Characters / Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

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

These are the characters that debuted in the game Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

For Kazuma Kiryu, see his page.

For Goro Majima, see his page.

For Ichiban Kasuga, see his page.

For Taiga Saejima, see here.

For Daigo Dojima, see here.

For Masaru Watase, see here.

For the Heroes of Tomorrow, old and new, see their page.

For Masumi Arakawa, Ryo Aoki, and Yosuke Tendo, see here.

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The Omi Alliance

Watase Family

Yuki Tsuruno

Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (Japanese), Eugene Nomura (English)

"Look, I'm just tryin' to do the job they handed to me."

The captain of the Watase Family.

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• Combat Pragmatist: Literally kicks off your first fight against him by trying to slide kick Kiryu while he's distracted before then equipping some brass knuckles. For the start of his second bout, he tosses a hammer at Kiryu, tries to slash him up with a saw, before seeing fit to also try using a branding iron on the man.
• Cool Mask: He wears a kyogen mask while attacking the Castle with Kiryu.
• Cool Shades: Wears a pair of sunglasses, though he briefly loses them in his second fight with Kiryu.
• Dual Wielding: In his second boss fight he uses a saw and a lit branding iron.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He plans to have Nishitani III killed under the guise of eliminating him so he can't interfere with the dissolution of the Omi Alliance. His reasoning being that it's not just that the yakuza need to disappear to get out from under the thumb of the government, but that monsters like Nishitani III don't even deserve to live.
• A Father to His Men: While he hides it and is still more business-focused, he warms up to the idea of partying with his men during Kiryu's plan. He also hates Nishitani for having killed a young renegade underling that Tsuruno wanted to quietly let go, performing a Mercy Kill on the kid instead of letting Nishitani bury him alive..
• Hidden Depths: He's shown to be pretty skilled at pool when he goes on a spending spree with Kiryu to draw Nishitani out.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after his Japanese voice actor, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Boy does it take a while to show. He’s a rough yakuza that would go as far as murder to achieve his goals. Eventually, it’s shown that he’s on decent terms with Akame and shows he cares for his fellow men. He and Kiryu eventually find even ground as well to become allies and dissolve to yakuza with Kiryu’s help.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: When his plan to win Kiryu's cooperation fails because of his loyalty to the Daidoji he gives up without much of a fight.
• Noble Demon: Sure, he's a yakuza with no qualms about threatening the Morning Glory orphans to ensure Kiryu's cooperation (or trying to anyway) or having Nishitani III brutally killed to get him out of the way while keeping Kiryu in the dark about it, but aside from Hanawa, he's one of Kiryu's staunchest allies in the game. Not only does he stick by him throughout most everything, he's all in on his patriarch's plan to dissolve the Omi Alliance, despite knowing it'd leave him out in the cold. Plus, he only made an attempt on Nishitani's life because he was simply far too monstrous to be kept alive, and even bows his head and profusely apologises to Kiryu for leaving him out of the loop.
• Only Sane Man: Outside of Watase, Tsuruno is the only member of the Omi Alliance that understood that the Yakuza remaining under the then alive Aoki’s rule would yield negative results.
• Starter Villain: He's the game's primary antagonist for the first two chapters, being the man behind Hanawa's kidnapping. He and Kiryu end up finding common ground, however, and Tsuruno becomes a valuable ally as the story's focus shifts to dealing with the much more vile and dangerous Nishitani.
• Undying Loyalty: To Watase. To the point that he is the only member of the Omi Alliance to not betray him.
• Warm-Up Boss: He serves as the game's first proper boss fight, with his Powerful Enemy Attack being easily telegraphed and serves as a tutorial for Ultimate Counters. He's a bit tougher than most compared to that point, but defeating him should be easy. He definitely steps it up a notch on the second bout with Kiryu taking much more hits to defeat and initially wielding unblockable weapons that can inflict Bleeding or Burning.
• Would Hurt a Child: Proposes taking Kiryu's kids hostage if it means his cooperation. You can probably guess how Kiryu took that.

Kosei Shishido (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Voiced by: Yasukaze Motomiya (Japanese), Matt Bushell (English)

"The only winner out here is the one who walks away."

