A big, bouncy 3D Fighting Game franchise akin to Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Even though the male fighters outnumber the female fighters by a slim margin, it's the women who are the real stars of the show.The actual story is about the dealings of the sinister DOATEC corporation, who hold the Dead or Alive tournament as a front to finance the genetic research in creating the ultimate fighter. A runaway ninja named Kasumi gets tangled in the struggle, using the tournament as a means of escape and to look for her lost brother Hayate, and take revenge on her traitorous uncle, Raidou. Other characters enter the tournament for their own personal reasons, but all get sucked into DOATEC's larger scheme. Ayane, who is also looking for Hayate, is required to kill her half-sister Kasumi (as desertion from a ninja clan is punishable by death); Ryu Hayabusa (remember him?) is looking for him as well; Hayate is trying to recover the memories he lost after being experimented on by DOATEC; Zack's just doing it for the money; and it builds steam from there.Of course, nobody plays the game for that. They play the game for... well, anotherreason.Despite the vast quantities of Jiggle Physics, the game actually has a great deal of independent merit of its own, being much more fast-paced and kinetic than the 3D fighters that it competes with while remaining technical and reasonably well-balanced. It's generally considered in the top-tier of 3D Fighting Games, along with Tekken and the Soul Edge series.After the fights, they tend to get together and play beach volleyball.The character sheet is under construction.Though sometimes shortened to DOA, not at all to be confused with the Film NoirD.O.A. (which is quite lacking in boobies in comparison), the 1999 YakuzaDead or Alive film series by director Takashi Miike (likewise), or the Tom Clancy novel Dead or Alive (likewise, though there is one amusing bit about an attempt at steganography resulting in inadvertent porn). For the viewer's inconvenience, the 2007 film adaptation of the games is titled DOA: Dead or Alive, instead.The fifth installment is currently under development and scheduled for release during 2012. So far Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, Hitomi, Christie, Bayman, Lei Fang and Zack have been confirmed and shown to the public. The game has a deep graphic upgrade from DOA4 (not surprisingly, since it's been 7 years since then) and an aesthetic redesign that shows more realistic characters, with smaller and less anime-like eyes, the same to what was shown in Ninja Gaiden 3. Special mention to the girls, who have more realistically proportionate bodies, although the Jiggle Physics are still in full display.Also, the game will have at least one new Guest Fighter: no less than Akira Yuki from the Virtua Fighter series (with hints of more to come ).
And Now for Someone Completely Different: In the story mode for Dead Or Alive: Dimensions, the first four chapters go over the events of the series from the point of view of the ninja characters. The fifth and final chapter re-tells the events from the second game on from Helena's perspective.
Armor-Piercing Slap: In Dead or Alive: Dimensions we see 4 examples of this in the Chronicle mode cinematics. Considering this is a fighting game, the slaps paralizing effects look kinda weird.
Art Evolution: In every game thanks to improving hardware, but DOA5 takes the cake for now: special mention goes to the female characters, whose new designs look much less generic anime, with smaller eyes and less fanservice-y bodies, or maybe fanservice-y in a different way.
Auction of Evil: In The Movie; Donovan used nanomachines to copy everyone's martial arts skills so he could use them himself, and planned to sell the data to the highest bidder.
Badass Back: Ayane has a whole set of moves based on this, and so does DOA4 newcomer Kokoro.
Brad Wong also has quite a few backward attacks as well. Then again, it's all part of the Drunken Master style of fighting.
Badass Normal: Regular old teenagers who fight for fun can hold their own against ninjas, mystical superpowered beings and a genetically altered interdimensional clone of one of aforementioned ninjas.
Banned In China: Dimensions is banned in Sweden due to the "showcase" mode, where you can pose the characters and take photographs of them because they knew it would eventually come down to people using it sexually and not all of the characters are of legal age in Sweden.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: Both played straight and averted with the female fighters, depending on the game.
Breakout Character: Ryu Hayabusa, who at the time of the first DOA, was but a mere classic character that hadn't been seen for years; simply put a exotic Guest Fighter for old timers. Comes the Revival for the Ninja Gaiden series in 2004, and Ryu's popularity rises to the limit, many modern gamers came to know and adore him; success that would pass (or give it back) to Dead or Alive itself, now Ryu is heavily integrated to the plot, thus not being a guest anymore, to the point of arguably being a main character himself. The ninja reached a place where he makes The Protagonist Kasumi share a cover with him, as seen in Dimensions.
