List of Mega Man Battle Network Characters - Protagonists - Eugene Chaud

Eugene Chaud

Eugene Chaud, known as Enzan Ijuin (伊集院　炎山, Ijūin Enzan?) in Japan, is the son of IPC's (BlazeQuest in the English anime) president (Shuuseki Ijuin), and the operator and creator of ProtoMan.EXE, known in Japan as Blues.EXE (ブルース.EXE, Burūsu.Eguze?). His mother died while he was still young, and Chaud was forced into becoming the vice-president of his father's corporation, a position which contributed to his initial cold attitude towards Lan Hikari. As the series progresses, he gains more respect for Lan, and also begins to open up to others, smiling more often. He does not, however, lose his serious outlook during battle, nor does he act impulsively before thinking. Chaud is voiced by Bill Switzer and then by Scott Perrie.

In the games, Chaud is an Official NetBattler, who meets Lan while investigating a water shortage caused by WWW. He was introduced as a ruthless operator who took his job seriously and would delete any Navi who got in the way, and originally saw Lan as a pest, but they slowly became friends. Though only a couple years older than Lan, Chaud has progressed much more quickly through his education, and by the sixth (and final) game, he is already a college student. The ending of the sixth game reveals that he grows up to become a Worldwide leader of International Officials (IPC's president in the Japanese version). This incarnation of Chaud wears ProtoMan's Navi mark on the back of his vest for the first three games, unlike the anime and manga.

In the anime, Chaud retains his personality from the game, though his respectful side develops much quicker than in the aforementioned medium. He is the victor of the first series' N1 Grand Prix, defeating his opponents in mere seconds. In Axess, he becomes a Net Saver (Net Savior) and gains the ability to perform Cross Fusion with ProtoMan, but falls into depression after giving a Dark Chip to ProtoMan in order to defeat the Darkloid leader, ShadeMan. Because the process ultimately transforms his Navi into Dark ProtoMan (Dark Blues), Chaud feels responsible for his friend's suffering, and sets out to rectify his mistake. Chaud continues to make regular appearances in Stream, Beast, and Beast+.

Chaud's Japanese name (Enzan) translates to "flame mountain". This reference was translated in his English name through "Chaud," a French word meaning "hot". The anime followed suit by naming the character Chaud Blaze. Furthermore, being a French word, "Chaud" is supposed to be pronounced with a silent "D," but it is incorrectly pronounced. In the English games, Chaud is the character's family name, though he is only referred to as Eugene during his introduction of himself is the first game. The anime changes Chaud to being his given name.

ProtoMan.EXE is based on Proto Man of the original Mega Man series, while also borrowing key traits from Zero of the Mega Man X series. In the anime, he is voiced by David Kaye in the English version, and Masaya Matsukaze in the original version of the series.