The 'Astro' in Astroman
Astro is a prefix originating from the word 'ástron', which means 'of or relating to stars'. So with that, the three floating orbs in his design, the space backdrop of his battle arena, and his ultimate attack "Astro Crush" (which rains large masses from the sky), people naturally say Astroman is fundamentally a space robot. But re-evaluation of his various traits seem to suggest 'Astro' might actually be a misnomer, and that space is not the only thing about this robot.
- Astroman's Stages in Both R8 and R&F feature surreal themes with physics defying attributes.
- Rockman 8: fading platforms, a tower in the middle of nowhere sinking into the sand, Escher styled mazes.
- Rockman & Forte: Upside down cities in the sky, a rolling screen of silhouettes randomly sprouting enemy robots.
- The Astro Crush as used by Astroman himself, actually rains down glowing green 'ghosts' of Astroman, not Asteroids.
- Astroman's attacks in R&F includes an attack that produces 'ghost copies' of himself (Copy Vision) and making 'portals' over solid space for enemy robots appear and attack.
None of this stuff seems 'Star' related at all, does it? Instead we seem to have themes relates to a metaphysical realm of existence of which paranormal phenomena are ascribed. Or in layman's terms, a theme of "ghost like stuff and freaky weird stuff" occurs. And this theme has a name: 'Astral'. Interestingly enough, 'Astral' also has a duel meaning of "pertaining to stars". So maybe we actually have an 'Astralman' among us?