Gate

"Bwah ha ha ha! It's finally done!! I'm going mad and it is so... liberating! ...no. The plan has only just begun... I'm going to bring all low-grade... Reploids into submission! Those too simple to understand my work!! I'll build an ideal world only for Reploids... A wonderful world where I control everything!"

- Gate

Gate (ゲイト) is a Reploid scientist and main antagonist of Mega Man X6. He used to be a colleague of Alia. His goal is the creation of the ultimate Reploid and a new world order for only supreme Reploids. He is completely devoted to his work and will do whatever it takes in order to achieve what he desires most. Gate is the creator of the eight Nightmare Investigators, the Zero Nightmare, High Max, and the Nightmare Virus itself, and is even partially responsible for the resurrection of Sigma.

Appearance
Gate is a tall male Reploid in purple armor. His clear face is recognizable for his sharp purple eyes and a confident expression. Facially, Gate appears to be slightly older than X and Zero. His helmet is distinguished by a pair of metallic blades running across the sides and a diamond shaped blue gem. Another blue gem with the shape of a pentagon is located on the center of his chestplate. He is more defined however by his white lab coat featuring gold accents and cuffs. He wears a long white labcoat, adorned by golden bands around the collar and the wrists.

In combat, Gate changes to a golden armor with white details and blue gems, and his labcoat becomes a cape, which he implies after the battle was the result of his research into the Zero Virus.

Personality
Gate is a devoted researcher with a cold and sarcastic attitude, a large ego and an irreverent personality. In order to achieve his goals, he's willing to do everything necessary to get what he wants. During his time with a research team responsible for developing new Reploids, unlike Alia, he broke research protocols by making his creations unanalyzable, causing him to become a social outcast. He became bitter and filled with hatred when his creations were destroyed by his very own colleagues, especially because Alia (who's often speculated to have felt romantic feelings for him) was part of the conspiracy. Like many of the villains in the series, Gate desires a Reploid government under his leadership, and will gain it by any means necessary.

Gate aimed to make the strongest Reploids, believing that the best Reploids are completely unanalyzable, which is why he is so fascinated by X and Zero, and why he values the sample of Zero's DNA that he obtained so highly. Being a genius in Reploid engineering and not afraid of showing it, he advanced to the point of being able to develop highly advanced Reploids that no one else could analyze. However, due to him not following orders and not using his abilities properly, nobody gave him proper recognition and instead disposed of his creations due to fearing them. Gate could not understand as he considered them excellent Reploids and the heroes X and Zero also could not be analyzed and were not treated in the same way. Gate grew resentful of those who did not acknowledge his talent, and isolated himself.

Despite this, Gate appears to have some concern for the world, as he laments the damage caused by Eurasia. Alia also mentions in the ending of Mega Man X6 that she and Gate longed to create a program resistant to all viruses. However, any compassion Gate might have had is completely lost when he is infected by the virus in Zero's DNA; although he realizes that he is losing his sanity, he finds the sensation "liberating" and begins to dedicate himself solely to getting revenge on those who scorned him by creating a nation for high-end Reploids only, using the Nightmare as its foundation.

Researcher Days
Gate used to work in a team of Reploid scientists, researching the potential of Reploid engineering. He was fascinated by the Maverick Hunters X and Zero because their body structures and DNA was a mystery to the world's finest scientists and researchers. Both of them were completely unanalyzable and their inner functions couldn't be fully understood. He saw it as a challenge to find a way of analyzing both of them or at least creating Reploids with similar attributes. Eventually, he succeeded and created powerful Reploids whose DNA couldn't be analyzed by the other scientists, such as Commander Yammark, Rainy Turtloid, Shield Sheldon, among others. Gate's Reploids were widely praised and used in various locations for several duties. However, this created jealousy and disdain between him and his colleagues, and they eventually began conspiring against him and his creations. Alia was also one of them, although unwillingly.

