Character Analysis: Mega Man Trigger (Volnutt)
(Warning: This blog will contain spoilers on the Mega Man Legends series. If you do not want to be spoiled, do not read this blog)
Mega Man Trigger (Volnutt)
General Information
- Known Aliases: MegaMan Trigger, Rock, Volnutt, MegaMan Volnutt, Trigger, Purifier, Blue Boy
- Species: Ancient.
- Sex/Gender: Male.
- Age: 14 years old (mental and physical); at least 65 years, possibly thousands of years (actual).
- Weight: Unknown.
- Height: Around 1.54 meters (Comparable to Tron Bonne).
- Occupation: Master System 1st Class Purifier Unit (As Trigger), Digger (As Volnutt).
Background
In a long, distant future from every other entry in the Robot Timeline, the whole planet was flooded due to seemingly unknown circumstances (totally not because of some moon-sized space station an evil scientist that lived through a computer virus decided to have crash onto the Earth). And in this world, a civilization of the original humans and robots now called "the Ancients" had managed to successfully coexist peacefully to the point where they built many technological wonders all over the world, create a new species of "humans" called the Carbons, and even build a prosperous world that hails in outer space called "Elysium". The Master System, a system meant for the Ancients to watch over Terra (Earth) and the Carbons, was the system that governed Elysium and everywhere within the influence of the Ancients.
One of these Ancients and unit of this Master System was a blue robot once called Mega Man Trigger. He was a 1st Class Purifier Unit, a kind of police officer for the Master System meant to hunt Aberrant Units that would rebel against the Master System. This elite unit would also be the only close friend of the Master, the last of the original humans and founder of the Master System. Although it is unknown for how long Trigger had known the Master, one thing was for sure: the two were close all because of the latter's loneliness. And one day, he fatefully asks Trigger to take him to Terra to see his own creations thrive in person. In his final moments in Terra, the Master gives Trigger his final task: destroy the Master System. After his death and before undertaking his final mission, Trigger would save his own memory data and the Master's genetic code into a little monkey called Data - all so that they couldn't be tampered with or even be found by Sera.
With Trigger headed back to Elysium, he set out to destroy the Master System - deleting the genetic code of all the original humans in Elysium's Library. However, he would unsurprisingly come across obstacles; in particular, 2 units of the Master System known as Mother Units opposed him. They were both called Yuna and Sera. Both were initially against Trigger, seeing him as someone who'd become an Aberrant. Yuna would promptly become a neutral party as she quickly caught on to what Trigger's situation was. But Sera would not desist, and soon after, the battle would be taken to Terra once again where Trigger and Sera fought to a stalemate: a stalemate that had left the 2 belligerents without energy and Trigger with most of his body destroyed. Yuna would promptly seal both in stasis, in addition to rebooting Trigger's parameters by turning him into a baby.
At least 51 years later, the famous renowned digger Barrel Caskett would journey into Nino Island's ruins without the permission of the Guildmaster of that island. And at the entrance of this island a large diamond was found. Upon touching this diamond, Barrel found the sealed Mega Man Trigger turned into a baby and Data. Given he could not give away that he entered the ruins illegally, he returned back to his Flutter to raise him alongside his granddaughter, Roll Caskett. Upon the request of Roll, Barrel renamed Trigger as MegaMan/Rock Volnutt. And from this day on, Volnutt would grow up to become a digger for the Caskett family in search for many different treasures to supply his family, in addition to finding new friends and foes. For the world of Terra... Was a vast world with more than meets the eye.
Abilities and Equipment
Mega Buster
Volnutt's default weapon. Equipped in his left arm, the Mega Buster can shoot energy shots. Unlike the Mega Buster of previous Mega Men, he cannot charge it. But even without this ability, it has decent versatility in that it can be equipped with multiple parts to increase its parameters.
Parts
Throughout Volnutt's adventures, he can equip many different kinds of parts to increase the parameters of his Buster such as power, muzzle speed (up to literal machine gun firing rate), range (up to tens of meters) and number of simultaneous shots (up to unlimited). Below is a list of all 49 Buster Parts (for more details on parameters, see document here):
But his Buster isn't the only thing he can upgrade: his armor, his helmet, and his foot parts are all things Volnutt can use to upgrade his other physical performances (such as durability, reaction time, etc.). Below is a list of all other parts he can use (see doc for explanation on some of the effects):
Special Weapons
On Volnutt's right arm, a series of special weapons can be installed onto him. All these weapons were developed by Roll Caskett with parts found by Volnutt in his countless digger adventures, with the option to upgrade them too. However, Volnutt can only equip one special item at a time and if he wants to switch to another special weapon he needs to talk to Roll to change them. Weirdly, he can unequip the special weapons for his Lifter - an ability that allows him to pick up and throw objects. In any case, all of the special weapons are as follows:
Active Buster
This is a weapon that fires homing missiles that track the nearest enemies at fast firing rates with unlimited ammo. The missiles when they hit something cause a large explosion that damages other surrounding enemies. It is one of the strongest weapons in Legends 1, but Volnutt cannot move while firing this weapon. This was built with only 1 item - the Guidance Unit.
