For others referred to as colonel, see Colonel (disambiguation). |
- "Didn't Epsilon tell you? Only future generations can judge whether we are Maverick or not. It is only natural that Reploids seek to evolve by improving their abilities."
- ―Colonel Redips, Mega Man X: Command Mission
Colonel Redips (リディプス大佐 Ridipusu Taisa) is the main antagonist of Mega Man X: Command Mission. He was the commander-in-chief of the Federation Army,[1][2] and thus the commander of the Maverick Hunters in the Far East HQ.[3] He served as X's commanding officer for the events of the game, but had secretly gone Maverick to obtain Supra-Force Metal.
Characteristics[]
Colonel Redips is a masculine Reploid with the design of a military officer. His armor resembles a heavy green trench coat with large buttons, and his shoulder pads are made to evoke the look of epaulets. He wears a cap with a winged insignia on the front. On his back are two long structures that somewhat resemble folded wings, but are really scabbards for his saber weapons.[4]
Initially, Colonel Redips holds himself as a competent, no-nonsense military leader. He appears concerned with the safety of X and Zero and the success of their mission in Giga City, albeit remaining professional and emotionally removed. However, once Redips shows his true colors, he is revealed to be a megalomaniacal tyrant. He truly believes he is destined to become the strongest Reploid in the world and to rule all others, and that anyone who opposes his goal is a filthy Maverick. While Redips and Epsilon shared visions of evolution using Supra-Force Metal, Redips' vision was entirely self-centered and so large-scale he sought to rule the entire universe. Upon acquiring Supra-Force Metal, he became exceedingly arrogant, seeing himself as the pinnacle of Reploidkind and designating X's party "subjects" to his rule.
Redips is shown to have a complete lack of understanding of, and even disdain for, interpersonal relationships. He is a spiteful manipulator with no qualms about tricking and backstabbing others, deceiving X's party as Spider with no remorse.[5] In a "sub-episode" written from Redips' perspective, he dispels notions of love and personal beliefs as completely illogical, showing a sociopathic disregard for anything that did not make him stronger.[6] It is implied that Redips may not have been aware, or was at the very least in denial, of being Maverick; when accused on his deathbed, he in turn accused the Hunters of being Mavericks. He believed that his actions would ultimately be justified, as history would determine the true villains. Redips' motive for evolution was his dissatisfaction of the monotony of appeasing others for decades, and frustration with his fellow Reploids for being unwilling to evolve.[7]
History[]
Background[]
Redips was a Reploid created with the same kind of copy ability used by Axl, though it is unclear if he was technically a new generation Reploid (since Mega Man X: Command Mission was released before Mega Man X8 introduced the concept). Redips became the colonel of the Federation Army, stationed at Far East HQ. At some point, he learned of the Supra-Force Metal hidden in Giga City, and when the Rebellion Army began their revolution, Redips used it as an excuse to send Maverick Hunters to obtain the metal for him. To ensure their success, he also used his copy ability to take another form - Spider - and infiltrated Giga City to help them.[6]
Mega Man X: Command Mission[]
Colonel Redips acted as the commanding officer for the operation in Giga City, sending the Maverick Hunters X, Zero, and Shadow to quell the Rebellion Army uprising. After the trio were separated by Shadow's defection to the Rebellion, X contacted Redips and told him the situation. Redips was shocked, but their transmission lost reception and cut out. Soon afterwards, X met Spider.
Once Professor Gaudile joined the Resistance, X was able to contact Redips again with his help. Redips gave X the last known location of Zero, Ulfat Factory, and ordered him to rendezvous before the transmission cut out again. After the excursion in Ulfat Factory, he spoke with X again, disappointed to hear Zero did not join the team. He then offered a lead to investigate Gimialla Mine, where a Rebellion laboratory had been conducting mysterious tests; Redips was likely aware it was a possible location for Supra-Force Metal.
After Spider's supposed death and the Resistance unblocking transmissions, X relayed the existence of Supra-Force Metal to Redips, He planned to personally lead a unit into Giga City to help locate it. Redips finally appeared in person after X's party defeated Scarface and Epsilon, thanking the Hunters and informing them an aircraft would extract them from Central Tower. He then confiscated the Supra-Force Metal found in Epsilon's body and returned to Far East HQ.
However, said airship attacked X and the group at Central Tower instead, as Redips declared X and the Resistance traitors and wanted criminals. X's team infiltrated Far East HQ to personally confront Redips and clear their names. Upon finding Redips in his office, he revealed his intention to rule the world and engaged them in battle. After being defeated, he revealed his copy ability, and that he had secretly been with the group as Spider. This also explained a mysterious scene from earlier where Spider appeared to kill Botos in Melda Ore Plant, revealing Redips had taken the warhead's Supra-Force Metal. Redips then declared his intent to merge with the two Supra-Force Metal pieces so his shapeshifting abilities could be boosted exponentially. He then retreated to the orbital elevator Babel to finish his plan.
