Characters / Double Dragon

Introduced in Double Dragon

Billy Lee

Voiced in Japanese by: Ryō Horikawa (Double Dragon II, PC Engine version), Hikaru Midorikawa (Neo Geo), Nobutoshi Canna (Japanese dub of the live-action film)

Voiced in English by: Michael Donovan (animated series), Jeff Luke (Neon), Dan Avidan (River City Girls), Eddy Yeung (Gaiden)

Played by: Scott Wolf (live action film)

The de facto protagonist of the Double Dragon series. Successor to the Chinese martial art of Sousetsuken. He began his Chinese martial arts training at the age of 12 and went on to master several fighting styles until becoming the Sousetsuken successor at the age of 20. Sousetsuken is a fighting style that combines the techniques from all sorts of martial arts such as Karate, Shorinji Kempo and Tai Chi into one school.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Blond in the arcade games and Neon, brown hair in both the NES and PC Engine games, and black hair in the animated series. Early concept/promotional art for the original game depicts Billy not only as the darker haired brother, but has him wearing the red outfit instead of blue, which implies that he might been originally intended to be the Player 2 character (before the identities of the Lee brothers were fully established).
• Cain and Abel: Abel to Jimmy's Cain in the first NES game. This also occurs in the actual arcade game if both brothers defeat Willy together, which results in Player Versus Player to see who gets the girl.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: Billy is blue (except in the second arcade game, where he wore black).
• The Hero: He is the Player 1 character and Marian's official boyfriend, two facts that combined give him a bit more of protagonism than Jimmy. His role is also bigger than Jimmy's in most adaptations.
• Jack of All Stats: In the Super NES game, where his fighting style focuses more on flexibility.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue oni in the animated series, red oni in the comicbook and film.
• Retired Badass: The River City Girls continuity shows that he ended up opening a dojo, since Marian became self-sufficient enough to not be rescued anymore.
• Surfer Dude: Speaks this way alongside Jimmy in Neon. Very much so Played for Laughs.
• Technical Pacifist: Even though he uses his martial arts to beat the ever-living crap out of his enemies, he never uses it to outright take the lives of others according to Double Dragon IV.^note This is in stark contrast to Double Dragon Neon, where he's said to have "murdered countless Williamses", although that line was more Played for Laughs than anything.

Jimmy Lee

Voiced in Japanese by: Nobutoshi Canna (Double Dragon II, PC Engine version, as "Nobutoshi Hayashi"), Kaneto Shiozawa (Neo Geo), Takehito Koyasu (Japanese dub of the live-action film)

Voiced in English by: Scott McNeil (animated series), Jeff Luke (Neon), Arin Hanson (River City Girls), Jacob Browning (Gaiden)

Played by: Mark Dacascos (live action film)

The older Lee twin, who helps his brother Billy fight the Black Warriors, while being secretly in love with Marian. In the NES version, he is actually the Shadow Boss, the true leader of the Black Warriors, although this plot point is swept aside in the sequels (which brought back the co-op play missing in the first NES game).

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Brown hair in the arcade games and Neon, blond in the NES and PC Engine games and animated series. Much like Billy, some of the early promotional art depicts Jimmy wearing blue instead of his usual red.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the NES version of the first game and the animated series (for an episode and a half, anyway).
• Cain and Abel: Cain to Billy's Abel in the first NES game. This also occurs in the actual arcade game if both brothers defeat Willy together.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: Jimmy is red (except in the second arcade game, where he wore white).
• Composite Character: In the first NES game, not only serves as the new final boss, but essentially replaces Jeff (the head-swapped Lee brother boss from the arcade version) as the boss who uses all of the player's moves.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In Rise of the Dragons, while Billy uses the classic Double Dragon moveset from the original games, Jimmy gets his own unique moveset that combines an emphasis on punches instead of kicks in addition to a few Shotoclone moves as well.
• Evil Twin: If he's a Heel in whatever continuity a specific installment is set in, then he serves as one to Billy.
• Evil Brunette Twin: Averted; the first instance of him being a villain was also the first to make him a blond.
• Heel–Face Turn: In #2 of the animated series.
• Mighty Glacier: In the Super NES game, where his style focuses on pure strength.
• Only Mostly Dead: In the Game Gear game, he was supposedly killed by the Dragon Lords for leaving the evil clan. Turns out he was under Demonic Possession of the Black Samurai, who had the Black Warriors Gang kidnap Marian.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red oni in the animated series, a relative blue oni in the comicbook and film.
• Surfer Dude: Speaks this way alongside Billy in Neon. Very much so Played for Laughs.
• Technical Pacifist: Just like Billy.

Marian

Voiced in Japanese by: Hiroko Emori (Double Dragon II, PC Engine version), Yuka Koyama (Neo Geo), Marina Inoue (River City Girls 2)

Voiced in English by: Cathy Weseluck (animated series), Christijana York (Neon), Erika Harlacher (River City Girls), Amanda Gish (Gaiden)

Played by: Alyssa Milano (live action film)

Marian in Double Dragon.

Marian in River City Girls.

Billy's girlfriend who is a part-time assistant instructor in their martial arts training school, but is kidnapped by the Black Warriors. In Double Dragon II, she is seemingly killed off in the beginning, with her ultimate fate varying depending on the version.

She also appears in River City Girls as a shopkeeper, and in River City Girls 2, joins up as a playable character. In Rise of the Dragons, she joins the brothers on their adventure while packing heat.

