Bass

Article

Gallery

Walkthrough

Quotes

Character Info

Artwork from Mega Man 10.
Appearances
Game(s):	Mega Man 7, Mega Man: The Power Battle, Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, Mega Man 8, Mega Man: Battle & Chase, Mega Man & Bass, Mega Man 10, Mega Man X DiVE
Other Media:	Mega Man Megamix, Archie Comics
Character Details
Name(s):	Bass, Forte
Number(s):	SWN-001
Creator(s):	Dr. Wily
Weapon(s):	Bass Buster, Special Weapons
Behind the Scenes
Designer(s):	Hayato Kaji
Voice (JP):	Koji Tobe (1995-1996), Nobuyuki Hiyama (1997), Keiko Nemoto (2021)
Voice (EN):	Darryl Stogre

Bass, known as Forte (フォルテ) in Japan, is a major character in the Classic era who debuted in Mega Man 7. He was created by Dr. Wily as an answer to Mega Man, being a highly-adaptable fighting robot with a youthful appearance. He appears as both an antagonist and a playable anti-hero, driven by a desire to prove that he is the world's strongest robot.

Bass is a humanoid robot resembling Mega Man. He wears a black, yellow, and white armour, with blue gems and yellow fins on his helmet evoking Dr. Wily's hair. He is often accompanied by his pet Treble, a robotic wolf that he can fuse with to gain abilities, similar to Mega Man and Rush.

In the Games

Mega Man 7

Artwork from Mega Man 7.

Bass makes his debut in Mega Man 7, first appearing as the boss of the Opening stage, who fights Mega Man by jumping up and down and occasionally shooting a laser straight forward. Mega Man cannot lose this fight, which ends when either robot's health becomes low enough, but the results slightly affect the ensuing dialogue. Bass introduces himself and Treble and claims that they have been trying to stop Wily while Mega Man was gone, musing that he may not need their help (if Mega Man won) or remarking that he is not strong enough to take on Wily himself (if he lost). He and Treble then teleport out, leaving Mega Man to wonder if he can trust them.

After defeating the first four Robot Masters, Mega Man consults Dr. Light about Bass, who does not believe that he is their enemy. Later, when exploring Shade Man's stage, Mega Man finds Bass seemingly damaged in front of the boss door. Bass claims that he was careless to be defeated so easily and intends to leave Wily to Mega Man, but Mega Man insists they are a team and that Bass should see Dr. Light for repairs. Bass and Treble do so, but when Mega Man later returns to the lab after defeating the second set of Robot Masters, Bass has trashed it and stolen the plans for Mega Man and Rush's new enhancements. Dr. Wily then appears on a monitor screen and reveals that Bass and Treble were his creations all along, intended to trick Mega Man into giving them access to the lab.

In Dr. Wily's fortress, Bass is encountered twice, each time in a miniboss fight. In Dr. Wily stage 1, his battle is similar to the one in the Opening stage, though he now has the ability to charge up his shots and will also move around the room more than he previously did. In Dr. Wily stage 2, he and Treble use the stolen enhancement to fuse into Super Bass, Bass's answer to Super Mega Man, who gains the power of flight and throwing rocket fists and is fought in a vertical, low-gravity environment. Both forms are weak to Super Mega Man's charged fist attacks, with regular Bass taking 6 and Super Bass taking 4 damage from each hit. After his second defeat, Bass questions why he cannot defeat Mega Man, and teleports out once more.

Name	Sprite	Description	HP	Damage	Stage(s)
Bass		Jumps around the arena, firing regular and charged shots from his buster. He is weak to Super Mega Man's rocket punch.	28	4 (contact) 2 (buster shot) 4 (charged shot)	Dr. Wily stage 1
Super Bass		Bass fuses with Treble for an upgrade similar to Super Mega Man. In addition to firing regular and charged shots, he can fly and glide around the room, as well as launch rocket fists at Mega Man, which block shots and return to him. He is fought in low gravity, allowing Mega Man to jump very high.	28	4 (contact) 2 (buster shot) 4 (charged shot) 6 (fist)	Dr. Wily stage 2

After Mega Man defeats Wily, Treble teleports in and saves the doctor before Mega Man can shoot or apprehend him, and Bass himself appears one last time, gloating that Mega Man is too late and promising that they will meet again.

Mega Man 8

Art with Treble, from Mega Man 8.

