Ground Man

Ground Man (or Groundman) is a Robot Master appearing in Mega Man & Bass and part of King's Army. Built to excavate ruins, Ground Man is the strongest member of King's Army and characterised as a quiet, but determined robot who likes to hoard treasure for his personal collection.Mega Man & Bass English Instruction Booklet, "KGN 003 Ground Man" - "Developed to excavate ruins, Ground Man is the strongest robot of the King numbered series. Thought always motivated to achieving his goals, he hardly ever speaks and has no feelings. He sometimes hordes treasure that he finds for his own personal collection, without telling King."
Much like Drill Man before him, Ground Man's design incorporates several large drills, one being mounted to each of his shoulders, each foot, and his stomach, respectively, with three smaller drills encircling the top of his helmet. His signature weapon, the Spread Drill, lets the user fire a slow-moving drill forward, which can split twice into sets of smaller and faster ones. He is also able to convert his body into excavation machines and dig through the ground with ease.
==In the Games==
===Mega Man & Bass===
In Mega Man & Bass, Ground Man is among the three (out of the total eight) Robot Masters that can be selected at the start of the game, appearing as the bottom-most choice of his column on the stage select screen and connecting to Tengu Man and Magic Man.
In battle, Ground Man possesses several attacks, all centred on his drill theme: He may burrow into the ground and jump back out repeatedly, similarly to Drill Man; jump and then transform into an invincible mining vehicle, driving across the room three times before transforming back; leap up and move around inside the ceiling, attempting to pierce Mega Man/Bass from above three times as a gigantic, invincible drill; or jump straight up and fire the Spread Drill forward in a straight line, which he may split into smaller drills once, twice or not at all. Despite the Spread Drill attack involving his boss weapon, it is also his rarest move, and he may go the entire length of the fight without ever using it.
Ground Man is weak to the Remote Mine (acquired from Pirate Man), which deals 4 damage and prevents him from digging into the ground or ceiling while a mine is attached to him, as attempting to do so detonates the mine instead, briefly stunning him and interrupting the action. Defeating him grants Mega Man or Bass the Spread Drill and unlocks and Magic Man's stage on the stage select screen.
===Battle Network era===
Ground Man has a Net Navi equivalent in GroundMan.EXE, which appears based on a mix of his robot and mining vehicle forms. He first appears in Mega Man Battle Network 6 and his Operator is Moliarty.
==Official Data==
===Mega Man & Bass CD===
As with other Robot Masters that are part of the Mega Man & Bass boss lineup, Ground Man's CD is hidden in his own stage. It is located near the end of the stage and fittingly buried in the ground, requiring and Rush Search to dig up. The section of dirt that contains it can be dug away by the Dig Mole enemies, requiring Mega Man to act quickly or the CD will be unobtainable for the rest of the stage.
==Related Robot Masters==
Ground Man is one of several Robot Masters with an earth, stone or mining theme. Others include:
* Guts Man ()
* Hard Man (Mega Man 3)
* Drill Man (Mega Man 4) - Another drill-based Robot Master.
* Stone Man (Mega Man 5)
* Concrete Man (Mega Man 9)
* Impact Man (Mega Man 11)
==Trivia==
* As with Turbo Man from the earlier Mega Man 7 turning into a car, Ground Man's ability to change into a vehicle form is reminiscent of "transforming mecha" characters, such as those from the Transformers toy and media franchise.
* Ground Man's English quote "I hate sand" and dislike for "Coarse thing" from his Mega Man & Bass CD are likely in reference to a well-known quote spoken by the character Anakin Skywalker in the film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, which had come out less than a year prior to the game's English localisation. In the Japanese version, the CD quote is more generic, simply stating Ground Man's determination to find treasure, and his dislike is for underground water.Rockman & Forte CD Database on Hondoori Game Center - Transcripts and translation notes for the Japanese Rockman & Forte CDs.
==References==
Category:Mega Man & Bass Robot Masters