Age: 18 Appearance: Zero's most distinctive traits are his red and white armor, a horned helmet with a blue gem on his forehead, and a long blond ponytail. His initial design in Mega Man X had spherical shoulder pads (one with a "Z" symbol), two green gems on his chest, a white codpiece, and white kneepads and toes. This was an incomplete version of his design by Dr. Wily, as Zero was left unfinished when he was sealed in his capsule.[1] When Zero was reconstructed by Serges, his body received several upgrades to complete his design; this design is used for the majority of the Mega Man Xseries. His shoulders gained reinforced rectangular shoulder plates, along with improved arm guards, new dash thrusters and golden accents on his legs, and thicker chest armor. A small pack was also added to his back to store his Z-Saber when not in use, with the holster appearing as a hole at his left side in official art (where he thus canonically draws the saber from over his left shoulder). His official height is around 175 cm (5' 9"), being slightly taller than X, though his exact height seems to vary in some appearances.[2] Personality: Outwardly, Zero is a somewhat cold individual, and a ruthless Maverick Hunter. He constantly keeps his cool, even in times of crisis. He is also very straightforward and down-to-earth, often sarcastically snapping back at the unpleasantries of Mavericks and destroying them without entertaining their philosophies or taunts. Despite this, Zero truly does have the capacity to care for others. He is very protective of his allies, such as his best friend X and the Maverick Hunters, going to great lengths to ensure their safety. He has a great distaste for the deaths of innocents. He will even disregard his own safety, sacrificing himself, to save others, such as during the battle with Vile in Mega Man X and willingly piloting the shuttle into the Eurasia colony in Mega Man X5. His care for others was detrimental during the Great Repliforce War, where he was forced to face his friends, Iris and Colonel, and their deaths at his hands caused him great emotional turmoil. In particular, after he ended up killing Iris, his love interest, his grief caused him to question what he has been fighting for all this time, and he was never the same after that. His personality, initially more laidback, changed afterwards, becoming cynic and grim, and his humor went from witty to dry and biting. While he remained a good friend to X, he also became more prone to reprimand him for being too naive. Even though Zero does not openly show it, he too seems to long for peace between humans and Reploids. However, he has said that he doesn't have any problems fighting, unlike the pacifistic X. Zero initially acted as something like a mentor to X, understanding his latent potential and even helping him unleash it. As X grew stronger, Zero gained more respect for him, seeing him as an even greater Maverick Hunter than himself. Even then, he still remains a voice of reason who helps ground X and overcome his doubts. Zero again acted the mentor upon meeting Axl. Though their relationship was tenuous at first, due to Zero being exasperated by Axl's enthusiasm and criminal background, he came to respect him as well while still playfully teasing him. Zero's original persona was much different. He was a violent, disobedient, and uncontrollable Maverick, which was the original reason his creator Dr. Wily sealed him away in a capsule.[1] Upon being released from his capsule, Zero went on a rampage; he often made feral screams and laughed psychotically, and took great pleasure in tearing apart Sigma and his comrades. In the non-canon ending of Mega Man X2, Zero briefly becomes a Maverick again and attacks X in a rage.[4] However, Zero also has an even darker persona, the one that Dr. Wily intended for him, and which can be awakened in Zero through sufficient exposure to Maverick Viruses capable of doing so.[5] In the bad ending of Mega Man X5, Zero's "true self" awakens, which is just as misanthropic as his Maverick self but with a degree more self-control and absolute obedience to Wily's will.[6] In Mega Man X4 and X5, it is seen that Zero is consistently haunted by Wily in his dreams, with the latter goading and ordering Zero to fulfill his purpose, though Zero is merely confused by these dreams. Abilities: Zero's initial design only featured the Zero Buster as a weapon, though it was much more powerful than X's X-Buster, capable of tearing an arm off of Vile's Ride Armor. Additionally, he was shown to have immense physical strength and coordination, as he was able to match and even surpass Sigma in hand-to-hand combat during their initial encounter. Zero's most iconic weapon is the Z-Saber, which he received when reconstructed in Mega Man X2. He is an incredibly skilled swordsman, capable of performing a variety of special Techniques by analyzing and learning from the data of his opponents. He can also wield other melee weapons such as daggers or hammers. Like X, Zero's power source is solar energy. His body material is comprised of a Titanium Z alloy, and is equipped with mechanisms called the Z-Brain and the Z-Heart, which conceal an unknown power.[71] In addition, Wily claimed that Zero was powered by a power source that was even stronger than Bassnium. One source states that Zero is powered by an atomic power core.[72] Ironically, in most of his in-game appearances, he rarely comes with supplements for his armor unlike other playable characters and/or his comrades, making him play akin to a recurring glass cannon where he has little ways to reduce the damage he takes in trade of having high offensive prowess whenever he is playable.