Punch-Out!!/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Punch-Out!! include:

Protagonists

Little Mac

A scrappy young pugilist from Bronx, New York. Could be considered Ippo Makunouchi's video game counterpart.

Appears in: NES, SNES (as a brown-haired kid instead of black-haired), and Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Matt Harty

  • Badass Normal
  • Determinator / Heroic Second Wind: In the Wii version, he can stop himself from being knocked out.
  • Fragile Speedster: Compared to everyone else in the league, at least. Even Glass Joe can deal more damage per punch, if you let him. But who else can land multiple punches in a row such that the opponent cannot defend between them?
  • Heroic Mime: In the Wii version at least.
  • Heroic Resolve: If you end up taking too much damage to where you're knocked out for the third time, you're shown a little cinematic of Little Mac slamming up against the ropes and then finally falling to the mat. But, if you're able to shake the Wii controller hard enough or press the 1 and 2 buttons fast enough, he barely catches himself by slamming a foot against the ground in front of him. He then proceeds to throw his head upwards at his opponent, a thoroughly pissed off look on his face, followed by a inaudible roar with his fists akimbo before resuming the match.
  • Hunk: Once he goes 3D starting with the Nintendo Wii.
  • Improbable Age: Plows through the ranks of the WVBA at the ripe old age of seventeen.
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: When you think about it, it would take a lot of strength to make the likes of King Hippo even flinch. Turns into...
    • Muscles Are Meaningful: Once he goes 3D starting with the Wii, he's updated to look like a bodybuilder reflecting how strong he is.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
  • Real Men Wear Pink: His track suit.
  • Rule of Cool: In real life he would never be allowed to fight people outside his own weight class (which would be junior flyweight if the WVBA's weight classes are analogous to the WBO's; only Glass Joe would be in the same weight class), whom almost all of his opponents are. But no bother: it's awesome to knock the stuffing out of these seeming ten-foot behemoths with your star punches.
  • Shoryuken: He 3-star punch in the Wii version.
  • The Unfavourite: For some reason Referee Mario is harder on him than the other opponents. Indeed, there are some matches he will never rule in Mac's favor, no matter how many points he scores.
  • You Can Barely Stand: During some of the fights if you don't get knocked down or take that many hits, you can see Little Mac between rounds resting with a confident look on his face and eager to get back out to fight. However, if you take enough abuse, you instead see a bruised up Little Mac, one eye almost swollen shut, a band aid on his head as well as other bruises and injuries, hunched over trying to support himself with an arm on his knee while occasionally wiping the sweat off his chin. Just one look at him and you can tell he's really giving it everything he has to try and win this fight.
  • Weak but Skilled: Skilled enough to beat Donkey Kong.

Jerome "Doc" Louis

Mac's portly trainer.

Appears in: NES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Riley Inge

Challenger

A green-haired pugilist and arm wrestler with no name.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out, Arcade Super Punch-Out, Arm Wrestling

Referees

The Referee

The normal ref for the WVBA. He may have been the ref voice in the SNES version of Super Punch-Out.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out, Arcade Super Punch-Out, Wii

  • Bow Ties Are Cool
  • Butt Monkey: In the Wii version of the game, he gets slapped around by Aran Ryan, Bald Bull, and Super Macho Man. If Mr. Sandman beats you, Sandman will proceed to humiliate the ref for no particular reason. (Despite being in the same circuit as these boxers, Soda Popinski seems to have nothing against the ref.)
  • No Name Given: Just the Referee

Mario

Mario shows up as a Special Guest Referee in Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (or Mike Tyson), having apparently taken some time off from saving Princess Peach from the Koopas.

