Characters / Like a Dragon: Akira Nishikiyama

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Character-Specific Pages: Kazuma Kiryu | Goro Majima | Akira Nishikiyama | Ichiban Kasuga
Yakuza | Yakuza 2 | Yakuza 3 | Yakuza 4 | Yakuza 5 | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | Yakuza 0 (Dojima Lieutenants | Kamurocho Residents | Sotenbori Residents) | Yakuza 6 | Yakuza: Like a Dragon (The Heroes of Tomorrow) | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Judgment (Takayuki Yagami) | Lost Judgment

Akira Nishikiyama

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Nakaya

English Voice Actor: Michael Rosenbaum (Yakuza)

Portrayed by: Mikio Osawa (Yakuza: Prologue Live-Action Film), Claude Maki (Yakuza Live-Action Film), Gaku Sano (Yakuza Stage Play)

Nishiki as he appears in Kiwami.

^{Click here to see Nishiki as he appears in Yakuza 0.} 

"Brother! Hold out! Someday... if the time ever comes where you have to cross that line... then I'll cross it with you!"

Known as "Nishiki" to his closest friends, he's Kiryu's best friend who joined the Dojima family the same time the former did. Also raised by Shintaro Kazama in the Sunflower Orphanage, while Kiryu joined the yakuza to repay and help the man who raised him, Nishiki was more interested in rising the ranks and making it to the top unlike his uptight friend. He was one of Kiryu's strongest allies during the events of Yakuza 0, and while his loyalties were challenged, his role in the situation earned him standing in the Dojima family and allowed him to climb the ranks along with his blood brother.

In spite of that, Nishiki also suffered an inferiority complex toward Kiryu, whom many others seemed to favor. He even had strong feelings for Yumi Sawamura, who grew up with them in the same orphanage, but her affections were aimed only toward Kiryu. He also has a sister, Yuko, who grew ill and he was struggling to support. One night in December 1995, Yumi was suddenly kidnapped by Sohei Dojima. By the time Kiryu got there, he discovered that Nishiki had already murdered Dojima in cold blood to protect Yumi from an Attempted Rape at his hands. As killing your Oyabun is considered one of the worst possible offenses for a yakuza, it would have been all over for him, but considering Yuko's deteriorating health, Kiryu made a snap decision and took the fall for his friend and went to jail for ten years.

Shortly afterward, Yumi lost her memories and disappeared, and in spite of his efforts, Yuko succumbed to her illness. With all of those closest to him gone, Nishiki abandoned his ideals and pursued his ambitions, leading him down a dark road that would eventually lead to his downfall. He's a changed man by the time Kiryu leaves prison, eager to secure the Tojo Clan's stolen 10 billion yen and get everything he wants, including Yumi, control of the Tojo Clan, superiority to his former brother, and ultimately his own life as he sees it.

