[[quoteright:250:[[VideoGame/RiverCityRansom https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Downtown_Nekketsu_Monogatari_cover_art_4483.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Kunio (in white), Riki (in blue), and all of their friends.]]

->なめんなよ！[[note]]"Namen na yo!", lit. "Don't mess with me!"[[/note]]
-->-- The series' catchphrase

''Kunio-kun'' ("[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics Mr. Kunio]]") is the name given to the one-time mascot of Technos Japan Corp, a now-defunct Japanese video game developer. He is named after Technos's former president, Kunio Taki. Along with his best friend/rival/sidekick Riki, and a variety of other characters cut from the same cloth, Kunio [[BeatEmUp fights lots of guys in the street]], competes in various sporting events (which are [[SeriousBusiness also pretty violent]]) and otherwise generally does what your typical Japanese high school student does.

Though the ''Kunio-kun'' series was successful in Japan, it was never constantly released (or consistently localized) abroad; although at one time there were plans to localize more stateside under the ''Crash 'n The Boys'' label, it seems to have finally settled on the ''River City'' label. In the rare case that games from the series did get released abroad, though, the series was generally beloved -- if not exactly recognized. See, since there were never any ongoing plans to release the whole series outside Japan, the various games that did make it were localized in almost as many different ways as there were different games. The first Kunio game, ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio Kun'' (roughly translated, "HotBlooded Tough Guy Mr. Kunio") got renamed ''Renegade'' and a [[CulturalTranslation heavy graphics alteration]] for its American release, although Kunio himself got a relatively accurate name, "Mr. K." However, the most notable game to make it to America is ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', known as ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari'' in Japan and ''Street Gangs'' in Europe, in which Kunio is renamed Alex, Riki is Ryan, and everyone else is renamed, as well. Other American releases were ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge'' (''Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal''), where Kunio is the titular Crash, and ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'' (''Nekketsu Koukou dodgeball-bu'') and ''Nintendo World Cup'' (''Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu Soccer-hen''), in which most evidence of a clear protagonist was lost. Another thing American players largely missed out on was that many of the Famicom games supported up to four players, thanks to an adapter that was incompatible with the NES (''Nintendo World Cup'' was the only localized Kunio game to support the equivalent NES peripheral). Nonetheless, the series' wacky appeal crossed to America very much intact.

Sadly, Technos went bankrupt in 1996, and it appeared for a while that Kunio and his friends would be no more. Appearances can be deceiving; however, and in Kunio's case they fortunately were. Thanks in part to the cult following (though nothing larger) the series had gained in America, fond memories of the series persisted, and it helped that ''River City Ransom'' and ''Street Challenge'' both had endings that hinted sequels would come. As the internet became more common and more things that had [[NoExportForYou never been released outside Japan]] became visible to American audiences, it was discovered that there were ''indeed'' many sequels. Kunio fandom swelled online, with many of the Japan-only games being hacked and translated into English, and soon a small but very thorough attempt at producing fangames blossomed.

Though all of this online effort was still pretty subtle in real-world terms, it presumably ignited a spark among former Technos employees, prompting their new company, Million, to purchase the rights to the Kunio series and re-release many of the games, first for the Game Boy Advance, and then on the Wii Virtual Console. Eventually, Million began making new Kunio games, although thus far they've been essentially retreads of older ones. But the series still seems to be getting healthier and healthier. A Wii game [[http://tinycartridge.com/post/279430752/million-hints-at-wii-game-for-kunio had been rumored]] and an MMORPG known as ''Kunio Online: Yamada's Revenge'' was planned to come out soon, but they were said to be put on hold and are likely canceled. Soon, new entries in the series were all coming out in America, again under the River City name, although now the characters have their original Japanese names. A 25th Anniversary Special was released on December 16, 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan. An offical sequel of ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', titled ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansomUnderground'' has been released in 2017 by Canadian indie developer Conatus Creative, with series creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto as a creative consultant on the project.