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• Action Girl: In the Neo Geo game and in River City Girls 2. She becomes a Damsel out of Distress because she got tired of waiting to be rescued, so she trained in captivity. Notably, she apparently set off on adventures of her own afterwards, while Billy and Jimmy set up their dojos without Marian to save. Marian finally gets to shine in her own series with her being equipped with a Hyperspace Arsenal of weapons in Rise of the Dragons.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the original Double Dragon and Double Dragon II arcade games as well as the Neo Geo fighting game, Marian was brunette. The 90's cartoon had her as a redhead. The 1994 movie had her as golden blond, as well as the Double Dragon games since. In the River City Girls continuity, her hair is platinum blond, verging on pure white.
• Adaptation Name Change: Her surname depends on the writer - it's Steele in the Marvel Comics adaptation, Kelly in Revenge of Double Dragon,^note the Japanese version of Super Double Dragon Martin in the cartoon series, and Delario in the live-action film. In the River City Girls continuity, Kelly became her surname.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: A variant. While she is strictly Billy's girlfriend in her source series, River City Girls 2 has her make a throwaway comment about being close to both Lee brothers (as she does an Eyebrow Waggle), which implies a threesome.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In most of her appearances, she has long hair. For her appearance in Rise of the Dragons, she sports a shorter hairstyle instead.
• Almighty Janitor: Downplayed. While a lot of the shopkeepers in River City Girls are established badass fighters, she initially stood out as more toned compared to her other appearances. Then River City Girls 2 happens, and she ends up deciding to help fight the Sabu family's forces when she notices that her shop is threatened by their presence.
• Amazonian Beauty: In the River City Girls games, she got muscular and proudly shows off her sixpack, which she calls "legendary abs". She's also quite buff, having trained in captivity in order to become stronger.
• Back from the Dead: In the NES, PC Engine, and ZX Spectrum Double Dragon II games, which is the canonical outcome. In the River City Girls continuity, she comes back to life with an Unexplained Recovery.
• Badass Bystander: In River City Girls, she serves as a shopkeeper. When her territory is encroached by yakuza goons during the events of that game's sequel, she joins Misako, Kyoko, Kunio and Riki in their crusade against the Sabu family.
• Bound and Gagged: Marian ends up bound, gagged, and chained to a metal pipe with handcuffs◊ in one Double Dragon game.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • In Neon during the first part of the final boss battle.
  • Happens to her again in River City Girls 2, courtesy of the Sabu family. This time, she serves as a boss fight all her own down in the Subway- which is itself another reference, because she is fought in the same area that Abobo was fought in during River City Girls.
• Damsel in Distress: The motivation for Billy and Jimmy in the first game is to rescue her from the Shadow Boss. Averted in the River City Girls continuity, as she got sick of it, so she spends her time training during being kidnapped. Apparently without Marian getting kidnapped all the time, Billy and Jimmy had nothing else to do, so they started dojos. She finally gets out of this role in her home series in Rise of the Dragons.
• Damsel out of Distress: An interview with Kishimoto revealed there was a cut mode for Advance which had Marian escape using her combat skills in addition to teaming up with Abobo. In the River City Girls continuity, she got sick of becoming the Damsel in Distress, so she spends her time training while she can even during her kidnappings to break out of that mold. She apparently even went on to have her own adventures!
• Even the Girls Want Her: In River City Girls 2, Misako, Kyoko, and Provie are obviously attracted to her and her "legendary abs". This is even more notable than usual in that the first two have boyfriends who they are otherwise perfectly devoted to - Marian is apparently just that damn attractive.
• Extremity Extremist: Marian exclusively uses her arms to do harm to her enemies in River City Girls 2; she uses her legs only for moving. All of her attacks are punches, throws, or in one case, elbow drops. The sole exception are a couple of uses of Use Your Head to end combos/grabs with.
• Fair Cop: Is mentioned as being one in the Super Double Dragon manual, which carries over into the 90's cartoon and Rise of the Dragons.
• Faux Action Girl: If we are to believe the backstory given in the original game's official soundtrack and some of the console versions, she was formerly an assistant instructor in Billy and Jimmy's old dojo. Seeing how she goes down with only one punch to the gut in the opening of the original game without putting up much a fight, her qualifications for such a job are debatable. Averted by her Neo Geo, River City Girls 2, and Rise of the Dragons incarnations, who do have actual fighting skills.
• Final Boss: Of III's NES adaptation, as Noiram.
• Groin Attack: Gives Skullmageddon one after the end credits in Neon. Hilariously, he appears to quite recall this in River City Girls 2 and is notably terrified of running into Marian again.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: In contrast to the Lees and to some degree Uncle Matin, Marian primarily fights by using firearms in Rise of the Dragons.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: One has to wonder where she's keeping her bazooka and muon mines in Rise of the Dragons; she's also got a pistol, baton, tazer, and lasso as well.
• Informed Ability: The Super Double Dragon manual states that she's a student of Kung Fu, but it never comes into play. In the Neo Geo game where she does utilize her moves, it's vaguely called a "Street Fighting" style. This is averted in the River City Girls continuity, as she's shown training and working out while in captivity, along with being Promoted to Playable in River City Girls 2 as an Amazonian Beauty from all of that training. Hilariously, she still doesn't use Kung Fu- Marian's fighting style in River City Girls 2 is that of a boxer mixed with some wrestling, giving her a brawling fighting style that doesn't much resemble Kung Fu. Possibly because she found it to be ineffective and trained to fight a different way that worked better, or she could more effectively suss out the techniques involved while in captivity and away from any potential teachers. Likewise, in Rise of the Dragons, she primarily uses firearms.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Marian's name spelled "Marion" in the NES versions of Double Dragon II and Double Dragon III. The manual for the Master System version of Double Dragon spells it "Mary-Anne" as well.
• Informed Attribute: The Super Double Dragon manual states that she's a narcotics investigator working for the police, but this occupation is never evident outside of character artwork for the Japanese version. The idea of her being a policewoman was only reused for the cartoon series and much later in Rise of the Dragons.
• Kick Chick: Inverted Trope in her appearance in River City Girls 2. Marian never kicks her enemies (except in one comic cutscene where she does a flying kick); all of her attacks are punches or throws with her arms. Even her "hit the enemy on the ground" move- which for most other characters is a stomp- is an elbow drop instead! This makes her a pointed contrast with Provie, who's a straight example of this trope.
• Neutral Female: If playing multiplayer in the arcade version, once both players reach the end, they find Marian in Unwilling Suspension. They then fight over her.
• Occult Detective: In River City Girls 2, it is revealed that she moonlights as a paranormal crime investigator. In fact, it was when she was investigating a supposed paranormal crime that got her brainwashed.
• The Power of Love: Uses this in Neon to send the Lee Bros. to another dimension to face Skullmageddon, as well as turning them into Ro-Bros to survive the transition.
• Polyamory: Implied in River City Girls 2 when she mentions her "close friends" the Lee brothers. When asked which one she was "close" to, she replies with both. Misako and Kyoko think that's hot.
• Prisons Are Gymnasiums: In the River City Girls 2 continuity, she trained while stuck in captivity, eventually becoming strong enough to break out on her own. She starts this breakout by punching a robot's head in!
• Promoted to Playable: Although it may not be for the Double Dragon series, she finally attains playable status in River City Girls 2. She finally gets this status in her home series in Rise of the Dragons.
• Seen It All: Within the River City Girls setting, she had gotten so bored of being a constant kidnapping victim that she was still able to text on her phone as a robot was hauling her around. She maintains some level of this in-story as well, which helps with her Token Adult status among the delinquents.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Marian is revived in the NES, PC Engine, and ZX Spectrum adaptations, and stays alive in subsequent games.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: The second arcade game begins exactly the same way as the first game... Only instead of being kidnapped, Marian is gunned down to death by Machine Gun Willy. Unlike the NES and PC Engine versions, it's implied that she stays dead. Same with the computer versions of Double Dragon II.
• Token Adult: Among the teenage delinquents of River City Girls 2, Marian is the closest thing to adult supervision they have available. Given the setting they live in, that token adult is still throwing haymakers and elbow drops at people (which includes at school students, who are admittedly bullies and delinquents).
• Took a Level in Badass: In the Neo Geo game, where she's not only a selectable fighter, but is one of the higher-tier characters in the roster. She's also a selectable character in River City Girls 2 and Rise of the Dragons.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Her playstyle in River City Girls 2 involves a lot of wrestling moves. Her air-to-ground attack is an elbow drop, and she has a throw that involves grabbing a downed enemy by the legs before spinning them and throwing them away.

Abobo

Voiced in Japanese by: Daisuke Gōri (Neo Geo), Yuki Onodera (River City Girls 2)

Voiced in English by: Jim Byrnes (animated series), Len Smith (Neon), Patrick Seitz (River City Girls), Paul Greene-Dennis (Gaiden)

Played by: Nils Allen Stewart (live action film)

The Break Out Mook Character of the series, Abobo is a tall and muscular Giant Mook with either a shaved head or small mohawk, often with facial hair. Extremely strong and brutish, Abobo almost always works for the Shadow Warriors or another evil organization.

At times, Abobo can be a playable character, most notably in the Neo Geo fighting game and Rise of the Dragons.

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• Adaptational Intelligence: His intelligence goes all over the place depending on the game. In Battletoads & Double Dragon he's completely dense. He's a bit smarter in the Animated Adaptation and the movie. In Neon he has a degree in physics. In River City Ransom: Underground he goes back to shouting in Hulk Speak, but is shown to be somewhat more intelligent than he lets on. Finally, in River City Girls, while he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he's definitely not Dumb Muscle and correctly guesses that Kunio and Riki weren't actually kidnapped.
• Ambiguously Brown: In many games, Abobo's default skin tone is an unclear shade of brown, making his ethnicity unclear, such as in the iOS depiction pictured above.
• Bald of Evil: Abobo is almost always bald, or mostly bald with a mohawk.
• Barrier-Busting Blow: Abobo punches through walls.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Most media depicts him with black sclera and small white pupils. Newer games change his pupils to yellow.
• Breakout Mook Character: Abobo is one of the four most recognizable, and consistent characters^note Billy, Jimmy, Marian, and Abobo in the series. Abobo has countless cameos in other media such as Rajiv in Super Dodge Ball. A mode featuring Abobo as playable was almost added to Advance before being cut for time! Finally, Abobo is the star of Abobo's Big Adventure, which got the approval of original creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto. He even makes several appearances in River City Ransom: Underground, expanding on how 2 of him were Ultra Lion's bodyguards in River City: Tokyo Rumble (Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-Kun SP: Rantō Kyōsōkyoku) and in River City Girls.
• Character Catchphrase: A real weird word, "Chikky!" seems to be Abobo's catchphrase, especially in the Neo Geo fighting game, and gets carried over in his spiritual successor Abubo in Rage of the Dragons.
• Composite Character: The Abobo in most home ports has the bald head and mustache of the Zack variant, the scarless face and skintone of Jack and the name of the King Mook version of Abobo. He also has the ability to both hand clap like Jack and pick up objects like Zack.
• Dumb Muscle: Several adaptations like Battletoads & Double Dragon depict him as quite dense.
• Freudian Excuse: Played for Laughs when he's fought as a boss in River City Girls; when asked why he's evil, he claims it's because his parents didn't love him enough as a child.
• Genius Bruiser: The animated series depicted as smarter then the other mooks. In Neon it's revealed Abobo has a degree in physics, and is writing his master's thesis.
• Giant Mook: Abobo is significantly larger then the other Mooks, so much so he is the only enemy that cannot be grabbed in the original.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: In the arcade original, the Zack version of Abobo had a disfiguring scar going from his eye to his forehead. The standard Abobo also has this in Advance.
• Hired Guns: He becomes a Hirable Henchman in River City Girls 2. This is made amusing by the fact that his usual kidnapping victim Marian is playable in that game.
• Hulk Speak: In Battletoads & Double Dragon, he always refers to himself in third-person.
• Manly Facial Hair: Abobo is often depicted with a horseshoe mustache or less commonly, a beard. In River City Girls, he lists growing facial hair as one of the things that comes with puberty like punching through brick walls.
• Mook–Face Turn: A cut mode for Advance involved Abobo doing one, and helping Marian escape.
• Nightmare Face: The sprites for Abobo in the NES Double Dragon games give him one of these. They're clearly based on the same character's various arcade sprites, but the head is enlarged and the contrast in shading almost makes him look like he's made of rock. In addition, his handlebar mustache looks enough like a severely distorted mouth that some have mistakenly confused it for one.
• Palette Swap: Even in the original, Abobo, outside of his variants, came in multiple skin tones.
• Promoted to Playable: Abobo is playable in the NES VS mode, the Zeebo/iOS ports of the original, the Neo Geo game, and Abobo's Big Adventure. He was also going to be playable along with Marian in Double Dragon Advance, but the feature got cut.
• Punch-Clock Villain: In Rise of the Dragons, his mercenary work is simply to provide for his family.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Despite his intimidating appearance, Abobo's hobbies include singing, and dancing according to the Japanese version of the Double Dragon Advance manual and his character blurb on the official website of Double Dragon IV .
• Scary Black Man: Depending on the game and the palette being used.
• Throw a Barrel at It: He has the ability to throw oil drums and other large objects.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Outside of the rare occasions he wears a tanktop, Abobo's chest is always bared.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Only sees action in the first episode of the animated series. At the beginning of the second ep, he's trapped inside the Shadow Mural forever for his failures.
• Wrestler in All of Us: In the Neo Geo fighting game, Abobo has wrestling moves. Even in the original, Abobo had some WWE style throws.

