Ayane (Dead or Alive)

Ayane (Japanese: 綾音) is a kunoichi of the Mugen Tenshin clan and the current master of the clan’s Hajinmon sect. She was the winner of the third Dead or Alive Tournament.

She made her debut in the 1998 PlayStation remake of the first Dead or Alive as an unlockable character. Since then, she has become one of the main protagonists of Dead or Alive (particularly for Dead or Alive 3) and has become one of the series’ most popular characters. As such, she has made many appearances outside of Dead or Alive, most notably in the Ninja Gaiden series.

Conceived when Ayame was raped by Raidou, Ayane is the half-sister and cousin of both Hayate and Kasumi, as well as the half-sister of Honoka. Although mistreated in her youth, Ayane has worked hard to become one of the most powerful shinobi of her clan.

History

Childhood

As a result of being conceived when Ayame, the wife of clan leader Shiden, was raped by Raidou; Shiden’s older brother and the progenitor of the Mugen Tenshin’s troubles, Ayane has been an outcast for majority of her childhood. Ayane was not raised by her mother but was taken in by Genra, the leader of the clan’s Hajinmon sect out of pity and wasn’t told who her true family was.

Unaware of the circumstances of her birth, Ayane and Kasumi became best friends while they were children, although neither of them knew that they were half-sisters. When Genra proposed that Ayane assisted him in his duties before the clan’s masters, Ayane met Hayate and the two started to form a close bond. From a young age, Ayane was trained to become a shinobi of the shadows, helping the clan from afar.

Later, Ayane learned the truth of her conception when Ayame admitted that she was her biological daughter and the half-sibiling cousin to both Hayate and Kasumi. Driven by her own anger at being cast out, Ayane devoted herself to honing her Hajinmon abilities beyond any other shinobi in the clan to prove that even she, the lowly “cursed child,” could become something great. Ayane was consumed with bitterness and jealousy over the fact that Kasumi was treated like a princess while she was treated as an outcast, so their friendship withered even into their adolescence until adulthood.

Raidou’s return and the First Tournament

When Ayane was 16, Raidou returned to the Mugen Tenshin Village to “steal” the technique the Torn Sky Blast. Ayane confronted him but was quickly defeated. After Raidou’s rampage, Hayate was left grievously injured, which caused him to fall into a coma, leaving Kasumi to become the new heir for the title of clan leader. Ayane was not happy about Kasumi’s new role but as Kasumi didn’t know how Hayate was injured because Shiden had kept her in the dark, Ayane told her the truth.

Learning the facts about Hayate’s injuries caused Kasumi to leave the clan on a quest for vengeance. Leaving the clan without permission marked her as a nukenin (“missing shinobi”) and a clan traitor, so Ayane was ordered to track down and kill Kasumi in order to secure their clan’s secrecy.

Ayane managed to stop Kasumi before she even made it over the bridge out of the village but Kasumi was saved from death when Christie and Bayman, two workers of the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, appeared on a helicopter and took Kasumi away, leaving Ayane fuming.

A few days after Kasumi arrived on the Freedom Survivor for the first Dead or Alive World Combat Championship, Ayane appeared on the ship, too, with an invitation to join the tournament in order to kill Kasumi, as well as to kill Raidou to avenge Hayate. The girls soon discover that Raidou was working for Fame Douglas, the head of DOATEC, but when Ayane tried to attack him, Raidou easily overpowered her. Before the girls could do anything else, Fame stopped them and told them if they wanted to fight Raidou they had to make it to the final round of the tournament.

Although both girls made it to the last few rounds, Ayane was defeated by her older sister, meaning Kasumi had the chance to take down Raidou. After Raidou was killed, Kasumi was kidnapped by DOATEC, prompting Ryu Hayabusa to find her. Although Ayane hated the idea, she didn’t argue with Hayabusa and returned to her village for the time being.

Character

Appearance

Ayane is of petite height, with a slender and athletic frame and she is one of the youngest girls in the Dead or Alive series. Originally, she was designed with fair skin, a round face, with a small button-nose and wide eyes.

As of Dead or Alive 5, while not straying too far from her original design, her face is now oval-shaped, and her eyes have been slightly narrowed to give her a youthful but more realistic appearance. Also, despite being listed as having a higher bust measurement than many others, her in-game breast size seems visually to be among the smallest of the female cast.

Her appearance is one of the most distinctive out of the fighters, due to her striking light red eyes and straight lavender hair, which is cut to the nape of her neck, with a front fringe, and is tied back with her favorite dark-purple bandana. In the first Dead or Alive, some of her costumes showed her with strawberry blonde hair and in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round some of her costumes (all of them referencing characters from other franchises) change her hair to blonde, light purple, dark blue or light blue. As of Last Round, she has a total of three main hairstyles: her default one (with and without the bandana), a short ponytail with decorative ribbon that is similar to Kasumi’s, and short low pigtails. For her Gust DLC she wears a hairstyle that is basically her normal hair without a bandana, but she has a long thin ponytail “extension” in the back as well to keep in line with the character she is cosplaying as. She also received long pale purple twin-tails tied with ninja shuriken hair decorations for her Senran Kagura DLC costume, where she dresses as Yagyu.

Ayane’s most iconic costume is a dark purple, strapless dress with a pink butterfly printed on the skirt complete with matching pull-on sleeves, stockings, heeled boots, and a giant red or orange obi bow tied around her hips. Other recurring costumes for Ayane include a purple shozoku, Japanese school uniform, and the training dummy costume, originally from the Sega Saturn version of the first Dead or Alive.

In Dead or Alive 6, Ayane’s new default outfit is her outfit from Ninja Gaiden Sigma but in minor alterations. Her corset suit is now black with a purple trim which is connected to her gray tights and black knee-high boots. Her long black ninja gloves are now extended below her shoulders and is no longer fingerless which is covered with light purple fabric.

Personality

Mostly due to the way she was treated as a child, Ayane possesses a detached, cynical outlook on life and is completely driven by the desire to prove to herself and others that she is better than those that condemned her. As a result, she turned into a determined, strong, and deadly young woman, earning her the nickname “Female Tengu.” She also has a tendency to talk down to people – mostly to Kasumi – and act antagonistically. It should be noted that she despises anyone or anything reminding her of the past. Due to her cynical outlook, she at times can be deeply sarcastic, such as when greeting Leifang during the Tamabata festival with barbed remarks, as well as snidely telling a defeated opponent they should watch their opponent when fighting. Similarly, she is not used to people treating her kindly or wanting to be her friend, as can be implied by her interactions with Luna, Misaki and Honoka.

However, despite her cruel behavior, she isn’t entirely cold and heartless. She does form working relationships with those around her and even loving and emotional relationships, such as her admiration for Hayate and her father-daughter relationship with Genra. However, these relationships are so important and meaningful to her that they seem to be her only emotional support and her reason for living. For example, after losing Genra and Hayate becoming angry with her, she tried to commit suicide. This quick decision to take her life at the thought of losing Hayate’s love might be a sign of a more emotionally unstable side to Ayane.

Like most of the other shinobi in the series, she is devoted to what she believes in and follows the code of her clan with all her heart, willing to take on any task for her village, even if it means she could die doing so.