Mega Man X5

Mega Man X5, known as Rockman X5 (ロックマンＸ５) in Japan, is the fifth game in the Mega Man X series and the third X game on the PlayStation console. It's also the only game to have a time limit on the stage select. The FMV sequences, seen in Mega Man X3 and Mega Man X4 (with the exception of the game's opening), have been replaced with still screens and text.

The player can choose X or Zero in the title screen, but you can still choose between the two characters later inside the game (a staple of the series starting with this game). The only difference is that if the player chose X, he will be able to use the Force Armor, and with Zero, he will be able to use the Z-Buster.

It should be noted that series creator Keiji Inafune originally intended for this to be the last title in the Mega Man X series, with Zero dying and resurrecting later in the Mega Man Zero series, but Capcom later decided to green-light Mega Man X6 against his wishes, changing his plans.

Story
"It's the year AD 21XX... The world is at peace after centuries of fighting the Reploid Wars. Lunar colonization is at it's peak and the moon is the center of a swarm of orbiting space colonies. The largest, a massive colony named, Eurasia, is undergoing extensive renovation to make it the most colossal and advanced of all orbiting outposts. When an unknown force occupies Eurasia, the peace collapses! Eurasia's artificial gravity device has been hacked, spinning it out of orbit and on a collision course towards Earth. The estimated time of impact is 24 hours; if it collides life on Earth could be totally destroyed. The only way to stop it is to deploy the Enigma, an ancient particle cannon left over from the Reploid Wars. The future of the planet is entrusted to Mega Man X and his comrade Zero, as they race against time to collect the necessary parts to restart the Enigma and halt the out of control space outpost.

In-Depth Story
Ten years after the battle with the Repliforce, the world thought a new age of peace might exist. People had begun to expand into outer space due to a boom in population on Earth and colonies began to spring up orbiting the planet. However, the largest colony, Eurasia, was taken over by an unknown group of Reploids, lead by Dynamo, and its gravitational device was altered so that it would head on a direct course to Earth (the colony will hit the Earth in just 16 hours).

A large energy readout of the colony returned a signature that it was infected with the Sigma Virus, so the Maverick Hunters saw no other solution except to alter the colony's path by hiting it with the Enigma laser canon. Yet, the laser required four pieces, each of which was being held by a Maverick, so X and Zero were called into action by Signas, the Hunter's new commander (created by the late Dr. Cain), and assisted by a navigator named Alia.

The story from this point on diverges into several different subplots: once X and Zero have recovered the initial four items required to use the Enigma Cannon, it is fired and can either succeed in destroying the space colony or fail and only destroy part of it. Canonically, the Enigma Cannon fails, which leads into Signas' next plan: launching a space shuttle directly at the colony to destroy it. Again, after the four pieces have been collected from the last four Mavericks, the shuttle will launch with Zero as its pilot (as Zero mentions, he is the only competent pilot left).

The shuttle can either succeed or fail; if the shuttle succeeds in destroying the space colony (which is canon to the story), Zero contacts the Hunters from a badly-damaged escape pod to tell them he's okay and that he'll land soon. After Zero lands, the Hunters come to pick him up, whereupon Alia detects an odd energy signal similar to the Sigma Virus, but different all together. They name this new virus the Zero Virus, and X and Zero go into the source of the virus, which appears to be a huge crater underground. They fight two very old enemies inside the source of the virus: The Shadow Devil (a warped W from Dr. Wily appears in the background) and Rangda Bangda from Mega Man X (who plainly displays the Sigma symbol).

Upon entering the last Virus stage, the dialogue changes depending on what character is used; if the player is X, he will confront Zero about the latter's rise in power, and plead with Zero to go back to the Hunter Base to get a check-up, which Zero stubbornly denies. If the player is Zero, he will confront X and two Lifesavers (the Hunters' medical unit) and will be labeled as a Maverick by the Lifesavers due to Zero's immunity to the Sigma Virus. Either way, X and Zero fight with the Dr. Wily symbol displayed prominently in the background, and just as the fight is ending, the opponent uses Soul Body on the player to weaken him.

X and Zero then lie exhausted on the ground, while Sigma appears out of nowhere to finish X off. Zero jumps in front of X's prone body and blasts Sigma with his Z-Buster, claiming to "know everything you're trying to do!" Sigma concedes defeat and vanishes for the moment. X and Zero then go the final area to confront Sigma, defeating the eight Maverick bosses again in the process.

Once they reach the final chamber (which reveals the broken capsules of both X and Zero), Sigma reveals to them that his entire plan hinged on awakening Zero from his "false self" and giving him his true power by infecting him with both the Sigma Virus and the Colony Virus (the previously unnamed virus that Dynamo used to disrupt the space colony from its orbit) at the same time. X and Zero fight Sigma, who loses and reveals his final body; a huge, unfinished battle body.