Abobo variants

Due to Abobo's versatility, fighting style and eventually, popularity, he has a variety of Head swapped counterparts as early as the original arcade game. These include:

• Zack: A Mook version of Abobo with the ability to pick up and toss barrels. Zack has a shaved head, scar and horseshoe mustache, he usually has light skin in the original arcade version.
• Jack: Also known as Jick, he is a Boss variant appearing in mission 1 of the arcade game, this variant has the ability to do a devastating hand clap. He is identified by his dark skin, mohawk, wild beard, scarless face and large eyes.
• Mibobo: A green Palette Swap of Jack, he has all of Jack's moves, but with more health and surprising speed.
• Afrobo: Introduced in Advance, this version of Abobo resembles Zack/the standard variant, but with a large Afro.

Closely related are the Dodgeball players that resemble Abobo in Super Dodge Ball. According to Koji Ogata, the Abobo name applies to all of these characters as well.

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• Adaptational Hairstyle Change:
  • Jack in Advance has a mustache instead of a beard even though his face is still unique.
  • Mibobo has Devilish Hair Horns instead of a mohawk or shaved head in River City Girls 2, which helps him stand out from the other variants.
• Adapted Out:
  • Most of the console versions of the first game leaves them out and simply use a Composite Character Abobo in his place.
  • In River City Girls 2, the Zack Abobo is the only Abobo to not appear as most of his traits have gone to the standard version of Abobo.
• All There in the Manual:
  • Jack/Jick's official name was an obscure fact (due to his omission in console versions), but it was mentioned in print in a review by Famitsu, that said it spelled Jack as Jick.
  • Zack's name was revealed by Beep Magazine, which also revealed Mibobo's original name and the proper spelling of Jack.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Several variants of Abobo have fantastic skin tone. Most notably the original game, and its remakes include a green Abobo, later called Mibobo, which is faster and stronger than all the others. Double Dragon Advance had Abobos in a rainbow of colors from Blue to Silver!
• Degraded Boss: Two Jacks show up in the final level of the arcade original.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: In the arcade original, the Zack version of Abobo had a disfiguring scar going from his eye to his forehead.
• Head Swap: All but Mibobo have the same body but a different head, allowing the game designers to save graphic space by having only having to draw his head. Jack has larger eyes, no scars and a beard in contrast to Zack's smaller eyes, scar and horseshoe mustache.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Famitsu spells the mohawked variant as Jick, whilst other sources like Beep Magazine and River City Girls 2, spell his name as Jack.
• King Mook:
  • The Jack variant is essentially tougher version of the Zack Abobo.
  • Mibobo is the strongest of the Abobo family, moving and attacking much faster and having tons of health.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: The Mibobo Abobo who appears at the end of Mission 3 is Green and tougher than any other Abobo Mook in the game.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Mibobo variant of the Abobo family, originally just named Abobo, is very fast whilst having more health than other enemies.
• Manly Facial Hair: All of them have unruly beard or mustaches in addition to being aggressive macho-men that can punch through walls with their bare hands.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Jack variant's dark skin and hairstyle makes him a dead ringer for Mr. T.
• Throw a Barrel at It: Zack has the ability to throw oil drums and other large objects, something Jack and Mibobo cannot do in the original arcade version.
• Wrestler in All of Us: The Jack and Mibobo variant toss you with a back body drop if you attempt to approach him straight on. The Zack variant can do this, too, but Jack and Mibobo use it far more often.

Chin Taimei

Voiced by: Alex Mai (Gaiden)

• Age Lift: Taimei in River City Girls 2 is implied to be a middle school student, rather than an adult.
• Bruce Lee Clone: Taimei is a variant as he's based off Jackie Chan.
• Canon Immigrant: At first, he was just a character made up for the NES version of the first game, but later appears in the arcade version of II as a stick-wielding fighter. His name was used for the Player 2 version of Chin (shortened to "Taime" due to space limit) in the arcade version of 3.
• Deceptive Disciple: Implied at least in Rise of the Dragons—he was barred from learning Kououken when he was caught trying to steal the scroll containing its teachings.
• Dual Wielding: With the sticks in II
• Elite Mooks: He's noticeably more skilled than Williams and Rowper.
• Expy: His design in the first NES game resembles the Karate Fighter from Mat Mania, a Technos-developed wrestling game.
• Inconsistent Spelling: His name was shortened to "Chintai" in the English manual.
• You Don't Look Like You: Taimei in the arcade version of III is simply a Palette Swap of the short and fat Seimei as opposed to the tall and thin design he usually has.

Willy

Voiced by: Garry Chalk (animated series), Andrew Boa (Gaiden)

The leader of the Killers, a biker gang leader whose organization grew in power after the nuclear war and became the Black Warriors. Serves as the final boss in the arcade versions of the first two games, where he shoots Marian to death in the second game. In the NES versions, he's merely a figurehead, being the last opponent fought by Billy before the final battle against Jimmy in the first game and a complete no-show in the second, though he does appear in the Turbo CD version as the Mysterious Warrior's lackey.

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• Adapted Out: Absent in the second NES game, despite being the reason why Billy and Jimmy are seeking revenge against the gang in the arcade version, although he does show up in the PC Engine version.
• Big Bad: In the first two arcade games and most remakes of the original. In Rise of the Dragons, he shares this role alongside the other gang leaders.
• Bottomless Magazines: Never runs out of bullets no matter how much full auto fire he sprays everywhere.
• Combat Pragmatist: Prior to Rise of the Dragons, he brings an automatic weapon in what is essentially a fist/melee fight. If he is the last opponent faced in Rise of the Dragons, he attempts to gun them down while inside a military transport helicopter.
• Demoted to Dragon:
  • In the first NES game, he's just the last guy the player fights before the final fight with Jimmy.
  • In the TurboGrafx-16 version of II, Willy is subservient to the Mysterious Warrior.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: In Rise of the Dragons, he leads a gang of rogue military personnel as opposed to a biker gang. Fittingly, he also owns a military issue transport helicopter (which he only unveils if he is the last opponent faced).
• Killed Offscreen: A flunky claims this happened in Double Dragon IV, but time will tell if he was telling the truth.
• Named by the Adaptation: In the Japanese manual for the Famicom version, he's given the last name "Mackey".
• Red Baron: Known as "Machine Gun Willy" by virtue of him wielding an assault rifle to fight his opponents.
• Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Prior to Rise of the Dragons, he was the only character in the original games to use a firearm, hence his nickname "Machine Gun Willy".
• Sudden Name Change: To "Roper" in Battletoads & Double Dragon. The manual for the Master System version also switched his name with Jeff's.
• Pistol-Whipping: If the Dragons get too close, Willy will swipe them with his rifle as it was a club.
• Villainous Widow's Peak: In the first two arcade games.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Like Abobo, only gets to do anything in the first episode of the animated series. At the beginning of the second episode an annoyed Shadow Master traps him a mural where he stays for good.

