Line #12 Literature/TheManWithTheRedTattoo


1	[[quoteright:296:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1267207.jpg]]
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3	The eighth ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel by Raymond Benson, published in 2002.
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5	With the Union having been dealt with, their place in the most wanted lists has been taken by one Goro Yoshida, a Japanese terrorist. While he plots against the decadent West, Bond is sent to Japan a few weeks before a secret G8 summit conference to investigate the suspicious deaths of a British businessman and his family. Working together with his old ally Tiger Tanaka, he eventually finds out that the deaths are linked to Yoshida, setting the two men into direct conflict with each other.
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7	Not to be confused with ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]]'', even if the page image indicates that the red tattoo is ''also'' a dragon tattoo.
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9	!!This novel has examples of:
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11	* AlliterativeName: Mayumi [=McMahon=], the missing heir to her father's fortune after the deaths of her entire close family.
12	* AnimalAssassin: With the help of a morally-corrupt scientist, the Yakuza has developed a strain of mosquito which infects people with a strain of the West Nile virus that acts ten times faster than normal, killing them within a day. Yoshida's EvilPlan involves using them against the G8 summit conference and other locations around the world.
13	* AntagonistTitle: The novel's title is used twice to describe the main villain, making it this trope.
14	* BigBad: Goro Yoshida, a [[FarEastAsianTerrorists Japanese nationalist terrorist]] and a shadow leader of sorts of the Ryujin-kai {{Yakuza}}.
15	* BladeEnthusiast: Kappa's weapon of choice is a balisong, or a butterfly knife, which he always carries with him.
16	* CartwrightCurse: As Reiko lies bedridden from the fast-acting strain of West Nile mentioned above, Bond ponders how another woman had gotten emotionally close to him and may have received a bad end because of it. [[spoiler:Sure enough, next morning, he finds out that she has died]].
17	* ChainPain: Bond ends up in a brief fight with Noburo Ichihara, a ''UsefulNotes/{{bosozoku}}'' leader who tries to attack him with a chain. After one missed swing, Reiko pulls a gun on the guy, and he takes his leave.
18	* ChaseScene: One starts when Ichihara shoots Bond's informant, and he gives chase.
19	* ChekhovsGift: Bond receives an antique Japanese sword as a gift from Tanaka after the action around the G8 summit, and not even a day manages to pass before he has to use it in a SwordFight against Yoshida.
20	* ContinuityNod:
21	** It is mentioned how Bond is now in good graces with the British prime minister thanks to saving his life during "[[Literature/DoubleShot that business in Gibraltar a couple of years ago]]".
22	** Yoshida's deal with the Union that proved to be their undoing from ''Literature/NeverDreamOfDying'' is brought up,
23	** Bond is wary of returning to Japan, due to the events in ''Literature/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', which sent him there, and in ''Literature/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', which left him with amnesia.
24	** Thinking about Japanese women, Bond remembers how he [[Literature/ForYourEyesOnly once told the governor of Bahamas]] how he would only marry a Japanese girl or an airline hostess.
25	* DeathTrap: Kappa arranges Bond and Reiko getting locked in their train compartment with the infectious mosquitos, switches off the lights in the train and then pulls the emergency brake lever to stop the train in a tunnel, leaving them alone in the darkness with the deadly insects.
26	* TheDragon: Yasutake Tsukamoto is official leader (oyabun) of the Ryujin-kai, and is Yoshida's man in Japan to ensure that his scheme goes as planned.
27	* DressingAsTheEnemy: Bond and Mayumi attempt to infiltrate Hokkaido Mosquito and Vector Control Centre by knocking out two scientists and taking their protective suits, but Mayumi blows their cover by screaming because of aggressive mosquitoes and they're caught.
28	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:When Yoshida realizes that he has been beaten, he commits {{Seppuku}} in front of Bond and Mayumi, followed by his friend Tsukamoto [[OffWithHisHead decapitating him]]]].
29	* EvilPlan: Yoshida's plan, dubbed Red Widow Dawn by him, consists of unleashing the altered mosquitoes within the G8 summit conference, and organize more attacks like it in major cities around the world.
30	* {{Fingore}}: When the corpse of Kenji Umeki, Mayumi's former boyfriend is discovered, he is missing all of his fingers, signifying that he was killed by the Yakuza for a tremendous mistake.
31	* ImprovisedWeapon: As he is chased through a fish market, Noburo Ichihara grabs [[HooksAndCrooks a hook]] to attack Bond with, which is countered by Bond's partner Reiko throwing an octopus on his face.
32	* IslandBase: Yoshida and his private army has set up camp in Etorofu, one of the Kuril Islands, which reside in a disputed territory between Russia and Japan.
33	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: As Yoshida has Bond in his clutches, he decides to tell him what exactly he is planning to do with the mutated mosquitoes.
34	* KilledMidSentence: Takuya Abo, Kenji Umeki's cousin, is shot in the head by Noburo Ichihara just as he is going to tell Bond and Reiko about Goro Yoshida's whereabouts.
35	* NeckSnap: Bond hits a mook in the back of the neck so hard that the bones crack.
36	* OlderThanTheyLook: Yoshida is nearly sixty years old, but thanks to his daily exercises of kendo and the like, he looks only over forty.
37	* PostClimaxConfrontation: Yoshida manages to avoid the Japanese Defense Force crafts sent to demolish his compound, and attacks Bond in his hotel room together with Tsukamoto.
38	* RedRightHand: Junji Kon, nicknamed Kappa, is a DepravedDwarf and true to his nickname, he has a bowl-like depression on top of his head, which makes him resemble a {{Kappa}}, a demon from Japanese mythology.
39	* SlashedThroat: Trailing Shinji Fujimoto, Bond and Tanaka eventually find him stabbed to death in his car, and his driver with his throat cut.
40	* SwordFight: When Bond's chase after Ichihara takes them behind a curtain of a Kabuki play, they start fighting each other with stage weapons.
41	* ThrillerOnTheExpress: On their way to Sapporo, Bond and Reiko end up in a confrontation with Kappa, who is on the same train to get rid of them.
42	* TitleDrop: Done twice.
43	** The first instance comes as Yasutake Tsukamoto ponders about the madness of the scheme concocted by his friend and leader Yoshida.
44	-->But it's what the man with the red tattoo wanted and that was what he was going to get.
45	** The second instance comes [[spoiler:when Yoshida commits {{Seppuku}}]].
46	-->The man with the red tattoo glared at Bond [[spoiler:and then thrust the wakizashi deeply into his flesh]].
47	* UnwillingSuspension: After Kappa manages to kick Bond unconscious, he ties him up and leaves him dangling from train tunnel ceiling, leaving him to die from the impact of the next locomotive on the tracks.
48	* VillainousGoldTooth: Murderous UsefulNotes/{{Bosozoku}} gang leader Ichihara has a gold tooth, which is displayed prominently when he smiles at the captured Bond.
49	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After Ryujin-kai, the owners of the Yonai Enterprises, gain the control of [=CureLab=] Inc. from Shinji Fujimoto, they have him killed.
50	* {{Yubitsume}}: Brought up after Bond notices a youth who is missing a digit in one of his fingers, and Reiko explains the practice of Yakuza members making amends for failures by cutting them off.
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Context Literature / TheManWithTheRedTattoo