Dark Man

Dark Man (ダークマン) are the names of four robots created by Dr. Wily in Mega Man 5, one of which was created to frame Proto Man, taking his form. They appear in Proto Man's Castle, each occupying their own individual stage.

[[File:Mm5dark1sprite.png]] Dark Man 1
Dark Man 1 is the green Dark Man with treads instead of legs. He shoots at and tries to run over Mega Man.

Strategy
His pattern is simple, but hard to avoid. He advances, stops to shoot, advances again then stops and repeats the pattern over and over. Every time he is hit he stops to shoot. However, his speed increases as he receives damage.

His weakness is Water Wave, which negates his shots, but if the player runs out of it, they can use charged Mega Buster shots, which deal the same amount of damage (3 units), but won't neutralize Dark Man's shots. Beat is also his weakness, but it is more recommended to be saved for the battle with the last Dark Man.

[[File:Mm5dark2sprite.png]] Dark Man 2
Dark Man 2 is the gray Dark Man that can create electromagnetic barriers around himself. He is the only Dark Man without an arm cannon and the only one that appeared in the Mega Man animated series. He appeared in Episode 15:The Day The Moon Fell and Episode 23:Brain Bots, and Mega Man obtains his weapon.

Strategy
Dark Man 2 uses two electromagnetic barriers to protect himself and walks towards Mega Man. His speed increases as he receives damage, like Dark Man 1.

His weakness overall is the Crystal Eye. It can go through the barriers, but it should be used on a wall, to increase the chances of both projectiles hitting him. However, the Crystal Eye does only 2 units of damage per use (even if both projectiles hit him). The charged Mega Buster also deals good damage, although the player will need to time their attacks to hit Dark Man 2 instead of the barriers. He is also weak to Beat, but like the previous Dark Man, it is better to keep it for the last Dark Man.

[[File:Mm5dark3sprite.png]] Dark Man 3
Dark Man 3 is the purple sniper Dark Man that can paralyze enemies with a ring shaped beam that can be fired at any angle, and his right arm is a rapid fire weapon.

Strategy
Dark Man 3's strategy is almost the same as Toad Man's. He jumps and shoots five plasma blasts, and like the two previous Dark Men, his speed increases as he receives damage. Dark Man will also fire three ring beams to paralyze Mega Man, so that he can easily hit him. He can be easily beaten by standing close enough to him, jumping at the right moment so the beams are fired above, missing Mega Man. Attacking Dark Man 3 shortly after a beam is fired, will ensure an easy victory.

Like the previous Dark Men, Beat is effective against him. The Gyro Attack -which is his other weakness- can hit him while he's airborne and after he has landed. Just make sure to press up while firing. The down side is that it deals 1 unit less damage than Beat and a charged Mega Buster shot, and it is better to keep Beat for the next battle, so it's better to wipe him out with the Mega Buster.

A lesser known method of fighting him is to use Charge Kick and to run into the paralizing rings with it, the weapon energy doesn't decrease whilst like that, Mega Man is frozen in place, invincible, and he is the source of touch damage to Dark Man 3.

[[File:Darksprite.png]] Dark Man 4
Dark Man 4 is the red and final Dark Man who impersonates Proto Man to frame him for Dr. Wily. The fake Proto Man doesn't have a scarf (as he lost it when kidnapping Dr. Light) and his whistle has a different tone.

When Mega Man reached the fourth Dark Man, he didn't want to fight against him (due to the fact that Mega Man thought he was the real Proto Man), which resulted in him getting hurt and surviving with only 1 HP. Luckily, the real Proto Man appeared and blasted away the disguise, revealing the final Dark Man, and giving an L Tank to Mega Man, restoring him to battle capacity.

Strategy
His attacks appear to be a combination of the previous three Dark Men. He uses an electromagnetic barrier around himself (like Dark Man 2), but it's launched to the sides of the screen when he jumps (like Dark Man 3), and returns to him after landing. He also uses a buster (like Dark Man 1) that launches several waves of three shots at a time. However, unlike the others, his speed does not increase as he takes damage.

If the player saved energy for Beat, it's time to use him. Beat can hit Dark Man wherever he is, saving time and energy. If not, use charged shots. The Star Crash and Power Stone deal more damage than other weapons, but it can be difficult to hit him with them, as the player can easily miss.

Defeating the final Dark Man causes the screen to go black, and Dr. Wily will appear, saying that he didn't expect Mega Man to defeat the Dark Men. He had managed to frame Proto Man for his crimes, but the real one had appeared and spoiled his plans. Dr. Wily then reveals that Dr. Light is being held captive in his lab and dares Mega Man to come rescue him.

Other media
Dark Man 2 appeared in episodes 15 and 23 from the Mega Man animated series.

The four Dark Men appeared in the manga Mega Man Megamix. In “Warrior’s Day Off”, Dark Man 1 and 2 first appear robbing a bank, but are stopped by Proto Man. In “Power Battle” while running a shop, Dark Man 4 meets Roll, Auto, and Rush. When Roll recognizes him only as the newspaper guy, he calls the others to kidnap them to present as hostages to Wily, in exchange for greater rank. When they corner the three, Bass intervenes calling them cowards for ganging up on Roll. In “Burning Wheel,” Dark Man 4 enters the race in order to pay off his huge debt with the prize money. He goes in disguise as Proto Man.

All four Dark Men also appeared shortly in the first episode of Mega Man: Upon a Star. 

Trivia

 * The Dark Man robots may be a nod to the movie hero "Darkman", who, with his synthetic skin, can disguise himself as his enemies. Darkman had to apply his artificial skin on himself due to severe burns when his enemies attacked him. The main flaw is it disintegrates when exposed to 99 minutes of sunlight.
 * Dark Man 1 has a cameo appearance in Wily's stage from Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, where he has hands and carries a damaged sandbag, going back and forth with the bag in the left corner of the stage. He is absent in the PlayStation version of the game.