Bonus-kun

Overview

Bonus-kun is a joke character that appeared in the Sunsoft fighting games Galaxy Fight and Waku Waku 7. An opponent only fought in bonus stages (hence his name), Bonus-kun is a sentient punching bag that is an overt parody of Ryu from Capcom's Street Fighter series, with a move set, headband, and even win poses that are meant to evoke him.

Backstory

Bonus-kun was originally a lifeless punching bag belonging to Rowe, a man who had trained many fighters. For unexplained reasons, the punching bag came to life (possibly because a fighter puts their soul into their fist and after being punched enough with so much soul it developed one of its own?), and afterwards Rowe trained him. After completing his training, Bonus-kun began traveling the universe looking for strong opponents.

Apperances

Bonus-kun first appeared in the original Galaxy Fight as a humorously weak bonus stage opponent halfway through the game and almost all he could do was throw tiny fireballs (whose sprite looked exactly like Ryu's fireballs from Street Fighter II).

He later reappeared in Waku Waku 7, a game that was originally intended to be a sequel to Galaxy Fight. If the player wins three matches in a row without losing, Bonus-kun falls from space to test the player's skill. Bonus-kun is a much stronger opponent than he was in Galaxy Fight, perhaps as an inside joke to Galaxy Fight fans. He now sports a full move roster based entirely off of Ryu's moveset from Street Fighter and he fights without a difficulty limiter. If he beats the player, the game still continues and the next opponent is only slightly stronger. If the player does manage to beat Bonus-kun, however, then the next opponent will be much stronger due to an increase in difficulty level.

Trivia

• All of Bonus-kun's alternate colors in Waku Waku 7 are based on other Ryu-like characters, like Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting or Ken Masters of Street Fighter. One of his colors is even a parody of Evil Ryu and his headband even has the "Ten" kanji (the same one that appears on Akuma's back during his win pose) on it.
• The opening of Bonus-kun's theme in Waku Waku 7, "Gently Forgiving", sounding nearly identical to Ryu's Street Fighter II theme. This is even more apparent in the Saturn release.