Characters from the PlayStation 4 game Ghost of Tsushima.

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Jin & His Allies

Jin Sakai

Voiced by: Daisuke Tsuji (English), Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Junya Hirano (Japanese, young Jin)^note

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_of_tsushima.jpg

"Honor died on the beach."

^{Click here to see him as the Ghost}

The protagonist and titular "Ghost of Tsushima," a samurai under the employ of his uncle Lord Shimura. Barely surviving a disastrous battle to repel Mongol invaders, he wanders the island of Tsushima to protect his homeland and repel the invaders.

See his character page here.

Shimura

Lord Shimura

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_916.jpg

"I trained you to fight with honor!"

Voiced by: Eric Steinberg (English), Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese)^note

Jin's uncle and father figure who trained him in the ways of the samurai since the former was a child.

Archnemesis Dad: Downplayed. He's not so much an archnemesis as he is a constant thorn in Jin's side, but Lord Shimura still makes things way harder for Jin than he has to. Lord Shimura's staunch devotion to honor even at the expense of logic really rubs Jin the wrong way when it's clear that the Samurai Code isn't working against the Mongols. But it's when Lord Shimura recklessly charges into battle and gets his forces routed at Castle Shimura that the feud with Jin really comes to a head, causing Jin to renounce being adopted from Lord Shimura and embrace his identity as the Ghost. That said, Lord Shimura also ends up serving as the True Final Boss. Jin may be his nephew, but Shimura can only regain his honor if he kills Jin under the Shogunate's orders. Even throughout all of this, it's clear that Shimura hates having the rift between himself and Jin, even shedding a few tears before the boss fight.
Anti-Villain: He evolves into this towards the end of the game. Despite the rift that has grown between them, he still sees Jin as a son, and having to kill him being as much a punishment for him as for Jin. Jin similarly still sees Shimura as a father figure should he refuse to kill him, insist that no matter what happens, they are family, and while Jin may have no honor, he will not kill family.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The lord of the island and one of its greatest fighters. One mission has him and Jin storm a fort and kill everyone inside despite being heavily outnumbered in order to provide a distraction for someone else.
Both Sides Have a Point: One of the highlights of the story is the contrasting views between Jin and Lord Shimura. Jin uses methods against the Mongols that Lord Shimura and many others consider dishonorable, while Lord Shimura wants to fight strictly adhering to the samurai code of honor.
- Lord Shimura's fanatical devotion to the samurai code of honor causes him to make strategical blunders that needlessly get his soldiers killed. This is demonstrated twice at Komoda Beach and Castle Shimura. In the former, he has his forces fight the Mongols at the beach not out of any strategical purpose, but because it's the honorable thing to do. This causes the samurai to be utterly annihilated, leaving Tsushima without trained warriors to fight the Mongols. At Castle Shimura, Lord Shimura's Attack! Attack! Attack! strategy gets his soldiers killed during the siege, which Jin calls him out on. The casualties don't faze Lord Shimura at all since to him, what mattered is that they died with honor. However, this sours Jin's view on him.
- Jin's methods in fighting the Mongols help the samurai take back Castle Shimura and kill Khotun Khan, but they do have negative consequences. If Jin sneaks into Castle Shimura using the cart, the two merchants will tell of how another merchant use Jin's poison to kill off a rival. To make it worse, the Mongols somehow manage to get a hold of Jin's poison as well and use it against Tsushima. The commoners are inspired by the Ghost to form an army in the north, which Jin had no knowledge of and did not intend. Jin's actions as the Ghost can either be twisted by some for their own purposes or be taken too far, such as the creation of the Ghost's army.
Broken Pedestal: He goes from being the man Jin respects more than anybody on earth to losing almost all of Jin's respect by the end of game due to his stubborn refusal to adapt and his total disregard for the lower class soldiers under his army making Jin see what a inflexible uncaring leader his uncle truly is (he justifies the death of countless samurai because they would have been honored to do so, which Jin feels is completely senseless). After Jin poisons the Mongols, Lord Shimura tries to get Jin to pin the blame of that action onto Yuna despite that she has been nothing but helpful in this war, however this became the final straw for Jin to finally embrace his "Ghost" identity and reject being Lord Shimura's son.
Cassandra Truth: When Khotun Khan tells him that Jin has been slaughtering his men through "dishonorable" ways, he refuses to believe it until he sees Jin's newfound skills as the Ghost in action.
Cool Helmet: He wears a suji-bachi kabuto adorned with a pair of large gold-coloured horns at the sides and his clan crest at the front.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: As the embodiment of Honor Before Reason the game as a whole tears down. Even being a genuine Reasonable Authority Figure to Jin is completely undermined by being a completely inflexible adherent of a worldview that just does not line up with the current reality.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: He's obsessed with living, fighting and dying with honor, but to him, honor also means adhering to a rigidly stratified caste system with his particular caste at the top. His own darker side gets revealed whenever this is threatened as shown with his confrontation with Jin.
Distressed Dude: He's captured by Khotun Khan in the opening act of the game, and Jin's initial motivation is to rescue him.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Well, not so much evil so much as he is a classist bigot, but it counts. Shimura's love for his nephew is his redeeming quality, as shown with Shimura hearing Jin's more pragmatic methods after he was broken out, he was willing to forget all about it and settled on chastising his nephew for fighting 'dishonorably' instead of doling out a harsh punishment. If anything, it's because of how much Shimura loves Jin like his own son that he was willing to look past some of his more dishonorable methods of fighting provided the fallout won't be so major such as Jin poisoning the Mongols' milk. Even as their relationship strains, it's pretty clear Shimura hates the fact that the closest thing he has to a son is drifting away from him after years of raising him due to different views on how to fight the Mongols. When the Shogun ordered Shimura to kill Jin, it's pretty clear that despite willing to do so, he has no enjoyment in carrying out the act and genuinely wants to be close to his nephew once again. Case in point: Shimura recieved the order to kill Jin by the time he infiltrated Castle Shimura to leave his secret message, but Shimura was putting it off by focusing on the Mongols so that he wouldn't have to kill his beloved nephew.
Face Death with Dignity: If Jin chooses to kill him, he accepts his death with the dignity one might expect from a samurai, though he does die with the fact that Jin will be hunted for the rest of his days after being branded a traitor by the Shogun.
Fatal Flaw: Honor. Shimura's refusal to resort to other tactics, no matter how questionable or "dishonorable" they are, ultimately leads to him sending his soldiers to die and souring his relationship with Jin. He will do nothing that will violate the samurai code of honor, causing him to have Skewed Priorities. While he does want to defend his home, he's more concerned about fighting with honor than considering casualties. This causes him to make strategical blunders and get his soldiers needlessly killed, which results in Jin losing respect for him.
The Fettered: He's a strict adherent of the samurai code of honour, and as such abhors the idea of utilizing underhanded tactics to defeat the enemy. It’s ultimately deconstructed as his strict adherence to the samurai code at the cost of strategy gains him nothing in the long run and breaks apart the bond he has with his nephew.
Final-Exam Boss: Khotun may serve as the player's final test of the various ghost tactics and combat styles, but Shimura tests how well the player has mastered the art of parrying, dodging and counter-attacking with just the sword, utilising quick attacks that alternate rapidly between blockable and unblockable several times in varying combos, and with the fight being restricted to a duel, Jin cannot utilize any Ghost tactics against him for both story and gameplay purposes. Khotun serves as the final test for the Ghost, but Shimura is the final test of how well you've mastered the Samurai combat style.
Foreshadowing: Shimura's bigotry towards commoners becomes apparent not long after he actually gets rescued at the end of Act 1. He's quite amiable to Ishikawa and Masako after they save him due to them being fellow nobles. He suddenly becomes rather frigid and dismissive towards Yuna, and this is before he even learns that she is a thief.
- Both acts 1 and 2 culminated in a one-on-one samurai duel with a samurai opponent Jin was ideologically opposed to, despite having a deep personal connection to them, causing him no amount of emotional anguish during the fights. It's no surprise that, even after killing Khotun and ending the invasion, Act 3 ends in the same manner.
Fragile Speedster: With his armour on he's depicted as being able to take quite a few hits in combat, but when Jin faces him he discards his armour in favour of a simple robe for ease of movement. The ensuring Final Boss fight mainly revolves around speedy blows and quick reactions on behalf of the player and Jin, and ends in short order, as opposed to Khotun's own fight.
Frontline General: Rules the entire island of Tsushima and leads his men into battle from the front, even in late middle age.
General Failure:
- In the intro he's pretty open that this is basically a suicidal last stand that is unlikely to achieve much of value. He's doing it because the samurai code demands it.
- His adherence to honor means that he prefers to lead his men into suicidal charges rather than take alternatives that would spare them. This is what caused him to lose respect from his nephew Jin.
- At the start of Act 3 you can eavesdrop on a conversation that Lord Oga, one of the samurai sent as reinforcements for Shimura, and he states that Shimura first having his castle overthrown by the Khan only to lose him from his grasp has greatly soured him in the eyes of the Shogun. The fact that he has also lost control of his nephew is only driving it further.
Good Old Ways: He stubbornly sticks to rather old traditions and a samurai code that doesn't stand up to the current reality despite his many losses at an enemy who clearly doesn't follow the same rules as him and are in fact exploiting those weaknesses. His nephew Jin on the other hand starts to call him out on this after he does the same blunder tactic at Castle Shimura.
Holier Than Thou: He carries this to go along with the honor as he believes that he and the samurai should be above using any dirty tactics when fighting enemies like the Mongols who will do anything to win. Jin however sees that such mindset is only killing more people than saving them.
Honor Before Reason: His main character trait and Fatal Flaw is his rigid devotion to the samurai code and maintaining his honor, when it becomes very clear that neither will drive off the Mongol invasion.
- While he and everyone else on Tsushima wants the Mongols out of their territory, he still believes in the samurai code. As such, he really doesn't approve of Jin's actions as the infamous Ghost.
- This is perhaps best exemplified at the start of the game, before the battle against the Mongols. Shimura is very open about how the battle is lost before it has even begun, and all the samurai are here to essentially die in the faint hope that their death will delay the invaders. He's doing that because it is the honorable thing to do, not out of any strategic purpose. Khotun in turn knows that this is the samurai's weakness and uses it against them to make his victory all the more crushing.
Hypocrite:
- He professes that the purpose of the samurai is to protect and inspire the people of Tsushima. He is however a classist, who has no problem sacrificing commoners in his battle. For all his sanctimonious preaching about living up to a high standard of honor and virtue, he urges Jin to take the coward's way out by pinning the blame onto Yuna when Jin resorts to poisoning the Mongols despite the fact that Jin makes it clear he did it of his own volition and is more than willing to take full responsibility for his actions. And like the Shogun, he's appalled when Jin inspires the commoners to fight the Mongols themselves.
- He keeps mentioning to Jin the importance of controlling one's emotions, but he himself struggles with this. At the start of Act 2, when he sees the mongols have burned down farms in retaliation for his escape, his immediate reaction to charge headlong into the nearest patrol of Mongols in retaliation for that, and then into the nearest camp, with no one but Jin at his back. He also can barely disguise his disgust towards Yuna's past as a thief, or the people of Yarikawa who rebelled against him years ago, even when they are his allies.
- Despite looking down on Yuna for being a thief and cautioning Jin not to trust her he has connections to some rather unsavory contacts like the smuggler Goro. He’s also aware of the existence of Umugi Cove, a noted den of pirates and other sorts of criminals, but seemingly hasn’t done anything about it.
Informed Attribute: Reputedly a great general who has won seemingly unwinnable battles, but never wins a battle without outside assistance, usually involving tactics he disdains as dishonorable. All his great victories are a decade in the past, against warriors who play by the same rules as him, leaving him totally out of his depth against an opponent like Khotun Khan who doesn't. There's also the implication that he's used to facing opponents who are weaker than him - bandits, and a rebelling clan who would be outmatched against him and the loyalist clans. The implication is that his reputation as a great general has less to do about his actual strategic skills, but the fact that he was victorious, and used the approved methods of warfare. In addition, the enormous number of bandits and slavers - some of the latter having been operating for decades - across Tsushima makes it doubtful that he was really as good at maintaining order in these lands as Jin thought.
Kick the Dog: Lord Shimura proves he is not as good or nice as he believes himself to be.
- His treatment towards the peasantry. For all his talks about honor and protecting their home he has no respect for the lower class and treats the common soldiers under him as expendable. While Yuna and Jin are angry and horrified at the loss of soldiers during the siege of Shimura castle he brushes it off and plans to begin another attack, which causes a fall out between him and his nephew Jin that convinces the latter to poison the army and embrace his identity as the Ghost.
- When Jin calls him out on this new attack plan (see the last What the Hell, Hero? below), he reacts by slapping Jin! While he immediately regrets it, it's still an extremely shitty move and the damage has already been done that it kills whatever respect his nephew still had for him left.
- The final straw for Jin was Shimura trying to encourage him to blame Yuna for the poisoning of the Mongols, which would end with her execution. While he does it in order to save his surrogate son, he did this despite Yuna being nothing but helpful to the war and saving Jin’s life in the beginning.
Last-Name Basis: His personal name is never given.
Lawful Stupid: Shimura's fanatical dedication to the samurai code of honor makes him this to a rather lethal degree. Even when faced with the death of dozens of warriors or even his own, he never questions his own way and severely disagrees with Jin when he does calls him out on this.
Leeroy Jenkins: Fighting with honor is one thing, but Shimura has unfortunately equated it with 'complete lack of strategy.' Shimura has only one battle tactic - full frontal charge and assault. And that ends about as well as you would expect.
Like a Son to Me: How he feels about Jin since he came under his care following the death of his father to the point that Shimura may as well be Jin's adopted father in all but name. In Act 2, he decides to formally make Jin his adopted son and have him become the next leader of Tsushima and make it official once the Mongols are driven out of the island. Shimura's wish sadly comes apart when his refusal to abandon his honor damages and ultimately destroys his relationship with Jin and the Shogun orders Jin's execution for potentially upending the delicate caste system that keeps the samurai in power on Tsushima.
Master Swordsman: Shimura is the second best swordsman on the island next to Jin.
My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction to striking Jin in a moment of anger, made worse by the fact it drives Jin to cut ties with his uncle and reject his adoption of being his son.
Never My Fault: Due to his Honor Before Reason mindset and strict adherence to the samurai code of honor, Shimura views himself as the Big Good and never questions himself or his actions. When confronted by Jin about the deaths of the common soldiers during the siege of Castle Shimura, his response is stating they were just soldiers and takes no responsibility for their deaths however, this lack of accountability causes him to lose respect from Jin and start a fallout between the two as a result.
Noble Bigot: Shimura is ultimately a Deconstructed example of this because while he ultimately sees himself as the Big Good of the story, his classist bigoted views towards commoners and his fanatical devotion to his code is what ultimately leads to his failing relationship with Jin, and much of the strife their forces face in the second and third act.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: While the Shimura clan was present during the Mongol invasion of Tsushima, there's no record of the clan head, much less a clan member, serving as a Lord on Tsushima at any point prior or during the invasion. Lord Shimura is likely meant to be a stand-in for the historical Sō Sukekuni, the jitdodai (Deputy governor) of Tsushima and head of Clan Sō, who led the Samurai forces at Komoda Beach. Though unlike Shimura he died in the battle.
No Name Given: He is only ever referred to by his surname and title.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Shimura may be the respected jito of Tsushima, but comments from the shogunate soldiers sent as aid indicate that he is way lower on the status rankings compared to their clan on mainland Japan. Some shogunate soldiers privately discuss that his repeated failures (getting everyone killed on Komoda Beach in a suicide attack, repeatedly failing to catch up to Khotun Khan, and being unable to rein in Jin) means that he's going to be replaced if he doesn't start showing some results soon. He is also widely known as a great general that won battles some thought were unwinnable, but the Khan has him figured out so well that Shimura keeps running his forces into painfully obvious traps, and he is too rigid to adapt, making him look like a complete failure of a general.
Not So Above It All: A dramatic example - there is exactly one scene in the entire game where he is not disapproving of Jin's dishonorable ways: should Jin choose to spare him after their final confrontation, Shimura looks noticeably relieved for a moment, before warning Jin that the Ghost will be hunted for the rest of his days. This might be because Jin invoked Loophole Abuse rather than outright breaking the samurai code - as Jin has no honor, he is not obligated to finish off Shimura.
Not So Stoic: Lord Shimura admits to a young Jin that keeping control over one's emotions is very difficult. It comes across in almost all of his major scenes. From riding down a Mongol patrol after witnessing the devastation they caused to slapping Jin in a moment of anger to the final duel against Jin, when he's openly weeping in anguish.
Parental Substitute: He raised Jin after his parent's death. In the finale he outright calls Jin his son.
Pet the Dog:
- Despite showing prejudice against commoners like Yuna, when told of Taka's death, he sounds genuinely sincere about promising to make the Khan pay. He was also willing to keep his word in transporting Yuna to the mainland and made no indication that he was lying.
- He also offer his help to a peasant whose cart broke with Jin near the end of the game.
Principles Zealot: He's absolutely dedicated to his samurai honor. Therefore, when the mainland Shogunate orders that he execute Jin, he does it. He's not happy about it. It clearly tears him up inside, but his principles are that strong that Jin calls him a slave to them.
Properly Paranoid: Shimura makes it very clear he's worried that Jin's actions as the Ghost will not only turn him away from the samurai code, but make him worse as the Mongols. While this initially seems like he's that zealous in the code's teachings, the Iki Island expansion implies he was far more worried that Jin might become like his father Kazumasa, who led a horrifically brutal campaign that scarred the people of Iki island.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Initally, Shimura was this to Jin, as while he chastised Jin’s methods of fighting the Mongols in order to break him out near the end of the 1st act, he also understands that Jin was doing it for his sake and was willing to let it slide on the condition that he doesn’t fight dishonourably again.
- Another time is when Jin and Shimura choose to attack a fort to buy Goro time to sail for the mainland to send a message to the shogun, they came across a hwacha and Mongol ships were heading towards Goro. Despite clearly being reluctant to use an enemy weapon as it goes against his samurai code, he also knows that getting that message to the shogun takes bigger priority and doesn’t stop his nephew from using it to make a path for the smuggler.
- However, as the game goes on this slowly becomes averted, as his hardline dedication to the samurai code of honor despite having an opponent who doesn’t play by the same rules strains his relationship with his nephew.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Jin's suggestion to use wolfsbane poison against the Mongols didn't exactly endear him to his rigidly honor-bound uncle, calling such a tactic one of terror. While he was telling this to Jin in the hopes of making sure he further doesn't stray from the samurai code, Jin's usage of the poison allowed Khotun to reverse-engineer it for his long-term conquest. Some of the merchants who buy this poison do worse than sell it and poison their rivals to death. For all of the flaws Shimura's rigidity to the code cost him, he wasn't wrong when he claims that using such a weapon had more negative consequences, especially since Jin's idea to use the poison was only a short-term solution, and it was about to be added in Khotun Khan's arsenal of weapons when he sets for the mainland had Jin and the rest of his allies not put a stop to that plan.
Skewed Priorities: Downplayed. Lord Shimura is focused on defending Tsushima from the Mongols, but he's more concerned about fighting with honor than considering the casualties his forces sustain. This is proven during the siege of Castle Shimura. Despite the immense losses during the siege and as a result of Shimura sending the Yarikawa soldiers as fodder against the Mongols, Shimura is more concerned about winning honorably than preventing more deaths. He does have a logic to it as being a lord deviating too much from the code can get him in trouble if the Shogunate hears of it, but he is too obsessed with honor to fight the Mongols effectively.
Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: His samurai ways lend themselves to a deeply classist worldview that puts him at odds with Jin, who doesn't share that view. He sees commoners like Yuna as expendable pawns at best and threats to samurai power at worst, and it grieves him to no end to see his beloved nephew stooping to their level in his fight against the Mongols despite that it's very necessary when the Mongols clearly don't play by their rules and are beating them because of they know how to exploit it.
True Final Boss: After Jin defeats Khotun Khan, the mainland Shogunate catches wind of his dirty tactics, and they instruct Shimura to take him out in one final standoff. Depending on what you do after winning, you either spare him or kill him.
Uncertain Doom: Should he be spared at the end, Jin and other civilians will still speak of him as if he is dead. It's unclear if he either died of his wounds, was executed by the Shogunate for failing to kill Jin, or committed suicide out of honor.
- In the Iki Island expansion Mission "Bloodletting", Jin talks to his ally Sugi about dealing with the treacherous pirate raider Yamaneko, who is trading with the Eagle tribe to get Mongol weapons, like hwachas, to use against the islanders. When Sugi insists upon being the one to deal with Yamaneko because he's her brother, Jin says that killing family is harder than you could ever imagine, raising further ambiguity over whether or not he actually went through with ending Shimura's life after their Duel to the Death.
Ungrateful Bastard: Shimura is very dismissive towards the achievements and help he receives from non-samurai.
- He's entirely dismissive of Yuna's contributions. That she saved his nephew's life, helped him gather allies, and even fought to free Shimura is met by a shrug from Shimura, who still demands she fights to retake his castle before he offers her the simple reward she wants (leaving Tsushima). In a degree of fairness, he at least was willing to keep his word on that offer, and the only reason Yuna even stayed was because her brother was killed by Khotun Khan.
- Ryuzo points out that one of the reason he defected to the Mongols is that even if he did help Shimura, the old man might reward the Straw Hats, but he'd also immediately repay them by sending them as fodder against the Mongols. This is precisely what Shimura does with the peasant soldiers Jin and Yuna raise in his name, so Ryuzo wasn't all wrong, but it's not like his other choice is any better.
- The biggest evidence of this is when he calls Jin's efforts as the Ghost 'dishonorable', even after Jin saved his life and rallied the people of Tsushima almost singlehandedly. In the finale, he is prepared to kill Jin under the orders of the Shogun despite winning the war and killing the Khan. In some fairness, Shimura takes no pleasure in attempting to carry out the deed.
We Have Reserves: Shimura's fixation on maintaining his samurai honor really warps his perspective on the number of troops that dies under his command. The large number of casualties that result from his failed strategies don't matter, since they "died with honor.", but Jin thinks otherwise though.
What the Hell, Hero?: Having trained Jin in the ways of the samurai, he has some serious problems with his student battling the Mongols by employing methods that are otherwise used by shinobi.
- When Jin suggests that they poison the Mongols in Shimura Castle after they blow up the bridge, he lambasts his former student and tells him he's becoming no better than the Mongols.
  Shimura: I trained you to fight with honor!
  Jin: Honor died on the beach. The Khan deserves to suffer!
- Jin himself throws one at him after the failed siege of Shimura Castle when he still stubbornly clings to his honorable tactics despite the heavy losses they just received.
  Jin: I sacrificed everything I knew to save our people. I gave them hope. You did nothing!
- He gives another one before the True Final Boss fight with him. This time, Jin retaliates.
  Shimura: You have no honor.
  Jin: And you are a slave to it.

Yuna

"I didn't nurse you back to health to watch you throw your life away."

Voiced by: Sumalee Montano (English), Yu Mizuno (Japanese)^note

A thief Jin encounters after surviving the disastrous attempt of repelling the Mongol invaders on the beach, who encourages him to fight in other ways besides the code of the samurai.

