History Music / ThemeGas

** "Harder Than Steel" has the line "[[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie You got back the touch, you got back the power]]".

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: "The Message from Dr. Light":
-->I made you in my image\\
I built your heart\\
I gave you eyes\\
I gave you power\\
A sense of justice beyond any compare\\
I gave you hands, a child's face\\
I gave you hair (ROBOTIC HAAAAIR)
** ''History Repeating: Blue'' consists mostly of awesome rock songs. The last song on the album is a soft ballad [[spoiler:based on the Game Over song]].

* DarkReprise: "The Quick and The Blue". The ordinary chorus is:
-->''Quick on the draw!\\
In this town, I am the law!\\
Is what they say true?\\
Does Death wear blue?\\
Can he fall?''
** And at the end, the final lines of the song are:
--->''You're too quick on the draw.\\
Burn this town, there is no law.\\
What they say's true.\\
Death ''does'' wear blue.\\
He can't... fall...''

** Used again in "Gamma Unchained". The normal chorus ends with the line "I'll give you power, you'll take control". The final repetition of the chorus changes it to "What good is power if you're out of control?"

** In "The Haystack Principle", one particular line in the chorus goes, "I can't see the way out this time." The last line of the song changes this to, "And now I see the way out this time."

* LyricSwap: "The Quick and the Blue" and "Gamma Unchained" are a DarkReprise / IronicEcho.

--> ''No one in this world can understand / Who I am. / That is why I'm my own biggest -'' - cue chorus overlapping the word "[[IncrediblyLamePun fan]]".

** Magnet Man also has a thing for Roll, but it's kept ambiguous in the song if she reciprocates or not.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Snake Man tells Mega Man to "walk away from Light" and "shed the lies and make a new world with the Snake".

* AStormIsComing: There are multiple references to the ongoing conflict as a storm - Mega Man calls his path a "gathering storm" in "History Repeating, Pt 2 (One Last Time)", "Continue" calls him "the one to fare the storm"... and then there's "Rogumer Storm", based on the theme song for a boss literally called Storm Eagle, which is entirely built around this.
-->''Blue, a shadow taking form... / One has stood against the storm.''

On July 19th, 2010, they released the "Sparked A War" single, which contained the studio release of "You've Sparked A War/Spark Man", a instrumental variation, an acoustic remix, and covers of both "SunglassesAtNight" by {{Music/Corey Hart}} and the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon theme song, dubbed "Super Fighting Robot".

On July 19th, 2010, they released the "Sparked A War" single, which contained the studio release of "You've Sparked A War/Spark Man", a instrumental variation, an acoustic remix, and covers of both "SunglassesAtNight" by {[Music/Corey Hart}} and the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon theme song, dubbed "Super Fighting Robot".

On July 19th, 2010, they released the "Sparked A War" single, which contained the studio release of "You've Sparked A War/Spark Man", a instrumental variation, an acoustic remix, and covers of both "SunglassesAtNight" by Corey Hart and the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon theme song, dubbed "Super Fighting Robot".

-->''Fire in once lifeless eyes / motivated by their cries / '''[[KillEmAll Obliteration]]'''/ The humans' chance has passed.''

** "My heart is gone, there's only fire."[[note]]In canon, Proto Man went to Wily to have his imperfect solar energy core repaired after running away from Light Labs. Wily opted to replace it with an unstable but more reliable [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear core]] instead.[[/note]]

* PlaceBeyondTime: "Out of Time"'s title pulls a DoubleMeaning to this effect; Simon is not only running low on time before Dracula is at full power, but its singular usage throughout the song refers to the fact that Castlevania is so ''wrong'' that it exists "Out(side) of Time).

** "Evolution Of Circuitry" is a upbeat, snappy song about Elec Man wanting to incite a robot revolution. "You've Sparked A War" is similar only [[UpToEleven even more]] dissonant; Spark Man is singing about how humankind is a virus that must be wiped out.

On July 19th, 2010, they released the ''Sparked A War'' single, which contained the studio release of ''You've Sparked A War/Spark Man'', a instrumental variation, an acoustic remix, and covers of both ''SunglassesAtNight'' by Corey Hart and the ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon theme song, dubbed ''Super Fighting Robot''.

