Self-awareness

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Mega Man X, the first robot meant to feel and think like a human.

""If artificial intelligence can be aware of its own intelligence, then one can fix any kind of tampering, right?" This statement reminded me of the addage "I think, therefore I am," but then Roll's electronic brain froze and caused a bit of an uproar... However, if that very electronic intelligence can realize an idea like hers, then I think it's possible to establish a consciousness that cannot be manipulated."

―Dr. Light, Rockman Classics Collection Original Notebook

Self-awareness is a recurring theme in the Mega Man franchise. It is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including character, feelings, motives, and desires. Beings with artificial intelligence such as robots and programs are normally bound to their programming and unable to act outside of it, lacking the self-awareness to comprehend and act on their individuality. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Later, the advent of the Reploids marked a new type of robot with total human-like self-awareness.

History

Original Mega Man series

In 20XX, Dr. Light was already interested in developing robots with independence and self-awareness when he created the DLN, believing that robots with free will could be truly equal companions to the humans. However, he also saw the potential danger in a robot that could decide right and wrong for itself, regardless of what humans told it.

Several of Dr. Light's creations exhibited traces of self-awareness without his intention. Proto Man fled from Light to avoid being tampered with after hearing he had a flaw in his power core, and served Wily for a while afterwards. Since then, Proto Man has actively chosen which fights he partakes in, often aiding Mega Man, of his own volition. In the first Mega Man, Mega Man independently volunteered to become a combat robot to fight for peace. In Mega Man 7, Mega Man grew weary of Wily's fake apologies and considered harming him, going against the Laws of Robotics, but was interrupted (in the English translation, Mega Man actually decides to kill Wily). In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, Dr. Wily points out that destroying robots to achieve peace makes Mega Man a hypocrite, which leaves him conflicted as he wonders if he could have made robots stop fighting by negotiating instead. Roll also faced her own limitations while wondering aloud about self-awareness.

Dr. Wily also showed interest in robot self-awareness. He believed that Light's study of artificial intelligence was flawed, since humans would still see robots as mere tools until they became powerful enough to prove otherwise, hence his Double Gear System. However, Wily also frequently abused the limited self-awareness of robots by stealing, manipulating, and reprogramming countless Numbers in his quest for world domination.

Some of Dr. Wily's creations also exhibited traces of self-awareness. Bass exhibited great independence, fighting against Wily on several different occasions in order to prove himself as the strongest robot. Ballade, despite being a Mega Man Killer, defied his purpose by self-destructing to help Mega Man escape the Wily Battleship. King showed independent thought when he allowed Proto Man to leave his castle. After being freed from Wily's control, King allowed the hero (Mega Man or Bass) to leave too. In Mega Man’s ending it is revealed that King escaped from Wily, and despite what he was made for and who made him, he had seen the errors in his ways and aspired to change, hoping to meet Mega Man again as friends someday. Rockman Shadow rebuilt and upgraded himself, organized the Dimensions, destroyed the world in his time, and traveled back in time with the Dimensions to seek out Mega Man and Bass in hopes that they would defeat him, all of his own accord.

Some Robot Masters also show self-awareness. Tundra Man and Bounce Man both changed careers, especially Tundra Man who explicitly did so of his own choice. Others such as Dynamo Man and Torch Man understand their own limitations and seek control over their dangerous bodies. Other robots not created by humans also show self-awareness, such as Sunstar who refused to obey Dr. Wily and eventually had a change of heart, allowing Mega Man to escape.

Mega Man X series

Dr. Light would not fully accomplish his dream of robot independence until the creation of X, who came into the world in 21XX, after Light's passing. Wily eventually succeeded as well when he created Zero, though his violent disobedience led to Wily attempting to control him using the Maverick Virus.

• Mega Man X was created with the ability to learn and think on his own, surpassing even the Reploids that were created from him. In that way, X was the closest thing to self-aware in his time and far beyond, and had a decisively great dislike of fighting others for the sake of peace, often outright refusing to fight. His thinking allowed for limitless potential, hence his name (X is a variable), as he could consciousnessly make decisions other Reploids and robot could not.

