Mega Man (classic series)/Storyline/

Backstory

Circa 1958 Thomas Xavier Light and Albert W. Wily were born In the 1980s they both received doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering and were very interested in the ever-increasing role of computers in modern society. Thus, together in the mid-1990s they formed Light Labs, with the goal of furthering scientific research in the fields of computational design, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

As the world ushered in the new millennium, Dr. Light and Wily worked together on several joint projects in the field of robotics, creating many useful artificial beings such as the Sniper Joe police assistant robot or the Metool mining robot. These robots, along with countless others developed by Light Labs, helped make society's life much easier.

It was during the 2000s in an unnamed city in the Midwestern United States, master engineers Dr. Thomas Light and Dr. Albert W. Wily worked together to create a humanoid robot. This robot would demonstrate an advanced artificial intelligence program that would allow it to make decisions based on vague commands and directions. They called the robot project "Robot Master", because the resulting robot would be able to supervise the work of other, less intelligent machines.

The first Robot Master created by the two scientists was code-named "Blues", but came to be known as Proto Man. An advanced modification of the police robot Sniper Joe, Proto Man had the ability to lead a small squad of other robots in military applications. However, before testing of his AI was complete, the robot escaped and was thought destroyed.

With the disappearance of Proto Man, Light and Wily decided to create another robot. Fearing that the disappearance of Proto Man was due to the robot not having a peer, the two created a paired unit - twin robots with almost identical designs. These robots were called "Rock" and "Roll".

Rock was created as a general-purpose tool user. Simply by studying how a tool was used, he could mimic its use using a Variable Tool System. This made him the ideal lab assistant. His sister, Roll, was designed for general home use as a housekeeper.

With the success of these two test-type robots, Light and Wily designed and built six production-type robots, mainly to be used in the construction and maintenance of public works. These robots were Cut Man, a land reclamation robot; Guts Man, a construction robot; Ice Man, an Antarctic exploration robot; Bomb Man, designed to work as a pair with Guts Man; Fire Man, designed for waste management; and Elec Man, designed to oversee and control atomic energy power plants. Each of these robots had full use of the Robot Master's intelligence and reasoning potential.

Thus (according to Rockman Perfect Memories), in the year 2007 Dr. Light was awarded the Nobel Prize for the creation of the Robot Master. In addition, he received top honors in the manual design contest at LIT while Dr. Wily only received honorable mention. So, in essence, when it came time for the world to recognize Dr. Light and Wily for their contributions to science, the world seemed to focus on Light and Wily got a minor second place.

Game events

Wily continued to work with Dr. Light during the next year, but he was embittered by the results of the previous honors. Finally, in December of 2008 (officially December, 200X), he reprogrammed the six construction robots and tried, but failed, to reprogram Rock and Roll, and then fled the lab. With his new followers, Wily seized control of the city and demanded recognition.

Realizing that it would be very difficult for the armies to stop Wily without harming the city, Dr. Light knew something had to be done. Rock volunteered to be converted from his current state as a lab assistant into a fighting robot. Thus, from that day forth, he became known as "Mega Man".

Mega Man worked quickly to defeat the six robots that Wily had reprogrammed and defeated Wily at his fortress, bringing the jealous madman to justice. The world once again cheered Dr. Light and his creations on and demanded that Wily pay for his crimes. Yet, Wily asked for mercy and claimed that had he been given the recognition he deserved he would not have revolted (the events of Mega Man).

Yet, less than a year later, in 2009 (officially 200X), Dr. Wily created eight of his own Robot Masters, this time bent on destroying Mega Man and then making the world pay for not recognizing his great genius. Mega Man managed to defeat these robots and fought his way through Wily's newly constructed Skull Castle, defeating him yet again and bringing him to justice (the events of Mega Man 2).

