Characters / Kunio-kun

This page covers the characters from the Kunio-kun series. Their names are listed by Japanese ones, since the Western counterparts weren't consistent between the games, and starting from the Nintendo 3DS games the series went with the Japanese canon. Nonetheless, their Western names will be also noted in their respective bio. They are also listed in the Japanese fashion (family name first, given name last) when the full name is available.

Also check out these pages:

• River City Ransom - for the Western canon in River City Ransom, and by extension its 2017 sequel, River City Ransom: Underground.
• Double Dragon - for the Double Dragon characters that made appearances in this series.

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Main Characters

Kunio

Kunio (くにお)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Mr. K (Renegade), Alex (River City Ransom), Sam (Super Dodge Ball), Jeff "Crash" Cooney (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced in Japanese by: Ryō Horikawa (Super Dodge Ball, Kunio no Oden), Yuuki Sato (soccer games), Tomokazu Sugita (Nintendo 3DS games), Satoru Murakami (Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san), Makoto Furukawa (River City Girls 2), Takuya Mizoguchi (theater play)

Voiced in English by: Greg Chun (River City Girls, 2)

The protagonist of the series. He may look intimidating, but he'll do anything to protect his friends in Nekketsu High with his bare fists.

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• Big Man on Campus: Commands a lot of respect in Nekketsu High since he's willing to roll up his sleeves at any sign of trouble.
• Big Damn Heroes: In River City: Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special, he and Sugata arrive to assist the Player and Nanase from a vicious ambush against the Dragon Twins and many Reiho Academy goons.
• Birds of a Feather: In River City Girls 2, he's shown to have a non-romantic version of this dynamic with Kyoko, with both getting along well on account of them being passionate and excitable people with rather thick heads.
• Bully Hunter: From the very first game, where Kunio's friend Hiroshi keeps getting attacked by various gangs, and Kunio will accept none of it.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In Renegade, Kunio has a much more dour and intimidating appearance, resembling characters from the delinquent manga common at the time he debuted. Later games in the Nekketsu Koha branch of the series lightened up his expressions, while the Downtown Nekketsu and sports games rounded him out.
• Expy Coexistence: River City Girls 2 has him exist in the same continuity as some of his localized selves, which were split off into unrelated NPCs.
• Friendly Rivalry: He has this going with Riki, but the two truly respect each other.
• The Hero: Is the main protagonist in every Kunio-title, including his likeness in Jidaigeki, High Fantasy, and during the three kingdoms.
• Hot-Blooded: He is well known for his burning passion, even amongst fellow delinquents. This is more pronounced in River City Girls where one of his movesets has him unleash a hot blooded punch that launches an opponent up.
• Hurricane Kick: It's one of his trademark skills in the games.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may sometimes be a jerk, but he is honestly kind and stands up for others against bullies.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after former president of Technōs Japan, Kunio Taki.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: In River City Girls, he wears his school uniform jacket with a red hoodie under it.
• Only One Name: Kunio is only known and referred to by his first name as his family name has never been officially disclosed by the creators. However, the live-action movie and television series gave him the last name, Fu'unji.
• Playing with Fire: In River City Girls 2, a few of his Special-type moves set his fist on-fire or generate a tornado of fire briefly.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: A kick-based variant named Mach Kick/Dragon Feet, another trademark move.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Riki's blue, especially for whatever little screen time they get in River City Girls where Kunio is pretty energetic and smiling all the time. On the cover art he even gives the viewer (or girls) a thumbs up and wink while Riki is stoic and laidback. He also dons a red shirt.
• Whole Costume Reference: His River City Girls design gives his uniform a close resemblance to Kazuma Kiryu's suit.

Riki

Samejima Riki (鮫島 力)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Jack (Renegade, Super Dodge Ball), Ryan (River City Ransom), Crush (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced in Japanese by: Nobutoshi Canna (River City Ransom PCE CD version), Tetsuya Iwanaga (Nintendo 3DS games), Masaaki Okura (Super Dodge Ball), Chiaki Kobayashi (River City Girls 2), Yukihiro Takiguchi (TV special), Takeshi Terayama (Theater play)

Voiced in English by: Kaiji Tang (River City Girls, 2)

The leader of Hanazono High School, Riki is the first boss Kunio fights on his journey to save Hiroshi. Since then he has acted as Kunio's sidekick. Mostly known for being Player 2 in Co-Op Multiplayer games.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Kyoko calls him "Riki-poo" in River City Girls. It might not be so affectionate on his side in the non-secret ending, considering Kyoko's a crazy ex who still thinks they're dating. The secret ending has him react to it with annoyance, even as he agrees to take Kyoko on a date.
• Achievements in Ignorance: By taking his ending path in the updated rerelease of River City: Rival Showdown, he manages to foil Yamada's plans for dominating the schools without actually realizing that's what he did, having climbed Reiho Academy for entirely different reasons compared to the regular endings.
• Characterization Marches On: In Kunio no Banka he had a more expressive attitude, wherein River City Girls he's more laidback and calmer.
• A Day in the Limelight: Given his own story in 2012 game Riki Densetsu, which fleshes out his past before meeting Kunio and acts as a prequel to Renegade. He's also given his own set of playable missions in the updated rerelease of River City: Rival Showdown, showing what he was up to during the main story...supposedly.
• Delinquent Hair: Has a blue pompadour. His River City Girls redesign trades it for a messy black undercut.
• Embarrassing Nickname: In the secret ending of River City Girls where he agrees to take Kyoko on a date, he reacts with annoyance to her calling him "Riki-poo".
• Friendly Rivalry: To Kunio in that they butt heads a lot and compete over strength, but still work together against common enemies and have mutual respect for one another.
• The Lancer: To Kunio.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts like a traditional tough guy delinquent, but he is really a pleasantly nice and loyal guy.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Wears his uniform jacket draped over his shoulders with no shirt under it, only a sarashi.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His trademark skill, Mach Punch/Stone Hands.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Kunio's red, at least in River City Girls where Riki is The Stoic and laidback, not to mention he wears blue a whole lot. On the cover art he can barley put up a half-grin.
• Sarashi: Wears one underneath his uniform, helping signify his delinquency.
• The Stoic: In River City Girls he rarely expresses emotion compared to the girls and upbeat Kunio.
• Unwitting Pawn: In his missions in the updated rerelease of River City: Rival Showdown, Yamada poses as a fortune teller to get Riki to do various tasks for him, out of concern for Mami.

Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun (Localization title: Renegade)

Hiroshi

Hiroshi (ひろし)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Hiroshi Hatakeyama (TV special), Yuji Machi (PCE CD games), Naoki Takeshi (theater play), Kyle McCarley (English, River City Girls), Kylen Deporter (English, River City Girls 2)

Weak but willing to help, Hiroshi is Kunio's best friend in Nekketsu High. One day, he was beaten by students from another high school (in the arcade version) or kidnapped by Sabu (in the Famicon version) which kicks off Kunio's whole journey to avenge him.

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• Adapted Out: He's absent in the western version of Renegade. In that version, your goal is to rescue some random blonde girl (who's named Lucy in European PC manual).
• I Just Want to Be Badass: He yearns to be a delinquent.
• The Load: He sure gets punched and kidnapped a lot. Starting from the series' very first game, Renegade, his common role is to be harassed by the villain of the week so that Kunio intervenes them.
• Non-Action Guy: He doesn't really participate in fighting or other action-related activities. This changed when he became a playable character in River City Super Sports Challenge: All-Star Special.
• Out of Focus: Hiroshi used to be Kunio's closest friend, but that role has since been taken over by Riki.

Shinji

Shinji (しんじ)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Super Dodge Ball), Ross O'Donovan (English, River City Girls)

Shinji is the leader of the vicious biker gang Yokohama Funky. He dropped out of high school, and occasionally does construction and cashier work for his earnings when he's not busy with riding motorcycles. He is the second boss Kunio fights.

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• All Bikers are Hells Angels: No less, since he's based on Bōsōzoku stereotype.
• Backstory: Riki Densetsu gives some neat background to him. When Riki was still middle school student, Shinji was his senior in the soccer club.
• Badass Biker: Is the leader of the bosozoku gang called "The Blue Emperors" and is a skilled fighter in his own right.
• The Cameo: Shows up in RCG as a clothing store clerk in Uptown running Attire Fire. Interestingly, the fact that he is working in a wealthy district suggests that he is well-off. He moves his shop to the Technos Building in RCG2, again, a high-end HQ that specializes in In-Universe Kunio games and technology development.
• Depending on the Artist: In his Renegade debut and NES-based retrohaux games, he wears blue jacket and jeans. In Kunio-tachi no Banka and Super Dodge Ball (Neo Geo), his appearance is more close to '80s Japanese biker thug stereotype, wearing white hair band and buttonless school uniform.
• Flipping the Bird: His taunt on the Neo-Geo Super Dodge Ball. Changed to a fist shake when using US or European BIOS.

Misuzu

Misuzu (みすず)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Keiko Yamamoto (Super Dodge Ball), Dekka-chan (Theater play), Laila Berzins (English, River City Girls)

A thug from Taiyo Academy. She's very, very tough, and will give you a hard time if you dare to mess with her. Misuzu is the franchise's most recurring boss, though she never has the role of Big Bad.

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• Abhorrent Admirer:
  • She has a crush on pretty yakuza prince Yuji, but he does not reciprocate in the slightest.
  • Has fallen for Kunio and Riki in River City Girls but is still the brutish Brawn Hilda.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: River City Girls tones down the mannish look on her face to be prettier and slightly feminine. Since that game is by WayForward, it's a bit of an Author Appeal given.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: River City Girls has her crushing on Kunio and Riki who are quite the capable fighters and have given her a hard time.
• Amazon Brigade: She leads one in Renegade and many sports games. For unclear reason, Misako and Kyoko (Kunio-tachi no Banka), along with Miho (Shodai Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun), are also part of her team.
• Amazon Chaser: Not herself obviously, but she follows the logic that real men love fighting beefy women instead of more petite "twigs" like Misako and Kyoko. She does actually have a point, as the girls Kunio and Riki like tend to be covertly or overtly good fighters themselves.
• Berserk Button: There are a few things that rile her up, but what really sets her off is people claiming she is not feminine enough.
• Best Her to Bed Her: After apparently witnessing Kunio and Riki's displays of strength against her and her allies, she has totally fallen for them by River City Girls.
• Blood Knight: Seems to challenge Kunio less out of malice and more out of genuine eagerness for a good fight, which only he can seem to provide if Kunio-tachi no Banka is any indication.
• Brawn Hilda: Her main trait throughout all the games is that she's really huge, really strong and really scary looking. In Kunio-tachi no Banka, a body builder from the United States of America is dwarfed by Misuzu!
• The Cameo: Shows up in RCG2 where she falls on top of Yamada to subdue him, after dodging all of his psychic blasts in a volleyball match.
• Camp Straight: A rare female example as River City Girls indicates. Misuzu has a hulking muscular build, butch personality, gruff voice and short hair, but is very clearly into boys and has a major crush on Yuji, as well as Kunio and Riki in River City Girls continuity, arguing that real men love Amazonian women instead of "twigs".
• Held Back in School: In River City Girls she brags about how she's the smartest girl in school because she's been in High School for seven years.
• Huge Schoolgirl: She's twice as huge as other characters in Super Sports Challenge, for the matter. When you find her at the pachinko parlor in River City Girls Zero you can even see that the stool she was sitting on is bent.
• Made of Iron: She has the largest health point in many games. In River City Super Sports Challenge, her HP stat is 255.
• Monster Clown: In most of her appearances, her make-up is garishly applied.
• Non-Idle Rich: It's revealed that she is rich in River City: Tokyo Rumble, as she mentions she takes trips to Hawaii once a year.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Pretty much in any given game, she takes this role. It usually goes like this - someone gets stopped by her, they pisses her off for some reason (or no reason at all), then she goes berserk and beats up everybody in sight. Hilarity Ensues. Even in a game with serious tone like Kunio-tachi no Banka, she can't help but provide another comical moment.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Inverted entirely. In every game she's in, her war cries and knock out rattles use the male sound clips.
• SNK Boss:
  • In Renegade, she acts like a Bullfight Boss who instantly runs toward you when she has a chance. Unlike most of the examples, she never gets vulnerable after her attack, so if you simply dodges out of her way and tries to hit her, you probably won't stand a chance. You need to make her fall to the ground by kicking her at the right moment. Of course, she'll still bodyslam you if you don't time your attack cautiously.
  • She comes back with a vengeance in Kunio-tachi no Banka. She can slap you on the face repeatedly as her grapple attack, or bull-charge you at any moment, both of which really hurt. She's also surprisingly agile for someone being so huge and bulky.
• There Was a Door: Tends to show up by bursting through a wall, which is naturally lampshaded in River City Girls.
• Warm-Up Boss: She's the first boss in River City Girls and is appropriately easy, which is a bit of a surprise given her SNK Boss status in other games.

