"... You're so naive. ... Listen closely. I let the Sky Lagoon fall! And I'd do it again! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

―Magma Dragoon, Mega Man X4

Magma Dragoon, known as Magmard Dragoon (マグマード・ドラグーン, Magumādo Doragūn) in Japan, is a dragon-based Reploid and one of the Maverick bosses in Mega Man X4.

Characteristics[]

Magma Dragoon is a tall Reploid based on a dragon, leaning towards the European depiction of dragons as winged, fire-breathing, reptilian creatures. He has a reptilian snout with sharp fangs, straight horns, and bushy eyebrows. His armor is red, black, and silver, featuring claws on his feet and shoulders. He has two appendages on his back that resemble wings. He has a ring of green beads around his neck similar to prayer beads, and the Japanese ten symbol "天" below his breastplate, meaning "heaven" or "sky".

Magma Dragoon is a devoted martial artist with a total obsession with combat. He lives for the thrill of battle and has great respect for those he deems strong. Despite his borderline religious discipline, Dragoon is extremely selfish and callous towards the lives of others, accepting Sigma's call to cause mass deaths just at a chance for a fight with X and Zero. He also lies straight to the Hunters' faces about the cause of Sky Lagoon's fall, and has no sense of loyalty as he quickly joins Repliforce just to goad X and Zero into further conflict.

There are some differences between Dragoon's interactions with X and Zero. He acts especially cruel with X, laughing maniacally that he would easily drop the Sky Lagoon again and claiming his crimes were worth it for the final duel; this could be interpreted as him goading the pacifistic X into not holding back. However, he seems a deal more solemn and respectful towards Zero, even apologizing to him just before dying. This depicts two different perceptions of how remorseful Dragoon was of his Maverick actions.

History[]

Mega Man X4[]

Magma Dragoon was a superlative martial artist, who perfected his own unique form of fist fighting.^[1] He was a high-ranking Maverick Hunter, commanding the 14th Special Unit, and became acquainted with X and Zero of the 17th and 0th Units, respectively. Secretly, Dragoon craved a fight-to-the-death duel with the two legendary Maverick Hunters.

When Sigma offered him a chance at this dream, Dragoon agreed to work for him. Sigma ordered him to destroy the aerial city Sky Lagoon, so he sabotaged the city's power reactor and had the giant Mechaniloid Eregion wreak havoc for good measure. The Sky Lagoon crashed onto the city below it, which not only killed thousands of civilians, but resulted in Repliforce (who were patrolling at the time) being blamed for the incident, pushing General to start a bid for Reploid independence that led to the Great Repliforce War. Then, Sigma ordered Dragoon to work for the Repliforce, and aid them in their coup d'état.^[2]

After the Sky Lagoon incident, Dragoon hid in a volcano to await X and Zero for a fight. Once they reach him, he boasts about having deceived them and demands a battle. When defeated, he apologizes for his actions, confessing to have done so for the chance to fight X/Zero, and that ''he'' (Sigma) offered him that chance, which he simply could not refuse. Dragoon then dies afterwards.

Mega Man X5[]

A digitized simulation of Magma Dragoon is summoned by Alia as the boss of the optional Training Area in Mega Man X5. This Dragoon has no personality to speak of. Since he serves as training for new players, he is weaker than the original and uses only a few of his attacks.

Strategy[]

Proper movement is crucial to defeating Magma Dragoon; dashing and jumping can avoid most of his arsenal while landing hits in between. The edges of the arena are pits of deadly lava, and Dragoon can make them rise into geysers that cut off the player from wall kicking. When he performs his slower attacks, such as his Flame Attack, the player can get behind him to avoid the move entirely and deal damage to his back.

The player can also bring a Ride Armor into the fight by destroying rocks in the lava, revealing a tunnel to Magma Dragoon's arena. This gives them a considerable edge, as it allows the player to tank hits and deal damage before fighting him on foot (it's possible to defeat Dragoon entirely using a Ride Armor). His weakness against X is Double Cyclone, which stuns him in a whirlwind and causes him to jump to one side of the arena. Zero's strongest move against him is Raijingeki, though it does not stun him.

