Ryu ga Gotoku



"M: Kiryu is the way yakuza used to be. We kept the streets clean. People liked us. We didn't bother ordinary citizens. We respected our bosses. Now, guys like that only exist in video games. S: I don't know any ex-yakuza running orphanages. K: There was one a few years ago. A good guy. M: You sure it wasn't just a tax shelter? K: Sure it was a tax shelter but he ran it like a legitimate thing. You know."

- Real Yakuza gangsters review the game.

Ryu Ga Gotoku (Like a Dragon), or Yakuza as it used to be known in America, is a video game brawler series, initially for the PS2 and PS3 but later expanded from PlayStation-exclusive to Xbox and Windows. The first game follows the story of Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬, Kiryū Kazuma), the "Dragon of Dojima," a former Yakuza whose release from prison after a 10-year sentence sparks the setup of the first game's plot. After his release, Kazuma returns and finds that his friend is missing and the clan to which he once belonged (the Tojo Clan) has had 10 billion yen (approx. $100 million US) stolen from them, and the entire Japanese underworld is now searching for the money. The game was heavily acclaimed in Japan for being the first game to explore Yakuza culture with such depth and as it is claimed authenticity to the nature of Japan's criminal underground (info from Wikipedia).

The series is basically old school beat 'em up with a sandbox setting and RPG elements. While you can just follow the story and play it as a straightforward beat 'em up, there are TONS of sidequests, minigames and secrets to do and find, many of them quite challenging, unique, even funny sometimes. Players can help people on the street with myriad problems, find hidden illegal gambling halls to play in, go to the batting cage to hit a few balls or find an enigmatic martial artist to learn many powerful moves from. And in good ol' Shonen/Seinen series fashion, there's even underground fighting tournaments to participate in, complete with a caged arena. The amount of things to do in the games is mindblowing.

Fighting enemies earns you experience points to gain new moves to punish them with, and you can also learn new moves by doing sidequests. There's also tons of items and equipment to find, and you can even create your own. The series is considered by many players to be the spiritual successor to Shenmue, and is also compared to such classic old-school series as Streets of Rage and River City Ransom.

According to Kotaku, all titles of this series will revert to their Japanese title "Like A Dragon" for all official releases, and re-releases of all future English language games in this series. This change is effective immediately as of the Ishin! remake onward.

The series currently includes:


 * Seven games in the main series with Kiryu as protagonist, 0 - 6, plus remasters of 1-5 and Kiwami remakes of 1 and 2, and upcoming Gaiden Game Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
 * Two main series games, genre switched to RPG, with new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, 7 (localised subtitle Like a Dragon) and upcoming 8.
 * Two feudal-era but otherwise unconnected spin-offs called Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!, starring Miyamoto Musashi as "Kiryu Kazuma-no-suke", and Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!, starring Sakamoto Ryōma. Ishin! has an upcoming remake, Like a Dragon: Ishin!
 * Very one-on-one combat-oriented PSP spinoffs called Kurohyou: Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinshou and Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura-hen that focus on the life of underground fighter Ukyou Tatsuya.
 * The spin-off featuring characters from the main series, Ryu Ga Gotoku: Of The End/Yakuza: Dead Souls, takes place during an... umm... outbreak of the living dead.
 * Hokuto ga Gotoku/Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, which is technically a FotNS game but made by the Yakuza developers, using the same gameplay and mechanics, having Yakuza alumni in the cast including Kenshiro's Japanese voice being Kiryu's voice actor Takaya Kuroda and with a few familiar faces showing up, and is therefore considered part of the family.
 * Judge Eyes/Judgment: Another spinoff series, currently at two games, starring lawyer-turned-private detective Takayuki Yagami, that add investigation elements into the gameplay.
 * A live-action prequel to the first game, a live-action adaptation of the first game directed by Takashi Miike, and radio dramas.

"Majima: This is the part where you're SUPPOSED TO LAUGH! [WHACK!] LAUGH YOU STUPID MUTHAFUCKA!"
 * A Protagonist Is Ryu - Kazuma Kiryu from obviously, but in a subversion, though, his rival in the second game is Ryuji Goda, another dragon-themed character(although he's more a Noble Demon than a full-blown bad guy, and he still exhibits many traits associated with his name).
 * Abhorrent Admirer - in the third game, Kazuma's animal magnetism draws the attention of the Drag Queen Michiru, causing 'her' to stalk you through several pulse-pounding chase-scenes. How is it possible to run that fast on high heels? The world may never know...
 * Action Commands - Some of Kazuma's Heat Actions have these to potentially increase their damage (and pain to the unfortunate recepient). And in the second game, these sometimes crop up when Kazuma has to avoid some damaging move, tying in with Press X to Not Die.
 * Action Girl / Fair Cop: Kaoru Sayama
 * Actor Allusion - Two of them in the American release of the first game-
 * Mark Hamill voices Goro Majima as an unstable, sadomasochistic gangster who laughs at pain -- even his own and is more than willing to kill his own henchmen when they don't get with the program. In addition he's so determined to take down Kazuma himself that he'll stop anyone else who's trying to beat him to the punch.
 * Michael Rosembaum plays Akira Nishiki, Kazuma's childhood friend who after the incident that sends Kazuma to prison turns into a cold, calculating Magnificent Bastard who will do almost anything it takes to gain leadership of the Tojo Clan.
 * Actually Four Mooks - Used extensively. Anytime you walk into some random punk on the streets, you may safely assume that he's got anywhere between 1 and 3 buddies hiding somewhere Behind the Black, ready to jump in to help him the moment the fighting starts.
 * Also used with an amusing twist by a Recurring Boss in the third game, . His uncanny ability to pop up behind you when you least expect it culminates in a lengthy chase where, every time you think you've shaken him, he appears AGAIN, right in front of you, Daffy Duck style. In the end, it's revealed that
 * Amazing Freaking Grace: Played over the end credits for the first game.
 * Anti-Frustration Features: In 0, you can't die when learning new moves for styles from the respective trainers. A good thing, too, considering some of the missions involved can be very annoying. That said, you don't get it back after you finish said missions either, so you'd better have a healing item on hand in case you get jumped on the way to the nearest save point.
