Doctor Albert W. Wily, also known as Dr. Wily, is the main antagonist of the original Mega Man series. His primary goal is to take over the world with his robot army, yet his schemes always get foiled by Mega Man. He seems more like a one-dimensional cartoon villain than a real character at first glance, yet his motivations run deeper than merely being power-hungry. He always prepares for the worst, knows how to consider how his battles affect his long-term plans, and never gives up. As Dr. Wily himself states at the end of Mega Man 11: "Doctor Wily always strikes again!"
Despite all these impressive traits, Dr. Wily is still a silly caricature that stands out among gaming's villains. He's a stubborn megalomaniac whose appearance is inspired by real-life scientist Albert Einstein, consistently begs Mega Man for mercy every time he's thwarted without any shame, often suffers from monetary issues and utilizes skulls as a motif for many of his robots and fortresses. Even his pajamas have skulls printed on them when he sleeps, yet he still manages to be a credible threat.
His Double Gear System Was Rejected
Dr. Light's Research Was Chosen Instead
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Mega Man 11's opening cutscene shows how Dr. Wily's grudge against Dr. Light started. In their youth, they were classmates who studied at the Robot Institute of Technology. During a committee concerning the future of robotics, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had opposing views. Dr. Light wanted to give robots independent thought so that they could be true partners to humanity, but Dr. Wily found this too optimistic to be real.
He argued that humans could never respect robots unless they had power beyond what any normal person could wield -- his Double Gear prototype was the basis of this claim. It grants robots unstoppable power and insurmountable speed, but also pushes robots to their limits and is potentially dangerous to them and those around them. Ultimately, the committee unanimously voted in favor of Dr. Light's research, which left Dr. Wily outraged. This was one of many times that he was deemed 'second best' to Dr. Light, and the final straw for him.
As he stormed off, he claimed one day that the world would know that he was right all along. The scene cuts to an older Dr. Wily, as he wakes up from a nightmare. He quickly schemes to revive his Double Gear research, perfects its design, and abducts many of Dr. Light's robots to use as test subjects. The only way Mega Man could have any hope of thwarting Dr. Wily's latest attempt at world domination was to utilize his Double Gear prototype himself.
His Evil Stems From His Rivalry With Dr. Light
His Rivalry Gives Him Motivation in Life
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Dr. Wily's ambitions for world domination stem from his bruised ego -- he can't stand being second best to Dr. Light any longer. He moved to the Pacific Ocean and created his first Robot Manufacturing Plant away from the public's eyes. His new goal -- create an army of robotic minions to take over the world so that they might realize who the 'true genius' is. This factory isn't a true fortress, as it lacks Dr. Wily's trademark skull design. He hadn't battled Mega Man yet, so he must've figured that a truly defensible stronghold wasn't necessary. This also explains his lack of a detachable Wily Capsule in the first Mega Man game -- he only has it from Mega Man 2 onward.
Dr. Wily's first scheme officially began after he stole six (eight in Mega Man Powered Up) of Dr. Light's Robot Masters and reprogrammed them. He initially ignored Rock and Roll -- two of Dr. Light's Robot Masters without combat abilities -- which would prove to be instrumental to his downfall. Having a strong sense of justice, Rock volunteers to be rebuilt as a combat robot.
Thus, Mega Man was born. He single-handedly destroys each of the reprogrammed Robot Masters, infiltrates his factory, and defeats Dr. Wily for the first time. From that day on, his rivalry extends to Mega Man himself, as he is Dr. Light's creation. Dr. Wily embraces his diabolical nature and builds his first fortress with its iconic skull motif. He goes on to create eight of his own Robot Masters to destroy Mega Man.
After Mega Man defeats them all, he infiltrates the fortress and defeats Dr. Wily again. This pattern of battle, defeat, and grudges repeats many times over -- his schemes always have the same eight Robot Masters and fortress. Some of his schemes involve duplicity or abduction but still revolve around this pattern. If players question why Dr. Wily keeps reusing this same formula, the usual answer is because "it's a video game". In Mega Man canon, it's because his sense of pride prevents him from 'winning' another way. Anyone who delves into the classic Mega Man series' limited story may notice how easily Dr. Wily can break into Dr. Light's laboratory.
