Armored Core Lore: Nine-Ball 

"The Crimson Legend who seems to have passed through time and space" seems to be true, because Nine-Ball show up in another game "Another Century's Episode R" where many mecha universe characters get throw to another universe fighting each other.

You know the funny thing is that in Another Century's Episode R Nine-Ball Seraph has to literally be jumped by three other mechs many of whom are armed to the teeth with specialty weapons to defeat it yet Seraph not only is the strongest unit in the entire game it is implied that the Hustler One A.I. was not inside of it at the time.

Ah the infamous Nine-ball, the feared crimson legend that passed through time and space. The Char Aznable of Armored Core. This opponent is a nightmare to fight as it's attacks are brutal if you're not too careful and the fact it turned out to be a AI is a surprise which make sense as a second Nine-ball showed up after dealing with the first one and it's true intention is to guide humanity. This is a legend that will forever live on as the crimson legend that many feared to face unless you're fully ready to face it head on.

I've always justified 9ball popping up constantly as a sign the ai is still somewhere in the background. It seems almost like a benevolent skynet, and may well be distributed across the earth, even in places deep enough to survive humanity's repeated attempts to destroy the planet.

Call it coincidence. This guy didn't just appear in Another Age. This guy also appeared in Another Century. that itself is terrifying in context.

Also notable: Nineball Seraph appears as a boss and unlockable playable unit in Another Century's Episode: R, the only Armored Core unit to have appeared in any of Banpresto's mecha crossover properties. It really *has* transcended time and space.

I may have a limited knowledge of the entire Armored Core Series, but I feel like Nine-Ball is pretty intimidating, not only because of its skills as an AC, but the idea that there’s a distinct possibility that the AI is still alive and operational despite the games’ eras and timelines. It’s kinda like an AI that never lost its purpose. It may no longer be in control of humanity, but it still has its mission.

Speaking of a world-governing AI, I cannot wait until you discuss about the Controller, or DOVE. I have a theory that it did not malfunction at all, and was in fact was trying to hinder the corporations: it had already determined that the surface was habitable, but did not want the corporations to spill to the outside world with their near complete influence over the average citizens of the Layered, and possibly start another Great Destruction. The Controller’s primary directive is to ensure the survival of humanity after all.

I've waited long for this day

I like the theory that all the Armored Core games are in the same canon, it's just that the world keeps getting fucked so hard that everyone just keeps forgetting the previous game, so I like to think that Nine Ball keeps getting resurrected so it's basically the same one throughout the series.

Man I miss original universe AC. A quirk exclusive to the Nine-ball AC is that, though the pulse rifle he uses is available to the player, his version fires much faster and in bursts, making it a dps monster. This was carried over to Another Age as well. Speaking of which, during the loading screen of the Eliminate AC mission, the mission nickname is seen as "Hustler-One".

Oh my God it's finally here.

Without a shadow of doubt the best villain in the entire series. Genuinely a very understandable villain despite being an AI, humans are inherently self destructive, and we see that especially throughout the entirety of the series and in real life. It’s logical, yet cruel to limit humanities freedom for its safety, and it’s illogical but understandable why Leos destroyed it for revenge. Great villain. I wonder though if Hustler One gets Human Plus benefits automatically by being an AI. Every AI AC in the series with exception of a non-canon one in MoA has Human Plus/OP-I

All these years of playing nearly AC games, I never dived into the lore on what was going on in these games story wise. All I was focusing on being a better pilot than the previous mission, and destroying everything that got in my way. I don't because I was too young or what, but man...you really make me want to fire up those classic titles to come up with my own theories if there is still room for newcomers in terms of philosophies. Thanks for providing us old ravens content that recharges my AP. Keep it up!

Ac fans foes that will haunt with its "Target verified,commencing hostilities!!" and its theme,it even so well known in mech genre that it make its way to another game in Anoter century episode:R.

It makes me happy that there are still so many people showing their love for the armored core games. Thank you for helping to keep it alive with these lore videos.

