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- “I can face any enemy now. I will feel this way as long I have this Saber. I'll do it today, Zero. With you! Forever, We'll be together... Zero...”
- — X at the end of X5
XZero is the slash ship between X and Zero from the Mega Man fandom.
Canon[]
Zero telling X that he can become stronger than him.
Mega Man X[]
In the first entry in the series, you play as X, a robot created by Dr. Thomas Light that was awoken after 100 years by Dr. Cain. When X was awoken, Cain thought his robotic systems and capability for free will so interesting that he created a whole race of robots based upon X, dubbed "reploids" (or "repliroids", in Japan). These reploids, however, had the ability to go against social norms and perform criminal behavior, and society deemed them dangerous, calling them "Mavericks" ("Irregulars", in Japan). In this game, X and Zero are Maverick Hunters, members of the reploid police force that stops Mavericks, and their commander, Sigma, has begun a revolution brought on by the influence of the "Maverick Virus". At the end of the first stage, X meets up with Zero, who rescues him from Vile, one of Sigma's followers. Zero tells X that he has the capability to be stronger, and is not really seen again until the end of the game, when he sacrifices himself to help X and let him go on to fight Sigma. If the player did not collect the arm armor parts while playing the game, Zero will lend X his arm buster before he dies (In the remake "Maverick Hunter X" for PSP Zero's buster is actually different than the regular X Buster upgrade).
The ending shot of Mega Man X2.
Mega Man X2[]
Set six months after the events of the last game, X receives word that a trio of Mavericks, the "X Hunters", have reassembled Zero into three parts, and want to put him together again to aid their rebellion (and Sigma, who has come back after the last game). The player is able to either collect Zero's three parts via additional boss battles during the game or not collect them, fighting Zero at the end before Sigma. If the parts were collected, a fake version of Zero appears at the end, but is shot down by the real Zero, who shows up to help X. If not, X has to actually fight Zero, but they reunite at the end by the sea.
The ending shot from Mega Man X3.
Mega Man X3[]
After Sigma's defeat, a scientist by the name of Dr. Doppler has created a cure to the Maverick Virus, allowing for a time of peace and the creation of the utopian "Dopple Town". Months later, however, X and Zero are called to stop a Maverick attack occurring at Maverick Hunter Base, which is being led by Doppler's forces, since it turns out the vaccine was a placebo and only stopped the effects of the virus until Doppler's command. X is captured by a former ally, Mac, and Zero saves him, leading to the rest of the game. This is the first title in the series in which Zero was a playable character, albeit in a very limited sense. At the end of the game, Zero can either be severely damaged or remain active if certain conditions are met. If he is damaged, then he will give X his Z-Saber so he stands a better chance at stopping Doppler's plans. After defeating Doppler, he comes back to his senses and tells X that Sigma himself has mutated into a Virus of his own, the Sigma Virus and that he should go destroy his new body. In the meantime Doppler creates an actual cure for the Sigma Virus, if Zero is damaged then he will use the cure himself, if Zero is active, he gives it to him so he can come in in the last second and saves X from Sigma, regardless, X reflects on his situation, coming to the conclusion that he may need to destroy Zero in the future.
X asking Zero to destroy him if he becomes Maverick at the end of Mega Man X4.
Mega Man X4[]
This is the game with the least interactions between the two out of the whole series. The player can choose to play as either character when starting the game, and the only interaction they have together is in X's ending cutscene, where he asks Zero to promise that he will stop him if he goes Maverick, which Zero dismisses as ridiculous.
Despite the lack of interactions, this game is the most important for Zero's character and backstory. It's revealed (To him and for the first time to western players) that he was the last creation of Dr. Wily, Dr. Light's rival and the villain of the original Mega Man series. Wily had created him for the sole purpose of violence and destruction, which led to Zero's murderous rampage that he had upon waking up. Zero discovers, through his memory, that he had fought Sigma and their altercation led to Sigma's infection with the Maverick Virus, which was also allegedly created by Wily. Though he is not the robot he was when he committed these acts, Zero feels intense guilt and considers himself a danger to others and those close to him since he wasn't really able to save anyone during his adventure. To make matters worse, he kills his navigator, Iris, during the events of X4 - a moment that will mark his character in later games that came out.
