Characters / Dead or Alive 1

Main Character Index | Ninja Gaiden | Dead or Alive | Dead or Alive 2 | Dead or Alive 3 | Dead or Alive 4 | Dead or Alive 5 | Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation | Dead or Alive 6 | Other

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Here are the characters introduced in Dead or Alive 1. Enjoy, and help out with the blurbs!

Also, beware of possible spoilers.

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Kasumi

Kasumi as she appears in Dead or Alive 6

Sorry, are you alright?

Origin: Japan

Fighting style: Mugen Tenshin-style ninjutsu

Voiced by: ^note Sakura Tange (JP, 1 and 2), Houko Kuwashima (JP, since 3), Lucy Kee (EN, Hardcore), Kari Wahlgren (EN, Xtreme 2 and Dimensions), Lauren Landa (EN, 5-current) Played by: Devon Aoki (DOA: Dead or Alive)

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The main heroine. Kasumi is the sister of Hayate and half-sister to Ayane, and a practitioner of the Tenshinmon Style of Mugen-Tenshin Ninjutsu. They lived happily together until one day Raidou came for revenge and snapped Hayate's spine. That sends him into a coma that everyone thought to be permanent, so he's left for dead. Kasumi ran away from her village to avenge her brother, knowing full well the consequences of becoming a runaway shinobi: death.

After defeating Raidou, she enters the second tournament after hearing that her brother is alive and has been taken by DOATEC for use in Project Epsilon. She finds him suffering from amnesia and going by the name of Ein, and helps him recover his memory. In the 3rd tournament she remains on the run but encounters and fights her brother. By the time of the 4th tournaments she realizes that no assassins have been sent her way as of late, and discovers that they have gone to assault DOATEC and put an end to their evil schemes. She enters the 4th tournament to investigate and prevent her brother to enter in what she believes will be a bloodbath.

In the 5th game, Kasumi becomes Helena's 'ally'/'messenger' in order to hunt down the remaining Alpha-152, in a slightly reckless degree. This is because this Kasumi is actually a perfect Alpha clone that acts perfectly like the original. Hayate caught wind of this and along with Ayane, killed this clone. When Hayate gets into trouble, Hayabusa summons the real Kasumi ^note who is not clear if at this point she has been accepted back to her home village or is taking refuge in Hayabusa's village, as Muramasa from Ninja Gaiden is seen there to come and help. Once she rescued Hayate and destroyed the clones, Kasumi swore to take down and defeat Donovan.

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• Actually a Doombot: Partway through DOA5's story mode, Kasumi is killed by Ayane and Hayate. However, that Kasumi is later revealed to be another Alpha clone. The real Kasumi then turns up near the end of the story mode.
• Aloof Big Sister: Her attitude towards Ayane has shades of this, especially in Dimensions.
• Always Someone Better: As Dimensions make clear, she has always been much stronger than Ayane, handing out a Curb-Stomp Battle to her three times when her younger sister tries to take her on. She even makes it clear to her that she is no match for her.
• Ambiguous Situation: In DOA5, by the final chapter it's clear that Hayate and Ayane don't pursue Kasumi any more, but it's not clear whether she's been accepted back in the Mugen Tenshin Clan or she's still on the run and taking refuge in the Hayabusa village. There are hints that indicate both scenarios; DOA6 seems to indicate that it's the latter.
• Apologetic Attacker: Heck, one of her win quotes in the original game actually depicts her politely bowing to her defeated opponent and asking if they're alright.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Her abilities really show up until she was threatened with clan leadership, which she ran away from.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Kasumi is a sweet, kindhearted soul, and a Martial Pacifist through and through who makes it clear she dislikes even the thought of hurting others, much less killing. She's still a trained ninja and assassin, and if you push her far enough or harm her loved ones and friends, you will know pain. Just ask Raidou, who, in the past, raped her mother (creating her half-sister Ayane as a result), crippled her big brother Hayate, and is an affront to everything she believes in and lives for. Oh wait, you can't: Kasumi killed him.
• Big Sister Instinct: Inverted to more like Little Sister Instinct. She's the one that gets to Raidou when Hayate falls into a coma from an attack. Raidou does not survive. Appears to be developing this for her true baby sister Ayane in more recent games.
• Blue Is Heroic: Often wears blue kimonos and dresses, and is The Heroine of the series.
• Braids of Action: One of her hair styles. It even was her default in Dead or Alive 2.
• Cain and Abel: The Abel to Ayane's Cain. They were best friends as children, especially given Ayane's status as a village pariah. When they discover that they are half-sisters and Ayane is the product of rape, Ayane turned on Kasumi out of jealousy that the former was raised in luxury and beloved by everyone while she was scorned and hated by the same people, and is currently the one tasked with assassinating Kasumi after she left the village to pursue Raidou. Unlike most examples, however, Ayane isn't evil, just Anti-Heroic, and the antagonism was mostly on Ayane's side. As of the ending of Dead or Alive 5, they seem to have reconciled.
• The Cameo:
  • Kasumi, along with Ayane, became playable characters in the Ninja Gaiden series. Kasumi's briefly seen in Sigma 2 (we only get to see her from behind), but didn't become playable until NG 3: Razor's Edge though her chapters aren't a part of the main story.
  • Also in the Warriors Orochi series, making her the fifth DOA character to be added to the roster (behind Ayane, Ryu, Rachel and Momiji).
  • She also appears in a couple of the Monster Rancher games, and her blue costume is used in Super Swing Golf and Fatal Frame II.
• Canon Immigrant: Noted in the preceding entry.
• Color-Coded Characters: She's most commonly seen wearing some shade of blue or pink. She also wears white and/or red on occasion.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: In her DOA3 ending we see her being pursued by a shitload of ninjas from her own clan trying to kill her, and she's alone. Guess who wins.
• Cherry Blossom Girl
• Cherry Blossoms: Her motif, seen during her pre-fight animation where she teleports onto the field, amidst a flash of light and sakura petals. As well as when she's teleporting around the ring and when she leaves, once the match is over.
• Damsel in Distress: In-between 1 and 2, she was kidnapped by Donovan and his flunkies, who used her DNA in his Project Alpha. She gets out a few months later thanks to Ryu and one of the Alpha clones.
• Demoted to Extra: She goes from being the main heroine in her own series, to a brief cameo in Sigma 2, to simply being a playable extra in Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. Justified, though: That^note the Ninja Gaiden series was Hayabusa's story, and he did serve as an extra/supporting character in Kasumi's game here.
• Designated Girl Fight: With Ayane.
• Deus Exit Machina: Kasumi's nukenin status means she is unable to help her clan, especially Ayane and Hayate, as they are hunting her, and this also means she can't just do heroic missions on a whim. Repeatedly, she goes solo and doesn't offer much assistance to the others, which out of story would be justified as having her immediately when the situation was still manageable and not when everything had already gotten to where even Kasumi would struggle would have ended things too quickly. Dimension shows she is absent from the fight against Genra, an opponent who is potrayed to be either comparable to or slightly weaker than Raidou, because she is only there to reunite with Hayate once more before leaving, although neither Hayate or Ayane would have wanted to have Kasumi fight Genra for them anyway, as she shouldn't be involved at all with the Mugen Tenshin affairs and they believe it's their responsibility, even if she would have been more than willing to help them if they just asked her, which resulted in the two of them being almost killed by Genra and required Hayabusa to act as a Deus Exit Machina by catching Genra by surprise and then leaving him open to the killing blow, and during the Mugen Tenshin's attack on DOATEC, she is outright against such a war and is busy fighting Alpha, a super-powered clone of herself, and thus cannot help her siblings tear through DOATEC's goons. In Dead Or Alive 5, she is absent most of the time while it's her clone that kills off the other clones and when Hayabusa calls upon her, she proves exactly why she was left out by her performance in the battle to rescue Hayate.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In DOA5 she finally destroys Alpha, in-universe the most powerful bio-weapon known to man.
• Flash Step: As a ninja, it come with the territory. Unlike most examples, however, she's unable to use it freely. She can only teleport during counters, or in mid-combo during the execution of certain moves.
• Fortune Teller: One of her hobbies.
• Fragile Speedster: Not statwise, but Kasumi takes hits the worst out of all female characters in '6', with her expression showing the most agony when getting hit and her face getting distorted the most during Break Blows.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: See Reluctant Warrior below.
• Good Is Not Soft: As Raidou and Alpha-152 found out the hard way.
• The Heroine: Much to Ayane's frustration.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Let's face it: wearing bright blue and scattering sakura petals everywhere amidst bright flashes of light attracts attention, instead of helping one go unnoticed.
• Honor Before Reason: When trying to rescue her brother, she doesn't ask for help from either his elite super-ninja best friend Ryu, her (at the time) obedient, extremely powerful younger half-sister Ayane, Ayane's mentor Genra, or you know, the entire army of ninja she doubtless had command of.
• Incest Subtext: With Hayate. Nowhere near as strong as Ayane, but still one can't help but rising an eyebrow sometimes.
• Iconic Outfit: Her two starting kimonos, colored blue and white respectively, thigh-high white stockings, and sandals. Her Ninja Catsuit from DOA5 is also getting this status quickly, to the point she wears it in the cover of Dead or Alive 5 +.
• It's Personal: To Raidou and to Donovan. She kills the first one in response to him nearly crippling her brother, among other crimes. The second man is responsible for the first one's actions and for also cloning her for a project to make marketable super-soldiers and nearly tearing her clan apart.
• Jack of All Stats: In Dead or Alive 4 she Takes a Level in Badass and becomes way faster and more agile, leaning towards the Lightning Bruiser territory.
• Joshikousei: Has a Sailor Fuku as an alternate costume.
• Kamehame Hadoken: The Torn Sky Blast.
• Lady of War: Calm in battle, she uses a fighting style that emphasizes speed and precision.
• Letting Her Hair Down: At the end of 5's story mode, she, after wearing her hair in a ponytail for most of the game, dramatically undoes her ribbon and lets her hair loose; it's done to give a sense of finality to her story now that she has killed her clone and made some sort of amends with some of the other members of her clan.
• Lighter and Softer: She is a lot happier in the Xtreme spin-off games. And that's saying a lot, considering her life has enough angst and murder that she had to go through. Especially in her appearances in Bloodier and Gorier Ninja Gaiden games. At the end of the two weeks of paradise in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Venus Vacation Kasumi wonders if she used to have as much fun as she had before she left the village. She wishes she could stay, but insists that she must continue her mission.
• Martial Pacifist: A powerful kunoichi who makes it clear that she dislikes violence. Doesn't mean she won't fight if she has to and does she ever know how to fight.
• Ms. Fanservice: The series does seem to favor her in terms of fanservice. She and Christie were the first two characters to actually be seen fully nude in the series.
• Nice Girl: Hands down one of the nicest fighters in the series.
• Ninja
• She's Back: As it was revealed that the Kasumi we saw earlier was a clone, the real Kasumi is currently resided in Hayabusa's village under Muramasa's care.
• Out of Focus : Played with in DOA5. Kasumi is indeed the main character for most of the story however she is actually a clone. The real Kasumi doesn’t show up until the near end of the story.
• Ordinary Highschool Student: Dimensions reveals that she tries to be this between DOA3 and DOA4.
  • Starving Student: ...which doesn't work out very well; Kokoro comes across her passed out on the road and with a high fever.
• Panty Fighter: Except for a couple of costumes throughout the whole series, you would think this girl doesn't know pants even exist.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: While the sibling feud between Kasumi and Ayane is mainly driven by Ayane due the latter’s personality, jealousy (over Hayate) and urge to prove herself to be the better kunoichi, Kasumi isn’t really taking Ayane’s grudge silently; Kasumi’s quotes against Ayane throughout the games are often carried with Kasumi saying she is stronger than Ayane and that she won’t be defeated by her.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her Color Motif usually revolves around this or True Blue Femininity.
• Plucky Girl: Her life is threatened on a daily basis, but it doesn't seem to get to her, at least upon first glance. What people don't realize is how badly she wants to return home. Even so, she finds strength knowing that her brother and sister are okay and that she still has allies in her personal war on Donovan.
• Recurring Dreams: In Venus Vacation she explains that she frequently dreams of being a mermaid swimming freely, as shown in her Dead or Alive 4 ending.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: It’s made clear in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Venus Vacation that she’s not really fond of showing off a lot of skin, or the attention that comes with it. Evidently if she catches the Owner (you) gawking at her breasts or butt she’ll become very flustered and upset. Although it makes one wonder why she wears such Stripperiffic ninja attire by choice.
• Reluctant Warrior: She always tries to avoid fighting and goes for a pacifistic solution first, especially when it's against an ally. But when she sees there's no choice but to fight, she tosses any doubts and goes all for it. She's tossed most of this aside by 5, though. In 6 her intros and victory poses show that she now has little reluctance about fighting. The exceptions being Ayane or Hayate where she will question why they must fight.
• Ojou: She was the princess of her tribe. This is an oxymoron, being as it's a tribe of ninja. (You know, social outcasts turned assassins/spies/thieves?)
• Scarf of Asskicking: In at least two of her ninja outfits.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: If she hasn't already, Kasumi is likely to be reinstated into the clan despite their strict code of responsibility, secrecy, or whatever it is that resulted in her leaving earning her the death sentence in the first place. Incidentally, her brother is chief of said clan, now that he's okay again.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The reason for running from the clan in the first place is to kill who harmed her brother...and raped her mother (which gave her a half-sister as a result), incidentally.
• She-Fu: Especially since Dead or Alive 4.
• Ship Tease: There was some of this in the earlier games with Hayabusa, although Dimensions seems to have put an end to that.
• Shoryuken: She got a variation using the elbow instead of the fist in Dead or Alive 4.
• Sibling Team: With Ayane and Hayate in 6. They put aside all their differences to deal with Raidou and destroy him together.
• Silk Hiding Steel: She's beautiful, sweet and very kind, and also recognized as one of the strongest warriors in the world.
• Slipknot Ponytail: In Dead or Alive 3.
• Smoke Out: With cherry blossom petals.
• Spinning Out of Here: One of her winning animations, accompanied with her trademark Cherry Blossoms.
• Spoiled Sweet: She lived in luxury and had it made as a kid, but she doesn't consider herself above anyone else and is quite the compassionate person. Case in point, no matter how much hate Ayane sent her way, she never retaliated.
• Spy Catsuit: In DOA5 she got a Ninja variant which looks curiously similar to the one Hayabusa wears^note Which might be an indication that she's actually a refugee in Hayabusa's village. It got insanely popular among her fans almost immediately.
• The Stoic: She accepts the consequences of her actions and doesn't angst about her fugitive shinobi condition. She's also always pretty calm and doesn't let her emotions to make her rush into battle.
  • Not So Stoic: Unless her brother's safety is on the line, of course.
• Stripperiffic: Not the worst offender in the game, but still.
• Technical Pacifist: She doesn't like to fight, let alone kill, but, as a kunoichi, she will if she has to, so God help you if you're actually on her roomy hit list as Raidou can attest to.
• Teleport Spam: She has a complete set of counter moves based on teleporting (with some Cherry Blossoms to make them look prettier), so a skilled fighter can pull this off.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: One of her hairstyles, and her default one in DOA5.
• Took a Level in Badass: Her fighting style got a pretty deep upgrade in Dead or Alive 4, making her faster and way more agile than in previous games. However, in Dimensions Tecmo put Kasumi-Alpha as a way for players to use her move set from the first three games.
• Tranquil Fury: When she leaves her village to kill Raidou she doesn't show her anger openly, but still you can tell. She's downright frosty (by her standard) to some people until after the deed is done.
• Vague Age: Outside of Japan she was never given an exact age, but the Japanese version states she's 17 during the first 4 games. However, now as of Dead or Alive 5, she's 19.
• Vocal Evolution: Retroactively applied. Originally in the first two games, Kasumi's voice was higher pitched, though it started getting a lower, more softer pitch beginning with 3. While this was originally due to the change in voice actresses, when Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate was released Houko Kuwashima gave Kasumi a higher pitch closer to Sakura Tange's version, establishing in-universe that Kasumi's voice matured between the second and third games.
• Warrior Princess: Or rather Badass Clan Leader Successor. She defeated Raidou, who Ayane and Hayate couldn't beat even when working together, and took out Alpha-152, one of Donovan's most powerful bioweapons.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Ayane. As of DOA5, there's hope once more.
• When She Smiles: Kasumi tends to be a very serious individual meaning she doesn’t smile often, but when she does it’s especially beautiful.
• Willfully Weak: Kasumi is very obviously holding back a lot of her strength against Ayane and Hayate, which is justified as being able to defeat Raidou and Alpha whereas the two of them working together can't makes it clear they aren't even close to matching her full strength so going all-out would have been too much when she just wants to incapacitate them. Downplayed in that even a restrained Kasumi still curb-stomps Ayane repeatedly and only loses to the amnesiac Hayate due to letting her brother win. The next time they fight, she wins against her brother and escapes from him.
• World's Best Warrior: She has possibly the highest claim to this title amongst the many characters of this series, being shown time and again to be an extraordinarily powerful and capable kunoichi, performing feats that easily put her ahead of Ayane and Hayate, such as single-handedly defeating Raidou after he easily overwhelmed Ayane and Hayate, forcing him to activate a more powerful state to gain the upper hand, with Kasumi still overpowering him in the end with some help from Hayabusa, fighting on par with and eventually defeating Alpha 152, a feat that those three working together couldn't pull off, along with being able to fight through scores of MIST and reach Hayate earlier than Ayane and Hayabusa working together did. The one time she lost to Hayate, it's due to her holding back a lot, as he was amnesiac and she most likely decided to just let her brother win.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Until in Dimensions' end where it's implied that Kasumi could come back. The final chapter of 5 is pretty ambiguous on this. Hayate and Ayane definitely don't pursue her anymore (she even seems to have make amends with Ayane), but it's not clear whether she's back in the Mugen Tenshin Clan or she has become a refugee/resident of the Hayabusa village.
• You Killed My Father: To Raidou, albeit it being her brother that was killed. Or so she thinks at first, until she found him alive and well.

