Splash Woman Controversy

[Spoiler alert for Mega Man 9]

When I was looking up something about Mega Man 9 (which is, incidentally, awesome), I saw a comment someone had posted that complained about how Splash Woman (the first female Robot Master) was the weakest boss in the game. This is in reference to the fact that she takes only 14 hits from the arm cannon to defeat, compared to 28 hits for all the other Robot Masters. While I admit this does seem to feed a bad stereotype, I’d like to say a few words in the game’s defense. First of all, while Splash Woman may have the lowest defense of her peers, she is by no means the easiest boss. You can beat Galaxy man with the normal weapon without getting hit, if you’re patient. But even with the right weapon on Splash Woman, her “fish summoning” attack is very hard to dodge, and the fish can even block your shots. The second thing to keep in mind is that, as a 14-hit boss, Splash Woman is in very good company. Magnet Man is my favorite Robot master – he kind of looks like Optimus Prime, he has a neat weapon, and he has two actual hands, firing Magnet Missiles out of wrist launchers – and he and Top Man only take 14 hits. The Mega Man 1 bosses take even fewer. So while I don’t see any good reason why Splash Woman takes fewer hits than her contemporary Robot Masters, the fact that she does need not be a cause for complaint against the game.