Tyger Claws

"Riding out from the heart of Japantown in a psychedelic blur, the Tyger Claws are dead-set on staking claim to fresh territory."

- Cyberpunk 2077

Tyger Claws (虎鉤衆) is a Japanese gang that can be found in Night City.

Overview
Formed in 2020 the 'Tyger's Claw' was a small defensive combat gang who claimed turf in the original Japantown, and the residential community surrounding it. Generally the gang was not drawn to cyberware, preferring to rely on martial arts, traditional Japanese weapons, and enhanced reflexes. It was rumored that they were backed financially by Arasaka.

After the Fourth Corporate War, Tyger's Claw changed their name to the Tyger Claws. Their goal was to protect the Asian community of Night City in 2045. The gang controlled the district of Old Japantown and were slowly moving into Waston. By this time they had also broken away from Arasaka and played a huge role in rebuilding Japantown to it's former glory.

By 2077, the gang had changed very little, examples of the few changes being that they now regularly use Cyberware and are very fixated on motorcycles for transportation. They've also gone from small humble beginnings to one of the largest gangs in the city. Rumored to be in a territory feud with the Steel Dragons, a gang originating from Tokyo.

Details
The Tyger Claws are ruthless territorial gang based in Japantown. They are one of the largest gangs in Night City with a number of 5,500 members. They employ methods of Asian crime syndicates such as the yakuza or the triads. The gang is predominantly Asian and the primary goal is maintain control over their own territory and occasionally annex other gangs' businesses. Tyger foot soldiers are easily recognized by their Asian luminous tattoos, fast street bikes, katanas, and tantos. Cyberware used by the gang are reflex boosters, augmented cyberlimbs, pain editors, and ECM systems disguised as tattoos.

Philosophy & structure
"See a lot of Tygers. They run this place? Know what else they do well? Break the knees of people who ask questions."

- V talking to an unknown person

The business strategy of the Tyger Claws is similar to the yakuza. Crossing the lowest level member can cause a quick and violent reaction from the entire gang, but if they get what they want everything should be fine.

The top brass of the Claws believe business is preferable to war in the long run but many of the rank-and-file TC gangers are sadistic brutes prone to violence. Abduction, torture, sexual assault, and cruel or unusual killings are just a few examples of their depravity. It is not uncommon for young, brash, or drunk Tygers to undermine the gang's ideologies by abusing their status on their turf, harassing outsiders, and provoking fights. This behavior would be considered dishonorable by TC crime bosses, but an outsider reacting to ganger's behavior in kind will rarely go unpunished.

Most provoked people outside of the gang's ranks wisely avoid direct confrontation with Tygers unless they have connections with high-ranking members of the gang.

Sources of income
Japantown is Night City's lead nightlife district and the Tygers control a significant portion of it. They own more businesses in Night City than any other gang; bars, restaurants, braindance clubs, brothels, and casinos. Many of these businesses are registered as legal businesses but act as fronts for illegal operations and money laundering.

The gang makes most of its money from human trafficking and prostitution. The Tyger Claws also make money from manufacturing and distributing drugs, most notably "glitter". Tygers also hire themselves out for hit jobs.

The gang also has corporate connections who visit their establishments to blow off steam and have fun. The Claws have especially close ties to Arasaka upper management, who outsource them side-jobs, pay them with cybertechnology and military-grade automatic weapons.

Trivia

 * It is possible that the war between the Steel Dragons and the Tyger Claws is possibly motivated by the fact that the Steel Dragons are enemies of the Arasaka, while the Tyger Claws are notoriously known for being helped financially by the Arasaka, which perhaps started the war between the two Asian gangs, since the ideological bias of the two gangs is extremely opposed.
 * Ironically, the founder of the Steel Dragons, Yorinobu Arasaka, is the heir to the Arasuka Corporation (the company that is an ally of the Tyger Claws, the Steel Dragons' biggest enemies).
 * The fact that several members of Tyger Claws have Irezumi tattoos implies that before they were members of Tyger Claws, several of them were members of Yakuza (the Japanese mafia), such as Wakako Okada.