The one man vertical take off vehicle with a whining sound comparable to scratching chalk boards, the Wily UFO is Dr. Wily's principle means of transportation. Be it underground or outer space, if Wily needs to be somewhere, you will surely see him convey off to the destination in some version of this particular craft. Considering that Dr. Wily is suppose to be a master of robots, the fact he relies on a flying saucer does seems like a particularly odd choice. Even factoring his stint as an "Alien" in Rockman 2 doesn't explain how this style of vehicle continues to be used all the way up to Rockman 10. But perhaps evaluating the other function of the Wily UFO can prove to be a hint for it's inspiration.
Wily Machine #1
Besides conveying Dr. Wily around, the Wily UFO play one other critical function. It is built with the specifications to dock itself on to the top of a variety of Wily Mecha. The purpose of this function seems to be three fold:
1) to transport Wily to the controls of the Wily Mecha
2) to "complete" the Wily Mecha's form in some fashion
3) depending on the design, to escape when the Wily Machine fails.
1) to transport Wily to the controls of the Wily Mecha
2) to "complete" the Wily Mecha's form in some fashion
3) depending on the design, to escape when the Wily Machine fails.
Wily Machines that Docks with the Wily UFO
Pilder-On! The Hover Pilder
Docking with Mazinger-Z
Docking with Mazinger-Z
Going through the annals of Japanese mechanical fiction, the Ur example for top docking vehicles to mechas is the Hover Pilder from the Mazinger Series. As emulated by the Wily UFO, the Hover Pilder is a complementary vehicle to the super robot Mazinger-Z. Likewise, the Hover Pilder conveys it's pilot to the controls of the much larger and dangerous giant super robot. Only when the two combine is Mazinger-Z actually complete and functional. Further emulated by the Wily UFO, dependent on the needs of a battle, the Hover Pilder can un-dock from Mazinger-Z to fight under it's own power. The Hover Pilder is equipped with twin missile launchers and of course, maneuvers with far more freedom being a small flight capable aircraft.
The Hover Pilder
From 2009's Impact! True Mazinger: Z-Chapter
From 2009's Impact! True Mazinger: Z-Chapter
From this context, you can see why Dr. Wily would have a vehicle that does top docking. If it's good enough for the pioneer of invincible super robots, why shouldn't the master robot scientist not have a vehicle to does the same? While that explains the functionality, that still doesn't give us the answer for "why a flying saucer?". Until that is, you look at the other vehicles used in the Mazinger Series.
Dr. Hell's UFO
From 1973's Mazinger-Z Anime Series
From 1973's Mazinger-Z Anime Series
I present to you the Master of the Mechanical Beasts and Conqueror out for world domination, Dr. Hell. Dr. Hell is the primary antagonist in the Mazinger Series, an evil genius who plots to subject his will through advanced ancient technology. As with Wily, Dr. Hell's primary choice of exclusive personal conveyance is a saucer shaped aircraft! Is this the case of one Mad Scientist following another's lead?
But interesting to note, besides the evil doctor's craft, the Mazinger series is in fact littered with saucer shaped spacecraft used by both heroes and villains alike. In fact, they were so predominate in the series, a later Mazinger successor series is title UFO Robo Grendizer, where hero's primary weapon against the villains is a giant robot that docks with a giant saucer spacecraft. With this in mind, I doubt the similarity of an aircraft type used by Dr. Wily to the ones found in a series about super robots is merely coincidental.
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