The characters appearing in Nobunaga no Chef, sorted by faction and rough order of appearance.
It has numerous characters so help would be appreciated.
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Time Travelers
Ken
A tall young man who was stranded in the past and winds up to be Nobunaga's chef.- Cassandra Truth: His mutterings about history (or nutrition) is rarely taken seriously, at least before the other party ate his food.
- Easy Amnesia: Ken does not remember who he is and where he came from. He remembers everything else though - from trivia regarding food ingredients, nutrition, and cooking techniques, to the history of the Era he's stuck in. Flashes of his "past" implies that he used to work in a French restaurant in modern-day Japan alongside Youko, but the details are still deliberately fuzzy.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a small but rather prominent scar across one of his eyebrows. He got it from defying Nobunaga a few times and getting slashed that many times there.
- Hunk: Ken is tall, well-built and has a very masculine charm. The live-action adaptation transforms him to a Pretty Boy, though.
- Identity Amnesia: Ken can't remember most of his previous life save for his name.
- Improbable Hairstyle: Only in the live action adaptation. His hair in the manga is fairly reasonably styled and groomed.
- Non-Action Guy: Ken never fought directly in wars and even wound up caught several times.
- Running Gag: Ken never fails to hit his head against the ceiling beam (or doorway) whenever he visits Natsu's house.
- Thinking Tic: Ken tends to stroke his chin whenever he is deep in his thoughts.
Youko
A timid young woman who took up residence in the Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple. A splendid maker of pastries.- Foreshadowing: Her presence has been foreshadowed since the first chapter, as well as two others.
- Rape as Backstory: She was gang-raped shortly after appearing in the Warring States Era and Kennyo uses her fears of a repeat incident to keep her in line.
- Supreme Chef: She specialized in making pastries.
Kashin Koji
A devotee of the faith who performs magic and dispenses eerily accurate prophecies. He is actually Matsuda, the third surviving out of five time-travelers who landed in medieval Japan.- Foreshadowing: The soldiers chasing Ken after killing his older friend mentioned that they have two more on the loose. Natsu overheard this before Ken emerged from the water.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a big one across his throat, normally concealed with a scarf. He is perhaps the most unscrupulous character in the manga so far, one that even Matsunaga is keeping at arm's length.
- Walking Spoiler: He only showed up much later in the manga.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Matsunaga discarded him from his service after his final failure of eliminating Ken from the political scene.
House Oda and Allies
People of House Oda, its retainers, and its allies.
Natsu
A blacksmith who lived alone and just happen to be out collecting iron sand when Ken was attacked by soldiers.- Bifauxnen: Natsu was initially portrayed as a somewhat hyperactive Keet in her introduction, but was revealed to be a girl before the first chapter ends.
- The Blacksmith: She was a skilled blacksmith in Kyoto, but then was persuaded by Nobunaga to relocate to Gifu to forge for his armies.
- Can't Have Sex, Ever: As per Shinto folklore involving the goddess of the forge, a female blacksmith must remain a virgin if she wants to continue her profession. Natsu is very passionate about her work, and is not ready to give it up for sexual relationships just yet.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi
One of Oda's main generals.- Henpecked Husband: He may be quite fearsome in the battlefield, but his wife had him cowed in his household.
- Hollywood Homely: His wife is rather pudgy, although not fat.
- The Napoleon: Notably rather short in stature compared to other characters.
Oda Nobunaga
- Happily Married: They might be snide to each other, but they're genuinely happy together.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Nobunaga can be seen as this in a non-romantic way. He may appear cruel and ruthless but he's actually quite caring and considerate.
Yoshinari Mori
Nobunaga's principal retainer, who understood the ruler more than the others.- Eyes Always Shut: Generally drawn with his eyes a thin line, except in close-up panels.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Yoshinari is Nobunaga's right-hand man and is often on Ken's side of the argument. The only time he's unreasonable is near his death, where he rode out to attack the Ikko-ikki troops with his meager army despite Nobunaga's order to be defensive and let his fortress be besieged so he can be relieved later.
Ranmaru Mori
Yoshinari's third (second surviving) son, he typically hangs around Natsu's forge.Katsuie Shibata
- The Big Guy: He is a bigger man than average, and a vanguard general often in the frontlines.