Sabu

Sabu (さぶ)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino (Super Dodge Ball), Gambino Kobayashi (TV special), David Lodge (English, River City Girls 2), Yasuhiro Mamiya (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

A leader of the yakuza Sanwakai, and the Final Boss of Renegade. He ordered his minions to stab (or kidnap in NES version) Hiroshi because of... reasons unknown. Sabu has since become Kunio's most frequent nemesis, being behind at least three of the game's plots.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: His design in River City Girls 2 lacks the Gag Lips of his original iteration and is much more broadly muscular and imposing in general. The muscular build could be explained away by him artificially enhancing himself.
• Adaptational Badass: In most portrayals, while still dangerous he's ultimately just a guy with a gun rather than being a skilled fist-fighter. River City Girls 2 turns him into a hulking wall of muscle causally capable of punching through brick walls and when fought is capable of firing of massive blasts of energy as well as performing the Shun Goku Satsu. It's justified in thise case: turns out that he's been enhancing himself through various experimental procedures.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Has bright red hair and a lighter, pinkish skintone in River City Girls 2. This could also be part of the serum, or not. With how everyone else has changed, it's honestly hard to tell.
• Big Bad: Of several of the games such as Renegade, where he's behind the attack on Hiroshi, and River City Girls 2, where he goes after Misako and Kyoko's livelihoods in revenge for them defeating his daughter.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: In River City Girls 2, he's capable of casually escaping from prison just by smashing through the walls with his bare hands. Subverted in that it's revealed that he's secretly been physically enhancing himself with experimental procedures.
• Combat Pragmatist: He brings a pistol to a fistfight. Worse yet, it's One-Hit Kill (except in Kunio-tachi no Banka, where it "only" takes off around 80% of your health). Subverted in River City Girls 2, where his gun stays in his holster the entire game and he instead relies on his superhuman strength as well as drones and holograms as backup.
• The Don: He's the local boss of the Yakuza and controls an army of minions ready to do his bidding. In River City Girls 2, he's given the title of "Criminal Overlord".
• Extremity Extremist: In a series where even fighters that specialize in kicks can at least throw a few punches. He (sans his RCG incarnation) stands out for being the only one who never throws a single punch when forced into melee.
• Improbable Use of a Weapon: Can somehow utilize his pistol for trick shots in the Neo Geo Super Dodge Ball.
• Large and in Charge: In River City Girls 2, he's an utterly massive brick shithouse of a man who towers over his own children.
• Orcus on His Throne: Justified since he spends the entirety of River City Girls in prison. He averts this in the sequel after learning about his daughter's humiliating defeat to Misako and Kyoko, and vows to get revenge on the two and restore his family's honor.
• Parental Favoritism: Downplayed in regards to the parental love that usually accompanies this trope. He believed his daughter Sabuko to be capable enough to run his criminal empire while he was incarcerated and openly tells Ken that he's a screw-up, but he also expresses harsh disappointment towards his daughter for being defeated by two school girls, and his revenge in River City Girls 2 is more motivated by restoring the family's honor than avenging his daughter.
• Put on a Prison Bus: He's in jail during River City Girls, which is why he doesn't show up in person. He busts himself out for the sequel.
• Super Mob Boss: In River City Girls 2, rather than just a local gangster he's now a full-fledged supervillain who not pulls off Supernatural Martial Arts but also has an Elaborate Underground Base filled with all sorts of technology and experiments, which he uses to enhance himself for the final battle.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Downplayed in Kunio-tachi no Banka, where Sabu chooses not to shoot Kunio and Riki at the first opportunity. However, he has no problem shooting their girlfriends into critical condition. This can be justified that he wants to let the boys mourn over their loss. However, in the final boss fight, he does use his pistol, but it can be avoided by ducking under his line of fire. Why he doesn't just point his gun down at the boys after missing is beyond common sense.
• Would Hit a Girl: Sabu has no qualms about attacking Misako and Kyoko. They first meet in Kunio-tachi no Banka where Sabu shoots and seriously wounds them. Their next meeting is in River City Girls 2, where Sabu is seeking revenge for the sake of his family's honor.

Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club (Localization title: Nintendo World Cup)

Misako

Misako (みさこ)

^{River City Girls Zero}

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Kayli Mills (River City Girls, 2), Honoka Kuroki (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

First appeared as the manager of the school's Soccer Club, Misako is one of the regular Nekketsu High cast in the series. She became Kunio's girlfriend in Kunio-tachi no Banka. Although this relationship seems to be retconned in many of the later games, she does return as Kunio's girlfriend in River City Girls.

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• Action Girl: In Kunio-tachi no Banka, she joins Kunio to find out who framed him. And even more in River City Girls, where she joins Kyoko to rescue the kidnapped Kunio and Riki.
• Adapted Out: Since the Western release of Nintendo World Cup removed the story completely, she doesn't appear in that version.
• Berserk Button: She does NOT appreciate being creeped on.
• Blood Knight: In River City Girls, she tends to consider violence an answer to every roadblock she and Kyoko come across. In most cutscenes, she's typically the first one to resort to threats of violence, and seems to eagerly anticipate fights. It even comes across in the artwork for her smart phone; Kyoko's phone is cute and girly with a bear phone case, while Misako's phone has a plain black case and is banged up pretty badly, with the screen cracked in several places.
• Bully Hunter: As a child she whacked Hasabe in the face when the latter was bullying Kyoko.
• Childhood Friends: With Kyoko. A flashback establishes that she had rescued Kyoko from bullies when they were children.
• Cute Sports Club Manager: Debuts as one in Nintendo World Cup, managing the school's Soccer Club.
• A Day in the Limelight: Becomes the co-protagonist with Kyoko in River City Girls.
• Depending on the Artist: Looks quite different in her redesign in River City Girls, with River City Girls Zero explaining that her blue hair was dyed.
• Deadpan Snarker: In River City Girls, practically every other line Misako speaks is said with a thick layer of sarcasm, and when she's not threatening to beat someone into the pavement, she's either directly or indirectly insulting them with snark.
• Decomposite Character: In River City Saga: Three Kingdoms, her regular design and her River City Girls design are separate characters.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: You can bet she'll get angry at any NPC dialogue.
• Improbable Weapon User: In River City Girls, she uses her heart-shaped backpack as a weapon in some attacks.
• Jerkass to One: Downplayed. She's virtually unpleasant to everyone she meets (including her friends) but she despises Mihoko even moreso than the others. Best showcased in River City Girls 2 where, of the hostages kidnapped by Sabuko, Mihoko is the only hostage who Misako have zero problems leaving her to die by the bomb's explosion, and had to be convinced by Kyoko to even bother saving her.
• Little Miss Snarker: Misako is often unfriendly to almost every NPC in River City Girls and its sequel, no matter how little they might actually deserve it. Even Kyoko isn't spared from her snark either.
• Named by the Adaptation: In the television series, her family name is Enjoji.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: In River City Girls, in lieu of the school's uniform skirt, she wears a pair of black mini-culottes that probably skirt the edge of the dress code.
• Power Fist: Promotional material for River City Girls shows her wearing brass knuckles on both hands to show that she is a street-fighting brawler.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: She's got red eyes in River City Girls and is quite a bit violent.
• Schmuck Bait: She gets Kunio and his friends to join her soccer team in the intro of Nintendo World Cup (only appears in the Japanese version), promising Smooch of Victory if they win. The boys buy it like idiots.
• Smart Jerk and Nice Moron: Between her and Kyoko in the River City Girls sub-series, she's comparatively smarter (though still not particularly bright) than Kyoko and quite a bit meaner.
• Technician Versus Performer: In River City Girls, Misako is the Technician to Kyoko's Performer. Her moves are actual martial arts and wrestling techniques which are more conventional and practical in combat.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: In River City Girls, she's the tomboy in her and Kyoko's Tomboy and Girly Girl dynamic given her speech patterns, shorter hair, having spiked knuckles as her primary weapon and rougher image, but she's also the one wearing lipstick and notably has a Heart Symbol backpack on her at all times.
• Tomboyness Upgrade: In River City Girls. She ditches her bow, wears mini-culottes in the place of a skirt, and is generally a lot brasher and more tomboyish. However, her face is still typically feminine and instead portrays a "womanly" mature beauty compared to Kyoko's more youthful beauty.

Downtown Nekketsu Story (Localization title: River City Ransom)

Mami

Shimada Mami (島田 真美)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Cyndi (River City Ransom)

Voiced by: Sarah Anne Williams (English, River City Girls, 2)

The 2nd year student of Hanazono High, Mami is Riki's girlfriend. Her abduction sets up the plot of River City Ransom as Kunio and Riki embarks their adventure to bring her back.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: A very minor example in River City Girls, where her eyes are blue rather than brown.
• Adaptational Jerkass: She's a stereotypical mean girl in in the River City Girls continuity.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Her eyes are a very, very pale blue in River City Girls. foreshadowing her role as the alternate Final Boss.
• Damsel in Distress: Her kidnapping by the Dragon Twins kicks off the plot of River City Ransom. As Princess Mami in Knights of Justice, this is also combined with Save the Princess. Exaggerated in River City: Rival Showdown, where she is potentially kidnapped twice depending on the route taken.
• Dual Boss: In River City Girls, she fights alongside Hasebe as the unlockable alternate Final Boss.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kyoko in River City Girls.
  • Like Kyoko, she's in love with Riki and is his real girlfriend.
  • She's the girly girl to Hasebe's tomboy and is the ditzier of the two the same way Kyoko is to Misako.
  • Both have light hair and a bluish color scheme.
  • In her secret boss fight, Hasebe can use a souped-up version of Kyoko's Cheer Drill special attack.
• Girly Bruiser: She's dressed as a cheerleader in River City Super Sports Challenge, and still throws down Tornado Punches and burst kicks with the rest of 'em. She's also plenty tough in River City Girls, where she's a Gyaru Girl.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: According to River City: Rival Showdown, she has a kind and innocent personality and it helped her see through Riki's rough side. Not so much in River City Girls though.
• Nothing Nice About Sugar and Spice: In River City Girls, she's dolled up with a big hair bow and Cute Oversized Sleeves, yet is an unrepentant bully.
• Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut as part of the Cheerleader team in River City Super Sports Challenge.
• Save the Princess: In River City Knights of Justice, she plays the role of a princess and needs to be rescued by the knights Kunio and Rikki.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is the girly girl to Hasebe's tomboy as well.
• Those Two Guys: Is never seen without Hasebe in River City Girls.
• True Final Boss: For River City Girls. when you break all the statues and beat the game once.

Hasebe

Hasebe Kazumi (長谷部 和美)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Roxy (River City Ransom)

Voiced by: Saori Sugimoto (Kunio no Oden), Cristina Valenzuela (English, River City Girls)

The 3rd year student of Reiho Academy, Hasebe is a good-hearted student who always wants to help someone in trouble. In middle school, she, Yamada and Kunio were a trio of close friends. In River City Ransom, She merely warns Kunio and Riki about the nefarious "Dragon Twins", but she gets bigger role in later games, and she proves to be a good fighter as well. In River City Girls, she acts as Misako's rival.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: While she can be sly and snarky in other games, she's a mean preppy girl in the River City Girls continuity.
• Cute Bruiser: She joins the Cheerleader team in River City Super Sports Challenge, and she's one of the strongest characters in entire roster thanks to her absolutely vicious special skills. She's also tough as nails in River City Girls as a secret boss.
• Decomposite Character: Her localized River City Ransom name, Roxy shows up in River City Girls 2 as a Vegan n Out shopkeeper inside Technos Office. Her hairstyle is much closer to her main continuity counterpart, and both she and Hasebe are treated as separate characters.
• Dual Boss: In River City Girls, she fights alongside Mami during their unlockable boss fight.
• Evil Counterpart: To Misako in River City Girls.
  • Like Misako, she's in love with Kunio and is his real girlfriend.
  • She's the tomboy to Mami's girly girl and is the smarter of the two the same way Misako is to Kyoko.
  • Both have dark hair and a reddish color scheme.
  • In her secret boss fight, Hasebe can use a souped-up version of Misako's Stone Hands special attack.
• Implied Love Interest: Are Hasebe and Kunio Just Friends or more than that? There's certain air of close relationship between two, but it's never made explicit. River City Girls establishes her as Kunio's actual girlfriend.
• Last-Name Basis: She's one of the only characters who goes by her family name in the series where some don't even have one. This may have to do with her role as a chairman of Nekketsu sports tournament, as it's formal to refer to someone as their family name in Japan.
• Those Two Guys: Is never seen without Mami in River City Girls.
• Took a Level in Badass: She became this as she started to take more active roles in the Arc System Works games.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is tomboy to Mami's girly girl as well.
• True Final Boss: For River City Girls where they are unlocked after getting all the secrets.

The Reiho Four

The Reiho Four were the top four delinquents at Reiho Academy prior to Ryuichi and Ryuji's transfer. With Kobayashi as their leader, they managed to organize the delinquents of Reiho Academy into one unified force. Though they each have their own agendas and opinions regarding Reiho Academy's takeover of the other schools, they hold firm in their loyalty to Reiho and each other. The four are the main bosses Kunio and Riki have to fight in River City Ransom and it's remakes, with their defeat allowing access to Reiho Academy's schoolgrounds.

Tropes relating to the Reiho Four in general:

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The reason the four of them used to run Reiho Academy's delinquents? They managed to beat every single one of them in an all out brawl. Special mention goes to Kobayashi, who managed to hold off upperclassmen all on his own before the other three managed to get back up.
• Band of Brothers: Despite their disparate personalities and goals, the four of them are surprisingly close, having formed a bond fighting and unifying all the delinquents of Reiho Academy together.
• Elite Four: Their group name in Japanese even uses the exact term, shitennō.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: They all have this to some regard when it comes to Reiho Academy. Though they had their own misgivings regarding the takeover of the various schools, or Todo's schemes when it comes to sporting events, they will come to the protection of Reiho Academy no matter what.

Kinoshita Tadashi (木下 忠)

Also known as: Blade (River City Ransom)

Kinoshita is a 3rd year student of Reiho Academy, and a member of the Reiho Four. Feared for his scary appearance and resilience, though in reality, he has trouble controlling his emotions.

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• Bound and Gagged: His special skill in River City Ransom EX is Chain Chump, which involves him throwing a chain at you, wrapping it around you.
• Chain Pain: In most of his appearances, he'll always carry a chain in the fight.
• Inconsistent Coloring: Traditionally sporting blonde-dyed hair, his hair is black in his portrait for River City Saga: Three Kingdoms, yet still blonde in the sprite.
• Made of Iron: In River City: Rival Showdown, despite going down, he almost always gets back up, none worse for wear. It takes Kunio performing a Laser Shot on him after knocking him down three times before he finally stays down for a larger period of time.
• Red Baron: The Zombie, in River City: Rival Showdown.
• Turns Red: In River City: Rival Showdown, he gains the unique ability to perform Infernal Charge, drastically boosting his power and speed.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Kinoshita wasn't originally a delinquent, but one day during his first year he was challenged by an older student and unloaded on him, beating him to a bloody pulp. Since then, he's been feared for his ferocity and appearance.

Mochizuki Shun (望月 駿)

Also known as: Turk (River City Ransom), Charles Edward "Wheels" Darlington (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Mochizuki is another member of the Reiho Four, serving as 3rd year student in Reiho Academy. Well liked for his breezy personality, extreme agility and love of fighting amongst the group.

