Mega Man Star Force: Difference between revisions

''Ride On!'' }}

 

 

Taking place years after the events of ''Battle Network'', it stars a young boy named Geo Stelar (Subaru Hoshikawa in the original Japanese), who lost his father after a journey to space. Before he disappeared, Geo's dad left him a device called a Visualizer, which allows him to see electromagnetic waves. He meets a blue alien named Omega-Xis (War-rock in the original Japanese), who is on the run from Planet FM, with other rogue aliens hot on his tail. While his power is weak on Earth, Omega states that he needs to fuse with a human in order to unlock his full power. Geo [[Henshin Hero|reluctantly agrees]], and is thrown into a battle against the other FM-ians for the fate of the galaxy.

Despite being the sequel series to one of the more popular ''Mega Man'' franchises, ''Star Force'' saw a quick decline in popularity after its creation, and is often singled out for abuse by fans for [[Ruined FOREVER|ruining]] the ''Mega Man'' franchise. One way or the other, the series saw declining sales, and seems to have had its storyline resolved in ''Star Force 3'' -- the only Mega Man franchise besides ''[[Mega Man Zero|Zero]]'' and ''Battle Network'' to finish its plotline.

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[The Abridged Series]]: Based on the [http://www.youtube.com/user/PlantFMEnterprise?feature=watch anime]. Has 3 episodes and a ''Christmas Special''.

* [[Academy of Adventure]]: Echo Ridge Elementary, oh, yes. {{spoiler|What with 6 students: [[The Hero|Geo]], [[A Load of Bull|Bud]], [[Snakes Are Sexy|Luna]], [[Psycho Electro|Pat]], [[Giant Enemy Crab|Claude]], and later [[Ravens and Crows|Jack]]; a pair of teachers: [[Red Mage|Mitch]] and [[Making a Splash|Tia]]; and the Gardner: [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Damian]]}} all capable of [[Touched by Vorlons|Wave Change]] it certainly qualifies.

* [[Ace Custom]]: With few exceptions, every Wizard on the planet is man-made. {{spoiler|Acid is the only one that can engage in Wave Change.}}

* [[Achilles in His Tent]]: Geo in the first game.

* [[After the End]]: The Apollo Flame "second quest" in ''Star Force 2''. Holy crap. Needs to be seen to be believed.

* [[Big Bad]]: In series tradition, they come with massive [[Kaiju]] for MegaMan to fight. 3 offers a meta-subversion, where the [[Big Bad]] fuses with the [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] and fights you, becoming the first [[Big Bad]] in the timeline (not counting [[Gaiden Game|Gaiden Games]]) to be fought directly.

* [[Big Eater]]: Bud Bison, unsurprisingly. Depending on the direction you take the [[Dating Sim]] [[Beach Episode|minigame]] in ''3'', [[Woman Scorned|Luna or Sonia or both]] will be seen scarfing tons of food. On her own, Sonia claims to be able to eat as much as she wants without gaining any weight. {{spoiler|Lets not forget about What Omega-Xis manages to choke down in Star Force 2.}}

* [[Bilingual Dialogue]]: Laplace can communicate only through a type of buzzing noise, but Solo can apparently understand him just fine, and even tells him to shut up at one point.

* [[Blood Knight]]: Almost every optional boss in the first two games enjoys battle.

** Claude, the rude and friendless eight-year-old [[Delinquent]] that hangs out at [[Making a Splash|Big Wave]].

** {{spoiler|Pat}} is the exception, here. He mostly takes to sparring {{spoiler|so he can exercise his ability to control Rey.}}

* [[Bond Creatures]]: EM beings, with the exception of {{spoiler|most}} Wizards, who can also work on their own.

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: "Touch the screen... [[Lampshade Hanging|er, train!]]"

* [[Bullfight Boss]]: [[Playing with Fire|Taurus Fire]] and Queen Ophiuca have attacks where they charge you. They are, however, mostly out of your range, unless you have a Card that attacks your sides.

** Also in the anime, when Akane tags along for the art class in Tribe, she's carrying a bag with the [[Mega Man Battle Network|Hikari Insignia]] on it.

