Zero's Contest History

Who is Zero?
The amount of times Zero has been resurrected from his very own ashes may give you the wrong impression as to what genre the “Mega Man X” series really lies under. I assure you that “Resident Evil” is entirely separate from the “Mega Man X” series, despite the fact that you have been controlling a “zombified” Zero since the 2nd installment of X’s saga. Zombies and robots don’t mix…..(….but if my plans work to fruition, they will……soon….)

The badass Hunter known as Zero was originally built to be Dr. Wily’s burden on the future of society, a Maverick with powers beyond compare. However, as always, fate was not kind to Dr. Albert Wily ambitions. The leader of the Maverick Hunters at the time, Sigma, confronted Zero and was able to release the hold on the insane Reploid by shattering the jewel on Zero’s helmet and as such, ultimately released hell upon the Earth. In ironic fashion, Zero was repaired and given Sigma’s position amongst the elite “Maverick Hunters” and Sigma, upon breaking Zero’s crystal, was exposed to the deadly “Zero Virus”. The virus that had turned Zero into a maniacal killer had taken a hold of Sigma and turned him into a violent, killing machine that has haunted the legion of Maverick Hunters to this day.

After sacrificing himself to keep Mega Man X alive and well in X1, he was brought back in “Mega Man X2” as friend or foe dependent on your will to bring him back from the “X-Hunters”. Since that point, Zero has played a vital role in X’s mission to hunt out Sigma and eliminate the Maverick threat. What seemed to be Zero’s final hurrah in “Mega Man X5” only turned out to be a quick trip to the afterlife for the red-clad Maverick Hunter as he returned in “Mega Man X6”, seemingly good as new (…minus a small virus clean up for X). Zero has been alive and well since X6, even spawning a very successful spinoff GBA series in “Mega Man Zero” where he moves into the lead role. Concerning the X series, though, it’s only another X game or two until we see Zero bite the dust once more. But hey, that’s what extra lives are for….right, Capcom?

''“You should’ve studied the blueprints closer, Sigma. There is only ONE ZERO!”'' - Zero

Zero's Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 7-5

Summer 2003 Contest - East Division - 7 Seed
 * Eastern Round 1 --- Defeated (10) Scorpion, 70885 [62.84%] – 41916 [37.16%]
 * Eastern Quarterfinal --- Lost to (2) Sonic the Hedgehog, 47261 [47.66%] - 51903 [52.34%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 14th Place [33.28%]

Summer 2004 Contest - 20XX Division - 4 Seed
 * 20XX Round 1 --- Defeated (13) Protoman, 58317 [71.72%] - 22993 [28.28%]
 * 20XX Quarterfinal --- Defeated (5) Tommy Vercetti, 49875 [61.84%] - 30775 [38.16%]
 * 20XX Semifinal --- Lost to (1) Mega Man, 36800 [43.99%] - 46849 [56.01%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 11th Place [33.96%]

While the win-loss record of Zero won't grab your attention, you'd be wise to take notice of the acheivements of this Summer Contest diamond in the rough. The leader of the Special #0 Class Unit refuses to lie down and accept his demise in the X series and he carries that trait with him into the Summer Contest arena as well. Given the pounding success of Mega Man in 2002, Zero’s entrance in the 2003 Summer Contest was greeted with upset potential galore. The Cinderella of 2002, Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion was Zero’s first round opponent and Zero was given a great chance at victory because despite Scorpion’s placing in 2002, it was widely agreed upon that a favorable bracket was given out to him to pull him into the Southern Finals. The inaugrual match was perfect for Zero to display his power and make his case heard for a possible shocker of an upset in Round 2 over a weakening Sonic the Hedgehog. Sure enough, gameday for Zero came and saw the blond-haired hero slice away with a comfortable 63-37 victory. But while the upset of Sonic the Hedgehog didn’t come thru for Zero, his power was made known far and wide amongst many. A loss by 4% to a gaming legend provided a boost of momentum going into 2004 and catapulted Zero into a category on par with some of the more elite characters of the tournament. If ever there was a “moral victory”, Zero’s 2003 outing was it.

