Shenmue story theories and stuff

[TigerFist]

I have a theory as to where the Shenmue story may be going that might interest some of you. This might have been said before but, here goes anyway. Is it possible that in order for Ryo to get to Lan Di he will have to get one of the leaders of the Chi You Men to help him out. From everything I've heard it would appear that all 4 leaders each guard some sort of entrance or geographic location of some sort. Also juging by the lttle white yang stone that xiuying gives Ryo it would be safe to assume that Ziming is going to be the one to help and that little stone is going to convince him to do so.

Is it also possible that Ryo and Ziming have already met. Could Master Baihu in fact be Ziming... maybe. The only problem I have with this theory is that if Baihu is Ziming and in fact one of the four leaders of the Chi You Men then how the heck did Ryo beat him. Either he is very careless and underestimated Ryo or... He let him win on purpose. let's assume the latter but what would he possibly gain by doing this. Maybe it was a test to see how stong Ryo is, for what reason I am not yet certain. A quick side note: in all flash backs Ryo has the same hair cut as a child, so does xiuying (kind of) if you compare Child Ziming to Baihu I see the same similarity (or maybe I'm just looking too hard)

I was also thinking does the tiger on Ryo's back hold some sort of significance. Is Ryo going to replace Ziming as one of the four leaders of the Chi You Men. It seems his father had some sort of connection the them. Maybe his father was once one of the four leaders himself. It would explain why Lan Di didn't kill Ryo on that rooftop in Kowloon when he had the chance. Maybe he needs him to fulfill some kind of prophecy.

And finally let's assume that the four leaders of the Chi You Men are going to be replaced. Ryo Would be the Tiger, Sha Hua phenix and either Ziming or xiuying would be Dragon and Serpent it's hard to say who would be which. All four of these characters have no ties to stop them from doing so.

Thoughts anyone?

[Calshot]

Iwao and Sunming Zhao were both Assassins. They discovered the phoenix and dragon mirrors while on a mission. The hidden treasure that the mirrors lead to is really a piece of Eden. Sunming Zhao defects to the Templars and attempts to deliver the mirrors to them. Iwao catches wind of this and is forced to assassinate his friend to prevent the mirrors from falling in the wrongs hands. Lan Di, himself a Templar, avenges Sunming Zhao's death and takes the dragon mirror. It is now up to Ryo to learn the ways of the Assassin and take down China's top Templar organization, the Chi You Men.

Getting back to your theory,

We are fairly certain who three of the Chi You Men leaders are. Lan Di is the Blue Dragon, Niao Sun is the Red Phoenix, and Ziming is the White Tiger.

You aren't the first one to make the connection between Baihu and Ziming. However, there probably isn't one. Someone snooped around disc 3 of Shenmue II and found files that implying the Baihu is nothing more than the last street fighter you are meant to fight.

[south carmain]

Anyone have a theory to how the coffee cans stay warm in normal vending machines?

Also the chances of baihu being ziming are pretty slim imo, shenmue's story seems pretty straight forward so i would be surprised if it had these kind of twists

[Master Kyodai]

Anyone have a theory to how the coffee cans stay warm in normal vending machines?

Also the chances of baihu being ziming are pretty slim imo, shenmue's story seems pretty straight forward so i would be surprised if it had these kind of twists

Japanese jidohanbaiki have usually both - warmed and cooled slots. They are signalized by red and blue colors on the price tag.

And Baihu is not Ziming. Really! And the tiger on Ryos jacket is just looking neat. It's just a leather jacket from some department store, not some magic martial arts jacket that was a reward.

And Ryo and Shenhua will NOT become Chiyoumen leaders.


And while the Chiyoumen leaders are neat enemies for a fight they are not that important. Ziming helps out Ryo when Ryo shows him the necklace from Xiuying but the others actually just want to be beaten up badly by Ryo. In the end Lan Di controls the dragon and Shenhua the Phoenix.

