Hard Man

Hard Man (ハードマン) is a Robot Master created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily who appeared in Mega Man 3. He has a hard, durable body made of ceratanium, which makes him highly resistant to attacks and grants him remarkable defense. However, it also makes him very heavy, weighing in at about three tons, and affects his movement speed considerably. Due to his weight, he is very lazy and complains quite often.

His Special Weapon is the Hard Knuckle, which allows him to detach his fists and attack from afar with rocket-powered punches, and also has a compact rocket booster built into himself that allows him to jump high into the air. He can utilise his jumping ability in combination with his excessive weight to attack by leaping up and diving down onto his opponents to crush them, or to smash the floor and cause tremors that can stun nearby foes.

Whilst generally known to be a man of few words, Hard Man is a fair-minded individual who prefers to fight his opponents on equal terms, which puts him at odds with the much more pragmatic Snake Man. He enjoys Sumo Wrestling, a sport in which he can put his weight to good use, but dislikes swimming because the weight of his metal exterior causes him to sink.

Mega Man 3
Hard Man is one of the eight bosses. In battle, he will start shooting two Hard Knuckles at Mega Man, which then will boomerang back at him if he avoided them. The best way for the player to avoid them is to jump over the first knuckle so the second knuckle fires in the air above Mega Man, then jump over the first knuckle again so the second one goes through the air, missing Mega Man. Hard Man will then jump at Mega Man's location and stomp the ground, causing an earthquake and paralyzing Mega Man even if he is in mid-air. The player has to get out of the way to avoid it. Hard Man will repeat the pattern over and over.

His weakness is the Magnet Missile, which is 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 the Wily Castle, like the other Robot Masters. Any of his weakness defeats him in seven hits.

Mega Man II
Hard Man is one of the four bosses fought in the Wily Castle. He acts in the same way as Mega Man 3.

Super Adventure Rockman
Hard Man was one of the robots revived by Ra Moon in the Lanfront Ruins, appearing as the second boss of Episode 3. 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.

Hard Man is later revived by Ra Moon again, but Wily is betrayed by Ra Moon and his robots are attacked, collapsing. They are apparently destroyed alongside the Temple of the Moon.

Rockman Strategy
Hard Man and Cut Man serve as Libra's bodyguard, and Hard Man later joins Freeze Man in attacking Proto Man.

Other appearances

 * Hard Man appears in the CD database from Mega Man & Bass.
 * Hard Man appears in Battle Memory from Rockman ×over.
 * Hard Man is an enemy in the arcade game Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2.

Rockman Complete Works data
セラミカルチタンをとくしゅかこうしたボディをもつたいじゅうは３トン. ハードナックルは画面はじで、かわそう.

Mega Man Legacy Collection text: He has a special body reinforced with ceratanium. He weighs three tons. Dodge his Hard Knuckle at the edge of the arena.

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
 * Pickelman 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.

Mega Man (Ruby-Spears)
"Let me give the little twerp a HARD time!"

- Hard Man

Hard Man appeared in Episode 25 from Ruby Spears' Mega Man animated series voiced by Terry Klassen. He proves to be much more durable than his game counterpart, able to deflect Mega Man's buster shots off his body except for his vulnerable face. He also likes to make jokes involving the word "hard". He doesn't use his Hard Knuckle, instead relying on punches and throws, but Mega Man uses it himself to fight Proto Man.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
In the comic, Dr. Wily used Ra Moon to create Hard Man during the story arc Spiritus Ex Machina Hard Man was designed by Wily and Dr. Light but not built until that point in time.

Mega Man Megamix
Hard Man is a land leveling robot. Similar to Guts Man, Hard Man's external armor is made of a Ceratanium super-alloy. His body is shaped like a cylinder, which allows him to withstand a greater amount of impact than even Guts Man. His main weapon are the Hard Knuckles attached to his arms, which are launched from his elbows via rocket booster, and fly towards the intended target by relying on signals from Hard Man himself. He also has boosters on his lower waist as well as the bottom of his feet, which lift his three-ton body into the air. Hard Man is a robot built for pure power who uses his solid body and great weight for both offensive and defensive purposes.

Hard Man appears in the story Metal Heart, where Dr. Wily sends him and the other robots from Mega Man 3 to recover Yellow Devil MK-II.

In Mega Man Gigamix, Hard Man appears in the story Asteroid Blues to assist in the attack to the transport with Gamma and to gather alien technology to Dr. Wily. When a white alien robot invaded Wily's hideout, Hard Man, alongside the robots from Mega Man 3 and 7 (minus Shadow Man and Shade Man) work together to take down the intruder, but they are defeated. He is later repaired and assists Mega Man and the others during the attack of the Stardroids.

Other appearances
Hard Man appeared in the manga Rockman World 2, Rockman: Yomigaeru Blues, and Rockman 4Koma Dai Koushin.

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.
 * Hard Man and Top Man were the only two Robot Masters who did not appear in the Mega Man 3 handheld by Tiger Electronics.
 * 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 immediately sink straight to the bottom.
 * Officially, it is unknown what he was built for.
 * Interestingly, the Megas cover of his theme, Harder Than Steel, refers to him as being an older, retired fighting robot who wants to prove his strength by fighting Mega Man. This could possibly be supported by his weapon as it permits him to punch opponents from a safe distance.

Hard Man Hard Man