Mega Man (SSB18)

**Mega Man** Mega Man (ロックマン, *Rockman*) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. OC 2018. He is the seventh third-party character in the game.

## Attributes

As in his home series, Mega Man's moveset relies heavily on various projectiles, giving his attacks unusual functions and characteristics. This extends beyond his special moves and into his standard moveset. For his neutral attack, he fires shots from his Mega Buster, and for his forward tilt, he fires shots from his Mega Buster while walking. His up tilt, the Mega Upper, is a jumping uppercut, and his down tilt is a forward slide.

Despite having an unusual set of moves, Mega Man shines in approaching while spacing opponents at midrange and disrupting any approaches, for he is blessed with two projectiles that can cause opponents to react predictably: Metal Blade's ability to be thrown in eight directions and trapping opponents in high hitstun makes it a fantastic mindgame and shield-baiting tool, while Crash Bomber can cause panicky opponents to run towards Mega Man or shield the explosion. Both projectiles easily lead to a grab punish as Mega Man owns a great grab combo ability, having a fast grab and many of his attacks connecting reliably after a throw. This allows him to rack up damage easily once he grabs an opponent. He does not have much trouble KOing once his opponents are damaged either, for he has many finishing options: from his lightning-fast up tilt to his projectile based forward smash which can be used to edgeguard. His other projectiles are terrific, notably his aerials; up aerial can KO early if an opponent is high up, and his down aerial is one of the safest meteor smashes in the game. To top it all off, Mega Man is a fantastic spacer: his jab is a fast and useful projectile (that can be used while moving and jumping) which interrupts most attacks and weak projectiles at a safe range, and when combined with Metal Blades and Crash Bombs makes Mega Man difficult to approach. Due to his amazing pressuring ability and grab game, characters without a projectile or with low reach can have trouble approaching without being severely punished. Even if he does get knocked around, Mega Man is a heavyweight character, weighing only slightly less than Captain Falcon, meaning he is more likely to survive potentially lethal blows that could KO a lighter character, especially with proper DI and his good recovery move, Rush Coil.

Regardless of his good grab game and punishing options, Mega Man still has some flaws to counter his strengths. Since his projectiles are imperative in initiating combos, he suffers against opponents with reflectors or other methods to render his projectiles ineffective, such as the Villager's Pocket. His low speed and ending lag on his non-projectile moves significantly limit his approach. He lacks options in keeping away foes up close, with no actual melee jab or quick standard attacks to knock them away. Because most of his strongest attacks suffer from either noticeable startup or ending lag, Mega Man works best at mid-range where his attacks can connect safely, though at the cost of giving opponents a good amount of time to react to any of his attacks, somewhat making his finishers predictable.

## Moveset

### On-screen appearance

* Warps down on to the stage, similar to how he does so in the classic Mega Man games.

### Taunts

* Up: Mega Man changes his outstretched hand into a Mega Buster, then pumps his Buster arm.
* Side: Mega Man turns and strikes a pose with his back facing the camera as he smiles.
* Down: Mega Man warps out of and immediately back onto the stage, similar to his teleporting animation in the classic Mega Man games. While it looks like it can dodge attacks, it can't even if hit at the exact frame of disappearing.

### Idle poses

* His left arm turns into his Mega Buster, then taps his elbow on his hand.
* Looks around himself.

### Victory poses

* Fires two shots from his Mega Buster and does a pose.
* Warps on to the screen and initiates the pose done on the Japanese title screen of Mega Man (Rockman) while smiling.
* Lands down, points his Mega Buster towards the air, then poses (similar to a scene at the beginning of his reveal trailer).