| Dr. Kojiro Peppa | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| The mad doctor | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Dr. Kojiro is a devious roboticist who has clashed with Mega Man on several occasions. He is best known for having created Tempo, though almost as well known for his eccentric hairstyle and insidious behavior in life.
He is now presumed to be deceased, though his body has not been recovered.
Story[]
Born in Japan, Kojiro Peppa, the person who would eventually come to be known as either Dr. Kojiro or Dr. Peppa was a fan of both Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, and eventually enrolled in the Robert University of Technology, obtaining his PhD in electronic engineering and physics. He was a firm believer in the use of robotics to serve mankind, although he did not really consider them deserving of their own rights—however, he did find giving them their own personalities less than dull. He became a member of the World Robot Alliance, and when he learned of the 1st Annual Robot Tournament, he enthusiastically entered, enrolling his first robot master, Funnel Man, into the tournament. While he did not place within the top 8 competitive positions, he was there to witness the reprogramming of the top 8 robots to serve Mr. X. Kojiro was able to recover Funnel Man and repair him. However, it is believed that during the rescue attempt of his favored machine he took a hit to the head that gave him a concussion and altered his personality, unlocking his darker inner feelings and slowly converting him into a malicious villain.
Kojiro began to live a double life, funding his own projects by operating under the guise of another individual to sell specialized robot designs to contractors, wearing specialized robots to appear to alter his physical body enough to make others assume he was not Kojiro—these robots included leg extensions to make him appear taller, a body suit robot to make him appear overweight and slightly hunched, a hair piece robot to hide his typical hairstyle and a cane to hold himself up. One of his legs was purposefully built differently than the other to give him a minor limp. This was done so that he could attempt to conquer the world without risking his source of income. The robot masters he built for people were on a number of occasions used to do battle with Mega Man, and those were ordered to slay all those who had bought it and worked alongside of it in order to cover up its origins.
Revised sprite
Kojiro is considerably more malicious in intent than Dr. Wily has been, and does not feel any qualms about stealing other's technology (Gladius Man and Rush Man being two prime examples) but also being willing to murder individuals to free up an extra robot master for fighting. Alongside his typical eight robot masters he sends out to wreak havoc, he always has a specialized bodyguard built to protect him, should Mega Man breach his offenses. These bodyguards are known as the Scovillains, and are themed after peppers.
He is believed to have been slain during the Cataclysm, although his corpse was never recovered.
Behind the scenes[]
- Dr. Kojiro Peppa's name stems originally from the soft drink "Dr. Pepper", as a running gag—Kojiro was chosen as his first name to denote Japanese heritage. Later, when he was transformed into a serious character, he took on his first name for his title, but the idea of Peppa (originally Pepa) remained, and is most evident in his bodyguards, which are still based on and named after peppers themselves.
List of Kojiro's Robot Masters[]
The following is a list of Kojiro's many robot masters, also known as the Doctor Kojiro Numbers or simply DPN, in order of construction.
Silhouettes of the bosses seen in Mega Man K1.
- DPN 001 Funnel Man
- DPN 002 Gladius Man
- DPN 003 Nunchaku Man
- DPN 004 Acid Man
- DPN 005 Pendulum Man
- DPN 006 Web Man
- DPN 007 Snow Man
- DPN 008 Nanite Man
- DPN 009 Rush Man
- DPN 010 Bell
- DPN 011 Paprika
- DPN 012 Thruster Man
- DPN 013 Cave Man
- DPN 014 Panda Man
- DPN 015 Edamame Man
- DPN 016 Talon Man
- DPN 017 Traffic Man
- DPN 018 Boogie Man
- DPN 019 Peppercorn
- DPN 020 Gladius Man β
- DPN 021 Lycan Man
- DPN 022 Grape Man
- DPN 023 Tolley Man
- DPN 024 Split Man
- DPN 025 Door Man
- DPN 026 Shammy Man
- DPN 027 Mobile Man
- DPN 028 Reich Man
- DPN 029 Pasilla
- DPN 030 Oni Man
- DPN 031 Poison Man
- DPN 032 Tippe Man
- DPN 033 Singularity Man
- DPN 034 Worm Man
- DPN 035 Barrel Man
- DPN 036 Eel Man
- DPN 037 Unspecified
- DPN 038 Jalapeño
- DPN 039 Recoil
- DPN 041 Floatop Man
- DPN 042 Pulse Man
- DPN 043 Power Man
- DPN 044 Mollusk Man
- DPN 045 Cool Man
- DPN 046 Mail Man
- DPN 047—048 Unspecified
- DPN 049 Tabasco
- DPN 050 Splash Man
- DPN 051—057 Unspecified
- DPN 058 Cayenne
- DPN 059—066 Unspecified
- DPN 067 Habanero
- DPN 068 Chrono Man
- DPN 069 Creation Man
- DPN 070 Unspecified
- DPN 071 Flounder Man
- DPN 072 Harvest Man
- DPN 073—076 Matter Men
- DPN 077 Nuke Man
- DPN 078 Sacrifice Man
- DPN 079 Sail Man
- DPN 080 Sal Man
- DPN 081 Stagnant Man
- DPN 082 Wreck Man
- DPN 083 Tempo
- DPN 084 Glitch
- DPN 085 Holojiro
- DPN ??? Dig Man
- DPN ??? Triangle Man
- DPN Ω Pepper Man