Line #0 YMMV/ThirteenAssassins


1	%% Do not un-comment out the Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples without adding context.
2	* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler:After committing so many heinous deeds throughout the film's runtime, seeing Naritsugu Matsudaira finally killed by being ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and then beheaded by [[TheHero Shinzaemon]] is nothing short of satisfying]].
3	* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira]] is the Shogun's half brother, and a firm believer [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections that his connections will maintain his impunity]]. His [[EstablishingCharacterMoment very first scene]] has him raping the daughter-in-law of a lord who's hosting him for the night, and then killing her husband for good measure. This isn't an isolated incident, either. Naritsugu has been doing this for so long, he threatens the very stability of the nation. Later, we see him tie up a family for target practice--[[WouldHurtAChild including a little girl]]--and hear how he massacred a peasant revolt, taking the leader's daughter, after cutting out her tongue and chopping off her limbs, for his use as a SexSlave. His only reaction to seeing the titular assassins mow down his loyal soldiers who die in defense of him is to contemplate how amazing the era of war must have been while deciding to return to such days when he becomes Shogun.
4	* LoveToHate: Lord Naritsugu is an absolutely horrific monster, but he's generally seen as a very good villain thanks to Goro Inagaki's eerie performance as well as his unique characterization as a BloodKnight whose love of war is largely due to his lack of experience with the grisly reality of it.
5	* MagnificentBastard:
6	** [[BloodKnight Shimada Shinzaemon]] is an older samurai [[DeathSeeker seeking a place to die]]. Secretly contracted to assassinate the twisted Lord [[BigBad Matsudaira Naritsugu]], Shinzaemon rejoices as a chance for such a worthy end and to destroy such a great evil. Struck at Naritsugu's monstrous cruelty, Shinzaemon recruits twelve other warriors, [[SuicideMission knowing it will mean their deaths]], while plotting the defeat of Naritsugu's 200-man strong guard. Shinzaemon converts an entire town into a series of death traps so that the thirteen may triumph, ultimately cutting down countless good men to reach Naritsugu and his honorable guard Hanbei. Shinzaemon ultimately slays Hanbei and allows Naritsugu to mortally wound him so he might finish the sadistic lord himself.
7	** [[AloofAlly Koyata Kiga]] is a mysterious [[TheTrickster trickster]] who joins the twelve samurai conscripted to kill Naritsugu. Aiding the samurai in journeying through the forest, Koyata proves a [[CombatPragmatist cunning fighter]] as he lays traps for Naritsugu's forces and picks off many of the enemy samurai with slings and rocks. Seemingly killed by Naritsugu himself, the [[{{Tanuki}} likely supernatural]] Koyata cheerfully returns after the battle finishes, declaring his time with the samurai fun before departing to reunite with his beloved Upashi.
8	* MoralEventHorizon: Nartisugu pole-vaults over it during his first appearance and keeps on plummeting further down with every second he spends on screen. Trying to actually list his misdeeds would result in a full summary of the film.
9	* NightmareFuel: In the first act, we meet a young woman whose father was the leader of a revolt against [[AxCrazy Lord Naritsugu]]. To punish her father's act, Naritsugu killed her entire family, [[AndIMustScream hacked off her limbs and tongue]], and ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil used her as a living sex doll.]]'' This atrocity is what finally drives Shinzaemon the accept the mission to assassinate the depraved lord.
10	%% ShockingMoments: The 45 minute climax has this in '''spades'''.
11	* SignatureScene: Hirayama moving down a street of katana, drawing them, and wielding them in battle is probably the film's most iconic bit of imagery.
12	* TooCoolToLive:[[spoiler: Subverted with Kiga and Shinzaemon's nephew, but played straight with just about everyone else in the group.]]
13	* ValuesDissonance: Japan doesn't have a problem with non-sexual nudity or children being naked. There's a long shot of a naked little boy, about 6, peeing in a ditch. This is a funny gag to Japanese Cinema (a similar joke would be picking your nose in the West) but it can be jarring to foreign audiences to whom "naked children" means "PedoHunt".

Context YMMV / ThirteenAssassins