Appears in: NES

Opponents introduced in Punch-Out!! (Arcade)

Glass Joe

The guy with the glass jaw and outrageous French accent. Along with Gabby Jay, Joe holds the WVBA record for most career losses.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out, NES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Christian Bernard

  • Adaptation Dye Job: Joe had brown hair in the arcade, blonde on the NES, and reddish-brown on the Wii.
  • Butt Monkey
  • Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Subverted: while he certainly fits the French=Weak stereotype, he never surrenders. Sure he's a loser, but he's an honest loser.
  • Determinator: For a guy who's main trait is his suckiness he certainly deserves kudos for still being in the ring. Even Doc Louis states that he deserves some respect for how "he can always take a whoopin'".
  • Flip-Flop of God: Some say his one win was a fluke against Nick Bruiser. Some, citing the top time in Super Punch-Out, say it was Rick Bruiser (although that falls apart, given that Rick's only loss was against his brother Nick). Nintendo has not clarified anything yet.
    • Another theory states that his one win was against Gabby Jay, and that Gabby Jay returned the favor, hence why they both have 1-99 records.
  • Jobber: His record is an astounding 1-99.
  • Made of Iron / Made of Plasticine: Both tropes are humorously combined. Although Joe can't take a punch, somehow he's managed to avoid becoming a drooling vegetable from all the punishment he's taken.
  • Meaningful Name: Obviously a play on "glass jaw", a severe and possibly career-killing affliction. Not that it stops Glass Joe.
  • Not So Harmless: The title defense version. He's gonna be even harder to beat with his new headgear, and he knows it.

Glass Joe: <I'LL SHOW YOU! YOU'LL SEE!>

  • One-Hit Kill: On the NES version, if you hit Joe after he steps back and taunts, there is a chance Joe will be knocked out. Since Joe does nothing before said taunt, it's possible this blow will be the only one in the fight.
  • Patriotic Fervor: Pretty easy to tell that Joe is from France; his entrance tune is the French National Anthem.
  • Punny Name: He has a glass jaw.
  • Riddle for the Ages: Who was the one opponent he managed to defeat? Most fans assume it was Gabby Jay (a similar character in Super Punch Out whose one win is confirmed to be against Glass Joe) but that is only conjecture.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: One of Glass Joe's challenges in the Wii game? Let him win. Now you might think, "Oh-kay... Shouldn't be that hard, right?" Wrong. You have to let him win by decision. That means the fight has to last at least three rounds and he has to be knocked down three times while you are knocked down at least twice. Not as easy as it seems.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In the Wii version's Title Defense mode, his doctor prescribes him some headgear. He then greets you very smugly. Deservedly so. Know a certain challenge (4 punch KO) and you can easily beat him.
  • Warmup Boss: In every game he's in, he's the first opponent, and the easiest to knock out. With one exception:
    • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: You know Title Defense mode is hardcore when even Glass Joe can kick your ass.

Piston Hurricane

Cuban born Piston Hurricane is an agile boxer that can send Mac reeling with his "Hurricane Rush" punch combo.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out, SNES

Bald Bull/Mask X

A heavyweight from Istanbul, Turkey. Telegraphs his punches very easily, but very few have been able to get back up from his "Bull Charge" maneuver. In the NES version, he is the Major Circuit champion.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out, Arm Wrestling, NES (Major circuit champ), SNES (Minor circuit champ), Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Erse Yagan

  • Badass Moustache
  • Bald of Evil
  • Bullfight Boss: During his "Bull Charge".
  • Evil Laugh
  • Made of Iron: Dear Lord, good luck on Title Defense. Even if you knock him down, he'll still get up. The only way to stop him? A star punch.
  • Mask Power: When he was Mask X in Arm Wrestling. You even defeat him by yanking his mask off.
  • Puzzle Boss: Somewhat for the second time you fight him in the NES game. No matter how little health he has, he doesn't go down to a regular punch (unless you hit him in a Bull Charge); you can only knock him down with a Star Punch. And he always gets up at 9.
  • Shout-Out: The "Mask X" Mask design is similar to that of legendary wrestler "The Destroyer".
  • Turns Red
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: More than any other boxer in any of the Punch Out games. In the arcade game he was a huge jump in difficulty from the previous boxer (Piston Hurricane). He's even more like this in the NES version. Compared to every other boxer you fought up to this point, Bald Bull was freakin' huge, and just looked like he was prepared to kick your ass, and his Bull Charge often ensured that he did exactly that. Finally, he's the champion of the Minor Circuit in the SNES Super Punch Out, where he plays the same role he did in the arcade game by being a huge jump in difficulty from the previous boxer (Piston Hurricane again, oddly enough). He avoids this in the Wii version, however, on account of being fought so late.

Kid Quick

One of the two left-behinds of the arcade games, he is a quick but pretty easy boxer with no special moves.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out

Pizza Pasta

An Italian boxer, who was the other leftback, he uses a grab move to drain the energy from his opponent.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out

Mr. Sandman

One of the big daddies of the WVBA circuit. His punches hit hard enough to make his opponents see stars, but has a particular weakness to body blows.

Appears in: Arcade Punch-Out (champion), NES, SNES (Major Circuit champ), Wii (champion)

Voiced in the Wii game by: Riley Inge

  • Badass Normal: This is especially noticeable in the Wii version. Most of the other boxers have some sort of gimmick: getting drunk on soda, training with animals, using magic, or being rich and famous. Mr. Sandman's gimmick is... being a boxer. And he's very good at it.
  • Big No: Right before you Star Punch him in the Wii version.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: He's able to LEVEL BUILDINGS by sheer training and strength alone. Between rounds, he flexes his biceps by curling the ring ropes. Anyone who's ever pulled a ring rope knows this is impossible.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: In the Wii version, not only does he have a 31-0 record, his intro shows him punching out every other boxer in the game.
    • And the prelude to his title defense match shows him PUNCHING DOWN A BUILDING.
  • He's Back: Mr. Sandman was the last boss of the original arcade Punch-Out!!, but was reduced to a (still damn challenging) contender in following releases. In the Wii version, he's back to last boss status... and with good reason, since he is downright SCARY.
  • Important Haircut: For the rematch against him in Title Defense. It's a very similar haircut to what Mike Tyson himself had back in the day with a twist: the uncut hair forms a "Z" on his head.
  • Jump Scare: One of his moves in the Wii version is to go "BOO!" to try to startle you, then driving his fist to your face when you fall for it!
  • Knight of Cerebus: He is the only one of Little Mac's opponents to resemble an actual boxer (opposed to a cartoon-character boxer) as befits one of the hardest opponents in any of the games. He also seems to be the only one who sees his bout with Mac as a personal issue; in Title Bout mode, there is a cutscene showing him training in a gym, then noticing a poster with Little Mac's face, and becoming so enraged at seeing it that he wrecks the entire gym.
  • Lightning Bruiser
  • Nerf: In Super Punch-Out!!, he's the champion of the Major Circuit. This is far and away the weakest incarnation of him.
  • Scary Black Man: The Wii version moreso, thanks to the voice acting. Not to mention the fact that he also leveled a building with his bare hands after Little Mac defeated him for the championship. That would make him scary if he was white, red, yellow or pink and blue with silver polka dots.
  • Shout-Out: His Wii incarnation is as close as you can get to having Mike Tyson in the game as is allowable. He even does the nightmarish wink-then-punch attack. Yikes!
  • Thirteen Is Unlucky: In the Wii version, he is 31 years old, has 31 KOs on his record, he is faced as the thirteenth opponent in both Contender and Title Defense modes, you start both fights against him with 13 hearts, and he throws 13 blink punches during his flurry of them after the second knockdown in Title Defense.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: When he whiffs a punch in the Wii version: "Uh-oh."
  • Took a Level in Badass: When compared to the other games, he is still in the World Circuit but weaker than Super Macho Man. Needless to say after this, he deserves his Championship.

Opponents introduced in Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade)

Bear Hugger

A huge Canadian lumberjack that would love to give his opponents Bear Hugs. He lives in the wilderness with all them woodland critters.

Appears in: Arcade Super Punch-Out, SNES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Richard Newman

Hugger: Hey, hoser! I'm gonna hit you so hard, yer gonna see Northern Lights, eh!

