The Protomen/Characters

Dr. Thomas Light

• The Atoner: By the time of Light Up The Night, he tries to fix his mistakes. He fails. He later tries again by building Protoman to fight Wily.
• Badass Beard
• Because I Said So: He tells Megaman not to fight. There's not much he could do to stop him from leaving.
• The Hero: In Act II.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: In Act II. By the time of Act I, it's implied Wily kept him around because he still made for a good scapegoat.
• It's All My Fault: "They will punish me for what he did to you/but either way, it's all my fault/because I made the man who laid his hands on you..."
• Made of Iron: He breaks his arm in a fall... and apparently walks it off, as it's never brought up again.
• My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction in Father of Death, and again in Funeral for a Son.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He stops Joe from killing the Sniper, finishing the job himself.
• Tragic Hero: Light's passion for saving the city and its people made the entire plot possible, including Emily's death, Joe's death, Wily's takeover, and Protoman and Megaman's disillusionment.
• Voice of the Resistance: Along with Joe, in Light up the Night.

Dr. Albert Wily

• Big Bad
• But for Me It Was Tuesday: How much he cares about killing Emily.
• Charm Person
• The Chessmaster: Some kid on a bike attacking the control tower? It's no problem; you have another one. Protoman attacking your complex? No problem, send out all the Robot Masters to attack him at once. Megaman attacking, this time getting to the fortress gates and possibly threatening you? Send out Protoman to deal with him.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: He built another control tower.
• Emperor Scientist
• Evil Is Petty: One of his reasons for killing Emily was because she wouldn't be with him.
• If I Can't Have You: The reason he kills Emily.
  • That, and she caught him stealing Light's stuff.
• Kick the Dog: A band member revealed that he later called the Sniper robots "Joe", like in the games, for an extra jab at Light.
• Kill'Em All: His order to the army of robots at the end. In some live performances, he actually says the line.
• Large Ham: Throughout Act II, but especially in The Hounds.
• Non-Action Big Bad
• Suddenly Voiced: He had no spoken lines until Act II.
• The Unfought: Light never does get to the part of the plan where he confronts him, and Megaman abandons the City before he reaches him.
• Villain with Good Publicity
• The Voiceless: In Act I.
• You Can't Fight Fate: In The Hounds, he states that he and Light were destined for their paths in life; it had been building from the moment they met.

Humanity In General

• The Alcoholic: Once Wily takes over, they crowd the bars.
• Angry Mob: They try to lynch Dr. Light at Wily's behest.
• Apathetic Citizens: Both acts.
• Dying Like Animals: Lemmings and Sheep in Act II. Ostriches and Lambs by the time of Act I.
• Gullible Lemmings: They believe Wily's lies and attempt to lynch Dr. Light when the courts find him innocent.
• It Got Worse: Their mindset did, at any rate.
• Spontaneous Crowd Formation: They gather to lynch Dr. Light, and crowd around Joe's body after his Heroic Sacrifice in Act II. In Act I, they gather at Protoman's assault on Wily's fortress, when Megaman reads the words on his brother's grave, and when Megaman attacks the fortress.
• Too Dumb to Live
• Torches and Pitchforks: In Give Us The Rope.

Protoman

• Broken Pedestal: For Megaman.
• Dark Messiah: The Stand goes over this pretty thoroughly. Protoman sings about how man once looked to him as their "hero", but they really only cared about martyrs.
• Death Seeker: May have become this; if the crowd stood and fought like he told them to, they'd have to kill him.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: His death in The Sons of Fate, at least outside of live performances.
• The Dragon: To Wily, post Face Heel Turn.
• Evil Laugh: In live performances, at least.
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Face Heel Turn: After "dying" in Hope Rides Alone, he changes sides and decides that if humanity deserves to live they should fight for themselves.
• Fallen Hero: Changed sides after his death, when his beliefs were crushed.
• The Fatalist: Subverted in that, while he's a fatalist, he desperately wants not to be and is constantly fighting to have his philosophy proven wrong. It's too bad that every time he does, the crowd's actions just reinforce it.
• I Call It Vera: His latest arm cannon is named 'Life Ruiner'.
• Large Ham: Live, at least. A couple of times he imitated pro wrestler Rick Flair.
• Machine Monotone: His lines in The Stand begin to be consumed by one as he goes from talking with his brother to trying to kill him. By the time The Sons of Fate begins, his voice is deeper and more hateful.
• Never Found the Body: Only his helmet was recovered after his death.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In Hope Rides Alone, the cause of his "death".
• The Paragon: He intended to fulfill this role, but ultimately failed.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
• Warrior Poet: Some stuff he says in The Stand is fairly poetic.

Megaman

• Beige Prose: Somewhat, in Vengeance.
• Face Heel Turn: After killing his brother, he turns his back on humankind as well.
  • In some live versions of the song it's Megaman that shouts the line "Kill them all!"
• The Hero: In Act I.
• Hot-Blooded: If only in The Will Of One and Vengeance-- the latter pretty much consists of him screaming for the enemy to fight better.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
• Replacement Goldfish
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After killing Protoman he turns his back on the city and leaves its people to their fate.
• Voice of the Resistance

The Robot Army

• Adaptational Badass: Could apply to any one of the re-imagined characters in the rock operas, but if the music video footage of 'Hope Rides Alone' is to be believed, the Robot Masters have become terrifying figures; Elec Man in particular.
• Kill'Em All: Wily tells them to kill the crowd at the end.
• Killer Robot
• Mecha-Mooks: The Snipers.
• Not So Harmless: The Robot Masters 'kill' Protoman. Probably helped that, unlike the games, they attacked at once.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Robot Masters, like in the games.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Robot Masters disappear after Hope Rides Alone, the first song on the album. Only time will tell if they make an appearance in Act III.
  • Cutman appears to have been killed via a bad case of headlessness.

Emily A. Stanton

• Dead Woman Writing
• Determinator: She rebukes Wily, telling him that Light's the better man.
• Dying Alone: Underscored by her funeral, which no one attended.
• Killed Mid-Sentence:

"No matter how dark this City gets, there will be--"

• Historical In-Joke: On the Father of Death wanted poster, Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War for the Lincoln Administration, vows to bring her murderer to justice.
  • Incidentially, the poster was an altered version of the one about Lincoln's assassination.
• Meaningful Name: The name Emily means someone who is earthy, strong-willed, and a hard worker.
  • Emily can also mean 'rival', or trying to equal or excel. It still fits rather well, considering what got her killed.
• Slashed Throat
• Tragic Funeral
• Wrench Wench: According to the liner notes, she worked in the factory.

"The one I love, she works so hard, she works her fingers till they bleed. Some of the pain that she endures would bring a strong man to his knees. I only want to help."

Joe

• The Alcoholic: Some fans think he's this.
• Cool Bike
• Fingerless Gloves
• Hot-Blooded
• Improvised Weapon: Tries to fend the Sniper off with a pipe.
• Kiss of Death: The second meaning, as his hours are numbered.
• Large Ham: He has a bit of this in Breaking Out, in which he declares he's getting the hell out of dodge to a girl that he barely knows, and then kisses her.
• Parental Abandonment: Kinda; they were killed.
• Senseless Sacrifice
• Voice of the Resistance: Tragically, at the time he and Light were the only members of the resistance.

The Sniper/Light's Monster

• Cyber Cyclops
• Degraded Boss: Mass produced Sniper Joes are released into the city at the very end of Act II once the tower is destroyed.
• The Dragon: To Wily.
• The Dreaded: He single-handedly kept the city in line through fear alone.
• Killer Robot
• Knife Nut: Even though he has a gun, he prefers to use the knife.
• Machine Monotone: If we take the singing at the end of Keep Quiet to be him.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• Slashed Throat

The Girl in the Bar

• Chekhov's Gunman: Possibly; we never find out what, if anything, happened to her.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She was ignoring Joe all night until he whispered in her ear, even stealing a kiss from her.
• No Name Given
• Schrodingers Cat: Could be alive, could be dead.
• The Voiceless
• What Could Have Been: Prototype lyrics for Breaking Out suggest she may have originally been more than a random person, with Joe speaking more personally to her.

So kiss me fast cause there's no time to lose/I promise someday I'll come back for you/And if I die, don't blame yourself; we all do what we think is right!

• What Happened to the Mouse?: Never mentioned post Breaking Out.

Panther

• Back From the Dead: Panther was dead for weeks when the robots infected him with strep throat, but came back.
• Cats Have Nine Lives: A possible explanation for the above.
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Compelling Voice
• Cool Shades
• Drives Like Crazy: This destroyed their first tour bus.
• Fingerless Gloves: He wears these as Joe.
• The Hero
• Heroic Mime: He became this when he lost his voice due to fire-throwing ninjas stealing his growl.
• Hot-Blooded
• Mushroom Samba: According to some sources, some very special cookies found their way to Panther at Nerdapalooza. He subsequently missed a full show that night.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He and Turbo Lover accidentally wrecked their tour bus, Jesse Christine.
• Panthera Awesome
• Perma Stubble: He can't grow a beard, so when he doesn't shave, he has this.
• Super Reflexes: Caught a Megabuster being tossed directly at his head from stage right.
• Voice of the Resistance: Briefly stolen by Ursula the Sea Witch.

Commander

• Badass Beard
• Badass Biker
• Bear Hug: He's fond of giving these.
• Colonel Badass: Commander, actually, but he totally fits the trope.
• Commanding Coolness
• Cool Bike: Given his attire, it wouldn't be wrong to assume he has one.
  • He had one in Dead of Summer.
• Cool Shades
• Deadpan Snarker
• Good Old Fisticuffs: His fighting style. Even though part of his uniform is a strap of bullets.
• Hot-Blooded
• Manly Tears: These were shed when the robots took his beard from him. It got better, thankfully.
• Prehensile Hair: His beautiful long locks will strangle you if you don't watch out.
• Shout-Out: His full name, Commander Hawk, may be a reference to G.I. Joe's General Hawk.
• Voice of the Resistance: He handles PR and usually writes the news posts.

K.I.L.R.O.Y.

• Cloudcuckoolander
• Compelling Voice
• Deadpan Snarker
• Drop the Hammer: In live performances of Act II, he wields a sledgehammer.
• Eye Beams: One of his super fighting robot powers.
• The Faceless: No one has ever seen him with his mask off. Those that have have never lived to tell about it.
• Frozen Face: More literal than usual, as he's a robot. And thus can't emote with his face.
• Fun with Acronyms: 'KILROY' is actually an acronym. His full name is Kingsley Ivan Lamarck Rodrigo Othello Youngblood.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Fond of peppering his speeches with Spanish phrases.
• Made of Iron: Justified, as he's a machine.
• Ridiculously-Human Robots
• Screams Like a Little Girl
• Shout-Out: To the graffiti 'Kilroy Was Here' and the Styx Rock Opera of the same name.
• Super Strength: He can bend steel with his bare hands.

Murphy Weller

• Beware the Nice Ones: It takes a lot to make him angry, but if you do, you're dead.
• Grumpy Old Man: According to KILROY, he's this, but it's closer to Cool Old Guy.
• Nice Guy
• The Nicknamer: He named the Nightwalker and Ringo Segundo.
• Older Than They Look: According to his Facebook page, he's 100 years old. He doesn't look a day over 90.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to RoboCop; specifically, the character, Alex Murphy, and his actor, Peter Weller.
• Voice of the Resistance: He handles PR, selling merchandise.

The Nightwalker

• Action Girl
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: A mix of blonde and brunette.
• Phantom Thief: Averted; she may break into places, but she never steals. She just breaks in for the sake of being there.
• Stealth Expert

The Gambler

• Action Girl
• Big Beautiful Woman: And how.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The redhead.
• Cool Shades
• Fiery Redhead
• Happily Married: To Sir Robert Bakker.
• Professional Gambler
• Shout-Out: Her name is a reference to the Kenny Rogers album of the same name.

Sir Robert Bakker

• Adventurer Archaeologist: A paleontologist is a type of archaeologist.
• Everything's Better with Dinosaurs
• Happily Married: To the Gambler.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Married to The Gambler.
• Knight in Shining Armor
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A robot knight paleontologist musician.
• Shout-Out: His name is in reference to renowned paleontologist Dr. Robert Bakker, who helped write Jurassic Park.

Ringo Segundo

• Badass Beard
• Badass Mustache: Also with sideburns!
• Gratuitous Spanish: His name means "The second ringer".
• Hey, It's That Guy!: He was in one of Turbo Lover's other bands before joining the Protomen.

Turbo Lover

• Compelling Voice
• Dyeing for Your Art: He once grew a moustache. As it was rather light and thus barely visible, he dyed (or at least painted) it black.
  • He has since shaved it off.
• Evil Is Petty: At a Halloween show, he remarked that it was his favorite time of the year...and that he hoped the crowd would get cavities.
• Heel Face Brainwashing: The band kidnapped Dr. Wily from the past and brainwashed him to sing about his own deeds. This is the end result.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor
• Mr. Fanservice
• Nice Hat: He wears a fedora. He's also the only band member to have an actual hat as opposed to a bandanna or helmet.
• Shirtless Scene: During covers of "Death On Two Legs".
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the song "Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest.
• Time Paradox: See Heel Face Brainwashing, above.
• Token Evil Teammate: He plays Dr. Wily. He helped wreck their tour bus. This has not gone unnoticed by fans.
  • Not only that, when Panther lost his voice, he took over his lines. Theories have spawned about him wanting to take over the world, or the band.
• Villainous Cheekbones

Reanimator Lovejoy

• Back From the Dead: Part of his job description.
• Combat Medic
• Shirtless Scene: At shows where it's really, really hot, he will have no qualms about playing shirtless.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the movie Re-Animator and Reverend Lovejoy.
• Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Constantly breaking sticks and other drum parts and throwing them at people.

Doug Fetterman

• Badass Mustache
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: The band has made T-shirts in memoriam.
  • When Makeup and Vanity Set did his take on Act I, he named the penultimate song The Sons Of Doug Fetterman.
• Sacrificial Lion: He was the first member to be declared R.I.P.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Averted; while they may have been scary at times, they were see-through. Unless lighting made them shiny.
• Shout-Out: His name is the same as a character from Jaws 2.
• Shrouded in Myth: Nobody knows of the circumstances of his death. It's possible he's still around...
• Token Evil Teammate: If Dead of Summer is to be believed, he filled this role before Turbo Lover.
• Warrior Poet: A quote from him was featured in the Act II CD booklet.

Robobot

• Fan Nickname: Nobody knew who this guy was (he confirmed his name himself), so we called him 'that blonde-haired guy'.
• Shout-Out: Possibly to Styx's Mr. Roboto. Or RoboCop.
• Shrouded in Myth

The Merchant

• Action Girl
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Unquestionably blonde.
• Cool Shades
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: She sold the band's merchandise.
• Fatal Method Acting: She played the role of Emily exactly once, when the Sniper killed her.

Demon Barber

• Badass Beard
• The Cameo: While officially listed as a casualty, his spirit has been known to frequent the band's shows in Nashville, participate in the songs, and sign autographs.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He saved his disco records from the burning Thundercon at the cost of his own life.
• Kill It with Fire: This is how he died.
• Prehensile Hair: His hair was so fluid it was practically alive.
• Real Person Fic: One can be found here detailing his experience as a P.O.W. (He was listed as such before being declared R.I.P.).
  • Note that this was written before Act II was released, and before his cause of death was made known.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to Sweeney Todd.

The Repeater

• Action Girl
• Nice Hat: Like most members, she wore a red bandanna.

The Replicant

• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the replicants in Blade Runner.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Like the replicants in Blade Runner, his life expectancy was four years.

The Dragon

• Drop the Hammer: He wields a magic hammer. No, he is not The Mighty Thor.
• Faking the Dead
• Makeup and Vanity Set: Both of them had a double CD release show.
• Not Quite Dead: Turns out, he's alive and affiliated with the band Magic Hammer.
• Shout-Out: His signature in autographs had what looked like a Dragon Ball in the 'O'.

The Keymaster

• Badass Beard
• Combat Medic
• Master of Unlocking
• Shock and Awe: He could hold his hands up during a storm and eventually summon lightning bolts to strike a random location.
• Shout-Out: His codename is the same as a character from Ghostbusters.

Ellen Aim

• Action Girl
• Fatal Method Acting: She voiced Emily on the vinyl/demo. Apparently the Sniper killed her.
• Shout-Out: Her codename is one to Ellen Aim from Streets of Fire.

Scartoe

• Heavy Sleeper: Scartoe is famous for sleeping in odd places. Among other things, he slept under the band's merchandise table.
• The Quiet One
• Warrior Poet

Master Blaster

• Back From the Dead: Returned to play a show in Baltimore, and shows where the Nightwalker isn't around to play trumpet.
• No Name Given: At first he didn't have a codename. Murphy gave him one.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the duo Master and Blaster, from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. They are usually referred to as Master Blaster in the film.

Heath Who Hath No Name

• Celebrity Resemblance: To Heath Ledger; originally his codename was Heath Ledger.
• Deadpan Snarker
• No Name Given
• Perpetual Smiler: Perpetual Smirker, but yeah.
• Prehensile Hair: He could sculpt his hair into almost any style.

Cobra T. Washington

• Fan Nickname: 'Jesus Guitarist', due to him having a Jesus-like beard at his first show and nobody remembering his name.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to the Sylvester Stallone action flick Cobra. And Booker T. Washington.

The Ringer

• Ascended Fanboy
• Badass Bystander: He was an audience member called into service by KILROY to play keyboard on The Stand.
• Born Lucky: Admit it, you wish this had happened to you.
• Heroic Bystander

Steve

• Ascended Fanboy
• Born Lucky: He sang as Megaman in Vengeance when Panther fell ill.
• Heroic Bystander

The Gunslinger

• Fan Nickname: "Brick Cat", because his face paint apparently looked like a cat.
  • Then he changed his facepaint and received the nickname Gorgoroth.
• The Gunslinger: Obviously.
• Revolvers Are Just Better

Lazer

• Action Girl
• Shock and Awe: Her facepaint was a lightning bolt across one eye.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz

Crusher

• Action Girl
• Eighties Hair
• Shout-Out: To Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek.

Sector

• Action Girl
• Eighties Hair

The Thundercon

• Darkest Hour: When it was destroyed, the Protomen were left without a base of operations.
• Elaborate Underground Base
• Kill It with Fire: It burnt down, along with Demon Barber.

Jesse Christine

• Base on Wheels
• Cool Car: Almost literally; the bus had no heat. Going to Detroit almost destroyed the band.
• Darkest Hour: The back of the bus was eaten by a Graboid from Tremors. Soon after, she broke down completely, and was recently replaced with The Skyhammer.
• Last Of Her Kind: She was the last of the V8 Interceptors.
• My Car Hates Me: She seemed to break down at the worst possible times. Luckily, she also made a handy barricade when the band was attacked by Killer Robots.

The Skyhammer

• Base on Wheels
• Cool Car: 26 passenger bus with several beds and seats that don't place you five inches from the person in front of you.
  • According to the band she also has a bowling alley.
• Last Of Her Kind: The last of the Super V8 Interceptors.
• My Car Hates Me: Attempted to kill the Protomen by blowing an expensive tire on her way out of Ohio.
  • The Skyhammer recently got in a wreck, then lost a tire; fortunately no one was injured. The truck that hit her, on the other hand, was vaporized.
  • At the very start of part 2 of their 2010 tour, the Skyhammer blew another tire, lost a trailer fender, and broke her fuel pump, leaving the band stranded in Texas.
• Replacement Goldfish: For Jesse Christine.

The ThUnderHAUL

• Cool Car: Averted. It's a UHaul.
• Replacement Goldfish: For The Skyhammer, after the above-mentioned fuel pump incident.
• Sure Why Not: Got its name from a fan post.