Here are all of the tropes of the characters that appeared in all three games:
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Heat
He used to be a racer, but hasn't returned to the track because he was nearly incinerated when he was involved in a terrible accident. Luckily, he made a total recovery with the ability to manipulate fire.
Dance style: East Coast Hip-hop
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Possesses an "in-your-face" attitude and style when going into dance battles.
- Heat: "You just got whooped!"
- Badass Driver: He used to be one. But then he had gotten into a crash which traumatized him from racing.
- Bilingual Bonus: In the English version of the first game, he still speaks Japanese in one of his win poses.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Dowmplayed, he has an "F" on his beanie and jacket in the first game. Played straight in the second game as he now wears an "H" on his jacket.
- Chick Magnet: In one of his endings, while he's recovering in the hospital he surrounded by a crowd full of smiling nurses by his side!
- Goggles Do Nothing: Has a pair of them over his head in the second game.
- Hot-Blooded: Whatever he does, he takes it very seriously, be it drag racing or battle dancing...
- Jerkass: Sets James Suneoka ablaze at the end of his show for laughs.
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, 2 bad
. For Bust A Groove 2, The Heat Is On. - Pretty Boy: Of the "bad boy" kind.
- Playing with Fire: Not only did he somehow gets this power after his accident but it's also became his main shtick as evident by his jammer attacks and stages.
Frida
An artist who lives in a shack. Comet's older sister. Her ambition is to use the Groovetron to give life to her paintings.
Her favorite word is "Life."
Dance style: West Coast Hip-hop
- Ambiguously Brown: Especially noticeable when her sister, Comet has much fairer skin.
- Art Attacker: Her jammer attack literally has her painting it before it attacks her opponent.
- Bilingual Bonus: Not herself but her Image Song is still sung in Japanese in the English version.
- Canis Major: Her jammer attack is a giant drawn wolf's head. Exaggerated when used on Robo-Z's stage.
- Leitmotif: Sora to Umi to Niji no Yume.
- Meaningful Name: An artist named after well known artist Frida Kahlo.
- Put on a Bus: In the second game.
- Starving Artist: The reason she is in the tournament is because she thought the Groove-a-tron will help her with new art.
Strike
He is from a notorious street gang, and managed to do something bad to get in the state penitentiary. He is gathering his fellow prisoners to form a dance team, called "The Ball and Chain Revue."
After the events of the first Bust-A-Groove, Strike soon turned over a new leaf while in the state penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit. Upon his release due to good behavior, he and his friends from prison formed the super popular rap group Notorious, sweeping the nation and critics alike with authenticity and hard hitting lyrics. Satisfied with the respect, wealth, and fame that comes from his talents, Strike soon makes his way to the world of dancing to show what he's made of.
Strike's favorite word is "Freedom."
Dance style: Gangsta
- Bolivian Army Ending: His character ending in the first game has him facing down the police in a showdown.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": His outfits have a large "S" on them.
- Cool Shades: No matter which costume he is in, he's never seen without them.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: His style is gritty, his dance moves are tight, and lives a life chock full of money, crime and fame of both notoriety and success. This is virtually Strike in a nutshell!
- Frothy Mugs of Water: In the first game, the flask of alcohol he drinks from is now a can of soda.
- Gangsta Style: May occasionally end in poses where he cocks his pistols to the side during his dance.
- The Gunslinger: In the first game, his jammer attack is using his twin pistols to shoot at his opponent. And in the second game, it involves using a machine gun. Granted, thanks to the power of the Groove-A-Tron, said opponent just gets up as if they just slipped on a banana peel but still...
- Heel–Face Turn: Apparently... In his ending in the second game, he had turned over a new leaf and decided to form a rap group called Nefarious. Though this may be a case of Reformed, but Not Tamed as he literally blows a hole into James Suneoka's stomach with a bazooka.
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, Power. For Bust A Groove 2, Here Comes Trouble.
Hamm
He used to be a great dancer, but his love for junk food has left him somewhat chubby. He became a hamburger joint employee to satisfy his craving for junk food. He wants to use the Groovetron to help him diet.
His favorite word is "Move."
Dance style: Modern
- Acrofatic: Despite his more than noticeable gut, he is still able to do some rather impressive spins in his dancing style.
- Big Eater: Definitely. In fact, his Image Song has been him talking about how much he loved hamburgers, much to the disdain of the female singer who is most likely his girlfriend.
- Burger Fool: He works at Burger Dog. Subverted seeing that because he gets to work around his favourite food, hamburgers, he actually likes working there.