Ayane

Ayane as she appears in Dead or Alive 6

Hmph, Don't make me laugh.

Origin: Japan

Fighting style: Hajimon-style ninjutsu

Voiced by: ^note Wakana Yamazaki (JP), Gina DeVettori (EN, Hardcore), Janna Levenstein (EN, Xtreme 2), Wendee Lee (EN, Dimensions), Brittney Harvey (EN, 5), Janice Kawaye (EN, 6), Played by: Natassia Malthe (DOA: Dead or Alive)

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Ayane is the bastard daughter of Kasumi's mother Ayame and Raidou, the product of Raidou raping Ayame. The leader of the Hajinmon sect of the Mugen-Tenshin clan, Genra, sympathized with her, and decided to take her in as her foster father and teacher. Years later, she learned the truth, and dedicated herself to becoming the strongest practitioner of the Hajinmon style. She failed to protect Hayate from Raidou, and after Kasumi left, was ordered to kill her. In the 2nd tournament, she searches for Hayate as well, and encounters Helena, who believes Ayane to be her mother's killer at first, but it turns out to be a misunderstanding. Upon hearing her foster father Genra has been abducted and used as a subject for Project Omega, she enters the 3rd tournament to end his suffering. She then joins her half-brother Hayate to take down DOATEC once and for all.