All eight of his Reploids were either sabotaged while on duty or labeled Maverick, but in any case, all of them were destroyed, with two of them, Sheldon and Turtloid, destroying themselves in suicide out of shame. Broken and bitter, Gate left the research team, becoming an anchorite somewhere on Earth. However, things changed when he discovered some interesting remains while skimming through the wreckage at the Eurasia crash site...

Mega Man X6
Two weeks after the Eurasia incident, Gate visited the crash site. There, he found something. At first, he thought he had merely found a piece of junk, but it soon proved to be something far more powerful. It was a piece of Zero, more importantly, a DNA sample of Zero. He immediately began analyzing it and after roughly a week of study, he had been turned insane by Zero's viral DNA; however, he called it a very "liberating" experience. With the help of the mysterious Reploid scientist Isoc, he managed to decrypt 99.98% of Zero's DNA, creating the Nightmare Virus from it, as well as the powerful Reploid High Max and resurrecting eight of his deceased Reploid subordinates.

Both of them then came up with a plan to use Zero as a scapegoat for creating a new society of selected, powerful Reploids; independent from humanity, in an ideal state, led by Gate. All other "low-grade" Reploids would be brought into submission, or wiped out. To do this, he created a discolored, apparently insane copy of Zero, called the Zero Nightmare, which was then publicly blamed for the recent Maverick attacks by Isoc. Isoc encouraged Reploids all over the planet to join the Nightmare Investigators to hunt down and destroy the Zero Nightmare to bring back peace. In reality, Gate's intention was for these Reploids to go to the areas contaminated by the Nightmare Virus so they could become infected themselves with the virus and be his slaves.

Eventually, Gate would contact the Maverick Hunters upon their victory over his creations or a temporary defeat of High Max, inviting X and Zero (if found by X after the destruction of the Zero Nightmare) to challenge him. He later revealed to X/Zero that he didn't set up all this on his own, but with the help of Zero's DNA. In order to gather and analyze even more data about the two ancient robots, Gate challenged X/Zero to battle. By utilizing all the data he had analyzed by now, Gate managed to make his golden battle armor virtually invincible against all attacks, except his own if they were repelled against him. X/Zero managed to find this weakness and defeated him, leaving him damaged and immobile. Gate, however, refused to give up. Although he didn't want to do it due to realizing the inherent risk of being killed by it, Gate unleashed his final trump card: a revived (yet incomplete, with an unfinished body, and a barely alive, irrational and incoherent consciousness) Sigma. Unfortunately for him, however, Sigma refused to acknowledge Gate's part in his resurrection, nor needing him for anything, and killed him.

After Sigma had been defeated, X returned to the remains of Gate's laboratory, salvaging his body because he was unable to leave him there as he used to be Alia's friend. Yet, he had been severely damaged. Alia was given the choice of what to do with Gate, repairing him or otherwise; however, it was never made clear and his fate remains unknown.

Power and Abilities
Gate is fought at the end of the second stage of his laboratory. When Gate is fought in his laboratory, he discards his normal lab coat for a golden battle armor, powered by a part of Zero he found. He flies freely around the room while X and Zero are forced to maneuver on a set of small, scattered platforms, while abusing his complete immunity to any weapon/technique the player has.


 * Nightmare Hole (ナイトメアホール) - Gate will fling a series of different colored "gates" at the Hunters, up to three at a time. Every color variation of a gate does a different effect. Once they stop moving, they can each be destroyed by any weapon to hurt Gate with their scattering fragments:
 * Red - They slow down X and Zero's movement and attack speed, a la Crystal Snail in Mega Man X2, while Gate retains his normal speed, which means he can easily fly up to and damage them, or sometimes force the player to fall if they were sliding down a wall or platform.
 * Orange - They fire an energy bullet at the Hunters from a distance.
 * Blue - They draw X and Zero to them like a magnet. This can sometimes force the player off the walls (if they were sliding down one) and kill them easily.
 * Green - They move up to the player if they are away from them.
 * Purple - They will generate Nightmare Viruses.
 * Nightmare Move (ナイトメアムーブ) - Gate will move toward the player's position to try and ram them off the small platforms. It's his most common strategy, and it can be easily dodged with either a double jump or an air dash.
 * Nightmare Strike (ナイトメアストライク) - Gate will perform a wide strike that opens up a rift of dark energy, which can destroy some of the platforms. However, the platforms respawn after a while, so it's practically useless for any other purpose than to hurt the player or make the boss fight more tedious. Gate only uses this attack after he has lost about half his health

