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Judgment (Takayuki Yagami) | Lost Judgment
These are the characters that debuted in the game Judgment.
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Main Characters/Yagami Detective Agency/Yokohama 99
Takayuki Yagami
Masaharu Kaito
Voiced by: Shinshu Fuji (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)
The secondary protagonist of the Judgment series.
A long-time friend of Yagami's, he joined him to work as a PI following his expulsion from the Matsugane family a year before the events of the game. Himself a badass who knows his way around fighting the yakuza, he acts as Yagami's closest ally for the events of Judgment and Lost Judgment. He gets to star as the main protagonist and playable character during The Kaito Files, a DLC expansion pack for Lost Judgment, which revolves around him investigating the apparent resurfacing of his former love interest who disappeared years prior.
- Abusive Parents: At the end of The Kaito Files, Kaito reveals to Jun that his father was a physically abusive drunk.
- Achievements in Ignorance: While the team is going over when the first Mole murders were occurring after finding out the ADDC is involved, he and Hoshino get in an argument where he yells, "Might as well say they killed Waku-san too!" This leads Yagami to realize that Waku was definitely the first victim of the AD-9 experiments.
- Actor Allusion: Crispin Freeman is once again providing the English voice of a loud man who throws motorcycles and signs at people. He even sounds like he did in Durarara!!
- All for Nothing: The Kaito Files sees him having to find his lost ex-girlfriend Mikiko. Fifteen years ago she left him after he went into a raid against a rival gang that took shots at Matsugane. By the time of the investigation Kaito was kicked out by Hamura, whose part in The Conspiracy resulted in Matsugane's death, and the Tojo Clan's eventual dissolution meant that he abandoned Mikiko for nothing. Meaning he now has a reminder of this happening.
- Always Second Best: To his partner and best friend, Yagami. While the Kaito Files proves he's smarter than he appears, and is a One-Man Army himself, Yagami's proven across both games to be the better fighter and detective, alongside having multiple esoteric skills. Notably, Yagami manages to beat the main antagonists solo, and both after protracted battles leading up to the boss itself. Meanwhile, Kaito fails to stop the Mole even with Higashi as backup, and Soma hospitalizes him, albeit with a sneak attack.
- Amazon Chaser: Fell for a woman like Mikiko in his days with the Matsugane family. The two rekindle their relationship by the DLC's end.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Delivers one to Yagami before his final fight with Kuwana in Lost Judgment:Kaito: The way I see it, Tak, Kuwana's makin' sense, too. Just consider it, but, is there really a right answer here?
- Badass in Distress: In the first game, where Hamura kidnaps him after having shot him and Yagami ends up coming to his rescue.
- Baritone of Strength: He's a genuine tough guy who speaks with a deep, imposing voice, whether in Japanese or in the English dub.
- Berserk Button: In Chapter 10, when Hamura points a gun at Matsugane, their (former in Kaito's case) patriarch, he becomes livid. He also gets pretty pissed off when he's led to believe Kenmochi sexually assaulted an unconcious Mikiko.Kaito: Are you out of your fucking mind? You need to lower the gun right now!
- Big Damn Heroes: This is practically his M.O. His favored method of entering a fight is sprinting in, screaming at the top of his lungs then dropkicking the first few guys he sees. He's also not averse to calmer, but still similarly grandiose entrances when he and Sugiura interrupt RK's torture of Yagami in Lost Judgment.
- The Big Guy: The biggest member of the crew fights using variations of Kiryu's Brawler and Beast style and out of Yagami, Sugiura, Higashi, Hoshino and himself, he does the least thinking. Also doubles as The Lancer, since he's the one that Yagami spends his adventures with the most.
- Bully Hunter: Even more so than Yagami, Kaito in Lost Judgment is usually the first to suggest the harshest treatment towards bullies (be it expulsion or fisticuffs) and has to be talked into a more sensible solution by the others.
- Butt-Monkey: The poor guy gets beaten up or hospitalized in every one of his major appearances. The first time is after getting shot by Hamura, the second time is when he gets stabbed by Soma, and the third is when Sadamoto poisons him.
- Casanova Wannabe: He fails to score any points with Sawa and dialogue in the Kaito Files indicates that he's often rejected by women. He takes it in stride, however.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Just like Saejima in Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5, Kaito can pick up nearby motorcycles and go to town on any unfortunate mooks that dare cross his path. Additionally, he not only deflects concrete with his bare arms in a cutscene also throws a very heavy table at Kenmochi while Mikiko is held hostage by Crimson Lotus... only for Kenmochi to throw it right back at him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The incident that got him kicked out of the Matsugane doesn't seem important at first… at least until Chapter 3, where it's revealed that the robbery was orchestrated by Hamura to get Kaito kicked out of the clan, all so he could assume total control of the Matsugane family.
- Chivalrous Pervert: The guy has a very keen interest in women. That being said, he never does anything unseemly towards them. Regardless, Yagami doesn't consider him timid enough to be a customer with Madoka, if suggested as one to Yosuke. He especially falls for Sawa, with him flirting at her and complimenting her multiple times, with hilarious results, but hey, who could blame him, right?
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Like Yagami (and also Kiryu and Majima), both of Kaito's fighting styles have different signature colors to them depending on the one being used. Bruiser being orange, while Tank is indigo.
- Combat Pragmatist: Compared to Yagami, Kaito doesn't have as much qualms about beating the ever-living shit out of his opponents with anything that he can get his hands on. Tank even lets him grab whatever object is nearby to wail at the opponent with, like Kiryu before him. And to say nothing of how he handles stealth compared to Yagami, either...
- Counter-Attack: Bruiser has the Bomb Punch (his equivalent of the infamous Tiger Drop) and the Repel, which will increase Kaito's attack speed after it succeeds. Tank on the other hand has the Matsugane Mixer, Steely Embrace, and EX Unyielding Counter, all of which can be used after a successful Iron Guard.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: All indications point to him and Higashi receiving one from the Mole offscreen. The two are absolutely bloodied and left on the floor while their assailant appears completely untouched.
- Dented Iron: Tough as he might be, he isn't without a few scars throughout his adventures. Especially by the end of his own DLC, where he's covered in them from the fight with Kyoya.
- Deuteragonist: Being Yagami's trusted companion and the other half of Yagami Detective Agency, he's often on-screen just as much as Yagami himself, especially in the first game.
- Did Not Get the Girl: For once, Subverted. In various points during the Kaito Files DLC it seems like Kaito will not be able reclaim his relationship with Mikiko, and their story will end just like various other love stories in the series prior. However in the end, after final twist of Kaito telling Mikiko his abysmal financial situation compared to Shirakaba who is a doctor, he still asks her to move with him, and Mikiko wholeheartedly says yes.
- Dirty Old Man: To an extent. Higashi lures him to Charles to deal with a rowdy Jun by saying the woman working there is a cute, single college student who loves beards. Kaito is 41 and middle-aged at this point.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Whereas Yagami is much more agile and careful during chases (e.g., hopping over obstacles, carefully speeding past pedestrians, etc), Kaito eschews that in favor of crudely chasing down his intended mark by any means necessary, be it by going right through incoming obstacles, pushing any pedestrians out of his way, and even drop kicking his targets as opposed to tackling them.
- Due to the Dead: He closes Sawa's eyes out of respect after discovering her corpse.
- Dumb Is Good: He has a good heart, but is pretty dim at times.
- Dynamic Entry: He sure does love dropkicking people.
- Experienced Protagonist: He's been a detective for some time alongside Yagami, and an ex-yakuza wakashu before that. The Kaito Files reveals that he's developed a knack for detective work long before he met Yagami, too.
- Face of a Thug: Being an ex-yakuza, that's not too surprising. But rest assured that he's a pretty nice guy despite the temper and appearance. He's also been an ex-yakuza for a while to start with, but it's not like that isn't without its uses, either.
- Friend to All Children: He's good with kids with one case in the first game starting because he saved a kid from being kidnapped, who then refers to him as Captain Cop afterward. He also joins Yagami in a side case in the second game because it involves watching over a kid while he goes shopping.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: As opposed to Yagami being a Bare-Fisted Monk, he's an Unskilled, but Strong street brawler in the vein of Kiryu.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a visible scar on his left eyebrow.
- Hard Head: Just like Kiryu, not only does he headbutt goons like it's going out of style but he's also capable of no-selling full-forced punches to the forehead.
- Headbutting Heroes: With Kiryu in Like a Dragon Gaiden's substory "End the Destruction". Though they were both looking for the one responsible for attacks on Sotenbori's homeless, Kaito's hotheadedness clashes with Kiryu's more level-headed and analytical approach. This isn't helped by Kaito's suspicions of Akame's intentions thanks to Kaito's client deliberately misleading him with false info. This results in him and Kiryu getting into a fight, though they quickly put aside their differences once the misunderstanding is cleared up and they take down the real culprit.
- Heartbroken Badass: Serial flirt though he may be, The Kaito Files indicates that he never truly got over his sour breakup with Mikiko. Thankfully, his torch for her continues to burn bright enough for them to reconcile by the end.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Yagami. The two of them have been best friends for a long time, and now work together as PI partners. In fact, after Kaito's expulsion from the clan, Yagami offered him a place at his detective agency.
- "Hey, You!" Haymaker: As a playable character, when performing a stealth takedown rather than choke people out as Yagami did, he instead taps them on the shoulder before knocking them out.
- Hot-Blooded: He's loud, brash, and more than willing to throw himself into a fight. His choice of bright clothing seems to reflect this.
- Iconic Outfit: His main clothes are an orange, yellow and black floral dress shirt, gray dress pants, brown belt and a pair of black loafers. Making him look like the splitting image of Yakuza 0-era Kiryu minus the suit jacket.
- The Lancer: Spends a lot of the games' adventures as Yagami's Heterosexual Life Partner. Also doubles as The Big Guy for doing the most smashing and the least thinking (though he does give a bit of insight from time to time).
- Lightning Bruiser: Kaito by himself is definitely far from slow, but when you pair the Bruiser's Hidden Arts with the Tank style and, yeah... mayhem and broken bikes will follow. Nevermind that Kaito starts out with more health than Yagami does in the base game all while his maximum health is as high as the latter's was in the first game.
- Love at First Sight: Played for Laughs with Sawa in Lost Judgment, though it's entirely one-sided.
- Made of Iron: Yep. He survives a bullet to the gut in the first game, a shanking from Soma in the second, and falls off a building to save Mikiko in his own DLC with no broken bones to him at all... though not without taking a time out due to his injuries.
- Megaphone Gag: In The Kaito Files he uses this to wake up the rather stubborn manager of Café Alps after trying to do so nicely. It works as well as you'd expect.
- Moveset Clone: In Lost Judgment, Kaito's Bruiser and Tank Styles are effectively his own take on Kiryu's Brawler and Beast styles respectively, but with a few new animations and some unique EX-Moves.
- Mundane Solution: So Bato Detective Agency have broken into YDA and are ready to ambush Kaito and Jun. The solution? Call the cops. It works. And that's all there is to it.
- Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: Well, ex-Matsugane yakuza wakashu. He's a nice guy willing to help Yagami out. Even moreso after Lost Judgment where the Tojo Clan (and the Matsugane Family with it) are long gone.
- Nice Guy: Despite being ex-yakuza (unlike Yagami who was only mentored by Matsugane and never a member of his clan), Kaito's genuinely a bighearted guy who's happy to help his friends and even strangers; one example of this is when he plays the part of a superhero (Captain Cop) to entertain a lost child. He's also willing to look out for some of the Matsugane wakashu like Toru Higashi, who worked with him before he left.
- Noodle Incident: Kaito was kicked out of the Matsugane family by Hamura, though he claims that the incident was his fault. Chapter 3 reveals the incident: a year ago, a thief broke into one of the Matsugane compounds and made off with millions of cash. As the theft occurred under Kaito's watch, he was held accountable for the blunder. And as per the yakuza code, when it was decided that Kaito was to leave the clan, he was to cut off his finger as a sign of responsibility, only for the patriarch to stop Hamura and allow Kaito to leave with his finger intact.
- Older Than He Looks: He's 41 by the events of Lost Judgment, but he looks more like he's in his early to mid 30's. It doesn't help that he looks nearly identical in flashbacks decades ago aside from having different hair.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He and Sugiura are genuinely horrified upon seeing Sawa's recently deceased corpse in her apartment.Kaito: (looking at Sawa's deceased body) Oh, God...
- Parental Substitute: In The Kaito Files, he forms this relationship with Jun, the son of his old flame, attempting to mentor him through life and help him deal with his problems. He's unquestionably a much better parent than Jun's actual father, who cut his own son with a knife in the past over a minor transgression and only reveals himself to be much worse over the course of the story. Jun even spends much of the story convinced that Kaito's his biological father though this turns out to be incorrect.
- Promoted to Playable: After spending the first game as a non-controllable NPC ally, Kaito becomes the main player character
in Lost Judgment's post-release "Kaito Files" DLC. - Purple Is Powerful: The Tank style's signature color is Indigo. Being his equivalent of the Beast style, it's also his most devastating despite being the slower of the two.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Can be considered as the red to Yagami's blue. He's louder and brasher than Yagami, and his fighting style is decidedly less refined. Their primary outfits clash too, with Kaito's loud red-orange top contrasting Yagami's simpler dark blue jacket.Kaito: (after throwing a sign into a building lobby in broad daylight) HEY! WHERE'S THAT ASSHOLE MURASE?!
- Shipper on Deck: For Yagami and Mafuyu, as well as Hoshino and Saori.
- Smarter Than You Look:
- Kaito isn't completely stupid, despite how he acts most of the time. This is best shown in the side case in which he reunites with his old childhood friend Adachi. Yagami ends up finding out that Adachi has grown to become an incredibly vicious real estate agent, willing to stoop to lows that give the yakuza pause. Yagami seemingly fails to convince Kaito of his old friend's corruption, culminating in a brawl between the partners, but then Kaito reveals that he already suspected it from their first conversation and wanted to confirm it for himself.
- He backs up his theory that Hashiki's death was caused by a Professional Killer with compelling reasoning, noting that his slow death in the hospital causing the cops to write his beating off as a street brawl would be too convenient for the culprit if that wasn't what they were planning to do.
- In Lost Judgment, he's the first one to hypothesize that Kazuki Soma is a Public Security Mole after realizing he would have needed police intelligence to know that the Tojo Clan couldn't sustain itself for long and thus ditch it without repercussions. He further points out that Soma founding RK would bring the biggest benefits to Public Security.
- It's put on full display in the Kaito Files DLC that he's actually a competent and intuitive detective in his own right, as he solves the story's case without Yagami's involvement. It's just that Yagami's meticulousness whenever they're partnered up makes him looks like the dimmer one by comparison.
- Stance System: In the Kaito Files DLC, he fights with two styles:
- Bruiser, which is effectively a copy of Kiryu's Brawler style.
- Tank, a defensive-oriented style which is his version of Beast Style, complete with being able to swing around motorcycles.
- Stone Wall: Kaito's Tank style is quite similar to Kiryu's Beast style, but more defensive and packing much more hyper armor, making it very ideal for simply brute forcing your way through most fights.
- Super-Senses: Kaito has keener sight, smell, and hearing compared to most people.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Kaito has a number of similarities to former series protagonist Kiryu (particularly his much younger Yakuza 0 counterpart). He's a heroic bruiser who was excommunicated from the yakuza after taking the blame to ensure the safety of somebody close to him in a crisis situation, and even managed to avoid cutting off his finger due to similar logic to Kiryu in Yakuza 0 (getting officially kicked out of the clan by a high-ranking lieutenant before getting his finger cut off). Of course, their personalities are almost completely different.
- This is highlighted by their interactions in the "End the Destruction" substory in Like a Dragon Gaiden, where Kaito's hotheadedness clashes with Kiryu's more level-headed approach. Nevertheless, Kaito seems to embody the spirit of the franchise's past in his design. He even fights using his own take on Kiryu's Brawler and Beast styles. Also, while the both of them end up initially coming into conflicts due to trying to track down a "Gorilla-looking man" they're later told by a homeless guy that both of them are the most "Gorilla-looking motherfuckers" around.
- Tae Kwon Door: He uses this to knock the fuck out of some unsavory characters in his solo outing in Lost Judgment whenever he doesn't punch their lights out.
- Tattooed Crook: Subverted. Despite his nature as a Yakuza, he doesn't feel like he has to get a tattoo. Obviously, he also lacks an irezumi on his back since there isn't one that's visible when he's shirtless during Yagami's second encounter with Hamura.
- That Came Out Wrong: This entire exchange —Kaito: Damn it, these guys won't stop comin' on us!
(A long pause follows as Kaito processes what he just said...)
Kaito: Uh... Wait, I meant for us!
Sugiura: Was that really necessary?\\ English Dub]Dude, that’s gross
- Artifact Alias: Still goes by "Sugiura" even after it's revealed that's not his real name.
- Beneath the Mask:
- Usually comes off as cool and collected, but holds a burning rage against injustice to the point where his former teammate Crow is concerned that he'll wind up hurting himself. He noticeably gets accusatory and angry whenever Shinpei Okubo and Emi Terasawa come up. This is because he is Emi's younger brother, who really just wants to find the truth behind her murder.
- This also shows up again when he sees the footage of Mitsuru being mercilessly bullied by Kawai on the day of the former's suicide. He's pretty calm about it, but he's also outraged at what he just saw. He's also not at all happy at Yui Mamiya, one of the bullies in the video, when she dismisses Mitsuru as "someone who can't take it".
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Male example. Unlike the rest of the team, who sport bruises and cuts after long battles, Sugiura manages to keep looking absolutely pristine despite fighting alongside them.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the first game, he shows up to bail Yagami out of being shot not just once, but four times. The first was from Hamura when the latter tried to have him killed for poking his nose into the Kyorei murders. The second was from Shioya when the Kyorei Clan cornered both him and Kaito as they investigated KJ Art, after which Sugiura finally decides to cooperate with Yagami. The third was from the Matsugane family when Yagami's disguise was busted in the infiltration of their building. And the last was from Hamura again when the plan to lure the captain out ended up going badly.
- He does it yet again in Lost Judgment, this time with Kaito in tow as they save Yagami from a brutal demise at the hands of RK. Played With during his and Yagami's second fight with RK where the RK gang sent to silence the detectives once and for all notice him attempting to ambush them, only for that in turn to be a distraction for Tsukumo's own BDH moment using a drone armed with gas canisters. Then he gets one last good one on Soma by kicking his gun out of his hands right as he turns it on Higashi during the finale.
- The Cameo:
- In contrast to Kaito and Higashi who get a substantial amount of focus as part of their substory in Gaiden, Sugiura's appearance in said game is effectively this as he's simply the most expensive recruitable Fighter in the arena and doesn't have much more in-depth interaction with Kiryu beyond that, utterly lacking any sort of storyline.
- He and Tsukumo show up in Infinite Wealth as patrons of Survive, with Zhao noting that he occasionally uses them as sources of information.
- Combat Medic: As a recruitable fighter in Gaiden, he's classified as a speedy, aggressive Fighter unit but his Heat Skill "Encouragement" lets him heal all allies just as well if not better than a lot of other specialized healers.
- Cool Mask: Conceals his identity using a Guy Fawkes-ish mask. After he joins with Yagami, he pretty much ditches it, only putting it back on when going into enemy territory or at least to protect his identity. He wears it again in the sequel during action segments.
- Connected All Along: As revealed in Chapter 12, Sugiura isn't his true surname; it's Terasawa. He's not actually ex-Kajihira, he's Emi's formerly shut-in younger brother.
- Dance Battler: Seems to practice Capoeira and is incredibly agile in combat.
- Deadpan Snarker: He gets to show off more of his sassiness in Lost Judgment, particularly in a moment where Yagami asks why there's so many creepy masks in Ijincho, to which Sugiura retorts (while wearing the above-mentioned Cool Mask, by the way) by saying he was going to ask Yagami about that.
- Extremity Extremist: Fights almost exclusively with kicks.
- Famed In-Story: He and his merry band of thieves are big news in Kamurocho, second only to the yakuza murder cases. The police are unable to catch them on account of his group being ridiculously good at parkour and light on their feet.
- Follow the Leader: In-Universe. After the events of the first game, he goes on to co-found Yokohama 99 together with Tsukumo, even having a much larger and loftier office than YDA's Kamurocho office.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Was the Foolish Sibling to Emi's Responsible Sibling. During Yagami's I See Dead People moment, Emi's spirit tells Yagami to take care of her brother, because she knows how hot-headed and impulsive he can be.