Aqua Blaster
This is more of an utility than a weapon. It releases water to extinguish small to medium sized flames. As an utility weapon, it does no damage to enemies and cannot extinguish large flames.
Blade Arm
It is an energy beam sabre weapon that allows Volnutt to engage in close-range combat. Depending on the game, the functionality changes slightly. In Legends 1, the blade is capable of doing 1 slash that sends out a sword beam (which in the Manhua it can be large enough to slice the Gesellschaft). In 5 Islands Great Adventure!, the range of the beam saber increases but now he can do 2 slashes instead of 1. And in Legends 2, the range increases further, the weapon energy for it is infinite and now Volnutt can do a 3 slash combo (as seen below).
To create this weapon, the items Pen Light and Zetsabre were needed in Legends 1, a different Zetsabre and Beam Blade Notes were needed in Legends 2, and the Legendary Pika Pika Staff and the Beam Sword Memo were required in 5 Islands Great Adventure!.
Buster Cannon
This weapon is one with a lot of firepower and very long range, making it one of the stronger weapons of Legends 2. Unfortunately, this is one of those weapons that Volnutt can't use while moving. To create this weapon, Roll needed a Thick Pipe and Artillery Notes.
Crusher
This is a powerful electric grenade that Volnutt can throw at his opponents to either stun them or terribly damage them. He can only throw one grenade at a time until the electric sparks dissipate. This weapon can only be obtained if Volnutt becomes a bad boy as the parts needed this time were a Taser and a Soft Ball.
Drill Arm
This weapon can be used as a short-range melee weapon and for utility. The Drill Arm is one of the few weapons in Legends 1, 2 and 5 Islands Great Adventures! to be capable of busting through walls. He cannot move while using it. To create this weapon, a Blunted Drill was only needed in Legends 1; but in Legends 2, a Broken Drill and Heavy Duty Gear were needed to make it.
Grand Grenade
This is a stronger variation of the Grenade Arm, where it throws a stronger grenade with greater area of effect. In-game, it is one of the strongest special weapons, with the grenade being strong enough to break through thick cracked walls. The Bomb Schematics were needed to build this weapon.
Grenade Arm
This is a weapon that allows Volnutt to chuck grenades that bounce and detonate either after awhile or upon contact with an enemy. This is another weapon Volnutt can use while running and strafing. A mere Grenade Kit was needed to create this weapon.
Ground Crawler
This is a weapon that shoots out bombs that automatically rolls on the ground towards the nearest enemy and detonates upon impact. It has decent enough reach to be able to crawl towards enemies tens of meters away from Volnutt (see GIF above). There is virtually no difference between its depictions across all the games it appears in. Roll used a Bowling Ball and a Rusted Mine to create this weapon for Volnutt.
Homing Missile
This weapon is similar to the Active Buster from Legends 1 in that it fires homing missiles towards enemies. However, the biggest differences are that this has a lower firing rate but better enemy tracking abilities. Roll used a Bottle Rocket and some Radar Notes to build this weapon.
Hunter Seeker
This is a weapon that launches drones that can lock onto nearby targets and fire laser shots at them. After awhile, they can even detonate to create an explosion that damages any other nearby enemies. He can summon at least 2 of them at a time, and he can use them as sentry distractions and multiple crossfires. A Sensor and Autofire Notes were all that was needed to create this weapon.
Hyper Shell
A much stronger version of the Buster Cannon, except instead of using a standard energy shot, it fires a missile that homes in and causes a wide array of explosions in the area. It also has absurd range as seen in the GIF above. Roll used the Rusty Bazooka and Firecracker to develop this weapon.
Machine Buster
It is a weapon that functions as a machine gun that can be used while running and strafing. The firing rate is equal to that of the Mega Buster when its 'Rapid' parameter is maxed out. However, the weapon is noted to be weak by Roll, further proven by implementing Buster upgrades to the Mega Buster's 'Attack' parameter which renders the special weapon even more useless. This weapon was made with the Blumebear Parts.