Abusive Parents: Grew up with an alcoholic mother who was abusive towards her and Taka. One day when she assaulted a 6-year-old Taka and broke his arm, Yuna took him and they both ran away from home.
Action Girl: She learned how to defend herself and can fight alongside Jin against the Mongol invaders, favoring ranged combat with her bow. Even though she's more of a survivor, she won't turn down a fight if Jin initiates it.
Action Survivor: Despite being an adequate fighter, it's Yuna's wit and survival instincts that are her major strengths. Usually she prefers to sneak or avoid fights altogether and use more practical methods.
Big Sister Instinct: She's extremely protective of her brother Taka, and is particularly peeved when he decides to start fighting alongside her and Jin, to the point that she yells at Jin when he encourages her to give Taka's warrior side a chance. She really doesn't take it well when she discovers his death, roaring and snarling in rage. Very tellingly, the fight that takes place immediately after she finds Taka's body has her only using a sword, and she does not even remotely try to fight with any of her usual stealth tactics.
Brutal Honesty: In the first part of the game, she does not mince words with Jin over how fighting by the bushido code will get him killed, and encourages him to embrace stealth tactics. She does acknowledge it is a difficult choice.
Combat Pragmatist: She prioritizes survival above all else and isn't above using "dishonorable" tactics to defeat her foes. She also encourages Jin to become this if he is to defeat the Mongols, though she is sympathetic about how difficult the decision is for him as it breaks the samurai code he's lived with for most of his life.
The Corrupter: How Lord Shimura sees her, as Yuna is the character who convinces Jin the necessity of bending his code of honor, because the only way to survive and fight against the Mongols is to use dishonorable tactics. She even refers to Jin as now being a Vengeful Spirit. It's ultimately a Downplayed Trope as Yuna is not an antagonistic force and actually does have Jin's best interests at heart, and only a small amount of people like Lord Shimura see her as this.
Dark and Troubled Past: Her life has not been a pleasant one, to say the least, whether it living an abusive, alcoholic mother who would assault her children, to winding up in the hands of slavers and having to abandon her only friend in the slave camp to escape, and then living among the dregs of society as a thief to scrape out a living.
Establishing Character Moment: The first thing she does after Jin meets her is, at first, saving him from death and to hide him after meeting face-to-face minutes later. She then pretends to be nothing more than a panicking civilian as a Mongol enters her house, and when the man's guard is down, she mercilessly stabs him in the back, showcasing her to be a compassionate yet cunning and ruthless person.
Foil: To Jin, especially early in the game. She's not only a commoner, but a poor one, who's had to do a lot of shady things to survive. Like Jin, she's lost her parents while young. But, unlike Jin, who had a rich uncle and retainers to care for him, she had to provide for herself and her brother. This gave her a pragmatic outlook, and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to keep herself and her brother alive. In battle she prefers stealth, ambushes, trickery and assassination, while Jin, especially early in the game, favors attacking his enemies in the open, from the front. In a sense, the identity of the Ghost is in fact Jin and Yuna's combined work - Jin does the bulk of the fighting and wears the armour, while Yuna encourages the more underhanded tactics he becomes infamous for and is the first to suggest that Jin is a "ghost" to the populace. They even both have similar past incidents where they could have helped someone they cared for but froze up in fear - Jin defending his father from rebels, Yuna protecting her friend from slavers.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Her primary weapon is the bow, in contrast to Jin who usually relies on the sword. Yuna is shown to be skilled with a sword as shown in several cutscenes, and during missions where she does use the sword, but this contrast remains.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stoic and pragmatic with a bit of an edge to her personality, but still nice to anyone not an enemy. At the end of the day, she is a woman looking for peace for herself and her brother.
The Lad-ette: Streetwise, enjoys her drink, and more than capable of handling her own in a fight.
The Lancer: Becomes this to Jin as his closest ally and confidant, and really grows into this role in Act 3 when she briefly takes charge of tracking down Khotun Khan following Jin's arrest and later works closely with him to put a final plan into action to kill the Khan once and for all.
Lovable Rogue: She is a thief and incredibly underhanded. These are her only major negative qualities, and even then she mostly only steals to survive; hell, when she realizes the samurai whose katana she pawned is still alive, she nurses him back to health and helps him track it down.
Master Actor: Within seconds of an armed Mongol breaking into her house, she pretends to be a traumatized sobbing wreck successfully enough that he turns his back on her, and gives her the chance to creep up and stick a dagger in him.
The Mentor: She's the one who teaches Jin how to use the stealthy Combat Pragmatist techniques of the Ghost.
Not So Above It All: While a calm and stoic character, Yuna also shows a comedic side along with a flair for the theatrical. When she openly calls Jin a vengeful spirit, and Jin asks her about it, she says "I think they enjoyed it", grinning ear to ear in amusement.
Not So Stoic: The usually calm Yuna loses it completely when Taka is killed, roaring and outright snarling in rage, when like Jin, she is usually calm and composed in battle.
Ninja: Though she is called a "thief," her pragmatic style of working against enemies places her into the category of a kunoichi.
The Not-Love Interest: She is Jin's constant companion and closest ally over the course of the story and the two become very close (especially after Taka's death. They even discuss running away together). But nothing romantic ever happens between the two.
Odd Friendship: With Jin, given that she is a thief, and Jin is a samurai lord. The friendship the two possess rapidly becomes quite important to the plot, as when Shimura begs Jin to have her take the fall after he poisons the Mongols in Shimura Castle, Jin instantly and vehemently refuses. Yuna, similarly, opens up to Jin about her past and the two rapidly become confidants with each other.
Rape as Backstory: She heavily implies that the Mamushi brothers raped her when she was a child and their slave. She mentions, in particular, one brother's breath and another's hands as being vivid memories of her time there. Going back to their farm makes the usually stoic and unflappable Yuna hyperventilate and refuse to go closer. The Black Wolf is also implied to have done this to her before he sold her to the brothers.
Red Is Heroic: She wears a dark red tunic.
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: She intends on leaving Tsushima behind once she and Jin rescue her brother, though the latter implores her to stay and help them fend off the invaders. She changes her mind and stays after Taka's death, reasoning that the only reason she wanted to leave was to keep him safe and now all she cares about his revenge.
Trauma Conga Line: Started off growing up with an abusive alcoholic mother whom she ran away from with her very young brother. Meets and gets taken in by a man who turns out to be The Black Wolf who "got them drunk" and is implied to have sexually abused/assaulted her and her brother. Then gets sold off by said man into slavery to the three worst slavers in Japan who also sexually assaulted her and is forced to abandon the one person who looked out for her and her brother when their escape plan goes wrong. Followed by bouncing around from village to village living as a thief, and that's all before the Mongols invaded. Her luck doesn't turn out any better over the course of the game. While Jin does help get her brother back, Shimura essentially extorts her to fight for him in exchange for passage and the day before they're set to leave, her brother gets killed.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Though she did so to help give Jin an edge against the Mongol forces, her urging him to utilize "dishonorable" tactics more in line with a shinobi than a samurai causes the mainland Shogunate to force Lord Shimura to execute Jin. Worse yet, she initially contributes to the legend of the Ghost, whom Taka strongly looks up to, and because of this, Taka becomes more fascinated with being strong like Jin, but this ultimately leads to his demise, and he's killed by Khotun Khan in an attempt to save Jin.
Wishful Projection: Her reaction when she sees Jin risk his life to save an innocent civilian is one of genuine surprise. Given what we find out about her attitude towards the samurai, and especially Shimura, she genuinely did not believe that Jin would care, let alone risk his life, for one of the common folk. Tellingly, she immediately tells Jin about Taka once Jin explains that he helped because the person was in trouble.

Ishikawa

Sensei Sadonobu Ishikawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_533.jpg

"A bow is my life, putting it down felt like death."

Voiced by: François Chau (English), Shigeru Chiba (Japanese)^note

A master archer who taught Jin in the past.

Actually Pretty Funny: When Jin states that if he were in Tomoe's shoes, he would have attacked Ishikawa too after Ishikawa deliberately lets him walk into a Mongol ambush to see what he's capable of, Ishikawa laughs.
At Least I Admit It: Unlike Shimura, who disregards Jin's protests and acts as if he's infallible, Ishikawa flat out admits to Jin after he got an innocent woman killed that he and the other samurai aren't as honorable as they preach and that they're all killers who decides who lives and dies. His admittance of this contrasts heavily to Shimura, who similarly brushes off the soldiers he got killed but still stubbornly clings to his honor-ruled mindset.
Combat Pragmatist: With a dash of Hypocrite mixed in. Despite disparaging Jin using stealth to rescue hostages his first mission involves using explosive barrels and wasp nests in order to fight Mongols. This is the first hint that he’s not as rigid as Shimura with adherence to the samurai code.
Cynical Mentor: The years (and a couple of stinging betrayals) have hardened him. Ironically, this cynicism makes him more useful as a mentor to Jin during the game proper than Lord Shimura, because unlike Shimura, Ishikawa's got a much more grounded view of the samurai lifestyle and - other than a He Who Fights Monsters admonition or two - doesn't take Jin's unorthodox tactics as a personal affront.
Deadpan Snarker: He's witty in his comebacks.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Training from Hell-fancying perfectionist Sink or Swim Mentor. His standards for taking on a student being higher than most noble students could demonstrate made him very unpopular with the nobility. While taking on a commoner as a pupil seems progressive, she had none of the psychological groundwork needed to push through this teaching style and eventually snapped completely. In the end, all his high-minded perfectionism created was a cranky hermit nobody likes and an extremely dangerous ally gift-wrapped for the Mongols.
Foil: To Lord Shimura, the jito of Tsushima. While Shimura is more or less the island's leader who adopted Jin, the son of a samurai, Ishikawa is a renowned archer and stern teacher who took in a peasant girl after seeing her talent with a bow. While Shimura is a Noble Bigot who looks down on commoners, Ishikawa sees no problem with them since he adopted one. While Shimura has problems with Jin's actions as the Ghost, Ishikawa initially berates Jin for his ruthless tactics against the Mongols but ultimately concedes their usual tactics will not work against the invaders. Their relationship and subsequent breakdown with their adopted children also greatly differs: While Shimura wished to make Jin his successor, he has no choice but to denounce him after his gross breach against the samurai code by poisoning the Mongols' milk, he still cares for Jin despite their differences and is not at all happy when the Shogun orders him to kill his nephew. Ishikawa similarly wished to make Tomoe his heir, but he ignored all the warning signs and his harsh training regimen strained their relationship to the point Tomoe attacked him during the invasion. When presented the opportunity to kill her at the end of the game, though, Ishikawa relents and lets her leave to start a new life on the mainland.
Hermit Guru: He built his house and dojo on top of a mountain and has very high standard for his students.
History Repeats: Early in his quest-line, he notes how Jin and Tomoe are similar in their ruthlessness in dealing with their enemies, initially concerned that this could happen and Jin might end up like Tomoe. Thankfully for him, Jin has much better reasons to fight than someone like Tomoe and is directing his ruthlessness at the Mongol invaders. He also says Tomoe is not the first student of his to use his Way of the Bow for evil — he previously taught the heir to another clan who tried to use his skills to assassinate his lord. He failed, but not before taking out a number of samurai; his subsequent death was blamed on "bandits" and Ishikawa was exiled.
Honor Before Reason
- Like Shimura, he's quick to call out Jin on being a Combat Pragmatist and using stealth to deal with Mongols, despite the fact that they had hostages and could have killed them if either of them were caught. Unlike Shimura, however, he ultimately decides Jin is right since fighting the Mongols honorably won’t work.
- During one mission where he reveals he risked an innocent woman to track Tomoe, which led to her death, Jin calls him out on being similar from his former student and being dishonorable. Ishikawa admits that he, Masako and Shimura aren’t perfect and that for all the samurai proclamations of honor, they are all killers — not so different from Jin and his role as the Ghost.
Horrible Judge of Character: Something Ishikawa is painfully aware of. While he was ultimately unaware of what his first student was planning, it was obvious to Ishikawa that Tomoe was not an average village girl, noting how she hid a knife under her sleeves and hoarded her food and did nothing to question her "experience" with a bow beyond recognizing her as a genuine prodigy. By his own admission, Ishikawa ignored all the warning flags Tomoe set off because he was desperate to name her his heir.
Informed Ability: The story presents him as a master of archery yet you never see him score a single headshot, and the best he can do as an ally is stop to the enemy for a moment so you can cut them down with your blade.
Insufferable Genius: Ishikawa is the greatest archer on the island, and he does not take kindly to people questioning his authority.
It's All My Fault: Blames himself completely for Tomoe’s actions while Jin argues she made her own choices - however harsh of a teacher he might have been, she was the one who chose to work with murderers before then siding with the Mongols.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's ridiculously hard to see through his unpleasant attitude, but it is there and it takes some time for Jin to help him open up. The most notable point is that he entirely blames himself for what Tomoe has done, and he's even willing to forgive her - something Jin himself can be doubtful of. For all his flaws, Ishikawa sees Tomoe's actions as the results of his own decisions to push her like he did and the deaths she caused are ultimately on him.
Jerkass Has a Point: He may be an insufferable perfectionist who had a hand in creating two evil former students, but even he makes a valid point that samurai aren't exactly as above it all as their honor code leads them to believe.
Kick the Dog: He suggests sacrificing his home village in order to make Tomoe overconfident. Jin yells him out of it, saying that would make him no different from Tomoe. He also has an innocent woman scout out Tomoe's camp, which gets her killed. Although he does feel remorse for how it got her killed, he was quick to try and justify it.
Last-Name Basis: He only ever refers to Jin as "Sakai". The reverse is true as well; his first name is only ever mentioned in a note Jin receives from him in the epilogue.
Like a Son to Me: Eventually states that, for all his harshness towards her, he did legitimately grow to care for Tomoe like she was his own child. He offered to adopt her and make her his heir — a grand gesture considering her gender and station — before their falling out and he ignored her mounting signs of betrayal because he wanted her as his heir too much.
Married to the Job: He's too absorbed in his duties as a samurai and teacher to pursue any kind of romantic relationship.
Master Archer: He's considered the greatest living archer in Tsushima with his greatest disciples having gone on to earn infamous reputations of their own.
My Greatest Failure: Teaching his Way of the Bow to both Hironori Nagao and Tomoe, who both went on to use those teachings for ill; Hironori Nagao started a bloody coup that was hidden by his clan, while Tomoe ended up defecting to the Mongols and passing his teachings onto them.
My Greatest Second Chance: His greatest third chance, in fact. After his original student became branded a traitor, he only decided to become a teacher again so that Tomoe could make up for his mistakes. Until she became a traitor as well. He later says that Jin will be his final student and hopes that he will not be the third to disappoint him. And, yet again, Jin is also branded a traitor by the shogunate — but at least Ishikawa is more understanding of his motives.
Not Bad: A lot of his compliments to Jin come grudgingly, though he starts being more positive the farther you progress through his storyline.
Old Master: An elderly master of archery who built his dojo on the top of a mountain.
Reasonable Authority Figure: While he initially seems to disprove of Jin's use of dishonorable tactics, he still fully supports Jin in all his efforts, even after Jin has been branded a criminal by the Shogun. It perhaps helps that Ishikawa has no reason to play politics with nobility, considering he ruined his clout with the nobility after his first student went rogue and he has no children to carry on his line.
Sink or Swim Mentor: Seeing as he's willing to let Jin walk right into an ambush and not provide support to keep him on his toes, something Jin calls him out on. Deconstructed, as he says it's the reason Tomoe ditched him.
Stealth Mentor: He never officially takes on Jin as a pupil, but still subjects him to numerous tests on archery and strategy under life-and-death situations. In the finale, he writes a letter that formally recognizes Jin as his student.
Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: Downplayed compared to Shimura. While he disparages Jin for using ‘cowardly’ tactics he accepts it easier and also had no problem choosing a commoner woman as his student, with even Jin expressing surprise at his choice.

Masako

Lady Masako Adachi

"They already won."

Voiced by: Lauren Tom (English), Mabuki Ando (Japanese)^note

Wife of one of the samurai who died in the opening battle, and an accomplished warrior in her own right. Jin tries to recruit her, but he must first assist her in her mission of vengeance.

Action Girl: She's just as capable with a katana as she is with that bow of hers, as a few Mongols are unfortunate enough to discover firsthand. Even Ishikawa calls her one of the finest warriors on the island, which is high praise.
Amazon Brigade: Everyone in her family knows how to fight, especially the women. Since they were not on the beaches the day of the massacre, Jin figures recruiting Lady Masako and her sisters and daughters is perfect for taking back territory. Too bad her family was murdered by opportunistic traitors at around the same time.
Amazon Chaser: Her husband Lord Adachi courted her specifically after finding she defeated a band of thieves robbing her family before he arrived to save them.
Ambiguously Bi: She's a married woman with a few children of her own, yet it is implied that she also has an affair with a younger maid.
Ax-Crazy: It's clear that the annihilation of the rest of her family has left Masako's sanity barely hanging by a thread. When she finds the people responsible (or so she thinks), she becomes absolutely unhinged.
Batman Gambit: A lot of her missions start with her expecting her targets to be lured out by news of her survival or that she has a way to track them, then tailing the known accomplices when they are making their moves.
Birds of a Feather: Both she and Jin bond over their respectively losses, Jin with his mother and being the sole survivor at Komoda Beach, and Masako with her sons and the rest of her family.
Bow and Sword in Accord: Wields both a katana and a bow in combat.
Break the Badass: Prior to her entire family being murdered, Masako was considerably a much kinder person. One of the loading screen tips even makes mention of how she once disarmed a bandit with nothing but kind words. By the time Jin is able to find her however, she's a complete wreck who loses patience quickly, is considerably rude to the people she tries to gather information from, and thinks of almost nothing but seeking revenge for her family.
But Now I Must Go: Decides after avenging her family that she has to leave. She promises to be there when Jin needs her and assists in the final battle if done before the ending, but she makes it clear it's temporary.
Cain and Abel: The conspiracy against her and her family was orchestrated by her older sister Hana, who was secretly bitterly jealous of Masako for marrying a samurai lord despite being the younger sibling, "robbing her" of her chance to advance her station. Lady Hana was also married off to an abusive husband who lived far away from the rest of her family, fueling even more of her resentment.
Combat Pragmatist: Not above surprise attacks and using her or her allies as bait for her enemies. She also approves of Jin's plan to poison the Mongols and says she'll support him if asked.
Contralto of Strength: Lauren Tom gives Masako a deeper, cooler voice befitting her character as an Action Girl.
Crusading Widow: Her storyline revolves around hunting down the traitors who wiped out her entire family.
Death Seeker: Two things are keeping her alive: Her desire to avenge her family, and her promise to help Jin retake Tsushima. Other than that, she barely cares about her own health and safety. It's hard to blame her when her children and grandchildren have all been exterminated.
Despair Event Horizon: While she does break down throughout her quest for revenge, especially when she finds the desecrated remains of her sons, what truly breaks her is the identity of her family's killer: Her own sister.
Fatal Flaw: Her desire to avenge her family can lead her to blindly attack anyone. This gets to a point where she attacks a man who is clearly being framed. And Jin has to fight her to stop her. When she has her revenge, she has no idea what to do with her life.
Fighting Your Friend: She attacks Jin when he protects Junshin from her, demanding that Jin give him up or else she will kill him. Jin even says "You were my friend..." just as the battle starts, but to no use. After he wins and gets her to come to her senses, he will sternly tell her never to attack him again, with the implication being that the next time, he will not hold back or spare her.
Freudian Excuse: While the complete extermination of her family is more than enough justification for her revenge, it utterly consumes her and she frequently deflects blame for rash actions. Her reasons for not eating / sleeping, using loved ones as bait and getting them killed, and wanting to kill people on sight for the slightest implication in the crime is always "My family is dead!". On several occasions she promises to let Jin interrogate a suspect only to quickly slay them on impulse before they divulge anything useful, forcing Jin to search for other evidence.
In Love with Your Carnage: Implied to be the reason why Lord Adachi married her as. When he arrived to repel the bandits attacking her home, he discovered they had already been killed by her hand.
The Insomniac: After diving into her revenge quest, she has refused to sleep until her family has justice. Every time Jin speaks with her, he begs her to get some much-needed rest, which she refuses every time.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Very bitter and revenge-driven, but proves herself to be rather cordial around those she befriends.
Lady of War: Averted, although as the matriarch of Clan Adachi, she's expected to lead the defense of her home while the men are away for battle there is nothing feminine or graceful about the way Masako fights. She even eschews the traditional weapon of a samurai's wife the naginata (which her daughters-in-law did wield) for a sword.
Leeroy Jenkins: She wants the traitors to know she is coming for them as she cut down their guards.
Mama Bear: A dark and tragic example, but her entire crusade against the conspirators is due because they murdered her entire family, including her grandchildren. In fact, her grandchildren seem to bring this out of her more than anyone else, as it was the suggestion they died simply because they were somehow in the way by existing that caused her to absolutely lose it on Sogen.
Sogen: Our world has changed. Men of vision must rise to face it. And those in the way... must be removed.
Masako: THEY WERE CHILDREN!
May–December Romance: Her extramarital relationship with Mai. Masako is old enough to be a grey-haired grandmother while Mai looks like she is around her 20s.
Meaningful Name: One possible meaning for "Masako" is "justice", and it happens to be phonetically similar to the English word "massacre", which is sadly appropriate for the Sole Survivor of a family massacre who now seeks justice against their killers.
- She also shares the same name as Hojo Masako, a political leader from the early Kamakura period who is believed to have been responsible for the rise of Minamoto no Yoritomo, her husband and the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura period.
Never Mess with Granny: Despite her old age, she is still more than capable of cutting down her foes.
Outliving One's Offspring: She outlived her husband, sons, daughters, sister (or so she thinks...) and grandkids. To say she's suffering is a major Understatement.
Old Master: Lady Masako is well renowned for her skill in martial arts despite her age and gender.
Pet the Dog: After the failed assault on Shimura's castle, she lingers to comfort the wounded and dying rather than performing any combat-related duties. She also implicitly approves of Jin's alternative plan because it will put fewer sons at risk, preventing more mothers from enduring the same pain that she is.
Revenge Before Reason: When confronting the conspirators against her family, Masako's judgement is frequently clouded by her grief and anger, causing her to seek blood first before answers, requiring Jin to restrain her long enough for them to get any leads. After she and Jin successfully rescue a monk being held captive by the Mongols, Masako attempts to kill him as he was falsely implicated as one of the ones responsible for getting her family killed.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: She's on one for the conspirators responsible for killing her family.
Sanity Slippage: The death of her entire family not only causes her to go on a rampage for revenge, but she also forgoes food and sleep, despite Jin's insistence that she take care of herself.
Sole Survivor: Of her entire clan and family, between her husband and sons being killed at Komoda Beach and then her sister, the wives of her sons and her grandchildren in an attack on their estate.
They Died Because of You: Masako says this word-for-word to Sadao, one of the conspirators, before killing him.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She arranged the marriage of Hana to a widower, but Hana's husband turned out to be abusive and cruel and only drove Hana deeper into hatred of her sister, leading to the tragedy that befell Masako.
Vengeance Feels Empty: After confronting "Lady" Hana and driving her to seppuku, Masako has finally avenged her clan's death, yet the revelation that her spiteful sister had plotted against her and her family for years, over a deep-seated hatred she had never known about, gives her no solace. As she burns Hana's body on a pyre, she reflects that she still can't move on from her family's deaths, her attempts to properly mourn them now consumed by thoughts of Hana's bitterness, and that she truly has nothing left now.
Walking the Earth: What she decides to do at the end of her quest-line. With her entire family now truly gone and unable to move on from their deaths, she wanders Tsushima in search of closure.

Taka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yqe2wkojfjp5ych2sblrcc.jpg

"I've never seen a samurai fight like that."

Voiced by: Eddie Shin (English), Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese)^note

The younger brother of Yuna and a skilled blacksmith. At some point during the invasion, he was captured by the Mongols and forced to produce weapons for them before being freed by Jin and Yuna.