Wily, once again, tried to convince the world that he had reformed after his second defeat, and this time he curried the favor of Dr. Light. In 2010 (Mega Man 3 is the first game to give a date of 20XX instead of 200X), Dr. Light lets Dr. Wily return to Light Labs and work with him yet again. They turn their attention to building a peace-keeping robot named Gamma, but to finish the project they must collect precious metals from nearby planets. Yet, for some reason, Robot Masters on the mines there have gone berserk, so Mega Man is asked by the good doctor to go retrieve the metals and defeat the berserk robots, but this time with the assistance of a new robotic dog named Rush. During his collection process, Mega Man meets up with a mysterious robot named Break Man, who at first seemed to be trying to inhibit Mega Man's progress. Yet, as it turned out, this mystery-bot was not working for the mad scientist, but rather, he was the long-lost Proto Man and was actually training him for his upcoming battles. Yet, once all the metals have been collected Wily is revealed to have been behind the plot, then stealing Gamma and retreating to a newly built fortress, so Mega Man heads there with Rush and defeats him, unfortunately having to fight and destroy Gamma in the process. However, when the Skull Compound self-destructs, Wily's space ship explodes and he goes missing and is presumed dead (the events of Mega Man 3).

A year after the events of the "Gamma Project" (2011, though officially 20XX), the world seemed ready to usher in a new age of peace. Wily was missing and presumed dead and the threat of another robotic revolt was slipping from the mind of the populace. But, just as people were beginning to forget the events of the past, a mysterious transmission arrived in Dr. Light's lab stating:

• "Good evening Dr. Light! Allow me to introduce myself- I am Dr. Cossack. You may not have heard of me, but soon the world will know my name. Over the years, you have been hailed as the greatest robot designer in the world, while my robotic creations have been totally ignored. I cannot allow this to continue. The world must be made aware of my genius! From my Siberian Citadel, I've sent eight of my most powerful robots to destroy the titanium trouble-maker, Mega Man. Once they have obliterated him, I will place his broken body on display for the entire world to see. Only then will I be allowed to take my place as the greatest robot designer of all time! (signed) Dr. Cossack (quoted directly from the Mega Man Anniversary Collection game manual)

It was thus that Dr. Sergi Cossack entered the scene. His eight creations began to wreak havoc on the world, and not being able to sit idle, Mega Man was once again called into action. However, Dr. Light had this time designed a new modification for him- the Mega Buster. This enhancement allowed him to charge his plasma shots into incredibly powerful charged energy beams. Thus, with this new weapon and Rush once again at his side, Mega Man set forth to defeat Cossack's mechanical creations. On his way, Mega Man found assistance from Dr. Light's newest creation- Eddy (aka "Flip-top"), who delivered items to him in times of need. Once Mega Man had defeated Cossack's henchmen and made it through his fortress, he defeated the scientist, only to discover that Cossack was not the villain that he seemed to be. Proto Man came in during the fight and delivered Kalinka, Cossack's daughter, to him, who Proto Man had rescued from the clutches of Dr. Wily. Cossack explained that Wily had kidnapped his daughter and forced him to create the robots as a cover or else he would never see his daughter again. Then Wily comes out of hiding and Mega Man chases him to his Arctic Fortress (Wily had been apparently hiding in Siberia). Mega Man fights his way through the fortress and, once again, defeats the madman, and this time the fortress self-destructs and Wily doesn't escape (the events of Mega Man 4).

In the year 2012 (officially 20XX), the world had recovered once again from Wily's manipulative actions against Cossack who launched an attack against humanity. In the year since, Dr. Cossack has partnered up with Dr. Light at Light Labs and worked on several projects, including a robotic support bird named "Beat" as well as a "hyper" modification for Mega Man's Mega Buster. However, when Mega Man is out patrolling the city, he receives a transmission from Dr. Cossack, stating:

