It's no secret Keiji Inafune and his diminutive team of artists looked to their youth when creating the earliest Mega Man characters. In development of the first Mega Man and Mega Man 2, character designs were heavily inspired by Japanese animation and Tokusatsu entertainment of the 60's and 70's, some more than others. Case in point: Quick Man.
Though fans are quick to point at Casshan as the sole source of Quick Man's inspiration, our boomerang-headed-friend bears more than a passing resemblance to a character from 1976's Pro Wrestling Star Azteckaiser. The show chronicles the adventures of a pro wrestle who thwarts the demonic Black Mist Wrestling Federation on a weekly basis. In the 21st episode, the titular Azteckaiser goes up against Grocaru Hill, a cunning cyborg.
Grocaru Hill's facial features and broad shoulders look familiar, no? While the cyborg isn't as fast as Quick Man, his trademark weapon, much like his Mega Man counter part, is a boomerang. A boomerang. That certainly provides more credence to the fact that Quick Man was originally conceived as "Boomerang Man," according to Mega Man: Official Complete Works.
While Casshan certainly had a hand in Quick Man's design, I think it's safe to say the lesser-known Glass Hill laid a fair bit of groundwork, too. It makes you wonder if any more Robot Masters yield from obscure sources, too.
Credits: takeda1976, TETSU100%, this fellow's blog
Well It could just be a coincidence. I know a lot of my designs look very similar to things that I've only just found out about recently.
ReplyDeleteI drew a girl that looks extremely similar to Kill la Kill's Satsuki, years before it premiered. Now if come out with it, it'll look like I just got inspired by that design or something.
This kind of stuff happens all the time with me and other artists from Manga and such.
>Both use boomerangs.
ReplyDeleteGet your eyes checked, Nack
ReplyDeleteA character with a boomerang symbol on their head uses boomerangs?!
ReplyDeleteSHOCKING.
Take it easy, they don't look that much alike. It's just some vague similarities in shape and a theme. I'm sure there are other styles of characters that look like the blue guy as well. It's a very common aesthetic.
ReplyDeletehttp://img.gamefaqs.net/box/5/2/3/309523_front.jpg
Like this guy on the upper far left, he's a mix of blue skin and red wear, he also has a big golden V type shape going across his forehead.
I'm sure they have nothing to do with each other. This is just the first thing I found when typing in tokusatsu into google search. Although these two don't look much alike, I'm sure there are much better examples out there with closer similarities. Point is, sometimes it's just a coincidence.
What I have learned today is that it's okay when Capcom draws inspiration from something, but not when Comcept does it.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are really reaching with this one. Oh, so he's red and has a yellow boomerang on his head and throws boomerangs? Quickman doesn't have spikes coming out of him and he doesn't wear a vest, so how do you explain that? What, was this purposely thrown on here to show us that we were wrong for criticizing Mighty #9? Sorry guys but Mighty #9 is still a rip-off. Megaman doesn't need to rip anything off, and this a few minor coincidental similarities is not the same thing as ACTUALLY ripping something off! Megaman is actually original and does its own thing, instead of riding on someone else's success. Nice try, tho.
ReplyDeletehttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m13r909WcA1r4my8ko1_500.gif
DeleteAnonymousNovember 2, 2014 at 5:49 PM
DeleteAre you serious, bro?!?
Internet text comments/ sarcasm, pick one not both.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of Captain N Quickman. Didn't they adjust a contest entry for "Boomerang Man"? (shown in R20).
ReplyDeleteAnd R20+5 Due To All Of The Bosses 2-8 Besides Wily Bosses Being Fan Made And 6 Was The Only Over Seas Boss Submition Site
DeleteAlso worth noting, The Flash has a red and yellow apparel scheme. In all honesty, there are so many characters I could think of that seem like they inspired Quick Man's design.
ReplyDelete