Mega Man X5[]
In this game, Sigma returns with a plot to crash a space colony infected with the Maverick Virus into Earth, which in return gives the player the ability to pursue multiple endings and plot events. If the cannon, Enigma, is fired and succeeds in destroying the colony, scraps will fall to Earth, imbued with the virus. If the cannon fails, only part of the colony is destroyed, and an alternate plan is created in which a space shuttle will crash into the colony to destroy it, with Zero as the captain. He also can succeed or fail in this scenario, and if he succeeds, the colony is destroyed and he returns safely to Earth. If the shuttle fails, however, the colony still crashes, and Zero becomes Maverick.[note 1]
X and Zero being shot through the chest by Sigma at the end of Mega Man X5.
Regardless of whether Zero has gone Maverick or not, X and Zero[note 2] will enter the final stages and fight each other. This is canonically the first fight between the two in the series, and if Zero has gone Maverick, he explains to X that he has been awakened by the virus, which has made him aware of his original purpose - to kill X, the creation of his creator's enemy. The two fight and then end up severely wounded. Zero wakes up to see Sigma about to shoot X, and dives in front of the blast to save him (or blocks the blast, if he has not gone Maverick). If Zero took the hit for X, Zero asks him to live on and is killed by Sigma, but if he blocks the blast, Sigma simply retreats. If playing as Zero after that, the next stage ends with him fighting Sigma, who asks about a mysterious old man[note 3] and explodes at the end of the battle, taking Zero with him. The scene is similar for X, where Sigma taunts him about his friendship with Zero, and uses Zero as a shield, exploding at the end again. In the next scene, Zero lies on the ground torn in half, while X picks him up and pleads for him to not die. As X holds Zero, the remains of Sigma fire a laser between the two, greviously injuring them both. However, Zero manages to fire one last shot at Sigma, finally destroying him.
There are three different endings, depending on who you play as and whether or not Zero went Maverick. If you played as Zero, his ending features his final moments as he reflects on his true purpose, remembers Iris, and delivers his dying words to X, about how he needs to die to restore peace to the world. If you played as X, Dr. Light appears as a hologram, and repairs him. However, if Zero did not go Maverick, X is shown to be carrying Zero's saber in remembrance of him 3 years later. If Zero did go Maverick, Dr. Light erases all knowledge of Zero from X's memory, and X is shown to be unable to accept any information regarding Zero a week later.
X5 was intended to be the end of the series, which has caused slight argument over the canonical status of certain endings, as the next game in the series[note 4], the next game in the franchise[note 5] and the next game series chronologically[note 6] all follow vastly different outcomes.
Zero's return in Mega Man X6.
Mega Man X6[]
Three weeks after the events of X5[note 7], a reploid scientist named Gate discovers a piece of Zero's data[note 8] and uses it to create the Zero Nightmare, a ghostly, purple version of Zero that is wreaking havoc. Though he was presumed dead and destroyed, Zero reappears, much to X's joy, and helps X take down Gate and Sigma's new reincarnation.
In Zero's ending, he decides to seal himself away for a century to allow for research of his body. This ending was made to tie in with the Mega Man Zero series. However, since the X series was continued for several more games after this one, the ending was retconned to occur years after whatever the last event in the X series is supposed to be[1].
There is an alternate ending where X never actally finds Zero and instead Zero randomly shows up to spook X and Alia in the final cutscene. He then leaves them as he has some unfinished business to attend to (Presumably taking out Nightmare Zero once and for all). This has led to some confusion as some palyers though Nightmare Zero was just Zero being possesed, which is not the case.
