INFLUENCES

The following listings are a few places that may give you déjà vu, otherwise known has, “Does this remind you of anybody?”

Click on the icons to see larger images or for more information.

(These are not here to accuse anyone of trying to rip off anyone else. They are just coincidences and cute similarities.)

Note: Met helmets are not similarities and they are not appearances. Believe it or not, the Met helmet is actually modeled after real construction hard hats. So don’t mail me telling me that a construction worker in such-and-such anime, manga, or other fictional work was seen wearing a Met hat. All of these works of fiction are borrowing from the same source—that is, real life.

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MegaTwins, otherwise known as Chiki Chiki Boys, is listed on Capcom of Japan’s website. With the exception of the hair color, this could be Mega Man and Proto Man in disguise.
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This is a scan of a card I found in an Easter basket. Anyone who’s seen the US box for Mega Man X1 can tell instantly where the artist got his inspiration for this robot rabbit...
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This is a set of toys called “Robot Fighter.” Wait, that’s not Mega Man...is it?
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An arm grabber toy with a cute little SD X look-alike on the cover. Thanks to Dale W. Thiessen for this one.
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A Trapper Keeper cover circa 1985 or so. Thanks to David Minter and Anthony Anselmo.
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Submitted by Luna Hikari, this is an ad for a flu medicine. I haven’t seen this myself, but the image is amusing nonetheless.
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Submitted by James who found this in a local coupon book. Needs no further expounding, I don’t think.
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In the same vein as above. Submitted by awsomemegaman of YouTube.
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Capcom posted this on their blog, which indicates they’re aware of it, which means it might vanish pretty quickly. This isn’t really a rip-off so much as a blatant use of another company’s character (and art!) presumably without licensing it. Pretty funny stuff. This particular photo from Luna Hikari.
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From The Mega Man Network, this is a robot toy made in the shape of a monkey. Aww, isn’t it cute? Granted, any cartoony monkey that doesn’t have long limbs will pretty much end up looking like Data, but still.
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It seems Neopets has a “Robot Petpet” named Metnav (or “Navibot”) that looks very suspiciously like a Met from the Mega Man series. (Thanks to mrkoolnerd.)
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In the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Jaden has a card named “Defender HERO”, which looks something like a cross between MegaMan.EXE and Zero defending someone who looks a bit like Iris. (Thanks to Luna Hikari.)
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The Krion Conquest is an NES game that has heavy Mega Man influences in its animation cycles and such. This one is pretty funny, actually...
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Taking a page out of the Krion Conquest playbook, MegaMari is a Mega Man 2 clone starring a female witch. We haven’t seen this one before...
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This one isn’t an image but a song. Try to imagine your typical Mega Man stage music...with lyrics.
(More music similarities are mentioned below.)
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There’s a “Mega Man” comic which plays a bit of a role in the “RisingStars” comics. No word yet however on whether or not this is coincidence or a cute reference. Thanks to David Minter for bringing this to my attention. Copyright @1999 J. Michael Straczynski and Top Cow Productions.
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The character in the game “Sansara Naga 1x2” kind of looks like a boy cosplaying Mega Man. Thanks to Tirgo.
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In the Simpsons, there is an episode where Homer decides to become PieMan. It is a Spider-Man spoof...but when Homer draws his super hero, it looks a bit like a slight Mega Man knock-off. Thanks to Ethan, Quickman, and Ian.
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I’m really not sure how to categorize this one, but there’s a Missy Elliot music video for “Sock It 2 Me” which seems to include Mega Man-like characters. Thanks to Onyx Man and many, many others.
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I haven’t watched this one, but from what I was told and from reading about it online, the TV show “Robotboy” does seem to bear more than a passing similarity to Mega Man in more ways than one. Since I haven’t seen it, I haven’t set up a page for it, but here’s a link to Wikipedia’s entry which has some info and other helpful links.
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And another TV show called “My Life as a Teenage Robot.” Another battle robot, built by a white-haired lady this time instead of a white-haired man, designed for battle but wanting to live life like a human. Oh yeah, with prototypes in the closet. Might be more Astroboy influences than Mega Man, but you can see some similarities.
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I really don’t know how to categorize this one, because it’s clearly a deliberate tribute to the Mega Man series. In the game Magicka, it’s possible to get robes that resemble three Robot Masters: Fire Man, Ice Man, and Elec Man, which come with associated elemental bonuses. You get them as part of the “Mega Villians” pack.
Is this an appearance, or an influence? ScytheBladeX reports that in World of Warcraft there are two tamable robotic dogs named Rush (a red one) and Treble (a black one). It’s obviously a tribute, and probably not one that would get Blizzard into trouble. (Screen shot from Coonga.)
I honestly don’t know whether to call this one a fan game or not. It’s a Mega Man clone for sale on the iOS called “Auto Boy” but considering practically anyone can sell games on iTunes, it’s not really much different from a fan-made game (below). Thanks to Renard.
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Finally, there are a ton of fan creations that copy Mega Man, particularly Flash files. It would take far too long to list them all here, but homestarrunner.com is one place (among others) where you can find them.

As an off-shoot, “Mega Man” is a pretty popular name when it comes to people just looking for a random super-hero sounding name or in other situations as well. Here are some places where the name “Mega Man” (or other characters) has been used but has nothing to do with the blue bomber at all.

