Yorinobu Arasaka

"Since I consider the Arasaka Corporation to be bastion of evil, I work wherever I can to undo their operations. I am aided by covert factions across the world."

- Yorinobu, 2020

Yorinobu Arasaka is the second son to Saburo Arasaka, and rebellious bosozoku leader of the Steel Dragons as well as close affiliate of Iron Lotus. Allow a sworn bosozoku leader Rockerboy, he eventually became the heir to the Arasaka Corporation Empire.

Overview
Yorinobu disagreed with everything his father set out to accomplished, and abandoned everything because of it. He is passionate, caring, and determined more than anything else. This led to him help in the founding of two separate bosozoku gangs whose sole purpose was to appose the corporations that control Japan, Steel Dragons and Iron Lotus. Yorinobu is the charismatic counter to Johnny Silverhand in Tokyo (though he does not play in a band). He was known to rally up the Japanese public to rebel against the corporate overlords. Yorinobu still cared for his sister Hanako and would frequently speak with her behind their fathers back, he swore one day to save her.

In 2077, Yorinobu still rebels against his father, but has not seen him in decades. However he soon realized that the corporate giant’s power was impossible to defeat. At least from the outside.

Biography
"Yori-kun, you know about Arasaka Security that made our company famous? Well, that’s not the thing that has made the company powerful, what made the company powerful was the Arasaka Bank. I know that with enough extortion and political influence, killing the appropriate people and massacring the workers of the appropriate corp, we can restore the glory of the Empire of the Sun and make Japan the biggest superpower of the world,"

- Saburo on Yorinobu's Graduation

The day after 21 year old Yorinobu Arasaka graduated from Todai, Saburo brought him to his private chambers at the compound. There he explained to his youngest son the true nature of the Arasaka Corporation. Rather than agreeing with his father's vision, as Kei had, Yorinobu was secretly appalled and chose to stay silent as his father kept speaking. That night, after a celebratory dinner given in his honor, Yorinobu slipped out of the compound and vanished into the Tokyo night.

Four years later, 25 year old Yorinobu had gathered about him a cadre of tough Tokyo nomads (Bosozoku): 'Kotetsu no Ryu'...the Steel Dragons. Together, they had sworn to expose and destroy Arasaka. At night they would prowl the canyons of the city, harassing Arasaka men and unearthing information on Arasaka black operations. Yorinobu's knowledge of Arasaka facilities and corporate procedures gave the Steel Dragons some advantages, but they still lacked the power or information to make serious headway against the corporation. Yorinobu was, however, able to tread the world of the street and the corporate tower with equal facility. When he wasn't not riding with his men, he was travelling the world, meeting with other enemies of Arasaka, looking for funds and equipment. Slowly but surely his operation was growing.

Saburo was greatly saddened by his youngest son's disloyalty and acknowledged that Yorinobu needed be destroyed. Kei, who hated Yorinobu for his defection, had sworn to kill his half-brother. Hanako, on the other hand, still loved her brother. Yorinobu was Saburo's only other child by Michiko, and he had always felt a special bond with his sister. Although Hanako was unaware of it at the time, he had sworn to free her from their father's clutches. Once a month Yorinobu and Hanako secretly communicated through the net, reaffirming their fraternal love for one another.

2020
Yorinobu would visit Night City to gather information from his contacts. During one of Arasaka's sweeps on city some of the local contacts of Yorinobu were taken prisoners, interrogated, and later executed. One of these contacts was, Hiraga who knew the identities of many high ranking officials and suppliers to the Steel Dragons. The information obtained of the Steel Dragons was stored in the Arasaka Towers in Night city. Before it could be sent to Kei at the Tokyo Headquarters, Yorinobu had a contact intercept the data before it could be sent. With the data was an order of the assassination of the high ranking officials apart of the Dragons, but his contact was traced down and had to seppuku after destroying the data to avoid capture. Unfortunately, the regional security director of Arasaka, Iwasao Koremichi, supposedly had a hard copy with the data.

Fourth Corporate War
During the Fourth Corporate War, Yorinobu played a huge role. He didn't side with Militech during the war, despite their attempts to lure him to their side. Instead he played a role in supplying info to the Japanese government that helped their nationalization of Arasaka's native offices. However sometime before October 2022 he is imprisoned by Kei Arasaka and was the first victim of Soulkiller v3.0. During the Militech assault on the Arasaka Tower in Night City, Strike Team Beta freed him from the sub-basement Soulkiller storage core.

2077
Yorinobu was the original heir to the Arasaka Empire, before he rebelled and cut ties with his father. For many years he lead the Steel Dragons and sought destruction, but soon realized that the corporate giant’s power was impossible to defeat. At least from the outside.

Yorinobu still rebels against his father, but has not seen him in decades. Yorinobu has stolen the Relic from one of his father's laboratories.

Parents

 * Saburo Arasaka - Father
 * Michiko Arasaka - Mother

Siblings

 * Kei Arasaka - Older Half-Brother
 * Hanako Arasaka - Younger Sister

Reference
Yorinobu Arasaka