These are the characters that debuted in the fifth game of the Like a Dragon series.

For Kazuma Kiryu, see his page.
For Goro Majima, see his page.
For Haruka Sawamura, Taiga Saejima and Shun Akiyama, see their entries on the Character Index page.

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New Playable Character

Tatsuo Shinada

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa

"My story isn't yours to write."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinada.jpg

Shinada as he appears in Yakuza 5.

One of the new playable characters who only appears in Yakuza 5. Shinada is an infamous baseball player who only had one at-bat. That at-bat ended up getting him banned from playing baseball due to accusations of stealing signs from the opposing team, the Gigants. Fifteen years later, he's an adult entertainment writer for a newspaper, is dirt poor and indebted to several people, and is too lazy to find a real job. His luck changes when he's approached by a Mysterious Backer to learn the truth behind his expulsion from the game, a backer who turns out to be his old friend from high school, and a member of the yakuza.

The Ace: A lot of baseball players see him as such. He more than lives up to it, not just as a professionally trained fence swinger, but in terms of just how encompassing his knowledge of the sport and its history is.
Action Survivor: Other playable combatants so far and since have been Yakuza, a loan shark, and a cop. In other words, experienced street fighters with an intimate understanding of the criminal underworld. Compared to every other protagonist, Tatsuo's unarmed fighting style is simple and unpolished, while his interactions show he can be uncomfortable and a bit naive about some of the danger and darkness that other characters take in stride. But, being a Yakuza game, Shinada still solves a grand conspiracy, taking on countless thugs along the way, and even goes toe to toe with an Amon like the rest of the heroes. And the fact that he does most of this all by himself still technically puts him above Ichiban Kasuga and his friends.
Actor Allusion: Much like Shinada, Toshiyuki Morikawa was actually a star athlete in baseball before injuries led him to take up acting and still an enthusiastic fan of his local team.
Arc Hero: Does not show up again after 5, barring his role in Online.
Batter Up!: A rather complicated case, he actually detests this trope as baseball is rather sacred to him to the point that he prefers not to use baseball bats as weapons; picking one up during a street fight has him look at it fondly before putting it back down. However, using baseball swings and baseball bat-esque blunt weapons are fair game for him. Tellingly, some of his character cards in Online has him swing a street flag exactly like a baseball bat.
Berserk Button:
- He really doesn't take it well when people attempt to manipulate him. Also punched the hell out of Daigo for trying to use his yakuza connections to fix Shinada's life, when Shinada would rather be more involved and resolve his own problems personally without any help from yakuza that caused all his problems in the first place.
- Mistreating or taking advantage of women is also a good way to end up in the hospital.
- Baseball is sacred to Shinada. Disrespecting the game with fixing, cheating or even mistreating equipment (read: using them as a weapon) is unacceptable. Attempting to pick up a baseball bat to use as a weapon will result in him looking at it for a moment before gently putting it back down.
Book Dumb: Admits he wasn't a great student, but when it comes to baseball he's a walking encyclopedia. Furthermore he's able to come to some surprising deductive conclusions during his investigation into the Nagoya Family. He even manages to correctly deduce the perfect spot from which a sniper would try to take out Haruka during her concert at the Japan Dome utilizing his knowledge of the design of the dome from his knowledge of the baseball games played there.
Busman's Vocabulary: Downplayed but he sometimes tosses around baseball-related analogies and metaphors in a few situations far removed from the context of baseball.
Butt-Monkey: The guy's surrounded by all kinds of misfortune and can't seem to get a break. Granted, a lot of it is self-inflicted.
Continuity Cameo: In Yakuza Online, Shinada makes a brief appearance during an arc set two years after his fall from grace, with him angrily telling Ryuji Goda to stop making noise in street battles as it's keeping the homeless people (himself included) awake.
Charles Atlas Superpower: It's likely his ability to keep up with the occasional superhuman antics of the other protagonists is less due to engaging in frequent street fights like they do and more due to the intense physical training he's been engaging in daily for the last 15 years to ensure he'll always be in the best possible shape for hitting home runs, long after his baseball career died.
Childhood Friend: Subverted with regards to Daigo Dojima. Daigo looked up to Tatsuo as an unlikely yet inspiring baseball player in high school, and even got himself expelled singlehandedly defending the team from a gang of violent punks from a rival school. Tatsuo just regarded Daigo as a classmate and didn't even know he was the one behind that stunt. That said, he's still able to recognize Daigo's face after so many years had passed. By the time they agree to leave for Tokyo together, Shinada's happy to call Daigo an old friend from highschool when speaking to Sawada and later Watase.
Chivalrous Pervert: He definitely likes the ladies and is all too happy to explain why, but he's also plenty respectful of them and doesn't take kindly to anyone trying to take advantage of them.
- It's also justified by the fact that he's a "Nightlife Entertainment Journalist" so it's literally his job to be good at describing in vivid detail how attractive and appealing sex workers are. It's to the point where local barkers will thank him for his magazine reviews getting their co-workers more customers. Still, he only gets perverted about women when speaking to close friends, co-workers, and associates well aware of his occupation like Uno-san or the owner of the Futo Momo brothel. Otherwise he's pretty down-to-earth and sensible even when directly speaking to a woman that he's into.
Classical Anti-Hero: The biggest loser and least confident fighter of the playable cast by a pretty wide margin. Nearly all of his friends and neighbors look down on him for his laziness and he's so downtrodden and bitter about his past that he's the only protagonist that tries multiple time to bail on getting involved with the main plot's conspiracy even though it would bring closure to his unfortunate history and he's literally being paid to look into it. It's only after he learns and accepts the truth that he stops trying to run away from his past and actively tries to stand up for himself and his beliefs.
Counter-Attack: "My Flowing Counter" is a unique parry that lets him immediately grapple an attacking enemy by the back of their head. It doesn't actually do damage on its own, but considering that it is Shinada's final Tech upgrade before having a breakthrough with Komaki training, he should have plenty of options to dish out some damage while grapple an enemy.
Cowardly Lion: He's a natural brawler and is built like a Greek god, but this guy is terrified of his loanshark and lets half of the town pick on him. At one point, he even lets himself get roughed up by a pair of baseball fans when he gets too passionate over defending Coach Fujita from their insults. He doesn't want any trouble and actively avoids confrontation, but back him into a corner, mistreat women, or disrespect baseball, and you're in for a world of hurt.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Aside from being a Lazy Bum, he comes off as quite dense on things that don't involve baseball. But he can also unload a can of whoop-ass on anyone that picks a fight with him.
Deadpan Snarker: By far the snarkiest of the playable characters in Yakuza 5, and overall one of the biggest wise-asses alongside Ichiban.
Drunken Master: His very first Tech upgrade is "Boozer's Lore" which boosts his attack power when he's drunk.
Fall Guy: He was setup to take the fall for Fujita, his baseball trainer, who was involved in the gambling scandal.
Five Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine. He's a very easy-going kind of guy who's passionate about anything pertaining to baseball, but as mentioned on the rest of the entries on this page, he's Brilliant, but Lazy on his best days.
Foe-Tossing Charge: His signature unarmed combat skill is his "My Meteor Tackle", which lets him rush into a staggered enemy, grab them and then charge around while still holding said enemy to knock other enemies to the ground. Bosses tend to be able to perform a reversal on this technique so you should either avoid using it on them or simply make sure to not spend too much time using the tackle on them. Slamming them into a wall, tossing them away mid-tackle, or using the Essence of Heaving heat move on them are ways to avoid the boss' reversal.
Frame-Up: Framed for match-fixing and sign stealing to ensure the Tojo and Omi dealing in illegal baseball betting would get the hell out of Nagoya, installing a long period of peace without Omi and Tojo duking it out in the streets.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Shinada being the relatively weakest and least skilled fighter of the combat-oriented characters matches well with him being the only real civilian of the bunch, lacking the history of constant street fights and violence that the other Kamurocho denizens have.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Shinada is terrible with money, blowing what little he makes on girls and booze. He scrapes by as a half-starved magazine reporter with a hefty debt to a loanshark, plenty of money owed to his best friend and a long tab at a local eatery, not to mention an overdue rent payment for his extremely shabby home. Yet in his shoes, you can make yourself astronomical amounts of money simply by fighting thugs, selling loot, running errands and even racing chickens. No matter what you have in your wallet, Shinada always claims to be too broke to even pay for a kid to play at the batting cage.
- In an obscure but still significant instance, Shinada as an A.I.-controlled ally while walking around Kamurocho as Akiyama has no issues picking up a baseball bat that a Random Encounter mook may randomly carry and then using it as a weapon or simply chucking it at enemies. This is despite the fact that Shinada earnestly believes that baseball bats shouldn't be used as weapons and thus cannot be utilized when he's actually playable. Only carefully picked up to admire wistfully before gently placed back on the ground. Doubles as an example of an Averted instance of Developer's Foresight since it's clear that the developers clearly never considered A.I. ally Shinada ever seeing a baseball bat. None of the scripted fights ally Shinada can appear in have mooks with baseball bats.
Glass Cannon: While arguably not quite to the same extent as Tanimura from the previous game, he has the lowest maximum health of the protagonists with fighting ability in 5 and can more or less dish out just about as much pain as any Yakuza protagonist. Notably, he can learn to use Kiryu's "Hell's Gauntlet" from 3 as a normal Heat Action after learning "Essence of Armbarring" from the Heat section of upgrades. It's just as thoroughly brutal and devastating as ever.
- Uniquely, Shinada can chain together 3 different Heat Actions together into one nasty combo: In order it's the "Essence of Iron Grip" heat action which grabs a fallen enemy off the ground and chucks them into a nearby wall, then the "Essence of Wall Plastering" heat action which can be used against an enemy falling after hitting a wall pinning them flat against it instead, and finally the "Essence of Wall Pummel" heat action used on enemies pinned against a wall.
- His special affinity for weaponry also gives him some powerful options. Notably, his unique series of Heat Actions "Essence of Weapon Draw" are a quick and easy way to take out enemies with ease as long as you make sure to to keep weapons on hand. It sure is convenient that every unique unbreakable weapon he can acquire can also be used for the aforementioned series of Heat Actions.
Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Upon The Reveal that most of his friends and acquaintences in Kiniecho are willing members of the Nagoya Family, he's in complete denial believing that they're Forced into Evil instead of Necessarily Evil themself.
Goroawase Number: The first two syllables of his name (Shi-na-da) spells out his jersey number, 47.
The Grappler: The closest playable character the series has to one, functionally speaking. His unarmed combat abilities probably rely more on grappling and clinch-fighting enemies than any other Yakuza protagonist. He can grapple after every combo finisher with the "My Explosive Finish", he can uniquely grab fallen enemies by head and force them into a standing grapple with "My Forcible Ascension" (Kiryu's and Saejima's variant simply stands enemies up), he can uniquely cancel combos via grapples with "My Speed-of-Light Catch", and his only Counter-Attack "My Flowing Counter" uniquely puts him into a grapple instead of dealing any damage on its own. Two of his heat actions also uniquely end with putting an enemy into a grapple: "Essence of Knee Slam", which is used when grappling a foe from behind, and "Essence of the Shachihoko", which is used on an ememy while they're lying on the floor. By training with Ayanokoji he can uniquely throw an enemy with a grapple and immediately grapple them again through "My Snapping Turtle" and he can also grab enemies mid quickdash after learning "My Afterimage". Even his signature move "My Meteor Tackle" involves grabbing an enemy in a rushing charge, damaging anyone else that gets in the way. It also helps that he can perform "My Meteor Tackle" from a grapple.
Hand Behind Head: Often does this with both hands in a laid back manner.
Hairstyle Inertia: The scruffy neck-length hair he has now is identical to how it looked 15 years ago as a professional baseball player.
Healing Factor: Aside from Kiryu, he's the only other playable character in 5 that can learn "Ashura Spirit" from the Soul section of his upgrades, allowing him to use up Heat to heal himself if he's at critical health.
He Knows Too Much: The very moment he looks into the scandal from 15 years ago, everyone and everything around him is out to kill him. None of the others have ever had QTEs popping up simply by walking around town!
Heroic BSoD: Hits this after discovering that his very own coach Fujita is trying to have him killed, and that everyone he considers a friend is part of the Nagoya Family. He's so hurt that he decides he'd be better off skipping town and starting anew instead of looking any further into the truth. Thankfully Takasugi is there to snap him out of it just in time for a Boss Fight.
Heroic Build: He might be lazy, but that sure as hell doesn't include his training regimen which consists of 5,000 swings, 1,000 sit ups, and 1,000 push-ups every day. And the work shows.
Honor Before Reason:
- Suffers it the most out of any character. After Daigo reveals himself and gives him the money he promised, Shinada absolutely refuses to accept money from criminals, even after Daigo tells him he won't be able to get back on his feet and pay off his loans without it. In the end, he gives all of the money to Takasugi, wanting him to spend the rest of the money to give his kids a good life (and Takasugi's not even married), which leaves Shinada next to nothing
- It's later revealed that he had some evidence to disprove any possibility of him sign-stealing that day when the location in the stadium a sign-stealing spy for his team was shown to be completely empty that night. However, he chose to keep quiet about it to prevent fans from learning more of the dark side of professional baseball and ruin their pure enjoyment of watching the sport effectively sacrificing his own dream to keep theirs alive.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: But since Takasugi didn't have family anyways, he considers the debt forgiven and repays the gratitude for helping everyone in Kineicho through the events and tells him that everyone in Kineicho misses him and more importantly, Milky is waiting for him for a bareback session for 3000 yen.
I Know Madden Kombat: Played with in that while he uses a lot of baseball-inspired moves in his combat style and specializes in weapons, he refuses to actually use baseball bats as weapons. If he gets his hands on one in a fight, he takes a moment to look at it nostalgically before setting it on the ground.
Improv Fu: He clearly doesn't have the combat experience the other Kamurocho yakuza-adjacent veterans have, leading to his fighting style being somewhere between this and Good Old Fisticuffs with an emphasis on clinch-fighting like grapples. There's a reason why so many of his skills are prefaced with "My". It's also telling that you're encouraged to rely more on weapons when playing as him and even then it's clear that he doesn't have proper form and is mostly coming up with weapon techniques based on his previous experience as a baseball player.
Jaded Washout: He's been undergoing rigorous training in the minor leagues for his baseball batting and fielding chops for four years, had a decent showing in the Nationwide Koshien Tournament for highschoolers, and would later pull of an incredible homerun on his very first professional at bat the moment he had a chance, with even the commentators noting how this could be the start of a living baseball legend. Cut to 15 years later and he now lives in a dingy little rooftop hut of an apartment room, owes money to multiple "friends" and a loanshark, and is barely making ends meet as a "Nightlife Journalist". A big part of his character arc is coming to terms with what's happened in his life and finding the strength to confront it and move forward in life instead of ignoring it at every possible opportunity, even trying to skip town at a couple points.
Keet: He has his moments, being the loudest and most excitable of the playable protagonists in 5 though he's a lot more downtrodden than most examples.
Knight in Sour Armor: What happened 15 years ago has left him very bitter but it doesn't stop him from helping random people in need like other Yakuza protagonists.
Large Ham: He can get pretty loud and melodramatic compared to the other playable characters.
Lazy Bum: He's lazy, down on his luck, indebted to several people, doesn't bother to find a real job, and constantly misses deadlines with the simple one that he has. As some others point out, he only gets by from taking advantage of the goodwill of others.
Leitmotif: "What a FUNKTASTIC hit"
Likes Older Women: He likes all women, but he prefers Milky who's older than him.
"I say women are like a fine wine. They only get better with age."
Limit Break: His Climax HEAT attacks, which have a lot of improvisation with weapons and are less refined than his comrades':
- My Essence of Bashing: When equipped with a blunt, baseball bat-esque weapon, Shinada ricochets it several times off an enemy before swinging for the head.
- My Essence of Dragging: Shinada trips and enemy, grabs their legs, and drags them on the ground face-first.
- My Essence of Whirlwind: With a longer pole weapon, Shinada can spin it around like a tornado to launch enemies airborne before slamming down upon the nearest sucker.
Loser Protagonist: By Yakuza protagonist standards, he is the biggest loser of the lot yet, lazing about despite drowning in debt, mooching off of the generosity of others, disrespected by those he considers friends, kicking his chapter off with only 217 yen to his name, and being paid almost nothing for what work he manages to put in only for his loan shark to snatch up even that paltry amount. While his loser status is the source of several laughs, the circumstances that got him there to begin with and why he even stays in this situation are treated far more seriously.
Lovable Coward: Not a coward by average standards, but in a franchise full of veteran street fighters and hardened criminals he's the only one who's actually afraid of shady characters like thugs, loansharks and Yakuza. That changes.
Meaningful Name: "Tatsuo" can mean "male dragon" which aside from tying to the Japanese name of the series, fits his past as a former baseball player for the Nagoya Wyverns. He's also a rather emotional and passionate man at times which fits the fiery connotations of dragons.
Motor Mouth: His excitable, energetic attitude lends itself to rather quick speech at times.
Multi-Melee Master: Starts with higher mastery than any of the other characters with most weapons. He also gets special weapons with infinite durability, Climax Heat moves using weapons, and has unique Heat actions for when he draws a weapon out.
Naïve Newcomer: Since Kineicho is supposedly free of the yakuza, he's not familiar with them or how they operate, and is clearly in over his head when his search for the truth behind the scandal that ruined his life puts him in conflict with the local Nagoya Family.
New Meat: He gets this treatment when the group is challenged by the Amon clan and fights in Tanimura's absence. He's anything but thrilled to fight against a clan of dangerous assassins, which Saejima in particular calls him out for, while Sango sees him as just another target to destroy.
Only Sane Man: Compared to the group of yakuza and yakuza-adjacent fighters he falls into due to the events of Yakuza 5. Shinada is a civilian sucked into yakuza matters, and he is constantly questioning his companions' willingness to take on impossible odds, or their obsession with stopping the conspiracy.
Overshadowed by Awesome: While he's certainly stronger than the average person, compared to the series' previous playable characters, barring Haruka, Shinada is by far the weakest. His lack of actual combat training, coupled with being more reliant on weapons than the others lead to him struggling in scenarios where the other heroes would barely break a sweat dealing with. He's legitimately nervous when a random thug pulls a knife on him, something that never worried any of the other fighting heroes, and views it as a necessity to have a weapon of his own to level the playing field. He's also barely able to defeat Baba at the end of the game, and nearly collapses in exhaustion after the fight. In contrast, neither Kiryu or Saejima, who fought Baba on seperate occasions, were even winded after defeating him. In addition, whenever the story has Shinada fight against a horde of enemies, he always has help from someone else, whereas the other heroes have frequently torn through large sizes of foes single-handedly.
Pipe Pain: Grabs a Sturdy Iron Pipe during an early tutorial to show off how much more proficient he is in using melee weapons compared to the other heroes.
Plucky Comic Relief: Almost every one of his faults and shortcomings are Played for Laughs throughout his story, and he patronizes his enemies like none other.
Post-Victory Collapse: Happens to him twice in the same chapter!
- After fighting Daigo prove his resolve in personally involving himself in the overarching criminal conspiracy, he falls to his back with an exhausted smile.
- Not much later, after teaming up with his rival Yuki Sawada to defeat all the Kuroha Family members surrounding them, the two of them fall to the backs at the same time, breathing heavily.
Put on a Bus: Lives in the fictional Kineicho district of Nagoya, Japan so after his already rather limited involvement in the main plot is resolved at the end of the game, he doesn't make any further appearances in the sequels that involve neither him nor said district.
Red Baron: The Unsung Genius.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Kiryu, Akiyama and Saejima's blue. He's a lot louder and vocally questioning about the crazy scenarios he ends up in compared to them.
Refusal of the Call: Reacts very negatively to Daigo's attempts to financially push him to investigate the circumstances involving his permanent suspension from professional baseball and even considers skipping town with Milky to get away from his crippling debt and Daigo's offer to alleviate it. However, when Milky ultimately turns him down while thanking him for the nice offer and telling him that everyone has to face reality, Shinada finally decides it's about time he confronted the past once and for all.
- Sorta inverted later after. After learning as much as he possibly can about the gritty details behind the scandal that ruined his life, Daigo thanks him for his services, pays him the money he's owed for performing the job and tells him that there's no reason to get involved any further. Daigo even offers to leverage Tojo Clan resources to help get Shinada re-instated as a professional baseball player. However Shinada refuses to let Daigo take care of things when it involves Shinada's own coach and isn't especially enthused about relying on yakuza to resolve his problems when it was yakuza that ruined his career in the first place. Knowing how dangerous the situation is, Shinada decides to prove his capabilities and challenges Daigo to try and stop him by force.
The Reveal: He remembers Daigo Dojima from high school. They were classmates and Daigo respected him enough to get expelled for his sake.
Paparazzi: Not normally, but a substory has him help out a fellow journalist with a hunt for a celebrity rumored to be a cheating scumbag. After snapping some choice photos of and successfully escaping, his co-worker comments on how much better he seems to be at working the tabloid side of magazines.
Tender Tears: After defeating Baba in the Japan Dome, Takasugi calls him telling him that he's earned a special service from Milky for a good discount as well as how much the locals of Kineicho miss him and are waiting for him to come home.
The Scapegoat: Was banned from professional baseball because he was accused of cheating. The team did cheat; he just never knew about it, which makes him very similar to the famous American baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson.
The Slacker: If it wasn't for the Mysterious Backer appearing before him and having Takasugi accept the job for him, he'd probably still be sleeping in and missing out on paying his debts.
Spanner in the Works: Kurosawa clearly wasn't expecting Shinada to interfere with his back-up plan to threaten Haruka's assassination to keep Kiryu's greatest allies in check. Subverted in that Baba was never plannning on shooting Haruka though it's still framed as Shinada ruining his scheme since he's the one who wordlessly mocks Kurosawa using the video chat feature on Baba's phone.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Masayoshi Tanimura as the designated Glass Cannon Grappler. He's also well versed in chaining attacks after combo-finishers though he follows them up with grapple attacks which are weaker than Tanimura's Heat Move follow-ups but can instead build up more heat while still dealing decent damage. His overall abilities also place more emphasis on weapons while Tanimura focuses more on unarmed parries.
Theme Naming: The vast majority of the names of his upgrades start with "My", even ones that aren't actually unique to him ironically enough. This all probably has to do with how little combat experience he personally has and how much he improvises his self-taught fighting technique
Token Good Teammate: For the Nagoya Wyverns. Sure he wasn't exactly the ONLY good person on the team and his teammates were effectively forced into it, but he was still the only one who wasn't involved in all the illegal cheating tactics like match-fixing and sign-stealing.
Weak, but Skilled: Played With.
- On one hand, he very clearly has no combat training nor that much fighting experience either. He simply exercises extensively every day to keep himself in peak condition. Thus, his unarmed combat skills are heavily reliant on improvisation and sheer brutality. Compared to the average thug, this makes him seem solidly Unskilled, but Strong.
- On the other hand, he's got a special affinity for weapons with the implication that his past experiences as a baseball batter helps him adapt better to most melee weapons, even starting off with higher weapon levels than the other playable fighters in 5. While this all is enough to let him clash with the sort of hard-hitting criminal heavyweights the other characters often face, it's still clear that he's the weakest of the fighters and is just managing to keep up through his improvised skills leading to this trope.
- Played Straight for his unique "Sturdy" weapons. They're not as strong as other weapons, but they can't be broken, allowing Shinada to almost have a Stance System.
What a Drag: His "Essence of Dragging" Climax Heat Action has him trip an enemy and grab 'em by the legs to drag their face across the ground.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's not seen in any games following 5, even though 6 features a flashback taking place directly after the last scene in 5 with Kiryu hospitalized and other previously playable characters Akiyama, Saejima, Majima, and Haruka present at the hospital he's in, making Shinada's complete absence all the more noticeable. At the very least he gets a mention by Kiryu during Infinite Wealth.
Wrestler in All of Us: Some of his Heat Actions involve wrestling techniques like snap DDT and a Boston crab.
You Are Not Alone: After his final boss fight against Shigeki Baba and seeing how much Baba's friends from prison care about him as a person, Shinada wistfully notes that he himself doesn't have much of a home or family like Baba does. Then Takasugi gives him a call, tells him that he plans to let Shinada keep all the money he supposedly owes him, and that after everything that's happened the people of Kiniecho are grateful to him for finally dealing with the Nagoya Family and that they eagerly await his return back home with Milky in particular offering a free session. It leaves Shinada a sobbing mess.

The Tojo Clan

Minoru Aoyama

Voiced by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

"It's pretty simple, as I see it. In the yakuza ocean, you either eat or be eaten."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoyamay5.jpg

Current chief of Tojo headquarters, and assistant to Daigo Dojima. A shrewd man who runs the Tojo Clan like a tight ship, eliminating any weaknesses. He has promoted newer families that pledge loyalty and produce results, while mercilessly cutting off senior families that cause scandals, and this severity has earned him criticism. Although he doesn't bring as much muscle to the table as the Majima Family, there's no doubt he's the real second in command of the Tojo Clan now. He planned to kill Daigo during negotiations with the Yamagasa family but Daigo caught on and went underground, but the truth is that he was ordered to bring Kiryu out of hiding.

