Top Ten Top Ten Robot Masters

Hey y'all!  I'm back at it again, with another Top Ten Top Ten.  This time I'll be going over favorite robot masters.  Now, you might think I should have gone for robot master themes, but I've already reviewed robot master music before.  Let's add character design, level design, and difficulty to the mix.  It's more fun that way.  I don't know, maybe some time in the future I'll do a top ten top ten for the music itself, but we'll see.

Like always, I will be going through the top ten best robot master lists I find on Youtube.  Each robot master mentioned in a top ten video list gets one vote, no matter how high or low they are on the list.  If a list is longer than ten, only the top ten will count.  Shorter than ten in a list is acceptable.  Robot masters that appear in more than one game, such as Tengu or Astro Man, will be assigned to the game of their earliest appearance.  Any ties between robot masters will be settled by game: the RMs in the games with the largest number of robots mentioned will be ranked above those with fewer (compensating for MM1 and MM&B's shortchangings, of course), and in case the games have the same number mentioned, the overall total of votes in that game will break the tie.  This is the fairest way I can figure it out.

But why go ahead and say the list when you can delay and add unnecessary tension?  Here are a few robot masters that had a good showing, but did not make the higher twenty robot masters list.



#25: Sword Man
#24: Tomahawk Man
#23: Tornado Man
#22: Freeze Man
#21: Turbo Man

Hm, a combination of robot masters I find cool, and some I'm fairly indifferent towards.  Sword Man is awesome and I'm proud of Tornado Man for ranking so high compared to the classics, but I don't care that much about Turbo or Freeze.  Freeze does have cool poses, though.  Tomahawk Man is cool.

But since we're this far back already, why not a quick run through of the higher up numbers, up to tenth place.

#20 Splash Woman

by Mooncalfe.  Again, I know, but Splash Woman suffers from some really bad fan art, and this looks amazing.

Some might credit "her gender" (robots have none) for getting her this high, but the truth is she has great music.  The reference to Mega Man 5 in her level makes me smile.  Still, given all the terrible fan art of her, I really hope Capcom never does a female robot master ever again.  I swear, the pervs just come out of the woodwork...


#19 Tengu Man

From a cartoon, I think.

Great, one of two robot masters I (mildly) dislike gets a lot of votes.  Just lovely.  His sprite gets on my nerves because it's so hard to tell where his head is during a let's play -- it just blends in with the rest of his too colorful body.

#18 Napalm Man

by Yuji_san

Yay!  I'm so proud of Napalm.  His is probably the most fun theme in the entire classic series.


#17 Magnet Man

From the Ruby-Spears cartoon.

Not bad.  This guy has a great level and great music.  I've always loved the background in the early part of the level.


#16 Snake Man

No clue where this is from.

Now this is a shocker.  I'm surprised he isn't way high up on the top ten.  He's got so much personality.


#15 Gemini Man

by Carol Das Estrelas

I could stare at his level's background for hours.


#14 Blade Man

by Rongs1234

While it's nice that the newer robot masters are getting love, it's strange everyone's losing their minds over a RM who is just a bunch of swords stuck together.  Poor guy can't even hold things.


#13 Guts Man

Apparently this is a real game.

A classic, of course, with perhaps the shortest looped theme in the entire franchise.



#12 Knight Man

by Vap

Good show, Mega Man 6.  Unfortunately, Knight Man is that game's highest rank.  Probably comes of MM6 only having a Japanese release when it first came out.


#11 Gravity Man

by Gil_ED

Poor Gravity Man.  You almost made it to the top ten to represent MM5.  Oh well, at least you get a respectable amount of love.


And now, our top ten, top ten robot masters in Mega Man!

----- #10. Crash Man -----

Coming in from Mega Man 2 is the cutest entry from that game, Crash Man!  Okay, maybe you think Heat Man is cuter, but Crash Man seems more fun and good tempered.  Or maybe I'm just influenced by the old, dead webcomic Crash and Bass.  Then again, lots of people who prefer Crash Man seem to think he's a fun guy.  Hm, the disc data makes him out to be a violent destroyer, though.  Whatever.


----- #9. Galaxy Man -----

by MentalMyles

I'm pretty proud of this guy.  I'm really glad that a robot from a later game reached the top ten.  It's nice to know that people aren't too stuck on the classics that they don't give the new guys a chance.  It does help that Galaxy Man is genuinely creative, fun to look at, and has a really unique weapon.  That's not even mentioning his music.


