Doctor Thomas Light

Doctor Thomas Light

Dr. Light artwork from Mega Man Official Complete Works

Dr. Light

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Information In-Game Information Occupation: Roboticist Misc. Information Japanese Name: Thomas Right Script: トーマス・ライト Romaji: Tōmasu Raito Gender: Male Eye Color: Blue Hair Color: White Series Information Appearances: Classic Series X Series In-game Appearances: All Classic Mega Man Games and Mega Man X1-8 English VA: Ian James Corlett (Captain N) Jim Byrnes (cartoon, Upon a Star) Darryl Stogre (MM8) Randall Wiebe (X8, MHX, MMPU) Japanese VA: Hiroshi Naka (Rockman Kiki Ippatsu) Takuzō Kamiyama (Mega Man: Upon a Star) Takkō Ishimori Shōzō Iizuka, Rockman 10 Image Soundtrack) Tsuneyoshi Iwatsuru Tomohisa Asō

Theme Music

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"Humans and robots living together in harmony and equality. That was my ultimate wish."

―Dr. light, [Mega Man X8]

Doctor Thomas Light, known as Doctor Thomas Right (トーマス・ライト博士 Tōmasu Raito Hakase^?) in Japan, is a character from the Mega Man and Mega Man X series.

His counterpart from the Mega Man Battle Network series is called Tadashi Hikari, and he is the inventor of the PET and the grandfather of Lan Hikari and Hub Hikari.

Story

Before the First Mega Man Game

In the 20th century, Thomas Light attended the Robot Institute of Technology (ローバート工科大学? Robert Institute of Technology) where he met Albert W. Wily and became classmates. The two graduated together with their doctorate degrees (PhDs), although Light always received more credit than Wily. The two were nominated for the Nobel Prize for physics, but only Dr. Light won. Dr. Wily, with his pride hurt and tired of being in second place, vanished, and Dr. Light didn't see him again until the events of the first game. At an unknown time, Dr. Light (alongside Dr. Wily in some sources outside of Japan) founded his laboratory to further the development of computing and robotics technology for the benefit of mankind in the coming era. Light became a world-renowned scientist and the leading expert on robotics.

Light built a series of household and civil service robots. Not long after that, he created a humanoid robot with a much more advanced A.I., DLN-000 Proto Man, the first "advanced robot", known as a Robot Master in some sources. However, Proto Man's dangerous imbalance in his energy core and having a strong sense of independence, went A.W.O.L. before his repairs were complete in fear that his personality would change in the process. Yet, in the year 200X (sometime in the first decade of the 21st century), Light would build on the successes and failures of the Proto Man project to build other Robot Masters, like Rock (a lab assistant, also known as Mega), Roll (a householder), and a series of industrial robots.

When Dr. Wily grew jealous of Light's works receiving credit and his works not (in USA sources he's jealous because Light received all the credit for the team's work), he stole and reprogrammed Light's industrial robots, attempting to take over the world. Rock, having a strong sense of justice, volunteered to be converted into the super robot known as Mega Man.

Mega Man Games

After converting Rock into Mega Man, Mega Man fights against Dr. Wily's forces and manages to defeat him. After Wily's first defeat, he tries to conquer the world again several times, and Dr. Light has been developing new inventions to help Mega Man counter Wily. Some of his main creations include Items 1-3, Rush, Eddie, Tango, Auto and upgrades to the Mega Buster.

In most games, Dr. Light only appears in scenes, some of them being brief. Below are all his appearances in the games:

• Mega Man: In-game, Dr. Light only appears in the ending alongside Roll. In the Rockman Complete Works version, he is also the Navigator from the Navi Mode.
  • Mega Man Powered Up: Dr. Light stays in his laboratory alongside Roll.
• Mega Man 2: Dr. Light appears to give Items 1-3 to Mega Man.
• Mega Man 3: Dr. Wily pretends to be sorry for his acts and works together with Dr. Light to build the giant peace keeping robot Gamma. It was Light's lifelong dream to create a giant robot to protect and serve world peace. They also created some Robot Masters together so they could obtain the Energy Elements needed to complete Gamma. When Gamma was near completion, Wily stole it to be used in his plans to conquer the world, but Mega Man manages to destroy Gamma. Dr. Light realizes that the robot who rescued Mega Man in the ending is Proto Man.
• Mega Man 4: While Dr. Light has no appearances in-game, he improved Mega Man's Mega Buster, allowing Mega Man to fire charged shots, and he created the support robot Eddie.
• Mega Man 5: Light was captured by Proto Man (Dark Man 4) at the beginning of the game, and was rescued in the ending.
• Mega Man 6: Dr. Light is absent in-game, but he modified Rush so he can combine with Mega Man, changing him into Power Mega Man or Jet Mega Man. He is the Navigator from the Navi Mode in theRockman Complete Works version of the game.
• Mega Man 7: Light appears in the opening stage, in his lab, and in the ending. When Bass was damaged by Shade Man, Mega Man said Dr. Light could repair him. After his repairs, Bass attacked the lab and stole plans that Light created to improve the Rush Adapter. Wily used the plans to create the Super Adapter for Treble.
• Mega Man 8: Dr. Light asks Mega Man to investigate an outer space object that had fallen on an island, which coincidentally was being used by Wily as a hideout. Wily gets to the crash site first and collects the "Evil Energy" before fleeing the scene. Unable to halt Wily's escape, Mega Man discovers and retrieves a heavily damaged robot from the crater called Duo. Light repairs Duo and studies a small portion of the Evil Energy that was found. After Mega Man defeats four Robot Masters, Duo awakens and destroys the Evil Energy in Light's laboratory, and goes after the Evil Energy in Dr. Wily's possession.
• Mega Man & Bass: Dr. Light appears in the CD database to say how the collection is going and as one of the database's entries. He also appears in Mega Man's ending.
• Mega Man 9: Light is charged for the crimes committed by his robots and is sent to jail, but when it was discovered that Wily reprogrammed his robots, he is freed. Dr. Wily also used a Light-like robot to create an incriminating video. In the ending, Dr. Wily uses the fake Dr. Light to trick Mega Man into believing that Light was taken by fake officers and felt ill while in his Wily Castle.
• Mega Man 10: Dr. Light appears in his laboratory, where he takes care of the ill Roll and works with Wily to find a cure for Roboenza.
• Mega Man IV and Mega Man V: Dr. Light exchanges P Chips by items in his laboratory.
• Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise: Dr. Light is a playable character. His objective is to expand his facilities, making world peace easier to achieve.
• Mega Man: The Wily Wars: In order to stop Dr. Wily's alterations in time, Mega Man was sent into the past in a time machine hastily crafted by Dr. Light.
• Mega Man's Soccer: Dr. Light was watching a game of soccer on TV with Rock and Roll. When Dr. Wily's robots attack the field, Light modifies Mega Man so he can face the robots.
• Mega Man: Battle & Chase: As Dr. Light's super computer was damaged due to a thunder storm, Mega Man decides to enter the Battle & Chase tournament and use the prize money to buy a new computer. In Mega Man's ending, Dr. Light says he repaired his computer, and the money is used to throw a party to commemorate Mega Man's victory.
• Super Adventure Rockman: Dr. Light immunizes Mega Man, Rush, Beat and the six industrial Robot Masters from the first game from the electromagnetic waves caused by Ra Moon, and watches over Roll while they try to stop Wily.
• Mega Man: The Power Battle: Dr. Light appears in Mega Man's ending.
• Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters: Dr. Light appears in the stage select screen and in the endings of Mega Man, Proto Man, and Duo. In Mega Man's ending, he cheers up Mega Man alongside Roll and Auto. In Proto Man's ending, Light is worried with Proto Man and tries to convince him to repair the defect in his energy system, without success. In Duo's ending, Light talks with Duo about a strange alien energy and bids him farewell.
• Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha: Dr. Light is the shopkeeper in Mega Man's story.
• Mega Man Rush Marine: Dr. Light appears in his laboratory.
• Rockman Strategy: Dr. Light serves as support for Mega Man's team in his laboratory, providing equipment and even support troops in exchange for Screws obtained through battles. At the end of the game, Dr. Light repairs the alien robots led by Apollo and Luna, and subsequently instructs them in how to grow plants naturally in order to restore the dying plant=life on their homeworld.

