If Shenmue is known for anything, it’s the absolutely humongous cast of characters to meet throughout the games. From major to minor characters, the world of Shenmue is filled to the brim with people to talk to. So much so that keeping track of all of them in your head is impossible.
Thankfully, for Shenmue III, the latest entry in the series, you don’t have to anymore. Shenmue fan Miles Prower has completed a database of every character in the game. It compiles information on all 317 characters present in the adventure, including those exclusive to the game’s DLC expansions. Each character has their name, gender, description, location, and voice actor (where applicable) listed.
The history of the Shenmue III Character Database
Shenmue III had been a highly-anticipated game ever since the cliffhanger ending of Shenmue II, but for over a decade, it appeared that the sequel would never happen. After its eventual launch in 2019, Miles (a big fan of the series) soon had to idea to track every character in the game, documenting every detail he could about them. The end result, completed this month, is the self-described definitive listing of the 300+ characters Ryo can interact with.
This isn’t the first time Miles has extensively laid out the cast of a Shenmue game; he previously completed a similar project for Shenmue II. He was inspired by an additional disc included with the first game, the Shenmue Passport. This disc contained profiles of all the game’s characters that would continuously update as you played through the game.
Shenmue II didn’t include this feature in the North American release, saving those details for the Japanese-exclusive Shenmue II Perfect Guidebook and Complete Guide. Thus, Miles set out to make his own database — collecting information on the game’s 700+ characters in the process with help from the Shenmue community.
Miles finally finished the Shenmue II database in 2012, back when Shenmue III still seemed like an impossibility. Now that the game’s cast has been cataloged, we can only hope that should the fabled Shenmue IV comes out, Miles won’t be far behind with the next database.
You can view the Shenmue III Character Database here. Miles also discusses the project on his site Shenmusings here.
Via Shenmue Dojo.
