A follow-Up to my Mega M an Robot Masters Poll Winners pic I did in July.
That covered the Classic Mega Man series: Covering Mega Mans 1-11, Mega Man V on Gameboy and Mega Man and Bass on Gameboy Advance.
Naturally what came next was the Mega Man X series and conducting a similar poll.
This time, it was for the Mavericks.
There were only two sources to pull Mavericks from: Mega Man X-X8 and Mega Man X Command Mission.
We have yet to receive a Mega Man X9. But given the resurgence of the Blue Bombers legacy with the Classic series proving to be successful; I am sure Capcom is considering a revival of that series too.
And in the fine tradition of Mega Man 9; it might mean we get a lady Maverick too. X3
But for now; here are the winners of the Mega Man X Mavericks Polls. Like the Robot Masters I will go over each one in descending order left to right.
So let's get started.
Storm Eagle (Mega Man X) - Not only was this the first Mega Man X game I played, but the first Mega Man game I played in the entire franchise. So this one is always a favorite of mine and the original is still fun to play. Sometimes I'll also bust out it's remake Maverick Hunter X. When the poll was conducted there was some touch choices to make. But in the end I had a feeling Storm Eagle was going to fly over the competition; which he did. His design is superb and his theme is freaking epic. A lot of the Maverick themes in Mega Man X were amazing; Spark Mandrill and Boomer Kuwanger's in particular. Many Mavericks were voted based on their stage themes. But Storm Eagle is awesome on both fronts and I wanted to draw him reflecting that grandeur of being awesome overall. (Despite the fact he's not that hard to fight.) The wings I am particularly happy with. Symmetry is not a strong point of mine. Neither is consistency. All those feathers to draw. Yet somehow I think I pulled it off nicely. I had a feeling Storm Eagle was also among the designer's favorites from the Capcom team. In Maverick Hunter he's shown to be honorable and regrettable having to fight against the Reploids and humans. He's just too cool a design to make a straight up bad guy.
Wheel Gator (Mega Man X2) - We started off with a bird and now we continue with a reptile. Mega Man X2 had it's share of oddball Maverick designs. Wire Sponge and Bubble Crab among them. The invertebrates didn't stand a chance against the three vertebrate Mavericks who were the top vote getters: Wheel Gator, Flame Stag and Overdrive Ostrich. Flame Stag was pretty rad in terms of design. Giant flaming antlers are epic. But the winner slunk his way into the top spot in the form of the snappy Wheel Gator. Like Storm Eagle, this fellow had a great amount of detail I tried my best to replicate. Let me tell you; going through multiple poses to find one that's just right isn't easy for a project like this. And further down the line you might see where I dropped the ball I bit. For Wheel Gator's complex design, I decided to make him look like he was on all fours. Like most Mavericks he usually stands upright; but he will crouch down and when in attack mode lunge at you like a real alligator/crocodile would. This is probably how he won over Flame Stag in that he has a feral quality to him that is true to his animal nature the Mavericks are based on. I'm glad though as he's light green and he helps contrast the other Mavericks in this piece to stick out more in a see of darker reds and blacks.
Neon Tiger (Mega Man X3) - There was no question this Maverick would be a top contender in the Mega Man X3 poll. But he ended up flooring the competition and coming out on top to rule the roost. There's many reasons to like Neon Tiger as a design. First off; he's a tiger. He's the first of the big cat designs for the Mavericks; which honestly there isn't a whole lot of. I imagine trying to make a cheetah or leopard Maverick would be a pain in the butt though given all those spots. Secondly are his large claws. His trademark neon-like claws really do stand out. I do hope I made that abundantly clear here in the pic. And third is his theme. Easily among my favorite of the themes from Mega Man X3. (Though the Opening stage themes for X and Zero, Toxic Seahorse and Gravity Beetle's themes are just as awesome too!) His theme has also prompted some people to compare it to the Guns N' Roses song 'My Michelle' as there are similar riffs in that song to the game's theme. The creator has since denied any similarities and I too believe it's just a coincidence. But this is definitely not the last time we will mention Guns N' Roses here. I gotta whole section on that when we cover Mega Man X5. XD But the creators of the X series (and Mega Man in general) are huge rock fans. In fact both Mega Man and X are called Rockman in Japan. So it's no coincidence that rock music influences both the themes and designs of these Mavericks.
