Double Dragon/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Bad Export for You:
    • The American version of the third arcade game added item shops where the player could purchase new characters, weapons, and new moves by inserting more tokens into the cabinet. In the Japanese version, the non-Lee characters are selectable from the start, weapons are simply found on the ground, and the special moves are available from the get-go. The only trade-offs are the fact that the Hurricane Kick is harder to pull, and there's no way to increase one's max health and attack speed like in the American version.
    • Super Double Dragon is based on an earlier build of the game compared to its Japanese counterpart (Return of Double Dragon). Thus it's missing a few moves (such as the ability to catch your boomerangs during its return or change between moves), the Options menu, a few tunes, and the last two levels of the final stage.
  • Divorced Installment:
    • The original arcade version began development as a Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun sequel. The reason why the characters and settings were changed was done to avoid developing a separate version for the foreign market, as was the case with Renegade.
    • Rage of the Dragons, which was initially planned as a sequel to the Neo-Geo fighting game, but Evoga could not secure the rights to the Double Dragon IP.
  • Fan Nickname: The final boss in the first game is nicknamed "Machine Gun Willy", for obvious reasons. This also serves to avoid confusion with this game's run of the mill Mooks, Williams.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: In the PC Engine version of II, Billy and Jimmy were voiced by Ryo Horikawa and Nobutoshi Canna, who also the voiced Kunio and Riki respectively in the PC Engine versions of the Downtown Nekketsu games. In the Neo-Geo game, Billy and Jimmy were voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa and Kaneto Shiozawa. Also, Marian in the Neo-Geo version is voiced by Yuko Koyama, who is the voice of Helena Douglas. Likewise, both Abobo and Burnov are voiced by the late Daisuke Gouri.
  • Manual Misprint:
    • The manual for the first NES game gives out incorrect inputs for the Elbow Punch and Spin Kick, suggesting that these moves were planned to be performed differently at some point. The manual also claims that Abobo likes to throw bombs (actually a mistranslated reference to an "atomic suplex" move he was supposed to have) and spells Rowper's name as "Lopar".
    • The English manual for the Master System version has the names of Jeff and Willy switched (compare the English manual with the Japanese one). Although the name "Willy" seems more appropriate for a head-swapped evil version of Billy and Jimmy than "Jeff" in retrospect, so it's debatable whether this was a mistake or an intentional change.
  • Name's the Same: Duke is the same as the codename of the G.I. Joe field commander.
  • Port Overdosed: Exceptionally so. Almost every home computer and console in the late 80's/early 90's got a version, and the original game has been remade numerous times, even for iOS.
  • Recursive Adaptation:
    • The Double Dragon fighting game for the Neo Geo featured elements from the movie.
    • Also, Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls is a versus fighter based on the cartoon.
  • Relationship Voice Actor: In the PC Engine version of Double Dragon II, Billy and Jimmy were voiced by Ryo Horikawa and Nobutoshi Canna, who were also the voice of Kunio and Riki respectively in the PC Engine version of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari.