DonPachi



"Do-do-do-do-do-do-do! Do DON Pachi!"

- Title Screen, DoDonPachi

The DonPachi series (also known as the DoDonPachi series, after the second game) is a series of Shoot Em Ups by CAVE. It is by far one of Cave's most iconic game franchises, with DoDonPachi being one of the earliest Bullet Hell titles.

At first glance, it appears to be yet another game about flying a ship and blasting alien/robotic invaders, but many dark secrets lie beneath the surface. Art design for the first three games is done by "Joker" Junya Inoue.

The series spans seven games:
 * DonPachi (Arcade / Saturn / PlayStation, 1995)
 * DoDonPachi (Arcade / Saturn / PlayStation, 1997)
 * DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou [DEATH Label] (Arcade / PlayStation 2 / Xbox 360, 2002)
 * DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou Black Label EXTRA (Xbox 360, 2009)
 * DoDonPachi Blissful Death (iOS, 2012)
 * DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu (Arcade, 2008; JP Xbox 360, 2010; iOS and Android (as DoDonPachi Resurrection), 2010; EU Xbox 360, 2011 (as DoDonPachi Resurrection))
 * DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label (Arcade, 2010; Xbox 360 port released on February 3,2011 [Two versions: As add-on in form of DLC, or as stand-alone game with an exclusive Arrange Mode, which basically is a crossover of Daifukkatsu and Ketsui])
 * DoDonPachi Maximum (Windows Phone 7, 2012)
 * DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (Arcade, Spring 2012)

There was also a game named DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm released for the Arcade in 2001. It was developed by the Taiwanese company IGS, designed to show off the capabilities of the PolyGame Master arcade hardware (which DaiOuJou and Ketsui would later be developed for).

Compare Mushihime-sama, one of Cave's other big Bullet Hell series.

Not to be confused with that spike orange guy from Bobobobo Bobobo.

Three, two, one, go!:
"Copyright statement: Warning: This game is for use in only. Sales, export, or operation outside this country may be construed as copyright and trademark infringement and is strictly prohibited. Violator and subject to severe penalties and will be prosecutedt to the full extent of the jam Boss alert: This is not similation. Get ready to destoroy the enemy. Target for the weak points of fuckin' machine. Do your best you have ever done."
 * AI Is a Crapshoot -- Hard to tell without a human translation, but Perfect☆ developed her speech patterns and behavior entirely on her own. The Element Daughters based on the original three Element Dolls are also this.
 * Alternative Character Interpretation -- Invoked. The OST gives a stylization of the name "Hibachi": ]-[_-34(#!.
 * Arc Words -- "Shinu ga yoi" in DaiOuJou.
 * Art Shift -- The art direction for the first three games was done by "Joker" Junya Inoue, the art for Dai Fukkatsu was done by Kouji Ogata, and the art for SaiDaiOuJou was done by Nagi Ryou
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever -- AI from DaiFukkatsu is sometimes portrayed this way in official artwork, stomping around Tokyo, being (futilely) attacked by the DonPachi ships, and crushing one in her hand.
 * A Winner Is You -- The reward for completing the Nintendo Hard 2nd loop of DoDonPachi (Which can only be accessed by 1-crediting the first loop, and either collecting all bee icons, using no bomb or losing no lifes) is... a crappy picture of the pilot.
 * Announcer Chatter -- The announcer of DonPachi in particular.
 * Battleship Raid -- "Wow! Look at the size of that battleship! Keep your finger on the trigger rookie!" And they only get more powerful from there.
 * Beam-O-War -- In DaiFukkatsu, you can block purple enemy lasers with your own laser.
 * Beehive Barrier -- Hachi, the larger, easier version of Hibachi, uses these in SaiDaiOuJou
 * Bittersweet Ending -- In the 2nd-loop ending of DoDonPachi, it's revealed that
 * Bonus Boss -- DaiFukkatsu has the original bosses of DoDonPachi. In every stage, fulfilling a particular requirement allows you to fight one of these bosses.
 * Boss Game -- DaiOuJou DEATH Label, which comes with the PS2 port of DaiOuJou.
 * DoDonPachi Maximum is the first canonical example.
 * Bragging Rights Reward -- Beating Hibachi in any game. Admittedly, it's well-earned bragging rights.
 * Bullet Hell -- DonPachi is the Trope Maker. DoDonPachi is the Trope Codifier. Note that neither of them is the Ur Example.
 * This game series takes this to Beyond the Impossible levels. See the last bullet wave in the above Black Label Hibachi video.
 * Hibachi's DaiOuJou incarnation has fewer bullets, but teaches us why we should thank god for slow bullets.
 * Then there is Hibachi Arrange A which somehow manages to one up Zatsuza.
 * Cap -- DaiFukkatsu has a score cap that could be easily reached by more skilled players. Version 1.5 of DaiFukkatsu corrects this by adding more digits.
 * Chinese Girl -- Leinyan from DaiOuJou and her giant form in DaiFukkatsu, Ray'n
 * Chromatic Arrangement -- The three main types of ships are Red (straight-forward shot), Green (turning shot), and Blue (wide shot). This extends to the playable characters of SaiDaiOuJou as well.
 * Combos -- The essence of the series' scoring systems.
 * Continuity Nod -- DaiFukkatsu is the only direct sequel in the series; the backstory consists of the code of the Elemental Dolls (the protagonists of DaiOuJou) performing a Face Heel Turn and going back in time to 2008.
 * Creepy Doll -- The Element Dolls themselves are life-sized versions of these. One piece of artwork also shows Shotia laying in a pile of them.
 * Crossover -- DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label Arrange incorporates many elements from another Cave shooter, Ketsui, complete with the cover art being a big throwback to that game. It even has the True Final Boss of Ketsui, Evaccania DOOM. It can be seen in this trailer.
 * Cut Song -- "Zatsuza" from the DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label soundtrack was initially thought to be this, but it was revealed that the song plays during the fight against Zatsuza, the stronger replacement of Hibachi.
 * Darker and Edgier -- Series-wise, DaiOuJou, but when compared to other Bullet Hell games, the series is this.
 * Degraded Boss -- Hibachi appears in DoDonPachi II as the first enemy you encounter in the game, but it's only his first form and he goes down very quickly. He regains his True Final Boss status in DaiOuJou.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything -- The A and B parts of the songs in DaiFukkatsu (such as "Flotage (Stage 3-A)" and "Flotage (Stage 3-B)" which play on the normal path and hidden path, respectively) are really two parts of the same whole. If you combine the two songs and play them at the same time, you get the main riff for Zatsuza's theme, in perfect tempo. For Flotage, for example, this is surprisingly during the guitar solo.
 * Difficult but Awesome -- While the whole game can be counted as one by Bullet Hell standards, Exy in DaiOuJou has the lowest bomb count of the three Dolls, but gets both Shotia's regular shot and Leinyan's laser shot, and only loses one power level of each upon death instead of one of one shot type and all of the other.
 * Difficulty Spike -- Halfway through Stage 4 of DoDonPachi.
 * Distracted by the Sexy -- Apparently Inverted in Saidai Oujou. The swimsuit costume makes enemy attacks more intense.
 * DonPachi Squadron, Rock Out! -- The DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label soundtrack.
 * Downer Ending -- At the end of the first loop in DonPachi, At the end of the game,  The sequel is perhaps even more chilling because
 * Subverted with
 * Dynamic Difficulty -- The BLACK Label version of DaiFukkatsu. When an on-screen bar (called the "reddo" (烈怒) gauge) fills up to a certain level, the number of bullets fired by enemies will increase. Watch the above BLACK Label Hibachi to really see exactly how completely insane this can get.
 * And not raising the gauge will nerf your combos and points, making the difference between survival and scoring very clear.
 * Easier Than Easy/Exactly What It Says on the Tin -- DaiOuJou has a secret No Bullets option. It is exactly as it sounds.
 * Every Ten Thousand Points -- DonPachi has a single extend at 2 million points; the other games will give out extra lives at two different score boundaries displayed on the title screen, which can be adjusted.
 * Everything's Worse with Bees -- Embodied in the form of Hibachi. Reinstated by Zatsuza.
 * Expy -- AI from DaiFukkatsu is about one dye job and outfit change from being Hatsune Miku.
 * Failure Is the Only Option -- Zatsuza. That video showcases the Final Bosses in order beaten, as a comparison: Hibachi, Hibachi True, and Zatsuza, along with Normal Mode Zatsuza at the end for comparison. If you make it to Zatsuza, be prepared to spend everything. No, you will not be able to dodge all of the bullets.
 * Fan Disservice -- The cover of DaiOuJou Black Label EXTRA, as seen on this page. Four robot girls, all heavily damaged, and the sole survivor is bleeding from one damaged eye.
 * Fan Nickname -- Ketsupachi for DaiFukkatsu] BLACK Label Arrange Mode on the Xbox 360. (See Crossover).
 * Fingerless Gloves -- Exy and Next EXY
 * Flash of Pain
 * For Doom the Bell Tolls -- DaiOuJou's penultimate boss music. See here
 * The Four Gods/Four Is Death -- The boss names in DaiOuJou. In order: Suzaku, Byakko, Genbu, Seiryū, and Kōryū. Hibachi comes immediately after Kōryū.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams -- An enemy attack in DaiFukkatsu.
 * Genre Popularizer -- While certainly not the first Bullet Hell game (Batsugun, another such game, was released 2 years before DonPachi), DoDonPachi certainly did popularize the concept.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation --
 * Go Out with a Smile --
 * Gratuitous English -- In DonPachi, despite the announcer's Surprisingly Good English (see below), much English text in the game was clearly inserted by someone who didn't really understand certain... vagaries (like the curious hyphenation found a couple of times in the ending). Perhaps someone should cross-check the credits with that of Zero Wing....
 * Gratuitous English -- In DonPachi, despite the announcer's Surprisingly Good English (see below), much English text in the game was clearly inserted by someone who didn't really understand certain... vagaries (like the curious hyphenation found a couple of times in the ending). Perhaps someone should cross-check the credits with that of Zero Wing....


