Proto Man

**Proto Man**, known as **Blues** (ブルース *Burūsu*) in Japan, is the first Robot Master created by Dr. Light. Considered the "older brother" to Mega Man and Roll, he first appeared in *Mega Man 3* training him to see if he could beat Dr. Wily, aiding Mega Man in his fight against evil.

## History

### Origin

Proto Man was originally intended to become the first humanoid robot capable of independent thought and reasoning.

As a prototype robot, Proto Man's design was not complete. Although he greatly exceeded Dr. Light's expectations on several levels, it was later discovered that Proto Man's energy core had a critical problem that would eventually make him stop functioning. Dr. Light planned to repair him. However, since he was created too independent, Proto Man feared the modification would change his character. Proto Man refused to have Dr. Light meddle with his systems and fled to protect his sense of identity.

Dr. Light had presumed Proto Man to have died and regrettably gave up on him. Learning from his mistakes, he perfected the energy core and created two unit robots, Rock and Roll, to help him with the housework and other 6 robots destined to help humanity. Proto Man's design became the basis of theSniper Joe series of robots. In *Mega Man Powered Up*, it is revealed that Proto Man despises the Sniper Joe series due to this.

Proto Man wandered the world alone. Before his energy reactor was completely depleted, the scientist Dr. Wily found him collapsed and dying. Dr. Wily managed to temporarily repair Proto Man by altering his power reactor from a solar to a nuclear one, as well as making other modifications, turning him into a combat robot. He also gave Proto Man the Proto Shield to compensate for his body's weakness, and in an attempt to hide his identity from Dr. Light, he gave him his helmet and his now-trademark visor. Working on Proto Man's systems gave Wily greater knowledge in creating robots at the same level as Dr. Light, helping his plans for world domination along.

Indebted to Dr. Wily, Proto Man served him until his encounters with Mega Man in *Mega Man 3* made him realize his true nature. Proto Man saved Mega Man in the end of *Mega Man 3*, and officially turned against Wily in *Mega Man 4*, when he rescued Kalinka Cossack. However, he still refused help from Dr. Light, still holding onto his feelings. Mega Man doesn't know that Proto Man is his brother. The only plothole is that he referred to Mega Man as brother in the English version of *Mega Man 7*, but this is countered by the fact that he said no such thing in the Japanese version.

Proto Man's signature whistle is a staple of the character and almost always plays before his appearance.

### *Mega Man Powered Up*[1]

Although Proto Man has no involvement in the story, he is a playable character that can be unlocked after beating all challenges, or downloading him. He uses his Proto Shield to block attacks like Mega Man in *Mega Man 7*. His shield can also be knocked off by enemies, but can be retrieved. However, it can fall off in extreme circumstances. In this game, he has advanced jumping and mobility, but cannot slide, copy weapons or charge his buster like in other games. However, instead of the Proto Buster, he has a new skill - Proto Strike, which is virtually the same as Mega Man's charge shot and can be shot rapidly.

### *Mega Man 3*

Proto Man fights Mega Man in Magnet Man's, Hard Man's and Shadow Man's stages, as well as appearing in Gemini Man's stage. After the defeat of the Doc Robot(s), Proto Man will fight Mega Man one last time disguised as Break Man. After Mega Man defeats Dr. Wily, Proto Man saves Mega Man and brings him back to Dr. Light's laboratory. Dr. Light hears Proto Man's whistle and appears to recognize him. Based on Proto Man's words while rescuing Mega Man, he also planned to rescue Dr. Wily as well, but believed that he arrived too late.

In the version of *Mega Man 3* that was featured in *Mega Man: Anniversary Collection* and *Rockman Complete Works*, Proto Man plays the role of Mega Man's navigator, even though for most of Mega Man 3 he is seen as the villain.

#### Hits Data Chart[2]

Amount of shots/hits from Special Weapons it takes to defeat Proto Man. Despite the fact he has as much health as a boss, he is considered a mini-boss, and so damage can be inflicted more rapidly upon him as he does not have an invulnerability period after being hit.

### *Mega Man 4*

Proto Man rescues the kidnapped Kalinka and brings her to Mega Man and her father, Dr. Cossack, after Mega Man defeats him, to let her tell Mega Man that her father was forced to work for Dr. Wily. Based on Wily's reaction to Proto Man's deed, it can be presumed that he was still working for Wily until that point. There is some speculation that he was also the one who kidnapped Kalinka in the first place, as he was the only functioning robot under Wily's control after the events of *Mega Man 3*.

### *Mega Man 5*

Proto Man was framed for a robot attack and kidnapping Dr. Light. Mega Man later finds out that Dr. Wily created a robot called Dark Man to impersonate Proto Man as revenge for Proto Man's betrayal in the previous game. Proto Man appears to reveal the deception and later helps Mega Man near the end of the game by helping lift the roof of Dr. Wily's castle when Mega Man saved Dr. Light.

### *Mega Man 6*

Proto Man appears in Tomahawk Man's stage to give Mega Man the Energy Balancer upgrade. With it, when Mega Man collects weapons energy with the Mega Buster equipped, it restores the weapon with the least energy in it.

### *Mega Man 7*[3]

Proto Man appears in Cloud Man and Turbo Man's stage, giving him hints to certain secrets (like using the "flame weapon" in "the woods"). After Mega Man visits him in those areas, he will appear in Shade Man's stage hidden in the wall behind the Sniper Joe 01 after the sub-boss VAN Pookin by destroying the mini pumpkin inside the boss. He will challenge Mega Man to a fight and if he takes enough damage, he will give his Proto Shield to Mega Man.

### *Mega Man 8*

After Mega Man's battle with Duo, Proto Man tells him that Dr. Wily's new fortress, called "Wily Tower," lies just ahead. Later after Duo is weakened when he saved Mega Man from the giant laser of Wily's latestWily Machine, Proto Man arrives and helps Duo escape leaving Mega Man to finish off Dr. Wily on his own. Then, after Wily's defeat and Mega Man's rescue at the hands of Duo, Mega Man returns to the area near the wreckage of Wily Tower to find Proto Man standing on a tree. Proto Man tells him that Duo left to return to space but had a message for him - "Thank you."

### *Mega Man & Bass*[4]

Proto Man appears in the opening stage, trying to stop King, but is sliced in half. Mega Man shows concern and tells him to go to Dr. Light for repairs, whilst Bass ignores him and claims *he's* the most powerful robot.

He reappears in the third King Stage and uses his Big Bang Strike to destroy King's shield, but he falls unconscious because he used nearly all of his power on that attack. King promptly teleports Proto Man out of the castle so that he can be repaired. He then appears in Bass's ending where he eavesdrops on Wily explaining his reasons to Bass of creating King to test Bass' abilities after he failed to destroy Mega Man. Wily then shows Bass new plans for a King II, promising that Bass will become stronger. Eventually, Proto Man comes out and destroys the plans, swearing that he won't let Wily's plan come to fruition. Angered, Wily commands Bass to destroy Proto Man, telling him to prove his point of being the most powerful robot in the universe. However, due to the dilemma regarding his loyalties, Bass is unsure about this. Proto Man then tells Bass that even though he agrees with Wily that Bass is a strong and powerful robot, he'll never defeat Mega Man because he has nothing to fight for. Angered, Bass tells Proto Man to leave, which he does.

### *Mega Man 9*

Proto Man appears after Mega Man defeats Dr. Wily and warns him about Wily's trap, but Mega Man tells him he can't risk it not being a trap. Disappointed, Proto Man disappears, but soon returns to save the unconscious Mega Man from being crushed by the collapsing Wily Castle.

Proto Man is also available as a downloadable playable character for 200 Wii points/160 Microsoft points/ $1.99 (original release) or after unlocking the DLC (Legacy Collection 2). He plays the same as Mega Man except he can slide and charge his Proto Buster, receives double damage from attacks and is knocked back twice as far when hit. Proto Man can only fire two shots at a time, as opposed to Mega Man's three. He can deflect bullets with his Proto Shield (but only while jumping), and rather than Rush, he has the Proto Coil and Proto Jet, which resemble the transport items from *Mega Man 2*.

Proto Man has no story cutscenes, and he cannot use the shop.

### *Mega Man 10*[5]

Proto Man is a playable character from the start of the game, with all of his features from *Mega Man 9*. However, Proto Man can now use a store, even though there are less items in it, and the remaining items cost more (for example, an E-Tank costs 40 screws instead of 30 screws). He aids Mega Man to help find the parts for a vaccine-making device to fight the Roboenza virus, which causes robots to overheat and go crazy. While inside the Wily Castle, he is infected with the virus and collapses. However, Mega Man had a prototype cure with him that Dr. Light had built earlier in the game, and the two can go on and defeat Wily. In his ending, Proto Man decided to leave Wily behind, deducing Wily coming down with influenza was "poetic justice", although it is implied that Mega Man still took him to the hospital. On a related note, Proto Man is the only one of the three playable characters who *doesn't* mistake Wily's influenza for Roboenza.

## Appearance

Proto Man appears similar to his younger brother, Mega Man, having a similar frame and build although the differences are immediate. Proto Man wears vibrant red armor that sharply contrasts that of Mega Man's blue shades as well as having a dark gray body suit. He wears a stylized helmet that features a distinct white trim that points upward. Along with his trademark flowing yellow scarf and thick black shades makes Proto Man fit the mysterious dashing lone wolf archetype quite well. Like Mega Man, Proto Man has been seen without his helmet, his hair having inconsistent depictions within and outside of canon.

In *Mega Man 3* and the *Rockman Complete Works* version of *Mega Man 5*, Proto Man is depicted with short hair. However, in *Mega Man 8*, his hair is longer, featuring a distinct, long fringe that stretches forward and curves slightly upward, and in the *Megamix* manga, he is given exactly the same hairstyle as Mega Man. Archie comics gave him the *Rockman 8* hair style and left it there, although one of the Short Circuits comics (specifically, Mariachi, the one taking place in Issue 9), taking place before Blues' formal debut, and Issue 54 depicted him with the short hairstyle from *Mega Man 3* and the *Rockman Complete Works'* version of *Mega Man 5*. His hair is changed back to the Rockman 8 version in Issue 55.

## Personality

Proto Man is calm, cool, collected in any situation. He is also shown to be greatly independent.

As someone who values his individuality so much, he risked body failure just to avoid becoming someone else. He also despises others who were either made in his image or were based off him in some way.

He plays an older brother role with Mega Man by helping him out and giving advice, and even saves his life on a few occasions. He is a loner who, similar to his brother, has a strong sense of justice and helps those who need it. He is also a grateful person as shown by how he repays Wily's debt for temporarily fixing him (although in *Powered Up*, he was angrier and quick to resort to violence).

## Abilities

Proto Man is a playable character in *Mega Man 9* and *10*. He is useful in some areas, but playing as him has some cons too. When he jumps, he raises his shield, blocking shots. Proto Man also fires slightly lower than Mega Man in *Mega Man 10*, letting him hit landmines, which Mega Man cannot do. When he gets hit, however, he takes twice the recoil and twice the damage that Mega Man does, which is a great reason to utilize his shield.

* **Proto Buster** (ブルースバスター Blues Buster): A powerful arm cannon like the Mega Buster. Proto Man can charge energy to make the shot stronger.
* **Proto Shield** (ブルースシールド Blues Shield): A strong shield that can deflect most attacks, he also dashes while holding it, using it as a battering ram.

 \*

**Proto Strike** (ブルースストライク Blues Strike): A powerful short range charge shot used by Proto Man in *Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters*. An attack with the same name is used in *Mega Man: Battle & Chase* and *Mega Man Powered Up*. It also appeared in *Mega Man & Bass*, being used by Proto Man to destroy Dr. Wily's plans to build King II. This is also the name of his Special Power in *SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS*, which was mistranslated as "Bruce Strikes Back" in North America.

* **Big Bang Strike** (ビッグバンストライク): An energy blast of tremendous power. This attack is very dangerous to Proto Man, however, as it severely drains his energy. It's used in *Mega Man & Bass* to destroy King's strong shield.
* **Variable Weapon System**: Proto Man can copy Special Weapons from other robots and use them to his own advantage.