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| “ | I can take another name, and build a new life... But on the inside I'll always have that instinct, no matter how much I hate it. I'm yakuza through and through. Guile only gets you so far in this game. Remember that. You won't get another chance. | „ |
| ~ Kazuma to Aoyama. |
Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬) is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Ichiban Kasuga) of SEGA's Like a Dragon franchise.
He was the main protagonist of the Yakuza Saga, and later on one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Masumi Arakawa) of the Like a Dragon Saga.
Kazuma Kiryu was the former lieutenant advisor of the Dojima Family in the Tojo Clan until one fateful night he took the blame for the murder of his boss, Sohei Dojima to protect his best friend, Akira Nishikiyama who was the real murderer. His legendary exploits of his accession to the Tojo clan and infamous back tattoo earned him the title of Dragon of Dojima.
Over time, he became the adopted father of Haruka Sawamura, who was the daughter of his late love interest, Yumi Sawamura. He eventually became a Caretaker of Morning Glorly Orphanage, taking in eight children, with Haruka serving as the eldest sister to them.
Kiryu faced a lot of trouble throughout his life, which eventually got worse in Yakuza 6, when he was serving time in prison, Haruka mysteriously disappeared from the orphanage. After being released from prison, he went to search for her, only to find out she was in an accident, protecting her son, Haruto. After the events of Yakuza 6, in order to protect Haruka and many of his loved ones, Kiryu makes a deal with the Daidoji Faction to fake his death and becomes an agent of theirs.
Portrayals[]
He is voiced by and partially modeled (starting from Yakuza 3) after Japanese voice actor Takaya Kuroda, who also voiced two historical counterparts of Kiryu, Kiryu Kazumanosuke/Miyamoto Musashi in Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! and Sakamoto Ryoma/Saito Hajime in Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! and its remake Like a Dragon Ishin!, Lin from SNK Universe, Hanzo Hattori from the Samurai Warriors series, and Masamichi Yaga from the Jujutsu Kaisen series.
In English, he was voiced by Darryl Kurylo from the original Yakuza to Yakzua: Like a Dragon, and from the beginning in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, is voiced by Yong Yea.
He is also portrayed by Masakatsu Funaki in the Like a Dragon: Prologue film and Kazuki Kitamura in a 2007 film based on the first PS2 video game. For the Amazon Prime Video original series Like a Dragon: Yakuza, he is portrayed by Ryoma Takeuchi.
Appearance[]
Kiryu is a tall, well-built, and muscular man, due to his intensive training and repeated scuffles. On his back to just above his thighs lies a white, grey, black, and red dragon grasping a pearl. His black hair is short and put in a messily slicked back style. Despite his intimidating built, he is considered to be quite handsome, having brown eyes that are commended to be beautiful and attracting girls.
Personality[]
| “ | 死にてぇ奴だけ、掛かって来い！ (Only those who have a death wish, step forth!) |
„ |
| ~ Kiryu's signature provocation |
Kazuma Kiryu is heavily infamous for being the stoic but highly just and honorable living legend in the dark world of yakuza, driven by determination and strictly adhering to his virtues and honor, which he learned from Kazama, his adoptive father. Although admitting that he is no saint, Kiryu's strong sense of justice makes it his primary priority to protect vulnerable civilians, like women and children, from corrupt yakuza and other powerful figures, and he is more than willing to die for his beliefs and the sake of others. His compassion even extends to helping out regular civilians without hesitation or expecting any reward.
One of his strongest moral tendencies is his strong protectiveness towards women, children, the elderly, and animals. His disapproval of them coming to harm is such that seeing someone violating them is bound to make him show his temper and beat them down, and he shows remorse when he slapped Haruka and his unwillingness to harm women even extends to evil women. His affinity with children makes him a strong caretaker to the children of the Morning Glory Orphanage, being genuinely kind and understanding and more than willing to go to certain lengths to keep them happy.
Kiryu is shown to be somewhat awkward towards everyday life situations, often becoming flustered and bewildered whenever women make advances or when he sees civilians get involved in bizarre and awkward situations. Nonetheless, he is patient enough to form deep relationships with them and even when they end, as seen by the termination of his romantic relationships with Yumi and Kaoru, he does not easily despair.
