Mega Man (character)

"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 tells Sunstar his motives

Mega Man, known as Rockman (ロックマン) in Japan and known as Mega (Rock in Japan) for short, is the main titular protagonist of the original Mega Man series, first debuting in the game of the same name in 1987. He was given the name Rock (ロック) by his creator, Doctor Thomas Light, creating a pun with the name of his sister Roll, but he was dubbed "Mega Man" after being modified into a super fighting robot.

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 Earth 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. 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" (バトルキッド), "Mighty Kid" (マイティーキッド), "Knuckle Kid" (ナックルキッド), "Rainbow Warrior Miracle Kid" (レインボー戦士 ミラクルキッド) and "The Battle Rainbow Rockman" (ザ・バトルレインボー ロックマン), 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.

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 (credited under the pseudonym "Inafking"). Since then, he has become one of Capcom'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 blue 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.

In an interview with Akira Kitamura, featured in the 2011 release of Rockman Maniax, he stated that he wanted Mega Man's appearance to change depending on the weapon he was using, with the protrusion of Mega Man's helmet changing like the helmets of the Ninja Captor characters and showing a little symbol, but this element was scrapped for unknown reasons, possibly due to hardware limitations at the time. As an alternative, it was decided that his color would change depending on the weapon he was using. Mega Man would later gain a similar effect in Mega Man 11, with the appearance of his helmet and arm changing depending of his current weapon.

Throughout the NES' lifespan, Capcom built a Mega Man narrative that plays with heavy philosophical themes that may not be noticed by casual players. For example, unlike other robots, Mega Man was created with the ability to turn himself off. This grants Mega Man with a special level of autonomy and places him above other robots. This autonomy is an honor as well as a burden. While other robots were made for a specific job and can be controlled, having no need for an "off switch", Mega Man is free to make his own judgments, and must find purpose in life through the choices he makes. As Mega Man focuses on action, Capcom rarely displays these philosophical dilemmas in the games, but existential concepts about "what makes a person," help color the fiction and remain an important component of the series.

Appearance
Outside of his armor, Rock appears as a ten-year-old boy with spiky black hair, the color of which varies to brown, and blue in some sources. His armor, however, resembles that of most other Robot Masters in that it's a skintight bodysuit with large rounded coverings on the lower arms and legs, and typical 'superhero briefs'. Mega Man's primary color is light blue with a dark blue 'trim' (his arms, legs, helmet and 'briefs'). His helmet has a raised light blue square in the forehead and a light blue ridge running straight back from the square, resembling an exclamation mark. His helmet also features round light blue sections with red circles in the center over his ears. He also has red circles in his Mega Buster and below his feet.

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 (with some exceptions like Star Force Mega Man and Copy X). Mega Man has green eyes in Mega Man Powered Up (though the artwork for the game shows him with blue eyes) and in the manga Mega Man Megamix.

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 super 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. That 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, Mega Man is a bit naive, and Wily's frequent false repentances have become a constant frustration to Mega Man who appears to developing less patience with him.

"I don't trust you Wily. I gonna do what I should have done years ago!!"

- Mega Man

"I am more than a robot!! Die Wily!!"

- Mega Man

This came to a head in the course of Mega Man 7 where Mega Man contemplated killing Wily, though ultimately decided against it. By Mega Man 8 he would no longer fall for it, and he further pointed out Wily's previous false repentances at the end of Mega Man 9, showing his diminishing patience, however he nonetheless assists him when he becomes ill in Mega Man 10.

In other media, Mega Man has also demonstrated strong leadership skills on the occasions where he works with a team. His siblings all notably look up to him and even his older brother Proto Man has occasionally shown he's willing to defer to his younger brother for orders.

History and game appearances
Mega Man's 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 New 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, a board game card in Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise, and several mobile phone games, including, but not limited to, Mega Man Pinball, Rockman Tennis, Rockman The Puzzle Battle, Chokkan! Rockman, Rockman Poker, and Rockman no Dot Art Logic. 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. Mega Man also appears in the social RPG Rockman ×over as Battle Memory and a Legend Armor of OVER-1 referred to as OVER-R.

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. Examples include Mega Man and Mega Man 3 (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 Sega Game Gear, Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha released by Bandai for the WonderSwam, and Rockman Strategy was developed and released exclusively in Taiwan by Acer TWP.

Origin
Mega Man, or Rockman, came into existence due to the following timeline of events. In the fictional and futuristic year 200X, the robotics expert Dr. Thomas Light (Dr. Right in Japan) worked to create a humanoid robot. This robot would demonstrate an advanced artificial intelligence program that would allow it to make decisions based on vague commands and directions.

Before Dr. Light ever constructed what would eventually become Mega Man, he first designed the robot known as "Proto Man" ("Blues" in Japan) which similar to his name was designed as a prototype of his future creations. Dr. Light's achievement greatly exceeded his expectations, however, he found a critical problem on Proto Man's power reactor. He made plans to modify and repair him, but the robot ran away, fearing that he would lose his identity and become like a different person.

After the disappearance of Proto Man, Dr. Light decided to create another robot. He created two robots siblings around the same time to work as a pair. These robots were called "Rock" (ロック) and "Roll". Rock was created as Dr. Light's lab assistant, and his "sister", Roll, was designed for housekeeping.

