NumberMan.EXE

NumberMan.EXE is Higsby's NetNavi and a recurring protagonist in the Mega Man Battle Network series, though he started out as an antagonist.

Mega Man Battle Network
NumberMan.EXE is a recurring character throughout the series, though he is only a villain in this game. He is first introduced as Higsby's NetNavi after Lan and MegaMan make it past his makeshift defenses in the school's security system. Lan and MegaMan confront Higsby and NumberMan directly, defeating them in a battle. NumberMan is initially confident that his rare BattleChips are able to net him a victory, and is heavily blown away at his defeat by Lan and MegaMan. After this moment, he defects from the WWW and swears to never join the side of evil again. He also mentions that he mainly joined the WWW for the rewards of rare BattleChips, which he swears to only obtain morally from now on. Later in the story, he uses his previous WWW membership to help Lan and MegaMan take them down. While he appears in nearly every subsequent game in the series, he is only a villain in this one part of this one game, and is an ally to the protagonists in every subsequent appearance.

Role in the Anime
While he was never affiliated with World Three in the anime as he was in the games, he still made his debut as a villain. In this version, he starts out by challenging Yai and her NetNavi, Glide, to a battle for the chip. At this point, it is not clear that NumberMan is affiliated with Higsby, who is not implicated in this act. At first, NumberMan seems to have the edge in this battle. However, MegaMan and Roll are able to break through these makeshift defenses, discovering that Higsby was behind it all and operated NumberMan. They proceed to defeat NumberMan in this confrontation. Following this incident, he decides to quit teaching and open his own chip shop, much like the games. Also much like the games, he helps the protagonists frequently.