History Characters / Yakuza4

''Characters/Yakuza1'' | ''Characters/Yakuza2'' | ''Characters/Yakuza3'' | '''''Yakuza 4''''' | ''Characters/Yakuza5'' | ''Characters/LikeADragonIshin'' | ''Characters/Yakuza0'' ([[Characters/Yakuza0DojimaLieutenants Dojima Lieutenants]] | [[Characters/Yakuza0KamurochoResidents Kamurocho Residents]] | [[Characters/Yakuza0SotenboriResidents Sotenbori Residents]]) | ''Characters/Yakuza6'' | ''Characters/YakuzaLikeADragon'' ([[Characters/YakuzaLikeADragonTheHeroesOfTomorrow The Heroes of Tomorrow]])\\

-->''"It's just like you told me, Saejima-san. You only get one shot in this line of work. And my time is now. Never felt so sure of anything."''

* AlmightyJanitor: Not really much more than a foot soldier working under a bottom-rung family in the Tojo Clan. [[spoiler:...And yet he's a veritable OneManArmy in his own right, with stats on par with the chairman Daigo Dojima, and the fighting ability to be Saejima's FinalBoss. Deconstructed as it's shown multiple times that he's clearly frustated with how low he is in the hierarchy of the Tojo Clan despite his physical prowess. [[AmbitionIsEvil It drives him to start]] betraying his friends and allies when the opportunity presents itself.]]

* AnimalMotif: Foxes. He wears a kitsune jacket [[spoiler:to show his shifty nature, as well as to show he's strong enough to keep up with Saejima in the final battle.]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Has yet to make another appearance since his introduction in ''4''.

* EasilyForgiven:[[spoiler:BossFight aside, Saejima goes pretty easy on him considering how his betrayal of revealing Saejima's location to Katsuragi was what led to the death of Saejima's beloved sister Yasuko. Then again, Saejima does seem to acknowledge that Kido's spurred to do all this primarily [[NiceJobBreakingItHero because of Saejima's own advice to him earlier.]]]]

* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:He's comparable to Akira Nishikiyama from the first game, as he has slicked back shoulder-length hair, betrays most of his allies for the sake of power and status, and even starts wearing a white suit when it becomes clear how treacherous he is. However, he's not nearly as murderous as Nishiki, nor does he ever manage to achieve the sort of notoriety that Nishiki does. The one time Kido tries to kill someone is [[AssholeVictim Isao Katsuragi]] and it doesn't even take since Katsuragi was wearing a bulletproof vest. Kido also aligns himself with the sympathetic [[AntiVillain Daigo Dojima]] to achieve his ambitions, unlike Nishiki whose final ally is, well... [[HateSink Kyohei Jingu.]] The tone of their FinalBoss battles also contrast greatly. Kiryu and Nishiki have a long and storied history of friendship and brotherhood that has turned into the bitterest of rivalries, resulting in their highly emotional and brutal final showdown. Saejima and Kido, on the other hand, don't know each other that well, having only met each other recently. Part of the reason Kido turned to treachery was due to Saejima encouraging him to fight for his goals without regrets, and Saejima in the end doesn't fault him for his ambitions and simply chooses to test his resolve with his own bare hands, to which Kido eagerly accepts.]]

* VillainInAWhiteSuit: [[spoiler:[[EvilCostumeSwitch Switches]] to a crisp white suit over a purple shirt when he reveals how he's betrayed Saejima and is seemingly in league with Katsuragi. He's no longer wearing it during the finale, where it's revealed that he's working for the much less villainous Daigo.]]

* AffablyEvil: Generally a rather polite and pleasant guy. [[spoiler:Even after it's revealed that he's spying for other characters and partaking in some nasty plans, he doesn't drop the polite demeanor and he comes to respect all the heroes by the end of the game.]]

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:With Katsuragi's men after her, Kiryu informs her of her FatalFlaw and tells her to stay put in New Serena while he goes on the streets to find her brother for her. He comes back shortly after to find that she ran off anyway, and she is shortly captured by Katsuragi's men. Granted, she went along with Akiyama and Tanimura but still separated from them, not knowing that Saejima's location has been compromised. She doesn't live much longer after that]].

* BreakTheCutie: Happened long before the game even started. She takes it better than most, but there's still something a little off about her, especially when you see how she used to act in a flashback.

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:With Katsuragi's men after her, Kiryu informs her of her FatalFlaw and tells her to stay put in New Serena while he goes on the streets to find her brother for her. He comes back shortly after to find that she ran off anyway, and she is shortly captured by Katsuragi's men. Granted, she went along with Akiyama and Tanimura but still separated from them. She doesn't live much longer after that]].
* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:She's the step-sister of Taiga Saejima.]]

These are the characters that debuted in the [[VideoGame/{{Yakuza 4}} fourth game]] of Sega's long-running ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' series.

See the [[Characters/{{Yakuza}} main series character page here.]]

These are the characters that debuted in the [[VideoGame/{{Yakuza 4}} fourth game]] of Sega's long-running ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series.

For Haruka Sawamura, see her entry on the [[Characters/{{Yakuza}} Character Index page]].

See the [[Characters/{{Yakuza}} main series character page here.]]

* TheBrute: Generally treated as nothing more than a typical punk despite the implication that he's much stronger than he looks. He's well aware of this and is even implied to invoke BossInMookClothing based on the way he talks about himself and how Akiyama describes him late in the game. [[spoiler:By the time of the finale, he completely lacks the [[VisionaryVillain loftier]] [[WellIntentionedExtremis intentions]] of the other FinalBoss characters and his support of Daigo seems to be primarily to [[AmbitionIsEvil increase his own standing in the Tojo Clan hierarchy.]] He also boasts the most [[GoodOldFisticuffs brutish fighting style]] of the FinalBoss fight characters and is facing off against [[TheBigGuy Taiga Saejima.]]]]

* HiddenDepths: She's a martial arts expert with the singing voice of an ''angel''. Having Creator/AyaHirano (aka LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya) as her VA helps.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Captain of Kanemura Enterprises and strong enough to be Akiyama's FinalBoss. Considering how he's merely the captain, rather than the patriarch, and its merely a Tojo Clan 3rd-tier subsidiary under the Shibata Family, [[AlmightyJanitor he's actually pretty underranked]] for a guy that Akiyama believes to be on par with Kiryu.

-->"I get it. I look like your run-of-the-mill punk. So everyone think I'm some kind of pussy. But come on. Some little shit [[TheDragon working directly]] [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking under Arai-aniki?]] Well that'd never happen."

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: PlayedWith. He's strong enough to be a boss fight against the likes of Akiyama, with his QuickTimeEvent having him lift Akiyama off his feet and trying to chuck the man against a wall, but the cutscene after his defeat clearly shows that he's outmatched, with Akiyama barely breaking a sweat in dealing with him. While he's later revealed to be Captain of the Ueno Seiwa Clan, with Katsuragi even claiming him to be equal in significance to the likes of the Tojo Clan's Goro Majima, Ihara was literally promoted the day Akiyama met him. [[spoiler:The reality is that the "death of such an important member of the Ueno Seiwa Clan" was planned for in advance to be able to coerce the Tojo Clan into handing over control of the highly lucrative Kamurocho Hills project to Katsuragi.]]

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: While he ends up losing to Akiyama and Saejima, they both comment on how tough the lieutenant is.

* WolfpackBoss: While he's mostly a FlunkyBoss, the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Bodyguard Captain]] and [[BossInMookClothing two Elite Bodyguards]] who try to personally defend him are tough enough to qualify as boss fights on their own right, and they all have to be taken down before the fight is considered over.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shun_akiyama_in_yakuza_5_render_by_yukizm_7.png]] [[caption-width-right:325:Akiyama as he appears in ''VideoGame/Yakuza5''.]]

-->''"[[ShamingTheMob Which one of you lunatics said killing a guy's no big deal?! Was it you? Or you? Ya sit up there chantin' "kill, kill, kill." But how many of ya have taken a life with your own two hands!?]]"''

New playable character number two debuting in ''Yakuza 4''. An ex-yakuza who infamously gunned down 18 yakuza in a noodle shop, and has spent 25 years in death row. After he learns he was set up, he breaks out of prison and returns to Kamurocho to find out what happened to his old family and why he was abandoned on that fateful night before the police catch up to him again. [[spoiler: He was set up to take the fall by Katsuragi of the Ueno Seiwa clan, who was the real killer.]] He is the oldest and strongest of the four protagonists, and by the game's end, he's brought back into the Tojo Clan and made the boss of the Saejima Family.\\\

-->''"[[CowboyCop I've got my own brand of justice!]]"''

[[caption-width-right:325:Click[[labelnote:here]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tanimura.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see the old version.]]

The last of the new playable characters who only appears in ''Yakuza 4''. A corrupt cop called "The Parasite of Kamurocho." He takes bribes, tickets anyone who looks at him funny, and ignores his beat to go gambling, drinking, and visiting hostesses. The death of his father at the hands of the Tojo family has left him with a venomous hatred of yakuza. Despite his flaws, he does genuinely care about the people of Kamurocho.

* AmbiguousSituation: In the aftermath of Little Asia burning down and being renovated in ''6'' by the Saio Triad, it's uncertain whatever happened to Tanimura and his adoptive family living there in a Chinese Restaurant.
* AntiHero: Has a very lackadaisical approach to enforcing the law, often gambling viciously while on the job, is prone to as much excessive violence as any other Yakuza protagonist, and is a DirtyCop who extorts and accepts bribes from places hiring illegal immigrants. That said, his heart's still in the right place as he uses those ill-gotten gains primarily to support the community of poor immigrants in Little Asia, particularly the children separated from their parents due to deportation.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Downplayed but as a Yakua protagonist, he's relatively more open about how [[OneManArmy good of a fighter]] he is and he can get pretty smug about it while also being surprisingly undisciplined and apathetic about using his skills for good. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Admittedly he does still try to do good anyway.]] [[AntiHero Most of the time.]]
* BattleStrip: He and Akiyama are the aversions among the male playable cast. Then again, it's not like he's yakuza.
* BigBrotherMentor: Plays this role to the immigrant children in his neighborhood.
* {{Bishonen}}: Several characters remark on how pretty he is. A couple of guys even capitalize on it to pick up some girls. Very downplayed with his redesigned appearance, who's retained some of the same soft facial features but is overall older-looking and more masculine especially with the addition of facial hair. Even his voice sounds deeper, rougher, and more masculine and hot-blooded than it did before particularly during combat.

* BossRush: PlayedWith. He technically doesn't get many actual boss fights against important named characters like the other protagonists but in turn has multiple "Long Battle" sequences against hordes of mooks with a number of them being mini-boss strength if not stronger. This is most noticeable if you engage in his post-game Ultimate Match BossRush in which two of the three "bosses" he fights are just combat encounter taken from major portions of said Long Battles in which he's up against a mob of throw-away goons with one or two of them having health equal to that of boss fights. [[spoiler:This also applies to his FinalBoss encounter against [[WolfpackBoss Munakata.]]]]
* ButNotTooForeign: [[spoiler: His biological mother is a Thai woman.]]
* CelibateHero: Much like Saejima and Kiryu, there's no romantic relationship angle to his character arc in the main story of ''4''. In a couple substories he only pretends to show interest in women for the sake of helping others. While he can go to hostess clubs like other protagonists, one conversation has him claim that it's mainly because talking to the pretty girls there works as stress relief and helps him relax and wind down rather than any sort of romantic or sexual desire. Of course [[CovertPervert that doesn't stop him from]] [[MaleGaze checking out out a woman]] to build his Heat Gauge while playing ping pong at the Hot Spring.
* ChekhovsGunman: Pops up early on in ''Yakuza 4'' at the tail-end of Akiyama's introduction chapter, gives a haphazard assessment of Ihara's murder, casually warns Akiyama about how brutal the cops of Kamurocho, Tokyo can be, and then walks away. He doesn't make another appearance until much later more than halfway through the game where he becomes the third playable protagonist.
* {{Combos}}: Perhaps his most powerful tool unique to him in ''4'' is his "Essence of Combos" series of heat actions. Getting this upgrade gives him access to 5 different new heat actions that can be used after every single combo finisher making it immensely simple for him to deal heavy damage. Every one of them except "Essence of Combos V" - which requires the "Increase Rush Combos" upgrade for the extra combo finisher - can even be developed even further for extra damage if you repeat their usage enough times.