With the success of these two test-type robots, Light designed and built six industrial robots, mainly to be used in the construction and maintenance of public works, the Light Numbers. These robots were Cut Man, a timber felling robot; Guts Man, a construction robot; Ice Man, a robot designed for exploration in extreme freezing temperatures; Bomb Man, a land reclamation robot; Fire Man, designed for waste management; and Elec Man, designed to oversee and control atomic energy power plants. (Mega Man Powered Up introduced two more robots: Time Man, a time researcher robot, and Oil Man, an oil maintenance robot.) Each of these robots had full use of a human-like intelligence and reasoning potential. However, little did Dr. Light know that all of these robots, including the missing Proto Man, would later serve as the key to unlocking Rock's destiny.

Mega Man
"Please! I really want to help everyone! But I don't know if I'm strong enough yet..."

- Rock (Mega) before being remodeled into Mega Man

Dr. Albert W. Wily, an old colleague of Dr. Light's, grew jealous when his projects were always overshadowed by his self-proclaimed rival. He constructed a robot factory in the Pacific and began to plot to conquer the world.

Wily stumbled upon Proto Man one day, who was dying when his energy system was malfunctioning. He repaired him, and while analyzing him he discovered that he had found a way to create robots at the same level as Dr. Light. He decided to reprogram Dr. Light's industrial robots to exact revenge. One day, the industrial robots became misled and forced under his rule. With his new followers, Wily seized control of the city and demanded recognition. This string of events set in motion what would later become the purpose for Mega Man's existence.

Realizing that it would be very difficult for the armies to stop Wily, Dr. Light knew something had to be done. Rock, having a strong sense of justice, volunteered to be converted from his current state as a lab assistant into a fighting robot, or rather, a super fighting robot. Thus, on May 25, or December 17, he became known as "Mega Man" (Rockman in Japan).

From that day forward Mega Man volunteered himself for action against crime and serving to support and protect mankind's existence and coexistence with robots within society.

Mega Man fights and stops each of the Light Numbers before journeying to Wily's fortress to defeat him once and for all. Mega Man eventually wins the battle, but Wily bows down and begs for forgiveness, which Mega Man grants. Mega Man then walks home to meet Dr. Light and Roll.

Mega Man 2
After the events of the first Mega Man game, Dr. Wily somehow returned with a new fortress and eight of his own combat robots, designed specifically for destroying Mega Man.

Mega Man defeats all eight Wily Numbers and confronts Dr. Wily himself, who turns into an Alien. Mega Man defeats the Alien, which is revealed as a hologram operated by Dr. Wily. After Wily begs for mercy, Mega Man spares him and returns home...again.

Mega Man 3
Some time later, Dr. Wily claims to have changed and teams up with Dr. Light to create a giant peacekeeping robot called Gamma. However, the eight robots created to mine the Energy Elements needed for Gamma's construction have gone out of control. Mega Man goes after them alongside Rush, meeting his older brother, Proto Man (under the alias Break Man in this game, until the ending) along the way. Mega Man soon retrieves the Energy Elements, but returns to discover that Dr. Wily has stolen Gamma and plans on using it to take over the world.

Mega Man defeats Gamma and foils Wily's plan again, and the mad doctor is seemingly killed by debris of his fortress at the end. (Wily's UFO can be seen flying in the ending, revealing he had survived.)

Mega Man 4
One day, Dr. Light received a message from a scientist named Dr. Cossack, challenging Light and Mega Man to a contest to see whose robots were better. Eight of Dr. Cossack 's robots started causing chaos and Mega Man went out to stop them, but this time with the New Mega Buster, which able to charge a more powerful shot.

After defeating the eight robots, Mega Man goes to Dr. Cossack's Citadel to confront him. Upon defeating the scientist's final machine, however, he discovers that not all is as it seems...

In truth, Cossack was being forced into his criminal acts because his daughter, Kalinka, had been kidnapped by Wily (who was very much alive). Luckily, Proto Man betrays Wily and rescues her, allowing Mega Man to head for Wily's new fortress and defeat him once more. This time, however, Wily was able to escape.

Mega Man 5
Mega Man discovers, to his shock, that Proto Man has kidnapped Dr. Light and a new group of eight robots under his command were attacking the city. As usual, Mega Man heads out to save the day and get to the bottom of Proto Man's strange behavior. Before he sets out, Dr. Cossack improves his Mega Buster and gives him a new ally, Beat.

After defeating the eight robots and navigating Proto Man's Castle, Mega Man confronts Proto Man. At first, his opponent gets the better of him, as Mega Man is reluctant to hurt his ally, but the real Proto Man shows up and reveals the fake as Dark Man 4, who Mega Man defeats.

After defeating Dark Man, Dr. Wily appears and reveals himself as the creator of Dark Man. Saying that he is holding Dr. Light captive at his castle, Wily challenges Mega Man to come after him.

Yet again, Mega Man goes to Wily's castle and defeats him once more. But the fortress starts to collapse and Mega Man, using his super strength, tries to hold it up. Wily escapes while Mega Man is distracted, but Proto Man comes in and rescues Mega Man and Dr. Light.

Mega Man 6
An event called the First Annual Robot Tournament, sponsored by the billionaire Mr. X, is held. Everything seems fine as the contest begins, but when the top eight robots enter the arena for the final event, Mr. X appears and reveals he had reprogrammed the eight robots to use them to take over the world.

