Mega Man Star Force (series)



Mega Man Star Force, known as Shooting Star Rockman (流星のロックマン) in Japan, is a Mega Man series created by Capcom in 2006. The series is set in the same parallel universe as the Mega Man Battle Network series, about two-hundred years after it, in the 220X time period. The main character, Geo Stelar, who is the son of a missing astronaut, Kelvin Stelar, reluctantly joins forces with an alien named Omega-Xis to foil evil plots led by Omega-Xis' own kind and by many other enemies. Throughout this process, he tries to find out what really happened to his father, and ultimately to change his depressed lifestyle. The result of Geo Stelar's EM Wave Change with Omega-Xis (fusing together much like MegaMan.EXE's Synchro Chip) forms the Star Force Mega Man.

The Star Force series makes very few allusions and references to the classic Mega Man, X, Zero, and ZX series, and only some to the Battle Network timeline, as Capcom produced the series to be more "stand-alone," giving players the ability to fully enjoy the series even if they have not played the Mega Man Battle Network series.

While the Mega Man Battle Network series is more focused on NetNavis who are based on Robot Masters from the classic Mega Man series, Mega Man Star Force focuses on EM Beings with mostly unique designs and concepts.

Mega Man Star Force Dragon, Pegasus, and Leo
In the first installment to the series, Geo Stelar begins to suffer from depression when he learns that his father, Kelvin Stelar, has disappeared. Three years pass, and Kelvin's former colleague, Aaron Boreal, gives Geo a Visualizer, a prototype that Kelvin Stelar left before he departed for space. After discovering the shades' ability to make the Wave World visible, Geo Stelar meets Omega-Xis, a traitor of his kind, and together, performing EM Wave Change, the two defeat the growing threat posed by the FM-ians, EM beings from Planet FM.

Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Saurian and Zerker X Ninja
The second installment of the series involves Geo Stelar's second quest to defeat a growing threat, now that of Dr. Vega seeking to revive the ancient civilization of Mu and to use its power to rule the world. In this game, Omega-Xis and Geo meet their rival, Solo, who rejects Link Power and can EM Wave Change by himself using only willpower.

Mega Man Star Force 3 Black Ace and Red Joker
In this latest installment to the series, Geo and Omega-Xis face an evil organization named Dealer and prevent them from using Noise Cards to corrupt the new technology, the Hunter-VG and the race of Wizards, which are the counterpart of Mega Man Battle Network's technology of the NetNavi. In his quest, Geo works with several allies, both old acquaintances (Rogue, Harp Note and Taurus Fire) and new ones, namely Satella Police member A.C. Eos. Amidst Dealer attacks and the side effects of Noise, Mega Man faces an all-new threat in the climax of the series.

Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star
The first game in the Mega Man Battle Network series since its conclusion with the release of its sixth title in 2005, as well as an enhanced port of the first Mega Man Battle Network game and a crossover with the Mega Man Star Force series.

Featured in a bonus chapter that is completely disconnected from the main storyline of the game, Harp Note has been kidnapped by a Navi called ClockMan.EXE and taken 200 years into the past to the time of the first Mega Man Battle Network. Dr. Goodall helps send Mega Man into the past in order to rescue Harp Note. In this game, the Star Force Mega Man meets Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE, who are also searching for ClockMan, because he has also taken Roll.EXE. Using the combined strength of both Mega Man and MegaMan.EXE, Geo, everyone fights through the Net to find and defeat ClockMan.

MegaMan Star Force
Based on the first game of the series, MegaMan Star Force takes place in the year 220X, following the story of Geo Stelar and his EM-being friend from another planet, Omega-Xis, which together are able to fuse and form Mega Man.

The first half of the series focuses on the FM-ians hunting Omega-Xis for the Andromeda Key. Eventually, they succeed, but by using Star Force, Mega Man is able to sustain Andromeda and destroy the key. In the latter half of the series, the FM-ians band together, taking the guise of their original human counterparts, and seek a way to energize a new Andromeda Key. Eventually, Gemini Spark takes the reins of the operation and succeeds in reviving Andromeda, but the FM-ian king Cepheus descends onto Earth to put a stop to all of the chaos. Geo also has an encounter with his father Kelvin who reveals that he has become an EM wave being and is still exploring space, and that Geo's place is on Earth, fighting for justice as Mega Man.

Shooting Star Rockman Tribe
The second series follows the events of the second game focusing on the lost continent of Mu. The ancient civilization vanished ages ago, and a few of its remnants still exist as myths and legends called UMAs (Unidentified Mystery Animals similar to FM-ians that also have the ability to fuse with humans). The UMAs begin merging with humans in order to search for the treasures of Mu, the powerful OOPArts, which will give them the power to revive Mu. After Geo and Omega-Xis encounter several unusual enemies, they meet a professor named Doctor Vega who sends them on a quest to find the OOPArts and stop the UMAs. Using the OOPArts, Mega Man is able to take new forms, primarily the sword-wielding Thunder Zerker form. Near the end, Geo discovers that Doctor Vega and her accomplice Hollow are manipulating Geo to use the OOPArts for the revival of Mu and the devastating force known as Le Mu. But Mega Man combines the three OOPArts together, forming Tribe King, and uses this new power to stop Le Mu and seal Mu once more.

Manga
The Rockman the Shooting Star manga differs vastly from the video game and anime iterations of the franchise, although the premise is set up similarly. Following the characters from the first Mega Man Star Force game, Geo is grieving the disappearance of his father and questioning the unusual partnership he has gained with the AM-ian Omega-Xis. By combining their powers, they are able to transform into the EM Wave Human named Mega Man and battle crime. Geo soon learns of the Wave Coliseum, a tournament that awards the champion a power known as Star Force. Geo believes this power will allow him to travel to space and find his father, so he enters the tournament. However, complications occur when one of the competitors, Gemini Spark, steals the Star Force in order to revive Andromeda, the king of the FM-ians. This story arc concludes with Mega Man discovering that Andromeda and his father Kelvin had fused as a single EM Wave Human. Defeating Andromeda, Kelvin is freed and returns to Earth to live with his family and new FM-ian friends.

The Rockman the Shooting Star Tribe story shifts to focus on characters and concepts from the second Mega Man Star Force game. However, Geo and Omega-Xis are completely absent. Instead, the three Tribe On transformations from the second video game—Thunder Zerker, Fire Saurian, and Green Ninja—are personified as entities of their own. In the past, their tribe was ravaged by a warrior named Rogue. Having grown up, Zerker has taken on the task of invading the continent Mu and hunting down Rogue for revenge. But in order to reach Rogue, Zerker must first traverse an eight story tower and battle Rogue's underlings every step of the way, including Saurian and Ninja who are under the influence of Mu.

From November 2008, a new series of manga was created, simply titled Shooting Star Rockman 3, which follows the events of the third game, and are illustrated by Ryo Takamisaki, who also created the MegaMan NT Warrior manga. But, since this series of manga only had two chapters, only Acid Ace, Spade Magnes, Jack Corvus and the Black Ace Finalize Noise Change were shown.

Trivia

 * The series was created during Capcom's Mega Man twenty year anniversary and is the seventh Mega Man series created overall.
 * Mega Man Star Force is the series with the least amount of playable characters. Besides Geo, the only playable character is Harp Note in a mini game from Shooting Star Rockman: Wave Change! On Air!.
 * A fourth installment to the series was being worked on, but was scrapped half-way through development.