December 18, 2012

The bad doctor, Albert W. Wily. According to some sources, he was a close collaborator with Light until a lab accident damaged his mind. Possibly he always harboured ill feelings and one day gave in to them. Either way, once his ambitions had flared up there was no stopping them. He had to be recognised as the world’s greatest roboticist at any cost, his madness increasing as he went on. But always he had to contend with Light’s creations, especially Rock, and he always came up short.

Among Wily’s creations are the Robot Masters from Mega Man 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8. He is also responsible for reprogramming most of the Masters from other Mega Man games for evil. Other robots not of the particular “Robot Master” variety include the Mega Man Killers Punk, Enker, and Ballade; Reggae the Crow, King, the Doc Robots, various imperfect copies of Mega Man, and Bass (who serves as an antihero) and his partner Treble.

However, he considers his greatest creation to be Zero, who contained the double whammy of unstoppable killing machine and insidious computer virus to corrupt any robot. He must really resent that Zero turned against his destructive programming and began fighting the Mavericks he helped create.

While Light managed to live on in a limited fashion, Wily had his own means to survive through the following era. It is implied that the robots Serges from X2 (second image) and Isoc from X6 (third image) are partially Wily himself or at least closely linked. It’s not unheard of in fiction for someone’s personality to be converted into digital form and housed in a robotic body, and if anyone could figure out the means, Wily could. He would also have the inclination, being irredeemably sociopathic. Having said that, there have been moments of sympathetic portrayal for Wily, especially in the Classic days.

Undeniably a genius, Wily is nevertheless crippled by his jealousy of Dr Light and delusions of grandeur. He is arrogant and a natural manipulator, having mastered the art of deception. His narcissism extends to his creations, leading to a desire to prove his robots are better than Light’s, specifically hoping for Bass to outclass Rock and later Zero to X.

Dr Weil (fourth image) continues in the vein of Wily’s machinations in the Zero series, taking command of copy X and Zero’s original body as his tools. He has similar megalomaniacal tendencies and skills of deceit, managing to take command of the largest civilised settlement in the new world after the destruction he had wrought. His goals are to use Reploids as slaves and rule the world, not wholly unlike Wily, although Wily was shown to have some respect for his creations. Weil shares this respect only with Omega Zero, continuing the thread of Wily and Zero. There is no concrete link between the two aside from name and personality, especially as both are human.

Wily reappears in a way, as part of the Sage Trinity in the Biometal era. As Master Albert (fifth image) he rules the country of Legion with the other Masters, although it is unclear how directly this version is based on Wily. He has very strong links to Model W though, which implies more connection between Weil and Wily through the Biometal Weil is the progenitor of. Master Albert takes Wily’s ambitions to the extreme, wishing destruction and recreation of all the world with himself as its god. Meanwhile, he maintains a facade of cool calmness. He claims to be the master of the Model W Weil created, but it is unknown whether it is actually using him.

There is a minor character named Wily in Legends who shares a resemblance, but he is merely a friendly boatman.

Wily’s Network counterpart is Lord Wily (sixth image), a schemer in a similar vein with a jealousy of Dr Hikari’s work. In this case however, Wily is also a robotics expert, changing the dynamic as he is resentful over his technology being superseded by Hikari’s Network technology. He is not the primary villain in all the games, and even is redeemed in the end and resolves to help improve the world.

9:57pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZc3Xw1
(Notes: 5)
  
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December 18, 2012

The good doctor, Thomas Light (or Right). Idealistic yet brilliant, he is the father of modern robotics. His greatest creation, arguably, is X, although he would be nothing without the years spent with Rock, which were beneficial for both of them. Between games, Dr Light was responsible for upgrading Rock’s capabilities and building new helpers for him, including Rush the dog, Eddy the walking container, Tango the cat, and Auto the robot guy. He also previously built Blues as part of a military contract that resulted in the mass-produced Sniper Joe model. Also Roll.

Wily and Light used to be friends, even partners, before things took a deadly turn. Light has dedicated years of his life to combatting the schemes of Wily through his surrogate son, Rock. Years that could have been better spent improving the world. Still, all that fighting has simply increased his determination to help create a world where humans and robots can peacefully coexist.

Light’s other creations include the 6 (or 8) Robot Masters from the first Rockman game, and the 8 from Rockman 9.

Light’s next step, of course, was the creation of X, the first robot to have sophisticated feelings and free will. He sealed him in a special stasis capsule for over 30 years to test these complex systems, so as to bring X to maturity before releasing him into the world. He knew he would pass away before X could change the way the world views robots, so he hid capsules in many locations containing upgrades for him, knowing that one day X would find him. He also left hologram messages (second image) in these capsules to instruct X, his final messages to his creation. His influence was felt throughout this era, long after his death.

