Ryuji Goda

Ryuji Goda
郷田 龍司 (Gōda Ryūji)
Also Known As
Nicknames	Dragon of Kansai Bontan Hunter Golden Dragon
Other Names	Mysterious Guy Kansai Kid
Biographical
Age	12 (Yakuza 0) 22 (Wanderings of the Golden Dragon) 30 (Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2)
Year of Birth	1976
Heritage	Korean
Nationality	Japanese
Physical
Hair Color	Black, dyed blonde
Eye Color	Brown
Height	180 cm (5′ 11″) (~1989) 195 cm (6′ 5″)
Associations
Relationships	Suyeon Jung (mother) Jingweon Mafia Boss (biological father) Jin Goda (adoptive father) Kaoru Sayama (half-sister) Kazuma Kiryu (rival)
Occupation	Second patriarch of the Go-Ryu Clan
Affiliation	Omi Alliance Go-Ryu Clan
Other
Fighting Style	Kickboxing (Yakuza 2) Street fighting (Yakuza 0) Sloppy street fighting (Yakuza Kiwami 2) Katana
Appears In	Yakuza 0 Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2 Yakuza: Dead Souls Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (flashback) Ryu Ga Gotoku Mobile for GREE Ryu Ga Gotoku Kizuna Ryu Ga Gotoku Online
Counterpart	Saigo Kichinosuke (Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!/Like a Dragon: Ishin!)
Actors
Japanese	Masami IwasakiWP

Ryuji Goda (郷田 龍司, Gōda Ryūji) is a recurring character in the Yakuza series introduced as the main antagonist of Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2. He is later featured as a protagonist in Yakuza: Dead Souls and Ryu Ga Gotoku Online. In Yakuza 0, he makes a minor appearance as a delinquent preteen boy.

He is the second patriarch the Go-Ryu Clan, an Omi Alliance subsidiary. His militance and strength as a yakuza, combined with the dragon tattoo on his back, has earned him the nickname "The Dragon of Kansai" (関西の龍, Kansai no Ryū).

Profile

Appearance

Ryuji has a tall build which is apparent even during his days as a schoolboy. He has blonde hair and a large scar on his face.

He wears a beige suit (pinstriped in Yakuza Kiwami 2) over a dark brown shirt, matching suit pants, and a pair of white wingtips. Additionally, he wears a light beige coat with a strip of black fur all around the collar and down the front.

Four-year-old Ryuji is shown in 1980 flashbacks to naturally have black hair, meaning that he has been dyeing his hair blonde at least since he was 12, as he has blonde hair in all of his other appearances including in Yakuza 0.

Tattoo

Ryuji's back tattoo is the legendary golden dragon, Huang Long, that lords over the four gods of the cardinal directions, representing Ryuji's ambition to rule over all of Japan's criminal underworld, unsatisfied with just Kansai, a single piece of said world.

Ryuji's tattoo was started by Kazahori in 1996 and later finished by his apprentice Akina.

Attire

In Yakuza: Dead Souls, Ryuji wears an off-white long crocodile-skin coat over his attire. The right sleeve of this coat and his suit is torn off the first time he opens up his Gatling gun.

In Yakuza 0, Ryuji sports a red sweater under a khaki colored overcoat, a black school backpack, brown pants, and white sneakers.

Personality

How's about we see here and now... which one of us is the real dragon!

— Ryuji to Kiryu, Yakuza Kiwami 2

Ryuji is depicted as a goal-driven and ambitious man, especially evident when he aims to defeat Kiryu to take the title of the "one true dragon" and his ambition to wage a war between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance. Ryuji can be pretty ruthless, but unlike many other yakuza, he adheres to a strict, personal moral code: Ryuji believes that strength is the ultimate virtue and that only those who demonstrate strength deserve to wield power. He has very open contempt for people who resort to underhanded, manipulative tactics to seize power, like Toranosuke Sengoku and Ryo Takashima.

In terms of fighting, he prefers a head-on approach and has a sense of honor, considering Kiryu as a worthy opponent. Not only does he considers him a great opponent, but Ryuji also doesn't enjoy an unfair victory as evidenced when he had the opportunity to kill Kiryu, who was exhausted and vulnerable, he stayed his blade in order to fight him one-on-one on equal ground. He dislikes being called the "Dragon of Kansai" as he believes there is only room for one dragon, and warns his subordinates to never use that alias.

