The Protomen: Difference between revisions
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{{
{{cleanup|This massive complex of pages documents both a band and their most prominent work(s), treating them more or less as the same entity. It needs to be broken into separate creator and works pages.}}
{{quote| ''We've given everything we can.''<br />▼
[[File:The Protomen at Holy Mountain (Austin, Texas) - 2014-10-21 (11).jpg|thumb|]]
''There are no heroes left in man!''<br />▼
{{outdated}}
{{quote|
'''''(We will BUILD heroes!)'''''
[[The Protomen]] are a [[Loads and Loads of Characters|very large]] indie progressive rock band from Nashville, TN, whose musical catalogue is based around a [[Rock Opera]] trilogy inspired by ''[[Mega Man (
It is a [[Deconstruction|bitter and awful look]] at [[Holding Out for
The first album, a self-titled release also known as ''Act I'' or ''Hope Rides Alone'', was self-published in 2005, and tells the story of how Protoman and Megaman were created to fight against Dr. Wily's regime and the very different paths their lives took. It was followed in September 2009 by ''Act II: The Father of Death'', a prequel which tells the story of how Drs. Light and Wily created artificial intelligence, and how it all went so very wrong. ''Act III'' takes place sometime after ''Act I'' and is to be released an an unspecified date.
The group is also recording an album of '70s-'80s New Wave covers, likely to be released before ''Act III'', and the release of a live ''[[
The Protomen have appeared in a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] webcomic, [[
Additionally, the Protomen composed the score for ''Terminator the Second'', a theatrical piece of found art that reconstructs the plot of ''[[Terminator (
An [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/788868065/the-official-protomen-documentary official documentary] is in production, as is an official music video for "Light Up the Night".{{when}}
Compare and contrast [[
The main page of their website can be found [http://www.protomen.com here].
Tropes relating to specific songs should be placed [[The Protomen Tropes (Music)|here]].▼
'''Current personnel:'''
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* The Gambler: Featured vocals (Emily), keyboards, miscellaneous percussion, backing vocals
* K.I.L.R.O.Y.: Master of Ceremonies, [[Drop the Hammer|sledgehammer percussion]], vocals (Protoman - Sons of Fate live)
* [[RoboCop
* The Nightwalker: Trumpet, cymbals, backing vocals
* Raul Panther: Lead vocals (Mega Man, Protoman, Dr. Light, Joe), keyboards, keytar, acoustic guitar, guitar
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* The Dragon: Drums
* Doug Fetterman: Acoustic guitar, tambourine, vocals
* [[Streets of Fire
* The Gunslinger: Guitar
* Heath Who Hath No Name: Guitar, backing vocals
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{{creatortropes}}
▲Tropes relating to specific songs should be placed on [[The Protomen
=== Tropes Used All Throughout Both Albums: ===
* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: Dr. Light is given a much fuller backstory than he ever had in the games, including the creation of Emily Stanton, an original character.
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: The band members' names run from fantastical, like Scartoe and Panther, to ordinary names like Doug.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: Aside from the first track of Act I, there is no narration; much of the stage direction and plot details can only be found in the albums' liner notes.
* [[All There in
** Act II's "Father of Death" does play on Light's surname, referring to Wily's influence as darkness and Light's as light.
* [[Alter Ego Acting]]: The members of the Protomen present themselves as being [[Kayfabe|actual dissidents living in the society described in their music]], with ''noms de guerre'' such as "Panther" or "Heath Who Hath No Name", and represent themselves as living together in a bunker called "The Thundercon".
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* [[The Chessmaster]]: Dr. Wily, who always stays one step ahead of the [[Hot-Blooded]] heroes.
* [[City Noir]]
* [[City
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: The band's email "press releases" are rambling affairs which take several paragraphs before actually mentioning anything having to do with the band. Their announcement of the release date for Act II, for instance, opened with a paean to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel (including a picture of a shark with Tom Selleck's face), and included a 48-second "preview" of the album which was every track played AT ONCE, to the point of being unintelligible.
** More recently, an explanation for delays in shipping had Panther stating that the [[The Power of Rock|AWESOME POWER]] of Act II had caused the CD maker to overload and explode, followed by the sheepish admission that the label glue press had broken down. If they aren't Cloud Cuckoo Landers, then they enjoy their drama a little too much.
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** At a recent concert, the band proclaimed that at a fierce battle in Panther's home city, the enraged public chased them away with fireballs and stole Panther's growl, leading Turbo Lover to have to sing all of Panther's lines.
** On their Twitter account, the band responded to a question about Doug Fetterman by saying a shark ate him for a week, and that's how Shark Week began.
** The group's 2010 west coast tour is officially called "Super Awesome Tour Part III: [[An American Tail
* [[The Cover Changes the Gender]]: The Protomen cover "Because the Night" as a duet, with Panther singing Bruce Springsteen's original lyrics on the verse, and Gambler singing Patti Smith's rewritten lyrics on the chorus.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Played straight in the first album. The second shows how it got to be that way.
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* [[Cyberpunk]]: This is ''the'' cyberpunk band. It's heavily [[Steampunk]] in Act II, fitting with the latter's prequel setting, although a cyberpunk (or at least late-1980s) influence remains in the music.
* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Wily, across both acts.
* [[Dark Fic]]: Of ''[[Mega Man (
* [[Dark Reprise]]: Not exactly, but lyrics from The Will Of One are repeated in a much darker context in The Sons Of Fate; at first they are Mega Man talking about fighting against Wily the same way his brother Protoman did, but the second time {{spoiler|they indicate Mega Man's disgust with humanity after killing Protoman, taking up his brother's nihilistic point of view himself}}.
