Skull Man

Skull Man (スカルマン) is a Robot Master created specially for combat with balanced offense and defense by Dr. Cossack while he was working for Dr. Wily in Mega Man 4. He attacks with shots from his arm cannon, and can generate a skull-shaped energy shield called the Skull Barrier for protection. Skull Man only moves or attacks when Mega Man does the same; however, he doesn't move if Mega Man only jumps.

Strategy
Interestingly enough, he won't attack until Mega Man moves or shoots. He won't move if Mega Man jumps, though. If provoked, he attacks by shooting plasma shots from his arm cannon. They are avoided by jumping high so the first shot either misses or Skull Man shoots it high, missing Mega Man, then avoiding the rest of the shots. Then, he jumps at Mega Man (which can be avoided moving out of the way) and then activates his Skull Barrier, making him invincible to almost everything. He then runs in an attempt to tackle Mega Man. The player should quickly move out of the way or jump over him to avoid it. He won't repeat the pattern until Mega Man moves or shoots again. His weakness is the Dust Crusher, although it can't pierce his barrier. The only weapon strong enough to pierce his barrier is the Ring Boomerang, although it deals normal damage. He is also immune to the Pharaoh Shot.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Skull Man's stage in Mega Man 4 and Mega Man III.
 * Battonton
 * Imorm
 * Shield Attacker
 * Skeleton Joe
 * Skullmet
 * Super Ball Machine Jr.
 * Togehero

Damage Data Chart
Amount of damage in units that Skull Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 4.

*For the Mega Buster and Pharaoh Shot, the first digit is when the weapon is fired normally and the second is when it is fully charged.

Mega Man Megamix
In the manga, Skull Man was created by Dr. Cossack specially to fight against Mega Man after Kalinka was kidnapped. His Skull Barrier is a set of six skull-like bits that appear from the mouth of his shoulders and creates a electromagnetic field around himself. With the Skull Barrier active, Skull Man can attack foes without worrying about avoiding attacks and taking damage, but a drawback is that his mobility is restricted while the barrier is in effect. Skull Man also has a buster in each radius and 16 machine guns hidden in his ribs. Though Skull Man represents the culmination of Dr. Cossack's skills, he was purposely created to look like the complete opposite of Cossack's ideals and thus his existence is more like a nightmare than anything else.

In the story The Grim Reaper of Resurrection, Skull Man was deactivated by Dr. Cossack after the events of Mega Man 4, but is later reactivated by Dr. Wily. Angry for being deactivated, Skull Man goes to Dr. Cossack's Citadel equipped with a scythe and wearing a robe (resembling a Grim Reaper), and destroys it with Reggae and some Skeleton Joes, capturing Dust Man, Pharaoh Man and Drill Man in the process. He later locates Dr. Cossack while he was giving a TV interview, and captures him during the broadcast. Mega Man saw this on TV and goes after Skull Man to rescue Cossack, receiving some help along the way, but Skull Man also captures Kalinka and Roll. Mega Man later locates Skull Man and fights against him with the help of the other seven robots Cossack created. Dr. Cossack figures that Skull Man's feelings were hurt from being deactivated, treated like he was just a weapon without emotions. Skull Man is happy that he realized this, and after the battle, he asks Cossack to never create any fighting machines like him again before running out of energy. Skull Man also has a few appearances in Mega Man Megamix vol. 3, where he is mentioned by Dive Man.

In Mega Man Gigamix vol. 3, in the final battle against the Stardroids in space, Ring Man summons an illusion of Skull Man to distract Pluto. Pluto refers to Skull Man as a "monster," which angers Ring Man, and gives the robot the motivation to destroy the Stardroid.

Other appearances
Skull Man also appeared in the manga Rockman 4 and Rockman 4Koma Great March. He also had a cameo appearance in the comic Novas Aventuras de Megaman with his "Grim Reaper" appearance from Mega Man Megamix.

Trivia

 * Skull Man has a cameo appearance in the museum stage from Mega Man 7, in the background of the room that Mash appears.


 * Skull Man is the only Robot Master from Mega Man 4 to never appear in the Ruby Spears cartoon.


 * Interestingly, his AI is not programmed to act until the player moves horizontally or shoots.


 * During the development of Mega Man 4, Capcom scrapped his stage and restarted from scratch, as they were so impressed by the fan-submitted design.


 * When the player reaches Dr. Cossack's Citadel, a skull theme is not seen anywhere in it. It is also interesting to know Skull Man is the last in the line of Dr. Cossack's Robot Masters. This may be hinting that Cossack would have been "motivated" by Wily to build Skull Man.