Machine Gun Arm
This is a weapon similar to the Machine Buster. While it is stronger, Volnutt needs to constantly reload the ammunition by letting it cool down, giving it a worse fuel economy than its Legends 1 counterpart. Roll used a Long Barrel and a Broken Model Gun to make this weapon.
Powered Buster
This is a weapon with great firepower, range and area of effect - with it also being capable of effortlessly busting thick walls. However, its firing rate is low and the projectiles fly at relatively slow speeds. Due to how powerful it is, it even sends Volnutt back a bit and he can't run or strafe while firing the weapon. A mere Cannon Kit was used to make this weapon.
Reflector Arm
This is a weapon that fires multiple explosive spheres. These spheres have the special property of bouncing on different surfaces, making them useful in indoors combat. What helps make this useful for indoors combat is also the fact Volnutt can use this while running and strafing. Roll used a Bomb Schematic and a Superball to make this weapon.
Shield Arm
It is a weapon that allows Volnutt to protect himself from enemy attacks. Depending on the game, this weapon operates a certain way. For example, in Legends 1 it is but a mere shield that Volnutt deploys in front of him to block even laser attacks -though it cannot block explosions-. This variant can also harm enemies if deployed on them. In Legends 2, the weapon deploys a forcefield around Volnutt, absorbs any incoming attacks and reflects the attack back when a certain threshold is met in the form of a shockwave. Just like the first iteration, however, it cannot block stronger attacks like explosions.
To create this weapon, Volnutt needed to collect a Mystic Orb and a Marlwolf Shell in Mega Man Legends 1; while in Legends 2, he needed to collect a Shield Generator and Shielding Notes.
Shining Laser
A high-power laser weapon that can go straight through enemies. It is commonly considered the strongest weapon in the game due to its constant firing rate, infinite ammo and fire power. Due to its firing rate, it can not only deal constant damage at a target but it can also mow through mobs of smaller enemies with 1 shot. He unfortunately cannot move while using the Shining Laser. In Legends 2, the range of the Shining Laser is increased significantly.
To create this weapon, the items Prism Crystal, the X-Buster and Weapons Plans were needed in Legends 1, and in both Legends 2 and 5 Islands Great Adventure!, the Green Eye and Laser Manual were needed.
Splash Mine
This is a weapon that allows Volnutt to throw 4 landmines at once for enemies to step on them and blow themselves up. Although this is an effective way to dealing with enemies, he must be careful not to step on them himself or else he will blow himself up (as shown in the GIF). A mere Mine Parts Kit was used to make this weapon.
Spread Buster
This is a weapon that fires out a large burst of grenades at once covering a lot of area and from a far distance too. In Legends 1, the burst spreads horizontally making it perfect for dealing with waves of enemies point blank. The biggest drawbacks to this version are that you cannot move while firing it and it consumes a lot of weapon energy. In Legends 2 however, the shots are not explosive, it can be used while moving and they have a faster firing rate.
To create this weapon, an Ancient Book, an Old Launcher and an Arm Support were used in Legends 1; while in Legends 2, a Sower and Spreadfire Notes were used to make it.
Vacuum Arm
This is another weapon that is more of an utility than an actual offensive weapon. All it does is suck up small Refractors, Health and Weapon energy that are nearby. This makes it a useful tool for farming Refractors in-game.
To create this weapon, a Broken Motor, a Broken Propeller and a Broken Cleaner were used in Legends 1; while in Legends 2, another Broken Motor and a Broken Vacuum were used to make this weapon.
Items
Throughout Volnutt's adventures, Volnutt can collect a wide variety of items that he can use to give himself a leg-up against enemies and bosses alike. Below is a list of items that he has access to (at least those that would be relevant in a VS debate):
Support Robots
Data
Data is Volnutt's support monkey that he created during his days as the Purifier Unit Mega Man Trigger. His role in-game is that he appears to give Mega Man not only advice but to also do things like manage game data (save, load and delete), and even recharge Volnutt of his health and weapon energies an unlimited amount of times. In-story, the former game mechanic is somewhat implemented canonically in that Trigger saved his memories into Data and those memories were used to restore Volnutt after he was almost killed by Geetz. This is not the only instance, as Data was also capable of deleting not only Mega Man Juno's program data but also pass his authority over Kattelox Island to Volnutt.
Vehicles
Support Car
This is a car that Roll Caskett built after she was given the remains of a rundown dysfunctional car by a couple native to Kattelox Island for completing a favor with Volnutt's help. With the Walkie Talkie, Volnutt can call Roll to come over to his location as long as it's not inside of a dungeon or somewhere completely remote. Inside of this car is a workshop where Roll can change his special weapon and even develop new ones from any spare parts he's got. Unsurprisingly, he can also use this car to travel to different places.
