The Protomen/WMG: Difference between revisions

== Act 1 ==

 

This one's not even that wild. Protoman turned evil, not because he thought humanity was no longer worth saving, but because his programming gave him no choice.

 

 

After being rebuilt by Wily, Protoman [[System Shock|re-evaluated his priorities, and drew new conclusions]]. Realizing that Man would never truly be free until it claimed that freedom for itself, Protoman [[Necessarily Evil|purposely crossed the]] [[Moral Event Horizon]] over and over again, trying to goad Man into rising against the robots through his brutality. By the time Mega Man attacks Wily's fortress, Protoman has resorted to taunting and insulting the crowd in an attempt to make them stand for themselves; note that the only damage he causes during the final battle is ''to his own side''. Pity his plan didn't work.

 

If one. Even *one* Human had stood up and said he would fight. It was the refusal of anyone to go up and fight beside him that caused him to defect.

He does seem to practically beg the crowd to rise up. Prove him wrong. That he wasn't supposed to just be a martyr. That he was the 'hero' of man. One whom could rally them to fight for their lives. And its highly unlikely that he'd have stood there and tried to dissuade Mega Man from fighting if Wily had truly rebuilt him. Seems far more likely that he'd have just shot him and moved on. Wily certainly seems to have realized there is no longer a need for subtlety. Why have a robot running around capable of destroying a great many of his hordes of underlings? Order Proto Man to shoot him and move on. Although Wily may believe that once again, One robot won't make a difference.

** Jossed. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr1ZNuX5o5M When someone actually does stand up for himself], Protoman just flips him off.

 

His dying words are "...A hero is just a man who knows he is free." If a member of the crowd stood up just because he ''told'' them to, on pain of death, they'd still be doing it for the wrong reasons-- because someone else told them to. The only thing he could do was either kill Mega Nan and force them to defend themselves, or be killed by Mega Man, hoping that his death inspired the people to stand up for the ''right'' reasons.

 

He knows he's not getting any younger. After seeing what Joe and Protoman could do, he grew paranoid, and decided to make himself live on forever through the use of robotics or cybernetics. Not only that, Turbo Lover, the guy who voices him, was seen wearing an arm cannon at one of their shows...during the Sons of Fate.

* In an interview with the band, the interviewer asked if Wily was human. Wily's response? "Barely."

 

Well, the character himself is nameless...

 

Do you understand now?/Do you see the truth is/They don't want to change this/They don't want a hero/They just want a martyr, a statue to raise...

** Protoman does seem to love his brother; he meets Mega Man's eyes in the liner notes and embraces him when he dies. His angry words in The Stand, although motivated by the desire to goad humanity into attacking him, are also to warn his brother: he doesn't want Mega Man to suffer the same fate he did, being "killed" and his ideals broken.

 

Proto Man defected to Dr. Wily's side when he realized that he fought alone. Dr. Light, realizing that they needed to fight regardless, told Mega Man that fighting was pointless. If Mega Man agreed, then he was like Proto Man. If Mega Man disobeyed, then Dr. Light knew that he was the hero the city needed.

 

Dr. Light didn't fight at Protoman's side. He didn't step up to aid Protoman when he was being torn apart, he stood there and watched like the rest of humanity. Protoman is using a plural, but all of his accusations against humanity apply directly to Dr. Light himself. There's also a fair amount of evidence that some random human standing up to oppose Wily wouldn't have worked, Protoman was waiting for a specific person to stand up and put their own life on the line.

 

 

 

When he said "If you replace the working parts you get a different machine; he was talking about society. The "working parts" are humans, because they do the work, so he's basically saying that a society ruled by robots is still doable. So when Light says "If you destroy the working parts what you get is a broken machine" he's saying that if humans get slaughtered then society collapses.