** In some classroom scenes (anime yet again), there's a kid running around in Net's clothes sans the bandanna and messy hair.

* [[Creepy Twins]]: Gemini Spark.

* [[Crossover]]: With ''Battle Network''.

** In the third game, Mega Man can, through either the Ace or Joker program, command into the power of Noise, which, short term, gives him the power of the FM aliens who invaded in the first game, and at its higher levels, can tap him into the power of the Meteor currently on a collision course with the planet.

** Notably, the [[Finishing Move|Big Bangs]] of the various powers tend to mimic each other. The Wood and Heat Big Bangs are always a tornado and a single massive blast, for example (even if he can wave the Extinction Blazer around a little bit) - and the Noise Force Big Bang for the Elec element deliberately reproduces Thunder Zerker's Thunderbolt Blade. On the other hand, the Aqua NFBB produces three large waves of water, in equally deliberate contrast to the Star Force Big Bang Magician's Freeze.

** Also in the third game, {{spoiler|Ace sacrifices himself to stop Joker from blowing everyone up. Every character present, and some that weren't, act like and state that he's dead... until he's shown bandaged up in the hospital during the credits with no apparent explanation other than it makes for a happier resolution.}}

** Presumably, {{spoiler|he was brought back the same way Luna was.}}

* [[Dub-Induced Plot Hole]]: A few examples, ranging from minor to distracting.

** [[Artifact Title]]: The original Japanese gives MegaMan Geo-Omega a unique title in "Shooting Star Rockman" (a [[Gratuitous English|deliberately English]] translation of ''Ryuusei no Rockman''), but each of the localized versions use "Star Force", which ceases to be accurate after MegaMan [[Discard and Draw|loses the power]] of the Satellite Admins.

** [[Title Drop]]: This reference is the primary loss in the games' localization. References to shooting stars abound, especially in 3; and some of the Murian Hertzes at the end of the 2nd game address Geo as the Warrior of the Fallen Star. Also, there was a [[Mythology Gag]] in which Geo and Omega exclaim "Let's Rock!" (And later "Let's Blues!"), which you might've missed if you weren't aware of one of the most basic translation issues effecting the original [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] games.

** In the second installment, Solo is granted equipment called the "kamikakushi", which is the Japanese name for the phenomenon of being spirited away. He puts it to good use during a museum heist.

** [[Shock and Awe]]

*** [[Psycho Electro|Gemini Spark]], whose attacks are generally designed to [[Standard Status Effects|keep you from moving]] which grants him -- ah, ''[[Dual Boss|them]]'' -- the opportunity to whale on MegaMan. Beware the [[Rocket Punch]].

*** [[Brainwashed and Crazy|Spade Magnes]] technically borrows more thematically from [[Selective Magnetism|magnetism]]. His attacks are either bombarding you with rocketry or taking massive swipes out of you. If he hits MegaMan with certain attacks, expect [[Selective Gravity|to be rooted to the floor]].

** [[Green Thumb]]

*** [[Musical Assassin|Harp Note]], who will either try to hurt you with her music, or entrap you in her [[Razor Floss|guitar strings]] and THEN hurt you with her music.

*** [[Red Mage|Libra Balance]], who in addition to trying to smash you ([[Running Gag|common problem solving ability, that]]), can try to Kill you with [[Kill It with Fire|Fire]] or [[Kill It with Water|Water]].

*** [[The Dragon|General Auriga]], whose most [[Signature Move|notable attack]] is a spiked [[Advancing Wall of Doom|steamroller]]. Another attack is to sic his [[Elemental Powers|elementally-aligned]] [[Flunky Boss|soldiers]] on you.

*** [[The Ace|Acid Ace]], who favors a [[Impossibly Cool Weapon|Ray Gun with a built-in Laser Blade]]. [[Swiss Army Weapon|The gun can fire or use a variety of stock elemental attacks]], and Acid Ace also has a [[Finishing Move]] where he uses the [[Speed Blitz|jet verniers]] built into his armor to [[Ramming Always Works|ram you]]; the edges of the verniers also give it a [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|sword attribute]]. Expect him to [[Spam Attack|cycle through these quickly]].