Light isn’t seen for a very long time after X (presumably) finds all the capsules. Unless you want to go with the endlessly recurring archetype theory, in which Weil is an incarnation or descendant of Wily and Ciel (and her mother) of Light.

The next concrete appearance of Light is hundreds of years later, in the Biometal era, when a council known as the Sage Trinity of Legion arises to rule a portion of the known world. They contain recreations or analogues of the three major roboticists from the Classic series, Light, Wily, and Dr Cossack, another good guy. Master Thomas (third image) is a strong, imposing figure, with a rigid moral code. It was he, along with Master Albert (the Wily analogue), who instituted a policy to bring humans and Reploids closer together in capabilities. Humans received cybernetic implants and Reploids had lifespans imposed, among other enforced alterations.

His hope was that this would create further cooperation and fellowship between the races, although it is revealed that this was but the first part of a more extreme plan that would involve more radical changes to society and its lifeforms. The exact nature of these plans is as yet unknown, but hints that there is a dark side to letting Light’s idealism reach to extremes.

There is a Network universe parallel to Light, known as Tadashi Hikari (being the Jaqpanese words for Right and Light, fourth image). He created the technology for projecting the NetNavis, although it was his son who actually created Mega Man and his grandson who would partner with him. He isn’t seen much, having passed away before the events of the first game. This version also wished for peace through the technology he helped create, although unlike Dr Light he left much work unfinished, to be continued by the next generation.

8:07pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZbwTWY
(Notes: 3)
  
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December 18, 2012

Roll is Rock’s little sister, who remained a helper robot (as they both were originally) after Rock was transformed into a fighting robot. She assists Dr Light with his inventions and with housework, and on rare occasions has fought alongside Mega Man. (First and second image)

If Roll does continue into the X generation, her role would most likely be as a Navigator (a form of help which she has provided Rock before). She doesn’t have a clear parallel with any one character, but female supporting characters have appeared in several incarnations. Alia (third image) is probably her closest equivalent (second image), so with some memory-wiping and remodelling it’s possible they are the same…

Roll.EXE (fourth image) is also a support character in the Network universe, and love interest of the main character. This is another recurring aspect of this archetype, and has been slightly hinted at in the Rock-Roll relationship, and the X-Alia relationship.

Roll Caskett (fifth image) in Legends is a mechanic, helper of Mega Man and love interest. Her design and name seem to be based purely on artificially creating the parallel to the Classic Roll.

This archetype is carried through to the Zero series with the human scientist Ciel (sixth image), who later invents the Biometals but serves several support functions to Zero, and is a love interest (despite the fact that they are robot and human). Her mother invented the Cyber-elves, incidentally. She also has an adoptive younger sister who is a Reploid, Alouette, who grows up into Prairie (seventh image), the leader of the Guardians in ZX (not the same as the Four Guardians, more on that later). Prairie doesn’t have as many supportive functions but she is a possible love interest and important character. These two have no link to Roll but fulfill similar character types, with some key differences. Ciel is a brilliant and compassionate human scientist, and Prairie is a childish but competent commander.

4:54pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZbW_d9
(Notes: 3)
  
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December 18, 2012

Blues, or Proto Man, is Rock’s older brother who ran away from home. The original robot. Mysterious and rebellious, he is way cool. Sometimes he fights you, but he is often on your side. He is assuredly not the same person as Zero, as Zero was being built while Blues was still around, but they share many parallels. Just look at that flowing yellow scarf, and Zero’s beautiful hair!

Their attitude is very similar too. Unlike other robots, they don’t follow orders. They act by their own choice, and stand aloof while actually being very loyal to their friends. They both have dark pasts. Actually, now that I think of it, why not make them the same guy? It requires some serious canon massaging, but it fits quite well thematically.

Blues has been aligned with Dr Wily in various sources after being repaired by him, and Zero was built by Wily. Who’s to say he didn’t take some cues from Blues with the design, if nothing else?

Anyway, Blues is first encountered with no knowledge of his history, but Rock finds out that he’s his brother eventually. He will often help out Rock, but largely keeps himself separate. He has some trust issues.

Zero is a very competent Maverick Hunter, a superior to X. X looks up to him but over time the two become comrades in arms. Zero later finds out that he was built by Dr Wily, and was the cause of the original Maverick outbreak. He has a very cool personality but has formed some relationships, some of which have caused him pain (Iris).

