[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ToyotomiHideyoshi_5579.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"If the cuckoo does not sing, make it sing."'']]

The second of the unifying warlords of Japan and a prime example of RagsToRiches. Born Kinoshita Tokichiro, he starts his career by being a sandal-bearer of OdaNobunaga. He eventually gets drafted into Nobunaga's army, changed his name to 'Hashiba Hideyoshi' (taken from two of Nobunaga's retainer names: '''Shiba'''ta Katsuie and Niwa Naga'''hide''') and his resourcefulness becomes an asset to the army. When Nobunaga was murdered, Hideyoshi got to his killer Akechi Mitsuhide first within 13 days and annihilated his army. From that point on, Hideyoshi continued Nobunaga's conquest and succeeded in unifying Japan. He changed his name to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and became known as the Taiko (since he was of lower class stock, he could not become Shogun). As if that wasn't enough, shortly after unifying Japan, Hideyoshi tried conquering Korea, but that failed spectacularly. He died of sickness, and from that stems the conflict that would lead to the famous Battle of Sekigahara, which ends with Hideyoshi's subordinate TokugawaIeyasu victorious and replaces Hideyoshi's family in ruling Japan.

As noted, Hideyoshi is most known for his resourcefulness and his ability to manipulate events. Some historians to this day ''still'' argue that he might be TheStarscream, and that Mitsuhide's betrayal was secretly engineered by Hideyoshi. That being said, props should be given that he actually succeeded in unifying Japan and actually did good to his people's welfare. Too bad that his dynasty didn't last past two generations.

His nickname was 'monkey'. Usual portrayal would depict him being a ManipulativeBastard or a wannabe schemer. He's also included in one issue of BadassOfTheWeek.

Due to his invasion of Korea, [[AmericansHateTingle naturally Koreans hate him a lot]].

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!!Examples of works featuring Hideyoshi:

* The famous novel ''{{Taiko}}''. Chronicles with the life and times of Hideyoshi, from sandal-bearer to the Japanese unifier.
* ''SengokuRance'' where he's... a ''literal monkey''. He's also directly responsible for the DemonicPossession of Nobunaga as a catastrophic SpannerInTheWorks.
* Of course, KOEI's ''SamuraiWarriors''. Hideyoshi starts out as a [[SmugSnake smug]] sleazeball NPC in the first game, but at the first expansion, he's given a more sympathetic personality where he really wants to make Japan a place for happy people. That trait sticks to his future portrayals. Although he looks more of a goofball in future games...
** ''WarriorsOrochi'' is also notable of his inclusion, especially in the English version, whereas his voice now literally sounds like ''BugsBunny'' trying to sound like a monkey. [[{{Narm}} Eww...]]
** In the ''Samurai Warriors'' crossover with the ''Pokémon series'', ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'', Hideyoshi appears with an Infernape (and through DLC Reshiram).
* The ''{{Onimusha}}'' series. Hideyoshi starts out as Nobunaga's smug henchman. But when Nobunaga dies, Hideyoshi TookALevelInBadass and unifies Japan off-screen. Then come the 4th game, he became the BigBad using the Genma forces to wreak havoc. [[spoiler:However, he did get an AlasPoorVillain moment when the Genma forces ditched him and he realized that he's done something horrible, meaning, there was a time that Hideyoshi had a genuine HeelFaceTurn...]]
* The ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' series. Forget about scrawny monkey-like Hideyoshi and say hello to gorilla-sized Hideyoshi who fights with huge grappling gauntlets and solves all problems by punching them. Hard. If that fails, grab a nearby {{mook}} (usually a hostile one but friendly ones will do), then bludgeon the problem at hand with said mook. Instead of a SmugSnake, he becomes a WellIntentionedExtremist who'd do ruthless things to shape Japan into a strong nation. To put it simply, he's a CaptainErsatz of [[FistOfTheNorthStar Raoh]].
* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'''s special mission, you actually control Hideyoshi's forces trying to beat down Mitsuhide after he killed Nobunaga. There's also a mission where the player must prevent Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea.
* Hideyoshi makes an appearence in ''{{Genzo}}'' without playing a major role. Here he looks like a monkey dressed as a samurai.
* Hideyoshi (or rather, Yoshino Hide) is the main character of ''SengokuOtome'', here {{gender flip}}ped into a young, somewhat clumsy girl with blond hair who gets thrown into the past, and may very well [[YouWillBeBeethoven becomes the actual Hideyoshi]].
* Hideyoshi is one of the main players in ''Hyouge Mono''. He is a friend and fellow tea enthusiast of main character Sasuke, and is also a deft manipulator who conspires to overthrow OdaNobunaga by turning his vassals and generals against him.
* Hideyoshi is a teenager that meets Raimon 11 in ''InazumaEleven Go Chrono Stone'' after they traveled to the past. He idolizes OdaNobunaga and wishes to fight by his side.
* In ''LightNovel/OdaNobunaNoYabou'', Hideyoshi dies saving the main character's life at the very beginning of the series, leaving him to serve Oda Nobuna under the "Monkey" nickname.

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