  • Bear Hug - Obviously.
  • Big Eater: He could outrival King Hippo or a serious Piston Hondo in training if possible.
  • Big Fun: He even stops to dance occasionally. In the middle of a boxing match.
  • Big No: "Timber!!" (thud)
  • Boisterous Bruiser - Just look at him.
  • Calling Your Attacks - Both before ("NEED A HUG?" "CATCH-N-RELEASE!") and after ("Salmon Arm!" "He scores!") his attacks.
  • Canada, Eh?: He lives in the woods, calls his opponents "hosers", drinks maple syrup, has chest hair in the shape of a pine tree and plays hockey as part of his training. This is more obvious in the Wii game, which was actually made in Canada, so it seems as though the people at Next Level Games like making fun of their own nationality.
  • Development Gag: The gaming studio that developed the Wii version is located in Salmon Arm, British Columbia in Canada. Which is where they decided to have Bear Hugger—and even named one of his moves—from.
  • Everything's Worse with Bears: Subverted in the Wii version, when he encounters a bear in his opening montage... who then becomes his trainer.
  • Fat Bastard: He's actually pretty friendly when he's not slamming you to the ground.
  • Friend to All Living Things In the Wii version he befriend squirrels, and a bear.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: You might recognize him as Rhinox or cartoon M. Bison.
  • Mighty Lumberjack: Seems this is his "day job".
  • More Teeth Than the Osmond Family
  • Mountain Man
  • Nice Hat: Wears one in Title Defense mode. And it's where his pet squirrel hangs out.
  • Retcon: Although it was All There in the Manual and not the game itself, he was supposed to be from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the SNES game, while the Wii game has him come from Salmon Arm, British Columbia, instead.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: Title Defense version in the Wii sees him wearing a hat that houses a squirrel that wears boxing gloves, complete with ridiculously cute sound effects.
  • Self-Deprecation: As mentioned above, the Wii game was developed by the Canadian developer Next Level Games, and in that game he's more stereotypically Canadian than in the previous games.
  • Stout Strength
  • Took a Level in Badass: Went from being the opening opponent in the second arcade game to the second boxer of the game in the SNES version to a Major Circuit fighter in the Wii version. Apparently bears make really good boxing trainers.

Dragon Chan

A kickboxer from Hong Kong who bares more than a little resemblance to Bruce Lee.

Appears in: Arcade Super Punch-Out, SNES

Vodka Drunkenski/Soda Popinski

He comes from Moscow, Russia, usually with a bottle of vodka (or soda) in his hands. As opposed to most of the other fighters, Soda Pop is a lefty, making him a bit harder to read.

Appears in: Arcade Super Punch-Out, NES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Ihor Mota

  • Alcohol Hic
  • Berserk Button: In the Wii version, he gets mad if you star punch him or knock him down, but he goes absolutely ballistic if you knock the bottle out of his hand.
  • Badass Mustache
  • Bald of Awesome
  • Bowdlerise: In the arcade, he was named Vodka Drunkenski, but in the NES version, this was changed to Soda Popinski (and yet the references to him being drunk were left in somehow.) The Wii version also uses "Soda Popinski", but it seems to actually be soda this time—the bottle is clearly plastic like a soft drink bottle because it crumples instead of shattering when Soda crushes it, and the bubbles that appear during the match resemble soft drink fizz instead of the froth of some alcoholic drinks. He does still have some references to being drunk, however, as he at one point tells Little Mac (in Russian) that he will crush him, but the dialect in which he says it sounds like he intends to run over Mac with his car.
  • Drunken Master
  • Frothy Mugs of Water: More like green bottle of "soda".
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: NES version + Vodka bowdlerized to Soda = kid friendliness, yet he still has win quotes suggesting that rather than on a sugar rush, he's absolutely shitfaced.
  • Good Bad Bugs: It's unkown whether the strategy of blocking Soda's uppercuts on the NES was intentional or a glitch, but it makes beating him insanely easy.
  • Healing Factor: If you let him take a drink of his soda midfight on the Wii version, he'll recover almost all of his health.
  • Husky Russkie
  • Jabba Table Manners: In the Wii version, he drinks soda like it were going out of style, but he's a sloppy drinker, getting far more of it on the mat and on himself than in his mouth.
  • Little Nyet - In the Wii version, knock him down enough times without a TKO or KO animation and he'll eventually run out of soda. His response is this.
  • Lzherusskie - Nicely averted in the Wii version, as he actually speaks legitimate Russian, with a Russian voice actor no less.
  • Punny Name
  • Soviet Superscience: Implied to be how his Title Defense soda pop was engineered.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: He can recover health during his intermission sequence on the Wii version. Slightly subverted since you can do the same thing (once per match), but he can do it in every intermission! At least they're skippable, and if you do so, he actually WON'T recover.
  • The Giant: Standing at, 6'6", he is the tallest character in the (Wii) game, only just taller than the 6'5" Mr. Sandman.
  • That Russian Squat Dance: One of his victory animations.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Soda Popinski loves soda. He can't get enough of it. Drinking a single drop can refill him with energy immediately. Also, when you punch him, you hear fizzy noises, presumably because he is somehow that full of soda.
  • Turns Red: Pink, too!
  • Vodka Drunkenski: Trope Namer.

