The Mega Man franchise has been one of my favorites ever since I was a kid. I recently purchased a Nintendo 3DS so I can finally catch up on all the Nintendo games and Japanese ports not available on any other system. The list of games that I have been craving to play is pretty long, and one of those is Mega Man ZX. This series starts years after the end of Mega Man Zero 4, which was a fantastic series by the way!
The original Mega Man for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was about a blue robot infused with a blaster on his arm. He would battle eight robot masters that were created by the evil Dr. Wily and were causing chaos everywhere. After each was defeated, their power was absorbed and used against the next boss. There were ten games in total, followed by the sequel series, Mega Man X, which consisted of eight games. The two heroes of MMX were X and Zero, reploids (human-like machines) created in the future to serve mankind. To me, they were my favorites because of their teamwork and different personalities.
In the present saga of Mega Man ZX, X and Zero are now called Model X and Model Z, respectively. They each have similar personalities to the originals and use similar fighting styles, too. So it’s nice to be able to switch easily between the two characters depending on the situation. You are able to acquire other Models that have different powers that come from past characters in MMZ.
To be honest, I appreciated that the game used similar gameplay to its predecessor, but how it continued the story of my beloved protagonists X and Zero was a little sad for me. They went from being two lively heroes, rescuing their world across twelve games, to being nothing but essences in conscious artifacts called Biometals. These entities are the “souls” of certain reploids which were contained mysteriously inside these relics and can fuse with people who use them. When imbued inside the individual, they take on the characteristics of that soul and attack their enemies. Even though the reploids are gone, they live on in these metals.
I had thought that my two favorite robots were gone and all that was left of them were these little floating pieces of scrap, but then I had a realization of how their light lives on. X and Zero aren’t around anymore physically, but the light they left behind is still fighting the good fight. Vent and Aile (the two main characters of the game) are the ones that combine with the Biometals to save the day from the evil Slither Inc. As they progress in the game, you learn more about what happened to the world after the MMZ (Mega Man Zero) series, including how these Biometals were made and the plot to awake a powerful enemy.
As these scenes played out in the game, I began thinking about what we leave behind when God decides to take us home. Some people leave behind a mess that their children, relatives, friends, or even the government has to pick up. Others left a legacy, big or small, to their future generations so they would be better off than where they started. I am reminded of the biblical story of Elijah and Elisha, when the prophet Elijah left his mantle to his servant Elisha, who then moved in mighty miracles and wonders in his lifetime. He wanted a double portion of what his master had, and he got it.
2 Kings 2:9-10
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
Elijah left behind his cloak, which represented his legacy just as the Biometals left their power to the next generation of heroes to use. Not everyone in this world gets to start off on the shoulders of someone else, but we can definitely learn from those that have walked the same road we are walking.
Take me for an example. I did not start off life with a silver spoon in my mouth:
- My parents divorced when I was a few years old.
- None of my immediate family is Christian, is rich, has any inheritance to leave behind, nor is college educated.
- Growing up a geeky type of kid, I didn’t hang out with a lot of influential people that I could “network” with when I got older. Basically, I had to figure out life on my own for the most part.
I am not saying that I lived a terrible life, because I didn’t. I am grateful every day to God for my mother, who raised me, and all the experiences that have helped me to grow and be who I am today. It can just be a little frustrating sometimes to see others who start life with much and do not appreciate what they have. There are other people that have so much privilege that it leads them to be arrogant, entitled, or even mean towards those at a lower social/economic level.
In a world with so much darkness, we need to take the light that we have started with or gained later on and make sure it remains after we are gone. Regardless of where we start, what is left behind from our decisions will affect others. We all feel those repercussions of actions from others that may no longer be around. It can be in the form of trauma, a negative word, wasted money, or opportunities. I pray that at the end of my own life, there will still be a light that is left for others to be blessed by—an impact that my Heavenly Father is proud of, through which others come to know the same Savior named Jesus Christ that died, rose again, and gave me a new life.
I hope that this article gave you something to reflect on. Pause for a moment and think about what your life looks like at the moment. What seeds are you leaving behind that God can use? It could be a positive word, some kind of creative work like art, wealth for your children and grandchildren, or a home full of His peace. Whatever it is, use every day to make the world shine a little brighter instead of a little darker.
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