Ride Armor

A Ride Armor (ライドアーマー),, also known as Mobile Attack Armor or Robot Ride Armor, is a recurring type of item in the X era, first appearing in Mega Man X. It is a large, mechanical suit of power armor that Reploids can pilot by sitting inside the torso, granting them protection and new combat abilities in exchange for a larger size and decreased mobility.

In the Games

Mega Man X

Ride Armor debuted in Mega Man X. The Ride Armor in this game is known as Civil Engineering Ride Armor (土木作業用ライドアーマー), having been originally intended for heavy lifting and engineering work. A green version can be found in Snow Mountain Stage, while a red version can be found in Forest Stage and Sigma Stage 2. The Armor Soldier enemies in these stages also pilot Ride Armor, but if they are spotted outside their Ride Armor, X can easily destroy them and instead hijack it for himself.

Ride Armor in Mega Man X

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Ride Armor		The most basic form of Ride Armor, capable of walking across spikes, jumping, dashing, and a simple punch attack. It can take a maximum of 16 damage before it begins breaking down, periodically flashing white. No more damage can be taken in this state, giving time to fight on until the Ride Armor inevitably explodes, leaving the player unscathed.	Snow Mountain Stage, Forest Stage, Sigma Stage 2

Notably, Vile pilots a powerful blue Ride Armor during his boss battle at the end of Highway Stage, rendering all of X's attacks completely ineffective. Zero blows the arm off of this one, forcing Vile to retreat. He returns with an upgraded purple Ride Armor in Sigma Stage 1, with which he captures Zero and paralyzes X. This time, Zero self-destructs to completely destroy the Ride Armor, giving X a chance to defeat Vile.

Mega Man X2

In Mega Man X2, the game's Ride Armor is designated as the Ride Armor Type EG-2 Custom (ライドアーマータイプEG-2カスタム), codenamed the Rabbit (ラビット). This Ride Armor was intended for mine excavation, featuring spiked drills on its arms and a reinforced vernier thruster to improve its aerial mobility. It can be found in Dinosaur Tank Stage and Energen Crystal Stage. The Rideroid G enemies in these stages are similar to the Armor Soldiers, as X can take their Ride Armor for himself.

Ride Armor in Mega Man X2

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Rabbit		The Rabbit's drills improve its punching power and give it the ability to charge, causing the drills to spin before unleashing a dash punch. It can also hover through the air with its thruster, though more so for horizontal travel than vertical ascension.	Dinosaur Tank Stage, Energen Crystal Stage

This game also introduced the Ride Chaser, a similar series of mechanical vehicles.

Mega Man X3

In Mega Man X3, Ride Armor returns at its most complex. This Ride Armor is designated as the Ride Armor DRA-00 (ライドアーマータイプDRA-00), a highly-customizable general purpose model developed by the Maverick Hunters. It is stolen by the Doppler Army and stored in the Weapons Factory Stage, where X must free it from a Hangerter in order to unlock its use. Once it has been unlocked, X can summon it from a Transfer Machine (転送機), also known as a Ride Armor Platform, which are located in most of the game's stages. Three Change Parts can also be found hidden throughout the game, which let X summon different customizations of the Ride Armor. This leads to a total of four forms: the Chimera (キメラ), the Kangaroo (カンガルー), the Hawk (ホーク), and the Frog (フロッグ).

Ride Armor in Mega Man X3

Name	Image	Description	Location
Chimera		The Ride Armor DRA-00's default state. It functions similarly to the original Ride Armor, capable of punching with its fists.	Weapons Factory Stage
Kangaroo		A hand-to-hand combat customization. It has two spiked drill fists similar to the Ride Armor Rabbit, except its charge attack instead extends a spinning drill on a chain, and it lacks the hover ability.	Giant Dam Stage
Hawk		An airborne combat customization. It has two rocket launcher arms that fire missiles, along with a back-mounted vernier thruster that grants it the hover ability of the Ride Armor Rabbit.	Shipyard Stage
Frog		A submarine combat customization. It hops like a frog instead of walking, and its arms are replaced with two torpedo launchers. On the ground, its hops are short and its torpedoes shoot horizontally before falling to the ground. When underwater, its hops are larger and its torpedoes gain a homing effect. Additionally, its dash is replaced with a long jump which can propel it through the water six times using its screw propellers.	Airborne Aircraft Carrier Stage

In Doppler Stage A, the mid-boss REX-2000 is a unique Ride Armor piloted by Mad Joey. Additionally, Vile MK-II again pilots Ride Armor in both of his boss battles. In the Vile Stage, Vile first pilots a Ride Armor DRA-00 Kangaroo painted black, before fighting X on foot. In Doppler Stage B, he pilots a brand new type of Ride Armor called the Goliath, designed by Dr. Doppler expressly for combat.