Sigma tells X of an old man he met, with a seemingly undying hatred for X; if the player is Zero, he tells him of the same man, who supposedly knows enough about Zero to be his own father (at this point, it is obvious that Sigma is referencing Dr. Wily). X and Zero fight Sigma's last body and defeat him, but Sigma has one last trick up his sleeve; he self-destructs, attempting to take the both of them with him.

After the explosion, the extent of the damage is shown; Zero's body lies shattered on the ground, his lower torso and left arm apparently destroyed in the blast. X kneels down to pick up Zero's broken body and pleads with him not to die, not noticing Sigma's severed head charging a blast behind him. Sigma fires an energy blast at X, catching both he and Zero in the chest and creating a hole there. This blast seemingly jars Zero from death, as he smiles and blasts Sigma's head with his Z-Buster, finishing him for good. He lies on the ground and calls for X, noting that his friend's optimism at the thought of Zero living is what lead to his death.

Zero then reflects on his life as a vision of him in his original body fighting the original Sigma (a fight referenced in a flashback in Mega Man X4) comes up. He assumes these visions are due to his power source running out and his memory unit malfunctioning as another vision, this time of a blurred Dr. Wily come into view. The focus shifts from the doctor to an incomplete Zero lying on a table, where Zero notes that he is the one created to destroy Reploids. A red and faded picture of Iris then flashes through his mind, while Zero apologizes to her. He then makes a remark that it would be better for him to die, so as to restore the peace.

Zero then tells X goodbye, and passes away. Not far from Zero's position, an equally broken X (who, after Sigma's blast was missing his lower torso and both arms) is told by a mysterious glowing figure to rest and relax (again, the figure is obviously Dr. Light due to the music; how he got there is anyone's guess). There is a white-out, followed by a scene three years after the final battle with Sigma. Alia alerts the Maverick Hunters of a large Maverick rampaging in a nearby sector, and X tells the three Hunters nearby to move out. The final scene shows X holding Zero's Z-Saber, while one of the other Hunters remarks that X's eyes have changed and sharpened, more and more reflecting his former partner and friend, Zero. X then says that as long as he has Zero's saber, he can fight any enemy. The scene then fades to the credits.


 * The ending to Mega Man X5 changes dramatically if both of the plans to destroy the space colony fail; Sigma's plan to return Zero to his true self succeeds and he becomes a "Maverick" in the truest sense; he becomes the original Maverick upon falling back to Earth with the space shuttle. He notes that his mind is perfectly clear, and that he only has one goal now; to eliminate his "true enemy", X. X still feels as if he can save Zero, so X fights through the three Virus stages to get to Zero to help him. Once X reaches the final chamber, he confronts the "original" Zero, whose power had grown tremendously thanks to his transformation. He narrowly defeats Zero, who both fall to the ground exhausted and with Zero apparently back to normal. Sigma appears from nowhere again, intent on killing X. Weakened and knowing this is the last thing he could do, Zero throws himself in front of X to shield him from Sigma's blast, sacrificing himself in the process. Sigma sneers and remarks that Zero had almost achieved perfection, but failed in the final moment before departing. Zero tells X that he should live and keep on fighting, and then dies. X returns to the Hunter Base and then goes off to fight Sigma, and the dialogue is the same as the normal story. After X defeats Sigma's final body, Sigma attempts to self-destruct and take both of them, plus Zero's lifeless body with him. He almost succeeds, as X's nearly-destroyed body lies lifeless on the ground. A glowing hologram appears and tells X to hold on for just a little longer, and to forget all of his painful memories. There is a fade-out, that then comes to a scene one week later, of X and two other Maverick Hunters moving some things. One of the Hunters asks X if he remembers anything about what had happened the previous week, with X firmly stating that he doesn't remember anything about the battle. The other Hunter remarks that X is now a Special-A rank Hunter, the same as Zero, and explains to X that he and Zero worked together to defeat Sigma. X comments that he didn't forget Sigma's name; he remembers it clearly, and yet he has no memory of Zero. He assumes that whoever repaired him may have accidentally deleted the data (at this point, it's apparent to the viewer that the hologram, Dr. Light, erased X's memories to ease the pain of fighting Zero and leading to his death). One of the Hunters says that it's a miracle X came out of the battle at all. The scene then shifts to the control center, with Signas, Alia and Douglas. Signas remarks that it's indeed a miracle X came back, and without so much as a scratch. Douglas mentions that it's still difficult to repair X and Zero's bodies, since their internal workings are still a mystery. Alia says that she's not interested in miracles, and doubts most Reploids believe in them either. Douglas asks about X's memories of Zero, and Signas admits that even he doesn't know how it happened, be it an accident and purposeful. Alia mentions that there's a protection in X's systems now; X's body won't even accept data related to Zero now, and even she couldn't program a protection that complicated. The final scene shifts back to X and the two Maverick Hunters, where X says that they need to work harder to achieve peace, and that his secret dream is to build Elysium, a paradise for both humans and Reploids.


