Hard Man

Hard Man (ハードマン) is a Robot Master created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily that first appeared in Mega Man 3. Originally built for land grading, he has a hard, durable exterior made of ceratanium, making him very heavy, weighing about three tons. He can fire his hands, known as Hard Knuckles, and has a cannon built inside of his body, giving him the boost needed to jump. Due to his excessive weight, he can stomp the ground and cause a tremor, much to Mega Man's dismay.

In Super Adventure Rockman, he was revived by Ra Moon. When Mega Man enters a garden-like place in the Temple of the Moon, Hard Man drops from the ceiling and attempts to crush Mega Man. However Hard Man missed and gets his head stuck in the ground, and the player must defeat him. After the battle, he falls to pieces and acid begins to flood the room, melting Hard Man's parts. He is later revived by Ra Moon again.

Strategy
Hard Man will start shooting two Hard Knuckles at Mega Man, which then will boomerang back at him if he avoided them. The best way to avoid them for the player is to jump over the first knuckle so he fires the other in the air, then jump over the first knuckle again so the second one goes through the air, missing Mega Man. He will then jump at Mega Man's location and stomp the ground, causing an earthquake and making Mega Man to paralyze even if he is in mid-air. The player has to get out of the way to avoid it. He will repeat the pattern over and over. His weakness is the Magnet Missile, being able to hit him better when he jumps to cause the earthquake. He is also weak to his own weapon, the Hard Knuckle, but it can only be tested on him on the rematch in Wily's Castle, like the other Robot Masters.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Hard Man's stage.
 * Sub-boss: Proto Man (not present in Game Boy version)
 * Bikky (not present in Game Boy version)
 * Hammer Joe
 * Metall DX (not present in Game Boy version)
 * Returning Monking
 * Picket Man Bull
 * Have "Su" Bee (with Chibees)
 * Wanaan

Damage Data Chart
Amount of damage in units that Hard Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 3.

Other media
Hard Man appeared in Episode 25 from Ruby Spears' Mega Man animated series, in the stories Metal Heart and Asteroid Blues from Hitoshi Ariga's manga Mega Man Megamix and Rockman Gigamix, in Shigeto Ikehara's Rockman World 2 manga, and in Rockman 4Koma Great March.

Trivia

 * Bit Man's mugshot from the PC version of Mega Man 3 is an edit of Hard Man's mugshot.


 * Hard Man and Gemini Man are the only two robot masters from Mega Man 3 to not have a NetNavi counterpart.


 * The reason why Hard Man dislikes swimming, according to his Mega Man & Bass CD Data, is because he is so heavy that if he tried to swim, he would fall straight to the bottom.