Mega Man X7[]
After many years of fighting and defeating Sigma, X retires from the Maverick Hunter front lines, explaining that he's had enough violence.[note 9] Zero talks very dismissively to X the whole game, telling him "do as you please" after almost every interaction. While X is retired, a young new-generation reploid named Axl is found by Zero and taken back to Maverick Hunter Headquarters. Axl is a valued asset of the vigilante group Red Alert, which appeared after X's retirement due to the influx of Maverick crime, and aspires to be a Hunter like X and Zero. X continuously treats Axl with vitriol and tells him that he will never become a Maverick Hunter, though Zero considers him to be overreacting and allows Axl to join him on his missions. Eventually, X will join the playable roster alongside Zero and Axl after rescuing over 64 reploids in the game.
This doesn't affect the endings as each character has one for themselves with minimun interaction from the others. Zero's ending has him having a dream of X going crazy and killing him, this is meant to reference Copy X trying to murder Zero in the Mega Man Zero series.
Mega Man X8[]
Set some time after X7, X, Axl and Zero are all working together as Maverick Hunters when the director of an orbital elevator, Lumine, is captured by Vile and presumed to be held hostage by Sigma.[note 10] As a newer-generation reploid, Lumine and others like him have the ability to copy other reploid's appearances, just like Axl, but with a new immunity to the Sigma and Maverick Viruses. This development concerns X, but in the game's ending cutscene, Zero reassures him that they will not go obsolete (see: quotes). In Zero's individual ending cutscene, he states that "Maybe this means I won't have to fight anymore" as he looks in X and Axl's direction (see: quotes, fanon).
Mega Man Zero Series[]
After the events of the X series, Zero finally seals himself away for a century, largely out of a feeling that his presence will prevent peace from truly being achieved. While Zero was being researched, Cyber-elves are discovered, and the Mother Elf is used to finally rid the world of the Sigma Virus and its' variants. It all goes downward when Dr. Weil creates a plan to corrupt the Mother Elf and use her as a supreme leader, which X opposes, but is carried out anyways, leading to the Elf Wars. Most of the human and reploid populations are wiped out, and Zero's body is used to create Omega, the proposed supreme leader, but his consciousness is uploaded into a new body and he joins X to finish off Weil, who is imprisoned and erased from all records. X goes on to found Neo Arcadia, the utopia he always dreamed of where humans and reploids can live in peace. Four guardians are created from X's DNA to help him restore the planet, but X finds that the corrupted Mother Elf (the Dark Elf) needs to be contained, and sacrifices his physical body to do so. A young scientist named Ciel creates a "perfect" replica of X named Copy X to rule in his place, but the replica doesn't share X's empathy and maturity, causing a crisis in Neo Arcadia. Zero is awoken by Ciel, but remembers nothing and is shocked to learn about the actions of "X" (Copy X). The real X, in the form of a Cyber-elf, shows up throughout the series and helps Zero occasionally, though Zero barely remembers who he is at the beginning. In Zero 2, X's physical body is destroyed, and at the end of Zero 3, his consciousness disappears entirely as he asks Zero to protect humanity. At the end of Zero 4, Zero dies along with Ragnarok.
Mega Man ZX Series[]
200 years after the end of the Zero series, many legendary reploids from past eras have their consciousnesses turned into Biometals, including X and Zero (called Model X and Model Z, respectively). At the beginning of Mega Man ZX, either Vent or Aile merges with Model X, who has the capability to "Double Megamerge" (merge with an additional Biometal). After Giro dies, Model Z leaves his possession and merges with Vent/Aile and Model X, creating Mega Man ZX.
Moments[]
- X and Zero also show up in many other games, such as Mega Man Xtreme and Mega Man Xtreme 2, as well as the spin-off Command Mission, an RPG that conflicts with the series' official timeline, leading it to be dismissed as largely non-canonical. They appear together in Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite and Project X-Zone as well.
