Goro Takemura

Goro Takemura (竹村 五郎) is the former personal bodyguard of Saburo Arasaka. He is a stoic man of honor and fiercely loyal to Arasaka, but finds himself betrayed and out of his element in Night City.

Early life
Goro Takemura was born in the slum of Chiba-11, the district with the highest murder rate in all of Japan. It's unknown what became of his mother; as his father worked full-time in a kitchen, Goro was looked after by his grandmother. The family was so poor that they did their laundry in the chemically polluted canals.

Out of poverty, he was conscripted into Arasaka's corporate army, where he would eventually join the special forces division, a fortunate incident that he compared with having won the lottery. At the Arasaka academy, he received an education and graduated at the top of his class.

At some point Saburo Arasaka came to recruit a new personal bodyguard out of the one hundred soldiers the corporation deemed most skilled and loyal (a recruitment pool which may or may not be identical with the one for service at the Arasaka Family Compound). His loyalty to the family was beyond question, and he idolized his CEO. As Saburo's personal protector, Takemura received one-of-a-kind cyberware, including an endoskeleton.

Takemura personally trained the cyberninja Sandayu Oda, who served as the bodyguard of Hanako Arasaka.

2077
In 2077, Takemura accompanied Saburo Arasaka to Konpeki Plaza, Night City, where the CEO intended to confront his son Yorinobu for stealing the Relic. Takemura was about to commence a full sweep of the penthouse, but was ordered out of the room by Saburo only moments before he would have uncovered V and Jackie Welles. After he and Adam Smasher had left, the hidden mercenaries were witness to a family argument, during the sad climax of which Yorinobu strangled his father in the heat of anger.

Immediately after the deed, the murderer alerted security, claiming that Saburo had been poisoned. He took advantage of Takemura's visible shock to assert his authority as the head of Arasaka family and corporation, ordering him to find the murderers before leaving the suite.

After V and Jackie had escaped Konpeki Plaza, Takemura tracked down ump on Night City', who had set up the heist. As Jackie Welles had succumbed to his injuries and the fixer had shot V in an attempt to cover his tracks, Takemura forced him to reveal the body's location. After he had dragged the mercenary out of the landfill where he had buried them and they proved to be still alive beyond any expectation, Takemura executed DeShawn before noticing Yorinobu of his success.ing th Before he could present his prisoner, Yorinobu sent a group of Arasaka exterminators to eliminate both his father's bodyguard and the potential witness before they could return to the city. Choosing to revive his captive enough to fend off the assassins, Takemura was able to survive the initial onslaught, but sustained heavy injuries. After the subsequent car crash, V managed to call owever trace to take them both to rtly after the he for much-needed medical care.discovered during this time that [[Anders Hellm During the mercenary's recovery, Takemura began searching for information about Saburo's murder, but was unsuccessful in tracking down rack him down thr, of whom Yorinobu had been a returning customer. He was likewise unable to find the Relic's inventor vered, Takemura co, who had defected from the company and gone into hiding, fearing the the consequences of his new CEO's actions. He attempted to track the man down via the traditional Night City means of the u from power.. However, following the official Arasaka narrative, ntacting Oda. He arr dismissed him as Saburo's killer and refused to work with him.

After V recovered, Takemura contacted them to discuss how to take revenge against Yorinobu, calling him to account for his crime. He claimed the existence of powerful allies, who would be able to help clear their names and remove Yorinobu from power.

The only such ally whom he could get a hold of was his former apprentice Oda. He arranged a personal meeting, giving V the opportunity to share the truth about Konpeki Plaza. However, Hanako's bodyguard refused to listen. While letting them go, he threatened that the next time he would not be as lenient.

Whether by accident or on purpose, Oda let slip that Hanako was visiting Night City for the Aratama-matsuri festival.

With no one else to turn to and desperate to explain the situation to Hanako in person, Takemura sought help from V. Together with the mercenary, he met with the fixer Wakako Okada, who provided information about the parade free of charge. .

Having formed the plan to jump on the dashi float from which Saburo's daughter would be giving her speech, he conducted reconnaissance of Arasaka Industrial Park, where the platforms were in the process of being assembled. With or without V's help, a virus he picked up in Kabuki was uploaded to the float in question.