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A-F

• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. While he was capable of squaring off against Kiryu man-to-man in the original game, his fighting style was rather simplistic and comparable to Kiryu's self-taught skills. Kiwami gives him a completely different, more graceful karate-infused fighting style that's a stronger version of the one he had in the prequel Yakuza 0.
• Adaptation Expansion: His characterization and motivations are given considerably more detail in Kiwami, with the addition of a series of flashbacks exploring his Start of Darkness.
• Affectionate Nickname: His friends and loved ones all call him "Nishiki".
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: With no way to pay for his sister's life-saving surgery, he reluctantly kneels in front of Matsushige to help secure the money, no matter how they get it.
• Alas, Poor Villain: After realizing the error of his ways, he proceeds to redeem what's left of him by shooting the bomb right next to him, killing him and allowing the money from Jingu to fly across Kamurocho. After what he's gone through, it's hard not to feel bad for that guy.
• The Alleged Boss: Kiwami showed that back when he was starting off as a boss of his own gang, he was incapable of commanding respect among his men, who saw him as a lowly suck-up who got Kicked Upstairs. This in-turn made him look weak to other bosses. By the time of the main game however he's capable of commanding fierce loyalty from his men that continues even after his death, in part by brutally murdering Matsushige for disobeying him.
• All for Nothing:
  • After all his efforts to get the 30 million yen to pay for Yuko's heart transplant, she ends up dying after the doctor bailed on her, using the 30 million to instead settle his massive gambling debts which happened to include Matsushige of the Nishikiyama Family.
  • He sacrificed everything, from his best friend/sworn brother to his own morality, to turn his Family into one of the Tojo Clan's strongest. But after his death, the Nishikiyama Family would gradually fall into disrepair to the point that a low-class thug like Kanda was able to come to power. And once Kanda's out of the picture, the Nishikiyama Family ignominiously collapsed.
• All Love Is Unrequited: He's always loved Yumi, but she's always loved Kiryu instead. Ironically he also leaves Reina hanging with her own unreciprocated feelings.
• Almighty Janitor: In 0, he's not quite on Kiryu or Majima's level but he's pretty damn tough for a mere Dojima soldier, even giving Majima a rough time as well as supporting Kiryu in combat without him slowing down a bit.
• Always Someone Better: Kiryu is this to him, especially when it came to Yumi. Kiwami takes this further, showing that he was given his own family as a means to get Kiryu back into the Tojo clan, but everyone made it clear they respected his old friend instead, and he was a nobody in their eyes. Eventually, this would become a trigger for him.
• Ambition Is Evil: Perhaps his most defining trait. In the first game, following Dojima's murder and the race for the 10 billion yen, Nishiki would stop at nothing to reach the top of the yakuza world, even if it meant betraying and sacrificing those closest to him, believing it was the only way to gain control of his life, get what he wanted, and be respected in the Tojo Clan. Explored further in 0, revealing that Nishiki had always been fueled by a desire to reach the top, but mostly to reap the riches of the lavish yakuza lifestyle.
• Animal Motifs: The nishikigoi is the fish on his tattoo and his namesake, as well.
• Arch-Enemy: Out of all the Big Bads that Kiryu has faced, his relationship with Nishiki is easily the most personal. His actions at the beginning of the first game set the events of the rest of Kiryu's saga in motion, and even after his death there are others who seek vengeance for him.
• Ax-Crazy: Despite his cold attitude, he's much less stable than he appears. His reaction to two of his underlings failing to follow his orders and accidentally murder Yumi's sister is to shoot them both in the head, unloading the rest of his bullets on one of them while shouting their mistakes at them, all with a face of unbridled rage complete with a Twitchy Eye.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Kiryu in 0 as he joins the latter in his fight for the empty lot.
• Bad Boss: He has no problems executing his own goons, though unlike Shimano he usually has a reason behind it, "usually" being the key word.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He's worn two different suits in his respective appearances, a red suit in the 80's when 0 takes place, and a white one when he becomes the Big Bad of the Yakuza 1.
• Bash Brothers: He and Kiryu were once like this, and we get a good look at it in 0 where they take on scores of thugs together.
• Berserk Button: Do whatever he tells you to do. Make a mistake and he will empty his gun's clip on your dead body. And as poor Reina and Matsushige found out, don't say something that makes him feel useless.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: What he projects onto Kiryu in 0, believing that it'd save Kiryu from more anguish to die quickly and painlessly rather than risk being slowly broken by the Dojima Family. But in the end he doesn't have what it takes to let his sworn brother die.
• Big Bad: Portrayed as such in the first game, although the honor later goes to both him and Jingu.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Shares this with Shimano and Jingu in the race to who gets the missing 10 billion yen. By the end, he comes the closest to recovering the missing money and the only thing standing in his way is Kiryu himself.
• Big Bad Friend: Kiryu and Nishiki swore up as official Oath Brothers and have a strong history of being each other's closest friend since they grew up in the same orphanage. However, Nishikiyama's become desperately power-hungry in the 10 years since they've last talked and Kiryu's refusal to assist him in his selfish plans pushes Nishiki to consider him an enemy for the rest of the game. It doesn't help that Nishiki's grown very resentful and envious of Kiryu which further drives his ambition in becoming the Patriarch of the Tojo Clan just to validate himself.
