Ryuji Goda (1976-December 2006) was a Korean-Japanese yakuza gangster and the second patriarch of the Goryu-kai subsidiary of Kansai's Omi Alliance yakuza organization. The hot-headed and violent son of Omi Alliance Chairman Jin Goda, he seized control of the Omi from his father in a coup in December 2006 and entered into an all-out war with the Tojo-kai, resulting in his death and the weakening of both the Omi Alliance and Tojo-kai.
Biography[]
A young Ryuji Goda walking past defeated bullies, 1989
Ryuji Goda was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1976, the son of Jingweon Mafia boss Sang Sang-Min and his wife Suyeon Jung. Ryuji was of ethnic Korean heritage, but his father and 35 fellow Jingweon gangsters were assassinated by the Tojo-kai yakuza organization in the "Kabukicho Christmas Massacre" of 1980 when Ryuji was four years old. His mother was persuaded by policeman Jiro Kawara not to kill herself and her infant son, and she instead gave the infant Ryuji to the Omi Alliance crime boss Jin Goda to be raised as his own son, away from the violence brought by her former association with the Jingweon. His mother would be murdered by the Jingweon in 1982, in retaliation for choosing not to "honorably" commit suicide on her first husband's death in 1980.
As a young boy, Ryuji was known for his violent attitude and for his intimidating height, which gave him the appearance of a fully-grown adult. He stood up for his classmates when they were bullied by wealthier students, becoming known as the "Bontan Hunter" for beating up the bullies and stealing their expensive bontan trousers. In 1989, he picked a fight with Goro Majima, but he was easily beaten. He later took a road trip to Kabukicho, Tokyo, where he met Kazuma Kiryu shortly after Kiryu was told by a fortune teller that his future and that of a young man would one day become entangled.
When Ryuji came of age, he succeeded his father as Patriarch of the Goryu-kai. In 2005, he conspired with LDP politician Kyohei Jingu to destroy the Tojo-kai amid a succession war within the Tojo Clan, but his efforts were thwarted when Jingu was killed atop the Millennium Tower in Tokyo. Fellow Omi lieutenant Yukio Terada was ultimately appointed Chairman of the Tojo-kai by Kazuma Kiryu, who believed that his late adoptive father Shintaro Kazama would have trusted Terada with such a task. In the meantime, Ryuji was responsible for setting up Daigo Dojima for a prison sentence after baiting him into a fight, which the police prevented from happening by arresting Daigo.
Ryuji bringing incense to Yukio Terada's funeral
In the aftermath of the Tojo-kai's devastating civil war, Terada - himself a former Jingweon Mafia gangster who had survived the Christmas massacre - conspired with the bellicose Ryuji Goda (who was aware of his Korean origins), the ambitious Omi lieutenant Ryo Takashima, and the high-ranking policeman Wataru Kurahashi to instigate a war between the Omi Alliance and the Tojo-kai which would result in the destruction of the Tojo-kai and revenge for the Christmas massacre twenty years earlier. In December 2006, Goda sent hitmen to kill Terada as he met with Kiryu at a Tokyo cemetery, and Terada faked his death, leading to relations between the Tojo-kai and Omi Alliance deteriorating. Terada had Kiryu deliver a written offer of alliance to Jin Goda before he supposedly died, aware that Jin Goda's acceptance would cause a mutiny among his more aggressive lieutenants. At the alliance talks, Ryuji staged a coup, with Takashima feigning loyalty to the Chairman. Daigo stood up to fight Ryuji as Kiryu rescued Jin Goda from Ryuji's men, and, while Kiryu was successful, Ryuji beat down Daigo after a one-sided fight. Kiryu promptly tasked Daigo with bringing Jin safely to Kabukicho as he fought against Ryuji, whom he defeated after a hard-fought, one-on-one fight in the courtyard of Omi headquarters. However, Kiryu assured Ryuji that the fight was unfair because Ryuji had just fought against Daigo, and Kiryu spared Ryuji. Ryuji proceeded to flee, swearing vengeance.
Ryuji facing off with Kiryu
Ryuji proceeded to declare war on the Tojo-kai now that he was in effective control of the Omi Alliance, but he executed Toranosuke Sengoku for resorting to putting a child in harm's way to lure Kiryu into a trap at Osaka Castle. He later led the Omi assault on Tokyo, during which he came face-to-face with Kiryu at Club Stardust in Kabukicho. Ryuji challenged Kiryu to a fight at the Kabukicho Hills construction site the next day, only to find out from the policewoman Kaoru Sayama that they were half-siblings through their shared mother. Ryuji ignored Kaoru's pleas and insisted on fighting Kiryu, only for Kiryu to knock him unconscious in the ensuing fight.
Ryuji's death
Shortly after, Terada arrived and revealed his survival and his Jingweon past, and he was followed by Takashima shortly afterwards. However, Takashima revealed his own plot to take over both the Omi Alliance and the Jingweon Mafia, and he proceeded to shoot both Terada and Jin Goda dead, wound Kiryu, and take Sayama hostage. An enraged Ryuji, recovering from his beating, proceeded to shoot Takashima dead, but Takashima was able to shoot Ryuji several times, mortally wounding him. Aware that a bomb planted by Terada was about to explode, Ryuji challenged Kiryu to one last fight before the two inevitably perished, and Kiryu defeated Ryuji for a third and final time. He then fell into Sayama's arms and said that her smile reminded him of his mother's smile, and he died of his wounds, causing Sayama to cry out in sadness.