Characters / Samurai Warriors

Samurai Warriors Main Character Index
Samurai Warriors 1 | Samurai Warriors 2 | Samurai Warriors 3 | Samurai Warriors 4 | Samurai Warriors 5

Introduced in the base game

Yukimura Sanada

Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (Japanese), David Berón (English, 1), Julien Elia (English, 2), Johnny Yong Bosch (3), Jason Liebrecht (English 2015 Anime), Hubertus von Lerchenfeld (German, 1), Jan van Weyde (German 2015 Anime), Kim Jang (Korean, 1)

Born: 1567
Died: June 3, 1615

The posterboy of the series, Yukimura Sanada is widely regarded as one of the mightiest warriors of the Sengoku era and is admired by many, friend and foe alike. He usually starts out serving under Shingen Takeda, and has complete faith in his Lord's actions. Later, the Takeda go on to support the Toyotomi and so he indirectly serves Hideyoshi for a time. Sides with the Western Army.

By the second game, he forges a strong bond with both Mitsunari and Kanetsugu, which is the focus of his story mode. In the third game however, this is downplayed to focus more on his interactions with his sister-in-law, Ina.

He fights with a cross-spear (jumonji yari).

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• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In 2, life seems to have it in for Yukimura; throughout the game, he witnesses the Takeda's downfall, is forced to accept that Mitsunari died in Sekigahara, and that Kanetsugu surrendered to the Tokugawa, all the while having difficulty finding purpose in life. In fact, had Keiji not been present to continuously encourage him, Yukimura may as well have died in Osaka Castle during his story mode.
• Adaptation Expansion: The historical Yukimura never actually served the Takeda clan (that distinction goes to his father, Masayuki), given that he was only 6 by the time of Shingen's death, and by the time he comes of age and becomes a fully fledged Samurai, the Takeda clan no longer exists and thus he serves the Toyotomi clan instead as per his father's order. Spirit of Sanada finally gets this right, with Masayuki being the one who participates in the Takeda campaign while Yukimura is a child until after Shingen's death.
• Adapted Out: Since 5 centers around Nobunaga as the protagonist, Yukimura is subsequently omitted.
• All-Loving Hero: Seems to grow into this during his time as a political hostage to Toyotomi in Spirit of Sanada, as he gets along pretty well with several retainers and always addresses them politely.
• Anime Hair: His hairstyle as a young man in Spirit of Sanada.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: His final strategy in Osaka Castle after realizing that the Tokugawa have him outgunned and outnumbered is to charge into their camp and kill Ieyasu himself.
• Badass Adorable: He's a kind-hearted, slightly awkward sort outside of battle, but one of the most powerful warriors of the era when taking on the enemy. In Spirit of Sanada, he's playable as a young child, beating the stuffing out of robbers with a stick.
• Badass Army: Was once a member of the Takeda Cavalry. Later, his own unit defending the Sanada Ward during the Osaka Campaign also qualifies as this. Depending on the game, they are either cannoneers or arquebusiers.
• Badass Cape: Receives one as part of his final outfit in Spirit Of Sanada.
• Badass Family: The Sanada clan, of course, one of the most feared and respected clans of the Sengoku period. Family head Masayuki is a master strategist, while his sons Yukimura and Nobuyuki are fearsome warriors in their own right. They even have ninjas at their disposal.
• Casting Gag: Takeshi Kusao already voiced another samurai with the last name Sanada.
• Chaste Hero: Depicted this way throughout the series, even though historically, he has at least two wives, with Chikurin-in (Ōtani Yoshitsugu's daughter) being his Top Wife while also having several children. One of his sons (born from Chikurin-in), Daisuke/Yukimasa, even fought and died with him in Osaka.
• Cheerful Child: Young Yukimura in Spirit of Sanada.
• Children Are Innocent: In Spirit of Sanada, when young Nobuyuki and Yukimura are talking about the death of Takeda Yoshinobu, they mention that "He's gone away". Subverted, however, because they do understand that Yoshinobu is dead.
• Composite Character: of Nobuyuki and Masayuki before they became playable. Specifically, his serving Shingen which historically is Masayuki's role.
• Cool Helmet: His alternate attire in 1, based on helmet worn by the historical Yukimura.
• Crash-Into Hello: How he meets Chacha when they're both kids. The first time is Played for Laughs. The second time... not so much.
• Declaration of Protection: Towards the Toyotomi and Chacha in particular in Spirit of Sanada.
• Decomposite Character: With Nobuyuki in 4 and 4-II when Masayuki wasn't a playable character yet, they took their father's role as Shingen's retainers.
• The Ditz: Described as being a bit of an airhead in canon.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: In his 1 true finale. 3 too, and again in 4. Yet again in Spirit of Sanada.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: His ending for 2. Although he lost many things important to him, such as the Takeda clan, Mitsunari, and many of his other allies from the Western army who either died or surrendered to the Tokugawa, he was still able to save Hideyori and slay Ieyasu in the end. He also regained Kanetsugu and Keiji as his friends. There's also a similar case in Kunoichi's ending in 3, where Yukimura reunites with Kanetsugu and Keiji after the Siege of Osaka.
• Expy: Highly compared to his Dynasty Warriors counterpart Zhao Yun which both shared their personalities and roles in serving as the poster boys of the series.
• He's Just Hiding: In-Universe, what the epilogue of Spirit of Sanada implies for him and Chacha.
• The Hero: Specifically designed to be one in the first game.
• Hero Antagonist: In 4-II where Yukimura is the final boss of Nobuyuki's story.
• Heroic RRoD: His death in most games has him fighting through several waves of the Tokugawa army until he finally succumbs to exhaustion and his accumulated injuries.
• Hot-Blooded: Yukimura is pretty intense.
• I Owe You My Life: to Keiji, in the latter's story for 1, and in his own story for 2. In Warriors Orochi 4, he thanks Perseus for saving his life from Nobunaga and swears to protect him.
• It's Personal: In the first game's upper path, after Hanzō, kills Shingen. In fact, Yukimura's Final Boss is not Ieyasu, but Hanzō.
• Jack of All Stats: In the first game he comes out as quite balanced in his various stats.
• Lady and Knight: The Knight to Chacha's Lady in Spirit of Sanada.
• Last Stand: At Osaka Castle in most of his appearances.
• Morality Pet: In Warriors Orochi 4, he is this to Perseus a.k.a Loki. Ever since he saved him from Nobunaga who activated his deified form, Yukimura pledges Perseus his life and dedicates himself to protecting him. When Perseus reveals his true identity as Loki, Yukimura is heartbroken but he still believes that there's still some goodness within him. Because of his time and friendship with the mortals, Loki develops a change of heart and helps his former allies by giving Yukimura the location of Zeus's body.
• Oblivious to Love: Towards Kunoichi and Kai, or so it seems.
  Yukimura: "Fighting beside you truly makes me happy."
  Kunoichi: "Oh, oh! Does, does that mean...!?"
  Yukimura: "You can serve as valuable intelligence, and your skill with the blade is true. There is no other person within the Sanada ninja who can perform these tasks as well as you. I expect to have your reliable support when I fight in battle."
  Kunoichi: "Huh, well, that does sound more like something you would say... Yes, my lord! I'll keep doing my best!"
  (Samurai Warriors 3: Empires)
  • In Spirit of Sanada, Kai is exasperated when she thinks that Chacha might have feelings for Yukimura, but he doesn't seem to notice.
• One-Man Army: Heck, it's even required for his fifth weapon in the first game, given that you must defeat 1000 enemies! Exemplified even more in Spirit of Sanada as he is the only available character for his final stage.
• Playing with Fire: Strongly associated with the fire element. One of his special attacks leaves a trail of flames behind.
• The Power of Friendship: With Mitsunari, Kanetsugu, and Keiji in 2. This is downplayed in 3 in favor of his relationship with his sister-in-law Ina. Interestingly, he also has a lesser explored friendship with Magoichi and Masamune, to the point that they, along with Kanetsugu, help the Sanada clan against the Tokugawa army at Ueda Castle. Later, they also try to stop Yukimura from wasting his life in Osaka to no avail, although they're still impressed with his conviction.
  • Deconstructed in 4. While Nobuyuki sees that Ieyasu genuinely has the best interests of the land at heart, Yukimura ends up blinded by his friendship with Mitsunari and Kanetsugu that he's unable to realize it himself and ends up opposing his brother, eventually leading to his death.
• Power Trio: with Mitsunari and Kanetsugu in 2, later with Keiji and Kanetsugu after Mitsunari's death.
• Puppy Love: When he's a child and first meets Chacha in Spirit of Sanada he is very clearly smitten.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Hanzō in 1. Also for Nobuyuki in 4, being the more brash, Hot-Blooded, and emotional of the two.
• Sibling Rivalry: Subverted. He and Nobuyuki may be on opposing sides, but it's actually part of their father's plan to ensure their clan's survival. This way, regardless of which side is the victor in Sekigahara, the Sanada clan will continue on, either with Yukimura if the Western Army is the winner or Nobuyuki if it is the Eastern Army (which, of course, it is). Additionally, in the first game, where Nobuyuki was still generic, they still recognize each other as family, before apologizing and bravely facing one another. In 4, however, Masayuki's plan was not mentioned, and Yukimura simply ends up opposing Nobuyuki because he couldn't see Ieyasu's good points due to his friendship with Mitsunari and Kanetsugu, two people that do not get along with Ieyasu.
  • Zig-zagged in Spirit of Sanada. Again, Masayuki's plan goes unmentioned, and it is Nobuyuki who chooses to side with Ieyasu, while Masayuki and Yukimura choose to side with Mitsunari because they believe that it would be more beneficial to the clan. However, their personal rivalry isn't highlighted, and instead the rivalry is more in leading their respective armies and arranging strategies against each other. Plus, the personal rivalry isn't very played like in 4 and 4-II because Masayuki arguably got more spotlight than Yukimura since most strategies are under Masayuki's command. And finally, Nobuyuki was entirely absent in the Osaka Campaign, so there's no chance to renew their rivalry. When Yukimura and Nobuyuki did reunite, it happened during the truce after Winter Campaign, but there's no animosity whatsoever between them.
• Sibling Team: With Nobuyuki before they take different paths.
• Super Mode: One of the eight characters to receive a Deification form in Warriors Orochi 4. His form is based on Tyr, the Nordic god of war and justice. His Sacred Treasure is Gleipnir, a binding that holds the giant wolf Fenrir and Tyr himself sacrifices his arm to hold the wolf. His deified Unique Magic fittingly shows him using the Gleipnir to bind his right arm and unleash a hook punch on his enemies.

• Theme Music Power-Up: Has one in 4 that only plays near the end of Siege of Osaka.
• Tragic Hero: Except in his own (fictional) story in 2 and the alternate endings for himself and Shingen in the first game, he will die in every ending, charging the enemy alone.^note Which is what actually happened in real life. To wit: Yukimura is an honorable man whose major flaw is that he absolutely can't let go of his warrior's spirit even when it's best to move on and live in peace, as said warrior spirit demands him to die in combat.
• Undying Loyalty: To Shingen and later to the Toyotomi clan. To Chacha in particular in The Spirit of Sanada, even after she tried to get him to leave and save himself.
• Worthy Opponent: He seems to call everybody he pummels into submission this.