Ryuji proves to be selfless as he doesn't hesitate to take bullets to protect his half-sister and Kiryu. He is self-aware of his flaws, notably his tendency to be impulsive (and considers that a real man sometimes has to act before they think), acknowledging that he always believed he'd die young.

Ryuji is a proud man, evidenced by him challenging Kiryu to a fight in his final moments. This was right after he took bullets he knew was fatal. Kiryu, in a rare instance, showed immense respect to an opponent by calling Ryuji "the man I thought you were" and stating that he would go all-out in response to Ryuji challenging him to a fight.

In the end, he expressed regret that he and his sister didn't get to spend more time with each other. That and the fact that he deeply cherishes the memory of his mother proves that family bonds are sacred to him.

Background

Ryuji was born as the son of the Jingweon Mafia Boss and his wife, Suyeon Jung. In 1980, the Dojima Family carries out the Kamurocho Christmas Massacre, during which the Jingweon Boss and most of his men were murdered after a Christmas party. Suyeon and Ryuji were present when the massacre took place but they were saved by Jiro Kawara, a police detective who'd stumbled onto the scene while pursuing a suspect.

Kawara helped Suyeon go into hiding in Osaka, after which she met Jin Goda, the future 5th Chairman of the Omi Alliance, by happenstance. The two befriended each other and Jin quickly fell in love with Suyeon, who agreed to live with him so that she could provide for her son, even though she did not truly love Jin. Some time later, Suyeon reunited with Kawara and fell in love with him, devastating Jin. In 1981, when Suyeon told him that she would move in with Kawara, Jin begged her to leave Ryuji with him, claiming he'd grow to love the boy like a father and wanting to still keep in touch with Suyeon by sharing custody of the boy. Though it pained Suyeon to leave her son, she agreed out of gratitude to Jin and in the hopes that his wealth could provide her son with better opportunities in life than she ever could. Unfortunately for both Jin and a young Ryuji, Suyeon was found and murdered by the Jingweon Mafia for her desertion within less than a year.

Growing up as Jin's adoptive son, Ryuji always felt neglected and alone. Despite what he'd had claimed to Suyeon, Jin hadn't grown to love Ryuji as a son and, after his mother's murder, he actually grew quite cold and distant towards him, as seeing Ryuji reminded him of the death of his beloved. As a result of this, and the ostracization he experienced from other kids who were afraid of him because he was the son of a yakuza, Ryuji grew up a very lonely child. As he got older, Ryuji came to resent his father for this neglect but, at the same time, he also admired him for his strength and power. In time, this resentment would turn into a spiteful desire within Ryuji to become even stronger and more powerful than his adoptive father, in the hopes of eclipsing him within the yakuza world.

To that end, Ryuji joined his father's yakuza group, the Go-Ryu Clan, and quickly became one of its most feared and respected members, admired by the other members because of his ferocity and combat prowess. After his Jin Goda became too old to run both the Omi and the Go-Ryu, he abdicated his position in the latter group to Ryuji, who took up the mantle of second patriarch of the Go-Ryu Clan.

Involvement

Yakuza 0: 1988

As the son of Omi chairman Jin Goda, Ryuji is shunned by his classmates in elementary school, with even the teachers acting careful around him. Despite this, he decides to get revenge for his classmates, who are often bullied by students of Soten North High. Out in Sotenbori, Ryuji often hangs around a takoyaki stand named Magutako, and beats up the high school students and steals their pants. He quickly earned a reputation as the "bontan hunter."

One day, Ryuji encounters Goro Majima near Magutako and attacks him, attempting to steal his pants. Defeated by Majima, Ryuji he heads to a nearby bench to lie down. While seemingly unconscious, Ryuji listens as his classmates tell Majima that he getting revenge for them. He gets up and denies, claiming to simply dislike them because they're bad at fighting. Ryuji acknowledges Majima's strength, claiming him to be stronger than his own father. Ryuji then walks away, promising to steal Majima's pants next time.

Later on, Ryuji is attacked by seven students of Soten North High, and easily defeats all of them. One of the students asks for Ryuji's name, and he gives the student his answer, and walks home.

On a field trip to Kamurocho, Ryuji bumps into another man while viewing the sights of Kamurocho. Ryuji walks away, not knowing that the other man is Kazuma Kiryu.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Online: 1999

Ryuji is the protagonist of the story arc Wanderings of the Golden Dragon. He wanders around Japan on a food trip alongside Joon-Gi Han, evading assassins, local yakuza, Ichiban Kasuga and Daisaku Kuze.

Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 2005

After the assassination of the Tojo Clan's third chairman and the theft of their 10 billion yen cash reserve plunges the organization into chaos, Ryuji conspires with various factions to further destabilize the Tojo Clan in the hopes of facilitating a future Omi invasion of Kanto.

Ryuji, now the patriarch of the Go-Ryu Clan, initially allies himself with the Nishikiyama Family, aiding them to sow chaos within the Tojo. However, this partnership eventually falls through and Ryuji instead joins forces with Kyohei Jingu, the corrupt director of the MIA, who'd previously been controlling the Tojo Clan behind the scenes but had now lost control over them. Ryuji and Jingu intended to destroy the Tojo Clan so that the Go-Ryu could then move into their former territory, with Ryuji getting to control the Tokyo underworld, and Jingu getting a new powerful ally in the yakuza whom he hoped to influence to further his political goals. However, the MIA director's plans would be foiled by the intervention of Kazuma Kiryu and Jingu himself would be killed by Akira Nishikiyama in a suicide bombing.

Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2: 2006

Wishing to start a war against the Tojo Clan as the Go-Ryu Clan patriarch, Ryuji conspires with the Jingweon Mafia through one of their men, Tsumura. The two agree that the Jingweon will carry out a series of bombings in Tojo controlled businesses in the lead up to and during an Omi invasion of Tokyo, in order to facilitate that takeover. The Jingweon also agree to assassinate Tojo Chairman Yukio Terada while making it look like Ryuji's men were behind the hit, in order to cause an incident which will spark the war. Unbeknownst to Ryuji, Terada was secretly the leader of the Jingweon's Japanese Branch, Daejin Kim, and he would fake his own death to cause the Tojo-Omi war, which he hoped would mean the Tojo Clan's destruction.

After Terada's apparent assassination, Kiryu agrees to travel to Osaka to negotiate a peace settlement with Chairman Goda before a war actually breaks out. While drinking at the Cabaret Grand the night before the peace summit, Kiryu witnesses an incident between Ryuji and one of his men who were drinking at a nearby table. One of Ryuji's soldiers refers to him as the "Dragon of Kansai", the nickname Ryuji despises because it limits his influence to Kansai alone. An irritated Ryuji then proceeds to spill a drink over the mook before breaking a bottle over his head as punishment. Offended by Ryuji's physical abuse of his own men, Kiryu butts into the conversation and calls Ryuji by his hated nickname, prompting Ryuji's other men to attack him for insulting their boss. Kiryu easily beats his aggressors, which impresses Ryuji so much that he offers to share a drink with him.

As both men introduce themselves, Ryuji recognizes Kiryu's name, but claims that a man like Kiryu wouldn't be spending time in an establishment like this. During their conversation, Ryuji warns that at midnight, Kamurocho will see "the biggest damn fireworks show ever", and tomorrow, the Dragon of Dojima will die. Afterwards, Ryuji departs, telling Kiryu to enjoy his evening. Soon after, as per Ryuji's warning, the Kazama Family office in the Millennium Tower is bombed.

The following day, Ryuji interrupts the peace talks between Kiryu and the Omi leadership at the Omi Alliance Headquarters by leading a coup against his own father, hoping to usurp control of the Omi. Ryuji has his men take his father hostage and then transport him to be held prisoner. Upon seeing Kiryu, Ryuji realizes that he was indeed the Dragon of Dojima and says that he won't be fooled into letting him leave alive this time. However, Daigo Dojima, who was accompanying Kiryu and who held a grudge against Ryuji for setting him up to serve 5 years in prison, intervenes and fights Ryuji so Kiryu can rescue Chairman Goda. Ryuji fights Daigo and easily defeats him, after which he pursues Kiryu. The Omi man finds his target at the HQ entrance, after he's already rescued the Chairman from Ryuji's goons. Ryuji and Kiryu face off in a brief duel, but they're interrupted by the arrival of a platoon of Osaka Prefectural Police officers, led by Detective Kaoru Sayama. The police take Kiryu into custody but Ryuji manages to evade them.

