Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Added DiffLines:
[[foldercontrol]]
!!Heroine
[[folder:Enju Ueno]]
[[quoteright:278:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style00.png]]
Daughter of Kōga's leader, Kandō Ueno, and Iga's former leader Tanba Momochi's younger sister Kagari. A symbol of peace between the two factions, she has been brought up carefully and has lived a sheltered life. Because of that, she is an innocent, unfamiliar with the ways of the world. She aspires to contribute to her clan and her people, training diligently.
----
* AbusiveParents: Kando does nothing but put Enju down, ignore her or use her for the entirety of the game. [[spoiler: No matter the route, he coldly cuts Enju off from the rest of the clan after her arrest and sometimes sends her friends to murder her–-despite there being ''an entire village'' of other shinobi just as able to do the job. Worst of all, he's doing so either as part of a sick game to choose Hidyori's guardian, or while knowing she's been framed for the murder ''he ordered''.]]
* AllLovingHero: Enju shows empathy for just about everyone, including people that are trying to kill her. She tends to Mokichi's wounds in Goemon's route and Kyara's in Gekkamaru's route after they attack her.
* ApologizesALot: She has a tendency to do this, likely because of her abusive father. It's most notable in Hanzō's route; at the start, she can't stop apologizing for every little thing [[HeroicSelfDeprecation she thinks she's done wrong]], and [[CharacterDevelopment at the end, she's grown out of this trait entirely]].
* BackToBackBadasses: On Hanzō's route, she develops her fighting skills and learns how to read his movements, eventually leading to this. Several times, at that.
* BattleCouple: She fights alongside her love interests in all routes. This is more prominent in Hanzō's route, where her competence as a ninja flourishes more thoroughly, though [[spoiler:the "couple" part only comes after they retire from shinobi life.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Wishes to go on her first mission so that she can be useful to her village and clan, the Koga. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the only "use" her father had for her was letting her be hunted down to rake in gold and destabilize the country for future profit.]]
* BreakTheCutie: It starts with her AbusiveDad and MissingMom and ends with [[spoiler:her being framed for murder, being forced to go on the run, and possibly seeing her friends die.]] And then there's [[FromBadToWorse the bad endings]].
* CallingTheOldManOut: She can get the opportunity to call out her father for his BS in all routes except Goemon's since it's the only route she doesn't get to confront him in.
* CharacterDevelopment: Gets a lot in Hanzō's route, which is also the only route where she fully develops her shinobi skills. After realizing just how sheltered she's been all her life, she resolves to grow strong enough to protect herself, and actively spends time training and getting advice from Hanzō. Because of this, she gains confidence in herself, enough to [[spoiler:stand up against her abusive father]], and becomes less naive about the world. She also wrestles with [[TheseHandsHaveKilled the necessity of killing]] and her own conflicting feelings towards her mother.
* ChildhoodFriends: With Gekkamaru, Kuroyuki, Chōjirō , Kyara and Ennosuke.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: In Gekkamuru, Kuroyuki, and Chōjirō's routes.
* CombatMedic: All shinobi are trained in medicine as well as fighting, but Enju spent even more time working with the herbalist than most. Hanzō's route reveals this is because [[AbusiveParents her father told her she'd be worthless as a shinobi and delayed her training by several years]].
* CommonalityConnection: With Hanzō through her mother.
* DeathSeeker: A variation in Goemon's bad ending. [[spoiler:Yodo attacks Enju and kills her; Enju admits that she could have dodged it if she had tried, but didn't because she had already accepted that she was going to die either way. Tragically, in this ending she never learns that Goemon had a plan that would have gotten her out alive.]]
* DestructiveRomance: With [[spoiler:Kuroyuki. Weeks of travelling alone and being [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslit]] turns Enju into a FragileFlower and exacerbates his {{Yandere}} tendencies. While he gets better about his possessiveness, at the end the two are (and acknowledge they're) in an unhealthily co-dependent relationship.]]
* DyingDream: In [[spoiler:Kuroyuki's bad ending, Enju is murdered by her father. As she bleeds out, Kuroyuki makes her see an illusion that they're back with all their friends in Koga and everything is safe, ensuring that she dies at peace.]]
* DualWielding: She wields two slender daggers.
* FightingYourFriend: [[spoiler:She's forced to come to blows with her friends while she's on the run after she's framed for Hideyoshi's murder, as they're all under orders to kill her depending on the route, much to her dismay. Though to be fair to them, they're not happy about it either.]]
* FragileFlower: Kuroyuki's route brings out the worst of her dependency and lack of self-confidence, ultimately turning her into this.
* FragileSpeedster: [[AllThereInTheManual The databooks mention]] that Enju's specialty as a ninja is her agility. In-story, she mostly relies on her speed and uses it to her advantage to get the upper hand in fights as she's not as durable as some of her more seasoned comrades are.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can rename her, but her default name is Enju.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: She is rather hard on herself, particularly when it comes to her skills as a shinobi.
* InterruptedSuicide:
** Upon learning that [[spoiler:Kōga will be destroyed if her head isn't taken to Fushimi Castle]] in Chōjirō's route, Enju rushes to [[spoiler:Gekkamaru, Ennosuke, and Kyara's shared grave]] and attempts suicide. [[spoiler:Chōjirō stops her.]]
** She also attempts this in Gekkamaru's route after [[spoiler: Ennosuke's death. Fortunately, Hanzo stops her just in time and talks her out of it.]]
* KillingInSelfDefense: In Hanzō's route, Enju is forced to kill one of the Nokizaru shinobi attacking her and Hanzo. Later in the same route, [[spoiler:she kills her father in self-defense]].
* MissingMom: She committed suicide when Enju was small, which left the poor girl feeling like her mother didn't want her. [[spoiler:Or so it seems--Hanzō's route reveals Kando actually murdered Kagari and arranged it to look like suicide.]]
* MoralityChain: For Kuroyuki in his route.
* NaiveNewcomer: Having been sheltered in Koga all her life, she's unfamiliar with a lot of the outside world. She also hasn't been on a mission as a shinobi before, and so has somewhat rose-tinted glasses. Needless to say, reality hits her hard.
* {{Protectorate}}:
** Enju is this for Gekkamaru, and effectively for all of Koga as well, since she's basically seen as their princess.
** It's deconstructed in Hanzō's route when Enju realizes that she's completely unprepared for the real life-or-death situation she's now in because she's spent her whole life being protected by others, and resolves to become strong enough to keep herself alive.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Learning that her friends all died for nothing in their pursuit of her because of Hideyoshi and Kando's schemes in addition to Hideyoshi desecrating their graves in Gekkamaru's route, the normally gentle and softspoken [[BewareTheNiceOnes Enju]] drops all pretenses of her previous pacifism in favor of ''actually'' attempting to murder Hideyoshi ''and'' her father out of anger for what they've done.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: In Hanzō's route, [[spoiler:Enju kills her father in self-defense.]] She also [[spoiler:kills him in Gekkamaru's route, but unlike in Hanzō's route where she did it out of self-defense, she kills him in revenge for her friends' meaningless deaths.]]
* ShelteredAristocrat: Enju is basically considered the village's princess and thus has never been allowed to go on a mission before; as a result, she is a bit naive about the ways of the world, though it doesn't generally hinder her too much.
* ShyBlueHairedGirl: She's generally sweet and somewhat shy, with blue-tinged hair.
* SignatureMove: Hyakka Shofuren. She whips up a whirlwind of [[CherryBlossoms cherry blossoms]] around her to hide her from view. She uses it to defeat Goemon in every route, and it becomes prominent in some other routes, particularly Chojiro's, since he's the one who taught it to her.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: In Hanzō's route, Enju kills one of the Nokizaru shinobi in self-defense and feels extreme guilt over it; she even feels bad about all the ninja that Hanzō has killed defending her, because they were after her in the first place.[[spoiler: By the time she takes her father's life at the end of the route, she has come to terms with it, but notably, the good ending concludes with her and Hanzō both giving up the path of the shinobi.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Big time on Hanzō's route.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Both her casual kimono and her shinobi gear are blue.
* WellDoneDaughterGal: Part of the reason she's so eager to go on a mission is to impress her father, with whom her relationship with is so distant it's practically non-existent.
