The transparent naming of Mega Man X5's Maverick bosses for the members of Guns N' Roses stood as an unexplained oddity since the game's 2001 release here in North America. (That's Axle the Red above. See? Not subtle.) Now we have an explanation, and it's just as strange.
Claire Redfield did it. No, really. The Resident Evil heroine's voice actress, Alyson Court, was married to Capcom USA's text localization writer at the time. "He asked me 2 do it &, since he was a GnR fan, I changed the names 2b GnR references," Court wrote over Twitter. "I didn't know the game nor did I know how mad fans wld be that Id changed the characters' names. But yrs later ppl now like it!"
Court says that at first her husband (now ex-husband) laughed at the names, but "then when fans started complaining he got mad at me. I meant well."
Alyson Court Talks Mega Man X5 Guns N' Roses References [Rockman Corner via Game Informer]