Splash Woman

Splash Woman (スプラッシュウーマン) is one of the Robot Masters from Mega Man 9 whose period of use had expired and was scheduled to be scrapped. She is a robot that was designed to rescue victims of sinking ships and beach accidents. She is fond of karaoke bars so she can show off her singing voice. Splash Woman attacks by singing to call fish and using her weapon, the Laser Trident.

Stage enemies

 * Octone
 * Okosutobon
 * Sakrets
 * Tropish

Robot Master Field Guide Data
"I think you should go first..."


 * Good Point: Expert swimmer
 * Bad Point: Poor land mobility
 * Likes: Karaoke
 * Dislikes: Large crowds

Stage Information

 * The stage has a vertical bubble puzzle similar to the one from Wave Man's stage in Mega Man 5, which involve deadly spikes and Trophishes.


 * There are also some puzzles which include more spikes and temporary platforms moving horizontally in either direction.

Strategy
Splash Woman will first call three groups of fish to charge into Mega Man that can be dodged by extended jumps. Then, when she is at the top of the stage, she'll move around the room shooting the Laser Trident and finally try to tackle Mega Man with her trident.

Her weakness is the Hornet Chaser. The bees will then fly around and can easily demolish the fish, and damage Splash Woman as she goes to the top of the screen. Take in count that after a bee kills fishes, it will continue until no one is remaining and won't attack Splash Woman. However, they can still damage her if she is lured into them before they fly offscreen.

Appearance in other media
Splash Woman appears in the short Mega Man Megamix manga story "For Whose Sake?", included in the booklet of Rockman 9 Arrange Soundtrack.

Splash Woman appears in issue 19 of the Archie Mega Man comics, where Oil Man takes her with him to help Roll and Quake Woman rescue people from a shipwreck. According the the writers, the reason for her appearing much earlier was to have the audience know what she was like so her eventual descent into villainy in the Mega Man 9 chapter was more poignant. She also makes a brief appearance in issue 20 of the same series, where Mega Man and Bass are shifted forward in time to the events of Mega Man 9. In it, Splash Woman alludes to her fate of being "retired" due to an expiration date to Mega Man, when telling him that she will not go quietly to the scrap heap, to Mega Man's confusion. She later appears briefly in Issue 21 during the New Years festivities, feeling miserable due to being alone. She later appeared during the Worlds Collide crossover event in Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 250, where she and a massive army of Robot Masters appeared to stop Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and their various allies from reaching the Wily Egg.

Trivia

 * Splash Woman is the first fightable female Robot Master.
 * Splash Woman was originally called Ocean Man (オーシャンマン) during her development.


 * Splash Woman, along with Roll, Kalinka and Plum are the only female main characters in the video games of the entire classic Mega Man series so far.


 * Her Laser Trident is the Special Weapon that deals the most damage to Mega Man in Mega Man 9.


 * Splash Woman is the only boss in Mega Man 9 that takes 2 bars of damage from the Mega Buster. Every other Robot Master in the game takes one. However, she does make up for this by remaining out of its range for most of the fight.


 * Splash Woman has the same interest as Guts Man: karaoke.


 * Her interest in karaoke may be based off old stories that tell of sirens (often depicted as mermaid-like creatures in some folklore) singing so beautifully that young men would be lured to their doom.


 * In the end credits picture, she is seen at the beach having a picture taken by Auto, having been rebuilt after the events of Mega Man 9.


 * Splash Woman is one of the few Robot Masters to have non-humanoid legs. Some of the others include Centaur Man, who had 4 robotic hooves; Astro Man and Cloud Man, who hover in midair and did not have legs; Blizzard Man, who is attached to skis; and Napalm Man and Dark Man 1, who have caterpillar treads in place of feet.


 * Splash Woman is the fourth Robot Master to be based on a mythical creature (the mermaid). The others include Centaur Man (the centaur), Tengu Man (the tengu), and Shade Man (the vampire).
 * Splash Woman is one of two Robot Masters to have an attack that involves other enemies, Hornet Man being the other. Some fortress bosses, including Big Pets from Mega Man 5, also produce additional enemies to help them fight.


 * Her in-game sprites give her a vague resemblance to Leviathan (element, attacks, and tendency to flood the room to distort the player) and Pandora (costume, attacks and the fact she floats, although outside water).


 * Splash Woman's appearance and occupation make her very similar to the Rockman X manga's Marty, a mermaid-like reploid created as a rescue worker, who also wields a spear weapon.
 * Splash Woman is one of the few Robot Masters to take two points of damage from the Mega Buster regardless of difficulty setting.
 * Perhaps by coincidence, the fish that Splash Woman summon bear a striking resemblance to Flounder from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid which was also adapted into an NES game by Capcom.