Saturday, March 21, 2009

Don't Point The Finger At The Mavericks

Gameist compiled a list of "misjudged" villains, the bad guys who's motives are misinterpreted by the "good guy bias." The Mavericks made the cut as they aren't the ones to blame for all the bloodshed and crises that plague the X series and onwards; it all comes back to the mild mannered Dr. Cain, the man who singlehandedly created the Reploids. A portion of the article below:
What they Do: In the year 21XX Dr. Cain finds a robot in the ruins of Dr. Light's lab. The robot was his last creation, Mega Man X, the first robot to built with the ability to make its own decisions. After awakening X Dr. Cain takes it on himself to build more robots like X, presumably because the future has a severe lack of heartless killing machines. He dubs them Reploids and builds many more of them to aid humans; some are designed for military purposes, others for construction, and others still for the purpose of building more Reploids, a decision that couldn't possibly go wrong.

Why they're misunderstood: Though the major Maverick Sigma defects from a virus, many of his allies suffer from a horrific design flaw because the man that built them was a fucking botanist. No, not “robotanist.” Botanist, as in a guy that studies plants. So yeah, Dr. Cain is directly responsible for a cruel future ruled by robots. Thanks, jackass!

It's never explained what lead Dr. Cain to think that after twenty years of studying Butterwort he could successfully build and maintain a legion of sentient robots but we're pretty sure his high school guidance counselor never chatted with him about setting realistic career goals.


In all seriousness, this makes complete sense, however, if we want to take things a bit further, we can also pen the rise of the Mavericks on Dr. Light. According to the ol' reliable Rockman Zero Official Complete Works, the origins of the infamous Irregular/Maverick Virus were given an alternate scenario that may or may not be canon:
"The virus actually originated from one of the circuits that Dr. Light installed in X's brain. The circuits function was to keep X neutral and unbiased in matters concerning humans and Reploids. Tragically, the very same circuit condemned X to a life plagued by the philosophical question that weighed the value of humans against that of Reploids - a question to which there was no answer. Zero was the first Reploid to be infected by the virus, but as an android created solely for evil, destructive purposes by Dr. Wily, the virus affected him uniquely. Instead of going Maverick, the virus turned Zero into a warrior driven by goodness, not evil. Unfortunately, by tirelessly fulfilling his destiny as a Maverick Hunter, Zero inadvertently spread the virus throughout the world. Eventually, as the host of the virus, Zero was taken to a research facility for study."
So, who's really to blame?

News Credit: GoNintendo

8 comments:

  1. Not to cherry pick but if X had the was the original carrier of the virus how did zerp get infected? Oh and Cain was an archeologist not a botanist. But still how does digging up dino bones qualify you to build. Wow Cain is a Jackass

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  2. X was the first robot who could make decisions? What about Rock?

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  3. Rock could make his own decisions, but he was bound by Asimov's laws of robotics, so he could not entirely do what he wanted to do. Light designed X to have more freedom - to be like a true humanoid in that he could choose his own path in life and, if he truly wanted to, harm people (as stated in X1, he is not bound by those laws, which is one of the reasons Light was proud of, and worried about, X's potential).

    Yes, Dr. Cain was an archaeologist (unless they retconned the story at some point) who discovers Light's lab in 21XX (ca. 2114-2116) and it was never made clear exactly why he replicated X's design. I would have thought that robots would have flourished in the century between X's sealing and unsealing, but apparently not, or at least they never advanced beyond a "mechaniloid" status?

    The part about X having the virus is confusing to me as well, especially since it says it was a "faulty logic circuit." Technically, that's what started some of the maverick riots prior to X1 (faulty circuits in Dr. Cain's designs), but Sigma himself became infected by the Virus after breaking the Dr. W crystal on Zero's head (at least as far as I can understand).

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  4. I read someplace that the Maverick virus is the result of Zero's violent programming "crossing streams" with the flawed, replicated suffering circuit. This occurred during his fight with Sigma in the X4 flashback.

    Or something.

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  5. -Dr. Cain is the leading scientific mind of the 22nd century, he's an all-rounder in many fields, including robotics and searching for fossil plant-life. He has many interests, but his primary abilities lie with robotics. The man is just misunderstood because he wasn't doing any robotics related project when he found X.

    -When Cain was working with Dr. Right's design notes, it wasn't until he made some changes to the design that his first Repliroid activated, this is because Right's work was a quantum-leap beyond anything the world had ever seen. X's ability to worry is after all the new epoch of robotics.

    -Dr. Wily created the Sigma Virus and put it inside Zero. X and Right's involvement (and also Cain's) in the matter is that Sigma Virus' area of attack is the weakness inside of the Repliroid heart. MMZOCW's Three Keys section is mistranslated and the original Japanese wording is completely vague. X's circuit of mental suffering is not the "origin", it's something as vague as a "true essence." The true essence of Sigma Virus is the ability to turn Repliroids into irregulars. Zero's mental capabilities are similar to X and the Repliroids. The Virus is intended to turn him into a completely evil "Repliroid".

    -The laws (rules) of robotics do not apply to Rock and other robots in the manner that Asimov uses them. The contrast between Robots compared to X and Repliroids is blurry. The rules of robotics play a role, but the most vital aspect is "worrying".

    -At the time of X's sealing, the world's attitude to robots had changed. An advancement such as X became something to be feared thanks to numerous matters. Robotics eventually went into decline. Aside from the fear induced by the Dr. Wily Incidents. This is also the same time period that people began using mass produced invincible robots to wage war.

    -Whilst Sigma did get infected with the Sigma Virus by battling with Zero. Sigma himself went irregular of his own accord (After all, he himself is the Virus, he cannot corrupt himself), the ability of the Virus was simply the means that allowed him to rebel. The battle with Zero tattering Sigma's pride, and X's talk of justice are the more important matters that led to Sigma's philosophy of evolution.

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  6. "-Whilst Sigma did get infected with the Sigma Virus by battling with Zero. Sigma himself went irregular of his own accord (After all, he himself is the Virus, he cannot corrupt himself), the ability of the Virus was simply the means that allowed him to rebel. The battle with Zero tattering Sigma's pride, and X's talk of justice are the more important matters that led to Sigma's philosophy of evolution."
    i thought it was that sigma was infected with the virus and was able to hold it back for a while but the virus proved to be too strong for even sigma and that is what turned him maverick after a while, not immediately.

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