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This article is about the video game series. For the original game, see Mega Man (NES). For the character, see Mega Man (character).

Mega Man (alternatively spelled Megaman, and known as ロックマン Rockman in Japan) is a series of video games from Capcom, usually starring the character Mega Man. The first series, now known by fans as the Mega Man Classic series, began in 1987 and over time has evolved to include several spin offs:

• Mega Man X
• Mega Man Legends
• MegaMan Battle Network
• Mega Man Zero
• Mega Man ZX

Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 Mega Man in other media 2.1 Television appearances 2.2 Comics and manga 3 Quotes 4 Trivia 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Background

Main article: Mega Man (character)

The original Mega Man game was originally intended to be about the Anime character Astro Boy but unfortunately, Capcom was denied the rights. As a replacement, the character of Mega Man was created in 1987 by Keiji Inafune at Capcom of Japan, which was then a small company eager to make a breakthrough with a new platform game.

In the story behind the original series, Rock is a robot created as a lab assistant by the scientist Dr. Thomas Light; following treachery by Dr. Wily, Rock was converted into a fighting robot to defend the world from Wily's violent robotic threats. Thus he becomes Mega Man (Rockman in the Japanese original).

Though all Mega Man games feature unique stories, settings, and characters, they nevertheless share several common features that have made the series one of the most consistent in video game history. Until 1998, all Mega Man games were side scrolling, with 2D maze-like levels. The character controlled by the player was Mega Man himself, who had to fight through these levels using the Mega Buster, a cannon attached to his arm, to shoot the robotic monsters that inhabited his environment. After defeating a Robot Master, the boss of a level, Mega Man would gain the ability to use that Robot Master's special weapon. Each robot master was themed after a specific element or object, for example "Fire Man," "Ice Man," "Stone Man," or "Napalm Man." The weapons Mega Man gains, in turn would share the theme of whomever it was he had just defeated. Levels can generally be completed in any order, and as a result determining the best strategic use of different weapons in different levels is one of the hallmarks of the series. Each new Mega Man game would contain new enemies, as well as familiar ones, new bosses (and thus weapons), and new gadgets. Enemies would have weaknesses to certain weapons: for example, Iceman's weapon is powerful against Fireman. This creates a prefered order of stage completion. After all 8 bosses are defeated, Megaman travels to Wily's castle, and after fighting past clones of the 8 bosses, confronts Wily, usually in his flying saucer.

Each series has a different take on this basic formula. In the Mega Man X series, the characters grow in abilities and power as the game progresses; in the Mega Man Zero series weapons are no longer copied, but abilities and enhancements can be collected throughout the levels. Mega Man Legends brings the gameplay into 3D and is an action adventure with role-playing game elements, and MegaMan Battle Network (whose spelling does not include a space) is an action RPG. While each series plays very differently, their roots in the classic Mega Man series are unmistakable.

The timeline for the series and its spinoffs is somewhat complicated. According to Rockman Perfect Memories:

• Mega Man Classic takes place from 200X to 20XX,
• Mega Man X begins from 21XX to possibly 22XX afterwards,
• Mega Man Zero is set an additional century after the X series ends, and
• Mega Man Legends takes place several thousand years after the Zero series but the exact time is unknown.

MegaMan Battle Network is not included in this timeline and seems to be an alternate universe retelling of the original series. It claims to be set in 200X. However, it is theorized that it is, infact, a "what if" to the classic series, in which in place of robotics, technology went in favor of computer programs and cyberspace.

Mega Man's designer, Keiji Inafune, decided to name him Rockman based on rock and roll (hence, the reason his sister is named "Roll"). He also has been quoted to find the name "Megaman" laughable and cacophonic.

Some other names considered for the series include Knuckle Kid, Mighty Kid, and Rainbow Senshi Miracle Kid. Mega Man is also known as the "Blue Bomber" among fans.

Capcom had recently announced a new Mega Man game called Mega Man ZX, it is unknown at this time if it takes place between Mega Man Zero and Mega Man Legends.

Mega Man in other media

Television appearances

Mega Man starred in a Saturday-morning style cartoon that premiered in 1995. The show was made by animating company Ruby-Spears, which radically redesigned the characters from the Mega Man video games. The show was cancelled during production of its third season, much to the delight of some older Mega Man fans, with only one episode from season 3 completed. The series was targeted towards a young audience. It is noteworthy, however, that Mega Man X made a guest appearance during the second season.

The pilot episode of the cartoon featured an anime-like style that far more closely resembled the canon character designs; this episode and two others like it were released in Japan as OVAs. The three OVAs are now available in English as Mega Man: Upon a Star.

Characters loosely based on Mega Man, his robotic dog Rush, and mentor Dr. Light appeared in the cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master in the United States. Dr. Wily was a villain in the same series. Since the show was produced by DiC Entertainment, the characters, depicted as midgets, bore little to no resemblance to their video game counterparts, although Wily looked somewhat like his NES sprites. Confusingly, whenever the Robot Masters made an appearance, they were depicted to be as tall as the show's titular character. The franchise's first three games were adapted as episodes of the series.