The Blacksmith: Yuna claims that he is one of the best, if not the best blacksmith in all of Tsushima, which he quickly proves by forging an iron hook for Jin to use to traverse certain paths and obstacles.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Khotun doesn't just slice into his neck, put yanks off his head as brutally and painfully as possible.
Defiant to the End: He knows that if he tries attacking Khotun Khan instead of killing Jin, the Khan will kill him effortlessly. He still tries, anyway.
In Love with Your Carnage: When Taka sees Jin dispatch the Mongols attacking the forge through a mix of typical Samurai swordstyle and trickery, he's left in utter awe.
I Owe You My Life: Although Yuna and planned for herself and Taka to escape the war, Taka is insistent on remaining to assist Jin in his efforts out of gratitude for Jin saving his life.
Killed Mid-Sentence: His last words are "Tell Yuna—" but he doesn’t get out what he wanted Jin to tell her before the Khan murders him.
Manchild: Has shades of this, still trying to goof around and fondly remembering collecting crickets with her sister. He doesn't have memories of the Black Wolf or their abusive mom.
Morality Pet: He's this for Yuna, who she has been fighting to protect since they were young.
Nice Guy: The nicest person in the entire game. Making it all the more tragic when Khan kills him.
Non-Action Guy: He insists on helping Jin and Yuna fight despite being clumsy at best in combat. Sadly, he predictably gets killed when he attempts to turn around and attack the Khan rather than kill Jin to save his own life.
Off with His Head!: Khotun tears his head off with his hands after slicing his throat.
Rape as Backstory: He doesn't dwell on it or mention it, but Yuna suggests this is the case and believes he doesn't remember it. Yuna explains the Black Wolf got them drunk and abused them and the Black Wolf states Taka was his favorite.
Retirony: He was less than 24 hours away from leaving Tsushima with his sister before getting killed on an ill-advised mission to help Jin.
Sadistic Choice: Kill Jin, his idol and the man who inspired him and others to fight back, and live or refuse and get killed. He chooses the latter and the Khan kills him.
Too Dumb to Live: Yeah, sure, help your fighter friend on a mission that requires a lot of fighting against the advice of both your own sister and said friend who are clearly much better fighters than you while you yourself can't fight for shit, that would surely end well, right?
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Young, idealistic, dreams of becoming a hero after years of relying on others — of course he dies. This is exploited by the Khan to break Jin, since the kind Taka gets a cruel death: he gets Killed Mid-Sentence while trying to be a hero and his head isn't even cut off, the Khan defiles his corpse by ripping it off.
Trauma Conga Line: Had an abusive alcoholic mother before Yuna took him and ran until they had an unfortunate run-in with The Black Wolf, who pretended to be a good samaritan before sexually abusing/assaulting Taka. Yuna planned an escape, but it ultimately failed and was forced to abandon him after they were sold to some of the worst slavers in Japan. And that is to say nothing of the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Mongols after he was forced to produce weapons for them.
Undying Loyalty: To Jin. In a twist of tragic irony, an act of undying loyalty is what gets him killed.

Norio

"Advance, and reach nirvana. Retreat, and find hell."

Voiced by: Earl T. Kim (English), Mitsuaki Kanuka (Japanese)^note

The last surviving warrior monk from Cedar Temple.

Beware the Nice Ones: While Norio is gentle and good-hearted, it doesn't change the fact that he's a highly-skilled warrior monk, though he fights for the sake of peace. And when he discovers what really happened to his older brother, he ends up going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against a whole camp of Mongols that is enough to shock even Jin when he sees the results.
Big Brother Worship: Norio's older brother was a famous warrior monk known as the Guardian, considered the greatest warrior of the the temple. He was not actually killed by the Mongols, but instead had his limbs cut off and was left to live as a form of torture.
Crisis of Faith: After finding his brother was not killed as he thought but tortured to the point that Norio has to Mercy Kill him, Norio struggles with his faith as a monk as he goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge on the general who ordered it.
Fake Defector: He tells his comrades at the temple in Act 3 to pretend to side with the Mongols to wait for an opportunity to strike, and said opportunity finally comes when Jin arrives at Kamiagata.
Gentle Giant: The largest and most moral of Jin's companions. It sadly doesn't last after he finds out the extent of torture his brother received. While still on the side of good, he's far more brutal and shows no guilt burning a whole camp of Mongols to death.
Nice Guy: Even after going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he's still a Gentle Giant towards his allies.
Not So Stoic: Similar to Jin, his emotions show more and more as his storyline progresses.
One-Man Army: Singlehandedly manages to slaughter and burn an entire Mongol stronghold to the ground, even scaring away some of the Mongols. The only other people who could boast such an achievement is the "spirit" of Yarikawa and Jin himself.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Norio insists that his defense of the island comes from a place of peace within himself. So, when he goes on the Roaring Rampage of Revenge, that is a line that has been crossed.
Religious Bruiser: He's a warrior monk and considered one of the best fighters of his monastery. Of all of Jin's allies, he is the only one to annihilate an entire Mongol camp by himself.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Destroys an entire camp of Mongols and personally burns the leader alive in order to avenge his brother.
Sixth Ranger: During Act 1, you put together a team to free Lord Shimura from the Mongols' imprisonment. Then Act 2 comes around, and Norio happens to be at the first settlement you free and joins your efforts to repel the Mongols. Unlike Masako and Ishikawa, you aren't required to do the first mission of his questline, meaning that if you were to skip them, you would have little idea of who Norio even is aside from a warrior monk who wishes to fight off the Mongols. He doesn't even have a small role in any quests like Kenji does, he only tends to show up during the main story in big group efforts.
Sole Survivor: He is the last surviving warrior monk from Cedar Temple, the others captured, tortured and killed by the Mongols.
Trauma Conga Line: The warrior monks of Cedar Temple were intended to join the battle at Komoda Beach, but were diverted and captured. Norio was tossed in a pit, packed with prisoners and fellow monks, so packed he couldn't move and so dark he couldn't even see his hands in front of his eyes. He spent days there and almost died of hunger and thirst, as his fellow monks were dragged out and all he could hear was their screams of agony. When it was his turn, his brother begged to take his place, and Norio thought him dead from that point on. Then every single village or temple he put under his protection suffered horrible tragedies he failed to prevent, from the destruction of irreplaceable religious treasures to the death of leaders and healers who were the last remaining hope holding people together. Finally, he found his brother alive, but horribly dismembered, and was forced to put him out of his misery. While his actions at the end of his quest-line are shocking, they're certainly not surprising.
Warrior Monk: His role as this causes some friction between some of the other monks in the temple who dislike violence for any reason.

Kenji

"I can do good! I...just need practice."

Voiced by: James Hiroyuki Liao (English), Setsuji Sato (Japanese)^note

A sake merchant whom Yuna is acquaintances with, and who joins forces with her and Jin to free Taka from Mongol captivity.

Beneath Suspicion: Kenji is small, meek, and cowardly. And he gives sake to anyone who wants some. This allows him to sneak himself (and others) places he really shouldn't be able to.
Cowardly Lion: Yeah, he'd rather lie, cheat, steal, and then grovel for mercy from the people he swindles, but he's always there for his friends when they need him, and he never flees when it comes to big battles.
Didn't Think This Through: His questline focuses on his attempts to scam the Mongols ended badly due to him not realizing what would happen if he eventually get caught, which Jin fixes up the mess.
Hero with an F in Good: By his own admittance. He's honestly trying to help out but he says he doesn't know 'how' to actually help. His attempts to pull his usual scams and grifts on the Mongols just make things worse. At least until the end when he manages to procure hwachas from the Mongols.
Hidden Depths: Kenji shows this in the Iki Island expansion. After going through all the trouble to secure passage from Iki Island to the mainland, Kenji ultimately decides to give up his spot on the boat to the young fisherman who'd saved him. Even more, this was all Kenji's own decision, and even Jin is impressed by this act of kindness.
Honest John's Dealership: Kenji has no qualms about selling anything from the best sake on Tsushima to sake so bad it'd be an insult to rice vinegar.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kenji's a crooked merchant, has a face no one trusts, is a schemer... but he also really wants to be a good person - especially in this time of crisis. And he's genuinely trying to help people. Sure his attempts backfire, sometimes causing more harm than if he'd left well enough alone, because, well, he's Kenji, but it comes from a genuine desire to do good, under Jin's influence.
Lethal Joke Character: He might be the Plucky Comic Relief, but as he himself points out, his plans for sneaking Jin into heavily-guarded Mongol fortifications always work, including a town that was regarded as impenetrable, he's able to get Jin free from imprisonment once Jin is branded an outlaw by the Samurai using his various wares to distract the guards and give him an opening to flee, and he's the one that somehow manages to secure an entire battery of Mongol artillery entirely on his own, and without input from Jin, which proves to be the cornerstone of his plan to sink the Mongol fleet and finally put an end to the Khan's plans for attacking the mainland. Kenji's even the one overseeing that important task during the Final Battle.
Lovable Rogue: Kenji may be a conniving little sneak you'd watch your coin purse around, but he ultimately has a good heart under that skinny, slimy exterior.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He has good intentions and he wants to do right by Jin. The problem is that some of his schemes tend to make things worse. Case in point, his first character mission has him bargain with the Mongols by trading food and sake for the farm's safety. He initially only gave them woodchips, and when the ruse was discovered, the Mongols were not happy about the deception and began taking hostages.
Non-Action Guy: While his scams and misadventures are played for comedy, and Jin is exasperated by his tendency to bring trouble down on everyone's heads, when the chips are down, he's still a devoted and steadfast ally who has earned Jin's respect and friendship. He may not grab a sword and charge into battle himself, but he organizes supplies for the Ghost's forces and, at one point, oversees the soldiers in charge of a battering ram.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: After spending the entire game screwing up and needing to be bailed out by Jin, he somehow manages to steal a battery of hwachas and use it to sink the Khan's fleet.
Plucky Comic Relief: While he does useful things every so often, Kenji is definitely not a fighter and provides much needed contrast to the grimmer main story. The developers coded him to slosh when he walks, just so you know not to take him seriously. The only times he grows solemn are after Taka's death and shortly before the final assault on the Mongols.
Trojan Horse: Kenji's go-to plan is to stuff Jin in something sake-related, and smuggle him into a fortified Mongol position under the guise of giving them sake so Jin can do what Jin does.
Jin: Why do I keep letting you hide me inside things?
Kenji: Because it works!

Yuriko

"The strength we need is all around us."

Voiced by: Karen Huie (English), Yuri Tabata (Japanese)^note

An elderly woman and maid of Clan Sakai, having cared for Jin since he was young.

Ambiguous Situation: Her relationship with Kazumasa Sakai. Due to him being a Posthumous Character and her being somewhat senile making her an Unreliable Narrator, it's unclear whether or not they were in a Secret Relationship, had a single night of Sex for Solace or she was simply in love with him. The lovely haiku addressed "To Kazumasa" that you find in a little house next to the Sakai estate only adds fuel to the fire.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese dub, she's named Yuri lacking the ko suffix.
Early-Bird Cameo: She's present in a flashback of Lord Sakai funeral in the prologue, hours before she's introduced as a character in Act 2.
Hired Help as Family: She's a servant to Clan Sakai, but was incredibly close to both Jin and Kazumasa Sakai.
Incurable Cough of Death: She coughs a lot during her scenes and it only keeps getting worse. She ends up passing away in her final sidequest.
Master Poisoner: She's a master herbalist and makes poisons to get rid of vermin. Jin convinces her to make a stronger version so he can use it as a weapon against the invaders, which she reluctantly obliges.
Old Maid: She's very old and is unmarried, having made no family of her own as she seems to concentrated all her efforts on raising Jin. It's also heavily implied she was in love with Jin's father Kazumasa and might have had a Secret Relationship with him after Lady Sakai died.
Old Retainer: She's a long-time servant of Clan Sakai, and has been caring for Jin's needs since before he was born.
Parental Substitute: Due to Lady Sakai dying when Jin was little, Yuriko served as a surrogate parent for Jin.
Scatterbrained Senior: She suffers from bouts of forgetfulness during her sidequests, to the point she starts to confuse Jin for his father Kazumasa. It may be an indication that she suffered dementia in her old age.
Sex for Solace: It's heavily implied by her dialogue in one of her sidequests that she and Kazumasa made love in the nearby onsen shortly after Lady Sakai's death left him grieving and an infant Jin went missing and almost died.
Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: After seeing Jin wearing Clan Sakai's armor, the Strong Family Resemblance between him and his father momentarily makes her confuse both. As her sidequest progresses, she keeps doing this more and more. In her final moments, Jin doesn't bother correcting her, pretending he's his father to try to give her comfort.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her offhand mention of mixing poisons to kill vermin in the clan granaries gives Jin the idea of poisoning the Mongols, an act which leads to Jin being declared a traitor and the Sakai clan being disbanded.

Antagonists (main storyline)

Khotun Khan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thekhan2.jpg

"Convince your people to join me, and I will give them peace."

Voiced by: Patrick Gallagher (English), Tsutomu Isobe (Japanese)^note

Leader of the Mongol invaders, cousin of Kublai Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, and grandson of Genghis Khan. Knowledgeable in the ways of the samurai, he invades Tsushima and comes into conflict with Jin, in who he takes an interest.

Acrofatic: He's a large man and his armor makes him appear round or at least stocky. He is also lightning fast and very nimble in combat, dancing circles around Jin in one-on-one duels.
Arch-Enemy: Takes an interest in Jin after seeing how far Jin is willing to go to win, and the feeling becomes mutual after he kills Taka in front of Jin.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Being the commander of the army, he is a very capable warrior by himself.
Awesome by Analysis: Khotun makes a point to learn and find weaknesses in his enemy's tactics, be it Japanese honor or Mongolian steppes. He even manages to reverse engineer Jin's wolfsbane poison, despite having left the castle before it was deployed.
Ax-Crazy: He's a ruthless, violent, and homicidal warlord that has a habit of carrying out deaths as brutally as possible.
Badass Cape: Wears a rather stylish cape, and is a skilled fighter.
Big Bad: The leader of the Mongol Invaders that Jin must face. It's his desire to conquer the mainland of Japan that drives the conflict of the main story.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Khotun Khan manages to capture Shimura and later on Jin at different points in the game but on both occasions he doesn't kill them, knowing that doing so would just create a martyr the rebels would rally around. He instead tries to break their morale so that they will finally surrender.
Combat Pragmatist: Khotun Khan knows the way of the samurai to better defeat them, but does not adhere to their code himself.
- His Establishing Character Moment early in the story shows how pragmatic Khotun Khan is. The samurai of Tsushima send forward a warrior to challenge him to a duel to "break their spirits." Khotun Khan does not even give the samurai the satisfaction of defeat in combat, burning him to death with oil and a torch right then and there. He also turns it around and breaks the spirit of the rest of the samurai, making them rush the Mongols blindly (and getting half of them blown up by his artillery during the charge).
- In his final fight when he loses the duel against Jin he throws wolfsbane poison at his face and runs away to let his guards fight him, then when he's backed into a corner on his ship he simply fights Jin with the rest of his force. At this point, Jin is capable of unleashing his own pragmatism and can use his full array of tools at his disposal (as opposed to the first part of the fight where he only uses his sword skills).
The Corrupter: As Jin says, his favorite method is to punish resistance with death and reward submission, encouraging the inhabitants of Tsushima to side with him.
Cultured Badass: On top of being in charge of the army invading Tsushima, Khotun studied Japanese culture extensively to the point where he learned exactly which methods would work best against the natives inhabiting Tsushima. He's also extremely knowledgeable about the ways of the samurai, which helps him greatly in his bid to conquer the island. It's due to his knowledge that Jin takes a level of pragmatism. Truth in Television, as Mongolian conquerors were known to extensively study their enemies before engaging them.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- How he opens up the invasion of Tsushima. Thanks to him studying the samurai code extensively, he knows how to exploit their "honor" and way of fighting and turns the inhabitants' attempts to push them back on the beach into a one-sided slaughter. Part of this is because he had thousands of troops to fight 80 mounted samurai and their retinues (probably just a few hundred men in all), but the speed and decisiveness of their slaughter still shocks the characters involved.
- How Jin's first fight goes with him. No matter how skilled with a blade Jin is, he can barely hold a candle against the Khan and is nearly killed when the man throws him off the bridge.
Defiant to the End: Even when Jin is about to kill him, he taunts him by stating that there will be other Mongols who will continue what he started. And given that, historically, Tsushima was invaded twice again afterwards, he has a point.
Degraded Boss: After you defeat him in the one-on-one duel, he will retreat to his ship where you fight him along with his men. He’s not actually any less powerful, strictly speaking, but the fact that the second time around you have access to your entire arsenal makes him a lot less of a challenge.
Determinator: Credit where it's due, the Khan never gives up. No matter how many setbacks he faces or men he loses he never gives up on his planned invasion of the mainland right to the end. Even as his fleet is literally burning to ashes around him, with two different armed forced coordinating with each other to catch his army in a pincer movement and facing down an extremely pissed-off Jin, Khotun never once gives any hint in his mannerisms or speech that he's accepted his dreams of conquering Japan has come to an end, and in fact he seems to regard absolutely everything Jin's done to stop him a temporary roadblock at best to his success. He even swears to Jin that he'll make the people of mainland Japan suffer with his newly-acquired wolfsbane poison weapons before facing him in battle, despite Jin having carved his way through a small and heavily-armed army of Mongols to reach him, totally confident that he'll still overcome him regardless.
Khotun: All this death... because you and your uncle would not surrender! I offered you peace, and you. Chose. War! Now... the people of your mainland...will suffer!!
Jin: You will never leave this island.
Khotun: (smirks).
Divide and Conquer: He exploits the existing divisions between Tsushima's inhabitants to turn them on each other and recruit collaborators to invade the mainland with. Very much a Truth in Television: while the Mongol army was fearsome, it was never very large, and the Mongols relied extensively on local collaborators to swell their ranks and conquer new lands with minimum fighting. He also identifies the bond between Lord Shimura and Jin immediately and tries to sow discord by telling Shimura about Jin's dishonorable tactics.
Double Weapon: His polearm has a Guandao at one end and a Halberd at the other.
Establishing Character Moment: At the beginning of the invasion, Lord Adachi rides up to the Khan's landing party alone and formally challenges him to an honorable one-on-one duel. Khotun merely sneers and splashes him with the contents of his wine goblet, before immolating him with a torch and decapitating him while he writhes in pain. He then calls out to the other, now demoralized samurai watching and demands they surrender. This paints him as a brutal-yet-pragmatic No-Nonsense Nemesis who is not only contemptuous of samurai "honor", but sees it as a weakness to be exploited.
- His fight at the bridge is another. Despite his dishonorable tactics he shows himself to be an extremely dangerous combatant, easily defeating Jin in one-on-one combat. He also continues to try and convince Jin to surrender and to help convince Shimura to do the same, again showing his practicality.
Evil Counterpart: To Jin, the more he embraces his role as the Ghost. Both of them are Combat Pragmatists who’ll use any method to win, gather allies from all walks of life, disparage the idea of honor and even use poison in order to achieve their goals. The main difference is the Khan is an invader who won't hesitate to murder scores of innocent people to accomplish his goals while Jin will Never Hurt an Innocent and only wants to protect the people of Tsushima.
- The way they treat their allies showcases this. While Jin helps out his allies at risk to himself and ultimately forms bonds with them, the Khan uses and abuses those who follow him and they ultimately regret taking his side, as Tomoe and Ryuzo can attest.
Evil Sounds Deep: In both the English and Japanese dub respectfully.
Fat Bastard: A pretty heavyset Mongol leader, and one of the most brutal opponents to face Jin.
Faux Affably Evil: Though he mercilessly slaughters the samurai during his conquest of Tsushima, he's unfailingly polite and respectful towards Lord Shimura while the latter is in his captivity, and would genuinely prefer that the island surrenders peacefully. Indeed, he offers Jin and Shimura numerous chances to do just that throughout the story, preferring to end the invasion as quickly and cleanly as possible. That said, this is entirely for pragmatic reasons: he wants the people of Tsushima enslaved so he can then use them to move on to attack Japan's main islands. He also frequently tries to act friendly while doing atrocities like setting people on fire (or forcing his new allies to do so), or making prisoners execute one another. He also in private mentions that he has very little respect for Shimura and his samurai, considering them pathetic and far beneath his level, unlike Jin.
- Also, while he puts up an affable front towards those he is attempting to convince to his side, as seen in a document Jin can find, Khotun was in a furious rage after Shimura rejected his offer of partnership in private.
Final Boss: The head of the Mongol army and the final opponent Jin faces in order to end the invasion. Until Jin has to face Lord Shimura in combat for one last time.
Final-Exam Boss: In the final phase of the fight he essentially acts as a much tougher Mongol Commander, switching between all the weapon types you've encountered so far, while sending his men into the fray alongside him. Unlike the prior duel, you have access to all Jin's techniques and Ghost Weapons, allowing you to counter his Combat Pragmatist tactics with your own.
Foil: A clear one to Lord Shimura. Shimura is obsessed with honor and tradition, whereas the Khan is pragmatic and flexible. Shimura doesn't bother learning anything about the Mongols, but the Khan studies the Japanese people thoroughly. Shimura has no respect for the lower class, but the Khan takes them into his inner circle as long as they're competent.
Genius Bruiser: An adept schemer, avid learner, capable leader and politician who realizes the importance of conquest through diplomacy and persuasion, and brutally effective warrior.
Good Is Old-Fashioned: He clearly shows Lord Shimura and the samurai that their traditional code of honor means nothing to him and the Mongols and in fact knows how to exploit it for all its' worth.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Jin slashes him across the face after their first duel, and he spends the rest of the story with a distinctive scar on his left cheek.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: As a sign of how confident he is that he can beat Jin during their first fight, he faces him with his head completely unarmored and vulnerable — and sure enough, despite such an obvious weak spot, Jin can't handle him at all. However, lacking protection on his face leaves him open to Jin defiantly slashing his cheek open, giving him his own counterpart to Jin's facial scar, and by the time of their rematch, he shows that he's learned from the experience by wearing his full armour set for the final match with Jin.
Hero Killer: He kills Lord Adachi at the start of the game to show that the Mongols don't abide by the Samurai code of honour. He later kills Taka when the blacksmith refuses to kill his friend.
Historical Character's Fictional Relative: The fictional grandson of Chinggis Khan and cousin of Khublai.
Hopeless Boss Fight: The first time Jin challenges him, not only does the Khan take and deal massive damage (as well as using a polearm, which at that point you don't have the skills to properly counter) but he's outright invulnerable since reducing his health to zero does nothing and the fight only ends once Jin's health is depleted.
I Am X, Son of Y: Introduces himself to a captive Shimura with a variation of this.
Khotun Khan: I am Khotun. Cousin of Kublai. Grandson of Genghis.
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: After Ryuzo defects to the Mongols, Khotun makes him prove his loyalty by burning a Japanese hostage alive to force Castle Shimura's defenders to surrender.
- It seems to be a favorite tactic of his since, after he captures Jin and Taka, he tells Taka that if he kills Jin, he'll spare him. Taka refuses, and gets killed for it.
Ink-Suit Actor: He bears a strong resemblance to his mo-cap and English voice actor, Patrick Gallagher.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Khotun Khan twice abandons the fortress he is occupying, once at Castle Kaneda at the end of Act 1 and again at Castle Shimura at the end of Act 2 once he senses that the tide of the battle is starting to turn. In both cases he opts to continue his conquest further up North.
Large and in Charge: Definitely the tallest character in the game and leads the Mongols with an iron fist.
Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: The first phase of his Boss Fight starts out like any standard duel with a Mongol commander and as a retread of their last confrontation on the bridge, allowing Jin to showcase how much his sword skills and hand-to-hand tactics have improved now he's aware of how to handle an opponent like Khotun and is no longer near-dead from the beginning of the fight. Understandably, give his views when Khotun is losing the straight-up fight, he cheats by throwing wolfsbane poison in Jin's face and retreats to his flagship with the remainder of his forces to face Jin with as many advantages as he can — which only frees Jin up to finish the fight with him using his Ghost tactics against Khotun and the small army between them.
Lightning Bruiser: He's bigger than many if not all his soldiers, but moves quicker than the wind and hits much harder than many of his foes.
Karmic Death: The two major characters he killed, and the ones that Jin holds most against him, saw him decapitate them. This is the fate granted to him by Jin. Additionally, Khotun set Lord Adachi on fire as a distraction and means of bypassing his sword skills, and Jin leaves his body and head to burn on his flagship with the rest of his fleet and dreams of conquest.
Made of Iron: Bar none the most durable opponent in the game. In the final battle, after you duel him, he runs away and you have to fight him two more times before he’s finally put down. During this fight, he can survive attacks like arrows to his (bare) face, which are instant kills for every other enemy not wearing fully covering helmets.
Missed Him by That Much: At the game's beginning, after Jin has collapsed to the ground with arrows in his back, Khotun Khan is soon shown walking right past his prone body to talk to the captive Lord Shimura, the camera focusing on the still-standing sword as he strides through the beach full of corpses.
- When Jin makes his assault on Castle Kaneda to save his uncle, the Khan had already left for Toyotama just hours before.
My Death Is Just the Beginning: As Jin lays down the finishing blows on him the Khan declares that others will come in his place, foreshadowing the second Mongol invasion of Japan seven years later.
Never My Fault: Khotun Khan keeps blaming both Jin and Shimura for the bloodshed that's happened in Tsushima, claiming that had they surrendered, such a path would be avoided. While not exactly wrong, it doesn't change the fact that he's the one who even instigated this whole war in the first place.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In addition to him demonstrating to Jin how regular honourable tactics just won't be enough to beat him, and tossing him off the bridge when he was weakened and beaten before him in a fit of anger, thus allowing Jin to survive and ultimately become the Ghost, capable of undertaking any dishonourable actions for the sake of the people, the final fight with Khotun actually starts out with both characters sticking strictly to straightforward, honourable combat in a one on one duel, before Khotun cheats using Wolfsbane Poison when he's on the verge of losing — which in turns free up Jin to use his own 'dishonourable' tactics against Khotun and his remaining forces to finish the fight.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Khotun Khan is a fictional character, presented by the game as a cousin of the real life Kublai Khan, the Khagan, or "Great Khan" that led the first Mongol invasion of Japan.
Off with His Head!: How Jin ultimately kills him, though not before the Khan is Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
Pragmatic Villainy: He does not wish to kill Shimura and wants to convince him it's better for his people if they surrender since he wants to rule Japan, not kill all of them. Truth in Television, as it was common for the Mongols to offer peace under vassalization to nations they targeted as an alternative to violent conquest, with Kublai Khan in real life having made an offer to the Japanese to become vassals of the Mongol Empire before the invasions. In addition, his actual end goal is not to conquer Tsushima, but to use it as a staging ground for his forces to regroup and resupply before moving onto the mainland, and accordingly, whilst he does conquer and control several large fortifications on the island, he never sets up any attempt to permanently entrench his forces behind them and instead always keeps moving north, where the largest port on the island is and his fleet is docked, so he can eventually leave Tsushima and continue on his campaign of terror. By necessity, Act 3 is a Race Against the Clock to catch up to Khotun and mount an effective plan to cripple his fleet before he can actually leave Tsushima.
Psychological Projection: Khotun thinks that Jin's a survivor who strives for glory like himself, never realizing the fact that the respect Jin had for his uncle is real.
Royal Blood: He is of the mighty Genghis Khan's family tree, and kicks major ass just like the rest of them.
Sadist: Despite his claims of fighting only as much as necessary, it's clear he enjoys breaking people down.
Scars Are Forever: Jin manages to slice Khotun's face during their encounter on the bridge, leaving a nasty scar on his left cheek. It taught him a valuable lesson about wearing his helmet (which he does from that point on) but the scar remains until the end of the game. Justified in that not too much time passed since their first duel, so the wound is still quite fresh.
The Sociopath: Khotun only sees people as two things, either stepping stones for his political ambitions or obstacles to be crushed and tossed aside like trash, best exemplified in the castle Shimura cutscene where he forced Ryuzo to burn an innocent civilian to prove his loyalty and then walk towards the gate when it's opened, ignoring the new ally who's clearly grieving in pain.
The Starscream: Records imply, and later outright state, that Khotun intends to take the title of Great Khan from his cousin, Kublai. Part of the reason he wants Japan conquered intact is so he can use their soldiers, and those of his earlier conquest of Goryeo, in his attempt.
Khotun Khan: I too have pride in family and I know what it is like to live in their shadow. Why should we settle for scraps, when we deserve to be legends?!
Story-Driven Invulnerability: In the Hopeless Boss Fight, while he can be damaged it is ultimately pointless since nothing happens if you manage to empty his health-bar. He'll just keep attacking until Jin's health is gone.
The Strategist: He carefully planned his invasion of Japan, learning from their way to fight to finding collaborators to help his rule. Before that he led campaigns to subjugate the fortified kingdom of Goryeo/Korea, which (per the historical record) had repulsed many previous Mongol attempts at the same.
A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Jin kills Khotun, the same way he always kills people via decapitation like Lord Adachi and Taka.
They Died Because of You: After killing Taka, Khotun shoves his severed head in Jin's face and hisses "Your friend died for you".
Un-person: Implied by Jin before killing him. The Khan boasts that he will be remembered forever, and Jin retorts that he will be completely forgotten. The facts are that no Khotun Khan exists in the history books, his whole invasion army was destroyed more or less by a single samurai, and he had desired to overthrow his cousin Kublai Khan. With these factors in mind, Jin's portent seems to have some truth to it.
A Villain Named Khan: Though it makes sense here, considering who he is.
Villain Has a Point: He might have been trying to use the fact that Jin was breaking the Samurai's honour to sway Shimura to his side and get him to stop defying his offers of We Can Rule Together, but he is totally correct that the fighting is bringing out who Jin really is underneath all the rigid trappings of the samurai code — somebody who will do anything for the sake of the people, even if it tarnishes his own personal honour. The ending of the game proves him completely correct that Jin's choices as the Ghost will distance him from Shimura.
Khotun: War brings out who we truly are... Your nephew strays from the warrior's path. He will become what you hate.
Villain Respect: In addition to his Villain Takes an Interest entry below, the Khan is quite impressed by Jin's reputation, calling him a survivor like himself.
Villain Takes an Interest: He has shades of this in his discussion with Jin, realizing he has more influence in Tsushima than he knows and is a far more dangerous warrior than the other tradition-bound samurai. If he could break the people by killing Jin or having one of them kill Jin, that'd be well and good, but having Jin on his side would be even better.
Visionary Villain: Wants to conquer all of Japan in the name of the Mongol Empire. Fitting since the Mongol Empire’s ultimate goal was the total conquest of the entire world.
We Can Rule Together: Though he was already pushing Shimura to convince the inhabitants of Tsushima to surrender peacefully instead of just flat-out conquering them through brute force, Khotun Khan realizes how much influence Jin possesses due to his actions as the Ghost and asks him to convince his people to surrender. In return, he'll let them live in peace.
Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Blames all the death and destruction he causes in Tsushima on the fact that Jin and Lord Shimura won't bring peace to the island by surrendering, rather than his invading in the first place.
Wicked Cultured: He has a vast knowledge of Japanese culture and is the Big Bad. This is Truth in Television as Mongol leaders were highly educated and would extensively study the languages and cultures of those they fought against in order to gain an edge against them; the Mongols believed that the best way to defeat an enemy was to understand them.
Worthy Opponent: When speaking to Ryuzo, Khotun Khan mentions that he has this view of Jin. While with Shimura, he can easily predict what he will do and formulate strategies against him. He finds Jin as the Ghost to be far too much of a Wild Card and more dangerous.
Wrecked Weapon: During his final fight Jin cuts his polearm in half, forcing him to use it as a makeshift sword instead.
Young Conqueror: While he appears to be in his 40s in the game itself, he was stated to have led the conquest of Korea before coming to Japan. Given that the final campaigns to vassalize Korea began in 1253, twenty-one years prior to the first invasion of Japan, he would have been at most in his mid-20s when this happened (likely younger).

