List of misconceptions

This page is a list of misconceptions regarding the Mega Man franchise. Misconceptions are viewpoints or factoids that some people may accept as true, but which are actually false. They generally arise from misunderstandings, mistranslations, assumptions, or fanon. Each entry on this list is worded as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated.

For discussion specifically regarding which works of Mega Man media are included in canon, see the Canon page.

Disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive, and primarily targets misconceptions about the Mega Man franchise in English fan communities, as misconceptions may vary between languages and countries. Also, this page is to not meant prove or disprove fan theories; rather, it is meant to document an unbiased list of notable misconceptions, in an effort to clarify aspects of the franchise that may be vague or misunderstood.

Franchise

• Keiji Inafune is not the sole creator of the Mega Man franchise, nor the designer of himself. The first Mega Man was directed by Akira Kitamura and produced by Takashi Nishiyama, while Inafune worked as an artist. Kitamura was the one who first drew Mega Man's sprite art, after which Inafune was tasked with drawing official artwork based on the sprite. Inafune has rejected his title of "the father of Mega Man" - if anyone, the title should go to Kitamura. However, Inafune did play a large role in the series as a whole, as he frequently contributed artwork and character designs, and worked as a producer for many games starting with Mega Man X.
• Keiji Inafune was not unaware of Mega Man X6 being developed when he planned Mega Man Zero. It is true that Inafune intended to end the X era with Mega Man X5 so he could work on new projects, and he has expressed disappointment with X6 as a product. However, Takuya Aizu claims to have first pitched the idea of collaborating to Inafune at E3 2001; X6 had an entire booth and press material at this E3. The result of the collaboration, Mega Man Zero, was later announced in 2002, one year after the release of X6. This timeline makes it basically impossible that Inafune did not know about X6 before working on Zero 1. While it is possible that he influenced the development of X6 to better fit the lore of the Zero era (such as Zero's ending), there are no official comments on the matter and any statements are only rumors.
• The differences between the Robot Timeline and Net Timeline are not dependent on Dr. Light starting a family. Dr. Light and Tadashi Hikari are not the same individual and have completely different histories, despite the latter's character design being inspired by the former. This misconception also fails to take into account characters such as Duo.EXE or the EM Beings, whose fates would be unaffected by Dr. Light's dating life. The two timelines also aren't a timeline split per se, but are moreso alternate universes that exist parallel to each other.

Classic era

• is a robot. Many English news sources have erroneously referred to Mega Man as a cyborg, which is incorrect. This may be due to a misunderstanding of the definition of the word, or simply inaccurate reporting.
• The name "Mega Man" is a pseudonym he adopts in his battle form, while "Rock" is his real name. It has been erroneously localized as "Mega" in games such as Mega Man Powered Up, but the name has since been corrected by material such as the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide.
• Not every humanoid robot is a Robot Master. The term "Robot Master" only appears in English material and has no direct Japanese equivalent. It was only used from Mega Man 3 to Mega Man 7, and only ever referred to the bosses on the Stage Select screens. The term is derived from the fact that the Robot Masters lord over certain locations and control the robots within them. Some fans have misused the term to describe other humanoid robots such as Mega Man, Roll, or the Mega Man Killers - however, such characters have never been referred to with this terminology and do not fit the original definition.
• Dr. Wily was never the lab assistant of Dr. Light. This was a mistranslation in early English material. The two were fellow colleagues at the Robot Institute of Technology.
• Dr. Wily has no confirmed German heritage. This idea likely stemmed from his cited inspiration from Albert Einstein, and his depiction in the Mega Man cartoon, where he has a German accent like a stereotypical mad scientist. The Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide confirms he is American.
• There is no pattern to the movement of Big Eyes in the original Mega Man. There is a myth that the player's inputs can be used to influence its actions, but this is false.
• Break Man is an alternate persona only used by Proto Man in his Sniper Joe-like helmet. The two names should not be used interchangeably.
• Bass has no connection to Dr. Cossack. This theory likely stemmed from the Battle Network era, where Bass.EXE was created by Dr. Cossak.
• Roboenza is not confirmed to be the precursor to the Maverick Virus, nor does it have any confirmed connection to Evil Energy. There are no official sources supporting these theories, leaving all discussion of the matter entirely speculative.
• The futures that Quint and Rockman Shadow hail from are not the same time as the X era. It is possible that Quint came from a time between the Classic era and X era, but Rockman Shadow has destroyed his era, making it more likely that he is from an alternate timeline.
• Robots in the Classic era do have free will, just not to the same extent as the Reploids from the X era. In the "Journal of Dr. Cain", Reploids are distinguished from robots by their "ability to think and make their own decisions." The warning message by Dr. Light in Mega Man X further clarifies this: in English, X is called the first robot with "the ability to think, feel, and make their own decisions," and in Japanese, he is called a robot "with a more complex human-like thinking ability." In both versions, Light fears that if X chooses to willingly break the First Law of Robotics, no one can stop him from doing so. This indicates that the question of "free will" in Mega Man X is more about morality than autonomy. While the robots of the Classic era do make their own choices, such as Proto Man running from home or Tundra Man changing careers, they are incapable of choosing to break the First Law by harming humans without external tampering (e.g. Dr. Wily).