Magma Dragoon's fighting style is reminiscent of various Street Fighter characters such as Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Sagat, and Dhalsim.

	Hadoken (波動拳, Hadōken, "Surge Fist")[3]
	Magma Dragoon cries "Hadōken!" while throwing fireballs horizontally either standing, which can be dashed under, and a crouching, which has to be jumped over. If he has more than half of his health, he will only throw two Hadōken, one standing and crouching before following up with a Rising Fire. Once he loses half his health, Dragoon will throw three Hadōken instead, standing, crouching, then standing. Occasionally, he can also perform a crouching Hadōken before a Rising Fire. In X5, the speed of this attack is significantly slower. He may throw them high or low. This is a reference to the iconic Hadoken used by Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, but with the high-low mixup of Sagat's Tiger Shot.
	Damage: 6
	Rising Fire (ライジングファイア, Raijingu Faia)[3]
	Magma Dragoon cries "Shoryuken!" (昇龍拳, Shōryūken, "Rising Dragon Fist") and performs a flying uppercut wreathed in fire. Dragoon will usually use this attack after his Hadōken, but if he performs his Fire Pillar Attack, then he will perform two consecutive Rising Fires. This move resembles Ken's Hado Shoryuken or Akuma's Goshoryuken.
	Damage: 8
	Nosedive (急降下, Kyūkōka)[3]
	Magma Dragoon jumps and performs a diving meteor kick. This move resembles Akuma's Tenmakujinkyaku.
	Damage: 6
	Fire Pillar Attack (火柱攻撃, Hibashira Kōgeki)[3]
	Magma Dragoon throws a fireball into the opposite corner of the arena, causing a pillar of lava to temporarily rise. This is always followed by 2 Rising Fires.
	Damage: 4 (fireball), 9 (lava pillar)
	Fire Attack (火炎攻撃, Kaen Kōgeki)[3]
	Magma Dragoon braces himself before spewing a continuous stream of flames from his mouth. This move resembles Dhalsim's Yoga Fire.
	Damage: 9
	Flame Shot (炎弾, Honō-dan)[3]
	When his health is low, Magma Dragoon releases a storm of fireballs into the air, which proceed to rain down across the entire arena. The fireballs are always moving towards the left, so if you stay in the top left corner, you won't be hit.
	Damage: 4

Dialogues[]

Sky Lagoon[]

Pre-Battle[]

Post Battle[]

In-Battle Quotes[]

Note: Pre-battle lines are only present in the Japanese version.

Other appearances[]

• Magma Dragoon is fought alongside Neon Tiger in the X Challenge from Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2.
• Magma Dragoon appeared in Street Fighter x All Capcom.
• Magma Dragoon appeared as an Unit Card in TEPPEN, and in the art of the Action Cards Fake Intel and Full-Power Punch.
• Magma Dragoon appeared as an event character in Tower of Saviors.

Mega Man X DiVE[]

Magma Dragoon is the boss of the Story stage 10-6, being the only story boss fought in the same stage as his original appearance, Volcano. His strategy is the same as Mega Man X4, though lacking Fire Pillar Attack. He is also fought on floors 55 and 135 from the Jakob Orbital Elevator mode, and is available on Challenge mode for level 100 players.

Magma Dragoon is also a playable S rank Hunter Program, whose Active Skills are Hadoken and Shoryuken. He has a Chip exclusive to Launcher weapons that releases flame rounds, causing damage and having a chance of burning the targets.

Dragoon is the boss from the third Monster Hunter Rise collaboration event stage, "Tremble under the King of the Blood Moon!", appearing as Malzeno Dragoon, his data being mixed with the data from a Malzeno from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. His strategy is the same as his normal version, except his attacks also absorb life energy from the player and the arena has no lava on the corners.