Williams

Voiced by: Kurt Conde (Neon), Anthony Sardinha (English, River City Girls 2)

• Butt-Monkey: Williams is most definitely one of these in Neon: Skullmageddon threatens to dock his pay for the monitors you break in levels 3 and 4 and 2 of his quotes when he kills you are "No dogfood for Williams today!" and "Guess who's sleeping inside tonight?"
• Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Whilst Double Dragon isn't a game with characterization for Mooks, Williams is The Goomba and is always seen with Roper.
• The Goomba: Williams is the most common, and basic enemy.
• Head Swap: Of Rowper in Super Double Dragon
• Home-Run Hitter: His weapon of choice in the original game is a baseball bat.
• Mook: The most basic and standard enemy.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Gets one in Super Double Dragon.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Named after Jim Kelly's character from Enter the Dragon.
• Those Two Guys: Williams is almost always accompanied by Rowper
• Throw a Barrel at It: He gains this ability in Advance.
• Unholy Matrimony: In the iOS version, Williams and Linda are married.
• Would Hit a Girl: He's the one who punches Marian and carries her off in most versions.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In the official Double Dragon IV website section for Characters, it sates that Williams has a "strong fear of spiders and cockroaches".

Rowper

• Adaptation Name Change: Is called Brett in the iOS game.
• Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Implied, Rowper is one of the weakest enemies in the game and is constantly seen with Williams.
• The Goomba: Like Williams. he is a very commonly seen enemy.
• Head Swap: In Super Double Dragon, he and Williams have the same body type.
• Home-Run Hitter: He can wield a baseball bat in the arcade version like Williams does, but he loses this ability in the NES version.
• Inconsistent Spelling: His name has also been spelled "Lopar" and "Roper" (the latter being his namesake from Enter The Dragon).
• Mook: He's only very slightly tougher than Williams and is otherwise a henchmen you will beat in droves.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Wields one in the NES version of Double Dragon II which cannot be taken away from him.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Named after John Saxon's character from Enter the Dragon.
• Those Two Guys: He's almost seen with Williams.
• Throw a Barrel at It: His special ability in the first game.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: In Super Double Dragon he wears a headband resembling the Japanese flag.

Linda

Voiced by: Jessie Seely (Neon), Katelyn Barr (Gaiden)

Played by: Kristina Wagner (live action film)

• Adaptational Attractiveness: The original Arcade Linda wasn't unattractive, being an athletic woman with a pleasant face, but some versions like Battletoads and Double Dragon and Neon turn her into a busty dominatrix.
• Adaptational Curves:
  • Linda had a modest size bust in the original arcade game, but some later games like Neon, give her notably large breasts.
  • In the NES and IOS version of I, Linda is notably more muscular, especially in the latter.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Linda in the original arcade game had neck length permed hair. Many other games and ports exaggerate this to either give her long straight hair or a bit of an afro.
• Adaptational Ugliness: On the other hand, in the NES version of I, she was depicted as boxy mannish woman with a rough face and short afro mop that looked rather silly, possibly due to graphical limitations. The mobile version of I, made Linda a hulking grimacing ogress with a sneering face and Primal Stance, practically a parody of her appearance in the NES version of I.
• Alliterative Name: Battletoads & Double Dragon gives her the full name "Linda Lash", which has occasionally reappeared in other material such as the live-action film and her official artwork for Double Dragon Neon.
• Amazonian Beauty: Her appearance in River City Girls has this look; having well toned arms and as well as a beautiful face and '80s Hair hairstyle based on her look in the first game's manual. Her Recruit animation in River City Girls 2 even has her flexing so hard she bursts a bracelet on her bicep!
• Combat Sadomasochist: In Neon, she tells Billy and Jimmy to get on their knees and lets out ecstatic shouts of "Oh good!" whenever she manages to kill either one of them or is defeated herself.
• Dressed Like a Dominatrix: In Neon and Wanderer of the Dragon. In most other games she has a more athletic/punk appearance instead.
• Epic Flail: Lindas from II use these.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Promotional materials for the first game spelled her name as "Rinda."
• Kick Chick: In Neon only, aside from her whip she has no attacks besides a jump kick and a 3 kick combo. In other games she primarily uses her elbows for fighting.
• Punch-Clock Villain: In Rise of the Dragons, she's not a mercenary because she particularly likes it, but rather because it's the most dependable way she sees to get money to aid children orphaned by the nuclear war.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Presumably named after Bruce Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell.
• Unholy Matrimony: In the iOS version, Williams is her husband.
• Whip of Dominance: She makes good on her name by being a skilled whip fighter. In her first few appearances, she looked like a regular woman, but she got Adaptational Attractiveness in many ports and became more sexualized over time. By Double Dragon Neon she became a full-on Dominatrix-themed character in both personality and appearance and it became a consistent part of her character from that point forward.

Jeff

• Adaptation Origin Connection: In Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons, Jeff is a former friend of the Lee brothers until he became their rival.
• Adapted Out: Also cut out from most versions of the first game, particularly the NES and Game Boy versions, as his role was served by Chin there.
• Demoted Boss: In the arcade version clones of Jeff appear during the final two stages as elite mooks and they are just as tough as the boss version from Mission 2.
• Elite Mook: In Super Double Dragon, where he is a mook who is tougher than the usual Williams and Rowper variety.
• Head Swap: Of the Lee Brothers, giving more variety of moves than the usual mook.
• Palette Swap: Of Billy Lee in Super Double Dragon.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In the Wander of the Dragons remake, he redesign looks very similar to Right Arm who appeared in the original Double Dragon II. Could also be a Mythology Gag, as Right Arm in original is considered by some to be Jeff's replacement.

Introduced in Double Dragon II

Burnov

Voiced in Japanese by: Daisuke Gōri (Neo Geo)

Voiced in English by: Greg Chun (River City Girls), Ethan Gallardo (Gaiden)

A muscularly overweight wrestler wearing a strange mask and even stranger powers.

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• Badass in a Nice Suit: Wears one in River City Girls while still retaining his punk getup.
• Barrier-Busting Blow: Burnov punches through walls.
• Bouncer: In the River City Girls games, he acts as the bouncer to concerts and fancy restaurants.
• Breakout Mook Character: Next to Abobo, he's the most recognized bad guy in the series, so much so that he often appears in remakes of the first game, such as the Advance and iOS versions, despite not being introduced till II. In River City Girls, he is shown guarding Noize's yacht acting as her bouncer.
• Camp Gay: In Advance, and to a greater extent in the iOS version, where he hits on Billy and Jimmy.
• Fat Bastard: Burnov is athletically overweight and in most versions of II, Burnov gives an Evil Laugh whenever he grabs the Lee brothers, indicating he likes hurting people. Subverted in River City Girls, where he is very polite.
• Giant Mook: He's a huge brawler similar to Abobo, though he's shown as being both fat and muscular in contrast to Abobo who's just a wall of muscles.
• Inconsistent Spelling: The manual for the Neo Geo fighting game spells his name as "Bulnov", differing from the Burnov spelling used in-game.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Subverted. Burnov was originally designed as an Abdullah the Butcher expy that was meant to appear in the wrestling game that became WWF Superstars. When he no longer had any point being in that game (as Abdullah was never officially associated with the WWF), artist Koji Ogata repurposed his sprite for Double Dragon II and gave him a RoboCop-inspired mask. The mask has also been compared to the one wore by the Kinnikuman villain Neptuneman, but Ogata has denied any inspiration, claiming that he had never read the manga nor watched an episode of the anime.
• Stout Strength: He is one of the most powerful enemies.
• Unexplained Recovery: When you knock off about half his health, he suddenly dissolves into dust, then reassembles himself good as new just a few seconds later.
• Vocal Dissonance: Despite his brutish appearance, he has a refined manner of speech in River City Girls.
• Wrestler in All of Us: In the Neo Geo fighting game as well as in Rise of the Dragons. Justified as he is an ex-wrestler in both games.

Bolo

Taking the place of the other Abobo variants, particularly Jack, Bolo is a long haired strongman with a mustache that can hand clap.