• Bitch Slap: Shortly after Kiryu is arrested and Yumi disappears, a distressed Reina angrily and sorrowfully questions why he couldn't protect the two, inadvertently triggering his Berserk Button, and he revolts by slapping her. He can only gaze off in remorse as she lies crying.
• Boss Banter: Specifically from the English dub.
  "Bring that shit, Kazuma!"
  "10 years in the joint made you a fucking pussy!"
  "Were you someone's prison bitch?"
  "Come on, fucker!"
• Call-Forward: In Kiryu's last Climax Battle in 0, his final opponent isn't Keiji Shibusawa, his Final Boss in the storyline but rather Nishikiyama on the rooftop of "Sebastian Building" where Majima saw Makoto get shot by Lao Gui. It's a reference to Nishiki being the Final Boss of the first game fought in another high-elevation location with fancy furniture and yellow lighting. It's definitely a lot more light-hearted than his canon fight against Nishiki would go since Kiryu's fighting the friendlier, more cheerful version of Nishiki who performs taunts to Counter-Attack while a Triumphant Reprise of his original boss theme plays.
• Childhood Friends: With Kiryu and Yumi, who all grew up in the same orphanage.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Has shades of this in 0 and the new flashbacks in Kiwami. Underneath his bravado is a man who doesn't seem to have a whole lot of self-worth, calling himself worthless without Kiryu in 0, and can only grit his teeth whenever people insult his capabilities in Kiwami. While in 0, he's able to overcome his insecurities by aligning himself with Kiryu no matter how stupid it is or how dangerous the situation gets, he can't exactly do so in Kiwami with Kiryu being in jail so he unfortunately tries to overcome his insecurities by becoming a power-hungry monster... and even that ultimately fails since he still proves to be an emotional mess by the time Kiryu has one last confrontation with him in the same game.
• Commonality Connection: Subverted in an Online storyline focusing on Masayoshi Tanimura 6 years before the events of 4 and while Nishiki was still alive. While trying to coerce Tanimura to help him investigate a rival Tojo Clan subsidiary working with a Dirty Cop, Tanimura has the two of them hide from the yakuza in Little Asia where Tanimura explains that he grew up there as an orphan. Fellow orphan Nishiki pauses for a moment but quickly regains his cold composure and proceeds to threaten the young detective with death if he doesn't cooperate.
• Composite Character: As a Final Boss in Kiwami. He's not a complete Moveset Clone of either character, having a number of unique attacks but he still nonetheless borrows certain attacks from Joji Kazama from 3 and Daigo Dojima in 4 and 5. He uses a karate hammerfist and 3-hit combo from Joji that begins with a knee strike while from Daigo, he's using his quick jumping knee strike, his jumping haymaker, and finally his slow heavy punch counter attack from blocking attacks.
• Control Freak: Ever since he impulsively murdered Sohei Dojima to protect Yumi from getting raped only for Kiryu to take responsibility for his rash actions away from him by Taking the Heat for his egregious crime, his life slowly spiraled out of control until he snapped and tried to do anything to regain control of his life by force. At one point, he shoots two of his subordinates to death in cold blood when they murder who he believes to be Yumi's sister despite his orders to them to take her in alive. His ultimate goal is to take over the Tojo Clan as its 4th Chairman so he can be in a position where everyone would have to respect him and follow his will. Fittingly enough, by the end of the game his last action is a Heroic Sacrifice in which he mentions having having to take responsibility for his actions as he destroys Jingu and his 10 billion yen by blowing them up with himself included.
  "For the first time, I will control my fate!"
• Counter-Attack: During Majima's fight against him in 0, he'll often pause to taunt Majima or even call out to Reina as if showboating. He's actually trying to goad Majima into attacking so he can strike back with some powerful kicks. He may also use a slow heavy punch if you pressure him while he's blocking. It's identical to one used by Daigo Dojima in 4 and 5. While the heavy punch is brought forward to his Final Boss fight in Kiwami, the taunt counter is absent, presumably since he's taking his climactic clash with Kiryu more seriously.
• Creepy Jazz Music: Less so for the man himself but rather his clan's Leitmotif, "Intelligence For Violence" has a notable jazz influence if rather downplayed. Its later remixes add more brass instrumentation and play it far straighter with "Independence For Violence" exemplifying the louder, chaotic side of the genre while "Ideal For Violence" goes for a smoother, more sinister sound. Said song also features some rather sleazy rap lyrics that embody both Nishiki being driven partially by his unrequited love for Yumi and the sort of sex-fiends who would lead the Nishikiyama family later in the series.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Following Kiryu's arrest and Yumi's disappearance, the death of his sister took away the last of his remaining idealism, leaving only ambition to keep him going. Although the death of his ill sister was one of the many factors that led to his Despair Event Horizon, his story in Kiwami reveals that his failure to save Yuko was what ultimately threw him over the edge.
  • Kiwami reveals that a major of the reason Yuko died was because Nishiki put all of his trust in the wrong person. The doctor told him that she needed a heart transplant at a time when they were unlikely to get any donors but he offered to look at more expensive black market deals so long as Nishiki provides the money. After Nishiki slaved away and practically killed himself for that money, losing much dignity and respect in the process, the doctor is revealed to have used the money solely to pay off his gambling debts and immediately skipped town afterwards dooming Nishiki's sister to die. When even ordinary civilians can't be trusted in his already cutthroat life of a yakuza, is it any wonder why he doesn't trust anyone anymore?
• Despair Event Horizon: Took it pretty damn hard after he killed Dojima to save Yumi. As Kiryu goes to jail, Yumi suddenly vanishes, and his ill sister dies. Just as Nishiki's about to kill himself, he decides instead from that point onwards to ditch his ideals and complete his transformation into Kiryu's Evil Counterpart, climbing his way to the top by any means necessary, even murder and betrayal.