During the parade, the mercenary took out the three snipers who would have prevented Takemura from getting on the float alive, only to hear that a netrunner had overridden the virus-granted access. While taking out the latter, V had to confront Oda, winning the fight with the help of Takemura's running advice. After asking his ally to spare the defeated foe, he jumped to the float to explain himself to Hanako Arasaka.

When she tried to flee instead of listening, he stunned her with a shot, telling V to run before severing the connection.

Having abducted his CEO's daughter, Takemura took her to safety in his hideout in an abandoned apartment building. She politely refused the offered tea and proceeded to ignore him. In his helplessness, he called upon his only ally again, hoping that she would listen to the mercenary.

V was not outright ignored; however, Hanako did not seem receptive to their words. Before they could convince her, the conversation was interrupted when an Arasaka force attacked the apartment from two sides, blasting through the walls. Before V was briefly incapacitated by falling through the floor, they could see Takemura shielding Hanako from the explosion with his own body. After he had fallen back, the woman was carried to safety by Adam Smasher himself, who departed in the AV that had destroyed the wall.

When V regained consciousness after their fall, the engram of Johnny Silverhand told them that Takemura was already dead and advised them to run.


 * V fled from Takemura's hideout, who fought the upcoming Arasaka forces until he was eventually killed.


 * V ignored Johnny and returned to save their ally, who was pinned down with poor cover in his bedroom, fighting off half a dozen of Arasaka soldiers with the Shingen that had been stashed under his bed. Scolding V for coming back only to die along with him, Takemura then proved himself wrong by helping them fight out of the apartment building.

After escaping the trap, he parted ways from the mercenary, whom he considered to have a better chance of escaping Arasaka's notice. Afterwards, he was contacted by Hanako, who had him brought to a secure location. In a text message to V, he expresses gratitude for his life and concern for their wellbeing.


 * After witnessing the mercenary's attack on Arasaka Tower and the decline of the Arasaka Corporation, Takemura acknowledged that he had failed avenging Saburo's death, deciding to commit seppuku. His last message was to V, in which he talked about jisei: while he had found many of the ancient samurais' death poems to be very beautiful, he was not one of their number and so could not write one himself. Instead, he had decided to leave the mercenary a message, closing it with the heart-felt wish that they would burn in hell.
 * After witnessing the mercenary's attack on Arasaka Tower and the decline of the Arasaka Corporation, Takemura acknowledged that he had failed avenging Saburo's death, deciding to commit seppuku. His last message was to V, in which he talked about jisei: while he had found many of the ancient samurais' death poems to be very beautiful, he was not one of their number and so could not write one himself. Instead, he had decided to leave the mercenary a message, closing it with the heart-felt wish that they would burn in hell.


 * Takemura and Anders Hellman rendezvoused with V at Misty's Esoterica, noting their deteriorating health. The three proceeded to the Arasaka Estate to extract Hanako from her brother's forces. After a successful rescue, the four of them took an AV to Arasaka Tower so that Saburo's daughter could confront the board of directors.
 * Takemura and Anders Hellman rendezvoused with V at Misty's Esoterica, noting their deteriorating health. The three proceeded to the Arasaka Estate to extract Hanako from her brother's forces. After a successful rescue, the four of them took an AV to Arasaka Tower so that Saburo's daughter could confront the board of directors.

On the way, Hellman's comment about V's physical condition angered Takemura. He defended the mercenary so vehemently that Hanako interrupted the conversation to steer it back towards planning.


 * At Arasaka Tower, he split from the rest of the group to meet with Oda (if V had not killed him) and those soldiers whose loyalty to Hanako he could guarantee. On the way to the Arasaka board meeting, Takemura heard from his ally that Saburo had survived as an engram. He expressed shock and disbelief, claiming that Saburo would have told him. It didn't take him long to regain his composure: when Saburo's engram roasted the board of directors, he didn't bother to hide his amusement.

The meeting was interrupted by an attempt of Yorinobu to destroy the Kiji and Hato factions by means of military coup. On Hanako's orders, Takemura and V fought their way through the Taka soldiers to take Yorinobu prisoner.


 * Before reaching Yorinobu, Takemura and V had to overcome Adam Smasher. After defeating the cyborg, Takemura claimed that he would kill Yorinobu, defying Hanako's order that he was not to be harmed and thus voiding the deal between her and the mercenary. As a last service, he stayed behind while V entered the CEO's office.