Arc Villain: For Kiryu's part of the story at the beginning of 5.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Seems to be a major antagonist for a bit and aims to take over the Tojo Clan against the orders of his own boss but is quickly shown to be out of his depth when several unexpected factors cause his schemes to fall apart completely and leave him utterly at Kiryu's mercy.
Alas, Poor Villain: Very downplayed. His breakdown after suffering a beatdown from Kiryu is pretty pathetic and when he gets executed by his co-conspirator for almost revealing his master's name, Watase is the only one that seems distraught about it. Later, he even goes out of his way to visit the police morgue where Aoyama's body is interred so he can light some incense for him.
Ambition Is Evil: His original mission was to take out Daigo and Madarame in Fukuoka during their meeting, weakening the clan to make it easier for the Omi Alliance to dominate them. Personally taking over the Tojo Clan as Interim Chairman was only ever Aoyama's own selfish ambition which would explain why he comes into conflict with Morinaga and Aizawa who were ostensibly his allies.
Brains and Brawn: The Brains to Watase's Brawn.
Break the Haughty: Suffers a pretty painful and humiliating one at the hands of not just Kiryu but his own oath brother, Watase.
Boom, Headshot!: Killed by Morinaga before spilling the beans on who he was taking orders from.
Combat Pragmatist: Always resorts to weapons whenever he has to get his hands dirty using a knife on Madarame and a then pulling a gun to subdue Morinaga. Later he tries to pull a gun on Kiryu but Watase's not having it.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: When listening to Aizawa describe Aoyama, Kiryu compares his style of leadership to a ruthless Company owner, prioritizing money and loyalty and culling any yakuza who can't keep up with quotas or get involved in scandals, resulting in countless senior members getting the boot. It's for this reason that Aizawa takes an injured Morinaga to Kiryu's apartment rather than relying on Tojo Clan assistance. The two of them were already in hot water for Daigo's disappearance since they were tasked with being his bodyguards.
Crazy-Prepared: Had a feeling that a loose-cannon like Morinaga couldn't be trusted to handle a real gun or may even turn on him if he learned of Aoyama's plans so he gave him a gun filled with blanks.
Due to the Dead: After his death, Watase visits the police morgue where his body is interred and lights some incense for him despite there being almost no mutual respect between the two when he was alive. This primarily serves to show how much of a Noble Demon Watase is.
Emergency Weapon: While we never even see it on-screen, he apparently always keeps a knife on him. It proves useful to him when Madarame pulls a gun on him, rightly suspecting him of not having the best intentions in mind during their meeting. Considering Aoyama's distaste for brutality and lack of combat skills, he probably wouldn't use it otherwise.
Evil Sounds Deep: Has a relatively deep and authoritative voice suitable for his high position in the Tojo Clan's ranks.
Fatal Flaw: His pride in his own intelligence. While he is smart, to survive and succeed in the underworld you need to be both smart and strong, the latter of which Aoyama is sorely lacking as he's revealed to be a spineless coward when Kiryu tears through his thugs. Furthermore, he's not as smart as he thinks he is because his plans to get Daigo killed were too obvious, and he's just a pawn used by a far more experienced and intelligent mastermind.
Kiryu: Guile can only get you so far in this game.
Humiliation Conga: When Kiryu arrives to foil his plan to subjugate the Yamagasa Family and lure Daigo out of hiding, he attempts to mock Kiryu over once again attempting excessive force to solve all his problems only for Watase to slug him out mid-sentence and tell him to stop embarassing himself. Watase then formally accepts Kiryu's challenge on Aoyama's behalf, which Aoyama is forced to concede to since Watase technically outranks him as Captain of the Omi Alliance. When Kiryu succeeds in taking down all 100 of his Tojo underlings, he tries to finish Kiryu off at gunpoint but then Watase once again interrupts him, telling him how embarrasing it is to try and gun someone like Kiryu down and that this isn't how Watase wants to win against Kiryu before slugging him to the ground again. He then proceeds to get beaten within an inch of his life while displaying complete shock, terror, and confusion over Kiryu defying his reputation as a merciful man. He's left a sniveling mess, whining about how he never would have agreed to go with his master's plans if it meant this would happen to him causing Watase to once again yell about how disappointing of an Oath Brother he is. Finally, just before he can begin to describe to Watase who the mastermind really is, he's shot through the head and dies a pathetic death as a mere pawn to a greater scheme.
Killed Mid-Sentence: By Morinaga, as he was going to reveal his master's name.
Manipulative Bastard: He pins his own attempted murder on Madarame on Kiryu, Aizawa and Morinaga, leaving Yahata to think they were responsible.
Oh, Crap!: After Kiryu singlehandedly demolishes the Tojo Clan army he brought in to take down the Yamagasa Family.
Smug Snake: Very, very arrogant. He believes the authority he holds in the Tojo Clan makes him untouchable. Watase and Kiryu prove him wrong. Very, very wrong. Also, Daigo saw right through his plans and had put together measures to not only survive them but to go straight for the mastermind who's pulling his strings.
The Starscream: To Daigo. He wants to take his place.
The Unfought: Justified as even he's aware of how he doesn't have the the brawn or skills to go against Kiryu or any other figure of authority in the Tojo for that matter. When Kiryu finally has him cornered, he doesn't put up any resistance as Kiryu beats him down until he's afraid for his life.
Upper-Class Twit: Opposed to forming a truly equal alliance with the Yamagasa Family. He looks down on them, considering them beneath a yakuza family as powerful as the Tojo Clan. Has a bit of Might Makes Right mixed in to his perspective since he believes that it's only logical that the Tojo Clan swallows the Yamagasa Family whole in the cutthroat world of yakuza.
Villainous Breakdown: After Kiryu beats him within an inch of his life, he's nothing more than a sniveling mess.
Xanatos Gambit: He tries to get Daigo killed to take his place. When Daigo catches on and goes into hiding, he takes the leadership of the Tojo Clan as Acting Chairman anyway.

Yuu Morinaga (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi

"We're still yakuza. We're not above resorting to force. You should know that."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morinagay5.jpg

Bodyguard to Tojo Clan Chairman Daigo Dojima. Always cordial and willing to follow his orders to the letter, he carries out his duties together with Aizawa. He was held responsible for Daigo's disappearance after the talks with Madarame in Nagasugai and searched the area for him frantically with Aizawa, and seeks Kiryu's help in finding him.

For tropes on his new identity, go here.

Affably Evil: Always speaking in a polite, erudite manner even when making threats.
Big Guy, Little Guy: The Little Guy to Aizawa's Big Guy as he's noticeably on the shorter side compared to most other major characters.
Card-Carrying Villain: More pragmatic than most examples but still. When Kiryu questions his willingness to hurt a "mere civilian", Morinaga admits that it may not be his preferred methodology, a yakuza isn't above using violence to get what they want.
Combat Pragmatist: After he reveals himself to be an antagonist and had supposedly murdered Aizawa for learning too much about his plans, Kiryu rushes at him in a furious rage. Morinaga does try to yell at him to stop while pointing a gun at him but he ultimately shoots him in the leg incapacitating him. Following his boss' orders, it wasn't Kiryu's time to die then and there but he wasn't going take any chances on defeating him bare-handed, even if Kiryu was probably fatigued to some degree from the 100 Tojo Clan Yakuza he just beat down.
Decoy Antagonist: He's set up to be one of the game's major villains that lures Kiryu and the others to Tokyo, but gets taken out long before they arrive.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: When Kiryu and the others finally reach Tokyo and are ready to face him, he's already dead. At least initially.
Dual Boss: He's fought alongside Aizawa when Kiryu refuses to cooperate in their search for Daigo.
Evil All Along:Seems to be working for the Tojo Clan as Daigo's personal bodyguard but is quickly revealed to have his own nefarious agenda at the end of Kiryu's arc, killing off Aoyama before he reveals too much about their real boss' plans.
Extremity Extremist: Downplayed but he uses a lot of kicks when fighting.
Force and Finesse: The Finesse to Aizawa's Force. When they're fighting together, it's clear he has the more graceful, refined fighting style compared to his partner Aizawa. Conversely, he lacks the resistance to knockdowns that Aizawa always has. It rather suits their personalities as well.
Fragile Speedster: Compared to Aizawa he'll actually run after Kiryu instead of slowly approach him and uses quicker attacks as well. However, he lacks Aizawa's immunity to getting knocked down by stronger strikes like Kiryu's finishing blows.
Killed Offscreen: When Saejima reaches Kamurocho, Kage informs him where they can find Morinaga: the morgue. Later, Aizawa tells Kiryu that he was the one who killed him when he proved too much of a hassle to handle for his boss' plans. Gaiden implies that Morinaga actually survived this, in turn becoming the Daidoji agent Hanawa. Confirmed by Masayoshi Yokoyama that Morinaga and Hanawa are one in the same.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Realises they don't stand a chance against Kiryu and advises he and Aizawa just bail. Aizawa kills him for it.
Loophole Abuse: Tells Kiryu that he would never lay a hand on the Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan regardless of circumstances. However since Kiryu is insisting that he's just an ordinary civilian taxi driver named Taichi Suzuki, a pair of yakuza like Morinaga and Aizawa have free reign to rough up such a civilian if that's what it takes to get the answers they seek. Since this is Kiryu we're talking about, it doesn't end very well for them.
Not Quite Dead: Gaiden heavily implies that he is actually the Daidoji agent Hanawa, having somehow managed to survive his apparent death. A fact that was confirmed by series' lead writer Yokoyama as mentioned above.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm, logical blue to Aizawa's loud, passionate red.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: In the English localization at least. While not excessively so, he's certainly pretty eloquent with his words especially compared to most yakuza.
Shorter Means Smarter: Noticeably shorter than his junior associate Aizawa and is the more logical and analytical of the two.
The Mole: He is part of the Omi Alliance and is actually infiltrating the Tojo clan.
Pet the Dog: Turns out he lied to Kiryu about killing Aizawa and even left him a note telling him to simply "Get away. Go back to Tokyo." If Aizawa wasn't lying about the note with the reveal that he works for Kurosawa, this would go along with how Morinaga had apparently told Aizawa at some point that he should give up on being a yakuza and walk away from the whole thing because they'll never win against Kiryu. Based on the way Aizawa describes him as agreeing with him about the poor state of the Tojo Clan under Daigo, the way he's always been helpful to him, it can be inferred that on some level he actually cares about Aizawa's well-being as his Sworn Brother. Makes it almost sad that Aizawa calls him a fool and personally killed him when he got in the way of their plans.
Those Two Guys: With Aizawa.
Unexplained Recovery: He gets shot multiple times by Aoyama with bloodshed and all. But a couple of days after that, he shows up at the battle between the Tojo Clan and the Yamagasa Family like nothing happened to him. Kiryu theorizes that it was all a set-up, but Morinaga is evasive.

Masato Aizawa

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto

"I haven't been wearing the Tojo Badge for all that long. Truth be told, all I know about you are the stories, Fourth Chairman. But it was the chairman who was always telling them. He said it was his duty to protect the Tojo Clan you left him."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aizaway5.jpg

Bodyguard to Tojo Clan Chairman Daigo Dojima. He is normally silent at Morinaga's side, but once riled up, it's hard to calm him down. He's put in a tight spot after Daigo vanishes following the talks with Madarame in Nagasugai, and searches for him everywhere with Morinaga. He survives his supposed death by Morinaga and ends up in Tokyo where he meets Saejima, and they fight to discover Morinaga's whereabouts. Was supposed to be dead by Morinaga's hands but the truth is that Morinaga tried to stop him from being involved.

Ambiguous Situation: When Kiryu asks him if he killed Morinaga, Aizawa simply states that Morinaga tried to talk him out of fighting Kiryu but doesn't outright state that he did the deed. Given that Morinaga turns up in Gaiden under a new alias, alongside Aizawa's evasive response, it raises doubts as to whether Aizawa attempted to kill him.
Ambition Is Evil: Wishes to be at the top of the yakuza world, and to this end he infiltrates the Tojo clan, slaughters several Tojo Clan officers in the finale, and then admits to killing off his own Sworn Brother and fellow Mole Morinaga when he got in the way of his ambitions. However, he won't be satisfied unless he's able to defeated Kiryu in a fair fight.
Animal Motifs: The carp. The legends say that a carp can ascend into a dragon, symbolising Aizawa's desire to surpass Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: In contrast to how sluggishly he fought before, Kiryu's Final Boss fight against him will have him almost constantly on the offensive. The swiftness of his new jabs and charges make him feel especially aggressive. Even attempting to put distance away from him is risky since he has access to an unpredictably quick running punch that can floor Kiryu instantly. That said, a careful player can abuse this aggressiveness for constant Counter Attacks.
Baritone of Strength: He's got a pretty deep voice that's rather smooth whenever he's calm enough. It makes for some intimidating roaring whenever he's angry or fighting.
Big Guy, Little Guy: The Big Guy to Morinaga's Little Guy as he's a large, muscular, physically imposing man working together with someone noticeably smaller than him.
Brawler Lock: Gets into this with Kiryu and actually overpowers and pushes him back quite a bit at first. Kiryu can turn the tables and send him flying.
Can't Catch Up: Despite his relentless training, he can't beat a heavily injured Kiryu
Charles Atlas Superpower: He's apparently been physically training his body all his life and lifts a huge wooden structure with one hand and throws it across a room in an attempt to hit Kiryu with it.
Death Faked for You: Morinaga claims that he had to kill Aizawa because he disagreed with Morinaga's plans and personally buried his remains in the mountain. We later learn that he's very much alive with Morinaga apparently lying about killing him and instead sending him a note to leave Fukuoka and go back to Tokyo. The real truth is that he knew all about the plans because the end goal was to put him in charge of both the Tojo and the Omi.
Degraded Boss: An odd example. Weaker Moveset Clones of him may appear in random battles but in 0 and Kiwami rather than 5 the game he actually appears in.
The Dog Was the Mastermind: Sure, he's a major supporting character and is fought as a boss fight multiple times but was anyone's first guess that the passionate and seemingly principled Aizawa was not only the son of the Big Bad going along with his schemes to put himself in charge but also the game's ultimate Final Boss?
Driven by Envy: Envious of anyone who's in a powerful position either due to their status, their pedigree, their natural talent, or their charisma rather than actually being hard working and strong. Thus, he resents Daigo, son of powerful yakuza Patriarch Sohei Dojima and Kiryu who is considered The Paragon of the yakuza world. To this end he wishes to surpass Kiryu in a fair fight.
Dragon-in-Chief: He isn't the real Big Bad but he's far stronger anyway being Kiryu's Final Boss. Not having a terminal illness helps.
Dragon Their Feet: Fought after the real Big Bad was already forced to surrender. He doesn't seem to mind since he doesn't particularly care about his father Kurosawa's plans to put him in charge of the Tojo and Omi. He just wants to prove that he's stronger than Kiryu since that alone should prove he deserves to be at the top of the Yakuza criminal underworld.
Dual Boss: He's fought alongside Morinaga when Kiryu refuses to help them find Daigo.
Dumb Muscle: He's a big and tough guy but he's not so bright and tough to control, having to rely on Morinaga a lot to keep him on track and calm him down.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: It's all part of an act. He's a completely different, more contemplative person when Kiryu arrives to the Tojo Clan Headquarters even if his philosophy still hinges on strength and hard work above all else.
Evil All Along: None of the protagonists suspected him of being a bad guy. Kiryu believed he wouldn't be the type to agree with Morinaga's plans while Saejima listens to his bullshit sob story over being abandoned by his Oath Brother and greatly empathizes with him. Then at the end, Kiryu arrives at Tojo Headquarters only to find the dead bodies of several Tojo Clan officers and Aizawa irreverently sitting on Daigo's chair with a katana in hand.
Eviler than Thou: Once everything is revealed in the finale, it's clear that between the two moles Morinaga and Aizawa, Morinaga was the lesser evil. They both followed Kurosawa's plans but at some point, Morinaga tried to urge Aizawa to give up on the whole thing and walk away from the yakuza life because he was certain they wouldn't win against Kiryu. With Aizawa being a major reason behind Kurosawa's schemes and having strong ambitions of his own, they had Morinaga killed off before he disrpupts their plans any further.
Fair-Play Villain: When it comes time to face off with him as the Final Boss, all he really wants is a fair fight from Kiryu to prove that he's stronger and he even throws away his katana to show that he means it. That said, he visibly glances at Kiryu's gunshot wound that's still bleeding since it hasn't fully healed yet but still goes through with the fight anyway. In the transition to the final phase of the fight, he'll even perform a blow that opens up said wound though with the way it's framed as a grapple maneuver, it's uncertain if he's intentionally targetting such a weakness.
Foil: Ironically, to Akira Nishikiyama from the first game. Both men bore koi tattoos and have a severe chip on a shoulder as well as being seen as utterly inferior to their Dragon counterpart. However, whereas Nishikiyama slowly loses control of his life despite how much power he's gained all on his own which led to his fall. Aizawa always had things under control at the expense of his morality and mostly due to the efforts of his father and nearly well made it to top despite Kiryu's interference.
Final Boss: For Kiryu in Yakuza 5, and, ultimately, for the whole of the game.
Foreshadowing: When Saejima meets him, he seems on the losing end in an Arena Battle. All of a sudden, Aizawa ignores the pain, stands up and goes Extreme Mêlée Revenge on his opponent and turns the tides in one brutal Curb-Stomp Battle. This is a hint that he's far stronger than he seems.
Force and Finesse: The Force to Morinaga's Finesse. His swings tend to be on the slower side and more reliant on heavy weight wrestling techniques than Morinaga's quicker strikes. He speeds up quite a bit during the Final Boss fight though with several quicker techniques as well.
Healing Factor: Can restore a portion of his health during the final phase of his boss fight, radiating with intense flames and being invincible while doing so.
Karma Houdini: While Aizawa is a traitor to the Tojo Clan and murdered his own sworn brother for interfering with Kurosawa's plans, Kiryu opts not to punish him any further after defeating him and even invites Aizawa to challenge him again once he's stronger, though chances are he's likely under arrest for all the murders he's committed at Tojo Headquarters.
Lack of Empathy: Once he shows his true colors in the finale, he's very cold and apathetic towards his greatest allies. He dismisses the schemes of his father to put him in charge of the nation's yakuza as the desperate actions of a dying man. As for his mentor Morinaga, he simply describes him as being "helpful" for his ambitions but ultimately a fool for trying to get Aizawa to drop everything and run since it won't do him any good. Thus, he kills off Morinaga for getting in the way of their schemes.
Legendary Carp: He has a carp tattoo on his back, and serves as the final enemy to the Dragon of Dojima in the fifth game.
Leitmotif: "The Battle For The Dream".
Like Father, Like Son: Zigzagged. Like Tsubasa Kurosawa, Aizawa seems dismissive of those who gained powerful positions in life through merely charisma. He also feels nothing about having ruthlessly killed off his Oath Brother for the sake of his ambitions much like his father who also murdered his Oath Brother in his pursuit of power. That said, unlike his father he's unafraid of admitting that he has a dream, namely ruling the Yakuza world by proving that he's the strongest. If anything, they value completely different "virtues" in the world of yakuza: His father Kurosawa values intelligence while Aizawa values strength. In fact it can be argued that Aizawa detests trickery and cunning since he's more of a Fair-Play Villain who gives Kiryu a chance to beat him in a fair fight as opposed to his father who's implied to have been a backstabbing Manipulative Bastard for most of his career as a yakuza.
Made of Iron: He can take A LOT of punishment. During the Final Battle with Kiryu he is slammed face first into the floor from 2-stories high, gets a knee in the face and sent flying through a door, but he still keeps on going.
Marathon Boss: During the last boss fight against him, he boasts a whopping 8 health bars. The largest amount in the entire series up to this point excluding any sort of Super Boss.
Mighty Glacier: Prefers to pace around slowly in combat and has pretty slow yet powerful swings. He still has some slow swings during his Final Boss but he's an aversion for the most part, with a lot more aggressive attacks and maneuvers that can be shockingly fast. The range and tracking on most of his attacks and the way so many of them will break through your guard makes it a lot harder to avoid taking damage unless you use a lot of counter attacks like the Komaki Tiger Drop or Komaki Parry to stop his onslaught entirely.
Might Makes Right: Seems to follow this ideal. He calls Daigo a weak leader and believes that someone truly strong like Kiryu should have been leading the Tojo Clan. His primary motivation for wanting to take down Kiryu is to prove that he himself has the strength to rule over one of the strongest Yakuza clans in the entire nation.
Missing Mom: We learn he's Kurosawa's son but there's no mention at all on whatever happened to his mother. Justified as a consequence of The Reveal taking place at the literal end of the story and little to no chances to spare further exposition on the subject of his parentage when it's not that relevant.
The Mole: Like Morinaga, he's one for the Omi Alliance and is infiltrating the Tojo clan though he manages to hide it all the way up to the very end of the game where he actually succeeds in his final task.
Motive Decay: When questioned by Kiryu about why he's at Tojo Clan Headquarters and having killed all the yakuza there, he admits that he's not sure why. He elaborates that while he does have ambitions of being the most powerful yakuza in the country, he doesn't particularly care for his father's schemes to wipe out the competition. All he ever wanted was a fair fight with Kiryu, the nation's strongest yakuza, to show who truly deserves to be in charge.
One-Hit Kill: Failing the final Quick Time Event during the Final Boss fight against him will always result in a game over.
One-Man Army: While it's never explicitly stated, it's implied all of the dead Tojo Officers at Tojo Clan HQ in the finale were slaughtered by his hands and presumably that katana he's holding.
Punch-Clock Villain: He does want to rule the yakuza world and he does follow through with his father's plans that would put him in that position but it seems to be nothing more than yakuza loyalty. Apparently, he'd much rather earn the right to be in charge and not simply because of his status as the son of one the country's most powerful criminal kingpins. Hence, he challenges Kiryu in a fair fight to surpass him and prove that he is the strongest.
Purple Is Powerful: He wears a royal purple shirt. This tells you that he is the strongest (and healthiest) of all the boss characters in the game.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Invoked. Since his father's plans involves putting him in charge of both the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance, he's been training tirelessly to make himself physically strong enough to justify him standing at the very top of the yakuza criminal underworld.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: During the Final Boss fight against him, he tends to weave in several quick jabs into his combos. It makes him somewhat similar to Sosuke Komaki or Kiryu when he's using Red Heat.
Real Men Wear Pink: His Heat Aura is Pink.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Morinaga's blue. He displays a far colder side when Kiryu confronts him at the end of the game though he's still very passionate over his desire to solidify himself as the yakuza underworld's absolute strongest.
The Resenter: Resents Daigo and Kiryu. To Daigo he claims that he's only Chairman of the Tojo Clan because of his connections to powerful men like Sohei Dojima and Kiryu and is otherwise a weak leader. To Kiryu, it's a matter of Morinaga telling him that "he'll never have what it takes to surpass Kiryu" and that he should give up on his plans, cut his losses, and run. This causes him to see Kiryu as the ultimate obstacle to realising his dreams and ambitions. It's rather telling that during their final clash, he's defiantly roaring at Kiryu about how he'll finally "surpass him".
The Reveal: He's the son of the game's Big Bad.
Recurring Boss: Faced three times in the game. Once alongside Morinaga in Kiryu's story, once on his own against Saejima in Chapter 1 of the Finale, and once as the Final Boss of the game.
Self-Made Man: Seems to be the reason why he doesn't care about his father's plans to pass down leadership of the Omi Alliance to him. He's very adamant that the training and hard work he's put in his entire life as well as the resulting strength he's attained are the real reasons why he deserves to be in charge of the yakuza world. Not just because he's related to a powerful person like Daigo being the son of the once powerful Sohei Dojima.
For the first time, I earned a shot at the top man with my own two hands.
Sequential Boss: At the end, he's the last boss fought after Majima, Baba and Kanai.
Tattooed Crook: A Carp, and much like Nishiki, it reflects his ambition to be at the top of the yakuza world.
Those Two Guys: With Morinaga.
Unskilled, but Strong: There's not much finesse to any of his attacks but he's a brutal fighter through and through. He's strong enough to be Kiryu's Final Boss in fact. He speeds up quite a bit and has some new tricks at that point but he's still heavily relying on Good Old Fisticuffs at best.
Villain in a White Suit:When you see him as the Final Boss, his appearance has changed and it looks obviously similar to Kiryu's suit, with a white coat and pants, though with a pink-purple shirt.
Walking Spoiler: His significance to the plot is magnitudes larger than what you'd expect from him based on first impressions.
Weaksauce Weakness: For all his insane strength and durability in the Final Boss fight, he still retains some slower swings from the other fights against him when he was holding back. This, on top of how aggressive he is, serves to make him especially susceptible to counter techniques dependent on timing button presses against enemy attacks such as the Komaki Tiger Drop or the Komaki Parry. The end result is a Final Boss that can potentially be taken down far more quickly than intended should you get good at baiting out and timing against said slower attacks.
What Happened to the Mouse?: It's not made clear what happens to him after Kiryu defeats him in the game's finale, though since he was left at the scene of where he murdered a bunch of Tojo officers he's likely arrested offscreen.
What the Hell, Hero?: Angrily calls out Kiryu for trying to ignore the Tojo Clan asking for his assistance when his friend Daigo has mysteriously disappeared and could very well be in grave danger.
Willfully Weak: He's fought several times in the story, but was always holding back until the Final Battle to reveal that he was actually a match for Kiryu all along.^note
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Violent and aggressive with a nasty temper but he still gives the impression of having a sense of honor and loyalty to his comrades such as Daigo or Morinaga. He even claims that he had no idea what Morinaga was planning when he was very much a collaborateur and even killed Morinaga himself when he started to become an obstacle to Kurosawa's plans.
Worf Had the Flu: Apparently when Saejima meets him at the end of chapter 1 of the Finale. He was in the middle of a fierce 1-on-1 match in the Purgatory Coliseum that he narrowly won and when Saejima fights him, he still has the same amount of health as he had early on in the game but will occasionally fall to his knees from fatigue. It's implied that he's been taking quite a rough beating since it was clear that he had been fighting a lot more than just a single match, as you see how much punishment he can take when he's truly going all out as the Final Boss and you have to wonder whether he really was too tired to fight Saejima seriously.
Worthy Opponent: As much as he resents Kiryu, he does seem to have some legitimate respect for him, claiming that someone strong like him would be better off running the Tojo Clan rather than Daigo. He calls him the "top man" and won't be satisfied with inheriting control of any sort of yakuza clan until he personally defeats Kiryu in a fair fight. The feeling seems to be mutual since Kiryu offers to fight him again another time if Aizawa still thinks he has what it takes to beat him later in life.
You Are What You Hate: Criticizes and mocks Daigo being the Chairman of the Tojo Clan because he thinks he's only in that position because of the connections he has to powerful people like his father Sohei Dojima or his friend and father figure Kazuma Kiryu. Aizawa himself is the son of Tsubasa Kurosawa the current Chairman of the Omi Alliance who was even scheming to eliminate any yakuza competition so that Aizawa could inherit the position of being the most powerful yakuza in the country. This would explain Aizawa's own distaste for his father's plans and why he only wants a fair fight from Kiryu to show why he deserves to be in charge instead.
You Are Too Late: While he himself doesn't really acknowledge it, Kiryu arrives too late to stop Aizawa from wiping out all the Tojo Clan yakuza stationed there including several high-ranking officers. While this doesn't exactly mean much at the time since presumably Kurosawa and Aizawa are arrested after the game ends, the culling of so many Tojo Clan elites would pave the way for the rise of the next batch of major antagonists in the very next game.

Yamagasa Family

Tadashi Madarame

Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madaramey5.jpg

The Patriarch of the Yamagasa Family, a yakuza group that controls the Nagasugai entertainment district in Fukuoka. He knows that the Yamagasa Family pales in comparison to the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance, and prefers peaceful ties over conflict. Being an old-school yakuza, he values etiquette and he even treats the much younger Chairman Daigo Dojima with the respect of an equal.

A Father to His Men: His men are mad loyal to him.
Good Old Ways: An old school Yakuza who prefers etiquette and negotiations to violence.
It's Up to You: Madarame leaves the fate of the Yamagasa family up to Kiryu, and gives him the task of telling to his men that he intends to retire and disband the family.
Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: No one in the Yamagasa Family really causes much trouble in the story aside from Ishibashi and Mihara who were drunk anyway. Yahata is of the opinion that Madarame tries to help too many people while Kiryu seems to see the whole family as a truly necessary evil in order to prevent other yakuza groups from muscling in on a relatively peaceful town.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's a reasonable man who always tries to resort to non-violent ways with the other yakuza clans and families. He also treats his men like family and the feeling is definitely mutual.

Yahata

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

Yamagasa Family's Captain and Patriarch of the subsidiary Yahata Family. A typical hot-headed man from the mainland who tends to let his fists do the talking. Fiercely loyal, he wouldn't hesitate to lay his life on the line for his boss Madarame. He fights Kiryu after Aoyama fingers him for the attack on Madarame. He swears revenge on the Tojo Clan and was prepared to go to war, but Kiryu convinced him to leave the fate of the Yamagasa family in his hands.

Bald Head of Toughness: Completely bald and definitely tough as he is the Captain of the Yamagasa family and even runs his own self-named subsidiary family as Patriarch. This is also emphasized by his Mighty Glacier fighting style which emphasizes slow and hard hitting moves.
Boxing Battler: Uses a boxing stance and relies almost entirely on various punches with the one exception being a low heel sweep kick to finish off one of his combos.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Less so the first time he's fought as he's statistically the strongest person Kiryu fights in Fukuoka but definitely on the rematch; Kiryu knocks him out with one punch.
Dark Is Not Evil: A Yakuza captain wearing dark red clothes over a black shirt, but he's never truly on the enemy's side.
Defeat Means Friendship: After losing twice to Kiryu who then vows to personally crush all the Tojo Clan yakuza supporting Aoyama, he starts acting a lot more respectful of Kiryu and goes along with his plan to take them down in an all-out brawl.
The Dragon: A loyal one to Madarame.
Face of a Thug: He looks rather vicious, but actually is more reasonable than his appearance lets off.
Gangbangers: In contrast to the other Yakuza families throughout the series who tend towards formal suits and slacks, the Yahata Family seems to have a thing for much more casual red street clothing like tracksuits or hoodies. It makes them not too dissimilar to the minor street gangs that pop up around Kamurocho. Ironic, as their superior Madarame is pretty old-fashioned and even Yahata seems to respect those values despite the casual duds.
King Mook: To the red-garbed Yahata Family mooks that make up the bulk of the enemies Kiryu faces in Nagasugai, Fukuoka.
Mighty Glacier: While has has some quick jabs and evasive skills, he's not a very mobile fighter. You fight him in a rather small office though so it's not like it matters much. Moveset Clones of him in later games generally show the Glacier aspect of his fighting style more simply because they fight in larger Boss Rooms.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Patriarch of the Yahata Family and the strongest member that Kiryu fights by a pretty wide margin.
Recurring Boss: Sort of. He's a real boss fight the first time, but in the 2nd fight he's merely taken out through a series of QTEs despite the boss music and having a health bar.
Red Is Violent: Red clothes, a red Battle Aura, and a violent personality to boot. The same applies to the rest of the Yahata Family
Strength Equals Worthiness: Madarame describes him as someone who understands a man best by coming to blows with him. When Kiryu meets him again after their first bout, Yahata correctly figures him to not be the sort of man to knife Madarame in the guts and correctly concludes that Aoyama's the real criminal mastermind.
Violence is the Only Option: He's described as someone who punches first and asks questions later.
Undying Loyalty: To Madarame. Yakuza or not, part of his family or not, he wants to get revenge on Aoyama for attacking him.
Worf Had the Flu: Despite claiming to never lose a rematch, he's much weaker the 2nd time he tries to fight Kiryu, going down in one hit. Kiryu then points out that he's still probably injured from the explosion that blew up the Yamagasa Family HQ.
Zero-Effort Boss: His second fight is just a set of QTEs, seeing as he's still injured.