Strategy
The best strategy to use against Gate is to swap between the two platforms of equal height until Gate fires a Nightmare Hole, then attack it from a distance so there is time to dodge out of the way. It is best to destroy them quickly with an attack like a Charge Shot or Z-Buster, so the Nightmare Hole does not activate its special effects. When Gate is at lower health, it is best to avoid letting him go to places where he can destroy the two platforms that are most used.

Other appearances

 * Gate is fought alongside Dynamo in the X Challenge mode from Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2.
 * Gate appeared as Unit Cards in TEPPEN, and he is also present in some Action Cards.

Isoc and Gate's meeting
*The following scene occurs after defeating one Nightmare Investigator/Maverick.

Isoc: I have a report. An investigator was already...

Gate: ... Destroyed by that Maverick Hunter. I know. It's shameful they can't beat that mysterious old robot... Isoc! Keep an eye on that Hunter for a while.

Isoc: Yes, sir!

Gate: Oh, how is the experiment going?

Isoc: Everything is going great and the effect is brilliant. We achieved 99.98% success rate by now. This is an amazing invention. But, if you use High Max, in just minutes you can control all Reploids on Earth. Even the Maverick Hunter was no match.

Gate: No. Continue the experiment for now. I want you to keep gathering data.

Isoc: Yes, sir.

Gate: By the way, have you found what you're looking for? I guess it doesn't exist in this world...

Isoc: Oh, no. It does. I've seen him... Besides he isn't some low Reploid that would die in such a trivial battle.

Gate: I'll admit he's as persistent as X. Alive or not, there are many options.

Isoc: I'll find out for sure.

Gate: Hmm. It doesn't matter to me. You are on your own. I don't need the "body of Zero"... Anyway, just do the work and keep an eye on X.

Isoc: Yes, sir. Isoc: I have a report. Another investigator has been beaten...

Gate: Blast... That old robot is tenacious.

Isoc: You are quite right, sir. Especially that red Reploid... Zero has outstanding performance. I believe he will cause problems for us if we don't take measures now...

Gate: I'm no longer interested in Zero. High Max will defeat Zero before long.

Isoc: There is no doubt it will be easy for High Max... but we'd better make a move just in case.

Gate: Isoc, I have been thinking about that. You're obsessed with Zero, aren't you?

Isoc: No, no, I'm not...

Gate: Then leave that old robot and focus on the experiment.

Isoc: Yes sir, I'm doing just that. It's going smoothly and effectively. We achieved 99.98% success rate by now. So I assume the experiment is done.

Gate: Then it's time for the next phase... Ha ha ha. It's going to be fun... Isoc.

Isoc: I'm sure, sir.

Gate: Keep an eye on those two Maverick Hunters.

Isoc: I shall obey your orders.

After all 8 Nightmare Investigators are Destroyed
Gate: Well done, Maverick Hunter, X. You defeated my star creations...

X: Who are you?

Gate: I'm Gate. The new leader of Reploids. I aim for an ideal nation of Reploids only. I'm eliminating low Reploids for that. Hee hee hee.

X: You!! Do you realize what you're doing? The Earth can't be fixed without Reploids!

Gate: I know. So this is the perfect time! I can bring a new age just for Reploids. This is my dream. I've been waiting for this... I won't let anybody get in the way. X, I'll give you a special treat since you proved your worth and ability defeating my investigators. I'll invite you to my laboratory. Fu fu fu. No more hiding. I'm sure you'll come even if you know you'll die. I'm waiting for you at my laboratory. Fu fu fu. Bwa ha ha ha ha! Gate: Splendid, Zero! You defeated my stars...

