Energy Element

Energy Element (エネルギー元素) is an element from Mega Man 3 needed by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily to be used on the giant peace-keeping robot Gamma as an energy resource. They were scattered about uncharted planets, so the doctors sent robots to mine them. For some reason, these robots suddenly have gone crazy, and Mega Man set out with Rush to stop the robots and retrieve the Energy Elements protected by them. After fighting against Break Man, Dr. Wily steals Gamma and the Energy Elements. The Energy Elements were never shown in the game, and it's unknown what happened to them after Gamma's destruction, presumably being lost or destroyed.

Captain N: The Game Master
In episode 32 from the animated series Captain N: The Game Master, the Energy Elements are called Energy Tanks and resemble a large, yellow Energy Tank with a blue dome above. Mega Man obtains the last Energy Tank after defeating Top Man, and it is placed inside Gamma.

Mega Man Gigamix
The Energy Elements, also called Energy Crystals (エネルギー結晶), appear in the manga Mega Man Gigamix, where they have an important role in the stories. In volume 1, they appear in the story Asteroid Blues, which is based on the events from Mega Man 3. In volumes 2 and 3 they are shown to have a connection with Duo and the Stardroids.

The overwhelming gap between the Stardroids and the Earth robots was due to their Hyper Energy Crystals (HEC for short), known as Super Energy Elements (超エネルギー元素) in Japan, which is why Mega Man and his allies were able to have an even fight against the Stardroids when they had them equipped. Despite the impression given by the incredible destructive power of the Stardroids, the technological might of their alien creators was not all that different from modern day Earth's, although it did evolve in a significantly different direction. Below are the HEC characteristics that could be understood from the “Gamma incident”, the “Stardroid disaster”, and Dr. Wily’s own private experiments (as well as some investigation):


 * HEC contain an incredible amount of energy, but it cannot be drawn out with any sort of stability by a simple machine. Although the International Energy Institute – which discovered and obtained the first HEC – successfully harvested power from it, they could not manage to keep its overflowing energy under control in their experiments, resulting in an enormous explosion. The laboratory compound, in spite of having been built from a special steel alloy, was obliterated without a trace, leaving only the HEC intact at ground zero. Experimentation eventually resumed, only for the incident to repeat over and over again. However, once an attempt to directly connect the HEC with a robot in possession of an artificial brain and have it control the energy flow was made, energy could (to an extent) finally be drawn at a stable rate. The robot, however, crashed and self-destructed fifteen minutes into the experiment. From the data obtained by these studies alongside with the data obtained from his own experiments, Dr. Wily deduced that a robot's soul was the only way to control a HEC.


 * HEC give access to an infinite amount of energy. They do, however, have a limited transmission capacity, which is how the International Energy Institute ended up underestimating their actual output.


 * After asking himself “Can such a thing as truly infinite energy actually exist?”, Dr. Wily came to hypothesize that, if one instead thought of the HEC as “doorways”, then it could be possible for them to be bringing the energy in from outside this universe. He also deduced that while a robot’s mind could modulate the amount of energy flowing in from the “door”, if the robot was not remarkably strong-willed, the overflow of energy would swallow it entirely.


 * A robot equipped with a HEC sees their power, speed, and other physical abilities jump in orders of magnitude. Their whole body also finds itself covered by an invisible, film-like coating of energy, which not only radically boosts their defense, but acts as a safe outlet for the energy, preventing the intense power-up from destroying their own bodies. The Earth robots were incapable of damaging the Stardroids because of that very energy film.


 * To damage an entity making use of such an energy coating, one must either:
 * Use a weapon also powered by a HEC (allowing the energy to cancel itself out – however, actual damage will vary wildly depending on the output difference between the two).
 * Manage to hit the energy coating with enough power to bypass its defensive structure. Achieving this is a rather complicated matter, as it requires an amount of power roughly equivalent to that of a batch of nuclear missiles. Quick Man presumably managed to destroy Mercury by bypassing his energy coating.


 * On top of all this, robots equipped with HEC seem to experience rather strange events. Proto Man, whose body should have shut down years ago, found his life inexplicably extended; Skull Man (whether it was truly him or merely an illusion; Skull Man’s actual status is unknown) appeared in the middle of Ring Man and Pluto’s battle; and so on. These phenoma too might result from the HEC's reactions to the souls of the robots carrying them, although at this point any statement to their effect is merely speculation.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Before the Energy Elements had a direct appearance in the series, their presence was briefly implied in Mega Man #20, when Mega Man briefly fought against Gamma when stuck in a time loop.

They also received a mention in Mega Man #24, where Dr. Wily speculated that a blue gem Flash Man found may have been a new version of an energy element due to Ra Moon noting its power, and in Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 249, where Sonic the Hedgehog commented that it would take over a billion Energy Elements (when Mega Man explained that they were his world's most powerful energy source) to equate to the power output of one Chaos Emerald.

They first appeared in Mega Man #36, being shown as eight specially large and refined energy elements that Dr. Light connected in Gamma's mouth. These powerful crystal batteries are stolen by the Mega Man 3 Robot Masters in the same issue. They reappear in Issue 41, where it is revealed that Wily's third generation Robot Masters, per Wily's orders were going to let Mega Man have the Energy Elements anyways, although not without a huge fight. After the Energy Elements held by Snake Man and Top Man were recovered and sent to Light Labs by portable transport modules specifically designed for transporting the Energy Elements, Dr. Wily attempted to insert them into Gamma, although he was forced to put them into storage after he learned that only Roll and Dr. Light had authorization to access Gamma. Roll was nearly injured after one of the Energy Elements had discharged near her hand, as they were sensitive from the entire ordeal. After all Energy Elements are recovered and installed on Gamma, Dr. Wily betrays Dr. Light in issue 45 and steals Gamma. When fighting against Gamma in Mega Man #48, Mega Man realizes that the Energy Elements might be its only weak point as it is what keeps Gamma running, and attacks them with Search Snake, causing them to explode and stopping Gamma.