Kiro

""Simon says get down on your knees!""

- Kiro to a target in Sift Heads Reborn

Kiro is the deuteragonist of the Sift Heads series. He first appears in Sift Renegade as the main protagonist, and reappears in Sift Heads 5 serving as the main antagonist and appearing as one of the two playable protagonists (alongside Kienji, who is only playable in Sift Renegade 3 and it's Defiance expansion) in the Sift Renegade series. He is a real modern shinobi-samurai. Kiro was once known as the best killer of his clan, the Yakuza. But after a betrayal and the killing of his brother, he has rebelled against the group, seeking revenge to all those responsible and killing anyone who got in his way. Certainly the best of the team when it comes to persuasive tactics.

Early Life
Kiro was born in Tokyo, Japan, he is the son of a well-known family with direct ties to the Japanese mafia; better known as the Yakuza. He was one of the best assassins of his clan and with a portfolio garnished with so many assassinations, it’s no surprise that he quickly became one of the best killers in the Orient. His dexterity with all types of Samurai weapons would become essential and his expertise.

Sift Renegade 3
Kiro has a minor role in the canonically earliest game in his life. In this game he trains Kienji in the ways of the Yakuza, holding him to the code of the Yakuza. Kienji is made the player character for the most part of the rest of the game. Kiro is also playable in one more mission which contains no relevance to the story and simply is another chore for the Yakuza.

Sift Renegade
After learning of the death of his brother Kienji from Shawn, Kiro quickly seeks to find the perperators, originally investigating the Triads. The Triads do not take responsbility and says the house of the Yakuza are full of traitors. Kiro then summarilly kills the Triad Chief before seeking the Yakuza Chief who admits that the Yakuza command has ordered the hit on Kenji due to allegedly starting a renegade within their ranks. After defeating him in battle, but sparing him, Kiro finds the hitman who assassinated his brother, Vinnie.

Sift Heads 5
Kiro appears as the main antagonist of Sift Heads 5, serving as the final enemy of the game. After hunting the Yakuza who put a hit on him, Vinnie receives a note at his apartment. Kiro blames Vinnie for the death of his brother and had kidnapped Shorty to force a confrontation between him and Vinnie. Vinnie meets him at a junkyard where he is able to defeat Kiro with his experience. Vinnie however spares Kiro, and tells him that his death has no reward for him.

Sift Renegade 2
Continuing the conversation with Kiro at gunpoint from Sift Heads 5, Vinnie suggests instead of killing him, the paid contractor, Kiro should instead kill the Yakuza Chief who hired him. Vinnie leaves, only for the Yakuza to then send men to kill Kiro after discovering his betrayal, Kiro escapes and learns of the plot to kill his brother's girlfriend, Jade. Kiro races to her house but fails to save her. Kiro, blinded with rage, heads straight to the Yakuza holdout the Chief is held in. After getting to the rooftop, Kiro is held at gunpoint by the Yakuza Chief. Kiro says all he knows about the conspiracy, blaming the Chief for starting the renegade, dealing under the table with the rival mafia, the Triads, and accusing Kienji, thus getting him killed. The Chief admits to so. The Yakuza Chief is then shot dead on the spot by a sniper, who turns out to be Vinnie. Kiro fights the guards and escape, and with Vinnie finding him soon after. Vinnie offers Kiro a partnership, which he accepts, starting the World Series.

Vinnie
After Kiro had killed several members of the Triads, he found out that they hired Vinnie to kill his brother, Kienji. Kiro then kidnaps Shorty to lure Vinnie and try to kill him. When Kiro was defeated by Vinnie, the latter spared him and told him to find the one who hired him instead, since he had no quarrels against Kiro. Ultimately, acknowledging that the Yakuzas are behind his back, Kiro decides to put his hatred aside and associated with his brother's killer.

Upon being a newcomer to the gang, Kiro and Vinnie appear to be on good terms, though they tend to be snarky with each other. When Kiro finds out that Vinnie likes to live in the past, he starts to make fun of him, even to a point where Vinnie threatened him to throw himself out of his car. Not only that, he often annoys Vinnie by teasing about his age. ("You even look like an old, retired bounty hunter..."; "At least your girl is young!"; "You're still listening to old forgotten rock? By the way, how old are you?"). Aside from that, Kiro still likes Vinnie since he likes his equipment and has interesting missions.

After they had killed Alonzo and Yumma, Kiro tried to help Vinnie from criminal organizations, but the leaders got away. Kiro wonders how Vinnie is notorious for crime syndicates. Kiro then started to guard the safehouse gates and told Vinnie that if he leaves his HQ unprotected it might get blown up again.

Shorty
In order to lure out Vinnie, Kiro kidnaps Shorty and takes her hostage during his renegade. But despite that, he had nothing against Shorty as he only wanted to take his revenge. After partnering up with Vinnie, Kiro and Shorty seem to grow friendly to each other. When Kiro fights Yakuza bikers, Shorty asks him if he needs any help.

Despite their friendly relationship, they usually tease each other during Sift Heads World: Act 3, Shorty tells Kiro that she and Vinnie will miss his enemies more than they will miss him, also when Kiro goes to the bathroom while Shorty is bathing, she will say "Trying to make Vinnie jealous?" Kiro then apologizes and says he is just at the wrong door and if Shorty talks to Kiro, while he is playing basketball, Kiro says "Don't worry, I will not scratch your Cooper!" this could mean that Shorty is aware that Kiro might accidentally break her things. She does not like it when Kiro acts rowdy, as shown in Sift Heads World Act 4 when Kiro jumps out of a helicopter without a parachute. Besides all that, Shorty sees Kiro as a good friend, and Kiro sometimes often flirts with Shorty, but never around Vinnie, who would probably confront him.

Trivia

 * Kiro is a fan of sports bikes, which is his signature means of transportation in the Sift Heads World series.
 * If Kiro stays idle during Sift Renegade and Sift Renegade 2, he will begin stretching and cracking his neck.
 * He always carries a katana on his back, despite that it can't be used in every game it appears. It is only a usable weapon in the Sift Renegade series, Sift Heads Cartels, and Sift Heads: Reborn
 * If he is chosen during SHW-Act 3, he may accidentally walk into the safehouse's bathroom while Shorty is bathing. She will ask him, "Trying to make Vinnie jealous?" To which he will quickly respond, "Sorry, wrong door!"
 * The Kanji on his katana reads "Umeruto" (梅根 Blossom Stem), this could possibly be the katana's name.
 * He is the only playable character in Sift Heads World not to wear glasses.

Gallery
Киро