# Ayane (Dead or Alive)

Ayane (/əˈjəˌnɛ/; Japanese: あやね) is a fictional character in the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises by Team Ninja for Koei Tecmo. She debuted as a hidden unlockable character in the PlayStation version of the fighting game Dead or Alive in 1998, and has appeared in all of its sequels where she served as the protagonist of Dead or Alive 3, and has appeared in all of the series' spin-offs. She is also prominently featured as a recurring supporting character in the Ninja Gaiden series since its revival in 2004 and has made multiple guest appearances in other games, in particular in the Dynasty Warriors franchise as well as Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.
Ayane is a teenage ninjutsu master of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, who was treated as an outcast during childhood due to her origin, but into adulthood, has become a respected highly skilled ninja who currently assists alongside her older half-brother and current leader of the clan, Hayate, and has a complex relationship with her half-sister, Kasumi, a runaway ninja and the series' protagonist. She has been voiced by several voice actresses including Gina DeVettori, Janna Levenstein, Wendee Lee, Brittney Lee Harvey, Janice Kawaye, and Wakana Yamazaki. Meanwhile, she was portrayed in the film adaptation of the Dead or Alive franchise by Natassia Malthe.
Ayane's has been regarded as a popular character by media outlets, though with mixed reactions to her personality, with some reacting negatively while others considered here an early example of a tsundere or kuudere character archetype found in Japanese media and a positive example of the Dead or Alive series' writing. Ayane's sex appeal has also received significant praise, though some critics have questioned its appropriateness due to the character's defined age and how her image has been used in advertising and promotional material. As the series has progressed, attempts by Koei Tecmo to reduce what they feel is her "eye candy" aspect, particularly in regards to the size of her large breasts, have received backlash from fans causing the development teams to voice surprise and reverse such changes.

## Conception and creation

When developing Dead or Alive for Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja lead developer Tomonobu Itagaki found the ninja character concepts submitted by the design team to be the coolest, and chose to apply the concept to the game's protagonist, Kasumi. While she was originally intended to be a "kuru kuru ninja", a type of ninja that incorporates spinning movements into their behavior, however as work progressed Kasumi's characterization strayed from the concept. When developing the Dead or Alive ++ arcade version, as the team had decided to introduce the character Bass Armstrong, Itagaki felt it would be nice to incorporate another ninja into the title, creating Ayane.
While a basic version of Ayane was incorporated into the 1998 PlayStation port of Dead or Alive, the Dead or Alive++ arcade version meanwhile fleshed her out fully, giving her the movements they had originally planned for Kasumi. Itagaki noted due to their technical capabilities they had some trouble with the character concept, in particular difficulty finding "a balance between onset, duration, and rigidity, as well as the coolness of the motion" due to the rotating aspect compared to Kasumi's more linear movement. He felt they reached a level of perfection with her in the game's sequel, Dead or Alive 2.
Though initially her attacks were weaker than other characters, they balanced them gradually with Itagaki aiming for a character that would have a psychological impact on players as they fought her regardless of her strength. Ayane's character background was also meant to have an impact on players, introducing her as Kasumi's half-sister but with a significantly hard background. In Itagaki's view, both Kasumi and Ayane were representative of "many unhappy women who have been at the mercy of a male society", and felt this aspect to their portrayal gave them some depth and importance. Instead of telling it outright in-game though, he included a relationship chart with Dead or Alive so players would recognize the key details between each of the cast and imagine the rest, though later games more directly fleshed out the sister's relationship through in-game cinematics. With Dead or Alive 3, she was given attacks and moves from the Lucha Libre martial art due to the development team wanting to include them somewhere amongst the game's fighting styles.
Ayane's personality is portrayed as a cold demeanor and "extremely serious", in contrast to Kasmui's "soft" personality, an aspect of the latter which Itagaki felt was symbolic of the Dead or Alive series. As a result, Ayane was regarded as a better fit for the "very hard-edged" Ninja Gaiden series, appearing in several of its games. The sentiment was shared by Koei Tecmo general manager Yosuke Hayashi, who stated that the image of Ayane "fighting while covered in blood symbolizes the intensity and sharpness" of the games. While the mainline Dead or Alive series has maintained her personality, later titles have given her a wider range, such as when interacting with the characters Zack or Marie Rose in Dead or Alive 6.