Ishibashi and Mihara

A pair of Yamagasa Family men put in charge of monitoring the Oliver hostess club in case any Tojo Clan members cause trouble. Bitter over having to work together with the arrogant Tojo Clan run by Daigo Dojima, a man younger than they are, they've taken to angrily drinking their sorrows causing trouble that they themselves were supposed to be preventing. When an equally drunk Nakajima gets knocked out trying to quiet them down, Kiryu steps in to put them in their place.

Almighty Janitor: They're pretty strong for being described as "small-timers" and "bottom rung of the Yamagasa ladder". Perhaps they're underranked because of their poor behavior.
Bit Character: They mostly exist as a boss fight and don't have much of a role in the story aside from properly establishing the tensions between the Tojo Clan and the Yamagasa Family despite Daigo's peace negotiations and promises of an equal relationship.
Boxing Battler: Mihara's fighting style is all boxing style punches and he seems to be using a boxing stance.
Dark Is Evil: They wear black track suits unlike the Yahata Family's members showing that they're part of the main Yamagasa Family. They're probably not all that bad but they're definitely hostile in their drunkeness. Knocking out an even more drunk Nakajima when he tries to get them to pipe down earns them the ire of Kiryu.
Dual Boss: The biggest challenge comes from having to fight both of them at once since they coordinate pretty well together.
Fragile Speedster: Sort of. Mihara has faster more aggressive attacks and he'll often try to step back before rushing in with a quick jab. None of his attack are strong enough to knock Kiryu to the ground though. Still, if you're busy trying to block his quick punches, you'll make yourself more vulnerable to Ishibashi's grapples.
The Grappler: Ishibashi's primary tactic is to rush in and grab Kiryu, restraining him so Mihara can get free hits in.
Grievous Bottley Harm: After taking down one of them, a Quick Time Event starts where the remaining man breaks a beer bottle against the bar and tries to shank Kiryu. Performing the prompt correctly has Kiryu judo flip the man and then smash the man's face with his own broken bottle.
Moveset Clone: Ishibashi is using Goh Hamazaki's moveset from 3 though his A.I. has been tweaked to focus on grapples. As for Mihara, he's just using the attacks of a generic mook though souped up so he's more aggressive and can block consistently.
Wake-Up Call Boss: Kiryu's first real boss fight. They fight well together, can guard frontal attacks consistently, and they both have counter attacks. You gotta play smart to keep them from ganging up on Kiryu. Downplayed as you only need to knock out one of them. The other can then be instantly taken down via QTE. Also on lower difficulties, healing items spawn in the room.

Nagasugai Residents

Youtaro Nakajima

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (Japanese), William Salyers (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/profile_nakashima.png

Owner of the Nagasu Taxi Co. Despite the pressures of running a new taxi company in a place like Nagasugai, where competitions between rival cab firms is fierce, he always has a smile on his face. A 30-year veteran of the industry, his employees have a lot of trust in him. Like many men from the mainland, he's laid back and loves to drink. Six months before game's events, he found Kiryu wandering Hakata and gave him a job, taking him under his wing.

A Father to His Men: He gave Kiryu a job when he was a his lowest point. He also makes a point of getting to know his employees and treating them like family.
Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Spends a good chunk of the first chapter drinking excessively. While he's initially taking it pretty well and even giving a lot of good insight and words of encouragement to Kiryu, he's obviously pretty sloshed by the time he insists on taking Kiryu to a Hostess Club where he drunkenly demands that they get the Number One Hostess for free, forcing Kiryu to handle the Request Fee. His inebriation also gets him knocked on his ass when he tries to confront a pair of local Yahata Family yakuza who are also drunk and causing a ruckus at the same club.
The Atoner: In a roundabout way. He used to be a street racer, but losing his wife in a traffic accident made him realize the risks of such an activity: He now promotes safe driving in his own taxi company.
Benevolent Boss: Although he doesn't have the best reputation among the other cab firms, his employees hold him in high regard, and he wants nothing more than for them to be happy working at his company. He even takes Kiryu out drinking and to a hostess club early on.
Death by Irony: A cruel example though, he himself technically survived. He was the founder of the Devil Killers and one of the fastest street racers in Fukuoka. He and his wife were slammed into by another street racer while they were out shopping, and obeying the speed limit at that. He recovered from his injuries, but his wife fell into a coma and eventually passed away.
Excellent Judge of Character: He figures that Kiryu's a good, reliable person when he first met him despite his intimidating demeanor. It helps that Nakajima first saw Kiryu stopping ruffians from harassing a woman and getting beat down pretty bad in the process. It's why Nakajima offered him a job on the spot.
Ink-Suit Actor: Basically identical to his voice actor at the time.
Nice Guy: He's very friendly with Kiryu, even though he suspects there is more to him than meets the eye. He also claims that his kindness has backfired on him before.
Reasonable Authority Figure: For a boss, he's very thoughtful of his men. Kiryu can't have anyone badmouth him.
Red Baron: Known as one of the Three Musketeers, and the fastest among them.
Retired Badass: The Founder of the Devil Killers, and was the fastest of Fukuoka in his youth.

Mayumi

Voiced by: Nana Katase

A hostess at the Club Olivier in Nagasugai. She came to like Kiryu after he saved her from some local Yakuzas. After that, she visits his apartment occasionally and takes care of him like a housewife would, whether he likes it or not. It turns out she is the daughter of Yamagasa patriarch Madarame, and serves as a mole for him. She feels guilty for deceiving Kiryu, as her feelings for him were real. But she couldn't share this with him, as she knew he would someday leave her.

Advertised Extra: She's shown on the game's cover as one of its major characters, but despite being revealed as Madarame's daughter and his mole, she doesn't really play a major role in the game's overall story outside of Kiryu's chapter. Notably, she is also one of the few characters who doesn't come Back for the Finale.
All Love Is Unrequited: It's clear that she has feelings for Kiryu, but he doesn't reciprocate. He knew right from the beginning that she was a mole for someone, although her feelings for him are real.
Becoming the Mask: She's a mole for Madarame, who was simply sent to look after Kiryu and keep tabs on him. However, she genuinely fell for him.
Expy: Of Yumi Sawamura, Kiryu's former lover. Having a strikingly similar hairstyle from when they were younger and before Yumi gave birth to Haruka.
Ink-Suit Actor: She's modeled after her voice actress.
Lady in Red: She's first seen wearing a red dress at a hostess bar Kiryu and his boss visit, and she's revealed to be involved with Kiryu shortly afterward. Could count as Foreshadowing her allegiance to the Yamagasa Family, of which the subsidiary Yahata Family is dominated entirely by thugs in red clothes.
The Mole: For Madarame, her father. However, it was Daigo that requested they both look after Kiryu to protect him and his secret identity.

Sosuke Komaki

Voiced by: Shin'nosuke Hirasawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sosukeky55.jpg

A young martial artist Kiryu meets in Nagasugai. He's the grandson of Sotaro Komaki, having trained under him. He introduces himself by wanting to defeat Kiryu as part of his goal to surpass his grandfather. But seeing as Kiryu has lost his edge, he decides to help him get it back instead so he can fight him at his full strength.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: The kid's very much full of himself given his skill and good looks.
Berserk Button: Implying he's actually insecure over his abilities is bound to piss him off.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a gifted martial artist, but would rather brawl and pick up girls than train seriously.
Calling the Old Man Out: When he meets his grandfather in Kamurocho, the first thing he does is call the Old Master out for abandoning his family and instead running a dojo as if it were a fitness class and teaching the Komaki arts to homeless people.
Character Tic: Has a tendency of running his hand through his hair during conversations.
Dual Boss: In Kamurocho, he'll fight alongside his grandfather during training sessions.
Handsome Lech: Despite his good looks, he has trouble getting together with women much to his frustration.
Hidden Depths: He's a bundle of insecurities beneath that boisterous attitude of his.
Hitbox Dissonance: Overlapping somewhat with The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard, the range from which he can perform the Komaki Parry on you is frankly absurd and is far greater than Kiryu's ever is. He can even perform it if you try to strike him from behind. This forces one to be a little more careful about throwing out attacks when he's not completely vulnerable though even that isn't always a reliable way to avoid this attack.
Hot-Blooded: He really lets his anger get the best of him even during combat where he will unleash a flurry of fists when he's pissed off.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Despite acting like he's the greatest gift to mankind for his skill, youth and looks, he's really just frustrated over how his grandfather chastised him for getting revenge on some bullies from his youth, and that his fighting style is really more about violence than anything.
Insufferable Genius: He likes to brag about how great he is, which is frustrating considering that he is a very good fighter.
Leitmotif: "The COOL GUY SOSUKE."
Lightning Bruiser: His attacks are not only strong but quick as lightning and relentless too. On top of that his knowledge of all the Komaki techniques gives him several strong offensive and defensive options. And that's when he isn't pissed off.
No Social Skills: Aside from his rude demeanor, he's not as good with the ladies as he lets on.
Put on a Bus: Like everyone else involved with the Komaki school, he is never seen nor mentioned in Yakuza 6 onwards.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His wickedly fast hand-to-hand skills often lends itself to several quick punches in succession.
Tragic Dropout: His parents were tricked into taking out a huge loan, causing him to drop out of high school and leave home. Although his parents were able to get the situation under control to some degree, they still couldn't afford to further his education.
Turns Red: As the one who teaches Kiryu how to use Red Heat, when he's taken enough of a beating he'll engulf himself in a red aura that practically makes him unstoppable, at least until he cools off.
The Ugly Guy's Hot Grandson: Upon first glance, it'd be hard to tell that he's related to Sotaro Komaki of all people.
Unstoppable Rage: Although he's trained in the Komaki fighting arts, his fighting style has become fueled by anger and violence, which is best demonstrated when he goes into Red Heat mode. While it makes him a powerful opponent, it's also the reason he won't be able to surpass his grandfather.
Sotaro Komaki: His grudge against me is a powerful force that fuels his ambition.
Kiryu: Maybe, but strength born of grudges and vengeance don't always turn out for the better.
Sotaro Komaki: That goes without saying. That's why he cannot best me the way he is now, no matter how hard he tries.
"Well Done, Grandson!" Guy: Kiryu realizes that deep inside, Sosuke really just wants his grandfather's respect and approval as an exceptional fighter, as well as a man. However, he's also at the age where he needs to figure things out on his own.

Police

Kazuhiko Serizawa / The Osaka Detective

Voiced by: Eiji Okuda

"Hmph, I know a little more than you think. You ought to give the police a little more credit."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/detectivey5.jpg

A detective with the organized crime unit of the Osaka Prefectural Police. He's trying to stop the impeding war between Omi and Tojo, without involving the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and is following all of the events of the game very closely. He meets with Kiryu in Fukuoka and Saejima in Sapporo, and persuade both of them to go to Tokyo. He meets Akiyama in Osaka and warns him about Ousaka Enterprises' involvement, but tells him to stay out of it.

Bearer of Bad News: He's the one who report most of the bad news to the main characters when he meets them.
Deadpan Snarker: Has a brutally sardonic sense of humor that doesn't seem to really amuse anyone except himself.
Catchphrase: "Don't underestimate the police."
Guile Hero: He's very manipulative for a police officer.
Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after his voice actor.
Mr. Exposition: He often gives the characters quick update on how the story unfolds in other chapters. He seems to know a lot more that he should be able to, and seems to arrive and leave at the worst times.
Spoiler Cover: While no specifics are spoiled, his extremely prominent position on the game's cover (right where The Chessmaster or The Man Behind the Man would typically be) makes it clear that he is far more important to the plot than it initially appears.
Walking Spoiler: To see his true identity and motives, see the last entry on this page.

Abashiri Prison

Shigeki Baba

Voiced by: Shunsuke Daitou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/babay5.jpg

One of Saejima's roommates from Abashiri's Prison in Yakuza 5, Baba treats him like an older brother because they are both yakuza, and is in jail for killing people. Having been imprisoned for ten years, he claims he had been thrown out by his old yakuza family and is scared to what awaits him outside once he's free.

Affably Evil: Being outed as a major antagonist doesn't stop him from being polite to the protagonists or showing remorse. He even continues to help them afterwards though his commitments to his leader's plans pull him back into an antagonistic role, as conflicted as he may be about it.
Anti-Villain: He may have worked with Kugihara as part of an insideous plot to break Saejima out of jail and lead him back to Tokyo only to have him killed off as part of the mastermind's evil plan, but he is truly emotionally vulnerable and conflicted over the whole thing and has trouble trying to reform. He's in the unique position of having no boss fights where any of the participants have any malicious intentions.
Arc Villain: Secretly manipulating Saejima for most of his story arc in 5, including using Kugihara to torment Saejima for six months: All as part of his boss' plan that would have ended with Saejima's death and ultimately the subjugation of the Tojo Clan via purging its most powerful leaders. Thankfully, Saejima's kindness is enough to make him reconsider what he's doing.
The Atoner: Cooperates with Kiryu as part of his attempts to make things right for doing Kurosawa's dirty work. Later when tasked with the assassination of Haruka once Kurosawa gives the signal, he opts to abandon the task, even leaving behind the camera broadcasting the footage to Kurosawa's phone as if to incriminate himself in the assassination attempt. Shinada tears this notion down however, telling him that he it won't do any good running away and "half-assing it". Apparently Baba needs to properly own up to being one of the villains or rather "behind-the-scenes guys" complete with a requisite beatdown and that he'll just keep disappointing the people who care about him if he doesn't do so. Though understandably confused, his curiousity over the people who care about him is enough for him to seemingly agree and fight Shinada as his Final Boss.
The Baby of the Bunch: He may be around 30 but he still looks young and is technically the youngest of Saejima's cellmates as well as being the most emotionally vulnerable. That he's apparently been in prison since he was 20 also helps make him seem less mature and worldly than the others. As a result, his cellmates occasionally refer to him as "the kid" when he's not around.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Baba seems to have a dark past and clearly sees himself as an irredeemable person, and becomes conflicted when he's treated with the kindness and respect he doesn't think he deserves. Which is why he can't go through with killing Saejima, and after meeting Kiryu and Haruka, can't bring himself to kill the latter.
Baba: After the break-out, things were going according to plan. But somewhere along the way, I... Um, I...
Kiryu: Saejima won you over, huh?
Baba: ...By the time we split up, I felt like I'd follow him anywhere.
Becoming the Mask: He was planted as one of Saejima's prison mates to control his sentence and use him for someone else's purposes, but he has a change of heart after Saejima saves his life and has a massive Villainous BSoD due to the guilt of his betrayal when he's exposed, wishing Saejima would continue to see him as a true brother.
Beergasm: He has one in Polaris after he and Saejima knock back some Macallan 1946, being his first drink since being in prison as well as the quality of the liquor.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Said to have been in jail for 10 years after killing for his Oath Brother surprising Saejima due to how polite and friendly he is. Still, who would have thought shy, softspoken Baba was one of the best fighters in the story? Something of an Invoked Trope since he was trying to make himself look weaker and unassuming to better manipulate Saejima.
Big "NO!": When Saejima calls him brother, showing that he really cares for him, Baba shouts "STOOOOOOOP" as he starts crying.
Climax Boss: For Saejima. He's fought at the very end of his arc and manages to have even more health than Saejima's actual Final Boss Majima of all people. It's also a very much emotionally charged encounter with all of Saejima's previously selfless actions and brotherly attitude pushing him to go against his orders to assassinate him and Saejima challenging him to a fight solely to motivate him to live on rather than kill himself out of regret.
The Coats Are Off: Just before he reveals his true agenda, he takes off his hat and rips off his bomber jacket.
Counter-Attack: Able to perform a spinning backfist to the midsection when he's attacked or when blocking though it also works as an effective opening strike. It staggers enemies long enough for him to follow it up with another attack.
Dark and Troubled Past: Explains to Saejima early in his part of the game that he was arrested for murdering rivals of his Oath Brother to for the sake of helping him rise in ranking. While his brother claimed that he'd help Baba out after his expulsion from the local Kitakata Family and imprisonment, 10 years have passed and nothing's come of it. Baba can only conclude that his Family abandoned him and now he's denying parole because he's frightened to be out there in the world all on his own and with 10 years having passed. Saejima tries to convince him that he needs to get out there and properly do better with his life as atonement now that the chance is presenting itself.
- Subverted in that he later admits that it was a bullshit sob story intentionally crafted to make him more relatable to Saejima's similar history so that he'd be easier to manipulate. That said, Baba actually being very emotionally vulnerable and unstable, desperate for companionship and atonement, as well as his inner turmoil over his role as the go-to assassin for a sociopathic Bad Boss like Kurosawa suggests that he does have a lot of emotional baggage weighing on him from the sort of life he's lived.
Dark Is Not Evil: Once he's out of prison, he prefers rather dark-colored clothes. Double Subverted since he's revealed to be an antagonist but is still not that bad of a guy at all.
Defeat Means Friendship: Becomes Saejima's ally for really after he's defeated.
Easily Forgiven:
- When he reveals the truth about himself and how he had been manipulating Saejima and working together with that psycho who brutalized Saejima for 6 months, Taiga still considers him a true brother in spite of everything and is determined to save him by words and fists.
- Subverted in the ending however, where Shinada deliberately picks a fight with him because he thinks that he doesn't get to walk away after everything he's done.
Evil All Along: Revealed to be personally answering to the story's ultimate Big Bad and that Kugihara, that psycho who's been torturing Saejima for 6 whole months, was working for Baba all along. That said, he looks up to Saejima and is grateful to him for saving his life back in the mountains. He is very unhappy that Saejima ended up learning about his deception and he ultimately can't bring himself to shoot and kill Saejima when he insists on seeing Baba as a brother despite his transgressions.
Evil Costume Switch: His civilian clothing is already mostly black but he always wears different, slightly darker clothes when he's doing assassin work. When Saejima catches him after trying to assassinate Kitakata, he's got a different puffier black jacket over a grey turtleneck sweater as well as a black cap. In the finale he swaps the black jacket out for a black military vest over the same sweater.
The Fake Cutie: Cutie is probably the wrong word for a man likely in his thirties, but he's nonetheless a polite, friendly yet somewhat shy and withdrawn fellow who shows emotional vulnerability in times of distress. He's fairly young-looking and his voice actor and face model is a fashion model. His cellmates even often refer to him as a kid. He's actually plotting to manipulate Saejima into breaking out of prison in a ploy by his boss to gut the leadership of the Tojo Clan. Acting as a sympathetic, vulnerable, and inexperienced younger cellmate made it easier to get closer to Saejima and push him towards his own death. Then, subverted when the emotional vulnerability is proven to be a facet of his true personality when he hesitates to shoot Saejima since he saved his life when he got lost in that blizzard on the mountains. He almost outright kills himself out of shame when Saejima insists on trusting him and seeing him as a brother.
Face-Heel Revolving Door: After shooting Kitakata, he reveals he was really sent to monitor Saejima to make sure he came to Tsukimino at the right time, using Kugihara to control the timing of his release. But he's clearly conflicted over his newfound respect for Saejima and refuses to kill him. He later arrives in Tokyo to attend the DREAM-LINE concert under orders to assassinate Haruka, but as the others saw something he didn't see in himself, he couldn't go through with it.
Final Boss: For Shinada in 5.
Form-Fitting Wardrobe: The turtleneck sweater he wears in one scene is tight enough that you can see the definition on his arms, waist, neck, shoulders, and especially his pectorals.
His Own Worst Enemy: Seems to be his Fatal Flaw in a way. He very much despises himself for working together with vile monsters like Kurosawa when his target Saejima is willing to risk his life for Baba, even calling him his brother right after Baba revealed himself to be a Manipulative Bastard. It's to the point where he tries to kill himself twice, considering himself irredeemable and unworthy of the care people have for him. Even his attempts to atone for his past sins apparently don't properly have him own up to what terrible person he is. He gets slapped around quite a bit due to this to such an extent that two of his boss battles amount to prolonged over-the-top variations getting him to get a hold of himself so that he can atone the right way alongside people who care about him.
Interrupted Suicide: He can't bring himself to kill Saejima due to his newfound admiration for him, and seeing as he'll be killed if he doesn't comply, he pulls the gun on himself instead. Saejima punches him in the face before he can pull the trigger.
- He tries this again in the finale after he's beaten by Shinada, believing he's irredeemable, but it's his old prison mates who interfere.
Ink-Suit Actor: Looks rather similar to his voice actor.
The Lancer: Accompanies Saejima during his prison break and is his primary ally for most of Saejima's chapters. Subverted towards the end of Saejima's portion of the game where it's revealed that he's been taking advantage of Saejima and is actually a hired gun. That said, he ends up not really turning on Saejima after all making for a Double Subversion.
Laser-Guided Karma: Invoked by Shinada. While he's had a change of heart and has already decided not to assassinate Haruka, Shinada still insists on fighting him as a means of making him face the reality of his past sins as a manipulative assassin and receive retribution.
Leitmotif:
- "I Believe in You"
- "The Mutual Fists", for the final battle with Shinada.
Man Behind the Man: Kugihara was actually working under him the entire time, though he himself works under a greater criminal mastermind.
Manipulative Bastard: He was pretending to be a scared and helpless person the entire time in order to pull Saejima's strings and was working behind the scenes to control his sentence on behalf of his boss.
Mighty Glacier: Plenty strong with some quick attacks, but he doesn't have a particularly mobile fighting style. During his boss fights, he's more focused around blocking and countering attacks than actually avoiding them. It's fairly effective since he can even block Saejima's charged multi-hit finishers. Once he HEA Ts up, he also can't be dropped by any attacks except throws and HEAT actions.
The Mole: He was sent by the Omi Alliance to control Saejima's sentence in prison and lure him to Tokyo.
Mr. Exposition: When Kiryu arrives in Tokyo, he tells him what his boss had planned for him and the others in the Tojo Clan.
Obfuscating Stupidity: He's far more competent than he seems. Even when Saejima challenges him, he doesn't back down at all and can put up a decent fight against him.
Recurring Boss: He fights Saejima at the end of his chapter, Kiryu in the beginning of the last, and is Shinada's Final Boss. Akiyama is the only male protagonist he never fights.
Sad Battle Music: "I Believe in You" is a downplayed example being yet another hot-blooded battle theme but with an emotional vibe suiting Baba being very much conflicted over his mission to manipulate and ultimately kill off Saejima, because Saejima continues to believe in him as a brother, hence the name. "The Mutual Fists" is a more straight example being much more somber than the other Final Boss themes. Fitting since at this point, Baba has already turned his back on being Kurosawa's hitman at this point.
The Scapegoat: Accused of using a chisel to stab someone in prison, with the aim of getting at Saejima. Subverted in that actually he did it.
Sequential Boss: At the end, he's fought after Majima and followed by Kanai and Aizawa.
Shrinking Violet: He's shy, doesn't talk much, and always seems to be scared of something. It's an act. He even displays a cocky attitude when admitting his deception to Saejima and trying to pick a fight with Kiryu later. That said the aftermath of said fight indicates that it may have also been an act to properly test Kiryu's skills by acting like an enemy. If his conflicted moments with Saejima and Shinada are any indication he may truly unhappy be with himself and afraid of trying to really connect with others after all.
Spanner in the Works: Kurosawa clearly never expected Baba to form a kinship with Saejima and shift his loyalties away from Kurosawa. When Baba decides not to shoot Haruka, any leverage Kurosawa has over the protagonists is gone.
Strong as They Need to Be: Has some rather odd fluctuations in terms of his health bar at least. The first time you fight him as Saejima is actually his most formidable since his healthbar is on par with some of the series' Final Bosses. The next time you fight him as Kiryu, he suddenly has merely two bars of health though it's justified since it becomes clear that neither of them were really fighting their hardest. When he's acting as Shinada's Final Boss, he's got 3 health bars which is still noticeably less than he had when he first faced off against Saejima.
Stronger Than They Look: A surprisingly strong and skilled fighter despite not looking particularly dangerous. You probably weren't expecting him to have 4 healthbars on top of his robust physical abilities.
Tender Tears: When Saejima calls him brother and still believes him to be one, and when he tries to kill himself the second time in the finale.
Token Good Teammate: Works for the Kuroha Family of the Omi Alliance and the only member shown to be remorseful and conflicted about the terrible things they've got planned, to the point where he actually wants the protagonists to win.
Trojan Prisoner: He wasn't in prison by accident.
Underestimating Badassery: To Kiryu, though it's possible he's just trying to taunt Kiryu and goad him into a fight.
"Only children believe in Dragons!"
Villainous BSoD: When he's exposed, he says he wishes he had died on the mountain so Saejima wouldn't discover his betrayal. Saejima still considers him a brother in spite of it all, which shocks Baba to the point where he can't shoot Taiga and pulls the gun on himself instead.
- He suffers from this again in the finale after he's defeated by Shinada, believing he's irredeemable and not worthy of becoming Saejima's sworn brother.
Walking Spoiler: He's far more important to the overall plot than it seems.
You Are Not Alone: Has this sorta moment after his Final Boss fight with Shinada. He tries to kill himself with his own rifle, unable to stand being an irredeemable, manipulative person and telling Shinada to tell Saejima that he doesn't have it in himself to go back and presumably face all the people he's lied to. Himura arrives in the nick-of-time to shoot the gun out of his hands. Oshima then slaps Baba and scolds him, calling him foolish and telling him just how precious his life is to them. Finally, Kosaka reveals that Saejima called them in specifically to give Baba some emotional support along with the message that Saejima and Baba can become real brothers once Baba's atoned for his crimes in Abashiri. He then puts his hand on Baba's shoulder telling him that it's about time that they went home. The show of support is enough to bring him to his knees and we last see him peacefully watching the rest of Haruka's concert with Himura, Oshima, Kosaka, and Shinada before returning to prison.

Himura

Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Kono

An inmate who shares a room with Saejima. He is an easygoing guy and has a knack for cheering up his cellmates by telling stories of his past experiences, though it seems he exaggerates the finer details. Though not affiliated with the yakuza, he calls Saejima "Boss". He used to be a homicide detective that was brought in on corruption charges, but he keeps his past a secret, fearing others prisoners would hold a grudge against him.

