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Introduced in Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Yamamori Family
General
A Japanese yakuza family which was founded in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture by Yoshio Yamamori in 1946. The family was initially based in Kure, and it was initially allied with the Okubo and Doi families.
- Former Regime Personnel: All the Yamamori's underbosses are World War II veterans who became yakuza.
- True Companions: Subverted. Initially, they do resemble this, standing up for, protecting, and avenging one another regardless of the risks to themselves. But, after they become yakuza, the threats and temptations of the criminal underworld slowly devolves them into a group of greedy, cowardly, power-hungry, vicious back-stabbers who all turn on one another eventually. Hirono is the only exception.
- We Used to Be Friends: They started out as a very tight-knit crew willing to risk their lives for each other. By the end, they've all turned on each other.
Shozo Hirono
Shozo Hirono
A Japanese yakuza gangster and an underboss of the Yamamori family of Hiroshima Prefecture during the 1940s and 1950s.- Fingore: Commits yubitsume to show remorse for getting into a fight with Ueda in a gambling den.
- Honor Among Thieves: Truly believes in doing his best to stick to the yakuza code while also maintaining his own moral code to his friends.
- Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Encourages Sakai to kill him when he confronts him, having grown disgusted with what they've become.
- The Power of Friendship: Appeals this to Sakai in the first movie, trying to encourage him to make peace with Yamamori and Yuno. While it doesn't dissuade Sakai from Slowly Slipping Into Evil, it does cause Sakai to spare Hirono's life in the end.
- Tranquil Fury: He doesn't often get loud and overly emotional, but he can still feel deep rage towards those he feels have wronged him and those he cares about and will express that with direct, straightforward action.
- White Sheep: Among the veterans who join the Yamamori family he is the only one who remains loyal to his bonds of friendship and never turns on the others. Even in the end, he only confronts Sakai to avenge Shinkai and Yano and seems to be expecting that he'll lose the fight and Sakai will kill him.
Yamamori
Yoshio Yamamori
Crime Boss and head of the Yamamori family.- Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster: It's easy to dismiss him as a cowardly old man, and if you do you will be lethally proven wrong. Even after he's forced to step down as head of the family and essentially sent into exile, he's still manipulating everyone behind the scenes.
- Bad Boss: His mismanagement of the family causes the majority of his underbosses to turn on him and launch a coup.
- Crocodile Tears: A favourite tactic of his is to burst into tears and begging to guilt and shame people into carrying out his orders.
- Greed: He buys expensive foreign cars, throws lavish parties, and uses his money to make himself the director of several companies. Meanwhile, the men he pays to protect him and his interests are paid a pittance.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Is quite content to sit back in the civil war between Sakai and Shinkai and let his underbosses kill each other to keep them occupied and not coming after him. Later he takes a more active role in trying to stir up tension between Hirono and Sakai.
- Manipulative Bastard: Is quite good at playing on the honour and codes his underlings' follow to get them to do what he wants, then later he plays on their paranoia so they start taking each other out for him. However, he becomes less and less effective as his surviving underbosses cotton on to his true nature. By the end of the first film, Hirono can see straight through him and is careful to avoid being fooled again.
- Reluctant Retiree: When Sakai learns that Yamamori tried to get Hirono to kill him, he forces Yamamori to step down as the head of the family so he can take over himself.
Makihara
Masakichi Makihara
Underboss of the Yamamori family.- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seems like a quite innocuous member of the veterans in the first film. Towards the end he shows his true colours.
- The Consigliere: Turns out to have been this to Yamamori the whole time (not Yano like we and the others are led to believe) being privy to all his schemes and involved in betraying Wakasugi's location to the police.
- Dirty Coward: When Wakasugi and Hirono suggest fighting the Doi family head-on, Makihara bursts in tears and claims his wife is pregnant so he won't have to go.
- False Friend: Throughout the first film, he manipulates events behind the scenes to get Wakasugi and Yano killed indirectly, then directly orders the hit on Sakai at the end.
- Foreshadowing: At the very beginning of the film, he and Yano lose a fight to the drunken yakuza off-screen. However, while both claim to have fought him, Yano is bleeding and has to be dragged out of the river, while Makihara is completely unscathed. Not only does it imply Makihara might not be as honest or willing to die for others as the rest, it also reflects how both will fare as Yamamori's confidants.
- Walking Spoiler: He spends the majority of the first film Out of Focus until the very end where it's revealed how important he's really been working behind the scenes for Yamamori this whole time.
Sakai
Tetsuya Sakai
Captain of the Yamamori family. He is disgruntled by the way the family is run and seeks to succeed as head of the family so he can make changes.- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Regardless of how cool he usually plays it, when he thinks Hirono is going to kill him for Yamamori he flies into a panic and pleads for his life.
- Ambition Is Evil: He starts off fairly as a fairly noble guy, trying to organize fair pay for the men and being outraged that Yamamori has secretly been selling drugs. However, as he starts making his own bid for power he has to kill more and more of his old friends.
