Bubble Man

Bubble Man (バブルマン) is the first aquatic Robot Master created by Dr. Wily for underwater combat. However, a defect in his system makes him unable to walk on land, being only able to move by jumping. After seeing this, Wily couldn't help but laugh at his way of moving. Despite this flaw, Bubble Man is at home in the water, being able to swim at remarkable speed.

Bubble Man attacks with normal shots from a Buster on his arm, and can fire his Special Weapon, the Bubble Lead, from both the aforementioned arm cannon and a special Bubble Gun on top of his head. Although it normally takes the form of a bubble of concentrated Sulfuric Acid that can travel along the ground and burn through the armour of most opponents, Bubble Man himself can utilise them for several different purposes. These include hitting opponents with bursts of small acidic bubbles and blowing larger and more durable bubbles to either wrap opponents inside to trap them temporarily, or for Bubble Man himself to hide in as a shield.

Despite often being the butt of jokes due to his design flaws, Bubble Man is an affable and high-spirited individual, but has a bad habit of lavishly spending money when he has it. He enjoys bathing in hot springs in his spare time, but much like the later-introduced Wave Man, has a vehement dislike for water pollution, especially oil slicks.

Mega Man 2
Bubble Man's battle takes place underwater, so Mega Man will be able to jump much higher than usual. The player must be careful not to jump too high, as there are instant-death spikes on the ceiling. When the battle begins, Bubble Man will shoot three Bubble Leads, then jump over to the other side of the room. The bubbles are avoided by passing under them when they are bouncing. He'll repeat this strategy several times. If Mega Man tries to jump, Bubble Man will shoot him down with his arm cannon. He is vulnerable to attacks when he shoots his bubbles or when he lands.

His weakness, the Metal Blade, eliminates the need of jumping to attack and deals considerable damage to him. It defeats him in four hits in Normal Mode and seven in Difficult.

An alternate weapon to this is the Quick Boomerang, but the player should be careful using it, as it is a close range weapon. It defeats him in seven boomerangs and fourteen in Difficult setting.

Mega Man 3
In Mega Man 3, the second Doc Robot in Gemini Man's stage copies Bubble Man's moves, and before the battle, Bubble Man has a cameo appearance as program data copied by Doc Robot. This Doc Robot is weak against Spark Shock and Shadow Blade.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
Bubble Man is one of the four bosses from Mega Man 2 that appears in Dr. Wily's teleport system inside the Wily Castle. His actions are similar to Mega Man 2 and he is weak to Quick Boomerang.

Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise
Bubble Man appears in the Boss Card Bubble Card (バブルカード).

Mega Man's Soccer
Bubble Man is a balanced player that doesn't have his own team. In Tournament mode, he is a member of the Cut Man, Elec Man, Pharaoh Man, Skull Man, Enker, and Proto Man teams. In League mode, he is a member of the Mega Man and Cut Man teams.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Bubble Man is one of the six bosses from the "Search for Wily!" course. He attacks with Bubble Lead and Claws (or a similar robot). He is weak to the Shadow Blade.

Super Adventure Rockman
Sixteen of Dr. Wily's robots from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 are rebuilt by Ra Moon, including Bubble Man. After Mega Man defeats the first boss, Metal Man, he will spot a river and the player must decide if he pass by the river or by the nearby mountain. If the player choose the river, Mega Man will be attacked and fall underwater, where he will fight against Bubble Man. If the player choose the mountain, Mega Man will meet Guts Man in the other side, who says that he found Bubble Man defeated (apparently by Proto Man) and took his Bubble Lead to give for Mega Man, and Mega Man fights against Heat Man.

Near the end of the game, Dr. Wily's robots (except for Shadow Man) are revived, and Wily orders them to destroy the captured Mega Man. However, Ra Moon attacks the fifteen robots, revealing his true intentions, and when Wily orders the newly created Ra Thor to destroy Ra Moon, but he attacks Wily's robots. Mega Man is freed and he defeats Ra Thor, but Ra Moon reveals he created a robot called New Yellow Devil. Wily orders his robots to attack the New Yellow Devil, but their attacks cause no harm and it knocks down all robots. If the player is defeated, Mega Man can ask the robots to help him, and they will give their remaining energy to Mega Man and shut down. Their bodies are apparently destroyed in the explosion of Ra Moon's temple.

Other appearances

 * Bubble Man appears in the CD database from Mega Man & Bass.
 * Bubble Man is a boss in Mega Man Pinball.
 * Bubble Man appears in Battle Memory from Rockman ×over.
 * Bubble Man would appear in the cancelled game Mega Man Universe.

