass's strength, speed, and power greatly increase while using Hub Style.
 * Bass XX: While this form is not explicitly a transformation, Bass XX is the most obvious and visually distinct of Bass' many forms, even beyond Bass GS and Bass BX, which normally resemble Bass until he manifests the head of whatever creature he'd combined with. Bass XX is implied to be Bass' complete descent into dark power. As a visual cue of this and as aforementioned, all of his yellow/orange hues on his plating change to a dark-corrupted purple color.
 * Beast Out: In the Battle Chip Stadium arcade game, Bass gains a new Falzar form. This "Beast Bass" (獣化フォルテ) also appears in the MegaMan NT Warrior manga, when Bass uses his Get Ability to absorb Falzar and attain the power to Beast Out in order to fight MegaMan, who has already gained the ability to Beast Out from Gregar.

Original Attacks (MMBN 1-3)

 * Air Burst: Bass shoots a powerful green energy sphere down his current row. In Network Transmission, this attack is part of Bass' Navi Chip; however, after launching one sphere, Bass detonates it in the center of the area, filling the screen with an explosion.
 * Explosion: One of Bass' classic charged attacks, forewarned by his arm glowing yellow. Bass shoots over a dozen Air Burst attacks down all rows in patterns that seem impossible to dodge, but can be avoided with frame-perfect movements. Only Air Burst and Explosion are usable by Gospel's clone.
 * Bass also has two variations of this attack used in early games. After his arm glows blue, Bass sweeps MegaMan's field with fire in a horizontal figure-eight pattern. After his arm glows red, he shoots random individual panels in MegaMan's field at once, and then he shoots again in a different pattern; he repeats this up to twelve times, with the interval between each volley shortening and requiring the enemy to dodge faster and faster. The blue and red charge attacks were only used in the first two games. In BN2 these attacks are used by RealBass and BassDeluxe when they have less than half of their HP MAX.
 * Earth Breaker: Bass will rise briefly out of reach and then descend suddenly, trying to smite his target with an overhead-slamming arm strike. This attack ignores most if not all defenses and will break an entire column of panels. Note that Bass drops the Life Aura for the duration of this attack, making this attack his biggest vulnerability. In BN2 this attack is used by RealBass and BassDeluxe when they have less than half of their HP MAX.

Bass GS

 * Shooting Claw: Bass points at MegaMan's area, and Gospel's severed paws will strike from the air, hitting and cracking two panels.
 * Gospel Cannon: After several uses of Gospel Claw, Bass GS will follow it with a weaker version of Gospel's signature breath attack. Gospel's simplified head will appear on Bass' forearm and spray its breath across two columns, targeting the panel immediately before Bass and the entire column beyond that. If Bass GS is not in the center of the field, the attack's pattern remains consistent but shifts location accordingly.
 * Vanishing World: Bass GS summons a complete Gospel head, which launches a massive laser that attacks almost the entire field. It has the range of the original Gospel Breath attacked used by Gospel itself, plus any panels in the same row as Bass beyond that. This attack breaks every panel in range, pierces the player's defenses, and inflicts massive damage. Bass GS can only use this when his HP is 500 or less, and will only use it once. This attack has also been translated as Banishing World; it appeared in MegaMan NT Warrior Vol. 7 as Bass GS' finishing move.

Mega Man Battle Network 4-5

 * Shooting Buster: Bass fills his opponent's field with a spray of machine-gun fire from both of his busters, striking random patterns of two panels at once. Accuracy and rate of fire increase as Bass achieves stronger forms.
 * Hell's Rolling: Bass' primary dark power attack. Bass charges dark power in his hands and then unleashes a series of black wheels that travel along the rows above and below him, changing direction to arc towards his target.
 * Dark Arm Blade: Bass will warp in front of his target and strike with a blade made of dark power. If this attack hits, he will warp and strike again from behind, and then again from the front. Attacks from the front have Long Sword range, while an attack from behind has Wide Sword range. In the anime, this attack is depicted as Bass wielding an energy sword of dark power in each hand.


 * Darkness Overload: Bass gathers energy on both hands and rushes into the center of the opponent's front column, unleashing a massive blast of dark power across the back two columns, cracking every panel the attack touches. If the player is standing on the same panel he is, they will still take obstacle damage.
 * Chaos Nightmare (MMBN5): A variant of Darkness Overload. Bass rises high above the field and creates a growing giant sphere of dark power on one of his hands before casting it down on his opponent. This attack hits the target's original location and every panel surrounding it; it pierces invisibility and cracks all panels in the impact area.