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• Age-Inappropriate Dress: At age sixteen (eighteen as of DOA5), she is the youngest female character in the entire series (except for the Kasumi clones).
• All of the Other Reindeer: As a child, she was considered a "cursed birth" and shunned by most of the other villagers, with Hayate and Kasumi being pretty much her only friends.
• Animal-Eared Headband: Has these in some of her costumes, usually bunny ears, but cat ears appear also.
• Animal Motifs: Often shown wearing butterflies on her costumes.
• Anti-Hero: She's become this since DOA3. She'll be around whenever evil strikes, but she won't hesitate to use violent and pragmatic methods against anyone who dares to cross her or those she cares about.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Ayane doesn't hesitate to boast about her abilities, to the point where she started calling herself the "Female Tengu of Miyama". It comes back to bite her years later when she meets (and gets humbled by) the actual Nyotengu of Miyama.
• Ass Kicks You: Her Tsurara-Otoshi combo throw ends with Ayane ass-planting on her opponent's face.
• The Baby of the Bunch: She's half-sister and cousin to both Hayate and Kasumi and the youngest among them.
• Badass Adorable: Although this can really apply to any of the female characters, she sticks out for her age.
• Badass Back: Her whole moveset is based on this.
• Badass in Distress: In Dimensions, she becomes Brainwashed and Crazy towards the end of the DOA2 arc, and gets captured by M.I.S.T. in the climax of DOA6.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: A Badass Adorable who always wears a purple bandana.
• Bastard Bastard: Ayane has shades of this in her earlier appearances due to her antagonistic relationship with Kasumi and being much more ruthless and arrogant than the former. This is owed to her being ostracized for being a Child by Rape. Over time, she starts showing more heroic traits.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Hayate and Genra were among the few in her village to treat her like a person, rather than a pariah. The latter even took it upon himself to raise her as his surrogate daughter. Ayane felt overwhelming gratitude toward both them for their kindness. Thus, becoming fiercely loyal to them as a result.
• Berserk Button: Kasumi herself. Also, don't even try to harm Hayate or an iris petal will be the last thing you'll ever see.
• Betty and Veronica: In Marie Rose/Honoka's concept art, Ayane was shown to be Betty to an early Marie Rose's Veronica.
• Big Brother Attraction: Suffice to say, she's really attached to her brother, Hayate. Enough that being slapped by him hurt her so deeply, she nearly committed ritualistic suicide over it.
• Big Brother Worship: Like Kasumi, she holds their brother Hayate in high esteem and is fiercely loyal to him. Most of her story mode cutscenes have her either accompanyinhg him, or aiding him directly in combat.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: According to Dimensions, she becomes this thanks to Genra and is sent against Hayate and Ryu.
• Breakout Character: She garnered enough fame from her own series to make some appearances in Ninja Gaiden to aid Hayabusa. She also makes an appearance in Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, Warriors Orochi and Senran Kagura.
• Broken Bird: Ayane exhibits signs of emotional scarring, despite her outward reticent demeanor. The most telling incident being when she attempted to take her own life via ritual suicide, simply because she believed Hayate hated her for openly criticising Kasumi in front of him^note it caused Hayate to slap Ayane in a rare moment of anger.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Her motif.
• Bullying a Dragon: Zigzagged concerning her grudge against her half-sister, Kasumi. Kasumi's fighting ability is clearly superior to Ayane's (and their brother), given she was able to defeat Raidou and Alpha-152 single-handedly. Whereas Ayane fell easily to Raidou, nor could she defeat Alpha despite having assistance from Hayate. Yet, Ayane still continued to antagonize Kasumi, despite suffering repeated losses to her nearly every time they fought.
• Cain and Abel: Cain to Kasumi's Abel. Downplayed as Ayane isn't evil—just anti-heroic.
• The Cameo: Ayane has had the most guest spots of any character in the DOA series:
  • She's been an active support character almost since the beginning of the rebooted Ninja Gaiden series, where she often relays messages for Hayabusa, or acts as an informant for him. And she becomes the deuteragonist of NG 3: Razor's Edge, where her part in the game's story has her acting on intel from Irene Lew.
  • She's also playable in Warriors Orochi 3.
  • Ayane even appears in Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, armed with a Spirit Stone Flashlight, since she can't use the Camera Obscura.
  • She has also been a playable DLC character for 2 Senran Kagura games: Senran Kagura: Estival Versus and Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash.
• Canon Immigrant: She's the DOA character that has had the most screen time in the Ninja Gaiden series, by far.
• Characterization Marches On: In her first appearances, Ayane had quite a few villainous character traits, to the point that DOA2 heavily implied in a cutscene that she may have killed Helena's mother, and Ayane seems even proud of it. It was revealed that the killer was in fact, Christie. However, starting in DOA3, Team Ninja started to portray her as an Anti-Hero, and then a more regular heroic character. So much than when the aforementioned scene from DOA2 shows up again in Dimensions, it looks like a complete Out-of-Character Moment… until you remember that "Bitch" is her default setting, due to all she's been through.
• Chickification: Appears to be going through this as of 6. In 5 she (alongside Hayate) were not capable of defeating some enemies that Kasumi could alone. In 6 she appears to be a little more feminine and was less useful overall in battle, struggling against Marie Rose out of all people and as a last resort sent purple girly butterflies as a sign of needing help to her older siblings.
• Child by Rape: Ayane was conceived when her mother Ayame was raped by Raidou.
• Child Prodigy: At her age, she's already participating in a world-class fighting tournament. At 14, she was giving 'Elite Super Ninja' Ryu tips on how to be a ninja. Remember those kunai with the spinny purple flowers? Those were hers. She's not far behind Kasumi and that's saying a lot. Her mastery of ninpo is second only to Ryu Hayabusa. Also overlaps with:
• Child Soldier: Ayane's probably been a professional killer since before puberty.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: In Venus Vacation, much to her chargin, she has to put up with Luna's antics.
• The Comically Serious: It takes one interaction with someone as weird as Luna to bring this out of her, as she even wonders what is with her. Hilariously, she tries to rope Hitomi into helping her with Luna when the latter is training and much to her confusion.
• Cute Monster Girl: Though outwardly human in appearance, Ayane is half demon due to inheriting Raidou's cursed blood, at birth. Made evident by her hair and eye color.
• Deadpan Snarker: Listen to some of her win quotes, such as:
  "Y'know, you're supposed to watch your opponent when you fight."
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Her main defining character trait is her aloofness.
  • Especially in regard to her half-sister, Kasumi, for whom Ayane has nothing but contempt for the first four games in the series. It isn't 'til the fifth DOATEC tournament that her attitude towards Kasumi finally begins to change.
  • Also done in the form of Ship Tease between Ayane and newcomer, Elliot, during DOA5. She's initially dismissive of him, until he came to her aid by getting Brad Wong off her back — while simultaneously blocking one of her strikes. It not only stunned Ayane, she became flustered by it and had to turn her back so Elliot couldn't see her blush.
• Designated Girl Fight: With Kasumi.
• Designated Victim: In 5 she becomes this just to display how much her big sister and brother care about her.
• Despair Event Horizon: Comes dangerously close to crossing it in chapter 3 of Dimensions after she makes Hayate angry enough to slap her (she let her full hatred of Kasumi show in front of Hayate, who still loves her), to the extent that she almost kills herself before Ayame shows up and comforts her.
• Deuteragonist: She's the next most plot relevant character in Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (noted in the second cameo entry).
• Driven to Suicide: See Interrupted Suicide below.
• Disproportionate Retribution: She is not impressed with Eliot's tendency to hesitate in Dimensions, even going so far as to slap him for it and suggest he's being a baby. Hayate calls her out for being less than mature herself, but Eliot treating the whole thing like a successful Get A Hold Of Yourself Man is what really throws her off.
• French Maid Outfit: Used as one of her unlockable costumes in DOA5.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: When Ayame told her the truth behind her conception, she didn't take it well at all. Consumed by a newfound jealousy and resentment towards her half-sister, and bitter from the cruel treatment she suffered from others, she went down a dark path in her determination to become stronger than her half-sister and become the Mugen Tenshin's best.
• Good Is Not Nice: She's on the side of good, but is considerably more violent and confrontational than Kasumi, not to mention far more willing to kill.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Is commonly shown with butterfly-themed underwear. She also commonly wears high-coverage striped bikini brief panties.
• Ground Punch: How she performs the Art of the Raging Mountain God.
• Happily Adopted: Genra really was a great man to welcome Ayane as his own daughter at first, Shiden didn't deny her a place or right to live, and Ayame didn't blame her for what Raidou did, with this Ayane loves both Genra and Ayame with a passion.
• Haughty "Hmph": Used often, complete with an armfold and an aside glance. At other times, she'll do it with a hand on her hip.
• Heroic Bastard: Ayane is the product of Raidou raping her mother Ayame. She is still a heroic, if not abrasive person (not without justification).
• Highly-Visible Ninja: A large waist ribbon...? Really?
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Gameplay-wise, while Ayane possesses the same blinding speed as Kasumi, Ayane's toolkit is less about chasing the opponent down and more about forcing them to chase her. The bigger the stage, the more room a high-level Ayane player has to spin out of range and frustrate their opponent until the clock runs out.
• Honor Before Reason: She's willing to kill members of her own family, regardless of her feelings for them, in order to uphold the ninja code. Then again, her family is pretty dysfunctional. It's Justified anyway. To not do so would make you just as marked as your target by another shinobi who might not be as forgiving.
• Human-Demon Hybrid: Her hair and eye color both serve as indicators of the cursed blood she inherited from Raidou. It's the reason she was ostracized by the rest of the village before eventually embraced it by referring to herself as the "Female Tengu of Miyama".
• Iconic Item: Her purple bandana and to a certain extent the waist ribbon.
• Iconic Outfit: A short purple strapless dress with a butterfly on it and a red waist ribbon, plus matching pull-on sleeves, stockings, and heeled ankle boots. It's even available for her in Xtreme 3 despite it not being a beach outfit.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Ayane wasn't part of the original roster that debuted in 1996 with the Arcade release for the first Dead or Alive, she debuted in 1998 on the PlayStation home release as a secret character. In the same year, Tecmo had already unveiled to the public that Dead or Alive 2 was in the works with a scheduled release for the following year in 1999 on Arcades; Ayane was there to promote DOA2 and it worked wonders. As the series went on, Ayane became an extremely popular character and one of the faces in the franchise, to the point one cannot imagine Dead or Alive without Ayane now.
• Important Haircut: After her identity and the reason her clan hates her is revealed by her mother.
• Incest Subtext: With Hayate. Lots with Hayate.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Ayane tends to come off as haughty towards most of her opponents, but when it comes to Kasumi, hoo boy. It was clear that she was jealous of her and was eager to prove herself as the superior ninja. Although she never quite succeeded, her one-sided grudge against her half-sister would fade over time.
• Informed Attribute: Ayane’s bust size has been officially stated to be 93cm, it has been this way since her debut and that has never changed, which places Ayane on the upper side of the measurement charts among the female cast, which as of DOA6 makes her have the 3rd biggest bust in the series, only behind Honoka at 1st and Tina/Rachel at 2nd. The issue is that Ayane’s in-game model isn’t quite consistent on how visually voluptuous her breasts are supposed to look proportionally, since Ayane is quite on the short side in height at 157 cm (5' 2"), in proportion with her body Ayane’s 93cm bust would be quite expressive in scale, that’s where the discrepancies throughout her appearances in games can be noted: Ayane’s appearance in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 can be considered the far end in which her bust seems very voluptuous proportionally to her height, while her appearances on DOA5 and DOA6 seems to be the moderate end on how her bust is scaled up to her body proportions.
• Interrupted Suicide: In chapter 3 of Dimensions, Ayane ends up so upset over a fight with Hayate over Kasumi that she attempts to kill herself by plunging a kunai into her throat at the waterfall where she and Kasumi used to play, but her mother shows up at that exact moment, forcing her to stop and put it away.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: More so in the Xtreme games, but also shows signs of this in the main series as well. She may be cold and bitter most of the time, but she really does care about her loved ones like Hayate and Hayabusa with all her heart. And despite her animosity with Kasumi, she's also shown her a few Pet the Dog moments.
• Joshikousei: With Kasumi, she can also wear a sailor fuku.
• Ki Manipulation: As standard of a high-ranking ninja.
  • Pure Energy: Art of the Raging Mountain God. After a long chant session, she slams her ki-infused fist against whatever she is standing on. Whatever she's standing on tends to be destroyed within a matter of seconds.
• Lady of War: Like her half-sister she maintains her composure in battle and uses a fast and precise style of fighting.
• Lightning Bruiser: Her attacks are among the fastest and most lethal of the roster.
• Little Miss Badass: Seriously. A bullet breaking her favorite hair ribbon doesn't even faze her or interrupt her spell casting.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Her relationships with Hayate and Genra seem to be this to an extent, as shown in Dimensions; when Genra leaves the clan and she offends Hayate during an argument, she's so upset over the ordeal that she almost commits suicide.
• Loners Are Freaks: Her popularity with the fandom aside, Ayane's negative attitude has cost her many in-universe popularity points. In DOAX3, she is notably disliked by Kasumi, Helena, Nyotengu, Kokoro, Marie Rose, and Honoka.
• Mark of Shame: Her burning red eyes and lavender hair color give away her demonic heritage, as Raidou's bastard child. Which is the reason the rest of the Muugen Tenshin (save Ayame, Genra, and Hayate) treated her as an outcast.
• Martial Arts Headband: One that's a few shades darker purple than her hair. She's almost never seen without it, no matter what she's wearing.
• Miko: One of her costumes in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round gives her this look, with a short kimono that shows off her legs.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Almost half of her wardrobe features this.
• Modesty Towel: She gets this as a costume in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
• Murderous Thighs: One of her chain moves has her sitting on the opponents shoulders and twists their neck.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: One of her costumes in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
• Ninja: Of the Hajinmon clan.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Ayane's Fatal Frame V costume consists of a corset and tight leather pants.
• Oh, Crap!: Her reaction in Fatal Frame V when she discovers that her blade has no effect on the ghosts, and then almost immediately, when she gets manhandled by a plethora of them, leaving her so drained that she has to crawl her way out of the mountain.
• Playboy Bunny: One of her costumes gives her this look.
• Poor Communication Kills: In the second game, Helena confronts her, suspecting her of being the one who killed her mother. When she asks if she was the killer, Ayane simply replies, "Mmm, who knows..." Cue fight.
• Pragmatic Hero: She's on the heroic side but as a ninja, she has no qualms with slicing bad guys and fiends apart.
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Suffered an extreme case of it due to the retcons in DOA Dimensions which stripped Ayane of nearly all her accomplishments in DOA3, including her victories over Hayate, Kasumi, and Genra. She bested each of them in single combat in the original canon and thereby became the champion of the third DOA Tournament. Years later, Koei Tecmo revised it so Ayane lost to Hayate, who (now) defeated her effortlessly, lost yet again to Kasumi, and now had to have help from Hayate and Hayabusa to defeat Genra. Her championship title was also taken from her, since in the revised canon, Ayane didn't participate in the third tournament.
• Purple Is Powerful: She has purple hair, tends to wear shades of purple, and is a bona fide Badass.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Part of her Rei Ayanami Expy, also an indication you might not want to piss her off. (Although she's never shown more than mild irritation to anyone else but Raidou and Kasumi.)
• The Rival:
  • Has an ongoing case of mutual dislike with Kasumi for most of the series, which seems to have tapered off by 5 and especially Xtreme 3, where she shows little to no antipathy towards Kasumi.
  • Marie Rose/Honoka's concept art suggested she would be one for an early draft of Marie, with Brad and Eliot looking on in amusement and nervousness, respectively.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Not by choice, but given that she was frequently left out in the wilderness (or once for a long time) before being adopted into the Hajin-mon sect to be raised as a killing machine, she probably had little time for formal schooling.
• Sideboob: With her purple kunoichi shozoku. Albeit a little bit obscured by the fishnet shirt she wears underneath.
• Smoke Out: With iris petals.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: Some of her costumes.
• Sexy Santa Dress: Has a nice one as one of her costumes in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
• She-Fu: Ayane's art employs lots of spinning and flipping.
• Ship Tease: Betwen her and Elliot, beginning in DOA5.
  • Elliot stepped in to stop Brad Wong from harassing her and did it while offhandedly blocking Ayane's strike. Which left her stunned by how easily he did it^note To Ayane, it was as if teleported between her and Brad. Elliot then flipped him out the way and blocked the strike that was intended for Brad in the same instant. Ayane couldn't see when Elliot did any of it. All she saw was the aftermath and had to turn around so Elliot couldn't see her blush.
  • Further implicated by their tag team interactions in DOA5 and 6. In which, Ayane smiles and high-fives Elliot during their team's intro animation. But, when he tries it during their victory animation, Ayane smirks and turns her back to him instead with her arms folded. She then notes that he's improved which gets grin from Elliot.
• Sibling Team: With Hayate and later on Kasumi as well in the climax of DOA 6.
• Spectacular Spinning: More than half of her move set is based on this. You can't help wondering how she doesn't get dizzy after 10 seconds.
• The Stoic: When acting as a subordinate to Hayate or Ryu. On her own, she tends to be more openly vicious towards other people.
• Tsundere: Type A whenever she's around Eliot; Dimensions introduced a new, defensive aspect to her when she couldn't figure out how to deal with his positive response to her abuse (long story short: Ayane accidentally gave him a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man when she thought she was giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech). It shows up again when they meet in DOA5, two years later and she gets a first-hand taste of his improved abilities.
  • In Venus Vacation, she mixes both types with the player as the menu girl, but she shows considerable restraint with Luna due to their Odd Friendship. Mind you, one of them is a Charles Atlas Superpower ninja who can slaughter Fiends and mooks with no problem, and the other is a scholar with weird poses and very unusual thought process.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: She certainly didn't get her beauty from Raidou, that's for sure.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Since Genra was her father figure, she felt it was her responsibility to eliminate him when he fell under DOATECH's control. Her resolve was so strong, that it was the first and only time she ever defied her brother, going so far as to challenge him to a duel^note for the right to pursue Genra, after Hayate refused her request and forbade her to leave and won. She later reiterated it when she fought Kasumi:
  Ayane: (at Kasumi, in regard to assassinating Genra) "Sorry. I can't let you have this one."
• Took a Level in Badass: In the first two games, she was overshadowed by both her half-siblings. But during the original events of DOA3, she managed to defeat both of them and her adoptive father figure, each in single combat.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied in the DOA: Ultimate intro.
• Vague Age: She's 16 in the Japanese versions of the first 4 games, but her age was intentionally left unknown in the localized versions.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: Her appearance in the Xtreme games.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Kasumi, as their mother reminds her in a cutscene in Dimensions. As of 5, there's a bit of hope for this being restored at some point.
• When She Smiles: She usually keeps a straight face, but when she lets out a genuine smile, it's beautiful as all can get.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Big purple explosions are as much her trademark as the butterfly motif. In her ending movie for Dead or Alive 4, she makes a major (and distinguishable) contribution to the destruction of DOATEC's Tritower. A Shout Out to this explosive power shows up in Dead Fantasy, where she drops half a building on the other fighters. In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, her default ranged weapon is exploding kunai. Considering how her life's been so far, and that she's currently a teenager, one has to wonder why she hasn't actually tried destroying the world yet. Seriously, she has more Freudian Excuses than most actual villains.