X era

• X is not Mega Man. He is his successor, a more advanced Reploid built by Dr. Light with stronger abilities. X was sometimes addressed as "Mega Man" in early games such as Mega Man X2, but only in the English versions, leaving this as a mistranslation. Yoshihisa Tsuda has confirmed that Capcom once entertained the idea of X being an upgraded Mega Man, but they ultimately chose against it and kept X a separate being.
• X does not go by Mega Man X. It is his official designation given by Dr. Light. The name was used semi-frequently in early English games, and rarely at all in Japanese. Even in English, X never refers to himself as Mega Man X, and is only ever called this name by meta sources such as narration, character select screens, or game manuals.
• It is not common knowledge that X was the first Reploid. Official character bios for X often state that his past is a mystery, even to himself. While players may be aware of X's origins as the template of all modern Reploids, no one in-universe who is aware of this fact ever appears, besides Dr. Cain.
• The definition of Reploid is not a replica of X's design. The original Japanese "Repliroid" is a portmanteau of "replica" and "android", but this refers to the fact that Reploids can perfectly replicate human thought, sapience, and free will.
• X and Zero are considered Reploids, not just robots. Despite being constructed before the term "Reploid" came into use, both X and Zero are highly-advanced robots that exhibit human-like sapience and free will, matching the definition. They frequently refer to themselves as Reploids and are called Reploids by others.
• It is unknown if X, Zero, or Axl have hair beneath their helmets. They have never been shown without their helmets in any canon works. In Bandai's Mega Armor series of figures, X and Zero's heads have exposed metal underneath, using designs drawn by Keiji Inafune. In the non-canon Rockman X Shùxué Xuànfēng, X has messy dark hair resembling Mega Man's under his helmet. In the non-canon Rockman X manga, X removes his helmet but the view is obscured; meanwhile, Zero removes his helmet to reveal a head of blond hair. This mystery was addressed in U-Capcom, admitting that the series designers have differing ideas of how their heads should look under their helmets, so there is currently no clear answer to the matter.
• Vile (or VAVA in Japanese) was not inspired by Boba Fett from Star Wars. Vile's designer, Naoya Tomita, has refuted this claim but understands the confusion. He has confirmed that Vile was actually inspired by Bubba Zanetti from Mad Max.
• The Dr. Light hologram found in Light Capsules is a living hologram of Dr. Light, not a set of pre-recorded messages. He exhibits self-awareness, references current events in each game, and has altered X's Armor Parts between games, making it impossible that he is merely a pre-recorded message. Even crossovers such as Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite correctly portray this Dr. Light as a sentient, digital being.
• The Sigma Virus and the Maverick Virus are one in the same. It was only called the Maverick Virus in Mega Man X2, at the end of which Sigma's true nature as a virus was revealed for the first time. Starting in Mega Man X3, it has consistently been referred to as the Sigma Virus instead.
• Zero's feral personality when he first awoke was not Dr. Wily's intention. This was a glitch that Dr. Wily intended for the Maverick Virus to cure — while the glitch was fixed, it pacified Zero into a docile being instead. Sigma's entire plot in Mega Man X5 was to create another virus to finally awaken Zero to Dr. Wily's intended programming, turning him into Awakened Zero, who has a completely different personality from his original awakening.
• Sigma received his eye scars from X in "The Day of Sigma", not from Zero during the flashback in Mega Man X4. Nothing in the flashback indicates that Sigma retained the facial damage that he received from Zero, and the more recent "The Day of Sigma" offers a more clear source for the scars. Other non-canon media, such as the Rockman X manga, have alternatively depicted Sigma inflicting them on himself as a symbol of going Maverick.
• Zero did not kill all the Classic era characters before the X era. This myth is called the "cataclysm theory" by fans, and it has been thoroughly debunked. It was largely popularized by a Mega Man fan webcomic called Bob and George, which featured an arc where Zero awoke in the Classic era and began attacking the cast - the crisis was ultimately averted, yet the idea remained a popular theory among some fans. This has long since been debunked by Capcom staff.
• Axl was not created by Dr. Cossack. Similar to Bass, this theory likely stemmed from fans connecting X to Dr. Light and Zero to Dr. Wily, leaving their respective contemporaries, Axl and Dr. Cossack, as having a possible connection. However, the idea is entirely unfounded and logistically impossible.
• Mega Man X6, X7, and X8 are all officially canon to the main series timeline, including the Zero era. There is no split in the timeline after X5. This idea stemmed from the fact that Keiji Inafune planned for X5 to be the final game of the X era so he could start the Zero era, leading some fans to attempt to discredit any X era games that came afterwards. However, this piece of trivia does not affect the overall canon.
• Conversely, Mega Man X: Command Mission takes place in an alternate timeline and is not canon to the main series.