• Determinator: A dark example. There's no lines he's not willing to cross to fulfill his ambitions. Once he has his sights set on recovering the Tojo Clan's 10 billion yen, he refuses to give up on it not even when two of his childhood friends are asking him to stand down.
• Deuteragonist: Framed as such in the Kiwami remake with several newly added Flashback cutscenes between several chapters, chronicling his struggles and Character Development after Kiryu went to prison that would result in his Start of Darkness. He's even featured on the box-art of the game standing side by side with Kiryu.
• The Dog Bites Back: After constantly being disrespected by Matsushige to the point that he was forced to grovel to his own subordinate out of desperation, Nishiki, already reeling from his sister's death, finally snaps and murders Matsushige in cold blood.
• Dramatic Irony: 0, the prequel to the first Yakuza, is full of moments like this where many moments of his camaraderie with Kiryu play out to hammer home his fall from grace in the first game.
  • When he disobeys Dojima's orders to help Kiryu.
    "I'm not interested in climbing the ranks of a Tojo Clan without you in it! So say whatever the hell you want, you and I are still oath brothers!.. you best be ready. I'm sticking with you til death to us part!"
• The Dreaded: After Jumping Off the Slippery Slope he develops a reputation as someone not to be messed with and his own men are visibly scared shitless of him.
• Driven to Suicide: A cutscene in Kiwami depicts Nishiki mourning over his sister's death with a knife within reach. He grabs the knife and is just about to commit Seppuku after everything that's happened. Then Matsushige steps in and well...
  • Technically happens for real with his Heroic Sacrifice. Having lost his final battle with Kiryu, along with Yumi getting shot and everyone else he cares about already dead, it's not hard for him to think that it was once again All for Nothing, but he could still at least go out protecting his childhood friends and take Jingu with him.
• Dub Name Change: A mild example, especially since the nickname Nishiki is even commonly used in the original Japanese, but the nickname is used as his official dub surname in the original localization.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Kiwami shows this is one of the major reasons he ended up Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, as he was given his own family but none of his underlings or anyone else around him showed him a shred of respect. For them, it was all about Kiryu.
• Establishing Character Moment: He's introduced in 0 walking up to Kiryu after the latter has finished beating up some goons in an alley. The two exchange some vitriolic banter before walking and talking about how yakuza should present themselves with a good image, hinting at his ambitions to climb the ranks, all before the two grab some food and drinks to just hang out for the evening together.
• Evil Counterpart: Framed as this in the first game as he's pretty much a more cruel and ambitious Kiryu, being a villainous Determinator with an icy demeanor, dressed in white clothes that will do anything to be at the top once he hits the Despair Event Horizon as opposed to Kiryu focusing on doing what's right no matter what. While Kiryu's stoicism hides a hot-headed, passionate Man of the City, Nishiki's cold confidence hides a broken, bitter, loner who doesn't trust anyone anymore.
  • Even the way they deal with their enemies has parallels. While Kiryu prefers to break their spirits with an old-fashioned beatdown but still give them a chance to change their life around, Nishiki goes straight to murder for those who deserve it or have otherwise betrayed him.
• Evil Former Friend: Not just to Kiryu, but his ambitions lead him to become this to many others like Yumi and the Kazama family.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Came into effect as he turned to malice, using his already deep voice to speak more calmly and with reservation. Naturally when Yumi confronts him verbally over how his lust for power will never bring him happiness, he falls apart emotionally and starts to sound more expressive like he did in the prologue and in 0 as he makes it clear how bad his inferiority complex with Kiryu has gotten.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: His hairstyle in the past is neatly parted in contrast to his slicked-back hair in the first game. Kiwami shows the very moment when the change occurred.
• Face–Heel Turn: Underwent a big one by the time Kiryu got out of prison, becoming a cold and callous yakuza leader.
• Fallen Hero: Considering the supportive role he played in the events of 0, and how he ended up spiraling downward in the first game, Kiwami makes it very clear that he's become this.
• Fatal Flaw: His inferiority complex towards Kiryu and desire for respect and recognition led him down a very dark path that ultimately left him miserable and alone before leading to his death.
• Fighting Your Friend: With Kiryu being targeted by the whole Dojima family in 0, Nishiki's duties force him to work on the opposing side. That is until before the third act when he ditches his orders and sides with Kiryu. Unfortunately it becomes a lot messier in Yakuza 1.
• Final Boss: Of the first game.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. As late as Infinite Wealth, 18 years after Nishiki's death, Kiryu can still sing "Tonight -restart from this night-" for karaoke with the cinematic having him reminisce about his friendship with Nishiki via images of their time together in 0 during the late 80's. He also fondly reminiscences about him in some cabaret club conversations in the same game as well as various other nods throughout the series, proving that no matter how much time passes, Kiryu will always remember Nishiki as a close and dearly missed friend despite all that he had done. Also, Kiryu's "Essence of Remembrance" Kiwami Attack shows that of all his adversaries, he considers Nishiki among his most personal he's fought next to Ryuji and Mine.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Upon joining the Tojo Clan, he was known as a capable fighter but was nothing to write home about. By the end of the first game, he's a powerful patriarch who has committed many horrifying acts and is willing to burn bridges with his closest friends, all for the sake of his ambitions.

