MegaMan himself never appeared within the Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype Version (at least that we ever saw). He was shown in promotional art, however, and sporting a new updated design. Yet at the time this image was revealed, there was already a poll being held in the Devroom to help determine what MegaMan's new look should be, step one of a longer process.

The first poll ran from 2011/04/11 to 2011/04/25, asking fans to cast their vote and leave comments for their favorite of three choices.


A. was the style from Legends 2, designed with the hardware of the day in mind, but offered as an option of familiarity. (Poll: 14% Japan, 15% US)
B. modernized the style, emphasizing the mechanical feel with more detail while not straying too far from the original look. (Poll: 48% Japan, 41% US)
C. was based on B. but intended to create an essence more along the lines of a regular human wearing armor. (Poll: 38% Japan, 44% US)

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Taking into consideration first poll's votes and comments, the developers ran a second poll from 2011/05/19 to 2011/05/26 featuring two new designs.
D. was based on previous design B. but with even greater detail given to the mechanical aspect. (Poll: 66% Japan, 57% US)
E. was based on previous design C. but with certain concerns addressed, such as the frail look of the torso. (Poll: 34% Japan, 43% US)
The developers also noted leaning toward a more "edgy mecha" style in anticipation of a slightly older audience for Legends 3 than the previous games.

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Even with an obvious winner the design still underwent some fairly substantial tweaking, even bringing back elements from the first poll's designs that had been abandoned in the second round.



Comments from Art Director Ishihara-san:

Colors
I guess I toned down the colors a bit too much with the last vote, so in this design I've brought back some of the vibrance in a way that won't be too garish, whether onscreen or in illustrations. Of course I'll apply similar adjustments to Roll and the others as well.

Visage
By upping his height slightly, shrinking his eyes a bit, and applying a few other little adjustments, I've upped the sense of "gallantry" or masculinity in his visage. His shoulders are also broader than before. I've also thinned his outline, making him look a bit "crisper". This isn't directly related to his design, per se, but we mustn't forget the importance of presentation as well.

Pants
I went with the undies! In the end they felt essential for achieving that overall "mecha" feel. Taking care to maintain the overall balance of detail, I did my best to make the pants look as cool as possible. I imagine that the circular attachments on his left and right would move depending on how he moves his legs. I guess I still have to think about how they're attached and such, but right now I'm more concerned with the look of the design than with total realism.

A number of folks out there factored the possibility of this design being made into an action figure when they posted their comments, but that really is more of a secondary concern. If they should make a figure of this design somewhere down the line and mobility should be an important aspect of that figure, I believe those in charge of making the figure would come up with a good solution. I hope, anyway.

Joints
Rather than hide the joints, I've made them bigger, putting the mech-like aspects of this design at the forefront. I have made them all dark gray though, so as not to be too bothersome to the eye.

Hair
In the old design, MegaMan had a set number of defined spikes emerging from his front hair--three on the left, three on the right. For the new design, I decided not to stick to any one number, so as to make the hair look less "habit-prone". I guess you could say "habit" is just another word for "characteristic", but in this design I've tried not to change it too much, but rather just make his hair look generally messy as opposed to spiky in a defined way. If you noticed this, you're pretty darn sharp.

Backpack
The backpack that appeared in Legends 2 was intended to provided a much-needed accent as well as symbolize MegaMan's role as a Digger (the reality of how little it could carry was ignored). For the new design, I consulted our planners and decided to have the backpack work as a signal to show you MegaMan's life and any status effects. I also added in a mount for special weapons. It might be annoying if you have any really big weapons attached to that thing though...