Futoshi Shimano

Futoshi Shimano (, Shimano Futoshi) is a character featured in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami, with flashback appearances in Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2. He is the patriarch of the Shimano Family.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
In all of his appearances, Shimano has a heavy build. In the original Yakuza, he has an obese build, while in Yakuza Kiwami, he's heavily built with a solid and muscular torso. Shimano's head is shaved bald using a razor.
==== Tattoo ====
In Japanese culture, there is a saying known as "ryuko aiutsu." The meaning is that the tiger has the strength to rival a dragon. Shimano's tattoo features a roaring tiger which fits his position as a strong force that often opposes Kiryu. His tattoo goes halfway down his arms, on his chest, and over his back. His tattoo also features cherry blossom flowers scattered across it.
==== Attire ====
Shimano is seen with two different sets of clothing: a pale purple suit over a green dress shirt and a green tie with Shimano family insignia buttoned on his jacket and a set of Tojo Clan kimono with white socks and matching black sandals.
=== Personality ===
Much like Sohei Dojima, Shimano has a reputation for his ruthless, violent nature. He is short-tempered and is a firm believer in enforcing discipline, as by his torture of Goro Majima after he disobeyed orders or when he cut off a subordinate's fingers for failing to collect protection money from Stardust.
Though he mostly relies on sheer brute force to retain his power, Shimano has shown he is capable of cunning strategy. The most notable example of this is in Yakuza 0, when he successfully manipulates Majima into gaining Makoto Makimura's trust so he can coax her into giving him the deed to the Empty Lot. 
Much like his sworn brother Tsukasa Sagawa, Shimano likes keeping tabs on others and expects them to visit and render tribute to him when they're in his territory. 
== Background ==
Shimano joined the Dojima Family by 1980.
In December 1980, Shimano was ordered by his boss, Sohei Dojima, to carry out an attack on the rival Jingweon Mafia, alongside Shintaro Kazama. Thrilled by the idea of striking back against the Jingweon, Shimano condemned Kazama for being opposed to it. On December 25, Shimano and Kazama raided the Jingweon Mafia, killing 33 of their members.
In 1985, when it came time for Kazama to become the captain of the Dojima Family, Shimano started the Shimano Family as a subsidiary to the Dojima Family. As the patriarch of the Shimano Family, Shimano valued strength, with one of his favorite members being Goro Majima. 
On April 21, 1985, the day Majima was to carry out a hit on the Ueno Seiwa Clan, Shimano and Dojima became suspicious of details surrounding the hit, and ordered Kazuo Shibata to meet up with Majima to cancel the hit. However, Majima defied orders, and Shimano had Majima tortured as punishment. After Majima endured a year of torture, Shimano decided to release him, placing him in custody of Tsukasa Sagawa as "human pet."
In 1987, the Shimano Family split off from the Dojima Family and became a direct subsidiary of the Tojo Clan.
== Involvement ==
=== Yakuza 0: 1988-1989 ===
In the midst of the Tojo Clan's efforts to profit from the Kamurocho Revitalization Project, Shimano hatches a conspiracy with the Omi Alliance to become the next Chairman of the Tojo: He plots to acquire the Empty Lot in the middle of the area zoned for the Revitalization Project and then sell it to the Omi. The Omi will use their ownership of the land to sabotage the Project and render it far less profitable for the Tojo, thus turning their massive financial investment into a huge loss. This would leave the Tojo vulnerable to an Omi invasion and annexation. In exchange for this betrayal, Shimano would be made into the 3rd Chairman of the Tojo Clan, which would be turned into an Omi subsidiary.
As Shimano cannot openly oppose Sohei Dojima, who is in charge of the project, he opts to use proxies for his plan. Through his oath brother in the Omi, Tsukasa Sagawa, Shimano orders the presently-unaffiliated Goro Majima to assassinate the Lot's owner, Makoto Makimura. However, Shimano is certain that the kindhearted Majima will be unable to kill a blind woman, and will instead protect her and earn her trust. Once Majima has earned Makoto's trust, Shimano will offer Majima the chance to return to the Tojo Clan if he convinces Makoto to sell him the Empty Lot.
In time, through his informants, Shimano sees his plan play out as he expected: Majima takes Makoto to safety instead of killing her and gradually gains her trust. Makoto is later given to Tachibana Real Estate by Masaru Sera of the Nikkyo Consortium, whom Shimano discovers is another of his greatest rival Shintaro Kazama's proxies in the race for the Empty Lot, and a rival faction to remove once he ascends to power.
