History Characters / Yakuza0DojimaLieutenants

* FourEyesZeroSoul: He wears glasses, and the most ruthless of the three lieutenants.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Firmly believes in this trope. He believes that the only way in life is to rise to the top in authority and in turn power.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: He easily catches Kiryu's punch, who is no slouch in the strength department even in his youth, indicating the lieutenant's own well-hidden strength.

CharacterSpecificPages: [[Characters/LikeADragonKazumaKiryu Kazuma Kiryu]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonGoroMajima Goro Majima]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonAkiraNishikiyama Akira Nishikiyama]] | [[Characters/LikeADragonIchibanKasuga Ichiban Kasuga]]\\

-->'''Kuze''':''[[EtTuBrute You rat fucks!]]''

* VillainousValor: Kiryu ends up admitting he'll rather face a hundred yakuza over him, as Kuze's determination makes him dangerous foe.

* GeniusBruiser: The dude gives [[OneManArmy Majima]] a run for his money. He even caught Kiryu's punch at one point. He is also really good at information gathering. It's his specialty in fact. Kiryu and Oda are both pretty stunned by how quickly he's able to put pressure on Tachibana Real Estate after how well they'd been keeping off the Dojima Family's radar.

* GeniusBruiser: The dude gives [[OneManArmy Majima]] a run for his money. He even caught Kiryu's punch at one point. He is also really good at information gathering.

* EvilVirtues: Ambition, creativity, determination, diligence, honesty, honor, loyalty (to the yakuza overall), passion, resourcefulness, respect, temperance, wisdom. Had these virtues not been wrapped up in in Kuze's violence, lack of kindness and pride, he might be a very different person.

* BloodBrothers: They've sworn up as Oath Brothers long before the events of the game. Of course, this is merely a formality and they have no qualms trying to undermine one another if it benefits them.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: He's strong enough to leave a large impact on a brick wall upon punching it.

Previously mocked as a desk jockey, he emerges the victor in the race to get Makoto Makimura - and with her, the Empty Lot - earning him the Captain's role. His first decision as a Captain is an all-out purge of Kazama's loyalists within the family to complete his transition. He's eventually stopped by Kiryu and ends up being arrested by the police.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: He initially sees Kiryu as some no-name kid Kazama recruited into the Dojima clan as a Pawn in his schemes, so much so that when Kiryu is able to mostly take Kuze's punch to the gut, he takes it as a sign that he himself is going soft, rather than a sign of [[MightyGlacier Kiryu's]] strenght. This assumption leads to Kuze commiting a critical error by casually handwaving Kiryu's protests by declaring he was no longer part of the Dojima clan, setting Kiryu free to fight back against the lieutenants and their goons.

* ForWantOfANail: If they told Kiryu that the guy in the Empty Lot was beaten to death instead of shot, then none of the events afterwards would have come to pass.

* {{Yubitsume}}: He does this to his left pinky after losing his first match with Kiryu.

* EvilSoundsRaspy: Not as much as [[SmokyVoice Kuze]], but he also has a notably coarse voice.

* GutturalGrowler: When Awano talks, it's always delivered in an intimidatingly low, throaty voice.

* BloodBrothers: They've sworn up as Oath Brothers long before the events of the game.

* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: By the time he has his second encounter with Kiryu his overall strength remains largely the same, his health doesn't increase at all, and he's only mixed up his fighting style by brandishing a long pipe as a weapon. Meanwhile the player has likely given Kiryu all sorts of new tricks to chew through such an HP bar.

* {{Irony}}: His QTE has him hurl a powerful fist at Majima. If you pass it, his fist hits the wall and ''breaks'' it, and Awano just keeps fighting like it was nothing. However, if you fail the QTE, then his fist slams Majima's head against the wall and breaks it - but Majima can easily survive the attack and keep fighting if you have a decent amount of health. The irony is that while passing the QTE shows that Awano is strong for being unfazed by breaking the wall, ''failing'' it shows that ''Majima'' is strong for being able to keep fighting after having his head slammed that hard.

* TattooedCrook: Momotaro, a hero in Japanese folklore. Fitting as Momotaro is essentially the Japanese version of Hercules, and Awano is almost inhumanly strong when he doesn't hold back. Momotaro propelling his family to a wealthy, comfortable existence after stealing treasure also fits with his decline into a hedonistic, money loving man first and a Yakuza second.

* TheHeavy: While Dojima himself serves as a BigBad, it's these three who keep the game's conflict in motion, serving as persistant physical obstacles to the heroes. Kuze for example is suggested to be the one behind Kiryu being framed for murder at the start of the game, under the orders of Sohei Dojima, and when he finally makes a physical appearance, he provides some of the biggest obstacles to the motivations of the protagonists. Awano similarly attempts to subdue both Kiryu and Majima, goading the latter into abandoining Tachibana and being the second-to-last opponent Majima faces. And finally it's Shibusawa who instigates the game's climax, serving as the FinalBoss.

* CombatPragmatist: By the third time Kuze fights Kiryu, he just wants him dead so much that he's not above just having one of his goons knocking Kiryu out with a bat so that he can get back up and execute him right then and there. Had Tachibana not run him over with a car he would have actually done it.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: After getting beaten up by Kiryu the first time, Kuze turns to Awano and Shibusawa and demands backup taking Kiryu down: despite being in the business for decades and knowing the two for years, it never once occurs to him that the two cutthroat Yakuza would likely much rather let his screwup play out and remove a him as a rival from the race for the captain's seat.

* ClassicVillain: Represents Ambition and Envy.

* TattooedCrook: A dragon, or more specifically a ''seiryuu'', in contrast to Kiryu's (then incomplete) ''ouryuu''. The ''seiryuu'' is said to be the guardian deity of the east, which is appropriate for someone who is trying to become a legendary figure in eastern Japan's biggest yakuza organization.

* MeaningfulLook: He gives Majima some knowing glances during the Sebastian Building scene. As it later turns out, it's because Awano (unlike the other lieutenants) and Majima know each other - Majima comments that Awano was a face he recognized after storming the Dojima Family office. We aren't given the details of how they met, but Awano was apparently familiar with both Majima and Taiga, describing them as nostalgic.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: When Dojima orders Makoto to be killed, Shibusawa makes sure that she survives and is secretly taken hostage instead, so that he can use her as leverage against Dojima.