• "Cossack to Mega Man! Cossack to Mega Man! Come in, Mega Man! Proto Man has gone wild! City Hall and the spaceport have been totally destroyed and the city's power grid is in shambles. I've never seen destruction on this scale before! I know you're worried about Dr. Light, but your first duty is to free the city from the grip of Proto Man's robots. I can modify your reactor to give your Mega Buster a little more power, but the rest is up to you. Dr. Light and I have been working on a special project, but it's not finished yet. Maybe if I can get it working, it might give you an edge. Remember to watch your back, Mega Man. Proto Man seems to have become more ruthless than we thought possible. Good luck! Cossack out!" (quoted directly from the Mega Man Anniversary Collection game manual)

Mega Man returned to the lab to find that Dr. Light had been kidnapped by none other than Proto Man, who had left his signature yellow scarf behind! Thus, with Dr. Cossack as his supporter, he set out to stop Proto Man's robots from destroying the city any further, with the help of Rush, Beat, and Eddy, and once they were defeated, he made his way to Proto Man's fortress. After getting through it, he fought Proto Man and the real Proto Man came and revealed that the one before him was nothing more than a clone known as Dark Man. Once Mega Man had defeated Dark Man, Dr. Wily revealed that he was behind the framing of Proto Man and still had the good doctor held in his lab (and had obviously not been killed in the self-destruction of his last lab), so Mega Man went to his new lab, defeated him, and found Dr. Light. However, this time when the lab was self-destructing, they were all caught under a collapsing ceiling, but Proto Man saved them all, though Dr. Wily managed to escape...(the events of Mega Man 5).

Roughly two years later (2014, officially stated as 20XX), Wily was laying low and the world was once again at peace. In honor of this new peace, the most talented robot designers from across the globe gathered at the First Annual Robot Tournament sponsored by the billionaire, Mr. X. Participants traveled from Japan, Canada, and the United States bringing their finest cybernetic creations to do battle in a series of tests to determine which robot could claim the title of "Most Powerful Robot in the World." Of course, Dr. Light was a pacifist and did not wish for Mega Man (who was also designed to be a pacifist) to participate and fight unless innocent lives were in danger. Nothing seemed strange when the contest had begun, but when the top eight contestants entered the arena for the final event, the lights dimmed and the mysterious Mr. X came to the microphone to speak:

• "Ladies and Gentlemen...I wish to thank you for coming to see the final event of my First Annual Robot Tournament. As you know, I have kept the final event of the tournament as a secret. This event will test the strength, skill, and intelligence of each of these fine robots. In fact, it will also test the strength and skill of each one of you. That may seem strange, but I'm sure you will understand when I explain that the final test for these robots is to help me conquer the world! Please excuse me and my robots as we teleport out of here, but we have a lot of work to do. But don't worry, you'll see me again soon...Real soon!" (quoted directly from the Mega Man Anniversary Collection game manual)

When Mega Man spoke to Mr. X during a transmission, the following was said:

• Mega Man: "Mr. X, Why?
• Mr. X: "It's time to tell you the truth. I have been manipulating that fool, Dr. Wily from the

beginning. But now I no longer need Dr. Wily's help. Come and face my power, Megaman!!"

• Mega Man: "We'll stop you! Follow me, Rush!"
• (quoted directly from Mega Man 6 for the NES)

This time, Dr. Light had upgraded Rush to allow Mega Man to combine with him and form into Jet Mega Man and Power Mega Man, allowing him to access new areas of locations and defeat enemies much easier. Once Mega Man had defeated Mr. X's eight Robot Masters, he fought his way through his fortress and confronted the eccentric billionaire in a duel and defeated him. However, it was revealed that Mr. X was none other than Dr. Wily himself, who was simply impersonating the real Mr. X whom he had kidnapped long ago. Thus, Mega Man chased Wily down to his newly designed fortress and fought him again, defeated him, and this time caught him and handed him into the authorities who arrested him and put him in prison. Thus, the world rejoiced at his capture (the events of Mega Man 6).

Later that same year, the world pulsed back to life. Everyone rejoiced with Dr. Wily sitting in a jail cell, his head hanging between the bars, and newspapers were filled with this image. Cameramen snapped images of Mega Man as the valiant hero who had saved the world. So, once again, the world seemed ready to enter yet another era of peace. However, six months after his imprisonment following the First Annual Robot Tournament cover, Dr. Wily's lab sprang back to life. Wily's lab had been programmed to reboot in the event that no contact had been made from him in six months, and thus, knowing that his schemes may one day end in failure, Wily had four Robot Masters built who came to life without receiving contact from their master and began to prowl about the town. Citizens, realizing that Wily was still behind bars, wondered how this was happening. How could this madman be controlling his robots from prison? Dr. Light and Rush had gone out into the city to investigate the situation, and Mega Man, along with Roll and Light's newest robotic lab assistant, Auto, rushed to the scene.

• "Dr. Light, Are you OK?" Mega Man shouted.
• "Mega Man, we have no time," replied Dr. Light. "Dr. Wily is using his robots to cover his escape. You must go! Follow his spaceship!"
• (quoted directly from the Mega Man Anniversary Collection manual)

Dr. Wily's robots teleport into the prison on an island near the city and the prison exploded, and thus, much to Mega Man and Light's horror, Wily flew away in his spaceship. Mega Man gave chase, meeting up with two new robots- Bass, and his robotic dog, Treble. The two fought with Mega Man, but after finding Mega Man worthy of his reputation(or alternatively too weak to battle Wily and "should sit this one out", if he happens to hit you too many times in the beginning) they claimed to be after Wily for revenge as well. Mega Man fought and defeated Wily's four robots only to discover that Wily was then attacking the Robot Master Museum, so Mega Man went there only to arrive seconds to late- Wily escaped with the original Guts Man robot! Upon returning to the lab, Mega Man was informed that four more of Wily's robots were tearing through the city, so he rushed out and defeated them as well. He met with Proto Man, who this time wanted to see which robot "father had made the strongest" (Dr. Light had made the strongest). Thus, the two fought and Mega Man emerged victorious. Proto Man gave Mega Man his Proto Shield as a reward. Mega Man also came across Bass injured just outside of Shade Man's lair, and he sent him to Dr. Light's lab for repairs. However, when he returned, he discovered that the lab was in ruins and that Bass was the one who damaged it! Bass was a creation of Dr. Wily and Wily appears on the monitor via a transmission and challenges Mega Man to come after him. Thus, Light tells Mega Man that he must go after Wily, so he does, destroying the newly built Guts Man and then defeating Bass. Mega Man once again defeats Wily, and this time he attempts to deliver a fatal Mega Buster shot to him:

• Dr. Wily: OK, I give up. Sorry about all the trouble. I'll go quietly...
• (Mega Man powers up his Mega Buster)
• Mega Man: I don't trust you, Wily! I gonna do what I should have done years ago!!
• Dr. Wily: (reeling back) You forget, Megaman. Robots cannot harm humans...
• Mega Man: I am more than a robot!! Die Wily!!
• (The building collapses, and Wily gets trapped under a large beam. Treble warps in and

transports him to safety. Bass warps in.)

• Bass: Too late, Megaman. He who hesitates is lost! We shall return!
• (quoted from Mega Man Classic Online's Mega Man 7 script)

Thus, Wily escapes and lives to fight another day...(the events of Mega Man 7).

In the year 2015 (officially 20XX), two robots battling against each other in outer space injure one another and end up falling down to Earth. Mega Man and Bass are fighting each other in the city when Roll comes to inform Mega Man that Dr. Light needs him immediately, and Light tells Mega Man that a strange energy reading has been located on a "skull-shaped" island that he needs to investigate. Mega Man discovers that the island is Dr. Wily's recent base upon destroying the robots there, and he arrives just in time to see the mad scientist making off with the energy core of one of the two robots who crash-landed there from space. The other robot is severely damaged, so Dr. Light tells him to bring him back to the lab for repairs and then go after Wily. As it turns out, Wily's newest batch of Robot Masters are far more powerful than the latest ones, but Mega Man manages to defeat them and then returns to the lab.

