There are several things in the Mega Man X series that have gone unanswered for decades: What happened to the Classic cast? What happened to Vile Mk-III and IV? Why can General be 7 feet tall in one scene and 50 feet tall the next? The list goes on and on.
Among these mysteries, none is more prevalent than the names of the Armor sets in the first four Mega Man X games. Light or First? Giga or Second? MAX or Third? Force or Fourth? Maybe they’re all the Full Armor? What about Tune-Up Parts? As you can see, it’s become quite a mess over the years.
In the video above, I’ve done my best to get to the bottom of where most of these names came from and which ones fit the story best, so I hope you’ll check it out. Just remember, almost every name is technically right in one way or another (well, except for Giga), so let’s keep it civil.
And a big thank you to Protodude for giving me the chance to share this one on Rockman Corner. I hope you enjoy!
Thank you again for letting me showcase this one!
ReplyDeleteI left a comment on your video and wanted to leave one here too!
DeleteGreat video! To add a bit more context to the history of these names:
No "Armor" until X4: From MMX1 to MMX4, the word "Armor" actually wasn't officially used for these sets—they were originally referred to as "Power Up Parts". The very first one to officially take the "Armor" title was the Ultimate Armor in MMX4 00:16.
The MMX5 "Fourth Armor" situation: The Fourth Armor you start with in X5 isn't actually the exact same armor from X4; it’s a replica built by Alia. This is why sources like the Compendium of Rockman X list X1 through X4's sets simply as "Normal Armor."
Where toy names come from: Names seen in media like X DiVE or merch stem directly from the Kotobukiya action figure lines and model kits 04:35. Terms like "Max" or "Full" were just meant to represent the concept of collecting all "Power Up Parts" to achieve a complete armor set 05:05.
Official Japanese designations: Personally, I prefer following the logic of the Legacy Collection Hunter Medals, which officially used "First" through "Fourth" in a Japanese Capcom game for the first time 08:00. As for X DiVE's Japanese naming conventions 09:10, I take those with a grain of salt since they were handled by Capcom Taiwan. Fun trivia: the Japanese Hunter Medal for X5's Ultimate Armor roughly translates to something like "Most Resistant Armor" rather than Armor of Light.