Leaf Shield

Leaf Shield (リーフシールド) is Wood Man's Special Weapon. By using electromagnetic waves, it makes four leaf-shaped units with a special coating circle around the user as a shield. It can also be thrown to damage opponents.

Mega Man 2
After defeating Wood Man, Mega Man obtains the Leaf Shield. When used, the shield will stay on Mega Man as long as he stays still, but the instant he moves, the shield will fly off in one of the four directions the player press. Except for Air Man, who is weak to this weapon, all bosses are immune to the Leaf Shield. Despite it being Air Man's weakness, the Leaf Shield can not penetrate the defenses of Air Man's Air Shooters.

The Leaf Shield doesn't consume energy when activated and disappears upon impact, unless the enemies are destroyed with a single hit. This is quite useful when used on the moving platforms in Crash Man's stage and Wily Castle, as the Tellys will be destroyed upon touching the shield; the same strategy is highly advised when dealing with Pipis, and the use of such a strategy will result in the getting of many items. Unlike Wood Man's Leaf Shield, Mega Man's shield doesn't protect him from projectiles. The leaves fall when it hits targets immune to the shield. The Leaf Shield doesn't consume energy when activated, only when it is thrown or disappears.

Mega Man II
Like Mega Man 2, Leaf Shield is obtained from Wood Man and it is Air Man's weakness, but its functions were improved. It doesn't disappear if an enemy isn't destroyed by it, allowing it to hit multiple times. If the target is immune to it, only the leaves that touches it will fall instead of the whole shield. No energy is consumed if all leaves vanish this way while surrounding Mega Man. Except for Air Man and Quint, all bosses are immune to it.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Like all weapons from the first three games, the Leaf Shield can be used in the Wily Tower mode. Hyper Storm H, Fire Snakey and the first two forms of the Wily Machine are immune to it. Additionally, it only uses 2 bars of weapon energy per shot instead of 3, giving the player 14 uses from a full gauge instead of 9.

Mega Man: The Power Battle
The Leaf Shield is obtained by Mega Man, Proto Man or Bass after defeating Wood Man in the Mega Man 1~2 course. It is most effective against Cut Man. In this game the Leaf Shield consumes energy when activated. The user can move while it is active, and the shield can hit opponents multiple times, only disappearing after a certain amount of hits. The Leaf Shield is thrown forward when the attack button is pressed again, but the player can use the directional buttons to determine its direction, including diagonally.

Super Adventure Rockman
Mega Man obtains the Leaf Shield after defeating Wood Man in episode 2. It is Air Man's weakness.

Marvel vs. Capcom
Mega Man can switch his current special weapon to the Leaf Shield by summoning Eddie. Unlike the way it functions in Mega Man 2, the shield creates eight leaves that will remain around Mega Man for roughly six seconds before fading away. It gives him super armor, allowing him to essentially block any one attack from his opponent; if Mega Man blocks while the shield is still present, it remains. It can also be launched at his opponent for a large number of combo hits.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Leaf Shield is used by Mega Man in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as his down special move. Upon activating it, four leaves rotate around Mega Man for a few seconds to protect him. Each leaf does 2% damage to opponents that touch them. If an opponent is hit by a leaf or a projectile is blocked by the shield, one of the leaves will disappear. Mega Man can move while the Leaf Shield is up. Pressing an attack button will make him throw the shield out in front of him, dealing 4% damage regardless of how many leaves are left. Mega Man can still grab opponents while the Leaf Shield is activated.

A combo with the Leaf Shield is to have Mega Man hit opponents with the leaves while he grabs them with Super Arm. This allows Mega Man to do up to 10% damage by approaching or grabbing an opponent to hit with three leaves, then throw the last leaf. However, besides those actions and throwing a held item, he can't do anything else until the shield disappears or is thrown.

The Leaf Shield can be customized into two variants: Plant Barrier and Skull Barrier. However, they must be unlocked before it can be swapped out. One of Mega Man's alternate colors is also inspired by his color palette when using the Leaf Shield.

Other appearances
Wood Man can be seen using the Leaf Shield in the Sega Saturn version of Mega Man 8. Doc Robot uses the Leaf Shield in Mega Man 3. It also appeared in Mega Man 10 as one of the weapons of the Weapons Archive and in Puzzle Fighter as one of Dr. Wily's attacks. In Rockman X DiVE, Leaf Shield is Rockman's second active skill.

Damage Data Chart
Known damage values in units for Mega Man 2.


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

Mega Man (Ruby Spears)
Mega Man received this weapon in "The Strange Island of Dr. Wily". There, it functioned more like a traditional shield, being portrayed as a large metal leaf protruding from the Mega Buster.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)
Mega Man gained the weapon from Wood Man upon defeating the latter. It was later used to destroy two of the Robot Masters, Bubble Man (as a last minute reaction upon being caught in a surprise attack by the Robot Master) and Air Man (as a last resort expending most of his energy reserves).

Mega Man Megamix
Leaf Shield is only used by Wood Man. In the manga it is an electromagnetic field which carries his unique leaf-shaped units out into his surrounding area, forming a Leaf Shield. These leaf-shaped units are not actual leaves, but uniquely-shaped pieces of Ceramic Titanium coated with a special substance that makes them impervious to all attacks. By using his Leaf Shield for both offensive and defensive purposes, Wood Man is able to cover his lack of speed and agility.

Other appearances
Leaf Shield appears in the manga Rockman: Dr. Wily no Inbou.

Gallery
Leaf Shield