Guizhang Chen

Guizhang Chen

Details

Gender

Male

Age

30

Birthdate

February 10th, 1956

Nationality

Chinese

Status

Alive

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Brown

Height

175 cm (5' 9")

Weight

70 kg (154 lbs)

Occupation

Businessman

Affiliation

Chen Family
Yokosuka Trading Company (Games)
Jiu Feng Company (Anime)

Appearances

Shenmue
Shenmue II (voice only & mentioned)
Shenmue III (voice and flashbacks only)
Shenmue Side Story
Shenmue the Animation

Voice Actor

Tetsuya Sakai (Japanese, Shenmue)
Unknown (Japanese, Shenmue III)
Ryuichi Kijima (Japanese, Anime)
Eric Kelso (English, Shenmue I, II)
Unknown (English, Shenmue III)
Jeremy Gee (English, Anime)

"You're intent on going to Hong Kong right? ... Even knowing that you may die? ... So I thought. If I were you, I'd do the same. That's why."

― Guizhang telling Ryo why he taught him the Swallow Dive move and revealing that he'd avenge his father if he was killed too.

Guizhang Chen (Hànzì: 陳貴章, Pinyin: Chén Guìzhāng, On'yomi: Chin Kishō) is the son of Yaowen Chen (Master Chen). He is first featured in the first Shenmue, where he is being trained by his father in both his trading business and the Yanqingquan, a martial art handed down over multiple generations in their family. He and Joy are also good friends, as seen in Shenmue Side Story.

Appearance

Guizhang is Chinese and is 175 cm (5' 9") tall. He has black hair and dark brown eyes. He wears a dark grey pinstripe suit with a red tie and white dress shirt under it and black dress shoes. In Shenmue the Animation, his suit is not pinstripe.

Personality

As an international businessman, Guizhang knows many different languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese and Russian. He likes Chinese food, especially the very hot Sichuan style, one example being tantan-mian ramen. He also likes GanShaoMinXia, prawns with chili sauce. He is also good at playing pool and likes dancing.

Shenmue

When Nozomi Harasaki is kidnapped, the Mad Angels tell Ryo Hazuki he can get her back if he defeats Guizhang. Ryo challenges Guizhang to a fight and tries to get Guizhang to throw the fight and feign defeat but Guizhang and Ryo seem evenly matched, however, soon after, the pair have to fight side by side when the 70-man gang attack them. After defeating them all, Guizhang defeats their leader, Terry Ryan, himself.

Guizhang fighting Ryo after he ambushes him.

At the end of the game, Guizhang intended to travel with Ryo to China to help him in his search for Lan Di but before boarding the boat he is injured saving Ryo from an attack by Chai, an underling of Lan Di. Master Chen has Guizhang stay with him until his leg is healed. Guizhang tells Ryo to go and that he will catch up soon when his injury is healed.

Shenmue II

Although Guizhang does not appear in Shenmue II; his voice can be heard on a cassette tape when Ryo and Wuying Ren are gathering clues on Yuanda Zhu, where he was having a conversation with Joy. Ryo and Joy can also talk about him at one point in Fortune's Pier, where Ryo will tell her that he was injured. He also appears in a side story comic in the Xbox version of the game and it's 2018 re-release Shenmue I & II.

Shenmue III

At Hotel Niaowu, Ryo can use the telephone to call Guizhang and they will catch up. He will ask Ryo about what he thought about the grandmaster Lishao Tao (who turned out to be a woman named Xiuying Hong) and if Ryo chooses the "Beautiful" option, he reveals to him that Lishao Tao was in fact a woman, which Guizhang actually did not know as well. He then says that he wants to meet her.

Also in the first part of the game, Ryo can obtain a super-deformed Guizhang capsule toy in the Shenmue I capsule toy machine.

Shenmue the Animation

Guizhang as he appears in the anime.