A lieutenant for the Watase Family.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite betraying Watase, his ultimate fate as a Daidoji agent until the day he dies is a horrific one, especially given his past as a slave. Even the music that plays as he's being hauled away by the Daidoji is ominous rather than triumphant.
  • The main drive behind his villainy is also this: Shishido might have eventually planned to become the head of the Omi Alliance, but the main reason why he resorted to the drastic, ruthlessly traitorous means as he did is out of desperation to keep the Yakuza alive. More than anything, he just wanted to ensure both himself and his fellow yakuza could survive, even if it's ultimately more self-serving. It's telling that Kiryu, someone who also wanted the yakuza to survive and isn't happy with having to end the yakuza so they could keep on living and have better lives, speaks to him at their final fight with uncharacteristic softness and seems to hold nothing but genuine pity for him, which is saying a lot considering that his reaction to most other final bosses is either rage for the unsympathetic ones (Shibusawa, Iwami) or passionate determination for the ones he wants to snap out of their delusions (Nishiki, Mine, Daigo, and Aizawa).
• Allegorical Character:
  • Effectively represents the yakuza itself as it is in the final chapter, a fact even Kiryu remarks on; being a cornered beast clinging to the days where the yakuza openly ruled the night, who respects nothing but power and ambition, and whose ultimate fate is to be forced under the heel of government forces, exactly the kind of result the dissolution was trying to provide a way out of (and one the Omi already was suffering through with Ryo Aoki's affiliation with them).
  • More specifically, he represents the grim reality of the yakuza, in stark opposition to most of the series' main protagonists and villains, who represent the yakuza "ideal"; people who value Honor Before Reason to extreme degrees for better and for worse, and live and die by their creed, even if it entails self-sacrifice and submitting to higher-ups. Shishido is a hedonist who just wants power and prestige and does not truly care about the yakuza Code of Honour. However, he is dignified enough to admit what he is and even takes a unique form of pride in it, believing himself to be a scumbag who can't be anything but a yakuza, but fully accepting of his fate and seeing nothing wrong with lying, backstabbing and murdering to hold on to his place in the world, which is far closer to how actual career criminals operate in reality.
• All for Nothing: His years-long plot to undermine the Omi's dissolution and usurp the Patriarch is this — as Kiryu points out, the power and prestige Shishido wants so badly simply doesn't exist anymore, even for those at the top of the criminal hierarchy.
• Ambition Is Evil: In the final chapter, Shishido reveals he's been plotting to take over the Omi Alliance for years, Faking the Dead for Nishitani III while turning the rest of the Watase Family against its patriarch and Tsuruno, with his main goal being to use evidence of their plan to dissolve both the Omi and Tojo to catapult himself to Chairman.
• Arc Villain: He's the Final Boss of the game, scheming to take control over the Omi Alliance remnants once Watase disbands it. However, he doesn't become the main threat until the last arc.
• At Least I Admit It: He's a hedonist only interested in power and prestige, but unlike many prior antagonists in the series, he doesn't pretend that he's being led by any higher calling. He even takes pride in what he is, believing that the yakuza is the only place where a scumbag like him can thrive.
• Ax-Crazy: Unlike the more outwardly unhinged Nishitani, Shishido appears more composed for most of the story, but by the time the story reaches its final arc, he becomes a raving, monstrous lunatic hell-bent on slaughtering the remnants of the Omi Alliance and Kiryu for disbanding the Alliance and essentially ruining Shishido's ambitions for good. Combined with the hellish torture he was subjected to under Nishitani's thumb, it's no wonder Shishido becomes such a brutish force to be reckoned in his final fight against Kiryu, being essentially the man who wanted everything in the power struggle yet ended up losing it in the most crucial moment, reducing the formerly somewhat composed, although mentally and physically broken brute into a feral beast full of rage and fury.
• Born in the Wrong Century: His brutish charisma and obsession with violence and rank would have made him an ideal yakuza back in their heyday; as he's rallying the last of the Omi to his cause, Kiryu even suggests that he could have been Patriarch material. But the yakuza just don't work that way anymore, and Shishido is reduced to screaming denial that he's spent his life trying to ascend the ranks of an organization that's barely functional and easily outmatched by the same police and politicians it once held under its thumb.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: As Yoshimura puts it, he's been a massive thorn at the side of the Daidoji but has proven resourceful enough that rather than killing him they're enslaving him instead.
• Composite Character: Shishido's character appears to take from the Dojima lieutenants of Yakuza 0. Like Keiji Shibusawa, he came from humble beginnings and attempted a violent coup for control of his organization, he's got Hiroki Awano's unabashed hedonism and, to a lesser extent, superhuman physiology, and he resembles Daisaku Kuze in being a tough-talking macho man who refuses to quit until the last bit of fight's been squeezed out of him. This reinforces his role as a stubborn relic of the Yakuza's golden years and Book Ends Kiryu's tenure as main character in a sense, as Yakuza 0 is the earliest Like a Dragon game in terms of chronology.