Here's a not-so-conventional candidate from a video game I feel like belongs here on the wiki.
What's the Work?[]
Dynamite Headdy is a 1994 platform video game from SEGA. The story follows Headdy finding the evil puppet Dark Demon is in the midst of attacking the puppet town to select which of the peaceful toys should live and which should be converted into his evil minions. Headdy got captured and rejected by Dark Demon's forces and is dropped into the dust cargo to be thrown into the incinerator. However, Headdy escapes the clutches of Dark Demon's minions and is now off to defeat the evil king.
Who is He?[]
Trouble Bruin, also known as Maruyama in the Japanese version, is the secondary antagonist of the game.
He is a Bear puppet bounty hunter who appears to be a recurring archenemy of Headdy with an envious streak since his desire to get rid of Headdy leads to a rivalry to the point Trouble Bruin stalks Headdy is out of Trouble Bruin being very jealous of Headdy's success, and also wants to be the star of the story instead of Headdy, and he will stop at nothing to be rid of him.
What Makes Him A Shonen Rival?[]
- Anti-Villainous: While he does work for The Emperor and is tasked to get rid of Dynamite Headdy, he seems to be more mischievous rather than anything beyond that the fact he stalks Headdy, he has an unpredictable way of challenging, surprising and inconveniencing Headdy at certain points throughout the latter's quest, and the last stage has him making a retreat with a comedic slapstick defeat at the end (which shows how much it ends up showing that he didn't take this rivalry to escalate to anything further besides a cat-and-mouse style of rivalry), implies that he's the closest to an persistent Punch-Clock villain rather than anything else due to the nature of the game resembling a light-hearted staged theatre play.
- Intelligent: He appears to be proficient with operating machinery and malefic (to an extent), he comes up with many creatively elaborate plans/schemes/traps for each encounter he has with Headdy (most of which that would work to his advantage at times), and he appears to be quite tactical and cunning as a rival.
- Naturally Talented: He is very much a talented engineer, combat strategist and trapper.
- Arrogant/Jerkish: His arrogance is shown throughout his appearances once he makes boastful exclaims and acts of underestimating Headdy in the Japanese cut. Additionally, while he's often a fame-seeking egotist and an envious nuisance to Headdy, his arrogance alone was what caused his downfall as a rival in the stage "Fatal Contraption"; where him toying with making Headdy afraid of him, caused one part of his contraptions to go haywire and make a retreat all while very fixated on wanting to defeat Headdy when all else fails.
- Pursues A Big-End Goal: He seeks to defeat Headdy and upstage him to take Headdy's fame and be more successful than him and comes up with many strategies to hinder Headdy from being the star of the show.
- Stoical: Despite having a goofy smile in the Japanese version and a frown in the US version, both versions show how much he hardly shows any emotion behind one expression, unlike Headdy.
- Persistent: No matter how many times his plans appear to backfire and fall apart in one way and another, he showed to be the most fierce and recurring enemy who appears to be very dedicated to best Headdy during the latter's adventure.
- Believes in the Power of Individual Strength: He appears to usually rely on his own skills (or plans) to win and find strategic advantages.
- Is A Serious Threat/Villain: All throughout the game, he is often a scheming threat for Headdy to encounter and deal with at least 6 times in the story. The stage "Backstage Battle" has him opting out to use a robotic claw with a hovercraft (to attempt throwing Headdy into harm's way), the "Stairs Wars" level has Trouble Bruin attempting to make Headdy fall and collapse from a tower upon getting ways to destroy walls of it before taunting at him, the stage "Fly Hard" has him attempting to hound down Headdy while shooting laser balls at Headdy to take him down in his plane form, and lastly, the stage "Fatal Contraption" has him trying to get Headdy stuck through a floor with traps as Headdy had to climb his way up. And even when Bruin's contraption goes haywire , he tries all his best to catch up with Headdy to slow him down and retreat while having Headdy deal with the contraption while Headdy has to run away from said malfunctioning contraption (which tires out Trouble Bruin and is eventually defeated at the end, thus making Headdy run out of the room out of fear and concern).
- Unnatural Hair Color: He is purple furred in the Japanese version.
- Wears Red: His nose is red in the Japanese design.
- Perpetual Frowner: His US version of his character design gives him a scowl with angry eyes.
- Vengeful: Ever since he got defeated by Headdy at the beginning of the game, he seeks vengeance towards Headdy and stalks him with a sense of revenge.
- Is a Blood Knight: He appears to relish battling and stalking Headdy wherever he goes in rather sneaky and underhanded ways.
Final Verdict[]
I'd say mild yes, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks.