Mega Man (universe)

The Mega Man universe, known as the Rockman universe in Japan, refers to the  series' collection of characters, stages, items, and properties that hail from Capcom's most prolific franchise and one of the best-known franchises of all time in the video games industry. The franchise takes place on a futuristic theme where robots, or androids, live with harmony with humans. Usually, all the games follow the same timeline, with exception of some spin-offs. This series can be recognized on the same level as the ' series, ' series, and the  series.

Franchise description
After Capcom could not get a license to make an Astro Boy game, Capcom decided to develop a game with its own characters. The character Mega Man was created in 1987 by Keiji Inafune, using the model of Astro Boy, as the protagonist in a new style of platform game. In the story behind the original series, Rock is a robot created as a lab assistant by the scientist Dr. Thomas Light; following treachery by Dr. Wily, Rock was converted into a fighting robot to defend the world from Wily's violent robotic threats. Thus he becomes Mega Man (Rockman in the Japanese original). Though all Mega Man games feature unique stories, settings, and characters, they nevertheless share several common features that have made the series one of the most consistent in video game history. Until 1997, all Mega Man games were side scrolling, with 2D maze-like levels. The character controlled by the player was Mega Man himself, who had to fight through these levels using the "Mega Buster" (so named in Mega Man 4), a cannon attached to his arm, to shoot the robotic monsters that inhabited his environment. After defeating a Robot Master, the boss of a level, Mega Man would gain the ability to use that Robot Master's special weapon. Each robot master was themed after a specific element or object, for example "Fire Man," "Ice Man," "Stone Man," or "Napalm Man." The weapons Mega Man gained, in turn would share the theme of whomever it was he had just defeated. Levels can generally be completed in any order, and as a result determining the best strategic use of different weapons in different levels is one of the hallmarks of the series. Each new Mega Man game would contain new enemies, as well as familiar ones, new bosses (and thus weapons), and new gadgets. Enemies would have at least one weakness from certain weapons: for example, Ice Man's weapon is powerful against Fire Man. This creates a preferred order of stage completion. After all eight bosses are defeated, Mega Man travels to Wily's castle, and after fighting past clones of the eight bosses, confronts Wily, usually in his flying saucer.

The classic series was the source material for two animated television series both aptly named "Mega Man" and featuring the heroes, villains, and themes of the games. The first show was a three- part OVA called "Mega Man: Upon a Star" developed in Japan, the other simply called "Mega Man", was developed specifically for North American audiences by animation studio Ruby-Spears. The original Mega Man has spawned a number of spin-off titles that have appeared since the launch of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Keiji Inafune, wanting to give a new face to the popular character, created the Mega Man X series in 1993. Set in the future, this series follows the story of Mega Man's successor, X, a new, advanced robot that has complete free will over his actions, thoughts, and feelings. This character, often referred to as simply "X," is a further creation of Dr. Light put into suspended animation and uncovered 100 years in the future by a researcher named Dr. Cain. The Mega Man X series was marketed at a new generation of video game players with an action twist to the original series' usually playful antics. In the Mega Man X series, the characters grow in abilities and power as the game progresses.

Beginning on the Sony PlayStation in 1997, a 3D action game series called Mega Man Legends, known in Japan as Rockman DASH, was created to take advantage of the then-new console's advanced graphics hardware. This series, which is in the same world as the other games (though thousands of years in the future), takes place in a time when the world is covered by immense bodies of water, marked by a re-occurrence of several major characters from the original series in different situations. The hero, MegaMan Volnutt (Rock Volnutt), is a relic hunter called a "Digger" who scavenges various ruins laden throughout the world in search of refractor shards that can be mined as power sources and traded as currency. Mega Man Legends brings the gameplay into 3D and is an action adventure with role-playing game elements. For Nintendo console, a Nintendo 64 port was released in 2000 with the same title, but it was renamed Mega Man 64 for the English release in 2001.

Mega Man Battle Network, known in Japan as Rockman.EXE, a series on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube, began in 2001 as a way for the Mega Man games to branch out into the console role-playing game market, as well as to celebrate Mega Man ' s 15th anniversary. Modeled after the popular monster battling franchises prevalent in Japanese media, this series features a character called MegaMan.EXE, a "Network Navigator" who acts as a virtual pet to Lan Hikari, a school child and would-be hero who uses his friend to help battle computer virus and other Internet-based threats. This game does not belong to the original series timeline. A resulting anime series Mega Man NT Warrior, was also produced.

In 2002, a follow-up series to the Mega Man X franchise was developed for the Game Boy Advance which starred Zero, a character from the previous games. Though called Mega Man Zero, a character named "Mega Man" is not actually playable, though it does take place within the same world as the previous Mega Man games. The series revolved around the battles Zero must have against a powerful human-supremacy force as he protects the oppressed remains of Reploids. In the Mega Man Zero series weapons are no longer copied, but abilities and enhancements can be collected throughout the levels.

Mega Man ZX, which began in 2006 is placed in the future, 200 years after the Zero series. This is the first Mega Man game series where the main protagonists are of different sexes. The first game revolves around the fight of Vent and Aile to help the Guardians, a group that fight against the Maverick (Mega Man), to stop the plans of Serpent, using the power of the Biometals, that have the info on the legendary heroes X and Zero. The second game takes place four years later. It deals with a predicament similar to the first, this time with both new and old characters entering the fray. ZX is also the first game of the original timeline where the main character is a human.

A new series, Mega Man Star Force was released on the Nintendo DS on December 14, 2006, and released in North America on August 8, 2007. The first game's launch commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Mega Man franchise. The Star Force games are very similar to the Battle Network games, and also takes place roughly 200 years later in the timeline. A second game and third game was released. An anime based on this series began airing on TV Tokyo in October 2006, and aired in North America in August on Toonami Jetstream on Cartoon Network.

In Super Smash Flash
The Mega Man franchise appears in Super Smash Flash as a bonus franchise only represented by two characters hailing from the Mega Man X series.

Characters

 * : Usually called simply as "X", he is an android who, along with his partner Zero and the rest of the "Maverick Hunters", protects humans and androids based on his own designs known as Reploids by hunting down rogue Reploids known as Mavericks. X is the late Dr. Light's final masterwork, a new advanced robot that could think for itself and make its own decisions. Light named him X after the variable "x" which, in algebraic terms, represents limitless possibility, as do X's advanced systems. In SSF, X is only able to shoot different beams which can be aimed depending on which key is pressing (e.g., he will shoot a diagonal up shot if he uses his up attack.)


 * : Appearing as an unlockable fighter, Zero is a highly advanced and powerful robot created by Dr. Wily, and one of the highest ranking "Maverick Hunters" who aids X in his quest. While X used long-range shots/projectiles to dispatch enemies, Zero gained a saber called the Z-Saber to attack enemies at close range. In SSF he uses this saber in most of his attacks and he can also shoot beams, but cannot aim like X.

In Super Smash Flash 2
The Mega Man franchise returns in Super Smash Flash 2. It is influenced this time by two different sub-series: the Mega Man classic series and the Mega Man X series. The Mega Man franchise is currently tied the  franchise as the sixth most represented series in SSF2.

Characters

 * : Mega Man makes his debut in demo v0.5b. In SSF2, Mega Man is a somewhat slow medium-heavy weight character. Mega Man uses very few physical attacks, instead relying on his own arsenal of weapons. Most of his moveset is directly taken from, albeit he has some custom moves, too.

Assist Trophy

 * Proto Man: Alternative known as Blues in Japan, Proto Man was the first Robot Master created by Dr. Light and can be said he is the older brother of Mega Man. As an Assist Trophy, after he is summoned, his characteristic whistle call will be heard before appearing in front of the nearest opponent from the summoner. He will dash across the ground hitting with his Proto Shield. Most notably, he will also shoot several times his Proto Buster while standing or by jumping. He may also shoot charged Proto Buster shots, who are a bit more stronger.

Enemies

 * Batton: Batton is a recurring bat-like enemy robot series from the original Mega Man games. Most Battons become indestructible while hanging from the ceiling with their wings closed, and become vulnerable when they open their wings to chase their target.


 * Met: Mets wear an indestructible hard hat that makes them invincible while hiding under it.


 * Sniper Joe 01: An updated version of the common Sniper Joe enemy.

Stages
So far, two stages have been confirmed, one from the classic Mega Man series and one from the Mega Man X series.


 * Central Highway: The first stage from the video game, . It is a ruined highway with no hazards apart from the large bottomless pit. The Bee Blader can occasionally be seen in the background.


 * Skull Fortress: A fortress with a skull motif owned by Dr. Wily which is the final stage of many Mega Man games. In the games, it often have several hazards, mazes, strong enemies, a rematch against the Robot Masters and a final fight against Wily inside one of his machines. This version is based in the Mega Man 2 incarnation and features the enemies noted above.

Item

 * Energy Tank: Short for E-Tank, this item restores all the health of your character. Once the player pick the Energy Tank, (s)he will hold it over his head as all his/her damage is healed, this, however, makes the character vulnerable upon picking up this item.

Trivia

 * Mega Man is one of 4 universes to debut in the Super Smash Flash series before being inducted in the official series, the other 3 being KINGDOM HEARTS, FINAL FANTASY and Sonic.