History Characters / Ryugagotoku

[[redirect:Characters/{{Yakuza}}]]

A list of characters from the ''[[RyuGaGotoku Yakuza/Ryu Ga Gotoku]]'' series of games and the tropes they embody.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Main Characters]]

!!Kazuma Kiryu
The Dragon of Dojima, [[spoiler:fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan]] and our hero. Big and scary, but very kind and gentle as long as you don't get on his bad side.

* AlliterativeName
* [[spoiler: AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: When the moment Kazuma declared himself the fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan during it's darkest hour, it's quite honestly the most badass thing he has ever done. Of course, the actual ceremony was never held as Kazuma quickly resigns, making this a slight subversion.]]
* {{Badass}}: Oh, ''hell yeah''.
* BerserkButton: Messing with either women or kids in front of Kazuma is one of the surest ways to bring down his wrath upon you. Especially do not mess with Haruka, Kazuma's adoptive niece.
* {{BFG}}: His unique weapon in ''Dead Souls'' is a freaking '''''anti-material rifle'''''.
* CoolOldGuy: By the time of the third game he's forty.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: To the point that he outright ''brawls'' with zombies in the beginning of his act in ''Dead Souls''. He manages to live with them, though.
* DotingParent: Although he's not very outspoken about it ([[TheStoic he's not very outspoken about anything]]), Kazuma is very, VERY proud of his kids, and does all he can to give them a happy, wholesome life. He also doesn't take it overboard: he'll teach his kids a lesson, but he won't enforce it too much, letting his kids learn it on their own.
* [[spoiler: DisneyDeath: In the scene before the credits of both 2 and 3 it looks like he dies or is about to.]]
* TheDragon of Dojima (before the events of the first game).
* FallenHero: In the first game, as the Tojo Clan used to hold him in high regard until [[spoiler: Dojima is killed]], in which a majority of the clan holds a grudge against him upon his return. [[spoiler: Subverted as Kazuma never committed the murder and took the blame for Nishiki willingly, thus he had never earned this trope.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: He's very good with kids, and actually runs an orphanage in the third game.
* TheHero
* KnightErrant: Very much so, though he often tries to settle down. It never works.
* NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters
* NiceGuy: Kazuma missed his calling in life as the Patron Saint of Niceness. He helps any innocent bystander no matter how big or small the problem, rescues young girls, pets, old women crossing the street, and forgives men who try to kill him on several occasions at the slightest hint of their redemption. This makes his status as the entire underworld's Butt Monkey so far as picking fights go all the more hilarious.
* OneManArmy: Over the course of the series, Kazuma has shown that yes, he is most definitely this.
* PapaWolf: Mess with his kids and you die, especially Haruka.
* PetTheDog: Kazuma is pretty much made of this trope. If you don't know who he is, you'd swear he's the nicest guy around. If you DO know him, he's still the nicest guy around, but you know what to do for him to STAY that way.
* RealMenWearPink: The shirt he wears with his suit is a rather stylish old mauve, not to mention he's the chief chef at the orphanage.
** He also learns some of his techniques in the third game by blogging.
* RedBaron: "The Dragon Of Dojima".
* ShirtlessScene: A lot of them.
* SmokingIsCool
* TheStoic
** NotSoStoic
* SupremeChef: A minor characteristic, but Kazuma ''does'' do all the cooking himself for the kids under his care. And to him it's SeriousBusiness. Considering the games, this also means he overlaps with ChefOfIron under the "Ordinary" classification.
* TattooedCrook: An appropriate silver dragon on his back.
* ThouShaltNotKill: His anti killing stance stems from the death of the 3 people whom he known as family and his desire to be a good father figure for Haruka.
** GameplayAndStorySegregation: He can still use swords though (and not just [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter bokuto]]).
*** FridgeBrilliance: He goes for semi-lethal gashes rather then impalement.
* WarriorPoet: Kazuma is very much the Samurai, and frequently displays a very sensitive, cultured side. He even starts a photography blog in the third game!
* WifeBasherBasher: Yeaaaaah, be nice to your girl in front of Kazuma.
* WouldNotHitAGirl: Together with children, Kazuma has a huge soft spot for women, and will never hit a girl, no matter what.

!!Haruka Sawamura
Kazama's adopted daughter, whose job is to [[{{Kawaiiko}} be cute]] and get [[DesignatedVictim kidnapped]] once a game.

* DanceBattler: In her playable appearance in Yakuza 5. Subverted, as she doesn't actually fight (unlike the other heroes); her random encounters and boss battles are street dancers and concerts, respectively.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: of the first Yakuza, for all intents and purposes
* IdolSinger: Her goal in 5 is to become one. When you realize that she's voiced by RieKugimiya, it brings to mind another [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} role she did.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: Her quest to find her mother [[spoiler:Yumi]] is what brings Kazuma deeper into all the intrigue during the first game after he gets out of jail.
* PlotCoupon: She has one in the first game, which is why everyone's trying to grab her.
* PromotedToPlayable: In ''Ryu Ga Gotoku 5''
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Puberty has made her almost unrecognizable by the third game, and she's become much more independent and confident in her role as big sister over the orphanage. By the fifth game, she is a high schooler.
* TagAlongKid

!!Yumi [[spoiler: Sawamura]]
Kazuma's true love, who along with Nishiki was one of his closest friends as a child. [[spoiler: Kick starts all of the events of the first game by stealing the laundered 10 billion yen from the Tojo Clan.]]

* EasyAmnesia: Averted. She spends a good few years recovering from the horror of seeing Nishiki kill Dojima.
* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler: She would have if she'd survived the first game.]]
* [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice]]
* [[spoiler: [[LukeIAmYourFather Haruka I Am Your Mother]]]]

!!Reina
A woman who runs Serena during the first game. She's been friends with Kazuma and Nishiki for a long time as Serena was Kiryu and Nishiki's favorite hangout before Dojima's murder. Reina helps Kazuma by letting him use Serena as a hideout and takes care of Haruka whenever Kiryu has to go somewhere. [[spoiler: Late in the game, it's revealed that she betrayed Kazuma out of love for Nishiki and became his informant. After attempting to kill Nishiki, she is rescued by Shinji and the two are killed by Kazuto Arase.]]
* [[spoiler: AnyoneCanDie]]
* TheBartender: Allows Kazuma to use Serena as a hideout. [[spoiler: In the second game, Kazuma carries a fever-inflicted Kaoru there for her to rest. The electricity's still on despite being shut down after Reina's death.]]
* NiceGirl
* [[spoiler: HighHeelFaceTurn: Her attempt to kill Nishiki.]]
** [[spoiler: HeelFaceDoorSlam: By the time she decided to redeem herself in some fashion, Kazuta nearly guns her down and she dies of blood loss during her escape with Shinji.]]
* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal]]
* [[spoiler: LoveMakesYouEvil: The reason why she betrayed Kazuma and the others to assist Nishiki.]]
* [[spoiler: TheMole: For Nishiki.]]
* [[spoiler: RedemptionEqualsDeath: To an extent. She does try to redeem herself by trying to kill Nishiki, and it's not shown nor explained how, but...]]
** [[spoiler: TooDumbToLive: Seeing Nishiki most likely had his marksman with him, going by the bullet wounds in Reina's corpse, it didn't go out so well.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tojo Clan]]

!The Tojo Clan
The main clan of the games, Kazuma's former employer and the most unhealthy place to work in the universe (over 8 onscreen lieutenant deaths and counting...). A large organization, with over 2000 employees and several families.

!!Masaru Sera
Third Chairman of the Tojo Clan. [[spoiler:We don't know much about him as his death sets off the plot of the game, but he seems like a nice enough guy for a Yakuza.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules Screw the Money, I Have Rules!]] - [[spoiler: Literally. Realizing just how much Jingu went off the [[MoralEventHorizon deep end]] is what drove Sera to conspire with Kazama/Fuma to engineer the theft of the 10 million yen that the Tojo Clan was laundering for Jingu to try and bring him down.]]

!!Yukio Terada
[[spoiler:Fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan]], and former Omi Clan member. A nice, friendly guy, he was friends with many people in the Tojo Clan and worked hard to avert a war between the two. [[spoiler:As a result Kazama convinces him to leave the Omi Clan and succeed him as Chairman. He continues this role briefly in the second game, before... things get complicated.]]

* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal]]
* [[spoiler:MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning]]
* StoutStrength
* SupportingLeader
* [[spoiler:ReverseMole: Pulls one worthy of [[Literature/HarryPotter Severus Snape]], actually becoming the apparent BigBad no less before revealing he had worked against his allies from the beginning.]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath: He wasn't really a bad guy, but had done enough bad things to qualify.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dojima Family]]

!Dojima Family
A very important family, counting Kazuma and Shintaro Kazama/Fuma as members. It didn't survive his death however, and breaks up shortly afterwards.

!! Sohei Dojima

* TheStrategist: How he's normally described.
* DemotedToExtra: We still know almost nothing about him, despite being awesome enough to [[spoiler:have both his wife and son be accepted almost automatically as Chairmen of the Tojo Clan.]]
** He's actually implied to be [[spoiler: quite the bastard. For one thing, he cheats on his wife with multiple women (including Yumi, which sets off his own murder at the hands of Nishiki).]]
* PowerTrio: With both Fuma/Kazama and Shimano in regards of the Jingweon incident flashback in the second game.

!!Yayoi Dojima
Dojima's widow, who nurses a grudge towards Kazama for killing her husband. [[spoiler:Later becomes acting head of the Tojo Clan for the second game.]]

* ActionGirl: All the more notable for being one of the few examples in the Yakuza world. Don't underestimate her skill with that sword she carries, and she's the only [[spoiler:Tojo chairman]] who manages to last an entire game without being killed or injured.
* QuicklyDemotedWoman: She's not counted among the [[spoiler:chairmen of the Tojo Clan, despite having guided it through possibly its darkest hour.]] Still it's impressive that she managed to attain leadership at all.
* KatanasAreJustBetter

!!Daigo Dojima
Dojima's son, when first encountered he's pretty much just another street punk. [[spoiler:He is eventually convinced to aid Kazuma against the Omi clan and becomes the sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan.]]

* [[spoiler: AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Just compare Daigo's fighting abilities from his days as a street punk and TheLancer to his run as the sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan. Even more impressive as his opponent is Kazuma of all people.]]
* [[spoiler: DespairEventHorizon: In the fourth game.]]
** [[spoiler: You don't see it on him, because he's kinda TheStoic.]]
* [[spoiler:FinalBoss: He's Kazuma's final opponent in the campaign.]]
* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn: He returns to being a full-on good guy during the events of ''Dead Souls.'']]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: While emptying a pistol into and killing Koji Shindo was very shocking (especially when Kazuma actually spares the latter after a usual beat down), the fact that Koji betrayed the Tojo Clan and caused the deaths of Tojo Clan Officers is simply just too much to let him get off that easy.]]
* [[spoiler: ManipulativeBastard: In the fourth game.]]
* [[spoiler: WellIntentionedExtremist: In the fourth game.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He wants to do what's best for the Clan, but won't betray his friends to do so. [[spoiler: Until the fourth game, that is...]]
* TheLancer: In the second game.
* TheCaptain: In the third game.
* TattooedCrook: Has a tattoo of a either a deity or warrior of sorts, perhaps reflecting on his [[spoiler: abilities of being a natural leader.]]
** His tattoo is Fudō-myōō the fierce, angry guardian of Buddha entity.
* YoungGun: In the second game as TheLancer. While he is skilled as a fighter, he isn't quite there compare to those like [[{{Badass}} Kazuma]] or [[CrazyAwesome Majima]], both who Daigo looks up to.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nishiki Family]]

!Nishiki Family
One of the youngest Families, and unfortunately one of the most ambitious and traitorous. Their Patriarchs try to kill Kazuma at least once a game, which never ends well (for them). [[spoiler: Disbanded as of the fourth game.]]

!!Akira Nishiki
Kazama's best friend, and far more idealistic and ambitious than his friend. [[FallenHero Eventually the second trait leads him to his downfall.]]

* [[spoiler: FinalBoss[=/=] ClimaxBoss]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]
* CynicismCatalyst: The death of his sister takes away his idealism, leaving only ambition to keep him going.
* DespairEventHorizon: Took this pretty damn hard after he [[spoiler: killed Dojima to save Yumi]] as Kazuma goes to jail, Yumi suddenly vanishes, and his ill sister dies. From that point on, he decides to ditch his ideals and complete his transformation into the EvilCounterpart
* EvilCounterpart: He's pretty much a more ambition filled Kazuma that will do anything to be at the top once he hits the DespairEventHorizon.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange
* TattooedCrook: A carp, in contrast with Kazuma's dragon.
** Also meaningful if one hears about the story that if a carp reaches high enough in a waterfall, it will be become a dragon, which fits Nishiki's ambition to be in the top of the Tojo Clan.

!!Koji Shindo
The second patriarch of the Nishiki Family, and living up to the family's growing reputation by being an overly ambitious jerk.

* AscendedExtra: In the first game he was Nishiki's lieutenant, in fact the one who lead the ambush against Kazuma in Serena's back alley.
* {{Jerkass}}
* [[spoiler: LaserGuidedKarma: His comeuppance comes quite as fast the moment he reveals his betrayal.]]
* KatanasAreJustBetter
* SmugSnake

!!Tsuyoshi Kanda
The third patriarch of the Nishki family, he's... well, read above.

* BigBadWannabe: He is simply too [[AxCrazy violent]], and [[DumbMuscle ignorant]] to be main villain material. [[spoiler: He ends up being turned in by the third game's actual BigBad, who had him as an UnwittingPawn all along]].
* {{Jerkass}}
* FatBastard
* NoIndoorVoice
* [[spoiler:YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Brought Mine into the organization, and then proceeded to take him for granted. [[BullyingADragon This was a bad idea.]]]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kazama[=/=]Fuma Family]]

!Kazama/Fuma Family
The 'nice' family, which spawned from the remnants of the Dojima family. Kazuma's main allies through the games, though they are thought of as somewhat ineffectual due to their focus on the needs of the Clan over their own.

!!Shintaro Fuma (Shintaro Kazama in the original Japanese)
Kazuma's father figure, and retired premier hitman for the Tojo Clan.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: He killed Kazuma's biological parents in a hit. Given that he places all the children of his targets in Sunshine Orphanage, it can be reasoned he killed Nishiki's and Yumi's parents as well. Kazuma forgives him as he always considered Fuma to be his real father.]]
* BadassMustache
* DirtyBusiness
* TheObiWan
* [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice]]
* HitmanWithAHeart

!!Osamu Kashiwagi
Shintaro's loyal assistant, and a very calm, controlled individual.

* BigDamnHeroes: Brings the Kazama/Fuma family to support Kazuma and Shintaro against Shimano and his men for all out battle in the first game, making it his sole AwesomeMoment in the series.
* TheCaptain
* FlatCharacter: Which can be lampshaded in the third game.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: His face is very scarred.
* [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair You Gotta Have Green Hair]]: His hair is tinted green for some odd reason. Strange, since this is a realistic game series.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shimano Family]]

!Shimano Family
A big, powerful family, they are one of the backbones of the Tojo clan under their ruthless Patriarch.

!!Futo Shimano
The Patriarch of the Shimano family, Futo is big, nasty and shamelessly using greater events to grab himself greater power.

* FatBastard
* KilledOffForReal
* StoutStrength

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Majima Family]]

!The Majima Family
Another family that emerged from the Dojima break up, and as loose in their allegiances as their unpredictable Patriarch. In the second game Majima turns them into a (mostly) legitimate construction company, though they are no less dangerous because of it.

!!Goro Majima
Head of the Majima family, and all round crazy dude. Known to be completely unpredictable, he is none the less highly respected for his skill and deceptive intelligence.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Yeah, he might seem like a PsychoForHire, but this guy runs a legitimate construction company, has won incredible loyalty from his employees and has become one of the most senior Yakuza Lieutenants. He's no uncontrolled fool, just a little... eccentric.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Majima has always been eccentric to the point of insanity, but in the first game is was played quite a bit differently then what we're used to from the character. His personality was more intimidating and unpredictable, he routinely abused his subordinates within an inch of their life if they were lucky, and despite his WorthyOpponent relationship with Kazuma he was still comfortably positioned in the role of antagonist. From the second game on he's more zany then psychotic, inspires immense loyalty from his men, and is always allied with the protagonists even when it wouldn't be advantageous to be so. In short, he went from [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=778VDaSLeX4 this]] to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkYgW3f3jI this.]]
* ConfusionFu: This is arguably Majima's style of fighting.
* DeadManWalking: During his chapter in Dead Souls, there's a point he gets bitten by a zombie. By Kiryu's chapter, his eye's gone red. He then goes to a sauna to try and sweat it out. Turns out [[spoiler:The zombie bit him with dentures, and his eye's red because of high pollen!]]
* TheDragon: To Kazuma from ''2'' onwards, making him one of the incredibly rare and incredibly awesome HEROIC examples: he's less TheLancer, and more just a force of nature that Kazuma unleashes on the underworld when needed.
* EyepatchOfPower
* HellbentForLeather: His usual outfit. Leather pants, snakeskin leather jacket, leather gloves, leather boots...
* KnifeNut: In SPADES. His signature weapon seems to be a tanto, which he handles with... rather disturbing fondness.
** Even more disturbingly, the fourth game reveals [[spoiler: it's the same weapon he lost his left eye to.]]
* PetTheDog: Goro Majima can be [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RtxNl23rFg&feature=related unpredictable]] at times, showing that he's not a Complete Monster despite being a Psycho For Hire.
* RecurringBoss: He's fought at least once per game, with the fourth one being the only one in which he doesn't take on Kazuma, instead facing Saejima in a surprisingly emotional fight.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: His unique weapon in ''Dead Souls'' is a combat shotgun.
* TattooedCrook: His tattoo is a very appropriate Oni figure.

