Editing Mega Man (universe)

|caption          = [[File:MegaManSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert-dark]]

|developer        = [[Capcom]]<br>Inti Creates<br>Tiger Electronics<br>Rozner Labs<br>Minakuchi Engineering

|interwikipage    = Mega Man

The '''''Mega Man'' universe''' (known in Asian territories as '''''Rockman''''' ({{ja|ロックマン|Rokkuman}}) and occasionally written as '''''Megaman''''') refers to the  ''Smash Bros.'' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the eponymous ''Mega Man'' series by [[Capcom]]. Originating on the NES, the ''Mega Man'' franchise has spawned a multitude of video games across many platforms, as well as a variety of associated media. The series is the third such third-party franchise to contribute elements to a ''Smash'' game, with the titular [[Mega Man]] being a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''.

In the 1980's, Capcom had a lucrative strategy of developing video games for arcades first and porting them to home consoles later. After many successful releases, Capcom decided to make their first console-exclusive franchise. They recruited a team of six, a small team even at the time, to make a new game for Nintendo's Famicom. This team developed a side-scrolling platformer, a popular and safe genre during this era, but wanted to stand out in a few ways. Firstly was a heavy emphasis on fast paced combat with more complex enemies than the game's contemporaries. These include the boss characters, which both drop special abilities when defeated and are weak to the abilities of other bosses in a dynamic inspired by rock-paper-scissors. Another innovation was the ability to choose any stage in any order. This non-linear game design had not been seen in a video game before and added a layer of strategy by choosing which stage to beat first in a weaker state.

The team settled on a robot super hero fighting against other robots, inspired by the manga ''Astro Boy''. Keiji Inafune, who joined partway through development as a character designer, found similar inspirations in the designs he finalized. Inafune claimed he wanted to make the most detailed characters possible for the hardware, and he noticed that the Famicom's 56 color palette has more shades of blue than any other color, hence why the playable character is mostly blue. The team decided to call this character and the game ''Rockman'', based on rock & roll, the first of many musical references within the franchise.

More sequels followed soon after: ''Mega Man 3'' in 1990, ''Mega Man 4'' in 1991, ''Mega Man 5'' in 1992, and ''Mega Man 6'' in 1993, all released on NES. These games have since been ported, remade and re-released several times on many other platforms. The Game Boy versions of ''Mega Man'' 1-5 are particularly notable for being entirely different games inspired by their NES counterparts.

While the series remained relatively popular, each release saw diminishing returns due to a perceived market over-saturation. To combat this and finally bring the franchise into the new console generation, the team decided to create a major shake up for the franchise. This includes a time skip set 100 years after the events of the classic ''Mega Man'' series and an overall darker and edgier tone. This game eventually released as ''Rockman X'' in 1993 for Super Famicom, localized as ''Mega Man X'' for SNES. In this game, Dr. Cain discovers the ruins of Dr. Light's laboratory and finds the robot master [[X]]. A century early, Dr. Light built X as the first ever robot with free will, though he was put in stasis to solidify his moral code. While the reasons are unknown, Dr. Light never retrieved X before his own death. X wakes up to a world where humans and robots, now known as Reploids, peacefully coexist. However, Reploids sometimes go rogue and become criminals, dubbed Mavericks. X then joins the Maverick hunters alongside enemy turned rival [[Zero]] and other companions to keep world peace and stop a mounting Reploid uprising led by Sigma.

On the SNES alone, the franchise saw ''Mega Man X 2'' in 1994 and ''Mega Man X 3'' in 1995, the latter also releasing of PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC in certain countries, as well as a proper ''Mega Man 7'' in 1995 and ''Mega Man & Bass'' in 1998. Many spinoffs also released, including ''Wily & Right no RockBoard: That's Paradise'' in 1993, ''Mega Man Soccer'' in 1994, as well as arcade games ''Mega Man: The Power Battle'' in 1995 and ''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters'' in 1996.