Flutter
This is a small airship that he and Roll would use on their many adventures across the planet to different islands. This originally belonged to their grandfather Barrel Caskett, but after he got better vehicles, Roll took ownership of the Flutter along with Volnutt and constantly maintains it. The Flutter has a function called "Charge Drive" allowing it to fly at twice normal speed and traverse hundreds of miles in mere moments. Although when used, it has a chance of destroying the Refractor it uses.
This vehicle can be seen as the house of Volnutt and Roll as it contains multiple rooms like a living room, a kitchen, a restroom, their bedrooms, a lab, a hanger, etc. At the top is the main decks where the Flutter is piloted from and where one can fight as a turret on top of the terrace.
Eden
After obtaining authority over Kattelox Island's systems and protocols following Mega Man Juno's death, Volnutt can call upon this flying space fortress over to Terra to call upon an army of 10,000 workers. Given the implications of the ending, the workers would be relative to Volnutt and above Juno who isn't even a combat robot to begin with. Initially, Mega Man Juno was gonna have these workers enact the Carbon Reinitialization Program in Kattelox Island, killing all Carbons in the island (including Carbons like the Bonne siblings) due to being "overpopulated", but they were withdrawn upon his defeat.
However, given this is tied to his authority over a mere specific island, Volnutt can only call upon it while he is in Kattelox Island. Despite this limitation, this is definitely a noteworthy vehicle that Volnutt logically has access to.
Resistances
Throughout his adventures, Volnutt has had to deal with a wide variety of conditions and other obstacles. Given this, Volnutt has a few noteworthy resistances to certain things that he has encountered in his adventures those being:
- Extreme Heat: Volnutt can walk around in lava which is 1300-1500 degrees Celsius and withstand getting hit with blue flames which burn as hot as 1600 degrees Celsius. With the Flame Barrier, he cannot catch fire (as seen in the GIF above).
- Extreme Colds: Can walk normally inside of a northern pole blizzard which can be as cold as -45 degrees Celsius.
- Electricity: With the Light Barrier, the effects of electricity are nullified.
- Black Holes: Can withstand being inside Sera's black holes.
- Energy Absorption: By changing his special weapon to the Lifter, he can prevent special weapon energy from being depleted.
- Memory Manipulation: By not having his memories in his body but in Data's, he cannot have his memories analysed or tampered with.
- Likely Mind Manipulation: Servitor Units like Gaatz, whose powers are noted to be limited in comparison to a Mother Unit and Purifier Unit, can disobey the Master System's commands (which can do things like not allow Sera to think outside of the System's parameters). This is further supported by Yuna -another Mother Unit- being implied to be different after breaking free from the system. Given Volnutt is a unit meant to protect the Master System, he likely had to combat such mental commands when he tried destroying it as Trigger.
- Possibly Hacking & Technology Manipulation: Geetz can assimilate technology as shown with him assimilating the Sulphur-Bottom, but he never tries doing it on Volnutt meaning he possibly can't do it on him. Given he's also a Servitor Unit like Gaatz, who could hack into Sera and impair her reaction times, Geetz should be capable of doing the same yet he doesn't try to do it on him.
Weaknesses
Despite his tenacity perseverance in his countless adventures, Volnutt does have a few number of inconveniences: for one thing, all of his weapons need to be swapped out by Roll if he wants to use another one. He cannot equip them all at the same time. A good chunk of the weapons except for the Shining Laser, Active Buster, and Vacuum Arms have finite ammunition and could run out. He cannot equip anymore than 3 parts for his Buster. He, just like all other Mega Men, is a pacifist and doesn't like to fight at all unless totally necessary, and even then he still feels bad for any defeated opponents he didn't want to fight.
Feats & Statistics
Overall
- Was the Master's closest friend for possibly millennia and likely disposed of many Aberrant Units as Trigger, the Fist-Class Purifier Unit.
- Built the complex sentient memory storage device Data.
- Became a Digger at a young age exploring many ruins.
- Survived in a Ruin for 3 days nonstop.
- Protected Kattelox Island from different kinds of threats both internal (the Sub-Gates containing Reaverbots and Mega Man Juno) and external (the Bonne Family invading).
- Has fought in different kinds of volatile terrain such as islands with active volcanic activity, frozen over islands, blizzards, forests, orbital elevators, underwater ruins, icy ruins, facilities with changing gravity, and on top of land, water and aerial vehicles.
- Defeated Klaymoor and Bola who both have 19 years of combat experience as pirates.
- Is no stranger to hostage rescue missions.
