Rabid Dog (
Appearance
Rabid Dog's 2011 anime design
Rabid Dog was a moderately tall and thin man. He had spiky and messy hair, pointy ears, pronounced cheekbones, and his most distinctive trait, sharp filed teeth. He was seen wearing a necked, long-sleeved shirt with beige pants and light brown shoes. In the 1999 anime adaptation, his face was longer and seemed more akin to that of a canine.
Personality
He was crass and a sadist. It was also believed that he liked torturing his victims due to how his ability worked.[3]
Plot
Yorknew City arc
Rabid Dog along with other Shadow Beasts
Rabid Dog along with Porcupine, Leech, and Worm first appear in front of the remaining Nostrade Family bodyguards in the Gordeau Desert, each of them being sent by one of the Ten Dons to deal with the thieves of the Underground Auction. He along with Porcupine and Leech speculate how their target Uvogin is no ordinary thief and even noting that not only is he a specialist in his field of work, but also a professional killer. After three of the Shadow Beasts confront Uvogin and after they question one another, Worm ambushes Uvogin by punching his face, but gets his own face smashed in.[2]
Rabid Dog bites Uvogin using his enhanced teeth
So Worm retaliates by dragging Uvogin's arm into the ground and pins him, while the remaining Shadow Beasts try a head on attack together against Uvogin. Not amused by the situation Uvogin uses his signature move Big Bang Impact decimating the entire ground beneath him and revealing his Spider tattoo. With Uvogin taunting the Shadow Beasts the three charge head on against him and Uvogin gets his arm entrapped in Porcupine's "needle hair". Seeing an opportunity, Rabid Dog tears off piece of Uvogin's neck with his "enhanced fangs" and later tears off a piece of Uvogin's left leg. As Rabid Dog taunts Uvogin; he tries to retaliate against Rabid Dog, by punching him, but becomes paralyzed, from Rabid Dog's "toxic fangs".[3]
Rabid Dog further taunts Uvogin about the potency of his "toxic fangs" and how tortured he'll soon feel. This all changes after Uvogin kills Leech, by biting off the right side of his face and uses a chunk of Leech's skull as a projectile bullet at Rabid Dog, who tries to block it with his hand, but it manages to pierce through his hand and into his face instantly killing him.[3]
Abilities & Powers
As a Shadow Beast, Rabid Dog is very influential within the Mafia community. He is also a capable fighter, one of the best serving under the Ten Dons, since he was chosen as one of their personal bodyguards. However, he was no match for Uvogin. Rabid Dog fights by enhancing his speed and teeth to tear off chunks of flesh from his opponents. By doing so, he injects powerful neurotoxins capable of incapacitating voluntary muscles from the neck down, leaving his opponents aware of the pain. He fights using a hit and run style: attacking and then distancing himself from his opponent. When facing a foe with other Shadow Beasts, he waits for them to distract the enemy to attack unnoticed, thus showing moderate skills in analysis and strategical thinking.[3]
Poisonous Bite: Rabid Dog's filed teeth inject a tranquilizer that makes him victims unable to move anything below their neck. The substance is very powerful, as two bites quickly subdued Uvogin[3] despite the latter resisting sleeping gas. Hours after injection, the efficacy of the tranquilizer had not waned.[4]
Rabid Dog's fangs
Enhanced Speed and Reflexes: Rabid Dog is very fast, effortlessly striking Uvogin and then backing away before the Phantom Troupe member could retaliate. He can also intercept a bullet shot at medium range.[3]
Immense Biting Power: Rabid Dog can bite off Uvogin's skin,[3] which is so hard that even anti-tank missiles can barely scratch it.[2] He is also very quick to do so.[3]
Advanced Poison Resistance: Rabid Dog is likely immune to the tranquilizer secreted by his teeth.
Nen
Rabid Dog is an Enhancer. As a Shadow Beast, he is one of the ten best Nen users within the Mafia community, making him a fearsome opponent. His abilities also work well in conjunction with those of other Shadow Beasts. He uses his Nen to make himself faster as well as increasing the power of his jaws and sharpness of his teeth. Although this combination would be enough to significantly injure or kill most opponents, he mainly resorts to it to paralyze them with the neurotoxins in his fangs.[3] Rabid Dog is also fairly proficient at Zetsu, since he managed to get near Neon Nostrade's bodyguards with only Melody and possibly Kurapika noticing.[2]
Battles
| Battles |
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Trivia
- Rabid Dog is likely named after the yōkai known as yama-inu (山犬, literally meaning "mountain dog").
- Rabid Dog's facial features are far more doglike and elongated in the 1999 anime adaptation.
Translations around the World
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
 Arabic
|
كلب مسعور | |
 French
|
Yama Inu | |