Unfortunately in 2004, the brackets were released and Zero’s hope for more success was cut down instantaneously by the destined duel against the namesake of the series he starred in. Before the Sweet Sixteen slaughtering that was seemingly inescapable against Mega Man, Zero was able to oust a Mega Man series veteran in Protoman and the insanely popular Grand Theft Auto series’ main man for the Summer, Tommy Vercetti. When the time came for the original Mega Man and Zero to do battle, SFF (Same Fanbase Factor) blowouts were the norm for the round as Link completely obliterated rival Ganondorf and Bowser fell mightily to the hands of video game icon, Mario. A Mega Man crushing of Zero wasn’t just a bold prediction for the battle of “past vs future”, it was flat out EXPECTED. However, Zero held his own against the Blue Bomber and gave only 56% of the vote away. While that may not seem like a big deal to some, you have to take into account that SFF matches produced 90-10 and 70-30 blowouts in 3 similar matches. Along with SFF, also consider the fact that Mega Man is one of the top 5 characters in the entire contest and you have yourselves yet another respectable outing by Zero that will give him yet MORE confidence for the upcoming Summer Contest 2005.

Three strong victories and two moral ones lie in Zero’s Summer Contest resume but the time has ended for Zero supporters to congratulate their favorite character for dignified defeats. After the momentum he’s built, the contest of 2005 will pressure Zero into at least pulling off a shocking upset to elevate his status in the Summer Contest melee. However, while Zero is a formidable opponent for any elite character in the contest, Zero will need a truly great effort on the gaming front to give him the extra edge he needs to really become Summer Contest championship material. Unfortunately, since Mega Man games aren’t exactly waited and drooled upon along the likes of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2, the likeliness of Zero catapulting into elite status will not come soon. Zero’s strength is high and will stay remain that way for years to come. Dr. Wily’s prize creation will most likely be waiting his turn to be crowned champion as the characters ahead of him are retired after their own championship runs. Give Zero a good 7-10 years and if all goes according to plan, he’ll be the tournament favorite……

Summer 2005 Contest - Mushroom Division - 3 Seed
 * Mushroom Round 1 --- Defeated (6) Ryu Hayabusa, 57507 [63.00%] - 33771 [37.00%]
 * Mushroom Semifinal --- Defeated (2) Lloyd Irving, 65557 [73.25%] - 23938 [26.75%]
 * Mushroom Final --- Lost to (1) Mario, 39856 [37.14%] - 67452 [62.86%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 19th Place [29.41%]

As well as Zero performed in the first two rounds of this contest in easily defeating both Hayabusa and Irving (and turning the TOS hierarchy completely upside down), the real test was Mario, specifically whether or not Zero's 2003 performance was a fluke and/or if he could avoid SFF.

He wound up getting beaten pretty soundly, but not to the levels that would suggest a hardcore SFF beating. His loss to Mario may very well have been the legitimate strengths of Mario and Zero (with Mario's ridiculous boost doing most of the damage) clashing with a little bit of SFF thrown in to make it look a tad worse than it may have been otherwise. Given how badly Samus would go on to be SFFd by Mario, Zero can take from this match that the loss was not nearly as bad as it could have been. If anything, Zero may be underestimated in the stats.

Yay for Zero having an unreliable value for two years running.

Summer 2006 Contest - Blast Division - 7 Seed
 * Blast Round 1 --- Lost to (2) Luigi, 60207 [46.29%] - 69851 [53.71%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 25th Place [31.12%]

Chalk Zero up as another character that performs very well when he isn't facing a Nintendo or Square character. *Nothing* indicated that Luigi would whip his ass so easily, not even the Mario match from a year before.

Summer 2007 Contest - Division 4 - Fourth Group
 * Division 4 Round 1 --- 1st place, 50230 [39.56%] - HK-47, 27044 [21.30%] - Lloyd Irving, 25863 [20.22%] - Jak, 24030 [18.92%]
 * Division 4 Round 2 --- 2nd place, 39680 [32.64%] - Crono, 44563 [36.65%] - Raiden, 20991 [17.26%] - HK-47, 16348 [13.45%]
 * Division 4 Final --- 4th place, 17359 [12.27%] - Link, 64214 [45.37%] - Vincent Valentine, 30825 [21.78%] - Crono, 29123 [20.58%]

Zero didn't look so good last year, but he seemed to regain some of his old form this year. He owned his first round fourpack, and he tore into Crono with the day vote in the second round. Sure, he'll probably never be the guy who got 47% on Sonic again, but Zero's still got his share of strength.