The boss character contest (ボスキャラ募集 bosu kyara boshuu, roughly "boss character application") is a contest held by Capcom where fans send ideas for boss characters to appear in a Mega Man game.
Contests and characters[]
Mega Man series[]
Mega Man 2[]
The first boss character contest, which had 8370 entries and decided the eight Robot Masters that appear in the game. 10 participants received a "staff only" blouson, 100 received a Rockman 2 Original Music tape, and 500 received seals.[1] Besides the eight winners, forty participants were listed in the game's Japanese manual[2] and in the special thanks from the game's staff roll.
As the game had a strict deadline, the staff couldn't wait until after the submissions had arrived and selected the winners to start development. Instead, work was made on the stages and enemies, and the staff had a loose idea of what kind of boss would be needed for each stage (wind and electric themed boss characters for the air themed stage, animal and nature themed bosses for the forest, etc). They selected the motifs they found most interesting from the many submissions, Keiji Inafune cleaned them up and redesigning them as necessary, and they selected one of the designs.[3]
Boss | Designer |
---|---|
DWN-009 Metal Man | Masanori Satou (佐藤 正徳 Satō Masanori) |
DWN-010 Air Man | Youji Kanazawa (金沢 洋治 Kanazawa Yōji) |
DWN-011 Bubble Man | Takashi Tanaka (田中 隆 Tanaka Takashi) |
DWN-012 Quick Man | Hirofumi Mizoguchi (溝口 博文 Mizoguchi Hirofumi) |
DWN-013 Crash Man | Akira Yoshida (吉田 晃 Yoshida Akira) |
DWN-014 Flash Man | Tomoo Yamaguchi (山口 智雄 Yamaguchi Tomō) |
DWN-015 Heat Man | Toshiyuki Kataoka (片岡 稔幸 Kataoka Toshiyuki) |
DWN-016 Wood Man | Masakatsu Ichikawa (市川 雅克 Ichikawa Masakatsu) |
Special thanks:
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Mega Man 3[]
The contest decided the eight Robot Masters. Had 50,000 entries. Some runner up entries received a pencil case and ID card as prize.[5] Forty participants also had their names listed in the special thanks from the ending credits.[6]
Similar to Mega Man 2, the staff could not wait for the submissions to start development, so some placeholder bosses were used while planning out the stages. When early designs from the game were compiled for R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works in 2008, Keiji Inafune didn't remember which of the unused bosses were designed as placeholders and which ones were part of the contest.[7]
Boss | Designer | Submission name[6] |
---|---|---|
DWN-017 Needle Man | Nobuhiko Akatsuka (赤塚 信彦 Akatsuka Nobuhiko) | Iron Man |
DWN-018 Magnet Man | Nagashi Kii (紀井 長 Nagashi Kī) | Magnet Man |
DWN-019 Gemini Man | Yoshihito Hattori (服部 嘉人 Hattori Yoshihito) | ? |
DWN-020 Hard Man | Kazuhiko Oguro (小黒 一彦 Oguro Kazuhiko) | Press Man |
DWN-021 Top Man | Yasushi Konjiki (近喰 康史 Konjiki Yasushi) | Top Man |
DWN-022 Snake Man | Yuhjiro Ishitani (石谷 裕二郎 Ishitani Yūjirō) | Snake Man |
DWN-023 Spark Man | Mikihiro Suzuki (鈴木 広 Suzuki Hiroshi) | Spark Man |
DWN-024 Shadow Man | Takumine Yoshida (吉田 拓峰 Yoshida Takumine) | Ninja Man |
Special thanks:
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Mega Man 4[]
The eight Robot Masters.[8] Had 70,000 entries. The winners from this game's contest received a golden Rockman 4 cartridge.[9] Everyone that participated received the booklet Rockman Character Collection, and towels were also given as a gift.[10]
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
DWN-025 Bright Man | Yoshitaka Enomoto (榎本よしたか) |
Pearl Man[note 1] |
DWN-026 Toad Man | Atsushi Ootsuka | Toad Man |
DWN-027 Drill Man | Masayuki Hoshi | Drill Man |
DWN-028 Pharaoh Man | Takayuki Ebara | Miira Man (Mummy Man) |
DWN-029 Ring Man | Hiromi Uchida | Ring Man |
DWN-030 Dust Man | Yusuke Murata (村田 雄介 Murata Yūsuke) |
Dust Man |
DWN-031 Dive Man | Suguru Nakayama | |
DWN-032 Skull Man | Toshiyuki Miyachi | Skull Man |
- ↑ Named after a Japanese lamp brand.
Mega Man 5[]
Like previous contests, it decided the eight Robot Masters. Had 130,000 entries.