Dr. Light tells him that the robot will be alright after he rests a bit longer and that the energy that Mega Man has collected certainly doesn't seem to be from Earth...Then, the robot wakes up, sees the energy, and blasts through the ceiling heading for the desert. Mega Man, along with Rush, heads to the desert and the robot challenges him to a duel, which Mega Man wins. Proto Man then appears and informs Mega Man that Wily's newest fortress, "Wily Tower", is deeper inside the cave. Then, a giant robot attacks Rush and Mega Man when they go to see the fortress and the robot comes to save them. The robot identifies himself as Duo who travels throughout the universe searching down a force known as "Evil Energy". This energy, he explains, is extremely powerful and is at the heart of all people with evil desires. He said that the robot he was fighting took some to Earth and that Dr. Wily (an evil person) has harnessed it for his own desires, but to get into Wily Tower they will need to defeat the next four Robot Masters.

Thus, Mega Man set out to defeat the next set of Robot Masters and then made his way through Wily Tower, once again facing Bass and Treble. Dr. Wily had made use of the Evil Energy to design some powerful creations, but Mega Man was able to persevere and destroyed his creations and in the end, Wily Tower was toppled. Mega Man was nearly destroyed in the self-destruct process, but he awoke in the desert nearby and saw Proto Man standing on a dead tree branch, who told him that Duo had saved him and had a message for him- "Thank You." (The events of Mega Man 8).

Later that year, newspapers around the world began to circulate news stories about a new cybernetic villain known as the Robot King. King, they said, had kicked Dr. Wily out of his new skull castle and was using his creations to build up a Robot Army. Wily, who had been displaced, sought refuge at Light Labs (will Dr. Light ever learn not to trust the evil madman?). King begins to recruit robots from all over the world on a campaign to break the bondage of human rule stating that robots are superior to their human creators. Then, he breaks into the Robot Master Museum and steals 100 Data CDs to further build up his Robot Army.

Once again, Mega Man is called into action to stop the evil desires of King, and much to the surprise of Dr. Light and Mega Man, Bass, his rival, joins in the fight against the robotic overlord. The two rush to the museum just in time to see King making off with the CDs. Proto Man attempts to stop him, but King chops him in half with his ax and then retreats, stating that he has "other matters to attend to." Proto Man is sent to the lab for repairs and the two set out to take on the Robotic Army and the Robot Masters in charge of it.

Once they have all been defeated, Mega Man and Bass use their powers to unlock the "hatches" that lock the entrance to King's fortress. The two fight their way through it and eventually make their way to the overlord himself. Unable to penetrate King's shield, Proto Man, now repaired thanks to the efforts of Dr. Light, teleport in and converts all his power reactor's energy into the "Big Bang Attack" and takes out King's shield and collapses from exhaustion. Then the two take King on and manage to defeat him. The two talk to King and King asks them why they support the humans, to which Mega Man replies that they were created by humans and that King is acting unreasonably to seek to destroy for no just cause. Then, he asks King who his creator was since every robot has a creator, to which King replies: "What would you say if I said Dr. Wily?" Just then Dr. Wily appeared on the computer monitor and said that he had indeed been manipulating King and that he was going to repair him and "up his brain washing," and then King flees into the next room and combines his previous machines into a true battle mech that Mega Man and Bass destroy.

Finally, King comes to his sense and tells them that they must destroy Wily before innocent humans and robots are put in danger, so Mega Man and Bass head for Wily's floor of the base (where he has gone after his cover is blown and he can no longer stay with Dr. Light in the lab) and they battle the rebuilt Robot Masters and finally have a showdown with the mad scientist himself. Once again, Dr. Wily is defeated and his fortress destroyed.

