Roll from classic Mega Man. She’s gone through many changes over the years, from her obscure introduction to her relationship to series protagonist Rock, and how she eventually became one of the most popular Megaman/Rockman characters.
I think it’s time for a Roll thread 🧵
Rock and Roll were conceived by the original director Akira Kitamura. Roll was going to be central to the plot, first getting kidnapped then converted into a boss near the end of the game. Once that story idea was dropped, so were most mentions of her character.
Roll shows up at the end of the first Mega Man game but isn’t mentioned in either the US or Japanese game manuals. The only place you’d be able to find her name is in obscure Japan promotional materials, but nothing I’ve found explained who she is meant to be in the story.
Roll is not shown or mentioned in Mega Man 2, so from 1987 to 1989 the only representation of her character in the US was from the Captain N the Game Master cartoon. She is introduced as Mega Girl in the first season episode “Happy Birthday, Megaman.”
Japanese fans may have been able to guess that Roll was DRN-2, as the manual listed numbers 1 & 3-8. Still, her relationship to the Rock (Sister? Girlfriend?) went totally unexplained. Even the guidebook didn’t name her & suggested she was a grateful human who came to thank him.
There could be early sources I haven’t found yet that did explain who she was, but fan art and letters published by Capcom in 89 suggested giving Rock his own siblings in the next game, demonstrating that fan awareness that Roll was meant to be Rock’s sister was low (if at all).
In 1990, Roll made her first appearance in a game manual for Rockman 3 (Japanese only). It still didn’t explain who she was, but at least had her name and picture included. For the first time, her name would appear in the game as well.
Players who cleared Mega Man 3 would get to briefly see her bio during the ending, but the bio itself changed between regions. In Japan, it explains that Rock and Roll are like brother and sister, but this was removed in the US version (possibly for saving ROM character space).
Roll was also mentioned in a Family Computer magazine guidebook this time, making it clear she was Dr. Right Number 2 but is described as Rock’s good “friend” rather than as a sister.
Rockman 4 came out in Japan in December 1991. This time Roll is mentioned in the beginning of the game and shown in the ending, and is mentioned in the Japanese manual as a “daughter?” of Dr. Right.
The Rockman Character Collection book was released in promotion of Rockman 4, and throughout Roll is described as Rock’s friend and emotional support rather than as a sister. One would be forgiven for thinking Rock & Roll were built to be a couple.
By this point fans began latching onto Roll as a character and wanted to know more about her, creating their own headcanons. This fan art is an example, where the artist knows Rockman 3 said they were siblings but expressed that they liked them better as a couple.
Roll took another backseat in 1992 and didn’t appear in the game or manual for Rockman 5. Confused and curious fans wrote about her to Capcom, asking if they were romantically linked. Rock himself denied this in an interview in Capcom News Wave, saying she’s like a sister to him.
From 1993 onward, it became far easier to find information about Roll. She started appearing in all kinds of game books and encyclopedias, and was featured in the Rockman 6 manual as Rock’s sister even though she wasn’t in the game.
From 7 on, Roll was given prominent mention in the games and manuals, speaking lines, new outfits, lots of attention. They were pretty consistent about her being Mega Man’s sister as well, with the exception of Rockman & Forte (but she’s his sister in the CD database).
Yet Capcom was still getting getting asked regularly about Rock and Roll’s relationship status, and some of the pressure seeming came from within Capcom as well. Fans who grew up with the series were now old enough to join the team and were making official Rock x Roll references.
Rock and Roll were appearing jealous or attracted to each other in promotional art, and both gag and dramatic manga. While officially his sister, Capcom took a laid back approach fine and was fine with letting artists depict the relationship as they wished.
The popularity of Rock and Roll as a couple lead the way when Capcom started making new versions of Roll for their spinoff titles. Described as his Rock Volnutt’s girlfriend, Roll of Mega Man Legends was meant to be a romantic interest who was close growing up but not related.
In Mega Man Battle Network, Roll.EXE is purely a friend and love interest, as Mega’s operator Lan is with Mayl. In Rockman Ability, Roll is split a love interest while a new “little sister” type character called Trancy is introduced.
Capcom trying to have it both ways hit its peak in the 2006 PSP title Mega Man Powered Up. Roll is still listed as like Mega Man’s sister, but during game dialog we learn she harbors a secret crush on him. The other DLN robots also frequently flirt with her.
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