Alia: Do you still hold grudges? Don't you realize what's going on? In the worst case scenario, you might die as well.

Gate: I know... I think it's a golden opportunity! Thanks to the Space Colony incident, a lot of Reploids were lost. Now I can easily control the Reploids remaining... It's the ideal time to build my world! I won't let anybody interfere. Finally I can realize my "dream"! I will build the strongest nation!

Zero: Your ridiculous obsession is a waste of our time. An ideal world made from a virus? It won't last with a corrupt foundation!

Gate: Even though you have Maverick Hunters and Reploids... and you still could not maintain peace, right? Don't accuse me when you use force too!

Alia: Stop quarreling! The Earth needs us now. Gate, I believe you should know better.

Gate: ... I can't forget... They murdered my works instead of appreciating them. They were such excellent Reploids... Why? This Maverick Hunter can't be analyzed and may carry great risks... but why won't you dispose of him? I'm looking forward to seeing... The mysterious hero at my laboratory...

After defeating Nightmare Mother
Gate: You made it... You're superior, as always. You always were at the top, Alia.

Alia: No. Your talent was far beyond mine. I just diligently did as I was told. And you didn't. That was the only difference.

X: No matter how capable you are, the skill is nothing if not used properly. Alia understood that but you didn't.

Signas: First of all, a nation for only Reploids won't work. Both Reploids and humans are flawed. We can't survive without mutual aid. I believe you know this best.

Gate: Will humans rescue this damaged planet? No. They take refuge under the ground and are helpless. Only the Reploids can do the work... Fu. Did the Reploids cause this disaster? They're the ones, are they, X? Ha ha ha.

Signas: Don't let him bait you, X.

X: I'm all right, Signas.

Gate: I'll admit that Reploids are flawed and some Reploids become Maverick. That's why I wasn't properly evaluated. But... I feel confident in my recent creations. Oh... I'll tell you one little thing. I didn't get here on my ability alone... Hmmm...but I got something. A golden opportunity. Guess what I picked up? I thought it was just rubbish...At first. It was a "piece of Zero." I obtained Zero's DNA! I felt as if I stepped in the sanctuary. And the DNA was just fabulous. It was a piece of cake to create High Max and the Nightmare. I couldn't contain my excitement... I could now create perfect and the strongest Reploids! But...there's no limit to things. Look at you.

X: Don't you know? Sure, Zero's DNA has great power... But it decreases if used the wrong way. Time to teach you a lesson, Gate! You used Zero to cause Reploids pain. All for your own ego!! I won't forgive you!!

Gate: Good! I've been waiting to destroy you! Come on... X!

Gate: Finally you made it. You're truly great, Zero.

Zero: It's simple. Evil must be defeated.

Gate: I wanted to keep silence on this. But I will reveal the secret to you. To be honest, I didn't get here on my ability alone... I got something. It was a blessing. Guess what I got? I thought it was junk at first. ... It was a piece of your body. Zero. I obtained your DNA data! It couldn't be analyzed! I tried using the latest technology.

Zero: What!? You used my DNA?

Gate: Your DNA was just fabulous. It made High Max and the Nightmare easy. I couldn't contain my excitement... I could now create perfect and the strongest Reploids... But... It couldn't match the original after all. I couldn't analyze it completely.

Zero: How dare you!! Delete the Nightmare virus now! It's too dangerous! It will be your undoing!

Gate: Ha ha ha. How strange... You're usually so calm... Don't worry. I had enough experiments using low Reploids. And that yielded a virus from your DNA. What I should do now is... to destroy the disgusting original body!

Zero: I'll destroy your evil ambition!!

After destroying High Max
Gate: Most impressive. All of my Reploids have already been destroyed. I confess that I have nothing to use...

X: Gate! Surrender! Or...

Gate: Not now. I have one more experiment I'd like to perform.