Keiji Maeda

Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese), Steve Blum (English, 1), Steve Szczepowski (English, 2), Roger Craig Smith (English, 3), Brandon Potter (English 2015 Anime), Choi Han (Korean, 1)

Born: 1543
Died: 1612

The nephew of Toshiie Maeda, Keiji seems to treat the chaotic world around him like a great big game.

He wields a Sasumata pike with a club for a lower end.

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• Adapted Out: Keiji is among those who are omitted from 5, with some of his personality traits and role going to his uncle Toshiie.
• Animal Motifs: Tigers. He is actually called a crazy tiger at one point.
• Anime Hair: No, seriously! And it's not a wig, either. Lampshaded by Masamune in the second game.
• Badass Boast: "Why are tigers strong? Because they're born that way!"
• Blood Knight: Downplayed. Though it is made clear since the first game that Keiji is simply interested in a good, old fashioned honorable battle between warriors, he is still disgusted by Nobunaga's massacres ok Ikko Army and the Takeda Cavalry.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He loves a good fight. Quite a bit of his own story path is him simply searching for fun battles to fight in.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A rare non-villainous case: when he arrives in Kyoto in 1 he's confronted by some thugs who apparently hold a grudge against him. He doesn't remember them, and this event leads to a huge battle between Keiji and the Miscreants.
• Come with Me If You Want to Live: says this exact phrase to Mitsunari in 3 during "Mitsunari's Rescue" stage. For Yukimura in the latter's story for 2, it is more along the lines of: "I will come with you if you still want to live."
• Cool Horse: His mighty steed Matsukaze (Pine Wind). The biggest, fastest, and strongest horse in the games, being the counterpart of Red Hare.
• Defeat Means Friendship: During his story mode in 1 he fights and defeats Magoichi, Yukimura, Goemon, Okuni and Masamune. Later, all of them pull a Big Damn Heroes in his final mission and help him against the Uesugi army.
• The Dreaded: Gets this treatment in the first game, where his wild-card status is used to have him show up in every other character's path as the big scary guy you don't want to have to fight, making him something of the game's counterpart to Lu Bu. Toned down in later titles, though.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: To Kanetsugu, when he tries to kill himself in 2.
• Ground Pound: With the club-side of his spear.
• Honor Before Reason: His conflict with Mistuhide in the first game. He understands why Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga and doesn't even think that his actions are wrong, but the act of slaying one's own lord is just so heinous to him that he seeks Mitsuhide's death at Yamazaki regardless.
• Odd Friendship: He forms one with Orochi in the crossover, admiring the creature's strength. Ultimately, he understands him better than anyone else, including the fact that Orochi wants to die a warrior's death. By the fourth game, since everyone's memories have been erased, said friendship no longer exists.
• One-Man Army: Literally, as in the third mission of the first game he actually shoos away the Oda officers on his side so that he can take on all the miscreants by himself. Subverted in the final battle, where he starts alone but is eventually joined by his True Companions met during the campaign. Gameplay wise, he makes an excellent crowd-clearer thanks to his moveset.
• Rōnin: Used to be one after leaving the Maeda and the Toyotomi clans, and before serving the Uesugi.
• Samurai Ponytail: In 2 and 4 part of his massive mane is tied up in a classical samurai tail.
• Ship Tease: with Okuni in 1. In 3, it is lampshaded in "Mitsunari's Rescue" since Keiji is on Mitsunari's side while Okuni is part of Anti-Ishida rebels.
• Shockwave Stomp: In 4, where his moveset gains a fourth tier of charge attacks. It ends with him stomping the ground, causing a confetti tornado to rise up around him and juggle opponents for heavy damage.
• Shout-Out
  • As mentioned above, in the "Rescue of Mitsunari" stage for 3, when rendezvoused with Mitsunari, Keiji says "Come with Me If You Want to Live." Can be considered a Shout-Out to Terminator.
  • Some fans note his hairstyle in 4 resembles a Super Saiyan.
• Spell My Name with a "The": If you take "Mitsuhide Akechi's 3rd Request" on the 41st floor of the Infinite Castle/Survival Mode in 2, you get a mission to "defeat the Keiji Maeda".
• You Shall Not Pass!: In Hasedō for 2.

Nobunaga Oda

Born: June 23, 1534
Died: June 21, 1582

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (Japanese), Douglas Rye (English, 1), Brent Schaus (English, 2), Christopher Corey Smith (English, 3), Crock Krumbiegel (German, 1), Shin Seong-ho (Korean, 1)

The "Demon King of Japan", Oda Nobunaga, conforms closely to Evil Overlord stereotypes in the first game, though the sequels have since given him more sympathetic motivations.

In the games, he is a strategic genius with a hell of a mean streak and an awesome mustache, often credited with bringing modern firearm tactics to Japan, and of course being the First of the Three Unifiers (followed in turn by Hideyoshi and Ieyasu).

