Craft

Craft
In-Game Information
HP:	96 (both fights)
Attack Damage:	Both encounters: 3 (contact) 4 (Beam Cannon) 5 (Homing Missile) Knee Bomb 3 (Bomb) 3 (Explosion) 4 (Mega Laser Sweep) S Mine: 4 (Bomb) 4 (Bomb, shrapnel) 2-8 (Blade Dash) Second Fight only End of the World 4 (laser) 4 (missile and explosion)
Weakness:	None, but Sky Chaser or Thunder Stab work well.
Misc. Information
Japanese Name:	Craft
Script:	クラフト
Rōmaji:	Kurafuto
Series Information
In-game Appearances:	Mega Man Zero 4
Other Appearances:	Rockman Zero manga
Japanese VA:	Kenta Miyake

"I know that what I'm doing makes me seem like Weil. I don't care if people think I am a Maverick! Someone has to take a stand and fix humanity's course."

—Craft, Mega Man Zero 4

Craft (クラフト, Kurafuto, also sometimes romanized as Kraft in Japan) is the secondary antagonist of Mega Man Zero 4. He is a military officer-type Reploid who was an old friend of Neige, and is working for Dr. Weil as the commander of the Einherjar Eight Warriors, with the objective of destroying Area Zero with Operation Ragnarok.

Personality

Craft is a stoic and disciplined warrior, but also a broken and misguided soul. He serves Dr. Weil reluctantly but unquestioningly, only doing so because of Weil's dominance of Neo Arcadia. He is utterly depressed, believing that heroes are a thing of the past and Zero's attempts to save the humans are futile. He is in a crisis of faith, believing that the dismal state of the world can't be changed - however, over the course of the game, he finds his beliefs challenged. Craft meets Zero, showing him that heroes persist after all, and reunites with Neige, reminding him of the relationships that once gave him meaning. He loves Neige, and her defiance of Weil inspires him to rebel too - however, he still fires Ragnarok at Weil with no regard for the civilian casualties. Before he dies, he is impressed by Zero's ability to trust the humans despite their hostility towards Reploids.

History

Background

Craft was a military officer-type Reploid who worked in Neo Arcadia for years. He once rescued Neige from a Maverick attack, kindling a relationship between the two. After the death of Omega and disappearance of the Four Guardians, Dr. Weil promoted Craft to the leader of Neo Arcadia's military.

Mega Man Zero 4

Craft with the Einherjar.

When Dr. Weil catches wind of the Caravan settling in Area Zero, he forms the Einherjar Eight Warriors and makes Craft their leader as part of Operation Ragnarok. Craft and the Einherjar first meet Zero while surveying Area Zero, boasting it is futile to stop the coming Ragnarok before departing to begin the assault.

When Neo Arcadia attacks the Human Settlement, Craft searches for Neige until he is confronted by Zero. The two fight to a standstill, with Zero noting that Craft is holding back. Neige arrives to scold him, but Craft takes this chance to kidnap her and teleport away. He locks her in The Prison, intending to keep her safe from the destruction of Area Zero.

Zero infiltrates The Prison to rescue Neige for the humans, but Craft intercepts them. Neige pleads with him to re-evaluate his loyalty until Dr. Weil arrives, and Neige uses a flashbang to blind them while she and Zero are teleported away. Craft is deeply affected by Neige's defiance.

Once all eight Einherjar are defeated, the true Ragnarok is revealed. However, Craft boards Ragnarok and destroys the satellite's remote control system to hijack it. He declares he's going to destroy Weil and fires Ragnarok's laser at Neo Arcadia, apparently killing Weil but also killing 20 million citizens and leaving a giant crater in the city. Craft begins charging another Ragnarok shot, planning to level the rest of Neo Arcadia to change humanity's course, but Zero infiltrates Ragnarok to stop him. Craft is mortally wounded in their battle, and asks Zero why he is so intent on protecting the humans. When Zero recites his promise to X, Craft is ashamed that he couldn't bring himself to trust Neige. He requests that Zero leave his body on Ragnarok and protect Neige, before dying peacefully.

Strategy

Craft is a menacingly adept Reploid, capable of improvising battle tactics and guerilla maneuvers with deadly accuracy. He also swiftly moves across the field in a blurring flash, often to Zero's backside to get into position for a counterstrike. There are no walls to easily evade his attacks, also to get into position for a counterstrike on Zero.

Attack	Description	Notes
Beam Cannon	Craft aims his laser cannon straight forward and a laser scope shoots out a red focusing beam. This isn't the actual attack, but a warning sign of the one coming. Moments later, a massive wave of blue fusion energy will pour out of the cannon and blanket most of the lower battlefield.	This attack cannot be blocked or stopped, but a dash-jump will save Zero from being hit- unless the timing is off or the jump is poorly executed; however, if Craft uses this attack from a corner of the screen, the attack can be avoided with a well-timed dash under the beam. Use of the DoubleJump chip will give Zero the added benefit of a second jump mid-air and delay his descent long enough that the laser blast will likely fade out before he lands.
Homing Missile	Craft shoots out a slow-tracking rocket that explodes after being hit.	Can be safely destroyed using a charged slash or a charged Buster Shot.
Knee Bomb	Craft throws three concussion grenades that explode the second they make impact with the ground.	One of Craft's harder attacks to avoid, but there are safety gaps where the player can safely dodge it. Firing a charged buster shot to Craft at the start of this attack's animation will destroy and pierce all of these bombs.
S Mine	Craft tosses an artillery bomb at Zero, and its armored shell scatters into six pieces of shrapnel that fly out in hexagonal directions. The bomb can be destroyed, but the explosion it produces is still dangerous.	Can be safely destroyed using a well-timed charge slash or a charged Buster Shot.
Blade Dash	Craft suddenly rushes Zero and extends a blade similar to a sawtooth bayonet knife from his cannon to run him through.	If he succeeds, Craft launches the blade from his cannon via a hidden eject thruster to worsen the impact force and do further damage by wedging it into Zero even deeper. The teeth will chip away at his health as they tear into his body - unless he can shake off the blade. The blade can be extracted by using the Z-Knuckle, but Craft attacks swiftly so this may make the maneuver difficult to perform. This is the one of two attacks in the series that can harm the player during invincible frames after taking damage, the other one being Omega's third form's Ranbu attack.
EX Skill: Mega Beam Sweep	Craft jumps into the air and fires his cannon at a 45 degree angle, sweeping across the battlefield.	Only used if fighting Craft at A or S rank and after losing half of his energy. If Craft is struck with a jumping slash or a second-level buster charge shot, he'll be knocked out of balance and fail to complete it. Most commonly used in his second encounter.
EX Skill: End of the World	Craft points his cannon straight down and opens fire on the ground, propelling him with enough force to stay suspended mid-air. From above, the side compartments of Craft's cannon snap open, uncovering two missile banks. Finally, Craft launches a three-wave missile salvo from both sides, each set spreading out further than the last.	Only used in the second encounter Only used if fighting Craft at A or S rank and after losing half of his energy. These missiles are the same as the one fired with Homing Missile. This devious barrage can be dodged by staying at the corner of the screen and destroying the low-health missile waves coming after the first one with Z-Saber.

Quotes

In-battle quotes

Action	Japanese	Translation	Audio
Pre-battle (Human Settlement)	手短に済ませよう. (Temijika ni sumaseyō.)	Let's make this quick.
Pre-battle (Ragnarok Control Room)	始めるか！(Hajimeru ka!)	Let us begin!
S Mine	悪いな. (Warui na.)	My bad.
Tri-Bomb Attack	下がりな！(Sagari na!)	Back off!
Beam Cannon	当たれ！(Atare!)	Hit!
Blade Dash	近すぎだ！(Chika sugida!)	Too close!
Homing Missile	オールオーバーだ！(Ōru ōbā da)	It's all over!
Mega Beam Sweep (Human Settlement)	これでどうだ！！(Kore de dōda!!)	How's this!?
Mega Beam Sweep (Ragnarok Control Room)	たぁ！(Taaa!)	Haaa!
End of the World	今度こそ……終わりだ！(Kondo koso... owari da!)	This time... it's over!
Stunned	ぐぅっ！(Guu!)	Guh!
Defeated (Human Settlement)	強い…な. (Tsuyoi... na.)	So... strong. "You're... quite strong." in Mega Man Zero Official Complete Works
Defeated (Ragnarok Control Room)	これが…英雄の…力！(Kore ga... eiyū no... chikara!)	So this is... a hero's... strength!

Other media

Mega Man (Archie Comics)

Craft appears alongside other Mega Man Zero characters in Dr. Light's visions of the future in issue 55.

Rockman Zero (manga)

After Omega and Roze failed to defeat the new Zero, Dr. Weil hired the wandering warrior Craft to defeat him. However, during their battle, Craft developed a crush on Neige, who was accompanying Zero at the time to do an article about the Dark Elf, and after Mino Magnus interfered, Craft destroyed Magnus and left. Craft eventually became a friendly rival of Zero.

Gallery

Transparent Craft art.

Some of Craft's early concept art.

Concept art of Craft's head and upper torso.

Concept art with an earlier design depicting Craft with a younger, slender body.

Videos

Zero Vs. Craft

Trivia

• Craft's name in the Japanese version, Kraft, is derived from the German word for "strength" and "power". His name was most likely changed in the localized versions to avoid confusion with the food company of the same name.
• Craft's tragic role and personality slightly resemble Colonel from Mega Man X4, Colonel.EXE from the Mega Man Battle Network series, and Acid Ace from Mega Man Star Force 3. He holds back his full ability during the first battle, similar to Colonel's first battle in Mega Man X4. His relationship with Neige is similar to Ace's relationship with Tia.
• Craft killing civilians (non-combatants) by using Ragnarok on Neo Arcardia made him a war criminal, as he broke the 4th Hague Convention: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land Section II Hostilities Article 23.