Who changed Rockman's name to Mega Man?

by Richard Mitchell on Aug 1st 2009 4:00AM

Every gamer worth his or her salt knows that Mega Man's real name isn't Mega Man. The true fans of the Blue Bomber know that he is known as Rock Man in his homeland of Japan. So, who renamed the little guy? Turns out it was former Capcom senior vice president Joseph Morici. The Mega Man Network uncovered the info in a 1993 interview with Morici with (the beloved) Game Players magazine.

So why did he change the name? He just didn't like it. "The title was horrible," said Morici. And thus, an American gaming icon was born. But, as Capcom Unity points out, the "Rockman" name brings the musical names of many of the other characters into context (Roll, Beat, Bass, etc.). Still, having grown up with Mega Man, "Rockman" just doesn't sound right.

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Tags: capcom, culture, mega-man, rockman

Reader Comments (70)

I figured Rockman was just a reference to the naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.

yes mega man sounds better but in the cartoon show when he was first called rock both him and roll were taken by wily i think and then his dad kept screaming for rock and roll that shit was hilarious
i was like seven so yeah it was funny then not anymore

I never got the musical reference either. I always assumed that the original idea was that megaman would shoot rocks out of his arms or something.

Thinking about it now, it's so obvious.

I prefer to call him 'The Blue Fister'.

rockman really doesn't sound right. mega man sounds better. good choice cappy com.

I always have, and always will, thought that Megaman was a better name than Rockman. Anyone who thinks otherwise... is a Japanophile.

However, his "true" name should always be Rock, not Mega. That's how it was in the NES games, and calling him Mega in Powered Up was stupid.

I mean, Rock becoming Rockman is like Mr. Kent's alter-ego being Clarkman, or Mr. Wayne's alter-ego being Bruceman. See how silly that sounds?

He doesn't even have the power of rocks or rock (the music).

The other name changes... give or take. I think both Blues and Protoman work, but I greatly prefer Bass and Treble over Forte and Gospel.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Witness the grand match of BRUCEMAN versus CLARKMAN!!

"However, his "true" name should always be Rock, not Mega. That's how it was in the NES games, and calling him Mega in Powered Up was stupid."

This.

Additionally... I'd be happy with a re-released, redubbed* MegaMan Legends where his true name is still MegaMan Trigger, but his name given to him by Barrel Caskett is Rock Volnutt. I mean, c'mon... MegaMan being his normal name? WTF That's one way to get beaten up in school.
*(the voices and acting in Legends were great... I just think having MegaMan as his normal name was dumb)

You know what would make me even happier? A Megaman Legends sequel.

A mega man legends game with proper controls is what I want. I've messed with both the N64 version and PS1 emulated version and I just can't get the camera to work comfortably with my 360 controller. Then again games back then usually had camera issues.

thank god!! i thought i was the only one who thought that Rockman sounded dumb compared to Mega Man, it even kinda peeved me off that weaboos would call it "rocketman 9"

You don't have to be a Japanophile to prefer the original version.

I myself prefer Rockman, as it was the designers original intent to name him that (especially in light of the musically themed names of the other characters). Artistic integrity > whatever a random Capcom USA employee who had nothing to do with creating the game preferred at the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6OHe4KaEc

@ Husher

If you're going to post a megaman video, at least go with the best one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUEO9Mfmn4M

@ Josh

It was also the creators original intent to name Terra from FFVI Tina, and yet most people agree Terra is the superior name. Original intent does not always equal the best outcome.

Man Bruceman and Clarkman seem's like some sort of bizzaro heroes from one of DC's Multiverse universes we haven't seen. Bruceman and Clarkman both fight crime in their respective cities wearing suits and ties while every one living their normal every day lives wear spandex and capes.

"Original intent does not always equal the best outcome."

That is wisdom right there. That's like a cover that's better than the original song. It just IS sometimes, you know?

@ zerokku

I did! As I write this I have mailed you the receipt for the cost to replace the speakers you destroyed with your link of distorted singing. It's only fare for you to reimburse me for the damages you have done. right?

@Zerokku
It's personal preference. Whether you like one name better or not, doesn't mean it's the best just because. I myself prefer Rockman, because I'm used to playing the Japanese games, and Megaman has always sounded weird to me.

I think he also hated the irony that Blues is actually red.

was he a sega fan?

Joseph Morici? The character that's supposed to be the Rock in Fire Pro Wrestling for the GBA was named Joe "The Salesman" Morici. Any relation?!

Wait...this article isn't about GH6?

Cool, this is something I've occasionally wondered about.

Personally, I like Megaman much more than Rockman, but the rest of names I prefer the Japanese - Blues, Forte, and Gospel. Bass and Treble do make a better pair, but even their own (crappy) dubbing team couldn't pronounce it right, so I'm not giving them credit for that.

At least the (horribly edited) Battle Network anime got the pronunciation of Bass correct. :|

After all, battle is his forte.

http://www.instantrimshot.com

It's amazing how much an improvement you get when you have a writer and an actor, instead of just grabbing whoever is loitering around the game localization studio and doing it in one take.

DODODO DO

SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT!!f

MEGAMAN!

Meh mega man is a good super hero name, rock is a good personal name.
The trouble is its so easy so simple so right they never use it like that.....

BTW new Mega man legends plz no more crappy cash ins give us a real new game in the series that is not 8bit,rehased or side scrolling....

8-bit MegaMan kicks ass. idk what your problem is.

I liked the Legends series, but lost interest when MegaMan X Command Mission came out. They need to make a sequel to THAT.

hmm. I always liked Rockman better than megaman. Not just for the Musical references, but Rockman seemed to (pardon the pun) roll off the tongue better. Some of the other names Were better in the original, too. I mean Bass name was originally "Forte" and his wolf/dog thing? Forget that stupid treble name. His name was originally "Gospel". Call me what you will, but a mechanical wolf/dog thing that becomes a set of armor called Gospel sounds fucking awesome.

Nope Rockman's better, Mega Man is his slave name.

Unsurprisingly, growing up in the US means I prefer Mega Man over Rock Man.

Similarly, Robotnik > Eggman.

However, Toadstool < Peach.

I prefer Megaman and Peach but I HATE Robotnik. Eggman is much more descriptive.

I always though the whole Rockman name thing was pretty weird. Sinc Megaman's enemies used to come in themes(you know, "Cutman", Gut's Man, Centaurman") I did think Mgaman was rock themed, as in litteral rocks. It didn't explain the blue, but still...

Naw, I think Megaman works in that it let's you know the title character is a superhero. Rockman, you look at any picture of Megaman and tll me what of him screams "rock". And why isn't Roll "Rollgirl"?

"And why isn't Roll 'Rollgirl'?"

Because it clearly doesn't roll off the tongue.

Maybe Rockman is a reference to the MIDI rock music that often plays in the games. Some of the music in Megaman/Rockman were really rockin'.

On another note, if someone made a Gears of War-style Megaman game.. I'd be totally back into the franchise :)

Roll isn't Rollgirl because she was not upgraded, Idiot.

Rockman is definitely a cooler name than Megaman, in my eyes. C'mon. Mega? Might as well call him SuperAwesomeMan.

Are they gonna do a "Robotnik" and change his name after all these years?

I doubt. Mega Man's a little more established than the good, er, bad, Doctor.

Playing the Sonic RPG, I got the impression that Robotnik was still his name, but Eggman was just what people called him. Which would make sense, since Robotnik makes sense as a surname in a cartoony way, but Eggman sounds more like a nickname or supervillain name.

Actually, they kinda merged the two names for Sonic's nemesis. While Eggman is more commonly used, Robotnik is considered his "real" name, both in the West and the East. Examples:
-One of the pre-rendered videos from Sonic Adventure 2, where he announces his plan for world domination, the background behind him says "ROBOTNIK EMPIRE." I seriously doubt they edited that for the Western release, especially since they always called him Eggman in dialogue (but having not played the Japanese version, I cannot confirm it)
-His relatives: Gerald and Maria Robotnik. That is their names in both English and Japanese.
-I think the Sonic X anime did some character profiles for the Japanese version, and if memory serves me right, his profile did refer to him as Robotnik.

Wow guys, old news. I read about this in Game Player's Magazine in 1993, where were you 16 years ago?!

Am I doing it right?
-----

I remember a few years ago Inafune-san commented on the name change. Something along the lines of Mega Man wouldn't have worked in Japan because it made him sound too strong and/or brutish and that it would have been hard for people to accept him as a cute character with a name like that.

I perfer Rockman for the simple reason it makes the other characters names cooler and less random.

Also for the line from the Duane and Brando remix: "My names Megaman but you can call me Rock,cuz I be rocking your shit up and down the block"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUEO9Mfmn4M

Very entertaining, kinda lengthy but it has remixed version of MM2 songs.

I personally would have liked it if they had kepted the name the original names Rockman, Blues, etc...

I wonder why they don't remake Mega Man 2 with updated 3d graphics. That could, potentially, be the greatest game of all time.

Likely because sales of Mega Man Powered Up weren't as expected. Though, why that was a PSP exclusive is beyond me.

My best friend was from Japan and I grew up playing th Japanese version of Rockman on the super famicon. To me Mega Man just doesn't sound right..

I remember in Saudi Arabia 13 years ago playing Megaman X on my PC and one day walking by a store with a Japanese copy of the game and wondering why the hell it was called Rockman X. : D

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Who changed Rockman's name to Mega Man?

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