- Foreshadowing: There are a few scenes in the first game where Sugiura is oddly inquisitive about Terasawa Emi's murder case and Yagami's status as Okubo's defense attorney, probing about his feelings on the incident even though it's clearly a very traumatic topic for Yagami. He also uncharacteristically loses his temper and has to be restrained from attacking Kido when learning about his involvement in said case. These reactions aren't too uncalled for in context so no one really dwells on them, but they serve as early hints that Sugiura is actually Terasawa Emi's brother.
- Infinity +1 Sword: He is the most expensive recruitable ally for the Colloseum in Gaiden but his stats, fighting ability, and healing skill make him very much worth it.
- In the Hood: Wears a gray hoodie with his Guy Fawkes mask.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Seems to have become this with Tsukumo by Lost Judgement. The two started a Detective Agency together and are often seen in each other's presence throughout the game.
- Hikikomori: By his own admission, he was an introverted shut-in before his sister's untimely death turned his life around. In hindsight it's not surprising that he gets along so well with fellow ex-shut-in Tsukumo in Lost Judgment.
- Irony: His original motivation to help Yagami and Kaito was to betray them at a critical moment as vengeance for acquitting Okubo, who supposedly went on to kill his sister. That quest for revenge ended up revealing that Okubo and by extension Yagami were innocent and helped uncover the actual culprit behind his sister's murder, Shono.
- It's Personal: What drives him throughout the whole story. As more truths come to light, his motivation changes from being ready to retaliate against Yagami to taking down the real culprit. When he and Yagami find Shono in the secret lab, he reveals his true identity as Fumiya Terasawa and immediately tries to stab Shono for the murder of his sister.Sugiura : Three years later, the real killer's finally clear. And now it turns out... Shono... He's the one leading the charge to cure Alzheimer's! He gets to go down in history as a hero!? For what, stabbing my sister to death!? Burning her body!?
- Karmic Thief: Starts the burglary ring to steal from the corrupt and ditches the group after he discovers they were starting to steal for their own benefit instead.
- Le Parkour: It's why Sugiura is so difficult to catch. The only one who can keep up with him is Yagami.
- Lightning Bruiser: In his playable appearance in Gaiden, he's got above average health and is one of - if not the most - agile and nimblest fighters you can recruit, even competing with one of the series' most prevalent examples Goro Majima in this regard. Comes with a very hefty fee, but so long as you can hold the right bumper and spam the dodge button, you'll be flying all over the arena with him. That his Heat Skill lets him heal himself and all allies makes him even more tough.
- Lovable Rogue: A snarky Bishōnen righteous thief with a sympathetic backstory who ends up being a major supporting character? Of course he would be popular.
- Moment Killer: When Yagami and Kaito are right outside the shady bar where Kosuke works from in Lost Judgment, he calls Yagami at the worst possible time to tell him that he and Tsukumo have opened their own detective agency in Isezaki Ijincho, Yokohama 99. Yagami and Kaito especially are less than pleased, to say the least.
- Moveset Clone: Uses a lot of the same moves as Kan Ogita in 5 but lacks the knife. To be more accurate, he's actully using the same moveset that that the unarmed Degraded Boss Dance Battler mooks in 5 used but he lacks their unique leg Grapple Move, substiting in a more basic grapple at the enemy's waist. Also he doesn't use their "ginga" movements, iconic to Capoeira, as an idle animation and instead uses a fighting stance identical to Masaru Watase's in 5. He fights the same way in Gaiden as a recruitable fighter in the Colosseum.
- Older Than They Look: Downplayed. He's 28 by the sequel but could easily pass as someone in their early 20's given his Pretty Boy looks and youthful features.
- Pretty Boy: Oh yeah. He may just be the prettiest guy across the entire franchise outside of pre-remaster Tanimura. Akane definitely notices (and Mami Koda appears to agree) and a friend of Yagami's who puts him in a virtual reality game even laments that pretty boys have it easy in society.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: After being represented only by his mask in the first game, he gets to appear in person in Lost Judgment's opening.
- Promoted to Playable: Appears in Gaiden as a recruitable ally for the Colosseum.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers a pretty heated one toward Mamiya:You know what happened to Mitsuru-kun. He's been in a coma ever since what you did to him that day. But still, only one of you took the fall. Shinya Kawai took all the blame. Well, sorta—being that he got fired, Kitakata-sensei took heat too. Still, you all just moved right along with your lives. You've even got happy little families.
- Smoke Out: His unique Job Action in Gaiden is to toss a smoke bomb that stuns all enemies caught in the blast.
- Spotting the Thread: He's the one who first noticed that it was way too much of a coincidence that Okubo, the man who was accused of killing Waku (Something the others agreed was done by the AD-9 test), killed the girl who got him his innocent plea. It didn't take long for him and Yagami to figure out Shono is behind Emi's murder.
- Tranquil Fury: When he sees the video footage of Mitsuru's bullying, he responds with a calm, but heated and very succinct, "These little shits are the worst." He's also quite calm when giving it to Mamiya as mentioned above in "Reason You Suck" Speech.
- The Worf Effect: In Lost Judgment he gets beaten offscreen early on to show the threat of the new bad guys, though Tsukumo states that he was attacked with a bat while his back was turned and thus unable to defend himself.
Makoto Tsukumo
Voiced by: Jun Miyamoto (Japanese), River Kanoff (English)
- Ascended Extra: He becomes this in Lost Judgment, co-founding Yokohama 99 alongside Sugiura.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Subverted. He bluffs to Masuyama that he knows kung fu after she tells him that she takes kickboxing lessons, but it turns out he only imitates Yagami's battle stance and doesn't actually know how to fight. Though Yagami is impressed at his form, at least.
- Berserk Button: Resellers (also known as scalpers). He states that he made the mistake of buying a game for three times its original price, and has since forbidden any reselling within Yokohama 99.
- Big Damn Heroes: Employs a drone multiple times in Lost Judgment to distract Yagami's assailants, but most prominently turns the entire tide with their final battle with RK in Ijincho by deploying gas grenades - without that distraction, they would've killed their hostages.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite being very quirky and playful, he is still a very competent and effective hacker and can even build feats like bugs disguised as surge protectors in the first game, and very convincing microphones to use against Matsui's group in Lost Judgment.
- The Cameo: He makes a brief appearance in Infinite Wealth at Survive alongside Sugiura, with Zhao saying that he occasionally uses them as information sources.
- Catchphrase: Always delivers a laugh with a cheeky "hee hee hee!".
- Face of a Thug: He looks kinda like your average Basement-Dweller that can be easily seen as an Accidental Pervert, but he's actually a pretty upstanding guy. He's even mistaken for a serial wiretapper in a later side case in Lost Judgment when in reality, he was the one trying to stop said wiretapper in the first place.
- Fingore: He doesn't lose it, but his left pinky is smashed by a bat in the second game and he's forced to wear a cast on it till the finale.
- Gadgeteer Genius: You know all those really cool tools that you get to play around with in Lost Judgment? Those are all his doing.
- Hikkikomori: He used to be one in his own home, but now he's just traded up his home for the internet cafe. By the time of Lost Judgment, he moved to Yokohama with Sugiura to start their own detective agency and is more willing to go out with others and even by himself, though he still primarily works from the office of Yokohama 99.
- Hollywood Hacking: He does all of the crazy shit that helps out Yagami a ton in the story (such as granting himself admin privileges for a chatting app or being able to make wiretaps in a few hours or two with the right tools) from the comfort of an Internet cafe in the first game, and his very impressive setup in the sequel.
- Mission Control: Acts as this for much of Lost Judgment, though he does venture into Seiryo High alongside the rest of Yokohama 99 to install the hidden cameras in the campus.
- Nice Guy: Eccentricities and appearance aside, Tsukumo's a very upstanding and genuinely nice guy that can be a bit awkward at times, but does mean well otherwise. He even lets Yagami and Kaito use their (much loftier and larger) office as a hideout while they're in Yokohama.
- Non-Action Guy: Being Mission Control for YDA/Yokohama 99, it's not too surprising. That being said, what he lacks in combat prowess, he more than makes up for it in his resourcefulness and hacking ability. It ends badly for him when Kuwana's blackmailed students break into Yokohama 99. With Sugiura knocked out and unable to defend him, he gets his pinky smashed and is left in tears from the pain.
- Playful Hacker: He's usually the one Yagami goes to when he needs to find someone, usually by finding them on Chatter since he hacked himself to have admin privileges.
- Plucky Comic Relief: In a game like Lost Judgment, much of the moments that revolve around him are usually some much-needed moments of levity.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: He is added to the opening in Lost Judgment.
- Shown His Work: An In-Universe example as he's done plenty of research on bullying and the psychology surrounding it, which he proudly demonstrates to Chairman Okuda in their initial meeting at Kyoinro.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's the one that starts up the whole Friend system in the game and is the first one you recruit. Subverted in Lost Judgment, where he plays a much bigger role in the story.
- Those Two Guys: Him and Sugiura in Lost Judgment.
- Would Hit a Girl: Again, Subverted. He doesn't actually hit Masuyama as he only assumes a battle stance as a bluff to get her to stand down.
Toru Higashi
Voiced by: Yoshihisa Kawahara (Japanese), Steve Blum (English)
After the events of Judgment, Higashi owns the arcade parlor Charles, once under Matsugane control.
- A Father to His Men: When he discovers one of his guys being accosted, Higashi personally intervenes. Rather than get angry at his subordinate, he instead tells him it wasn't a problem.
- Aloof Ally: He and Yagami aren’t exactly close and really only have Kaito as a mutual friend/bridge between them.
- Big Damn Heroes: In Lost Judgment, he bails out Saori and Mari from being jumped by two RK mooks in the nick of time.
- Break the Cutie: Is shown to be timid and polite in flashbacks before Hamura forces him to shoot Red Nose, making him hold the gun to keep his own fingerprints off.
- Combat Medic: Appears in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name as a recruitable fighter is considered a Healer unit with his Don't Die On Me granting all allies Gradual Regeneration. He also goes into battle with a tanto giving him quick and unblockable attacks that let him more than keep up with other fighters.
- Cool Shades: Wears sunglasses and is a force to be reckoned with. He's a tad too benevolent to have them be considered Sinister Shades, though he is forced to antagonize Yagami and Kaito at times.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Yagami and Kaito take him on, he agrees to help them take on Hamura secretly and use the Charles arcade parlor as a hideout. He also fights alongside the Yagami Detective Agency during some of the game's greatest battles.
- The Dreaded: To some extent. The thugs who were messing with one of his men quickly back off when they see him. Even as an ex-Yakuza in Lost Judgment, he's still pretty formidable in RK's eyes.
- Everyone Has Standards: In Lost Judgment, he's just as disgusted as his friends upon hearing what Yui Mamiya and the other bullies did, to the point that he states that he can't help but root for Kuwana.
- Friend to All Children:
- In Judgment, we see a young customer at Charles let Higashi know that one of the machines took his coin without doing anything for it. When Higashi's underling tells the kid off for interrupting, Higashi Dope Slaps him and hands the kid a banknote to make it up to him, which he gratefully accepts.
- While he's certainly a lot better than Kaito when it came to kids, by Lost Judgment, he's opened his arcade (which he now runs legitimately since the Tojo Clan's disbandment) to everyone, kids included. After Yagami sees Kaito impressing kids at the arcade Kaito says Higashi is even more loved than him by the kids.
- Hunk: Mari certainly seems to think so. Especially with him being as rugged as he is. The deep voice and chivalrous demeanor toward her and Saori helps even further.
- It's All My Fault: It becomes clear, thanks to Ayabe, that Higashi blames himself for Kaito being expelled from the Matsugane clan. He was there when the robbery took place and was going to take out a weapon to try and kill the burglar, but Kaito willingly went along with the burglar's demands in order to spare him from the trouble, lest either get shot. To try and make up for the mistake, Higashi tracked down the burglar and tried to get the money back.
- Jerkass to One: The only person he goes out of his way to be mean to is Yagami, mostly out of envy for his closeness to Kaito, but it's largely Played for Laughs as he's always there to help nevertheless.
- Launcher Move: Has a distinctive telegraphed jumping knee strike that can launch a foe into the air before following it up with some lightning fast kicks that keeps them airborne.
- Leitmotif: "The Flower of Chivalry" when he's fought in the first game.
- Moveset Clone: His tanto-wielding moveset in his second boss fight is identical to Kanji Koshimizu's from 6. His playable appearance in the Colosseum of Gaiden has him fight the same way.
- Nice Guy: As much as he tries to hide it and pretends to be a menacing yakuza, everyone who knows him personally knows he's a total softie and one of the series' biggest Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters.
- Oh, Crap!: Played for Laughs in Lost Judgment when he and Saori meet for the first time in two years -Higashi: Holy shit! No way!
- Pet the Dog: The first sign that he isn't just another yakuza thug is when he saves one of his men from being shaken down and shows genuine concern for his safety. The second is when he gives a kid money to play arcade games.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Mainly in Lost Judgment. If it isn't Tsukumo that provides the much-needed levity in the game, then it'll probably be Higashi. Especially given how he and Yagami interact.
- Promoted to Opening Titles: He appears alongside his aniki Kaito in Lost Judgment's opening credits.
- Promoted to Playable: Appears in Gaiden as a recruitable ally for the Colosseum, albeit with his tanto moveset from his second boss fight.
- Rapid-Fire Kicks: Can throw out several swift kicks in a second, similar to Akiyama.
- Reformed Criminal: Downplayed. He was never a terrible guy to begin with, but by Lost Judgment, he clearly prefers going legit and running the arcade left to him by the Matsugane Family over joining the likes of any criminal organization (e.g., RK) that may fill out the power vacuum left behind by the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance in Kamurocho.
- Stronger Than They Look: He's smaller than Yagami and Kaito and in the finale of Lost Judgment, the antagonists dismiss him as the weakest link and a wimp just at a glance. Obviously after we've all seen his capabilities in both that game and the one preceding it, they are completely off the mark. Though its ever so slightly downplayed as he's the only member of the team who's visibly exhausted after defeating the entirety of RK.
- The Reveal: Toru tells Yagami that Kaito was going to get expelled from the Matsugane Family under Hamura's watch, even if the patriarch did interfere.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, as he's more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold plus an Aloof Ally rather than a full-blown Jerkass, but Higashi gradually becomes nicer to Yagami throughout the game, later becoming a key ally in the process.
- Trapped in Villainy: He's actually a decent guy, even by yakuza standards, but he's forced to answer Hamura's orders. He learned that Hamura was the one who orchestrated Kaito's expulsion from the clan when he tracked down the burglar who stole the hundred million from them, and in order to keep his trap shut, Hamura had him prove his "loyalty" to the clan by forcing him to shoot Red Nose. By Lost Judgment, he's come a long way.
- Tsundere: His overall dynamic (albeit a platonic version) with Yagami, particularly in Lost Judgment. Higashi naturally isn't pleased with him bringing Mamiya (yet another hostage after Kido in the first game) to Charles, but being that he and Yagami share a common friend in Kaito (who had been recently injured by Soma), it's pretty obvious that he still sees him as a dependable ally at best. At least Sugiura thinks so, anyway.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A year prior to the events of the game, and two years after Yagami quit being a lawyer, he's shown to be rather timid. In the present, he's become a high-ranking member of the Matsugane and is more than willing to kill Kaito, his former friend, to get to Yagami after Hamura gives the order. He gets better, thankfully.
- We Used to Be Friends: He still calls Kaito "aniki," though Kaito states he no longer can call him that since he left the clan. They seem to have buried the hatchet by Lost Judgment, seeing as the Matsugane Family, and by extension the Tojo Clan, are no more. When Soma stabs Kaito after him and Yagami tried to find Kuwana (as he was told by Sugiura) not long after Sawa's death, Higashi is ragingly pissed, enough for him to react by wanting to find Soma and pay him back for Kaito's injury personally.
Genda Law Office
Ryuzo Genda
Voiced by: Akira Nakao (Japanese), Brian McNamara (English)
- Heroic BSoD: After Shintani's death, he... switches off. He admits that he's just forcing food down and can barely find a reason to get out of bed. Luckily, seeing Yagami be a Determinator inspires him to stop moping and avenge someone he considered a son.
- Ink-Suit Actor: His appearance is based off his Japanese voice actor.
- Nice Guy: While he can have some rough edges, he is ultimately a nice guy who cares for his employees and former employees. He does his best to assure Yagami that he isn't responsible for Emi's death, and he was just doing his job.
- Not So Above It All: Gets absolutely shitfaced in a cabaret club in Lost Judgment with Hoshino whilst nominally helping a disguised Saori investigate RK.
- Parental Substitute: Alongside Mitsugu Matsugane, Genda is one of the two people Yagami considers to be like a father figure to him. He reveals that he was also this to Shintani, hence his BSOD when Shintani is killed.
- Shipper on Deck: Zig-zagged. At first he sounds like he is upset with Saori and Hoshino getting together, he is ulimately shown to be supportive.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ryuzo doesn't like how Yagami has to sink himself by being a hired detective instead of being an attorney despite what happened to Okubo.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Genda tries to tell this to Yagami in Chapter 9, when he's looking into Okubo's case again and blaming himself for what happened three years ago; Genda says Yagami did nothing wrong by defending Okubo, even if he was a murderer, since he was only doing his job as an attorney. It doesn't work, and Yagami promptly states that he will let the case haunt him for as long as he lives if he has to.
Saori Shirosaki
Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Aimée Castle (English, Judgment), Stephanie Sheh (English, Lost Judgment-onwards)
- The Ace: A very good lawyer and a very, very good hostess.
- Amateur Sleuth: Saori helps Yagami and Kaito track down clues regarding The Mole/The ADDC later in the game when you play from her perspective.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Certain segments in the series focusing solely on conversation and investigation has Saori as the playable character. This is slightly expanded on in Lost Judgment where she's briefly playable from a third-person perspective where the player can at the very least pull out her phone and take a photo (or a selfie).
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Of the non-action variety, as seen in Lost Judgment. As to be expected of an attorney.
- Beautiful All Along: Gets a makeover on two occasions in the story to go undercover and get information using her feminine wiles. A bit of a subversion as even before the makeover Hoshino and a host club employee consider her very attractive.
- Berserk Button: Stealing food from her is a big one. At the start of Chapter 4, when Yagami visits the Genda office because he thinks something major happened, he finds a ragingly pissed Saori accusing Hoshino of stealing a cake that she stuffed in a fridge.note
- Bespectacled Cutie: A rather cute if standoffish young woman who wears glasses.
- Big Eater: Saori enjoys eating a lot, especially if Yagami brings food to the firm. Being accused of eating her cakes is Serious Business!
- Brutal Honesty: Normally, Saori is a very terse person, using as little words as possible that are straight to the point.
- Death Glare: The closest Saori can intimidate people is by giving these to someone, no matter the distance. One example is when Genda unwittingly insults her looks, thus this in retaliation.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Despite being a couple with Hoshino by Lost Judgment, she act rather dismissive and cold towards him. All of these instances are played for comedy despite it technically qualifying as emotional abuse.
- Fetishized Abuser: A downplayed example but she treats Hoshino rather poorly in Lost Judgment despite the two of them being a couple. She mostly ignores his worrying over her, never really shows him affection and when he and Genda go to a hostess club while she was there undercover she insults him when he tries to brag about passing the bar exam. Even when she has to cheer him up afterwards she’s clearly reluctant and the choice to do so has her call him stupid.
- First-Person Smartass: Her internal monologues when she's playable are quite a lot sassier than her normal speech (which is already quite sassy, albeit in a more monotone way).
- Honey Trap:
- In the first game Saori helps Yagami and the team by posing as a reporter to lure Kido out of the ADDC. They freaked out as she was able to do it without any prep work needed.
- In Lost Judgment, she dolls herself up once again in order to get info from some goons about RK. She later does it once again to go undercover as a hostess to help Yagami get to Akutsu.
- Laser-Guided Karma: At the start of the game, she ate the sweets Yagami bought for Genda. Later on, Genda ends up throwing away the cake Saori took so much effort to buy (albeit for understandable reasons as the cake got spoiled from being left overnight in the fridge when the power was out).
- Master of the Mixed Message: Towards Hoshino. The end of the first game seemed to imply she reciprocated his feelings only for her to act professional towards him again by the sequel. Genda even states the two aren’t anything serious and yet when he went as a customer at the same hostess bar Saori’s in she also seems annoyed when he briefly falls for another hostess. In The Kaito Files (which takes place after the main Lost Judgment storyline has finished), when Masuda and Mari are speculating on whether marriage may be in the cards for them after 3 years of dating, Kaito is a bit more mum on the idea considering her lukewarm reception to the prospect. Near the end of the DLC, Hoshino also reveals he is thinking a lot about the financial and emotional commitments a marriage demands, but Saori never wants to talk about the issue with him.