• Zero, like X, was created to be far more advanced than any other robot before him, though his cognitive abilities have been hampered on a couple occasions due to various circumstances. Initially, upon his creation, Zero suffered from a programming error that made him incredibly violent and unwilling to obey orders from his creator, Dr. Wily, ultimately forcing the doctor to shut Zero down and seal him away. Curiously, this problem was later corrected when Zero was reactivated and infected with the Maverick Virus, which somehow fixed the error in his programming. Since then, Zero has shown levels of self-awareness that are almost on par with X's, although in one non-canon scenario in Mega Man X5, Zero becomes "awakened" after being infected with a much larger dose of the Maverick Virus and reverts to his original purpose: to kill X. However, after a grueling battle between the two, Zero regains control of himself and sacrifices himself to protect X from an incoming attack from Sigma.

• Axl, due to his age, was blindly following Red Alert's orders, even some time after Red met the Professor. But eventually, he made the decision to leave the group, knowing that there was a change and what they're doing is wrong, and later joined the Maverick Hunters. During the conclusion of Mega Man X8, Axl was completely unaffected by any of discouraging remarks about himself and his partners from Lumine, even encouraging X and Zero to ignore his words too, calling lilac-haired reploid their enemy.
• Sigma, though being the most advanced Reploid at the time, was unable to think on levels as high as X. Unfortunately, due to different circumstances depending on which source one pulls from, Sigma eventually came to the decision to lead the Mavericks in a war against humanity.
• Vile has a short circuit in his brain, which makes him crazed and sadistic, even as a Maverick Hunter. Due to this, it was easy to turn Maverick himself despite having once hunted them. In Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Vile turned Maverick and fought both the Maverick Hunters and Sigma’s rebellion, choosing his own side over others to prove his strength and to settle his grudge against X.

• Cyber Peacock is a computer program that displays self-awareness comparable to a Reploid.
• New Generation Reploids possess the DNA of Sigma as part of their copy abilities. Because of this, New Generation Reploids feature a higher level of thinking than a normal Reploid, as they can now decide to become like viral Mavericks whenever they choose.
• General was shown to possess some degree of self-awareness, as when Sigma attempted to directly recruit him into his war against the humans, General refused him (and in the English version considered Sigma's words before dismissing him). However, due to Sigma's manipulations, he did nonetheless get General to side against humanity after the destruction of Sky Lagoon and having Repliforce fight against the Maverick Hunters.

Mega Man Zero series

• Elpizo ended up disobeying orders upon stumbling on the sunken library and learning about the Dark Elf and the Elf Wars. In addition, after his Operation Righteous Strike resulted in a total mission failure, he decided to find the Dark Elf and use it to slaughter all humans, despite it explicitly going against Ciel's desires, though he ultimately relented upon being defeated.
• Omega was implied by Dr. Weil upon unveiling that Omega is the original Zero that Omega was serving Weil under its free will when Zero demanded to know why he used it as a puppet.

Mega Man ZX series

• The ZX series is the ultimate culmination of all self aware robots and reploids prior, with the events of the Zero series such as the Elf Wars leading major change in the construction and categorization of reploids in general. By the ZX series Reploids are near identical to Humanoids in their ability and their needs; being only differentiated by a red triangle on the forehead of most Reploids. It could be argued that by this point there's little reason to separate humanoids from robots, and self awareness is an immutable characteristic of both groups.
• Girouette is shown to be a very empathetic and understanding individual, having taken in Vent/Aile after their parents were killed in a Maverick attack. Promotional artwork shows Girouette drinking coffee, indicating that reploids are able to ingest food and drink similarly to people. Later even sacrificing himself to keep Vent/Aile alive after being attacked to the point of inability to recover.

Mega Man Legends

• Mega Man Volnutt.

Mega Man Battle Network series

• Tadashi Hikari

• NetNavis

• MegaMan.EXE

External links

• Self-awareness in Wikipedia