Great Tiger

A mystic from Mumbai, India. His special attack is the "Magic Punch", which takes on different forms depending on the game, but always involves him splitting into clones of himself and fooling Mac by having both him and his clones "attack" at once.

Appears in: Arcade Super Punch-Out, NES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Sumit Seru

Super Macho Man

An egotistical Hollywood bodybuilder who is the World Circuit champ in most games. His spinning clothesline punch is his greatest and fastest attack.

Appears in: Arcade Super Punch-Out (champion), NES (champion), SNES (champion), Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Mike Inglehart

  • All-American Face: Started out that way (sorta), but acts like a Heel in Punch-Out Wii (i.e. knocking the ref over)
  • The Casanova: The chicks dig him. It helps he's rich.
  • Cool Shades: "Oh, these sunglasses? You can't afford these sunglasses!"
  • Eagle Land
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: His trademark move, the Super Spin Punch, comes in two flavors. He either throws a single punch which hurts a lot, or he rears back and throws multiple punches, each and every one of them being an instant knockdown.
  • Expy: Reportedly of pro wrestler Superstar Billy Graham.
  • Hair Color Dissonance: His hair is silver-blonde. It looks gray. As a result, many people think he's older than he is (twenty-seven in the Wii version).
  • Large Ham
  • Non-Idle Rich: So rich, in fact, that when you knock him out in the Wii version, dollar bills fly off him.
  • Pec Flex: His trademark taunt. He steps it up in the Wii by flexing his butt at the player, too.
  • Produce Pelting (in Title Defense mode on the Wii. Guess he's not so much an All-American Face in that version anymore, is he?)
  • Surfer Dude: In the Wii version; his theme is surf music, he says things like "Dude" and "BOGUS" when he misses, and announces one of his combos with "HANG TEN!"
    • He was very much a Surfer Dude in earlier versions of the game. The Wii version simply turned it up to eleven.
  • Totally Radical: Wii
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Not so much a boy however.
    • More a case of Younger Than They Look, as he's in his mid 20's, yet apparently due to the Hollywood lifestyle and constant sun exposure, looks like he's about 50. Similar to Lindsay Lohan.

Opponents introduced in Arm Wrestling (Arcade)

Texas Mac

A burly man in a ten-gallon hat.

Appears in: Arm Wrestling

Kabuki

A traditionally attired sumo wrestler.

Appears in: Arm Wrestling

Alice and Ape III

A little girl who entered her robotic companion in the competition.

Appeared in: Arm Wrestling

Frank Jr.

A large artificial human who is the final challenger.

Appears in: Arm Wrestling (champion)

Opponents introduced in Punch-Out!! (NES)

Von Kaiser

A Berliner bruiser with an obvious facial tic, probably caused by one too many blows to the head.