- Not So Above It All: If Lost Judgment is any indication, she seems to enjoy moonlighting as a cabaret host, especially since she has this to say in her thoughts during her second undercover sting.(thinking) Oooh, the clash of female egos! I think I might actually enjoy this!
- Odd Friendship: Lost Judgment shows that she gets along with Higashi.
- Official Couple: Zig-zagged with Hoshino. It seems like they got together by the end of the first game but by the time of the sequel it appears they aren’t serious despite dating and Hoshino acts more like someone with a crush that Saori mostly ignores.
- Older Than They Look: She’s 35 years old by the sequel but doesn’t much look it. Whenever she gets dolled up she can easily pass for someone in her 20’s.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Her thoughts when she's playable are written in pink, in contrast to Yagami's blue.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: She is added to the opening in Lost Judgment.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Both Hoshino and the club manager can tell right away that with the right clothes and haircut she can be a number one hostess. Yagami has to concede when he sees her all dressed up.
- Shipper on Deck: Is very invested in seeing Yagami return Mafuyu's affections. She was the one who introduced Yagami to Mafuyu when the latter was still heartbroken when Morita got married.
- Sweet Tooth: Loves pastries and sweets.
- Tritagonist: Particularly in Lost Judgment where she gets a lion's share of the screentime compared to the other Genda Law Office workers, even being playable in both the first and second games.
- Unkempt Beauty: She wears rather modest clothing and clearly doesn't take care of her hair. Regardless, several characters, including Hoshino, consider her pretty.
- Virtual Paper Doll: You can customize her appearance to your liking in the brief times she's playable like the Platinum Hostesses in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Issei Hoshino
Voiced by: Yu Hayashi (Japanese), Joe Zieja (English)
- All Love Is Unrequited: Towards Saori. Though at the end of the game, she seems to reciprocate his feelings, as she grabs his hand when Genda accuses him of "a little fling". The sequel has Saori treats him professionally and makes no indication they’re a couple, though only one of the ingame tips about Saori mention how they're dating.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The backpack is just because it's more practical than a suitcase. Regardless, Hoshino is still a full-fledged lawyer and good at his job.
- Butt-Monkey: In the sequel. His relationship with Saori is treated as a joke, he gets left out of the opening credits, Saori mostly ignores him despite the two of them dating, and for the most part he’s left out of the courtroom drama despite his previous Character Development.
- Character Development: Hoshino goes through quite a bit throughout the entire game.
- He starts off as a fresh hire by Genda just learning the ropes under Shintani. Then after Shintani's death, he works alongside Yagami as a sidekick, fully content on embracing the role. Then, midway through Ayabe's trial, Yagami is forced to handle a major problem, leaving the rest in an unprepared Hoshino's hands, making the transition from the sidekick role to full-fledged defense attorney.
- He expresses his own doubts throughout as well, at one point going so far as to blackmail Kido into taking the witness stand during a trial, knowing full well it was the wrong thing to do. All he wanted was to ensure that the bad guys got their comeuppance.
- Dogged Nice Guy: To Saori, which is shown off more in the sequel. He often praises, supports and worries over her while she generally responds with either neutrality or slight reciprocation at best.
- Hidden Depths: He's apparently really good with ideas on what styles would suit different women, or where the nearest hair salon is. He's also a third degree black belt, it's just that fighting is not his thing.
- Informed Ability: Says he's got a 3rd degree blackbelt, although he never goes around to showing it. Even Higashi lampshades this in the sequel.
- It's Personal: Hoshino is so angry at Shintani's death that he wanted to help Yagami find the culprit.
- Likes Older Women: Saori is five years older than him.
- Moment of Weakness: As things get more bleak in beating The Conspiracy, he got desperate enough to try and blackmail Kido into helping them. Afterwards, he realizes the mistake he made and apologized to Yagami for almost crossing the line.
- New Meat: Issei just passed the bar exams and was already starting to work for the office.
- Older Than They Look: He’s 30 years old by the sequel yet can easily pass himself as a college student given his appearance and demeanor. The backpack, which is something usually used by younger/childish characters, doesn’t help any.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: If you feel bad for Hoshino in Lost Judgment due to him being thrown back into his Butt-Monkey role, during the Cabaret infiltration in Chapter 11 where he and Genda visit Queen Rouge to covertly help Saori's sales, you can pick options that have Saori (albeit reluctantly) treat him nicely and even cap it all off by having her whisper seductively to him or sit on his lap. Then again, you could also pick options that makes everyone pick on him more, such as peer pressuring him into buying two expensive bottles of alcohol, and cap the whole thing off by having Saori act seductive to Genda instead.
Masamichi Shintani
Voiced by: Takuya Kirimoto (Japanese), Keythe Farley (English)
- Amoral Attorney: Sees nothing wrong in defending the suspicious Hamura.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's an esteemed lawyer, but he's rude and unprofessional.
- Cool Shades: Tends to wear sunglasses when he goes out. They're used to cover his empty eye sockets after he's murdered.
- Dirty Old Man: In a flashback he's shown hitting on Emi Terasawa, despite him being much older.
- Eye Scream: Had his eyes gouged out like other victims of the Mole.
- Foreshadowing:
- Shintani often wears sunglasses outside of the office. Victims of the Mole turn up dead with sunglasses covering their eyes, which foreshadows Shintani's fate.
- Yagami notices that Shintani's cause of death was via gunshot wound, unlike the Mole's previous victims. This foreshadows that the Mole was not the one who gouged out the victims' eyes but rather Shono, in order to hide the signs of human experimentation.
- He Knows Too Much: Shintani was killed in order to prevent from snooping further to confirm the ADDC's ties with the death of an official who's being investigated by Yagami and the team.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His assassination by the Mole gave Yagami and his allies the idea to investigate the ADDC and their ties to Okubo's case.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: During Hamura's trial, the key witness that could lead to him being freed is put into question by Izumida, as the witness was previously threatened by Murase to keep quiet unless he wanted something happened to his sister. Izumida questions if the court can trust his word when Shintani throws that same question right back at him when he reveals Izumida, who previously claimed he hadn't seen the video showing the witness being physically struck by Murase, is also shown in that same footage to be re-enacting the scene on camera. Needless to say, this is what arguably wins Hamura's freedom.
- The Resenter: Greatly envies Yagami because of how Yagami managed to overshadow him despite Shintani being the one who showed him the ropes. Even after Yagami became a Hero with Bad Publicity, people still paid more attention to Yagami's abilities. This envy leads to his death as he attempts to look into the ADDC himself.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Shintani doesn't really get along with Yagami much. In the prologue scene from before Yagami quit his job as a lawyer, he even butts heads with him. However, the first person Shintani asks for help when he's assigned to defend Hamura in court is Yagami, showing that he still respects his former colleague's skills.
- Wham Line: In Chapter 4.Shintani: Think this is some kind of Yakuza pissing contest, do you? Come on! The Mole is way bigger than you know!Yagami: What do you mean?
Public Prosecutors
Mafuyu Fujii
Voiced by: Risa Shimizu (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)
She's friends with Saori, going back to university when the two of them were studying Law.
- Advertised Extra: She shows up in the opening credits for Lost Judgement despite barely playing a role in the story.
- Childhood Friends: With Saori.
- Damsel in Distress: She almost gets kidnapped by Kyorei grunts who intend to take her to a cabaret to lure out Yagami. Yagami saves her just in time.
- Demoted to Extra: She barely shows up in the sequel to the point that her few appearances appearances could be relegated as The Cameo.
- Hello, Attorney!: Mafuyu is an attorney, and, as you can see, fairly attractive.
- Likes Older Men: Morita was her First Love, who inspired her to be a prosecutor. It's also implied she really likes Yagami and expresses concern for his well-being, much to the delight of a lot of her friends.
- Nice Girl: Even after the crap Yagami went through, Mafuyu is willing to talk to him, even if it's to just lift his spirits up.
- Out of Focus: Surprisingly enough, she doesn't get really all that much screentime in the sequel, when compared to the first game.
- Ship Tease: Lots with Yagami. She even calls him her boyfriend in one scene. Averted in the sequel where the two act more profesionally to one another, though Saori does still tease her for visiting their office hoping to see Yagami.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Expresses some sympathy towards Morita after finding out about his tragic family situation. Yagami, however, points out that Morita still let Emi die and allowed Okubo to be framed.
- Will They or Won't They?: It's never made especially clear what her relationship with Yagami actually is. Yagami's case file states they dated back when he was a lawyer, a claim that Mafuyu denies. But she is clearly carrying a torch for him, and ever refers to Yagami as her boyfriend at one point, and while it's clear Yagami cares for her, it's not made clear if he's romantically interested in her or he sees her just as a friend. The game ends without a solid conclusion in the matter.
- Lost Judgement has Kaito acting as Shipper on Deck when she enters the plot, suggesting that Yagami rekindle things with her and not finding his denial of their feelings being like that very convincing.
- However, the same game's DLC indicates that Yagami dated Tsukino Saotome in-between games and that Yagami thought they would make a decent couple in the long-run, indicating that it’s Won’t, at least from Yagami’s perspective.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: She has this reactions when she listens to Yagami's excuses for not becoming a lawyer again at the end of the game.
Kunihiko Morita
Voiced by: Junpei Morita (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)
- All for Nothing: A well-respected prosecutor who, as a result of a family tragedy, decided to turn the other cheek in order to see AD-9 come to fruition so that other families would not face the same tragedy that he did. Little did he know that AD-9 was doomed even before Ichinose approached him, meaning that Morita destroyed his own career, and in turn, his brother's sacrifice, for a project that was doomed to failure.
- Amoral Attorney: Albeit a sympathetic one. He's in on the AD-9 conspiracy and has been covering for the Mole, but only because he believes AD-9 could prevent tragedies similar to what befell his own family.
- Anti-Villain: He couldn't resist the offer made by Ichinose due to his family being ruined by Alzheimer but he is not proud of it and even stops the Mole from killing Yagami saying he won't cover for it.
- Broken Pedestal: Both Izumida and Mafuyu look up to him, the latter even having a crush on him when she was young, as he made sure her mother's murderer got arrested. Needless to say, they're both disheartened when they witness him willfully turning a blind eye to an actual crime scene.
- Freudian Excuse: He supported AD-9's development because Alzheimer's tore his family apart, with his brother killing their ailing mother and then committing suicide after enduring years of her dementia-induced abuse while being her caretaker.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Yagami calls him out on his reasoning, pointing out that he still let an innocent woman die and allowed her boyfriend to be framed.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: How he's physically depicted in the game as part of being The Stoic. Subverted as while on the villain side he is filled with guilt.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He looked the other way in regards to the AD-9 experiments, and he betrayed the trust of his subordinates in doing so. Those said subordinates end up turning against him and get him charged with abuse of power which ends up ruining his career and putting him in prison.
- Never My Fault: Zig-zagged. When Yagami confronts him over his past, Morita's first reaction is to believe someone betrayed him. Yagami makes it clear that he betrayed his subordinates first with his corruption. Due to Morita's lack of attempts to deny that, he seems to realize that is the truth.
- Not So Stoic: As seen in Villainous Breakdown below.
- The Unfought: While there's some implication that he might be a physical threat, Yagami doesn't fight him directly, but with the help of other prosecutors, he ends up being charged with abuse of power off-screen and put in prison.
- Silver Fox: Called one by Kaito and was Mafuyu's first crush.
- The Stoic: Doesn't show any emotion that his subordinates/other people in the office are scared to approach him unless it's related to work.
- Villainous Breakdown: It doesn't take long for him to start going through this after Yagami begins questioning his morality in letting the AD-9 conspiracy do what it wants regardless of his excuses.Morita: Shut up. Just... Shut up!
- Walking Spoiler: In case you can't tell from all the tags, he's a lot more involved with the central plot than it first seems.
Keigo Izumida
Voiced by: Tsuguo Mogami (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Joins Yagami and his team in taking down The Conspiracy after Morita's betrayal.
- Amoral Attorney: During Hamura's trial, he shows discrimination towards Seiya's profession as a Host, claiming it makes him inherently untrustworthy. He's also guilty of withholding evidence, claiming not to have known about Hamura's altercation with the host when he, in reality, was involved in a re-enactment. Subverted later as while he is underhanded when it comes to get a conviction he never outright breaks the law and sides with Yagami when it becomes clear Morita is turning blind eye to crimes.
- Bald of Evil: Well, it's more like a shave, and he isn't evil necessarily. He is a pretty unpleasant man however.
- Butt-Monkey: From other prosecutors after the Okubo case. To get a non-guilty verdict in Japan is already bad, let alone two, but Okubo being charged for murder again a few days after look just as bad on him than it does to Yagami, who at least did his job.
- Epic Fail: He is really bad at his job, his lie about having seen the camera footage is the only reason Hamura walks free and it only takes Emi yelling at him to sway the verdict in the Shinpei Okubo case as he flusters. Yagami even lampshades he only got Shinpei acquitted because he had Izumida as an opponent.
- Everyone Has Standards: He is disturbed by Morita's actions in disregarding what is clearly a crime scene. When Yagami confronts him over him possibly pressuring Mayufu to comply with Morita, it quickly becomes apparent that he is not on Morita's side.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Hamura is a direct accomplice of all the Kyorei's murders, but since Izumida and the police just wants to save face in front of the press and don't have time with piercing a conspiracy they decide to pin him for one murder and make him the sole responsible.
- Good All Along: Turns out that he is one of the prosecutors in the office who isn't in on the AD-9 conspiracy, and after hearing about Morita's involvement in said conspiracy, he turns around and offers Yagami his unconditional support. Not only that, but after joining forces with Yagami, he's one of the few people in authority able to help Yagami take down Ichinose, and in doing so was risking both his career and potentially his life if Yagami failed. He was also the one to help authorize the testimonies of both Hamura and Kido during the final trial, and even managed to convince Ichinose to testify as well.
- Heel–Face Turn: Zig-zagged. He was never evil, but he was blatantly antagonistic toward Yagami. However, during the final chapter, he joins forces with Yagami to put an end to the AD-9 conspiracy.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Though he's not exactly the most pleasant of people to work with, he does point out to Yagami that he still allowed an innocent woman to die by defending Okubo in court, in spite of Yagami stating that all the evidence in Okubo's first trial proving his innocence. Which was reasonable considering the evidence at the time, and it takes the confession of the real killer to reveal the truth.
- He is not exactly wrong to call out the credibility of the witness Seiya, a host. While he does sort of make it about his occupation, said host also has a history of lying to his customers as long as they keep throwing money at him, receiving around five complaints as a result. You even find Seiya after he stood up three of his clients.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Considering how much of a bastard Ichinose is, it's really gratifying watching the otherwise unpleasant Izumida constantly dismiss his complaints for the purpose of PR.
- Put on a Bus: He's completely absent in Lost Judgment, despite his help in uprooting the AD-9 conspiracy in the first game.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: His claim that Seiya's testimony is untrustworthy is actually correct, as the witness has a history of lying to his customers to get more money. However, Izumida makes the claim based off of his discrimination of Seiya's profession as a Host rather than his quality of character.
- The Rival: Has major beef with Yagami back in the Okubo case. Even when Yagami leaves the attorney life, Izumida still hates him for humiliating him when Izumida lost the case.
- Rivals Team Up: Joins forces with Yagami to expose Ichinose and everyone involved in the AD-9 conspiracy at the end of the story. Aside from Mafuyu, he turns out to be the only character associated with the police that's not in on the conspiracy.
Matsugane Family
Mitsugu Matsugane
Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura (Japanese), JB Blanc (English)
- A Father to His Men: He considers the rest of the Matsugane Family to be his children, and his subordinates still treat him respectfully despite his decreasing relevance in the clan's actual decision-making process.
- Authority in Name Only: Although he's the patriarch of the family, Hamura's control of the clan's finances has totally displaced Matsugane' influence within the family, leaving him a powerless figurehead.
- Beware the Nice Ones: There is a few moment where he reminds the audience he is still a yakuza patriarch and can shut Yagami up with a few words when they first met.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: He's basically Kazuma Kiryu if he became a family leader or stayed as leader of the Tojo Clan longer than he ever did. His men think he's soft for being honorable and noble, the family was in financial troubles because said nobility and honor leaves him unwilling to do some of the dark things about Yakuza, and he ends up an Authority in Name Only. He notes that he was in his prime when he wasn't a leader.
- Everyone Has Standards: At first he was okay with Hamura bringing in the money and letting himself be a figurehead since he didn't have it in him to do the dirtier stuff the Yakuza do. But after Hamura becomes linked to the Mole killings, beats and disrespects his men, nearly kills Yagami and Kaito several times over, and even pointing a gun at his own patriarch, that's when he's reached his breaking point, and joins Yagami for good.
- Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: He's an old-school gangster who's all about upholding honor and virtue. Unlike in the mainline Yakuza series however it's his scruples that prevent his family from rising in prominence and allow someone like Hamura (who has the ruthlessness suitable for a proper criminal) to supercede him in authority and influence.
- Last Disrespects: Hamura feels like how his funeral being held at the Tojo Clan Headquarters where only those closest to him attended made it look like nobody really came. He found that disrespectful to a great man.
- My Greatest Failure: Not stepping up to resolve the family's financial struggles, which forced Hamura to get his hands dirty. He knew Hamura probably crossed a line to get the money but looked the other way because the family was in need of it. As he dies, he apologizes to Hamura for enabling his behavior, saying he doesn't blame him for turning out the way that he did.
- Parental Substitute: Downplayed. While Yagami had a good relationship with his father, he considers Matsugane and Genda to be his other father figures.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He doesn't have a problem talking to Yagami even after he resigned from being a lawyer. He also interfered when Kaito was expelled from the clan by Hamura and prevented Kaito from losing a finger, and potentially his life.
- Taking the Bullet: He shields Hamura when the Mole comes to dispose of him.
Kyohei Hamura
Voiced by: Pierre Taki (original, Japanese), Miou Tanaka (revised, Japanese), Fred Tatasciore (English)
New Version
[[labelnote:Click here to see the old version.
]]The clan captain of the Matsugane family and currently running it from behind the scenes financially, which has slowly eclipsed the patriarch's influence.- Almighty Janitor: He is a captain of a third branch yakuza family but he brings a huge amount of money and controls the family to the point no other Tojo clan try absorbing them. It's thanks to his connection with the Mole and Ichinose that Hamura has some police and political influence on top of making the big bucks with assassination service.
- Bad Boss: Berates and beats up his men on little incentive and enjoys forcing new blood to commit murder.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: He and Someya from Yakuza 6 have certain parallels, chiefly in being senior yakuza with their own agendas who represent business-minded philosophies and notably don't have back tattoos to reflect this, and also are prone to extreme violence to make their point while nevertheless possessing a very deeply buried softer side. However, while Someya is respectful to Kiryu and is overall much more of a Noble Demon, Hamura remains a ruthless thug throughout who rarely passes an opportunity to belittle Yagami and winds up in an Enemy Mine situation.
- Condescending Compassion: The nature of his motivation for reducing Matsugane to an Authority in Name Only. He does legitimately care about the patriarch. He just doesn't think Matsugane has it in him to harden his men into a group that could survive the yakuza world.
- The Corrupter: Radicalized the Matsugane family after taking over the finances and kicking Kaito out.
- Dirty Coward: When Yagami starts to win his first fight with the Matsugane family, he forces Kengo to pull a gun on him. And while he's held captive, he loosens his lips the moment Shioya pulls out his "instruments." Yagami calls him out on this.Yagami: If you're gonna shoot, you should pull the trigger yourself.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Acts as this for the Matsugane family. By controlling the family's purse strings, he's robbed the patriarch of most of his influence, leaving Matsugane unable to fight his decisions. In short, it's he who has control of the clan and not Matsugane.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his heinousness and attempts to subvert his patriarch's authority, Hamura is genuinely loyal to Matsugane. He becomes genuinely grief-stricken when Matsugane takes the bullet for him, which results in him turning against The Conspiracy.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Believe it or not, he actually intended to uphold his end of the bargain with Red Nose by giving him his share of the stolen Matsugane family money... had Higashi not been a witness.
- When The Mole proposes that they take up assassination jobs, Hamura was initially hesitant and even somewhat unnerved about it. Unfortunately for everyone else involved, the temptation of climbing up the yakuza totem pole proved too much.