The Atoner: Plans to become one anyway once he gets out believing that proper atonement begins not with the punishment of imprisonment but with how they live their lives afterwards.
Attention Whore: Has shades of this with the amount of time he spends telling questionable stories about how cool he is. The substory "Truth and Lies" suggests that it was this personality trait that drove him to police corruption. He was always an insatiable show-off and loved throwing money around to impress co-workers and especially women as if he was some sort of big shot. His former partner theorizes that in order to keep his wallet supplied for the act, he resorted to accepting bribes from the local Mafia.
Big Damn Heroes: After Saejima fights Kugihara for the last time, the latter pulls a gun, but Himura shoots him instead. Turns out the stories about him being a badass weren't false. He also saves Baba in the finale.
Beware the Silly Ones: He may be Saejima's goofiest ally while imprisoned, but he's still a former homicide detective and knows how to handle a gun. Kugihara found out the hard way.
Blasting It Out of Their Hands: When Baba tries to kill himself again in the finale, it's Himura who shoots the gun out of his hand.
Broken Pedestal: Downplayed since he already assumed that Himura was stretching the truth, but Saejima's definitely unhappy in a substory that not only was Himura lying about being a ladies man based on how the hostesses in town talk about him, he was accepting bribes to ignore those very Mafia that he claimed to have worked on taking down himself. In the end it, Saejima's still adamant that there's some good in him since Himura saved Saejima and Baba from getting shot by Kugihara.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: In a substory, his former partner as a homicide detective also seems rather dour over how Himura's need to satisfy his ego probably led him to corruption. After Saejima helps him and his new partner out of a sticky situation, Saejima tells him that as bad as Himura may seem, he still saved Saejima's life. The detective reflects upon this new information, deciding that Himura isn't truly rotten to the core and hopes to one day go out for drinks with him like they used to.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Implied. He's the goofiest of Saejima's cellmates with his cheerful attitude and fixation on using Image Training to regale exaggerated stories about his impressive and heroic deeds. However, he proves to have a pretty in-depth understanding of forensic science and crime scene analysis when they start to discuss whether or not they can prove Baba isn't responsible for someone getting stabbed. Makes sense since he is a disgraced homicide detective. His co-workers and hostess club acquaintences all comment on what a loud blowhard he was but there's never any question of his actual competence so we can only assume he did in fact do his job well despite his personality.
The Casanova: Frames himself as one in the stories he tells to his cellmates. He's lying. The hostesses around Tsukimino only tolerated him because he was a big spender and found him to be more of an annoying blowhard.
Dirty Cop: A former homicide detective charged with corruption for accepting bribes. He's kept quiet about it to avoid persecution from the other inmates and was expecting to not stay too long in prison since they're relatively minor charges.
Foil: Considering how heavily corrupt cops feature in the plot of the previous game, Himura also being a Dirty Cop contrasts such characters in a number of ways, especially Munakata. Munakata was the chief of police. Himura was much lower in the hierarchy being a detective in the Homicide Division. While Munakata worked together with criminals heavily for the proposed sake of protecting civilians, Himura was simply tempted by the money they offered. Conversely, Munakata was perfectly fine with murdering innocent people like Tanimura's father Taigi to protect his deception while the only person Himura kills is Kugihara in order to protect his friends Saejima and Baba. Upon being exposed for his crimes, Munakata was so broken down that he tries to have a civilian Akiyama killed and then kills himself rather than atone for his crimes in jail where he'd probably be a Pariah Prisoner for his major police corruption. Himura, being less of a big name was able to conceal the reasons for his imprisonment and avoid such a fate and he also seems to earnestly believe that he's able to atone for his past crimes. Not to mention, instead of killing himself he stops his friend Shigeki Baba from killing himself in the nick of time.
Mr. Imagination: Practices "Image Training" and teaches it to Saejima allowing the two of them to mentally experience his stories about his life in the Hokkaido red light district of Tsukimino near their prison. This way, Saejima is able to interact with and enjoy the town despite said imprisonment.
The Münchausen: To an extent. His stories about his past experiences make him sound not too dissimilar to a Yakuza protagonist.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: Of Saejima's cellmates prior to Baba's recent arrival, Himura's the Wise Guy to Oshima's Straight Man, being more light-hearted, easy-going, and silly in comparison.
Unreliable Narrator: His stories emphasize that he was quite the badass and a womanizer too, which none of the others believe. While he was definitely lying about being popular with women, his skill with a gun is undeniable.

Heihachiro Oshima

Voiced by: Hirohiko Kakegawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oshimay5.jpg

Another inmate who shares Saejima's room. He's the oldest of the group. Not a lot gets past him. He's a legendary thief with more than 15,000 thefts under his belt for thirty years without getting caught, and intended to retire when he turned 60. When he discovered his wife left him for another man at the same time, he decided to turn himself in. He also worked as a doctor prior to that.

The Atoner: All that time spent stealing from the corrupt rich had made him ignorant of the fact that someone was stealing his wife away from him. He was so disgusted with himself that he turned himself in immediately. His response to Himura's views on atonement implies that he truly regrets his shady past and was planning on atoning by repaying his debt to society once he got out of jail.
Chekhov's Skill: He reveals that he has a bit of medical history, allowing him to help Saejima after Kugihara's torture sessions. When Kosaka is stabbed by Kugihara during the outbreak, Himura reveals that Oshima managed to save him. His skills as a legendary thief also come in handy throughout the game's prison segment.
Cool Old Guy: He's always helpful of Saejima whether it's acquiring painkillers to help him deal with Kugihara's torture sessions or finding proof of Baba's innocence in a supposed prison shanking. He's also more reliable than he appears.
Grumpy Old Man: Downplayed. He's a somewhat serious old man who's also the most skeptical and sarcastic whenever Himura has any funny ideas.
Gentleman Thief: Referred to as such in-game. Going by the name "Businessman Heihachiro", he only stole from crooks, shady politicians and Corrupt Bureaucrats, all while dressed in a suit and tie like a regular businessman, hence the name. After over 15,000 successful thefts, he was never caught. He's only imprisoned because he turned himself in, as his targets refrained from reporting his thefts on the chance that they'd then have their own misdeeds made clear.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: He slaps Baba in the finale after his Interrupted Suicide, believing that only fools throw their lives away.
Karmic Thief: Said to have primarily targetted the corrupt wealthy and specifically stole things that would make it more difficult for them to report on his thefts without revealing said corruption.
Meaningful Look: When Baba claims that him and Saejima were called over by Deputy Warden Kosaka simply so he could tell him that he would put in another request for their parole with Saejima affirming it, he glances sideways at Baba with narrowed eyes clearly suspicious of the two of them. He figured out that Kosaka was giving them free rein to break out of prison in the dead of night. After Saejima and Baba sneak out, Oshina and Himura are shown to have been pretending to sleep with Himura noting that Oshina's hunch was right.
Phantom Thief: Somehow managed to get away with over 15,000 successful counts of theft while dressed as an average businessman. When his friends need to acquire a specific chisel from the woodworking crew to help prove Baba's innocence, he doesn't hesitate to tell them to let him handle it and how easy it'd be to steal the chisel they need without anyone noticing. He makes good on that claim.
- Possibly Double Subverted. On one hand, a cop named Araseki in a substory points out how unlikely it would be for one man to manage upwards of 15,000 thefts as they'd have to be constantly stealing daily for over 40 years. He then explains how the rich crooks he targetted most likely fabricated his success as a thief in order to make him Public Enemy Number One since they couldn't discreetly report the thefts he engaged in without revealing their own corruption. However, he also adds that Oshima was something of a genius who never left a trace during any of his crimes despite his identity of being the thief being known. This pushed the corrupt big wigs to settle for getting him fired from his actual office job to force him to engage in more petty crimes. He somehow managed to keep at his thievery for the next 30 or so years without being caught or even his wife learning of the fact. In fact, he never did get caught. The only reason he ended up in jail is because he turned himself in.
Retirony: A non-lethal example. Just as he had finished what he planned to be his final act of thievery on his birthday, he arrives home to learn that his wife had left him for another man. He decides to turn himself in afterwards.
Secret-Keeper: At some point prior to Saejima's first chapter in prison, he asked Oshima for painkillers. Oshima refused to give them unless Saejima told him why. While Saejima revealed to him that Kugihara and his friends have been physically assaulting him at least 3 times a week ever since they arrived 6 months ago, he also made Oshima promise not to tell the others about it since he was worried that they'd get involved and get themselves hurt as well.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Described as wearing a suit and tie back when he was the gentleman thief "Businessman Heihachiro". In the finale, his civilian clothes include a suit jacket over a vest, slacks, and dress shoes.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: Of Saejima's cellmates prior to Baba's recent arrival, Oshima's the Straight Man to Himura's Wise Guy, being the more serious, skeptical, and sarcactic of the two.
Team Dad: The only cellmate of Saejima in Abashiri that's older than him and he's the mostly openly considerate about the well-being of others. He's the one that alerts to Saejima that Baba's in a bad space emotionally and needs someone like Saejima to talk to since they're both yakuza. Also when Himura gets socked in the gut for trying to ask a hostile guard where they're taking an injured Saejima away to, Oshima immediately shows concern for him. In the finale, he's the most upset over Baba's attempted suicide.

Seiji Kosaka

Voiced by: Takuya Kirimoto

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kosakay5.jpg

The Deputy Warden at Abashiri. A cold and strict disciplinarian who punishes any breach of the rules, he has been known to revoke parole and extend sentences for the most minor infractions. He had his eyes on Saejima as a potential troublemaker. He mellows a bit to Saejima after the latter is expelled from Tojo Clan, and smells trouble coming after the warden is killed, knowing it relates to Saejima and Baba somehow, and helps them escape to find the truth.

Disney Death: When Saejima and Baba try to escape, he's stabbed and taken out by Kugihara. After Saejima and Baba take on the prisoners, Himura reveals that Oshima saved him using his past medical experience.
Foil: With his position of authority at Abashiri Penitentiary, he holds a role similar to Saito, the Head Prison Guard in Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2 from the previous game but aside from that, he couldn't be any more different from said guard. Saito was a cruel, sadistic, raging brute who would "accidentally" beat misbehaving prisoners to death during punishment. Kosaka is much calmer and is less concerned with discipline and moreso keeping the peace and keeping prisoners relatively safe, sound, and healthy so they can properly atone. Saito will justify his illegal killings by stating that no one would lament the deaths of any of the criminal scum imprisoned whereas Kosaka only ever breaks the rules to help Saejima and his allies uncover the schemes of the Big Bad. Saito's last actions ensure the death of one of the heroes' allies whereas Kosaka nearly loses his life supporting the heroes and then later on helps to save the life of an Anti-Villain.
Good Is Not Nice: A very cold individual who most definitely doesn't approve of Saejima's yakuza lifestyle and plans on denying him parole since he'll just go back to being a high-ranking Tojo Clan member. Still, he also disapproves of Kugihara and his men physically torturing Saejima and offers to have his guards keep them off Saejima's back. When it's become clear that some sort of grand conspiracy is targetting Saejima and exploiting the rules of the system he's been so ardently following, he opts to break those rules himself by allowing Saejima and Baba to escape from prison to avoid certain doom from Kugihara's forces as well as to investigate the situation from outside.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite his bad reputation and cold demeanor, he shows a surprising amount of real concern and consideration for the well-being of inmates Saejima and Baba despite his supposed hatred of yakuza like them. In the finale, he doesn't seem to disapprove of Baba and Saejima one day becoming Sworn Brothers as yakuza and even reaffirms to Baba that he has a real home in Abashiri now with people that care about him and want to help him, seemingly including himself too.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He may have a hatred for the yakuza, but he's not unreasonable toward Saejima. Especially when he's expelled from the Tojo Clan. This is seen again when he pulls some strings, allowing Oshima and Himura to attend the concert in Tokyo in order to save Baba.
The Smart Guy: Astute and on top of things in the prison and outside as well. He figures out very quickly that there's a mastermind behind the scenes targetting Saejima and putting innocents in harm's way such as the warden who got murdered when he tried to personally investigate why Saejima's parole was denied by the Ministry of Justice. He correctly figures out that there's a high-ranking traitor in the Tojo Clan with the authority to influence said Ministry.
The Stoic: A very stern, no-nonsense man of authority who rarely shows emotion though he does give both Saejima and Baba looks of genuine concern.
To Be Lawful or Good: He wavers on this but decides on being good. When Saejima's parole is denied for uncertain and rather shady reasons, Kosaka helps him and Baba escape, fearing they will be killed if they stay in prison as well as requesting that they investigate the situation outside and bring the perpetrators to justice. It also helps that the two seem repentant of their actions that landed them in the prison designed to reform them. Or so it seems...
- By the time of the finale, he's firmly chosen good based on how he's clearly bending the rules to allow for Himura and Oshima to come with him to Kamurocho to meet with Baba despite the two of them still being prisoners. The fact that Oshima personally saved his life with his medical expertise might have something to do with it.

Hiroshi Kugihara

Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kugiharay5.jpg

A prisoner of Abashiri. He came about 6 months prior to the events of the game, leads the woodworking crew and has many prisoners to his side. He's targeting Saejima, luring him to secluded storerooms and beating him to a pulp during exercise periods. His original plan was to provoke Saejima info fighting him, so his sentence would be extended. Then, under Baba's orders, he was to start a riot so that Saejima could get away easier, but his hatred drove him to try and kill Saejima instead. Before he could do that, he was shot through the chest by Himura. He's revealed to be working for Baba all along.

Ax-Crazy: This psycho takes far too much pleasure in torturing Saejima to the point where he drives his fingers into Saejima's wounds from their last session and starts licking the blood off of them. His unstable demeanor carries over into battle where he fights with reckless abandon.
Bald of Evil: Not a hair on his head, and a really nasty guy.
Facial Horror: His face has a large nasty scar from the forehead to the chin. It's outright rendered one of his eyes blind though it doesn't seem to hinder his fighting abilities much.
Cold-Blooded Torture: He enjoys having his boys do this to Saejima to see if he'll fight back. Saejima returns the favor as he breaks out of prison, destroying his wrist so badly there's blood all over the snow.
Confusion Fu: Downplayed. He's somewhat agile and has a peculiar and erratic fighting style that lets him get more hits in than the average goon.
Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Suffers this when Himura shoots him from behind killing him before he can shoot at Saejima and Baba
Drunken Boxing: Uses an odd, swaying, formless fighting style that has been reused in later released games as the movesets for Arena opponents who are said to fight whilst drunk. Kugihara's never actually drunk though since he's only ever encountered in prison so it's likely just to make him seem even creepier and more unhinged.
Evil Counterpart: His long scar through a blinded eye may call to mind Majima whose eyepatch stretches across his blinded eye and across his face in a similar position to said scar. Both men are indeed violently unstable with unconventional fighting techniques but that's just about where the similarities end with Kugihara lacking any of the more noble and endearing characteristics that make Majima such a reliable and respected ally.
Evil Laugh: A faint Joker-esque giggle.
Flunky Boss: Always accompanied by two mooks in battle except in the non-canon Ultimate Matches.
Gonk: Almost looks like a zombie with how scarred and haggard his face is.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Very nasty evil-looking scars.
Handicapped Badass: That huge facial scar passes through his left eye with the milky coloration implying that it's blind. He still has some fighting skill though well below that of the likes of fellow vision-impaired lunatic, Majima.
Hidden Badass: You might take him for a weakling, since he prefers to have his minions do the heavy lifting for him, but he's a fairly scrappy fighter.
King Mook: Leads the entire legion of prisoners after he literally took over the prison and tries to kill Saejima.
Lean and Mean: Taller and skinnier than most of the prisoners.
Manipulative Bastard: Accuses Baba of stabbing one of his roommates with a Chisel.
Obviously Evil: Bald, pale, ugly and creepy looking.
Psycho for Hire: Hired to get Saejima's prison sentence extended by provoking him into violence. He opted to attack and torture him relentlessly when no one's looking, relishing the suffering he's causing in an incredibly creepy manner. He's believed to be working for the traitors in the Tojo Clan. Later confirmed when Baba reveals that Kugihara was his underling and that he's part of the Omi Alliance's Kuroha Family whose members include said Tojo Clan traitors.
Recurring Boss: Ends up getting two boss fights during Saejima's time in Abishiri.
Sadist: Deeply enjoys causing pain to Saejima.
Trojan Prisoner: Clearly planted in the prison to cause trouble for Saejima.
Undeathly Pallor: Compared to the rest of the cast, his pale skin stands out.
Warm-Up Boss: Saejima's first boss fight with only a single health bar and accompanied by two weak underlings. Downplayed as he's a bit better of a fighter than the usual example but getting used to avoiding his attacks and using Saejima's fighting style properly should lead to a quick victory. He's definitely tougher on the second round with a respectable 2 healthbars though he's also set after a massive gauntlet of weak goons so the level-ups should make up the difference.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: His initial plan is to beat Saejima to try and provoke him into retaliating violently so his sentence would be extended.

Hunter Village

Yama-oroshi

An unusually large, man-eating bear that's been lurking around the Hunter Village deep in the mountains of Hokkaido.

Arc Villain: Of the "Hunter and Killer" storyline.
Bears Are Bad News: Especially when they're 2 meters tall and target humans.
Continuity Cameo: A bear sharing Yama-oroshi's name, looks, and Quick Time Event animations appears in the Kiwami remake of Ishin as a "Trooper Card", allowing Ryoma to call in a massive bear to maul an enemy mid-combat. It's probably not the same bear since that game takes place well over a century ago. Probably.
Degraded Boss: A substory in Tsukimino involves a captive bear breaking free of a transport vehicle after a car accident. While all the citizens are appropriately freaked out, Saejima simply steps forth noting how much smaller and outright cuddly the ordinary bear is in comparison. It basically fights identically to Yama-oroshi but has significantly less health. Later released games have also reused Yama-oroshi's fighting style for fights against other smaller bears in side content.
Foreshadowing: Before Saejima and Baba make their escape from Abashiri Prison, Himura warns the two of the man-eating, two meter tall bear menacing the mountains. While Baba dismisses it as another tall tale, Saejima later meets the beast face-to-face after getting seperated from Baba in the middle of a blizzard.
Saejima: Huh. Guess Himura wasn't lyin' 'bout it's size after all.
It Can Think: When Saejima first faces Yama-oroshi, he was able to vanish in a gust of snow then attempt a sneak attack. Other bears would just keep attacking until the aggressor either flees or dies. It's also implied that Yama-oroshi started attacking the people from the village out of revenge for their trophy hunting.
Know When to Fold 'Em: The first time Saejima defeats him, he simply roars at Saejima before leaving Saejima as he collapses from exhaustion. After finally being completely subdued by Saejima at the end of the "Hunter and Killer" storyline, Okudera decides to spare the beast, believing that as a hunter he should only be killing animals for resources and survival rather than mere revenge. Surprisingly, the beast apparently leaves the area entirely and never bothers the village ever again.
Made of Iron: Narumi claims that shooting Yama-oroshi anywhere but his underbelly won't do anything except make him mad.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's stated that Yama-oroshi got as big as he is by eating humans, but the closest he gets to doing so in-game is mauling Narumi into forced retirement from hunting. He also seems to have just appeared one day after trophy-hunting around the village got out of hand, making it ambiguous if he's a bear that just so happens to be bigger and stronger than normal or if he's some sort of spirit of the mountains.
Stealthy Colossus: During the Boss Fight against him, he seemingly vanishes when the snow storm causes Saejima to lose sight of him entirely. He then manages to use the trees to sneak around and rush Saejima from behind.
Your Size May Vary: He's always huge but in gameplay and certain scenes, he looks more like he's at least 10 ft tall.

Okudera

Voiced by: Hideyuki Hori

A man who saves Saejima and Baba when they get lost in the blizzard after they escape the Abashiri Prison. He's an old hunter who has a grudge against a giant bear living near his village. He isn't on good terms with the other hunters of the village, who blame him for a rampage caused by the same bear that occurred nine years before. Like Saejima, he escaped Abashiri some time ago and stayed in the village since.

The Atoner: He took the real Okudera's name and place in the village to atone for letting the real Okudera die.
The Chase: His goal is to hunt and kill the giant bear in the forest, Yama-oroshi.
Cruel to Be Kind: Tied in with The Reveal below, the villagers deliberately shunned Okudera to protect him because the police had come to the village asking about him after his escape from prison, and they figured that if they didn't know who he was, they wouldn't have to turn him in.
Foreshadowing: His story about breaking out of prison just to be saved by the very person he was sent to kill, who he came to look at as a friend and hesitated to kill, foreshadows what Baba becomes to Saejima.
The Reveal: The villagers were responsible for the rampage nine years ago, not him. Also, his true identity is the assassin Kiyoshi Sato, who also escaped from Abashiri to kill the real Okudera, who was expelled from a yakuza family and marked for death. Sato had a change of heart after Okudera saved his life, who was then killed by Yama-oroshi. His dying wish was for Sato to take his name and place.
Sword over Head: After spending nearly a decade trying to hunt down Yama-oroshi and having him dead to rights after Saejima's final clash with him, he decides against slaughtering the bear. Echoing his previous sentiments about how a hunter only kills to survive on necessary resources. Killing for no reason but revenge makes him a murderer, thus he decides to let the injured creature escape, giving up on vengeance.

Narumi

A hunter who comes in pursuit of Yama-oroshi after hearing rumors of a great bear.

Break the Haughty: A brutal example. He's absolutely certain that his hunting skills will see him triumph. Instead, he's the one who gets outsmarted and is savagely mauled for underestimating Yama-oroshi.
Career-Ending Injury: His mauling from Yama-oroshi means he'll never be able to carry a gun again.
Egomaniac Hunter: Primarily targets bears and he definitely has the ego and the total disregard for animal life or even his fellow hunters at the village for that matter. He goes out of his way to spread bear bait all over the mountain to lure out Yama-oroshi. It's one thing to provoke a giant borderline-supernatural man-killing bear, but it'll also wake the other regular bears from hibernation and start a feeding frenzy that will almost certainly endanger the Hunting Village. He brushes off the villagers' justifiable concern, saying he'll just hunt all the agitated bears himself.
Foil: He's this to Saejima and Okudera in the Hunting storyline. The former hunt for survival while he hunts for sport.
Glory Hound: While he generally hunts for thrills, a big part of the reason he's focusing on the so-called giant bear is for the fame and fortune bringing it down will gain him.
Escort Mission: He has to be escorted down the mountain after surviving his run-in with Yama-oroshi, having only a sliver of health and a mountain full of bears.
Laser-Guided Karma: He spreads bear bait all over the mountain to wake up all the bears from hibernation early so he can hunt Yama-oroshi. It just gets him utterly mauled.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's very much the red to Saejima and Okudera's blue, even wearing a red coat.
Tracking Device: He gives Saejima a Vertical Double Special which allows him to shoot a tracking device in Yama-oroshi's belly after he tried to shoot it on his backside which only bounced off.

Tendo

A mysterious old "sage" living in the shrine just outside of the Mountain Village. After making a food offering to the shrine once, he appears to greet Saejima and tells him to make further offerings and in return, Tendo vows to offer the wisdom of the Gods in return to help Saejima increase his strength. This of course means getting possessed by various hostile Mountain Gods and attacking Saejima. Thus, he serves as Saejima's Training Master.

Demonic Possession: Every "training session" with him entails him being possessed by one of the local Mountain Gods and then attacking Saejima.
Flunky Boss: When possessed by Todoroki, he can summon spirits from the snow to assist him in battle. Thankfully, they're pretty weak though him being a ranged fighter can still cause problems.
An Ice Person: When possessed by Ikaguchi, he can summon an avalanche to deal massive damage to Saejima, so much that it's a One-Hit Kill if you're low-leveled enough and/or haven't learned how to overcharge your health from Tatsuya in Tsukimino. It's a good thing it can be blocked to reduce the damage.
Invisibility: Turns invisible during the fourth training session though he still shimmers a bit and you can still lock onto him fine.
Leitmotif: "The Hermit of the Frozen North".
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Zig-Zagged. The set up for the final training session is Saejima discovering that he's apparently merely suspended by almost invisible wires to simulate flight. This heavily implies that he was never possessed at all and that all the supernatural occurings were fake as well, seemingly all to scare and/or encourage Saejima to keep giving the shrine various offerings of increasing value. However, he's then suddenly "possessed" once more and fights back harder than ever before. After being defeated for the final time, it's suggested that a real possession occured. When Saejima continues to ask him why he tried to trick him for offerings in the first place, he decides that he needs to "reveals his true identity" and suddenly vanishes with a flash of lightning, leaving Saejima confused and wondering if he was a Mountain God all along.
- Completely subverted if you return and check the shrine one last time. He gets caught and finally reveals that he was a former magician known as Tendo Oshida and all of his "god-like powers" were simply parlor tricks supported by the "high tech magic gear" he keeps stashed inside the shrine itself. While his original career fell through when the economic bubble burst in the 80s, he's still been using the desolate mountainside as the perfect spot to practice whatever new tricks come to mind. Lastly, when Saejima once again asks him why he needed those offerings in the first place, he vanishes yet again apparently to avoid answering him.
Noodle Implements: The offerings needed at the shrine to "train" with Mountain Gods are initially what you'd expect i.e. "offerings of food" like carrots, rabbit meat, and deer meat. Towards the end, you start getting strange requests like "something beautiful" being a Gold plate or a "virgin sacrifice"... which is just a pin-up magazine. Once Saejima realizes that there aren't any real Mountain Gods, he tries to ask Tendo multiple times why he needed some of these things so badly but he avoids answering every time.
No-Sell: While possessed Tendo has the standard immunity to heat actions as other Training Masters, Tendo in particular can't even be grabbed since he's floating off the ground.
Outside-Genre Foe: Even by substory and optional content standards, the fights against possessed Tendo are bizarre. You don't usually fight against Mountain Gods who float around and assault Saejima with all sorts mystical abilities.
Playing with Fire: Despite being "Mountain Gods", their primary means of offense is blasting Saejima with fireballs in 3-hit combos. From the third training session onwards, the Mountain Gods will also start using a fiery uppercut at close range.
Power Echoes: Has a reverb on his voice when possessed by a Mountain God. You'll hear it through his combat grunts.
Power Floats: He starts floating a few feet off the ground everytime he gets possessed by a Mountain God and will spend the entire training fight against him floating above the ground though he gets grounded whenever his block is broken or when he is defeated.
Reverse Arm-Fold: Has this pose in battle. It's not much of a hinderance since the Mountain Gods possessing him mostly let their Powers Do the Fighting.

Tsukimino Residents

Daizo Kitakata

Voiced by: Kōzō Shioya

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kitakatay5.jpg

Patriarch of the Kitakata Family, a yakuza group that controls Hokkaido's largest entertainment district, Tsukimino. He rules over the hawkers in the area, running events like the Snow Festival. He was approached about an alliance with the Tojo Clan by Goro Majima, but Majima's supposedly killed during the talks, making Kitakata the prime suspect. Before revealing the truth to Saejima, he's shot by Baba, going into coma.

Back for the Finale: Recovers enough from his gunshot wound in time to help the other Yakuza patriarchs of Japan cull the numbers of Kurosawa's forces and corner Kamon Kanai after Akiyama's final showdown with him.
The Bus Came Back: Reappears in Ryu ga Gotoku Online during Ryuji Goda's storyline in the year 1999 in which he offers a wandering Ryuji a place to stay in Sapporo since he was basically homeless at the time in the middle of Winter.
Cool Old Guy: Uses the power granted by being a Yakuza patriarch primarily for the sake of supporting the community and seems to be the kind of guy who likes to help people.
Excellent Judge of Character: Figures out that despite how tough or scary they present themselves as, guys like Majima and Saejima are actually pretty soft on the inside.
Friendly Neighborhood Gangster: He's rather supportive of local businesses, invests in property in Tsukimino, and is considered a VIP at community events, particularly the Snow Festival.
He Knows Too Much: He's shot after he tells far too much to Saejima regarding Majima's death.
Light Is Good: Sure he's a yakuza patriarch but he seems to legitimately mean well and proves to be an asset to the heroes.
Mr. Exposition: His only screen time is to give Saejima exposition about Majima's last few conversations with him. Until he comes Back for the Finale.
Nerves of Steel: Doesn't seem all that worried about being kidnapped by the much larger Taiga Saejima and never really acts like he's in any danger even smirking a few times as he comments on the situation and converses with the man. Justified since he was expecting to be kidnapped thanks to Majima's warning and he was probably aware ahead of time that as long as he's careful, a man like Saejima wouldn't hurt him unnecessarily.
Old Friend: Averted. The fact that he doesn't recognize Baba, a supposed former member of his family, is a dead indicator that maybe they don't know each other at all, Foreshadowing Baba's betrayal.
Smarter Than You Look: Downplayed. Your first impression of him during the snow festival may be that of a lethargic somewhat dim-witted fat old man since one of the first things he does on screen is pick an ear clean with a pinkie before surveying the immediate area with a blank, listless expression. He proves to be pretty perceptive and intelligent in his later conversations with Saejima. There's a strong chance he only appeared that way initially due to him simply finding the Snow Festival to be a boring affair despite him never missing attendance.
Spell My Name With An S: It is unclear if his given name is Daizo or Taizo. Both are valid readings of his kanji name, and the in-game text in the English version refers to him with both.
Wham Line: When Saejima asks if Kitakata recognize Baba, Kitakata answers this:
Kitakata: No, can't say I do.

