The A.V. Club Examines Mega Man’s Ever-Changing Morals

Here’s one that came out a few months ago, but I somehow lost track of in the interim.

The A.V. Club has posted a fascinating look at the greater Mega Man franchise (Mega Man Battle Network and Star Force aside) as it goes through the myriad twists and turns of how “playing God” through the act of creating robots so advanced as to be a new form of life itself has lent itself to a variety of perspectives.

Today, the series’ 30-year history of changing its mind and journeying into rhetorical cul de sacs reads like a meandering argument by Plato, carefully exhausting every avenue of thought and possible contradiction before eventually settling on a point. It took three decades and over a hundred titles for Mega Man to make up its mind about what it wanted to say about humanity and technology, but the conclusion it finally reached offers a bracing antidote to the anti-progress sci-fi allegories that precede it.

It’s a fascinating read, looking over the shift from optimism to cynicism and back again over the course of the main timeline. And for good measure, it even throws in a look at how the recently-released Mighty No. 9 plays off its predecessor’s take on things.

Thanks to Adam Bell for the tip!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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