When Terada's funeral is held at the Tojo Clan Headquarters, Ryuji sends several of his men to cause a ruckus before arriving there himself to "pay his respects" to Terada, as he was a former colleague. However, Ryuji is denied entrance to the funeral by Osamu Kashiwagi on account of the fact Ryuji was responsible for Terada's apparent death. Ryuji mocks Kashiwagi by claiming to not know him and, after he's told who he is, claiming he mistook him for one of the funeral home staff. Afterwards, Ryuji delivers a threat to the Tojo: He will give them a three day "mourning period" for Terada, after which the Go-Ryu will mobilize against Tokyo.

The next night, Ryuji has a meeting with fellow Omi patriarchs Toranosuke Sengoku and Ryo Takashima, where Sengoku reveals he's hatched a new scheme to get rid of Kiryu: He's kidnapped his foster daughter, Haruka Sawamura, and intends to use her to lure Kiryu into a trap. Ryuji is disgusted by Sengoku's underhanded scheme and departs. However, he later reconsiders and returns to Sengoku's mansion to kill him for his unscrupulous plot. Ryuji waits for Sengoku in his office and is pleasantly surprised when his target arrives pursued by Kiryu, who'd shown up to rescue Haruka. Ryuji attacks Sengoku with his sword and then throws him out of the office window to his death, after which he returns Haruka to Kiryu. The Omi patriarch then warns that the Tojo only have one day left before the Go-Ryu invade.

After the mourning period has ended, the Go-Ryu Clan mobilize against Tokyo. Ryuji has his forces attack Tojo Clan businesses across the city, while he personally takes control of Stardust, since its run by Kiryu's friends Kazuki and Yuya. After helping beat the Go-Ryu back from other businesses in Kamurocho, Kiryu arrives at Stardust and beats all of Ryuji's personal guard. However, by the time he has to take on Ryuji himself, Kiryu is too worn down from all the other fights he'd taken part in that night. Ryuji recognizes this and refuses to fight Kiryu, since he considers that beating him when he's not at full strength would be a hollow victory. Ryuji challenges Kiryu to a one on one duel atop Kamurocho Hills two days from then in order to settle the war, warning that if Kiryu doesn't show up, the Go-Ryu will invade Kamurocho again. Since Kiryu knows the Tojo won't be able to fight off a second assault, he agrees to the challenge.

On the appointed night, Ryuji takes his father, whom he'd previously captured, and travels to Kamurocho Hills for his duel with Kiryu. However, instead of his rival, he is met there by Detective Sayama. Sayama tells Ryuji the truth about the old Jingweon Boss and Suyeon Jung being his parents, which he already knew, but then shocks him by revealing that she is his half-sister, as she is the daughter of Suyeon and Jiro Kawara. Ryuji initially doesn't believe her, but Chairman Goda confirms it is so. Sayama pleads with Ryuji to stand down and abandon his mission of conquest before he gets killed, as he is the only biological family she has left after Kawara's recent murder, but Ryuji refuses to surrender. When Kiryu arrives, he and Ryuji have their final battle, which ends in Kiryu narrowly defeating the other dragon.

After Ryuji is knocked out during his fight with Kiryu, Yukio Terada makes his presence known alongside a small battalion of Jingweon hitmen. The Jingweon's boss reveals his role in the conflict that has unfolded and attempts to kill Kiryu, only to be beaten by him and Sayama. A second sudden arrival shakes up the confrontation as Ryo Takashima also shows up, wielding a gun, and reveals that he'd been conspiring with the Jingweon all along as well. As he no longer has any need for the Jingweon, Takashima proceeds to fatally shoot Terada and Jin Goda. Moments before dying, Terada activates a final bomb which his men had planted in Kamurocho Hills, which begins to count down towards detonation. Distracted by the bomb, Takashima doesn't notice Ryuji getting up and grabbing Terada's gun until he's already started shooting at him. Both men shoot each other multiple times, but Ryuji ends up knocking Takashima down and disarming him. A dying Takashima laments that he let "an idiot" like Ryuji get the better of him, after which Ryuji taunts him by saying that "a real man ought to be a little stupid" before shooting him in the head.

As the bomb is counting down and both are too wounded to get off the building in time, Ryuji and Kiryu resolve to die having one final battle to decide who is the true dragon. Sayama tries to stop them but both men lock themselves in a cargo elevator with the bomb and set it to ascend to the top of the structure, telling Sayama to leave while she can. Heavily battered but even more heavily determined, Ryuji and Kiryu fight barehanded and bare-chested until Ryuji is knocked down once again, finally accepting defeat.