 * Ascended Extra:
 * Koji Shindo was just a lieutenant of the Nishiki Family notable for leading the back-alley ambush on Kazuma at Serena in the first game. In the second, he became the Patriarch of the Nishiki Family.
 * Hiroshi Hayashi was one of Ryuji Goda's right-hand men in 2. In Dead Souls, he's a
 * Akiyama
 * Authority Equals Asskicking taking the title of Chairman of the Tojo Clan. Later  in future games.
 * Ax Crazy: Goro Majima. Holy crap.
 * Kanda in the third game. But he's more bark than bite.
 * Back from the Dead:
 * in Of The End/Dead Souls.
 * in 7/Like a Dragon as
 * Bad Guy Bar: Deborah in the original is populated solely by people who exist to be beaten up by you.
 * Bad Export for You: The US release of Yakuza 3 unfortunately cut some of the features like mahjong and managing a massage parlor. Granted, they didn't do this out of vindictiveness so much as feeling that western gamers just wouldn't get mahjong or how to play shogi. Though losing the Dating Sim aspect of the hostess clubs was actually well-received by some players. It did, however, result in the MEB location being little more than a booth decorated with pictures of women.
 * Badass: Kazuma Kiryu is the main example, though in fact, nearly anyone who is an ally or associate of Kazuma is a badass in some way.
 * Badass Crew: Everyone who supported and helped Kazuma has at least done something awesome to earn this. Two of them being his Nakama in 4 (Akiyama, Saejima and Tanimura) and the other playable characters in Dead Souls (Akiyama again, Goda, Majima)
 * Badass Family: The Amons are a clan of notorious assassins who hold a grudge against Kiryu for being one of the very few people to not only survive but defeat them.
 * Batter Up: Goro Majima, in one of his more psycho moments, takes a baseball bat to one of his underlings.
 * Batter Up: Goro Majima, in one of his more psycho moments, takes a baseball bat to one of his underlings.

"Majima: LET'S FUCK THIS SHIT UUUUUUP!!"
 * Betting Minigame: The two hidden (and illegal) Casinos as well as the (also hidden and illegal) Cho-Han Dice Parlor in Kamurocho, although oddly enough they don't offer a direct cash payout, rather relying on a prize exchange system. There's also the Volcano Video Slot Parlor which is more legal and also relies on a prize exchange system for the payoffs.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: The other side of Kazuma, once he has been pushed. Don't push him.
 * Big Bad:
 * Bigger Bad:
 * Big Bad Wannabe: The third game introduces Tsuyoshi Kanda, third patriarch of the Nishiki family. He is shown to be short tempered, violent to his men and also seemingly a rapist, and is named as the most likely suspect for . Then you actually fight him and it's revealed
 * Big Damn Villains:
 * Bloodless Carnage: In the fourth game, Saejima's murderous rampage at the start of his story has a surprising lack of gunshot wounds on his victims.
 * Bonus Boss: Jo Amon, an assassin who makes an appearance in almost every game, shows up when certain requirements are fulfilled. In the fourth game, he makes an appearance with his three brothers to take on Kazuma, Akiyama, Saejima and Tanimura. By Dead Souls, he's been  Players are usually rewarded for defeating him with a Game Breaker, since he's just that hard to kill.
 * Bragging Rights Reward: In 0, beating a Mr. Shakedown gives a boatload of cash. However, by the time Kiryu or Majima is strong enough to treat them as farmable Giant Mooks rather than Skippable Bosses to Run or Die from, they'll also be strong enough that not much else is a challenge that needs the upgrades that windfall will purchase to overcome.
 * Breakable Weapons
 * Bullying a Dragon: While most random encounters are cases of Mugging the Monster, many thugs and gangs seek out fights against you knowing full well who you are and thinking they can take you anyway.
 * Call to Agriculture: Kazuma's call is to manage a tiny beachfront orphanage with ten kids in it, but it's the same idea: this is his peaceful retirement from a life of crime. Or so he hoped, until Yakuza 3 happened.
 * The Cameo: In Lost Judgment, there are plot-inconsequential appearances from main series characters
 * Car Fu: In the first game, everyone's favorite Psycho for Hire Goro Majima literally crashes the party at the Shangri-La soapland with a truck.

"Shimano: Let me see your hand for just a second.."
 * In Yakuza 3
 * The City Narrows: Purgatory.
 * Clear My Name: Much of the plot of Kiryu's side of 0 is about him trying to prove that he wasn't the one to murder a certain debt collectee.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Oh my fucking God yes.
 * Somewhat averted in future games, as the original Japanese dialogue is much tamer compared to the first game, which spews F-bombs any chance it gets.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: Elite bosses are pretty much the only real threat to Kazuma and company. Mooks exist to be splattered across the curb in spectacular fashion.
 * Cool Old Guy: Detective Makoto Date, who even fights alongside Kazuma at times and is pretty reasonable to him in the first game.
 * It's not just him, Kawara doubles it for being a Cowboy Cop and there's Hanaya/Kage who "plays fair," Sotaro Komaki, Fuma/Kazama,  Jouji and finally Nakahara that.
 * Counter Attack: Kazuma can learn several from Sotaro Komaki in the games.
 * Cowardly Boss:
 * Koji Shindo from the second game. Also Sengoku, who doesn't even fight, he has his pet tigers take on Kazuma.
 * The third Game has who lets Lau and his henchman fight his own war.
 * in the fourth game. While Kiryu, Akiyama, and Saejima have one-on-one boss fights with their enemies, Tanimura has to deal with
 * Curb Stomp Battle: You might as well not even bother trying to fight the Dragon of Dojima if you're a nameless thug, because you *will* be sent to the infirmary... if you're lucky.
 * Cutscene Incompetence: In a cutscene at the start of 0's fourth chapter, Majima has a Bad Dreams flashback to how he was prevented from helping Saejima with the Ueno hit because he was attacked by a large number of mooks sent by Shibata. This would appear to be fair if not for the fact that Kiryu had fought through a similar number of mooks in gameplay not too long ago. It thus becomes evident that Majima could have gotten out of this jam had he been under player control rather than in a cutscene.
