Mega Man (universe)

The Mega Man (ロックマン, Rokkuman^?, Rockman in Japan) universe refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the franchise of the famous Capcom series that deals with the character Mega Man. Since his debut in 1987 on the NES, Mega Man has been Capcom's mascot and has been one of its most popular franchises. Mega Man has over 100 video games to his name. The emblem that represents the universe is a gear.

Franchise description

Capcom was originally known for creating arcade games and porting them to home consoles. In the mid-1980s, however, a team of only six employees developed the original Rockman for the Famicom, as part of Capcom's initial "focused" foray into the Japanese home console market. The developers strove for perfection in all aspects of the project despite the severe technical limitations of the Famicom, and incorporated designs inspired by Osamu Tezuka's manga Astro Boy. The eponymous hero of the weapon-based platformer was colored blue simply because blue had the most available shades within the Famicom's limited color palette. For the game's simultaneous release in Japan and the United States on December 17, 1987, Capcom's then-Senior Vice President Joseph Marcini renamed the localized version of the game and titular character Mega Man, believing it would have a much wider appeal to American children. Mega Man was released to favorable critical reception, but moderately low sales (around 100,000 copies sold), though they were higher than Capcom originally anticipated.

While Mega Man was not a large enough commercial accomplishment for Capcom to necessarily justify a sequel, the company allowed the development team to create a sequel as an aside to other projects. The team focused on improving the original formula with enhanced graphics and audio, more levels, and new supportive items that addressed consumer concerns over the extreme difficulty of the previous title. Mega Man 2, in stark contrast to the original, was a huge success, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide, and definitively established Mega Man as one of the industry's largest and longest-running franchises and one of Capcom's flagships, and also propelled Capcom to its present-day status as a game developer. As of 2013, over fifty Mega Man games have been released, with many populating specific "sub-series" and exploring genres outside side-scrolling platforming. Iterations of the Mega Man character himself and other related characters, meanwhile, have appeared in Capcom-involved games outside the main series such as crossover fighting games, like the Marvel vs. Capcom series that pits Capcom characters against Marvel superheroes and, more recently, Nintendo's own Super Smash Bros. 4.

The most iconic formula of the Mega Man series, which has remained Rockman in Japan, is a side-scrolling platform game where the player controls the blue robot Mega Man, who has a "buster" cannon grafted onto his arm, as he shoots his way through levels packed with enemy robots. Oftentimes, eight levels are immediately available to complete in any order, and at the end of each level is a boss robot with a similar level of advanced construction and power as Mega Man himself, referred to as a "Robot Master". Defeating a Robot Master gains Mega Man a special weapon corresponding to that Robot Master that he may use for the rest of the game, and this weapon is typically the weakness at least one of the other seven Robot Masters. Since one Robot Master uses a weapon that is the weakness of another Robot Master, a rock-paper-scissor mechanic between all of the Robot Masters is formulated by this. Once Mega Man has defeated all eight Robot Masters and gained their weapons, he proceeds to a final set of harder stages typically taking place in the villain's fortress lair, featuring both special, harder bosses and a room where all eight Robot Masters are defeated one in a row, before battling and defeating the villain in his latest war machine or ultimate form.

The most prolific continuities and sub-series in the Mega Man franchise are as follows, each of which has its own incarnation on the Mega Man character design:

• Mega Man Classic series: The original series depicts Mega Man in his most famous incarnation, that of a young "boy" robot in a world where his allies and enemies are in a colorful children's-anime style. His kind-hearted inventor, Dr. Thomas Light, regularly sends Mega Man on missions to destroy the newest Robot Masters, always having names ending in "Man" (save for one notable exception named "Splash Woman" in Mega Man 9). These Robot Masters were either created or corrupted by the arch-rival to Dr. Light and Mega Man, Dr. Wily - the very definition of the archetypal mad scientist out to take over the world. Mega Man is restricted by stilted jumping and sliding motions in his games, and in addition to the weapons he procures from Robot Masters, he must occasionally rely on specific allies to overcome stage obstacles, not the least of which is his transforming robotic dog companion, Rush.