* [[Everything Is Online]]: Including sunken galleons, lost medieval treasure, ''rocks'' and '''rotisserie chicken''', and that's just in ''2''.

* [[Evil Duo]]: Queen Tia and her younger brother Jack in the third game. Their FM-ian partners, Virgo and Corvus, were an [[Evil Duo]] themselves back on the FM planet.

* [[Fan Service]]: One of the final episodes of the anime evokes the [[Hot Mom]] trope in '''extremely''' unsubtle ways.

** Sonia, in her transformation sequence, gets a blatant ass shot.

** Star Force 3 carries this on with the Noise Kaizou ("Modification") Gear and its relatives.

** In the anime, Burai's transformation does this with Instant Runes, instead.

* [[Goggles Do Something Unusual]]/[[See-Thru Specs]]: The goggles given to Geo by Aaron Boreal (that belonged to Geo's dad) allow him to see EM waves.

** Well, not at first. The Visualizer only starts seeing EM waves after Omega-Xis crashes into (and from the looks of the animation, bombards with EM radiation) Geo.

* [[Hot Dad]]: Kelvin Stelar. Don't deny it.

* [[Hot Mom]]: Hope Stelar. Taken to ridiculous angles in the anime.

* [[Idol Singer]]: Sonia Strumm, who has to work with a corrupt manager who exploits her songs to get himself out of debt.

** She quits at the end of her chapter in the first game, but gets back into the business with a vengeance before the second starts.

* [[Joke Item]]: Equipping certain upgrades on Omega-Xis is Star Force 3 can change the Mega Busters sound effects, as well as changing the L buttons help/talk messages to more humorous dialogue.

* [[Justified Tutorial]]: Luna teaches Geo all about setting up a Player Page in the beginning of the first game, because Geo really doesn't know how to do it.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: {{spoiler|Joker blowing up Luna. It's purely this, regardless of his rationale, especially since at least part of the reason was to get Mega Man to react.}}

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Most of the humans possessed in the first game/anime series suffer from this after being released. {{spoiler|Omega-Xis}} has it too in the anime, with no memory of {{spoiler|1=his past as an AMian.}}

* [[Love Hurts]]: {{spoiler|In the second game, the death of Vega's lover first inspired her to create Matter Waves and then (after she found Mu relics) [[Love Makes You Evil|decide to rule the world]].}}

* [[Loves My Alter Ego]]: To the point that even when Luna discovers Geo ''is'' Mega Man, she insists that her attraction is solely to Mega Man and not Geo, refusing to consider them one and the same.

* [[Marked Change]]: Inverted with [[The Rival|Solo]], who ''loses'' his [[Facial Markings]] when he [[Transformation Sequence|transforms]].

* [[Masquerade]]: Geo and Sonia do their best to hide Omega and Lyra from the public eye. This is made somewhat more difficult by the fact that the remaining aliens don't seem to care about exposing themselves to the world.

* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: In the second game, if you have at least one brother from the another version, you can mix tribes to create some awesome results. Ninja Dinosaurs anyone?

** Not only that, but if you have another brother from the last version, you can fuse all three tribes into Tribe King and become a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Ninja Dinosaur Swordsman]].

*** Incidentally, there were also plans for a non-elemental Angel tribe.

* [[No Export for You]]: It looks like this is going to be the fate for the Star Force/Battle Network crossover. No real loss though.

*** The anime circumvents this small plot implosion by having Crown fuse with the ''dead remains'' of the human, which unfortunately binds him to [[Closed Circle|the land the man died on]]. Luckily for Crown, Jean ''[[Loophole Abuse|died on a ship]]'', which agitates RockMan and Harp Note to no end.

* [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]: These ones become <s>Cyberspace</s> Wave Road entities when they transform!

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: The one [[Just for Pun|hole]] in MegaMan's outfit is the one through which his hair protrudes. This would be less notable if he ''weren't'' the [[Clark Kenting|only one]] sporting the comet-do in town.

