MMLC Robot Master List: Heat Man

Number: DWN-015

Weapon: Atomic Fire

Weakness: Bubble Lead

An exceptionally heatproof robot that can control fire at will. Be sure to jump and dodge his tackle attack.

From the charred ashes of Mega Man 1’s Fire Man rose the almighty Heat Man, an upgraded design and even more powerful embodiment of the very concept of heat. Heat Man can spew fire from his mouth, hurl volleys of flames with his hands, and create an impervious shield of fire which he uses to charge Mega Man at high speeds.

Heat Man has been described by onlookers as “unenthusiastic about his job,” “hot,” and “actually a lighter.” Indeed, Heat Man is one of the few Robot Masters to distinctly resemble a real-life appliance, suggesting he might have originally been designed with some noble, utilitarian purpose in mind (like setting stuff on fire).

Heat Man’s stage is one of the most dangerous in Mega Man 2 thanks to some tricky “Appearing Block” segments and a heaping helping of insta-death bottomless pits and lava pits, so you may want to save his stage for last.

Smart use of Bubble Man’s all-powerful Bubble Lead will make short work of Heat, rewarding Mega Man with the Atomic Fire weapon. Word has it the Atomic Fire can produce fire bursts at up to 12,000 degrees Celsius (over 21,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

H.M.D., Mega Man 1, Mega Man 2 (programmer)
“When I created Heat Man as written in the game design document, it wasn’t fun at all. When I made changes to how each of his moves connected based on the director’s instructions, it instantly became very fun to play. I learned that I wasn’t thinking about how fans would actually play the game when I worked on programming first. Similarly to the Yellow Devil, Heat Man taught me an important lesson about the depth of game creation.”

Adam “Heat Man” Anania , formerly of The Mega Man Network
“I guess it’s not too surprising that I’m pretty keen on Heat Man, considering I used him as my online persona for so many years. He was one of my favorite Robot Masters as a kid, although the reasons why elude me anymore. I just have very vague memories of drawing him on a Denny’s place mat. I also made a Heat Man costume for Halloween one year, seriously. Here it is.

“But I know I chose him as my avatar because he was one of the more unique looking boss characters, and he seemed to be more laid back than the rest of them (despite that he tries to incinerate you and his stage is a huge pain without Item 2). It felt like a cute idea; everyone else usually used cool characters like Proto Man, Bass, and Zero, but here was just this boxy guy with a goofy look on his face.

“I’m sure most people know this trick by now, but when you go fighting Heat Man, try whittling his health down and then shooting a Crash Bomber at him to see what happens. Not many Mega Man games feature weird stuff like that!”