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• Blood Knight: Is the member of the Reiho Four most excited to fight Kunio, and less out of malice and more just to see if his skills match his reputation. In River City: Rival Showdown, he's even the one started the Brawl Club, an arena where teams of delinquints fight each other.
• Flash Step: Befitting his extreme agility, his signature attack Nitro Port is him teleporting instantly while dishing out beatdowns on his opponent.
• Lovable Jock: Is said to be a really good athlete at Reiho, and he's known to cheerful and honest. His faction in particular follows him out of respect, attacking Kunio when they believe he defeated him through underhanded tactics.
• Red Baron: Greased Lightning, in River City: Rival Showdown.
• Token Good Teammate: While the other members of the Reiho Four can be jerks or schemers, Mochizuki just wants to test his mettle against Kunio. Notably, in River City: Rival Showdown, upon being defeated in Reiho Academy, he assuages Riki's worries about Mami, claiming she's being protected by Hasebe.

Taira Kiyofumi (平 清文)

Also known as: Mojo (River City Ransom)

Sneaky and coniving, Taira was the member of the Reiho Four who coined the name of their group. No matter the methods, Taira often does whatever it takes to defeat his opponents, often formulating plans to strike at their weaknesses.

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• Glory Hound: Downplayed, as Taira will take matters into his own hands every now and then, but he prefers to let others fight on his behalf, be it his followers or hired goons. A former Reiho High student noted that despite being the one who coined the group name of the Reiho Four, he was the one who did the least amount of fighting.
• Manipulative Bastard: In River City: Rival Showdown, this is his modus operandi. He attempts to ruin Kunio's reputation with a viral video, and attempts to get the Senridai Bombers to attack Hanazono while Riki is occupied. He even kidnaps Mami prior to the Double Dragons doing so, though that was more out of opportunity than actual planning compared to his former attempts.
• Never Be Hurt Again: In middle school, Taira was once defeated so badly and humilatingly all his friends sans Minamoto abandoned him. As a result, he uses any and all methods to seize victory to prevent it from ever happening to him again.
• Spinning Piledriver: His special skill in River City Ransom EX, Slam Punk.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Uses various wrestling moves when he fights.

Kobayashi Masao (小林 政男)

Also known as: Thor (River City Ransom), Worthington "Monty" Montgomery (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima (Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san)

The leader of the Reiho Four, Kobayashi has the power, skill and charisma to rule Reiho Academy, but chooses not to. Though calm and polite, Kobayashi is harsh and nihilistic, constantly seeking out those with talent to pursue or recruit.

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• A Day in the Limelight: He goes on his own adventure in Stay Cool Kobayashi-san!
• Noble Demon: In River City: Rival Showdown, it's revealed he has no interest in Yamada's plan to take over the surrounding schools, and in fact would like Kunio to return Reiho Academy back to normal. The only reason he doesn't do it himself though, is he finds their attempts to make a system to unite schools under Reiho interesting.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Much like Riki and Kunio, he has a similar signature technique, a karate chop based variant titled Mach Chop/Blizzard Chop.
• Riches to Rags: His family used to be very wealthy, until his father's poor mismangement of their business sent him to squalor.
• Spin to Deflect Stuff: His ability in Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama! and River City Ransom EX, Hyperguard.
• Worthy Opponent: Constantly searches for them, as he sees them as a way to greatly improve his own skills. In particular, he sees Onizuka as one, having fought him to a standstill, and eventually comes to regard Kunio as one as well.

Goda

Goda Tsuyoshi (豪田剛)

Also known as: Ivan (River City Ransom), Richard "Sprecks" Spreckles (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

A student from Horyu High School who guarded the gates of Reihou Academy in River City Ransom. He became strong in order protect his sister Saori Gouda.

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• Big Brother Instinct: The reason he's forced to fight Kunio and Riki in River City Ransom is that the Double Dragon Twins kidnapped his sister.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Typcally acts as one to Godai, reining him in when he goes berserk.
• The Heart: According to River City Super Sports Challenge: All Stars Special, his personality keeps the team together.
• Nice Guy: His being nice has made him really popular among everyone he meets.
• Use Your Head: His headbutt is his signature attack.

Godai

Susumu Godai (五代 奨)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Tex (River City Ransom), Clinton "Clint" Swanson (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge), Tex Swanson (River City Ransom: Underground)

Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa (Kunio no Oden) Sean McLoughlin (English, River City Girls), Ryoki Ogawa (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Hailing from Tanibana High, Godai guards the hallway to where Mami is held in River City Ransom, shows up regularly as a boss fight in subsequent games, and is a major quest giver in River City Girls. He's always seen with his signature Slasher Smile and googly eyes.

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• Adaptational Heroism: He's a Quest Giver rather than a boss in River City Girls. Possibly subverted as WayForward confirmed that he was the one who sent the picture that started the game's plot in the first place for unknown reasons.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Despite his silly and generally affable appearance and personality, Godai is actually very strong when pushed, being one of the last bosses in the games he appears in. River City: Rival Showdown even says he was able to fight the Double Dragon twins to a draw on his own before surrending to Reiho Academy.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Godai is a little...off, in case his wide eyes and slasher smile didn't already show it. While generally a pleasant individual, if a bit unnerving, he does have a violent temper that strikes fear even into his own colleagues.
• Creepy Good: He's a reoccurring Quest Giver in River City Girls, but he's no less unnerving as the other versions of himself. Misako and Kyoko outright call him creepy multiple times. Though he might still not be all that good considering creators confirmed that he was the one who sent the picture of Kunio and Riki being kidnapped in the first place.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: It turns out he was the one who sent Kyoko and Misako the photo of Riki and Kunio supposedly being kidnapped in River City Girls in a likely effort to exploit their rage and do his bidding.
• Friendly Enemy: In Nekketsu! Street Basket, he ends up participating in the USA basketball tournament if only because Riki forced him to.
• Karma Houdini: He tricks Kyoko and Misako into thinking Kunio and Riki got kidnapped via an anonymously sent photo in River City Girls in an effort to exploit the chaos with his sidequests and no one catches on.
• Manipulative Bastard: According to this Tweet, he sent the picture and message of Kunio and Riki's "kidnapping" to Kyoko, perhaps knowing full well what she (and Misako) would do in response. As for motives, that remains unknown and are only alluded to by the destructive nature of his sidequests.
• Non-Standard Character Design: He looks like a character from The Simpsons. Even in River City Girls, where everyone got a redesign, there's something very "off" about the way he looks.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In River City Girls his voice fluctuates between American, Irish and Canadian.
• Perpetual Smiler: He's rarely seen without smiling in his own artwork no matter what.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He's the one who kicks off the plot of River City Girls despite his otherwise minimal presence in the game.
• Spectacular Spinning: All of his techniques in River City Ransom EX involves spinning himself.
• Stalker without a Crush: He proudly proclaims that he keeps tabs on everyone in River City Girls.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the River City Girls games. While definitely not innocent, him tricking Misako and Kyoko into going on a pointless goose chase eventually led them to defeat the yakuza boss Sabuko, which subsequently caused her father Sabu to get so angry that he broke out of jail and conquered the whole city out of revenge. Whoops...
• Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: His weapon of choice, which gives him access to special moves only usable with said wooden sword. In River City: Rival Showdown, He even gets a move that specifically allows him to bring out a new one should he somehow not be carrying one.

Onizuka

Onizuka Takashi (鬼塚 崇)

Also known as: Otis (River City Ransom)

The former Student Council President of Reiho Academy, succeeded by Yamada. He appears in the gym.

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• Berserk Button: Wearing shoes in his gym.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In River City: Rival Showdown, it's revealed that Yamada had him brainwashed to relinquish the Student Council Presidency to him, and act as an enforcer. Fighting Kunio and Riki on the final day snaps him out of it.
• The Cameo: Runs a Downtown store in River City Girls called Pay Lots.
• The Dragon: One of Yamada's, though his role is significantly less of that than the Dragon Twins. He can still be called up to fight alongside Yamada with the Dragon Twins in River City Ransom EX, though.
• Universally Beloved Leader: Seemingly had this when he was student council president. He even had Kobayashi's approval, after fighting him to a standstill. His resignation was met with major shock from the entire student body.
• Nightmare Face: Easily one of the scariest in the entire series, with no pupils and creepy fangs.

Ryuichi and Ryuji

Hattori Ryuichi (服部 竜一) and Hattori Ryuji (服部 竜二)

Also known as: Randy & Andy (River City Ransom)

Ryuichi Voiced by: Kazunari Tanaka (PCE CD games), Wataru Takagi (Nintendo 3DS games), Chris Niosi (English, River City Girls), Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Ryuji Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (PCE CD games), Nobutoshi Canna (Nintendo 3DS), Chris Niosi (English, River City Girls) Jun Fukushima (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Better known as the Dragon Twins/Double Dragons (or the Hattori Twins in the Japanese version), they kickstart the kidnapping of Mami and appear as the main antagonists for River City Ransom and it's remakes, putting up the last fight before you confront Yamada. They reappear in River City Girls 2 as Co-Dragons to Ken.

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• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Managed to take control of Reiho Academy's delinquents using their superior martial arts skils.
• Co-Dragons: Quite fittingly, considering their name has "Dragon" in them.
  • Serves as one to Yamada in River City Ransom back when he was still a student of Reihou Academy. After Yamada was transferred to Meian Academy, they switch to Todo.
  • In River City Girls 2, they act as Ken's bodyguards and fight alongside him for his second fight.
• Company Cross References: They're a shoutout to Technōs Japan's greatest hit, Double Dragon. Their narrow eyes resemble those of Lee brothers in the NES port of the first game. Their theme in River City Ransom is also ripped straight from the first Double Dragon's intro. Exaggerated in River City: Rival Showdown, which gives them moves that temporarily allows them to tap into the power of the two Lee Brothers, with their appearances briefly changing into them when they activate the skill.
• Dual Boss: You have to fight both of them in River City Ransom, regardless of whether you're with the other player or not.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: When they accompany Ken for the second fight with him in River City Girls 2, it's made abundantly clear that their skills are much more potent than the pathetic moves Ken displays.
• Meaningful Name: Ryuichi and Ryuji's literal meaning is "Dragon First" and "Dragon Second". Ryuichi is a bigger brother of Ryuji.
• Ninja School: Prior to transferring to Reiho, the twins used to go to Hattori Academy, which specialized in ninja training.

Sonokawa

Sonokawa Kaoru

^{Original design}

Also known as: Harry (River City Ransom), Conan (EX)

Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa (Kunio no Oden), Xander Mobus (English, River City Girls 2)

A sophomore student from Senridai High, leading his own gang known as the Senridai Bombers.

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• Adaptational Backstory Change: Is simply an ordinary schoolboy in the main continuity. His RCG version is the founder, and president of the Technos HQ. Also doubles as A Child Shall Lead Them given that he founded the company while still being younger than Misako and Kyoko (who are 18 and in High School).
• Adaptational Intelligence: His version in River City Girls is a roboticist and AI developer, having managed to create a robotic duplicate of himself to manage his company while he is out on a business trip, and is the one who created the C.A.T.S. series of Cat Girl combat robots (with ER-13N acting as his personal assistant).
• Arch-Enemy: He and his gang consider Riki and his cronies to be bitter enemies. He will only join Kunio... if he is on a solo journey.
• Fanboy: Of Kunio who views him as his idol and refers to himself as number 2. Kunio himself doesn't return the sentiment and even kicks him out of annoyance. In EX he will join Kunio if he defeats his gang.
• Grade Skipper: In RCG. According to Kyoko, he used to attend the same school as her and Misako weeks ago before he founded Technos HQ. Since then, he stopped going to school and instead became a successful tychoon conducting business trips.
• Joke Character: In EX. While having him and his gang is good, they're not exactly competent at handling foes.
  • His gang, the Senridai Bombers, will fall down easily against any gang and requires frequent assistance to ensure their survival. Worse, each and every one of them defeated means that it can put a dent on Kunio's hidden reputation stat (which is important to recruit stronger allies to his side).
  • Sonokawa himself. He is not generally a great fighter, and his powerful ability (a damaging screen-wide flash where floors all opponents present) can only be activated whenever he is attacked.
• The Load: Whenever Sonokawa joins Kunio, his entire gang will come with you. If you want to get some powerful members on your side, it's much better to not recruit him at all given that he, and his gang are very weak, and having Sugata on your side is much more preferable.
• Rags to Riches: He goes from being poor to a successful trillionaire who founded the Technos HQ. Kyoko notes that she liked him more when he was "poor and dorky".
• Ridiculously Human Robots: Is portrayed as an android in his RCG incarnation. Though given he refers to himself as an "automated facsimile'', it is likely that the real Sonokawa is out of town, likely on a business trip.

Yamada

Yamada Taiki (山田 大樹)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Slick (River City Ransom), Winston "Skip" Hildegard Jr. (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced by: Griffin Puatu (English, River City Girls), Shou Ueno (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Yamada is a representative of Reiho Academy and the Final Boss of River City Ransom. After that game, however, Todo replaced his role as a student president and Yamada became his sidekick since. Yamada was once a nice kid and a close friend of Kunio and Hasebe in middle school, but eventually turned evil out of jealousy.

