
Dead or Alive (Japanese: デッド オア アライブ, Hepburn: Deddo oa Araibu | DOA) is a Japanese media franchise based on a fighting video game series developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo (Koei Tecmo). It is primarily composed of fast-paced fighting games that begun with the original Dead or Alive in 1996. The series received critical and universal acclaim with the sequels Dead or Alive 2 in 1999 and Dead or Alive 3 in 2001, which are considered landmark titles. Dead or Alive is the creation of Tomonobu Itagaki, who has since left the company and is no longer working on the series, which continues without him. The series revolves around the events of the Dead or Alive World Combat Championship, an international martial arts tournament where fighters from across the globe participate in for the title of world champion and large cash prizes. The tournaments are held by the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee (DOATEC). The conflict between the ninja competitors and DOATEC's personnel serves as the main focus of the series. Dead or Alive has been well praised for its impressive fighting system, beautiful graphics, and interactive environments. The franchise consists of six main fighting games, numerous updates and spin-offs. In addition to its fast-paced combat, beautiful environments and countering-based play system, the franchise is also known for its female characters. This aspect of the series' popularity led to the creation of the spin-off game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and its sequels, where the female characters and their sex appeal play a more focal role than it does in the core Dead or Alive series. A film adaptation, DOA: Dead or Alive, was released in 2006.

Dead Or Alive (Franchise)

Influence(s)
for Influence(s) in Sentoki 4
Suggested by keatoncarpenter

As Kei Ikushima reaches the finals of the Sentoki tournament, Ranzou Kihara, who was watching over the tournament, would unleash K-001, a clone created in Kei's image and infused with all of the fight data collected by Orion, upon her. After a grueling battle, Kei was able to defeat the clone and win the match, until Ranzou, not liking the results, decided to restart the match right there and then. As the match got restarted, K-001 proceeded to attack the battered and exhausted Kei in cold blood, delivering vicious blows and strikes, which incapacitated her. She was about to be killed when Shin intervened and fought with the clone. He was eventually able to defeat K-001, but Kei barely survived after all of the injuries she suffered, and was sent to the hospital shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, outside the arena, a mysterious man who goes by the name of "Nixon" watches the entireity of the tournament through some of the TVs displayed on a surplus window. All alone on the streets, Nixon has no memory about his past, living his current life as a vagrant, walking the streets of Tokyo aimlessly and occasionally fighting in underground pit fights as his only livelihood. However, despite his amnesia, he seems to recognize the face of Ranzou Kihara. He dosen't understand it either. He just felt something... oddly familiar about him. It was as if Nixon's mind was drawn to this man, for reasons that aren't clear to himself at all. A rising urge builds up within him: a strong desire to meet Ranzou Kihara himself in order to make sense of his amnesiac mind. Almost a year after the last tournament, Orion would eventually announce the fourth Sentoki: Global Martial Arts tournament. Upon hearing the news, Nixon wasted no time and decided to enter the tournament, his mind dead set on meeting Ranzou, thinking he has all the answers to his past.