Ryu Hayabusa

Hayabusa as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

Nothing can hinder my spirit. Nothing!

Origin: Japan

Fighting style: Hayabusa-style ninjutsu

Voiced by: ^note Hideyuki Hori (JP), John Parsons (EN, Hardcore), Troy Baker (EN, Dimensions and 5), Dave B. Mitchell (EN, 6-current) Played by: Kane Kosugi (DOA: Dead or Alive)

---

The star of the Ninja Gaiden series, who later became a consistent character for the Dead or Alive series. A member of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan’s head family, Ryu often takes on the leadership responsibilities of the clan and the protection of the Dragon Sword with his father. His clan and the Mugen Tenshin clan are old allies, but he's also Hayate's best friend. When Hayate is believed to be dead and Kasumi runs away to avenge him, he enters the Dead or Alive Tournament to protect her from the distance and honor his friend, to whom he promised Kasumi's protection. He enters the 2nd tournament to defeat the renegade Tengu Gohyakumine Bankotsubo, who had somehow managed to escape into the Human Dimension from the Tengu World. However, during the tournament he discovers that Hayate has been woken up from his coma, and helps to bring back his memories. In the 3rd tournament, he joins to defeat Genra, although he is side-tracked by Christie, who kidnaps Irene. Finally, he joins Hayate in his attempt to destroy DOATEC.

He observes the events of DOA5 from afar, assisting Hayate and Ayane's endeavors against the DOATEC, including witnessing the death of the clone-Kasumi, but was eventually cornered when Hayate got captured, in which Hayabusa summons the real Kasumi to assist them.

---

• Apologetic Attacker: One of his taunts has him apologizing via Dogeza.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Dimensions, this occurs during Kasumi's duel with Raidou, when he rescues her from Kasumi Alpha, and during the fight against Omega.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: He continues to watch over Kasumi at Hayate's request, and according to Dimensions, he helped spring Kasumi from her captivity at DOATEC in-between 1 and 2. He still protects her in 5, housing her in his home village as a refugee.
• Breakout Character: Although he was already popular within his own series, his inclusion in the DOA series skyrocketed it more than ever before, introducing him to a new generation of gamers who may have missed out on his 2D adventures. Not only has he become iconic to the DOA franchise as a central character whose importance to the plot rivals that of Kasumi, Ayane and Hayate, but his popularity within the DOA series gave Team Ninja the opportunity to revive the then-dormant Ninja Gaiden franchise. Ryu has since been cemented as the definitive ninja in the video game medium, and it's undeniable that the DOA series played a large part in it.
• Canon Immigrant: The Ninja Gaiden series predates DOA by at least a decade.
  • Ret-Canon: Whereas the earlier games made it clear that the NES trilogy was set before DOA, the Xbox titles (with their inclusion of Ayane) kinda negated that fact.
    • Continuity Nod: As of DOA: Dimensions Ryu seems to be the one who ventured through all his solo games again.
• Cool Sword: The Dragon Sword. Although in this series he never uses it in battle.
• Difficult, but Awesome: One of the most difficult characters in the series to learn to use but one of if not the coolest character if one does learn him, not to forget being on top of tierlists.
• The Faceless: In Dead or Alive 5, he always has a mask on with every outfit he wears. The one exception is his VR suit, but even then he wears a visor that almost completely obscures his face.
• Hero of Another Story: Take a wild guess...
• Highly-Visible Ninja: He does a better job about this than the rest of his ilk but he still hangs around in public in his Legendary Black Falcon ninja garb. Also he has several outfits that reveal his face.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum: Those ninjutsu and weaponry he used in fighting fiends and monsters in NG? Or his Dragon Sword? Don't expect to see them used in DOA, he'll just resort to a minor Kamehame Hadoken at worst (he even has an outfit in 5 where he puts on pretty much every weapon he can carry all at once but not a drop of blood drawn). To be fair, if he did, nothing will remain from Donovan and his cronies in less than a second, and he'll end up depriving his friends their much needed personal resolutions from Donovan. Also see Power Creep, Power Seep below.
• Iconic Outfit: See Ninja Catsuit below.
• Implied Love Interest: In Dimensions Irene is presented as this, although neither of them confirm it nor deny it.
• Informed Attribute: The fact he became an antique shop owner was carried over from the OVAs, and even then it's only mentioned briefly in his bio as his profession. We don't actually get to see him running the shop, or see the shop itself for that matter.
• Kamehame Hadoken: In Dimensions his charging attack becomes this if full-charged. His power blow combo ends with him blasting his opponent away.
• Meaningful Name: "Ryu" means "dragon", while "Hayabusa" means "peregrine falcon".
• Ninja: Just for your information, this is the most known and famous Video Game Ninja ever and he lives up to his claims.
• Ninja Log: In Dimensions. Used on fellow ninja and good friend Hayate, who had to have seen this at least once. Cue Face Palm by anyone who's seen an episode of Naruto.
• One-Man Army: In cut scenes. During their tag team intro in Last Round, his Ninja Gaiden co-star Rachel says that having him as an ally is like "having the strength of 100 others".
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Tecmo canon places Ryu as the strongest Ninja in the whole world, not only for his Master Ninja abilities but also for his fiend heritage, capable of fighting hell and back by himself. Needless to say there shouldn't be anyone in here capable of beating him, let alone kill him; still, Ryu is balanced to be an equal rival to Hayate.
  • Later games at least try to portray Ryu as someone who clearly isn't shaken by any of the DOATEC and other threats, acting as he could easily overthrow them, and insisting to let Hayate, Ayane and Kasumi to take care of things by themselves. This is definitely prominent in Dimensions, as he's bailed them out multiple times.
• The Promise: He watches over and protects Kasumi because he promised Hayate he would do so, essentially being the big brother Hayate can no longer be.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Jann Lee's Red.
• Retcon: With Ryu already being an extremely popular character by the time DOA Dimensions is made, it seems Team Ninja really wanted Ryu’s role in the retelling for the first 4 DOA games to be expanded; originally Ryu’s only more prominent role was in DOA2 where he canonically killed Bankotsubo, the Tengu, Dimensions on the other hand has Ryu being very active in supporting Kasumi, Ayane and Hayate in all their ventures, even the ones in which Ryu was never mentioned to be a part of in the original games, to the point it seems the trio wouldn’t accomplish half of what they did without Ryu’s help.
• Ship Tease: There was some of this in the earlier games with Kasumi, although Dimensions seems to have put an end to that.
• Slipknot Ponytail
• Smoke Out: With leaves.
• Spinning Piledriver: His trademark Inazuma Drop. The counter version is one of the most difficult to pull off in the entire games.
• Spy Catsuit: From Ultimate on, he's been using the same ninja catsuit from his own series (debuted in the first Xbox game) as his default costume (the "Legendary Black Falcon"). He can suit up in his NES duds depending on the game as well.
• Student–Master Team: If paired with Momiji during tag team battles.
• Teleport Spam: He can do this from a certain stance. And the same way Kasumi uses Cherry Blossoms for some cool effects, he uses leaves.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Just as philosophical as he is deadly, and he's only in his mid-twenties.
• Would Hit a Girl: In Dimensions, he bitch-slaps Kasumi when she insists on pursuing Hayate's helicopter, and is promptly chewed out for it by Irene Lew.

Zack

Zack as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

Zack is ready to bring the noise!

Origin: United States

Fighting style: Muay Thai

Voiced by: ^note Bin Shimada (JP), Brian Vouglas (EN, Hardcore), Dennis Rodman (EN, Xtreme Beach Volleyball), Khary Payton (EN, Xtreme 2 and Dimensions), Keith Silverstein (EN, 5-current) Played by: Brian White (DOA: Dead or Alive)

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An eccentric DJ and self-taught Muay Thai boxer, Zack only enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments for money and fame. While achieving a place in the top three in the previous three tournaments, either due to other contestants withdrawing or through his own efforts, Zack is the "winner" of the fourth tournament, as Helena Douglas gave up her title of winner to him. He plays a huge role in the Dead or Alive Xtreme spin-off series, as he is the owner and creator of Zack Island, where the games take place.