Dyna Chair

Mirei Park

Voiced by: Romi Park

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/parky5.jpg

The president of Dyna Chair who has an exceptional knowledge about the world and the demands of the entertainment industry. She discovered Haruka at a bookstore sometime before the fifth game, and took her under her wing to raise her into a successful Pop Idol. She's a no-nonsense woman who is driven by results, and is largely the reason why Kiryu left the orphanage, believing Haruka's career would be ruined if her fans discovered her real past and his involvement in it, among other things. She's a big believer in passing one's dreams onto others, and is determined to turn Haruka into a big success.

Abusive Parents: Describes her childhood as being abused by her foster parents since she was able to walk. They also forced her to write with her right hand even though she was left-handed.
All for Nothing: Technically, Haruka does make it to stardom as an idol, and fulfills Park's goals where she couldn't. Then the ending and 6 happens, where Haruka publicly revealing she's the adoptive daughter of Kazuma Kiryu utterly destroys her reputation, has her hounded by the media, and ultimately leads to a series of self-risking choices on Haruka's part that nearly get her killed. Every single thing Park had tried to prep and train Haruka for went up in smoke and flames because she failed to account for the idea that Haruka would refuse to give up Kiryu, after trying so hard to get Kiryu to give up Haruka to prevent this exact thing from happening.
Ambition Is Evil: She's not really evil or anything, but a lot of her more dubious actions are motivated by making sure that Haruka's, and by extension her own dream of becoming an idol and singing on a Tokyo stage comes true. This includes guilt-tripping Kiryu into cutting ties with Haruka and the Orphans, threatening to pull funding from Morning Glory to motivate Haruka into winning, and altering her contract with Ogita so he would have to fully train Haruka in just six months instead of a full year, as per their original contract.
The Atoner: Discussed. After failing to realize her dreams as a Singing Idol, she wonders if her desperate attempts to help another idol achieve that same dream is her form of atonement for all the seemingly meaningless sacrifices she made along the way including driving her ex-husband Majima away whom she still retains feelings for.
Bad Boss: It's clear that Mirei runs Dyna Chair with an iron fist. She frequently intimidates Horie and Ogita doesn't seem to care for her even before she fires him. And when Ogita is fired, Mirei casually reveals that she covertly altered his contract prior to signing allowing her to fire him without any pay if he failed to successfully train Haruka in the specified timeframe - first a year, then six months before callously flicking a lit cigarette into his face. When she foists the responsibility of finding a new dance instructor on Horie and Haruka, Horie points out that she's already "fired every dance teacher in Kansai."
Broken Bird: She was a former idol whose career ended when it was discovered she was secretly married and became pregnant at 18. She terminated the pregnancy without her husband's knowledge, which prompted him to leave her, all of which she viewed as necessary sacrifices for her career before it tanked and she realized she lost everything, including the ability to bear children again. It's evident that she wants to turn Haruka into the success she couldn't be, and achieve her own dream of creating an Idol success story.
- Not to mention, she never knew what it was like to be loved by biological parents who instead abused her since the very start of her life.
Brutal Honesty: She doesn't sugarcoat any of her words, not even toward Haruka. But it's hard to argue against what she says.
Chekhov's Skill: After Ogita injures her right hand, she writes a memo using her left hand before going to Tokyo. She tells Haruka that she was originally left-handed, but her foster parents forced her to write using her right hand, which she notes is a once common but dying practice. When Akiyama and Haruka compare the handwriting on it to her suicide note, it's clear the note was forged based on the handwriting of her right hand, which she couldn't use, indicating she was murdered instead.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Presented as rather cold, blunt, and honest to just about everyone even when she's trying to advise and encourage Haruka. She quickly realizes Haruka's earnest desire for some sort of maternal figure and starts to soften up towards her considerably.
Determinator: Prior to the events of the game, she borrowed 300 million yen from Akiyama, which required she pass his Secret Test of Character. It's shown that he had her become a number one hostess at a club and had her "make money using her body" with (construction work) to prove herself, and Akiyama realizes it was all not just for her dream, but also for Haruka's sake.
- This is implied to be a Reconstruction. She became an idol to be loved. Despite already having love in her marriage to Majima, she chose her career over him. This act of not Knowing When to Fold 'Em backfired hard, and she became a Broken Bird as a result of it. By the present day, she is determined to ensure Haruka becomes the success she herself couldn't be, and uses her experience to try and ensure her career doesn't fall into the same traps.
Driven to Suicide: She dies in Haruka's chapter shortly after the two become closer and go shopping together. However, it's revealed to be a cover up for a murder.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Downplayed since her associates vow to uphold her sacrifice, but she's ironically this to her ex-husband Majima, who never even reacts to her death even though it was his letter he sent to her that indirectly led to her death.
Heroic Sacrifice: In a roundabout way. Akiyama describes Goro Majima, Naoki Katsuya, and Mirei Park as old friends who had at some point agreed to work together to crack open the conspiracy that was at the very least threatening the lives of Majima and Katsuya. When she was interrogated by Ogita and Kanai for Majima's letter to her which would apparently help them locate where he was hiding, she keeps silent and tries to escape instead, losing her life in the process.
Hypocrite: Upon meeting Haruka and deciding to turn her into an idol, she emotionally manipulated Kiryu into cutting ties with her, stating that Haruka's ties to the Yakuza through him getting leaked could negatively affect her reputation. However, this ignores how she was not only associated with two high ranking Yakuza, but was married to one and nearly had their child.
Ice Queen: She's a very cold woman who doesn't sugarcoat things and refuses to accept failure of any kind, which has made her several enemies. Her aggressive nature is what drove T-Set to defect to Osaka Talents. Or so they thought.
I Just Want to Be Loved: A big part of the reason she originally wanted to become an idol was because of the abusive household she suffered in her childhood. She could see how loved and admired idols were and was determined to gain the love and respect she never received growing up.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- Enough to convince Kiryu that he's unintentionally setting up the kids at the orphanage for failure. She also warns Haruka about the harsh consequences of failure and the hardships that come with being in the entertainment industry.
- She's determined to keep the public from learning the truth behind Haruka's Dark and Troubled Past. Yakuza 6 shows that her fears were very well-founded.
Jerkass Ball: While Park was always a ruthless businesswoman, as seen above, it usually had the underlying motive of helping with Haruka's success. While firing Ogita so she could instead hire Christine instead may have been motivated by this, screwing with their contract to make it so she wouldn't have to pay him anything for his services seems more out of pettiness or greed more than anything.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of her harsh personality, she seems to have a soft spot for Haruka and genuinely believes in her potential. It becomes evident in her final moments that she sacrificed a lot for her own dream, and Haruka by proxy. She even takes a moment to reflect upon how desperate and selfish her ambitions are to the extent of apologising to Haruka for getting her involved at all.
"Perhaps I'm just struggling to find some form of redemption. Either way, this is all I have. Sorry to have dragged you into this."
Karmic Death: It's revealed that she was killed by Ogita, who was too rough in interrogating her when tasked with finding Majima's letter to her. While treated as tragedy, it's hard to deny to that it's a fitting end seeing as she previously screwed him over, especially when you consider that it was her refusal to pay him that led to him being tasked to find the letter to settle his debts in the first place.
Killed Offscreen: She's found dead near Dyna Chair's office by Horie in what appears to be suicide. When it's discovered she was actually murdered instead, Ogita reveals that he accidentally killed her by beating her head repeatedly against the floor, fueled out of revenge for screwing him over.
Laser-Guided Karma: When Ogita brings up his (valid) concern on how fast he needs to train Haruka to go up against idols who have been in the business for years, Park fires him and uses her Leonine Contract to ensure he doesn't get paid. This leads to her death, as Ogita needed the money to pay his debts. Kanai is given enough leverage by Park's actions to get Ogita to interrogate her about a letter he needs, where he goes too far and accidentally kills her.
Leonine Contract: Pulls one on Ogita. See Moving the Goalposts.
Manipulative Bitch: A more benevolent example than most, but she's not afraid of using fairly underhanded means to get she wants.
Mean Boss: She has physically abused her employees on more than one occasion and her idea of a pep talk with Haruka was to threaten shutting down Morning Glory Orphanage if she lost.
- It's Implied she was this for T-Set when they were with Dyna Chair, which was motivated them to switch to Osaka Talents.
Moving the Goalposts: She initially hired Ogita to turn Haruka into a star within a year, then made it into six months. When he's fired, she reveals that she made one change to his contract before he signed it, which meant he'd only get paid if he got the job done, and wouldn't get a yen otherwise. She justifies this by telling him that the person with the money is the one with power, and is how the industry works. This is the reason he went overboard in interrogating her for the letter, which killed her.
Nerves of Steel: Unflappable no matter how tense the situation. When Ogita threatens her physically to the point of grabbing her by her shirt, she doesn't bat an eye and even mocks him for not taking a swing. Before her Accidental Murder at the hands of Ogita, it was implied that she refused to submit to Kamon Kanai's demands and interrogations, even attempting to escape on her own despite being a complete non-combatant up against some truly dangerous folk.
Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Once she dies, the characters and the narrative gloss over all the morally questionable things she did over the course of the game and treat her almost like a paragon of virtue. It's only with Ogita that her actions are seen in even the slightest negative light.
New Old Flame: She was never mentioned in the previous games, but she's Majima's ex-wife. Their marriage was happy until she had an abortion without telling him and he left her, believing he was holding her back from her dreams. It's clear she was looking forward to seeing him again even if she had resigned herself to the chances of it being slim due to putting her life in danger and the fact that she and Majima had lived in completely different worlds for years.
Plot Coupon: She received a letter from Majima with how to contact him. The Omi Alliance and Tojo Clan are looking for it everywhere.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: She tells Kiryu his kids are better off without him. Her reasoning is that they will sacrifice their dreams for a happy life together, but as Kiryu himself realizes in Yakuza 6, it's actually because his yakuza past will continue to endanger those around him.
Team Mom: Park slowly begins to develop motherly tendencies toward Haruka, helping her with makeup and promising to improve her image. After a humiliating encounter with T-Set, which Park breaks up, she takes Haruka out shopping and visits an arcade, where she starts treating Haruka like the daughter she never had. This is implied to be because she realized her death was near after she received Majima's letter. Sure enough, she's found dead the next morning.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- When Kiryu refuses to leave the orphanage and give up Haruka, she delivers an absolutely brutal one toward him, telling him that by giving the kids (including Haruka) such happy lives, they've become afraid of losing that happiness and will do anything to cling onto it, even sacrifice their own individual aspirations and dreams for it. She convinces him that the only way for them to explore life for themselves is for him to leave.
- She also gives one to T-Set later when they humiliate Haruka in public, telling them the only reason they're going out of their way to embarrass and humiliate her is because they're afraid of her superior talents or have doubts of their own.
The Reveal: First is the scandal involving her failed marriage, terminated pregnancy, and Korean roots. After her death, it's revealed that her ex-husband, the one who wrote the letter, was none other than Goro Majima. And lastly, she and Katsuya are actually old friends and their rivalry is nothing but a ruse for the public; they had been working together from the beginning.
Sacrificial Lion: Not only does her death have a huge impact on the story, but toward the end of the game, Akiyama deducts that Park and Katsuya were the ones who leaked Majima's letter in order to draw out their enemies, and that Park gave Haruka the pen for her safe knowing she could be killed, entrusting Haruka to finish what she started. And despite saying she was looking forward to seeing Majima again, Akiyama believes she had no intention to, seeing as they were living in two different worlds after all these years.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Her failed marriage with Majima has shades of this as the way she speaks of him makes it clear that she cares about him deeply. She even kept the expensive pen he gifted her as a good luck charm. However, with Majima focusing on becoming an infamous crimelord and Park pursuing her Idol Singer dreams, there was almost no chance they'd ever get back together again. Akiyama acknowledges this later.
"Truth be told, I thought I'd never see him again. He chose to walk down a path I could never follow him down."

Hiroshi Horie

Voiced by: Masaya Takatsuka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horiey5.jpg

Haruka's manager. A good-natured guy who treats young Haruka with genuine kindness, but he can be slack in his duties sometimes.

Extreme Doormat: You wouldn't believe the amount of crap he gets from his boss or Ogita.
Fan Boy: Of idols in general, and of course Haruka.
Nice Guy: He's probably the nicest guy of Dyna Chair.
Put on a Bus: He's knocked off a roof by Kanai, who came for Majima's letter after Mirei Park's death. He survives, but spends the rest of the game at the hospital. But he is Back for the Finale after Haruka finishes off her last song as part of DREAM-LINE with Mai and Azusa.

Misa Yamaura

Voiced by: Yuko Nagashima

Haruka's vocal coach. She was a singer herself once, but now she works behind the scenes.

Crippling Overspecialization: Though she is a talented singer, she wasn't popular due to her homely appearance and lack of dancing skills, resulting in her idol career crashing and burning.
Informed Deformity: Formerly in an idol duo with Ayu Kurata, however she apparently was criticized for being ugly on top of lacking dancing skills. No matter how well she sang, Kurata ended up getting more and more solo gigs so their partnership came to an end. An unfortunate Truth in Television with regards to how harsh the idol industry can be.
Number Two: She's the most important person in Dyna Chair except Mirei Park.
You Are in Command Now: She takes over Dyna Chair's leadership after Park's death and Horie's trip to the hospital.

Kan Ogita

Voiced by: Ryota Takeuchi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogitay5.jpg

A freelance dance instructor. He initially signed a contract with Park to get Haruka ready in a year, but after the schedule was moved forward, he frantically tried to prepare her in 6 months. When the task was proved too much for him, Park terminated his contract and he was left out in the cold. Kanai of Ousaka Enterprises then hires him to retrieve the letter from Park's ex-husband in order to settle his debts. However, she refuses to tell him and he ends up killing her by accident, forcing Kanai to stage it as a suicide. Kanai later kills him for his repeated failures.

Accidental Murder: Loses his temper when interrogating Park for information on Majima's letter and ends up bashing her head too hard and killing her. It bites him in the ass massively since her death actively hindered the plans of his superiors.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Akiyama finds him within Kanai's industrial waste disposal facility with his arm crushed to a bloody pulp, he confesses to all his crimes and begs Akiyama to help him escape saying that he's willing to confess to the cops and that he doesn't want to die.
An Arm and a Leg: He loses his left arm by having it crushed by a trash compactor operated by Kamon Kanai. He doesn't survive much longer after that.
Being Evil Sucks: His stint as a villain brings him nothing but suffering. After being fired by Park, he's coerced by Kanai into clearing his mounting debt to Ousaka Enterprises and helping them by stealing Majima's letter to Park. He accidentally kills her, fails to locate the letter, and gets both himself and Kanai an asskicking courtesy of Akiyama. His failures lead to Kanai punishing him by crushing his arm in a trash compactor and later killing him when Akiyama tries to help him escape.
Continuity Cameo: He appears in the prequel Yakuza 0 as a dance opponent who takes Kamurocho's disco scene by storm. He even mentions if Kiryu ever has kids, he'd gladly teach them how to dance, although Kiryu thinks he's getting a bit ahead of himself.
Counter-Attack: Pressure his block enough and he'll respond with a series of spinning breakdancing sweeps that'll knock Akiyama off his feet and continue to damage him while he's grounded.
Dance Battler: He practices Capoeira.
Degraded Boss: Weaker Moveset Clones of him appear in certain story battles after his defeat though they lack the knife attacks. Unnervingly enough, several of them are cronies to Ousaka Enterprises, the Criminal Group whose Captain is Kamon Kanai, the same man who had Ogita mutilated and then killed off. They even appear during the Final Boss fight against Kanai.
Extremity Extremist: Despite carrying a knife during his boss fight, he relies far more on his elaborate kicking techniques.
Forced into Evil: Likely wouldn't have had any more to do with Dyna Chair let alone outright antagonize them if Kanai of Ousaka Enterprises didn't forcefully take control of his mounting debts to coerce him into working together with him.
Grapple Move: Has a rather annoying one that he can do in the midst of an evasive maneuver. And since he's often trying to avoid hits, he'll probably throw it out pretty frequently. Worse, it's possible for him to keep hiting you with it while you're trying to get up from a knockdown.
Hope Spot: After Akiyama finds him in a junkyard with his arm crushed into a bloody mess, Ogita is told to run for his life while Akiyama stays behind to create a distraction during his hunt for Kanai. Ogita ulimately gets recaptured by Kanai and put down for good offscreen.
Jerkass: He's rather harsh and blunt towards Haruka when teaching her and the way he makes Horie grab him a cup of water for him even though Ogita's sitting right next to the dispenser gives the impression of an unfriendly, arrogant sort of man. He later gets especially disrespectful and self-important while arguing with Park claiming he's the only reason Haruka's successful as an idol. While his frustration towards Park isn't entirely unfounded, it is still his poor attitude and unprofessionalism particularly towards his boss that gets him fired as a dance instructor.
- Potentially subverted into Jerk with a Heart of Gold Territory in his substory in 0. He's definitely arrogant over his disco dancing skills but showing respect towards him after defeating him will have him act more like a friendly Graceful Loser. Additionally, he does genuinely compliment Haruka when she does well, see Pet the Dog below.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- He's not the nicest dance instructor and is a bit of a jerk toward Haruka, but when he tells Park that she needs more time and training to polish her skills, his concerns are actually valid and reasonable. Even Horie agrees with him on this, only backing down due to Park glaring at him.
- Later on, when he gets fired by Park, you can hardly blame him for being pissed seeing as he's been doing a good job teaching Haruka so far, and then learns that Park conned him so she wouldn't have pay him a single yen due to a last minute change she made to their contract.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: While he claims that he never meant to kill Park in a fit of rage, he also continues to show vulgar disdain towards her after said death rather than any sort of sympathy or regret, making it clear how low his anger and hatred has brought him.
Killed Offscreen: We don't know what exactly Kanai did to him when he tried to escape, but we can clearly see that his men have his lifeless corpse when Kanai has them deal with Akiyama.
Meaningful Look: After Akiyama defeat him and Kanai, he tries to limp away pausing when Haruka calls his name. He then gives her a surprisingly somber look suggesting that he's not happy about the circumstances he's in and how it's affecting Haruka.
Older Than They Look: While we never learn his age, his cameo in 0 shows that he's barely aged at all since 1988, 24 years prior to 5.
Pet the Dog: Despite his harsh style of teaching and rather unpleasant disposition, he admits out-of-earshot that Haruka has all the potential to make it big in the idol industry and will offer compliments to her skill if she does well during instruction. The Meaningful Look he gives Haruka later also implies that he does honestly care about her to a degree.
Read the Fine Print: His failure to do so it what screws him over when he's fired. Park made one adjustment to his contract right before he signed it, which he was made aware of. He didn't realize it meant he'd only get paid if he successfully fulfilled his obligations, and wouldn't receive a cent otherwise.
The Scapegoat: When he's caught after Horie is thrown from the roof, he claims he wasn't at fault for what happened to Horie or Park, and was only acting on someone else's orders. Later, he does admit that he beat Park when trying to find her ex-husband's letter, still furious from earlier, and killed her by accident. And it was actually Kanai who tossed Horie off the roof.
Small Name, Big Ego: When arguing with Park, he starts to claim that a "brat" like Haruka would never have made it as far she has as an idol without him which isn't entirely true since he's just the dance instructor, and had no impact on her singing skills, innate talent, drive, and overall appeal which he even commented on earlier. Park dismisses him as easily replaceable which turns out to be correct.
Sequential Boss: Kanai is fought right after Ogita's boss fight.
Smug Smiler: He's rather arrogant in his dancing skills and has a pretty smarmy grin. It starts to border on a full-on Slasher Smile when pulls out a butterfly knife against Akiyama.
Trapped by Gambling Debts: It's not clear if they're gambling debts perse, but he's still racked up a huge amount of debt. Not helping matters is that he got screwed out of his paycheck by Mirei after getting fired. This would push him to cooperate with Kanai when he offered to take care of his debt.
Wake-Up Call Boss: Akiyama's first real non-tutorial boss fight and quite a bit tougher than most "first bosses" in the series, having two health bars and carrying around a bladed weapon capable of bypassing Akiyama's block as well as a somewhat tricky maneuvers and attacks to evade damage and deal some in return. Most confounding about him is his grapple attack which doesn't have a very clear telegraph and effectively punishes you for being too aggressive against him which can be tricky considering Akiyama's combat requires landing multiple faster, weaker hits in succession to really do damage against enemies. If you haven't been engaging in substories or at least grinding Akiyama's skills, Ogita will be a noticeable increase in difficulty.
Weak, but Skilled: He's not nearly as strong as the other beastly fighters that Akiyama faces throughout the series but his Capoeira skills still let him put up a decent fight.
Would Hit a Girl: When he's fired, he knocks Park down and injures her right hand. When he later returns to interrogate her for the letter, he overdoes it and beats her to death by slamming her head into the floor repeatedly.

Christina

Voiced by: Masato Obara

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christiany5.jpg

A famous dance instructor. He rarely takes the stage himself, but he's famous around the world for his ability to extract talent from those he teaches. He doesn't seek money or power and only instructs those he see potential in. He becomes Haruka's instructor halfway in Haruka's chapter.

Ambiguous Gender: A rare example. While he's obviously male, he goes by a feminine name and has a traditionally feminine manner of speech, including using the feminine pronoun atashi. The closest thing to Christina's demeanor is the okama (a Japanese concept similar to a drag queen) but Christina 's style of clothing, while flashy, is undeniably male.
Brutal Honesty: He refuses to take in Haruka's friend Akari, telling her that like many people he rejects, her movements are robotic and aimed at pleasing a crowd, rather than a form of expression that comes from the heart. He does encourage her to discover it for herself and believes she can do it, but Akari's so hurt that she runs off instead.
Compassionate Critic: While he is direct and unflinching in his critiques, he does it because he wants to see artists truly express themselves instead of just doing what they think their audience wants.
Doing It for the Art: In-Universe. He can't be won over by money or fame, and only helps people whose heart and emotions can be reflected by dance. He decides to see his job through to the end even after Park dies.
Dub Name Change: Was given the masculine name "Christian" in an earlier localization.
Gender-Blender Name: Doesn't look much like a Christina, does he?
Nice Guy: In stark contrast to Ogita. He can be brusque in evaluating people, but his praise is genuine and he's always trying to encourage people whether it be a matter of talent or simply friendship.
Sharp-Dressed Man: The second thing he's described as when Haruka looks for him.

Osaka Talents

T-Set (Mai Sanada and Azusa Osawa)

Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi (Mai Sanada), Ai Nonaka (Azusa Osawa)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsety52.jpg

Azusa on the left, Mai on the right.

A musical duo comprising Mai Sanada and Azusa Osawa, who serve as Haruka's rivals during the Princess League. Talented and good looking on the outside, they're both proud but self-sufficient jerkasses on the inside who bully Haruka at every turn, jealous of the fast-rising and inexperienced underdog, and are determined to drive her out of the industry. They used to be part of Dyna Chair, but Park's aggressiveness made them defect to her rival talent agency.

Alpha Bitches: They are the most popular contenders for the Princess League, with both good looks and talent, and will stop at nothing to make sure Haruka doesn't surpass them.
Bitch Alert: The first thing they do when they see Haruka is trip her, causing her to spill coffee on a producer, which gives him a terrible first impression of her.
The Bully: See Kick the Dog. With some exceptions, both of them bully Haruka whenever they encounter each other.
Everyone Has Standards: When Haruka is approached by a man who tries to convince her to sleep her way up the ladder with him, Asuza steps in and puts a stop to it, although she claims she did it because he made her and several other idols the same offer and wouldn't let him have his way.
Expy: When they and Haruka become DREAM-LINE, the red and white performing costume makes Asuza look a lot like Sun Shangxiang.
Graceful Loser: Despite their poor attitudes, they never react much to losing rounds against Haruka in the Princess League and even if they ultimately lose the whole competition, they go out of their way to meet up with her in private and genuinely admit how good of a performer she is and that they understand how hard she must have worked to get so far as an Idol Singer.
Jerkasses: They are highly antagonistic of Haruka and they don't waste any time in showing it. Even Nakai tells them they could use more of Haruka's attitude.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Azusa tends to have more moments where she shows more concern for Haruka's sake even if she's still pretty arrogant over her and Mai's superiority over her.
Kick the Dog: Frequently to Haruka. Not only do they bully her at every opportunity, Mai destroys Haruka's gift to Park, and both are quick to shove Park's death and Horie's trip to the hospital to Haruka's face, wondering if she's just bad luck.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Their performing costumes are black and red and they are Haruka's biggest bullies. However, when the climax rolls in and merge with Haruka as DREAM-LINE, their performing costumes' second colour changes to white, making them Red And White And Good All Over.
The Rival: To Haruka during the Princess League.
- Rivals Team Up: Following the Princess League finals, Haruka, Mai, and Azusa team up to form DREAM-LINE.
Pet the Dog:
- Asuza comes to Haruka's aid when the latter gets approached by a sleazy producer.
- While taking a break from the DREAM-LINE concert, they get genuinely worried when Haruka got a blister on her foot and rush off to to get the first aid kit.
Stupid Evil: As Park points out in her "Reason You Suck" Speech, their attempts to humiliate and downgrade Haruka, such as threatening her and forcing her to bow and apologise to them for defending herself, has the potential to cause their own reputations to take a nosedive if anyone witnesses it, at which point they notice the crowd of people recording it.
Took a Level in Kindness: If the player chooses to forfeit the final round of the Princess League, leading T-Set to win by default, Mai goes out of her way to get into contact with Haruka to get some answers and becomes far more sympathetic to her after learning what was happening the whole time. Mai leaves a voicemail telling Haruka that Nakai didn't mean it when he made the deal with her to join them if she lost, but if she wanted to join Osaka Talents, they'd all gladly welcome her.
- They're also much nicer and look out for her when they perform in Tokyo together.
Villains with Good Publicity: To Yamaura's bewilderment, the audience can't see past their looks and talents to see them for who they really are, and are adored by the media and their fans.
What Happened to the Mouse?: In Yakuza 6, Haruka revealing her yakuza ties causes her to be demonized by the media, but it's never mentioned what happened to T-Set after her confession. Being her co-stars, it can be assumed their careers went up in flames though guilt by association, but they are never seen again and no information about them is given.
Worthy Opponent: Regardless of whether Haruka wins or loses the Princess League finals, they'll admit either way that they were impressed with Haruka's performance and admire her dedication, and Haruka tells them she wouldn't have pushed herself so hard had her rivals been anyone else. If the player decides to forfeit the final round as mentioned above, Mai will tell Haruka in her voicemail that she didn't consider their win by default to be a true victory, and that they'll be waiting to challenge her again when she returns to Osaka. Regardless of the choices made, they team up together to form DREAM-LINE in the game's climax.

Nakai

Voiced by: Shinichi Yamada

A mean looking guy who acts as T-Set's manager and looks like a yakuza. As the new stars of Osaka Talent, he is already promoting them aggressively. Like T-Set, he resents Dyna Chair for its strong performance in the Princess League despite them being an underdog, but seems to respect Haruka and thinks T-Set could learn a few things from her.

