Zero was way cooler before he became playable.

[Sub Tank]

Am I right guys or am I right?

[Align]

He's popular. Now he sucks.

[Satoryu]

Am I right guys or am I right?

had to think about it for a minute.

yeah, actually, you're right.

[Gaia]

You know, I have something to belive that they should've canned him when he died in the X1 plot. But back then, they thought it was a waste of a character, and decided to explore his background. That and he inspired Sauske, you can tell he's a Gary Stu of Zero.

[HyperSonicEXE]

Zero was cooler on the SNES; becoming semi-playable in X3 made him kickass!

Then...X4-X7 just...I'm not sure...
But thankfully X8 and MMX:CM solidified Zero's personality. /wii

[Quickman]

I liken Zero's rise to popularity and plummet to the bottom of my Faves list to the rise of Boba Fett's popularity.  Fett was cool when he was a moving piece of background that no one knew anything about and said little.  He had a reputation of disintegrating bounties, which added to that coolness factor.  Then he went out like a punk, dumped into the sarlacc by a blind Han.  But, even still, Fett was cool.

Then authors like Karen Traviss got a hold of him.  Now he's living well into the Legacy Era, he's super-good at everything and paved the way for a whole battalion of Fett wannabes and the conlang Mando'a.  Everyone loves him and wants to be like him and I see fanon character after fanon character that's just yet another Fett wannabe with Force powers.  His popularity made him suck.

Now, Zero...  He was cool as he had a dark past, he was borderline psycho, and said little.  Then he became playable which I guess is the equivalent of Traviss writing Fett.  Zero's now super-good at everything and everyone wants to be like him and there are fanon Zero wannabes running around.  Hell, Axl idolized him!  Then Zero lasted all the way through to the Zero series era, which is roughly the equivalent of the Legacy Era.  His popularity made him suck.

However, his manga 'fore the author took a drastic new turn, was funny.

[Rad Lionheart]

I never really cared for Zero, playable or not.
Except he kicks ass in Command Mission. So that's cool.

[Tickle Buffalo]

He wasn't very cool in X1 or 2 either.

[Protoman Blues]

Am I right guys or am I right?

I know X thought so. Twas the basis of my Rockman X4 OP English Translation.

Otherwise, I'd probably agree.

[Sub Tank]

Guys, the point of this thread is that characters who you don't see a lot but always show up to save your ass are much cooler than character who are worked into the game, not whether you like Zero or not.

I never really cared for Zero, playable or not.

He wasn't very cool in X1 or 2 either.

Closet Zero fans.

[Rad Lionheart]

Pfft, I ain't no zero fan.
I swear the zero plushy isn't mine, I'm just holdin' onto it for a friend.

[Protoman Blues]

Guys, the point of this thread is that characters who you don't see a lot but always show up to save your ass are much cooler than character who are worked into the game, not whether you like Zero or not.

Okay, then I still agree!

Does this philosophy count for Playable Blues in Rockman Rockman & MM9?  Cause technically, Blues doesn't become playable until after you beat the game/unlock or download them.

[Sky Child]

Axl was cooler before he was playable.

oh wait a minute

[Shinichameleon / Nayim]

Guys, the point of this thread is that characters who you don't see a lot but always show up to save your ass are much cooler than character who are worked into the game, not whether you like Zero or not.

Closet Zero fans.

Hmm.....Agree.

[Hypershell]

^Thread title fixed.

Okay, so he hasn't blown the arms off of any Ride Armors since becoming playable.  And yeah, I miss that.  And blowing up the floor with X2.  Ah, the memories...  Nevertheless, Zero got a lot cooler when he became FULLY playable (as in not counting X3).  Why?  Because he was finally put on a system that could display his armor properly.

That and his X5 theme is among the most badass.  Hell, his theme in every game is among the most badass (save X3, although I know others disagree with that one).

I see the point of the whole player vs. NPC who saves your ass thing, though.  The thing is, as an NPC who saves your ass, he got some really freaking awesome effects.  And he always had really freaking awesome theme music.  Compare that to, say, Giro in ZX.  And well, there IS no comparison.  Zero wins.

[Acid]

I didn't mind Zero in a thong. Thought it was a good redesign.

Inti's stroing point was boss design though. The Zero series (and ZX games) had some of the best bosses in the Mega Man universe.

[RMX]

Zero was way cooler before you knew he was a male Reploid.

[Hypershell]

Well, there IS a solution for that one.

Solves the thong issue nicely, too.

[Bag of Magic Food]

Because he was finally put on a system that could display his armor properly.

Not this again!  I thought he looked fine in 3!  Plus he stopped being that guy that won't let me beat Vile all by myself.  I am not a team player!

[Sub Tank]

Compare that to, say, Giro in ZX.

Difference is that Giro saves you from a 0 HP hover craft, the equivalent of saving someone from a hatless metool.

[Acid]

Hatless Metools are the most dangerous ones because they have nothing to lose.

[Hypershell]

I thought he looked fine in 3!

The shape of the shoulders is undefined, the buster is an X2 copy/paste despite being redesigned in artwork, and the chest plate has an X-esque indent where the bottom extension should be.

All of that is failure.  And that's not even touching the fact that his body is ridiculously large compared to the first two games.

[Acid]

You're nitpicking about details though.

[Hypershell]

The chest plate and buster are not my idea of nitpicking.  Neither is making X look like a midget.  If it was just the shoulders that would be a different story.  But when nothing but the head is right from the waist up, that's just bad spriting.

[Gotham Ranger]

If you're worried about midget main characters, you are playing the WRONG series