Mega Man Battle Network (video Game) - Plot

Plot

See also: List of Mega Man Battle Network characters

Mega Man Battle Network is set in an ambiguous year in the 21st century ("20XX AD") in an alternate reality to the original Mega Man series. Within the world of Battle Network, the Net has become humanity's primary means of communication, commerce, and even crime. Users are able to "jack in" to the Net and other computerized devices, and explore their various aspects using program avatars called "NetNavis (Network Navigators)" as if they were physical locations. The Net and the inner workings of computers are displayed as a virtual world with which computer programs of all varieties, as personified in a humanoid form, can interact. Users often do so by accessing their NetNavis via a "PET (PErsonal information Terminal)" device. The plot of Mega Man Battle Network follows one such pair, Lan Hikari and his NetNavi MegaMan.EXE. Lan is a fifth grader in the town of ACDC. His father, Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, is one of the world's top scientists and NetNavi researchers. Not long into the story, Lan and MegaMan.EXE take it upon themselves to solve various criminal cases around ACDC involving other Navis and their operators. Some of the confrontations with the various criminals involve desperate, life-threatening situations including a bus rigged to explode, oxygen being cut off at a large party, the entire city's clean water freezing, and school students being re-educated as mindless slaves. The duo continuously crosses paths with Eugene Chaud, an official "NetBattler" commissioned by the government to investigate crimes on the Net. Chaud and his NetNavi ProtoMan.EXE act as rivals to Lan and MegaMan.EXE.

The protagonists eventually learn that the criminals are all connected to an organization called the "WWW (World Three)". The WWW intentionally infects computer networks with computer viruses so as to hinder their normal operations and hack vital information. The group is led by Dr. Wily, a former colleague of Lan's grandfather. While working together, Wily had specialized in robotics while Lan's grandfather specialized in networks, which eventually led to NetNavis. The government cut Wily's funding, opting instead to pursue Hikari's NetNavi project. Wily's goal throughout the game is to collect four super programs with which the "LifeVirus" may be constructed. The LifeVirus is a nearly indestructible virus capable of wiping out the Net and all associated devices. The protagonists infiltrate the WWW, but MegaMan.EXE becomes disabled. Chaud arrives and gives Lan a batch file from Dr. Hikari to restore his Navi. After receiving the file "Hub.bat", Lan questions his father about the name. It is revealed the MegaMan.EXE is actually a unique Navi made by Lan's father. When Lan's twin brother, Hub, died at a young age, Dr. Hikari transferred Hub's consciousness into the NetNavi MegaMan.EXE. This created a special physical and virtual bond between the two brothers. In the end, Lan and MegaMan.EXE manage to defeat Wily, destroy the LifeVirus, and restore peace to ACDC.