Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future

Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future (Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousen Sha) is a sequel to Rockman & Forte (Super Famicom, 1998), developed by Bandai in cooperation and under license by Capcom, Inc., released in 1999. The game is one of the last games released in the classic series, and some say that it is the last, since Rockman Strategy (PC, 2001) is as its name implies: a strategy game.

Story
The year 200X. A group of robots calling themselves the Dimensions attacked Symphony City, a city where people and robots lived in peace. Though without any witnesses, the one leading the Dimensions with overwhelming power was a robot like Rockman. He was said to be a dark and wicked person completely obsessed with destruction. Rockman, who heard this news at Right's laboratory, took off to the scene despite being under maintenance. At the same time, Wily saw the dark Rockman, and to ascertain the mystery he sends Forte to the city. Just who is this dark Rockman really?!

R-SHADOW: "My name is Rockman Shadow! I am a robot with great power. I won't forgive those who don't obey me!"

ROCKMAN: "Stop your harming of everyone! Who the heck are you? How can it be you look just like me?"

FORTE: "I've come to end the life of Rockman who I hate this day, but somehow this situation is different than usual."

ROCKMAN: "Forte, I don't have time to be concerned with that now. I must hold back those robots!"

FORTE: "Ch! It can't be helped, Wily's laboratory is near this city. I won't carry out our war of attrition here!"

-Translation by Heatman of Atomic Fire. [2]

Note: The year is given in the game as 200X, but this is often considered either a typographical error or a canonical mistake as the game is chronologically the last game in the Classic Mega Man/Rockman series. For instance, Forte (Bass) was not created until Mega Man 7, which took place in the 20XX time period (ca. 2013), so a date of 200X is impossible.

Extended story
In the year 2016, only one year after King's Robot Rebellion had been quelled (in Rockman & Forte), a futuristic robot came through a time warp and began to attack Symphony City, a city recently developed where robots and human beings could live together in peace (as Dr. Light had originally intended). This robot called himself R-Shadow (or Rockman Shadow) and bore a striking resemblance to Rockman and was accompanied by an army of powerful robots known as the Dimensions. Once there onslaught ensued, Rock was sent with Rush by Dr. Light to investigate and was surprised that R-Shadow looked almost exactly like him, except for his green armor and the visor covering his face. At the same time, Forte was sent by Dr. Wily to see who this new "intruder" was because the attack was in close proximity to his new lab. Thus, for the time being, the two had to set aside their differences and face the new threat set upon the world.

R-Shadow came from the mid-21st century, to be more precise, from the time period that Dr. Wily visited with the Time Sled that he stole a few years prior from the Chronos Institute in order to steal futuristic technology. Wily (according to the Mega Man II manual for the Game Boy) had traveled 37.426 years into the future, which from the year 2010 would have been to the year 2047. In that year he "kidnapped" Rockman and reprogrammed him, turning him into a robot named Quint. That, however, was six years ago (so it would be 2052 in their time). Was this new threat, R-Shadow, Quint, and thus, Rockman, but from the future?

As Rockman (and Forte) got a chance to speak with R-Shadow, he claimed to be Quint, and having returned to his own present time, he spent a few years in anger and then built up an army of his own to return and get revenge on Rock for his past humiliation.

Would Rockman and Forte be able to defeat these time travelers with their advanced technology or would the world be forced to bend to their will? [1]

Dangan Man


Translated Name: Bullet Man

Serial Number: ''DMN. 001''

Year of Creation: 2052

Mega Man's Acquired Weapon: Rock Vulcan

Bass' Acquired Weapon: Forte Vulcan

Weakness: Barrier Wind and Forte Cyclone

Motto: A bullet can penetrate almost anything!

As his name implies, Dangan Man (or "Bullet Man") is a giant bullet. While some may question this design, this allows him to "fly" around the area towards his opponents, doing massive damage to them. Additionally, his body is incased in solid titanium, making him very difficult to damage. While not trying to crash into his opponents, his weapon, the Vulcan, can penetrate almost any type of body armor. [5]

Konro Man


Serial Number: ''DMN. 002''

Year of Creation: 2052

Mega Man's Acquired Weapon: Flame Shower

Bass' Acquired Weapon: Flame Mixer

Weakness: Rock Buster and Bass Buster (Normal Weapon)

Motto: I burn, therefore I am.

Konro Man was based on plans from a robot army of torch-like robots, but R-Shadow decided to make a fire-based robot instead. While, as his name implies, he is essentially like a giant stove, he proves to be a deadly fighter. His Flame Shower attack sends balls of fire raining down from the sky, while the Flame Mixer is a flame-thrower style attack that melts almost any opponent. [5]

Aircon Man


Serial Number: ''DMN. 003''

Year of Creation: 2052

Mega Man's Acquired Weapon: Barrier Wind

Bass' Acquired Weapon: Forte Cyclone

Weakness: Flame Shower and Flame Mixer

Motto: My weapon is far more fearful than my name!

Aircon Man (whose name is short for "Air Conditioner Man") was designed by Quint based on the design of Wind Man (Mega Man 6), who was built 39 years before R-Shadow's time. He stepped up the power of Aircon Man's fans, providing him with the ability to "blast" away his opponents with deadly cyclonic wind blasts and put up walls of wind to stop the attacks of his opponents. [5]

Komusou Man


Serial Number: ''DMN. 004''

Year of Creation: 2052

Mega Man's Acquired Weapon: Doppler Crash

Bass' Acquired Weapon: Doppler Attack

Weakness: Flame Shower and Flame Mixer

Motto: I fight through the old, deadly arts.

Komusou Man's design was based on that of that of the ancient Japanese monks. He has the ability to make doubles of himself with his Doppler Crash and Doppler Attack, and his martial arts, through the use of his staff/flute, conjures up magic-like attacks that prove deadly to his foes. [5]

Clock Men


Serial Number: ''DMN. 005''

Year of Creation: 2052

Mega Man's Acquired Weapon: Time Switch

Bass' Acquired Weapon: Time Bomb

Weakness: Barrier Wind and Forte Cyclone

Motto: Time doesn't wait for anyone.

R-Shadow decided to go with the age-old saying that "two heads are better than one" and built a duo of time-controlling robots known as the Clock Men. These robots have a time-stopping ability that was based on Flash Man's Time Stopper, called the Time Switch, but even without this power, their dual attacks make them deadly combatants against almost any foe! [5]

Compass Man


Serial Number: ''DMN. 006''

Year of Creation: 2052

Weakness: Barrier Wind and Forte Cyclone

Motto: I never get lost!

Like some of the other Dimensions, Compass Man's name might be deceiving, making him sound pathetic, but he is quite a powerful foe. R-Shadow designed him based on Dr. Wily's Sword Man (Mega Man 8), a robot whose body had two parts to it. Compass Man separates his torso from his legs and spins around the room, slicing at opponents with his deadly blade hands, while his legs will try to corner his "prey" and do even more damage. [5]

R-Shadow


Serial Number: ''RKN. 000''

Year of Creation: 2047

R-Shadow is the robot that created the Dimensions and traveled back from the mid-21st century (the year 2052) to attack Symphony City in the hopes of dueling and destroying Rock. Rock has no idea why this is the case, but when he confronts R-Shadow after defeating a few of his Robot Masters, he tells him that he is Rock from the future, "upgraded" by Dr. Wily and sent back on a mission to destroy his arch-enemy, Mega Man. In otherwords, he is Quint, a robot that Rock had faced and defeated five years ago.

Had Quint been embarrassed that he was so easily defeated, returned to his own time, and built up a powerful new army with the technology of his time and returned to crush Rock? This certainly seemed to be the case, but even if it wasn't, Rock knew that he couldn't take any chances with this "challenger from the future."

When he managed to defeat R-Shadow in a "duel to the death," his true nature was revealed...R-Shadow was not, in fact, Quint, but rather he was a prototype robot that Wily designed when experimenting with the technology present in the future. When Wily used the Time Sled to travel to the year 2047 and reprogram Rock into Quint, he first experimented with the technology of the time, the first product of which was him, a robot which Wily called R-Shadow. However, Wily decided that in the end he had no use for him and he was discarded. It was for this reason that he had come to the year 2016: he wanted to prove Dr. Wily wrong and show Rock that he was the superior robot, even if he was, in the end, only a "clone."



While the game depicts his "death" after his defeat at the hands of Mega Man and Bass, Dr. Light soon thereafter manages to repair him, and he is shown in a photograph with the team at Light Labs, sans helmet. He was most likely reprogrammed for two reasons: one because his programming was based on Dr. Wily's "evil" logic and because if he continued to desire Rock's destruction and was defeated a possible time paradox would exist.

Opening Stage

 * Grey Devil (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)

Stage Select

 * KONRO MAN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)


 * AIRCON MAN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Flame Shower or Flame Mixer)
 * Boss (Flame Shower or Flame Mixer)


 * DANGAN MAN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * Boss (Barrier Wind or Forte Cyclone)


 * KOMUSO MAN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * Boss (Flame Shower or Flame Mixer)


 * CLOCK MEN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * Boss (Barrier Wind or Forte Cyclone)


 * COMPASS MAN Stage
 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * Boss (Barrier Wind or Forte Cyclone)

R-Shadow's Fortress

 * Mini Boss (Rock Buster or Forte Buster)
 * R-Shadow (Barrier Wind or Forte Cyclone although the Rock Buster and Forte Buster work well too)

FAQs
1. Is Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future really the last (as of 2006) game chronologically in the Mega Man Classic series?

A: Yes. This game takes place about one year after the events of Rockman & Forte (Super Famicom, 1998), which was re-released as Mega Man & Bass (Game Boy Advance, 2003). Rockman & Forte took place circa 2015, which places this game circa 2016. While, Rockman Strategy was released on October 29, 2001 by Dreams Come True, it takes place chronologically sometime between Mega Man 7 and Mega Man 8.

2. Is this game really canon?

A: Yes, it is. The primary author of this article owns a legal copy of this game. The game was officially licensed by Capcom Co., Inc. although it was produced by Bandia, Inc. However, Capcom most likely assisted in the game's production.

3. Where do the serial numbers for the Dimensions come from?

A: The serial designation of the Dimension robots is not specified in the manual for the game. Thus, in order to provide series continuity, the Mega Man fan community has provided a serial number designation of DMN for them (Dimension Number).

4. Where does the serial number for R-Shadow come from?

A: Again, R-Shadow is a robot whose serial number is not specified in the game's manual. Therefore, a serial number was assigned to him in this article by the article's primary author for series continuity. So, where does it come from? R-Shadow is a prototype robot built by Dr. Wily in the future using the technology available at the time to see what is possible to construct. Technically, the purpose of R-Shadow was to destroy Mega Man, and as such, he would fall into the Rockman Killer series. Since he was a prototype, he was assigned a number of 000, giving him a serial number of ''RKN. 000''.