Doggone Dogfight

Doggone Dogfight
Mugman fighting Saluki's Chinook helicopter on Canteen's plane.
Boss	The Howling Aces
Location	Inkwell Isle Four
Overworld Icon	Airplane
Enemies	None

Doggone Dogfight is a level on Inkwell Isle Four where The Howling Aces are fought. It is represented on the map by an airplane. This level has the unique gimmick of having the player stand on an airplane being flown by Canteen Hughes, where the plane will veer to the side that the player is standing on.

Strategy

Recommended

• Platform Maneuvering
• Projectile Dodging
• Precise Parrying
• Proper Aiming

Useful Weapons

• Roundabout, Twist-Up, Crackshot or Chaser (Phase 1)
• Crackshot, Chaser or Spread (Phase 2)
• Twist-Up, Crackshot or Chaser (Phase 3)

The Chinook Pilot Saluki salutes you, then returns to the Chinook as the Fighter Pilot Bulldog appears from the background.

A Fighter Pilot Bulldog will drive an airplane above the player, he will occasionally jump out the plane to use 2 attacks. In one attack, he will flex and shoot his bone tattoo out of his arm which boomerangs back, some can be parried. In the other attack, he grabs a cat and shoots a red, yellow and green ball of yarn. While all of that is happening, some puppies can appear in all 4 hatches of his fighter and throw three tennis balls down. After taking a bit of damage, the Chinook will support fire homing fire hydrant missiles that move slowly across the screen.

Four puppies from the hatch hover with jetpacks bark and shoot out letter that spins and form "BOW WOW", some can be parried. The four dogs revolve around the center of the screen, and are defeated one by one.

The Dog Chinook appears and hold onto the screen. The paw pads reveals laser cannons that shoot diagonally downwards. The bottom two are shot together and can always be parried. After that, the Chinook will flip the screen counter-clockwise. The Saluki will then mash buttons spawning red, or yellow dog bowls. The red bowls will glide across the plane, while the yellow bowls will glide above the plane, hitting the player if they jump into it.

The jetpack from the puppies will produce white exhaust when they have high health, then gray exhaust when they are close to be defeated. If all are are producing gray exhaust, they will be eaten by the Dog Chinook. The Chinook appears and hold onto the screen as if it is the normal third phase, however, the puppies appear in its paw pads instead of the lasers, throwing regular and pink pineapple grenades which explodes into shrapnel when they are hit. The Saluki also appears and calls for the Chinook to shoot homing fire hydrant missiles. Unlike the regular third phase, the screen will not rotate counter-clockwise.

Walkthrough

Regular Mode	Expert Mode
File:How To Beat The Howling Aces NO DAMAGE (A+ Rank) - Cuphead DLC	File:How To Beat The Howling Aces on EXPERT MODE (S-Rank) - Cuphead DLC
File:How To Beat The Howling Aces SECRET PHASE NO DAMAGE (A+ Rank) - Cuphead DLC	File:How To Beat The Howling Aces SECRET PHASE on EXPERT MODE (S-Rank) - Cuphead DLC

Soundtrack

Version	Soundtrack
Original/In-game soundtrack	File:Doggone Dogfight
Death screen soundtrack	File:Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course "Doggone Dogfight" -Game Over Ver.-

Gallery

• 

  Phase 1

• 

  Phase 2

• 

  Final Phase

• 

  Secret Phase

• 

  Overworld Icon

Trivia

• This is the only boss fight in the game with a completely cel animated background and no painted elements.
• This is also the only boss fight in the game where, at one point, the player battles upside down.
• This is one of the only two boss fights where Simple Mode doesn't remove the last phase of the boss (altough in this case, it is heavily altered), the first one to do this being Botanic Panic!.
• Due to the cat that the Fighter Pilot Bulldog uses to attack being almost identical in appearance to Katzenwagen, it is commonly speculated that the Howling Aces are familiar with Werner Werman, who also pilots Katzenwagen in his fight.

Inspirations and Similarities

• The usage of bulldogs may be inspired by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who lead Great Britain during World War II and came to have the nickname of the "British Bulldog" due to his appearance similar to the canine, thus becoming a symbol for the nation during this time of crisis.
• The bulldog's attire is almost similar to Rolento, a character from Street Fighter franchise series.
• The buff bulldog's design seems to be inspired from Spike from Tom and Jerry.
  • The cat that the Bulldog pulls out may represent Tom.
    • Due to his usage to shoot projectiles, it may be a pun on the Tommy Gun.
• Several elements of this fight may be based on the series of cartoons based on Disney canine Pluto:
  • The Chinook is in the form of a canine face similar to Pluto's.
  • The bulldog may be influenced by Butch, Pluto's bulldog rival in several shorts.
  • The puppies may be an anthro take on the puppies of Pluto and Fifi from the Disney short Pluto's Quin-Puplets.
  • Although the Saluki may represent a combination of two of Pluto's most famous female companions in his shorts: Fifi (a Pekinese, shown with her fluffy ears and tail) and Dinah (a Dachshund, shown with her long muzzle and body).
• The second phase of the fight with the puppies may be a reference to the Sisters boss fight in Cave Story, where multiple dragons fly around the center of the screen and shoot projectiles towards the player.