The Fortune Doll (also referred to by a variety of other names depending on the game) is a recurring item featured in the Ganbare Goemon series, debuting since the very first game and appearing in almost every installment afterward, although often having different properties depending on the game. Two versions –silver and golden– can often be found in some games, each having its own unique properties.
Origins
The maneki-neko (招き猫? lit. "beckoning cat") is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat –traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail– seated and with a paw raised in a Japanese beckoning gesture, and is often shown holding a koban coin with its other paw or wearing a collar with the coin hanging to it (or sometimes both). The figurines are often displayed in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, dry cleaners, laundromats, bars, casinos, hotels, nightclubs, and other businesses, generally near the entrance. In modern times, they are usually made of ceramic or plastic. Some maneki-neko are equipped with a mechanical paw which slowly moves back and forth.
Maneki-neko are sometimes referred to simply as "lucky cats".
Appearances
Mr. Goemon
The Fortune Doll made its first appearance since the very first game in the Ganbare Goemon series, Mr. Goemon, but unlike most of its following appearances, where it usually grants some sort of power-up or bonus to the player, it instead merely appears as one of many projectile weapons the player can make use of to fend off enemies in the game.
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
There are two types of Fortune Dolls in this game: silver and golden. And like the rest of the items and enemies in the instruction booklet, they are given two quite peculiar names in the English localization:
- Lucky the Cat: Silver fortune doll. These are rarely dropped by defeated enemies and, even more rarely, they can sometimes be found by breaking pots located in fixed locations along some levels. When one of these dolls appears, it will start hopping away from the player and then vanish after a brief moment, so the player must make haste in picking them up (although sometimes this isn't that easy due to the high respawning rate of enemies). Upon pickup, the player's main weapon will be upgraded one level, gaining with this a longer reach and a bigger hitbox. If the player's weapon is already at its maximum level, picking up a silver fortune doll will then give 10 Coins instead.
- Goldie the Cat's Meow: Golden fortune doll. These can only be found by breaking certain pots in fixed locations throughout the levels. These pots are generally found inside of secret bonus rooms found only in the town sections of the levels, which are accessed by breaking specific walls in them, although there are also a few golden fortune dolls that can be found inside of pots in some of the action areas (these are more often encountered in the final levels of the game). Upon pickup, the player's health bar will be fully restored and be also increased by two units. However, this effect will only last for the duration of the level the golden fortune doll was found at (a trait it shares with Jutsus) and the health bar will once again reduce to its standard size when the player enters the next level.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Goemon's first 3D adventure features the classic two variants of Fortune Dolls, silver and golden:
- Silver Fortune Doll: Collecting four of these dolls will increase the player characters' health bar by one unit. These are easier to find than Golden Fortune Dolls and are usually found in fixed locations the player will likely traverse along their journey, without having to stray away too much from their main path.
- Golden Fortune Doll: Picking up one of these dolls will instantly increase the player characters' health bar by one unit. These are quite rare and the player will often have to make use of one of the playable characters' unique Magic Powers or deviate a long distance from their path in order to reach them.
Other appearances
- Pixel Puzzle Collection (2018 - Mobile): A Fortune Doll appears as a nonogram picture in this mobile puzzle game.
Gallery
Trivia
- Koban, a cat character appearing in the Ganbare Goemon series, seems to be a literal personification of the maneki-neko fortune dolls, which are usually depicted holding a koban coin, from which he takes his name.
- Although this item is heavily portrayed in the Ganbare Goemon series, it is not uncommon to find similar items in some other Konami series, such as the Lucky Cat in the Castlevania series, or the Good Luck Cat in the Suikoden series.