 * Dance Battler: In 0, Majima develops the Breaker style after watching breakers in action.
 * Dating Sim: Every game has had an optional series of Sidequests where Kazuma could visit the local hostess clubs and woo a collection of lovely ladies for 100% Completion and some neat bonuses which includes XP, sometimes very valuable items, and photo portraits of the women. In the second game, Kazuma can also optionally help out the hapless employees of a host club getting screwed over by their boss... by signing on as the newest employee and working to become the Number One Host as a gambit to root out the boss from hiding. In the western release of the third game, the whole "hostess club" aspect was cut, which just allowed Kazuma to simply take the girls out for a couple dates, then reap the benefits (no relationship values, expensive hostessing minigame, multiple choice dialogue, etc). The hostess clubs return in western release of the fourth game (at least for Akiyama, Tanimura, and Kazuma). In Dead Souls, wooing a lady allows you to use her as an escort into the Quarantine Zone.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: This is pretty much how Kazuma snaps Daigo Dojima out of his hedonistic spree and gets him focused on taking charge of the Tojo Clan. Also applies to Rikiya and Majima (although he genuinely enjoys fighting Kazzy).
 * Desperation Attack: Normally the Hunt and Kill Heat Action (performed on a prone opponent) is either a head stomp or a kick to the gut. If you use it while Kazuma's health is low enough for the meter to blink red however, instead Kazuma straddles the opponent and starts punching away, at which point you can keep spamming the Square Button For Massive Damage.
 * Disappeared Dad: Hanaya/Kage to Takashi.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Shimano in a You Have Failed Me... moment cuts the fingers of his underling for losing to Kazuma and getting shot by Shinji in the first game. While this actually is a common punishment among Real Life Yakuza, and is as symbolic as the physical punishment is painful, taking two at once instead of one, and the middle and index fingers instead of the little and ring at that, is quite far beyond the usual.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Shimano in a You Have Failed Me... moment cuts the fingers of his underling for losing to Kazuma and getting shot by Shinji in the first game. While this actually is a common punishment among Real Life Yakuza, and is as symbolic as the physical punishment is painful, taking two at once instead of one, and the middle and index fingers instead of the little and ring at that, is quite far beyond the usual.

"Kazuma: So you're ready for me? Then step the fuck up, it's time to die."
 * Doomed by Canon: 0 is a prequel released after five chronologically later games in the series. It is safe to assume that almost anyone introduced in it that doesn't get a mention in later instalments is going to be dead, in prison, or otherwise out of the picture by the end. Averted with, though, as Kiwami 2 adds new content absent from the original 2 in order to sew things up.
 * The Dragon: This was in fact Kazuma's title and position (The Dragon of Dojima) before circumstances sent him to prison in the first game.
 * Drunken Master: It's a very bad idea to pick a fight with Kazuma. It's an even WORSE idea to pick a fight with Kazuma when he's drunk: while drunk, his Heat meter recharges faster, and he even has some special(not to mention BONE SHATTERING) moves that he can only do while drunk. You will probably spend lots of yen just getting him hammered or buying alcohol to go to always make sure you have a little extra oomph.
 * Which is ironic since the game makes confrontations with Mooks more likely when Kazuma's buzzed.
 * Dual-Wielding: Hayashi from the second game.
 * And one of the available styles in Kenzan!, a no-brainer considering that Kiryu is.
 * Lau Ka Long in the first game also takes up a pair of swords after receiving a good amount of physical damage.
 * Prisoner #1356 carries a pair of forks this way.
 * Dub Name Change: Shintarou Kazama becomes Shintarou Fuma for the US release.  Also, Nishikiyama was shortened to Nishiki.
 * In addition, Hanaya was called Kage, although the second game referred to this specific Dub Name Change by adding the title "Florist." Hanaya is literally the Japanese word for "florist".
 * Interestingly, the Western release of the fourth game averts this trope and refers to almost everyone by their Japanese names (the only exception is Kage, who is referred to as "Florist" in the subtitles).
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Played straight and subverted. Only once in a blue moon does Kazuma's insane reputation prevent a fight or frighten an enemy. Despite being one of the most dangerous alive, nearly every goon and boss in Japan is still gunning for him in spite or because of his reputation.
 * And this is played with in the second game.
 * Played with in 3: part of the beginning tutorial is a gang of mooks working for the Fuma Clan, Kazuma's original outfit. Like all other mooks, they pick a fight with Kazuma just for shits and giggles. After beating them within an inch of their life, their boss shows up and chastises them for not bowing to the Tojo Clan's Fourth Chairman. The mooks are HORRIFIED.
 * Pretty well averted in 4 and Dead Souls, whose multi-character gameplay (with Kiryu being the last character) allows him to be presented as more of a larger-than-life character from the perspectives of other characters. Additionally, many of his random encounters in 4 are people attacking him knowing that if they should take down the Dragon of Dojima, their own reputations will skyrocket. Still Suicidal Overconfidence, but it's Suicidal Overconfidence out of respect.
 * Dulcinea Effect: Men are falling over themselves to protect Lily in 4, though everyone does have their own reasons. Doesn't change the fact that only one of the main characters has known her for more than a week.
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * Evil Counterpart:
 * From the first game, Akira Nishiki, who basically cracked under the pressure over the years and molded himself into a cold version of what Kazuma would have become (a head of a family of the Tojo) if he hadn't been in prison.
 * Ryuji Goda from the second game, who like Kiryu has "ryu" in one of his names, a "Dragon of" moniker - namely "Dragon of Kansai" - a dragon tattoo, and overall Badass cred to match.
 * And the third game has.
 * Evil Feels Good: The zombification process in Dead Souls explicitly feels very pleasant, due to the over production of endorphin hormones.
 * Evil Foreigner: Three notable examples in the series:
 * Lau Ka Long (from 1) - The leader of the Chinese Triads.
 * Andre Richardson (from 3) - Corrupt CIA Agent who is the leader of Black Monday, an arms dealing group.
 * DD - (from Of the End / Dead Souls) - A Japanese-American arms dealer who creates the Thanatos virus, which starts the Zombie Apocalypse in Kamurucho. Also notorious for looking extremely feminine.
 * Evil Is Petty: In 0, Awano smashes Nishiki's face into a bartop for little good reason despite the latter having at best indirect connection to the Kiryu and Tachibana problem.
 * Exact Words: Yakuza 0 features a scene where Kazuma tricks Lieutenant Kuze of the Dojima Clan into confirming he's been expelled from the clan so he can beat the man up without penalty. Kuze doesn't really realize his own error until his own rivals confirm later in front of Sohei Dojima Kuze's own words . Dojima is not amused by Kuze's duplicitly, and Kuze forced to give up his pinky finger as atonement. Which Kuze has intended for Kazuma to do in the first place.
 * Excited Show Title!: Ishin! and Kenzan!
 * Expy: The boss of the Purple Killers in the fourth game is the Joker. This is apparent even before you meet him, being described as a guy in a purple suit with an insane smirk.
 * Extremity Extremist: Akiyama and Tanimura in the fourth game are both mild examples. Tanimura's attack on a downed attack is even a crouching punch as opposed to a stomp like everyone else. Their basic combos play it straight, but as they learn new abilities their HEAT actions (and more advenced combos) they branch out considerably.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Goro Majima, who pretty much fights Kazuma in every game thus far at an even footing.
 * Finishing Move: Starting from the second game, knocking down an opponent's health sufficiently in a Boss Battle will open up a window of opportunity where you can quickly charge Kazuma's Heat Meter with rapid button mashes (if it's not filled all ready) to execute a special and often devastating Heat Action that will usually drop the unfortunate recepient in one hit.
 * Five Second Foreshadowing: In 0, is ridiculously late for an appointment, prompting one character to hope he hasn't met with an accident. Moments later, he shows up, having met with worse.
 * Flash Back: The second and third games allow someone who never played the past installments to find out the storyline in segments at the opening cemetary scene.
 * A small example in Dead Souls: the end credits are a slide show from previous Yakuza games (save for the one PSP release in Japan), which include cameos from characters in those games (Akira in 1, Saejima and Tanimura in 4.) (Note: the part where flashbacks to Kenzan! may not make sense to non-Japanese gamers.)
 * For Massive Damage: Kazuma dishes these out on a fairly regular basis, often requiring Action Commands to properly brutalize an opponent with either a weapon in hand or using the scenery itself.
 * Forgotten Fallen Friend:
 * Four Is Death: In 0, there are four Mr. Shakedowns, basketballer-tall brick shithouses that are slow but immensely durable and who will put Kiryu or Majima's health and wallet in the grave quickly if they land any hits.
 * Friend to All Children: Nothing brings out Kazuma's good side like kids, especially his kids from the orphanage and his adopted niece Haruka. Subsequently, nothing brings out Kazuma's BAD side like someone hurting a kid. The most savage and satisfying beatings Kazuma's rained on someone are those in retaliation for abusing a kid.
 * Game Within a Game: The Club Sega branches will always have a UFO Catcher skill crane and even playable video game machines. These can serve as part of a Sidequest.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Only in cutscenes does Kazuma suffer an actual injury that would cripple him. This also applies to pretty much everyone else; you can do all kinds of brutalities in gameplay that should result in a trip to the hospital or morgue like hitting someone with a motorcycle, slashing or stabbing multiple times with a knife, or force feeding a box of nails, and it won't register as a kill if a cutscene doesn't confirm it.
 * Gatling Good: Ryuji Goda in Of The End/Dead Souls sports a cybernetic Arm Cannon from the Barrett Wallace Collection.
 * Gave Up Too Soon: In Majima's "Toilet Talk" substory in 0, Majima exchanges messages with what appears to be a woman named Rina, who tells him that she will be wearing a red rose on her lapel and waiting near a phone booth at Shofukucho West. He goes there and gets ambushed by a quartet of goons who say they've been using such a setup to bait suckers, but when he asks about "Rina" after kicking their asses, the confused goons say they were going by "Mayumi" instead. Majima storms off, angry at having been fooled... and walks past a woman with a red rose on her lapel, who really is called Rina and disappointedly says to herself that the stranger didn't show up. The final shot of the substory is of Rina leaving literally behind Majima's back, neither realising how close they came to meeting.
 * Gender Blender Name: In 0, the fact that is a unisex name hides a twist.
 * Gilded Cage: In 0, Majima's story starts this way. He is running a swanky cabaret with plenty of beautiful women at the height of Japan's glitzy bubble economy, but it is eventually shown at the end of Chapter 3 that his apartment is watched by at least four people for any sign of him trying to escape the arrangement that has him on loan to the Omi Alliance. He's desperate to regain his freedom by getting back into the good graces of the Tojo Clan so that he can become a proper soldier of the mob once more, and he doesn't care for the warnings he receives about why that's not a good idea.
 * Gory Discretion Shot:
 * In the third game,  is never seen on camera when  brings it to Kazuma and company.
 * Yakuza 0 gives us being forced to slice his own finger off, and while we get to see it gushed quite a lot of blood for a severed pinky, clever use of a flash frame and an angled towel being used to collect the digit in question spare us the most gory part.
 * Also from 0, Lao Gui goes for an eye gouge on Majima. If you fail the QTE, the camera moves away enough to hide the thumb going in, only showing the gushing of blood, and returns focus to Majima only in time for him to clutch at his eye in pain.
 * Go Out with a Smile:
 * Guns Akimbo: Several regular bosses and super boss hitman Jo Amon in classic John Woo style. Which makes it all the more badass when they are beaten to death by fists and feet (if the player chooses).
 * This is Shun Akiyama's default weapon configuration in Of The End/Dead Souls.
 * Averted in Jo Amon's case in Kenzan!, as he uses a sword there.