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Both Shishido and Tsuneo Iwami were intended to cap off Kiryu's long run as Like a Dragon's main character as his final opponent, but were created with extremely differing approaches in mind. Iwami was written as a completely irredeemable scumbag with no admirable traits, understandable circumstances, or even a veneer of well-intentioned extremism, breaking with tradition by having all the worst traits of previous final bosses without any of their charisma or sympathetic qualities, right down to looking like a plain old salaryman. He doesn't even put up a good fight and begs Kiryu for mercy when he finally realizes he's got no chance of beating him. Shishido, meanwhile, was created as a more direct continuation of his predecessors, being more in line with your typical Like a Dragon final boss with his flashy look and his larger-than-life personality. Funnily enough, him being a direct Call-Back to Masato Aizawa's Marathon Boss battle also stands as a clear contrast to Iwami going down after losing one health bar, with Shishido refusing to quit until he physically can't go on anymore. He's also got a decent Freudian Excuse, with his previous life as a slave to the Kijin Clan standing opposite to Iwami going through life with a silver spoon in his mouth.
• Cool Mask: Wears a Hannya mask to disguise himself.
• Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: After living a life of misery and servitude, becoming a yakuza was the best thing that happened to Shishido, as he could now afford all the luxuries he could not have enjoyed otherwise as a slave. This motivates him to oppose Watase's plans to dissolve the Omi Alliance, as he cannot comprehend living a normal civilian life where he can't enjoy those luxuries anymore.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His father sold him to the Kijin Clan in a desperate bid to pay off his gambling debts at the tender age of 15. From there, it was a constant battle for survival in the Castle's deathmatches. Things didn't improve once Nishitani III took notice of him.
• Death Glare: His default expression. Though he did gave one hell of a glare when he confronts Kiryu and the gang before his final stand. Saejima was impressed.
• Determinator: Befitting someone who's lived a life as rough as his, it takes a metric ton of abuse to get him to stop once he gets going. He is not the strongest, most skilled, or most challenging final opponent Kiryu's ever fought, but he more than makes up for it by arguably being the toughest. His entire final battle with Kiryu is just him getting one second wind after another to push Kiryu out of Omi HQ despite how much of a beating Kiryu is giving him, literally slamming/punching him through the walls and ceilings of the building from fighting stage to fighting stage.
• Didn't Think This Through: Once he reveals his true intentions regarding the dissolution, Kiryu points out one of the (more immediate) issues with his intention to become Omi Chairman is that his whole scheme hinges on being able to take down the trio at the construction site then and there, and if he fails to do so, it'll all fall through. Whilst Shishido is understandably confident with the numbers advantage he possesses and being backed up by Nishitani III, when Kiryu's group wins the subsequent brawl, his statement is proven correct. Shishido has absolutely no backup plans and can only salvage Nishitani's katana blade to confront the Yakuza forces with one last time outside the Omi HQ, running on pure stubbornness and spite.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: Implied. When Tsuruno tries to plead with him to abandon his path after they walked out of the Omi HQ, Shishido tells him to stay out of his way. While he did address Tsuruno informally, which he took offense to, Shishido did say it in a tone which implies he didn’t want Tsuruno caught in the crossfire. Which is likely, as Tsuruno did save Shishido from Nishitani’s torture and Shishido considered him a friend.
• Dumb Muscle: Downplayed. While he isn’t a complete idiot, as he admits he isn’t smart enough to bring any grand schemes into fruition, his years long plan to betray Watase fails because people smarter than him countered his plan to bum rush Watase and his supporters.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: As far as he is concerned Watase and all the old yakuza legends either went senile or are blind to the fact grunts like Shishido have nothing if the Omi is gone. He doesn't understand this is the best option of a bad situation as governor Aoki has already leashed the Omi as his personal attack dogs nor that he or any yakuza really deserved anything they gained through violence and intimidation.
• Evil Counterpart: To Goro Majima. They were both yakuza who suffered under servitude and have the physical scars to show for it. They both meet men calling themselves Homare Nishitani, encounters that molded them into the men they are now. During his initial encounters with Kiryu, Shishido wielded a metal bat and later a tanto, weapons that Majima himself wielded. Even Shishido's wardrobe evokes similarities to Majima's, such as the Hannya mask and a jacket with a reversed color scheme to Majima's own snakeskin blazer. The difference is that Majima is capable of adapting to life as a civilian (given his history of running legitimate businesses like the Cabaret Grand and Majima Construction), whereas Shishido's life of poverty and slavery meant he could never comprehend living life on the straight and narrow road, which prompts him to rebel against Watase.
• Evil Gloating: Talks at length about how he prepared to ruin Watase's conspiracy for two years, how he hated Tsuruno and making fun of Watase as he records with his phone.
• Eye Scream: During the Final Boss fight One of his unarmed combos now ends with an additional Grapple Move. Fail to break out of his grasp and he'll graphically gouge Kiryu's right eye. The unused Dynamic Intro for said Final Boss fight also has him attempt to do so before Kiryu barely manages to intercept his finger.
• Fatal Flaw: Impulsiveness. Shishido just doesn’t have the talent to create plans or bring them to fruition. In contrast to previous antagonists that were able to have their plans realized, Shishido at the end of the day can only use his might to get the results he wants. While he says he plans to get others to become the pillar of the Omi Alliance, it’s his plan to swarm Kiryu and the gang that fails BOTH times because he didn’t have a backup plan. His only recourse was to beat the problem to death.