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• Adapted Out: In the Turbo CD version, Bolo never appears in the game, with O'Hara always taking his place, even though he has both a profile in the manual and a complete set of sprites that go unused.
• Barbarian Long Hair: A savage Giant Mook with a headful of long and unruly hair.
• Elite Mook: He is as tough as Jick, but never appears as a boss.
• Head Swap: He has Zack's mustache, but no scar like Jick in addition to a headful of long hair and different eyes. Bolo also wears fancier pants and shoes.
• Manly Facial Hair: Bolo has a mustache and as a member of the Abobo family, he's a wall busting beast of a man.
• Shout-Out: Named and modeled after Bolo Yeung, who played Mr. Han's bodyguard in Enter the Dragon, continuing the Shout-Out Theme Naming of Williams, Rowper and Linda.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He takes the place of the Abobo family in Double Dragon II. In fact, he's uses the same Abobo face with mop hair and slight modifications (same facial structure in both, the arcade and NES versions), to the point that the Mega Drive version's manual identifies him as such (rather than as "Bolo") on the enemy list. He also fights just like Jack Abobo including the ability to hand clap but not pick up barrels.

O'Hara

O'Hara is a strongman with a buzzcut that can pick up barrels. He has a similar body to the Abobo variants, but with an entirely unique head. He takes the place of the Zack version of Abobo.

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• Adapted Out: In the NES version, O'Hara is entirely absent, though Abore seems to have inherited some of his traits.
• Composite Character: In the Turbo CD version, O'Hara appears wherever Bolo appeared in the NES version and has the ability to hand clap.
• Giant Mook: He's the first large mook you enconuter and can not be picked
• Head Swap: More than Bolo, O'Hara has the same body as Abobo, but his face and even head shape is entirely different from any Abobo variant. As such, he isn't counted as part of the Abobo family.
• Throw a Barrel at It: Just like Zack, O'Hara can pick up Barrels but cannot hand clap.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Though his appearance is different, his fighting style is just like Zack..

Right-Arm

A skilled martial artist. He appears in the NES version of Double Dragon II.

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• Adapted Out: He doesn't appear in the Turbo CD of I, despite having a profile in the manual and a complete set of sprites that are never used outside of the Debug mode.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His moveset and hairstyle make some believe that he is a replacement for Jeff from Double Dragon I.

Abore

Much larger than even Abobo, Abore is an inhumanly huge titan of a man with incredibly powerful attacks.

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• Assist Character: Abobo can summon him for an attack in River City Ransom: Underground .
• Captain Ersatz: Abore is a cross between The Terminator and André the Giant.
• Composite Character: Abore in the second NES game has the same moves as his namesake from the arcade version, but his appearance resembles that of Oharra's, an Abobo head-swap from the arcade version.
• Expy: Abore in the arcade version of II seems to be based on André the Giant from the WWF Superstars arcade game also developed by Technos.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: In the second arcade game, his red eyes glow underneath his Sinister Shades
• Mighty Glacier: Incredibly slow, but even the weakest attack from him instantly knocks the Double Dragons to the ground.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Abore in the arcade version of II wears a pair of sunglasses with glowing red eyes underneath them that makes him look like a Terminator-clone.
• Sinister Shades: In the arcade and PC Engine version of II, he wears shades, making him lookre more sinister.
• Terminator Impersonator: He's a Composite Character of various forms of The Ahnold, including having elements of character Schwarzenegger played in Commando and Predator. His most blatant Terminator send-ups are the thick black shades he wears and the red glow that can be seen beneath them.

Double Illusion

Voiced by: Ross O'Donovan (English, River City Girls 2)

Shadowy clones of the Lee brothers, the Double Illusions are either the Lee brother's Enemy Without or a magical creation to taunt them.

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• Casting a Shadow: They seem to be the player's shadow come to life and have shadow-based powers in addition to using the player's own moveset. In the arcade version this is mostly limited to fireballs but in the NES version they can also teleport and even Tele-Frag the player in addition to the fireballs.
• Expy: In the arcade game they're essentially a Canon Immigrant version of the fight with Jimmy in the NES version of the first game.
• Final Boss: They show up as the final opponent in the arcade version of Double Dragon II after the player defeats Machine Gun Willy. They're also the final boss in the NES version on normal difficulty, as the True Final Boss only appears on hard difficulty.
• Mirror Boss: They're purple shadow copies of the player and fight with the same moveset as well as their own shadow-based powers. 1 appears for each player character that's active.

Mysterious Warrior

Voiced by: Jacob Browning (Gaiden)

Introduced in the NES version of II, the unnamed Mysterious Warrior is a skilled martial artist with an almost magical style of martial at based around the shadow.—-

• Big Bad: He's the main villain and Final Boss of the NES version of Double Dragon 2. This is also the case in Rise of the Dragons—in fact, he's the new mayor, but still has a warlord's belief that only severe law will suffice to stop the post-war strife.
• Canon Foreigner: He never appeared in the original arcade game.
• Evil Counterpart: His Gensatsuken style is said to be the antithesis of the Lee brothers' Sousetsuken style.
• Expy: Willy's bodyguards, the Five Emperors of Gen-Setsu-Ken in Double Dragon Advance.^note The leader, Raymond, has the exact same boss theme and pulls a "We Shall Meet Again", implying that he would later become the Mysterious Warrior. The Shadow Master from the animated series also serves a similar role.
• I Have Many Names: He's also known as the Shadow Warrior and Supreme Black Shadow Sensei.
• Master of Illusion: In his first phase, he uses this to turn invisible and teleport, and it turns out the environment you fight him in is also an illusion.
• My Death Is Only The Beginning: He's one of the few confirmed villain deaths in the series, although he makes a minor reappearance in Double Dragon IV.
• No Name Given: He's unnamed unless you believe he's Raymond from Double Dragon Advance.
• Stripped to the Bone: In the Turbo CD version of II, the Warrior disintegrates into a skeleton.

Introduced in Double Dragon 3

Hiruko

Voiced by: Mary Josephine Hanson (River City Girls 2)

An elderly fortune teller who guide the Lee brothers in the search for the Rosetta Stones.

• Adaptational Villainy: She was already a villain in the original arcade version, but the NES version (particularly the English localization) takes it a step further by having her be responsible for Brett's death.
• The Cameo: She appears in the checkpoint continue screen for Rise of the Dragons.
• Deus ex Machina: Hiruko's death while trying to enter Cleopatra's tomb with only three Sacred Stones in the third NES game.
• Treacherous Advisor: As it turns out Hiruko was manipulating the Double Dragons all along so she could steal Cleopatra's treasure for herself, and rule the world.
• The Unfought: In the NES version, she, despite being the main antagonist, dies as a result of the trap on Cleopatra's tomb.
• Walking Spoiler: As you can see from the spoiler tags, her being evil makes her this.

Urquidez Brothers

A trio of mixed martial arts masters who appear in the arcade version of Double Dragon 3 consisting of Roney (1P), Sunny (2P) and Jonny (3P).—-

• Adapted Out: None of the Urquidez Brothers appear in the NES version, aside from an unnamed boss character who resembles Sunny. Unlike Chin and Ranzou, he never joins the player's party after being defeated.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: His Palette Swap brother, Jonny has steel grey skin.
• The Big Guy: Towers over every other playable character.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: Sunny, the 2nd Urquidez Brother, has orange pants instead of the traditional red.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Based off Benny "the Jet" Urquidez, an American Karate practitioner.

Chin Brothers

Voiced by: Alex Mai (Seimei, Gaiden)

A trio of portly Tai Chi experts who appear in the arcade version of Double Dragon 3 consisting of Seime (1P), Taime (2P) and Sinme (3P).

In the NES version Chin Seimei appears by himself as the boss of the second stage, who seeks to avenge his brother Taimei's defeat in the previous NES games prior to joining the player's party.

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• Acrofatic: Despite his weight, he can jump very high.
• Adaptational Villainy: Seimei starts out as a boss in the NES version before joining the player's party. In the arcade version he was strictly a playable character.
• Adapted Out: The other Chin Brothers, Taime and Sinme, are nowhere to be seen in the NES version.
• Avenging the Villain: In the NES version, he initially seeks to initially avenge his brother, Chin Taimei
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: In the arcade version at least.
• Defeat Means Friendship/Easily Forgiven: Seimei quickly forgets about the Lee brothers killing his brother in the NES version after being defeated.
• Heel–Face Turn: In the NES version.
• Inconsistent Spelling: His name is one letter shorter in the arcade version due to space constraints.
• Mighty Glacier: In the NES version he can defeat most villains with his basic punch combo, but is the slowest character in the game.
• One-Steve Limit: Taime, the 2nd Chin Brother in the arcade version, shares his name with the enemy character Chin Taimei from the previous games. If it's unclear if he's meant to be the same guy or someone who just happens to have the same name, which in any case leads to...
• Related in the Adaptation: ...the NES version ditching the Taime from the arcade version of making Seimei into the younger brother of the Taimei from the previous games.
• Stout Strength: He's very fat, but very strong.
• Wolverine Claws: His optional weapon in the NES version.

