- "Ohhh, what a drag..."
- —Hard Man, Mega Man & Bass database
Hard Man (ハードマン Hādoman) is a Robot Master created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, making his debut appearance in Mega Man 3. He has a hard, durable body made of ceratanium, which makes his body highly resistant to attacks and grants him remarkable defense. However, it also makes him very heavy, with his weight being three tons, and affects his movement speed considerably.
His Special Weapon is the Hard Knuckle, which allows him to detach his fists and attack from afar with rocket-powered punches. He also has a compact rocket booster built into himself that allows him to jump high into the air. He can utilize his jumping ability in combination with his excessive weight to attack by leaping up and diving down onto them to crush them or to smash the floor and cause tremors that can stun nearby foes.
Appearance[]
This section requires expansion. |
Hard Man is a sturdy humanoid robot. He has green eyes, a blue helmet, a blue torso with a yellow orb on front, a blue shoulder pad, black arms, gray hands, black legs and blue boots.
Personality[]
Whilst generally known to be a man of few words, Hard Man is a fair-minded individual who prefers to fight his opponents on equal terms, which puts him at odds with the much more pragmatic Snake Man. Due to his weight, he is very lazy and complains quite often. He enjoys Sumo Wrestling, a sport in which he can put his weight to good use, but dislikes swimming because the weight of his metal exterior causes him to sink.
Video game appearances[]
Mega Man 3[]
Hard Man is one of the eight Robot Masters. Beating him will earn the player his Hard Knuckle weapon.
Attack Pattern[]
Hard Man attacks by firing both his rocket-powered fists, called the Hard Knuckles. Both of them are aimed at the player, and upon passing, will turn around to re-aim at the player again. After the Hard Knuckles fly away, Hard Man jumps forward, and will stop mid-air to land on the player, turning his head down to face-plant into the ground. Upon landing, he creates a tremor so powerful the player will be frozen in place even in the air. The player will still get frozen after getting hurt by Hard Man's fall, which proves to be a deadly combo. Hard Man repeats this pattern once he gets back on his feet. The Hard Knuckles can actually be despawned off-screen if the player hangs close to the walls and short hops over them.
In "The Wily Wars," the Hard Knuckles can be slid under, but Hard Man fires them at a quicker rate, making them harder to dodge.
Weaknesses[]
Hard Man's weakness is Magnet Missile, which will kill him in 7 hits. The weapon can also easily hit him as he's jumping forward. In The Wily Wars, the weapon is a lot harder to use thanks to it locking onto the Hard Knuckles.
Due to his armor, Hard Man is invincible against a lot of weapons, thus having no secondary weakness.
As with all other Robot Masters in Mega Man 3, he is weak to his own weapon and dies in 7 hits to it, though it can only be used in the rematches. Hard Knuckle is not recommended, due to its slow speed making it inferior to Magnet Missile.
Mega Man II[]
Hard Man is part of the second wave of 4 Robot Masters, all of which come from Mega Man 3. The second wave is fought via teleport systems in the Wily Castle stage, which takes them to their own stages. As there is no indication of which stage is which, Hard Man's is the top left. Keep in mind that weapon ammo will not generate in between these stages.
Attack Pattern[]
Hard Man's pattern has been modified, though he is generally slower. He does not shoot his Hard Knuckles as quickly, meaning the player will have to dodge them differently. His large jump is now targeted to land on the player's current position, rather than jumping way over the player. The Hard Knuckles also ding shots now, but the 'tanking' strategy is even more applicable here.
Weakness[]
Hard Man's weakness is Magnet Missile, which does 4 damage and kills him in 5 hits. However, the player should be careful as the Hard Knuckles will ding the weapon.
Hard Man is also weak to his own weapon, which does 3 damage, but this can only be discovered through a cheat device as there are no rematches.