On October 31st, 2018 (at the stroke of midnight no less) they released an EP titled "Skulls", which is branded as a collab project between The Megas and The Belmonts. It contains "Cracked Skulls", a cover of Skull Man's theme, a cover of "Burn" by Music/TheCure, and two more Castlevania songs, Wicked Child and Vampire Killer.

* FreudianExcuse: A few of the robots, [[LonersAreFreaks Air Man]], [[BlackSheep Bubble Man]], [[HearingVoices Heat Man]], and [[FoeYay Flash Man]] in particular. See their respective entries on this page for more info.

%%* {{Yandere}}: Flash Man could be one. It's definitely FoeYay, but depending on how far one interprets the lyrics...

* ShoutOut: See SomethingCompletelyDifferent.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** ''[[WesternAnimation/MegaMan Super Fighting Robot]]'' and their cover of "Sunglasses At Night" have nothing to do with ''Mega Man 3'' or Spark Man, but they're on the ''Sparked a War'' single anyway.
*** The inclusion of "Sunglasses at Night" is most likely an allusion to Proto Man.
** Likewise, the ''Fly on a Dog'' single includes the titular track, followed by a Badass remix ("Just Another Machine"). This is then followed up by a cover of Real Life's "Send Me An Angel", a likewise Badass cover of the German intro to [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan the cartoon show]] ("Super Fighting Robot ([[IncrediblyLamePun MeGerman]])") and keyboardist Brian "Double D" Domenico's instrumental take on the password screen from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' ("I Want to [[PasswordSave B42A5D54E2 the C531]]").
** "The Belmonts" is based on ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI'', rather than ''Mega Man'' like the band's other releases.
* TheSongBeforeTheStorm: While "History Repeating" and "One Last Time" are two separate songs both based on ''Mega Man 3'''s title theme, the former is the softer lead-in to the latter.
** "Make Your Choice" may qualify as well, given it is a soft, but darker melody that comes right before the penultimate song on ''History Repeating: Red'', "I Refuse (To Believe)", based on the Wily Boss music from Mega Man 3.

** What's the name of the [=MM3=] Wily Stages 1 and 2 song [[spoiler:sung by Dr Light]]? "I Want To Be The One... '''(To Watch You Die)'''".

-->''Quick on the draw! / In this town, I am the law! / Is what they say true? / Does Death wear blue? / Can he fall?''

--->''You're too quick on the draw. / Burn this town, there is no law. / What they say's true. / Death ''does'' wear blue. / He can't... fall...''

** Several of the songs in the ''History Repeating'' are ambiguous in that the band refuses to clarify who's singing -- "Continue" is clearly about Mega Man, for instance, but the singer could be anyone. "Make Your Choice," they haven't said who's singing either point, leading to speculation that it's either Mega Man/Proto Man or Mega Man/Gamma.

* AdaptationDistillation: In [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the original game]], Fire Man and Ice Man had separate stages and boss fights, as with any other Robot Masters. ''[=Hell Has Frozen Over=]'', on the other hand, combines their stage themes and describes them as working together in an "epic fusion," challenging Mega Man to a two-on-one fight.
* AffablyEvil: In ''[=Chill XMas=]'', Chill Penguin might be devoted to the Maverick cause, but he's willing to call off the fight for Christmas and offers X nog, cookies and compliments X's dashing boots.

** In ''Gamma Unchained'', Wily seethes that "I'm the one that they fear/And for him they cheer". It's not clear whether Light or Mega Man is the target of his ire in this particular case.
* AnimalStereotypes: Played straight with Snake Man, who, true to his symbolism, spends his entire song trying to talk Mega Man into a FaceHeelTurn; averted with Storm Eagle in ''Rogumer Storm'', who gets one line about being a "patriotic eagle" before everyone realises he's actually there to murder them.

* AStormIsComing: There are multiple references to the ongoing conflict as a storm - Mega Man calls his path a "gathering storm" in ''History Repeating, Pt 2 (One Last Time)'', ''Continue'' calls him "the one to fare the storm"...and then there's ''Rogumer Storm'', based on the theme song for a boss literally called Storm Eagle, which is entirely built around this.
-->''Blue, a shadow taking form...One has stood against the storm.''

