MegaMan's shades in Mega Man Legends
- "You can judge a man by his actions... People who engage in evil deeds will reveal themselves through their appearance, which will darken and become distorted, a reflection of their inner selves."
- —Library book about ethics, Mega Man Legends
Ethics (unofficial name[note 1]), also known as notoriety and favor system (favorability system),[note 2] is a gameplay mechanic from Mega Man Legends and Mega Man Legends 2. Depending of the player's actions, MegaMan Volnutt may be considered a good or bad person, affecting his popularity and the shading of his armor. MegaMan starts with a neutral morality in both games.
Mega Man Legends[]
Actions[]
The initial value of the ethics is 128. MegaMan becomes bad when it gets to 64 or lower, and his armor becomes darker when it is 32 or lower. The minimum value is 0, and the maximum is 255.
| Action | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage Kattelox TV's airship during the "Defend City Hall!" mission. | -64 |
| Complete the "Defend City Hall!" mission without letting the City Hall building be destroyed. | +20 |
| Talk with Amelia and Barrell after defeating Marlwolf. | +20 |
| Obtain the Yellow Refractor in the Cardon Forest ruins. | +24 |
| Obtain the Red Refractor in the Lake Jyun ruins. | +24 |
| Defeat Theodore Bruno. | +24 |
| Library repair completed thanks to MegaMan's donation. | +24 |
| City Hall building repair completed thanks to MegaMan's donation. | +24 |
| Police station repair completed thanks to MegaMan's donation. | +24 |
| Bank repair completed thanks to MegaMan's donation. | +24 |
| Visit Ira after improving the Hospital. | +48 |
| Help the museum's curator finish her painting. | +24 |
| Donate an object to the museum. | +8 each |
| Help the Inspector find and defuse the bombs. | +48 |
| Help the Inspector, but one or both bombs explode. | -24 |
| Assist the police by finding the lost bag. | +48 |
| Hit the police car during the car chase. | -1 for each time they complain |
| Return the money trunk in the car chase. | +48 |
| Keep the money trunk. | -256 |
| Kick a vending machine. | -2 (free drink) 0 (breaking) -8 (exploding) |
| Kick the empty can in Apple Market inside Jetlag Bakery. | -8 |
| Kick Paprika. (Japanese version only) | -24 |
| Kick a cat. (Japanese version only) | -1 |
| Shot down a bird. (Japanese version only) | -10 |
Effects[]
- If MegaMan is bad, the townspeople from Kattelox Island will badmouth him.
- In the optional mission to assist the police recover the money stolen by Servbots, MegaMan can choose to return or keep the trunk. If he returns the trunk, the ethics value increases, MegaMan gains 20000 Zenny, and the Stripe Burger will open in Downtown. If he keeps the trunk, he will gain one million Zenny, but the ethics value will drop to 0 and the Stripe Burger will not appear. Either way, it is later discovered that it was a mistake and the money was not stolen, but borrowed by the Servbots to start a business. Returning the money gives them a chance to start a honest business, while taking it will leave them with a big debt.
- In the Japanese version, if Paprika is kicked it will be sad and dislike MegaMan. If MegaMan doesn't kick Paprika (the only option in English), it will be happy and energetic.
Mega Man Legends 2[]
MegaMan's shades in Mega Man Legends 2
This mechanic is brought back in Mega Man Legends 2, this time, however, Mega Man can also turn into a lighter shade by doing various good deeds. Most of these actions are repeatable, so one can have the opportunity of being both Good and Bad in a single playthrough.
Actions[]
The initial value of the ethics is 0. MegaMan becomes bad when it gets to -16385 or lower, and he becomes good when it gets to 16385 or higher. After MegaMan changes, he will only become neutral again if the value gets to -12287 or higher when bad or 12287 or lower when good. Maximum value is 32767, and minimum is -32767.