There is also a long-running anime based on the Battle Network/EXE series. The first series was simply called Rockman.EXE. The series is loosely based on the first two games, but also includes elements introduced in the third game (e.g. the "N1 Grand Prix" and the new PET design).

The second series, Rockman.EXE Axess, is also not directly based on any of the games but contains elements of the fourth game in the series. The third Rockman.EXE Stream , continues the tradition of not directly following the plot of the games. A new season was annouced in Japan: Rockman.EXE Beast. In this one, a new PET called Link PET is introduced. The general plot is still to come. A heavily edited version of the anime airs in the United States and Canada, where it is called MegaMan NT Warrior and MegaMan NT Warrior Axess. A Rockman.EXE movie, Bequeathed Program of Light and Darkness, is also a part of the anime series, taking place in the middle of Rockman.EXE Stream, and containing a plot loosely based on MegaMan Battle Network 5.

The various television series and manga contradict the storyline in the games and are therefore not considered canon.

Comics and manga

Mega Man has also been featured in many comics and manga in Japan. The most popular of these by far is the Rockman Megamix series by Hitoshi Ariga, who later went on to provide character designs and artwork for official Capcom releases including the Super Famicom game Rockman & Forte. In addition, Dreamwave Productions and Magnum Press made its own comic books based on the Mega Man Classic game series (although the books from Magnum Press are only found in Brazil and ended quite abruptly).

Each series (and usually, each individual game) has a licensed manga that follows its storyline, though only the Rockman EXE and Rockman Zero manga are still being serialised today. The manga of Rockman EXE, which was written by Ryo Takamisaki, is one of the few Mega Man manga available in English; it is known as MegaMan NT Warrior [1] in North America.

Quotes

(Marvel vs. Capcom)

• "Right on! Now, what new powers have I obtained?"
• (As in Mega Man 8) "Why must I fight you!? We are not enemies!"

Trivia

• The Classic and X series always include eight robot masters, where Rock and Roll are the other missing two from the original Mega Man game.
• Ian Corlett who voiced Dr. Wily in Captain N, would go on to voice Mega Man in the Ruby-Spears series.
• Though The Beginning is considered chronologically as the first episode of the Ruby-Spears cartoon, in some states it was aired as the second episode, after Electric Nightmare.
• A minor villain named "Megaman" (no space) also appeared in an issue of Man Called Nova.
• Mega Man's costume in Captain N is somewhat reminiscent of the costume worn by Man-At-Arms from He-Man.
• "The original intent was that Zero would be the protagonist as early as the first X-game. But there were many who protested, so he had to wait."^[2] Keiji Inafune on Zero in a August 2002 interview with Super PLAY magazine.
• The name Rockman, like many elements in the franchise, has been a target of much fan-speculation for years. At one point, the character was referred to by the names Rainbow Kid (referring to his color-changing) and Mighty Kid (which can be considered slightly similar in tone to the western name).
• Each Megaman series usually uses one distinct thing to which aspects in that universe are based on.
  • In the Mega Man Classics series, many characters are named based on musical terms. Examples including Rock (Rockman, Mega Man in English games), Roll, Blues (Protoman in English games), Forte (Bass in English games), Gospel (Treble in English games) and many more.
  • The names of many boss characters in Mega Man X have 2 words in their name: One describes what type of organism/object they look like, and the other usually to describe their specialty, characteristics etc. Also, earlier Mega Man X games (the first, specifically), also used Star Wars as inspiration, some of which carries on until late in the series (Zero's Z-Saber is certainly based on Star Wars' Light Saber).
  • Mega Man Zero series uses a lot of mythological references for names and even events. Not stopping at that, many other names are actual words in European languages, such as French and German.
• The second boss in the game Viewtiful Joe, also produced by Capcom, asks the hero "What, you think you're some kinda MEGA MAN or somethin'?", an obvious reference to the franchise.
• In the first Mega Man game, the boss that utilizes rocks as a weapon is known as Gutsman -- not Rockman -- due to the original Japanese name for Mega Man. In Japan, "guts" is a phrase commonly associated with strength and vigor.
• On a few episodes of South Park, various characters mention and play with a line of action figures that resemble Power Rangers and go by the name "Mega Man".

See also

• List of Mega Man games
• Lists of characters by Mega Man series
• MegaMan NT Warrior

References

1. ^ Eriksson, Magnus (August 2002). "Mitt liv som robot". Super PLAY, p. 54.

External links

• Capcom, the official site of the company responsible for the Mega Man games as well as many others.
• The History of Mega Man
• Mega Man Series at MobyGames
• The Mega Man Knowledge-base Wiki
• The Mega Man Homepage
• The Captain N Network, Captain N Sector
• Ultimate Warp Zone