Shadow Blade

Shadow Blade (シャドーブレード) is Shadow Man's Special Weapon. It is a large hira shuriken that can be thrown to attack. When used by Shadow Man, the shuriken is coated with a special, deadly liquid that is capable of deranging the functions of mechanisms. He usually throws two Shadow Blades at a time: one diagonally up and the other in front of him.

When used by Mega Man, the Shadow Blade is smaller in size, can only throw one at a time, and has a relatively short range. However, the blade boomerangs back to where it was thrown from, and he can throw it in five different directions (left, right, diagonally up and right, diagonally up and left and straight up). In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, the directions are reduced to four, being unable to be shot straight up.

Damage Data Chart
Known damage values in units for Mega Man 3.


 * For Kamegoro Maker, a certain amount of damage will be taken from the health meter for each of the five Kamegoros produced, regardless of which weapon the player uses against them. Each Kamegoro has 3 health.

Capacity
Two Shadow Blades cost one weapon energy unit in Mega Man 3 and Mega Man III, and one Shadow Blade uses one unit in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. With a full energy gauge, it can be used 56 times in Mega Man 3, 38 times in Mega Man III, and 16 times in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.

Exploit
In the NES version of Mega Man 3, the player can use Shadow Blade endlessly by changing the weapon after each shot, avoiding an energy unit being used by the second Shadow Blade. This issue was fixed in later releases like Mega Man: The Wily Wars.

Bosses weak against Shadow Blade

 * Mega Man 3: Magnet Man, Spark Man, Doc Robot (Bubble Man and Heat Man), Kamegoro Maker, Shadow Man (2nd Encounter)
 * Mega Man III: Spark Man
 * Mega Man: The Wily Wars: Hyper Storm. H
 * Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters: Bubble Man, Wily Capsule

Bosses immune to Shadow Blade

 * Mega Man 3: Hard Man, Doc Robot (Air Man), Gamma (2nd Form)
 * Mega Man III: Punk, Wily Machine
 * Mega Man: The Wily Wars: Iron Ball, Wily Machine (2nd and 3rd Form)

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
The Shadow Blade appears in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as a custom move for his neutral special, Metal Blade. It must be unlocked before it can be swapped out.

Mega Man throws a Shadow Blade, which can be thrown in eight directions like the Metal Blade- unlike Mega Man 3, where he can only throw them in five directions. It deals 2% damage per hit by default, can hit multiple times unlike the Metal Blade, and is less susceptible to being used against Mega Man, since cannot stick to the ground or be picked up. Its range is considerably shorter than the Metal Blade as in the main series, but it boomerangs back to the point where it was thrown, making it effective for opponents that are in its way when it returns, as well as for pulling them towards Mega Man for close-range attacks.

Other media
Mega Man uses the Shadow Blade against Kamegoro Maker in the cartoon Captain N: The Game Master.

Shadow Blade was frequently used by Shadow Man, especially during his fight against Mega Man. After Mega Man managed to copy his Shadow Blade ability, he used it to take down both Magnet Man and Spark Man. When infiltrating Wily's third castle via the sewers, Mega Man briefly adopted the use of Shadow Blade to take down a Kamegoro Master, while monologuing about his determination that there will not be any more betrayals, or any more fighting against other Robots.