* CowboyCop: If his page quote above didn't clue you in, he's not above straying from standard police procedure to get answers.

* CutSceneIncompetence: During his confrontation with Katsuragi, he manages to get restrained by two nameless mooks despite having already proven himself as a OneManArmy while rescuing Yasuko from Shibata and then continuing to show such prowess in the immediate next gameplay segment after the cutscene. Hell, he can learn "Release Throw" from his training with Nair that allows him to immediately throw off enemies grabbing him.
* DeadpanSnarker: Less snark than Akiyama but it's there and it's generally more acerbic in comparison.
* DegradedBoss: A bizarre example. He's a playable character in ''4'' foremost but he still serves as part of a DualBoss with Akiyama during Kiryu's part of the story in said game. Later on he's absent in ''5'', but mooks and minibosses [[MovesetClone sharing his fighting animations and some of his combos]] appear uncommonly throughout the course of the story. Thankfully none of them have his unique parry.
* DifficultButAwesome: He starts off feeling about as slow as [[MightyGlacier Saejima]] if not moreso but with the smallest health bar in the playable cast. His only specialties are his parry block and being able to put enemies in an armbar when grappling. Getting used to parrying, along with upgrades to make them easier as well as build heat, along with his unique "Essence of Combos" can make him practically untouchable while dishing out tons of damage. His armbar grapple's also decent for dealing crowd control damage on top of having invinvibility frames and building heat quickly.
* DirtyCop: He occasionally demands bribes in return for providing info if the police would start a raid on places where illegal immigrants are working. He even has a reputation as the 'Parasite of Kamurocho' for his habits.
* TheDreaded: Downplayed but he does Seems to have built up an image for himself in terms of how violent he can get with people who get on his bad side. His superior officer Hisai makes it a point to not tell him who snitched on his gambling on the job pointing out how he can't imagine what Tanimura would do to the man if he knew. When he starts questioning some Mahjong players about the snitch, they make it a point to mention how they would never snitch on Tanimura themselves since they know how badly he'd beat them up in return.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Casually dropping in on a crime scene, handling a corpse without gloves and warning Akiyama to run before Sugiuchi interrogates him. When he's seen next he's being lectured by Sugiuchi on his prior behavior but he doesn't care and is too busy listening to horse races to pay attention. Upon realizing that someone snitched on him gambling on the job, his immediate first goal as a protagonist is to hunt down the man who snitched on him, giving thinly veiled threats to anysone suspicious and finally serving an asskicking once he locates the man responsible "Mr. Try-And-Hit-Me". He then extorts a guy hiring illegal immigrants for work but shortly after gives said money away to the Asian Gateway. Tanimura's every bit the lazy, violent, CorruptCop he's accused of being but we also see that he has his reasons and still has a sense of justice despite his unorthodox behavior.
* FairCop: He's a policeman and he's also considered very pretty. Downplayed in the [=PS4=] remaster which gives him a more rugged look.

* FiveTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine

* GenerationXerox: His father was a police detective for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He would later become one as well quite some time after his father was killed in the late '80s.
** [[spoiler:Even his biological father was a former police detective who would later profit off of illegal activity for making him even more similar to Tanimura.]]
* GlassCannon: Hits like a truck (especially after he gains the ability to chain his combo finishers directly into Heat Moves), but can't take a hit to save his life. Downplayed at higher levels. While he has the least health of all the player characters he has almost as much health as Akiyama.
* TheGrappler: [[DownplayedTrope He's not strictly one,]] but compared to other characters, it's a fairly effective way to play as him. One of his unique characteristic is his Arm Grab technique in which he restrains an enemy by their arm if you press grapple button again on an enemy he's already grabbing. While he can deal light damage (with an upgrade) or a single heavy blow that ends the grapple like any other character's grapple, it's most useful to toss the enemy away with his Arm Grab technique. Not only is it treated as an InvulnerableAttack, clever usage of the prolonged animation in which he drags the enemy to-and-fro by the arm and what direction he's facing in the midst of it can allow him to [[HerdHittingAttack knock away and clear out enemies crowding around him with ease.]] [[spoiler:It's almost a necessity to use this tactic during his FinalBoss [[FlunkyBoss fight.]]]]
** A certain revelation also lets him use the "Essence of Ball and Chain" heat action while using Arm Grab which allows him to flip enemies using their own momentum against them. Developing this heat action through repetition has him kick enemies while they're being flipped for extra damage.
* GunsAreWorthless: Tanimura carries a revolver, apparently for no other reason than to [[IShallTauntYou shoot it into the air every now and then.]]
** Justified in that the police aren't supposed to use deadly force unless absolutely necessary. [[spoiler: And he does use the gun when chasing down Sugiuchi.]]

* HeroicBastard: [[spoiler:The circumstances surrounding his conception between his father who's been covertly profitting off of an illegal prostitution ring and his illegal immigrant prostitute mother make it highly unlikely his parents ever actually got married. All we know for sure is that his father died to ensure that the newly born Masayoshi Tanimura was safe and that his mother escaped the prostitution ring for her home country of Thailand.]]
* AHeroToHisHometown: Everyone living in Little Asia appreciates his efforts to support the immigrant community and those who've been seperated from family members with the Asia Gateway funds. Outside of that part of town, he's got a far shakier reputation.
** HeroWithBadPublicity: He's become infamous for his gambling habits and extorting money and taking bribes from all sorts of seedy businesses around town. It's to the point where he's been called "The Parasite of Kamurocho" for being the most openly corrupt cop in town, leeching off of the work of Kamurocho's dark underbelly. This even culminates in a substory where a group of vigilantes gang up on him for being such a blatant DirtyCop. It's ultimately downplayed since his efforts can still attract the gratitude and support of several people throughout town like any other ''Yakuza'' protagonist.
-->'''Akaishi''': Working in the area has made me really knowledgeable about the local police. And boy, have I heard a lot about you!
-->'''Tanimura''': [[DeadpanSnarker I'm almost certain]] [[DirtyCop it's nothing good.]]
* ImprovisedWeapon: When Katsuragi sics his men on him, he's still carrying around the briefcase full of Lily's 100 million yen so he spends most of the following combat sequence slamming that metal briefcase into the faces of Ueno goons until it briefly gets stolen.
* InformedAttractiveness: While he’s definitely not ''bad'' looking by any means, in the [=PS4=] remaster he was redesigned to look older with noticeable facial hair rather than his previous {{Bishonen}} appearance. However, dialogue from NPC’s still refer to him as a handsome PrettyBoy and various women comment on his looks appreciatively as if he still had his old design. One NPC even states that he looks like he should be a host or a boy band member. To his credit, there's plenty of more masculine-looking Hosts throughout the series and Tanimura's still arguably more babyfaced than a host like Yuya.

* InTheBlood: [[spoiler:One of his last substories heavily implies his real biological father is Yusuke Kaga, referred to simply as K in the notebook of his foster father, Taigi Tanimura. He was a former detective and partner to Taigi turned coffee shop owner. However while he had a tendency to help the prostitutes around Kamurocho and support them, he was also apparently profitting off of an illegal prostitution smuggling ring that was exploting them not too dissimilar to what Tanimura's been doing to several seedier businesses around town. Still he personally named his son Masayoshi because he wanted him to be a better man than he was and he gave his life to protect the lives of the prostitute he fell in love with and her child so he wasn't completely corrupt either.]]

* KnightInSourArmor: Well aware that the police department is full of shady people himself included and he doesn't seem to be all that interested in actually doing his job but he'll still do it and is a selfless person at the end of the day.

* ManlyTears: [[spoiler:After beating down Suguichi who affirms that he was indeed the one who killed Tanimura's father, he starts crying while angrily demanding how an honest cop could betray the trust of his partner like that.]]
* MeaningfulName: "Masayoshi" means "justice" in Japanese.
* MrViceGuy: He comes across as the greediest protagonist gladly taking bribes and being a vicious gambler, but almost all of his dirty money goes on to support immigrant orphans.

* MusclesAreMeaningless: He's one of the lankier playable protagonists in the series to engage in physical combat with a stalker in one substory calling him skinny. While his jacket obscures his build somewhat, you can see more of how lean he is if you take him to the Hot Springs and play Table Tennis. This even seems to be supported by his claims that he prefers to rely more on using his enemy's strength against them rather than his own. That said, he doesn't have issues performing heat moves that are dependent on brute strength like throwing a thug bodily off of a roof or swinging a goon horizontally into a lampost by the neck.
* NervesOfSteel: Always calm and composed without being emotionless. Whether it's facing off against armed crooks or playing RussianRoulette, he always keeps his cool. This also seems to affect the way he is when he fights with even his [[{{Kiai}} combat vocalizations]] being fairly low-key compared to the other playable characters. Downplayed with his new voice actor in the remaster who retains the subdued tone in most cutscenes but tends to be louder and far more hot-blooded in certain others and especially in the heat of combat compared to how he used to sound.
** Averted in a single instance in ''4'' during his first Long Battle sequence at the nearby docks. When he finds himself in a narrow passageway filled with oil as a man from atop a shipping container tosses a cigarette lighter into the vicinity, [[OhCrap he visibly panics]] slipping on the slick oily ground in the process as he tries to escape from the sudden rush of flames.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's around 30, but looks 18. Less so with his redesign, which has a small but visible goatee.
* {{Omniglot}}: Tanimura knows just about every language you'd hear in Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Thai and Tagalog. Part of his introduction to Nair and her training is that he overheard her speaking in Tagalog to a cop that didn't understand a lick of it, owing to Nair's unfamiliarity with Japanese. Because of this, when the police department has to deal with foreign cops like her, they'd usually assign Tanimura as their interpretor.
** Justified since he appears to spend the majority of his time around non-Japanese speakers in Little Asia, and [[spoiler:being half-Thai on his mother's side.]]

* OvershadowedByAwesome: In a similar fashion to Akiyama. He's capable of [[OneManArmy fighting his way through entire hordes of vicious thugs]] with nothing but his bare fists and a steel briefcase in one instance. Yet the one time he teams up with the aforementioned moneylender to take down Kiryu, the two of them get their asses handed to them while Kiryu's barely winded.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Being a DirtyCop who abuses their authority to extort money from people isn't righteous by any means but he only ever really targets business owners who are implied to be abusing and exploiting illegal immigrant employees with nowhere left to go. He makes it a point to tell them to treat their workers better lest he remind them how hiring illegal immigrants in the first place gives him the right to have the cops raid their businesses.