Imagined if From drops a DLC for AC6 that features a mysterious red AC.

I hope in the new AC game is added in again. If not as something for the main story, something as DLC at least. And if they add him in I hope they make him hard as hell to put the terror into newer players.

The face of armored core's antagonist.

Nine ball seraph in another age is a bully, can't utilize air combat ac without getting multi vertical missile.

I know not all AC games have connected storylines (some even take place in their own separate universe) but I hope nine-ball makes some sort of a comeback in AC6. He is too iconic for the series to not be included. I'd be fine even if it was just a cameo. Maybe it managed to hack into an AC garage and build itself a NEXT. Or maybe it's trying to rebuild its AI mainframe somewhere and you'll have to fight off against legions of Gen 1 nine-balls guarding it.

We're going to need Hustler One and ALLMIND to duke it out so we can find out who the best A.I. is

Nice! The AC name "Nineball" is to catchy to forget. Especially if he massacred the player many times. I fought him with multiple setups before beating him. Thank goodness Karasawa is a thing. Hahaha~

another century can choose many mech as boss and they choose nineball

Well actually, in Brave New World it's just the craft, a shell. The one piloting it is called "The Black Unknown", and it also created the Lahire and Alicia ACS as "Next Gen Prototype" ACs.

I want Nine Ball to appear in Armored Core 6 so bad. Like as a secret boss or something. Just so the people who thought Malenia was hard would get floored at what a real boss has to offer. Plus, it would mean Nine Ball continues to do its work all the way out in Rubicon. That would just thicken the plot further.

I love the final mision of master of arena, great work on the video, love it too.

Nine-Ball is the Goro Majima of Armored Core

I need to find that artbook or manual for AC. I'm shocked there was artwork of characters for it.

Imagine playing Armored Core VI and you hear the voice line "Target verified. Commencing hostilities"

You did this wonderfully! I never played master of arena so i learned so much about the mythical Nine Ball. Please keep it up. Love the content

This AC was legendary, extremely tough and brutal, needed to have the special part you get from a sequence of actions in the first game.

Ah shit to me this just means allmind was the voice in handler Walter's head in AC 6 as well as he piloted a crimson AC with features similar to NINE BREAKER 9 ball. Not to mention his AC was an old gen lostech AC as well. I love this callback ngl. Not to mention how allmind was actually Sus straight from the beginning with Carla already questioning what is the arena system is when we first fight her in the arena. Carla as well being a survivor of fire of ibis implying she has live nearly thousand years and never heard of such a system.

Best character ever!

I would like to state that the original idea for 9 ball appearing in the unknown weapons facility that would later be come to known as the internecine is that it was revealed in an interview with one of the developers the old weapon facility was actually meant to be the original h1ai but you didn't hear that from me 🤔 It was so eerie encountering a random 9-ball unit in another age the loading screen kind of gives it away but still though shock Factor

Some will say "you can't have your cake and eat it too" but this my cake I'm eating like a Ai attempting to protect Humanity by all means necessary. Loving first gen lore can't wait to see 3rd gen at some too 👀

Exusia from ACV and Verdict Day reminds me of Nine Ball Seraph, and Chief’s role in ACV is eerily similar to that of the A.I. behind Hustler One. Do you think that’s what the devs of the last two games were referencing?

My favorite mecha of all time but there's a lot of units that really stand out as well like 03-AALIYAH, IBIS, White Glint, N-WGIX/v and many more to mention. I've beaten this Crimson Nightmare in AC MoA without the aid of Human Plus enhancement. That's the most satisfying moment for me as a kid at the time and gamer.

The goat

The thing about Nine-Ball's identity is that it lends itself well to impersonation as well. Nine Ball COULD be multiples of the same ai mass produced, or it could just as easily be a completely different project by another entity who wanted to invoke the name from a story they heard, a defunct project, or a historical record they found somewhere. It could be scavenged remnants of the original ai, or something completely unrelated to H-1, because so little is known about it or the Raven who destroyed it.