!!Daisaku Minami
Appears in the fourth game as Lieutenant of the Majima family. Like his patriarch, he is both tough and crazy, but has been influenced by Western culture as well. Is also bad at karaoke.

* BoozeFlamethrower: Wields one against Saejima.
* DrunkenMaster
* HollywoodToneDeaf

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hakuho Clan]]

!The Hakuho Clan
A family that emerged during the time gap between the second and third games.

!!Yoshitaka Mine
An extremely rich young man who was brought into the Tojo Clan by [[spoiler: bribing]] Kanda. Since then, he's come into his own under Daigo's wing [[spoiler: and suffers an erractic breakdown when Daigo is shot, which sets the events of the third game into motion]].

* [[spoiler: BigBad of the third game]].
* [[spoiler: ClimaxBoss]]: Overlaps with FinalBoss.
* [[spoiler:EvilCounterpart: Yet another one to Kazuma, being an orphan like him.]]
* [[spoiler:FreudianExcuse: As a child, he grew up with no support from anyone, often ridiculed for his poor origins. This has led him to believe that money and power were everything, and later to attach himself to the only person who treated him as an equal to an obssessive degree.]]
* [[spoiler:LoveMakesYouEvil: The whole game's plot more or less started because this guy had a mental breakdown over finally finding love and acceptance from Daigo. [[{{Yandere}} And as a result he set out to destroy everything the guy had ever cared about. Read the line above.]]]]
* [[spoiler:NietzscheWannabe: This guy really [[{{ThereAreNoTherapists}} needs a therapist.]]]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]
* {{Shoryuken}}: One of his attacks.
* TheStoic: He never shows any emotion, commented one several times by other characters.
** [[spoiler:NotSoStoic: Except for when he does, which normally gives you clear warning that someone is about to die.]]
* [[spoiler:TakingYouWithMe: To the real BigBad, by giving him a [[WrestlerInAllOfUs Dragon Suplex off ''a thirty story building''.]]]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hamazaki Clan]]

!The Hamazaki Clan
An family working on the fringes of the Tojo, they are vital but mistrusted for their close links to the Chinese Triads.

!!Goh Hamazaki
Big, ugly and nasty, he's an opportunistic thug who will do whatever it takes to succeed.

* BonusBoss: He can be fought in the arena after the main game.
* {{Jerkass}}
* TheUnfought: Though he's a major bad guy in the third game, you never actually fight him. It's even more odd since - as stated above - he is a non-canon bonus fight in the arena, which shows that he's certainly got the skills.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He vanishes off screen once his plans have been screwed up and his family destroyed. [[spoiler:He comes back right at the end, accuses Kazuma of ruining his life and (near fatally) stabs him in the gut.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Omi Alliance]]

!The Omi Alliance

!!Toranosuke Sengoku
The man behind most of the wealth of the Omi Alliance, he's a smug, smirking jerk whose only redeeming attribute is his skill with money.

* BadassInANiceSuit
* SmugSnake: The worst, in a game filled with them.
* SissyVillain
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Mouthing off to Ryuji Goda about how he's only successful because of his father - '''especially''' after he just carved a bloody gash in your chest with his katana - is a very '''stupid''' move.]]

!!Ryuji Goda
The [[spoiler:adopted]] son of Omi Alliance Chairman Jin Goda and the Patriarch of the Go-Ryu Clan, Ryuji Goda engineers a war between the Omi and the Tojo Clan while seeking out Kazuma in order to defeat him and claim the title of The One True Dragon.

* ArmCannon: One of the things he returned to the series with, and that is only the beginning of his awesomeness.
* [[spoiler:BackFromTheDead: In ''Of The End/Dead Souls'', where he is still alive due to a "what if" where he just passed out from his wounds instead of died.]]
* BerserkButton: ''Never'' refer to him as "The Dragon of Kansai". [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne There is only one True Dragon]], and he aims to be the one.
* CharacterDevelopment: His arc in ''Of The End/Dead Souls'' is full of it. [[spoiler:Explaining how he lost his original right hand by performing a quitting ceremony, left his own Family and the entire Kansai Omi Alliance, came to realize how futile it was to seek the position of the Only Dragon, and then earning his stay as a takoyaki cooker's apprentice.... Let's just say he came a long way.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Ryuji's sense of openness in battle meant he didn't care '''at all''' for Sengoku kidnapping Haruka to set Kazuma up for an ambush at the Golden Palace and sliced open Sengoku's torso to accent the point. Of course Sengoku had the brilliance to accuse Ryuji of rising on nepotism, which only [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry set Ryuji off]] and earned him a katana through the chest and a boot off the Golden Palace's balcony. After taking care of that interruption, Ryuji then lets Kazuma and Haruka leave undisturbed - although he made it clear that the Omi and Tojo were going to go head-on in exactly a day.]]
* EvilCounterpart: Like Kazuma he's known as TheDragon and has a tattoo of one on his back, along with a certain sense of honor and a similar fighting style. He however lacks both Kazuma's loyalty and kind spirit, and so frequently misuses all of those virtues.
* HonourBeforeReason: He openly dislikes trickery and manipulation, preferring to strike head on.
* InsistentTerminology: In ''Of The End/Dead Souls'', he hates it or scowls whenever someone refers to him as Dragon of Kansai, and reminds them that he is no longer yakuza
* SpannerInTheWorks: His sense of honor and fair play are why the various Chessmasters consider him a predictable pawn in their plans, [[spoiler:yet by the end his simple brute strength has derailed all of their manipulations.]]
* TattooedCrook: Like Kazuma, his is a Dragon.
* ThereCanOnlyBeOne: Goda's adversarial role with fellow [[TheDragon Dragon]] Kazuma boils down to a belief that there can only be One True Dragon in the underworld, and he tries to face down Kazuma to that end.
* UnknownRival: Daigo has a good reason to dislike Ryuji, who the latter actually send the former to prison due to a set-up prior to the main story. However, Ryuji quite honestly doesn't remember or care about the incident when they meet again.
* [[spoiler:WeCanRebuildHim: With a chaingun attached to his hand if necessary.]]
* WorthyOpponent: He considers Kazuma one, and Kazuma is nice enough to return the favour.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Politicians]]

!Politicians
As always, heavily tied up in the Yakuza and [[CorruptBureaucrat normally evil]].

!!Kyohei Jingu
A wealthy businessman and politician, Jingu is very tied up in the Yakuza and seeks to use their wealth to gain greater political power for himself. [[spoiler:He's also the former lover of Yumi Sawamura and the true father of Haruka]].

* BigBad: Of the first game.
* FlunkyBoss: By himself he is quite wimpy but he has a couple of SWATs to back him up.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: He used to be a nice guy, but making deals with Yakuza eventually led to greed and ambition consuming him.

!!Ryuzo Tamiya
The Defense Minster, Ryuzo appears in the third game as one of the two politicians vying for the Prime Minister job. His big plan for winning the position revolves around a new missile defense system for Japan, built in co-operation with the Americans.

* {{Chessmaster}}
* KnightInSourArmor
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's actually a suprisingly nice guy, and gets along very well with Kazuma.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Police]]

!The Police

A mix of good and evil police cast lie within Yakuza, some are honest investigators who try to stay honest in a world where police are organized gang members while others are self serving thugs with legal powers.

!!Makoto Date
A scruffy, rather down on his luck detective, Date is one of Kazuma's closest allies.

* PapaWolf: While his relationship with his daughter, Saya, is not exactly stellar, he will kick the ass of anyone who harasses her.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He was originally a detective in the Homicide division who interrogated Kazuma following his arrest in the Dojima shooting, and came to suspect that Kazuma was taking the fall for someone else. Despite it being deemed an open-and-shut case, his persistence in investigating the matter didn't sit well with his superiors and they transferred him to the Organized Crime unit as punishment.
* TheLancer: One of the most frequent and obvious.

!!Junichi Sudo
A police detective, Sudo is very cool and collected and very much the professional. His sense of justice is shown however when he defies his bosses at the end of the first game, and since then has becoming a staunch ally of Kazuma.

* ByTheBookCop

!!Jiro Kawara
Or 'Killer Kawara', so named for the amount of [[CowboyCop suspects who die resisting arrest.]] A cop in the second game, he's viewed with suspicion by the other characters for his obvious keeping of secrets and lack of morals.

* CowboyCop: Even worse considering he's [[ValuesDissonance Japanese, yet is more than a little fond of his service revolver.]]
* CoolOldGuy
* [[spoiler: DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Frankly, he kind of did have a reason for Kaoru as her mother's dying wish is to ensure Kaoru's safety.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: He does have morals, but is generally so bitter about everything that it's easy to mistake them for something else.
* [[spoiler: DisappearedDad: He is Kaoru's father, who under a series of events, could not see her.]]
* [[spoiler: PapaWolf: Another reason for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, as to clean up Kaoru's past and ties with the Jingweon, as by Suyeon's dying wish]]
* [[spoiler: PowerOfLove: He went a good lengths to help Suyeon, a woman who crossed a nasty DespairEventHorizon into giving her a new life, to the point the two eventually gained a daughter together and that daughter is Kaoru.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: When you realize why he tends to shoot up illegal aliens [[spoiler: who had something to do with Suyeon's murder.]]
* [[spoiler: TakingTheBullet: Took shots for Kaoru, which eventually killed him.]]

!!Kaoru Sayama
A Osakan cop famed for her spirit and determination, she's earned the title of 'Yakuza Eater' for her work in dealing with the clans.

* ActionGirl: She can certainly handle herself just as well as any of the men.
* BreakTheCutie: The second game is most definitely this to Kaoru once [[spoiler: she finds out who her true family members are and what became of them shortly after the reveal.]]
* FairCop
* ParentalAbandonment: She grew up in the care of a woman who explicitly wasn't her mother, but would never tell her who was.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The CIA]]

!The CIA

!!Jouji [[spoiler: Fuma[=/=]Kazama in the original Japanese]]
An agent of the CIA who seeks to ensure the Okinawa resort deal goes through by any means necessary. [[spoiler: Is also the younger brother of Shintarou Fuma.]]

* BadassGrandpa: While not technically a grandpa, he's sixty years old and still thoroughly kicks some ass.
* DuelBoss: The inevitable confrontation with him is quite hyped, and he is one of the few bosses in the third game that fights fair and square, no weapons, no cheating, just straight up honorable beatdown.
* [[spoiler: DefeatEqualsFriendship]]
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Considering that he's Japanese by birth but [[spoiler:an agent of a major American intelligence organization,]] he'd need to brush up on his English. We only hear two sentences though, but it's still decent.

!!The Unidentified Agent[=/=][[spoiler: Andre Richardson]]
A mysterious individual who's only known motive is that he wants Kazuma dead. [[spoiler: Is in fact the leader of a terrorist group known as Black Monday, and has conspired with Mine to bring about the events of the third game]].

* ArmsDealer
* BilingualDialogue: One of his scenes with Kazuma invokes this, with Kaz speaking Japanese and him speaking English. The two don't break a sweat while conversing.
* [[spoiler: BiggerBad: Of the third game.]]
* RecurringBoss
* [[spoiler: The Mole: He's managed to infiltrate ''the friggin CIA''!]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ryu Ga Gotoku 4]]

!Ryu Ga Gotoku 4

!!Shun Akiyama
The first of the three new playable characters. A moneylender known as "The Lifeline of Kamurocho." He's famous for helping those nobody else will, and uses strange tests for applicants in lieu of charging interest or collateral. Once an up-and-coming financier, he was betrayed by his bank and left homeless, until he got caught in a literal rain of money. After some clever investing, he opened Sky Finance and became the man he is today. He's also friendly with the Tojo family and generally just a nice guy.

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: It's not said exactly how much Akiyama made of his initial million, but it's enough for him to casually loan out tens of millions of yen to perfect strangers without charging interest or even usually bothering to collect.
** [[spoiler: Later in the game, it's shown he has 100 BILLION YEN!]]
* BadassInANiceSuit
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's probably the nicest guy in Kamurocho, but he won't hesitate to break some teeth if he needs to.
* TheCharmer
* ChivalrousPervert: He owns and frequents the most popular hostess club in Kamurocho, and his tests for his female clients always seem to include becoming a hostess for a period of time and/or going on a date with him. He can also romance the most hostesses of the four protagonists.
* DeadpanSnarker: Comes with being arguably the most lighthearted out of all the ''Yakuza 4'' protagonists.
* ExtremityExtremist: He fights almost exclusively with kicks, though he's not entirely averse to using his hands.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Despite being loaded and throwing around millions of yen at the drop of a hat, Akiyama apparently only limits his expendable income to what he gets from side quests and thugs.
* GunsAkimbo: His preferred unique weapons in ''Of The End/Dead Souls''.
* LoanShark: A weird subversion: he loans out money with no interest and no collateral on the condition that people pass a SecretTestOfCharacter. However, like regular loan sharks, he is very, very good at beating the crap out of people; in his case, though, it's usually either rival loan sharks or muggers looking to fleece ''him.''
* NiceGuy: With a little shopping, his niceness can get to the point where half of Kamurocho's vendors and homeless guys will gladly help him out in a fight.
* PermaStubble
* SecretTestOfCharacter: How he decides if his clients are deserving of a loan or not.

!!Taiga Saejima
New playable character number two. An ex-yakuza who infamously gunned down 18 yakuza in a noodle shop, and has spent 25 years in death row. After breaking out of prison, he returns to Kamurocho to find out what happened to his old family and why he was abandoned on that fateful night before the police catch up to him again. [[spoiler: He was set up to take the fall by Kasturagi of the Ueno Seiwa clan, who was the real killer.]] He is the oldest and strongest of the four protagonists.

* AnimalMotifs: The tiger. [[TigerVersusDragon Naturally, he and Kazuma end up fighting after they've barely spoken.]]
* BadassLongcoat
* CelibateHero: To a degree. Saejima probably would if he could, but he has far more important things to do with what little time he has.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower
* CombatPragmatist: Weapons, walls, enemies in any conceivable position... if it exists, Saejima has a finisher for it.
* DesperationAttack: Saejima gets more and better finishers at critical health.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: A lot has changed in the 25 years since Saejima was put away.
* FriendToAllChildren: For a self-admitted bad guy and convicted mass murderer, Saejima sure has a soft spot for kids.
* GoodOldWays: Saejima's general reaction to just about everything, especially the state of the yakuza.
* HomelessPigeonPerson: Saejima himself as well as most of his friendly contacts.
* ManlyTears
* MightyGlacier
* RatedMForManly: Aside from being a hulking giant and stone-cold badass, there's also Saejima's way of capturing Revelations - since he doesn't have a camera, he carves elaborate sculptures out of chunks of wood. With a chisel, in a few seconds, while roaring.
** Unfortunately, this also means he's too manly to try karaoke or woo some hostesses.
* RememberTheNewGuy: He's actually Majima's best friend and they were a huge influence on each other in their early yakuza days. Funny that Majima never mentioned him.
* [[spoiler:TheScapegoat]]
* ShamingTheMob: The mob in this case being [[spoiler: rich and bloodthirsty spectators of a deathmatch tournament he's forced to participate in. He lectures them on what it's really like to kill someone.]]

!!Masayoshi Tanimura
The last of the new playable characters. A corrupt cop called "The Parasite of Kamurocho." He takes bribes, tickets anyone who looks at him funny, and ignores his beat to go gambling, drinking, and visiting hostesses. The death of his father at the hands of the Tojo family has left him with a venomous hatred of yakuza. Despite his flaws, he does genuinely care about the people of Kamurocho.

* BigBrotherMentor: Plays this role to the immigrant children in his neighborhood.
* [[spoiler:ButNotTooForeign: His biological mother is a Thai woman.]] This plays into his backstory, being able to speak various South East Asian dialects.
* CounterAttack: The meat of Tanimura's fighting style involves parries and counters.
* CowboyCop
* DirtyCop
* FairCop: Several characters remark on how pretty he is. A couple of guys even capitalize on it to pick up some girls.
* InksuitActor: His character design is modelled after Hiroki Narimiya, his voice actor.
* TheGamblingAddict
* GunsAreWorthless: Tanimura carries a revolver, apparently for no other reason than to shoot it into the air every now and then.
** Justified in that the police aren't supposed to use deadly force unless absolutely necessary. [[spoiler: And he does use the gun when chasing down Sugiuchi.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He gladly takes bribes and is a vicious gambler, but almost all of his dirty money goes on to support immigrant orphans.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's around 30, but looks 18.
* {{Omniglot}}: Tanimura knows just about every language you'd hear in Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Thai and Filipino.
* TroubledButCute: A {{Bishonen}} with issues.
* WeakButSkilled: Has the lowest health of all four characters, but can counter any strike thrown at him and has powerful grappling moves.
* WouldHitAGirl: He's the only protagonist that can fight a woman. Granted, it's a friendly sparring match, but neither one pulls any punches.

!!Hana
Akiyama's secretary at Sky Finance. She is very organized and tries to be Akiyama's voice of reason. She starts out as little more than a comic foil, but she eventually shows some very cool HiddenDepths.