* PutOnABus: Unlike the other new playable characters Tanimura hasn't made any onscreen appearances outside of 4. He isn't forgotten entirely as other characters mention him in passing, but it's unlikely he will ever return, since his original voice actor retired from acting entirely in 2016 after being embittered from false allegations of using cocaine.
** He was recast and redesigned for the remaster, giving hope it is ''possible'' he may return to the series... So far his only other appearance in the series is as a card in ''Ryu ga Gotoku Online'' with artwork depicting his redesign in said remaster.

* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Saejima's red.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: At the end of his chapter in ''Yakuza 4'', Tanimura exacts revenge on [[spoiler:Sugiuchi]] for what he did to [[spoiler:his father]].

* SchrodingersGun: An example involving an actual gun, no less. One of his sidestories has him playing a game of RussianRoulette with an old man with ¥3,000,000 on the line, with the player being prompted to pull the trigger either fearlessly, listlessly or nervously twice during the event. Tanimura wins the game if he pulls the trigger fearlessly then listlessly, going off on a hunch that the revolver was loaded with a blank -- which the old man promptly disproves after paying him the three mil by firing it into the ceiling. On any other combination of choices, though, the bullet really ''is'' blank, much to Tanimura's confusion.

* ShutUpGunshot: His taunt has him firing his revolver into the air to intimidate aggressive thugs. Sometimes it's effective but other times it's about as effective as any other taunt, filling your heat meter if you happen to have gotten the upgrade for it. [[spoiler:Isn't used in his and Akiyama's fight against Kiryu, due to having given the gun to Yasuko for self-defense beforehand. Instead he does a more [[BringIt traditional taunt.]]]]

* SmugSmiler: Downplayed. He's a pretty cocky guy and has a smug smirk on his face by default but he's a lot better about taking tense situations seriously compared to [[PerpetualSmiler Akiyama,]] dropping into a frown pretty often.
* SpottingTheThread: [[spoiler:He states that he always knew something was off about Sugiuchi despite being seen as a hero by many including himself. While it began as a gut feeling, he started to notice his expensive looking shoes and watch that didn't seem like the sort of luxuries a homocide detective in Tokyo could afford while also noting how impractical fancy shoes would be when you're dealing with the sites of murder all the time. However, he never suspected that he was actually an Ueno Seiwa Yakuza the entire time he was on the force.]]
* StandardCopBackstory: Never knew his real parents and his foster father was a cop who got murdered when he was only 3 years old. All he had left of his adoptive father was his detective notebook later inspiring him to become a police officer himself. He was also raised in an impoverished part of town known as Little Asia full of foreign families struggling to live in a discriminatory society as well as immigrant children seperated from their parents usually due to deportation. His experiences would push him to abuse his authority in order to extort certain illegal businesses for money as well as gambling incessantly on the job. All these ill-gotten gains would be used almost exclusively for supporting those living in Little Asia.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:During one of his last substories, when Tanimura finally arrests the politician who ordered the hit on his biological father Yusuke Kaga, he remarks that Tanimura is the spitting image of him.]]
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Younger looking and considered one of the more handsome members of the playable cast in ''4'' while garbed in a dark blue jacket and black slacks. Although he's a bit on the [[MusclesAreMeaningless smaller side]] compared to the other playable characters, he still clearly towers over much of the population of Kamurocho including most of the goons that he regularly runs into and beats down.
* TroubledButCute: A {{Bishonen}} with all sorts of issues involving his foster father and the environment he was raised in. Perhaps less so in the [=PS4=] remaster where he looks older and tougher looking as noted above.
* WeakButSkilled: Has the lowest health of all four characters, but he can counter any strike thrown at him and has powerful grappling moves. One Substory character wonders if he knows UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}} but it's more likely he practices Taiho-Jitsu, a standard Japanese Police martial arts with influences from Aikido and Jiu-Jitsu. However, the way he describes his style when speaking to his training partner Nair implies that he doesn't follow an actual style and learned how to fight defensively on the streets.

First introduced in Akiyama's chapter, she approaches him asking to borrow an astronomical amount of money. A mysterious and beautiful woman who much of the plot revolves around. [[spoiler: She's Taiga Saejima's younger stepsister who has gone through hell as Katsuragi's pet assassin to see her brother one last time before his intended execution. She was also sought out by Tanimura for the last 25 years, believing she was the last person who saw his father alive]].

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: She takes a bullet for Taiga in the climax, and since he never actually killed anyone and his hands were free of blood, she makes one last stand to kill Katsuragi herself since she had already gone off the deep end and killed many others at this point]].
* BigBrotherWorship: [[spoiler: To her stepbrother Saejima, to the point where she visited the prison where he was being held every day for 25 years, and was willing to take out a loan of ''100 million yen'' and kill members of the Shibata family in order to have a chance at freeing him/seeing him again]]. See IOweYouMyLife below.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: To be precise, in her brother's]].
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: After she's shot by Katsuragi, she stands defiant against him to let him know he's no longer in control of her, which suddenly triggers his VillainousBreakdown. He's left desperately pleading for his life before she ends it]].

* FatalFlaw: She's told that she lets her raw emotions get the better of her, causing her to make poor choices and irrational decisions. [[spoiler: Naturally, after Kiryu tells her this, this is the reason she's captured shortly afterward]].
* FauxActionGirl: Despite being revealed as [[spoiler: an assassin for Katsuragi after killing members of the Shibata family]], she's a very demure woman who's constantly on the run and need of protection. [[spoiler: She gets herself captured at the end in spite of Kiryu's advice, and aside from killing Katsuragi herself, anything that shows she's a dangerous person [[OffstageVillainy happens entirely off-screen]]]].
** [[spoiler:Somewhat justified by the fact that as far as we can tell, all of the kills we can confirmed she performed were done on men who [[HoneyTrap she had seduced into letting their guards down completely]] based on the way that they're all in their underwear and how Kanemura has lipstick marks on him. Just because she's good at killing people once they're at their most vulnerable doesn't mean she has any sort of practical self-defence skills.]]
* FemmeFatale: She plays up this angle to [[spoiler: murder Katsuragi's targets]]. Countless characters also comment on her beauty.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that she's been killing Shibata's men by seducing them into completely letting their guard down before stabbing them in the back of the neck based on how Kanemura's corpse was shirtless and covered in lipstick marks. Same goes for the owner of the Marimba bar who's corpse is in his underwear.]]

* IOweYouMyLife: This is the reason why she's so desperate to find [[spoiler: her brother Taiga. She needed a kidney transplant when she was younger, and a fifteen-year old Taiga sought out her lowlife biological father, who was a yakuza and wanted 30 million yen for it. Taiga gave up his dream of being a schoolteacher and fought thugs on the streets to get the money. It was then that Sasai found him and agreed to pay it off under the condition that Taiga join his family, which ultimately saved her life]].

* LoveMakesYouEvil: Or at the very least it's led her to make several very morally questionable choices in her life. [[spoiler:She's murdered countless yakuza goons on Katsuragi's orders even though she knows that he's not a trustworthy man simply because of the slightest chance that she could be reunited with her beloved brother who she hasn't seen in 25 years since he was imprisoned for 18 counts of homocide. Lampshaded by Kiryu.]]

* MeaningfulName: White lilies are the traditional flowers used in Western funerals. [[spoiler: Does this foreshadow her status as a killer, her death at Katsuragi's hands, or both?]]
* {{MoralMyopia}}: [[spoiler:She's hesitant to help Tanimura, accusing him of only being involved in this case for selfish, personal reasons relating to his dead father instead of worrying about her. She says this even though she herself is only involved for the sake of a family member as well to such an extent that she's willing to murder countless Shibata Family affiliates under the orders of Katsuragi because he claims that he'd be willing to testify for her brother Saejima's innocence. She does change her tone upon Zhao pointing out [[NotSoDifferentRemark how similar her situation is to Tanimura]] and finally agrees to help him get justice for his father.]]
* MutualKill: [[spoiler: She's shot by Katsuragi, but she manages to shoot him dead before she bleeds out]].

* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to [[spoiler: Taiga's red]].
* SatelliteCharacter: Almost everything about her character and motives revolve around [[spoiler: her stepbrother, Saejima]].
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:Implied to be the one mentioned in the magazine Akiyama's reading at the start of the game. Considering how it's Katsuragi who's coercing her to target people with connections to the Shibata Family, she'd be more of a [[ProfessionalKiller Hitman or Assassin]] but without the monetary gain.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: For Taiga when Katsuragi tries to shoot him.]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler: With Katsuragi's men after her, Kiryu informs her of her FatalFlaw and tells her to stay put in New Serena while he goes on the streets to find her brother for her. He comes back shortly after to find that she ran off anyway, and she is shortly captured by Katsuragi's men. Granted, she went along with Akiyama and Tanimura but still separated from them. She doesn't live much longer after that]].

* ActionGirl: Another of the few female characters in the series with any sort of combat skill. She can easily take out a group of Yakuza targetting the office. Later however, more men with actual weapons including guns come in and she ends up taking a beating instead.
** You actually get to see her in action if you do the first Ultimate Skill Challenge Match where Akiyama has to defeat more thugs than her.
* BeautifulAllAlong: [[spoiler: She comes BackForTheFinale, minus dozens of pounds. Somewhat subverted since Akiyama while rather stunned by her dramatic change in appearance still ends up treating her in the same lackadaisical manner as before, even offering to buy her more food since she's gotten so skinny due to "stress". For reasons unknown, she [[StatusQuoIsGod slips back into her old body type]] by the time ''Dead Souls'' comes around, but since that game is non-canon, they were probably reusing art assets. ''Ishin!'' uses her slim version]].

* BigBeautifulWoman: She's very cute despite being on the heavier side and claiming that men don't date fatter women. When she starts to go on a severe diet as part of a substory, Akiyama tries to assure her that she's fine the way she is and he even finds someone who considers her to be physically attractive since Akiyama's worried that she's dieting due to feelings of insecurity over her physical appearance.

* TheCameo: Appears in "Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho" during a substory as occasionally appearing in ramen-making minigame as a random customer.
* CannotSpitItOut: She's clearly carrying a torch for Akiyama. Even he realizes it, but she just isn't his type, which makes it all the more painful when every other girl in Kamurocho apparently is. [[spoiler: It isn't even her weight that's the problem since even after she returns after slimming down considerably, he still doesn't seem all that interested in her romantically.]]

* FasterThanTheyLook: She can run just as fast as Akiyama, if not faster.
* FieryRedhead: Her hair is a lighter shade of brown, and is clearly the [[RedOniBlueOni red oni]] of the Sky Finance duo.
* FormerlyFat: She's a bit on the big side; when she tells Akiyama she thinks she'll be raped if she goes out on the streets alone, he finds it so unlikely he actually ''laughs'' at the thought of it.[[note]][[AdaptationalNiceGuy This line was altered in the Remastered version]] so that he instead scoffs at the idea of her being [[ActionGirl delicate and threatened by a couple of Yakuza.]][[/note]] [[spoiler:She loses all of that by the end of ''4'', but returns to it in ''Dead Souls''. ''5'' leaves it ambiguous, which isn't addressed in ''6''.]]