Back at Wily's lab, Bass demands an explanation for Wily's actions to which he answers that he wanted to know if Bass was indeed the strongest robot in the world. Bass scoffs at him and points to a computer monitor containing blueprints for a "King II" robot, but then Proto Man teleport in, blasts the computer, and then gives them a "tough break" sign and teleport out. Then, back at Dr. Light's lab, Mega Man has been saddened by the loss of King, who turned out to have been simply manipulated by Dr. Wily. Roll, however, giggles and tells Eddie to give him a letter which has recently arrived in the mail. The letter turns out to be from King, who is alive and well and says he wants to work with Mega Man in the future to ensure world peace (the events of Mega Man & Bass).

After the classic series

After the events of the so-called "Wily Wars", later in Dr. Light's life, the good doctor was finishing up work on one last project. It was alluded to that Light was working on an advanced AI program during the later stages of Mega Man's battles against Wily, but it wasn't until much later, perhaps during the 2020s or so (though Capcom never specifies a date) that Dr. Light constructs a body for his project. He calls this new artificial being "Mega Man X"- a sequel so-to-speak to the current model of Mega Man. X, according to Light's notes, is far more advanced than any artificial being created to-date. However, he was no where near completing his testing and research on X, and knowing that he would not live to complete the project, he decided to seal X in a capsule for an intended 30 years (believing that people later on in the century would be able to understand and carry on his research) with the following message:

• "X" IS THE FIRST OF A NEW GENERATION OF ROBOTS WHICH CONTAIN AN INNOVATIVE NEW FEATURE - THE ABILITY TO THINK, FEEL AND MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. HOWEVER THIS ABILITY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. IF "X" WERE TO BREAK THE FIRST RULE OF ROBOTICS, "A ROBOT MUST NEVER HARM A HUMAN BEING", THE RESULTS WOULD BE DISASTROUS AND I FEAR THAT NO FORCE ON EARTH COULD STOP HIM.

APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE WE CAN SAFELY CONFIRM HIS RELIABILITY. UNFORTUNATELY I WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT DAY, NOR DO I HAVE ANYONE TO CARRY ON MY WORK. THEREFORE, I HAVE DECIDED TO SEAL HIM IN THIS CAPSULE, WHICH WILL TEST HIS INTERNAL SYSTEMS UNTIL HIS RELIABILITY HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE CAPSULE UNTIL THAT TIME. "X" POSSESSES GREAT RISKS AS WELL AS GREAT POSSIBILITIES. I CAN ONLY HOPE FOR THE BEST.

• SEPTEMBER 18, 20XX
• T.LIGHT

• (quoted directly from Mega Man X for the SNES)

Thus, X was sealed in a capsule, but for unknown reasons the 30 intended years turned into more than 80 as he was not found until an archaeologist named Dr. Cain discovered him while digging for Mesozoic plant life and came across the ruins of Light's lab in the early 22nd century, around April 10-14th, 2115 according to Cain's journal (officially 21XX).

Similarly, Dr. Wily was working on a project to build an advanced robot. However, his work on the project had been an ongoing project. His first attempt at the project was a failure, which resulted in the "accidental creation" of Bass while Wily was experimenting with a powerful energy source known as Bassnium (Bass' namesake). The King project was meant to, some believe, eliminate Bass and to test some additional power sources that Wily was experimenting with (hence why he was creating a "King II"). At the end of Rockman 2: The Power Fighters, Bass enters Wily's lab and surprises the doctor unexpectedly while he is working on a brand-new robot whom Bass describes as "girly" looking. Wily tells him that Bass may be the most powerful of his creations at this time, but his newest creation will certainly have the power to destroy Mega Man and be far more powerful than the accidental Bass ever was and will be able to crush him as well. This new creation that Wily is working on is obviously Zero. It is not specified what happens, but Zero is discovered sometime in the early 22nd century by the Maverick Hunters, commanded by Sigma, and ends up being the impetus of a powerful virus which starts the Maverick Rebellion and the Reploid Wars of the 22nd and 23rd centuries (21XX and 22XX time period).