  • Viewtiful Joe - A “Mega Man” is briefly mentioned in this game. Not really a cameo, but not really an influence; this one is more like an in-joke, since the game was made by Capcom. (It’s probably also not a coincidence that Joe himself looks kind of like a weirded-out version of Proto Man in this game. I can’t help it; it’s true!) I’ve made a short sound clip of the part in question.
    Contributor: multiple
  • Mega Bloks - I encountered a “Mega Man” as a mascot for Mega Bloks, those Lego-like toys. Unfortunately I don’t yet have a scan, however.
  • Mastertonic - I’m not sure how to classify this one, but it seems Mastertonic made a Rockman game (and a sequel) for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer back in 1985. I don’t know how it plays but the names are probably complete coincidence (the “Rock” in this case appears to be a reference to rocks and not music).
    Contributor: BloodyL
  • Teen Titans - Now this one’s pretty funny. There’s a DC Comics villain named “Dr. Light” who appears on the Teen Titans cartoon who is named based on his special abilities. You can read more information about him here.
    Contributor: Justin
  • Marvel Comics - Similarly, a “Megaman” made an appearance in a Marvel comic as a villain...
    Contributor: ACE
  • Timely Comics/Atlas (e.g. Marvel Comics) - There are a couple of “Rockman” characters which you can see here. See also this post.
    Contributors: Jonathan, Phil
  • Voltron - A reader sent a scan of what looks like Voltron, but it has “Megaman” written on it. Here is another scan. From the looks of things, Voltron was localized as “Megaman” in certain regions, but I don’t know which ones or whether this was done legitimately or if these are pirates.
    Contributors: Trike, Tommy
  • South Park - There are evidently at least two episodes that mention a “Mega Man.” One, Damien, featured characters discussing various “Mega Man” toys that were various colors and could join together. Sounds more like a Power Rangers rip-off than a Mega Man one, despite the name.
    Contributor: multiple
  • Powerpuff Girls - A “Mega Man” is mentioned in the episode Aspirations in a discussion between two guards.
    Contributor: multiple
  • Funky Winkerbean - Characters in this comic strip once wrote a story involving a “MegaMan” character.
    Contributor: Lioness 47-0
  • The Cosby Show - Characters here talk about a Mega Woman married to a Mega Man who have a Mega Boy and ride in a Mega Mobile. That’s more “megas” than the Captain N shows ever used in one episode.
    Contributor: Josh
  • Charmed - An episode called “Wrestling with Demons” involves a character named “Mega Man.”
    Contributor: Carlos
  • Replica - It’s been reported that in this series of books, a bad guy’s favorite super hero is named “Mega Man.” I’ll report more when I get my hands on the books.
    Contributor: Brandon
  • KMFDM - One of this band’s songs, “Sycophant,” mentions a “mega-man” (as it is usually written in the lyrics).
    Contributor: Dustin
  • My Hero - Apparently one episode has a character use the word “Megaman” in a conversation.
    Contributor: Kansheera
  • Tom Scholtz - This guitar player’s company invented and sold a line of products with the name “Rockman.”
    Contributor: Kansheera
  • DJ Ötzi - There’s a song called “Megaman” on the album “Peace, Love, and Vollgas.” It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Mega Man, just the title.
    Contributor: Phillip
  • Yu-Gi-Oh - Some cards in this series’s trading card game have names like “Bubbleman” and “Sparkman” (although they bear no particular resemblance to the respective Robot Masters).
    Contributor: Nick
  • Corporations - There are actually one or more companies named “Megaman” (such as this one which is also found here as well as worldwide). And people think Capcom couldn’t use the name “Rockman” because of trademark issues...
    Contributor: Duke87

Aaannd we have music similarities! This is a preliminary list of songs that sound similar to various tunes in the Mega Man games (or should I say, various tunes in the Mega Man games that sound similar to certain songs...).

Note: Songs which deliberately sound like Mega Man music I put in the Links section.

  • (She’s A Little) Runaway - The opening to this Bon Jovi song sounds like the character select screen in Mega Man 1.
    Contributor: Jess Ragan
  • Guns N’ Roses - It’s reported that Neon Tiger’s music in Mega Man X3 bears a strong resemblance to the Guns N’ Roses song “My Michelle.” (Makes sense, considering the later X game which used Guns N’ Roses names for the Mavericks...)
    Contributor: Chris
  • Good Enough - Quote from e-mail: “In Burner Man’s level, the music at the beginning of the level sounds exactly like the intro to Cyndi Lauper’s ’Good Enough’ (the song in the Goonies).”
    Contributor: Mike
  • Since I Don’t Have You - A Guns N’ Roses song said to sound like the ending theme of Mega Man X1.
    Contributor: Kansheera
  • Seek and Destroy - A Metallica song with a tune that resembles Flash Man’s stage music.
    Contributor: Raccoon Sam
  • Between Angels and Insects - A song by Papa Roach that sounds like Elec Man’s stage music.
    Contributor: Ptx
  • Re-Actor feat Steve L II - Digital Technology - I’m told this song sounds like Mega Man music.
    Contributor: Anders
  • Faithfully - Several people have mailed me to say this song sounds like Elec Man’s theme. I never really noticed it before, but to each his own.
  • Final Countdown - Note: I’ve looked into this, and as far as I can tell, the song “Final Countdown” has nothing to do with Mega Man 8. Rather, someone took a MIDI of “Final Countdown” and labeled it as coming from Mega Man 8, but it doesn’t. I have listened to the MIDI and the song isn’t found anywhere in Mega Man 8. So this is a false rumor.

The following are unconfirmed similarities that others have mailed me, but that I have not personally seen. These are ones that I want to verify further. But just to let you know what has been reported...

  • Brain Drain - A game on a “300 arcade games” compilation CD is claimed to contain a Dust Man and a Gyro Man. I don’t know yet if their appearances were “borrowed” from the Mega Man games or if the names are pure coincidences.
    Contributor: Jeteyepat2
  • Shaman King - I’m told one episode has a Servbot on some Lego-like ghost. You apparently have to see it to understand it.
    Contributor: Kassandra

Note to contributors: If I’ve listed you and you’re rather have your name changed or removed, let me know.