When Sagawa and Majima travel to Tokyo to find Makoto, Shimano summons them to his home. There, the Tojo patriarch reveals his ruse to both men, neither of whom is pleased at having been manipulated. Shimano revokes Majima's orders to kill Makoto and instead orders him to retrieve her from Tachibana and bring her to Shimano so that he can buy the land from her. He then instructs Majima to seek Akira Nishikiyama for leads on Makoto.
During a dinner meeting with the Omi Alliance's Chief of Headquarters to finalize the details of the Empty Lot's sale, a gun-wielding Majima walks in. Majima tells Shimano that Sera - who has secured the Lot - is aware that somebody within the Tojo intended to betray the Clan, and that the Nikkyo President will need proof to believe Shimano is innocent, after which he hands Shimano the gun Sera gave him. Majima pledges that, in spite of everything, he is still loyal to the Shimano Family. 
Shimano picks up the gun and points it at Majima, asking if he'd be willing to die for him. After Majima agrees, Shimano instead shoots the Omi's Chief of HQ in the head, thus reaffirming his loyalty to the Tojo Clan. Shimano then gives Majima some "wisdom": It does not matter that his plan failed for the time being, since he is vying for power in the long term. He affirms that within ten years, the Shimano Family will be the greatest within the Clan, especially now that he has "a weapon like Goro Majima on [his] side". Shimano then reinstates Majima to the Shimano Family and promotes him to Captain. 
One month later, Shimano is present during the patriarchs' meeting where Sera is promoted to Clan Captain and Dojima is stripped of his management of the Kamurocho Revitalization Project.
=== Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 1996-2005 ===
Yakuza Kiwami: Shimano approaches a troubled Akira Nishikiyama in 1996. Seeing an opportunity in Nishikiyama's inability to keep his subordinates on loan from the Kazama Family in check, Shimano tells him that Kazama set him up for failure by giving him uncontrollable underlings, sowing doubt in Nishikiyama's loyalty to Kazama.
In 2005, Shimano attends a patriarch's meeting at the Tojo Clan Headquarters summoned by Akira Nishikiyama, now patriarch of the Nishikiyama Family. When Nishiki informs the gathered patriarchs that the Tojo Clan's 10 billion yen cash reserve has been stolen from their vault in Touto Bank, a furious Shimano threatens Nishiki, saying that "his pinky ain't all [he'll] cut off" if he's lying. After Chairman Sera confirms what Nishiki said is true, Shimano turns his anger to him, yelling about all the hard work he and the rest of the patriarchs put into gathering those funds, prompting Kazama to intervene and tell Shimano to watch his tone as he's addressing the Clan's Chairman. Before the argument escalates, Sera tells the gathered patriarchs that the matter is being handled by headquarters and they must all defer to them with regards to it. He then declares the meeting adjourned and departs, despite Shimano's protestations. That same night, Chairman Sera is assassinated, throwing the Clan into turmoil. 
A few days later, Shimano is receiving an earnings report from his underlings while he has his head shaved right before Sera's funeral. One of said underlings informs Shimano that Kazuma Kiryu is back in town and he's the one who prevented him from securing protection payments from Stardust like he'd ordered. Shimano congratulates his lackey for surviving an encounter with Kiryu, but then snatches his barber's razor and uses it to cut off two of said lackey's fingers as punishment for his failure. As he leaves, Shimano adds insult to injury by saying that the lackey should be glad that he "only took two fingers" because he's "in a good mood".
While he attends Sera's funeral, Shimano and his guards hear a gunshot in one of the back offices and rush to investigate. Inside they find Kiryu and a wounded Kazama, who'd been shot by a sniper. However, Shimano assumes Kiryu shot Kazama and orders his men to kill him in retaliation. Kiryu beats these thugs but more arrive, so he flees by jumping out of the office window. Shimano rushes to the headquarters' main gate, hoping to cut off Kiryu's escape. When Kiryu gets to the gate after fighting his way past multiple guards, Shimano orders his men to stand back and let him deal with him. Shimano attacks Kiryu but is unable to beat him and the exiled yakuza manages to escape from the funeral with help from Detective Makoto Date.
