User:GiverOfThePeace/Mega Man Canon

Introduction

The following is a pretty in-depth explanation of the Mega Man timeline. I plan to expand this one day for other Mega Man games but in the blog's current state its pretty WIP.

How placements are decided

The Classic Mega Man series release order seems to be usually chronological, but then random games will come in and cause some confusion, so the placements will be based off which mainline title they take place around. This will also be decided with the Robot Masters/characters that show up. Same goes for the other series.

Classic Timeline

Mega Man/Mega Man Powered Up
We have the beginning of it all, Mega Man/Mega Man Powered Up, it marks the beginning of Wily's exploits and marks the beginning of Mega Man becoming a super fighting robot. Mega Man Powered Up is canon and expands on the pre-existing lore. This is directly shown as Mega Man 2's Robot Masters are directly stated to inspire Wily into making new robot masters superior to them. Time Man is a Robot Master Dr. Light made for research and experiments on time travel. However, he is only able to slow down time and has incomplete functions. Dr. Wily used this and perfected it with Flash Man which he considered a masterpiece due to his Time Stopper attack which can completely stop time. Games such as Rockman The Puzzle Battle are mere retellings of the game.

Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2 is a direct sequel to Mega Man, Dr. Wily makes 8 Robot Masters to battle Mega Man. A good number of the Robot Masters in this game are directly inspired and made to be improvements of several Robot Masters from Mega Man as shown here.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
This game doesn't have a direct placement but we can assume it's after Mega Man 2 as the game manual notes that Wily restored the robot masters from Mega Man 1 and 2, with the game's wording treating Mega Man fighting them as a recent event.

Mega Man 3
Mega Man 3 has Wily and Dr. Light work together on something but then robots run amok and are messing with planets where they're mining for material, with it being revealed that Wily just did this to steal Gamma, the robot he and Dr. Light were working on, this game also introduces Break Man, who is revealed to be Proto Man the brother of Mega Man.

Mega Man Rush Marine
This does not have a direct placement, but it's at the very least after Mega Man 3 as Rush is what Mega Man uses to drive around underwater. Along with him using Rush Marine, which was introduced in Mega Man 3.

Mega Man II
This also doesn't have a direct placement but we know it's at least after Mega Man 3 in this game Wily breaks into a museum and travels to the future, but that's not the reason it's post-Mega Man 3, the reasons are the robot masters from 2 and 3 appear, along with Mega Man having Rush, who debuted in Mega Man 3.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars
In this game, Wily uses a time machine to go back in time to try and defeat Mega Man in the past so he can't exist in the future, he goes from Mega Man 1-3 so it'd have to at very least be post-Mega Man 3, and since he doesn't treat time travel as something new it's likely post-Mega Man II.

Mega Man 4
Directly gives context to how Mega Man came to be the fighting robot he is now, and then reveals a new evil scientist, Dr. Cossack is attacking. Which it's then revealed he was actually forced to do all of this by Dr. Wily and Dr. Wily is the actual villain. This is the game where Proto Man is also no longer morally ambiguous and betrays Wily completely.

Mega Man Soccer
Takes place a few months after Mega Man's battle with Dr. Cossack, aka Mega Man 4.

Mega Man III
Same thing as the previous gameboy games, no direct time period, but at the very least after 4, as robot masters from 4 appear in the game, the story doesn't have much besides Wily trying to drill through the Earth's crust to get energy from the Earth's magma for his latest robot.

Mega Man 5
This game has Proto Man who previously betrayed Wily, mysteriously kidnap Dr. Light and help robots with attacking the city. But of course it was just Wily framing Proto Man. Most likely for him betraying him in 4, which gives a direct continuation.

Mega Man (Game Gear)
This game is a weird one, we know it's post Mega Man 5 as it has Robot Masters from Mega Man 5 in it, even though it uses Mega Man 4's castle and Cossack's Citadel, odd but ok.

Mega Man IV
Same thing as previous game boy games, we know this one takes place after 5 as Robot Masters from 5 appear along with beat appearing, whose debut was Mega Man 5. Story of this game is Wily mind controlled thousands of robots but Mega Man was unaffected.

Mega Man 6
Mega Man 6 has the first annual robot tournament commence, a guy known as Mr. X takes control of the robots and began to take over the world with this absolute stranger Mr. X noting he has been manipulating Dr. Wily this entire time, now, this is going to shock everyone. But Mr. X is actually Dr. Wily. The game also ends with Mega Man tying up Dr. Wily, finally capturing him.