G-Z

• The Ghost: Not him but rather his sister, Yuko Nishikiyama. As important as she is towards Nishiki's fall to villainy, she's never shown once, not even in the new Kiwami flashbacks. Somewhat justified since her story involvement is limited to being either deathly ill or deceased so she doesn't have many chances to make any physical appearances.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He has always been envious of Kiryu for winning Yumi's heart, though Yumi spending all of 0 off-screen allows us a view of more of his Hidden Depths.
• Grew a Spine: When he became the boss of the Nishikiyama Family, at first he was rather incapable of getting respect from his underlings, especially Matsushige and was pushed around constantly by them, leading to him being seen as an incompetent fool to other bosses. After he kills Matsushige, he makes it clear he won't fuck around and take shit from anyone anymore, deals punishment to his underlings back, and commits many heinous deeds, establishing fear and loyalty among his men all while he makes the Nishikiyama Family one of the most powerful families in the Tojo Clan.
• Heel Realization: After killing Jingu and being shot by him, his last action is to take responsibility for everything he had set out to do by detonating the bomb on top of the ten billion yen.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He saves the others by killing Jingu, but takes a bullet in the process. He decides to finish what he started and take responsibility as he detonates the bomb near the ten billion yen, which then rains down on the streets of Kamurocho and into the hands of its people.
• Hidden Depths: Yakuza 0 gives him a chance to show off his karaoke skills by singing Judgement while Kiryu cheers him on and provides backup vocals. He also displays some skill in disco dancing if you try to invite him while at Maharaja.
• I Owe You My Life: Towards Kazama for saving his sister's life by paying for her medical expenses. Presumably any loyalty he had for him dried up after his sister still died anyway in addition to how Nishiki Took a Level in Cynic.
• Improvised Weapon: During his Final Boss fight in the original game, he can pick up any surrounding furniture to swing and toss at Kiryu.
• In-Series Nickname: He is called "Nishiki" far more than his full given name or surname.
• Inconsistent Coloring: For some reason, his black hair is incorrectly colored as dark brown in some scenes in Yakuza 0.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's become extremely smug and cocky in the ten years Kiryu was gone, but he's always had an inferiority complex toward him that comes out hard when the two finally confront each other. Kiwami shows that his entire career after Dojima's death consists of people constantly comparing him to Kiryu.
  • Still present to a less destructive extent in the prequel 0 where he carries himself with a smug, confident demeanor but proves to be emotionally vulnerable underneath all the bravado, calling himself useless if he doesn't have Kiryu on his side.
• Informed Flaw: The Tojo clan regards Nishiki as useless, even though his actions in "0" show that while not as strong as Kiryu he's still pretty good in a fight and is savvier when it comes to the Yakuza lifestyle. It's entirely possible that Kiryu's old-fashioned methods of rising up the ranks through sheer hard work and being an uncontested badass have garnered him more respect than the more subtle and indirect methods that Nishiki suggested to Kiryu back in Yakuza 0 though that doesn't explain everyone's insistence on Nishiki being "good-for-nothing". This can be ultimately be attributed to a case of being Overshadowed by Awesome and Nishiki's own insecurities hampering him than his own shortcomings.
• In the Back: Attempted in 0; he aims a gun behind Kiryu's head as part of his attempted Mercy Kill. Thankfully he never goes through with it, but it still takes a lot out of him emotionally.
• Irony:
  • In Yakuza 0, at the end he prevents Kiryu from beating Shibusawa to death, telling his friend that If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!. We all know how that turned out years later.
  • In Kiwami, everyone hyped Kiryu to no end for killing Dojima. It was an unforgivable act, but made such an impact in the Yakuza underworld. Nishiki hates that everyone hyped Kiryu for something he did, not Kiryu.
• I've Come Too Far: The second reason why he jumps Jumping Off the Slippery Slope in Yakuza 1 and Kiwami. He originally felt like he could redeem himself after killing Dojima. But after killing Matsushige, he realises that he already killed, his hands are soiled with blood and was never going to be redeemed. Once this realisation hits home, he stops holding back and will now stop at nothing to get to the top.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Applies to every person he personally kills to varying extents:
  • Murders Sohei Dojima for attempting to rape his friend Yumi. His cruelty in the prequel 0 makes it ever more cathartic
  • Lashes out and murders his subordinate Matsushige who's established himself as a greedy, disrespectful Hate Sink.
  • Angrily murders two of his unnamed subordinates for torturing and killing who they believe to be Mizuki Sawamura even though she's a complete civilian and he never ordered them to kill her.
  • Murders Kyohei Jingu for mortally wounding Yumi and to save Kiryu's life as well. Also Jingu's a complete Hate Sink who tries to have his ex-wife and own child murdered for the sake of protecting his political career.
  • While he doesn't personally kill him, in Online, he has the doctor who tricked him into thinking he could save his dying sister's life sold to the black market to be killed and harvested for organs.
• Kicked Upstairs: At first Nishiki is ecstatic to learn he'll be the patriarch of his own family, but it becomes clear that his subordinates have no faith in him as a leader and only see him as a lesser to what Kiryu could've been as a patriarch. Then Nishiki kills Matsushige and they had to get rid of that sentiment to save their own lives.
• Kubrick Stare: Throws these akin to Anakin Skywalker in every cinematic he appears in, making him look more sinister.
• The Lancer: To Kiryu in 0. He tries to stop his oath brother from throwing his career as a yakuza away to save Kazama's reputation, and later to save him from the wrath of Dojima's lieutenants.
• Legendary Carp: His tattoo is of a Nishiki Koi fish swimming in the river. Like the legend, Nishikiyama is fighting an upstream battle to become a dragon himself, to be something better than his former friend Kazuma Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima. As an Actor Allusion, Ichiban Kasuga's tattoo is a "dragonfish" that has the potential but has yet to truly become the Dragon.
• Leitmotif: "For Who's Sake" in the original game. It gets remixed as "For Buddy" in 0, and once again for Kiwami, and his expy in Ishin gets yet another remix called "For Your Sake."
  • His clan in general is associated with the battle theme "Intelligence For Violence" which gets remixed as "Independence For Violence" in 3 and "Ideal For Violence" in Kiwami. Ishin adds another remix, "Innocence For Violence" which instead plays for his expy's earlier boss fights.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to Jingu. Some of the most evil and heinous things he does in the story still don't compare to what Jingu's done trying to kill his ex-wife and daughter for the sake of protecting his political career and laughing about it.
  • During his reunion with Kiryu he claims that he never intended for Mizuki to die and that his henchman accidentally killed her while torturing her for information. Nishiki even personally executes them for doing something so horrible to the sister of Yumi whom he still has feelings for.