The franchise was later bought, alongside a few other former Technos properties, by Creator/ArcSystemWorks. Their first spinoff for the series, co-developed with Creator/WayForwardTechnologies -- ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls'', a GenderFlip featuring Kunio and Riki's girlfriends Misako and Kyoko as the protagonists -- dropped in September 2019. This was followed up by the announcement of ''VideoGame/StayCoolKobayashiSanARiverCityRansomStory'', focusing on the titular member of the Four Heavenly Kings. The new management also brought ''River City'' as a consistent series banner for the western releases to run under, though the earlier releases still keep their old names. This was reflected in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', which added Kunio, Riki, Goda, and the Dragon Twins as spirits in January 2020 under the "River City" label outside Japan.

In 1991, a manga titled ''Manga/OreWaOtokoDaKunioKun'' was made. The manga was based on the games, but with a DenserAndWackier twist.

----

!!List of ''Kunio-kun'' games

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Beat-'em-ups]]
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Renegade|1986}}''/''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'' (Arcade, Famicom/NES, [=PS2=])
** Also separately localized as ''Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen'' (Game Boy)[[/index]][[labelnote:Note]]Pseudo-sequel to ''Renegade''; was [[DolledUpInstallment modified and released overseas]] as ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon II'' for the Game Boy.[[/labelnote]][[index]]
* ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom''/''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari''/''Street Gangs'' (Famicom/NES, [=X68000=], PCE, GBA)
** Also separately localized as ''Downtown Nekketsu Story'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zen'in Shūgō'' (Famicom, GB)
** Localized as ''Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama!'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''VideoGame/ShodaiNekketsuKohaKuniokun'' (SFC)
* ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirlsZero''/''Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka'' (SFC)
* ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special'' (3DS)
* ''Riki Densetsu'' (3DS)
* ''River City: Tokyo Rumble''/''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun SP: Rantō Kyōsōkyoku'' (3DS)
* ''River City: Knights of Justice''/''Nekketsu Mahou Monogatari'' (3DS)
* ''Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki'' (3DS)
* ''[[Videogame/RiverCityRivalShowdown River City: Rival Showdown]]''/''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari SP'' (3DS)
* ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansomUnderground'' (Windows, Linux and [=MacOS=] through Steam)
* ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls''/''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls'' (Nintendo Switch, [=PlayStation=] 4, Xbox One; PC via Steam, GOG and Humble)
* ''[[VideoGame/StayCoolKobayashiSanARiverCityRansomStory Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story]]''/''Ikasuze! Kobayashi-san'' ([=PlayStation=] 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam)
* ''River City Saga: Three Kingdoms''/''Kunio-kun no Sangokushida yo Zen'in Shūgō!'' (Nintendo Switch, [=PlayStation=] 4 and PC via Steam)
* ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls2''/''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls 2'' (Nintendo Switch, [=PlayStation=] 4, [=PlayStation=] 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S; PC via Steam)
[[/index]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nekketsu sports tournament games]]
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall''/''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu'' (Arcade, [=X68000=], Famicom/NES, PCE, [=PS2=])
** A modified Game Boy version was released titled ''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Kyōteki! Dodge Soldier no Maki''
** Also separately localized as ''Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Nintendo World Cup''/''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen'' (Famicom/NES, PCE [in [=Hucard=] and CD-ROM formats], [=X68000=], Mega Drive)
** Ported to the Game Boy as ''Nekketsu Kōkō Soccer Bu: World Cup Hen'', which took the international premise from the overseas version and converted back to the Kunio-kun version.
