Gon (ゴン?) is a licensed guest character appearing only in Tekken 3. He is unlocked either by defeating him in Tekken Ball mode or by achieving a high score in Survival Mode and inputting the name "GON".
Biography
Gon is a small, silent dinosaur of an actual species (Giganotosaurus). When events caused others of his kind to become extinct, Gon somehow survived, and now spends his time traveling the world, exploring his environments and interacting with other animals he meets. Gon is very strong, being able to lift things much heavier than he is, and has a tough, almost impenetrable hide.
Personality
Gon has a very short temper, and has very little patience. Despite this, Gon is very warm-hearted and likes interacting with fellow animals, and will always aid any other beings in their time of need. Gon also has a very large appetite and is always on the hunt for food. While he is of limited intelligence, Gon does have a cunning side, particularly when it comes to hunting.
Appearance
Gon is a small yellow dinosaur with a long tail and a white underbelly. He also has white claws on his paws and feet, as well as a line of spines that runs from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. Considering his body size, Gon has disproportionately large legs and feet, as well as a large head, with big white eyes and a large mouth full of small, sharp teeth, while his arms and paws are very small by comparison. While his exact species is Giganotosaurus, he most closely resembles a small Tyrannosaur rather than a Carnosaur.
Outfits
Player 1 outfit:
Gon wears a pair of red boxing gloves.
Player 2 outfit:
Gon now wears a pair of blue boxing gloves and a turtle shell on his back.
Story
Tekken 3
Gon is one of the three hidden playable characters, along with Doctor Bosconovitch and Tiger Jackson. His appearance seems purely ornamental, considering no motive is given for him participating in the third King of Iron Fist Tournament.
Ending Description, "Loop": Gon is seen emerging from the ocean, riding a dolphin. The dolphin leaps through the air and is struck by a whale rising from the water, sending both Gon and the dolphin flying. The whale then shoots water from its blowhole, striking Gon and propelling him through the air. He lands in a forest and barrels through the trees, startling other woodland creatures, before stealing a fish from a bear and leaping onto the back of a lion, eating the fish as he does so. The lion races to the edge of a cliff and halts at the edge, launching Gon back into the air. Gon lands on the back of a seagull and rides it through the air. Gon then flaps his arms and tail and lets go of the seagull in an attempt to fly; he stays airborne for a few seconds, but then plummets down, back into the ocean. The ending then repeats from the beginning.
Other Appearances
Tekken: The Motion Picture
Gon makes a very brief cameo in Tekken: The Motion Picture; in Doctor Bosconovitch's lab, multiple Gons can be seen floating in some of the large glass tanks. While most likely just an Easter egg, it could be speculated that, in the non-canonical Motion picture universe at least, Gon is another one of Dr. Bosconovitch's genetic experiments, and that he participates in the third King of Iron Fist Tournament because he was entered to test his abilities, much like Roger and Alex were entered into the second tournament.
Manga
Gon is the protagonist of the manga series of the same name, created by Masashi Tanaka. Each issue is a standalone story that follows the comedic adventures of Gon as he explores and interacts with the environment and its inhabitants. There is very little continuity within the series, with Gon appearing in different countries in almost every issue.
The English edition of the manga was originally published by Mandarin Publishing (UK, 1994) and Paradox Press (USA, 1996). The single Mandarin volume contains the eight stories that were in the first two Japanese Gon collections. The eight Paradox Press volumes contain all the published Gon stories: six eight-page full-color stories in the Gon Color Spectacular, and twenty-one black-and-white stories, of varying length, in the other seven volumes[2]
Anime
A 50-episode CGI anime premiered in April 2012. It focuses on Gon and other animal characters, and features voice acting, unlike the original manga. A more kid-friendly manga and a video game will accompany this new series, though the original manga will still be continued.
Other media
Gon made his first video game appearance in his own Super Nintendo platform game simply known as "Gon". The game was developed by Tose and released in Japan by Bandai in 1994.
His latest platformer game, Gon: Baku Baku Baku Baku Adventure, was developed by Namco Bandai for the Nintendo 3DS and was released in Japan on June 14, 2012.
Gameplay
Although he is more of a novelty, comic relief character, Gon's small size and good speed give him a great advantage in battle. He can pass unharmed below most higher attacks, and he has some fast, rapid-hit pokes which can quickly drain an opponents health, as well as some ranged fire breath and dash attacks. He also has some attacks, such as the Bicycle Kick and Frankensteiner, that were part of Roger's moveset in Tekken 2, although his small size make these attacks significantly less effective.
The downside to playing as Gon is the limited reach of his attacks, with many requiring the player to be directly in front of the opponent for the hit to land, leaving him few attacking options from afar. Human opponents will be able to keep him at bay with little difficulty, making him a poor character choice in multiplayer modes for all but the most confident Gon players, but the computer AI has a hard time dealing with his smaller hitbox, making him significantly more effective in single player modes.
Fighting Style
Gon fights using a unique, unknown fighting style, although similarities between his fighting style and that of Alex and Roger mean that his fighting style could, unofficially, be considered a form of Commando Wrestling.
Moves
Trivia
General:
- Gon is the second playable dinosaur in the Tekken series, after Alex.
- While Gon is not Tyrannosaurus, his head resembles that of a Tyrannosaur.
- According to Katsuhiro Harada, Gon will not appear in any future Tekken games because of licensing issues. Harada responded on his Twitter, "Gon is not our Rights. That was one-time license. Plz don't ask about that", meaning Namco does not own the rights of the character and Tekken 3 would be the only time where he would be a guest character.
- However, as Namco Bandai published the most recent Gon game the same year that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was released on consoles, either the earlier contract was unusually restrictive toward the character's future use, or Harada does not think it is worth the effort.
- In the anime adaptation of Gon, Gon is voiced by Motoko Kumai.
- Gon makes a cameo appearance in the group picture in the Tekken 3 comic, along with Tiger Jackson and Doctor Bosconovitch.
- Gon is the first licensed character in the Tekken franchise, the others being Akuma, Geese Howard, Noctis Lucis Caelum, and Negan in Tekken 7/Fated Retribution.
- Gon is the first guest fighter who originates from a comic book, followed by guest fighter Negan from The Walking Dead.
Tekken 3:
- Gon's ending is the only ending in Tekken 3 that goes in a continuous loop, and must be manually interrupted by pressing the Start button.
- Gon's alternate costume in Tekken 3 shows him with a turtle shell and blue gloves, the turtle shell being a reference to the time when Gon decided to wear a turtle shell that he found in the manga from which he originates. His mother was also a turtle. The red and blue boxing gloves are a reference to Roger and Alex from Tekken 2.
- Just like in the manga from which he originates, Gon does not speak. Instead, he growls and chirps, in a similar way to Alex.
- Gon is the only character in the game who is barely affected by True Ogre's Hell's Flame, as it only does one damage point to him, and its damage is negated entirely if Gon is hit mid-air.
- Gon only has one win animation, which is identical to Gun Jack's chest pound in the same game (in fact, all Jack models have this animation except for Prototype Jack).
- Contrary to the laws of science, his Gon with the Wind fart attack does not get set on fire by True Ogre's fire blast or another Gon's Dino Breath.
- While running, Gon rapidly opens and closes his mouth in a similar manner to Pac-Man.