Mega Man/Characters

This page deals with characters from the Mega Man franchise, featuring general background information on them and tropes they provide examples of. More specifically, this page refers to characters from the original eight (and current two) Mega Man games, often called the "Classic series". Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Star Force, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX and Mega Man Legends have their separate character pages.

The characters' names will be formatted in this style: English Name/Japanese Name (Serial Number, if applicable, though not mandatory).

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Heroes

Mega Man/Rockman (DLN-001)

The legendary Blue Bomber himself. A housekeeping humanoid robot built by Dr. Light who was later modified into a battle-capable robot upon his request. Mega Man is equipped with the Mega Buster, and the ability to copy techniques from the Robot Masters he defeats.

• American Mega Man Is Hardcore: At least, he was going to be in Universe. The original character was also present under the name of Rockman.
• Arm Cannon
• Audience Surrogate: Actually, his personality never went deeper than being a regular run-of-a-windmill Kid Hero's.
• Badass Adorable: Has the looks and personality of a child, yet is able to kick ass like no one's business.
• Bag of Spilling: Outside of Wily Tower, Mega Man never keeps his old weapons. By Mega Man 9, however, he's even throwing away signature abilities seemingly for good!
• Beware the Nice Ones: In 7, where he actually takes aim to kill Wily.
• Blue Eyes or Green Eyes: Depending on the Artist.
• Bootstrapped Theme: The opening for Mega Man 2 tends to become his Leitmotif where applicable.
• A Boy and His X Transforming Mecha Robot Dog
• Charged Attack
• Combining Mecha: Mega Man can fuse with Rush in Mega Man 6 to form Power and Jet Adapters. Mega Man 7 ups the ante by introducing the Super Adapter, which features both abilities from the previous two.
• Evil Twin: Wily sure likes doing this to him. There's the double in 1, Mega Man? in Mega Man Powered Up, the Triplets in Mega Man 3...
• Expy: Rock is an Expy of Astro Boy.
  • In addition to this, Mega Man is very similar to Tatsunoko Production's Neo-Human Casshern: converted into a battle-bot for the purpose of hunting down and destroying robots that have taken over the world, a father who invented robots meant to serve humankind that eventually went rogue, a Robot Dog capable of assuming multiple forms...this is very noticeable when Casshern and Friender are pitted against three members of the collective Mega family (Roll, Mega Man Volnutt, and Zero) in Tatsunokovs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars.
  • In-universe, his personality is much like that of his creator.
• Fountain of Expies: All main characters in each series are based on him, and named after him, with the obvious exception of Zero.
• Friend to All Living Things: According to his Mega Man and Bass profile, he likes animals.
• Guns Akimbo: Both his arms become Mega Busters in the climax of Super Adventure Rockman.
• Hair Color Dissonance: He has black hair that is sometimes depicted as blue. (The latter usually involves all-black backgrounds, such as cutscenes.)
• Jack of All Stats: In entries involving other playable characters, he becomes this.
• Leitmotif: In some spinoffs and crossover games, he is musically represented by the title screen BGM from 2.
• Meaningful Name: Two meanings. "Rock" as in Rock-Paper-Scissors, and "Rock" as in "Rock and Roll."
• Moral Dissonance: In the ending for 7, Mega Man decided to try to kill Wily once and for all instead of simply arresting him like last time. Wily tries to tell Mega Man that he's a robot and thus cannot, and should not kill a human. Mega Man then declares that he is more than just a robot, and prepares to fire. To top it off, at least in the English version, he very well could have gone through with it, if not for Bass showing up to rescue him. Knowing that Mega Man is normally the one not willing to hurt a fly, it is quite a shocker to see Bass prevent him from a ruthless act he would regret.
• Mundane Utility: Some of the weapons in 7 as suggested by Auto and especially Roll.
• Never Say "Die": Averted hard in 7's ending.

Mega Man: "I am more than a robot!! Die Wily!!"

• Older Than They Look: Every Robot Master capable of speech who talks about Mega Man being a little kid who forgets that he's the second to third-oldest (depending on how much truth to Quint's backstory there is) human-built Robot Master.
• Power Copying: The former Trope Namer.
• The Red Baron: The Blue Bomber.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Proto Man's red.
• Ridiculously-Human Robots
• Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids
• Theme Naming: The beginning of a symphony of musical-related names. It doubles as Theme Twin Naming with Roll as Rock.

Dr. Thomas Light/Dr. Thomas Right

The primary developer of the "Robot Master" technology that created Mega Man, Roll, Proto Man, and others. He has always expressed an interest in using his inventions for the good of mankind.

Robot Masters designed by Light have the serial number DLN-XXX (Doctor Light Number).

• Absent-Minded Professor: Actually believes Wily has changed after sending his robot to stop Wily's evil scheme 'twice! Then he believes Wily again after roughly twelve more of have been foiled, the last of which involved framing Light for world domination aspirations! If Light keeps this up, he'll develop a reputation for gullibility rivaling Knuckles the Echidna!
• Always Someone Better: Early games depict Wily as jealous of Light's higher achievements.
• Big Good
• Cool Old Guy
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Fine Dogta Wawwey!
• Light Is Good: Literally.
• Mission Control
• Mr. Exposition
• Not That Kind of Doctor
• Spell My Name with an "S" and Japanese Ranguage: In the earlier games, localization for the English speaking territories alternated between rendering his name as Light, Right, and Wright before making Light the standardized name. Capcom themselves consider both names to be correct since the name of his Battle Network counterpart (Tadashi Hikari) translates to Right Light.
• Team Dad
• Techno Wizard

Proto Man/Blues (DLN-000)

The "prototype" robot master created by Drs. Light and Wily. He was the first one to be capable of independent thought. Worried that Dr. Light would meddle with his programming, he left Light Labs to wander alone. He eventually finds his "brother", Mega Man, in 3, and fights him multiple times.

• [[[Adaptational Villainy]]: In the Ruby-Spears series, he is Dr. Wily's Dragon.
• Aloof Ally
• Aloof Big Brother
• Badass: Is he ever.
• Bonus Boss: In 7.
• Big Damn Heroes: Manages to pull these off several times. Lampshaded in 9:

Proto Man: "Looks like you need my help...again."