Super Adventure Rockman[]
Hard Man was one of the robots revived by Ra Moon in the Lanfront Ruins, appearing as the second boss of Episode 3. When Rockman enters a garden-like place in the Temple of the Moon, Hard Man drops from the ceiling and attempts to crush Rockman. However Hard Man missed and gets his head stuck in the ground, and the player must defeat him. After the battle, he falls to pieces and acid begins to flood the room, melting Hard Man's parts.
Hard Man is later revived by Ra Moon again, but Wily is betrayed by Ra Moon and his robots are attacked, collapsing. They are apparently destroyed alongside the Temple of the Moon.
Rockman Strategy[]
Hard Man and Cut Man serve as Libra's bodyguard, and Hard Man later joins Freeze Man in attacking Blues.
Other appearances[]
- Hard Man appears in the CD database from Mega Man & Bass.
- Hard Man appears in Battle Memory from Rockman ×over.
- Hard Man is an enemy in the arcade game Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2.
Data[]
Mega Man & Bass CD data[]
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Rockman Complete Works data[]
セラミカルチタンをとくしゅかこうしたボディをもつたいじゅうは3トン。ハードナックルは画面はじで、かわそう。
Mega Man Legacy Collection text: He has a special body reinforced with ceratanium. He weighs three tons. Dodge his Hard Knuckle at the edge of the arena.
Stage[]
Damage data chart[]
Amount of damage in units that Hard Man receives from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 3.
Mega Man 3 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mega Buster | Needle Cannon | Magnet Missile | Gemini Laser | Hard Knuckle | Top Spin | Search Snake | Spark Shock | Shadow Blade | |||
1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Other media[]
Mega Man (Ruby-Spears)[]
- "Let me give the little twerp a HARD time!"
- ―Hard Man, Bad Day at Peril Park
Hard Man appeared in the episode Bad Day at Peril Park from Ruby Spears' Mega Man animated series. He was voiced by Terry Klassen. Hard Man proves to be much more durable than his game counterpart, able to deflect Mega Man's buster shots off his body except for his vulnerable face. Mega Man defeats Hard Man by shooting his mouth, causing Hard Man's body to burst from inside, leaving nothing behind in his spot barring a pile of scrap metal. He also likes to make jokes involving the word "hard". He doesn't use his Hard Knuckle, instead relying on punches and throws, but Mega Man uses it himself to fight Proto Man. Hard Man has very few changes to his design other than having a visible nose, just like Gemini Man.
Mega Man (Archie Comics)[]
In the comic, Dr. Wily used Ra Moon to create Hard Man during the story arc Spiritus Ex Machina. Hard Man was designed by Wily and Dr. Light but not built until that point in time.
[]
Hard Man is a land leveling robot. Similar to Guts Man, Hard Man's external armor is made of a Ceratanium super-alloy. His body is shaped like a cylinder, which allows him to withstand a greater amount of impact than even Guts Man. His main weapon are the Hard Knuckles attached to his arms, which are launched from his elbows via rocket booster, and fly towards the intended target by relying on signals from Hard Man himself. He also has boosters on his lower waist as well as the bottom of his feet, which lift his three-ton body into the air. Hard Man is a robot built for pure power who uses his solid body and great weight for both offensive and defensive purposes.
In the story Asteroid Blues, Hard Man assists in the attack to the transport with Gamma to gather alien technology to Dr. Wily.
In Metal Heart, Dr. Wily sends Hard Man and the other robots from Mega Man 3 to recover Yellow Devil MK-II. During the pursuit, he is accidentally taken down by Magnet Man when trapped in a small room with security robots.
When a white alien robot invaded Wily's hideout, Hard Man, alongside the robots from Mega Man 3 and 7 (minus Shadow Man and Shade Man) work together to take down the intruder, but they are defeated. He is later repaired and assists Mega Man and the others during the attack of the Stardroids.
Other appearances[]
Hard Man appeared in the manga Rockman World 2, Rockman: Yomigaeru Blues, and Rockman 4Koma Dai Koushin.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
Miscellaneous[]
Trivia[]
- Hard Man's submission to the boss character contest was named “Press Man” before being renamed Hard Man.
