A Look at X’s Violence vs. His Pacifism

Recently, friend of the site Matthew Green of Press The Buttons brought to my attention a rather neat little article over at Eurogamer.

Titled “How Mega Man X rewrote the player/character relationship – One of gaming’s great tragic heroes,” it takes a look at the interesting, contrary dynamic between the goals of the player and the goal of the character which they control, X. Over the course of his self-title game (and many of those that follow), X is staunchly against violence, and yet, at the behest of the player and their ~$50 investment, he acts in a way which conflicts greatly with his pacifism.

Upon reading it and reflecting, I thought back to a time when just how opposed to violence X was and is wasn’t so clear. At least, not for those of us in the west.

One thing that comes to mind is starting the game up. X teleports down onto the highway under siege, and what is the first thing he does? Odds are, for most players, it’s opening fire — even without an enemy in sight. Perhaps you’re just testing the button layout, and getting a feel for things for the first time, or maybe you’ve returned to this classic title and you know that step is needed before you can start charging up energy for an even bigger shot!

As X proceeds down the ruined road, with civilians fleeing past him in what’s left of their cars, Mechaniloids attack. No quarter is asked, and none is given. The goal is simple: Destroy them all.

So it goes over the course of the game. As the article points out, quite a lot of damage is caused, and when you go to look back at it, a surprising amount of it is by X’s own hand. Sections of the highway are destroyed as X takes out the oncoming Bee Bladers, for example, and you’re not allowed to pass them until they’re destroyed. When Vile appears, there is no discussion, no discourse. Vile is given no chance to stand down, to reflect upon his actions, not that he’d likely take it anyway. (Though this would be rectified with some dialogue in the 2006 remake, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X.)

Up to this point, and beyond, we’re given little reason to think of how deeply X is affected by what’s going on. The manual gives no indication of X’s aversion to violence; in a way, it almost encourages the reader to think that maybe fighting is the answer to X’s dilemma, wherein he’s unsure of his place in life and what Dr. Light had intended for him. Between the fact that he was built with armor and a gun on his arm, and his messages of the world needing a new champion, it’s easy to imagine that becoming a savior for humanity would fill that hole in X’s spirit that he’s found so empty.

I’m not saying that it appeared that X lusted for violence, but rather that he saw it as a necessity, as part of his duty to protect the humans and other innocents. And to some degree, it felt like he took it as his responsibility, given that the Reploids were based on him and he “took news of the war personally,” per Dr. Cain’s journal.

Of course, it’s easily argued that’s what X as we know him today does, too, although in a different way. He’ll do what is needed at the time, albeit reluctantly, and while trying to imagine another way where the fighting isn’t needed at all.

Our first real glimpse at any sort of regret comes in the ending, when X reflects upon the lives lost and the damage wrought, as he wonders if the fighting will continue. Even then, that doesn’t paint the clearest picture of the character we would come to know X as over the years.

For a contemporary example, the Autobots from Hasbro’s Transformers are typically referred to as “peace loving.” It makes sense, with them being the good guys and all. And yet, when the Decepticons start to wreak havoc in their desire for conquest, the Autobots don’t hesitate. They know what needs to be done, and they’re good at doing it. It’s easy to imagine X falling into a similar line of thinking, especially when all we have to go on is what’s described above.

With that in mind, is it really any wonder that our first non-video game portrayal of X turned out like this?

Yeah, X is pretty trigger-happy here. But at the same time, is it really any different than how we play the game? People often look at this episode and wonder how they could have gotten X so wrong, yet I find myself asking how they could have known to portray him any other way, based on the materials that were likely available to them at the time?

Come Mega Man X2, there was still little real indication of X’s true nature. In fact, he even starts to sound more like his cartoon counterpart and Optimus Prime once he learns of the X-Hunters’ possession of Zero’s parts, when he tells Dr. Cain, “I’ve got to get Zero’s parts back at any cost!” And once again, he ponders the possibility for peace in the ending, yet we still don’t really get a glimpse of X’s disdain for what seemingly must be done to try to achieve it.

As it would come to pass, we wouldn’t really get our first explicit glimpse at X’s true nature until the manual of Mega Man X3:

Released in January 1996, right around two full years after the original game, the manual tells us, “X is famous among Maverick Hunters for defeating Sigma twice and leading to its ultimate demise. X understands his role, and believes deeply in the need to protect reploids and humans alike. But he has an inner conflict about fighting and violence.”

As an aside, this also gave us our first real indication that X might not just be an upgraded version of the original Mega Man — or at least, if he was, he didn’t know about it. Something that wasn’t helped by both this game and its predecessor referring to X as simply “Mega Man,” you can be sure.

Of course, not everyone was likely able to learn this tidbit about X as it was revealed. Mega Man X3 was released towards the end of the Super NES’s life cycle, and was even in danger of not getting released here at all. When it was, it was in smaller quantities than the previous titles, as many eyes had shifted to the new Sony PlayStation and SEGA Saturn, whose ports of Mega Man X3 never reached these shores. One, such as myself, might have had better luck renting the game from a local video store than purchasing it outright. But even then, as those who know the experience will remember, odds were good that unless you were the first one to rent it, then some jackass before you probably either lost of kept the manual, thus depriving you of that precious little bit of lore and character development.

Anyway, as per usual, the game itself doesn’t really give us much insight into X’s thoughts until the very end, and only lightly so, in much the same manner as before. The first three games of the series gave X very little dialogue to express himself, with much of it simply being there for functionality or to respond to story beats and move things along.

X’s inner-conflict would continue to be referenced and built upon going forward, including the Mega Man X4 manual. And though Zero gets the lion’s share of the cutscenes, we do witness through dialogue as X tries to talk down Colonel and General from fighting. This would continue to escalate further in Mega Man X5, and perhaps reach its ultimate culmination in Mega Man X7, when he actively removes himself from the fighting until Red Alert’s activity leaves him feeling that there is no other choice. Afterwards, X seems to resign himself more into the mindset that early fans might have originally envisioned for him: someone who fights for those who can’t, in the hopes of achieving everlasting peace.

Of course, we know how that ultimately ends up playing out.

In any case, shy of the occasional satirical comic/fan art or YouTube short parody, people today seem pretty clear on who X is and what he stands for. But for a time, that wasn’t always the case.

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Banner image via MMKB.