So umm... I had an idea. And although I haven't done much here yet, I just want to show it to you guys. This thought was that, basically, someone needed to be saving the world before Rockman.exe, and I thought that it should be another Rockman. In this case, Mahou Tsukai Rockman(Magic user rockman, for thouse who didn't catch it....) So....
I'm lost as to how long before Rockman.exe it would take. I was thinking a kind of 60's-esque time period, though I'm not too sure that's far back enough to fit smoothly into continuity. I know we'd call it 19XX, because I don't want it too far back. It'd definately be before the internet was even concepted, though. Radios still being in wide use, possibly black-and-white TV's, etc. Comments? Help?
I know that we'd call the main character either Shiro Majutsu or Kuro Majutsu, though that pun may be a bit... obvious(it means white or black magic respectively). Let's call him Kuro, anyway. He'd be able to astrally project himself into the spirit world, and enter the 'spirit rooms' of living things, such as a tree or person. I'm still working on a personality, but he'd definatley be smarter than Netto. I'm thinking he's loyal to a fault, and has the strongest sense of justice of him, Subaru, and Netto.
His parter is his familiar, a cat, tentatively name Shiro, who Kuro found off the street. He's really a professional advisor to high level mages, and, due to a series of misunderstandings, thinks Kuro is Wizard royalty. When he finds out otherwise, they've grown too attached to eachother to seperate, or something. He is not needed for Kuro's astral projections, but he does teach the latter how to do it in the first place.
The name 'Rockman' in this case comes from the syllables in Kuro put backwards with 'man' added. I thought it was a good idea, myself. ^^; How to get 'Megaman' in english, however, is a whole 'nother problem. I can't think of any good ideas for that. T-T I also am not sure about how to work around the arm cannon- I was thinking I'd do a 'he shoots stuff out of his hand without a cannon', just because it fits the whole magic thing Maybe not, though.
I also though that the bad guys would be Rockman X based, with the names that are not Rockman being called 'soul names' and then based off mavericks. I thought it'd be interesting. Though, if I should add Zero and Vile or not is a question I'm unsure about. If I added Zero, it'd be a paladin with a hawk familiar. Vile would be a necromancer without a familiar. *Shrug* As for average enemies, I was thinking of calling them either 'Youkai' or 'Akuma' in japanese, still not sure. I also have no name for the mettaur analog. Mettalisman? Nah. Still need help...
Next up, the chip/card analog. I was thinking 'Charms'. The shop of the game would be a magic shop that sells them under the guise of 'good luck charms'. Considering they can stop Akuma/Youkai from gathering and messing with the material world, it's probably right.
I also thought some of Kuro's friends, if you're interested.
Ayaka Hanashima: A friendly girl who loves girly things, and always wears dresses. However, she could out-eat Dex and Bud put together and is probably just as tough as the combo. She's also black, but that's only because she came that way when I thought her up. *Shrug* Can't think of a way to rationalize that, so.... it's just what it is. She'd also be one of Kuro's love interests. She'd probably become a mage at some point, but I can't think of what maverick she'd model, if any.
Tsubame Takenaka: Our token rich girl, but takes more after a southern belle then the spoiled girls we've had in the past. She's fairly accomodating, and doesn't like to be in the way. But when she gets mad, even Ayaka cowers in fear. She brings a whole new meaning to 'beware the nice one'. And yes, her first name means "swallow" in japanese, as in the bird. She'd probably become Storm Eagle at some point in the story. ^^
Kaede Ueno: A loud hot-head, who has absolutely no patience, but is otherwise nice to be around. He's terrible at school, unlike mister-hotshot Kuro, but the two are the best of friends and share EVERYTHING. If he were to become a mage(I doubt it, just because the comments from him waiting to become one would be hillarious) he'd probably be a plant-based one, just to offset the fact that most would think he'd be fire after meeting him.
Umm... I also have thought of the first two game versions, "White Magic" and "Black Magic". Basically, it allows Rockman to go either "Paladin" mode or "Necromancer" mode, depending on the game.
So umm... that's about it. Comments? Criticism? Help? I wish I had some pictures but this is about all I have.... T-T