- Edible Ammunition: His jammer attack has his squashing his opponent with a giant hamburger.
- Formerly Fit: He used to be a fit dancer until his love of food got the better of him. He decided to enter the tournament to lose weight.
- Gag Lips: He had in the Japanese version. Combined that with his dark skin, it's no wonder why his design had been changed...
- Gonk: To put it mildly, he was definitely not created to be Mr. Fanservice.
- Leitmotif: I luv Hamburgers.
- Pointless Bandaid: Has one on his gut.
- Put on a Bus: In the second game.
- Trademark Favourite Food: As if you couldn't tell by the title of his image song, it's hamburgers.
Kelly
She is a investment banker/secretary who has a fetish with everything infantile (related to babies), and wants to find a man. She bought her rubber suit to dress in when she is a guest at secret parties. She seems worried about her new rubber suit; this may be due to its cost.
One night, at an underground dance party, her cross-dressing boss (who she had a crush on) barraged her with his hypocritical distaste for her fetish, driving her away, embarrassed and silent. Tired of being everyone's doormat, she changed her baby outfit, and wore a police officer's uniform that gives her the self-confidence and rush of liberation and power to become the queen of underground dance.
Dance style: Jazz
- Animal Motifs: Rabbits in the first game. Her infantile suit has a rabbit head and tail and her symbol in the character selection screen is a bunny head.
- Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: In her ending in the first game, she somehow changes from her baby costume into her secretary uniform when she notices someone approaching her office.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Okay, her fetish for infantile things is weird but otherwise harmless but then she dances in a full-body baby's outfit. Her police officer costume in the second game is less weird but she wears as her job as a secretary according to her ending. And then there is her alternate costume. While dancing in her work suit could be shrugged off, she also dons a moustache.
- Color Motif: Blue as her baby outfit and police outfit are blue.
- Cosplay Otaku Girl: For babies in the first game and policewomen in the second. She enjoys donning costumes while attending underground parties.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her baby outfit in the first game.
- Head-Turning Beauty: When she undergoes his makeover from 1 to 2, the fellas at her job certainly pick up on this and find work a bit more distracting with her walking about...
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, there's Transform, (ENG ver) and (JP ver). For Bust A Groove 2, she gets Moonlight Party (ENG ver) and (JP ver).
- Ms Fan Service: Not so much in the first game, as she is dressed like a baby, but definitely in the second game.
- Sexy Secretary: Her actual job.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: She went from infantile outfits in the first game to a cop outfit in the second one to signal that she's going to stop being a doormat and give her new confidence.
- Stripperiffic: Her cop outfit in 2, to further accentuate her new sexy style on the dancefloor. She even wears the same attire while on her secretarial job!
- Supermodel Strut: Pulls one off during her dance in 2.
- Super-Scream: In the second game, her jammer attack involves shouting into a megaphone at her opponent.
- Took a Level in Badass: After being fed up with being a helpless pushover, she sports a new look that gives her self-confidence and inner strength to take over as the new queen of underground dance and save the day with the power of love.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Her 2P costume in 2, perhaps symbolizing the crush she still has for her Jerkass boss, who also crossdresses...
- You Go, Girl!: After having her boss (and crush) cruelly (and hypocritically as he does so as a Dragqueen) looked down at her fetish, she had decided to stop being a doormat and demands control and does so by putting on a cop's outfit.
Shorty
She is the daughter of a DJ father and a supermodel mother. Obviously, Shorty lives in a rich family with nothing better to do than dance with Columbo, her pet mouse. Her love for outdated music drives her to madness at a flea market, where she frantically searches for 8-track tapes. In truth, Shorty was lonely until her parents gave her Columbo, who eats anything in his sights. Now she and Columbo dance all day for fun.
Her favorite word is "Friendship."
Dance style: Candy Hip-hop
- The Baby of the Bunch: She is twelve in the first game, making her the youngest dancer in the roster.
- Bilingual Bonus: In her win poses, she sometimes speaks Japanese AND French.
- YattaOoh-la-la!
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Her cap in the first game has an "S" and her alternate costume in the second game also has one.
- The Cutie: Now let's see. A cute, sunny girl? Check. Having a small, adorable mouse as her pet and best friend? Check. Having both of her stages take places in a bright amusement park? Check. Liking sweets? Check. Having peppy J-Pop music about friendship as her Image Song? Check.
- Edible Ammunition: In the first game, she attacks by summoning a bunch of giant sweets on top of her opponent and in the second game, it was a strawberry shortcake.
- Girlish Pigtails: Sports them in both games, and it becomes more visible in 2.
