Schematic blueprints of his body were seen during Bass's ending in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. Learning from his past mistakes, including the accidental creation of Bassnium and his construction of Bass and King, Wily constructed Zero as a far more advanced robot than anything he had ever built before, with a power level far superior to that of Bass or Mega Man. He also presumably began to create the Maverick Virus around this time. Wily even dubbed Zero his . Zero contained a flaw in his cognitive program that made him violent and unwilling to obey instructions. Because of this, Wily decided to seal him in a capsule. Counter Strike 1 6 Orange Box Pc. Labelled a Maverick (by the definition of being a threat to humans), Zero was later cornered by Maverick Hunter Elite, Gamma's Maverick Hunter unit, inside an unknown facility—at the cost of the total loss of said unit, however.
Not wanting to get any more comrades endangered by the powerful enigmatic Maverick, then- Hunter Commander Sigma himself challenged Zero in a one- on- one battle. Even though Zero eventually gained the upper hand during the battle, Sigma was able to defeat the red Maverick after the gem on Zero's head began to glow with a 'W' symbol, apparently causing Zero great pain. As both Zero and Sigma were in close proximity to the former's capsule when they fought, which contained the Maverick Virus, Sigma and Zero were consequentially infected with the virus. Zero was then brought to Dr. Cain, who analyzed him. After that, he recovered from his battle with Sigma and was placed under Sigma's watch. Zero did not show any more signs of Maverick behavior and was enlisted into the Maverick Hunters' 1.
Elite Unit. It was during that time in which he met X for the first time who was also part of the 1. Unit, even though he was only ranked B- Class due to his hesitation on the battlefield. The two became friends and partners and worked together whenever they could. Zero soon became somewhat of a mentor to X. During the course of the investigation, it was Zero who eventually uncovered the identity of the person responsible for the attacks, which was none other than Sigma himself. Zero realized this after analyzing various locations which were seemly connected to the attacks, and by looking over the bodies of defeated Reploids, which were all taken down with a single blow directed at a weak spot.
There had been only a very few number of Reploids with such perfect skills, including Sigma. The blows that the defeated Reploids had taken was caused by a beam saber, and not by range- weapons, which ruled out the previously suspected Vile. Upon seeing that X indeed does hesitate, Sigma slashed Zero with his beam saber and left him while he held X captive and launched a missile attack on Abel City.
Some time later, Zero regained conscious and found X all alone in the facility, heavily damaged. He then brought him back to Hunter HQ. Zero saved X during a Maverick attack at the Central Highway from Vile. In Maverick Hunter X, Zero also responded to Vile's question about why Zero would aid a B- Class Hunter like X by informing Vile that he's nothing more than a Maverick at the present. After that, the two split up, with X's task to slow down the Maverick activities in nearby areas while Zero himself was on recon duty at Sigma's fortress. Here, they encountered Vile for a second time.
Zero was captured by Vile and imprisoned in a cage (in Maverick Hunter X however, Zero was left unconscious by Vile as bait for X). When X was also defeated by Vile, Zero managed to break free (or regain consciousness, as was the case in Maverick Hunter X) and destroyed Vile's armor by firing a charge shot from point- blank range, which was a successful, yet fatal action. Afterwards, Zero handed his Buster Parts to X (only in case X hadn't obtained the Buster Upgrade from the Light Capsule) and encouraged him to continue to fight before ultimately dying in X's arms (Maverick Hunter X also has Zero remarking on the irony of his actions in saving X leading to his death when he earlier told X not to be so careless. However, instead of chasing Vile off, Zero instead retreats with an injured X.