Boss | Designer | Submission name[11] |
---|---|---|
DWN-033 Gravity Man | Yukiko Nori | Gravity Man |
DWN-034 Wave Man | Hideyuki Monno | ? |
DWN-035 Stone Man | Kenta Oonishi | Block Man |
DWN-036 Gyro Man | Katsunari Oguri | Gyro Man |
DWN-037 Star Man | Tatsumi Saegusa | Star Man |
DWN-038 Charge Man | Toshiaki Sugiura | Steam Man |
DWN-039 Napalm Man | Shinichirou Seki | Beat Man |
DWN-040 Crystal Man | Yusuke Murata | Lens Man |
Mega Man 6[]
The only contest from the original series with non-Japanese winners, with a contest being held by Nintendo Power. Had 200,000 entries. One of the non-Japanese winners, Daniel Vallée, recalled that, besides his winning entry of Knight Man, he had submitted enough Robot Master designs to fill eight whole games, with names including Wave Man and Samurai Man (the former of whom had coincidentally had a shared name with an unrelated Robot Master in Mega Man 5).[12]
Wily Prize:
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
DWN-041 Blizzard Man | Hirofumi Ogawa | Spur Man (シュプールマン, from the German spur, which in Japanese is used to refer to the slippage from ski trails) |
DWN-042 Centaur Man | Kazuki Kidoguchi | Centaman |
DWN-043 Flame Man | Noritsugu Kurokawa | Flame Man |
DWN-044 Knight Man | Daniel Vallée (written as Daniel Vallie in the game's credits) |
Knight Man |
DWN-045 Plant Man | Nobuhiro Hoshino | ? |
DWN-046 Tomahawk Man | Yoshinobu Suda | Geronimo Man (ジェロニモマン) |
DWN-047 Wind Man | Michael Leader | Wind Man |
DWN-048 Yamato Man | Rai Ichikawa | Musha Man (武者マン, lit. "Warrior Man") |
Japanese Light prize:
Boss submission | Designer |
---|---|
Whip Man | Saori Tsubaki |
Puzzle Man | Tsuyoshi Shinoda |
Mirage Man | Tomoaki Hirose |
Splash Man | Miki Kawashima |
Oil Man | Satoshi Sakamoto |
Saboten Man ("Cactus Man") | Tomoko Miyamoto |
Smoke Man | Mitsumasa Nagaya |
Box Man | Tomohiko Sato |
Hook Man | Waka Maeda |
Fish Man | Kenji Tsujimoto |
Ōedo Man | Takako Asami |
Tank Man | Yasuko Watanabe |
Rope Man | Seiichi Honma |
Screw Man | Shigeharu Kagawa |
Quake Man | Akio Ofuji |
Yamato Man | Kenichiro Ueda |
Ship Man | Katsuki Mugishima |
Alo Hameha Man | Yuichiro Haruyama |
Pair Dancer Man | Aya Hattori |
Ganesha Man | Shunji Terauchi |
International Light Prize:
Boss submission | Origin | Designer |
---|---|---|
Cord Man | Canada | Luc Miron |
Artillery Man | America | David Dunn |
Lance Man | Spain | Pol Santamans Bacart |
Chain Man | Italia | Nicolas Fels |
Virtuose Man | Australia | Marco Varga |
Shock Man | America | Nathan Campbell |
Flame Man | Sweden | Pelle Lövholm |
Wolf Man | America | Juson Soule |
????? | Korea | Shin Kyung Bong |
Ball Man | Germany | Aron Bundels |
Saw Man | America | Lee Konstantinou |
Korten | France | Patrick Ruefeuillat ("Patrik Nahon" in the game credits) |
Mega Man 7[]
The eight Robot Masters. Had 220,000 entries.
Wily Prize:
Boss | Designer | Submission name[13] |
---|---|---|
DWN-049 Freeze Man | Shigeaki Sakamoto | Freeze Man |
DWN-050 Junk Man | Jun Akiba | ? |
DWN-051 Burst Man | Keishi Tsuchiya | Shabon Man (Soap Bubble Man) |
DWN-052 Cloud Man | Isao Nakagiri | Smoke Man |
DWN-053 Spring Man | Akira Ito | Spring Man |
DWN-054 Slash Man | Yoichi Amano | Claw Man |
DWN-055 Shade Man | Tetsuya Watada | Hells Man |
DWN-056 Turbo Man | Takashi Kino | Dash Man |
Light Prize:
32 participants were included in the credits as special designers.
