History VideoGame / MegaMan8

The plot begins when a duo of fighting alien robots crash-land into Dr. Wily's island base. Mega Man promptly arrives in time to save one of them, while Wily steals a strange source of energy from the wreckage of the other robot. After mowing down four of Wily's latest Robot Masters, Dr. Light finishes repairing the alien robot, named Duo, who soon after escapes, leading Mega Man in chase, only for him to nearly be killed by one of Wily's mecha, although Duo saves him in time. He reveals that Wily has been using "Evil Energy", a corrupting source of energy that he acquired from the robot Duo was fighting earlier, and that it must be destroyed lest it corrupt the earth in its entirety.

It would later receive a [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] spin-off called ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' in 1998. ''Mega Man 8'' would also be re-released as the part of two separate {{compilation|Rerelease}}s: the ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' in 2004 and ''Mega Man Legacy Collection 2'' in 2017.

* CostumeEvolution: Dr. Wily replaces his lab coat with a [[BadassCape villainous cloak]], as well as adding a skull-shaped belt buckle and a loose bow tie. This look would stick around for ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' before being retired.

** Rush is almost crashed by the giant Gorilla.

* ElectricTorture: Wily's gorilla mecha uses this to try and kill Mega Man.

* EvilCounterpart: The unnamed robot from which the Evil Energy originated mirrors Duo's original body in appearance, right down to sporting TheRightHandOfDoom as opposed to Duo's giant left arm.

* JerkassHasAPoint: In Wily Tower Stage 3, Bass taunts Mega Man by saying he's naïve. He's right.

* WorldsStrongestMan: In a sense. Duo may not necessarily be the strongest robot in the cosmos, but he ''is'' sufficiently powerful nonetheless (as evidenced by the fact that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW3H8SQGv5o#t=2m34s his clash with the unnamed "Evil Robot"]] ends with [[PlanetDestroyer significant damage]] to what appears to be Saturn) and pretty much sits at StoryBreakerPower status [[NormalFishInATinyPond the moment he arrives on Earth]]. Duo's BossBattle, if it can even be called that, consists of him [[NoSell shrugging off all attacks from Mega Man while taking no visible damage]] until he realizes [[LetsYouAndHimFight their battle is pointless]], followed by Duo proceeding to steamroll the gorilla mech that had Mega Man and Rush on the ropes. When Duo decides to focus on eradicating the Evil Energy around the world while Mega Man disables the barriers protecting Wily's fortress, one wonders why he doesn't just deal with the remaining Robot Masters on his own. The only thing that seems to slow him down is the WaveMotionGun of the latest Wily Machine (presumably because it's powered by Evil Energy), and while Duo ''is'' [[DeusExitMachina forced to sub out for the final battle]], said WaveMotionGun is completely destroyed by Duo's FoeTossingCharge whereas Duo himself is only in need of mild repairs.

* FireIceLightning: Sword Man, Frost Man, Clown Man; respectively.

* WalkDontSwim: The only (official [[note]]''[[VideoGame/MegaManDOS Mega Man 3]]'' [[VideoGame/MegaManDOS for DOS]] did it first[[/note]]) game that averts this [[SuperNotDrowningSkills by having Mega Man actually swim]], although his jumping height and walking speed are otherwise affected in the same manner as other DownTheDrain levels in previous titles (i.e. higher jumps at the cost of slower footspeed).

* WalkDontSwim: The only (official [[note]]''Mega Man 3'' for DOS did it first[[/note]]) game that averts this [[SuperNotDrowningSkills by having Mega Man actually swim]], although his jumping height and walking speed are otherwise affected in the same manner as other DownTheDrain levels in previous titles (i.e. higher jumps at the cost of slower footspeed).

* FlamingSword: Sword Man's weapon, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Flame Sword]]. Mega Man can acquire it after defeating Sword Man, and use it to ignite certain flammable obstacles

** This game has more emphasis on UnexpectedGameplayChanges than any other ''Mega Man'' game, with certain stages including ShootEmpUp mechanics, fast paced snowboarding, and non-linear mazes.