- Happy Dance: When Shorty steps on the dance floor, she demonstrates an upbeat, spunky dance that displays an adorable and carefree happiness. It's very apparent she's having a blast when she steps to the beat, especially with her trusty pet mouse dancing alongside her!
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, Shorty and the EZ Mouse, (ENG ver) and (JP ver). For Bust A Groove 2, it's Happy Heart in the Sunshine and Hizashi no Oku no Happy Heart.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Her mother is a supermodel and his father is a DJ (changed into diplomat in the second game). Because of this, she was always at home all alone. That was until she had gotten Columbo from them.
- Retcon: Her father's said to be a DJ in Bust A Groove 1, but this was later changed to an occupation of diplomacy in 2.
- Sweet Tooth: It is a strong chance seeing both of her jammer attacks involves sweets and her stage in the first place has a candy vending machine, a soda vending machine and an ice-cream stand.
- Token Mini-Moe: As evident by some of the above tropes, this is her shtick.
Hiro
Hiro is a narcissistic disco-loving character and computer geek. He lives in a costly tiny apartment where he works with his computer until Saturday night, where his playboy antics really take off. Don't even begin to try to match his Saturday night standards—he is truly one of a kind. At the disco he transforms into a playboy, but is actually shy with women. He hopes he can overcome this soon.
His favorite word is "Split."
Dance style: Disco
- The '70s: His looks, his style, his dancing...though he may not be from the era, this is a man who definitely models most of his life from the days of the 70s.
- Advertised Extra: He's on the front cover of the American box art, despite the fact that Heat is considered to be one of the main protagonists.
- The Casanova: There is a reason why his Image Song in the first place is saying that he is a natural playboy. His jammer attack even has his opponent, even the guys swooning in love.
- Chick Magnet: Definitely. His good looks, self-loving attitude and smooth dance move effortlessly earns him the adoration and desires of women who see him. During his dance solos, admirers will longingly call out to him. He even has male admirers to cheer him on (though they sound oddly less eager compared to that of the ladies...)
- The Charmer: To the point he even charms himself. Unfortunately, he has trouble with the ladies due to his shyness complex.
- Disco Dan: His main shtick as evident by his outfit, stages and songs.
- Hidden Depths: According to the second game, he is actually a computer geek who is shy around girls and only puts on a façade to show him being more confident than he really is.
- Homage: His character definitely serves one to Tony Manero of Saturday Night Fever.
- Leitmotif: The Natural Playboy. For Bust A Groove 2, Let The Music Take Control ~Hiro's Groove~.
- Narcissist: Very much so. In fact, his jammer attack involves throwing an autographed picture of himself at his opponent and his icon in the (bowdlerized) second game is "I<3ME".
- Pretty Boy: Early 20s, Cute face, hairy chest and the smoothest moves to make even the most stoic of women break a sweat.
- Smoking Is Cool: In the original Japanese version, he always had a smoking cigarette in his mouth and his icon in the second game was a cigarette. However, it was Bowdlerized and his icon in the second game now states "I <3 Hiro" instead. In addition, one of the lines from "Natural Playboy" mentions smoking a cigar.
Pinky Diamond
She is a stripper, fortune-teller, a professional contract killer, and she does hair. It's no wonder she's so weird. She has the power to see into your lover's heart and claims to know you better than you know yourself. Your secrets are nowhere near being safe close to her!
Dance style: Mo-Town
- Action Girl: She's an assassin, after all.
- All a Part of the Job: This lady works as a stripper, fortune-teller, professional contract assassin, and does hair on the side. With that many jobs to attend to, that may be why she never returned in the sequel...
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Secrets known by her won't be secrets for very long...
- Cool Shades: Wears a pair of heart-shaped ones of her head.
- Evil Diva: She's sassy, sexy, and commands attention whenever she makes an appearance. That laugh she gives off in her ending definitely leads her into this territory.
- Femme Fatale: As a stripper and contract assassin, she realizes her sex appeal and uses it to her advantage.
- Fortune Teller: One of her many jobs. In fact, her Image Song has her gloating about how she could see inside of a lover's heart and see if they had been cheating. She is even dressed like a regular one in her ending.
- Leitmotif: I know.
- Ms. Fanservice: She is not only generous with her skin but she doesn't hesitate to shake it off.
- Pink Is Feminine: There's a reason she's called Pinky Diamond.
- Put on a Bus: In the second game.
- Shaking the Rump: One of her winposes.
- Statuesque Stunner: Although her height is never revealed she is considerably taller than all other female characters of the game, even without high heels on.