* AvengingTheVillain: In ''Carved From Mighty Oak'', Wood Man states he will avenge the other Robot Masters. Heat Man's [[HearingVoices voices]] seem to push him to this too. Then there's Skull Man, who seems to think the spirits of Mega Man's victims are literally driving him to war.
-->'''Skull Man:''' Can you hear them...calling out your name? (Speaking for the dead.) I feel their vengeance - guiding my hand! (Filling with dread...)

** ''History Repeating'' wraps up with Mega Man winning victories over both Wily and his own sense of despair, but the album's final song isn't triumphant - it's the sad, reflective ''Melody from the Past'', about how Proto Man, despite finding some measure of peace and redemption, is still haunted by his regrets and no longer feels a part of Light's RoboFamily.

* BloodKnight: ''The Quick and The Blue'' portrays Quick Man as having a bit of this in him.

* BossBanter: Some of the songs are, in part or full, framed as the Robot Master talking to Mega Man: ''Metal Dance'' is Metal Man's boasting to Mega Man, ''Walk Away from Light'' is entirely made up of Snake Man's WeCanRuleTogether pitch, and ''Man on Fire'' is Heat Man ranting to Mega Man about destroying him.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: "[[ShoutOut Look - it's a bird! It's a plane!]] No - it's a bird ''flying'' a plane!" from ''Rogumer Storm''

-->''Why do we fight? How can you say you know what's right? What if we stand? What if we fall? [[TheFatalist Does any choice that we make matter at all?'']]("History Repeating, Part 2 (One More Time)")\\

* CallForward: Wily makes one during ''Gamma Unchained'' when he's commenting on Protoman; saying thought he heard "The Red Song" (Protoman's distinctive whistle). "History Repeating: Red" has ''The Red Song'' serve as the lead-in to ''Not the Breakman''.
* CameBackWrong: ''Gamma Unchained'' plays with this. Wily seems to be lamenting his own arrogance in thinking he could revive Protoman successfully as much as dismay at Protoman being angry and vengeful when he came back online.

-->''Stop pretending you don't have a choice - only that can set you free.''
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Cut Man and Guts Man, despite being two of the more well known Robot Masters, don't show up at all in the ''Megatainment'' album. There's been talk of making a ''Megatainment Pt. 2'', but there's the issue of how they're going to fill it with more than just the songs for those two.[[note]]Time Man and Oil Man were considered, but Entertainment System wasn't all that fond of their songs.[[/note]]

* ContinuityNod: Spark Man's song, ''You've Sparked a War'', presents him as a revolutionary against human tyranny, just like his counterpart Elec Man's earlier song.

** "The Annihilation of Monsteropolis" goes from a wrathful creed in the midst of a fight to a contemplative, simmering "calm before the storm". Where the bridge featured spoken word that devolved into screaming the background, the acoustic version keeps it calm, while chorals claim "They will fall, they will all fall!" like a voice urging Air Man's wrath on.

** The ''Megatainment'' album in general has a darker, more cynical feel than ''Get Equipped'', if only because of ''Beneath the Steel'' and ''Look What You've Done''. It may take several listenings a back-to-back comparison to even recognize Bomb Man's theme (originally a rather cheerful song) in the former.

** The title of one of the last songs in ''History Repeating: Blue'', ''(I Want to Be the One) To Watch You Die'' is a DarkerAndEdgier version of a previous song title, ''I Want to Be the One''.
* DarkReprise: ''The Quick and The Blue''. The ordinary chorus is:

** What's the name of the [=MM3=] Wily Stages 1 and 2 song [[spoiler:sung by Dr Light]]? ''(I Want To Be The One)... '''To Watch You Die'''''.
*** In "History Repeating"
--->'' Now I can say when you want to be the One / What you start to realize is / You’re the ''only'' one''
** Used again in ''Gamma Unchained''. The normal chorus ends with the line "I'll give you power, you'll take control". The final repetition of the chorus changes it to "What good is power if you're out of control?"
** ''Make Your Choice'' echoes a recurring lyric from ''History Repeating Part 2'', 'one last time':

** In ''The Haystack Principle'', one particular line in the chorus goes, "I can't see the way out this time." The last line of the song changes this to, "And now I see the way out this time."
*** On that note, part of the bridge also echoes a part of Air Man's spoken monologue in ''The Annihilation of Monsteropolis'':

''A man stands below,''\\
''The city, he will destroy.''