Mega Man 11 explicitly shows him boasting to Dr. Light that he perfected his Double Gear and stealing eight Robot Masters, but he never directly harms Mega Man or Dr. Light while he's at it. When considering Dr. Wily's motivations, the reason becomes obvious: he wants to defeat them 'fairly'. Dr. Wily could have had Dr. Light killed or had Mega Man stolen and reprogrammed many times over if he wanted to, but he doesn't. That wouldn't prove to the world that he's the most brilliant scientist. More notably, the fact that he boasts about his Double Gear gives Dr. Light and Mega Man a chance to prepare themselves -- he wants to defeat them at their best, not dispose of them while their guards are down.
Dr. Wily takes great insult when his foes use the Double Gear prototype against him (despite the fact that he stole Dr. Light's robots first), even going as far as to blatantly tell them his fortress' location despite Mega Man having thwarted his plans many times in the past. Again, his ego won't let him do anything 'the easy way'. In a way, this mirrors Mega Man's inability to kill Dr. Wily. As a robot, Mega Man is three-laws compliant -- he's unable to harm humans. He challenges this notion in Mega Man 7, but he's ultimately unable to shoot, which Bass chastises him for. Thus, the cycle of battles will continue for as long as Capcom keeps making sequels.
His Actions Led to Zero, the Strongest Robot in the Franchise
Ironically, Zero Was Created With an Urge To Kill
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Despite having long since died during the Mega Man X series, Dr. Wily's spirit lives on through the Maverick Virus. His greatest creation, Zero, is far more advanced than anything he ever built before. His goal for Zero was to seek and destroy Dr. Light's greatest creation, X, and to surpass Dr. Light once and for all. Unfortunately for Dr. Wily, Zero's cognitive program was flawed, so he wanted to cleanse his mind using the Maverick Virus. Since this would take more time than Dr. Wily had left to live, he sealed them both in a hidden laboratory.
This mirrors how Dr. Light sealed X away for his extensive ethics testing. Ironically, Zero becomes one of the world's strongest heroes and X's best friend shortly after a clash with Commander Sigma. The Maverick Virus would transfer to the latter, while Zero would lose all memory of his previous actions. In Mega Man X4, Zero has a dream about Dr. Wily, though he never appears in person. In that dream, Dr. Wily orders Zero to destroy 'his nemesis', though the latter doesn't understand the details.
In Mega Man X5, Dr. Wily meets Sigma through their shared connection to the Maverick Virus. He works with Sigma very persistently and creates Final Sigma W, his strongest body yet. Dr. Wily's logo also appears during the Shadow Devil fight in the same game, foreshadowing his connection to the plot. In the Mega Man Zero series, Zero remains the only active Robot Master in a post-apocalyptic world of Reploids, yet he can still destroy robots hundreds of years more advanced than he is.
Zero ultimately fulfills Dr. Light's wish for humans and robots to live in peace, but he does them all by fulfilling Dr. Wily's goals, albeit in a strange way. He destroys a tyrannical copy of X to preserve the original's legacy and surpasses Dr. Light by doing what Mega Man and X couldn't: he brings about centuries of peace. Despite Dr. Wily's sinister motives, Zero ends up being the heroic robot that he once sought to build with his Double Gear system.
Mega Man 11
Platformer
Systems
OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Rating:81/100 Critics Recommend:75%
Franchise Mega Man
Platform(s) Nintendo Switch , PC , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One
Released October 2, 2018
Developer(s) Capcom
Publisher(s) Capcom
Engine MT Framework
ESRB E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Cartoon Violence
How Long To Beat 5 Hours
PS Plus Availability Extra & Premium
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See at Playstation Store