Ken Doi (土井 ケン Doi Ken) is the owner of Ramen Don, and one of three plot-important shopkeepers in the game, the others being Makoto Miki and Sanae Hanekoma. Ken is a middle-aged man who dresses in simple clothing and normally wears a blue bandanna. He is also the creator of Tin Pin Slammer in Another Day.
Personality
Ken Doi is very friendly and always looking for advice on his ramen. He is also very smart and secretive, and when his past is mentioned, he will become either angry or melancholic. He hides a great many things about his past in both Another Day, where this becomes a plot point as he created Tin Pin, and in the main story.
Ken was once Eiji Oji's personal chef, and went by the name "Sebastian", a stereotypical name for foreign servants; why he changed his job is unknown, but it's implied that it wasn't entirely willingly. Ken also secretly planted the "uber" threads around town that are collected in the Secret Report quest, and is one of very few people in Shibuya who does not wear a Red Skull pin, possibly because of their association with his rival Shadow Ramen.
Biography
Week 2
When Makoto opens Shadow Ramen just down the street, Ken Doi is crushed by the competition, due to Shadow Ramen having a more "adventurous" way of selling their ramen, and also because Eiji Oji, the superstar of Shibuya, praised their ramen and "F's" it (meaning he thinks the ramen is fabulous). But Ken doesn't give up. He continues to try to improve his Ramen to bring in customers by inventing new flavors. Joshua and Neku try all of his creations and offer their opinions.
Finally, Neku and Joshua use the imprinting power to give Ken the idea of making "simple ramen". Ken then realizes that he doesn't need to make gimmicks to bring customers into the shop, and that plain, simple ramen is fine the way it is. When Ken offers Neku and Joshua to try a bowl, Eiji Oji interrupts and comes into the shop to try it. Eiji apparently used to eat Ken's ramen and loved it, but he hasn't eaten the ramen in a long time. He was tired of eating at Shadow Ramen. Eiji loved the ramen so much that he withdrew his support of Shadow Ramen and the rival business collapses, allowing Ramen Don to stay in business.
Week 3
Ken Doi keeps his shop open for the rest of the game, and no problems arise when Makoto opens the Shadow Ramen again in Beat's Chapter: Day 6.
In the Another Day chapter, Ramen Don serves as the secret base for Shooter and his Kindred Spirits. Ken seems to know a bit about pins, as he sized up Sho Minamimoto's newly made pin as a dud with one glance. At first, he tries to hide it, but once Joshua suspects him, Ken reveals that he is one of the founding fathers of Tin Pin. Ken worked in a team with Higashizawa and a few others to build the original model of the Solid Slammers. When it came time to design the Solid Slammer's successor, the higher-ups in the company meddled with it, whittling away at the budget. Soon, the (new) Solid Slammers were worse than the originals. Rather than sacrifice quality, Ken canceled the project. That sent the company stock plummeting so they forced him to resign. Soon after, Ken left the company and opened up Ramen Don. After hearing this story, Shooter begins to call him "Dr. Pin, Sr.".
Ken Doi's Tin Pin Relationship
It is possible that Ken Doi was the creator of Tin Pin Slammer in the main storyline. Part of the description for Solid Slammer reveals that Ken Doi made the accessory, which is part of Shooter's Tin Pin gear. Also, upon opening the Tin Pin Slammer Multiplayer feature a darkened mugshot of him is shown near the top. However, Sho Minamimoto and Higashizawa are also in the title screen. However, it is possible that Higashizawa worked with Ken Doi in the creation of Tin Pin Slammer. However, Sho Minamimoto was revealed to be 18. If Reapers still age, then he would seem too young to have taken part in the creation unless he was a 'beta tester'.
Evidence exists in the main game as well. Shuto Dan, while drawing up an example of Tin Pin Slammer it shows a crudely drawn representation of himself (Labelled 'Fifth Grade') and another of Ken Doi (Labelled 'Ra Men'), making it possible that 'Dr. Pin' knew Shooter for some time, as he used Ramen Don as the 'secret base' in Another Day. Also, during Beat's chapter, a Grand Slam takes place at Stride on Day 2 with him playing as 'The Don'.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
Etymology
The Kanji for Do-i translate literally to: Earth, well.
Store
Ken Doi makes and sells the following Ramen at his shop:
- Shio Ramen - 580 yen
- Shoyu Ramen - 600 yen
- Miso Ramen - 680 yen
- Tonkotsu Ramen - 750 yen
- Insta-noodles - Quest item
- Mystic Ramen - Quest item
Other items sold at his store:
- Big Bang
- Big Crunch
- (B) Tin Pin Lineup
- (B) Charge Slam
- (B) Spin Slam
- (B) Tin Pin Whammy ↓
- (B) Tin Pin Whammy →
- (B) Tin Pin Whammy ↑
- (B) Tin Pin Whammy ←
- Extra Fine Noodles
- Jumbo Chicken
| Characters in The World Ends with You |
|---|
| Neku Sakuraba • Shiki Misaki • Beat • Joshua • Rhyme • Sota Honjo • Nao
777 • BJ • Coco Atarashi • Koki Kariya • Megumi Kitaniji • Mitsuki Konishi • Sho Minamimoto • Tenho • Uzuki Yashiro • Yodai Higashizawa
Shopkeepers Aily Ueno • Akira Yoshii • Anna Aoi • Ayu Hamaguchi • Banzai Ayanokoji • Fumi Gotoda • Fumiko Nishimura • Hideki Kikuchi • Hikaru Koike • HT Masuoka • Jun Odajima • Keiichi Okada • Ken Doi • Kyo • Makoto Miki • Masanori Ito • May Kurokawa • Mie Suzuki • Miki Kosaka • Nana Majima • Princess K • Rayca Hoshi • Rikako Toda • Sanae Hanekoma • Shigemi Konno • Shigemori Iwata • Shinta Iwata • Tadafumi Sato • Tak Kimura • Tatsuya Omura • Tsubasa • Yoji Iwata • Yosh Ishino • Yumi Sheena • Yuu Narumi
Other Characters Ai • CAT • Eiji Oji • Eri • Futoshi • Itaru Yokoyamada • Ken Doi • Makoto Miki • Mina • Mr. Mew • Neku's best friend • Pin Prof • Sanae Hanekoma • Shrimp • Shuto Dan • Tsugumi Matsunae • Wizard of Slam • Vice Wizard of Slam
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