Despite his perseverance, he revealed that deep down there does exist a part of him that sees death as a release from his life and allowing him to reunite with his lost comrades. In the end, by drawing strength from both his love for his comrades and adopted kids and also his indomitable willpower and genuine passion for justice, however, he has never succumbed to this side and always preserved in the face of great tragedy and massive problems.
Kiryu is often recognized for being forgiving and merciful, as he prefers to spare defeated enemies rather than killing them, to the point where he even uses swords and guns in non-fatal ways, and he also is more than willing to sympathize with and forgive enemies if they truly regret, even when they had offended him personally, as displayed with his treatment of Mine over his genuine friendship with Daigo and his forgiveness of Arase and Hamazaki, even after they had killed his friend and almost stabbed him to death. He is even willing to help them out in their path for redemption and believes that people who wishes to atone for their crimes can be forgiven. However, as Kiryu himself firmly states in Yakuza 5, he has killed people. Although virtually all of the kills before Yakuza 5 were in self-defense, Kiryu states that he will not hesitate to cripple and even murder unrepentant enemies. Even he recognizes this as a flaw that he cannot remove due to his yakuza upbringing, his chilling coldness and hatred is unstoppable and could only be stopped by forceful intervention.
Powers and Abilities[]
Combat Abilities[]
Kazuma Kiryu is most well-known for his extraordinary, almost fully unmatched skill and might in battle, being deeply feared and admired by others who knew his abilities.
- Master Martial Artist: Kazuma Kiryu is a terrifyingly formidable and extraordinarily accomplished master martial artist who is perhaps the best fighter in the entire series, his skills improving as time went. He has mastered a vast variety of martial arts and is particularly skilled in wrestling, brawling, and acrobatic arts, incorprating Street Brawling, Karate, Muay Thai, Pro Wrestling, Krav Maga, Judo, Kickboxing into his Dragon of Dojima Style, created by mastering the Rush and Beast Styles and the arts that composed them and adding original deadly martial arts of his own into the mix. His fighting style is extremely versatile, able to focus in either his phenomenal speed or tremendous strength for numerous ferocious yet fluid and adaptable combat techniques. His level of skill in martial arts is such that mastering new moves and techniques are easy for him and he can even create his own original techniques. His skill is able to defeat even seasoned fighters with remarkable ease and effortlessly handle dozens of groups, even to the level of buildings and armies of enemies, including even those who are expert fighters in their own right, without taking any injuries and showing only minor exertion, most notably defeating more than 100 Tojo Clan members, besting the entire Saio Triad by himself, summarily defeating the entire Hirose Family while very easily taking down Yuta and Nagumo, even while greatly holding back, besting Akiyama and Tanimura with some difficulty while making short work of the former in a one-on-one fight, soundly overpowering Daigo in their early fights and coming out on top handily in their final fight, Daigo even admitting he was no match for him, easily besting Kuze, quickly dispatching Shindo when he was armed with a katana, making short work of Takumi Someya and Kanji Koshimizu, utterly outclassing Tsuneo Iwami while injured, and even overpowering Kasuga Ichiban and his allies without much effort. Kiryu's combat level is also enough to defeat even the most dangerous fighters even when they are armed, defeating Nishiki while not trying to kill him with a considerable amount of effort, overpowering Ryuji Goda repeatedly even when he was armed with a katana, defeating Mine after a prolonged and brutal fight, defeating Han Joong Gi twice, incapacitating Toru Hirose, the strongest Yakuza in Hiroshima who was capable of defeating the entire Saio Triad, defeating the extremely skilled Mad Dog of the Tojo Clan Goro Majima, his long-time rival, and was only ever stalemated by the legendary Taiga Saejima while he wasn't fighting at full force and Kiryu eventually proved to exceed him by defeating him in the Victory Road Tournament Finals and overpowering Raiden, who he himself considered too dangerous for even Saejima. Kiryu was also more than a match for the Amon Clan fighters, who deemed him as the ultimate warrior who they must defeat to become the best, Jo Amon describing his victory against Sango, Kazuya, and Jiro as being quick and admitting they were no match for him.