* DeathFromAbove: ''The Annihilation of Monsteropolis''. "I will fly high above Monsteropolis / And I will rain terror down on the general populace..."
** "Lives on this earth I grow tired of / Death from above / The annihilation of everyone you know and love..."

* DeconReconSwitch: The first few albums deconstruct the plot of ''Mega Man'' (as shown above), dealing with the unrelenting pressure and uncertainty being the sole person responsible for saving the world ''is'', showing the Robot Masters as people, and even giving Dr. Wily a [[{{Transhumanism}} reason]] for his actions. The reconstruction comes in the form of the ultimate decision Mega Man makes in ''I Refuse (To Believe)'' [[spoiler:where in pulling back Dr.Light and Protoman from the DespairEventHorizon, realizes that condemning Wily to death would be to say that no man or machine would ever be more than their mistakes, making the effort saving his father and brother worthless]].
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''[[http://inversephase.bandcamp.com/track/the-nessage-from-dr-light The NESsage From Dr. Light]]''. An 8-bit track, remixed as a full fledged song, remixed as an 8-bit track.
** Also, from ''The Annihilation of Monsteropolis'':

** Metal Man wants you to know that he throws metal blades, from his metal hands, inside his metal cave, which is controlled by his metal will. A pattern begins to emerge pretty quickly, put it that way.
* DespairEventHorizon: Dr. Light is singing ''(I Want To Be The One) To Watch You Die'' after seeing Proto Man fighting for Dr. Wily, which indicates he crossed this in a rather dark way.
-->''I've finally learned what torture means / You sent my first born back to me / And put a gun in his dead hand / Time to take an eye for mine old friend.''
-->''I've sent a bullet with your name. / I want to finally end this game. / You are the one who wrote the end, / you wanted war, now I just want revenge''[[note]]This implies that while Wily wants war on humanity, Light just wants him dead.[[/note]]
-->''The things I hope, the fading dream, / Has finally got the best of me / I wish that I could be there / I want to be the one to watch you die''
** Ironically, the one thing that caused him to snap, that his resurrected "son" wants to kill him, was [[CameBackWrong something that Dr Wily never intended to happen]] and that he seems to regret, not that Dr Light is in a position to know this.

** Mega Man crosses it in "History Repeating Part One", complete with a somber, weary take on the cheerful ''3'' title tune.
* DoomedMoralVictor: In ''Harder than Steel'', Hard Man goes into battle and doesn't surrender, choosing to go down fighting instead, because the alternative is to live as a washed-up relic. [[ForegoneConclusion He dies]], but wins the eternal support of the crowd.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''Vampire Killer'' is the name of the Belmont family whip from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''...but when the final chorus is handled as a duet between Leon Belmont and Sara Trantoul, the spirit empowering the whip, it becomes clear that the title of the song also refers to [[VampireHunter Leon himself.]]

* DramaticWind: In ''The Quick And The Blue'', just before the ShowdownAtHighNoon, "a cold wind blows" dramatically.
-->"Wait, now, there's too much at stake now, / a cold wind blows / He looked to the crowd and he cried / 'The moment of truth has arrived!'"
* DrivenToSuicide: The ending of ''Programmed to Fight'' seems to imply that Crash Man killed himself (via self-detonation?) so Mega Man could finish his quest for justice.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: After spending most of ''History Repeating'' in a downward spiral since the end of ''Get Equipped'', Mega Man breaks himself out of it, pulls Dr. Light back from the DespairEventHorizon, gets Protoman to commit a HeelFaceTurn, destroys Gamma, and defeats Dr. Wily.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Quick Man admits that he's not scared anymore as he dies.

* FilmNoir: Gemini Man is framed in this style but with a unique twist; the fearful client and the private eye hired for protection and aid are his split personalities.