In Mega Man 8, Bass is one of the characters showcased in the pre-title opening and also appears in the intro on starting a new game, using Treble in a Rush Jet-like form to fly around the city and confront Mega Man, who is on Rush. Although Mega Man does not wish to fight and tells him that they are "not enemies", Bass fires a shot at him, but is subsequently knocked off Treble and into a building by Mega Man's own buster shot. Mega Man leaves and Bass intends to pursue him, but misses his chance, as his arm is stuck in wiring. Blasting his way out, he promises that they will meet again.

In the game, Bass eventually makes good on this, appearing in Dr. Wily stage 3 as a miniboss. He declares that Mega Man cannot escape this time, gloating that he has acquired new powers. He and Treble then fuse into Super Bass again, enhanced by Evil Energy this time. Winning the fight and attempting to bring Bass to his senses, Mega Man states that Bass cannot beat him with "fake power", but Bass merely retorts that he will never give up as he teleports out.

Mega Man: Battle & Chase

Bass appears as a racer in Mega Man: Battle & Chase and is shown racing against Mega Man in the intro. His car is the Treble Darkstar, with a design based on Treble, and his abilities mirror those of Mega Man in every way, being able to fire small shots from the Bass Buster or a single "Bass Blast", equivalent to a charged shot.

Bass's reason for entering the race is to defeat Mega Man, and his track in the Grand Prix mode is the Base Course. After completing his story, Bass realises that winning against Mega Man in a race is not the same as doing so in an actual battle, and intends to challenge him again.

Mega Man & Bass

Artwork from Mega Man & Bass.

In Mega Man & Bass, Bass appears as one of the two playable characters, selectable when starting a new game. After Dr. Wily's fortress is supposedly attacked by the rogue robot King, he has moved into Dr. Light's lab together with Wily. When King subsequently attacks a Robot Museum to try and steal the robot data to build an army, Bass and Mega Man are sent out to investigate.

Bass's story in the game is largely identical to Mega Man's, with only slight differences in dialogue and a different ending. At the Robot Museum, Bass finds King already there, being confronted by Proto Man. Despite King defeating Proto Man, Bass mocks him, claiming that everyone knows he is the world's strongest robot. King escapes with the data, but leaves a Green Devil behind to deal with Bass.

After defeating the eight Robot Masters, Bass uses their weapons to gain access to King's palace, where he confronts King. King initiates a battle, which at first appears futile due to King's impenetrable tower shield, but Proto Man shows up to settle the score. Despite Bass insisting that he can handle King himself, Proto Man expends all his energy in a powerful "Big Bang Strike" that destroys King's shield, but exhausts Proto Man. Bass complains that Proto Man "stole the spotlight", but the latter reminds him that King is not finished yet.

After King is defeated, he reiterates his beliefs that robots are superior to humans, but Bass reminds him that humans created robots, also questioning who created King. When King reveals his creator to be Dr. Wily, Bass is shocked, but Wily appears on a monitor screen, referring to Bass as an enemy and urging King to finish him. King summons the giant Jet King Robo, but Bass defeats him again. As King's Palace is about to collapse and he urges Bass to escape, Bass worries what King is going to do, but teleports out when King assures him he will be able to evacuate. Bass goes after Wily in his newly built fortress, where he refights the eight Robot Masters and defeats the doctor.

Held at buster-point by Bass, Dr. Wily claims that he built King and had him fight Bass not to deceive him, but rather to test his strength, and recognises that by defeating King, Bass has proven that he is the mightiest robot in the world. Bass does not believe him, but Wily reveals that he has plans for a new model, "King the second", and proposes that this new King and Bass can work together. However, Proto Man enters and destroys the computer with the blueprints, foiling these plans.

Dr. Wily commands Bass to destroy Proto Man, but he hesitates, and Proto Man reminds him that he is strong and able to act on his own rather than having to follow Wily's orders. However, he explains that Bass has not been able to defeat Mega Man because he only fights for himself. After Proto Man has left, Bass denounces his statement, declaring that he will keep fighting solely to destroy Mega Man.

Bass's abilities

Bass comes with a different set of basic abilities than Mega Man, which greatly change his playstyle. Notably, Bass is able to perform a double jump, which makes it easier for him to pass many of the game's platforming challenges and gives him more vertical and horizontal mobility. He is also able to dash rather than using Mega Man's slide, which does not reduce his height, but gives him momentum that can be combined with his jump or double jump to leap extremely far, bypassing wide pits with ease.