- Has succeeded in collecting all 4 keys to the "Mother Lode" in less than a day.
- Destroyed the Master System.
- Is a malewife.
- Has a harem.
- Canonically became a bad boy.
Strength
- Can effortlessly break large rocks. (See Blade Arm GIF)
- Can lift large blocks and even jump while holding onto them.
- Accidentally destroys a statue.
- Could damage many of the Bonnes' creations such as Ferdinand, Focke-Wulf, Marlwolf, Blitzkrieg, Balkon Gerät and the Gustaff.
- Cut apart the entire Gesellschaft.
- Is stated to be stronger than Mega Man Juno, supported by Juno admitting his defeat and that it was a mistake to assume he could stand a chance in close-quarters combat.
- Damaged Geetz to the point he couldn't fly anymore.
- Destroyed Reaverbots of up to this size.
- Tied against Sera as Mega Man Trigger, and outright defeats her as Mega Man Volnutt.
Speed
- Could escape a collapsing Ruin in the nick of time.
- Can move faster than cars with his Jet Skates.
- Can easily dodge and react to:
- Could outpace a lot of the Bonnes' creations.
- Could react to flying enemies like Geetz sweeping in.
- Could react to all of Mega Man Juno's attacks.
- Could easily outpace Sera's meteors, as well as react to her other attacks and maneuvers.
- Can escape the gravitational pull of Sera's black hole. (0.4054c)
- Most impressive of all... Can dodge Roll Caskett's slap!!!!!!!
Durability
- Can survive the explosions of his weapons. (See Splash Mine GIF)
- Can take hits from all of the Bonne's creations.
- Can take hits from different Reaverbots.
- Could survive getting electrocuted by a booby trap set by Mega Man Juno.
- Could take hits from Juno's attacks.
- Swam in magma to find a key.
- Survived getting kamikaze'd by Geetz.
- Can survive Sera's attacks in both forms.
- Most impressive of all... Can survive getting slapped around by Roll Caskett!!!!!!!
Scaling & Calculations
The Bonnes
Over the course of his adventures, Volnutt would always have encounters with the Bonnes, mostly the middle daughter and most popular Legends character, Tron Bonne. With countless inventions made even under serious financial hardships, she -alongside her Servbots and her 2 brothers Teisel and Bon- would prove on numerous occasions to be a massive headache for the blue boy. This family of Pirates even underwent their own little misadventures before ever meeting Mega Man, meaning that the latter can scale to whatever feats the former performed before and after their first meeting including:
- The Gustaff:
- Being capable of destroying entire buildings.
- Being capable of effortlessly lifting boulders its size.
- Could take hits from Rafale's Ultimate Cannon, which can destroy entire mountains. (78 megatons - 2.985 gigatons of TNT)
- Servbots and the Finkel reacting to a Hanmuru Doll's lasers.
- The Marlwolf could dig a large hole at least 15 meters deep (the Marlwolf's height) and this wide.
- Bon Bonne could move in-tandem with Volnutt's Shining Laser.
- The Gustaff could defeat Colossus which is a kaiju-sized Reaverbot and is powerful enough to take over the whole world.
Reaverbots
Similar to the Bonnes, a type of enemy he'd commonly encounter are Reaverbots. They are mysterious Mechaniloid-like robots inside of the Ruins he'd dig into. They come in a wide variety of forms and they all have their own fair share of feats that can be used for scaling, including:
- Being stronger than civilian Carbons such as Joseph who can move at near-lightspeed. (Relativistic+)
- Freeze entire floors instantly.
- Using magma's energy to sustain its health.
- Using Refractors as energy sources, with a Refractor large enough to fit in the Flutter's engine containing a lot of volcanic energy. (At least 10 teratons of TNT)
- Sustaining a hundred mile wide storm for a hundred years. (3.8207 gigatons of TNT)
Ancients (Master System Units)
Given Volnutt ultimately rebels and shuts the Master System down, it is only natural for him to find resistance from units of this System. Through combat, he has proven himself to these units why he is a 1st Class Purifier Unit and why the Master entrusted him with the mission to destroy the System. Given he defeats them, Volnutt can scale to:
- Mega Man Juno who:
- Controlled the Proto-Refractor as a power source, which has an output way beyond any other source. (100-832 teratons of TNT)
- Could cause large explosions in his battle.