• Fate Worse than Death: Rather than dying with some form of dignity like past villains in the franchise, he ends up getting enslaved again, this time by the Daidoji Faction, who see value in the fact that he managed to almost succeed in his plans. Not only that, but he now has to spend the rest of his days working with Nishitani, his former enslaver, who he hated.
• Final Boss: Shishido becomes the final barrier standing in the way of the yakuza's final dissolution as he rallies the survivors of the Omi meeting and ultimately duels Kiryu himself in the halls of Omi HQ. Given Kiryu's status in Infinite Wealth, this makes him the last Yakuza to face the full might of the Dragon of Dojima.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Him being fond of golf is not merely a throwaway quirk of his, but also indicates his love for the yakuza lifestyle (much like Awano from 0) as golf is usually regarded as a rich man's sport. Which makes it all the more suspicious that he would take Watase's plan to disband the Omi gracefully.
  • Just before enacting his betrayal, he's the only Omi member who doesn't bow to Watase when the latter returns from prison.
• Freudian Excuse: He spent his entire teenage years stuck as a servant to the Kijin Clan, where he was forced to fight for his life practically every day. He only achieved his freedom by joining the Watase Family, where he was introduced to a life of luxury for the first time. Needless to say, he responds particularly poorly to Watase's plans to dissolve the Omi Alliance. To him, it means he'll have to start from the bottom again.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His face is positively littered with cuts that show off the rough life he's lived. It makes him look particularly frightening whenever he starts emoting particularly strongly, and likely plays a part in his conviction that a "normal" life outside the Yakuza is impossible for him.
• Graceful Loser: At least when it comes to golf. If Kiryu beats him at golf, Shishido rewards him with prize money. He is far more spiteful when it comes to his defeat following his betrayal, outright walking all the way to Omi HQ and rallying any survivors to fight against the Tojo-Omi legends one last time.
• Hidden Depths: Despite his outwardly brutish appearance, he's an avid golfer who takes pride in his skills, though it also points to him being Nouveau Riche.
• Hypocrite: When he betrays Watase and Tsuruno, he accuses the two for scheming behind the rest of Omi's back concerning the dissolution, to ensure its highest chance of success. But despite already knowing about Watase's plan two years prior, instead of voicing his displeasure back then, he pretends to help the plan along while simultaneously rallying the rest of Watase Family to his side behind Watase's and Tsuruno's backs, and only reveals his hand when Watase and Tsuruno are their weakest. He also mentions not having even a shred of respect for Tsuruno, believing he is a bootlicker for Watase, yet he's perfectly willing to lick the boots of Nishitani III, the very man who had previously made his life a living hell. Kiryu even lampshades this after Nishitani arrives on the construction site:
  Kiryu: What was that about bootlicking earlier? Looks like you're happy to do just the same.
  Shishido: Sure fuckin' am... Look where it's gotten me.
• Impaled Palm: Majima stabs him through the hand during the ending sequence but Shishido is beyond the point of caring at this point. He even rips out Majima's tanto with his teeth after about a minute of just leaving it in there!
• Implacable Man: He can take on yakuza legends like Majima and Saejima without flinching and gives Kiryu one of his longest duels by just refusing to stay down.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after his Japanese voice actor, Yasukaze Motomiya.
• Just a Gangster: He is opposed to Watase and Daigo's plans to dissolve the Omi and Tojo since he refuses to give up the life of prestige he's worked so hard to claim for a life that he has no idea how to deal with.
• Katanas Are Just Better: He wields a katana pilfered from Nishitani III in the final boss fight against him. When Kiryu shatters the first one early on, he swipes another one from an armor stand, before finally being disarmed of that and being sent upwards onto a skylight.
• Laser-Guided Karma: In his introductory scene, he casually murders several Daidoji agents during the Watase Family's ambush. Once Kiryu defeats him, the Daidoji faction apprehends him with the intention of forcing him and Nishitani into their service, putting Shishido into another leash he can't escape.
• Leitmotif: "Deadly Struggle" for the first half of his final encounter, and "Hakanaki Yume" ("Fleeting Dreams") for the second. The first half is frankly self-explanatory, representing his unwilling resolve to let the Yakuza and everything he spent fighting for just dissipate in front of him. The second half, however, is a mournful track that makes his strife tragic given everything he endured to be able to reach the top of the yakuza food chain.
• The Long Game: It turns out that he'd been planning to betray Watase the moment he made his plans to disband the Omi Alliance, which was two years before the game's events began. But rather than enact his betrayal right there and then, Shishido instead waited for the moment Watase would announce the Omi's dissolution. Once the rest of Watase's subordinates inevitably protest against the dissolution, Shishido would swoop in and galvanize them to form a new Omi Alliance. Not only that, but he also waited until Tsuruno made an attempt on Nishitani's life and exploited this betrayal to sway the Kijin Clan patriarch and the rest of his family to Shishido's side.
• Love Martyr: While "love" is a big stretch, Shishido admires Nishitani as the model Yakuza despite the years of abuse he suffered under the Kijin Clan patriarch. He even colludes with Nishitani by faking the latter's death as part of his plan to betray Watase.
• Made a Slave:
  • His father sold him to the Yakuza as a slave, forcing him into the life of a pit fighter as a kid.