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Mega Man 8[]
For this contest a template was given for three of the six bosses that would receive the Dr. Wily Prize: one boss character with a sword (the winner being Sword Man), one with extendible arms (Clown Man), and one with two heads (Search Man). The other winners were Frost Man, Grenade Man and Aqua Man. Tengu Man and Astro Man were made by Capcom. Besides the six winners, some submissions are displayed in the game's credits and the Sega Saturn's Bonus Mode,[14] and some participants are listed in the credits as part of the Dr. Light Prize. Some participants won a Mega Man themed calculator.[15] Had 110,000 entries.
The Dr. Wily Prize:
Boss | Designer | Submission name[16] |
---|---|---|
DWN-059 Sword Man | Keigo Matsuo | Ancient Man |
DWN-060 Clown Man | Hiroshige Sakai | Pierrot Man |
DWN-061 Search Man | Yuuta Hata | Vulcan Man |
DWN-062 Frost Man | Akifumi Nomura | Yeti Man |
DWN-063 Grenade Man | Kenichirou Komaki | Explode Man |
DWN-064 Aqua Man | Morito Kuriki | Bio Man |
The Dr. Light Prize:
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Mega Man Legends series[]
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne[]
Although not a boss contest, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne held contests that had the Servbot Borer (by べのむ) and the Bonne Bazooka as the winners. The designs made by the fans can be seen in the credits from the Japanese version.
Mega Man Legends 3[]
Before Mega Man Legends 3 was cancelled, the Devroom held events for fan content to be included in the game, which included a Bonne mecha boss, a Reaverbot boss, the Bright Bats mascot, promotional ideas, townspeople, and easter eggs.
Contest | Winner | Entries |
---|---|---|
Bonne mecha boss | Donner Wels by Kobun #46 (CAPコブン) | List of entries |
Reaverbot boss | Calamity by Servbot #2395 (kankan) | List of entries |
Bright Bats mascot | Tinker by Servbot #1061 (Espiownage) | List of entries |
Mega Man Battle Network series[]
Boss contests makes a return for Mega Man Battle Network in a smaller scale than it was in the classic series. It’s limited to a few bosses instead of becoming all of game's main bosses.
Mega Man Battle Network 2[]
The winner of the Mega Man Battle Network 2 contest becomes the NetNavi of Mr. Famous. The Navi also has his own Program Advance (a super move based on that Navi's attack).[17]
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
GateMan | Shoichiro Satokawa (さとかわ しょういちろう) | GateMan (ゲートマン) |
Mega Man Battle Network 3[]
The winners of the Mega Man Battle Network 3 contest become Navis of various roles. KingMan is the Navi of a re-occurring character. The other two are the Rank #2 Navi of the Undernet between the two versions. MistMan for White version and BowlMan for Blue version. The three also work together in a Program Advance super move, Grand Prix Power.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
KingMan | Koshiro Umegaki (うめがき こうしろう) | CrossMan (クロスマン) |
MistMan | Tsubasa Kataoka (かたおか つばさ) | MistMan (ミストマン) |
BowlMan | Atsuya Shimizu (しみず あつや) | BowlerMan (ボーラーマン) |
Mega Man Battle Network 4[]
The winners of the Mega Man Battle Network 4 contest become Navis of various roles. VideoMan is a Navi of an in-game tournament's participant. KendoMan is Mr. Famous' Navi, who also participates in a tournament. LaserMan is the antagonist group leader's Navi. The three Navis also work together in a Battle Chip, Grand Prix Power. This chip was only obtainable from real life events or an e-Reader card. These Navis also appear in Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
LaserMan | Yoshihito Nonaka (のなか よしひと) | LaserMan (レーザーマン) |
KendoMan | Yuta Koido (こいど ゆうた) | KendouMan (ケンドうマン) |
VideoMan | Yosuke Shimizu (しみず ようすけ) | VideoMan (ビデオマン) |
Mega Man Battle Network 5[]
The winners of the Mega Man Battle Network 5 contest become Navis of various roles. CosmoMan is a story boss, GridMan is Mr. Famous's Navi, and LarkMan is an optional boss in the Undernet. All theses Navis also have their own corresponding Program Advance (a super move based on that Navi's attack).