Nouhime
Nobunaga's wife.- Animal Motifs: Butterfly. Her maiden name is Kichou.
- Happily Married: Her marriage to Nobunaga seems to be genuinely affectionate despite being political.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While she doesn't hold any sort of political status, she is a voice of reason for Nobunaga. She also mediated some disputes between Nobunaga and Ken, and advises Kaede to study European cuisine to mitigate Kennyo's restriction on Ken.
Mitsuhide Akechi
Another of Nobunaga's principal retainers.- Ridiculously Average Guy: He does not stand out much amongst Nobunaga's principal retainers, and this is actually why Nobunaga took him under his leadership. Similar to Hideyoshi, he also comes from a humble (though not peasant) background.
- Treacherous Advisor: Kashin was this for Mitsuhide, before he banished Kashin for revealing that he will be the one who murder Nobunaga at Honnouji.
Hisahide Matsunaga
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He started as a rather ordinary retainer, but rose through the ranks ruthlessly and eventually usurped control of his domain. He also rebelled against Oda during Shingen's march to the capital, but later confessed to Nobunaga that the rebellion was a ruse to get Shingen and Kennyo's allies to move.
Hanbei Takenaka
- The Smart Guy: He is Hideyoshi's primary advisor and tactician.
Kaede
- Action Girl: During the conflict with Azai-Asakura, she was sent to rescue Ken from Nagamasa Azai's dungeons. They met halfway, but got ambushed and Kaede wound up fighting off a group of vagabonds with a broken leg.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl
- Badass in Distress: She spent some time in Hongan-ji's dungeons after a botched escape attempt during the Azai-Asakura and getting her thigh speared.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Lost both parents at war and left her starving friends behind to follow Nobunaga, who happened to pass by.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Being a Kunoichi, Kaede would sometimes use sex to extract information.
- Ninja: She is an interesting mix of both the historical side (blending in the populace, seducing people for information, disguising herself to infiltrate enemy castles) and the more fictional side (black ninja costumes, flinging kunai with great accuracy).
- The Stoic: Barely bats an eye to bloodshed.
Ieyasu Tokugawa
- Trademark Favorite Food: Sea bream.
Tadakatsu Honda
- Boisterous Bruiser: He disregarded Ieyasu's Rousing Speech to charge headfirst at the enemy in the Battle of Anegawa.
- Named Weapons: He holds Tonbogiri, a masterwork spear. Curiously, it is not depicted as a particularly unique weapon and Tadakatsu is afraid clashing it with another will chip its edge.
- Trademark Favorite Food: He seemed to favor miso greatly.
Kanta
- Tagalong Kid: Ken picked him up in a village near Nagashino, where he was being shunned for theft. He became Natsu's apprentice (and ostensibly a Mori family servant) afterwards.
Nobutada Oda
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Craves approval from his father.
Nobutaka Oda
- Hot-Blooded: Antagonistic towards his older brother and even tried to sabotage his feast.
The Capital
The faction who controls the capital, Kyoto. Comprises of the Shogunate, the Emperor and his household, and assorted nobles.
Yoshiaki Ashikaga
- Upper-Class Twit: Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was under the impression that being a Shogun grants him absolute power over the feudal lords, despite being a narrow-minded, incompetent puppet. Nobunaga compared him to a frognote due to his narrow-mindedness.
Tokitsugu Yamashina
- Trademark Favorite Food: While nothing specific is said on-screen, he is easily swayed by sweet foods. Both the Oda and Kennyo factions is aware of this fact, and tried to capitalize it for their gain.
The Emperor
- The Faceless: As with the time's customs, his face is never visible on-panel.
The Merchant Guild of Sakai
Characters from the trading city of Sakai.
Soukyuu Imai
- Arms Dealer: Nobunaga's main guns and ammunition supplier.
Sen no Rikyuu
Houses Azai and Asakura
Characters from the allied Houses Azai and Asakura.
Oichi
- Happily Married: To Nagamasa Azai.
Yoshikage Asakura
- Dirty Coward: Between him and Nagamasa, he is the weaker link and had retreated first multiple times, including his last war that ended in his death. To be fair, Ken had a hand to this in at least one instance.