• Mega Man X series: Taking place a generation later (around the year 21XX), this darker-toned series centers on an "older" successor to Mega Man, Mega Man X (Rockman X in Japanese, and is commonly called simply "X"), whom the late Dr. Light has left behind to police a world where more advanced, sapient robots are integrated into human society. Despite being his greatest creation, when X was finished, Dr. Light sealed him in a capsule, as he believed that the world wasn't ready to accept X. X was discovered by Dr. Cain a century later, and he made more robots that can think on their own, like X. These robots are called Reploids, or replica androids. However, some Reploids have gone "Maverick", or violent, and started to rebel against humans. A force called the Maverick Hunters was made to counter the Mavericks. The leader of the Maverick Hunters, Sigma, eventually becomes a Maverick himself after fighting the then-Maverick, Zero, a Reploid made by Dr. Wily, the enemy of the original Mega Man. While Sigma turned more Reploids into Mavericks, Zero stopped being Maverick and joined the Maverick Hunters, and became a partner to X. Later on in the series, specifically in Mega Man X7, Axl joins the Maverick Hunters as well. Whenever there is trouble, X, Zero, or Axl are sent to fight eight Mavericks that guard certain areas. These Mavericks become the Mega Man X versions of the Robot Masters. Most of them are under orders by Sigma, but some are not affiliated with him, such as Repliforce and Red Alert from Mega Man X4 and Mega Man X7 respectively. These Mavericks are fought (and defeated) by X or Zero, who then must battle all of them once again before taking the fight to Sigma in his lair.

• Mega Man Zero series: Transitioning from the Mega Man X series, this part starts off with a more brooding Zero reawakening after a century of slumber into an even darker version of the world. He battles for a resistance group against the governing body and "utopia", Neo Arcadia. At first, Zero had to fight against a copy of X. However, even after defeating Copy X, Zero still had to keep fighting against Neo Arcadia, since it wasn't destroyed. It was eventually revealed (specifically in Mega Man Zero 3) that the real mastermind behind Neo Arcadia is Dr. Weil. Zero defeats Weil as well, but he himself is killed as well, as the space station they were fighting in, Ragnarok, broke apart and fell down to Earth.

• Mega Man ZX series: In this short-lived series, the player takes control of either a male or female character who can merge with Biometals, artifacts that can absorb the traits of a human or Reploid, to obtain forms and abilities derived from other characters, including those from the earlier subseries. In all three series, the player-character has more fluid movements, such as acceleration along the ground and jumping up along and clinging to walls.

• Mega Man Legends series: A shorter-lived series that takes place thousands of years after the Mega Man ZX series, at a point where the Earth is mostly ocean and civilization is dependent on digging into the remaining islands for a power source. The player controls Mega Man Volnutt (or Rock Volnutt in Japan), a robotic Digger, who investigates ruins and does battle against air pirates named the Bonne family. In another series departure, these games focus on third-person action-adventure elements.

• Mega Man Battle Network series: An alternate reality where spiritual counterparts to classic Mega Man characters (along with three from the Mega Man X series) exist not as robots, but as computer programs that navigate and do battle in cyberspace as though they were physical beings navigating a physical plane, as per the commands of real-world humans at their computers. Dr. Wily in this universe is the head of a net-crime organization called the WWW ("World Three"), and the main human protagonist, Lan Hikari (光熱斗 Hikari Netto), has his "NetNavi" and the main player character, MegaMan.EXE (Rockman.EXE in Japanese), foil the WWW's cyber-schemes by deleting the "Virus" enemies it sends. The gameplay of the primary Battle Network series is an enormous departure from the side-scrolling platforming of the other games in that it operates similar to an action JRPG.

• Mega Man Star Force series: A series of over-the-shoulder action RPGs set 200 years later in the future of the Battle Network continuity. It stars a human boy named Geo Stelar (星河スバル Subaru Hoshikawa) who regularly merges with an electromagnetic alien named Omega-Xis (Warrock in Japanese) to become a blue-suited "Mega Man" of his own and fight enemies in an invisible electromagnetic plane overlaid with the real world.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Characters

• Mega Man: (or Rockman in Japan): The eponymous star of his series, Mega Man, like Sonic, was a heavily requested and anticipated third-party guest character. Mega Man appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, being confirmed in the reveal trailer of the game. Mega Man uses very few physical attacks, instead relying on his own arsenal of weapons and those obtained from defeated Robot Masters. Mega Man's Final Smash is Mega Legends, which has him joined by Mega Man X, MegaMan.EXE, Mega Man Volnutt, and Geo Stelar.
  