* Alternatively, Wily was talking about humans because before he and Light activated their robot army, humans were the working parts, i.e. they did all the work that made society function, e.g. working in the mines like Light's father. By replacing the working parts (humans) with different parts (robots), you change the machine (society). Later, when Light talks about destroying the working parts, the working parts aren't humans; the wheels of commerce and industry are turned by robots now, so he's talking about destroying the robots in order to break Wily's control over his decadent and morally bankrupt society. This also harks back to "The Good Doctor"; Light talks about using the new robot hands to "destroy" and "rebuild". First robots were used to destroy the society in which Light grew up and rebuild it into Wily's society, then Joe and Light (humans) tried to destroy Wily's society in order to restore a more human and meaningful one.

 

Joe died cause he rolled a 1. Meanwhile, Dr. Wily has a bonus on his Charisma stat.

 

Even the math for this works out; about 18-20 years passed between Give Us the Rope and Breaking Out. Joe's about that age. It would explain the bond between him and Light...

* Something's gonna be Jossed, because if the song "The Message from Dr. Light" by The Megas does take place in the same universe, Dr. Light never had any real children and therefore wouldn't be Joe's father.

** Just because Joe grew up knowing that woman as his mother doesn't mean she's necessarily his biological parent. Emily could have died when he was a baby, and with her gone and his father in exile, Joe would have to be raised by somebody else, namely the people mentioned in the liner notes.

 

At the very least, long enough that it was too late for him to back out. Consider this-- When Joe's introduced, we find him in a bar, boldly proclaiming "I'm breaking out of here tonight!" He stumbles out, hops on his motorcycle and swerves through the streets, eventually getting into a knife fight with the Sniper Robot. After Dr. Light finishes it off, they start chatting about how someone should do something about Wily, Joe's still got enough liquid courage in him to think he can. The two have a few drinks at Light's while plotting to "Light Up The Night" and Joe, with his pack of explosives, rides drunkenly through the streets and up the stairs of the broadcast tower, fumbles the detonator when removing it from the bag, and accidentally activates it, prematurely setting off the bombs.

* It would explain "... this burning like my veins are filled/with nothing but gasoline.", it's alcohol!

 

Dr. Light says it best in Here Comes The Arm- "I think somehow, Joe knew it. Paid the price he thought he had to pay...". Joe either knew the plan would fail or thought that should it fail, he'd be killed by the robots. Deciding that it was [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]], he detonated the bomb while he was still on the roof.

 

For irony's sake. Also, consider this.

'''Joe:''' Don't turn your back on the City... }}

* Then again, why would Wily name his sniper robots "Joe" to spite Dr. Light if it was his own son?

*** Actually, according to the liner notes, he started calling the Sniper robots "Joe" after the incident as a way to get at Light.

 

To understand this, one must know that the games' Sniper Joe enemy was based on the original prototype, AKA, Protoman himself, thus making Protoman the original Sniper Joe.

 

* At the very least, Protoman's helmet is Joe's repainted. It was bestowed upon Protoman as a tribute to joe's sacrifice and a symbol of his courage.

 

Green biker's helmet, dies by explosion...

 

Joe inspired the girl in the bar to go out and try to change things too.

 

* Well, the liner notes just say 'Human Choir', and for Light up the Night we can assume it's Emily; note she only comes in when Light is singing.

 

It would explain why he's always wearing a helmet. There's a reason why his song's called "Breaking Out", you know.

 

Cause he's too awesome to die.

 

Cause he was that awesome.

 

Before Emily, there were just [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Light and Wily]]. Wily, [[Magnificent Bastard|sly as he is]], probably had the [[Cloudcuckoolander|trusting Light]] wrapped around his little finger. Then the strong-willed and more down-to-earth Emily came along and called his BS, subsequently making Light suspicious of Wily as well. So Wily decided she had to go... and then things got a little out of hand.

