Knives
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- "Hehehe! The name's Knives, and I'm your biggest fan, Zero!! I've been watching you this whole time, you know! And, Zero, I already know that we're destined to meet each other for real..."
- ―Knives, Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero
Knives is a secret character who appears in Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero as the central focus of a postgame sidequest. Supposedly from the southern United States, she is a young, unhinged woman with an obsessive crush on Zero, and subscribes to a number of conspiracy theories. She is also supposedly indestructible and a possible criminal, but neither of these have been explicitly confirmed.
Knives Sidequest
Initially, the only clue to Knives's existence is a note in the bottom level of Chateau Chevaleresque after clearing Null and Void, asking Zero to find her number. This number is nowhere to be found in-game, and was secretly given to players through pre-release tweets on the official MaGMML Twitter account. Once the number is called on the Z-Phone, she requests that Zero search for "the perfect dating spot" for the two of them, promising a way to make him stronger if he does so. Her number is also added to the Z-Phone's contact list, making it more convenient to call her. However, her number will not work if Null and Void hasn't been cleared.
To complete the sidequest, Zero must find a specific spot (usually 32 x 32 pixels big) in every level in the game (except Mega City and Dr. Wily's Secret Bunker) and call Knives while in said spot; otherwise, she will not respond. There is nothing to indicate a spot's location, necessitating trial and error, but generally they are in hard to reach areas. No matter what level Zero calls her in, however, she invariably finds a reason to reject it and orders him to find somewhere else. If Knives is called from an already discovered spot, she admonishes Zero for it, preventing a repeat of her original call.
Once every spot has been discovered and tried, Knives asks Zero to meet her in-person in Mega City, where she can be found as an NPC. Once talked to, she gives the player a code to enter after selecting a save file, before Zero teleports away and sends her into a fit of rage so powerful it shuts down the game. Knives disappears from Mega City at this point, and calling her results in her cursing Zero angrily; this also means that if the player hasn't remembered the code, they have no way of relearning it.
The code she gives allows the player to unlock Fake Zero on any save file, though completing the sidequest isn't necessary for it to work. The code will also unlock Black Zero if the last input is changed from Up to Down.
Gallery
Concept art by Cruise Elroy
Full-body concept art by Spin Attaxx, based on Knives's in-game sprite
Trivia
- The Knives sidequest was designed to be a postgame sidequest worse than Make a Good Mega Man Level 2's Green Star Mode, with player collaboration being a necessary component in completing it.
- The sidequest itself is based heavily on the Dropped Item sidequest from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. Like the Knives sidequest, it involves the player standing in specific locations found through trial and error multiple times and making calls to an implied love interest character. Knives's number, 0623, references the games' Japanese release date (June 23, 2012).
- While her age is never stated anywhere in-game, SnoruntPyro has stated that Knives is supposed to be an adult.
- Despite her name, she is not a reference to Knives Chau from the Scott Pilgrim series, nor was she inspired by the character.
