Character Index
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In General
Tokyo
Neo Limited
In a bizzare twist of fate, Unlimited's formation, which was brought on by the desires of its leader to have a strong team, lead to the formation of another team to oppose them directly. Neo Limited is a young, media-savvy team, formed by drivers in their early twenties. With their flashy, high-power machines, they aim to topple the veterans of the Wangan and claim their spot in the daylight.
- Promoted to Playable: They become one of the fifteen teams the player can join in Street Supremacy.
Sanjyushi
Sometime after the Thirteen Devils' first defeat, some habitual Wangan runners decided to band together to further their goals. Thus, the Sanjyushi, literally Thirty Lions note in Japanese, were born, quickly rising to become one of Tokyo's fastest teams. The team's name originates from the key requirement one needs to meet before being invited to join it: you have be over thirty years old.
Big Wave
- Let's swallow the Metropolitan Highway in one big wave!
Formed shortly after the defeat of Thirteen Devils and the Zodiac, Big Wave has a rather short history, with its' origins traceable back to mountain pass racing. In spite of these things, the team's collective skill level is very high. All members focus on the pleasure of racing over stoicism and drive Lotus Esprit V8s.
Miracle Dogs
- Run around the fields like a dog.
Leisure above all, Miracle Dogs member are all accomunated by their shared love of outdoor life and activities like barbecuing and snowboarding. Every member's car is constantly weighed down by their personal hobby's equipment, but that does not make them any less competitive on the Yokohane Line.
Infinity
A team composed entirely by teenage heart throbs, Infinity are the dream come true of many. Young and passionate, all members hold part-time jobs through which they managed to save up enough money for their cars. In the extremely short span of six months, they've defied all expectations to become one of the fastest teams in all of Tokyo.
- Promoted to Playable: Infinity become one of the fifteen teams the player can join in Street Supremacy. As they are a late-game team, however, they can only be joined when starting New Game Plus.
Nagoya
Racing Funs
Created by employees of a major Nagoya department store, the Racing Funs cultivate a warm, friendly atmosphere in their ranks and do not let agonism run rampant, to the point of avoiding to take races too seriously. They have a close-knit relationship with Real Echo, to whom many members formerly belonged to, and R-Genesis.
Real Echo
Real Echo members belong to Nagoya University's automobile club, with almost all of them being students. Driven by youthful energy in spite of their lacking financial means, the team has an history dating back years, with former members passing their cars down to new ones. Many current members of the Racing Funs belonged to Real Echo during their formative years.
- Shout-Out: The team's logo is identical to Nagoya University's own, replacing the Japanese lettering with the team's name.
Hot Head
- We'll always be fifteen year old!
@-Tention
Rappers, DJs, dancers always running on the edge make up the members of @-Tention (read as "Attention"). They all prefer station wagons, being well aware of their cars' weaknesses but being skilled enough in both driving and tuning to cover them well. They nearly worship Seeks.
Genesis-R
Genesis R's logo.
Doctors, lawyers, political secretaries: Nagoya's wealthies and most influent all converged to form Genesis-R, one of the two strongest teams of Nagoya's Inner Loop. Money is not a problem to team members, who all prefer luxury cars and spend lavish amounts on tuning them.- Disk-One Final Boss: Of Nagoya's first stage, alongside Seeks.
- Dual Boss: Once all members of both Seeks and Genesis-R are defeated, both "Darkness Seven" Nobuhiro Oda (leader of the former) and "Ogre Deity" Yota Takino (leader of the latter) will take you on a two-against-one battle.
- Enemy Mine: Yota will put his differences with Seeks and Nobuhiro aside, in spite of them being sworn rivals to him and his team, to take on the player together in a last-ditch attempt to stop their meteoric rise in Nagoya's street racing world.
- Friendly Rivalry: With Seeks, as they view them as worthy opponents.
- Strong and Skilled: Genesis-R are far from being mere glitz and glamour. Their luxury cars, which would normally be nothing more than Mighty Glaciers, have been tuned enough to mitigate their weight penalty, whilst their drivers are good enough to overwhelm the average opponent through raw skill and technique.
Seeks
Seeks' logo.
Seeks have one objective on their mind at all times: pure speed. Eschewing many philosophies and approaches typical to their fellows, team members exclusively act with purpose, preferring more practical ways to tune and drive their cars. They are renowed far and wide for their ability in tuning a car's electronics, with particular attention given to the ECU.
- Boring, but Practical: One of the characterizing elements of Seeks. Team members only tune their cars if they find sense or reason to do so, avoiding modifications that, in their eyes, serve nothing. This translates into their driving style as well: they might not be flashy or memorable, but all that matters is that they get the job done.