* MightyGlacier: Her one appearance in gameplay in the first Ultimate Skill Challange Match gives her the same fighting style as the generic heavy enemies: Heavy often sluggish hits that will easily knock thugs off their feet.
** GlassCannon: Despite her fighting ability, she gets taken out in one hit in a cutscene as mentioned above suggesting this. Later, she seems to be able to run faster than Akiyama durng a chase segment but after about a minute she's out of stamina.
* PutOnABus: She doesn't appear in ''Yakuza 6'', as Akiyama had sent back to her hometown once the Chinese mafia started looking for him.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Shun's blue.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Near the end of Akiyama's chapter in ''4'', she's fed up with how he's handling the business in regards to Lily, due to his attraction toward her. Even after he chases her down and tries to convince her to come back, she refuses to go back and leaves him. [[spoiler: She comes BackForTheFinale after having lost a lot of weight]].
* StoutStrength: At least prior to her diet. Being a physically-large woman does Hana a lot of favors when it comes to fighting, and she actually [[MovesetClone uses the same moveset of heavy enemies]] in the ''Trial Ultimate Challenge'' mode, with all of the high damage it entails.

* WeightWoe: Played with. The aforementioned "Lonely Hana" substory has her trying to lose weight while claiming that men don't date heavier women. Akiyama'a attempts to assure her that she's fine the way she is has her issue him a challenge to find a man who does in fact like fat women. While he succeeds, she then claims that she was only interested in slimming down due to a fashion magazine stating that the slim look was in that season. Apparently if the article had focused more on hair styles or clothing, she would have followed suit rather than give any care towards her own weight. The situation is ultimately resolved when she decided it wasn't worth the effort and had eaten the Kalbi Deluxe Akiyama tried to give her earlier.

Former patriarch of the Yakuza family to which Saejima once belonged. On his orders, Saejima carried out an attack on Yoshiharu Ueno, chairman of the rival Ueno Seiwa Clan. [[spoiler:However, as Saejima failed to take Ueno's life, the relationship between the two clans worsened. The Sasai family disbanded after Sasai took responsability for the incident and stepped down. By the time Saejima returns to Kamurocho, he's become homeless and senile]].

* TheCameo: He's seen for a couple of minutes after Saejima returns to Kamurocho.
** [[spoiler:It's mentioned in ''Online'' that Saejima while arrested after the events of ''5'' is able to arrange for his brief release just to meet with Sasai again to see if he's recovered any of his mental faculties in the time that's passed. Unfortunately he still doesn't seem to have recovered though to what extent he's still troubled isn't specified.]]

* MinorMajorCharacter: [[spoiler:A formerly prominent Yakuza patriarch in the Tojo Clan heavily responsible for Saejima becoming a Yakuza in the first place and apparently instilled a lot of his beliefs of a chivalrous and dutiful Yakuza upon Saejima making him the man he is today. However, his family disbands prior to the plots of any of the games and by the time he actually makes a physical appearance, he's become destitute and senile and doesn't make any further appearances.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: In the aftermath of Little Asia burning down and being renovated in ''6'' by the Saio Triad, it's uncertain whatever happened to Tanimura and his adoptive family living there in a Chinese Restaurant.
* TeamDad: For Tanimura and Mei Hua.

* AmbiguousSituation: In the aftermath of Little Asia burning down and being renovated in ''6'' by the Saio Triad, it's uncertain whatever happened to Tanimura and his adoptive family living there in a Chinese Restaurant.
* BigBrotherWorship: To Tanimura.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Ichi Fujiya (Y4-6), Tatsuhiro Kikuchi (Ryu ga Gotoku Online)

A former mercenary who's rough experiences in the Middle East taught him that anything could happen to anyone at any time. To alleviate the dangers of "peace addiction" that are afflicting Japan, he's taken to the streets of Kamurocho to give others physical training and lectures for the sake of risk management. He serves as Akiyama's training master.\\\

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Has some incredibly bizarre things to say at times but the techniques Akiyama learns from him are no joke. He also demonstrates some rather skillful and graceful unarmed techniques against Kiryu in ''6''.
* TheCameo: Appears in ''0'' in the form of a particularly pricey field agent to send out to search for equipment searches at Fei Hu's restaurant, "The Dragon and Tiger". He's referred to as a "Japanese Mercenary" and his photo depicts his [[DodgyToupee design]] in ''5''. His description comments on the [[AwesomeButImpractical ambiguous practicality of his unique combat skills.]]
** Later appears in ''Kiwami 2'' as a paid DLC employee for the Majima Construction sidequest.

* DodgyToupee: Suddenly has hair in ''5'' though a combat training session will quickly reveal the deception. It also serves as his weakness since knocking it off during training sessions will cause him to panic and focus entirely on retrieving it, leaving him completely vulnerable.

* TrainingFromHell: Probably one of the toughest training masters in the series [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration both in terms of concept, and from a gameplay standpoint.]] What other uses training master uses (non-lethal) automatic weapons and ''explosives'' as part of their regimen?

* MadeOfIron: Some of his "training" involves Saejima smashing huge rolling boulders to defend The Master while he breaks down rock walls with his pick axe since those specific walls require a technique only he knows about. Despite his frail looks, he's got 2 health bars and can survive getting hit by a lot of boulders before running out of stamina.
* TrainingFromHell: His "traning" mostly just amounts to Breaking down huge stone walls with a pick axe or defending him by beating up greedy thugs or smashing huge rolling boulders, at one point having to do both. It mostly just amounts to intense muscle training for the likes of [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Saejima]]. After every session, Saejima also always finds conveniently placed underground notebooks full of martial arts knowledge to give him new techniques and abilities.

Patriarch of a Tojo Clan affiliate family, but lacks any real power or influence. He takes an interest in Arai from Kanemura enterprises, an umbrella organization of his Shibata family. Shibata has Arai under his wing and involves him in business dealings such as his recent inspection of the Kamurocho Hills construction site. [[spoiler: 25 years ago, he was the one who prevented Majima to join Saejima for the Ueno Sewa hit.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The scene where he offers a pinky finger to Katsuragi shows him as a mild-mannered man willing to take responsibility according to Yakuza protocol. However, his later scene with Arai and [[spoiler:the flashback with Majima]] show a nastier side of him.
* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler: Shibata used the incident from 25 years ago to extort money from Katsuragi, which didn't really sit well with him.]]

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He managed to get away for his part in the Ueno Seiwa hit as well as taking away Majima's eye for over two decades. [[spoiler:Only to be betrayed and killed on orders of his former collaborator.]]
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Gets killed by Arai (under Katsuragi's orders) after the latter [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness has no more use for him]]]].
* ThePlan: [[spoiler: Collaborates with Katsuragi to stage the Yoshiharu Ueno hit Saejima pulls, in which 18 Ueno officers died. As a result, his family was promoted within the Tojo Clan after the incident, who recognized his role as a mediator who brokered a truce with the Ueno Seiwa Clan.]]

* TheUnfought: Causes a lot of grief for several major characters and Tanimura's first battle sequence seems to be leading up to at least some sort of confrontation with him. [[spoiler:Instead, he gets shot multiple times by Arai and bleeds out before Tanimura can interrogate him.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Arai kills him for this reason under Katsuragi's orders. Shibata's knowledge of the truth behind the Ueno Seiwa hit made him a liability to Katsuragi.]]
* {{Yubitsume}}: Offers his pinky finger to Katsuragi to amend for the killing of his future promising lieutenant by Arai. [[spoiler: It was a fake pinky]].

Chairman of the Hatsushiba Clan, a third-tier family in the Tojo Clan and subsidiary to the Shibata Family of which he's a lieutenant. Something of a rival to fellow Shibata lieutenant and third-tier family chairman Hiroshi Kanemura. He also runs several loansharking businesses in Kamurocho putting him at odds with Sky Finance. He has Akiyama's debtor ledger stolen on orders from Shibata.

* DirtyCoward: After his Captain gets defeated, he attempts to sneak out with Akiyama's ledger. Upon being spotted, he immediately proceeds to hand the ledger back while begging for mercy and forgiveness. Akiyama agrees but only if he tells him why he stole it in the first place.
* {{Gangbangers}}: The Hatsushiba Clan as a whole has more of this aesthetic since they wear more casual wear like jackets, jeans, tracksuits, and hoodies compared to the suits that most other Tojo Clan affiliates wear.
* ImplausibleDeniability: When confronted by Akiyama, he denies having it stolen and instead claims that Akiyama was the one who lent the ledger to him even though Kido's in the same room having been kidnapped during the theft of the ledger and the assault on Hana.

The Captain of the Hatsushiba Clan. A savage brute who leads an attack on Sky Finance while Akiyama's out of the office. Hana gets knocked out, Kido who was also there at the time gets kidnapped, and Akiyama's debtor ledger gets stolen forcing Akiyama to track them down.

* CombatPragmatist: Never attempts to fight anyone unarmed. Not even Hana. He starts off using a gun against Akiyama and when that fails, he retreats to the backroom while more Hatsushiba goons enter the room. After the flunkies are taken out, he returns with a ''chainsaw''.
** The fight immediately starts with him shooting Akiyama before any of the game's UI has even loaded in. It's ''extremely'' difficult to avoid this opening shot but thankfully it's not too damaging at all.

* DirtyCoward: Takes much less hit to defeat in the first phase with a gun and immediately runs away in a rather pathetic fashion while the rest of the Clan takes up the fight against Akiyama. He doesn't return until after finding a chainsaw because apparently a ''gun'' wasn't enough to even the odds againt a single man.

* ImmuneToFlinching: Once he grabs the chainsaw, none of Akiyama's attacks will have him react and he can't be grappled either. Thankfully he leaves himself quite open between chainsaw swings and certain heat actions will still prove effective against him.

* WouldHitAGirl: Doesn't have any problems pulling a gun on an unarmed woman as poor Hana found out. He knocks her out by smacking her hard with the butt of the gun.

Patriarch of a third tier group of the Tojo Clan. Shows little potential for advancement, and has problems collecting tribute money. He gets by with money that's borrowed from Akiyama under special loan terms that requires him to [[spoiler:retire and make Arai his successor]]. Kido discovers him stabbed to death on the night of the incident with the Ueno Seiwa Clan at Club Elnard.

* TheAce: A respected high-ranking Yakuza whom Akiyama believes to have the strength, skill, charisma, and set of morals to climb to the top of the Tojo Clan and finally bring order to Kamurocho, even comparing him to Kiryu. Sadly it's all an act and he's actually a very dangerous and duplicitous KnightTemplar.

* AntiVillain: A major antagonist who acts respectfully towards everyone and all the terrible things he does are for the sake of doing good for Kamurocho as described more below.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Captain of Kanemura Enterprises and strong enough to be Akiyama's FinalBoss. Considering how he's merely the Captain, rather the Patriarch and its merely a Tojo Clan 3rd-tier subsidiary under the Shibata Family, [[AlmightyJanitor he's actually pretty underranked]] for a guy that Akiyama believes to be on par with Kiryu.

* BlueIsHeroic: Wears a blue shirt and tie and once told Akiyama that he vows to rid Kamurocho of crime and bring peace to it. Double-subverted as his tendency towards murdering criminals at gunpoint and other rather deplorable actions doesn't stop the fact that he's still holding true to said vow making for one of the series' most benevolent main antagonists.

