Muscle Doll

Muscle Doll (マッスル人形), also known as Figure Fighter in Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise, is the latest in toy-boxer technology appearing in Figure Fighter in Rhythm Heaven Fever and Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

Story
The Muscle Doll is a battery-powered toy-boxer, which is normally not so muscle-y. Pressing the button connected to it pumps it with air and inflates its muscles for a brief second, and so the user is tasked with timing pressing the button as the doll punches a punching bag. It also comes with a championship-belt accessory.

The Muscle Doll comes in a few varieties. The Figure Fighter Muscle Doll comes in a regular box, is grey with red boxing gloves and shoes, and is cheaper. The limited-edition Figure Fighter 2 Muscle Doll comes Mint--Box, is metallic red with dark blue boxing gloves and shoes, and is more expensive. They are popular with children, but parents seem reserved on purchasing them, as they expect them to quickly break one way or another. A knock-off version called a Mussel Doll also exists. When the user pumps air into it, it clings to a rock.

In Figure Fighter, the player sees a grey Muscle Doll punching a bag in a small boxing ring as an announcer tells it what kind of punches to do. This doll reappears in Figure Fighter 2, where it fights in a boxing ring surrounded by fans, defending its champion title. In Figure Fighter 3, a red version appears, defending its title once again. Despite being a different version of the toy, it is implied this doll is the same as the one seen in the previous games.

Remix 3 features a pink Muscle Doll in what looks like a kitchen. Machine Remix has a grey Muscle Doll with red boxing gloves and shoes wearing a worker's hat and covered in paint. This one is seen in what looks like an auto shop or factory.

At some point, a new fighting game involving the Muscle Dolls is introduced, called "Figure Fighter VS". Two players control a Muscle Doll with a balloon over their heads on opposite sides, and they make them punch a button with good timing. With each punch, the opponent's balloon gets inflated (the better the timing, the bigger it gets) until it blows up, and the standing player is declared the winner. Barista sets it up in the Café at StreetPass Terrace during the story of Rhythm Heaven Megamix, with the player being able to play against other characters from the story, or with random people through StreetPass.

Appearances

 * Game 3DS rvlMuscle S.png Figure Fighter
 * Game 3DS rvlMuscle L.png Figure Fighter 2
 * Game Wii 3-5.png Remix 3
 * Game 3DS rvlMuscle A.png Figure Fighter 3
 * Game Wii 10-5.png Remix 10
 * Game 3DS remix 01.png Machine Remix
 * Game 3DS remix 07 2.png Right-Hand Remix
 * Game 3DS remix TED 2.png Final Remix
 * RedFigureBadge.png Figure Fighter VS

Trivia

 * Despite being a toy, it can talk, and is seemingly sentient.
 * The championship-belt accessory looks identical to the belt Wrestler receives in the Superb epilogue to Ringside.
 * Tram appears in the epilogue to Figure Fighter 3, implying he is the owner of that particular Muscle Doll.
 * In Rhythm Heaven Fever Cast, the doll's eyes flash red as it bobs to the music. While there is an unused sprite of these red eyes, this detail is never seen during the actual game.
 * The information given in the Rhythm Items is generally consistent across languages, but some alter certain details. For example, the Mussel Doll has its head inflate rather than the muscles when air is pumped into it in the Japanese and Korean versions, rather than "clinging to a rock" like the English version . In the French version, the child simply doesn't understand how to play with it, the German version omits what function the doll actually has , it poses rather than fights in the Italian version , and in the Spanish version, it rummages through the user's stuff.