Mega Man goes to stop Mr. X and his army of robots, defeating the Robot Masters and battling Mr. X atop his castle. As it turns out, Mr. X is only an alter ego for Mega Man's nemesis, Dr. Wily. Thus, Mega Man battles Wily and puts a stop to his plans once again. This time, he finally apprehends the mad doctor, sending Wily to prison.

Mega Man 7
Unfortunately, Dr. Wily had planned for even this outcome. Six months after Wily's defeat and imprisonment, it is revealed he had four robots hidden away. These robots are activated remotely and break Wily out of prison.

Mega Man arrives upon the scene and encounters Bass, a humanoid robot, and Treble, his robotic wolf. Mega Man and Bass get into a short battle, apparently impressing the latter with his skill. Bass claims he is trying to stop Wily as well and comments that Mega Man might not need his help before leaving.

After defeating four of the Robot Masters, Mega Man finds out Wily is attacking a robot museum and has stolen Guts Man. He attempts to intercept the villain, but is delayed when Wily deploys Mash to battle him.

Mega Man finds Bass again, injured in a fight against Shade Man. Mega Man takes him back to Dr. Light for repairs. However, when Mega Man returns to the lab, he finds the lab has been damaged by Bass, who has also stolen blueprints for the Super Adapter intended for Mega Man and Rush. Dr. Wily appears on the screen and reveals that Bass and Treble are his creations.

Mega Man then heads to Wily's castle to stop his latest plan. Along the way, he fights Bass, using a similar version of the Super Adapter with Treble.

Mega Man then confronts Wily and defeats him again. As always, Wily begs for forgiveness, but Mega Man points his Mega Buster at him, saying he does not trust Wily and plans on killing him. Dr. Wily, scared out of his wits, reminds Mega Man that robots cannot harm humans. In the original Japanese version, Mega Man is speechless. In the English version, he replies that he is "more than just a robot", implying he was planning on firing his Buster anyway, which was a stark contrast to how Mega Man is normally.

Before Mega Man can pull the trigger, Bass and Treble appear and rescue Wily. Mega Man then leaves Wily's fortress as it goes up into flames, apparently conflicted about what happened before reuniting with his family inside Big Eddie.

Mega Man 8
During a city battle against Bass, Mega Man is called away to investigate an island uncharted by any maps. After defeating a hermit crab-like robot, he finds Dr. Wily, who reveals that the island was his base before absconding with an orb of strange purple energy. Although unable to stop Wily's escape, Mega Man finds a badly damaged robot in a crater and takes it back to Dr. Light's lab. While the robot is brought in for repairs, Dr. Light informs Mega Man that Dr. Wily is at it again, with four brand-new Robot Masters attacking locations all over the globe.

As Mega Man defeats each of the four Wily Numbers, he finds capsules of the strange energy Dr. Wily took from the island. When he returns to the lab, he gives the samples to Dr. Light for study, but the robot he found earlier breaks free and heads out to the desert. Mega Man goes after him and briefly fights him, but realizes that his opponent is holding back. Before he can consider it further, the robot flees and Proto Man appears, telling Mega Man that Wily's new headquarters is up ahead.

Mega Man goes to the "Wily Tower," but is captured by a massive robot. He is then saved by the strange robot he battled earlier, who introduces himself as Duo and explains his mission to destroy all "Evil Energy" in the universe. Duo informs Mega Man that the other robot contained Evil Energy within it, which Wily was using to make his robots more powerful. He also told the hero that Wily Tower was protected by a forcefield linked to four more Robot Masters hidden around the world. As Duo left to secure the rest of the Evil Energy around the world, Mega Man set out to defeat the other four Robot Masters and foil Wily's latest plan.

In the end, Mega Man defeated the remaining four Wily Numbers and infiltrated Wily's fortress. Along the way, Bass challenges him to a duel, having used Evil Energy to increase his power, but Mega Man emerges triumphant once more. When he finally reaches Dr. Wily, he is caught in an energy trap and is almost destroyed by Wily's machine's cannon, but is saved when Duo appears and takes the blast for him. Duo, now immobilized, is in turn saved by Proto Man. Mega Man thanks Proto Man for helping Duo recover and takes on Wily's newest machine.

As usual, Mega Man destroys the latest incarnation of the Wily Machine, leaving Wily on the ground begging for forgiveness. As Mega Man berates Wily for trying the same old ruse after so many failures, he is taken over by the Evil Energy in Wily's machine as the tower collapsed around them, and lays near death outside. However, Duo saved Mega Man and destroyed the evil energy within him. He leaves before Mega Man wakes up, but Proto Man informs him of Duo's final message to the Blue Bomber: "Thank you".

Mega Man & Bass
A new robot named King, claiming to be the strongest robot in the world, began to recruit other robots to form a new Robot Army. Mega Man went to stop King, aided-to his surprise-by Bass, who took offense to King's claims of being the strongest robot.

After defeating the eight Robot Masters and King himself, it is revealed that King was created by Dr. Wily, who Mega Man and Bass defeat once more.

Mega Man 9
"They were supposed to be scrapped? So why are they going crazy?"

