So where the animal bosses in Mega Man X games evil by nature or did Sigma make them go maverick? Dr. Wily pretty much made all the bosses in the classic Mega Man but it is never truly addressed in the X games. What gives??

>>11839153 (OP)
Going maverick happens naturally. Some of the mavericks happen to follow Sigma and see him as a leader.

>>11839153 (OP)
Depends on the game.
>X1/2: Willingly followed Sigma/the X-Hunters.
>X3: Infected by the Sigma Virus (?) due to Doppler's bogus cure
>X4: Some follow Sigma, most are from Repliforce, who are labeled as Mavericks due to the Sky Lagoon incident
>X5: Pretty much all of them are infected by the Sigma Virus. One of them even turns Maverick in front of X/Zero.
>X6: I believe the Nightmare Investigators were resurrected by Gate and just serve him?
>X7: Sigma infects Red Alert and uses them as hostages to force Red to go to war with the Maverick Hunters
>X8: The new-gens are normally immune to the virus, but Sigma's data ended up in the copy chips, complete with a copy of his mind/ordeals. The new-gens can therefore willingly go maverick

>>11839218
>X6: I believe the Nightmare Investigators were resurrected by Gate and just serve him?
They were all set up to die by the government to discredit and exile Gate, as they thought he was too dangerously radical with his advanced designs and ideas.

>>11839153 (OP)
>Voluntarily followed Sigma: All of the X1 Mavericks (except Eagle), Stag, Crab, Ostrich, Beetle, Dragoon, Mushroom
>Followed Sigma under duress: Eagle
>Brainwashed or infected with a virus: Centipede, Buffalo, Rhino, Catfish, Hornet, Tiger, Peacock, Grizzley, Whale, Kraken, Firefly, Pegasus
>Went Maverick due to a programming or engineering error: Sponge, Crawfish, Rosered
>Labelled as a Maverick by the human government and chose to rebel: Gator, Spider, Walrus, Stingray, Beast, Owl, Dinorex
>Unknown, implied to be built by Serges and/or Sigma and Maverick by default: Moth, Snail
>Totally Unknown: Seahorse
>Violent due to being nihilistic: Necrobat
>Revived by and loyal to Gate: All of the X6 Mavericks
Some of the Mavericks could fall into multiple categories (Pegasus presumably was labelled a Maverick prior to being infected during the events of X4, Wolfang and Sheldon were explicitly labelled as Mavericks and killed prior to X6) but these are the best categories by the time X actually faced them.

>>11839153 (OP)
Additionally, there are robo furries, which are hilarious and take away some of the seriousness the series was supposed to have compared to the classic.