- Officially, it is unknown what he was built for.
- Bit Man's mugshot from the DOS version of Mega Man 3 is an edit of Hard Man's mugshot.
- Hard Man and Top Man were the only two Robot Masters who did not appear in the Mega Man 3 handheld by Tiger Electronics.
- Hard Man and Gemini Man are the only two Robot Masters from Mega Man 3 whose stages require Rush to be completed (prior to Doc Robot and Dr. Wily stages).
- Hard Man and Gemini Man are also the game's only Robot Masters to not have a NetNavi counterpart.
- The reason why Hard Man dislikes swimming according to his Mega Man & Bass CD data, is because he is so heavy that if he tried to swim, he would immediately sink straight to the bottom.
- In Rockman Strategy, Hard Man's map sprite has eyes and a white face, while his battle sprite has no eyes and has a purple face.
- Hard Man is the only Robot Master whose shockwaves Mega Man is susceptible to in the air.
- Hard Man was planned to appear in Mega Man's Soccer.[1]
References[]
Mega Man II | |
---|---|
The eight bosses | |
Metal Man • Air Man • Crash Man • Wood Man • Needle Man • Magnet Man • Hard Man • Top Man | |
Other bosses | |
Quint • Wily Machine II | |
Special Weapons | |
Metal Blade • Air Shooter • Crash Bomber • Leaf Shield • Needle Cannon • Magnet Missile • Hard Knuckle • Top Spin • Sakugarne | |
Support Items | |
Rush Coil • Rush Jet • Rush Marine | |
Locations | |
Metal Man Stage • Air Man Stage • Crash Man Stage • Wood Man Stage • Wily Castle Needle Man Stage • Magnet Man Stage • Hard Man Stage • Top Man Stage • Wily Station | |
Miscellaneous | |
Damage Data Chart • Enemies |
Super Adventure Rockman | |
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Characters | |
Mega Man • Beat • Rush • Dr. Light • Roll • Proto Man • Dr. Wily • Ra Moon Cut Man • Guts Man • Ice Man • Bomb Man • Fire Man • Elec Man | |
Bosses | |
Metal Man • Bubble Man • Heat Man • Flash Man • Quick Man • Shadow Man Wood Man • Air Man • Crash Man • Snake Man • Needle Man • Gemini Man Magnet Man • Hard Man • Top Man • Spark Man • Ra Thor • New Yellow Devil | |
Special Weapons | |
Metal Blade • Bubble Lead • Atomic Fire • Time Stopper • Quick Boomerang • Shadow Blade Leaf Shield • Air Shooter • Crash Bomber • Search Snake • Needle Cannon • Gemini Laser Magnet Missile • Hard Knuckle • Top Spin • Spark Shock | |
Miscellaneous | |
Enemies • Energy Tank • Information Card • Item Box • Lanfront Ruins • Proto Shield |
Rockman Strategy | |
---|---|
Characters | |
Mega Man • Beat • Rush • Dr. Light • Roll Proto Man • Duo • Auto • Eddie • Fan • Dr. Wily | |
Bosses | |
Aries • Taurus • Gemini • Cancer • Leo • Virgo Libra • Scorpio • Sagittarius • Capricorn • Aquarius • Pisces Bass • Treble • Apollo • Luna • Wily Machine α • Wily Capsule α | |
Robot Masters | |
Fire Man • Cut Man• Bomb Man • Flame Man • Ice Man • Frost Man Guts Man • Metal Man • Elec Man • Spark Man • Cloud Man • Heat Man Napalm Man • Bubble Man • Freeze Man • Hard Man • Yamato Man • Tomahawk Man Pharaoh Man • Burst Man • Dive Man • Aqua Man • Stone Man • Astro Man Knight Man •Sword Man •Skull Man | |
Miscellaneous | |
Characters and Enemies • Screws • Dr. Light's Laboratory • Items • Script |