Despite their insistence, Sayama does not flee the building and instead climbs up the structure to follow both men, meeting them right after Ryuji has been beaten. Sayama cradles a dying Ryuji, who tells her that she reminds him of their mother. Ryuji laments that he didn't learn sooner that he had a sister and ponders whether things would've turned out differently if he actually got to have a family, before ultimately determining that he's too hot blooded and that "death would've found [him] one way or another". His last request before dying in his sister's arms it to see her smile, which she does for him, letting him die at least a little happy because he saw his sister smile at least once.

Other Media

Yakuza: Dead Souls: 2011

Goda follows an alternate story in which he survived his wounds after losing his fight with Kiryu. He lost an arm and was then expelled later from the Omi Alliance due to the ruckus he caused. After expelled, he was chased around by some people whom he angered in the past. However, he managed to survived thanks to a prosthetic arm that can transform into a gatling gun called "Kuroganemaru" that was created by a certain Gunsmith, and drifted around before making his name at a takoyaki shop. He is set to succeed the owner, before returning to Kamurocho during the zombie outbreak.

He later finds the owner, infected and turned into the Yatsukahagi Prototype, an octopus-like monster and, having no choice, kills him using the technique the master himself taught Ryuji.

Subsequently, Ryuji helps his old rival, Kazuma Kiryu, as they work together to defeat Nikaido, DD and the zombies. Ryuji saves Haruka from being crushed by the Millennium Tower's caving roof, and later watches as DD falls to his death.

Yakuza (Stage Play): 2005

Ryuji is a character in the Yakuza stage play based on the original Yakuza game. He is introduced while Terada and Akira Nishikiyama are discussing the Tojo Clan's missing ten billion yen, and antagonizes Nishikiyama when he calls him the Dragon of Kansai. Further on, Ryuji replaces Terada as a member of the conspiracy to kidnap Haruka along with Lau Ka Long and Futoshi Shimano.

Fighting Style

Yakuza 2

Ryuji is fought three times in Yakuza 2. He is a powerful fighter, more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the likes of Kiryu. He also has a katana, which he is seen carrying often, and wields in his second fight. He possesses super armor in both encounters, rendering all basic attacks useless for knocking him down.

In Heat Mode, Ryuji gains hyper armor, meaning he cannot be staggered or made flinch by any attacks. He can also enter a recovery state where he regenerates his health, although it can be interrupted by simply attacking him. He emits a pail gold aura, and his attacks have gold trails with a yellow/orange hue, while some have yellow lightning trails.

Unarmed

Ryuji's uses his unarmed moveset in his first and third boss fights. It appears to be based on Dutch kickboxing, but is sluggish and incorporates some street-fighting techniques. Many of his attacks can easily knock Kiryu to the ground. His moveset is listed below:

• a Rush Combo consisting of a right body hook, an overhand left, and a right haymaker;
• a second combo consisting of a right body hook, a spinning downward left elbow, and a right Thai roundhouse kick (3rd fight only);
• a right uppercut,
• a spinning right backfist,
• a spinning left side kick,
• a grab attack where he headbutts Kiryu, before lifting him up for another headbutt that knocks him down (3rd fight only);
• three damage reversals (calm state only), including:
  • a left backfist triggered by attacks that make him flinch, followed by a left body hook;
  • a right uppercut triggered by attacks that stagger him, and
  • a left hook triggered by Kiryu's Hammer Hook; and
• quickstep attacks, including:
  • a high right side kick after forward-stepping, and
  • a ducking right/left cross after sidestepping right/left respectively.

Katana

Ryuji wields his katana in his second boss fight. His technique in this style is unrefined, however, holding the sword one-handed and relying mostly on wide, single-swing attacks. His moveset is comprised of:

• a downward diagonal left slash-spinning left heel kick Rush Combo,
• a downward diagonal left slash-downward diagonal right slash attack,
• a spinning low rightward horizontal slash,
• a charged downward diagonal left slash,
• a 360° leaping downward diagonal left slash,
• his spinning backfist attack,
• an upward diagonal left slash as a damage reversal, triggered by attacks that stagger him (calm state only); and
• a taunt where he holds his sword up and shakes the blood off.