His standard manner of attack is the Bass Buster, which fires shots rapidly while the button is held and can be aimed in 7 directions (excluding straight down), but its shots deal half damage to most enemies unless using an upgrade. The Bass Buster also cannot be charged like the Mega Buster can, its shots do not go through walls by default, and Bass cannot walk while using it, though he can still move forward by jumping.

When visiting the Shop, Bass has access to a different lineup of items. While many of these are also available to Mega Man and are simply recoloured for Bass, others, like the Treble Boost, are exclusive to him. He misses out on Mega Man's exclusive items, however, including Rush Search, which prevents him from digging up certain optional data CDs that are buried in the ground.

Name	Icon	Description	Type	Row	Cost	Character
Spare Body		Awards the player an extra life.	Single-use	1	50	Both
Energy Balancer (E. Balance)		Causes Weapon Energy pickups to refill the weapon with the lowest energy, if no weapon is equipped that needs recharging.	Permanent	1	120	Both
Exit Unit		Allows the player to exit already completed stages by selecting the item on the pause menu, keeping any new items found in the stage.	Permanent	1	50	Both
Shock Guard (S. Guard)		Protects Bass from dying on instant-death spikes once. When these spikes are touched, he instead becomes briefly invincible and the item is consumed. Only one S. Guard can be held at a time.	Single-use	1	10	Both
Transceiver (Com System)		Allows Bass to contact Roll from the pause screen, who may give hints about the stage. Required for the E. Analyze and CD Counter upgrades.	Permanent	1	100	Both
Item Presenter (I. Present)		Party Balls appear at certain points in the stage, which can be shot at to open them and receive a large Energy pick-up. It only affects the next stage, then it disappears.	Single-use	1	60	Both
E. Analyze		Allows Roll to give information about the boss's weakness when contacting her with the Transceiver.	Permanent	2	50	Both
S. Recover		Energy pick-ups restore more health when collected while this item is equipped.	Equippable	2	200	Both
C. Attack		Bass's attacks deal 2 extra points of damage while he has 7 or less health remaining.	Equippable	2	200	Both
H.S.D.		Bass can dash faster.	Permanent	2	100	Bass
S. Booster		Bass can climb ladders faster.	Permanent	2	100	Bass
Treble Boost (T. Boost)		Unlocks the Treble Boost weapon, which allows Bass to fuse with Treble into a form similar to Super Bass. Bass can fly in this form and fire strong projectiles in five directions at once, but constantly drains the weapons energy while active.	Permanent	2	100	Bass
E. Saver		Weapon Energy costs are cut in half while this item is equipped.	Equippable	3	200	Both
D. Absorb		Taking damage restores Weapon Energy. The more damage taken, the more Weapon Energy is restored.	Equippable	3	300	Both
S. Armor		Damage taken is cut in half while the item is equipped.	Equippable	3	200	Both
S. Buster		Bass Buster shots are bigger and deal twice as much damage.	Equippable	3	300	Bass
H. Buster		Bass Buster shots are smaller, but travel through walls. They deal the same amount of damage.	Equippable	3	300	Bass
CD Counter		Allows Roll to tell the player how many CDs are left in the current stage when contacting her with the Transceiver.	Permanent	3	100	Both

Like Mega Man, he is also able to copy the powers of defeated Robot Masters, granting him new weapons that can be selected from the pause screen and use up Weapon Energy. Apart from the Bass Buster and Treble Boost, all of Bass's weapons are identical to Mega Man's, though they look slightly different when used by him.