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• Adaptational Ugliness: In the older games, he looks no different from Kunio, having a similar haircut and outfit. In River City Girls, however, he looks more disheveled and leaner, with an unkempt hair and appearance that makes him look freakier than before.
• Abhorrent Admirer: In River City Girls 2, he became this to Kaori; he has a crush on her... except his idea of showing his love is to fire a psychic blast at the sand near her, something that she clearly doesn't like. Both Misako and Kyoko attribute this behavior to his lack of social skills.
• A Day in the Limelight: Receives his own campaign in River City: Rival Showdown, showcasing his rise to power before the events of the game.
• Bastard Understudy: Was taught how to use his powers by Makoto, and betrayed him when he felt he became stronger than him.
• Big Bad: In River City Ransom and it's remakes, where he kidnapped Mami to bait out Riki and set the other high schools against Kunio.
• Crazy Jealous Guy:
  • Part of the reason for Yamada's hatred of Kunio, besides the belief that Kunio overshadows him, is that he believes that Hasebe prefers Kunio over him and that becoming a better delinquent than Kunio will get her affection.
  • He's this for Hasebe in River City Girls. He believed the two of them were fated to be together since grade school and became absolutely enraged when Kunio made the first move.
• Dark and Troubled Past:
  • In the original continuity, he was Kunio's weak friend in Middle school that constantly had to deal with Kunio rescuing him and getting all the attention, including from his crush, Hasebe. As a result, Yamada became a delinquent lord and put to motion an evil plan to prove himself as more badass than Kunio.
  • Played for Laughs in River City Girls, where before the fight with him he tells via flashback the story of how he became evil and vengeful. However, Kyoko and Misako find it ridiculous and overblown, plus they tell him to be done with it and interrupt him mid-story.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In River City Girls, it's revealed that he's been in love with Hasebe since grade school. When Kunio made the first move, Yamada's first course of action was making contact with demonic forces to get revenge. It's even more of an overreaction when Yamada reveals that he never even talked to Hasebe beforehand.
• Dogged Nice Guy: In River City Girls, Yamada states that girls are always the same to him, seemingly always insulting him and treating him like dirt. This makes him come across as the more negative side of this trope.
• Flanderization: His one-sided crush on Hasebe and former friendship with Kunio had been present since his debuting game River City Ransom, but River City Girls takes it to another level, turning him into a deeply obsessed stalker with a nonsensical grudge against Kunio.
• Flashback: In River City Girls, one is used to introduce his "tragic" backstory before the fight with him. It gets lampshaded, as Kyoko asks what is happening as the screen goes white and Misako yells that nobody cares about a flashback.
• Forgotten Friend, New Foe: The mastermind behind the delinquent riots turns out to be Kunio's old friend from middle school whom was never mentioned until that very game.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Yamada went from a sweet, shy boy and Bully Magnet in Middle school to a ruthless Delinquent with an "evil power" that he used to unite all the gangs under him. Unfortunately for Yamada, he mostly went back to nobody after the events of River City Ransom and his "friend", Todo, treats him very poorly.
• Giggling Villain: In River City Girls. Though Yamada doesn't let out a full blown Evil Laugh, he giggles considerably in his boss fight.
• Hate Plague: Inflicts this on the surrounding schools in River City: Rival Showdown, making them want to destroy Nekketsu High.
• Hostile Show Take Over: In the Japanese version of River City Ransom, Yamada claims he'll rename the series, Hot-blooded Tough Guy Yamada after beating Kunio.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Ultimately the reason behind his actions in River City Ransom and it's remakes. Having always held a grudge against Kunio since middle school, and seeing his reputation and adoration grow as time went on, his plan to use Reiho Academy to bring all surrounding schools under his control was an attempt to be known as something greater than Kunio could ever hope to reach.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Has one towards the more athletic and popular Kunio, ever since their middle school days. Yamada re-invented himself as a ruthless delinquent as a way to show up his old friend.
• Loners Are Freaks: As per his backstory in River City Girls, he was an angry loner kid whose only friend when moving to River City was Kunio. In the present day, he lost his only friend and went on to live alone on a rooftop and displays the evil magic he calls the "dark arts".
• Love at First Sight: As he tells it in his backstory in River City Girls, he fell in love with Hasebe the moment he saw her entering the classroom when he was ten. He even believed he would marry her! Kyoko and Misako point out how deluded he was being all along.
• Love Makes You Evil: River City Girls plays it for laughs, as Kyoko and Mizako find it ridiculous how he turned to the "dark arts" because Kunio got with Hasebe first. They even point out that Yamada has it all wrong on what love means.
• The Man Behind the Man: Is the one behind the Dragon Twins actions kidnapping Mami and subjugating the other high schools, staying hidden until the end of the game.
• Mind over Matter: He was planned to have a telekinesis attack in the original River City Ransom, but it didn't make the cut. However he, or rather his ancestor, used it in the Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama! The telekinesis attack also appeared used by Yamada himself, in River City Ransom EX, where the english localization named it Slick Trick. It can actually take off a good chunk of your health if you don't stop him. This became a recurring attack in later games. River City Girls completely runs with it, complete with psychic blasts and levitation. They're also apparently of demonic origin.
• Not Me This Time: In River City Girls, he's one of the suspects for Kunio and Riki's apparent kidnapping. Since he's encountered early on, it's obvious that he's not behind it.
• Power Glows: He has a sickly purple aura around him in River City Girls and River City: Rival Showdown, and he has blatantly supernatural powers in those games.
• Tragic Villain: Played for laughs in River City Girls. See Dark and Troubled Past above.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In middle school, Yamada was a timid boy that Kunio constantly protected from bullies, not unlike Hiroshi. Unfortunately this gradually resulted in Yamada developing a hidden resentment towards Kunio for being so much cooler than him and caused him to turn evil.
• We Used to Be Friends: He, Hasebe and Kunio used to be inseparable in middle school, though his growing jealousy towards Kunio eventually drove him to antagonize him in various ways. Played for Laughs in River City Girls, where he claims he and Kunio used to be best friends until Kunio confessed to Hasebe before Yamada got the chance to.
• Women Prefer Strong Men: Yamada seems to believe this as part of the reason he wants to become the toughest delinquent in Japan is that Hasebe disliked the weak Yamada and preferred the stronger Kunio over him.

Minor Bosses

Sawaguchi Yasuo (沢口 靖夫)

Also known as: Moose (River City Ransom)

The No. 2 of Hakutaka Industry High School, Sawaguchi was sent by Nishimura to stop Kunio in River City Ransom.

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• Optional Boss: While he's most likely the first boss, you actually don't have to fight him to finish the game, at least in the NES version of River City Ransom.
• Snake Oil Salesman: Is introduced in River City: Rival Showdown as this, scamming people by selling tickets to a supposed party that would be happening later.
• Spin Attack: His special skill in River City Ransom EX is Shuriken attack, which involves him spinning in the air and flying right into the opponent's face.
• Verbal Tic: Speaks in rather mangled English in River City Ransom EX.

Kamijo Tsuneo (上条 恒男) and Yamamoto Noriyuki (山本 憲之)

Also known as: Benny & Clyde (River City Ransom)

The Bash Brothers and leaders of Kagemura Academy, they challenge Kunio and Riki to earn some respect.

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• The Cameo: They make a single appearance in River City Girls where they are revealed to be the owners of a luxurious car.
• Dual Boss: Tsuneo and Noriyuki are always fought together.
• Glory Seeker: The reason they come after Kunio in River City Ransom and it's remakes is to make a name for themselves.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Every boss in River City Ransom has some bearing on the plot. Except for these guys, who seem to attack you just because they can. You don't even have to fight them.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: It's their special skill in River City Ransom EX, being able to send any weapons and make them come back; huge emphasis on "any", because they can do this with everything imaginable, such as pipes and stones.

Nishimura Naritaka (西村 成孝)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Rocko (River City Ransom), Lawrence "Baldy" Baldwin IV (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri (Kunio no Oden), SungWon Cho (English, River City Girls)

The leader of Hakutaka Industries High School, some may underestimate Nishimura for his somewhat obese size, but he's an formidable fighter nonetheless. He's one of more recurring characters in the series, participating a number of sports games and such.

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• Acrofatic: Do not let his overweight look fool you, he is quite fast and can keep up with anyone.
• The Cameo: In River City Girls, he runs a bookstore in Downtown.
• Stout Strength: Is described as being lazy and overweight, but he is well known for his Super-Strength and can send any punk flying with his signature punch.

Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!

Sugata

Sugata Sanjuro (姿 三十朗)

Also known as: Rico "Cheese" Romano (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge), Gary (River City Ransom EX)

The 2nd year student of Nekketsu High, Sugata proudly considers himself a disciple of Kunio and looks up to him for inspiration.

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• A Day in the Limelight: In Baseball Monogatari, because of Kunio's absence, he becomes the chief of Nekketsu baseball team.
• Big Damn Heroes: In River City: Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special, he and Kunio arrive just in time to assist the Player and Nanase in a vicious ambush against the Dragon Twins and many Reiho High thugs.
• Hero-Worshipper: He looks up to Kunio like everyone else in Nekketsu High, and he doesn't hesitate to pick a fight with bullies in the name of justice, just to be and act cool like Kunio.
• Taking the Bullet: In River City: Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special, at the end of the first round of qualifiers, a bomb is thrown towards Momozono and he saves her by pushing her out of the way, injuring him for the next few qualifying rounds.

Nanase

Nanase Haruka (七瀬 遥)

Also known as: Famon "Sting Ray" Garcia (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Sugata's best friend in Nekketsu High. His trademark technique is Double Chop, using his both hands to punch his opponent.

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• Forced into Evil: In River City Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special, he's blackmailed by Todo into giving Kunio diarrhea remedy, forcing him to be replaced by the nameless protagonist in the Story Mode.
• Nice Guy: All round polite man who supports Sugata no matter what.

Saotome

Hikaru Saotome

^{Original design}

Also known as: Nathan "Nate" Vanderpoole (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Voiced by: Aleks Le (English, River City Girls 2)

A 2nd year student from Hanazono High.

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• Adaptational Diversity: Normally a full Japanese in the main Kunio timeline. He is made part-African for his RCG redesign.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Normally characterized as being a jolly student. His portrayal in his RCG incarnation does the opposite: here, he is a brooding and edgy middle schooler.
• Emo Teen: How he is portrayed in his RCG redesign, complete with a dark attire.
• Eyes Out of Sight: His signature bangs cover one of his eyes. His RCG redesign covers both.
• Ki Manipulation: His Aura Punch where he uses his energy to launch a ranged punch to an opponent.

Morimoto

Morimoto Kenichi (森本 健一)

Also known as: Tommy "Dragon" Woo (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Another team member in Nekketsu High Team. He's a friend with Kyosuke from Reiho High.

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• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: His specialty is that he's better at throwing weapons than actually using them, so his recommended strategy is to grab whatever near you and toss it.

Takamine

Takamine Noboru (鷹峰 昇)

Also known as: Troy "Noise" Jackson (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

The last member of Nekketsu High Team who specializes in judo.

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• Out of Focus: Among the Nekketsu club in Super-Awesome Field Day!, he gets the least spotlight, having no special moves in the original game, and replaced by Kunio in the sequel Nekketsu New Records!, despite that it adds judo as one of the new sports. He gets better in All Stars Special, which gives him a special move and decent stats.

Momozono

Momozono Satomi (桃園 里美)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Mary Josephine Hanson (English, River City Girls)

Momozono is a 2nd year student and cheerleader of Nekketsu High. She and Sugata are good childhood friends.

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• The Cameo: Runs an Ice Cream Store in River City Girls. Interestingly enough, she has punk like accessories such as piercings (including one on her lower lip), and spiked wristbands.
• Cute Bruiser: She joins Cheerleader team in River City Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special. Like others in the team, she can be a great fighter.
• Cute Sports Club Manager: Becomes one for Kunio's team in Crash 'n' the Boys and River City: Super Sports Challenge: All Star Sepcial.
• Perky Goth: Her redesign in River City Girls is this, while still maintaining her usual personality.
• Relationship Upgrade: She didn't have much presence in Super-Awesome Field Day! and Nekketsu New Records!, but she later develops romantic relationship with Sugata in Baseball Monogatari.

Todo

Todo Mamoru (藤堂 護)

^{Original design}

Also known as: Theodore "Todd" Thornley IV (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge), Titus (River City Ransom EX)

Todo is the Student President of Reiho Academy and has a huge dislike for Kunio. On his debut in the Famicom sports games he attempts to lure Kunio into a trap and humiliate him.

---

• Breakout Character: He's originally a Villain of the Week for one sports game, but after repeated appearance in the series he became the Greater-Scope Villain for most games, even cameoing in the remakes of the old games that he wasn't even in.
• The Cameo: Surprisingly runs a Burger Joint in River City Girls despite being from a wealthy family. This coupled with the statue in Uptown (made in his likeness) implies that his working at a Burger Joint is simply a ruse.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Usually he doesn't challenge Kunio himself, but hires someone who can beat him.
• Privileged Rival: To Kunio. Todo thinks his popularity is all taken away by Kunio, which is why he wants to put him in shame.
• Spoiled Brat: He exploits his status as a son of the Todo Group's chairman, Todo Konosuke, to achieve everything he wants.

Bangai Rantō Hen

Yuji

Munakata Yuji (宗方 裕二)

The guy who beats up Hiroshi this time, as Hiroshi attempted to save Mihoko from Yuji. Yuji is a son of Munakata Corporation's president, and has several high schools under his control until Kunio and Riki came along to challenge him.

---

• Agent Peacock: Despite being a rich pretty boy with plenty of guards, Yuji is one of the toughest foes of Kunio.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Didn't appear in any other Technōs games. In the Arc System Works era, he turns out to be the man who manipulated the events in River City Melee: Battle Royal Special.
• Harem Seeker: He's desperate at making girlfriends, much to many's dismay.
• Mafia Princess: Gender-Inverted Trope, its strongly implied his father has connections to the Yakuza and Yuji certainly throws his influence around.
• Irony: He gets this moment in Battle Royal Special when he failed to won any girl's heart except one: Misuzu. Of course, things went south when he tried to reject her.
• Pose of Supplication: He ended up doing this to Hiroshi in the ending of Bangai Rantō Hen.
• Pretty Boy: Yuji is a very handsome boy, in addition to being wealthy, unfortunately for him, his personality is too much of a turn-off to be the Millionaire Playboy he wants to be.
• Villainous Cheek Bones: Despite being a Pretty Boy, Yuji has a rather prominent pair of cheek bones as shown in his manual artwork.

Mihoko

Mihoko (みほこ)

Voiced by: Xanthe Huynh (English, River City Girls)

The girl Hiroshi falls in love with.

---

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Hadn't seen since her debut in this game. That is, until she returns as a minor NPC in 2019's River City Girls.
• Damsel in Distress: In River City Girls 2, she's one of the "BFFs" that Sabuko kidnaps and ties to a bomb.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: River City Girls reveals that she is acquainted with Misako and Kyoko... except the two don't want to hang out with her (especially the former). Kyoko is much nicer to her in 2 compared to their initial meeting.
• Satellite Love Interest: Her character in Bangai Rantō Hen only serves as an excuse for Hiroshi to get beaten up by delinquents (again) and for Kunio to avenge him. She doesn't even appear in the ending.

Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! (Localization title: Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Konosuke

Todo Konosuke (藤堂 晃之介)

Also known as: Mr. Thornley (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Todo Konosuke is the chairman of the Todo Group and the father of Todo Mamoru. Upon hearing of his son's defeat by Kunio, he lends a hand with his wealth to organize the tournament in Crash 'n' the Boys.

---

• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: How else could he and Todo invite United States athletes to their tournament just to screw with Kunio?

Oklahoma High School Team

Johnny (ジョニー)

Also known as: Rocky (Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge)

Johnny is the captain of Oklahoma High School, and came to Japan to join the contests in Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge as a request from Todo to wreck Kunio's team. He eventually grew sick of Todo, though, and after all shenanigans, he and Kunio became close friends in the end. He later re-appeared in Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes, where he teams up with Kunio for the basketball competition in the United States. Johnny's athletic team was also promoted to playable in later multi-sports games.

---

• Defeat Means Friendship: Johnny grows respect for Kunio after having a match with him, which eventually makes him turn against Todo.
• Fragile Speedster: Johnny has the highest speed stat in the game, but lower HP, Strength and power then Raphael. Note Johnny's non speed stats are still very high, so he's still a Lightning Bruiser compared to most characters.

Raphael (ラファエル)

Raphael is a black player from Oklahoma High School, and the best one overall in the team. He also tags along Johnny in numerous sports games.

---

• The Ace: All of Raphael's stats are incredibly high, possessing the maximum HP, Defense and Power stats in the game.
• Decomposite Character: Mixed with Composite Character in Crash 'n' the Boys, Crush (Riki's localized character) takes his place as the strongman of the super team, whilst Raphael's appearance is given to Noise (Ichijō's localized character). Finally Artie (Ryuichi's localized character) uses Raphael's face but with a caucasian skintone.
• Mighty Glacier: Compared to Johnny, he's slower, but stronger. Note Raphael is still very fast compared to other character, so to them he's more like a Lightning Bruiser.
• Race Lift: Oddly enough many later games with Raphael give him the same caucasian skintone as Johnny.

Baseball Monogatari

Rika

Asano Rika (浅野 里佳)

Rika is a manager of Nekketsu High baseball team with rather unfortunate health condition.

---

Kuniko

Ashino Kuniko (芦野 久仁子)

Also known as: Shel (River City Ransom EX)

Voiced by: Dawn M. Bennett (English, River City Girls 2), Saima Nakano (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

The 1st year student of Nekketsu High. In Baseball Monogatari, after Rika became ill, Kuniko decides to takes her place as a team manager of Nekketsu baseball team.

---

• Action Girl: In River City Ransom EX, she comes in to rescue Saori at the request of Hasebe.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Is blonde in her RCG redesign rather than a brunette.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Does not display any evidence of being a techno-wiz in the main continuity. In the RCG sub-series, she is an AI developer working at Technos HQ.
• Animal Lover: Is mentioned that she will give out stray dogs at the pound to anyone who wants to adopt them.
• Bourgeois Bohemian: Becomes a more digital age version in RCG2 as a virtue-signalling environmentalist who's always too busy appearing to do good to actually help with anything.
• Damsel in Distress: In River City Girls 2, she's one of the hostages that Sabuko strapped to a bomb.
• Gyaru Girl: Her RCG redesign depicts her as being this, bearing tanned skin, and speaking like a Valley Girl.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Played for laughs in RCG2, where she doesn't really care that the heroes save her from being tied to a bomb since she was too distracted arranging extracurriculars on her phone to even notice that she had a bomb on her.

Kunio-tachi no Banka (Localization title: River City Girls Zero)

Kyoko

Kyoko (きょうこ)

^{River City Girls Zero}

Voiced by: Kira Buckland (River City Girls), Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Kyoko is Riki's previously unstated girlfriend introduced in River City Girls Zero / Kunio-tachi no Banka, replacing Shimada from the main continuity. In the story, Kyoko joins the gang to find out who framed Kunio and Riki.

River City Girls Zero was her only appearance during the Technōs era. Arc System Works then retooled her into the the main continuity starting with River City: Tokyo Rumble, most likely because Riki already had a girlfriend named Shimada back in River City Ransom. She's a completely different (and pretty minor) character here, other than that she's still close friend with Misako.

The River City Girls series marks her return as Riki's girlfriend and a playable main character.

---

• Ass Kicks You: One of Kyoko's aerial attack's is to bash enemies using her rear.
• Badass Adorable: Cute as a button and can thrash an entire city along with Misako.
• Batter Up!: She's shown wielding a bat as her preferred weapon in River City Girls' promotional material.
• Birds of a Feather: Despite Riki being her boyfriend in the River City Girls continuity, she actually shares a bond with Kunio in the sequel, due to them both being excitable idiots.
• Childhood Friends: With Misako and formerly Noize.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Kunio-tachi no Banka was the only game she ever appeared for a long time until River City: Tokyo Rumble in 2013.
• A Day in the Limelight: In Wayforward's River City Girls, she is the co-protagonist, along with Misako.
• The Ditz: If not a full-on Cloudcuckoolander in River City Girls. She's generally a lot more flighty and relaxed compared to the more focused and uptight Misako, and at the start of the game she somehow ends up in detention with Misako despite not even attending the same high school. Later, it's revealed she got expelled in the 5th grade for stealing basketball hoops.
• Decomposite Character: In River City Saga: Three Kingdoms, her regular design and her River City Girls design are separate characters.
• Embarrassing Nickname: She doesn't like it when someone finishes a sentence with "Joke-o". This stems from a childhood trauma, when she was given the nickname by Hasebe bullied by her and Mami.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: While she's openly the girly girl in her dynamic with Misako, she's also very much into brawling, and her jacket and volleyball-inspired techniques show off a bit of a background in sports as well.
• Hurricane Kick: One of her specials in River City Girls has her do inverted handstand splits while spinning rapidly, which can strike enemies on all sides multiple times.
• I Know Madden Kombat: In River City Girls, her heavy dash attack, launcher, and air grab are all volleyball techniques, and her up and side specials are derived from cheerleeding.
• Informed Attribute: Kyoko's penchant for hitting people with a baseball bat is largely a kept to the cutscenes and promotional materials, she has no particular affinity with the weapon or moves that bring it out naturally in gameplay.
• Kiai: When using her Dragon Feet special attack in River City Girls, she can unleash an "ORAORAORAORAORAORA!"
• Kick Chick: Most of her combos in River City Girls involve lots of kicking.
• Nice Girl: When she isn't being a delinquent or a Violently Protective Girlfriend, Kyoko is a sweetheart who talks to everyone, even most bosses, with a smile on her face, in contrast to Misako who generally speaks rudely to people she doesn't even have beef with.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: In River City Girls she wears a blue letterman jacket over her school uniform. Subverted in that she doesn't even attend River City High and appears to regularly ditch her school to hang out with Misako.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: It's her special skill in Kunio-tachi no Banka, just like Riki.
  • In River City Girls, her standing special is a rapid-fire barrage of kicks that would make Chun-Li envious.
• Rose-Haired Sweetie: Her hair is salmon pink in River City Girls, and she's much more outwardly friendly than the rather blunt and abrasive Misako, Psycho Ex-Girlfriend tendencies in the original ending not withstanding. She even befriended Noize back in grade school when she was just a shy outcast named Nozomi. Unfortunately, Noize's embarrassment over the whole thing leads to her initiating a boss fight.
• Smart Jerk and Nice Moron: Definitely the ditzier counterpart to Misako, and is rarely intentionally mean to anyone.
• Technician Versus Performer: In River City Girls, Kyoko is the Performer to Misako's Technician. Most of her moves are flashier but impractical in a fight, as some are based on volleyball and cheerleeding techniques and one is an outright 'dab'.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Her outer image screams tomboy, ponytail included.
• Weapons-Grade Vocabulary: Her guard-breaker attack in River City Girls 2 is to swear loud enough that it damages opponents in front of her.

Ken

Ken (ケン)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Todd Haberkorn (English, River City Girls 2), Yujiro Kakuda (Japanese, River City Girls 2)

Ken is the adopted son of Sabu who, thanks to his resemblance to Kunio, successfully frames him for a hit-and-run and gets Kunio thrown in prison, starting the events of River City Girls Zero. Ken returns in River City Girls 2, helping his father take over River City in an attempt to show up his sister Sabuko.

---

• Age Lift: Implied to be an adult in River City Girls 2, as opposed to ostensibly teenaged as he was in Kunio-tachi no Banka.
• Adaptational Comic Relief: His reveal in Zero is played for all seriousness, and there's no moment that is remotely comedic. His behavior in River City Girls 2 comes across as comically spoiled and pompous, and his cowardice is Played for Laughs.
• Adaptational Wimp: Ken was the penultimate boss of Kunio-tachi no Banka, with a moveset and combat prowess comparable to Kunio's. In River City Girls 2 he's the first boss, and aside from the ability to Flash Step around, he's otherwise much weaker and less imposing than his debut. His martial arts are slow, ineffectual, and clumsy, he cries and cowers frequently when injured, and is reliant on his bodyguards for most of his more dangerous attacks.
• Combat Pragmatist: In River City Girls 2 he uses a gun much like Sabu does, and will occasionally call for help through his imposing bodyguards.
• Criminal Doppelgänger:
  • He was adopted by Sabu because he resembles Kunio. Their plan is to use this to frame Kunio at the start of the game.
  • This aspect is retained in River City Girls 2, having a similar hairstyle to Kunio's, though it's rougher and his attire is black contrasting to Kunio's white, highlighting his Spoiled Brat persona.
• Dirty Coward: Aside from your encounter in the mall's theater River City Girls 2, Ken almost never directly engages with the protagonists again whenever he runs into them. It requires the help from the Hattori Twins for him to fight the girls (now accompanied by a full party) once again.
• Driven by Envy: His motive for defeating Kunio, to the point of pretending to be his long-lost brother to guilt trip him.
• Flash Step: During his boss fight in River City Girls 2, he will blitz from one side to another and fire a burst of bullets. Once he's down to one bar, he only fires in 2-round bursts in exchange for enabling him to instantly shift around the area more.
• Guns Are Worthless: Unlike his father's instantaneous, high-damage gun in Kunio-Tachi no Banka, the ones wielded by him, and to a lesser extent, his bodyguards in River City Girls 2 fire big, slow, yellow bullets that do barely more than Scratch Damage.
• The Heavy: In River City Girls 2, while Sabu is the head of the criminal organization taking over the city, Ken is the one running around the map, making River City High School his base, hiring all the other bosses, and taunting Misako and Kyoko whenever he runs into them.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: On his 3rd phase in River City Girls 2, he will jump around and go Mr. X on the protagonists by spraying his automatic pistol in different directions while yelling at them to stay away. Appropriately, these shots are much easier to dodge than his more measured ones when calm.
• I Surrender, Suckers: After losing to Misako and Kyoko in River City Girls 2, he attempts to feign praise on the girls, before suddenly pulling a gun on them. Hilariously enough, he is unable to shoot them immediately thanks to the two mishearing his Pre-Mortem One-Liner. And is disarmed by a mysterious assailant before he can pull the trigger for good.
• Jerkass Realization: During RCG2's first stinger, he drops his smug behavior completely; he apologizes to his older sister, Sabuko, wants to make amends with her by starting over, and asks how their father, Sabu, is faring in the fight. Except, this ends with Sabu (who is launched straight from the Sanwakai HQ) slamming the helicopter he and his sister are in, and send them all flying in an explosion.
• Smug Snake: The smuggest in River City Girls 2, constantly belittling and insulting his adoptive sister Sabuko in the game's intro, even though it's established by his father that Ken by comparison is a screw up, and there's a reason Sabuko was trusted to run things while her father was in jail instead of him. About the only thing Ken has going for him is being proactive about targeting Misako and Kyoko, but even that falls away once his inability to fight makes itself known and he becomes terrified of confronting them (until the penultimate level set in River City High, and even then he needed the Hattori Twins being present to assist him).
• Unexplained Recovery: Ken is shot by Sabu and left to die in a burning mansion at the climax of Zero, but somehow returns in River City Girls 2 as one of the main antagonists, though considering how much of Kunio-tachi no Banka/River City Girls Zero is actually real in the River City Girls canon is still very much up in the air since neither Misako and Kyoko seem to properly remember that game's events.
• Villain's Dying Grace: After getting shot by Sabu, he confirms that he is not really Kunio's brother, and was used by Sabu in his plan to take revenge on Kunio.
• What the Fu Are You Doing?: Unlike in Zero, his RCG incarnation showcases his lack of martial arts experience, his standard attacks consisting of throwing comically dramatic punches and kicks, and when he does a Diving Kick it ends with him rolling and falling flat on the floor.

Super Dodge Ball (Neo Geo)

Kenji

Kenji (けんじ)

^{Original design}

Voiced by: Tōru Furuya

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• Expy: He's a dead ringer to Hyuma Hoshi, the hero of the baseball manga/anime series Kyojin no Hoshi (Star of the Giants). Not only does his Power Shot throw a ball like a baseball pitcher, his spring attire looks awfully like the one Hyuma wore during his fitness training. They even share the same voice actor to boot.
• No Name Given: He's never given a name in River City Girls. Apparently he wants to tell, but the heroines don't even bother to listen to him.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Even in his brief cameo in River City Girls.

Miyuki

Miyuki (みゆき)

A part-time worker at amusement park who ended up at Dodge Ball Tournament.

---

• Girly Bruiser: Okay, she's comparably weak compared to other characters, but her Shots are quite deadly when it connects.
• Joke Character: She's one of the worst characters in the Neo Geo Super Dodge Ball because her Power Shots come out so slowly. Her Super Power Shot is a total joke, and any human player can dodge it without trying. This is acknowledged in the game, per her win quote:
  Miyuki: Amazing! I can't believe there is a person that can lose to me!

D. B. Maou

D. B. Maou

Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri

The final boss in the Neo Geo Super Dodge Ball. Despite being a Dodge Ball champion himself, he wants to ban the sport altogether.

---

• Accidental Murder: His misfired Power Shot ended up killing his wife, which made him resentful toward Dodge Ball game.
• Sequential Boss: Once you deplete enough energy from him, he transforms into the second form and max out his health again.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: The pretty referee/announcer on the side of the court is actually Maou's daughter, Angela.

Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special

Madoka

Madoka (まどか)

From the official website.

Kunio's homeroom teacher.

---

• Authority in Name Only: You'd be hard pressed to find any teacher capable of controlling delinquents like these, but she seems to not even register on their radar.
• Damsel in Distress: Kidnapped at the end of Tokyo Rumble and taken all the way to Hong Kong.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": Or "Babe" in this case. Naturally, Kunio calls her that every sentence he speaks.
• Hot Teacher: Kunio seems to think so, judging by all the flirting.
• Sensei-chan: Downplayed, but she is young and attractive, and Kunio treats her more like a girl his age than an authority figure.

