- "Don't spoil all my fun."
- —Rig in Dead or Alive 5
Rig is an oil platform worker and taekwondo practitioner made his debut in the 2012 title Dead or Alive 5, along with Mila. He serves as one of the main antagonists of the Dead or Alive series alongside his possible father and Raidou.
A man who has worked on the oil platform since a young age, Rig does not know his real name or where he comes from.
History
Childhood
So far, nothing is known about Rig's childhood, other than he lived on the oil rig for most of his life and it was that place where he learned the martial art of taekwondo.
The Fifth Tournament and MIST
At the start of Dead or Alive 5, Rig is working on a DOATEC-owned oil rig alongside Bass, whom he often gets into fights with, but nevertheless is on good terms with. He is then confronted by Christie, who visits the rig and seems to know about his past. At Taylor's Bar, Rig gets into fights with Jann Lee and Eliot after the former causes commotion with Brad Wong. Rig is victorious in both battles and Jann Lee presumably seeks him out after winning the fifth tournament. Afterwards, Rig finds Kasumi's clone roaming around the oil rig and trying to find Alpha-152. He tries to stop her, but is presumably defeated.
It is revealed in the very last chapters that he is working with MIST. As Hayate and Ayane infiltrate the lab on the oil rig, Rig engages the former in battle. Although he is defeated, he manages to capture Hayate and reactivates Project Epsilon. When the real Kasumi appears and finds Hayate, Rig challenges her to a fight but loses to her. Afterwards, he walks back towards the edge of the stage and allows himself to fall.
After the credits, it is revealed that Rig is in fact Donovan's son, and that his "amnesia" was merely a ruse. Rig tells his father that the results were better than they expected and that Phase 4 is ready to begin. Everything is going according to their plan.
Character
Appearance
- See also: Rig's costumes
Rig appears to be a tall Caucasian man in his mid-to-late twenties with a lean muscular build and a square jaw as well as a handsome yet chiseled face. He is a brunette and his hair has been styled into a buzz cut with a couple of visible lines shaved out at the front hairline. He also has many tattoos along his arms and a couple on his torso, none of which have been colored. He also has brown eyes with what appears to be a cut above his right eye on his eyebrow, which as a result makes his eyes looks slightly somewhat asymmetric at certain points or angles. His default outfit is a black, sleeveless hoodie which exposes the front of his torso and baggy stone-washed jeans complete with wristbands and a belt with a pouch on his right hip. His secondary is outfit is his work attire at the rig that is similar to Bass as it has some tools and gear on the pants but he ties his shirt to the waist showing his somewhat stained brown tank top, and he wears black work shoes and gloves and his safety hat is worn on the back of his tank top.
Regarding other gear he wears, he dresses relatively stylish, donning a casual shirt and khaki shorts and a fedora cap in his Casual DLC, as well as dressing as a prisoner with his shirt worn tied to the waist with a tied bandanna head cover, as well as even dressing as a cop in the Police DLC. He seems to dress somewhat more revealing like Ein, wearing outfits that often feature him shirtless or show his chest and abdomen, and he even wears skimpy trunks in his Valentine's Day DLC, but overall his outfits always seem to have a cool, stylish, rebellious "bad boy" type vibe with them as well as close to modern tastes.
Personality
From what has been shown of him in his debut trailer, Rig seems to be a laid-back, fun-loving kind of guy. After his fight with Bass Armstrong (which was started by Bass reacting badly to Rig's casual comment of how pointless it was for the man to bring out his motorcycle to the middle of the ocean), Rig just calls it a work-out and invites Bass to have a drink, showing he had no hard feelings. He even laughs lightly as Bass, still a little annoyed with him, tries to shrug him off his arm.
However, despite this laidback personality, he has a true darker side, having imprisoned Hayate to re-create the Epsilon project and for what seems to be fun, he then presumes to give samples to Donovan after the Dead or Alive 5 credits.
Etymology
"Rig" is actually a nickname given to the man by his fellow workers due to the long amount of time he has been working on the oil rig. His real name is currently unknown.