* FreudianExcuse: A few of the robots, [[LonersAreFreaks Air Man]], [[BlackSheep Bubble Man]], [[HearingVoices Heat Man]] and [[FoeYay Flash Man]] in particular. See their respective entries on this page for more info.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: By ''Programmed to Fight'', it seems that Crash Man may be the only one who knows his story. It's explicitly evoked with the line "My end has come and I welcome glory / no one will know the truth to this story."
* GoneHorriblyRight: Gamma is a machine created to keep the peace. When Wily activates him in ''Gamma Unchained'', it comes to a horrible conclusion.

* HailfirePeaks: Considering that Fire Man and Ice Man were working together, and that their song is called ''Hell Has Frozen Over'', it's not unreasonable to think their level was like this.

* HesBack: After two albums of questioning his purpose and humanity, Mega Man comes to the conclusion that though he is a machine, he still has a soul and can make choices of his own, forgiving Dr. Light, [[SwordOverHead spares Wily]], and gives Protoman a BreakingSpeech.

* HumansAreFlawed: [[spoiler:The song's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzx0neug5pQ Melody of the Past]]'s basic message. "Do not hate Father for he is only a man."]]

** Also, his song ''Look What You've Done'' implies that he's fighting to free robots from human tyranny (as do ''Evolution of Circuitry'' and ''You've Sparked A War''.) Now compare this to ''Programmed to Fight'', which reveals that Crash Man is still a slave to his programming...
* ICannotSelfTerminate: In ''Programmed To Fight'', Crash Man wants to let Mega Man win and kill him so Doctor Wily will fall, but, as the title suggests, his programming will not allow it.

His name is...Mega Man! X!''

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: ''The Message from Dr. Light'':

* LonersAreFreaks: In ''Annihilation of Monsteropolis'', Air Man is portrayed as a loner tortured by the fact his only power is "to push others away", and goes as far as outright stating: "For if I can't walk among them / Then I will walk the world alone".

** Needle Man has the same problem. Only unlike Air Man, his hatred is aimed inward.

** ''Programmed to Fight'' may also have this. For one of the most cheery themes in ''Mega Man 2'', the relatively dark explanation of how Crash Man knows his fate creates a contrast between the lyrics and the melody.
** ''Evolution Of Circuitry'' is a upbeat, snappy song about Elec Man wanting to incite a robot revolution. ''You've Sparked A War'' is similar only [[UpToEleven even more]] dissonant; Spark Man is singing about how humankind is a virus that must be wiped out.
** ''Metal Dance'' is a hyper song about Metal Man being a BloodKnight ranting about how he'll kill Mega Man.
** ''Quick And The Blue'' is a song about Quick Man trying to fight fate and becoming increasingly doubtful. The end has him calmly accepting his death as Mega Man kills him [[spoiler:possibly with the Time Stopper.]]

** ''Walk Away From Light'' is a rather smooth song considering that it's about Snake Man trying to corrupt Mega Man into a villain and accusing him of being no different.
** ''Afraid of the Dark'' has Shadow Man's rather happy-sounding music set to lyrics of how terrified he is of succumbing to the evil which is slowly corrupting him.
** ''Cracked Skulls'' is a fairly upbeat rock theme set to lyrics of Skull Man [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chewing out Mega Man]] for [[WhatTheHellHero killing thousands of robots]] and how he [[AvengingTheVillain is their vessel of revenge]].

* {{Magitek}}: Skull Man believes himself to be a container for the spirits of the dead Robot Masters in ''Cracked Skulls''.

*** By that token, compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxXHVNIwGSw Crash Man's theme]] to Programmed to Fight, and then, of course, there is the fact that the cheerful ending theme to Mega Man 1 is overlaid with Dr. Wily promising a never-ending war for Mega Man and Dr. Light.

** "Harder Than Steel" carries heavy elements of a song you'd hear in an 80s training montage. However, since the guy training is the Robot Master, [[ForegoneConclusion it doesn't end well]].