Ryuzo (Unmarked Spoilers)

Ryuzo

"I have to think about my men."

Voiced by: Leonard Wu (English), Youhei Tadano (Japanese)^note

Leader of the Straw Hat mercenaries. He is also an old friend of Jin.

A Father to His Men: Ryuzo really cares about his men, and keeping them safe and fed is his driving motivation.
All for Nothing: His defection to the Mongols ultimately accomplishes nothing but getting all his men and himself killed by Jin.
Alas, Poor Villain: Ryuzo's final stand is basically treated as an extended suicide, with everything around him crumbling. All that's left for him is going down fighting instead of being beheaded as a traitor.
Anti-Villain: In the end, all Ryuzo cares about is taking care of his men, even betraying his friend Jin by siding with the Mongols in order to do so.
Apologetic Attacker: Both times Jin fights him he makes it clear that he doesn’t want to any more than his old friend does. In the first duel, he justifies his betrayal and apologizes to Jin, while in the second (and final) duel he angrily states that it didn’t have to end this way.
Beyond Redemption: When he first betrays Jin, the samurai is begging Ryuzo to not side with the Khan. However, after he allows his men to join the Mongols in devastating the land and even getting Taka killed, Jin admits that the only way he can really atone is by paying for his crimes. In their last duel, Jin is not only furious that Ryuzo waits too late to try to return to Jin's side, but also because he's futilely begging him to ask for atonement on his behalf, when both men are aware that Jin himself just crossed this in the Samurai's eyes by breaking the code of honour and poisoning the Mongols in the keep, meaning Jin cannot offer him any clemency anyway.
Cornered Rattlesnake: When Jin refuses his surrender unless he answers for his crimes, which Ryuzo believes means Shimura beheading him for treason, he decides to go down fighting.
Despair Event Horizon: Has clearly crossed it not long after his betrayal when he’s forced to burn an innocent person alive as proof of his new loyalties. The next time he's seen, he's listless and even states he doesn’t care about the bounty on Jin’s head anymore. It takes Khotun bringing up his men and his responsibilities to them for him to come up with a plan to capture Jin.
Didn't Think This Through: His ill-conceived plan to defect to the Mongols was clearly an act of desperation on his part, but still poorly considered. While he claims that Lord Shimura will simply send his men to die against the Mongols, it never occurred to him that the Khan would also do the same thing. By the time he realizes he's actually worse off working for the Khan, he's in too deep.
Dirty Coward: He's a decent fighter to the end, but him essentially begging Jin for forgiveness and even suggesting that he use his influence as The Ghost to convince people he's a Fake Defector only makes him look more cowardly and pathetic.
The Dragon: Becomes Khotun Khan's right-hand man following his Face–Heel Turn.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's absolutely distraught when the Khan forces him to burn an innocent person to prove his loyalty. He also brings up Jin’s usage of the wolfsbane poison and how it breaks his uncle’s code.
Evil Counterpart: Becomes this to Jin once he betrays him. Both he and Jin are working to save their people. The difference is that for Jin, his people are all of Tsushima, while for Ryuzo, they are the ronin. Both are forced to do terrible things to defend them, and while Jin is merely sad or ashamed, Ryuzo is utterly horrified at having to do things like set a man on fire for the Khan.
Face–Heel Turn: Turns on Jin during the Castle Kaneda raid because he decided serving the Khan and collecting his bounty on Jin would be easier than fighting and dying for Lord Shimura.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Tries to weasel his way back to Jin's side as Castle Shimura is retaken, urging him to tell the samurai that he had been a Fake Defector all along. But Jin is far beyond the point of forgiving his former friend especially with his part in Taka's death and forces him to answer for his crimes.
Fatal Flaw: Pride. Ryuzo's betrayal and defection to the Mongols was fueled by his desire to prove himself through his own merits and look after his men. Unfortunately, this left him unable to be open with Jin about how much losing in the tournament meant to him and robbed him of the opportunity to become a samurai. Had he simply dropped his pride and be willing to accept help from others, his betrayal could've been prevented. Additionally, he could have easily become a samurai if he just swallowed his pride and asked Jin to take him in as a retainer, something the latter would've done in a heartbeat. Ironically, the one time Ryuzo does drop his pride and beg for Jin's aid and forgiveness is shortly before their fatal duel, and it's telling that it took Ryuzo losing everything before he was finally able to cast aside his pride and seek Jin's help, far too late for him to realistically get it.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Ryuzo's justification for betraying Tsushima is that he must feed his starving men and that he resented Jin ever since losing a tournament against him, costing Ryuzo his only chance to become a samurai. However, all of these excuses fall completely flat when he burns civilians even when he starts to regret it and becomes responsible for Taka's gruesome death. He even tries to weasel his way back to Jin's side when things get bad for him, but Jin has given up trying to forgive Ryuzo and kills him for his crimes.
Foil: To Jin. Jin was born as heir to the Sakai Clan and eventually became its lord following the death of his father, where he would then go on to become a samurai under the tutelage of Lord Shimura. Ryuzo, on the other hand, was born as a peasant and wanted to enter the service of a clan by testing his worth. While he ultimately failed in this endeavor, he would go on to become a ronin after being scouted by the Straw Hats.
Foreshadowing: Ryuzo throws out several hints before his betrayal about his complete disdain for the caste system and his resentment of Jin's status. He also repeatedly brings up the tournament that Jin had defeated him in two years ago, and the final hint is when Ryuzo discovers that his captured men were fed by the Mongols, not tortured. All of this, coupled with his doubt about actually getting rewarded for any sacrifice he'd make, led him to defecting to the Mongols.
General Failure: Ryuzo deeply cares about his men, the Straw Hats, but he's rather inept at leading them. He's a poor strategist who cannot really think outside the box without Jin's help, leading to his efforts to find food for his men to fail again and again. In the end, his decision to side with Khotun Khan results in him and his men killed by his former friend.
Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: Is clearly wracked with guilt after betraying Jin and siding with the Mongols. While he claims to have done so because the Khan put a generous price on Jin’s head and he wanted to do what was best for his men, there are strong implications that he also had more personal reasons, namely jealousy and an inability to let go of his grudge against Jin for beating him in a duel. Nonetheless, he takes no enjoyment in being made to burn hostages alive.
Interclass Friendship: With Jin. He’s a commoner while Jin is Shimura’s ward and the head of his own clan. Later revelations make it clear a part of him always resented this disparity.
Irony:
- His insistence on saving his men from starving by siding with the Mongols to ensure food and employment just ensures that the Straw Hat faction is eliminated by Jin's hand.
- Ryuzo's justification for defecting to the Mongols was his fear that Shimura would just treat him and his friends as foot-soldiers, sending them out to die. While he does have a point, the Khan ultimately ends up doing exactly the same thing, right down to abandoning Ryuzo the moment the tide of the battle for Castle Shimura changes.
It's All About Me: When Ryuzo surrenders to Jin at the end of Act 2, he only wants to do so if he'll be forgiven of his crimes and allowed to rejoin their forces. By this point Ryuzo had already crossed the lines with his transgressions, so Jin makes it known that the only way Ryuzo is going back with him is as a prisoner to answer for his crimes. Ryuzo decides to fight for the death there.
Jerkass Has a Point: One of Ryuzo's justifications for defecting and joining the Mongols was his lack of faith that Shimura would actually follow through and reward him and the Straw Hats for any sacrifice he made. That Shimura was so dismissive of Yuna even though she risked he life to free him from captivity, and only promised to conditionally reward her if she did additional work for him shows Ryuzo wasn't all wrong, but not too much.
Kick the Dog: A flashback reveals that during an argument with Jin when they were boys, Ryuzo told him that Lord Shimura didn’t want him and would replace him as soon as he had his own biological heir. Considering Jin was orphaned and Shimura was his father figure, this is an extremely harsh thing to say and Jin almost ran away because of it.
The Men First: Sided with the Mongols because he thought the only way to get his men fed and cared for was to join the winning side. In the end, it just gets them all killed as traitors when the tide turns against them.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's quick to realize just how bad a decision it was to side with Khotun Khan when he is forced to prove his loyalty by setting civilians on fire to demoralize the defenders of Castle Shimura. He ends up screaming as loudly as any of the victims for the people inside to open the gate, clearly traumatized.
Never My Fault: Ryuzo calls out Jin for slaughtering his men despite the fact that he chose to betray Jin by siding with the Mongols to provide food for his men and is partly responsible for Taka's death, the latter of which is what led to his men being slaughtered by Jin as justified revenge.
Pride: His fatal flaw. He could have improved his lot by simply asking Jin to raise him to a retainer and samurai in his clan, but he didn't want his friend's charity and was determined to become a full samurai on his own merits. His pride also made it so that he couldn't just explain to Jin what the tournament had meant to him and how hurt he was that his friend didn't go easy on him, leading to his resentment. Ultimately, it turned Ryuzo into a bitter, headstrong leader who ignores advice out of determination to prove himself.
Redemption Rejection: After his first fight with Jin, the Ghost stops the fight and begs him to save his uncle and their home, promising he will become a samurai. His response before giving away his now former friend's position?
Ryuzo: It belongs to them now.
The Resenter: He resents Jin for beating him at Lord Nagao's tournament, 2 years prior to the game. Ryuzo had invited many lords to watch the fight, in the hopes of impressing and becoming a samurai to one of them, but Jin, his childhood friend, beat him in the match. Ryuzo resents that Jin went all out - because as a lord, Jin didn't really have anything to win or lose at this tournament, while it was Ryuzo's sole chance to elevate his station. That Jin fought with such ferocity because, in his mind, he couldn't allow himself, a lord, to be bested by a commoner, only hurts Ryuzo more. As a final insult, Jin never realized what the tournament meant to his childhood friend until Ryuzo brought it up. As far as he knew, it was just a tournament.
Rōnin: Technically not one, as he didn't even begin the process of becoming a samurai, but that's still his character. He had a shot at becoming a proper samurai once, but was beaten in a competition with Jin and left to go his own way. His troops are called the "Straw Hat Ronin", probably because the term "ronin" is better-known than something like "kenshi" (which just means "guy with a sword.")
Suicide by Cop: When Jin confronts him for the last time, he begs pathetically to rejoin and pretend he was a spy to gain the Khan's trust. Jin makes it clear he needs to answer for his crimes, which Ryuzo can clearly tell will result in his execution for treason. He opts to fight Jin instead, clearly not expecting to win.
Tragic Keepsake: When Ryuzo duels Jin and loses, his iconic straw hat falls off. Jin tries to offer it back to him as a way for him to redeem their friendship, but Ryuzo runs off. Jin keeps the hat (and can wear it!) as a sad reminder of his broken friendship.
Walking Spoiler: He's introduced as Jin's childhood friend and the leader of a faction that Jin recruits to help him fight the Mongols, but the fact that he's listed here under Antagonists rather than Allies makes it clear that there's more to the story.
We Used to Be Friends: Develops into this with Jin upon joining the Mongols to provide food for the Straw Hat Ronin.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Ryuzo becomes the victim of this by the end of Act 2, during Jin and Shimura's raid of Castle Shimura. By that point, Jin has wiped out all of the Straw Hats, leaving Ryuzo as the Sole Survivor. With the Khan knowing that his forces will not be able to hold the Castle, he decides to perform a tactical retreat to the North while leaving Ryuzo behind to fend for himself against Jin. One of Jin's thoughts at an onsen is that Ryuzo will likely die for this when the Khan tires of his excuses.

Temuge

General Temuge

Voiced by: Koichi Sakaguchi (Japanese)

A Mongol general who leads the siege of Yarikawa.

Arc Villain: He's the antagonists for the main quests involving the Siege of Yarikawa.
Decapitated Army: A literal example, after Jin defeats him he makes a show of decapitating Temuge in front of his men, terrifying them and sending most of the army running.
Duel Boss: Fights Jin one-on-one during the battle for Yarikawa.
The Faceless: His face is obscured by his Jurchen-style cataphract armour, with only his eyes visible.
Famous-Named Foreigner: Shares a name with one of Genghis Khan's younger brothers.
Flaming Sword: He can set his sword on fire to launch devastating attacks that Jin cannot block. Suffice to say, the real Mongols did not fight this way.
Flat Character: He doesn't show much personality and his existence mostly serves as a tutorial for Jin's Ghost Stance mechanic.
King Mook: He's a boss version of the Mongol leaders found across various encampments.
No Indoor Voice: He never stops yelling out every word he says.
Off with His Head!: How Jin ultimately dispatches him.
The Worf Effect: His status as one of the Mongols' best generals is only used to state how capable Jin is as a warrior.

The Tale of Sensei Ishikawa

Tomoe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_1_03.jpg

"We both have darkness inside of us. If we didn't, we'd be dead."

Voiced by: Miley Yamamoto (English), Mayumi Saco (Japanese)^note

A skilled archer who is a former student of Sensei Ishikawa. She later joined the Mongols and taught them Ishikawa's Way of the Bow to terrorize the people of Tsushima.

Arc Villain: To Ishikawa's storyline.
Arrow Catch: When Tomoe and Jin first meet, he is holding her up with his bow. She manages to snatch his own arrow in mid-air then holds him up instead in barely two seconds.
Boxed Crook: To the Mongols. After you catch up with Tomoe she makes it clear that she believes her position as an archery trainer was the only thing keeping her alive while she was captured by the enemy.
But Now I Must Go: After helping Jin and Ishikawa deal with the archers she trained, she manages to get a boat to the mainland and leaves Tsushima for good, though she at least makes peace with her old master (and at least convinces him not to shoot her).
Dark Action Girl: Frighteningly skilled with a bow, and unlike Yuna, she's fighting for the people invading her homeland. Later missions make it clear that even before she sided with the Mongols she picked up her incredible skills with bandits and murderers.
From Nobody to Nightmare: She originally started as a poor peasant girl (a double whammy in samurai culture). But she happened to impress Ishikawa with her talent for archery enough that he took her as a student despite her common origin, teaching her his Way of the Bow and turning her into a truly deadly archer. Unfortunately he pushed her too hard and she turned on him, joined the Mongols, and started using her skills on her fellow peasants while training the Mongol archers with Ishikawa's techniques.
The Gift: She is a prodigy with a bow, to the point Ishikawa, a perfectionist that sees most of his students like Jin as subpar, has nothing but praise for her skill.
I'm Standing Right Here: During the last mission we get this from Ishikawa and Tomoe.
Ishikawa: Don't let her out of your sight.
Tomoe: I can hear you Sensei.
Ishikawa: Good.
Ironic Name: Those familiar with Japanese history may note she shares a name with Tomoe Gozen, a Lady of War known for her loyalty to her husband and army. Loyal is not a word you will describe her as.
Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Despite her actions, which include attempting to destroy Ishikawa’s hometown, training the Mongols to be more effective killers and her numerous acts of murder for both the Mongols and herself, she ultimately manages to leave with her life back to the mainland at the end of Ishikawa’s quest chain. The downplay comes in with the fact that Jin and Ishikawa could've killed her on her boat, but allowed her to go. She does, at least, break her bow and imply she will give up her skills.
Malevolent Masked Woman: She wears a mask based on a kitsune. You get it for yourself, albeit broken, at the end of Ishikawa's questline.
Mercy Kill: She claims she killed the prisoners they used as archery dummies because the prisoner conditions were bad enough that the quick deaths she gave them were a mercy.
Paper-Thin Disguise: When approaching Jin as "Matsu", she shows up without her mask and tries to pass herself off as just a local trapper. Some failed hunting sessions and a few conversations where her selfish nature is incredibly evident are all it takes for Jin to see through her, at which point she admits that she underestimated him.
A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: She's this for Sensei Ishikawa. She was incredibly talented and Ishikawa considered her a prodigy. Due to his perfectionism, however, he put too much pressure on her, which led to her snapping and attacking him before fleeing. When the Mongols captured her, she was quick to offer her services and teach them archery the way Ishikawa taught her.
Regretful Traitor: By Act 3, Tomoe has taken it among herself to kill the archers she trained as penance after she loses favor among the Khan. She claims that her betrayal was the only thing she could do to survive her capture, and when she flees the island she breaks her bow and leaves it behind.
Respected by the Respected: If Ishikawa's words weren't enough, the Mongols — no slouches themselves — take archery lessons from her.
Ship Tease: Has some with Jin when she's pretending to be the huntress Matsu. They flirt a bit and she even asks him to spend the night with her, but Jin sinks it immediately. It's also likely that she was attempting to Honey Trap him and he caught on.
The Sociopath: From Ishikawa's description of her being a natural killer and hanging out with murderous bandits in her teens. She appears quite manipulative and has little regard to human life when you meet her, favoring practice on human bodies and trying to frame Ishikawa and Jin for her crime. The truth is a little more murkier than that as while she is still as manipulative as ever, she is genuinely grateful to be taught by Ishikawa and looks like she'll leave her archery past behind at the end.

