Skull Man

Skull Man (スカルマン) is a Robot Master created specially for combat with balanced offense and defense by Dr. Cossack when he was working for Dr. Wily in Mega Man 4. He attacks with shots from his arm cannon, and can generate a skull-shaped energy shield called the Skull Barrier for protection. Skull Man only moves or attacks when Mega Man does the same; however, he doesn't move if Mega Man only jumps. He is a pain to beat without his weakness, the dust buster.

Mega Man & Bass CD data
A well-balanced combat robot. He is only good for fighting.

"Now! Let's get ready to rumble!"

Good point: Bone idle

Bad point: Bad taste

Like: Horror movie

Dislike: Beefcake

Japanese CD data: Bad point: Bad taste

Like: Horror movie

Dislike: Fastidiousness



Stage enemies
Enemies in Skull Man's stage in Mega Man 4 and Mega Man III.
 * Battonton
 * Inorm
 * Shield Attacker
 * Skeleton Joe
 * Skulmet
 * Super Ball Cannon
 * Togehero

Other media
Skull Man appeared in the manga Mega Man Megamix, Rockman 4 and Rockman 4Koma Great March. He also had a cameo appearance in the comic Novas Aventuras de Megaman with his "Grim Reaper" appearance from Mega Man Megamix.

Mega Man Megamix
In the manga Mega Man Megamix, Skull Man was created by Dr. Cossack specially to fight against Mega Man after Kalinka was kidnapped. His Skull Barrier is a set of six skull-like bits that appear from the mouth of his shoulders and creates a electromagnetic field around himself. With the Skull Barrier active, Skull Man can attack foes without worrying about avoiding attacks and taking damage, but a drawback is that his mobility is restricted while the barrier is in effect. Skull Man also has a buster in each radius and 16 shotguns hidden in his ribs. Though Skull Man represents the culmination of Dr. Cossack's skills, he was purposefully created to look like the complete opposite of Cossack's ideals and thus his existence is more like a nightmare than anything else.

In the story "Return of the God of Death", Skull Man was deactivated by Dr. Cossack after the events of Mega Man 4, but later reactivated by Dr. Wily. Angry for being inactivated, Skull Man goes to Dr. Cossack's Citadel equipped with a scythe and robe (resembling a Grim Reaper) and destroys it with Reggae and some Skeleton Joes, capturing Dust Man, Pharaoh Man and Drill Man. He later locates Dr. Cossack when he was giving a TV interview, and captured him during the broadcast. Mega Man saw this on TV and goes after Skull Man to rescue Cossack, receiving some help in the way, but Skull Man also captures Kalinka and Roll. Mega Man later located Skull Man and fights against him with the help of the other seven robots Cossack created. Dr. Cossack figured that Skull Man's feelings were hurt for being deactivated, treated like he was just a weapon without emotions. Skull Man is happy that he realized it, and after the battle, he asks Cossack to never create any fighting machines like him again before running out of energy.

Trivia

 * Skull Man has a cameo appearance in the museum stage from Mega Man 7, in the background of the room that Mash appears.
 * Skull Man is the only Robot Master from Mega Man 4 to never appear in the Ruby Spears cartoon.
 * Interestingly, his AI is not programmed to act until you move horizontally or shoot.