"Around 250,000 human bites are reported each year, among both adults and children – 10% of children who are bitten develop an infection, resulting from bacteria found in human saliva, specifically aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Bites to the face also account for a small number of overall cases, however they’re very common among children under 10 years old. While children are most likely to suffer one of these injuries, they typically transmit less bacteria, leading to fewer infections in these instances. Men are generally more affected by human bites than women." -Cleveland Clinic
Name: Ken
Nicknames: Purgatory's Rabid Coyote, Yote, Cannibal
Gender: "X-gender", they/he
Age: 39
Height: 5'2
Species: Human
Universe: Yakuza Kiwami
Location: Kamurocho, West Park
About
In the seven years of relative peace since the events of 0, Ken learned how to speak Japanese better and used the money made from selling their weapons to get a set of documents forged, protecting them from deportation. They also completed their transition, leaving them in a much more stable state of mind. However, their addictions switched from substance-based to violence-based. They still did paperwork for the Yakuza, having now unofficially settled down with the Kazama family due to their ties to Nishiki and Kiryu, but there was rarely ever a time where they would let a street brawl pass them by. Ever since their stay in Sotenbori, they carried the scent of blood with them.
After Kiryu's arrest and Nishiki's descent, they snapped, vanishing off of the surface and isolating themself within Purgatory. They spent some time in the homeless encampments, drinking and cracking the skulls of whoever came close. One night, however, they were approached by Gary, who told them of an offer from the Florist: regain a sense of purpose by fighting in the coliseum. Having nothing left to lose, they agreed, and would proceed to vanish underground for what would become several years. The reason for their disappearance came from what they became after their first fight. During the fight, they were pinned down and choked within an inch of their life. However, their opponent became cocky and loosened their grip slightly before they were knocked out. In a moment of desperation, they lunged up and began ripping the attacker's face apart with their teeth. When Ken came down from the adrenaline high, they saw their opponent dead on the floor of the ring, face and throat an unrecognizable mash. This was their first kill, and it flipped the switch that transformed them into Purgatory's Rabid Coyote: a merciless A-rank prizefighter whose signature style mainly involves biting with their steel grill and slashing with their clawed gauntlets.
Once they grew bored of the ring's confinement, they resurfaced and took to the streets. With their red light reputation and violent aura, they attracted enough fights to keep themself sated. They also began to assert their dominance over street thugs and low-level yakuza looking for trouble, and have collected pins and teeth from a variety of families and gang leaders, worn as a warning to anyone looking to start a fight. However, their bittersweet feelings for Nishiki remained, and they ended up trying to protect him from the rest of the Tojo clan and Japanese law enforcement by attacking anyone involved with impeding his progress, including former friends like Kiryu. One fateful day, they tried to fight Majima and lost spectacularly, nearly losing their life in the process. In a moment of clarity, they realized that they were fighting a losing battle, and that Nishiki's path was set regardless of what they did. Once they recovered, they began to make amends, beating back street thugs and Tojo search parties so Kiryu wouldn't be harassed as much on the streets.
After the conclusion of Kiwami, they returned to Purgatory, becoming a sort of guardian for the underground city. They missed their connections to the Kazama Family, but saw very little reason to return to it in its current state. However, they still kept an eye on the Tojo Clan from the shadows, waiting for the right breeze to send things toppling again.
warning: this page contains Yakuza Kiwami spoilers.
it is also very long, so here's an escape link in case you clicked over on accident.
Kazuma Kiryu
Platonic, less awkward friends
In the years of peace following 0, Ken grew much closer to Kiryu. It's never been a secret to him that they were dating his bro, but after everything they did for Nishiki all those years ago, he learned to trust them a little more. He noticed their shift towards violence, however, and remained cautious of this fact.
They first reconnected in Purgatory, where his caution was reenforced by their new, murderous persona. Though, as far as threats go, Ken remained on a similar plane to Majima. Despite their threats, they knew they could never actually bring themself to kill Kiryu, even if they could outmatch him. Betraying him by bolstering Nishiki already hurt them to do.
The night after the fight with Majima that changed their outlook on Nishiki's fate, Shinji and Reina were murdered by Arase and the other members of the Nishikiyama Family. That night, they made the decision to officially cut ties with Nishiki and help Kiryu through the loss of his close friends. Helping Kiryu process loss would become a common theme from that point on. Despite not being as openly emotional as Nishiki, Ken can still tell when he's hurting, and will try to coax him into telling stories about those he lost.
After his retirement from the Tojo Clan, they parted ways. By this point, Ken had fallen too deep into the Sanzu River, and wanted to respect Kiryu's wishes to live a clean life. As a result, they don't visit him in person. They still text him from time to time, though, just to check in.
