Gary Buster Holmes (ゲイリー・バスター・ホームズ, Geirī Basutā Hōmuzu) is a recurring character featured in the Yakuza series introduced in the original Yakuza. He is an American immigrant who was once the undefeated champion of Purgatory.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Gary is a tall and muscular African-American man with short hair and a wide neck. He is usually portrayed as noticeably taller and more muscular than Kiryu.
Attire[]
Gary only wears forest camouflage pants, a black leather belt with a leaf shaped buckle, and a pair of black medium-length boots. He also wears a Majima Construction hard hat in his appearances in Yakuza 2 and Yakuza 4.
In Yakuza and Yakuza Kiwami, he wears light blue, white, and black high-top sneakers that looks like unbranded version of Air Jordan I, though in later appearances, he wears boots.
In Yakuza: Dead Souls, he wears a green tank-top, green camouflage pants, black fingerless gloves and a green military cap.
In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, he wears a white tank-top, tan pants and the black boots from previous appearances. When summoned, he ditches the tank-top with a metal spiked ball on each hand.
Personality[]
— Gary when summoned, Yakuza: Like a DragonYou want sudden death or suds on breasts? It's service... with a pounding.
Gary is a straightforward, friendly man. His poor Japanese-speaking skills, however, often lead to him becoming the butt of jokes. He is also a capable leader, as shown in Yakuza: Dead Souls.
Background[]
Gary is an American wrestling champion who, in search of a challenge, travelled to Japan to participate in the Underground Coliseum tournaments hosted by the Florist of Sai. He quickly became the arena's champion and, enraptured by the thrill of competing in these tournaments, he relocated to Japan full-time and became the Florist's personal bodyguard.
Involvement[]
Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 2005[]
Gary works as the personal bodyguard for The Florist of Sai and is the undefeated champion of Purgatory's Coliseum. He introduces Kazuma Kiryu to Purgatory, and later battles the former in the Coliseum, but ends up defeated.
Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2: 2006[]
After ownership of Purgatory is given to Goro Majima, Gary continues to fight in the underground coliseum, and becomes an employee of Majima Construction.
Gary has a rematch with Kazuma Kiryu in the coliseum, but ends up defeated.
Yakuza 4: 2010[]
Gary no longer fights in the Coliseum, and now works on building Kamurocho Hills as a member of Majima Construction. While building Kamurocho Hills late at night, he is met by Kazuma Kiryu, and proceeds to detail his life ever since Purgatory changed ownership. With his regret of never having defeated Kiryu in the underground coliseum, he challenges him to a fight. While Gary ends up defeated, he expresses his gratitude of being able to fight Kiryu again.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 2019[]
- Main article: A Trip to Pound Town
Gary works for "Poundmates", a phone service that sends allies to fights in exchange for money. He is called by Koichi Adachi, and helps him defeat several foes.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: 2023[]
- Main article: Busted!
Gary has moved to Hawaii while still working for "Poundmates". He seems to have founded a group named Gary Love's Camp, which comprises of his relative, Chitose Buster Holmes.
During Chapter 3, while the group is searching for Chitose Fujinomiya, a homeless man gives Ichiban Kasuga a brochure advertising Gary Love's Camp, telling him one of their members is named Chitose and matches their description. When contacting the number, Gary, identifiable by his accent, responds to the call and dispatches Chitose Buster Holmes. Chitose shares the same accent as Gary, wears a t-shirt "Gary Love's Camp" and has a similar muscular build.
Other Media[]
Yakuza: Dead Souls: 2011[]
Gary serves a military instructor during the Kamurocho zombie apocalypse as he reveals he has extensive firearms experience and helps the cast in training with guns.
Fighting Style[]
Yakuza[]
Gary is a very powerful fighter, making use of slow but heavy-hitting punches. He is impossible to knock down with any basic attacks, due to him possessing super armor. His moveset include:
- a Rush Combo consisting of a right hook, a left hook, an overhand right, a left uppercut, and a right cross;
- a right cross,
- a jumping double hammerfist,
- Hiroshi Hayashi's double clothesline, and
- Majima's downed attack.
Gary has a jumping German suplex Heat Action that he can perform when grappling with Kiryu. He can also use Essence of Mounting if the latter is downed.
Yakuza 2[]
Gary comes equipped with a pair of spiked, spherical gauntlets. He uses a more expanded moveset from the previous game, although he does reprise some of his attacks. He also has super armor like before. His attacks are as follows:
- a Rush Combo consisting of a right hook, a left hook, a double hammerfist, and a right uppercut;
- Yuya's Rush Combo,
- his right cross,
- Yuya's running haymaker,
- a double hammerfist, and
- his jumping double hammerfist.
Yakuza 4[]
Gary uses the default boxing thugs' moveset.
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Gary uses a slightly watered-down version of Masato Aizawa's moveset. He also possesses super armor like in the original Yakuza. His attacks are listed below:
- Aizawa's combos,
- Aizawa's haymaker,
- Aizawa's jumping double hammerfist,
- Aizawa's running attack as a basic attack,
- grab attacks, including:
- the generic enemies' front grab attack, and
- the Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! jiu-jitsu enemies' rear grab attack;
- Aizawa's guard reversal,
- Daigo Dojima's downed attack,
- Daito Gozan's counter taunt and damage reversal, and
- Aizawa's beckon taunt.
Gary can use his German suplex Heat Action from the original Yakuza if he grabs him from the front. He can also use as a counter to Kiryu's Finishing Holds. His rejuvenation state correlates to Kiryu's Brawler style.
When Gary is in Heat Mode, he can perform the Essence of Wreckage Heat Action on Kiryu when he is downed, much like in the original.
He emits an amber yellow aura in Heat Mode, but he does not have any attack trails.
Yakuza Kiwami 2[]
Gary uses Aizawa's moveset once again, albeit a different variation from the previous game. His attacks include the following:
- Aizawa's left hook-ducking right hook-knee strike combo,
- Aizawa's left hook-right hook combo,
- Aizawa's push kick,
- Aizawa's haymaker,
- Aizawa's jumping double hammerfist,
- Gozan's double clothesline,
- Aizawa's running attack as a basic attacks,
- Aizawa's dodge attacks, and
- Daigo's downed attack.
His aura in Heat Mode is red, like every other boss in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon[]
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name[]
Related minigames[]
Clan Creator[]
Gary Holmes can be hired as a member of Majima Construction:
| Description | Rarity | Type | Combat style | Skill | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purgatory's gate guard. He hasn't gotten any better at Japanese... | R | Defense | Original | True Essence of Fortification | Spinning Lariat |
Underground Coliseum[]
Yakuza Kiwami biography[]
The undefeated coliseum champion for three years.
Though his fighting style is wrestling, he employs various techniques to deal with any foe, allowing him to rule the bare-fisted regulation grand prix.
He is also the bodyguard of the tournament sponsor, the Florist, and the two share an unbreakable bond.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 biography[]
Former champion considered to be the undefeated king of underground fighting. He fought Kiryu a year ago and lost for the first time. Now he seeks revenge.
Trivia[]
- Gary speaks Japanese fluently but his pronunciation is extremely flawed. However, in English translations, they make him speak Japanese poorly to convey that his pronunciation is flawed, including lines such as "Sudden death or suds on breasts?", "Sudden death or Asian youth?", and "'Instant' death or 'Climax' death?". By Yakuza 4, Kiryu takes notice of his Japanese improving, though he still makes mistakes when saying certain phrases.
- In the English dub of the original Yakuza, Kiryu instead notes that Gary's speech is mostly nonsense.
Gallery[]
Yakuza[]
_Holmes_(Yakuza_1)_02.jpg "Gary (Buster) Holmes (Yakuza 1) 02.jpg (41 KB)")
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Yakuza: Like a Dragon[]
_Holmes.jpg "Gary (Buster) Holmes.jpg (612 KB)")
Yakuza: Dead Souls[]
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online[]
.png "RGGO - Card - KSR Gary Buster Holmes (Assault).png (404 KB)")
Notes[]
- ↑ The given height of 195 cm (6′ 5″) is based on the character model's scaling factor within Yakuza Kiwami 2's data.[5] For Dragon Engine games, this method is believed to be very accurate (±2 cm). However, this is intended as an estimate, not a substitute for an official statistic.
References[]
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedY1 - Coliseum - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedYK1 - coliseum - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedYK2 - coliseum - ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Substory - The Hills Have Noise, Yakuza 4 Remastered (2010; Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2019), PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Windows.
- ↑ Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “character_model_model_data” (.BIN file), Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017; Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2018), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One/Amazon Luna.