- Weaponry Expert: Kiryu eventually became a master of using melee weapons: At first, his technique was limited to using improvised weapons with basic skill and performing simplistic, wild but powerful attacks. However, he was able to develop his skill with weaponry throughout his journeys, starting from learning proper swordsmanship from Komaki and repeated duels with Majima allowing him to replicate Majima's technique as to use weapons like nunchakus, tonfas, and kali sticks with ease and considerable finesse. He is capable of easily disarming and then using the weapons of his enemies against them effectively. At one point, armed with a katana, Kiryu was able to outduel Konji Shindo without much effort.
- Master Marksman: Although rarely making use of guns, Kiryu is also quite well-versed in their use and can easily perform multiple accurate non-fatal shots in an instant. He made use of firearms primarily while fighting the zombies in Dead Souls and managed to easily gun down multiple zombies. While escaping from the Castle, Kiryu was able to accurately shoot at several of Nishitani's men while also rushing downwards and dodging their own fired bullets.
- Weaponry Expert: Kiryu eventually became a master of using melee weapons: At first, his technique was limited to using improvised weapons with basic skill and performing simplistic, wild but powerful attacks. However, he was able to develop his skill with weaponry throughout his journeys, starting from learning proper swordsmanship from Komaki and repeated duels with Majima allowing him to replicate Majima's technique as to use weapons like nunchakus, tonfas, and kali sticks with ease and considerable finesse. He is capable of easily disarming and then using the weapons of his enemies against them effectively. At one point, armed with a katana, Kiryu was able to outduel Konji Shindo without much effort.
- Superhuman Physical Conditioning: Supplementing Kazuma Kiryu's extraordinary fighting skills are his superhuman levels of physical prowess. His physical abilities in all it's fields have proven to be terrifying, being capable of effectively engaging in numerous highly difficult situations and fights even with other individuals of fearsome power and coming out on top, with very few being able to match Kiryu's physical abilities even in some aspect, such as Saejima who Kiryu monolgued that he "sets a new standard" for strength - one that he will never reach soon. The Amon Clan even considers him to be the perfect lifeform.
- Immense Strength: Kiryu's extraordinary physical strength allows him to completely overpower and handle normal enemies with ease, capable of tossing them around, restraining and slamming them, and leaving them incapacitated with only a few blows, and he can handle even large beasts and animals with ease, as shown when he stopped a charging 3-ton bull dead in its tracks and easily flipped it to the side by grabbing it's horns, manhandled two tigers at once, tipped over a gigantic yamagasa with his bare hands and pushed it with enough force to cause a shockwave, and effortlessly yanked out great white sharks over 5 meters long with only a fishing pole and a single arm and stopped one from closing it's mouth on him before punching it away. Lifting heavy objects seems to be of no problem for him, as he can lift motorcycles and electrical boxes well above his head and casually swing them around and even held up a massive wooden beam. His strength also allows him to overpower even deadly fighters, such as winning a wrestle with So Amon, physically outmatching Hiroya Egashira, and besting Majima in terms of raw strength, even stalemating the more muscular and taller Saejima.
- Immense Speed and Reflexes: Despite his muscular and large body, Kiryu's speed and reflexes are also extremely impressive. At his maximum speed with Rush and Dragon Spirit, he can effortlessly cover great distances with a single dash and dodge and counter attacks with such speed as to leave afterimages. He can move at speeds to appear as a blur and faster than the human eye can perceive and is able to react at such speed as to perceive the surroundings in slow motion. He is even capable of easily reacting to and countering bullets. Kiryu's senses are also incredible and can react to surprise attacks with ease, even when in disadvantageous situations. He is also capable of effortlessly reacting to and defeating multiple enemies at once and can even easily match Majima's infamous speed. He regularly can easily react to surprise attacks, even from master fighters like Shindo and Toru Hirose. He even delivered multiple blows on Akiyama without him being able to react.
- Immense Durability: Kiryu's body is extraordinarily resilient, and he is capable of amplifying his durable body with proper usage of techniques designed to weaken and neutralize damage. He is completely unaffected and unfazed by normal levels of blunt force, taking punches to the head without injuries, even from the likes of strong fighters like Kasuga and even Mine, and being entirely uninjured by having a glass bottle slammed into his back, and can even withstand high-level fire weapons like helicopter missiles and full-powered shark bites with only minimum damage. Kiryu's astonishing durability also allowed him to withstand numerous powerful blows from deadly enemies.