Nobunaga wields a glowing ancient sword as his weapon.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: When he actually dies by Mitsuhide's betrayal, it's usually depicted this way.
• All-Loving Hero: Villainous example and Deconstructed. In Chronicles, Nō says that Nobunaga "loves everyone equally"... but then goes on to comment that this also means everyone is equally worthless to him.
• Aloof Big Brother: to Oichi.
• Ambiguously Bi: In the Japanese version he's clearly attracted to both Ranmaru and his wife, but sexuality is still relatively unimportant to him compared to the work of conquest.
• Anti-Villain:
  • More so in the first game than in the second game, despite also being even more Obviously Evil in that one. In the second game, Nobunaga was just another power-hungry warlord; somewhat less ruthless, but also less justifiable. In the first game he had a philosophy that seemed to go beyond just desiring the entire country for himself, making him something of a Well-Intentioned Extremist. The PSP version of the first game brought this out in particular; indeed, at the end of the story path wherein he succeeds in conquering the entire land, he actually vanishes because he believes the country doesn't need another king, instructing his retainers to divide power between themselves. This angle was entirely dropped in the second game, even if he was more humanised (particularly in the end of his own storyline after killing Mitsuhide).
  • In 2, he starts to see himself more as a necessary step in Japan's future but acknowledges the potential for failure if fate does in fact have other plans - he's never outright evil per se; only appearing so if you were against him. Also note that the second game of the series highlights more the conflicts surrounding and up to the Battle of Sekigahara as opposed to the point where he was at his prime - towards the end of the period of the Kanto Trio (Ujiyasu, Shingen, and Kenshin).
  • He is even relegated to being the hero (sort of) in the events of the Warriors Orochi crossover for the Samurai faction. Being a massive rallying point for all the forces at various points in the games (including reciprocating a plea for assistance from the character who he is an expy of - Cao Cao). In the fourth game, Naotora and Liu Bei's faction are wary of Nobunaga's intentions after activating his Ouroboros bracelet until it's revealed that he's actually allied with Nuwa who already informed him and his allies of the events from the past games and the forces behind the reemerging of the WO world.
• Appeal to Tradition: Defied completely. Nobunaga is a big proponent of change, particularly on the battlefield; he believes the chaos will not end and peace will not be possible until the people are able to move past their outdated, rigid belief in samurai war culture. Further, he believes that samurai who fail to change will soon become relics of a bygone era. The games illustrate this by his famous introduction of rifles during the Battle of Nagashino, in which the Oda musketeers utterly demolished the Takeda cavalry and proved to a stunned nation that the face of war was changing. Nobunaga describes the Oda army as "waging war on history" to a bemused Keiji in the first game, who — every bit the die-hard warrior with a strong belief in traditional samurai values — is unwilling, or unable to understand the significance.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Even with a massive army following him, he's still willing and capable of fighting and winning his own battles.
• Barehanded Blade Block: Weapon deadlocks? Nobunaga doesn't need a weapon for that!
• Battle Aura: Dark purple in color. One of his moves lets him use it as a damage-reducing shield.
• Battle Couple: With Nō. Depending on the game, it's either downplayed or played straight.
• Beard of Evil: Uncannily resembles Cao Cao's.
• Blood Knight: In 4, Nobunaga refuses to let somebody back down after they betray him, goading them whenever necessary into fighting. He also repeatedly keeps Hisahide alive despite numerous betrayals just so he'll keep causing him trouble. He finds this all amusing, apparently.
• Call to Agriculture: In one of Chronicles 3's what-if scenarios, Nobunaga survives the incident at Honnoji but is wounded in the process. It is decided that Hideyoshi will take over uniting the country in his stead while Nobunaga fakes his death and retires to be a farmer with No and Ranmaru. Unfortunately Hideyoshi becomes a tyrant and so Nobunaga takes up the sword once more to remove him from power.
• Catchphrase: "Is that so?"
  • "What is your desire?"
  • "It's just that simple."
  • With 4 we get: "commit to your betrayal" and "I forgive you" with the latter mainly used to troll Hisahide.
• Casting a Shadow: Can somehow manipulate darkness. In the first game he's one of the three characters (four if you include the naginata-wielding new officer) whose final weapon element is Dark.
• Cool Sword: His sword emits a purple aura, sounds suspiciously like a light saber, and curiously resembles a pre-samurai era Japanese sword.
• Death Seeker: In 4 Nobunaga seems to almost want to be betrayed, and Nagamasa comments on how he doesn't want weak servants, but only followers who can surpass him. It's hinted that he's really looking for somebody that can defeat him and unite the land.
• Demon King Nobunaga: Downplayed. He plays the Evil Overlord angle to the hilt and wields a blade shrouded in darkness, but he's big on Pragmatic Villainy, and is really no more exaggerated than any of the other playable characters in the series. The only time he's closest to this trope is in the first installment where he's decidedly more brutal and embracing his "Demon King" persona, and the installment where his struggles against the Ikko-Ikki sect got a big highlight. Koei rarely touched on that afterwards.
  • Outright subverted in the Warriors Orochi series, where he's consistently on the side of the heroes fighting against Orochi.
• Demoted to Extra: He's the closest thing to be a Big Bad and Villain Protagonist in the first game. In the sequels, his story and influence are mostly limited to his (or his clan's) own story mode. Other story modes that take place after his death at Honnouji move on from him.
• Double Meaning: In Hisahide's story in 4-II, Nobunaga has a new phrase to Hisahide, "I forgive you", which he said every single time the traitorous retainer vainly attempted to assassinate him. However, according to certain analysis, if you're familiar with Japanese language, you may notice that Nobunaga uses a phrase that doesn't simply mean 'to forgive', but also means 'to allow'. Such a phrase is usually used when it’s a superior talking to a subordinate, for example when the subordinate makes a request and the superior allows it (Nobunaga has used it to mean 'to allow’ in other situations). So it means Nobunaga isn't simply saying he's forgiving Hisahide, but he’s also, to a certain extent, taking ownership of what Hisahide is doing, which is probably why Hisahide really hates that phrase.
• Dub Text: Inverted. In the original Japanese game, Nobunaga is clearly infatuated with both Nō and Ranmaru, while the English translation instead makes his relationship with the young boy much more platonic.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely cares for his wife, No.
• Evil Laugh: Laughs very frequently, and often for seemingly no reason, because he genuinely finds everything ever amusing.
• Expy: Very similar to Cao Cao. It does get lampshaded in Warriors Orochi, where they meet.
• Faux Affably Evil: He presents himself to be polite and charming. But he's still a ruthless and sadistic warlord who murdered many innocents in his path of unification.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In his own words, he is "waging war on history"; he is a firm believer that the might of a single warrior is no longer a match for numbers, strategy, and progress. In Real Life, he was onto something, but in a Warriors title... well, suffice to say it is at odds in a series in which every Player Character is a One-Man Army, and Nobunaga's no exception.
• Happily Married: His relationship with his wife, No, is complicated, but clearly affectionate.
• Hates Everyone Equally: Or, more accurately, isn't concerned with their fates, as long as his goals are met. The only exceptions are possibly Ranmaru and Nō.
• Hero Antagonist: He's initially this in the first two chapters of Warriors Orochi 4 until it's revealed that he's allied with the Mystics who want to return things back in order after Zeus recombined the time periods again.
• Hidden Depths: 4 seems to imply that he dislikes followers who admire him too much and have no ambition of their own to surpass him. His two top admirers are Nagamasa and Mitsuhide. Do the math.
• Ki Manipulation: His Charge 1 allows him to toss a purple orb of darkness at his foes and his Charge 4 has him creating the same shockwave from his waist. From the second game he can use a special stance which coats his blade in a thicker aura of dark Ki, allowing him to cast stronger versions of his charge attacks.
• Kill It with Fire:
  • Has a penchant for this, especially against the Ikko army at Nagashima.
  • During the Incident at Honnōji in 3, he ensures the temple is set on fire. While he's still in it.
• Large Ham: Perhaps most obvious in the Japanese versions of the games from 3 and on, where he speaks as if he's part of a theatrical performance all the time.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Ranmaru, who is stated to be dependent on him.
• Obviously Evil: Toyed with. His original design in 1 evokes this image - but each appearance afterwards makes him less evil and more devil's advocate for lack of better words.
• Perpetual Molt: He sheds pitch-black feathers all over the place. This always occurs at the end of his true musou, and sometimes when he makes dramatic statements. Word of God states that it's a crow motif.
• Pet the Dog: One of his mini-events in Empires is him being surprisingly nice towards Nene when she complains to him about Hideyoshi's philandering ways. (Incidentally, it was based on an actual letter he wrote to Nene in real life.)
  • Oichi's upper path ending in the first game has him watching some fireworks while drinking with his sister and her husband. When she nearly slips off the roof, Nobunaga immediately grabs her and helps her up. Nagamasa then apologizes for having stood against him, and after a little prompting from Oichi, Nobunaga forgives him.
  • His own ending in the first game contains a couple; he gives some somber commentary on chaos and warfare, and hopes that Mitsuhide can find the peace he sought in the next life.
  • His endings in the second and third game, also his Dream Stage in the second game. In the second, he kills Mitsuhide but sheds a single tear for his retainer's death, and the Dream Stage "Nobunaga Unites Japan" has him vowing to unite Japan without shedding blood to honor Mitsuhide's memory. The third game makes it so he defeats but does not kill Mitsuhide, explaining how he lost it all and that Japan was moving on without him, ending the scene by forgiving his retainer for his treachery.
  • He is also much nicer to his sister Oichi in 3 than he was to her in previous games.
  • He is generally quite affectionate with Ranmaru, and in the Japanese version of Warriors Orochi 3 even tells his page that his acceptance of him is "his happiness".
  • With Keiji Maeda's mediation, he spares the Sanada clan and accepts their surrender after Takeda's downfall in 4.
• Power Floats: His Musou Attack gives him this as he zooms across the battlefield swinging his sword. A slightly more mundane variant is whenever he utilize his special attack, with it getting tweaked from 2 to 4.
• Red Baron: The "Demon King". The full title would be "Dairoku Tenmaou", or "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven".
• Running Gag: Many of his events in 2:Empires end with him saying "...Is that so?"
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: In Warriors Orochi, before the beginning of Samurai faction's second stage:
  "Encircle, eviscerate, and extirpate the odious ophidians!"
• Shout-Out: In State Of War, every character has a storyline focusing on them and one other character ^note aside from the Eastern Alliance, which focuses on the two halves, and Oichi, which focuses on her and Nagamasa (who isn't playable). While the others have basic names (i.e. "The Takeda Clan", "Mitsuhide and Ranmaru", etc.), Nobunaga and Nō's storyline is named "Mr. and Mrs. Oda"
• So Last Season: In one of the alternate timeline battles in Chronicles 3 he notes that the model of rifle he used in Nagashino had become very outdated by the time he returns to the battlefield many years later.
• Super Mode: One of the eight characters to receive a Deification mode in Warriors Orochi 4. Unlike the other seven characters whose forms are based on Greek and Norse gods, his form is based on the Japanese creator diety Izanagi, who is one of the creators of Japan. His Sacred Treasure is Totsuka-no-Tsurugi which is the sword used by Izanagi to kill his offspring, Kagu-tsuchi and his deified Unique Magic shows him slamming the sword on the ground which summons a black mist that sucks down his enemies into the darkness.
• Starter Villain: In Warriors Orochi 4, he serves as the first main threat to the Coalition, seeking to use his Bracelet to forcibly bring the merged world under his heel. Ultimately subverted in that his goal was never conquest, but rather to test the Coalition's strength on Nuwa's behalf.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He is one of the tallest characters in the game.
• Third-Person Person: He sometimes refers to himself by his name.
• Tin Tyrant: His Nanban-style armor, colored black, does gives him this. This design in 4 is what really takes the cake.
• Together in Death: With Nō at the end of 3:XL, both wishing to burn together in Hell, as the building they're trapped in flares up.
• Troll: In 4 he seems to enjoy holding people in his power and pushing their buttons, just to watch them squirm. When they all inevitably betray him, he then seems to enjoy pitting himself against their strength. Notably, when Hisahide finally makes his move, he defiantly exclaims that he's taking back his fate and story, that this time; Nobunaga can't simply brush it off with another "is that so?" and as the tension hits a peak, Nobunaga responds casually:
  Nobunaga: ...Is that so?
• Truth in Television: His catchphrase "is that so"? It's taken from his historical self when, being first brought to meet his father-in-law Saitou Dousan face-to-face, he only said "Is that so?" (であるか) instead of paying respects.
• Unholy Matrimony: Shown to have this with No.
• Villain Protagonist: Word of God has stated that Nobunaga is actually the central character in the first game. Thus, many characters' story mode revolves around him. Even Yukimura's lower path story is about fighting Nobunaga since, in this version, Shingen outlives Mikatagahara and Nagashino, Takeda Clan lives on, and Yukimura loyally serves the Takeda for an extended period of time.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Oichi, he was very kind and well-liked by the people when they were younger.
• Verbal Tic: In the Japanese versions, he often ends his lines with an aloof "tso..." His son Nobutada tries to copy this, but given his funny voice, it doesn't quite get the same effect.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The later games make it obvious that he's pursuing peace, but the way he goes about it is very ruthless.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: In an event in 4, he dresses up as a woman. His reason for doing so? Because it's interesting.

Mitsuhide Akechi

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Michael J. Gough (English, 1), Kevin Symons (English, 1 Xtreme Legends), Julien Elia (English, 2), Leroy Simon Bean (English, 2 Xtreme Legends), Darrel Guilbeau (English, Warriors Orochi), Vic Mignogna (English, 3), Frank Behnke (German, 1), Pyo Yeong-jae (Korean, 1)

Born: 1528
Died: 1582

Akechi Mitsuhide is a retainer of Nobunaga Oda... at least at first. Mitsuhide's characterization contains particularly obvious changes depending on which version of the game you play (these changes are most notable when comparing 2 to 3), though he is usually noted as being kind and gentle at heart with the eventual goal of creating peace for the 'innocents' of Japan.

Mitsuhide was portrayed as having a very strong bond with Ranmaru Mori in the first game, acting as his mentor and best friend. The impact of Mitsuhide's betrayal of Nobunaga on their bond was a focal point of both of their story modes. This was basically entirely scrapped in 2 in favor of focusing Mitsuhide's story entirely on his interactions with his Lord, Nobunaga. The third game in the series introduces Motochika as Mitsuhide's closest friend, and their bond plays an active part in explaining Mitsuhide's motives. The consistent point throughout all of his stories is the betrayal of Nobunaga, something that inevitably impacts the whole of Japan.

His role in the first two Warriors Orochi games, however, is relatively minor. In the first he simply follows Nobunaga from start to finish, and in the second appears in one of the Shu stages, becoming available as a character in the Shu army afterwards. The third has him killed in a fire accidentally caused by gunfire from Wu troops at the battle of Honnōji, prompting Nō and Sun Ce to go back in time to prevent his death.

He wields a katana; one of the few player characters to do so, in fact, even in the Soft Reboot.

