Punch-Out!!/Characters

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See also Punch Out/Characters until that page is merged with this one.

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

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.
  • 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

Don Flamenco

King Hippo

Piston Honda/Piston Hondo

Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream

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

Gabby Jay

Bob Charlie

Masked Muscle

Aran Ryan

Heike Kagero

Mad Clown

  • Acrofatic: Mad Clown will retreat by doing a few backflips.

Narcis Prince

Hoy Quarlow

Rick Bruiser

Nick Bruiser

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!!
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