Proto Man

Proto Man is a video game character from the Classic Mega Man series by Capcom. In Japan, he is known as Blues, after the musical style of the same name. He was originally known as "Break Man" in Mega Man 3, and was only weak to the Mega Buster; all Special Weapons bounced off of him. The reason for the name change is unknown, but a mistranslation or a later-modified localization decision would be consistent with common occurrences in NES games (one theory suggests that the alias "Break Man" comes from the fact that he "breaks" away obstacles in certain stages after Mega Man fights him). At the end of Mega Man 3, Dr. Light reveals that Break Man's actual name is Proto Man, and that he is Mega Man's older brother.

Video games
Proto Man is the early prototype of Mega Man that made his first appearance in Mega Man 3 (NES, 1990) and is found in the Magnet Man, Hard Man, Shadow Man and Gemini Man levels. He has a grey and red uniform and a yellow scarf. He wears a red helmet with a silvery decoration and a dark visor which hides his eyes. He always appears after his distinctive whistle.

Beyond their armor and personality, Proto Man and Mega Man are supposedly completely identical, although their exact relationship remains uncertain, since Proto Man has never actually removed his helmet in the games. However, in 5th edition of Rockman Complete Works, there's an official picture at the end of the game that features him with his helmet open, and it seems that he has the same hair as his brother.

At the end of Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, it is revealed by Dr. Light that Proto Man's body has a fatal defect in his energy system, and as a result is in great pain and has a more limited lifespan. In Mega Man Powered Up, Proto Man reveals in a dialog with the Yellow Devil that his reactor is already unstable. In the various Mega Man manga, Proto Man has appeared in casual clothing, usually standing atop a building wearing a trenchcoat, sunglasses, slacks and black shoes. His scarf is tucked into the trenchcoat, but still noticeable.

Proto Man is an example of the "mysterious anime character" archetype, and it is possibly because of this air of mystery that fans adore the character. Capcom has never revealed the precise past of Proto Man, or why the character did not appear until the third game, although he can be unlocked as a playable character in Mega Man Powered Up, the Playstation Portable remake of the first Mega Man game.

Proto Man's fate is unknown in the future as he is not seen or even mentioned in the Mega Man X universe. His role as the continuously appearing challenger/assistant in that series is assumed by Zero, who is graphically based on Proto Man.

Proto Man's name is often spelled as "Protoman" by Mega Man fans, even though Capcom's official stance is that all Mega Man names (except for those names in Battle Network and Legends) are to be written with a space. This rule has the exception of Japanese names, as the Japanese language does not have or use spaces. Despite these clear-cut guidelines, even Capcom tends to write its character names incorrectly. For example, in Mega Man & Bass, Proto Man and all of the Robot Masters have their names spelled with a space, while Mega Man's name has no space. The popular way of writing the name as "Protoman" originates from the earlier Mega Man titles where the translation was sometimes a little dodgy (and screens were often too cramped to include "between" spaces). In the Battle Network and Legends series, it is convention that the name is spelled using CamelCase, and thus only in Battle Network and Legends, the spelling correct is without a space. Mega Man Anniversary Collection's Navi Mode translation also used CamelCase with the exception of Mega Man in an attempt to merge the non-space and spaced names, but it was only used there in the classic series. The confusion of the slightly different spelled names is seemingly slowly getting retconned by a possible Mega Man Powered Up full-length remake series, where the names are not spaced except for Mega Man.

TV
Proto Man's first game appearance, Mega Man 3, was adapted for animation in the Captain N: The Game Master episode "A Tale of Two Dogs". However, Proto Man did not appear in the episode.

In the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon, Proto Man, having been reprogrammed by Dr. Wily, is villainous and serves as Dr. Wily's main henchman who follows and assists the evil scientist. Proto Man's voice was done by Scott McNeil.

Personality
Proto Man's entire attitude revolves around being a free spirit. Although he is strong, on equal standing with Mega Man, he refuses to let an idealistic perspective force him to fight for justice constantly. Instead, he fights when Mega Man needs him to. His commitment to helping his brother doesn't seem to be formed out of a concrete forcefulness of service, but rather out of a carefree personality that also knows somewhere Mega Man is doing the right thing.

His distinct ability to make choices seems to mark him as the first and possibly last of any robots with free will in the Mega Man Classic series.

Powers
As Proto Man's design is similar to Mega Man's, he has similar capabilities, with his primary weapon being an arm cannon. In his playable appearances, it has been shown to have heavier firepower than the Mega Buster, firing large, orange rounds. He also is able to produce a larger variety of charged shots than Mega Man (unless one is to take into accountance the Buster parts that Mega Man can equip and use in Mega Man 8) including a green shot with a longer trail than that of Mega Man's (Mega Man 7), a normal charge shot (arcade appearances, as well as Mega Man and Bass; a similar shot appears in Powered Up, although there is no charge time required), and (as a last-resort attack) the "Big-Bang Blast" (Mega Man and Bass), a large concetration of Proto Man's remaining energy so powerful that it can damage Proto Man's body (in the aforementioned game, the resulting blast was powerful enough to not only destroy King's shield, but destroy both of Proto Man's legs and some of his torso). He has also been shown to have the same weapon-copying powers as Mega Man, with his body changing color in a similar fashion depending on the weapon acquired. His signature ability, the Proto Shield, however, is not shared with his brother. This portable, solid shield can deflect projectile attacks. Also, Proto Man lacks Mega Man's ability to slide-dash, though in his arcade appearances, he his shown to have a slightly less efficient ground dash move.