#enker

all three mega man killers are humanoids for sure, but it feels incredibly deliberate that the first had to be human-like. why not an air man-type body, instead? with how wily chose the designs for the second-line to be less human-friendly and more power-based than that of the first-line (even accounting for the inspirations, for instance, with how elec man's design inspired quick man's), wouldn't he instead do something bulkier and less human-like to make the ideal robot who would dispatch mega man? what, and how, would having a human-like countenance contribute to the killing of mega man?

maybe, you could say, he got a little too inspired by light's design philosophy at first, before de-prioritizing people-friendliness over sheer power... and that would be that. and that makes sense; the robot masters that he's ever created have been bulkier and beefier in weaponry, and that's even reflected in the progression of the mega man killer designs, somewhat.

i think there's more to that.

enker's special weapon is the mirror buster. its function is that it redirects residual energy absorbed by enker (albeit taking damage from it too) towards the target in a wave form traced by the tip of his barrier spear. that residual energy maximizes from mega man's buster shots, which he also takes damage from according to the damage chart for enker in dr. wily's revenge. (*)

i will be honest: i don't think the mirror buster really serves its purpose of killing mega man that well. it seems more of a defensive weapon rather than a directly offensive weapon, and enker makes that up with these acrobatics that actually costs those health points more. when i played dr. wily's revenge and got face to face with enker for the first time, i accrued a lot of damage not from the waves he sends back at me (which i could easily jump), but with from colliding with him in that little cramped gameboy screen space, where mega man's jump has a height that barely skirts the tip of enker's head spike.

so this makes it even more curious: if the mirror buster seems really counterintuitive to enker's purpose, then what was wily trying with that? wily had intentions with that choice of special weapon, as he certainly did when he chose a human-like design for enker! so, then, what are those intentions?

okay, this is where it gets into headcanon territory. i think enker's design is supposed to be a symbolic middle finger at light, were he to be successful in dispatching mega man.

in particular, i think enker is supposed to be a hypothesis for wily to test the following: that the way to defeat mega man IS to mirror him, or well, mirror something like him. we can see this with the mirror buster: it produces the largest wave when enker exclusively absorbs the mega buster shots. thus it's really to mirror mega man's attacks back!

wily has already attempted at verifying this hypothesis at least once with copy robot, who is exactly in likeness to mega man himself. when that didn't work out, well, i think wily still held onto that hypothesis in a different form: rather than fully copy mega man, he was trying to isolate the parts of what made mega man so powerful himself, and see if those parts can be used against him.

so, i think he started out with the human-like features like appearance and AI, where, in a sort of roundabout way, that if his first mega man killer started out as a well-developed human-like AI (with all the packages of emotions, experiences, and autonomy on the level of blues, rock, and roll) then that can be used and developed into an efficient machine to defeat light's well-developed human-like AI who just turned out to be a really good at battling. and if that were successful, then i think wily could rub that in light's face.

(that didn't work out, so wily developed mega man killer number two, punk, who is without the human-like features, and not at all a mirror of mega man.)

i could even go a step further and say that wily based enker off of blues, judging from the musically-themed name and the connection. (**) i'm sure he was well aware of blues's existence around mega man 1, since sniper joes appear in bomb man's stage and sniper joes are repurposed service robots based off of proto man. it wouldn't be uncanny if wily extended that inspiration of blues from the sniper joes to enker himself.

i could say more about that and where that leads into enker's development and how that affects him (listen i think enker is a very significant project, on par with how important blues, rock, and roll are to light, and that there's something to the expectation of being mega man's killer that deeply hurts him to the core, and how i headcanon him to be extremely parallel to blues, and so on and so forth) but ok that's enough typing my hands are tired and i am draining. i just really wanted to ramble about this. wheek wheek

(*) i think it's particularly funny that enker is damaged by nothing other than the mega buster in both dr. wily's revenge and mega man v. listen i tried sending mars' photon missiles to his way when i played mega man v. nothing. nada. he is impervious to stardroid weapons and weak to mega arm, which is crazy. maybe that's worth another exploratory essay in another time...

mega man & quick man:

✔️ epic speed metal win

✔️bro they already get on like white on rice . they r like the prototype x and zero. were it not for the laws of the land theyd b working together already anyway. rock is willing to risk it all & raise hell in his name

✔️quick is the speed & rock is the power. obv. in a perfect situatuon rock gets to tank the hits quicks fragile ass cant handle & quick covers him from all angles w the worlds fastest counterattacks. i would also like seein quick platform off rock physically bc hes so lightweight

✔️quick is a fair fighter but more than that weve seen him able 2 defer to rock when the time calls 4 it. so while hes restless hes not unreasonable. they Can communicate efficiently & settle conflict (w some hiccups). theyre men of action. not one thing in their way except wily. & quicks distaste for turtles.

mega man & the copy robot:

✔️call this one...remaster...ow the tomatoes oww

✖️copy joining w rock as an excuse to make fun of trip up & ruin his day but then the mischief takes a backseat to feeling useful now & again. it goes back & forth like this its so temperamental. u nvr know what side hes on

✔️ unparalleled freedom of presentation & thus power means copy keeps up w the VWS point 4 point. u beat a boss & rock can equip a weapon while copy gets the body data to match right? or u go by MM1 standard & they mimic w/e is in ur arsenal. same diff. this could prove Extremely useful

✖️ taking their personality in MMPU the copy robot is like. envious & spiteful & mb a little hypocritical? i feel like rock would b put off @ first but then come around 2 pity it. which is worse. it would make them evn more tsundere

mega man & the killers:

✔️ this sounds like a supergroup formed in 2010

+enker:

✖️✖️✖️ there is no fucking way. hed rather swallow 10g of toe fungus every day for 40 yrs than collab w rock. on anything

✔️ in an alt universe enkers methodical defensive approach works to protect rock who is all offense. the fact the mega buster is the only thing that hurts him helps tremendously against literally. any1 else. mirror buster rebound damage hello? shovel knight-shield knight dynamics out herrrre

✖️ he is so cold & single minded & harsh to foreigners i feel like hed eventually grate on rocks all loving nerves

+quint:

✔️ similar sensibilities. i mean similar enough w a ~40 yr development gap.