River City: Tokyo Rumble

Lee

A triad boss, and Sabu's blood brother.

---

• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Sabu. They're revealed in the same cutscene, neither takes presedence over the other in authority, and they're fought at the same time.
• Dual Boss: With Sabu.
• Old Master: Old, grey, and, unlike Sabu, a martial artist.
• The Triads and the Tongs: A triad boss. Most of his battle dialogue has him mention the triads in some way.
• Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: This Chinese man's very existence is treated by the narrative as an escalation.

River City: Rival Showdown

Minamoto

Minamoto Yorikazu (みなもと)

A third year at Reiho Academy, and Taira's best friend. A big fan of Double Dragon Duel, the new hit game at the arcade.

---

• Broken Win/Loss Streak: He's first encountered in the middle of one of these, having taken down 99 challengers in Double Dragon Duel. Whether or not his streak is broken depends on Kunio, though.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Subverted, as though he possess one of Taira's masks, he's actually acting against them and he's never actually shown wearing it.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Despite assisting Kunio in foiling Taira's scheme, he'll join Taira standing in Kunio's way when he and Riki take the fight to Reiho High, stating despite everything, he can't let Reiho be sullied by intruders.
• We Used to Be Friends: Downplayed, as Minamoto is still Taira's best friend, but his actions as of late causes Minamoto to act against him, aiding Kunio in his journey.

Makoto

Yamagami Makoto (マコト)

A dishelved and unsettling man with a connection to Yamada.

---

• Achilles' Heel: When fought, he proves to take little damage from pretty much every attack Kunio throws at him. Midway through the first fight, however, a cutscene reveals him to be afraid of weaponry, a clue that the way to fight him is with weapon attacks.
• Berserk Button: After their falling out, the mention of Yamada is this, to him. He violently attacks multiple people for mentioning him in his presence.
• Evil Mentor: Was one to Yamada, due to sensing that Yamada had similar powers to him.
• The Berserker: His fighting style. Yamada was even drawn to him after witnessing one of his rampages.
• Would Hit a Girl: He sends one of the hostesses who helps Kunio to the hospital for reminding him of Yamada, and was about to choke out another before Kunio steps in. It's implied this is largely due to Yamada's lingering influence, however.

River City Girls

Hibari

Hibari (ひばり)

Voiced by: Mary Josephine Hanson

A big-time fashion designer.

---

• Animal Motifs: Spiders. Not only does her hair look like a spider but she makes use of a lot of attacks that leave web-like patterns.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her design seems to mix this with ghostly Japanese aesthetic, with a frilled dress and cuffs, a pale pallor, and spiderweb motifs.
• Geisha: The other side of her aesthetic, with an altered kimono and the large piled geisha hair.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: She spends much of the fight floating around in the air and completely out of your range. In order to knock her down, you'll have to hit her twice either by wall-jumping and attacking when she's near a wall, when she floats down enough for you to reach her, or by causing her needle attack to rebound and hit her instead.
• Hired Guns: She's a hireable Henchman in 2 unlockable after finding enough Secrets.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Most characters in this series look human (save Skullmageddon), but Hibari stands out as looking like a character from an entirely different franchise like Touhou Project. This even extends to her boss battle, which plays less like a beat 'em up and more like a Bullet Hell.

Noize

Noize (ノイズ)

Voiced by: Erika Harlacher (dialogue) (River City Girls), Megan McDuffee (vocals) (River City Girls), Anairis Quiñones (River City Girls 2)

A famous rock star who knew Kyoko in the past.

---

• Ambiguously Brown: She's dark-skinned but her name is Nozomi, indicating mixed ancestry, which shouldn't be odd as River City Girls blends Japanese and American styles and demographics as part of the Americasia setting.
• Commonality Connection: When Kyoko learns that fatty tuna is Noize's favorite food, she says "Hey, mine too! Weird.", which isn't so weird when it's revealed that they're former friends.
• A Dog Named "Dog": She named her dog "Dawg".
• Early-Bird Cameo: The vocal tracks you occasionally hear throughout the game are actually her singing.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Contrary to the saying that "All the boys love Noize" she, as seen during her boss fight, also has legions of female fans as well.
• Flunky Boss: She summons her fans to chase down the players.
• Healing Hands: Is the only Henchman in 2 that heals the player rather than dealing damage.
• Hired Guns: She's one of the hireable Henchmen in 2.
• Ms. Fanservice: A little downplayed than most, but her outfit is ripped and slightly revealing, especially with the legwear showing off her legs and her breasts do move while rocking. She's considered this in-universe too, with a popular saying about her being "All the boys love Noize".
• Old Shame:
  • In-universe. Noize is beyond embarrassed when Kyoko brings up the fact that she used to be a shy outcast girl named Nozomi. This leads her to initiate a boss fight.
  • She's also not proud of the fact that Sabu financed her first album.
• The Power of Rock: Part of her boss battle is avoiding cascading Guitar Hero-like notes while she plays a vocal section of her boss track.
• Secret Character: In RCG2 she can be unlocked as a Hired Henchman by finding enough Secrets.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Is happy over the fact that her looks and rocking music give her a massive male following, getting giddy over the statement that "All the boys love Noize."
• Singing Voice Dissonance: Her singing voice is a lot smoother and more melodic than her speaking voice, which is very rough and tomboyish.
• Sinister Scythe: Her guitar also doubles as this, and she likes tossing it around the arena a lot.
• Something Only They Would Say: Kyoko recognizes Noize as her old friend, Nozomi after she calls the protagonists "Dinglebutt" which was what Nozomi refers herself when she and Kyoko first met.
• We Used to Be Friends: Kyoko had befriended her in grade school, promising the two of them would be best friends. Unfortunately, Kyoko suddenly left a month later, leaving Noize feeling incredibly hurt. It turns out Kyoko was expelled for stealing basketball hoops.
• Worthy Opponent: Considers Kyoko and Misako "metal" after they defeat her, and she gives them a tip as to where Kunio and Riki could be.

Sabuko

Sabuko (さぶこ)

Voiced by: Xanthe Huynh (English), Hiroko Kiso (Japanese)

The katana-wielding daughter of Sabu, taking charge of the Sanwakai in his absence.

---

• And Your Little Dog, Too!: Played for laughs; Near the end of 2, she finally enacts her vengeance on Misako and Kyoko by kidnapping what she assumes are their friends. Since she doesn't know them very well, she just kidnapped some people they talked to during the course of the game that the girls were neither particularly close to nor cared for. In two cases, she ended up kidnapping two people that the two have no idea who they are.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Is the Final Boss and wears a sharp, backless business-like suit.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Sabu was a very cold and pragmatic yakuza boss who is perfectly happy to pull out a gun on two young girls and any of his henchmen who mess up. He is also the driving force of the game since he creates a conspiracy to frame Kunio and Riki in revenge. In contrast, his daughter is quite honorable, prefers a sword over a gun, and has nothing to do with Kunio and Riki's disappearance whatsoever.
• Daddy's Little Villain: She's in charge of her dad's gang while he's in prison, and she's doing a damn good job at it.
• Doppelgänger Spin: She can summon eight different illusions of herself to hide and ambush you from.
• Enemy Mine: She allies with Kyoko and Misako near the start of River City Girls 2 to get back at her father for kicking her out of the family business. Near the end of the game however, she reveals that she was merely using them to get back at her brother and worm her way back into her father's graces and proceeds to betray them.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Employs both men and women in her gang which Misako and Kyoko finds cool and progressive since the Yakuza is mostly male dominated.
• Family Theme Naming: Her name is literally just her father's name with -ko tacked on to indicate that she's a woman.
• Hellish Copter: In 2, she fights the girls from a helicopter that's constantly dropping down goons as well as firing missiles. The only way to hurt it is to toss grenades at it.
• Katanas Are Just Better: In contrast to her father, she fights with a katana.
• Ki Manipulation: She can summon water- or fire-based energy attacks to pressure you from every angle.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Sabu kicking Sabuko out of the family business after her defeat at the hands of Misako and Kyoko leads to Sabuko allying with the two school girls to destroy his operations. At least until the end, at which point she goes back to trying to kill the girls.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: In RCG1, Like all of the other bosses, she has absolutely nothing to do with Kunio and Riki's disappearance. As far as she's concerned, Misako and Kyoko just came to her base and started beating up her men for no reason. She plays a more direct role in RCG2.
• Prepare to Die: She says this to Kyoko and Misako during their dialogue with her before the boss fight.
• The Queenpin: She's the acting-boss of the Sanwakai while her father's in jail. The girls congratulate her on breaking the glass ceiling of organized crime.
• Remember the New Guy?: Not only was Sabuko not once mentioned in any of the previous games, the only child Sabu has is his adopted son, Ken. Zero even lampshades this where after beating the game Misako and Kyoko question whether or not the game was canon based on the fact that she was never mentioned.
• Tattooed Crook: As all yakuza have, though she rolls up her sleeves to show enough of them. She even wears a backless shirt just to show off her back tattoos.
• This Cannot Be!: Sabuko could hardly believe that she lost to the likes of a "pair of schoolgirl deviants" as she calls both Kyoko and Misako.

Yakuza Henchman

A Sanwakai yakuza recognizable by his eyepatch and his Uzi.

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• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Despite holding an Uzi SMG, he never bothers using it on Misako and Kyoko, especially since he is on guard duty. He doesn't even bother to fight the girls and allows the two to plant all charges with no resistance whatsoever.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: In 2, while the henchman ordering a bank robbery, and the one issuing orders to a brainwashed Marian is the same person that Misako and Kyoko interacted with in 1. It is revealed that there are other Sanwakai members that look identical to him, all knocked out by Provie inside the night club's restroom, alongside the Yakuza Male and Female.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Has a bad habit of telling the protagonists about the means of blowing up a secured door leading to Sabuko's penthouse, and meekly pleads with them to not go through with it.
• No Name Given: Is simply referred to as "Yakuza" (or "Yakuza Henchman" in 2). Justified as it is revealed that there's more than one of him.
• Recurring Character: He plays a role in 2, being the person in charge of a robbery at River City Bank, and the one who issues orders to a brainwashed Marian.
• Unexplained Recovery: Although he gets blown up in the first game, the second game shows that he is alive and well, and is revealed to have managed to escape from the explosion on time.

RCG Enemies

The enemies that Misako and Kyoko will face during their adventures in River City.

General

• Assist Character: In a similar vein to Marvel vs. Capcom, recruited allies will jump down and launch an attack before leaving the area... and can be harmed while present.
• Defeat Means Friendship: When the last surviving enemy in an area is reduced to low health, they will drop and surrender. You can then recruit them and they will return the favor by acting as an assist unit.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Unlike in 1, where all use the same move when recruited, the elite and zombie variants perform their own unique attacks in 2.
• Elite Mooks: The red colored variants are much stronger than their basic counterparts, and the zombie versions even moreso. Each of them have their own biography as a form of distinction. In 1 they also have more health than normal when recruited, while in 2 they use different attacks.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: While different enemies come in all kinds of different colors, elite variants universally wear a deep blood red.
• Palette Swap: Each enemy type (barring Elite Mooks like Linda) has a variety of members that are identical in all but name and color. Then there are the elite and zombie variants, which are not just colored differently, but stronger than the others.

School Boy

Members: Seirai, Kayden, Kaitsu, Malhar, Mel (elite), Grendel (zombie)

• Combat Pragmatist: Their ability has them throw dirt at people's faces, stunning and leaving them vulnerable for a few seconds.
• Fast Ball Special: How they throw their baseballs like this, complete with a pitcher throw.
• Gang of Bullies: They are a gang of entitled, scrawny jerks contrasting with Georgios and his crew (who are tougher looking delinquents). This translates to them fighting dirty to gain an edge and favor throwable weapons like baseballs.
• Improbable Weapon User: They use baseballs as bludgegoing weapons if they don't decide to throw it at you.
• Nightmare Face: Grendel's face is downright skeletal. His bio notes, though, that that he used to be prom king. 2 tones down his skeletal face to be more human-like.
• Non Conformist Dyed Hair: Mel has blue hair with teal bangs.

School Girl

Members: Reina, Hinata, Hannah (1), Kim (2), Ichika, Nen (elite), Vesper (zombie)

• Alpha Bitch: Their description notes that anyone who isn't part of their clique is considered part of their problem.
• Attractive Zombie: In 1, Vesper is the only one that looks relatively normal; the result is a cute (but nasty) zombie with messy hair. However, she's changed in 2, now sporting a positively demonic grin, a pair of small, demonic horns and scary, red eyes.
• Anti-Air: Their jumping spin-kick can knock-off anyone that attempts to perform and aerial attack on them.
• Black and Nerdy: Kim has dark skin, Nerd Glasses, and her art shows her holding a book.
• Chain Pain: They wield chains as their weapon of choice.
• Gyaru Girl: Their general appearance and their idle animation have them pull out a make-up kit and look at themselves at a mirror.
• Hurricane Kick: Their speciality. It is also useful for juggling an opponent due to their attack being aerial in nature.
• Modesty Shorts: They wear these under their skirts, which helps given their fighting style.
• Slasher Smile: Hinata has a Godai-like grin on her artwork in 1.
• Spooky Séance: Vesper once attempted to perform a seance ritual with her friends. Whatever the result was, it clearly didn't turn out well, considering she ended up undead.
• Strong as They Need to Be: The Vespers summoned by Hibari are much weaker than their usual showing as zombie enemies, only requiring a few hits to defeat them.

Thug

Members: Georgios, Steve (1), Pete (2), Reggie (1), Davey (2), Rogers, Farrokh (elite), Chaim (zombie)

• Batter Up!: Their weapon of choice is a baseball bat.
• Delinquents: They're a band of school toughs contrasting with Seirai and his gang (who are a band of scrawny bullies). They also utilize a rougher fighting style honed from street brawls and favor baseball bats as weapons.
• Delinquent Hair: They sport a notable pompadour.
• Gangbangers: Farrokh (their ringleader) kind of looks like a gopnik and his school coat resembles a tracksuit.
• Improbable Weapon User: They will occasionally throw their baseball bats if you are far away from them.
• Nightmare Face: Chaim has a rather monstrous face and a grin that shows off his shark-like pearly whites.
• Psycho Serum: An accidental example. Chaim's bio reveals that he once thought of Sabu's illegal chemical reservoir as a swimming pool and it resulted in enhanced strength (and an enhanced level of psychopathy).
• Shout-Out: Nearly all of them are named after the non-stage names of famous 70s and 80s male music stars. Davey even has the Ziggy Stardust facepaint and Farrokh grew the iconic Mercury stache between games.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: In 2, they traded their baseball bats for grenades when bringing them in.