** RebuiltPedestal: However, once Arai undergoes a HeelFaceTurn, Akiyama gives him a smile, indicating that he forgives Arai despite all that he had done. Even prior to that, he remarks that he's glad that Arai's got good intentions but he can't let him go through with his plans if he thinks it justifies all the terrible things he's done and will do later.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: To start, he betrays Shibata and deals him a fatal blow under Katsuragi's orders. Later he has his oath-brother Kido turn on Katsuragi for him only to seemingly betray Kido as well. Turns out he's loyal to Munakata. Then he tries to kill Munakata because he crossed a line that Arai wasn't willing to. It then turns out that while he didn't kill Kido, he suspected that he was secretly treacherous in a similar manner to himself and had him survive solely to observe him report back to his true superior, Daigo. By the end, all he cares about is using Akiyama's stolen 100 billion yen to bring justice to Kamurocho apparently by first taking over the Tojo Clan. This would mean usurping the seat of Chairman from Daigo who was technically his highest-ranking superior.
* CounterAttack: Several. From a block, he usually performs a "Knockback" type counter followed up by a stunning strike. If he's knocked off his feet, he can perform the Knockdown Reversal technique to roll away before rushing back at Akiyama with a stunning gut punch. When his Heat Aura turns orange, he may hold his hands up to catch Akiyama's next attack and throw him to the ground. It's actually completely identical to Daigo Dojima's, but Arai uses it far more sparingly. Trying to grab him in this mode will also have him respond by kicking Akiyama's feet out from under him sending him to the ground.
* CruelMercy: Persuades Tanimura to spare Munakata's life, so that Munakata could be properly for his crimes in the very prisons he had built.
* TheCynic: Witnessing the constant corruption in the police force has jaded his worldview on justice. It's to the point where he comes to the conclusion that he's better off becoming a real Yakuza than continue working for the corrupt police force. However, seeing Tanimura restored some of his faith in the system.
* DarkIsEvil: Dark charcoal suit, dark blue shirt and tie and is a BigBad you shall be facing at the end of the game.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Shoots Munakata and later discards his police badge in front of Daigo and Kido to signify him turning his back on the DirtyCops in order to take control of the Tojo Clan as a full-time Yakuza. Unfortunately his KnightTemplar tendencies still make him a menace to be dealt with.
* DidntSeeThatComing: For all of his intelligence and skill in managing to stay one step ahead of all of the heroes for the entirety of the game, his attempt to take control of the situation from his boss Munakata by murdering him falls flat because he didn't anticipate Munakata handing him a pistol loaded with rubber bullets allowing Munakata him to survive the attempt at his life.

** DragonInChief: He's the guy truly in charge of Kanemura Enterprises. Might qualify as one to Munakata as well since he's the primary enforcer of his will at least until he turns on Munakata. Not to mention he can actually put up a decent fight all on his own unlike Munakata.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Visibly has second thoughts when Munakata insists that he should have taken Akiyama's stolen money when he was in a position to do so easily. He finally has enough when Munakata asks him to kidnap the children from Kiryu's orphanage to use them as leverage against him.

** He also seems to express genuine disappointment in Daigo for his dishonorable actions as described under VillainHasAPoint and WhatTheHellHero.

* {{Foil}}: To Sugiuchi. Arai is a cop who went undercover as a Yakuza member of the Tojo Clan years ago and he conducts himself in a polite, dignified manner. By the end of the game, he tries to turn his back on the DirtyCops and realize his ambitions of justice in Kamurocho by taking control of the Tojo Clan. Sugiuchi on the other hand is an Ueno Seiwa Clan Yakuza member who infiltrated the Police Department decades ago and has a rude, casual attitude. Before his death, he admits that his ambitions as a Yakuza have faded over the years and he feels more pride in his work as a Police Detective.
* GracefulLoser: He accepts his loss against Akiyama rather well as detailed below.
* TheHeavy: His murder of Ueno Seiwa Captain Masaru Ihara kickstarts a massive conflict and most of the game is spent trying to capture this guy whether it be to save him or to take him down.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Murders Shibata on the grounds that he no longer had any use for him and that his knowledge of the Ueno Seiwa Hit made him a liability to Katsuragi. However considering what Shibata did to Majima in the past and that he was currently on the verge of having his way with Yasuko's body while she's tied up not, he frankly had it coming. Shooting and betraying Munakata later would have counted too considering how he had arranged the death of a fellow officer, Taiga Tanimura adoptive father of Tanimura, and had just ordered Arai to kidnap Kiryu's children, even handing him a gun to presumably use on them if they resist. Sadly, Munakata survived that encounter since he handed Arai a gun loaded with rubber bullets.

* KnightTemplar: He follows Munakata's goal to control Japan's criminals and has no problems executing criminals at gunpoint to reach that goal. Unlike Munakata, however, his intentions are genuinely well-intentioned. By the time of the endgame, he's turned his back on Munakata and the police in order to subjugate Kamurocho using the Tojo Clan.

* LightningBruiser: Boasts the sort of strength and durability you'd expect from one of the Final Bosses of ''4'' and by mirroring the fighting style of Akiyama as detailed below, he might actually be the fastest of the bosses fought in the storyline.

* TheMole: He's actually a cop working undercover in the Tojo Clan for Munakata. Had he continued to follow Munakata's plans, he would have become the Tojo Clan's Captain while secretly acting as Munakata's Liaison.

* [[RapidFireFisticuffs Rapid-Fire Kicks]]: Similar to Akiyama, he can throw out a series of lightning-fast kicks in the blink of an eye.

* SequentialBoss: The first to be fought as part of the FinalBoss sequence of ''Yakuza 4'', followed by Takeshi Kido, Daigo Dojima and Seishiro Munakata.
* SpottingTheThread: Figures out that Kido must be working for Daigo since Kido's somehow aware of Arai's connection to Munakata despite Arai not telling him about it and no one else possibly being aware of this fact.

** NotSoStoic: His calm demeanor breaks in the finale when he reveals himself as an undercover cop to Daigo and Kido and explains how he's turned his back on the Police Force. He starts ranting about taking Munakata's life with his own two hands and how he'll bring proper justice to Kamurocho by any means necessary.

* TooCleverByHalf: He's clever enough to keep his allegiances secret from everyone, but his own moral compass ends up screwing him over. His inner conflict prevented him from getting away with the ten billion (something Munakata points out), and he later betrayed Munakata himself out of disillusionment with his boss's corrupt acts.

Member of Kanemura Enterprises. With an affable personality that lacks the affectations of a typical Yakuza, he has complete trust of his superior, Arai. He's Arai's underling and a sort-of little brother to Akiyama. He seems like a non-threatening punk and isn't a yakuza. [[spoiler:His loyalty actually lies with Daigo over Arai]].

* AmbitionIsEvil: He wavers on this, but is told by Taiga that most yakuza of his age only get "one shot" to move up the ladder, and that he should live without regrets. [[spoiler:This ultimately leads Kido to follow through on his plan of stealing one hundred billion yen from Akiyama seemingly for the sake of Katsuragi, then seemingly for Arai's sake, before it's revealed that he was actually working directly for Daigo. After all, what better way to climb up the ranks of the Tojo Clan than to answer directly to the Chairman himself?]]
* AnimalMotif: Foxes. He wears a kitsune jacket [[spoiler: to show his shifty nature as well as to show he's quite strong enough to keep up with Saejima in the final battle.]]
* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Less so than Arai but at the end of the day, he's a friendly guy who's ultimately loyal to the non-villainous Daigo and by extension the Tojo Clan even if only for the sake of furthering his career as a yakuza. Saejima also opts to not fault him for any of what he did and simply puts his ambitions to the test.]]
* AttackAttackAttack: [[spoiler: While he's certainly strong, a large part of the danger he poses in battle against the likes of [[TheBigGuy Saeijima]] is due to being the most aggressive fighter amongst the final bosses. Especially true when he goes into heat mode where he can charge up a flurry of quick powerful attacks that can't be interrupted until he's done, leaving him exhausted. Even the QuickTimeEvent during his boss fight has him constantly on the offensive until Saejima either slips up and gets knocked on his ass or breaks the assault with a counter attack.]]
* BattleStrip: [[spoiler:Rips off his jacket when facing off against Saejima, revealing an impressively muscled upper body and the fresh bandages to cover up his non-fatal gunshot wound. Just like Arai, he lacks an irezumi tattoo which isn't too surprising since he's only working for a third-tier family.]]

* TheBrute: Generally treated as nothing more than a typical punk despite the implication that he's much stronger than he looks. He's well aware of this and is even implied by to invoke BossInMookClothing intentionally at times based on the way he talks of himself and how Akiyama describes him late in the game. [[spoiler:By the time of the finale, he completely lacks the [[VisionaryVillain loftier]] [[WellIntentionedExtremis intentions]] of the other FinalBoss characters and his support of Daigo seems to be primarily to [[AmbitionIsEvil increase his own standing in the Tojo Clan hierarchy.]] He also boasts the most [[GoodOldFisticuffs brutish fighting style]] of the FinalBoss fight characters and is facing off against [[TheBigGuy Taiga Saejima.]]]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: Let's see. He seems first loyal to Arai, then he seems like he betrays Arai for Katsuragi, then at the end of the 4th chapter he reveals it was a fluke and never betrayed Arai. Arai supposedly shoots him. The last chapter reveals that he's alive and that his loyalty lies with Daigo rather than Arai after all.]]
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Has yet to make another appearance since his introduction though there's a number of possible reasons why as detailed below.
* CovertPervert: Subdued to the extent of being a mere throwaway line but when Akiyama describes to Kido a FemmeFatale and how alluring yet dangerous that sort of woman can be, Kido admits that he wouldn't complain if he ever found that sorta woman.
* TheDragon: To Arai. [[spoiler: He's actually Daigo's.]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Shot from behind by his boss Arai and can barely utter out his name in anguish before he seemingly dies. Somewhat subverted when it's revealed that not only did he survive the gunshot, he was spying on Arai for Daigo, meaning that he was the one who had betrayed Arai. The only reason he's still alive was because Arai wants him alive in order to observe him and determine who he's truly working for. Still, when Arai then reveals that he was actually an undercover cop the whole time, he's shocked and apparently genuinely didn't know or ever suspected.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Spends the first half of the story as a friend and ally to Akiyama and Saejima. [[spoiler:Around the time Kiryu enters the scene, he steals all the money from Akiyama's hidden vault despite the two being friends and greets Saejima having apparently teamed up with Katsuragi. He then goes on to shift between two different antagonistic factions before being revealed to be working under Daigo who's an AntiVillain this time around.]]
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler: Saejima's in 4.]]
* HealingFactor: [[spoiler: He'll always heal himself at least once before going down for good during his boss fight.]]
* HiddenBadass: Kido seems like kind of a wimp at first, but there are constant teases of his fighting ability throughout the game. [[spoiler: Then he goes toe-to-toe with Saejima for the finale...]]
* InkSuitActor: Identical to his voice actor except he has auburn-colored hair instead of black hair though he probably dyes it.

* LightningBruiser: [[spoiler:A resilient and aggressive fighter who can heal himself and can also consistently avoid Saejima's attacks if you try to attack him wildly. [[DownplayedTrope That said,]] his defensive abilities tend to falter in the face of tactics such as using Saejima's "Knock Back" ability when blocking Kido's combos and then using Saejima's double finishers on him when Kido's trying to block your combos.]]

* TheMole: [[spoiler:Seemingly defects to Katsuragi's side before turning on him revealing him to be a mole for Arai. In the finale, it turns out that he was Daigo's mole, sent to spy on Arai and by extension, Munakata.]]