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• Absurdly Youthful Father: With Gracia's introduction, he suddenly looks a good deal too young.
• Action Dad: He is Gracia's father who sometimes accompanies him in battle much to his worries.
• Alas, Poor Villain: He's definitely seen as a villain by Hashiba forces in Yamazaki. Nevertheless, in 4, they seem to pity him when he's finally killed at the end of the battle.
• Bittersweet Ending: KOEI likes giving him these where he survives the Battle of Yamazaki and lives a contented life while watching over his daughter from the shadows.
• Blow You Away: Not only Razor Wind, but one of his attacks releases a typhoon around him.
• Bumbling Dad: Shows shades of this in 4 regarding his fatherhood to Gracia, who keeps stowing away in a box on his ship. He even admits he really doesn't know what to do with her Rebellious Princess spirit.
• Composite Character: He takes the role of Nankobo Tenkai in 3 as a follower of Ieyasu, although without mentioning the name.
• Despair Event Horizon: After slaying Nobunaga and then Ranmaru in 1, a despairing Mitsuhide prepares to kill himself; however, the haunting laughter of his victims makes him realize that doing so would mean they died for nothing.
  • In 3, after receiving Hideyoshi's "The Reason You Suck" Speech which makes him realize what he has done, and learning about Motochika's death in Yamazaki. Leading him to He's Just Hiding (see below).
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Not quite to the degree of Ranmaru but still very close.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Some of the Oda officers who react to his coup display shades of this. Ranmaru and Oichi are particularly hurt by his betrayal. Nobunaga himself simply treats it as a challenge to be met, and Noh is less affected by his treason and more offended that Mitsuhide is attempting to take what belongs to her. Keiji (first game only) understands where he's coming from but his code of honor still demands that Mitsuhide dies for what he did. Mitsunari is similarly perplexed by his actions and cannot condone treason from a principled man. Averted with Mitsuhide's final opponent, Hideyoshi, who claims to have never liked Mitsuhide, to begin with.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: In 4, he fails to see and understand why Hisahide is as evil as he is petty. He's even genuinely surprised when Hisahide finally betrayed Nobunaga in Kishu, despite at that point Hisahide has repeatedly shown that he's not loyal.
• Happily Married: His dialogue in 2:Empires implies he is this with his wife, Hirokohime (Gracia's mom). While it has yet to be seen for real in the game, this is true to history.
• He's Just Hiding: In-Universe. Thought to be dead after Yamazaki, Mitsuhide was actually hiding. Ieyasu later finds him and asks for his help for Sekigahara, mirroring the rumor of Mitsuhide becoming Nankōbō Tenkai.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: with Ranmaru in 1 and Motochika in 3 and 4. And much likely with Ieyasu, too, in his ending for 3, since he is shown living in Ieyasu's house to help hide his identity from the public.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: He's gotten a lot of glorification for his killing of Nobunaga these days, but the fact is that he betrayed his lord and was a rather self-important man who looked down on other officers that were younger than him (Ranmaru and Hideyoshi, and to a degree even Nobunaga). The game makes him a pleasant, very sympathetic if naive young man.
• History Repeats: Played for Drama in his side of the Yamazaki battle in the first game. When a raid of Oda peasants attacks him in an attempt to avenge their slain lord, Mitsuhide reflects that while it is not his desire to kill innocents, it is naive to think he'll come out of this without blood on his hands; your mission is then to subjugate them. Using lethal force against belligerent peasants was one of the reasons he lost faith in Nobunaga.
• Horrible Judge of Character:
  • At least to begin with. Seriously, Mitsuhide? You believed Nobunaga, called the Demon King for his ruthlessness, would create a land of compassion and peace?
  • He's also genuinely shocked to the point of sounding heartbroken of all things that Hisahide would betray Nobunaga.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Ranmaru in 1 and with Motochika^note Mitsuhide is 10-11 years older than him from 3 onwards.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Mitsuhide's weapon of choice is a katana.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His waist-length hair is probably his most notable physical feature. Other characters make reference to it at times, including Saika Magoichi!
• My God, What Have I Done?: After the invasion of the Saika Village in 2 and when he successfully kills Nobunaga in his own story.
• Nice Guy: He is generally nice. He even cares about Oichi and Nagamasa's relationship.
• Older Than He Looks: Would you believe he was about 6 years older than Nobunaga?
  • In 3, he appears as a Mysterious Backer at Sekigahara on the Eastern army's side. Had he really still been alive, he should already be in his 70s, yet no single grey hair is visible. Amusingly, it appears none of his allies recognize him as Mitsuhide, while some of his enemies are able to recognize him pretty quickly.
• Papa Wolf: For Gracia. He's worried whenever she participates in the battlefield, fearing for her safety. In Warriors Orochi 2, he's livid that Dong Zhuo wants Gracia in exchange for his freedom. In the DLC of WO3, he tries to stop Magoichi and Guo Jia from being a bad influence on his daughter when he suspects that they're flirting with the female Mystics.
• Peaceful in Death: In 3 (except in the scenario when he survived and went into hiding) and 4, after Yamazaki.
• Perpetual Molt: Sheds white feathers all over the place. Always happens after he completes a True Musou attack, and sometimes happens after he makes a dramatic statement. This is based off of Mitsuhide's motif towards a white hawk in several of his other portrayals.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: He believes Nobunaga must be the one to unify the land and does everything in his lord's name and repeatedly shows admiration to him. In Nagashino in 4, he kneels to Nobunaga for no reason whatsoever when Nobunaga showers praise upon his officers except Mitsuhide himself. None of those officers kneels like Mitsuhide did, making it seem like he's trying stupidly too hard to kiss up to their lord. You can't really blame Hisahide for laughing at him because of this.
• Samurai: In regards to appearance, it only truly applies to his later outfits. In the first game, he somewhat resembled a European knight, as an allusion to Nobunaga's own liking of 'nanban' style armor. Once Nobunaga's design became a better reflection of that taste in 2, Mitsuhide's outfits were instead more akin to armor from earlier periods of Japan.
• The Unfavorite: A poignant scene in 4 shows Nobunaga showering praise upon his officers at Nagashino... except Mitsuhide. May be one of the reasons why he decided to revolt later. Though, see Professional Butt-Kisser.
• Take My Hand!: Happens to Mitsuhide in Motochika's 3 ending, and is used by Motochika to prove a point and make a show of support to his friend.
• Unrequited Love: He has some very suggestive dialogue towards Noh in the first game, lamenting that she won't join him in his coup and asking her to wait for him in hell. One of Noh's ending paths even has her choosing Nobunaga in front of him, with a spurned Mitsuhide serving as the Final Boss for husband and wife.
• Worthy Opponent: He's quick to give praise to notable enemies, beginning with Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, then the Takeda cavalry; and in the first game at least, any enemy officer who racks up a high enough kill count. He eventually sours on Hideyoshi though, and will angrily write him off at Yamazaki as an ignorant opportunist who deserves to die.

Goemon Ishikawa

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (English, 1), Dan Lorge (English, Warriors Orochi), Torsten Münchow (German, 1), Lee Jang-won (Korean, 1)

Born: August 24, 1558
Died: August 10, 1594

Goemon Ishikawa is a chubby, good-natured thief who's always after the next big score.

Wields a club and a cannon strapped to his back.

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• Ass Kicks You: His jumping normal attack is to turn around and do a Ground Pound with his butt. Unlike most characters, who are limited to a single attack while in the air, he can perform a three-hit combo.
• Backpack Cannon: He carries a cannon strapped to his back, which he uses for musou and some of his charge attacks. In the first game, he also used it for ranged attacks instead of the bow most characters used.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Thief or not, he wouldn't say no to a good old fight.
• Calling the Old Man Out: To Hideyoshi. Sort of.
  Goemon: "You're quite the thief too! You stole this whole land!"
• Carry a Big Stick: His main weapon is a large bludgeon can also become an Epic Flail.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He doesn't return in either of the sequels. According to Word of God, it was too difficult to think of possible scenarios for his story. However, he returns in 4, alongside Kojiro, Musashi, Takatora, Naotora, and Munenori, but doesn't have a playable role in the game's story mode.
• Cowardly Lion: He often chickens out before stronger or dangerous opponents (especially Hanzō), but ultimately he'll face them.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In Okuni's ending in the first game, when she selects him to accompany her over Keiji, he gets a look of joy on his face and his cannon suddenly fires a shot into the air.
• Highly Visible Rogue: Let's just say he's not very stealthy.
• Historical Domain Character: Modeled on the original thief, Ishikawa Goemon.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: His real-life counterpart was a Robin Hood type of thief, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He's often paired with the petite Okuni - he teams up with her in her levels, she teams up with him in his levels, and they tend to show up working together in other characters' levels. And while she's got Ship Tease with practically every male character in the game, there are strong hints that he's her main interest and they actually get together.
• Instrument of Murder: His alternate outfit in the first game has his Backpack Cannon being replaced with a tuba.
• Large Ham: Has the mannerisms of a kabuki actor.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: One can see most of his kabuki-like dialogues as this, as he often looks in the camera while doing so, even when he was speaking directly to another character.
• Ninja: Well, formerly. He is said to be a former member of the Iga Ninja, to the least. It's likely that he already left his life as a ninja by the time the game takes place, thus his physique growing large and fat, and so unfitting to be a ninja anymore.
• Mighty Glacier: Specifically designed to be slow and hard-hitting. Also has a lengthy recovery time.
• No Indoor Voice: He only speaks softly once in his entire campaign, and when he does he's almost immediately ambushed by The Dreaded Hanzō.
• No One Could Survive That!: In his last scenario in 1, Hideyoshi puts him in an iron kettle filled with boiling water in order to execute him. Not only does he survive, he manages to tear the cauldron apart from the inside in order to free himself.
• Oh, Crap!: Whenever he spots Hanzō on the battlefield.
  Goemon: " Hanzō? Hattori? The Iga ninja!? OH NOO!!!"
• Sir Not Appearing In This Game: Warriors Orochi 3 lists him as a Samurai Warriors 3 character, despite him only being playable in the first Samurai Warriors.
• Stout Strength: He's obviously large and fat, and in the core game he was also the second only to Keiji in strength.
• Take Over Japan: After defeating Hideyoshi, he "steals" the land.
• The Rival: Has varying degrees of rivalry with Nene and Hanzō in different games.
• With Catlike Tread: in his second to the last level in the upper path of 1, one of the missions is to defeat Hanzo without using his cannon, so as to not wake the sleeping Hideyoshi during the fight. He qualifies for this trope both for the amount of noise he still makes shouting and smashing things with his club during the fight and for the fact that he can run around the whole rest of the castle blasting his cannon off as much as he wants, and neither one will give Hideyoshi the slightest clue that he's there.

Kenshin Uesugi

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese, 1-4), Beau Billingslea (English, 1), George Cook (English, 2), Philip Hersh (English, Warriors Orochi), Troy Baker (English, 3), Jang Kwang (Korean, 1)

Born: February 18, 1530
Died: April 19, 1578

Kenshin Uesugi is Shingen Takeda's major rival, always seen drinking sake, even on the battlefield.

Uses a special "seven-bladed" sword with shikigami.

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• The Alcoholic: To the point where he declares the power of Bishamonten (and his clockwork liver) allow him to imbibe as much as he wants.
• Badass Army: His cavalry, rivaled only by (obviously) the Takeda Cavalry.
• Big Little Brother: To Aya.
• Blood Knight: One of his quotes has him saying that he just really loves war.
• Brother–Sister Team: With his elder sister Aya.
• Catchphrase: In the first game, he's always opening every one of his battles with this phrase: "Great Bishamonten, God of War..."
• Celibate Hero: He never married, and all of his sons are adopted.
• Enemy Mine: In Shingen's upper path in 1 and during the battle of Nagashino in 2, Kenshin agrees to join Shingen Takeda against the forces of Nobunaga, though in the second game it also has shades of The Only One Allowed to Defeat You. In the same game he becomes livid when the Oda Remnants show up at Sekigahara to fight against Shingen. Maybe a historical nod to the one time when he and Shingen actually joined forces against a common foe.
• Genius Bruiser: A strategic mastermind who also manages to be a brutally effective warrior.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In 4, along with Aya, when they stop Saburo from killing himself.
• Guardian Entity: Can summon a huge, translucent avatar of Bishamonten that mimics his movements.
• An Ice Person: Since the first game he has been associated with the ice element.
• In the Hood: Many of Kenshin's fictional portrayal is with a hood, so Samurai Warriors is no exception.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Positively towers over his elder sister Aya.
• Magic Knight: He can summon phoenixes, wolves, shikigami and spirits out of his blade, at least in the first game.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: One hand is for wielding that ludicrously big sword. The other one is for praying as he slices the enemies to bits.
• Pet the Dog: Offscreen, when he sent salt to the people of Kai. Also, when he praises Kunoichi's skills in their final battle.
• Red Baron: He has two nicknames/titles, namely the "War God" and the "Dragon of Echigo".
• Religious Bruiser: He is a devout worshipper of Bishamonten.
• Serrated Blade of Pain: A seven-branched sword.
• Summon Magic: In the first game he has these abilities depending on the symbol in the background of the weapon: it could summon a fire bird, a rotating wolf's head, an explosive cross or a divine homing cloud that damages his foes with Collision Damage.
• The Stoic: The fourth game even notes in one event that when the corners of his mouth quirk upwards slightly, that's his equivalent of a broad smile.
  • Not So Stoic: Just about the only thing that can make him 'try' to react in shock is if someone tried to eat Aya's cooking.
• Verbal Tic: Shingen who? The Uesugi lord thinks only his nemesis can entertain him!
• Warrior Poet: Some of his prayers to Bishamonten tend to sound rather poem-like.
• Worthy Opponent: Considers Shingen to be this.

