- "I'll smash you into pieces! Die!"
- ―Dou Niu during his final battle with Ryo.
Dou Niu (Hànzì: 斗牛, Pinyin: Dòuniú, On'yomi: Togyū) is the leader of a gang called the Yellow Heads that operates in Kowloon. He is a central antagonist in Shenmue II and also is the final boss of the game. His right-hand partner is Yuan, who also is his lover which is speculated why Yuan is such a high-ranking member of the gang.
Appearance[]
Dou Niu is Chinese and is a very large man being 220 cm (7'2") tall and weighing 180 kg (396 lbs). He is completely bald, has brown eyes and has a wart on his forehead. He wears a gold chain necklace, a dark turquoise jacket, with yellow and black on it and a design on the back of a red, yellow and gold colored Chinese demon above bright yellow clouds. He also wears yellow, black and gray wristbands, a bright red karate belt, dark turquoise pants, and brown Chinese sandals.
Biography[]
Dou Niu is a large brute-like character, who lacks intelligence and is always tricked by Wuying Ren who also is his rival. He has even dubbed Dou Niu as "Stupid Dou Niu". Although it is not said why, Dou Niu's gang has a rivalry with Ren's Heavens gang. Dou Niu also has connections with the Chi You Men and with Lan Di. Dou Niu's current goal is to find Yuanda Zhu in Kowloon and bring him to Lan Di.
Dou Niu is also very strong, but slow in hand-to-hand combat. He was easily able to handle both Ryo and Ren at the Dancing Dragon Building where Ryo first meets him and outside of the Ghost Hall Building where he overpowers Ryo in combat, until Xiuying Hong arrives and knocks out Dou Niu with just one move. This shows that he is no match for trained martial arts masters. Ryo had a tough time defeating Dou Niu in their final one-on-one fight, until he listened to Xiuying's advice to keep his mind as "clear as a polished mirror". Even at this point, Ryo is no where near as strong as Xiuying.
Yuan is second-in-command of the Yellow Heads and is Dou Niu's right-hand partner. They have known each other for a long time and are also involved in a romantic relationship, which is speculated why Yuan has such a high rank in the gang. Yuan is a cross-dressing male meaning that Dou Niu is homosexual or bisexual. This is the case in the original Japanese version of Shenmue II and in Shenmue the Animation, however in the English versions of Shenmue II, Yuan's gender was altered to be female. In these versions, it seems as if Dou Niu is heterosexual. In the Japanese version, Dou Niu directly refers to Yuan as his "cute love thing", while the English versions mostly hint that they are in a relationship and he refers to Yuan as his "partner" instead in that scene. In the anime, Dou Niu refers to Yuan as his "cute little Yuan", directly stating that they are in a relationship like in the Japanese version of the game. This as well as Yuan's gender change could be considered censorship.
Dou Niu also seems to have a big ego since he has a stone bust of himself near his office and another one is located at the area that has the door to enter his office. He also has a large framed portrait of himself and Yuan in his office. Dou Niu also is very greedy and has a big lust for power since he wants to take over the whole city of Kowloon and he and Yuan already live an extravagant lifestyle from blackmailing Kowloon's shopkeepers.
Shenmue II[]
Dou Niu and Yuan confronting Ryo and Ren.
Dou Niu is first encountered when Ryo Hazuki and Ren are seeking Yuanda Zhu, but he defeats them and they become handcuffed. Later, when they are fleeing the Dancing Dragon Building, they injure Yuan, and moments later, Dou Niu exits a nearby elevator. Enraged they injured his partner, Dou Niu proceeds to chase them but they escape.
In the Ghost Hall Building, Dou Niu and Yuan are able to find Zhu by following Ryo and Ren. Yuan and his thugs capture Zhu, while Dou Niu fights Ryo, but Dou Niu is fought by Xiuying Hong who defeats him and rescues Ryo.
Dou Niu's final showdown with Ryo.
In the Yellow Head Building, Dou Niu tries to chase Ren and Ryo, but fails. On the roof, Dou Niu almost kills Wong by dropping him, but is stopped by Ren and Ryo. Dou Niu serves as the final boss of the game. Dou Niu is unable to hand Zhu over to Lan Di due to intervention from Ryo and Ren. After his defeat, he is last seen collapsed on the roof.
Shenmue the Animation[]
Dou Niu as he appears in the anime.
Dou Niu appears as an antagonist in Shenmue the Animation. He is a central antagonist in Episode 10 through Episode 13 and his role is very identical to how it is in the game series.
The anime includes more scenes of Dou Niu and Yuan together, such as them talking to Lan Di after they capture Ryo and Ren and them discussing their plans at their hideout. The game barely included any interaction between the two. The two are also involved romantically and Yuan is a male like in the Japanese version of the game, meaning that Dou Niu is homosexual or bisexual like he was originally.
Quotes[]
Shenmue II[]
- "Yuanda Zhu isn't so handsome!" (Dou Niu when he first meets Ryo and he asks if he's Zhu.)
- "I'm looking for Yuanda Zhu too. I'll take good care of you."
- "What the hell did you do to my partner!? You punks! I'll kill both of you!"
- "You rats! Die!"
Shenmue the Animation[]
- "How dare you hurt my cute little Yuan! I'm gonna tear you limb from limb!"
Trivia[]
Hiroshi Noguchi cosplaying as Dou Niu.
- One of the members of the development team for the Shenmue series, Hiroshi Noguchi, who was the head of 3D videos and motion capture for the first Shenmue and Shenmue II used to cosplay as Dou Niu.
- Dou Niu is very strong, but may also be highly athletic as he may have crossed tiny wooden planks that would not realistically support his weight in the Ghost Hall Building. This could be possible, or he and his men may have got the elevator key like Ren to avoid this as his gang has a lot of connections in Kowloon.
- Dou Niu's zodiac sign is Taurus and he has a B blood type.
- "TOG" appears on the #3 ranking in the Hang On arcade game which is the first three letters of Dou Niu's Japanese name "Togyu" and "TOG" is his character ID name in the game's files. This could mean that Dou Niu has played Hang On and possibly other arcade games, or it could just be an easter egg from the developers.
- Dou Niu's English voice actor in Shenmue II, Dean Harrington is also the English voice actor for Yuanda Zhu in the game.
- Dou Niu's Japanese voice actor in Shenmue II, Masayuki Kumagai is also the Japanese voice actor for Tao Duo Ji in the first Shenmue.
- In Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, Taka-Arashi can be customized to look similar to Dou Niu.[1]
References[]
Gallery[]
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Shenmue Wiki has a gallery for Dou Niu. | 
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