- Disk-One Final Boss: Of Nagoya's first stage, alongside Genesis-R.
- Dual Boss: Once all members of both Seeks and Genesis-R are defeated, both "Darkness Seven" Nobuhiro Oda (leader of the former) and "Ogre Deity" Yota Takino (leader of the latter) will take you on a two-against-one battle.
- Enemy Mine: Nobuhiro will put his differences with Genesis-R and Yota aside, in spite of them being sworn rivals to him and his team, to take on the player together in a last-ditch attempt to stop their meteoric rise in Nagoya's street racing world.
- Friendly Rivalry: With Genesis R.
- Meaningful Name: Team members are accomunated by their constant seeking of pure speed and new tuning methods to reach it. They also seek new members all across the country in order to finally best their long-time rivals, Genesis-R, and turn their attention towards becoming the fastest team in Japan.
M/R
A team of women, for women, M/R stand out in Nagoya's darkly industrial climate thanks to the cute atmosphere that they create. In spite of the team's members coming from all kinds of backgrounds, they're a solid group interested in improving their racecraft above fame and renown. Their biggest weakness? Shyness around male racers.
Castle Stage
Originally a ragtag group of drivers involved in zero-yonnote races around Nagoya Castle, Castle Stage came together to defend their honour after being mocked and defeated at the hands of Inner Loop racers on their home turf. With their settings left relatively unchanged, they quickly made a name for themselves thanks to their lightning-fast acceleration.
Face To Faith
A team of gaijin who call the Port of Nagoya home, Face To Faith members all drive foreign cars with large engines, with the matching skills and technique to get the best out of them. They all believe in communicating through battles, and want to reach out to Japanese racers through them.
Willows
With a love of eating only matched by a love for racing, Willows are food fanatics who are more known for trying to one-up each other in eating contests at newly found all-you-can eat buffets than their speed: it's rumored that they inevitably lose all concentration if they grow hungry. In spite of a strong sense of unity, the team's members are all rivals to one another and don't get along that well.
Shake Hips
A very young team formed recently and based out of Chita. Tuning takes precedence over driving for members of Shake Hips, to the point of regularly attracting crowds whenever stopping by a PA. This is in spite of their secret ambition of becoming Japan's fastest team.
Tribute-J
A group of drivers fanatically devoted to J, legendary Nagoya street racer who disappeared ten years prior, to the point of being more of a fan club than a team. Underestimate Tribute-J at your own risk, however, as they aim to emulate their idol in everything that made him a formidable force.
Purple Bullet
Formed by wealthy hosts hailing from Nagoya's cabaret clubs, Purple Bullet is an extremely wealthy team, with a matching aura of glitz and glamour. The team name derives from the color of team leader "Night Ruler" Takahashi Masa's favourite suit.
Another Heaven
Tatsuya Oze was once called "the most dangerous driver of the Tokyo Metropolitan Highway", a reputation that spread like a wildfire through Japan. After leaving Double Mind, Oze moved to Nagoya, where last year he started his own racing team, Another Heaven. Quickly rising to the same level of infamy of his previous one, if there's something team members dislike more than other teams are each other.
Flower Dancers
When workers at a gay bar in downtown Nagoya are on their off-work days, they don't rest: they wear the banner of the Flower Dancers proudly and head out to race in their all-wheel-drive sedans. Power and grace characterize the team, known to many from Nagoya all the way to Tokyo and Osaka.
Glory Days
Glory Days members all share a strong love for classic cars of a bygone era they refuse to let die. They were brought together by the call of a car magazine, and under the charismatic leadership of "Wind Walker" Hirotaka Suzuki, they quickly grew united and consolidated themselves as contenders on Nagoya's highways.
De La Speed
- Show off!
Breath Less
The fastest team on the Outer Ring, Breath Less members are supposed to fly their pride of being the fastest like a flag: anyone who doesn't so is promptly kicked out. Lacking in cohesion due to their strong personalities and held together by team leader "Second Generation Mistress" Satomi Higuchi, they're incredibly hostile towards Another Heaven members, and will waste no chance at battling against them.
Osaka
First Lady
Started by an Ashiya-born girl who used her parents money to buy a mid-rear engined car, all First Lady members drive Toyota MR2s. They have a very rough driving style, completely uncaring of those they're racing against and traffic cars: some claim this to be a way for them to release the stress of their mundane lives. In spite of that, they have a solidly high win ratio for rookies.