- While he's dismissive of the Kyorei yakuza that were murdered by the Mole, he shows some guilt over having to murder Shintani to keep him from uncovering the conspiracy, acknowledging that it was his fault for giving him the information in the first place. His testimony in the finale reveals that he tried to convince Ichinose to not have Shintani killed, but ultimately buckled to the demand once Ichinose refused.
- He believes that his partners treated Matsugane's death disrespectfully, deliberately making him look like a nobody posthumously when Hamura himself actually had a high opinion of him.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Both Miou Tanaka and Fred Tatasciore play him with a low baritone, which serves to make him all the more menacing.
- Foil: To Yagami, big time. Both are sons to Matsugane and work to make him proud; however, while Yagami got the chance to avoid swearing up and become a man of the law, Hamura's efforts to financially grow the Matsugane Family slowly but surely turn him into a money-hungry bastard who overrides his patriarch's authority, to a point where Matsugane himself disowns the dream.
- Note that it was precisely Hamura's disagreeable business practices that bankrolled Yagami's studies to become a lawyer, adding an extra layer to this.
- Heel Realization: After Matsugane is killed, he realizes just how important a man like him was and gives Yagami vital evidence to take down his partners.
- Honor Before Reason: Despite the fact that Hamura doesn't have respect for Yagami, he does make it clear that an assault on Yagami is the same as attacking the Matsugane, given how close Yagami is to the patriarch. Around the start of the game, when a bunch of street thugs attack Yagami, Hamura appears and flat out tells them they're screwed. When Yagami insists that Hamura just let it slide, he tells Yagami that it's impossible because the moment they attacked Yagami, it became Matsugane business.
- Irony: Early in his career, Matsugane instilled in him the ambition to raise their family to a high-ranking Tojo affiliate. This caused him to start accepting shady deals with Ichinose to bring in more cash for the family. As a direct result of this, he started eclipsing Matsugane's own authority within his own family, causing Matsugane to believe that such a goal isn't worth it anymore.Hamura: With enough money who knows? We coulda rode it to the top of the Tojo Clan. Wasn't that always part of the dream, boss?Matsugane: It was, yes. But not anymore.Hamura: Heh, that so? That's funny. Because I spent my entire life chasing that dream for you! The goal you fucking told me to strive for!
- Ink-Suit Actor: His appearance in the pre-revision versions of the Japanese release is based off of Pierre Taki. Averted for every other version of the game.
- Jerkass: Though Yagami is treated like a son by the Matsugane patriarch, something the clan is also aware of, Hamura doesn't treat him with much respect. Even when he's put on trial by the police, who are desperate to pin the murders on someone, he refuses to cooperate with Yagami and give him crucial information that could save his ass. In Chapter 2, every single appearance he makes always has him brutally beat up Yagami when he learns that he isn't giving up investigating the Kyorei serial murders.
- He turns this around at the conclusion of the game when he hands over vital evidence to Yagami that immediately implicates Ichinose during Ayabe's trial and takes the stand himself to corroborate it. The smug look he gives Ichinose tells the whole story.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When the Matsugane patriarch was asking him to explain what Kaito was doing, Hamura mentions that he needed to let Kaito cut his pinky off so that he can show the rest of the family what could happen to them. This falls flat once its revealed that he was responsible for the theft in the first place.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He sought a greater financial base for the family at first to help the family rise up the ranks of the Tojo, a dream that was encouraged by Matsugane. He was even uncomfortable with the idea of killing for money, which was something the Mole actually proposed. It's when he agreed to carry out the hit on Hashiki that he started on his path to becoming the bastard that he is now.
- Kick the Dog:
- Like Hattori, he really likes to rub Yagami's greatest failure in his face, even telling it to a newbie Matsugane thug while Yagami is in front of him.
- When he forces Higashi to kill Red Nose he also creeps him out by saying his girly screams turn him on for no real reason.
- Kindness Ball: In his first appearance, he dresses down some thugs for picking a fight with Yagami, defending his honor because of his good relations with Matsugane.
- Leitmotif: "Rake Your inside".
- Mighty Glacier: There's serious power behind his punches but Yagami can run circles around the guy in a straight one-one-one brawl. What might have been a decently effective fighting style against some of the other protagonists in the Yakuza series just ends up making for a poor match-up against the likes of Yagami's skill and agility. Not to mention as with most other similar bosses in the series, his slower, predictable attacks make him extremely vulnerable to the Tiger Drop.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After being incredibly resistant to doing so during his interrogation, Hamura finally reveals the Mole's identity after the Mole attempts to kill him, killing several of his men and Matsugane in the process.
- Moveset Clone: Has all the same moves as Yahata from Yakuza 5 and then some.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He undergoes this after after Matsugane takes a bullet meant for him and apologizes for being a weak patriarch.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: For all of his viciousness he's loyal to Matsugane, and it's his desire to raise the family from a third-rate one to one of importance that led him to getting embroiled in the various crooked deals.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Him telling Shintani of Shono and the ADDC's involvement in the Mole serial killings, which was originally intended to serve as insurance in case Hamura went to prison, would end up unraveling the villains' schemes.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He was intent on having Kaito cut off his pinky finger for allowing a hundred million to be stolen under his watch a year prior to the story, but Yagami and the Matsugane patriarch prevented this. Yagami also offered Kaito his support, which is a big reason why Hamura hates Yagami's guts.
- Oh, Crap!: Drops a short and effective one when the Mole appears after he's kidnapped.Hamura: Oh fuck...
- Pragmatic Villainy: After Hamura started taking on assassination jobs with Kuroiwa, he saw the insane payout for just kidnapping one yakuza (100 million yen = 700K USD) and realized that he stepped into something messed up even by the underworld's standards. He tried to back out, only to be told that now that Hamura is a part of the AD-9 conspiracy, the same amount of money would be used to take a hit on Hamura himself if he refuses to cooperate.
- Smug Snake: For all his swagger Hamura is still a captain from a low branch family and his fortune comes from connections that will gladly throw him to the wolves if the need arises. He also is less of a physical threat than some of his underlings like Kengo and Ozaki and seriously loses his composure when Yagami gets the drop on him without his gang.
- Surprise Witness: He shows up at the end of the game to testify against Ichinose.
- Taking You with Me: A variation; rather than actually dying, Hamura instead shows up as a witness at Ichinose's trial to back up all the evidence against him knowing full well that this will ensure that both men will be going to prison.
- Tattooed Crook: Subverted, albeit indirectly. Due to Japan's stigma on tattoos, had he gotten one, he definitely wouldn't be allowed in any public sauna, thus not giving him an alibi. If anything, it's a major indication that he's definitely not a yakuza driven by ideals.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After Matsugane dies, he becomes Yagami's ally, giving him vital information to take Ichinose down and later appearing in court to testify himself.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Yagami saves him from being convicted of murder early in the game, Hamura not only refuses to show gratitude, but frequently beats up and even tries to kill Yagami for trying to continue investigating the serial killings.
- Villain in a White Suit: The intimidating and ruthless captain of the Matsugane Family decked out in an exuberant white suit.
- Wham Line: When he reveals The Mole's identity.Hamura: The Mole is Kuroiwa!
Kojiro Ozaki
Voiced by: Mitsuaki Kanuka (Japanese), Mark Allan Stewart (English)
- Acrofatic: Downplayed but his bulk doesn't seem to slow him down or keep him from performing carefully placed roundhouse kick combos.
- The Brute: The biggest, toughest current member of the Matsugane Family and real dangerous in a fight.
- The Dragon: Hamura's right-hand man.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He notably has more health then Hamura when you fight the two of them together.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Hamura is about to shoot Higashi Kojiro expresses doubts about it and is shocked that the captain would indiscriminately kill a family member.
- Fat Bastard: He's rather large and rotund. During his first boss fight, he even outright tries to crush Yagami with his body weight.
- Gonk: His face is severely pock-marked and seems to be stuck in a permanent grimace.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Never seen without his Pink Jacket, and is Hamura's heavy hitter.
- Recurring Boss: Fought four times throughout the story and only once on his own and it's after a large gauntlet of Matsugane soldiers.
- Stout Strength: He's strong enough to pull a Neck Lift on Yagami.
Kengo
Voiced by: Shohei Kajikawa (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English)
- Aerosol Flamethrower: Uses one on Kaito when the family comes to bail out Hamura the first time.
- Almighty Janitor: He doesn't have any sort of rank in the family unlike the big and brutal Ozaki who's a lieutenant, but any time the two are fought together, they have the same large amount of health far surpassing that of the other weaker members. He seems to be viewed as interim leader when Hamura is indisposed.
- Boss Subtitles: Averted. Any time he's involved in the fight, it just says you're fighting the "Matsugane Family" since he doesn't have any sort of authority in the family and you're really fighting the family as a whole.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Gives the impression of a meek and polite newcomer to the family. As the game goes on, he and the rest of the Matsugane start doing worse actions for Hamura. In his first fight with Yagami he was terrified when Hamura forced him to pull a gun, but when Hamura was taken hostage for interrogation by the Kyorei Clan, the family straps a bomb to Murase, which disturbs Matsugane quite profoundly.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Not entirely. In the final chapter, Yagami and Higashi defeat him and his group. Afterwards, Yagami gets him to understand that going after the Mole would be useless due to him being a cop, but he'd make sure the Mole gets his due karma through the courts. Higashi advises him to help Yagami. When Yagami fights the Mole one-on-one, Kengo and the other members of the family show Yagami support.
- Fiery Redhead: While he has reddish-brown hair, he starts off pretty meek and polite. However, he gets increasingly aggressive, antagonistic, and irrational during his time spent working for Hamura.
- Heel–Face Turn: See Defeat Means Friendship
- Honor Before Reason: He wants to go after the Mole despite Yagami warning him that his actions can lead to the family being fully wiped out with no chance to be revived in the future.
- Implied Death Threat: When Yagami tries to tell on Hamura to Matsugane, Kengo tells him Hamura wants to speak to him and warns him not to take his time, or he'll lose his eyes.
- Leitmotif: "Hyenas Wheezing"... more or less. It definitely only plays whenever he's involved in the fight. He's never alone in those fights and the Boss Subtitles refer to the family as a whole but he always has the biggest health bar in said fights. Technically, Ozaki's present in those fights too but he also has other fights where this song isn't playing.
- Moveset Clone: Uses Katsuya's attacks and fighting stance from 5 though he seems to have replaced the dropkick with a jumping high kick followed by an axekick on the landing. When he's using a katana, he uses Izo Okada's fighting style from Ishin.
- Young Gun: Higashi calls him Hamura's golden boy and while he is new to the family he is among the most violent and authoritative.
Masashi Suzaki/"Cane Man"
Voiced by: Shinobu Matsumoto (Japanese, Judgment only), Phillip Reich (English),
- Always Someone Better: He has an inferiority complex towards his older twin brother Ryo and joined the yakuza to try to prove his superiority.
- Blackout Basement: The combat sequence where you fight him multiple times has a number of rooms with the lights turned off preventing Yagami from running since he's trying to be careful with his vision so impeded. Yagami has to find the light switch somewhere in the room in order to turn them on. The final fight against the Cane Man takes place in such an unlit room and he'll comment on Yagami turning the lights on.
- Blood Knight: He's rather cheerful and outright excited at times over trying to kill Yagami.
- Cane Fu: Of the having gadgets or weapons hidden in canes variety type of cane fu. Even then he's no slouch when fighting using the cane themselves as weapons before converting them into their weapons.
- Hidden Weapons: When Yagami encounters him once again in the Soleil Building, his first cane is revealed to be hiding a knife.
- Professional Killer: A yakuza hitman by trade, it's not clear if he is part of the Matsugane family or Hamura hired him from another family.
- Heel–Face Turn: According to Tashiro, by the time of Lost Judgment he got out of the assassin business and now works in real estate.
- Light Is Not Good: Has a distinct white Battle Aura at odds with his solely antagonistic role in the game.
- Moveset Clone: All of his cane-based fighting styles come from previous characters in the series:
- When using his signature Sword Cane, he's using Takumi Someya's sword style from Yakuza 6.
- When using his Knife Cane, he uses Homare Nishitani's moveset from Yakuza 0.
- When using his Polearm Cane, he's just using the same moveset as Kiryu in in Kiwami 2 when he gets his hands on long, pole-like weapons and objects
- When using his Cane Shotgun, he's using Andre Richardson's shotgun style from Yakuza 3.
- When using his Cane Batons, he's using a mix of Kiryu and Akiyama's Kali Stick movesets throughout the series.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He's only ever referred to as "Cane Man" by the game's UI. Presumably, his family name is Suzaki like his twin brother Ryo, but he is never referred to as such. Lost Judgment reveals his name to be "Masashi".
- Shotguns Are Just Better: One of his canes converts into some kind of pump-action shotgun. How it works or where the shells are supposed to eject is anyone's guess. Also due to the "Mortal Wounds" feature, his shotgun packs quite the punch.
- Split Personality: Possibly; In Lost Judgment, Tashiro states that he believes Masashi to be a split personality of his "brother" to which Ryo doesn't give a straight answer to.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: Downplayed. If not outright averted. Instead of having one cane that can turn into all sorts of weapons. He has separate canes that convert into specific weapons.
- Sword Cane: He has a katana hidden in one of his canes. But not only that he also has a knife cane, spear cane, shotgun cane, baton canes, tonfa cane and possibly many more.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's never seen again after the fight in the Soleil building, while Hamura's other minions Kengo and Ozaki show up again during the endgame. It's not until the sequel that we ever hear about him again and it's through Tashiro mentioning how he's become an ordinary real estate agent.
Tashiro
Voiced by: Takeru Yagi (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English)
- Butt-Monkey:
- When Tashiro's encountered in a story plot, it ends with him getting beaten up by Yagami. To make things worse, Yagami and Kaito strip him when he's KO'd and use his clothing as a disguise for an infiltration mission.
- Lost Judgment isn't much kinder; while he does get a nice business running the VR parlor in Ijincho, he ends up pissing off a number of side characters because he used their likeness without permission to spice up the game. The encounter ends with him getting beat up and stripped, with his attackers selling his new suit at a pawn shop.
- Tashiro's misfortune continues in The Kaito Files, where it's revealed that he got fired from his job in Lost Judgment and is reduced to working as a bellboy at a venue. When Kaito comes across him, he asks for Tashiro to strip down so that Kaito can use his uniform as a disguise. This results in a fight breaking out which once again, leaves Tashiro beat up and stripped down.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: By the time of Kaito Files he's lost his job in the VR Parlor and is working as a hotel bellboy.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He's technically an antagonist due to working for the increasingly antagonistic Matsugane Family and has to be fought when he refuses to give Yagami his clothes for a disguise. Later on, he can be slowly befriended via constant interactions with him later that have them develop some understated mutual respect over their appreciation of Matsugane. He even briefly teams up with Yagami to help fend off the Keihin Gang. By the time of the sequel he's the proprietor of a VR Parlor and seems to retain a good relationship with Yagami. This all falls apart when a number of side quest characters he previously teamed up with attack him for stealing their likeness for his VR games without their permission. Apparently this incident would lead to him being fired from his job. When he's next seen, he's working as a hotel bellboy and blames Yagami for indirectly getting him fired from his last job. This time, Kaito wants to borrow his clothes, leading to him once again fighting back and having to be beaten down.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: His defining characteristic among his fellow yakuza is his terrible fashion sense, starting with his gold suit. Yagami and Kaito target him specifically because the suit is so loud and obvious no one would bother identifying the person as anyone other than Tashiro.
- Moveset Clone: Of Rikiya from 3.
- Mugged for Disguise: Yagami and Kaito jump him so they can steal his flashy suit for an infiltration mission. Kaito does it once again in The Kaito Files when Tashiro refuses to give Kaito his bellboy uniform willingly.
- Never My Fault: In The Kaito Files, Tashiro blames Yagami for causing him to lose his job due to his involvement being what led Tashiro's higher ups to look into him using the likeness of their rivals. Kaito points out how it's Tashiro's own fault that happened, but Tashiro doesn't want to hear it.
- Slut-Shaming: Downplayed, but he spends his session with Madoka sermoning to her about being a hostess and how the only people she should show her breasts to are the person she loves or her babies.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: After the Mole kills Matsugane and the family is dissolved, he's still representing the clan even after everyone realizes they're utterly done for.
- Tattooed Crook: Averted, as seems to be the norm in the Matsugane Family; he has no tattoo on his back (which we get to see quite often).
- Undying Loyalty: Increasing your friendship with him will reveal how dedicated he is to the Matsugane Family. He'll take a beatdown from a gang of thugs for the sake of the family's name.
Kyorei Clan
Satoshi Shioya
Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)
- Alliterative Name: Satoshi Shioya.
- Badass Boast: Invoked by him when he's taken down initially.Shioya: Yakuza don't fuck around!
- Flunky Boss: He's flanked by his underlings during his boss battles. He also borrows a technique from Masuzoe and revives his fallen goons in battle, even borrowing Masuzoe's animation for it.
- Friendly Enemy: Despite his family and the Matsugane family being at odds, he and the patriarch actually manage to share a casual chat while Yagami is interrogating Hamura. Then again, Hamura was the one who sparked the conflict to begin with.
- It's Personal: He gets utterly pissed when the Matsugane family straps a suicide vest to Murase, killing him and setting his club on fire.
- Killed Offscreen: He's killed by the AD-9 conspiracy, eyes gouged out by the Mole.
- Leitmotif: "The Laff Riot". A loud, bombastic, jazz-influenced tune that suits the somewhat flashy Yakuza Captain.
- Moveset Clone: Can use every attack of Awano from Yakuza 0 who is himself a Moveset Clone of Watase from Yakuza 5 with some unique moves.
- Purple Is Powerful: Has a purple battle aura.
- Torture Technician: Implied. We never see him doing it, but he is very enthusiastic about the prospect of interrogating Yagami and Kaito when he corners them the first time. He later mentions off-hand that he knows where the "tools" are when Yagami has to interrogate a captive Hamura for information.
Akira Murase
Voiced by: Shinya Honda (Japanese), Adam Croasdell (English)
- Bad Boss: Downplayed. Your first real glimpse of the man is while he's in the middle of violently disciplining one of his underlings. This is the only instance of him ever really abusing his own soldiers like that.
- Chairman of the Brawl: Your first fight against him is kicked off by him swinging a metal folding chair at you. He'll always toss said chair at you once his boss intro is over.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Dies with a bomb strapped to his back while desperately running back to his family begging for his Captain's help.
- Flunky Boss: During Yagami's 2nd round against the man, he goes into battle with a whole crew backing him up.
- Honor Before Reason: Murase would rather go after Hamura's faction rather than listen that Kume was killed by someone else, and constantly obstructs Yagami's investigation to ensure Hamura is convicted. It takes Yagami explaining that Hamura was working with the real murderer for Murase to finally let Hamura go.
- Katanas Are Just Better: During the second phase of his first boss fight, he picks up a wooden katana and proves to be a lot more dangerous with it. He later pulls out a real one at the very start his second fight granting him unblockable attacks.
- Leitmotif: "Λ" better known as the Greek letter Lambda... Well kinda a leitmotif. It plays during every fight against him but it also plays during the first fight against the "Cane Man".
- Office Golf: Has an installation in his office that lets him engage in this and you can catch a glimpse of him playing golf while climbing a ladder next to his office window. During your second fight against him, his taunt is to playfully swing his katana like a golf club.
- Purple Is Powerful: Wears purple and is a pretty scrappy fighter though he's not really too dangerous especially compared to some later foes.
- Starter Villain: Murase's effectively the Arc Villain of the first chapter since Yagami's investigation of the murdered Kyorei Clan members initially gets him in some hot water with said yakuza family, especially when he realizes that Yagami started doing so for the sake of defending Hamura of the rival Tojo Clan in court. Despite still appearing in the plot, he stops antagonizing Yagami past the first chapter.
- Sword and Fist: Has a tendency to throw out wild kicks in the midst of katana combos.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Much more hospitable towards Yagami and company after his boss Kajihira hires them. Then again, he does say he was told to do anything they want him to do which Kaito doesn't hesitate to exploit for a free massage.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Whether armed with a katana or not, he fights without much finesse at all to the point where some of his attacks have him just swing his limbs wildly in Yagami's direction. He can still wreck an unskilled player though.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: The fight with Murase is meant to show players that the game now implements the Mortal Wounds status if they're hit with bladed/blunt weapons, pistols or by very strong attacks. Even aside from that, he's got 2 health bars, powerful combos which along with the weapons he uses, make him even more of a major threat this early in the game.
- Weapon Across the Shoulder: Carries his katanas this way in battle.
