Bass.EXE

General CVG character
name=Bass.EXE


caption=Bass still wearing his cape
firstgame="Mega Man Battle Network"
series="Mega Man Battle Network" series
creator=Keiji Inafune
voiceactor=Matt Hill (anime)
japanactor=Keiko Nemoto
inuniverse=Mega Man character
type=Navi
weapon=Get Ability Program, Bass Buster, Dark energy weapons

Bass.EXE, known in Japan as nihongo|Forte.EXE|フォルテ.ＥＸＥ|Forute.eguze, is a video game character in the "Mega Man Battle Network" series of video games and the "MegaMan NT Warrior" anime and manga. His design is based on Bass of the original "Mega Man" series. In the anime, he is voiced by Matt Hill in the English version, and Keiko Nemoto in the Japanese version and Mega Man: Network Transmission.

History

Game

Bass is the first AutoNavi (independent NetNavi) ever created. He is a mysterious AI who roamed the deepest recesses of the internet, seeking to do battle with the strongest opponents. His past is intertwined with that of Tadashi Hikari. He was created by a scientist named Dr. Cossack, whom he saw as a father, as a part of the AutoNavi project: a project to create a NetNavi that was not reliant on an operator or PET to function. Due to the Alpha (Proto) incident, Bass was blamed for the malfunctioning of several devices and was believed to have been deleted by the SciLab Elite Corps. Since that day, he vowed to destroy humanity as he felt betrayed, the scar inflicted upon his chest a constant reminder of the horrors brought upon him. His identity as a SoloNavi allowed him to escape detection. As seen in "Mega Man Battle Network 3", Bass' presence also creates communication interference, which only complemented his escape.

Immensely powerful due to an ability hard-wired into him, the Get Ability program (which allows him to absorb the power of any foe he defeats in battle), Bass has had enormous staying power throughout the series. After the attack by SciLab, Bass crawled through the net, feeding on the data remains of deleted viruses and Navis to recover his strength. By stealing data from the Life Virus (Dream Virus), Bass adopted a self-regenerating Life Aura, and at some point, engaged in combat with Serenade. Dr. Wily would later seek Bass to reawaken Alpha, but since tracking him would be difficult, Wily opted to create clones of him instead. Ultimately, the scientist would strike a deal with Bass in "Battle Network 3", wherein he and Cossack would at last be reunited through the use of a "Pulse Transmission System." Bass was amused that a "puny human" would dare to come into his world. He revealed the glowing white scar across his chest, telling Cossack of the trials and perils he went through to gain his power. Cossack attempted to "self-destruct" his own mind to destroy Bass, but was unsuccessful, though he did survive the ordeal. Despite the fact that Bass believes he was betrayed by his creator (which he was not - Cossack defended Bass when SciLab announced the plan to delete him), he apparently could not bring himself to kill Cossack. After escaping absorption by Alpha, Bass loses memory of anything before that time and is rescued by the Megavirus Gospel, which was born from one of the failed clones of himself. The combined Bass GS (Gospel Cross) challenges Megaman in battle in the Secret Area - upon losing once again, he realizes his friendship with Megaman and it is believed that the deletes himself, only to be duplicated many times over.

Later in "Battle Network 4", Megaman accesses this area of the Undernet, awaking the sleeping Navi who challenges Megaman into battle. Fortunately, Megaman is victorious, and Bass retreats once more into the deeps of the Undernet to regain his power. Using a special E-Reader card or a cheating device, it is possible to fight a third version of Bass beyond the SP version - known as Bass XX, this is the most powerful enemy in the game. Bass XX is one of the strongest forms of Bass.

In "Battle Network 5", his role seems to be significant, due to the fact that Megaman can mirror some of Bass's abilities thanks to Bass Cross Megaman. In the movie, Bass and Megaman were forced to work together to take down Regal's new monster, Nebula Gray. Neither of them wanted to do this but Megaman knew that if Bass can harness his power, it might be enough. Bass harnessed Megaman's power, due to Megaman's approval. Although he couldn't control Megaman fully, it gave Megaman the abilities of Bass along with a new look, creating Bass Cross Megaman. In the game, Bass can be fought several times in various locations if the player is using the Bass Cross ability. Each new version is progressively much stronger than the last, all the way up to his superior XX form.

Finally in "Battle Network 6", Bass is, for the first time, fightable (as a normal boss) before beating the game. He will disappear, acknowledging Megaman's power. Bass returns having absorbed part of the incredible power of the Cyber Beasts as Bass BX (Beast Cross) and using that power to confront Megaman. After Megaman defeats him once again, Bass retreats. His current actions and whereabouts are unknown.

Abilities

Bass has tremendous potential that no other Navi ever had and is considered to be the strongest Netnavi in the Megaman Battle Network games. Bass's powers differ from the games he is in when the player faces him. Bass have plenty of attacks and abilities.

Life Aura:A self-regenerating aura that Bass adopted. It has a formidable defense that Serenade lacks. 100-200 [MAX] . This aura was in Megaman Battle Network 1,2,and 3.Only certain attacks equal or higher than the number of the aura can remove it transiently. He obtained this ability after the Life Virus was deleted in the first game. He then used his 'Get Ability' to absorb it and use it as his own.

Dark Aura:This aura is only available to the ultimate form of Bass,Bass XX. The aura Bass is protected in acts like a Barrier 200 Chip, but with a self-regenerating ability. When the player uses a Northwind Chip; however, the barrier is dispelled and will not regenerate for the rest of the fight. This ability is only available in MMBN4 and MMBN5. In MMBN4, the barrier can be regenerated even if Northwind is used.

Buster Rake:Bass's primary weapon and attack, also known as the Bass Buster. He uses his busters to fire a shot at his foes. Its speed and power is very high. This attack is used in ALL Megaman Battle Network games. The Bass Buster has drastic changes in MMBN4,5 and most notably,6. In MMBN, however, Bass himself takes out his own aura when charging and shooting with his busters.

Bass Supreme Buster:Same as above,but much more powerful and more green/orange energy shots are fired randomly to the player's AND his(Bass's) own area. This move is available for Bass to use in MMBN 1-3.

Earthbreaker:The aura Bass is protected by will disappear when this move is used.Bass will float on his side of the field,hitting his opponents with his own hand with tremendous force. It also pierces defenses and breaks 1x3 of the columns. This move is used in Megaman Battle Network 2 and 3. It is also called the Earthbreaker Fist. This move is also used more often and actually seen using on Flameman.exe, a Navi, the Guardian program, and use it to escape to the Undernet as Bass GS.

Hell's Rolling:Bass charges up, then shoot 2 wheels that moves slowly or fast. The foe who takes gets hit by these wheels inflict great damage. This move was in Megaman Battle Network 4,5, and 6. But in Megaman Battle Network 6 [MMBN6 for short] The Hell's Rolling Wheels changed drastically.

Dark Arm Blade: Bass will swing his arm at Megaman and will hit in a wide sword motion and / or a long sword motion. Once his HP gets low, he will sometimes warp behind Megaman and do the deadly combo again. In the anime it is depicted as if Bass was clenching his fists with darkness shooting out from the top of his hands. The Dark Arm Blade inflicts high damage to anyone who gets hit by these.

Darkness Overload:One of the strongest moves Bass has. The move is also called Hell Crusher. Inflicts incredibly high or similar damage that breaks 2x3 columns of Megaman's side of the battlefield.

Darkness Overload Sphere:Bass will float up, then creates a very devastating and overwhelming Darkness Overload in the air. It inflicts quite a lot of damage to Megaman and completely cracks 3x3 of his area. It is also a super-piercing type. It is one of the most exclusive attacks for MMBN5 only.

Giga Freeze: Bass obtained the Giga Freeze data towards the end of the Battle Network 3 storyline when Megaman tried to use it to prevent the Cyberworld monster Alpha from rampaging. This was because he was one the only Navi besides Megaman who could make contact with the program without being permanently frozen by it. Whether Bass still has this program and/or uses it remains unknown.

Get Ability: Not actually used in battle. Like the Classic Megaman, Bass can absorb the abilities of defeated foes. He used this to gain the Life Aura ability and to absorb the Guardian program in the 3rd game (though it provided no benefit). Bass uses this in the movie to obtain Megaman's ultimate program to defeat Nebula Grey.

Cyber Beast Power: Exclusive to MMBN6, and is seen whenever the player engages Bass BX in combat. Unlike the previous games, the mechanics of this attack is dependent on which game version the player has, Falzar Storm for Gregar players, and Breath of Gregar for Falzar players.

Falzar Storm: Bass uses the power of the Cybeast, Falzar, to brew a powerful tornado that inflicts great damage and penetrates defensive abilities such as invisibility. This attack is exclusive to players playing the Gregar edition of MMBN6.

Breath of Gregar:: Bass uses the power of the Cybeast, Gregar, to unleash a huge wave of flames upon Megaman. This attack is very similar to the one used by the main boss Gospel in Battle Network 2, and is exclusive to players playing the Falzar edition of MMBN6. The damage infilcted on Megaman or any other opponent is immensely high.