Name	Sprite(s)	Description	Acquired from
Bass Buster		Bass's standard weapon, which does not use Weapon Energy. It cannot be charged, but instead fires rapidly while the button is held, and Bass cannot walk while using it. It can be aimed up and diagonally, but not directly downward, and shots do not go through walls except with the H. Buster item. Standard Bass Buster shots do half as much damage as Mega Buster shots, except against bosses.	Start of game
Bass Buster (H. Buster)		While the H. Buster item is equipped, Bass Buster shots are smaller, but can go through walls. These shots do the regular amount of damage.	Shop
Bass Buster (S. Buster)		While the S. Buster item is equipped, Bass Buster shots are larger and do twice the amount of damage.	Shop
Special Weapons
Ice Wall		Summons an ice wall that can be pushed, bouncing back and forth between walls. It can be stood on to gain extra height or ride it safely across spikes. The wall cracks over time, then disappears. When used in water, it floats to the surface.	Cold Man
Copy Vision		Creates a temporary holographic copy of the user, which is stationary and constantly shoots forward. It can trick some homing attacks.	Astro Man
Spread Drill		Fires a giant drill forward that falls down after some time. It can be split into two smaller drills by pressing the button again, which can each be split into two even smaller drills. The drills can destroy certain ice or concrete blocks, which may contain items.	Ground Man
Wave Burner		Uses a flamethrower while the button is held, which undulates in a wave motion in front of the user. It can light certain fuses to destroy blocks, and destroy Spinning Gabyoall enemies. Underwater, it is replaced with a wave that pushes enemies away without harming them.	Burner Man
Remote Mine		Fires a floating mine forward, which can be streered up and down as it travels and will attach to the first enemy or wall it hits. Pressing the button again detonates it, with the explosion dealing damage repeatedly if the target remains inside of it.	Pirate Man
Lightning Bolt		Causes lightning to crash down all over the screen, hitting all visible enemies.	Dynamo Man
Magic Card		Throws a fast-moving card that returns to the user. It can be aimed upwards and can bring regular pick-up items (Energy, Weapon Energy, 1 UPs) back with it. If it is fired rapidly, the cards come out at slightly different heights.	Magic Man
Tengu Blade		Slashes in front of the user and then creates a cutter blade, which flies forward and can bounce off walls, gaining height in the process. Sliding or dashing with the weapon equipped turns the move into an attack.	Tengu Man
Other
Treble Boost		Bass combines with Treble into a form similar to Super Bass. In this form, he can fly freely and fire powerful projectiles in three directions forward, but constantly drains the weapon's energy while transformed.	Shop

Mega Man 10

Bass returns as a playable character in Mega Man 10, originally available as DLC, but part of the base game in later releases. He again possesses his own set of abilities, including a form of Treble Boost available from the start of the game, though he loses the double jump from Mega Man & Bass. His Shop is run by Reggae and includes the Treble Item and Treble Rescue as special items, letting him call Treble to award a pick-up item or to save him from a pit, respectively.

Mega Man X DiVE

In the crossover mobile game Mega Man X DiVE, Bass appears as an unlockable Hunter Program, and another separate one exists of his Super Bass form.

Battle Network era

Main article: Bass.EXE

Bass's equivalent in the Battle Network era is the Net Navi Bass.EXE, who looks similar to his Classic era counterpart, but wears a brown cloak. He has no Operator and appears frequently as a hidden boss, beginning with the original Mega Man Battle Network.

Official Data

Mega Man & Bass CD

Bass is represented by two CDs in Mega Man & Bass. The first is located in Astro Man's stage and can fittingly be acquired only by Bass himself, who must use Treble Boost to fly up a vertical section above the appearing blocks.

095	Bass
		A robot that DR. Wily created to be like Megaman. His final goal is to beat Megaman.	GOOD POINT: Emulous
			BAD POINT: Vain as a peacock
			LIKE: Champion
		"Get lost, loser!"	DISLIKE: Weak robot

The second, which features both Mega Man and Bass, is hidden in a corridor of the Robot Museum. Oddly, only Mega Man can obtain it, as it requires Rush Search to dig up.

100	Megaman&Bass
		Two heroes have joined forces to stop King's evil ambitions!	GOOD POINT: Good Rivals
			BAD POINT: Agreements
			LIKE: Their own policy
		"Which hero is the best!?"	DISLIKE: King

Trivia

• Bass's name follows the trend of many Classic era characters having music-related names, both in English and Japanese. "Bass" refers to low-pitched tones, opposite treble, which refers to the high-pitched end; "forte" is used in music notation to denote that a passage is to be played in loud volume. Additionally, forte is also the Italian word for "strong", fitting with Bass's constant desire to prove his strength.
• Although Bass does not appear in the 1994 Mega Man animated series, the show's version of Proto Man plays a similar role to him, acting as Mega Man's rival and Wily's second-in-command, who often defies his orders.

Gallery

Main page: Gallery:Bass

• 
  Art with Mega Man, from Mega Man & Bass.
• 
  On the Japanese Mega Man & Bass title screen.