Nagamasa Azai
- Anger Born of Worry: His betrayal of Nobunaga was precipitated by his inability of comprehending Nobunaga's realpolitik moves.
- Happily Married: To Oichi.
- Honor Before Reason: He would rather die than work with Nobunaga.
Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple
Characters from Ishiyama Hongan-ji and the associated Ikko-ikki Movement.
Kennyo
- Badass Preacher: Leads an entire Badass Army of these and is sharp enough to be regarded as a fearsome Worthy Opponent by Nobunaga. To wit, The Ikko-Ikki Movement and Ishiyama Hongan-Ji in particular were the only land-owners in Japan at the time who could claim to demand taxes from an entire province without being part of the noble or military classes. Everywhere else? Owned by Daimyo, samurai and the emperor. None of the previously mentioned stood a chance against these guys, and they were the last true obstacle to Oda's unification of Japan.
- Bald of Evil: As the abbot of Ishiyama Hongan-ji, a notably militant Buddhist fortress close to the imperial capital, Kennyo has a perfectly bald head per customs and was one of the biggest obstacles between Nobunaga and unification of Japan.
- Church Militant: Leads an army of Buddhist monks and believers.
- Self-Poisoning Gambit: When Kennyo attempts to get Nobunaga to suffer a nutmeg overdose, he and his staff ate a few of the macarons to prove they're harmless. This encourages Nobunaga to eat multiple macaroons, and almost causes him to die.
- Sinister Minister: Threatens Youko he will abandon her to be raped by bandits to keep her in line and even tells his followers that those who fight for him will go to Heaven while those who retreat will go to Hell.
House Takeda
Characters from House Takeda.
Nobutomo Akiyama
- Undying Loyalty: Would rather concede his position than to reveal that Katsuyori's levies (who are due to reinforce him) are untested recruits and commanders.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While he was totally loyal to the Takeda, he is influential enough to take pragmatic actions that would seem to benefit the opposite side (bringing Ken to Shingen's service instead of killing him, releasing the Oda delegation taken hostage by Anayama, etc.).
Shingen Takeda
- Blood from the Mouth: Shown a few times.
- The Chessmaster: Known for his strategic prowess, this is shown in all its glory at the battle of Mikatagahara (until Ieyasu with the help of Ken, outfoxed him with a daring tactic to scare the Takeda troops away).
- The Dreaded: The mere fact that attacking Mt. Hiei can provoke Shingen into taking action against them paralyzes all of Nobunaga's generals with terror. Later, genuinely turns into a Oh, Crap! moment when Shingen invades Tokugawa lands, and they realize that they are next.
Katsuyori Takeda
- The Dreaded: He becomes this when he took a fort that his father Shingen is reputed to not be able to crack.
- Hot-Blooded: Notably more brash and confrontational compared to Shingen.
Nobutada Anayama
- Dirty Coward: He would later turned back his otherwise fresh army the moment the battle in Nagashino swung to The Oda's favor.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He detained Oda's peaceful delegation sent to congratulate Katsuyori's ascent as head of the Takeda, to prevent them from sending word back about Takeda's movement. While this is considered to be a violation of etiquette, Anayama really did the sensible thing especially due to Oda's lightning-fast ability to react to enemy movement.
House Uesugi
Characters from House Uesugi.
Kenshin Uesugi
- The Alcoholic: Well-known for his penchant for good booze, so much so that the Oda delegation hinged their success in Ken's cocktails.
- Orcus on His Throne: He only comes to play much later in the story (chapter 112) despite touted as one of the feared warlords in Japan, due to being locked in a stalemate with Takeda.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Him having the nickname God of War in an age of war and strife is a good indication to not mess with him.
Foreigners
Foreigners who come to Japan for various purposes.
Luis Frois
- Good Shepherd
- Tender Tears: He was moved to tears when Ken served him a bacalhau soup, as it reminds him of home.
Song Hua Lin
- Intrepid Merchant
- Large and in Charge: She is notably taller and more robust-looking compared to most of the men in her delegation, except for her European financier (who is about as tall, but less heavily-built).
