Baihu's role in the Shenmue series has always been a questionable one. From his elaborate design, location of appearance, ability in the Tiger Swallow Style martial art, to the conspicuous line, "Hazuki... I shall remember that name," speculation is ignited within many on whether Baihu could be an important character to be seen again, perhaps even Ziming, as "Baihu" translates to "White Tiger," which is Ziming's rank amongst the four Chiyoumen leaders. However, possible new evidence should indicate that Baihu's importance exceeds nothing more than that of a street fighter.
First and foremost, in the game's files, each NPC (non-playable character) occupies an abbreviated filename, for example: "RYO" (Ryo Hazuki), "IWA" (Iwao Hazuki), "TGY" (short for Dou Niu's Japanese name, "Togyuu"). Pretty much all characters have their own unique abbreviation, except some less important characters, such as street fighters. All street fighters, such as Greg More, Rod Stunt and Chunyan, who Scout instructs Ryo to defeat, are given abbreviations starting with "SF." Among that list,
Baihu occupies the filename "SF4," meaning Street Fighter 4. If Baihu were of any real importance to the story, I'm sure he wouldn't be labeled as a simple street fighter. This discovery alone should say that Baihu is just the fourth of the four exceptional fighters of Kowloon, representing each direction.
Chunyan - Black Heaven Building (North)
Rod Stunt - Phoenix Building (South)
Greg More - Blue Dragon Garden (East)
Baihu - Thousand White Building (read below)/Yellow Head Building (West)
For even more proof, a photo of Baihu (not seen in the final version) can be found with the rest of Ryo's items in the game's files. This photo would suggest that Scout originally expected Ryo to defeat Baihu along with Greg, Rod and Chunyan before entering the Yellow Head Building. Even now that Baihu is disassociated with the other three, does this mean that his role in the story was changed from just a street fighter for the final concept? Not necessarily. His role as the fourth street fighter is merely being exhibited in a different manner. Scout's original plans after bringing Ryo into the Yellow Head Building were likely to personally introduce him to Baihu for the final test, instead of having Ryo seek him out like the other three fighters. As Baihu's design is more unique, it only makes sense for the developers to relocate him and include him with Joy's capture in the Yellow Head Building, or else his character would've been utterly wasted on a simple street fighting role alone.
Now, this brings us to where Baihu could've originally be found before his relocation. Also hidden in the files is an unused loading screen for a "Tiger Gate Bldg." (C Bldg.) not featured in the final version. The Tiger Gate Bldg. appears to be linked to Baihu, as the filename for this loading screen is "QKBT.gz," which QKBT is the same name of the folder that contains the information of the fight with Baihu. And of course, Baihu, White Tiger... it makes sense.
As you may know, the C building in the final Shenmue II is the Thousand White Building. So apparently, the Thousand White Building was originally called Tiger Gate, which is obvious when you consider the Tiger Gate Kung Fu and Tiger's Eye Military Surplus shop located in the Thousand White Bldg. And obviously the Tiger Gate Building was originally going to be Baihu's fighting post, probably to have done battle there just before receiving Scout's approval and entering the Yellow Head Building from the underground. *Note: Look below for an updated outlook on this subject.*
Of course, I cannot confirm for a
100% fact that Baihu will not return in the future of the series, playing a different role than just Kowloon's street fighter, though I feel the evidence is impeding against his chances. Most definitely, he's not Ziming.
Tiger Gate Building Update: An interesting observation of Kiyuu's would suggest than an add-on building to the Thousand White Building is where the Tiger Gate Building was located. Meaning the Thousand White Bldg. wasn't once named Tiger Gate, but just originally featured the Tiger Gate as a secondary building. Please look at her topic for more information.
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~shenmuedojo/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24130
As you see in this picture, in the Thousand White Qr's map, I've outlined where the Thousand White Bldg. is in white, and outlined the add-on in orange, which is where the Tiger Gate Bldg. should be.