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The X series ostensively takes place in the future of the original series. But just who is X? Believe it or not, we don’t officially know, because Capcom has never said.

It is in my opinion—though I could be wrong—that X is not Mega Man or any other robot in existence, but instead a totally new and original creation, built from scratch. Why? Well, think of it this way. We already know that this is the case with Zero—Zero can’t be a rebuilt Proto Man, Bass, or any other character currently existing in the Mega Man series (up to and including Mega Man 8) because Dr. Wily has been building Zero since the Power Battle (which occurs just after Mega Man 7). Now, here’s the key—if Zero is indeed copied off plans of Dr. Light’s, then X as well must already exist or Dr. Wily would have no plans to copy. So this rules out Mega Man being X just as it rules out anyone being Zero. Of course, if Zero has no relation to X, then X’s identity is still under debate; however, it does make you wonder why Zero and X are so similar. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Plot Holes

On related note, I find it curious that there’s almost no mention of the original series in the X series. Oh, you hear about Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, but ever notice that none of the characters in the X series ever mention anyone else? You’d think if the X series was the future of the original, then Mega Man and Dr. Wily at least would have made a mark on history. You’d think people would wonder about the fact that Mega Man X is incredibly similar to Mega Man (even going so far as to share the same name and the same creator). You’d think people would talk about the previous Wily wars and why no one learned from their past mistakes.

But curiously, no mention of any of these is made in the X series. We see mentions of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, but it’s as if Mega Man himself never lived. And it’s as if Dr. Wily never once tried to take over the world. As if none of that had ever happened. You suppose everyone on the planet has hideous, global amnesia?

This almost leads to the conclusion that the X series isn’t really the future of the original at all, even though that’s clearly what Capcom intended. Look at it from another angle. Dr. Light wrote on X’s capsule that X was capable of thinking and feeling emotions and such...yet all of the robots in the original series have been able to do that since at least by the time of Mega Man 8 or so, probably earlier. Just take a look at any number of Capcom’s more recent games, such as Battle & Chase or Super Adventure. Heck, even the Mets in Super Adventure seem to have thoughts and emotions.

So if all of the robots in Dr. Light’s time could do that anyway, why would Dr. Light write that on X’s capsule like it was some new and unusual thing? The only explanation that fits is that those robots didn’t exist in the X series, and that X was Dr. Light’s first truly great creation...which would mean that Dr. Light never made Mega Man in the X series time line. Which would mean the X series isn’t really the future of the original at all.

Oh, I’m fully aware that Capcom meant for the X series to be the future of the original. But they’ve certainly filled that plot with plenty of holes, to the point where it doesn’t really work from a logical standpoint. Oh well.

Common Knowledge

As another side note, I wanted to take a moment to address the prevailing theory regarding this. I am in fact fully aware of it, because it is so common as to have become basically the “de facto” theory that everyone spouts. That being, that Zero destroys all of the original series robots, and thus ushers in the X series. No offense, but I just don’t buy this. Zero is cool and all, but he is simply not that powerful. I mean, he can be defeated by X, for crying out loud, and X is a pansy. He also is the weakest player character in any of the X games due to his lack of a decent long-ranged weapon and no defense to speak of. (Not counting the Zero games here, where he is the only player character, because they take place 100 years later and thus don’t factor into the equation.) Why do you think Zero is the most difficult character to play in X series games, even if he tends to be the most fun? Without using a secret code to activate his hidden black armor, he dies to just about anything far too quickly. X himself starts out pathetically weak until he gets his enhancements, and Zero’s only enhancement is a black form that isn’t even obtainable in most cases without using a code, so we can assume he doesn’t normally have it. There is just no way Zero would be able to single-handedly take on Mega Man, Bass, and Proto Man—not to mention all of their helpers and sidekicks such as Duo, Roll, Rush, Treble, Beat, Eddie, Tango, etc., etc.—and win.

But putting aside all of that, I just wanted to mention this if only so that people would know they can stop mailing me about it. Whether it comes to pass or not, it’s not news, and I’ve heard it all before. No offense.

The other, related theory is that Mega Man 9 “must” end the original series. There’s really no reason why this would have to be; people just say that because 9 is such a convenient number considering the fact that “X” is the Roman numeral for 10 (even though “Mega Man X” is not and never was “Mega Man 10”). Still, this is a decision only Capcom can make, and first they have to come to the decision to even make a Mega Man 9 at all...

Conclusions

So the end result is that we don’t really know who X actually is, as Capcom hasn’t said. Eventually they will probably have to do so in some way, and maybe Capcom will use the most prevailing theory if only because it’s so common. But we won’t know for sure one way or another until they actually do it.

So for now, we know that X was created by a Dr. Thomas Light, but Capcom has never said what relation (if any) X has to Mega Man. Likewise, Zero was created by a Dr. Wily—or is that Dr. Weil? But that’s about all that can be extracted from the games. The rest, for now, falls into the realm of fan fiction.

Postscript

On a complete side note, have you ever noticed that X and Zero have never taken their helmets off in Capcom’s works? Being Dr. Light’s creation, I assume X could take his helmet off (since Mega Man can), but I don’t really see why Dr. Wily would bother giving Zero hair and all of that considering Zero was probably built to be a war machine. But then, he gave him that ponytail attached to the back of his helmet which seems to serve no purpose, so maybe Wily is just plain eccentric.

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Originally posted by The_Red_Maverick
u don\'t need proof... its plain obvious that he is megaman just improved.. hes not a totally different robot.. thats not possible.. Light wanted megaman to continue his heroism.. so he made him a reploid.. i don\'t think he built a totally different a new robot... thats just not point in building a whole new one... megaman was hos top notch so he improved him..

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Originally posted by Dr. Cossack


Your reasoning is flawed right there: X is not a reploid. By definition, a reploid is a robot based on X\'s design. X isn\'t based on himself, he IS himself!