  • At the end of the game, after having his final attempt at a coup foiled he's captured by Yoshimura to be used as a Daidoji asset like Nishitani III and is told that he'll be kept on an extremely short leash.
• Made of Iron: Even by Like a Dragon standards, this guy is something else. Not only does he boast a whopping 12 health bars across four phases (far and away the tankiest story boss Kiryu's ever faced, surpassing even Ryuji back in Kiwami 2) but the man survives being impaled in the palm by Majima, body-tackled through a granite slab and a roof, and flung upwards onto and subsequently beaten off of a balcony in his boss fight.
• Marathon Boss: He has a whopping four phases to his (final) boss fight with 12 health bars in total, more than any other boss in Gaiden.
• Meaningful Name: "Shishi" means "lion" in Japanese, and his irezumi is that of an Asian Lion Dog.
  • The term "shishi" itself is also used to describe late Edo period political activists, mostly used for those who wanted to overthrow the shogunate and restore power to the emperor, which included infamous killers like the Four Hitokiri; this effectively reflects Shishido's own violent ambitions of taking over the yakuza while all-but-worshipping the money and power they used to have.
• Oh, Crap!: While he reacts to Yoshimura's declaration of his new servitude to the Daidoji Faction with pained, barely conscious resignation, it's specifically being told that he'd be forced to work with the also indentured Nishitani that shakes him from his stupor with a look of acute shock and likely horror. The English dub makes this umch more overt, with him letting out a Little "No" before Yoshimura closes the car's trunk on him.
• Sex Slave: A conversation between Shishido and an Omi officer implied that Nishitani did not just physically and mentally abuse Shinshido, but sexually as well. The rape subtext is more apparent when directly translating their conversation from the Kansai dialect in which both Shinshido and the officer are speaking. Given Nishitani's Depraved Bisexual tendencies, it's not all that surprising.
• Tattooed Crook: Underneath his clothes is a Shishi irezumi, alongside some peonies. Shishi are said to be guardians of places they reside in, befitting Shishido's status as a lieutenant of the Watase Family (plus his name contains the kanji for lion), while the peonies represent great risks for aspirations, showing how Shishido is willing to catapult himself to becoming Chairman of the Omi Alliance even in the face of the dissolution of the yakuza. The specific combination of lion-and-peony imagery is known as Karajishi-Botan in traditional Japanese art, and symbolizes prosperity and power. The fact that his tattoo covers most of his body not only reflects his love for the yakuza lifestyle but also his inability to adjust to life as a civilian once the Omi disbands, as his tattoos will be frowned upon by society.
• Too Clever by Half: Sure, he's got the charisma and low cunning needed to lead a family of his own, and his plan to betray Watase by playing The Long Game was genuinely clever. But he's so caught up in his ambitions that he becomes blind to the external problems plaguing the yakuza, which is that society is becoming less and less tolerant of their kind, meaning that even if he succeeds in overthrowing Watase, he and the rest of the Omi will be doomed to become government lapdogs under Ryo Aoki.
• Tragic Villain: He betrayed Watase all for the sake of power and prestige, but that betrayal was a result of him refusing to relinquish the only bit of control he's ever had in his miserable life. Having been a slave for years forced to scrape by just to survive, he grew to associate the yakuza with the kind of freedom and luxury he had always dreamed of and the only place where a man who's only known violence like him could ever hope to succeed. He's ultimately a man whose dream has turned out to be All for Nothing just because he happened to be Born in the Wrong Century. Even Kiryu shows him pity and admits he isn't wrong for being upset.
• Troll: When Kiryu partakes in the Coliseum for the first time, Shishido sends him a pink luchador mask with fuzzy ears to wear. Kiryu is not amused in the slightest. He also reveal his treachery by recording Watase and asking him to strike a pose.
• True Final Boss: From a metanarrative standpoint, he's the final obstacle standing between Kiryu and the end of his 30-year journey with the Tojo Clan as a whole. And unlike Iwami, he more than lives up to that expectation, both from a canon and from a gameplay standpoint.
• Underestimating Badassery: On paper, his plan to swarm Kiryu, Watase and Tsuruno with himself, Nishitani III, the Kijin Clan and the Watase Family traitors was a sound strategy. Too bad he did not expect the former three to defeat every single one of them. He also thinks he can take out all the Tojo Legendary Yakuza and while he makes a strong case of being on par with them he is ultimately bested by Kiryu like every contender.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Tsuruno accuses him of being this when he betrays him and Watase, even though the captain was the one who freed him from Nishitani's service. Shishido retorts that it was his own strength that got him to the position of lieutenant and the perks that came with it, rather than Tsuruno's kindness. Shishido and Nishitani also feel the same way about the dissolution as it means all the dirty work they did for their boss that makes them wanted and alienated them from the civilian life meant nothing.
• Villainous Valor: Kiryu can't help but respect his strength and tenacity, sharing the same yakuza instinct of thriving to be the strongest.
• Walking Spoiler: It's hard to hide his pivotal role in the game's climax, putting aside being the Final Boss.
• Would Hurt a Child: Just before the final battle with him, he mentions paying a visit to the Morning Glory orphans. Kiryu dismisses this as mind games, but given how scheming and vengeful he's proven to be, there's every chance he wasn't bluffing. Then again, this is likely Kiryu refusing to let this threat cloud his judgment and prevent him from stopping Shishido then and there.