Guizhang appears as a main character in Episode 3 to Episode 5 of Shenmue the Animation. In Episode 3, Ryo attempts to call Master Chen's number, but cannot get a hold of him. He ends up finding out he is located at Warehouse #8 at the harbor. At night, Ryo tries to sneak into his warehouse, but some of Chen's men put a bag over his head and take him into their warehouse. Master Chen asks if Ryo's the one who's called and he explains more about Lan Di's organization and his role in it. Furthermore, Master Chen tells Ryo about the other mirror called the Phoenix Mirror which Lan Di did not steal that could possibly be at the Hazuki Residence. When Guizhang calls Master Chen "father", he tells him not to call him that as he wants their relationship to be formal when managing their business, which upsets Guizhang.

Guizhang tests Ryo.

Once Ryo is heading home after picking up the Sword Handguard at Bunkado Antiques; Guizhang ambushes him to test his skills and tells him that his father sent him to be his bodyguard as they need Ryo alive. Later, once Ryo finds the Phoenix Mirror and brings it to Master Chen, Chai appears and grabs it, and Guizhang attempts to fight him, but Chai ends up overpowering him. With the combined efforts of Guizhang, Master Chen, and Ryo, they get the mirror back from Chai.

Quotes

• "Could this be the work of the Mad Angels? ... We always have trouble with that gang. Those dirty bastards!" (Guizhang questioning if Chai is a part of the Mad Angels. )
• "You couldn't even handle the Mad Angels. Much less take on Lan Di." (Guizhang telling Ryo why he should teach him a new move.)
• "You trust a punk like Terry?" (Guizhang after Ryo tells him to pretend to lose their fight so Terry will take him to Lan Di.)

Trivia

• During the time when Ryo finds out that he has to get a job at the harbor, Guizhang can translate the "Stab Armor" and "Mysterious Scroll" move scrolls found in the Hazuki Residence that are written in Chinese. Ryo will have to call Warehouse #8 (61-5647 or 61-564 in Shenmue I & II), give the proper password, and go to the old Warehouse #8 then the scene will trigger. He will have to make separate appointments for each scroll.
  • Ryo can also make an appointment to see Guizhang if he doesn't have the scrolls or had them already translated. If he talks to him at Warehouse #8 at this point, he will be very annoyed and frustrated and tell Ryo to leave.
• Guizhang's zodiac sign is Aquarius and he has a A blood type.
• Master Chen's phone number is 0468-61-5647 (In Shenmue I & II the last digit is removed). When dialing Master Chen, Ryo will need to give the proper password (Father's Heaven, Nine Dragons, Mother's Earth, Comrades). He will always speak to Guizhang.
• Initially, Guizhang was intended to only appear in the first Shenmue and never return, but due to the positive reception for the character from the fans, the Shenmue team said he may return in future titles of the series. In Shenmue II, it is revealed that Guizhang and his father are friends with Joy and her father, and his voice can be heard in one of the cassette tapes in the Kowloon segment of the game (Disc 3 for the Dreamcast versions). In Shenmue III, the players are given the option to call Guizhang and catch up with him giving him even more significance to the series again.
• Guizhang's original Japanese voice actor Tetsuya Sakai did not reprise his role in Shenmue III, although the new voice sounds very identical to the original.
• Guizhang's original English voice actor Eric Kelso did not reprise his role as Guizhang in Shenmue III along with the other two characters he originally voiced Wuying Ren and Masayuki Fukuhara. Kelso said he wanted to reprise his roles, but was never asked to do them.
  • Fans have made a mod for the PC version of the game to replace Guizhang, Ren and Fuku-san's voices with Kelso's voice. They were able to get Kelso to re-record the lines, as well as Paul Lucas to reprise his role as Lan Di since he did not return as well.
    
• In Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, Lei-Fei can be customized to look similar to Guizhang.
  

References

Gallery

Shenmue Wiki has a gallery for Guizhang Chen.