** Wily's song has shades of this, specifically when he starts begging Dr. Light to call Mega Man off, horrified of facing him.
** Gemini Man's song, as he (they?) becomes increasing frightened throughout the song, seeing Mega Man as a hitman out for blood whom he's trying to protect himself from.
%% ** Quick Man's song increasingly becomes this as it progresses.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: By ''Lamentations of a War Machine'', Mega Man's enthusiasm for the fight has given way to the realization that he, too, was built to kill. He's reduced to begging Doctor Light to tell him why he fought, why all this had to happen.
** ''If I've a heart made of steel / [[DoAndroidsDream Then does that mean I cannot feel?]] / Remorse for everything I've done / [[ArmCannon My hand's a smoking gun!]]''
*** The intro to the Mega Man 3 album implies that he's still not over it.

** The first verse of ''The Message from Dr. Light''. "My mistakes / And my sins; what have I done?"

*** "To break Wily's walls you will need my power." The Buebeam Trap. That is all.

** Dr. Wily's speech near the end of ''Look What You've Done'' when the music transitions to the ending theme is taken word for word from the end of the first game.

** The title of the song ''History Repeating'' may be taken from a line in the intro of Mega Man 4; "history repeats itself"

** Proto Man went by the codename Break Man in [=MM3=]. Since Mega Man doesn't know who he is yet, neither name is used in ''History Repeating: Blue'', but part 2 of the title track sneaks in "He's the prototype man of Mega Man", and the live track "I'm Not The Break Man" (presumably to be included in ''Red'') suggests a meaning for his codename.[[note]]The intended meaning is still unknown, so The Megas' interpretation -- he was literally broken -- may actually be right. Other theories include that his goal is to "break" Mega Man (either literally or in the sense of testing him) and that it's just another music reference, this time to breakdancing.[[/note]]

** "Turning off the sun, running through the night" [[note]]Shadow Man's stage has devices that turn the rooms completely black until destroyed.[[/note]]
*** "I am a knife in the gunfight." [[note]]The Shadow Blade is a short-ranged weapon due to it's boomerang-like properties,[[/note]]
** "I think it's time I go my separate ways" [[note]]Gemini Man literally splits in two versions of himself in the game.[[/note]]
** "I can fly on a dog / jump high on a dog / drive in a dog (underwater!)", these are the different Rush modes in [[VideoGame/MegaMan3 MM3]].
** "[The spirits] encircle me." [[note]]Skull Man's weapon is a shield called the Skull Barrier[[/note]]
** "The daylight, it grows dim" [[note]]Skull Man's stage has a segment where the sky slowly fades from noon to night.]]
** "Hey killer boots / But could you leave them in the entryway?"[[note]]Chill Penguin's stage is where player's get X's Boot Armor parts[[/note]]
** "Stop the fighting, how dare we shotgun ice / When we can chill and be merry?" and "But when the holiday is done / I'm gonna get my ice shotgun"[[note]]Chill Penguin's weapon is Shotgun Ice.[[/note]]

-->We are the chosen, we are the pure / They are the virus, we are the cure.

-->Fire in once lifeless eyes / motivated by their cries / '''[[KillEmAll Obliteration]]'''/ The humans' chance has passed.

--> There'll be a fire in the sky / And '''your doom will rain down!''' / '''THERE WILL BE A TOMBSTONE WITH THE PLANET EARTH ENGRAVED ON IT!'''
* ParentsAsPeople: In the last song of History Repeating "Melody From the Past" Proto Man finally comes to terms with the fact that everything Dr. Light did that hurt him was because Dr. Light is only human and didn't mean any of it. This finally brings him a measure of peace and allows him to finally let go of his anger.
-->''Do not blame father, he is only a man''
* PrideBeforeAFall: Metal Man and Top Man are portrayed as arrogant and cocksure, certain of their victory, before the ForegoneConclusion smacks them in the face. It's most notable in "Stalker", the Belmonts song focusing on Queen Medusa, in which the first verse is about how the unnamed hunter fighting Queen Medusa is probably screwed...and the second verse is about the tables being turned against her because she didn't expect to encounter such a serious threat.