[Lan Di-sama]

I always wondered how Shenmue 3 would begin. Immediately after the end of Shenmue II, or will some time pass? Perhaps we'll even start from a different perspective (Gui Zhang, Ren, maybe even Lan Di).

I think that we'll start in Bailu Village and that some time will have passed, maybe a couple of weeks, since the end of Shenmue II. As players we slowly piece together some of the information that Ryo and Shenhua learned since finding the sword before being thrust into the actual story again.

Or...some shit still needs to go down in the stone pit. The Cloud Bird Trail birds' absence might indicate someone else is inside or nearby the stone pit that shouldn't be. And Bailu Village is tiny, I imagine...and Zhu said Lan Di was headed there. It's quite possible Ryo's next encounter with Lan Di is imminent.

Ziming probably will assist Ryo at some point by either "turning good" again or explaining to Ryo he was double crossing the Chi You Men the whole time. Or, the Chi You Men have sympathetic aims after all and Ziming will attempt to get Ryo to realize that.

Here's to hopefully finding out some day soon

[Ziming]

Ziming probably will assist Ryo at some point by either "turning good" again or explaining to Ryo he was double crossing the Chi You Men the whole time. Or, the Chi You Men have sympathetic aims after all and Ziming will attempt to get Ryo to realize that.

Nah I don't feel like it.

[Henry Spencer]

I have a feeling that another organisation comes into play, which is why Ziming sided with the Chi You Men in the first place, since this rival organisation was evil. Anyway, whoever founded the Chi You Men (the only guy in the artwork we don't know anything about) managed to stop Ziming's vengeance and will probably be able to calm Ryo too. There is obviously a lot we do not know about the storyline...

[Spokane]

So the Chi You Men are not as bad as they are made out to sound?

[Master Kyodai]

Actually i think many old fans would be disappointed with Yu's story of Shenmue III. I think when the "Shenmue Online" trailer was released which spoiled big parts of the story many people protested against the use of "magic", "Throwing fireballs" and similar supernatural stuff. The ending of Shenmue II was intended to prepare us a bit for that, already revealing much of the magic nature of Shenhua and the mirrors. Although Yu Suzuki always liked the idea of the "epic end fight between Phoenix and dragon, controlled by the magic of the mirrors" i think many fans would be protesting that expected simply that the end would be "beating the shit out of Lan Di, period". I think while Yu actually managed to put the whole legend and mystical stuff into Shenhuas poem (the legend) he failed to prepare people for the supernatural occurances of the third part properly, so even if Shenmue 3 really becomes reality one day I am not so sure everyone would like it.


Ziming - while one of the chiyoumen's leaders - had only taken this role in his quest to avenge the death of his parents - which ultimately unites him with Ryo.

[Bluecast]

I still think Lan-Di isn't a villain or this cold hearted person fans make him out to be. I'm more interested in his story than Ryo's.

[Who Really Cares?]

I still think Lan-Di isn't a villain or this cold hearted person the games make him out to be. I'm more interested in his story than Ryo's.

Fixed My guess was always the old guy in the Berkley vid would end up as the main villian

And anyone whos against magic in Shenmue should have stopped playing about an hour into the first game as it was always clear the series would go down that route.

[Henry Spencer]

Actually i think many old fans would be disappointed with Yu's story of Shenmue III. I think when the "Shenmue Online" trailer was released which spoiled big parts of the story many people protested against the use of "magic", "Throwing fireballs" and similar supernatural stuff. The ending of Shenmue II was intended to prepare us a bit for that, already revealing much of the magic nature of Shenhua and the mirrors. Although Yu Suzuki always liked the idea of the "epic end fight between Phoenix and dragon, controlled by the magic of the mirrors" i think many fans would be protesting that expected simply that the end would be "beating the shit out of Lan Di, period". I think while Yu actually managed to put the whole legend and mystical stuff into Shenhuas poem (the legend) he failed to prepare people for the supernatural occurances of the third part properly, so even if Shenmue 3 really becomes reality one day I am not so sure everyone would like it.