{{quote|
* [[Darker and Edgier]]
* [[Darkest Hour]]: November of 2007 was a dark time for the Protomen. First they were attacked by Killer Robots, forced to barricade inside their bus to survive. Then they were attacked by [[Back to
** About a year later, Demon Barber and the [[Elaborate Underground Base|Thundercon]] fell, with the base burning down.
** Their 2010 tour headed this way, with the bus breaking down, and them forced to tour in a UHaul, followed by them having to cancel a show for the first time ever. However, there was hope: They returned in August.
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* [[Determinator]]: Dr. Light refuses to give up in Act II, and spends 12 ''years'' building Protoman in Act I.
** The band itself qualifies, given that they have only canceled a show ''twice'', and even then after mounting every conceivable effort, including an email plea to their fans for replacement auto parts, to make it. Recent canceled shows weren't their fault, but the fact that no venues in the cities would book them. Even then, they quickly made arrangements for shows elsewhere.
* [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"]]: According to one interview, even Commander B. Hawkins's ''mother'' calls him "Commander" these days.
** At the Act II release show, his parents were only referred to as "Commander's Mom" and "Commander's Dad", with those names on the backs of their shirts.
* [[Dying Like Animals]]: Ostriches and Lambs in ''The Protomen'', Sheep and Lemmings in ''The Father of Death''.
* [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]]: Wily's broadcast tower.
* [[Fan of the Past]]: All of the Protomen are this to some extent, as is affiliate [[
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: Act II. Since it's a prequel, the audience knows that Light and Joe will fail and the City will turn into the dystopia of Act I, and that the work Light sets out to do at the end, Protoman, will also fail.
* [[Gatling Good]]: Mega Man and Proto Man have gatling guns for arms in Act I's artwork, instead of plasma cannons like in the games. In concert, Protoman has a Gatling gun arm, while Mega Man's gun is replaced by the NES Zapper Panther wears on his hip.
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* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: What the Robot Masters do to Protoman early in Act I.
* [[Non-Action Big Bad]]: Dr. Wily. It's [[Lampshaded]] in Act I:
{{quote|
* [[Place Worse Than Death]]: The City is regarded as this even in Act II; by the time of Act I, [[It Got Worse|it gets worse]].
* [[The Power of Rock]]: The Protomen's music has been noted to rout armies of killer robots and save doomed cities. If they can't quite handle the job, their fans have been known to help.
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* [[Rooftop Concert]]: The band once held a rooftop concert, much to the dismay of the band's drummer Demon Barber, who was terrified of heights.
* [[Shout-Out]]: To [[Nineteen Eighty-Four]] by way of the line "We are the dead", spoken therein by Winston Smith, and by extension to the poem ''In Flanders Fields'' from which Orwell got the line.
** The group's handwritten name logo on the Act I cover, and related merchandise, is directly based on a similar logo used by [[
** Act II directly calls the surveillance screens 'telescreens'.
** The Act II cover art is based on the poster for [[
*** And ''Light up the Night'' is incredibly similar to Diane Lane/Ellen Aim/Fire Inc's ballad from that film, ''Nowhere Fast''.
** Several of the band members' stage names are shout outs as well.
*** K.I.L.R.O.Y. is a reference to the album "Kilroy Was Here" by [[
*** "Reanimator Lovejoy" is a nod to the movie [[Re-Animator]] and to ''[[The Simpsons (
*** Turbo Lover derives his name from a song by [[
*** The Gambler takes her name from the song of the same name by [[Kenny Rogers]].
*** Sir Robert Bakker is named for [[wikipedia:Robert T. Bakker|the paleontologist of the same name]], who revolutionized the study of dinosaurs in the later 20th century and served as scientific advisor during the filming of ''[[Film/Jurassic Park|Jurassic Park]]''.
*** Murphy Weller's name combines the main character of ''[[RoboCop
** The Sniper's knife in the Act II booklet is taken from [[Sylvester Stallone]] action movie [[
** And of course there are Shout Outs by way of their tour names. "Super Awesome Tour Part III: [[An American Tail
** The LIGHT Brigade street team is a reference to the famous poem, "Charge of the Light Brigade".
* [[The Smurfette Principle]]: In-story: There is only one major female character, and even she [[Death
* [[Song of Courage]]: 'The Will of One' and 'Vengeance' in Act I, 'Breaking Out,', 'Keep Quiet', 'Light Up the Night', and 'The Fall' in Act II.
* [[Spontaneous Crowd Formation]]: Crowds form ''a lot'' in their songs. It's [[Lampshaded]] a couple times in Act II.
{{quote|
* [[Steampunk]]: The descriptions of the early machines make them sound like this. It shifts over to [[Cyberpunk]] once Wily takes over.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Song]]: The band never quotes music from the original games note-for-note, but certain melodies are very similar.
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* [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]: In both albums, the listener knows what Mega Man/Proto Man/Joe/Light are going to do to end Wily's tyranny. {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice|It doesn't work either time]].}}
* [[Villain Song]]: ''The Hounds'' is this for Wily, and ''The Stand (Man or Machine)'' subverts this for Protoman--he's a villain, but wants his beliefs to be proven ''wrong''.
* [[Villain
* [[Voice of the Resistance]]: The band itself out of universe; Joe, Dr. Light, and Megaman in-universe.
* [[When It All Began]]: Act II details how Dr. Wily took over, setting up the events of Act I.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Rock Operas]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protomen, The}}
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