Oyama Brothers

A trio of Seishin Karate instructors who appear in the arcade version of Double Dragon 3 consisting of Masao (1P), Kunio (2P) and Akira (3P).—-

• Adapted Out: Not present in the NES version. Instead, Ranzou serves as the Japanese representative of the heroes in the NES version.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: Masao wears white instead of blue usually reserve to the 1P characters.
• Fragile Speedster: The fastest playable character.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Named after Mas Oyama, legendary karateka who created his own style.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Kunio, the 2nd Oyama Brother, shares his name with Technos Japan's school delinquent mascot.

Sonny

Voiced by: Clifford Chapin (River City Girls 2), Eddy Yeung (Gaiden)

The third Lee brother who appears in the arcade version of Double Dragon 3.

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• Adapted Out: None of the console ports allowed up to 3 players, so naturally he had to go.
• Artifact Title: With Sonny, the Lee Brothers are now the Triple Dragons.
• The Bus Came Back: Returns in Double Dragon IV after a 27 year absence since his arcade debut, and again in River City Girls 2. He also finally became playable again in Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons.
• Butt-Monkey: He is made fun of for appearing less than his bros and being less important than them.
• Depending on the Artist: While in-game Sonny is a palette swap of Billy and Jimmy, the cabinet art for the U.S. version depicts him wearing a yellow tank top with grey pants.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: Was introduced so that a third player could play as a Lee brother.
• Composite Character: He seems to use drunken kung fu in Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons, like Cheng Fu of the Neo Geo fighter.
• Flat Character: His relation to Billy and Jimmy is never actually made clear.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: In Gaiden. He’s so tired!
• Kamehame Hadoken: His special move in IV is to shoot a Fireball.
• One-Steve Limit: He co-exists alongside the similarly-named Urquidez brother Sunny.
• Palette Swap
• Sleepy Head: His bio in Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons calls him lazy and he has heavy bags under his eyes; his swaying, “drunken” movement is evidently due to low energy.

Jim

The first boss. He's actually the brother of Willy, who seeks his brother's defeat in the previous games by leading the Neo Black Warriors against the Lee brothers.

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• Avenging the Villain: Jim is the brother of Willy Mackey and wants to avenge his brother's fall at the hands of the Dragons by taking them out.
• Badass Biker: Just like his brother, he's a vicious biker that became a powerful gang leader after the apocalypse.
• Theme Naming: Just like the good guys have names that mean "William" and "James", so the villain whose name means "William" has a "James" brother.

Li Chenglong

A Chinese martial arts who confront the Lee brothers for the first Rosetta Stone in the arcade version.

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• Adapted Out: Chin Seimei replaces him as the second boss in the NES version.
• Bruce Lee Clone: A much more blatant example than Billy and Jimmy themselves

Yagyu Ranzou

Voiced by: Jacob Browning (Gaiden)

A ninja master who fights the Lee brothers in Japan for the second of the three Rosetta Stones. In the NES version he joins the player's party after being defeated.—-

• Adaptational Heroism: In the Arcade version of III, Ranzou is just a boss character that fights the Dragon for the Rosetta stones, in the NES version of III, Ranzou befriends the dragons after his defeat and joins them.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After the Double Dragon's go to his Dojo and defeat him, proving themselves worthy of the Rosetta Stone, Ranzou joins the group to improve his skill. The ending states Ranzou considers the Lee brothers, his True Companions.
• Fragile Speedster: He's the fastest playable character, but has the least HP out of the four playable characters in the NES version.
• Heel–Face Turn: In the NES version, he starts out a Boss, but becomes a playable character after he is defeated.
• Ninja: A stereotypical ninja that manages a ninja dojo and uses Stock Ninja Weaponry.

Giulano

A warrior dressed in gladiator gear who fights the player in the fourth stage of the arcade version.

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• Adapted Out: Replaced by an unnamed Urquidez Brother in the NES version.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: He reappears in Mission 5 with gray skin.
• Double Weapon: Uses a double sided glaive to beat his opponents, it gives him alot of range.

Brett

A student of the Lee brothers who is attacked by the Neo Black Warriors.

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• Canon Foreigner: Never appeared in the arcade games.
• Dub Name Change: Named Aldo in the Japanese version.
• His Name Is...: Brett tries to tell the Lee brothers that Hiruko is leader of the villains, but dies before he can do so.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He just gets introduced in his death scene.

Gibson

• Bald of Evil: He's the only character with a shaved head, and is the main grunt of a villainous biker gang.
• The Goomba: Gibson is the most common and easy to defeat enemy.

Robinson

• Barbarian Long Hair: Robinson has long unkempt hair and is a barbaric biker.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: He almost always comes with a beer bottle.

Daby

• Canon Foreigner: The arcade version had no female mooks.
• Delinquent Hair: She is drawn with a mohawk in the Japanese manual, but looks more like a rattail within the game.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Linda from the first two games.

Cleopatra

• Adapted Out: In the western NES version of the, she's turned into a possessed version of Marian.
• Evil Is Bigger: Towers over even the giant Urquidez brothers in the Arcade version.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: While Cleopatra's Tomb had been established as the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, there was no hint at all that Cleopatra herself would turn out to be the final boss, with Hiruko having been the villain until that point.
• Historical Domain Character: Yes, she is supposed to be the same woman who was Queen of Egypt between 51—30B.C.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: While historical records around the real-life Cleopatra aren't always consistent, most of them seem to agree that she was not, in fact, a sorceress bent on world domination.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Her character design is clearly based on Elizabeth Taylor's version of the character from the 1963 film.
• SNK Boss: Even in a series known for being Nintendo Hard, she stands out as being probably the toughest opponent in any of the games. She has a lightning attack that can kill you from full health in just two hits, an unavoidable telekinesis attack that can take away about a fifth of your health, and various other powerful attacks.
• Vapor Wear: Played with; she wears a two-piece outfit that exposes her midriff, but in turn wears a translucent chiffron dress which covers most of her body.

Introduced in Super Double Dragon

Duke

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Neo Geo), Michael A. Zekas (Gaiden)

• Animal Motifs: He has tiger-themed attacks in the Neo Geo game and in Rise of the Dragons, due to the tiger being the yin-yang opposite of the dragon in East Asian symbolism.
• Art Evolution: In Super Double Dragon he's a buff blonde dude wearing fairly normal martial arts attire. In the Neo Geo game he's skinnier, has brown hair done into a bun, and wears a more traditional Asian-style outfit. In Rise of the Dragons his appearance is based on Super Double Dragon, though he's depicted with a more Pretty Boy appearance.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's one of the toughest bosses, and high ranking due to his skills.
• Big Bad: Of Super Double Dragon.
• Badass Normal: In Super Double Dragon he fights solely with martial arts, unlike Willy or the Okada sisters who use firearms or the Mysterious Warrior, Cleopatra, or Shuko who use magic/chi. He does use what seem to be chi attacks in the Neo Geo game and in Rise of the Dragons.
• Demoted to Dragon: He's the Big Bad of Super Double Dragon, Shuko's right hand man in the Neo Geo game, and one of New York's 4 gang leaders in Rise of the Dragons.
• Expy: Inspired by Terry Silver, the Big Bad of The Karate Kid Part III.
• Flash Step: In Rise of the Dragons his moveset is heavily based around doing this to catch opponents off-guard from different directions.
• Flunky Boss: In Super Double Dragon he not only fights you alongside a number of goons, but he also doesn't take damage until all his men are eliminated.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: Since the Neo Geo game, Duke has been associated with Tigers, to better showcase him as the rival to the Double Dragons. In contrast to the usual personality stereotypes, Duke is more stoic then the Hot-Blooded Lee brothers.

Introduced in Double Dragon II (Game Boy)

Gordon

The leader of the Scorpions, a heroic school of martial artists that protected people in the post-apocalyptic streets of New York City, who enlisted the Lee brothers as teachers in his school. However, Anderson, a jealous rival murdered a prominent member of the Scorpions and framed the Lee brothers for the deed, prompting Gordon to launch a manhunt for the brothers.