Stage Hazard

• Yellow Devil: A recurring boss character in the Mega Man series, the Yellow Devil appears as a stage hazard on the Wily Castle stage. The Yellow Devil attacks players using it's body and various beams, and must be defeated by attacking it's eye, the only vulnerable place on it's body. The Yellow Devil explodes upon defeat, acting as an attack for the player who lands the defeating blow on the boss.

Assist Trophy

• Elec Man: One of the Robot Masters from the first Mega Man game appears as an Assist Trophy, unleashing his Thunder Beam to attack opponents.

Common Enemies

• Mettaur: A small robot with a yellow hardhat that appears in Smash Run.

Other

• Rush: Rush is Mega Man's faithful dog introduced in Mega Man 3. Rush appears in Rush Coil, Mega Man's default Up Special Move.

• Beat: Beat is Mega Man's bird built by Dr.Cossack and introduced in Mega Man 5. Beat appear as one of Mega Man's Up Special Moves that can be used via Customization.

• Mega Man X: The protagonist from the Mega Man X series. He is Dr. Light's greatest creation, being found by Dr. Cain in the year 21XX and used as a template for the creation of advanced robots known as Reploids. He is one of the four characters that joins the original Mega Man in his Final Smash.
• Mega Man Volnutt: The protagonist from the Mega Man Legends series, who appears in Mega Man's Final Smash. He is a young Digger that explores ruins in search of ancient technology and valuables.
• MegaMan.EXE: The protagonist from the Mega Man Battle Network series, who appears in Mega Man's Final Smash. He is Lan Hikari's NetNavi, a type of intelligent personal program that navigates the internet and combats viruses.
• Star Force Mega Man: The protagonist from the Mega Man Star Force series, who appears in Mega Man's Final Smash. He is the combination of the human Geo Stelar and the EM alien Omega-Xis.

Stage

• Wily Castle: A stage that appears to be standing in front of Dr. Wily's Skull Castle from Mega Man 2. The Yellow Devil appears on this stage as a mini-boss and hazard for players. The stage appears in both versions, being set at night in the Wii U version and in the daytime in the 3DS version.

Music

• Cut Man Stage: A remix of Cut Man's stage from Mega Man.
• Mega Man Retro Medley: A medley of various music tracks from Mega Man, starting with the song that plays before a stage begins, going on to include the themes of every Robot Master from the game, in this order: Elec Man, Bomb Man, Cut Man, Guts Man, Fire Man, and Ice Man.
• Mega Man 2 Medley: A medley of various music tracks from Mega Man 2. Tracks featured include the title theme, the "stage selected" theme, and Dr. Wily's Castle theme.
• Air Man Stage: A remix of the Air Man's stage theme from Mega Man 2.
• Quick Man Stage: This remix is a medley of both Quick Man's and Heat Man's stages and the victory theme from Mega Man 2.
• Mega Man 2 Retro Medley: A medley of music taken directly from Mega Man 2, including the themes of Air Man, Wood Man, Quick Man, Flash Man, Crash Man, Metal Man, and Dr. Wily 1/2. This is the alternate music for the Wily's Castle stage in the 3DS version of the game.
• Spark Man Stage: A remix of the Spark Man's stage theme from Mega Man 3.
• Shadow Man Stage: A remix of the Shadow Man's stage theme from Mega Man 3.
• Mega Man 3 Retro Medley: A medley of music taken directly from Mega Man 3, including the themes of Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, and Hard Man.
• Mega Man 4-6 Retro Medley: A medley comprised of Dive Man and Skull Man's themes from Mega Man 4, Dark Man's Castle from Mega Man 5, and Flame Man's theme from Mega Man 6.
• Victory! Mega Man Series: A short remix of the beginning of the title screen music from Mega Man 2.