In 5, Zack is employed by Helena and goes around the world promoting the new Dead or Alive tournament to convince the public that DOATEC has changed for better.

---

• Adventure Archaeologist: His ending in DOA4 features him and Niki successfully exploring the inside of a pyramid and absconding with all the gold, much to the displeasure of the many skeletons resting peacefully within.
• Afro Asskicker: His Fighting Clown outfit In DOA5, has him donning an Afro wig.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He's goofy and kooky, but step in the ring with him and he's a living, kicking nightmare.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Helena's DOA4 ending.
• Butt-Monkey: In cut scenes he seems to always get the short stick.
• Calling Your Attacks: "ZACK BEEEEEAM!"
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Zack’s clownish behavior can distract others from his actual strength and competence, he always ranks quite high in the tournaments, granted most of the time the strongest contestants drop out to face an actual threat, but it doesn’t discount Zack’s prowess; case in point being his part in DOA5, Zack is used to test several entrants.
• Combat Stilettos: Several of his costumes in Dead or Alive 5 provides a rare male example.
• Confusion Fu: As befitting his unorthodox style of Muay Thai, Zack's gameplay has evolved to emphasize throwing his opponent off their rhythm. His chargeable attacks come with long windup animations that practically dare an opposing player to close in, where they'll take massive damage if they didn't time their approach right, and his ducking and swaying stances give him both effective evasive tools and new combo possibilities to exploit.
• Determinator: When Zack has a goal, he pursues it until it's done. As an example, he wanted to climb the Tri-Tower skyscraper simply because it was there, and did so with his own damn hands and no safety gear.
• Eye Beams: The Zack Beam is supposed to be light reflecting off of his glasses and hitting the opponent, but if his shades already got broken or he wasn't wearing any to begin with, the beam will just blast from his eyes anyway.
• Fighting Clown: With his outlandish behaviors, odd costumes, and Large Ham conduct, Zack is the silliest character in the series. 5 goes so far as to give him an actual clown costume.
• Fun Personified
• Handsome Lech: Especially towards Tina Armstrong, from DOA2 onwards. Naturally, Bass ain't gonna let that happen.
• Has a Type: Blondes. He often hits on Tina, to no success. His ex-girlfriend Niki was also blonde. And he even keeps a picture of Helena in his helicopter.
• Hot-Blooded
• Iconic Outfit: His "silver alien" bodysuit outfit.
• Large Ham: "BOYS BE, AMBITIOOOOOUS!"
• The Lancer: To Helena in 5.
• Lethal Joke Character: Zack is an odd duck with outlandish mannerisms, bizarre costumes, and is basically walking comedic relief for the series. When he's in the ring, he's still all of these, but he's a very brutal fighter with lighting-fast kicks.
• Made of Iron: He fell off the top of the DOATEC Tri Tower onto a lower platform, at least a few hundred feet and got up to fight Bayman.
• Money Fetish: The only thing other than fame that motivates him to participate in the Dead or Alive Tournaments.
• Mr. Fanservice: Throughout the series, Zack actually has a few costumes that allow that of admiring his physique.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Clearly based on Dennis Rodman.
  • He is even voiced by Rodman in Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
  • One of his costumes also bears some slight resemblance to Ronald McDonald.
• Odd Friendship: Has many friendships, some of which are never explained: Kokoro, Bayman, Hitomi and Helena, to name a few.
• Practical Taunt: The Zack Beam, an extremely risky projectile that doesn't hit for a ton of damage, but will absolutely mess with your opponent's head if you can land it.
• Prince Charming Wannabe: He seems to have a crush on Tina, especially in DOA2, and tries to be classy with her. It doesn't work as much as he'd like to.
• Retired Badass: As of Dead or Alive 6, he has semi-retired from professional fighting, coming to enjoy working behind the scenes and helping Helena more than participating.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: In the Xtreme Beach Volleyball spin-off, where he builds an entire island resort because he's come into a windfall and just wants one.
• Shout-Out:
  • One of his victory poses in DOA 5 has him imitating Kamen Rider Stronger's transformation pose.
  • The European Dreamcast version of DOA2 introduced a costume that has him cosplaying as Michael LeRoi from Shadow Man, complete with the Mask of Shadows embedded in his chest that begins glowing when Zack taunts. Said release was published by Shadow Man owners Acclaim, and while they never had any involvement with the series after that, all subsequent releases of DOA2 (also including Ultimate) kept the costume.
• Sunglasses at Night: All his costumes involve him wearing sunglasses or goggles of some sort. They can never be knocked off either. It took until DOA6 for his glasses to fall off his face after receiving a Break Blow, finally revealing what his eyes look like.
• Token Minority: Until DOA4, he was the only Black character in the roster.

Lei Fang

Lei Fang as she appears in Dead or Alive 6

Tai Chi Quan is awesome!

Origin: China

Fighting style: T'ai Chi Quan

Voiced by: ^note Yumi Touma (JP), Donna Mae Wong (EN, Hardcore), Zinnia Su (EN, Xtreme 2 and Dimensions), Cassandra Lee Morris (EN, 5-current) Played By: Ying Wang (DOA: Dead or Alive)

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A college student and T'ai Chi Quan prodigy, she is one of the first females to appear in the series, alongside Kasumi and Tina Armstrong. Despite growing up in a wealthy family, Lei Fang is a woman of justice and bears a very independent spirit. Throughout the series, Lei Fang seeks to fight Jann Lee who saved her life from ruffians six years prior the first Dead or Alive Tournament. Feeling she could have handled those rascals herself, Lei Fang then resolved to prove to Jann Lee that she too is a strong individual. However, Lei Fang had lost to Jann in almost every tournament, but she managed to defeat him in the fourth one.

She once again participated in the 5th tournament for a rematch with Jann Lee, but due to an embarrassing event involving falling atop of Jann Lee on a train, she lost focus in the actual tournament and was beaten.

---

• Animal Motifs: Phoenixes on her Chinese-style outfits, and sometimes pandas on her casual clothes.
• Anime Chinese Girl: Which is apparent the moment you lay eyes on her.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Big time. You will hear about her beauty, intelligence, and mastery of Tai Chi Quan. MANY TIMES. And don't ever make the mistake of thinking she can't fight her own battles, or she'll hound you relentlessly until she's beaten that point into you.
• Ass Kicks You: One of Tina's tag throws ends with Tina boosting Lei Fang into the air, and landing butt-first on her enemy.
• Badass Adorable: Aside from her excessive pride, she's really a fairly nice girl and undeniably cute. Many of her alternate costumes accentuate this, like her college uniform in DOA5.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: with Jann Lee, Tina and Pai in their Tag Team victory pose for DOA5.
• Berserk Button:
  • Never assume she can't fight her own battles... she hates that. Just ask Jann Lee, 'cuz she hasn't let him forget about butting into one of her fights SIX YEARS AGO and has spent the last five tournaments trying to make it clear what will happen if he does it again.
• Big Damn Heroes: In her DOA3 ending, she rescues a boy from a handful of kidnappers (the same thugs Jann Lee would boot out of the casino in his ending).
• Braids of Action: She wears her hair in what's commonly referred to as "ox horns", though she leaves two locks of it free similar to Li Xiangfei's hairstyle.
• Cat Fight: In DOA4 she fights against Hitomi... over a freaking cabbage!
• Characterization Marches On: In the original DOA, Kasumi, Leifang, and Tina were a triad of feminine types (elegant, urbane, and tough), but in the sequels, Leifang was re-characterized as a spirited woman descending from Blue Blood.
• Combat Stilettos: Her default attire in most games has her wear high heeled sandals.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Lei Fang hasn't forgotten that Jann Lee saved her during a mugging incident six years ago. She was offended because, as far as she was concerned, he butted in where he wasn't needed, since she could have handled it on her own. She eventually got over it (as in, over six years later) as her reasons for pursuing Jann Lee began to change...
• Difficult, but Awesome: Lei Fang is definitely not a character for beginners. Her playstyle is extremely technical, relying heavily on accurately reading her opponents, spacing, and precision timing with her reversals and counter-holds. Mastering Lei Fang can take weeks, or even months of practice, but when you do, she's easily one of the most dominant characters. Making her a favorite at tournament level play.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In her DOA4 ending, when the train is forced to slam on its brakes, due to a deer suddenly appearing on the track. It causes a middle-aged man to lose his balance and grab the first thing within reach to arrest his fall... Lei Fang's boobs. Her reaction was to literally kick him out of the nearest window into a river outside.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Gen Fu. Their fighting styles are loosely similar, sharing many attacks in common, albeit with slight variances in range, attack power, and priority. Generally, his attacks hit harder and have better reach, while hers are slightly faster. Which ones have greater priority depends strictly on the attack being used.
• Foot Focus: It's the reason she wears open-toed/open-heeled pumps and roughly half her moveset consists of kicks. That way, you can't help noticing them, 'cuz they'll constantly be in your face.
• Force and Finesse: Her point of Foil with Tina in DOA2; Tina decides to demonstrate what power is by hefting a boulder and hurling it, only for Leifang to chastise her for not knowing a thing about power, barely tapping the boulder with her palm and making it crumble.
• Gender-Blender Name: Leifang's name translated directly from the original Chinese is technically Lifeng (Yale translation), where "feng" is the word for the Chinese phoenix... the male Chinese phoenix. The female is properly called "huang", though the modern trend has admittedly moved away from making such distinctions and treats the fenghuang in general as feminine, to play off of the masculine Chinese dragon, which gives her dynamic with Jann Lee a motif of Animal Jingoism.
• Girlish Pigtails: One of her selectable hairstyles in DOA5: Ultimate, although in some previous entries she wears them in cutscenes.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Hitomi as of 5.
  • Though, given their interactions in the Xtreme side-series, the "hetero" part is debatable.
• Informed Attribute: According to her official measurements, she has the second largest bustline after Tina and Ayane, who tie for having the largest breasts in the series. Despite this, Lei Fang's appear to be little more than average size (see the accompanying picture above) and only seem large during her DOA4 ending.
• Kick Chick: Which is hardly any surprise, since her legs are her most prominent feature, along with her "other" pair of assets which get shown off frequently. Her trademark dresses certainly help.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Her default attire in every game before DOA6 are gorgeous cheongsams, and they are her most iconic look. And if that one wasn't enough, she has another ensemble that consists of a battle gown that she wears with high-heels, thigh-high stockings, and elbow length gloves - all in black.◊
• Lady of War: She's a master of Tai Chi'Quan, who fights wearing elegant form-fitting qipaos and battle gowns with high-heels, and has some of the most fluid combos in the game. Helena and Pai Chan are her only competition in that regard.
• Letting Her Hair Down: As an alternate hairstyle.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Jann Lee's something of a chauvinist, and has regarded Lei Fang with mild contempt at worst (i.e. throwing her into a freakin' table), and as a minor nuisance at best. Yet, she's still persistently pursuing his love, erm, respect. Starting from DOA4 however, Jann Lee's attitude towards her began to change, which was when she finally defeated him. Jann has mellowed out ever since.
• Oh, Crap!: When she sees that history is about to repeat itself in #5's story mode after her ending in #4.
• Proud Beauty: And won't hesitate to let you know it.
• The Rival: To Hitomi, though it's more friendly than taken at face value.
• Sexy Slit Dress: One of her iconic costumes is a Qipao with slits on both sides to show off her legs and her panties since she's a Kick Chick.
• Ship Tease: While eating pizza in DOAX2 Lei Fang says something very suggestive, two guesses to who she's referring to.
  Lei Fang: "Once I marry him, I'm going to have him stop eating this junk."
• Silk Hiding Steel
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Her relationship with Jann Lee is quite complicated, he's been ignoring Lei Fang since day one, but has never refused her challenges; She finally defeated him in the 4th DOA tournament but, when she tried to face Alpha-152, he went out of his way to aid her.
• Stalker with a Crush: She's been following Jann Lee ever since the incident six years ago, but she's matured during that time and her reasons have changed. Now she's determined to become a "part of his world" by "defeat the dragon within him", and has repeatedly challenged him, since the first DOA tournament. But some of her dialog the the Xtreme Beach Volleyball games have made it clear that that isn't her only reason.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Her third hairstyle, which was her main one in DOA 1.
• Unprovoked Pervert Payback: In her 4 ending, she misreads a man for being a pervert after a sudden train break causes him to accidentally grab her breasts to break his fall, and kicks him out of a train window into a lake.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Hitomi as they train and spar together in 5 (complete with special tag mode entrance/victory pose if they're paired up). A major upgrade from what happens with them in 4.
• Waif-Fu

Jann Lee

Jann Lee as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

The winner is me!

