Maxwell Merlock

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Maxwell Merlock ✔
Overview
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Faction	Evil
Health	Thirty NS (level ten), five GM (level twenty-one)
Level(s)	Ten, twenty-one
Status	Dead
Game(s)	Final Ninja Zero

Maxwell Merlock is the first and final boss and the main antagonist of the game Final Ninja Zero. He is displayed as being insane and broken, shocking Takeshi every time he walks in front of him.

Appearance

Maxwell Merlock is a rather small man, having a brain like head and wearing blue. He is depicted with bulging eyeballs and a laughing mouth.

Game information

History

Pre-Final Ninja Zero

Maxwell Merlock is CEO and creator of Merlock Food Pharma. He became Dr. Victor Boshi's business partner. Boshi created Merlock's giant circular machine, and brain stimulants to operate it, so Merlock could be the super psychic he wanted to be.

Capture

When Takeshi; a Ninja in training sent by Akuma to destroy Merlock and Boshi, entered a lower part of Dr. Boshi's base, Merlock in his machine electrocuted Takeshi and his cyber samurai. He had somehow caused Takeshi to pass out, placing him in a cell. He also confiscates the Samurai Guards that came with Takeshi. With Takeshi in a cell, he believes everything to be okay.

Deal and meeting

He offers a deal to Boshi about his Cheap 'n' Chunky Burger Brand, but this deal is not accepted by Boshi, and deemed insulting. Merlock visited Dr. Boshi's Base, and was asked to meet with Boshi immediately. This planned meeting happened coincidentally when Boshi was attacked by Takeshi, Takeshi who had escaped from his cell with the help of Lady Snow Fox, and traveled through Boshi's base undetected. Boshi, at the sight of Takeshi, ran down the halls of the entrance Merlock would have entered to come see Boshi. Fortunately, Merlock was nearby when Boshi was running, and began a fight with Takeshi, while Boshi presumably ran off to safety.

Battle

Merlock fought Takeshi with his giant machine, and with the aid of two S.W.A.T. units. Takeshi defeated Merlock, heading through an opening on the falling shaft. Takeshi had not killed Merlock, what damage Merlock received not mentioned in the game.

Lockdown

Maxwell, angry and his defeat, placed the entire Base on lockdown and increased the security. After Takeshi had got far in the building, after the increased security by Merlock, Merlock reprogrammed Akuma's tough cyber samurai (which were abducted from Takeshi when he entered the building) to attack Takeshi. Akuma notified Takeshi of this, at the same time Merlock ordered the guards to kill Takeshi. Takeshi slipped through the guard's hands, and escaped them. Merlock set himself up in the second elevator shaft in the building, ambushing and fighting Takeshi again.

Death

Merlock had planned for this second fight, and had added a shield around the cockpit of his craft, making Takeshi's ninja stars impervious to him. Along with the added shield, he also increased the amount of green spheres fired from his machine. Takeshi thought outside of the box, and hacked a nearby supply of green mines, nimbly piloting them through a cluster of bullets and into Merlock's shield. With several of these exploded on Merlock, Merlock's machine exploded and killed him.

In game

Maxwell Merlock is the first and second boss in Final Ninja Zero. He transmits only a few messages in the game, most about talking to Boshi.

Level ten

Fighting Merlock on this level is very easy. There are two blocks with a SWAT unit on each, Maxwell being a bit higher up in the middle of the room. Merlock will fire large clusters of bullets, while the SWAT units will fire at Takeshi. The player should destroy the two SWAT units, then stay on one side of the level and wait to attack when bullets are not near. When the opportune time comes, the player should jump up on the block and fire at Merlock in the machine. This is very easy to do, as Merlock is always stationary. The player can also temporarily stop a green orb by shooting it.

Level twenty-one

This level is set up exactly like level ten. This time, green mines are present, and Merlock is shielded from Ninja Stars. The player has to hack the green mines and pilot them into Merlock, which is incredibly difficult to plan and do, due to the large amount of bullets fired.

Beta appearance

An image of Merlock's beta appearance was discovered on Simon Hunter's website. This image depicted Merlock's machine with cords around the cylindrical structures pointing out, making them look like cannons, and two spheres lined with spikes attached to the upper parts of the craft's cannons. These cut additions may have been added for style, but the obvious conclusion was that more attacks were planned for Merlock but were cut, likely due to the small room the two battles with him take place, which offer very little space for battle with other weapons. Another conclusion is that this was planned for the level twenty-one battle, which featured Merlock using a new attack. Since this image is not present in the files, this variation of the craft was probable made very early on in Final Ninja's development. An image of his face also appeared on Simon Hunter's website.

Gallery

Maxwell ordering the cyber samurai to attack Takeshi

Maxwell Merlock in his machine

The beta sprite of Merlock

Trivia

• After he explodes, if Takeshi dies, it will give the failure message, but when space or "try again" is pressed, the next level will sometimes come anyway. This is similar to a glitch in the game Ice Breaker: The Red Clan.
• In the dialogue after the final battle with him, his name is accidentally spelled "Maxwell Murlock".
• The Battle with Maxwell Merlock is heavily based off the battle with Baron Battenberg of Dirk Valentine. Both characters are inside a giant machine and have to be attacked (Baron Battenberg is in his steam-powered Batter-Berger). Their machine is also upgraded and serves as the final boss of each game. Both final boss battle for both games are not much different from the first battle in the respective game.