Oichi

Voiced by: Ai Maeda (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English, 1), Katie Stanfield (English, 2), Tara Platt (English, 3), Sabine Bohlmann (German, 1), Jeong Hye-ok (Korean, 1)

Born: 1547
Died: 1583

The younger sister of Nobunaga Oda. Portrayed as a Genki Girl in the first game, but has calmed down in the sequels.

Her weapon is a kendama in the first two games, and a pair of bladed rings in the following ones.

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• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Historically, when Nagamasa betrayed Nobunaga and declared war against the Oda in Kanegasaki, she sent a secret message to Nobunaga to warn him about this, which becomes an example of Thicker Than Water. But throughout the series, she's depicted in Undying Loyalty for Nagamasa and always sides with her husband against her brother.
• Absurdly Youthful Grandmother: Played for Laughs in 2:Empires when she meets Hideyori, her (yes, it's right) grandson. Not the case in the main games, since Oichi died a full decade before Hideyori was even born.
• Action Girl: She joins her brother and later her husband in battle with a Kendama. As of 3 onward, she is more actionized, wielding chainlinked bladed rings.
• Altar Diplomacy: Her marriage to Nagamasa was arranged to secure the Oda-Azai alliance. Likewise, her marriage to Katsuie was arranged to ensure Katsuie's loyalty to the Oda clan.
• Arranged Marriage: Twice, with Nagamasa and then Katsuie after the former's death.
• Asian Fox Spirit: Her second outfit in 1 is a huge fox costume. Her DLC outfit for 4 is also fox-themed costume, which is more revealing and even shows her Sideboobs.
• Badass Adorable: Particularly in the first game, where she's generally portrayed as being a cute young girl. Later games instead play up her sexiness.
• Battle Couple: with Nagamasa.
• Break the Cutie: Goes through a hell of this after Nagamasa is killed. The fourth game, in particular, has her nearly become an Empty Shell, which lasts until her own death a decade later.
• Brother–Sister Team: overlapping with above when the couple sides with Nobunaga in Oichi's upper-path final stage for 1 and Nagamasa's final stage for 2.
• Combat Medic: One of her special abilities allows her to heal surrounding allies.
• Cool Big Sis: For Gracia in the latter's 2:XL's dream stage.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shows shades of this usually when she talks to Hideyoshi, which is very understandable considering who Hideyoshi is. She also often calls him Monkey, which perhaps runs in the family because the nickname is given to Hideyoshi by Nobunaga.
• Designated Girl Fight: Oichi's dream stage in the second game has her against all of the women of Samurai Warriors (and Ranmaru) to see who is the fairest of them all. Hilarity Ensues.
• Downer Ending: For games that follow the historical route this is the only ending she can have, since Nagamasa ends up dying and Oichi herself takes the wrong side of a conflict, leading her to die in a burning castle.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Going back to the first game after playing the rest is probably going to feel weird since Oichi actually started out as a Token Mini-Moe who acts more like a Xiaoqiao-lite, after that and as of now She's All Grown Up into a refined Yamato Nadeshiko. Her weapon being a kendama/ball-cup can also count since she carried that for two games plus the first Warriors Orochi games.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: In 3, where she promptly returns to her husband's side during the Siege of Odani even after Nagamasa tried to send her back to the Oda for her own safety.
• Epic Flail: She hurls the ball around with the cup. She uses this in 1 and 2. The narration in her second game's story mode justifies this somewhat, as it was the very first thing she discover in the Azai's household where she lives with her husband Nagamasa, and thus she uses it as her weapon.
• Face Death with Dignity: In the fourth game, Oichi's only line during the Battle of Shizugatake is triggered when Katsuie is nearing defeat by the Hashiba and implores his men to fight to the death, as Oichi basically affirms that there's nothing left to do but accept the inevitable.
  "I am also ready to meet my destiny".
• Genki Girl: In 1 where she's a young girl instead of a mature lady.
• Lady and Knight: Nagamasa is specifically designed to be a Knight in Shining Armor, so it's a given that he's the Knight while Oichi is the Lady.
• Lady of War: As of 3 onward, she's more matured and elegant in combat.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The light feminine to Nō's dark feminine.
• Magic Skirt: In 2. She even "covers" it when she's landing after a jump.
• Morality Pet: For Nobunaga and then Katsuie. Even when she's still married to Nagamasa, Katsuie respects them both, and even scolds Hideyoshi for being jealous of the young couple.
• The Ojou: Lady of the Oda and then the Azai Clan.
• Paper Master: Uses Origami-folding and paper cranes to attack in 5.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage:
  • With Nagamasa, it's not difficult to see they are Happily Married and Sickeningly Sweethearts. Well, perhaps not so happily, since it ends in Star-Crossed Lovers.
  • It's harder to see if her marriage with Katsuie is filled with happiness, since at the time not only Nobunaga (the one who arranged their marriage) is dead in Honnōji, but there's also an intense feud between the Shibata and the Hashiba. However, with a few exceptions, Oichi will remain loyal to Katsuie and choose to die together with him after his defeat at the Battle of Shizugatake.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her costumes are always pink-colored and she is one of the most feminine characters in the cast.
• The Power of Love: Her upper path in the first game has her unite her brother and her husband under one banner.
• She Is All Grown Up: From 2 on due to her first husband, Nagamasa, being playable.
• Sibling Rivalry: Because of her Adaptation Personality Change, Oichi always sides with her husband as opposed to her brother, at least until the Azai were destroyed, as only then she returns back to the Oda. To an extent, this is Truth in Television; though she did tip Nobunaga off regarding Nagamasa's plan to betray him, she was reluctant because she sincerely loved Nagamasa. According to an anecdote, the two never talked to each other again after the fall of the Azai.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Nagamasa. Lampshaded by Hideyoshi more than once.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Nagamasa, who, per real life, always ends up rebelling against the Oda and dying at Nobunaga's hands, forcing Oichi to return to the Oda clan as a widow.
• Stepford Smiler: Averted in SWC3; she almost becomes this, but stops herself once Katsuie helps her realize that she doesn't want to end up like her brother (who finds joy in seemingly everything, no matter how horrible).
• Team Mom: For Takatora and Yoshitsugu (especially the former than the latter) in 4 and 4-II.
• Together in Death: Most games follow history by having her choosing to remain behind with Katsuie when he commits suicide in the burning Kitanosho Castle, explicitly refusing Katsuie's request for her to go to Hideyoshi, who offered her a refuge (though she does send her daughters to him).
• Token Wholesome: From 3 onwards though her DLC costumes still let her show some of her skin.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • Played with in Battle of Shizugatake for 2 on the Toyotomi's side, the narration states that she convinced her second husband Katsuie to oppose Hideyoshi's rule. Then, if you confront her as Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi will ask her in a What the Hell, Hero? manner and outright tell her that all he wants is only to create a land where everyone can be happy. And her response? She harshly says that there is no such place. And after you kill her? The one she calls out for is Nagamasa (her deceased and former husband), instead of Katsuie (her current husband). But in her defense, she seriously opposes Hideyoshi, also considering him one of the reasons why Nagamasa is dead. Thus, since most of those were done because she wouldn't let Hideyoshi reign, to her 'a land where everyone can be happy' can't happen if it's helmed by Hideyoshi. Obviously, since these events happen when you're using Hideyoshi, your job is to prove her wrong. Also, Katsuie at this time was considered an extra NPC, it wasn't until 2:XL that he's fleshed out as the wise mentor of Toshiie that Oichi actually showed care for, even after Nagamasa died.
  • Also averted in 3:XL and 4 where she's genuinely loyal to Katsuie. In 3, however, she doesn't appear in Shizugatake and her fate after Katsuie's death is ambiguous.

• Weaponized Ball: Her kendama (Cup and Ball), it's a child's toy consisting of a ball tied to a string connected to a "cup" which she uses as a flail.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Oichi and Nō are usually stated as the two most beautiful women of the Sengoku Period of Japan.

Okuni

Born: 1572
Died: (Unknown)

Voiced by: Wakana Yamazaki (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English, 1), Erin Agostino (English, 2), Karen Strassman (English, 3), Sabine Bohlmann (German, 1), Kim Ji-hye (Korean, 1)

The founder of kabuki theater who can always be seen trying to raise funds for her temple. Playful and flirtatious, she piles her charms on everyone she meets, male or female.

Fights with a parasol.

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• All Amazons Want Hercules: Sort of in 1. She can end up with about 11 characters out of fifteen, but she seems to be seriously attracted to Keiji (basically the strongest character).
• Ambiguously Bi: Makes openly flirtatious remarks about the game's female characters, such as Ginchiyo's voice when meeting her in the second game. This is carried over into the crossover.
• Brainless Beauty: Sometimes she puts on an act to this effect, but she's actually much sharper than she looks. She does have a tendency to idly wander onto dangerous battlefields, though...
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the second game, where she lacks a personal story mode, she sometimes appears in Survival Mode and outright complains about it.
• Captain Ersatz: Okuni's appearance, constant skiving for shrine donations, habits of getting involved in fights and problems that may or may not be hers, and multitude of pairings bring to mind a different Shrine Maiden.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Really now, Okuni, you could get yourself killed walking in the middle of battles like that.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shows traces of this in the second game, contrasting her status as The Ingenue in the first game.
• Demoted to Extra: While she returns in 2 and 3, like with Ranmaru, she does not have a story mode and rarely appears in the plots of other characters. Although she got a story mode of her own in the Japan-only expansion 3:XL, her appearance in 4 again demotes her to a minor character in the main story, alongside Kojirō, Musashi and Goemon.
• Killer Rabbit: No, seriously, you wouldn't expect her to fight Keiji toe-to-toe and win.
• One-Woman Army: During her story mode you have the chance of ending the Great Battle of Kawanakajima by taking down both armies at once. In WO3, she carves her way through the Wei army just to find Zhong Hui.
• Miko: More evident in 1, where she's actually gathering funds for her temple in Izumo, using dance to gather funds like her historical counterpart. If she does appear, she's usually supported by warrior priestesses.
• Ms. Fanservice: To some extent. Personality-wise, she's also very flirty.
• Naughty Nun: More like Naughty Miko, but really, besides being fanservice-y, she's really flirty.
• Out-of-Character Moment: In 3, she appears in the "Rescue of Mitsunari" stage on the side of the Anti-Ishida Coalition, without any explanation at all. But considering this happens in Kyoto and that's where Okuni lives, it can be assumed if she knows (or at least, believes, hears, or thinks) how bad Mitsunari is, thus she joins the rebels. And unlike the One-Woman Army she usually was, this time she brought several lady samurais with her, thus implying that she's really there to support the rebels. Then again, it is located in Kyoto, where she usually is.
• Parasol of Prettiness: Aside from her weapons, her parasol is also used to emphasize her prettiness.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has pale skin and black hair, to show classical good looks.
• Really Gets Around: It's easier to list the people she isn't hooking up with: she has 17 endings in the first game, and each one ends with her and a different man (though 15 of them are really just the same ending but with a different character).
• Ship Tease: with either Keiji or Goemon, and there seems to be a Love Triangle between them, although it's quite much less serious than the usual example of this trope. The second game hints that she ultimately hooked up with Goemon, as her brief appearance in Keiji and Magoichi's missions has her trying to steal a treasure that they're also after, which she claims is "something she learned from her boyfriend".
• Shinigami: Her 3:XL story suggests that she is one, as she "collects" the souls of people who died historically, including Yukimura, Katsuie and Oichi, and vanishes with them once they reach Izumo. Her Chronicle Mode scenes in 4 have her exhibiting several paranormal abilities, and the final one outright confirms it.
• Sideboobs: Her default outfit in 4 shows these.
• Walking the Earth: Or Japan, at any rate. Also, a Rare Female Example of a character that lives that way solo.

