Yoshimo

I can dance on the head of a pin as well!

Yoshimo is a bounty hunter rogue, originally from Kara-Tur, who the player character finds on the second-level of Jon Irenicus's dungeon. He states that he is a fellow prisoner of the dungeon, and may suggest that he believes you are held in Athkatla. He offers to join you in trying to find a way out of the dungeon, and offers advice about what you will face in the next couple rooms. If you choose not to let him join, it is possible to recruit him later in the Copper Coronet.

Yoshimo in Amn

Yoshimo makes an entertaining party member who will converse with a number of NPCs, both within the party and without. He will banter with thieves, casually pick items from the pockets of nobles, advise Nalia about detecting traps, and subtly tease Anomen. His banters with Jaheira indicate both respect for her recent loss, and admiration of her as a woman. He will also ask the player about being a Bhaalspawn, and about Sarevok. Most characters seem to get along well with Yoshimo, but Haer'Dalis will show a definite disdain for the bounty hunter, and will tell him to drop his act.

When dealing with quest NPCs, Yoshimo will sometimes suggest the brave path that leads to fame and fortune, but will also sometimes show a definite caution, especially when it comes to getting entangled in the ongoing battles between the Shadow Thieves of Athkatla, and Bodhi's competing guild.

Yoshimo in Spellhold

As the party moves towards Spellhold, where Imoen and Irenicus are being held, Yoshimo gets more and more agitated, and has strange conversations with a number of the NPCs you encounter as you get close to your goal. When you enter Spellhold, it is finally revealed that Yoshimo has been a pawn of Irenicus all along, and he is forced to betray the party under the compulsion of a geas. He dies when he is forced to fight the player and the party, and as he attacks, he pleads for Ilmater to take his heart. It is possible for the player to bring Yoshimo's heart to a temple of Ilmater, and even if the Ilmaterin priest makes no promises, it is suggested that Yoshimo's soul might be saved by the grace of the God of Suffering.

If Yoshimo is not in the party that goes to Spellhold, his geas will kill him.

Yoshimo's motivations

The game as it is does not reveal why Yoshimo entered the employ of Irenicus, but some unfinished content suggests that Tamoko, Sarevok's girlfriend in Baldur's Gate, was his sister, and that Yoshimo sought vengeance on the player for her sake. Parts of this content, as well as embellishments on Sarevok's role in Tamoko and Yoshimo's lives, can be found as game mods.