Kenji (ケンジ) is a character who was first featured in Super Dodge Ball for the Neo Geo. He is the son of a professional dodge ball player who once rivaled D.B. Maou.
Appearances[]
Super Dodge Ball[]
Kenji debuts in Super Dodge Ball as a selectable team captain. He enters the tournament to save his favorite sport and to let D.B. Maou know that his father wants to see him again. Kenji has a high speed and attack power. His special moves are the Muscle Killer, Royal Gust Shoot, Fist Counter, and Friendly Rolling.
Kenji is voiced by Tōru Furuya.
River City Girls[]
In this continuity, Kenji is seen as a crane operator and has his training harness replaced with a toolbelt and suspenders.
Misako and Kyoko run into Kenji in Downtown and ask if he's able to move some trash blocking the subway, though Kenji states he's currently unable to at the moment as he dropped his keys in the nearby trash compacter. Misako asks him to go get his keys, though Kenji appears reluctant as the compacter is filled with zombies. Misako then decides to go and grab his keys from the compactor herself. Before heading into the compactor, Kenji asks if the girls want to try guessing his name and drops a hint that it rhymes with "Benji", though the two remain disinterested.
Upon grabbing the keys from the compactor, Kenji thanks the girls but informs them that they weren't his keys. Kenji describes the look of his keys and brushes it off as he realized he had the keys in his pocket the entire time. The girls angrily ask Kenji to move the trash, though he attempts to get the girls to guess his name for a second time and is denied once again. This saddens Kenji as he goes to move the trash blocking the subway.
River City Girls 2[]
Kenji appears near the end of the game when Sabuko straps bombs to the protagonists friends as a way to keep them away from her and the Sanwakai. Kenji appears tied up in Crosstown's mall with the protagonists recognizing him and coming to the conclusion that Sabuko was using the term "friends" loosely as they hardly know him. Kenji appears excited and asks if the group came by to party or get the bomb off his chest, though they reassure that it's for the latter. Before leaving, Kenji attempts to get the group to guess his name again, but they refuse and quickly leave.
Trivia[]
- Kenji may be inspired by Hyūma Hoshi, the protagonist of the Japanese sports manga Kyojin no Hoshi. Hyūma used a similar spring-loaded harness for his hellish training to become a baseball player. Kenji also bears a resemblance to Joe Yabuki, the protagonist of the Japanese boxing manga Ashita no Joe.
- In River City Girls, Kenji has remained unnamed as according to the game's director Bannon Rudis, the rights to him are owned by SNK. The Art of River City Girls reveals that Kenji was initially planned to appear as a named enemy before being changed to an unnamed NPC.
- Despite this, Kenji is still referred to by his name in the game's files.
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