Cheerleaders

Members: Linnea, Chara, Ashanti, Colleen, Midori (elite), Rachel (zombie)

• Dance Battler: Unsurprisingly, they incorporate cheerleading dance techniques to their fighting repertoire, and are capable of evading your attacks.
• Diving Kick: Their specialty. In 2 they dive kick much faster.
• Genki Girl: Befitting for their occupation, their bio describes them as cheerful and their artwork has them smiling (though this ironically doesn't apply to Midori, who doesn't seem to have much to smile about).
• Power Fist: Their pom-poms act as their weapons.
• Perpetual Frowner: In sharp contrast to the rest of her troupe, Midori generally looks unamused and frowny.
• Psychotic Smirk: Rachel's "smile" is more akin to the one that the Clown Prince of Crime would don. The description notes that she's not much of a cheerleader, and doesn't care much for it. Instead, she's more of a fearleader.
• She-Fu: They cartwheel in-and-out in a fight and their finisher involves jumping and smacking them with a pom-pom.
• Unique Enemy: A quartet of icy, frozen cheerleaders are found inside River City High's cafeteria freezer, and are only there the one time.

Bad Cop

Members: Saito, Onishi, Nomura, Matsui, Fujimoto (elite), Nakamura (zombie)

• Boring, but Practical: They don't have combos and only swings their baton once, however, a hit from them will always knock anyone down and that's all they need.
• Combat Pragmatist: They lob tear gas grenades when fighting.
• Cop Killer: Nakamura ran into some of these in the line of duty. Being killed only served as an inconvenience, seeing as he subsequently came back from the grave.
• Dirty Cop: Their bio notes that they are most certainly not sworn to protect you. Chief Fujimoto, the elite version, is even stated to be especially corrupt (moreso than the people who pay him!).
• Eyes Out of Sight: Their eyes are always hidden underneath their police caps, serving as visual shorthand that these cops aren't good guys.
• Gang Up on the Human: Despite being police officers, they will not target other enemies. While this makes sense for the Sanwakai members (who are implied to be on their payroll), this doesn't hold true for the others.
• Lawman Baton: Their weapon of choice.
• Mundane Made Awesome: In 2, whenever they salute, they release a spark from their hand accompanied by a small shockwave.
• Tattooed Crook: Matsui picked up an arm tattoo in-between games, and in 2 he shows it off proudly.

Tigermen

Members: Dwayne, Leon, Aurelien, Szatkowski, Oscar (elite), Hellwig (zombie)

• Anti-Air: Like the School Girls, their aerial attack is capable of knocking down an opponent unlucky enough to do a jump attack.
• Ax-Crazy: According to Oscar's bio, he takes a rather sadistic glee at taking knife-edge chops and has a downright deranged stare in his eyes compared to the other wrestlers.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: While the artwork for other wrestlers has their eyes pointed at the direction they are facing, Oscar's eyes on the other hand is staring directly at you.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Hellwig sports a sinister glow on his eyes.
• Face–Heel Turn: Hellwig's bio states he performed one of these years ago, and he hasn't looked back once.
• Lightning Bruiser: They are more nimble than their build would suggest, as the non-Elite bios point out, and one of their attacks has them do a jumping roll move.
• Poisonous Person: Hellwig in 2 can poison his opponents with a rolling attack.
• Rolling Attack: Their specialty is the Acro Circus, a Blanka-esque jumping rolling attack, and as an assist, they can be called to juggle their opponents. In 2 some Tigermen, as an assist, will use a grounded version.
• Shout-Out: They are all named after pro-wrestlers’ non-stage names and are wearing tiger masks.
• Shock and Awe: Oscar in 2 is capable of electrocuting his opponents with a roll attack.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Justified by virtue of being wrestlers wearing a wrestling gear.

Cyborg

Members: D4-V1D, 64-RC14, J4-M35, CH-R15, J3-R3MY (elite), H4-YD3N (zombie)

• The Ahnold: They are all Terminator-expies that make Arnie noises, an imposing physique, and a buzzcut. The one thing missing are their motorcycles.
• Body Horror: Downplayed. But 64-RC14's artwork in 2 bear visible damage to his human-skin disguise revealing his Terminator-esque frame.
• Cyborg Wizard: H4-YD3N is a cyborg who is said to have dabbled in magic to become powerful (implied to be the same kind of dark magic Yamada uses, given the similarity of their auras).
• Extendable Limbs: One of their attacks is to extend their arm to throw a powerful punch that can hit opponents from a distance and send them launching straight.
• Lightning Bruiser: Despite their clunky movements, they hit fast and they hit hard. And they are good at crowd control if recruited.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Their attempts at disguising as humans need improvement as their movements are more robotic, their idle animation has them sway their torso like a robot, and their neck extends if they are knocked back. 64-RC14 has even forgotten to put on his synthetic skin, revealing his metal body. In 2, J3-R3MY has also neglected to don synthetic skin, and while 64-RC14 actually wears his skin now, it's damaged in places and shows his metal endoskeleton in places(while also showing he and J3-R3MY are diffrent types of robot).
• Shout-Out: They are one to the titular Terminators, being muscular, bearing an identical hairstyle, sport a leather jacket (although their sleeves are ripped), and glow with red eyes. Their description even notes that they came from the future disguising themselves as humans to blend in. J4-M35 also has tan lines suggesting he normally wears sunglasses.
• Shooting Superman: J3-R3MY's artwork has visible bullet holes and the description reveals that he simply shrugged them off like nothing. CH-R15' artwork in 2 also showcase visible bullet holes.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: One of their attacks is to launch a volley of grenades from inside their chests.
• The Unintelligible: In contrast to most other regular enemies having comprehensible voice lines, the Cyborgs' lines are all wordless, Schwarzenegger-esque vocalisations. Despite this, they're understood enough that they can beg the player characters to spare them, and they still get the usual randomised screen-corner text quote upon defeat.

Linda

Others: Neo Linda (elite), Mecha Linda (zombie)

• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Her hairstyle has been changed from a neck length perm to a long straight do that reaches her chest.
• Truer to the Text: Downplayed Trope. While Linda got Adaptational Attractiveness or Adaptational Ugliness depending on the version of Double Dragon, ''River City Girls" Linda is based on her original athletic/punk design, albeit with straight hair instead of a perm.
• Amazonian Beauty: They are beautiful women, and very muscular.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than most mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Guest Fighter: Of Double Dragon fame.
• In Name Only: Despite her name, Mecha Linda looks more like an Artificial Zombie than a robot.
• Stronger Sibling: Neo Linda is said to be in-charge due to having been born first.
• Weapon Specialization: She is armed with a whip, and she will either spin it or snag an opponents legs and throw them with it.
• Whip of Dominance: Downplayed. While she still wields a whip and has a domineering and aggressive body language, Linda's design in this game isn't based on her Dressed Like a Dominatrix outfit, but more on her original athletic/punk design.

Waver

Others: Exie (elite), Chance (zombie)

• Adaptational Modesty: Is dressed like a bunny girl in her home game◊. While here, she wears a dress with a short puffy sleeves.
• Counter-Attack: Will deliver a swift kick the moment they get up if you are close to them.
• Creepy Doll: Rather than a person, Chance is a human-sized doll powered by an evil spirit.
• Cute Monster Girl: While a costume per se, it still accentuates their cuteness. Averted with Chance who has one of the creepiest Nightmare Face to behold, to the point that even toning down her look in 2 doesn't diminish her scary nature (she has a Nutcracker-like teeth instead).
• Death Dealer: They are gamblers, and one of their attacks is to throw a dice at their opponents.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than the rest of the mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Guest Fighter: From Sugoro Quest Dice No Senshi Tachi, where she is a boss.
• Meaningful Name: Her name "Waver" is a play on the words "Waiver", a term where a person signs their consent and has waived their right or claim. This makes a lot of sense given that they are high stakes gamblers.
• Megaton Punch: One of their attacks is to perform a wind-up punch. It is slow, but is very damaging and will send an unlucky sap flying if it connects.
• Older Than They Look: Although they look like middle schoolers, they're actually young adults (Exie obviously so) and are casino participants.
• Scary Teeth: Waver has a jagged teeth in her artwork but serves to give her an adorable look.
• Tattooed Crook: Exie's arms are covered in tattoos and is said to be from the wrong side of the tracks.
• Wolverine Claws: They wear cotton stuffed bear paws on their hands and their primary attack involves clawing at their opponents.
• Womanchild: They are adults with a childish behavior. Their surrender animation even has them drop down and cry.
• Wrong Side of the Tracks: Where Exie's from, according to her bio.

Trash

Others: Garbage (elite), Scum (zombie)

• Big Brother Bully: Garbage, Trash's older brother, used to bully him when they were younger.
• Dynamic Entry: As an assist, they introduce to their enemies by immediately flattening them with their sledgehammers.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than the rest of the mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Guest Fighter: Trash originated in The Combatribes as a boss character.
• Lean and Mean: Downplayed. They may look scrawny and hunched, but their arms are well-toned and are mean looking thugs.
• Mighty Glacier: Their attacks are pretty slow and you can avoid it easily, however, their hammers pack a huge punch and will always knock anyone down if they land a hit on them.
• Nerf: In the first game, he lacked the standard 3-hit combo and all of his attacks involving his sledgehammer will always knock his foes down. In the sequel, his side-swing is treated as his second combo which comes after a kick, and his overhead swing served as his combo finisher. On the flipside, once he does his spin attack, he no longer becomes dizzy from it.
• Psycho Serum: Turbo Juice, a buyable food item, is this in excessive quantities, and drinking too much of it, despite warnings from his momma not to, is how Scum became what he is now.
• The Quincy Punk: They have a punk-like appearance and are criminals.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: They wear a sleeveless skeleton shirt that display their well-toned biceps.
• Spectacular Spinning: One of their attacks is to spin with their sledgehammers. They are left vulnerable for a few seconds after executing this attack.

Yakuza Male

Members: Fudo, Hisoka, Katashi, Hiromi, Masaaki (elite), Osamu (zombie)

• Elite Mook: As the final opponents you will be facing, they are noticeably tougher than the prior enemies you've encountered. In 2, they are encountered much earlier to showcase the Sanwakai's takeover of River City.
• Extremity Extremist: They mostly strike with punches, even as an aerial move. Their only use for their legs is when they perform a knee strike.
• Denser and Wackier: They are much less menacing compared to their counterparts from the main Kunio-kun continuity and rather than attack with knives, they are Bare-Fisted Monks that utilize a karateka fighting style.
• Demonic Possession: Osamu's bio reveal that he is possessed by an ancient oni that gives him an enhanced strength at the cost of giving him an unsatiable lust for combat, though the way it's written implies he may have been very eager to fight even before then. His face, at first glance can even be mistaken for an oni mask until you take a closer look.
• Kamehame Hadoken: In a shout out to Street Fighter, they launch fireballs from both of their palms from their hands. In 2, it is changed from fire to lightning element.
• Male Might, Female Finesse: The might to Akari's finesse. They are bare handed fighters that utilize their raw strength to combat their foes and their combat stance is straight-forward.
• Sinister Shades: They sport a pair of these to add to their intimidating image as a yakuza.
• Tattooed Crook: Much like yakuza, their arms are full of tattoos.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: They fight bare-chested and only sport a Sarashi. Their only use for their suit jacket is to act as a cape before throwing it off.
• Yakuza: Are part of the Sanwakai Clan alongside Akari.

Yakuza Female

Members: Akari, Harumi, Hideko, Maiko, Momoe (elite), Shinobu (zombie)

• Badbutt: A tough as nails female yakuza goon with a lollipop on their mouth as a stand in for a cigarette. Played with as they carry switchblades and are more than eager to use them on you.
• Elite Mook: As the final opponents you will be facing, they are noticeably tougher than the prior enemies you've encountered. In 2, they are encountered much earlier to showcase the Sanwakai's takeover of River City.
• Extremity Extremist: Their only move that doesn't involve a switchblade is their open-palm thrust and is used as their first attack.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: The yakuza are normally a male dominated society. Under Sabuko's leadership, they've also started recruiting women, who are then trained as assassins.
• Facial Horror: Let's just say that Shinobu's face has seen better, prettier days. A portion on one of her cheeks has her skin missing, making a merely cocky grin look like a Slasher Smile.
• Gratuitous Japanese: Occasionally shouts "Sore!" when attacking.
• Male Might, Female Finesse: The finesse to Fudo's might. They fight mainly with a switchblade and utilize acrobatic flips when throwing their knives at their foes.
• Ninja: Their profession as members of the Sanwakai Clan. They fight with blades and are equipped with kunai knives as a ranged attack.
• Sinister Shades: They sport a pair of these to add to their intimidating image as a yakuza.
• Tattooed Crook: Much like yakuza, their arms are full of tattoos. Shinobu's tattoos are full of skulls instead.
• Yakuza: Are part of the Sanwakai Clan alongside Fudo.

Zombies

• Harmless Villain: Despite their genuinely scary appearance (befitting for a zombie), it will take a whole minute for them to actually attack you and they go down with just a single punch. 2 throws this out of the window by giving them the ability to attack, and will take several beatdowns to defeat them.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Their bodies shatter upon going down.
• Mythology Gag: River City Underground is another game that features zombies as an enemy (albeit as an arena exclusive) and, coincidentally, both it and Girls are directed by the very same man; Bannon Rudis.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Unlike the "zombie" variants of various mooks, they are the real deal; they are undead, slow moving beings that move in a gait. The one thing that prevents them from becoming a genuine threat is that prior to 2, they barely attempt to lift a finger and instantly go down if you so much just bump into them.
• Took a Level in Badass: When they show up in 2, they can take a beating, cannot be floored, and can actually attack you by biting. This is a noticeable change back from their Harmless Villain portrayal from the first game.
• Unique Enemy: In the first game, you only fight them on two occassions. Averted in 2 where they are commonly found on the graveyard.

