The Mega Man franchise has seen a small revival in recent years. Capcom is finally revitalizing their original mascot after years of focusing on Street Fighter and Resident Evil. With the release of Mega Man 11 and the Legacy Collections, new gamers are coming to the Blue Bomber’s franchise for the first time.

As such, many of them are probably unfamiliar with the series’ long history and the many quirks it’s picked up along the way. That’s where we come in. Whether you’re new to Mega Man or a longtime fan, we bet these facts will be new to you.

10 The Forgotten Robot Master

Each Mega Man game has the Blue Bomber face off against eight unique Robot Master bosses. It’s a series staple, except for in the very first game. That had only six Robot Masters. But the game was always meant to have at least seven bosses, series designer Keiji Inafune even designed all of them ahead of time.

Sadly, technical limitations kept this from happening. One boss had to be cut, and Bond Man, a glue-themed robot, was chosen. No official art of the character has even survived.

9 Scientific Inspiration

Mega Man’s creator Dr. Light and his nemesis Dr. Wily weren’t created out of thin air. Keiji Inafune and his team drew inspiration from real historical scientists. Specifically, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. Edison becomes the basis for Dr. Light (named after the light bulb, naturally) and Einstein for Wily.

Einstein’s research leading to the creation of the atomic bomb is even the reason Wily became the series’ main villain. Both characters share their inspiration’s first name, Thomas and Albert respectively, as well.

8 The One-Punch Man Connection

Mega Man games were and are enormously popular in Japan. Capcom was quick to cash in on the series’ popularity and asked fans to submit designs for future Robot Masters. Over 700,00 designs were submitted. All the Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 through 8 were created this way.

This led to some classic characters, but Mega Man 4’s Dust Man may be the most unusual. He was actually designed by Yusuke Murata, creator of the football manga Eyeshield 21 and the artist for One-Punch Man. Murata was only twelve when Capcom chose his design and he was even credited in the game.

7 That Infamous Box Art

If you’ve seen it, you know it. The first Mega Man’s American box art is notoriously awful. Instead of the cute blue robot boy protagonist, it depicts a schlubby middle-aged man in a weird blue & yellow jumpsuit with a laser gun.

So, what happened?

Capcom’s American branch decided the anime-style Japanese box art was too “juvenile” and commissioned new artwork instead. The artist didn’t even play the game but was just given a brief description of the story and action. Keiji Inafune even blamed the box art for the game’s low sales.

6 Why The Blue Bomber Is Blue

It’s a fair question, right? Why is Mega Man blue? Like most things in the NES era, because of technical limitations. The game’s designers wanted the main character’s sprite to be as distinctive as possible and the NES’ hardware could render more shades of blue than any other color.

Interestingly, this may have affected Mega Man’s name too. Inafune’s team went through a few names for the Blue Bomber, including “The Battle Rainbow Rock Man” because of how he changes color when using an enemy’s weapon. Believe it or not, that was the team’s first choice before legal reasons forced them to change it.

5 Musical Names

It’s pretty well-known that Mega Man (a.k.a. Rock) and his sister Roll’s name is a pun. Get it? Rock and Roll? But that musical naming scheme was taken even further in the game Mega Man X5. All the bosses in that game are named after members of the band Guns n’ Roses.

Axle the Red is Axel Rose, Grizzly Slash is Slash, Duff McWhalen is Duff McKagan, etc. This was only in the American version of the game though. The translator’s husband was a huge Guns N Roses fan, and she saw fit to pay homage to the band. Unfortunately, these names were removed in the Mega Man X Legacy Collection. 

4 The Boss Tunnel

One of the staples of the Mega Man series is the long tunnel leading into the boss room. While it serves a fine purpose as both a breather from the action and a save point, there was another reason for its inclusion. Again, it has to do with the NES’ hardware capacity.

The tunnel separates the programming for the level and the programming for the boss, allowing a seamless transition without taxing the machine’s pitifully low memory. But, even once this technical hurdle was overcome, the boss tunnel remained. It was a tradition by that point.

3 Mega Man 6 Almost Wasn’t

Mega Man 6 came at an odd point in the franchise’s history. The NES was in its last days, and the Super Nintendo was right around the corner. Capcom wanted to put all its efforts into Mega Man X, the first 16-bit game in the series, so as the last game on the NES, Mega Man 6 was kind of an afterthought.

Fans speculate it’s why 6’s villain is called “Mr. X.” They weren’t even planning on releasing the game in North America until Nintendo stepped in. They knew Mega Man was still popular across the Pacific and released Mega Man 6 themselves as a last hurrah for the NES.

2 Astro Boy Rumors

There’s been an urban legend in gaming circles for decades that Mega Man began as an Astro Boy game, but that Capcom lost the license. It’s not true, but Mega Man’s creators have admitted to the classic manga’s influence on the character.

Both are young boy robots defending humanity from evil robots after all. Another rumor started circulating online recently that Astro Boy even has a cameo at the end of the first Mega Man game. But as far as we can find, this is also just an urban legend.

1 The Cancelled FPS

While it usually sticks to side-scrolling action, the Mega Man franchise isn’t afraid to experiment. But one of its biggest experiments never came to light. A First-Person Shooter, codenamed “Maverick Hunter,” began development in 2010.

Set in the Mega Man X timeline and from the same people behind Metroid Prime, it would have been a slick, more adult-aimed project but with classic Mega Man gameplay. Adi Granov, the concept artist behind Iron Man’s movie suit, even redesigned X. Sadly, “Maverick Hunter” was canceled alongside several other Mega Man projects in 2012.

NEXT: Capcom Pledges Yet Again To Revive “Dormant” IPs