- Stripperiffic: Justified seeing that one of her jobs IS a stripper.
- Tarot Motifs: Her jammer attack has her throw Tarot cards at the opponent. Specifically, the cards she uses are The Devil/Death, The Moon and The Tower.
Gas-O
Gas-O first became interested in becoming a scientist when he was eight. Now at 15, he has accomplished several outstanding tasks, including consulting for NASA, logging time on a particle accelerator, and studying the gaseous elements in his laboratory. Gas-O hopes to use the Groovetron to develop the ultimate gas. He was said to have been serving time in prison after assaulting his father.
Dance style: House
- Ax-Crazy: Literally in Bi-O's ending where he swings one right into his head.
- Child Prodigy: He got his start in science at age 8.
- Creepy Child: A crazy fifteen-year-old who always wears a gasmask and likes to experiment with various noxious gases. Then there's his unsettling trademark laugh...
- Deadly Gas: He likes studying gaseous elements. His jammer attack involves trapping his opponent in a gas chamber and he had been used it to turn his dad into a zombie.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Your dad tells you to take off your mask in the house? You spray a skin-rotting gas on him and slam an axe into his head, of course.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Seems to be in love with his own carnage, as implied by his theme, "Chemical Love." It's about how the person being sung to needs "the thrill of love, Chemical Love," which apparently involves being killed with deadly gases and explosives. He's either a Yandere, or he just enjoys the irony.
- Leitmotif: Chemical Love.
- Mad Scientist: At such a young age, but he's nicknamed "The Crazy Gas Lover," and entered the Groove-a-tron just to find and have access to the final gas.
- Put on a Bus: Though unlike some of his other bus-riders, it is actually explained why he was not in the second game's story; he's in jail for assaulting his father.
- Teen Genius: By the age of fifteen, he had accomplished many feats like consulting for NASA and logging time on a particle accelerator.
Kitty Nakajima "Kitty-N"
This lovable TV star is on break from the hit TV show "Love Love Senshi Miracle 5." She wants to use the Groovetron's power to make her the ultimate TV star. She has bought out the penthouse floor of a building and converted it into her private dancing studio, just for the purposes of attracting more people.
After the events of Bust A Groove 1, she was a member of the group Miracle 5, but decided to go solo, departing from the band. Surviving backlash and harassment from a former bandmate turned vicious, jealous stalker, she was saved by her dance instructor, Michael Doi. She found herself in love with him, but discovered he is gay. Now Kitty-N is on a mission for love, determined to win over her dance instructor's heart no matter what!
Dance style: Vogue
- Action Girl: Plays one on TV, at least.
- Badass Adorable: Makes cute meows in some of her win poses.
- Battle Boomerang: This is what her jammer attack in the first game looks like.
- Cat Girl: Well, her outfit is designed like one. Though considering the nature of this game, there is a strong chance that she is one.
- Determinator: Kitty-N's not gonna give up in order to win her dance instructor's heart; not even learning that he's gay will deter her!
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Doesn't like being referred to her real name, Kitty Nakajima.
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, Bust A Groove and Aozora no Knife. For Bust A Groove 2, Hello! Kitty-N! (ENG ver) and (JP ver).
- Magical Girl: She only plays as one. but she still dances in her costume in the tournament.
- Plucky Girl: Finding out that the dance instructor that she have a crush on is gay? That only makes even more determined to win his heart.
- Show Within a Show: She is from a hit show called "Love Love Senshi Miracle 5".
- Stalker without a Crush: Rumiko, a former bandmate of Kitty-N. She stalked her out of bitterness and jealousy, attempting to ruin her life, but with little to no success.
Capoeira
Capoeira, individually known as Kiki and Lala, have come to Earth to collect Japanese billboards to construct a giant fan. They are also here to display the power of the Groovetron, their special "dancing energy" invention.
Dance style: Capoeira
- Big Head Mode: Invoked in their jammer attack in the second game where they summon a satellite beam where they shrinks their opponent yet enlarge their head.
- Degraded Boss: They were an unlockable character in the first game, but then they are part of the regular cast in the second one.
- The Dividual: They dance alongside with each and rarely break away from their each other. They're even announced as their team name, rather than their individual names of Kiki and Lala.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Downplayed. At worst, they're thieves. Of Japanese billboards.
- Klingons Love Shakespeare: They're fascinated with Japanese billboards.
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, CAPOEIRA and Uwasa no CAPOEIRA. For Bust A Groove 2, ALLEGRETTO BREAK.
