History ComicBook / MegaMan

[[redirect:ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics]]

[[quoteright:284:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MegaMan1-0_2997.jpg]]

A ComicBook series based on the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series, produced by Creator/ArchieComics and written by Creator/IanFlynn, writer of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. Unlike the Sonic adaptation, this one largely sticks to the source material when adapting the series, including elements from the obscure UsefulNotes/GameBoy titles and NoExportForYou titles like ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'' and ''The Wily Wars''. The first issue was released in May 2011. In a similar vein to Sonic's ''Off Panel'', this series features ''Short Circuits'' in the back, which is a short, comic strip style gag based on the events on the issue.

In 2013, it crossed over with ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', and again, titled ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'', in 2015.

Not to be confused with the Brazilian Mega Man comic, ''ComicBook/NovasAventurasDeMegaman''. Nor would you want to confuse it with the {{Manga}}, ''Manga/MegaManMegamix''. Nor should you even confuse it with the short-lived ''[[ComicBook/MegaManDreamwave Mega Man]]'' comic from Dreamwave.

With issue #55, Archie put the series on hiatus. With the cancellation of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW that license moving to]] Creator/IDWPublishing and Creator/BoomStudios getting the rights for ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'' comics, it is extremely unlikely that Archie's ''Mega Man'' will resume.

----
!! Tropes exclusive to the comic:

* ActionGirl:
** Splash Woman in her brief appearance.
** Roll has her moments as well, especially in Issue 19 when she leads relief efforts after a cruise ship crashes into a submerged rock.
** Tempo helps to disable the bombs and rescue the doctors after one goes off in the Spiritus Ex Machina story arc. She also helps Roll in Issue 19.
** Agent Roslyn Krantz is this just about every time she appears.
* ActuallyADoombot: After Time Man and Oil Man are dealt with and Dr. Wily is cornered, Roslyn reveals that the latter is really a hologram placed by the real one.
* AdaptationalBadass:
** The Wily Walker. The original version from the games looks like [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090220002133/megaman/images/2/23/WilyMachine3A.jpg this]]. The comic version looks like ''[[http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=22619&pg=2 this]]''. The actual Pinbot does show up in issue 47, though.
** And Roll as well.
** Gamma was a relatively stationary boss in its debut. The comic has it go on a rampage.
* AdaptationAmalgamation: While the series never got around to showing it in full, the glimpses of the ''VideoGame/MegaManTheWilyWars'' adaptation seen in issues #20 and #55 indicate it would have squeezed the plots of the first four Game Boy games (primarily ''VideoGame/MegaManII'') into the story via the Mega Man Killers and Quint, instead of those games getting their own adaptations.
* AdaptationExpansion: Given that the original games were largely {{Excuse Plot}}s, this was inevitable.
* AdaptationNameChange: ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'''s final boss, originally named "New Yellow Devil", is instead called "Ra Devil" when it appears in the comic.
* AdaptedOut:
** CWU-01P is absent from the arc adapting ''VideoGame/MegaMan1''. It does, however, appear in the next arc when the characters revisit the fortress.
** The Picopico-kun is the only ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' boss that doesn't appear in the comic's adaptation of it.
* AfraidOfNeedles: Needle Man, ironically enough. {{Justified}} in that almost all of the ''Mega Man 3'' Robot Masters are weak to their own weapon.[[note]]This is probably more a quirk of the game's ObviousBeta status.[[/note]]
* AfterActionHealingDrama: Issue 33 is dedicated to Mega Man being repaired after nearly dying from overloading himself.
* AlasPoorVillain: How Mega Man feels about Ra Moon. Despite being an evil genocidal supercomputer, Mega Man felt regret about killing him.
* AliensAreBastards:
** Wily attempted to invoked this in the third story arc with a hologram.
** Ra Moon is a real case of this trope, as are the Stardroids and Shadow Man (as well as [[FaceHeelTurn Trio]]).
** Duo is an aversion. He's a very nice fellow and space law officer.
* AIIsACrapshoot: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] at length, but almost completely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in that all rogue actions by robots are the result of human tampering or [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum murderous alien supercomputers]].
* AlternateHistory: Up to Issue #21, the comic is set in the year [[YearX 200X]] like the first game. The comic began in 2011.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Done three times. Issue #53 sets up the plot of ''Mega Man 4'', encouraging the reader to buy ''Mega Man Legacy Collection'' to find out more. Issue #54 sets up Break Man's part of ''4'', explaining that he's now going to walk the path to redemption. Issue #55 has this on a far grander scale, showing how Mega Man continues to fight for eight more games, and becomes a serial concept.
* AndroidsArePeopleToo: Mega Man and the other Robot Masters are treated as people by Light and his companions. Rosie likewise treats Rock and Roll like people, but Gil just finds Light's behavior towards his creations ridiculous.
** The series also shows subtly that Robot Master thinking is ''different'' from that of humans, such as Rock inquiring if Dr. Wily will be reprogrammed in prison (and expressing regret when told it's not possible), and Guts Man and Concrete Man discussing what they want done with them after they are decommissioned. Some of the Robot Masters choosing decommissioning over change would also count.
* AndroidsAndDetectives: Mega Man ends up working with Agents Krantz and Stern on several occasions. Rosie is able to get along just fine with Rock. Gil, being old-fashioned, not so much.
* {{Animesque}}: Given the source material, this isn't a surprise.
* AntiHero: Blues. He has a good heart and does want to do the right thing, but his issues with Dr. Light leads him to make terrible decisions like attacking his own brother on his birthday. Not to mention he does not know how bad Wily is.
* AnythingYouCanDoICanDoBetter:
** Wily took this mantra when building the ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters. They are all direct upgrades from the Light Robots.
** As Dr. Wily made Ra Thor from Ra Moon's technology, Ra Moon made the Ra Devil from Dr. Wily's design of the Yellow Devil. It's much stronger than Ra Thor.
* ArcWelding: Shadow Man's backstory and the alien threats from ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', ''VideoGame/MegaManV'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' are now all related. In addition. Time Man's existence is now linked to the plots of ''VideoGame/MegaManII'' and the Japan-only game ''Challenger from the Future.''
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Quick Man qualifies, given that he spent the entirety of the third story arc trolling Mega Man and mocking him for being weak. When Mega Man confronts him for the final time, Quick Man is defeated without even knowing what happened.
* ArtisticAge: All the Robot Masters run into this given that the oldest of them is at most a couple of years old and the youngest being a month at the most, yet they act like young adults to children.
* ArtShift[=/=]OffModel: Happens when Chad Thomas or Ryan Jampole (to a lesser extent) pen the artwork, as their art styles are noticeably different from Spaz's, Bates's and Hill's in some ways.
* AscendedMeme:
** Air Man's line "You can't beat ''me''."
** In "Prototype", Blues refers to a biker as "Green Biker Dude" in reference to a nickname for a memetically popular background extra in ''VideoGame/MegaManX2''[='=]s intro stage.
** The gag of Metal Man's weapon being overpowered gets a nod in an early arc when Mega Man realizes he'd have had an easier time if he'd done Metal Man first.
* AsYouKnow: The first issue uses this.
* AttackAttackAttack: Mega Man shows increasing signs of this as he absorbs more pieces of Wily's malware.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Gamma's weak point wasn't ''supposed'' to be incredibly obvious, but due to [[http://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8143#p425272 a disconnect between writer and artist]] his one weakness is very easy to spot.
* AvengingTheVillain: As of issue 32, the Stardroids are on their way to Earth to avenge Ra Moon. They don't arrive before the series ends.
* BackdoorPilot: The pseudo-crossover with the X series was meant to jumpstart a comic based on X, which didn't take due to this comic's already-waning sales at the time.
* BackFromTheDead: The ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters initially had their I.C. chips destroyed (stopping them from being rebuilt), but Ra Moon later used backups to revive them.
* BadBoss:
** Wily borders on this. Although Cossack claims that even a monster like Wily loves his robots, he had no problem sending the ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters out to get slaughtered by Mega Man so he would download his malware program along with their weapon data.
** Needle Man thinks Wily is a terrible boss by making them fight Mega Man and not really caring if they get killed or not since Wily wins either way. He also seems to resent being merely a weapon without a choice but to obey Wily.
** Earlier in the same story arc, all of the first-generation Wily Numbers had to give up their I.C. chips to fulfill Wily's latest plan. Quick Man was not pleased by this.
** None of the ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters are happy about being stuffed into one robot, since they can barely function with all the conflicting personalities. In Doc Robot's last moments, he begs Mega Man to stop Wily (who he calls an idiot).
** Xander becomes so obsessed with destroying robots that he was willing to blow up his own men during the ''Spiritus Ex Machina'' story arc.
* BagOfSpilling: Justified. After his power corruption in issue #3, Mega Man avoids holding onto weapons longer than needed to prevent it happening again.
* BeachEpisode: Issue 19, in that it takes place on a beach. It starts off as usual, but then a storm blows in and a shipwreck happens...
* BecomingTheMask: Played with. Wily fakes a HeelFaceTurn as part of his newest plan after Ra Moon is defeated, but his inner monologue reveals that he's starting to doubt himself and is considering calling it all off. Ultimately he subverts it completely and just goes through with the plan.
* BigBadassBattleSequence: Issue 31 has a great big splash page with Rock, Break Man, three of the [=MM 1=] robot masters, and all of the [=MM 2=] robot masters versus the [=MM 3=] robot masters [[MindControl mind-controlled by Ra Moon]] and Ra Moon itself.
* BigBadFriend: Dr. Light's relationship with Wily can best be described as this trope. Even after Wily reprogrammed his Robot Masters and tried to kill his son, he still wanted to work things out with Wily before he went to prison. He also tells old stories about the good times Wily and him had and how he missed his friend. When Wily told his story about Ra Moon controlling him, Dr. Light is more than willing to believe him and lets Wily live at his house during probation.
* BigBlackout: ''Global'' thanks to Ra Moon.
* BigDamnHeroes: The first Robot Masters arrive to help Mega Man defeat his copy.
* BittersweetEnding:
** In the ''Mega Man 3'' story arc, Wily has been defeated again and Gamma cannot be used for evil. However, Mega Man had no choice but to destroy Gamma and Dr. Light does not have the funds to rebuild it. Light also has to rebuild his home and lab after Wily destroyed it and Blues is still not on the best terms with his family, although he's finally getting better.
** The final issue has Doctor Light witnessing all the things Dr. Wily will do, and the suffering that will happen long after both of their deaths, but also the hope of seeing the various future Mega Men, all fighting for peace, just like Rock.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
** The original Robot Masters after being reprogrammed by Dr. Wily.
** Mega Man slowly becomes this as he downloads pieces of Wily's malware.
** The ''Mega Man 3'' Robot Masters in the Ra Moon story arc.
** Following said arc, Wily wants everyone to believe that he was brainwashed by Ra Moon.
* BreakTheHaughty: Ra Moon betrayed Wily and took his Robot Masters. To add even more insult to injury, he takes control of Wily's ace, Ra Thor, and made an improved version of the Yellow Devil. By the end of the story arc, Wily was begging Mega Man for help and apologizing for allowing all of this to happen.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In order to defeat Ra Moon, Mega Man [[OverclockingAttack fires a double charged buster shot]], which nearly destroys him as well.
* BlatantLies: Wily claimed that Ra Moon was controlling him the entire time, forcing him to start his first two evil plots.
* BlobMonster: The Yellow Devil and Ra Devil.
* BloodKnight:
** Most of Wily's Robot Masters fall into this, especially Quick Man.
** In "Dawn of X", Vile fits this trope perfectly.
** Zero too, to a degree.
* BlowYouAway: Air Man.
* BrickJoke:
** Crash Man and Needle Man's lack of hands, which goes ''several issues'' before being brought up again.
** In Issue #2, Mega Man asks why Wily couldn't make Robot Masters like "Origami Man". In Issue #17's ''Short Circuits'', he does indeed.
* BrotherSisterIncest: This is Ice Man towards Roll if you follow the "creator=parent" logic.
* CallBack: The ceremony where Doctors Light and Wily unveil Gamma is very similar to the ceremony where Dr. Light unveiled the first Robot Masters.
* CallForward: By the truckload:
** During ''Dawn of X'', Sigma utilises a beam-blade, and casually suggests at one point that maybe Zero should get one.
** In issue 49, Roll suggests that if some of Wily's Robot Masters don't want to be reprogrammed, maybe they can make [[VideoGame/MegaMan7 a robot museum to live in]]. A few issues later, the museum is in the process of being built...and Concrete Man is one of the ones building it.
** During "Spiritus Ex Machina'', Pharaoh Man mentions how he dreads to think of what he'd do [[VideoGame/MegaMan4 if he were under Wily's control]].
** While exploring the Temple of the Moon in Issue 34, Cossack decides to create [[VideoGame/MegaMan4 a Robot Master with drills]] once he returns.
** Issue 54 has parts of the under-construction ''VideoGame/MegaMan5'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'' Robot Masters scattered around Wily's lab, alongside blueprints for various Wily Castles and fortresses seen in between ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan6''.
** Issue 53 has Concrete Man and Guts Man discussing their futures after being decommissioned - Guts Man wishing to be [[VideoGame/MegaMan7 on display]] and telling Concrete Man that [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 he'd change his mind about being recycled instead when his time comes]].
* TheCameo:
** The two soldiers that Mega Man encounters in Issue 2 after the very first Robot Master attack are the same player characters from the arcade game ''VideoGame/ForgottenWorlds''.
** In Issue 19, one of the people on the life rafts looks a lot like [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]].
** [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]] is Wily's defense attorney in issue 36. The detective taking Wily to jail in the same issue bears a resemblance to Dick Gumshoe from the same series.
* CharacterFilibuster: ''Defied'' in issue 30. Bubble Man nearly starts an EvilGloating-filled rant towards Mega Man and his allies but gets shut up by an annoyed Metal Man.
-->"Do. Not. Tell. Them. '''ANYTHING'''."
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: All of Light's Robot Masters seemed to be built with this trope in mind. {{Justified}} since they were built to serve humanity.
* ClueFromEd: This came into effect starting with #issue 5, once the story got some continuity behind it.
* CoincidentalBroadcast: Dr. Light hears one about robots attacking the city just after discovering his new Robot Master line was stolen.
* ComicBookAdaptation: Yup.
* CommLinks: The Robot Masters seem to have these built in to communicate with each other. It also allows Dr. Light to stay in contact with Mega Man on his missions.
* CompositeCharacter:
** Issue 20 depicts Quint leading an attack at a point after King's rebellion, in a similar manner to Rockman Shadow from ''VideoGame/RockmanAndForteMiraiKaraNoChosensha''. We know it's not Rockman Shadow himself as Ian Flynn stated characters from ''Mirai Kara no Chousensha'' were off-limits for the comic.
** The Wily Walker is a cross between Wily Machine 3 from ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' and the berserk construction machine X fights in the BatmanColdOpen to ''[[VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX The Day of Sigma]]''.
* ContinuityCameo:
** Along with the robot reporters from Battle and Chase, [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Neige]] is present at Dr. Light's speech.
** Likewise, the Kattelox police and KTOX news reporter from VideoGame/MegaManLegends show up in issues #5 and #1 respectively.
** As Mega Man downloads Heat Man's weapon data, there's a picture of circuitry in the shape of Mr. Match's emblem, [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork HeatMan.EXE's operator]].
* ContinuityNod:
** In "Spiritus Ex Machina" Flash Man is shown to still hold resentment towards Quick Man after he stabbed Flash Man in the back of the head so he could fight Mega Man back in "The Return Of Dr. Wily".
** In the short "Cold Feat", Guts Man tries to impede the movement of, or otherwise destroy, an entire glacier after Ice Man had asked him for help (which of course did NOT involve either one of those actions). Later in "For the Bot Who Has Everything," Guts Man mentions that Ice Man has been blocking his calls.
** In issue #38, while traveling through time, Xander sees Mega Man under attack by a mysterious robot and aided by [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics a talking animal]] as he's going back in time.
* ContinuityReboot: Has nothing to do with the previous ''Mega Man'' comic series.
* CoolKey: Mega Man is awarded the key to the city up until Break Man blasts it to pieces. Like everything else Break Man damaged, it was [[CosmicRetcon restored post-crossover]].
* CoolBigSis: Roll definitely qualifies.
* CoolOldGuy: Dr. Light. Even Wily has his moments.
* CoolShades: Blues at all times.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: All of the Light robot masters except for Rock and Blues are programmed to be okay with the fact that they will eventually die, and to not consider themselves as life, only life-like.
* CosmicRetcon: In the aftermath of the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]'' CrossOver, all the damage from Break Man's attack is undone.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Crash Man has drills instead of hands, Needle Man has guns in place of his hands and Spark Man has spikes in place of arms. The problems of this quickly become apparent. [[spoiler:Crash Man and Magnet Man even bring up this trope as their motivation for being shut down following Wily's supposed death.]]
* CrocodileTears: Wily pulled these after the second-generation Wily Numbers stole the energy crystals needed for Gamma.
* CrossOver: ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', the 12-part crossover with ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe]]''.
** '' ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'', the second 12-part crossover with ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe]]'' and ''[[ComicBook/SonicBoom Sonic Boom]]''.
** And then there was a psuedo-one with the Mega Man X series!
* CurbStompBattle:
** The Robot Masters in the first few issues are taken out in one hit each, as is Wily. This continues on into the ''Mega Man 2'' arc, even though the Robot Masters (mostly) get hits in on Mega Man.
** Any time the Emerald Spears attempt a direct fight against Mega Man.
** Mega Man versus Ra Devil. He was so unstoppable that Mega Man couldn't directly beat him.
* CutShort: The series was put on hiatus after the fifty-fifth issue (whose FlashForward plot can be summarized as, "Look at all these cool adaptations we'll never get the chance to do!"), right before the events of ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'' were about to begin, and no-one (not even the staff) is sure how long it'll stay that way (if it ever comes out of hiatus at all). It doesn't help that the setup for ''4'''s adaptation was delayed by the ''Worlds Collide'' and ''Worlds Unite'' crossovers.
* CuttingTheKnot: Instead of trying to fight Alien Wily, Mega Man immediately blows up the projector once he realizes that it's all just a hologram.
* CyberCyclops: Several:
** Big Eyes appear on the [[InMediasRes first page of the first issue]] and the iconic Yellow Devil shows up soon after on page five.
** The equally iconic Sniper Joe appears on page four of issue 2.
** Ra Devil counts since he is an upgrade of the Yellow Devil.
** The Chaos Devil in the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' crossover.
* TheCynic:
** Gil's core personality, especially when it comes to robots and humans living in harmony.
** Blues to an extent, about the bonds of family and forgiveness.
* DamselInDistress: Roll in the second story arc.
* DarkerAndEdgier:
** The Curse of Ra Moon arc. The global blackout at the end of the prelude causes, among other things, ships to become stranded at sea, motor vehicles and planes to crash, and hospital power to fail ''in the middle of surgery''. And then there's the backstory of Ra Moon coming to Earth and manipulating a primitive society to worship and even ''kill'' for him before destroying said civilization when it wasn't suiting his needs fast enough. As well as the flashback of Dr. Light's friend who was exploring the ruins where Ra Moon was with other explorers. The EMP field crashed their helicopter resorting in many deaths and said friend losing an arm.
** The second half of the ''Mega Man 3'' adaption starts with Dr. Wily's betrayal, Break Man and Mega Man fighting, Wily stealing Gamma, and finally Doc Robot destroying Light Labs.
* DarkestHour: The entire Ra Moon arc. First Roll is mortally injured by Blues and all the world's power is shut down by Ra Moon. Slowly, the world is collapsing and the EMP field is becoming strong enough to fry human brains. When Ra Moon is finally killed, Mega Man is on the verge of death.
* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Wily pins all his previous crimes on Ra Moon by claiming to have been under his influence, using Ra Moon's alien nature and his fight against him to support his claim.
* DecompositeCharacter: In the games, Mr. X was simply a PaperThinDisguise used by Dr. Wily. In the comics, he's a separate supervillain who forces Wily into his employment and [[spoiler:is revealed to be Xander Payne, having been affected by TimeTravel and taking TheSlowPath]].
* {{Deconstruction}}: This adaptation takes a more realistic approach to the Classic series' events and shows its consequences.
** In the first game adaptation and his first combat situation, Mega Man grows proud, power-hungry, and insists that ThatManIsDead when asked to show leniency.
** Dr. Lalinde removing Tempo's emotions after feeling empathy for her shows how someone might think seeing robots as children is terrifying.
** The second arc follows up what would happen in the aftermath of a robot rampage, with a Federal agency investigating Dr. Light.
** In the arc covering the events of ''Mega Man 3'', the point-of-view of the Robot Masters is covered in a more cynical light by Needle Man, who laments that they are nothing more than soldiers being marched to their deaths by a BadBoss, and can do nothing about it.
* DeconReconSwitch: The comic deconstructs the plot, characters, and ideas of the ''Mega Man'' series, examining the morality of machines having sentience and of using robots as weapons, the stress/bigotry between humans and robots, and the dangers inherent in Mega Man's powers. However it's also a reconstruction; In the end Mega Man and his allies are still heroes whose courage, idealism, and friendship carry them through the day, Wily and his minions are still the [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain wacky bad guys]] trying (and failing) to TakeOverTheWorld, and the comic makes a point of showing that even if there are hardships, humans and robots can still coexist as equals and overcome problems through their cooperation.
* DefeatMeansRespect:
** Quick Man is much more respectful towards Mega Man after he was defeated.
** Wily too to an extent. He went from seeing Mega Man as a mere annoyance in the first two story arcs, to making plans specially to take Mega Man out.
** Shadow Man gained a lot of respect towards Mega Man after being defeated.
* DiabolusExNihilo: Happens in the end of the ''Return of Dr. Wily'' arc. During the battle, Wily says he's using technology from beyond the stars. After his craft is destroyed, Wily reveals he's really an alien, plotting the invasion of Earth! Ultimately subverted, as it turned out to be a hologram that the mad doctor was controlling on the sidelines.
* DieHardOnAnX: The plot of the Spiritus ex Machina arc.
* DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife: Blues wasn't built with any purpose other than to simply ''be'', and isn't sure what that means. The word "function" comes up a lot.
* DoAndroidsDream: The Spiritus Ex Machina arc is all about this, including a fairly straw-free debate on the morality of machine sentience. Issue #22 features a Symposium-like discussion, with Dr. Light and Agent Stern debating if robots can feel love and deal with the consequences. It's heavily debated and various characters feel differently about it. Dr. Light, Agent Krantz, and [=LaLinde=] think it's fine. Agent Stern and Emerald Spears think it isn't right. Dr. Wily views the robots as tools with quirky personalities but little to no form of sentience.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet:
** Dr. Wily, demanding for the world's leaders to surrender and to be recognized as the genius he is.
** The Emerald Spears make their debut by interrupting the robotics debate, and having Harvey appear on the massive auditorium screen.
* DontExplainTheJoke: Issue #1's ''Short Circuits'' explains the origins of Mega Man's "upgrade" in a footnote. This footnote was removed from the paperback editions of the first arc.
* DotingParent: Dr. Light is very much this to his robot children, Rock and Roll.
* DownerEnding: The series ends chronologically with Kalinka Cossack abducted by a reluctant Blues on Wily's orders, forcing her father to pretend to be a villain for him and meaning Rock cannot give up fighting.
* TheDragon:
** Quick Man fills this roll in the third story arc.
** Blues as Break Man took this roll. As of part two of the Mega Man 3 adaptation, he is a [[CoDragons co-dragon]] along with Doc Robot.
* DrivenByEnvy:
** The primary reason why Wily turned to villainy.
** Also the reason why Blues is driven to fight Mega Man. According to him, Rock took his purpose.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: In the first arc as Mega Man continues on to Elec Man, Ice Man and Fire Man. He begins to grow overconfident, thinking no robot can oppose him, and he mercilessly fights the remaining three robot masters. When he sees how upset this has made Roll, Mega Man breaks down in tears.
* DumbassHasAPoint: Though Harvey comes off as kind of a stoned hippie, pretty much everything that happens from the ''X'' through ''Legends'' series vindicates nearly everything he's saying. This point was even raised by Gil Stern in issue #22.
-->'''Gil Stern''': I'm not sayin' the Spears' methods were right. They're criminals, wackos and morons. I'm glad you two [Dr. Light and Dr. [=LaLinde=]] came out okay and that those mooks are behind the bars...But they weren't wrong about the dangers of science advancin' too fast. What happens when the line between robots and humans get fuzzy? Like that "love" thing we were talking earlier. What if [[VideoGame/MegaManX some virus turns 'em crazy and makes them run wild]]?
* DungeonBypass: Rock uses Rush to skip past Top Man's large array of traps, much to Top Man's increasing distress and aggravation.
* DyingAsYourself:
** Blues runs away from Dr. Light even though if his core isn't fixed he will die.
-->'''Blues''': I would rather die tomorrow as Blues rather than live forever as someone else.
** [[spoiler:Several of Wily's Robot Masters, after being offered a second chance at life, decide to go offline rather than life with a forced normal life upon them. Quick Man in particular invokes this trope as why he decided this.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** ''Short Circuits'' #4 has Bass, Treble, Rush, and Proto Man demanding their turn in the comic.
** In issue 2, Dr Light mentions a name, "Blues", when he sees a Sniper Joe. We later see Blues' face during Light's "story" in issue 3.
** Pharaoh Man, Dr. Cossack, and Kalinka are major players in the "Spiritus Ex Machina" storyline, which is set even before the events of ''Mega Man 3'', much less ''4''.
** Concrete Man appears in issue #17, and Splash Woman in #19. It's justified in that the VideoGame/MegaMan9 Robot Masters have to be around early enough to warrant their decommissioning later.
** In the 1st issue, [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Neige]] is present in the crowd that came to see Dr. Light's presentation of the Robot Masters, ''a whole two hundred years before she even existed.''
** Plant Man from ''Mega Man 6'' is seen in issues #28 and #29. At that point, the comic had yet to reach the ''Mega Man 3'' storyline. Centaur Man, from the same game, is seen in issue #31.
** Pump Man from ''Mega Man 10'' is seen in issue #32, helping out after the blackout.
* EasilyForgiven: Played with. Dr. Light forgives Wily for everything he has done (partly because he believed Wily's story about being controlled by Ra Moon), but the citizens of Mega City have not. Mega Man and Roll are split down the middle. Roll doesn't trust Wily despite believing in his story and Mega Man is weary of Wily despite defending him in court.
* {{Egopolis}}: A subversion in that when the city is renamed Mega City in honor of Mega Man, it isn't his idea. In fact, he's rather embarrassed by the whole proceeding.
* EldritchAbomination: Pretty much what Ra Moon is.
* EliteMooks:
** Sniper Joes are shown to be a relatively more serious threat in the comics than they often are in the games, which makes sense as they were developed for military purposes. The implication is that the primary difference between them and the robot masters in terms of threat level is the fact that the Joes have much less complex [=AIs=].
** We find out in Shadow Man's flashback that he was one of these to Ra Moon.
* EmotionlessGirl: Quake Woman is emotionless at first because after she was injured in a cave-in, Lalinde was terrified by the fact that she was starting to consider a robot a daughter so while making repairs she destroyed Tempo's personality. This failed to remove her empathy towards Tempo and only caused her to become plagued with guilt. After "Spiritus Ex Machina" she restores Tempo's emotions, though she wasn't the same Tempo compared to [[GenkiGirl what she previously was]] as revealed in issue 35. It's softened with the later reveal that [[spoiler:Tempo's IC chip was damaged in the cave-in so it wasn't ''entirely'' Lalinde's fault]].
* EmptyEyes: The fate of all the world's robots after Ra Moon does his worldwide BigBlackout.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The premise of the "Curse of Ra Moon" story arc.
* EnemyMine: Rock manages to talk the [=MM 2=] Robot Masters into a temporary alliance when he mentions what Ra Moon is really doing. The [=MM 3=] robot masters might have joined him too, but they're susceptible to MindControl by Ra Moon. Flash Man [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Wily and his Robot Masters are horrified when they learn Ra Moon wants to kill everything on the planet through his black-out.
** In the crossover, Wily is beyond pissed when Eggman attempts to murder Dr. Light.
** After Doc Robot destroyed Light's Lab, Break Man contacts Wily asking if he killed everyone inside. Wily actually gets mad, saying that he's vengeful, but not a monster.
* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Issue 20. Even though Light himself confirms that Mega Man has just had several sectors of his memory go poof for some unknown reason.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Ice Man to Roll.