Bribing Your Way to Victory - For a given value of victory. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 has you unlock clothing for the girls while you play it which serves no other function in order to make the already fanservicy sandbox-game more fanservicy. Too lazy to work for your fap? You can buy a girl's complete set using real-world money. Oh, and all of this only lasts until you reset the game's save slot - of which it only has one. So restarting the game on that particular account meant having blown your cash for nothing.
Canon Immigrant: Spartan-458, who was somehow allowed into the Dead Or AliveandHalo canon via Applied PhlebotinumTime Travel. Also notable as she was not only the first female Spartan to be depicted in a video game, but the first Spartan ever seen on the Xbox 360 (Halo 3 was released a year later.)
Rio of Rio -Rainbow Gate!- was added to the PSP version of DOAX as both a dealer in the casino and a unlockable character. She originated as the mascot of the Super Blackjack series of Pachi-slo games (a slot machine designed to bypass Japanese laws against gambling). Also, Tecmo co-developed the Super Blackjack series with pachi-slo maker Net.
Irene Lew from Ninja Gaiden finally made her long awaited, but sadly non-playable, appearance in 'Dimensions'.
Counter Attack: If it's not the copious fanservice, this is what the series is most well known for. The game places heavy emphasis in attack interception and reversing an opponent's offense.
Dating Sim: The Xtreme games are easily the best-known Dating Sim to the non-Japanese gaming market. (And most people don't even know that's what they are.)
The "Chronicle" mode in Dimensions manages to include every major fighter from the entire series, but many characters only appear in one or two scenes. Some of the females have even been demoted to little more than Ms. Fanservice.
Fanservice: "She kicks high", indeed. The only female character who avoids this is Nicole, the Distaff Counterpart of Halo's Master Chief. She probably still has a smoking hot body under the power armor.
Fanservice Pack: Irene Lew (confirmed to be Sonia from NG2 for the 360) in DOA:Dimensions sure has changed compared to her rather plain original design; now she's a Miss Universe like every other woman Team Ninja has ever modeled in 3D.
Gaiden Game: The two "Xtreme Beach Volleyball" games dispense entirely with the male combatants and put the women on an island with volleyball nets and the skimpiest bikinis known to man. The Dead or Alive series itself qualifies as this for the newer Ninja Gaiden series.
Gainaxing: DOA's shtick since the first game, but in DOA Xtreme 2, each breast has its own physics, meaning both can jiggle independently. It look as ridiculous as it sounds.
Genre Shift: In Xtreme Beach Volleyball; guess what they do instead of fighting...
Go Karting with Bowser: Again, Xtreme Beach Volleyball: they love playing with their enemies. It's even possible for you to play as Christie and get Helena to be your volleyball partner if you give her enough dolphin-related merchandise, completely ignoring the fact that you killed her mother (although to be fair, Xtreme Beach Volleyball was before DOA4, which is where Helena learned that information).
Though Xtreme 2 takes place after the reveal in DOA4.
Gory Discretion Shot: fairly mild variation - if the player, as Ayane, beats Kasumi in Dead or Alive 2's story mode, she either leaves Kasumi for dead in the snow (the camera just focusing on Ayane as she glares down before muttering "...traitor") or finishes her off with a jutsu of some description, cutting away just as Ayane finishes "casting" it. Either way, you never see a corpse.
This is non-canon, mind - for obvious reasons, Ayane loses that one.
Zigzaged by Hayate's ending in DOA 4. It opens with him violently slicing a Mook in half, however for the rest of the scene the Jitter Cam is so intense that you can't really see much more than a few splashes of blood.
Gratuitous English: In the first Xtreme game, Japanese is the only language available. Most of the time, the girls speak in Japanese (despite their nationality), but during matches you can hear them say random English phrases like "Nice spike!", "Nice serve!", and "Nice block!"
Heroic Bastard: Ayane eventually fits this trope, as she's the product of the first game's Raidou raping the mother of Hayate and Kasumi. She's a female bastard, by the way, because her sister killed Raidou.
Ryu Hayabusa, the star of Ninja Gaiden, exists in the DoA world. Ayane, a ninja who first appeared in the original Dead or Alive, returns the favor by appearing in Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden games.