- There have been mangas produced based upon the first 5 Mega Man X titles, which are a popular source for images of the two interacting, but they also appear in the Archie Mega Man Comics for a few panels.
- In the Rockman X5: IF Manga, an alternate ending to X5 is explored where X and Zero seem to merge together to bring down Sigma.
- Every game in the series except Mega Man X and X2 feature Japanese-Version-Exclusive intro and ending songs, many of which were sung by X's Japanese voice actor, and include lyrics that can be interpreted as romantic (see: songs).
Quotes[]
Songs[]
Fanon[]
Romantic[]
Many people who ship X and Zero enjoy their closeness and clinginess to each other, interpreting certain scenes or moments as being caused by romantic feelings, such as Zero's sacrifices for X and X's guidance during the Zero series. There is a common joke that the two are "divorced" during the events of X7, due to their lack of interaction and emotional distance. Axl is sometimes considered the duo's child, with jokes that Zero practically adopts him during the events of X7. Some fans interpret Zero's ending line in X8 as a reference to his infamous line "What am I fighting for?!" from X4, when he loses Iris, showing that he is starting to recognize that he fights for X.
Zero's ending cutscene from Mega Man X8
Iris herself was supposedly intended to be a recreation of X's pacifistic side[2], while her brother Colonel was a recreation of X's fighting prowess and sense of justice. Many shippers have made a connection between Zero's romantic interest in Iris and how she is partly a female X, implying that he simply loves X, but social norms get in the way.[note 11] Another somewhat-love interest of Zero's is Fairy Leviathan, one of the Guardians from the Zero games, since she flirts with him sometimes in-game. Again, there's an argument that because Leviathan is based upon part of X, that X's DNA holds a love for Zero. The Guardians from the Zero series are also sometimes portrayed as their children, usually with a joke that X had them himself or that Zero is dating his best friend's daughter.[note 12]
A common trope in fan works is that the two are soulmates, particularly doomed by the narrative. In works about the Mega Man Zero era, the amnesia trope and lack of physical interaction is commonly used for angst, while some fans write reunions between the two after Zero's death at the end of the series.
Platonic[]
Not everyone finds this ship intriguing; a large amount of fans don't ship the two and instead firmly believe that they are in a very close "bromance" or best-friend/brotherly bond. Zero does commonly refer to X as "buddy" in cutscenes and other content, and some view their dynamic as that of a cool older brother and the younger one who tries to be as cool as him. Regardless of whether or not they are viewed platonically or romantically, X and Zero's tight bond is iconic to many people who grew up with the series.
Another aspect that is usually brought up is how plausible is for X and Zero to even be romantically interested in each other in the first place, going back to the Iris example, the fact that she is based on X's personality and Zero got invoved with her in about 2 games time yet never even considered looking at X in the same way after knowing him for much longer brings up debate for his orientation. While there is a lot that can be gleem from subtext in dialogue and actions, the fact remains that anytime there seemed to be any overt romantic undertones in the X or any other series for X and or Zero is usually reserved for female characters only.
All of Zero's possible love interest where women, from Iris to Layer on the X series to Ciel in the Zero series if any more. The same thing can be said for X, whether is Alia or Nana in the main series, or Marty in the mangas all of X's posible romantic partners have usually been female.
Fandom[]
Trivia[]
- In a fan-made video by TerminalMontage about Mega Man X[3], one of Zero's voice actors, Lucas Gilbertson, provided his voice lines in the video. After the credits, there is a short clip where he asks X to stay at HQ, saying "It's not that I don't love you, I- you know I do, I lov- oh, uhh, is anyone listening?".
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
Notes:
General References: |
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| Mega Man Ships • Mega Man Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | AxlCinnamon • BassRoll • MayLan • ProtoQuake • XAlia • XMarty • ZeroIris |
| slash | Wilight • XZero | |
| family | MegaLight • ProtoMega • Rock N Roll | |
| CHARACTERS | male | Mega Man |