Motoya Iwasaki

Motoya Iwasaki's physical appearance, as of Shutokou Battle X.

Motoya Iwasaki (岩崎　基矢, Iwasaki Motoya), also known as Speed King, Speed Emperor, Jintei (迅帝, lit. Fast Emperor) and more recently Swift Emperor and Unrivaled Emperor (無双帝, Musōtei, lit. Peerless Emperor), is a recurring boss who made his first appearance in 首都高バトル0/Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero and had a impact on the Kaido Battle main campaign. He is the leader of the 13 Devils, a team composed of 13 of the finest drivers on the Shutokō, later 12 as his team was disbanded once.

Bio

Almost nothing is known about him, other than the fact that he works as a doctor and that he is among the fastest drivers on the Shutokō. He earned his title of "Speed King" after defeating every team leader, Wanderer, as well as White Charisma. Iwasaki was mentored by Naoki Fujimaki, AKA Purple Meteor/NAMAHAGE before he began his conquest on the Shutokō.

He is the elder brother of Ayako Iwasaki/Black Angel who is searching for Motoya and he is very close to Shiro Sasaki/Bloodhound, one of his former comrades in the 13 Devils, and also to Ren Tennoji/Swift Emperor in the last Shutokou Battle game. In Zero, it was claimed that he was more than 40 years old and was rumored to have chronic body odour (sources from the Japanese version suggest he is actually in his 20s, later confirmed to be true by the events of Street Supremacy, ca. 2018 in in-game lore, where he was 27 years old at the time). He also had a girlfriend who recently passed away from a terminal illness.

Sometime after his girlfriend's passing and his retreat to the Kaido racing scene, Iwasaki had stopped using a Nissan R34 GT-R in favor of a Subaru Impreza.

The latter's death may have happened before or during Zero's events or even after, considering in 2019, that he was so broken by her death that he let himself, convinced by a former Touge King, think he would find something he's missing. Her death would still torture him somehow, as he failed to be by her side just before the minute of her final, dying breath, with his mind being consumed by nothing but being the best racer there is.

This, in turn, led to a major identity crisis which caused him to disappear from the racing scene shortly after disbanding his team again. Unbeknownst to everyone, his disappearance brought huge consequences and many rivals, such as Snake Eyes, would compete in an attempt to achieve his title of "Speed King", as he (Snake Eyes) went on an all-out assault on a number of individual drivers, to entire teams (one of which had been disbanded, causing the team leader's wife to divorce him and his brother to die in an accident). Eventually, Bloodhound would reveal the truth to Ren as to why Iwasaki retired from racing, while Platinum Prince and Midnight Cinderella convinced the latter to return to the Shutokou once again.

As Snake Eyes is defeated, Iwasaki is seen in a cutscene, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, as he was driving his Subaru Impreza, making a stealthy overtake at full speed by the C1 loop, which happened so swiftly that the two drivers, both in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and a Nissan 350Z respectively, stopped in their tracks as they couldn't keep up.

When Ren challenged him, Iwasaki mentioned that he had "a feeling (that) this would happen the moment he laid eyes on" his friend. After the race, it is assumed that he has since returned permanently, this time happier than before. It is not known what happens next after Ren beats Unknown as soon as he beats all rivals and wanderers, Iwasaki included.

As of Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2025, it is revealed he passed on his title ("Jintei", or "Speed King") to Ren Tennoji, who is confirmed to be ITC's protagonist. However, he continues to race as a Wanderer, becoming the "Unrivaled Emperor", reusing his iconic R34 GT-R.