### Designs

Standing 157 cm (5 ft 2 in) tall, Ayane is a young Japanese woman with red eyes and measurements of 93-54-84 cm (37-22-33 in). She has purple hair extending to her neck, with bangs in the front. Several designs were considered during development, including a biker style outfit and another with various short skirts that exposed her chest. The finalized design gave her a dark blue miniskirt dress with an orange trim and a butterfly imprint on her left thigh, while the upper portion exposed her cleavage and shoulders and a slit goes slightly up her right thigh. In addition it had matching flowing sleeves, stockings, and high heel boots, while a headband goes across her brow, with a ribbon tied to the left side of it. An orange sash surrounds her waist, tied into a large bow on her back. Even after the outfit was completed, the development team spent additional time working out the proper color scheme.
In terms of physical appearance, the development team wanted to counter the then-perception that it was impossible to "create beautiful girls in 3D", with Itagaki aiming to create "Digital Venus" designs that would be popular on media character rankings. To this end particular emphasis was placed on the size and movement of the cast's breasts, in part due to the development team's own preference and what they perceived as a "breast boom" in Japan at the time, an increase in average bust sizes across the nation. Due to Ayane's original outfit exposing her shoulders Itagaki gave their animation and movement particular attention, describing the process as "trial and error" and not being satisfied with the results until three days prior to the game's release deadline.
With Dead or Alive 3, her primary attire was changed to a black ninja outfit that covered more of her body, while giving off a "somber tone". Itagaki noted he preferred it, in part due to the fact he was unsure what original ideas they could do with her ribbon outfit. Regardless, the ribbon outfit has appeared in other games in the series as a clothing option. In addition to these, Ayane has had a multitude of other outfits throughout the franchise including swimsuits, schoolgirl clothes, and other variations of ninja attire, some of which meant to represent her as a "dark heroine", while others such as her appearance in the Ninja Gaiden series have integrated a butterfly motif.
Several changes to Ayane's appearance and aesthetics however have been met with considerable pushback from players. For her appearance in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, they changed her face to have her appear older. The change received backlash from fans and was reverted, howevever a similar change later in the Dead or Alive series was met with less resistance. For Dead or Alive 5, Hayashi wanted to present the game as more "mature" and stated the characters were "no longer content to be eye candy", in Ayane's reducing the size her breasts and reducing their jiggle. Players again objected, with lead developer Yohei Shimbori stating fans requested bigger breasts much to the development team's surprise, and the change was undone.

## Appearances
### In Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden

Ayane is a Japanese kunoichi introduced in the video game Dead or Alive by Koei Tecmo. Raised by one of her ninja clan leaders, Genra, she is treated as an outcast with her only friend being series protagonist Kasumi. She later discovers she is the daughter of series villain, Raidou, who raped a woman named Ayame, Kasumi's and Hayate's mother. Angered this was withheld from her, she turns her aggression towards her half-sister, who she saw as living the exact opposite life she had. When Kasumi leaves the clan's village, Genra orders Ayane to hunt her down. She continues this mission into the game's later sequels, but in Dead or Alive 3 discovers that Genra was captured by the corporation DOATEC who had turned him into a superhuman puppet. Taking matters into her own hands, she kills her foster father to end his misery. In Dead or Alive 4, she helps bring down DOATEC by destroying their complex. Later in Dead or Alive 6, she fights alongside Kasumi and her half-brother Hayate to defeat a revived Raidou.
Outside of the main series, Ayane also appears in all of the Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball titles. Dead or Alive: Code Cronus, a prequel project intended to tell the story of Kasumi's and Ayane's childhoods and explore "the innocence and cruelty of children," was intended for release but cancelled when Itagaki left Tecmo. In all appearances, Ayane is voiced by Wakana Yamazaki in Japanese. Meanwhile, in English she has been voiced by a variety of actresses, including Gina DeVettori for Dead or Alive 2, Janna Levenstein for Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 up to Dead or Alive Paradise, Wendee Lee for Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Brittney Lee Harvey for Dead or Alive 5, and Janice Kawaye for Dead or Alive 6.
In the Ninja Gaiden series she first appears in a minor role in the 2004 video game, and more prominently in Ninja Gaiden Black where if the player chooses the game's "Ninja Dog" mode she asserts herself as protagonist Ryu Hayabusa's master, providing him occasional items throughout the game to make it easier. In later games such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge she is available in particular missions and multiplayer modes as a playable character. In tie-in games for the series, she is featured in Zen Pinball: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and in the 2013 mobile action card game Hyakuman-nin no Ninja Gaiden. In Japanese, the character is voiced again by Wakana Yamazaki in all appearances, while Janice Kawaye voices her throughout the series in English.