- Geetz assimilating the Sulphur-Bottom, which is more advanced than the Flutter (due to the former being an older and smaller vehicle):
- The Flutter's Charge Drive destroyed a Refractor of the same size as another one that was used as a fuse for a machine capable of converting volcanic energy -enough to cause a century long ice age- into Refractors. (At least 100 teratons of TNT)
- Sera who:
- Can summon meteors from outer space and slam them onto Volnutt. (Mach 147)
- Can create black holes and even throw them. (1.668 yottatons of TNT - 475 quettatons of TNT)
- Due to being the Master System and Elysium herself at the end of the game, she'd likely be stabilizing all its systems including the ones maintaining Elysium in orbit. (4.228 teratons of TNT - 30 exatons of TNT)
- Changed the battle stage from the Library to another one with a starry sky in Elysium. (16.44 exaFOE and 50 billions c) (Debatable)
- It is unknown if Sera actually created the space or if she merely teleported them there. See Q&A for arguments for both sides.
Mega Man X Era (Debatable)
Arguments have been made in the past for Volnutt scaling to Mega Man X. In the Q&A section of this blog the arguments will be expanded upon, but the main gist is that one of the Shining Laser iterations uses a part called the X-Buster and simply that the Ancients -the ones that created the Master System and its Units including Volnutt- are technologically comparable to the previous civilisation that predated them, that being X-Era's civilisation. If the scaling is to be accepted, Volnutt can scale to X-Era feats. The following is a small sample of them:
- General stopping a planet-busting laser. (At least 59.44 zettatons of TNT)
- Gravity Beetle throwing black holes. (1,485 quettatons of TNT)
- X shooting black holes as well. (1.0167 FOE)
- The Nightmare Phenomenon creating the Alternate Pathways in X6.
- Zero
being a JoJo characterconsistent FTL showings moving in tandem with: - Laser beams (2.3 c-4667 c)
- Electromagnetic waves (8.62c-31.136 c)
- Particle cannons (13.77c)
- Orbital lasers (1.178 millions c for sword swing, 1.363 - 104.795 trillions c for teleporters)
- Techno re-creating all the data of the past including the stages themselves. (At least Multi-Solar System level, likely Universe level)
Questions and Answers
With the overabundance of recent discoveries regarding Volnutt in addition his appearance to a certain game being argued being canon to the overall Mega Man universe, there will be a lot to discuss. Thankfully, there will not be as many questions as the previous blog (at most 4). However, all these 4 questions and answers will truly be thought provoking. So do have a snack and/or drink with you for this as this will discuss certain topics in reasonable depth:
Are all lasers in Mega Man Legends legit?
You can certainly argue it, and it's fairly easy to do. For one, we know that throughout the 3 games that the Shining Laser appears in, it requires one very peculiar part to get it built. This being crystals or lenses. This is very important to note because this implies that the Shining Laser uses optical systems which do things like reflect and refract light, and crystals and lenses do the latter to light in optical systems. Therefore, it can be stood to reason that the light that composes these lasers refract, which is something light does in laser weapons.
The reason why every single laser would scale is because whenever Roll possesses these refractive parts but not the other items which is usually a manual about lasers, she specifically says that in order to use these parts she needs to understand how lasers work. So this implies that one of the fundamental properties of laser weapons in Legends is that they need optical systems meaning they can refract, which is usually a very valid qualification for this kind of stuff. Further support of this is that the Shield Arm, which uses an explicitly stated refractive part (the Mystic Orb), can block out Juno’s lasers.
Lastly, all laser weapons are a part of machinery and technology which use refractors as their power source. The reason why this matter is because it is explicitly stated that refractors provide light, with the Proto-Refractor legit doing just this. This would of course point to the lasers whatever these machines shootout being made of light, which is another qualifier. This last bit is more minor, but lasers damage targets with the high heat they carry, showing more realistic behavior of lasers.
So for all of these reasons, I believe all lasers in Legends are lightspeed.
Does Volnutt HAVE to go to Roll Caskett to get his special weapons changed?
This is kind of something that I've been pondering since even before I re-examined Legends. And this is kind of a tricky question to answer. Why? Well, because if we just go by what the game says, the answer is yes with an asterisk. The Great Adventure Guide brings up how every weapon is technically a detachable limb for Volnutt to swap and to do that you usually do it by talking to Roll in-game. The reason for the asterisk is because the game doesn't tell us why Roll has to do it herself rather than Volnutt himself doing so himself meaning that the possibility of it being a game mechanic does exist.
However, things get a bit weird when using other canon adjacent material. Since for example, in this Mega Man Legends manhua (that was licensed by Capcom), we see Volnutt legit change his special weapons on the flight (Blade Arm to Splash Mine in Volnutt's fight against Bon Bonne). He can even... danmaku Grand Grenades and Mega Buster shots (44 projectiles at once)??????? This manhua is a little weird to use since despite the fact that the story and characters are the same with reasonable extrapolations, there are a couple notable differences like how Eden was going to outright nuke Kattelox Island as oppose to just deploy 10k workers to kill off all Carbons in 5 minutes.
