Ralph Bass

Bass, known as Forte (フォルテ) in Japan, is a video game character, designed to be a rival to the character Mega Man. Bass is a fiercely independent and rebellious robot, who is obsessed with the thought of defeating Mega Man in battle so that he can prove that he is - as he claims to be - the strongest robot on Earth. The only friend he seems to have, is his loyal purple wolf robot, Treble (known as "Gospel" in Japan). Treble is the dark equivalent of Rush, and is able to 'merge' with his master, allowing Bass to take flight and shoot more powerful projectiles from his buster (arm cannon) for a limited amount of time.

Bass' name originates from the musical term, bass (most of the main robots in the series are named after musical terms), as well as Treble's name that also originated from the musical term, treble. His Japanese name, Forte, also has musical origins, which in notation indicates a high volume (suitable for Bass), as does his wolfbot's Japanese name, Gospel. He wears black armor, which has gold accents and markings, along with a large, rounded-triangular blue "gem" on the chest part. Under the armor, Bass wears a jumpsuit which is grey in color. He also wears a distinctive helmet (which, as is to be expected, matches his armour in general color-scheme and design), which has two large "fins" on it, and a star-shaped blue "jewel" on the part which covers his forehead. This shape seems to resemble a cobra's head. Last of all, he has a pair of purple marks on his face - one stripe on each cheek. His pupils are a distinctive red color, although they appeared black in his debut in Mega Man 7 due to the color limitation on the sprites. It is indicated in the Continue screen of Mega Man and Bass that he can remove his helmet, although he himself has not appeared in a game without it as of yet.

Bass was created by Dr. Albert Wily, based on research conducted on Mega Man with the intention of matching his power. Wily makes mention of discovering the energy that powers Bass (called Bassnium) entirely by mistake, but does not explain how so or what precisely it is, other than that it is (or was at the time) the most powerful energy on earth. Despite being created by Wily, Bass frequently rebels against his creator when he feels Wily is standing between him and defeating Mega Man.

Bass's weapon is the powerful Bass Buster, which originally functioned similarly to the Mega Buster, albeit with slightly different shots. As of Mega Man & Bass, however, the Bass Buster has lost its ability to charge its shots in favor of a drastically increased rate of fire, as well as the capacity for upgrades that may make the shots stronger or pierce walls. Like Mega Man and Proto Man, Bass can also copy the weapons of Robot Masters, his body changing color to reflect the weapon currently equipped. His renditions of copied powers occasionally differ slightly from Mega Man's own copy powers, with his body sometimes taking on a different color and the attack itself occasionally differing in appearance.

As with most characters from the original Mega Man games, Bass's story after the events of the series remain unclear. His endings in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters leave several paths open, suggesting both that he has the potential for good, as well as a strong will to fight against Mega Man even at the expense of his own life, leaving endless possibilities and ultimately endless speculation as to his true fate.

Donate to Wikimedia