* [[Party Scattering]]: Early in ''BerShiDin'', Solo tosses Luna, Zack, Bud, and Sonia into the Un-Dimension. Geo successfully retrieves Luna, but is unable to stop the last three from being sucked in, though we later find they've been cast around the world. {{spoiler|And in one case, into the hands of the enemy.}}

* [[Replacement Goldfish]]: Hollow was originally created by Vega in an attempt to bring her lover back to life. It didn't quite work, hence the [[Meaningful Name]].

* [[Resigned to the Call]]: Geo's not much for heroism in the first game, but goes along anyway due to feeling [[With Great Power]] instinctively. He later accepts his role more wholeheartedly.

* [[Rivals Team Up]]: The basis of a four-stage minigame in ''Black'' and ''Red'', in which Geo and Solo attempt to take down a series of massive monsters of Noise that may remind you of the [[Call Back|Dark Soul Monsters]] from ''Battle Network 5'' and the [[Mega Man NT Warrior|Anime]].

* [[Sanity Slippage]]: In the anime, emotional humans who spend time under the influence of FM-ians may suffer from blending personalities with their FM-ian. {{spoiler|Shinsuke and Tsukasa, in particular}}.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: [[Meaningful Name|Rich Dotcom's]] Modus Operandi, especially in the anime, where he even tries to bribe Geo, who immediately [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules|inverts this]].

* [[School Play]]: [[Class Representative|Luna]] first successfully got Geo onto the school's very grounds by telling him he was the only one who could fulfill a very important, nigh essential, part for the play Class 5-A was putting on. As it turns out...

** Notably, the play ends up being about the Taurus Fire scenario from earlier in the game - complete with homemade MegaMan and Taurus Fire costumes. Unfortunately, Luna happens to be a [[Dreadful Musician]] when it comes to the Creative Arts [[Epic Fail|in general]]<ref>She named Zack's dog "Catnip", for example.</ref>, so even when [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|Pat]] can't make it and Geo ends up wearing the Hero's costume, Luna ''still'' fails to recognize him. (She also fails to draw the connection from having Bud wear the fearsome "Cow Man" costume -- but, then again, she spent that particular fight more or less passed out).

** And when he appears on stage, we're treated to a brief chunk of the ''Moving Scene'' score (normally reserved for [[Theme Music Power-Up|moments of heroism]]), with MegaMan appearing in his full and proper costume... until Zack accidentally knocks out the lights. When he gets them back on, Geo's back in the miserable costume -- both Luna and the audience are left unsure whether he was actually in the costume or whether Luna was [[Ship Tease|imagining things]].

** Alex Trebek. One sidequest even has Mega suggesting the guy "might be in ''[[Jeopardy!]]''" when they hear the name.

** Not to mention the fact that in the third game there is a generic satella male police officer named after [[Those Two Guys]] from ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.

* [[Smug Snake]]: Dark Phantom is just not as good as getting people to match his "script" as he wants to be. Also, {{spoiler|King}}.

** And both [[Villainous Breakdown|go totally bonkers]] when you ''finally'' crush their plans into dust.

* [[Socialization Bonus]]: The Brother Band manifests these, both for the players and for the characters [[The Power of Friendship|in-universe]].

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: In the second game, Plesio Surf ({{spoiler|AKA Gerry Romero}}) calls himself Plesio Wave, possibly because his Japanese name is Brachio Wave.

* [[Stay Frosty]]: Practically becomes Mega's [[Catch Phrase]] in the third game.

* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: [[Tanabata|Vega and Altair]].

** {{spoiler|Ace and Queen Tia are this in ''3'', but thanks to Geo, [[Earn Your Happy Ending|they finally get a happy ending]].}}

* [[Stellar Name]]: Not just a play on the main character's name, but every FM-ian is named after a constellation (Taurus, Cygnus, Gemini, Lyra, etc.).

* [[Stylistic Suck]]: The translation of ''BerShiDin'' more or less deliberately plays up the offbeat source material. Among the Saurian Tribe, we have the Chompsrealhardasaur vs. the Neckistoolongadon, and then there's the town of Whazzap.

* [[Terrible Trio]]: They aren't exactly villainous, but Luna, Bud, and Zack have this dynamic.

