Shadow Man

Shadow Man (シャドーマン) is a stealthy and powerful ninja-themed Robot Master that first appeared in Mega Man 3. Possibly alien in origin, Shadow Man was originally an unknown, deactivated robot discovered by Dr. Wily, who remodeled and reprogrammed him. The metal body of Shadow Man does not match any material found on Earth. He is a master of ninjutsu, and can summon a giant frog robot to ride on or small frogs to check areas for him (a reference to Jiraiya, a rogue ninja hero from a Japanese folktale, who mastered frog magic). Shadow Man's main weapon is the Shadow Blade, a large shuriken coated with a deadly liquid.

Video game appearances

 * Shadow Man is a main boss in the games Mega Man 3, Mega Man III and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, as well as remakes, collections and ports of the games, like Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Mega Man 3 (Tiger handheld) and Rockman Battle & Fighters.


 * In Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise, Shadow Man is one of the three robots the player is transformed into when they land on the "Transformation" panel.


 * In Super Adventure Rockman, Shadow Man and the other Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 were revived by Ra Moon; Shadow Man is the last boss of Episode 1. He tries to kill Mega Man, but Quick Man gets in the way of his Shadow Blade to protect him. Angry about Quick Man's death, Mega Man attacks Shadow Man with full power and he explodes, making it impossible to revive him with the other robots in the end of Episode 3. If the player loses to him, Shadow Man will use an arm cannon to destroy Mega Man, and there will be no choice given to continue. Wood Man tries to repair Shadow Man, but he notices the damage is irreparable and attempts to avenge him in the beginning of Episode 2. Shadow Man is not seen again for the rest of the game despite the others being brought back by Ra Moon.


 * In Mega Man: Battle & Chase, Shadow Man is a playable character that uses a frog-shaped car called the Shinobi Master that can use the Shadow Blade to slow down opponents and release smoke screens. In his ending, he creates a ninja house and challenges people to enter it, saying he will give one million zenny to anyone who manages to reach the top. He wears a big red scarf in his ending.


 * Shadow Man is a playable character in the game Rockman Tennis.


 * Several Shadow Men can be seen inside the cars in Blues Field and Needle Field from Mega Man's Soccer.


 * Shadow Man has short appearances in the arcade game Capcom World 2.

Strategy

 * In Mega Man 3, Mega Man III and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, Shadow Man attacks by jumping, throwing Shadow Blades, and sliding.


 * Shadow Man can use the Kawarimi no Jutsu (a ninja technique that replaces the body of the user by an object, usually a piece of log) as defense in Super Adventure Rockman and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. He'll also use this technique when he loses a race in Mega Man: Battle & Chase.


 * In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, he can use makibishis, and summon a giant frog (possibly a modified Croaker) when he loses half of his energy (he doesn't summon the frog if he is the first boss). The frog attacks with its tongue, a flamethrower in the mouth (Shadow Man says "Katon no Jutsu" before this attack), and can spit Kerones.


 * In Super Adventure Rockman, Shadow Man creates copies of himself and the player has to hit the real one.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Dr. Light: This is a mysterious robot who attacks with Ninjitsu. You could easily defeat him if you had a weapon that shoots vertically.

Mega Man: Battle & Chase

 * Vehicle: Shinobi Master
 * Body: Ninja Body
 * Engine: Idaten Engine ("Great Runner" Engine)
 * Wing: Hayate Wing ("Hurricane" Wing)
 * Tire: Fuuma Tire ("Wind Demon" Tire)

Rockman Complete Works data
このロボットにかんするデータがほとんどなく、なぞのおおいロボットである. すべての攻撃はジャンプでかわそう.