Ziming - while one of the chiyoumen's leaders - had only taken this role in his quest to avenge the death of his parents - which ultimately unites him with Ryo.

If anything, he's given us plenty of time to prepare ourselves. And then some!

[mue 26]

Actually i think many old fans would be disappointed with Yu's story of Shenmue III. I think when the "Shenmue Online" trailer was released which spoiled big parts of the story many people protested against the use of "magic", "Throwing fireballs" and similar supernatural stuff. The ending of Shenmue II was intended to prepare us a bit for that, already revealing much of the magic nature of Shenhua and the mirrors. Although Yu Suzuki always liked the idea of the "epic end fight between Phoenix and dragon, controlled by the magic of the mirrors" i think many fans would be protesting that expected simply that the end would be "beating the shit out of Lan Di, period". I think while Yu actually managed to put the whole legend and mystical stuff into Shenhuas poem (the legend) he failed to prepare people for the supernatural occurances of the third part properly, so even if Shenmue 3 really becomes reality one day I am not so sure everyone would like it.

That is jumping the gun a wee bit, to be fair though, considering that we don't actually know just how far he will take the magical and supernatural elements in the third game. Personally, despite Shenmue 2's dramatic ending, I don't think the third game will turn into a string of magical sword fights, hadoukens, and end up like an an episode of DBZ. I think Yu has spent too long establishing a fine balance between a believable reality filled with real martial arts, and a slowly growing (but again, believable) sense of the supernatural, to just chuck it out the window and go super saiyan ape shit for the final chapter. I think the magical elements will almost certainly be expanded upon in the third game, but it will probably be a progression that (hopefully) feels natural, as after all we have been exposed to supernatural occurrences (or at the very least, suggestions of them) ever since the first game. Whether the climactic battle will end up being a mirror toting battle of mythical beasts, is anyone's guess. I wouldn't read too much into the Online trailer, personally, especially considering how long Yu has had to potentially change his mind or tweak his ideas since then. It all depends on how he chooses to apply these ideas.

[TigerFist]

Didn't Yu Suzuki say something about Ryo's thirst for revenge will die down by the end of the game. I think this suggests that Lan Di May not end up been Ryo's last fight or maybe if he is, Ryo will be fighting him for something other than revenge.

Ryo, Ziming and Lan Di all have seeking revenge in common. Lan Di (to my knowledge) been the only one achieving his goal. It seems as though Ryo may end up been mentored by Ziming in some way to help him get over this.

Also I noticed something in the Shenmue Beta Project Berkley video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PARMgmGbtq0 if you pause at 0:46 could this be the face of the forth leader of the Chi You Men?

[SelfActualized]

Didn't Yu Suzuki say something about Ryo's thirst for revenge will die down by the end of the game. I think this suggests that Lan Di May not end up been Ryo's last fight or maybe if he is, Ryo will be fighting him for something other than revenge.

Ryo, Ziming and Lan Di all have seeking revenge in common. Lan Di (to my knowledge) been the only one achieving his goal. It seems as though Ryo may end up been mentored by Ziming in some way to help him get over this.

Also I noticed something in the Shenmue Beta Project Berkley video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PARMgmGbtq0 if you pause at 0:46 could this be the face of the forth leader of the Chi You Men?

By now I think we should know that the fourth leader is definitely an elderly man. The project berkley video is obviously old but even if you look at the promo for Shenmue Online, there's a small (about 1 second) snapshot of another elderly man with the same type of beard. I don't have the jpg but someone on here posted that image where all four leaders of the Chi-You men are together representing north, south, west and east, each with their individual animal attachment. Three of the leaders are shown, but one of them (who appears to have a long beard and old) is darkened out.

Actually...I found the thread where we discussed it lol..if you're interested check this out bro to find out more about the old dude...
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=43561

From Shenmue Online


This image is at 2:44-2:47

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJsUhPT7MBk