Magoichi Saika

Born: (Disputable)
Died: (Disputable)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Isobe (Japanese), Lex Lang (English, 1), Steve Szczepowski (English, 2), Skip Stellrecht (English, 3), Gerhard Acktun (German, 1), Song Joon-seok (Korean, 1)

A mercenary of the Saika clan who, at first, fights wherever the money takes him, but develops a very personal grudge against Oda Nobunaga when the latter wipes out his hometown in retaliation for the Saika supporting causes against the Oda clan.

Uses a Tanegashima musket with a bayonet as his weapon.

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• Adaptation Expansion: There's no historical record where Hideyoshi ever be a friend with any bearers of the title Saika Magoichi.
• Badass Longcoat: Always wears one.
• Bayonet Ya: His rifles have them mounted and contribute to his primary melee attacks. His fourth weapon has what appears to be a Bowie knife◊ on the front. His fifth weapon◊ appears to have an entire longsword glued to the underside of the rifle barrel.
• Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: Basic firearms logic has officially left the room by the time of 4, where Magoichi's previously rapid-fire single-projectile juggle attacks become an airborne cloud of bullets ricocheting off each other in ways that defy belief. Observe.
• Bottomless Magazines: No, Magoichi shouldn't be doing what he can do with a single-shot firearm. No, it wouldn't be near as fun either.
• Calling the Old Man Out: To Kennyo in the first game when he surrendered to Nobunaga.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Magoichi hits on every woman he meets, but doesn't take advantage of Gracia, who idolizes him and follows him around in 2:XL. What makes him hold back here is most likely her being a child, though the Warriors series actually does portray child marriages (as with Zhou Yu and Xiaoqiao in Dynasty Warriors).
  • Somewhat averted in that he uses Gracia to imprison various women and keep them as his personal harem in her dream stage in 2:XL, making him not really better than Dynasty Warriors' Dong Zhuo.
• Composite Character: In 3, he plays Kojuro Katakura's role as Masamune's more level-headed Lancer.
• Determinator: If you choose the upper path in his Musou mode in 1.
• Diabolus ex Machina: In Mitsuhide's story in 2, it seemed as though Nobunaga and Mitsuhide would finally reconcile with each other. And then, BOOM! Magoichi ruined the moment with an Instant Death Bullet.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": "Saika Magoichi" is merely a title for the leader of the Saika faction.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Hideyoshi and Masamune.
• Ironic Hell: In Gracia's dream stage, he encourages her to defeat the other ladies so that he can keep them as his personal harem. Then Gracia, upon realising that he has used her, frees all the imprisoned women who deliver a well-deserved and sounding mass-lynch on Mago.
• Legacy Character: "Saika Magoichi" or "Suzuki Magoichi" is a nickname for every individual who holds the leadership of Saika Renegades. This particular Magoichi is Shigehide Suzuki; the other name bearers of Magoichi, Shigeoki and Shigetomo, are generic officers.
• More Dakka: A large portion of his moveset involves him drowning opponents in a wall of hot lead. He manages this with what is supposed to be a single-shot musket, which just makes it all the more impressive.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the second game, Magoichi finds out that assassinating Nobunaga was a spectacularly bad idea, as this plunges the land back into chaos and bandits swarm everywhere.
• There's No Kill like Overkill: Amusingly but unsurprisingly downplayed. His C2 attack has him toss his opponent to the air and then shoot them mercilessly while they're in the air. But of course, due to Gameplay and Story Segregation, it doesn't always kill the target.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: In the first game, he slowly abandons the ideals of the Honganji in order to start his personal war with Nobunaga alone. If you don't complete all the "snipe Nobunaga" green missions in the campaign, he'll definitively quit his battle and will be locked out of the last scenario. In the second game, he makes it clear that he can't stand buddhist monks and is only helping the Honganji for the money.
• Odd Friendship: With Gracia.
• Oh, Crap!: In the first game, upon witnessing Nobunaga executing Shoukei and ordering the massacre of the Ikko army. In the second game has one mixed with a Heroic BSoD when he sees what Nobunaga did to the Saika Village.
• Perma-Stubble: Is one of the few non-clean-shaven characters that also doesn't have a beard.
• Shout-Out: Weirdly enough, to Rambo with his alternate costume◊, which turns him into a Walking Shirtless Scene.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He is dark-haired, pretty tall, and good-looking (and he realizes it, too).
• Tattooed Crook: In his alternate costume (see just above) he has a rose tattooed on his body.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Invoked and lampshaded in 4, post-Sekigahara. His last cutscene is when he thinks he heard Hideyoshi's voice, inviting him to meet some ladies. Then the narration says that's the last time Magoichi is ever seen.

Kunoichi

Voiced by: Yuko Nagashima (Japanese), Gina Bowes (English, 1 and 3), Skyler Davenport (English 2015 Anime), Ulrike Jenni (German, 1), Patricia Strasburger (German 2015 Anime), Yoon Yeo-jin (Korean, 1)

A female ninja for the Sanada clan, she's the chipper, lighthearted counterpart to Yukimura's Serious Business. A non-historical character who may be loosely based on the Sanada ninjas. She was also the first original character created by Koei Tecmo for the Musou franchise.

Her weapon of choice is a pair of daggers.

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• Action Girl: She's a female ninja.
• Adapted Out: She was cut from the roster in 2 and Nene took over her spot as the female ninja of the game. She eventually came back for the crossover.
• Airplane Arms: With her arms outstretched. Not surprising for a ninja character who fights with paired daggers.
• A Dog Named "Dog": She's a Kunoichi simply called Kunoichi. It's not entirely clear if she's just called that or if that's her actual name. Even in Warriors Orochi, characters from Dynasty Warriors call her by this name.
• The Apprentice: Word of God implies she's the apprentice of Mochizuki Chiyome, who according to legend, was the leader of Takeda's female ninja.
• Badass Adorable: She's got the looks and the moves.
• Badass in Distress: When she is in trouble in 3, she will lampshade it by saying "Hey, there's a damsel in distress over here!!"
• Bodyguard Crush: To Yukimura.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Yukimura is already a badass on his own, yet Kunoichi still serves him as his bodyguard.
• Cannot Spit It Out: She has trouble when trying to tell Yukimura not to waste his life in Osaka.
• Double Jump: Mandatory for all ninja characters.
• Dual Wielding: Her weapon. They are blades somewhere between swords and kunais in size.
• Fiery Redhead: Similar to Kai's, her hair is auburn. The fiery part is downplayed a bit in 3.
• Full-Frontal Assault: In her upper-ending for the first game. It's okay, the sensitive parts are concealed with Censor Shadow and Hand-or-Object Underwear.
• Goomba Stomp: She has traces of this with some of her moves, but her midair R1 Type Action in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate takes the high-flying cake.
• Hand Behind Head: She adapts a variant of this (tapping her right temple with a closed fist) in Spirit of Sanada and it's freaking adorable.
• Happily Adopted: In 3: Chronicles, it is said that Shingen adopted her after her family was slain during the conflict between the Uesugi and Takeda. He did this out of guilt but Kunoichi seems to be very happy with her foster father.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Played with alongside Kai. More evident in Kai's ending where they appear to live together with other Toyotomi court ladies in one house. Also with Ina in the latter's upper-path ending for SW:XL
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Subverted, as she still likes infiltrating her enemy's castle, and several games give her (and all ninja characters) "hidden" paths where she can move about unspotted.
• Hopeless Suitor: If you consider Chacha and Yukimura are more than just a pair of Lady and Knight, then Kunoichi is this to Yukimura, since he never looked at her the same way he looked at Chacha. Also, Yukimura outright says that Kunoichi is more like a family to him than a potential love interest which is justified since he met her when he was a kid and she hasn't aged at all.
• Kunoichi: If her name didn't give it away, she serves as this to the Takeda and the Sanada, following the folklore of the Sanada Ten Braves.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the first game, when her musou attack ends she'll say this: "I too love this game."
  • In Warriors Orochi 2 dream mode she refers to Nene as her "Spiritual Successor" at one point.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: In her last scenarios, including the defense of Ueda Castle and the Siege of Osaka.
• Ninja Maid: She is Yukimura's bodyguard.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Despite being a fictional character, she never ages in Spirit of Sanada which makes it weird to see her and the kid versions of Yukimura and Nobuyuki together in one scene. Though in the anime, she does have a childhood version of herself in the flashback.
• Perky Female Minion: A rare heroic example, especially compared to the honorable but serious Yukimura and Shingen, who's more amiable though.
• Perpetual Smiler: She's a bit like this in 1, to the point that it can be creepy if she's not Fun Personified.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: She's by far the smallest and skinniest member of the entire roster, and she looks tiny compared to hulking characters like Shingen, Kenshin or Oda. She's still capable of dishing out plenty of pain.
• Pocket Protector: In the anime, Yukimura asks her to keep Mitsunari's Tragic Keepsake (a piece of his broken headgear) for him before he starts charging to Tokugawa camp during Osaka Campaign. She keeps it in her breastpocket (maybe) and it protects her when she's almost-fatally shot by Tokugawa's riflemen.
• Red Oni: To Yukimura and Hanzō's Blue Oni.
• The Rival: With Hanzō in 1. See also Red Oni, Blue Oni. She's also this to Ina in SW:Xtreme Legends.
• Ship Tease: Kunoichi is very flirty with Yukimura, but he never returns her affections in any capacity.
  • It's outright stated she's in love with him in 3. Even Shingen teases her about it, which shows that alongside with her dialogue and constant onlooking towards him, Yukimura's the only person to have Kunoichi show her less haughty side.
  • In Warriors Orochi 3, she also has this with Ma Dai.
• Spectacular Spinning: Either by spinning kicks, or spinning her daggers like buzzsaws or by throwing her rotating daggers at the enemies... yup, her movesets contain lots of spinning.
• Spin Attack: She has a few, with her musou being nothing but these.
• Stripperiffic: Her 3 and 4 outfits.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: From this dialogue:
  Shingen: Only you can help Yukimura, if you know what I mean.
  Kunoichi: I don't think I want to know...
  Shingen: Come on, let an old man have his fun!
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Has her moment in 4, when she notices Naotora has "good assets".
• Tomboyish Ponytail: All appearances except her original costume in 1.
• Undying Loyalty: To Yukimura, especially in The Spirit of Sanada as the only reason she leaves him after surviving his final charge is because of his order to deliver his dying message to Nobuyuki.
• Verbal Tic: In the Japanese dub she sometimes adds meaningless words to her speech.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • She and Kai constantly jab, tease, call each other names, and try to one-up each other... and that's just when they're on the same side. However, they do genuinely look out for each other. Kunoichi even asks for Kai when she defeats Ujiyasu in a battle... but still calls her "Lady Lumberjack".
  • With Sasuke in The Spirit of Sanada, as they're constantly pushing each others' buttons, but Yukimura points out how glad he is that they get along so well.
• Will They or Won't They?: Kunoichi is very reluctant to openly confess some form of her feelings towards him, and normally keeps quiet to make him happy from the sidelines (it shows in her opening cutscene in the third game's version of Osaka). Even Kai tries to push her into doing it to no avail. In Spirit of Sanada, Yukimura outright says that she's like family, and considering that she's with him and Nobuyuki when they were kids back then, it would probably be awkward.

Shingen Takeda

Born: December 1, 1521
Died: May 13, 1573

Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri (Japanese, until 3), Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (Japanese, post-3), Richard Epcar (English, 1), Lateef Martin (English, 2), Neil Kaplan (English, 3), R.Bruce Elliot (English 2015 Anime), Choe Seok-pil (Korean, 1)

Known as the Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen leads the Takeda clan and is Kenshin's rival.

His weapon is a Gunbai (war fan) enveloped in a Qi aura.

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• Animal Motifs: Say hello to the 'Tiger of Kai'.
• Badass Army: He is the leader of the Takeda Cavalry, after all.
• Big Fun: If you're on his side, he's pretty friendly.
• Captain Obvious
  From Warriors Orochi: "Boulders, when dropped from a height, have a tendency to hurt."
• Elemental Powers: In the first game, his weapons grant him various elemental attack, including Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain. This has been carried over into the following games and extended to his attacks.
• Cool Old Guy: He is usually self-described as an old man, and he is just so nice.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not completely deadpan, but he more than makes up for it with the snark.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In both Yukimura and Kunoichi's stories, he dies in Yukimura's arms after being assassinated by Hanzō during the Mikatagahara battle.
• Dirty Old Man: Implied from this dialogue in the first game:
  Shingen: Only you can help Yukimura, if you know what I mean.
  Kunoichi: I don't think I want to know...
  Shingen: Come on, let an old man have his fun!
  • Also qualifies as Shipper on Deck!
• Faking the Dead: In his story mode for 2 he actually pretends to die after the battle of Mikatagahara long enough to trick the nearby shinobi spies. This allows him to make a grand entrance in Nagashino and turn the tides of the battle in his favour.
• Fat Bastard: Just like Ieyasu, if you fight against him, he'll mostly be this.
• A Father to His Men: He's very caring of all his officers and vassals, and even in scenarios when he's retreating he'll still wait for all his surviving vassals to reach him before going away.
• Horn Attack: Yes, he's human, but his Charge 3 attack has him crouching and sending his enemies flying by hitting them with ramming attacks, apparently performed with the horns on his mask.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Has one of these midway through the Legend of the Takeda story in 4.
• Mighty Glacier: Slower than many of the cast, but his attacks are very effective. Also even deemed as a Power-type in Warriors Orochi 3.
• Mask Power: In all the titles he wears an elaborated demon mask, though it becomes a Hannya mask in one of his alternate costumes. Parodied in the second game during the battle of Mikatagahara, where after catching yet another decoy of Ieyasu, he admits that his mask is hard to see through.
• Red Baron: The Tiger of Kai, which this portrayal of Shingen often makes jokes about and barely takes it seriously.
• Red Oni: To Kenshin. Bonus point for actually wearing a red Oni mask.
• Shout-Out: To The Art of War. In most myths, Shingen was a devotee of Sun Tzu and used fuurinkazan—swift as the wind (fuu), quiet as a forest (rin), fierce as a fire (ka), immovable as a mountain (zan)—as his army's motto. His attacks all reflect this.
  • It's also written on his fan, and used as the emblem for his army.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In many fictional scenarios, he outlives Mikatagahara and Nagashino, though it varies whether he eventually succeeds in defeating and surpassing his rivals or not.
• Technical Pacifist: Yes, he is one of the strongest and most capable warlords of Japan, but, as seen in the first game, he always tries to win without excessive losses, and never actually kills named characters in his story mode upon defeating them, not even in the last upper scenario. To cup it all, his costume in the first game includes a chained katana strapped to his waist.
  • Also via one line of dialogue and possibly a fourth-wall break in the second game, he even tries to compare his own K.O. count with Kenshin's (not "kill count", "K.O. count").
  • In Samurai Warriors 3, he also is the first to realize (no thanks to Kotarō) how his struggles against both Ujiyasu and Kenshin for Kantō are flat-out nothing but chaos that ruins the land.
  • Compared to his more abusive father in his Sengoku Musou 3: Empires story, Shingen just takes all of his abuse head on and never gives up on walking his path that doesn't involve oppression and fear.
• The Strategist: As if his actions are not enough, he references Sima Yi in his death in Samurai Warriors 2.
  Shingen Takeda: "This would have never happened to Sima Yi."
• This Cannot Be!: His reaction when his strategies fail, though he doesn't make much of a fuss about it and rather worries about the safety of his men first.
• Worthy Opponent: Considers Kenshin to be this.
• Wrestler in All of Us: His Unique Magic attack in Warriors Orochi 4 has him using Gleipnir as if it's the rope of a wrestling ring to body-slam his opponents.

Masamune Date

Born: September 5, 1567
Died: June 27, 1636

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese), Skip Stellrecht (English, 1), Clinton Lee Pontes (English, 2), Darrel Guilbeau (English, 3), Niko Macoulis (German, 1), Jeon Kwang-ju (Korean, 1)

An ambitious late-comer in the Sengoku Jidai, Masamune Date is determined to make his own way in the world and maybe even take over Japan while he's at it.

Historically he was the rather brash yet far-seeing ruler of Ōshū; and one of the most powerful warlords in Japan up until Hideyoshi called him in during his final raid on the Hōjō. Known for pushing international relations, his singular eye (having lost the other one to disease), a distinct sense of style (that helmet was REAL), a larger than life attitude, being a jackass, hardass and all kinds of ass (with good intentions... MOST of the time), and of course - being an all around legitimate historical badass. As one can see, a good deal of this carries over. As noted, he served his own intentions until willingly submitting to Hideyoshi, after which he would then go on to loyally serve Ieyasu (and even read to the guy on his death bed!) through the final unification of Japan.

Used to fight with dual Bokken in the first game, but switched to a saber and a pair of pistols.