Origin: China

Fighting style: Jeet Kune Do

Voiced by: ^note Toshio Furukawa (JP, 1-4), Nobutoshi Canna (JP, since Dimensions), Brian Vouglas (EN, Hardcore), Darren Criss (EN, Dimensions), Kaiji Tang (EN, 5-current)

---

A bouncer and a self-taught Jeet Kune Do martial artist, Jann Lee is a regular in the Dead or Alive tournament and has been participating sine the first one. His sole purpose in attending these tournaments is to improve his martial art discipline and show the world that he is a great fighter.

Jann Lee comes from a troubled childhood as his parents died early in his life he was taken to an orphanage at some province in China. Jann grew up in poverty even had to beg for food on the streets. The local thugs bullied him and ridiculed him for being young and defenseless, which led to the young Jann determined to become strong and make a living for himself through martial arts.

His inspiration was Bruce Lee, all the young Jann Lee had was the joy of watching his movies, Jann Lee then made a resolve to learn Jeet Kune Do to succeed in life and he apparently learned it by himself, possibly by watching and reading about Bruce Lee and his Jeet Kune Do teachings.

Jann grew up into a great martial artist, using his skills to work as a bouncer at clubs, he became quite overconfident and slightly arrogant too by reaching this far. Now living the good life Jann Lee only focuses in improving his already great martial art discipline, that’s when he decides to participate in the Dead or Alive Tournaments, through it he met great combatants who became his regular friendly rivals, Lei Fang whom he saved from a group of thugs six years prior the first tournament, Ryu who tried to warn him off the tournament as bigger threats were involved and Hitomi who also believes real strength comes from within oneself.

Jann Lee wins the fifth Dead or Alive tournament. However, previously before the tournament begins, he was beaten by Rig in a bar brawl, and participated in the tournament to avenge his defeat, thinking that Rig is a participant. However, Rig did not appear and Jann Lee swore to defeat Rig for his loss.

---

• All Chinese People Know Kung-Fu: Self-taught no less.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Arrogant Jeet Kune Do guy, but same difference.
• Ascended Fanboy: He's a Bruce Lee fan and watched his movies when he was a kid.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: with Lei Fang in their Tag Team intro and victory pose for DOA5.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: In DOA3 Jann fends off a group of thugs in the club he was currently working for, wearing his nice bouncer suit.
• Badass Normal: Not only his Took a Level in Badass below, but he becomes so strong he KOs a T-Rex in two hits!
• Bruce Lee Clone: Jann Lee is notorious for deliberately being one, as he is a fan of The Dragon himself. Though most fighting games have one, he is the only major example in fighting games to have the name Lee.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Jann's lone time playing his trumpet definitely sheds some new light on him, not to say about his remarkable calm and helpful moments noted below.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Shaping up your Jeet Kune Do to go against dinosaurs is no normal achievement.
• Cool Versus Awesome: Bruce Lee Clone VS. T-Rex, there are no words to classify this.
• Demoted to Extra: Although he has been a minor character since the beginning, Jann Lee gets even less exposition in Dimensions where his friendly rivalry with Ryu and remarkable enounters with Hitomi are not presented; there's only a single fight with Ryu and that's it.
• Destroying a Punching Bag: His Dead or Alive 4 ending movie is him in his gym thinking back to his hard childhood and how he was inspired by Bruce Lee movies to get stronger. It ends with him leaving the gym, but not before destroying a punching bag with one flying Roundhouse Kick.
• Don't Think, Feel: Adding to his Bruce Lee inspiration:
  Jann Lee: You don't think about a fight...You feel it! — Dimensions
• Dragons Up the Yin Yang: Jann and his dragon themed wardrobe, he sports a Dragon on the back of his Yellow Jumpsuit in DOA4 and on the left leg of his pants in DOA5.
• Finger Wag: When Jann Lee finishes off cleaning up the club in DOA3, the remaining thugs run away and Jann gives them the Bruce Lee finger wag.
• Funny Bruce Lee Noises: Jann Lee is fond of Bruce Lee's kiais and uses them at every given opportunity, DOA4 in particular has Jann using them more often than in other games, his taunt in it is notorious for this.
• Good Is Not Nice: Overconfidence up to the point being arrogant sometimes, noted moments of asocial and violent behavior, Jann Lee has a record of presenting himself as an unpleasant person; at other times he did make appearances as a good guy just as much: bonding with Hitomi's way of fighting at one occasion and saving her from a T-Rex in another, having a friendly spar with Ryu and saving Lei Fang yet again.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Jann Lee tends to explode at people trying to make him go out of his way:
  • Ryu tried to warn him off DOA2 as bigger threats were involved and Jann responded furiously, telling Ryu to mind his own business.
  • Lei Fang was asking for Jann to have a match with her once again in Dimensions, he tries to push her out of his way, she keeps asking and he responds by throwing her against a table.
• Hot-Blooded
• Hunk: He's strong and dashing, too... it seems Lei-Fang can attest to this as well.
• Iconic Item: His Nunchucks.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jann Lee is quite the lonesome angry guy, but he has been friendly and helpful on occasion:
  • He saved Lei Fang from group of thugs when she was younger, that's why Lei Fang now devotes herself to prove to Jann Lee she became a great fighter who can keep up with him. In his DOA4 path Jann Lee saves Lei Fang yet again, this time from Alpha-152.
  • Jann has a friendly Nunchaku competition and then a spar against Ryu in his path for DOA4.
• Kiai
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Jann's two-leg stomp on his opponent, usually the end of a combo or capable of doing it on the get go, regardless it only works when the opponent is down; a notable attack lifted straight from Bruce Lee's.
• Meaningful Name: Jann Lee is a reference to Bruce Lee's chinese given name Lee Jun Fan, also read as Léi Jan'fàan.
• Megaton Punch: The One Inch Punch, par of the course for a faithful Bruce Lee Clone.
• Minor Major Character: The few things Jann's character could boast was that he participated in all Dead or Alive Tournaments and that he defeated a T-Rex with his bare hands, and not much else; come DOA5 and Jann develops a grudge with the newcomer Rig, who happens to be the Big Bad's son, and he actually wins this Dead or Alive Tournament, these additions definitely made Jann's importance in the greater plot considerably greater, much more so.
• Motifs:
  • Animal Motifs: The Dragon obviously.
  • Symbol Motif Clothing: Lately the dragon it's also being portrayed on his clothes.
• Mr. Fanservice: Has his moments!
• Now What?: After winning the fifth DOA tournament, he becomes depressed as he feels there's no more hurdles to climb. His battle and apparent draw with Diego snaps him out of it.
• Parental Abandonment: Jann's parents died when he was young, he was dropped in an orphanage and seemed to live in porverty and was never adopted; Jann Lee then decides to become strong and make a living for himself.
• Perpetual Frowner: Jann Lee looks seriously focused at times, otherwise he just looks angry.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: Jann Lee apparently has a soft side to reminisce his childhood memories while playing a trumpet, as seen on his DOA4 ending sequence.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Jann Lee won the DOA tournament, but didn't even get his rematch against Rig. He's not pleased, thus he didn't even attend the championship ceremony.
• Odd Friendship: with Hitomi, the result of their encounter in DOA3 was completely unexpected; Jann Lee who was being disrespectful to his closest peers (Ryu and Lei Fang) till the third tournament bonded with Hitomi quite well, their mutual understanding of martial arts was the bridge for this friendship.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Ryu's Blue.
• The Rival: To Ryu and Hitomi, as well as Rig.
• Screaming Warrior: Jann Lee used to scream his victory quotes, DOA2 had him ending the fight by shouting at his opponent to accept defeat.
• Self-Made Man: All Jann Lee had in his childhood was the resolve to become strong to make a living out of it, Jann's Jeet Kune Do discipline is entirely taken from his Bruce Lee inspiration, continuous training and challenging other fighters, he had no formal schooling for the martial art; becoming a great fighter made Jann Lee a highly requested bouncer.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Aside his traditional Martial Artist wear, Jann Lee has some fashionable outfits too, especially in DOA4; which is another reference to Bruce Lee who liked to dress elegantly outside his movies.
• Shirtless Scene: Jann Lee takes his top off to bounce thugs out of his workplace in DOA3.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Otherwise he just goes around with his chest bare, typical of a Bruce Lee Clone.
• Significant Birth Date: November 27th, the same the late master Bruce Lee.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: His relationship with Lei Fang is quite complicated, Jann has been ignoring her since day one but never refused Lei Fang's challenges; Lei Fang won against Jann in the 4th DOA tournament, Jann could leave at that, but as Lei Fang went to face Alpha-152 he went out of his way to aid her.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: Jann has a set of clothes in which the top is sleeveless, much to credit his main outfit in the first DOA.
• Spirited Competitor: Jann Lee is always up to a fight, despite his overconfidence and slight arrogance that he considers himself to be the best, the man doesn't turn down any challenge; although he can get angry at people who are always asking for a rematch, like Lei Fang.
• To Be a Master: Jann Lee's sole reason to be participating in the Dead or Alive Tournaments, he wants to prove to others that he is the best fighter around; Jann himself seems to believe he's the best already.
• Took a Level in Badass: Bullied weak kid in the past; now look at what he has become.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Jann's good deeds throughout the tournaments seems to have been bringing out the best in him, the high point so far is his path in DOA4, it's entirely made out of Jann Lee being helpful and nice.
• Translation Style Choices: In the first DOA Jann Lee's profession was listed as "bodyguard", which was quite vague and did not match well with the fact that in the game, Jann worked at nightclubs as a bouncer. Starting from DOA2 Jann Lee's profession was described as a bouncer and it has been ever since.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: It's only natural when you're a Bruce Lee Clone. Many of his 1P costumes in various installments depict him shirtless.
• Whole Costume Reference: The iconic Bruce Lee's Yellow Jumpsuit, Jann had them in DOA4, it came back in Dimensions but with some changes, different enough to arguably discard the reference.
• Wrestler of Beasts: Jann Lee saves Hitomi from a dinosaur by knocking it out with a Diving Kick. However, Hitomi is not impressed and criticizes Jann Lee for being "cruel".
• Vocal Dissonance: Toshio Furukawa delivers a very deep voice in between the typical high pitched kiais, especially in DOA4 where Jann Lee's voice is particularly deep.
  • Vocal Evolution: As of DOA5, Nobutoshi Canna delivers a more subdued but still subtle kiais for Jann Lee, it's stark different than his previous kiais, while still maintaining the Bruce Lee Clone aura.

Tina Armstrong

Tina as she appears in Dead or Alive 6

I'm gonna open a can of whoop-ass on you!