### In other games and media

In other Koei Tecmo produces games, she appears as a playable character in both Warriors Orochi 3 and Shin Sangoku Musou VS in her Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 outfit, with the latter as downloadable content for the game, and in the crossover title Warriors All-Stars she appears as a playable character representing the Ninja Gaiden franchise. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV, she was included as a playable character alongside others from Dead or Alive. Meanwhile, the survival horror game Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water features Ayane in her own side story mission, which focuses on her trying to find a missing girl. Ayane's inclusion in the title was at the suggestion of Nintendo, and the developers spent significant time adjusting the character's model particularly the wobble of her breasts, with Team Ninja provided "a lot of advice".
In non-Koei Tecmo produced titles, she was included in Marvelous Entertainment's fighting games Senran Kagura: Estival Versus and Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash, and later in the Honey Parade Games produced follow up title Shinobi Master Senran Kagura: New Link. In mobile titles, she was added to Shift Up's Destiny's Child as part of a collaboration event in 2020.
In other media, Ayane appears in several stories in the gag comic series Dead or Alive 2 Comic Anthology by DNA Media Comics. She was also featured in the live-action film DOA: Dead or Alive, where instead of being Kasumi's sibling she is her former servant and holds romantic feelings for Hayate. Dedicated to killing Kasumi, Ayane confronts her several times on the island. She later aids Hayate against DOATEC. In the film, Ayane was portrayed by actress Natassia Malthe, who went through "weeks of martial arts training in China" for the film. Tomonobu Itagaki later said he "wanted to have Japanese actresses portray Kasumi and Ayane" but the film's director Corey Yuen "believed strongly in his casting choices." Meanwhile, the film's producer Mark A. Altman said that he "was such a fan" of Malthe being "threatening and enigmatic as Ayane" that he cast her in his later film Dead and Deader.

## Promotion and merchandise

Several figures of Ayane have been released based on her appearances in the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series by companies such as Kotobukiya, Multiverse Studio, Mr Big, Sega, Volks, and Kaiyodo's Revoltech brand. Other merchandise items include wall scrolls, dakimakura pillow cases, trading cards, credit card designs, women's swimwear, and a Dead or Alive talking clock that was bundled with another figure of either Ayane or Kasumi. "3D" coffee mugs and mousepads emphasizing the size of her breasts were produced, including a life-sized variant of the latter.
In promotions for other Koei Tecmo properties, Ayane appears as a non-player character guest appearance in Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce which also included her swords from Ninja Gaiden as optional weapons, while parts of her Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 costume were released as downloadable content for Dynasty Warriors Online. In the 2004 Director's Cut of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Ayane's dress appears as an outfit for the character Mayu, 2007's Super Swing Golf: Season 2 as an outfit for the character Kooh, and in 2017 as a general outfit for players in Phantasy Star Online 2.
Ayane has also been heavily featured in promotional media that often focused on her sex appeal, such as banners produced to promote Xtreme 2 emphasizing the visibility of her nipples through her swimwear. Another image of her image in a swimsuit was used in Playboy magazine as part of their "Girls of Gaming" series Meanwhile, advertisements for Ninja Gaiden 2 emphasized being able to use the PlayStation's sixaxis controller to move her breasts, while another utilized a wall fixture in Japan that had silicone facsimiles of her chest protruding from the wall, with a camera recording people groping and caressing the "breasts" as they passed by.