** Also separately localized as ''Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Soccer League'' (Famicom)
** Localized as ''Kunio-kun's Nekketsu Soccer League'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu: Subette Koronde Dai Rantō'' (Famicom)
** Localized as ''VideoGame/GoGoNekketsuHockeyClubSlipAndSlideMadness'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Kunio-kun no Dodgeball Dayo Zenin Shūgō!'' (SFC)
* ''Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes'' (Famicom)
** Localized as ''Nekketsu! Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari: Yakyū de Shōbu da! Kunio-kun'' (SFC)
* ''Nekketsu! Beach Volley Dayo Kunio-kun'' (GB)
* ''Super Dodge Ball''/''Kunio no Nekketsu Dodgeball Densetsu'' (Neo-Geo)
* ''Super Dodgeball Brawlers''/''Chō Nekketsu Kōkō Kunio-kun: Dodgeball Bu'' (DS)
* ''River City Soccer Hooligans''/''Kunio-kun no Chō Nekketsu! Soccer League Plus: World Hyper Cup Hen'' (DS)
* ''Downtown Smash Dodgeball'' (Xbox 360)
** ''Downtown Nekketsu Dodgeball'' (Wii and PC)
[[/index]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Multi-sport games]]
[[index]]
* ''Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Dai Undōkai'' (Famicom, PCE)
** Ported to the Game Boy as ''Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Dokodemo Dai Undōkai''
** Localized as ''Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge''/''Bikkuri Nekketsu Shinkiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal'' (Famicom/NES)
** Ported to the Game Boy as ''Bikkuri Nekketsu Shinkiroku! Dokodemo Kin Medal''
** Also separately localized as ''Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''River City Super Sports Challenge''/''Kunio-kun no Chō Nekketsu! Dai Undōkai'' (DS)
* ''River City Super Sports Challenge: All Star Special''/''Kunio-kun no Chō Nekketsu! Dai Undōkai'' ([=PS3=], PC)
* ''River City Melee: Battle Royale Special''/''Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Kachinuki Kakutō SP'' ([=PS4=], PC)
[[/index]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Others]]
* ''Nekketsu Kakutō Densetsu'' (Famicom) - MascotFighter
** Localized as ''Nekketsu Fighting Legend'' as part of the ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''
* ''Kunio no Oden'' (SFC) - PuzzleGame
* ''DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle''/''Kunio-kun: The World Classics Collection'' ([=PS4=], Xbox One(Japan only), Switch, PC(Japan only) - NES Games CompilationRerelease, featuring official localizations of several Japan-only Famicom titles, even those that didn't need one. For example, the collection includes both ''River City Ransom'' as well as a translated, but graphically unaltered, ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari''. [[note]]While it's understandable the Western release of the first Nekketsu Soccer game is missing from the Platform/Playstation4 release, since it was renamed ''Nintendo World Cup'', it's oddly absent from the Switch release, as well.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

!!The ''Kunio-kun'' series contains examples of:

* ActionGirl: Rare at first, and debatably applied in ''Kunio-tachi no Banka'', but as of ''River City Super Sports Challenge'' played straight with Hiromi and her team. That said, the trope has been around since the first game with Misuzu.
** There are more girls in different teams participating in the games in ''River City Sports Challenge: All-Star Special''.
** Emphasised with ''River City Girls'', starring Kyoko and Misako, who have to rescue Kunio and Riki.
* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Not to say that Japanese Kunio ''isn't'' hardcore, but the American boxarts have traditionally gone for a less {{Animesque}} approach.
* ArtifactTitle: After Atlus and Arc System Works picked up the series, they decided to go with the Japanese names, but kept "River City" moniker as the localized title.
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Of sorts in the English version of ''River City Girls'': Assuming this version of the Nekketsu High School is now a private school and not a public school, the plot begins when both Misako and Kyoko are under detention. While not universal in Japan, as many schools has their own rules regarding this, a student who has been punished should wait in the offices of the principal or any appropriate school authority while his or her parents go to school to receive an explanation, rather than being locked in a classroom as a punishment as is the case in the United States. In the Japanese version, however, this was replaced with Misako and Kyoko having to take supplementary lessons (補習授業) instead, while being bored as hell.
* ArtShiftedSequel:
** While the ''Nekketsu Koha'' side of the franchise is more proportional, the ''Downtown Nekketsu'' and ''Nekketsu Sports'' games are drawn in an SD style.
** Within ''Nekketsu Koha'' itself, the {{Gaiden Game}}s ''River City Girls'' and ''Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!'' are drawn differently from both the original games and each other.
* BadassAdorable: The characters can routinely qualify because they're often super-deformed.
** Or hell; how about the ''whole series''? After all, it features people who beat each other up one moment and happily trot into the mall to amiably order a meal the next!
** ''River City Girls'' takes it up a notch by giving [[GenericCuteness generic cuteness]] to ''everyone''.
* BadassBiker: Shinji and his gang.
* BashBrothers: Kunio and Riki are often this. And Misako and Kyoko in ''River City Girls''.
* BattleCouple: [[https://twitter.com/GamerNeJp/status/1146623096981315584?s=20 Kunio and Riki are unlockable in River City Girls]], meaning you can have them beating the crap out of people alongside their girlfriends.
* BloodKnight: Most of the delinquents in the series. Kunio in particular is usually seen with a SlasherSmile just before a scripted fight begins in ''Rival Showdown''.
* BullfightBoss: Misuzu from ''Kunio-tachi no Banka''. Her boss music even has a bit of a Spanish flair to it.
** You're better off running away from her and hitting her with a stopping back kick in the arcade original, so this also counts.
* BullyHunter: Kunio's primary motivation. The arcade version of ''Nekketsu Kouha'' even opens every level with a cutscene of a thug beating up Kunio's classmate until Kunio chases the guy off, leading to Kunio fighting that gang and their leader.
* CanonDiscontinuity: After the first game in the series got localized for overseas audiences, it spun off a completely new series by accident. By Ocean's hand, ''Renegade'' was followed by ''Target: Renegade'' and ''Renegade 3: The Final Chapter''. The first sequel does share the aesthetics of the original game and, given it was produced one year after ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', its' just-mentioned SpiritualSuccessor. The second sequel, however, became a [[OddballInTheSeries derailment]] on its' own. Meta.
** In addition, the Game Boy Advance edition of the ''Super Dodgeball'' series dropped the Kunio cast, even in Japanese. This is because the game was made by Million, which was comprised for former Technos staff, and they didn't have the rights to the Kunio-Kun cast at the time.
** It's also been suggested that the ''Nekketsu Kouha'' and ''Downtown Nekketsu'' branches of the series may be {{Alternate Timeline}}s, as it's never really explained how they connect, and some things are different in them; ie, Kunio and Riki having different girlfriends.
** Then there's ''River City Ransom Underground'', which explicitly takes place after ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari'''s Western localization and has almost no links to the other games. Well, other than one of its characters (Provie) becoming playable in ''River City Girls 2''.
* CastFromHitPoints: Using your equipped, undroppable weapon in the 3DS Jidaigeki remake will cost some of your vitality every time you use it, meaning that if you use it too much, only your stamina will protect you from being KO'd. However, the extra damage and range makes using them well worth it for some characters who don't have a very good unarmed special skill.
* ChainPain: Chains are a staple weapon of this series.
* CreatorsCultureCarryover: Despite the Japanese-inspired setting of ''River City Girls'' (the titular River City), the first area noticeable in the beginning is Nekketsu High School which looks more like a stereotypical American High School rather than a Japanese one, complete with cheerleaders and stuff you would normally see in an American school.
* CulturalTranslation:
** In ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'', America is the main team, with Japan or Russia being the final team.
** In ''Renegade'', ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'', ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', and ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge'', the Japanese names have been changed to Western names.
** ''Renegade'' and ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' replace Japanese clothing with Western clothing, though ''River City Ransom EX'' retains the Japanese clothing.
