Kazuma Kiryu
Kazuma Kiryu is the main protagonist of Sega's Like a Dragon series, formerly known as Yakuza.
Kiryu has appeared in every mainline Like a Dragon game to date, with him being either the sole protagonist or one of the main protagonists, the only exception being Yakuza: Like A Dragon, where he is a supporting character.
Originally a member of the Tojo Clan's Dojima Family, Kiryu was expelled due to supposedly killing his patriarch, Sohei Dojima. Since then, he has tried to distance himself from the yakuza, which usually ends up failing due to his legend status as "The Dragon of Dojima". Since then, he's spent his time running an orphanage, working as a taxi driver, and working as a bodyguard.
Profile Edit
Kiryu is seen as one of the most elite contestants in all King of /v/, as shown by his consistently strong tournament runs and for being capable of blowing out other beloved contenders in votes with ease. However, this has made him develop an inversely infamous reputation, in due part for being considered a silent vote because of a relative lack of presence during the tournament season - a common joke among tourneyfags is to talk about Kiryu's runs as if he had literally sleepwalked through the bracket.
Tournament History Edit
Starting in his first appearance during the inaugural tournament in 2019, the Dragon of Dojima had a mostly successful run and made it to the semi-finals stage without much toruble before losing to Doomguy, becoming a member of the original Elite Eight, placing 3rd after beating the acclaimed lawyer Phoenix Wright in the consolation match.
Kiryu would come back two years later in 2021 and expectably won most matches by wide margins, even taking down fan favorites such as Garland from Final Fantasy and AM from I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. His run came to an end in the semi-finals, where he lost to Dr. Eggman. In the consolation match, he beat The Legend of Zelda merchant Morshu, placing third once again.
Kiryu made his return in 2023 with a much lower seed of 47, and this year would mark a shift in his reputation. Yet again, the yakuza would power through his opponents, such as Bowser, Isaac, and Postal Dude, but it wouldn't be until Round 4 where things would go downhill for the character. Here, Kiryu would face off against fan favorite Isaac Clarke to determine who would be making the Elite Eight for the year. While Kiryu ended up winning and advancing to the Elite Eight for a third time, an error occurred during Round 4 that caused the form to stop collecting votes past a certain hour, revealing that Kiryu had really won the match by way fewer votes than previously estimated. Though Kiryu did have a relatively consistent campaign presence since the first round with various writefags and drawfags among his supporters, he gained a rather erroneous reputation as being a silent candidate following the round 4 results which spread in combination due to Isaac Clarke's more vocal fanbase, one Kiryu drawfag's OC not being seen due to not being anchored, the perceived silent majority reputation from previous years, and some Kiryu supporters diverting their efforts to other characters. Starting from quarter-finals with his rematch against runner-up Eggman, Kiryu became the target of persistent falseflagging and smear campaigning, with falseflag posters notably associating him with loving BBC. Kiryu would predictably lose to the doctor and end up ranking 7th overall.
Kazuma Kiryu will be eligible to Tiger Drop the competition again in 2025.
Results Edit
| King of /v/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - Unseeded | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 |  Guile
|
Street Fighter | 226 - 173 | 56.6% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 2 |  Bridget
|
Guilty Gear | 244 - 103 | 70.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 3 |  Luigi
|
Super Mario | 165 - 110 | 60.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 4 |  Jack Frost
|
Shin Megami Tensei | 179 - 134 | 57.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals |  Duke Nukem
|
Duke Nukem | 148 - 130 | 53.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Semifinals |  Doomguy
|
DOOM | 112 - 185 | 37.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd Place |  Phoenix Wright
|
Ace Attorney | 450 - 399 | 53.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 - Seed 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (117)  Reynauld
|
Darkest Dungeon | 886 - 273 | 76.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (76)  Donkey Kong
|
Donkey Kong | 786 - 421 | 65.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 3 | (21)  Garland
|
Final Fantasy | 799 - 399 | 70.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 4 | (69)  AM
|
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | 820 - 636 | 56.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | (13)  Leon Kennedy
|
Resident Evil | 729 - 619 | 54.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Semifinals | (16)  Dr. Eggman
|
Sonic the Hedgehog | 553 - 668 | 45.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd Place | (47)  Morshu
|
The Legend of Zelda | 822 - 596 | 58.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 - Seed 47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (65)  Bowser
|
Super Mario | 467 - 241 | 66.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (86)  Isaac
|
The Binding of Isaac | 485 - 250 | 66.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 3 | (28)  Postal Dude
|
Postal | 373 - 320 | 53.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 4 | (67)  Isaac Clarke
|
Dead Space | 323 - 319 | 50.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | (2) Dr. Eggman
|
Sonic the Hedgehog | 309 - 486 | 38.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th-8th |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery Edit
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