is a video game character present throughout much of Capcom's Mega Man franchise, who first debuted in the Mega Man X series. He is an android and an elite member of the Maverick Hunters, an organization dedicated to defending humanity from rogue Reploids known as Mavericks. Zero also acts as a mentor and longtime friend to X, the main protagonist of the X series. He is also the titular main protagonist of the Mega Man Zero series, and has a supporting role in other series in the franchise, such as the Mega Man ZX series. He has also appeared in crossover video games as a guest character.
First developed by Keiji Inafune when he was attempting to create a new design for the X series, Zero was instead used as a secondary character. In the Zero series (developed by Inti Creates), he was the protagonist and had a change in his design that was meant to impart a more "human feel" to him. He also has a minor role in the ZX series as Model Z.
His inclusion in the Mega Man X series has generally received positive critical response from reviewers. His story within the Mega Man Zero series received similar response, partly because he became more darker and mature compared to previous Mega Man characters.
Appearances
In Mega Man video game series
Zero debuted in Mega Man X in 1993 and as a cameo appearance in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. In the latter, he was revealed to have been originally created by Dr. Wily sometime during the Mega Man series. Zero works as a Maverick Hunter, a soldier in charge of defeating Mavericks, robots who turned against humanity. He is X's comrade and best friend in the X series, and the two, later accompanied by Axl, fight Sigma, Vile, and other enemies. In the first two titles, he assists X during gameplay, but becomes an playable character in X3, albeit limited in gameplay.
Zero debuts as a fully playable character in Mega Man X4, where he fights rebellious Repliforce and is forced to kill an old friend in the process, Iris. In his scenario, Zero is haunted by nightmares of a shadowy figure awakening him and giving him orders to destroy an unknown individual, and visions of ensuing carnage. Additionally, during his scenario, Sigma reminds him of when he led the Maverick Hunters and the encounter between the two that led to a vicious battle. In this battle, Sigma punched out the crystal on Zero's helmet, which later on caused Sigma to become infected with the Maverick Virus. Depending on the story development, Zero can be fought as a boss character in Mega Man X5. In Mega Man X6, he is not initially present due to being presumed dead at the end of Mega Man X5 during a fight against Sigma. However, he becomes an optional character depending on how the story develops throughout the game. He is one of the two initial playable characters in Mega Man X7, along with Axl, and also appears in Mega Man X8 as a playable character along with X and Axl. In the spin-off title Mega Man Xtreme, he is an assistant character but becomes playable in the sequel, Mega Man Xtreme 2. He is also playable during the prologue and the last chapters from the role-playing video game Mega Man X: Command Mission. A mobile phone game, Mega Man X DiVE, also features Zero as a playable character.
The Mega Man Zero series features Zero as the title character. Set around 100 years after the X series, he helps a scientist named Ciel fight the human city of Neo Arcadia, during which he destroys Omega - his original body, Dr. Weil, and Copy X, leader of Neo Arcadia, twice. He also makes an appearance in the ZX series as Model Z, who plays a minor supporting role in the plot in the first ZX game. As well, he appears in ZX Advent, but has an even smaller role, only having a few lines of dialogue. Zero's Mega Man Battle Network counterpart, Zero.EXE appears in Mega Man Network Transmission as the antagonist of the first half of the game. He later aids Mega Man against the true villain, The "Professor".
Zero also reprises his role from the first game in three mangas by Iwamoto Yoshihiro, and the prequel Irregular Maverick Hunter X by Ikehara Shigeto.