----- #8 Fire Man -----

Ruby Spears

Yay!  One of my all time favorites is on the list!  I can't get over how awesome this guy is.  Even though I prefer to ignore the Powered Up version of him as far as my writing goes, even that type is funny.  Serious or goofy, let the flames of justice burn on!


----- #7 Skull Man -----

Yeah, no surprise here.  Skull Man is the single most emo character of all Mega Man classic, plus being designed after a simple concept.  All the best robot masters tend to be simpler in design rather than otherwise.  He's not only appealing in that he can do nothing but fight, but also in that he's obviously Wily's work and made against Dr. Cossack's will.


----- #6 Cut Man -----

by Penguin 18

Cut Man is generally upheld to be the standard of all Mega Man classic levels, and it's hard to argue with that.  His music is great, he himself is hilarious, and the level is one a player isn't likely to forget soon.  I can't help but feel that a lot of his votes were due to him being the first robot master most children would have played at the time Mega Man 1 came out, but hey, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the little guy.


----- #5 Quick Man -----

Megamix Concept sketch.

Yes, everybody loves Quick Man.  When all of the classic games are extremely similar, it's the unique levels and masters that get noticed.  Quick Man is unique for difficulty.  Not only are the instant death lasers hard to dodge, but the player's bravery is rewarded with an equally hard boss.  Want Quick Man related torture? Just check out Roahmmythril's perfect run of this guy.


----- #4 Pharaoh Man -----

And here we have the highest representative of Mega Man 4, the undead king of Egyptian tombs.  I have to say, this guy is pretty impressive, in personality if not by difficulty to fight.  He's grand, and so is his music.  It doesn't hurt that his weapon is perhaps one of the most fun in the entire game.


----- #3 Elec Man -----

And with the highest number of votes for a MM1 robot, Elec Man takes our number three spot.  He's a wildly random robot master, one who has to be tricked with a glitch to simplify the boss battle.  My personal favorite aspect of his level are the little "zzzt" sounds of the laser traps.  Those things are cute.


----- #2 Metal Man -----

by Oniika

I have to say, I don't really understand the appeal of Metal Man.  Sure, his theme is good, and his weapon is broken, but to me he just looks like a really angry demento.  While making this list, I figured out why I don't find the MM2 robot masters as interesting as others: it's because most of them are very angry-looking. All but Flash and Quick Man look like they're mad about something and out to get revenge.  That, and half of them are the red/yellow color combination.

Then again, the doctor-like influence in Metal Man's design, combined with his blood red eyes, sure does make Metal Man look spooky.  People like spooky characters.


Before I mention number one, let's go over some entries who didn't really have much of a chance -- those that are from Game Boy games or are not associated with a single game.  Punk from Mega Man III got one, and so did Ballade from IV.  From Mega Man V, Sunstar, Jupiter, Mercury and Pluto each got a vote. Bass got two, and Mega Man got one.  Yes, the main characters count as robot masters. Technically speaking, the robot masters are simply those that were meant to be in charge of basic robots, like mets or other smaller robots we see in-game.  That makes our MCs robot masters.

Honorable Mentions: This is a tie between Proto Man and Time Man.  With one not being an enemy with a level, and the other being a creation of Powered up, they didn't have much of a chance of attracting attention. However, they did get three votes each, the highest outside any of the main games.

And now for our grand prize winner...

----- #1 Shadow Man -----

Tumblr sure makes it hard to find out where art comes from.

It's Mega Man 3 that steals the top spot on the list.  Ah yes, Shadow Man, the robot that made everyone say "OMG, a ninja!"  To be fair, he is an alien ninja....which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, given that ninjas are an Earth phenomenon.  Well, in any case, he came down from some mysterious source and stole the hearts of the Mega Man fan base.  With just one vote over Metal Man, Shadow Man claims first place. This is a weird thing to compliment, but I really love the green power boxes in the back of Shadow Man's level.  It's just a unique detail, y'know?

So while I have compiled this top ten, why not present to you how well each game in the franchise did?  I'll be ranking these according to two criteria: how many robot masters got mentioned (the priority) and then the combined number of votes (the secondary).  This may seem unfair, as MM1 has only six and Mega Man and Bass will end up with six based on me assigning Tengu and Astro Man to MM8, but this was really the best way I could figure out how to make the list.