So, to TL;DR my answer: If we stick to just games, then yes with an asterisk. Using manhuas for soft-composites would stir my answer to a no and Volnutt can change his weapons on the fly.
What exactly did Sera do in her second phase's transition?
This is something that was talked about in more dedicated circles. It’s the stage changing from the Library to an unknown place inside of the Mother Zone, which in turn is in Elysium. We know Sera is responsible for this change since she does mention that Volnutt will be the one to be imprisoned -just like how she was at the beginning of the game-, but the one thing we do not know for sure is if she created this… space or if she merely teleported them there. I will be talking about those shenanigans, taking a neutral standpoint and merely present the arguments at hand as this will definitely be a controversial argument in these immediate circles. Do make your own opinions when it comes to this.
So, here are a few possible points that could be made in favor of creation:
- No guidebook stated she teleported them there.
- The sound effects of the stage change seem to suggest a physical transformation of the Library rather than mere transportation to another space.
- The place is treated as uncharted and completely removed territory even to Volnutt whose another Master System unit (Purifier Unit) and should be familiar with Elysium’s layouts.
- The stage remains fine even after the Master System shuts down, meaning it’s possibly independent from Elysium’s influence.
And some points in favor of the teleportation interpretation:
- No guidebook stated she created the space.
- Yuna in the body of Matilda can enter the space. Yuna is a Mother Unit with only authority over the Earth’s systems.
- The stage is still there after Sera’s defeat, showing possible independence from Sera’s powers.
- Sera’s never shown the power to create dimensions before this, and has shown she can teleport in the first phase of her fight.
- So, yeah. These are some of the points I can think of for both in favor or against creation. I will let you decide which is stronger.
One thing I can say for sure is that the stars in the sky can be reasonably assumed to be stars due to several reasons: 1) Sera has already shown the capacity to create celestial bodies casually (the black holes); 2) we know an outer space exists in that space due to the mere fact that she can call upon meteors (they’re by definition rocks from outer space that enter our atmosphere and burn); and 3) a similar looking area’s map indicates that the landscape extends far more out than what we see. Not to mention that the space does look like a realistic enough sky. So the stars in the sky being real can be argued.
So, with all this, I'll let you decide on what you think happened.
What about her black holes? Are they legit?
This is definitely arguable, and I am in the camp that thinks this is fine. How so? Well, here are a few things to consider:
- It's called a black hole.
- It looks like one.
- It behaves like one:
- The fact that the surrounding immediate area grows darker suggests that light is being pulled, which black holes do.
- It's inescapable since it's stated in the first scan that if you're caught up in it, you can't escape.
- Visibly distort space and pull you in.
- It is created by a person capable of manipulating gravity (NOTE: Lesser Reaverbots have been explicitly stated to manipulate gravity in Elysium and Sera has complete authority over it, so there's no reason for her to not be able to).
Something that needs to be considered is that it is actually a fairly consistent thing in the Robot Timeline for black holes created by gravity manipulators to pull in light (see Gravity Well and Squeeze Bomb), which is a massive qualifier for black holes. Remember, that they all have the same ability to manipulate gravity and culminate in black holes. And given that there is no blatant hierarchy when it comes to the skill of gravity manipulation among them (as well as similar technology being used), one could argue that the qualifiers of other black holes should just scale to one another. So with all this, it's fairly reasonable to argue Sera's black holes being legit. How it's calculated is debatable, but it should definitely be treated as real.
How do you argue Volnutt scaling to X?
This will be a fairly controversial category as taking everything at face value will put Volnutt at stats consistently higher than what he's already shown in his own game series. So do take everything here with an open mind to skepticism and a pinch of salt.
For the longest time, the only argument people would propose for scaling Volnutt to Mega Man X is that the Shining Laser is made using a part that is called the X-Buster (using the exact same katakana as it "エックスバスター"), which is described as a laser-weapon in-game in the localization (which the original one has been portrayed as one at times in all fairness). In the Japanese version of the game it is stated to be a handmade/homemade weapon (which the actual X-Buster was also one too in all fairness). However, we also never see this part for ourselves to see what the part specifically looks like meaning that the appearance and specific nature of it is still a bit vague. It could be a custom made replica of the X-Buster by a random Carbon since we know that sub-series exists in-lore as fictional media, or it could be the same one Dr. Light built. Neither proposition is certain at the end of the day.
