Mega Man usually starts with his Mega Buster, an arm cannon to fire upon enemies and bosses. In every game, once Mega Man defeated a boss, he absorbed their abilities and used it against other bosses who were greatly harmed by their firepower, depending on how weak they are by it. At the end of every game when Wily was defeated, he would usually bow his head begging for mercy, but of course, he had various back up plans. In Mega Man 3, his robotic dog partner Rush was introduced, alongside his brother, Proto Man. Proto Man would train Mega Man by fighting against him, and if Mega Man triumphed every trial, he would earn his brother's shield. Rush would also help Mega Man in missions, and would convert into a powerful armor for Mega Man in Mega Man 6. Another helpful ally of Mega Man is Eddie, who would randomly be in missions for the purpose of helping Mega Man restore energy or weapons energy.
And the final game in the original series in which Proto Man was playable for the first time, was Mega Man 10. Both games met with success until the untimely end of Mega Man in 2011 with the cancellation of Legends.
Mega Man X
Mega Man X takes place in the 22nd Century, where advanced robots with the ability to think, feel, and make their own decisions coexist with humans. These androids are known as "Reploids". However, there were criminal activities involving Reploids, they were known as the Mavericks, robots that were infected with a computer virus known as the Maverick Virus. To counterattack these robotic criminals, a special military task force consisting of Reploids only was created, they were known as the Maverick Hunters. One of them is Mega Man X, and upgraded version of the original Mega Man created by Dr. Wily. X would team up with his friend Zero, and fight various Maverick Bosses in every game, and their arch-enemy, Sigma.
Like in the original series, X starts with his X-Buster, and absorb enemies abilities. He would also encounter capsules, scattered in different stages to obtain Armor parts which will allow him to dash, and even perform a more powerful charged shot. X would also pilot a Ride Armor which some of them dashed or flew, and he would ride speed bikes as well. In Mega Man X3 and X6, X was given Zero's Beam Saber. X would use the Beam Saber in Mega Man X3, when defeating Vile with the right weapon at any stage fighting against Maverick Bosses. In X6, the Beam Saber was passed on to X after the death of his friend. Most of the Mavericks were usually anthropomorphic robot animals, and took of the "Man" part, which was usually traditional in the games.
Mega Man X7 would go from two dimensions to 3D for the first time, but was not as well received by fans of the original games. The same went for Mega Man X8. The final Mega Man X game was Command Mission for Gamecube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2, which was more of a role playing game than action-platforming like the original ones. Before that, in the late 90s, Mega Man X had the Xtreme series on the Game Boy Color.
Mega Man Legends and Zero.
Legends 2 was released three years later after the first game and that same year, Misadventures of Tron Bonne was released. Mega Man Legends 3 was going to be announced, but was cancelled by Capcom, much to the anger of many fans. This cancellation would kill the entire Mega Man franchise. And after it's cancellation, Matthew Denman and a few others created the Facebook page, 100,000 Strong for Bringing Back Mega Man Legends 3. In mid-2012, the page reached it's goal of reaching over 100,000 likes.
Zero has two weapons, his Z-Buster and Z-Saber. The more he fights with these weapons and others such as the Shield Boomerang and Triple Rod, he would level them up gaining new abilities. Unlike the X series, he would not absorb enemies abilities, but have elemental chips of Fire, Ice, and Thunder and use it against bosses and enemies. New weapons would also be introduced in future games.
Zero could also use Cyber Elves to upgrade health, heal, hacking, and so on. But once these little Cyber Elves are used, they die. Feeding them would increase their levels, which are useful for upgrade. And like the X series, this story is much darker, introducing new antagonists such as Master X, Elpizo and Dr. Weil. The second installment would introduce the Dark Baby Elves, and the third one would introduce Dr. Weil and Omega. The fourth and final installment would have Zero fight for the last time.
Tune in for Mega Man and it's spinoffs Part 2, only in this special retrospective article. The Rise and Fall of Capcom.