From yesterday’s recounting of Liquid Snake’s epic battle against his brother, we now march onward to another villain with martial prowess and a powerful superweapon at his disposal. However, the game and boss in question aren’t nearly as well regarded as our previous subject. Today, I speak of Dauragon C. Mikado, the lead antagonist and final boss of the early PS2 brawler The Bouncer.

Before I begin, while The Bouncer isn’t exactly held in high regard by many, I never really had a problem with the game. I think it’s fun, entertaining, and a good way to blow away the occasional afternoon. But enough editorializing on the game’s quality. I’m here to talk about the boss.

Dauragon is not the most original when it comes to his villainy. His backstory is fairly simple. As a boy, he and his younger sister were orphans. When Dauragon’s sister became ill, he tried to take her to a hospital, but was denied entrance at the door and turned away. Fortunately, the passenger of a passing limousine happened to see the kids and offered his help. This man was the leader of the Mikado Group.

While the generous efforts were not enough to save Dauragon’s sister, Mikado took Dauragon into his home to raise as his heir. The only stipulation being that the boy strive hard to excel in all walks of life so that he might become a man worthy enough to take the reins of the Mikado Group. Do well in school, strive to hone his body and mind, and his path in life would be secure.

Seems fair, right? Dauragon strives to prove himself to a man that, up to that point, had already been more than generous to him, and he inherits a powerful corporation while living a life of luxury. And it’s evident that, based on the very fact that he’s now in charge of the Mikado Group, Dauragon lived up to his end of the bargain. It should be a happy ending.

Except not. Because Dauragon is a bitter, petulant troll of a man. He resents Mikado for asking him to endure stringent academic education and martial training. And he uses his vast wealth to construct a powerful satellite that secretly doubles as an orbital death ray. An orbital death ray that he tests out on the hospital that denied his sister care when they were children.

Not only is it apparently impossible for Dauragon to feel thankful for anything, he has a vindictive streak the size of the Pacific Ocean. One can only imagine the terrors he’d inflict on a barista for serving his coffee a few degrees too hot.

So at the end of the game, Dauragon is confronted by the three heroes, Sion, Kou, and Volt, in the control room of his doomsday weapon. The first time he’s fought, he goes down fairly easily. But things get tougher on subsequent playthroughs.

That is, tougher, and weirder. The second time the game is played, the fight is extended, and Dauragon reveals his second form, in which he removes his shirt/jacket thing and reveals…

…that he’s wearing a pair of designer overalls.

Allow me to repeat myself. Designer overalls. And there’s not even a shirt underneath them. He basically goes from supervillain to Backyard Wrestling in one fell swoop. But if you play through the game a third time, Dauragon goes even further, unfastening the overall straps to reveal the tattoo inked across his back. A tattoo that would look significantly more badass if it weren’t for the fact that he otherwise resembles a hillbilly at the county fair.

No matter how many times I play The Bouncer, I’ll never be able to get over that. I know that Dauragon is the villain in a game with Tetsuya Nomura character designs, and so I should be thankful that he’s not covered from head to toe in zippers and belts, but really. Overalls. Fucking overalls, man.

I just, I…

Sigh.

Hopefully, tomorrow’s entrant into End Boss Month will come with a better sense of fashion. I'll give Dauragon one solid point excellence in one aspect, though. His wardrobe guarantees that I will never forget him.