Overall Info[]
The Dons are four severed heads of gang leaders that died as the tower of barbs was formed, and serve as the game's main bosses. Each are in control of one of the four factions that reside within the tower. Each of the Dons have their own backstory which can be discovered by finding one of five pages throughout their respective areas. These pages can then be found and read in the Underworld Rholodex.
Despite being severed heads, the Dons are (as one would expect from a video game boss) alive and capable of speech and movement. Each of the Dons fight you by attaching themselves to a modified version of the minibosses fought throughout the game.
The cutscenes that play before fighting a Don is all done in a paper-cutout-style, with lipsync being done by an actual human mouth edited over the drawn one. Whenever a Don dies, there's a quick scene of a candle being snuffed out.
However, in Tengoku The Dons will get stronger with their powered up moves and do some serious damage to the fighters they do spawn at 100+.
The Dons, With Brief(?) Descriptions.[]
- Max Sharp Is the Don of floors 1-10. He attaches Himself to a modified version of CO-EN, and to reach his boss fight the players has to maneuver two trains driving at a high speed through the (formerly?) underground tunnels of the Tower of Barbs. His arena is located atop the front of one of these trains. He represents the D.O.D Arms faction, something made clear by him having cut off his arms and attached them to His head all by himself, as well as the numerous Nails making up his "Beard". He is the only Don with any limbs other than his head. He is Presumably American, as indicated by his accent (or attempt at an accent, I'd say it was pretty 'Meh'). He become a severed head after he was arrested and sent to jail, an Earth Rage global tectonic shift was struck, Thus a flying sawblade was thrown, slicing his head clean off and quickly (nearly) died off with his torso buried in a funeral while lacking a head.
- Colonel Jackson is the Don of floors 11-20. He initially attaches Himself to a large grenade that is set to detonate after a few minutes. After disarming the grenade and returning to Him, Jackson will attach Himself to a modified version of JIN-DIE. His arena is a group of ruined buildings in a sand-filled section of the Tower of Barbs. He represents War Ensemble, something made clear by his beret and the bullets along the border of where his head was blown off. He is the only Don with a dark skin tone, suggesting he is of an African-American descent. He is also the only Don to have a confirmed sexuality, that being Homosexual or potentially Bisexual (My money's on the latter). he become a severed head after he was arrested ,an Earth Rage global tectonic shift was struck, an explosion from his grenade thrown around the street causing his body blown to bits and bobs but his head was intact and missing even after he (nearly) died.
- Mr. Crowley is the Don of floors 21-30. He attaches himself to a modified version of GOTO-9. To fight him you must first fight a randomised number and type of enemy depending on the outcome of the dice throw that he makes in his intro cutscene. While I've yet to determine all the outcomes, I do know that number 6 is a single Reversal Tuber. His arena is located in a (fake) castle somehwere in the Tower of Barbs. He represents the Candle Wolf faction, something made clear in the way he talks and the obvious wizard hat. And the lightning. The lightning is another dead giveaway. He is the visually oldest of the Dons, but is also surprisingly the youngest, as his head was blasted off when he was only 17 years old. He looks old due to self-performed plastic surgery to make himself look like a wizard. He is of Swedish descent, as his comic pages infrom us.He become a severed head after he was arrested, an Earth Rage global tectonic shift was struck causing a lightning bolt fall down through the sky, struck at him (nearly) dead while "Thunder Revolution" (a series of fantasy trading card game made by him and his RP group and a club, Candle Wolf) cards were thrown in the air as it fell down to the ground as his head were never found.
- Taro Gunkanyama is the don of floors 31-40 (technically 41, the final floor for your first run). He attaches Himself to a modified version of U-10. His arena is the only actual arena in the game, with audiences seen in the stands above you. Before fighting him you loose all your gear, and have to reclaim it all piece by piece from numerous haters that spawn in weilding said gear against you. Afterwards you fight COEN for one last time, and then the real fight begins. He represents the MILK faction, something not quite made clear visually- the closest to a sport theme is how he looks like a typical Sumo Wrestler. He is the biggest of the Dons, who's heads all vary in size, being almsot as big as the player. He is also the weirdest, because He wears a boat for a hat. Like, come on. A boat? Really? Anyways, He become a severed head after during his convention meeting, an Earth Rage global tectonic shift was struck which causes a flying speed-skating boot came out of nowhere and strikes him off in a meeting, decapitating him (nearly) dead.
Beating a Don[]
Whenever the player beats one of the dons, they're greeted to a short QTE where they have to hold and then release L2+R2 to kick the head off it's shiny new body and onto the Underworld Rholodex, leaving a large stamp on it, and granting access to the next "district".