- Made of Shiny: Their chrome bodies.
- Meaningful Name: True to their name, they used the namesake fighting style for dancing.
Comet
A waitress working in Sushi Planet who dances on Rollerblades. Frida's little sister. She has magic powers which allow her to change anyone into any kind of food she wishes. She discovered her powers after being kidnapped and nearly killed after their captors did not receive their demands.
Dance style: Roller-skate
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's seemingly sweet and polite, but she's said to straight-up turn anyone within sight into food and drinks she likes for no reason other than she can.
- Composite Character: Has magical abilities like her older sister Frida, but she also works at a restaurant like Hamm.
- Covert Pervert: Her Image Song reveals that she is more... explicit than one may initially think.
- C. Now look at me, I'm lying naked on the floor.All sweet lovin' in my power! You're the prisoner of my bed!
- Damsel in Distress: Averted. When she was younger she was kidnapped and was almost killed when she somehow turned the robber into a giant green bellpepper.
- Die or Fly: She discovered her magical powers when she was kidnapped and her captor was about to mutilate her after getting impatient waiting for the ransom.
- Fanservice with a Smile: Her waitress dress has a noticeable transparent skirt.
- Forced Transformation: She has the bizarre power to turn people into food.
- I Am a Humanitarian: If she is hungry or thirsty, she will turn an innocent by-stander into some kind of food and eats them.
- Leitmotif: Magic Tower, English version and the infamous Japanese version.
- Magical Girl: Though if she read some of her other tropes, she will find that she is far less innocent than the regular ones.
- Rollerblade Good: She is never seen without her rollerblades. Not even when dancing.
Tsutomu
A boy whose father is a professional baseball player and mother is a government official. He is unliked at school because of his mature personality. He has a quick temper, and wets himself when angered. The only person who is kind to him is his teacher, Miss Monroe. He has a crush on her and wants to marry her when he turns 18.
Dance style: House
- All of the Other Reindeer: He gets picked on at school because of his mature personality.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Takes Shorty's record of the tournament's youngest dancer at eleven years old.
- Blush Sticker: Has a permanent one.
- Informed Attribute: He is supposed to have a mature personality but he does things that a mature person wouldn't do. He has a short temper. His jammer attack involves using a childish prank. And his win poses either has him crossing his arms with a smug "Obviously" or hopping from left to right, in a "nah-nah-nah" fashion.
- Kid-Appeal Character: He is the second child character in the game.
- Leitmotif: Got To Be Happy
- Lonely Rich Kid: His father is a professional baseball player and his mother is a government official. Between the both of them, they should be loaded. That doesn't stop Tsutomu from being bullied.
- Potty Emergency: When he gets angry, he gets to wet his pants. This even happened in the ending when he was holding his bladder when he was supposed to dance for everyone.
- The Prankster: His jammer attack involves having a door appear in front of his opponent and they walk through, only for an eraser to fall on their head.
Bi-O
He is the father to Gas-O. After Bi-O told Gas-O to take off his gas mask off in his house and Gas-O refused, they broke into an argument that quickly escalated into grave danger. When Gas-O saw his father reach for an axe on the wall while making threats, he defended himself by spraying his dad with his noxious gas and, in an uncontrollable rage, took the axe and lodged it in his skull. Amazingly, Bi-O didn't die from the attack, but the result left him horribly disfigured with doctors unable to help him. Now, all Bi-O really wants is to just reconcile with his son and be a happy family again. Gas-O is said to be serving time in prison.
Dance style: Zombie
- Abusive Parents: Bi-O, don't misunderstand. Gas-O should had taken off his mask when he is clearly not working on any dangerous projects and his response was more than uncalled for, but threatening him with an axe may not have been the best way to get your point across.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: He has green skin. Red in his alternate outfit.
- Big Boo's Haunt: His stage takes place on a haunted pirate ship during a storm.
- Cool Old Guy: He is 47 years old and his dance is very similar to a certain king of pop.
- Facial Horror: The skin of his face is rotting due to being sprayed with a noxious gas, and he has an axe stuck in his head.
- In-Series Nickname: He gained the name "Bi-O" from neighbors who saw his deformed and disfigured look.
- Leitmotif: Zombie Hopper.
- Losing Your Head: His jammer attack involves reaching for the axe lodged in his head, making people thinking he is going to throw that at his opponent. But instead, he takes off his entire head and throws it at his opponent's side of the screen, giving them a Jump Scare.
- Only a Flesh Wound: He permanently has the axe his son used on him inside of his head.