- Why Am I Ticking?: The Matsugane family force him to wear a suicide bomb vest when they go to rescue Hamura.
Keihin Gang
As a Whole
A notrious gang Yagami regulary deals with. By the sequel, Yagami's actions has made them bankrupt, but Koga has been trying to reorganize them as the Neo Keihin Gang.
- Arms Dealer: What the gang uses to fund itself; it's proven to be so lucrative that even the yakuza are having trouble keeping up. Even in the sequel, Koga still wishes to continue with this, only this time through the Dark Web through Itokura's help.
- Gang of Hats: Each faction can be identified by their physiques as well as their clothes. Kasai's gang are scrawnier and in street clothes. Honda's gang are muscular and in camo and tank tops. Sakakiba's gang are fat and in tracksuits. Koga's gang are all in business suits and the only ones to use guns.
- Moveset Clone: All of the four heads fight almost exactly like certain bosses from previous games.
- Leitmotif: "Encounter - Keihin Alliance" in the first game.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: At first they look like a Quirky Miniboss Squad more than anything and are only good for scaring citizens, but when Koga starts treating Yagami seriously, they start showing much more power and influence than before. The Keihin gang revenge side case is a good example of it. They're no better as the Neo Keihin Gang, either; being responsible for pretty much most of the problems that Yagami investigates during the School Stories.
- Recurring Boss: After each individual member of the Keihin Four are introduced, Yagami can encounter them at specific locations whenever Kim informs him they've shown up in Kamurocho. While they remain a constant in Lost Judgment, the Four actually avert this trope as they're only encountered as bosses in the School Stories.
- Offscreen Villain Dark Matter: The arm dealing explains their funds, but doesn't explain how they can smuggle so many firearms in Japan of all places at affordable price for civilians.
Kenta Kasai
Voiced by: Teppei Akahira (Japanese), Arif S. Kinchen (English)
The first member of the Keihin Gang and the first leader to be encountered by Yagami.
- Alliterative Name: Kenta Kasai.
- Boxing Battler: His fighting style is primarily dirty boxing, going for jabs and longer combos instead of grappling or using weapons.
- Butt-Monkey: Practically becomes this in Lost Judgment. Between being forced to scavenge for pocket change under vending machines like a homeless bum and getting his ass handed to him by a(n admittedly dangerous and batshit crazy) teenager, he just can't seem to catch a break.
- Dumb Muscle: He's not the brightest bulb but he can still give Yagami a hard time.
- Moveset Clone: Of Daisaku Kuze from Yakuza 0.
- Oh, Crap!: During the final School Story, while Kasai and Sakakiba are waiting outside Itokura's mother's hospital room, he's greeted by Ghost and his crew. Considering how Ghost single-handedly kicked his sorry ass in the Made in Heaven side story, him flipping his shit at the sight is not unwarranted.
- Pet the Dog: Sana mentions that not only does he not harass her when she plays on the street but he actually cheers her on with his gang.
Renji Honda
Voiced by: Takayuki Nakatsukasa (Japanese), Vic Chao (English)
The second member of the Keihin Gang, a Blood Knight who joined the gang for a good fight.
- Affably Evil: When he is first introduced to Yagami (Who he knew was an enemy), he showed what a chill guy he is by complimenting his fighting skills and after introducing himself he finishes with "Pleased to meet ya."
- Blood Knight: He only joined the gang to fight strong opponents and he found one in Yagami.
- The Dragon: Koga uses him as his main enforcer. Mainly because Kasai and Sakakiba are just good for troublemaking.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After being defeated in "The Golden Mouse," he knows the gang is beaten and decides to let Koga take a turn with Yagami and his crew.
- Moveset Clone: Of Keiji Shibusawa's final phase from Yakuza 0.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Mr. Shakedowns from Yakuza 0 with how frequently he and the rest of his cohorts pop up. His outfit resembles that Sotenbori Mr. Shakedown, Kenji Oe.
- Worthy Opponent: After being introduced to Yagami, he considers him his rival.
Kaito Sakakiba
Voiced by: Daichi Hayashi (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)
The third member of the Keihin Four, a glutton who cares for nothing but food.
- Big Eater: See his Catchphrase below. When he Turns Red, he'll also down an entire bag of chips before he unleashes his Deadly Attack on Yagami.
- The Brute: Of the Keihin Four his only real use is being the muscle as he is too dumb for anything else.
- Catchphrase: "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
- Dumb Muscle: He's not too bright, only concerned with getting his next meal.
- Fat Bastard: A fat side-boss.
- Mighty Glacier: He's the slowest one of the Keihin Four, but also hits the hardest.
- Moveset Clone: Of the "Hangman" from 6.
- The Nose Knows: During "The Golden Mouse", he's about to sniff Yagami out in Theater Square even in his disguise (be it a homeless bum or a vampire), alerting the gang as well as everyone else hunting for the 10 million yen bounty on him.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: In Lost Judgment, after the fall of the Neo-Keihin Gang, he and Kasai start a new scheme where Sakakiba impersonates Yagami to extort people. While he has the outfit and hair down, he can't hide his obesity. Amusingly, it actually works.
- Stout Strength: Stronger than Honda, but way fatter.
- Villainous Glutton: He likes to eat a lot, and gets rewarded by Kasai with more food every time he wins a brawl.
- Would Hurt a Child: He tries to injure Norizuki during the final portion of the Seiryo Rabbits School Story. Until Yagami promptly intervened, that is.
Matsuhisa Koga
Voiced by: Yuji Murai (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)
The main leader of the Keihin Gang, and the most dangerous of the four.
- Arc Villain: Of the Keihin Gang story in Judgment and the overall School Story plot in Lost Judgment.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He has a nice black 3-piece suit in each appearance.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Pretty much carries himself as this, especially in the sequel.
- Combat Pragmatist: Will toss out grenades mid-combat and resorts to pistols when the going gets rough as opposed to the others who wholly fight with martial arts. The same could be said for his personal henchmen who also often have guns on hand.
- Dark Is Evil: The most nefarious of the group while decked out in black clothes.
- Flunky Boss: His final encounter in Lost Judgment has him with a few of his men at hand, though they're nowhere near as obnoxious as they were in the first game, being no different than the hundreds of faceless goons that Yagami has thrown hands with in his spare time.
- Genius Bruiser: The most intelligent leader of the four and can kick major ass even before he pulls out his guns.
- Guns Akimbo: Wields two pistols during the last phase of his boss fight. Not so much in the sequel, though since the Thief-Bot steals his gun before he can use it.
- Hidden Depths: We learn in the sequel he was a very good swimmer in his youth.
- Humiliation Conga: The end of the the School Stories storyline is a very long one for him. To wit, a high school dance team finds his hideout, Yagami is able to convince Itokura to leave the Neo Keihin Gang, the Robotics Club steal his guns and tase his men, Made in Heaven neutralizes his threats against Itokura's mother, blocks his backup and blocks his escape attempts and he's forced to jump into the sea weakly promising vengeance against Yagami.
- Kick the Dog: He preys on Itokura's insecurities to get them to work with him. He's also quick to coerce The Professor into doing his dirty work by threatening to kill her ill and hospitalized mother, too.
- Knight of Cerebus: Of the Keihin gang story, his introduction is pretty serious and his prank grenade is more worrying than amusing.
- Leitmotif: "Showdown - Keihin Alliance" in the first game. When fought in the sequel, the standard battle theme plays instead.
- Lightning Bruiser: Naturally, being the leader of the Keihin Gang, he has the highest health out of his subordinates and he will reduce your health to zero with a wide assortment of fast attacks and rapid-fire volleys with his pistols if you're too careless in fighting him. He's a bit less dangerous come Lost Judgment, but no less threatening.
- More Dakka: One of his attacks has him unload his pistols onto Yagami in this manner. He can also do this while he's on the floor, too.
- Moveset Clone: Of the Unknown CIA Agent/Andre Richardson from Yakuza 3.
- Not So Stoic: The only time he is at a loss of words is when he sees the gang of idiots Yagami brought with him in the sewer. He also flips his shit when Yagami corners him every step of the way during the School Stories finale by preventing his backup from arriving as well as preventing him from escaping.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After he's cornered and left powerless in the sequel, he promptly jumps into the ocean and swim away, resolving to restart his criminal empire in another country.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: He's the wisest and composed of the four, and he shows it with his cool glasses
- We Will Meet Again: Despite said exit, he swims off telling Yagami this won't be the last time they meet.
- Would Hurt a Child: He threatens to shoot Amasawa if Yagami goes after him.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
Mitsuru Kuroiwa
Voiced by: Shosuke Tanihara (Japanese), Matthew Mercer (English)
An investigator put onto the serial murder case that surrounds the game's plot. He's from the Organized Crime Division.
- By-the-Book Cop: Is one, and is described by his English voice actor as such. His close-to-godliness cleanliness is the main reason he doesn't get along with Ayabe, though considering he's the Mole, Kuroiwa's anything but.
- Famed In-Story: He's considered a rising star in the police department.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Much like Yagami, his appearance is based off his Japanese voice actor.
- Inspector Javert: His main role in the story is to heckle Yagami for Shintani's murder, going so far as to interrupt Yagami's interrogation of Kido to bring him in for questioning.
- Jerkass: He spends most of his time antagonizing Yagami and his friends.
- Kick the Dog: Two cases:
- When he first meets Yagami and Kaito, and explains how he became a department punchline over them freeing Hamura, he brings up the Okubo case, trying to get under Yagami's skin.
- Later, when Shintani is murdered and Ayabe is arrested, he taunts him over defending the guy who supposedly killed his co-worker.
- Older Than They Look: Despite his boyish and put-together appearance, he is at least 40 years old, as he's revealed to have been in the police force for 20 years as of the game's events.
- The Perfectionist: According to Ayabe, he's this, which makes him really difficult to work with. He resents Yagami for clearing Hamura's name, which ruined his otherwise perfect record.
- Pretty Boy: He's a pretty good-looking man and is even described by Ayabe as a handsome bastard.
- The Rival: Is this to Yagami on the investigation side of things. He was the one who identified Hamura as the murderer in the first chapter, and he's not happy that Yagami managed to get Hamura acquitted.
Kazuya Ayabe
Voiced by: Kenichi Takito (Japanese), Matthew Yang King (English)
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When he's framed for Shintani's murder, he desperately begs for Yagami's help over the phone.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He may look like a bum and is a Dirty Cop, he's still a very capable cop. And he's not afraid to threaten Yagami to not let slip his secrets or he'll kill him.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He looks like a bum and being a Dirty Cop does lead to the assumption that he's lazy to some degree. He's actually really good at his job, best shown when he provides information on the Matsugane break-in. The police never even bothered to open a proper investigation, so he had to gather up all the information himself. It's even remarked that his information looks like actual police files. Incidentally, he owns a secret casino staffed by Playboy Bunny girls.
- Dirty Cop: Openly admits to being one, using the bribes from the various criminal gangs and doing some favors in return.
- Frame-Up: Ayabe's been accused for killing Shintani, thanks to the Mole and Hamura.
- Friend on the Force: For the detective agency in looking for info that the police can't or won't openly reveal.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after his Japanese voice actor.
- Knowledge Broker: As stated above, he sells info that the police can't or won't disclose.
- Open Secret: It turns out everyone already knew about his Dirty Cop side-job as well as L'amant. The Conspiracy was just waiting to frame him if necessary.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Although he's proven innocent of Shintani's murder, his fate isn't mentioned nor does he appear in the sequel. Then again, it's possible that while he did not kill Shintani, he's exposed as a Dirty Cop whose been selling police info and running an illegal underground casino, meaning that he can still be charged for those crimes.
Sakuraba
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Ozawa (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)
Kuroiwa's partner. A large and angry looking cop.- Ambiguously Evil: He's an antagonist and continues to work for Kuroiwa even after he's exposed as the Mole, but it's unclear if he is aware or not that he is working for the villains.
- The Brute: Physically intimidating. When walking alongside the fairly tall Kuroiwa, he has at least two heads over him. The villainous aspect of this trope comes into play when he continues to give Kuroiwa support after The Reveal.
- Lightning Bruiser: He is fast, fairly durable, and can do a lot of damaging attacks during his boss fight.
- Moveset Clone: Of Shibusawa's first phase from Yakuza 0.
- The Quiet One: Lets Kuroiwa do the talking.
- Vomiting Cop: Downplayed, but he has to restrain himself from throwing up when he sees one of the Mole's victims. Ironic considering that his partner is the Mole.
Kamurocho Burglary Ring
Crow
The leader behind the burglary ring. He worked with Jester and has been looking after him after their previous job went sour. As Yagami looks for Jester, however, he begins to learn some disturbing information.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He doesn't admit it until after his boss fight, but despite what he thinks about Jester, he does see him as a good friend and asks Yagami to tell him to slow down from his vigilante actions before he burns himself out.
- Expy: Of Goro Akechi from Persona 5.
- Graceful Loser: After Yagami kicks the shit out of him and tells him to disband, he does so without argument, though not before asking Yagami to look for Jester and tell him to slow down out of concern for his former friend.
- Hypocrite: When Yagami first meets Crow, he says that their burglary ring only steals from the corrupt and are a righteous group. He even preaches this to the new members. When Yagami overhears two members talking about Crow, however, the man doesn't actually do what he says and once took a job from a corporate executive to sabotage the competition for big money. As evidence, most of the members of the burglary ring wear some pretty expensive clothes and accessories. This was what ultimately led to Jester cutting ties with the group.
- Moveset Clone: Of Shibusawa's first phase from Yakuza 0.
Advanced Drug Development Center
Toru Hashiki
- Asshole Victim: He sabotaged a medical center so his real boss could get the land. His murder still covers a worse conspiracy.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He was in Kajihira's payroll, deliberately undermining the ADDC on Kajihira's orders.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The police concluded he died a few weeks after being injured in a brawl. The Mole made sure the death was delayed so the police don't look too much into it.
- The Mole: Kajihira hired him to sabotage the center so it was doomed to close, he also tried leaking anything that could make AD-9 look bad.
- Posthumous Character: All of his appearances alive are in flashbacks.
- You Are Already Dead: He survived the beating but the Mole left him in a condition so severe he could only die from his wounds later.
Hashimoto
Voiced by: Momoko Taneichi (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English)
A female doctor at the ADDC.- Spanner in the Works: The first time Yagami needs to go meet Shono his whole infiltration plan is cut short by her innocently asking if she can guide him since she has to go to the same wing anyway.
- Token Good Teammate: Is much nicer than her co-workers, not that that's saying much.
Kaoru Ichinose
Voiced by: Takaya Hashi (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)
- Bad Boss: Doesn't hesitate to off his own subordinates should they attempt to turn against him. Kido was so afraid of what Ichinose would do to him that Yagami exposing his sexual offences was the better alternative.
- Big Bad: Shono may be the one responsible for the murders, but it's Ichinose's bankrolling of AD-9 that pushes everyone else in the ADDC to comply with Shono's demands. Shono probably wouldn't have gotten far if it wasn't for his support.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Ichinose becomes a separate antagonist from Kuroiwa in the finale, when the former orders the latter’s death, while Kuroiwa attempts to kidnap Ichinose’s chief researcher, Shono, for his own agenda.
- Corrupt Politician: He abused taxpayer dollars to build the ADDC, which is nothing more than a glorified vacation spot for retired executives in the Ministry of Health, allowing Ichinose to climb the ranks. Ichinose's desire to keep the ADDC (his seat of power) relevant is what drives the plot.
- Hate Sink: He's smarmy, domineering, self-important, and completely uncooperative from the word go. And he gets a lot worse after The Reveal. Unlike the other people involved, who were either pressured into it or had well-intentioned motives at the start, he's only interested in the profit and fame AD-9 can bring.
- Humiliation Conga: He gets played for a chump by Izumida at Ayabe's trial, and starts losing it once his fellow conspirators turn against him.
- Manipulative Bastard: Exploits Morita's family tragedy to get him on their side.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sends out security guards led by Mashiko out to brutally rough up Yagami and Sugiura while they're making their exit. They beat him and his men up and then proceed to steal their clothes to sneak in disguised as guards.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He bankrolls the AD-9 project not because he wants to cure Alzheimer's but to keep the ADDC relevant.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Once Hamura testifies against Ichinose in the court, he attempts to use his connection to kill the Mole so the case goes moot. While this isn't nice by any means, it couldn't have happened to a worse person.
- Sleazy Politician: He's not only corrupt but a smug prick who believes himself to be above everyone, even members of the law.
- Smug Snake: From the moment he appears on screen, his every word just oozes self-importance.
- Unwitting Pawn: Too self-absorbed in the promise of power and the like to question if Shono can actually cure Alzheimer's disease despite repeated failures and the clearly unsafe and insane methods, he just enables Shono's delusions for nothing.
- Villainous Breakdown: As Ayabe's trial goes on with him on the stand, he starts to lose it, even denying that there is evidence of anything the ADDC had done in spite of Yagami spelling that evidence out in full.Ichinose: Enough of this nonsense! Human experimentation!? Don't be ridiculous! What kind of trial is being run here? How can he say whatever he wants without a piece of evidence? Why doesn't the prosecution stop him!?
- You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness: Has his subordinate order the death of the Mole to keep him from being used against him in court.
Ishimatsu
Voiced by: Mitsuru Ogata (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)
Ichinose's subordinate and his middleman.- Dissonant Serenity: Calmly smiles as he requests kidnappings and assassinations.
- The Dragon: To Ichinose.
- The Fixer: He's a government hatchetman who organizes the crooked deals his superiors can't.
- Forehead of Doom: He has a rather tall forehead.
- Gonk: Looks like the love child of Katsuragi and Areshi.
- Mouth of Sauron: He's Ichinose's middleman as well as Shono's. If the Mole has to make a hit, he's the one who gives the order.
- Nerves of Steel: He was surprisingly collected when Hamura threatened him with a gun to his forehead.
- Non-Standard Character Design: His face has unnervingly cartoonish proportions with tiny narrow eyes, wide mouth, and large ears, which makes him stand out in a series full of otherwise realistic characters.
- Properly Paranoid: By far one of the more frustrating suspects to tail, as he takes a pointlessly circuitous route to his destination with random detours that leave little cover to hide behind, while constantly stopping to look over his shoulder and even occasionally doubling back after rounding a corner to make sure he's not being followed (which of course, he is).
- Red Right Hand: His gigantic ears.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Reported to be seen in a suit and tie with black gloves.
Ryusuke Kido
Voiced by: Hiroshi Shirokuma (Japanese), Andrew Morgado (English)
- Accomplice by Inaction: What his role in the conspiracy boiled down to over time. He initially was a bit more proactive in covering things up back when it was just Shono's desparate double murder to make disappear. But when Shono and Ichinose started scheming to continue kidnapping people as human test subjects for the lethal drug, Kido was shunted into a figurehead. In the present, he admits that the only thing he is good for is smiling for the donors, receiving the funding and doling it out to the project - and that otherwise he prefers to avoid both Shono and Ichinose, whose actions horrify him.
- Butt-Monkey: He goes through a lot of humiliation throughout the game. He first gets pressured into supporting Shono's experiments as revealing AD-9's failure to public would destroy both of their careers, is later kidnapped by Yagami and co. and forced to strip and reveal everything he knows about AD-9, and ultimately ends up admitting his own part in Shono's illegal experiments in court.
- Dirty Old Man: Yagami and his friends spring a Honey Trap to lure him out and blackmail him into revealing the truth behind Shono's experiments by having Saori try to seduce him. From the female receptionist's exasperated reaction when he approaches Saori, it seems like this wasn't the first time.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Kido had a few sex scandals under his belt and covered Shono's experiments but he never wanted any of the murder to happen and was blackmailed into obeying Shono. Once Shono confirms that it is impossible to remove the toxins from AD-9 and everything they had done was All for Nothing, Kido finally decides he's had enough and agrees to testify against the ADDC.
- The Face: While Shono is the one doing the legwork for AD-9, Kido is the public face of the project due to his high position in the ADDC. Without his approval, it would not have taken off the ground.
- Forced into Evil: Shono gets him to cover up his experiments by threatening to ruin both their reputations. In the present, he's clearly angry that he allowed himself to give into Shono's demands, but sees no hope of extricating himself without solid proof that it would work.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: While he is responsible for covering up Shono's illegal experiments, he is pressured into villainy by Shono (his initial reaction upon hearing AD-9's failure from Shono is to say he will resign before Shono threatens him with his career) and is shown to be so pathetic with lots of bad things happening to him throughout the game that he can come across as this.
- Red Herring: He's this for Shono. Until Yagami and Kaito learned the truth they thought he was behind the Mole Murders.
