About
- What is Silver Dragon about?
- Silver Dragon covers the Hero's Journey, also called the monomyth. It details the call, trials, and rewards that every epic hero must face. Not every hero follows the monomyth to its exactness. Silver Dragon specifically features Kiryu Kazuma of Sega's Yakuza based on what steps he follows in the monomyth, the archetypes the characters around his fit into, and his heroic traits. This site in no way proves that Kazuma is an epic hero. It is merely a character study based on the steps he has taken in his journey between four games. I would like to note that because Yakuza is generally an antagonizing role, Kazuma may not fit all of the particular features that the monomyth has to offer.
- Why Silver Dragon?
- Kazuma was known as the Dragon of Dojima. He always wears a silver/grey suit. It's not overly complicated. His Yakuza Tattoo is also that of a large, silver dragon.
- What is Yakuza?
- Yakuza spans the life of Kiryu Kazuma, a mobster living in Kamurocho. He works for the Dojima Family at first, and later becomes the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan. The four games (soon to be five) span his life and struggles with living normally and saving the Tojo Clan while trying to raise his daughter.
- What is the Monomyth?
- The monomyth is a set of story standards that feature several steps of a hero's journey. Usually it is done to portray a hero's epic qualities and traits. I use a document based on a discussion post from an English class that was written by the instructor at the time. References are included in the site section. In fact, much of the information pertaining to the games that is not obvious speculation is paraphrased or summarized.
- Is Kazuma an Epic Hero?
- It is not my goal to say that one way or another. I am merely following the monomyth canon and seeing where he stacks up. Most epic heroes meet most (not always all) the parts, traits, and archetypes around them. It would be very difficult and very rigid for writers if all heroes were cut from the very same cloth. It is not uncommon for them to be missing one or more trait or piece of the journey. It is also true that one could probably recognize any one of the series or traits in other heroes. So, it is safe to say that while most heroes follow the basics of the monomyth there are some small differences here or there.