According to Yoshihisa Tsuda (who worked as a designer for X2) a proposed idea for Zero's origin is that he was originally Roll who got kidnapped and modified by Wily
DiscussionWhich means there's a good chance there is or was a "Transformed Roll" Female Zero design sketch out there.
I prefer to think Roll reincarnated as Ali-A
And it’s not like Wily hasn’t done something like this before. Remember Quint?
This is just an idea that got scrapped so don't take it as canon.
Also this kinda would be the second time it was proposed that Wily kidnaps Roll and modifies her, the first time was in MM1 where you would fight a giant Roll as a Wily Fortress boss.
remembering people playing MM10 and thinking a corrupted Roll might've been a fortress boss too
we keep getting these near-misses and that's kind of a shame, give Roll something to do!
Technically she's a boss in Powered Up if you play as her, since the Copy Bot copies her.
NGL, Corrupted Roll could fit considering how Roboenza practically turns the infected into the Classic Era's version of Mavericks.
No, roboenza was just the robot cold, its literally short for 'robot influeneza'.
Try Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for Wii! Roll gets put to great use there.
Nah the new headcanon going crazy right now
That’s interesting news I never heard that before
Oh god. "Zero is Roll" used to be one of the crackpot theories thrown during the very early 00s at GameFAQs...
According to one of the then infamous users that I might be the only one who remembers him, ZERO meant "Zeta-Roll"
We should have believed you, AlienIrv
Zeta-Roll... That actually makes sense.
It's a stretch.
I thought ot was zeta enhanced roll optimization way back when. ZETA referring to willy's final addition and his pride leading optimization
Ancient internet witch here. I remember this theory! Megaman Network/MMXZ/Geocities era, right?
Yeah, but I mainly stuck on GameFAQs during the Big Cow years. I despised MM Network/Outpost because the entire board circled around sucking up to a bunch of "big name users" and mods who had their heads up their asses and insisted on speaking like elitist weebs to people unaware of anything from the Japanese side.
That explains those green boobs
It would have created one hell of a weird dynamic between X and Zero given Zero would have not only been female, but X's sister.
Plus, I can't even wrap my head around the idea that Zero and Roll would have been the same character given how Zero's personality was established in X1 and Roll's personality was already established in Mega Man 1-6.
So glad they did not go with this idea because it would have radically changed Zero's character arc in the X and Zero games for the worse.
and Roll's personality was already established in Mega Man 1-6.
Erm.
Was it? She only showed up in the credits in 1 and 4.
It wasn't until 7 where she had dialogue. (Most of it cut from international releases. Her and Auto could randomly replace Dr. Light during the special weapon explanation cutscenes.)
Zero being X's older sister would be a weird dynamic, especially if any of Roll's memories are intact.
Although you could argue that X and Zero are technically cousins in cannon.
Uhm, sorry, but how? As far as I know X and Zero are two entirely different Robots being developed independently by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. How are they "technically cousins"?
Didn't Wily steal like half of all of Light's ideas
Kinda, he also learned a thing or two when he repaired and upgraded Proto Man
Well, Wily stole some of the Light's desings (or got inspired by them when fixing Proto Man), using them in his Robot Masters. Also, he created Zero by using Proto Man's design as a template, Proto Man being something one could consider a joint work of both of Doctors, with Light making his frame and AI and Wily being the source of his new power source. Even tho I would personally lean toward Proto Man having two parents, Wily being his "uncle" works too, since he repaired him, gave him his power source and until the events of MM4, employed him in various tasks (kinda like when a kid is at the Uncle's place in weekends)
So by that logic, using Proto Man as Zero's template would make Zero a cousin to Proto Man, and by extension, Mega Man and Roll, as well as a brother to Bass and all of Wily's numbers
That's ... quite an convoluted family tree.
Not sure if what they said is true since there's likely some stuff from the comics getting pulled, but in MM7 Wily DID have Bass raid Light's lab and stole a bunch of designs, likely including the design's for X.
I'm so glad that they didn't go with this. I feel like this would make Roll's and Zero's characters way less unique and important, by making two entire different designs and personalities be the same one. We'd also lose so many events that came with Zero's origin story.
WHAT WAS HE FIGHTING FOOOOOOOR???
I mean, he never cared for justice, nor he recalls ever calling himself a hero. He had only fought for people he believed in. He wouldn't hesitate... If an enemy appeared in front of him, he'd destroy it!
honestly yeah it probably wouldn't have been as good, but it is funny seeing that's why they share color palettes
And gameplay style.
We'd get a lot of new events though. Namely the complete overhaul of the "X must kill Zero" plot they pushed, which instead could've been turned into "X will find out who Zero is".
Honestly, if we had any decent explanation of what happened to Megaman pre-X1 I could decide for myself if I liked that scrapped idea more or not.
Because if I really look back on my journey in X1, I would've loved a Female Zero that has no recognition of her past with Megaman that feels a sisterly attachment to him and does all the things she does to protect him. It'd explain so many of Zero's deaths, as each time Roll could try to protect Megaman, she would.
In Megaman 10, Roll comes down with Roboenza and instead of taking the sample cure to save herself she holds on to it and gives it to Megaman when he gets it himself. I really, really want a Roll is Zero lore now man.
How would this even work? Why would Wily steal Roll of all bots? She has little to no combat abilities and is usually at home with Light. Is it just to add insult to injury? Because Wily has made several Robot Masters that blow Roll out of the water specs wise. It'd make more sense if he was based off of ProtoMan, and Wily either purposely or accidentally wiped his mind while converting him from Nuclear to (presumably) Bassnium.
But overall X and Zero are best as completely new construction, not other bots upgraded. Their system architecture is entirely different from the Robot Masters, and each other, which is what enables them true free will and their distinct abilities.
She has little to no combat abilities and is usually at home with Light.
To be fair, so was Rock until Light turned into a super fighting robot who consistently kicks Wily's ass. Maybe Wily was onto something here, plus insult to injury.
With 10 being one of the last entries, it'd make sense that Wily holds a grudge against her and would kidnap her - she completely outplayed Wily by not taking the sample cure and giving it to Rock instead.
'cept this was before X1 released, so you're looking at 1-6 for material.
That'd just mean that at the time of the statement he had no reason to capture Roll, but as time went on and both games got more entries the gears are all put into place to justify kidnapping her.
It didn't happen in the end eitherway. I'm really just grasping at straws wishing Megaman X Roll existed as some sort of Guardian Angel protecting her brother. The X universe more or less just off-screen brutalized all those lovable characters.
This is probably going to get downvoted as heck, as most of the comments disliked this idea of roll being zero. But I do think this concept could have actually solved a huge problem with the X series.
In my opinion, the biggest problem with the X series is that zero is the actual main character, despite loving his character and his background. X just feels bland as a character, while zero gets all the character development and focus storywise. The only moment they actually tried to flesh out X's personality and character was on X7 (where he remains UNPLAYABLE until late game wth). And guess what? Turns out X7 was a bad game, and X8 couldn't save the franchise.
I do not know how the dynamic between X and Roll-Zero would work, since they would be somewhat siblings. But maybe something around Roll sacrificing herself (same way as zero always did), so that X gets some sort of character development over her passing. Also, considering this scenario, we should get some background story between Rockman and X.
So as a whole, it might have been a good change in the series, but it all depends on how they would actually handle X, not Roll-Zero.
It wouldn't really work, it'd drastically change the story. X isn't Mega Man but Roll is Zero, which wouldn't have an impact if X barely remembers who the heck made him, and since Zero was an ally to begin with, it'd just be the weirdest and mostly pointless. It'd probably end up being a lot more contrived if anything.
it'd drastically change the story.
How? the X series is set farther into the future, it'd be a really small plot point to its narrative overall, and the other series set after X wouldn't really be affected by it anyway.
Because retro-actively Zero's story would've gone from finding his own purpose to something wildly different, but as a result it wouldn't give a lot of his moment's the same weight. Roll-Zero would be adjusting to a world without Rock and Dr. Light, which would've been accomplished even if she had total amnesia because 'well I'm already in the world and doing just fine'.
Protoman plus Roll. The fusion by Dr. Wily. That could really work in 2024. Lmao. The Fandom would rage lmao
Seriously though, green boob lights? That's Roll's bonnet, my guys. Zero's hair? Shredded Protoman ascot. This blows the whole copium cupboard wide open.
Thats hot af
You what, mate?
Older, hotter Roll has been done already. Remember the Ruby-Spears cartoon?
Roll Casket is the best roll. Buy thr 90s anime one was pretty great too
Zero already is :)
It’s even funnier when you remember the fully charged comics had mega man’s sister become that world’s version of Zero
Inspiration or coincidence? 🤔
Man this wouldve been cool af!
History Repeats 💀
Would have been funny as shit if that was the case. Megaman X lore is messy as hell anyway so at least it would be entertaining.
I'll be honest that's kinda dumb
Like the timeline from X1 onwards isn't dark enough LOL
For a long time I’ve had a headcanon that Wily at least designed Zero based on Roll
I didnt have this on my bingo sheet
have WILEY modify her?
Nobody is safe from the mistranslation
“Albert said Megamen were the natural evolution of man? DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH! WHAT AN EPIC SHAM!”
Alternate Timeline Trans-Masc Zero, my beloved
Fuck it. We stan our transgender king.
Although, real talk, this probably isn't canon given the Zero cameo in the Power Fighters. Though Power Fighters might not be canon to begin with, so...
...I've joked about this theory for a while now (didn't take it super seriously) but honestly, that's hilarious that apparently I was right on the money (kinda) with Ze-Roll
What is the "character dot" it's referring to? Mistranslation?
Zero’s sprites, the in-game graphics. In Japan they call them dots.
As a kiddo I assumes zero was female and was a roll type line
That reminds me of something… <<•>> logical.
(reference to Shockwave in Transformers comics)
Thank goodness whoever came up with that proposal failed. Canonically they are robots, but the metaphor they would create is quite clear and would demonstrate ignorance about the very topic they would clearly be pushing.
Shadowplay and Impurata are a sonuvabitch. And then RIGHT at the end of Dark Cybertron, the old Senator personality emerged for a brief second of clarity before he died.
“So…technically Zero was a girl but transitioned?”
No. This is not the case at all.
That would have made things awkward for X and Zero shippers
They're robots. They don't have DNA to be siblings to begin with.
Reploids do in fact have a form of dna called a dna soul as shown in Mega-Man Xtreme 2
Ok fine but please don't remind me of Berkana and her friends because that was dumb af. I know it's canon because X6 talked about Soul Erasure but I'm trying to ignore it.
Tf did they do
Mega Man Xtreme 2, i.e. the erasure incident. Basically, you know how when you defeat a boss you gain their DNA soul and power up? In the plot of that game, the antagonists were stealing the DNA souls of normal reploids and using them to power up. At the end of the game, the DNA souls are returned to their bodies. This event is referenced in X6 after Isoc does that weird thing where it seems like his body is just a hollow shell with no DNA soul.
I know about all that. I'm confused as to why the guy finds the story to be stupid, and wants to ignore it. There's just nothing wrong with it.
Besides the fact that robots having souls and DNA is dumb, Berkana saw our heroes getting stronger after every boss they defeated and ordered Gareth to leave them alone. Berkana also revived Sigma and his dog for who knows why when X3 told us Sigma waa supposed to have been gone for good.
Ok, there's a lot to digest here...
the fact that robots having souls and DNA is dumb
Please elaborate as to why you think that. One thing I'll say, is that Reploids don't have souls until the Elf Wars. They just have DNA. And if their DNA is removed, they become unfunctional. They don't LITERALLY have souls. It's just an analogy.
Berkana saw our heroes getting stronger after every boss they defeated and ordered Gareth to leave them alone.
She literally explains why. She wants them to become stronger, so their data also gets juicier, for when she gets their DNA souls. Berkana orders Gareth to leave them alone, because she thinks that the idea of taking both on at the same time is idiotic, and will cause their defeat. That's why they force X and Zero to be separated in the finale. So they have a fair chance at winning.
Berkana also revived Sigma and his dog for who knows why when X3 told us Sigma waa supposed to have been gone for good.
Not true. Berkana only revived Velguarder. Sigma was already revived before Berkana's actions. He reveals that it was him who gave Berkana the idea and the means to perform her plan. He also mentions that Berkana got out of control with her greed, and that he's glad X and Zero stopped her. X3 also literally never makes it seem like Sigma should be gone for good.
Few things for clarity.
A DNA soul is the motor function to a reploid removed. Due to it's property Iris names it on the spot as removing such data in a manner had never been done before.
