The Man in Black (黒装束の男, Kuroshōzoku no Otoko) is a minor antagonist featured in Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2. He is a mysterious unnamed assassin working for the Jingweon Mafia.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
In Yakuza 2, the Man in Black is tall man with a round, sharp face and blonde, slicked-back hair.
In Yakuza Kiwami 2, his face appears to be more wrinkly, and his hair is a black crew cut.
Attire[]
The Man in Black wears the standard uniform of Jingweon operatives, consisting of a grey military jacket and pants, a black base layer, grey tactical knee/shin guards, and grey combat boots.
In Yakuza 2, he wears a pair of black tactical sunglasses. In Yakuza Kiwami 2, he instead wears dark, rimless, rectangular sunglasses.
Involvement[]
Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2: 2006[]
The Man in Black first appears when Kazuma Kiryu goes to the Amano Building in Kamurocho while in search of a kidnapped Daigo Dojima, having been called there by his anonymous kidnapper. When Kiryu enters the building, the Man in Black attacks him, intent on killing him. Kiryu bests the assassin and continues on his search, but as Kiryu fights his way through the building he is hounded by the Man in Black, who returns to attack him two more times before Kiryu reaches the kidnapper on the rooftop.
Later in the story, when Kiryu, Kaoru Sayama and Haruka Sawamura are returning to Tokyo to confront Yeongmin Ji, they are ambushed on the highway by a platoon of Jingweon assassins led by the Man in Black. Kiryu fights the Jingweon men on top of the trucks that they were using to chase them and ultimately duels the Man in Black once again, defeating him by throwing him off the truck and onto the highway.
Despite sustaining serious injuries from his fall, the Man in Black attacks Kiryu one last time when he is heading to the top of Kamurocho Hills to face off against Ryuji Goda. On the elevator ride to the construction site's top floor, the Man in Black jumps into the cargo lift and attacks Kiryu, only to be defeated once again and left unconscious on the elevator floor.
It is unknown what happened to the Man in Black after his third defeat. However, as Ryo Takashima would later kill several Jingweon men while making his way to join the confrontation atop Kamurocho Hills, it is possible that he may have been killed by Takashima.
Fighting Style[]
Yakuza 2[]
The Man in Black is fought five times throughout Yakuza 2: three times during the Amano Building long battle, again during the highway long battle, and once more on the Kamurocho Hills elevator. He is a Taekwondo practitioner who relies solely on kick-based attacks, including:
- a jumping right Thai roundhouse kick-jumping left spinning heel kick Rush Combo,
- Akira Nishikiyama's flying high roundhouse kick as a basic attack,
- a right back flip kick, and
- a spinning right axe kick, which can stun Kiryu.
In his third encounter, he can perform a QTE Heat Action where he kicks a tall, wooden crate at Kiryu.
His attack trails are black.
Yakuza Kiwami 2[]
The Man in Black uses Andre Richardson's unarmed moveset. The speed of his attack animations has been increased, making him even faster and more difficult. In his first three encounters, he remains in a calm state and mostly uses Richardson's punching attacks only. These include the following:
- Richardson's Rush Combo,
- Richardson's overhand-hook-low Thai roundhouse kick combo,
- Richardson's uppercut-spinning axe kick combo,
- Richardson's jumping Thai roundhouse kick,
- Richardson's guard reversal,
- a command grab where he performs Richardson's front grab attack; and
- Richardson's downed attack.
Strangely, the Man in Black will never run toward Kiryu. He will only ever walk or, if he is far away, repeatedly quickstep forward to close the gap between them.
The Man in Black has one new encounter in the Amano Building: after his third defeat, he will get back up and begin using retractable blades hidden in his boots. He also gains most of Richardson's kicking attacks, which are listed below:
- Richardson's four-kick combo,
- Richardson's charged hopping side kick-body hook command grab combo,
- Richardson's back flip kick, and
- Richardson's running attack as a basic attack.
His kick-based attacks cannot be blocked, even if Kiryu has unlocked the Lotus Golden Wall upgrade or is holding a weapon. He also uses his QTE Heat Action in his fourth fight instead of the third.
The Man in Black enters Heat Mode immediately in his latter four fights. He emits a red aura, like every other boss in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Unlike most other minibosses, whose name is provided in their health bar during the fight (even minibosses belonging to the Jingweon), the Man in Black's name is never revealed, being only referred to by his alias.
- In the original version of Yakuza 2, the final Man in Black encounter uses the song "West Insanity", which is the main theme song of the Go-Ryu Clan. In Kiwami 2, he has his own theme song: a unique arrangement of the Kamurocho Hills long battle theme song. The original choice of using the Go-Ryu Clan theme song seems to imply that the Man in Black was also hired by the Go-Ryu Clan to assassinate Kiryu.
- Amongst all the characters throughout the franchise, the Man in Black is tied with Yutaka Yamai and Daisaku Kuze for having the most boss fights in one game with 5 (excluding Hub boss mechanics such as Mr. Shakedown and Majima Everywhere).