Robo-Z
Robo-Z was constructed by a tyrannical organization only known as "Secret X." Robo-Z was built for the sole purpose of harnessing total power of the Groovetron.
Destroyed in Bust A Groove, he returns as Robo-Z Gold in Bust A Groove 2.
Dance style: Vogue (1), African Dance (2)
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Appears in a Humongous Mecha in his boss appearances where if his opponent has to dance on top of a building or inside of an army helicopter and if they used a jammer attack on him, it grows to absurd sizes. Averted if selected as a playable character in the second game where he is regular-sized.
- Final Boss: Of both games. Well, just the first one if you meet certain requirements for the second game.
- Leitmotif: For Bust A Groove, FLYING to Your Soul. For Bust A Groove 2, Acid Line.
Pander
This guy isn't just bizarre. He invented it.
A 31 year old man who is attracted only by a cartoon character of 15 years old, based on the first butoh performance of the book "Forbidden Colors" by Yukio Mishima, as the "actor" playing Pander struggles to come to terms with his taboo sexuality.
Dance style: Butoh
- Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: His stage appears like this as the match progress.
- Ambiguously Human: It's unknown what exactly Pander IS ...
- Art Shift: Compared to every other character whose selection screen art is in the same cartoony style, Pander's portrait is a photo of a real person, contributing to his creepy otherworldly nature.
- Fan Disservice: It's hard to tell at first but it seems he is wearing nothing but briefs.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: For some reason, he wears a shoe on one foot but goes bare on the other one.
- Funny Animal: Well, at least he appears as one at first... But then he appears as some kind of human.
- Leitmotif: Enka.
- Non-Standard Character Design: His design is more realistic to add to his creepiness. From a gameplay perspective, his entire dancing style is this, as Pander retains his slow moves regardless of whatever song is playing in the background; this especially applies to his theme, which is among the fastest in the game.
- Nothing Is Scarier: His ending has him appearing on Dancing Heroes, just like everyone else. However, it's empty. No lights. No audience. No staff. Just a sole spotlight shining him as he dances.
- True Final Boss: Of the second game.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Naturally in the most bizarre of settings.
Minor characters
Columbo
An adorable pet mouse gifted to Shorty so she wouldn't be lonely.
Dance style: Candy Hip-hop
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Just like his owner, he wears a backwards cap in the second game.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: In his 2-P outfit, he has purple fur.
- Edible Ammunition: In the first game, he has the same jammer attack as Shorty where he summons a bunch of sweets on top of the opponent. And while his jammer attack in the second game is different, it still involves a giant pudding landing on them.
- Funny Animal: Especially when he tries to dance.
- Head Pet: How he appears in the second game when Shorty is dancing.
- Moveset Clone: Of Shorty. Justified because Columbo is Shorty's pet.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Especially when dancing alongside Shorty.
- Sweet Tooth: Implied by his jammer attacks, even if they are just Shorty's own attacks.
Burger Dog
The canine mascot of the restaurant of the same name.
Dance style: Modern
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: He is a red-furred dog. Blue in his 2-P outfit.
- Burger Fool: Works at one. However, like Hamm, he actually likes his job.
- Demoted to Extra: The first Bust-A-Groove game was his only appearance. Though he appears in Comet's stage in the second game and Jumbo Max's stage in the third.
- Edible Ammunition: Just like Hamm, his jammer attacks involves dropping a giant hamburger on his opponent.
- Funny Animal: Especially when he tries to dance.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Wears the top half of a Burger Fool uniform.
- Mascot: Of Burger Dog.
- Moveset Clone: Of Hamm. Justified since Hamm works at one of the restaurants.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Especially when he barks happily after winning.
Chi Chi & Sally
A pair of small aliens that appear on Capoeira's ship
Dance style: Capoeira
- The Dividual: As expected from someone who uses Capoeira's dancing style, they dance together. Though they are actually referred to their names.
- Moveset Clone: Of Capoeira.
- Overly-Long Tongue: That are constantly sicking out of their mouths.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: As opposed to Capoeira who looked more comical, Chi Chi and Sally look adorable.
Michael Doi
The famed dance instructor of Kitty-N Dance style: Vogue
- Camp Gay: He wears make-up, he has a flashy outfit and he dances flamboyantly. And he has a boyfriend, much to Kitty-N's disdain.
- Catchphrase: "Strike a pose!"
- Moveset Clone: Of Kitty-N. Justified seeing that he is her dance instructor.
Sushi Boy
A tiny mechanical roller-skater, serving as the mascot of "Sushi Planet" Dance style: Roller-skate
- Gag Nose: His nose is rather big.
