Main Characters

The story of Mega Man is relatively simple: The good guys want peace, but they're forced to fight evil—to try to attain peace by eliminating that evil. Little do they know that by fighting, they're actually contributing to a greater war—the price of everlasting peace. Below are the characters who are basic elements of that plot. (DL = Doctor's Log.)

Mega Man

DL #001: The world's hero, the one who has thwarted Dr. Wily's Earth-conquering plans again again—this is Mega Man! Mega Man started out as an experimental robot named Rock. Although he believed that he was the first of Dr. Light's creation, he later learned the truth; he learned that Proto Man, his brother, came first. Regardless, when Dr. Wily flipped and tried to use the peacekeeping robots that he and Light created to control the world and its resources, Rock, feeling a strong sense of justice, volunteered to become Mega Man. Donning an arm-cannon, a power-absorbing ability and an iron will, Mega Man was right there whenever Wily and his robotic creations threatened.

Mega Man always knew why he had to fight Wily, but he never understood why he had to fight against other robots. It's that inner-conflict that made him naive, as, trusting his feelings, he sometimes befriended those who wished to trick him. He learned over time that the fight was eternal—that peace is something that must be fought for, even though it seemed like he was only adding to the destruction.

Dr. Light

Dr. Thomas Light was a truly brilliant man. It's his robot designing that influenced the future of a whole civilization. When he created Rock, his dream was that one day his creation would be able to live amongst the humans, thinking and making his own decisions. Perhaps he had the same hope for Proto Man. Absent-minded and trustful, Light could never have foreseen the future—that Dr. Wily would betray him. From this, it's easy to see where Mega Man got his personality from.

Throughout Mega Man's adventures, Light always assisted him by supplying him with upgrades, adapters and robotic friends. Watching his creation fight over and over again, he would often wonder if robots were meant to live amongst humans. It it were true or not, he would certainly try again in the future.

Dr. Wily

Wily is single-handedly responsible for all the robot wars. Whether it was jealousy of his colleague, a mind-altering accident or just a setup from the beginning, Wily recognized the power of the robots and saw them as an opportunity to control the world and its resources. The war actually began early on when Wily tried to reprogram Rock, unsuccessful due to Rock's strong-mindedness; the seeds were planted. After falling to Mega Man the first time, Wily tried again and again to complete his goal, making more and more robots, castles or whatever it would take. All of his plots were unsuccessful—but something drove him to keep trying.

Strangely, Wily lived for the fight; he relished his rivalry with Mega Man; it's what drove him. He would do whatever it would take to goad Mega Man into a fight, whether it was kidnapping someone's daughter and forcing them to fight against him, framing his brother, or hiding under the guise of many different aliases.

Roll

DL #001: Dr. Light truly loved his music. I mean, why else would he name his creations Rock and Roll? Roll is Mega Man's sister and primarily functioned as a housekeeping robot. The only role Roll played was to offer Mega Man moral support or to welcome him home after a job well done. However, Roll would sometimes assist Dr. Light in the making of adapters for Mega Man.

Proto Man

DL #000: Unbeknownst to Mega Man, or anyone else for that matter, Proto Man was actually Dr. Light's very first humanoid-like robotic creation. After going out on his own, Proto Man made his presence known to Mega Man while he was searching for crystals to help create Gamma. A strange whistle signaling his arrival, Proto Man hesitantly attacked Mega Man, leaving after his brother figured out his attack pattern. Of course, it was widely believed that Proto Man was actually working for Dr. Wily, which he actually was for a time; but his real intention was to alert Mega Man of the impending danger.

He, too, shared a similar sense of justice as his brother. Not being able to take it anymore, he betrayed Wily by foiling his plans to frame Dr. Cossack. Wily would strike back by trying to frame him in return, but Proto Man foiled that, too. From then on, Proto Man would show up from time to time to help his brother by opening up a path or supplying a power-up.

