I'm personally of the "viral energy with a material shell" opinion on Belial Sigma, though I would not commit to where the line is drawn in the functionality of those two aspects of the body. Marshmallow Man's argued with me to hell and back about it and there's really no way to draw detailed conclusions. But I'm not buying the X8 body as just another Reploid.
For the virus not to be involved in Sigma's X8 body leaves the question of why his X8 death should be considered final. This of course is not a very clearly answered question regardless, but still, it at least gives you something to start with.
I'll easily swallow X8's form being the most powerful yet; in fact I pretty much banked on it long before Marshmallow supplied such info. In comparing Sigma's attitude in X8 to previous games there is a fairly obvious shift. Ever since X4 he's had a "screw you, I'll be back" attitude, Final Sigma W being the only time during that 4-game stretch that he was playing for keeps (and that was with a body made by someone with the inside scoop on Zero, so it is understandable). In X8, by VERY sharp contrast, Sigma really expects to come out on top, getting so cocky as to refer to the Hunters as "powerless", and still believing his defeat impossible when it actually happens. Assuming Sigma DIDN'T lose his mind (which he already did in X6 and even so still wasn't so surprised at "death"), his X8 body has to be far more powerful than his previous forms in order to justify his mentality.
The general vibe I get is that Sigma is gathering all his power this time. He's got an army of soldiers mass-produced under the public's nose, in charge of the biggest project the planet has seen, and all without requiring, or even allowing should push come to shove, viral manipulation of any kind. Seems only logical to me that Sigma would therefore focus his viral energy on battle.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2010, 02:49:20 AM by Hypershell »
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