Nippon-Bashi
Nippon-Bashi is made up of owners of various electronics and PC stores in the epynonymous Osaka neighborhood. With money to burn, their cars are all equipped with the latest electronic equipments, such as navigation systems, road surface sensors, and driving assistants.
VIP Project
Armed with an ample budget, VIP Project was exclusively built around VIP-style cars: big, heavy and powerful, they rampage through the Outer Loop of Osaka, intoxicated by the pleasure and overwhelming power of their cars.
Biriken Club
A very strange group of people who seemingly praise the Billiken
as a god who brings good luck when the sole of his feet are stroked. They all suffered major heartbreaks, but had their fortunes seemingly turned around by the Billiken, who was "lost and found" like they were. None of what you just read was made up or speculated up.
as a god who brings good luck when the sole of his feet are stroked. They all suffered major heartbreaks, but had their fortunes seemingly turned around by the Billiken, who was "lost and found" like they were. None of what you just read was made up or speculated up. Drifters
Originally a Mount Rokko-based drift team, hence the name, the Drifters expanded their operations to Osaka to test their skills in highway battles. Members of the team prioritize safety, which means they arrive on the Beltway around daybreak, where there's next to no traffic.
NO LOSER
NO LOSER's logo by the time of Import Tuner Challenge.
One of Osaka's most notorious teams, winning is the name of the game for NO LOSER. When one member is defeated, every single other one will seek revenge on their behalf. Winning and avenging losses are so integral to the identity of NO LOSER that those who are defeated too many times are subject to a punishment known as "yaki-iru", a group beatdown from other members of the team.NO LOSER surprisingly return in Import Tuner Challenge, on a second expedition to Tokyo to avenge a prior loss from three years prior. They're one of the final obstacles in the player's way to becoming Tokyo's fastest.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Especially when compared to other teams, NO LOSER do not concern themselves with issues such as "driving safely against driving recklessly", "flashy against practical" or "snobs versus slobs". To them, all that matters is winning. If anyone defeats one of their members once, they'll be relentlessly hunted down until the score is even, but if one of their own members loses too many times, they'll be the one hunted and beat down.
- Caps Lock: Spelled by choice with all caps, to draw attention to it and what it means.
- Japanese Delinquents: The team's entire image is based around the concept, down to their sticker featuring a stereotypical depiction of one. Loud, proud, overly focused on matters of honour, and tend to swarm whoever messes with one of them.
- Meaningful Name: As obvious as it might be, a team called "NO LOSER" does not handle losses well, to the point that they punish members who lose too much as a matter of metaphorically trying to wash away the shame.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: "Yaki-iru", the punishment members of the team who lose too many times are subject to, is described as a savage beatdown from other members of the team all at once.
- Promoted to Playable: NO LOSER become one of the fifteen teams the player can join in Street Supremacy. However, they need to be unlocked by conquering the Tokyo Expressway and starting a New Game Plus beforehand.
- You Have Failed Me: NO LOSER do not accept defeat, but they're rather generous with it. It isn't until a member consistently loses battles that, as punishment, they're subjected to "yaki-iru", which is described as a a group beatdown in Import Tuner Challenge. As a result, very few tend to stick with the team long-term, and NO LOSER has been on the verge of dissolution multiple times.
Home Run
Home Run is entirely composed of reserve players of the Hanshin Tigers, Osaka Buffaloes and Orix BlueWave baseball teams. With a wide variety of vehicles, including American muscle cars, they quickly rose to be one of the strongest teams of the area.
Millennium 2
Founded in 2000 to revolutionize Osaka's street racing scene for the turn of the millennium, Millennium 2, alternatively called Millennium 2000 or Millennium Nisen, were at one point the strongest team in all of Osaka, only to stall out and go on hiatus. They recently returned to try and reclaim their spot.
Miyabi
Based out of Kyoto, Miyabi performs regular expeditions to Osaka to defeat rival teams and proclaim their city's superiority. Heavily prejudiced against Osakans, whom they think to be nothing but "country bumpkins", they heavily rely on their state-of-the-art cars.
Baldy's
Baldy's is one of Osaka's strongest teams. With a wide variety of personalities, cars, and driving styles, they have next to no blind spots in their line-up. They're also famous for their high team unity, as members openly collaborate to help one another improve.
Low Position
Believing that only "by lowering the car, its true speed can come to light", Low Position requires members to drop their cars to the ground as much as possible, with no regard to ground clearance. They also regularly volunteer to pick up trash at the various PAs, impressing their fellows.