 * Guns Are Worthless: At least in earlier games, where they can cause about average to little damage in gameplay and are only much more effective in cutscenes. Starting from 3, however, this is averted and they become PRETTY DAMN effective. The moment you see a mook with a gun, you'll make a beeline towards him to beat the gun the fuck off him to use it yourself. This is especially the case as of Dead Souls, where guns are your main weapon against zombies.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: in Lost Judgment. However justifiable one might consider killing bullies who drove their victims to suicide, by the time he's blackmailing bullies with their wrongs so as to coerce them into helping him and getting innocents caught in the crossfire, it's a lot more murky as to whether it's still long-overdue justice he's meting out.
 * Heroic Bloodshed: Ryu Ga Gotoku has a lot in common with Heroic Bloodshed movies in terms of thematic elements.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: So many. There's an instance of Taking the Bullet pretty much once per game.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!
 * For the English version of the first game:
 * As was stated earlier, Majima is The Joker and Nishiki is Lex Luthor.
 * Yumi is Faith and Echo.
 * Shimano is Vic Vega and Budd.
 * Reina is Abigail Lytar.
 * Sera is Charles Widmore.
 * Hanaya/Kage is that crazy foo Murdock.
 * Haruka is Ryo-Ohki and Jimmy Neutron.
 * Date is Goofy and Secret Squirrel.
 * Kazama/Fuma is Mojo Jojo.
 * For the Japanese cast:
 * Kazuma is Starscream and Hanzo Hattori.
 * Haruka is Rise Kujikawa, Alphonse Elric and Shana.
 * Akiyama is Spike Spiegel and Donald Duck.
 * Saejima is Frank West and Wolverine.
 * Hasabe is Mugen and Masamune Date.
 * The Minister of Defense is Solid Snake.
 * Hana is Haruhi Suzumiya and Konata.
 * Hidden Depths: While Kazuma's fists bring justice to man, his voice will shake your soul.
 * Hide Your Children: Averted in the third game, not only with the Sunshine Orphanage kids, but other kids as well can be seen walking around Downtown Ryukubu.
 * Hijacked by Ganon:  5 has suddenly return as Kiryu's final boss. It comes with a Lampshade Hanging as his reply to Kiryu asking what he's doing here is "I'm not really sure myself."
 * Hollywood Healing: Most main characters, and even mooks to an extent, regularly survive beatings that would kill most men ten times over. It's especially obvious when you use a triple katana slice or pistol on a lowly purse snatcher... and they live. Even moreso in Kenzan! and Ishin!, where the sword combos can be way longer...
 * Honor Before Reason: SO MUCH.
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: Early on in Kiwami 1, Majima shows up ahead of the schedule set by the original game to prove to Kiryu that the latter has become rusty after 10 years in prison. He does so with a boss fight that, while not technically unwinnable, is massively stacked against you and that you are supposed to lose.
 * Idiot Ball / What an Idiot!: Happens many, many, many times in all games. Rail-thin street punks picking a fight with gigantic, dangerous-looking Saejima, frequently overlapping with Suicidal Overconfidence, and don't get me started on most 'betrayals.'
 * 'Kay, i'll get started anyway: the most-likely-armed and still conscious treacherous Big Bad was defeated? Good, just leave him there on the ground and let's do a group hug. It happens way more often than it should, with predictable consequences. The most glaringly obvious instance of this is (warning, Yakuza 4 ending-breaker spoilers)
 * Akiyama's safe is just as bad...
 * Really, the protagonists as a whole need to learn to stop trusting the irredeemable villains and turning their backs on them after they've been defeated. This has happened far more times than is even slightly reasonable, resulting in the deaths of several characters. This started in the first game, and is what got
 * I Know Madden Kombat: In the second game, Kazuma can gain improved Strong Attacks and later improved Heat Actions with the baseball bat, golf club and bowling ball by playing enough times at the batting cage, driving range and bowling alley respectively then completing the related Sidequest for each location.
 * Inexplicably Awesome:
 * Most of the playable characters have some reason for how they can kick so much ass, and then there's Akiyama. He's ostensibly a former investment banker who was made homeless after failing to fight off false charges, only to receive a windfall from the sky that he leveraged into becoming a successful entrepreneur. None of this adequately explains how he became strong enough as to become a commendable opponent for Kiryu, first as a Dual Boss with Tanimura in 4 and then by himself in 6.
 * While the series can get wacky at times, most of it remains within the conventions of Heroic Bloodshed and modern criminal action. Then there's the Bonus Boss Amon Clan, who have Kill Sats, Laser Blades and all other sorts of genre-defying weirdness, and no explanation whatsoever offered for all of it.
 * Kingpin in His Gym: in the third game Mine appears kickboxing with a sandbag in a cutscene because the game wants you to know that he's no pushover..
 * Knife Nut: Goro Majima.
 * Kung Foley: Kazuma's stronger punches- particularly with one of his Counter Attack moves or when he uses the Desperation Attack- have a deep bass echo to convey just how brutally powerful they are.
 * The Lancer: Shinji Tanaka in the first game, Daigo Dojima in the second, Rikiya Shimabukuro in the third.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Kazuma helping out the fun-loving crazy old lady in the second game will not only give him the obligatory Sidequest XP, it'll also give him access to some useful combat skills.
 * Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: The fancy-sounding Nikkyo Consortium is really the black ops arm of the Tojo Clan, advancing its interests through methods like assassination that need to be kept discreet even from the already violent rank and file.
 * Limit Break: The Heat moves.
 * Loan Shark:
 * Shun Akiyama from Yakuza 4 operates as one. Subverted in that he loans out money with no interest or collateral, as long that the recipient passes one of his tests.
 * The very first thing Kiryu does in 0 is shake down a guy who's behind on his debt repayments on behalf of one of these. The debtor in question is later found dead from gunshot, and Kiryu's quest to prove that he wasn't the murderer drives much of the rest of the game.
 * Love Interest: Yumi Sawamura in the first one, Kaoru Sayama in the second.
 * Man Behind the Man: Pretty much at least one per game.
 * Manly Tears: Kazuma actually sheds these when dies. You know from this moment on that someone is GOING TO FUCKING DIE.
