Happy Friday everyone. I’m super excited about this week’s Top 5, because I get to talk about one of my favorite game series of all time. You might be asking, ‘why bring up Mega Man now?’. Of course if you keep up with Virtual Console news, then you know that Mega Man was released on the VC on Monday. An educated guess on my part says that Mega Man 9 can’t be too far in the distance, if they’re starting the hype machine with the original Mega Man. It’s not like Mega Man 9 needed to be more hyped up then it already is. Anyway, all of this news and speculation brings us to today’s Top 5 List Of Mega Man characters throughout the years.

It should be noted that Mega Man himself won’t be on this list; he figured it just wasn’t fair considering he’d be a guranteed #1.

5. Rush - It wouldn’t be until the third installment of Mega Man before man’s Mega Man’s best friend would make an appearance. Rush was a welcome addition to the series, not just because of his loving, loyal nature. The added gameplay mechanic that Rush brought to the series didn’t necessarily catapult the series further, but was welcome. I mean who’s going to complain about getting a robotic dog that can change into a submarine, jet, and the legendary Rush Coil.

Later in the series, Rush would prove useful for direct suit powerups. It’s because of Rush’s help to Mega Man over the years that he gets his place as the #5 greatest Mega Man character of all time.

If Only My Dog Could Let Me Fly Around In The Clouds

4. Cut Man - I’d be doing the series of Mega Man a disservice if I didn’t mention one of the series’ level bosses. The traditional Mega Man game consisted of 8 level bosses, and then a final game boss stage. Capcom has put their creativity to the test throughout the years trying to come up with new bosses to fill out the levels. I could make a separate Top 5 list of these creations (future idea perhaps?), but for now Cut Man gets the spot at #4.

Cut Man gets the #4 spot for his weapon usage. He’s basically the ‘Oddjob’ of Mega Man, who detaches the blade that sits atop his head to chuck it at the blue bomber. Cut Man wasn’t necessarily the hardest boss in Mega Man history. The forward dash he would pull of after he threw his blade made for challenging timing. When you talk about Mega Man level bosses it’s all about character design. Cut Man in this writer’s mind has the best.

Who Throws A Razor Sharp Blade Hat….Honestly
(Source: PinkGodzillaGames.com)

3. Dr. Wily - When you talk about determination in video game villains, the mind shifts to Bowser (who can never really be topped, anyone who can tell me the number of times he’s kidnapped Princess Peach gets a cookie). Beyond the Koopa King, Dr. Wily is probably the next on the list of determined villains who will never give up. Sure Dr. Wily is a bit of a whiner, going on his reign of destruction because of his jealously to Dr. Light. The fact that he’s the sole creator of Zero grants him his spot on the list. If you need proof of Dr. Wily’s spot on the Top 5, here is a list of games where he plays the villain (these are just NES, Gameboy, and I’m assuming WiiWare iterrations)

Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Mega Man 7
Mega Man 8
Mega Man 9 (assuming)
Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge (Game Boy)
Mega Man II (Game Boy)
Mega Man III (Game Boy)
Mega Man IV (Game Boy)
Mega Man V (Game Boy)

It’s been 12 years since Dr. Wily has unleashed terror on the world. With Mega Man 9 coming out, it will be interesting to see if they put him to bed forever. Perhaps, this might be the beginning of the second coming of Wily. Either way, I can’t wait.

2. Zero - When the Mega Man X series premiered on the SNES, Capcom needed something new and fresh to bring to the series. One of the first additions was of the character Zero. The character represented a more story based element that Capcom brought to Mega Man (you can only defeat Dr. Wily so many times). It would have been easy to just throw Zero in, and do nothing. Capcom did just the opposite and really developed Zero throughout the years.

Zero’s history is really what sets him apart in the Mega Man universe. This maverick hunter has been through it all. He was originally developed by Dr. Wily as a fool proof way of defeating ‘X’. He was created with the Zero virus injected into him. This virus was to make Zero go insane; crazy enough to defeat Mega Man. In a fight with Sigma he would be defeated, then studied by Dr. Cain. Soon after he would be a valuable ally in the Mega Man X series, eventually spawning into his own series on the Gameboy Advance.

I Wonder If He Uses That Blade To Cut His Bread

What really makes Zero one of the greatest Mega Man characters is his weapon pallet. In the early Mega Man X days, Zero has a buster just like Mega Man, but also wielded a beam saber. As the series progressed Capcom tried to have Zero come into his own, and would eventually wield the beam saber exclusively. Any character with the rough history, and valiant heroism, topped off with a beam saber gets his #2 spot on the Mega Man list.

1. Proto Man - Mega Man might be the main character throughout most of the series, but Proto Man was running things when Meg’s was but a nut and bolt. Proto Man is the prototype (hence the name), that Mega Man would be designed after. Zero might have the more developed story, but Proto Man has the ultimate flawed hero scribe. Proto Man would first appear in Mega Man 3, he would be a road block for Mega Man. These were just training sessions, trying to get the blue bomber ready to battle Dr. Wily.

Later it would be revealed that Proto Man has a fatal flaw in his system, so his own power will bring about his eventual demise (how’s that for ironic). Due to this defect, Proto Man becomes the lone maverick traveling the world alone his own way. When Proto Man has been made playable he actually is shown to be even more powerful than Mega Man. He has orange burst rounds, and his charge-up move is even more powerful. He also has a shield that has become the staple of Proto Man, and even further makes him more powerful than Mega Man. His patented whistle is just the cherry on top.

If you need even further evidence of Proto Man’s bad ass-ness, then check out this discussion in the ending of Mega Man 8 (skip to 3:11 for Proto Man)

**Spoilers**

Since there are so many Mega Man characters to mention. Here is a Honorable Mention list:

Dr. Light
Vile
Sigma
Wood Man
Bass
Ring Man (personal reasons)
Dark Man
Met
Morph Moth

I’m sure that with any of my Top 5 lists you all disagree with some of it. I want to hear some of your favorite Mega Man characters, memories, and hair pulling frustrations. Mine was Ring Man back in the day…I shudder just thinking back to it.