Vanishing World: This attack is used by Bass's GS and Omega forms in Megaman Battle Network 3, and can only used when his HP is 500 or less. Bass morphs his hand into a huge Gospel Cannon and then fires a very potent white laser which destroys a lot of Megaman's panels, pierces through his defenses, and inflicts major heavy damage to him. However, while this attack is his trump card here, it can only be used once, unlike his other attacks. It was also called the Banishing World.

Anime

Bass was born of the remnants of PharaohMan's data, which were extracted from the Navi by Wily, who wanted his Ultimate Program. Bass had no memories of his previous life as PharaohMan until he abducted MegaMan and read his memories, learning his origins and awakening his "true self".

Bass attempted to consume the data of Gospel (Grave in the English anime), for the two shared the same origin, to become whole, only to be consumed himself. When MegaMan destroyed Gospel and restored all the NetNavis devoured by the beast, Bass took residence in Shuryou Gospel's (Kid Grave in the English anime) android body. He left, vowing revenge against the world. He reappeared as the creator of the robot Allegro in "Axess", and tried to absorb MegaMan and ProtoMan's Ultimate Programs at the beginning of "Stream". He was easily defeated by Slur and imprisoned in the UnderNet, losing his means of travel through the human world in the process.

In "RockMan.EXE: Program of Light and Dark", a film exclusive to Japan, Bass is captured by Dr. Regal and is brainwashed to obtain the Tadashi Hikari Program, and fights MegaMan and Colonel. Bass, upon returning to normal, wanted to make Regal pay for the "disgusting act" of a human using him as a pawn, even if meant siding with MegaMan. The duo were no match for Nebula Grey, so MegaMan opted to have Bass absorb his Ultimate Program. The resulting BassCross eliminated Nebula Grey, but Regal summoned a black hole in a last ditch effort to destroy the Navis along with himself. Bass flung MegaMan out of harm's way as he himself got sucked in, ultimately absorbing Nebula Grey's power, which proved vital in his rematch with Slur. The tables had turned, and he absorbed her, impaling her through the chest on his arm. He vanished, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Manga

In the manga, Bass made his first appearance in Volume 3, when MegaMan and Protoman were investigating the UnderNet. Similar to his game counterpart, he faced Serenade in the past, and was determined to wield the same power one day. Constantly coming into conflict with MegaMan, ProtoMan and their operators, Bass would eventually be taken away by Dark MegaMan (Dark Rockman) and LaserMan, who had intentions to change the world into the Dark Kingdom. Dark MegaMan subsequently tried to absorb all of Bass' power to become the ultimate being, but, failing to consume his entire consciousness, was disconnected from the Navi's soul. Bass was then seen rescuing Colonel from Nebula Grey. Bass proceeded to attack Nebula Gray, but to no avail, leading him to fuse with MegaMan to create BassCross MegaMan, though he ultimately broke away from the Navi to destroy Dr. Regal's submarine. He disappeared, reappearing years later to rescue MegaMan from a super-virus. He reappeared in the underground during the fight to see who could control Cyberbeast Gregar. He once again saved MegaMan, this time from Cyberbeast Falzar. Bass had stopped the attack on MegaMan, and then absorbed Falzar to once again be MegaMan's equal in terms of power. After the cybeast merged and slowly deleting the real world, Bass eventually assisted MegaMan, after encouraged by Serenade, who kept telling if MegaMan is his first and only friend.Compared to the anime and the game, Bass is portrayed having deeper rivalry and friendship with MegaMan.

Trivia

* Bass presumably wears his cloak to hide the scar on his chest inflicted by the SciLab Elite Corps. In the anime, he is seen without it during various moments of the series. The same goes for his appearances in the special manga chapter, "Bass: The Ultimate Proof" ("Forte's Back Story"), a moment in "MegaMan Network Transmission" and "4.5: Real Operation". However, in "Bass: The Ultimate Proof", Bass's Navi mark is the musical symbol ƒ, even after receiving the scar; in other media, Bass' Navi mark is simply a white slash mark atop a black circle.

* With the introduction of "MegaMan Battle Network 5 Double Team" for the Nintendo DS, it is possible, by completing one of the "MegaMan Battle Network 5" GBA games with the Bass Icon on the title screen, to unlock a style featuring Bass. See Cross System.

*Bass is the only character to consistently have his own unique 'versions', aside from Protoman in BN6, who had FZ. In the 2nd game, he was the only character to use the Omega/SP version (though was used in later games). He had GS (Presumably standing for "Gospel Cross") in 3, XX in 4 and 5, and BX (Standing for "Beast Cross") in 6.