Mega Man Battle Network 6

 * Shooting Buster: Bass fills his opponent's field with a spray of machine-gun fire from both of his busters, striking random patterns of two panels at once. In this game, it now only inflicts normal flinch, which prevents mercy invincibility (allowing it to rack up continuous damage). Accuracy and rate of fire increase as Bass achieves stronger forms.
 * Hell's Rolling: Bass' primary dark power attack. Bass charges dark power in his hands and then unleashes a series of black wheels that travel along the rows above and below him. However, this game gives him a different animation in terms of unleashing the attack, and the pattern of the wheels instead change to converging onto the player's position at the same time.
 * Battle Chips: Rather than unique attacks, Bass begins using Battle Chips. He will use all of them in both normal and SP forms, but will only use Tank Cannon and Life Sword as Bass BX. In his SP form, Bass' battle chips are stronger than even the highest versions available to the player.
 * Tank Cannon: Null element. If it misses its intended target, the Tank Cannon will impact the last panel in the row and both the panels above and below it, cracking all impacted panels.
 * Golem Hit: Break element. A Golem fist will fall on the target's current panel, attacking it and the panels above and below it. Bass' Golem Hit attacks will always ignore his relative position to the target.
 * Fire Burner: Fire element. Bass shoots a stream of fire down three panels in the same row as him. Every targeted panel is cracked.
 * Life Sword: Sword element. Like the classic Program Advance, this attack has a 2-by-3 panel. However, unlike the P.A., the slash effect is purple, similar to Dark Sword.

Bass BX

 * Summon Beast (Falzar): Also listed as Sonic Storm in the Bradygames guide and only appears in the Cybeast Gregar version. Bass BX materializes Falzer's head onto his forearm and uses its signature attack, a horizontal tornado that covers the next three panels in the same row as Bass and the panels above and below the third. Sonic Storm also disperses barriers and auras.
 * Summon Beast (Gregar): Also listed as Burning Breath in the Bradygames guide and only appears in the Cybeast Falzar version. Bass BX materializes Gregar's head onto his forearm to unleash a powerful breath attack, which shares the same range as the classic Gospel Breath attack.

Mega Man Network Transmission

 * Spark Chaser: Bass fires a laser beam that moves at 90-degree angles, and can turn twice.
 * Homing Spark: Bass fires a slow-moving spark that home in on the enemy.
 * Delete Tower: Bass throws a pair of bombs to the ground that erupts into huge energy pillars.
 * Cross Burst: Bass throws sparks creating 4 beams in a cross pattern.

Defensive Abilities

 * Float: Bass is always floating, and so he ignores panel effects, though he cannot cross over broken panels.
 * Life Aura: Bass' signature defense in the original Battle Network trilogy, which he is implied to have stolen from Dr. Wily by using his Get Ability program. Bass is almost constantly shielded by the aura, only dropping it for specific attacks and then restoring it immediately after; if MegaMan lacks the sheer power to overwhelm it (or the NorthWind battle chip in Battle Network 3), this is his only window of attack. Note that making Bass flinch during this window will likely prevent him from summoning the barrier again until he recovers from using another specific attack.
 * In the first game, the Life Aura (which here has a polygonal design unique to Bass) ignores all attacks that do less than 100 damage, but in Battle Network 2, Bass Deluxe uses Life Aura 2, which ignores all damage less than 150. Battle Network 3, which also restructured the Aura system, gave the 100 damage rating to the basic Aura and gave the Life Aura a damage rating of 200; Bass uses the standard Aura until he becomes Bass GS, which is when he starts using the new Life Aura. In Network Transmission, he uses a series of high-powered elemental auras instead.
 * In MegaMan NT Warrior (manga), Bass has an unnamed defensive shield that rises from his cape and can only be shattered by doing great damage. As in the games, Lan and MegaMan perceive that Bass becomes vulnerable during his Earth Breaker attack. This said invisible shield is similar to the one his cape gives in his BX form in Battle Network 6.
 * High Speed: Prior the events of Battle Network 4, Bass abandons the Life Aura for unknown reasons, and instead adopts an entirely new style of attack based around high-speed movement and extra dark power-based attacks. Thus, Bass then can only be hit while standing still as his movement allows him to dodge attacks with ease.
 * Black Barrier: Unique to Bass XX, who only appears in Battle Network 5. The Black Barrier is a shield of dark power that will absorb up to 150 damage total before dispersing (it is not an aura and is also placed in front of Bass as opposed to coating him all-around). However, unless it is dispelled with the NorthWind chip, Bass XX will eventually restore the barrier.
 * There is a Bass XX battle in Battle Network 4 that is only available through e-Reader modification cards or the Virtual Console version; here, NorthWind will also disperse the barrier, but the effect is not permanent.