Mega Man V
An official Mega Man timeline book lists this game after Mega Man 6. Realistically this could take anywhere post Mega Man 4 as the Mega Buster is a thing along with Rush existing, along with this Dr. Light has made a new robot, known as Tango, we can assume this is post-Mega Man IV as Mega Man games usually aren't prequels but also it's directly noted the world has been at peace because Mega Man stopped Wily from his fourth attempt at world domination and his name has left the people's minds, which coincides with Mega Man the Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge to Mega Man IV as those are four attempts.

Super Rockman Adventure
This game is hard to pin down where it takes place, we know at the very least it takes place post-Mega Man 6 as Beat is in the game. Along with this, a robot enemy from Mega Man 6, the Pelicaanu.

Rockman Tennis
This game is at the very least post-Mega Man 3. The game also has to be post Super Rockman Adventure as Shadow Man is brought back again, even though the only time he was brought back after 3 was Super Rockman Adventure. The Mega Man X inclusion is an ex stage not apart of the main campaign so it can just be listed as a non-canon extra mode.

Mega Man 7
Mega Man 7 takes place 6 months after Mega Man 6, this game introduces Mega Man's official rival, Bass, who pretends to be on Mega Man's side but actually tricked him so he could attack Dr. Light and steal the parts for the new enhancements and is revealed to be the creation of Dr. Wily. This game also has the Robot Museum which showcases some of the past game Robot Masters, with the first row, we can see Snake Man, Blizzard Man, a broken case (most likely where Guts Man was supposed to be), Pharaoh Man, and Heat Man. Plant Man and Flame Man appear in the background and Skull Man and Ring Man appear in the boss room.

Rockman GP
No real story for this game, all that we have is that Bass is playable in it, so at least post-7.

Mega Man Battle & Chase
Spring Man from Mega Man 7 appears in this game (Duo is there too but since he's non-story related and is only playable in non-story related events, his inclusion is considered non-canon).

Mega Man: The Power Battle
Not only in this game can you play as Bass, so this has to be post-Mega Man 7, but the robot masters from 7 also show up. The only real story for this game is Dr. Wily revives the Robot Masters from Mega Man 1-2, 3-6, and 7 to where Mega Man and Proto Man are obviously there to stop him, Bass wants to destroy the inferior robots to prove to Wily that he is the strongest. Now there's some debate on Power Battle itself being canon and I'll discuss it here, so not only does Power Battle directly reference Dr. Light's intrigue in making Mega Man X, or moreso robots having the ability to think like humans and make decisions on their own, which directly parallels Mega Man X's intro. Wily even notes that he's making a robot that will blow both Bass and Mega Man away, which correlates with what he says in the sequel to Power Battle, where we're directly shown him in the middle of making Zero. One final note from the sequel, even the official Robot Master Field Guide acknowledges the Power Fighters as a canon event, in the power fighters 2, Shadow Man can summon a giant frog to fight against Mega Man, which is directly noted in the Robot master Field Guide. Also Duo directly references the events of Mega Man 8 in the sequel, Power Fighters. So this game is 100% canon.

Mega Man 8
Bass exists so this is post Mega Man 7, this is also the game that debuts Duo in his body which he references in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.

Rockman no Huángjīn Dìguó
The plot makes it at least after Mega Man 8, with the art used being Mega Man 8 artwork.

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Duo directly references the events of Mega Man 8. The story isn't much different in this game then power battle other then Roll being kidnapped and Light researching a new energy source.

Rockman Strategy
Duo exists apart of the game and Mega Man and Duo speak as if this isn't their first or second meeting.

Mega Man & Bass
Directly noted in this game that Astro Man was revived through his data, which Astro Man was a boss in Mega Man 8.

Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha
Takes place after Mega Man & Bass, Rockman Shadow is the main boss of this game rather then Dr. Wily also.

Mega Man 9
Mega Man directly shows all the times Dr. Wily has done the kneeling pose, and one of those times is from Mega Man & Bass.

Mega Man 10
This introduces the roboenza virus, which is basically a precursor to the Maverick Virus. Tango also appears in this game, making it after the gameboy games. Along with this, the weapon archive bosses showcase all of the past Robot Masters Wily has used, having Elec Man, Wood Man, Gemini Man, Ring Man, Napalm Man, Flame Man, Slash Man, Frost Man, and Tornado Man.

Mega Man 11
This game introduces the double gear system, a system so powerful that Dr. Light directly does not believe Mega Man can stand up against the opponents without double gear systems of his own.