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
CosmoMan | Tsutomu Namegaya (なめがや つとむ) | CosmoMan (コスモマン) |
LarkMan (JP: SwallowMan) | Sota Iwasaki (いわさき そうた) | SwallowMan (スワローマン) |
GridMan (JP: FootMan) | Hidenori Aoki (あおき ひでのり) | FootMan (フットマン) |
Mega Man Battle Network 6[]
The winners of the Mega Man Battle Network 6 contest become story Navi bosses in the game. While Mr. Famous is in this game, he does not have a fightable NetNavi.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
CircusMan | Touya Hamanaga (はまなが とうや) | PierrotMan (ピエロマン) |
ElementMan | Souhei Nakamura (なかむら そうへい) | ElementalMan (エレメンタルマン) |
JudgeMan | Keisuke Takahashi (たかはし けいすけ) | BookMan (ブックマン) |
Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star[]
After Mega Man Star Force 3, the winner of the next game's contest was set for an undetermined Mega Man title.[18] It was later revealed to be for the advanced port of the first Mega Man Battle Network, Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star. ClockMan is the in-game reason on how the MegaMan.EXE and Star Force Mega Man crossover happens.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
ClockMan | Toshiki Goto (ごとう としき) | Clock Genius (クロック・ジーニアス) |
Mega Man Star Force series[]
Boss contests made a return in the Mega Man Star Force series in an even smaller scale, limiting to one winner per game.
Mega Man Star Force 2[]
The winner of the Mega Man Star Force 2 contest becomes an optional boss.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
Kung Foo Kid (JP: Goat Kung Fu) | Kentaro Fujii (ふじい けんたろう) | Mee Goat (Baa Goat) (メー・ゴート Mēgōto) |
Mega Man Star Force 3[]
The winner of the Mega Man Star Force 3 contest becomes a roadblock boss that must be defeated to proceed with the story.
Boss | Designer | Submission name |
---|---|---|
Moon Destroyer (JP: Moon Disaster) | Rikuto Fujiwara (みずはら りくと) | Moon Disaster (ムーン・ディザスター Mūn Dizasutā) |
Rockman ×over[]
Two contests were held. In the first, the winner was Arcade Man, and he was included as a boss. Besides Arcade Man, three runner-ups (Tabletman, Zehr, and Daruman) were added as Battle Memory.[19][20]
The second contest had a Japanese motif, with eleven characters being selected to be redesigned in a Mega Man style, and two of them (Udon Man and Sudachi Woman) were also included as Battle Memory.[21]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Due to the large amount of submissions, many coincidences could occur, with submissions having names and/or designs similar to others that would appear in later games. For example, a Drill Man was considered for Mega Man 2, and a Drill Man would later appear in Mega Man 4.[3] The name Drill Man was also used for Ground Man during the development of Mega Man & Bass.
- This could occur even in the same contest. In the Mega Man 4 contest, two submissions were named Pharaoh Man, but "Mummy Man" was selected and renamed as Pharaoh Man.[22]
- In the interview with the illustrators in MM25 Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works, Hitoshi Ariga, Ryuji Higurashi and Kenta Saito informed that they participated in the boss character contests, while Keisuke Mizuno and Yuri Kataiwa did not. Saito mentioned that Jupiter looks exactly like one of the characters he submitted, and Hitoshi Ariga jokes that his design may have been stolen. Ariga says that if true, it was not on purpose as the staff could easily get a character design stuck in the back of their minds after going through tons of fan submissions, with that memory resurfacing in someone's mind during development. Ariga also mentioned that he had sent a character named Spring Man to one of the contests before Mega Man 7, and Higurashi wonders how many people may believe that their ideas were copied.
References[]
- ↑ Rockman 2 magazine scans from Game Detective 198X [Chou Nosuke]'s Twitter: scan 1 (Famitsu), scan 2
- ↑ The Reploid Research Lavatory: The Rock Manual part 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 MM25 Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works pages 240-241
- ↑ Takumi Yoshinaga's Twitter
- ↑ Protodude's Rockman Corner: Rockman 3 Boss Contest Prize Up for Grabs
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Protodude's Rockman Corner: "Capcom World-News" Scans Part 1: 1989 – 1991
- ↑ MM25 Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works pages 244-245
- ↑ Chris Covell's website: Rockman 4
- ↑ GameCenter CX episode 17 (details)
- ↑ Yoshitaka Works: ロックマン4のおもひで
- ↑ Capcom World News (November 1992)
- ↑ The Mega Man Network: Interview with a Robot Master Creator
- ↑ Dengeki Super Famicom Vol. 3 No. 2 (February 1995)
- ↑ Rockman Perfect Memories: Bonus Mode - Sega Saturn Only
- ↑ ひらた家具店のブログ
- ↑ PlayStation Magazine No. 22 (Japan, 1996)
- ↑ Battle Network Rockman.EXE 2 official page (archive)
- ↑ Protodude's Rockman Corner: Coro Coro Boss Contest Winner Announced
- ↑ Rockman Crossover Boss Character Contest
- ↑ Rockman-Unity: Rockman Crossover Original Boss Character Contest Announcement (archive)
- ↑ Protodude's Rockman Corner: There's a New Rockman Xover Boss Contest
- ↑ お寿司大好き!まろやか倶楽部198X