MMKB

When making edits to long standing statements or facts on the wiki, you MUST PROVIDE CREDIBLE SOURCES FOR YOUR CLAIMS. edits done without will be UNDONE, NO REASONS GIVEN. Please use the talk pages to provide these sources before editing!

READ MORE

MMKB
Register
Advertisement
MM2WilyStage2

Mega Man avoiding spikes with Item-2 in Mega Man 2.

Spikes (トゲ Toge, "Thorn"), also known as Spike Blocks (針ブロック Hari Burokku, "Needle Block"), are one of the main and most infamous death hazards in the Mega Man games. They usually instantly kill the player on contact.  While other obstacles like pitfalls have been used with similar instant-death capabilities, spikes are the only ones that are constantly instant-death throughout all the series. This article refers to the deadly spikes that are usually static, though some are animated but do not actually change positions. They also have varying designs that their environment dictates, such as large plant thorns, electrified spikes, drills, stalagmites, and similar sharp objects.

Exceptions[]

Not every single spike is lethal, non-lethal spikes and similar pointy objects (needles, thorns, spears, drills, ...) being also common but not as prominent as the lethal gimmick. Non-lethal spikes usually appear as part of enemies, enemy attacks, or stage elements that inflict damage on the target. Examples include the spiked Press, Hari Harry, X Crusher, Teckyun, Togehero, Needle Cannon, Knight Crusher, Chill Spike, Mega Mech Shark, and nearly the entire series of Gabyoalls.

Only few enemies have lethal spikes, usually large ones such as Rolling Drill, Mole Borer, Hittite Hottide, and Crushpactor. Spike hazards also have exceptions that are not deadly:

  • Mega Man X: The spikes above Sting Chameleon's lair only inflict eight units of damage to X (four with armor), instead of killing him instantly. Also the spikes on the walls in the elevator section in Boomer Kuwanger's stage do not instantly kill. The ones on the bottom of the platforms that the player has to dodge can kill X, though, but only because hitting them would be the result of him being crushed between the elevator and one of the platforms.
  • Mega Man X4: The spikes on the mini-heads during the third phase of the fight against Sigma do not instantly kill. Likewise, the spike wall that Sigma tries to blow X or Zero into also does not instantly kill them.
  • Mega Man Network Transmission: Damage inflicted by spikes takes 80 HP.  If MegaMan's max health capacity is increased enough times, the spikes will not kill him in one hit, but instead will just take out a large chunk of his health.

Defense against spikes[]

MM

Avoid touching spikes at all is the best defense against them, but there are also other ways:

  • Taking damage from an enemy and touching the spikes during the slight invincibility period. (However, this does not work in the first Mega Man game and Mega Man II, in which any form of contact with the spikes would kill the player instantly.)

Mega Man series[]

  • In the first Mega Man game, the Magnet Beam will create a platform that the player can walk over spikes on.
  • In Mega Man 2, the three Items will create various platforms that the player can stand on.
  • In Mega Man & Bass and Mega Man 9-11, the player can buy an item that lets them touch spikes without dying, but it works only once and must be bought again after touching a spike. The player needs to be quick, because once the character stops flashing, the spikes will be fatal again.
    • In Mega Man & Bass and Mega Man 10, Bass can fly through spike-filled corridors using the Treble Boost, much like Mega Man with the Rush Jet.
    • If played on Newcomer difficulty in Mega Man 11, the player is completely immune to spikes and won't get killed by them.

Mega Man X series[]

  • In Mega Man X, a fully charged Chameleon Sting will render X invincible, even against spikes, for the duration of the effect.

Mega Man Zero series[]

  • In Mega Man Zero, aside from the ones in the Pantheon Core room, spikes can be permanently neutralized with Totten, a Hacker Cyber-elf, turning them into harmless glowing blocks.
  • In Mega Man Zero 2, the Cyber-elf Putick can be used to lower the lethal effects of spikes into damage, but does not remove them from the game. The same type of Elf returns for Mega Man Zero 3, as Putite, but can also be used as a Satellite Cyber-elf.
  • In Mega Man Zero 4, by completing the right recipes, Zero can be equipped with Strong, Stronger, and Strongest Body Chips that reduce the instant-kill effect of spikes into successively less amounts of damage.

Other media[]

Mega Man (Archie Comics)[]

In the comic book series, Mega Man uses his Magnet Beam as a bridge to pass through a room with spikes in Dr. Wily's fortress.

Wily also makes a joke about spikes, saying that Sonic's spiked quills might be a problem for Mega Man during Worlds Collide. Mega Man also uses the spikes to justify his point about the Wily Egg being a Wily Castle during his and Sonic's assault.

Rockman Zero[]

In volume 3, the new Zero and Craft try to find a way to pass through a path filled with spikes to find Neige. Zero has the idea to cross the path by using vines in the ceiling, but Craft, who is concerned with Neige, runs through the spikes and breaks them, also opening a path for Zero.

Rockman manga series[]

Spikes appeared in several manga. Curiously, Mega Man touched spikes in the Rockman 5 manga in his attempts to get a plate and the Rockman World 3 manga during his trek through a metal fortress, but they quickly drain his energy instead of automatically killing him upon contact.

Other appearances[]

Spikes also appeared in the Rockman X2 manga, impaling multiple Reploid corpses (possibly to show their dangerous properties), which X finds to his horror. Fortunately, he manages to fly over them.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Concept art from Mega Man Zero 4 shows that it would be possible to change the weather to help or get in the way, like blocking spikes by covering them with snow in Fenri Lunaedge's stage and hiding them from view with clouds in Pegasolta Eclair's stage. There are no spikes in Fenri Lunaedge's stages in-game, and Pegasolta Eclair's stage only has one area with spikes, which are only partially covered by the clouds, but has several pits instead that get difficult to view with the clouds.
  • In Chapter 34 from Project X Zone 2, Zero and X panic when they see spikes in the Golden Castle:
    • Zero: "S-Spikes! Look out, everyone! Get back!"
    • X: "What vision of hell have you taken us to, Valkyrie?!"
    • Natsu: "Seriously? Chill, guys, there's like a moving-platform thingie. What's gotten into you?"


Advertisement