"DNA Soul (DNAソウル) It’s the result of taking out the DNA program that controls a Repliroid. Berakana pulled the souls from Repliroid she “Erased” and put them inside of the bodies of Irregulars to use them"
"Iris: They used that DNA Data to resurrect the foes
Zero: They “erase” the DNA Data and turn it into an item?
Iris: Apparently. Feels like a “soul”, even. Let’s call it “DNA Soul” for now. All DNA Souls we found were those of Irregulars"
As for the X3 ending, the anti-virus Doppler made can taken as an eradication of Sigma. With future games obviously it wasn't and we now know with X5 he just setup a means to fight back against it, but it still is presented as taking down Sigma at the time.
"Dr. Doppler: What's this like!? Sigma! How’s the taste of this Antibody Virus to fight back the Sigma Virus that I made!? X! Sorry for all the hindrance.. I also did horrid things to the other Repliroids… As an atonement, I’ll at least drag the Sigma Virus to Hell with me!
Sigma: V… va… vanishing… My pro…gram…
Dr. Doppler: Well then… X! Fare….well!"
Good. That’s gross.
...how is that gross though
Forced change of gender.
But we are talking about robots so it would be really gross in other context(and even then despite being robots and not having sex, they do identify as male, female or just robot so its still kinda cursed)
Forced change of gender.
i mean if they went with the roll idea Zero could easily just be stated as a female character. (Plenty of people probably thought as much when seeing his long blonde hair, so...)
Yeah, that even used to be a joke in the community for how often kids thought Zero was a she the first time they saw Zero.
pretty sure I did myself, granted my first X game being Xtreme 2 probably didn't help matters, ha
I want to know who where those I think XX and XY characters?
Genuinely interesting idea but I'm glad they went with him having a different backstory tbh
Meme magic is real people. Use it responsibly.
You know that they’re not gonna use it responsibly…
Wtf.😳
That's explained a lot.
So Wily turned roll into a man?
This would have been so good
That would have been something else. So, it would also be safe to assume Rock would have been transformed into X
I could see it. TBH, when I first played X1 as a child, I thought Zero WAS Roll (at that time, my only exposure to the series was the Ruby-Spears cartoon). Glad that isn't the route they ultimately took Zero though.
*chokes on water* uhh okay well.... i don't have anything else to say
Thats DARK. Honestly if you look at the hyper roll design in the MvC super. You can see what could be a beta zero design. Like...people didn't hate wily enough that would make him a monster
Tsuda also said elsewhere that the flowchart shared around wasn't part of the reference material (or internal guidebook) from X1.
……I can’t decide whether this makes Zero’s “boobs” more or less weird.
Less weird because he would have been female and those essentially would be boobs, or more weird because they kept those there (or perhaps swapped the actual boobs out for those) despite him being changed to a guy?
Hold on, wasn't Zero supposed to be "X" in the first place?
Again, this is only one proposed idea.
Zero was supposed to be the new mega man to Inafune, they didn't make him the main protagonist because they thought he would be too different, so he was made a sub character
Now I imagine Zero turning off "her" male voice module after a hard-fought mission and taking off "her" helmet as she contemplates existence in the mirror, unaware that X's just standing there behind "her" also contemplating existence after discovering that Zero's a girl this whole time.
Yeah, that explains a lot
I knew it! 9-year-old me wasn't crazy!
Haha cool
Huh, reminds me of that one sprite comic where Roll goes out on her own wearing Zero's armor. What was it called again? Bob and George?
Rock-like heavy metal setting? Huh??
LMAO
This idea is very silly but I can’t really see it fitting in the current canon.
Oh my goodness. I posted in other threads that Capcom seemed to hate the Wily retcon they made when they brought back Zero because of how much they've ignored it since X6. If the dev team seriously considered this, I almost can't blame them.
That certainly explains his design, doesn't it?
Zero would have then been the first trans robot
Wtf Zero trans icon?
Damn, we could've had trans Zero.
Wow, Zero could be worse character than he is already!
Zamn, first trans robot in X series?
...
I'd like to see this one play out.
Don't know why, but I figured it could make Zero more popular than he already is.
Maybe he/she could resonate further with other people?
Trans zero lets goooooo
Transgender Zero
are you trans ?
Wait....long yellow hair tied in a ponytail red armor with white and black, green boobs .... my God, it all makes sense!!!