Yakuza: Dead Souls

• In this game he no longer fights barehanded but instead uses a large rotary cannon that folds out of his bionic arm. He can still use kicks and tackles to keep the zombies at bay, and can also pick up weapons such as bats, pipes and more.
• His gatling gun is the fastest firing weapon in the game, and its strength is apparent when it takes down most prototypes much more easily than when Akiyama or Majima first fought them.

Yakuza 0

Ryuji uses a generic Yakuza 0 goon moveset, comprised of an assortment of attacks from various different bosses, with a stance taken from Rikiya Shimabukuro's street fighting moveset. His attacks are listed below:

• Daigo's jab-body hook-low kick combo,
• a generic goon right haymaker-left roundhouse kick combo,
• Andre Richardson's overhand right-left hook combo,
• Rikiya's side kick,
• Richardson's unused forward-quickstep jumping kick as a basic attack,
• Daigo's running uppercut,
• Tetsuo Tamashiro's charged cross as guard reversal, and
• Richardson's downed attack.

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Both of Ryuji's movesets have been completely changed from the original Yakuza 2. He no longer has any health-recovery state or hyper armor either, although he does retain his super armor in all fights. His aura in Heat Mode is red, like every other boss in Kiwami 2.

Unarmed

Ryuji's new unarmed style is based around sloppy street fighting, using a wide variety of extremely crude, slow, but hard-hitting blows. However, several of his attacks are similar, and even function identically, to the ones he had in Yakuza 2.

He has four separate combo:

• a Rush Combo made up of an overhand right, a left hook, and a right uppercut;
• a second combo consisting of a left uppercut, a right hook, and a spinning right back kick;
• an unbroken six-hit combo, consisting of a right push kick, a left hook, a right uppercut, a spinning left upward backfist, a right Thai roundhouse kick, and a hopping right high side kick; and
• an unbroken five-hit combo, made up of a right haymaker, a left haymaker, a right uppercut, a left uppercut, and a stumbling right haymaker, before stopping to catch his breath (3rd fight only).

His other attacks include the following:

• a left uppercut,
• a charged overhand right,
• a hopping right uppercut,
• stepping back into a spinning right backfist (unused),
• a hopping left side kick,
• a backstep followed by a crouching right hook,
• a command grab where he knees Kiryu twice in the stomach,
• a battle cry, followed by a charging command grab where he throws Kiryu backwards; and
• two hammerfist strikes as a downed attack (unused).

Upon entering Heat Mode, Ryuji gains several extra attacks, including:

• his unbroken five-hit combo (1st fight), and
• three damage reversals, including:
  • a spinning right backfist when hit on the head, followed by a right haymaker;
  • a left gut punch-right uppercut when hit in the center-mass, and
  • a right back kick-spinning right haymaker when hit from behind.

Ryuji's unarmed moveset is the only one in Yakuza Kiwami 2 that is completely original; however, it is reused by Lil' Ryuji Goda in Like a Dragon Gaiden, during the unarmed phase of his boss fight.

Katana

Ryuji uses Taiga Saejima's sword moveset when wielding his katana, with some additional moves of his own. His attacks are listed as follows:

• Saejima's sword combo, heavy thrust attack, and horizontal left-right combo; as well as
• a horizontal leftward slash.

He begins using several extra attacks when he enters Heat Mode. These include:

• an unbroken 4-hit combo consisting of an upward diagonal left slash, a low sword thrust, an underarm sword thrust, and a downward diagonal left slash;
• an unbroken 5-hit combo, consisting of a downward diagonal left slash, a spinning downward diagonal left slash, a low sword thrust, a spinning upward diagonal right slash, and another upward diagonal right slash; and
• Saejima's charged heavy thrust.

Ryuji's katana moveset is reused by Jo Amon for his first two phases in the same game, as well as Lil' Ryuji in Gaiden.

Trivia

• In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, a robot with the name "M-RYJ" with Ryuji's sword moveset and final boss theme music from Kiwami 2 can be fought in the Coliseum's "Minamida Grand Prix". The robot displays Ryuji's likeness colored yellow on a screen that acts as the face.
• Ryuji appears as a guest character in Taiko No Tatsujin DX. He also appears as a bonus playable character in LINE Rangers and Binary Domain.
• Ryuji's likeness was featured in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight as a DLC costume for Ryuji Sakamoto.\
• In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Kiryu claims Ryuji was the strongest adversary he'd ever faced.