I Play It For The Combat: A good portion of the fandom. That said, there are indeed fans of the series (this includes the Volleyball spin-offs) who enjoy the games beyond the Panty Fighter appeal, believe it or not.*
Quite a few of these fans were pleased to learn that Dimensions was going to attempt to flesh out the characters and the storyline more so than in the past.
Apparently, DOA 5 is being geared more towards this crowd with Team Ninja toning down the fanservice aspect of the game and taking player suggestions and impressions to heart.
The first Xtreme Beach Volleyball game got decent reviews as a volleyball game. (If anything, some reviewers took points off for the gratuitous Fanservice.)
Jiggle Physics: Not only is the series sold on it, but the series takes the ball, runs with it, and spikes it in the end zone... to cause even more jiggling. While the fighting genre has plenty of examples of large breasts, this series is often deemed the Queen of Hotter and Sexier in FightingGames. The Xtreme Beach Volleyball series helps.
Justified Trope: In The Movie, Donovan manages to display Life Meters for the tournament contestants during their fights, thanks to the nanomachines he injected into them. The justification is that the machines are also a vital part of the Big Bad's master plan.
Special mention towards Bass, too. "YOU BETTER EAT! EAT SOME MEAT!"
Zack, of course.
Luck-Based Mission: Literally in DOA Xtreme 2. You have to get 9 Jackpots to earn a Secret Ticket, which makes your character perform a poledance. The problem is, the machine you have to get the 9 Jackpots on is notorious for taking away anywhere between 100-500 times what you bet.
Made of Iron: Everyone. Thrown down some steps? Knocked off a multi-story building? Blown up? Meh, just keep on fighting like nothing happened. Even by fighting game standards, some of the damage the fighters can sustain and keep on rolling is ridiculous.
Mighty Glacier: Spartan-458. She is one of the easier characters to play because she quickly pounds enemies into submission.
Mistaken for Murderer: Helena is convinced that Ayane was the assassin that killed her mother, but it later turns out that Christie did it, and she was sent to kill Helena, as well.
Mood Whiplash: Anything having to do with Zach - especially his victory movie in Dead or Alive 3, which was out-and-out slapstick. With a mummy. Dimensions has him coming in as comic relief at times in the more serious and ninja-focused Chronicle mode.
Ms. Fanservice: While any girl can fit this for individual taste, the series does seem to favor Kasumi in terms of fanservice. She and Christie are the only two characters to actually be seen fully nude in the series.
Averted by Spartan-458.
Mythology Gag: In Dead Or Alive: Dimensions Irene Lew, Ryu's Love Interest from the original NES trilogy appears as his CIA contact during the story mode cut scenes. Hayate and Ayane both wonder if something is going on between them.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Zack = Dennis Rodman. Which became funnier when Rodman himself played Zack in Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
No Export for You: Nintendo decided not to release Dimensions in three Nordic countries due to concerns about some of its content raised by a small-town blogger. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, said blogger aimed at Nintendo's heart, and by accident he hit the company in the stomach.
(Scene: Two Gamers on a Couch.) Gamer 1: (nervous, interrupted by gameplay footage) Well, I - I only play it for thefighting. I appreciate the expansive... multi-tier environments, the 16 characters with the... the pixel shaded bump-mapping... (Gamer 2 giggles.) and the rich plot development. Seriously, why else would I play it? (Beat) Gamer 2:She kicks high. (Scene of Kasumi high-kicking an opponent.)
Only Six Faces: Despite being the focus of the cast, the female characters have very identical facial and body structures. If it weren't for their varied hairstyles and eye colors, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
This part might get some attention from what we've seen of 5 so far. Ayane, Kasumi, Hitomi and Christie, while as well endowed as ever, have distinct enough facial features.
Ornamental Weapon: None of the ninjas use their swords except in cutscenes. Averted with Omega and once you've fought him, you'll understand why other characters can't.
Bayman doesn't use his gun, knife, grenades or who knows what hidden weapons he keeps on him.
Justified as most fights in the series are part of a formal hand-to-hand tournament that most likely forbids the use of weapons.
