Linda (リンダ Rinda ), known in some productions by her full name, Linda Lash, is a fictional character from the Double Dragon beat 'em up video game series. She is an iconic female member of the Black Warriors street gang. Her trademark weapon is the whip.
Appearances[]
Double Dragon[]
A female thug and the sole female member of the Black Warriors. Her weapon of choice is the whip. If the player manages to attack and disarm her, she can still be dangerous, as she can still fight without her weapon by using strong punches capable of knocking the enemy down. If not careful, she can punch the player and manage to retrieve her whip while they're stunned.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge[]
Linda is back in the second installment of the series, this time boasting a whole new punk redesign, wearing a blue one piece suit, her head shaved in a mohawk style with (possibly dyed) red hair, and blue face paint around her eyes, which contrasts with her previous look from the first game. She can now jump (which allows her to escape from conveyor belts) and has a tricky elbow smash. Her main weapon is a flail, although she can also throw knives and hand grenades, which makes her a deadly opponent, especially when supporting other enemies.
Linda's backstory was greatly expanded in the manual for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum English computer. However, it must be noted that these events may only be considered for that specific release of the game or take part in their own continuity, and not form part of the series' main established canon.
The manual states that all the members of the Black Warriors, including Willy, were indeed killed by the Lee brothers during the events of the first game five years ago, with Linda being the only survivor. After that first struggle, Linda managed to nurse herself back to health and spent several years studying ancient oriental arts of healing, or Undhai. During her studies, she also learned powerful magical arts which allowed her to reincarnate and bring back from the dead all of her Black Warriors comrades.
To perfect her new magical skills, she started by resurrecting the lesser minions of the Black Warriors until she had gained enough mastery to concentrate all of her power to raise Willy himself. Some of her first attempts didn't go as well, though, and Linda's early experiments produced a few mutated gang members.
The now resurrected Willy, urging for revenge against the Lee brothers, ordered his minions to kidnap Marian once again, and not willing to take any chances this time around, he immediately murdered her and placed her body under a magic field conjured by Linda (who had achieved a rapid promotion within the Black Warriors for her success in resurrecting Willy).
The Dragon twins once again took to the streets to defeat Willy and his gang, and retrieve Marian's body from their hands. After killing Willy a second time, and having native magical powers of their own bestowed due to their Shinto birthright, they were able to break into the magical barrier guarding Marian's remains. At that point, however, their very own tortured souls materialized and attacked them, although the twins ultimately prevailed over them as well. This final struggle actually allowed them to draw sufficient power from the ether to enact a Shinto resurrection ceremony and bring Marian back to life.[2]
Battletoads/Double Dragon[]
“ | New to the 'toads but the Dragons'll recall their numerous encounters with this whip-wielding woman. Avoid her stingin' swingin', or you'll be squealing like a Psyko-Pig. |
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~ Official description from the manual |
Linda appears as a recurring enemy type in Level 3, Ropes 'N' Roper. Linda in this game is permanently armed with a whip, meaning that the player cannot disarm her and arm himself with her weapon. Noteworthy is that she's given the full name "Linda Lash" in the manual, which was also used in the later live-action film.
Double Dragon (film)[]
Linda is Koga Shuko's main lieutenant and personal bodyguard, and is in direct command of his two most fearsome minions: Huey and Lewis. Her full name is Linda Lash, although she's often called "Lash" for short.
Some time ago, she commanded a raid on a secluded Chinese monk village in search of the fabled Double Dragon medallion. The mission was a success, although only partially, as only one half of the medallion was found.
She keeps acting as a support minion of Shuko (although a still prominent one, nonetheless) throughout the rest of the film in his search of the other half of the medallion. She ends up developing a personal rivalry against Marian Delario, leader of the "Power Corps", which they settle in a final one-on-one fight, where Linda ultimately (and embarrassingly) ends up being tied to a pole with her own whip.
Double Dragon Advance[]
A female member of the Shadow Warriors who specializes in whip attacks, although she sometimes carries knives too. Even though she's the weakest member of the gang, Linda is not to be underestimated, especially when she has her whip or knives.
Since Double Dragon Advance is merely an expansion/retelling of the arcade version of Double Dragon, Linda both looks and behaves pretty much the same as in the original game, although she has now been given a few new moves (such as a high kick) and she can appear in a wide assortment of palette-swap variants. In addition, she sometimes comes armed with a spiked flail instead of a whip (although both behave practically the same).
