Double Dragon Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Double Dragon Wiki
For the enemy character in Battletoads & Double Dragon, see Roper (Battletoads & Double Dragon).
SDD Roper Artwork

Artwork of Rowper from the Return of Double Dragon manual

Rowper (ローパー Rōpā), also known as Roper and Lopar in some translations, is a recurring minor enemy throughout the Double Dragon series, often appearing alongside Williams.

Appearances

Double Dragon

In the arcade version of the original Double Dragon, Rowper is the second most recurring minor enemy in the game, next to Williams himself. He has short black hair and wears a shirtless vest with matching colored pants and spiked shoulder pads. Like Williams, Rowper appears in a variety of different outfit colors and skin tones, which changes with each stage. His fighting style is not much different from Williams, the main difference being that Rowper can not only wield all the same weapons that Williams uses (the baseball bat, the throwing knife and the dynamite stick), but he can also lift and throw heavy objects such as oil drums, packaging boxes and rolling stones at the player.

Rowper exclusively wields heavy objects in the NES and Game Boy versions, which only appears when he's around. However, in the Mode B minigame in the NES version, he can also wield a tonfa when two players are competing. His techniques consists primarily of jabs and a back spin kick. Player 1 controls the Rowper in the blue outfit, while Player 2 controls the one in the green outfit.

In the Master System version, Rowper retains the ability to use bats, knives and dynamites, but can no longer lift heavy objects like he does in the other versions.

Double Dragon II: The Revenge

In the arcade version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Rowper wears the same outfit he has in the first game, but now has scruffy beard and wears an eye patch, giving him a pirate-like appearance. His only new techniques in this game are the back kick and the shovel throw.

In the NES version, Rowper more closely resembles his self from the first game, lacking the beard and eye patch he had in the arcade version. He no longer throws heavy objects, but instead wields incendiary bombs and boomerangs. The boomerangs is an exclusive weapon that cannot be taken away from him by the player.

Chardd2nesropermug

Super of Double Dragon

A member of Shadow Warriors who forms a formidable pair with Williams. He specializes in brute strength. - Translated description from the Japanese manual.

In Super Double Dragon, Rowper is a head swap of his partner Williams. He wears a bandanna colored like a Japanese flag, along with a shirtless white vest and pants. His fighting style is almost identical to Williams', aside from the addition of a slide kick. The darker skin variants of Rowper tend to carry weapons. Mission 5 introduces variants in light green clothing who tend to carry oil drums and large rocks There's also an odd variant who wears a yellow vest and purple camouflage (matching Williams' standard colors) who appears in Mission 3.

Double Dragon IV

Rowper Beat Up Double Dragon IV

After the Lee brothers fight to the top of the Okada Tower in Japan, Shannon Okada escapes in a chopper and the brothers beat information out of Rowper. He tells them to go to Rinka Kabukicho.

Double Dragon Advance

A member of the Shadow Warriors who specializes in knife throws. - Translated description from the Japanese manual.

Rowper's design in Double Dragon Advance is relatively unchanged from his counterpart in the original arcade game, aside from gaining the ability to throw infinite knives and grenades.

Trivia

  • Rowper is named after John Saxon's character from Enter the Dragon, although the character's name is spelled "Roper" in the movie's credits. The spelling "Roper" is used in the later Double Dragon games.
  • In Battletoads & Double Dragon, the names Roper and Lopar are assigned to two distinct enemies. The former is a misnamed Willy, while the latter is a minor enemy who vaguely resembles Williams.
  • While Rowper never appears in Double Dragon Neon, he is mentioned by the Tapesmith, who wonders out loud whatever happened to him.

Gallery

Advertisement