| Action | Value |
|---|---|
| Make a 100z donation to the church in Yosyonke City. | 0 (Japanese version) +4 (English version) |
| Make a 10,000z donation to the church. | +50 |
| Make a 50,000z donation to the church. | +400 |
| Make a 300,000z donation to the church. | +4000 |
| Make a 1,000,000z donation to the church. | +20000 |
| Obtain the A Rank Digger License. | +3000 |
| Obtain the S Rank Digger License. | +8000 |
| Repair to all damage caused by Jagd Krabbe Kai is completed thanks to MegaMan's donations. | +5000 |
| Give Shu the Notes, Pencil and Textbook in Kito Village. | +5000 |
| Give the Cute Piggy to the girl in Ruminoa City. | +1500 |
| The statue of Kimotoma City is repaired with MegaMan's donations if it was destroyed in the Blitzkrieg fight. | +3000 |
| Kick the snowman and its bucket in Yosyonke City. | -8 per hit (including bouncing on a surface and being hit by a NPC) |
| Kick the empty can in Yosyonke City. | -16 |
| Make the empty can fall inside a waste container. | Undoes the decreases made by previous can kicks from the can's starting point in the area. |
| Run over or attack a rabbit in the Calinca Tundra. (Throwing the rabbit won't cause deductions, even if it hits a Reaverbot, but throwing one rabbit on other will count as an attack to the one hit) |
-500 |
| Hit Johnny during the Nino Island missions. | -32 for each time he falls[note 3] |
| Throw Johhny out of the platform during the Nino Island missions. | -10000[note 4] |
| Hit a cannon during the Nino Island missions. | -32 per hit |
| Destroy a cannon during the Nino Island missions. | -1500 |
| Hit one of the cannon users during the Nino Island missions. | -32 for each time he falls[note 5] |
| Throw one of the cannon users out of the platform during the Nino Island missions. | -8192[note 4] |
| Kick a pig. | -300 per kick |
| Attack Appo and Dah. | -500 per hit |
| Attack Shu. | -500 per hit |
| Attack a fish in the Nino Ruins. | -500 |
| The statue of Kimotoma City is destroy in the battle against Blitzkrieg. | -4500 |
| Get the Reaverbot Claw from the Yosyonke City Junk Shop. | -1000 |
| Purchase the Reaverbot Eye from the shady dealer in Kimotoma City. | -5000 |
Effects[]
- MegaMan's behavior affects what people think about him, changing what some people say.
- His behavior also affect the prices in shops, being 20% lower if he is good and 20% higher if he is bad.
- If MegaMan is good, animals will appear in Manda Island after Jagd Krabbe Kai's defeat, and he will be able to understand them.
- Bad MegaMan can't take a quiz from Yōkan, Ofuton and Yaito, thus being unable to obtain their items.
- The items Taser (required to make the Special Weapon Crusher) and Reaverbot Eye can only be obtained if MegaMan is bad.
Appearances in other video games[]
MegaMan Volnutt Alt. from Mega Man X DiVE
Mega Man X DiVE[]
In Mega Man X DiVE, this mechanic is brought up on the event "Maleficent Hero", in where the Player is tasked with stealing money from cars, vending machines and boxes, while the Player's Hunter Program gets progressively darker.
The bad MegaMan Volnutt also appears as a Hunter Program with the money trunk from the first game, using it as a weapon in one of his skills. This form is only called MegaMan Volnutt Alt., known as Waru Rock (悪ロック Waru Rokku, "Bad Rock") in Japan.
Trivia[]
- Sen-Ti-Nel released a Bad Mega Man (悪ロック Waru Rokku) figure of Mega Man with dark armor and the trunk from the first game.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The name ethics comes from the description of the book mentioning the gameplay mechanic in Kattelox Island's Library in the English version of Mega Man Legends. The book has no description in the Japanese version, with Rock just wondering what is in the book before reading it.
- ↑ ViA: "Let's just call it "notoriety"! Wasn't there a "favor system" in Megaman Legends? Just think of it as the opposite of that." Rockman X DiVE "Maleficent Hero" event script
- ↑ The value does not decrease if Johnny is hit by a weak attack that doesn't cause him to fall, even when hit multiple times.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Only if Roll says "MegaMan, what are you doing!?". The value will not go down if the player manages to throw Johnny in the red roof areas under the platforms, where he can walk and then fall on his own. The same is valid for the cannon users.
- ↑ The value may decrease two or more times for unknown reasons. Like Johnny, the value does not decrease if the attack does not make him fall.
| Mega Man Legends series | |
|---|---|
| Main characters | |
| MegaMan Volnutt • Roll Caskett • Barrell Caskett • Data • Tron Bonne • Teisel Bonne • Bon Bonne • Servbots • Glyde • Birdbots Lex Loath • Denise • Von Bluecher • Bola • Klaymoor • MegaMan Juno • Sera • Yuna • Gatz • Geetz • The Master | |
| Games | |
| Mega Man Legends • Mega Man Legends 2 • The Misadventures of Tron Bonne • Rockman DASH: 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! Rockman DASH Golf • Kobun ga Tobun? • Oshioki Kobun • Kumitate Kobun • Roll-chan no 15 Panel | |
| Related items | |
| Flutter • Gesellschaft • Gustaff • Locations • Reaverbot • Refractor • Sulphur-Bottom • Support Car Terms • MegaMan Volnutt's equipment | |