Proto Man

Proto Man, or Blues (プルース) is the first Robot Master created by Dr. Light and is considered the "brother" to Mega Man. He first appeared in Mega Man 3 as an antagonist but soon switched sides, aiding Mega Man in his fight against evil.

Origin
Proto Man was intended to become the first humanoid robot capable of independent thought and reasoning and built for the purpose of combat.

Being a prototype robot, Proto Man's design was not complete. It was later discovered by Dr. Light that Proto Man had a dangerous imbalance in his energy core that would eventually kill him. However, being created too independent, not having another of his kind to interact with and severely troubled by his incomplete status, Proto Man had begun growing distrust for the good doctor. Refusing to have Dr. Light meddle with his systems, fearing Light would change his character, Proto Man went missing.

Dr. Light had presumed Proto Man to have died and regrettably gave up on him. Learning from his mistakes, he perfected the energy core and created sibling units Rock and Roll. The combat aspects of Proto Man's design became the basis of the Sniper Joe series of robots.

Knowing the time of his demise, Proto Man wandered the world alone. Before his energy reactor was completely depleted, he was found by the exiled scientist Dr. Wily. Dr. Wily managed to temporarily repair Proto Man by altering his energy core from a Solar to a Nuclear one, as well as making other modifications. Working on Proto Man's systems gave Wily greater knowledge in creating robots, helping his plans for world domination along.

Indebted to Wily, Proto Man served him under the alias of Break Man. He did this until his encounters with Mega Man in Mega Man 3 made him realize the true nature of Dr. Wily. Proto Man turned on Dr. Wily, aiding Mega Man but refusing help from Dr. Light, still holding onto his feelings of distrust.

Mega Man Powered Up
Although Proto Man has no involvement in the story, he is a unlockable playable character that is unlocked after beating all mission modes, or downloading him. He uses his Proto Shield to block attacks like Megaman in Mega Man 7. His shield can also be knocked off by enemies.

Mega Man 3
Proto Man appears in Shadow Man, Gemini Man, Hard Man and Magnet Man's stages to test Megaman's strength. After the defeat of the Doc Robot(s), Proto Man will fight Megaman one last time disguised as Break Man. After Megaman defeats Dr.Wily, he saves Megaman and brings him back to Dr.Light's lab.

Mega Man 4
Proto Man rescues the kidnapped Kalinka and brings her to Mega Man and her father, Dr. Cossack, after Mega Man defeats him, to let her tell Mega Man that her father was forced to build the eight Robot Masters for Dr. Wily.

Mega Man 5
Proto Man was framed for a robot attack and kidnapping Dr. Light. Mega Man later finds out that Dr. Wily created a robot called Dark Man to impersonate Proto Man, and Proto Man later helps Mega Man near the end of the game by helping lift the roof of Dr. Wily's castle when Mega Man saved Dr. Light.

Mega Man 6
Proto Man appears in Tomahawk Man's stage to give him the Energy Balancer upgrade. With it, when Megaman collects weapons energy with the Mega Buster equipped, it restores the weapon with the least energy in it.

Mega Man 7
Proto Man appears in Cloud Man and Turbo Man's stage. After Mega Man visits him in those areas, he will appear in Shade Man's stage hidden in the wall behind the Sniper Joe 01 after the mini-boss VAN Pookin. He will challenge Megaman to a fight and if he takes enough damage, he will give his Proto Shield.

Mega Man 8
After Mega Man's battle with Duo, Proto Man tells him that Dr. Wily's new fortress, called "Wily Tower," lies just ahead. Then, after Wily's defeat and Mega Man's rescue at the hands of Duo, Mega Man returns to the area near the wreckage of Wily Tower to find Proto Man standing on a tree. Proto Man tells him that Duo left to return to space but had a message for him - "Thank you."

Mega Man and Bass
Appears in the intro stage, trying to shoot King, but is sliced in half, Megaman shows concern and tells him to go to Dr Light for repairs, whilst Bass ignores him and claims he's the most powerful robot.

Reappears in the 3rd Castle Stage and uses his Big Bang Blast to destroy King's shield, he then appears in Bass's ending to destroy the data for King Mk II that Wily made. Protoman is notably out of character in this appearance- though usually preferring to sneak in and out at the most opportune times to help Mega Man in small but valuable ways, he is shown in this game to recklessly challenge King head on, and is portrayed being defeated for the first time. He then later appears to fight King again, this time seeming unusually angry and vengeful, trying to destroy King with a powerful Big Bang Strike.

Data
Mega Man's Soccer stats:
 * Special: Proto Buster Shot
 * Run: 47
 * Kick: 62
 * Tackle: 96
 * Dif.: 128

Mega Man: Battle and Chase:
 * Vehicle: Red Striker
 * Body: Shield Body ("Mach Shield Body" in Japan)
 * Engine: L-Blow Engine (Last Blow Engine)
 * Wing: Hi-Speed Wing
 * Tire: Sharp Tire ("Sharp Steer Tire" in Japan)

Mega Man and Bass CD data
A proto-type robot that Dr. Light created. He appears out of nowhere to help Megaman.

"Let me tell you something..."

Good point: Good whistler

Bad point: Keeping contact

Like: Solitary travel

Dislike: Interviews



Trivia

 * His appearance makes many references to Char Aznable of the Gundam anime, such as his red color scheme, signature sunglasses, his shield resembling that of Char's Gelgoog, and his single eye as Break Man, a feature present in all of Char's mobile suits.
 * His character also bears resemblance to Racer X from the Speed Racer series (known as Mach Go Go Go in Japan) and the main characters of the anime Cyborg 009.
 * Some more of Proto Man's traits could be a reference to a villain in the Kikaider series, the Haikaider. In addition to being the hero's brother, Haikaider wears a yellow scarf in his human disguise, and announces his presence with a whistle.
 * Since Rockman/Mega Man looks like Tetswan Atom/Astro Boy, Blues/Proto Man could be a reference to Rocky, another Osamu Tezuka character.
 * In the American Mega Man TV show from Ruby-Spears, Proto Man worked for Dr. Wily.
 * In Mega Man: Powered Up, He couldn't copy weapons like Mega Man, but in Mega Man: The Power Battle, he can.
 * In the Bob and George comic, Proto Man takes up the name Prometheus during the XEra, a name unintentionally shared with the Mega Man ZX character, Prometheus.
 * Proto Man's story from the animated series and Mega Man 5 together inspired his role in the rock opera by The Protomen.
 * Proto Man's Red Striker from Battle and Chase reappears in Mega Man ZX in Innerpeace belonging to one of two twins. The other other twin is possession of Mega Man's Rush Roadster.