Tina Armstrong

General CVG character
name=Tina Armstrong


caption=Tina, as she appears in "Dead or Alive Ultimate".
series="Dead or Alive" series
firstgame="Dead or Alive"
voiceactor=Kate Higgins ("DOAX2")
japanactor=Mami Koyama ("DOA"), Yūko Nagashima ("DOA2-")
inuniverse=Fighting game character
nationality = flagicon|USA Texas, AmericanChristine Cain and Joe Cain, "Tina Armstrong," "DOA 2 Hardcore: Prima's Official Strategy Guide" (Roseville: Prima Games, 2000), 104.]
bloodtype= O
occupation = Pro Wrestler
fightingstyle= Pro Wrestling

Tina Armstrong is a fictional character from the "Dead or Alive" video game series. [Hilary Goldstein, " [http://xbox.ign.com/articles/550/550055p1.html Girls of DOAU: Tina: This simple country girl will snap you in two in the blink of an eye. New screens and direct-feed movies] ," "IGN" (September 21, 2004).] Tina was one of the three female character to appear from the beginning, the others being Kasumi and Lei Fang.

History

Tina is a wrestling star from the United States (most likely Texas), who dreams of even greater fame. She first joins the Dead or Alive tournament, hoping that she can use it as a vehicle for becoming discovered as a supermodel, but her father Bass forbids it. To ensure that she does not achieve her goal, he also joins Dead or Alive to put an end to her fame-seeking.

After competing in the first tournament, Tina is apparently defeated by her father, Bass, and enters the second tournament to achieve her dream of becoming a model. During the transition between the two tournaments, Tina changes her hair color from brown to blonde.

In her subsequent entries into the Dead or Alive tournament, she changes interests from wanting to be a model to wanting to become an actress and finally a rock star. These actions had further disappointed her already disgraced father, who only wanted one goal for her.

Tina enters New Zack Island in "Dead or Alive Xtreme 2" to escape the clutches of her over protective father, whom she seriously needed to stay away from to prevent anymore conflicts between her and her father.

Personality and gameplay

Tina's confidence of her abilities is almost to the point of arrogance. She also conveys the stereotype of the "American Dream" in that she is frequently entering a new profession to the point of being unrealistic. Tina has great confidence in her sex appeal, which she exhibits through her extroverted, and sometimes impudent, personality. Overall, Tina exhibits a pure, immense lust for stardom in most of her actions.

Tina has also changed her hair color frequently. In the first tournament, her hair is her natural brunette color. From the second tournament until the fourth, her hair is dyed blonde with her brunette roots still visible. In the fourth tournament her hair is colored entirely blonde. Some people believe in Tina's ending video for DOA4 that she becomes ginger; however, the CGI model used in the scene is actually still blond - the darker and slightly colored lighting in the scene simply makes it appear different. In "Dead or Alive Xtreme 2", her hair remains entirely blonde, though is a slightly darker shade. This makes Tina the first video game character to dye their hair over multiple games.

Tina's fighting style consists of wrestling moves, including arm and leg jams and powerful throws. The slowest of the DOA female characters, her physical strength actually makes her quite a balanced character. Tina is essentially a faster version of her father, Bass Armstrong. Her throws, while devastating, are less powerful than her father's bar a small number of exceptions, and her execution time is quicker. Additionally, Tina's command list is unpredictable. Her mixture of mid kicks and high punches, along with the correct timing of a throw execution is excellent in keeping an opponent off guard. She is generally considered to be a fairly well-balanced but ultimately unimpressive fighter, and is not a particularly popular choice in professional competitions.

Reception

Due to her sex appeal, Tina won G4's Video Game Vixens of the year award for 2005. [" [http://www.g4tv.com/videogamevixens/episodes/4198/Dirtiest_Dancer_Most_Dangerous_Curves_and_Viewers_Choice_Kinkiest_Accessory_.html Dirtiest Dancer, Most Dangerous Curves, and Viewers' Choice Kinkiest Accessory] ," G4 (6/14/2005).]

In other media

Movie

In DOA the movie, Tina is a Professional Wrestler. She enters the tournament to prove that she has real pro fighting skills, unlike most professional wrestlers. Her various job aspirations from the video games are not mentioned.

In the movie, Tina seems to have a close friendship with Kasumi and the two share many scenes together. They are also partners for the volleyball match. She also appears to dislike Christie, though does help Christie when she needs it. Her friendliness towards the other girls in many scenes leads her father Bass to believe she might be a lesbian, which was never mentioned, but frequently implied.

In one scene, Bass reveals that her full name is 'Christina', although like many parts of the film, this does not seem to have been acknowledged in the games, and for the majority of the film she is referred to by all characters as simply 'Tina'.

Tina is played by Jaime Pressly. [Gregory Kirschling, " [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20043127,00.html Movie Review of "DOA: Dead or Alive" (2007)] ," "EW.com" (Jun 20, 2007).]

References