* VocalDissonance: Thanks to overall godawful English voice acting, we have such gems like "[[ElmuhFuddSyndwome Doctah Wawhee]]" and "[[AmbiguouslyGay I'm Aqua Man, but you can call me Handsome Guy!]]"

* AssistCharacter: The Rush Jet levels, where power-ups can summon Eddie, Beat, and (for the first, and so far only, time he's ever went out into battle) Auto to your side.

* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Sword Man.
* BonusBoss: [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Cut Man]] appears as an optional mini-boss in the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn version of the game. [[note]][[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Wood Man]] also appears, but he's not optional, though neither can be refought after their bolt is collected.[[/note]]
* BossBanter: Good Lord. As the first [[VideoGame/MegaManThePowerBattle main]] [[VideoGame/MegaMan2ThePowerFighters title]] in the Classic series with voice acting, ''8'' decided to overcorrect the Robot Masters' previous "silence" by making this set not only the chattiest bunch of Robot Masters around, but also contenders for the noisiest ''Mega Man'' bosses in series history. It wouldn't be until many years after this game, when ''VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' came along, that this group finally had some competition from their own era.
* BossRush: Pops up in Wily Tower near its end, as per usual. The BGM for the stage is even a remix of the Robot Master pre-fight theme.

* CoolBike: For the first time, Rush is able to assume the form of one. Like the other Rush options introduced in this game, Rush Bike has yet to make a reappearance elsewhere in the series.

* FlamingSword: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Flame Sword]].

* GuideDangIt: You can actually kick the Mega Ball at a higher angle if you hold up while kicking it. The game never tells you this, and it makes fighting the first Wily boss a whole lot easier (if he shows up on one of the inner two parts, standing in the middle and kicking it upwards will hit him every time, as opposed to trying to get it to ricochet the right way).

* HumongousMecha: Wily's gorilla mecha midway through the game.

* MultipleHeadCase: [[TalkingToThemself Search Man.]]

* OddballInTheSeries: For many gameplay reasons, and for being the only core original series game not to debut on a Nintendo system.

* DWN-063: Grenade Man, weak to Thunder Claw, gives the [[ChainReactionDestruction Flash Bomb]]

* TheCorruption: The "Evil Energy" is an energy that takes the worst from the robots.

* WaterGunsAndBalloons: Aqua Man's main attack naturally involves shooting streams of water every which way from his arm cannon, either in water balloon-like spheres or in long, controllable jets. When Aqua Man is defeated, Mega Man receives this ability to shoot the water spheres, known as the Water Balloon.

* BossBanter: Good Lord. As the first [[VideoGame/MegaManThePowerBattle main]] [[VideoGame/MegaMan2ThePowerFighters title]] in the Classic series with voice acting, ''8'' decided to overcorrect the Robot Masters' previous "silence" by making this set not only the chattiest bunch of Robot Masters around, but also contenders for the noisiest ''Mega Man'' bosses in series' history. It wouldn't be until many years after this game, when ''VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' came along, that this group finally had some competition from their own era.

* ColonyDrop: Astro Man's Astro Crush, which summons a swarm of meteors to annihilate everything on screen.

* UtilityWeapon: The Tornado Hold can be used to lift Mega Man up to a higher platform. The Thunder Claw can be used to [[GrapplingHookPistol grab onto bars]]. The Astro Crush can be used to destroy a section of Aqua Man's stage, causing water to fill the area.