- Mascot: Of Sushi Planet.
- Moveset Clone: Of Comet. Justified because he's the mascot of the restaurant Comet works at.
- Rollerblade Good: As expected, he uses rollerblades just like Comet.
Hustle Kong
A dancing gorilla Dance style: Disco
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: He has blue fur in his alternate outfit.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: He wears a pair of boxing trunks.
- Captain Ersatz: Looks suspiciously close to a certain music loving gorilla. Maybe a lost relative?
- Funny Animal: A large gorilla dancing disco.
- Moveset Clone: Of Hiro. ...Because he appeared in his stage. Right.
- Narcissist: While he does have an autograph picture of himself as his jammer attack.
- Silly Simian: You don't get much funner than a big, disco dancing gorilla.
Mc Load
A fire-breathing dinosaur Dance style: Jazz
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: It has purple scales in its alternate outfit.
- Breath Weapon: As expected from a dragon, it breathes fire on its opponent.
- Funny Animal: A dancing dragon.
- Moveset Clone: Of Kelly of all people. Despite appearing in Shorty's stage. At least Hustle Kong had appeared in the stage of the guy he is imitating.
Dance Summit 2001
School Mates
A team of junior high school students who've formed an unofficial school dance club. Dance style: Cutie Hip-hop
- Cool Shades: All of them have shades with coloured tints.
- Composite Character: Their dancing style is a mixture of Frida, BAG 2 Kelly and BAG 2 Shorty. The fact that Candy looks like a mixture of the two really makes it more noticeable.
- Cuteness Proximity: At first, Olive wanted to use the Groove-A-Tron to collect cute animals from all over the world.
- Expy: All of the girls are Expies in one way or another. Betty and Olive looked like modernized versions of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl respectively, Candy looks like a mixture of Shorty and Kelly and Banbi looks like she could be related to Frida and Comet.
- Girlish Pigtails: Candy wears her hair like this. Ironically, she is the most masculine of the girls.
- Granola Girl: According to her profile, Betty is this. Her Trademark Favourite Food is a vegetable drink.
- Held Back in School: In her profile, Candy had actually been held back.
- Ordinary High-School Student : Well, Ordinary Middle School Students but otherwise, this trope still counts. Especially when compared to the other teams.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Banbi towards baseball. At first, she even wanted to use the Groove-a-tron to date a baseball player. Candy could also be seen as this.
- Tomboy: Candy is obsessed with training her body and does sports.
Data De Bops
A team of four boys who are also video game enthusiasts. Dance style: Breakdance
- Anime Hair: All of the boys, save for G-Pan for his hair covered, has this.
- Badass Driver: What Honda wants to be when he grows up as he is obsessed with racing video games and owns a moped. In his ending, he becomes on in eight years' time.
- Cool Shades: Honda and 3-D wears these.
- Cool Helmet: G-Pan wears one.
- Geek: All of them towards video games. They are far from uncool as most geeks probably wouldn't be able to pull off breakdancing moves like that. They are even able to get the bronze medal in the Olympics.
- Meaningful Name: 3-D wears 3-D glasses, Honda is obsessed with cars and racing.
- Moveset Clone: Of Gas-O and Heat. Coincidentally, there are even the same age as him.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Middle school students, just like the School Mates. Only male and have a hard interest for video games.
- Oral Fixation: Suzuki keeps a stick in his mouth.
- Shonen Hair: Whether it is his actual hair or some kind of helmet, Suzuki definitely has it. Makes sense because he looks and acts like a Shonen hero.
- The Smart Guy: 3-D is more obsessed with computers. To the point that he wants to turn his brain into a computer.
Cusu-Cusu
A team of four women who traveled to Africa. Two fell under a curse from putting on a mask, prompting the others to join them. Dance style: African Dance
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Kei and Me, thanks to the mask. Though Me still has a bit of willpower in her and wants to remove the curse, Kei is completely under Cusu-Cusu's control and even in her ending, she used the Groove-a-tron to spread the curse to everyone.
- Evil Mask: The masks Kei and Me wear are cursed, courtesy of Cusu-Cusu. Makes you wonder why the girls named their team after the very person who had put those two under their spell in the first place...
- Friend to All Living Things: Sahara, as her goal is to become an animal doctor.
- Here We Go Again!: In Sahara's ending, she had removed the curse from Kei and Me but some kind in the future, she finds a strange mask and puts in on.
- Jungle Princess: Their main theme. Though, Cindy and Sahara are students at a medical school and university respectively so their outfit could be just a costume for dancing.