- Comforting the Widow: He gets together with Yamagata's wife after he dies and has a child with her.
- Cool Shades: His signature piece of clothing.
- Deuteragonist: In the first film, his rise to power holds the narrative focus while Hirono spends the middle portion of the movie back in prison.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He loves his daughter, picking out a doll for her at the end of the first film right before Makihara's men kill him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Despises the fact Yamamori was selling drugs, even more so because it was the drugs Sakai had been seizing off the streets, and then even more so that Yamamori had kept it secret from his underbosses to keep the profits to himself.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Ends the film by sparing Hirono's life to honor the friendship they once shared. He walks out of the car, perhaps towards a path with less bloodshed... and then gets mercilessly gunned down by Makihara's men.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Despite the rumours being spread that Sakai must have been in on it, when he finds out that Yamamori has been taking the drugs he's been seizing off the streets and just re-selling them on the side, he is outraged.
- Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Hirono comes to view Sakai as this, as he grows increasingly ruthless and cutthroat in his bid to gain control over the Yamamori family and starts killing their old friends to secure his power.
- The Starscream: He is definitely intends to become the next leader of the Yamamori family, however, given who the current leader is, most feel it'd be an improvement.
- Sunglasses at Night: He never takes them off.
Yano
Shuji Yano
Underboss of the Yamamori family.- The Consigliere: Subverted. He seems to be this to Yamamori. But it's a ruse to distract Sakai from Makihara who is the old boss' true confidant.
- Unwitting Pawn: He was blindly devoted to Yamamori and ultimately Yamamori and Makihara deliberately leak information that Yano is meeting with the Kaito family to dissuade them from allying with Sakai. This causes Sakai to murder Yano. This is all planned by Yamamori so he can manipulate Hirono and Sakai into going after each other and keep his own hands clean.
- Undying Loyalty: Remains steadfast in his loyalty to his boss at all times. When pretty much everyone has abandonned Yamamori for Sakai, Yano is the only one to remain at his side.
Shinkai
Uichi Shinkai
Underboss of the Yamamori Family who ends up in a civil war with Sakai.- Motive Decay: At first he opposes Sakai for trying to weaken Yamamori's power and increase his own. But then he meets with Arita & what's left of the Doi Family and conspires with them to take over the Yamamori family for himself.
- Run for the Border: Tries to flee on a train when it becomes clear he's going to lose the civil war with Sakai. Sakai's men catch him at the station.
- Unwitting Pawn: Arita tells Shinkai Blatant Lies about Sakai being involved in the drug trade to push him to make a bid for power himself. But by that point, Shinkai is willing to believe anything to justify making the move anyway.
Kanbara
Seiichi Kanbara
Underboss of the Yamamori family.- Enemy Mine: Despite the Doi family delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on him, he joins them to replace Wakasugi in their ranks so that he'll be protected from Yamamori's wrath at selling him out. Although, he later claims to Hirono that he's actually The Mole and Yamamori forgave him.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Downplayed since it's Evil Versus Evil with him flitting between two equally vicious yakuza gangs. But exactly who, if anyone, he's loyal to is unclear. Whilst he's an underboss of the Yamamori family at first, he quickly joins the Doi family to survive Yamamori's wrath after selling him out, despite the fact the Doi family were the ones who tortured him for information in the first place. Then later, he shows up at Hirono's hideout, claiming to have been The Mole for Yamamori and is there to sneak him out. Then he leads Hirono into a Doi ambush, however, it's very likely he did do that on Yamamori's orders.
- The Mole: He claims to be this for Yamamori within the Doi family so he can momentarily regain Hirono's trust and lure him into an ambush. However, revelations later imply he really might've been doing it on Yamamori's orders.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Is subjected to this at the hands of the Doi family after boasting about how the Yamamori's ruined their political plans. They only stop when he tells them where they can find his boss.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Pulls one on Hirono when he claims to be driving him to safety. Kanbara gets out to check a problem with the engine. Then a truckload of Doi men show up and Kanbara has conveniently vanished.
- Too Dumb to Live: First, he loudly boasts in a Doi nightclub about how he and the Yamamori family screwed them over. When he narrowly avoids getting killed for that, he betray Hirono and when confronted by Wakasugi - Hirono's sworn blood brother - he approaches their conversation very casually and shows no indication he realises the man is obviously here to kill him.
Yamagata
Shinichi Yamagata
Underboss of the Yamamori family.- Chronic Hero Syndrome: His Establishing Character Moment is him and Hirono saving a woman from being raped by American GIs. Later, he gets dragged into a bar with a massive headwound after he tried to break up a fight being caused by a drunken yakuza. Then he follows Shinkai due to his suspicions about his loyalty.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Hirono was clearly quite close to him and goes to meet his widow to pay his respects after getting out of prison.
- He Knows Too Much: He witnesses Shinkai conspiring with Arita and the remains of the Doi family so Arita's men silence him.