River City Girls 2

Blaire

Blaire

Voiced by: Ryan Bartley (English), Madoka Yonezawa (Japanese)

A witch under the employ of the Sanwakai who whips up curses and spells for them. Located in the Flatirons, they're the one responsible for brainwashing Marian.

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• Dark and Troubled Past: Their parents accidentally got sucked into another dimension due to a botched spell by their father. They grew up fending for themself to avoid being placed in an orphanage.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: Of a sort; after getting defeated they'll sell powerful accessory items, but Blaire outright refuses to provide anything for free out of friendship.
• Express Delivery: According to their flashback, Blaire's parents used magic to conceive them and it only took "nine moons" (i.e. nine days) for them to be born.
• Lady of Black Magic: They're a witch who specializes in curses and potions for the right price.
• Only in It for the Money: They're a neutral party that only offers aid for money, because apparently potent magic supplies are expensive.
• Pretender Diss: When Kyoko asks if their magic is anything like Yamada's, Blaire dismisses him as a poser.
• Punch-Clock Villain: They treat Ken as just an annoying client who pays well and otherwise cares little for his plans. Blaire was already considering dropping him as a client before the protagonists fight them, mainly because the yakuza are harassing their other customers.
• Shout-Out: A witch named Blaire who lives deep in some haunted woods... does that sound familiar?
• Solitary Sorceress: They're way out past a forest bewitched to misdirect any travellers in circles, past a field of enchanted mist with the opening to their hideout animated to bite on any intruders. Their theme song, "Get Off My Lawn" is entirely about how they want any trespassers to leave. They're also very annoyed at the protagonists for somehow missing all the signs that they want to be left alone (by anyone who isn't a paying customer).

Tsuiko

Tsuiko

Voiced by: Brianna Knickerbocker (English), Rika Tachibana (Japanese)

A social media influencer working at Technos that Ken hired to spread the Sanwakai's media influence.

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• Bad Influencer: She's an influencer who uses her reach to broaden the schemes of the Yakuza.
• Deflector Shields: She spends her entire fight surrounded by energy shields that makes her immune to any form of hitstun.
• Excuse Me While I Multitask: During her bossfight, Tsuiko is too busy doing her job to actually battle and leaves it to her automated defenses to fight in her stead. She spends most of her time wandering from station to station while posting on social media as her office itself fights the protagonists.
• Glass Cannon: Has an impressive array of high-tech weapons and defenses to keep her safe, but falls in one hit once her shield is finally depleted.
• Graceful Loser: After being beaten, she undoes the damage she did to the protagonists' phones and praises them for being the next big thing in River City. She then gives her blessing to post the fight onto their feeds, hands over her Emblem, and opens up Ocean View for the heroes.
• Hollywood Hacking: Aside from being an influencer, she's also able to hack into the girls' phones to muck up their social media accounts. It also helps that their passwords (both of them) are "Your Password".
• Leitmotif: "Your Like", which is about how she uses her social media influence to control the masses.
• Only in It for the Money: Tsuiko only works for Sabu and the Yakuza because they're paying her.
• Phoneaholic Teenager: She spends the entirety of her boss battle looking at her phone. Justified since it's her job to do so.

Primo

Primo

Voiced by: Alejandro Saab (English), Hiroya Egashira (Japanese)

A celebrity chef hired by Ken to whip up toxic food for River City High.

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• Chef of Iron: He's fully capable of fighting the protagonists by tossing out knives and making use of stage equipment.
• Evil Chef: He's a chef under the employ of the Yakuza for the purpose of creating food to control the students of RCH. The evil part is pronounced as through Enoki, it is revealed that he, and alongside the other chefs and dishwashers, are kept in shackles to ensure that they don't leave the kitchen they're assigned to.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: By the time he's beaten he's already succeeded at poisoning the school with mind control slop and turning it into a warzone.

RCG 2 Enemies

Chin

Others: Li Cheng (elite), Yagyu (demon)

• Adaptational Modesty: Chin in his home series is shirtless, this version of Chin wears a boiler outfit with a partially open zipper that showcase his chest.
• Breaking Old Trends: Yagyu, the strongest variant is the only one of the two enemies who isn't a zombie, a possessed person, or a mutant. But rather, an Oni who comes from a cadre of assassins.
• Confusion Fu: They will occasionally leap around the area to avoid being attacked.
• Combat Parkour: Staying around or wailing on him while down will cause him to respond with a sudden backflip kick.
• Diving Kick: One of their attacks has them use a diving jump kick coated with flames that deal fire-based damage.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than the rest of the mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Guest Fighter: Like Linda, he is from the Double Dragon series.
• Only One Name: Chin is usually referred to by his full name of "Chin Taimei". Here, the "Taimei" name is omitted.
• Shout-Out: Li Cheng is named after Li Chenglong, a boss in the third Double Dragon game. Yagyu is named after Ranzou Yagyu of NES version of the same game.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Being kung-fu practicioners, they carry nunchakus and will pull them out as one of their attacks. This attack is unblockable, much like Linda's whip spin.
• Younger and Hipper: Chin in his home series is an adult, this Chin is considerably younger (likely younger than Misako and Kyoko) and wears a boiler suit and headset to showcase it. This is more noticeable if you view their profile art.

LARPer

Members: Blaise, Fabian, Lucius, Wilmot, Caleb (elite), Jareth (zombie?)

• Beware the Silly Ones: Their attacks may look silly, but they are capable of kicking ass and are not to be underestimated, especially when it comes to their elemental attacks.
• Composite Character: They are a combination of Nerds and Warlocks from Underground. Their main gimmick is to unleash elements that deal status effects like the former, and wear cloaks like the latter. The difference between them and the Warlocks is that the latter possess genuine arcane magic (something that the LARPers lack).
• Cool Board: They pull out a skateboard(which has been stylized as a magic broom, fitting with their theme) as one of their attacks, and may occasionally jump with it to knock their opponents down.
• Gas Mask Mook: Not visible in-game but Jareth's artwork depicts him wearing a gas mask. Probably a wise move, since he uses radioactive compounds in a spray can as a weapon.
• Magic from Technology: Literal example. Their "elemental" attacks that they shoot out from their wand is actually comes from a spraycan that they pull out.
• Poisonous Person: Jareth's info reveals that he discovered an invisible force that can kill...radiation, which he then chose to weaponize. In-game he uses poison-based attack rather than ice or fire.
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: They speak like this and one of their attack lines is "Have at thee!".

C.A.T.S.

Members: CH-424, K4Y-L1. K1R-4, M3-G4N, K47H2YN (elite), ER-1N (super elite)

• Ace Custom: ER-1N is one of these, built to Sonokawa's specifications to function as his personal assistant.
• Arm Cannon: One of their attacks will shoot out photon/flame shots from their palm-mounted cannon.
• Breaking Old Trends: ER-1N is the only one of the strongest enemy variants who isn't a zombie, a mutant, or someone who is possessed. She's just an especially hi-spec robot.
• Cat Girl: Of the robotic variety. Their bio notes that their creation is inspired by cat cafés and lasers.
• Emoticon:
  • Their LED Screen face express their emotions through emoticons, ER-13N however averts this by not displaying emoticons at all (on their artwork at least).
  • When firing a plasma shot, it will display various ASCII emoticons such as "<3", "C=", etc.
• Energy Weapons: Some C.A.T.S. variants will fire photon shots from their palm cannons, or shoot out a stream of lasers from their tail. Both inflict electric-based damage.
• Facial Horror: Downplayed as she is a robot. But K47H2YN's artwork indicates she's taken quite a beating, with her LED faceplate having sustained enough damage to expose one of her camera eyes.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: Some C.A.T.S. variants will shoot out fireballs from either their palm cannons or from their tail that inflict flame-based damage.
• Fun with Acronyms: C.A.T.S. stands for Cybernetic Automated Tactical Soldier.
• Mythology Gag: The C.A.T.S. are based on the Tobioka CC androids from the DS Nekketsu sports games. Both are manufactured by a giant conglomerate (Technos HQ for the former, and Tobioka Conglomerate for the latter) to serve as combat robots. The difference being that Tobioka CC builds bulky Ridiculously Human Robots while the C.A.T.S. are sleek, obviously robotic and incorporate feline visual cues.
• Robot Soldier: Going by their complete acronyms, they are military robots produced at Technos HQ.
• Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: ER-1N is described as Sonokawa's personal assistant and is one of the strongest combatants of the C.A.T.S. series.
• Super Prototype: K47H2YN's bio refers to her as a beta model running experimental software. Going by her battered state, this software likely has military applications, meaning the operations/simulations she undergoes are extra rigorous.
• Teleportation: Some stronger variants such as K47H2YN and ER-1N will teleport in-and-out to another position to avoid being attacked.
• TV Head Robot: They have a LED screen for a face.
• Video Game Dashing: Unlike other enemies where they run normally, C.A.T.S. will use their thrusters to dash on the ground, complete with Speed Echoes.

Yokai

Members: Aku, Hotoke, Yoru, Zenaku, Kamaitachi (elite), Aka Manto (zombie)

• Death Seeker: One of their voice lines upon being KO'd is a rasped "thank you", suggesting that they find relief in your characters taking them out.
• Improbable Weapon User: They weaponize their cymbals as their primary form of attack.
• Nightmare Face: All of them look downright hideous, being drooling, mad-eyed, undead remains of the victims of a bus crash.
• Spin Attack: Their cymbals are sharp enough that they can use it as a pseudo-chakram by doing a spin attack that teleports them from one place and ambush unsuspecting opponents on the other.
• Youkai: The yokai were members of a marching band before their school bus crashed in the woods. All of them died and returned as walking corpses armed with cymbals. Each of their names is a reference to something sinister: "aku" means "evil", "hotoke" is "dead person", "yoru" means "name", "zenaku" means "good-and-evil", "kamaitachi" references a weasel-like youkai, and "Aka Manto" references one of the most popular school ghosts.

Kayo

Others: Asuka (elite), Nani (zombie)

Voiced by: Kim Delisle (English, River City Girls 2)

• Big Sister Mentor: Asuka is Kayo's older sister who taught the latter everything in combat.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than most mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Flash Step: Much like how Riki blitzes straight at an opponent if hit by his comb. They will throw their handbags and instantly shift from one position to another, the difference is that they don't need to hit their opponents to blitz in.
• Guest Fighter: Averted. Unlike the rest, Kayo is part of the Kunio-kun cast, having originated from Nekketsu-Kouha Kunio-kun as a standard mook.
• Handbag of Hurt: They all carry a spiked handbag which she uses either as a finisher or to teleport.
• Japanese Delinquents: She is part of Misuzu's gang, and is friend with both her and Kumiko (who is also part of the former's gang).
• Kick Chick: The only attack that doesn't involve their handbags is a 2-kick combo.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Gender inverted. She and Asuka wear facemasks which give off a menacing vibe about them. The only time Kayo is seen unmasked is through her Honkr profile (where she sports Youthful Freckles despite being older than Misako and Kyoko).
• Nightmare Face: Nani, unlike the other two, doesn't wear a facemask at all and fully displays her Venom-esque mouth and teeth (complete with an elongated tongue).
• Ornamental Weapon: They all brandish a pocket knife which they only use as a taunt.
• Sinister Shades: They all wear these which makes them much more intimidating than the Thugs (who are based on classic Japanese Delinquents). The only time Kayo's shades are taken off is through her Honkr profile.

Luchadora

Members: Estrella, Rosa, Valentina, Valeria, Mariana (elite), La Llorona (zombie)

• Amazonian Beauty: As female wrestlers, they're attractive women who are also absolutely ripped. Mariana's bio describes her to be "as violent as she is beautiful".
• Distaff Counterpart: They are this to the male Tigermen, both being mask-wearing, buff wrestlers sporting the appropriate outfit and utilizing wrestling moves. The difference between the two is that the Tigermen cannot use grappling moves.
• The Faceless: La Llorona's artwork has her wear on what is essentially a demonic, BDSM mask.
• Grapple Move: One of the few enemies that can grapple and deliver a jumping piledriver on you. This attack is unblockable.
• The Lad-ette: They have a tomboyish hair and mannerisms, as their taunt animation is them doing the muscle flex pose.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Gender inverted and downplayed. The "Malevolent" part is questionable but, being luchadores, they wear wrestling masks, and they serve as one of the enemies you face.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: A downplayed example; Mariana delivers a series of one-handed slaps when called as an assist.
• Wrestler in All of Us: One of their attacks is a jumping elbow drop. Unlike other enemies though, they have to get a distance first by sprinting away (distinct from their usual sprint animation) before executing the attack. La Llorona, if called as an assist, will instantly perform an elbow drop without sprinting first.

Martha Splatterhead

Others: Empress Crushfist (elite), Queen Earthbreaker (super elite)

Voiced by: Rika Nishikawa (English, River City Girls 2)

• Adaptational Wimp: In her home game, Martha is the Final Boss. Here, she (and Trash who is a boss himself) is demoted to being an Elite Mook.
• Brawn Hilda: In sharp contrast to her appearance from both her home game and in 1, Martha (and her palette swaps) in 2 is portrayed as a gigantic, hulking, and imposing woman (even bigger than Misuzu and the Cyborgs).
• Cool Shades: They all wear Asimov-esque (but black) shades that help conceal their Prophet Eyes.
• Elite Mook: They are stronger than most mooks and are only encountered as individuals rather than as a group.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: One of their attacks is a running shoulder tackle.
• Grapple Move: One of their attacks is to grab hold of an opponent's head and deliver an electroshock therapy on them. She and the Luchadoras are one of the two opponents that can grapple players.
• Guest Fighter: From The Combatribes. On an interesting note, Martha originally appeared in 1 as a shopkeeper before she elevated herself to Elite Mook status.
• Medusa: Queen Earthbreaker's bio describes her as a Gorgon. Though despite this, she doesn't utilize petrification (which is justified due to her wearing shades).
• Odd Friendship: With Empress Crushfist. Her bio notes that she is Martha's arch-nemesis... and best friend at the same time.
• Prophet Eyes: As a shopkeeper, Martha possess glowing eyes. Not so much in 2 due to wearing shades.
• Shock and Awe: Possess electricity based powers.

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