  • He really does try to make a legitimate attempt to get Kiryu's help when they reunite at a bar. Understandably, Nishiki gets slugged in the face by Kiryu when he admits that he really did shoot their adoptive father Kazama. However Nishiki does comment on how badly his hands were shaking at the time and tries to defend himself by telling him that Kazama survived the shot, possibly implying that his own hesitation and uncertainty is the reason why Kazama isn't dead. Unfortunately, he proves this by revealing how he planted a bug on his own Lieutenant Shinji which only further disgusts Kiryu when he realizes how paranoid and untrusting Nishiki's become.
  • Even him ordering the death of Kiryu's friends and his own former friends Reina and Shinji, which seems like it'd be crossing the Moral Event Horizon, can be debated. Reina was The Mole for Nishiki and did try to betray and personally kill Nishiki himself first before Nishiki ever personally did anything to her. As for Shinji, Nishiki already knew that he was The Mole for Kazama and yet he never really targetted Shinji until he tried to save Reina right after she failed to kill Nishiki.
• Lightning Bruiser: By the time of Kiryu's final bout with him, he's definitely at the very least on par with Majima in terms of strength, speed, and endurance if not outright surpassing him.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Nishiki's hair falls up to his shoulders, and is certainly pretty compared to the more rugged and handsome Kiryu. Turns out he has a routine to maintain this style.
• Manly Tears: Starts crying as he angrily explains his motivations behind apparently turning on Kiryu at gunpoint and attempting a Mercy Kill in 0.
  • Then he starts the waterworks again when he realizes that the doctor who was treating his dying sister ran out of town after using money he made to have the doctor save her to pay off his debts.
• Mask of Sanity: Tries to put on airs as a suave yet ruthless kingpin in the first game but it becomes clear later on suffering from a massive inferiority complex towards Kiryu who's both praised more than him and has the attention of the love of his life which combined with his Control Freak and Properly Paranoid tendencies lends itself to some rather unstable behavior. The finale does much to confirm what an emotional mess he is and his inability to properly resolve any of it in the 10 years that have passed since Kiryu went to prison.
• Meaningful Name: The "Nishiki" "錦" in "Nishikiyama" "錦山" composes the first kanji of the word "Nishikigoi" "錦鯉" which is the name of the fish on his tattoo. The "yama" in his name also means "mountain", so his entire name is a reference to the carp ascending the mountainous waterfall.
• Mercy Kill: Attempts to shoot Kiryu in the head in 0 as a way to spare Kiryu the torture he'd suffer if the Dojima Family catches him. Ultimately subverted as he couldn't go through with it.
• Mirror Boss: His fighting style as the final boss of the first game bears similarities to Kiryu's own being that of a refined street fighter with a mix of powerful yet swift swings and carefully executed round house kicks. The same holds true for his updated fighting style in the Kiwami remake with it's greater emphasis on certain karate techniques reflecting Kiryu's own updated fighting style utilizing more than just merely street brawling tactics. Notably said remake also gives him a unique combo that ends with two consecutive kicks, one a round house kick and the other a wheel kick, much like Kiryu's own 5 hit combo finisher with his classic Dragon style though Nishiki leads and ends the two kicks with the opposite feet.
• Morality Chain: Kiryu, Yumi, and his sister collectively acted as his. When Kiryu went to jail for Nishiki's crimes, Yumi went missing, and finally his sister died, he dedicated himself to regaining control of his life and gaining power, wealth, and prestige by any means necessary, no matter how immoral.
• Murder Makes You Crazy: Definitely gets a lot more high-strung after he first murders Sohei Dojima in cold blood for daring to force himself on Yumi. After a long series of failures and tragedies that ends with him utterly alone and on the verge of committing Seppuku, he angrily murders his most disrespectful underling who won't stop mocking him even as he mourns the death of his sister. From that point onward, he dedicates himself to clawing his way up the yakuza hierarchy no matter how many fellow yakuza he has to betray and/or kill.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He suffers a really big one after shooting Dojima, realizing this could spell the end for him as a yakuza, and it only gets worse once Kiryu takes the fall for him. He also stands shaking and remorseful after slapping Reina.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: One of his heat moves he can use on Kiryu if he knocks him to the ground is to perform the "Essence of Wreckage", beating Kiryu's face to a pulp.
• No-Respect Guy: Is treated as such in the flashback segments. He's disrespected by his own men, is constantly being compared to Kiryu and is looked down upon by people like Shimano. Completely averted in the first game where his men display complete loyalty under pain of death.
• "Not So Different" Remark: At the end of a story arc in Online focusing on Masayoshi Tanimura, Nishiki notes that a man who draws their own lines in the sand and lives by their own personal code even if it means putting their own life at stake is more like a yakuza than a proper detective and officer of the law.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Despite taking place after his Face–Heel Turn in Online, it's not hard to sympathize with hunting down the doctor, who lied to him and took advantage of him for money simply to pay off his own massive gambling debts, ignoring his pleas to save his dying sister. He's still a debt-ridden, gambling scum when Nishiki finds him, gambling heavily at an illegal casino and racking up massive debt with the Triads running it.
• Perpetual Smiler: Mostly in the original PS2 version of the first game in which he had smug grin on his face in nearly every scene he's in with the notable exception of when he angrily shot his henchmen to death for accidentally killing Mizuki, the sister of Yumi. Subverted in the Kiwami remake. He still has a rather smug smirk for several scenes but during his final confrontation with Kiryu and Yumi's attempt to get through to him with words, his face is much less cheerful, better portraying how truly miserable and bitter he is on the inside.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: The new flashbacks in Kiwami have his new underling Matsushige accuse Nishiki of this sort of behavior claiming its the only reason he managed to rise up through the Tojo Clan's ranks and get his own family despite lacking the prestige that someone like Kiryu commands. Considering Nishiki's advice to Kiryu in Yakuza 0 partially involved getting in the good graces of the higher-ups indirectly and forming strong connections rather than through hard work, not to mention his inability to contest Matsushige's accusations, it might not be an inaccurate statement.
• Properly Paranoid: At one point he says that after betraying Kiryu he decided he couldn't trust anyone, justifying how he had put a bug on his lieutenant Shinji to keep track of his interactions with Kazama and Kiryu, knowing that he's Kazama's Mole in the Nishikiyama Family. He also knew about Jingu using him as a (supposedly) Unwitting Pawn all along; he was spying on all of his own supposed allies the whole time. When he reveals this to Kiryu he reiterates that he doesn't trust anyone.