Dragalia Lost
Now crossovers are rarely considered canon, however with how the Classic Mega Man series isn't that lore heavy and stuff like Street Fighter x Mega Man exist, all we need for a crossover to be canon is a canon reason for why the characters are there, low and behold, that exists in Dragalia Lost. The canon explanation for why Mega Man and co. are there is because Dr. Wily discovered and entered an interdimensional rift connecting his world and Grastaea.

Can go anywhere in the Classic Timeline

These are for the games that have no real notable characters or enemies that'd give them at the very least a placement past a certain game, these are all at the very least, Post-Mega Man 1/Powered Up.

Chokkan! Rockman
Features only the Robot Masters from Mega Man 1, entire game can be found here.

Mega Man Space Rescue
Mainly just Mega Man rescuing people in space, and has no real showing for where this would be in the timeline.

Rockman Panic Fire
Mainly just Mega Man avoiding Fire Man.

Rockman Xover

Rockman Xover is noted to take place in between Mega Man and Mega Man X.

X Era

Up to Mega Man X8

Mega Man X/Maverick Hunter X
Introduces us to the schematics of X and how he's the first of a new generation of robots [Reploids]. Maverick Hunter X is considered reboot as of the series and changes a few parts of the original story. However certain aspects of it can be considered canon due to its events happening such as Dr. Cains death by nukes being acknowledged (though would happen on a later date as he is alive by X4 and he dies before Maverick Hunter X) and it is by the original writers' revisiting the X series. Therefore, minor dialogues that expand on certain things that are contradictory would be fine to consider canon such as the expanded dialogue describing the Hadouken.

Mega Man X2
Is a direct sequel to Mega Man X taking place 6 Months after the destruction of Sigma. A major part of the game involves getting Zero's new parts to rebuild him as he was previously destroyed in X1 by sacrificing himself.

Mega Man X: Cyber Mission (Known As Mega Man Xtreme in localizations) Is directly stated in the Compendium of Rockman X to take Place after X2. Introduces us to the Mother Computer and the plot of the game involves fighting the data of the past stored by it. The Mavericks that appear in X1 & X2 appear along with the stages they appeared in from their respective games.

Mega Man X3

Mega Man Xtreme 2 Is directly stated in the Compendium of Rockman X to take Place after X3. Is considered a prequel to X4 as a younger Iris is in this game before she died in X4 itself. Mega Man X4

Mega Man X5

Mega Man X6

Mega Man X7

Mega Man X8

(Timeskip)

Mega Man X6 (Zero's Ending)

The Split into Z-Era

The Main timeline follows a massive timeskip into the Z-Era. Mega Man X Command Mission is not canon to the main timeline and is another timeline where the events of the Zero series did not happen as stated multiple times.

The Elf Wars

Mega Man Zero

Mega Man Zero 2

Mega Man Zero 3

Mega Man Zero 4

The Timeskip to ZX

Mega Man ZX

Mega Man ZX Advent

The Final Timeskip

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

Mega Man Legends

Mega Man Legends 2:

Canon But in an alternate Timeline

Alternate to the Classic and Mega Man X series

Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter X Changes a few events of the original Mega Man X story and was intended to be a reboot by its original creator. As stated above minor details that were expanded upon and aren't contradictory should be fine to be considered canon. Vile Mode is considered an alternate timeline to this as well. Mega Man X: Command Mission Is directly stated to be not canon to the main timeline multiple times and is considered an alternate future where the Z series never happens.

Mega Man X: Mega Mission & Mega Man X: Giga Mission
The Mega Man X series but by Bandai. Contains several contradictions to the main series and its lore and are never acknowledged to be part of the main timeline in any source material nor are acknowledged despite several major events happening in them. However, alternate versions of the main timelines events are stated to have happened.

Multiversal Events

Mega Man XDIVE
Is officially considered the next chapter of the X series but cannot directly be placed due to happening beyond the multiverse and entire franchise. Since the plot of the game involves the Player restoring the Multiverse from corruption and irregularities, everything that happens is a bunch of what-if timelines caused by massive data corruption in the deeplog and The Player fighting with hunter programs to fix it. It is canon and even expands on previous events and lore of the series. However, none of the actual interactions or corruptions within the actual events of X-Dive have any everlasting affects within the actual games themselves as the player succeeds in restoring the Deep Log to its original state. We just now have the now canonized original characters of X-Dive existing beyond the verse as admins of the Deep Log and monitoring it to protect it and they can summon The Player to handle any future irregularities in the verse.