Lord Wily

In the Battle Network series, Wily is a robotics expert who was previously the best friend and prime competitor of Dr. Tadashi Hikari's research into computer networks. The two were often in direct conflict, as they battled over the rights to various government projects. Wily's research, however, was pushed aside in favour of Hikari's vision of internet expansion, prompting the scientist to pursue a life of crime through the use of the viruses and NetNavis created from his hated rival's technology, with his ultimate goal being the destruction of Net society. In the first game, Wily forms the NetCrime syndicate World Three (WWW) to cause havoc in the cyberworld, and unleashes the Life Virus (Dream Virus) by combining four elemental programs, with the intent of hacking military networks around the world to launch missiles. His plans are foiled by Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE, who destroy the virus in the knick of time.

In MegaMan Battle Network 2, Wily resurfaces as the true mastermind behind the NetMafia, Gospel, manipulating a vulnerable child named Sean Obihiro(Shun Obihiro) to do his bidding. Together, they attempt to forge a copy of Bass.EXE, but end up accidentally creating the Gospel virus-beast instead. Again, Lan and MegaMan defeat Wily (not seen in the game), and it would not be until MegaMan Battle Network 3 that he returned. At that time, he reforms World Three and sets his sights on awakening the prototype internet Alpha. He is successful, but is himself consumed by Alpha, and later rescued by authorities.

In MegaMan Battle Network 6, Wily resurrects WWW for the third time, capturing the Cybeasts (Cyber Beasts) Gregar (Glaga) and Falzar (Falzer), and placing them into giant Copybots (Copyroids). He employs Iris, Colonel's younger sister, as means of controlling them to bring chaos to the real world. Lan, MegaMan, Colonel, and Iris band together to oppose Wily, and the scientist ultimately decides to give up his dream of destroying the Net after seeing Colonel and Iris sacrifice themselves to destroy one of the Cybeasts. Despite being caught in the explosion of his headquarters, Wily survives, and resolves to working alongside Lan's father over the course of the next twenty years.

Personality

• Wily is a truly devoted villain, like any of his incarnations in the Mega Man franchise (except for Mega Man Legends). He is driven by madness, greed, and rage from his failure to defeat Mega Man and (indirectly) Dr. Hikari, who he hates. This insanity seems to grow more violent over time, as his plots become more haphazard, and his regards to the sanctity of life drift away completely. He is, however, overly persistent, able to walk away from any setback and start anew.
• In the endings of Mega Man Battle Network 5, Wily approaches his wayward son Dr. Regal and tells him that he was not the greatest father he could have been, erasing his memory of the past ten years. He mentions that he would never use the SoulNet like Regal had to take over the minds of others, proving that he is not entirely evil.
• At the end of Battle Network 6, Wily has seemingly given up his former life. He cooperates with the authorities interrogating him in the aftermath of the Cybeast incident, and even sends Lan a letter of thanks for showing him the error of his ways. In the series' epilogue, it's revealed that he also created new Colonel and Iris programs designed to help in peacefully maintaining the Net.