* DarkerAndEdgier / LighterAndSofter: There are essentially two branches of the Kunio series, the ''Nekketsu Kōha'' series spun from ''Renegade'', and the ''Downtown Nekketsu'' series spun from ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' and ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeball''. The former is the darker and edgier one, with more realistically-proportioned characters, more gritty villains resembling the actual Yakuza, and less slapstick-oriented violence, while the latter takes a more humorous, cartoonish, [[SuperDeformed chibified]] approach to the whole ordeal. ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirlsZero'' may be the darkest and edgiest of the lot, with conspiracy, the destruction of Nekketsu High School, and guns.
** The upcoming MORPG looks to be an interesting case, featuring [[http://img.online-station.net/_news/2010/0916/40849_0001.jpg art that is somehow both chibified ''and'' dark and edgy]]!
* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite his roughed up appearance (complete with bandaged face), rowdy behavior, and tendency to scowl or sneer, Kunio is actually a very nice guy.
* ADayInTheLimelight:
** Riki in ''Riki Densetsu'' for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS.
** Sugata takes the lead in ''Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari''.
** Kyoko and Misako take the lead roles in ''River City Girls''.
** Kobayashi, naturally, takes the lead in ''Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!''
* DefeatMeansFriendship:
** This seems to be what happened with Riki. In the original Kunio-kun arcade game, Riki is an {{antagonist}} and the first boss who is defeated by Kunio. Ever since then Riki has been Kunio's FriendlyRival.
** In ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun SP: Rantō Kyōsōkyoku/River City Tokyo Rumble'', two out of four of the original ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun/Renegade'' bosses become Kunio's allies after you beat them. Riki, however, joins you without needing to fight him.
** In ''River City Girls'', Misako and Kyoko can recruit an enemy and call it later for an assist attack.
* {{Delinquent}}s / JapaneseDelinquents: The main characters and half the people you fight.
* DistressedDude: Kunio and Riki get kidnapped in ''River City Girls'', resulting in their girlfriends being forced to fight their way through the city to resue ''them''.
* DubNameChange: Every game title and nearly every character's name is changed if a game is released outside Japan. The practise has become largely scaled back, if not dropped entirely, as of the mid-2010s (except for game titles, which are usually at least slightly altered).
** In ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', Kunio is Alex, Riki is Ryan, and Yamada is Slick.
** Kunio is Jeff "Crash" Cooney in ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge'', and all of the player names have been changed as well.
** The ''only'' game that ''didn't'' rename the characters was the Neo-Geo version of ''Super Dodge Ball'' until Creator/ArcSystemWorks became the series publisher. In other words, there was one exception to the name change rule from 1986 to 2016.
* GoKartingWithBowser: The sports titles, which can even include final bosses, such as Sabu in the Neo-Geo ''Super Dodge Ball''.
* {{Gonk}}: Misuzu, a delinquent woman with a body more suited for a giant wrestler. Notably, in the 3DS-era Nekketsu Kunio-Kun games, while all the other characters uses ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari/River City Ransom-style'' NES sprites, Misuzu just uses an updated version of her spriteset from the NES version of ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun/Renegade''.
** Downplayed in ''River City Girls''. Still husky, but not nearly as masculine.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: While an actual scar is never visible, Kunio is usually depicted with a bandage on his cheek.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: A regular staple of mook fights in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom''. Extends to ''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential the other player]]'' in co-op games!
* GuideDangIt: It is ''very'' unlikely a player will reach the TrueFinalBoss and GoldenEnding of ''Rival Showdown'' without help. Not only does it require clearing a [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/3ds/184813-river-city-rival-showdown/faqs/79755 thorough list of events,]] it must be done on a pretty tight schedule, meaning you also must be powerful enough to quickly finish the fights. It also doesn't help that although some of the events are marked on the map, [[FakeDifficulty not all of them are.]]
