Yoshimitsu

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Yoshimitsu
Profile
Birthplace:	None (formerly Japan)
Fighting Style:	Advanced Manji Ninja Arts
Age:	Unknown
Height:	177cm
Weight:	63kg
Blood type:	O
Occupation:	Leader of the Manji Clan
Hobbies:	Watching sumo wrestling matches, surfing the net
Likes:	TV games, browsing the net, helping the innocent, Doctor Boskonovitch, his swords "Yoshimitsu" and "Fumaken"
Dislikes:	Villains, poor losers, Kunimitsu, Bryan Fury, people who harm the innocent

Yoshimitsu (吉光, Yoshimitsu^?) is a character from the Tekken and Soul video game series. He is a katana wielding ninja from the Manji clan. Despite his very odd appearances, he is human, and Namco has confirmed this. His left hand is mechanized due to a failed mission.

History

Tekken series

Yoshimitsu makes his first appearance in 1994's Tekken. Referencing Kunimitsu's Tekken 2 story, it is revealed that Yoshimitsu's blade is passed down through the Manji Clan's leaders as the previous leader is ritually sacrificed, and the blade absorbs their power and skill. In the game's story, Yoshimitsu enters the first tournament as a decoy, so that other members of the Manji Party can steal the tournament's funds unobserved. Yoshimitsu learns about a sumo wrestler called Ganryu, whose disrespectful attitude in the ring cost him his promotion into Yokozuna rank. This base disrespect for the sumo code infuriates Yoshimitsu and he defeats Ganryu. At a later time Yoshimitsu leads an infiltration on Dr. Boskonovitch's lab in order to steal his Eternal Energy device. Though Yoshimitsu loses his arm during the infiltration, Boskonovitch helps the injured ninja escape and fits him with a mechanical prosthetic. Grateful for his help, he told Boskonovitch to call him whenever he needs help. In Tekken 2, Yoshimitsu learns that Doctor Boskonovitch has been kidnapped by the Mishima Zaibatsu and enters the second Tekken tournament to rescue him. Kunimitsu, Yoshimitsu's former Manji Clan second-in-command returns to the tournament in order to steal the clan's tachi. Yoshimitsu defeats her and drops out of the tournament to rescue the Doctor after learning his location.

After the timeskip, Yoshimitsu visited Boskonovitch, who is suffering from a disease that he caught when he built the Cold Sleep machine. Boskonovitch told him that the disease can only be cured using the blood of Ogre, the Fighting God that was recently awakened from its deep slumber. Yoshimitsu then enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 in order to obtain the blood. During the tournament, he is targeted by Bryan Fury, a cyborg sent by Dr. Abel to kill him and capture Dr. Boskonovitch. Yoshimitsu manages to escape. The outcome of his search is not known, though he most likely succeeds.

Yoshimitsu in Tekken 6

Two years later, Yoshimitsu realized that the future of his clan is waning due to the constant lack of necessary funding and manpower. When he heard about The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, he plans to form an alliance with Mishima Zaibatsu. He does and quickly enters the tournament. While Yoshimitsu is robbing the Mishima Zaibatsu mansion near the end of the fourth tournament, he discovered an unconscious Bryan Fury. He took him to Boskonovitch's lab so Dr. Boskonovitch can transfer Bryan to a new body as his current one is broken. Boskonovitch then injected Bryan with drugs to put him to a year-long sleep. However, when Yoshimitsu visited Boskonovitch's lab a month later, he found it destroyed with almost all of its inhabitants dead. An injured Dr. Boskonovitch then told that Bryan woke up only a month later and goes on rampage with his new body. Swearing revenge, Yoshimitsu enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 to hunt Bryan. While trying to find Bryan, Yoshimitsu found out that his sword is weakening. As his sword is a cursed item, it will lose its power and drive its users insane if the sword do not kill evil doers for a prolonged amount of time. He decides to adopt a second sword called Fumaken which has the ability to seal the cursed sword properties and enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 in order to restore the power of the cursed sword.

