VAN Pookin

VAN Pookin
In-Game Information
HP:	16 (outer shell) 16 (mini pumpkin)
Attack Damage:	4 (contact) 4 (projectile) 4 (falling shots)
Weakness:	Thunder Bolt
Misc. Information
Script:	VAN・プーキン
Rōmaji:	VAN Pūkin
Series Information
In-game Appearances:	Mega Man 7 Mega Man: The Power Battle

VAN Pookin (VAN・プーキン, VAN Pūkin) is a security robot modeled after a jack-o'-lantern that appears as the mid-boss of Shade Man's stage in Mega Man 7. The robot has two armors shaped like it, resembling three robots inside each other.

When closed, it jumps around three times, trying to crush Mega Man, the last jump being higher, allowing the player to avoid it by Sliding. Afterwards it will open, and the mini pumpkin inside will either fire three green shots in different angles, or scatter nine green shots in an arc while the whole body rises into the air. It can only be damaged by hitting the main body while open, or by hitting its eyes while closed, which are gaps in its double armor. It is weak to Thunder Bolt. Each part has its own life, and the first one defeated will reveal a different path. When defeated while closed, it reveals the right passage, which leads to the Energy Equalizer. When defeated while open, it reveals the lower passage, which leads to Proto Man.

Damage Data Chart

Mega Man 7

Displays the approximate amount of damage in units that VAN Pookin will receive from each Special Weapon in Mega Man 7.

Mega Man 7
Mega Buster	Freeze Cracker	Junk Shield	Danger Wrap	Thunder Bolt	Wild Coil	Slash Claw	Noise Crush	Scorch Wheel	Super Adaptor
1:2	1.5:1.5	1	2	2.5	2:4	1	2:4	4	4

*For Mega Buster, Wild Coil and Noise Crush, the first number is the damage done when the weapon is fired normally; the second number is damage done when the weapon is charged up.

*For Freeze Cracker, the first number is when the shot is whole; the second number is after it splits

Other appearances

• VAN Pookin is one of the bosses from the Mega Man 7 path in Mega Man: The Power Battle. Its attack pattern has more variety, including flying higher to crush the opponent, fly in a straight line to run over the opponent, more ways of firing its green shots, and releasing Battons from inside. It is weak to Thunder Strike.
• A giant VAN Pookin toy appears in Clown Man's stage in Mega Man 8.

Other media

• VAN Pookin appeared in the Rockman 7 manga.
• VAN Pookin has a brief appearance in Mega Man Gigamix as one of the machines Shade Man released from Hogale to attack the white robot.
• Skull Man's food truck has lanterns modeled after VAN Pookin on it in Mega Man #0.

Etymology

• VAN Pookin is a play on pumpkin (パンプキン panpukin), and possibly spooky (スプーキー supūkī).

Trivia

• In the prototype build of Mega Man 7, a hovering humanoid robot that looks just like the broken ones found in the beginning of Shade Man's stage appears as the mid-boss of Shade Man's stage.
  • An early sprite of VAN Pookin can also be found in the prototype's data, which suggests that VAN Pookin was planned to appear all along, and that this particular mid-boss was simply a placeholder while the staff worked on VAN Pookin's animation frames. This makes sense as the humanoid robot does not fit with the rest of the stage's horror theme.