[[/folder]]
!!Love Interests
[[folder:Gekkamaru]]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style01_7.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/WataruHatano
After losing his family, Gekkamaru was adopted by the protagonist's family along with his younger brother when he was three. Assigned to be the Enju's bodyguard, Gekkamaru has proven time and again to be loyal and steadfast. He is known to be one of the most skilled and reliable ninja Kōga has. Gekkamaru is completely devoted to his master and can sometimes be overprotective.
----
* BigBrotherInstinct: He often takes it upon himself to reel in Kuroyuki's antics.
* BodyguardCrush: To Enju. He's been protecting her ever since she was little and he's grown overprotective to the point that everyone can see it. [[spoiler: It may be because of the jutsu Kagari placed upon him when he was small that he's so obsessed with protecting her. That said, his feelings for her are the genuine article despite this.]]
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: One of the options to[[spoiler: break Kagari's jutsu to have Gekkamaru stop protecting Enju is to show him that she's in love with someone else. Given this, it's probable that the jutsu is broken in the other routes where she falls in love with someone else.]]
* DevotedToYou: His loyalty and devotion is fully dedicated to Enju.
* DoggedNiceGuy: In all routes except his own, of the Low-Key Yearning variety. He is so devoted to Enju that he would think nothing of abandoning his village, or his own life, to keep her safe. [[spoiler:In every single route, he abandons Koga without hesitation in order to break Enju out of prison, although someone may beat him to it depending on the route. In Chojiro's route, he even dies to protect her. It's justified, as he is working under the spell Enju's mother had cast on him as a child to protect Enju at all cost.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Gekkamaru's devotion to protecting Enju runs deep, but Enju remains oblivious to why he's so protective of her besides the fact that "it's his duty."
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Whenever Gekkamaru's eyes glow, it means Kagari's protection spell is influencing him and anyone posing a threat to Enju better run.
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: After Enju breaks [[spoiler: Kagari's protection spell and reactivates his mother's spell that causes him to attack her, she tries to appeal to him in this way.]]
* MutualKill: With [[spoiler:Ennosuke]] on [[spoiler:Chojiro]]'s route.
* NotBloodSiblings: Gekkamaru was adopted into the Koga family and was raised with Enju as an older brother and bodyguard.
* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler: The end of his route. He stabs himself in an effort to stop his body from fulfilling his mother's spell, and Enju is left thinking he was dead for a while. He shows up again for the finale, supposedly having been saved by the Tokugowa shinobi.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Contrary to their color-schemes, Gekkamaru is the calmer and more practical blue oni, where Kuroyuki is the cheerful, happy-go-lucky red oni.
* SupremeChef: He's one of the few shinobi with quite exceptional cooking skills.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Enju. [[spoiler:Kagari's spell might have something to do with it, but he remains loyal to her even once it's broken.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuroyuki]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style02.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HiroShimono
Gekkamaru's younger brother and Enju's foster brother. Right after he was born, he and Gekkamaru were taken in by her family. Cheerful, carefree and clever, Kuroyuki can also be quite cunning. He was sent away on an extended mission when he was eight, and after 8 years, has finally returned.
----
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: In his route, he casually mentions that he's been trained to take poison.
* AlwaysSecondBest: In Hanzo's route, he says he feels this way when it comes to Enju's affections; first to Gekkamaru, later to Hanzo.
* AmnesiacHero: [[spoiler:Kuroyuki's ninjutsu feeds off of memories. By the time of the events of the game, his feelings for Enju and his resentment toward Gekkamaru are all he remembers from his childhood.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: In Chojiro and Gekkamaru's routes. Played with in Goemon and Hanzo's. [[spoiler:He usually shows up to side with Enju even when he's not being romanced; however, it's implied that he's the actual killer of Hideyoshi in Goemen and Hanzo's routes, making his decision to side with her there perhaps somewhat motivated by guilt.]]
* DestructiveRomance: [[spoiler:One that's not entirely his fault, due to how mentally broken he is. Since his feelings for Enju are all he can remember, he's fixated on her so much that he states he doesn't know how to live without her. If she returns his feelings (that is, goes on his route), they both end up utterly, unhealthily co-dependent.]]
* {{Gaslighting}}: [[spoiler:On his route, he explicitly injures himself and lies to Enju about her friends attacking him, to make her think he's the only one on her side.]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: One of Kuroyuki's eyes glows red whenever he uses his shadow techniques.
* HiddenDepths: Kuroyuki's bright disposition is [[spoiler:an act he puts on in an effort to recapture his identity that he lost along with his memories.]]
* IfICantHaveYou…: [[spoiler: Kuroyuki mentions that he wanted to make a world where only they could live in, even if it means making Enju hate him. Eventually subverted, as he realizes he was wrong to try to keep Enju to himself.]]
* InLoveWithLove: [[spoiler: Since training for Kagehami (Shadow Eater) required him to stay in the dark for 8 years and have it eat away at his memories and soul, the only way he was able to cope was to summon an illusion of Enju. After they confess, Enju says that maybe he's not really in love with her, but the memory of her.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: After realizing it was wrong and selfish of him to manipulate Enju, he decides instead to try to create a world where she can be happy without him by killing anything that could harm her.]]
* LossOfIdentity: [[spoiler:His childhood training destroyed all of his memories.]]
* LoveConfession: To Enju. He tells her so much that she thinks he's joking.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: After Hideyoshi's murder, he breaks Enju out of jail, tells her no one is on her side except him, her friends are headed to kill her, and the only way to survive is for them to be together forever. He also ties their wrists together after she finds out that he's been lying.]]
* LovingAShadow: No pun intended... [[spoiler: Deconstructed on his route. Kuroyuki fixates on Enju because his feelings for her are one of the only things he can remember after his near-complete loss of memory. As such, he's terrified to lose her, going as far as to try and gaslight her into believing that he's the only one she can trust, and the two of them end up becoming concerningly codependent on each other. Enju even lampshades it during their LoveConfession, explicitly wondering if Kuroyuki is only in love with the memory of her.]]
* MoralityChain: Enju becomes this to him, as she's the only [[spoiler: memory of his childhood he has left, and one of the few things tethering him to his humanity.]]
* NeverFoundTheBody: A subversion occurs in [[spoiler:Chojiro's route. Kuroyuki's body presumably gets washed away in a river during a fight, and Chojiro and Enju presume that he is dead. In the bad ending, he's never seen again, but in the good ending, he resurfaces to assist in their escape.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: On some routes (definitely on his own but also implied on Goemon's and Hanzo's), [[spoiler:he is the one who murders Hideyoshi, on orders from Kando Ueno. Apparently he didn't realize that Enju was in the next room, and she ends up getting framed for the crime.]]
* NotBloodSiblings: Kuroyuki was adopted into the Koga family and was raised alongside Enju until he was 8.
* TheOneThatGotAway: With Enju. Regrets being sent away for 8 years and being apart from her, so he wants to make as many memories with her as possible.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Says this repeatedly [[spoiler: as he's sucking the poison out of Enju.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Contrary to their color-schemes, Gekkamaru is the calmer and more practical blue oni, where Kuroyuki is the cheerful, happy-go-lucky red oni. [[spoiler: At least, on the surface he is.]]
* ShadowPin: One of his techniques.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler: He was subjected to years of mental torture during his training, and the jutsu he learned there specifically feeds on memories and souls, rendering him a shell of his former self. Part of the reason he fixates on Enju is because she is the only person he remembered after forgetting the rest of his childhood, and the only person who has kept him from losing his mind already.]]
* SiblingRivalry: Mostly one-sided from him to Gekkamaru, as he somewhat resents Gekkamaru for being chosen as Enju's protector over himself.
* SinisterScythe: He uses two kusarigama.
* StepfordSmiler: Kuroyuki puts on a cheerful front, but his route reveals that he is nowhere near as composed as he seems. [[spoiler:Years of torture and learning techniques that feed on your soul will do that.]]
* TrainingFromHell: Deconstructed hard. [[spoiler:As a child, Kuroyuki was subjected to a training method that was literal torture and also gradually ate his memories and soul. As a result, he is ''very'' mentally fragile and obsessed with Enju, because she's the only person he ''can'' remember.]]
* {{Yandere}}: Somewhat justified and downplayed, given his backstory. His route reveals that [[spoiler:he'd been tortured for the 8 years he was away from Koga and that his memories of his childhood are all but gone aside from Enju. He becomes obsessed with her because he views her as his only connection to humanity and the only thing keeping him from being a complete "monster". When he realizes she'd been blamed for Hideyoshi's murder, he hatches a plan to rescue her alone and convinces her not to trust anyone but him. He mercilessly kills almost all the shinobi that come for Enju, though he doesn't do anything worse than beating up her friends ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Goemon]]) when they come. After his deception is revealed to Enju, he decides instead that he wants to create a happy world for her, and puts all his energy into removing all threats to her life.]]
* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: After Enju is claimed to be Hideyoshi's murderer, Kuroyuki doesn't care if he has to kill to stay with her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chōjirō Momochi]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KosukeToriumi
The son of the late leader of Iga, Tanba Momochi, Enju's cousin. After losing his family and clan in the Tenshou Iga War at the age of five, he joined Kōga with his surviving people. Since he is the son of the Head Shinobi of the fallen Iga, he's naturally observant and calm. His skills as a shinobi are eminent in Kōga, as he's also a teacher for Enju and the others.
----
* AloofBigBrother: He's the strong, stoic, older brother figure to Enju and her friends in Koga.
* BigBrotherMentor: He taught the other younger shinobi how to fight.
* ConflictingLoyalty: In his route, Chōjirō hesitates to side with Enju due to the fact that [[spoiler:Kōga will be destroyed if they do not kill her, and for Chōjirō, who has already lost his home once before, the thought of losing his home again frightens him]].
* CharacterTics: He clenches his fists when he's emotionally distressed.
* {{Dandere}}: He's generally quiet and emotionless, but opens up to Enju by the end of his route.
* IntimateHealing: In his route, [[spoiler:he is poisoned by the Nokizaru shinobi and loses consciousness, forcing Enju to give him the antidote mouth-to-mouth]]. He teases her about this later after Hanzo points it out to him.
* KissingCousins: Enju's mother was the younger sister of Chōjirō's father, making Enju and Chōjirō cousins.
* LethalChef: His culinary skills are non-existent, with him burning every meal he and Enju eat on his route.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He has long hair and is quite handsome.
* MutualKill: In his bad ending, [[spoiler:he and Enju decide to kill each other rather than truly fight to the death for Hideyoshi's amusement]].
* TheQuietOne: He doesn't speak much and is largely introspective.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Enju, on his route. [[spoiler:He's one of the shinobi ordered to hunt her down, and it takes a good bit of time for him to decide not to, despite his feelings for her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hanzō Hattori]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenjiroTsuda
Known as the right-hand-man to Ieyasu Tokugawa and the leader of the Tokugawa shinobi, Hanzō is one of the few surviving members of the now-destroyed Iga clan. Calm, blunt and efficient, he has made a name for himself as the greatest shinobi in Japan and is looked at with great admiration by Enju and her peers.
----
* BackToBackBadasses: He helps Enju train on his route, and she's eventually able to fight back-to-back with him whenever they encounter enemy shinobi.
* BattleCouple: With Enju on his route, though [[spoiler:the "couple" part only comes after they retire from shinobi life.]]
* BrutalHonesty: He does ''not'' hold any punches when pointing out one's flaws as a shinobi, but also doesn't pass any judgement about said flaws.
* CareerEndingInjury: [[spoiler:At the end of his route, he takes a side wound from Chojirō, then reopens it fighting his traitorous second-in-command. As a result it doesn't heal properly, forcing him to retire from the life of a shinobi.]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: "That's the spirit" on his route, whenever he recognizes Enju's determination to improve.
* TheChampion: To Ieyasu. He's Ieyasu's right-hand-man and most trusted accomplice, more than willing to put his life on the line to protect him.
* CharacterDevelopment: Starts his route as a practical yet merciless shinobi who puts the mission above all else and says shinobi don't need trust. Effectively, a living weapon. At the end of his route, he openly says he trusts Enju, [[spoiler:holds back from killing her friends for her sake, and abandons his mission in order to protect her, ultimately regaining his humanity.]]
* ChildhoodFriends: He was friends with Enju's mother Kagari since they came from the same village and were close in age.
* CommonalityConnection: With Enju through her mother.
* ConflictingLoyalty: At the end of his route, [[spoiler: Ieyasu orders him to kill Enju to secure him the position of Hideyori's guardian. Having fallen in love with Enju at that point, Hanzō feels extremely conflicted about fulfilling his mission and ultimately chooses to protect her from the rest of his clan. Fortunately, Ieyasu lets him off the hook by only ordering ''proof'' of Enju's death (in the form of her bloody sash) instead of her body, allowing her to live on in secret and sparing Hanzō from defying his orders.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Hanzo is considered WorldsBestWarrior in-universe and he lives up to the title. Any enemy he goes up against tends to fall pretty quickly, and he only really has trouble in the latter chapters of his route because [[spoiler:he's fighting Enju's friends and wants avoid killing them for her sake. The only real exception to this is Goemon, who seemed to be able to stand against him better than most the one time they fought in earnest.]]
* DeathGlare: Has an unfortunate habit of looking very serious and sharp when he doesn't necessarily mean to be, and this combined with his stoicism means that he comes off as very intimidating to younger shinobi like Enju and her friends. Even the normally unruffled Kuroyuki is nervous in his presence.
* DefrostingIceQueen: He's aloof and cold, but not ''mean''--he's just so mission-oriented, it's hard to get to know him. On his route, he warms up to Enju over the course of several months.
* DualWielding: He wields two large daggers.
* HiddenDepths: He has calligraphy-level handwriting and knows a lot about tea ceremonies, quite contrary to his reputation as a terrifyingly skilled shinobi.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hanzō Hattori was a real historical figure who was loyal to Ieyasu Tokugawa; however he was a warrior rather than a shinobi, and probably less of a {{Hunk}} than his RomanceGame counterpart.
* MyGreatestFailure: Enju's mother, Kagari, spoke to him while she was pregnant and asked him to run away with her; he wasn't able to, and she ended up committing suicide [[spoiler:(actually being murdered by Kando)]]. Hanzo is deeply remorseful, feeling that she and Enju would have lived much happier lives if he'd done as she asked.
* SternTeacher: He becomes an unofficial mentor of sorts to Enju on his route, helping her train and advising her about the shinobi way. While he's strict, he's also fair, never insulting her and giving compliments when due.
* TheStoic: He's generally quiet and keeps his emotions to himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: When he fails his mission because he'd fallen in love with Enju and thus refused to kill her once [[spoiler:Ieyasu ordered him to, he wants to commit suicide rather than live as a nukenin.]]
* WhatIsThisFeeling: Downplayed in his route. [[spoiler:Hanzo is bewildered by his feelings for Enju at first because he's never loved anyone romantically before, but he figures it out pretty quickly and isn't shy about expressing it afterwards.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: If he genuinely thinks someone has made a mistake, that's one thing. However, if someone (like Enju) is engaging in SelfDeprecation, expect Hanzo to refute that, and maybe offer some constructive criticism while he's at it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Goemon Ishikawa]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HikaruMidorikawa
An elusive and infamous thief with the peculiar habit of leaving a warning note in the homes he will rob, listing the exact item he intends to steal. Though charming and laid-back, Goemon is considered highly dangerous by the state for his incredible skill and anonymity. A team of Kōga shinobi, consisting of Enju and her friends, is hired to sleuth out information aiding in his capture.
----
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Mentions in his route that he's immune to the poisons created by Fuma, [[spoiler:from his training there.]]
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:He pretends to betray Enju near the end of his route in order to trick the Fuma Clan into helping him stage her FakeDeath in front of the elders so they will stop hunting her. He later apologizes to her for it, saying he'd wanted to let her in on his plan, but couldn't due to the Fuma watching him so closely.]]
* TheCharmer: He's very slick and charming, openly flirting with Enju even minutes after meeting her.
* ChivalrousPervert: He's generally polite and kind, but openly admits to "having fun" with women. However, he only has sexual relationships with those who know what they're getting into, which is why he doesn't do more than flirt than Enju--he can tell she's inexperienced in the romance department.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crosses it in his bad ending. [[spoiler:Enju's death causes him to snap and break his ThouShallNotKill policy. The ending CGI shows him cradling her body, crying, and [[BrokenSmile smiling brokenly]] as he walks away from the bloody scene.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: His route reveals that he is actually quite good with children.
* GentlemanThief: Goemon is a thief who only steals from the corrupt and rich who is quite liked by the commoners of Kyo. He also always leaves a calling card before and after committing a crime. Not only this but he has a code against killing.
