Alia

is a supporting character in the X era, first appearing in Mega Man X5. She is a skilled navigator and former Reploid engineer who offers guidance to X, Zero, and Axl while they are in the field. She is also a bonus playable character in Mega Man X8.
==In the Games==
===Mega Man X5===
Alia debuted as a supporting character in Mega Man X5, first contacting X or Zero as they arrive in the . If the player chose X, she explains that she restored the Fourth Armor for him to use, and named it in the process. She then serves as a tutorial, explaining the new Crouch and Wire Hook abilities (she does the same in the game's optional Training mode).
Once Sigma puts his plans into motion, coating the Earth with the Sigma Virus and sending the Eurasia colony on a collision course, Alia is present for the meeting where Signas declares their plans to get Enigma and the Space Shuttle back online. She then continues to navigate the Hunters through each of the eight Stage Select stages, occasionally interrupting gameplay to inform the player of upcoming stage elements or obstacles. She also debriefs at the end of each mission.
Alia is present for all cutscenes involving the Enigma or Shuttle, often narrating the success of the missions or the status of the Eurasia colony. She christens the name of the Zero Virus, and warns the Hunters about the anomaly that appears as Zero Space Stage 1: Origin. Before Zero Space Stage 3: Awakening, she attempts to stop the Hunters from deploying, crying out that it's far too dangerous.
Alia briefly appears in X's good ending, alerting X of a large Maverick outbreak in HORIE 2146 block. She also appears in the bad ending, doubting the "miracle" of X coming back without any memories of Zero. She declares the truth of hia return a total mystery.
===Mega Man X6===
In Mega Man X6, Alia is first seen when she awakens X from a dream to go stop the Mavericks at the Eurasia crash site. She contacts X in the , explaining that she has incompletely repaired the Falcon Armor for him to use. As X encounters the Zero Nightmare and High Max, Alia expresses confusion. Once the investigation begins, Alia can contact the Hunters at specific points in each stage. A symbol appears on the screen to indicate she is available for contact, though she can be ignored, unlike in the previous game.
Alia alludes to her mysterious past as a Reploid engineer at several points in the game, due to the main antagonist, Gate, being a former colleague of hers. A secret cutscene unlocked by collecting 3000 Nightmare Souls has her reveal the full story. Before working in the Maverick Hunters, Alia worked with Gate in a Reploid engineering laboratory. When their supervisor became wary of Gate's highly-advanced Reploids and general insubordination, the supervisor began plotting with the team to dispose of his creations. Alia was reluctantly roped into this conspiracy: she was tricked into casting Blizzard Wolfang to a watery grave, and was forced to execute Ground Scaravich for trespassing. After Gate left the team, Alia was wracked with guilt, leaving to eventually join the Maverick Hunters.
In the cutscene after Zero unlocks Secret Lab 1, Alia briefly speaks to Gate as he contacts Hunter Base; she attempts to reason with him, but he does not comply. She then loses contact with the Hunters at the entrance. She reestablishes contact once X meets Gate, just in time for Gate to compliment her abilities, though she claims that he was always more skilled than her. Upon later finding Isoc's dormant body, Alia compares his state to the phenomenon of Erasure.
At the end of the game, Alia is present outside the laboratory to find X carrying Gate's broken body, who leaves her the choice of what to do with him. She promises to help rebuild the world into a utopia, hoping to find a way to end all computer viruses.
===Mega Man X7===
In Mega Man X7, Alia first appears when Red calls Hunter Base to challenge the Maverick Hunters, patching him to the main screen. She then organizes the Hunters and briefs them on the upcoming duel with Red Alert. In the eight Stage Select stages, Alia can contact the Hunters to inform them of upcoming points of interest, though she can again be ignored.
Alia later receives the location of the Crimson Palace from Red, allowing the Hunters to go face him. In Axl's ending, she vouches for him to X, suggesting X let him be a Hunter if he wants to. In X's ending, she shows further support, citing fourteen incidents where Axl helped stop different Mavericks, albeit noting his mistakes in the process.
===Mega Man X8===
In Mega Man X8, Alia returns with a larger role and a new redesign. She first deploys Hunters to Noah's Park to investigate Maverick activity, and coaches X, Axl, and Zero through the stage while asking them to collect samples from Crabs-Y to study. Once Vile reveals the rebellion of the new generation Reploids, Alia deduces that they are seeking control of Jakob. Before X and the others are deployed, she introduces them to her new fellow navigators, Layer and Pallette. Of the three, Alia's navigation offers a balance between providing boss advice and pointing out hidden locations.
In between stages, Alia continues to research the new generation Reploids. After four Mavericks are defeated, Alia reveals that their copy chips are what give them total immunity to the influences of viruses, but that Sigma's data is also included in the copy chip of every new generation Reploid. After the fifth Maverick, she debunks X's theory that transforming into Sigma has made them go Maverick. After the final Maverick, Alia comes to the conclusion that the new generation Reploids are not being puppeted by Sigma, but that they actually share the same data and are in a sense "related" to him. Just afterwards, Sigma himself contacts the Hunters and issues his challenge.
Alia can continue to navigate the Hunters, though she loses contact with them outside the . After Lumine's defeat, she manages to contact X, who informs her of the damage sustained by Axl.