- Mega Man

Several years later, new robots were causing havoc around the world, all created by Dr. Light. Mega Man quickly volunteered to clear Light's name and was sent out to investigate the source of the problem.

Soon, the police came to arrest Dr. Light. Meanwhile, Mega Man went after the Robot Masters and, after he defeated a few of them, discovered that they were scheduled to be decommissioned and sent to the junkyard because they had reached the expiration date assigned to them by the government. Once the final robot had been taken down, Mega Man brought back his Memory Circuit Board to Auto for investigation. As it turned out, Dr. Wily had reprogrammed the robots, who were scheduled for demolition, to rise up against their human masters rather than be destroyed.

Mega Man then went to Dr. Wily's castle and defeated Dr. Wily again. Dr. Wily, as usual, begged Mega Man for forgiveness. Mega Man responded to this by having Rush play clips of all the times Wily had done the same routine (the clips being scenes from previous games). Although Wily seemed contrite and apologetic, he tricked Mega Man into thinking that Dr. Light was, in fact, imprisoned in a jail cell in the next room. Although Proto Man appeared and warned him that it was a trap, Mega Man went to investigate the cell and was electrocuted by the fake Light robot and Wily set his hideout to self-destruct. Proto Man saved Mega Man, but Wily escaped yet again.

Mega Man 10
"Leave it to me! I'll stop those robots. I'll find Dr. Wily's medicine making machine, and then we can cure Roll and all the other robots!"

- Mega Man

Mega Man is enjoying his day until Roll falls ill with Roboenza. At first, he believes that Wily is behind the epidemic, but Wily claims that he had found the cure, only to have it stolen by eight out-of-control Robot Masters. After defeating them all, Mega Man learns that Dr. Wily actually was behind the Roboenza epidemic all along. He succumbs to Roboenza himself, but Roll gives him her saved medicine to give him the strength to defeat Wily.

After Mega Man defeats Wily, the doctor becomes sick. Mega Man asks Wily if he has been infected with the Roboenza and Wily answers that he is a human, not a robot. Despite this opportunity to finally end Wily's evil schemes once and for all, Mega Man's heroic nature wins out and he takes Wily to a hospital. The mad scientist immediately broke out after recovering, but left behind enough of the cure to restore all of the robots infected with Roboenza. This would imply that Dr. Wily does in fact have some kindness in him.

Although he is not actually playable in the Bass and Proto Man modes, he still played a key role in those modes: In Proto Man mode, he was responsible for curing Proto Man when the latter started succumbing to Roboenza, and in both Bass and Proto Man mode endings, it is heavily implied that Mega Man was responsible for taking Wily to the hospital after the latter succumbed to influenza.

Mega Man 11
"I can take it, Doctor. I wanna do this, no matter the cost. Hook me up!"

- Mega Man

In a dream, a flashback sequence reveals that while they were at Robot University, Wily was working on a device named the Double Gear System, a device that pushes robots beyond their usual limits. Light was resistant to Dr. Wily's research due to him believing that robots shouldn't be strained, and if the Double Gear System fell in the wrong hands, it could cause harm. Dr. Wily recalls the research in his dream, and set out to kidnap eight new robots that Light was checking up on to use as test subjects. Despite some reluctance from Light, he eventually is persuaded by Mega Man to have the Double Gear System installed in him. After recalling the rift between Light and Wily at Robot University (Light's independent thinking robots vs. Wily's Double Gear System), Mega Man ponders a way for them to work together. Wily then hacks into Light's lab, telling Mega Man where to find him, and Mega Man obliges, going to Wily's Gear Fortress.

After Mega Man defeats Wily, Light comes in and ponders the idea of him and Wily working together again, explaining that Mega Man was the amalgamation of both of their ideas. Wily rejects it however, and storms off. With the Gear Fortress collapsing, Mega Man escorts Light and Auto out of it.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
Dr. Wily once again sets his sights on world domination. This time, he revives several of the Robot Masters he used in the past, giving them another chance to do battle with Mega Man. Four of Dr. Light's robots rampage across different locations, so Dr. Light sends Mega Man out to stop them. Once they are taken down, Mega Man heads to Wily's fortress only to discover that four Wily Numbers await him there. To make matters worse, Dr. Wily has constructed a new powerful robot, a Mega Man Killer known as Enker. Enker has the ability to absorb Mega Man's shots with his lance and return a powerful blast of energy at him with his Mirror Buster; however, Enker is defeated, and Mega Man chases Wily to the Wily Station, using Enker's own Mirror Buster to defeat him.

Mega Man II
Even after his crushing defeat at the hands of Mega Man, Dr. Wily was already planning his next scheme. If he could get his hands on the time machine (named Time Skimmer in the American manual) that was being developed at the Time-Space Research Laboratory (named Chronos Institute in the American manual), he thought he just might be able to change the past.

After stealing the time machine, Wily had wanted to set out immediately on a trip across time, but had to put an emergency brake down on his plans when he discovered that the time machine had a serious flaw.

Meanwhile, Dr. Light had been dispatched to the time-space laboratory to investigate. With the help of Rush's super-sense of smell, he was able to deduce that it was none other than Dr. Wily behind the theft. Having a bad feeling about the incident, Dr. Light quickly called upon Mega Man and Rush to search out Dr. Wily's whereabouts.