Hidden Heart of Gold: If Haruka forfeits the final round of the Princess League, she'll receive a voicemail from Mai, who confirms that the deal was nothing more than a ruse to light up the competitive spirits in both teams. In the end, he's really just an aggressive manager.
Jerkass: At least at the beginning, but he also doesn't let up after Park's death, bluntly talking about it and then goading Haruka into making a deal that would make her defect to Osaka Talents if she loses the Princess League against T-Set. On the other hand, not even those under his care are entirely exempt from his attitude as he jokes about how miserable and unpleasant T-Set seem compared to Haruka.
Red Herring: You might be tempted to think he's somehow involved in the death of Mirei Park when he openly asks Haruka whether she thinks it was actually a suicide and mentioning all the enemies Park has made, which frankly includes himself. It ultimately doesn't amount to much other than another example of him being aggressive.
Took a Level in Kindness: He's far more mellow when he's on your side after he discovers that Katsuya and Park were working together the whole time, and he's the one who proposes that Haruka and T-Set team up to form DREAM-LINE, which Park had planned along with Katsuya before her death.
Worthy Opponent: Has a lot more respect for Haruka as a performer than T-Set though he can still be pretty insensitive.

Naoki Katsuya

Voiced by: Mitsuru Fukikoshi

"Working in the entertainment business... your face is your biggest asset. Idols are nothing more than illusions, you see. Fans don't care what's inside. All they want is a pretty face."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/katsuyay5.jpg

He runs Osaka Talents, the leading talent agency in Kansai. He was a former action star that suffered an injury while filming in America, which put an end to his acting career. He's something of a business rival with Mirei Park of Dyna Chair. It turns out he's also a yakuza who holds the post of Omi Alliance's Chief of Headquarters and Chairman of Ousaka Enterprises, and is also one of the top contenders for the position of the next Chairman of the Omi Alliance.

Affably Evil: He doesn't drop his polite and courteous demeanor ever despite being increasingly put in an antagonist position as the plot progresses. The most cruelty he ever displays is towards his Yakuza underling Kanai for his failures and rather insubordinate actions that hinder Katsuya's plans and that still doesn't get him to drop his calm, polite attitude whilst physically scarring Kanai. In fact, a big part of the reason he's so harsh on Kanai is because he disapproves of how he operates in such a savage and thuggish manner if only because of how unsuccessful he is as a result.
The Atoner: Akiyama believes that Katsuya rescued Haruka from Kanai and worked to keep her well-being safe to make up for not being there to protect his Old Friend Park from Kanai and Ogita.
Blood Knight: Very downplayed. He clearly prefers to talk things out rather than resort to violence but when the opportunity to take on some of the biggest heavyweights in the world of Yakuza, Watase finds that he's surprisingly fired up about it.
Logic aside, could any yakuza turn down a fight like this?
Boring, but Practical: His fighting style while elegant is pretty simplistic and doesn't demand too much from him compared to the flashier techniques other fighters in the series. Might have something to do with the unspecified injury that put his acting career to a halt decades ago. An exception is his agile command grab combo that finishes with him flooring his enemy with a flying roundhouse kick. Another would be his flying dropkick which he'll often attempt if you try to distance yourself from him. If he lands it on an enemy, he'll backflip off of them, making it pretty much identical to the one Kiryu uses in the same game.
Brains and Brawn: The Brain to Kanai and Watase's Brawn.
Card-Carrying Villain: He doesn't hide the fact that he's determined to do whatever it takes to put an end to Haruka's career as an Idol Singer so T-Set can take the spotlight, and even after Akiyama suspects that's he's not the antagonist he makes himself out to be, Katsuya nonchalantly claims his actions prove otherwise. Subverted. See Good All Along.
Career-Ending Injury: Said to have suffered an undisclosed injury in the past that forced him to quit his acting career. If it's a true story, it apparently hasn't hindered his ability to kick ass though.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: A high-ranking Omi Alliance member and major character who survives the events of 5. He's been completely absent from the series without explanation afterwards despite the Omi Alliance still being a major presence in Like a Dragon along with his close friend Watase playing a substantial role in the plot. This could be due to potential issues caused by using the likeness of his voice actor though it hasn't stopped him from appearing in a prequel storyline in Online.
Dark Is Not Evil: Wears a dark navy blue suit with a red and black tie and most of his Ousaka Enterprises underlings wear uniformly black uniforms. Despite this, he manages to acquit himself as a pretty noble and upstanding guy. So much that Kurosawa saw fit to target him for being such an idealistic person in a position of power.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's really not pleased that Kanai kidnapped the star idol of his rival agency, and even strikes a deal with Haruka to come alone for the letter, which could've gone along smoothly if Kanai didn't inferfere. He makes his underling pay for both.
Force and Finesse: The Finesse to Watase's Force, using more graceful and precise punches and kicks compared to Watase's wild swings.
Foreshadowing: When Akiyama meets him, he tells Katsuya repeatedly that he's a far better actor than he gives himself credit for, clearly voicing his suspicion of him and that he's hiding his true motives, not to mention his genuine disappointment after Park was killed. Indeed, but what Akiyama didn't realize is that he was hiding the fact that he was Good All Along.
Hairstyle Inertia: A photo of him when he used to be an actor over 20 years ago depicts him with the same exact slicked-back hair he has in modern times.
Genius Bruiser: Runs the leading talent agency in Osaka and presents himself as civil and rather intellectual. Not only has he been scheming together with Park to maximize the success of both of their talent agencies, he's also secretly a high-ranking Yakuza who puts Kanai in a sleeper hold for his failures and later goes toe-to-toe with Saejima in combat.
A Glass of Chianti: Twice shown leisurely drinking from a glass of wine while staying in a luxury suite in Kamurocho Hills.
Good All Along: Rescuing Haruka was not only a genuine act, but it's revealed toward the end that he and Park were really working together the entire time to discover the truth behind who was behind everything, and both planned to have both Haruka and T-Set join forces and perform at the Japan Dome as DREAM-LINE.
Ink-Suit Actor: Basically identical to his voice actor.
Leitmotif: "Collision of Our Souls". Shared with Watase.
Let's You and Him Fight: Invoked. He knows for a fact that some mastermind is scheming to eliminate the biggest and most powerful paragons of the Yakuza world and that they're doing so by manipulating members of the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance into conflict. Katsuya thus comes up with a plan to gather in a single place the four surviving biggest names: Kazuma Kiryu and Taiga Saejima of the Tojo Clan and Masaru Watase and himself of the Omi Alliance. To what end? To fight one another, intentionally playing into the schemes of this hidden Big Bad in order to have him finally make his appearance so they can be identified. They all agreed that whoever survived the free-for-all would take down this mastermind once and for all. Surprisingly, they all managed to survive this whole ordeal albeit with Katsuya and later Kiryu being put in a coma.
Man of Wealth and Taste: Almost always seen wearing a well-pressed pinstriped navy blue suit and the success of his Talent Agency can be seen through the extravagant amounts of money he attempts to use discourage Akiyama from interfering with his plans.
Martial Pacifist: Prefers civil discourse and is noted by Watase to dislike starting fights. He even outright disciplines Kanai twice for his violent approach. However that does not make him a push-over.
Mighty Glacier: His stats make him about as tough as the average Yakuza Final Boss, but his fighting style is rather slow-paced to the point where even Saejima can dish it out quicker than him. The long recovery on several of his attacks make him vulnerable but once he heats up, that weakness vanishes since he gains considerable Super Armor on his attacks now.
Mr Fan Service: A pair of women on the streets of Kamurocho are rather infatuated with him calling him hot and wishing to spend the night with him. Also for some reason there's a scene of him doing one-thumb push-ups butt naked in his hotel room.
Odd Friendship: It can be surprising that such a calm, dignified man is friends with Goro Majima. However, Majima himself is capable of presenting himself in a similar manner under the right circumstances.
- He's also implied to be good friends with Masaru Watase with the two having a lot of mutual respect for one another despite having very different personalities. This is especially evident in the storyline in Online prior to the events of 5 in which they work together to deal with a rival yakuza family from Kobe that's causing for Katsuya's talent agency.
Old Friend: To both Park and Majima with photographic proof. While Park and Majima grew distant after Majima walked out on her for the sake of her career, Katsuya maintained contact with the two of them with Park effectively becoming a secret business partner in show business. Probably also helps that Majima was the one who originally helped Katsuya join the local Yakuza in Osaka to give his new career as a Talent Agency President a boost.
Punch-Clock Villain: States that he was never really interested in being a Yakuza despite how much authority and power he holds in the Omi Alliance as the Chief of Headquarters. Justified since he joined up just for the sake of supporting his ambitions of running a Talent Agency after his acting career fell through.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's actually the Omi Alliance's Chief of Headquarters. He's in amazing shape for his age and he's got the skills capitalize on this during his bout with Saejima.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a fairly lengthy one to his underling Kanai on how important it is for a big, hulking yakuza like him to be intimidating and how much Kanai royally screwed up when he failed to scare Haruka into giving up Park's letter allowing Akiyama to save the day. Also he's choking him out from behind the whole time he's speaking and concludes his speech by driving a lit cigarette into his left eyebrow as both punishment as well as to scar him and make him look scarier.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Watase's red.
The Reveal: The rivalry between Osaka Talents and Dyna Chair (and by extension, him and Park) was nothing more than a ruse to create interest from the public, as he and Park were not only working together the entire time, but both of them and Majima go way back. He also planned with Park for Haruka and T-Set to team up and create DREAM-LINE, and tried to postpone the concert to draw out the mastermind while protecting her.
Sequential Boss: He's fought after Watase, followed by Kiryu or Saejima.
Silver Fox: He's in incredible shape for an aging former actor turned Talent Agency president. Multiple female NPC's on the streets of Sotenbori and Kamurocho explicitly stated to be into older men seem pretty infatuated with him.
The Stoic: Has a calm, composed demeanor that wavers but never breaks.
Taking the Bullet: At the game's climax, he takes a bullet for Watase after Kurosawa reveals himself, believing if anyone should become the next chairman, it's Watase. Thankfully he survives and even recovers enough to help Daigo take down the Big Bad once and for all though he clearly still needs to return to the hospital.
Tattooed Crook: A red-crowned crane.
Tranquil Fury: He always maintains a low, calm tone of voice, even while choking out and angrily dressing down Kanai for letting Akiyama get Haruka and the letter away from him or learning that his boss was the mastermind behind the numerous deaths and tragedies of the game.
Villain with Good Publicity: Publically known as the President of a leading talent agency and secretly one of the biggest authorities in the criminal underworld. Lampshaded by Detective Serizawa.
Serizawa: He's known as a likable, courteous businessman with a bright future ahead of him. Who would ever guess that he's also in the criminal underworld, one step away from claiming the Omi throne?
- Subverted when he finally admits that he's not a real antagonist and has in fact been working on trying to expose the criminal mastermind pulling everyone's strings.
Walking Spoiler: He's more than just the head of a talent agency if you haven't noticed already.
You Have Failed Me: While he doesn't actually kill Kanai, for personally intruding on what was supposed to be a private meeting between him and Haruka and getting his ass handed to him by Akiyama (thus both undermining and humiliating him), he not only chokes him out after lighting a cigarette for him (so that the smoke will come back up) but burns him with said cigarette to leave him with a nasty scar as a reminder of his failure.

Kineicho Locals

Koichi Takasugi

Voiced by: Show Aikawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nakasugiy5.jpg

A Loan Shark in Kineicho who has been involved with Shinada ever since he arrived a year before the game's events, and he's rumored to have ties to the yakuza and the Nagoya Family. He's introduced as something of an antagonist to Shinada, as he's relentlessly following him and hounding him for the large amount of money he owes him, and uses threats and trickery to make sure he gets his hands on anything Shinada earns. But once Shinada's approached by a mysterious man who offers him a large sum of money for discovering the truth behind the incident 15 years ago, Takasugi takes it upon himself to see it through together with Shinada, and for more personal reasons beyond money. He actually has no yakuza ties and just uses rumors and intimidation to scare people into paying him back. He also used to be Shinada's first and only fan after he hit his first and last ball as a pro baseball player.

Affably Evil: A ruthless loan shark who intends to have Shinada's fingers crushed in an industrial incident for the disability payments, but quite charming besides. He loses more and more of the "evil" part as he's drawn into the Nagoya conspiracy, to the point where he becomes Shinada's most steadfast ally (though he's still not about to forgive the man's debt).
Berserk Button: When he reveals he has no ties to the actual yakuza, Uno calls him out for his bluffing and calls him a con-man, which makes him explode in anger.
Big Damn Heroes: When Shinada's tied up and about to be executed by the Nagoya family, Takasugi bursts in on a forklift and hoses everyone down with a fire extinguisher to save him, with a hilarious yell the whole time.
Broken Pedestal: Downplayed. He actually knew Shinada from the day he hit his famed home run and was one of his biggest fans 15 years ago, and is clearly not pleased how he turned out. When Shinada goes through a Heroic BSoD and believes the home run brought nothing but misery, Takasugi clearly voices his disappointment in him and angrily tells him that his home run meant something to some people, clearly referring to himself.
Cool Shades: Like the picture above.
Deadpan Snarker: Makes a lot of quips at the expense of others, usually Shinada.
The Dreaded: In a town where the local Nagoya Family apparently operate on a more covert basis, Takasugi strutting about while looking like the quintessential Yakuza member seems to be enough to intimidate just about any random civilian. Later revealed to be an Invoked Trope. He dresses a certain way and often namedrops the Nagoya Family in order to scare his clients into paying back their debts on time. He actually has no idea who, what, or where the Nagoya Family are.
Doting Parent: He tends to put down Shinada by bragging about his own children, and how they can easily figure out things at their age that Shinada can't. And it turns out he's not even married.
Hidden Heart of Gold: He's very harsh on Shinada for his very lazy unsuccessful lifestyle and inability to pay back all the money he owes people but he still respects the man he once was.
- He risks his own life to save Shinada's when he's about to be executed by the Nagoya Family. When Shinada's in the midst of an emotional breakdown, Takasugi's the one to remind him of how much his home run all those years meant to the people watching.
- It's later revealed that Daigo had approached Takasugi about Shinada's whereabouts before even meeting him. Turns out Takasugi's been supporting Shinada all this time because he legitimately wants the man to get his life back together, thus he helps Shinada finally confront his past and achive closure on top of the money that Daigo promised to pay him for investigating the matter.
- Before leaving Nagoya, Shinada gives him all the money Daigo gave him in order to repay his debt and give Takasugi's kids better lives. However, Takasugi gives the money back telling him that he was joking about having a family and that Shinada deserves the money for all the good he's done for the people of Kiniecho.
Honey Trap: A hilarious male variation of sorts. In order to get a certain Dirty Old Man back to his office, Takasugi (poorly) disguises his voice as a young woman over the phone to set up an appointment with him. It actually works.
Ink-Suit Actor: Looks similar to his actor, up to the mole above his lip.
The Lancer: To Shinada, during his investigation of the baseball gambling scandal 15 years ago.
Large Ham: Especially when he's introduced. When he's hounding Shinada about his loan, he's very dramatic and constantly starts yelling mid-sentence. He's so over-the-top with his threats and coercion that it's more amusing and humorous than it is scary.
Leitmotif: "Bad news is coming", which plays during cutscenes that feature him.
Let's Get Dangerous!: While he's a loan shark that manages to intimidate a number of people, he's rather goofy and he sticks to the sidelines for Shinada's battles when the two start investigating the truth behind Shinada's baseball scandal. However, when Shinada gets captured by the Nagoya Family and about to get his head split open, Takasugi busts through a steel door using a forklift and rescues Shinada with a fire extinuisher to distract all the goons so they can escape. What follows is a series of battles through where he'll actually help out in combat and does decently well for an ordinary civilian.
Loan Shark: A sneaky one who's constantly hounding on Shinada to pay him back every cent he owes him. Just when it looks like Shinada catches a break and earns something he can buy food with, Takasugi's right there next to him and takes everything he can out of his hand.
Nerves of Steel: Walks in on a tense conversation between Daigo and Shinada and doesn't bat an eye when Daigo pulls a gun on him, merely snarking as he raises his hands. Later on, Manabe angrily pulls a knife on him when he asks him a question on a rather sensitive topic and he continues to snark about how suspicious such behavior is.
Paper Tiger: He has a lot of very believable bravado, but mostly everything about him is fake. He's not actually a yakuza, he's single despite his constant claims of being a family man with kids, he avoids fighting and mostly sticks to threats to get what he wants, and deep down he's actually kind of dorky and a big fan of Shinada as a baseball player. He can still put up a fight when push comes to shove, though.
Perpetual Smiler: Generally has a smarmy grin on his face.
Rescue Equipment Attack: After busting through a steel door using a forklift, he rescues a tied-up Shinada by spraying his captors using a fire extinguisher, yelling triumphantly the whole time. His highest ranked card in Online depicts this scene.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Which lead many people to believe he's involved with the yakuza.
Suddenly Shouting: Prone to this when he's especially frustrated with Shinada's laziness.
Took a Level in Cynic: A formerly passionate baseball fan who became disillusioned with the sport after the baseball player he just became the #1 fan of was accused of sign stealing and matchfixing and was barred from the sport for life. By modern times, he's become a sarcastic, predatory loan shark.

Uno

Voiced by: Tetsuo Sakaguchi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unoy5.jpg

An acupuncturist in Kineicho, and an old friend with Shinada. He was the masseuse for the Wyverns 15 years ago but was fired when he got too close to the truth, and spends his free time trying to find new girls at hostess and masseuse clubs.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's apparently had traits of a horndog since he was working with the Wyverns 15 years prior but Shinada still considers him to be a top notch masseuse, better than any of the erotic masseuses he's ever met even.
Dirty Old Man: He's obsessed with younger girls and will go to clubs just to ogle at the pictures. Takasugi takes advantage of this with hilarious results.
Has a Type: Younger women who have only just begun working in the sex industry so they're very inexperienced. He's even noted to ogle photos of some girl that is apparently considered unnattractive just because she just started working the Red Light Distract at the tender age of 20.
He Knows Too Much: A nonfatal example. It's slowly revealed that the reason he got kicked off the team was because of the possibility that he saw what was on Manabe's phone when Manabe accidentally left it behind in his clinic. He very nearly learned that people on the team were being forced into match fixing and sign stealing and receiving their anonymous instructions through texts. Just getting close enough to seeing that was enough to get him canned with the excuse that they had found a better masseuse even though Uno's contract was renewed for him to work for at least one more season.
Old Friend: The only person from Shinada's old life as a baseball player who he's still maintained contact with over the many years. Not that it stops Uno from being outraged over how much money Shinada owes him.
Token Good Teammate: Manages to be this for both the Nagoya Wyverns and Shinada's current group of friends in Kineicho. Much like Shinada who's also an example, he has no clue about the conspiracy that's ensnared boths groups which unfortunately gets him caught up in the crossfire once he starts helping Shinada investigate.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Shinada owing him money puts a damper on their friendship but they're still friends due to their past experiences together with the Nagoya Wyverns 15 years prior. They also get along over their shared interest in the girls operating in the Red Light District even if they have rather contrasting taste in women.

Mieko "Milky" Toriyama

Voiced by: Maiko Toda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/milkyy5.jpg

An erotic masseuse at the Futo Momo Club in Kineicho, who Shinada frequents and is head-over-heels for. Like many of Shinada's acquaintances from Kineicho, she is a member of the Nagoya family and lured Shinada into a trap when he got closer to the truth.

The Atoner: After Shinada's rescue, she and Ushijima convinced the others to turn themselves in along with themselves. They were eventually freed.
Becoming the Mask: As part of the Nagoya family, she's supposed to keep an eye on Shinada and make sure he doesn't learn or investigate things he shouldn't. When she's ordered to kill Shinada because He Knows Too Much, she can't do it.
Decoy Damsel: She gets kidnapped by the Nagoya Family when Shinada learns too much. It's not just a trap, but one she helped set up.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Well, erotic masseuse, but she's still in the adult entertainment industry.
Irony: Despite being a member of the elusive Nagoya Family, it's her telling Shinada not to run away from reality that motivates him to start investigating his home run, and eventually unmask them.
Love Interest: For Shinada.
Love-Interest Traitor: She's actually part of the Nagoya family and lures Shinada into a trap when he gets too deep into their affairs. But she can't bring herself to kill him and and tries to atone for her actions by turning herself in. Although she's freed shortly after, she attempts to reconcile with him.
Ms. Fanservice: Wears very flattering outfits, likely due to working in the nightlife industry.
Older Than She Looks: She's in her forties, but actually looks younger than Shinada who is 37.
The Reveal: She's part of the Nagoya family and works for Fujita, Shinada's old baseball coach.

Fumiya Ushijima

Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ushijimay5.jpg

Owner of a dining bar in Kineicho. Like other Nagoya establishments, he provides breakfast for the price of a cup of coffee, so the cash-strapped Shinada is a frequent customer. He's also the head of the Kineicho Merchant Association.

The Atoner: After Shinada's rescue, he and Milky convinced the others to turn themselves in, along with themselves. They were eventually freed.
Mr. Exposition: Informs Shinada about the current situation with the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance suddenly appearing in town. Later, he gives Shinada some backstory on the Nagoya Family and how they're basically the town's guardians.
The Reveal: He's also a member of the Nagoya family. He tried warning Shinada and later threatens to silence him for not listening. However...
Sword over Head: He has a knife to a tied-up Shinada's head threatening to silence him but he clearly doesn't want to go through with it and is very hesitant. So much that the more ruthless Kubota has to step in to finish the job.

Teppei Ono

Voiced by: Daisuke Egawa

Captain of Kubota Security, a security firm local to Nagoya. Attempts to con Milky's younger brother Toriyama over a supposedly rare legendary autographed bat he supposedly broke putting him into conflict with Shinada.

Butt-Monkey: Runs into quite a bit of misfortune for just about all of his rather limited screentime.
Con Man: Tasks Toriyama with handling a supposedly legendary autographed bat that gets accidentally broken, pushing him to let it slide if Toriyama can pay for the damages. Shinada quickly points out that it's not even the real bat since at the time, the baseball player only ever used "compressed" bats which the broken baseball bat certainly was not. When Ono confronts Shinada at the streets later, Shinada picks apart his scheme even further, pointing out that the fake bat was probably already cracked and that merely dropping it once wouldn't have broken it so easily.
Degraded Boss: An odd example. Weaker Moveset Clones of him may appear in random battles but in 0 and Kiwami rather than 5 the game he appears in.
King Mook: He actually borrows some attacks from weak generic enemies, including the Kubota security goons he made Shinada fight earlier so he kinda qualifies as this.
Laughably Evil: Of the Harmless Villain variety. He fails to con Milky's younger brother, gets a pencil stabbed through his cheek, gets utterly patronized by Shinada when Ono tries to confront the man, is beaten down in a Boss Fight when he tries and fails to get some revenge, and then limps away in a humiliating fashion.
Mighty Glacier: Proves to be pretty tough and strong in a fight but very easy to outmaneuver.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black suit with red pin-stripes over a red dress shirt when he confronts and fights Shinada for ruining his con and earning him a painful cheek injury.
Sharp-Dressed Man: His taste in clothing when not in uniform is pretty sharp, comprised of a crisp pin-striped suit. It rather contrasts with how conniving and somewhat pathetic he is.
Starter Villain: The first antagonist that series newcomer Shinada faces in his story but he's not revelevant to Shinada's past as a baseball player nor his clashes with the local Nagoya Family. He's just a con man that's easily dealt with early on before vanishing from the plot completely.
Unskilled, but Strong: He's got two health bars and is fairly strong but he mostly fights by swinging his limbs in Shinada's general direction. Even an inexperienced fighter like Shinada looks like an expert compared to him.
Warm-Up Boss: Shinada's first boss fight. He's significantly tougher than the average street punk but he's rather predictable and easy to avoid and deal damage to.
We Will Meet Again: After his defeat, he claims he'll get back at Shinada before pathetically limping away. In case you were wondering, he never shows up again ever which is probably for the best for all parties involved.
- When Milky gets kidnapped later, she mentions over the phone that she saw a man with a cheek injury which would imply Ono's involvement. However, it's later revealed that she was just luring Shinada into a trap for the Nagoya Family. Considering how Ono doesn't show up at all in the following combat sequence, it's entirely possible that she lied about seeing him as a Red Herring.

Kubota

Voiced by: Takahiro Fujimoto

Founder and President of Kubota Security, a security firm local to Nagoya. Does not take it well when the Captain of his company is caught trying to con a fellow worker. Later revealed to be a major head of the Nagoya Family and far more ruthless than the other members too.

Bad Boss: Shoves a pencil through the cheek of his employee Ono as punishment for trying to con a co-worker thus undermining their reputation.
The Brute: His main contribution to the Nagoya Family seems to be providing muscle both through Kubota Security and his own personal intervention.
Chekhov's Gunman: He first appears after Shinada's combat tutorial to punish Ono for trying to pull a scam while on the company's payroll. He reappears up much later to try and silence Shinada while aided by the rest of Kubota Security and presumably the Nagoya Family as well.
Combat Pragmatist: He's trying to kill Shinada and presumably Takasugi too, during their flight from the Nagoya Shipyard, so he doesn't hesitate to use whatever's available to put them down. This includes driving a forklift, swinging around a pair of long iron pipes, siccing hordes of Kubota Security personnel on them, using sneak attacks, and even trying to crush them under a pile of huge logs.
Cowardly Boss: He's definitely strong and the amount of times you have to deplete his health bar without him giving up confirms that he's also incredibly tough. However he's constantly fleeing from encounters forcing Shinada and Takasugi to fight their way through hordes of Kubota Security goons before he ambushes them with sneak attack.
Dark Is Evil: The Battle Aura trailing behind his pipe swings is a distinctive dark indigo color.
Dual Wielding: Attacks Shinada with two metal pipes.
Forklift Fu: Chases after Shinada with a forklift while he's trying to escape the shipping yard.'
King Mook:Head of Kubota Security. When him and his men try to kill Shinada and Takasugi, he proves to be the toughest and most dangerous of them all.
Large and in Charge: Has a noticeably large, stocky build and is the founder and president of Kubota Security.
Made of Iron: His meager 1 bar of health doesn't seem all that impressive but the first three times you deplete it doesn't knock him out at all, forcing him to make a tactical retreat instead. That you have to drain that healthbar four seperates times suggests that he's actually on par with a Final Boss fight in terms of sheer toughness.
Necessarily Evil: How he views his work for the Nagoya Family.
Pipe Pain: Fights Shinada by carrying around two pipes.
Stout Strength: Large and heavyset with the strength and skill to effectively swing a pair of long pipes at Shinada like they're kali sticks.
The Unfettered: Pretty ruthless for a mere civilian. He brutally injures an employee's face for doing shady things behind his back. It's little surprise that he works for the local Nagoya Family even if all of its members are more like civilians than yakuza. While Ushijama hesitates to execute his friend Shinada for digging too dip into the conspiracy tying his baseball past to the local yakuza, Kubota walks in to finish the job for him. He would have sliced Shinada's head open if Takasugi hadn't come in to save the day.

Leo Ayanokoji

A snooty, unemployed 35-year-old "aristocrat" elaborately dressed in flashy Heian-era clothes with heavy traditional make-up and fixated on flaunting his apparent nobility and superiority over mere commoners. He lives an easy-going life of luxury but proves to be surprisingly skilled in wielding melee weapons, allowing him to be an effective combat mentor to Shinada who also specialises in melee weapons. In return, Shinada helps him pick up women by giving him advice that also helps him adopt a humbler attitude towards commonfolk.