Other media[]

Rockman X4 (manga)[]

Magma Dragoon appeared in the manga version of Mega Man X4, after the Repliforce launched their coup d'etat and battle for independence against the human government. After X terminates Web Spider, Zero watches on from afar at a hilltop after having previously attacked fellow Maverick Hunters and having deserted the organization. Zero notices he is being pursued, and spots Dragoon behind him. Zero pulls out his saber, and expresses surprise that the Hunters would send Dragoon after him, surmising that he must be pretty highly-valued if they would do such. Dragoon rebuffs Zero's assumption and states that he did not come to fight him, and Zero thus puts away his saber. Dragoon gives off a strong aura as he walks past Zero, which startles him, as he feels murderous intent from him. Nevertheless, they both part ways.

Dragoon later appears after X has obtained the Ultimate Armor and had just brutally killed Storm Owl, along with the rest of his Repliforce air fleet. Dragoon emerges rising from the ground underneath him, and challenges him to a fight, saying that his fists have defied both the "laws of the heavens" and the "laws of the earth" and are thus bound by neither. Dragoon says his fists are for his own greed, to reach his ultimate goal of decisively killing X in battle. Dragoon then engages X in combat. He proves to be a dangerous opponent and blocks X's blast with a fire barrier. Dragoon then attacks X with a powerful fire blast. X is able to disperse it by flying directly at it with a Nova Strike charge, and then charges at Dragoon. However, Dragoon catches X in mid-air during his Strike, pounds him to the ground and punches him away into a crater, and compliments X's power while doing so, saying he understands why X bears the title of legend.

Dragoon then assumes X is dead and laments that Heaven didn't give him a strong man to fight and that is boredom is what led him to become a Maverick, so he could fight serious battles. Dragoon muses that he deserves not having anyone to fight as punishment for becoming a Maverick. X, who has been losing his mind to the power of the Ultimate Armor, has a vision of Zero, Dr. Cain and Marty reaching out for him. X then flies out of the crater and fires a charged shot at Dragoon. Dragoon exclaims that Heaven has indeed given him a fleeting legend and tries to stop X's shot with a fire blast, but X's power proves too much and Dragoon is then bisected by the charged shot and killed.

Archie Comics[]

Magma Dragoon is among the many Mavericks resurrected by Sigma-1 to serve in his multiverse-conquering army in Worlds Unite. He went to the world of Street Fighter to set an Unity Engine in Metro City, but is defeated by the new Team Sticks. He largely dodged Chun-Li's kicks, only to end up sucker-punched by Ken and then finished off by Ryu's Haidouken.

Rockman X Giga Mission[]

Magmard Dragoon was revived by the Extreme as Magmard Dragoon EX, and he fights X. Shortly after Dragoon's defeat, a portion of Extreme hiding in X's Proto Blade Armor finally mutates and transforms into the Extreme Armor.

Gallery[]

Mega Man X4 official art.

Mega Man X4 concept art.

Magma Dragoon artwork in Mega Man X DiVE.

Malzeno Dragoon artwork in Mega Man X DiVE.

Malzeno Dragoon concept art.

Magma Dragoon in Street Fighter x All Capcom.

Magma Dragoon in the TEPPEN card Fake Intel.

Infernal Magma Dragoon card in TEPPEN.

Magma Dragoon facing Akuma in the TEPPEN card Full-Power Punch.

Magma Dragoon in Tower of Saviors.

Magma Dragoon in Worlds Unite.

Magma Dragoon in the Rockman X4 manga.

Scrapped remains of Magma Dragoon and Storm Owl in the Rockman X4 manga.

Mega Man X - Mega Man X8 Mavericks in Worlds Unite.

Magmard Dragoon EX in Rockman X Giga Mission.

Magma Dragoon using Hadoken in Rockman X DiVE.

Magma Dragoon using Shoryuken in Rockman X DiVE.

