Once the player has finished all the side content in Yakuza and its spin-offs, they’ll be challenged to a fight by the Amon Clan. They’re a family of assassins who look like something out of The Matrix and with the weaponry and abilities to match.
They're basically developer RGG Studio's excuse to get as nuts as possible in making a super boss or more for their game. So, rather than ranking how fun or how difficult they are, this list will rank how far the Amon Clan will go to take Kiryu and co down, from the believable to the unbelievable. This will only count games released internationally, so no Kenzan or Ishin...yet.
12 Yakuza 1/Kiwami
The most famous member of the clan is Jo Amon. He debuted in the first game and his fight is still one of the hardest boss battles in the series 17+ years later. Though it goes to show how nuts Amon gets when his guns, knives and grenades are ho-hum compared to the other games.
Yakuza Kiwami reduced his repertoire to a faster, harder-hitting version of Kiryu’s move set. When he’s beaten, he’ll get back up and switch to Goro Majima’s style instead. Which means he'll run lightning-fast around the stage and slice Kiryu to ribbons with a knife. Just in case putting up with the Majima Everywhere fights wasn't enough for him.
11 Yakuza 3
Yakuza 3 didn’t do anything too exciting either. Jo Amon traded his knives in for photon blades. They’re basically lightsabers and can inflict some nasty damage. He also has a sneaky flipkick-gunshot combo that adds insult to injury.
The fancier tech makes this battle snazzier, though it’s not as hard by comparison. His gun shots even leave him open for a combo or two. What it gains in flashiness it loses in difficulty. Unlike the other fights here, players might have a chance against him here.
10 Yakuza 0
Since Yakuza 0 had two lead characters, it provides an Amon fight for each. Jo can’t fight Kiryu until Yakuza 1, so he takes on Goro Majima in a pretty standard fight with few, if any, frills. While Kiryu takes on Jo’s father, So Amon, who’s more of a pain with his rocket launcher.
Then he calls in a helicopter to create a tornado of chairs by dropping furniture and blowing them around with the downwash. If Kiryu doesn't grab the invincibility potions to withstand the onslaught, So will, making the fight longer and much more difficult. The fights only get weirder from here.
9 Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2
The original Yakuza 2 brought in Jo’s brothers, who each had a different gimmick, like twin axes, guns, and a rocket launcher. Kiryu had to take on each brother one by one before facing off against Jo and his bigger, space-age looking handguns.
Kiwami 2 changed things up by giving each Amon an energy shield that made them immune to Heat Actions. Then Jo Amon traded his guns in for a life bar-chomping katana, which later inflicts burn damage. Then he supplements it with another photon blade, becoming nigh-on impossible to all but the biggest Yakuza masters.
8 Judgment
A new protagonist means a new Amon. Yagami is less keen on the whole manly combat thing than Kiryu was, but Shin Amon talks him into a fight anyway. If he doesn’t regret it, the player will. First, he takes Yagami to the VR stage, which alternates between using electric wall hazards and ground fire vents.
Amon will also break out the Photon Blades, swinging them around like whips as they shoot out projectiles. For an extra kicker, Amon will grab Yagami and steal his phone, cutting him off from his inventory. If the player didn't set an item or two to the shortcuts, they'll be out of luck.
7 Yakuza 4
Kiryu makes 3 new friends, so Jo Amon brings his brothers back to square off against each lead. Initially, they’re not as strange as the prior fights. They'll break out the weapons, like guns, a hammer, etc. But Kazuya, Jiro, and Sango aren’t going as all-out as before.
Jo makes up for that by breaking out a space-based satellite laser! If Kiryu doesn't dodge carefully enough, he’ll get roasted alive by a sudden black & red beam that swipes across the stage. There's no kill like overkill.
6 Lost Judgment
Shin Amon returns to challenge Yagami again, only to be swept aside by his brother Juzo. He can do things the other Amons seemingly couldn’t do, like teleporting himself and others Dragon Ball style. He's almost as quick in his fight, with hits that inflict Bleeding and other effects.
If that wasn't enough, he likes to combine paralyzing space lasers with explosive drones. If they don't blast Yagami to bits, it'll trap him long enough to get pummeled into paste. Maybe there's a mod or two to help with that.
5 Yakuza 6
Juzo Amon is just the next evolution from his forebear in Yakuza 6. Jo Amon left the space laser behind in favor of traditional hand-to-hand combat. But that simplicity just lulls the player into a false sense of security. Or as secure as an Amon fight gets.
Over time, a series of drones will start filling the air, making it hard to dodge out of their way. The way they slowly build up makes the fight more worrying. Then they drop bombs that’ll explode either by timer, or if Kiryu steps into one by accident. Better practice those combos to get ahead.
4 Yakuza: Dead Souls
Yes, even the zombie shooting game found room for Amon. This time, it's their undead grandfather Rasetsu as he pleads for the return of the Clan’s sacred treasures. He has a host of superpowers under his belt too, like firing laser beams and blasting rockets out of nowhere.
For an extra kick in the pants, he can disappear into the darkness and drain Kiryu of his health and Heat. Rasetsu telegraphs these moves a lot, so he isn’t as difficult as his descendants. But in terms of strangeness, a laser-firing zombie is high in the ranks.
3 Yakuza 5
Like Yakuza 4, Jo brings his brothers back to face off against Kiryu and his friends. Only Tanimura gets replaced with the lovable but useless Shinada instead. He’s reluctant to fight a family of trained assassins, and with good reason. His opponent, Sango, will float in the air, summon a swarm of parasols, then fire them off magically towards Shinada.
It’s enough to make players forget that Jiro used Naruto-like shadow clones against Saejima in the fight before it. Or that Haruka, the one character that doesn't fight, has to out-dance her own Amon rival Noa instead.
2 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Shin Amon comes back to fight Ichiban and his friends at the top of the Final Millennium Tower. He uses a different set of tricks against them too. He can use magic to inflict varying ailments like Paralyze and Burn, which are annoying enough.
The drones return, as does the Space Laser, which is now a harder Summon Attack. Even worse, he evens the odds against Ichiban’s party by summoning ‘Thought Entities’ (clones) of Kiryu, Majima, and Saejima, each of whom use their own Summon attacks. Surely there was an easier way to test Ichiban’s skill than this?
1 Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise
This manga-based spin-off gave RGG Studio license to go all-out in weirdness. Jo Amon arrives ‘from another world’ to kill off Kenshiro and his Hokuto Shinken arts for good. He’s learned some skills from the other bosses, though he has a few skills of his own. He can grow into a giant, where Kenshiro will have to dodge his swipes and stomps to attack his legs while avoiding grunts.
Once Amon shrinks back down, he’ll race away in a buggy and Kenshiro will have to give chase in his own car. Then, whether he wins the race or not, Amon will use the other bosses’ attacks, like slicing strikes or electro-projectiles. Kiryu spares the Amons in the main games. Kenshiro isn't so merciful. If there's ever a Lost Paradise 2, chances are they'll need a new Amon.