## Critical reception

Since her debut, Ayane has received mixed reception. Gen Gamachi of Inside Games described her "appearance and excellent style" as having "blossomed", feeling both helped make her very popular while also praising her as a "quiet, cool beauty" with a strong sense of responsibility. The staff of Paragon Publishing's Dreamcast Magazine meanwhile described her as a character "worthy of special attention", calling her equally glamorous as Kasumi and "just as much of an eyeful...if not more so!" They further praised how the series' clothing options increased her appeal, though called her gameplay "irritating". Mike Fahey of Kotaku on the other hand approved of her toned down breast physics in Dead or Alive 5, stating she now "[looks] more like a young girl who'd studied martial arts all of her life and less like a young woman who only studied martial arts when she wasn't recovering from cosmetic surgery."
Other outlets have focused more on her personality. Raymond Padilla of GameSpy stated he originally saw the character as an "uptight bitch with a massive chip on her shoulder", but that upon seeing her story which covered her upbringing and the root of her feud with Kasumi, helped him to like the character significantly more, and he emphasized it as an example of good writing in fighting games and the effects thereof. Dengeki Online staff writer "Masked Imaichi" stated that while characters with tsundere or kuudere had become more common in the years since her debut, he felt her persronality was a novel concept at the time, Adding "she was a little tough, but with her cute face, she struck a chord with my heart", he found her even more appealing as the series progressed. The staff of Kakuchopurei meanwhile were more critical, describing her as "just a Terminator archetype who’s dressed to kill" and further complained that she had a "literal child-like demeanor."
The staff of Chinese website Sina.com.cn stated that upon debut her "icy demeanor" and purple hair color quickly drew the attention of players and helped make her a popular character. When discussing her movements, they stated they were "inferior to Kasumi in terms of elegance and noise" but highlighted "her petite and attractive figure". They additionally pointed out the significance of purple in her primary color scheme, noting the color was often believed to have "a healing effect, especially the healing light that people with hurt hearts". They felt it tied well into her backstory and personal traumas, especially as her character became more open as the series progressed. Additional praise was given to voice actress Wakana Yamazaki stating that while some saw her delivery as having a "lack of presence" and giving a weak impression, in their eyes it naturally fit the image of a lonely ninja and called her a perfect fit for the character.

### Criticism regarding age and sexualization

In early Dead or Alive titles, Ayane was one of three characters whose in-universe age was stated to be under 18, a detail about her and the others Tecmo omitted from Western releases of the games. However, this caused issues in some countries such as Sweden, particularly in regards to the Nintendo 3DS title of the series, due to allegations of the game portraying underage characters in "pornographic situations". Kakuchopurei's staff in their earlier mention of her also acknowledged her underage status, expressing gratitude that she was made older in Dead or Alive 6 but the unease of "her previous incarnations with the skimpiest kunoichi outfits made for Japan strip clubs" lingered in their minds.
James Stephanie Sterling in an article for Destructoid addressed the matter in her own commentary, jokingly stating they felt like a "pedophile" when discussing the character and her "huge busters" with a Tecmo rep at E3 regarding Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. She further criticized Tecmo for caving in to player demand regarding the character's face for the title, as she felt its "child-like" appearance only added to the issue. In an article for GameFront, Sterling further called Ayane's young age coupled with her sexualization an "obsession with youth", a perceived aspect Japan she found particularly disturbing. She questioned if it was "so important to see [...] that the girl with gigantic tits is sixteen-years-old?", though felt that even if her age was increased Ayane would still "look like a creepy, big-breasted infant". Sterling also called out the sixaxis gimmick of moving her breasts with the controller, feeling the way it was advertised encouraged players to "Buy our game, and manipulate the jugs on this big-eyed lump of grade-A jailbait."
Her use in promotional material also drew some criticism, with Hyper magazine questioning the appropriateness of her appearing in Playboy and expressing concern such could give those critical of video games additional ammunition. Meanwhile, Joe Newman of GamesRadar+ heavily criticized the Ninja Gaiden ad campaigns, feeling both were out of place with not only the tone of the game but also her character, particularly for her role as a ninja. He further emphasized it followed a trend of Tecmo using such material to promote their games, and to him suggested the developers held a lack of confidence in their works.