Tyger Claws: Japantown's Gang in Cyberpunk 2077

The Tyger Claws are a Japanese-led gang that runs Japantown and much of Westbrook and Watson in Night City, and in 2077 they're one of the largest criminal organisations in the city. They model themselves on the yakuza: a business-minded leadership, a long list of legal fronts, and a rank and file who'll punish any slight with sudden violence. Fast bikes, katanas and glowing tattoos mark their foot soldiers. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Where the Tyger Claws came from#

The gang has tabletop roots. In the Cyberpunk 2020 era the Tyger's Claw, as it was then known, was a small combat gang that had grown out of a motorcycle club funded by Arasaka. It claimed turf in the original Japantown and the streets around it, favoured reflex boosters and martial arts, and with Arasaka's money behind it sometimes acted as protection for the local Japanese community. (Night City sourcebook)

The Fourth Corporate War broke that arrangement. After the 2023 nuke in Arasaka Tower, Arasaka was thrown out of North America and its proxy gang was left on its own. By 2045, the setting of Cyberpunk RED, the remains of the gang had been taken in by a group of Japanese companies, rebuilt as the Tyger Claws, and given the job of guarding Night City's Japanese neighbourhoods. Behind that respectable face they were already collecting protection money and reaching for more power. (Cyberpunk RED; Danger Gal Dossier)

The Tyger Claws in 2077#

By 2077 the Claws have grown into one of Night City's biggest gangs. Their heartland is the new Japantown, Night City's top nightlife district, and they own more businesses than any other gang: bars, restaurants, braindance clubs, brothels and casinos. Many are registered as legal businesses and serve as fronts for laundering money and running the gang's illegal trade. (Cyberpunk 2077; The World of Cyberpunk 2077)

Most of that money comes from prostitution, human trafficking and drugs, with paid hits on the side. Corporate clients come to their clubs to blow off steam, and the gang stays close to Arasaka, whose managers hand them side jobs and pay in cyberware and military weapons. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The gang isn't as disciplined as its bosses would like. The leadership prefers business to war, but plenty of young Tygers abuse their status on the street, harass outsiders and pick fights. The bosses see that as dishonourable, but anyone who hits back at a Tyger is still likely to pay for it. Internal factions fight over money and turf too, though they close ranks the moment an outsider threatens them. (The World of Cyberpunk 2077; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit)

The Tyger Claws and the Mox#

The Claws' worst enemy was born from one of their own crimes. In 2067 Tyger Claws gangers raped and murdered a sex worker. Lizzie Borden, who ran a club, killed three of them in revenge and was murdered by the gang the same night. Her death set off riots across Night City aimed at Tyger Claws members and businesses, and out of those riots came the Mox, a gang that protects sex workers and outsiders. The two later reached a truce, but the hatred never went away. (Cyberpunk 2077; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit)

The Tyger Claws in Cyberpunk 2077's story#

The Claws are everywhere in V's story. Clouds, the high-end doll house where Evelyn Parker works, sits in Tyger Claws territory, and the gang profits from it. Its manager, Woodman, trades in information on the side, and he's the man V has to squeeze to find out what happened to Evelyn after the heist. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Later, in Judy's quest Pisces, the Tyger Claws move to take Clouds over completely. V and Judy Alvarez end up in the middle of the fight between the Claws and the Mox, and how the takeover is resolved depends on what V does. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Across Westbrook and Watson the Claws also turn up as the opponents in countless gigs and NCPD jobs. Their territory borders Maelstrom in Watson, and the two gangs have been clashing since at least the 2040s. (Cyberpunk 2077; Danger Gal Dossier)

How the Tyger Claws compare to Night City's other gangs#

Where the Valentinos are rooted in neighbourhood loyalty and Maelstrom in a love of chrome, the Tyger Claws are about money and order. They act like a corporation that happens to use katanas. For a side-by-side look at the rest, see our guide to Cyberpunk's gangs. (Cyberpunk 2077)