* HappilyEverBefore: ''River City Saga: Three Kingdoms" ends before Guan Yu (Kunio) is killed by Sun Quan (Riki).
* HugeSchoolgirl: Emphasis on the huge for Misuzu.
* TheHyena: While the cast is mostly [[HeroicMime silent]], Godai is easy imagine as such because he's always grinning widely.
* ImprobableWeaponUser:
** Any time the games use weapons, expect them to often become improbable.
** ''River City Super Sports Challenge'' practically takes the trope up to eleven, with some moves transforming thrown weapons into pizzas or teddy bears, for whatever reason. Also, don't think a grenade is an improbable weapon? Then remember this is a game about a triathlon.
* ImprovisedWeapon: If it can be picked up by Kunio and co., it becomes this.
* JidaiGeki: ''Downtown Special'' is ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE Recycled IN FEUDAL JAPAN]]!
* KickChick: Misako is probably the best qualifier, with both an aerial spin kick and a mule kick at her disposal as special moves in ''River City Girls Zero''. Perhaps strong kicks have something to do with why Kunio and Riki yield the task of torturing a confession out of a thug to her, and she very quickly gets it with a swift [[GroinAttack kick to the groin]].
** [[ContinuityNod Interestingly enough]], Misako is also the manager of the school soccer team.
** Reversed in ''River City Girls'', as it's now Kyoko whose fighting style consists mostly of kicks, while Misako tends to be more of a brawler, relying primarily on punches and headbutts.
* LostInTranslation:
** In ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'', the Japanese team facing the other teams of the world has been changed to America taking on the other teams of the world.
** ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' removed references to the setting taking place in a Japanese High School, though ''River City Ransom EX'' retains the Japanese clothing.
** In ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge'', the Japanese Olympics Event is changed to an American Underground Competition, with all players and team names changed.
** Renaming the Double Dragon Twins as Randy and Andy, loses their Japanese {{Meaningful|Name}} ThemeNaming. Their said names, Ryuichi and Ryuji, literally mean "First Dragon" and "Second Dragon," respectfully.
* MagicRealism: Even with the goofier entries, the setting is generally grounded, with the occasional use of characters with supernatural powers, such as in ''Rival Showdown'' and ''River City Girls''. However, ''Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!'' stretches it to its limit by introducing sci-fi elements and [[TheHeartless negative energy]].
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Despite being the effective base of the hero, who would send their child to "Hot-Blooded High School" (Nekketsu Koukou)? Yes, "nekketsu" can also mean "passionate", "spirited", or "eager", but still.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatDown: Can be this in the side-scrolling beat em' ups. You'll either be the one on the receiving end or the one delivering it.
* NonActionGuy: Hiroshi, whom you often have to either rescue, [[EscortMission escort]] or avenge in the games he appears in.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Godai (a.k.a. Tex), with his huge eyes and his wide grin, looks more like he came out of an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
* NonUniformUniform: Kunio's signature white uniform is apparently the privilege of the school guardian (although a few games depict all Nekketsu students wearing them).
** The protagonists of ''River City Girls'' do this as well, with Misako wearing black shorts instead of a skirt and Kyoko wearing a blue jacket over her uniform. Subverted in Kyoko's case, as she doesn't actually ''attend'' River City High.
* OneHitKO:
** What makes the final level of Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun so difficult. If Sabu's cronies don't get you with their pocket knife, Sabu's [[InstantDeathBullet handgun]] just might.
** There's also an equippable accessory in ''River City Girls'' that gives the player a 1% chance per hit to instantly KO any non-boss enemy.
* ThePawnsGoFirst: In the first Kunio Kun game (as well as its Western localization ''Renegade''), Kunio fights {{Mooks}} while the stage's boss would hang to the side and watch. When you were down to two or three mooks, the boss would then join in the fight.
* {{Prequel}}: ''Riki Densetsu'' depicts what Riki was up to before he confronts Kunio in ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special''.