 

Listen to "The Good Doctor" again. Notice how, half the time, Albert is trying to keep Thomas from performing an act that would cause massive upheaval in society, and the other half he wants to control it. Nite that, he seems to change between the two very rapidly, as he changes his mind between the lines "Men would cower at the sight" and "Man was not built for such a height!", and again before "We will build heroes!" He also seems to regret what he is doing in "The Hounds," (If there ever was a time/If there ever was a chance/to undo these things I've done/ and wash the bloodstains from my hands") but then dips into megalomania again ("If you think that you can run/If you think that you can stand/ you forgot who turned this city on/YOU FORGOT WHO PLUGGED THIS CITY IN!!").

 

She finds people expressing negative opinions of the City and sends the Sniper to eliminate them.

 

 

For all the deconstruction and doom and gloom, the later series had humanity stand alongside the heroes. They might not have been as effective as the heroes, but they were not sitting on their asses (especially Ciel), and by ZX they were an active part in the fighting.

* Calling it now, Act III involves Mega Man's adventures outside the city causing a change of heart that makes him decide he shouldn't turn his back on the city just yet.

** The resistance confronts Dr. Light and asks him to make them capable of holding their own. Seeing humans (albeit modified) willing to take the fight to Wily rekindles Mega Man's spirit, but Wily has built his own super robots in the mean time (read: the Robot Masters). However, Mega Man fights them nonetheless and though many (if not all) of the warrior humans die in their struggle, knowing that they would at least take a stand allows him to push through and defeat Wily and his Robot Masters.

 

It will describe Light's childhood, and the prophecy that he would restore balance to the city. It will emulate the music of the late 30's and 40's.

* [[Jossed]]; it takes place after Act I.

 

And it will be revealed her name is Roll.

* Considering she'd be at least fifty by the time of Act I, I'm not so sure.

** However, Roll still might be introduced in some other way...

 

He won the first two times...

 

As Protoman wished in Act I, the surviving humans of the massacre will tell the story to their children and they will grow inspired by it, forming a resistance. This may cause Mega Man to have a change of heart about humanity, and together they will be able to defeat Wily.

 

As he is the only human who still remembers how it was before Wily was in power, and the only one beside Joe who is willing to do something about it.

 

Remember the end of Due Vendetta: "Sniper Joe! Rush Jet! Doctor Light! MEGAMAAAAAN!"

 

Wily rebuilds him again, but this time he abandons everyone's goals. There are no (H)eros' left in man, and such.

* Jossed; The Protomen have stated they will not go into the X series; band member Commander has expressed outright dislike for it. So no Zero.

 

Except, Protoman has been [[Brainwashed and Crazy|wiped and has been reprogrammed]] into Bass, with a [[Evil Costume Switch|Black and Purple paint job]] to boot.

Protoman wasn't destroyed, just killed, or as much as an android could be killed. For all we know, all he may have needed was a new power source and some new parts.

* {Probably} jossed, as the Protomen have declared "Bass is stupid" at least once in an interview. Still, Proto being him would work better than a new character, so...

 

 

Dr. Wily will take his body and reprogram it, to have no personality/soul/heart. Prompting Mega Man to return from self-imposed exile not to save humanity, but to finish Wily once and for all.

 

This is actually an opposed to Dr. Wily will win. Dr. Light will complete his mission in life, but won't live to see the after effects.

 

Humanity is only incited to even call for Mega Man's help when it is facing wholesale slaughter at the hands of Wily at the end of Act I. Mega Man will realize this and see that humanity has not and will not change, it is as selfish as ever in his eyes. Also, Panther has mentioned that he doesn't envision the story ending well for humanity.

 

Both Acts I & II take a piece of what little story Mega Man has and runs with it. We already have "Mega Man had an older brother who was thought to be dead but is actually working for Doctor Wily" and "Doctor Wily used to be friends with Doctor Light, but betrayed him," so we are left with a few options. "Wily escapes from prison again" can't work since he is still in power. "Wily pretends to reform" wouldn't either (again, he is still in power, plus he has long since crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]]). So the plots of 1, 2, 3, & 7 are all out. So is 6, since he doesn't need to trick people to take their robots. So we are left with 5 ("Protoman attacks again"), part of 8 (Duo and the Dark energy), and 4. As Protoman is dead, 5 probably won't happen, and there are no fantastic elements in the story aside from the robots, so 8 isn't likely either. In 4, Doctor Wily kidnaps Kalinka and forces her father to work for him. This is very much in character for Protoman!Wily. He may even rise up and help Mega Man beat Wily, serving as a man on the inside.