Origin: United States

Fighting style: Pro-wrestling

Voiced by: ^note Mami Koyama (JP, first game), Yuko Nagashima (JP, all others), Sally Dana (EN, Hardcore), Kate Higgins (EN, Xtreme 2-current) Played By: Jaime Pressly (DOA: Dead or Alive)

---

A professional wrestler with dreams of fame, Tina joins the Dead or Alive Tournament in the hopes of getting noticed by the right people. So far she's been (aside from a wrestler) a top model, a Hollywood action movie star, and a rock star, and as of current, aims to be the governor of Texas. She's best friends with Lisa Hamilton, fends off Zack whenever he tries to hit on her, and has a rocky relationship with her dad Bass, who Tina tries to avoid as much as possible.

---

• All-American Face: More or less.
• Americans Are Cowboys: She has a cowgirl-themed costume in nearly every game.
• Ass Kicks You: Throughout the Dead or Alive games, she had a butt-first lunge attack, and a butt drop to downed foes. Her Power Blow, Ultra Tina Special and Break Blow ends with a butt-first tackle, in DOA5. Also, her Cliffhanger attack ends in a plummeting butt crush.
• Cool Shades: She's one of only two girls in DOA5 who sports a pair of shades as her eyewear item in fights rather than a regular pair of glasses, the other being Christie. And in the opening movie to the second Xtreme game, she starts out wearing some.
• Cute Bruiser: As a pro wrestler, her fighting mostly consists brutal strikes and slams.
• Daddy's Girl: To her father Bass. Although nowadays it's to her frustration.
• Dumb Blonde: Zigzagged. She behaves like a Book Dumb Ms. Fanservice, but she also has very clear goals and always finds a way to get them. Not to mention that she has outsmarted other characters. Case in point, in DOA5 after her match against her father, who has been fighting behind a mask, she tricks him into revealing his identity by announcing publicly that she intends to run for governor.
• Everything Is Big in Texas: Just like her dad.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: People tend to forget this, but in the first game she had chestnut hair◊. She probably dyed it back to blonde when she decided to become a model to invoke this trope (In DOA2 a cut scene of her when she was a child◊ suggests blond is her actual natural color).
• Flag Bikini: Has at least 5 different kinds, naturally befitting her All-American Face status. One of them appears to based on the state flag for Texas, which is only natural for a Texan girl.
• Force and Finesse: Her point of Foil with Leifang in DOA2; Tina decides to demonstrate what power is by hefting a boulder and hurling it, only for Leifang to chastise her for not knowing a thing about power, barely tapping the boulder with her palm and making it crumble.
• The Friendly Texan: A noted Nice Girl from the great state of Texas.
• Gamer Chick: Stated to be one in the series original debut in 1996 on Arcades, odd enough it has never been explored further or commented upon following the Console release and anything that followed it ever since.
• Gorgeous Gaijin: A tall, blonde and well-endowed American woman who appears in all kinds of revealing outfits. She definitely fits the bill.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Lisa.
• Hot-Blooded: Just like her father.
• Informed Attribute: In Tina's profile in the very first arcade release of Dead or Alive, she had "video games" listed as one of her hobbies. However, the hobbies section got dropped from the console release and never appeared again in following installments. Until now Tina has never showed even a hint of being a Gamer Chick on-screen.
• Mighty Glacier: She's the strongest, yet slowest female character of the roster. This is also reflected in "6" by her showing these least agony out of all the characters while getting hit, which makes sense because wrestling is a full-contact sport that emphasizes strength and she is conditioned to take hits better.
• Missing Mom: Her mother died from an unknown disease when Tina was only six years old.
• Ms. Fanservice: While every single female character in the game could qualify, Tina takes this trope in stride and runs with it, having among the most provocative costumes in the the DOA series until Lisa joined the cast. Even in 6, which is said to be toning down the sex appeal, she's still as Fanservicey as ever.
• Nice Girl: When not kicking someone's ass in a match, cutscenes in the games show that she seems pretty friendly and easy to get along with.
• Pretty in Mink: Her ending in 2 is her modeling an outfit with a fur-trimmed coat.
• Renaissance Man: Wrestler, Model, Actress, and skateboarding Electric Guitarist. She's also declared a bid for Governor as of DOA5, but it's unknown whether or not she'll follow through on that or not. It seems unlikely after "6" because she learns from Zack that she is under-qualified age-wise to be Governor.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Tina has no issue using her sex appeal as part of her celebrity image, much to her father's chagrin.
• Statuesque Stunner: 5'9".
• Stripperific: She has some of the most provocative outfits in the game, and until Christie showed up, were the most.
• Wrestler in All of Us: She probably has the most wrestling moves of the entire roster.

Bayman

Bayman as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

Ready to face your fate?

Origin: Russia

Fighting style: Combat sambo

Voiced by: ^note Banjo Ginga (JP), Timothy Enos (EN, Hardcore), Zack Hanks (EN, Dimensions), Matthew Mercer (EN, 5-current) Played By: Derek Boyer (DOA: Dead or Alive)

---

A professional assassin and Sambo martial artist. Once a hired killer for Victor Donovan, Bayman is now after Donovan's blood after he left him without payment and tried to kill him instead. Bayman is also the murderer of Fame Douglas, the former leader of the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee; the job Donovan hired him for.

---

• Action Genre Hero Guy: His design in 5, most evident with his plainclothes alt costume.
• Baritone of Strength: As of 5, Bayman speaks in a deep voice (in both English and Japanese) and is obviously strong, being a professional, dangerous assassin who fights ninjas on a regular basis.
• Cold Sniper: How he kills Fame Douglas.
• Contract on the Hitman: Victor Donovan uses him as a Hitman and, once his work is done, orders to have him killed.
• The Dragon: He was this, more or less, to Donovan before he declared that he has outlived his usefulness.
• Gainax Ending: His DOA4 ending, in which, despite having defeated Christie, somehow ends up in DOATEC's power, drugged and struggling to recover his memories, just in time for Ayane to destroy the tri-tower.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Bayman has a new scar across his face as of 5, which was caused by Phase-4.
• He Knows Too Much
• Heel–Face Turn: Became a mercenary by 5 to make up for his sins.
• Hunk: Even in a game that mostly caters to the male demographic, he's quite attractive with his muscular frame and manly features.
• Husky Russkie: To an extent. He certainly has a lot more intelligence than other characters this trope applies for.
  • Not so intelligent in the movie.
• Iconic Outfit: There was some gnashing of teeth when 5 cut his signature red beret but it returned through the first Downloadable Content costume pack.
• I'll Kill You!: Says this as a taunt.
• Ineffectual Loner
• Knuckle Cracking: He does this a lot, especially in cut scenes.
• Mighty Glacier: Can deal heavy damage with his attacks, holds, and throws but suffers from sluggish movement.
• Neck Snap: Often done to his opponents with his Sambo fighting style, but it's treated as a non-lethal standard move.
• Nothing Personal: It's implied that any friction he might have with Christie is merely because her objectives compete with his own. In their line of work, it's to be expected.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's definitely this at times!
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Bayman is only his codename, it's unknown what his real name is.
• Put on a Bus: Bayman was nowhere to be seen in the arcade and original Dreamcast release of DOA2, effectively being replaced by Leon. It didn't last long, since...
  • The Bus Came Back: He returned in later revisions of the game, including DOA2: Hardcore, and has remained in the cast since.
• The Rival: Often considered to be this to Leon, but he's more of this to Christie nowadays.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's 6'2" and not bad-looking at all!
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied in his DOA3 ending.
• We Have Ways of Making You Talk: He gets captured during the 4th Tournament and DOATEC tries to break him, threatening him to talk while he still can live. Fortunately for him, he gets to escape in the middle of the chaos created by the Mugen-Tenshin clan.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Although unsurprising, as his fighting style is basically a form of Russian wrestling.
• Unscrupulous Hero: He's closer to the side of good than Christie, but that's only because his goals openly oppose MIST.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Donovan attempted this on him after completing his assignment to kill Fame Douglas.

Gen Fu

Gen Fu as he appears in Dead or Alive 5

My fists only get stronger with age!

Origin: China

Fighting style: Xinyi Liuhe Quan

Voiced by: ^note Takeshi Aono (JP, 1-4), Chikao Ohtsuka (JP, Dimensions, 5), Roger L. Jackson (EN, Hardcore), Paul Nakauchi (EN, Dimensions), Kirk Thornton (EN, 5) Played By: Fang Liu (DOA: Dead or Alive)

---

A bookstore owner and a master of Xinyi Liuhe Quan. He joined the Dead or Alive Tournaments to help his sick granddaughter, Mei Lin but as of Dead or Alive 4, he no longer needs to join the tournaments, since Mei Lin is back to full health and the doctor's bills are paid off. He is also the mentor of sixteen-year-old Eliot. At the age of 65, he is the oldest human character in the series thus far.

---

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He is no longer playable and is only mentioned by name in DOA6, with Eliot incorporating some of his fighting style in his own.
• Cool Old Guy: Bad enough to go after Tengu to take its nose, for the sake of his granddaughter.
• Delicate and Sickly : His granddaughter. He entered the second DOA tournament to obtain money to pay for his granddaughter's medical bills, but defeating the Tengu sees him removing Tengu's nose, which was said to be a magical cure-all.
• Demoted to Extra: His story ended at the end of DOA3 and has been replaced by Eliot from 4 onwards, but still appears in a supportive role. He is fought at the end of Eliot's story in 4, while in 5, Gen-Fu only appears in the very end of Eliot's chapter, doesn't fight, and doesn't have a chapter for his own. He can still be unlocked to play as in both games.
• It's Personal: The confrontation between him and Helena Douglas (DOA2) begins with her calling him, "unremarkable for a master." But when he counters, by asking what she's doing in "such an unremarkable place", both their tempers flare and things quickly escalate into a fight.
• The Mentor: To Eliot.
• Old Master: Both in the literal sense, as he's Elliot's sifu, at age 65, and because he's one of the most proficient martial artists competing in the tournament.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's the second shortest male character at 5'7" but damn, is he strong.

Bass Armstrong / Mr. Strong

Bass as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

I won't have any mercy, even for a beginner!

Origin: United States

Fighting style: Pro-wrestling

Voiced by: ^note Daisuke Gōri (JP, 1-4), Kenta Miyake (JP, since Dimensions), Terrence McGovern (EN, Hardcore), Joe J. Thomas (EN, Dimensions), Patrick Seitz (EN, 5-current) Played By: Kevin Nash (DOA: Dead or Alive)

---

A retired professional wrestler and father of Tina Armstrong, Bass enters the Dead or Alive Tournaments to stop Tina from dropping her title as a pro-wrestler to become a Hollywood sensation. The reason why is unknown, but some suspect that he made a promise to his deceased wife Alicia to protect Tina and make her into a woman of importance. He holds a job as an oil platform worker, which is how he knows Rig.

While working on his oil platform, he saw the announcement of the next DOA and Tina has returned to the wrestling ring. After reigniting his fighting spirit by fighting Rig, Bass returns to the wrestling ring, disguising himself as 'Mr. Strong'... which fails to fool anyone, but he still decided to embrace his old fans' cheering. He was unfortunately defeated by Jann Lee in the actual DOA tournament, and sometime later, the oil platform he worked on is destroyed... but not after Bass and Rig evacuated every worker there. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten ahold the information that Rig is actually Victor Donovan's son playing amnesiac...