  • It's possible that his mistrust for others stems from Shimano's claims that his adoptive father Kazama had set him up to fail as a Family Patriarch for Kiryu's benefit as well as the fact that the doctor caring for his dying sister exploited Nishiki's trust for money and then abandoned his sister to her fate.
• Redemption Equals Death: After he's beaten, he protects Kiryu by stabbing a trigger happy Jingu with a knife, taking a bullet to the abdomen in the process. He then detonates the bomb covering the ten billion yen, saying that he has a responsibility to do so despite knowing it will kill him. From 2 onwards, Kiryu's decided to remember Nishiki as a true friend to the bitter end.
• Red Is Heroic: Considerably more heroic in the 80's when he rocked a maroon suit rather than the white suits he'd be wearing later in life.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Early on, he's the blue to Kiryu's red, being more reasonable and less of an impulsive hothead but it switches by the events of the first game.
  • Frankly, the two already showed signs of switching roles around the time Nishiki tries and fails to perform a Mercy Kill on Kiryu with Nishiki turned into a crying mess while Kiryu tries to keep him safe by coldly cutting ties with him. In his later scenes, he continues to be rather emotional and high-strung while Kiryu gradually hardens into the coolheaded yet wise badass we've come to know and love.
• Sad Battle Music: "For Who's Sake" begins the ongoing trend of the Yakuza series having a slower, somber battle theme for fighting some form of Tragic Villain, with an emphasis on a recurring melancholy acoustic guitar riff that's present in nearly every remix of the song except for the more cheerful and heroic "For Buddy" fittingly enough. It really emphasizes the tragedy of former Sworn Brothers to the end having to brutally fight it out to resolve their conflict once and for all, especially in Kiwami which is especially dramatic to reflect how much more we know of what a better person Nishiki used to be years earlier in 0 and the harsh experiences in the new Kiwami flashbacks that shaped him into the ruthless criminal kingpin he is today.
  • "For Your Sake" from Ishin is a more intense, rock-centric take on the song fitting for the fierce sword fights Ryoma has with his rival, Okada whom Ryoma has less of a personal connection compared to Kiryu and Nishiki though it's still oddly melancholy which might be due to Okada's earnest desire to be seen as Takechi's brother even though Takechi only ever saw Ryoma as his brother, setting up the rivalry between Ryoma and Okada.
  • Averted for the aforementioned 0 version, "For Buddy" which is a more upbeat Triumphant Reprise befitting of the more heroic late 80's Nishiki long before his Start of Darkness and facing off against Majima to for the sake of "his buddy" Kiryu.
  • The remix of the song for Kiwami is especially dramatic with added bells, strings, and horns that especially emphasize the tragedy of the former brothers that only know one way to put their conflict with one another to rest.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In 0; rather than leave Kiryu to face the wrath of the Dojima family alone for aiding Tachibana, he instead teams up with his sworn brother to stop the family from claiming the empty lot. This all occurs after Kiryu not only tries severing ties between the two, but Nishiki attempts a Mercy Kill on him so that he wouldn't need to suffer from his betrayal of the family.
• Sequential Boss: He's fought right after Kyohei Jingu.
• Shadow Archetype: After slicking back his hair and wearing an entirely white suit, he physically resembles Kiryu more especially in the art style of the original PS2 game and even his reputation as The Dreaded patriarch of the treacherous Nishikiyama Family is comparable to Kiryu's own as the unmatched Dragon of Dojima. However, Nishiki is stubbornly hell-bent on pursuing power for his own sake unlike Kiryu who stubbornly fights only for the sake of others and especially his friends and family. In the end, they find themselves unable to come to an understanding over just how differently their paths have diverged in the time that's passed. The only thing they can agree on is that their conflict must come to an end.
• Skyward Scream: One dramatic scene in Yakuza 0 ends with him doing this. In Kiwami, he, feeling humiliated and defeated, has another one after the doctor who was supposed to treat his sister left town with all the money, resulting in his sister's death.
• Small Role, Big Impact: For the franchise as a whole. He only appears in two games, one of them a prequel, out of eight. However, he shaped Kiryu's personality like no other antagonist has - and in most games Kiryu has some sort of quote or missable Easter Egg referencing Nishiki.
• Smug Smiler: He's always been prone to smug, confident smirks as far back as the late 80's though it's definitely gotten worse after his Face–Heel Turn. Even the very last face he offers to Kiryu is one of these.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: After Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, his voice becomes smoother even if he became more ruthless.
• Starter Villain: Not in the scope of the first game, but he is the first major antagonist and Final Boss of the franchise.
• Start of Darkness: The night he killed Dojima and the events that followed gradually changed him for the worse, until a decade later when he's fully become a ruthless megalomaniac.
• Sympathetic Murderer: Considering how much of a bastard his boss, Sohei Dojima was and the fact that he was trying to rape Yumi, one can hardly blame Nishiki for doing what he did in that no-win situation. His second murder counts too as the victim was an abusive asshole who callously disrespected him at every turn and continued to condescend to him while he was mourning his sister. Sadly, he becomes less sympathetic following his Start of Darkness...
• Tattooed Crook: A nishiki carp, in contrast to Kiryu's dragon. It's also meaningful if one hears about the story that if a carp reaches high enough in a waterfall, it will become a dragon, which fits Nishiki's ambition to reach the top of the Tojo Clan and surpass Kiryu.
• Tell Me How You Fight: His fighting style in Kiwami borrows certain karate-based moves and techniques from other characters with strong ties to his adoptive father Shintaro Kazama like his brother Joji Kazama from 3 or the Kazama Family Captain Osamu Kashiwagi in 0.
• These Hands Have Killed: He has a moment like this after murdering Matsushige where he looks at his bloodied hands and deciding that he doesn't mind killing. He even uses Matsushige's blood to slick back his hair into the hairstyle he sports in the present.
• Took a Level in Badass: From being unable to command the respect of his own men and forced to literally bow to them, to becoming the head of one of the most powerful families of his time and having his men bow to him instead. Unfortunately, he Took a Level in Jerkass as well.
  • In terms of fighting skill, in the late 80's he was a pretty decent fighter but not on Kiryu's level. Following the latter's imprisonment, Kiryu is told by Utabori that he'll lose to Nishiki unless he grows stronger. Sure enough, when they finally do fight, compared to back when he lost to a fairly battered Majima, this time, Nishiki was able to go toe-to-toe with Kiryu when Kiryu only had took a single bullet wound to the shoulder, almost evenly matching him blow-to-blow in the QTE of his boss fight, and among the very few who can claim to have worn out and visibly damaged Kiryu. Nishiki's bio in Yakuza 2 even describes him as being Kiryu's equal.