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• Hero Antagonist: Gordon is stated to be a righteous man that helped restore safety and order to New York, but because of Anderson's actions, he believes the Lee brothers murdered one of his instructors and allowed a manhunt to take place.
• The Unfought: Due to Anderson taking him down as part of his ploy to take over the Scorpions, Gordon is never fought by the Double Dragons.
• Uncertain Doom: Near the end of the game, Anderson knocks him down with his Hurricane Kick and in the ending, Gordon apologizes for falling for Anderon's deception as Billy holds him in his arms with it being unclear if Gordon died from his injuries or was merely injured.
• Wasteland Warlord: An odd heroic version, Gordon established a organization of martial artists that protected the people of New York City

Anderson

A high-ranking member of the Scorpions, in stark contrast to Gordon, Anderson was a power hungry man that resented the Double Dragons for their success in the organization. Fearing they could compromise his plan to take over the Scorpions, Anderson murdered Wright, a friend of the Lee brothers and framed them for the deed. With this, Anderson was allowed to launch a manhunt for the Lee brothers as he carefully planned his coup.

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• Frame-Up: To take out his rivals, Wright and the Lee brothers, Anderson murdered the former and framed the latter for killing him. Near the end of the game, Anderson tries to kill Gordon and the Lees so he can make it look like the Dragons killed Gordon and he can rule the Scorpions.
• Hurricane Kick: One of Anderson's strongest move is a move where he performs a spinning jump kick that sends him flying horizontally.
• Malevolent Mugshot: The final level in the Scorpion's hideout has several portraits of Anderson's sneering face.
• Mirror Boss: Anderson is a pure martial artist with no tricks up his sleeves like the other bosses.
• No Brows: Anderson has no eyebrows, contributing to a sinister appearance.
• The Starscream: It is eventually revealed that Anderson has plans to take over the Scorpions for himself by taking out Gordon and saying the Lee brothers killed him.
• Wasteland Warlord: Anderson wants to take Gordon's place as ruler of the Scorpions, the largest organization in the ruined city of New York, and it is strongly implied he'll turn into a much more ruthless organization.

Introduced in the comic book

Sensei

• Killed Off for Real: Was done in by Stelth who impersonated one of the Lee brothers, his grandchildren, and proceeded to steal the Dragon Statue for Nightfall. The Lee brothers return to his side during his last moments alive.

Stan

• Badass Normal: While he is incapable of wielding the Dragon Force, Stan is a skilled kung fu practitioner.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Explains this was the case to Billy and Jimmy as both have admittedly valid reservations about the guy who waltzes into their lives with knowledge of the Dragon Force before going "I’m your dad! Excelsior!"
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Reveals himself to be the father of Billy and Jimmy in Issue #4.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Is clearly based on Marvel's godfather in Stan Lee, which given the context of the series is outright surreal.

Miranda

• And I Must Scream: Not only does Nightfall kill her, he imprisons her soul inside an orb. This was a fate that lasted around two decades where we see her screaming face.

Nightfall

• Dark Is Evil: Nightfall is dark-colored and has been behind the troubles of the city and later plots to throw the world into chaos.
• Face–Heel Turn: After failing to sway Miranda to him, he made a permanent turn to evil.
• If I Can't Have You…: Unhappy about Miranda being married to Stan, he drains her life force during pregnancy and imprisons her soul in an And I Must Scream fate.
• Sadist: The moment he crosses paths with the Lee brothers who reunited with their father, he wastes no time revealing the And I Must Scream fate he encased the mother in and relishes in every second of it.
• Villains Want Mercy: When being sealed in a new dragon statue, he pleads with Miranda, whom the Lee Brothers freed, for mercy.
• Was Once a Man: He was once a family friend of the Lees until the day his newly attained counter force could not sway Miranda to him and following being mortally wounded, he was brought back by the counter force as a Humanoid Abomination.

Introduced in the animated series

Shadow Master

Voiced in English by: Jim Byrnes

Voiced in French by: Bernard Tiphaine

• Bifurcated Weapon: His scythe can split into a sword and a smaller scythe
• Big Bad: Of the animated series and V
• Evil Uncle: He's actually the Lee brothers' uncle on their mother's side.
• Knight of Cerebus: For a character from a DiC animated series based on a video game, the Shadow Master is lacking in any comical traits. The fourth episode has him develop a drug that turns the users into violent addicts.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If not because Shadow Master ordered to kill Jimmy, he wouldn't have turned to the side of good.
• Sinister Scythe: His primary weapon.

Countdown

Voiced by: Alvin Sanders

• Collateral Damage: Fires his weapon indiscriminately, often catching his teammates in the blasts, and has even harmed himself.
• Depending on the Writer: The cartoon has him as a cyborg, but the video game, while calling him a "cyborg" describes him in terms more fitting an android.
• Dumb Muscle: He's unquestionably the dimmest bulb among the Shadow Master's minions.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He'll fire his rocket launcher and plasma blasts at the drop of a hat. Any hat.
• Scary Black Man: To be fair, anyone packed with weapons who has a Hair-Trigger Temper would be scary. Countdown just happens to be black.
• The Starscream: Minor case, after Countdown gets in trouble with the Shadow Master and is almost blasted into the mural, the sealed Shadow Kahn convinces the dejected minion to help him escape from his prison by promising to make him his right hand man. He gets trapped in the shield too for his betrayal.

Icepick

Voiced by: Terry Klassen

• Category Traitor: He serves Shadow Master over his fellow mutants, to the point of helping starts a race war to keep them under SM's influence.
• An Ice Person: His body looks like ice, though he doesn't seem to manipulate ice outside of the fighting game.
• Evil Genius: A computer expert and talented manipulator.
• Mutant: Like other mutants in the series, he was born a mutant as a result of exposure to EMF in the womb.
• No-Sell: Since he doesn't seem to have organs, impaling doesn't bother him. This allows him to carry swords inside himself.
• Number Two: Shadow Master's most important lieutenant in the series.
• Person of Holding: Thanks to his strange physiology, he can stick weapons into his body without harming himself.

Jawbreaker

Voiced by: Michael Donovan

• Bald of Evil: He has no hair on his head and starts off as one of the Shadow Master's cronies.
• Blind and the Beast: Jawbreaker befriends Samantha (Commissioner Briggs' blind daughter) after kidnapping her under the Shadow Master's orders in "The Sight of Freedom". When Icepick orders him to "eliminate" the girl, Jawbreaker rebels against the Shadow Warriors and rescues her.
• Extreme Omnivore: Can and does eat almost anything.
• Heel–Face Turn: Rather than kill the girl he befriended, he rebels against the Shadow Master and decides to join the mutants in becoming accepted society.
• Mutant: As a result of the EMF from the city's underground power grid.
• Personality Powers: As a result of his gluttony, his mutation takes the form of powerful jaws and teeth.

Sickle

Voiced by: Scott McNeil

• Blade Below the Shoulder: Personally developed a pair of blades which stick out of his forearms when wielded.
• The Dragon: He is actually the third in command, but since Icepick mostly remains at the lab, it's Sickle who is left in charge for the field missions.
• The Fashionista: At least when it comes to hair. He developed his blades out of hatred for bad haircuts and opens a salon in his video game ending.
• Master of Disguise: In the cartoon series this is often his role.

Trigger Happy

Voiced by: Don Brown

• Arm Cannon: He uses one that has either replaced his hand or is mounted upon it.
• BFG: His Arm Cannon is one of these.
• Cyborg: According to his action figure.
• Faux Affably Evil: He always has nice words for his enemies, but these are just sarcastic quips that he says while he shoots them down.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Willy, who was written-off in the second episode.
• Trigger-Happy: It's his name after all. Basically he always wants to shoot things.

Introduced in Double Dragon V

Blade

• Cybernetics Will Eat Your Soul: His backstory credits the complete replacement of his cardiac system with leaving him both figuratively and literally heartless.
• Cyborg: Received his first prosthetic implants during the war, and as he got injured more and more of him was replaced. Even his heart is gone.
• Eyepatch of Power: He's a fighter who wears an eyepatch.
• French Jerk: He's from France, and he inflicts pain with no conscience.
• King Mook: Based on the faceless minions from the show, but he's portrayed as tough enough to take on all the major characters.
• Not So Stoic: Although he has no heart, he has been known to shed tears over a perfect soufflé.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: A cross between his war experiences and his cybernetics have left him cruel and nigh-emotionless.
• Wolverine Claws: Uses bladed gauntlets with one claw poking out of the top of each wrist.

Bones

• Dem Bones: A skeleton re-animated by Shadow Master's necromancy.
• Eye Beam: Can lift his sunglasses and shoot one of these.
• Like a Duck Takes to Water: Adapts perfectly to modern times, developing a taste for rock and roll and dressing to match. He even has a tattoo on his skull.
• Off with His Head!: Since he's undead, he can take off his head to inflict extremely fearsome lacerations.
• Really 700 Years Old: In life, he was a servant of King Sargon II, making him over 2700 years old, although technically he was dead for most of it.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has a pair of glowing red eyes under his sunglasses.

Dominique

• Punny Name: "Dominique" sounds kind of similar to "dominatrix", and she looks like one.