* RapidFireFisticuffs:
** Riki's trademark attack, the Mach Punch.
** In the original ''Kunio-Kun''/''Renegade'', Misuzu/Kim's signature grab attack was to deliver a series of quick slaps before tossing Kunio over her shoulder.
* RedBaron: Shinji is often known as the Blue Emperor.
* {{Retraux}}: Starting from ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special'', the modern Kunio-kun titles have reverted back to NES-style sprites for the in-game character designs, though the amount of detail put into them is more than what the actual NES is capable of.
** ''River City Girls'' uses a new 16-bit inspired style, that is not based on the NES chibi sprites.
** ''Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!'' also uses its own distinct 16-bit inspired style.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: This is pretty much the story of both ''River City Ransom'' and ''River City Girls''. As they are beat 'em up games, the main characters will indeed beat a lot of people up to save their loved ones. In RCR it is Riki's girlfriend who needs to be rescued from a rival school, and in RCG it is Kunio and Riki themselves. Also, the Famicom version of ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'' has Sabu kidnapping Hiroshi and Kunio must save him.
** [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] in ''River City Girls''. The girls are just sitting in a class when they get a text message telling their boyfriends have been kidnapped. Let's just say that their reaction is very HotBlooded, as they instantly run to the rescue, beating up everyone who is standing in their way.
* TheRival: Riki to Kunio. In some games, such as Renegade or Crash N The Boys Street Challenge, he serves as a boss fight or foe.
* {{Sarashi}}: Riki. Mostly in artwork.
* SceneryPorn: ''Kunio Online: Revenge of Yamada'' has incredibly colorful, detailed and dynamic environments. What's even better is that they're [[ContinuityNod still the ones you remember]] from ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom''!
* SchoolOfHardKnocks: The series is full of high school students fighting each other.
** Probably the most blatant example comes from ''River City Girls''. The main characters are causing trouble in detention. The solution? The principal makes an announcement and pretty much ''tells all other students in the school to beat them up''. Kyoko actually lampshades this at one point with flavor dialog, asking Misako if she thinks it's strange that ''everybody'' in River City seems to go around beating each other up. Misako doesn't seem to consider it unusual behavior, suggesting that River City itself is a ''City'' of Hard Knocks!
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Inverted entirely with Misuzu. She's a humongous schoolgirl whose war cries and death screams sound masculine.
* SignatureMove:
** In most games, Kunio/Alex has a rapid-fire kick as his special move. His rival, Riki/Ryan, uses a similar move in the form of RapidFireFisticuffs.
** The Double Dragon brothers, Ryuichi and Ryuji/Randy and Andy, being obviously based off of Billy and Jimmy Lee from ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', both have a devastating [[HurricaneKick aerial whirlwind kick]]. Additionally, Ryuichi, who has more kicking power, usually has the flying knee as his second special attack, while Ryuji, who has more punching power, gets the [[{{Shoryuken}} hyper uppercut]].
** Gōda/Ivan has a powerful headbutt.
** Godai/Tex, a practitioner of stick-fighting, can use a SpinAttack if he gets his hands on a stick or any weapon resembling a stick.
** Onizuka/Otis can perform a SpinAttack bare-handed.
** Kobayashi/Thor has a series of hand chops that is similar to Kunio and Riki's special moves.
** Nishimura/Rocko has a powerful punch that can be charged for additional damage, or must be charged entirely before releasing, depending on the game.
** Yamada/Slick/Simon has the [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane inexplicable ability]] to [[MindOverMatter telekinetically levitate]] all dropped weapons in the area, before sending them all hurtling towards the nearest victim for lots of damage. It's so prevalent that it appears in ''River City Ransom Underground'' despite the fact that he didn't have this ability in the original NES game.
** Sugata has a hopping punch that acts somewhat like Ryuichi's knee strike, except it's usually faster and lower to the ground.