 * In respect to Mega Man X6 and Mega Man Zero, the canonical ending to Mega Man X5 is odd; according to X6, Zero succeeded in stopping most of the colony from impacting the Earth, but enough of it impacted the planet to completely devastate all of the Earth's ecosystems and spread deadly pollution around the planet. This would almost combine the two outcomes of the space shuttle plan in Mega Man X5. Zero is also believed to be dead, but this is also proven wrong in Mega Man X6.

Bosses
Eight Mavericks:
 * Grizzly Slash (Crescent Grizzly)
 * Squid Adler (Volt Kraken)
 * Izzy Glow (Shining Hotarunicus)
 * Duff McWhalen (Tidal Makkoeen)
 * The Skiver (Spiral Pegacion)
 * Axle the Red (Spike Rosered)
 * Dark Dizzy (Dark Necrobat)
 * Mattrex (Burn Dinorex)

Others:
 * Dynamo
 * Shadow Devil
 * Rangda Bangda W
 * X (If Zero) / Zero (If X)
 * Sigma

Armor
X's Armors:
 * Force Armor - If X is chosen at the beginning, he begins with this armor. The Nova Strike and Head Part's effect from Megaman X4 are absent, however
 * Falcon Armor - Flight and maneuverability-based armor.
 * Gaea Armor - Defense and power-based armor.
 * Ultimate Armor - Replaces the Force Armor when a code is used or could be found in Virus Stage 3.

Zero's Armors:
 * Unarmored Zero - Zero starts the game with his normal armor.
 * Zero Armor - Accessible through a code or could be found in Virus Stage 3.

Notes:
 * If X is chosen at the beginning, Zero begins the game without the Z-Buster.


 * If Zero is chosen however, X will start the game without the Force Armor, instead he'll use his normal armor.

Trivia

 * Regardless of the gameplay progress (whether the player stops Eurasia or not) or selecting a character for the mission, the battle in the third stage of Sigma's fortress will always be between X and Zero.
 * When fighting X in the third Sigma fortress stage, he uses some of his Special Weapons from X4: an enhanced version of the Soul Body (where he launches many images at a time) and charged versions of Frost Tower and Double Cyclone.
 * In the same battle, X also dons his Ultimate Armor, making the battle the first (and so far, only) canonical appearance of the secret armor.
 * This is one of only two games, the other being X8, in which Sigma is not only fought once; he is fought as the intro stage boss as well.
 * All of the eight Mavericks' English names are based in the name of a member from the rock band Guns N' Roses.
 * Though indirectly, Mega Man X5 is referenced in Mega Man Zero 4, as the game's main setting, Area Zero, is revealed to be where the Eurasia colony crashed. By that time, centuries after X5, nature had returned to Area Zero. That certain aspect also forms part of Doctor Weil's plot.
 * The first Sigma fortress stage is a remake of Quick Man's level in Mega Man 2 and the second stage is a remake of the first Sigma Fortress stage from Mega Man X.
 * Many music tracks were re-used from previous games:
 * Duff McWhalen's stage music is a remix of Bubble Crab's stage in Mega Man X2.
 * The last part of the final boss music is somewhat similar to the song The Final Countdown by Europe. For that matter, Infinity Mijinion's stage music from Mega Man X6 also bears a thematic similarity to The Final Countdown.
 * The boss music from fighting Shadow Devil is a remix of Mega Man 1's Wily Boss.
 * The boss music from fighting Rangda Bangda W is a remix of the music used when fighting the same boss in Mega Man X (also the theme is used on a few of X1's other villains, including Vile).
 * The intro music is a remix of Zero's theme from Mega Man X and the Get Weapon theme from Mega Man 3.
 * Gamma Sigma is the second largest final boss after Dr. Weil fused with Ragnarok, and the largest of Sigma's forms.
 * Unlike X, Zero can air dash from the beginning of the game. It is possibly that he still had the Hienkyaku from Jet Stingray in Mega Man X4.
 * Also, when Zero is using the Zero Armor, his Z-Saber is purple, this could possibly be the Tenkuuha from Storm Owl.
 * This is the first Mega Man X game where there is a training mode, possibly because of the new abilities to duck and hold on to ropes.
 * Like in Mega Man X4, the game has a minor glitch that causes the game to become stuck on a Warning Signal on the PlayStation version, forcing the player to have to reset the game.
 * This was essentially planned to be the last Maga Man X game in the series. This is unofficially confirmed as to how the endings seem very dramatic and the fact that it is the only game in the series that X and Zero battle each other on a serious note. If the player picks Zero and fights X, X will wear the Ultimate Armor, the only appearance of it actually story-related.