Dark Man

Dark Man (ダークマン) is the name of four robots created by Dr. Wily in Mega Man 5, one of which was created to frame Proto Man taking his form. They appeared in the Proto Man Fortress, each in a stage:

Dark Man 1
The first is a green Dark Man with treads instead of legs, that shoots at and tries to run over Mega Man. He makes a cameo in the left of Wily's stage from Marvel vs. Capcom, where he has hands and carries a bag.

Strategy
His pattern is simple but hard to avoid. He shoots, advances then stops. Just that. But his speed increases as he receives damage.

It's weakness is Water Wave, which negates it's shots, but if the player runs out of it, he/she can use charged Mega Buster shots, which deal the same damage (3 units) but don't neutralize the shots.

Dark Man 2
The second is a silver Dark Man that can create electromagnetic barriers around him. He is the only Dark Man without an arm cannon and the only one that appeared in the Mega Man cartoon series. He appeared in the Episode 15:The Day The Moon Fell and Episode 23:Brain Bots.

Strategy
This Dark Man uses electromagnetic nets to protect himself and walks from side to side. His speed increases as he receives damage, like the previous Dark Man.

The Crystal Eye can go through the nets, but it should be used on a wall then most of the time 2 projectiles will hit him. However, the Crystal Eye does only 2 units per eye, even if the eye whole hits him, so the charged Mega Buster deals more damage overall, although it rarely hits the Dark Man.

Dark Man 3
The third is a purple sniper Dark Man that can paralyze enemies with a ring shaped beam, and his right arm is a rapid fire weapon. Many find him the hardest of the Dark Men, as the ring shaped beam can be fired at any angle.

Strategy
This Dark Man's strategy is almost the same as Toad Man's. He jumps and shoots 5 plasma blasts. He can also fire 3 ring beams to paralyze Mega Man and turn him white so the Dark Man will easily hit him and his speed increases as he receives damage, like the previous 2 Dark Men. He can be easily beaten by standing close enough to him, jumping at the right moment so the beam is fired above and missing Mega Man. Attacking Dark Man shortly after the beam is fired while evading it will ensure Mega Man an easy victory.

The Gyro Attack can hit him after he lands, but it rarely goes upwards and deals less damage than charged Mega Buster shots, so it's better to wipe him out with the Mega Buster.

Dark Man 4
The fourth is the red Dark Man that impersonated Proto Man to frame him for Dr. Wily. The fake Proto Man didn't have a scarf (as he lost it when kidnapping Dr. Light) and his whistle is different. When Mega Man reached the fourth Dark Man, he didn't want to fight against him (due to the fact that Mega Man thought he was the real Proto Man), getting hurt and surviving with only 1 HP. Luckily, the real Proto Man appeared and blasted away the disguise and revealed the final Dark Man, giving an L-Tank to Mega Man before the battle to recover him.

Strategy
His attacks appear to be a combination of the previous three Dark Man. He uses an electromagnetic barrier around him like Dark Man 2, but it's launched to the sides of the screen when he jumps, and returns to him after landing. He also uses a buster that launches 4 volleys of shots at a time, not like the previous Dark Man (the third one). However, his speed doesn't increases as he receives damage, not like the previous Dark Men.

His weakness is the Star Crash, but it's super hard to hit him with it, as the player can easily miss and the Dark Man can deflect it.

If the player saved Beat, it's time to use it so Beat can hit him wherever he is, saving time and energy.

Defeating Dark Man makes the screen go black and make Dr. Wily appear, saying that he didn't expected Mega Man to defeat the Dark Men. He had managed to frame Proto Man for his crimes but the real one had appeared and spoiled his plans. Dr. Wily then reveals Dr. Light is a captive in his lab and dares Mega Man to come rescue him.

Other media
Dark Man 2 appeared in episodes 15 and 23 from the Mega Man animated series.

The four Dark Men appeared in the manga Mega Man Megamix. Dark Man 1 and 2 first appear robbing a bank, but are stopped by Proto Man.

All four Dark Men also appeared shortly in the first episode of Mega Man: Upon a Star.



Trivia

 * The Dark Man robot may be a nod to the movie hero "Darkman", who, with his synthetic skin, can disguise himself as his enemies. Darkman had to apply his artificial skin on himself due to severe burns when his enemies attacked him. The main flaw is it disintegrates when exposed to 99 minutes of sunlight.