- You're Insane!: Says this when Shono makes it clear he's going to blackmail him into helping.Kido: Shono...You're mad.
- Zero-Effort Boss: Compared to every other story boss in the game, Kido has much less health than even the goons he's fighting with. Justified since he is a civilian with no fighting experience going up against four experienced fighters at once.
Mashiko
Voiced by: Hiroki Eto (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)
An ADDC security guard.- The Brute: He's seen as the ADDC's private security enforcer when Yagami and Sugiura investigate the ADDC and functions as their most consistent obstacle whenever they attempt to enter the ADDC.
- Flunky Boss: Is always flanked by other guards during his battles.
- Moveset Clone: Of Daisaku Kuze's pipe moveset from the sewer fight in Yakuza 0
- Shock and Awe: Uses an electric shock baton.
Bar Tender
Jo Masuda
Voiced by: Kosuke Goto (Japanese), Dave B. Mitchell (English), Jamieson Price (English, Lost Judgment)
Bartender and owner of said bar. Helped Yagami on his feet when he arrived in Kamurocho as a teen to get away from the publicity of his parents' deaths due to his Dark and Troubled Past.- Punny Name: His name sounds just like "Master", which is the Japanese term for bartenders.
- Quest Giver: Masuda gives Yagami cases to look at from time to time.
Mari
Voiced by: Mayu Motoori (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English)
- Ascended Extra: Gets a slightly bigger role in Lost Judgment in helping Saori track down RK thugs and a small amount of Ship Tease with Higashi.
- A Day in the Limelight: Mostly in Lost Judgment, where she joins Saori out on a night in the town looking for some RK goons to chat with.
- The Gambler: Her true occupation. She is really good at it too.
- Vague Age: Like the heavy make-up lady in "Lost Paradise", some conversation hints she is way older than she looks. For one, she met Yagami when he was working at Tender, and Yagami worked there in his teens.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: None of the patrons at Tender knows her job, except Yagami who manages to follow her to the illegal casino. All they know is that she is rich and dresses inappropriately for most jobs.
Civilians
Ko Hattori
Voiced by: Tetsu Shiratori (Japanese), Sunil Malhotra (English)
- The Cameo: Shows up in the final chapter of Lost Judgment during Ehara's final court trial.
- Hate Sink: He's a complete slimeball who smugly rubs in Yagami's face about Okubo's supposed murder of his girlfriend. Even when he has information that may prove useful, Yagami hates his guts so much that he initially refuses to see Hattori even when he has some useful evidence about AD9.
- Hidden Depths: While he initially appears as nothing more than a sleazy journalist, there is more to him than meets the eye:
- He's shown to be extremely knowledgeable about the effects of Alzheimer's Disease and how AD9 works, whereas Hoshino and the others struggle to make sense of the AD9 research papers.
- He admits that he's subconsciously fearful of the prospect of getting dementia himself, which explains his aforementioned knowledge of AD9.
- Intrepid Reporter: His hounding of Yagami eventually leads him to the mystery murders surrounding Kamurocho. Despite his sleaziness, he's actually a damn good journalist. He's the first person to find out just why the Kyorei are in Kamurocho and he's versed enough in medical jargon to help Yagami understand the AD9 studies.
- Jerkass: The guy is sleazy, smug prick. And he never apologizes about it.
- Kick the Dog:
- Like Hamura, he likes to rub salt in Yagami's wound. He was the one who published the story that led to Yagami being ostracized by his fellow lawyers after Okubo killed again not long after his release. When they meet again after Hamura's trial and figures out that he was one of the reasons why Hamura was made a free man, he brings up his past failure and that the parents of Emi, Okubo's deceased girlfriend, are still grieving.
- He sets up Mafuyu to be kidnapped by the Kyorei clan and doesn't even try to apologize about it.
- Mr. Exposition: His knowledge of medical jargon allows him to provide a lengthy Info Dump to Yagami on the particulars of Alzheimer's Disease and clinical trials.
- Punch-Clock Hero: He helps Yagami uncover the truth, but it's mostly because Kajihira is paying him to do so.
Uzawa
Voiced by: Yasuyuki Sano (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English)
The subject of the prologue case Yagami takes. A detective that tries to repay his debts to the Matsugane by betting on horses, hence he is given the initial title of Horseplayer Detective. Later, he's found to be the detective Mafuyu uses to uncover Morita's background.- Chekhov's Gunman: He's the detective Mafuyu uses to uncover why Morita is caught up in the mess.
- The Gambling Addict: Is one, and he doesn't let up even after Yagami gets his money.
Shinpei Okubo
Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English)
At the start of the game, Okubo is on death row awaiting his execution.
- Cassandra Truth: He insists he was completely innocent of the two murders, but no one believes him because of his criminal record.
- Death Row: Was convicted for the supposed murder of his girlfriend. By the time the game's events begin, he only has several days left before he is executed. Yagami eventually manages to prove that Emi's death wasn't his fault, and a trial to formalize his exoneration is set in stone when the main plot ends.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Fearing no one would believe him because of his criminal record he buried Waku's body in the mountains. That really didn't help his case.
- Informed Flaw: Supposedly, he has quite the violent temper, but we never see it for ourselves. Then again, Izumida was the one characterizing him, and he has demonstrated that he's willing to cast anyone in a negative light to get a guilty verdict. He does have a record for breaking his ex girlfriend's finger while drunk but he deeply regrets it and never touched a drink ever since.
- It's All My Fault: Despite saying he is innocent, he still blames himself over what happened to Emi and Yagami. His logic being that his attempt at a disposing of Waku's body despite not having killed him instead of just reporting it to the police lead to the Disaster Dominoes.
- Off on a Technicality: Yagami got him off his first murder charge thanks to one of those and Emi's outburst at court. By destroying Shono's testimony Yagami could prove the time window for the murder is bigger than the one that makes Okubo the killer without a doubt. However his criminal record, lack of alibi, potential motive and his attempt at disposing of the body made him guilty in the eyes of the public.
- Reformed, but Rejected: He has a criminal record, something that was brought up in both his court cases to point to him as the murderer.
- The Scapegoat: Shono uses him to take the fall for the deaths of Emi-chan and Waku-san.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His arrest led Yagami to resign from the law firm and eventually investigate it after a murder case he's working with Kaito has some ties to his arrest.
- Tears of Joy: He breaks down into happy tears when Yagami tells Okubo that he believes Okubo didn't kill Emi.
Emi Terasawa
Voiced by: Eri Goda (Japanese), Amy Walker (English)
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted. Even though Okubo has a criminal record, Emi firmly believed Okubo was a kind and gentle man at heart.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Was one of the few people to vouch for Okubo's innocence without any hesitation. Okubo then apparently murdered her. Turns out she was correct in believing Okubo's innocence, though she was off-base with her assessment of Shono. Then again, Shono doesn't exactly look like a murderer.
- Kill the Cutie: Shono murdered her in her home to prevent a re-investigation into Waku-san's death.
- Posthumous Character: She's been dead for three years, but her importance to the plot cannot be overstated.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Makoto Makimura, and to some extent, Wen Hai Lee from Yakuza 0. Both have very similar hairstyles and similar attire.
Shigeru Kajihira
Voiced by: Haruhiko Jo (Japanese), Ed O'Ross (English)
- Affably Evil: He may have the mentality of a Yakuza but he's nothing but proper and polite.
- All for Nothing: Before the story he tried to buy up the land the Medical Institute (And thus the ADDC included) so that he could redevelop the area into a Kamurocho expansion. This all came undone when AD-9 was announced. And given that he is being investigated in the epilogue, it's likely he'll be in jail by the time the land is up for sale again.Kajihira: Now I'm 100 billion yen in the red.Kaito: That's a lot of money!
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He seeks to expose the conspiracy at the ADDC to protect his own shady investments. In the ending, Genda mentions that Yagami exposing the conspiracy has led the government to begin an investigation into Kajihira and Kazami's dealings that will likely send both men to jail.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's funding a yakuza clan, after all, though in a odd twist, once he's met, he makes sure that the Kyorei clan assists Yagami and co. in their investigation.
- Evil Cripple: A wheelchair user who sponsors a yakuza clan.
- The Man Behind the Man: The secret master behind the Kyorei clan's activity in Kamurocho.
- Pet the Dog: While greed is his primary motivation he wishes Yagami could uncover the truth if not for his land development scheme to work at least to give Hashiki proper respect.
- Off Screen Villain Dark Matter: His presence subverts this for the Kyorei clan. The Kyorei are too small to venture that far from Kansai on their own, but thanks to Kajihira's financial support, they can build themselves in Tojo territory with only the Matsugane family bothering them.
Kim
Voiced by: Takuro Kitagawa (Japanese), James Hong (English)
The owner of the restaurant Beef Zone. He has been receiving trouble from the Keihin Gang.- Distressed Dude: In the first game, Yagami constantly has to save him from the Keihin Gang.
- Guilt-Based Gaming: The penalty, such that it is, for ignoring the Keihin Gang arrivals is a rather passive-aggressive text from Kim.
- Hidden Depths: In Lost Judgment, he joins the motorcycle gang Made In Heaven and becomes one of their top members. Yagami notes that Kim acts like an entirely different person once he's behind the wheel.
Koichi Waku
- Posthumous Character: He's been dead for three years by the time the game begins.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Based on the descriptions of him, he was like this when alive; most likely due to his dementia.
- Small Role, Big Impact: All of Waku's appearances while alive are only in flashbacks, but he's still significantly important to the plot as a whole.
- Younger Than They Look: Downplayed; Waku is 66-years-old at the time of his death, but he looks far older as a result of his dementia.
Girlfriends
Tsumugi Amane
Voiced by: Izumi Kitta (Japanese), Carrie Keranen (English)
- Brutal Honesty: She's very blunt about her predictions of calamity, which causes a lot of people to believe that she's trying to threaten them instead of saving their lives.
- The Cassandra: Her predictions are always spot on, yet almost everyone writes her off as a doomsayer or a scam artist.
- Ms. Fanservice: An informed version. She states that she's a nude model for painting on the side, and is heavy requested by art students due to her "voluptuous figure". She does look quite gorgeous in a dress though.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: She sheds her fortune teller outfit in favor of a purple low-cut dress during one of her dates with Yagami, and her beauty shines through.
Nanami Matsuoka
Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese), Natasha Loring (English)
A workaholic that Yagami saves from a stalker.
- Boyfriend Bluff: Invoked. The first time Yagami meets her, she's being harassed by a stalker. Matsuoka quickly claims that he's her boyfriend to try and get rid of the stalker.
- Curtains Match the Windows: She has brown hair and brown eyes to match.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: Her previous boyfriend cheated on her, leaving her heartbroken and deterred from pursuing any future relationships.
- Married to the Job: She claims that she won't date Yagami because she's too busy with work. It turns out that she actually just lost interest in romance after a previous boyfriend cheated on her.
- Never Be Hurt Again: She swore off romance after a boyfriend that she was in love with cheated on her. Yagami can restore her faith in love once more. And yes, Yagami can cheat on her without consequence.
- Never Gets Drunk: Downplayed; she has built up a high tolerance to alcohol due to the many company parties she attends.
- Workaholic: She works so much she hardly has time to do anything but sleep, even on the weekends. Taken even further as one date involves her working a case with Yagami.
Sana Mihama
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (Japanese), Elise Napier (English)
A young street musician looking for her big break.
- Age-Gap Romance: With Yagami. She's nineteen and he's thirty-five.
- Attempted Rape: Preyed upon by a "producer" who promises stardom while plotting to force her into pornography. She's eventually forced into his office where she's about to be molested by several men against her will, but Yagami arrives in time to stop them.
- Contractual Purity: An in-universe example. A major obstacle during her romance is that her contract with her record label forbids her from being in a relationship until she's twenty-seven because female singers are more marketable when they're single. She manages to convince the label to make an exception with a song about her unrequited love.
Tsukino Saotome
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese), Julie Nathanson (English)
A college student who is targeted by the pervert gang Twisted Trio.
- Age-Gap Romance: Same as with Sana. She’s 20 in the first game and 23 in the second. Yagami even wonders if their 15 year age gap was the reason they became distant in-between games.
- Arranged Marriage: She's been betrothed to a childhood friend of hers since she was very young. Complicating matters is that his family can financially ruin hers if she breaks the betrothal.
- The Bus Came Back: She is back as an additional girlfriend as DLC for Lost Judgment.
- Butt-Monkey: She manages to wind up the target of nearly every pervert in Kamurocho. She isn’t any better in the sequel where the perverts kidnap her and try to make her their queen.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Her hair and eyes are both noted as black.
- Dude Magnet: Apart from the perverts who target her in both games at least one Seiryo High student is shown to have a crush on her in the sequel. And of course Yagami comments on her looks regardless if she’s romanced or not.
- Half-Identical Twins: Her twin brother Yosuke looks just like her with shorter hair.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After hearing the news about the perverts who tormented her back in the previous game escaping from prison, she loses everything about her encounters with them, even Yagami himself! Although, luckily enough she does end up regaining her memories after seeing Yagami again in the Filthy Four's secret base
- Long-Distance Relationship: Had one with Yagami in the three years between the first and second game. However, their distance and conflicting schedules caused the two to become distant and lose touch with one another.
- Likes Older Men: The only person she shows attraction to is Yagami, who’s 15 years her senior. In an inverted example she’s also the target of the Twisted Trio and their leader Giant Impact, who are all much older.
- Official Couple: With Yagami if his dialogue in Lost Judgement is any indication. Their dates are framed more as two exes who aren’t sure where their relationship stands. Yagami even shows surprising insecurity when Tsukino denies them being a couple to a group of Seiryo students.
Allies
Ryan Acosta
Voiced by: Naoto Takeda (Japanese), Griffin Puatu (English, Kaito Files only)
A foreigner training to be a ninja. If Yagami makes friends with him, he sometimes helps out in fights by using his ninja skills and his ninjato.- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Runs around in Highly-Visible Ninja attire all the time and thinks he's a shonen anime protagonist. Regardless, he is actually a very competent martial artist and athlete, and a lot stealthier than anybody dressed like him has any right to be.
- Chaste Hero: Believes himself to be so, and thinks of his grandma naked to repel impure thoughts. It makes him a perfect customer for Madoka as he won't make a move on her, and he likes to talk without the person he's talking to replying.
- However, Ryan reaches his limit in the "Dueling Dojos" side case in Lost Judgment. He's furious when he finds out that a rival McNinja has been poaching the students from his dojo thanks to Sofiya Kalashnikov's presence, but this only lasts until the minute he actually sees Sofiya's "Essence of Sexy Cosplay" and succumbs to her charms as well.
- Chuunibyou: His "anime bullshit" aggravates Yagami to no end.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: He can be seen casually walking around town after recruiting him, especially in broad daylight. It gets subverted during the finale of "The Golden Mouse" when his own outfit blends in quite well to the Kamurocho sewers.
- McNinja: A foreigner who's in Japan to train in the ninja arts.
- Reverse Grip: He holds his ninjato in this manner.
- Shout-Out: Ryan borrows a certain, orange-clad ninja's catchphrase.
- Ryan: Believe it!
- Stuff Blowing Up: Despite all his bravado about ninja arts and his shuriken skills, his primary fighting style? Throwing homemade pipe bombs at his enemies.
Kenji Tanago
The latest in the line of Mr. Try and Hit Me's. He occasionally helps Yagami out in fights if Yagami succeeds in hitting him.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: He becomes Yagami's friend if Yagami manages to hit him twice.
- Flat Character: He challenges people to try and hit him... and that's about it. Lampshared in Lost Judgment, where Yagami, Tashiro, and even Tanago himself struggle to find any depths to him.
- Fragile Speedster: His fighting style is identical to that of evasive generic mooks, constant side stepping to avoid hits while occasionally stepping in for a quick swing before retreating back to a safer distance to continue side stepping.
- The Generic Guy: He doesn't look or dress that much different than the average resident of Kamurocho. In his one scene in Lost Judgment, Tanago considers wearing Tashiro's gold jacket to make himself standout more.
- Legacy Character: He is not the same "Mr. Try and Hit Me" from previous games in the Yakuza series whose name was revealed to be Iida. Rather, he was trained by him before inheriting the title.
Ryo Suzaki
A self-titled 'free spirit'; by that, he means he consumes spirits freely. He's also the older twin brother of a mini-boss, the Cane Man, and is available shortly after fighting the latter in the Soleil building. He's usually found in the Earth Angel bar.
- Always Identical Twins: It trips Yagami up at first, as they even dress the same. Ryo doesn't take it too personally.
- The Alcoholic: His primary raison d'être; progressing his friendship requires Yagami to outdrink him, which is done by investing in the Borderline Alcoholic skill.
- Big Brother Worship: His brother looks up to him, and has also been trying to one-up him since they were kids. Ryo notes that his younger brother's choice of clothing is likely another one of his attempts at such.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Granted, he is likely drunk off his ass, but his prose tends to be a bit strange. He also fondly remembers how he and his brother used to fight for their mother's milk when sent to Madoka.
- Conspicuous Gloves: Wears leather gloves just like his brother while lacking the excuse of being an assassin who specializes in various cane-based weapons. One has to wonder how those gloves benefit his alcoholic lifestyle.
- Drunken Master: He's a damn good fighter for a guy who spends all day drinking booze. His laidback, flowing, graceful techniques also lend itself somewhat to his drunken personality.
- Evil Twin: What the Cane Man is to Ryo; while the latter sticks to legal pursuits (such as drinking himself 'til sundown), the Cane Man prefers to operate as an assassin.
- Lazy Bum: He is proud of being an unemployed drunk.
- Moveset Clone: Uses most of the attacks of Homare Nishitani from 0.
- Split Personality: Possibly. Tashiro notes in the sequel that neither he and his brother are ever in the same place and recalls one time when Ryo spilled ramen on his suit only for the same stain to show up on his brother. Whether it’s true or not is ambiguous since Ryo refuses to give a definitive answer.
Yosuke Saotome
A cabaret club barker who hires Yagami to protect his twin sister Tsukino from the pervert gang known as the Twisted Trio.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Yosuke cheats on his girlfriend, makes weirdly suggestive comments about his sister and Yagami, and shows occasional sympathy for the Twisted Trio. However, he also asks Yagami to help Madoka, a childhood friend of his, pay off her debts so she can quit a sex work job that she's uncomfortable in. Yosuke also requests that Yagami not let Madoka know that Yosuke is helping her, because he just wants to help his friend and doesn't want a reward for doing so.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: While he's nowhere near malicious, the big running gag with him is a variation on this. The joke being that while he's college aged he looks like a precocious young teen and is almost identical in appearance to his demure, innocent twin sister, he's actually extremely skeevy to an awkward degree and has almost no filter. This gets even more exaggerated in his Friend subplot, where he turns out to have a job as a barker that involves him - again, looking like a precocious kid - shouting as many ridiculous synonyms for "boobs" as he can think of at passerby.
- Double Standard: Whilst his sister's suffering at the hands of the Twisted Trio is taken (mostly) seriously, his groping by Ass Catchem is mostly played for laughs. Yagami though is somewhat sympathetic to his plight.
- Half-Identical Twins: He looks like his twin sister Tsukino with shorter hair. This bites him in the ass when Ass Catchem gropes him believing him to be Tsukino with a short haircut.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: Ends up being a victim of two of the Twisted Trio almost as much as his sister, being groped by Ass Catchem and getting photographed by Judge Creep 'n Peep. But considering his perverted ways and that he was cheating on his girlfriend in the case of Judge Creep 'n Peep, it's pretty well-deserved.
- Shipper on Deck: He's the one who suggests that Yagami date Tsukino.
Yoshida
The manager of Yoshida Batting Center.
- Harder Than Hard: After Yagami has cleared all the batting challenges, he gives him two new ones that are meant to be this to the common man.
Iyama
An elderly hermit living in the Dragon Palace that makes extracts, which are basically potions that give people superhuman like abilities. He reappears in the sequel, having moved to Ijinco to learn more about his family.
The Twisted Trio / The Filthy Four
General
A trio (later quartet) of perverts plaguing Kamurocho, who end up in Yagami's crosshairs due to their continued harassment of Tsukino Saotome, leading to her and her brother hiring the PI to deal with them.
- Card-Carrying Villain: They are fully aware of their reputations, and flaunt it proudly.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Assuming they're being serious, they seem to view killing Yagami as perfectly justifiable for getting in the way of their perverted antics.
- Power Perversion Potential: These guys have otherwise impressive skills, that they use for their perverted pursuits.
