Bright Man

"Things come to me in a flash!"

- Bright Man

Bright Man (ブライトマン) is a Robot Master that was created by Doctor Mikhail Cossack for the purpose of exploring dark areas. However, Dr. Wily modified him in Mega Man 4 to serve as a combat robot to fight against Mega Man. His Special Weapon, the Flash Stopper, emits an intense light beam with ten million watts of power from the light bulb on his head. The strong light activates a safety device in the camera eyes of robots, blinding them for a brief moment, which makes them unable to move. He then proceeds to attack stunned opponents without mercy.

Bright Man is an intelligent Robot Master, being a fast thinker and an accomplished inventor in his spare time, but is a chatterbox and has a tendency to bore his colleagues by talking too much on the same subjects for long periods of time. He has a particular dislike for red-light districts, and is weak to the Rain Flush due to its ability to short out his bulb.

Mega Man 4
Bright Man is one of the eight bosses. He will jump around the room at random, stopping to fire at him or stun Mega Man with his Flash Stopper and then fire at him, similar to Flash Man's means of attack. The shots can be avoided by jumping over them if they are fired towards Mega Man. He will only use Flash Stopper while his HP equals 16, 8, or 4.

His weakness is the Rain Flush, which defeats him in seven hits. As the player only just has enough energy to defeat him with it at its maximum amount of energy, it is best not to use it in the level so that the player arrives at the battle with Bright Man with a full weapon gauge. A strategy to beat him easily is to shoot him once with the Mega Buster, and from there use the Rain Flush against him repeatedly. Because his AI is programmed to only activate the Flash Stopper once his HP reaches an exact amount (16, 8, and 4), Bright Man will never use it, allowing the player to beat him with minimal resistance.

Mega Man IV
Bright Man is one of the first four bosses. His attack pattern is similar to the one used in Mega Man 4. Unlike in Mega Man 4, he can use Flash Stopper at anytime regardless of his current HP.

Mega Man (Game Gear)
Bright Man is one of the initial four bosses, alongside Stone Man, Napalm Man and Star Man. His attacking pattern is similar to his original NES appearance, but he moves faster and jumps around much more quickly. His Flash Stopper is particularly useful against Napalm Man and Star Man. Like in Mega Man IV, he can use Flash Stopper regardless of his current HP.

Mega Man &amp; Bass CD data
Note: The English version mistakenly states that Bright Man emits one million watts (100万ワット) instead of ten million (1000万ワット).

Rockman Complete Works data
１０００まんワットのヒカリをはっすることができ、そのヒカリをみたら動けなくなってしまう. それをのぞけばたいして強くない.

Translation: He is able to emit light of 10 million watts, if you see the light it will immobilize you. Except for it he is not much strong.

Stage enemies
Enemies in Bright Man's stage in Mega Man 4:
 * 100 Watton
 * Battan
 * Dompan
 * Gachappon
 * Minoan
 * Totem Polen

Enemies in Bright Man's stage in the Game Boy Mega Man IV:
 * 100 Watton
 * Dompan
 * Gachappon
 * Guts Hover
 * Minoan

Damage Data Chart
Amount of damage in units that Bright Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 4.

*For the Mega Buster and Pharaoh Shot, the first digit is when the weapon is fired normally and the second is when it is fully charged.

Mega Man (Ruby-Spears)
Bright Man appeared in the episodes "Electric Nightmare", "Robo Spider", "Curse of the Lion Men" and "Bro Bots" in Ruby-Spears' Mega Man animated series, where he was voiced by Garry Chalk. Here, Bright Man's design was somewhat different- he has a yellow face, solar panels around his neck that he can use to charge up his Flash Stopper, and does not use his arm cannon.

He prefers to immobilise enemies with the Flash Stopper and finish them off by other means, including his fellow Robot Masters, and has the additional ability to make humans fall unconscious with it. He is bulkier and clumsier than his in-game counterpart, often proving quite incompetent in combat- even when manning a tank. He also had his own action figure.

Mega Man Megamix
Bright Man was originally assigned to regions that were suffering from a lack of electricity, serving as a back up light source, but he was modified to battle against Mega Man. His Flash Stopper is capable of producing a one-million watt flash of light, which causes all surrounding robots' eye cameras to activate an industry-standard safety feature that shuts off all visual input, stopping the robots for a short time. The Flash Stopper's main weakness lies in the fact that its flash of light flares out in every direction, which limits its range, and robots outside of this range are not affected as severely. To power such an intense flash, Bright Man features a large capacity high-voltage capacitor, which is charged using a step-up converter. Due to the sheer size of the capacitor, it takes Bright Man quite a while to charge up to full capacity between uses.

Bright Man appeared in the story "The Grim Reaper of Resurrection", and is shown as a cowardly pacifist. When Skull Man attacked Dr. Cossack's home, Bright Man hides to protect himself. He repairs Toad Man and Dive Man, and helps Mega Man and the others search Dr. Cossack. When the group is attacked, Bright Man hides again, but he shows up to take down Pharaoh Man. Unwilling to fight, Bright Man decides to use parts of his own body to repair Pharaoh Man, Dust Man, and Drill Man. He is repaired after Dr. Cossack's rescue.

Rockman 4
Bright Man (misnamed "Flash Man" in the manga) is the second of Cossack's eight robots to be defeated by Mega Man.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Bright Man was briefly alluded to in Archie Comics' Mega Man #23, sometime before any adaptation of Mega Man 4. Like many Robot Masters in the comic, he appeared in the Worlds Collide crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog comic as part of an evil Robot Master army. He made his first normal appearance in Mega Man #28, where he, Pharaoh Man, and all the rest of the world's robots were shut down from Ra Moon's electromagnetic waves. He eventually appeared later in issue 32, aiding in the restoration of the planet in the days after Ra Moon was shut down, although it was not made clear if he got the EMP dampener before then or not. Along with Pharaoh Man and Mega Man, he was sent to investigate one of Dr. Wily's old laboratories following the theft of Gamma's Energy Elements. There they find the ancient Wily weapon, the Wily Walker, which happened to be the project that got the mad scientist banned from robotics. Wily claimed to send the code for deactivation, but it only awakens the giant robot. Mega Man then seemingly sacrificed himself for Bright Man, much to his own horror.

Fortunately, Mega Man survived, losing only his helmet to the giant mech. The trio of Robot Masters then attempted to halt the Wily Walker's rampage, but with little success. After trapping it inside the lab, Pharaoh Man and Mega Man continued to attack it, while Bright Man found himself at a loss as to what he should do against the deadly machine. Bright Man eventually proved key to defeating the machine when Drs. Cossack and Wily had Mega Man give him a quick modification and arming him with the Flash Stopper, immobilizing the Wily Walker and giving them time to bury it.

Other appearances
Bright Man also appeared in the manga Rockman 4Koma Dai Koushin.

Trivia

 * Bright Man's dislike is "unmoral districts" (a euphemism for where brothels and other ill repute areas are). These are often called "Red-light districts", since brothels tend to have red lights in them.
 * Bright Man's original name was Pearl Man (パールマン), named after a brand of light bulbs in Japan.
 * Bright Man appeared in the most episodes out of all the Mega Man 4 Robot Masters.
 * In the cartoon show, Bright Man has a voice almost like that of the late comedian, Ed Wynn (known for his act as the "Perfect Fool").