Appears in: NES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Horst Laxton

Von Kaier: "Ich? Deutsche Präzision. Du? Windmühle." [2]

  • Important Haircut: In Title Defense mode, Kaiser gives himself a flat top haircut, which seems to eliminate his psychological handicap
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: the Wii version obviously suffers from some kind of PTSD...from being beat up by his child students at his boxing academy. "Mommy!" Getting beaten by Mac apparently knocks him out of it.
  • The Von Trope Family
  • Took a Level in Badass: Completely subverted in the Wii version for Title Defense. You think he's this at first, but fight him for a while and you'll realize he's trying to fake it. He really isn't any less jittery and panicky than he was the first time.
    • Note that despite this, he is significantly harder in Title Defense regardless, including having one of the few one-hit knockdown moves in the game.

Don Flamenco

A flamenco dancer from Madrid, Spain, who decided to bring his show to the boxing ring. He loves to goad Mac into attacking him, and after he blocks the blow, he'll take a wild swing (sometimes calling out the name of his girlfriend Carmen). Flamenco is the Major Circuit champion in the Wii version.

Appears in: NES, Wii (Major Circuit champ)

Voiced in the Wii game by: Juan Amador Pulido

  • Badass Spaniard
  • Berserk Button: When his toupee is knocked off in the Wii version.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In the world circuit rematch in the NES game he will constantly force you to punch at him as he just stands there blocking until you're tired and unable to hit him back when he unloads on you.
  • Foreshadowing: Anyone paid close attention to his normal intro in the Wii game? Look at the way he punches the bull into orbit; that's how newbies can beat Bald Bull and his Bull Charge as well as completing a certain challenge against him.
  • I Shall Taunt You
  • Nobody Touches the Hair: Cause it's a toupee.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: He looks an awful lot like Prince Charles in the NES version.
  • Shout-Out: One of Don Flamenco's quotes in the NES game was "Revenge of Flamenco! Return of Don!" Who knew he was a Star Wars fan?
  • Something About a Rose: Don loves to keep a rose with him during fights. His Title Defense costume includes a black rose.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In the NES Punch-Out!! you have to fight him twice. The first time, on the major circuit, he's almost as easy as Glass Joe despite having highly damaging punches since he's so easy to lock into extensively long combos and his blows are so easy to dodge. Then he comes back with a vengeance on the world circuit and is much, much harder to beat.
    • Also managed to take a level in badass in the Wii version despite using essentially the exact same method of fighting! Of course, he is no longer restricted to the same old uppercut after blocking your punches, anymore, and can do slow uppercuts, fast uppercuts, hooks, or jabs.
  • Toros Y Flamenco: His name is Don Flamenco, and his other career is bullfighter.
    • He goes about boxing and bullfighting in about the same way, and he's probably better at the latter.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: In his first encounter in the NES version, it's possible to beat Flamenco using an endless 1-2 combo of jabs to the face. His Wii incarnations have endless combos as well, even if you have to work it a bit differently.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: His primary strategy is to taunt his opponent into attacking.

King Hippo

A true island of a man, hailing from somewhere in the South Pacific (it's never stated exactly where "Hippo Island" is). Very hard to bring down, but once you do, he won't get back up.

Appears in: NES, Wii (Minor Circuit champ)

King Hippo: Do you like my new trunks? They are size XXX Large! Ha, ha, ha!

Piston Honda/Piston Hondo

A boxer from Japan who promises to give Mac a "TKO from Tokyo." Holds the Minor Circuit belt in the NES game.