Dr. Wily having finally managed to modify the time machine, discovers that the time machine could now only travel into the future and back, not into the past. Dr. Wily modified his plan and decided instead to spy on Mega Man’s future. Travelling into the future (approximately 37.426 years in the American manual), Wily found that the future was peaceful, as his future self had reformed and Mega Man no longer needing weapons, had been reset back into a peaceful household robot. Recognizing this chance, Wily convinces his future self to abduct the now defenseless Mega Man. Dr. Wily then proceeds to capture Mega Man, and modifies him into the fighting robot Quint, reprogramming him to make him fight against the Mega Man of the present.

Back in the present time, Mega Man and Rush were finally closing in on Wily’s fortress, defeating the first four set of Robot Masters. After penetrating into Wily's lair, Mega Man finds another four Robot Masters awaiting him via teleporters. Mega Man manages to defeat all eight of his adversaries and engages his modified future self Quint in combat. After defeating him, Mega Man obtains his weapon, a pogostick-like device called the Sakugarne. With it, he makes his way to the new Wily Station in space and defeats him yet again.

Mega Man III
A few months after Dr. Wily's previous defeat, unfortunate news suddenly came to Dr. Light. Abnormalities are occurring in every region of the world, such as abnormal weather, traffic jams, and industrial issues. Apparently, the functions of the supercomputer that manages the lives of people all over the world has stopped working properly. To make matters worse, armed robots reappeared in each panicked city, and they began to rampage. Dr. Light discovered that someone was emitting strong jamming radio waves that interefered with the supercomputer. And as the robot army consisted of robots previously used by Wily, Light deduced that it may be Wily's work, sending Mega Man to stop him, starting a new battle in an abandoned city.

In the American manual, Dr. Wily took control of an off-shore oil platform with some of his powerful Robot Masters, and plans to use Earth's magma to fuel his newest robot. Once again, Dr. Light sends Mega Man to investigate and stop them before it gets out of hand.

Mega Man takes down the first four robots and makes his way to the Wily Castle, where he discovers that four more robots await him. After defeating them, he encounters a new Mega Man Killer named Punk, whose Screw Crusher delivers a crushing blow to its opponents. However, Mega Man promptly defeats Punk and defeats Wily in the Wily Station with Punk's own weapon.

Mega Man IV
A few months after Wily's defeat in Mega Man III, Dr. Wily appears with his UFO during the World Robot Expo and manages to reprogram several of the robots that were on display by using radio waves, making them go on a rampage. Although Dr. Light, Rock, Rush and Beat were also in attendance, Wily failed to reprogram Rock and his allies, but Beat loses four parts during the chaos. Thus, Dr. Light returns to his lab and changes Rock back into Mega Man, sending him out to stop Wily before he can use his newly reprogrammed robots to wreak havoc across the globe. Mega Man manages to defeat the first four Robot Masters and make his way to Wily's fortress, where he encounters a new Mega Man Killer named Ballade, and although he defeats him, Ballade promptly leaves, opening the way up to where four more Robot Masters lay in waiting.

However, after Mega Man defeated the second set of four Robot Masters, he made his way to where Ballade was waiting and defeated him for a second time, acquiring the Ballade Cracker, which he used to blast his way out of Wily's crumbling fortress. Mega Man made his way to the Wily Battleship and defeated Wily, but was trapped in the fortress when Wily activated a self-destruct mechanism. Ballade, realizing his mistakes, decides to sacrifice himself at the last minute to save Mega Man in the end.

Mega Man V
Several months after the events of Mega Man IV, Rock and Roll are strolling through a grassy field, when suddenly, they are confronted by a mysterious new robot who calls himself Terra. Mega Man attempts to fight Terra, only to find that his Super Mega Buster has no effect on this new powerful enemy. Mega Man is knocked unconscious, and two groups of powerful robots calling themselves the "Stardroids" attack Earth, causing destruction around the globe. Waking up in Dr. Light's laboratory, Mega Man is presented with the new and powerful Mega Arm to help him fight the Stardroids in his newest mission to save the planet, alongside a new ally, Tango. Upon defeating four of the Stardroids, Mega Man confronts Terra, only to discover it was a trap that Terra set up, forcing Mega Man to fight Dark Moon.

After defeating Dark Moon, Mega Man returns to Dr. Light's lab, only to discover that the Stardroids are planning for a big attack in space. Mega Man convinces Dr. Light to convert Rush into a spaceship in order to reach space and stop the Stardroids. Upon defeating the remaining four Stardroids, Mega Man confronts Terra in a battle.

Upon defeating Terra, Mega Man finds out that his nemesis, Dr. Wily, was ordering the Stardroids to dominate Earth. Mega Man sets off to the mad scientist's new base, the Wily Star to stop him. In the base, Mega Man has rematches with the three Mega Man Killers and Quint, before facing off against the eight Stardroids once more. After Wily is stopped once again himself, he releases a mysterious and ancient robot called Sunstar to destroy Mega Man. However, Sunstar disobeys and attacks Wily instead, and then turns his attention to Mega Man. The hero wins the battle and tries to convince Sunstar to be repaired by Dr. Light. Sunstar is surprised by Mega Man's kindness and they talk a bit, however, while Sunstar would like to see the world mentioned by Mega Man, he is already too badly damaged, and could explode at any minute, taking the Wily Star with him, and tells Mega Man to leave. Mega Man escapes using Rush, and in the game's epilogue he walks through a field like the one seen in the opening sequence, pondering the recent events, when Wily makes one last, unsuccessful attempt to attack him. The game ends with Mega Man chasing Wily off the screen.