* HandsomeLech: Good-looking and quick to rattle off compliments to any lady who will hear them.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Goemon attempts this while the Kyo shinobi are hunting him, standing around unobtrusively and smoking a pipe to cover up the lingering smell of smoke bombs. Unfortunately for him, Enju can differentiate between the two smells and can also smell the blood on him.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Goemon Ishikawa was a real historical figure and thief who targeted the wealthy during the reign of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, however he was not a shinobi and probably not a {{Bishonen}}.
* InternalReveal: The fact that he and the strange man named "Goro" Enju meets are one in the same is treated as a plot twist, but one look at the game's relationship menu will spoil it long before its acknowledged in the plot.
* JustLikeRobinHood: Except he is based on [[HistoricalDomainCharacter a real person.]]
* LoveableRogue: He's a thief, but he exclusively targets the rich and is actually quite popular among the common folk for it.
* NiceGuy: He doesn't have any particular reason to protect Enju, he simply decides to because he likes her and does so even in some of the routes where he's not being romanced.
* ThouShallNotKill: He has a strict personal rule against killing, and will avoid doing so whenever possible. [[spoiler: This is only subverted in his bad ending, in which he snaps after witnessing Enju's death and uses a ninjutsu to make the elders murder each other.]]
* TranquilFury: His bad ending. [[spoiler:After Enju dies, he very calmly announces to the room that they're all going to die for what they've done to Enju. Hanzo is quick enough to grab Ieyasu and escape, but no one else is that lucky.]]
* {{Yandere}}: His bad ending dips its toes into this. [[spoiler:After Enju is killed by Yodo, he uses a powerful ninjustsu to create illusions that cause the Elders (aside from Ieyasu, who Hanzo manages to get out of the room just in time) to start murdering each other. The CG plays heavily on {{Yandere}} imagery as he stares straight ahead with blank, teary eyes, cradling Enju's body as the carnage rages on around them.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Side Characters
!!!Koga Shinobi
[[folder:Kandou Ueno]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jirou Saitou
Enju's father and leader of the Koga clan.
----
* AbusiveParent: He's emotionally distant and neglectful to Enju even early in the game, but becomes outright malicious to her later when he [[spoiler: allows her to be used as a scapegoat for the murder ordered, or the trophy for Hideoyoshi's game to choose his son's guardian. In more than one route, he raises a weapon against his own daughter, and in Kuroyuki's bad ending he actually kills her.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:Eventually becomes this to Enju in routes where he's a direct antagonist.]]
* AssholeVictim: In the routes where he dies, you will probably have a hard time managing to feel any sympathy for him, especially since you've probably just learned about something horrible he did.
* DevilInPlainSight: Given his VillainousFashionSense and the perpetual evil grimace his sprite wears, it comes as no surprise that Enju's father is evil.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a large prominent scar across his left eye, making him look sinister like he actually is from the get-go.
* IHaveNoDaughter: [[spoiler:Immediately disowns Enju when she's been framed for Hideyoshi Toyotomi's murder in all routes.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: A real piece of work, this guy is.
* KickTheDog: He does a lot of this to Enju, but one of his more despicable acts is [[spoiler:sending Enju's own closest friends to go after her and kill her when she's been accused of murdering Toyotomi when he has the option of choosing other Koga ninja for the job.]]
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:He successfully kills Enju in Kuroyuki's Bad Ending.]] Hanzō's route further reveals that [[spoiler:he even threatened to murder Enju as an infant to force her mother to make him the Jashingan, a potion used by the Iga that turns those who consume it into violent but loyal pawns.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ennosuke Yamakura]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Ryou Ooshima
One of Enju's childhood friends who is a ninja of Koga.
----
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Kyara. They constantly bicker, and though it's never outright confirmed, one of the common route bonus scenarios as well as main-game subtext suggests they have more than platonic feelings for each other.
* SelfDuplication: His main ninjutsu is the ability to make illusionary copies of himself.
* SuperSpeed: He is one of the fastest Koga shinobi and he uses speed to his advantage in battle.
* WolverineClaws: He uses tekagi-shuko (hand claws).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kyara Mikumo]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SaoriHayami
Another one of Enju's friends, also a ninja of Koga.
----
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ennosuke. They constantly bicker, and though it's never outright confirmed, one of the common route bonus scenarios as well as main-game subtext suggests they have more than platonic feelings for each other.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:In Gekkamaru's route. After she works with Enju to stop some of the shinobi who had been controlling her body via ninjutsu, its revealed she'd been dead all along and that the ninjutsu was the only thing keeping her alive.]]
* EpicFlail: She uses a chigiriki, a Japanese flail weapon.
* FieryRedhead: Kyara is as fiery as her red hair suggests.
* RedOniBlueOni: With Enju. Kyara is the more fiery red oni to Enju's shy and sweet blue oni. Their colour schemes even line up perfectly.
* TomboyishPonytail
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She wears pants in her civilian outfit and shinobi gear and both have elements of flowers and fuchsia.
* {{Tsundere}}: Mostly with Ennosuke, whom she snipes with at every opportunity. However, she and him are heavily implied to have feelings for each other, and Enju notes that they know one another so well that they fight seamlessly as a team. She is devastated by [[spoiler:his death in Chojiro's route, though it's not too long afterward that she also dies.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kasumi]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MegumiHan
Another one of Enju's friends and the youngest of them.
----
* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler:She's forced to attempt to assassinate Enju in Gekkamaru's route because her family is being held hostage unless she does the deed. She clearly hates having to kill her beloved elder sister, but feels she has no choice in the matter whatsoever. As she dies, she even apologizes for both having raised her blades against Enju, and for cruelly taunting her during their fight while Kasumi was under the influence of the drug that forces her to fight Enju.]]
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: She is the youngest of the friend group.
* BigSisterWorship: She adores both Enju and Kyara and looks up to both of them.
* BreakTheCutie: Poor young Kasumi gets put through [[TraumaCongaLine the worst of ordeals]] out of all her friends next to Enju depending on the routes [[spoiler:after Enju is accused of murdering Hideyoshi and is on the run from the law after she breaks out of jail. Not only is she forced to hunt down and kill her beloved elder sister under the orders of their village head, she experiences losing all her friends one by one during the chase in Chojiro and Gekkamaru's routes. In both routes, she also ends up getting killed by the end of them.]]
* DeadlyDisc: She uses two chakram as a weapon.
* NotHerself: [[spoiler:The normally kindhearted and soft Kasumi becomes more vicious and cruel when she drinks the Jashingan drug Kando gives her that presumably gives her a boost in her physical abilities at the cost of her sanity.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: Despite her appearance and childlike mannerisms, Kasumi is actually 15, making her only a year younger than the 16 year old Enju.
* OnlyOneName: Like Gekkamaru and Kuroyuki, Kasumi's family name is never revealed despite mentioning that they exist.
* SupremeChef: While her shinobi skills aren't great, she is good at cooking and sewing.
* ThirdPersonPerson: It's not translated in the English written dialogue, but listening closely to Kasumi's recorded dialogue reveals her to be one of these.
[[/folder]]
!!! 5 Elders
[[folder: Ieyasu Tokugawa]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoukiMiyata
An Influential Daimyo who rules the Kanto Region and one of the Five Elders. He owns his own shinobi clan which is currently lead by Hanzō Hattori.
----
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Is openly eccentric compared to the other Elders, but is also the most powerful and extremely intelligent.
* TheGadfly: According to Hanzo, Ieyasu enjoys teasing him for the sake of his own amusement.
* GuileHero:
** Straddles the line between this and MagnificentBastard in most routes, as he's more an AntiHero and often takes a TrueNeutral position, in contrast to the full antagonism of the other Elders. He tends to be somewhat conniving and is planning to take over the country soon after the events of the game, according to Hanzo (and actual Japanese history). That said, he doesn't particularly want Enju to die and even sends Hanzo to protect her in most routes despite him being the WorldsBestWarrior who could probably kill her easily.
** He is this more straight-forwardly in Hanzo's route. [[spoiler:He agrees to simply use proof of Enju's death (in the form of her bloody sash) to ensure he becomes Hideyori's guardian instead of insisting on her body, allowing Enju to live on in secret and sparing Hanzo from having to either kill her or defy his orders.]]
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Ieyasu Tokugawa was a real historical figure who did actually take over Japan after Hideyoshi's death, being the forefather of the Tokugawa Shogunate which lead Japan for over 250 years between the 17th and 19th centuries. He was quite a bit more ruthless than his in-game counterpart though, and probably wasn't a ridiculously pretty {{Bishonen}}.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He has long hair and is very good-looking.
