For this portrait, Metal Man decided to accessorize his previously rather sparse outfit with a couple of sawblade shoulderblades.  This is actually extremely stupid, as it limits the rotation of his arm tremendously - unless he wants to carve up his own face or something.   I can understand that too, though - Metal Man is just about the weakest, easy-to-destroy robot in the entire series, and maybe he feels a deep need to be able to conquer somebody - even if that somebody is himself.  Fortunately, after Mega Man 2, the game creators realized it reduced the challenge to offer an obviously easy-to-defeat robot who offered the most versatile, cost-efficient weapon in the game.   Metal Man has never since had a home; as the list continues we'll see how he copes with this fate.

Among robot masters, Air Man is a legend - but the general populace continues him as little more than an annoyance, sort of like an early rap artist.  Like those musical pioneers, Air Man took bold steps in a new direction that later artists would come to regard as visionary.  Yes, Air Man paved the way for all the robots, from Toad Man to Napalm Man, whose heads are little more than bumps on their torsos.  This may not seem like much, but it points to a more fundamental truth developed on by much later robots like Cloud Man  and Mars - evil robot masters don't have to be limited to the structure of the human body.  Anything is possible if you use your imagination!   Air Man is also Air/Sky-Themed Robot #1, but since in revising this page I gave up on keeping track of the repetitive robot themes, this is pretty useless trivia.

I'm just trying to figure out what that weird contact lens thing behind him is.  It's been suggested that it's a really uncomfortable backpack or  a big bubble that Bubble Man uses to finish off more powerful foes.  The real answer is that it's a compact surfboard!  Yes, with this evil robot master, fun is only a moment away - and for a little while, Bubble Man can forget his villainous responsibilities.  As a side note: for some reason, Seanbaby chose Bubble Man as a victim in one of his numerous unnecessary sexual-themed jokes.  Bubble Man deeply resents the spread of these rumors, and he's not as wussy as he looks.  Watch out, kids.

Quick Man is really kind of cool, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from his glamor shot.  I guess that's the problem with robots whose theme is that they move fast - they just don't translatewell to still pictures.  I think they should have done like Metal Man and given him some new features for this event.  I think Quick would look pretty good with a cape flapping in the wind, y'know? 

Crash Man is a serious badass.  Even though his design makes it inevitable that he'll be flinging around missiles all the time (being evil and all), he wears his little eye-protector helmet with the visor up.  This may just be because he doesn't have fingers, let alone opposable thumbs, and can't adjust the visor himself.  But I take pity on Crash Man, because he's such a darn good little trooper about not giving in to Flash Man's boasts (see next entry).

Flash Man is the envy of other robots, especially Crash Man, because for some reason irate fans ignore the possibility of deliberately miswriting his name to look more elite.  That is, you never see any uppity webpages patiently explaining that the proper translation is "Frash Man," or, if you want to be a pansy and Americanize it, "Fresh Man."  This last translation is supported by the fact that in this picture Flash Man seems to be hawking a bottle of shampoo or something. "Want Freshness of super robot?  Get equipped with Pantene Pro-V!"  But the point is that Flash Man got off easy, and lords this fact over the other robots.

I kind of wish this picture depicted some of the actual flames for which Heat Man is legendary.  As it is, you just have to sort of look at this picture and imagine that he's screaming "FLAME ON!" as a screaming atomic blast rushes up around him.  Zippo Man, as he is commonly known, had about the most obnoxious stage in the world, with more voop-voop disappearing blocks than you can shake a stick at.   But it was worth it, because defeating him gave you a forgettably named weapon which, as I recall, was the first weapon in this entire series you could charge up by holding down the button.  Why Heat Man never used this versatility himself is beyond me.  Robot masters seem to have a problem realizing their own power.  See also: Gravity Man.

Wood Man is another one of those robots that you don't really want to defeat, because it means you'll have to go on to some other stage of the game, but without the benefit of a useful new weapon.  Let's get this out of the way: The Leaf Shield blows.   Besides being basically useless for defensive purposes, it would sometimes actually hurt you - you'd believe yourself to be safe and secure inside the shield, and you'd make some risky jump or something, only to discover that the shield had zoomed away from you at just the wrong time.  As a result, Capcom got a lot of mail about how "deadly" the weapon was, and in a terrible misunderstanding, they consequently decided to give several more robots the same weapon.  Everyone who bitched at Skull Man: you have your own poor word choice to thank.