• • If you play as Proto Man in Mega Man 10, Mega Man returns the favor by giving him Dr. Wily's prototype medicine when Proto Man comes down on Roboenza shortly after defeating the Weapons Archive.
• Cain and Abel: Proto Man was working with Wily in 3, but pulls a Heel Face Turn at the end. In the cartoon, he was the Worthy Opponent though it's been theorized that he would've eventually pulled a Heel Face Turn, with his role replaced by Bass (as he had an action figure coming out) if the Third season hadn't been canceled.
  • It's hinted that he was simply keeping close to Wily to test his brother's prowess and sabotage Wily.
• Char Clone
• Cool Shades: Two pairs. One as a part of his helmet, and when he takes it off, we learn he was also wearing one underneath the helmet.
• Cyber Cyclops: As Break Man.
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Divergent Character Evolution: In Power Battles and Power Fighters, his moveset is basically his successor's, but in 9 and 10, he instead has his brother's Charge Shot and Slide. And odd case where Mega Man had to lose these features for his brother to have a more unique playstyle.
  • Mega Man lost those moves by atrophy (basically, because he didn't use them)...so how did Proto Man hold on to them?!?
• The Dragon: He appears to be this in 3...until he saves you after you defeat Gamma, out of which he's an ally. The TV Series plays this straight, with him working for Wily.
  • In Mega Man 4, he was apparently still working for Wily; after he saves Kalinka, Wily yells that he betrayed him.
• Dramatic Wind
• Flawed Prototype/Super Prototype: Depending on your view of his unstable nuclear reactor.
• For Want of a Nail: If he would had let Dr. Light remodel him to fix his power reactor, Dr. Wily would never had found him and done it himself, thus he'd never gain the ability to manufacture robots at the same level as Dr. Light.
• Fountain of Expies: All the future incarnations of Proto Man, including Zero who variably will play the role of The Lancer, Aloof Big Brother, or The Rival at various points in their respective series.
• Glass Cannon: In all three playable appearances, explained as resulting from an unstable energy core.
• Heel Face Turn: After 3.
• Iconic Item: His Proto Shield. How effective it is in playable appearances varies heavily, but it's still there.
• The Lancer: Whenever Mega Man gets a partner, Proto Man will usually fulfill this role.
• Leitmotif: His distinctive (and Badass) whistle.
• Let's You and Him Fight
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
• Meaningful Name: In English, at least...
  • Early Rock and Roll was heavily influenced by Blues.
• Mega Man, He Is Your Brother: 3's ending.
• Mysterious Protector
• Pet the Dog: Even if you take him as a villain in 3, he still saved Mega Man at the end.
• Power Copying: Like his brother, he also has the ability to copy weapons.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Although there's a bit of an inversion: while Proto Man is calm and composed, his rebellious nature towards Dr. Light makes him the Red Oni to Mega Man.
• Ridiculously-Human Robots
• Ryotaro Okiayu: His seiyuu in Mega Man 8. The very same seiyuu as Zero in the X series. Funnily enough, there was once a theory that Zero was Proto Man.
• Scarf of Asskicking
• Scott McNeil: His voice actor in the animated series.
• Secret Character: He's Downloadable Content in 9.
• Secretly Dying: His power core is flawed and he doesn't want Dr. Light monkeying with him.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Much like his brother, expect to see Proto Man and Protoman pop up frequently.
• Theme Naming: Yup.
• Worthy Opponent

Roll (DLN-002)

Original design.

Design in Rockman 8: Metal Heroes!!

The third humanoid robot built by Light Labs, and is a "sister unit" of sorts to Mega Man and Proto Man. She doesn't do any fighting on the field (except in Powered Up, where she is a playable character), preferring to use her smarts and help Mega Man from the home base.

According to her character card in Mega Man & Bass, she hates cockroaches.

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: In one Manga, Roll has a thing for Bass, and Bass pretends to reciprocate to the extent necessary to piss Mega Man off.
• Arm Cannon: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The cell phone port of the original game gives her an almighty charge shot with limited ammo, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash Of The Superheroes and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age Of Heroes had the Roll Buster as a weak projectile. Games released since have gone the Improbable Weapon User route.
• Art Evolution: At first, Roll had a sleeveless dress. She later switched to a long-sleeved dress come Rockman 8: Metal Heroes!!.
• Ascended Extra: Roll became something like this over the years of the franchise! In 8, she ran a part shop in Auto's absence (Auto helped Mega Man out in the Tengu Man Stage during the flying scene). In Mega Man and Bass, She uses a communicator to give tips on CD locations for the player and boss weaknesses. In 9, she, along with Auto, runs the part shop again. In 10, after the 8 robot masters are defeated, she saves Mega Man's life from the Roboenza Virus, all the while still being sick from the virus herself in the beginning of the game! In the world of Capcom vs. Whatever, Roll went from a secret Joke Character in Marvel vs. Capcom Clash of the Superheroes and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 to a very powerful, and available from the very start of the game, Lethal Joke Character in Tatsunoko Vs Capcom!
  • Not to mention she's playable in Powered Up!
• Brother-Sister Twincest: Some of her quotes in Powered Up (especially during the battle with Copy Roll) give the impression that Roll is a bit too attached to her brother.
• The Chick: Well, as far as a humanoid robot can be a "Chick" anyway.
  • Considering she looks like a kid and has the voice of a kid anyway.
• Distressed Damsel: Wily kidnaps her for some unexplained reason in The Power Fighters. Then there is a game where she gets struck down by Ra Moon (who had no reason whatsoever to put her health at risk other than it amused him) and Rock has to destroy him for her sake (and later that of the world).
• Fountain of Expies: Like her brothers, most series will have a blonde girl who dresses in either pink or red and acts as a sister, love interest, or mission control for the Hero — Alia, Roll Caskett, Roll.EXE, Ciel, etc.
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Heroic Sacrifice: A rare non-death example. Upon the defeat of the first four Robot Masters in 10, Dr. Wily creates a prototype cure for the Roboenza virus. Rather than take the medicine, however, Roll instead saves it for the possibility of another sick robot being brought into the lab. Sure enough, just as he defeats all eight Robot Masters, Mega Man falls ill from Roboenza....
  • However, when Wily leaves behind a huge pile of Roboenza Cure Pills for Mega Man as thanks for being saved and brought back to good health at a hospital, it's safe to assume that Roll gets better, though the ending doesn't show it!
• Hitbox Dissonance: In Capcom's crossover titles, Roll's small size makes her a hard target to hit. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom takes this up a notch by giving her a broom, a weapon with good reach, further disjointing her hitbox. See "Lethal Joke Character" below.
• Image Song: First appeared in Battle & Chase and has reappeared throughout the Capcom vs. Whatever series. It's a freaking Ear Worm, too!
  • For those of you who are curious, here's the Battle & Chase original, the Marvel vs. Capcom version (sans vocals), and the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom rendition.
• Improbable Weapon User: If Mega Man Powered Up and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom are any indication, her Weapon of Choice is a broom.
  • In Powered Up, the Roll Swing changes depending on which costume she's wearing. It doesn't change if she's 8 Roll, however.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom. Come with explosive vases.
• Irony: The storyline emphasizes the fact that Roll was not built for combat. Ironically, she has made the most appearances in the Capcom vs. Whatever series than any other character from the entire franchise (even more so than Mega Man, who himself got Demoted to Extra as a cameo in Roll's Tatsunoko vs. Capcom ending)!
• Lethal Joke Character: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom turns her into one of these.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom did it first. She can take out Onslaught quite handily.
  • In Powered Up, the first form of Dr. Wily can easily be stunned by the Roll Swing, as well as Mega's Mega Kick. They both also do slightly better damage to most of the bosses than the Mega Buster (as long as you don't take Mega Man C's charged shots into account, and even then, they're on par with it during the castle boss battles).
• Little Miss Badass: She can punch out Onslaught and Yami in crossover games, not to mention the series' ultimate badass. While this level of power may or may not be canon, the other robot masters in Powered Up are afraid of her. As well they should be!
• Littlest Cancer Patient: In 10, though it's not played for Glurge.
  • And in Super Adventure, where it's played to depress the ever living hell out of you should you lose.
• Popularity Power: Apparently, she can take Zero in a fight! Yellow Devil would have been so screwed...
  • Actually...it was. Though this particular version of the first game is No Export for You.
• Robot Girl/Maid
  • Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: In those side games where she fights. Otherwise, she's just a regular robot meter maid.
    • Well, considering how she fights in many of the games (with random objects, often cleaning utensils), maybe her superpowers are related to cleaning.
• Skip of Innocence: At the end of Powered Up! after she saved the day.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female Robot Master until the inclusion of Splash Woman in 9.
• Theme Naming: Rock & Roll, anyone?
• Took a Level In Badass: Somewhat, though she sometimes isn't even present enough to tell either way, but Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is probably a large example. Knocking much larger opponents off their feet and repeatedly ramming them in the groin with a mop is pretty hardcore.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: In the Brazilian comic. It was quite gruesome, indeed.
• Zettai Ryouiki: In Universe.

Rush

A robotic dog created by Dr. Light in 3 to assist Mega Man in his adventure. Can take on many forms, including a submarine, a hoverboard, a springy coil, and later even a Powered Armor.

• Cool Pet
• Combining Mecha: Rush can turn into armor that Mega Man can use in the sixth and seventh games.
• Do-Anything Robot
• Hologram: Rush has a holographic projector built in to transmit messages from afar by Dr. Light or recordings like in Mega Man 9's ending.
• Infinity+1 Sword: The very useful Super Adapter's homing upgrade. However, it's very hard to find, unless you know where to find it, that is.
  • Essentially, it turns Mega Man into even more of a Flying Brick, as his Hyper Mega Buster already dealt heavy damage to most enemies in the game and his Double Jump (thrusters portruding from his wings) could allow the use of shortcuts in most stages (and provide relief in the later Platform Hell sections); giving it homing functions only made Super Mega Man more of a plus, although it still doesn't quite make up for the disabling of his slide.
• Nerf: In 3, Rush Jet gave you free range of movement, and jumping while riding it greatly reduces the amount of energy it uses up. This makes it incredibly easy to skip the tougher segments of most levels. It was changed in later games so that he automatically moves straight forward and disappears as soon as it touches something.
• Non-Human Sidekick
• Plucky Comic Relief: He's there to assist Mega Man in the animated series with his transformations, but his secondary funtion is this. Often there to provide a "Everybody Laughs" Ending.
• Powered Armor: Has three versions, with the third being a combination of the other two. And then...
• Robot Dog: Duh!
• Shout-Out: A walking Shout-Out to Scooby Doo in the animated series.
• Shoulders of Doom: The Rush Power Adapter in 6 involves Rush turning into a massive pair of shoulder pads. When Mega Man puts on the shoulder pads, he becomes a short-ranged powerhouse with fists.
• Sky Surfing: Provides Mega's main form of aerial transport (well, other than teleporting) in Rush Jet mode, where the Blue Bomber stands on him like a surf-board.
  • Dungeon Bypass: In a strict sense, the Rush Jet makes some levels marginally easier.
• Transforming Mecha: Let's go over his forms: regular Rush, Rush Coil (with two variations), Rush Jet (with various additional powerups), Rush Marine, Rush Roadster, Rush Cycle, Rush Drill (in the non-canon Marvel vs. Capcom series, which had been intended to be used in the third game), three adapters (four if you count the Hyper Adapter from MvC)...

Beat

After Mega Man saved Dr. Cossack's daughter from Dr. Wily, the grateful scientist created this robotic bird to aid Mega Man. Beat flies around in Mega Man's proximity, either taking out enemies in Mega Man's path or carrying him short distances.

• Cool Pet
• Theme Naming: Named after the basic time unit of music.

Eddie/Flip-Top

Eddie is a small robot who was built by Doctor Light to serve as a walking suitcase. He helps Mega Man by teleporting in to give him power-ups, and occasionally by tossing bombs out of his head. He has a problem with anxiety.

• Hammerspace
• Stop Helping Me!: Very infamous for giving you the power up you don't need. Weapon Energy in a Robot Master level, which usually isn't long enough to warrant it, and a Health Pellet when you already have full health. The rare E-Tank or extra lives are always useful though.

Tango

When Mega Man initially failed to defeat the StarDroids in V, Tango the cat was created to assist him in fighting the robots. His ability is to curl into a spiky ball and charge into enemy robots.

• The Cameo: He makes an appearance on the counter of the shop for Proto Man in 10.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: There's a reason he doesn't have a picture here!
• Cool Pet
• Shout-Out: He attacks a bunch of evil robots by curling into a spiny ball and jumping at them. Sound familiar?
• Theme Naming: We shouldn't need to spell this one out for you.

Auto/Rightot

A mechanic robot created by Doctor Light, Auto considers himself Mega Man's biggest fan. He helps the Blue Bomber by creating new accessories for him to use. He's good friends with Roll, and treats Eddie like a pet.

• Adult Child: If his CD biography has to be believed...
• BFG: Uses a cannon/rocket launcher in the Rush Jet sections of 8.
• The Cameo: In the Playstation version of X3, in Volt Catfish's intro video.
• Doppelganger: The robot who manages Proto Man's shop in 10.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Auto, we know it's you under that Met helmet.
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Hero Worshipper
• Otaku: A big mechanics geek.
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Remember the New Guy?: A new character for 7, but it was mentioned that he was already under Dr. Light's employ long before that time.

Villains

Dr. Albert Wily

The main antagonist of the series, and Dr. Light's former partner at Light Labs. Jealous of being overshadowed by Light's success, he reprogrammed the original Robot Masters and used them to take over the city, and would eventually attempt to conquer the world with them under his control.

Robot Masters designed, controlled, or modified by Wily usually bear the serial number DWN-XXX (Doctor Wily Number), although some special-purpose Robot Masters such as Bass have different serial numbers such as SWN-XXX (Special Wily Number).

• Adaptational Villainy: He is a far more repulsive character in the Ruby-Spears cartoon, which downplays his more heroic side and makes him straight-up willing to sabatoge his former partner at every chance.
• Anti-Villain: In 10, he leaves behind cures for Roboenza following his escape, and in Tatsunokovs Capcom, he calls Zero his son and doesn't really care that he hasn't killed X anymore.
• Big Bad
• The Chessmaster: He was mainly responsible for the events of almost all of the games, sometimes even doing it in such a way where the blame couldn't possibly be pinned on him. In fact, the only game that had something happen that he was not responsible for at all (or at least, he certainly didn't intend for it to go that way at all) was Rockman and Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha, where, although Wily did technically create Rockman Shadow, he was not involved in Shadow's attack at all.
  • This extends to the next 100 years.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: In 8, one could call him this; check the page for the example.
• Dirty Coward: Probably the most infamous example of this, given that every time he is defeated, he begs for mercy, and later games (barring maybe 8) showing this to be very insincere begging. Probably the only time he doesn't beg for mercy is in 10, and that's only because he was suffering from a fever at the time. That being said, however... 11 implies his begging is less from cowardice and more out of cynicism due to his saying that Mega Man "forced him to engage Plan B" before begging as if on cue, and when Mega Man calls him out on it, he only expresses minor annoyance that it didn't work before making clear that he ultimately won precisely because Mega Man was ultimately forced to use Wily's prototype Double Gear system to beat him, which ultimately proved Wily's concept was in fact successful.
• Einstein Hair: He even shares the same first name!
• Even Evil Has Standards: He turns against Ra Moon largely because even he didn't approve of Ra Moon's full-scale plan.
  • Mega Man 8 has an arguable example in the ending. When the Evil Energy proceeds to infect Mega Man just as the latter was about to take Wily into custody, Wily, instead of expressing any evil gloating or making any attempt at escaping, instead expresses genuine shock and horror at what was happening to Mega Man, implying that not even he would have wanted to use the Evil Energy on Mega Man. Arguably justified in this case, as he had just narrowly evaded causing Mega Man to violate the first rule of robotics in the previous game, with the Evil Energy if it succeeded in fully infecting Mega Man most likely would cause the Blue Bomber to have far less compunctions against killing him than he already did.
• Evil Counterpart: To Dr. Light.
• Evil Old Folks
• Final Exam Boss: In the Normal and Hard modes of Mega Man Powered Up.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Extending into the X series!
• Iron Butt Monkey: Try to remember that, when his Wily Machines go into their second forms, the target would usually be Wily himself, with little to no protection against a robot attack. This is at its finest in Powered Up, where he visibly flinches whenever an attack hits him!
  • He's also survived being crushed under the rubble of at least one crumbling castle, two crash landings (which, naturally, resulted in a huge explosion each time), and catching a cold. Clearly, that man has great physical health!
• Joker Immunity: It took 6 games for Wily to simply go to jail, and even that only lasts for half a year.
• Laughably Evil: Arguably for the entire series, but less arguable in 10. Say it with me, guys: "The World is mine! HA-HA-HA-HA...achoo!"
• Mad Scientist
• McNinja: He claims to be a ninja in the Japanese OVAs.
• Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: After so many times that he has decayed, you'd think that he isn't a credible threat anymore, right? Tell that to the future generations...
  • Let's not forget Megaman and Bass, where one of his creations, King, chopped Proto Man in half.
  • And 10, where if not for Roll, he would have won.
• One Steve Limit
• Paper-Thin Disguise: You mean to tell me Mr. X is really Dr. Wily in disguise? But Mr. X has a beard! And opaque glasses! And a cape! And a dot on his forehead!
• Pet the Dog: In Super Adventure Wily says he loves his robots and would never give them up .
  • In Zero's ending in Tatsunokovs Capcom, his calling Zero "son"...unless the "unfinished task" he mentioned there is "Kill your best friend in his sleep", which is entirely possible.
  • But, it is shown, in 10, he leaves the hospital, the clincher? He left probably about enough Roboenza capsules to cure an entire population.
• Pride: He decided to Take Over the World essentially because he was sick with being in Dr Light's shadow.
• Sigil Spam: The classic "Dr. W" logo, which always means trouble.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Similarly to Light, in the English language localizations of the first few games, his name was rendered as Wily, Wiley, and even Willy (which isn't even pronunced the same way!) before Wily became the standard English name/spelling.
• Supervillain Lair: Skull Castle, a veritable Platform Hell. To make things more difficult, he sometimes has multiple castles.
• Take Over the World: What he aims at.
• Villain Override: Boosts King's brainwashing level in Megaman and Bass when it becomes clear that the self-proclaimed lord of robots doesn't particularly want to kill his own kind.
• Xanatos Gambit: 6 and 7. He anticipated the possibility of being caught, and built four of the 7 'bots to break him out if that happened.
  • Batman Gambit: After framing Dr. Light in 9, Wily coerces the population to fund his efforts to stop him. The funding instead went into building Wily's new Fortress guardians.

Guts Man (DLN-004)

While not truly a main character, he's been in many of the games so far, normal, modified, or referenced, and is one of the original six robot masters. Unlike what one would expect, he has average intelligence. Incidentally, he enjoys karaoke.

• Badass Creed: In Powered Up.

Guts Man: "It's a foreman's job to look out for everybody, but sometimes you gotta do what ain't in the blueprints!"

• The Brute
  • The Big Guy: For later preferences.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Somewhat. He's commonly associated with earth, and throws rocks a lot of the time as an attack.
• Dumb Muscle: Mostly because of his Animated Adaptation portrayal. However, Powered Up reveals that he has average intelligence.
  • Guts Man seems to have this reputation in-universe too, as Wily refers to him as having strength but no brains if you play as Guts Man in Powered Up. Of course, Wily isn't exactly a nice person, and compared to him, Guts Man is essentially dumb.
• Heel Face Revolving Door: Fans are generally mixed on what happens to him and Cut Man (and the rest of the original Robot Masters for that matter) after 1.
• Leitmotif: His original stage theme usually accompanies his direct appearances.
  • Also the infamous DUH-NUH!
• Spell My Name with an "S": His name has been written as either Gutsman or Guts Man.
• Those Two Bad Guys: With Cut Man in the cartoon.
  • Big Guy, Little Guy: In a possible Shout-Out, Cut man is sitting on Guts man's shoulder in the ending for Mega Man Powered Up.
• We Can Rebuild Him: Wily really seems to like Guts Man. This is first hinted at in 1, where his image is dotted around the final stretch of castle for no adequately explained reason. He's then rebuilt as a giant tank in 2, and in 7 he's rebuilt with treads. A number of robots scattered about the sequels also bare more than a passing resemblance to him.
  • This might have happened again, as according to a supplementary manga for 9, all six of the original Robot Masters were attempting to stop their younger brethren. It should be said that according to this manga (Rockman Megamix), Mega Man never killed his brothers; they were simply reformatted a la Powered Up.
  • Which also happens to the new group in the ending of 9.

Cut Man (DLN-003)

Like Guts Man, Cut Man isn't a main character, but is one of the robot masters who appears the most often. While Guts Man has been used as a boss most, Cut Man has canonically been in Wily's service the longest of the original six masters.

• Bonus Boss: Although not necessarily a difficult one, he makes his way into X8 as a "reward" for getting good scores on Optic Sunflower's courses. He's even in 8-Bit form!
  • Also in the Sega Saturn version of 8, as an optional battle in Duo's stage.
• Heel Face Revolving Door
• Incredibly Lame Pun: His introduction in 8 has at least three puns related to cutting things.
  • Ever before then, cutting-related puns were present in the Ruby-Spears cartoon, with gems such as "Guts Man might be strong, but I'm on the cutting edge!"
  • Not to mention Powered Up...
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: He tends to attract scissor puns in general.
• Leitmotif: If he appears, the theme used for his stage will often start up in some form.
• Meaningful Name
• Spell My Name with an "S": His name was spelled as either Cut Man or Cutman.
  • Captain N apparently thought it was spelled Cuts Man.
• Stealth Pun: Might be a coincidence; in 1, Cut Man takes more damage from the uncharged Mega Buster than any other Robot Master in the franchise (ignoring The Wily Wars remake and 2's Easy/"Normal" mode). Mega Man's Japanese name is Rockman, and Cut Man has a pair of scissors on his head, so...
  • Definitely not a coincidence. Keiji Inafune decided it would be a good idea to give his game a Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic shortly after he settled on naming his hero Rockman.
• Those Two Bad Guys: With Guts Man in the cartoon.
  • Big Guy, Little Guy: In a possible Shout-Out, Cut Man is sitting on Guts Man's shoulder in the ending for Mega Man Powered Up.
• Wall Jump: in Powered Up.
• Warmup Boss: for the game that started it all.

The Mega Man Killers

Minor but memorable characters from the Game Boy games, the Mega Man Killers, consisting of Enker, Punk, and Ballade, are designed for the sole purpose of destroying Mega Man. They are designated by the serial number of RKN-XXX (Rockman Killer Number) in Japanese and MKN-XXX (Mega Man Killer Number) in English.

• Always Second Best: Inverted with Ballade; this is how he sees everyone else.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Ballade.
• Blade on a Stick: Enker's javelin.
• Blood Knight: Ballade is described as being incapable of resisting a fight with any opponent who looks strong, and he is said to dislike foes that disappoint him and uncompetitive enemies.
• Bonus Boss: All three of them are the bosses of the Special Stages in 10. You even get their weapons from them!
• Charged Attack: Enker can absorb enemy fire to beef up his own attack, at the cost of his health.
  • In 10, he doesn't even lose health from the blocked hits.
• Dumb Muscle: Ballade's bad point is described as being stupid (in the English version) and simple (in the Japanese version).
• Expy: Ballade looks quite similar to Quick Man.
• Fantastic Racism: Enker's Japanese spirit is described as so strong, that he hates Americans. In the Japanese version, that is. In the English version, he simply hates foreign robots.
• Heel Face Turn: Ballade.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He self-detonates to open the way for Mega Man to escape Dr. Wily's station.
  • Face Heel Turn: He's back to working for Wily in V and 10 - however, his apparition in 10 isn't canon and in V it's a copy of him, not the original.
• Irony: Despite Punk's name and appearance, he actually fights fairly and is even a policy follower! (If his and Bass CD Data is to be believed.)
• Laser Guided Tykebombs
• My Weapon's Nayme Is: Enker's lance is called the Barrierd Spear. Yes, Barrierd.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad
• Recurring Boss/Boss Rush: All three Mega Man Killers (and Quint) return in V for a final rematch with the Blue Bomber.
  • The three show up as the Special Stage bosses for 10.
• Spikes of Villainy: Punk.
• Stealth Pun: Punk is, of course, named after the genre of music. But his dislike of the PTA invokes the other definition of "punk".
• Super Mode: Ballade.
  • It isn't much of a transformation, though: His horns point upward and his helmet gains a face mask and visor. His body is otherwise the same.
• Theme Naming: Like most of the characters here, their names follow the musical theme.
  • To explain, Enker is enka (a popular form of Japanese music; coincidentally, his name also sounds like the musical term encore), Punk is named after the genre of rock, and Ballade is either a form of poetry of the same name or a ballad (a narrative set to music).

Quint

A minor but memorable character from the Game Boy games, Quint is apparently Mega Man himself, pulled from the future and reprogrammed.

• Continuity Snarl: Is his defeat how Mega Man dies? Did Dr. Light repair and reprogram him, as seems to be the case with many robot masters? Is the version of him that appears in V a replica of some sort?
  • It should be noted, however, that Quint as seen in II GB never explodes but instead teleports out much like Proto Man after a battle.
• Cool Shades
• Evil Counterpart: To Mega Man.
• Future Badass: Oh so subverted. He's resorted to trying to kill himself, he of the charging Arm Cannon and eight or so other weapons, with a pogostick/jackhammer hybrid, and his pattern is pathetically easy.
  • This was then subverted again in Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future, where Rockman Shadow is believed to be a much, much, much more dangerous Quint. It turns out that he's a prototype (quite possibly a Super Prototype at that) of Quint who travelled back in time to prove himself worthy to Wily. The real Quint inexplicably has a cameo at the end.
• My Serial Number Is Question Marks: "???-???", to be exact.
  • We do know what the question marks represent though. Want to know? Just look at the number for the first character listed on this page.
• Theme Naming: Continuing the music theme, his name references a Quintet.
• Time Paradox: His victory would have resulted in one of these. He's stated in and Bass to dislike these, however.
  • It may explain why he was so easy to defeat.

The Genesis Unit/MegaWorld Army Corp

Appearing in the Compilation Rerelease/Video Game Remake Wily Wars, the Genesis Unit, consisting of Buster Rod.G, Mega Water.S, and Hyper Storm.H, are the three bosses featured in the secret fourth game, Wily Tower. They are given the serial number of MWN-XXX (MegaWorld Number) in Japanese and WWN-XXX (Wily Wars Number) in English.

• The Brute: Hyper Storm.H.
• Everything's Better with Monkeys: Buster Rod.G.
• Evil Genius: Mega Water.S.
• Full Boar Action: Hyper Storm.H.
• Kappa: Mega Water.S.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad
• Shout-Out: To Journey to the West, with Buster Rod.G as Sun Wukong himself, Mega Water.S as Sha Wujing, and Hyper Storm.H as Zhu Bajie.
• Simple Staff: Buster Rod.G.
• Underwater Boss Battle: Mega Water.S subverts the trope by jumping out of the water as soon as the battle begins and never jumping back in.
• Villain Exit Stage Left: Buster Rod.G initially leaves when brought down to his last unit of health, only to come back during the third Wily Stage in a brand new, completely different battle.
• Yes-Man: Hyper Storm.H.

The StarDroids/Space Rulers

Villains from Game Boy's V. They are designated by the serial number of SRN-XXX (Space Ruler Number), even in English.

• Anime Hair: In the entire Classic series, nobody's got anything on Terra when it comes to this.
• Be the Ball: Mercury can morph is body into ball form to attack.
• Bubble Gun: Venus' Bubble Bomb, which can trap and immobilize enemies.
• Catboy: Pluto has the ears, claws, and tail of wildcat.
• Collapsing Ceiling Boss: Neptune can stomp the ground, making damaging bubbles drop from the ceiling. Also, Uranus is capable of closing an entire half of his chamber with his quakes, which kills Mega Man instantly.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Uranus' Deep Digger, which works much like Gutsman's Guts Arm. During your rematch with him in the Wily Star, it's difficult although possible to cause him to fall to his death using this very weapon.
• The Dragon: Terra to Dr. Wily, although he's the leader of the remainder of the group.
• Energy Absorption: Mercury's Grab Buster. He can also use it to steal items from your inventory, so most walkthroughs suggest that you go after him first.
• Expy: Hello there, Toad Ma...Venus. The Game Boy's graphical limitations doesn't help your case, does it?
  • In a sense, Mars could be considered as an alternate version of Napalm Man with all of those weapons and everything.
  • Reversed with Pluto, who ended up having Slash Man from 7 as one for him (only, slightly more humanoid).
• Fish People: Neptune is as close as you can get in regards to a Robot Master. Even moreso than Splash Woman!
• Frickin' Laser Beams: Terra's Spark Chaser.
• Gravity Sucks: Saturn's Black Hole, which he also uses to teleport the player towards him.
• Invulnerable Attack: Pluto's Break Dash, although if uncharged, it will simply fire off small bursts of plasma instead.
• Jet Pack: Jupiter.
• A Load of Bull: Uranus.
• Making a Splash/Kill It with Water: Neptune's Salt Water, which splits into up to 3 orbs of water and is corrosive.
• No Sell: As his body was constructed from extraterrestrial materials, conventional weapons (i.e. the Super Mega Buster) don't work on Terra. Luckily, that's where the Mega Arm (and Deep Digger) come in handy...
• Pretty in Mink/Fur and Loathing: Pluto. According to his official bio, he's got other Rich Bitch qualities such as a love for manicures (which he confuses with pedicures, but since he doesn't have claws on his feet...)!
• Shock and Awe: Jupiter's Electric Shock, which is powered by a megaton bomb.
• Stealth Pun and Visual Pun: some of the Droids' designs (Neptune and Jupiter's power over water and thunder respectively, Saturn's use of rings, etc.).
  • Mercury's power to melt into a liquid state is a double pun — Mercury the planet is the closest to the sun (meaning any metals would melt almost instantaneously when on its surface), while mercury the element is the only metal that's liquid at room temperature
• Time Bomb: Mars' Photon Missile, which intentionally lags before launching, making it the perfect tool for traps.
• Tremor Trampoline: Both Neptune and Uranus can do this, whose quakes can just slightly make Mega Man bounce. This bouncing knocks Mega Man out of sliding and the usage of Break Dash, which Uranus is weak against.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Terra, as it currently stands, is the only villain to have ever, ever defeated Mega Man in battle (you hear that, Bass?). In fact, you could argue that it was a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Not expecting Mega Man to become sufficiently stronger and gain new weaponry in due time, Terra pretty much jobs when you face him again.
• You Gotta Have Green Rapunzel Hair: Terra.

Sunstar/Sungod

An ancient super robot on which Wily based the StarDroids. He releases him against Mega Man for the final battle of V. He promptly blows Wily off the battle field, before facing Mega Man.

• Bamboo Technology: An ancient doomsday weapon from parts unknown.
• Blood Knight: Claims that robots were created to fight.
• Contemplate Our Navels: Surprised from Mega Man showing kindness to him and offering to repair him at Light Labs, Sunstar ponders on Mega Man's resolve to fight only when it's needed to protect the world and belief that humans and robots can live in peace. Unfortunately, Sunstar's already on his death throes, so he doesn't get a chance to do much with this revelation.
• Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: no mention of him at all until Wily was defeated.
• Load-Bearing Boss: As his fusion reactor begins to go nuclear from the damage sustained during battle, Sunstar asks that Mega Man leave before it's too late. His death explosion also takes the Wily Star V with it.
• Physical God
• Super Prototype: His design was the template for the StarDroids, a la Mega Man X and the Reploids.

King

A self-proclaimed king of robots who attacked a robot museum, downloaded data on the battle robots, and created an army of robots. It turned out that he is yet another creation of Dr. Wily.

Robot Masters recruited by King (except Tengu Man and Astro Man) have the serial number KGN-XXX (KinG Number).

• An Axe to Grind
• Badass Cape
• Combining Mecha Humongous Mecha: His third form.
• Cool Mask: Although it does look a tad bit goofy...
• Disc One Final Boss
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: in the first of three consecutive battles against him until Proto Man shows up.
• Made of Explodium: King is rigged to explode if anyone but Dr. Wily operates on him.
• Redemption Equals Life: King was believed to have perished in the final confrontation, but Mega Man's ending revealed that he survived and is now fighting for justice.
• Secret Test of Character: He was specifically created because Dr. Wily was losing faith in Bass and wanted to test his ability with a mightier robot.
  • Or at least that's what he says with an angry Bass standing in front of him...
• Villain Override: When King was pondering about robots fighting for humans, Wily stepped up the brainwashing levels for one last battle.
  • Turns Purple: Due to Wily's brainwashing.

Other Characters

Bass/Forte (SWN-001)

A robot created by Dr. Wily in 7 specifically to oppose Mega Man at every turn. He has a robot wolf named Treble (Gospel in Japan), with whom he can fuse to gain new powers, in a similar manner to Mega Man and Rush.

• Anti-Hero: In Megaman and Bass.
• Animal Motifs: His helmet is shaped like a Cobra.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Hoo boy...
• Badass: Although the amount of badassitude is undermined by the nigh-insufferable level of his arrogance.
  • That being said, it's been established that his only equals in the Classic series are Mega Man, Proto Man, and Duo. He will tear everything else to shreds.
• Badass Cape: In the Rockman Online trailer, he seems to have taken on his Battle Network counterpart's sense of style. It also recalls Zero's longcoat from Mega Man Zero 2.
• Bag of Spilling: He left his Double Jump somewhere near Mega Man's slide and charge shot just in time for 10. Also, his high jump became a long jump instead (although that actually follows basic Newtonian physics.)
• Blood Knight
• Bratty Teenage Son: More like "Preteen," but he serves as Dr. Wily's surrogate son and disobeys him every chance he gets.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: When X and Zero players get their hands on a copy of GBA and Bass for the first time, his dash control will seem...obscure.
  • In 10, Bass's dash is performed the same as Proto Man's slide (Down and jump), rather than double tapping a direction.
• Denial of Diagonal Attack: Averted in and Bass (both the original and the Wonderswan version) and 10.
  • Played straight in the Power Arcade games, where he was meant to be comparable to Mega Man and Proto Man.
• Divergent Character Evolution: He started out similar to who he was created to oppose in his first game in the Vs Mode, before finally getting his semi-iconic dash and diagonal attacks in Mega Man and Bass.
• Do Not Run with a Gun: Bass must stand still while firing his Bass Buster.
  • This did not apply to his original appearance or the Power games, as there, his Buster was more akin to Mega Man's.
• Double Jump: His trademark in and Bass. Preceded his "little brother."
• The Dragon: Wily's right-hand robot in 7.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Arguably after the events of 8.
  • The Lancer: Whenever Proto Man's not around, expect Bass to work with Mega Man.
• Driven by Envy: Envious of Mega Man's success.
• Evil Counterpart: To Mega Man.
  • Made more explict in 9 and 10, where his sprites closely resemble Mega Man's.
• Facial Markings: And they're purple.
• Fangs Are Evil: whenever he gives a Slasher Smile, he gives off one of these.
• Freak Lab Accident: How Dr. Wily discovered Bassnium, the powerful energy used to create Bass.
  • According to that same Power Fighters ending, Bassnium was later refined during the creation of Zero.
• Fusion Dance: With Treble.
• Gone Horribly Right: Bass's only priority is defeating Mega Man and proving himself as the "strongest robot". Since this doesn't specifically require helping Dr. Wily, or even obeying him, this has a tendency to backfire on the good Doctor. Bass's whole heroic turn in and Bass was just him proving that he was stronger than King.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Is extremely jealous of Mega Man's position as the strongest, although it is never outright shown.
• It Is Pronounced BASE: The pronounciation of his name. Lest we forget, he is not a fish.
• It's All About Me: Bass cares for no one but himself.
• Laser Guided Tykebomb
• Leitmotif: His Boss Battle theme in 7 and 8.
  • It pops up as Bass' shop theme in 10.
• Meaningful Name: His name in Japan, "Forte," means "strong" in several Romance languages. Sure enough, he's obsessed with proving himself to be stronger than anyone else (particularly Mega Man).
• The Mole: In 7.
• Narcissist: Thinks highly of himself.
• Nobuyuki Hiyama: Explains a lot.
• No Pronunciation Guide: Although for the sake of the music pun, it's generally agreed upon that Bass is pronounced like "base" and not the fish, despite what 8 says.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Obsessed with proving his superiority over Mega Man, and won't let anyone else fight him.
• Power Copying: He shares Mega Man's abilities to mimic other Robot Masters' weapons.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Any post-7 appearance. In 7 (perhaps due to sprite limitations), Bass's eyes were brown, possibly to convey him as a new ally. Yeah, right.
• Reliable Traitor: He and Wily frequently alternate between enemies and allies.
• The Resenter: Resentful of Mega Man's success.
• The Rival
• Secret Character: Like Proto Man in 9, he's Downloadable Content in 10.
• Spam Attack
• Theme Naming: He and Treble are named after the bass and treble clefs, obviously. Their Japanese names, Forte and Gospel, are apparently Japanese nicknames for the clefs as well (if it helps make it more understandable, the bass clef is also known as the "F clef", and the treble clef "G clef").
• Unfortunate Implications: Bass is supposed to be in his preteen years (12-13), and he is a little too obsessed with Mega Man (a 10 year old according to Dr. Wily's Revenge.) With the advent of suicides due to bullying and school shootings, this might hit too close to home.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His methods are seriously messed up (blow up all of your siblings?), but it's made clear he wants Wily to admit that he is his masterpiece. It's kind of sad that he's wrong, too.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In 7, he fakes injury in order to get to Dr. Light's lab and steal the enhancements for Mega Man and Rush. On the other hand, he really is weak to Shade Man's weapon...

Treble/Gospel

A robotic wolf created by Dr. Wily to help Bass the same way that Rush helps Mega Man. He can morph into a jet pack and fuse with Bass to let Bass fly for a limited time.

• Big Badass Wolf
• Evil Counterpart: To Rush.
• Expy: Many have commented on the similarity between him and Sigma's pet, Velguarder.
• Morality Pet: Of a sort. Treble is the only character that Bass genuinely seems to care about, as seen in the manga adaptation for 10, where he gives the Roboenza cure to Bass, but Treble is suffering from the virus as well, which forces Bass to force-feed him the cure and storm Wily's fortress while still being infected, shrugging off his condition as "a fart in the wind."
• Theme Naming: Continues the plethora of musical references. Could count as Theme Twin Naming with Bass in English.
• Transforming Mecha

Reggae

A robotic bird created by Dr. Wily. His most notable video game appearance was in the Japanese-only Party Game Rockboard.

• Annoying Laugh: Does one to the losing player in "Rockboard".
• Continuity Cameo: In 7, his visage appears if you've entered the wrong password. In 10, he manages Bass's shop.
• Feathered Fiend
• Theme Naming: Reggae is a music genre, as per the usual naming scheme of the characters.
• Your Size May Vary

Dr. Mikhail Cossack

A brilliant Russian robotics scientist that Dr. Wily blackmailed into attacking Mega Man by kidnapping his young daughter Kalinka. Once Proto Man saved Kalinka, he was willing to help, going so far as to build Beat for you the next game.

Robot Masters designed by Cossack have the serial number DCN-XXX (Doctor Cossack Number), though due to Wily's involvement they may be given DWN serial numbers instead.

• Anti-Villain: He's not evil, just blackmailed.
  • However, this only applies to his stint as the "villain" in 4. After Proto Man saves Kalinka, it's a genuine Heel Face Turn...even if he wasn't really a Heel to begin with.
• Continuity Nod: He makes an appearance in the supplemental manga for 9, fixing Beat and trying to talk Mega Man out of fighting.
• Disc One Final Boss: 4 — where he debuted — started the Disc One Final Boss schtick that would also be used in the fifth, and the sixth.
• Grim Up North: Makes his home in an artic fortress.
• Mission Control: In the Complete Works version of Mega Man 5.
• Reluctant Mad Scientist
• Russian Guy Suffers Most
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Dr. Light in 5, when the latter was kidnapped.
  • All the more fitting, since he was forced to be one for Dr. Wily in 4.
• Theme Naming: Not to be confused with military communities in Ukraine and Southern Russia, the cossack is a type of dance alternatively known as hopak or gopak. His daugher, Kalinka, shares her name with a Russian song.

Duo

A machine from outer space that searches for "Evil Energy" to destroy it.

• Badass
• Big Damn Heroes: Twice.
• Husky Russkie: Averted; the original concept for him would have him as a creation of Dr. Cossack, but was dropped for unknown reasons.
• Jurota Kosugi
• Justice Will Prevail
• Let's You and Him Fight
• Light Is Good: His original design before Dr. Light rebuilt him.
  • Evil Twin: The evil robot he fights at the beginning of 8 looks almost exactly like him, except for the color scheme and Spikes of Doom.
• Power Copying: Has done this in The Power Fighters, one of the arcade games.
• Power Fist: An oversized hand he uses to attack.
• Theme Naming: Duo? As in a musical composition or piece between two performers (alternatively known as a duet)? It continues with Duo.EXE, whose Dragon is named Slur, yet another musical reference.