When Capcom called on fans to create and submit Robot Master designs for the upcoming Mega Man: Dual Override, one celebrity contestant answered the call: Hideo Kojima. Unfortunately, the creative genius behind Transfarring and Metal Gear Solid V’s D-Dog was not selected among the finalists – and he’s not happy.
Game Infarcer scheduled a virtual interview with Kojima to reflect on Death Stranding 2 and provide further insight into his upcoming horror game, OD, but he had other plans. When we began the interview by asking what his reaction to Death Stranding 2’s success was, Kojima, seemingly distracted and clearly agitated, spitefully muttered, “This is f—ing bulls—.”
When we asked if everything was okay, the normally placid creator erupted into a rant, revealing the source of his rage: Capcom’s rejection of his Robot Master designs for Mega Man: Dual Override. It’s not the first time, either. According to him, when Capcom held its first boss master design contest for Mega Man 2 in 1988, he submitted his own design: Robo Copman, based on the then-new hit action film that profoundly affected him. Capcom did not select his creation, likely due to copyright concerns, but Kojima scoffed at this suggestion and went on a five-minute tangent about how “f—ing dumb” Wood Man is.
“As a child, I was absolutely devastated,” Kojima tells us through a translator, his eyes watering. “They just couldn’t see my vision, and it hurt so much that I never entered another Mega Man contest. I drowned my sorrows in movies. But those wounds had finally healed by the time Dual Override’s contest was announced, and I figured my genius was undeniable by this point. Apparently not.” (Editor’s Note: Kojima was born in 1963, meaning he was actually in his 20s when he entered the first contest, but we were too afraid to correct him.)
To stick it to Capcom, Kojima reveals he used his Robot Master concepts in his own games. This began with Metal Gear Solid 2’s Fatman (who Kojima boasts “could kick Mega Man’s ass”) and continued with Death Stranding’s bizarrely named supporting cast, such as Deadman, Heartman, and another ‘80s action movie-inspiration, Die-Hardman.
“After getting away with Hot Coldman in [Metal Gear Solid] Portable Ops – which is beloved by millions, as you know – I had an epiphany: I can dream up these bozos in my sleep while it takes Capcom a decade or more to scrape together enough boss ideas to justify a new Mega Man game. So who’s the real failure, here?” Kojima directed his next comment directly at Capcom. “Here’s a free one for you guys: Git Gudman.”
Kojima then proudly revealed his rejected contest submission for Mega Man: Dual Override: Nor Man, a character that looks suspiciously like a naked chibi Norman Reedus with an arm cannon.