 * The announcers of DoDonPachi and DaiOuJou also speak in English, in DaiFukkatsu, the announcer speaks in Japanese.
 * In the trailer for DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label's Arrange mode: "JUST A COUPLE MORE SHOTS desu"
 * Harder Than Hard -- Strong Style in DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label. It grants your ship immense firepower...at the cost of making the enemies ALSO powerful.
 * Hitbox Dissonance -- The games have relatively small hitboxes compared to the ship sizes. There's an odd example with the Type-B helicopter; in Donpachi the hitboxes are on the large side and Type-B's extends pretty from the main rotor to a ways down the tail). In Dodonpachi, the hitbox is noticeably smaller and is actually moved back a bit so that it's located behind the main rotor in the thin segment of the tail fuselage between the main rotor and the tailfin (much like how the later Ketsui's hitboxes are not centered on the main rotor but placed behind them).
 * Humans Are Ungrateful Bastards: Put this in perspective: all of the pilots are not human, forced to work for a shady organization, and ordered as a training exercise that makes up an entire arc in DonPachi.
 * Image Song -- For DaiFukkatsu, DoDonPachi Dai Ondo.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Does the enemy really need that many Mooks and bullets just to take down one pilot?
 * Incendiary Exponent -- "Hibachi" means "Fire Bee"... and indeed, Hibachi is often on fire when it fights.
 * Interspecies Romance --
 * Joshikousei -- AI from DaiFukkatasu.
 * Kill All Humans -- Apparently the motive of the enemies throughout the series.
 * Killer Robot -- All of the enemies in the series are this. Or are they? Hibachi is the most killer of them all.
 * Last of His Kind -- Only one copy of DoDonPachi Campaign Version (also known as the Blue ROM or Blue Label from the color of its title screen) is known to exist. In a 2010 interview, CAVE said that they had lost all copies of the source code. If the board dies, it will be Lost Forever.
 * Last Starfighter -- In DaiOuJou, the two available ships are the only ships that could be constructed in order to fight against the threat.
 * Leitmotif -- Since DaiOuJou, Hibachi's had an extremely fast-paced drum 'n bass boss theme.
 * "Longhena Cantata" is Colonel Longhena's theme, played during.
 * Logical Extreme -- Of the Bullet Hell genre itself, which it created. For comparison, let's have Touhou Project: in that series, you normally have to go through the game once to get to the ending, and then go through Extra Mode on 1-Clear-Continue (since you can't continue on Extra Mode). DonPachi takes that, and decides you have to go through the game twice, with the second as Extra Mode, while normally beating every boss in the game on one life, and then beating the True Final Boss (which would be best described as Extra++ Mode). There are fans who are dedicated enough to do exactly that.
 * Logical Extreme -- Of the Bullet Hell genre itself, which it created. For comparison, let's have Touhou Project: in that series, you normally have to go through the game once to get to the ending, and then go through Extra Mode on 1-Clear-Continue (since you can't continue on Extra Mode). DonPachi takes that, and decides you have to go through the game twice, with the second as Extra Mode, while normally beating every boss in the game on one life, and then beating the True Final Boss (which would be best described as Extra++ Mode). There are fans who are dedicated enough to do exactly that.