Zero eventually deactivates himself, but is awoken a century later to find himself in a new body (third image). The new world he finds himself in is ruled by a copy of X, his old friend. This copy is nothing like X however and rules as a tyrant. Zero fights the copy X and his shadowy master, Dr Weil, with the help of the real X, now a Cyber-elf ghost. He eventually dies to protect the remaining humans.

Zero lives on in Biometal form, giving his power to a Reploid host (fourth image) so as to continue fighting Mavericks. He later combines with X’s Biometal, passing on the best powers of both to new heroes (fifth image).

Both Proto Man and Zero have counterparts in the parallel Network world. Proto.EXE wields a sword weapon, which in my mind strengthens the link between them. His role in those games is somewhat similar to Blues, although the connection to Rock is lost. Zero.EXE’s role is like Wily’s original intention for Zero, to be a virus carrier and agent of carnage.

4:28pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZbRKkj
(Notes: 6)
  
Filed under: rockman megaman 25th fandom 
December 18, 2012

This is the first in a series of posts about the character archetypes that run throughout the Mega Man franchise. Or, you could say different iterations of the same character.

Rockman is the posterboy, obviously. He’s like Mario, his face sells games. I don’t like him as much for this reason, because Zero is my favourite series and this guy gets plastered everywhere. You gotta love the guy though. (His brothers are cooler.)

This of course brings up, is X his brother? Or a remodelled Rock? I’m going to put forward a possible theory, that many of the Classic robots survived into the X series and in some cases beyond. Within this theory, we try to match up as many robots as possible to be the same person.

So Rock, having accumulated much life experience, was prepared by Dr Light to become the next stage in the evolution of robots. Light’s genius alone couldn’t advance robots, it was Rock fighting, learning and loving that helped him become something more. All subsequent intelligent robots in the X era were based on the design of X, who is basically an upgrade to Rock. Or, if you prefer, then X is simply a new robot made with Rock’s cooperation so that Light and Rock together made the next generation. Either way, X is heavily identified as “Mega Man” regardless.

X later becomes a Cyber-elf (third image) after his body dies. Both Reploids and, later, humans can become a Cyber-elf, depending on the conditions of their death. This was made possible by advanced technology. He takes on an advisory role in this capacity. Later, his elf is converted into Biometal, and bonds to an ordinary person, giving them his strength (fourth image).

The other three are not the same person as this original Rock. The fifth is Mega Man Volnutt, from Legends. A human (more or less) with some nifty armour, named after an ancient hero. The sixth is, similar to the Biometal version, bonded to a kid. He is a digital avatar for navigating the Internet invented by the parallel universe Dr Light. The seventh is an alien bonded to a different kid who happens to take the form of previous hero.

And that’s Rock.

3:53pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZbJ2pV
(Notes: 6)
  
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December 18, 2012
Rockman’s 25th

To celebrate Rockman’s 25th birthday, I’m going to make a few posts about the mythology of the various Mega Man franchises and how they tie together. First, an overview.

Broadly speaking, there are two major continuities within which there are sub-series of Rockman. They are the Robots continuity and the Network continuity (for want of a better term). Robots includes, in chronological order, the Classic series (starting in 200X), X series (30-100 years later), Zero series (100 years after that), ZX series (200 years after that), and the Legends, or DASH, series (an indeterminate period later). Network is the Battle Network series (an alternate 200X), which is followed by the Star Force series (200 years later).

The major difference is the Robots games tend to be action sidescrollers (or 3D action in Legends) featuring androids or machines, and the Network games are RPGs with cyberspace and virtual AIs, and then aliens and radio waves or something (I don’t know that much about Network to be honest). Having said that, there are sidescrollers in Network and RPGs in Robots, as well as a few racing games, sports games, board games etc.

What ties it all together though is the concept of human interactions with artifical life forms, and the behaviours of those artifical life forms. Those life forms often become antagonistic towards their creator species, starting with reprogamming by malicious individuals, to a behaviour-modifying virus, towards more dealing with the ideals of various people and groups. The creations rebelling against their creator is a strong theme, starting with the Bible of course, and it runs throughout the Mega Man franchise.

SPOILERS AHEAD. So how do these games fit together? Let’s start at the beginning, the Classic series. Rockman 1 starts with rival robotic geniuses, Dr Light (the good guy) and Dr Wily (the bad guy). Dr Wily steals Light’s robots and reprograms them to cause havoc. Rock, previously a helper robot for Light, is remodelled into a fighting machine with a unique ability to copy enemy weapons. Dr Wily consistently returns with new robots, of his own creation most of the time, and Rock shuts them down many times. This struggle never ends, and leads into the X series.