I cant believe this man forgot the ever illustrious Hustler 2 the pilot of the ac named eightball 😭

Welp now i wait for my ps3 to arrive and Armored Core For Answer to finally get back into the groove of things and have fun with it

I think it's cool how this series has progressed over time. Even if they aren't strictly in the same timeline, the absolute terror of Nineball in the early games contrasted with Freud's dismissive "AI controlled ACs are all the same" implying not only is such a thing common this far in the future, but has become utterly banal and very skilled human pilots have probably developed a style of combat to exploit their quirks, akin to anti-computer chess. Edit: another cool series thematic/visual evolution related to Nineball I noticed a while back is the progression from Nineball Seraph to IBIS from silent line to CEL-240 Ibis. IBIS had wing shaped funnel container things evocative of Nineball Seraph's wings, and CEL-240 looks radically different, but keeps the wing shaped funnel containter thingies and the name basically solidifies the resemblance. Not to mention it has a distinctly six winged looking silhouette, and Seraphim are the angels with six wings.

Never played those games, but I had heard of Nine-Ball alright

"heard you've been lookin for me"

Great video!

The funniest thing is. In the latest game the greatest pilot possible according to it v 1 freud made the claim that ai controlled Weapons platforms due to their programming made them predictable and boring. And he's not wrong. Well infuriating. Once you got down the pattern it has no chance. And when I heard those words from v one. I thought back to my fights against nine ball. And I realized he was absolutely correct.

I assumed the AC series were all part of the same world and timeline, just separated by vast distances and times for the ones that don't seem that way. It could even be explained by timekeeping discrepancies. Maybe they reset their calendar or are on a different calendar for whatever system they are in. Like for AC6 there's nothing that says it isn't just thousands of years and thousands of lightyears away from the events of the other AC games. Speaking of AC6, I find it fitting that the Coral is red and there's an entire motif of the red glint specifically and red in general. Seems like another nod or throwback to the old games.

Sick video. I love you.

It’s finally here!!

this is hype

The legend of legends!

Commence the hostilities...

Amazing work! How did I just now discover this channel?

Armoredcorelore be like: Somehow, Nine-ball returned.

If this thing shows up in 6, I will shit my pants ...o n g o d.

The Myth the Legend It Self Nine Ball

Master of the arena in 2022? Mad respect

In reality is Patches who controls 9-ball

This would be interesting seeing it’s return in the new armored core game.

the figure who built the nine breaker program is JACK-O. he believes that whoever completes the whole program is " THE DOMINANT" and that is also the reason why the training missions in the game were HARD AS F*CK. and another purpose for it is for jack-o to hire skilled pilots for his rebellion in armored core the last raven

Small fact: Nine-Ball is in AC: Nexus Revolution as an easter egg, but only those who know the history will spot it. In the submarine mission, Lana Nielson is the operator for the Raven during that mission.

You didn't go over the weapons and abilities of its units. Still great video though. Thank you.

Hustler1 always looked like a terminator

The controller, where we go it follows through Husler 1 the 9 ball

Loved the video. With all the talk of a new AC game the last couple of years do you want it to be more like ACFA or more like ACVD? Personally I liked the speed of 4th gen more than the slower play of 5th gen

Nexus was my first Armored Core game, so that iteration of 9Ball was my first.

Some say that he appears in other mecha works as a masked figured sporting a red mecha under an alias of a genitalia. He would soon meet his match before sending a colony down unto Earth before fragmenting into pieces with his rival.

I had the assumption about the lost field, that the government in AC1 created Nineball, and in AC2AA they're still secretly developing weapons like Nineball. It makes me think they knew about the lone Nineball unit running around and chose to watch it fight other Ravens, instead of helping. Maybe for potent battle data to improve Nineball's performance. it also makes me wonder after that battle how long the government has been watching the cooperations and *YOU* the raven do things. When the government invites you to explore the lost field, maybe to them it's like a *field test.* They want to see what their new and improved Nineball can do, by defeating (killing) the strongest raven.

