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The Fourth Armor (フォースアーマー Fōsu Āmā),[1][2] also known as the Force Armor,[3][4] is a set of Armor Parts for X first found in Mega Man X4. It is also available in Mega Man X5 if the player chooses X on the Character Select screen.

Functions

Mega Man X4

  • Head Parts - Allowing X to fire endless uncharged special weapons.
  • Body Parts - Allows X to use the Nova Strike. It is a rushing, invincible, damage-inducing attack, with limited energy that is restored over time. Also, the damage X receives is halved, and taken damage is absorbed to replenish the Nova Strike's energy.
  • Arm Parts - These upgrade X's arms, changing his standard charge shot, while allowing him to charge weapons.
    • Stock Charge Shot - Allows X to charge up four charged shots at once. Four icons of shots will appear next to X's life gauge that are used to keep track of the number of X's stocked shots. Whenever X fires while an icon is visible, he will fire a charged shot. The equipped parts will have white arms and blue fists. The only drawback to this part is that the charged shots are smaller in size.
    • Plasma Charge Shot - Upgrades X's charged shots to the Plasma Charge Shot. This shot is much larger and more powerful than the standard blast, and will leave up to three plasma balls generated and causes continuous damage. The equipped parts will have black arms and red fists. The main drawback to this part is that the plasma balls left behind will take priority in dealing damage, meaning that if X fires a charged shot and then use a semi charged shot or special weapon afterwards, the damage will be cancelled due to the plasma ball already dealing damage.
  • Foot Parts - X can air-dash and hover by double-jumping. He can move while hovering, but the amount of time he will stay airborne is reduced.

Mega Man X5

The Fourth Armor returns in Mega Man X5, as an imperfect reconstruction of the armor was created by Alia.[2] If X is chosen at the Character Select screen at the start of a new game, X begins with the Fourth Armor equipped, and it will be available for the rest of the game. It has a weaker version of the Plasma Charge Shot where the effects of the Head Parts are reduced and the Nova Strike is unavailable. If Zero is chosen instead, the armor will be destroyed by Sigma in the Opening Stage.

  • Head Parts - Reduced to a 50% energy consumption reduction.
  • Body Parts - The damage X receives is halved.
  • Arm Parts - Only Plasma Charge Shot can be used, but it is weakened to leaving only one plasma ball behind per shot and the shot cannot pass through walls. Strangely, it has the same white arms and blue fists as Stock Charge Shot.
  • Foot Parts - X can air-dash and hover by double-jumping, like in Mega Man X4.

Locations

Location
X4 FootParts
X4 FootParts
Foot Parts
Jungle (Web Spider)
While descending the waterfalls after the start of the stage, there is an opening in the right wall leading to a room with the capsule.
Location
X4 HeadParts
X4 HeadParts
Head Parts
Cyber Space (Cyber Peacock)
Earn an "S" rank in the third time attack run to be rewarded with the capsule.
Location
X4 BodyParts
X4 BodyParts
Body Parts
Volcano (Magma Dragoon)
In Area 2, there is a ledge above where a Ride Armor is found. The ledge can be reached by dash-jumping in the Ride Armor and ejecting mid-air. Use a charged Twin Slasher to destroy the rock wall blocking the way to the capsule.
Location
X4 ArmParts
X4 ArmParts
Arm Parts
Air Force (Storm Owl)
Before the Generaid Core in Area 2, there is a spike-lined shaft in the ceiling. Shoot a Lightning Web to safely wall kick past the spikes. There are two capsules to choose from: the closer one holds the Stock Charge Shot, while the further one holds the Plasma Charge Shot. The player may return to these capsules at any time and switch Arm Parts as desired. If the Ultimate Armor password has been entered, only one capsule will appear.

Other game appearances

Other media

Rockman X4 manga

RX4 Manga Fourth Armor

X's Fourth Armor is revealed after his Ultimate Armor is destroyed

The Fourth Armor made an appearance in the manga version of Mega Man X4. After a bruising fight for his life against rogue Repliforce soldier Frost Walrus where X barely escaped with his life thanks to the General's timely intervention, X decided that he needed more power to defeat the Repliforce and stop their coup d'etat. He returned to the Kagikira Forest where he had defeated Web Spider of the Repliforce Guerrilla Unit earlier and obtained the Ultimate Armor from Dr. Light's hidden capsule there. However, Light warned him that the armor's power could be a double-edged sword and deeply affect him in unforeseen ways. Thus, X becomes a much more powerful and ruthless warrior.

With the power of the Ultimate Armor, X single-handedly defeats remaining Repliforce sub-commanders Slash Beast and Storm Owl, and is able to defeat the power-hungry Maverick Magma Dragoon as well at a volcano after being ambushed there. Then, X ventures to the Repliforce space station Final Weapon that holds a "Death Flower" weapon capable of decimating the entire planet with a single blast and confronts the General, severely wounding him in combat and knocking him out. But suddenly, Repliforce's deadly weapon is activated by a mysterious yellow Maverick who X had previously encountered at an abandoned laboratory.