Mega Man: The Power Battle
Mega Man is a playable character alongside Proto Man and Bass. In Mega Man's ending, he loses Wily again, and Dr. Light informs him that robots need to make decisions on their own (alluding to one of Light's projects) and Mega Man then decides he will fight for everyone's future.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Mega Man set out to stop Wily and his robots again, who had stolen the new parts developed by Dr. Light and kidnapped Roll. If the player decides to pursue Wily, Mega Man will mention that Wily's scheming has ended, and then moves in close, presumably to apprehend him. However, he then reacts in shock when he discovers that "Wily" was in fact a mechanical duplicate. If the player decides to rescue Roll, Roll will apologize for worrying Mega Man before revealing she managed to steal some energy from the Wily Robot.

In Mega Man's ending, Mega Man says he will bring peace for both humans and robots, and Dr. Wily informs Mega Man that he is no different than him, as he destroyed Wily's robots. Mega Man is in disbelief with what Wily said, but Dr. Light, Roll, and Auto appear to cheer him. Proto Man also appears if he was his partner. Mega Man starts feeling better, but Wily uses their distraction to escape again, and Mega Man starts to pursue him.

His cooperative mode ending with Bass has him forced into a battle with Bass shortly after stopping Wily, despite both being significantly injured due to Bass wanting to fulfill his directive, although the conclusion is never revealed. In his cooperative mode ending with Duo, he wishes Duo luck as he proceeds to leave the planet with the energy.

Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise
Mega Man appears as the master of ceremonies from the game, and also as a card and in the end of the staff roll.

Mega Man's Soccer
While Rock, Roll, and Dr. Light are watching a soccer game on TV, the field is attacked by Wily's robots and Rock changes into Mega Man to stop them. In the main game mode, Mega Man has a team formed by eight versions of him, with one extra member from the enemy team joining his own after defeat.

Mega Man Battle & Chase
As a thunderstorm ruined Dr. Light's super computer, Mega Man decides to enter the Battle & Chase competition in hopes of gaining the prize money to repair Light's computer. His vehicle is Rush Roadstar. In Mega Man's ending, Dr. Light had managed to repair the computer, and as thanks he decides to use the money to throw a party for Mega Man, celebrating his victory.

Super Adventure Rockman
In the year 20XX, ancient ruins suddenly appeared in the Amazon Rainforest in South America. The United Nations called scientists around the world to discover everything possible about the ruins. The scientists discovered that there was a strong eletromagnetic field around the ruins that was capable of ceasing almost all the machinery that got close to it, including robots. Nothing electronic could reach it, making the investigation a difficult one. One year later, the U.N. ceased the investigation, claiming the ruins were from the Maya civilization. They named the ruins "Lanfront Ruins" and the pyramid "Temple of Moon".

Three years after this, Dr. Wily, now working together with Dr. Light, went to investigate the ruins because the electromagnetic field started increasing, this being a good chance to clear his name. After a few days of search, Wily uncovered an ancient alien super computer inside the temple, Ra Moon, which revived his sixteen Wily Numbers from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 by analyzing the information about them in Dr. Wily's laptop. Wily thought it would be a great chance to conquer the world.

Three weeks after Wily found Ra Moon, the electromagnetic field begins to affect all the machinery and electronics around the world. Roll falls into a coma victim of the electromagnetic field, and Wily makes a worldwide broadcast saying to the world surrender for him in two weeks, or else he will shut down all machinery, which would effectively kill Roll and all the robots around the world, and without them, humans would die as well. Dr. Light quickly immunizes Mega Man, Rush, Beat, and the six Light Numbers from the first Mega Man game from the electromagnetic field, and sends them to stop Dr. Wily before it's too late. During the adventure, Mega Man and his comrades fought their way to the source of Electromagnetic field, Ra Moon, battling the Wily Numbers in the process. In the end, Mega Man manages to destroy Ra Moon and the eletromagnetic field ceases, Roll recovers and all the machinery around the world starts functioning again.

Other games
Mega Man is the protagonist from several other Mega Man games, and has also appeared as a playable character in crossovers. Those include licensed games, mobile games, and non-Mega Man games.

Powers, Abilities and Skills
As a robot, Rock naturally possesses greater physical abilities than humans. When he was modified into the combat robot Mega Man, his abilities were enhanced even further, possessing superhuman strength, stamina, reflexes, and durability, which are exhibited in most games in the series.


 * Mega Buster (ロックバスター) - Mega Man's main weapon, a potent, ambidextrous arm cannon that fires solar energy bullets. In Mega Man 4, he gained the ability to charge up and fire more powerful shots. It received additional upgrades and functions in later games in the series, such as the Mega Arm in Mega Man V and Laser Shot, Arrow Shot in Mega Man 8.


 * Mega Upper (ロックアッパー) - A potent uppercut utilized by Mega Man in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It bears a striking resemblance to the Shoryuken from the Street Fighter series.