 * Mark Hamill: Plays Goro Majima.
 * Mighty Glacier:
 * Saejima's attacks are more ponderous than Kiryu's, but hit harder.
 * 0 has the four Mr. Shakedowns. Basketballer-tall and built like brick shithouses, they are very obvious when walking around, can't give chase to start a fight at any faster than a jog, and their attacks are highly telegraphed, but that doesn't really matter when just a few mistakes will put Kiryu or Majima's health in the grave, and the boss-level health they have means there will be plenty of opportunities to make those mistakes.
 * In 0 and Kiwami, the Beast style is the slowest of the normal three, but also the most powerful.
 * Mirror Boss: The final boss of Kiryu's half of 0 has three phases mirroring Kiryu's Stance System - a speed-based style analogous to Rush, a power-based style that emphasises using environmental objects analogous to Beast, and a balanced style analogous to Brawler or Legend.
 * Miyamoto Musashi: Appears in Kenzan!, eventually getting a name change to.
 * Mood Whiplash: The series is infamous for going between serious crime drama in the main story and silly substories. This can also happen within substories, though; one of Majima's substories in 0 plays hopscotch between the absurd silliness of a cult's practices and the disturbingly real harm it's done to a vulnerable recent inductee.
 * Mooks: An endless horde of thugs, gangbangers and Yakuza endlessly harass Kazuma with their tough talk and cruel actions. He is not impressed.
 * Mugging the Monster: The thugs constantly trying to beat up/extort the main characters as they walk down the street have no idea what they're getting into. In Tanimura or Akiyama's case, that's somewhat forgivable as neither of them look anywhere near as strong as they are. Well-built, clearly-a-Yakuza Kazuma and built-like-a-brick-shithouse-on-steroids Saejima, on the other hand....
 * Mysterious Informant: Kage the Florist, although he's not really all that mysterious. Just well-connected.
 * Nakama: By the endgame of 4, Kazuma has formed a nakama with Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima and Masayoshi Tanimura. A more impressive collection of bonafide badasses will be hard to find.
 * Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight: Because first, it won't do any good. And second, Kazuma will then use it on your friends.
 * Guns won't be any better either, especially once Kazuma has mastered the Komaki Shot Stopper. He'll deflect your aim off, then proceed to beat the shit out of you.
 * On the other hand, if its Kazuma bringing the weaponry, massive damage ensues. Crude Pistols will one-shot weaker enemies and the shotgun one hit kills all but the end game mooks. Not to mention the brutal attacks he can pull off with melee weaponry....
 * Averted in Dead Souls, it's impossible to kill a zombie with melee attacks, and Kiryu has a rough time when he
 * Nice Guy: Kazuma missed his calling in life as the Patron Saint of Niceness. He helps any innocent bystander no matter how big or small the problem, rescues young girls, pets, old women crossing the street, and forgives men who try to kill him on several occasions at the slightest hint of their redemption. This makes his status as the entire underworld's Butt Monkey so far as picking fights go all the more hilarious. In 3, he goes so far as to track down the most dangerous hitmen in Japan... JUST to beat the crap out of them and drag them to a reform center so they can get out of the criminal life.
 * No Export for You: The main games, Judgment spin-offs, Ishin! and Zombie Apocalypse spin-off Of The End/Dead Souls have all seen Western releases. The same cannot be said about Kenzan! and the Kurohyou/Black Panther duology.
 * Noble Demon: Ryuji Goda. See Even Evil Has Standards above.
 * Not Quite Dead: Like a Dragon reveals that
 * Oh Crap: If you pull out a weapon in the middle of a heated random encounter battle, your enemies may suddenly panic and start to back off.
 * Old Master: Sotaro Komaki. And when you can actually fight him in a tournament, he will show you just why he is the Old Master.
 * Old Save Bonus: Starting a file for the second game in a card with the files from the first nets Kazuma a bonanza of items, most of which Haruka gave to him in the first game to indicate his Karma Meter progression and comprise of one-shot healing items and accessories that affect his stats.
 * In Yakuza 3 (may be JP version only), having a Kenzan! save file will net you Ukiyo's Bell, an exclusive protective item.
 * One-Man Army:
 * Kazuma. In the course of multiple games he was able to fight alone against almost everything, from entire yakuza families to triads to trained military personnel and even rogue CIA agents.
 * Chronologically preceding Kiryu's first rodeo was Saejima, who got the "18-Count" moniker for killing 18 men as part of a hit on a rival clan leader and is still Famed in Story for that more than 20 years later.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
 * Papa Wolf: Do not mess with little Haruka, Kazuma's adoptive daughter, if you value your life.
 * And in 3, don't mess with ANY of Kazuma's kids. It counts against your life expectancy.
 * Paper Fan of Doom: Ryuji gets to use this of all things to fend off various mutated zombies in Of The End/Dead Souls, when trapped in a gas leak. Literally played straight, as it only takes a few hits to kill what could've taken lots of bullets, and has infinite durability
 * Playing Against Type: In the English version of the first game, Bill Farmer- best known as the voice of Goofy- gives a rather remarkable and down-to-earth serious performance as Detective Makoto Date.
 * Point of No Return: Usually Merciful. Before activating a mission where there is a major story progression and you get locked into a sequence that often leads all the way to the chapter boss, it is usually the case that Kiryu or the other player character will monologue about being adequately prepared and a prompt appears to check if you really want to proceed.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Near the end of the first game, Kazuma and Haruka are about to head for the Millennium Tower to locate her mother and the missing Tojo money. Suddenly pedestrians clear the street and they're surrounded by an armed mob. Kazuma reassures Haruka that he'll get her to her mother, then turns around to stare down the mob and let them know what's coming:
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Near the end of the first game, Kazuma and Haruka are about to head for the Millennium Tower to locate her mother and the missing Tojo money. Suddenly pedestrians clear the street and they're surrounded by an armed mob. Kazuma reassures Haruka that he'll get her to her mother, then turns around to stare down the mob and let them know what's coming:

You'd Expect: They would thoroughly frisk the defeated enemy for weapons and confiscate any that are lying around. As experienced criminals, they should know that they're dealing with spiteful scumbags who will do anything to ruin the lives of their enemies. Instead: They don't bother doing so. The enemy manages to recover, get his or her hands on a weapon, and fatally wound someone before finally getting put down or at least knocked out properly. Even Worse: The fact that this happens across multiple games shows that Kiryu and co. are incapable of learning, despite the fact that even one friend lost to this idiocy should have been one too many.