He also appears in other Tekken games, namely Tekken Advance, Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Soulcalibur series

Yoshimitsu's predecessor first appeared in Namco's Soul series in 1998's Soulcalibur. After refusing a power-hungry lord Oda Nobunaga's offer of alliance, Yoshimitsu discovers his village has been destroyed. Attempting to battle the Nobunaga's army, Yoshimitsu loses his arm. He sets out to search for the fabled weapon Soul Edge, so that he could take his revenge against Nobunaga. In meditation, Yoshimitsu concluded that if he were to give in to his hatred, he would be no better than either Nobunaga or Nightmare; when he reaches the castle where Soul Edge is, he discovers it has been locked away with Soul Calibur.

In the Soul series, Yoshimitsu uses his beloved self-named katana with the Manji Ninjitsu style and was handed down through many generations in the Manji clan. It seems like a normal katana, but it has many unique features that accommodates the unique style of the Manji; since it was forged with secret techniques which were passed down in the Manji clan, it cannot be replicated and is the last of its kind. Yoshimitsu, after the massacre of his clan, swore an oath of vengeance to this weapon. It has been tainted by the evil energy of Soul Edge and turned into a demonic weapon, but still is the preferred weapon of Yoshimitsu. Additionally, the sashimono on his back that accompanies the sword is also used as a striking weapon. In Soulcalibur II, Yoshimitsu discovers that his katana has been impregnated with corrupted energy from the castle, and so resolves to rid his blade of the evil. When Yoshimitsu is worn from trying to quell the corruption, the blade is stolen by Voldo. Fearing what would happen if the weapon wound up in the wrong hands, Yoshimitsu set out to retrieve the katana, in the process discovering a fragment of the Soul Edge. Wanting to destroy all the fragments which are spread across the earth, Yoshimitsu forms a band of chivalrous thieves, known as the Manjitou, in order to do good and to find the fragments.

Yoshimitsu returns in Soulcalibur III, devising a robbery in order to steal a fragment of the Soul Edge. The robbery fails as Tira, a servant of Soul Edge and Nightmare, ambushes the thieves and takes the fragment of Soul Edge. Later on, Tira murders one of his clan members, causing Yoshimitsu to seek her and Soul Edge down for revenge in Soulcalibur IV. By the time of Soulcalibur V, the first Yoshimitsu has been ritually executed and succeeded by a younger, eerily-similar protégé, who shares his fighting style, voice, mannerisms, and even his clockwork arm. This secret line of succession makes "Yoshimitsu" appear immortal to outsiders and is implied to continue into modern times with the Tekken incarnation of the character.

Other appearances

Yoshimitsu and references to him have appeared in other Namco games. His Tekken 3 incarnation is a bonus character available in Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis for the PlayStation and his Tekken 3 "energy sword" is one of the game's unlockable secret tennis racquets. Yoshimitsu's sword is also an available weapon in the Tekken spin-off game Death by Degrees.

Yoshimitsu appears in the Tekken film, fighting against Jin Kazama in the tournament.

He also appeared in the Capcom-made crossover game Street Fighter X Tekken, with Raven as his official tag partner.

Trivia

• Yoshimitsu is an assumed name which is given to all the leaders of the Manji Clan.
• He is the only playable character who uses a weapon by default.
• The blade wielded by Yoshimitsu is also called "Yoshimitsu".
• Yoshimitsu, along with Heihachi Mishima, King, Nina Williams and Paul Phoenix, has been featured in every Tekken title.
• Yoshimitsu was the first character in the Tekken series to actually speak. In one of his Tekken 3 victory poses, he is heard chanting an extract from the Heart Sutra: "Shiki soku zeku".
• The original leaders of the Manji clan appear in the Soul series. They are also named Yoshimitsu.
• His alternate costume from Tekken 4 takes some inspiration from Kagekiyo from Genpei Toumaden.

External links

• Yoshimitsu on the Tekken wiki
• Yoshimitsu on the Soul Calibur wiki