 * Sliding - A move utilized for speed, dodging, and at times attack.
 * Double Gear System - The Double Gear system was installed into Mega Man by Dr. Light during the events of Mega Man 11. With it Mega Man can temporarily boost his speed to the point where he perceives everything as slowed down with the Speed Gear, or boost the strength of his Mega Buster and special weapons with the Power Gear. However, a side effect from overusing these gears is that they will overheat Mega Man, preventing him from using the system again until after the cooldown has ended. When he is in a pinch he can use both at the same time, but he is severely weakened after using it do to the strain.
 * Superhuman strength - Despite usually boasting firepower via his Mega Buster and Special Weapons, Mega Man himself is physically powerful as well. For example, the Mega Kick, an attack he uses as Rock in Mega Man Powered Up, is a simple kick yet it suprisingly deals more damage than standard Mega Buster shots. As seen in the opening cutscenes of Mega Man 8, he casually lifted Guts Man above his head and later threw Charge Man at Pharaoh Man so hard that both Robot Masters simultaneously exploded. However, the most notable feat of his strength is when at the end of Mega Man 5, he catches and holds the entire upper portion of the collapsing Wily Castle above his head long enough for Proto Man to step in and give him and Dr. Light enough time to escape. Special Weapons and upgrades like Super Arm and the Power Adaptor augment his strength to even greater degrees.
 * Superhuman speed and reflexes - As a combat robot, Mega Man is surprisingly agile and has amazing reflexes. Despite being constantly outnumbered and being shot at from multiple angles, he's always able to maneuver his way out of these situations with the help of his reactions and the slide. He has dodged a plethora of different projectiles and attacks ranging from homing missiles and sound waves to even lightning and lasers. Mega Man has defeated Robot Masters designed to be faster than him such as Quick Man, who is arguably the fastest Robot Master in the classic series among the likes of Nitro Man and Slash Man. The most notable feats of his speed and reflexes was when he piloted Space Rush through an asteroid field and dodged the Wily Star's lasers in Mega Man V and outran black holes from Galaxy Man and Saturn.


 * Intelligence - Mega Man was initially designed to be a mere helper robot, but has shown great skill in combat and strategic thinking. He has single-handedly destroyed entire armies of robots and defeated foes who were designed and created to kill him ever since he was just a novice. He can quickly master any weapon he acquires and utilizes them in situations other than combat such as traversing through harsh environments and changing the weather to remove hazards. Against opponents, he adapts to their fighting styles and finds exploitable weaknesses in mere moments which he can take advantage of with the use of his intelligence and by experimenting with his Special Weapons. He has also navigated through Dr. Wily’s death traps, puzzles and labyrinths to foil his plans of world domination time and time again. However, he can be naive at times due to his natural programming and has been fooled by Wily before. For example, in Mega Man 9, he was fooled by Wily’s robotic duplicate of Dr. Light, a ruse that Proto Man saw through in an instant.


 * Weapon Copy System - Mega Man can copy the Special Weapons of Robot Masters with a touch or by inserting a computer chip into his systems as seen in other media. He usually does this when a Robot Master is destroyed in combat, but there were exceptions such as Ballade, who was simply defeated but still alive after their final battle in Mega Man IV. Mega Man can copy abilities from other machines as well, such as when in Mega Man II, he copied a missile from Wily Machine II and used it to stop Dr. Wily as he tried escaping after his defeat. While games like Street Fighter X Mega Man suggest that Mega Man can copy abilities from organic beings, this is canonically never shown and it's unknown if he can actually do so.
 * Besides the Special Weapons obtained from Robot Masters, Mega Man can also use abilities received from Dr. Light, such as the Magnet Beam and Mega Ball.


 * Transformations - In Mega Man 6, "adaptors" were introduced that allowed Mega Man to fuse with other robots, mainly his robo-dog Rush. However, both of these adaptors inhibit some of Mega Man's abilities, such as being unable to slide, while at the same time greatly enhancing others.
 * The "Rush Jet Adaptor" allows Mega Man to fuse with Rush and become Jet Mega Man (ジェットロックマン). In this form, Mega Man can hover for short periods of time.
 * The "Rush Power Adaptor" allows Mega Man and Rush to fuse and become Power Mega Man (パワーロックマン). In this form, Mega Man is equipped with a potent short-range attack that repels foes and breaks blocks.
 * The "Super Adaptor" introduced in Mega Man 7 allows Mega Man to become Super Mega Man (スーパーロックマン). This form merges the Jet and Power adaptors, giving him both abilities.
 * In the Worlds Collide crossover from Archie Comics, he obtained a super transformation by using the Chaos Emeralds. In this form he was invulnerable to damage and his Mega Buster was drastically powered up.
 * A final adaptor functioned as a Hyper Combo in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Mega Man fuses with three of his supports; Rush, Eddie, and Beat to become Hyper Mega Man. In this form he grows in size and gains elongated wings and a rocket pack from his back. He gains a massively powered up arm cannon and can fire projectiles from his shoulders, boots, torso and back.


 * Teleportation - Mega Man has the ability to teleport, though only into and out of a location. However, he can utilize his teleportation to escape dire situations, which is what he usually does when he's stuck in a self-destructing Wily Castle at the end of a game. When he teleports, he becomes a blue beam of light and shoots up into the sky to his destination. The color of his teleportation can change though depending on what weapon or utility is equipped.

