Video Game Character of the Month - September 2014 - Mega Man - Mega Man

Video Game Character of the Month

September 2014

Mega Man
Mega Man

Overview:
Mega Man is apparently as 'mega' as his name suggests due to him winning this award. See if his name had been Rockman (I'll get onto that) then he wouldn't be 'mega' he would just be a 'rock'. Bet he's glad he had to endure an identity crisis now!
Now for some quick information on Mega Man:

He was created by Dr Light
He was originally an assistant to Dr Light
He then fought the evil Dr Wily
His eventual goal is to achieve everlasting peace for all robots and humans
He was created in the year 20XX
He has a sister known as Roll
He is the final version of a robot after the original failed prototype (Proto Man/Blues)

Origin of Mega Man:

As I've already said, Mega Man (and indeed many other characters) suffered from an identity crisis in his birth. Originally, he was going to be in an Astro Boy (from the 1960's manga of the same name) and then he was going to be called Mighty Kid, Knuckle Kid and even Rainbow Battle Kid (um...). Next up in the quest for a name is Rockman (who was actually named after the genre Rock and Roll not an actual rock) but Capcom Consumer Products Division president Joe Morici changed the name to Mega Man as he felt that the title 'Rockman' was awful. However, he is still known as Rock Man in Japan. He was designed with anime elements in mind, hence the ability to gain powers from bosses and transform. In the games, he was created by Dr Light as an assistant but, once his assistant, the evil Dr Wily, went, well, evil, changed into a fighting robot. The reason why he was chosen to fight Dr Wily is because of his sense of right and wrong. This would prevent him from destroying the city in order to defeat Dr Wily.

Evolution of Mega Man:

Over the course of the games, Mega Man has had to do battle with many different robots and thus gained their powers. Also, he, unlike his adversaries, fights, not for personal glory, but for the greater good. He has refused entry into the '1st Annual Robot Tournament' due to being a pacifist but there is a darker and more human side to him as well. This is due to him saying that the 1st rule of robots does not apply to him (that robots cannot hurt humans) when he considers killing Dr Wily. This presents the idea that he has now become separate from his programming and turned into 'a real boy'. Its rather deep when you think about it. Of course, you then have the changes into Mega Man X or Zero but as they are not actually Mega Man and are instead just different robots in the same franchise they do not get the award (yet...).

Games:
Main Series:
Mega Man (Rockman): (North America/Japan) in 1987 on the Famicom/NES
Mega Man 2 (Rockman 2: The Enigma of Dr. Wily): (Japan) in 1988 on the Famicom/(North America) in 1989 on the NES
Mega Man 3 (Rockman 3: The End of Dr. Wily): (Japan/North America) in 1990 on the Famicom/NES and Arcade
Mega Man 4 (Rockman 4: A New Ambition): (Japan) in 1991 on the Famicom/(North America) in 1992 on the NES
Mega Man 5 (Rockman 5: Blues' Trap) (Japan/North America) in 1992 on the Famicom/NES
Mega Man 6 (Rockman 6: The Greatest Battle in History): (Japan) in 1993 on the Famicom/(North America) in 1994
Mega Man 7 (Rockman 7: Fated Confrontation): (Japan/US) in 1995 on the Super Famicom/Super NES
Mega Man 8 (Rockman 8: Metal Heroes): (Japan) in 1996/(North America) in 1997 on PlayStation/Sega Saturn
Mega Man 9 (Rockman 9: Revival of Ambition): (World Wide) in 2008 on WiiWare, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade
Mega Man 10 (Rockman 10: Threat from Outer Space): (World Wide) in 2010 on WiiWare, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade
Mega Man: The Power Battle (Rockman: The Power Battle) (Japan) in 1995 on Arcade/(North America) in 2006 on the GameTap
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (Rockman 2: The Power Fighters): (World Wide) in 1996 on Arcade
Mega Man & Bass (Rockman & Forte): (Japan) in 1998 on the Super Famicom/(North America) in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance

Re-releases and collections:
Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Rockman MegaWorld) – (Japan) in 1994/(North America) in 1995
PAL April 1995 Mega Drive/Sega Genesis
Rockman Complete Works: (Japan only) in 1999/2003 on PlayStation,
Rockman Battle and Fighters: (Japan only) in 2000 on Neo Geo Pocket Color
Mega Man & Bass (Rockman & Forte): (International) in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance
Rockman Collection Special Box: (Japan only) in 2003 on the PlayStation 2
Mega Man Anniversary Collection: (North America only) in 2004 on the GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox, 2004/ (English Version) on the GBA (cancelled0
Rockman Power Battle Fighters: (Japan only) in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, 2004
Mega Man Powered Up: (Japan/North America/Europe) in 2006/(Australia) in 2008 on the PlayStation Portable, 2006
Mega Man Legacy Collection: released (World Wide) in August 2015 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo 3DS
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2: released (World Wide) on August 8, 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows

Portable Games:
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Rockman World 1): (Japan/North America) in 1991/(Europe) in 1992 on the Game Boy
Mega Man II (Rockman World 2): (Japan) in 1991/(North America/Europe) in 1992 on the Game Boy
Mega Man III (Rockman World 3): (Japan/North America) in 1992/(Europe) in 1993 on the Game Boy
Mega Man IV (Rockman World 4): (Japan/North America/Europe) in 1993 on the Game Boy
Mega Man V (Rockman World 5): (Japan/North America/Europe) in 1994 on the Game Boy/Super Game Boy
Mega Man: (North America only) in 1995 on the Game Gear
Rockman & Forte Mirai kara no Chōsensha: (Japan only) in 1999 on the WonderSwan
Rockman Battle & Fighters: (Japan only) in 2000 on the Neo Geo Pocket Color
Rockman Xover: (Japan only) in 2012 on iOS

Spinoff titles:
Panic Shot! Rockman: (Japan only) in 1992 on pinball machines 1992
Wily & Right no RockBoard: That's Paradise: (Japan only) in 1993 on the Famicom
Mega Man Soccer (Japan North America only) in 1994 on the SNES,
Mega Man Battle & Chase: (Japan/Europe only until Mega Man X Collection) in 1997 on the PlayStation
Super Adventure Rockman: (Japan only) in 1998 on the PlayStation/Sega Saturn
Rockman Online: (South Korea only) on the PC (Cancelled)
Mega Man Universe: (World Wide) on the PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade (Cancelled)

Mobile phone games:
Japan Only:
Mega Man, 2003
Mega Man 2, 2007
Mega Man 3, 2008
Rockman 3 Dr. Wily no Saigo!?, 2004
Rockman 4 Arata Naru Yabō!!, 2005
Rockman 5 Blues no Wana?!, 2006
Rockman 6 Shijō Saidai no Tatakai!!, 2007
Jump! Rockman, 2004
Rockman Bug Sweeper, 2003
Rockman Panic Fire, 2003
Rockman Space Rescue, 2003 (Europe and North America as well)
Mega Man Rocket Christmas, 2003 (Europe and North America as well)
Rockman Slot, 2003
Rockman GP, 2004
Rockman Pinball, 2004
Rockman DASH Golf, 2003
Rockman DASH 15 Panel, 2002
Kobun Flies?, 2001
Tide Coming Kobun, 2001
Kobun Assembly, 2001
Watch Kobun, 2001
Rockman Golf, 2002
RockMan.EXE: Phantom of Network, 2004
RockMan.EXE: Legend of Network, 2006
Rockman X, 2007
Rockman DASH - Grand 5 Island Adventure, 2008
Rockman X2, 2009
Rockman X3, 2010
Rockman Tennis, 2010
Mega Man Rush Marine, 2010
Intuition! Rockman, 2010
Rockman Diver, 2011
Rockman the Puzzle Battle, 2011
Rockman´s Sprite Logic, 2011
Mega Man Mobile, 2017
Mega Man Mobile 2, 2017
Mega Man Mobile 3, 2017
Mega Man Mobile 4, 2017
Mega Man Mobile 5, 2017
Mega Man Mobile 6, 2017

PC games:
Mega Man: (North America only) on the PC
Mega Man III: (North America only) on the PC
Rockman Gold Empire: in 1999 (Chinese game that's very similar to Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise)
Rockman Strategy: (Taiwan only) in 2001 on the PC
Street Fighter X Mega Man (Street Fighter X Mega Man): (World Wide) in 2002 on the PC

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS: released (Japan) on September 13, 2014/ (North America/Europe) on October 3, 2014/ (Australia) on October 4, 2014 on Nintendo 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: released (North America) on November 21, 2014/(Europe) on November 28, 2014/(Australia) on November 29, 2014/(Japan) on December 6, 2014 on Wii U


That's all on Mega Man but if I have missed anything or made a mistake then please don't hesitate to comment! Also, if you have any ideas on another character that should win the award then please comment as well.

Goodbye for now, Harry 

Sources: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_(character)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mega_Man_video_games
As well as my own knowledge