* {{Reconstruction}}: After song after song picking apart the ''Mega Man'' storyline, morality, and characters, ''Repeating History: Red'' ends with Mega Man realizing that he ''is'' a hero and regaining his will to fight while both Dr. Light and Proto Man realize their own mistakes and make amends.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Elec Man is portrayed as a radical revolutionary fighting against "human cruelty" in ''Evolution of Circuitry''.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: If you don't attribute Heat Man's song to ForTheEvulz, and lean toward HearingVoices. This goes hand in hand with the AxCrazy. Also can be a FreudianExcuse.
** "Gamma Unchained" and "I'm Not the Breakman" also hint that Protoman's on one of these, albeit downplayed. He's not out to kill his makers (though the line of "I hear the red song again, he wants revenge" in "Gamma Unchained" indicates some fear on Wily's part), but Proto is '''pissed''' that he was replaced and is gunning for Rock as a result.
*** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Alternately]], he specifically wants to destroy Dr Light, his abusive "father".

** Mega Man seems to find some motivation to do this in ''History Repeating, Part 2 (One More Time)'', deciding that this is going to be "the last time [he's] the Mega of men".

** Mega Man's KirkSummation to Proto Man involves telling him that he can make his own decisions and isn't just a puppet of his programming. It sticks, and Proto Man stops being TheFatalist by ''Melody from the Past''.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Mega Man starts to develop into this. By ''Lamentations'' he's wondering why he ever bothered to fight in the first place.

** For two tunes that were extremely similar to begin with, which in this case are Journey's "Faithfully" and Elec Man's theme from Mega Man 1, The Megas take it a step further in "Evolution of Circuitry" by having the last verse sound almost lyrically identical the second verse of the Journey song.

* ShowdownAtHighNoon: Quick Man's battle with Mega Man is framed as one of these, complete with DramaticWind and the contest being decided by QuickDraw. It's most obvious in the ''Get Acoustic'' version of ''The Quick and the Blue'', since that mostly uses period-appropriate instruments and mood.

* SiameseTwinSongs: ''History Repeating, Part One'' into ''Part Two (One Last Time)'' is the most overt case of two songs meant to be played in order, but ''Programmed to Fight'' leads directly into ''Lamentations of a War Machine'', and ''The Red Song'' is basically an intro to ''I'm Not the Breakman''.
* SkeleBot9000: Proto Man, according to the cover art of History Repeating: Red. Aside from his face (or what can be seen of it), his body is mostly exposed mechanical frame, due to years of disrepair and simply being gutted for parts over time.

** ''(I Wanna Be The One) To Watch You Die'' is about Light succumbing to his hatred of Wily and drifting ever closer to becoming a FallenHero.

* StealthPun: A bit of this with ''The Annihilation of Monsteropolis'':

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''[[WesternAnimation/MegaMan Super Fighting Robot]]'' and their cover of ''SunglassesAtNight'' have nothing to do with ''Mega Man 3'' or Spark Man, but they're on the ''Sparked a War'' single anyway.
** The inclusion of ''Sunglasses at Night'' is most likely an allusion to Proto Man.
** Likewise, the ''Fly on a Dog'' single includes the titular track, followed by a Badass remix (''Just Another Machine''). This is then followed up by a cover of Real Life's ''Send Me An Angel'', a likewise Badass cover of the German intro to [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan the cartoon show]] (''Super Fighting Robot ([[IncrediblyLamePun MeGerman]])'') and keyboardist Brian "Double D" Domenico's instrumental take on the password screen from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' (''I Want to [[PasswordSave B42A5D54E2 the C531]]'').
** "The Belmonts" is based on ''Castlevania'', rather than ''Mega Man'' like the band's other releases.
* TheSongBeforeTheStorm: While "History Repeating" and "One Last Time" are two separate songs both based on Mega Man 3's title theme, the former is the softer lead-in to the latter.

-->''Speak for me, everything goes black-''
* SpontaneousCrowdFormation: A crowd gathers to watch Mega Man and Quick Man fight.
** Another crowd gathers as word gets around of Hard Man's return in ''Harder than Steel''.

%%* StalkerWithACrush: Magnet Man and Roll might be one.
%%* StarCrossedLovers: Magnet Man and [[spoiler:Roll]] in ''Don't Mess With Magnet Man''.

%%* TruckDriversGearChange: At the end of I Refuse to Believe.

