Lau Ka Long

Lau Ka Long (, Làuh Gā-lùhng/, Rau Kāron), later known as Chau Ka Long (周家龍, Jāu Gā-lùhng/, 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-seeded 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 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.
== 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 swords and claws.
=== Yakuza ===
Lau's boss fight is separated into four different phases: a phase, a hand-to-hand phase, a dual dao sword phase, and a second hand-to-hand phase.
===== 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 360° jumping downward slam, and another spinning jump followed by a low rightward horizontal slash;
* a low upward diagonal left slash,
* 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 performing butterfly jumps to dodge incoming attacks. His moveset includes:
* a Rush Combo consisting of a lunging left backfist, a spinning left lunge punch, and a lunging double palm-strike;
* another combo consisting of a left downward palm strike, a lunging left palm strike, and a right rolling thunder kick;
* a spinning left high side kick-right rising kick combo,
* a charged right straight palm strike,
* throwing three kunai knives (4th phase only),
* his rolling thunder kick running attack,
* a left backhand knockback as a guard reversal, followed by a spinning double palm strike; and
* a left rolling thunder kick as a downed attack.
If he grabs Kiryu in his last phase, he can use a Heat Action where he performs to right knee strikes followed by a leaping spinning right push kick.
===== Dual Dao =====
One of his henchmen will throw him a pair of dao swords during the fight. His attacks are as follows:
* a Rush Combo made up of a downward vertical slash (right dao), an outward horizontal slash (both dao simultaneously), and a spinning rightward horizontal slash (both dao simultaneously);
* a second combo, consisting of a upward diagonal left slash (both dao simultaneously) and an upward diagonal right slash (both dao simultaneously), followed three spinning upward diagonal right slashes (both dao simultaneously);
* a long jump-outward horizontal slash (both dao simultaneously), and
* an upward slash (right dao) as a guard reversal.
=== 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 In'ei's combos from Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!, as well as his fighting stance. Lau's moveset includes the following:
* an unbroken combo, consisting of two downward twirls, a right tornado kick, and a twirl into a leftward horizontal slash;
* a second unbroken combo, consisting of a leftward horizontal swing, a spinning low leftward swing into a butterfly jump, and a one-handed rightward swing;
* In'ei's thrust-rightward slash-downward slam combo and pommel strike combo,
* twirling his polearm after guarding against an attack,
* a one-handed rightward swing-downward diagonal right twirl as a guard reversal, which can stun Kiryu;
* a leaping downward slam for his downed attack, and
* a taunt where he holds his polearm above his head, twirling it three times.
His 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 moveset from Yakuza with updated animations, as well as having a plethora of new attacks. He can also pirouette left and right to dodge incoming attacks. His moveset is comprised of:
* his Rush Combo, second combo, high kick combo and running attack from Yakuza; as well as
* a combo made up of a left hammerfist-stomp, and a right reverse 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 right high spinning heel kick,
* a right butterfly kick,
* a high back kick as back attack,
* a double front kick as a guard reversal,
* three grab attacks, including:
** a charged right straight palm strike as a front grab attack,
** two right knee strikes as a second front grab attack, and
** lifting Kiryu into a standing fireman's carry before throwing him spinning through the air as a hind grab attack; and
* a taunt where he stands upright and beckons Kiryu with his left hand.
A watered-down version Lau's unarmed moveset is used by many generic enemies in preceding Yakuza games.
===== 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 Rush Combo consisting of a rapid left backhand slash-right hook slash-low left backhand slash-butterfly kick, and a crouching right hook slash;
* a second combo consisting of a diagonal downward left double slash, a spinning diagonal downward left double slash, and a left-claw upward vertical slash;
* a double rightward horizontal-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 health-recovery state can only be broken with the Essence of Extreme Brawler Heat Action.
He emits an amber yellow aura in Heat Mode.
===== Guandoa =====
Lau uses the Ishin! spear enemy variant of his Yakuza 3 moveset, which lacks his taunt and guard reversal, but has the addition of Hozoin Inshun's front flip-thrust attack from Kenzan!. His downed attack also doubles as a basic attack.
His attack trails are pale orange.
===== Unarmed =====
Lau uses a reworked version of his unarmed moveset from Yakuza 3. He no longer has his back kick, hammerfist combo, guard reversal or taunt. Some of his other attacks have also been tweaked, including:
* his front flip kick functions as a basic attack,
* his charged palm strike doubles a front/back-quickstep attack,
* his high kick combo doubles as a right-quickstep attack, and
* his spinning heel kick doubles as a left-quickstep attack.
His grab attacks have also been scrapped. If he does grab Kiryu, he can instead use a Heat Action where he performs Naoki Katsuya's command grab combo.
His attack trails are neon yellow.
===== Dual Dao =====
Lau uses Shun Akiyama's kali stick stance and guard pose when wielding his broadswords. His moveset is comprised of attacks taken from several different characters. These include:
* a combo consisting of a leftward horizontal slash (right dao), a spinning rightward horizontal slash (right dao), and an outward horizontal slash (both dao simultaneously);
* Akiyama's kali stick combo and leftward slash-spinning leftward slash attack,
* Kiryu's kali stick heavy attack from Yakuza 3 through 5,
* Lao Gui's leaping 360° slash attack from his pistol and broadsword phase,
* Hiroshi Hayashi's dual-pipe flourishing attack from Yakuza 2, and
* Takechi Hanpeita's quickstep and downed attacks from his Wild Dancer phase.
His attack trails are pale orange.
Lau's broadsword moveset is reused by Hayashi for his dual-pipe phase in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
=== Yakuza: Like a Dragon ===
== Trivia ==
* 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" (, Lit. "It ain't Lau, it's Chau").
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:Chinese Characters
Category:Snake Flower Triad
Category:Coliseum Fighters
Category:Yakuza Characters
Category:Yakuza Antagonists
Category:Yakuza Bosses
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Characters
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Antagonists
Category:Yakuza Kiwami Bosses
Category:Yakuza 3 Characters
Category:Yakuza 3 Antagonists
Category:Yakuza 3 Bosses
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Characters
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Characters
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Poundmates
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Substory Characters
Category:Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Characters