Kage-Maru

Kage-Maru (影丸) is a character from Virtua Fighter series, making his debut in the original Virtua Fighter game and appearing in every follow-up as a playable character.

Profile
A ninja and master of jujitsu from the village of Hagakure.

In search of his mother, Tsuki Kage, who was captured by J6 (Judgement 6), he joined a fighting tournament they hosted. In the fourth tournament he was finally reunited with his mother, but she had been turned into the cyborg weapon, Dural.

After seeing her twisted form and realizing there was nothing he could do to save her, the heartbroken Kage Maru destroyed her. However, it turned out that Dural wasn't actually Tsuki Kage at all, but merely a mass-produced cyborg.

At that point, he learned of a new scheme by J6 involving Dural, and he vowed to continue to fight in the hopes of saving his mother and stopping J6's plans.

Although he normally conceals his emotions behind a face of stone, he is a warm-hearted person who tears up when he thinks about his mother.

Virtua Fighter
He was born in the ninja village of Hagakure. Kage-Maru is the name given to members of the Hagakure clan who work secretly in the shadows of society.

His birthright was to become the tenth-generation Kage-Maru. His father, the ninth-generation Kage-Maru, taught him the fearsome Hagakure-ryū Jū-Jutsu fighting style (葉隠流柔術).

One day, his mother, the eighth-generation Tsukikage, was kidnapped by a mysterious figure. Nothing was heard of her fate.

Several years later, the village of Hagakure was attacked by an unknown force, Kage-Maru and his father were out fishing, but quickly returned when they saw the blazing village. They were too late, however, and the village was destroyed. A bullet from the mystery group killed Kage-Maru’s father.

The next morning, Kage-Maru salvaged a keepsake from his father, donned his costume, and embarked on a journey to prepare him self to take vengeance on those who spilled his father's blood.

Virtua Fighter 2
Kage, whose specialty is Jujutsu, has a vendetta against the Syndicate that killed his father. The Syndicate also took his mother away from him and made her as one of their fighters. He made an impressive showing as a fighter during the first tournament but was not able to find much information on Judgement 6, although he did receive word that his mother is still alive, he hopes to learn more the second time around.

Virtua Fighter 3
Finally, in the 2nd tournament, Kage succeeded in saving his mother (who had been transformed into Dural). For many months, Kage and his mother lived a peaceful life in a small, hidden village. When about a year had passed, though, Kage's mother was suddenly struck by a mysterious illness. Kage's investigation into her ailment revealed that it was an after-effect of her transformation into Dural, and now he is entering the new tournament to find out what connection this has to the new-model Dural.

Virtua Fighter 4
After winning the 3rd world tournament, Kage managed to recover a part from the new type Dural. He used that part on his mother, hoping it would cure her. However, the plan backfired. Not only did his mother not recover, it caused his mother to transform back to Dural. She immediately attacked Kage. Sensing no way out, Kage decides to kill her in order to end her suffering. He was nearly successful but she managed to escape and was ultimately rescued by J6. Kage hears of the 4th world tournament and decides to enter to tournament with every intention of killing Dural.

Virtua Fighter 5
When Kage-Maru's mother was taken by J6, he knew the only hope of saving her was to enter the Fourth Tournament. He fought brilliantly and made it to the final round, when suddenly a mysterious opponent interrupted the match. He worried that this rival was in fact his mother and sadly, he knew there was no hope of saving her soul. He had no choice but to destroy the disguised fighter, and as he held the limp figure in his arms, he realized it wasn't his mother after all, but one of J6's Durals. The top-secret Dural Project was J6's attempt at creating the ultimate fighter based on the superior fighting techniques of their tournament champions. Kage-Maru knew that his mother must still be alive and he entered the fifth tournament to find her and stop the evil organization once and for all.

Virtua Fighter Kids
Kage is a playable character in Virtua Fighter Kids. He is depicted as a young child during this game, around the age of 6 to 9 years old. His ending movie has him playing a game of mahjong with his fellow ninja, but he becomes angry and later devastated when he loses.

Virtua Fighter Appearances
Virtua Fighter 7

Altough he's not in the roster yet, he's in a poll of characters that we want to return in the game idea.

Crossover Appearances
Sega All-Star Heroes

He and Akira faces Virtua Fighter series in the game.

Sega vs. SNK: Black Sun

Kage is one of the starter characters of the game.

DC vs. Sega: Chaotic Justice

He is one of the characters of the game.

Project X Zone 3: War of Infinite Worlds

Kage appears as a Pair Unit teaming up with Akira Yuki.

Project X Zone 3: Sacred Destinies

Kage appears as a Solo Unit.

Project X Zone 3: The New Legend

Kage appears as a Pair Unit teaming up with Akira Yuki.

Heroes Infinity

He is one of the characters from Sega side.

Gamers Frenzy

Kage is one of the characters of the game.

Gamers Frenzy 2

Kage returns to represent Sega in this installement.

Sega vs. Multisoft: Phantom-Flash Requiem

Kage is one of the assist characters of the game.

Trivia

 * Story-wise, Kage is the most decorated competitor in the Virtua Fighter Tournaments, having won the third tournament and technically the fourth tournament.
 * It is unknown how or when Kage received his facial scar.
 * Having won a fight, Kage-Maru sometimes recites the word Namu (南無), a Japanese Buddhist voice of devotion originated from the Sanskrit word Namas (नमस्), meaning "bow", "obeisance" or "adoration". The Sanskrit Namas also appears in the Nembutsu and Namaste phrases, being conjugate as Namō (नमो) in the first one, and as Namaḥ (नमः) in the second one.
 * The kanji on his forehead armor (甲) can mean "shell", "first in rank", "instep", "armor", "treble range" or "the first of the ten heavenly stems (Jp. 十干 Jikkan)".
 * Kage is one of the three fighters to win a Virtua Fighter Tournament. The others being Lau Chan and Akira Yuki.
 * Kage's voice actor, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, is the composer for several Sega titles, including Virtua Fighter, Shenmue, and Daytona USA, which he also did vocals for. He sang the second opening theme for the Virtua Fighter (anime).
 * His trademark ninja outfit called "VF Ninja" also appear in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Extend as module for KAITO.
 * There are 2 module type:normal and AS:
 * Normal: Kaito will be wearing mask just like Kage;
 * AS: The mask will be removed.
 * In the original Virtua Fighter game, an early name of Kage in his select screen graphic was Yagyu.