[[/folder]]
!!Heroine
[[folder:Enju Ueno]]
[[quoteright:278:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style00.png]]
Daughter of Kōga's leader, Kandō Ueno, and Iga's former leader Tanba Momochi's younger sister Kagari. A symbol of peace between the two factions, she has been brought up carefully and has lived a sheltered life. Because of that, she is an innocent, unfamiliar with the ways of the world. She aspires to contribute to her clan and her people, training diligently.
----
* AbusiveParents: Kando does nothing but put Enju down, ignore her or use her for the entirety of the game. [[spoiler: No matter the route, he coldly cuts Enju off from the rest of the clan after her arrest and sometimes sends her friends to murder her–-despite there being ''an entire village'' of other shinobi just as able to do the job. Worst of all, he's doing so either as part of a sick game to choose Hidyori's guardian, or while knowing she's been framed for the murder ''he ordered''.]]
* AllLovingHero: Enju shows empathy for just about everyone, including people that are trying to kill her. She tends to Mokichi's wounds in Goemon's route and Kyara's in Gekkamaru's route after they attack her.
* ApologizesALot: She has a tendency to do this, likely because of her abusive father. It's most notable in Hanzō's route; at the start, she can't stop apologizing for every little thing [[HeroicSelfDeprecation she thinks she's done wrong]], and [[CharacterDevelopment at the end, she's grown out of this trait entirely]].
* BackToBackBadasses: On Hanzō's route, she develops her fighting skills and learns how to read his movements, eventually leading to this. Several times, at that.
* BattleCouple: She fights alongside her love interests in all routes. This is more prominent in Hanzō's route, where her competence as a ninja flourishes more thoroughly, though [[spoiler:the "couple" part only comes after they retire from shinobi life.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Wishes to go on her first mission so that she can be useful to her village and clan, the Koga. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the only "use" her father had for her was letting her be hunted down to rake in gold and destabilize the country for future profit.]]
* BreakTheCutie: It starts with her AbusiveDad and MissingMom and ends with [[spoiler:her being framed for murder, being forced to go on the run, and possibly seeing her friends die.]] And then there's [[FromBadToWorse the bad endings]].
* CallingTheOldManOut: She can get the opportunity to call out her father for his BS in all routes except Goemon's since it's the only route she doesn't get to confront him in.
* CharacterDevelopment: Gets a lot in Hanzō's route, which is also the only route where she fully develops her shinobi skills. After realizing just how sheltered she's been all her life, she resolves to grow strong enough to protect herself, and actively spends time training and getting advice from Hanzō. Because of this, she gains confidence in herself, enough to [[spoiler:stand up against her abusive father]], and becomes less naive about the world. She also wrestles with [[TheseHandsHaveKilled the necessity of killing]] and her own conflicting feelings towards her mother.
* ChildhoodFriends: With Gekkamaru, Kuroyuki, Chōjirō , Kyara and Ennosuke.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: In Gekkamuru, Kuroyuki, and Chōjirō's routes.
* CombatMedic: All shinobi are trained in medicine as well as fighting, but Enju spent even more time working with the herbalist than most. Hanzō's route reveals this is because [[AbusiveParents her father told her she'd be worthless as a shinobi and delayed her training by several years]].
* CommonalityConnection: With Hanzō through her mother.
* DeathSeeker: A variation in Goemon's bad ending. [[spoiler:Yodo attacks Enju and kills her; Enju admits that she could have dodged it if she had tried, but didn't because she had already accepted that she was going to die either way. Tragically, in this ending she never learns that Goemon had a plan that would have gotten her out alive.]]
* DestructiveRomance: With [[spoiler:Kuroyuki. Weeks of travelling alone and being [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslit]] turns Enju into a FragileFlower and exacerbates his {{Yandere}} tendencies. While he gets better about his possessiveness, at the end the two are (and acknowledge they're) in an unhealthily co-dependent relationship.]]
* DyingDream: In [[spoiler:Kuroyuki's bad ending, Enju is murdered by her father. As she bleeds out, Kuroyuki makes her see an illusion that they're back with all their friends in Koga and everything is safe, ensuring that she dies at peace.]]
* DualWielding: She wields two slender daggers.
* FightingYourFriend: [[spoiler:She's forced to come to blows with her friends while she's on the run after she's framed for Hideyoshi's murder, as they're all under orders to kill her depending on the route, much to her dismay. Though to be fair to them, they're not happy about it either.]]
* FragileFlower: Kuroyuki's route brings out the worst of her dependency and lack of self-confidence, ultimately turning her into this.
* FragileSpeedster: [[AllThereInTheManual The databooks mention]] that Enju's specialty as a ninja is her agility. In-story, she mostly relies on her speed and uses it to her advantage to get the upper hand in fights as she's not as durable as some of her more seasoned comrades are.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can rename her, but her default name is Enju.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: She is rather hard on herself, particularly when it comes to her skills as a shinobi.
* InterruptedSuicide:
** Upon learning that [[spoiler:Kōga will be destroyed if her head isn't taken to Fushimi Castle]] in Chōjirō's route, Enju rushes to [[spoiler:Gekkamaru, Ennosuke, and Kyara's shared grave]] and attempts suicide. [[spoiler:Chōjirō stops her.]]
** She also attempts this in Gekkamaru's route after [[spoiler: Ennosuke's death. Fortunately, Hanzo stops her just in time and talks her out of it.]]
* KillingInSelfDefense: In Hanzō's route, Enju is forced to kill one of the Nokizaru shinobi attacking her and Hanzo. Later in the same route, [[spoiler:she kills her father in self-defense]].
* MissingMom: She committed suicide when Enju was small, which left the poor girl feeling like her mother didn't want her. [[spoiler:Or so it seems--Hanzō's route reveals Kando actually murdered Kagari and arranged it to look like suicide.]]
* MoralityChain: For Kuroyuki in his route.
* NaiveNewcomer: Having been sheltered in Koga all her life, she's unfamiliar with a lot of the outside world. She also hasn't been on a mission as a shinobi before, and so has somewhat rose-tinted glasses. Needless to say, reality hits her hard.
* {{Protectorate}}:
** Enju is this for Gekkamaru, and effectively for all of Koga as well, since she's basically seen as their princess.
** It's deconstructed in Hanzō's route when Enju realizes that she's completely unprepared for the real life-or-death situation she's now in because she's spent her whole life being protected by others, and resolves to become strong enough to keep herself alive.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Learning that her friends all died for nothing in their pursuit of her because of Hideyoshi and Kando's schemes in addition to Hideyoshi desecrating their graves in Gekkamaru's route, the normally gentle and softspoken [[BewareTheNiceOnes Enju]] drops all pretenses of her previous pacifism in favor of ''actually'' attempting to murder Hideyoshi ''and'' her father out of anger for what they've done.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: In Hanzō's route, [[spoiler:Enju kills her father in self-defense.]] She also [[spoiler:kills him in Gekkamaru's route, but unlike in Hanzō's route where she did it out of self-defense, she kills him in revenge for her friends' meaningless deaths.]]
* ShelteredAristocrat: Enju is basically considered the village's princess and thus has never been allowed to go on a mission before; as a result, she is a bit naive about the ways of the world, though it doesn't generally hinder her too much.
* ShyBlueHairedGirl: She's generally sweet and somewhat shy, with blue-tinged hair.
* SignatureMove: Hyakka Shofuren. She whips up a whirlwind of [[CherryBlossoms cherry blossoms]] around her to hide her from view. She uses it to defeat Goemon in every route, and it becomes prominent in some other routes, particularly Chojiro's, since he's the one who taught it to her.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: In Hanzō's route, Enju kills one of the Nokizaru shinobi in self-defense and feels extreme guilt over it; she even feels bad about all the ninja that Hanzō has killed defending her, because they were after her in the first place.[[spoiler: By the time she takes her father's life at the end of the route, she has come to terms with it, but notably, the good ending concludes with her and Hanzō both giving up the path of the shinobi.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Big time on Hanzō's route.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Both her casual kimono and her shinobi gear are blue.
* WellDoneDaughterGal: Part of the reason she's so eager to go on a mission is to impress her father, with whom her relationship with is so distant it's practically non-existent.
[[/folder]]
!!Love Interests
[[folder:Gekkamaru]]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style01_7.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/WataruHatano
After losing his family, Gekkamaru was adopted by the protagonist's family along with his younger brother when he was three. Assigned to be the Enju's bodyguard, Gekkamaru has proven time and again to be loyal and steadfast. He is known to be one of the most skilled and reliable ninja Kōga has. Gekkamaru is completely devoted to his master and can sometimes be overprotective.