• Tragic Bromance: As shown in 0, they were truly like brothers willing to risk heaven and hell for one another. While the events of the first game see their relationship fall apart spectacularly, Kiryu still sees Nishiki's last moments as lasting proof of their bond. The influence of his actions are felt far beyond his death while Kiryu's never stopped remembering him as his brother and closest friend ever since.
• Tragic Villain: Underneath his smug demeanor and lust for power is a bitter, miserable, lonely man who thinks becoming the Tojo's next chairman, proving himself superior to Kiryu, and gaining the love of Yumi will make all of his tragedies worthwhile and justify all the terrible things he's done. Kiryu himself wonders if things would have turned out differently if he hadn't tried to shoulder the blame for Nishiki murdering Sohei Dojima to protect Yumi. The new flashbacks in the Kiwami remake in particular frame him as a victim of cruel circumstance desperate to assert some control over his life after it gradually spiraled out of control.
• Triumphant Reprise: His battle theme in 0 is a significantly more upbeat and hopeful version of the same tune from 1/Kiwami, since it takes place well before his Start of Darkness.
• Undying Loyalty: To Kiryu in Yakuza 0; he'd rather die than let Kiryu be harmed or used by others like the Dojima Family and Majima (or so he thought). After that, well ...
• The Unfavorite: Shimano implies that Kazama only made him patriarch in order to try and get Kiryu back as no one found any use for Nishiki. There isn't enough cutscenes with Kazama and Nishiki or explanation as to why Kazama didn't help with Nishiki's sister to really refute that though some in-game flavor text defies that, stating that Kazama had already invested a lot of money towards her treatment in the hospital. Not to mention, it's not like giving more money towards helping Nishiki pay the shady doctor would have helped since he ended up being a complete fraud, swindling Nishiki for money.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Jingu, who only used Nishiki as means to plunge the Tojo Clan into civil war. However, Nishiki revealed that he was aware that Jingu was only using him, and never trusted him from the start which made Nishiki abandon him.
• Villain in a White Suit: In the first game as a major antagonist.
• Villainous Breakdown: Gets two of these.
  • One flashback where he finds two of his subordinates who had inadvertently killed the fake Mizuki and completely lost it, killing both of them and emptying his whole clip on one of them.
  • After Kyohei Jingu has been defeated, he appears before Kiryu and Yumi, where his inferiority complex and envy toward Kiryu come to light, and reveals that he learned never to trust anyone since the incident ten years prior, not even Jingu. When he claims he'll use the ten billion yen to take over the Tojo Clan, win Yumi and finally be in control of his life, Yumi tries to snap him out of his delusion.
    Yumi: What good will that do? Changing your fate that way won't make you happy. You're just running from things you don't want to face. If you really want to change your fate, doesn't that mean you have to accept the suffering...And in spite of that, face it head on instead of running away? Just like Kazuma and Haruka!
    Nishikiyama: SHUT UP! Why can't you acknowledge what I've achieved?!
• Villainous Legacy:
  • Even after his death, his clan continues to plague Kiryu as recurring antagonists for quite some time. While Koji Shindo and Tsuyoshi Kanda are the most prominent examples, being his successors as the clan's chairmen, it's touched upon how Yoshitaka Mine had also joined the Tojo under the Nishikiyama Family name before later striking out on his own and forming the Hakuho Clan, eventually becoming a major antagonist in 3 and even ending up as the Final Boss too. He's even somewhat similar to Nishiki playing the role of an Evil Counterpart to Kiryu, growing up as an orphan, and having rough experiences in life that turned them into unstrusting, overly ambitious, power-seeking monsters.
  • A more positive one can be found in his last act of redemption where he blows up the 10 billion yen and sends what's left of it scattering in the wind. The money that fell on Kamurocho's streets allowed a homeless Akiyama to turn his life around and establish Sky Finance. Akiyama would not only help countless people through his loan sharking business but also become one of Kiryu's most trustworthy allies.
• Villainous Rescue: He stabs and kills Jingu before the politician can finish off Kiryu, taking the bullets instead. Kiryu generally looks back on the moment as a Big Damn Heroes Moment despite how Nishiki was still not exactly mentally stable at the time and detonating the bomb so close to Kiryu and Haruka had a chance of injuring them too.
• Villain Respect: Played With. In the conclusion to a storyline starring Masayoshi Tanimura and Nishiki, the two of them have successfully cut a rival yakuza family's connections to a Dirty Cop and found everything they needed to expose all their covered up crimes and have them all arrested. However, Nishiki's true goal wasn't merely taking out a much weaker rival family, but to track down and personally eliminate the Dirty Cop that allowed said rival family to rise to power. Tanimura had already personally promised the Dirty Cop intimidated into performing his crimes that he'd keep it all a secret and protect him. Once Nishiki has Tanimura surrounded by armed henchmen, Tanimura responds that he won't compromise his own personal justice and pride as a detective even if it kills him. Nishiki ultimately lets him go out of respect for his resolve as well as so that Tanimura can arrest the rival yakuza. What muddles it a bit is that Nishiki then tasks Koji Shindo with trailing Tanimura for the sake of determining the Dirty Cop on his own. He also remarks upon how interesting Tanimura is and how a Cowboy Cop that lives and dies by his own personal code would make for a better yakuza.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Kiryu as shown in 0. They roast each other on everything from food to clothes but they always had each other's backs and were unstoppable when fighting side-by-side.
• We Used to Be Friends: He used to be Kiryu's best friend and brother-in-arms, but by the time Kiryu gets out of prison, Nishiki has undergone his Start of Darkness and has not only turned rather bitter and angry, but he has also allowed his latent jealously of Kiryu to get the better of him, causing him to turn against his old friend.
  Nishikiyama: Just so you know... I did hope we could work together like we did in the old days. But... from here on out you're no brother of mine.
• Would Hit a Girl: In one of the new scenes in Kiwami, Reina freaks out after hearing about about the whole mess with Yumi, Kiryu, and Dojima and calls him out for failing to protect Yumi, and thinking she considers him useless, Nishiki lets anger get the better of him and strikes her down with a slap. For an additional gut-punch, his slap was so powerful that it ended up bruising her face.
• Wrestler in All of Us:
  • In his fight in the original game, one of his moves from a grapple is a vertical suplex.
  • In Yakuza 0, one team-up move alongside Kiryu involves Nishiki performing a sitout powerbomb while Kiryu stomps the opponent's face.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He's quick to figure that Kiryu is utterly hosed when shit hits the fan in Yakuza 0, and nearly shoots him as a Mercy Kill thinking they have absolutely no way to stand up against the entirety of the Tojo Clan breathing down their necks. That would be true in a real-life scenario and fits Nishiki's more pragmatic ways, but this is Kiryu we're talking about here - and it turns out that Kiryu's way, even if needing a fair amount of external aid, was the right way after all.

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