* UnreliableNarrator: Most of the Robot Master songs are entirely from their perspectives, which leads into a lot of the AmbiguousSituation and AlternateCharacterInterpretation. For example, whether "Cracked Skulls" implies a ScienceFantasy universe or just that Skull Man is delusional is hard to tell, because the whole thing is being filtered through Skull Man's potential delusions. It's hard to tell how Roll genuinely feels about Magnet Man because "Don't Mess with Magnetman" is entirely from his perspective, and obviously he's going to view it as a tragic StarCrossedLovers situation even if it's actually not.
* VillainSong: Most of the songs are sung from the viewpoints of the Robot Masters the songs are associated with. ''Look What You've Done'' and ''Gamma Unchained'' deserve special mention as they are both sung from the perspective of [[BigBad Dr. Wily]] himself.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Hard Man in ''Harder than Steel'' is beloved by the crowd who watch his battle with Mega Man.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Snake Man tells Mega Man to "walk away from Light", "shed the lies and make a new world with the Snake".
* WellIntentionedExtremist: ''Look What You've Done'' portrays Dr. Wily as one of these.
-->''Call me wrong? / The future '''needs''' us / Your answer's death? / You end us, '''bleed''' us.''\\
''Can you not feel / That we could have a life forged in steel. / I only ask that you see what I see. / This is the answer. / Why won't you believe?''

*** Spark Man's attitude is basically the same as Elec Mans, save for possibly being angrier about it.
** ''Gamma Unchained'' makes this even more clear, as Wily invokes UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans (almost word-for-word) and activates the giant peacekeeping robot Gamma to end the fighting. Gamma quickly calculates that the best way for there to be peace is [[FinalSolution if there's nobody left alive to make war.]] And from ''Make Your Choice'':

* TheWestern: ''The Quick and the Blue'' is laden with Western elements such as a ShowdownAtHighNoon, Quick Man being played as a sheriff figure, and a DramaticWind blowing. The ''Get Acoustic'' version even sounds like it's taken from a Western.

* WhatTheHellHero: ''Wily'' calls out Dr. Light many times in ''Look What You've Done''.

He'll just disappoint you.''
-->..."And how quick you had him dispatch his brothers.\\
You call this murderer a ''savior''."
-->"I see his hands, covered in my children's blood... and his eyes do not waver."

--->'''Snake Man:''' You say 'don't take their lives, they don't deserve to die'. And who does? You think it's us? And what of the one who calls us sons - gonna kill him too? 'Cause who are you? [[HunterOfHisOwnKind You're a man's metal son, the same as every one of us!]] (''Walk Away from Light'')\\
'''Proto Man:''' Hard to see the good through your trail of dead. (''I'm Not the Breakman'')\\
'''Also Proto Man:''' You say that you stand for peace, but you're the one geared for war. (''Make Your Choice'')\\
'''Skull Man:''' Look what you made - this morbid scene! (''Cracked Skulls'')
* WhosLaughingNow: [[BlackSheep Bubble Man]] wants this to make this happen by killing Mega Man:
-->There's one thing for which I long\\

The strongest of all of the other robots is me.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: ''The Annihilation of Monsteropolis'' presents Air Man this way:
-->Do you know what it's like to be built this way?\\

I will destroy these people... For if I cannot walk among them... Then I will walk the world '''alone'''.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Top Man's song opens with a reference to this idea. "I'm the one on top, I'm the one who writes history." Wily also references this in ''Look What You've Done'', saying that he knows history won't be kind to all involved.

--> ''What you call free will / I call a ruse.''

* SkeleBot9000: Proto Man, according to the cover art of History Repeating: Red. Aside from his face (or what can be seen of it), his body is mostly exposed mechanical frame, either due to years of disrepair or simply being gutted for parts over time.

%%* CameBackWrong: When Dr Wily resurrects Protoman.

** ''Walk Away From Light'' is a rather smooth song considering that it's about Snake Man trying to corrupt Mega Man into a villain and accusing him of being NotSoDifferent.

* NotSoDifferent:

** Throughout most of ''History Repeating'', Mega Man and Wily's motivations both boil down to preventing history from repeating - Mega Man is tired of repeatedly having to kill his fellow robots, and Wily is tired of Mega Man repeatedly thwarting his plans to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans create a robot utopia]].