The Tale of Lady Masako

Mai

A former servant for Clan Adachi who was banished for stealing. She took part of the conspiracy to wipe out the clan by looting their estate for heirlooms after the massacre and trying to sell them for money.

May–December Romance: She appears to be much younger than Masako.
The Mistress: To Masako, being her secret lover.
Poor Communication Kills: Masako didn't tell Mai that she banished her to protect her from being flogged, leaving Mai distraught and feeling betrayed afterwards.
Token Good Teammate: The only one of the conspirators that Masako doesn't kill, and indeed seems to hold little ill-will towards after their parting. While Masako was initially quite embittered over Mai joining in the conspiracy, it's later made clear that Mai had little agency in refusing and never wished harm against Masako's family herself, and mainly looted the estate to safeguard the heirlooms to return to Masako later. Hearing Mai attempt to barter away a valuable golden comb that Masako gave her as a gift to convince her escorts to not take the heirlooms seems to convince Masako, already conflicted over her feelings for Mai, to spare her life, and they part somewhat amicably, though in regret for what they both lost.

Sogen

A monk from the Golden Temple who offers Masako refuge after the massacre of her family. Is actually one of the conspirators behind the murder.

Bald of Evil: Has a shaved head like the other Buddhist monks and shows absolutely no remorse about his part in the murder of Masako's family.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: His appearance as a humble monk belies a surprisingly hateful nature.
Desecrating the Dead: Masako promises to leave his body for the animals to pick over.
Masako: I buried my family one by one. It took days. But I'm going to leave you for the wolves.
Evil Counterpart: To Junshin, who is later framed as another member of the conspiracy, as Sogen is a monk who was willingly complicit in the massacre and demonstrates a selfish and two-faced nature when he believes he's alone while being tailed by Jin and Masako, whereas Junshin is every bit as benevolent and helpful as he appears to be on the surface.
Jerkass: At one point, he can be heard condescendingly telling a pair of starving refugees that their "attachment to food causes suffering.", and insulting them behind their backs.
New Era Speech: Starts giving one about how the Mongol invasion has changed things and those who stand in the way of progress must be removed. Masako shuts him up over the fact he's trying to justify murdering children.
Sogen: Our world has changed. Men of vision must rise to face it, and those in the way must be removed-
Masako: THEY WERE CHILDREN! (she beheads Sogen)
Sinister Minister: Sogen is a corrupt monk who holds those he is supposed to serve in contempt.

Junshin

A monk from the Golden Temple who supplies temples and refugee camps with food. He becomes a target for Lady Masako when he is wrongly implicated in the massacre of Clan Adachi.

Frame-Up: Gets implicated in the Clan Adachi massacre, even though he has no involvement at all, apart from being visited by Lady Hana, the actual culprit.
Good Shepherd: Compared to Sogen, Junshin is a kind monk who looks out for the people of Tsushima, going as far as visiting every temple and monastery to ensure that they are supplied with enough food for the people seeking refuge there.
Nice Guy: A genuinely good man who cares about Tsushima's well-being, and does everything he can to protect the refugees in the temples, camps, and monasteries.

Kajiwara

A former retainer for Clan Adachi who was kicked out for abusing his wife and daughter. He later hired assassins to eliminate the clan.

Abusive Parents / Domestic Abuse: Regularly abused his wife and daughter and was fired when Masako found this out. He later killed them when Mongols approached his home to save his own skin.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kajiwara hides his true colors so well that Junshin tries to defend his honor, not realizing that he’s a domestic abuser.
Hate Sink: A hateful and abusive coward so repulsive that Masako had to hold Jin back from hurting him for a few more seconds.
Insane Troll Logic: Justifies killing his own wife and daughter by saying it was "out of love" and that "it was what they wanted."
Never My Fault: Blames Masako for getting him fired, yet never considered the fact that he himself is an abusive scum.
Stockholm Syndrome: Despite Masako offering his wife and daughter refuge from his abuse, they still went back to him anyway.

Omura (and sons)

A former supplier for Clan Adachi who was fired for cheating them out of supplies. He died about twenty years before the Mongol invasion, but his two sons were recruited into supplying weapons for the massacre of Clan Adachi.

Blackmail Backfire: One of Omura's sons tries to blackmail Lady Hana for a large sum of money on the threat of exposing the conspiracy to others. However, it backfires on them both when they're both killed by the bandits sent out by Hana.
Even Evil Has Standards: One of the sons believes that killing the children of Clan Adachi was wrong, but the other one argues that they had just supplied weapons, and that they aren't actually responsible for the children's deaths.
Posthumous Character: Omura died twenty years before the game's events, and it's his sons who are involved in the conspiracy to slaughter Clan Adachi.
Would Hurt a Child: One of the sons has no qualms over indirectly causing the deaths of Masako's grandchildren.

Sadao, Hachi, and Hina

Sadao

The former headman of Kuta Farmstead, banished for suspected involvement in a massacre on the farm, and one of the conspirators behind the massacre on Clan Adachi.

0% Approval Rating: None of the farmers on Kuta Farmstead liked him, and protested against him during the rice shortages. His response? Hiring bandits to massacre the protestors.
Bad Boss: Intentionally withheld rice for himself as a headman, effectively causing rice shortages and starving the farmers for profit.
Dirty Coward: Fled from Kuta Farmstead on the night of the Clan Adachi massacre.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He does seem to care about his brother Hachi and his wife Hina, to the point of being genuinely upset after learning of their deaths.
Jerkass: Not only for causing rice shortages on the farmstead, but also for getting bandits to slaughter the protestors.
Killed Offscreen: Jin only hears Masako confronting Sadao in the lighthouse, and by the time he reaches her, Sadao is already dead.

Hachi

Sadao's brother and a supplier in the Izuhara region. Another conspirator in the Clan Adachi massacre.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Comes across as a harmless supplier, when in reality, he was part of a conspiracy to slaughter an entire samurai clan.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite what he's done, he does seem to care about his brother.

Hina

Sadao's wife who gets captured and interrogated by Lady Masako after she gets implicated in the massacre of Clan Adachi.

Accomplice by Inaction: While not directly involved in the Adachi massacre, she still tries to deny her husband's involvement by claiming that the Mongols killed Lady Masako's family.
Bad Liar: It's evident just how desperate she is when she tries telling Lady Masako that the Mongols killed her family.
Killed Offscreen: Hina is only heard screaming, and by the time Jin and Masako get to her, she's already dead.

Lady Hana (SPOILERS)

Lady Hana Ikeda

Voiced by: Hiroko Midorikawa (Japanese)

Lady Masako's older sister and the new head of Clan Kikuchi. She, alongside the rest of those at Clan Adachi that remained at the Adachi Estate, were slaughtered by traitors and kickstarts Masako's journey for vengeance. In actuality, Hana is alive and was the one who orchestrated the attack on Clan Adachi in the first place out of petty jealousy towards Masako's marriage to Lord Adachi.

Arc Villain: Of Lady Masako's questline.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Hana blames Lady Masako for accidentally stealing her love interest Harunobu Adachi, getting Hana married to a man who was secretly a drunken abuser, and by proxy of the second, forcing her to live in Tsushima's colder regions in the North. A valid complaint yes, but one that pales in comparison to the first two!
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When Masako speaks of her, she only has good things to say about her sister, such as how she brings gifts and dotes on her grandchildren. In truth, she was bitterly resentful towards Masako since she married Lord Adachi and rose in social status, whereas she married someone of lower rank who was an abusive drunk.
Body Double: During the assault upon Adachi Estate, she takes the children with her to "escape". Lady Masako later finds what she believes to be Hana's body, but disfigured horribly, and buries it alongside her family while lamenting that she should have been laid to rest in the north, with her own. Turns out, Hana had a peasant girl killed by the Mongols brought to her, had her face mangled, and put on the corpse a clothing item known to have been worn by her, specifically to trick Masako.
Cain and Abel: Hana is the Cain to Masako's Abel.
Cassandra Truth: Masako refuses to believe that Hana is the one responsible for slaughtering their family, and when she does accept the truth, she breaks down into tears.
The Conspiracy: She orchestrated a rather large one, gathering individuals who despised or held a grudge against Lord Adachi or the clan in general and plotted the clan's downfall for years. When the Mongols arrived and Lord Adachi and his sons rode to Komoda Beach, Hana set her plan into action.
Disproportionate Retribution: Her sister's actions caused her to get married to an abusive drunk, which is extra bad in the brutal world of feudal Japan. That being said slaughtering your sister's family for it is going way too far.
Dying Declaration of Hate: Her last words to her sister was to tell her to kill her, calling it the only kindness she's ever done. Masako decides that if she wants to end her suffering so badly, she should do it herself. Which she complies.
Hana: And now, you have nothing!
Faking the Dead: She was thought to have died along with the rest of her family during the escape from the Adachi Estate. She actually survived and was the one who orchestrated the attack in the first place.
Foreshadowing: During the hunt for one of the conspirators behind the murder early on, Jin remarks that it is easy for evil men to hide their true natures. It turns out this is part of the reason for Hana's revenge - her husband Ikeda put on a kind face in public, but was an abusive drunkard in private.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Hana failed to court Lord Adachi who was an Amazon Chaser for her sister Masako. To aid her, Masako sent her to be married to a retainer in the north named Ikeda, who turned out to be an abusive drunk. Hana was incensed by this "Betrayal" and during the Mongol invasions had Masako's daughter-in-laws and grandchildren brutally murdered while her husband and sons were dying in war. When confronted, all Hana can do is insist she suffered more than Masako due to the pain her husband caused her. Masako points out that there was no way anyone could know what kind of man Ikeda was since he presented himself as a kind man.
Masako Adachi: None of that is my fault.
Green-Eyed Monster: She was not happy when Masako, her younger sister, married a samurai lord she had eyes on. Her envy got a whole lot worse when Masako unknowingly married her off to an abusive retainer to Clan Kikuchi. She also tried stealing some of the Adachi heirlooms and sentimental belongings because she saw them as hers.
Hate Sink: While the fact that she was married to an abusive retainer can elicit some sympathy, it doesn't last very long when you remember that she ruined her own sister's life by having her daughters-in-law and grandchildren slaughtered, and had former servants of Clan Adachi, most of whom proved to be as vile as her, carry out her revenge. And all of it is because of her jealousy that Masako married Lord Adachi and got the life that she had coveted.
Hypocrite: She despises the fact that Masako had unintentionally married her off to an abusive drunkard. Yet she shows no hesitation over recruiting Kajiwara, a former servant fired for abusing his wife and daughter, into her conspiracy.
It's All About Me: Despite having butchered Masako's daughters-in-law and grandchildren, she insists that she's suffered more than Masako. For being married to a man that took place in Domestic Abuse.
Red Herring: When discussing the traitor's identity, Masako and Jin initially believe that the mastermind is from a rival clan who despises Clan Adachi. When they investigate further, Jin notices that they're noticeably lacking in certain resources and thinks that they're not a samurai, but someone who is trying to establish their own samurai clan. That last one is closer to home than Masako soon realizes.
Revenge Myopia: Even as she's cornered for killing Masako's family, she insists she suffered more due to years of Domestic Abuse. She specifically recruits associates that feel the same way, wanting to destroy Clan Adachi for things that were their own fault, one of them even kicked out of the clan by Masako because he was known for Domestic Abuse.
Seppuku: Cornered by Masako and Jin, she insists she's still in the right to do what she did and tells Masako to kill her since that's what she wants to do. Masako hands her a shortsword and tells her to do it herself. She complies.
Social Climber: Had aspirations of marrying the samurai Lord Adachi and raising her own status (and given the setting, was likely groomed to be this by her family), but Adachi became smitten with her tomboyish younger sister Masako instead. With her life's ambition unwittingly nipped in the bud, Hana began to resent Masako, and that feeling only grew when she was arranged to wed a lowly retainer (who was an abusive drunk behind closed doors, to boot) instead.
The Sociopath: Hana's behavior heavily implies this. Her complete lack of remorse for killing Masako's family, her blaming of Masako for everything bad in her life, and her inflated sense of self and narcissistic behavior would make her one.
Spiteful Suicide: She does this when her sister has her kill herself with the aforementioned Dying Declaration of Hate quote above.
Walking Spoiler: Her actual role in Masako's questline is not revealed until the last mission.
Would Hurt a Child: She ordered Masako's grandchildren, even the newborn Natsu to be killed. And worse she sees nothing wrong with it, feeling like the anguish she caused her sister is not enough.

The Tale of Yuna

The Mamushi Brothers

Taizo, Kichizo and Manzo Mamushi

A trio of slavers who run a farm on Tsushima. Years ago they enslaved Yuna and Taka while they were children. Nowadays they operate with even greater cruelty under the Mongols.

Decapitation Presentation: They decapitate slaves who displease them, and display the heads around. Jin does the same to them.
Hate Sink: A trio of cruel, depraved slavers who take joy in torturing and murdering their slaves, and it's implied that they even feed their victims to the Mongols (though it could also be psychological torture as well). Jin gladly kills the brothers one by one and goes as far as taking their heads to send a message to their superiors.
Karmic Death: They suffer the same fate as their victims, courtesy of Jin.
Meaningful Name: “Mamushi” is also the name of one of the deadliest snakes in Japan.
Off with His Head!: Jin decapitates each brother after assassinating them and collects their head to scare their followers.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Not stated outright, but Yuna implies that the Mamushis raped her while she was their slave. It can be assumed that they’ve done this many times over to other young women unfortunate enough to find themselves on the farmstead.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Yuna asks Jin to kill them and show them no mercy, and she's particularly... detailed in the reasons why they deserve death. Jin agrees and decides to kill them entirely through stealth, and then behead the bodies and collect the heads to send a message to their superiors.

The Black Wolf

A slaver who deals in children. Yuna and Taka had the misfortune of being two of his captives when they were younger.

Bad Samaritan: Pretended to be a Good Samaritan to Yuna and Taka, only to get them drunk, sexually assault them, and then sell them to the equally depraved Mamushi brothers.
Depraved Bisexual: A serial pedophile who targets both girls and boys.
Dirty Coward: When things go south for him, his first instinct is to try and save his own skin by attempting to throw his boss under the bus. It doesn’t work.
Dissonant Serenity: He is distressingly honest about his pederasty.
Hate Sink: He is a shameless and unrepentant pedophile and victim blamer. Jin fully understands why Yuna wanted to kill him personally.
Human Traffickers: He traffics children to the Mamushi brothers, and has been doing so for twenty years.
Karmic Death: Is killed by Yuna, one of his former victims.
Never My Fault: His very first line when we see him is him trying to deny responsibility for the monstrous things he did, shifting the blame onto Altan. He also attempts to blame Yuna for him sexually assaulting Taka.
Only Known by Their Nickname: We never find out what his real name is, as he is only ever referred to as “the Black Wolf.”
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He rapes the children he traffics. Taka is stated to have been his favorite, and it’s implied that that’s why he’s the way he is in the present.
The Sociopath: Implied through what we hear about him, and what little we see of him. He charmed the young Yuna and Taka to manipulate them into his clutches, has been raping children and selling them into slavery for at least twenty years, and when confronted by one of his former victims he goes into denial mode without missing a beat, attempting to shift blame both onto his boss and the very person confronting him.
Would Hurt a Child: An unrepentant pedophile.

Altan

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese)

A Mongol general, renowned for his cruelty. He is the main antagonist of Yuna's questline.

Arc Villain: For Yuna's questline.
The Corruptor: Downplayed in that the Mamushi Brothers were already scum of the earth, but when Yuna and Jin need to kill Altan's closest allies in order to draw him out, they find that the Mamushi Brothers have gotten worse. They leave burnt corpses impaled on pikes outside their stronghold as a message to any slave that might want to escape. As Jin himself puts it best:
"Altan brings out the best in people."
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In a bizarrely extreme example of My Country, Right or Wrong. He sees himself on the side of righteousness because he didn't kill his own people, while Jin has no issue murdering ruthless slavers even if they are Japanese. He appears to genuinely think the Mongolian empire did no wrong trying to butcher the peasants into submission (to bring "peace") and Jin's methods to resist them are selfish and hypocritical.
Hate Sink: Not only that he's a brutal warlord that slaughters innocent families, but he's also the new boss of both hate sinks above who encourages their evil actions as well. The fact that he sees nothing wrong with slavery and pedophilia makes him even more disgusting.
Insane Troll Logic: Altan is convinced that Jin is a villain because he would kill his own people (ignoring that Jin is killing them because they're vicious, ruthless slavers), and that he himself is better than Jin because he fights for peace (read: subjugation of everyone in Tsushima).
Knight Templar: He thinks that he's a man who fights for peace, however, anyone who sees his or his lackey's actions will disagree.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: During their duel, he attempts to call out Jin on killing for selfish reasons, whereas he claims to kill for a greater good. Jin responds by calling him a liar.
The Unseen: He never publicly reveals himself, not even to his own soldiers, which forces Jin and Yuna to hunt down and kill his closest associates in order to flush him out.

Ichi

Voiced by:

An innkeeper in the Otsuna prefecture, and a former friend of Yuna's.

Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Ichi's voice stands out from the rest with a noticeable American accent to it.
The Resenter: She resents Yuna for escaping the Mamushi farmstead and not helping her, even though she was young, and that resentment makes itself very clear when they meet each other again. Even when Yuna expresses her remorse for leaving her behind, Ichi continues to denigrate her to Jin.
Spiteful Spit: She spits at Yuna after they liberate her inn from Mongol occupation.
Ungrateful Bitch: She is not happy when Jin and Yuna free her inn from the Mongols, choosing to berate them instead of thanking them.
We Used to Be Friends: Used to look out for Yuna when they were enslaved by the Mamushi brothers, but began to hate Yuna for successfully escaping the camp while she was captured in the escape attempt.

The Tale of Kenji

Nattou

One of Kenji's partners in crime.

Too Dumb to Live: During a fight against mongols and ronin, he manages to first release a bear (which could kill Jin, the only person there trying to save him), then gets himself trapped in the bear cage so he can't even escape on his own.

Gon the Butcher

Voiced by:

A bandit to whom Kenji owes money.

The Butcher: He's known as 'Gon the Butcher'
The Quisling: Sided with the Mongols and wants to collect on the Ghost's bounty.
Spotting the Thread: He heard the rumor about the ghost's infiltration in Azamo bay involving a certain sake merchant, so he tried to use Kenji to lure out the ghost and kill him.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: He shares the same model as regular bandits, so the only thing that stands out about him is that he's the one talking to Kenji on the bridge.

The Tale of Norio

Abbott Komei

The leader of the Cedar Temple monks.

Couldn't Find a Pen: His last act is to write a lotus sutra in his own blood.
Trickster Mentor: Described as being very cunning and often delivered lessons in very indirect ways. For example, when the other monks were in the midst of an argument over something rather trivial, Komei up and disappeared for a full week, forcing the other monks to drop their arguments to work together to find him. In addition, when Hochi and Enjo had a falling out and kept arguing with each other, Komei started carrying around a rock that he'd yell at random, embarrassing Hochi and Enjo into stopping their fighting. Jin even jokes that if he were captured by the Mongols, he could simply trick them into giving up on the invasion.

Enjo

Voiced by:

Norio's brother and the Guardian of Cedar Temple. He was imprisoned with Norio by the Mongols and was thought to be dead when Norio escaped.

An Arm and a Leg: His limbs are removed by the Mongols.
Big Brother Instinct: Always looked after Norio, even during the Mongol invasion where he attacked their guards to save Norio despite his emaciated state.
Break the Badass: He tearfully admits he talked under the torture, giving away locations that his brother would be helping at.
Mercy Kill: Begged Norio to end his life rather than suffer without his limbs.

Hochi

Voiced by:

A monk and healer from the Cedar Temple. He was captured by the Mongols while leading a group of healer monks to Akashima Village.

Be Careful What You Wish For: A posthumous example: shortly before his death he criticizes Norio for not taking initiative to think for himself. In the third act after freeing Cedar Temple (which was largely done under the plans of Norio with the help of warrior monks from Akashima and Kushi temples and Jin providing extra assistance), Norio discovers his brother Enjo limbless and Norio decides to Mercy Kill his brother, at Enjo's behest. Ultimately Norio finds the Mongol warlord Kharchu that crippled his brother in a fort and single-handedly slaughters every Mongol present, before burning Kharchu alive, shocking even Jin.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese dub, he's named Houshin.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Despite his strong aversion to violence, he showed no hesitation in letting a Mongol kill him in order to save Norio.
Heroic Sacrifice: He dies by jumping in front of a Mongol that was about to attack Norio from behind.
Obstructionist Pacifist: While not a coward, his insistence of being a pacifist by refusing to fight essentially makes him The Load, giving Jin and Norio the unnecessary extra work of covering his ass.
Pacifist: He strongly opposes violence, and does not discriminate between the suffering of the Japanese and the suffering of the Mongols.
Skewed Priorities: In one of the records found in Akashima, it's mentioned that some peasants defended Hochi from a bandit attack, only to be lectured about the sin of violence afterward.

Kharchu

General Kharchu

A Mongol general involved in the capture and torture of Tsushima's warrior monks. He is the main antagonist of Norio's questline.

Arc Villain: Of Norio's questline.
Asshole Victim: He got burnt alive off-screen by Norio.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Inflicted this upon Enjo, Norio's brother, in order to extract information about Akashima, Kushi Temple, and Hochi the healer monk.
The Ghost: Never actually shown on-screen.
Killed Offscreen: By the time Jin reaches the Mongol camp where he's stationed at, Kharchu has already been burned to death by Norio, who has also burned down the rest of the camp.

Mythic Tales

Yamato

Voiced by: Feodor Chin (English), Michio Hazama (Japanese)

A legendary musician who serves as the primary giver of the Mythic tales.