Arita
Toshio Arita
A Japanese yakuza gangster who served as a lieutenant of the Shinkai's subsidiary of the Yamamori family of Hiroshima during the 1950s. He has a side hustle selling drugs that the Yamamori underbosses oppose, but Yamamori himself secretly backs for his own profit.- Blatant Lies: Tells Shinkai he's been selling drugs on both Sakai and Yamamori's orders so that he can convince Shinkai turn on them both and take over for himself. Sakai clearly has no connection to the drug trade, but Shinkai's willing to believe it.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: While he's part of the Yamamori family, he's a low-ranking member who wasn't part of the World War II veteran unit that formed the family in the beginning. The underbosses also dislike him for his side hustle of selling drugs.
- Put on a Bus: As part of Shinkai losing the civil war, Arita shoots a police officer at a blockade, crashes his car, and gets carted off to prison for life.
Doi Family
Kiyoshi Doi
Kiyoshi Doi
A Japanese yakuza crime boss and the patriarch of the Doi-gumi family of Hiroshima during the 1940s.- The Don: Of the Doi family.
- Establishing Character Moment: Has Ueda's arm sliced off for collecting money on his territory, making it clear that he is not someone you cross and who deals out punishments very harshly.
- Foil: To Yamamori. Doi is short-tempered, violent, and presents confidence whilst Yamamori is patient, cunning, and often hides his true viciousness behind a timid and beseeching facade.
- Instant Death Bullet: Averted. Hirono empties his entire gun into Doi and he keeps kicking and screaming. He winds up in the hospital where he lingers in a critical condition. It's not until after Hirono turns himself in that Doi finally passes away.
- Starter Villain: Seems like the antagonist and biggest threat to the Yamamori family, however, Hirono assassinates him very early on in the story. And it quickly becomes clear the biggest threat to the Yamamori family lies within its own ranks.
Wakasugi
Hiroshi Wakasugi
A Japanese yakuza gangster and the Captain of the Doi family during the 1940s. In 1949, he was welcomed into the Yamamori family as a "guest" in a bid to prevent a war between his family and Yoshio Yamamori, but he ultimately chose to side with the Yamamori-gumi in the ensuing war.- Conflicting Loyalty: He has to make the very difficult decision between his yakuza family and his sworn blood brother - Hirono - who is in a gang that recently crossed them. He tries to settle things peacefully but in the end chooses Hirono.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He's been a yakuza much longer than Hirono and is clearly more savvy to the inner workings of the families and acts as a constant beacon of support and friendship to Hirono, so of course, he doesn't survive the movie.
- Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Has a scar under his eye.
- Seppuku: Commits this, not to try to kill himself, but to make it look like he tried to kill himself so he'll be released into the hands of doctors who can take care of him, outside the prison.
- Sick Captive Scam: Subverted. He and Hirono conduct a loose variation of this to escape prison. However, this is not a setting in which The Guards Must Be Crazy, so the plan involves Wakasugi actually committing Seppuku, Hirono selling that it's a genuine suicide attempt, which will force the prison to let Wakasugi out on bail so he can get proper medical attention. Once outside, he contacts Yamamori and arranges for him to post bail for Hirono too.
- Sworn Brothers: He and Hirono cut their arms and drink each other's blood in prison, cementing an oath to always be loyal to one another.
- Undying Loyalty: To Hirono. He takes their friendship very seriously.
Okubo Family
Okubo
Kenichi Okubo
A Japanese yakuza crime boss who served as the patriarch of the Okubo-gumi of Hiroshima Prefecture. In 1949, he instigated a gang war between his rival Doi and the Yamamori families, resulting in the destruction of the Doi.- The Don: He is the patriarch of the Okubo family. He also serves almost as the "boss of bosses" among the Doi and the Yamamori, whilst they are all technically equal allies, the Okubo family commands more respect and power than either of the other two and wants to keep it that way.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Sees that the Doi are making political moves that will make them more powerful. Rather than risk getting involved himself, he makes the Yamamori fight them for him.
- Outhumbling Each Other: When he and Yamamori meet they both take great efforts to be as polite as possible to the other and very generous in their gifts. It goes back and forth for a while as neither seems willing to be outdone by the other.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He really only appears to set the Yamamori against the Doi, but it is that conflict that sparks off the major schemes and conflicts throughout the rest of the film.
Ueda
Toru Ueda
Originally an affiliate of his distant relative Kenichi Okubo, he joined the Yamamori family in 1949 at the behest of Okubo, and he rose to be an underboss within the family.- An Arm and a Leg: Wakasugi severs his left arm at the very start of the film for collecting money on Doi territory.
- Easily Forgiven: While working with the Yamamori he is around Hirono - who he got into a fight with - and Wakasugi, y'know, the man who cut off his arm. For whatever reason it never gets brought up and Ueda expresses no issue working with either of them.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's on Sakai's side during the civil war, outraged that Yamamori was selling drugs.
- Oh, Crap!: His facial expression upon seeing Kiyoshi Doi tells all.
- Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Has a large scar running across his cheek.
- Spoiled Brat: He wears flashy clothes, struts around enemy territory like he owns the place, and starts brawls in gambling dens.
