- "Sometimes one must fight to protect nature."
- —Sal, Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge
Sal, known as Saroma (サロマ) in Japan, is operator of WoodMan.EXE. She is the owner of a boxed lunch stand near the Government Complex to earn money for nature conservation activities with her Navi [1]. As she is 13 years old [2], she only works during after school hours and on holidays. Although it seems she is keeping this job a secret from her school. She also assists MegaMan with training[3].
In Mega Man Battle Network 4, it shows she's the leader of a 1,500 person environmental protection organization.
Appearance
Sal is a girl with long thick green hair that she styles into a hime cut, and green eyes. She wears a blue dress with white sleeves, and brown pants. Along with a brown headband bearing WoodMan's emblem, and brown shoes.
Her outfit bares similarity to the Ainu culture's Attusi robe. Particularly in a masculine way usually worn by males.
Personality
Sal has a very kind personality; because of this, she was able to make friends with Lan and his friends really quickly. Sal is wise and smart and often helps and give advice to Lan and his friends during difficult moments. She also gets frightened easily as when Miyu and Masa pops out of nowhere in her truck, freaking her out, and causing her to nearly crash. In the game, Sal seems to be concerned a lot and often leaves without saying anything, however, like the anime, she is kind and fair, treating Lan with respect before the battle.
Game history
Mega Man Battle Network
Sal appeared in the first game, but plays a very small role. In the game, she sells fresh homegrown box lunches to people in a stand in front of the Government Complex, and challenges them for entertainment.
Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge
Sal appears as a contestant from the Battle Chip GP that faces the playable character.
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon
Sal makes an appearance in Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon, playing a much larger role. In this game she is a contestant in the Hawk Tournament battling against Lan. Before the match it was revealed that Sal has joined some fellow nature preservers in order to protect nature, however, this leads to WoodMan.EXE's disappearance and thus Lan must help her search for him. After finding WoodMan, Lan and Sal battle in the tournament with Sal losing. Afterward, she leaves and thanks Lan.
At the end of the game, she appears in front of the people on Earth as Lan and MegaMan just defeated Duo. She encourages everyone on Earth to believe in Lan and MegaMan to save the world; which leads everyone's voices to reach MegaMan and gives him strength to change the asteroid's course. In the Red Sun version, she is replaced with Mr. Match.
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Rockman.EXE Legend of Network
Saroma is mentioned in the BBS Request “Buy me Lunch”, where Netto just misses her while trying to find a lunch box to satisfy the client.
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Mega Man Battle Network 6
Sal, along with Miyu and Masa, were mentioned by Ms. Mari, where she sent a letter to Ms. Mari congratulating the students. All three of them being mentioned together was possibly a reference to their roles in the anime or as optional bosses in the first game.
Other appearances
Sal appeared as an Unit Card in TEPPEN.
Other media
MegaMan NT Warrior anime series
Sal, along with Miyu and Maysa, appeared in the first season of the MegaMan NT Warrior anime, being a frequent character. She has also been aged up to 17 years old.
Sal was first introduced by Maylu as an owner of a florist shop, serving tea for Maylu and Lan in episode 2. Sal often appeared in the anime giving young Lan Hikari advice during the first half of season 1. In episode 7, she was revealed to be a Net Agent that goes by the name Black Rose (黒バラ仮面 Kuro Bara Kamen, "Black Rose Mask" in Japan). Sal, as Black Rose, helped Lan and his friends when Count Zap and ElecMan.EXE were stealing the game data from AyanoTech; she uses WoodMan.EXE's, Woody Tower attack, to block the lightning that was regenerating ElecMan's health.
Sal, along with the other main NetBattlers, entered the N1 Grand Prix. Her challenger was Higsby and NumberMan.EXE, she and WoodMan defeated them both easily and made it to the second round. In the 2nd round, she was put into a tag team along with Dex and GutsMan, and their challengers were StoneMan and BlasterMan, who won all their matches by default, which cause Sal and Dex unable to understand their strategy before the battle. She and Dex loses easily to the Solo NetNavis. After he defeat she appears in the crowd watching the battles.
In the second season, Sal, along with other women, dress up as Aki in festivals and contests. Sal and WoodMan also continues working as a Net Agent and helps to stop Gospel, fighting against their members alongside Miyu and Masa.
MegaMan NT Warrior manga
Sal had a brief appearance as a member of the Bastion led by Mr. Famous.
Etymology
Sal's Japanese name, Saroma, is Ainu for reed, or maybe taken from Lake Saroma of Hokkaido, where Ainu people are from.
Her English name may be taken from that of the Sal tree, which in Buddhist legend was the tree that Siddartha Gautama's mother Maya gave birth to him under.
Gallery
Trivia
- From the three optional bosses (Sal, Miyu and Masa) in the first game, Sal is the one who communicates the most with Lan. This was reflected in the anime where out of the three, Sal has the most screen time and dialogue.
- In the game, Sal has her sprite changed in every game she appeared in. In the first game Sal has long hair, in Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge she has short hair, and in Mega Man Battle Network 4 her sprite was redesigned to match the current style.
- Her height is 147.6 meters.[4]
- Sal was originally intended to be male. However, Sal's character portrait in the game was more feminine, so Sal's gender was changed to a girl.[5]
- The anime design sheet notes Sal is 17 years old instead of game's 13 year old.
- Her name has been officially romanized in Japanese material as “Saroma”, but in early years the romanization of “Saloma” has been spread across the fandom. Possibly due to it being closer to the speculated name origin of the Sal tree.
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20071023205243/http://www.capcom-fc.com/staffroom/archives/2005/08/_5_7.php#more
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010801175316/http://www.capcom.co.jp/newproducts/consumer/rockexe/chara/index.html
- ↑ Rockman EXE no Subete pg. 077
- ↑ Mega Man Battle Network Official Complete Works page 115
- ↑ Mega Man Battle Network Official Complete Works page 37
| The Eagle/Hawk Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Competitors | |
| Lan Hikari and MegaMan • Flave Yamakawa and NormalNavi • Riki and Crusher • Viddy Narcy and VideoMan • Atsuki Homura and BurnerMan • Mayl Sakurai and Roll • Lilly and WindMan • Sal and WoodMan • Tamako and MetalMan |
| Bastion | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | |
|
Mr. Famous and Punk.EXE | |
| Members | |
| Mega Man NT Warrior (manga) | Sean Obihiro • Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE • Tora and KingMan.EXE • Chaud Blaze and ProtoMan.EXE • Raoul and ThunderMan.EXE • Sal and WoodMan.EXE • Tamako and MetalMan.EXE |