Ethics



Ethics (unofficial name ), also known as notoriety and favor system (favorability system), is a gameplay mechanic from Mega Man Legends and Mega Man Legends 2. Depending of the player's actions, MegaMan Volnutt may be considered a good or bad person, affecting his popularity and the shading of his armor. MegaMan starts with a neutral morality in both games.

Actions
The initial value of the ethics is 128. MegaMan becomes bad when it gets to 64 or lower, and his armor becomes darker when it is 32 or lower. The minimum value is 0, and the maximum is 255.

Effects

 * If MegaMan is bad, the townspeople from Kattelox Island will badmouth him.


 * In the optional mission to assist the police recover the money stolen by Servbots, MegaMan can choose to return or keep the trunk. If he returns the trunk, the ethics value increases, MegaMan gains 20000 Zenny, and the Stripe Burger will open in Downtown. If he keeps the trunk, he will gain one million Zenny, but the ethics value will drop to 0 and the Stripe Burger will not appear. Either way, it is later discovered that it was a mistake and the money was not stolen, but borrowed by the Servbots to start a business. Returning the money gives them a chance to start a honest business, while taking it will leave them with a big debt.


 * In the Japanese version, if Paprika is kicked it will be sad and dislike MegaMan. If MegaMan doesn't kick Paprika (the only option in English), it will be happy and energetic.

Mega Man Legends 2
This mechanic is brought back in Mega Man Legends 2, this time, however, Mega Man can also turn into a lighter shade by doing various good deeds. Most of these actions are repeatable, so one can have the opportunity of being both Good and Bad in a single playthrough.

Actions
The initial value of the ethics is 0. MegaMan becomes bad when it gets to -16384 or lower, and he becomes good when it gets to +16384 or higher.

Effects

 * MegaMan's behavior affects what people think about him.
 * His behavior also affect the prices in shops, being lower if he is good and higher if he is bad.


 * If MegaMan is good, he will be able to understand the animals in Manda Island.


 * If MegaMan is bad, Roll will be sad and worried about MegaMan, asking why he is acting like that. The player can either tell her that he will try to be better or to leave him alone. The former will highly increase the affinity value between her and MegaMan, while the latter will highly decrease it.


 * Bad MegaMan can't take a quiz from Yōkan, Ofuton and Yaito, thus being unable to obtain their items.


 * The items Taser (required to make the Special Weapon Crusher) and Reaverbot Eye can only be obtained if MegaMan is bad.

Rockman X DiVE
In Rockman X DiVE, this mechanic is brought up on the event "Maleficent Hero", in where the Player is tasked with stealing money from cars, vending machines and boxes, while the Player's Hunter Program gets progressively darker.

The bad MegaMan Volnutt also appears as a Hunter Program with the money trunk from the first game, using it as a weapon in one of his skills. This form is only called MegaMan Volnutt Alt., known as Waru Rock (悪ロック) in Japan.

Trivia

 * Sen-Ti-Nel released a Bad Mega Man (悪ロック) figure of Mega Man with dark armor and the trunk from the first game.