Also known as: gohyakumine_bankotsubo, gohyakuminebankotsubo, 五百峯, 万骨坊, tengu_(dead_or_alive), 天狗_(Dead_or_alive), 天狗_(デッドオアアライブ)
Gohyakumine Bankotsubo (Japanese: 五百峯 万骨坊 Gohyakumine Bankotsubō), also known as Tengu (天狗), is the final boss character of Dead or Alive 2. Bankotsubo is the oldest playable character in the series, at the age of 1500.
The tengu is a mythological creature from Japanese folklore. In Dead or Alive 2, he wanted chaos to reign over the world, but was stopped by Hayabusa. His name was stated as "Gohyakumine Bankotsubo", but he is more commonly known as simply "Tengu".
Dead or Alive 2
Bankotsubo is a tengu who is a criminal in his own dimension, as he murdered Kuramasan Maouson - the leader of their race. Fearing punishment for his crimes and breaking tengu rules, he escaped into the human world. Considering the hopes and struggles of humanity to be insignificant, he decided to bring about ultimate disaster and calamity, covering the world in chaos. Ryu Hayabusa found out about his doings, and in the final match of the second Dead or Alive tournament, kills Bankotsubo and becomes the tournament winner.
Bankotsubo is extremely arrogant, almost grievously so. He looks down on humans, as well as his own kind with contempt and thinks them fragile and trivial. Bankotsubo is also fond of chaos and destruction, and is manipulative to a fault. He tricked his fellow tengu into allowing him close enough to murder their leader, as well as having a hold of sorts in connection with Ein's missing memories. Ironically, because of his superiority complex, Bankotsubo's defeat was quick and unceremonious.
Etymology
Bankotsubo is Japanese, where 万骨 (banko) means as "thousands of lives" and 坊 (bō) as "place" or "square". His surname, Gohyakumine, translates as "five hundred peaks".
The word "tengu" translates to "heavenly dog" in English. In Japanese folklore, tengu started out as destructive demons and harbingers of war. However over time their image gradually softened into beings that are protective, though still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests.
It's likely that Bankotsubo is meant to represent the early aspects of tengu in Japanese folklore and legend.
Since his appearance, Bankotsubo has been appearing in other Dead or Alive games:
- Dead or Alive 2 games (non-playable, 1999-2000)
- Dead or Alive 2 (Japanese Dreamcast) (unlockable, 2000)
- DOA2: Hardcore games (unlockable, 2000)
- Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (unlockable, 2004-05)
- Dead or Alive 4 (unlockable, 2005-06)
- Dead or Alive Dimensions (playable, 2011)
- Dead or Alive 6 (mentioned)