MEGA MAN (Universe)

> *This article refers to the Mega Man series and universe shown in Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo Switch. For other articles featuring Mega Man, please go here.*
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## MEGA MAN

### Latest Installment

Megaman Legacy Collection (2017)

The ***Mega Man* universe** (originally created in Asian countries as **Rockman** (ロックマン) and also written as **MegaMan** and **Megaman**) refers to the *Smash Bros.* series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the eponymous *Mega Man* series by Capcom. It is a Japanese video game franchise created by Capcom. Originating on the NES, the *Mega Man* franchise has spawned a multitude of video games across many platforms, as well as a variety of associated media. The series is the third such third-party franchise to contribute elements to a *Smash* game, with the titular Mega Man, being a playable character in *Super Smash Bros. 4*.

## 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. Albert W. 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 and eventually became their undisputed leader from within his personal ambition of eliminating the human race and creating a Reploid-only world, Zero had stopped being a Maverick himself and soon joined the Maverick Hunters, becoming a good partner and close friend to X. Later on in the series, specifically in *Mega Man X7*, Axl, a young new generation Reploid prototype joins the Maverick Hunters as well after defecting from his former group Red Alert. 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 yet still determined Zero reawakening after a century of slumber into an even darker version of the world. Aided by a young female computer prodigy named Ciel, Zero battles for a resistance group against the governing body and "utopia", Neo Arcadia whose questionable decisions in having to ensure both the safety and security of its human citizens had led to many innocent Reploids being retired. At first, Zero had to fight against a defective copy of X who had lacked the original's morals and ideals. 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, an evil and psychotic mad scientist who had sought revenge against those who had caused his downfall many years ago. Zero defeats and kills Weil from within their final battle, 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 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. This series is currently on hiatus.

* **Mega Man Legends series**: This 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. This series, like the ZX series, is also on hiatus.

* **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. It is currently unknown if this series has ended or is on hiatus.

## In *Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo Switch*

### 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, again, as a playable character in *Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo Switch.* 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

#### Stage Hazard[edit]

* **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 its body and various beams, and must be defeated by attacking its eye, the only vulnerable place on its body. The Yellow Devil explodes upon defeat, acting as an attack for the player who lands the defeating blow on the boss.

#### Assist Trophy[edit]

* **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 enemy[edit]

* **Mettaur**: A small enemy based off a Japanese style hard hat.

#### Mii Fighter Costumes[edit]

* **X Costume**: Based off of the main character of the *Mega Man X* series. Includes an X outfit for Mii Gunners and X's Helmet.
* **Proto Man Costume**: Based off of Mega Man's rival/prototype/brother. Includes a Proto Man outfit for Mii Gunners and Proto Man's Helmet.
* **Zero Costume**: Based off of X's friend in the Mega Man X series and also main character of his own *Mega Man Zero* series.

#### Other[edit]

* Mega Man's robotic dog **Rush** is used in his Rush Coil move and his robotic bird **Beat** is used in a custom recovery.
* Mega Man X, MegaMan.EXE, Mega Man Volnutt, and Geo Stelar (as Star Force Mega Man) all appear and assist the classic playable Mega Man in his final smash.

### Stage[edit]

* **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[edit]

Main article: List of SSB4 Music (Mega Man series)

* **Cut Man Stage**: This theme plays in Cut Man's stage in *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**: This is a remix of the Air Man stage theme from *Mega Man 2*.
* **Quick Man Stage**: This remix is a medley of both Quick Man and Heat Man 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.
* **Spark Man Stage**: This theme plays in Spark Man's stage in *Mega Man 3*.
* **Shadow Man Stage**: This theme plays in Shadow Man's stage in *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 composed 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*.

#### Trophies[edit]

Main article: List of SSB4 trophies (Mega Man series)

* Mega Man (Alt.)
* Rush Coil
* Beat
* Mega Man X
* MegaMan Volnutt
* MegaMan.EXE
* Star Force Mega Man
* Elec Man
* Yellow Devil
* Mettaur
* Dr. Wily
* Energy Tank
* Dr. Light (Wii U Only)
* Roll (Wii U Only)
* Proto Man (Wii U Only)
* Eddie (Wii U Only)
* Zero (Wii U Only)
* Bass and Treble (Wii U Only)