Dr. Cossack

Dr. Cossack unwillingly became part of one of Wily's plots when Wily kidnapped his daughter and forced him to write a threatening letter to Dr. Light, challenging Mega Man. Cossack, fighting for his daughter's life, fought Mega Man with everything he had. If not for the interference of Proto Man, who had saved his daughter, Kalinka, he might have taken the fall for Wily's crime.

Once cleared of all crimes, Cossack became very good friends with Dr. Light and Mega Man, assisting them in the lab and helping to create robotic friends such as Beat.

Kalinka

Kidnapped by Dr. Light, her father was forced to do Wily's bidding. After being saved by Proto Man, Kalinka begged Mega Man to spare her father, explaining that Wily was behind the plot—not her father. Kalinka made no other appearances during the rest of the series.

Rush

Rush was Mega Man's canine companion. Furthering his experiments, Dr. Light was able to construct Rush to give Mega Man an advantage during battle. Rush had the ability to transform into several forms of transportation and armor for Mega Man, including a coil, a jet, a submarine and power and jet armor. Rush would later assist Mega Man by helping him search for hidden items as well as flying in from above to drop him power-ups.

Flip Top

Flip Top, also known as Eddie, was another one of Dr. Light's creations. Flip Top would transport from Dr. Light's lab over to Mega Man's current course, leaving him a power-up, teleporting back to the lab soon after. Later on, he'd open up a Cybernetic support shop, where he and friend Auto would create enhancements for Mega Man in exchange for bolts. Flip Top would also act a bomber to protect Mega Man while in flight.

Beat

Beat was created by Dr. Cossack as an attack bird to assist Mega Man in battle. Beat would fly around Mega Man, destroying any minor robot enemy that was getting too close. Beat would also be used to save Mega Man anytime he'd fall into a gap.

Auto

Auto ran Eddie's Cybernetic Support Shop, creating items for Mega Man in exchange for P-Chips. Auto was also used for technical assistance in Dr. Light's lab. Sometimes he'd show his fighting spirit by donning a bazooka and joining Mega Man in battle.

Bass & Treble

If you can't beat 'em, recreate 'em. Dr. Wily, try as he might, could never create a robot that had Mega Man's will or spirit. So he tried to create his own version of Mega Man—Bass. As an answer to Rush, Wily created Treble, Bass' canine companion. Bass had the same powers as Mega Man, including a similar Mega-buster; also, Bass and Treble could form together, Treble forming into armor. Wily believed that he created a match for Mega Man, as Bass had a real fighting spirit.

Bass was never able to defeat Mega Man, always being edged out. He could never understand how he was beaten, always underestimating what Mega Man had inside. Any attempts by Mega Man to convince Bass that they shouldn't fight, as he believed that they were not truly enemies, were written off by Bass as a sign of weakness.

Duo

Duo was created an untold number of years ago. His sole purpose in life was to find and exterminate all evil energy in the universe. On one ill-fated day, a battle with an ultimate evil sent both crashing into Earth. His evil foe, mistaken as a meteor by Dr. Wily, was retrieved and taken to Skull Castle, where it forged the threat of multiplying and becoming of all life within days. Duo, however, a wreck, was found by Mega Man and taken back to Dr. Light's lab for repair. When repaired, he noticed some of the evil energy in a jar—energy Mega Man received by defeating Wily's robot masters—and knew his job wasn't done.

After a skirmish with Mega Man, recognizing Mega Man's sense of justice, Duo introduced himself and became an ally. Duo later saved Mega Man from Wily's attack, almost sacrificing himself in the process—Proto Man brought him to safety. After Mega Man was zapped with evil energy, having almost been destroyed, Duo used his power to restore Mega Man to normal.

Tango

Usually during Mega Man's adventures, Dr. Wily would antagonize Dr. Light by having his robots steal Rush's adapters. Light fought back by creating Tango, a suitable replacement for Mega Man as he retrieved Rush's adapters. Tango was primarily an attack robot; when called upon, it would attack any enemies in the vicinity by rolling into a spiked ball and trouncing them. Tango was relegated to only one game.