- Immense Stamina and Endurance: Kiryu's greatest strength perhaps is his terrifyingly formidable levels of stamina and endurance. With a history of participating in numerous gruesome battles, Kiryu's resilience helps him in case enemies do injure him, as he is able to weave off the damage easily and continue fighting at maximum power as well as exert himself for prolonged periods of time against enemies of remarkable power and ultimately come out on top and outlast such enemies. Even when he is exhausted, his conditioning is powerful enough to allow him to make quick recoveries even in short notice if necessary and remain formidable enough. He has even been able to repeatedly survive being shot in fairly close proximity by bullets and remain conscious for a noteworthy period of time to ultimately heal without any lasting injuries. Even while he's suffering from cancer, Kiryu is still shown to be very absurdly durable by normal standards, though not as much as he was before.
Other Abilities[]
- Intimidation: Due to his extraordinary reputation as a fighter, Kiryu commands an incredibly intimidating presence that terrifies most of his enemies and also causes them to respect him.
- Intelligence: Despite his brutish looks and attitude, Kiryu is actually extremely gifted and competent in the intellectual side of life as well, regarded as being more street smart than book smart and quicker on the go, able to quickly master most fields through real world experience without needing traditional study, making him a highly efficient helper and able to solve any minor life problems distressed civilians had. Kiryu is also remarkably perceptive and is capable of seeing through most deceptions and is quite strategical and foresightful, able to quickly anticipate future situations based on only minimum information, and swiftly devise and improvise plans to solve problems at hand, Goro even describing Kiryu as being constantly 10 steps ahead in strategy and foresight. Kiryu also displays rather considerable natural abilities as a leader, being able to quickly command respect from his allies and lead them successfully into missions, his allies usually trusting his judgment due to both his charisma and direct but tactical personality allowing him to take command over most situations.
- Master Businessman: Kiryu is an exceptional businessman. He was an incredibly successful estate agent and was able to flawlessly handle a cabaret club. Kiryu later founded the Sunshine Orphanage.
- Skilled Technician: Kiryu has displayed a remarkable skill with technology, being able to work on tiny machines like slot racing cars with immense accuracy and customize them on the fly. However, this does not apply to things such as computers and mobile phones as Kiryu is shown to struggle a fair bunch while using them before eventually getting over it (from Yakuza 6 to Infinite Wealth).
- Master Driver: Kiryu is an exceptionally skilled driver. His mastery of racing cars is such that in addition to he could defeat multiple people who were deemed to be serious contenders for professional Formula One racing but couldn't make it due to financial constraints, with nothing but just his taxi, and could easily master scuba-diving without requiring much training.
- Master Stealth: Despite Kiryu's preference for direct action, he has displayed a surprising amount of skill in stealth, as he was able to pass through multiple women in a tight alley without any of them seeing him back when he bought a porn magazine to a child in order to let him experience it for the first time, help a famous Korean pop singer Il-Yu Jin visit a gravure DVD club without getting spotted by the singer's fans, and managed to infiltrate the Saio Triad's headquarters a highly-guarded hotel when he went in to save Kiyomi Kasahara.
In Other Media[]
Project X Zone 2[]
Kazuma Kiryu appears in Project X Zone 2, paired with ex-Tojo clan member Goro Majima.
Crosspedia Entry[]
A former member of the Tojo Clan, a criminal organization based in Kamurocho, Tokyo. He has a tattoo of a dragon on his back and his been called the "Dragon of Dojima".
Although nominally he's a "tough guy", his strong sense of duty leads some to judge him as an easy mark. Still, his rugged masculinity and fighting strength have also won him many fans, and he is one of the most charismatic residents of Kamurocho.
An orphan, Kazuma was raised in the Sunshine Orphange. It was there he started down the criminal path. After taking the rap for a murder perpetrated by his childhood friend Akira Nishikiyama, Kazuma spent 10 years in prison. He was released only to find the Tojo Clan in chaos. After a chance meeting with Haruka, the "10 Billion Yen Girl", he too was pulled into the conflict.
Once the crisis was resolved, Kazuma found himself with the title of Chairman of the Tojo Clan, but he immediately relinquished the position and left to establish the Sunshine Orphanage in Okinawa, where he now raises a group of orphans.
Trivia[]
- Kiryu's given name Kazuma had its etymology explained in Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!. The first kanji character (一) (kazu) means lone, while the second (馬) (ma) means horse. This refers to the single ridden horse that would lead a cavalry unit into battle. As such, the name suggests a courageous individual who likes to lead from the front and get things done, as befits Kiryu's personality.
- Kiryu is one of three characters who have appeared in every single game in the Kiryu Saga, the other two being Majima and Jo Amon.
- In Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami, Kiryu's introductory title card uses a unique sound effect. He is the only character in the series with this distinction.
- In the original Yakuza, Kiryu is stated to be 20 years old in 1995, which would make his birth year 1975. This is inconsistent with his bio in the game's Japanese website and the rest of the series, and was fixed in the remake, where he is stated to be 37 in 2005.
- Kiryu's facial features from Yakuza 3 onwards are partly based on Takaya Kuroda, his Japanese voice actor. This render was previously used for Kiryu Kazumanosuke in Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!.
- Kiryu's weakness to Ice attacks in Yakuza: Like a Dragon can be attributed to any of the following, or a combination of multiple:
- A reference to Dragon Quest, where dragons are weak to ice.
- A reference to the ending of Yakuza 5, where he passes out in the snow and would have died had Haruka not found him.
- Cold is an opposing force to "Heat", a core mechanic from the games in his saga.
- He is unfamiliar with ice attacks due to ice as a damage type not being present prior to Like a Dragon.
- In earlier demos of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the Brawler style of the Dragon of Dojima job was named "Yakuza"[1]. It was renamed to Brawler in the Gaiden demo.
- All demos also state that all Hype Meters must be full for Kiryu to use Dragon's Resurgence, though in gameplay, it only requires Kiryu's. The final game states that only his Hype Meter must be full.
- Kiryu appears as a guest character in the following video games: Project X Zone 2, Binary Domain, Taiko No Tatsujin DX, Ramen Soul, Kyoutou Kotoba RPG: Kotodaman, LINE Rangers, SEGA Heroes and Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.
- His likeness was featured in Everybody's Hot Shots Golf as a guest character.
- His likeness was featured in the End of the Century Premium Edition of Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise as an alternate skin for Kenshiro.
- His likeness was featured in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight as a DLC costume for Persona 5's protagonist.
- His likeness was featured in the Yakuza Bundle DLC of Rainbow Six Siege as an alternate skin.
- Kiryu is one of the most requested characters for a guest appearance in fighting games such as Tekken 7 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, Nagoshi has expressed his refusal to allow him in fighting games. He stated, "fighting games usually have female characters, and I personally don’t really want to see Kiryu hit women."[2]
- Kiryu's least favorite food is green peppers.[3]
- Kiryu is referenced multiple times in the Judgment series.
- In Judgment, Takayuki Yagami can learn the Komaki Tiger Drop (simply called Tiger Drop), which is said to have been used by a legendary yakuza.
- Also in Judgment, during the side case The Ono Michio Bandit, Yagami meets the new actor of Ono Michio, Nishimura, who struggles to fill the role of his predecessor, who is heavily implied to be Kiryu.
- In Lost Judgment's Story DLC, The Kaito Files, once Masaharu Kaito finds Memories of War Stories, he recalls a war story he was told by his anikis. In said story, a legendary yakuza who rose through the ranks and became Tojo Clan chairman was a reckless fighter in his youth and used a headbutt to counter his enemy after being knocked down. Kaito attempts to recreate this move he heard and learns EX Headstrong. The legendary yakuza is of course Kiryu, and the move that Kaito attempts to recreate is the Essence of Steadfast Counter.
- Kiryu is the character with the most fighting styles, with six styles. (Brawler, Rush, Beast, Dragon, Yakuza and Agent).
Notes[]
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Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Kazuma Kiryu on the Yakuza Wiki
- Kazuma Kiryu on the SEGA Wiki
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Main Series Yakuza Organizations Other Characters Judgment Series Like a Dragon: Ishin! | ||