Once the game is completed, Alia can be unlocked as a secret playable character, alongside her fellow navigators. She controls identically to X, wielding the Alia Buster and s in the field, but she cannot equip Armor Parts. She also does not have dialogue with any bosses. There are two different methods of unlocking Alia: first, the player must choose Alia as their navigator at least two times more than Layer or Pallette before completing the game, or second, a password can be entered on the title screen (which is unavailable in the original PC port). After being unlocked, the Alia Buster can be purchased in the R&D Lab for a hefty 40,000 Metals to play as her.
Parts	Icon	Code
Alia 	 	↓, R, ↑, L, Y, B, X, A (Switch)
===Mega Man X DiVE===
Alia appears as an unlockable Hunter Program in the crossover mobile game Mega Man X DiVE. She is an A-rank character and was available as part of the game's initial roster on . Her Active Skills are both references to her playable debut in Mega Man X8; Green Spinner and Melt Creeper are both Special Weapons that she can use in that game.
Alia also has several variants. One is a skin, Swimsuit Alia, with the same stats and Active Skills, which has its own alternate form, a blue-colored version called Swimsuit Alia (Azur). She also has two entirely separate, event-exclusive Hunter Programs. The first is White Day Alia, an S-rank White Day version whose Active Skills are Heart Balloon and Flying Kiss. The second is Bridal Alia, an S-rank wedding dress-themed version whose Active Skills are Hurl Bouquet and Chimes of Joy.
=== Other Game Appearances ===
* In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Alia has a cameo in Zero's Arcade Mode ending.
* Alia was planned to appear in the canceled Rockman Online.
* In Dragon Poker, Alia appeared as a Rockman event character.
* In Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Alia is mentioned in one of X's victory quotes.
* In TEPPEN, Alia appears as multiple Unit Cards and is also in the artwork for several Action Cards.
* In Elemental Story, Alia appeared as a Rockman event character.
* In Tower of Saviors, Alia appeared as a Rockman event character.
== Other Media ==
* In the Rockman X5 manhua, Alia reprises her role from Mega Man X5.
* In Capcom Music Generation: Rockman X1-6, Alia appears in multiple original artworks.
* In Rockman X7 4Koma Manga Kingdom, Alia appears in various comical situations.
* In the Mega Man X: Command Mission Official Strategy Guide, Alia has written a message to Signas regarding the events of the game.
* In the Archie Mega Man comic, Alia does not actually appear in the story, but she is present on the cover of Sonic Boom #8.
* In Rockman X The Novel: Irregulars Report, a Reploid researcher was provisionally assigned as a navigator to manage transmissions and relay information. The epilogue reveals that this navigator is actually Alia.
* In Rockman X5 IF, Alia appears as X recalls his friends and sees a vision of those he has yet to meet.
==Behind the Scenes==
===Developer Commentary===
:"Was there a strong request for females from the staff of the previous work? This is the first time I've introduced a female character to the X series. Personally, I don't feel it's all that necessary since these are titles aimed at young boys. But really, aren't women more capable of making calm decisions? So I decided the navigator would be a woman. Alia's design was difficult too. Regrettably, I made many mistakes, with her often looking more like a 'Mega Man Legends' denizen before fitting her into the X world." - (Developer Comments)
:"A pretty common question I hear is, 'Who is the heroine of the X series, Iris or Alia?' Personally, I think Alia takes on more of a 'big sister' role, since she does spend most of the game navigating the player around. On the other hand, Iris cold be the heroine of the series, but she dies in 'X4', so..." - (Haruki Suetsugu)MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works. 2013.
:"In 'X6', we get to see a bit of Alia's past. We put her hair down to give the sense that the scene is from the past... but then she shows up in 'X8' with her hair down, so... (laugh)" - (Haruki Suetsugu)
:"Pallette is one of those absentminded types, so I focused on pastel colors for her. Layer has more of a divine air about her, so I went with the rich and royal purple. As far as Alia is concerned, she brought sex appeal to a man's world, but by changing her hairstyle in 'X8', I was trying to add some cuteness to her character." - (Tatsuya Yoshikawa)
===Nomenclature===
Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	 	Unknown origin. Pronounced ['ɛəliːə], like "area" with an L.
English 	 	Unknown origin. Pronounced ['ɛəliːə], like "area" with an L.
==Trivia==
* Along with Layer and Pallette, Alia was one of the first female playable characters in a mainline Mega Man game.
* Alia is the only character in Mega Man X8 to retain her redesign from the game in subsequent appearances. Other character such as X, Zero, Axl, and Signas, who all received redesigns ranging from heavy to minor, are more commonly depicted with their pre-X8 designs.
* Alia has unused voice lines in Mega Man X8 where she shouts "Hadouken!" and "Shoryuken!", suggesting that at one point of development, she was going to be able to use these skills. Furthermore, Alia has unused animations for the Shoryuken and the Giga Crash.Mega Man X8 on The Cutting Room Floor.
* In X's ending in Mega Man X6, Alia mentions a plan to create "a program resistant to corruption and all viruses." This may be a reference to the Mother Elf from the Zero era.
* One of the Guardians operators from Mega Man ZX, Gardénia, appears to be based on Alia.
== References ==
Category:Maverick Hunters