- Professor Panty is evidentially a skilled drone pilot, considering the precision with it that he'd need to steal panties off the washing line.
- Ass Catchem is an expert in physical health and a former track star, but he uses the former as an excuse to feel up woman and tell them what sports to play, and the latter to run when the authorities pursue him.
- Judge Creep 'n Peep can crawl on the walls as if he's Spider-Man. Evidently, a superhero career didn't cross his mind.
- Refuge in Audacity: Deciding the remember their Side Case in Lost Judgment reveals that when they were brought to trial, they made an absolute mess of it with their perverted habits even if they didn't outright admit to their crimes. This includes Professor Panty sniffing a pair while on the witness stand, Ass Catchem giving his testimony shirtless, Judge Creep n' Peep commandeering the Judge's seat, and Giant Impact flashing his defense attorney.
- Supervillain: Made into a parody of this in the sequel, where instead of being simply a disparate bunch of unconnected and mostly normal perverts with their own quirks, they enter a Villain Team-Up sparked by a daring escape from a Cardboard Prison, and attack Kamurocho with a legion of cult-like pervert minions with the over the top goal of seizing control of the city to make it into a "Kingdom for Perverts." The less out-there members like Ass Catchem and Professor Panty get mooks or dramatic scenes to make them even crazier or more outlanding, and they even pull a classic Do Not Adjust Your Set declaration of intent towards the end of their storyline.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: The guys were always sexual deviants who partially got off on how uncomfortable their actions made innocent women and tried to murder Yagami when he got in their way, but their return in Lost Judgment sees them upgrade to inciting criminal acts like theirs, trying to turn Kamurocho into a cesspool for sexual deviants with very little standards of who they accept, and full-blown kidnapping when they abduct Tsukino to serve as Giant Impact's "Queen".
- Took a Level in Badass: Zig-Zagged. They picked up new skills in prison that aided in their escape, such as Ass Catchem's penchant for disguises and Judge Creep n' Peeps camo and gliding suit. However, their substory concludes with Yagami taking all four of them on at once and defeating them with greater ease compared to last time.
Professor Panty
Voiced by: Ryokucha Ito (Japanese)
An underwear thief who uses a drone to grab panties off the washing line.- Defiant to the End: When Yagami tracks him down, he's very non-plussed about having been caught, even offering Yagami to "partake in the banquet" with him. Then when Yagami reveals that he planted the panties to track him down, he fights back (with a strange Power-Up), and even when he loses, he taunts Yagami that the others "still stand erect". If nothing else, Yagami at least respects him for this, considering his dressing down of his supposed successor in Lost Judgment.
- Fragile Speedster: Has wicked fast attacks but goes down quicker than his fellow perverts.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Yagami uses his obsession against him by putting a GPS tracker in a pair of decoy panties, allowing him to track him down while he's "partaking in the feast."
- It Has Only Just Begun: Has this to say when Yagami defeats him and he's arrested.Professor Panty: I may have fallen limp... but the others still stand erect! They shall ensure that you meet your end!
- Legacy Character: In Lost Judgment, Yagami encounters one of the Professor in the form of Arachnid Man, who makes his M.O climbing up buildings to steal woman's underwear off the clothes line, with the full intention of becoming the next Professor Panty. Yagami, who encounters him during the Side Case introducing the Chatter Search, is less than impressed, in part because the original Professor was at least Defiant to the End while the new guy tried desperately to cover up his crime until Yagami exposed him.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: To fit his Professor motif, he wears one of these, with glasses to boot.
- Moveset Clone: Of Shibusawa's first phase in 0.
- Panty Thief: Basically his entire thing, but his methods are certainly more on the creative side than most instances of this trope.
- Power-Up: He gets one from, of all things, sniffing the panties he stole from a famous celebrity.
- Red Baron: Along with Panty Professor, he's also been called "Skivvies Scholar" and "Lingerie Literati".
- Start of Darkness: Lost Judgment reveals that he was once an academic investigating the human sense of smell. One time he was asked to help investigate a string of panty thefts but found something awaken in him upon sniffing the panties of a celebrity victim in the process.
- Warm-Up Boss: Ass Catchem tries claiming he was the weak link of the trio and that he should have felt luck that he and Judge Creep 'n Peep even let him join. Yagami is skeptical considering the Professor's expert drone handling.
Ass Catchem
Voiced by: Kokei Yamazaki (Japanese)
A former track runner and serial groper, whose M.O is telling his victims what sport they should play based on their ass.- Battle Strip: Before fighting Yagami, he takes his shirt off not unlike the protagonists of the main games.
- Boxing Battler: Appears to utilise a boxing style.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: As Catchem notes when Yagami catches him, no one has ever caught up to him before.
- Despair Event Horizon: Suffers one when Yagami reveals that instead of Tsukino, he actually groped her twin brother Yosuke.
- Master of Disguise: During his time in prison, he gained a penchent for disguises, which helped the group escape. When Yagami encounters him, he's wearing a Kamulop costume to discreetly grope a woman with Hartman Hips.
- Moveset Clone: Of Daisuke Kuze from 0.
- One-Winged Angel: Subverted. After Yagami beats him, he tries doing this. But the moment Yagami reveals that he actually groped a guy, he loses the will to fight.
- Shout-Out: Just look at the name and tell me you didn't think of Pokémon.
- Villainous Breakdown: Suffers one when Yagami reveals that he groped Yosuke instead of Tsukino, and has a Freak Out when Yagami says the only ass he'll be surrounded by in the future will be that of male prisoners.Ass Catchem: W-What!? That means… I got hard… off a guy?
Judge Creep 'n Peep
Voiced by: Naoto Takeda (Japanese)
A man who peeps on couples in love hotels and determines whether the occupants are innocent or guilty based on what he sees, uploading pictures of the guilty on the internet.- Even Evil Has Standards: Zig-Zagged. He's a shameless peeping tom and has no issue with working with the rest of the trio, but the nature of his crimes and Yagami's second encounter with him in Lost Judgment suggests that he mainly dishes out "guilty verdicts" to people with... out there kinks and bedroom habits, and he does declare at least one couple innocent and wholesome, leaving them be. Plus, there's the implication that he declared Yosuke "guilty" because he was cheating on his girlfriend.
- Freudian Excuse: Lost Judgment reveals that he was once an aspiring lawyer whose dreams were shattered after failing the bar exam. Combined with his study of sex-based cases, he became disillusioned of sex's role in society, motivating his crimes.
- Holier Than Thou: As Yosuke points out, he believes he has the right to spy on what should be private moments between couples and responds to people he deems "guilty" by uploading videos of them having sex online.
- Out of Focus: Of the Twisted Trio and G.I, he receives the least focus.
- Moveset Clone: Of Daigo Dojima's moveset from 4 onwards.
- The Peeping Tom: Spies on couples being intimate in love hotels.
- Villain Has a Point: He has no right for what he does, but it appears that some of the people he deems guilty, such as Yosuke, are actually adulterers who cheat on their spouses.
- Wall Crawling: He's capable of this, to help in his peeping. The only way Yagami can deal with him is by shooting him down with his drone.
Giant Impact
A mysterious fourth pervert who shows up after the initial three are apprehended, an exhibitionist whose MO is stripping in front of female targets to show off his Gag Penis.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Yosuke expresses pity for him upon hearing his story, saying he may have turned out differently if he just found love. Tsukino disagrees.
- Evil Is Hammy: The rest of the trio are this to an extent, but this guy is something else. Almost every word out of his mouth is some kind of dramatic and perverted proclamation.
- Evil Old Folks: As it turns out, he's actually a 78 year old man, which he hides with his mask. In fact, that's his entire motive; despite his "massive meat" and how he sculpted his body into the perfect specimen, he was never able to get laid, and so does his exhibitionism streaks to not let it go to waste.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Save for a large leaf, he fights Yagami completely in the buff.
- Gag Penis: While we thankfully never actually see it, his reputation and his own words suggests that he's very gifted down there.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: When Yagami catches and confronts him, he's revealed to be covering his crotch with a large fig leaf, not wanting to waste his "son" on a man.
- Insane Troll Logic: When his attempts at becoming a Chick Magnet by becoming buff and utilizing his Gag Penis proves All for Nothing, he decides that exposing himself to random women would be the next best thing. Yagami utterly fails to comprehend it.
- In-Series Nickname: Since people are embarrassed to say his actual name, he's often referred to as "G.I" instead.
- Lightning Bruiser: Uses the fast, hard-hitting kung fu style some enemies use, and he has more HP than the trio.
- Moveset Clone: Of Bruce Ebinuma, a recurring Coliseum Opponent from 3 onwards.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Attempts a... rather unique one before fighting Yagami.Giant Impact: Perpetual perversion! Ceaseless creeping! I, Shinzaburo Ishikawa, am your opponent!
- Red Baron: Calls himself "Prince of Perverts" and "The Exhibitionist Emperor". The name of his Side Case is "The Pervert King".
- Streaking: Ends up doing this when Yagami pursues him through town. None of the citizens seem to bat an eye though.
- Virgin-Shaming: He is deeply ashamed of the fact that he's a virgin at his age, which motivates his crimes.
Spoiler Characters
Warning: All spoilers for the following characters are unmarked. Read at your own risk. The Mole
Mitsuru Kuroiwa
Voiced by: Shosuke Tanihara (Japanese), Matthew Mercer (English)
As it turns out, The Mole is none other than Mitsuru Kuroiwa, the investigator put onto the serial murder case. A Dirty Cop on a far worse level than Ayabe.
- Animal Motif: Yagami calls him the Mole because he appears at dark times, not unlike an actual mole. The fact he's a Dirty Cop and The Mole for the Police was not found out until later. This gets lampshaded in Lost Judgment where when Yagami is told that "Mole" is used as a term for undercover agents in the west, he treats it as an interesting coincidence.
- Although a darker interpretation of Yagami's name for him would be the apparent way he digs the eyes out from his victim's eye sockets like a mole digging a hole, it's revealed that he's not responsible for that bit of mutilation. That "honor" goes to Shono. He does gouge out the eyes of non-AD-9 victims like Shintani and attempts to do it to Yagami, though, suggesting that he's taken a liking to the idea.
- Arms Dealer: Apart from being a Knowledge Broker to Hamura, he also used his position in the police force to sell illegal weapons to the yakuza.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He's completely assured of his victory both times he fights Yagami, and he really doesn't take it well when Yagami manages to get one over him.
- Assassin Outclassin': He dispatches Ichinose's hitmen in a second.
- Ax-Crazy: Though the eye-gouging is given an explanation, once he's revealed, it becomes clear that he really isn't stable. He was originally a Dirty Cop giving contraband and guns to Hamura until he felt ready to become a hitman to satisfy his bloodlust.
- Battle in the Rain: His and Yagami's last fight takes place indoors during a storm, with the surrounding windows are either open or shattered, allowing the rain to pour in.
- Big Bad Ensemble: In the finale, Kuroiwa becomes an antagonist separate from Ichinose in the finale after Ichinose orders Kuroiwa’s death. Kuroiwa then attempts to kidnap Ichinose’s lead researcher, Shono, and force him to continue making AD-9.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!: His pistol, while operating as The Mole, is a gold-plated Smith & Wesson 3913.
- Break the Haughty: The final chapter is this for him. He gets a humiliating defeat by Yagami and the bosses he put so much faith in decide to send a hit squad for him so they'd save their own skin. He then goes down fighting at the ADDC where all of his crimes are revealed to the cops, dying in a pool of his own blood.
- Combat Pragmatism: After Yagami gains the upper hand in their first battle, he pulls out his gun. If it wasn't for Morita, he would have shot Yagami without batting an eye.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
- Final Bosses in the Yakuza series tend to be ambitious faction leaders who lust for power, money or self-validation and are often Noble Demons with their own sets of principles and values. Kuroiwa, in contrast, is a shadowy serial killer who lurks in the dark for the majority of the game and is a No-Nonsense Nemesis who always stays a step ahead of everyone else, including his own allies, and is a blatantly unhinged murderer with absolutely no values or principles he cares to adhere to. He most closely resembles Lao Gui, being a ruthless professional assassin, but whereas Lao Gui was just doing his job and didn't go out of his way to do anything outside his paycheck, Kuroiwa seems to greatly enjoy what he's doing and is not about to let anything stop him. He's also much more of a lone wolf than the rest of the antagonists; he ostensibly has some allies (Hamura and to a lesser extent the police force and the ADDC bigwigs), but the climax of the game shows he will throw them all under the bus with zero hesitation the moment things don't go his way, indicating that he viewed them as tools more than anything.
- He's also one to Tsuneo Iwami. Both are introduced as normal-looking people in suits, are among the most despicable villains in the franchise and are fairly unpleasant even before their true colours are revealed. The similarities end there. Iwami was the epitome of a Card-Carrying Villain, willingly throwing away a prosperous lifestyle just to get a shot at becoming a dreaded Yakuza boss, while Kuroiwa is a Knight Templar who does the things he does out a delusion that he'll be revered as a hero. Iwami was a blatant Sadist who preferred to take his time with his victims. On the other hand, Kuroiwa, while still sadistic, is more of a No-Nonsense Nemesis who prefers to finish his enemies as quickly as possible. Iwami eventually took over the Yomei Alliance but quickly proved himself to be way out of his depth. By contrast, Kuroiwa, while technically subordinate to Shono and Ichinose, proves to be a far greater threat than either of them. This is reflected in their boss fights; while Iwami was an Unskilled, but Strong Glass Cannon who got effortlessly curb-stomped by Kiryu, Kuroiwa is a Strong and Skilled Lightning Bruiser who proves to be more than a match for Yagami.
- Counter-Attack: Easily parries a punch by Yagami in the introduction to the first fight against him. He'll continue to do so throughout his boss fights if you just try to haphazardly attack him from the front.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Delivers one to everyone but Yagami; he even destroyed Kaito and Higashi with only a blackjack.
- Dark Is Evil: He was specifically named the mole for being a dark figure digging into the deepest depths of the criminal underworld and appearing in dark places. Turns out both his civilian attire and his raincoat disguise are black as well.
- Defiant to the End: At the end of the game, when all his plans and backup-plans fail, he decides to try and kill his former ally Shono for seemingly no reason other than as a final flip of the middle finger to everyone involved.
- Detective Mole: Not only is he the Lead Investigator assigned to The Mole's case, he is actually the killer himself.
- Determinator: The man will not stop until his objective is complete or he is dead. Even after Yagami delivers a brutal beatdown on him, he still has enough energy to try and kill Shono and it takes several cops' pumping him full of lead to finally put him down for good.
- Die Laughing: After being shot by the police, he lasts long enough to give a final, amused chuckle as he watches Shono die and finally realizes why he was gouging out his victims' eyes.
- Dirty Cop: Is revealed to be a much worse case of this than Ayabe. He had once served as an understudy to another dirty cop who had been pawning off police information to the Yakuza before being snitched. Kuroiwa was quick to take his mentor's place.
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted. Yagami kicks him out of a window but Kuroiwa hangs onto the ledge and climbs back in, and that's when you realize that was only Phase 1 of his boss fight.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Kuroiwa may technically be working for Shono under Ichinose’s orders, but out of the three it is Kuroiwa who is the biggest threat, since he's the one who delivers test subjects for Shono and matches Yagami in terms of combat, while Shono is a cowardly Nervous Wreck who seems to fear Kuroiwa and Ichinose is just a Non-Action Big Bad.
- The Dreaded: His actions have scared the crap out of anyone in Kamurocho, even the police and the criminal gangs.
- Duel Boss: The first time Yagami fights him, he has Kaito with him ready to throw down but Yagami insists on taking down Kuroiwa 1-on-1 to get some personal payback for Matsugane. The second time, he has Sugiura with him but Kuroiwa manages to shoot him in the shoulder forcing Yagami to once again fight him on his own.
- Establishing Character Moment: Slowly walks into a flaming building to kill his former partner, when this fails he kills everyone coming near him with his gun and fists only to take one as a human shield that he makes sure to kill before escaping. As the Mole Kuroiwa is completely ruthless, unflappable and enjoys murder.
- Even Evil Had Loved Ones: Maybe. Ayabe claims it's a possibility that Kuroiwa murdered the man who snitched on his Dirty Cop boss (Who then committed suicide) for revenge.
- Evil Counterpart: He is essentially a dark mirror to Yagami, with both being ace detectives with similar fighting styles. However, Kuroiwa commits the murders that Yagami investigates.
- Eviler than Thou:
- To Hamura. It was Kuroiwa who suggested they take on assassination jobs, which Hamura was actually uncomfortable with at the time. Judging by the look on Hamura's face, Hamura also wasn't expecting Kuroiwa to so readily execute him after he was captured by Yagami.
- To the rest of the ADDC crew as well as Morita. Most of are willing to commit murder or at least turn a blind eye to it for the sake of AD-9's completion. Kuroiwa is an outlier in that he is in it for the murder; he clearly enjoys getting his hands dirty and has done it for a while before getting involved with the ADDC, and he doesn't even seem to care much for AD-9 except as a way to be absolved of his crimes once they're exposed near the end.
- Evil Is Petty: Throughout the game he does things for no other reason than to cause grief for Yagami and his friends. From making it clear he knows Yagami's buying police intel from Ayabe and Mafuyu, to even smirking at Kaito and Higashi while they're staking him out after having killed Matsugane. He has no reason for this other than to be a total prick.
- Evil Laugh: During his mortal wound charge up he starts laughing, complete with Milking the Giant Cow.
- Final Boss: A 1-on-1 battle with him in the ADDC is the final battle of the game.
- Final Boss Preview: He's fought earlier in the final chapter. Unlike most examples, you're expected to win, though he doesn't pull out all the moves that he does during his final battle.
- Foil: To Yagami. While Yagami is a disgraced attorney-turned-detective who is committed to pursuing justice, Kuroiwa is an ace detective who is respected by his peers, which he abuses for his own selfish ends.
- The Gunslinger: While an extremely skilled melee fighter, Kuroiwa is also the most capable gunman in the game and is not above mixing his martial arts prowess into his gunslinging. The final chapter in particular shows that he is a very fast Quick Draw, gunning down several assassins sent to kill him in a blink of an eye. For the sake of not being completely aggravating to fight however he only uses guns in cutscenes.
- Hate Sink: Kuroiwa's true colors are incredibly unpleasant, being a mix of deluded self-righteousness and sadism. Even before he's revealed to be The Mole, he presents himself as a completely unlikeable jerk who takes pleasure in heckling Yagami at every turn.
- The Heavy: He's the biggest physical threat in the game, the enforcer of The Conspiracy's will, and the Final Boss.
- He Knows Too Much: Once Kuroiwa's connection to the serial killings and the ADDC is exposed, Ichinose sends assassins to silence him before he gets taken into custody. They fail.
- Hypocrite: He looks down on Ayabe for being a Knowledge Broker when he was in the exact same profession prior to doing assassination jobs.
- Implacable Man: It doesn't matter how much punishment he receives. He'll always get back up. He's only done in after getting utterly ventilated with bullets, and even then it still takes some time for him to finally die, though it helps that he juiced himself on adrenaline before that.
- Improvised Weapon: In the latter half of his boss fight, he and Yagami end up behind the counter of a bar, Kuroiwa takes the chance to pick up a nearby ice pick and tries to use it against Yagami.
- Institutional Allegiance Concealment: Kuroiwa disguises himself as The Mole by hiding his face with a hoodie/mask. Once his identity is exposed, the hood stops obscuring his face.
- In the Hood: Has a hood worn over his head/face.
- Karmic Death: After killing many people using various methods, including with a gun, it is befitting he ends up shot numerous times by police officers. A handful of said officers' colleagues were also gunned down by him just before his demise.
- Kick the Dog: Smugly suggests to Morita that he look the other way while Kuroiwa deals with Yagami, saying that Morita should be used to looking the other way by now. While Morita is part of the conspiracy, he clearly shows remorse for what he's doing and Kuroiwa knows it.
- Killer Cop: A cop moonlighting as an assassin. During the climax, he also kills several ADDC security guards and staff, as well as other TMPD officers sent after him, giving him the highest onscreen bodycount in the franchise.
- Knight of Cerebus: While Judgment is far from light-hearted, whenever the Mole gets brought up or becomes involved in the plot, things become grim for our heroes as seen with the deaths of Shintani and Matsugane.
- Knight Templar: He's willing to kill as many test subjects as it takes to complete AD-9, believing that he and Shono will be hailed as heroes.
- Knowledge Broker: Originally served as one to Hamura. Then he decided to become a Professional Killer...