Relationship Values In the DOAX games, giving the other girls presents will make them more likely to partner up with you... Provided you give them something they like. Some items, like all Stripperiffic swimsuits, will make them less likely to partner up with you.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Helena. She wants it because Ayane went on one to stop Helena from going after ninja, which resulted in her mother being killed. Kasumi willfully incurs the wrath of becoming a renegade shinobi by going on one of these after a fight between Raidou and Hayate.
Pretty much the plot of DOA4 with the ninjas.
Rule Of Cool: When the DOA4 ending movies aren't shameless Fanservice, they are this. How could blowing up a tower while playing an electric guitar on a skate-board not qualify?
Ruthless Modern Pirates: A group of modern day pirates run afoul of Tina in her introduction in The Movie. And the same pirates have the misfortune to encounter the heroines when they're stranded at sea at the end.
Sequel Hook: Dimensions has one at the end of the Chronicle mode.
Smoke Out: Kasumi can do this with cherry blossom petals, Ayane with iris petals. Ryu smokes out with leaves, Hayate with raven feathers.
Some Dexterity Required: While a given for the Fighting Game genre, Hayabusa and Hayate both posses combo throws that, while devastating (knocking off as much as a quarter of the health bar when pulled off), are done in three parts, requiring precise timing and inhuman precision with D-pad rolling.
SNK Boss: All of the final bosses appear to varying degrees, the worst being Kasumi Alpha-152 from Dead or Alive 4.
Stock Scream: The infamous Wilhelm scream shows up in the movie, when Hayabusa throws a ninja off a balcony.
Stripperiffic: Again, just about every female other than Nicole, who you can really only tell is female by her voice.
Suspiciously Vague Age: the localized games refuses to give away the ages of the girls who are obviously minors: Kasumi, Ayane, Kokoro and Eliot This because they're exploited to extreme cases of Ms. Fanservice by wearing revealing to downright fetish clothing, due Values Dissonance in the west it wouldn't stick well for 17 and 16 year-olds to be seen this way.
Take That: Tomonobu Itagaki, Team Ninja's former lead designer, really doesn't like the Tekken series.
He later said he expects good things from Tekken 6.
There Are No Therapists: Ayane and Helena have both attempted suicide. And Helena has (or had) more than enough money to afford professional help.
The Rival: Ayane/Kasumi, Lei Fang/Jann Lee, Hayabusa/Hayate, Leon/Bayman.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Even considering this trope spits in the face of physics, Kasumi's sword flying in a straight line for at least 100 meters in the opening scene of the movie looks extremely jarring. Of course, considering the entire movie relies on the Rule Of Cool to a ridiculous degree...
Tier Based Scrappy: While not exactly low-tier, Hayate is not as well-liked as Ein, despite them both being essentially the same character, simply for the fact that Ein is higher tier.
Took a Level in Badass: Jann Lee's backstory. He spent his childhood as a weak, bullied kid that can only escape the harsh reality by watching Bruce Lee films. Then he became an Ascended Fanboy. And the rest is history.
Tsundere: Following the trend of their Red Oni, Blue Oni personalities, Ayane is a Type A and Kasumi a Type B.
Waif-Fu: Taken to an egregious extreme. All female characters are skinny and look like models, yet are capable of blowing wrestlers twice their size across the arena in a few punches.
Dead or Alive 4 adds a skinny teenage boy who can kick anyone's ass as well, though he does practice a specific form of martial arts popular for having a lot of physical power without requiring beefy muscles.
Well-Intentioned Extremist - Helena threatened to shoot Kasumi dead just because of she was in her way, or more likely so that more likely DOATEC could no longer use her to create another Alpha-152.
resulting in inadvertent porn). For the viewer's inconvenience, the 2007 film adaptation of the games is titled DOA: Dead or Alive, instead.The fifth installment is currently under development and scheduled for release during 2012. So far Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, Hitomi, Christie, Bayman, Lei Fang and Zack have been confirmed and shown to the public. The game has a deep graphic upgrade from DOA4 (not surprisingly, since it's been 7 years since then) and an aesthetic redesign that shows more realistic characters, with smaller and less anime-like eyes, the same to what was shown in Ninja Gaiden 3. Special mention to the girls, who have more realistically proportionate bodies, although the Jiggle Physics are still in full display.Also, the game will have at least one new Guest Fighter: no less than Akira Yuki from the Virtua Fighter series (with hints
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