X series: Light’s last creation, X, is the successor to Rock’s legacy and has free will. Zero, Wily’s last creation, caused a ton of robots to go bad then became a good guy. So the struggle between the rival doctors continues to be played out between robot Mavericks (the ones that went bad and want to harm humans) and the Maverick Hunters (who fight them), including X, Zero, and others, many based on X’s design (Reploids).

Zero series: This conflict escalates into to a cataclysmic period known as the Elf Wars, in which some of the newly invented life form/energy source called Cyber-elves are corrupted by some guy called Dr Weil (who may or may not be related to Wily, ask your nearest fan fiction author) and lots of stuff gets killed. X is now a Cyber-elf, Zero has a new body, and a replica of X rules the remaining population with an iron fist. Now anyone who opposes Copy X and Weil is labelled a Maverick, repurposing the term. Zero has to bring down the brutal regime, and succeeds with the help of the human scientist Ciel, the Resistance, the four turncoat Guardians, the true X, and the Cyber-elves. But he dies in the process.

ZX series: Weil had merged with his robotic suit, his space station, and probably some malevolent Cyber-elves for this to make sense (they’re like magic, very convenient for plot) to form a material known as Biometal. Ciel creates some Biometals of her own from the Cyber-elves of dead heroes X, Zero, and the Guardians. They appear to have the personality and memories of their templates, and can merge with a human or Reploid host to bestow their powers. The new heroes have to fight the corrupting influence of the Biometal Model W formed by Weil’s horrific synthesis. Model W manifests itself in different ways, steals Biometals and makes regenerating robot baddies, finally revealing itself to be partly in control of certain governments and corporations. It is seemingly defeated at some point, but who knows.

Dr Light always dreamed of a world where humans and robots could live together in harmony. This theme is brought up many times throughout these series, and is sometimes twisted by crazies who want to force such a state through violence or subjugation. The last word from ZX is that a robotic recreation of Dr Light wishes to create this world through extreme means. This seemingly, with some interpretation, leads into the setting of Legends some millennia later. The humans are dead, replaced by artificially created organic humanoids— I guess there’s not much difference there. Yet another energy crisis, world flooded, ancient ruins. An ancient automated system controls the organic population… it’s pretty complicated actually. The games are mostly concerned with the Barrells (Diggers) and their enemies/rivals, the Bonnes (pirates). It’s more about interaction and characters, and summarising the real backstory is hard. Suffice to say Mega Man ends up on the moon and there are less authoritarian or violent robots at the end. It’s hard to tell exactly how it fits with the other games, but ooh look Servbots! What were we saying? Yeah.

As for the Network timeline, being RPGs there is a lot more talking and a lot more complexity. Generally though the setting of the Battle Network series is similar to the Classic Robots setting, except instead of robots becoming dominant, Internet technology was supreme. What this means is that many robots from the Classic series, and even some from the X series, have NetNavi counterparts— these are like avatars that help humans navigate the treacherous Internet or something. I’ve covered the salient points I think, I haven’t played any Network games so I think I can say that the main reason for a Mega Man fan to play these games is the buttload of shout outs and callbacks. Otherwise other people might enjoy it for the gameplay, which is a tactical turn-based RPG on a small grid or something. It also tries to cash into the whole collect and battle thing. As for the actual plot, who knows? Like I said, lots of RPGs and more complex.

Star Force I know even less about. Sorry. There’s an alien and all this stuff about radio waves. I already mentioned that… It actually consciously steered clear of the callbacks so much and was more self-contained, so in my mind even less reason to be interested. Um. It also shares the gameplay style of Battle Network. Er. So, that’s that one.

Well, kind of a flat note to end on but that’s the Mega Man continuity so far. But wait, what’s this? Rockman Xover!? Oh no! What does it mean? So there’s a new iOS game, Japan-exclusive for now. It’s a “social RPG”, seems to be based on the Mega Man X iOS port engine but with really basic gameplay, and an emphasis on again collecting battle cards or something. But the setting is supposed to be this confusing mishmash of many different series. There’s time travel, sure, and Dr Light building a new Reploid(?) called Over-1. But how does the parallel universe of Network come into it? Sure, have cards based on it and everything else, but story-wise how do you justify that? Wily and Sigma teamed up somehow and time travel and bleh! Hey! Collect them all! Crossovers are exciting, but this one’s pretty lazy. I’m still really looking forward to it though, especially if there’s Zero elements!

tl;dr How can humans coexist with artificial life? Let’s find a way, together… By blowing up some robots. Da-da-da da-da-dum da-da-da da-da-da da-dum-dum…

3:24pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwuZbBnab
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: rockman megaman 25th fandom 
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