The Bard: But of course.
Distressed Dude: His knowledge of Tsushima's legends and mythic tales gains him plenty of unwanted audiences. The only times he's not put in any danger whatsoever are the Mythic Tales of the Spirit of Yarikawa, Gosaku and the Way of the Flame.
- He's initially terrorized by the murderer who seeks the Heavenly Strike. He's spared almost by sheer luck.
- He then gets captured by Mongols searching for Tadayori's armor. Jin has to protect him from a literal horde who really do want to kill him.
- Finally, he's chased down and threatened by the Serial Killer Rōnin Kojiro, so he has to hide out in Umugi Cove. At least, this time, Kojiro is after Jin, an associate of the musician, and used terror and Jin's Chronic Hero Syndrome to deliver his challenge to the Ghost.
Info Dump: He tells Jin of the various historical figures and their legendary feats while they were alive, which serves as the backstory behind each Mythic Tale Jin embarks on.

Legendary Heroes

The many warriors who have left a mark in Tsushima's history through extraordinary feats, to the point that their lives have become legends themselves. Their stories inspire Jin to seek out and learn more about their legacies to put to use against the Mongols.

Shigenori

The fastest swordsman in all of Tsushima, famous for creating a deadly technique that strikes quicker than the eye could follow, which he used to destroy vicious creatures of lightning that terrorized the island centuries ago. The main focus of "The Heavenly Strike".

Flower Motifs: Technically more of a "tree motif", as all the important locations in his tale are marked with white-leaved trees.
Hermit Guru: Lived a secluded life after defeating the lightning creatures, only teaching his ultimate technique to a few students who proved themselves worthy of learning it.
Lightning Bruiser: Was said to be the fastest swordsman in all of Tsushima, and his technique, "The Heavenly Strike", has the wielder flash through an enemy with a single deadly slash of a blade.
Master Swordsman: He was said to have never lost a duel, which is what helped him destroy the creatures terrorizing the island.

Tadayori Nagao

A legendary archer from Clan Nagao of Tsushima, famous for single-handedly defeating a band of pirates that attacked Azamo Bay. The main focus of "The Legend of Tadayori".

Flower Motifs: Violet chrysanthemums, found in his favourite meditation spot, his resting place, and on the cliff overlooking Azamo Bay, where his armor is located.
MacGuffin: His armor, believed to have been gifted to him by Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, and is said to be light and strong, beyond compare. Sure enough, wearing it improves Jin's archery skills, increasing nocking and reloading abilities, his concentration time, and even restores a percentage of the concentration meter with every headshot.
Master Archer: The most famous archer who comes from Clan Nagao, one of the great clans of Tsushima.
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: To the people of Tsushima, Tadayori is a revered hero who single-handedly stopped a major pirate raid against the island. To the people of Iki Island, however, Tadayori was a mass murderer.

Uchitsune

A once-famous archer who killed a demon that tormented the Emperor long ago, but paid the price for it when he was cursed by the demon. The main focus of "The Curse of Uchitsune".

Ascended Extra: One of the few characters to appear in the Legends campaign, specifically as a spirit since he's supposed to be dead and all.
Cursed Item: What his longbow is rumored to be.
Dying Curse: The demon that Uchitsune killed had cursed him with his dying breath, tormenting him with hallucinations that made him kill many innocent people as a result.
The Exile: The Emperor took pity on Uchitsune after he was apprehended, and exiled him to Tsushima, where he eventually died.
Flower Motifs: Blue hydrangeas. They surround his tomb, a small island along the coast, and the clearing on the cliffside where his longbow is located.
Master Archer: Was considered the best archer of his time.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The "curse" that drove him to kill innocent people. Was it actually a curse, just Uchitsune hallucinating, or did he actually enjoy killing the innocent?
- A clue might be found in the hydrangeas throughout the major locations his mission takes place in. Dried hydrangeas can produce an effect similar to cannabis, and can get people high if smoked (in high enough doses it can cause respiratory distress). Knowing this fact might explain Uchitsune's madness, and why Jin also hallucinates during his duel against the Tengu demon.
Our Ghosts Are Different: He appears as a spirit in a few of the Legends missions, and his bow is an important tool the Ghosts need to use.

Gosaku

A farmer who became famous for defending the farms of Tsushima from a group of bandits that terrorized the island, all while wearing a suit of armor that he'd found from a samurai's tomb. The main focus of "The Unbreakable Gosaku".

Heroic Bystander: Was an ordinary farmer who happened to stumble across a dead samurai's armor, which immediately gives him the skill and strength needed to defeat bandits terrorizing Tsushima.
MacGuffin: Gosaku's Armour, which is achieved after collecting all six keys leading to the location where it's kept. The armor itself is incredibly useful, as it gives a massive increase to Jin's health, increases stagger damage, and restores health when Jin kills a staggered enemy.
Mighty Glacier: His armour somewhat turns Jin into this, as it massively boosts his health and has a focus on breaking down the enemies' defences with powerful blows to restore his health, enable Jin to keep fighting as long as he attacks the enemies head-on rather than dodging their blows. Jin is still quite nimble even when wearing the armour, but it's clearly designed to favour a frontal approach to combat, regardless of the odds.

Tokiasa Yarikawa

A lord of Clan Yarikawa who was the greatest master of the Dance of Wrath, a legendary sword technique practiced by the clan for many generations. He also instigated the Yarikawa Rebellion against Lord Shimura years before the Mongol invasion of Tsushima. The main focus of "The Spirit of Yarikawa's Vengeance".

Armor-Piercing Attack: The Dance of Wrath technique is said to be able to cut through anyone's defense and in-game is unblockable.
Dying Curse: Played with. Before he was executed, Tokiasa vowed to avenge his conquered people from beyond the grave, thus leading to the legend of the Spirit of Yarikawa's Vengeance.
Feuding Families: What the Yarikawa Rebellion was in the past: a conflict between Clan Yarikawa and Clan Shimura.
Lightning Bruiser: What the Dance of Wrath technique does to the wielder. It allows the fighter to perform three consecutive unblockable attacks, swiftly killing three enemies at once. The range on this is surprisingly long, allowing Jin to basically Flash Step between targets over several meters in an instant.
Master Swordsman: A highly-skilled samurai who was considered the greatest master of the Dance of Wrath Technique.
The Resenter: He resented the power of Clan Shimura, which is what led him to instigate the Yarikawa Rebellion that claimed many lives, including those of Lord Shimura's father and brothers, who all fell to the Dance of Wrath.

"The Lone Warrior"

An unnamed warrior who developed the Way of the Flame after discovering a meteor atop the dangerous Mount Jogaku centuries ago. His technique was handed down through the generations, being learned in places as far as China, and was learned by the Mongols at some point. The main focus of "The Undying Flame".

Flaming Sword: He engulfs his sword with fire.
No Name Given: Unlike the other heroes of the Mythic Tales, the Lone Warrior who originated his legendary technique remains unnamed.
Thunderbolt Iron: The Way of the Flame involves the user striking their sword against a piece of a meteorite covered in incendiary oil, which sets the blade on fire.

Yasuhira Koga

Koga

A former samurai that fled when the Yarikawa rebellion failed, he has returned with the Mongols to learn the Heavenly Strike, a mythical technique that Jin can't leave in the hands of a butcher like Koga.

A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Jin kills Koga using the same technique the latter used to kill the previous student.
Ax-Crazy: He murders many villagers just so he can learn a way to kill even more people.
Beat Them at Their Own Game: During the duel, Jin manages to learn the Heavenly Strike himself and proceeds to kill Koga with it.
The Butcher: Was called the Butcher of Yarikawa for his killing spree during the rebellion.
Early-Bird Cameo: To the samurai of Yarikawa. As described below, he's indistinguishable from any other soldier of that clan, but while you can fight him relatively early in Act 1, you won't even get inside Yarikawa until the middle of Act 2.
Fragile Speedster: Most of his attacks are quick slashes, with only his Iaijutsu and Heavenly Strike being unblockable. His guard is also really easy to break with heavy strikes.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: Once Jin reduces Koga's health to about a third, he realizes how to perform the Heavenly Strike. The game then shows a prompt with how to perform the move (as well as restoring enough Resolve for you to use it if necessary); landing a Heavenly Strike will immediately defeat Koga.
Karmic Death: After Jin hits him with a Heavenly Strike, the technique Koga learned by torturing its last student, lightning strikes Koga which then burns him alive as if to say he was unworthy of it and punished for his actions.
Master Swordsman: Credit where it's due, for all that he's a murderous killer who sides with the Mongols against Tsushima mainly to learn the Heavenly Strike technique for his own gain, Koga is legitimately skilled with the blade. Jin catches up to him not long after he tracks down the last wielder of the technique and forced him to teach him the move, and he's already mastered control of it enough to use it fluidly in combat. Unfortunately for Koga, Jin is a far better swordsman, able to glean the workings of the Heavenly Strike whilst Koga's using it against him, and then strike him down with it.
Murder Is the Best Solution: His solution to forcibly getting clues from Yamato on learning the Heavenly Strike is to hold three people hostage and execute them in front of him.
The Quisling: Was more than happy to join up with the Mongols after the Yarikawa clan was disbanded.
Rōnin: While the Yarikawa family maintains their rule unofficially, they were disbanded as a clan. Koga, one of their most bloodthirsty retainers, was marked for execution and is no longer a samurai.
Serial Killer: Has more or less became one by the time we meet him.
Sociopathic Soldier: Was one for the Yarikawa clan.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: There is nothing that sets him apart from the other soldiers you meet at Yarikawa.
Ungrateful Bastard: He thanks the warrior that taught him the Heavenly Strike by killing him in a duel.

Tengu Demon

A supposed 'demon' who guards the cursed longbow of Uchitsune.

Bow and Sword in Accord: He demonstrates his skill with a bow several times to warn Jin off his quest and puts up an impressive sword fight with him once he actually finds the longbow's resting place. A record on Iki island describes him performing what is basically the optional archery challenges around the island as a demonstration of his skill to the locals who mocked him
Early-Bird Cameo: A record on Iki island recounts how he appeared before the residents looking for recruits to journey to Tsushima to find the longbow, only for the locals to realize that he must have been subjected to the Eagle's poison from his rambling speech. He quickly turned violent in response to one local's mockery and killed him. His sincere belief that the longbow was cursed likely stemmed from the poison's Hallucinations interacting badly with his fixation on the longbow, and his aggression towards Jin for seeking it was the result of the poison bringing out his worst traits. In essence, his presence and the trippiness of the subsequent duel with him is an early indication towards the Eagle tribe, as well as the main problems Jin will face when he encounters them. His duel even has him and Jin surrounded by bloody demonic crows, which is something that also occurs with eagles instead during the climactic fight against the Eagle as Jin's Mind Screw problems start to overwhelm him.
Improbable Aiming Skills: He constantly shoots nearby Jin as a warning to him to stop seeking the longbow from impressive distances as he follows the trail to its resting place, and a record on Iki Island recounts that, when angered, he rapid-fired arrows through the lanterns in the village as a demonstration of his skill before killing a local who had mocked him with the final shot before departing. Given this is what you have to do to win at the various archery challenges, it hints that he was once a raider and skilled fighter for the islanders before the Eagle tribe corrupted him into madness.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's unknown if he is actually real or just a hallucination. However, a scroll found in Iki tells of a boatman who transported the man from Iki to Tsushima, and his mask can be found in a cave hidden behind a waterfall.

Kaede

A descendant of Tadayori Nagao and the last of his line, who also guards Tadayori's Rest from outsiders.

Action Girl: A skilled fighter who openly challenges Jin to a duel when she catches him in Tadayori's Rest.
Berserk Button: Does not take kindly to trespassers on her ancestor's grave.
Only the Worthy May Pass: Played with. After learning Jin's identity as the head of Clan Sakai, she gives him a clue that could lead to Tadayori's armor, stating that he deserves to wear it.

The Spirit of Yarikawa's Vengeance

An unknown warrior woman who masquerades as a spirit of vengeance through Yarikawa, and a master of the "Dance of Wrath" technique.

Beat Them at Their Own Game: Like Koga above, Jin manages to slay her with her own technique and claim it for his own.
Dark Action Girl: She is a powerful fighter who can slaughter the entire Mongol camp.
Evil Counterpart: Like Jin, she's a Living Legend warrior beloved by the common people who masquerades as a vengeful spirit to frighten her enemies.
Fatal Flaw: As Jin said it himself, she's a great warrior, but she's too blinded by her own rage and thirst for vengeance to recognize the true enemy.
Mirror Character: To Jin, both being brutally effective warriors who operate under the guise/moniker of a vengeful spirit.
No Name Given: We never know her true identity.
Professional Killer: She's pretty much a hitwoman who kills her offered targets, ranging from the Mongols to someone for a highly personal offense.
Revenge Before Reason: You name a target you have a grudge on, She'll hunt them down and kill them, whether they're justified or not.
Samus Is a Girl: She's presumed to be a male until she revealed herself.
Signature Move: She's the last living master of the Yarikawa's Dance of Wrath technique, a set of three unblockable strikes, which killed Shimura's father and brother, suggesting she might be a member of the Yarikawa family.
Vengeful Ghost: She masquerades as one, Tokiasa Yarikawa's to be specific.

Kojiro and the Five Swordsmen

A ronin who was once part of the Straw Hats, but became infamous for killing many of his comrades, for which he was cast out from the group. However, when the Straw Hats joined forces with the Mongols during the invasion of Tsushima, Kojiro was welcomed back into their ranks, where he gathered five other Straw Hats (Yasumasa, Hirotsune, Kiyochika, Tomotsugu, and Kanetomo) to seek out Jin Sakai and kill him. The main focus of "The Six Blades of Kojiro".

Ax-Crazy: Kanetomo, who has brutally killed several peasants to pass the time while waiting for Jin. He is particularly excited to fight Jin and taunts him that he could have saved the peasants if he'd arrived sooner. Kojiro is also pretty unstable himself, proudly claimed that he enjoyed killing hundreds of his former comrades.
Blood Knight: Kojiro is a vicious, bloodthirsty fighter who gained a reputation for his bloodthirst and love for fighting. Likewise, most of the five ronin who join him are equally bloodthirsty in their eagerness to fight Jin Sakai. Hirotsune stands out by clearly enjoying his fight with Jin, while Kanetomo finds more fun in killing rather than fighting.
Green-Eyed Monster: Yasumasa has some shades as he is rather quick to say and think that samurai are nothing but spoiled hypocrites that steal the glory from others like him.
MacGuffin: Kojiro's Kensei Armour, which is gained for beating him in a duel. It's also one of the most useful armour for Jin, as it increases resolve gains by 30% and allows Ghost weapons to deal 40% more damage.
Punch-Clock Villain: Kiyochika comes across as this. He greets Jin courteously and states that fighting him is just a job.
Token Good Teammate: Tomotsugu, who seems like a genuinely nice and honorable person compared to his comrades. Notably, he's the only one Jin tries to talk down, but Tomotsugu insists on upholding his oath.
Jin: (after killing Tomotsugu) May you find true honor in your next life.
Worthy Opponent: Hirotsune sees Jin as this, having heard stories of Jin's skill from Ryuzo. Based on their dialogue, the feeling appears to be mutual:
Hirotsune: (laughing) Ryuzo's stories don't do you justice!
Jin: They never did.

Bettomaru

A lone warrior that lives in a dojo on the top of Mount Jogaku waiting for anybody who survives the climb in order to learn the "Way of The Flame" and teach them the fighting style.

Flaming Sword: He can light his sword on fire in the duel.
Hermit Guru: He lives on the top of Mount Jogaku, which is surrounded by the cold snow and teaches anyone who makes it to the top his "Way of The Flame" battle art.
Thunderbolt Iron: Like his ancestor, he strikes his sword against the meteor to encase the blade in fire.

Black Hand Riku

An infamous pirate captain who terrorized the Iki island and wearer of the Sarugami armor.

Animal Motifs: Monkeys.
Ax-Crazy: Known to slaughter many people and fed some to his pet monkey.
Blind Weaponmaster: His eyesight was destroyed by the poison, but Riku is very much capable of wielding a blade and striking Jin down unless he can match and exceed his own counters. He calls out to the Sarugami to help guide his blade during the fight, which helps sell the impression that you're facing a vengeful spirit rather than a flesh-and-blood being, contributing to the tale's creepy atmosphere.
Counter-Attack: The Sarugami armour specializes in this. It can even allow Jin to unleash a spinning counter-attack that strikes multiple opponents instead of one and has surprising range. Riku's extensive use of this move prevents the player from attacking recklessly during their duel, as it can allow him to easily carve through Jin's health in a single move.
The Dreaded: It's pretty clear that his crimes horrified his crew so much that even after his supposed death, the surviving former crew-mates are still afraid of the monkeys around the island thanks to his affinity with them.
Eye Scream: As the tale illustration shows, Riku's eyes were destroyed by the poison, leaking trails of blood from them as he stumbled off into the night. He's covered them up with a blindfold by the time Jin finds him.
Handicapped Badass: Despite getting blinded by his men's poison, Riku is still very capable of dueling Jin. He notes that he's grown accustomed to living in the dark and it's implied that the only reason he's able to fight Jin as well as he can even without eyesight is that he's had years to adapt to living inside the cave system and knows every inch it, giving him a Home Field Advantage. Furthermore, the fight takes place in a pool of water, so Riku can always hear Jin's position and track his movements.
In Harm's Way: Supposedly, the Sarugami inhabiting the armour drives its wearer to seek out danger and risk. For whatever reason, wearing the armour does reward frontal combat more than using Jin's more cautious and stealthy approach. To take full advantage of its abilities, the player must charge directly into groups of enemies and allow them to try and take their cuts. How confident are you in your parrying skills?
Made of Iron: Kashira's tale has him being poisoned and impaled by his crewmates in their attempted mutiny, the damage of which destroyed his eyesight, but he refused to die and managed to set the ship ablaze regardless to immolate his crew as he stumbled off into the darkness of the night. Kashira attributes his impossible survival of what should have been lethal wounds to the effects of the Sarugami demon inhabiting his armour, though he believes he perished from his wounds at a later point. He's wrong, and Riku is very much alive and capable of taking a lot of damage from Jin during their duel.
My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Whenever Jin instigates a Blade Lock with a foe during a duel, it's a sign that he's managed to deplete their health enough to move onto the next phase of the fight, as well as allowing Jin and his opponent to exchange a few words. When Jin does it to Riku, however, the latter is actually capable of perfectly parrying the lock and getting a hit in on Jin, unless Jin can counter his own counter.
Not Quite Dead: Even though he got poisoned and impaled by his men, he is quite alive and active.
Serial Killer: Upon venturing deeper into his lair, Jin will find the bodies of raiders he's killed and strung up as food for the various monkeys infesting the cave system, alongside the bones and skeletons of past meals. He implies that they're all thieves attempting to find his armour or the loot he'd accumulated over his years of piracy, and a note found written by him during his earlier days adapting to life in the caves implies that he's motivated by vengeance upon the surviving crew members of the ill-fated mutiny, but he has no problem killing unrelated 'thieves' attempting to take what's his, his goals being almost successful as Kashira gets himself killed by Jin just after Riku's own death and thus leaving a lonely female pirate as the sole survivor of his intended victims.
Would Hurt a Child: Kashira mentioned that Riku threw refugee children overboard and skinned their protector alive.

Other Characters

Story Mode

Lady Sanjo

The head of Umugi Cove, a notorious den of ronin, thieves, and bandits in the Toyotama region of Tsushima.

Beware the Nice Ones: Lady Sanjo works hard to make sure that people are kept safe from the Mongols. However, she has strict rules that must be upheld, or else the consequences will be deadly.
Decapitation Presentation: The last man who questioned her sincerity got his head on a pike.
Meaningful Name: She is named after the historical Lady Sanjo, the wife of the Sengoku-period daimyo Takeda Shingen.

The Shogun (SPOILERS)

The military leader of Japan, whose authority rivals that of the divinely-appointed Emperor.

The Cavalry: Sends samurai reinforcements, led by Lord Sadamune Oga, to support Jin and Lord Shimura's counter offensive on the Mongols.
The Ghost: Never actually seen on-screen.
Historical Domain Character: While the office of the shogun was nominally held by Prince Koreyasu (age 8 during the time the story takes place), the real power would've belonged to the acting regent (shikken), Hōjō Tokimune.
Kick the Dog: In the form of ordering Lord Shimura to kill Jin; while Shimura may disapprove of Jin's actions as the Ghost, he still cares for him as though the man were his own son. The Shogunate labeling Jin a criminal and giving Shimura the order to kill him is essentially asking a father to murder his own child.
Jerkass Has a Point: While the Shogun definitely comes across as being stuck in his old ways to a fault, listening to idle gossip from those in Shimura's army paints another perspective. From the Shogun's point of view, Jin has introduced a dangerous weapon to society that not only the Mongols have started to use against the Japanese, but bandits and thieves have also obtained and used. One possible chat you can overhear when sneaking into Shimura's castle is how even a merchant used Jin's poison to kill a rival merchant. The final mission also has Jin overhear that "the Ghost's Army" of Japanese is (supposedly) about to cross the ocean and invade China in retribution, something that Jin was not a part or even aware of.
Properly Paranoid: Arguably. After all, Jin showed the common folks of Tsushima how to use stealth, poison and all kinds of dishonorable tricks to beat back a stronger enemy. What would happen if they decide to turn those same tricks against the samurai? Especially after a couple of merchants mention one silk seller who poisoned his only competition, a noble lady.
Ungrateful Bastard: They're well-aware of Jin's accomplishments and actions in driving the invading Mongol forces away from Japan, but the Shogunate orders Lord Shimura to kill Jin for "spitting" on the ways of the samurai. That said, it's less about Jin's Combat Pragmatist approach in killing the Mongols and more about the fact that Jin's actions have rallied the villagers to stand against the invaders by themselves instead of under the samurai.
Uriah Gambit: The Shogun's order for Shimura to kill Jin can be interpreted as a case of this. While escaping from Castle Shimura at the start of Act 3 you can overhear other samurai gossiping about the bad standing Shimura is in with the Shogun. The combination of Jin's actions and Shimura losing face (for both losing his castle in the first place and then failing to capture the Khan) had made him look bad. So this order can be viewed as just as much a punishment for Shimura since he'd presumably be killed by Jin if he fails.

Jin's Horse

Nobu/Sora/Kage

A samurai horse Jin takes along early in the game. The horse's color and name are decided by the player. He becomes the player's primary mean of transportation.

Amplified Animal Aptitude: The horse comes when calls, which Jin attributes to him being a samurai horse, but the horse will do so upon having just met Jin, and sometimes in frankly creative locations.
Automaton Horses: Your mount can run forever, take falls that should break all his legs while only dumping Jin off by accident, and getting attacked just makes him autonomously run for safety. He will move to drink water and eat grass, but never to the degree that he'll be less useful. As your primary means of crossing the map quickly, this falls under the usual Acceptable Breaks from Reality. It makes it all the more shocking when the wounds he takes later on actually stick.
Four Is Death: It gets shot with four arrows before dying of its wounds.
Heroic Sacrifice: In a bit of a surprise for the genre, the horse will be killed during Jin's escape from Shimura castle. He's hit by several arrows, and dies from its injuries and exhaustion, but not before taking Jin well out of range of Lord Shimura's search parties.
Loyal Animal Companion: After missions, Jin can often be seen interacting with his horse. Including using him as a pillow to sleep, or the horse nuzzling Jin for attention. Jin will also regularly talk to his horse as he rides. When he dies, Jin digs a grave for him, named on the map as "Loyal Friend's Grave".
Replacement Goldfish: Averted. The coat and name chosen for Jin's first mount are off the table when selecting his second. If your first pick was the Digital Deluxe Horse, though, you can pick it again for the second choice.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Your horse that you have for the majority of the storyline dies at the very end of Act 2. For most of the start of Act 3, you're given a rather ratty and nervy brown horse to ride, but a few missions in, you're asked to choose a new companion horse, which will remain with you all the way into the endgame and post-game. You're given the choice between the two (three with the DLC) horse colors you didn't pick at the beginning and have the option of either of the two names you didn't pick from at the start, or a new third option (Kaze), to name the new horse.
Tragic Keepsake: In the postgame, Jin keeps a small, crude wooden horse in a place of honor in his hideout, festooned with the original saddle and reins of his first horse. If you examine it, he will think kindly of his loyal friend.