Rockman Complete Works data
ワイリーメカはじめての水中ロボ. およぐすがたがかわいい. 大ジャンプをうまく使って攻撃しよう.

Rockman Battle & Fighters data
はつのすいちゅうせんようひとがたロボットであったがじつはぼうすいしょりのかんけいじょう、ほこうすることができず、すいちゅうないでのいどうはすべてジャンプによっておこなわれていた. ながいきょりをいどうするときは、ワイリーでさえわらってしまうほどかわいいとくしゅぶきは、バブルリードじゃ.

Translation: The first underwater dedicated humanoid robot, in fact he can't walk due to the waterproof process, all movement underwater is done by jumping. When moving long distances, even Wily laughed a lot of its cuteness. Special Weapon is Bubble Lead.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Bubble Man's stage, the first underwater stage from the series. It is filled with spikes in the ceiling, which are dangerous as Mega Man jumps higher due to the buoyancy.
 * Anko
 * Claw
 * Kerog
 * M-445
 * Shrink
 * Tanishi

Damage Data Chart
Amount of damage in units that Bubble Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 2.


 * *Any data with a "+" represents the weapon actually restoring the boss's health.

Captain N: The Game Master
Bubble Man appeared in episode 20 of Captain N: The Game Master, where he and other robots play soccer against the main characters. This version has a round blue body and a tank of water on his head.

Mega Man Megamix
In the manga Mega Man Megamix, Bubble Man has his arm cannon on his right arm instead of his left arm; his arm cannon is also equipped with a harpoon and he has a "W" on his knees and belt. Bubble Man made a very short appearance in the story "Orders to Destroy R", where he's in the sea near the Wily Castle. He attacks Mega Man while he was approaching. Heat Man, who was pursuing Mega Man, was kicked into the water, making the water boil with his heat. Bubble Man had to swim away to avoid damage in the overheated water.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Bubble Man first appears in Archie Comics' Mega Man in issue #8, where he is built by Wily. In issue #9 he is the second of Wily's Robot Masters Mega Man has to fight. He becomes angry at the Blue Bomber for destroying the waste-management robots around his area that were weaponized to fight him. Feeling mocked, Bubble Man declares that he wait and prepare to destroy him. At that moment, Mega Man appears and asks Bubble Man if he's seen a dangerous Robot Master. Angered even more, Bubble Man shoots a Bubble Lead at him. Mega Man reacts by shooting a Leaf Shield at Bubble Man, destroying him.

Later, Bubble Man and the rest of Wily's Robot Masters were reconstructed by Ra Moon in the Lanfront Ruins. Because of this, Bubble Man was later under the direct control of Ra Moon after the latter betrayed Wily. Bubble Man alongside Heat Man, Flash Man, and Metal Man confronted the Blue Bomber alongside Guts Man, Cut Man, Bomb Man, and Rush. During the ensuing confrontation between the two factions of the Robot Masters, Bubble Man, while pouncing on Bomb Man and taunting them, almost let slip that they were actually serving Ra Moon instead of Wily, which resulted in Metal Man throwing one of his Metal Blades inches from Bubble Man as a subtle yet strict warning that he not tell them anything. After Mega Man copied Metal Man's powers under Bomb Man's suggestion, Mega Man disabled Bubble Man's Bubble Lead ability by cutting his tank, and then copied Bubble Man after Guts Man, on Mega Man's orders, punched him towards Mega Man.

Other appearances
Bubble Man also appeared in the mangas, Rockman: Dr. Wily no Inbou, Rockman World, Rockman: Yomigaeru Blues, Rockman 4Koma Dai Koushin, and Rock'n Game Boy.

Trivia

 * His dislike for oil slicks could be a reference of how oil doesn't mix with water. This could also make a reference that he and Oil Man are rivals.


 * Bubble Man and Flash Man were the only two Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 not to appear in the Ruby Spears cartoon series.


 * In his sprite from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, his arm cannon appears on his left arm when he is looking to the right side of the screen. In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, his cannon is on his left arm when looking to the left.


 * Two of Bubble Man's names from his early designs were Water Man and Pump Man. The name Pump Man would then go-on to be used in Mega Man 10.


 * Bubble Man's appearance in Captain N: The Game Master bears a small resemblance to Aqua Man from Mega Man 8.


 * Due to limitations of the systems, in many of the games, the blue parts of Bubble Man's head instead appears as green.


 * Despite being defeated by the Leaf Shield in the Archie comics, Bubble Man doesn't take any damage from it in the games.


 * Bubble Man, Heat Man and Wood Man are the only three robot Masters in Mega Man 2 to be healed by their own weapon.
 * Bubble Man is weak to Metal Blade because blades are sharp and bubbles are easily popped by sharp objects.