✖️ sakugarne is powerful but its range is severely limited & iy seems to be quints only offensive choice. may prove to b a hindrance when tag teaming esp in narrow halls

✖️ knowing whats 2 come is only helping quint "get in his own way" so to speak. ya boys given up on his ideals. he is Going to treat rock like hes naive & stupid & this Will drive a wedge between them. quint also has to touch down @ light labs again. this may do more harm than good

+punk:

✖️ mr. always jumpin the shark / mr. reckless. this. this seems like simpatico (it is) but it is dangerous. they need an anchor or itll get ugly

✔️punk & rock work surprisingly well together. the screw crusher can angle to account for any dead air the mega buster might leave behind. punks also invincible while rolling. if he charges in all rock has to do is cover from behind & theyd get shit done alot faster

✔️ punk is a good guy. like fr. he is fair & honest & believes in personal freedom (& youth rights...). smth abt rock - lover of justice - helpin him recognize the part of himself who wants 2b proactive beyond his purpose

+ballade:

✔️ omce again he & ballade r starting from zero. this may hurt @ first but If the core part of ballades personality remains unchanged they could almost make up 4 lost time ovr the course of an adventure

➖? ballades skill set is not v diverse from rocks. theyre both p rounded. he too: fires straight. what does he have? bomb & bigger bomb. hes not rly that fast either? some xtra firepower is appreciated✔️ but hes not much of a complement.

✖️rock may b forced to babysit bc ballade is bad at focussing. he jumps @ everything that could & would kick his ass w/o thinking. he is like bass but way. easier to guide so mb this is not all bad?

mega man & the genesis unit:

✔️ theres smth v 70s psyche funk abt it

+buster rod g:

✖️ this ape has main character syndrome & wont collab w rock unless he gets 2 call the shots all day erryday. and hes hatin on rush? mm-mm. not gonna work

✔️ damn but the monkey magic. diversionary tactics yes plz? his shadow clone hologram shit is perfect 4 detonating traps in advance or distracting enemies so rock can crack em from another angle. also his acrobatics. accessing switches & secret rooms in places rock would have trouble reaching. nvm the shot deflection. tbh hes physically apt enough rock might hold him back lol

✖️dumb of Ass. i can see him needlessly endangering the mission by virtue of his inexperience & low memory retention. also again: we need an anchor. rock does not need a hype man for his worst ideas. (tbh he would like one. plus: monkey✔️)

+mega water s:

✔️ rock is hot-blooded & gung ho like buster but. hes more willing to cooperate. mega water s could justify breakin bread w the enemy as a means to an end. its tactics. dont get sentimental kid 🙄

✔️ underwater S can navigate quickly & snipe. dry land S is non offensive but that fuckin power hose of his maintains distance bw targets which is perfect 4 a long distance gunman (i.e. his protection). a shield is always useful too even if its temporary & limited range. decent off/def combo

✔️ rock was raised w sense. he will Not make a vaguely racist Thing out of his """funny accent""" . hes a breath of fresh air from That Damn Monkey. mega water s is prob starved fr recognition / respect & rock isnt shy abt valuing his comrades. and the rational balances out the emotional. wth this could b smth hold up...

+hyper storm h:

✔️ he & rock would get along on the shared axis of takin on anything 4 the ppl that need them (also its easy 2 disarm H w/ kind words so they might form a union faster than u think)

✔️ my mighty steed the boar. u thought S was good defensively fuck that look @ this. two full health bars babey this is a bodyguard right here. the push & pull dynamics of his winds r also useful 4 clearing small enemies. the only negative ✖️ is his low mobility & seismic quaking which may disturb rocks shooting? he is obv powerful but perhaps Too Bigge.

✔️ im convinced rock would love him bc pig☺️ hes v agreeable & well meaning. but ✖️ hes gullible af. actually so is rock. that could cause issues. i mean rock has the veteran benefit but yk what else he has? benefit of the doubt. in excess. they need a lvl head bw them bc neither of them can smell bullshit

mega man & m. shadow:

➖ ig. ~rock (man) in the shadows~ sounds cooler

✖️??? as a prototype for quint he was an imitation of a rock he didnt know but wanted to be? kind of respected but hated? hes confusing. MM&B2 implies he was feeling rly directionless & hollow. if they linked up b4 his homisuicidal rage kicked in?✔️ ok. but idk if "present" r. shadow would b stable enough to "do good" the way rock sees it.

✔️ p diverse moveset on him; hes not dependent on sakugarne (or proto-saku. who knows) he has both long/short range weapons & spread fire & flash teleportation. honestly op idk why quint didnt get any of that. he can run faster. jump higher. like w buster rock might hold him back but imo thats exactly what hed need. hed be Out Of Control otherwise