Magma Dragoon (Mega Man X4) - For Mega Man X3, I had a feeling Neon Tiger would end up winning. But for X4, there was no question about it in my mind that Magma Dragoon was going to win. I held the poll regardless, but it seemed written in stone from the beginning that the dragon Maverick was gonna win this one. Well it's one thing to be a dragon and a robot at the same time. Truth is depending on your personality and other defining characteristics you could still lose to the likes of say...Web Spider for instance. Just because you're based off an awesome mythological creature and have an awesome design doesn't guarantee you a victory. (Blaze Heatnix in the X6 poll wasn't even close to being a top contender for example cause he's a jerk.) No; for Magma Dragoon he was guaranteed a win not only because he's a dragon and has an awesome design. But because he was also modeled after another legendary Capcom bad ass: Akuma from Street Fighter. The beads he wears around his neck are among the main indicators that he was based off Akuma. But Capcom took it even further and him doing moves that Akuma (as well as Ryu and Ken) do from Street fighter in having him fire Hadoukens and throw Shoryukens. (He even yells the names of the attacks.) You know hidden in Mega Man X is the ability to have X throw Hadoukens too; as well as in X2 where he can perform Shoryuken. But Magma Dragoon makes it awesome. The funny thing though is with X and the Double Cyclone, he's a total pushover. Sure with Zero even with his weakness he's a worthy opponent. But X makes this awesome Maverick look like a joke. However; like Storm Eagle this Maverick's sense of honor and enjoying a rivalry more than a political or larger agenda is another reason he endears to fans. His design reeks of cool and his moves putting one in mind of Street Fighter not only ensures his place in this Poll winners pic but on the top of many other Top Ten Mavericks lists as well.
Dark Dizzy/Necrobat (Mega Man X5) - Mega Man X4's poll was very predictable on who would win. The X5 poll on the other hand was very unpredictable. It came down between a bat and a rose. (Two things I am MORE than familiar with in my line of work with Lady Malmsteen. XD) The rose I mentioned is the Maverick Spike Rosered. I thought he would be a perfect representation of what Mega Man X5 is most famous for. He was indeed a top contender and for a moment he looked like he was gonna be drawn. He's my favorite plant design of all the plant Mavericks used in the series. But at the last minute, a vote was cast that put the bat Maverick Dark Necrobat at the top. So Rosered got trimmed and from here on out, no Maverick based on plants or other non-animal organisms would be represented. But other than being a solid design for a Maverick, the main reason I wanted Spike Rosered to represent more than Dark Necrobat is because of his American localized name. His localized name was Axle the Red. And Dark Necrobat's localized name is Dark Dizzy. What Mega Man X5 is best known for are the localized names of the Mavericks; all names derived from the band Guns N' Roses. Axle the Red would have been perfect as he is a rose and of course we know the band member's name is Axel Rose. Ah well, Dark Dizzy's design is still cool and of course I do like bat characters. ;D At this point this is the most dynamic pose I've done next to Storm Eagle. I think the winged Mavericks were given the most freedom to show off given their ability to fly. X3
Blizzard Wolfang (Mega Man X6) - Mega Man X6 has had it's share of criticisms. In particular the level designs. Then there's...Blaze Heatnix. He's a phoenix for crying out loud. Like Magma Dragoon his design alone should have made him a fan favorite. But no; his unlikable personality was among the reasons people despise him. He's not the last fire Maverick either to earn such a bad rap as you will soon find out. But if he had no competition with other solid Maverick designs he would have won the poll regardless. However, Blizzard Wolfang was among the contenders. And as it should have come to no surprise he utterly dominated this poll. Yes a simple wolf beats a mighty phoenix. XD Well Wolfang is still a cool design. And his tail makes him easily among the fluffiest of the Mavericks. Actually he reminds me a bit of Jon Talbain from the Darkstalkers series; another Capcom franchise. :3 He's not the only Maverick to have Blizzard as his first name. (There was Blizzard Buffalo.) It's at this point where the X series was beginning to slip. Depending on who you ask/argue with: this is either the point where you stopped liking or playing the series. Mega Man X6 was the last 2-D sprite-based X game before we entered that dreaded next step for all Mega Man fans....the third dimension. Honestly I wish Wolfie turned out a bit better here. I dunno why but I felt like I messed his design up a little. Like Zero I'm not sure why a robot needs something extra fluffy in terms of hair or a tail. Who makes these guys this way anyway? X3
Flame Hyenard (Mega Man X7) - Just as it was in Mega Man Legends (which DOES have its fans); Mega Man X stumbled into the third dimension. In fact for many people the X series fared worse in the third dimension. This might explain why Classic Mega Man's revival was easier and why we still haven't seen another entry in the X series for years. Not to mention it's easier to come up with Robot Masters than it is Mavericks. How many animals/plants, mythical creatures and other lifeforms can you come up with compared to wider variety of elements to attribute to Robot Masters? Well there's always something new: heck I've come up with my own line of Mavericks to hopefully show you all one day. At his point when they were thinking of their fire-based Maverick I think one designer asked "Have we used a hyena yet?""No" everyone responded. "Good, let's go with that" the designer responded. The result was Flame Hyenard. (The "Nard" portion of his name is appropriate.) Overall he's a pretty solid design. And how I drew him I'm surprised how well he turned out. I'm pretty pleased with it. But let's cut to the chase and describe why people don't like him: his voice. His American voice is beyond irritating. He was programmed to yell the same attack over and over again to a point where the Mute button is considered a blessing. It's just in 3-D X games fights take longer so you had to suffer through his ear-grating voice. (Or just switch it to his Japanese voice.) Still his competition wasn't stiff. Other designs competing against him included an onion. A damn onion. XD OK Tornado Tonion isn't a horrible design. But still, I'd rather draw the obnoxious hyena than the pudgy onion man. (Look for Onion Man in the upcoming Mega Man 12.....![:P]( ":P (Lick)")
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)Dark Mantis (Mega Man X8) - Once again the mediocre lineup of Mavericks for this next installment for Mega Man X8 didn't offer much competition to the cooler looking winning design. A dopey looking panda and a sunflower were among the roster. See what I mean about it being hard to come up with better Maverick designs? But in having Dark Mantis being declared the winner, something miraculous finally happened here. We now FINALLY have a Maverick based off an invertebrate to represent. Since the first Mega Man X game there's always been insects, arthropods, crustaceans, mollusks, plants and non-animal lifeforms as Maverick designs. But it seems people are so vertebrate-centrist given we as humans have a backbone. (Most of us anyway...) Spike Rosered would have been perfect to represent one plant Maverick in this roster. But no...someone wanted the bat. XD Of course Split Mushroom from X4 wasn't going to beat Dragoon. And Boomer Kuwanger wasn't going to top Storm Eagle's super design. (And not many people know what a Kuwanger is anyway without looking it up.) And even though X2 had five invertebrate based Mavericks; none of them topped the three vertebrate Mavericks. So throughout this whole list it seemed like only organisms with backbones would represent. Dark Mantis finally broke that trend. Basically he is like Boomer Kuwanger with arm blades. Also his skinny frame and overall sinister nature puts me in mind of another particular Mantis I encountered in video games. Only that one was a human, wore a gas mask and told me "I like Castlevania."
Ninetails (Mega Man X Command Mission) - The final entry in the Maverick Poll winners art piece is from a Mega Man X game I haven't played yet. Basically because upon it's release I gave up on the series. Everything after Playstation-era Mega Man X failed to capture my attention. 3-D Mega Man games I never really was a fan of because of how they controlled. From what I understand though; Command Mission is more a JRPG than it is an action game. OK; a Mega Man RPG COULD be cool. Mario did it and that turned out cool. I gotta say though; for certain characters I always attribute them with certain actions. Would you take someone like Kratos or Ryu from Street fighter and put them in a turn-based strategy game? Their flashy attacks might be cool to witness and I'm sure it would be creative. It's just in terms of gameplay I associate characters with certain movements. And like I mentioned before with Mario; Super Mario RPG was genuinely good. (I just prefer making Mario run and hop n stomp is all.) I'm the same with Mega Man. A JRPG sounds cool; but I prefer it be Classic or X Mega Man to run and shoot. It's just more stimulating to me and I'm always about familiarity in video games. But enough yapping; let's check out the Maverick who won. Our last entry is the only other Maverick on this list to represent a mythical beast. In this case, the nine-tailed Kitsune of Japanese legend. He is also one of the few Mavericks to break the trend of having a first name to describe his powers. He's simply referred to as Ninetails. He wasn't easy to draw mostly cause of his tails in the back. Although like Blizzard Wolfang you think they'd be...bushier. Oh well I think they wanted him to look more god-like here in terms of being a mythical based Maverick design. And they did succeed; I like his fox mask head. But if they ever do come out with a Mega Man X9; they really should consider another fox-based Maverick. In fact; if they do a female Maverick they should immediately think of making her a vixen. I in fact have one in mind I hope to show you all one day. May I find time and strength to introduce you to my own female Maverick Heat Vixen. :3 (Yes...she is a cutie. XD)
And with that, the two major Mega Man projects are done. I now have created two tributes to both the Robot Masters of the Classic series and the Mavericks of the X series.
Will I do anything like from the .EXE series? Chhh....no. XD I never played that series and there isn't a whole lot for me to work on there.
This is the last Mega Man -based tribute pic I do in this style where I ask people to select winners based off polling.
2019 is about a bunch of firsts and lasts. I was being particularly experimental this year.
Like the Robot Masters pic I did I m pretty proud on how this one turned out. They were more detailed than the Robot Masters and thus took more time to complete. But I rather it look right than come out rush and hopefully I succeeded.
All Mavericks present belong to Capcom
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