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The Mega Man series, known as Rockman (ロックマン Rokkuman) in Japan and often referred as the "original Mega Man" or "Classic Mega Man" series, is the first series of the Mega Man franchise of games. The first game, Mega Man, was released on December 17, 1987 on the Famicom in Japan and on the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe.

Most of the games in the series are known simply as "Mega Man" (or "Rockman") followed by a number. In Japan, each numbered title, excluding the first, has a subtitle. The ninth mainline title in the series is titled simply Mega Man & Bass, and is internally referred to as 8.5. The mainline titles following this continue the original numeration, titled Mega Man 9 and so on.

Premise[]

In the century of 20XX, two brilliant scientists - Dr. Thomas Light and Dr. Albert Wily - revolutionized the field of robotics. However, after a schism formed between the pair, Dr. Wily broke off and began using his robotics skills to conquer the world. In response, Dr. Light's robot assistant Rock volunteered to be converted into a combat robot to stop him. Rock became Mega Man, the protector of the world from Dr. Wily's plans.

Games[]

Below is a list of games ordered by the timeline of the Mega Man series. See the game pages for more details of the story.

Main Timeline[]

  1. Mega Man (Rock became Mega Man on May 25, 200X.[1])
  2. Mega Man 2 (200X, as shown in the opening. Starts on June 9,[1] one year (and 2 weeks) after the first game.[2])
  3. Mega Man 3 (20XX, as shown in the Rockman Complete Works official site[3] and in the back of the original Japanese box.[4] Of note, the Wii Virtual Console manual shows the year 200X. Gamma was stolen on August 28.[1])
  4. Mega Man 4 (one year after Mega Man 3, as shown in the NES and Virtual Console manuals.[3])
  5. Mega Man 5 (20XX, as shown in the opening. About two months after Mega Man 4.[3])
  6. Mega Man 6 (one year after Mega Man 5.[3])
  7. Mega Man 7 (six months after Mega Man 6, as shown in the opening)
  8. Mega Man 8
  9. Mega Man 9
  10. Mega Man 10
  11. Mega Man 11

Mega Man World Series[]

The exact times these games take place in the timeline is unknown, but they occur sometime between the games listed in parentheses.

Arcade Games[]

These games were stated to take place in a "parallel world" and are thus not part of the main timeline.[8]

Other Games[]

Licensed Games[]

Games that were licensed by Capcom. Their canon is questionable, and some may not be part of the Mega Man timeline. Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha is the only to have been referred in a later game, Mega Man ZX Advent, namely. It is also the only licensed game to be included in the book R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works.

Notes[]

  • The first games take place in the ambiguous years of "200X" (the first decade of the 21st century), which is shown in the opening scenes of Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 4. Mega Man 5 was the first game to directly reference the more ambiguous year of "20XX", which is used in later games. The Mega Man Battle Network series also take place in "200X" in early games, and later takes place in "20XX".
    • It has never been directly stated whether the transition from 200X to 20XX was meant to show a transition in time or to provide for more ambiguity. However, events that have been retconned to 20XX can still take place in the 200X time period, as 20XX simply means somewhere between 2000 and 2099.
    • The year of Mega Man Powered Up, the remake of the first game, is listed as 20XX, but the narrator pronounces it as "200X".
    • Although Mega Man 4 uses 200X in the opening scene, the scene is mentioning the events of previous games, so it is possible it could take place in either 200X or 20XX.
    • The year of Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha is listed as 200X.
  • The opening of Mega Man 4 states that Mega Man had defeated Wily three times before the game, but it is mentioning only the previous three games, ignoring other entries. Similarly, Mega Man V says Wily's fourth attempt to conquer the world has failed thanks to Mega Man, but this only includes the previous Game Boy games.
  • Capcom has as of yet not revealed what happened to the characters between the classic and X series.
    • A popular theory among some fans was that Zero killed the main cast when he was activated, which originated from the webcomic Bob and George. In an interview with Ryan Scott of 1Up.com, Capcom's Hironobu Takeshita said that the idea of Zero activating and fighting and/or killing Mega Man and company "seems like a rumor that goes around in certain circles, but it is not official. Certainly, the two series are set in different time periods, but they share the same spectacular world. There might be a bridge for the chronological gap someday, but I don't think it's time yet." Keiji Inafune stated that Zero didn't do this.[10] However, Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters reveals that Wily did at least originally intend to use Zero to destroy both Mega Man and Bass.
    • Other common theories are that Mega Man and company live normally until the end of their lives (which is supported by Auto's cameo appearance in the CD versions of Mega Man X3, although it could be only a gameplay extra), or they were deactivated and sent to a robot museum after an unknown time. Mega Man could also have been captured by Wily and turned into Quint. Bass could have lost his purpose and ultimately succumbs to becoming unmaintained. Proto Man probably succumbed to the lethal breakdown of his nuclear reactor, unless he was finally repaired by Dr. Light. However, all of these are only speculations.
    • Capcom has revealed that they do have an outline for the gap between the Classic and X series, but currently have no plans to share it because they enjoy seeing players using their imaginations to come up with their own conclusions and wouldn’t want to take that away.[11]
  • It is unknown exactly when X was sealed by Dr. Light, as the only date given is the time Light wrote his message September 18, 20XX. X was initially meant to be sealed for over 30 years, but apparently he ended up being sealed away for a longer time. He was unsealed by Dr. Cain in 21XX.
  • Interestingly enough, the classic series is the longest running series, despite being the first series created.

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Reploid Research Lavatory: From the Journal of Thomas Right, from Rockman Character Collection.
  2. The Reploid Research Lavatory: Like A Boss (Family Computer Magazine 1988 #14)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Rockman Complete Works (PSone Books) official site (archive)
  4. Mega Man 3 on GameFAQs
  5. In Mega Man 9's ending, Mega Man shows Wily nine of his previous defeats, eight of them being from the previous games and one from Mega Man & Bass.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Kodansha Manga Hyakka #6: Rockman & Rockman X Daizukan. November 1994.
  7. Rockman & Rockman X Daizukan places Mega Man V set after Mega Man 6, but Dr. Wily should be in prison at the time, making this seemingly impossible. However, Slash Man is based on Pluto, meaning it could not take place after Mega Man 7 either.
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Reploid Research Lavatory-Ultimate Justice on Parallel Earths
  9. Mega Man: Official Complete Works. Udon Entertainment. January 6, 2010. p. 83.
  10. Capcom-Unity: Inafune-san Answers Your Questions!
  11. http://www.rockman-corner.com/2013/02/capcom-has-plan-for-classic-to-x-series.html

Alternate dimension, same time (MegaMan Battle Network series) | Next (Mega Man X series)>>

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