Sekka

• Cyborg: In spite of her natural armor, she was injured so often in her martial arts career that she's largely bionic by now.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Blade in terms of character designs, since they both wear the generic Shadow Warrior uniform.
• Personality Powers: An eccentric child, she literally developed a thick skin of armor plating in order to shrug off the bullying she suffered.
• Wolverine Claws: It seems her gloves have these, unless they're part of her cybernetics.

Introduced in the movie

Koga Shuko

Voiced by: Osamu Saka (Neo Geo)

Played by: Robert Patrick (live action film)

• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the film, he had white hair and black temples. In the Neo Geo game, he has completely brown hair.
• Big Bad: The main antagonist of the movie and the Neo Geo game.
• Canon Immigrant: He made his way into the Neo Geo fighting game, retaining his Big Bad position.
• That Man Is Dead: Born Victor Geisman, he adopted the name "Koga Shuko" after his rise to power.
  Satori: Geisman!
  Shuko: No one has called me "Geisman" in many years. But, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, I have ascended. I've taken a new name, that of the great, ancient Japanese warlord. I am Koga Shuko!
• Weaksauce Weakness: In the movie at least, he loses all his powers because of bright light.

Introduced in the Neo Geo game

Amon

Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa

• Asian Rune Chant: His super move, the Onmyo Bakuen Satsu (Yin-Yang Burning Kill).
• Expy: He looks very similar to Yagyu Ranzou from the third arcade/NES game.

Cheng Fu

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa

• Drunken Master: He is always drinking his special brew and uses the drunken fist.

Patrick Dulton

Voiced by: Yusaku Yara

• Inconsistent Spelling: The manual for the Neo Geo version spells Dulton as "Dalton."
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: His name, hairstyle and sense of style is likely a reference to Dalton, Patrick Swayze's character in Road House (1989).

Eddie Jenkins

Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino

• Heel–Face Turn: He is one of Shuko's men, but finds it harder to reconcile his martial artist honor and the actions of Shuko. In his ending, he turns against Koga Shuko.
• Scary Black Man

Rebecca Brielle

Voiced by: Keiko Han

• Action Girl:
• Woman Scorned: Her backstory explained, she fell in love with a man named Eric, but found out he was not only one of Shuko's men, but was only courting her to subvert her father's dojo. As a result, she wants revenge against Shuko.

Introduced in Double Dragon Neon

Skullmageddon

Voiced in Japanese by: Yujiro Kakuda (River City Girls 2)

Voiced in English by: Sean Velasco (Neon and River City Girls)

The Big Bad of Neon, the intimidatingly-named Skullmageddon is a powerful Super-Lich who leads the Shadow Warriors gang and kidnapped Marian because he wanted a date.

• Bad Boss: It's Played for Laughs here.
• Badass on Paper: There is quite a contrast between his appearance and immense power and his actual demeanor. He looks threatening and completely serious, but is prone to complaining about the competency of his henchmen and loves to make skeleton based puns, significantly decreasing the threatening aura around him.
• Battle Couple: With Marian during the first part of the final boss battle.
• Big Bad: Marian's kidnapper, and leader of the Black Shadow Clan. He fits the part of a Big Bad and a final boss alright.
• The Cameo: He shows up in River City Girls as the shopkeeper of a pawn shop. He’s fairly cordial to the heroines, selling them a quest specific item for $10.
• Dem Bones: A skeletal lich.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first time you meet him, he is sitting on a throne, looking all intimidating... and then he speaks...
• Evil Sorceror: Comes with the territory of being a lich.
• Expy: Arguably one of Skeletor. It's mostly just his voice and skeleton theme.
• Eye Scream: In the Continue screen, he stands in front of a chained Billy, preparing to poke his eyes out with his fingers.
• I'm Your Worst Nightmare: His Boss Subtitles actually read "Your Worst Nightmare".
• Large Ham: Being a Skeletor expy, he is naturally both this and...
• Laughably Evil: Thanks to his high-pitched voice and pun-filled quirks, Skullmageddon proves to be one of the funnier main villains of the series.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Some of his comments. Especially in his villain song, the things he says when you pause the game when fighting him and his comments on how the battle is taking too long.
• Lich: And not just any simple lich, but a super-lich!
• Lightning Bruiser: Built like a brick house, and is able to teleport - or rather, skeleport - to make or close distance however he wants.
• Magic Knight: He can wield a sword with the best of them, and is also proficient at magic.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Skull + Armageddon = Obviously Evil.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Lich gang leader samurai and an actual robot as Giga-Skullmageddon.
• One-Winged Angel: His Giga Skullmageddon form.
• Pungeon Master: He makes enough bone-related puns to give Sans the skeleton a run for his money.
  Time to make a marrow escape! Bone voyage!
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His preferred choice of wardrobe incorporates skulls and bones, loads of them.
• Slouch of Villainy: During his intro.
• Villain Song: He sings the ending credits.
• Weaksauce Weakness: In his main encounter, his hat is a major source of a few of his attacks. This becomes far less of a problem if you smack him with a hair pick, which pins his hat to his skull long enough to get some free hits in.
• We Will Meet Again: At the end of his Villain Song.
  I'll return one day to antagonize you, Billy and Jimmy!

Shun

Voiced by: Josette Dziuk

A kunoichi enemy.

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• Boss Subtitles: "Serious Shinobi"
• Dual Wielding: She wields two knives.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: According to the Shopkeeper, all of the Shun's you meet are his daughters.
• Ninja: A kunoichi.
• Spy Catsuit: In the Lab levels and the Neon Fortress, they wear a suit more reminiscent of typical pop culture ninjas.

Introduced in Double Dragon IV

Casey and Shannon Okada

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• Big Bad Duumvirate: Of IV.
• Combat Pragmatist: Not only do they both fight you at the same time, they have an additional 2 Giant Mook enemies accompanying them, and also use revolvers during the fight.
• Final Boss: They're the final opponents of the game. Both of them are fought at the same time.
• Heel–Face Turn: When Billy and Jimmy spare their lives upon defeating them, they actually turn good.

Ayumi

A kunoichi hired by the renegades to defeat the Lee brothers.

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• Disc-One Nuke: She can throw shurikens. And in the hands of a player, she can deal with the strongest characters from a safe distance. However, the shurikens are limited (unless you lose a life) and her stamina is below average, see Fragile Speedster below.
• Fragile Speedster: She's the fastest character in the game, but she can't take too many hits (moreso if her opponent is Abobo or Burnov).
• Ms. Fanservice: Have you noted how well-endowed is her sprite? Even for 8-bits?
• Smoke Out:.

Introduced in Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

Uncle Matin

Voiced by: Gary Scales

An old ex-military friend of Master Lee, Billy and Jimmy's father. He's taken care of the Lee brothers and Marian ever since Master Lee disappeared several years ago.

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• The Big Guy: He's the brawler of the heroes' group and the largest of them, though he's not quite in the same size league as Abobo or Burnov.
• Call-Back: "Matin" was the name above the garage that many of the original games started at. Uncle Matin turns out to be the owner.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Fights with a large riot shield that he can use for a dash attack.
• Wrestler in All of Us: His fighting style incorporates a number of wrestling moves.

Anubis

Voiced by: Eli Farmer

The mysterious leader of Triangle, an Egyptian-themed cult that rose up in the aftermath of the nuclear war promising people a return to the paradise of the pre-war world.

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• A God Am I: A gang leader who seems to represent himself as the literal Anubis, Egyptian god of the underworld.
• Brown Note: His area-of-effect attack seems to be some sort of sonic wave from his staff that disorients any enemies near him when he uses it.
• Electric Black Guy: Can call down lightning and also lightning-teleport with his Egyptian-themed magic powers, though it might just be an effect of his staff, which seems to be made out of electric audio equipment.
• Mind over Matter: In his One-Winged Angel form he has a similar telekinesis attack as Cleopatra's in Double Dragon III.
• One-Winged Angel: If fought as the last gang leader confronted, he'll transform into the actual Egyptian god Anubis, manifesting as a giant floating spectral torso with lightning, poison breath, and telekinesis powers.

Rose Okada

Voiced by: Nicole Endicott

The wife of the late Okada clan Oyabun, who became the Okada Oyabun after his death. Mother of Shannon and Casey Okada from Double Dragon IV.

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• Katanas Are Just Better: Her primary weapon is a katana.
• Sword Beam: She can fire sword slash waves and tornadoes from her katana.
• Western Samurai: She's a Westerner who married into and became the leader of a Japanese yakuza clan. She fights with a katana and even wears a full suit of samurai armor if she's the last gang leader confronted.