Mega Man X4

In Mega Man X4, two models of Ride Armor appear, both designed by Repliforce's weapons development division. They felt the combat potential of engineering Ride Armor models were too limited, and thus set out to create models designed purely for battle. They are the terrestrial Raiden (ライデン) and the aerial Eagle (イーグル).

Ride Armor in Mega Man X4

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Raiden		A melee combat model. It was originally an experimental model, but due to the prototype's excellent performance in simulations, it was mass-produced. It is equipped with a beam blade on its forearm, which can destroy certain obstacles and can be charged for a dash attack. It also has a jet booster on its back for jumping and dashing.	Volcano, Military Train
Eagle		An aerial combat model. It can Air Dash and has a stronger hover ability than previous Ride Armor, letting it freely ascend or descend almost indefinitely. It is equipped with a beam cannon, which can be charged to fire three homing energy shots. While charging it cannot walk, but can still hover.	Air Force, Final Weapon 2

There are enemies simply called Raiden, which are mass-produced Repliforce soldiers piloting Ride Armor Raiden. Additionally, the form Iris enters for her boss battle heavily resembles a modified Ride Armor Eagle.

Mega Man Xtreme

In Mega Man Xtreme, the Ride Armor Rabbit from Mega Man X2 returns with the same abilities, replacing the original Ride Armor in any Mega Man X stages. It can be found in Snowfield Stage and Dinosaur Tank Stage, along with the returning Rideroid G enemy.

Ride Armor in Mega Man Xtreme

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Rabbit		Functions identically to the Ride Armor Rabbit found in Mega Man X2.	Dinosaur Tank Stage, Snowfield Stage

Mega Man X5

In Mega Man X5, the Ride Armor Raiden from Mega Man X4 returns with the same abilities. One can be found in Magma Stage, likely because Burn Dinorex is a former Repliforce employee, along with some of the Raiden enemies as well. Additionally, the Eagle G enemy in Zero Space Stage 1: Origin is a manifestation of a Repliforce soldier piloting a modified Ride Armor Eagle.

Mega Man Xtreme 2

In Mega Man Xtreme 2, the Ride Armor Rabbit returns again with the same abilities. It can be found in Jungle Stage and Underground Stage, where there are also enemies simply called Ride Armor who pilot Hawk-like Ride Armor models that fire missiles. Additionally, Sigma's final form, Sigma Beast, is described as a giant type of Ride Armor.

Mega Man X6

In Mega Man X6, the Ride Armor Raiden from Mega Man X4 returns again. They can be found in Recycle Lab, possibly left there for disposal, where they display the unique property of preventing the Nightmare Press from crushing the player character.

Mega Man X7

In Mega Man X7, two unique models of Ride Armor appear: the long-ranged Gouden (ゴウデン) and the short-ranged Raiden II (ライデンII). Both types only appear in the stages Tunnel Base and Crimson Palace.

Ride Armor in Mega Man X7

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Gouden		A long-range combat model. It is equipped with an automatic machine gun on its left arm, and has two missile launchers mounted on its back.	Tunnel Base, Crimson Palace
Raiden II		A close-quarters-combat model derived from Repliforce's original Raiden. It has four legs and a drill on its right arm, increasing its grounded mobility and punch power.

The Proto Ride enemy is a green, Gouden-like Ride Armor piloted by a Runnerbomb. Vanishing Gungaroo also pilots his own personal Ride Armor modeled after a mother kangaroo, called the Kangaroo Ride (カンガルーライド).

Mega Man X8

In Mega Man X8, two new models of Ride Armor appear for the player to use, only available in Booster Forest. One is the Cyclops (サイクロプス), of which there is only one copy located near the beginning of the stage. The other is the Golem (ゴーレム), which is normally piloted by Guardroids, but there is a small chance that defeating one will only destroy the pilot, allowing the player to hijack the Ride Armor.

Ride Armor in Mega Man X8

Name	Image	Description	Stages
Cyclops	File:MMX8 - Ride Armor Cyclops.png	A blue model used to control electronic disasters in large facilities. It can punch with its fists, and has a shoulder-mounted "electric napalm gun" that can disable the EMC of electronics, briefly paralyzing enemies. It can also hover for a short time, and can destroy enemies and obstacles with its weight by landing on top of them.	Booster Forest
Golem	File:MMX8 - Ride Armor Golem.png	A green model that is as a direct downgrade from the Cyclops. It has a claw on its left hand and a drill on its right, but no electric napalm gun.

Metal Valley has non-interactive Ride Armors working in the stage's background, and a miniature Ride Armor called a Dice (ダイス) that is only piloted by the Metall Ride enemies. Finally, Vile V remotely pilots a black Golem called the Devil Bear (デビルベア) for his battle in the Sigma Palace. The Devil Bear itself is indestructible, and Vile must be knocked off it using Guard Break attacks to damage him.