* RedIsViolent: Seemingly subverted since he comes across as a reserved and sensible guy though one scene implies that he has the strength to beat down a decent-sized mob of Yakuza without breaking a sweat. [[spoiler:Ultimately DoubleSubverted. By the time Saejima fights him as the FinalBoss, he turns out to be a fierce, brutal fighter with a reddish BattleAura.]]
* SequentialBoss: [[spoiler: Along with Hideaki Arai, Daigo Dojima and Seishiro Munakata]].
* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:He's comparable to Akira Nishikiyama from the first game as he has slicked back shoulder-length hair, betrays most of his allies for the sake of power and status, and even starts wearing a white suit when it becomes clear how treacherous he is. However, he's not nearly as murderous as Nishiki, nor does he ever manage to achieve the sort of notoriety that Nishiki does. The one time, Kido tries to kill someone is an [[AssholeVictim Isao Katsuragi]] and it doesn't even take since Katsuragi was wearing a bulletproof vest. Kido also aligns himself with the sympathetic [[AntiVillain Daigo Dojima]] to achieve his ambitions unlike Nishiki who's final ally is well... [[HateSink Kyohei Jingu.]] The tone of their FinalBoss battles also contrast greatly. Kiryu and Nishiki have a long and storied history of friendship and brotherhood that has turned into the bitterest of rivalries resulting in their highly emotional and brutal final showdown. Saejima and Kido on the other hand don't know each other that well having only met each other recently. Part of the reason Kido turned to treachery was due to Saejima encouraging him to fight for his goals without regrets, and Saejima in the end doesn't fault him for his ambitions and simply chooses to test his resolve with his own bare hands, to which Kido eagerly accepts.]]
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Lampshaded after he just finished taking out a group of 8 Yakuza without injury.

* UndyingLoyalty: Again, to Arai. [[spoiler: Or not. Apparently, he's been allied with Daigo at the very least prior to telling Arai about the one hundred billion dollar yen in Akiyama's vault, all to fuel his [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions.]]]]
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: [[spoiler:[[EvilCostumeSwitch Switches]] to a crisp white suit over a purple shirt when he reveals how he's betrayed Saejima and is seemingly in league with Katsuragi. Oddly enough he's no longer wearing it during the finale. Then again by that point, it's revealed that he's working for the much less villainous Daigo, though Kido's own motivations seem to boil down to selfish ambition.]]
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:After all the last remaining major antagonists have been dealt with including him, he remarks upon how the four protagonists of ''Yakuza 4'' are "on another level".]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:He's alive and well after his defeat and highly impressed by the main protagonists, but we it's unclear what happens to him afterwards. There's a chance he got arrested along with Arai for his involvement in the unsavory schemes of all of the antagonists as well as personally stealing 100 billion yen from Akiyama. His ultimate loyalty to Daigo who was also able to get Majima pulled out of jail still means there's also chance he avoided such a fate, but if so he's yet to make any further appearances in the series.]]

* MinorMajorCharacter: Downplayed. He's the real Chairman of the Ueno Seiwa Clan and Saejima's failure to finish him off 25 years ago in the past plays a major role in the criminal conspiracy that our heroes are entangled with. However he only appears in one scene in a flashback, only gets a short line of dialogue in said scene, and by the time of the plot of the game itself, he's become too old and bedridden to properly lead the clan, requiring Captain Isao Katsuragi to lead in his stead.

* BloodBrothers: [[spoiler: He's Sugiuchi's blood brother.]]
* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler: Courtesy of Yasuko, who he had shot earlier]].

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:The Ueno Seiwa hit that he had staged had many glaring flaws and discrepancies that an experienced police officer like Munakata can quickly see through. This ultimately enabled Munakata to blackmail Katsuragi from a position of strength.]]

** [[spoiler: He overestimates his own plans, leaving them vulnerable against superior thinkers (like Munakata) and superior fighters (like Kiryu). This is demonstrated most effectively when Munakata picks out the numerous flaws in his staged Yoshiharu Ueno hit]].

* TheHeavy: The driving force behind the plot for most of the game, [[spoiler:collaborating with Munakata until he is betrayed once Katsuragi had outlived his usefulness.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:He killed off all of his fellow members of his clan in the staged hit with headshots. It's only fitting that he meets his death the same way when at Yasuko's mercy.]]
** [[spoiler:He betrayed and killed off his fellow members of his Clan in the pursuit of power so it's rather fitting that Kido and Arai betray and try and kill him for similar ambitions even if their actual attempt doesn't take leading to Yasuko actually putting him down.]]

* MutualKill: [[spoiler: He shoots Yasuko, which eventually kills her, but not before she puts a bullet in his head]].
* NotQuiteDead: It's easy to lose track of how many times he gets shot, to no effect. He's either wearing bulletproof armour or the bullets are fake. [[spoiler: That last one is real, though.]]

* SmugSnake: Not even Kiryu confronting him directly is enough to make him lose his cool. [[spoiler:Frankly, his confidence is rather laughable considering how he'd never get as far as he did with his schemes if it wasn't for Munakata co-opting his scheme for his own benefit. Ultimately, he was never as in control of the conflict as he seemed to think he was. The moment it becomes clear that Munakata considers him a liability, Katsuragi's schemes quickly go up in smoke and he's left pleading for his life once he's completely run out of options.]]
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:The entire plot of the game; Him using Yasuko to eliminate members of the Shibata Family who know of Katsuragi's hands in the Ueno Seiwa hit, his demands for possession of Kamurocho Hills and the profits it entails, were all a desperate attempt by Katsuragi to break free from Munakata's control.]]
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler: Despite being the major bad guy for the first three quarters of the game, you never get to fight him. Justified, as he's more of a thinker.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: He suddenly suffers from this ''hard'' after [[spoiler: he shoots Yasuko in the back. She appears unaffected and defiantly approaches him, causing him to suddenly break down and empty his gun on her, and misses every shot. Since he told Kiryu earlier that he's no DeathSeeker and wants to live, he's left whimpering and pleading for his life]].

[[folder:Masaru Ihara and Yutaka Mishima]]
!!! '''Voiced by:''' Takahiro Fujimoto (Ihara) and Yoshihiro Kanemitsu (Mishima)

The two goons from the Ueno Seiwa Clan who cause a ruckus within the territory of the Tojo Clan's Kanemura Enterprises, at Club Elnard. Both drawn into battle with Akiyama as a result and defeated a few seconds later. Ihara dies by the hand of Arai, Mishima goes into hiding after that. Ihara had been promoted to Captain on the day of his death.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: PlayedWith. He's strong enough to be a boss fight against the likes of Akiyama, with his QuickTimeEvent having him lifting the somewhat tall Akiyama off his feet and trying to chuck the man against a wall but the cutscene after his defeat clearly shows that he's outmatched with Akiyama barely breaking a sweat in dealing with him. While he's later revealed to be Captain of the Ueno Seiwa Clan, with Katsuragi even claiming him to be equal in significance to the likes of the Tojo Clan's Goro Majima, Ihara was literally promoted the day Akiyama met him. [[spoiler:The reality is that the "death of such an important member of the Ueno Seiwa Clan" was planned for in advance to be able to coerce the Tojo Clan into handing over control of the highly lucrative Kamurocho Hills project to Katsuragi.]]
* BoomHeadshot: How Ihara is killed by Arai after the former flees the scene after being beaten by Akiyama.
* BringIt: Uniquely makes this sorta cocky beckoning gesture whenever he's strafing. Also present during his taunt.

* GrievousBottleyHarm: Mishima gets cracked in the head by Akiyama, taking him out for the fight against Ihara. [[spoiler:Him being unconcious ended up saving his life since Ihara stashed him away in garbage in the Champions District to be picked up later only for Ihara to get shot in the head later that night.]]
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Mishima went into hiding after Ihara's death because he learned that the Ueno Seiwa Clan wanted him dead. Eventually he comes into contact with Tanimura who he explains the situation to. He begs him to keep him safe even if it means arresting him. Tanimura opts instead to have him crash with him at Little Asia, but instead Mishima immediately gets shot and killed by Sugiuchi.]]
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Arai kills Ihara, forcing him into hiding. As a result Daigo offers a massive sum of compensatory funds while Shibata, Arai's superior, apologizes himself in public to Katsuragi, Ihara's boss even offering his pinky. Apparently, Ihara had been promoted to Captain and was vital to the future of the Ueno Seiwa Clan and this would not be enough to compensate for the "major loss". If they're unable to locate Arai, Katsuragi gives the Tojo Clan two other options, hand over the life of someone in the Tojo Clan of the same apparent ranking, which he concludes would be Goro Majima, or hand over Majima's greatest asset, ownership of Kamurocho Hills. Considering, the Tojo Clan's already dire financial situation, this is why the Tojo Clan and especially the Shibata Family is gunning so hard for Arai and anyone associated with him, bringing Akiyama and Kido into the conflict.
* NotWhatISignedOnFor: From the look on his face, it's clear Mishima didn't expect the shit to hit the fan that hard.

* StarterVillain: Ihara is the first boss fight in ''4'' and along with Mishima, they're the first named characters to cause trouble for Akiyama or more specifically his friends.
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Mishima reveals to Tanimura that they were explicitly ordered to cause trouble at Club Elnard that night. Turns out, Ihara was promoted to Captain solely to be sacrificed as part of Katsuragi's power play against the Tojo Clan. Mishima accidentally overheard Katsuragi's conversation on the subject of Ihara's death being planned and that Mishima was to be killed as well.]]

* WarmUpBoss: As the first boss fight in ''4'', he's got better blocking skills and stronger, trickier attacks than the average street punk but he really shouldn't be too much trouble against a low level Akiyama.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Ihara gets a boss fight and two cutscenes before he gets shot by Arai. [[spoiler:Mishima technically gets an additional substantial scene meeting up with Tanimura before getting shot by Sugiuchi but he spends one of the previous cutscenes unconscious so he doesn't really have too much time in the spotlight either.]]

A young Yakuza who has gained recognition in the Majima Family in ''Yakuza 4''. He possesses a quirky personality, as evidenced by his Japanese and western tattoos, and became a Yakuza out of admiration for "Mad Dog Majima". Like his patriarch, he is tough, aggressive, crazy, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking can't carry a tune when singing karaoke]].[[note]]Until ''Yakuza 0'' proved that Majima actually could sing.[[/note]]

* AffablyEvil: He comes across as relatively friendly and reasonable for a Yakuza lieutenant as long as you don't provoke him. The few times he commits violence are either in self-defence or at the behest of his boss Majima... except for one exception as shown below under BerserkButton. Even then, he quickly accepts Akiyama's obviously fake apology stating that it's "no biggie".
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: While he ends up losing to Akiyama and Saejima they both comment on how tough the lieutenant is.
* BaritoneOfStrength: Zigzagged. He's got a fairly smooth and deep singing voice and he sometimes speaks in a low menacing tone when he's really trying to sound intimidating. However, his usual speaking voice is rather nasally and when he's fighting, it gets even more high-pitched. This all serves to make him even more similar to his boss Majima.
* BerserkButton: The only thing that really seems to get under his skin is having his karaoke singing completely interrupted. He chucks his microphone at Akiyama with deadly precision when he uses the remote to shut off Minami's favorite song before he can even start singing.

