Maverick

**Maverick** is a generic term for Reploids and Mechaniloids that are a threat to humans and other Reploids for varying causes, which include software bugs, viruses, reprogramming, or even by their own free will upon deciding that humans are inferior and too weak to live (or some variation of this thought). The term was created to differentiate the innocent from criminals who engage in destructive behaviors such as robbery, murder, and destruction. The degree of severity varies, but these actions are all defined as "crimes" under the law. The standards are set by human ethics, but because Reploids are stronger than their human counterparts, the punishments doled out to those who commit crimes and become Maverick are far greater than would be warranted normally (Repliforce possibly being an exception, as X convinced the human council to spare their lives). They are usually countered by application of firepower to a certain degree in order to neutralize them. The Maverick Hunters were formed to enact this, as humans would not be able to counter Maverick outbreaks.

## Maverick causes

There is no single cause for a Reploid to act as a Maverick, but generally a Maverick will fall into one of several categories.

### Flawed/Error Mavericks

Early cases of Reploids and Mechaniloids becoming Mavericks were due to their thought routines and programming suffering from a fatal bug. When Mavericks first appeared in society, they could be dealt with through use of emergency shutdown devices. Frequent outbreaks and the Mavericks hacking the devices themselves, however, brought on a gradual increase to the Maverick threat. Despite having a complicated system, Reploids and Mechaniloids may also become Mavericks via hacking and reprogramming.

For Reploids, it makes sense that there might have been some errors to cause them to go insane - errors which can be likened to humans with mental deficits or biological/emotional imbalance reacting to negative stress violently. After all, Dr. Cain was unable to fully understand Dr. Light's designs and his masterpiece, X, and the Reploids haven't passed a long test period to maximise the safety of their cognition programs like X. Prior to X, robots were made to provide humans with ease of living and subordinated to tasks deemed too dangerous or monotonous for humans to perform. By providing sentience, the ability to not just to think and learn, but most importantly to "decide right and wrong for themselves", these first Maverick incidents may simply be the Reploid equivalent of extreme dissident violence. Being as they have become, essentially, a new social demographic born into autonomy to replace robots, with no previous ideology, ethical, or moral code indoctrinated into them other than specialized programming and bodies necessary for their tasks, early Reploids may have been somewhat more susceptible to negative influences than humans. It is implied by Dr. Light that he intended Reploids to exist and develop their own society alongside mankind, peacefully. However, since X's discovery and the proliferation of the Reploids by Dr. Cain, these incidents intensified artificially after the discovery of Zero and the spread of the virus from Zero. When possible, Mavericks caused by technical flaws and errors in their thought circuits are usually not destroyed, but rendered harmless for future repairs so they can be reintegrated into society, being apprehended.

### Viral Mavericks

The major cause of Mavericks is a sentient energy lifeform created in form of a computer virus called the Maverick Virus and often the Sigma Virus. The virus usually causes the infected Reploid's programming to malfunction, which causes the victim to become very violent and irrational (in other words, irregular), though this is not always the case (such as Sigma, who merged with the virus instead). Viral Mavericks lose their inhibitions and their empathy, as they will follow their own desires without any regret, even if they hurt humans and Reploids alike in the process. Viral Mavericks infected by Sigma generally succumb to the belief that the human race is limiting the potential of Reploids and may become loyal to Sigma. Those Mavericks often deliberately try to injure or kill humans. They will also not falter to attack other Reploids that are trying to defend humans. Reploids who are infected by the virus can be restored, as the virus blocked the personalities of the Mavericks, but the only way to restore the Reploid's original personality was to destroy the physical body. Until the existence of the virus was revealed, the Reploids whose original personalities were restored couldn't return to normal, and had to take new identities. There seem to be many forms of the Maverick Virus, such as the Zero Virus, Nightmare Virus, and Sigma's feral side.

Mavericks in this category include Sigma, Reploid scientists Dr. Doppler and Gate, and originally Zero.

### Free-will Mavericks

Some Reploids are labeled Mavericks because they have consciously decided, without any infection or flaw in their circuits, to go against the will of the humans. These are usually criminals, mercenaries, or rebels who act against the government. Such *free-willed Mavericks* usually act more rationally than viral Mavericks.

Pretty much all Mavericks that, according to X, weren't infected or misjudged can be considered to be free-willed Mavericks. These Mavericks include Vile, the Nightmare Police (Bit and Byte), Magma Dragoon and Double. Split Mushroom and Cyber Peacock may also be free-willed Mavericks, but we can't be sure about it.