* EverythingSensor: The Robot Masters seem to be equipped with these, mostly linked to their purpose but seems to have a wide range of uses.
** Blues expresses surprise that Quake Woman has a built in Geiger counter. She notes that it's useful for her purposes of geological excavation.
* EvilFormerFriend: Wily and Dr. Light were friends and colleagues before Wily's envy got the best of him.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Something Wily learned the hard way with Ra Moon.
* EvilIsPetty: In ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'', Dr. Wily used Dr. Cossack because he needed someone else to hide his scheme. In issue #54, covering part of the events before it, an additional reason is because Wily didn't like how Cossack treated him back during their time together.
* EvilLearnsOfOutsideContext: The crossovers "Worlds Collide" and "Worlds Unite" begin with the respective main antagonists learning about worlds other than their own. In the former case, Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman join forces to eliminate their hated foes while secretly planning to doublecross the other, while Sigma forces both doctors to help him take over the multiverse and become a god in the process.
* EyeBeams: Ra Devil's primary form of attack.
* ExactWords: The Robot Masters taking down the Copy Robot instead of the real Mega Man in issue #4, with Elec Man explaining that they were "ordered to destroy ''one'' Mega Man".
* ExponentialPlotDelay: The arcs of the first and second games happen almost one after another, with only two short interludes in between. Meanwhile, a significant amount of time passes before even the backstory of the third game takes place. In addition, the robot masters in the first and second games take two/three issues, while the third game uses four issues to go through the Robot Masters.
* {{Expy}}: Hey, [[Franchise/AceAttorney Detective Gumshoe's]] in 200X! Well, maybe his dad, he's looking a little old.
** Along those lines, a lawyer similar to Phoenix shows up for Dr. Wily's trial in issue #36.
** Issue 54 introduces [[http://i.imgur.com/lRWipjO.png Vesper Woman]], a bee robot made because they couldn't use the scrapped RM [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-glOCtbpHvpI/UM_XqpcHHCI/AAAAAAAAMf0/TTejKEKH-gc/s1600/hornet1.jpg Honey Woman's]] design.
* TheFaceless: Blues as Break Man.
* FatherlyScientist: Dr. Light is so emotionally attached to his creations that he sees them as his own children. Dr. Wily (during their early years as partners) sees this as a distraction/hindrance to their work and so after the Blues fiasco happened he convinced Light to create less human-like robots (the robot masters line) so he'll be able to continue their work without the "distractions".
* FlashStep:
** Quick Man's specialty.
** Flash Man appears at first to do this, but he is really stopping time.
* FlawedPrototype: Because of a malfunction in his power core, Blues was slowly shutting down and would eventually die if his core wasn't replaced. Because he feared he would lose his personality if his core was repaired, Blues ran away and spent several years slowly dying before Wily found him and repaired him.
* FirstNameBasis: Dr. Light and Dr. Wily remain on this even after they become enemies.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** As Dr Light explains to Mega Man how the prison system works, he tells him that, unfortunately, neither Mega Man nor any other robots from his generation have true free will. He hopes to one day capture that [[VideoGame/MegaManX X Factor]]. On top of that, as he says this, his reflection in the window beside him is seen. One day, a transparent image will be all that remains of him.
** Pharaoh Man comments in issue #13 that he's not sure what he'd do if Wily reprogrammed him.
** Similarly, in issue 22 while he's explaining why he worries about robots advancing too fast, Stern wonders [[VideoGame/MegaManX what would happen if a computer virus of some sort]] [[VideoGame/MegaMan10 made the robots go crazy]].
** Issue #19 has a pretty awesome moment of this as Oil Man checks out a box. This box contains [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 Splash Woman]] who mentions that Oil Man "broke the street date."
** Issue #20 is basically a whole issue of {{Foreshadowing}} showing future events and characters that haven't shown up yet. The first page indicates the death of Time Man at some point in the future.
** The Wily Walker refused to attack Zero at first.
** Xander's time travel also foreshadows many events, including him being the reason behind all the weirdness in Issue 20.
** Toward the end of issue #40, Sigma admits he agrees that Reploids are superior to humans in many ways. While he says it's why they need to protect humans, it darkly hints at his destiny as the leader of the Mavericks later on.
%%* {{Foil}}: Blues and Tempo.
* ForegoneConclusion: The crossover, as well as the two time travel arcs, makes any reader damn sure of many future events, even if they've never played the original games or even the X games. Any reader of either story will already know that Cossack doesn't really turn evil, Bass was working for Wily, Splash Woman pulls a FaceHeelTurn, Sigma turns evil, and Mega Man never achieves everlasting peace.
* [[DeflectorShield Force Shield]]: The Magnet Beam generates these. Dr. Light uses it to contain Mega Man when he's gone power mad from absorbing the six original master weapons and it holds up without so much as a flicker. It is also capable of supporting Mega Man's weight in mid-air with no trouble.
* ForTheEvulz[=/=]ItAmusedMe: The reason why Ra Moon wanted to wiped out all life on the planet.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Until the second half of the ''Mega Man 3'' story arc, Wily isn't liked by anyone ''except'' Dr. Light, who unquestionably trusts him. Though of course, he was never anyone's friend to begin with.
* FromBadToWorse: The entire Ra Moon story arc in a nutshell:
** Ra Moon makes the EMP wave so strong that it would start frying human brains, takes control of Wily's trump card, Ra Thor, shuts down the ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters, and creates Ra Devil, an advanced version of the Yellow Devil that leaves Mega Man critically injured when he defeats it. Even the ending isn't safe, as [after his defeat, Ra Moon sends a final message to his "children," [[VideoGame/MegaManV Sunstar and the Stardroids]].
** The codes that Wily gives Mega Man to stop the Wily Walker only made their situation worse. Of course, this is on purpose.
* FullNameUltimatum: Roll uses this on her brother in issue 5 when he's horsing around with the other Robot Masters during clean-up.
-->'''Fwoosh!'''
-->'''''KA-BOOM!'''''
-->'''Roll:''' "Rock Light! I'll tear you down to your servos!"
-->'''Dr. Light:''' *{{Facepalm}}*
* GainaxEnding: Issue #20.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GirlsNightOutEpisode: Issue #19 focuses on Roll, Quake Woman, and Splash Woman, though Oil Man gets his fair share of time as well.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: All the Robot Masters at the end of issue #3. Roll also gets these when Mega Man thinks that she'll go crazy with the [[PlayingWithFire Fire Storm]].
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: After his trip through time and seeing a Reploid-filled future, Xander appears to have gone even further around the bend and willing to go farther in his plans.
* GoodIsNotSoft:
** As Mega Man becomes effected by Wily's malware, he becomes more ruthless and cold.
** In the Ra Moon story arc, Mega Man shows 'mercy' to the fallen Mega Man 2 Robot Masters after he badly damaged them.
-->Flash Man: "You call ''this'' "mercy"? Light built a monster, not a boy!"
* HappinessIsMandatory: The 8 robot masters [[spoiler:that choose to abandon Wily and become useful to society]] become reprogrammed to enjoy their new purpose in life. Quick Man is disturbed by this, saying that if he has to be ''reprogrammed'' to enjoy his new life, it's not really his life anymore.
* HavingABlast: Bomb Man and Crash Man's powers.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** Wily fakes one of these after the ordeal with Ra Moon, seeing it as a chance to drum up sympathy while he plots.
** [[spoiler: Blues]] has a real one in issue #54.
* HeroicBSOD:
** Mega Man briefly has one after he made Roll cry when he was having a tantrum where he unleashed all his acquired powers.
** In the first issue, Dr. Light suffers one of these after he sees not only was his Robot Masters stolen and wrecking the city, but his partner and friend Wily was behind it. He broke down in tears from the revelation.
** Mega Man suffers another one after being forced to take down Needle Man, who lamented the fact that he's nothing but a weapon with no choice but to fight.
** Dr. Light has a complete breakdown after Wily revealed his true colors and stole Gamma. He's so disheartened that he questions his belief that everyone has good in them and just needs a chance. It takes both Roll and Rock's encouragement to snap him out of it.
* HeroicRROD:
** Blues had a prolonged version of this as a result of his flawed power core.
** What Mega Man experiences after using two Mega Busters to destroy Ra Moon.
* HeroicSacrifice: Mega Man pulls one of these at the end of the Ra Moon arc. Thankfully, Wily was there to keep him alive until he was brought back to Dr. Light for repairs.
* HijackedByGanon: Issue 55 suggests, and Ian Flynn later confirmed, that had the series continued [[spoiler:Dr. Wily would have done ''something'' to Mister X, and taken his identity.]]
* HilariousOuttakes: The ''Short Circuits'' sections are meant to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Metal Man is owned by his own weapon, ''twice''.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** Hard Man gives Mega Man an E-tank before they fight.
** Blues allows Mega Man to get repaired and gives him the location of Wily's new fortress so he can settle the score once and for all fairly.
* HowWeGotHere: The first issue opens with Mega Man about to storm Dr. Wily's fortress, then goes into a flashback on how it happened.
* HumongousMecha: Wily loves these.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Cut Man is the most frequent offender, but hardly the only one.
* HypocriticalHumor: Dr. Wily calls Mr. X campy and tacky. This from a guy who builds giant fortresses with huge skull decorations and bizarre colorful robots.
* ICanStillFight:
** Mega Man kept fighting through the third story arc despite taking massive damage and his family trying to get him to come home for repairs.
** Again in the Mega Man 3 story arc, Mega Man wants to keep fighting despite how injured he gets.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Man.
* TheIdealist:
** Dr. Light's core personality.
** Like their father, Mega Man and Roll also shares this characteristic.
* IdenticalPanelGag: Played for drama. A flashback that ends with a younger Dr. Light telling Wily that he has faith that Dr. Wily can still achieve greatness in the robotics world, given a second chance. Cut to present day, and Dr. Light is depressed the Wily rejected his second, and third, chances.
* IHaveThisFriend: Break Man's conversation with Tempo in issue #35 plays out like this, insisting he's questioning her choice of trusting Dr. [=LaLinde=] rather than fishing for justifications regarding his own actions towards Dr. Light and his siblings. She sees through it completely, which only serves to aggravate Break Man.
* IgnoredEpiphany: In the final issue, [[spoiler:Dr. Light looks upon the events of the X and Zero series, and he starts to seriously consider if the progress of robotics is worth it...but with looking at the ZX and Legends series, he realizes that the world always has a Mega Man to protect it.]]
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight:
** Mega Man does this on the first Robot Masters. It works on half of them, who begin fighting the other half. Then they all get free thanks to some LoopholeAbuse.
** Elec Man tries this with Mega Man when he's BrainwashedAndCrazy, but it doesn't work at all.
* ImagineSpot: ''Short Circuits'' issue #3.
* ImplacableMan: It took all of Mega Man's weapon energy to take Ra Thor down.
* ImprovisedWeapon: The original Robot Masters were meant to aid research and resource management. With a few tweaks by Dr. Wily, they became tools of world conquest overnight. Wood Man references this in the "Return of Dr. Wily" arc. Mega Man may have defeated "tools", but Wood Man notes he was designed for combat.
** Referenced again by one of the [=MM3=] Robot Masters, who comments on how Mega Man brought "industrial-grade robots" along for the fight.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Despite Wily going on about how much of a genius he is, he always feels the need to prove it, especially after Doctor Light shows him up.
* InformedFlaw: The series states that X and other Reploids are the first robots with true free will, yet Rock, Roll, and ''especially'' Blues can think, reason, feel emotions to the point of having tear ducts, and even bend the laws of robotics. It's even noted by Light that while they don't have true free will, they do come very close to it.
* InMediasRes: Several of the story arcs start this way, including the first one.
* InsecureProtagonistArrogantAntagonist: Mega Man wasn't originally made for fighting and is uncomfortable with the idea of destroying his fellow robots even though he volunteered to be turned into a combat robot. He spends his first few battles trying to reason with his brothers before reluctantly disabling them. Dr. Wily on the other hand is an InsufferableGenius who is tired of being AlwaysSecondBest to Dr. Light, with his robotic rampage being one long tirade to prove himself the most brilliant mind on Earth. Rock gradually becomes more confident and resolute as he continues to battle Wily, but remains naturally humble outside of handful of times he lets the power goes to his head or is forcibly reprogrammed.
* InstantAIJustAddWater: [[AvertedTrope Thoroughly averted.]] Despite the level of complexity the various robots show in their personalities, all of the AIs depicted were deliberately developed to possess and[=/=]or develop the intelligence and emotional range they show in the comic.
* InsufferableGenius: Wily to a 'T'. He is a genius and he will rub it in people's faces.
* InvincibleHero: Mega Man was this when he fought the original six Robot Masters, as fans complained about him not being scratched at all given how the source games were [[NintendoHard difficult to beat]]. This got subverted as the comic went on, particularly in the Ra Moon arc.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Pulled by Gemini Man; after Mega Man seemingly defeated him, he attempted to shoot Mega Man in the back. Luckily, Mega Man was able to dodge at the last second, making the shot only graze his shoulder.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Easily Wily's biggest flaw. He had the chance to turn away from evil and live a peaceful life when Dr. Light forgave him and entrusted him with the knowledge of Gamma, but his jealousy and his constant need to prove himself ruined that. In issue 49 he even acknowledges this when he thinks about all the bridges he burned.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Though he was being a jerk about it (and really just trying to justify himself), Dr. [=LaLinde=] feels that Break Man has a point about what she did to Tempo being unforgivable (despite the fact that Tempo ''has'' forgiven her).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gil may be brass and cynical, but his heart is always in the right place. Best seen when he took Rosie out to dinner after her date cancelled on her.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Xander. In a span of a story arc, he went from someone who wanted to protect humans from robots, to being willing to kill innocent people to advance his cause. He goes even more downhill from there.
* JustFriends: Mega Man and Quake Woman decide this at the end of issue 22.
* JustToyingWithThem: Quick Man's first two fights with Mega Man.
* KickTheDog:
** Rush gets shot a lot to show how evil villains are.
** In issue #45 Wily rubs in Dr. Light's face that he was lying the entire time, he was never controlled by Ra Moon, and Blues was no longer Dr. Light's son. As a final kick, he has [[spoiler: Doc Robot blow up Light's Labs]].
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown:
** After defeating Heat Man and taking his weapon, Mega Man shoots him point-blank in the face. This clued Dr. Light and the others in that something was very wrong with Mega Man.
** In the same issue, he blew up the building where Crash Man lay defeated.
* KilledOffForReal:
** Ra Moon is utterly destroyed.
** The Genesis Unit had their IC chips destroyed during the alternate timeline in the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]'' crossover, though they get a brief revival by being time-cloned by Ra Moon. They die again for good later in the crossover.
** In the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'' crossover Iris and Colonel are not among the Reploids Sigma revives.
* KnightTemplar: Xander and many members of the Emerald-Spears. They might have the best intentions for humanity at heart, but their methods make them terrorists willing to put innocent people at risk.
** Vile comes across as this given that he is more than willing to sacrifice humans to protect the larger population.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: Issue 55 (both the main story and the Short Circuits strip) introduces [[VideoGame/MegaManX Signas, Lifesaver, Douglas, Palette, Layer, Dr. Doppler, Lumine]], [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Dr. Weil, Neige, Copy X, the Four Guardians, the Resistance, Ciel]], [[VideoGame/MegaManZX Vent, Aile, Grey, Ashe, Prometheus, Pandora, Master Albert, Master Thomas, Master Mikhail, the Biometals, Atlas, Aeolus, Siarnaq, Thetis]], [[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Barrell Caskett, Data, Tron Bonne, Tiesel Bonne, Bon Bonne, the Servbots, Juno]], [[VideoGame/RockmanXover Over-1, Nero L]], [[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Geo Stelar]], [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan.EXE]] (though both [[LawyerFriendlyCameo as silhouettes]]), [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan Ruby-Spears Dr. Light, Dr Wily, Roll and Tar]], [[VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken Bad Box Art Roll]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Bad European Box Art Mega Man]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 Intentionally Bad Box Art 9 Mega Man and Dr. Wily]], [[VIdeoGame/MegaMan10 and Intentionally Bad Box Art 10 Mega Man and Proto Man]]. Whew!
* LastRequest: Before Mega Man pulls his HeroicSacrifice against Ra Moon, he asks Dr. Wily to take whatever remains of him back to Dr. Light. Wily [[PetTheDog fulfills]] that request.
* LastVillainStand: Xander attempts this against Mega Man in Issue #21.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The comic assumes you're a fan of the games already, with several {{Early Bird Cameo}}s in the ''Short Circuits'' comics. The ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]'' crossover especially dumps a lot of future characters on you and assumes you'll know them. Issue #20 has several flash forwards, referencing several games that haven't happened yet.
* LawyerFriendlyCameo:
** As the publishing rights to ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' are held by Creator/VizMedia, issue 55's Short Circuits features [[Characters/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan.EXE]] and [[Characters/MegamanStarForce Geo Stellar]] as silhouettes.
** Compass Man appears in ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]'' despite elements from ''Rockman & Forte: Mirai kara no Chōsensha'' being off-limits to Archie.
* LetsYouAndHimFight:
** In the crossover, Eggman and Wily conspire to use Metal Sonic and Copy Robot to trick Mega Man and Sonic into each thinking that the other is the villain.
** Enforced and lampshaded in one of the ''Short Circuits'' strips when Mega Man and Sonic introduce each other amicably, but are informed that crossover by-laws require them to start out fighting each other.
* LighterAndSofter: When compared to previous Mega Man comics released before Archie's.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** The first Robot Masters manage to overcome Wily's programming to "Destroy Mega Man" by following it...by destroying the Mega Man Copy Robot.
** During the Emerald Spears' assault on the convention center, Mega Man and the other Robot Masters can't fight back because they're programmed to be ThreeLawsCompliant. When Emerald Spears soldiers start shooting at them while innocent humans are in the vicinity, though, they are allowed to subdue the terrorists in order to keep other humans from being harmed.
** An unintentional one. When Light learned of Wily's betrayal he locked down the lab so only Light family members could move around, trapping Dr. Wily. Wily thinks he has been sunk until Break Man (aka Blues, who Doctor Light still considers as a son) teleports in. Dr. Light never blocked or disabled his personal teleport signal.
* LoveMakesYouEvil:
** While discussing the topics of love and robots, Gil points out the ugly side of the emotion. Over his years in law enforcement, Stern has seen plenty of people do stupid stuff because of it.
** During the New Year's incident, it's revealed that Theo is the only reason she's still in the Emerald Spears, and it's revealed that Xander is the only reason Theo is still in the Emerald Spears.
* MadBomber: Crash Man to a 'T'. In his first fight against Mega Man, he blew himself up along with the building he was fighting on.
* MadScientist: Wily, of course.
* MakingASplash: Bubble Man and Splash Woman.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** By blaming Ra Moon for all his previous evil actions, Wily managed to manipulate Mega Man and Dr. Light into helping him stay out of prison.
** Ra Moon counts since he used Wily to create an army of robots and prepare his plan to wipe out humanity.
** Wily throughout the Mega Man 3 story arc. He staged the theft of the energy crystals that power Gamma, making it look like he was the victim to drum up more sympathy from the public. Then he sent Mega Man and a couple of Cossack's Robot Masters on a wild goose chase that nearly got them killed by the Wily Walker. Finally, after sending Mega Man all over the place to retrieve the crystals, he reprogrammed Doc Robot, put the IC chips of the MM2 Robot Masters in him, and stole Gamma.
* ManVersusMachine:
** Gil is worried that this will result as robotics will advance too fast for humanity to cope. Dr. Light counters that the conflict is not inevitable, and that he's working so both man and machine could live together.
** In a straight fight, the Emerald Spears versus the Robot Masters. The Spears get defeated easily.
* MatterReplicator: A rather large number of the Robot Master weapons are shown to be some variation of this, differing only by material and shape.
* MechanicalMonster: The Yellow Devil, which confronts Rock in the "Let the Games Begin!" arc.
* MechaMooks:
** Through the Robot Masters, Dr. Wily is able to control and weaponize vast amounts of everyday robots. They make up the bulk of his army.
** The Sniper Joe series were originally designed to be robot soldiers for the military. However, unlike other examples of this trope, the Joes are quite durable and dangerous.
* MergingTheBranches: Issue 55's preview of ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' provides a rather clear indication that Flynn had plans to include all four protagonists in the same timeline, instead of [[SchrodingersPlayerCharacter the split-timeline approach]] the actual games took.
* MissionControl:
** Dr. Light in the first and third story arcs.
** Roll takes over when Dr. Light is busy.
** In the Mega Man 3 story arc, Wily also briefly acts as mission control along with Dr. Light.
* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: Wily in the ''Dawn of X'' story arc. He does more-and-more stuff that would get Mega Man and his allies killed. He does eventually help them, if only to maintain his cover story of being reformed, and seemed to put Mega Man through all of that for his own amusement.
* MissingTime:
** The aftereffects of issue 20 where Mega Man time travels. Although he loses his memory of the event, little thought is given to the problem since the real time loss was negligible (just enough for a short circuit) and didn't match the memory loss.
** The whole world after the CrossOver due to undoing the CosmicRetcon. Mega Man has several hours of blank memory and his first thought is whether or not the world is okay, but otherwise he has no memory of the events that just took place. Dr. Wily feels like he's lost at least a month of memory and has a strange desire to stomp on eggs, but quickly drops the matter.
* MotherlyScientist: Dr. [=LaLinde=] has emotional attachment towards her own creation Tempo/Quake Woman. It was this emotional attachment that led her to disable Tempo's personality and emotions when Tempo was almost destroyed in an accident.
* MrExposition: During first and third arc, Dr. Light explains to Mega Man what all the robots do.
** Dr. Astil is the one who gives the backstory on Lanfront Ruins and the EMP field.
* MoralDissonance: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160210182503/http://bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8230&start=90 Several readers]] weren't happy with issue 49's events, in which [[spoiler:Rock, Roll and Light offer to reprogram the Robot Masters or shut them down, ending with Light telling his children that they couldn't save everyone]], seeing it as the Lights being uncaring and unwilling to even consider their viewpoints.
* MoralityChain: Roll is this to all of Light's Robot Masters, especially Rock and Blues.
* MuggedForDisguise: The Emerald-Spears group manages to infiltrate the A.R.T.S. by replacing the security guards.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: A rather large portion of anything Dr. Light builds or Dr. Wily weaponizes. CWU-01P, which takes the combined powers of Cut Man, Ice Man, and Mega Man to destroy, is basically a ''water filter''.
* MundaneUtility: Parodied in the ''Short Circuits'' sections:
** Issue 2's has Dr. Wily using Cut Man for various unimpressive purposes, to his annoyance.
** Issue 7: Time Man as an alarm clock and Guts Man as the [[RingRingCRUNCH snooze button]].
** Issue 10: Air Man as a fan and Wood Man as a post to tie his hammock to.
** In the comic proper, the weapons of the robot masters built by Dr. Light, Dr. [=LaLinde=], and Dr. Cossack are shown/implied to be an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] in that their mundane utilities were weaponized.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** Break Man's reaction when he inadvertently shoots Roll when she got in the way during his fight with Mega Man.
** Dr. Lalinde is racked with guilt over basically lobotomizing Tempo and destroying her emotions, not for Tempo's sake but to make ''herself'' feel better. After "Spiritus Ex Machina" she realizes the full extent of her actions and restores Tempo's personality [[CameBackWrong as best as she can anyway]].
** Wily had a major one when he realized that Ra Moon was going to wipe out humanity using his technology.
* MyGreatestFailure: Dr. Light views Blues as his greatest success and his greatest failure.
* MythologyGag: Plenty, which is to be expected given the series' history.
** The first ''Short Circuits'' has Mega Man being upgraded into the infamous image from the cover of the first game.
*** He also asks if he's now a [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan super fighting robot]].
** A news reporter covering the Robot Masters' attack wears blue and part of her name is [[Film/StreetFighter Li]].
** In the first arc, the 8-bit version of Mega Man plus the Stage select for the first game could be seen on Dr. Light's status screen.
** Oil Man and Time Man are described by Wily as "rather [[VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp powered-up]] compared to the other six", while explaining to Roll why [[RetCon she had never seen them before]].
** When fighting Dr. Wily in the third arc, Mega Man wishes aloud that he'd gotten Metal Man's weapon first.
** When the robot masters celebrate after Wily's second castle is destroyed, Guts Man is seen singing at the party, and Cut Man tells him to sing "[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfTheSuperheroes that one]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgkU3nBxgY about the wind blowing]]" and Roll says that she loves that song.
** The anti-robot terrorists in the fourth arc are called the Emerald Spears. The name of the studio who made the [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan American Mega Man cartoon]]: Creator/RubySpears.
** Cut Man's use of puns was also adapted from the Ruby-Spears animated series.
** While explaining his time-machine scheme in issue 20, Wily mentions that it's [[LampshadeHanging "almost like I've done it before"]] - which he did, in the "Future Shock" episode of the cartoon. This could also have been an in-universe CallBack[=/=]in-comic CallForward to the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]]'' CrossOver where Dr. Wily also manipulates the fabric of space-time with the help of [[VillainousFriendship Dr. Eggman]].
** The ''Short Circuits'' in issue 20 has Police Man, a dead ringer for Fake Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' (save for the lack of a blaster).
** Merely trying to install a leg upgrade to give Mega Man the ability to slide caused Dr. Light much frustration. He just couldn't figure out why it stopped working at modes [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 nine]] and [[VideoGame/MegaMan10 ten]].
** Any time Roll is seen in a different outfit than usual, it's probably one of her unlockable outfits from ''VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp''.
** Some regarding Rush and the Ruby-Spears cartoon: his preferred attack method is biting an opponent (and unlike in the show, he's been quite effective with it); and his nose doubles as a powerful flashlight.
** In the ''Worlds Collide'' arc, Dr. Light mentions that he's building a robot named Bond Man who he put off since the original robot masters. Bond Man was a robot master cut from [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the first game]].
** Vesper Woman is based on an unused concept design for a female robot master for ''Mega Man 9''.
** The city that X lives in is Arcadia, a reference to [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Neo Arcadia]].
** Issue 55's Short Circuits page calls Bad Box Art Mega Man a "coal miner", a reference to a miscellaneous MonsterCompendium entry in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' that also calls him that.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: The evil robot from ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' is named Trio, finally giving the [[NoNameGiven otherwise unnamed]] character something to be referred by.
* NearVillainVictory:
** Despite losing his Robot Masters in the third story arc, Wily came very close to winning. He only lost because he underestimated Dr. Light's quick-thinking and didn't take the original Robot Masters into account.
** Ra Moon came very close to wiping out humanity. His big mistake was lowering his defenses to make Ra Devil invincible.
* NeonSignHideout: Wily's Skull Fortresses come pretty dang close to this. And he seems to have a pathological need to personalize his other hideouts even when a low profile would serve him better. Elec Man says it best.
-->'''Elec Man:''' "The man is as subtle as a blown transformer."
** Although in the above case, he wanted to be found by Light's robots so he could reprogram them again.
* NeverSayDie:
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in regards to human death as of the ''Spiritus Ex Machina'' arc, though thinly veiled euphemisms are still used at times.
** Also averted in ''Dawn of X'' #3 when Vile blows up the highways to trap the Wily Walker. We actually see the shadowed corpse of a human hanging upside-down in his overturned car.
** Averted again, ''hard'', during issue 28, the prelude to the "Blackout-The Curse of Ra Moon" arc. As Ra Moon's {{EMP}} field blankets the earth we see cars crashing, power failing during surgery, even planes ''falling from the sky''. In the final issue of the arc it was even said on a news broadcast countless lives were lost, even a panel depicting people surviving a plane crash doesn't soften the gravity of the situation.
* NotHisSled: Mr. X isn't Wily this time.
* NoOSHACompliance: At Wily's Skull Castle, one can see a Blader speeding through the background. The robot is carrying a load of unsecured blocks on a unstable platform, with some of the load falling off.
* NoSell:
** Ra Devil didn't even flinch when Mega Man shot it with a fully charged buster shot. This clued Wily in that Ra Moon had left itself vulnerable.
** Before then, Mega Man's buster had no effect on Ra Thor.
* NotMeThisTime: Played with. When Mega Man and the other Light robots saw Wily's Robot Masters, they assumed that he was behind the black-out. They are right in that Wily did wanted to cause a black-out, but much more limited and not one that would wipe out humanity.
* ObviouslyEvil:
** Even if you knew nothing about the ''Mega Man'' series, Wily is obviously bad news just by looking at him in issue one.
** Xander also counts. He wears an eye-patch, of all things.
** Ra Moon was trouble by the first page of its introduction.
* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: Played with. The first two arcs had Dr. Wily reprogramming local robots and reusing old factories for his fortresses. By the third arc, he's got his own fortress, robot minions and Robot Masters. The fourth arc has him acquire supplies by using [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Ra Moon]], and following the ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' adaptation he receives support from the [[VideoGame/MegaMan6 X Corporation]].
* OhCrap:
** Mega Man's reaction to teleporting into the first game's BossRush.
** Wily after Ra Moon takes control of Ra Thor.
** Everyone's reaction when Ra Moon shut down the ''Mega Man 2'' Robot Masters, leaving only the Light robots to fight.
** Dr. Light has this reaction when he finally realizes beyond doubt that Wily is still evil.
* OneManArmy:
** Mega Man can tear through hordes of robots even before he starts copying powers.
** Near the end of the third story arc, Wily invoked this trope once he had gained control of Mega Man.
* OneHitKill: The only way Ra Moon could be killed after he dropped his shield.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Dr. Light mentions he designed several combat robots strictly for the money and notoriety to start Light Labs.
* OriginalCharacter: Gil and Krantz, Tempo/Quake Woman, Dr. [=LaLinde=], and the Emerald Spears.
* [[OriginsEpisode Origins Chapter]]: The "Prototype" arc for Proto Man.
* OverclockingAttack: What Mega Man nearly succumbs to after using two Mega Busters at once to defeat Ra Moon.
* OverrideCommand: The Robot Masters can issue these to other robots as part of their function.
* {{Permadeath}}: Made possible for the robot characters due to their IC Chips, which contain the robot's memories and personality. If the IC chip is destroyed than the robot's personality is essentially gone and the robot is, for all intents and purposes, dead. It won't matter if the robot's body is repaired and given a new chip, since it will just be a new robot's mind inside the body. For this reason Mega Man makes sure to hold back when fighting Robot Masters so that he doesn't inadvertently destroy one of their IC chips and thus kill them.
* PersonalityChip: IC (Integrated Circuit) Chips are the source of a Robot's personality. When confronted by Break Man in Issue #23 Mega Man begs him not to destroy the IC, lest he breaks Dr. Light's heart.
* PetTheDog:
** Wily saving Blues after his Robot Masters found him unconscious outside the ruins. He even managed to repair Blues without wiping his personality.
** Even if it was self-serving, Wily taking Mega Man back to Dr. Light, fulfilling Mega Man's LastRequest.
** Wily putting his grudge for Dr. Light aside and working day and night trying to repair Mega Man.
** Before he turned evil, Wily cheering Dr. Light up after Blues ran away from home.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Man and Heat Man.
* PoliceAreUseless: Bless their hearts, they try, but they just weren't prepared to fight off killer robots. In regular situations, like handling the situation at the A.R.T.S., they do just fine.
* PostVictoryCollapse: Mega Man shuts down after Wily confirms that Ra Moon has been defeated.
* PowerOutagePlot: The Curse of Ra Moon arc focuses on the alien supercomputer Ra Moon unleashing a planet-wide EMP that shuts down everything save for the robots it built or rebuilt, causing a global blackout.
* PragmaticAdaptation:
** With only four issues to work with, the video game-based arcs don't have much time to focus on all the boss battles.
** Even with the Mega Man 3 adaptation being eight issues, a lot of boss battles were streamlined.
* PungeonMaster: Cut Man. After all of Cut Man's puns, Mega Man makes one himself, [[LamePunReaction then immediately notes it was lame]].
* PunnyName[=/=]ShoutOutToShakespeare: [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Roslyn Krantz and Gil D. Stern.]] Issue #22 even has Agent Stern quote Shakespeare, and mentions he's read "Hamlet".
* PuzzleBoss: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with the Boobeam Trap. [[CuttingTheKnot Mega Man and Bomb Man simply demolish the whole room.]]
* PyrrhicVictory: The victory over Ra Moon. The good guys won, but Mega Man is mortally wounded, Blues is still on Wily's side, and the Stardroids are on their way to Earth.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: Pretty much the entire ''Curse of Ra Moon'' arc.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Though a cold and distant, the military brass are quite reasonable with Dr. Light. With a few conditions (a simpler combat model), they're still willing to fund Light's research even after Blues malfunctions during a demonstration. The fact that Blues was effectively dominating the test as a OneManArmy until his power core malfunctioned probably helped the decision.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Wily attempts to give one to Mega Man in issue 4. He responds by shooting another one back at Wily.
* RedemptionQuest: What Wily wants the public to believe after pulling his fake HeelFaceTurn.
* RedEyesTakeWarning:
** The iconic Yellow Devil has a red pupil in its [[CyberCyclops one eye]].
** The Copy Robot and Mega Man during issues #9-#10.
** The real Mega Man after downloading weapons data from Wily's Robot Masters.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with Auto whose eyes, while more red than any other, just look goofy on him. He's also a pretty goofy and generally harmless individual.
** Metal Man and Air Man also have these.
** Pharaoh Man subverts this due to having menacing red eyes, but being a good guy.
** Xander has a cybernetic one.
** Ra Moon. [[UpToEleven It's also a]] [[GlowingEyesOfDoom Glowing Eye of Doom]].
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Ra Moon, the Stardroids, Sunstar, and Shadow Man are all related to each other here. In the games, no connection is made to any of them (possibly barring the Stardroids and Sunstar).
* ReplacementGoldfish: Proto Man thinks that Rock and Roll are this. While he ''does'' have something of a point, it's clear that his accusations are born from his resentment and jealousy rather than how Dr. Light treats his surrogate-children.
* RevengeThroughCorruption: Wily did a version of this after he corrupted Mega Man with a virus, turning Mega Man into his servant. After several panels of gloating, he yelled, "How do you like that, Thomas!"
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Rock and Roll are so human-like that they fooled several members of the Emerald Spears.
* TheRival:
** Quick Man sees himself as Mega Man's rival.
** Wily always saw himself as Dr. Light's rival. The feeling wasn't mutual.
** To an lesser extent, Blues to Rock. Blues sees Rock as his replacement and therefore took his purpose. Rock returns some of these feelings, given all Blues has done and being the only robot he couldn't beat until Issue 49.
* RoboFamily: In several flavors. Rock, Roll, and Blues were designed to be Dr. Light's children, and so it is only natural that they see each other as genuine siblings. The other Robot Masters apparently refer to each other as 'brothers' to others of the same series or made by the same creator, but their bond is apparently more camaraderie and close friendship than actual family ties. As such, Ice Man sees nothing wrong with crushing on Roll despite both being built by Dr. Light.
* [[HumanMail Robot Cargo]]: As human as the robot masters act, they are still seen being stored and shipped in crates. None of them seem to view this as unusual.
* RobotDog: Rush, naturally
* RobotHair: Rock's hair gets commented upon occasionally. In the first arc, Dr. Light affectionately notes with a bit of a chuckle that he gave his robot creation hair. Later, Flash Man is shocked by and intensely envious of Mega Man's hair.
* [[RobotKid Robot Kids]]: So far, four of the robots in the series have been shown or implied to have been explicitly designed to act as their creators' children. Rock, Roll, and Blues for Dr. Light and Tempo[=/=]Quake Woman for Dr. Lalinde.
* RobotMaid: Roll is built to do household chores.
* [[RobotMaster Robot Masters]]: [[NamesTheSame No, not those.]] In addition to Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, who are arguably two of the most well known examples of this trope ever, there's enough people who fit this description for them to have their own ''convention''. It's effectively an entire world ''full'' of Robot Masters! [[note]]And we still don't mean the mechanical ones![[/note]]
* RobotWar: Played with - while the robots are the ones doing most of the fighting, it's Dr. Wily who programs the robots to conquer the world. Mega Man (and later, the rest of Light's Robot Masters) are often the only ones who could fight back. Played straight in the Mega Man X era.
* RoboticReveal: Dr. Wily's hologram gets one, but otherwise this has been effectively [[AvertedTrope averted]] so far. Blues actually subverts the trope by displaying his robotic abilities in front of humans who have never seen a RidiculouslyHumanRobot before without any of them seeming to catch on to the fact that he's not really human (because lifelike robots were not yet known to the public).
* RunningGag: Crash Man's lack of hands.
* SavingTheWorld: What Mega Man and the other Light Robots set off to do in the "Curse of Ra Moon" arc.
* SceneryCensor: In issue 17, Proto Man's AnimeHair conveniently censors Michelangelo's ''The Creation of Adam'' when he and Dr. Light are in the art museum.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Xander's goal in the "Dawn of X" story arc when he breaks into the Chronos Institute.
* ShipperOnDeck: Roll for Mega Man and Quake Woman in issue 22 to Ice Man's annoyance.
** Now Vesper Woman seems to be one for Protoman and Quake Woman.
** ShipSinking: Thankfully, neither Mega Man nor Quake Woman want an intimate relationship, as they're both uncomfortable with the idea (especially given that the former is physically and mentally 10 years-old).
* ShockAndAwe: Elec Man and Spark Man's power.
* ShoutOut: Quite a few. Check out the [[ShoutOut/MegaManArchieComics subpage]] for details.
* ShownTheirWork: In an interview, Ian Flynn said that he did plenty of research on the Mega Man series, from reading the wiki to seeing gameplays. He even manages to insert Fire Man's southern accent from Powered Up.
* ShowsDamage: The comic artists have put forth quite a bit of effort to display damage on characters consistently with how much they are injured.
* SingleStrokeBattle: Due to the limited number of issues when adapting the games, this happens ''a lot''.
* TheSingularity: X being uncovered by Dr. Cain in the future results in humanity hitting a major tech boom, resulting in the creation of the Reploids. X fears that things may be advancing too fast for everyone's own good.
* SingleTear: As Rock was being repaired after his battle with Ra Moon, he hears Roll wishing that she was the one who had volunteered to be weaponized so Rock wouldn't have to suffer. This made Rock shed a single tear (unknown to Roll and Auto).
* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Inverted, twice.
** Issue #1 has Rush on the cover. He doesn't appear officially until the end of the second arc.
** Issue #11. Agents Stern and Krantz appear on the cover battling Metal Man. Neither appear in the main story at all, though Gil makes a cameo in the Short Circuits strip.
* TheSlowPath: Following the end of ''Worlds Unite'', [[spoiler:Xander is thrown thirty years into the past. By the time he "returns" to the present, he has set up the X Corporation and adopted the identity of Mr. X]].
* SlouchOfVillainy: Wily near the end of the third issue.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The comic does a good job showing both the benefits and the dangers of having thinking robots. In the spirit of the Classic series, however, the tone remains largely idealistic.
* SmugSnake: For all of Wily's brilliance, he can fall into this. Most notable during the end of the ''Mega Man 2'' arc and the Ra Moon story arc.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Possibly why Quake Woman, an OC Robot Master, was introduced, as the only classic female characters are Roll, Splash Woman, Kalinka, and Plum. The latter is from an obscure title that wasn't released in English until fairly recently and the former two are Megaman's siblings; Kalinka is a human eight-year-old.
* SomethingWeForgot: Played for laughs in the Short Circuits for #55. [[spoiler:Mega Man Volnutt complains that he's still stuck on the moon, despite the comic not even coming close to covering the events of ''Mega Man Legends 2.'']]
* SoMuchForStealth: Once the Spears report Rock is using his civilian form to trick them, Mega Man changes into his armor right away.
* SparedByTheAdaptation:
** In ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', Shadow Man was implicitly KilledOffForReal, with Wood Man unable to repair him, and his absence from the finale implying even Ra Moon couldn't bring him back. But since that game's adaptation happens before ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''[='=]s, [[SavedByCanon Shadow Man can't be permanently destroyed]]. Similarly, Quick Man doesn't (temporarily) die in this turn of events protecting Mega Man.
** In ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', Snake Man is one of the Robot Masters on display in the Robot Museum. Here, he's one of the eight Wily robots who decide to find a new purpose and not be shut down for said museum (though it is unclear if the Robot Masters in ''7'' are some sort of copies or not).
* SpacePolice: The Star Marshals, a group of alien law enforcement robots. Duo is revealed to be a member of the group, and so was Trio/Evil Robot before his FaceHeelTurn.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Referenced, Dr. Wily sarcastically suggests that "'''Light'''" makes "'''Right'''".
* StartXToStopX: Mr. X eventually "recruits" Wily for this purpose, hoping that by having his robots continue to cause havoc, it will drive humanity away from robotics and prevent even worse robotic destruction.
* StealthInsult: Dr. Light referring to Harvey as an "intellectual".
* StormingTheCastle:
** Mega Man storms Wily's hideout in the first issue before a flashback is given to show how everything happened.
** In the third story arc the original Robot Masters stormed Wily's fortress to save Mega Man.
* StoryBreakerPower: It is implied that Mega Man could keep all of the Robot Masters' powers; he simply chooses not to.
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the third arc; Mega Man ''couldn't'' keep his powers gathered from that set of Robot Masters because [[spoiler: Dr. Wily had installed segments of a trojan virus into the weapon data; once Mega Man had all eight weapons, the virus would activate and grant Wily total control over Mega Man]].
* StrictlyFormula: The usual Mega Man game format is lampshaded in issue #43 when Magnet Man wonders why Wily keeps using the usual tactic of an enemy-filled stage with a Robot Master boss when it didn't work with any of the twenty bosses previously.
* SuperNotDrowningSkills: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that, as robots, they don't need to breathe, even if they can't swim. It's highly likely their systems are water-proofed. Discussed between Roll and Tempo/Quake Woman in Issue 19 when an ocean liner is wrecked and they need to rescue the passengers.
-->'''Tempo:''' "But what...what if we fall in the ocean and sink to the bottom?"
-->'''Roll:''' "We'll walk to shore, why?"
* SuperPrototype: Blues is a super prototype compared to the Sniper Joes who were built based on his design.
* SuperStrength: All robots are stronger than a human, but Gutsman stands head-and-shoulders above most of the Robot Masters.
* SuperToughness: They are robots. They can take a lot of punishment.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The second arc has Dr. Light being investigated by the government after Wily's first rampage. As it turns out, someone using robots you built to destroy half the city ''and'' the person in question is a well-known colleague and friend of yours, it doesn't exactly make you look innocent.
** Without his Leaf Shield, Wood Man is taken out by a single charged shot from the Mega Buster. Seriously, what did Wily expect when he made him out of wood?
** Unlike the game VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman that it was adapted from, the result of the ExplosiveOverclocking at the end of the ''Curse of Ra Moon'' arc happens exactly how one would expect.
* SurveillanceDrone: Blader-type robots serve this purpose.
** Also Snake Man's Search Snakes.
* SwissArmyWeapon: Mega Man's buster arm can reproduce any projectile gained from the Robot Masters. This includes, but is not limited to, fire, ice, lightning, bubbles, leaves, whirlwinds, missiles, bombs, boomerangs...
* SwissCheeseSecurity: Dr. Wily manages to break into Light Labs and reprogram the Robot Masters pretty easily. Justified, seeing as how Light and Wily were coworkers and friends at the time. In addition Wily could also disarm the security anyway; it ''is'' partially his lab, after all.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Wily's primary goal.
* TalkingToThemself: Gamma
* TameHisAnger: In Issue 46, Mega Man attempts this on Blues, giving him a new purpose of being his big brother. Blues rejects the offer, saying this was who he was.
* TapOnTheHead: Xander knocks out Harvey with a boot to the head when he gets fed up with him being a hippie. It such a severe blow, it leaves Harvey on the ground for the rest of the arc (Hell, with the accompanying "KRACK!", the way Harvey's head was twisted by the kick, and being out for the rest of the arc, many readers thought Harvey was ''dead'').
* TechnicalPacifist:
** Mega Man utterly despises fighting and tries his hardest to avoid it, but is perfectly willing to fight if need be (like if a Robot Master is threatening innocent people).
** Dr. Light is much the same. He hates fighting and calls himself a man of peace. But he will fight and build weapons if he believes that what needs to be done to save people.
** X is very much like his older brother. He hates fighting, but he also want to protect people.
* TeleportersAndTransporters: Dr. Light has one to rapidly transport Rock from location to location. While robots can use the device, humans are unable to. Sonic is able to in the crossover, albeit feeling ill afterward, indicating the process will be usable for living beings later on.
* TempleOfDoom: The Lanfront Ruins have a few {{Death Trap}}s. And a highly intelligent ArtifactOfDoom in residence.
* ThatManIsDead:
** Rock starts to refuse to go by his real name after having to blow up the other bots. Fortunately, Roll manages to snap him out of it.
** Later, Break Man angrily declares that "Blues" is gone and forgotten.
* TheRealRemingtonSteele: Unlike the games, where Mr. X was simply a disguise for Wily, here he's an actual person.
* ThreeLawsCompliant:
** Dr. Light has these programmed into his robots, with a slight twist: in accordance with the "Zeroth Law", it's acceptable for robots to attack humans if not doing so would put ''more'' humans in danger. When the Emerald-Spears start attacking people along with the robots, that allows Mega Man and the others to start fighting back.
** Lampshaded when Elec Man says he actually ''wants'' Dr. Wily's programming back because it would let him attack the Emerald-Spears. He's a three laws compliant robot ''wishing he wasn't''.
* ThemeNaming: Mega Man's real name is Rock, his sister's name is Roll, and Proto Man's real name is Blues.
* TimeBomb: In one of the one-shots, Xander planted a bomb that would go off at midnight on New Years.
* TimeMaster: Time Man and to a much greater extent Flash Man who can outright stop time.
* TimeStandsStill: This ability makes Flash Man one of the most dangerous Robot Masters. He nearly kills Mega Man as Doc Robot by stopping time and aiming his Buster at Mega Man's head. He only fails because of a power overload.
* TimeTravel:
** In "Rock of Ages" this is foreshadowed as one of Wily's future plans.
** Xander breaks into the Chronos Institute in an effort to change the past, preventing the creation of robots. He instead ends up in the future of 21XX.
* TragicVillain: Proto Man, though he eventually develops into a Tragic Anti-Hero instead.
* TruerToTheText: This series, which actually tries to adapt the games it's based on, is significantly more faithful than [[ComicBook/MegaManDreamwave the last Western-made comic book adaptation]], which was pretty much an adaptation InNameOnly.
* TrulySingleParent:
** This is Dr. Light towards his robot creations and especially towards Rock, Roll and Blues. He sees them as his "children" and even calls them "son" or "daughter".
** The same could also apply to some of the other scientists who have created robot masters of their own. Most prominently [=Dr. LaLinde=], who sees her creation Tempo[=/=]Quake Woman as her daughter.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Throughout the first and second story arcs Wily never took Mega Man seriously, even after he defeated all of the reprogrammed Robot Masters.
* UndisclosedFunds: The suitably impressive research grant Dr. Light received to make Sniper Joes for the military.
--> '''A younger Dr. Wily:''' "''Egad!'' Is this check for your research grant?!"
* TheUnfought: Due to the allocated space, not only are many bosses from the games given shorter battle scenes, some are not shown at all. The first fortress boss to be skipped over entirely was [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 PicoPico-Kun]].
* UngratefulBastard:
** Mega Man saves Wily from the wreckage of his machine in issue #4. The moment he sees the Robot Masters, he orders them to kill Mega Man.
** Subverted when Mega Man resorts to ExplosiveOverclocking to save the world from Ra Moon, Wily pushes his genius to its limits to keep Mega Man alive and get him home. And it wasn't just a plan to look good either - he had no idea what to do when the police finally showed up. It's double subverted when a later issue reveals that it was actually part of a plan. While he was trying to make himself look good and pin all of his villainy on the now-deceased Ra Moon, he actually did feel gratitude towards Rock and later found himself questioning if he should go through with his newest scheme.
** PlayedStraight when Wily rubs in Dr. Light's face that he was never brainwashed and that Light was a fool for trusting him. This was after Dr. Light and Rock defended him in court and Light allowed Wily to live with him as he served his five year probation.
** Xander towards X. When X saves him from death-by-falling, Xander's first reaction is to mistake X for Mega Man and accuse him of starting a robot revolution.
* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: When Mega Man fights his older brother Blues.
* VillainousBreakdown: Wily suffers one after Ra Moon betrays him.
* VillainExitStageLeft:
** Subverted. Wily attempts this in issue 4, but Mega Man's too quick for him.
** Averted in issue 8. Wily simply [[GracefulLoser stands on top of his saucer with confidence]], even as Mega Man shoots at it before he can use it. But then, it turns out that he's a hologram and not the real Wily, [[DoubleSubversion who had already left]].
** At the end of the Spiritus Ex Machina arc Xander, Theo, and Simone escape from the authorities.
** Meanwhile, at the end of the ''Mega Man 2'' story arc, Wily jumps into an escape chute.
* VillainsActHeroesReact: A large reason why the villains keep [[YouCantThwartStageOne getting away with stage one of their plans]].
* VillainousRescue: It was Wily who kept Mega Man alive long enough to get him back to Dr. Light. He also helped with the repairs.
* VillainRespect: Wily is honestly surprised that Mega Man is willing to sacrifice himself to save humanity from Ra Moon. He is so impressed that he grants Mega Man's LastRequest.
* VillainsOutShopping: Issue 2's ''Short Circuits'' features Dr. Wily lounging by the pool and getting a haircut.
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Dr. Light made it clear from the start that there was no reasoning with Wily once he started the first robot rebellion.
* VirtueIsWeakness: What Xander believes after Mega Man refused to kill him.
* VisualPun: Issue 10's ''Short Circuits'' shows Crash Man [[DrivesLikeCrazy having crashed a go-kart into a tree]], and [[WalkingTechbane working at a computer whose server just crashed]]. The last panel shows him walking into a stock-exchange building...
* WaxingLyrical:
** An unusual example, as Dr. Light does this in issue 3...to a song by Music/TheMegas that's supposed to be sung by him.
** Blues does this in issue 46 when he questions what Rock is to Dr. Light, and then paraphrases part of "I'm Not The Break Man" also by Music/TheMegas.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Emerald-Spears. They make several good points about robots advancing too far and may become a threat to humanity. They also have a point about humans becoming too depended on robots. However, they were willing to kill innocents to advance their cause along with robots who did no wrong, including those robots who fought to protect humans.
* WeWillUseLasersInTheFuture: Almost everyone, human and robot, seems to prefer high-tech energy weapons.
* WhamEpisode:
** Ra Moon initiating a world wide EMP wave that shuts down everything save for the robots it built or rebuilt, having Break Man watch as the entire world goes into complete chaos as his younger brother and sister are functionally dead. This happens right after Break Man accidentally shot Roll in the gut.
** The finale of "Blackout". Mega Man is mortally wounded and near death after the battle with Ra Moon and Wily and his Robot Masters seem to have pulled a HeelFaceTurn. But before it was destroyed, Ra Moon sent out a signal into space to call the Stardroids to Earth.
** Xander's time-travelling shenanigans during "Dawn of X" reveals not only was his time warping at least partially to blame for the bizarre events of Rock of Ages, but the Worlds Collide crossover is part of the comic's canon future. Even worse, after his arrest, we see a quite clearly unhinged Xander carving several symbols into his prison wall...including an X, an infinity sign (representing Zero's DWN designation), as well as the faces of Mega Man, Bass...and Sonic.
* WhamShot: Roll getting shot by Break Man, along with the immediate aftermath of Ra Moon's world-devastating EMP.
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Proto Man tracks down Quake Woman to inquire about the nature of family due to his difficulty understanding [[FamilyOfChoice the relationship Light has with Rock and Roll]] as well as [[BigBrotherInstinct his own feelings]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Mega Man plans to give one to Dr. Light for programming him with nausea when Magnet Man is defeated.
--> '''Mega Man:''' [groans] ''"Remind me why to ask Doctor Light why I was programmed for nausea..."''
* WideEyedIdealist: Gil firmly believes that Dr. Light is this.
* WorthyOpponent:
** After a tense battle, Shadow Man views Mega Man as this.
** The same with Magnet Man after he was defeated.
* YankTheDogsChain:
** Played for laughs in ''Short Circuits'' #5, which has Proto Man believing that he's making his debut in the current issues, only to have his hopes repeatedly crushed.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: Xander, member of an anti-robot group, has a cybernetic implant to replace his lost eye. He then uses knowledge of the future to create a giant, shadowy organization with seemingly unlimited funds that secretly controls dozens of shell companies around the world to actively finance robot terrorism.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: [[JustifiedTrope Completely justified]] in that the heroes don't learn about most of the evil plots until stage one is already ''complete''.
* YouFightLikeACow: In the third story arc, Quick Man was very fond of given these kinds of insults towards Mega Man.
* {{Zeerust}}: In the comic's version of the world of 200X, the overall look and technology is more based off the games than the real world TurnOfTheMillennium.
* ZerothLawRebellion: More of a loophole - during the A.R.T.S. Arc, when the Emerald Spears start shooting, thereby putting other humans still in the convention hall in danger, Mega Man and the other Robots now have reason needed to fight back.
----