Sadamune Oga

Voiced by:

The head of Clan Oga from the mainland, sent to Tsushima Island as reinforcement for Lord Shimura in fighting the Mongols.

The Cavalry: He and his warriors are essentially this for Lord Shimura.
Honor Before Reason: Much like Lord Shimura, he also has this attitude as a samurai.

Harunobu Adachi

Voiced by: Feodor Chin (English)

The head of Clan Adachi, husband to Lady Masako and one of Lord Shimura's finest warriors.

Amazon Chaser: Fell in love with his wife after seeing her defeat a group of bandits.
Ascended Extra: Was a comparatively minor character in the main game, but gets more characterization in flashbacks during the Iki Island expansion.
Combat by Champion: Lord Shimura sends him to challenge the Mongol leader to single combat, hoping to break enemy spirits. Khotun Khan just kills him on the spot.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Doused in wine and set ablaze, then beheaded by Khotun Khan.
Due to the Dead: He and his men served as an honour guard that escorted Kazumasa Sakai's body home.
I Am X, Son of Y: He delivers a variant of this when challenging Khotun Khan. Unfortunately, the Mongols aren't intimidated or awed by such things.
Lord Adachi: I am Harunobu Adachi, descendent of the legendary Yoshinobu Adachi!
Old Friend: Implied to be one to Jin's father, given they fought together during the campaign on Iki island and Harunobu attended Kazumasa's funeral.
Pet the Dog: Harunobu consoles Jin after his father's death. He and his wife also attend Kazumasa's funeral and offer their condolences and support to the grieving Jin.
Sacrificial Lion: The game's first casualty, killed to demonstrate Khotun Khan's cruelty, ruthlessness and disdain for bushido.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His brutal death at the hands of Khotun Khan goads Lord Shimura into launching an all-out attack on the Mongol beachhead at Komoda to avenge him, resulting in nearly all of Tsushima's samurai (including Lord Adachi's two sons) being killed in the ensuing battle.
- His choosing Masako as his wife over her elder sister was one of the catalysts that led to Hana plotting revenge that would leave the women of his family murdered in cold blood.

Kazumasa Sakai

"The actions I took were not easy, but they needed to be done."

Voiced by: Lee Shorten (English)

The previous head of Clan Sakai and Jin's father, who died many years prior on Iki Island at the hands of raiders.

A Father to His Men: When bandits killed one of his servants, he chased them alone and on foot to make sure they don't get away with it.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Not to his killer, but rather to his son. Kazumasa saw his son hiding and begged him to help, but Jin was too terrified to do anything before helplessly watching as a raider finished Kazumasa off.
Almost Dead Guy: When Lady Sakai passed away, Jin refused to believe she died and went searching for her on the road where she went to for long walks. He went missing for three days after he got lost, and by the time Kazumasa found him, Jin was sick and near death. While Jin believed that his father was angry at him, Yuriko tells him that he was angry at himself for letting it happen, especially since he had nearly lost his only son when he had just lost his wife.
Ambiguously Absent Parent: It's heavily implied that Kazumasa wasn't around a lot during Jin's childhood. Jin even mentions in his journal entries in the Memories side-stories that he hadn't seen his father a lot since his mother's death, which implies that Kazumasa was absent a lot due to being unable to deal with his own grief.
Ambiguous Situation: During Yuriko's questline, where she begins to mistake Jin for his father after he reclaims the Sakai Clan armor, she makes numerous statements that make players unsure of whether or not they were having an affair after Jin's mother passed away, they had Sex for Solace or she was simply in love with Kazumasa.
Ancestral Weapon: After Kazumasa's death, Jin is given the Sakai Clan katana, and much later, he retrieves the clan armor after freeing Lord Shimura. Both were previously used by Jin and Kazumasa's predecessors and ancestors. Jin can also recover Kazumasa's horse armor during the Iki Island expansion.
Animal Motifs: Dragons, specifically, of the Eastern kind. While the other ō-yoroi Jin wears or picks up during the game consist of solid iron plates and lamellar, the fully-upgraded Sakai armor has the appearance of dragon scales. The deer antlers on the fully-refined helmet, and the fangs on the scowling face mask, complete the reference.
- Iki Island also reveals his horse wore similar armor, giving it the appearance of a dragon for the purpose of frightening his foes. Jin can recover this armor for his own horse.
Ascended Extra: He becomes a more prominent character in the Iki Island expansion.
Backup from Otherworld: Downplayed. When Jin is suffering from the effects of the Eagle's poison for the first time during his capture at Fort Sakai, his perception devolves into a full-blown Mushroom Samba, being tormented by visions of his father expressing his disapproval of his son as well as the cost of the attempted subjugation on both sides. However, in contrast to the shadowy figure that torments Jin, there is another Kazumasa that appears throughout the visions, yelling at Jin to follow him and guiding him through the twisting landscape to escape Jin's visions. It's hinted that this is the real Kazumasa's spirit aiding his son, and following his instructions is how the hallucinating Jin is able to make his way out of the pit of bodies he threw himself into to outside the fort.
Blood Knight: It's said that, despite carrying himself as a stern and dignified aristocrat around the home, Kazumasa had a reputation for viciousness on the battlefield. Confirmed in the Iki Island expansion, which shows that his campaign to subjugate the island's raiders was horrifically brutal, treating the island's natives as vermin who had to be exterminated.
The Butcher: Became known as the Butcher of Iki for his campaign against the raiders on Iki Island.
Combat Pragmatist: Implied. Yuriko states that Kazumasa and Shimura often got into disagreements over the latter's rigid and unyielding dedication to the samurai code, and that he wouldn't be disappointed in Jin for his actions as The Ghost.
- The intimidating appearance of his armor, with it's black coloring and demon-like mouth guard, certainly implies that he wasn't above the use of scare tactics against his foes, not unlike Jin with his Ghost Stance.
- Even his last moments has hints of this. He's forced on the ground and a raider is preparing to finish him off, so he pleads to a young Jin for help, likely hoping that Jin would surprise the raider and miraculously kill him or would divert his attention long enough so he can kill the raider himself.
- Deconstructed during the events of Iki Island, where it's implied he went overboard with this and did things that were unforgivable while trying to bring order to the island.
Creepy Good: Beloved by most of his servants and the people of the land, but his family armour was a pretty scary getup. Yuriko also says one day he went off to attack some bandits alone and came back covered in blood, so he may have more in common with Jin as the Ghost than Lord Shimura would have him believe.
Cynicism Catalyst: The death of Chiyoko Sakai is implied to have turned Kazumasa into a hardened, brutal warlord who would eventually earn a stronger reputation for being vicious on the battlefield.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese version, Kazumasa's name becomes "Tadashi".
Flower Motifs: Wisteria flowers, considering how he died beneath a wisteria tree on Iki Island.
Heartbroken Badass: Following the death of his beloved wife Chiyoko, Kazumasa essentially fell into despair, to the point that he'd failed to notice that his young son had gone missing shortly after the funeral.
I Did What I Had to Do: Kazumasa acknowledges he was a monster for the things he did on Iki island, but believes the benefits outweighed the cost.
Kazumasa Sakai: Sometimes, what is necessary is also terrible. The actions I took were not easy, but they needed to be done.
Like Father, Like Son: Yuriko says that he might not have disapproved of Jin becoming the Ghost as much as he thinks, as Kazumasa often had many differences of opinion with Lord Shimura. His armor being an intimidating black affair with a demonic mask and antlers at least indicates that he was not opposed to a little psychological warfare.
- This becomes somewhat downplayed in the Iki Island expansion, where we learn that he'd been a ruthless warrior who had initially disapproved of Jin's softer personality and believed that his lack of ruthlessness would bring ruin to Clan Sakai. However, it's clear through the flashbacks that Jin has in the Memories side quests that Kazumasa's harsher personality and difficulty relating to his son was in part due to his wife's passing and himself still being adrift without her, unaware of how exactly to raise Jin as a father or do anything beyond immersing himself in the role of a loyal samurai warrior. Just before the fatal ambush that claimed his life, Kazumasa admitted to Jin that he was wrong about him, having witnessed his son's character in battle with the raiders, and it's implied that he would have opened up to him more if he'd been given more time to bond with him. That said, the visions caused by the Eagle's poison do play up his stern disapproval of Jin when the latter is trapped in his Hallucinations, and it's implied that Jin has always carried around the perception that he was unworthy in his father's eyes, which the hallucinations distort for the purpose of breaking him, so while its certainly true that the actual Kazumasa was more similar to Jin that either of them realized, the Kazumasa that Jin interacts with through the main story of Iki Island is more a distorted reflection of his own guilt and self-loathing than indicative of Kazumasa's own spirit.
The Mourning After: Chiyoko's death affected Kazumasa hard, and his inability to deal with his own grief left him unable to be a proper father to Jin, who often felt neglected by him as a child. Even around the time of his campaign on Iki Island, Kazumasa was still lingering on memories of Chiyoko, though he was also trying to bond with Jin by telling stories about her with him.
Parents as People: Kazumasa admits he was not the best father, confessing that the loss of his wife and inability to deal with his own grief left him unsure how to best raise Jin.
Jin: You did what was needed on the battlefield, not at home. I needed a father.
Kazumasa: When we lost your mother, I was left with a son I didn't know how to help. So, I raised a samurai.
Pet the Dog: He has a few moments in the Iki Island story. During the Memory of Sorrow, he and Jin reminisce over the late Lady Sakai together, and he even asks Jin to play the flute for him. And during the Memory of Kinship, they have a brief heart-to-heart talk, only to be interrupted midway through.
Posthumous Character: Died years before the game began.
Samurai Ponytail: He wears his hair in one.
Why Couldn't You Be Different?: During Jin's first major hallucination as he's escaping Fort Sakai, we see shadowy figures of Kazumasa lamenting over Jin's soft and gentle personality. While this may be the result of the poison bringing out Jin's insecurities, the fact that Jin is insecure about it implies that Kazumasa may have displayed this attitude towards Jin in his childhood.
Kazumasa: I tried to teach the child all I know. But he acts more like a poet than a samurai!
Kazumasa: He's soft! Clumsy! If he dies in battle, the future of our clan is in danger!
Worf Had the Flu: His killer admits to Jin he was only able to slay Kazumasa because the latter's leg was broken in battle, and all he did was deliver a finishing blow.

Chiyoko Sakai

Jin's deceased mother and Kazumasa's wife.

Ascended Extra: Her relationship with Jin is expanded in the Iki Island expansion.
Friend to All Living Things: She loves and honours many animals.
The Ghost: We never get to see her on-screen, only learning about her through Jin's memories.
Good Parents: Unlike Kazumasa, she tries to raise Jin as a calm Gentleman and a Scholar who appreciates the finer things in life, more than a brutal samurai warlord.
The Lost Lenore: Her death causes much grief among the Sakai estate members and shapes them into who they are at present.
Posthumous Character: She's been dead for many years by the time the main story begins.

Ujimasa Yarikawa

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Shibamoto (Japanese)^note

The current steward of Yarikawa and the youngest son of the clan leader who organized a rebellion put down by Lord Shimura.

Authority in Name Only: While he leads the Yarikawa stronghold and its populace, his archers don't really give a damn about his orders, especially the ones telling them to hole up and not engage the Mongols rampaging across their countryside. The archers instead leave the stronghold and begin ambushing the Mongol camps, and later join Jin/The Ghost's army, in defiance of Lord Shimura's edict.
Jerkass: He mocks Yuna for serving Jin even if she was born in Yarikawa and gives no care if the rest of Japan will be conquered by Mongols as long as they leave his fiefdom alone.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he may be rough around the edges, he genuinely cares about his people and does show gratitude to Jin for helping him protect his town.
You Killed My Father: His hatred for Lord Shimura stems from the time the jito has quelled the Yarikawa Rebellion and ordered his father's death.

Takeshi

Voiced by: Greg Chun (English)

The leader of a group of bandits in the snowy northern Kamiagata region of Tsushima, and a former acquaintance of Yuna. He and his bandits assist Jin in liberating Fort Kaminodake from the Mongols.

Ambiguous Situation: It's heavily implied that Yuna and Takeshi were more than just acquaintances, as evidenced by how Jin asks Yuna about him, but it's never elaborated on.

Daizo

The monk who wrote "Conversations with the Khan".

Apocalyptic Log: Sort of, but he wrote records from his views on the Khan's situation from his arrival to his downfall.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: If you're quick enough to run out of the tale area, You can get the 11th record which describes the aftermath of the Khan's demise during the tale "Eternal Blue Sky".
Insufferable Genius: He respects the Khan's intellect but looks down on illiterate people.

Side Tales

Jinroku

A samurai who presumably survived Komoda like Jin. He appeared in the side tale "The Other Side of Honor".

Everybody Knew Already: Turns out that the women at the hot springs knew that he was a faker, they just kept him around as he was harmless.
Phony Veteran: He's a commoner who stole the deceased samurai's armor to pose around making him look more grandiose than he is.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Jin, the real samurai, showed up at his place, he immediately made up an excuse to turn tail and flee.
Zero-Effort Boss: Once Jin caught up to him, he decided to challenge him to a duel. The dueling cutscene starts, and the health bar pops up... and then he surrenders immediately when he realizes Jin is serious.

Gomyo

The bandit dying of his wounds. He appeared in the side tale "A Debt Repaid".

Forced into Evil: He joined the bandits in order to clear out his family's debts, once they betrayed him and killed his family, Gomyo swore to take revenge.
Last Request: To not be buried alongside the rest of the bandits.
Last Stand: He fights his fellow bandits alongside Jin as he's dying of his wounds.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's determined to gut every single one of his former allies once they betrayed him and killed his family.

Master Izo

A famous sculptor of Tsushima. He appeared in the side tale "Flesh And Stone".

Glory Hound: He tried to create the statue of Kublai Kahn to replace the broken one that he made to honor his son's work because it won't be as famous.
My God, What Have I Done?: When he finds out that his son died to protect his, and his statue's honor, he immediately regrets the things he said about his son prior.
Not Quite Dead: He's believed to be dead by his son.

Iki Island

The Eagle

Ankhsar Khatun

"Let me guide you through the horror. Purge the guilt from your spirit. Make you whole again."

Voiced by: Anzu Lawson (English)

A shaman and the leader of a Mongol tribe that has invaded Iki Island.

Acrofatic: She's not the slenderest person but she can perform some impressive aerial feats during her duel against Jin.
Animal Motifs: Eagles, as befitting her role as leader of the Eagle Tribe. They even show up in Jin's hallucinations as a sign that they're getting worse.
Big Bad: Of the Iki Island expansion storyline.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: She is strongly associated with purple, which is the colour of her own clothing and that of her elite shamans. The hallucinations that plague Jin with her voice tinge the entire world in purple light and wisteria petals.
Contralto of Strength: Her voice is fairly lower-pitched, which fits her character as a dangerous Mongol shaman.
Dying Curse: As she succumbs to her injury and dies, she tries invoking this to Jin, who shuts her down in response.
The Eagle: "One day, you will face the judgment of your ancestors."
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She cannot understand Jin's goodness of heart and his willingness to help the people who have killed his father and only expresses her disappointment.
Evil Old Folks: The Eagle is an older woman, and she aims to conquer Iki Island by forcing residents to drink her hallucinogenic poison to break them.
Expy: She has a lot in common with Sasha from the original inFAMOUS game.^note She forces the player hero to consume an unknown substance, which allows her to speak into the hero's mind, and view apparitions of her minions. There's also an Interface Screw where the world around the hero becomes and dark and scary and the UI (minimal though it is in this game) disappears. She thankfully lacks Sasha's creepy sexual obsession with the hero, but there's an echo of it in her desire to make Jin her loyal shaman.
Faux Affably Evil: She comes across as a dignified, affable shaman who shows hospitality even to her enemies. However, her affable front hides a sense of pleasure from seeing Jin suffer, and a desire to break him and turn him into one of her shamans.
Foil: To Khotun Khan. They're both high-ranking members of the Mongol forces, they both want the Japanese populations of Tsushima and Iki to surrender and submit to them, and they're both ruthless yet pragmatic individuals who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. But while Khotun Khan focuses on using brute strength to make Tsushima submit to him, Ankhsar Khatun uses a pseudo-spiritual approach to force the people of Iki to surrender.
Glass Eye: She wears one for her right eye.
Male Might, Female Finesse: She is the finesse to Khotun's might due to her usage of poison to force people to submit to her.
Mind Rape: Her "sacred medicine" induces surreal hallucinations in her victims and drives them to madness. When Jin is forced to drink it, the hallucinations he suffers often conjure up his past, or events from the main game such as Ryuzo's betrayal, his first fight with the Khan, or Taka's death. Jin's visions intensify even more during the Boss Fight against the Eagle as the battlefield becomes increasingly obscured by bloody demonic eagles before it culminates in Jin getting sucked into a hallucination where he's forced to finally put his guilt with his father's death to rest before he can return to reality and finish the fight with the Eagle.
Never Mess with Granny: She's a woman at least twice as old as Jin, blinded in one eye, but by the Expansion's end, she'll put up one hell of a fight, alternating between her Cool Sword and her shamanic staff in a duel with Jin. It's unclear exactly how much of her fighting prowess is due to her own skill and how much is due to Jin suffering the increasingly worsening effects of the Mind Screw he's been forced to deal with throughout the expansion thanks to imbibing her specialized brews, but it's made clear that she's the leader of the Mongol tribe not only because she's got the brains and the vision to lead them, but also the fighting skills.
Only Known by Their Nickname: She's often referred to as "the Eagle" throughout the story, but her real name is Ankhsar Khatun, as seen in the records. Jin also calls her "Ankhsar Khatun" when trying to chase her down in the last mission.
Purple Is Powerful: The Eagle and her men heavily feature purple in their armor and clothing and Jin's visions from her "sacred medicine" are heavily tinged with purple as well. She proves to be a fearsome foe and the Eagle Tribe warriors, in general, are far tougher than other Mongols.
Soft-Spoken Sadist: Even when forcing Jin to drink her poison, her voice always remains soothing and calm. Only when she's duelling Jin does her voice become more malicious towards him.
A Villain Named Khan: An extremely Rare Female Example. In this case, it's "Khatun", which was the female counterpart of the Khan rank in the Mongol Empire.
Villainous Breakdown: She is shocked when Jin manages to overcome his pain and her "sacred medicine".
The Eagle: The sacred medicine no longer affects you. How is that possible?
We Can Rule Together: Like Khotun Khan, the Eagle tries to convince Jin to side with her and aid the conquest of Iki Island.
The Eagle: Let me guide you through the horror. Purge the guilt from your spirit. Make you whole again. Just as I have done for all my shamans. Then we will tame this island and finish what your father started. Help me defeat the raiders of Iki Island. Avenge your father's death.

Khunbish

Voiced by:

The Eagle's main enforcer and overseer of the captives who are being broken to her cause in the Mongol-occupied Fort Sakai.

Combat Pragmatist: If Jin manages to fight his way deep enough into Fort Sakai, Khunbish appears before him and apparently forces Jin into a standoff, before his men defy the Mook Chivalry present in the gameplay mechanic and chuck explosives around them. Thanks to his heavier armour and shield, Khunbish isn't as adversely affected as Jin, and knocks him unconscious when he's dazed on the ground.
Dirty Coward: When Jin is on the brink of defeating him, he quickly tries to runs away but doesn't get too far as Jin immediately chases after him and kills him.
Disc-One Final Boss: With his death, the Raiders and Jin are able to free Fort Sakai from Mongol control and take it for themselves, preventing its defenses being used for the Eagle's benefit, but as the Eagle herself was absent during the attack, she's still free to utilize her poisons against the residents of the island, even without a home base.
The Dragon: To the Eagle, being the toughest fighter in her employ and defender of the most fortified location on the island for her and her troops.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Like his boss, Khunbish cannot understand why Jin would reject the Eagle's "gift" to him.
Multi-Melee Master: Khunbish acts as the player's final test for facing the Mongol enemies who utilize this tactic on Iki Island, initially fighting with a Flaming Sword and shield, before casting those away to switch between twin blades or a spear as the fight progresses.
You Shall Not Pass!. His most notable role is the story is to ensure that Jin becomes captured upon his exploration/assault upon Fort Sakai, so that he can then be force-fed the Eagle's poison and be subjected to the Mind Screw and Hallucinations that several plot point hinge upon. If Jin gets into combat when approaching the fort and loses, then a cutscene plays where Khunbish approaches him and knocks him unconscious. However, if Jin manages to fight his way deep enough into the fort, then Khunbish appears and forces Jin into a standoff... only for his men to cheat and stun Jin with explosives for Khunbish to render unconscious anyway.

Tenzo

"What's a samurai doing on Iki Island?"

Voiced by: Greg Chun (English)

A raider and a resident of Iki Island, who teams up with Jin to stop the Eagle and her forces.

Deadpan Snarker: He tends to crack a few snide comments here and there, often engaging in snarky banter with Jin from time to time. Most notable is when he explains how he and Fune had met at Fort Sakai.
Tenzo: We enjoyed the hospitality of the Sakai Inn together.
Jin: You mean Fort Sakai.
Tenzo: Terrible food. But we left with our heads intact. Most of the guests weren't so lucky.
Enemy Mine: While Tenzo is disbelieving over Jin's offer to help him and his fellow raiders, he willingly teams up because they both want the Mongols gone from Iki Island. Soon, their tentative alliance strengthens and becomes a genuine friendship as the story progresses.
Fire-Forged Friends: Despite a rough start, he and Jin quickly come to trust one another as they work to free Iki from the Mongols. This gets sharply tested when Jin realizes that Tenzo is the one who landed the killing blow on his father, but by that point, Jin has changed enough from his time as the Ghost to understand and accept that his father had committed a lot of horrible actions against the people of Iki, and recognize that the Eagle is a big enough threat to Iki and Tsushima as a whole, so he cannot allow his personal feelings to guide his actions, in case he jeopardizes the hard-won trust and goodwill he's earned with the Islanders. It also acts as a parallel to Tenzo saving Jin from his drug-induced delirium and near-death at Fort Sakai, despite being aware the latter was a samurai, because he needed all the help he could to save his island from the Eagle.
Foil: To Yuna. They're both peasants from regions that were negatively affected by samurai related to Jin (Tenzo being from Iki Island, which had been raided by Jin's father, and Yuna being from Yarikawa, which had a rebellion crushed by Jin's uncle), they both rescue Jin from the Mongols, and they are both major allies to Jin throughout the DLC and main game, respectively. The only difference, apart from gender and age, is that Yuna had never made an attempt on Lord Shimura's life, while Tenzo is actually Kazumasa Sakai's killer.
Foreshadowing: During the mission to destroy the Eagle's warship, Tenzo is found finishing off a captive Mongol in anger over something the latter had told him, disbelieving it. After the mission, he privately speaks to Jin, telling him that the Mongol had told him Jin's true identity as the Sakai heir on the Eagle's orders, with him reluctantly accepting that Jin is still an ally to the Iki islanders regardless after seeing him in action— and also because by that point he'd vouched for Jin as an ally, and if his true identity got out, then both of them would be targets for the Raiders' ire. His disbelief is given another aspect to it once he's revealed to be the one that killed Kazumasa Sakai, as he could possibly be fearful of the consequences should Jin find out.
- What's the first thing you see him do? Slash Kazumasa's throat. It's a hallucination, but Jin still recognizes him on some level, just not consciously.
Hidden Depths: Tenzo may be a raider, but he is also a family man who once had a wife, and he has a strong spiritual and religious core within him.
Tenzo: I grew up here, you know. Learned to swim in the shallows, helped build half these homes. Broke my arm falling off the rock wall, trying to impress my wife.
Jin: [surprised] You were married?
Tenzo: Years ago. She didn't make it through childbirth. Fune helped me bury them. This is my home. These people are my family.
Lovable Rogue: Played with. While it's established that Tenzo is a raider who has robbed merchants and played a significant role in the death of Kazumasa Sakai, he is also shown to have a good heart and a compassionate side to him.
My God, What Have I Done?: If Jin tells Tenzo that watching Kazumasa dying in front of him was the worst moment in his life, Tenzo will grow quiet for a moment before offering a sincere "I’m sorry" to Jin. It's clear that Tenzo is horrified over how badly this hurt Jin as a child.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: He gave one to Kazumasa Sakai, shortly before killing him.
Snark-to-Snark Combat: He frequently exchanges snipes with Jin throughout the DLC.
Wham Line: "May your death benefit all beings".
You Killed My Father: As it turns out, Tenzo is the raider who had killed Kazumasa Sakai. He himself admits he simply got lucky, as Kazumasa had broken his leg and was exhausted from killing so many of the ambushers beforehand.
Jin: How did someone so worthless kill Kazumasa Sakai?!
Tenzo: I don't know! Luck! He slaughtered dozens of us before we brought him down. Broke his leg, I think. All I did was finish the job.

