It’s been some time since I’ve done this feature. TEi’s new feature series on Fantastic Fictional Females reminded me of my own article on one of my favorite characters, Jade, and that the idea of writing about my favorite characters was meant to be a series. XD So, to revitalize said series, I’m going to tackle a character I’ve been a fan of ever since I was a kid – Protoman.
Protoman first made his debut in Mega Man 3, which so happens to be the first Mega Man game I played. As I discovered and absorbed the gameplay, one character leapt out to me more than any other – the mysterious red and gray bot who tested Mega Man’s prowess before letting him pass in three of the initial stages, and simply let MM get into Gemini Man’s stage (why there wasn’t a battle here, I have no clue). The haunting music that predated his appearances became my personal favorite jingle of the NES – nothing else has better defined the NES sound chip than that whistle to me. He fought by leaping and blasting out two blasts from his shield. And once he received some invisible amount of damage, he beamed out, destroying the debris in your way so you could proceed. After beating the Doc Robot stages, a somewhat familiar face confronted me. My first playthrough was back in ye olde days before the Internet, so I had no clue what Protoman’s name back then was…until this first revelation: “Breakman”. I could have sworn that the earlier bot I battled did not have a faceplate, but I ignored my initial doubts and pressed “A” to begin the stage. Scrapping with Breakman was much harder than the earlier encounters – my Weapons gained from the Robot Masters were all useless. The stage layout did not offer a lot of forgiveness for mistakes. And Breakman was more furious in his assault. With some perseverance, I delivered the final blow and he beamed out. How…odd. I expected him to explode and offer me some sort of power. I beamed out, and an impromptu story segment directed me to Dr. Wily’s fortress, the Skull Castle. Tough stages and tougher bosses were conquered. A fake Wily was disposed. But Breakman did not return throughout these trials. It would take the toppling of Gamma and the real Dr. Wily’s apparent death in the ensuing rockfall to make Breakman come back and rescue Mega Man from the impending destruction of Skull Castle…but he muttered something about Wily and how it was “too late” to save him. When Mega Man comes to, Dr. Light wonders about who it was who brought you back…until the whistle starts up. “It mush have been Protoman!” proclaims the excited Dr. Light. After beaming out, the most beautiful ending music I’ve ever heard has really kicked in. Beginning with the now-familiar notes of the whistle you’ve heard all game long, the tune now continued well beyond what it did during gameplay. And it is accompanied by gorgeous NES sprite work. And at the end, an epiphany. Protoman, minus the faceplate, is shown to be Mega Man’s brother and the first robot Light had ever built. It seemed that Breakman was merely a cover (or an alternate bot, which I believed for a very long time) for Protoman to be able to aid Mega Man. Whoa. For a 8-year-old who had not gotten much in the form of story and character development in his games before, this was a milestone.
Looking back now, Protoman’s ”mystery” was pretty silly to get myself all caught up in. It’s obvious now that Protoman and Breakman were the same bot, and that Protoman was working with Wily only to double-cross him by aiding his brother (which would set up the plot of MM5). But something about Protoman’s design has always struck me as awesome ever since. The helmet design, with the triangular shades and the nifty three-pronged crest over it, was much cooler than Mega Man’s. His scarf added much to his mystique, and his Shield backed his Proto Buster, giving him two forms of offense and a stronger defense than Mega Man could have. Another thing I’ve pondered was his motive – whose side was he really on? He worked for Wily only to end up backstabbing him. He fought against Mega Man often enough in MM3 to suggest he wasn’t completely on his side, either. He certainly criticizes Mega Man about his ignorance throughout his Classic MM appearances, and although Mega Man is left in the dark about the family connection, Protoman is absolutely clued into it, and teases MM in a similar fashion most siblings would.