Akira Nishkiyama
Ex-boyfriend, bittersweet goodbyes
During the years of peace, Ken and Nishiki fell much deeper in love. Though Nishiki was still insistent on keeping the relationship a secret—now having the added incentive of protecting Kiryu's image—the events of 0 brought them much closer together, and they even openly express their love for each other within the confines of Serena. They often spoke of marriage, if they could, and Nishiki helped them fund their top surgery and hormones before his sister's health went into decline. Once that happened, Ken returned the favor, using the money they earned from street brawls to help out.
When Kiryu was arrested, Ken tried their best to stabilize Nishiki on their own. They tended to his wounds, let him cry into their shoulders, even tried to gather the thirty million yen themself since they couldn't stand seeing the one they loved in such a state. Even though they knew he was an incompetent patriarch, they wanted to believe he could pull through and build something good from the ashes left behind by Kiryu's absence.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stop the inevitable, and after Nishiki snapped, he broke it off with them in order to preserve his reputation and focus all efforts into his career as a yakuza. Heartbroken and wracked with failure, they fled to Purgatory, eventually becoming someone completely different themself.
After their transformation, they returned topside and continued trying to help Nishiki. He no longer cared for Ken's presence, especially now that he was gunning for the chariman's seat. However, they still held out hope that he could be saved, and hurt those who would stand in his way in an attempt to give him some form of happiness. In the end, they were forced to face the reality that, not only would they likely just die trying to defend a man who didn't care for them anymore, but he was beyond saving anyways.
When they saw the Millennium Tower explosion from the streets, saw the ten billion floating down from above, they knew in their heart that Nishiki had died. They attended his funeral, left an engagement ring on his grave, and never returned again.
Osamu Kashiwagi
Platonic, tense allies
Though Ken grew somewhat closer to Kashiwagi in the years of peace, they were olways just on the verge of being close rather than actually being close. This respect and trust was then shattered during Nishiki's descent when he opted to beat Nishiki up rather than even attempt to help the troubled patriarch. Though they understand why Kashiwagi reacted in the way he did, they feel as though he only sped up Nishiki's transformation, and still hasn't forgiven him for that.
Regardless of their feelings, Kiryu still trusts him, and he does seem to have everything on the business side of things locked down, so they haven't outright tried to kill him yet. Still, they're no stranger to shouting matches.
Gary "Buster" Holmes
Platonic, rivals in the ring
Ken has known Gary since before they first stepped into the ring. In fact, he was the one who passed the invitation along and brought them down. Though they can get incredibly brutal towards each other in combat, they never land any fatal blows on each other, seeing each other as perfect opposite sparring partners and not wanting to ruin it with death.
Outside of fighting, they're drinking buddies. One of the strongest things holding them together, outside of their fighting spirit, is their rocky ties to America. They tend to share bittersweet memories of their homeland, and take solace in their shared nationality and troubles with Japanese pronounciation.
Goro Majima
Romantic, boyfriend
After the events of 0, Ken and Majima didn't see much of each other. Ken was aware of his new Mad Dog persona, and held a certain respect for him due to his tenacity and the events of '88, but they didn't dare approach him at this point. Not because they were afraid of him, but because they were afraid of what they might do if they were given another look at moral freedom.
They wouldn't encounter each other in any meaningful capacity until after Ken heard that Haruka was involved. They didn't know much about her at the time, but they knew she was a child, and that was enough to prompt them to make attempts to wrench her from the underworld's grasp. They followed Kiryu's trail of destruction to the batting cages, where they had heard Haruka had been kidnapped by Majima and his men. Coming ready for a fight, they instead found Majima being hauled off by his underlings, bleeding out from a stab wound. At that moment, they felt robbed of a fight, and vowed to get one when Majima recovered. Besides, Haruka seemed to be in safe hands with Kiryu for now.
They would get their fight shortly after, as Majima didn't waste a moment getting out of the hospital to continue fighting Kiryu. One night, as he was setting up an ambush, he wound up the victim of an ambush himself at the hands of Ken. Both sides fought with relentless fury, but in the end, Ken, being the less trained of the two, ended up on the ground with a knife to their throat. In a moment of pure manic ecstacy, they held onto Majima's arm, thanking him over and over again. It was then that he finally recognized them, sparing their life in exchange for info on Nishiki's behavior.
For the remainder of the game's events, they remained close. Though, it wasn't until Kiryu and Majima's fight with the ex-Dojima members that Ken truly began to grow a protective attraction towards him. They had been clobbering a few stragglers from the disbanded family when they heard his laughter from the dock. By the time they made it there, they could only watch as he got shot and fell into the bay. They didn't even think twice before sprinting into the open and diving into the frigid bay to save him. Fortunately, their swimming skills combined with the adrenaline rush from watching yet another loved one come close to death were enough to wrestle both of them out of the bay and to the safety of the land, where Ken spent the next few minutes chastising Majima for letting his guard down, keeping pressure on the bullet wound, and attempting to stave off hypothermia for the both of them. This was the first time they ever cried in front of him.
