Tidal Whale

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Maverick Infobox

Artwork from Mega Man X5.
Stage portrait(s).
Appearances
Game(s):	Mega Man X5
Character Details
Name(s):	Tidal Whale, Duff McWhalen, Tidal Makkoeen
Title(s):	Guardian of the Great Sea
Affiliation(s):	None
Weapon(s):	Goo Shaver F-Splasher
Weakness(es):	C-Shot C-Sword
Stage(s):	Deep-Sea Submarine Stage
Behind the Scenes
Inspiration(s):	Sperm whale
Designer(s):	Ryūji Higurashi

Tidal Whale, also known as Duff McWhalen, or as Tidal Makkoeen (タイダル・マッコイーン) in Japan, is a Maverick from the X era, appearing as one of the main bosses in Mega Man X5. He is a water-themed Reploid based on a whale, who attacks by creating blocks of ice and firing torpedoes. He is a master of the sea who guards the Hydrogen required for the Enigma project.

In the Games

Mega Man X5

Sprite from Mega Man X5.

Tidal Whale debuted in Mega Man X5 as one of the eight Mavericks on the Stage Select screen. He holds the Hydrogen for the Enigma project, serving as the boss of Deep-Sea Submarine Stage. The game's Japanese manual states he is both the captain of the coast guard and the director of an oceanographic museum, holding dominion over the waters.

While Tidal Whale's attacks don't deal much damage on their own, his ice blocks can easily crush the player against the arena's walls or deadly spikes. Defeating Tidal Whale grants Goo Shaver to X and F-Splasher to Zero. His weakness is the C-Shot or C-Sword from Crescent Grizzly, which stuns him briefly. A boss attack rematch with Tidal Whale later occurs in Zero Space Stage 4: Birth.

Other Game Appearances

• In Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Spike Rosered appears in X Challenge. He is fought alongside Jet Stingray in 5-3 in Volume 1, and with Metal Shark Player in 8-3 in Volume 2.
• In TEPPEN, Tidal Whale appears as a Unit Card.

Other Media

• In the Rockman X5 manhua, Tidal Whale reprises his role from Mega Man X5.
• In the Archie Mega Man comic, Tidal Whale appears in the "Worlds Unite" arc as one of the Mavericks resurrected in Sigma's army. He is referred to as Tidal Makkoeen and is drawn without his correct eyes.

Official Data

Source	Data
Rockman X5 manual Rockman X5 website	In addition to serving as the director of a maritime museum, he is also the captain of a coast guard. Due to his excessive sense of responsibility, he is a bit of a risk-taker and frequently gets into spats with Repliforce. His Goo Shaver moves along surfaces and scrapes the ground.[JP]
Haoh Game Special #188: Rockman X5 Kanzen Kōryaku Guide	...[JP]
Compendium of Rockman X	A whale-shaped Reploid. Although he is huge, he can swim and use blocks of ice to attack the player. Despite his few attack patterns, beware the spikes on the right wall of the arena.[JP]
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 Gallery	Whale is both the curator of an oceanographic museum and captain of a maritime security force. Never one to back off from a crisis, his tendency to blunder into dangerous situations without a second thought often gets him into disputes with Repliforce's navy. His Gel Shaver[sic] weapon tears along flat surfaces, literally shaving away anything in its path.

Behind the Scenes

Developer Commentary

"This is a boss that got vetoed from X4. He got nixed because it was difficult to anthropomorphize a whale. If he wasn't humanoid to some extent, he wouldn't look boss-like. I actually wanted to make him about as large as Walrus, but he ended up rather compact." - (Developer Comments)

"No matter how you tinker with a whale, it still looks like a whale, so I finished this one up comparatively easily. It's a bit of a shock, though, that even though he's a whale, he's smaller than a sea lion (Frost Walrus). While this guy was being developed, he got impossibly strong once his health had decreased. It almost made me cry." - (SEITO, Designer Comments)

"Whale, Pegasus, and Dinorex were designed by Higurashi. They are simple yet refined, without a lot of unnecessary parts. Maybe it's just because I've been working on robots for so long, but my designs always seem to end up more cumbersome (laugh)." - (Haruki Suetsugu)

Nomenclature

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	Tidal Makkoeen (タイダル・マッコイーン)	"Makkoeen" is derived from "makkō kujira" (抹香鯨), the Japanese term for sperm whale.
English	Tidal Whale / Duff McWhalen	"Duff McWhalen", his name in the initial English release of Mega Man X5, was inspired by Duff McKagan, the bassist of the rock band Guns N' Roses. In the game's Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 re-release, his name was changed to "Tidal Whale" to better reflect his original Japanese name.

Trivia

• While Tidal Whale's Japanese name indicates that he is based on a sperm whale, the lines on the bottom of his jaw are more indicative of the folds along the underside of a blue whale instead.