As future titles would reveal, Protoman is a lone wolf, interjecting whenever he wanted to. He felt that he had no personal commitment to Mega Man or Dr. Light (beyond family relations, really). In fact, later titles highlight Protoman’s distrust of Dr. Light, which adds in another interesting quirk to his backstory. He consistently refuses Dr. Light’s aid, and only once in the whole Classic MM timeline does Protoman go to Dr. Light for repairs (Mega Man & Bass, after being cleaved in two by King). His name derives from what he was – a prototype robot Light would base his future creations Rock (Mega Man) and Roll on. As such, he was not complete when he departed Light’s lab for good, and had to be fixed by Dr. Wily (which helps explain his robotic skills) to prevent his demise, which is why Protoman was working for Wily in the first place. In the proceeding NES sequels, Protoman embraced his newfound freedom from Wily, appearing only when he felt he had to become involved. In Mega Man 4, Protoman arrives to save Mega Man from Dr. Cossack, who had been forced to try to kill Mega Man. Dr. Wily’s kidnapping of Cossack’s daughter, Kalinka, was the pawn that tied Cossack’s hands. By having rescued her from Wily’s lair, Protoman released Cossack of his obligation to Wily, and Mega Man was spared. Wily cackles from behind the scenes, and thus, Mega Man chases after him and defeats him yet again. In Mega Man 5, Wily takes his revenge against Protoman’s machinations, creating a nigh-perfect clone of him to kidnap Dr. Light and wreck further havoc upon the city. When Mega Man finally confronts him, Protoman’s clone nearly kills him…but one may have noticed that the trademark tune that defines Protoman seemed a little…off. As Mega Man is pinned against the wall, 1 point of energy left before his destruction, the right whistle floats through the silent air. The real deal appears and destroys the disguise surrounding Wily’s Dark Man, Mega Man conquers both Dark Man and Dr. Wily, and Protoman offers one last bit of aid helping Mega Man and Dr. Light escape before slipping away into the shadows once more. In Mega Man 6, Protoman can be completely missed by the player, as he only appears in one place as an Easter Egg more than anything else. If you have the Power Suit in Tomahawk Man’s stage and take the right path, you can crush a rock wall with the Power Suit and enter a secret area. Protoman will whistle, beam in and drop a device, and then leave. This device is an Energy Balancer, and it will refuel your weapon meters automatically for you as you pick up Weapon pellets. These are the games where Protoman left his strongest mark upon me. He’s appeared in future MM titles, but outside of the teasing Power Battle games (where you could play as him), I’ve still not had the chance to play him proper in Mega Man Powered Up! or MM9 (I want to, though!).
Ultimately, it’s his enigma that drew me to liking him. He’s very mysterious whenever he appears, and you never really know what exactly he’s up to or planning. He’s on your side, but he doesn’t seem to be helping you for any reason beyond his own desire to. Protoman wants Mega Man to prove himself, in some way or another. Be it defeating him in MM3, being clever enough to find him in MM6, or surviving difficult ordeals to have him step in and offer his aid (MM4 and MM5), Protoman seems like he’s always watching your actions, and reacting accordingly. It’s fitting, as Protoman is Mega Man’s older brother, so it mirrors reality. Protoman’s other major personality quirk is his personal choice of isolation. He doesn’t tend to stick around when he appears – he does what he needs to do, and then drifts off. He’s not one to hang around for no reason. Another facet I dig about Protoman is his immense strength. Mega Man never is able to destroy the floor – he can only break through certain walls, or lift particular blocks. The way Capcom used Protoman in MM3 suggests that he has unimaginable power inside of that robotic body, and that he could really be a frightening force to fight were he inclined to give it his all. However, Protoman is not invincible. This power comes with a price: his life. After all, thanks to knowledge from The Power Battles that is now canon, his energy core is malfunctioning, despite Wily’s best efforts to replace it. Considering Capcom’s handling of him, it makes sense that Protoman only uses his full destructive talents in extreme situations…or it could cost him dearly. Mega Man & Bass highlights this with Protoman’s Big Bang Strike assault on King, and how it nearly killed him in the process. His power may be great, but he is aware of how much it taxes him, reserving it for critical situations. He even intimidates foes with his possible destructibility in Mega Man Powered Up! with his dialogue to Yellow Devil (“When you attack me, watch out for my unstable nuclear core. One wrong move, and we’re both vapor, I’d say”). He may be cocky, but he knows his own limits better than anyone else.
![MM3ProtoMan[1]](http://lvls.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/mm3protoman1.png?w=318&h=509 "MM3ProtoMan[1]")
Protoman isn’t anywhere near as complex or as deeply interesting as Jade is, but he still intrigues me as a loner-style of character. For a NES creation, he has a remarkable amount of depth in those 4 games he appeared in, and Capcom’s done a fine job refining his persona in later titles. And after all this time, he still has that badass design edge and the curious mystification that drew me to him in the first place. I look forward to giving MM9 a proper spin once I can, and finally getting a chance to play as one of my favorite designs.
Additional research conducted at the Mega Man Wikia Protoman page and VGMuseum.
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