Double Dragon (mobile)[]
“ | She's the longest female member of the Black Warriors. She's also Williams' wife. | „ |
~ Official description |
Oddly enough, in this mobile remake of the first game, Linda's sprite looks very muscular and male-like, and her clothes, which are a variant of her classic purple catsuit, appear to have been modified to fit that of a male gym instructor. According to her description in this game, she is Williams's wife.
Cindy, another female thug, plays the role of Linda's mohawked, face painted and blue suit wearing variant from Double Dragon II. Both often come armed with Linda's trademark weapon: the whip.
- Personal data
- Age: 28
- Height: 172 cm
- Weight: 76 kg
- Hobbies: Bodybuilding
Double Dragon Neon[]
The "Sadistic Seductress" Linda is a common enemy that attacks either with her whip or grenades. Her kicks have good reach, are fairly strong, and can knock players out of the air easily. Her attacks include a back spin kick which she often performs before the player actually reaches her, anticipating their moves, or a rising kick which she usually performs when being attacked from above. When fighting Linda, it's best to stay on the ground, dodge one of her attacks and counterattack while gleaming.
Special care must be taken when she comes armed with her whip, as it has a very long reach (almost half the size of the screen) and she'll attack with it from afar, with a motion that will cover both her frontal and rearguard, in addition to potentially hitting fallen opponents a second time that had been knocked down by the first hit.
Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons[]
A female member of the Black Warriors. She can use a whip and several skills of nunchaku, as she has learned a little from Jeff after kidnapping Marian. She is always armed because of her weak body.
She usually threatens or tortures disobeying people by using a whip. She is also good at using weapons such as daggers, grenades, and so on.
In this game, Linda fashions a short jacket, miniskirt and long boots all clad over sexy lingerie, although still retaining a similar design to her Double Dragon Neon's incarnation, with the policewoman cap and apocryphal police badges. Rather than generally wielding her iconic whip, she's often seen using other types of generic weapons, such as 2×4s.
- Profile
- Body type: Woman A
- Gender: Female
- Age: Early or middle 20s (same as Marian)
- Personality: Hysteric, a great interest in torturing others.
- Features: Using weapons such as whips, iron maces, daggers and grenades.
Double Dragon IV[]
“ | A leotard-clad female with a fine feminine figure. Enjoys bullying men. | „ |
~ Official description |
Linda is a common enemy and unlockable playable character. She appears in two versions: "Linda", modeled after her appearance in the first NES game, and "Linda.M", modeled after her appearance in the second NES game.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons[]
“ | Linda is a well-known mercenary who fights for the highest bidder. Secretly, she's earning money to take care of orphans who lost their family during the nuclear war. Linda has convinced herself merc work is a necessary evil to make ends meet in a broken world that can't be saved. |
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~ Official description |
Linda is a playable character in the game.
Other appearances[]
River City Girls[]
Linda, like many other Double Dragon characters, makes a cameo appearance in River City Girls. As usual, she fights using her trademark whip. When called by the player for assistance, she whips the ground and launches upward any enemies hit.
She has two variations: Neo Linda (red) and Mecha Linda (undead).
Gallery[]
Artworks and portraits[]
Sprites and models[]
Trivia[]
- Linda was one of the first female characters in video game history who was not limited to the boundaries of culture, genre or thematic condition; playing an equal role as men within the Black Warriors' ranks.
- Her overall appearance could possibly be based on American punk rock lead singer Wendy O. Williams. Both Linda and Wendy are law-rebelling, whip-wielders who dress in revealing clothing, and would later go from wearing their hair long and blond to sporting short and spiky mohawks. However, this is speculation.
- Linda is probably named (and perhaps even designed) after Linda Lee Cadwell, widow of legendary martial artist and action films actor Bruce Lee, who was a major influence in the creation of the Double Dragon series.
- According to her profile in the mobile version of Double Dragon, Linda is Williams's wife.
- In Rage of the Dragons, a one-on-one fighting game by SNK that pays homage to the Double Dragon series, there is also a character named Linda, who acts as one of Abubo Rao's personal female assistants, and who is loosely based on Linda Lash from the Double Dragon franchise.
- Her overall appearance resembles Linda's redesign in Double Dragon II, wearing a mainly blue bodysuit and having red hair fashioned in a partially shaved hairstyle.
References[]
- ↑ Only in Double Dragon for iOS/Android, which is a remake/retelling of the first game.
- ↑ Double Dragon II: The Revenge manual, pages: 2 and 3 (ZX Spectrum) at Games Database.
External links[]
- Linda at the Kunio-kun Wiki
- Linda Lash at the Battletoads Wiki