Tina Armstrong

Tina Armstrong (ティナ アームストロング, Tina Āmusutorongu) is an American professional wrestler from the Dead or Alive series, who made her first appearance the original Dead or Alive She is one of the three female characters to appear in the series since the first game, the others being Kasumi and Lei Fang, and she was the the first female pro-wrestler in the fighting genre. She is the daughter of Bass Armstrong, the greatest wrestler who ever lived.

Tina enters the tournaments to get discovered, with a goal of becoming famous. However the path of fame isn't easy for her as Bass always tries to convince her that Hollywood isn't for her, but she tries to convince him that it's her dream. Most of their arguments lead to fights.

History
Born in the United States, Tina is the daughter of wrestling star Bass Armstrong and his wife Alicia. When she was six her mother died of an unknown illness, so Bass cared for the girl by himself, wanting her to follow in his footsteps. From a young age, Tina was put through a rigorous training regimen and by the time she was in high school, she was an expert wrestler in her own right. However, she started to have dreams and ambitions beyond the wrestling scene: she wanted to a discovered by Hollywood and become famous.

Dead or Alive
Tina enters the first Dead or Alive Tournament to please her father's wishes but, in a bid to make her dreams of fame come true, Tina's other reason for joining is to use it as a vehicle for becoming discovered as a supermodel. However, Bass forbids it, thinking that it's not a good idea for his daughter to end the wrestling career he built for her, so he enters the tournament to try and stop her from succeeding.

Tina made it into the finals but she quit the competition after doing so, and although Kasumi won, she didn't take the prize money and therefore Tina took it instead.



Dead or Alive 2
Tina joins the second tournament again in hopes of becoming a supermodel. Along the way, she has a argument with Lei Fang about what true power is; while Tina says it's about brute strength, Lei Fang tells her it's all about the mind. She also meets up with Zack. Although he tries to ask Tina out, she is not interested in him, mostly likely for the way her looks as she gives him a mirror and tells him to "use it".

Later on, Tina fights with Bass once again and manages to defeat him. After the tournament, she goes on to be a supermodel from a show on the television.



Dead or Alive 3
Being a woman of boundless ambition and a thirst for great fame, after she finally made her debut in Hollywood as a model, Tina decides that she now wants to be an actress. Since the Dead or Alive tournament gave her a big chance last time, she enters the third tournament to promote herself.

Bass tries to stop her once again but she gets annoyed at him, telling him that it's her dreams and she's not the boss of her any more. She defeats him and goes onto star in a war-action film.

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Tina was invited to Zack Island for the fourth Dead or Alive Tournament. However, the tournament was a hoax made up by Zack. Tina, along with the other girls, became stuck on the tropical island for two weeks.

Dead or Alive 4
Tina joins the fourth tournament, this time in order to become a rock star, much to her fathers dismay. During the tournament, she fights La Mariposa and goes on to fight Bass again. She achieves in her quest of musical fame, starring in a music video in which she rides in on a skateboard, playing the song The Fastest Fingers on her guitar. She also takes part in and win a tag-team wrestling match with La Mariposa, in which is revealed that the masked-wrestler is in fact her good friend Lisa.

Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
Now an American women's wrestling champion and a superstar in Hollywood, Tina came to New Zack Island to escape her over-protective father.

Appearance
Out of all the women in the Dead or Alive series, Tina has the largest bust size at 95 centimeters, has healthy-coloured skin and sapphire-blue eyes. Her hair color has changed since the first game; in the original Dead or Alive, she has dark brown hair but since Dead or Alive 2, she's been a "bottle blonde" - her brown eyebrows suggest that she dyes her hair. However, during a flashback to Tina as a little girl, she is shown with blonde hair, so her true hair colour is debatable. Despite this, her hairstyle remains the same: shoulder-long and layered with feathered bangs.

In addition to her hair, her outfits have changed from the original as well. In the first Dead or Alive, her costumes were more practical for wreasling, with fighter's gloves, trainers and sports bras. In later games, her costumes have become more flashy and showy, sometimes to the point of being sexually suggestive; for example, the front zipper of her shorts or trousers may be slightly undone, and her shirts reveal a lot of cleavage. A few of her outfits are also heavily US-inspired, with American flag prints and cowgirl accessories.

Personality
Tina is conveyed as a stereotypical believer of the "American Dream" - she is a girl with big dreams and will do anything to achieve them, no matter who or what tries to stop her. Following her motto "success breeds success", Tina aims high in everything she does, especially in her career goals, and is frequently entering a new profession to the point of being unrealistic. She is highly confident of her abilities - including her skills in wrestling, modeling, acting and music - almost to the point of arrogance.

Tina also has great confidence in her sex appeal, which she exhibits through her extroverted, and sometimes impudent, personality; Some of her winning poses and sayings seem to be more sexually suggestive than those of the other female characters. Unlike the others, she doesn't take her training or role as a fighter very seriously, using her wrestling career more as a foothole to reach more glamorous professions rather then a way of life. Overall, Tina exhibits a pure, immense lust for stardom in most of her actions.

Bass Armstrong
Bass is Tina's father and is really protective towards her, guarding her from men like Zack. He would disagree with her dreams of being something big in the entertainment world. Although they never get along, the two are also close at times in a father-daughter relationship.

Zack
Since Dead or Alive, Zack has a huge crush on Tina although she has never liked him in that way and refused to go out with him. After being rejected, Zack moved on with Niki.

Lisa
Tina has been friends with Lisa since their school days. Although during Dead or Alive 4 they taunt each other in the ring, that was just an act and they go on to become wrestling partners.

Lei Fang
Tina and Lei Fang are rivals, which started from a disagreement on the philosophy of true martial power.

Hitomi
It's possible that Tina is friends with Hitomi, as in Dead or Alive 3 Tina's talks about her career plans with her.

DOA
Tina's fighting style consists of wrestling moves, including arm and leg jams and powerful throws. The slowest of the DOA female characters, her physical strength actually makes her quite a balanced character. Tina is essentially a faster version of her father, Bass Armstrong. Her throws, while devastating, are less powerful than her father's bar a small number of exceptions, and her execution time is quicker. Additionally, Tina's command list is unpredictable. Her mixture of mid kicks and high punches, along with the correct timing of a throw execution is excellent in keeping an opponent off guard.

DOA: Dead or Alive
In the movie, Tina is a professional wrestler who enters the tournament to prove that she has real fighting skills, unlike (according to the movie) most professional wrestlers. Her various job aspirations from the video games are not mentioned. In the movie, Tina (played by Jaime Pressly) seems to have a close friendship with Kasumi and the two share many scenes together. They are also partners for the volleyball match. She also appears to dislike Christie, though does help Christie when she needs it.

Her friendliness towards the other girls in many scenes leads her father Bass to believe she might be a lesbian, which was never mentioned, but frequently implied. One of the other characters, Zack in apparently in love with her, teasing her throughout the movie. Tina defeats him halfway though, then he decides to support her through the rest of the tournament.

In one scene, Bass reveals that her full name is "Christina", although like many parts of the film, this does not seem to have been acknowledged in the games, and for the majority of the film she is referred to by all characters as simply "Tina".

Dead or Alive Paradise
Tina is also a playable character in the Dead or Alive Xtreme spin-off, Dead or Alive Paradise. Like other Xtreme titles before it, the game features the girls enjoying a two-week vacation on a tropical island, playing volleyball and exchanging gifts with one another.

Musical Themes

 * Power is Beauty - Dead or Alive
 * You are Under My Control ~Beautiful Version 00~ - Dead or Alive 2
 * True Beauty - Dead or Alive 3
 * I Feel For You - Dead or Alive 4
 * The Fastest Fingers - Dead or Alive 4 Ending Theme

Quotes
Dead Or Alive 4:


 * "I won't be pulling any punches."
 * "Sorry to keep you waiting."
 * "I guess there is such thing as being too strong."
 * "Looks like I'll be eating well tonight."

Trivia

 * It's heavily implied that Tina is from the southern states of America - most likely Texas - due to her cowgirl-themed costumes and recognisably southern accent in English translations.
 * Tina was ranked #5 on Hi-5's list of favorite Dead or Alive girls, and due to her sex appeal, Tina won G4's Video Game Vixens of the Year award for 2005.
 * Tina has also changed her hair color frequently: In the first tournament, her hair is brunette. From the second tournament until the fourth, her hair is blonde with brunette roots still visible. In the fourth tournament her hair is colored entirely blonde. Some people believe in Tina's ending video for Dead or Alive 4, she becomes ginger. However, the CGI model used in the scene is actually still blond - the darker and slightly colored lighting in the scene simply makes it appear different. In Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, her hair remains entirely blonde, though is a slightly darker shade. This makes Tina the second video game character to dye their hair; the first being Ken from the Street Fighter series.
 * Tina's main tag partners are Bass Armstrong (DOA2 and DOA3) and Lisa (DOA4).
 * She also has tag moves with Bayman, Gen Fu, Kasumi, Lei Fang, Leon, Ryu and Zack.
 * Tina's favorite color is Sapphire Blue.