Appears in: NES (Minor Circuit champ), Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Kenji Takahashi

  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: A part of his tell, too.
  • Bowdlerize: Minor example, as the change wasn't from anything offensive—originally in the NES game he asked if the NHK camera crew was filming the match (NHK being a popular public broadcaster in Japan comparable to The BBC in the UK but more independent from the government somewhat like the United States's Public Broadcasting Service), but likely due to trademark reasons, he says "my camera crew" in the Wii and Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console versions. In addition, his surname was changed in the Wii game from Honda to Hondo, likely due to fears of a lawsuit from the Honda motor company. However, the new surname isn't meaningless (regardless of whether the meaning was intended); see Meaningful Name below.
  • Cutscene Power to the Max: Y'know that move he does in the opening of his TD match? Yeah, he never does that in the fight.
  • Four Is Death: One challenge is to beat him after blocking 44 jabs, and in the NES game his Hondo Rush attack consists of four jabs.
  • Hachimaki
  • Gratuitous Japanese: The English translation of the first game has one of his dialogs being made up of random Japanese words. This is nicely averted in the Wii game; despite being a studio in an English speaking part of the world (Next Level Games being located in British Columbia, Canada), dialog is spoken instead of written and only characters with English as their native language,[3] boxers from non-English-speaking countries speak the native language of their country. Not only does Piston Hondo speak real Japanese instead of random words, his voice actor is actually Japanese rather than an American or Canadian speaking Surprisingly Good Japanese.
  • Honor Before Reason: Hondo, you don't go bowing in the middle of a boxing match!
    • Of course, he learned his lesson and he can avoid the coming blow much faster in Title Defense mode.
    • The Fridge Brilliance page noted that he's staring at you when he does so and it's very disrespectful. He's not being honorable; he's being a dick.
  • Man in White: In Title Defense. However, since he's from Japan that's pretty much the same as Paint It Black.
  • Meaningful Name: Hondo is an archaic name for Honshu, the main island of Japan. Considering the fact that the game in which he goes by that name depicts him as extremely polite with a huge sense of honor, it fits, especially since his hometown of Tokyo is on the southeastern part of Honshu.
  • The Quiet One: He's certainly tamer than the rest of the Wii boxers, to say the least. Unfortunately, this has lead to accusations of him being The Generic Guy.
    • Not really. Sometimes, taciturn guys can be just that dangerous. The stern look in his eyes shows it.
  • Shout-Out: In the NES game he asks if NHK's cameras are running, NHK being a large television network in his homeland.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Replaced Piston Hurricane, though to Hondo's credit he's at least more distinct from his predecessor than Gabby Jay is to Glass Joe.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The Hondo Rush, and especially his TD intro.
  • Training from Hell: His intro video for title defense has him in serious training. He's blocking swords with his bare hands, eating his own weight—and then some—in sushi and running at the same speed as a bullet train.
  • Word Salad Title: One of his lines in the NES version is nothing more than random Japanese words. The Wii version gives him very good Japanese.

Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream

One's a famous Real Life boxer who is a devastating one-hit knockout fighter in the game, the other is his Head Swap replacement with the same skills and better record.

Appears in: NES (Dream Match)

Opponents introduced in Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)

Gabby Jay

Yet another weak French boxer who, along with Glass Joe (his only career win), holds the WVBA record for most career losses.

Appears in: SNES

  • Butt Monkey
  • Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: His trainer was even fellow Frenchman Glass Joe, whom his only win was against.
  • Determinator: "I'll never retire! I can win at least once more. C'mon!!"
  • Jobber: To the point of having the exact same record as Glass Joe.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Replaces Glass Joe in Super Punch-Out!!. Of course, Joe's his trainer, so it makes more sense than a Japanese boxer (Piston Hondo) replacing a Cuban boxer (Piston Hurricane).

Bob Charlie

A Jamaican boxer with rhythm, Bob can shuck and jive past opponents and deliver a nasty helicopter punch.

Appears in: SNES

Masked Muscle

A Masked Mexican wrestler who frequently resorts to using dirty tactics in the boxing ring, such as spitting and headbutting his opponents.

Appears in: SNES

Cheater? I don't know what you're takling about, amigo.

Aran Ryan

A rather unpredictable Irish fighter. In his Wii incarnation, he stands still even less, and comes back in Title Defense mode with a clearly illegal loaded-hidden-boxing-glove-on-a-rope.

