Aether Man

Aether Man

Artwork by Karakato

Information In-Game Information HP: 56 (Aether Man) 14 (Arcane Man clones) Attack Damage: 3 (contact) 1 every 30 frames (Aether Nova) 4 (explosion) 3 (Star Arrow) 3 (Astral Kaleidoscope) 3 (Arcane Man clone) 3 (black hole) 4 (Divine Blade) 3 (Cosmic Prominence) 4 (Doom Meteor) Weapon: Divine Beam Weakness(es): Thunder Beam, Electro Cable Affiliations: Akashic Record Type: Space Main Stage: Arcane Man -Chaos Tower- (CERN HQ Remains) Misc. Information Script: エーテルマン Romaji: Ēteruman Designer(s): VoidVisitor Programmer(s): VoidVisitor Artist(s): VoidVisitor Gender: Male Eye Color: Red Series Information MaGMML Game Appearances: MaGMML3 (Boss)

""Now let this place be the judge of our beliefs.""

―Aether Man

Aether Man is a Robot Master from Make a Good Mega Man Level 3, found in Arcane Man -Chaos Tower- (CERN HQ Remains). Per the level's lore, Aether Man is not a "true" robot, but rather the will of "The Grand Scheme" using Arcane Man's body as a vessel. He seeks to bring all humans back to their "place of origin". Aether Man is an optional boss who does not need to be encountered to clear the level; however, defeating him awards the level's fifth and final Trickster Token.

When Mega Man uses the Divine Beam Parallel Weapon, an apparition of Aether Man will float behind him for as long as the Shoot button is held.

Battle

Aether Man is battled in an arena with low gravity and a cloudy background. This low gravity is needed to reach Aether Man himself, who spends the majority of the battle in the air. He boasts a wide variety of attacks, but initially only uses four of them at a time, never using the same attack twice in a row. Many of them are also countered by Mega Man's own Special Weapons:

• Aether Nova: Aether Man absorbs the background, compresses it into a sphere, then fires it down at Mega Man. Upon hitting the ground, the sphere temporarily destroys a small portion of it while erupting into a large pseudo-black hole that pulls Mega Man towards it. If Mega Man is pulled inside, he will gradually take damage the longer he remains inside it. Even after it vanishes, the pull effect persists for a short while. Aether Man will always use this attack at the start, and repeats it after attacking six times with the bottom three attacks.
• Celestial Reflector: Aether Man surrounds himself with a barrier that releases four explosions outwards when shot. Randomly, he will follow this up by ramming towards Mega Man five times in a row, but may instead use a different attack. The barrier is largely impenetrable, but will eventually disappear. The Break Dash can instantly destroy it, but hitting Aether Man with it is tricky, if not impossible.
• Star Arrow: A small portal opens up above Aether Man and shoots a flurry of small meteors out in a sweeping pattern. The meteors explode on contact with the ground, but can be destroyed with the Laser Trident.
• Astral Kaleidoscope: Aether Man teleports away while five light copies of himself surround Mega Man, following him wherever he goes. After a few seconds, the copies fly inwards to attack him, changing their angle beforehands if need be. If a copy touches Mega Man, he will gradually lose ammunition from all his Special Weapons so long as the two are in contact. The Water Shield is able to destroy the copies.

Once Aether Man's first healthbar is depleted, he charges up energy and teleports away, spawning two clones of Arcane Man on either side of Mega Man's current position. Both clones attack by throwing black holes at him; the left clone's curve upwards, while the right clone's travel a short distance before warping above Mega Man and dropping down. Whenever Mega Man jumps, the clones jump alongside him. After destroying both clones, Aether Man returns, attacks with Aether Nova again, then uses a new set of attacks. From this point on, the damage he takes from weapons is also slightly reduced.

• Both Aether Nova and Celestial Reflector remain in Aether Man's attack rotation, and are unchanged.
• Cosmic Prominence: Aether Man charges up energy, then fires a series of large purple energy pillars forwards, similarly to the Magnetic Shockwave. Said weapon is also capable of neutralising the pillars if the two collide.
• Doom Meteor: Aether Man warps to a high point while the sky turns red and up to nine large meteors rain down, falling towards Mega Man. Upon hitting the ground, the meteors release giant explosions. The Tornado Blow can blow away the meteors if used.
• Divine Blade: The background darkens briefly as Aether Man readies a blade. He then performs three consecutive slashes, each one telegraphed by a horizontal beam of light, and each one matching Mega Man's current vertical position. The low gravity means he can easily juggle Mega Man if he lands a hit. However, the Ice Wall is able to block each slash.

Upon reaching 10 HP or less, Aether Man warps to the center of the arena, and after gathering energy, he uses one last attack: a series of black circles intermittently implode all across the room, then emit a damaging dark explosion at their location. Aether Man himself is immobile, but will occasionally put up a Celestial Reflector to temporarily protect himself. Each hit he takes at this point causes the background to briefly turn to static.

Damage Table

1/1/3	1	2	1	0	3	3	3	4*
0/0/N	1	1/2/3	3	1/1	2	2	4*	1	1	1/1	3
Other Notes		At 28HP or less, all weapons inflict 1 less point of damage, if their power is greater than 1. *Damage is reduced by 2 instead of 1.

Trivia

A fake bluescreen preceding Aether Man's battle, with a list of attack names and counters.

• Aether Man's attack names are listed in a fake bluescreen that appears before the battle starts. The screen also notes what Special Weapons help counter the respective attack.
• Because Aether Man is part of the Divine Beam itself, he is the only Robot Master with a Parallel Weapon who does not host its equivalent tutorial, leaving Arcane Man to act as a substitute.
• Since the Divine Beam is not an offensive "weapon", Aether Man is the only boss with a Parallel Weapon whose defeat cannot unlock the "VI - The Lovers" achievement.