Cars

Shutokou Battle ZERO/Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero: Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 (based on the 2000 Calsonic JGTC Race Car)

Shutokou Battle ZERO ONE/Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3: Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 (C-West front bumper, canards, hood; BLITZ R348 fender arches; C-West wing; ABFLUG rear bumper in-game / blue MCR in cutscene)

Kaido Battle/Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift: 02'-03' Subaru Impreza GDB (without his traditional blue color and vinyls)

Kaido Battle 3: Touge no Densetsu/Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2: 02'-03' Subaru Impreza GDB (with his own colors and vinyls & ChargeSpeed Super-GT style bodykit)

Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix: Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 (based on 2003 Calsonic JGTC Race Car)

Shutokou Battle X/Import Tuner Challenge: 06'-07' Subaru Impreza GDB (instead of his Shutokou traditional GT-R)

Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025): Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 (Do-Luck front bumper, side skirts, custom rear bumper, GT wing), with a V6 swapped engine. Being the first instance of Motoya not using the OEM engine on his car, not being an RB26 on his Skylines, or an EJ on his Imprezas.

Trivia

• It is possible that Iwasaki was the player character in the events of Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2.
  • Evidence of which is that he had defeated all teams and wanderers, according to his bio in Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero.
  • Additionally, in TXR2, White Charisma (then known as "White Phantom"), was the final boss, and that the biography of White Charisma in Import Tuner Challenge mentioned that he lost against who would become "Speed King" once.
  • This makes Iwasaki one of five characters to assume the role of a player-based protagonist, the others being Snake Eyes (TXR3), Miracles Summit (KB2), Emotional King (TXRD), and Swift Emperor (TXR25).
  • As he was the protagonist of TXR2, it is possible that Iwasaki defeated Unknown.
• Assuming that Street Supremacy is set a year before Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2 (around 2018 in in-game lore, given the ret-conning), then Iwasaki was born around 1991, as he was 27 years old then. This would make him 34 years old as of Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025).
• Despite him being featured in Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 as a boss, in Import Tuner Challenge, it's said that he disappeared three years prior to the storyline of the latter. It may be possible that he never actually returned to the Shutokou during the events of TXR3, instead choosing to retreat to the Japanese mountain roads as the 13 Devils all lost by then.
  • Combined to the fact that during ITC's events, is confirmed that Snake Eyes never beaten Speed King, it may signal that TXR3's race against Jintei, may not be canon, which would also explain why ??? never shows up even if the game features its car.
• In Street Supremacy, it is said that his job is a doctor. This may reference Tatsuya "Blackbird" Shima from Wangan Midnight, who is also a highly-skilled street racer who works as a surgeon during the day.
• In ITC, he drives the heaviest car ever of the entire series, with his GDB weighing over 4000 pounds, or over 1.8 metric tons, giving the car a really poor handling for its top speed.
• Based on his Buddha-like driver insignia and the liveries of his cars, Iwasaki has a strong Buddhist theme and influence in his driving style.
• The liveries on Iwasaki's cars often have the kanji 壱撃離脱 (Ichi deki ridatsu, lit. One-strike retreat) on it, which can be interpreted as "strike hard and escape in one go".
  • This reflects Iwasaki's driving style, known for the explosive acceleration in any of his cars, incredible cornering speeds, as well as the quick and swift end to any battle he gets involved in.
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025) is the first time Iwasaki is not presented as a major boss, but instead as a late-game Wanderer with a new street name, "Unrivaled Emperor", after passing on the "Swift Emperor" or "King Speed" titles to Ren Tennoji.
  • In said game, his car emits an electric blue and gold aura, continuing the lightning motif from previous games in the series.
  • Ironically, despite no longer being a main story boss, Iwasaki's BNR34 possesses its highest power output in the entire series up to this point, with its V6 engine putting out 1500ps (1479.48 horsepower). This tuned GT-R makes the wanderer Iwasaki one of the hardest opponents in the game, making his current Skyline the most potent (in terms of raw power) of all his appearances, even more so than the 1200 HP he had back in TXR Zero.

Gallery

Speed King's GT-R (ZERO)

Speed King's GT-R (ZERO ONE)

Speed King's GT-R (SB 01 Cutscene)

Speed King's Impreza (Kaido Battle)

Speed King's Impreza (KB : TND)

Speed King's GT-R (RCB : C1GP)

Speed King's Impreza (Shutokou Battle X)

Unrivaled Emperor and his GT-R (2025)