* [[spoiler: BeautifulAllAlong: She comes back in the finale, minus a couple hundred pounds. For reasons unknown, she slips back into her old body type by the time ''Dead Souls'' comes around.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes
* BigEater: She loves kalbi, and can eat at least two deluxe plates of it per meal. Usually she just goes for the all-you-can-eat deal.
* BrawnHilda: Hana is a big girl, but she's also a martial arts expert that surpasses Akiyama. In contrast to the usual type, she's cute as a button.
* CannotSpitItOut: She's clearly carrying a torch for Akiyama. Even he realizes it, but she just isn't his type, which makes it all the more painful when every other girl in Kamurocho apparently is.
* HiddenDepths: She's a martial arts expert with the singing voice of an ''angel''. Having AyaHirano (aka [[TheMelancholyOfHaruhiSuzumiya Haruhi Suzumiya]]) as her VA helps.
* {{Tsundere}}: Type B. She's a sweet girl, but all sorts of things can set her off.

!!Yasuko [[spoiler:Saejima]]
First introduced as "Lily" in Akiyama's chapter, asking to borrow an astronomical amount of money. A mysterious and beautiful woman. [[spoiler: She's Taiga Saejima's younger stepsister, going through hell as Katsuragi's pet assassin to see her brother one last time.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Happened long before the game ever started. She takes it better than most, but there's still something a little off about her.
* ChristmasCake: She's well into her thirties, but has never married.
* [[spoiler:DiedInYourArmsTonight: To be precise, in her brother's.]]
* FemmeFatale: She plays up this angle to [[spoiler:murder Katsuragi's targets.]]
* [[spoiler:TakingTheBullet: For Taiga.]]
* WomanInWhite: Her outfit for most of her appearances is a white trenchcoat.

!!Hiroaki Arai
A close friend of Akiyama and a high-ranking member of the Shibata family. Akiyama has him pegged as the next successor to the Tojo clan. [[spoiler: He's actually an undercover cop.]]

* AFatherToHisMen
* [[spoiler:EvenEvilHasStandards: He finally has enough when Munakata asks him to "take care of" the kids in Kiryu's orphanage.]]
* [[spoiler:FinalBoss: He's fought by Akiyama in the climax.]]
* [[spoiler:TheMole: For Munakata.]]
* NiceGuy

!!Takeshi Kido
Arai's underling and a sort of little brother to Akiyama. He seems like a non-threatening punk. "Seems" is the key word.

* TheDragon: To Arai.
* [[spoiler:FinalBoss: He's Saejima's opponent during the final confrontation.]]
* KillerRabbit: Kido seems like kind of a wimp at first, but there are constant teases of his fighting ability throughout. [[spoiler:Then he goes toe-to-toe with Saejima for the finale...]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Again, to Arai.

!!Isao Katsuragi
The lieutenant of the Ueno Seiwa clan, and its acting leader. He is a bad, bad man.

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Or so you think.]]
* NotQuiteDead: It's easy to lose track of how many times he gets shot, to no effect. He's either wearing bulletproof armor or the bullets are fake. [[spoiler: That last one is real, though.]]
* SmugSnake
* [[spoiler:TheUnfought: Despite being the major bad guy for the first three quarters of the game, you never get to fight him. Justified, as he's more of a thinker.]]

!!Junji Sugiuchi
A veteran detective, and something like a (very harsh) father figure to Tanimura. [[spoiler: Turns out he's been a yakuza spy on the force for his entire 30-year tenure.]]

* [[spoiler: AlasPoorVillain]]
* DaChief: Not the actual chief, but he fulfills this role for Tanimura.
* DeadPartner: For him, it was Tanimura's dad, which explains why Sugiuchi looks out for him.
* [[spoiler:EvilCounterpart: To Tanimura, made very obvious in their final confrontation.]]
* [[spoiler:TheMole]]
* [[spoiler:YouKilledMyFather: He was the killer of Tanimura's dad.]]

!!Seishiro Munakata
The assistant commissioner of the police force. He has big plans for cracking down on crime.[[spoiler: And is the true BigBad behind everything.]]

* [[spoiler:BigBad: The real one.]]
* [[spoiler:EvilPlan: One that has spanned three decades.]]
* [[spoiler:EvilOldFolks]]
* [[spoiler:FinalBoss: The last out of all the antagonists, who is fought by Tanimura during the finale.]]
* [[spoiler:FlunkyBoss: Tanimura has to fight lots of heavily armored guards to get to him.]]
* [[spoiler:KnightTemplar: Very convinced about his own self-righteousness, and believes his plan will cleanse the city.]]
* [[spoiler:TheManBehindTheMan: For both Katsuragi and Arai.]]


[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kurohyou 1 and 2]]

!!Ukyo Tatsuya

The main protagonist of Kurohyou, son of [[spoiler: Amamiya Taizan/Nagi Tooru]], Tatsuya is a street fighter who was forced into fighting for the Kuki Clan after he supposedly murdered Naoki Toda and stole from him. It turns out the guy he had killed was way tougher than he hoped [[spoiler: Toda didn't live long however since he was silenced by the real killer Shindoh to cover up an insurance scam/assassination]]. He later becomes a professional boxer but returned to the Dragon Heat after a new gang from Osaka wedged into the turf and horrified by what they did.

* BashBrothers: Tenma, Tatsuya's friend/rival. Tenma would sometimes be on the receiving end of Tatsuya's beatings but ultimately the only friend Tatsuya has throughout the years.
* BloodKnight
* BrokenHero: In the Drama, he is shown to be very emotionally unstable, especially after his sister [[spoiler: Saeko's death at the hands of his friend]]
* CynicismCatalyst : [[spoiler: Saeko in the drama was killed by Naoto, a Drama only character.]]
* FrothyMugsOfWater: He is only 19 by the events of Ashura, too young to drink liquor at the bar, the Hostess Club Jewel offers a bunch of non alcoholic alternatives for him.
* [[spoiler: LukeIAmYourFather: Taizan was revealed to be Tatsuya's long lost father, the reunion didn't last long though.]]
* MightMakesRight
* WouldntHitAGirl: He was rather enraged by Wardog's tactics during Ashura Hen.