Battle Chips

 * Bass (フォルテ, Forte in Japan) summons Bass to attack with Explosion.
 * Bass+, known as Forte Another (フォルテアナザー) in Japan, summons Bass to attack with Earth Breaker.
 * Bass GS (フォルテGS) summons Bass to attack with Vanishing World.

Later, the pattern of Bass's Battle Chips changed in Mega Man Battle Network 4 onward:
 * Bass (Forte) summons Bass to attack with Shooting Buster.
 * Bass Anomaly (フォルテアナザー) summons Bass to attack with Hell's Rolling.

Mega Man Battle Network 3
The Bass/Bass+ Battle Chip is obtained by defeating BassGS in Secret Area 3. Bass GS could only be obtained in Japanese events (Takara Boys Hobby Festival 2003, 18th World Hobby Fair), and it overwrites Bass / Bass+.

Mega Man Battle Network 4
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating him in Undernet 5.

Mega Man Battle Network 5
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating him in Nebula Area 6.

Mega Man Battle Network 6
Bass's Battle Chip is obtained by defeating Bass SP in Graveyard Area.

Mega Man Network Transmission
(Megaman.EXE stumbles upon a secret area, which open entering, encounters Bass.EXE hovering in the air.)

Bass.EXE: You are nothing...

(Bass.EXE's cape billows in the air as he gives off an intense energy field.)

Bass.EXE: Little boy... How did you get in here...?

Lan Hikari: What!?

MegaMan.EXE: This surge... If I get any closer, it'll blow me away!

Lan Hikari: Grrr...! This is more than just a Navi! Careful, MegaMan!

Bass.EXE: ...? ...You...scum... You defeated Zero... Now, that's interesting. How powerful are you worms...?

Lan Hikari: He's attacking!? MegaMan. Battle routine! Set!

MegaMan.EXE: Execute!

(MegaMan.EXE and Bass.EXE engage battle. Because Bass.EXE is so powerful, he is invincible and cannot be harmed, so MegaMan.EXE has to endure the barrage of attacks until Bass stops.)

Bass.EXE: ...How did you withstand my attack... Now I know why Zero lost to you... Interesting... I think I'll actually try this time...

MegaMan.EXE: It's no good, Lan! He's too powerful!

Lan Hikari: Argh!

Bass.EXE: ...Nah... Not this time...

Lan Hikari: !?

Bass.EXE: It won't be long until judgment day... You'd better be ready...

(Bass.EXE leaves.)

Trivia

 * Bass is the only Navi with a missing Navi mark. Instead, a large scar is placed where the mark should be. The official Navi mark never appears in any game, but the manga and Rockman.EXE Official Complete Works depicts it as the "Forte" symbol, the musical term for "loud" or "strong."
 * In addition, Bass is also missing his violet eye streaks in the beginning, and later has them after receiving his scar. This may be a result of Bass absorbing a mass of dark power throughout the years in the UnderNet.
 * As part of the Rockman.EXE and Duel Masters crossover, Bass had a promotional card named "Forte, Brave Fear Lord" (勇騎恐皇フォルテ) in Duel Masters, and two Phoenixes appear in Mega Man Battle Network 5 as Giga Chips.
 * In the manga volume 7's color page, it's shown that Bass GS' cape becomes darkish green.
 * One of his official chips always summons a Buster Rake or Hell's Rolling, except in BN3, where he uses Earthbreaker for he did not have Hell's Rolling at the time. BN5 follows this tradition, but adds a variant where Bass summons Chaos Nightmare when the Giga Chip "Chaos Lord" is used.
 * There is also a Giga Chip 'Bass GS' (with an X symbol) that can only be gained from a Capcom promotional event for MMBN3 in Japan or through cheating. The chip involves Bass using the Vanishing World attack, inflicting 700 damage (but those standing in specific squares before the attack, standing right in front, or are invincible in specific manners are unaffected). This chip replaces the original Bass (White version) and Bass+ (Blue version) chips in the game when received (even if Bass GS is beaten before the promo event) and is also similar to the chip in the first BN game that also has been said to only be received through cheating, but like the traditional, Bass uses Air Burst/Buster Rake. The GS (X) Giga Chip can be stated to be Bass's strongest chip in the whole Battle Network series.
 * When using both Gospel Breath and Vanishing World however, the Gospel head on Bass' forearm/buster isn't aligned properly with his sprite
 * Bass is the first non-DS boss in the entire Battle Network Universe (including Star Force) to use chip attacks, the second being Acid Ace (this does not count Area Grab, because it is too easily abused and often appears as a step in a Program Advance or a move unique to a Navi.)
 * The dark barrier which Bass created in front of him before shooting Buster Rake is very similar to Serenade's Holy Shock, only varies in color. This might be proof that Bass has defeated Serenade.
 * In Mega Man Battle Network 2, a Bass copy makes a reference to his Japanese name with the line, "Battle is my forte!" Which is never said on the original Japanese dialogue, where he simply states, "...Understood... You can leave the fighting to me!"
 * Bass in Mega Man Battle Network 2 (or rather, his copy) started the trend of the double final boss battle. This tradition was also in Battle Network 3 (where the real Bass was the first boss) and 4. A similar battle is also in MegaMan Star Force 3.
 * A dark silhouette of Bass appears on the "Dream Aura" Giga-Class Card of Mega Man Star Force.
 * According to a side story Ryo Takamisaki's manga, Bass's first ability absorbed via the Get Ability program was a Heat Blade, which he took from a bitter Elite Corps Navi who had stayed behind in order to delete Bass after his orders to do so had been changed to focus on the Alpha program.
 * While Bass.EXE's personality is pretty similar to that of the original Bass, the original Bass does not hate humans, he has some degree of respect for humans, since they were the ones that created robots. The original Bass is also more focused on defeating his universe's MegaMan and is more openly focused on enjoying battle with a smile, along with a less tragic past.
 * UDON's English translation of Rockman.EXE Official Complete Works stated that a rule was made in which Navis could not have any cloth in their designs. Yuji Ishihara, the character designer for the Battle Network games, confessed to breaking this rule upon designing Bass, for he wanted to give him his trademark cape because of the Navi's tragic past.
 * In Mega Man Battle Network 2, a Program Advance involving Bass and Gospel can inflict of upwards to 6000 damage in which Gospel attacks with its breath, then if the enemy is still alive, Bass uses Earth Crusher that inflicts another 3000 damage. However, one of the chips required cannot be obtained normally without a Japanese exclusive event or a cheating device. This Program Advance is easily the most powerful in the entire Battle Network series, although it makes an appearance in Mega Man Battle Network 6 as a greatly watered-down version. The only possible way to get higher damage is with Meteor in the second game, which can be done by areagrabbing three times (and the enemy locked into one panel), changing the stage to Grass and using Meteor with 4 Fire+40 chips for a total of 6200.
 * Curiously, Bass is the only being in Mega Man Battle Network - NetNavi or otherwise - that outright copies abilities, rather than using Battle Chips to perform the abilities of other Navis and viruses as MegaMan does.
 * Solo, a character from Mega Man Star Force, shares some trait with the manga version of Bass, such as their solitary attitude, and both despise the idea of friendship or bonding with others, but started to change after meeting their respective rivals.
 * His renegade nature, cape, and near volatile but incredibly vast powers have him bear similarities to the superpowered psychic antagonist Tetsuo Shima of the anime and manga series Akira.
 * Bass.EXE in the NT Warrior manga and the game series are related, and depict Bass to be very similar to how X was created, who was capable of feeling emotions, act independently, and make his own choices, something that was revolutionary. However, Bass was used while the network was still under the process of being built, and thus humanity ultimately deemed him too dangerous. This was precisely what Dr. Light feared for X and thus sealed him away. Bass can ultimately represent how X could have been if he was released before humanity was ready to accept him.