Kiryu Kazuma my beloved

Kiryu Kazuma is one of the main characters in the Yakuza series - he was the sole main character up until like Yakuza 6. He's fought two tigers at the same time, was the fourth chairman of an entire Yakuza clan, and ran an orphanage out of Okinawa. The Yakuza games (in chronological order) follow him from ages 20 to 55 as his relationship with the Dojima family waxes and wanes.
I'm going to do my best to summarize the most relevant beats of Kiryu's story; these games are notoriously complex with both fantasy and real-world politics combining. Playing them in their entirety does them more justice than this will do, but I think Kiryu is just so... ❤ that I need to talk about him.

MAJOR SPOILERS for the YAKUZA SERIES ahead!

Yakuza 0 (1988-1989)

In Yakuza 0, Kiryu's main battle is against all the people (namely, Keiji Shibusawa, Daisaku Kuze, and Hiroki Awano - the three Lieutenants of the Dojima Family, and Kiryu's superiors) accusing him of murder - he roughs up a man to take a credit payment, and later he and his sworn brother Akira Nishkiyama hear that the man has been murdered. Older members of the Dojima family attempt to use this murder accusation to dethrone Kiryu's adoptive father and the leader of the Dojima clan, Shintaro Kazama, who is in prison for an unrelated incident. Kiryu manages to convince the clan leaders to expell him instead of getting Kazama involved, and thus is able to continue an invesitation into his innocence as a citizen.

Kiryu and Nishiki

Kiryu spends a fair amount of his time as a real estate tycoon in Kamurocho after getting involved with Tetsu Tachibana right after his expulsion from Dojima. Tachibana Real Estate and the Dojima family are having a war over the Empty Lot that the man was murdered in, and on this note Kiryu joins forces with Tachibana's right-hand man, Jun Oda, to begin the Kamurocho redevelopment project.
The vast majority of Dojima family members are not pleased with this, including Nishiki, who says he can no longer be Kiryu's sworn brother as he continues to work with the enemy - culminating in a moment where Nishiki attempts to kill Kiryu, but cannot bring himself to do it. One Kiryu returns to Kamurocho after this event, he finds his apartment burned down and the streets flooded with yakuza members out to get him. Kiryu is cornered by Daisaku Kuze before being rescued by Jun Oda, and taken to a warf on the outskirts of town. (In the meantime, Tachibana negotiates Kiryu's safety with the Dojima family)
Now in Sotenbori, Kiryu meets with Masaru Sera and Makoto Makimura - the latter informing him that Jun Oda should not be trusted. Oda takes Makoto at gunpoint shortly after a confrontation, Makoto stabs him in the leg, and Oda allows the both of them to escape as he fends off Shibusawa's men.
While laying low in Kamurocho, Kiryu reunites with Tachibana. He explains that Kazama is also aware of what's going on, and the two are working together to track down the Empty Lot's owner. During their meeting, the two are interrupted by the assassin Lao Gui - the man that Kiryu and others now expect was behind the murder at the Empty Lot - who shoots Kiryu non-fatally. Kiryu wakes up later in Little Asia, then reunites with Nishiki on his way to rescue Tachibana.
Kiryu and Nishiki find Tachibana severely wounded, being tortured by Kuze. After beating the absolute shit out of Kuze, Tachibana tells Kiryu in his dying breath that Sohei Dojima was the true mastermind behind Kiryu's whole ordeal. The final culminating fight is against Shibusawa, who Kiryu beats savagely until Nishiki stops him from dealing a fatal blow.
After being finally cleared of all charges, Kiryu returns to and rejoins the Dojima Family.

✥-------------------✥-------------------✥

Yakuza 1 (1995-2005)

By now, Kiryu has become a lieutenant within the Dojima family. However, when Nishiki murders Sohei Dojima after he attempts to assault Nishiki's girlfriend, Yumi Sawamura, Kiryu takes the fall for him - landing him in jail for the next 10 years.

After the 10 years have passed, Kiryu returns to Kamurocho for answers - he's directed towards Kazuki and Yuya to reunute with other members of the Dojima family. However, the entirety of the Tojo Clan is in disarray from losing 10 billion yen. During the funeral for Masaru Sera, the third chairman of the Tojo Clan, Kiryu finds himself once again being accused of a crime he didn't commit - this time, the attempted assassination of Kazama. He escapes with the help of Makoto Date and is told to look for Yumi Sawamura. While looking for her, he encounters Haruka Sawamura (Yumi's neice), who's mother, Mizuki, is also being targeted by the Tojo Clan for unknown reasons.
Haruka leads Kiryu to the bar Ares, where he learns that the Sawamura family's involvement with the Omi Alliance means that even more of the forces at play are also targeting Haruka - she's then kidnapped again, and Kiryu reunites with Date for answers. Date then directs him to Purgatory to seek the Florist of Sai. He leans from the Florist that Nishiki is after the 10 billion yen, which is the deciding factor of who becomes the Tojo Clan's fourth chairman. Kiryu also learns that the Majima family kidnapped Haruka, and he rescues her after defeating Goro Majima at the Yoshida Batting center.
After helping Date and the Florist with their own issues, Kiryu learns that Mizuki might be dead - information that he keeps a secret from Haruka. That secrecy causes Haruka to run off again, get kidnapped by the Japanese government, and then Date and Kiryu decide that she should remain in Purgatory with the Florist for safety.
Kiryu then heads to the bar Serena to reconcile with Nishiki, wherein he learns that Nishiki had been the one to shoot at Kazama. The interaction turns sour, and Nishikiyama begins to send his own men after Kiryu and Haruka. Haruka is kidnapped AGAIN - this time by the Snake Flower Triad - and Kiryu rescues her AGAIN in Yokohama, but is instead arrested for attempted kidnapping himself. Date breaks him out, and informs him that both Haruka and Mizuki are alive but MIA (the Japanese government's inteligence agency) are involved.

Attempted Reconciliation

Shinji Tanaka, who had been keeping Kazama in hiding, informs Kiryu that there is a mole. With help from the Florist, he learns that Reina, the proprietor of Serena, had betrayed them and leaked intel to Nishikiyama. He attemps to confront her at Serena, but finds it's already too late, as Shinji had fled with her after she attempted to kill Nishikiyama, but the two were subdued by Kazuto Arase.
Kiryu follows Shinji's message and heads to where Kazama is hiding, in Shangri-La, at Shibaura Wharf. He learns from Kazama that: Yumi is Mizuki, Haruka's father is Kyohei Jingu, and Yumi (thus, Mizuki) was a participant of the 10 billion yen theft. Another clan member, Futoshi Shimano, arrives to kill Kazama, but Osamu Kashiwagi (a long-time friend and mentor of Kiryu's) arrives with reinforcements. Kazama is mortally wounded by Shimano, who is promptly killed by Kiryu - and before his death, Kazama reveals he was the one to murder Kiryu's parents.
Alongside Haruka, Kiryu reaches the top of the Millenium Tower for his final fight with Nishiki- the culminating moment being when Nishiki detonates a bomb set to destroy the building, taking himself down with Jingu. In the aftermath, Kiryu becomes the fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan as per Sera's will - but he hands off the chairmanship to Yukio Terada to start his new life with Haruka.

✥-------------------✥-------------------✥

Yakuza 2 (2006-2007)

✥-------------------✥-------------------✥

My HCs about Kiryu