Bubble Man

"Go ahead! Fight your way though every robot I stationed here! Avoid every trap I so carefully laid out. I'll be waiting for you. I'll be here preparing your watery grave! And I'll say 'Welcome to Davy Jones' Locker!'"

- Bubble Man

Bubble Man (バブルマン) is a Robot Master from Mega Man 2, and the first aquatic Robot Master created by Dr. Wily for underwater combat. However, a defect in his systems made him unable to walk on land, being only able to move by jumping (akin to that of a frog). When Wily noticed this, he couldn't help but laugh. Despite this flaw, Bubble Man is at home in the water, being able to swim at a remarkable speed.

Bubble Man attacks with normal shots from a cannon on his right arm, and can fire his Special Weapon, the Bubble Lead, from both the aforementioned arm cannon and a special Bubble Gun on top of his head. Bubble Man can utilize the bubbles for several different purposes, including hitting opponents with bursts of small bubbles and blowing larger and more durable bubbles to either wrap opponents inside to trap them temporarily, or for Bubble Man himself to hide in as his own personal shield.

Physical appearance
Bubble Man is a rotund robot with dark blue eyes, he wears a blue skin tight suit with a dark green armour over. He sports a head set that is a helmet with a snorkel like tube in the top of his head, diving googles and a mask that covers the lower half of his face. He also sports black flippers. He carries a pair of tanks from his back and his left arm is a cannon that he uses to shoot his Bubble Lead.

Personality
Despite often being the butt of jokes due to his design flaws, Bubble Man is an affable and high-spirited individual, but has a bad habit of lavishly spending money when he has it. He enjoys bathing in hot springs in his spare time, but much like the later-introduced Wave Man, has a vehement dislike for water pollution, especially oil slicks.

Mega Man 2
Bubble Man's battle takes place underwater, so Mega Man will be able to jump much higher than usual. The player must be careful not to jump too high, as there are instant-death spikes on the ceiling. When the battle begins, Bubble Man will shoot three Bubble Leads, then jump over to the other side of the room. The bubbles are avoided by passing under them when they are bouncing. He'll repeat this strategy several times. If Mega Man tries to jump, Bubble Man will shoot him down with his arm cannon. He is vulnerable to attacks when he shoots his bubbles or when he lands.

His weakness, the Metal Blade, eliminates the need of jumping to attack and deals considerable damage to him. It defeats him in four hits in Normal Mode and seven in Difficult.

An alternate weapon to this is the Quick Boomerang, but the player should be careful using it, as it is a close range weapon. It defeats him in seven boomerangs and fourteen in Difficult setting.

Another strategy is using a Crash Bomber against a wall where Bubbleman will land, if timing correctly the bomb will cause massive damage due to 3-4 hits explosion.

Mega Man 3
In Mega Man 3, the second Doc Robot in Gemini Man's stage copies Bubble Man's moves, and before the battle, Bubble Man has a cameo appearance as program data copied by Doc Robot. This Doc Robot is weak against Spark Shock and Shadow Blade.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
Bubble Man is one of the four bosses from Mega Man 2 that appears in Dr. Wily's teleport system inside the Wily Castle. His actions are similar to Mega Man 2 and he is weak to Quick Boomerang.

Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise
Bubble Man appears in the Boss Card Bubble Card (バブルカード).

Mega Man's Soccer
Bubble Man is a balanced player that doesn't have his own team. In Tournament mode, he is a member of the Cut Man, Elec Man, Pharaoh Man, Skull Man, Enker, and Proto Man teams. In League mode, he is a member of the Mega Man and Cut Man teams.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Bubble Man is one of the six bosses from the "Search for Wily!" course. He attacks with Bubble Lead and Claws (or a similar robot). He is weak to the Shadow Blade.

Super Adventure Rockman
"Long time no see. Let's rock!"

- Bubble Man

Sixteen of Dr. Wily's robots from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 are rebuilt by Ra Moon, including Bubble Man. After Mega Man defeats the first boss, Metal Man, he will spot a river and the player must decide if he pass by the river or by the nearby mountain. If the player choose the river, Mega Man will be attacked and fall into a deep part of the river, where he will fight against Bubble Man. If the player loses to Bubble Man, the deactivated Mega Man sinks into an underwater crevasse, but will somehow be saved by Guts Man, and the player can have a rematch with Bubble Man.

On the other hand, if the player choose the mountain, Mega Man will meet Guts Man on the other side, who says that he found Bubble Man defeated (apparently by Proto Man) and took his Bubble Lead to give to Mega Man, and Mega Man fights against Heat Man instead.