- Laughing Mad: During his final boss fight he is laughing when he charges his ex move or gets back in the building, fully lost in his urge to kill Yagami.
- Lawman Baton: In the dynamic intro before he and Yagami fight, he pulls out a small blackjack baton (which he used against Kaito and Higashi earlier on) and tries to get a good hit on Yagami with it. Yagami doesn't want any of that and kicks it out of his hands before the proper fight.
- Leitmotif: "Penumbra" for all fights against him. Fitting for a serial killer who destroyed countless lives while appearing as the ace detective in public. Incidentally, a penumbra is also a type of stroke.
- Lightning Bruiser: He uses the same flashy acrobatics in combat that Yagami does and can take an absurd amount of punishment before going down.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Although he's the chief enforcer of the AD9 conspiracy, he only learns why his abductees had their eyes gouged out as he lies dying.
- Marathon Boss: Across two phases, his last boss fight has an impressive 8 health bars matching the likes of Masato Aizawa from Yakuza 5.
- Mask of Sanity: Acts like a By-the-Book Cop before it's revealed that he's The Mole.
- Mirror Boss: He fights using more vicious variants of Yagami's moves. The most obvious example of this is his use of Yagami's signature Wall Jump.
- Meaningful Name: The kanji for "Mitsuru" can mean satisfy, symbolizing his perfectionism and sadism. The "Kuro" in "Kuroiwa", meanwhile, means black which is associated with sin in Japan, not to mention his dark attire as both a detective and the Mole.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: How he meets his end. He tries to kill Shono but gets gunned down by several cops before he gets the chance, though he was still able to cling on to life to see the results of Shono's work, and realising that all their efforts were for nothing.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His assassination attempt on Hamura, to prevent him from having to reveal any further information, ultimately results in him doing so out of his own free will, due to being devastated by Matsugane Taking the Bullet.
- Not Me This Time: While he still abducted the Kyorei Clan yakuza to be experimented on, it turns out that he wasn't the one who gouged out their eyes. It was Shono, who removed them to hide any traces of illegal experimentation. The only ones he was responsible for were Shintani and Shioya.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: He's ruthlessly efficient when he's given an objective, sparing little talk and just killing everyone in his path.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: After being betrayed by Ichinose and exposed, Kuroiwa kidnaps Shono in hopes of resuming the AD-9 project. Not because of any well-intentioned goal to cure Alzheimer's, but because he was under the delusion that the world would absolve him of his crimes.
- Older Than They Look: He looks like a young man in his late 20s to early 30s, but Hamura mentions that the two had been working together for around twenty years ever since Kuroiwa took his mentor's place, making him in his late 30s at the very least.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: Subverted in that he never really was a paragon, being a Bastard Understudy from a crooked cop, but he was seen as The Ace of the precinct by Ayabe and the public.
- Professional Killer: Officially he's a contract killer on Ichinose's payroll.
- Purple Is Powerful: Has a purple Battle Aura and is an absolutely vicious combatant.
- Rasputinian Death: Gets beaten up by Yagami and thrown out of a glass window; climbs right back, pumps himself with adrenaline and gets beaten up again; gets shot by a police firing squad; still sticks around long enough to watch Shono die.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives a short and effective one to Morita. When Kuroiwa is about to fight Yagami, he advises Morita to look the other way since he's good at that. It doubles as a Stealth Insult.
- Sadist: He seems to relish causing pain considering the rather broad smile he has while doing so. He also demanded to Hamura to find a way to sell his service as an assassin because he felt ready for it.
- Serial Killer: Double subverted. Yagami initially believes that the Mole is a serial killer whose MO is murdering Yakuza by gouging their eyes out, and the game promotional art showcases him in his Mole outfit in such a way as to compare him to a slasher villain. However, he's actually an assassin for hire who is covering up illegal experiments on humans. However, Kuroiwa comes to enjoy murdering people in such a ritualistic manner, and by the end of the game, he's killing for enjoyment rather than profit.
- Shot at Dawn: A group of cops gun him down.
- Shot to the Heart: Injects himself with adrenaline during his last fight with Yagami that significantly boosts his strength.
- Smug Smiler: Once his true colours are revealed, he spends most of the time giving Yagami and co. a smug grin.
- Smug Snake: While Yagami and his friends are chasing after them, he grins smugly at them since he believes that his men will be enough to stop them rather than fighting them himself. In general, he exudes an extreme level of arrogance in every scene he's in after The Reveal, confident that the ADDC will protect him.
- The Sociopath: He's a sadist with a profound Lack of Empathy. Even back when he was just a Knowledge Broker, Hamura could tell he was a man who could kill without feeling a shred of remorse.
- Taking You with Me: Effectively what he tries to do in the game's climax. After Ichinose orders his death, Kuroiwa attempts to hold Shono hostage to force him to complete AD-9 or, in the case that the authorities corner him, kill him before he's gunned down himself.
- This Explains So Much: Despite being the one responsible for enforcing the will of The Conspiracy, he doesn't actually know why the eyes of the victims are cut out before he witnesses Shono's horrifying death when he looks in his blue-dyed eyes, leading to his last words.Kuroiwa: So that's why... I finally... Understand...
- Villain with Good Publicity: A known plainclothes officer who does part-time work as the Mole. This collapses after his true identity is revealed.
- Villainous Breakdown: He undergoes it as soon his identity is revealed. When Yagami puts up a good fight against him, even having him on the defensive, he ends up pulling out a gun and nearly shooting Yagami down, clearly furious that he is able to match him. The only reason Kuroiwa stands down is because Morita reminds him that he can't cover his tracks if he kills Yagami now. When Ichinose puts a hit on him as the conspiracy is falling apart, he plans on kidnapping Shono so they can keep working on AD-9, rationalizing that no one will care about his rampage if he ends up curing Alzheimer's. He then tries to kill Shono when that's off the table.
- The Unfettered: Kuroiwa displays a chilling lack of hesitation when committing murder, even when his targets are former allies. Best seen in the final chapter where on his way to Shono he shoots down numerous assassins, policemen, and security guards with a completely neutral expression on his face and a gait as casual as if he was on an afternoon walk.
The Mastermind
Yoji Shono
Voiced by: Makoto Nagai (Japanese), Michael J. Gough (English)
- Asshole Victim: His death? Very brutal. Deserving? Abso-Fucking-Lutely.
- Ax-Crazy: A more subdued example compared to Kuroiwa, but his actions definitely point to him being at least slightly unhinged. Accidentally killing a patient and hastily attempting to dispose of the body while panicking? Understandable. But murdering a coworker in cold blood just to frame her boyfriend, then setting their apartment on fire? Definitely not.
- Believing Your Own Lies: He found out the toxins in AD-9 were impossible to remove but ended up convincing himself that he just needed to test it and develop it some more in order to improve it. He ultimately dies as a result of injecting himself with what he believes to be a perfect dose.
- Beneath Suspicion: He looks like an Extreme Doormat. Even when Emi points out the hole in his testimony, she thinks he was just misremembering instead of covering himself.
- Big Bad: It's his willingness to cross every moral line for the sake of AD-9 that drives the conflict. Every other villain involved with the plot exists to ensure his work is completed.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Because of his cowardice and Nervous Wreck tendencies, he could only get so far with his luck and the manipulation of Kido to get so many villains to help him. Without Ichinose or Kuroiwa, he would never have gotten as far as he did, and he's forced to rely on Yagami's help when Kuroiwa turns on him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, it seems like he's just a weak-willed man being pushed around by his corrupt superiors. Then it's revealed that he's the one who started The Conspiracy.
- Body Motifs: Eyes. He gouges out the eyes of his victims to keep the experiments a secret. When he makes eye contact he looks either terrified, guilty, or crazy. He "Keeps his eye on the ball," if you will. And he Dies Wide Open.
- Classic Villain: He embodies pride, as he only performs experiments with AD-9 because he made it, despite knowing that it can't be improved.
- Covert Pervert: Mika the hostess recalls that Shono kept peeking nervously at her cleavage when Hashiki invited him to the club. Yagami even describes him as a closet perv.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: As he dies, it's revealed that this is a side effect of AD-9.
- Determinator: He will do whatever it takes to cure Alzheimer's Disease. Deconstructed thoroughly in that he crosses every moral line he can to do it, doesn't let anyone else work on his drug, and refused to Know When to Fold 'Em when it became apparent that everything he is doing is All for Nothing.
- Diabolus ex Machina: Got two big ones that helped him cover Waku's death: first is that Okubo freaked out so bad he tried to hide the body, which made him the prime suspect, and even his Off on a Technicality didn't stop the public from thinking he was behind it. The second is that Okubo was using sleeping pills due to the stress from the public harassment, so it was easy for Shono to kill Emi and frame an unconscious Okubo.
- Didn't Think This Through: What he thought would happen by injecting himself with AD-9 isn't exactly clear, since he doesn't have Alzheimer's, but at least it wraps up the story. It's implied it was his last gamble to prove that he was right with all he'd done to perfect AD-9, as Yagami's actions had ensured the conspiracy was unearthed to the world. Furthermore, his confession to Kido about the impossibility of removing the toxins from AD-9 had convinced the latter to confess the extent of their crimes in court, thus ensuring that if Shono was arrested, he'd never be able to finish AD-9 ever again and be forced to live with the guilt of his crimes being All for Nothing in the end. If he didn't test his "perfected" batch of AD-9 right then, he'd never know for sure if he'd done it in the end, and it was better for Shono to risk his life than accept the Awful Truth he stubbornly kept ignoring.
- Dies Wide Open: And how! In addition to causing an intense headache in the victim, AD-9 causes a dark-blue pigmenting in the eyes, something revealed to horrifying effect just after Shono injects himself with the drug to prove that it's safe. The last we see of him is his dead body, his eyes a bright blue, and his face contorted in agony.
- Dirty Coward: Whimpers and runs away from Yagami, calling reinforcements and begging Yagami to stop chasing him during the 2nd fight with Mashiko.
- Dissonant Serenity: Subverted before being played straight in the same scene, highlighting Shono's contrasting personality traits regarding AD-9 and his usual demeanour. He has a massive emotional outburst when confessing about the truth of AD-9 to Kido, venting emotionally over accidentally having killed Waku through testing his new miracle drug, before recomposing himself when Kido wants to come clean about the whole mess despite the bad press, revealing that he deliberatly arranged for Kido to entrap himself with his name being on the AD-9 research papers before telling him this, so exposing Shono's crimes will only drag Kido down with him, ensuring he has to continue supporting him in his mad quest to perfect the drug. The tone shift and imposing manner in which he calmly explains how Kido will not be turning him in is so extreme as to verge on a split personality, highlighting his unshakable mania over the drug.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted. He's entirely convinced that his crimes would be forgiven if he can perfect AD-9 and cure Alzheimer's, with his final grand gesture of injecting himself with the serum clearly intended to be a triumphant moment where he'd be forgiven. However, even with his sympathetic motive revealed and his serum "perfected", no one is willing to forgive him for all the people he murdered to get there and AD-9 can't be purged of toxins, leading to his horrific death instead.
- Egocentrically Religious: This aspect of his character didn't make it into the dubbed version of the game, but in the original Japanese audio track, he states his reason for everything and only proves that he's deluded himself into thinking God chose him to cure Alzheimer's.Shono: The reason I took up science... The reason I developed this drug... is because God chose this fate for me.
- Enemy Mine: When Kuroiwa attempts to kidnap him, Yagami and Sugiura save him. Shono has no intention of repenting for his actions, but this temporary alliance is formed because the heroes need him to confess, and he needs protection from Kuroiwa.
- Engineered Public Confession: Sugiura records him on his phone while he admits to murdering Emi. This is the final evidence that allows them to take down Ichinose even after Shono and Kuroiwa's deaths.
- Even Evil Has Standards: A deconstructed example. Shono tries to justify using the Kyorei yakuza for his experiments because he'd rather they be the victims than innocent civilians. Like all of his actions in the game, this is treated as him trying to self-justify his actions as being morally correct, and nobody, not even the conspirators working for Shono, actually believe that this is the right thing to do.
- Eye Scream: He was the one removing the eyeballs from his victims after the drug turned them blue, so people wouldn't suspect human experimentation. Based on his reaction, even Kuroiwa wasn't aware of it.
- Fatal Flaw: Yagami points out that other than one thing, Shono is a normal person. That one thing: AD-9 itself. His obsession with curing dementia makes him a monster.
- Foil: To Yagami. While Yagami is handsome, a fighter, and has a healthy determination, Shono is plain, a coward, and his determination is unhealthy to everyone's detriment.
- Freudian Excuse: His mother and grandparents were both taken by Alzheimer's, which pushed him towards finding a cure through any means necessary.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Yagami counters all of his "Greater Good" talk by pointing out how many people he killed, including Emi, who was only killed so he could frame Okubo. Yagami also points out he could have let someone else carry on his research but his pride stopped him.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A researcher that freaked out when his chance to cure Alzheimer's disease was about to go away ends up starting a conspiracy of kidnappings and murders backed by government officials.
- Hate Sink: While Shono may have had sympathetic motives for creating AD-9 at first, he quickly loses all sympathy when he crosses every moral line and resorts to murdering an innocent woman and framing her boyfriend for the crime to cover up his murder of Waku. And if that weren't enough, he engages in human experimentation on yakuza thugs, trying to improve a drug that could never be made safe for humans; a fact he knew, but chose to ignore out of some kind of twisted determination.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: When Yagami asks him what he knows about the Mole, he insists he doesn't know who he is. As Yagami points out, Shono had no way of knowing that the Mole was a person.
- I've Come Too Far: His main motivation on continuing the development of AD-9 himself, even with the murder of an innocent woman, patient and several yakuza, and proven failure of AD-9 in humans on the back of his mind.
- Karmic Death: Dies the same way like his first victim by believing he has perfected the drug by injecting it into himself. This time, however, nothing could hide the results from the public. Sugiura even recorded his confession and death, proving to the world he was nothing more than a hopeless scientist who used others for his ambitions. It's also implied that Yagami let him do this to himself, after managing to trick him into confessing his role in Emi's death on camera, doing nothing to intervene when Shono injects himself and just watching coldly as he suffers the consequences of his delusions.
- Mad Scientist: Experimented on countless humans just to perfect his drug, even after it became obvious that it would be impossible to remove the drug's toxins.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: He performed all his illegal AD-9 experiments in an abandoned love hotel in Kamurocho.
- Manipulative Bastard: He allows Kido to be listed as the sole researcher on the AD-9 research papers to give them bigger publicity before telling him the drug doesn't work and he killed someone. It's a notable contrast with his emotional outburst when he confesses his crimes to Kido, before shifting into a more icy and focused tone as he lays out how he's entrapped Kido to ensure that revealing his culpability or the truth of AD-9 would merely result in Taking You with Me, highlighting both sides of his personality- The Nervous Wreck he normally is, and the cold, focused scientist obsessed with AD-9's advancement, no matter the cost to himself or others. He also turns Hashiki's attempt at having him confess about AD-9's foul play into a trap to murder him.
- Motive Rant: Delivers one when he makes a "Perfect" dose of AD-9.Shono: AD-9 is done now. Everything I have has gone into this one syringe. There's no mistaking it this time. Here's the proof. I'm going to show you once and for all. I'll prove that my miracle drug is a reality!Yagami: How many people has your "miracle" killed?Shono: People... People? But it'll save millions! Maybe tens of millions across the world!Yagami: That's why you thought it was okay to murder an innocent woman? Huh? Is that why you stabbed her to death and burned the evidence!? Okubo-kun took the fall for all of it... You sent a good man to die!Shono: I never wanted to kill anyone! But it had to happen for AD-9. It was the only way to save all of them!(...)Shono: But AD-9 is my drug! I'm the only one who could have finished it! And I'll finally prove it! Prove that my research was worth the effort! Prove that I was right to do what I did!
- Murder Is the Best Solution: He believes that the only way for AD-9 to not be fatal for humans is to keep testing it on humans. Yagami deconstructs it at the end by pointing out he could've handed his research to someone else, or something, anything before murder should've even been an option. But he snaps back AD-9 is his drug, and he should be the only one to work on it.
- Narcissist: The reason he refused to pass on his research to someone else is because he created the drug.
- Nervous Wreck: He speaks with a constantly wavering cadence and always looks incredibly uncomfortable in whatever situation he's in. It's possibly a result of his fears of being caught and his need to constantly reaffirm that his sacrifices aren't pointless. Emi mentions he used to be more matter-of-factly and calm when he talks, so it is a new development for him.
- Never My Fault: Double Subverted. When his crimes are brought up, he does admit he feels guilty about all the death. However, since he can only see the positives of AD-9 success, he refuses to take responsibility and take the punishment he deserves. By the time he realizes he can't fix AD-9, he fully embraces this, doubling down and continuing his madness. It's no longer about doing the right thing, it's about proving he's right. Tellingly, when he first reveals to Kido the truth about Waku's death, he phrases it as "AD-9 killed him" rather than "I killed him".
- Non-Action Big Bad: His physical constitution doesn't lend itself to physical combat, and the only murders he committed were against similarly defenseless people.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: His argument that his drug will save the lives of countless millions and is thus worth the sacrifices sort of loses weight when it's revealed that he knew the drug's toxins were impossible to remove. Him continuing to experiment on people is just him desperately trying to escape the reality that all those sacrifices were for nothing, which ultimately comes back to give him a rather gruesome demise.
- Obviously Evil: Subverted and inverted. When Yagami first finds out that there's a conspiracy going on at ADDC, he immediately assumes that the imposing, powerful man in charge director Kido is the obvious mastermind, and that his timid, nebbish toady Shono is lying to protect him - only for the twist to be that the character neither (nor the audience) would associate with being the Big Bad is the true orchestrator and that the seemingly obvious villain is a pawn who would like nothing better than to get away.
- Playing with Syringes: The entire plot started when he performed an illegal experiment on Waku. He continues to perform deadly AD-9 experiments on kidnapped test subjects.
- Professor Guinea Pig: He decides to test the perfected AD-9 on himself. It kills him in the same horrific manner as his victims.
- Pummeling the Corpse: He stabbed Emi 15 times whilst she was asleep, meaning she was certainly dead after the first couple, yet he still kept going. The ferocity evident in her attack was used as part of the prosecution's casel against Okubo and his history of violent conduct. It's left unclear why he went that far in attacking her, Emi being the only murder he committed by some means other than lethal drugs, but it's implied to either be a combination of his nervous disposition and fear of the attack not working leading him to lose himself in the assault, or Shono's anger at Emi "forcing" him to commit murder again to re-frame Okubo leading to a savage frenzy during the act. Either way, it's evidence that underneath his passive demeanour, Shono was extremely unstable even before he committed more human experiments, and every inch a violent murderer like the Mole.
- Revealing Cover Up: He very likely could have gotten away completely scot-free if he had left things alone after Okubo's acquittal: the vast majority of the public and the legal system still believed Okubo to be a murderer who got Off on a Technicality, and even Shono's perjury at the trial was written off as mere misremembering. Shono's insistence in ensuring Waku's death wouldn't be reinvestigated by murdering Emi and framing Okubo set up the chain of events that led to his downfall.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Everything he does, he does because he thinks it's the right thing to do. Horribly deconstructed given that all his actions do is kill people and ruin innocent lives. And the longer the experiments are drawn out, the more self-righteous he gets with more heinous crimes. By the end, it gets to the point that he's only doing it to show he was right.
- Self-Made Man: He paid his tuition at medical school by himself and became a respected doctor. Then he went crazy with AD-9 working on mice but not humans and ensnared his director and the vice minister of Health into bankrolling him.
- Serial Killer: He's technically the real serial killer behind the Mole murders, even if he doesn't have any compulsion towards committing murder For the Evulz or the like, and has grander motivations that he's trying to achieve with said deaths being accidental side-effects of those. However, his mania over perfecting AD-9 despite being aware on some level it's irreparably lethal to humans is very similar towards a serial Killer's compulsion to murder, and he has to enact a ritualistic theme to his victims' bodies by removing the evidence of the human experimentation. His status as this is contrasted against The Mole, who more obviously looks and acts the part with their black overcoat and love of violence, but Shono's passive demeanour and unassuming appearance hides the large bodycount he's amassed and intends to continue adding to in his madness.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Absolutely nobody suspected him of even being a part of The Conspiracy until Yagami confronted Hamura.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: He doesn't look like the kind of man who could hurt a fly even if he wanted to. Then you find out that he's done so much worse than that.
- Villainous Breakdown: Loses all of his remaining composure when his "perfected" AD-9 causes him the same exact effects as the other tests, leaving him unable to do anything but scream in agony.Shono: But why!