 * Lucky Charms Title -- Perfect☆ from DaiFukkatsu.
 * Man Behind the Man -- (In DaiFukkatsu, )
 * Manipulative Bastard --
 * Meaningful Name -- Shotia from DaiOuJou is the shot type. Leinyan, whose name can also be pronounced Ray-nyan, is the beam (or "ray") type, and her Dai Fukkatsu form is named Ray 'n. Exy is good at both shots and lasers but has fewer bombs compared to the others, making her suited for expert players.
 * Meganekko -- Perfect☆ from DaiFukkatsu, although her glasses are difficult to notice during gameplay.
 * Meido -- Perfect☆ from DaiFukkatsu, complete with a serving tray.
 * Mood Whiplash -- Originally, DoDonPachi's style is not far removed from cliched old-school shoot-em-ups, and only its endings suggest any darker turn. DaiOuJou suddenly takes a Darker and Edgier turn  Then DaiFukkatsu comes around, and it is extremely humorous / fanservicey due to the transforming robot girls, complete with white pantsu. Then it goes right back to Dark and Edgy with its ending, showing that the entire battle was pretty much a waste, the player's victory only having set the events of DaiOuJou up in a Stable Time Loop.
 * Multiple Endings -- Each game typically has at least three : one for completing the first loop without fulfilling the requirements for the second, one for completing both loops but not unlocking the True Final Boss, and one for completing said TFB.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast -- Taisabachi (Colonel Bee), the boss you fight before Hibachi in DaiFukkatsu, had it's name changed in DaiFuukatsu BLACK Label to "Supreme Weapon of Extreme Hellish Annihilation - Golden Disaster"
 * Hibachi's full name is "Kyokusatsu Heiki - Hibachi," (極殺兵器) "Supreme Killing Weapon - Hibachi."
 * Nintendo Hard
 * Nostalgia Level -- Level 5 of DaiOuJou looks like a Darker and Edgier version of level 1 from DoDonPachi and the bosses of levels 3, 4, and 5 appear.
 * In DaiFukkatsu, bosses from both DoDonPachi and DaiOuJou can appear as midbosses, depending on how well the player is doing. If they do, a slightly different version of the BGM that includes a lietmotif from a song from DaiOuJou is played instead of the regular version.
 * Obvious Rule Patch -- In DaiFukkatsu version 1.0, there was a safe spot in one of Hibachi's patterns. Version 1.5 fixed this.
 * 1-Up -- In addition to the point-based extends, they appear in item form in stage 3 of DoDonPachi, stage 4 of DaiOuJou, and stage 3 in DaiFukkatsu by destroying a relatively large enemy in the center of the screen without using bombs.
 * One-Woman Wail: Longhena Cantata.
 * Pinball Scoring -- And comboing. Each successive game raises the bar for combos, from triple-digits in DoDonPachi to the ten thousands in DaiFukkatsu.
 * Power-Up -- DaiFukkatsu does away with them altogether, but if you select Power Style, you can use a stronger version of your shots, at the cost of speed.
 * The Present Day -- DaiFukkatsu, released in 2008, is explicitly set in 2008.
 * Princess Curls -- Shotia from DaiOuJou and her counterpart Shooty from DaiFukkatsu
 * Recurring Boss -- Many of the bosses and sub-bosses from DoDonPachi continue to return in later games of the series, especially in SaiDaiOuJou. And, of course, Hibachi keeps on coming back.
 * Retraux -- ♪ Sally (Select) from DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label.
 * Ridiculously-Human Robots -- Especially in DaiFukkatsu, the Element Daughters behave like Genki Girl Magical Girl s and at least one of them is confirmed to have white pantsu. Seriously, what does a transforming Robot Girl need pantsu for!?!?
 * Robot Girl -- The Element Dolls from DaiOuJou, the precursors to the transforming mecha girls of DaiFukkatsu mentioned below.
 * Robot War -- The overall plot of the series.
 * Secret Character: A first for the series. Clearing the hidden 2nd loop of DoDonPachi Resurrection (the Daifukkatsu port to iOS) unlocks... While only playable in iPhone Mode, is easily the most powerful of the 4 ships. On top of having the strongest lasers, it can even.
 * Sequel Difficulty Spike -- DaiOuJou is shades harder than DoDonPachi.
 * Sequel Escalation -- Each successive game one-ups its predecessor in many different aspects: overall bullet density, your ship's firepower, scoring, combos, and the difficulty of the bosses, especially the True Final Bosses. This has gotten to the point where pro players sometimes actually enable autobomb on SaiDaiOuJou, and did not try to do scoring runs on the hardest difficulty right away.
 * Serial Escalation -- To anyone who thought Hibachi's DaiFukkatsu incarnation couldn't be any harder, meet the BLACK Label one. Cave also added a more powerful variation called Zatsuza, which replaces Hibachi if the player manages to defeat Golden Disaster with no deaths and using Strong style.
