Mega Man Helmet with Odd Design Shown by Arika

A strange X post is sweeping the net, baffling longtime Mega Man fans and prompting speculation about what’s to come.

Vice President of the game studio Arika and former Mega Man director Ichiro Mihara took to the social media site yesterday to post a cropped and blurry screenshot of the iconic character’s helmet—but fans can’t quite figure out which iteration of the character is being depicted.

The post itself is in response to one made by manga artist Hitoshi Ariga, who has worked with Capcom on plenty of Mega Man projects in the past.

“I used to draw Rockman manga and create encyclopedias and books with Capcom’s official artwork, so I know a little bit about Rockman,” Ariga wrote.

In response, Mihara responded with the strange image and even stranger quote.

“I used to make Rockman’s ***, *** and **** official ****, so I’m a bit familiar with Rockman,” he said, redacting certain words.

While the character’s eyes look similar to Mega Man’s appearance in Capcom’s free-to-play card game Teppen, the paneling on the helmet and the prominent bolt don’t look like anything players have seen before. Many are speculating that this is a preview of an upcoming character design.

Just yesterday, it was announced that the third-person dinosaur shooter Exoprimal would be collaborating with Mega Man during its fourth season. Capcom has incorporated several of its titles into the game, including Street Fighter and Monster Hunter.

Arika developed Mega Man Network Transmission in 2003 for the Nintendo Gamecube despite not being an official subsidiary of Capcom. While the Mega Man franchise remains loved by legions of dedicated fans, there have only been three new entries to the franchise released over the past 16 years.