----
* BigBrotherInstinct: He often takes it upon himself to reel in Kuroyuki's antics.
* BodyguardCrush: To Enju. He's been protecting her ever since she was little and he's grown overprotective to the point that everyone can see it. [[spoiler: It may be because of the jutsu Kagari placed upon him when he was small that he's so obsessed with protecting her. That said, his feelings for her are the genuine article despite this.]]
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: One of the options to[[spoiler: break Kagari's jutsu to have Gekkamaru stop protecting Enju is to show him that she's in love with someone else. Given this, it's probable that the jutsu is broken in the other routes where she falls in love with someone else.]]
* DevotedToYou: His loyalty and devotion is fully dedicated to Enju.
* DoggedNiceGuy: In all routes except his own, of the Low-Key Yearning variety. He is so devoted to Enju that he would think nothing of abandoning his village, or his own life, to keep her safe. [[spoiler:In every single route, he abandons Koga without hesitation in order to break Enju out of prison, although someone may beat him to it depending on the route. In Chojiro's route, he even dies to protect her. It's justified, as he is working under the spell Enju's mother had cast on him as a child to protect Enju at all cost.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Gekkamaru's devotion to protecting Enju runs deep, but Enju remains oblivious to why he's so protective of her besides the fact that "it's his duty."
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Whenever Gekkamaru's eyes glow, it means Kagari's protection spell is influencing him and anyone posing a threat to Enju better run.
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: After Enju breaks [[spoiler: Kagari's protection spell and reactivates his mother's spell that causes him to attack her, she tries to appeal to him in this way.]]
* MutualKill: With [[spoiler:Ennosuke]] on [[spoiler:Chojiro]]'s route.
* NotBloodSiblings: Gekkamaru was adopted into the Koga family and was raised with Enju as an older brother and bodyguard.
* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler: The end of his route. He stabs himself in an effort to stop his body from fulfilling his mother's spell, and Enju is left thinking he was dead for a while. He shows up again for the finale, supposedly having been saved by the Tokugowa shinobi.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Contrary to their color-schemes, Gekkamaru is the calmer and more practical blue oni, where Kuroyuki is the cheerful, happy-go-lucky red oni.
* SupremeChef: He's one of the few shinobi with quite exceptional cooking skills.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Enju. [[spoiler:Kagari's spell might have something to do with it, but he remains loyal to her even once it's broken.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuroyuki]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chara_style02.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HiroShimono
Gekkamaru's younger brother and Enju's foster brother. Right after he was born, he and Gekkamaru were taken in by her family. Cheerful, carefree and clever, Kuroyuki can also be quite cunning. He was sent away on an extended mission when he was eight, and after 8 years, has finally returned.
----
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: In his route, he casually mentions that he's been trained to take poison.
* AlwaysSecondBest: In Hanzo's route, he says he feels this way when it comes to Enju's affections; first to Gekkamaru, later to Hanzo.
* AmnesiacHero: [[spoiler:Kuroyuki's ninjutsu feeds off of memories. By the time of the events of the game, his feelings for Enju and his resentment toward Gekkamaru are all he remembers from his childhood.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: In Chojiro and Gekkamaru's routes. Played with in Goemon and Hanzo's. [[spoiler:He usually shows up to side with Enju even when he's not being romanced; however, it's implied that he's the actual killer of Hideyoshi in Goemen and Hanzo's routes, making his decision to side with her there perhaps somewhat motivated by guilt.]]
* DestructiveRomance: [[spoiler:One that's not entirely his fault, due to how mentally broken he is. Since his feelings for Enju are all he can remember, he's fixated on her so much that he states he doesn't know how to live without her. If she returns his feelings (that is, goes on his route), they both end up utterly, unhealthily co-dependent.]]
* {{Gaslighting}}: [[spoiler:On his route, he explicitly injures himself and lies to Enju about her friends attacking him, to make her think he's the only one on her side.]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: One of Kuroyuki's eyes glows red whenever he uses his shadow techniques.
* HiddenDepths: Kuroyuki's bright disposition is [[spoiler:an act he puts on in an effort to recapture his identity that he lost along with his memories.]]
* IfICantHaveYou…: [[spoiler: Kuroyuki mentions that he wanted to make a world where only they could live in, even if it means making Enju hate him. Eventually subverted, as he realizes he was wrong to try to keep Enju to himself.]]
* InLoveWithLove: [[spoiler: Since training for Kagehami (Shadow Eater) required him to stay in the dark for 8 years and have it eat away at his memories and soul, the only way he was able to cope was to summon an illusion of Enju. After they confess, Enju says that maybe he's not really in love with her, but the memory of her.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: After realizing it was wrong and selfish of him to manipulate Enju, he decides instead to try to create a world where she can be happy without him by killing anything that could harm her.]]
* LossOfIdentity: [[spoiler:His childhood training destroyed all of his memories.]]
* LoveConfession: To Enju. He tells her so much that she thinks he's joking.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: After Hideyoshi's murder, he breaks Enju out of jail, tells her no one is on her side except him, her friends are headed to kill her, and the only way to survive is for them to be together forever. He also ties their wrists together after she finds out that he's been lying.]]
* LovingAShadow: No pun intended... [[spoiler: Deconstructed on his route. Kuroyuki fixates on Enju because his feelings for her are one of the only things he can remember after his near-complete loss of memory. As such, he's terrified to lose her, going as far as to try and gaslight her into believing that he's the only one she can trust, and the two of them end up becoming concerningly codependent on each other. Enju even lampshades it during their LoveConfession, explicitly wondering if Kuroyuki is only in love with the memory of her.]]
* MoralityChain: Enju becomes this to him, as she's the only [[spoiler: memory of his childhood he has left, and one of the few things tethering him to his humanity.]]
* NeverFoundTheBody: A subversion occurs in [[spoiler:Chojiro's route. Kuroyuki's body presumably gets washed away in a river during a fight, and Chojiro and Enju presume that he is dead. In the bad ending, he's never seen again, but in the good ending, he resurfaces to assist in their escape.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: On some routes (definitely on his own but also implied on Goemon's and Hanzo's), [[spoiler:he is the one who murders Hideyoshi, on orders from Kando Ueno. Apparently he didn't realize that Enju was in the next room, and she ends up getting framed for the crime.]]
* NotBloodSiblings: Kuroyuki was adopted into the Koga family and was raised alongside Enju until he was 8.
* TheOneThatGotAway: With Enju. Regrets being sent away for 8 years and being apart from her, so he wants to make as many memories with her as possible.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Says this repeatedly [[spoiler: as he's sucking the poison out of Enju.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Contrary to their color-schemes, Gekkamaru is the calmer and more practical blue oni, where Kuroyuki is the cheerful, happy-go-lucky red oni. [[spoiler: At least, on the surface he is.]]
* ShadowPin: One of his techniques.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler: He was subjected to years of mental torture during his training, and the jutsu he learned there specifically feeds on memories and souls, rendering him a shell of his former self. Part of the reason he fixates on Enju is because she is the only person he remembered after forgetting the rest of his childhood, and the only person who has kept him from losing his mind already.]]
* SiblingRivalry: Mostly one-sided from him to Gekkamaru, as he somewhat resents Gekkamaru for being chosen as Enju's protector over himself.
* SinisterScythe: He uses two kusarigama.
* StepfordSmiler: Kuroyuki puts on a cheerful front, but his route reveals that he is nowhere near as composed as he seems. [[spoiler:Years of torture and learning techniques that feed on your soul will do that.]]
* TrainingFromHell: Deconstructed hard. [[spoiler:As a child, Kuroyuki was subjected to a training method that was literal torture and also gradually ate his memories and soul. As a result, he is ''very'' mentally fragile and obsessed with Enju, because she's the only person he ''can'' remember.]]
* {{Yandere}}: Somewhat justified and downplayed, given his backstory. His route reveals that [[spoiler:he'd been tortured for the 8 years he was away from Koga and that his memories of his childhood are all but gone aside from Enju. He becomes obsessed with her because he views her as his only connection to humanity and the only thing keeping him from being a complete "monster". When he realizes she'd been blamed for Hideyoshi's murder, he hatches a plan to rescue her alone and convinces her not to trust anyone but him. He mercilessly kills almost all the shinobi that come for Enju, though he doesn't do anything worse than beating up her friends ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Goemon]]) when they come. After his deception is revealed to Enju, he decides instead that he wants to create a happy world for her, and puts all his energy into removing all threats to her life.]]
* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: After Enju is claimed to be Hideyoshi's murderer, Kuroyuki doesn't care if he has to kill to stay with her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chōjirō Momochi]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KosukeToriumi
The son of the late leader of Iga, Tanba Momochi, Enju's cousin. After losing his family and clan in the Tenshou Iga War at the age of five, he joined Kōga with his surviving people. Since he is the son of the Head Shinobi of the fallen Iga, he's naturally observant and calm. His skills as a shinobi are eminent in Kōga, as he's also a teacher for Enju and the others.
----
* AloofBigBrother: He's the strong, stoic, older brother figure to Enju and her friends in Koga.
* BigBrotherMentor: He taught the other younger shinobi how to fight.
* ConflictingLoyalty: In his route, Chōjirō hesitates to side with Enju due to the fact that [[spoiler:Kōga will be destroyed if they do not kill her, and for Chōjirō, who has already lost his home once before, the thought of losing his home again frightens him]].
* CharacterTics: He clenches his fists when he's emotionally distressed.
* {{Dandere}}: He's generally quiet and emotionless, but opens up to Enju by the end of his route.
* IntimateHealing: In his route, [[spoiler:he is poisoned by the Nokizaru shinobi and loses consciousness, forcing Enju to give him the antidote mouth-to-mouth]]. He teases her about this later after Hanzo points it out to him.
* KissingCousins: Enju's mother was the younger sister of Chōjirō's father, making Enju and Chōjirō cousins.
* LethalChef: His culinary skills are non-existent, with him burning every meal he and Enju eat on his route.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He has long hair and is quite handsome.
* MutualKill: In his bad ending, [[spoiler:he and Enju decide to kill each other rather than truly fight to the death for Hideyoshi's amusement]].
* TheQuietOne: He doesn't speak much and is largely introspective.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Enju, on his route. [[spoiler:He's one of the shinobi ordered to hunt her down, and it takes a good bit of time for him to decide not to, despite his feelings for her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hanzō Hattori]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenjiroTsuda
Known as the right-hand-man to Ieyasu Tokugawa and the leader of the Tokugawa shinobi, Hanzō is one of the few surviving members of the now-destroyed Iga clan. Calm, blunt and efficient, he has made a name for himself as the greatest shinobi in Japan and is looked at with great admiration by Enju and her peers.
----
* BackToBackBadasses: He helps Enju train on his route, and she's eventually able to fight back-to-back with him whenever they encounter enemy shinobi.
* BattleCouple: With Enju on his route, though [[spoiler:the "couple" part only comes after they retire from shinobi life.]]
* BrutalHonesty: He does ''not'' hold any punches when pointing out one's flaws as a shinobi, but also doesn't pass any judgement about said flaws.
* CareerEndingInjury: [[spoiler:At the end of his route, he takes a side wound from Chojirō, then reopens it fighting his traitorous second-in-command. As a result it doesn't heal properly, forcing him to retire from the life of a shinobi.]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: "That's the spirit" on his route, whenever he recognizes Enju's determination to improve.
* TheChampion: To Ieyasu. He's Ieyasu's right-hand-man and most trusted accomplice, more than willing to put his life on the line to protect him.
* CharacterDevelopment: Starts his route as a practical yet merciless shinobi who puts the mission above all else and says shinobi don't need trust. Effectively, a living weapon. At the end of his route, he openly says he trusts Enju, [[spoiler:holds back from killing her friends for her sake, and abandons his mission in order to protect her, ultimately regaining his humanity.]]
* ChildhoodFriends: He was friends with Enju's mother Kagari since they came from the same village and were close in age.
* CommonalityConnection: With Enju through her mother.
* ConflictingLoyalty: At the end of his route, [[spoiler: Ieyasu orders him to kill Enju to secure him the position of Hideyori's guardian. Having fallen in love with Enju at that point, Hanzō feels extremely conflicted about fulfilling his mission and ultimately chooses to protect her from the rest of his clan. Fortunately, Ieyasu lets him off the hook by only ordering ''proof'' of Enju's death (in the form of her bloody sash) instead of her body, allowing her to live on in secret and sparing Hanzō from defying his orders.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Hanzo is considered WorldsBestWarrior in-universe and he lives up to the title. Any enemy he goes up against tends to fall pretty quickly, and he only really has trouble in the latter chapters of his route because [[spoiler:he's fighting Enju's friends and wants avoid killing them for her sake. The only real exception to this is Goemon, who seemed to be able to stand against him better than most the one time they fought in earnest.]]
* DeathGlare: Has an unfortunate habit of looking very serious and sharp when he doesn't necessarily mean to be, and this combined with his stoicism means that he comes off as very intimidating to younger shinobi like Enju and her friends. Even the normally unruffled Kuroyuki is nervous in his presence.
* DefrostingIceQueen: He's aloof and cold, but not ''mean''--he's just so mission-oriented, it's hard to get to know him. On his route, he warms up to Enju over the course of several months.
* DualWielding: He wields two large daggers.
* HiddenDepths: He has calligraphy-level handwriting and knows a lot about tea ceremonies, quite contrary to his reputation as a terrifyingly skilled shinobi.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hanzō Hattori was a real historical figure who was loyal to Ieyasu Tokugawa; however he was a warrior rather than a shinobi, and probably less of a {{Hunk}} than his RomanceGame counterpart.
* MyGreatestFailure: Enju's mother, Kagari, spoke to him while she was pregnant and asked him to run away with her; he wasn't able to, and she ended up committing suicide [[spoiler:(actually being murdered by Kando)]]. Hanzo is deeply remorseful, feeling that she and Enju would have lived much happier lives if he'd done as she asked.
* SternTeacher: He becomes an unofficial mentor of sorts to Enju on his route, helping her train and advising her about the shinobi way. While he's strict, he's also fair, never insulting her and giving compliments when due.
* TheStoic: He's generally quiet and keeps his emotions to himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: When he fails his mission because he'd fallen in love with Enju and thus refused to kill her once [[spoiler:Ieyasu ordered him to, he wants to commit suicide rather than live as a nukenin.]]
* WhatIsThisFeeling: Downplayed in his route. [[spoiler:Hanzo is bewildered by his feelings for Enju at first because he's never loved anyone romantically before, but he figures it out pretty quickly and isn't shy about expressing it afterwards.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: If he genuinely thinks someone has made a mistake, that's one thing. However, if someone (like Enju) is engaging in SelfDeprecation, expect Hanzo to refute that, and maybe offer some constructive criticism while he's at it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Goemon Ishikawa]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HikaruMidorikawa
An elusive and infamous thief with the peculiar habit of leaving a warning note in the homes he will rob, listing the exact item he intends to steal. Though charming and laid-back, Goemon is considered highly dangerous by the state for his incredible skill and anonymity. A team of Kōga shinobi, consisting of Enju and her friends, is hired to sleuth out information aiding in his capture.
----
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Mentions in his route that he's immune to the poisons created by Fuma, [[spoiler:from his training there.]]
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:He pretends to betray Enju near the end of his route in order to trick the Fuma Clan into helping him stage her FakeDeath in front of the elders so they will stop hunting her. He later apologizes to her for it, saying he'd wanted to let her in on his plan, but couldn't due to the Fuma watching him so closely.]]
* TheCharmer: He's very slick and charming, openly flirting with Enju even minutes after meeting her.
* ChivalrousPervert: He's generally polite and kind, but openly admits to "having fun" with women. However, he only has sexual relationships with those who know what they're getting into, which is why he doesn't do more than flirt than Enju--he can tell she's inexperienced in the romance department.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crosses it in his bad ending. [[spoiler:Enju's death causes him to snap and break his ThouShallNotKill policy. The ending CGI shows him cradling her body, crying, and [[BrokenSmile smiling brokenly]] as he walks away from the bloody scene.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: His route reveals that he is actually quite good with children.
* GentlemanThief: Goemon is a thief who only steals from the corrupt and rich who is quite liked by the commoners of Kyo. He also always leaves a calling card before and after committing a crime. Not only this but he has a code against killing.