* WorldsStrongestMan: In a sense. Duo may not necessarily be the strongest robot in the cosmos, but he ''is'' sufficiently powerful nonetheless (as evidenced by the fact that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW3H8SQGv5o#t=2m34s his clash with the unnamed "Evil Robot"]] ends with [[PlanetDestroyer significant damage]] to what appears to be Saturn) and pretty much sits at StoryBreakerPower status [[NormalFishInATinyPond the moment he arrives on Earth]]. Duo's BossBattle, if it can even be called that, consists of him [[NoSell shrugging off all attacks from Mega Man while taking no visible damage]] until he realizes [[LetsYouAndHimFight their battle is pointless]], followed by Duo proceeding to steamroll the gorilla mech that had Mega Man and Rush on the ropes. When Duo decides to focus on eradicating the Evil Energy around the world while Mega Man disables the barriers protecting Wily's fortress, one wonders why he doesn't just deal with the remaining Robot Masters on his own. The only thing that seems to slow him down is the WaveMotionGun of the latest Wily Machine (presumably because it's powered by Evil Energy), and while Duo ''is'' [[DeusExitMachina forced to sub out for the final battle]], said WaveMotionGun is completely destroyed by Duo's FoeTossingCharge while Duo is only in need of mild repairs.

* ConjoinedTwins: Search Man is a pair of dicephalic parapagus twin sniper robots. According to his/their backstory in official lore, Search Man was given an extra head by Wily, who thought that a two-headed sniper robot would be better than a monocephalic one.

* CurbStompBattle: Mega Man is powerless against Wily's gorilla mecha, but Duo effortlessly mows him down.
* CutsceneBoss: See above.

* JustAKid: [[UnderestimatingBadassery Tengu Man dismisses Mega Man as such.]] This is despite the fact that Mega Man is, chronologically speaking, the second ''oldest'' Robot Master in existence, never mind the scores of Robot Masters the Blue Bomber has defeated up to this point.

* MeteorSummoningAttack: Astro Man's Astro Crush calls down a storm of meteors while rendering Mega Man invincible during the animation.

* OhCrap: Astro Man's reaction when you lock on to him with the Homing Sniper. Grenade Man, since he is TooKinkyToTorture, turns this on its head, though.

* OhCrap: Astro Man's reaction when you lock on to him with the Homing Sniper.

-->'''Tengu Man:''' "I did not expect my opponent is a kid... Don't make me laugh!"

Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch'' or [[VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast5 "Rockman 8."]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Using the Robot Master's weakness against them can give... ''interesting'' effects. Use Tornado Hold on Clown Man as he's about to do his trapeze kick? Cue [[KnottyTentacles him getting entangled by his own limbs]]. (He'll even call out for his mommy, making you feel... a bit bad for doing so.) Use Astro Crush on Aqua Man? You'll ''[[LiterallyShatteredLives shatter]]'' his glass parts. Use Flame Sword on Search Man as he's hiding in his MobileShrubbery? Cue ManOnFire.

* BubblyClouds: Tengu Man's stage.

* SmugSuper: Tengu Man. In his two of his four pre-fight quotes, [[UnderestimatingBadassery he writes off Mega Man]] with either "It's {{just a kid}}. Don't make me laugh" or "Kid, you're almost not worth the effort." One of his taunts during battle is "Feel my power!" and his death cry is a mere "It's regrettable." In fact, he's so boastful of his power that he comes back in [[VideoGame/MegaManAndBass the next game]] (alongside Astro Man, oddly enough) to settle the score. {{Tengu}} are known for their incredible martial arts skills and their excessive pride.

A fan-made 8-bit remake of this game also exists, and can be found online.

* DumbMuscle: Frost Man can create big ice barriers and is strong enough to make ice blocks from a machine fall and push them, but he is otherwise dumb.

* PreRenderedGraphics: ''Mega Man 8'' features anime-style cutscenes that include full voice acting for the first time in the classic series.

