Tough no matter what

One of the greatest downed poses ever belongs to Rebecca from the Neo-Geo Double Dragon fighting game. She looks badass in victory as expected

but also does so in (temporary) defeat.

Despite her health meter having run out, which is usually assumed to lead to a state of unconsciousness in these types of games, she continues to hold her head up and make a fist with her right hand like a trooper. Even 'knocked out' Rebecca is still strong! So tough and inspiring. 

Always proud

Some of you may remember Annie from the Power Instinct series (previously featured further down), who showed quite the tomboyish spunk with a defiant clenched fist in her downed pose. In Matrimelee, a later game in the series, Annie took on a more mature and feminine look - along with changing the spelling of her name to "Anny."

But did she lose any of her admirable toughness with the change in image? Well, looking at her new losing pose you might think so, as she not longer clenches a fist, but merely lies with open hands flat on the ground...

But the real answer is, of course, no! Check out her proud words even after being put down (no doubt only momentarily) after a tough battle, still sounding energetic and questioning her defeat - one can easily imagine her next line to be something like "No way!" and that she will resume the fight... if her player chooses to continue, anyway. 

Tomboyish spunk

Another female classic fighting game character who handled adversity with admirable strength was Annie from the Power Instinct series. 

With her unassuming girl-next-door look, one might not assume her on sight to be a tough as nails fighter - but she sure was! Even after being supposedly defeated, she keeps her fist tightly clenched, a sign in my mind that she isn't quite as helpless as her empty health bar implies! It's a good thing her opponents in this game are honorable enough not to attack her again while she's down - for them that is, since if they did, I would bet on her to make an angry comeback and kick their butts!

Toughness in the face of hardship

One of my favorite video game characters ever was Janne from the old World Heroes series. Based on Joan of Arc, she was one of the first (if not the first) female fighting game characters to rock a sword and awesome armor, but that's not the only reason I like her...

Not the most inspiring picture at first glance, but look closely at her sword arm. Yup, she has one of the toughest looking downed poses ever in fighting game history - even with her health bar empty, she STILL holds up her blade in defiance! Toughness shows through best under adversity and Janne certainly displays it here, looking like she still wants to fight on despite her supposedly "knocked out" (more like just stunned by my estimation) status. What a beast!

 Janne © ADK