From that day on, they became a duo to be feared. Though Ken never formally joined up with the Majima family—remaining in Purgatory to repay their debts to the Florist and keep distance from the yakuza life—they never tried to hide their relations with the Mad Dog either. Unlike Nishiki, their relationship with Majima is no secret. Those who have any problems with it are quickly silenced should they decide to act on their prejudice. In reference to Nishiki, Majima was one of the seldom few that Ken ever opened up to about the bittersweet loss of their previous partner. Though they didn't know Majima nearly as well back in '88, they did see how he acted around Makoto. There's a mutual unspoken understanding between the two of them that, though they can never and would never return to their old flames, the heart still lingers on those lost feelings sometimes, and acknowledging that is part of how the heart begins to heal.
Haruka Sawamura
Familial, little sister
To an extent, Haruka was the deciding factor in Ken's betrayal of Nishikiyama. When they first saw her in Kiryu's care after the slaughter at Bacchus, they knew something had gone awry. In exchange for future favors to the Florist, they learned of her role in the Tojo Clan's civil war. Though they still struggled to let go of their connection to Nishiki, they couldn't abide by his or anyone else's plans to involve a child in an internal clan war.
Shortly after Haruka was rescued from Majima's grasp, Ken began talking to her while Kiryu was out, trying to gain an understanding of her situation. Though she didn't give up too much sensitive information, being street smart for her age, Ken did gather that she had been through a lot at the hands of the Tojo clan, and began to feel a strong compulsion to protect her as though she were one of their own kin. Of course, Kiryu learned of this and, after some stern questioning, came to the conclusion that Ken had good intentions. They would occasionally get invited along on outings in Kamurocho as a result, and they would eagerly oblige in playing the part of Haruka's eldest sibling.
It was bittersweet for them when they heard the news that Haruka and Kiryu would be moving to the countryside, as they didn't want to lose that familial connection. However, they understood that they would never be able to give Haruka any sense of stability as long as they remained in her life. So, they decided to stay out of it.
Florist of Sai
Familial, father figure
Though it isn't reciprocated, Ken has viewed the Florist as a father figure since the night after their first coliseum match. He was the one who told Gary to offer them a spot in the ring, thinking that their unpredictable nature and building desperation would make for an interesting shakeup in the ranks. Even though he wasn't wrong, it came at the cost of Ken's previous identity as a low-lying editor. From the moment he watched them bite into their opponent, he knew they would never be able to return to their former life again.
Still, he tried to help them as best as he could when they came to him for info. He knew that they were still trying to help Nishiki, and he knew that they were aware of his knowledge. Still, he wanted them to come to their own conclusions on the situation, and eventually watched as they finally came around and began living for their own sake. They owe their continued attempts at happiness to him, and often refer to him as "oiji-san" despite his attempts to dissuade them. Though he feels a sort of bond towards them after the Tojo Clan's civil war, he would never refer to it as fatherly.
Reina
Platonic, trusted barkeep
warning: suicide and mentions of drug and alcohol abuse ahead
During the years of peace, Ken actually began to speak to and trust Reina a little more. Though they could spot the romantic interest towards Nishiki, they knew that she wouldn't ever act on it. Even if she wasn't one of the few people trusted with the knowledge that Ken and Nishiki were dating at the time, they knew that she was too shy to ever come forth with her feelings. This stalemate allowed for a deep trust between the two, something only really seen between a bartender and a patron. They told her everything: their past addictions to painkillers and alcohol, their strange relations with Nishitani, the creeping violence in their heart, even their past in America as a closeted LGBT+ person. Reina became a sort of personal therapist to them, and though she never violated their privacy, she did make adjustments to their behavior. If they came in on an emotional spiral, talk would come before drinks, just to keep them from lapsing back into old habits.
During Nishiki's downfall, the night he planned to commit seppuku, Reina mentioned that he had seemed strangely calm after the death of his sister, seeming almost completely at peace that night. Bewildered that she would miss what seemed to them to be an obvious sign of suicidal planning, they snapped at her, screaming that she had let him wander off to die. This would be their last interaction before Nishiki snapped and Ken became isolated in Purgatory.
They never had the nerve to face her after what happened. Even though they knew deep in their heart that they needed to make things right, the shame clouded their mind, keeping them from pursuing the right path. Ultimately, Reina died before Ken could properly apologize for that night. This regret has lingered in the back of their mind ever since.
