Yakuza is a 2005 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. It was released in December 2005 in Japan and in September 2006 internationally. The story follows Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza who spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After being released, he learns that the criminal underworld is searching for 10 billion yen that has been stolen from the Tojo clan. He comes across an orphan named Haruka who is being targeted by the clan. She is believed to have the key to their lost money and Kiryu resolves to protect her. The game takes place in Kamurocho, a realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho district.
Yakuza 2 is a 2006 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. The second installment of the Yakuza series and the sequel to Yakuza, it was released on December 7, 2006, in Japan and in September 2008 in North America and Europe. The game focuses on the former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu who receives a request for help from his former group, the Tojo Clan yakuza of eastern Japan, to stabilize relationships with the Omi Alliance group of western Japan. Across Kiryu's journey, he learns of a Korean mafia group linked with both the Omi and his own past, and becomes the rival of the Omi's "Dragon of Kansai", Ryuji Goda.
Kazuma Kiryu is a fictional character and the initial main protagonist of Sega's action-adventure beat 'em up Japanese role-playing game series Yakuza / Like a Dragon. He is popularly known as "the Dragon of Dojima" due to the tattoo of a dragon on his back and him originally being a fearsome member of the yakuza group known as the Dojima Family, a subsidiary of the Tojo Clan. He was introduced in the series' 2005 debut game, where he took the blame for his boss's death to protect his sworn-brother Akira Nishikiyama, resulting in his expulsion from the clan and a ten-year stay in prison. After leaving prison, he fights against the new threats in his life, during which he meets Haruka Sawamura, to whom he eventually becomes an adoptive father. He is voiced by Takaya Kuroda in Japanese and by Darryl Kurylo and Yong Yea (2023–present) in the series’ English-dubbed releases. Besides the main series, Kiryu has also appeared in three live-action “Like a Dragon” projects: two films and a television series, as well as other video games including Project X Zone 2 and as downloadable content in the spin-off game, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise.
Yakuza 3 is a 2009 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The third main entry in the Like a Dragon series, it was released in Japan and South East Asia on February 26, 2009, and in North America and Europe on March 9, 2010, and March 12, 2010. A remaster containing all cut content was released in Japan on August 9, 2018, and worldwide on August 20, 2019, for the PlayStation 4, and on January 28, 2021, for Windows and Xbox One. A sequel, Yakuza 4, was released on March 18, 2010, in Japan.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is a 2007 Japanese crime film directed by Takashi Miike, based on the 2005 PlayStation 2 video game Yakuza. The film stars Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Show Aikawa, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kenichi Endō and Tomorowo Taguchi.
Yakuza 4 is a 2010 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. It is the fourth main entry in the Yakuza series. The game was formally announced on July 24, 2009. A promotional video was presented at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show. The sequel to Yakuza 3, it was released on March 18, 2010 in Japan, after a playable demo was released on the Japanese PlayStation Store on March 5. Yakuza 4 was released in Europe and North America in March 2011. A sequel, Yakuza 5, was released in 2012.
Like a Dragon ~ Prologue ~, also known as Like a Dragon: Prologue, is a 2006 Japanese crime drama original video film directed by Takeshi Miyasaka with Takashi Miike as executive director. It is based upon Toshihiro Nagoshi's 2005 video game Ryū ga Gotoku, known in the West as Yakuza, released on PlayStation 2.
Goro Majima is a major recurring character in Sega's Like a Dragon video game series, previously known as Yakuza outside of Japan. He is the main protagonist of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and one of the main playable protagonists of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza: Dead Souls, as well as the Majima Saga of Yakuza Kiwami 2. Introduced as a member of the Tojo Clan and patriarch of its subsidiary group, the Majima Family as well as second-in-command of the Shimano Family, nicknamed "Mad Dog of Shimano", he develops a sadomasochistic obsession with the protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. He continually seeks to fight him, seeing him as the perfect rival, but eventually bonds with him across the franchise and becomes an important ally of his. He is also the sworn brother of Taiga Saejima who is one of the protagonists of Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5. Majima's character is explored in more detail during the prequel Yakuza 0, in which he is a 24-year-old former Yakuza and a playable protagonist along with Kiryu. In this game, Majima has a much more calm and serious demeanor that develops into his standard sadomasochistic one during a war between a number of families in a fight for a patch of land known as the Empty Lot. Majima also appears in the spin-off Dead Souls as well as the crossover Project X Zone 2.