After being more or less exclusive to Nintendo consoles for its life, Capcom decided to shift the franchise over to PlayStation and other CD based consoles due to their disappointment in [[Nintendo 64]] hardware. The first in this new era was ''Mega Man 8'' in 1996 for PlayStation, Saturn and PC, which utilized the capabilities of the CD format to produce high quality audio and fully animated cutscenes. However, the English dub of this game and future entries are notorious for its bad voice acting. Next came ''Mega Man X 4'' in 1997 and ''Mega Man X 5'' in 2000, which dropped the Saturn from as a SKU. Spinoffs of this era include ''Mega Man: Battle & Chase'' for PlayStation in 1997, and Game Boy Color releases ''Mega Man Xtreme'' in 2000 and ''Mega Man Xtreme 2'' in 2001.

At this point in time, complaints about the franchise feeling samey had begun developing and ''Mega Man'' once again needed a refresh. Due to the series almost exclusively having 2D gameplay, Capcom wanted the series to shift into 3D. The result was the third person shooter ''Rock Man Dash'' for PlayStation and PC in 1997, which was localized as ''Mega Man Legends''. Set several thousand years after the ''Mega Man X'' series, the game follows Volnutt, a lowly digger who gets powered up with robotic weapons. He teams up with his found family Roll and Barrel Caskett as they travel the world in search of treasure and fight the Bonne family and other global threats. The game received a port for Nintendo 64 titled ''Mega Man 64''. A prequel released as ''The Misadventures of Tron Bonne'' in 1999 and ''Mega Man Legends 2'' released in 2000. A Taiwanese exclusive PC game titled ''Rockman DASH Zhěngjiù Dìqiú Dà Màoxiǎn'' also released in 1999.

Keiji Inafune always intended for ''Mega Man X 5'' to be the last in that particular series and wanted to move on to a new venture. However, Capcom created a new team to continue the series without Inafune's knowledge, which resulted in ''Mega Man X 6'' for PlayStation in 2001, as well as ''Mega Man X 7'' in 2003, ''Mega Man X: Command Mission'' and ''Mega Man X 8'' in 2004. These entries ended the ''Mega Man X'' series, due to the terrible sales of 2005's ''Mega Man Maverick Hunter X''.

The project Keiji Inafune worked on eventually released as ''Mega Man Zero'' in 2002 for Game Boy Advance. Taking place 100 years after the events of ''Mega Man X 5'' and somewhat ignoring later installments, humans defeated the Mavericks and both humans and reploids were once again able to live in harmony. However, an energy crisis drove the humans to kill the Reploids to conserve fuel, causing a resistance movement to form. Zero is then discovered in a healing chamber, who goes out to piece together his century of absence, bring peace to the world once again, and try to find and defeat the mastermind behind this chaos. This game received sequels ''Mega Man Zero 2'' in 2003 and ''Mega Man Zero 3'' in 2004. Inafune initially wanted the series to stop here, but Capcom mandated a ''Mega Man Zero 4'' in 2005.

Concurrently to this series, a separate team created ''Mega Man Battle Network'' also for Game Boy Advance in 2001. Taking place in an alternate universe to the classic ''Mega Man'' universe, scientist Tadashi Hikari develops a Net society where regular people can jack in with a Net Navi and live out a second life. His grandson Lan Hikari and his Net Navi [[MegaMan.EXE]] as they defend the net society against all forms of criminal malware, including antagonist Lord Wily. This game is a stark departure from the rest of the series in that it is primarily an RPG. Battles take place in an enclosed grid and players must used collected battle chips to defeat their opponents. This game received a full port with extra contents for {{iw|wikipedia|Nintendo DS}} in 2009 titled ''Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star''.