Trophies

Both Versions

• Mega Man
• Mega Man (Alt.)
• Rush Coil
• Beat
• X / Mega Man X
• MegaMan Volnutt
• MegaMan.EXE
• Star Force Mega Man
• Elec Man
• Yellow Devil
• Mettaur
• Dr. Wily
• E-Tank / Energy Tank

Wii U Version

• Mega Legends
• Dr. Light
• Roll
• Proto Man
• Eddie
• Zero (Mega Man)
• Bass and Treble

Masterpieces

• Mega Man 2 (NES)

Games with elements from or in the Super Smash Bros. series

Mega Man (game)

This is the first game that stars the Blue Bomber, who has now joined the Smash Bros. series. Also, Mega Man's posture and attacks have been added into the new Smash Bros. game, keeping his original style from the six NES games he's appeared in. For instance, his Mega Buster is his normal combo. His running style is similar to his running style in each of the six NES games. Similar to his running style, his jumping style is similar as well. He can use the Super Arm to grab his enemies in batttle, he can also use the Hyper Bomb as one of his custom Neutral Special Moves ,and the Ice Slasher as one of his custom Side Special Moves. In addition, Elec Man appears as an Assist Trophy; Mettaurs appear as enemies in Smash Run, Dr. Wily, the main antagonist of the Mega Man series, appears as a Trophy, and the Yellow Devil also makes an appearance on the Wily Castle stage, although said stage is from the second NES game.

Mega Man 2

Three of Mega Man's weapons gained from various Robot Masters in this game appear as his special attacks, namely, the Crash Bomber, Leaf Shield, and Metal Blade. The Air Shooter is one of his aerial attacks. Also to note, Wily Castle is one of stages in both versions of the new game.

Mega Man 3

The sliding maneuver first appears in this game, and is Mega Man's crouch attack. The Top Spin is Mega Man's dash attack, the Hard Knuckle is Mega Man's down aerial attack, and the Spark Shock is Mega Man's up smash. Mega Man's faithful dog, Rush, can perform the Rush Coil as Mega Man's Up Special Move, the Shadow Blade is one of his custom Neutral Special Moves.

Mega Man 4

Mega Man first gains the Charge Shot in the fourth game in the series, which he uses as his Side Smash. Skull Barrier is one of Mega Man's custom Down Special Moves.

Mega Man 5

Beat, who first appeared in this game after getting all 8 plates scattered through all the Robot Master levels, appears as one of Mega Man's custom Up Special Moves. Also, the ability to damage opponents with the slide first appeared in this game after beating Charge Man.

Mega Man 6

The Flame Blast, which Mega Man gains from Flame Man, can be used as Mega Man's down smash. Plant Barrier is also one of Mega Man's custom Down Special Moves.

Mega Man 7

Mega Man's Slash Claw is his back aerial. This is the first game that Beat is able to save Mega Man from pitfalls. The Danger Wrap appears as his custom Side Special Moves

Mega Man 8

Mega Man is able to perform the Flame Sword which is his Forward Aerial. He is also able to use Tornado Hold as one of his Up Special Moves.

Mega Man 9

During his Final Smash, Mega Man uses the Black Hole Bomb to capture opponents.

Super Adventure Rockman

In the battle with Ra Moon, Mega Man is shown using both of his busters, creating an immense and powerful shot that causes him to overheat. Similarly, Mega Man uses both of his busters to perform Spark Shock and Flame Blast, and vents his arms since he overheats.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters

Mega Man's Mega Upper made its first appearance in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.

Marvel vs. Capcom

Coincidentally, during the Super Smash Bros. Direct, Mega Man's Mega Upper was mentioned as its appearance from Marvel vs. Capcom.

Mega Man X

This is the first game to star Mega Man X, who appears in Mega Man's Final Smash.

Mega Man Legends

Mega Man Volnutt, who makes his appearance in this game, appears alongside Mega Man in his Final Smash.

Mega Man Battle Network

MegaMan.EXE, Lan Hikari's NetNavi, joins the others in Mega Man's Final Smash.

Mega Man Star Force

When Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis combine, they form Mega Man. This Mega Man also appears in Mega Man's Final Smash.