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| “ | I'll keep on fighting for peace for both humans and robots! | „ |
| ~ Mega Man, Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters |
| “ | No, you're wrong! I only fight when I am forced to protect the world from those who would pit machines against man. I believe humans and robots can live in peace! | „ |
| ~ Mega Man to Sunstar, Mega Man V |
Mega Man, also known as Rockman in Japan, is the titular main protagonist of the Mega Man franchise. He is also known as Mega or Rock in his original form. He serves as one of the mascots for Capcom (the other mascots are Ryu and Morrigan).
The pixel art for Mega Man was created by the designer of the original game in the series, Akira Kitamura (credited under the pseudonym "A.K"), and later turned into a refined illustration by Keiji Inafune. Since then, he has become one of the company's primary original characters and continues to be one of the video game industry's most recognizable icons. Having appeared on many gaming systems since the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mega Man has had a wide gaming audience, and his games continue to evolve with the ever-changing hardware demands of modern gaming systems. Mega Man's fictional universe can be divided into seven categories, each featuring different variations and incarnations of the same robotic boy hero. Although "Mega Man," or "Rockman," is usually the name used to describe only the original Mega Man from the classic series, it can also be used less specifically to describe the Mega Man series of fictional works, or the group of adherently named main characters within.
Several spin-off series have emerged over the past few years, each one continuing the Mega Man mythos in some unique way, including but not limited to Mega Man X, Mega Man Legends, and Mega Man Battle Network. A resulting animated series was also produced originally in the United States as well as a number of toys, comics, and collectibles available both in and outside of Japan.
Mega Man's role in the original story is to battle the mad scientist Dr. Wily and his ever-growing army of robots, and stop them from taking over the planet by using their own special abilities against them. Utilizing his special Mega Buster arm cannon, and his ability to copy a defeated robot's special weapon, Mega Man must travel the world and traverse harsh environments in order to bring Wily's menace to an end. With the help of his creator Dr. Thomas Light and his assorted robotic companions, Mega Man's eventual goal is to one day achieve "everlasting peace".
Conception and design
Although originally the names "Battle Kid", "Mighty Kid", "Knuckle Kid", "Rainbow Warrior Miracle Kid" and "The Battle Rainbow Rockman" were proposed, Capcom eventually settled on "Rockman" as Mega Man's Japanese moniker. The word "Rock" in Rockman is a reference to the music genre rock and roll, and is meant to work in tandem with his "sister" robot, Roll. Such music-themed naming conventions are present in a number of Keiji Inafune's other character designs, such as Blues. In addition, the original Mega Man titles intentionally incorporated a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" game play mechanic into defeating certain enemies. In parts of the English speaking world, some people call Mega Man "The Blue Bomber" because of his blue armor and high fighting capabilities.
Other Media
Mega Man Classic
His most notable appearances have been within his own self-titled games, beginning with Rockman for the Nintendo Famicom in 1987. This, and all future Mega Man games released in North America and Europe, would bear the title "Mega Man" due to Capcom USA's senior vice president, Joseph Morici, deciding to change the name.
Nearly all of the classic series Mega Man titles have been two-dimensional side-scrollers involving horizontal movement through various levels. This mechanic persists even on titles developed for high performance platforms, such as the Sony PSP release of Mega Man Powered Up, which features 3D graphics, yet movement to both the background and foreground is restricted. The main series on both the NES and Nintendo Game Boy would follow this formulaic approach in the design of every game developed on those systems, and set the standard for all platformer Mega Man games to come. Mega Man himself has evolved very little cosmetically since his initial release, but has often been given new techniques in each game. The Mega Buster, for instance, which was introduced in Mega Man 4, allowed him to charge up a shot. The slide was introduced in Mega Man 3. It was these which were used in order to help him exceed any new challenges added by the programmers.
Capcom, regarding Mega Man as a versatile character, has placed him in several different gaming situations outside of his usual series. He has since been seen as a sports star in the Super Nintendo game Mega Man's Soccer, a race car driver in Mega Man: Battle & Chase, and a board game piece in Wily and Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise. A limited release arcade fighting game series containing Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters pitted Mega Man against several boss characters from his original series.