Appears in: SNES, Wii

Voiced in the Wii game by: Stephen Webster

  • Ax Crazy: Wii version
    • In the cutscene before the fight, he's putting horseshoes into his gloves. Then before round 2 or 3, he's seen punching himself to psyche himself up, presumably with the horseshoes still in the gloves.
  • Characterization Marches On: SNES Aran Ryan: no personality to speak of. Wii Aran Ryan: complete lunatic.
    • Presumably he stopped taking his medication between games.
  • Combat Pragmatist - All he has to do now is kick Little Mac in the crotch and he'll have broken every rule in the book.
  • Confusion Fu
  • Determinator / Weaksauce Weakness: In Super Punch-Out, Aran counters the super punch by charging at Mac, grabbing him and draining his energy. Unfortunately if he keeps getting super punched (timing is important here) he'll be stuck in pre-charge until he gets knocked down.
  • Fighting Irish
  • Foe Yay: "You're pretty like my sister!"
  • Freudian Excuse: The SPO!! manual states that his mother demanded on the rather unusual spelling of his name, which in turn lead to him being teased and bullied at school, which in turn... Long story short, it all ends with Little Mac getting clobbered in the face with a horseshoe in a boxing glove.
  • Improvised Weapon: His boxing glove whip.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: If you hit him at just the right time when he's about to pull one of his dirty tricks, he'll go flying back into the ropes and automatically be knocked out.
  • Lucky Seven: In the Wii game everything with him seems to go by a rule of seven. For instance, when he gets up after being knocked down, it's always on the count of seven.
  • Nightmare Face: The cutscenes in between rounds end with Aran making some pretty crazy looking facial expressions.
  • Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: The whip glove in TD mode.
    • And the headbutts and the elbow slams and bouncing off the ring's ropes...
  • Oireland: "Ye don't look Irish!"
  • Produce Pelting (to which he threatens the audience with bodily harm in his Title Defense version)
  • Punny Name: His first name, Aran, sounds like the name for Ireland in the Irish language. However, the Wii game, which has dialog in multiple languages, shows that his primary language is English (not surprising, since Dublin isn't part of a region of the country that predominately uses Irish).
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Super Punch-Out only.
  • Screaming Warrior: The first time you fight him:

Aran: AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHH! Let's go! LET'S GO!

Heike Kagero

A Japanese kabuki fighter who likes to use his hair as a weapon.

Appears in: SNES

Mad Clown

A not-so-nice Italian clown who incorporates backhand punches and juggling balls into his act. Borrows a bit of his repertoire (including an infuriating invulnerability to body blows) from Bear Hugger.

Appears in: SNES

Narcis Prince

British pretty-boy pugilist who hates being decked in the face. Guess what his weakness is?

Appears in: SNES

Hoy Quarlow

An old Chinese master who's seen his share of fights over the years. Never leaves home without his trusty walking stick.

Appears in: SNES

Rick Bruiser

An appropriately-named champion-level boxer in the Special Circuit. His only career loss has come at the hands of his brother, Nick.

Appears in: SNES

Nick Bruiser

Rick's older brother. Speaks a lot less, and hits a lot harder. Rules over the WVBA with a pair of iron fists.

Appears in: SNES (champion)

Opponents introduced in Punch-Out!! (Wii)

Disco Kid

A native New Yorker who appears to be stuck in the '70s when it comes to fashion. Groovy!

Appears in: Wii

Voiced by: Donny Lucas

I am fab-u-lous!

Secret Fighter: Donkey Kong

Star of the Donkey Kong game series, the ape serves as the True Final Boss of Punch-Out Wii.

Appears in: Wii

Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako

Back to Punch-Out!!
  1. ↑ translation: "I AM A FIGHTING MACHINE! MY NAME: VON KAISER!"
  2. ↑ "Me? [I'm] German Precision. You? [You're a] Windmill."
  3. ↑ Doc Louis, Disco Kid, Aran Ryan, Bear Hugger, Super Macho Man, and Mr. Sandman, to be specific; all except Aran Ryan come from North America (with Bear Hugger being from the same province of Canada as the developer and the other four being from the US), and in Aran Ryan's homeland of Ireland, English nowadays is more commonly used than the native Irish language except in certain parts of the country
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