Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Blue Blaster?

Today I'd like to address a gross misnomer in video gaming: Referring to Megaman as the "Blue Bomber." Yes, I know the nickname's roots are in Rock'em Sock'em Robots, but that lends zero credence to its pairing with Megaman. Megaman isn't a boxer, and the Rock'em robots don't shoot things.


There are at least 2 core reasons why the nickname "Blue Bomber" is inappropriate for Megaman. Firstly, he does not have the inherent ability to bomb. He can obtain the ability to bomb from a few Robot Masters, but that is no more definitive than his ability to obtain fire based weapons from Robot Masters. Shall we call him the "Blue... Burner?"


Secondly, bombing things is not his defining characteristic. Besides running and jumping, Megaman's definitive characteristic is that he blasts things with his Mega-Buster. If he were nicknamed appropriately, he would be called the "Blue Buster," or maybe the "Blue Blaster."


Calling Megman the "Blue Bomber" is no less offensive than the bastardization of cover art and/or character names. "We butchered the localization, why not give him an inappropriate nickname, too?"

Capcom themselves had officially adopted the nickname by the release of Megaman 8, 1997.

But don't try and blame this on Capcom. Oh, no. Blame yourselves, fans. Blame yourselves for propagating this perversity for the past 20 years. Shame on you.

4 comments:

  1. We still call Iron Man the Golden Avenger and gold was only his primary color for a few brief issues.

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  2. How do you know that Bomber is more flexible the way Japanese use it, and is just not carried well over here? In Megaman Starforce 2, IN-GAME, he is referred to as the blue bomber. There is nothing wrong with the name. To quote the much more mature man, 'Get over it'.

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  3. I've always liked Mega Man as the Blue Bomber... then again, I'm a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, so I'm kinda partial to the nickname in general.

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