 * Press X to Not Die:
 * Product Placement: A surprising amount and remarkably they tend to avert Enforced Plug for the most part, making contextual sense where they do appear.
 * The Don Quijote discount stores than can be visited are based on an actual chain in Japan, as well as in Hawaii.
 * The Suntory group also has prominent placement, ranging from soft drinks like Boss iced coffee all the way to premium brand-name liquor that they have distribution rights to in Japan, including Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey.
 * The Other Wiki has more specific details on the Product Placements.
 * Psycho for Hire: Goro Majima.
 * Purple Is Powerful:
 * In 0, Awano wears a purple jacket. He seems like a petty bully whose body has seen better days at first. Then he does a Punch Catch against Kiryu, who has just flattened his five underlings who had defeated . Later, he punches a wall hard enough it craters.
 * Also in 0, Majima's Infinity+1 Sword Legend style has a purple aura and is very much worth all the trouble needed to get it.
 * Ranged Emergency Weapon: In Dead Souls, Pistol ammo is infinite, making a Pistol a Ranged Emergency Weapon for most characters (except for Akiyama, whose primary weapon is a pistol). But as the first character in the game this works to soften the learning curve by making ammo not much of an issue until later).
 * Redemption Equals Death: While not wholly repentant, died avenging someone he cared about. Ditto  . Also   in Yakuza 4.
 * Reformed Criminal: Possibly a few examples in the games, but in particular Hanaya/Kage. In the first game he had been a former police intelligence officer who was busted by Date for selling some of the information he gathered and ended up becoming the de facto ruler of Purgatory while continuing to sell information. In the second game, it turns out that the police contracted him for his abilities and he left Purgatory in the charge of Crazy Awesome Goro Majima to move his base of operations to the Millennium Tower.
 * Rival Turned Evil: Akira Nishiki, childhood friend of Kazuma who, after a series of tragic events, really changed during the years Kazuma was in jail for
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Played most straight in Dead Souls, when Kazuma enters the quarantine zone to confront those that kidnapped Haruka... and proceeds to fight zombies. Unarmed.
 * Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: Kiryu has to fight Korean gangsters/terrorists in the second game as well as the other yakuza.
 * And in the first game, Kazuma also has to rescue Haruka from Lau Ka Long's Snake Flower Triad.
 * The third one has
 * Scary Black Man: Gary "Buster" Holmes, although only in the ring. Outside of it he's a rather amicable Gentle Giant.
 * Screw the Money, I Have Rules: Pretty common, with Daigo refusing a land deal in 3 because it would inconvenience Kiryu, and the entire main cast (especially Akiyama)
 * Selective Condemnation: The moralising the games have about how killing changes you for the worse - like in 0 between Sagawa and Majima or in 4 with Saejima's Shaming the Mob speech in Purgatory - fall flat considering that they allow and even reward the use of brutal Heat Actions that would put someone in the emergency room or morgue in real life, yet have no narrative consequences because of Gameplay and Story Segregation.
 * Signature Sound Effect: The loud echoing crack that rings each time Kazuma delivers a finishing blow to the last opponent in a combat round... even if it's just a simple straight punch to a suicidally overconfident and fragile twerp.
 * Shout-Out: Ryu Ga Gotoku 2 contained references to the previous game, Ashita no Joe, SEGA, the Play Station 3 cat and even The Matrix (the "Man in black").
 * Also, Kazuma can learn various techniques after helping out and sparring with wrestler "Cyclops" Oba, who is likely a reference to Japanese wrestling legend "Giant" Baba.
 * Snake Flower Triad leader Lau Ka Long is patterned after Lau Chan, with a few shades of Lan Di.
 * In the same vein, the fourth installment introduces Daisaku Minami, a drunken boxer who has a few moves directly lifted from Shun Di complete with appropriate sound effect.
 * Of the End/Dead Souls has a couple of nods to the live action movie: Majima's firearm of choice is a shotgun, and one of the Team Heat Actions has him hitting a target with a line drive... except in Of the End/Dead Souls he uses his SPAS-12 as a baseball bat and the "ball" happens to be a grenade that a Super Zombie B.O.W. swallows to predictable result.
 * In this trailer and footage has quite a few to other survivor horrors and combat ops; if you look among which a couple of hunters and a tank, flashlight segments and the changes to the Kamurocho district, available attack vehicles to use,, just from what is shown.
 * If one manages to look closely, Andre Richardson looks suprisingly similar to Albert Wesker. Many a fan have indulged in calling him "Wesker Jr."
 * Shown Their Work: According to actual Yakuza who played it, it's not wildly off the mark, and most of the inaccuracies fall under Acceptable Breaks From Reality.
 * Simulation Game: The second game plays with this a bit, as an optional sidequest where saving the owner of the hostess club Marietta from Mook harassment opens up the opportunity to run the place with the aim of trying to make it profitable while the owner attends to family illness.
 * Sinister Surveillance: Inverted. Kamurocho has a very extensive surveillance network installed, that seems to be able to note every square inch of the city inside buildings well as out and includes the ability to zoom in and presumably enhance images. Hanaya/Kage uses it as his primary tool to gather information for clients and to help out Kazuma at certain instances.
 * Sniper Rifle: As of Dead Souls/Of The End Kazuma is carrying an M-107 which also counts as a BFG.
 * Sociopathic Hero: Goro Majima. Although an antagonist in the first game, it was actually because of circumstances and his rivalry with Kazuma for the title of the underworld's biggest badass. He is actually MAD loyal to Kazuma, and very protective of the men under him... as long as they don't piss him off, in which case he'll break their face badly. In every game from the second one on, he's been an ally of Kazuma's.