Zero era

• Zero's design in the Zero era is not just an artstyle change, but a literal alteration of his X era body. As hundreds of years have gone by, technology has advanced and Reploids have come to more closely resemble humans. Toru Nakayama explained that Inti Creates wanted to impart a "sense of evolution" by making robots closer to the human-like Carbons of the Legends era. Makoto Yabe and Toshihiko Honda stated that Nakayama did experiment with a design closer to Zero's original look, but the team eventually chose the one used in the final game. However, they also stated there are several different opinions on the matter within the team.
• Omega was planned to mimic Zero's new design from early on. Initial concept art for Omega, which hardly resembles the design used in-game, indeed depicts a silhouette vaguely resembling Zero's X era design. However, later concept art for Omega's final form is clearly based on the Zero era design. A popular piece of fanart by artist Hi-GO! depicts Omega in the X era design and has been erroneously shared as official, but it is not official and should not be misconstrued as such.
• The fates of the Four Guardians remain a mystery. An issue of U-Capcom once claimed that the Guardians had disappeared and were helping the humans elsewhere. Additionally, Vile's Incident contained artwork of the Four Guardians and X watching the fall of Ragnarok, indicating they were still active (possibly as Cyber-elves, given the presences of Phantom and X). However, Takuya Aizu once claimed that this art was non-canon and that the Guardians (sans Phantom) died shielding Zero from Omega's explosion. Aizu later backpedaled, claiming that Neo Arcadia has no data on them but that they may be doing good for humans outside of Neo Arcadia's surveillance.
• The fate of Zero remains a mystery; he is not confirmed dead nor alive after the fall of Ragnarok.
• Vile from the X era was never planned to appear in the Zero era. All artwork or screenshots of this concept are hoaxes (besides Phoenix Magnion's Illusion attack). It is possible that this misconception came from Dr. Weil, whose name is Dr. Vile in the Japanese version.

ZX era

• Model A is not related to Axl from the X era. While Makoto Yabe intentionally designed the Biometal based on Axl, it was impossible to actually connect the two due to the cliffhanger ending of Mega Man X8 leaving Axl's canon fate unclear. To circumvent this constraint, Model A is related to Albert instead.
• Biometals are not merely inspired by their template characters, but actually contain their souls and data. An exception is Model A, who is not literally Albert since the two exist at the same time. However, both Ciel and Prairie state that Biometals contain the souls of the ancient individuals upon whom they are based.
• Master Thomas's plans after Mega Man ZX Advent are unknown. Makoto Yabe has stated that the ending was meant to eventually foreshadow the Legends era, but all claims that Thomas intended to flood the world or some other plan to lead into this era are inherently speculative.

Legends era

• The Legends era is part of the main Robot Timeline; it is not an alternate universe.
• MegaMan Volnutt is stranded on Elysium at the end of Mega Man Legends 2, not the moon.

Star Force era

• There is no confirmation that Geo Stelar is a descendant of Lan Hikari. There is no evidence to support this theory, and such a relationship is never mentioned, even when they meet in Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star.