Kijin Clan

Homare Nishitani III

Voiced by: Kim Jaeuck (Japanese), Tyler Yamabe (English)

"And what's your name?"

The third patriarch of the Kijin Clan, and the most-recent bearer of the "Homare Nishitani" name, first held by its late namesake. His base of operations is a massive, lavish ship located around Sotenbori known as the Castle.

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• Agent Peacock: With painted nails, soft features and a brightly-coloured outfit, he's very pretty. But he's also incredibly sadistic, cruel, and very, very dangerous. He didn't make the rank of Kijin Clan patriarch for nothing.
• Arc Villain: The main villain of the midpoint of the game towards its end, but more because he is a potential new leader for the Omi Alliance than because he is the mastermind behind anything.
• Ax-Crazy: He's just as unstable and violent as his predecessor, but far less noble. He was absolutely brutal in the past, and is far too excited to face off against Kiryu.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: The second fight with him takes place in the Kijin Clan headquarters after it's been set on fire by the Watase Family.
• Blood Knight: Definitely loves a good fight. So much that he finds being a powerful Patriarch boring now that everyone's too scared to take him on in a fight.
• Connected All Along: As it turns out, he's a former member of the Jingweon mafia who clawed his way into the Omi Alliance, only revealing his Korean heritage when he was already patriarch and thus effectively untouchable to those who believed it to be an issue.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Joon-Gi Han. They are both handsome crime lords who run a Bread and Circuses establishment, are vicious blood knights, and are members of the Jingweon mafia, or "were" in Nishitani's case. But while Han is a Hunk who fights with Good Old Fisticuffs, Nishitani is a Lean and Mean Pretty Boy who primarily fights with his knife. Han has white hair but wears dark colors, while Nishitani has dark hair and his wardrobe is bright. And while they are both obsessed with fighting Kiryu, Han's obsession was driven by a pragmatic goal of consolidating his position and is otherwise pretty calm and collected, while Nishitani's is simply because he gets off on violence and wants a worthy opponent.
• Death Faked for You: After his second fight with Kiryu, Kiryu insists on carrying Nishitani out of the burning building they're in. Shishido then stabs Nishitani to "death" when Kiryu has his back turned, and it's revealed in the finale that the knife was a toy and the blood was fake.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: In a series rife with characters that are similar to, based on, or otherwise inspired by Goro Majima in his iconic original showing in the first game, Nishitani III is arguably the nastiest. He's got the faux-charming demeanor, the knife-based fighting style, the love of fighting and overall unpredictability. However he takes the savage cruelty and lecherous tendencies to their logical conclusion being a man infamous for brutally torturing his targets to death and literally enslaving people to either take part in deadly combat sports or be reduced to playthings to satisfy his depraved tastes.
• Depraved Bisexual: Much like his predecessor, he enjoys the company of women and men. He's happy to surround himself with attractive women as he's lounging but he also gets aroused at the prospect of fighting Kiryu and noticeably has a male attendant grooming his nails. It's also implied through dialogue that he sexually assaulted Shishido while the latter was still his slave.
• The Dreaded: His cruelty and position as one of the most powerful Omi subsidiaries makes him feared and respected even among the Omi. Tsuruno cites this reason for wanting him dead, not only because he would be the biggest threat to Watase's plans to dissolve the Omi, but because his cruelty is something he cannot stomach.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Even Watase has to admit Nishitani has every right to try to gut him, Watase not only plan to dissolve what Nishitani worked hard for but more or less put a hit on him so he couldn't intervene during the dissolution, despite Nishitani having gone above and beyond so Watase stay in charge and keep a clean image.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His sole redeeming trait is that he truly respects Watase, Tsuruno claiming that he'll talk at length about it whenever he gets drunk. When he finds out that Watase plans to dissolve the Omi Alliance, Nishitani is genuinely hurt by his idol's betrayal.
• Eyepatch of Power: In his final encounter, he's wearing a bandage over his eye, showing that he's still yet to fully recover from his Kiryu-inflicted wounds.
• Faking the Dead: He briefly does this with the help of Shishido and a fake sword that spurts blood. With this, he makes Tsuruno think his assassination plot succeeded and gets him off his back for long enough to surprise Watase after his release.
• Flunky Boss: During his third and final encounter, he's accompanied by four henchmen.
• Giggling Villain: A chunk of the sounds he makes in combat are unsettling giggling.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after his South Korean voice actor, Kim Jaeuck. Makes sense as In-Universe he's an ex-member of the Korean Jingweon mafia.
• Interface Screw: In all of his fights he likes to throw flashbangs, briefly turning the entire screen white.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: When he realizes "Joryu" is going to fight him for real, he goes into a rant in favor so sexually charged that his opponent outright suggests he wants to do something other than fight.
• It's All About Me: He loves his tenure of the Castle as it gets him an opportunity to flaunt and he doesn't mind going against the Watase Clan to get what he wants despite liking Watase. Part of why he is so heartbroken about the dissolution is that he refuses to see it as anything than a personal betrayal from Watase, as he took him as ex-Jingweon saying only his skills matter then suddenly Watase decides to hospitalize or kill Nishitani because he won't accept the dissolution and make his own Omi alliance if need be. He doesn't understand the yakuza era is over or that it's for their own sake the Omi need to disband because he is doing alright on his boat.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Wields a katana in his final boss fight.
• King Bob the Nth: A variant, as he is the leader of his faction and the third such person to take the name Homare Nishitani.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He ends up getting apprehended and put to work by the Daidoji, just like he had enslaved Shishido and many others.
• Legacy Character: His name is only a title, seemingly a tradition started up by the Kijin following their original patriarch's death.
• Leitmotif: "Psycho's Anthem", a chaotic and frenetic electronic track that calls to mind Joon-gi Han's own motif from Yakuza 6, "Theory of Beauty". Appropriate, given he's ex-Jingweon.
• Lightning Bruiser: On top of his agility and erratic attack patterns, he's also quite a tough customer, boasting several health bars to get through in all of his encounters.
• Made a Slave: After he's defeated in the ending, Yoshimura kidnapped him offscreen to be used as a Daidoji asset.
• Made of Iron: During his final boss fight, in which he is clearly still recovering from his previous encounter with Kiryu, he somehow survives being knocked off a scaffolding and then being hit by a limousine driving at top speed. Perhaps this trait is why the Daidoji takes him alive after this fight.
• Purple Is Powerful: Has a violet/magenta battle aura and is not only the patriarch of the Kijin Clan, but is also every bit as tough as you can imagine a Yakuza patriarch would be.
• Psycho Knife Nut: Much like his previous namesake in 0.
• Psycho Supporter: To Watase. Nishitani even admits that some of the terrible things that he does are because he's willing to dirty his hands in Watase's place.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: A conversation between Shishido and an Omi officer implied that Nishitani did not just physically and mentally abuse Shishido, but sexually as well. The rape subtext is more apparent when directly translating from the Kansai dialect in which both Shishido and the officer are speaking. Given Nishitani's Depraved Bisexual tendencies, it's not all that surprising.
• Recurring Boss: He's fought three times in the story.
• Russian Roulette: Shishido's flashback that Nishitani used to play this with the former while he was still his slave.
• Sadist: Ignoring how he obviously enjoyed making Shishido suffer in the past, he apparently had a signature torture routine of pulling out all the victim's fingernails, cutting off their nose, cutting their bellies, and cauterizing said cuts. And that was just the ending!
• Sex Is Violence: Before his first battle with Kiryu, he taunts him by grabbing his crotch and making innuendos about his recently unfulfilled desire to fight, even saying that the lack of one has given him blue balls. Kiryu has to ask him if he's still talking about fighting.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Shishido was initially one of his slave gladiator fighters, and at the Castle debt slaves are abused and humiliated, kept in cells when they're not being forced to drag chariots for rich patrons.
• Shadow Archetype: While he has the sadism, perversion and hedonism down, he lacks his predecessor's virtue and loyalty. He has no problem keeping Shishido as a slave, betraying and stabbing Watase when he plans to disband the Omi Alliance.
  • It was implied that the original Nishitani's twisted sense of justice and love for his Uncle Biliken drove him as a teenager to murder a fellow student who stabbed Biliken's daughter to death, leading Biliken to decide that sometimes there are "necessary monsters". By contrast, Nishitani III's barely contained cruelty and sadism, particularly the brutal torture, mutilation and attempt to bury alive one of Tsuruno's renegade underlings, was what drove Tsuruno to conclude that monsters like Nishitani III shouldn't be allowed to exist in the world.
• A Sinister Clue: Wields his tanto knife in his left hand is one of the nastiest knife users the series has to offer.
• Slasher Smile: Capable of some nasty looking smiles that often mar his otherwise very pretty face. Most noticeable in one of the loading screens.
• Spoiled by the Cast List: The fact that he is ex-Jingweon was somewhat spoiled by the fact that his voice actor is Korean.
• Victory Is Boring: Admits to Kiryu that it's been a long time since he fought an opponent capable of challenging him, to the point that he got "blue balls" from the lack of challenge.
• Villainous Breakdown: Devolves into ranting mania after realizing Watase's betrayal, to the point of shouting at Tsuruno to just die.
  Nishitani: Tsuruno… just fucking die!