Mega Man X is a rare instance: he *pretended* to be a Maverick in Chronicle 5, in order to fool the virus. However, it is not sure whether Reploids that pretend to be Mavericks are free-willed Mavericks or not, although it's clear they pretend to be Mavericks because they want to fool actual Mavericks, and, since they do it from their own free-will, they can't be labeled as viral Mavericks.

### Political Mavericks

Not all Mavericks try to harm humans or the government. Because the distinction of who is or is not Maverick is decided by the Arcadia Council, sometimes a group will be unjustly called Maverick for political reasons or misunderstandings, such as with Repliforce. In fact, X even claims this labeling as injustice, due to the fact that labelling the entire Repliforce as Mavericks would cause unnecessary deaths that X didn't want, this being the reason he arrested the Repliforce commanders without killing them (or at least until he faced Colonel).

## Problems caused by Mavericks

The greatest threat Mavericks present throughout the series is the existential clashes between Reploid and Man, and the potential for mass genocide or eradication of the human race. As Reploids are essentially living machines, made for conditions and ability greater than any normal human being can withstand and perform, Mavericks are able to turn this great power and ability from one of good to one of evil with a single thought.

Socially, Mavericks present a large problem to the governments in the X Chronicles series. They actively fight against the governments and the Maverick Hunters, causing large amounts of collateral damage during their attacks, although X is constantly trying to minimalize said collateral damage.

Mavericks are usually the most destructive when they group together. This is usually hard for viral Mavericks to accomplish, but with Sigma able to exert control over many of them as well as persuade non-viral Mavericks to serve his cause, he has numerous times been able to organize the Mavericks for his elaborate schemes against the Maverick Hunters.

## Major Maverick Reploids

The major Maverick Reploids fought by the Maverick Hunters in the X Chronicles series.

* Sigma
* Vile
* Counter Hunters:
	+ Violen
	+ Serges
	+ Agile
* Dr. Doppler
* Nightmare Police:
	+ Bit
	+ Byte
* Gate
* General (according to the Arcadia Council)
* Colonel
* Double

### Game Stage Select bosses

All of the Mavericks featured in the X Chronicles series as the eight bosses from the Stage Select Screen from the games are based on some sort of animal, plant, or fungus.

#### Rise of Sigma

Former Maverick Hunters who sided with Sigma's rebellion (in order of their defeat) (all of them reformed and became X-Hunters).

* Storm Eagle (Airstrike)
* Flame Mammoth (Inferno)
* Chill Penguin (Deepfreeze)
* Spark Mandrill (Overload)
* Armored Armadillo (Barrel)
* Launch Octopus (Depthcharge)
* Boomer Kuwanger (Quickman)
* Sting Chameleon (Shimmer)

#### Lazarus Zero

More former Maverick Hunters, and a few agents built or recruited by Sigma's forces (like with Rise of Sigma, they joined the X-Hunters after their defeat).

* Wire Sponge (Tripwire)
* Wheel Gator (Spikesaw)
* Overdrive Ostrich (Turbo)
* Bubble Crab (Snapvice)
* Flame Stag (Pyrostrike)
* Morph Moth (Blast Squirrel)
* Magna Centipede (Mapteron)
* Crystal Snail (Warp Turtle)

#### Doppler Effect

Reploids that were turned Maverick by Dr. Doppler and his fake antivirus (like before they did reform, but they didn't join the X-Hunters; only Gravity Beetle, being Boomer Kuwanger's brother, knows the truth about them).

* Neon Tiger
* Gravity Beetle
* Blast Hornet
* Blizzard Buffalo
* Toxic Seahorse
* Tunnel Rhino
* Volt Catfish
* Crush Crawfish

#### Rise of Repliforce

Members of Repliforce (marked with R and labelled wrongfully as Mavericks), and some rogue agents planted by Sigma (marked with W and labelled rightfully as Mavericks).

* Frost Walrus (R)
* Jet Stingray (R)
* Slash Beast (R)
* Web Spider (R)
* Split Mushroom (W)
* Cyber Peacock (W)
* Storm Owl (R)
* Magma Dragoon (W)

## Respondents to Mavericks

### Maverick Hunters

Due to the many problems posed by Mavericks, the Maverick Hunters were formed by Dr. Cain. The Hunters enlist Reploid soldiers to fight the Mavericks and perform rescue operations on their victims. On numerous occasions, this organization has stopped Maverick attacks on human cities, but it has also failed to prevent some large-scale damage, such as the destruction of Dopple Town and the Sky Lagoon.

### X-Hunters

Many former Mavericks, out of shame for the crimes they caused, decided to help X destroy the cause of the Mavericks ("the disease", according to the Archie Comics). The X-Hunters salvage any personality chip and buffer from the viral Mavericks they defeat. They are the only ones who know the Maverick Wars were caused by Dr. Wily.