Counter-Attack: When wielding a tonfa, he can perform a powerful crouching strike when attacked that's basically his own version of the Tiger Drop.
Crippling Overspecialization: Highly skilled in wielding different melee weapons but is apparently helpless without any on hand, driving Shinada to defend him from some street punks upon first meeting him since he can't locate his armaments. Presumably this is also how a tough fighter like him got mugged in the epilogue to attaining your final training upgrade from him.
Dark Is Not Evil: Wears mostly black clothing even after changing to more modern wear and is generally a jerk but the combat techniques Shinada gains from training with him are definitely appreciated.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Much of the average population doesn't respect his bizarre clothing and demeanor including Shinada which really seems to piss him off and only further alienates him from others.
He Cleans Up Nicely: Noted to be decently handsome after Shinada convinces him to at least remove his make-up. Once convinced to finally change his outrageous attire to more contemporary semi-formal wear, he's practically unrecognizable. Shame that it doesn't last.
Hidden Badass: He doesn't seem all that impressive and mostly comes off as a naive, rich buffoon. However, once he gets his hands on his weapons, he can seriously mess you up if you don't take him seriously in a fight.
Multi-Melee Master: Claims to be a weapon master and surprisingly he can back up his talk. He'll show off mastery of the baton, the tonfa, and the pole. During your last training session, he'll swap between all three weapons throughout the fight.
"Shaggy Dog" Story: Visit the spot where you train with him after his "final" training lesson and suddenly he's back to wearing his Heian-era clothes and has regressed back to his snooty aristocratic behavior. Shinada quickly figures out that his advice must have failed and he got dumped but it's worse than that. The girlfriend was conning him and had her boyfriend confront him and beat him up, stealing not just his wallet but even his clothes. He once again decides to not associate with commonfolk but still makes an exception for Shinada if only so he can use his "training" as an excuse to beat him up and take his frustration out on the man. Shinada acquiesces simply because he feels bad for the guy and somewhat blames himself for what happened.
You Need to Get Laid: A 35-year-old man who is incredibly uptight, judgmental, and arrogant and has never known the touch of a woman, seeing it beneath him to even considering any sort of sexual relationship with commonfolk. Curious, Shinada asks him about his preferred woman: An intelligent, comely women of a similar social status that can also recognise his noble spirit and not talk to other men without his say so. After training with him for the first time, Shinada chooses to forgo giving him any advice since he feels that wouldn't be effective at this point. To help him have less high expectations of others, help him open up more, and cut down on his prejudices against ordinary people so he has a better chance of picking up any women, Shinada opts to change his mind entirely through direct action: He takes him to the right light district and has him spend the night with a "popular woman". After a lovely night, Ayanokoji finds that "many things don't seem as important anymore".

Baseball Players

Yuki Sawada

Voiced by: Keiji Hirai

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sawaday5.jpg

Ace pitcher for the Tokyo Giants, with 197 wins to his name. The Rival to Shinada in baseball, he faced off with him 15 years ago during his last baseball match.

The Ace: The golden boy of the Japanese leagues.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: It's a shame that he's actually had his matches fixed for him to win since he was in High School, working under the Kuroha Family for the sake of driving any and all foreign yakuza out of Nagoya. The worst part is he he does in fact have genuine pitching skills to the point where Coach Fujita is disgusted to have forced someone of his caliber to have to fake so many wins.
Back-to-Back Badasses: The climax of Shinada's chapter has him and Sawada take on members of the Kuroha Family together. They strike the pose right before the fight.
Baritone of Strength: Has a fairly deep and smooth voice befitting of Japan's greatest pitcher in modern times. He's also fairly decent in a fight and can more or less keep up with Shinada who's in peak physical condition and has been fighting constantly for the past few days.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: 15 years after their fateful baseball match against one another, he meets up with Shinada again in an empty baseball stadium pointing a gun at him. After an exchange of words where he claims to be working for the Nagoya Family, it seems like he's going to try to end Shinada's life but he instead shoots the Kuroha Family member who also had a gun pointed at Shinada. They end up working together to fend off a massive mob of Kuroha Family members. That said, he does finally settle his baseball rivalry with Shinada hitting a homerun off of his curveball. There's even a Quick Time Event where failing it grants a Non-Standard Game Over.
Broken Ace: His entire career has been rigged in his favor since high school.
The Coats Are Off: He takes off his suit jacket when he fights hordes of Kuroha Family goons alongside Shinada.
The Dragon: Seemingly to Fujita. It was even planned for him to succeed Fujita as the boss of the Nagoya Family though that all seems to fall apart when the members of the Nagoya Family turn themselves into the police. Sawada himself opts to instead team up with Shinada to take down the Kuroha Family members trying to kill Shinada, if only so that he can settle his rivalry with Shinada once and for all.
Heel–Face Turn: Works for the Nagoya Family and is in the position to inherit the position of its patriarch. However, he chooses to turn on the Kuroha Family forcing the civilians to act as yakuza and help Shinada survive their ambush, primarily so that the two can settle things between them once and for all... with one last baseball pitch. Afterwards, he readily explains to Shinada his own stake in the conspiracy and that at the end of the day, he does care about Shinada as his greatest rival in baseball and only ever worked together with the Kuroha Family for what seemed like Necessary Evil for the sake of his hometown of Nagoya.
Just Between You and Me: Pretty comfortable explaining to Shinada at gunpoint all of his involvement with the Nagoya Family and how he's secretly been working alongside Coach Fujita for the Kuroha Family since he was in high school. Subverted as he doesn't seem very happy about it at all and when he has an opportunity, he betrays the Kuroha Family monitoring the whole thing, even teaming up with Shinada to take down every last yakuza.
I Know Madden Kombat: When the two are fighting against a mob of Yakuza, there's a chance of a missable QTE where a pair of goons grab onto Shinada. Seeing this, Sawada grabs a baseball and chucks it at one of them to knock 'em out before rushing forward to slidekick the other one.
Irony: Notes the irony of him being Nagoya-born, but pitching for the Tokyo Giants while Shinada is Tokyo-born and batted for the Nagoya Wyverns. Thus, Shinada became a the sacrifice for a town he has no connection to while Sawada went on to become the biggest name in Japan's professional baseball league, playing for Shinada's hometown.
Leitmotif: "Tag of the Man" which plays only when teaming up with him against the a mob of Kuroha Family members at the end of Shinada's part of the game.
Non-Standard Game Over: Failing the Quick Time Event when he finally throws a curveball at Shinada during their reunion after 15 years, results in a game over.
Post-Victory Collapse: Once they successfully work together to beat down all the Kuroha Family Members surrounding them, both him and Shinada fall to their backs in exhaustion from the effort.
The Rival: Shinada and him have been bitter rivals ever since high school with Sawada being the ace pitcher from Nagoya and Shinada being the homerun machine from Tokyo. While he dominated Shinada at the highschool Koshien Tournament with fastballs, Shinada would have his revenge in the professional baseball league landing a homerun on the same sort of fastball.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His choice in clothing, color scheme, and hair style give him a very similar aesthetic to Hiroaki Arai from the previous game. That he also lives something of a double life between being a professional baseball player and working together with ruthless yakuza and being conflicted over it, furthers the similarities a bit. He even seems to quote Arai at times, mentioning how "What's done is done" and that there's "no sense in having regrets" over what he's done.
The Unfought: Manages to be this in two different ways. While his Heel–Face Turn would obviously remove the need to ever have to fight him, there's also the baseball side to consider. Technically, you have to correctly perform a Quick Time Event to hit his curve ball and progress the story. Still, considering how there's an entire baseball minigame and he gets brought up multiple times in the main story and side content as the greatest living pitcher in Japan, it's odd that there's never a chance to take him on through said minigame.
Walking Spoiler: Difficult to discuss in detail without going over his place in the plot.
Worthy Opponent: Regards Shinada as one. They settle their rivalry with one last at-bat, with Shinada scoring a home run off his curve ball unlike fifteen years ago when it was a fast ball.

Fujita

Voiced by: Junpei Morita

Manager of the Nagoya Wyverns when Shinada got caught up in the gambling scandal 15 years, and was forced to retire his position. He suddenly re-appears as the new manager of the Gigants, the opposing team at the time. He actually planned the gambling incident with the Kuroha Family to expel both Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance from Nagoya. He later formed formed the Nagoya family with locals who wanted to protect the peace in Nagoya. When Shinada started to investigate the truth behind the scandal, he ordered his men to silence him, but they were too attached to him and couldn't do it.

Arc Villain: For Shinada's chapters. He holds a level of responsibility for nearly everything wrong with Shinada's current life and uncovering all his secret wrongdoings turns out to be Shinada's true goal.
Anti-Villain: Honestly believes he's doing the right thing while also clearly having regrets over all of it. He eventually decides that he can't do keep doing this anymore and opts to finally come clean about all his crimes but he gets killed for it.
The Atoner: At the end of Shinada's chapter, he decides to come clean about the scandal fifteen years before in a memo. Unfortunately, he is killed and the memo is burned before he can do so.
Broken Pedestal: Shinada's pretty devastated that the man who helped him become a real professional baseball player was also the one who organized the end of it.
Boom, Headshot!: Before he can come out with the truth, he's shot dead by his boss. It's staged to look like a suicide, and the note he wrote to explain everything is burned.
The Chessmaster: He's pretty much the cause of everything that happens in Shinada's chapter, past and present.
Cool Shades: Always wearing a pair whether in flashbacks 15 years ago or in the present day.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: Executed at gunpoint just as he was planning on coming clean about all of his past crimes.
Walking Spoiler: He's certainly got a lot of baggage.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He planned the gambling scandal and made sure Shinada would took the fall in order to drive Omi and Tojo clans would get out of the city since they were all wrapped up in those sort of scandals. He's now the current boss of the Nagoya family, made of non-yakuzas only and dedicated to keeping other yakuza away.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Tries to tell Kurosawa that it's time he finally fessed up to all his wrongdoing. Naturally Kurosawa isn't having any of it and immediately has him silenced before he can be any more of a hinderance.

Atsushi Sakai

Voiced by: Kunihiko Yasui

"Shinada, do you know the most beautiful play a batter can make? It's a sacrifice fly."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakaiy5.jpg

A former baseball player who played for the Wyverns, he mysteriously appears at the scene of a deadly accident, which Shinada suspects he caused. He attempts to kill Shinada when he starts going after the Nagoya Family, and later tells him that the team sacrificed him for the good of Nagoya.

Anti-Villain: Performs some nasty deeds and doesn't regret what they've done to Shinada but it's pretty clear that he's remorseful about it no matter what he claims.
Apologetic Attacker: He attacks Shinada with an iron pipe but asks him for forgiveness. It's clear Sakai doesn't want to attack a man that he respects as a former teammate.
A Sinister Clue: A boss fight who wields a pipe in his left hand. He's also willing to kill people in order to keep the secret behind Shinada's scandal hidden though he's clearly conflicted about the whole matter.
Chekhov's Gunman: He's actually namedropped in Shinada's introduction scene as the batter that Shinada is substituting in for. Halfway through Shinada's storyline, he suddenly reappears to try and put a stop to Shinada's investigation of the Nagoya Family.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Almost literally. He's crushed by a balloon light tower meant for Shinada.
Heroic Sacrifice: He pushes Shinada out of the way from getting crushed by a balloon light tower and gets crushed by it instead.
He Knows Too Much: He kills the shifty man before he can reveal anything to Shinada. Ironically he ends up dying before he can reveal any more to Shinada as well albeit as part of a Heroic Sacrifice.
I Did What I Had to Do: He feels guilty for playing a part in setting up Shinada 15 years ago, but doesn't regret it, believing it was for the good of Nagoya.
I Know Madden Kombat: A former baseball batter who fights by swinging around a steel pipe.
Karmic Death: He kills the shifty man by dropping several steel beams on him from the top of a building, and is later killed by a balloon light tower dropped from the top of another building.
Mirror Boss: His usage of an iron pipe makes him similar to Shinada having a Sturdy Iron Pipe as his mandatory first weapon, making it easy to invoke this trope. That said, the two have some pretty different methods of swinging them around at each other.
Moveset Clone: You actually encounter a generic Yamagasa Family member Mini-Boss holding an iron pipe that fights exactly like him earlier in the game as Kiryu during the long battle sequence with the where you're searching for Yahata in an abandoned building.
Pipe Pain: Wields an iron pipe during his boss fight.
Stone Wall: In his first mention, he's described as the core of his baseball team's defense. Suitably, his stats and reliance on an iron pipe in his Boss Fight grant him a pretty solid defense requiring Shinada to do a bit more than just attack him haphazardly.
Unskilled, but Strong: He fights using pretty wild swings with that pipe of his and has only one real combo but he can still deal some decent damage with those guard-breaking hits. Surprisingly his one unarmed attack is a pretty agile-looking jumping spinning roundhouse kick.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Aside from his boss fight, he barely has any screen time.

Kanji Manabe

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama

"It's better not to know. What happened behind the scenes? Just forget about it."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/manabey5.jpg

He batted fourth for the Wyverns when the gambling scandal took place 15 years ago. After retiring, he opened a successful barbecue restaurant in town. He knew of the backroom dealings at the time, but he did what he was told to prolong his career. He warned Shinada that digging too deep into the past could cost him his life. He fights Shinada after Ushijima fails to silence him, but loses on purpose so Shinada could learn the truth. He turned himself in at Ushijima's behest but was released soon after that.

Acrofatic: Downplayed. He's a large hefty man but he's agile enough to catch himself into a roll whenever knocked off his feet.
The Atoner: A very subtle example. It's implied that he feels just as guilty about making Shinada the scapegoat as Sakai does. After his attempt to silence Shinada fails, Shinada suspects that he lost the fight on purpose or at least that he knew he was gonna lose before even attacking him. Furthermore, Shinada believes that despite telling him to stop investigating the baseball scandal earlier for his own safety, he knew that sharing enough information about the match-fixing would encourage Shinada to uncover the full conspiracy. All this adds up to Shinada concluding that Manabe wanted Shinada to succeed and learn the truth behind all along. Manabe doesn't deny it and simply hands him the phone that would connect Shinada to the mastermind that had ruined Shinada's life, their old baseball coach Fujita.
Busman's Vocabulary: Uses some baseball terminology and metaphors as he confronts Shinada at Nagoya Wharf.
Chef of Iron: Runs a successful barbecue restaurant and can give Shinada a decent fight. He even confronts Shinada while still wearing his chef uniform and brandishing a large kitchen knife.
Climax Boss: The last boss Shinada fights before finally uncovering the truth behind the scandal that ruined Shinada's baseball career. The vast majority of everything involving said scandal is put together into a cohesive report for Daigo right afterwards later.
Duel Boss: Despite Takasugi accompanying Shinada for a long battle sequence and seeming less tired than him in the cutscene afterwards, when Manabe then attacks Shinada, Takasugi's back to his usual behavior of watching Shinada from the sidelines and cheering him on during the boss fight Manabe.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Shown to have this in a flashback. Justified, since he could've been exposed for his involvement in the scandal.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Has a pretty bad overall attitude, particularly when former members of the Nagoya Wyverns are involved. Yet, he keeps warning Shinada to stop investigating the conspiracy behind him being banned from professional baseball with a look of legitimate concern on his face. When Shinada is on the cusp of unveiling the Awful Truth, he seemingly tries to kill him only for Shinada to defeat him and note that Manabe clearly was intending to lose the fight to ensure that Shinada learns the truth.
I Let You Win: Planned on letting himself gets beaten by Shinada to keep up appearances while still allowing Shinada to finally learn the truth.
Mighty Glacier: His knife swings are on the slow side and not too difficult to avoid but they're still unblockable to unarmed fighters like all bladed weapons.
Unblockable Attack: While par for the course for knife-centric fighter, even his one unarmed attack is a low sweep kick that goes through blocks.
Unskilled, but Strong: Compared to most knife-wielding boss fights in the series, his movements show that much like Shinada he's not an experienced fighter. He mostly just rushes towards Shinada while haphazardly thrusting and swinging said knife. He's still pretty damn tough and his damage output shows that he's putting everything he's got behind his clumsy attacks.

Omi Alliance

Masaru Watase

Voiced by: Rintarou Nishi (Japanese), James C. Burns (English)

"All I care about is the fight! I ain't one of those sad sacks who sits on their ass countin' their cash! I went yakuza to go up against the strongest of the strong!"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yakuza_watase.png

Watase as he appears in Like a Dragon

Known as the most militant in the Omi Alliance now that Ryuji Goda, the Dragon of Kansai, is gone. Kiryu meets him in Fukuoka, believing he was responsible for Daigo's disappearance, where Watase reveals he wanted to bring him out of hiding and wants him to rejoin the Tojo Clan to make it stronger, so it would be a Worthy Opponent worth going to war with once more. A charismatic leader who draws in several followers, he's a top contender to be the next Chairman of the Omi Alliance.

Abdicate the Throne: After getting out of jail, he and Daigo both disband the Tojo and Omi in order to avoid being Governor Ryo Aoki's pawns, with plans to transition into private security company.
A Father to His Men: In Like a Dragon, his plan to pivot into a security firm after disbanding the Omi Alliance is to ensure that the men under him who know only the Yakuza life will have some kind of employment and structure waiting for them, rather than leaving them out in the cold.
Affably Evil: Pretty damn friendly and casual for such a high-ranking yakuza boss. He lacks Bad Boss tendencies, he doesn't involve civilians in his plans, he doesn't try to suck up, manipulate, or backstab those around him. He just kicks ass when the need arises and follows his gut. It's made him very likable and admired among yakuza but it's also made him a target of his own boss Kurosawa.
Affectionate Nickname: Refers to Katsuya as "Ka-Chan"/"Katchan".
Agonizing Stomach Wound: Downplayed, but in Gaiden he takes a knife meant for Tsuruno right to the gut. He survives, but feels the pain throughout the rest of the finale.
Big Bad Wannabe: Has ambitions to become the future Chairman of the Omi Alliance and then go to war with the Tojo Clan. To this end, he visits Nagasugai, Fukuoka to convince Kiryu to rejoin the Tojo Clan as its Chairman so that the two can have a "proper war". Despite having a decent amount of manpower, and personal strength, such ambitions are vastly overshadowed by the criminal conspiracy that's targetting yakuza across the nation. Once it's been made clear that he's nothing more than a disposable pawn to Kurosawa, he puts his ambitions aside to aid the protagonists in ending Kurosawa's schemes once and for all.
Big Good: Starts to take this role in Like a Dragon, as he's willing to work together with the protagonists and his former Tojo rivals. That said, he disbands the Omi Alliance not long after his return seemingly sacrificing the power and authority he now has just to avoid the Alliance being any further manipulated by Ryo Aoki. Still, the ending seems to be setting up both him and Daigo as Big Goods in future games with the way they're starting a legitimate security firm in Osaka to give former yakuza employment after said disbanding.
Blood Knight: He's very eager to go to war with the Tojo Clan, but only when it becomes strong again. Like Ryuji Goda, he's also out to show the world who is the strongest among them, and takes the first chance he has to fight Kiryu.
Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to Aoyama and Katsuya's Brain. Kurosawa even states that he made Watase a captain because he saw him as a useful idiot first and foremost.
Breakout Character: Downplayed. He's one of the more popular new characters introduced in 5 and while not exactly ubiquitous, he has started to make more and more major appearances past his debut, having a historical look-alike in Ishin, being one of the two perspective characters in an Online storyline, and reappearing in Like a Dragon as a major character and Summon. In Gaiden, the Watase Family is set up as a major antagonistic force with Watase himself returning as well.
Broken Pedestal: To majority of the Omi Alliance once he announces his plans to dissolve the organisation and go straight, with many of them deeming him a traitor and attempt to assassinate him.
Brooklyn Rage: With the new English dub in Like A Dragon, he now has a Brooklyn accent. A common method of localizing the Kansai dialect as well as suiting his new status as the current "Mob Boss" of the Omi Alliance.
The Bus Came Back: Absent in 6 due to the Omi Alliance being irrelevant but reappears in Like a Dragon once they become the main focus again.
Crazy-Prepared: Suspecting something was up with Kiryu's supposed death and that the Daidoji Faction was involved, he ordered his men to track down Kiryu prior to being arrested. He knew that the disbanding of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance would result in utter chaos, so he needed Kiryu to act as a bodyguard to ensure that the dissolution would go through.
Chewing the Scenery: He's described as a man who wears his heart on his sleeve at all times. In 5, he shouts wildly at least once in every scene he's in. In Like a Dragon is comes out in full force when you summon him as a poundmate.
- Notably, Rintarou Nishi's impassioned performance as Watase was very popular among the staff and Japanese fans, most notably his devestated tone when his own boss betrays him and Katsura. It's widely believed this performance is why he since became a mainstay of the series, up to the point that there was a popular hoax that Watase would get his own spin-off game.
Cool Shades: Present in his introduction cutscene and official render in 5.
The Don: He's practically the Acting Chairman of the Omi Alliance in Like a Dragon due to the unseen Eighth Chairman being bedridden… Only for him and Daigo to disband their organizations by the end.
Dumb Muscle: Has plenty of strength and charisma but doesn't seem to have much interesting in planning. He's definitely seen as one by his own boss. Negated as of Like a Dragon.
Enemy Mine: Due to being betrayed by his own boss Kurosawa, he aligns himself with big names in the Tojo Clan like Kiryu, Saejima, and arguably Akiyama in order to crush Kurosawa's plans once and for all. Later games make it clear that despite this temporary alliance, the Omi Alliance still consider the Tojo Clan to be an enemy though the same can't be said for Watase himself.
Et Tu, Brute?: Upon learning of his Chairman, Kurosawa betraying him, he takes it very personally and rants at him about all the loyalty and support he's shown him up to that point. Kurosawa shuts him down telling him that his upstanding, dutiful attitude is exactly the sort of yakuza he hates and that he'd be better off dead since he'll only end up attracting weak, stupid minions if he continues living the way he does.
Force and Finesse: The Force to Katsuya's Finesse, having a brutally strong and far less refined fighting style compared to Katsuya's more precise attacks.
Friendly Enemy: To Kiryu. He makes it clear to the Dragon of Dojima that he wants to go to war with the Tojo Clan with him at the helm, and even sets a couple of tough punks on him, but has nothing but genuine respect for the legendary taxi driver. He really wanted to have that drink...
Good Old Ways: Like Saejima, he's rather old fashioned about the yakuza.
Heel–Face Turn: From one of the major antagonists in Yakuza 5 to shaping up to be one of the Big Goods in Like A Dragon if that wasn't enough, he is also a summonable Poundmate for Ichiban's party.
Honor Before Reason:
- Has ambitions of leading the Omi Alliance and going to war with the Tojo Clan but not while it's in a weakened state without any major players aside from maybe Majima. It'd be far too easy, making the clan "not worth crushing" at the moment.
- At one point, Aoyama attempts to threaten Kiryu at with a pistol but Watase stops him immediately, telling him not to embarass him. While Aoyama is confused, wondering why he'd stop him from taking down someone that he's made a goal of targetting later, Watase corrects him stating that when he does take down Kiryu, he wishes to do so "the right way" and then slugs Aoyama in the face.
Implausible Deniability: When Daigo asks exactly how he managed to get Kiryu out of hiding, Watase casually states that he just got some no-name to act as a bodyguard.
Leitmotif: "Collision of Our Souls". Shared with Katsuya. It makes a return in Like a Dragon when Ichiban calls for Watase's help.
Light Is Good: Played With. Despite being the Captain of the Omi Alliance and having ambitions of starting a war with the Tojo Clan, he turns out to be legitimately friendly and very honorable. He's got no understanding of the main villain's plans and is in fact working on trying to break open the conspiracy on his own, turning him into something of a complicated ally.
- Played fully straight by the time of Like a Dragon.
Mister Big: He's not tiny but he's noticeably on the shorter and stouter side compared to the likes of Kiryu or Saejima. Unlike previous examples in the series like Sohei or Sengoku, he's still a physical force to be reckoned with, boasting a whole lot of muscle under that shirt and having high stats that put him on par with other Final Boss characters in the series.
Nerves of Steel: Like a Dragon Gaiden retroactively reveals that he was shockingly composed during his appearance in Like a Dragon considering that he had just suffered a knife wound not long before he arrived at the Omi HQ, showing no signs of injury until after Ichiban's team left.
Noble Demon: Despite his eagerness to crush the Tojo Clan, he treats the Fourth Chairman with nothing but respect and has nothing personal against him. He's clearly heartbroken in the climax when he and Katsuya are betrayed by their boss, and especially when Katsuya takes the bullet for him. In the end, he's more than willing to get down on his knees out of gratitude for Akiyama saving Kamurocho, who the latter notes that not many men would do.
No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: It's the reason why he wants Kiryu back to leading the Tojo Clan. He considers the current state of the Tojo under Daigo "not worth crushing" and he won't be happy going to war with the Tojo until Kiryu goes back to leading it.
Non-Standard Character Design: Compared to everyone else's completely realistic facial features, he looks almost cartoonish. This is much more apparent whenever he opens his mouth.*
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When summoned in 7, he gives the target a flurry of punches that evolved into full blown fiery Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs.
- Has a more mundane one during his Boss Fight in 5. One of his attacks is a running spear tackle Grapple Move that ends with him on top of Kiryu trying to beat his face into the ground with a flurry of punches. You'll have to mash the button prompt to avoid taking too much damage.
Odd Friendship: Despite polar opposite personalities and some tensions due to the events of the plot of 5, he legitimately sees Katsuya as a good friend and is mortified when Katsuya Takes the Bullet for him and passes out not long after. Their interactions in a storyline in Online further shows how close and friendly they are with one another despite being the patriarchs of different yakuza families.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: The current captain of the Omi Alliance with the brute strength to match the Tojo Clan's Fourth Chairman. He returns in Like a Dragon, boasting one of the highest damaging single-target attacks in the game.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Demonstrates this as a summon in Like a Dragon, where he delivers a flurry of fiery flying fists at the targeted enemy.
- Downplayed in his original appearance in 5 where one of his combos can lead into a Grapple Move where he grabs one of Kiryu's arms with one hand and uses the other to lay into him with a quick series of jabs to the chest before tripping him and kicking his head while he's down.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Katsuya's blue.
Sequential Boss: He's the first that's fought on the roof of Kamurocho Hills, followed by Katsuya and either Kiryu or Saejima.
Taking the Bullet: In 'Gaiden,' Nishitani III attacks Watase's captain, but Watase gets in between them and takes a gut stab meant for him.
Tattooed Crook: Watase's tattoo is based on the Asura King.
Unskilled, but Strong: His fighting style is unrefined and full of wild swinging punches, but it doesn't make him any less dangerous at all. A number of his heavier attacks even seem to cast up small debris from the ground, apparently propelled by the very air pressure of his punches.
Unwitting Pawn: He and Katsuya were used by the Omi Chairman to draw out Kiryu and Saejima and have all four of them face off against each other, in which the Chairman would step in and kill all four of them afterwards. Unlike Katsuya, he had no idea what was going on.
Villain in a White Suit: Captain of the rival Omi Alliance with a snazzy white pin-striped suit to match his status. Ultimately subverted. Despite a genuine desire to go to war with the Tojo Clan just to prove his superiority, he ends up becoming something of an ally to the heroes.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's not present at all in Infinite Wealth despite him being involved in the private security company he co-founded with Daigo, Majima and Saejima. The three make no mention of him, or what came of him after the company was forced to shut its doors; it's likely he also went into hiding, just in a different place than they did.
Wild Card: He very much wishes to go to war with the Tojo Clan and take down Kiryu but only if Kiryu's leading the charge against him. On the other hand, he also legitimately has no idea what the main villain's plans are so he ends up neither aligning himself with Kiryu's enemies nor against Kiryu' allies. In fact, he helps to undermine the schemes of his own apparent ally Aoyama simply because he finds his underhanded methods pathetic. Towards the end, he finds himself standing against fellow Omi Alliance authority Katsuya and side by side with Kiryu and Saejima who would ordinarily be rivals as major pillars of the Tojo. When both Katsuya and him get betrayed by their own boss Kurosawa as well as Kanai, he's crushed to learn what little regard his own boss has for two of his highest-ranked soldiers. By the time of the game's finale, he's effectively on the heroes side and helps to foil the schemes of Kurosawa and Kanai while praising the heroes for their noble efforts.
Worf Had the Flu: While he had been in prison for at least two games, Watase remains a capable fighter. Like a Dragon: Gaiden reveals the reason he didn’t take much action in Yakuza: Like a Dragon was because he received a stab wound that impeded his ability to fight.
Kiryu: If the joint took a toll on your body…. We’re done for.
Watase: Heh. Didn’t I tell you I was preparing myself for years?
Worthy Opponent: His desire for one of these is why he wants Kiryu to lead the Tojo Clan again. From his viewpoint, the current clan is so weak from infighting and scandals that it's not even worth crushing, so he wants Kiryu, a living legend among yakuza, back on top to make it something worth going to war with again.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Seems pretty convinced that the main plot of the story is getting Kiryu to take over the Tojo Clan again so that when Watase one day becomes the Omi Alliance Chairman, they can finally have a good war and determine who will rule over Japan's criminal underworld once and for all. He's completely clueless on the conspiracy that's targetting big name Yakuza across the nation including himself. He almost gets himself killed trying to learn the truth about his own boss being the perpetrator and the revelation deeply hurts his pride.