This series received a myriad of sequels and spinoffs. The mainline entries include ''Mega Man Battle Network 2'' also in 2001, ''Mega Man Battle Network 3: White & Blue'' in 2002-03, ''Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun & Blue Moon'' in 2003-04, ''Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Protoman & Team Colonel'' in 2004-05, and ''Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar & Cybeast Falzar'' in 2005-06. ''Mega Man Battle Network 5'' was combine into a single release on Nintendo DS as ''Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS'' in 2005. Two platforming spinoffs released in 2003, ''Mega Man Network Transmission'' for [[Nintendo GameCube]] and ''RockMan EXE WS'' for WonderSwan Color. Two games released for Cell phones, ''Rockman EXE Phantom of Network'' in 2004 and ''Rockman EXE Legend of Network'' in 2006. Several spinoff based entirely on battling also released, including Game Boy Advance games ''Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge'' in 2003 and ''Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation'' in 2004, ''Rockman EXE N1 Battle'' for WonderSwan Color in 2003, and ''Rockman EXE The Medal Operation'' and ''Rockman EXE Battle Chip Stadium'' for arcades in 2005-06.

Also around this time, Capcom started developing many ''Mega Man'' titles for mobile phones, with several releasing every year consecutively. Alongside re-releasing preexisting ''Mega Man'' games several times, some original titles were also developed. This includes a canon ''Mega Man Legends'' game in 2008 titled ''Rockman DASH - 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken!''

After wrapping up the ''Mega Man Zero'' series, most of the same team then migrated over to development on a new series, which materialized as ''Mega Man ZX'' in 2006. Taking place 100 years after ''Mega Man Zero 4'', human and Reploid relations have once again grown peaceful, with maverick hunters now being mass-produced. This includes Mega Man model X and Z, both modeled after X and Zero respectively. The character Vent or Aile depending on who the player chooses are suited up as a Mega Man model and go out to save the world from another mysterious maverick uprising. The game received a sequel in 2007 titled ''Mega Man ZX Advent''.

The ''Mega Man Battle Network'' team also shifted over to Nintendo DS after dabbling with the console for a few re-releases to create the new game, which resulted in the release trilogy ''Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus, Leo & Dragon'' in 2006. Taking place several centuries after ''Mega Man Battle Network 6'', the Net Society is now so advanced that anyone can travel between it and the real world at will. Protagonists Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis combine to create [[Star Force Mega Man]] to both protect the world from the EM Virus and keep their true identities a secret. Gameplay is similar to the previous ''Battle Network'' games, but with a 3D perspective. The game received a few sequels, including release trilogy ''Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker × Ninja & Zerker × Saurian'' in 2007, and dual releases ''Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace & Red Joker'' in 2008.

After a 12-year hiatus, the classic ''Mega Man'' series suddenly returned in 2008 with ''Mega Man 9'' for WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network. The game was made in the exact 8-bit pixel art style of the first six ''Mega Man'' games, albeit with some subtle modernizations impossible to achieve on older hardware and new gameplay modes, as well as downloadable content released later. This game was received as a basic, yet well designed return to form after complaints of the many spinoff series losing sight of what made the franchise great in the first place in the eyes of many were forming. This game was followed up with ''Mega Man 10'' in 2010, which had largely the same qualities as ''Mega Man 9'' with expanded online modes and new characters. This game received less favorable reviews due to generally being considered safe and not innovative enough, which ironically is what put the series on hiatus in the first place.

''Mega Man 10'' would end up being the last Capcom-developed ''Mega Man'' game for many years. Around 2011, many projects were in the works, but ended up being canceled in messy ways. Four known projects include massive multiplayer online game for Windows ''Mega Man Online'', the nearly finished level creator game ''Mega Man Universe'', first person shooter reboot of ''Mega Man X'' titled ''Maverick Hunter'', and ''Mega Man Legends 3'', which initially had a public development period where anyone can contribute to various decisions before being canceled by a lack of confidence from executives. Keiji Inafune, who oversaw all of these games and had his reputation poisoned by these cancellations, left the company at this time to form his own studio. The games Inafune have made since his departure are ''Mighty No. 9'' in 2013, ''Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z'' in 2014, and ''ReCore'' in 2016, all of which were given negative reviews upon release and were considered pale imitations of previous games. Inafune also crowdfunded for the game ''Red Ash'', though this game has yet to materialize.