Perfect Works
Perfect Works is an all-Nissan, all-sedan team: members' cars are split evenly between the Cedric HY34 and the Gloria HY33. High in technique, low in finances, all members are married with children.
Team Kengo
A period drama troupe, Team Kengo stumbled into the world of highway racing almost entirely by accident. Yet, when they realized that the tension of highway racing had an unexpectedly positive effect on their performances, they continued to run, constantly immersing themselves "between life and death".
G.R.O.
G.R.O., full name Great Racing Osaka, are all passionate natives of the city who give it their all no matter who they are facing. They're a well-known team in their hometown, but their decision to shorten their name into an acronym has been the subject of mockery.
- Fun with Acronyms: Their name stands for "Great Racing Osaka".
Night Wing
In the days when loud exhausts seem to rule as sovereigns, Night Wing consider themselves "quiet hunters", famous for entering their opponents' slipstream and launching themselves ahead at the exit of turns.
Univer-SARU
Employees of Universal Studios Japan are the founders and members of Univer-SARU. They're reputed to be mediocre drivers constantly switching out their cars, but due to preferring high-power vehicles, they manage to stand out amongst crowds. The other thing they're famous for is in-team drama caused by love stories between members.
Shoryu Group
The Shoryu Group is "a traditional organization spanning across generations with unclear funding" active through-out the Kansai Prefecture. Recently, the newest generation of members overcame internal opposition and begun expanding through new, innovative business ventures.
- Yakuza: Although the game doesn't spell it out loud, it's abundantly clear the Shoryu Group is a Yakuza syndicate: they're a long-existing organization with money seemingly appearing out of thin air and notorious for their crude, violent, and thuggish behaviour. That their cars are all equipped with bulletproof glass can only put any leftover doubts to rest.
Kaze
Kaze members want to stand out and win, as they believe it to be "the essence of manliness". In spite of that, their win ratio leaves much to be desired. They're all hot-blooded and old-fashioned, and dress up like fighter pilots from the Forties, which often causes them to be confused for a biker gang.
Harisen Chop
An all GT-R team famous for their use of nitrous oxide to gain the advantage in races and blast their rivals away. Harisen Chop have become one of Osaka's strongest teams through this strategy, but the amount of engines they destroy in the process is becoming something of a concern. Their dream is to be able to defeat DARTS and become Osaka's undisputed strongest.
DARTS
Darts' logo.
Osaka has a reputation for being loud, chaotic, unrestrained, something that extends to its' inhabitants. And yet, the city's strongest street racing team, one of the strongest across all of Japan, couldn't be farther removed from those ideas. Stoic. Determined. No-nonsense. They do not miss a single opening to quickly overwhelm their opponents and deliver crushing defeats.DARTS are unmatched through-out Osaka. The team has nine members split across three sub-units, and they collectively boast an undefeated record, not having lost a single time since their founding.
- Caps Lock: Make no mistake, in spite of the logo spelling it as "Darts", it's supposed to be spelled "DARTS", all caps, which is how it's written everywhere else in the game.
- Climax Boss: DARTS' leader and second-in-command, "Kami" Kawajiri and "Nothingness" Manabe, will be the last opponents the player will face in Osaka.
- Defeat Means Friendship:
- This is how one joins DARTS to begin with. Prospective members are given a sticker only after proving themselves through battles, be it through victory or defeat, as was with Manabe. Given that rumors claim DARTS never lost a battle to outsiders, it's very likely "Kami" Kawajiri personally defeated and handpicked opponents to join him.
- A more specific example is second-in-command "Nothingness" Masami Manabe. Masami was deemed unbeatable when Kami challenged him, only to be trounced so thoroughly by him all he could do was gracefully recognize his defeat and become his number two.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: DARTS are known to have never, ever lost a single a battle to outsiders, and for good reasons. It makes it all the more shocking when the player shows up and beats the entire team single-handedly, including the team's leader and second-in-command. The shock proves to be so great, the cutscene afterwards implies it caused DARTS to spontaneously disband.
- Dual Boss: "Nothingness" Manabe and "Kami" Kawajiri are fought together once the latter's SP Bar is halfway drained.
- Meaningful Name:
- "Darts" generally refers to a game where a player at a time throws three darts per turn, with the objective of reducing a fixed score to zero. DARTS' main team is split up in three sub-units, one smaller than the other, who take on the player one at a time, making the team's name far more literal.
- Less obvious, but darts can be described as "metallic missiles with fletchings". Cars, in the contest of highway racing, can also be described as "metallic missiles with fletchings", or rather, "spoilers", which all team members' cars have.