Though Capcom owns the rights to all Mega Man games and has been responsible for the development of all of his console titles, it has in the past licensed the Mega Man character to other companies for PC releases. Mega Man and Mega Man III (with no relation to the NES games of the same name) were developed by the US-based Hi-Tech Expressions, the Mega Man game published on the Game Gear by Sega, and Rockman Strategy was developed and released exclusively in China by AcerTWP. Neither title has since been regarded by Capcom as an official Mega Man series game.
Other games
Mega Man has made appearances in several game projects outside of his original series. He appears as a playable character in the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting game series alongside other prominent characters such as Ryu, Strider Hiryu, and Captain Commando. He has also been featured in the 3D shooter Cannon Spike and the card game simulator SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash, and its sequels Card Fighters 2: Expand Edition and Card Fighters DS. Mega Man is a playable character and newcomer in Nintendo's game, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Wii U and Ultimante.
Non-playable cameo appearances by Mega Man occur most often in other Capcom licensed games, and he is often seen as a background character. Such appearances include Capcom World 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix, Mighty Final Fight, Power Stone 2, Mega Man Legends 2 and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne.
Mega Man also appears on a poster in the Days of Future Past stage in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 along with other cast members that were in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, with all but Mega Man with the label of either "Apprehended" or "Slain", which is also homage to the Marvel Comics Uncanny X-Men storyline "Days of Future Past". He also appears in Nova's ending as part of the new Mega Nova Corps along with Proto Man, Beat, Roll and Zero as well as Thor's ending which was redone to include him along with Ryu and Darkstalkers Morrigan Aensland. His other appearance in the game is that of a card in the free DLC mode, "Heroes and Heralds", as an "S Rank" card who's primary ability is halving the time used to charge attacks for characters with his secondary ability increasing the chance to gain rare cards of characters belonging to Capcom.
He also has a cameo appearance in Roll's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars, standing with Dr. Light as they watch the robots Roll reprogrammed follow her.
Other media
TV series
His first animated appearance was as a main character in the 1989 series Captain N: The Game Master, which features a myriad of characters that had appeared on Nintendo consoles up until that time. They all aid the title character, Captain N, in his quest to save the world of Videoland, encountering many villains, including Mega Man's own enemy Dr. Wily. Mega Man is green and is voiced in this series by Doug Parker. His character also has a speech impediment and a tendency to add the word "mega" in front of words for emphasis.
A three-episode Japanese anime OVA titled Rockman was produced in 1993 in an attempt to help spread information on Japanese culture. In it, Mega Man crosses paths with his adversary, Dr. Wily, while learning various facts about Japanese society, and receiving occasional help from Proto Man.
He also appeared as the main character of the animated Mega Man TV series created by Ruby-Spears, where he looks and acts more like a teenager than a kid. He is voiced by Ian James Corlett.
Comics & Manga
Mega Man appears in several manga from the series, including, but not limited to, the manga Mega Man Megamix, Rockman Remix, Rockman Gigamix, Rockman, Rockman World, Rockman: Blues' Resurrection, Rockman 8, Rockman & Forte, Rockman 4Koma Great March and Rockman Battle & Chase. Mega Man also appears in the comics Mega Man (from Dreamwave Productions), Novas Aventuras de Megaman and in Archie Comics' Mega Man series.
Appearance
Outside of his armor Mega Man appears as a ten year-old boy with spikey hair, the color of which varies between games. His armor however resembles that of most other Robot Masters in that it's a skin-tight bodysuit with large rounded coverings on the lower arms and legs, and typical 'superhero briefs'. Mega Man's primary color is cyan with a blue 'trim' (his arms, legs, helmet and 'briefs'). His helmet has a raised cyan square in the forehead and a light blue ridge running straight back from the square. His helmet also features round grey sections with red in the center over his ears, likely his receivers.
Something unique to Rock alone amongst his future and alternate counterparts, is that he's the only Mega Man with blue eyes, while most of the others have green ones (or brown in the case of Geo and red in the case of Copy X).
Abilities
Mega Man appears to possess superhuman speed, strength, reflexes, and durability which is exhibited in most games in the series. Two of his most notable abilities are his Buster Cannon, which mainly shoots compressed plasma projectiles, and his Weapon Copy skill derived from his old ability to learn how a tool is used simply by seeing it in action before he was "upgraded" to a fighting robot. In the fan game "Street Fighter X Megaman" Mega Man was able to copy the powers and abilities of organics. This is called "Power Replication". This ability allows him to gain skills from enemies he has defeated, and in the cartoon, he can copy the powers of robot masters by just touching them. Later games introduced specialized abilities in addition to the Mega Buster, such as the Mega Upper, which appeared in Mega Man: The Power Fighters. This move allows Mega Man to focus his great strength into an uppercut which can topple even the largest robots.
- In Mega Man 6, "adapters" were introduced that allowed Mega Man to fuse with other robots, mainly the character Rush: the "Jet Adapter" allows Mega Man to fuse with Rush and become "Jet Mega Man" and, in this form, Mega Man is equipped with the "Jet Booster," which allows him to hover for short periods of time. The other adapter, dubbed the "Power Adapter," allows Mega Man and Rush to fuse and become "Power Mega Man". In this form, Mega Man is equipped with the "Super Knuckle", a powerful short-range attack that knocks back foes and breaks blocks. However, both of these adapters place specific limitations on Mega Man's abilities at the same time as granting him new skills. The "Super Adapter" introduced in Mega Man 7 allowed the creation of "Super Mega Man". This form basically combines the other two adapters, giving him both abilities.
- The final adapter, the "Hyper Mega Man Adapter" functioned as a hyper move in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Mega Man combines with the three characters Rush, Eddie, and Beat to become Hyper Mega Man, where he grows in size and extends wings and a rocket pack from his back. He will then use a powerful blast from his arm cannon with rockets coming from his shoulders, boots, torso and back as well.
- Mega Man has also exhibited the ability to teleport, though usually into or out of a level during gameplay, as a streak of light colored the same as the character.
- The Mega Arm was introduced in Mega Man V. Mega Man can charge and fire his forearms at his enemies. His fist will then return to Mega Man's arm. Using the MH and CL adaptors, the Mega Arm can be used to grab items from a distance and to rapidly and repeatedly strike an enemy.
- In Mega Man 7s hidden two-player battle mode, Mega Man can execute a rising cutter attack and slide attack. These attacks, however, are not powerful as the rising kick attack and air dash attack performed by Bass.
Weaknesses
While Mega Man has no special weaknesses, certain environment-related traps can cause him to explode. For example, two distinct types of spike traps can automatically kill Mega Man. The first type are constructed of spikes sharpened at the molecular level, and therefore able to instantly penetrate any material. The second type are spikes charged with massive quantities of energy and that instantly impart the entirety of that energy to anything that touches them. Both trap types are extremely expensive to produce. Regardless, Mega Man can protect himself from either trap type by equipping Shock Guard barriers. Spikes outside of these types merely inflict damage, rather than instant destruction.
Also, lava/magma can sometimes cause Mega Man to explode. However, in some cases (such as projectiles), magma will only harm Mega Man.
In the original Mega Man game, Mega Man may have been designed to fit in with the weakness order, as he takes 10 units of damage from both the Ice Slasher and Thunder Beam. Mega Man takes far less damage from these weapons in the PSP remake, Mega Man Powered Up.
Pitfalls also cause Mega Man to die upon falling in.
Personality
Mega Man's personality seems to stem from his creator, Dr. Light, whose intention may have been to design Rock based on his own interpretation of a real boy as if it were his very own son. Rock, who would later be upgraded into the fighting robot known as Mega Man, demonstrates a wide range of emotions, similar to that of a prepubescent boy, not typical of other robots, thus making him unique.
Mega Man's primarily extremely courageous and just, choosing to become Mega Man and face the threat Wily posed because he wanted to help and do the right thing. This said he's also a pacifist and in the Mega Man Powered Up pre-boss cutscenes he always tried to find an alternative to violence. This trait was also, to a degree, shown in Mega Man 8 where he questioned Bass as to why they must fight. Along with these traits he's also kind, generous and polite.
However Wily's frequent false repentances have become a constant frustration to Mega Man who appears to developing less patience with him, but nonetheless assists him when he becomes ill in Mega Man 10.
Data
Statistics
Year of creation: 200X (20XX in Mega Man Powered Up) A.I. age: Around 10 years old Height: 132 cm (4'4") Weight: 105 kg (230 lbs) Energy: Solar energy Material: Ceramic titanium alloy Maximum output: 1500PS/1200rpm Maximum torque: 220 kg-m/8500rpm
Mega Man has a solar energy intake above his head and a compact, supercomputer brain. His body has a solar-pile reactor developed by Dr. Light, an EPROM and the circuit board. His body armor is constructed of a unique, flexible, ceramic titanium alloy that bends under severe impacts then retains its shape, rather than breaking or shattering. His legs have suspension and air pressure pumps below the feet that help in his jumps and cushion his landings, even from great heights. He has magnetic joints.
Mega Man: Battle & Chase
Vehicle: Rush Roadstar (renamed "Rush Roadster" in Mega Man ZX) Body: Rush Body Engine: Twin Engine Wing: Starter Wing Tire: All-Around Tire
Trivia
- He is the first Mega Man robot and the second robot created by Dr. Light of the Mega Man series.
- Being the first, Mega Man's design was decided to be the analogue and template for other characters in the series that would bear the name. Notably, what would originally be the first character to succeed Mega Man, had a radically different design, before the developers decided on another, more similar design completely.
- In Japan, Rockman and Roll's names are a pun of Rock 'n Roll. This pun was lost in most English versions.
- The Japanese name "Rock" (Mega Man's original name) was not Americanized until Mega Man Powered Up, when it was changed to "Mega". This change has since been retconned, however, as evidenced by the U.S. Mega Man 9 site which uses the name "Rock". However, he was referred to as "Mega" numerous times throughout Mega Man 11.
- Mega Man appears as Rock (in his human-looking form) in only six games: Mega Man, Mega Man 4, Mega Man V (Game Boy), Mega Man's Soccer and Mega Man Powered Up, being playable as Rock in the latter, where he uses a "Mega Kick" instead of an arm cannon, and Mega Man 11'.
- Of the various "Mega Men", classic series Rockman is the only one with blue eyes. All other characters to bear the name "Mega Man" have green eyes. Curiously in the PSP remake Mega Man Powered Up his eye color is changed to green (though the artwork for the game shows him with blue eyes). In the Mega Man Megamix illustrations, his eye color is also depicted as green.
- In Mega Man Star Force 2, if one has the event '1stMegaMan' brother data his secret is that he obtains his energy from the sun.
- Also in the final Club Capcom magazine there was an Ask Dr. Light bit in which he said regarding the robot master energy systems that many of them do utilize “solar energy” in some way and that Mega Man’s charge shot discharges condensed solar energy.
- Spiritia Rosenberg, a character from the Japanese doujin soft series, Rosenkreuzstilette, is based on Mega Man.
- In The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, in one of the houses in the first level, one of the Servbots will turn on a TV showing the 8 bit Mega Man running while the stage selected theme plays.
- In Artix Entertainment's AdventureQuest Worlds MMORPG, one of the randomly-generated regular monsters is a robot called MegaDude, who is a reference to Mega Man, based on his appearance and blaster attack.
- Early concept art for Mega Man X: Command Mission shows that Mega Man (and Cut Man) may have been planned to appear in the game.
- Mega Man made a one-time appearance in a German Super Mario comic book, where he and Dr. Light were helping Mario catch Wario who had recently committed a robbery.
- Mega Man made an appearance in the Cartoon Network show, MAD in the skit "Gaming's Next Top Princess", where he is one of the judges alongside Mario and another person. However, his appearance is slightly different outside of the animation style, he is shown with a buster set on the left hand at all times, and like 'Mega Man?' from Powered Up, the grey square on his helmet is a triangle, and he has brown eyes instead of blue. *He also appeared in another skit ("MAD's Guide to Video Game Cheats") where he beats Strike Man by doing a code which makes cats fall from the sky.
See also
- Mighty No. 9, the spiritual successor to Mega Man.
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