Guide
Downhill Domination Riders and Stats Explained
Every Downhill Domination rider explained: the six starters, the bonus riders, the real pros and the guest, and how the four skills of speed, sprint, combat and tricking really work.
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Fourteen riders stand on the start line in Downhill Domination, and no two of them ride the same way. This guide explains the full roster, from the six fictional riders available at the start to the real downhill pros you unlock, and it breaks down the four skills that decide how each rider feels on the mountain.
Six riders at the start gate
The game opens with six fictional riders standing on a summit: Ajax, Cosmo, Jonnie, Kalolo, Mai and T-bag. Ajax is the balanced all rounder. Cosmo, the rebellious young British aristocrat, brings high speed. Jonnie is a strong technical rider, Kalolo the powerful Pacific Islander is the fastest sprinter in a straight fight for top speed on some builds, Mai is light and trick friendly, and T-bag, the counterculture joker of the roster, leans into tricks and mischief. Learning one starter well is worth more than sampling all six badly.
The four skills that define a rider
Every rider is rated on four skills: speed, sprint, combat and tricking. Speed is top pace on a descent, sprint is how hard a rider pedals back up to pace after a slow corner or a crash, combat is how much damage their punches and kicks do, and tricking is how easily they score in the air. A rider like Kalolo pairs huge speed with almost no sprint, so losing momentum hurts him more than anyone, while Missy Giove pairs modest speed with elite sprint, so she recovers from trouble faster than the field. For the complete picture of the game, start from the Downhill Domination fan hub home page and work outwards from there.
Reading a rider card like the game does
The headline numbers are only the start. A high combat rider also stays on the bike better in a brawl, and a high tricking rider builds the Stoke Meter faster, which feeds everything else in a race. When you pick a rider for a career, match the skills to the career type: speed and sprint for Technical Downhill, combat for Mountain Cross, and tricking for Freeride and Freestyle scoring. The roster rewards specialists far more than it rewards famous names.
The bonus fictional riders
Two more fictional riders wait behind career results. Drud, a quiet and slightly sinister figure, is unlocked by completing Freestyle mode. Rakel, at six feet tall the tallest woman on the roster, is unlocked by completing Super Career with any two riders. Both are worth the effort: they give single player a second life once the starting six feel familiar, and their stat mixes cover gaps the starters leave open.
The real pros on the roster
Five real downhill racers join the cast as unlockables: Eric E.C. Carter, Missy The Missile Giove, Richie Schley, Tara Llanes and Brian Lopes. They arrive through the Specialized Careers, and they play like bosses because, in the fiction of the game, they are. Lopes, who waits at the end of the Mountain Cross career on Hardcore difficulty, is widely remembered as the toughest opponent in the game, faster and harder to rattle than any fictional rider. The races those pros guard are covered in our guide to the Specialized Careers, event by event.
The guest rider nobody expected
The strangest unlock of all is Kineticlops, a one eyed guest rider bought in Bonus Purchases for 50,000 dollars of in game cash. He is a wink at the developer's other work, a monster dropped into a mountain bike game, and his huge combat rating makes him a menace in Mountain Cross. He cannot ride every event type, which is part of the joke, but in a fight there is nobody scarier on the start line.
How rider videos and flavour work
Finish a career event with a rider and you unlock a short video clip for them, viewable from the options menu or by pressing Square on the character select screen. The clips, the podium animations and the riders' voices give the cast more personality than most racing games of the era managed. Even the two non playable riders in Freeride fields, Jen and Woody, exist to make a ten rider race feel full, borrowing the moves of Rakel and Ajax. If the 50,000 dollar price tag sounds steep, our money and sponsorship guide shows the fastest honest ways to earn it.
Choosing your main rider
Pick a main the honest way: run the same course three times with three different riders and compare your worst sections, not your best time. The rider whose mistakes cost you least is your rider. Sprint heavy riders forgive crashes, speed heavy riders reward clean lines, and combat heavy riders let you manufacture room on crowded Mountain Cross tracks. Once the choice feels natural, commit to a full career with them and let the unlocks come to you.
Quick Answers
How many riders are in Downhill Domination?
There are 14 playable riders: six fictional starters, two bonus fictional riders, one guest rider, and five real professional downhill racers.
Who is the fastest rider in Downhill Domination?
Kalolo posts the highest speed figures among the starters, while Brian Lopes, the final Mountain Cross boss on Hardcore, is the fastest opponent most players ever face.
How do I unlock Brian Lopes?
Complete the Mountain Cross Specialized Career on Hardcore difficulty to unlock Brian Lopes.