X found Redips hooked up to a machine, powering him up with the Supra-Force Metals acquired from the missile and Epsilon. He then transformed into Great Redips, while declaring he would even rule the universe. At first, the Maverick Hunters were no match for Great Redips' power, but Ferham arrived and helped disconnect one of his Supra-Force Metal pieces. X, Zero and Axl used the opportunity to bring Great Redips down, reverting him to his original form. In his dying breath, he told X, Zero and Axl that due to their unwillingness to evolve, they should be the ones considered Mavericks. He then perished, and his body was presumably destroyed as Babel fell through the atmosphere.
Stats[]
Redips[]
Analysis results for Redips | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Support Units[]
- See also: Red Hubcap
In-battle Quotes[]
Action | Japanese | Translation | Audio (JP) | English | Audio (EN) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-battle | - | - | - | Foul Mavericks! You will perish! | - |
Code Red | - | - | - | Ha ha ha ha ha! | - |
Grand Cross | - | - | - | Fall! | - |
Ballistic | - | - | - | Taste my strength! | - |
Vicious Assault | - | - | - | Not over yet! | - |
Critical Hit | - | - | - | Ough! | - |
Defeated | - | - | - | Hmph. So it takes more to beat you! | - |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Etymology[]
- Colonel Redips' name is Spider spelled backwards, referencing his double identities in the story.
Trivia[]
- In the game's instruction booklet, Colonel Redips' name is misspelled as "Rideps" in all instances. This was possibly on purpose in order to better conceal the plot twist.[1]
- It has been confirmed that Redips was the original Reploid, and Spider was merely a form he took on.[6] This is helped by the fact that Reploids with copy chips (specifically new generation Reploids as of Mega Man X8) that are defeated while in a copied form always revert to their original states before death, and Redips perishes as Redips, not as Spider.
- It remains unknown whether Spider was a real Reploid who Redips impersonated, or was an entirely fictional persona of Redips. A third possibility is that Spider may resemble Redips' identity before he joining the Federation Army. It should be noted however that in the post-Chapter 9 portion of the story, Marino mentioned discovering from investigating the transformation abilities that Spider was registered at a location that researched copy abilities, implying that at the very least, there was a Reploid named Spider who existed separate from Redips.
- The five Rebellion bosses fought again in Far East HQ were the ones defeated by X's party while Spider was among them, suggesting that Redips copied their DNA and used it to clone them.
- However, Redips does not duplicate Botos nor Shadow, both of whom he did encounter. An in-universe explanation could be that he refrained from doing so to avoid giving away his plan too soon, but a more practical explanation is that the encounters were meant to emulate a traditional Mega Man boss rush involving only animal Mavericks.
- Redips is the second main villain in the X series to not be manipulated by Sigma, after Gate and before Lumine.
- Redips is arguably the one villain in the series closest to a true megalomaniac. He dubs himself "ruler of all Reploids" before his first fight with X, but soon declares his intention to rule the entire universe, calling the Earth a "tiny speck". While Sigma has also sought world and Reploid domination he never showed any further schemes, Dr. Wily's reason for taking over the world was to prove his genius compared to Dr. Light, and Dr. Weil simply wanted everyone to suffer under his rule. Master Albert and Dr. Vega are close seconds, as both claim to be gods late into their respective games.
- In the sub episode explaining the leadup to the game from his perspective, Redips noticeably uses gender-neutral pronouns in reference to himself in the narration.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mega Man X: Command Mission, English game manual.
- ↑ Sky Room. Story Files.
- ↑ Compendium of Rockman X. pg. 144.
- ↑ Colonel Redips Concept Art, Mega Man X: Official Complete Works.
- ↑ X: Redips... What made you Maverick?
Redips: Maverick? You seem more Maverick to me. With all your stubborn nonsense about friendship, and... and your unwillingness to evolve. - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Rockman X: Command Mission Original Soundtrack
- ↑ Redips: Stay in our place, be friendly to all, decade after decade... Indefinitely... Is this all Reploids will ever be?
Mega Man X: Command Mission | |
---|---|
Main characters | |
X • Zero • Axl • Steel Massimo • Marino • Cinnamon • Spider | |
Other characters | |
Chief R • Nana • Aile • Professor Gaudile | |
Rebellion Army | |
Epsilon • Botos • Ferham • Scarface • Wild Jango • Silver Horn • Dr. Psyche • Mach Jentra • Incentas | |
Other Bosses | |
Hippopressor • Shadow • Depth Dragoon • Colonel Redips • Great Redips Duckbill Mole • Rafflesian • Tails Clan • Ninetails | |
Locations | |
Giga City • Lagrano Ruins • Central Tower • Tianna Camp • Gaudile Laboratory • Ulfat Factory • Gimialla Mine Vanallia Desert • Melda Ore Plant • Grave Ruins Base • Far East HQ • Orbital Elevator: Babel | |
Related Items | |
Action Trigger • Hyper Mode •Final Strike • Force Metal • Deployment Center • Sky Room Enemies • Item Box • Items • Script (NPC Dialogue) |