Takeshi Hakamada

A member of the Omi Alliance of unknown rank or family designation. Confronts Akiyama over his newly opened Sotenbori branch of Sky Finances, unhappy with how his methodology presents fierce competition with the other local Sotenbori money lenders and loan sharks, himself included.

Boxing Battler: Mostly relies on boxing style punches aside from the occasional double axe-handle or spinning backfist.
Chekhov's Gunman: Downplayed. He's ultimately not much more than a supporting character but his connections to the Omi Alliance as a member means he happens to know Kamon Kanai and where he works as Captain of Ousaka Enterprises. When he shows up for the second and last time, he helps point Akiyama in the right direction.
Flunky Boss: Never fights alone.
Moveset Clone: Uses the same attacks as Tetsuo Tamashiro in his brass knuckles phase from 3. Hakamada lacking brass knuckles that break guards helps him feel much less threatening in comparison.
Mugging the Monster: Thinks he can push Akiyama around and scare him into submitting to the way the Omi Alliance runs things in Sotenbori. Literally gets his ass kicked for the effort. Twice.
Recurring Boss: Has to be beaten down on two seperate ocassions before he agrees to stop messing with Akiyama.
Starter Villain: The very first antagonist Akiyama has to deal with in Sotenbori, threatening him for his business practices and for not showing an Omi Alliance man more respect. He's really not that big of a deal at all but he doesn't learn his lesson until Akiyama schools him a second time for the sake of interrogating him for information on Kamon Kanai. After which he agrees to stop anatagonizing Akiyama.
Warm-Up Boss: Slightly tougher than the average Mook but not by a whole lot. He might just be the weakest "boss" in the game but it could just be showing how far above Akiyama is as a fighter.
- Oddly enough he's got a lot more health in the postgame Climax Battle Ultimate Battle for Akiyama compared to the other character Ultimate Battles that have the boss healthbars untouched. Presumably the developers just wanted Akiyama to have a worthy challenge and he didn't have any other candidates for the three boss battles he needs for his Ultimate Battle. Still going from half a full boss health bar to 2 and a half health bars is a bit much and it's very noticeable when he has more health than the Kan Ogita and Kamon Kanai boss fights right afterwards.

Kamon Kanai

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa

"Dream all ya want, but none o' that means dick when you're facing real strength."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kanaiy5.jpg

Captain of Ousaka Enterprises and works for Katsuya. He's as strong and tough as his massive frame suggests, to the point where little fazes him.

Arch-Enemy: Gains the ire of Akiyama for threatening the lives of so many of Akiyama's associates. Akiyama later singles him out as the most malevolent force of Ousaka Enterprises rather then its actual president, Katsuya. In return, Kanai seems to develop some twisted form of respect for Akiyama or at least acknowledgement of the threat he poses, often giving him smug grins before trying to put him in his place. They end up clashing very often as a result.
Kanai: (After being defeated by Akiyama for the first time) I'll remember you. You can count on it.
Akiyama: (To Kiryu before taking on Kanai and his gang on his own) I still have to settle things with that freak, Kanai, anyway.
Bad Boss: Knocks one of his boys to the floor with a punch scolding him for not using force to get information on Park's letter from a tied-up Haruka. Then there's what he did to Ogita for his failures...
The Brute: Defined primarily by the sheer physical threat he poses to the protagonists. Personality-wise, he's quiet but ruthless and only really cares about getting the job done quickly and efficiently even if it comes to physical violence. His decision to meet up with Haruka with a mob of Ousaka Enterprises Yakuza against the orders of Katsuya who agreed to meet with her alone and his attempts to rationalize it also make him come across as somewhat boneheaded. It's actually Foreshadowing his lack of loyalty to his own boss.
Counter-Attack: Pressure his block too much and he'll respond by throwing his arms out and stunning you, leaving you open to punishing combos.
Degraded Boss: From 6 onwards, there's been generic mini-boss strength enemies sharing his fighting style.
Despair Event Horizon: He hits it when Watase informs him that every last yakuza family in the country considers him an enemy for his crimes against the Omi Alliance and Tojo Clan. Kanai goes from being utterly confident of his victory to collapsing in shock.
Devious Daggers: Initially uses a knife during Akiyama's Final Boss fight against him. Fitting for someone who's effectively backstabbed their own patriarch.
Dirty Coward: The first time he's fought in the finale, he makes a hasty retreat before he's down for the count and makes his men continue fighting on his behalf. He doesn't rejoin the fray until after both Akiyama and Kiryu have become exhausted by all the fighting and this time he's carrying a knife.
Disproportionate Retribution: He crushes Ogita's arm with a trash compactor for failing to find Park's letter.
The Dragon: Supposedly Katsuya's, but he ultimately serves as Kurosawa's.
- Dragon-in-Chief: With Kurosawa too terminally ill from lung cancer to be a physical threat and his own son Aizawa not being particularly interested in Kurosawa's plans, Kanai's the most powerful and dangerous enforcer of his will.
Fate Worse than Death: At the end of the game, Watase declares Kanai blacklisted from every Yakuza clan in Japan, thus killing any ambitions he had as well as leaving him at the complete and utter mercy of essentially the entire country's organized criminal population. The revelation leaves him unable to even stand his ground, as he collapses in shock and despair while surrounded by an entire army's worth of pissed off yakuza.
Faux Affably Evil: Like most yakuza, he's capable of acting in a polite almost chummy manner for the sake of negotiations, particularly when he corners Haruka at the train station with a whole mob of yakuza, but he clearly doesn't mind destroying lives to get the job done.
Final Boss: For Akiyama in 5.
Flunky Boss: He has his subordinates fight alongside him most of the time.
Gonk: Has a face only a mother could love. Ironically, Katsuya tells him that as a Yakuza, his face just isn't scary to intimidate someone who's dealt with Yakuza for most of their life like Haruka. While he has a different real reason to be upset with Kanai, he specifically punishes him by driving a lit cigarette into his left eyebrow, leaving a nasty burn scar for the sake of making him look scarier.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Katsuya punishes him for his failures by pressing a lit cigarette into his left eyebrow. This leaves a noticeable burn scar that is present for all of his later scenes. Interestingly enough, the very next time he appears after his scarring, he's confirmed to be working directly under the story's Big Bad rather than the less malevolent Katsuya.
Leitmotif:
- "Dynamic & Magnificent" though it only plays during the second boss fight against him.
- "End of Rematch", for the final battle against Akiyama.
Large and in Charge: He's rather hulking and he towers over all of his subordinates. The Sotenbori Forger describes him as being built like a wrestler.
Made of Iron: Can take a shitload of punishment, even by the series' standards.
Mighty Glacier:Undeniably resilient and powerful, but he's far slower a fighter than the likes of Akiyama. His knife-wielding skills during Akiyama's finale prove to be quite a bit quicker and more aggressive though.
Might Makes Right: Dismisses the dream-focused rhetoric of the protagonists like Akiyama and Haruka and seems to it's a meaningless sentiment in the face of overwhelming power. Makes it all the more satisfying when Akiyama knocks his teeth out along with every single one of his men.
The Mole: Revealed to be working directly for Kurosawa rather than Katsuya. Akiyama figures out that Katsuya and Park purposefully let information on Majima's letter to her in order to lure out the Mastermind or at least anyone working for him. When Kanai stepped up to hunt down the letter, Katsuya realized that he'd been betrayed which probably explains why he's so harsh to Kanai while pretending to be none the wiser.
No-Sell: As a testament to his freakish durability, Akiyama throws a kick to the side of his face not long after meeting him for the first time only for Kanai to appear completely unfazed, greatly unsettling Akiyama.
- While his immunity to regular knockdowns is hardly unique, the fact that Akiyama in particular has to fight so many times makes it much more noticeable as it effectively renders Akiyama's unique "Launch Strike" almost useless against him since Kanai can't be launched.
Obviously Evil: Very brutish-looking with a near permanent scowl on his face that's anything but reassuring.
Professional Butt-Kisser: He's docile and subservient in the presence of his boss in contrast to his usual menacing and confident demeanor. Watase even refers to him as "the Ousaka Enterprises bootlicker". Makes it all the more surprising when it's revealed that he's working directly under the Big Bad though perhaps that was his intent.
The Quiet One: Downplayed. He's capable of speaking and holding conversations but he usually doesn't say a whole lot when he doesn't need to. Unless he's fighting or barking orders at his boys, he doesn't raise his voice much either. Once it's revealed that he's working directly for Kurosawa behind the back of his actual boss Katsuya, he doesn't say a single line of dialogue in cutscenes until after Akiyama defeats him for the last time.
Recurring Boss: Prior to 0, he had the largest number of boss fights in a single game for a major antagonist, being fought four seperate times.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black suit and yellow and black tie over a red shirt.
Sequential Boss: He's first fought immediately after Ogita.
- In the finale, he's fought after Majima and Baba, but before Aizawa.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: As mentioned before, he scoffs at Akiyama's belief in the power of dreams and believes only strength matters. It's unsurprising that he teams up with a cynical bastard like Kurosawa.
Smug Smiler: Often has a sinister smile when confronting Akiyama which adds to how he's constantly looking down on the financer despite usually losing fights against him.
Spanner in the Works: A villainous example. Daigo's plans to uncover and foil the plot of the Big Bad was progressing rather smoothly to the point where he had Kurosawa at his mercy at gun-point. No one expected an oaf like Kanai to arrive on the scene with gun in hand to bail out Kurosawa, having betrayed Katsuya who was near the top of Kurosawa's hit list.
Strong and Skilled: To an extent. Contrary to his huge build, his fighting style shows some dexterity and grace with a reliance on various open-handed striking techniques with some spinning kicks mixed in. Failing a certain QTE during his second boss fight has him land a high round house kick on Akiyama of all people. His knife techniques are similar in that regard though he fights more ferociously in comparison.
Sword and Fist: He often mixes together knife techniques with open-handed strikes with his left hand during his Final Boss fight with Akiyama.
Underestimating Badassery: A downplayed example in that Katsuya points out that he really should have known that as someone who has spent her life embroiled in the schemes of Yakuza, Haruka would not be easily intimidated and the fact that she stands up to him says more about him than anything.
The Unfettered: Has no problem threatening and following through with gratuitous acts of violence against innocent civilians if that's what it takes to get what he wants. While Haruka managed to avoid such a fate thanks to Katsuya's intervention, Horie and Ogita weren't so fortunate with Horie hospitalized and Ogita seemingly dying because of him.
Use Your Head: During the Akiyama's last fight against him, one of his knife-wielding attacks at the end of a combo string is to lodge his knife into Akiyama's gut before knocking him away with a headbutt.
Wake-Up Call Boss: Fought right after Ogita who also qualifies as this trope. He may be on the slow side but he's very strong and he also punishes mindlessly aggressive play by having a block counter that will stun Akiyama and leave him open to damaging combos. Like the previous boss, this incentivizes carefully choosing when to attack him and which combos would be most effective for which scenario. His immunity to getting knocked down by non-grapples also showcases how much less effective Akiyama is against any bosses with the same sort of resilience as this greatly reduces the effectiveness of his "Launch Strike".
The Worf Effect: His first scenes show that he's a tanky brute who can No-Sell taking a fire extinguisher and one of Akiyama's kicks to the face. He subsequently gets slapped around and later trapped in a headlock by Katsuya to show that the seemingly plain President of Osaka Talents is a lot stronger than he looks.
Would Hit a Girl: He has Haruka kidnapped to get her to reveal where Park's letter is, and threatens to beat it out of her if she doesn't spill. Thank goodness Katsuya interferes.
Wrestler in All of Us: Downplayed. He's described as being built like a wrestler and indeed relies pretty heavily on the sort of chops and open hand strikes you'd see in pro wrestling or perhaps sumo wrestling but he doesn't really do use any fancy wrestling techniques aside from grabbing his enemy and then striking them or grabbing them with a Killer Bear Hug with both arms, spinning about and then tossing them away with no extra flourish.
You Have Failed Me: His response to Ogita's failures is to crush his arm in a trash compactor and leave him to die in in a pile of junk in his Waste Disposal facility. When Akiyama tries to help Ogita escape, Kanai puts Ogita down for good.

Tsubasa Kurosawa (SPOILERS)

Voiced by: Eiji Okuda

"Listen, in the end, yakuza are mostly idiots."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y5_kurosawa.png

The Seventh and current Chairman of the Omi Alliance who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, whose death would not only create a power struggle for the position of Chairman, but would mean the end of a truce that would lead to inevitable war between the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan. His goals are unclear, but he's clearly an enemy of the Tojo Clan, or at least his strongest members: Kazuma, Majima, Daigo and Saejima. He is later revealed to be once part of the Kuroha clan in Nagoya before joining the Omi by becoming a fourth rate family doing the dirty work that Omi wouldn't touch.

Alas, Poor Villain: While he doesn't die on-screen he's still deep into his terminal sickness by the time of his last cutscene to the point where he's coughing up blood. He spends said final scene reminiscing upon the horrible life he's had to endure under weak, cruel yakuza bosses and how he would have liked to have kept his pride and integrity. However, he was less fortunate than other more benevolent leader yakuza like Daigo, lacking in any friends or allies to give him any sort of support back then. In order to climb the ranks, he had to kill his own aniki, and murder his own boss, sacrificing plenty to reach the top only to find that all he had was power and nothing else. Upon learning that he had terminal lung cancer, he panicked and tried to do anything to ensure he had some sort of legacy to leave behind. Majima, Daigo, Saejima, and Katsuya are all speechless as they listen to all of this.
All for Nothing: A primary motive for his Machiavellian plot is leaving the Tojo and the Omi to his son. But Aizawa is callous about this, stating that he couldn't care about what his father (whom he refers to as an "old fuck") wants to leave him; all he wants is to reach the top of the yakuza world's hill on his own merits. And even when his plans to undermine the Tojo ended up succeeding in the long run, it ends up going beyond what he intended when Daigo and Watase decide to agree to disband both organisations. Hell, Aizawa himself doesn't benefit from this at all, since he loses to Kiryu decisively and fails to actually ascend as what Kurosawa intended.
Bad Boss: Loathes his subordinates, and thinks even less of the ones who actually desired his approval.
The Bad Guy Wins: Even though he loses in the short term, later games show that there were far from zero consequences to his schemes. In Yakuza 6, as a result of all the damage he did to the Tojo Clan in 5, most of the former Tojo members were dead or imprisoned and replaced with the kind of people Kurosawa wanted in the Tojo, namely people who didn't believe in the Good Old Ways (Sugai and Someya) who thought that the yakuza should be profit-driven criminals, which paved the way for the Tojo's expulsion from Kamurocho. The Tojo Clan is also stated to have reduced in numbers by the time 6 rolls around, but it's ambiguous how much that can be attributed to Kurosawa. Ultimately, in Like a Dragon, Kurosawa's efforts amount to a Pyrrhic Victory with the disbandment of both the Tojo and Omi.
Batman Gambit: Most of his plan rests on his enemies acting like they normally do.
Big Bad: He's the one plotting in the shadows and the real mastermind behind the game.
Bus Crash: Unsurprisingly since he's dying of cancer to the point of coughing up blood in some of his last scenes. By the time of Like a Dragon, someone else has taken his place, though we never see them.
The Chessmaster: He's the one behind everything in the game. Everything.
The Corrupter: He's responsible for the creation of the Nagoya Family, turning ordinary citizens into secret Yakuza with the promise of keeping rival Yakuza like the Tojo Clan out of the Nagoya. He's also obviously got a lot of sway with the police seeing as how he's successfully infiltrated them under a pseudonym. Sawada describes him as playing them like puppets when he's able to get every Nagoya Family member released from prison.
Cynicism Catalyst: Being a fourth rate Yakuza family member who had to do all the dirty work and ascending to power by killing his boss and brother to become the head of his family has made Kurosawa a bitter and ruthless man at the core. He admits all his work in getting to the top has only gotten him authority but nothing in the way of respect or appreciation.
Dark Is Evil: His choice of colours really show that he is definitely hiding something, foreshadowing his reveal.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Has a very similar backstory that of Akira Nishikiyama from the first yakuza game, having been deprived of the support of any friend and allies and choosing to discard his pride and integrity to reach the top of the Yakuza food chain by any means, even if it means sacrificing lives and backstabbing his own allies like Kurosawa's own aniki and boss. Unlike Nishiki, Kurosawa succeeded only to find that having all that power via such a blood-soaked path brought him no satisfaction which is exactly what Yumi tried to warn Nishiki about. It's just as well that Kurosawa's son Aizawa has an irezumi tattoo of the same sort of carp that Nishiki has.
Dirty Cop: An extreme example, being the Omi Alliance's Seventh Chairman while in the eyes of practically everyone but the Omi appearing to be a simple Osaka detective.
The Don: He's the Chairman of the Omi Alliance.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Reached his absurdly powerful position in life by being a ruthless, backstabbing, selfish bastard. He despises the fact the two other most powerful leaders in the Omi have amassed such a large following via more "admirable" means that make them beloved rather than feared like him.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He cares about his son Aizawa enough that his scheme is to leave a criminal empire for Aizawa's sake.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Sometimes laughs after caustic comments on the situation that only he seems to find amusing.
Evil Is Petty: Includes two of his strongest, highest ranking soldiers as targets to be wiped out in his master plan: Masaru Watase and Naoki Katsuya. They're both perfectly competent and loyal underlings but he despises them for how idealistic they are. While he tries to justify it by claiming that yakuza like that will only attract stupid, incompetent underlings, his later ramblings make it clear that he's just bitter over how they were able to hold onto their idealism while he lost his faith in humanity after suffering all sorts of humiliating ordeals under weak, stupid, needlessly cruel yakuza bosses.
Evil Overlooker: Downplayed. As noted above on the Spoiler Cover entry on his other identity's page, his position on the cover up top and in the middle, right where The Chessmaster or The Man Behind the Man would typically be even if he's not necessarily looking down on the heroes like most villains on covers.
False Flag Operation: Has his some of his men open fire on the front of the Millenium Tower with automatic weapons where it was already surrounded by countless civilians and police officers due to rumors of Majima being held hostage there by Kurosawa. Upon closer inspection, it's shown that they're wearing pins with the Majima Family sigil. Akiyama deduces that the Kuroha Family is making the Majima Family look like they're recklessly using violence to free their patriarch to make them look bad in order to make it easier to drive them and the rest of the Tojo Clan out of Kamurocho.
Incurable Cough of Death: He's terminally ill with cancer and is on his last legs. Doesn't mean he isn't capable of safely moving around the country to run his Machiavellian schemes, and even shooting from across a rooftop. While his affliction with cancer is real, he clearly exaggerated his symptoms to keep suspicions off him, as he seemed to be bed-ridden when he was described as not taking visitors early in the game.
Irony: He smokes when he's incognito as the Detective/Serizawa. He's terminally ill with lung cancer.
- Despite his professed contempt for dreams and the people who pass them on, his ultimate goal is to do exactly that, giving Aizawa all his power and influence so that Kurosawa can die thinking it was all worth something.
Jerkass: He's prone to making light of the suffering of others even as the "Osakan Detective" and he admits to hating most of his own underlings. In the finale, he forces Majima and Saejima to fight each other to the death for his own sick amusement and even taunts them over what he plans to do should either of them die or if they refuse to comply.
Lack of Empathy: Not only does he hate the Good Old Ways that Watase and Katsuya believe, thinking that strong men with dreams only draw in followers who are weak, but he says that since he took over as Chairman, he stopped looking at his underlings as people. Which is why he's more than willing to sacrifice many of them.
Legacy Seeker: Knowing that he was soon to expire from his terminal cancer, his ultimate goal was to conquer the nation's criminal underworld entirely and leave it to his son, desperately believing a lasting legacy like that would give some meaning to all the suffering he endured in his life.
Let's You and Him Fight: A preferred method of his. His ultimate plan for Kiryu, Saejima, Watase, and Katsuya was to trick them into going to war and fighting one another to the death. Then, he can swoop in and clean up any survivors. Later, he uses the threat of killing Haruka to blackmail Majima and Saejima into fighting each other to the death. Whoever wins gets imprisoned for life and with the guilt of having killed their own Oath Brother.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Turns out he's Masato Aizawa's father. Everything he does in the game is to give him a giant Yakuza empire as a legacy.
Madden Into Misanthropy: During his last speech on-screen, he laments the horrible life he's lived as a yakuza and how much he grew to hate other yakuza when the only people around him only seemed to be needlessly cruel or unbearably stupid including his so-called superiors. He claims that he was even forced to literally eat shit at one point because of his boss.
The Man Behind the Man: For Aoyama, Morinaga, Watase, Kugihara, Baba, Kanai, Katsuya, Fujita, and Aizawa. Being the Chairman of the largest Yakuza Clan in Japan has its perks.
Manipulative Bastard: Plays most of the heroes AND villains like puppets for most of the game.
Mortality Phobia: Describes the discovery that he had terminal lung cancer as the very first time in his life that he ever panicked. Much of his sudden desperation to secure complete control over the country's criminal underworld can be chalked down to his desire to leave some sort of lasting impact and legacy after his death by then bequeathing such an empire to his son, Aizawa.
Non-Action Big Bad: He is behind all of the game's events and orchestrates the most Machiavellian plot in the series, but is never properly fought due to his advanced illness.
Pyrrhic Victory: Views his ascendance through the Omi Alliance as this. He went through tremendous hardship and betrayed numerous people to get to the top, and at the end, all he had was the chairmanship and hatred for all the Yakuza under his control.
Psychotic Smirk: His favorite expression. Most notable example is when he flashes it after walking away from telling Kiryu of Majima's death.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Implied to have been a powerful fighter in his prime. He confronts Watase, Katsuya, Saejima and Kiryu on a neighboring building's rooftop while armed. Daigo surmises from this that Kurosawa really was sick, as the old him would never have done it this way and would've killed them with his own hands himself.
The Resenter: Despises noble, idealistic yakuza who think they can get away with ruling through charisma rather than "fighting dirty". Thus, he targets Watase and Katsuya despite the two of them being loyal competent yakuza.
Sadist: Forces two of the largest pillars of the Tojo Clan, Majima and Saejima to fight to the death through blackmail and a Sadistic Choice. He could have easily had the two put to death once they were within his grasp and unable to retaliate but insisted on this death battle all with a smug smile on his face, even telling Majima to "start the show".
Secretly Dying: He's dying from lung cancer.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Despite being a veteran Yakuza, Kurosawa embodies the mindset of the newer breed of Yakuza who prioritised money and power over honour and loyalty. His main goal is to weed out all the Yakuza who held on to such beliefs. During the Finale, he lambasts Kiryu, Majima, Saejima and Watase's idealistic mindsets with a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech directed to them, before trying to assassinate Watase himself.
Smug Snake: Even when he's forced to surrender, he thinks he's still won as long as Aizawa is given both Omi and Tojo clans on a platter.
The Sociopath: He doesn't seem to see people as much more than tools to be manipulated and discarded as he sees fit. In fact, he hates pretty much all of his underlings, considering them to be a bunch of idiots. He's also prone to cruel jokes and taunting his enemies or forcing them into horrible situations for his own amusement even when it doesn't seem to actually help his grand schemes. Admittedly he does seem to show care for his son Aizawa in trying to bequeath to him a criminal empire spanning the nation. That said, it's more to do with trying to leave behind some sort of lasting legacy after he dies than what Aizawa actually wants. Not to mention Aizawa himself clearly doesn't respect him and actively seems to dislike his plans as well.
Villain Ball: His plans involve conquering the criminal underworld primarily through the deaths of his greatest enemies. For the those he despises most, he specifically manipulates them into coming into conflict with one another so he can then swoop in finish them off himself. By the end, he has multiple opportunities to take down the heroes but he insists on trying to break their spirits or further putting them into cruel scenarios for nothing more than his own amusement. Majima and Saejima in particular are at his mercy but he instead uses Haruka's life to blackmail the two into fighting one another to the death. By the time, they decided that they're done fighting each another, Haruka has already been rescued. Before he can finally put them down himself, Daigo and Katsuya arrive to disarm him and gun down all his mooks, leaving him utterly defeated.
Walking Spoiler: His identity his only revealed during the last part of the game. He's masquerading as the Osaka Detective, Kazuhiko Serizawa.
Worf Had the Flu: According to Daigo, if he was healthy he wouldn't have tried to have an injured Kiryu, Saejima, Watase, and Katsuya on a separate building from him as he picked them off one by one with a handgun as it's apparently not his style. He would have at least been on the same building as them and try to kill them with his bare hands. That's how Daigo knew that Kurosawa must truly have some sort of illness or condition holding him back.
Would Hurt a Child: When he fails to have Kiryu, Saejima, Watase and Katsuya killed, he threatens to have Haruka shot and killed during the DREAM-LINE concert. He also uses this as leverage to have Saejima and Majima fight to the death.
You Are Too Late: With his assassin Baba taken care of by Shinada, and all of his men disposed by Daigo Dojima leaving him cornered and surrounded by all of his enemies, he simply laughs and tells Daigo that he's too late. Later we learn that he was talking about Kiryu arriving too late to stop Aizawa from wiping out all the Tojo Clan yakuza stationed there including several high-ranking officers. While this doesn't exactly mean much at the time since presumably Kurosawa and Aizawa are arrested after the game ends, the culling of so many Tojo Clan elites would pave the way for the rise of the next batch of major antagonists in the very next game.

Characters / Yakuza 5

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New Playable Character

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa

The Tojo Clan

Voiced by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto

Yamagasa Family

Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

Nagasugai Residents

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (Japanese), William Salyers (English)

Voiced by: Nana Katase

Voiced by: Shin'nosuke Hirasawa

Police

Voiced by: Eiji Okuda

Abashiri Prison

Voiced by: Shunsuke Daitou

Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Kono

Voiced by: Hirohiko Kakegawa

Voiced by: Takuya Kirimoto

Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna

Hunter Village

Voiced by: Hideyuki Hori

Tsukimino Residents

Voiced by: Kōzō Shioya

Dyna Chair

Voiced by: Romi Park

Voiced by: Masaya Takatsuka

Voiced by: Yuko Nagashima

Voiced by: Ryota Takeuchi

Voiced by: Masato Obara

Osaka Talents

Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi (Mai Sanada), Ai Nonaka (Azusa Osawa)

Voiced by: Shinichi Yamada

Voiced by: Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Kineicho Locals

Voiced by: Show Aikawa

Voiced by: Tetsuo Sakaguchi

Voiced by: Maiko Toda

Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu

Voiced by: Daisuke Egawa

Voiced by: Takahiro Fujimoto

Baseball Players

Voiced by: Keiji Hirai

Voiced by: Junpei Morita

Voiced by: Kunihiko Yasui

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama

Omi Alliance

Voiced by: Rintarou Nishi (Japanese), James C. Burns (English)

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa

Voiced by: Eiji Okuda

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