** This changes into [[Five-Man Band]] when Geo and Sonia join up.

* [[Theme Naming]]: Tying in with the above, most of the characters' names are associated with a theme, especially the boss characters. The first game is constellations, the second cryptids, and the third the different suits in a deck of cards.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: The third game's Noise system is based around this. If you overkill an enemy with a card, your Noise rate will arise according to how much you overkilled them (e.g if the enemy has 80 HP and you killed it with a card with 150 damage, you'll get 70% increase in Noise rate).

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Zack Temple and Bud Bison, Luna's closest friends/fanboys.

** Until the third game where Bud's compatible alien (Taurus) returns.

* [[Triang Relations]]: Oh boy, where to begin? Luna has a massive fangirl crush on Mega Man, eventually turning into a [[Two-Person Love Triangle|more subdued one for Geo]], which he sort of reciprocates in the form of a desire to protect her. At the same time, he and Sonia come together due to both of them having shared similar tragic life experiences, and Geo exhibits such behavior as pining away underneath an advertisement billboard featuring her when he thinks she's become his enemy. The third game muddies the water even further by throwing in a dating-sim inspired sequence where you have to retrieve one character's belongings, and doing so nets the player a cute little scene between Geo and the girl of your choice (or [[Squick|Bud]]).

* [[Tsundere]]: Luna.

* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: {{spoiler|How in the blue hell did Ace go from "dead via [[Heroic Sacrifice]]" to "perfectly healthy in the hospital during the end credits"?}}

* [[Universe Compendium]]: The various official strategy guides, plus things like databooks on Wave Command Cards<ref>Punch these in to Star Force 2 for various bonuses.</ref>, the Secret Satellite Server<ref>Information on a secondary folder system you could access in battle, possibly with more powerful cards, with over 30 levels to the Sattellite Server and the 24 Levels of the Meteor Server.</ref>, and the Battle Black Box<ref>Tournament-class strategies, cards, Merge Noises, suggested folders for particular Noises, background information on [[Scary Black Man|Joker]], all sorts of fun stuff</ref>. These are all in Japan, though you can buy them (or ask your parents [[Crack is Cheaper|really nicely]] for your only Christmas present this year) either on Amazon (the Official Complete Works for Star Force and [[Battle Network]] were translated into English not too long ago by [[Mega Man Megamix|UDON]], but there should still be Japanese editions listed) or from E-Capcom, the company's all-Japanese shop site. [[No Export for You|Good luck.]]

** And a noise form based off of [[Musical Assassin|Harp Note]] in the third game, also some of the noise forms were to have the old Megabuster from the first two games.

** According to earlier statements by Xebec, the Tribe anime was meant to have 55 episodes, same as the first season. Given the ration of [[Filler]]

* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]: Solo, complete with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red eyes]], [[Dark-Skinned Blond|tan skin]], and [[Facial Markings]].

* [[Whole-Plot Reference]]: [[Playing with a Trope|Almost]]. In the anime, [[Ineffectual Loner|Wolf]] [[A Day in the Limelight|takes off from the FM Cluster]] and spends the next two episodes as the Denpa-Pet of [[Morality Pet|Mayu]], who is ecstatic to have a D-Pet of her own (and she ends up names him [[Embarrassing Nickname|"Ricky"]]). They become close, and things go relatively well until Wolf catches sight of the full moon, which forces him into his wild, uncontrollable [[Super Mode]]. Rockman shows up and they fight, despite Mayu's pleas for him to return to normal; she even gives him a [[Cooldown Hug]]. Sadly, while crazy Wolf Forest doesn't want to hurt her, he has no such compunction against Rockman, though is thwarted in his attempt by ending up on the receiving end of an [[Stuff Blowing Up|Atomic Blazer]], which leaves Mayu with the impression that he's just died. [[Disney Death|He's not]], but he refuses to return to Mayu, because, ultimately, he's an FM-ian. In his place he leaves a small D-Pet that looks like a cub version of him ([[Wild Mass Guessing|perhaps a cub of one of his wolf viruses]]), which she takes in as Ricky's child. ({{spoiler|The description doesn't do it justice, but there's quite a strong element of [[Old Yeller]] here}}).

 

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