The Daidoji Faction

Boss

Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English)

A mysterious, high-ranking member of the Daidoji Faction.

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• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only ever referred to as "Boss" in Gaiden.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Downplayed, but it's clear that he puts a lot of trust in the Head Priest, enough that instead of having both Hanawa and Kiryu executed for their lapse of judgment, he instead tests their loyalty to each other after the Head Priest begs for the both of them to be spared. He even admits that Tsuruno's absolutely massive bribe of 50 billion yen in Watase family assets was just the cherry on top.

Kihei Hanawa (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English)^{Other Languages} Liu Shengbo (Chinese)

"Best of luck, codename Joryu."

The acting leader of the Daidoji Faction, and Joryu's direct superior.

For tropes on his original identity, see here.

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• Canon Character All Along: Although not mentioned outright, in the ending, before Joryu sets off on his vacation, Hanawa explains to Joryu that he is also a man who found a new life. This, coupled with the fact that he has the same voice actor, and that he knew of Kiryu's Taichi Suzuki alias, implies that Hanawa is actually Yuu Morinaga, once thought to have been killed by Masato Aizawa back in 2012. A fact that was eventually confirmed by Yokoyama himself.
• Car Fu: Comes crashing in with a limousine to run over Nishitani III before he could kill Watase.
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway: He survived being Killed Offscreen back in 2012, only to end up dying for real in the exact same way years later under a new identity.
• Clark Kenting: All it took for Morinaga to adopt the identity of Hanawa was to let his hair grow out a bit and go gray from age, comb it in a more formal and non-slicked back style, shave his moustache, and put on glasses, with minimal plastic surgery to make his jawline smoother.
• Dead-Hand Shot: His death in Infinite Wealth is first shown this way, with only his hand, a blood splatter, and his phone ringing with Kiryu trying to contact him being visible.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Gets unceremoniously killed off in Infinite Wealth.
• Dual Boss: He's fought alongside Yoshimura and several other Daidoji agents in Chapter 2. Unlike Yoshimura, he actually has the sense to stand his ground and take Joryu head-on.
• Foreshadowing: When ordered to shoot Kiryu, he hesitated on the grounds that Kiryu had saved him on two occasions. Kiryu gives him a puzzled look. Assuming the events of the game up to that point count as one incident, it'd mean there's something else he has in mind, which the ending seems to imply (and was confirmed by Word of God, as mentioned above) is his brief alliance with Kiryu back in Yakuza 5 as Morinaga.
• Heel–Face Turn: He's actually Yuu Moringa, who was one of the leading figures of Yakuza 5's conspiracy and one of Kiryu's enemies. Despite still engaging in some sketchy activity as acting leader of the Daidoji, he ultimately chooses to do right by Kiryu even if it means putting his own life on the line.
• I Owe You My Life: When being made to execute Kiryu for rebelling against the order to eliminate the Watase Family, Hanawa can't bring himself to do it, saying that as Kiryu went out of his way to save him he can't betray that debt, and accepts death from Yoshimura...only to hear the click of a empty gun.
• I Never Told You My Name: When Kiryu goes on vacation, Hanawa gives him a fake ID bearing the name "Taichi Suzuki", which was Kiryu's alias when he was a cab driver in Nagasugai. Makes sense given Hanawa is actually Morinaga, and he knew of that alias seven years prior.
• Moveset Clone: Uses the exact same Lawman Baton-centric fighting style as Kisuke Watanabe from Lost Judgment with the addition of tossing out flashbang grenades.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Visibly shorter than Kiryu and a number of other associates and very strategic and intellectual.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Very similar to Yuu Morinaga from 5 with his cool-headed, eloquent, intelligent demeanor and overall professionalism. He even shares the same voice actor. Of course, this is intentional.
• The Un-Reveal: Despite every possible hint pointing to him being Yuu Morinaga being given to the audience, Hanawa never explicitly says that's who he used to be to Kiryu. Justified, since the Daidoji are a clandestine group and those who are a part of it are forbidden from making any overt references to their former identities, or the fact they were even alive to begin with, lest they be eliminated. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, their members are dead men, nothing more than ghosts and shadows.
• Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to say much about Hanawa without bringing up his role in the story and possible true identity. Because he's actually a Not Quite Dead Yuu Morinaga from Yakuza 5 who somehow survived being betrayed by Aizawa thanks to the Daidoji Faction.
• The Worf Effect: Since his previous life was Yuu Morinaga, his fighting skills took a hit since becoming a Daidoji agent. Previously he was able to put up a fight, while here he needs assistance whenever he goes into battle. He doesn't even do much fighting in Infinite Wealth and when the Barracudas ransack the Daidoji safehouse he was using, he's shot before he could even get ready to fight.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: After a near brush with death in 2012, he seems to be content living as an agent for the Daidouji faction. Unfortunately, Eiji's betrayal in Infinite Wealth results in both him and Wong Tou getting killed, this time for real.

Yoshimura

Voiced by: Mitsuaki Kanuka (Japanese), Alain Uy (English)

A manager in the Daidoji Faction.

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• Bad Boss: Not one to sugarcoat it, his introductory scene has him order several agents to pin Joryu to the desk and tell him that whether or not Hanawa lives, they have no intention of saving him at all. Joryu's not exactly happy about this, to say the least.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: A non-fatal example, but he's the one to forcefully conscript Nishitani and Shinshido into the Daidoji faction's service, ensuring that they will no longer mount any opposition to the Omi and Tojo's dissolution.
• Bullying the Dragon: Unlike Hanawa who tries to build a rapport with Joryu, Yoshimura thinks he can order Joryu around by breaking him, first by removing Joryu's privileges, then sending his men to beat Joryu up into submission. It doesn't work out for Yoshimura, as Joryu proves he's more than capable of burying the Daidoji alongside their founder with his bare hands, and can very well expose their government conspiracy if they push him too far. Even Boss and the Head Priest know that it's very unwise to make an enemy out of the Dragon of Dojima.
• Dual Boss: He and Hanawa are fought alongside several other Daidoji agents in the second chapter.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: When Kiryu decides to go off on his own to save Hanawa, Yoshimura balks at this since that would just mean that Kiryu would have more eyes on him, not realizing that since joining the Daidoji, Kiryu's just trying to save what few friends he has in the faction.
• Flunky Boss: He's flanked by several Daidoji agents in both of his encounters and takes potshots at you from a distance instead of directly fighting.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: Once you corner him, he'll periodically run away from you to take potshots from a distance like Jingu or Munakata.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Plays the Bad Cop to Hanawa's Good Cop, not hesitating to threaten Kiryu whenever he's out of line.
• Not So Above It All: When Tsuruno makes a jab at Hanawa for talking too much, Yoshimura agrees with him and jokes that none of the other Daidoji members had it in them to tell Hanawa upfront.
• Smug Snake: This guy has a big ego and loves to act like he's a top dog, but in fact, he's just another thug with a gun, only bolstered by his flunkies and is not even anywhere close to Joryu's level when it comes to fighting capabilities.
• Villain Respect: Admits that he's impressed that Shishido managed to pull a fast one on the Daidoji, which is why instead of killing him, they've decided to make him one of their agents against his will.

Head Priest

Voiced by: Ikkyu Juku (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

"You renounced your name, and gave up your very existence... yet, what could possibly drive such a man to regret leaving the world, even now?"

The head priest of the Daidoji Temple, whom Joryu trains under as a disciple.

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• Becoming the Mask: It's pointed out many times that he is not an actual priest and the temple is just a front for Daidoji activities, also he was either a very high ranking or founding member of the organization prior to taking on the robes. Despite this he is dedicated to his priestly pursuits, is compassionate, patient, and understanding, and goes out his way to save both Kiryu's and Hanawa's lives in spite of Daidoji interests. He is even directly accused of getting too into his priest role few times in the story.
• Benevolent Boss: Compared to Yoshimura, the Head Priest actively helps Joryu at certain points, mostly dealing with the Daidoji's head brass and arguing in favor of Joryu.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Joryu from taking a beating from his fellow Daidoji agents by swiping the phone back from Yoshimura, sharing Joryu's sentiment to save Hanawa after he gets kidnapped by the Omi Alliance.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Just like with Boss, he's only ever called "Head Priest" in Gaiden.

Other

Akame

Voiced by: First Summer Uika (Japanese), Holly Chou (English)

A mysterious information broker who operates within Sotenbori.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: When Akame started pursuing a singing career in Sotenbori, her growth was very slow, bordering on stagnant. A homeless man who wanted to help her out bought one of her CDs and shared it with his friends, making her popular among the homeless population. After her dream job failed to pan out due to yakuza interference, she became an information broker to not only support herself, but to give back to the homeless community.
• Fiery Redhead: Her hair is dyed hot red, and she has a spunky personality to match.
• Hidden Depths: It turns out that she is an aspiring singer, and she can show her singing chops during her karaoke sessions with Kiryu.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Modeled after her Japanese voice actress, First Summer Uika.
• Knowledge Broker: Similar to the Florist, she operates an information network utilizing the local homeless population.
• Samus Is a Girl: Was thought to be a man by Joryu before revealing herself to be a young woman.
• Ship Tease: She has a few with Joryu, being the only female ally that he interacts with frequently in the game. One notable moment is her using the common ‘food, bath, or me‘ to flirt with him. Joryu, who had just returned from being beaten, confined, and denied food for three days under the Daidoji just brushes it off, much to her dismay.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Florist from the Kiryu Saga—operating an information network employing the city's homeless population.
• What You Are in the Dark: At the finale of her sub-story, she had the chance to restart her singing career but gave it up when she found out some homeless people were being attacked by Omi thugs.

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