 

 

Detailing how they united against Wily (with Mega as their leader.) and came back to our time to warn us about the events of Act I and Act II.

 

 

Capped off with one hell of an [[Ironic Echo]] on Light's part as he reveals to Mega Man his 'Brothers in Arms'

"If you replace the working parts, you get a different machine."

 

The Sniper was already a major villain in Act II, and the Devil Series are really the only other notable Mega Man enemy who isn't Wily or a Robot Master.

 

In honor of the fallen hero. It will also serve as a nice [[Title Drop]].

 

From the start, everything has been pointing to man needing to stand for itself, something stated outright by Protoman in Act I. The only thing any of the known robots have done is cause a problem. First was the one Wily and Light build together, which Wily later used to kill Emily. This paved the way for his takeover of the city. Second was the building of Protoman, and Protoman's attempt to save mankind from Wily's rule. Wily simply used this as an opportunity to get a new secret enforcer. Finally, there's Mega Man. If he hadn't left the relative safety of the apartment to try and avenge Protoman, he never would have damned the people of the city to wholesale slaughter by Wily and his robots. So, Light will, eventually, gain the resolve to take on Wily himself. It will be the only way to defeat his old friend once and for all.

 

 

 

The opening to Hope Rides Alone is sung from the perspective of a third party who does not speak on any other track on the album. This is X himself, telling us of humanity's fall in his own past.

It should also be noted that Demon Barber was never seen without a large "X" painted across his face.

 

He survived the fall from the tower, face badly burnt and scarred in the explosion. Faking his death, he went into hiding, using a robot mask to conceal his features. (Plus avoid any spy drones.) Eventually, he met the rest of the band, and filled 'em in on Act II.

 

Dr. Wily is either already dead or will die of natural causes before any solid form of resistance from man can finally rise against him. The people were kept in line by fear of the machines alone, and the machines were just following their programming from before Wily died. In other words, they were free of him without ever knowing it.

* [[Jossed]]; in some of the Protomen's live shows, Wily personally orders his robots to slay the crowd after Mega Man kills Proto Man in "The Sons of Fate."

** True... but this is really only how it is presented by the Protomen. They are not the characters themselves, they are merely troubadours bringing us the tale. Perhaps they do not know any better than we do.

 

It takes place either just before or during Hope Rides Alone or just after Unrest In The House Of Light, depending on which robotic son he was talking about.

* In the narration written in the album insert, it says that Light only realized after Proto Man was already dead that he thought of him as a son. Until that point he'd seen Protoman as nothing but a weapon. That's the main idea of Funeral for a Son. So it couldn't be Proto Man, he would have to be talking about Mega Man for this to work.

 

 

It was written during a period between his exile of the City and saving Joe. Dr. Light has gone somewhat insane after losing both Emily and the destruction of man, so to cope he creates fantasies within his head. Details are as follows:

* When he says that "I'll finally be a man" he means that he will stop Wily from enslaving the City, and "man" up to the problem that he ignored.

Alternatively, Light is singing to Emily before Act II. [[Your Mileage May Vary|It comes off like a rather drunken love song.]]

'''The State Vs Thomas Light:''' Will our souls remember where we said we'd meet on the way out of this town? }}

 

Where Light and Emily left the ruined City and escaped into the fields...

 

It mentions Emily, so it has to happen before "The Father Of Death." There are also references to the fact that The City has the same worker's rights as the beginnig of the Industrial Revolution, yet is in a future advanced enough for robots, and you can imagine that it was a [[Crapsack World]] ''before'' Wily got his hands on it. Now it's as bad as it was before, plus Orwellian surveilance.

 

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