Chai

Chai is a reoccurring antagonist in Shenmue.

Appearance
Chai is a man of unknown age and nationality. He appears to be somewhat malnourished with a spinal problem that prevents him from standing up straight and gives him a hunched appearance. He has several missing teeth, no hair on his head (including eyebrows) and often has bloodshot eyes.

He is often seen wearing an open iris coloured martial arts jacket, a pair of frayed denim shorts that are too large for him and done up with a simple belt and arm and leg bandage wraps.

History
Chai at some point joined the Chi You Men, serving under Lan Di.

He is first seen in Shenmue on a rooftop when Ryo Hazuki reveals he has found the Phoenix Mirror to Guizhang Chen. Realising Lan Di would be pleased if he could obtain the mirror and present it to him, he sets about stalking Ryo.

After Ryo purchases a ticket to Hong Kong, he goes to You Arcade, where upon Chai ambushes him, steals the ticket, eats it and proceeds to fight him. This fight is extremely hard for the player, but the story will progress whether Ryo wins or loses. If Ryo loses, Masayuki Fukuhara will arrive at You Arcade before Chai can finish Ryo off, causing Chai to flee before he can be ganged up on.

Chai attempts again to steal the Phoenix Mirror from Ryo Hazuki during a meeting with Yaowen Chen and Guizhang Chen, but is foiled by Ryo and Guizhang messing up his exit plan.

Afterwards Chai teams up with the Mad Angel's leader Terry and kidnaps Nozomi Harasaki, before phoning the Hazuki household telling Ryo to meet up in four hours at Warehouse 17 or he'll make Nozomi cry. After cutting a deal with Terry to defeat Guizhang and make it so he can no longer walk in exchange for Nozomi's safety and Terry taking him to Lan Di, he leaves. Chai watches him and Nozomi walk off with a grin before leaping away.

Unfortunately for Chai, Ryo and Guizhang team up and defeat the 70 man strong Mad Angel's gang alongside Terry, and Master Chen rearranges his boat trip to Hong Kong. Frustrated, on the day Ryo and Guizhang set out for Hong Kong, Chai attempts to drop a steel beam on Ryo. Guizhang spots the beam coming and pushes Ryo to safety, but after kicking the beam away his leg is damaged.

Chai immedietly leaps down to attack Ryo in a last ditch attempt to prevent him from going to Hong Kong and they engage in the final boss fight of the game. After a tough battle Ryo defeats Chai, and asks him where Lan Di is to which Chai reveals on a boat already heading to Hong Kong. Chai attempts to attack Ryo again after this, which ends with Ryo kicking him off the harbour and into the ocean.

As revealed in Shenmue Side Stories, the night before Ryo's boat arrives in Hong Kong, Ryo comes across Chai. Surprised he was on board, Chai reveals he has taken a young girl hostage, using her as bait to get Ryo to follow him to the top deck. When Ryo arrives Chai attacks him with a pair of bladed claw gauntlets, which Ryo manages to deftly dodge around, finishing Chai off with an elbow strike that sends him flying overboard and into the ocean once more.

Chai doesn't show up again until the events of Shenmue III, when Ryo encounters the Red Snakes in Bailu Village. As Ryo is defeated by their leader, Yanlang, Chai who has been watching atop a rooftop comments that Yanxin, a stonemason, is not here and that Ryo is weak to have lost to Yanlang.

Chai then appears at night after Ryo and Shenhua Ling leave Xiuyu Yeh's house, and steals a treasure map scroll off of Shenhua, declaring himself stronger than Ryo. Shenhua goads Chai into fighting Ryo by forcing him to prove his strength rather than fleeing like a coward to which Chai does so and gets defeated. Ryo pins Chai down and forces him to talk about where the Chi You Men have taken the stonemasons(including Shenhua's father). Chai reveals they have been taken by boat to Niaowu, before escaping Ryo's grasp.

Chai later shows up in a warehouse in Niaowu, holding the stonemasons hostage, but is promptly defeated by Ryo once more.

Trivia

 * Chai acts as the final boss of the first Shenmue game.
 * The Shenmue III Chai Capsule Toy figurine was given out as a physical reward to Kickstarter backers alongside two Ryo Hazuki figurines and a Shenhua Ling figurine.
 * Chai's room can be seen through a peephole in Shenmue III. It reveals a spare pair of his clothes, some bananas, a photo of him, a woman and a child all with his teeth(possibly his family) and a punching bag with Ryo Hazuki's photo on it.
 * In Shenmue the Animation, Chai attacks Ryo at the Hazuki Dojo instead of at the You Arcade. Both times he leaves after hearing Masayuki Fukuhara coming to find Ryo.