R.I.P Nine Ball, The original Ephemera, (F)

Nine-Ball is a beast

*IM STILL, IN ARMORED CORE: NEXUS*

that feel when you Nine the Ball

I know I'm late to the party and not an AC player YET but what if the reason why Nine ball seems to survive in some shape and form it that it had sub AI or something just scattered about and while some who retain their 9 ball origins rebuild using what ever they had or finished their last commands while more advance one become their own personality, some in control of hidden factory's, while others whole bases, and maybe some hidden away in unknown space sora like Rasputin from Destiny would that explain it repeated appearance ? and other similar AI ? like it just had other AI manage things for him so he had more Processing Power for it goal and after he got destroy some continued his last order while other went autonomous and became something other than 9 Ball ?

My boi

Nice video! I didn’t know anybody cared about this legend.

I thought hustler one was a real person in the events before the first game. He then died and to continue using the fear of his prowess corporations brought him back by integrating his ac into the AI. Which is what you deal with in the game. A magazine in japan released a picture of what he looked like when he was human back in the 90s.

If i dump $200 worth of mods into a 1998 honda civic with 250,000 miles will it turn into a nine ball?

The OG Invaded by dark spirit

I came by because of the new game and I wanted to remember the old days

What about that nineball with a Karasawa and two grenade cannons? (also isn't the Seraph-type in a brave new world color scheme black and controlled by a completely different AI.)

I've watched this twice. And this is the third time. I freaking love this video.

Imagine if nine-ball appears in ac6… If not on fires of rubicon itself theres still a possibility for DLC like sequels like they did with previous generations

You forgot to mention nineball also have appearance in last raven known as Code crimson and the Ac named Baby's breath

Do you think we'll ever meet him again on the distant shores of Rubicon?

Nine Ball In Armored Core Fires Of Rubicon

Here's hoping Nineball is piloted by Patches in Fires of Rubicon. Perhaps Walter Patches.

Nineball.... yes... its also to note that AC2 has a callback to AC1 if the EN script is to be believed Leos Klein asks the Raven "What is it that you seek" which is weird considering Leos Klein is the MC of MoA so shouldnt actually know what the protagonist of AC1 actually hears when they encounter the AI that controls Raven's Nest as MoA is a "soft" reboot of AC1 which inturn becomes callbacks probably in AC3 verse and Silent Line to fully destroy the system thats keeping the human race ignorant and underground there are 2 sets of AIs thats running the entire "show" DOVE and IBIS

You a G bro

One thing to consider the name. Hustler One. A Hustler who makes money by fraud and swindling. Nine Ball. In pool/billiards, it is not of any particular importance. In hindsight, his generic-sounding tough guy name was really telling us "don't look at me I'm not what I seem!" Wonder if there are any interesting anagrams.

Apparently the "Nineball" from Nexus is not supposed to be called "Nineball" because the original Japanese version just has the name as "???" and the "Nineball" name that we see in Nexus is just possibly a mistranslation. According to sources it is supposed to be called the "Prototype Pulverizer" which makes much more sense.

Love the video just wish the mission breifing wasn't a whisper

Great video. How did you get the Logo and whats the Color Setup?

Ares is a ninebreaker in ac2

Nine-Ball puts the fear of God into me.

1:11 - 1:14 I started to realized you actually suddenly mumbled XD

I wonder if the earth in AC6 is like it was in these games. Would be intresting if theyw rre all connected and we just gradually get further from earth but still spreading our fucked up combat stuff.

😆 🤣 😆 AC 10 book. I want that.

moonlight video?when?

Not this uploader per se, I don't want to accuse you just because the video is recent, but I find it funny; Armored Core was in a drought for years, no content, everybody was too obsessed with Souls to care or even know that From Software made other games before that AC6 revealed and then suddenly everyone and their mother is getting on the bandwagon pumping out content like they've been hardcore fans of the series the whole time