 * Theories abound that there's also a... certain context to Majima's loyalty to Kazuma.
 * More like Kazuma is the only person durable enough to stand up to his psychotic rage.
 * Spoiler Opening: In Yakuza 3,
 * Stance System:
 * In 0, Kiryu and Majima can switch between four styles. There's a balanced starting style with a blue aura (Brawler for Kiryu, Thug for Majima), a speed-based style with a pink aura (Rush for Kiryu, Breaker for Majima), a power-based style with a yellow aura (Beast for Kiryu, which emphasises using environmental objects, and Slugger for Majima, which emphasises a bat), and a secret Infinity+1 Sword Legend style unlocked through a long series of sidequests that serves as a Call Forward to chronologically later games ( for Kiryu with a white aura, for Majima with a purple aura). This returns in Kiwami with Kiryu's Legend aura changed to red and method of development being different.
 * In Judgment, Yagami has two styles, Crane for groups and Tiger for individuals. Lost Judgment adds Snake for counterattacks and Boxer, which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
 * Status Quo Is God: A small example: Akiyama's overweight secretary Hana becomes a gorgeous bombshell thorough dieting by the events of 4's end. She ends up returning to her old body type by Dead Souls. She's actually back to her old body type by the non-canon Premium Adventure Mode, but when/if that actually takes place isn't clear.
 * Suicidal Overconfidence: "Hey, we're having a pretty bad day, so we need to take out our aggression on you. Huh? Why you looking at us funny? You wanna die, old man?!"
 * Taking the Bullet: Pretty much at least once per game.
 * Tattooed Crook: Given that the game series deals heavily with the subject of Yakuza this is de rigeur. The tattoos on the main characters (Kazuma- Blue Dragon, Nishiki- Carp, Majima- Oni, Goda- Gold Dragon) turn out to be very symbolic in the games and are often reflective of their personalities and traits.
 * Tempting Fate: In 0, Nishiki says he likes to hang out at Serena because the family higher-ups aren't aware of its existence. Guess what happens shortly afterwards?
 * They Look Just Like Everyone Else:
 * Kiwami 2: Kei Ibuchi, with his neat hair, glasses and proper suit and tie, could be mistaken for any ordinary salaryman rather than the patriarch of a Yakuza family if you just passed him on the street none the wiser.
 * Lost Judgment: Some of the White Mask mooks are generic NPC models you might have walked past a dozen times without second thoughts until they mask up and start throwing punches.
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: Beating the crap out of dozens of people? Forgivable. One lowly punk getting shot/stabbed to death? Serious Business. Like, clan-war serious. This may come off as Values Dissonance for people used to western crime dramas, but remember that guns (and thus, gun violence) are a lot rarer in Japan, plus yakuza are really political. Unless they're foreigners in which case you can gun them down without remorse. Ditto zombies.
 * Town with a Dark Secret: The Driving Question for a large part of 6: The Song of Life is "What is the Secret of Onomichi and why are the Yomei Alliance going so far to keep it?"
 * Turncoat: So far, apart from Shinji Tanaka, significant individuals in the Nishiki Family are doomed to this role.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: Kazuma, Nishiki, and Yumi in the first game pretty much fits this trope, especially as the story went by.
 * The Unfought: in the third game. Sagawa and Dojima in 0.
 * Walking Armory: Taiga Saejima made his debut by using more guns than anyone else in the entire series: six at once! Two in either hand, two in his pockets, one in his belt, and one in his teeth. 36 bullets to wipe out an entire branch of an enemy clan. In Japan, where guns are rare to begin with, this is ludicrous.
 * Weapon of Choice: In Dead Souls/Of The End, each of the four playable characters have one primary firearm that they use as their default weapon.
 * Kazuma, as stated above, has an anti-armor sniper rifle.
 * Akiyama brandishes two pistols.
 * Majima has a pump-action shotgun.
 * Ryuji's main firearm is actually one of his arms, which transforms into a gatling gun.
 * What an Idiot!:
 * Almost Once an Episode, Kiryu or another playable character will leave a defeated enemy lying on the ground but not dead or even unconscious to go talk to someone.
 * What an Idiot!:
 * Almost Once an Episode, Kiryu or another playable character will leave a defeated enemy lying on the ground but not dead or even unconscious to go talk to someone.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Averted HARD with  in the third game.
 * Yet played straight in the same game with . The side mission where he finds her working in a pole dancing club is treated like a main mission, with cutscene and all., but he ends up , but the is never brought up in the main storyline, and how  is left unknown.
 * Wide Open Sandbox: Kamurocho in general, and other locations as the series goes on.
 * The Worf Effect: In the final chapter of 0, the supposedly badass Nikkyo Consortium is overwhelmed by and Kiryu and Nishiki must intervene to save both it and the VIP it is protecting.
 * Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Imposed by the games on the player; Kazuma will never find himself in a situation where he must (or can) strike a woman. On the rare occasions where he is tracking or is attacked by a woman, it will always turn out to be a guy in drag.
 * The lack of female opponents is somewhat averted in 4. While helping her out with her investigation, Tanimura takes up a female Korean cop who's in Japan chasing a Korean criminal as a sparring partner. She's the only female opponent in the game, though, and neither one of them have any intention on holding back on each other.
 * Finally averted in Dead Souls, which has female zombies, including special mutants that are exclusively female.
 * This becomes an aversion of Gameplay and Story Segegration in 7/Like a Dragon.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: Pretty much everyone in all the games, actually, but special mention goes to
 * Zombie Apocalypse: Of The End/Dead Souls. Yes, a Yakuza game features zombies. Somewhat subverted in that the outbreak is contained to Kamurocho and is thus not a truly global Zombie Apocalypse.
 * X Meets Y: Of The End/Dead Souls is basically Left 4 Dead meets Ryu ga Gotoku with a bit of Resident Evil.
 * X Meets Y: Of The End/Dead Souls is basically Left 4 Dead meets Ryu ga Gotoku with a bit of Resident Evil.