Dural | |
Dural in Virtua Fighter 5 | |
Profile | |
Fighting Style | A combined form of other martial arts |
Debut | Virtua Fighter |
Dural (デュラル, Dyuraru) is the main antagonist of the video game series Virtua Fighter.
Dural appears as the final opponent in Arcade mode in all Virtua Fighter games. The player is given only one match against her; whether or not Dural is defeated, the game is over. Dural is playable in each game via an entered code or fulfilling set criteria but has no officially published move lists.
Dural's fighting style is an amalgamation of various moves[1] taken from several fighters in each game. Consequently, she may string together unique combinations that cause incredible damage and defeat players very quickly. Her style also augments some of the original fighters' moves to make them even more damaging.
History
Dural was previously a human woman named Tsukikage, a kunoichi and Kage-Maru's mother. When the mysterious corporation Judgement 6 noticed her exemplary fighting ability and resilient body, they captured her and used her as their prototype for their terrifying Dural project. Arming her body with various cybernetic enhancements and brainwashing, she became a cyborg, immune to feeling.
Since then, Kage has attempted to retrieve Tsukikage and restore her to her former self, finally succeeding in Virtua Fighter 3. However, he needed parts to keep her inhuman body operational, and when he retrieved them, she became even less human than before. Now Kage enters the 4th tournament to end his mother's suffering and return her to normal.
Meanwhile, the J6 corporation has their eyes on Sarah Bryant, their former brainwashed minion, as the subject for their next Dural project.
During the Fourth World Fighting Tournament, J6 released their true model; however, it was defeated. This drove J6 to kidnap Vanessa Lewis. Although Vanessa escaped, her combat data was captured and transferred into a new model: V-Dural. J6 is now ready to test their new advanced V-Dural against the world's best fighters - let the Fifth World Fighting Tournament begin...
Appearance
Dural appears as a humanoid woman in all of her incarnations. Her skin is made of a reflective and solid chrome due to being roboticized, making her the only character to produce metallic "clanking" noises when hit. She is also completely bald. As graphics capabilities improved with each successive game, her appearance became much more streamlined.
Virtua Fighter & Virtua Fighter 2
Dural assumes Sarah's profile and fighting stance (Akira's stance in VF2), and silver or gold pallette swaps. The polygonal count is comparably low, giving Dural's body a jagged edged look. In the second game, she develops full facial features, including eyes, a nose, ears, and mouth. Virtua Fighter 2 also contains a video animation of Dural shedding her metal skin to reveal Tsukikage beneath, as a reward for completing the game without losing a match. Dural shares Akira's stage as the boss of the first game. She has a unique stage in Virtua Fighter 2 in the sunken ruins of Atlantis, where the underwater viscosity hampers the speed of her attacks and those of her opponent.
Virtua Fighter 3
Dural assumes Sarah's profile and Akira's stance. She wears a gold skin, or a silver skin which appears black under some stages' lighting. The polygonal count was greatly increased, giving her body a much smoother look that reflects light well. As the match progresses, Dural's body may gradually become transparent, making visual detection difficult. Her stage is chosen randomly from the other players' arenas, with a yellow haze cast over the field.
Virtua Fighter 4
Dural assumes Sarah's profile and a unique fighting stance. She sports a silver or light blue skin when playable. In Arcade mode, she may also feature a new "stealth" skin which bends the light around her body to camouflage her into the background, making visual detection more difficult. From this game onward, Dural can be heard breathing heavily when immobile. Her stage is set on a conveyor belt in a J6 warehouse, which moves down a corridor featuring other Dural models stored in niches in the walls.
Virtua Fighter 5
The new V-Dural model features Vanessa's profile and stance. She features four skins: silver, black, and stealth from previous games, as well as a new skin of durable stone, assimilated from her stage of stone ruins, the Sanctuary.
In Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, when facing V-Dural in bonus stage, the Sanctuary is drastically different than its selectable counterparts.
In Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, she is not an unlockable hidden playable character in the initial release of the remake update of the game. Also, her stage is in a laboratory testing ground, the Genesis, instead of in the Sanctuary.
Virtua Fighter Kids
In Virtua Fighter Kids, Dural is depicted as a young girl (6 to 9 years old). In her nonviolent ending, she buys a balloon from a salesman and floats away into the sky where she meets and befriends an alien.
Other Media
Virtua Fighter Anime
Dural's origins are much different in the anime than in the game versions. It had been created by robotics scientist Eva Durix through the backing of the Koenkan and later, the Rafale Corporation after Eva had a fallout with the Koenkan. Unlike her video game counterpart, she has no connection to Kage-Maru.
In the second season, she comes back as a new Model called Dural Gold, made again by Eva Durix, this version is much stronger than the normal one. She can learn from other fighters, also she can assume all of their fighting styles.
Project X Zone
V-Dural appears as a rival unit in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone.
Project X Zone 2
Two Durals (original and V version) appears as a rival unit in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone 2. Once the original Dural is defeated in Chapter 40 - "Iron Fists of Fury", Akira realize who this Dural was and her relation to Kage, while being advised by the current head ninja to move forward until they can finally rest in peace, just like how they put original Dural out of misery from J6's brainwashing.
Videos
Gallery
References
Virtua Fighter Series | |
Main Series | Virtua Fighter (Remix) • 2 • 3 • 4 (Evolution, Final Tuned) • 5 (R, Final Showdown, Ultimate Showdown) |
Related Games and Spin-Offs | Virtua Fighter Animation • Virtua Fighter Kids • Fighters Megamix • Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary • Virtua Quest |
Characters | Akira Yuki • Pai Chan • Lau Chan • Wolf Hawkfield • Jeffry McWild • Kage-Maru • Sarah Bryant • Jacky Bryant • Dural • Siba • Shun Di • Lion Rafale • Aoi Umenokoji • Taka-Arashi • Lei-Fei • Vanessa Lewis • Brad Burns • Goh Hinogami • Eileen • El Blaze • Jean Kujo |
Non-Video Game Media | Virtua Fighter (comic book) • Virtua Fighter: Akira no Ken • Virtua Fighter (anime) • Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series • GG Portrait |