Late Years

Dr. Light in The Day of Sigma OVA

In the year 20XX (later in the 21st century), Dr. Light began work on Mega Man X (the "X" standing for a factor of unknown potential). X would possess the ability to make his own decisions in life, unlike Rock who was bound by Asimov's "laws of robotics" (Note:Ending cutscene of Mega Man 7 may contradict this) However, Light knew that he would not live long enough to fully test X's potential, so he had X sealed in a capsule on September 18, 20XX, not to be awakened for thirty years. He is presumed to have passed away some time after.

Mega Man X Games

In 21XX, more than 30 years after X's seal, Dr. Cain found the capsule with X in the ruins of Dr. Light's Laboratory. A holographic image of Dr. Light continued to provide support for X through the use of capsules during the Maverick Wars. This image of Dr. Light is shown to be able to keep up with current events and communicate with others. In Mega Man X5's ending, Light is shown to be able to appear outside the capsule, although it only happened once to repair a fatally injured X. It is unknown if Light can willingly appear outside the capsule or was only able to do so due to the effects of Zero Space.

Trivia

• Keiji Inafune based Dr. Light's design off of Santa Claus. This also ended up referenced by Dr. Eggman during the World's Collide crossover (specifically, Mega Man Issue 26), where he referred to Light as "Santa in a lab coat."
• Dr. Thomas Light may be named after the inventor Thomas Edison.  This can possibly stem from the fact that Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb.
• In the Japanese versions, Dr. Light is known as Dr. Right. His symbol is an "R" icon in Japan. He has been known as Dr. Light outside of Japan, however. This is due to the lack of differentiation in the Japanese pronunciation of the L & R sounds.
• "Dr. Wright," which is Dr. Light's name in the instruction manual for Mega Man and a few other sources, is a Western approximation of "Dr. Right."
  • In the cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master, Dr. Light is called Dr. Wright, which is his name from the first Mega Man instruction manual. In addition to robotics, he also seems to have extensive knowledge of the human body, as evidenced when the N-Team shrunk themselves to diagnose a malady of Kevin Keene. Through communication, Dr. Light behaved like a medical doctor, warning Mega Man and the others to avoid stomach acid.
  • Coincidentally, a Mr. Wright appears in the SNES version of SimCity, although this character is based on the game's creator Will Wright.
• He is one of the few human characters from the classic series to have a Mega Man Battle Networkcounterpart, Tadashi Hikari (Tadashi meaning right, and Hikari meaning light, both of the spellings of Dr. Light's surname). The others being Dr. Cossack and Dr. Wily.
• In Mega Man ZX Advent, there is a character named Master Thomas of the Sage Trinity, which is a reference to Dr. Light. Master Thomas, however, is revealed in the Expert Mode ending to be nowhere near as benevolent as his namesake and intends to continue the work of fellow Sage Master Albert, who is named after Dr. Albert W. Wily.
  • Master Thomas' malevolent personality may have been based on Dr. Light's namesake, Thomas Edison.  Edison was seen on morally ambiguous grounds due to animal abuse (such as an instance testing his electric-based inventions on an elephant with lethal results) and inventing the electric chair.
• Dr. Light is a known smoker and is seen with a smoking pipe on some occasions.
• In the US and European release of Mega Man 8, Dr. Light's voice sounds similar to Elmer Fudd's.
• The Dr. Light hologram seems to know of Zero, as well as Alia when Zero discovers one of his capsules in Mega Man X5
  • It is possible that the Light hologram is a clone of Dr. Light's mind.
• In the Japanese ROM from the first Mega Man game, Dr. Light had unused sprites in the end of the game, where he can speak.
• The Dr. Light capsule hologram is wearing a Karate gi and sweatband when it teaches X the Hadouken in Mega Man X. This is to pay homage to Ryu from Capcom's other franchise, Street Fighter.
• Dr. Light's hobby is playing computer games.*In the Japanese version of Mega Man 7, Roll compares the Noise Crush with Dr. Light's singing voice, implying that he is an awful singer.