X: Stop! You are making a big mistake, but you know that, don't you.

Gate: Who cares. I've always wanted to analyze you. Come on, X!

Gate: So impressive. All of my Reploids have already been destroyed. I confess that I have nothing to use... I couldn't analyze you enough... Or should I say it was impossible to analyze you completely...

Zero: It is too dangerous to put my DNA to use! You must have been aware of that. Delete all the remaining programs you have!

Gate: Not yet. Just give me one more chance to fight you! I've never thought I'd be able to fight the original one... This is a long-awaited opportunity! Fight me, Zero.

Zero: It is useless to fight you anymore! Just give up and surrender.

Gate: I won't. I am so close... Prepare yourself, Zero!

Quotes

 * ... What happened? I heard they avoided the collision... ...but they might as well have failed... And for this, we should be thankful? This is not all... something else is going to happen. I feel uneasy. (Opening cutscene)


 * What is this? ...Hmm? This is... ...debris. But what from? ...Was there any violent battle here? I wonder how many people and Reploids were sacrificed? Um? Wait... Th... This is!... (Opening cutscene (Discovered some of Zero's remains))


 * Bwah ha ha ha! It's finally done!! I'm going mad and it is so... liberating! ...no. The plan has only just begun... I'm going to bring all low-grade... Reploids into submission! Those too simple to understand my work!! I'll build an ideal world only for Reploids... A wonderful world where I control everything! (Opening cutscene)


 * Kugh. I lost even though I used Zero's DNA... No... Ugh... I should've... analyzed it more... Wa... was there a... fault in the program...? But... ack... this is not the end. I don't... ack... give up so easily... I prepared for this just in case. Ha ha. I really... don't want to use this... I might be destroyed as well, but... I brought back the evil... Si... Sigma... (Defeated in battle)


 * GhaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAA!! (Being killed by Sigma)

Archie Comics
Gate was later revived in his battle form during the events of Worlds Unite, where he appeared as part of Sigma-2's Maverick army. After helping attack the Sky Patrol, he departed to invade other worlds on Sigma's orders.

Trivia

 * It is unknown how X or Zero walks on the block he first stands on before fighting Gate if there is no floor in the first place.
 * Gate is the first villain in the Mega Man X series not to be manipulated by Sigma.
 * Gate is possibly the first scientist to be able to (partially) decipher Zero's DNA until the Elf Wars almost a century later.
 * The theme of Gate's laboratory is a remix of the third X-Hunter Stage from Mega Man X2, with a more heavy metal feel. That same up-tempo remix is used as the background music for the same level in Mega Man Xtreme, though retaining the repetitiveness of the X2 arrangement.
 * The color schematic of the armor Gate wears during his fight with X and Zero is similar to the armor of General and to the appearance of King from Mega Man & Bass (gold armor with white cape). Gate also shares many other similarities to King as both were seen as the main antagonist for the majority of the game, and they both desire a human-free nation.
 * Gate changes into his armor by pulling on the edge of his lab coat, leading many to believe that the white cape he wears with his armor is his lab coat.
 * All of Gate's robots share his unique diamond-shaped head gem, and their life bars show the same gem. Sigma's unfinished body itself seems to have Gate's design tendencies incorporated, also sporting a diamond-shaped gem on his visible boot, marking the body as Gate's creation.
 * Gate is the first boss in the X series to be weak against his own weapon.
 * Looking at the details of Gate's sprites, Gate shoots the Nightmare Holes using his buster and releases Nightmare Strike from the crystal in his arm. The color of the crystal changes with the color of different Nightmare Holes.
 * Gate is also the first boss since Vile from the first Mega Man X game to be able to not take any direct damage from the player themselves, but the only one which requires another method to damage Gate.
 * Suetsugu decided to use gold for Gate's Combat Mode because it was an uncommon color at the time. He originally intended for the helmet horns to flick up when Gate was angered, and he added diamonds to the armor to accentuate the one on his helmet.

Notes and references
Gate 盖特