** Saotome has the [[KamehameHadoken Aura Punch]], a charged attack that leaves him wide open while charging, but lets him punch all enemies in a line in front of him.
** Sabu [[MugglesDoItBetter just has a really powerful handgun]].
* SmugSnake: Toudou is portrayed as such, with a little mix of [[RichBitch a rich jerkass]] due to being antagonistic towards Kunio, who has often bested him in sporting events. His father, who owns a big company, shows his respect for Kunio.
* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange: The few games in the series that were localized for the overseas market would feature redrawn graphics for their export versions in order to downplay their Japan-centric nature, such as replacing the school uniforms worn by the characters in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' with jeans and t-shirts or switching the nationalities of certain teams in ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall''. However, the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version of ''River City Ransom'' kept the school uniforms for the characters, despite the English localization giving all the characters and gangs Anglicized names.
* TookALevelInBadAss: Hasebe, who has done little more than serve as Kunio's UnluckyChildhoodFriend for almost the entirety of the series, displays martial arts talents for the first time ever in the upcoming MMORPG. Also in ''River City Girls'', the initial trailer shows Misako and Kyōko fighting with ''spiked knuckle dusters and a steel baseball bat'' when before they were ''much'' weaker in the parent series.
** Yamada is at the peak of his power in ''Rival Showdown''. In his final boss form, his telekinesis move now automatically creates a horde of rocks on the spot for him to throw if there isn't enough to reach the weapon number cap... and the damage it causes is usually more than enough to reimburse the SP cost of that move. If that wasn't enough, he also has both Kunio and Riki's [[SpamAttack flurry punch/kick moves]] and a very powerful takedown super move that utterly devastates any single opponent if it connects.
* TropeMaker: The very first game, ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio Kun''/''Renegade'', pretty much created the foundations for the beat-em-up genre as we know it, foundations which would be built upon by ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' and the game's own sequels.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Kunio is named after Technos Japan's former president and other characters are named after staff members as well.
* UltimateUniverse: The ''River City Girls'' universe has the proportional character design, plot points, and action of the ''Nekketsu Koha'' games while retaining the bright colors, humor, and absurdity of the ''Downtown Nekketsu'' games. As of its second installment, the settings and characters of some of the series' localizations exist alongside Nekketsu High.
* UnexpectedGenreChange: ''Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zen'in Shūgō'' shifts the entire plot, character, and mechanics of the series into a ''Jidaigeki'' Samurai-era period piece.
** ''River City: Knights of Justice'' does the same thing, but with a MedievalEuropeanFantasy setting instead.
** And now we have ''River City Saga: Three Kingdoms'', which transplants Kunio and co. into the Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:If you met the requirements to fight Hasebe and Mami, Sabuko's nowhere to be seen at all and it is unknown what happened to her when the two took her place as final boss. Even stranger is that while the sequel shows that she was the canonical FinalBoss, the ending has Hasebe and Mami attempting to challenge the girls to a rematch.]]
* WorldOfBadass: Every student (except [[NonActionGuy Non-Action Guys]] and pedestrians) are capable kicking lots of ass, even the resident nerd is capable of defending himself from opponents.
** The ''River City Girls'' sub-series underscores how prevalent badasses are in the setting, by having established series regulars and even [[{{Crossover}} characters from other Technos properties]] as shopkeepers and dojo teachers.
* WouldHitAGirl: ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'', aka "Renegade" in America, had in its third stage an all-girl gang whose members either wielded chain whips (both versions) and either handbags (Japan) or spiked maces (US), and the "boss" of that level was a BIG woman (i.e. Misuzu) who could beat the daylights out of you if you got too close to her.
** Exaggerated in ''River City Girls'' where the enemies have no issues beating up on a pair of schoolgirls. Of note, almost half of the enemies the players fight are female fighters themselves, and most of the game's bosses are female. It turns out ''everyone'' in River City would hit a girl.
* {{Yakuza}}: Sabu and the Sanwa Gang.
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