Lau Ka Long (劉家龍, Làuh Gā-lùhng/ラウ・カーロン, Rau Kāron), later known as Chau Ka Long (周家龍, Jāu Gā-lùhng/チャウ・カーロン, Chau Kāron), is a recurring character in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series introduced as an antagonist in Yakuza. He is an underground arms dealer and the former leader of the Japanese branch of the Snake Flower Triad.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Lau is an aging man with long, black hair that he ties up in a ponytail, as well as a goatee and a large scar on the left side of his face. By 2019, his hair is let down and cut to shoulder-length.
Attire[]
As the leader of the Snake Flower Triad, Lau wears a tailor-made, white suit with ornate details over a purple mandarin collar shirt, white suit pants and matching white dress shoes. By 2009, he has installed a retractable knife in his right shoe.
By 2019, he wears black jeans and a black leather jacket over a grey shirt. He also sports a pair of sunglasses.
Personality[]
Lau bears a strong grudge against the Tojo Clan, particularly against Shintaro Kazama and Kazuma Kiryu. He also tends to look down upon the yakuza in general, regarding them as "not very smart." That being said, he is not opposed to doing business with them for financial gain, such as when he conspired with Futoshi Shimano to secure part of Kyohei Jingu's ten billion yen for himself.
Lau has been proven to be particularly vengeful, as his deep-seated hatred towards Kiryu lead to him kidnapping and attempting to kill Rikiya Shimabukuro, in retaliation for the former defeating him and the Triad four years prior.
Since becoming an arms dealer providing illegal weapons under the name Chau Ka Long, Lau always puts his clients to the test to see if they can be trusted. After Kasuga proves himself and becomes confident, he becomes willing to help him in battle, not wishing to lose a valuable customer.
Background[]
Lau established the Snake Flower Triad's presence in Japan by taking over Yokohama's underworld during the 1980s due to its large Chinese population. As well as extorting local businesses for protection money, the gang also specialized in forging passports and travel documents for illegal immigrants. Lau established the Triad's headquarters in a large Chinese restaurant in the city.
Lau was a pupil of Granny White, a White Lotus school martial arts master, who kicked him and the rest of the Snake Flower Triad out of her dojo after Lau asked to be her successor.
In 1993, Kazuma Kiryu fell foul of the Snake Flower Triad after Lau found out that his Kazama Family were trying to muscle in on his passport forgery business. This resulted in him being tortured by the triad, until his patriarch Shintaro Kazama rescued him.
Involvement[]
Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 2005[]
Lau Ka Long with Haruka Sawamura as a hostage.
Lau conspires with Futoshi Shimano and Yukio Terada to get a sizable chunk of Kyohei Jingu's ten billion yen. He has Haruka Sawamura kidnapped through Bloody Eye to obtain the pendant she possesses, which is connected to Jingu's money. He sells the pendant to Akira Nishikiyama, but keeps Haruka, as her being Jingu's secret daughter is far more valuable than the money, and his yakuza conspirators had not realized her value.
Kiryu once again goes over to the Snake Flower headquarters in a Yokohama Chinese restaurant to rescue Haruka. Kiryu defeats Lau, but is swiftly arrested by Junichi Sudo, who arrives with a cohort of police officers. Lau's defeat proves to be a humiliating blow to the Snake Flower Triad and their operations in Japan.
2007-2008[]
The Snake Flower Triad form an association with Goh Hamazaki's Hamazaki Family to control Yokohama. In return, Hamazaki offers the Triad control of the proposed Okinawa resort.
Yakuza 3: 2009[]
The Snake Flower Triad kidnaps Rikiya Shimabukuro. Coming to Rikiya's rescue, Kiryu once again confronts Lau, who says the primary reason he teamed up with Hamazaki was to exact his revenge on Kiryu for humiliating him four years earlier. After Kiryu defeats Lau, his officers are about to execute Rikiya when they are both shot dead by the man Kiryu recognizes as the man who looks like Shintaro Kazama. The man then shoots Lau in the head before running off. The supposed death of Lau spells the end of the Snake Flower Triad's operations in Japan until 2016.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 2019[]
Lau is revealed to have somehow survived being shot in the head and has since been working as an underground weapons dealer in Ijincho under the name Chau Ka Long. Lau can only appear once the gambling hall is unlocked. Once it is, Iroha Yanagi will let Ichiban Kasuga know of the underground dealer and the password required to reach him. Kasuga gets to Zhou Long Distribution and is ambushed after providing the password. Lau then appears and asks to meet Kasuga near Kinka Bridge, having passed his test.
When they meet again, Lau asks Kasuga if he was part of a yakuza family, to which the latter replies that he was part of the Tojo Clan before. Lau muses about how Shintaro Kazama and Kazuma Kiryu were also in the Tojo Clan, and when asked if they were friends, Lau replies that he'd rather not be seen by the Tojo again, implying he does not know about the Tojo being severely weakened and driven out prior to their meeting.
After explaining the reasoning for his subordinates fighting him, Lau offers his services to Kasuga, under the condition that he never mentions this to anyone. Once Kasuga builds his confidence up, Lau decides to assist him in battle as a Poundmate, as losing him would be bad for business.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: 2023[]
At some point, Seonhee and Saeko take Kiryu to see Lau. They both immediately recognize each other and Lau calls Kiryu out for using a fake alias to conceal his identity. Seonhee attempts to defuse the situation, but Lau believes she is disregarding "the rules of the underworld" by allowing Kiryu to simply leave, and he demands that he test Kiryu's worth in combat as a new customer. When he is beaten, Lau nearly reveals his true identity to Kiryu's party, but Kiryu interrupts him and implicitly agrees to keep both their identities hidden. They settle their differences in the end, and Kiryu becomes a regular customer.
Fighting Style[]
Lau is a highly-skilled practitioner of the White Lotus style of polearm-fighting, of which he was taught by Granny White. He is also adept in Shaolin Kung Fu and the use of Chinese daoWP swords and claws.
Yakuza[]
Lau's boss fight is separated into four different phases: a guandaoWP phase, a hand-to-hand phase, a dual dao sword phase, and a second hand-to-hand phase. His attack trails are white, and his dodge aura is pale orange.
Guandao[]
He starts off wielding a Chinese guandao polearm. His moveset consists of quick and powerful slashes and encorporates a number of kicks into his style. His attacks are listed as follows:
- a Rush Combo made up of a polearm thrust, a jumping spinning downward slam, and a jumping spinning low rightward slash;
- a low leftward horizontal slash,
- a charged lunging polearm thrust,
- a left side kick,
- a right rolling thunder kick as a running attack, and
- a spinning right heel kick as a guard reversal.
Unarmed[]
Whenever Lau is disarmed, he takes on a hand-to-hand approach to combat. He uses Northern Shaolin Kung Fu as his fighting style, attacking mainly with palm strikes and flip kicks, and performing butterfly jumps to dodge incoming attacks.
He has three combos, which are listed as follows:
- a Rush Combo consisting of a left backfist, a spinning left vertical lunge punch, and a lunging double-handed palm strike;
- another combo consisting of an overhand left palm strike, a left palm strike, and a right rolling thunder kick; and
- a high left spinning side kick-right rising kick combo.
His other attacks include the following:
- a charged right lunging palm strike,
- throwing three kunai knives (4th phase only),
- his running attack,
- a right knee strike-jumping right knee strike as a front grab attack (2nd phase only),
- a left knifehand knockback as a guard reversal, followed by a spinning double palm strike; and
- a left front flip kick as a downed attack (4th phase only).
If he grabs Kiryu in his fourth phase, he can execute a Heat Action where he throws two right knee strikes and a jumping right spinning push kick.
Lau's unarmed moveset is reused by Sotaro Komaki in the same game and by Granny White in Yakuza 2.
Dual Dao[]
One of his henchmen will throw him a pair of dao swords, commencing phase three of the fight. His attacks are listed as follows:
- a Rush Combo made up of a right-sword downward slash, a double outward slash, and a spinning double rightward horizontal slash;
- a second combo consisting of a double-sword upward diagonal left-right slash, and three spinning double upward diagonal right slashes;
- a leaping double outward slash, and
- a right-sword upward slash as a guard reversal.
Lau's dual dao moveset is reused by Jo Amon in both Yakuza and Yakuza 2.
Yakuza 3[]
Lau's boss fight is split into three phases, similar to his fight in Yakuza. For his first two phases, he once again makes use of a guandao and kung fu, but his movesets are greatly expanded and have more variety. His final phase, however, sees him wielding a pair of claw gauntlets instead of dao swords.
Guandao[]
Lau's quandao moveset differs greatly from the one he used in Yakuza, possessing a larger number of attacks and revolving mainly around fast combos. He also uses some of Hozoin Inshun's attacks from Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!, as well as his fighting stance.
His combos include the following:
- Inshun's thrust-rightward slash-leaping slam combo,
- Inshun's pommel strike-hopping pommel strike combo, and a left side kick;
- an unbroken combo, consisting of two downward twirls, a right tornado crescent kick, and a twirl into a leftward horizontal slash; and
- a second unbroken combo, consisting of a leftward horizontal slash, a spinning low leftward slash into a butterfly jump, and a one-handed rightward slash.
The rest of his moveset consists of:
- Inshun's front cartwheel kick-kneeling thrust with one hand as a running attack (unused),
- twirling his polearm after guarding against an attack,
- a rightward slash with one hand-downward diagonal right twirl as a guard reversal, which can stun Kiryu;
- Inshun's leaping slam as a downed attack, and
- a taunt where he holds his polearm above his head and twirls it three times.
Lau's polearm moveset is reused by many spear-wielding enemies in the Battle Dungeons in Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!, and Like a Dragon: Ishin! by extension.
Unarmed[]
Lau switches to hand-to-hand fighting after losing approximately one third of his health. He reprises much of his old attacks from Yakuza with updated animations, as well as having a plethora of new ones. His moveset is composed of:
- his combos from Yakuza,
- a combo made up of Joji Kazama's stomping hammerfist and a right straight palm strike command grab, followed by him grabbing Kiryu's head and performing a jumping right knee strike;
- a charged right straight palm strike,
- a high right spinning heel kick,
- a right butterfly kick,
- his running attack from Yakuza,
- a turning right side kick as a directional attack,
- Bruce Ebinuma's guard reversal,
- three grab attacks, including:
- a charged right lunging palm strike as a front grab attack,
- his front grab attack from Yakuza, and
- the Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! jiu-jitsu enemies' rear grab attack; and
- a taunt where he stands upright and beckons Kiryu with his left hand.
A watered-down version of Lau's unarmed moveset is used by many regular enemies in later Yakuza games, as well as Granny White in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Claws[]
After approximately two thirds of his health has been depleted, Lau will brandish a pair of four-clawed gauntlets. His fighting style a number of claw-slashes, kicks and flips. His attacks are listed below:
- a combo consisting of a diagonal downward left double slash, a spinning diagonal downward left double slash, and a left-claw upward vertical slash;
- another combo consisting of a rapid left backhand slash-right hook slash-low left backhand slash-butterfly kick, a kneeling right hook slash (used), and a lunging double thrust command grab, followed by him ripping his claws out horizontally (unused);
- a double rightward horizontal slash-spinning rightward horizontal slash,
- a front flip double diagonal downward slash,
- his butterfly kick,
- his running attack,
- a jumping double downward slash as a guard reversal, and
- a taunt where he holds up his right claw and beckons Kiryu.
Lau immediately enters Heat Mode when his last phase begins, in which he emits a navy blue aura. He will sometimes initiate a QTE Heat Action where he assaults Kiryu with a barrage of slashes and kicks, making use of a concealed knife in his right shoe.
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Lau's fight has not changed too significantly from the original Yakuza. His rejuvenation state correlates to Kiryu's Brawler Style.
He emits an amber yellow aura in Heat Mode. His weapon attacks have light orange trails, and his non-weapon attacks have neon yellow ones.
Guandao[]
Lau uses the Ishin! spear enemy variant of his Yakuza 3 moveset, which lacks his taunt and guard reversal, but includes Hozoin Inshun's front flip thrust as a basic attack. His downed attack also doubles as a basic attack, and his left side kick can stun Kiryu.
If Kiryu is stunned, Lau can execute a Heat Action where he impales Kiryu, lifts him up in the air, and slams him to the ground.
Unarmed[]
Lau uses a smaller version of his unarmed moveset from Yakuza 3. He no longer has his command grab combo, his charged palm strike grab attack, nor Bruce Ebinuma's guard reversal. His front flip kick functions as a basic attack instead of a running attack.
If he grabs Kiryu in while in Heat Mode, he can instead use a Heat Action where he performs Naoki Katsuya's command grab attack from his roundhouse kick-overhand combo.
Dual Dao[]
Lau uses Shun Akiyama's kali stick stance and guard pose when wielding his broadswords. His moveset is composed of attacks taken from several different characters. These include:
- Akiyama's kali stick combo,
- Kiryu's kali stick heavy attack from Yakuza 3-5,
- Akiyama's kali stick special attack,
- Kiryu's kali stick special attack from Yakuza 3-5,
- a right-sword leftward slash-spinning double outward slash-jumping double outward slash,
- Lao Gui's running attack from his pistol & dao phase,
- Taiga Saejima's Knock Back guard reversal,
- Takechi Hanpeita's right/left dodge attacks from his Wild Dancer phase, and
- Takechi's downed attack from his Wild Dancer phase.
He uses his running attack as a basic attack.
Lau's broadsword moveset is reused by Coliseum fighter Razor Yasu in the same game and Hiroshi Hayashi for his dual-pipe phase in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon[]
Trivia[]
- During the substory White Lotus in Yakuza 2, there's a translation error where one of the characters involved claims that Kiryu has murdered Lau Ka Long in the previous game, which is obviously not true as he's also present in Yakuza 3.
- Lau is mentioned in the Yakuza 4 substory A Doctor's Pledge.
- In Yakuza 6, a photo of Lau can be found in Little Asia, and exploring other areas of it will cause his "ghost" to appear when Kiryu takes a photo there.
- The password required to reach Lau in Yakuza: Like a Dragon is "Lau Chau Chau Ya" (らうちゃうちゃうや, Lit. "It ain't Lau, it's Chau").
- A few of his moves from Yakuza 3 onwards reuse animations from Lau Chan's moves, from Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. Those are his high right spinning heel kick (Enjin Senpukyaku), his charged right straight palm strike (Tenshin Engekishou) and his butterfly kick (Ko'en Senshi).
- On the other side, his right rising kick animation from Yakuza was reused for one of Lau Chan's moves (Sokushutai) in the same game.
Notes[]
- ↑ Lau's age derived from his official date of birth (49/50 in 2009) contradicts the age (52 in 2009) given in the All-Star Tournament in Yakuza 3. It should be noted that the All-Star Tournament was originally downloadable content in the original Japanese release, and although included in the base game in the worldwide release and Yakuza 3 Remastered, it is only accessible in Premium Adventure.
- ↑ This date of birth contradicts Lau's given age in the Yakuza 3 coliseum.