I finally beat him! After a few hours of overcoming eight robot masters, hundreds of enemies and going through a huge castle with skull décor, Dr. Wily was defeated. I breathe a sigh of relief and thankfulness, knowing that it’s over and done. The two hardest parts were fighting the exact same bosses again before having to battle multiple forms of a giant machine (armed with wheels, more skulls, and blasters!).
As I watch the ending of the current Mega Man game (Rock Man in Japan) I’m playing, I know for a fact Dr. Wily will be back. At the same time, I wonder how he escapes? What kind of cheap jail do they keep putting him in? On top of that, why doesn’t Mega Man just blast him and be done with it. Sure, that would go against his morals, but at least threaten him a little? In every single game, he shows up again to do some damage or make Mega Man’s life just that much more difficult.
This shouldn’t be something new if you’ve played any video game series. Haven’t you noticed it’s always the same scenario but the setting is different? The same baddie is loose and the same protagonist must save us all, before it’s too late! It might be in space, a jungle, cave or city, but it’s the same story. Mega Man doesn’t seem to get tired of it, and he refuses to take a day off.
Why doesn’t Mega Man just end his troubles and not let his nemesis escape again. Nobody will blame Mega Man for doing it! Yet he never does, and I think I figured out why…
It’s grace, and the hope that it will grow in Wily’s heart and change him.
What is grace? It’s our second chance, the slap on the wrist, that time when you should’ve got fired but you weren’t. Remember when you messed up and got caught, but they said, “this time is the last time, don’t ever do that again!”.
Yup, that’s grace.
It’s not that we deserve it, because let’s be real, when did you want to forgive someone that did something wrong to you? You may have done it because you knew it’s the right thing to do or to honor God and His word, but a part of you didn’t want to. God gives us the power to forgive, and that’s the only way you will ever be able to receive grace or offer it to others.
John 1:16
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
Mega Man always seems to accept any hasty bows and sobs of forgiveness from Dr. Wily, even though we all know he’s lying. It’s because of this that we will always see our favorite antagonist return, because we know he’s not going to change. He refuses to mend his ways, even when he tells Dr. Light (Mega Man’s creator, who is also a scientist like Wily) that he has.
Eventually, the series (so far at 10 games strong) does end and we are not sure what happens to Wily. Did he just die of old age, regretting he was never able to beat the Blue Bomber and his allies, or did he quit his evil ways and do some good for once? It’s highly doubtful, as his final creation was Zero, who was made to wreak havoc upon the world in the future. Either way, we can look at Mega Man as an example to always do good, even when we don’t see the results we want. God will always reward those who seek His will and do what is righteous. It’s not easy, and many times seems like a thankless effort, but it’s not man that we are looking for a reward but from our Heavenly Father who loves us.
1 Thessalonians 5:15
15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
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“It’s not that we deserve it, because let’s be real, when did you want to forgive someone that did something wrong to you?”
…all the time. Mostly because when somebody does something wrong to me, I want to understand why. I don’t….hate easily, for the most part. If I did, I wouldn’t be me. Instead, what I often really want is an answer. I want to know why they decided hurting me was the right thing to do, because I tend to assume that people are trying to do what they see as the right thing. Or they’re responding themselves to hurt. Everywhere I’ve gone, even to the very limits of the concept…That has been the buried truth.
If you can understand someone’s motives, you can forgive them.
“Mega Man always seems to accept any hasty bows and sobs of forgiveness from Dr. Wily, even though we all know he’s lying. It’s because of this that we will always see our favorite antagonist return, because we know he’s not going to change. He refuses to mend his ways.”
Which itself interests me. Any rational person at this point would realize that after nine or ten attempts at taking over the world, Mega Man was ALWAYS going to stop them. It’s like he has Obsessive Megalomaniacal Compulsive Disorder. It’s much more immediate in the cause-effect logic than most human sins are, this thing.
But the reality of the situation is that the reason he keeps doing it is so that there’s another Mega Man game for the audience to enjoy. Dr. Wily in his own weird way is likeable AS what he is— The villain. He’s supposed to be there by tradition or something. Bowser, who is similar, is heavily implied to be rather self-aware of the ridiculousness of the whole situation and continues because he believes that they expect him to do it. That it’s….fun for them, and they go golfing afterwards.
I have thought…an awful lot about the construction of stories, and what the story’s characters think about their role in them. The world, after all, is itself such a story.
Hey there my friend Luminas. Great breakdown of my article with your comments, as always.
Yeah, it is true about forgivig others. It can be hard for many people. Sometimes, people will not explain nor will we understand why. The father that abandons their home, the drunk driver who hit the other person, a bully in school or a co worker who wants you fired… you might never know in this life why but we still need to forgive, even though its hard
As much as I love your articles, Samuru, I have to point out that at the end of Megaman 7, Megaman did want to kill Wily. In fact, he only didn’t because the area started to collapse and Wily used that moment to escape. What is interesting is that Megaman pointed out that he seemed to have the capacity to go beyond his programming, as referenced in his drawn-out “I am more than a robot!! Die Wily!” comment. I think this hearkens back to us as humans, because no matter how much we try to be holy,, in the end we’re just simple, sinful creatures. Unlike God, we’re not all-forgiving. We have our limits…or at least those we place on ourselves when we don’t obey God’s Word. Which raises an interesting question: are we limited in how holy we can be?
Hey Sam, I had my phone on hand and read your comment. Yes! Your 100% correct, he did say that in 7 and I was looking for which one it was because I wanted to reference it. I have beat almost every Mega Man game (1-10 and MMX 1-8, MMZ 1-4 or 1-3 I can’t remember).
Yeah, that is true, he definitely flipped out that time, and it was cool to see because he went against his programming, but even in part 9 and 10 hes still forgiving so maybe that was a glitch or something? O_o
Is there a limit to holiness? No, we are holy bevause Christ is holy. Nobody is holy, righteous or clean, good, etc. Its through Christ. If you try to put that seight or standard on yourself, you will fail every single day then feel bad about it. It was never a standard we were meant to live by, we seek God and His word and follow Him and His commandments. We will always mess up. Without grace, we can’t be holy.
There is no limit. The easiest answer is to just follow God, listen to Holy Spirit in the areas you need to work on. You may not be dealing with stealing, cussing or anger issues, but maybe God has been speaking to you on your relationships, not being late, respecting others, etc. Not saying that’s you, but are only examples.
“It’s grace, and the hope that it will grow in Wily’s heart and change him.”
Or perhaps …
“It’s greed, and the hope that it will be easier for Capcom to recycle the whole thing for more profits.”
(^^)
Then, the forgiveness part lies with us, the customers; for we shall forgive Capcom for being lazy.
Well, just a humorous take on the case. 😀
Or just “What fun would it be to get rid of the villain the audience loves?” :]
Zelda does it occasionally, and let’s face it….everyone still wants Ganon back.
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