Akira Nishikiyama, often shortened to Nishiki, is a fictional character from Sega's action-adventure game series Like a Dragon, previously titled Yakuza outside of Japan. He is the sworn brother and childhood best friend of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, who insists on taking the blame for Nishiki after he murdered their boss, which resulted in Kiryu's expulsion from the Tojo Clan, the dominant yakuza organization in Tokyo, and his imprisonment for ten years. Nishiki establishes the Nishikiyama Family as a "subsidiary" of the Tojo Clan, and later triggers an internal power struggle for the clan's leadership shortly after Kiryu's release, leading to the two men becoming mortal enemies. Nishiki also appears as a supporting character in the prequel installment, Yakuza 0, which follows Kiryu's early years as a low-ranking member of the Tojo Clan. For Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of the original Yakuza, Nishiki's role in the narrative is expanded, with his motivations being more clearly explained.
Like a Dragon, formerly known outside of Japan as Yakuza, is a video game franchise created, owned and published by Sega. It incorporates elements of the action-adventure, beat 'em up, and role-playing genres.
Yakuza: Dead Souls is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. The game was originally scheduled for release in Japan on March 17, 2011 two days after the release of Yakuza 4 in North America; however, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the release was indefinitely delayed. A new release date, setting the game's release for June 9, was announced on April 7. The game was also released in North America and Europe by Sega in March 2012. The gameplay and themes are based on another Sega horror-themed rail gun called The House of the Dead series.
Yakuza 5 is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game is the fifth main entry in the Yakuza series. The game was released in December 2012 in Japan, and localized for North America, Europe and Australia as a PlayStation Network download in December 2015. A remaster with improved resolution and frame rate was released for the PlayStation 4 on June 20, 2019 in Japan, and worldwide on February 11, 2020 as part of The Yakuza Remastered Collection. Versions for Windows and Xbox One were released in January 2021.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a role-playing video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. The eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza series and the first to be developed as a turn-based RPG, it was released in Japan and Asia for PlayStation 4 on January 16, 2020. The western release of the game for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020 included new costumes, the returning of English audio track for the first time since the first game, and some previously paid DLC. This version was then released in Japan and Asia under the subtitle International on February 25, 2021 for Windows and Xbox platforms. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 5 on March 2, 2021, and a version for Amazon Luna launched on December 10, 2021.
Yakuza 0 is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is the sixth main entry in the Yakuza series and a prequel to the original game. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in March 2015, and in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4 in January 2017. It was released on Windows on 1 August 2018 and on Xbox One on 26 February 2020. A free accompanying game application for PlayStation Vita, titled Yakuza 0: Free to Play Application for PlayStation Vita, was released in Japan in February 2015.
Yakuza Kiwami is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a remake of Yakuza, the first game in the Yakuza series, originally released on Sony's PlayStation 2. Yakuza Kiwami was released on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on January 21, 2016, and on PlayStation 4 in Europe and North America on August 29, 2017. It was also ported to Windows via Steam worldwide on February 19, 2019, to Xbox One on April 21, 2020, to Amazon Luna on December 22, 2022, and to Nintendo Switch on October 24, 2024.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a remake of the 2006 video game Yakuza 2 for the PlayStation 2, and is the second remake in Yakuza series following 2016's Yakuza Kiwami. It was developed using the Dragon game engine from Yakuza 6. The game was released for PlayStation 4 on December 7, 2017 in Japan, and worldwide on August 28, 2018. It was released for Windows worldwide on Steam on May 9, 2019 and released for Xbox One on July 30, 2020. A version for cloud-based platform Amazon Luna was released on January 19, 2023.
Japanese video game developer Sega's Yakuza media franchise, known as Ryū ga Gotoku in its native Japan and other Asian territories, features an extensive cast of characters. This article describes notable characters who appear in the Yakuza main series video games and associated remasters or remakes, with characters sorted by organizations or groups according to the original works. The English-language adaptation equivalents are mentioned when available.
Ryuji Goda is a fictional character from Sega's action-adventure game Like a Dragon series, previously known as Yakuza outside of Japan, first appearing in 2006's Yakuza 2. Goda also appears as one of the main characters in a spin-off title of the series, Yakuza: Dead Souls, which does not follow the series' canon and is set in an alternate timeline where Goda survives his wounds at the end of Yakuza 2. Goda is voiced by Masami Iwasaki in all media.
Ichiban Kasuga, also nicknamed Ichi (一), is a character from Sega's Ryu ga Gotoku media franchise, formerly known internationally as Yakuza. Ichiban is first introduced in the 2018 mobile game Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE, a freemium collectible card game spin-off which is exclusively released in Japan. Ichiban is the lead character in the 2020 video game Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the first main series Yakuza title which does not feature recurring series lead Kazuma Kiryu as a playable character. Ichiban is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya in Japanese, and by Kaiji Tang in English.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a 2023 action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. Taking place during the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020), Like a Dragon Gaiden focuses on the series' original protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, as he embarks on a new adventure in Osaka under the guise of a secret agent.