Fune

"I hope so. Because right now, I'm really curious why you brought a samurai into my home."

Voiced by: Judy Alice Lee (English)

The head of a hidden cove filled with raiders and bandits on Iki Island.

Action Girl: She's a strong and capable fighter, which makes sense, considering that she's the leader of a group of raiders.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese dub, her name becomes "Fuka".
Enemy Mine: Like the other raiders, Fune doesn't have many good memories of the samurai, but she reluctantly allows Jin to join her crew in order to drive the Eagle from Iki. Soon, she comes to trust Jin as a valuable ally, and even personally requests his help in rescuing her daughter.
Mama Bear: She mounts a rescue mission to save her daughter from the Mongols, risking mutiny along the way.
My Greatest Failure: Several years ago, Fune discovered her estranged daughter Toki in a drug-induced stupor at a teahouse, but was so disgusted by the state that Toki was in that she chose to leave her there. By the time Fune finds her again, Toki's been left brain dead from her drug addiction and Fune regrets not helping her back then.
Pet the Dog: Tenzo mentions in a conversation with Jin that Fune helped him bury his wife after she died giving birth to a stillborn child.
Reasonable Authority Figure: While she comes across as a violent and ruthless leader, she ultimately cares about her band of raiders and wants nothing more than to see them safe from the Mongols to the point that she accepted help from a samurai.

Sao the Crimson Fisherman

Voiced by:

A fighter at the Hidden Cove Bokken Tournament and Jin's final opponent.

And Your Reward Is Clothes: Defeating Sao and completing the tournament will make him available as the Crimson Dye Merchant, opening up new armor dyes, masks and sword kits.
Blood Knight: Like all the other fighters at the tournament, Sao has a keen love of fighting.
Defeat Means Friendship: After Jin defeats him in the tournament, Sao becomes much friendlier and offers Jin his wares as a dye merchant. He even offers one item from his stock for free as a reward for beating him.
Outliving One's Offspring: Sao's son was killed in a bandit attack, and his grief is what drives him to fight.
Red Baron: Known as "The Crimson Fisherman."
You Remind Me of X: The first thing Sao says to Jin is that Jin looks like his late son. After their fight, he even comments that Jin fights like his son.

Kashira

Voiced by:

The pirate who tells the Mythic Tale of the infamous pirate Black Hand Riku and his Sarugami armor.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Seems personable enough when Jin first meets him, but then attempts to kill Jin to take the Sarugami armor for himself once Jin successfully kills Riku to retrieve it.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Yamato from the main story. Unlike Yamato, however, he comes after Jin to try and steal the Sarugami armour.
Trick-and-Follow Ploy: Attempts this with Jin to see if he can locate Riku's Sarugami armor, telling him the Legend of Black Hand Riku to get him interested in recovering the armor, letting him do all the work of finding and recovering the armour before cornering him and demanding at swordpoint that he hand it over. Predictably he and his men all end up being killed by Jin.

Jiro

Voiced by:

The peasant who tells the Mythic Tale of Jin's father Kazumasa Sakai and his horse mount's armour.

Freudian Excuse: He said that he lost his family in the samurai invasion, which explains why he’s so bitter against Kazumasa Sakai.
Grumpy Old Man: Repeatedly insists that his past experiences with the samurai invasion is worse than the Mongol invasion, and then brush off the arguments otherwise.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At first, he's rude and callous towards Jin after discovering who he is, and has him kicked out off the cove. But after Jin saves his life from the Mongols, using his father's horse mount armour, Jiro concedes that Jin is different from his father, and is more willing to put his trust in him, even thanking him in the end.

The Viper

Voice by:

A Japanese smuggler based out of Iki Island that has evaded capture by the samurai for over two decades whom Kenji owes a great deal of money.

Affably Evil: He's a vicious smuggler, but he's perfectly polite when speaking with Jin if you choose the "defuse" options.
Groin Attack: Jin comments that Kenji was lucky that the Viper didn't cut off one of his hands when he caught him trying to sneak aboard his smuggling ship. Kenji nervously notes that he was about to chop off 'other things' before he managed to talk his way out of it.
No Name Given: The Viper is never referred to by his real name.
Optional Boss: Pushing the confrontational options in conversation with him will lead to a duel where Jin nearly kills him.
Red Baron: Known as "The Viper of Hakata Bay".

Sugi

Voice by:

A pirate woman who appeared in the side tale "Troubled waters", and "Bloodletting".

Action Girl: She accompanies Jin during the fight against Yamaneko's pirates.
Changing Yourself for Love: She used to be the first mate for a cruel pirate named Yamaneko, but abandoned the raider lifestyle after falling in love with the man who would eventually become her husband.
Dead Hat Shot: After not returning to Jin after Yamaneko's ship sinks, Jin finds her red Kasa hat on the shores and presumes her to be dead, however...
Disney Death: When Jin returned to Sugi's village, he found Yamaneko's body impaled with Sugi's farewell massage impaled on it, concluding she survived and is on the run.
Signature Headgear: Her red Kasa hat. Jin can wear it after finding Yamaneko's corpse.

Legends

Protagonists

The Ghosts

The Player Characters of the multiplayer mode. According to Gyozen the Storyteller, they are the samurai of Tsushima who fell in battle, either in Tsushima's past or at Komoda Beach, and battle the Oni that were unleashed upon the island when the Mongols invaded.

The ghosts consist of four classes: Samurai, Hunter, Assassin and Ronin.

In general

Creepy Good: They look less like warriors and more like zombies straight out of a horror movie. Some of their unlockable gear is dripping with ichor, others even have swords and arrows piercing through their bodies, in the Ronin's case, his komuso/basket hat has a katana clearly pierced through the eye. That being said, they all fight to protect Tsushima from both the Mongols and the Oni.
Damager, Healer, Tank: Every class is a damager. The Samurai is the dedicated Tank, and the Ronin is the Healer.
Fighter, Mage, Thief: The Samurai is the Fighter, The Ronin is the Mage, while The Assassin and Hunter are the Thieves.
Foil: They all serve as this to Jin. Regarding their respective reputations, whereas Jin is among the land of the living but is called the Ghost due to numerous factors (primarily Yuna starting the tale and Jin being one of the few, if not the only survivor from Komoda Beach), these samurai have already died and are literal ghosts. As for how they defend Tsushima, Jin is actively repelling the Mongols from his homeland and has not encountered anything supernatural (with the possible exception of the Tengu from the Uchitsune Mythic Tale), the Ghosts fight not only Mongol soldiers corrupted by evil spirits, but also actual Oni.
Signature Headgear: Each class has a distinct type of classy headgear, which makes their silhouettes distinguishable.

The Samurai

Always Someone Better: The Samurai's default ultimate is identical to the Dance of Wrath that Jin can learn, except that he executes it several times faster than Jin can. Further upgrades allow the Samurai to hit even more targets whilst still taking less time to perform than Jins.
Expy: To Lord Shimura due to him being a Samurai so dedicated to Honor.
The Big Guy: Is the frontline fighter of the team, and has the most HP.
Cool Helmet: The Samurai wears a helmet with distinct horns. How long these horns are will depend on the effort required to earn them.
Flash Step: His Hachiman's Fury Ultimate allows him to deliver 3 (5 if upgraded) strikes while he dashes across the field. It's fast, but has limited range and control.
Life Drain: One of his class abilities drains health from the closest enemy.
Made of Explodium: One of his class abilities makes his sword swings explode (when they hit), dealing damage to every nearby enemy.
Playing with Fire: one of his class abilities causes nearby enemies to burst into flame if he uses a strong attack.

The Hunter

Expy: To Yuna due to her main method of attacking in archery.
Action Girl: The only female member of the team.
Blindfolded Vision: Her headgear consists of blindfolds, which don't interfere with her vision^noteUnless she is wearing a Focus.
Critical Hit Class: One of her passive abilities causes 50% of all body shots to count as headshots. Did we mention some bows trigger special powers when they score a headshot?
Homing Projectile: Her Eye of Uchitsune's Ultimate creates three homing arrows.
Long-Range Fighter: While all the other members have long-range weapons, her specialty and skills allow her to get the most out of bows.
Playing with Fire: She can fire flaming arrows.
Stuff Blowing Up: One of her abilities lets her fire an exploding arrow.
Summon Magic: One of her class abilities lets her summon an allied Wasp Archer, who will distract enemies with their fire arrow barrages.
Trick Arrow: Most of her abilities involve these; exploding arrows, smoke bomb arrows, and even homing arrows for her Ultimate.

The Assassin

Expy: To Jin, due to him abandoning the Samurai code in favor being "The Ghost".
Blow Gun: Assassins can use Blow Guns instead of bows. These darts can poison enemies, weaken them, or cause them to go berserk and attack the nearest friend or foe, all without alerting enemies to his presence.
Cool Mask: The Assassin's masks are separate from the rest of the Ghosts' mask pool and cover his entire face.
Flash Step: Much like The Samurai, his Shadow Strike Ultimate allows him to deliver three powerful critical strikes, but by blinking to their position. It's slower and (slightly) less damaging than the Samurai's Ultimate but has insanely long range and can be used to teleport across vast distances.
Master Poisoner: Standard poison does stagger damage, which leaves enemies open to attack but doesn't kill them. The Assassin has an ability called Deadly Nightshade that causes their poison damage to deal actual damage.
Smoke Out: His class ability involves throwing a smoke bomb which turns him literally invisible. It can be customized to spew poison gas, healing gas, or turn his allies invisible.
Stealth Expert: His passive abilities give him the highest potential stealth attack bonus and has skills that allow him and his allies to turn invisible and stealth attack enemies. His special ranged equipment is a silent blowdart that poisons the enemy without them realizing they've been attacked.

The Ronin

Expy: To Ryuzo due to his goal of mainly looking out for his men.
Boring, but Practical: The Ronin's ultimate skill instantly revives allies no matter where they are. While this doesn't deal lethal damage like the other classes, it's a literal life saver when used right before a total party kill.
- The healing incense isn't powerful by any means, but it has a fairly quick recharge for a class skill and health management can be very important in legends mode. The ability to drop a heal every minute or so can keep allies topped off on health, keep team fights at crowded points in your favor, and save on healing drum usage for when it's really needed.
Combat Medic: The only class with team-based healing and resurrection skills.
- His endgame equipment lets him throw healing bombs!
Damage-Increasing Debuff: Has a special ability that both weakens the enemies' defense and decreases their attack power by 25%.
Eye-Obscuring Hat: While they don't always obscure his eyes, all his hats are large enough to droop below them.
Stuff Blowing Up: His special equipment allows him to use bombs. While the bombs' range is extremely limited compared to a bow, they do a heck of a lot of damage and have a wide radius.
Summon Magic: One of his Class Abilities is to summon a spirit dog that can fight alongside him.
- The Beastmaster: With the right equipment, he'll summon a spirit bear.
Trick Bomb: Ronin can use Bomb Packs, which include Concussion Bombs, Flash Bombs, and Black Powder (Fire) Bombs. The legendary bomb pack causes all bombs to heal Ghosts.

Gyozen the Storyteller

Gyozen

"Once... I wrote the history of Tsushima. Now... I write of the battle for its survival."

Voiced by: Greg Baldwin (English), Tomomichi Nishimura (Japanese)

A blind old man that wanders the island, who speaks of the tales of the fallen samurai of Tsushima that battle the oni plaguing the land. He regales Jin with his tales.

Actor Allusion: Greg Baldwin is using his famous Mako impression.
Expy: Almost certainly one to Akiro, the wizard and narrator from Conan the Barbarian (1982). They even both have similar 'That is a tale for another time' lines.
Foil: To Yamato. They both tell Jin stories of Tsushima, but whereas Yamato's tales involve historical warriors who accomplished seemingly impossible feats like cutting down lightning beasts or a seemingly invulnerable Blood Knight ronin, Gyozen's stories are more grounded in the supernatural.
Wasteland Elder: Tsushima is not a wasteland. The realm in which the Ghosts fight in, where he somehow manages to record their tales and regale them to the residents? That, on the other hand, is a tad bit more than a simple wasteland.

Modified Enemies

Twins

Otherwise standard enemies who, through unholy human sacrifices of biological twins, have gained the power to resurrect themselves as long as one of them is still alive.

Human Sacrifice: Twin brothers and sisters were sacrificed for their hearts, which were then preserved through magic and linked to pairs of soldiers to create the life-link.
Resurrective Immortality: If one soldier dies and their 'twin' survives for a few seconds, both soldiers will restore to full health. The only way to kill them for good is if they both die in rapid succession.

Kamiguard

Otherwise standard enemies who have used the stolen power of the Kami as a defensive shield. To defeat them, the Ghosts must charge themselves with Ki of the same element and attack them to temporarily overload their shields... or they could utterly wreck their day with a spirit bow.

Deflector Shields: The Kami's Ki gives them massive damage resistance.
Phlebotinum Overload: The main method of disabling their Ki shields is by overloading them with Ki of the same element. A Ghost can use a Kami shrine to charge all their attacks with a specific element; any attack on a corresponding Kamiguard will cause the shield to vibrate and expand, temporarily removing all damage resistance. Furthermore, the combined Ki energies of Uchitsune's Bow do far more than overload.
Weaksauce Weakness: Uchitsune's Bow, which uses the combined Ki of the Kami, will terrorize any Kamiguard. A single hit from this quickly-regenerating ability on any Kamiguard will overload their shield and stun them for a few seconds, which can be done ad-nauseum to a single enemy to utterly destroy them without a fight. Two hits in quick succession will cause the shield to explode, permanently shutting it down and leaving the enemy prone to 1-2 critical strikes.

Revenants

Undead minions of Sukhbaatar, their lethality comes from their near-invisibility. They act as the counterparts to the assassin, charging silently into battle while the Ghosts obliviously stare at empty space until it stabs them.

Brainwashed and Crazy: Everyone who dies to the revenants turns into revenants mindlessly obedient to Sukhbaatar or Iyo.
Monochrome Apparition: Ghosts will shimmer blue when revealed.
The Shadow Knows: Their shadows are visible for some reason.
Stealthy Mook: They're invisible, even when using Ghost instincts.^note
The Virus: Story-wise, any living being who dies due to a revenant becomes a revenant. The Ghosts are immune because they're already dead.

Oni

Oni Hound

Supernaturally-charged hounds with a special power baked in.

Action Bomb: They have the power to explode (without dealing damage to themselves). Luckily, the charge time is typically longer than it takes to stab them to death.
Flaming Hair: They have red streaks in their manes to differentiate them from regular hounds.

Iyo's Disciples

Demonic priestesses of Iyo, who support their murderous brethren by making death-by-attrition near-impossible. As the counterparts to the Ronin, their healing powers are so great that they can regenerate any near-fatal wounds of their entire party in seconds.

Combat Medic: They carry swords and can cast offensive magic if threatened.
The Medic: They heal everyone within a wide radius. Constantly.
Power Glows: One of their weaknesses is that their aura cannot be hidden. If you need to find a disciple, just look up and find the giant red pillar.
Shoot the Medic First: Unless you can one-hit kill her patients, you need to attack her first. Anyone other than her within her radius is healed faster than your standard attacks can damage them.
Why Won't You Die?: Do not leave the disciples alone during a fight, or everyone other than them will become this trope.
Your Soul Is Mine!: You need to inflict this on them during the first raid, using their souls to power Iyo's fortress door mechanism.

Wasp Archer

Elite Oni archers. As the counterparts to the Archer, they combine the lethality of good marksmanship with the mobility of a Ghost.

Spread Shot: They can shoot multiple fire arrows in quick succession.
Teleport Spam: What makes them annoying is that, unlike regular archers, they'll react to a melee barrage by teleporting to a random location to continue their arrow spam.

Gozu

Elite spearguards who use a spear and (usually) a shield to charge into their prey. As the counterparts to the Samurai, they are quick, hardy, and can penetrate defenses in a single charged strike.

Flare Gun: They have the unique ability to use their shield as a magic fireworks dispenser, causing damaging flares to sparkle randomly around them. Unfortunately for them, they have to throw their shield in the air to use this ability, leaving them prone to arrows.
Jousting Lance: They use their polearm as one. Also, it explodes at the end of the lunge.
Lightning Bruiser: Have a high health pool and strong equipment, but can rush across the battlefield in seconds.
Shield-Bearing Mook: The standard Gozu uses a medium-sized shield to protect their front while they charge straight forward.^note

Mezu

Hammer-wielding sentinels who can tank blows like no tomorrow while punishing aggressive Ghosts with their slow-casting magical explosions.

Herd-Hitting Attack: Their core spell creates a cylinder of magical explosion that only damages what the caster wants to hurt. If the Ghosts don't run, they'll be blown back from the sheer force of the blast.
Magic Knight: They boast the strongest magical spellcasting ability while having a higher health pool than any other standard Oni.
Mighty Glacier: Their attacks are painfully slow, but they boast extremely high health.

Tengu

Raven Oni, and some of the most dangerous enemies in the game. Their polearms are a mere distraction compared to the swarms of demonic crows they summon from their body, which can destroy the ghosts in seconds.

Tengu
That One Attack: Their crow summon is a magic flamethrower made of birds; long range, homing, and a disturbingly long clip, keeping even the most dexterous players on edge. What makes the Tengu truly fearsome is that they use this ability as a secondary; attacking them directly will not stop the flow of crows. if they aren't interrupted with special attacks constantly, they can spam this attack periodically while defending or attacking with their polearm.

Fire Spirit

Hwachas brought to life by supernatural magic.

Forced Friendly Fire: Their artillery will damage anything in the line of fire. Enemies prioritize getting out of the way, but if you can keep them in the targeting zone, they'll get pummeled.
Sentry Gun: As long as a non-Fire Spirit has detected a Ghost, they'll fire merciless artillery at the Ghosts.
Weak Turret Gun: They have no short-range defenses and go down in 2-4 sword strikes.

Antagonists

Kojiro

A revenant who... controls Tengu? That's it.

Flat Character: Kojiro isn't exactly important to the story. All we learn is that he's one of Iyo's lieutenants, he's a revenant, and he controls Tengu... somehow. You fight him as an introduction to revenants after slogging through a squad of Tengu, and the level ends.

Sukhbaatar

A Mongol invader who betrayed his people after dying and getting resurrected by Iyo. He has become a threat to all life, turning his victims into brainwashed revenants for his undead army.

Bad Boss: He intentionally sent his still-living soldiers into ambushes from his revenants, so they would die and swell his brainwashed revenant army.
Turns Red: He and his guard turn into revenants after you kill them the first time.

Iyo (SPOILERS)

Iyo

Voiced by: Minae Noji (English)

The overarching villain of the Legends scenarios.

Big Bad: All the disasters that befall Tsushima in the Legends missions are due to her machinations.
Black Eyes of Evil: When you finally see her in the flesh, it's unclear whether she has this, or simply has no eyes whatsoever.
Buried Alive: Not only was she buried by the ancient rulers of Tsushima, but she was pregnant at the time.
Eldritch Abomination: Confronting her in her chamber in the final mission of Legends reveals that one of her three forms is a kaiju sized monstrosity. Thankfully, you don't have to fight this form directly. The form you have to duel with one-on-one and her third and final form are more Humanoid Abomination.
Evil Laugh: Half her lines in the first few chapters are malicious laughter.
Foil: Like Jin, she served Tsushima until she was betrayed by its rulers. Unlike Jin, she was killed, and sought to destroy Tsushima to get her revenge.
The Minion Master: Every enemy you fight in the Legends missions, from the priestesses to the Tengu to Oni to the summoned spirits, are all under her command.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: She was once a powerful priestess, but was buried alive by the rulers of Tsushima while she was pregnant. According to her, she felt the heartbeat of her child fade away as she lingered under the dirt praying for the gods to help her. When that help didn't come either, her hate empowered her to destroy every person and god on Tsushima.
Omnicidal Maniac: She doesn't just want to kill the people and rulers of Tsushima for the torture they put her through, she also imprisons the kami of the land for failing to protect her and her child.
Reality Warper: She managed to tear open a portal separating the underworld from Tsushima, then sent her minions forth to destroy the land. Once you access the final Raids and cross into her realm, you discover she has created massive stages, with castles and pagodas and abandoned villages, many of which are filled with all sorts of nasty traps and devious puzzles that must be solved before you can progress, and all swarming with hundreds of high-level minions of every stripe you have ever encountered.
Villainous Breakdown: Once you deal enough damage to force her unborn daughter to reincarnate as a bird, she loses all her composure and charges at you in a mad suicide run.

Characters / Ghost of Tsushima

Edit Locked

Jin & His Allies

Jin Sakai

Voiced by: Daisuke Tsuji (English), Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Junya Hirano (Japanese, young Jin)note Other Languages:Alejandro Graue (Latin American Spanish), Ivan Zharkov (Russian)

Lord Shimura

Yuna

Sensei Sadonobu Ishikawa

Lady Masako Adachi

Taka

Norio

Kenji

Yuriko

Antagonists (main storyline)

Khotun Khan

Ryuzo

General Temuge

The Tale of Sensei Ishikawa

Tomoe

The Tale of Lady Masako

Sadao

Hachi

Hina

Lady Hana Ikeda

The Tale of Yuna

Taizo, Kichizo and Manzo Mamushi

Altan

Ichi

The Tale of Kenji

Nattou

Gon the Butcher

The Tale of Norio

Abbott Komei

Enjo

Hochi

General Kharchu

Mythic Tales

Shigenori

Tadayori Nagao

Uchitsune

Gosaku

Tokiasa Yarikawa

"The Lone Warrior"

Koga

Kaede

Other Characters

Story Mode

Nobu/Sora/Kage

Sadamune Oga

Harunobu Adachi

Kazumasa Sakai

Chiyoko Sakai

Ujimasa Yarikawa

Takeshi

Daizo

Side Tales

Jinroku

Gomyo

Master Izo

Iki Island

Ankhsar Khatun

Tenzo

Fune

Legends

Protagonists

In general

The Samurai

The Hunter

The Assassin

The Ronin

Gyozen

Modified Enemies

Oni

Antagonists

Iyo

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Index

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Voiced by: Daisuke Tsuji (English), Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Junya Hirano (Japanese, young Jin)^note