Goro Takemura: Saburo Arasaka's Bodyguard and V's Unlikely Ally

Goro Takemura is the personal bodyguard of Saburo Arasaka, and the man who drags V out of a landfill after the Konpeki Plaza heist goes wrong. Loyal to Arasaka to the bone, he spends most of the story hunted by the corporation he served, trying to prove that Saburo's son killed him. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Who is Goro Takemura?#

Takemura was born in Chiba-11, a Japanese slum district with the worst murder rate in the country. His father worked long hours in a kitchen and his grandmother raised him on stories of yokai. Arasaka transports sometimes came through to pick children for its army, and he remembers boys washing their shirts in a filthy canal because of a rumour that only the cleanest got chosen. When Arasaka took him, it felt to him like winning the lottery. (Cyberpunk 2077)

He served as an Arasaka soldier, joined its special forces and was given a real education at the company's academy. Eventually Saburo chose him as his personal protector. He also trained Sandayu Oda, the cyberninja who guards Hanako Arasaka. His view of the world is simple: he believes in Saburo, in tradition, and that Arasaka does what's right. He's also a serious food snob, and his complaints about Night City's synthetic meals run through the story. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The night Saburo died#

In 2077 Takemura went with Saburo to Konpeki Plaza, where the old man meant to confront Yorinobu Arasaka for stealing the Relic. He was about to sweep the penthouse, which would have found V and Jackie Welles hiding there, when Saburo ordered him out. Minutes later Yorinobu strangled his father, called security, claimed Saburo had been poisoned and ordered a stunned Takemura to find the killers. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Takemura traced the heist back to the fixer Dexter DeShawn and forced him to lead the way to V, whom Dex had shot and dumped in the landfill. When Dex tried to bargain, Takemura shot him dead. He called Yorinobu to say he had the killer, and almost at once Yorinobu's hit squad came for both of them. Takemura realised he'd been framed, and V was now his only witness. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Working with V#

Takemura arranges for V's recovery and lays out his plan in "Playing for Time": clear their names and bring Yorinobu down with the help of allies in the family. He first goes to Oda, hoping V's account will reach Hanako. Oda refuses to listen but lets slip that Hanako will be in Night City for the Aratama-matsuri parade. (Cyberpunk 2077)

That becomes the plan. With V's help Takemura plants a virus in the parade's CCTV and in Hanako's float, and during the parade V clears the snipers while Takemura jumps aboard. V may fight and beat Oda on the way, using Takemura's advice about his old student. When Hanako won't listen, Takemura takes her. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Search and Destroy: can you save Takemura?#

Takemura takes Hanako to his hideout in an abandoned building, where V tells her what really happened. But Hanako switches her tracker back on, and Adam Smasher leads an assault that blows out the wall and carries her off. The floor gives way under V. Johnny tells V to run and says Takemura is already dead. (Cyberpunk 2077)

He isn't. If V goes back up, Takemura is pinned down in his room fighting Arasaka troops, tells V off for coming back to die with him, and then the two fight their way out together. If V runs, Takemura dies holding them off. Survive, and he's later taken somewhere safe by Hanako and sends V a thank-you. (Cyberpunk 2077)

What happens to Takemura in each ending#

The Devil. If V accepts Hanako's deal and Takemura is alive, he joins V and Anders Hellman to break Hanako out of the Arasaka estate and fly her to Arasaka Tower. He's shocked to learn Saburo survives as an engram and that his master never told him. After V and Takemura beat Adam Smasher, he stays outside Yorinobu's office: if he went in, he says, he'd kill Yorinobu and break V's deal. A month later he visits V on the orbital station, reassigned to Kagawa and no longer a bodyguard. He tells V the Relic surgery failed and, for Hanako, offers a place in Secure Your Soul. Refuse and he's left alone and guilty in the room. Accept and he invites V to visit Kagawa for some real food. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Any other ending. If he survived, then after V's attack on the tower without Arasaka, Takemura sends a last message. He admits he failed to avenge Saburo, says he isn't one of the samurai who could write a death poem, and ends by hoping V burns in hell. See the endings guide for how each path plays out. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The Tower. In Phantom Liberty's extra ending, V goes into a coma after the NUSA removes the Relic. While V is out, a surviving Takemura and Hanako try to oust Yorinobu and fail. Hanako dies and Yorinobu frames Takemura for her murder. Two years later, a fugitive again and with his faith in Arasaka gone, he sends V a bitter message congratulating them on the cure. More in the Phantom Liberty guide. (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty)

Takemura and V#

Takemura starts out treating V as a petty thief he needs. He tells V that nobody's hands are clean, but it matters how they got dirty: V's for money, his for principle. Over the story the respect grows on both sides. On the way to Arasaka Tower he angrily defends V when Hellman talks about their health as if they weren't there, and on the orbital station V's accusation of betrayal clearly shakes him. (Cyberpunk 2077)