Near the end of the game, Dr. Wily's robots (except for Shadow Man) are revived, and Wily orders them to destroy the captured Mega Man. However, Ra Moon attacks the fifteen robots, revealing his true intentions, and when Wily orders the newly created Ra Thor to destroy Ra Moon, but he attacks Wily's robots. Mega Man is freed and he defeats Ra Thor, but Ra Moon reveals he created a robot called New Yellow Devil. Wily orders his robots to attack the New Yellow Devil, but their attacks cause no harm and it knocks down all robots. If the player is defeated, Mega Man can ask the robots to help him, and they will give their remaining energy to Mega Man and shut down. Their bodies are apparently destroyed in the explosion of Ra Moon's temple.

Rockman Strategy
Bubble Man appears as one of Virgo's bodyguards in the Undersea City level, alongside Freeze Man. Later, he is joined by Burst Man and Stone Man in fighting Mega Man's team on a bridge.

Other appearances

 * Bubble Man appears in the CD database from Mega Man & Bass.
 * Bubble Man is a boss in Mega Man Pinball.
 * Metal Man is one of the five bosses present in the first version of Panic Shot! Rockman.
 * Bubble Man appears in Battle Memory from Rockman ×over.
 * Bubble Man would appear in the cancelled game Mega Man Universe.

Rockman Complete Works data
ワイリーメカはじめての水中ロボ. およぐすがたがかわいい. 大ジャンプをうまく使って攻撃しよう.

Rockman Battle & Fighters data
はつのすいちゅうせんようひとがたロボットであったがじつはぼうすいしょりのかんけいじょう、ほこうすることができず、すいちゅうないでのいどうはすべてジャンプによっておこなわれていた. ながいきょりをいどうするときは、ワイリーでさえわらってしまうほどかわいいとくしゅぶきは、バブルリードじゃ.

Translation: The first underwater dedicated humanoid robot, in fact he can't walk due to the waterproof process, all movement underwater is done by jumping. When moving long distances, even Wily laughed a lot of its cuteness. Special Weapon is Bubble Lead.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Bubble Man's stage, the first underwater stage from the series. It is filled with spikes in the ceiling, which are dangerous as Mega Man jumps higher due to the buoyancy.
 * Sub-boss: Anko
 * Claw
 * Kerog
 * M-445
 * Shrink
 * Tanishi

Damage Data Chart
Amount of damage in units that Bubble Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 2.


 * *Any data with a "+" represents the weapon actually restoring the boss's health.

Captain N: The Game Master
Bubble Man appeared in episode 20 of Captain N: The Game Master, where he and other robots play soccer against the main characters. This version has a round blue body and a tank of water on his head.

Mega Man Megamix
In the manga Mega Man Megamix, Bubble Man has his arm cannon on his right arm instead of his left arm; his arm cannon is a spear gun, he has screw propellers under his foot, and he has a "W" on his knees and belt. Bubble Man made a very short appearance in the story "Orders to Destroy R", where he's in the sea near the Wily Castle. He attacks Mega Man while he was approaching. Heat Man, who was pursuing Mega Man, was kicked into the water, making the water boil with his heat. Bubble Man had to swim away to avoid damage in the overheated water.

Other appearances
Bubble Man also appeared in the mangas, Rockman: Dr. Wily no Inbou, Rockman World, Rockman: Yomigaeru Blues, Rockman 4Koma Dai Koushin, and Rock'n Game Boy.

Trivia

 * Bubble Man is the first Robot Master to have only one hand, followed by Air Man.
 * His dislike for oil slicks could be a reference to how oil doesn't mix with water.
 * Bubble Man and Flash Man were the only two Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 not to appear in the Ruby Spears animated series.
 * In his sprite from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, his arm cannon appears on his left arm when he is looking to the right side of the screen. In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, his cannon is on his left arm when looking to the left.
 * Two of Bubble Man's names from his early designs were Water Man and Pump Man. The name Pump Man would eventually be used in Mega Man 10.
 * Bubble Man's appearance in Captain N: The Game Master bears a small resemblance to Aqua Man from Mega Man 8.
 * Due to limitations of the systems, in many of the games, the blue parts of Bubble Man's head instead appear as green.
 * Despite being defeated by the Leaf Shield in the Archie comics, Bubble Man doesn't take any damage from it in the games. This was a deliberate decision by writer Ian Flynn, to show how lame Bubble Man is, as he admitted in an interview with Nintendo Power.
 * Bubble Man, Flash Man, Heat Man, and Wood Man are the only robot Masters in Mega Man 2 to be healed by their own weapon.Screenshot 2020-12-01 213633.png
 * When Bubble Man gets on land he hops like a frog. He looks ridiculous, and his robot brothers - and even Dr. Wily - makes sure to point that out.