 * You know DaiOuJou DEATH Label down below? If you beat it once, you get the chance to do it again, but with only one life, all the bosses immune to bombs ... and your hyper laser actually healing the boss ! At the end of the video, you see what is called the "True Hibachi -Custom-." In the first run, you fight two Hibachis; however, they're toned down individually compared to the original. In the second loop, they are both at full power.
 * In case you're wondering, beating the second loop of DEATH Label only nets you a game over screen.
 * Sex Bot -- Hard to tell without a human translation, but some of the Element Dolls/Daughters were originally designed to serve humans and help them feel more comfortable. Some of them also have features, such as white pantsu, that purely-military robots are... let us say... unlikely to need.
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog -- In DaiFukkatsu,
 * Shout-Out -- The scoreboard of DonPachi spell out "Toaplan 4 Ever" if you read the first letter of each default scorer. Toaplan was a big developer of shmups and Cave is formed in majority by formers employee of Toaplan.
 * From the same game, after beating the 2nd loop, a small cutscene show Pipiru (Toaplan's mascot, mostly know for it's appearance in the ending of the arcade Zero Wing.) holding on one of the ships before dropping into the water.
 * The Japanese names of DaiOuJou's music tracks are puns on various shmup developers: "Toua" (Toaplan), "Sakusetsu" (Success), "Raijin" (Raizing), and so on.
 * Smart Bomb -- Notable for being usable in two different ways: turning all bullets into score items, or powering a very big laser.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: Apparently attempted in the iPhone version of Daifukkatsu.
 * Spiritual Successor -- The Xbox 360 version of DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label is a massive tribute to Ketsui. This includes and is not limited to: the cover art, the ships being replaced with those of Ketsui (such as the Tiger Schwert), and the replacement of Hibachi with DOOM (complete with DOOM's theme song).
 * Stripperiffic -- Exy and Next EXY, apparently to make humans feel more comfortable.
 * Super Mode -- Hyper Mode, introduced in DaiOuJou, which gives you increased firepower and causes your combo to shoot through the roof, but the Dynamic Difficulty will also go apeshit as a tradeoff. DaiFukkatsu's Hyper Mode allows you to cancel bullets.
 * In DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label, Red Mode causes the enemies to go into super mode.
 * Super Soldier -- Deconstructed in DonPachi. The training for it involves
 * Surprisingly Good English -- The speech your commander gives you at the end of DoDonPachi is in decent English.
 * The announcer in DonPachi, even if he sounds like a head coach who always calls you "rookie" despite your skill.
 * Tank Goodness -- "Lookie what we got here: a multi-assault tank! Watch yourself!" And the tanks only get stronger and more numerous from there.
 * Tears of Blood --
 * This Is Unforgivable! -- "You know, what you've done to me is unforgivable. I'll punish you myself and see to it that you'll die a miserable death with my awesome weapon. Die, maggots." Enter Hibachi.
 * Time Travel -- DaiFukkatsu takes the player characters from just after the events of DaiOuJou (which are in the distant future) back to 2008.
 * Title Drop -- DonPachi means "leader bee," and DoDonPachi "angry leader bee." The name of the military organization the player character is in is called DonPachi Corps. Additionally, "don" is an onomatopoeia for gunfire. There are hidden bee icons throughout the games that yield extra points. The true penultimate boss of nearly each game is a huge mechanical bee that, upon its destruction, opens up to reveal the True Final Boss.
 * One of the achievements for the iOS version of DaiFukkatsu is "Blissful Death," which is a translation of DaiOuJou.
 * Training From Hell -- The plot of DonPachi.
 * Treacherous Advisor --
 * True Final Boss -- Hibachi.
 * Zatsuza, the ultimate true final boss of DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label, replaces Hibachi if the player uses Strong Style, meets the requirements for Hibachi and beats Golden Disaster (Hibachi's first form) without dying.
 * Turned Against Their Masters -- The Element Dolls from  DaiOuJou. The achievement for the iOS version of DaiFukkatsu for defeating Ray'n is "She Once Protected Us..."
 * Turns Red -- "Just a couple more shots!"
 * Unwitting Pawn --, in DoDonPachi.
 * Transforming Mecha Musume -- The Elemental Daughters from DaiFukkatsu.
 * Updated Rerelease -- DoDonPachi has the above-mentioned Campaign Version . DaiOuJou and DaiFukkatsu both have Black Label versions.
 * Wave Motion Gun -- The Bomb-Laser, and in later games, the Hyper-Laser joins the fun.
 * We Can Rebuild Him -- Hibachi keeps coming back.
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human? -- A theme of the series.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl -- Exy from DaiOuJou and her giant form in DaiFukkatsu, Next EXY.

Just a couple more tropes desu!