Bankotsubo

Gohyakumine Bankotsubo (Japanese: 五百峯 万骨坊 Gohyakumine Bankotsubō), also known as Tengu (天狗), is the final boss character of Dead or Alive 2. Since his appearance, Bankotsubo has been appearing as a secret character in other Dead or Alive games, such as Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate and Dead or Alive 4.

Bankotsubo is the oldest playable character in the series, at the age of 1500.

History
The tengu is a mythological creature from Japanese folklore. In Dead or Alive 2, he wanted chaos to reign over the world, but was stopped by Hayabusa. His name was stated as "Gohyakumine Bankotsubo", but he is more commonly known as simply "Tengu".

Dead or Alive 2
Bankotsubo is a tengu who is a criminal in his own dimension, as he murdered Kuramasan Maouson - the leader of their race. Fearing punishment for his crimes and breaking tengu rules, he escaped into the human world. Considering the hopes and struggles of humanity to be insignificant, he decided to bring about ultimate disaster and calamity, covering the world in chaos. Ryu Hayabusa found out about his doings, and in the final match of the second Dead or Alive tournament, kills Bankotsubo despite the monster's incredible power and became the tournament winner.

Personality
Bankotsubo is extremely arrogant, almost grievously so. He looks down on humans, as well as his own kind with contempt and thinks them fragile and trivial. Bankotsubo is also fond of chaos and destruction, and is manipulative to a fault. He tricked his fellow tengu into allowing him close enough to murder their leader, as well as having a hold of sorts in connection with Ein's missing memories. Ironically, because of his superiority complex, Bankotsubo's defeat was quick and unceremonious.

Etymology
Bankotsubo is Japanese, where 万骨 (banko) means as "thousands of lives" and 坊 (bō) as "place" or "square". His surname, Gohyakumine, translates as "five hundred peaks".

The word "tengu" translates to "heavenly dog" in English. In Japanese folklore, tengu started out as destructive demons and harbingers of war. However over time their image gradually softened into beings that are protective, though still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests.

It's likely that Bankotsubo is meant to represent the early aspects of tengu in Japanese folklore and legend.

Ryu Hayabusa
Hayabusa killed Bankotsubo in the final round of the second tournament to remove his chaotic influence on the world.

Ein
Bankotsubo was able to prolong Ein's amnesia (perhaps willfully) during the tournament, as Ein could not regain his memories until Bankotsubo was slain.

Genra
In Dimensions, Genra was revealed to be the one who allowed Bankotsubo to enter the world from the tengu realm by orchestrating an elaborate trap involving Kasumi α and Ayane.

Ayane
Ayane was the "bait" in Genra's plan to allow Bankotsubo's passage into the world, though she was unaware of the situation.

Nyotengu
Nyotengu is a fellow tengu who wishes to "avenge" Bankotsubo by defeating Hayabusa.

Gameplay

 * See also: Bankotsubo's Command Lists

Bankotsubo fights with tengu-do, a very powerful and unconventional style that can be very unwieldy for beginners, as his movements are generally slow overall, but very damaging and prone to knocking enemies back. His combos can be easily predicted and vulnerable to holds, but if you time your combo to an opponent's advance properly, you can trap them in the attack as they will be stunned and can only respond with timed holds (unless they are knocked off the ground). These combos however are easy enough to time that they are effective for juggling your opponent after launching them off the ground. It therefore stands to reason that Bankotsubo is best suited for timed power blows and punishing counter attacks.

That said, Bankotsubo also employs a combination of hovering attacks, where he suddenly flaps his wings, allowing unique aerial combos and throws to be executed. These attacks are quite damaging and it can be difficult to anticipate what will happen after hovering, as there are multiple follow-up attacks. Bankotsubo also possesses supernatural powers, such as transforming the stage into one of several ethereal landscapes on command, or unleashing a charged wind blast that envelops the entire stage. This blast can be blocked, however, and takes a small grace period to execute, but it can damage an enemy lying on the ground or rising from a fall, at which point the blast cannot be blocked.

Unlocking Bankotsubo
Bankotsubo is an unlockable character in Dead or Alive 2, Dead or Alive 4, and Dead or Alive: Dimensions. In Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 4, he can be used in every gameplay mode except Story Mode. To unlock him:
 * Dead or Alive 2 (JPN Dreamcast or DOA2: Hardcore): Either collect 10 stars in Survival Mode or play any of the characters 200 times.
 * Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate: Complete Story Mode with every character.
 * Dead or Alive 4: Complete Time Attack Mode with all the characters, including the unlockable characters.
 * Dead or Alive: Dimensions: Complete Tag Challenge Mission 17.

Dead or Alive Series

 * Dead or Alive 2 (non-playable, 1999 - 2000)
 * Dead or Alive 2 (JPN Dreamcast) (unlockable, 2000)
 * DOA2: Hardcore (unlockable, 2000)
 * Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (unlockable, 2004 - 2005)
 * Dead or Alive 4 (unlockable, 2005 - 2006)
 * Dead or Alive: Dimensions (playable, 2011)

Fighter Quotes

 * Dead or Alive 2/DOA2: Hardcore
 * Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate
 * Dead or Alive 4
 * Dead or Alive: Dimensions

Musical Themes
The following are the musical themes used for Bankotsubo throughout the series.

Trivia

 * Bankotsubo is the only boss character that is not affiliated with the Mugen Tenshin clan. Raidou was an exiled shinobi, Genra was a master shinobi, Kasumi α (later Alpha-152) is a clone of Kasumi, a runaway shinobi and Shiden was the seventeenth master of the clan. Also he was the only boss with no connection to Victor Donovan.
 * Bankotsubo, Nyotengu and Alpha-152 are the only characters capable of flight.
 * Bankotsubo along with Alpha-152 and Raidou are the only boss to appear in more than one main series game.
 * According to the Dead or Alive 5 gameplay guide, Bankotsubo was considered to appear in the original game, but he, alongside Ein and Leon, were ultimately cut due to time constraints. He is also the only one of the three to not reappear in Dead or Alive 5's expansion packs, ultimately being replaced with Nyotengu.
 * Bankotsubo's birthday (January 1) is on New Year's Day. He also shares the same birthday as Mai Shiranui, a character from the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series who will appear as a guest character in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.