Relationships
Christie
Although it is unclear right now, Rig may have known Christie previously. In the trailer, she remarks on how much he has grown, hinting that she may have known him when he was younger. Christie approaches Rig while he is busy at work which he forcefully shooed her away deeming the danger of the work environment. However, Rig doesn't seem to have any memory of meeting her before and, when Rig points this out, Christie neither confirms nor denies ever meeting him. Even though their relationship is still not defined officially, it appears later on that they have a close, work-related relationship, both working under Donovan's orders. As seen in the final moments of Dead or Alive 5, they both fight against Kasumi in order to prevent her from destroying Alpha-152.
Bass Armstrong
It seems that Rig and Bass work together on the same oil platform located offshore. Although, they seem to get into fights - mostly due to Bass' quick temper and Rig's playful humor - they also appear to get along very well. During the story, the oil platform catches fire which Rig and Bass work together to escort other workers to safety and prevent the fire. They share a full alliance that shares two tag team-ups in tag battle.
Victor Donovan
Rig is Donovan's possible son. Not much is shown about their relationship but it's possible that Rig may have only recently found out about their relationship during the 5th tournament.
Jann Lee
Rig stopped Jann Lee from fighting Brad in Taylor's Bar at the DIG oil platform. Jann Lee saw him as a real fighter, and challenged him to a match, to which Rig emerged the winner. Jann Lee seems to hold a grudge for his loss, and hopes to fight Rig again to see who is the strongest.
Gameplay
- See also: Rig's command lists
His martial art, taekwondo, emphasizes kicking techniques, and as of his debut Rig is a pressure type character. Although a bit average in speed, Rig has quick kick techniques that he can use to pressure defensive opponents, as well as a few but effective lunch strikes to further mix up and put his opponent on the offensive. He has a bend stance that not only grants him scary options and combo potential as well as a "reset" throw that puts him at advantage, but also helps his combo and pressure game making him difficult to stop once he gains momentum. His main weaknesses is that his throws and holds while useful are relatively mediocre and aren't very spectacular aside from just throw punishment and holding when needed. He also somewhat lacks range and even though he has moves to move in on opponents, he's more suited for up close pressure and may struggle against keep out or zoning type characters.
Overall he's a fairly solid character but isn't really suited for beginners due to his stances and style that may intimidate players attempting to pick him up. When mastered however he can quickly become one of the most dangerous combatants in the game thanks to his pressure.
Stats
The following are Rig's official stats as listed in the games.
| Game | Strike | Throw | Hold | Power | Speed | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead or Alive 5 (5+) | 5/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Dead or Alive 5 Last Round |
5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 5/5 |
Appearances
Dead or Alive series
- Dead or Alive 5 (5+) (playable, 2012-13)
- Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (playable, 2013)
- Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade (playable, 2013)
- Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (playable, 2015)
Fighting quotes
Music themes
The following are the music themes used for Rig throughout the series.
| Theme | Game appearances |
|---|---|
| "Machinations" | Dead or Alive 5+ Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (default theme) Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (default theme) |
Gallery
- See: Rig gallery
Trivia
- Rig bears some resemblance to Jake Muller, one of the protagonists of Resident Evil 6.
- On another note, both Muller and Rig have fathers who are the main villains of the Resident Evil and Dead or Alive series, respectively. There are two major differences between the two, however: Muller's father, Albert Wesker, is dead by the time of his game, while Rig's father is still alive. In addition, Muller, having never met his father, chose a different path from him, while Rig was secretly still loyal to Donovan and pretended to not know his past.
- Rig may be considered the canon version of Max, one of the reasons being Rig's attitude and personality, whom which he is also close to Christie, while Max is her boyfriend in the film version.
- Rig was the first Canadian character in the Dead or Alive series and the first one to use taekwondo as their martial art. It also seems that he was the first character to have permanent tattoos; although in the past some characters have had costumes that gave them body markings, those were never "real."
- Rig is one of two evil living/non-clone fighters in the Dead or Alive series, the other is Christie (three if one counts Nyotengu).
- Rig has a tattoo of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, a formula used in quantum mechanics, on his right arm.