 * A month later, Takemura visited V on the Arasaka Orbital Station, where he expressed disgust at the "barbaric" decision to confirm them to their room. No longer serving as Saburo's bodyguard, he would claim that justice had been served and that Hanako had made the best call in a bad situation.

However, the reason for his visit was that the procedure had failed and the mercenary was still dying. Regardless of their reaction, he showed himself supportive, apologizing that he had truly believed Arasaka could save them, and indicating that the corporation had acted in good faith. He offered them a possibility of survival: to join the Secure Your Soul program until such a point where a compatible body could be provided.


 * V refused the deal and wished to return to Earth. When Takemura pleaded with them to reconsider, the mercenary replied that they weren't willing to give up something that he never had: freedom. Picking up their things, they walked away from Takemura, who was visibly distraught.
 * V refused the deal and wished to return to Earth. When Takemura pleaded with them to reconsider, the mercenary replied that they weren't willing to give up something that he never had: freedom. Picking up their things, they walked away from Takemura, who was visibly distraught.


 * V accepted the deal, stating that they wanted to live. Takemura replied that it was a good choice, advising them not to wait for their condition to worsen. When V inquired if they would meet again, he expressed his certainty that they would, inviting them to visit him in Kagawa, where he hoped to show them real food.
 * V accepted the deal, stating that they wanted to live. Takemura replied that it was a good choice, advising them not to wait for their condition to worsen. When V inquired if they would meet again, he expressed his certainty that they would, inviting them to visit him in Kagawa, where he hoped to show them real food.

Associated Quests

 * The Heist
 * Playing for Time
 * Down on the Street
 * Life During Wartime
 * Gimme Danger
 * Play It Safe
 * Search and Destroy
 * Nocturne Op55N1 (dependent)
 * Last Caress (dependent)
 * Totalimmortal (dependent)
 * Where is My Mind? (dependent)

Conception
CD Projekt RED wanted to tell a more corporate part of the main story, regarding Arasaka. Initially, they had a female character named Ayumi Gozen as a villain, but wanted to instead show a more human side of the corporation. Philipp Weber, Acting Lead Quest Designer at CD Projekt RED, wanted to create a character who was very close to Saburo, sharing his traditional values and believing that Arasaka's actions is morally right. Takemura came to life as a character who — in their own mind — was able to justify that everything they did for Arasaka was for the greater good. He believes in honour and traditional Japanese values. However, as the developers were concerned that players would be unable to empathize, they began to humanize him, wanting to display a character who had been forced to make terrible choices to guarantee his survival. This is the reason behind his likeable personality traits, such as being a foodie, the way he's not very good dealing with technology etc.

Overall, Takemura is supposed to be a character who genuinely believes that what he is doing for Arasaka is the right thing to do.

Developer notes

 * The selfie Takemura sends to V was Philipp Weber's idea, who came up with it after a picture of Takemura's face from a low angle reminded him of a 'dad selfie.' A cinematic designer he spoke to came up with a selection of possible selfies to use, including ones with him looking 'flirty' and 'awkward,' yet his initial favourite remained.
 * Philip Weber came up with the idea of a little joke of the elderly man confusing Takemura as a famous celebrity. The idea was later developed by different members of the team, giving birth to the formerly-famous stand-up comedian Hideshi Hino. The team added more dialogue to the scene, scattering posters of Hideshi Hino across the city.
 * Takemura is a foodie. He has a strong belief in tradition and his belief that food should be prepared in a traditional way, and with care. CD Projekt RED's Paweł Sasko mentioned these traits are still an important reflection of his character.
 * Takemura had been supposed to have very unique optics; however, due to time constraints, he had to share Hanako's. After patch 1.2, they changed to brown with a reflective ring around the pupil. According to Philip Weber during a Q&A, his one-of-a-kind optics are an important way to make the player aware of his unique cyberware (even if most of it had been removed or disabled), and a way to distinguish his skillset from Hanako's netrunning abilities. However, Patch 1.3 reverted this change.

Trivia

 * His story arc's quest names are all references to either songs by The Stooges (Down on the Street, Gimme Danger, and Search and Destroy) or Iggy Pop (Play It Safe).