* ShowsDamage: {{Downplayed|Trope}}; like in ''7'', all Robot Masters barring [[CombatSadomasochist Grenade Man]] will react negatively to [[ElementalRockPaperScissors their weaknesses]], momentarily leaving them incapacitated. [[note]]Tengu Man's legs are frozen in place by Ice Wave, forcing him to struggle free for a second or two; Astro Man and his orbs drop to the ground from Homing Sniper in what is likely a neurotic reaction; Sword Man is stunned by Water Balloon, causing his body to emit steam; Clown Man's long arms are wrapped up by Tornado Hold (or he gets knocked off his trapeze mid-swing); Search Man, who is usually hiding behind bushes during his BossBattle, goes ablaze thanks to Flame Sword; Frost Man is knocked back and covers his eyes, having been temporarily blinded by Flash Bomb; and Aqua Man's water tank on his head is shattered by Astro Crush, which causes him to take a few seconds repairing it.[[/note]] A lot of this falls under LogicalWeakness, but not every case is readily apparent at first. [[labelnote:For example...]]Frost Man is presumably suffering from the robot equivalent of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photokeratitis snow blindness]] due to the light reflecting off his icy body.[[/labelnote]]

* WaterGunsAndBalloons: Aqua Man's main attack naturally involves shooting streams of water every which way fro,m his arm cannon, either in water balloon-like spheres or in long, controllable jets. When Aqua Man is defeated, Mega Man receives this ability to shoot the water spheres, known as the Water Balloon.

* WorldsStrongestMan: Duo, to the point of sitting at StoryBreakerPower status. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW3H8SQGv5o#t=2m34s A clash between him and the unnamed "Evil Robot"]] ends with significant damage to what appears to be Saturn. Duo's BossBattle, if it can even be called that, consists of him [[NoSell shrugging off all attacks from Mega Man while taking no visible damage]] until he realizes [[LetsYouAndHimFight their battle is pointless]], followed by Duo proceeding to steamroll the gorilla mech that had Mega Man and Rush on the ropes. When Duo decides to focus on eradicating the Evil Energy around the world while Mega Man disables the barriers protecting Wily's fortress, one wonders why he doesn't just deal with the remaining Robot Masters on his own. The only thing that seems to slow him down is the WaveMotionGun of the latest Wily Machine, and while Duo ''is'' [[DeusExitMachina forced to sub out for the final battle]], said WaveMotionGun is completely destroyed by Duo's FoeTossingCharge while Duo is only in need of mild repairs.

* DeusExitMachina: Duo isn't really allowed to do much in the story despite being shown as one of the strongest robots to date in the Classic series. He spends the first half of the game out of commission, can't do much more than track down Evil Energy in the second due to barriers around Wily's fortress that Mega Man must disable, and only appears at the finale to save Mega Man's life twice.

* AffablyEvil: Sword Man. Right off the bat, he tells Mega Man that's there {{nothing personal}} between him and the Blue Bomber ([[JustFollowingOrders he's simply following orders from Wily]]), that he's not going to hold anything back in battle, and that [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen he expects a fair fight]]. In battle, he even takes his time to ''[[CombatCompliment commend]]'' Mega Man, uttering an "Impressive" if Mega Man successfully dodges his Fire Slash. On top of this, he [[SwordPlant plants his blade into the ground]] and leans upon it as if it were a cane, and, if that weren't enough, the dub tries to reinforce this image by giving Sword Man [[IAmVeryBritish a polite, sophisticated]] Australian accent. And when you defeat him, his last line is "[[GracefulLoser Nice]] [[VillainRespect shot]]."

* ArtificialOutdoorsDisplay: In Astro Man's stage, during the boss fight with him, the room you're in projects an imagery of moon surface. The projection stops after he's defeated. It is implied that the stage's backgrounds are all artificial as well, tying in with Astro Man's [[MasterOfIllusion illusory powers]].

* DownTheDrain: In an optional sidepath in the intro stage. You'll find two bolts hidden here and an easyli accessible one if you bother to traverse it.

* JustAKid: Tengu Man dismisses Mega Man as such. This is despite the fact that Mega Man is, chronologically speaking, the second ''oldest'' Robot Master in existence, never mind the scores of Robot Masters the Blue Bomber has defeated up to this point.