Welcome to the first entry in our summer-long-look at the Robot Masters found within Mega Man Legacy Collection!

As a wee lad, Mega Man’s foes were what pulled me in. Sure the game itself was fun, and in the early NES days the music was well ahead of the curve, but the diverse, colorful bosses (and their stealable weapons!) kept me glued to the TV even before there was a Mega Man 2.

So! To honor these bad boys, let’s take a look at each Robot Master from MM1~6, including classic art, their weapons and some comments from other folks who have a thing or two to say about their favorite bosses…

Number: DLN-003

Weapon: Rolling Cutter

Weakness: Super Arm

A robot created for deforestation. He can be beaten easily with rapid-fire attacks .

Presumably the first of Dr. Light’s industrial-minded Robot Masters, Cut Man began life as a dutiful timber-felling ‘bot. His ceramic titanium blades could make quick work of trees, buildings and just about anything else, while his lightweight frame made it easy for him to leap around worksites.

This nimble – yet deadly! – design made him a perfect candidate for Dr. Wily’s schemes.

Mega Man obtains the Rolling Cutter after defeating Cut Man; it’s an interesting boomerang-style weapon that arcs outward and then returns to you in sort of an oval circuit.  Since it deals damage as it flies out and returns, you can often score some last-minute hits as it makes its way back to you. Elec Man in particular can go down thanks to a Rolling Cutter making a return trip.

I could go on about Cut Man, but instead I’ve asked a few folks to chime in with their thoughts – including our friends in the Japan office and members of the community!

David Oxford , The Mega Man Network ( +Robot Master Field Guide )

“You always remember your first, and in my case, my first was pretty much the first: Cut Man. He was the first one the cursor was on (and it turns out the first Dr. Light Number after Roll), plus he looked kind of weak compared to the others. Not only was he the first Robot Master I ever faced, but the first to meet his end by my hand.

“In a way, he was almost like the original anti-Mega Man, featuring the same body but with a head sporting a set of giant shears. Plus, he’s always been pretty amusing in other media, and has a tendency to keep popping up in other games. Who didn’t enjoy blowing him away, in all his 8-bit glory, with just two shots in Mega Man X8 ?

“Here’s to you, DLN-003 — you’re a cut above.”

Takekuni Uchida, Rockman Unity administrator

“My first foray into the Mega Man series was with, well, Mega Man. I played it at my friend’s house back then, and amidst a repeating process of trying out different stages and failing, Cut Man’s—with its incredibly awesome BGM (I could listen to that famous track on loop forever)— was the first one in which I managed to make it to the boss (after countless attempts).

“Sure he used his incredible jumping ability to toy with me for a bit, but in the end he became the first boss I ever defeated with just the regular buster. That left a big impression on me, and he’s still my number one favorite boss.

“He’s the first boss I fought and the first boss I beat in the first Mega Man game I ever played. If I hadn’t been able to beat Cut Man, I might have never fallen in love with the Mega Man series. Cut Man was the starting point that first made me think, ‘This game is really cool.’”

Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, Mega Man 5 (debug), Mega Man 7 (programmer)

“Aside from being downright adorable, you can also instantly tell what Cut Man’s ability is just from looking at his visual design. Cut Man is a very good boss battle for practicing the game, and gives the player a good sense of the Mega Man universe’s unique appeal. I believe he is the ‘greatest instructor.’”

H.M.D., Mega Man 1, Mega Man 2 (programmer)

“Cut Man was the first character I programmed while I was working on the project. When we were developing Mega Man, we created the bosses first and worked on the more minor characters later. So after Mega Man himself, Cut Man was born. Cut Man’s body actually looks the same as Mega Man’s.

“I like him a lot as a character as well as from a development standpoint.”