This drought ended in 2018 with the release of ''Mega Man 11'' on [[Nintendo Switch]], Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. This game once again sticks rigidly to the classic formula, but includes some unique gameplay elements and is the first in the series to utilize 3D graphics. The game received somewhat mixed reviews, praising the game for being a solid foundation for future games, but sticks to its formula to a fault at points and is afraid to do something truly innovative. This is also the last proper ''Mega Man'' game released to this day barring re-releases and the mobile game ''Mega Man X Dive'' for mobile devices in 2020, once again causing a drought of content.

Outside of games, the ''Mega Man'' franchise has been represented in other media. This includes guest appearances like the ''Marvel vs Capcom'' and {{uv|Super Smash Bros.}} series. Several animated series, comic books, and manga have been created, both directly based on games and in their own continuity. The ''Mega Man'' series has been considered highly influential in the video game industry, particularly with non-linear gameplay structure, story and continuity, and several well-regarded instances of modernization. The character is considered synonymous with Capcom and is one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time in regions where the NES was popular, despite new installments in the franchise being relatively few and far between in recent years.

The ''Mega Man'' universe debuts in ''Smash 4'' as the first Capcom series to make it into the ''Smash Bros.'' franchise, receiving a character, stage (alongside a boss), an [[Assist Trophy]], and an assortment of trophies and music tracks.

*[[File:MegaManIcon(SSB4-U).png|50px|right|link=Mega Man (SSB4)]]'''{{SSB4|Mega Man}}''' ([[Starter character|Starter]]): the {{iw|wikipedia|title character}} of {{iw|wikipedia|Capcom}}'s ''{{iw|wikipedia|Mega Man}}'' series; an android named Rock created by the illustrious Dr. Light. He was originally designed by Light to serve as a lab assistant, but he was ultimately modified to serve a higher purpose after Light's former colleague - Dr. Wily - went rogue. Equipped with the Mega Buster and the ability to absorb the powers of adversarial Robot Masters, Mega Man foils the plans of the nefarious Wily time after time with a strong sense of justice. He is one of the most fondly-remembered video game characters of his era. Similar to [[Nintendo]]'s [[Mario]], [[Sega]]'s [[Sonic]], and {{iw|wikipedia|Namco}}'s [[Pac-Man]], Mega Man is often treated by fans as an unofficial mascot of Capcom. Despite being a third-party character, he is closely associated with Nintendo; the first seven ''Mega Man'' games released from 1987 - 1995 were originally exclusive to Nintendo consoles and he had a reoccurring presence on the American cartoon series ''{{iw|wikipedia|Captain N: The Game Master}}'', appearing alongside Nintendo's [[Pit]] and {{iw|wikipedia|Konami}}'s [[Simon Belmont]]. Mega Man was one of the five third-party characters to appear on the Japan-exclusive "If There Was a Smash 2" poll conducted by [[Masahiro Sakurai]] between the releases of the original ''Smash Bros.'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Even though the ''Mega Man'' series entered a brief period of dormancy that coincided with the development of ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', Mega Man was deemed significant enough to not only be included as a new fighter, but to also be one of the first shown off. He was revealed to be a newcomer in ''Smash 4'' with the games' unveiling during E3 2013 alongside {{SSB4|Villager}} and {{SSB4|Wii Fit Trainer}}. His [[weight]], [[gravity]], and overall physics are faithful translations of the [[wikipedia:Game feel|feel]] of the original ''Mega Man'' games. He has very few physical attacks, instead relying on a vast arsenal of weapons obtained from defeated Robot Masters from across the series. For his [[up special]], he summons the robotic dog '''Rush''' to perform [[Rush Coil]]. Like {{SSB4|Palutena}}, Mega Man has a wide variety of [[custom moves]], one of which replaces Rush with another companion of his - the robotic bird '''Beat'''. Mega Man's [[Final Smash]], [[Mega Legends]], has him fire a continuous beam of energy alongside his alter egos: [[Mega Man X]] from the [[wikipedia:Mega Man X|eponymous subseries]], [[MegaMan.EXE]] from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Mega Man Battle Network}}'', [[Mega Man Volnutt]] from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Mega Man Legends}}'', and [[Geo Stelar]] from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Mega Man Star Force}}''.

*[[File:WilyCastleIconSSB4-U.png|75px|right|link=Wily Castle]]'''[[Wily Castle]]''' ([[Starter stage|Starter]]): staged on a metal plateau before Dr. Wily's Skull Castle - the final stage of ''Mega Man 2''. The plateau is flanked by two floating platforms. The main gimmick of the stage is that the Yellow Devil resides here as a stage boss. Otherwise, it is a stage similar to {{SSBB|Yoshi's Island}}, with small floating platforms moving in and out of the stage. The platforms that appear differ in function depending on the version of ''Smash 4''. In the 3DS version, platforms will float above the plateau and to the left and right of it. The layout is similar to the Bright Man Stage from ''Mega Man 4''. In the Wii U version, on-rail platforms move along a set path. They are similar to the moving platforms in the Guts Man Stage from the original ''Mega Man''; there are breaks in the rails that cause the platforms to abruptly fold and drop the characters and items that were on top of it. It is one of the possible stages to appear in Level 3^{(<span style="color:#FF1E00">3DS</span>)} and Level 4^{(<span style="color:#004DFF">Wii U</span>)} of [[All-Star Mode]] as a [[home stage]] for Mega Man. Only its [[Ω form]] can accommodate [[8-Player Smash]], which takes place on the plateau.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Mega Man|Mega Man 2 Medley}}''': a medley of pieces from ''[[Mega Man 2]]'', including "Game Start", "Title", "Stage Select", and "Dr. Wily Stage 1".

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Mega Man|Mega Man Retro Medley}}''': a medley of sourced pieces from the original ''Mega Man'', including: "Game Start", "Elec Man Stage", "Bomb Man Stage", "Cut Man Stage", "Guts Man Stage", "Fire Man Stage", and "Ice Man Stage".

The ''Mega Man'' franchise returns with a sizable boost in representation. Along with all previous content returning (sans one Assist Trophy), the franchise has expanded its scope to include content from other subseries such as ''Mega Man X'' and ''Mega Man Star Force''. Along with the titular character returning as an unlockable fighter, two new Assist Trophies make their debut. The lone ''Mega Man'' stage returns now with more hazards and an even larger selection of music tracks, both sourced and rearranged. Rounding out the representation is a large variety of [[spirit]]s spanning every major video game subseries in the franchise, with no other third-party series having as many Spirits in ''Smash'' as ''Mega Man''.

Arrangements and remixes unique to ''Ultimate''.

The ''Mega Man'' universe has media represented throughout the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series with a total of 32 games and media. The latest game represented in this universe is ''{{iw|wikipedia|Mega Man 10}}'', released on March 1, 2010.

*''Mega Man'' is the first third-party universe to have debuted on a Nintendo system and currently one of five third-party universes to have done so; the others being {{uv|Final Fantasy}}, {{uv|Castlevania}}, {{uv|Dragon Quest}}, and {{uv|Banjo-Kazooie}}.

**Coincidentally, both ''Mega Man'' and ''Final Fantasy'' debuted on the NES in 1987, with the former being released a day before the latter launched.

*Of all the third-party universes, ''Mega Man'' has the most:

**Assist Trophies, with three in total. This also makes it one of two third-party franchises to have more than one Assist Trophy, the other being {{uv|Sonic the Hedgehog}}.

**Spirits, with 57 in total.