This alone being the basis for Volnutt scaling to X is obviously not even close to being enough to justify this. However, after re-examining the series, there are a few things I picked up on that could support the scaling a little more (though it's still kinda debatable I'd say). For one thing, I picked up that the Ancients seem to have technological feats comparable to -or even surpassing in certain areas- previous eras in the Robot Timeline. Here are some feats technological feats that they have (and in brackets which eras stack up):
- They have nanotechnology. (Only Z-era uses nanotechnology too)
- Their technology can manipulate the world's nature at will. (All previous eras can do this)
- They have technology that converts energy into mass. (All previous eras do this via teleporters)
- They managed to develop orbital elevators. (X and Z eras consistently did this, only Dr. Wily could build one in Classic Era)
- The ability to manipulate gravity at will, to the point of being capable of creating black holes. (All previous eras do this)
- Create pocket dimensions inside of space stations the size of entire naturally existing celestial bodies. (All eras do the former, but building celestial body sized space stations X-era could only do)
- They used cyberspace. (X and Z era do this consistently)
- They have the technology to prolong the life of humans for millennia, eliminating hunger and pain. (No era could replicate this)
- Create lifeforms with fully-fledged souls. (All eras could replicate this)
- Fully resurrect an entire race by using genetic codes of humans. (No era could replicate this)
- Possibly... the ability to interact with other universes for infinite energy????????????? (No era could replicate this)
As one can see, there are plenty of impressive technological feats the Ancients pull off that could put them in a similar tier for technological power as previous eras. There isn't a massive discrepancy when it comes to them. So with all this in mind, there also probably shouldn't be a massive difference between their combat technology either.
Now, this alone isn't foolproof evidence, as an easy argument that could be made is that their combat technology could be inferior due to different direction being taken with their technology overall. Which... That's possible, but there is a little more to maybe tip things in favor of them being combat comparable. For one thing, in Zero 2, there are enemies in the Forest of Dysis' ruins that do contest with Zero. Keep in mind that this is blatantly a Legends level as the design of the ruins resembles the ruins of the Legends series with the Reaverbot eyes and the mini-boss resembles a Reaverbot too, meaning that these were built by the Ancients - and given that they contest with Zero? Bam, evidence right there. This could, however, be a mere reference to Legends and nothing more. Nothing confirms that the ruins were built by the Ancients themselves after all and the interview above possibly points to it being mere fanservice. And lastly, in X DiVE, the actual Mega Man Legends characters show up and do fight the Player's Hunter Programs which have been shown to be comparable to previous era characters. Though it should be worth mentioning that they showed up in data form which naturally the Legends characters are not so this could be a thing exclusive to those data forms (especially since it can make non-fighters capable of fighting -like Roll and Ciel-), since we don't know how THEIR data forms compare to their material selves.
My point in the previous paragraph is that Capcom had a number of chances to show that Volnutt isn't comparable to previous eras (which we VSDebators tried to sell for the longest time) and they didn't take them. And given everything discussed above in my answer, my overall point for this question is that Volnutt being comparable to the Mega Men that came before should be a real possibility that should be considered more seriously even if the arguments aren't blatantly concrete. Personally, I'd only ever use this as an equal leeway for anyone trying to scale his opponents to characters unrelated to them and existing in different eras and nothing more.
TL;DR - It is possible to scale Volnutt to X via arguing the Ancients were technologically comparable to other previous eras, arguing the X-Buster being the same as X's and using secondary canon to support this. However, each and every one of them have caveats that make the arguments not entirely definitive. IMO, this should only be used in equal leeway scenarios.
Closing Remarks
Hi, everyone! Hope you enjoyed this blog. This blog was definitely easier to do than my Megamix/Gigamix blog with little translation work needing to be actually done. I am super proud right now with how this blog turned out. Ever since I replayed this series, it has shot up in terms of favorites between the sub-series (3rd behind X and Zero). The games just have so much soul and a lot of effort to make them lively was definitely poured into them. Definitely recommend to play them, they're not even that long.
I also hope this blog puts actual respect to Volnutt in the VS scene. For far too long he has been seen as just a weak irrelevant character, and with the constant potshots in the one DB episode he appears in (and the dishonorable damage of anyone that is seen as weak and irrelevant in a BR being called the "Volnutt" of it), I think he deserves to have a blog that explores all his arguments in detail and shows off with actual effort what he can actually do. Most importantly, this blog is done as a little token of appreciation to this sub-series I have grown to love more over time.
In any case, I will probs inform you all on my next blog long after this blog (though you all probs know what it will be) as I'm about to get eye surgery and I am crunching this out just before I get it. In any case, once again, thank you for reading this blog. I hope you all have a nice day! See you all in the next blog!
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