Trivia[]

• Magma Dragoon is a tribute to the Street Fighter series, using the iconic "Hadōken" and "Shōryūken" attacks. His appearance as a dragon further consolidates a tribute to that series, where the ryū in Shōryūken translates to "dragon". Ken's signature move, the Fierce Shōryūken, is mirrored by Zero's Ryuenjin. His dive kick also bears some resemblance to Akuma's Tenmakuujinkyaku (Sky Demon Air Blade Leg).
  • The ridges above Dragoon's eyes resemble the signature bushy eyebrows of Ryu and Ken as they were drawn for Street Fighter II. This artstyle is also evoked by Dragoon's fixed downward scowl.
  • He also has several similarities to Akuma.
    • Their personality traits are similar, including the desire to become the strongest and to fight foes at their peak strength. In fact, one of Akuma's TEPPEN cards even has him fighting Magma Dragoon.
    • The beads around Magma Dragoon's neck are similar to the prayer beads worn by the Street Fighter character Akuma.
    • There is a small plate under Magma Dragoon's chest which bears the "Heaven/Sky" symbol (天), the same symbol also appears on Akuma's back when he uses the Shun Goku Satsu.
    • In the Rockman X4 manga, Magma Dragoon strikes a pose reminiscent of Akuma's signature taunt as he challenges X for a duel.
• The fight against Magma Dragoon is the first time in the series where players are allowed to bring a Ride Armor into a boss battle. This trait would later be carried on by Vanishing Gungaroo and Bamboo Pandamonium.
• Dragoon is the only Maverick in Mega Man X4 to retain all of his Japanese battle voice clips, which were normally removed from the game rather than being dubbed into English. However, his pre-battle quotes were still removed.
• Magma Dragoon's screen after selecting him on the stage select screen is the only time the Maverick Hunters are referred to as the "Irregular Hunters" in a localized version of an X title. This is likely a localization oversight; however, it still wasn't fixed in Mega Man X Legacy Collection, unlike text errors in the other games (save Mega Man X6).
• Magma Dragoon is the only Stage Select boss in the entire Mega Man X series with post-battle dialogue. His post-battle dialogue is a precursor to the Mega Man Zero series, in which most bosses have dialogue after their defeats. He is also the only Maverick boss where X and Zero do not perform a victory pose before leaving the stage.
• The symbol below Magma Dragoon’s health bar is the Maverick symbol instead of the Repliforce symbol, despite saying that he worked for Repliforce. He was tagged as Maverick due to being the prime suspect of Sky Lagoon's fall (and because Sigma is the person who ordered him to betray the Hunters and work for Repliforce.)
• Magma Dragoon is the only Stage Select boss from the Mega Man X series to ever be a playable character, appearing as a Hunter Program in Mega Man X DiVE.
• Magma Dragoon is the first Stage Select Maverick boss to reappear as a boss in a sequel to his original appearance, since he's an optional boss in the Mega Man X5's Training Area.
• In Mega Man X5, Magma Dragoon only speaks when using his Hadoken, which sounds different from his voice in Mega Man X4.
• By using external cheating devices in Mega Man X5 to use Special Weapons early, the player can use Spike Ball as Magma Dragoon's weakness (on hit he reacts as though he's been hit with his old weakness, Double Cyclone). However, it actually deals less damage than the X-Buster. Dragoon does not react this way to Zero's equivalent Twin Dream, but it does deal a significant amount of damage.
  • This could be a leftover from the coding used on Mega Man X4, as X5 was made using the same engine and each weapon was reprogrammed to work differently in development.
• Magma Dragoon is based on European depictions of dragons. His EX form seen in Rockman X Giga Mission, however, is based on Oriental depictions of dragons, although those are seldom depicted with wings.

See also[]

• Volcano - His stage in Mega Man X4.
• Training Area - The tutorial stage in Mega Man X5 featuring an emulated version of him.

References[]