Soul Unison (ソウルユニゾン Sōru Unizon) is a fictional term used in both the MegaMan Battle Network game series and Megaman NT Warrior (Rockman EXE). It is an ability employed by MegaMan.EXE (Rockman) to gain added powers and techniques in combat using the powers of an allied NetNavi.

Soul Unison, also known as DoubleSoul, first appeared in the two incarnations of MegaMan Battle Network 4. Out of twelve souls, six were exclusive to either game. It appears once more in MegaMan Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and MegaMan Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan. As a gameplay element, it is similar to the armor changing abilities of Mega Man X. It replaced the MegaMan's previous Style Change capability in previous iterations.

Description

Games

In the events of MegaMan Battle Network 3, MegaMan.EXE sacrificed himself to save his operator, Lan Hikari (Netto Hikari) from absorption by the horrific Alpha (Proto) program revived by Lord Wily near the climax of the game. Lan thought his ally and brother to be gone forever, only to be revived using data from his grandfather Tadashi Hikari. His revived state, however, rendered him unable to utilize the powerful Style Change programming option any longer. Hence "Soul Unison" was developed as a suitable replacement.

Unlike Style Change, which can be performed by a single NetNavi, Soul Unison occurs when a Navi's soul communes with MegaMan. This usually happens after battling against or completing a "Liberation Mission."

When utilized in battle, a chip of a certain element must be sacrificed to initiate a specified soul. While Soul Unison is active, MegaMan's appearance, element, and charged attack are altered. He can also charge chips by holding the A button (some souls cannot charge chips), and gains special abilities depending on the Navi that he has united with. Soul Unison lasts three rounds and cannot be reused until the next battle.

Chaos Unison

Introduced in MegaMan Battle Network 5, Chaos Unison occurs when sacrificing a Dark Chip. MegaMan gains the soul's attributes, but his charged attack, depending on the element of the sacrificed Dark Chip, changes and can be used repeatedly without any ill-effects. Should the charge shot go awry, however, MegaMan reverts to normal and his Dark Soul is unleashed, fighting alongside the enemy. Chaos Unison lasts only one round.

Cross System

Introduced in MegaMan Battle Network 6, the Cross System is an offshoot of the Soul Unison system. Like the latter, it involes aligning MegaMan's strength with that of a Link NetNavi. It does not require chips for its initiation and can last indefinitely unless MegaMan is hit with an opposing elemental attack. If MegaMan Beasts Out while a Cross is already active, he will gain further advantages through Cross Beast.

Anime

Soul Unison

In Axess, MegaMan is able to perform Soul Unison initially through a special bond between fellow Navis; he usually obtained new souls in dire situations, during which either he or the other Navi in question were subject to great peril. After initiating a given Soul Unison once, Lan received a corresponding chip, allowing MegaMan to freely access it when needed.

While it his Soul Unison that overides MegaMan's Style Change option in the games, it is a side effect of Cross Fusion that serves this purpose in the anime.

Cross System

Cross Beast makes its appearance beginning in episode 11 of Beast+. The process occurs whenever Lan links the data of another Navi with the Beast Out file housed in his PET. As a result of Cross Beast, MegaMan not only becomes more powerful through the incorporation of another Navi's data into himself, he also takes on that Navi's personality; in the original version of the series, Rockman acts more childish after a Cross with Aquaman, and acts more arrogantly after a Cross with Tomahawkman (dropping the honorific of "-kun" when addressing his operator). In episode 14, MegaMan displays the ability to perform regular Crosses as well through identical methods.

Some examples of Soul Unisons

MegaMan Battle Network