X then engages the Maverick in battle, who reveals himself to be none other than Double, X's loyal subordinate. Double than slashes at X wildly and injures him, but he quickly recovers thanks to the Ultimate Armor and smashes right through Double with a Nova Strike, furious with his treachery. Double's body disintegrates. General then rises up behind X who frantically shoots at him with buster shots that do not damage him, but instead of killing X the General hugs him, and then sacrifices himself by slamming his own body into the Death Flower and destroying it.

The explosion reaches X and the force from it causes his Ultimate Armor to explode, which reveals the Fourth Armor that had been hidden underneath it the entire time. X reunites with Zero and they decide to return to Earth, with the war being over and the Earth being saved.

Gallery

Sprites

Trivia

  • The armor is actually unnamed in Mega Man X4, as armor naming did not begin until Mega Man X5, which featured more than one armor. As such, the Mega Man X4 armor was only called "power up parts", just like its predecessors.
    • The armor was named "Force Armor" in some sources. This is a misunderstanding however, as both "Fourth" and "Force" are both written as フォース fōsu in Japanese, hence the text fōsu can be easily misinterpreted to mean "force" when viewed out of context.
  • In Mega Man X4, the colors of the Arm Parts for the armor are different when equipped with either the Stock Charge Shot or the Plasma Charge Shot in order to distinguish the two. For the Stock Shot, the forearms are white and the hands are blue, matching the original design of the armor (also to the fact that the buster features four small barrels). For the plasma shot, however, the forearms are black with yellow wrists and the hands are red, similar to X2's armor parts.
    • In Mega Man X5, however, the completed Fourth Armor's Arm Parts are white-and-blue and the type of shot that is built-in is the Plasma Charge Shot. This change on the original buster function could be applied to the fact X5 added two new armors, making the total count of usable armors for X to 5 (If his unarmored form is in count). So they decided to reuse Ultimate Armor's plasma shot in X5 to save some space in the memory and making the buster shot weaker in exchange.
  • Since the Ultimate Armor is the most recurring armor in the series (and the fact that it is essentially an upgrade to the Fourth Armor), most of the Fourth Armor's abilities (Plasma Charge Shot, Nova Strike and Hover) are also the most recurring abilities in the series.
  • In the manga adaptation of Mega Man X4, the Fourth Armor is not used during the Repliforce conflict. X instead discovers the fully formed Ultimate Armor, which he equips and uses in a blind rage against the Repliforce after suffering a mental breakdown. After General's sacrifice, the resulting explosion destroys the Ultimate Armor while protecting X, revealing the pristine Fourth Armor underneath. As Sigma and the Repliforce have already been defeated, the abilities of the Fourth Armor are not explored in the story.
  • Archie Comics writer Ian Flynn admits that he did want to have X go Super while in this armor in Worlds Unite, but Sega wouldn't let him do it.[5]
  • The Blade Armor model kit released by Jazwares was misnamed as Force Armor.

References

  1. In-game name in Mega Man X5.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Original text:
    エイリア
    レプリロイド工学の研究員。レプリロイドに関する知識はトップクラスで、あらゆるタイプのレプリロイド、メカニロイドを製造できる。更に高速処理のCPUを所有しているため、瞬時のデータの解析、状況把握に秀でており、イレギュラーハンターのサポーターとして引き抜かれた。 エックスが廃棄してしまったアーマーデータを解析し、複製を作った。ただ、オリジナルの素材が、100年以上前の古いものや解析不能なデータが含まれており、完全復活はできなかった。エックスが入手した4つ目のアーマーという意味で、「フォースアーマー」と名付けた。
    Rockman X5 official website - Characters. 2000. Retrieved on 2011-02-19.
    Translation:
    Alia
    Repliroid engineering researcher. Her knowledge regarding Repliroids is top class, and she can design all types of Repliroids and Mechaniroids. Possessing a high-speed CPU, she excels in program analysis and instantaneous data processing. Because of this she was pulled from her job as a researcher in order to become a supporter for the Irregular Hunters. Analyzing the data for X's disposed armor, she was able to create a duplicate. Because the original materials were over 100 years old, they could not be completely analyzed and it was impossible to recreate the armor perfectly. Because it was based on the 4th armor that X acquired, it was named the "Fourth Armor".
    Mega Man Network - "Rockman X5 Collected Sourcebook Information". Retrieved on 2011-02-19.
  3. Mega Man X5 instruction manual.
  4. Kotobukiya: Mega Man X Force Armor
  5. BumbleKing Comics


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