* BewareTheSillyOnes: Downplayed. He's rather eccentric and the protagonists generally don't take him too seriously but he's still the lieutenant of a yakuza family run by [[StrengthEqualsWorthiness Majima.]] He can always give a decent fight and when a group of homeless men jump him for trying to get into Saejima's underground hideout, he lays them all out easily.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: Borrows his boss Majima's phrase "Ain't that a kick in the dick." in response to learning that the woman he was ordered to look for, Lily, was no longer working at Akiyama's Hostess Club.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Hasn't appeared since despite being a lieutenant of Majima's Family.
** TheBusCameBack: Finally returns in a substory in ''Ryu Ga Gotoku Online'' in which Ichiban meets him drunk at a ramen shop, fights him a few times, somehow gets dragged into singing karaoke with him, and eventually befriending him after a confrontation with some Omi Alliance members.
* CombatTropes
** BoozeFlamethrower: Wields one against Saejima.
** ConfusionFu: While he's not quite on Majima's level, he's still an agile, acrobatic, unpredictable fighter with some unconventional methods of fighting. His usage of alcohol also leads into...
** CounterAttack: When he's heated up from alcohol, pressuring his block can have him react with a two-hit combo consisting of a backhand followed up by a dropkick. When he's in his rapid quickstep phase, grabbing him will have him immediately break out of it with a maneuver that damages you and sends you to the ground.
** DrunkenMaster: Uses a drunken fighting style whenever he takes a swig of alcohol mid-fight. During the [=IF7-R=] fight against data based on him, he uses his drunken skills for the entire fight and [[MovesetClone MoveSet Clones]] of him in later games follow suit as well.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Makes a minor appearance in Nishida's storyline in ''Ryu Ga Gotoku Online'' where it's revealed that he had joined the the Majima Family sometime around when Kiryu was still being stalked by Majima in the ''Kiwami'' remake. During Majima's birthday, he tries to sing a song he had composed for Majima as a gift with [[HollywoodToneDeaf expected]] [[BadBoss results.]]

* LaughablyEvil: A violent thug who antagonizes some of the heroes but he's just so goofy and expressive especially once he starts fighting. While he's acknowledged as pretty strong, none of the game's major players take him all that seriously.

* MoodSwinger: He's yelling angrily one moment, making thinly veiled threats in a cold tone the next, before quickly mellowing out to casually accepting Akiyama's obviously fake apology for interrupting his singing.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Has somewhat exaggerated facial features with his narrow eyes, large buck teeth, thin long head, and facial piercings on top of his tattoos being far more western-influenced than most major characters.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Between the shirtless look, his violent yet amusing MoodSwinger personality, his accent, his agile fighting style, and poor Karaoke skills, it's clear he takes after his boss Majima. He's even fought twice in ''4'' much like Majima was in the original game.

* UndyingLoyalty: Heavily implied by the lyrics of his {{Leitmotif}} to have this for his boss Majima though, in the game itself, his only interactions with Majima are saying "Boss!" to him in a forlorn manner on two seperate occasions in which Majima walks in on Minami having just gotten the tar beat out of him by the protagonists. Still, it would go along with how he's clearly trying to imitate Majima to an extent.
-->Anything for the guy I love and respect!

** His substory in ''Online'' with Nishida confirms that he definitely has this for Majima. When Ichiban mocks him for how fake his accent sounds, he immediately lashes out in a drunken rage thinking that he's disrespecting Majima. He later tells Ichiban that he has to take back Kamurocho from the Omi Alliance for when Majima eventually returns. Also yes, he is just trying to imitate Majima's Kansai dialect right down to sounding fake to Ichiban.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Never seen wearing a shirt of any kind. He's one of the few Yakuza members in the entire series to never rock the standard BadassInANiceSuit look with the only article of clothing coming close being his brown dress shoes.

* AxCrazy: While he presents a cold, dignified demeanor initially, he's quickly shown to be violently unhinged as he punishes Saejima for getting into a fight by beating him over and over with a baton in a barely contained rage. Note that Saejima is being held from behind back by another guard and isn't even resisting. It's said that many prisoners have lost their lives to his methods of disciplining them. He even seems to be indignant when another guard reminds him that he's had three prisoners reported to die under his watch and that he can't keep beating them to death. Later on, when Kiryu tries to intervene to keep him from capturing Hamazaki and Yasuko, he unsubtly threatens to beat him to death even though to his knowledge, Kiryu's a complete civilian. All this said with an evil-looking grin.
** [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Even in combat]] he's very aggressive with a number of fierce looking attacks that involve jumping strikes, some uncontrolled-looking baton swings, and even a flipping attack that you would expect more from a wild criminal like Majima.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Frequently inflicts this on many of his prisoners, with many of them dying under his watch.

* HateSink: Saito is a cold-blooded sadist through and through, and the cruel treatment of his prisoners for no reason other than he could shows that he's meant to be loathed by the players as much as possible. It is immensely satisfying how many times he gets beaten up.

* LightningBruiser: One of the reasons that make Saito such a tough boss, aside from being fought with an underleveled Saejima or Kiryu with little healing items available, is his actual combat capabilities: He is extremely aggressive and quick on his feet along with having powerful, sometimes unblockable attacks that can link up to lengthy, damaging combos.

* StarterVillain: The first major antagonist Saejima faces after being introduced to the series as a playable protagonist but unimporant in the grand scheme of things.

* WakeUpCallBoss: For Saejima's chapters. He's a quick, vicious fighter with multiple health bars, guard-breaking, and guard-piercing attacks as well as a GrappleMove that's difficult to break out without upgrades. He's a tough fight for any other protagonist but because Saejima's both the slowest playable character and suffering from EarlyGameHell, Saito ends being a huge difficulty spike.
** He also manages to qualify as one for Kiryu's portion of the game too. Kiryu starting off with several useful upgrades from the previous game already unlocked may make him an ExperiencedProtagonist, but he still starts at Level 1. Combining that with Saito already being a tricky enemy and how at this point, the only possible healing items available are salvaged from the area or fallen enemies, and the player's in for a real bad time if they don't work out his patterns fast or remember them from the Saejima battle.

Tanimura's boss. Has a gentle demeanor and is troubled by Tanimura's unprofessional attitude, but overlooks it in light of his impressive arrest rate. Known as an expert marksman in contrast of his mild personality.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Revealed to be working for [[BigBad Munakata]] despite his meek demeanor. While he shows a more sinister side later as he has Tanimura's family tied up and ready to be executed, it's made apparent that not only did he lie to Munakata about Tanimura being dead, he also ended up sparing his family though he ended up committing suicide not long afterwards. Tanimura theorizes that he protected Tanimura and his family not only out of a sense of justice, but to give Tanimura a chance at doing what he couldn't do; taking down Munakata once and for all.]]

* DirtyCop: [[spoiler: Willing to take out a fellow police officer on the DirtyCop chief's orders when he reveals his deep ties to criminals. However he draws the line on taking out civilians.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: He commits suicide rather than killing Tanimura's family in Little Asia.]]

* ScaryShinyGlasses: [[spoiler:When it's revealed that he's working for Munakata and has been ordered to take out Zhao and Mei Hua who he already has tied up, his glasses are suddenly for more opaque than usual though you can still make out his eyes behind them. Later subverted when it turns out he killed himself rather than go through with killing of Tanimura's family.]]

A capable detective who has been on the force for more than 30 years in a division focused on murder cases and something like a (very harsh) father figure to Tanimura. [[spoiler: Turns out he's been a yakuza spy on the force for his entire 30-year tenure, and is the one who killed Tanimura's dad.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:As he reveals that he was a Yakuza member the whole time and unveils the truth behind the Ueno Seiwa hit, he feels a great weight lifted from his shoulders having to have kept quiet about that secret for 30 years. He also admits that he enjoyed being a cop and felt awful for being called a hero when he was a fraud the whole time. He's then shot in the back and dies telling Tanimura about there being another traitor and finally thanking Tanimura one last time.]]
* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Despite being a yakuza mole he grew to take pride in his job as a cop and was guilt-ridden whenever someone praised him for helping others.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: When it looks like Tanimura is about to get mobbed by an entire army of Ueno Seiwa grunts when his negotiations with Katsuragi goes sour. Junji barrels in with a patrol car to make the crowd disperse and bails Tanimura out, to save the owner of Homeland.
* BloodBrothers: [[spoiler: He's one to Katsuragi.]]
* BrokenPedestal: As much as Tanimura shows little respect to him, [[spoiler:he still considered Sugiuchi to be a good honest cop. He's outright driven to tears when Sugiuchi affirms that he really did kill Tanimura's father despite the two of them working together as partners. When he reveals that he was also a spy for the Yakuza the entire time he was on the force, Tanimura is [[ThisCannotBe almost speechless.]]]]
* ClimaxBoss: [[spoiler: He's Tanimura's penultimate boss fight, the single strongest enemy he faces in the story as well as the only boss that he fights one-on-one. Not to mention, he's the antagonist that he has the most personal connection to. After his defeat, he also comes clean about the truth behind Saejima's botched Ueno Seiwa Hit.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Has a very sardonic sense of humor particularly in his interactions with Akiyama.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:To Tanimura whose entire character arc revolves around trying to avenge his father's death by finding his killer and taking him down once and for all. After defeating Sugiuchi who confesses to the crime, he learns that he did so on Munakata's orders and refuses to be satisfied until he pays back Munakata as well.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Tanimura]]''': [[spoiler:My father's out there somewhere, telling me to see this thing through. It's not over yet. Not until I drag Munakata to his knees.]]

* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:To Tanimura, made very obvious in their final confrontation. They're both cops and skilled hand-to-hand fighters but Tanimura's flagrant abuse of his police authority is all for the sake of helping the disenfranchised in the immigrant community while Sugiuchi's more outstanding track record on the force hides heinous misdeeds that only help power-hungry monsters like Katsuragi or Munakata.]]

* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:To Arai. Sugiuchi is an Ueno Seiwa Clan Yakuza member who infiltrated the Police Department decades ago and has a rude, casual attitude. Before his death, he admits that his ambitions as a Yakuza have faded over the years and he feels more pride in his work as a Police Detective. In contrast. Arai is a cop who went undercover as a Yakuza member of the Tojo Clan years ago, and he conducts himself in a polite, dignified manner. By the end of the game, he tries to turn his back on the DirtyCops and realize his ambitions of justice in Kamurocho by taking control of the Tojo Clan.]]
* GoodFeelsGood: [[spoiler:Admits to have enjoyed being a cop and receiving praise for his success while simultaneously feeling immense guilt since he was secretly a Yakuza member the entire 30 plus years he was on the force.]]

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:After his defeat and revealing the truth behind the Ueno Seiwa Hit, he reveals that he much prefers working as a legitimate Police Officer than being a mole for the Yakuza. He willingly accepts being arrested by Tanimura but is unfortunately fatally wounded by a gunshot from Hisai and he dies before he can atone for his crimes in jail.]]
* HiddenDepths: It's heavily implied that decades of working for the local police have been taking its toll on him to the point where he briefly wonders aloud what he's even doing anymore. It would go a long way in explaining his unpleasant attitude. [[spoiler: It's a bit more [[TheMole complex]] [[MotiveDecay than]] [[BecomingTheMask that.]]]]

* InspectorJavert: Akiyama's investigation of Arai's murderous actions puts him into conflict with Sugiuchi who believes he's somehow connected since he's been so supportive of Arai before. Subverted when he ends up having to "babysit" Akiyama, putting him under Witness Protection since members of the Tojo Clan, specifically the Shibata Family, are aware of his ties to Arai and keep targeting him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Gruff, rude, and snarky. Of the two protagonists he interacts with, he doesn't get along with either of them.
-->'''Kido''': That guy really puts the dick in detective. What an asshole.
-->'''Akiyama''': No joke. But hey, if I were over 40 and still stuck as a beat cop, I'd probably have a chip on my shoulder, too.
** [[spoiler:He seems to get over his poor attitude and gets a lot more sincere after finally confessing everything to Tanimura.]]