10th Place:

Mega Man and Bass was not a popular game.  It was difficult, biased against Mega Man, and the music was nothing to write home about.  However, there were a few favorites there.  Specifically, the game got six votes total.  Only four of their robots were mentioned, and none got more than two votes.  Dynamo Man and Cold Man got no votes at all. That's understandable, as Cold Man is a bit boring and Dynamo Man heals himself during the fight.  Jerk.


9th Place:

by Satoshi Matrix

Mega Man 6 suffers from originally being a Japanese only release.  That's why it only got 25 votes, and only five of the robot masters were mentioned.  Plant Man, Wind Man, and Blizzard Man got no votes at all. Very disappointing, as Blizzard Man is pretty cute.  Flame Man was the weakest of the other entries, with only one vote.  His is the best theme from the game, imo.


8th Place:

You'd think that with it being more modern and fresh in the players' memories, Mega Man 9's robot masters would have made a bigger impact.  However, like MM6, only five robot masters were mentioned, none of whom was Concrete, Plug, and Hornet Man.  You'd think Concrete Man would get attention for his unique weapon.  Jewel Man saved himself with one vote.  The others joined in to earn MM9 a total of 34 votes.


7th Place:

Mega Man 8 does a better job, getting six of its robot masters mentioned.  Sure, they only got 24 votes combined, but since more robot masters were mentioned, they outrank MM9.  Aqua Man and Frost Man were the unlucky two, while Clown Man managed to snag one.  Sword Man, while not quite making the top list, had an admirable showing.  I wish he'd been in more games.


6th Place:

The seventh entry in the franchise may not have been what most expected, but six of their robot masters were favorites, with a combined 25 votes.  Surprisingly, Spring Man actually got a vote, which leaves Burst Man and Cloud Man without.  I personally thought Shade Man would do better than 3 votes, but what are you going to do?


5th Place:

by Egoraptor

I'm not doing this on purpose, but it does seem like the further back we go, the more popular the characters get.  Next in line is my personal favorite, Mega Man 5.  Six of their robot masters were picked, leaving behind Wave Man and Crystal Man.  Seriously, not one vote for my favorite shiny bauble? The others snagged up 32 votes.


4th Place:

by Hartman Arts

Again, I didn't do this on purpose.  Mega Man 4 is next, with six robot masters favored for a total of 40 votes.  Even despite this deceptively high number of votes, most of them were garnered by Skull Man and Pharaoh Man, the nominated 'bots getting no higher than two each, if that.  Toad Man and Bright Man got no votes at all.


3rd Place:

by Neo Kirby and Watch

Yep, you guessed it.  MM3 comes in next, with six nominated robot masters, but a grand total of 64 votes. Top Man and Spark Man were the unlucky, vote-less two, while Hard Man scrapes by with one.  Needle Man managed 2 votes, while all the others did very well for themselves.


2nd point 5th Place:

This is where some people may disagree with how I have arranged my game list, but since the favorite robot masters themselves were organized by votes, I wanted to shake things up by characterizing this list by robot master spread.  Every single Mega Man 10 robot got a vote.  I heard more than one comment about how disappointing 10's robot master collection was, and yet somehow Team 10 pulls off something that older, more classic games couldn't.  Which is really surprising, given that Strike Man is odd and everyone complains about Sheep Man's design.

Of course it was Galaxy Man the pulled in the most votes.  Pump and Chill Man each got one vote, most of the others got two, Solar Man pulled off three, and Blade Man got all the rest for their game.  It's only a total of 24 votes, but you have to hand it to them for having a robot for everybody.  Since this is a bit of a controversial arrangement, I'm giving this entry 2.5th place.


2nd Place:

from Iragination.com

The original game not only has a vote for every robot master, but every single robot master got a good amount.  Ice Man was the least with 4 votes, but that's not at all bad.  Together, the original entry in the Mega Man franchise gets a highly respectable 70 votes.


1st Place:

by Nyaph

While I'll still never understand why everyone seems to think Mega Man 2 is the best game, it still wins for having the most beloved collection of robot masters, with every single one mentioned and a total of 77 votes. Heat Man barely holds up his end with only one vote, while all the rest have 3 or more.

See you next time, everyone!