Donovan

Donovan is a recurring enemy in the Streets of Rage series, who debuted in Streets of Rage 2. He is a common hoodlum hired by the Syndicate.

He is the most common type of thug and is often seen alongside Galsia and Signal, often showing up on Stage 1 of the games.

Overview[]

Donovan is a thug with tanned skin who fights shirtless and wears sunglasses. He is known for his proficiency with blunt weapons.

Streets of Rage 2[]

In Streets of Rage 2, he has a combo consisting of two jabs followed by an uppercut. He can be found all throughout the game. At times, he will carry a pipe, making him dangerous in large groups. Donovan is also notorious for his powerful uppercut, which is mostly used as an anti-air attack against players jumping.

Streets of Rage 3[]

In Streets of Rage 3, Donovan returns stronger. He has a slightly lean in with his uppercut now, improving its range longer. Unlike in the second game, he can pick up pipes if knocked down; he swings it remarkably faster than before, making him quite a threat with it. He can also steal health items on the ground.

Streets of Rage 4[]

Donovan returns in Streets of Rage 4, with a slightly redesign, wearing loose pants with a large belt, exposing part of his underwear. While Donovan's moveset is mostly the same as in Streets of Rage 3, and his variants have been vastly improved compared to the previous titles. He is able to wield a vast amount of swing-type weapons, such as lead pipes, baseball bats, butcher's knives, hammers, katanas, nail bats and pool cues (including broken). When holding any weapon, he's unable to use his uppercut.

Variants[]

Donovan has three variants, each having increased health and some differences:

Altet, with green pants, can wield the same weapons as Donovan, in addition to maces.
Gudden, with red pants, can wield the same weapons as Altet. Gudden can now catch weapons thrown at him (except for grenades and elemental vials); if it is a weapon he cannot wield, he'll simply drop the item on the floor. He can also throw weapons himself.
Z, with yellow pants, can wield the same weapons as Gudden and Altet, in addition to morning stars, swords, chinese swords, sword fishes, tunas, pugil sticks, golf clubs and black swords. Similarly to Gudden, he can catch any weapon thrown at him, and also throw weapons himself. He's very dangerous as his uppercut has invincibility frames, and if knocked down, will always use it if the player is next to him when he gets up.

Move List[]

Punches (can be 3-hit punch combo with bash or Uppercut)
Bash
Uppercut (used as a combo finisher or as an anti-air attack)
Weapon swing
Weapon throw (Streets of Rage 4, used only by Gudden and Z)
Weapon catch (Streets of Rage 4, used only by Gudden and Z)

Strategy[]

Despite being a common thug enemy, Donovan is dangerous because of his uppercut, which is a powerful anti-air used to punish players who jump too much. Ideally, the player should attack Donovan on the ground, either directly or throwing enemies at him.

In Streets of Rage 4, Z is the most powerful and dangerous variant due to having very few weaknesses. His ability to catch weapons thrown at him, in addition to his invincible uppercut, makes him deadly when paired with other enemies. The player should always make sure he has no weapons available to pick up on the ground to reduce his threat factor, while also avoid being surrounded.