After the police inform the Tojo patriarchs that the prime suspect in the theft of the 10 billion is Yumi Sawamura, Shimano hatches a scheme to kidnap her daughter, Haruka Sawamura, and use her as a hostage to extort Yumi for the money. Shimano strikes a partnership with Lau Ka Long of the Snake Flower Triad: Lau will kidnap Haruka so Shimano can arrange the hostage exchange, after which Shimano will keep five billion and Lau will keep three billion, with the remaining two billion going to the Omi Alliance through Yukio Terada in exchange for their support of Shimano's bid to become the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan. Lau successfully kidnaps Haruka with aid of the Bloody Eye, but then betrays Shimano because he considers his offer to be insufficient and instead plots to sell Haruka to a mysterious, secret buyer from the government. However, Haruka ends up being rescued by Kiryu.
Shimano eventually comes to suspect that Terada might not actually be on his side, so he has him followed. The spy reveals that Terada is, as Shimano suspected, actually a double agent working for Kazama, and is in fact hiding Kazama in his personal yacht docked in Shibaura Wharf while he recovers from his bullet wound. Taking this as an opportunity to kill Kazama while he's undefended, Shimano rallies his men to attack Terada's yacht the next time Terada goes to visit Kazama, hoping to kill them both at once.
As soon as Shimano gets word that Terada is back on his yacht, Shimano leads his Family in their attack. Part of Shimano's thugs board the boat and fight against Terada's men on the deck, while another part stays on the dock and throws grenades into the boat's cabins to flush out people inside and to try to sink the vessel. As it happens, Kiryu had just reunited with Kazama in the yacht minutes prior to the attack, so he goes out to fight several of Shimano's men on the deck while Kazama, Terada and Haruka sneak out of the yacht's starboard side. Eventually, Shimano's men manage to sink the boat, but Kiryu, Kazama, Terada and Haruka had all managed to get off safely.
Shimano and his men spot the four as they try to sneak out of the wharf. Shimano mocks Terada, saying he saw through "his little charade" of siding with him, then says that he'll kill him, Kazama and Kiryu and take Haruka to extort Yumi for the 10 billion yen, which he'll now get to keep all to himself. Before Shimano can keep gloating, Kazama's right-hand man Osamu Kashiwagi arrives driving a truck full of Kazama Family soldiers, having been alerted about the attack by Kazama as they left the ship. Regardless, Shimano is undeterred and leads his men in a brawl against the Kazama Family, ultimately ending in his defeat. Shimano refuses to accept his loss, so as he lies battered on the floor, he picks up a discarded grenade and throws it at Kazama and Haruka. Immediately, Terada repeatedly shoots at Shimano in retaliation, killing him.
== Fighting Style ==
Shimano's fighting style mostly exploits his brute strength, being slow but dealing great damage. From a grab, he can perform Heat Actions. In his second fight, he can initiate a Heat Action from a grab that has him attempt to throw Kiryu at a car driven by a Shimano family member. Depending on whether the quick time event is successful or failed, Kiryu will narrowly avoid the car or hit the car and fly into the air.
=== Yakuza ===
Shimano has a unique unarmed fighting style that consists of slow but devastating blows. If he grabs Kiryu, he'll use different Heat Actions depending on his health: 
Full or 75%: Throws Kiryu.
Less than 75%: Hugs Kiryu, then breaks his back.
Less than 25%: Lifts Kiryu from his head, then smashes his head to the ground.
He can also pick up objects and throw them. 
In his second fight, he copies Shindo's sword moveset, and uses a more expanded version of his moveset, now having shoulder tackle attacks, a guard reversal punch now following up with a combo, and a two-punch combo.
=== Yakuza Kiwami ===
In Yakuza Kiwami, Shimano's unarmed moveset is Mr. Shakedown's moveset, with a charge and grab rather than a guarded charge. In his second fight, he uses Saejima's sword moveset, and he reverts to his unarmed moveset at about half health.
His aura is blazing orange.
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:Shimano Family
Category:Dojima Family
Category:Tojo Clan
Category:Yakuza 0 Characters
Category:Yakuza 0 Antagonists
Category:Yakuza Characters
Category:Yakuza Antagonists
Category:Yakuza Bosses
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Characters
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Antagonists
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Bosses
Category:Yakuza 2 Characters
Category:Yakuza Kiwami 2 Characters
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Characters