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• Animal Motifs: Other characters certainly associate certain animals with him; specifically, he is referred to a 'snake' and a 'dog' at different points. One-Eyed Dragon of Ōshū; is his self-given nickname. Historically, this name was given to Masamune after his death and it is said he was actually embarassed to only have one eye.
• Bottomless Magazines: Much like Magoichi, considering that he is never seen reloading his gun. Exaggerated in his musou attack.
• Bratty Half-Pint: In the first game, where his character model is tiny compared to the others. Hell, he's even smaller than the generics in that game.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Several characters call him out on this. And this is also another reason, besides his jerkassery, why it's hard to symphatize with him. It was toned down in the third game.
• Coat Cape: He wears one in the fourth game.
• Cool Helmet: His helmet has a giant crescent moon on it. Basically the same one his historical self wore. The helmet most accurate to his real life counterparts helmet is the one he wears in the second and third game.
• Cool Horse: Is often on horseback in most battles and has skills which augment this - although not as perfectly tuned to it as some, Masamune performs quite impressively on a good mount. His horse is fiery red, can be unlocked in the first game as "Arabian saddle" and is called Persian Mare in the second game, although there is no historical evidence that Masamune rode such a horse.
• Diabolus ex Machina: In the first game, on the Toyotomi side of the Siege of Osaka he'll pop up with his soldiers dangerously near Osaka Castle right after Yukimura finally manages to persuade Hideyori to come out and lead his soldiers, spoiling Yukimura's plans.
• Dual Wielding: Wooden swords at first, and then guns later on.
• Flashback Nightmare: Has this in 3 and 4 when he's forced to kill his own father in the Shoot the Hostage situation.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Very much like Oichi, the first game is the only game where he appeared as a little brat who wields two wooden swords, further installments (including the crossover) has him grow up and wield a sabre-gun combo.
• Eyepatch of Power: It can shoot out dragons in the first game. This eye was infected and had to be pulled out.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: In the second game, he betrays Ieyasu in the final stage, something that his historical counterpart would never have done. To an extent, in the first game, his entire story involves him interfering other clans' battle, which is impossibly reckless. Thankfully, he averts this trope in 3 and 4.
• Hot-Blooded: EXTREMELY. To the point that his Japanese voice actor is the King of Braves himself, Nobuyuki Hiyama.
• Irony: His guns have been on since the second game. There's also the fact that the other Masamune's voice actor voices two other characters/historical figure portrayals in the parallel series...
• Japanese Pronouns: Masamune's case is very interesting in that despite being a hot-blooded young-faced dude voiced by the aforementioned Hiyama himself, he uses the elderly "washi" pronoun.
• Killer Rabbit: What the other warlords in-universe consider him to be in the first game.
• The Musketeer: Since 2, alongside his sword, he also uses two guns in some attacks.
• The Napoleon: He gets a bit taller each time, but is still awfully short compared to everyone else.
• Odd Friendship: In the crossover, he becomes convinced that humanity cannot triumph over demonkind and loyally serves Orochi in the hope that the demon will be able to bring peace and stability to the land through force, ultimately becoming Co-Dragons with Da Ji. Similarly, he gets along rather well with Magoichi Saika, despite the two men's very different personalities.
• Omnicidal Neutral: In the first game. In his story mode, he has a tendency to crash historic battles and destroy both sides.
  Date Officer: My lord... the Imagawa army is vast. Meanwhile, the Oda have few troops, and their lord is said to be a fool... My lord, which... No... not both!? Again!?
  Masamune: ATTACK!
• Pet the Dog: Helps the outnumbered Sanada clan defend Ueda Castle from the Tokugawa-Hōjō army in 3.
• Quick Draw: So quick that his guns can appear and disappear out of and into thin air. He doesn't even seem to ever carry holsters for them either.
• Red Baron: The "One-Eyed Dragon of Ōshū" (Oushuu no Dokuganryuu) Again, historically he wasn't called this and was embarrassed about his single eye due to Values Dissonance.
• Refuge in Audacity: In-Universe, Samurai Warriors 3 has a true-to-history cutscene where Masamune "apologizes" to Hideyoshi for some infraction or another by carrying around a giant gold crucifix (after Hideyoshi had made Christianity illegal and kicked all of the foreign missionaries out of Japan); presumably, Hideyoshi was impressed by this display of giant brass balls and lets Masamune off.
• Ship Tease: With Kai in SW3: Empires.
• Shoot the Hostage: A similar situation regarding his father's death, as seen in a brief Flashback Nightmare in 3 and 4.
• Smug Snake: His characterization if you're not on his side, especially so in the crossover series.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In one of his missions inside a castle in the first game, there are multiple fake stairs leading to the next floor. The first time he encounters one he lets out a scream, then claims that that's what he would have said if he'd actually been scared.
• Start of Darkness: The fact that he had to assassinate his own father in order to take over Ōshū may have played a role in his character development. This is Truth in Television, as he was actually forced to do this in real life.
• Sword and Gun: From 2 onwards, he wields a sword and two pistols. He starts with a katana for lower level weapons, but later changes it for a saber in his higher level weapons. The weapon is a nice symbolic nod to Date's extensive international diplomacy efforts. It was through him (and others) that Japan's long established connection with Spain (and to a lesser degree, Portugal) was cemented. As such, he now wields a Spanish saber and a flintlock pistol.
• Take a Third Option: His philosophy in any battle in the first game is to not support either side but to just kill everybody and let fate sort things out.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Easy to miss, but in the second game, he is certainly still a Jerkass. You can even see his intention to surrender to Hideyoshi at first is suspiciously not genuine, and you guess right, as Chronic Backstabbing Disorder becomes his main problem in the second game. He surrendered to the Toyotomi, then joined the Tokugawa, but then betrayed the Tokugawa and declared independence. However, in the third game, he is first introduced lamenting his father's death in a Nightmare Sequence, willingly helps the Sanada clan in defending Ueda Castle, and also has a Friendly Rivalry with Yukimura and Kanetsugu. In Hasedō, he is far less of a Jerkass to the Uesugi army than he was in 2. Even at Osaka Castle, he is one of people who tried to stop Yukimura from wasting his life.
  • 4 is a whole new level that Masamune isn't that much of being an ambitious guy, he's more concerned about his clan's safety, he rarely insults everyone around him (though saying "Imbecile!" at times stays, because that's just his tic) and he'd let Ieyasu take credit for unifying the land just as long as the land knows peace. The only time he's visibly furious is when his men died for his sake, and especially when Kojuro took a bullet for him.
  • In WO4, he's no longer a loyal follower of Orochi due to the memory reset. Similar to Sima Yi's shift to the coalition due to his son being playable and leader of the coalition in WO3, Masamune becomes a dedicated officer for the coalition and is much nicer thanks to Kojuro's presence as a playable character.
• Trademark Favorite Food: In Warriors Orochi 3, at least, perhaps due to Sima Shi's influence, Masamune takes a liking on meat buns, too!
• Tsundere: In the fourth crossover, he's shown signs of being this most especially in the side story where he has to guard Xiaoqiao and help her in picking out a gift for Zhou Yu. At the end of the mission, he gives Kojuro a bunch of random stuff such as a bird, dragonfly larva, snails and mantis' eggs which his loyal retainer assumes that it's a gift for him. This causes Masamune to vehemently deny and attempt to justify that it's Xiaoqiao's idea.
  Masamune: No, don't go getting the wrong idea! She just forced all onto me! I don't need things like this to say to you...to say to you...
• Uriah Gambit: In 2's siege of Odawara Castle, Masamune baits his Toyotomi allies to enter the castle first to minimise his own clan's losses.
• Verbal Tic: Imbecile!
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The third game finally delves into his backstory and his reason for being an ambitious jerk ass. Whether or not this works depends on the viewer, but being forced to murder your own dad for political stability, even if it's a Shoot the Hostage situation, has GOT to suck.

Nō

Voiced by: Mariko Suzuki (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English, 1), Alisha Ruiss (English, 2), Cindy Robinson (English, 3), Ute Bronder (German, 1), Bae Jeong-mi (Korean, 1)

Born: Between 1533–1535
Died: (Disputable)

The wife of Nobunaga Oda, who doesn't seem to be able to decide whether she wants to kill him or kill for him (except for in 2, where her assassination subplot is absent).

Wields hidden claws and bombs.

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• Alpha Bitch: In the second game's dream mode, she challenges Oichi to a battle to prove that she is more beautiful.
• Animal Motifs: Mainly butterflies, taken from her birth name: Kicho. Her weapons are also named after snakes, as a reference to her father's nickname, "Viper".
• Ax-Crazy: So, so very much. She seems to enjoy fighting and slaughtering her enemies.
• Battle Couple: With Nobunaga. Depends on the game, it's either downplayed or played straight.
• Berserk Button: In the second title, she gets really pissed when someone dares to even remotely insult her beauty or age.
  • Oichi is a mild one for her, as she despises Oichi's kind, lady-like disposition as opposed to her own bitterness. The games flip-flop between irritation and outright hatred, depending on installment.
• Bitch Alert: Nōhime leaves zero doubt about her being kind of a bitch, even when she's just conversing casually with other people.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: All her weapons fall into this category, being differentiated by the number and size of the blades, ranging from one to even five.
• Breast Plate: Her outfit in 4.
• Childhood Friends: With Hanbei. According to Samurai Warriors 3: Empires, she was even the one who gave him his weapon.
• Co-Dragons: Together with Ranmaru, she is this to her husband Nobunaga..
• Dark Action Girl: The first bad girl in the game.
• Demoted to Extra: One of the characters to not get a story mode in 3, at least until the Xtreme Legends expansion.
• Designated Girl Fight: In 2, she challenges Oichi to a "Beauty Contest" to see who is the most beautiful in the land.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She genuinely cares for her husband, Nobunaga.
• Faux Affably Evil: She appears to be polite and sweet but it does nothing to hide her Ax-Crazy nature.
• Femme Fatale: Her modus operandi.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: Wears a glamorous purple kimono in the first game, though with each games her clothes become less and less traditional.
• Happily Married: Her relationship with her husband, Nobunaga, is complicated, but clearly affectionate.
• Hidden Weapons: Stated to be an expert of concealed weaponry... yet still chooses to hide a dagger from her husband in her breast pocket (he immediately notices, of course).
• Honey Trap: What her father used her as in order to trick Nobunaga. It didn't work at all.
• Ice Queen: Lampshaded many times in-universe, especially by Oichi who often mentions just how her beauty contrasts with her dourness.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her outfit in 3.
• In Love with the Mark: Was ordered to kill Nobunaga, but became fascinated with him. In a bit of a subversion, she doesn't cast aside her promise to kill him, and instead waits for the appropriate time to do so.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Why else does she stick around with Nobunaga?
• In-Series Nickname: Nobunaga calls her "Onō", adding the prefix "O-" to her name which is a common way to express respect and/or affection to a woman holding a high social rank in Japanese.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: One of her endings in the first game. Attempted murder has never looked so damn sexy.
• The Ojou: Lady of the Saitō and then the Oda Clan.
• Leotard of Power: Her DLC outfit in Warriors Orochi 3, as it is based on Zhurong's outfit in Dynasty Warriors 7.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The dark feminine to Oichi's light feminine.

• Navel-Deep Neckline: In 2 her outfit gets a plunging neckline and from then onwards some of her alternative outfits also feature it, often combining with an Impossibly-Low Neckline.
• Not Quite Dead: During the lighthearted non-canon Gracia's story in 4-II, she apparently survived Honnoji. Lampshaded by Hideyoshi right after her entrance.
  Hideyoshi: Lady No!? Didn't you die at Honnoji!?
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has dark hair and is noted as one of the most beautiful women in Japan at the time. May also qualifies as Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette due to her dark nature.
• Rich Bitch: She's rich, vain, and has utter contempt for almost everyone except Nobunaga.
• Schrödinger's Gun: In the first game, regardless of whether you play as Nobunaga or Mitsuhide, Noh will always side against the player at Honnō-ji. If you're Mitsuhide, it's because she can't allow you to kill her husband. If you're Nobunaga, it's because she can't allow anyone but her to take your life.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: Or, as she puts it, the most beautiful in the land. She even tries getting this point across by battling all of the other females.
• Shout-Out: In State Of War, every character has a storyline focusing on them and one other character ^note aside from the Eastern Alliance, which focuses on the two halves, and Oichi, whose story focuses on her and Nagamasa (who isn't playable). While the others have basic names (i.e. "The Takeda Clan", "Mitsuhide and Ranmaru", etc.), Nobunaga and Nō's storyline is named "Mr. and Mrs. Oda"
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: She claims her beauty has enticed men to do her bidding.
• Stripperiffic: Lampshaded by Gracia in her dreamstage. According to her, Nō has "charm, confidence and smaller clothes".
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Nobunaga.
• Theme Naming: Again in the first game: her weapons are named after venomous/unpleasant creatures.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: She pulls large bombs out of her kimono and throws them for some attacks.
• Together in Death: with Nobunaga in her ending for 3:XL
• Undying Loyalty: For Nobunaga Oda. This was lampshaded in her ending in the second game.
  Nobunaga: No, will you follow me?
  No: Anywhere my lord.
• Unholy Matrimony: Shown to have this with Nobunaga.
• Wolverine Claws: Concealed in her sleeves. Her other weaker weapons tends to be a single or dual bladed variation though.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: She challenges Oichi about which one of them is this.

Hanzō Hattori

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (Japanese), Kim Strauss (English, 1), David Walpole (English, 2), Troy Baker (English, 3), Claus Brockmeyer (German, 1), Shi Yeong-joon (Korean, 1)

Born: 1542
Died: December 23, 1596

Hattori Hanzō is the Ninja of Tokugawa. Obsessed with the words 'Death', 'Shadow' and 'Darkness'. Hanzō serves as the loyal guardian of the Tokugawa clan and both the rival of Yukimura and Kunoichi during the first Samurai Warriors title. In the second game, he gains a more intense rival in form of Fūma Kotarō.

Wields a Kusarigama used in tandem with his ninjutsu.

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• Battle Butler: To Ieyasu.
• Casting a Shadow: Almost literally, since his musou attack release a blade of darkness.
• The Comically Serious: He is one of if not the most dead-serious character in the series, but he gets into a lot of hilarious exchanges simply because it's amusing to play his complete lack of humor for humor.
  Nene: Go tell your master to stop being so greedy! There's plenty of Japan to go around! