Characters

 

While the Mega Man series only has a small number of main characters, there's tons of secondary characters, and thanks to Capcom failing at translations in the 1990s and before, their history and personalities can be inconsistent. I'll try my best to explain everything relevant to the cartoon.

[NOTES] All the official artwork here is from Atomic Fire, a Mega Man site which hasn't decided to throw all of it's content out the window in favour of up-to-date news yet. I had to resort to the IMDb for voice actors, meaning it's likely to be all kinds of wrong. The cartoon only contains characters up to Mega Man 5, with the exception of the Mega Man X characters.

 

Mega Man (voiced by Ian James Corlett), super fighting robot and saviour of the world, he has the power to steal an enemy's power and use it against them. First built essentially as a son to Dr. Light, Wily's shenanigans forced him to change from average robot Rock into the super fighting robot Mega Man. His personality is minimal in the games, and he never strays far from the action hero stereotype in the cartoon.

Roll (Kathleen Barr) is Mega Man's sister, and is ultimately rather useless in the games. In the cartoons, she's given a more significant role, becoming his sidekick and using household appliances as weaponry. When she finally became playable in Marvel vs. Capcom and Mega Man: Powered Up, she uses flowers and broomsticks to attack. Yes. She becomes a bit more butch in the second series, playing a bigger part.

Dr. Light (Jim Byrnes) is the creator of Mega Man, Roll, Rush, and numerous other robots, including Proto Man and the first six Robot Masters. His role in the games is usually to provide you with new items, and he does the same in the cartoon, with the addition of spouting scientific jargon advancing the plot and being stupid on occasions.

The first of a series of animal companions in the games, Rush (Robyn Ross) is Mega Man's robo dog, with the ability to transform into numerous means of assistance, such as a jet, submarine, spring, drill, and so on. He serves as the "comic relief", by talking like Scooby Doo and being stupid.

One of Mega Man's companions that isn't from the animal kingdom, Eddie (Scott McNeil) pops up during certain stages and drops him an item of any kind, usually a health refill. In the cartoon, he's green for some reason (I imagine it's so there aren't two red companions to Mega Man), but his purpose hasn't changed.

Formerly an assistant to Dr. Light, Dr. Wily (Scott McNeil) took off with the first six Robot Masters and Proto Man to take over the world. Being a mad, German scientist, he uses some pretty daft ideas to try and take over the world, ranging from reviving genies, to selling recordings of his rampages for funding, he's covered round about everything.

Proto Man's (Scott McNeil) story is that he was a prototype to Mega Man, until he ran off before he was finished, and keeps a sense of mystery around him. The cartoon chucks this out the window, complicates his relationship as brother to Mega Man, removes him of his shield, and turns him into a sarcastic, order-defying rival to Mega Man. Also sounds exactly the same as Ratrap and Ken Masters.

The brain of the two recurring Robot Masters, which isn't saying much, Cut Man (Terry Klassen) wields powerful blades atop his head, as well as the ability to fire them from arm cannons; something he can't do in the games. His traits include talking like an Igor, always threatening to cut the blue bomber into something, and having a stupid laugh.

And the brawn of the two is Guts Man (Gary Chalk), with immense strength and an underbite, he could crush all that stands in his way if he didn't have a habit of having holes shot through him, his head squashed, and other such abuse. Also seems to be lacking in the insult department, for he rarely changes from his favourite insult, "Mega Dweeb".

 

With the main characters out of the road, here's all of the "guest" Robot Masters seen throughout the series.

Ice Man's debut had him as one of the strongest enemies in the game, being able to take out Mega Man in just three hits of his Ice Slasher. That was his only moment of glory, as afterwards he was made easy-peasy, given a childish attitude, and a squeaky voice. The cartoon badasses him up a little bit. Emphasis on "little".

APPEARANCES: The Beginning, Ice Age

Bomb Man's game appearance gives him a distinctive mohawk, but his cartoon look puts more emphasis on him looking and sounding almost like a duck. I mean seriously, look at that beak.

APPEARANCES: The Beginning, Mega Dreams, Terror of the Seven Seas, Crime of the Century

Fire Man simply isn't a lucky guy. In his first appearance he couldn't jump and outside of Mega Man Soccer, has only appeared in rehashes of the first game. In the cartoon, he appears in one episode, with no lines of dialogue, and has his weapon stolen and used to kill Ice Man in the intro for every episode.

APPEARANCES: The Beginning

Elec Man has a raspy voice and looks really silly, and thus everything he says is hilarious, whether it's "I get a real charge out of beating you, Mega Man", or "I like my targets close range", it's all hilarity.

APPEARANCES: The Beginning, Mega Dreams, Terror of the Seven Seas, Bro Bots

Metal Man is essentially Cut Man, except he's less Igor, and more about saying homosexual double-entendres, the dirty scoundrel. He's also slightly more badass looking than Cut Man, what with all the ridiculous saw blades on him and everything.

APPEARANCES: Future Shock

Air Man just didn't have any luck in the looks department, being a fan with eyes and then turned into a fan with a head and silly red eyes. Naturally, that fan is used to blow things about and create little tornados that can both be used as projectiles and shields.

APPEARANCES: Ice Age

Quick Man does nothing interesting at all in his two episodes, but I think he's awesome. The stupid voice, the ridiculous facial expressions, it's all good. Why couldn't he appear more often?

APPEARANCES: Robo-Spider, The Day The Moon Fell

Crash Man has time bombs for arms and is another of those raspy voiced guys. On the plus side, he has some very tough armour, and his weapon can blast open certain walls. Which would be useful if he appeared for more than eight seconds.

APPEARANCES: Mega-Pinocchio

Heat Man is one of the more popular Robot Masters, although it's not for an exciting personality or amazing power, but it's simply because he's a lighter with arms, legs and a head. While his game version can become a fireball, the cartoon version merely spits fire.

APPEARANCES: Bro Bots

Wood Man is like an oxymoron of sorts. I mean, he's a robot made out of a tree. As if that wasn't bad enough, his weapon is the first in a series of shields that nobody ever uses. At least he has a cool voice, though.

APPEARANCES: The Strange Island of Dr. Wily

Needle Man (Jay Brazeau) is an idiot, and in his single appearance doesn't do anything of use at all. The idiot part can be explained by sharing the same voice as Bright Man, and the latter for him being one of the silliest Mega Man 3 Robot Masters, rivalling Spark Man.

APPEARANCES: Bro Bots

I find Magnet Man cool for some reason. I mean, he may as well just be Mega Man with a red balaclava and a comically sized magnet taped to it, but he's awesome in my view. And he doesn't have a raspy voice!

APPEARANCES: Mega-Pinocchio

Gemini Man, as the name suggests, can create a hologram of himself in the games, which mirrors his attack patterns. However, the cartoon completely ignores this, so all he can do is shoot with his arm cannon. AMAZING.

APPEARANCES: Cold Steel

Hard Man's minimal game personality shows him looking rather moody and being lazy, while his cartoon personality is mostly cocky, further emphasised by the fact he's smiling all the time he isn't being ridiculed and abused and beaten into a pulp by Mega Man and co. Poor Hard Man.

APPEARANCES: Bad Day at Peril Park

Top Man is one hell of a lady's man, and even outside of hitching chicks he's a mean fighter. A vast contrast to his game personality, where he not only fails at fighting, but has a silly ability and is apparently a total nerd.

APPEARANCES: Campus Commandos

I hate Snake Man. Not because he's a difficult foe in the games, but he appears in so many episodes and has the most awful voice ever. Why must all lizard-type characters stretch out every S in their speeches? Can't they just have rattle tails or something? Because GOD.

APPEARANCES: Bot Transfer, Showdown at Red Gulch, Campus Commandos, Brain Bots, Mega X

Spark Man is like an electric-themed cousin of Heat Man. While Heat Man is a lighter with limbs and a head, Spark Man is a spark plug with the same features. Crazy! His rod things also make for good drum sticks.

APPEARANCES: Mega-Pinocchio, Cold Steel

As his weapon and appearance suggests, Shadow Man is meant to be a ninja, but of course, with the concept of ninjas being stealthy and sleek and not flipping out and killing people only introduced a few years after the cartoon, he acts no different from any of the other Robot Masters.

APPEARANCES: The Day The Moon Fell

Bright Man (Jay Brezeau), contradicting his name, has a voice that suggests everything but intelligence, and his catchphrase "I'm here to light up your lives" only further proves that.

APPEARANCES: Electric Nightmare, Robo-Spider, Bro Bots, Curse of the Lion Men

Toad Man fares it worse than Air Man. See, while Air Man has a cool ability, all Toad Man can do is jump high and do a silly dance to summon some acid rain, which doesn't even have any lasting effects. He gains an Animal Crossing-esque speech impediment and a horrendous redesign in the cartoon.

APPEARANCES: Robosaur Park

For a Robot Master that speaks a total of three lines, Drill Man is extraordinarily lucky to appear in three episodes, especially considering he's one of the more boring Robot Masters.

APPEARANCES: The Big Shake, Master of Disaster, Showdown at Red Gulch

Pharaoh Man's design is changed slightly from his game version, with the addition of the cape, the green bits, but he barely even talks and his weapon is no different from Mega Man's in the cartoon, so there's certainly a lot of personality comparisons going on here.

APPEARANCES: Electric Nightmare

Ring Man (Michael Donovan) shares the same voice actor as Conan the Adventurer, which is rather amusing, going from a skilled barbarian to an obnoxious surfer dude who has boomerang rings as his weapon.

APPEARANCES: Mega-Pinocchio, Bad Day at Peril Park

Dust Man is my favourite of the Mega Man 4 Robot Masters. Not only is he practically a big robot trash can, but his weapon is somehow super effective against nearly all the enemies in the game. His cartoon appearance gives him an uncool raspy voice and makes his head weird.

APPEARANCES: Incredible Shrinking Mega Man

Dive Man's personality isn't shown much, what with his Mega Man & Bass database entry only talking about his weaponry and him only having a single line in his sole cartoon appearance. He has a raspy voice, though, so he's no different from any of the other Robot Masters.

APPEARANCES: 20,000 Leaks Under the Sea

Gravity Man is interesting, as not only was he the first Robot Master created by a woman (yeah I've heard it everywhere but I've yet to see an actual source), but his weapon is one of those kill-all-enemies-on-screen things. The cartoon just replaces it with a beam that effects gravity. Fair enough, his voice is cool and isn't raspy, so can't complain.

APPEARANCES: Master of Disaster

Wave Man is just a rather boring Robot Master. He has a harpoon and can shoot whirlpools, which is admittedly rather cool, but that's it. No personality or anything. The cartoon doesn't even give him one. Harsh.

APPEARANCES: 20,000 Leaks Under the Sea

Stone Man is another of those guys who didn't have much luck. Not only is he essentially just Guts Man with a brick theme, but his battle tactics are silly, his weapon isn't cool, and his cartoon antics involve being useless and sounding just like who he ripped off.

APPEARANCES: The Big Shake

I always expected Gyro Man to have a rather cool voice. Instead, the cartoon producers decided a surfer dude voice similar to that of Ring Man's would be better fitting. I would kick whoever thought of that, but there's a risk of absorbing their crappy decision making power.

APPEARANCES: Cold Steel

While Star Man's game personality is that of a flamboyant movie star, the cartoon makes him into yet another generic raspy-voiced character whose weapon is just another projectile. Better than having yet another stupid shield weapon, I suppose.

APPEARANCES: Curse of the Lion Men

Napalm Man is the most badass of the Mega Man 5 Robot Masters. Look at him! Missiles on his hands and forehead, grenades on his shoulders, and one mean scowl. But he only appears in the show's intro. They gave Star Man an appearance, but not this guy. Unforgivable.

APPEARANCES: Show intro

Crystal Man, in the games, is apparently mysterious and suspicious. In the cartoon, he's cool and collected, and is all for the "don't make me do this *is attacked* you stupid man *does so*" approach, which is pretty cool. Even if his weapon is pretty silly. I mean, bouncing crystals.

APPEARANCES: The Mega Man in the Moon

Dark Man isn't actually a Robot Master; he's a fortress boss, and he's the one who framed Proto Man for kidnapping Dr. Light, thus, if the cartoon producers were to know of Dark Man, they'd need to know that Proto Man is a good guy. Regardless, Dark Man rocks.

APPEARANCES: Brain Bots, The Day The Moon Fell

 

I would cover the mayor and the news reporter, the only two recurring characters that aren't from the game, but I've already wrote about forty, fifty characters, surely you can't want more? I mean jeez.