Fun Facts About Daidoji/Doji
His surname 大道寺 (Daidouji) is composed of three kanji:
道 (Dou) – "Road," "Path," "Way"
This name is quite fitting since Daidoji plays a major role in shaping Gingka's journey.
In the one-shot manga Metal Fight Beyblade: Soul Burst, Doji reappears as the antagonist using the alias Big Road.
Gingka is the first character to call him by his name.
Takafumi Adachi precised that Daidoji is his family name.
It was shortened to Doji in other dubs, making Doji the first character to have their name altered in a significant way—the other being Ryusei/Ryo. Coincidentally, both are adult characters.
His given name is unknown, which is also the case for Dr. Ziggurat.
Like Gingka and Ryuga, Daidoji managed to defeat Kyoya twice.
He is the first adult to be a major character that appears in the show.
He is also the first member of the Hades Cult to appear.
His bangs look like a lightning bolt, which is fitting considering he is responsible for awakening Lightning L Drago and often works with bladers affecting the weather.
Masamune's hairstyle is similar to Daidoji’s, prompting some fans to think they were related, though series creator Takafumi Adachi refuted that.
Kaminari Shieru from Beyblade X also has a similar hairstyle. Interestingly, his surname means thunder, and like Daidoji, he is very loyal to the main antagonist, who is a strong blader using a left-spinning dragon bey.
He loves orange juice, so much so that it is a major source of anguish for him when he can no longer taste it after becoming a hologram. Overall, he can't experience any form of physical sensation, which frustrates him.
In one episode, he eats pizza with cutlery, claiming it is more civilized.
He notably claims to hate cacti, but speaks passionately about them and obsesses over them. He even has a plant category in the Dark Nebula database.
The logo of the Dark Nebula looks like a giant purple "D," which is also the first letter of his name.
Daidoji is the only villain that appears in almost every season and remains an antagonist.
The only season he doesn’t appear in is Metal Masters, though he is mentioned.
Out of all the characters whose life force he stole, he is the only one who suffered physical alterations, as his hair turned white and he walked with a cane.
In Metal Fury, he reappears with a scar on his right eye, possibly due to L Drago’s attack.
Interestingly, in Fusion, his glasses always shine on one side, hiding one of his eyes. Since "eyes are windows to the soul" his glasses could symbolize how he conceals his true nature. This might explain why he took them off in his fight with Phoenix, before using his full strength.
Daidoji’s voice actor, Takehito Koyasu, also voices Boris Balkov from the original series and Phi and Hyde from Beyblade Burst, all of whom were major antagonists in their respective series. Interestingly Phi uses a Phoenix bey, like his rival Ryusei while Hyde uses Hades.
Takehito Koyasu is also famous for voicing Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, who, like Daidoji, is an overarching antagonist whose actions kickstart the protagonist’s journey. Both had a major influence on their worlds, returned multiple times, and defied death. They are also evil figures who impacted multiple generations.
Daidoji is the first person to use the Dark Fusion Wheel and a Wolf beyblade.
Like Benkei, his bey is a balance-type using the Dark Fusion Wheel, and its name is in English.
Daidoji’s Dark Wolf is the first non-generic balance bey to appear in the anime. It is also one of the few beyblade to be permanently destroyed.
Interestingly, Daidoji behaves like a wolf:
He often works with multiple people, like a wolf living in a pack.
He bases most of his plans on one very powerful blader (Ryuga and Rago), similar to how a pack follows an alpha.
"A wolf in sheep’s clothing" also fits him perfectly, considering his deceptive nature.
In the manga, he appears in every season, and each time, his body suffers more damage and/or he becomes less and less human (which is even more accurate in the manga).
He is the only returning character, alongside Gingka, to battle in Shogun Steel.
In this season, he uses a new bey called Phantom Fenrir.
In Norse mythology, Fenrir is a giant wolf, the son of Loki, and the brother of Jörmungandr (the World Serpent) and Hel (the Queen of the Underworld). Fenrir is set to take part in Ragnarök, the end of the world, which parallels what Daidoji did in Metal Fury. Additionally, the Phantom part could refer to Daidoji’s immaterial form.
This bey was one of the few that weren’t released by Takara Tomy.
He doesn’t use a new bey, nor does he battle, in Metal Fury.
Daidoji can be seen as Gingka Hagane’s arch-nemesis:
He caused Gingka’s journey.
He remains an enemy for the entire series.
They have opposing philosophies on Beyblade.
Daidoji uses people, relying on them to get what he wants, while Gingka becomes stronger through the support of his friends and genuinely cares about them.
Gingka was resurrected (in the manga and metaphorically in the anime), while Daidoji escaped death, though he lost more and more of his humanity/body.
In the manga, he gave his power to Gingka to help defeat Nemesis, though he wasn’t closely associated with the God of Destruction, and he probably didn’t want to die.
He and Boris Balkov probably inspired Theodore Glass/Ashtem from Beyblade Burst, as he has similar hair color to Daidoji, and trains kids harshly, also giving Shu a beyblade that altered his personality.
It is never explained how he was rescued in Metal Fury—Daidoji doesn’t even know himself, referring to it as a "miracle."
Like all prominent members of the Hades Cult, he falls after being defeated.
The pod where his real body is kept resembles the Arrangement System capsule and the one used by Ryuga.
Anton, the manager of Team Lovushka, shares similarities with Daidoji:
They are both adults who use underhanded tactics.
Both use a wolf beyblade with the DF145 FS combo.
He also shares similarities with Ziggurat:
Both are high-ranking executives and masterminds of their respective seasons.
Both are adults who tried to use the power of beys for their own benefit but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Their downfalls were largely caused by Ryuga.
Both are manipulative and have no qualms about using or torturing kids.
Speaking of Ziggurat, he told Ryuga that Daidoji lost sight of the "true goal." It is unknown what this goal was, but Ryusei theorized it was about using L Drago as an energy source. However, it could also be related to Nemesis’s resurrection.
Daidoji himself claimed that what he and Ziggurat did was all to get the God of Destruction resurrected, but based on his actions in Fusion, it is doubtful that this was his objective at the time. It might have been a lie to accommodate Pluto or a retcon by the writers.
Daidoji serves as a dark counterpart to Ryusei in Fusion:
Both are adults, but one represents darkness, while the other represents fire/light.
They also have opposing views on Beyblade—one uses it for personal gain, while the other loves it passionately.
He and Ryuga are the only characters missing from the final shot of Fusion.
Daidoji battled multiple people twice: Kyoya, Kenta, Hyoma, Ryusei, and Gingka, so there isn’t one opponent he fought more than the others.
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