Gauntlet's Guide to Protoman as a Villain!

I've been reading allot of comments on the Megaman cartoon series lately, and they all have one thing in common. They all list the cartoon's number one fault as Protoman being a villain! Now, don't get me wrong: the show has allot of faults that caused it to be canceled, but Protoman as a villain is certainly not one of them!

Megaman needed a robot he could physically battle each episode, and none of the robot masters would cut it since they never were much trouble in the games! Not, immediately people might say "what about Bass?" Well, Bass wasn't around then. Remember, although the show may have been RELEASED at about the time of MM6 or MM7 it takes time to DEVELOP characters and make character designs and also remember that the animators had to redesign the show from it;s original anime-influenced concept. So they made Protoman a villain. Which isn't to say they did it well.

Protoman acted more as a big bully than a rival bent on destroying X. This was before the big anime boom that made rivals a known cliché, so it's not surprising that the shows stuck with the western idea of the bigger brother being a bully. Next they forgot one of Protoman's most identifying elements: the shield! That shield was pretty important to his design and shoulda been kept. But I think the worst thing was doing away with the mystique. Gone was the mysterious whistling stranger who appeared only to give Megaman powerups and the occasional training battle. Instead we have a robot who doesn't seem to truly want to kill his brother, but has a strong case of sibling rivalry. Which may be good for some shows, but certainly not for Megaman.

Ready to brand Proto as a permanent hero-type? Heh, I to to you I could name SEVERAL ways to make Protoman a believable villain. And a better one than Bass to boot!

Really, what is Bass but a big anime cliché? He's one big rip-off (attitude-wise) of Vegeta. They both wanna become the strongest, both fight TO fight and both never quite reach their goody-two-shoes rival. He's Vegiie to a "t". The "obsessed-with-being-stronger" guy is a big anime cliché which just about everyone goes for. Of course "mysterious stranger" is also a cliché, but I digress.

The first step to making Protoman a GOOD villain is to give him a reason to battle Megaman. Sibling rivalry doesn't cut it. Perhaps I like plot too much, but I always like it when the hero actually DOES something to warrant obsessive hatred of the main villain. Were this MY series, Protoman would have his own agenda ... which Megaman would always interfere with. No obsession really, but if MM's in your way......

Also, I hear tell that the show producers only got halfway through MM5 which accounts for why Proto was a bad guy. Well, no. See it's called "artistic license" not "incompetence". The creators wanted a rival for MM. And what do you think happened; the producers made it all the way through MM5, researched the name of "Darkman" (which isn't stated in the game by the way) only to avoid all the parts that say Protoman wasn't evil? Where's yer brain?

The next thing is the look. I have no problem with muscles on robots. The people who complain about that also might need to realize that robots usually aren't little humanoid children sent to battle killer robots modeled after trains or giant chickens. However, I do think Protoman's shield would need keeping. It just makes him have one thing that Megaman does not. An advantage. His scarf was always a nice touch. For some reason mysterious characters need SOMETHING to flap in cool breezes. I have no idea why, but it makes them more mysterious. Another thing I might add would be his "Breakman" face mask. Not seeing someone's face would definitely add mystery.

Attitude is always the most important thing. Let's face it, the jealous big brother deal might work on another cartoon, but Protoman doesn't strike me as the jealous type. Also, jealousy detracts from mysteriousness. I'd take away the sibling aspect entirely and replace it with a loner attitude. Imagine Proto, working on his own with his OWN robots (ALA MM5, sure that was Darkman, but it doesn't HAVE to be) and SOMETIMES working for Wilt .... when it suits his purpose of course. This way he could work with MM as well nicely. During the show Protoman calls Megaman allot of names ... "mega dork" "mega dweeb" and the like. Not only are those incredibly lame, but it doesn't reflect a mature personality. And an immature villain cannot be taken seriously. Drop the name calling. Wily can have it, or some robot masters, but Protoman ought to be a more mature guy.

My take on the "Proto villain" would be a mysterious robot working for no one but himself. His agenda a mystery to all, he occasionally fights alongside Wily, but would also fight AGAINST him if need be. No true feelings of hostility towards his brother Megaman, but he would blow him away if he ever became a nuisance. Now doesn't that sound better than the obsessive-compulsive Bass?

I am Gauntlet and this has been Gauntlet's guides.

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