!! Saeko Ukyo

The sister of Tatsuya and the owner of the pub ''Scarlet'', while she knows about her little brother being a bundle of trouble. She didn't know about how much trouble he got in when he supposedly killed Toda Naoki.

* [[spoiler: NotBloodSiblings: Saeko's parents were killed in the fire, with no other living relative, Saeko was adopted by Tatsuya's father]]
* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal: In the drama.]]


!!Nogizaki Ryou

The true leader of the Ashura Gang in Kurohyou 2. An orphan who grew up with Makoto at an orphanage, he became friends with Akita and his gang who formed the underground fight ring at Ashura. His troubles began when his girlfriend and childhood friend Shizuka died [[spoiler: because of a scheme by Tsurumi Tadashi who had bribed a doctor to give a planned lung transplant and make her death look like a failed surgery and began plotting revenge]]

* BigBad
* [[spoiler: Cynicism Catalyst: Shizuka]]
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide]]
* [[spoiler: HeartBrokenBadass: Shizuka's death was part of the reason he was willing to go so far to plot his revenge]]

!!Tsurumi Tadashi

The head of police in Kurohyou 2, just like Munakata, he was an assistant commissioner for the syndicate investigation division. [[spoiler: Worked with Niotaa to spearhead Project Vegas, an attempt to corner the Kuki entertainment racket for Niota. Indirectly responsible for the death of Shizuka, Ryou's lover and childhood friend. He is also part of the investigation group of the Champion Street Arson, the very same one which killed Tatsuya's mother]]

* [[spoiler: BigBad: Had been responsible for almost everything in the Kurohyou plot.]]
* [[spoiler: CorruptCop: He takes bribes, uses crimes to his advantage and the police force he uses is no better than thugs. He even has his own personal group of assassins to eliminate targets he deems a threat.]]
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: After Ryou reveals what he did over hacked cameras with the final coup de grace shooting Ryou in cold blood and revealing how he had committed manslaughter by denying Shizuka the lung transplant.]]

!! Kazuto Niota

The leader of the Niota Clan, a rival group competing against the Kuki Clan in Kamurocho. He is from Osaka and serves as the main source of headaches for Tatsuya throughout the series.

* KarmaHoudini: Despite having his plans to take over the protection business from Kuki, he never truly gets his just desserts. While he goes missing at the end of Kurohyou 2, he pretty much gets off scott free for what he has done to the Kuki.

[[/folder]]

* [[spoiler: ClimaxBoss]]

* GoodOldWays: Saejima's general reaction to just about everything, especially the state of the yakuza.

* [[spoiler:ButNotTooForeign: His biological mother is a Thai woman.]]

* {{Omniglot}}: Tanimura knows just about every language you'd hear in Southeast Asia.

* [[spoiler: BeautifulAllAlong: She comes back in the finale, minus a couple hundred pounds.]]

* HiddenDepths: She's a martial arts expert with the singing voice of an ''angel''.

* FightingForSurvival: His jailbreak with Saejima in the forth game actually has him act admirably, despite still being an asshole. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, RedemptionEqualsDeath.]]

* IdolSinger: Her goal in 5 is to become one. When you realize that she's voiced by RieKugimiya, it brings to mind another [[{{Persona 4}} role she did.]]

* HotMom: Unfortunately one of the villains agrees.

* ParentalAbandonment - Her quest to find her mother [[spoiler:Yumi]] is what brings Kazuma deeper into all the intrigue during the first game after he gets out of jail.

* CrazyAwesome: He is completely out of his mind, and that's exactly what makes him so effective.

The head of police in Kurohyou 2, just like Munakata, he was an assistant commissioner for the syndicate investigation division. [[spoiler: Worked with Niotaa to spearhead Project Pegasus, an attempt to corner the Kuki entertainment racket for Niota. Indirectly responsible for the death of Shizuka, Ryou's lover and childhood friend. He is also part of the investigation group of the Champion Street Arson, the very same one which killed Tatsuya's mother]]

* [[spoiler:ReverseMole: Pulls one worthy of [[HarryPotter Severus Snape]], actually becoming the apparent BigBad no less before revealing he had worked against his allies from the beginning.]]

* CynicismCatalyst : [[spoiler: Saeko's sister in the drama.]]

* DeadOlderSister: [[spoiler: In the drama.]]

* [[spoiler: LukeIamYourFather]]

The head of police in Kurohyou 2, just like Munakata, he was an assistant commissioner for the syndicate investigation division. [[spoiler: Worked with Ryou and the Ashura to spearhead Project Pegasus, an attempt to corner the Kuki entertainment racket for Niota. Indirectly responsible for the death of Shizuka, Ryou's lover and childhood friend. He is also part of the investigation group of the Champion Street Arson, the very same one which killed Tatsuya's mother]]

* [[Spoiler: BigBad: Had been responsible for almost everything in the Kurohyou plot.]]
* [[Spoiler: CorruptCop: He takes bribes, uses crimes to his advantage and the police force he uses is no better than thugs]]
* [[Spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: After Ryou reveals what he did over hacked cameras with the final coup de grace shooting Ryou in cold blood]]

!!Tsurumi Tadashi

The head of police in Kurohyou 2, just like Munakata, he was an assistant commissioner for the syndicate investigation division. [[spoiler: Worked with Ryou and the Ashura to spearhead Project Pegasus, an attempt to corner the Kuki entertainment racket for Niota. Indirectly responsible for the death of Shizuka, Ryou's lover and childhood friend. He is also part of the investigation group of the Champion Street Arson, the very same one which killed Tatsuya's mother]]

* [[Spoiler: BigBad: Had been responsible for almost everything in the Kurohyou plot.]]
* [[Spoiler: CorruptCop: He takes bribes, uses crimes to his advantage and the police force he uses is no better than thugs]]
* [[Spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: After Ryou reveals what he did over hacked cameras with the final coup de grace shooting Ryou in cold blood]]