* LawmanGoneBad: [[spoiler:Subverted and maybe even inverted in a way. Despite being on the force for over 30 years, he was secretly still a Yakuza when he first joined with the mission to spy and keep tabs on the police. While he never really considered himself a real cop, he actually grew to legitimately enjoy helping people.]]
* LightningBruiser: [[spoiler:Starts the battle with a fairly large health bar and he's got the strength and speed to bypass Tanimura's defensive fighting style especially if you let him get into [[SuperMode Heat Mode]].]]
* MeaningfulAppearance: Tanimura focuses on his expensive-looking shoes when he's getting lectured by him. [[spoiler:He was actually thinking about how weird it was for him to have them since they'd be difficult to afford on a Homocide Detective's salary, not to mention impractical for his line of work when he's constantly dealing with murder scenes where they could be stained. It's his first clue that there's something off about Sugiuchi.]]
* TheMole: [[spoiler:He's actually a Yakuza undercover as a cop.]]
* MotiveDecay: [[spoiler:Used to have ambitions and dreams as a Yakuza but they faded after nearly 30 years of infiltrating the Kamuro Police Department. It's to the point where he enjoys acting like a legitimate police officer more than being TheMole for the Yakuza.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler: Lampshaded when he's been outed as working with Katsuragi and then cornered by Tanimura and the rest of the Kamurocho Police Force. He claims to be untouchable despite the evidence against him and even dares the officers to shoot at him and stop him from walking away, mocking Japanese Police protocol in the process. Unfortunately for him, Tanimura [[CowboyCop wasn't exactly a conventional Japanese officer of the law.]]]]

* UnblockableAttack: [[spoiler:Unique to him, is that when he goes into [[SuperMode Heat Mode]], his attacks will now nullify Tanimura's parry ability.]]

* WorthyOpponent: [[spoiler: Remarks that Tanimura's the only honest cop he's known for the 30 years he's been on the force for better or for worse and invites him to try and take him down once it's been made clear he's working together with Katsuragi.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Sugiuchi]]''': [[spoiler:I always knew you'd grow into your uniform. You're the first one in my 30 years who's really deserved it. So congrats.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Tanimura]]''': [[spoiler:[[SarcasmMode Wow. I'm honored.]]]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Sugiuchi]]''': [[spoiler:Alright, kid. Let's see how far your justice takes you. Hope you're up to the challenge.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: He was the killer of Tanimura's dad. Seeing as he's somewhat of a father figure to Tanimura, he doesn't take too well to the revelation.]]

A legend in the force who rose to deputy commissioner despite lacking a formal background in civil service. He has big plans for cracking down on crime. And is the true BigBad behind everything in not just the fourth game, but all the way to the first.

* CowardlyBoss: His boss fight primarily has him hiding in the corner and leave the fighting to his mooks.

* DeviousDaggers: Not him but rather half of his bodyguards who carry around what appear to be combat knives. This gives the impression that despite being suited up like riot cops, they're more like government assassins or hired mercenaries which suits how ruthless Munakata is in his ambitions of exploiting incarcerated criminals and establishing control through any means necessary.
* DirtyCop: A major one in the ''Yakuza'' series, as he's high up in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and has been blackmailing and exploiting yakuza for over 2 decades.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Zig-zagged. The only single positive thing Munakata technically displays in the entire game is that when he gives Arai a loaded revolver for the sake of kidnapping the children of the Sunshine Orphanage, they're revealed to be rubber bullets, meaning even if Arai went through with it there should've been no serious risks to anyone involved.. but the [[CrazyPrepared major reason]] he did this was in case Arai betrayed him in his own case of the trope, so it's arguable if it was for the children's safety or entirely his own.

* FinalBoss / SequentialBoss: Fought by Tanimura in ''4'''s climax following Arai, Kido and Daigo.

* NecessarilyEvil: How he views the Yakuza.

* ThePawnsGoFirst: Right before Tanimura can fight him, he orders his personal bodyguards to beat him down which you must counter by completing a QTE every time they are ready. Once getting by his guards though, he won't stand a chance.
** It's not actually required though. He can be taken out any time before any of his bodyguards. He even has a special unique animation for not being the last man knocked. You can also skip the mid-fight QTE this way if you take him down early enough though it's not recommended since the QTE is good for thinning the numbers of his bodyguards. Still, taking him down before at least one of his three toughest bodyguards like the Bodyguard Captain is a valid strategy since it'll be easier to focus on combatting their skills without Munakata taking potshots at Tanimura.

* VisionaryVillain: His goal is to turn Japan into a literal PoliceState with the Yakuza as mere controlled opposition.

* WolfpackBoss: While he's mostly a FlunkyBoss, the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Bodyguard Captain]] and [[BossInMookClothing two Elite Bodyguards]] who try to personally defend him are tough enough to qualify as boss fights on their own right and they all have to be taken down before the fight is considered over.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Ryoko Kataoka (Y4), Nanako Mori (Ryu ga Gotoku Online)

* {{Expy}}: Of Kaoru Sayama, a FairCop investigating a crime ring who ends up realizing that the leader of said crime ring was her half-brother. Ironically, Kaoru Sayama in ''Kiwami 2'' would resemble her even more when they gave her the same fighting style sans the ability to parry.

* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Visiting her as any of the other playable characters results in them trying to speak to Nair in Tagalog, but they end up butchering the language as a whole; from her reactions, Akiyama ended up pissing her off, Saejima makes her cry while Kiryu somehow ends up making her feel happy.

!!! '''Voiced by:''' Takahiro Kageyama (Y6)

* TheCameo: Appears in ''Kiwami 2'' as a scoutable employee for Majima Construction. The canonicity of said appearance is questionable considering how he's reusing his slightly buffer appearance from ''6''.

The fourth student. He fights in a street fighting style with some influence from Muay Thai. He reappears in "5" in Tsukimino as an entrant in the Victory Road tournament.

* BloodKnight: He's someone who utterly loves to fight, especially in the Purgatory Coliseum. He's still just as much of one in "5" in Saejima's side of the Victory Road until the former teacher knocks his student down a peg or two.

* WeakButSkilled: Specializes in Technique with his street-fighting style having shades of Muay Thai, but he has a harder time improving his Strength.
** Subverted in ''5'' where he relies more on brute strength with moves like spinning clotheslines and headbutts.

* BadassBaritone: Zigzagged. He's got a fairly smooth and deep singing voice and he sometimes speaks in a low menacing tone when he's really trying to sound intimidating. However, his usual speaking voice is rather nasally and when he's fighting, it gets even more high-pitched. This all serves to make him even more similar to his boss Majima.

* RedBaron: Ihara is also referred to as the "Thunder's Shadow" by the IF7-R machine. However this may just simply describe how the fight against his data enhances his moveset so that his kicks have an [[ShockAndAwe electric effect.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Apparently the data based on Ihara in the IF7-R machine is wearing electric shoes since getting hit by its kicks is like getting hit by a taser.

** DrunkenMaster: Uses a drunken fighting style whenever he takes a swig of alcohol mid-fight. During the IF7-R fight against data based on him, he uses his drunken skills for the entire fight and [[MovesetClone MoveSet Clones]] of him in later games follow suit as well.

* RedBaron: The "Flaming Jester" according to the IF7-R machine.

* RedBaron: The "Guardian of Rage" according to the IF7-R machine.

* RedBaron: [[spoiler:The "Cold-blooded Fist" according to the IF7-R machine.]]

* VillainTeleportation: [[spoiler:The data based on him in the IF7-R machines has the ability to fade away and appear somewhere else in the arena, usually behind you.]]

* IronButtmonkey: Considering the kind of heat skills Saejima can teach his students, he's definitely MadeofIron. Even moreso in ''6'' when he becomes a recurring opponent against Kiryu.

* BareYourMidriff: Her high cut jacket and shirt expose her belly.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Lived an ordinary, uneventful, married life until he was fired one day. He never recovered from the shock and it only got worse when his wife quickly took the kid and left him since he couldn't get his life together to properly support a family. With his life in shambles, he decided he wanted to try and become stronger and special so he joined Sodachi's Dojo.

* AntiHero: Has a very lackadaisical approach to enforcing the law, often gambling viciously while one the job, is prone to as much excessive violence as any other Yakuza protagonist, and is a DirtyCop who extorts and accepts bribes from places hiring illegal immigrants. That said, his heart's still in the right place as he uses those ill-gotten gains primarily to support the community of poor immigrants in Little Asia, particularly the children separated from their parents due to deportation.

''Characters/Yakuza1'' | ''Characters/Yakuza2'' | ''Characters/Yakuza3'' | '''''Yakuza 4''''' | ''Characters/Yakuza5'' | ''Characters/LikeADragonIshin'' | ''Characters/Yakuza0'' ([[Characters/Yakuza0DojimaLieutenants Dojima Lieutenants]] | [[Characters/Yakuza0KamurochoResidents Kamurocho Residents]] | [[Characters/Yakuza0SotenboriResidents Sotenbori Residents]]) | ''Characters/Yakuza6'' | ''Characters/YakuzaLikeADragon''\\

** His substory in ''Online'' with Nishida confirms that he definitely has this for Majima. When Ichiban mocks him for how fake his accent sounds, he immediately lashes out in a drunken rage thinking that he's disrespecting Majima. He later tells Ichiban that he has to take back Kamurocho from the Omi Alliance for when Majima eventually returns.

** His substory in ''Online'' confirms that he definitely has this for Majima. When Ichiban mocks him for how fake his accent sounds, he immediately lashes out in a drunken rage thinking that he's disrespecting Majima. He later tells Ichiban that he has to take back Kamurocho from the Omi Alliance for when Majima eventually returns.
** With his {{Cameo}} in ''Online'' revealing that he's been part of the Majima Family since the first game, we can conclude that just like Majima's NumberTwo Nishida, he's quit and re-joined the Tojo Clan just for the sake of following Majima who's done the very same.

* CounterAttack: When he's heated up from alcohol, pressuring his block can have him react with a two-hit combo consisting of a backhand followed up by a dropkick. When he's in his rapid quickstep phase, grabbing him will have him immediately break out of it with a maneuver that damages you and sends you to the ground.

* KansaiRegionalAccent: Presumably inspired by Majima's.

* DirtyCop: A major one in the ''Yakuza'' series, only this time he's high up in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

* FlunkyBoss: Tanimura has to fight lots of heavily armed SAT assaulters to get to him]]. Like Jingu, he also doubles as a GetBackHereBoss due to being armed with a handgun and running about to get a good vantage point. Practically lampshaded by Tanimura.

* VillainousBreakdown: When Date exposes his corruption all over Kamurocho by spreading all of his newspaper headlines by helicopter. He decides that killing himself is a better option.

* ManlyTears: [[spoiler:After beating down Suguichi who affirms that he was indeed the one who killed Tanimura's father, he starts crying while angrily demanding how an honest cop could betray his partner like that.]]

* OneHitKill: His "Essence of Arrest" skill has him handcuff an enemy, taking them out of combat, provided they're knocked down first.

* {{Omniglot}}: Tanimura knows just about every language you'd hear in Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Thai and Tagalog. Part of his introduction to Nair and her training is that he overheard her speaking in Tagalog to a cop that didn't understand a lick of it, owing to Nair's unfamiliarity with Japanese.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: In a similar fashion to Akiyama. He's capable of [[OneManArmy burning through entire mobs of goons]] with nothing but his bare fists and a steel briefcase in one instance. Yet the one time he teams up with the aforementioned moneylender to take down Kiryu, the two of them get their assed handed to them while Kiryu's barely winded.

* MovesetClone: In ''6'', he uses the same Chinese martial arts as [[BruceLeeClone Bruce Enashima]] from the Purgatory Coliseum in ''3'' and the next couple games.