In the beginning of the 21st century, in 20XX, the great scientist Dr. Thomas Light created a true artificial intelligence. With his research partner, Dr. Albert Wily, he built a prototype robot that would be named Proto Man. Light knew that it would be a disaster to create a robot that didn't obey Asimov's robotic laws, so he wanted his research to be a secret. Wily didn't agree, wanting to show the world what the robots could do. Their partnership ended and Wily became an evil and greedy madman. Wily stole six of Light's helper Reploids and reprogrammed all of them, creating powerful machines of destruction.