Yorinobu Arasaka

Yorinobu Arasaka (荒坂 頼宣) is the second son to Saburo Arasaka, and rebellious bosozoku leader of the Steel Dragons as well as close affiliate of Iron Lotus. Although a sworn bosozoku leader Rockerboy, he eventually became the heir to the Arasaka Corporation Empire. Yorinobu disagreed with everything his father set out to accomplished, and abandoned everything because of it. He is passionate and determined more than anything else.

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 father's 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
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 commit 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.

2022 - 2023
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.

After the war ended, Yorinobu attended his brother's funeral, Kei, it was here he reconciled with his father. With the help of his sister Hanako, Yorinobu would slowly be welcomed to the family again.

2045
In 2045, Yorinobu led the Taka (鷹) Faction of the Arasaka Corporation. Originally thought to have been Soulkilled by his elder brother Kei, it turned out that the person who ended up under the probes was a body double; Yorinobu made sure that during the War he was impossible to find. He still played the renegade game and opposed the other factions. As long as his father stayed in control under the Kiji (雉) Faction, Yorinobu would still be out there trying to bring about its downfall.

2077
Yorinobu was the original heir to the Arasaka Empire, before he rebelled and cut ties with his father. For many years he led the Steel Dragons and sought destruction, but soon realized that the corporate giant's power was impossible to defeat. At least from the outside. With the aid of Hanako, Yorinobu was welcomed back to the Arasaka family. Yorinobu still rebelled against his father, but had not seen him in decades. In 2077, Yorinobu stole the Relic from one of his father's laboratories in Tokyo. After retreating to Night City in a plan to sell the prototype to Netwatch, he is warned by Anders Hellman that he should consult his father.

Saburo Arasaka arrived in Night City shortly after to retrieve what was stolen and confront Yorinobu alone. In a fit of rage, Yorinobu murders his father and later covered it up by claiming an assassin had his father poisoned. Yorinobu takes full control of the Arasaka Corporation and begins to make changes from within. His decisions started to take effect when he started removing facilities in Fukuoka and other locations in Japan. Yorinobu began to sabotage the corporation from within and undo much of what his father built.

Part of his plan was a military coup in Night City, Kyoto, Dubai, and Paris. The troops loyal to Yorinobu were ordered to destroy all other factions within the corporation as well as to remove the board of directors to gain complete control.

In The Sun ending, Yorinobu is successful in his plans of sabotaging the Arasaka Empire, losing much of it's political power and control over the world. The Relic project is scrapped as the corporation loses billions in the project. The Arasaka Corporation's future is unclear and would take time for reorganization to bring the Megacorp back to stable status.

In The Devil ending, Hanako along with V storm the upper echelons of Arasaka tower to dethrone Yorinobu Arasaka's tyrannical reign. Yorinobu explains to V that he tried everything to bring the Arasaka Empire to an end and stop his father from his ideals. Yorinobu reveals he did not seek power and control, but only to free the people of the tyranny of the Arasaka Corporation and build a better future. If V is successful, Yorinobu's suicide attempt will be stopped and Hanako will comfort her grieving brother who agrees to restore honor to the Arasaka family by giving up his body to his father's engram through the Relic.

Database Entry (2077)

 * The son of Saburo Arasaka, leader of the world's biggest arms manufacturing corporation. Ever since his young, rebellious years, there's been a lot of friction between Yorinobu and his father, though as to why - that's anyone's guess. Known for his difficult personality and controversial opinions, he doesn't fulfill any important role in Arasaka. Despite his urgent calls for change in the corporation, Yorinobu doesn't really want to take the helm - being a billionare is currently much more fun.

Trivia

 * His name in the native Kanji appears to be 荒坂 頼宣, according to a post by a Japanese CDPR forum moderator.
 * The player can find a picture of the Arasaka family in Yorinobu's personal office but with Saburo's face obscured with a whiskey glass. In Saburo's office, the same picture can be found with Yorinobu's face obscured.