Taro's brash with a thick accent (Hiroshima Ben) and a penchant for blunt rudeness. He's lecherous to a fault, but never crosses the line once it's drawn -- at least, in regards to romance. Like the rest of the Strife Corps, he's petty and solves any disputes with a little wrestling and roughhousing. For all his faults, Taro's biggest is his toxic masculinity and the set of unrealistic standards by which he tries to live his life. He's embittered with people but wanting nothing more than the brotherhood and companionship promised to him by the yakuza so many years ago.

Taro's loud, but fun-loving with a high tolerance for alcohol, he drinks more than he should, but rarely enough to get trashed. He's not opposed to party drugs for recreational use, but turns away anything too hardcore due to the flickering reminder of his parents in the back of his head. He can often be found partying post “Caustic Plague” concerts where he rocks out on the bass with the rest of the Strife Corps.

Despite how materialistic he is, Taro's lifestyle is minimalistic. He lives out of two duffel bags brimming with clothes and packed full to bursting with the few things he owns. His phone is nearly six years old, but Taro refuses to replace it until it breaks regardless of how janky it gets despite having ample money.

Rather than own an apartment of his own, he couch-hops from one friend to the next, surviving off their tolerance for his bullshit and making repairs as a form of rent. Due to the poverty he experienced as a teenager, Taro's especially handy at fixing things when they break. From plumbing to furniture, he's good with his hands, able to solve issues as deftly as a professional.

Taro's prone to idling in his friend's living rooms like they're his bedroom, hogging their game systems and snacking on whatever's in the kitchen. He pays for whatever consumables he uses and despite lingering longer than he should, he doesn't mooch off his friend's good will -- though he is prone to using their toothbrushes much to their universal dismay.

Sucker Punch

Uses enough force to splinter a tree.

Flame Tornado

A spiral of flames that burns everything in it's wake.

Force Kick

A roundhouse kick that knocks you off your feet.

Chain Choker

The chain encircles your neck, lifts you off your feet, and breaks it.

Growing up, Taro's reputation was affected by his parent's. His deadbeat dad's penchant for violence and gambling combined with his mother's alcoholism left a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of his neighbors. The police were called several times a month and Taro found himself taken from his parents and placed in state institutions multiple times. His parents always managed to bail him from them thanks to Japan's overpopulation of institutions and their belief in bloodlines.

Taro was a rebellious kid, often stealing from stores and acting out for attention since he wasn't getting it at home. His parent's reputation found him lacking friends throughout his childhood and it wasn't until he hit his preteens that he found gangs that were willing to use his age to sell products. It was a quick way to make cash and, more importantly, put food on his plate when there was often none. His foray into petty crime escalated as his association with gangs did and soon he was pulling guns, setting buildings ablaze, and siphoning drugs for his own use.

By the time he was seventeen, Taro was being groomed for the yakuza, enticed with promises of brotherhood and enough money to no longer worry where he'd be getting his meals. He eagerly joined, but soon found himself in over his head when he was put to work as a minion, back to petty crime and unable to associate with the older Yakuza and their admirable ethics codes. The ones he was made to associate with neared his own age and had morals that didn't align with Taro's.

Taro rapidly rose through the ranks of yakuza, garnering a fearsome reputation for his ability to lay people flat and take on entire gangs himself. His brutality was only matched by his ethics code, namely an unwillingness to court children into violence. Taro eventually gains a loyal following of his own and an unwavering respect from higher bred yakuza that are forced to take notice of him.

It's not until he meets Saori, the future leader of the Strife Corps, and their group begins to assemble that Taro finds the will to leave the yakuza. He passes the baton to his second in command, for good or for ill, and never returns. The Strife Corps becomes a found family for him, their ethics code finally matching his own, and Taro settles into his new life of crime.

Persona Awakening

Taro's persona is Bromios, which stands for "roaring" as the wind and refers to both Dionysus' mythology surrounding death and resurrection and the "roar of thunder", pointing towards his father, Zeus. Bromios also represents his transformations into a bull and a lion as well as the boisterousness of drinking, something of which Taro enjoys immensely. Bromios is represented by the mythical zheng, a leopard-like creature with multiple tails and a fearsome appetite. It's symbolic to both Taro's brutality in battle and his fierce passion with which he approaches life.

Taro's persona awakening happens when he's in his early 20's. The first time he meets Saori, they're freshly homeless and only 17 years old -- a mere child by his standards. They end chafing with an underling of Taro's and the resulting scuffle seemingly lays the man in his grave. Taro issues Saori with a card and the instruction to call the number on it if they're ever in need of assistance with the Yakuza.

Years later finds Saori ringing Taro for help after a territorial dispute from their gang and a Yakuza faction. Taro is at first skeptical until he hears the name Jin Watase, a man with a brutal association and only rumors from the shadows. He agrees to look into it and sends a man after both the yakuza boss and Saori themselves.

Taro's second-in-command finds himself swept into the Metaverse after getting too close one day. He's immediately ejected after the ensuing freakout alerts Saori to his presence. After relaying his experience, Taro is compelled to follow Saori in the aftermath to ascertain the validity of "monsters", "alternate worlds", and similarly finds himself swept into the Meteverse days later.

Unlike his second-in-command, Taro is intrigued by the revelation of the Metaverse and follows Saori deep into Jin Watase's palace. In the second shock of the evening, the man Taro presumably killed is found not only alive, but building a faction of his own in a years-long revenge scheme. He has plans to not only murder Taro, but to decimate his people and anyone associated with him.

Before Saori is able to force Taro to leave, they stumble across Jin Watase's shadow and find themselves outnumbered by his guards. With a foot to Saori's neck and seconds away from their death, Taro experiences the awakening of Bromios, a ferocious mythical zheng that frees them from their checkmate and whisks them out of the palace.

Taro once caused a gang war between three separate Yakuza groups because he was bored.

Taro never finished high school. Chances are he'll never get the most basic of educations.

Taro is very good with his hands. He loves creating and fixing anything he can get his hands on. One day he'll be a mechanic.

Once he has an apartment of his own, Taro adopts five dogs of varying breeds to ward away loneliness and keep himself company.

Taro was once physically stuck in an ambulance after breaking his arm due to his penchant for bad behavior.

Taro collects rain water from the balcony of his apartment to drink. He swears it tastes better than anything bottled or from the tap.