- Moveset Clone: Of Robo-Z. Though his dancing style is definitely more appropriate for the girls.
Flower Dancing Team
A team of four office workers who moonlight as drag queens. Dance style: House
- Big Eater: Cherry is this, according to his profile.
- Drag Queen: Their main theme.
- Moveset Clone: Of Tsutomu.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: For some reason, Jasmine doesn't like Cherry. Still doesn't stop the two from dancing together.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Curry for Saffron. He even wishes for a year's supply of curry instead of being reborn as a woman, because he was so tired from all of his dancing. Um... Oops?
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Jasmine. Which is awkward because he is in his Drag Queen outsite.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Marguerite when you compare him to the rest of his fellow crossdressers.
Galaxy 4
A team of four refugees from an intergalactic war, united under the cause of using the Groovetron for peace. Dance style: Disco
- Almighty Janitor: Orion is a bird watcher and Apollo is a Space Farmer. Doesn't stop them from joining a couple of young girls to save their galaxy from wars. By dancing...
- Cool Shades: Orion and Apollo wears these.
- Disco Dan: Their dancing style is disco and Orion and Apollo definitely dress the part. Ironically enough, they are the most futuristic-looking of the terms.
- Floating Platform: Their stage.
- Happily Married: In their endings, Miranda and Apollo become married.
- Moveset Clone: Of Hiro.
- Token White: Planet is the only white member of her team.
Discos Estrus
A team of three animal-loving luchadores and their partner orangutan. Dance style: Capoeira
- Cool Mask: As expected to their job, they wear rather flashy masks.
- Dance Battler: Well, their dancing style is Capoeira, which is really more of a fighting style and they are wrestlers. So there is a chance that they use some of their moves in the ring.
- Heel: Judging by his bad attitude and his Signature Move being a Breath Weapon, it is safe that Texas is this.
- Mascot: Utan's occupation is described as this. Though Micro wants to send him back to the wild, even though Utan wants to stay with him.
- Moveset Clone: Of Capoeira.
- Masked Luchador: They wears their masks even when dancing and their stage takes place in a wrestling ring.
- Nature Lover: Micro and Dragon. Their goals are to help nature.
- Smoking Is Cool: Micro has a cigarette in his mouth, even when dancing. Kinda clashes with his Nature Lover persona, though.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Micro and Dragon dance in rather snazzy suits.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Garlic steak for Texas.
Jumbo Max
A team of four masked street punks. Dance style: Gangsta
- Acrofatic: As large as he is, Meat could groove as good as the rest of his fit teammates.
- Big Eater: Of hamburgers.
- Burger Fool: Meat used to work there. However, like Hamm, he actually likes working there and his main goal is to rebuild it.
- Cool Mask: Duck wears a duck-shaped one as Jason wears a normal case. The latter is justified because he is not confident with his good looks.
- Delinquents: Their main theme.
- Gangbangers: Just like Strike before them.
- The Heart: In-game, Meat's AI is the only one that consistnetly likes to group up with the others.
- Hidden Depths: Jason is self-conscious about his looks so he wears a mask.
- Moveset Clone: Of Strike. Makes sense because not only are they Gangbangers but Jason idolizes him. They also use Hamm's moves as well.
- Mysterious Past: Bat wants to disappear to be free. However, it is never explained why he feels that way.
- Nature Lover: Duck. Though this is a darker example of this trope as he wishes to escape humanity to protect it...
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In-game, their AI generally dislike working together and will often try to either sabatoge pair-ups or steal the spotlight for themselves. Meat is the only one who will somewhat reliably cooperate and getting a Quartet combo takes a lot of finagling.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Hamburgers for Meat. Makes you wonder if he is related to Hamm in any way.
Far East Commanders
A team of four crime-fighting future ninjas. Dance style: Vogue
- Ambiguous Gender: Shogun and Hamamatsu's genders are never given.
- Confusion Fu: Everyone on this team aside from Shogun tend to pick somewhat randomly for their Free spaces when controlled by AI.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: After Hamamatsu blows his wish on a giant castle, he and the rest of his team are punished with cleaning the toilet.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: The team is supposed to be a ninja team but not only as their outfits are very visible but most ninjas would scoff at entering a dancing competition.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Tomoe's main goal. Though even after quitting the Far East Commanders in her ending, she still fights evil in secret.
- Moveset Clone: Of Kitty-N.
- Poor, Predictable Rock: Shogun's AI will always without fail select O during Free spaces, making it both easier and harder to manipulate how the team pairs up depending on what you want to do.