* TruerToTheText: This series, which actually tries to adapt the games it's based on, is significantly more faithful than [[ComicBook/DreamwavesMegaMan the last Western-made comic book adaptation]], which was pretty much an adaptation InNameOnly.

Not to be confused with the Brazilian Mega Man comic, ''ComicBook/NovasAventurasDeMegaman''. Nor would you want to confuse it with the {{Manga}}, ''Manga/MegaManMegamix''. Nor should you even confuse it with the short-lived ''[[ComicBook/DreamwavesMegaMan Mega Man]]'' comic from Dreamwave.

** Shadow Man is a [[SparedByTheAdaptation subversion]], primarily due to having appeared in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', which is set here after ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman''.

** Shadow Man is a [[SparedbyTheAdaptation subversion despite playing the trope straight in]] ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', AND despite getting a Crash Bomb to [[InTheBack his back]], dangerously close to Shadow Man's IC Chip, as unlike in that game, he returns for the comic adaptation's finale.

** In issue 49, Roll suggests that if some of Wily's Robot Masters don't want to be reprogrammed, maybe they can make [[VideoGame/MegaMan7 a robot museum to live in]]. A few issues later, the museum is in the process of being built... and Concrete Man is one of the ones building it.

-->'''Gil Stern''': I'm not sayin' the Spears' methods were right. They're criminals, wackos and morons. I'm glad you two [Dr. Light and Dr. [=LaLinde=]] came out okay and that those mooks are behind the bars... But they weren't wrong about the dangers of science advancin' too fast. What happens when the line between robots and humans get fuzzy? Like that "love" thing we were talking earlier. What if [[VideoGame/MegaManX some virus turns 'em crazy and makes them run wild]]?

* IgnoredEpiphany: In the final issue, [[spoiler:Dr. Light looks upon the events of the X and Zero series, and he starts to seriously consider if the progress of robotics is worth it... but with looking at the ZX and Legends series, he realizes that the world always has a Mega Man to protect it.]]

** The first Robot Masters manage to overcome Wily's programming to "Destroy Mega Man" by following it... by destroying the Mega Man Copy Robot.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that, as robots, they don't need to breathe, even if they can't swim. It's highly likely their systems are water-proofed. Discussed between Roll and Tempo[=/=]Quake Woman in Issue 19 when an ocean liner is wrecked and they need to rescue the passengers.
-->'''Tempo:''' "But what... what if we fall in the ocean and sink to the bottom?"

** An unusual example, as Dr. Light does this in issue 3... to a song by Music/TheMegas that's supposed to be sung by him.

** Xander's time-travelling shenanigans during "Dawn of X" reveals not only was his time warping at least partially to blame for the bizarre events of Rock of Ages, but the Worlds Collide crossover is part of the comic's canon future. Even worse, after his arrest, we see a quite clearly unhinged Xander carving several symbols into his prison wall... including an X, an infinity sign (representing Zero's DWN designation), as well as the faces of Mega Man, Bass... and Sonic.

* WhatTheHellHero: Mega Man gives an indirect one to his father Dr. Light for programming him for nausea when Magnet Man meets his defeat in the adaptation for ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan3 TheEndOfDoctorWily!?]]''.
--> '''RockMan:''' [groans] ''"Remind me why to ask Doctor Light why I was programmed for nausea..."''

* RealityEnsues:
** The second arc has Dr. Light being investigated by the government after Wily's first rampage. As it turns out, someone using robots you built to destroy half the city ''and'' the person in question is a well-known colleague and friend of yours, it doesn't exactly make you look innocent.
** Without his Leaf Shield, Wood Man is taken out by a single charged shot from the Mega Buster. Seriously, what did Wily expect when he made him out of wood?
** Unlike the game VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman that it was adapted from, the result of the ExplosiveOverclocking at the end of the ''Curse of Ra Moon'' arc happens exactly how one would expect.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: All the Robot Masters at the end of issue #3.

** Issue 55's Short Circuits page calls Bad Box Art Mega Man a "coal miner", a reference to a miscellaneous MonsterCompendium entry in ''VideoGame/MegaManZXAdvent'' that also calls him that.

* MergingTheBranches: Issue 55's preview of ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' provides a rather clear indication that Flynn had plans to include all four protagonists in the same timeline, instead of the split-timeline approach the actual games took.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Happens in the end of the ''Return of Dr. Wily'' arc. During the battle, Wily says he's using technology from beyond the stars. After his craft is destroyed, Wily reveals he's really an alien, plotting the invasion of Earth! Ultimately subverted, as it turned out to be a hologram that the mad doctor was controlling on the sidelines.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Though it's hard to notice because of a speech bubble placement, Stern is pretty clearly [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking a bottle of beer]] in issue 22 when he's at the restaurant with the others.
** The ending of issue 34 strongly implies that one of the first Mavericks goes rogue by ''murdering his abusive boss with a cleaver''.

* MoralDissonance: [[http://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8230&start=90#p428867 Several]] [[http://www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8230&start=90#p428873 readers]] weren't happy with issue 49's events, in which [[spoiler:Rock, Roll and Light offer to reprogram the Robot Masters or shut them down, ending with Light telling his children that they couldn't save everyone]].

A ComicBook series based on the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series, produced by Creator/ArchieComics and written by Creator/IanFlynn, writer of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog''. Unlike the Sonic adaptation, this one largely sticks to the source material when adapting the series, including elements from the obscure UsefulNotes/GameBoy titles and NoExportForYou titles like ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'' and ''The Wily Wars''. The first issue was released in May 2011. In a similar vein to Sonic's ''Off Panel'', this series features ''Short Circuits'' in the back, which is a short, comic strip style gag based on the events on the issue.

In 2013, it crossed over with ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', and again, titled ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'', in 2015.

Not to be confused with the SoBadItsGood Brazilian Mega Man comic, ''ComicBook/NovasAventurasDeMegaman''. Nor would you want to confuse it with the {{Manga}}, ''Manga/MegaManMegamix''. Nor should you even confuse it with the short-lived ''[[ComicBook/DreamwavesMegaMan Mega Man]]'' comic from Dreamwave.

** In issue #38, while traveling through time, Xander sees Mega Man under attack by a mysterious robot and aided by [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog a talking animal]] as he's going back in time.

* CrossOver: ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', the 12-part crossover with ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe]]''.
** '' ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'', the second 12-part crossover with ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe]]'' and ''[[ComicBook/SonicBoom Sonic Boom]]''.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: Done three times. Issue #53 sets up the plot of Mega Man 4, encouraging the reader to buy ''Mega Man Legacy Collection'' to find out more. Issue #54 sets up Break Man's part of ''4'', explaining that he's now going to walk the path to redemption. Issue #55 has this on a far grander scale, showing how Mega Man continues to fight for 8 more games, and becomes an serial concept.

** Wily took this mantra when building the Mega Man 2 Robot Masters. They are all direct upgrades from the Light Robots.

A ComicBook series based on the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series, produced by Franchise/ArchieComics and written by Creator/IanFlynn, writer of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog''. Unlike the Sonic adaptation, this one largely sticks to the source material when adapting the series, including elements from the obscure UsefulNotes/GameBoy titles and NoExportForYou titles like ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'' and ''The Wily Wars''. The first issue was released in May 2011. In a similar vein to Sonic's ''Off Panel'', this series features ''Short Circuits'' in the back, which is a short, comic strip style gag based on the events on the issue.

** In Issue 19, one of the people on the life rafts looks a lot like [[Franchise/ArchieComics Archie]].