Weaknesses
While Mega Man has no special weaknesses, certain environmental hazards can cause instant destruction like spikes and pitfalls. Mega Man can defend himself from spikes by equipping Shock Guards (Pierce Protectors in Mega Man 11) which allows him take one hit from spikes without dying and Beat Calls summon Beat, who will come to Mega Man's aid and lift him up from a pit he fell into. Additionally, a substantial amount of lava in the form of lava pools or lavafalls can kill him.

However, most of these hazards should be written off as mere game mechanics. Pitfalls have been a classic hazard throughout video game history and Mega Man has experienced lethal falls before only to land on his feet without injury due to his design and durability. Spikes have been inconsistent throughout the series with simple thorns on plants being able to instantly kill Mega Man while lethal attacks from spike-related foes like Needle Man and Drill Man only damage him. Meanwhile, Mega Man has taken extreme heat before from the likes of Heat Man (whose fire is hotter than the surface of the sun) and Magma Man which might suggest that the lava he encounters in stages may be deadlier in potency or that in reality, Mega Man just takes damage like any other elemental hazard.

In the original Mega Man game, Mega Man may have been designed to fit in with the impotency 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, as well as other games those weapons appear, like Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. Additionally, Mega Man has taken attacks from Robot Masters wielding seemingly superior weapons such as the Ice Wall (which is at or close to absolute zero) and Spark Shock (which is at twice as high of a voltage as Elec Man's Thunder Beam) respectively, suggesting Mega Man has become more resistant to such elemental weapons over time.

When it comes to the Variable Weapon System, it may be limited in its capabilities since Mega Man can seemingly copy abilities only from machines and not from organic beings, although this has never been canonically stated or shown and thus remains in the realm of speculation. Special Weapons acquired by Mega Man also have limited ammunition with the more powerful ones having less than others. Additionally, since Mega Man runs on solar energy, he theoretically could run out of power if he stays in dark areas for too long, but this has never been explored in any media.

Statistics
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.

Rockman Complete Works data
Rockman 1-3: かてい用ロボットだったロックは、ワイリーのやぼうをそしするため、せんとう用ロボロックマンにかいぞうしてもらった

Mega Man Legacy Collection translation: Rock was originally a robot created for household chores, but he was modified for combat and became Mega Man when it came time to put a stop to Dr. Wily's ambitions.

Rockman 4: もともとは家庭用のお手伝いロボットだったがＤｒ．ワイリーの野望をそしすべくライト博士に戦闘用ロボット「ロックマン」に改造してもらった. コサック博士との戦いでまちうけているものは？

Translation: A robot that was originally created for helping at home, but in order to prevent the ambitions of Dr. Wily, Dr. Light had modified him into the combat robot "Rockman". The one that is waiting in the fight is Dr. Cossack?

Rockman 5:

Rockman 6:

Rockman Battle & Fighters data
こころやさしいかていようロボットとしてたんじょうしたロックは、ワシのじょしゅをしながらへいわにくらしていた. しかしあくのかがくしゃワイリーのせかいせいふくのやぼうをそしするため、じぶんからしがんして、せんとうようロボットロックマンとしてうまれかわったのだ.

Translation: The kind-hearted robot created for domestic use, Rock, lived in peace as my assistant. But to stop the evil scientist Wily's ambition to conquer the world, was modified, and reborn as the fighting robot Rockman.

Trivia

 * Mega Man's name "Rock", alongside the name of his sister "Roll", when said together punningly reference the genre of music rock 'n roll. This started a trend of naming many of the characters in the series after genres of music, or after musical terms or groups, or to create music-related puns.
 * Being the first, "classic" 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 to the original Mega Man.


 * Rock, Mega Man's original name, remained the same in Japanese and in other languages until Mega Man Powered Up, when it was changed to "Mega" in localizations but remained "Rock" in Japanese. This change has since been retconned, however, as evidenced by the U.S. Mega Man 9 website which uses the name "Rock". The Archie Comics Mega Man series establishes "Rock" as not only his original name but also the name of Mega Man's civilian form.
 * However, in Mega Man 11, Mega Man is called "Mega" instead of "Rock", although the way it is used could also be interpreted as a shortening of "Mega Man".


 * Mega Man appears as Rock (that is to say, his human-looking form) in only six games: Mega Man, Mega Man 4, Mega Man 11, Mega Man V (Game Boy), Mega Man's Soccer and Mega Man Powered Up, being playable in the latter; he uses a "Mega Kick" instead of an arm cannon.
 * Taking the full series into account, in addition to the Robot Masters generally speaking, Rock has three siblings: a sister, an elder brother, and a younger brother.
 * As Rock and his siblings are considered by Dr. Light to be his children, it is possible that some or all of them carry the surname "Light".


 * In the final Club Capcom magazine there was an Ask Dr. Light bit in which he said regarding the robot master energy systems, many of them do utilize “solar energy” in some way and that Mega Man’s charge shot discharges condensed solar energy.


 * Mega Man has had numerous doppelgängers in the series, these being: Copy Robot, Shadow Mega Man, Mega Man? and Rockman Shadow.
 * Quint, interestingly, doesn't exactly count as he is the original Mega Man himself but either from the future or from a possible future.