Translation: Concerning this robot's data, there is without a doubt, many mysteries. Jump to dodge all of his attacks.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Shadow Man's stage from Mega Man 3:
 * Sub-boss: Proto Man
 * Bikky (Doc Robot stage)
 * Giant Springer (Doc Robot stage)
 * Hammer Joe (Doc Robot stage)
 * Hologran
 * Mechakkero
 * New Shotman
 * Parasyu
 * Peterchy
 * Picket Man Bull
 * Walking Bomb
 * Yambow

Enemies in Shadow Man's stage in the Game Boy Mega Man III:
 * Count Bomb
 * Hologran
 * Mechakkero
 * Parasyu
 * Picket Man Dada
 * Walking Bomb
 * Yambow

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

Mega Man (Ruby-Spears)
Shadow Man appeared in episode 15 of the Mega Man cartoon. In the beginning he helps Proto Man, Cut Man, and Quick Man steal a helicopter to pick up Guts Man and Dark Man at a laboratory, and stays in Dr. Wily's Skull Fortress until Mega Man breaks in and takes the tachyon capacitor that was used by Wily to control the Moon. He and the other robots follow him to Dr. Light's lab, where Mega Man fools them with holographic copies and takes Dark Man's weapon, using it to capture the others and throw them into Wily's Skullker. They escape after this and the Moon is placed back into its orbit.

Captain N: The Game Master
Although Shadow Man didn't appear in Captain N: The Game Master, as Top Man was the last Robot Master defeated by Mega Man and the only seen, Mega Man uses the Shadow Blade in Wily's castle.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Shadow Man makes his first appearance in the Archie comic series during the Spiritus Ex Machina arc, when Wily discovers him in the Lafront Ruins. He is shortly repaired by Ra Moon and recruited into Wily's growing army.

Mega Man Megamix
In the manga, Mega Man Megamix by Hitoshi Ariga, Shadow Man first appeared in the story "Metal Heroes" in Rockman Remix, and again later in "The Strongest Enemy to Date", "Asteroid Blues" and "Burning Wheel". In the manga, Shadow Man uses the Shadow Blade and a sword, and can warp between shadows. His right eye has a sensor that can send data to Wily, though he usualy keeps this eye closed. Sometimes he's seen with the the Japanese symbol "kage" (影) on him, which means "shadow". Shadow Man also acts as Wily's bodyguard, and is very loyal to him. Similar to Ring Man, Shadow Man takes to wearing clothes over his armor, often appearing in different Ninja outfits as well as a face mask.

His first chronological appearance is in the story "Asteroid Blues" from Rockman Gigamix, which is based on the events of Mega Man 3. In "Metal Heroes", Wily created the new Yellow Devil MK-II, but it went out of control and he orders Shadow Man and the other robots from Mega Man 3 to bring it back, and if not possible, destroy it. They have trouble bringing the Yellow Devil back and the struggle draws attention in the street. Mega Man arrives to investigate and makes a temporary alliance with Wily's robots to stop the Yellow Devil. In the end, only Mega Man and Shadow Man are able to continue following it, while the others where forced to stay behind by the security system of the building it entered. After finding the Yellow Devil, Shadow Man notices its weak point is the eye, and that it was damaged in battle. Seeing it would be difficult to bring the Yellow Devil back, Shadow Man decides to use his Shadow Blade to stop it.

In "The Strongest Enemy to Date", Shadow Man monitors the actions of Copy Rockman. In "Burning Wheel", Shadow Man is in the Battle & Chase competition. During the showdown with the Stardroids, he manages to take out Neptune by burning him up in re-entry of the Earth's atmosphere.

Rockman World 3
Shadow Man appears in the manga Rockman World 3, which is based on the events of the Game Boy game, known as Mega Man III outside Japan.

Rockman: Battle & Chase
In the Chinese manga Rockman Battle &amp; Chase, Shadow Man lives in a old ninja house with an elder Shadow Man and four young Shadow Men. When the house begins to fall, a part of the roof falls on the elder and he asks Shadow Man to give a lair to the kids. Homeless, Shadow Man enters the Battle & Chase competition to obtain money for a house. Although he isn't able to win the race, he becomes friends with Mega Man, Ice Man, Blizzard Man and Chill Penguin.

Trivia

 * As Shadow Man is possibly alien in origin, he may be a precursor to other alien robots in the series, such as Sunstar and Duo.


 * Shadow Man is the only Robot Master in Mega Man 3 (other than Doc Robot, specifically when using Heat Man's data) to take damage from all Special Weapons in the game.


 * Shadow Man is the second Robot Master with the ability to slide.