---

• Americans Are Cowboys: His second costume in the second game.
• Ass Kicks You: His Bass Special is a butt-first tackle. That explains where Tina learned her moves from.
• Badass Biker
• The Bear: In terms of visual design, at least. He's big, beefy, and bearded, even wearing some biker leather attire every now and then...
• Berserk Button: Don't try to hit on or insult his daughter. EVER!
  • Don't imply anything bad about his motorcycle either.
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: He's not very fond of letting Tina hang out with other men, or even stray too far from his career path into the squared circle just to flaunt her assets (in every sense of the word).
• Charles Atlas Superpower: In 5, he manages to hold up a big ass concrete pillar.
• Charlie Brown from Outta Town: He seemed to have retired from professional wrestling to work on an oil rig... but after Tina announces her intentions to join DOA5, he returns as the mask-wearing Mr. Strong.
• Chewing the Scenery: As a wrestler, he does this sometimes.
  • "I'M JUST TOO... DAMN... STRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG!!!!!"
• Eagleland: Mixtures with strong on Type 1. He has a distinctively "American" theme about him. While he's loud and boisterous, he's not an obnoxious one due to being an All-American Face, and always tries to protect those he holds dear (even if the subject doesn't quite approve).
• Everything Is Big in Texas: Where he's from, and it's the truth, as he is easily the largest male fighter in the series.
• Expy: While the Hulk Hogan influence is obvious, he also takes some cues from another American wrestler that was big in Japan, Stan Hansen. Who else could have inspired the Texan cowboy outfit, or the lariats for days?
• He's Back!: Invoked In-Universe. He retired from the pro-wrestling ring and works at an oil rig to give the younger generation a chance to shine. Once Tina returned to the ring, so did he.
• Hoax Hogan: Bass is a clear expy to Hulk Hogan in a lot of his aspects, especially that he mimics the Hollywood Hogan persona. Tina also seems based on Hogan's daughter Brooke, but it's more a coincidence than a real expy.
• Hot-Blooded: When the man isn't yelling, he's not speaking.
• Hunk: Though he may a get a bit obnoxious at times, the man's still quite the looker, with his big build and manliness.
• Large Ham: He's a pro wrestler, of course he is.
• Manly Man: Bass is easily the most macho character in the whole franchise, being huge and aggressive, riding and maintaining motorbikes, and a wrestling superstar. It even leaks through into his tag teams, where he shares nearly identical macho interactions with Bayman, Leon, and Rig, and even makes it show up in Tina and Mila.
• Masked Luchador: As Mr. Strong.
• Mighty Glacier: The slowest character in the series, but he can hit like a ton of bricks. Some of his moves can drain as much as a forth of his opponents health bar.
• Minor Major Character: Like Jann Lee, Bass also has links to Rig, who is revealed as the all-new villain, the Big Bad's son no less. He's also present in every DOA tournament and even though he has never won, the relationship with Rig could bring the Armstrong family (him and Tina) into the main spotlight.
• Mr. Fanservice: Thanks to the Valentine's Day DLC.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: "Hollywood" Hogan is the inspiration for Bass, given the large amount of biker leather, leather bandannas, shades, and grizzled biker's beard. Ironically, in the movie adaption Bass is portrayed by Hogan's fellow nWo member, Kevin Nash.
• Odd Friendship: Bass gets along surprisingly well with professional killer Bayman and the mercenary Leon, even getting them to share in his aura of machismo when in the ring together.
• Pain to the Ass: He has access to the dreaded Atomic Drop from wrestling where he lifts his opponents and with authority drops them seated between the cheeks to his knee in a seated position. The victim visibly performs a Pain-Powered Leap of sorts holding their aching butt in the process. It can be quite amusing seeing him perform this on Marie Rose specifically and wonder how her spine doesn't suffer any long term consequences.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: His persona of Mr. Strong is just him with a mask, with no other attempts to hide his identity. Absolutely no one is fooled by it.
  "I don't know who you're talking about! I'm Mr. Strong!"
• Pro Wrestling Is Real
• Stout Strength
• Tag Team: As of Last Round, Bass is notable for being in a three-way tie for the lead in sheer number of tag partners at fifteen^note Ayane and Ryu can technically tag with sixteen due to being able to tag with both Hayate and Ein, who are the same person. and has the largest number of tag throws at thirty.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: His main outfit in 5 sees him wearing an American flag bandana, while one of his DLC outfits is a rikishi ring gear that is stars and stripes patterned.

Raidou

Raidou as he appears in Dead or Alive 6

A bug who seeks to stand against me! Interesting!

Origin: Japan

Fighting style: Mugen Tenshin-style ninjutsu

Voiced by: ^note Koji Yada (JP, 1-Ultimate), Tetsu Inada (JP, Dimensions-current), Michael McConnohie (EN, Dimensions-5, 6; Archived Dialogue), Jamieson Price (EN, 6; New Dialogue Only)

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A Runaway Shinobi from the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, and the final boss of the first Dead or Alive. He is the older brother of Shiden and paternal uncle to Hayate and Kasumi. A power-hungry being, he raped Shiden's wife, Ayame, which ended with her giving birth to Ayane, making the latter his daughter. After being exiled for his crimes, his lust for power drove him to defeat and steal the techniques of powerful fighters. Raidou's road of bloodshed eventually led him back to the village, where he took the Torn Sky Blast from Shiden's son Hayate and shattered his spine, leaving him comatose. He was later killed by Kasumi during the first Dead or Alive Tournament in revenge for Hayate.

...Or so it was believed. Raidou returns in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, having been resurrected by Victor Donovan as a cyborg.

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• Alternate Company Equivalent: In DOA1, his appearance made him one to Street Fighter's Akuma, as both were master martial artists who became demonic in their pursuit of strength and power^note Ironically, Akuma's backstory would also reveal a rivalry with his brother, who trained two of the main characters. His moveset would also make him one of Virtua Fighter's Dural, another Final Boss whose moves were taken from other characters. Dimensions attempted to address these comparisons by making his appearance and powers a result of DOATEC's experiments and giving him some unique moves of his own.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: In DOA5: Last Round, his skin tone is a sickly shade of gray. Of course, he has been dead for two years. His alternate costumes can Palette Swap him to have red skin and gold or silver prosthetics.
• Archnemesis Dad: To Ayane.
• Artificial Limbs: In DOA5: Last Round, his right arm is now mechanical.
• Asshole Victim: He raped Ayame and crippled Hayate; needless to say, he had it coming when Kasumi offed him.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: How he is able to "steal" the secret techniques of other fighters. See Power Copying below.
• Ax-Crazy: Very violent and sadistic, and has no qualms against beating the shit out of his own family to get his way.
• Back from the Dead: In DOA5: Last Round, he has been resurrected as a cyborg. 6 shows his resurrection process.
• Back for the Dead: As soon as he is resurrected in 6, he is swiftly killed again by Hayate, Ayane or Kasumi. This time for good, as his entire body disintegrates.
• Cain and Abel: The Cain to Shiden's Abel.
• Child by Rape: The father of Ayane.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Raidou lost his memory when he was revived, but he was already a soulless Jerkass long before he became a cyborg. It is because he lost his memory that he became an even worse person than before, since the only thing left is a hideous incarnation of malice and cruelty. His bio for 6 states that while most of his memories were wiped, his desire to crush the Mugen Tenshin clan and those affiliated with it was left intact. The moment he's revived in the game's story mode, he actually states that his return was fated and appears to have some recognition of Hayate.
• Cyborg: In his new design for DOA5: Last Round, he now sports a cybernetic arm and eye. He's somewhat reminiscent of Kano or Regime Cyborg.
• Deader than Dead: When he dies again at the end of 6, his body is completely destroyed, leaving nothing left.
• Disappeared Dad: Not that Ayane minded his absence at all and probably would've preferred him to stay gone forever, preferably dead. But 6 raises another question on why this was the case with his other daughter, Honoka, who probably knew nothing about him.
• Ditto Fighter: As mentioned above, Raidou's fighting style is similar to Dural's, in that his moveset is an amalgamation of the other fighters. In Dimensions onward, he gained quite a few moves of his own.
• Empty Eyes: His left eye after cyberization in DOA5: Last Round.
• Evil Uncle: To Kasumi and Hayate.
• Evil Laugh: Were you expecting otherwise?
• Final Boss: In the first game as well as the sixth.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Most evident in DOA1 and after transforming in Dimensions. However, after becoming a cyborg, it is only on his cybernetic right eye.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Only seen in the Ultimate prologue movie, where he has a scar covering his right eye.
• Hades Shaded: He originally had a very dark shade of skin. It's more apparent with his One-Winged Angel form in Dimensions.
• Hate Sink: This guy is by far one of the most despicable characters of Dead or Alive, and for a lot and lot of good reasons.
• He-Man Woman Hater: As shown by the fact that he raped Ayame, Raidou has a very condescending view towards women, and constantly mocks Hayate for allowing Ayane and Kasumi to aid him.
• Jerkass: He raped his brother Shiden's wife, crippled his nephew, tried killing his niece, and stuck his own daughter each time he saw her, and clearly enjoyed all of it.
• Karmic Death: He cripples Hayate with the Torn Sky Blast in the Ultimate intro. In Dimensions, he's killed by the same technique courtesy of Kasumi^note with help from Hayabusa. Hayate was sent into a tree, Raidou was sent into explosive canisters. In 6, you get to select who has the honor of killing him again. Since they missed their chance before, this means that Ayane can get revenge for him raping her mother, or Hayate can return the favor of being put out of commission. Or you can have Kasumi finish the job again.
• Lightning Bruiser: Man-handles Hayate single-handedly. Literally.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: DOA6 reveals that he is Honoka's father.
  • In the DOA2 Ultimate intro, Ayane knew all her life that she was Raidou's daughter (and the rest of the ninja village was suspicious of her because of it), but she was shocked to hear Ayame tell her that she's her mother.
• Manly Facial Hair: Which covers all of his lower face except for his chin. As of DOA5: Last Round, the right side of said mustache is metallic.
• Near-Villain Victory: In Dimensions, if it wasn't for Hayabusa's interference, Kasumi would have met the same fate as her brother.
• Neck Snap: One of his throws introduced in Dimensions ends with this.
• Ninja: An exiled one from the Mugen Tenshin clan.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Raidou started as a Ninja. Last Round saw him become a Ninja Zombie Robot. At long last, DOA6 completed the trifecta with its Pirate DLC, making Raidou a literal Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot.
• One-Winged Angel: He gets a redesign in the opening for DOA2 Ultimate, which is also used for Dimensions, while his original black-haired appearance becomes this after he's defeated by Kasumi the first time.
• Power Copying: He can copy techniques and moves by watching them; it's how he stole the Torn Sky Blast when Hayate tried to use it on him.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: His transformation in Dimensions turns his hair from white to black.
• Put on a Bus: Aside from Dimensions (which retreads the events of the first game), he has only appeared as a character in the original DOA.
  • The Bus Came Back: Finally returns (albeit as a cyborg), in DOA5: Last Round. His return is canonical for 6.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: In the past, he raped Ayame, resulting in the conception and birth of Ayane.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: He does this to Hayate using one hand in the opening for DOA2 Ultimate. This very technique is his Power Blow in DOA5: Last Round. And the one Raidou does this to in his reveal trailer? Hayate.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His demonic appearance in DOA1 and Dimensions. Now only limited to his right eye in DOA5: Last Round, via Electronic Eyes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Shiden's blue. Although Raidou is the elder brother, it was because of his violent ways and lust for power that Shiden was chosen to lead the clan and was taught the Sky Torn Blast instead.
• Retcon: While the reason was never made clear behind Raidou's demonic appearance in DOA1, his original backstory implied it was due to the power he came to possess combined with the evil inside him, and joined the tournament to steal more techniques from the other fighters. Come Dimensions, his demonic form is a One-Winged Angel transformation that Hayabusa connects to DOATEC's superhuman experiments later on, implying that Raidou became a willing test subject in his lust for power. How he came across DOATEC, his exact reasons for participating in the tournament and becoming Fame Douglas' bodyguard are not explained.
  • This was likely done to connect DOATEC with the first game's events and explain why Raidou had a different design in Ultimate's prologue movie, which itself was possibly a retcon of his original appearance, until Dimensions was released and both designs were used.
• We Can Rebuild Him: He was brought back from the dead by NiCO, to prove that even the dead could be brought back to life.

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