* HandsomeLech: Good-looking and quick to rattle off compliments to any lady who will hear them.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Goemon attempts this while the Kyo shinobi are hunting him, standing around unobtrusively and smoking a pipe to cover up the lingering smell of smoke bombs. Unfortunately for him, Enju can differentiate between the two smells and can also smell the blood on him.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Goemon Ishikawa was a real historical figure and thief who targeted the wealthy during the reign of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, however he was not a shinobi and probably not a {{Bishonen}}.
* InternalReveal: The fact that he and the strange man named "Goro" Enju meets are one in the same is treated as a plot twist, but one look at the game's relationship menu will spoil it long before its acknowledged in the plot.
* JustLikeRobinHood: Except he is based on [[HistoricalDomainCharacter a real person.]]
* LoveableRogue: He's a thief, but he exclusively targets the rich and is actually quite popular among the common folk for it.
* NiceGuy: He doesn't have any particular reason to protect Enju, he simply decides to because he likes her and does so even in some of the routes where he's not being romanced.
* ThouShallNotKill: He has a strict personal rule against killing, and will avoid doing so whenever possible. [[spoiler: This is only subverted in his bad ending, in which he snaps after witnessing Enju's death and uses a ninjutsu to make the elders murder each other.]]
* TranquilFury: His bad ending. [[spoiler:After Enju dies, he very calmly announces to the room that they're all going to die for what they've done to Enju. Hanzo is quick enough to grab Ieyasu and escape, but no one else is that lucky.]]
* {{Yandere}}: His bad ending dips its toes into this. [[spoiler:After Enju is killed by Yodo, he uses a powerful ninjustsu to create illusions that cause the Elders (aside from Ieyasu, who Hanzo manages to get out of the room just in time) to start murdering each other. The CG plays heavily on {{Yandere}} imagery as he stares straight ahead with blank, teary eyes, cradling Enju's body as the carnage rages on around them.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Side Characters
!!!Koga Shinobi
[[folder:Kandou Ueno]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jirou Saitou
Enju's father and leader of the Koga clan.
----
* AbusiveParent: He's emotionally distant and neglectful to Enju even early in the game, but becomes outright malicious to her later when he [[spoiler: allows her to be used as a scapegoat for the murder ordered, or the trophy for Hideoyoshi's game to choose his son's guardian. In more than one route, he raises a weapon against his own daughter, and in Kuroyuki's bad ending he actually kills her.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:Eventually becomes this to Enju in routes where he's a direct antagonist.]]
* AssholeVictim: In the routes where he dies, you will probably have a hard time managing to feel any sympathy for him, especially since you've probably just learned about something horrible he did.
* DevilInPlainSight: Given his VillainousFashionSense and the perpetual evil grimace his sprite wears, it comes as no surprise that Enju's father is evil.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a large prominent scar across his left eye, making him look sinister like he actually is from the get-go.
* IHaveNoDaughter: [[spoiler:Immediately disowns Enju when she's been framed for Hideyoshi Toyotomi's murder in all routes.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: A real piece of work, this guy is.
* KickTheDog: He does a lot of this to Enju, but one of his more despicable acts is [[spoiler:sending Enju's own closest friends to go after her and kill her when she's been accused of murdering Toyotomi when he has the option of choosing other Koga ninja for the job.]]
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:He successfully kills Enju in Kuroyuki's Bad Ending.]] Hanzō's route further reveals that [[spoiler:he even threatened to murder Enju as an infant to force her mother to make him the Jashingan, a potion used by the Iga that turns those who consume it into violent but loyal pawns.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ennosuke Yamakura]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Ryou Ooshima
One of Enju's childhood friends who is a ninja of Koga.
----
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Kyara. They constantly bicker, and though it's never outright confirmed, one of the common route bonus scenarios as well as main-game subtext suggests they have more than platonic feelings for each other.
* SelfDuplication: His main ninjutsu is the ability to make illusionary copies of himself.
* SuperSpeed: He is one of the fastest Koga shinobi and he uses speed to his advantage in battle.
* WolverineClaws: He uses tekagi-shuko (hand claws).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kyara Mikumo]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SaoriHayami
Another one of Enju's friends, also a ninja of Koga.
----
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ennosuke. They constantly bicker, and though it's never outright confirmed, one of the common route bonus scenarios as well as main-game subtext suggests they have more than platonic feelings for each other.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:In Gekkamaru's route. After she works with Enju to stop some of the shinobi who had been controlling her body via ninjutsu, its revealed she'd been dead all along and that the ninjutsu was the only thing keeping her alive.]]
* EpicFlail: She uses a chigiriki, a Japanese flail weapon.
* FieryRedhead: Kyara is as fiery as her red hair suggests.
* RedOniBlueOni: With Enju. Kyara is the more fiery red oni to Enju's shy and sweet blue oni. Their colour schemes even line up perfectly.
* TomboyishPonytail
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She wears pants in her civilian outfit and shinobi gear and both have elements of flowers and fuchsia.
* {{Tsundere}}: Mostly with Ennosuke, whom she snipes with at every opportunity. However, she and him are heavily implied to have feelings for each other, and Enju notes that they know one another so well that they fight seamlessly as a team. She is devastated by [[spoiler:his death in Chojiro's route, though it's not too long afterward that she also dies.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kasumi]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MegumiHan
Another one of Enju's friends and the youngest of them.
----
* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler:She's forced to attempt to assassinate Enju in Gekkamaru's route because her family is being held hostage unless she does the deed. She clearly hates having to kill her beloved elder sister, but feels she has no choice in the matter whatsoever. As she dies, she even apologizes for both having raised her blades against Enju, and for cruelly taunting her during their fight while Kasumi was under the influence of the drug that forces her to fight Enju.]]
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: She is the youngest of the friend group.
* BigSisterWorship: She adores both Enju and Kyara and looks up to both of them.
* BreakTheCutie: Poor young Kasumi gets put through [[TraumaCongaLine the worst of ordeals]] out of all her friends next to Enju depending on the routes [[spoiler:after Enju is accused of murdering Hideyoshi and is on the run from the law after she breaks out of jail. Not only is she forced to hunt down and kill her beloved elder sister under the orders of their village head, she experiences losing all her friends one by one during the chase in Chojiro and Gekkamaru's routes. In both routes, she also ends up getting killed by the end of them.]]
* DeadlyDisc: She uses two chakram as a weapon.
* NotHerself: [[spoiler:The normally kindhearted and soft Kasumi becomes more vicious and cruel when she drinks the Jashingan drug Kando gives her that presumably gives her a boost in her physical abilities at the cost of her sanity.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: Despite her appearance and childlike mannerisms, Kasumi is actually 15, making her only a year younger than the 16 year old Enju.
* OnlyOneName: Like Gekkamaru and Kuroyuki, Kasumi's family name is never revealed despite mentioning that they exist.
* SupremeChef: While her shinobi skills aren't great, she is good at cooking and sewing.
* ThirdPersonPerson: It's not translated in the English written dialogue, but listening closely to Kasumi's recorded dialogue reveals her to be one of these.
[[/folder]]
!!! 5 Elders
[[folder: Ieyasu Tokugawa]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoukiMiyata
An Influential Daimyo who rules the Kanto Region and one of the Five Elders. He owns his own shinobi clan which is currently lead by Hanzō Hattori.
----
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Is openly eccentric compared to the other Elders, but is also the most powerful and extremely intelligent.
* TheGadfly: According to Hanzo, Ieyasu enjoys teasing him for the sake of his own amusement.
* GuileHero:
** Straddles the line between this and MagnificentBastard in most routes, as he's more an AntiHero and often takes a TrueNeutral position, in contrast to the full antagonism of the other Elders. He tends to be somewhat conniving and is planning to take over the country soon after the events of the game, according to Hanzo (and actual Japanese history). That said, he doesn't particularly want Enju to die and even sends Hanzo to protect her in most routes despite him being the WorldsBestWarrior who could probably kill her easily.
** He is this more straight-forwardly in Hanzo's route. [[spoiler:He agrees to simply use proof of Enju's death (in the form of her bloody sash) to ensure he becomes Hideyori's guardian instead of insisting on her body, allowing Enju to live on in secret and sparing Hanzo from having to either kill her or defy his orders.]]
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Ieyasu Tokugawa was a real historical figure who did actually take over Japan after Hideyoshi's death, being the forefather of the Tokugawa Shogunate which lead Japan for over 250 years between the 17th and 19th centuries. He was quite a bit more ruthless than his in-game counterpart though, and probably wasn't a ridiculously pretty {{Bishonen}}.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He has long hair and is very good-looking.
[[/folder]]
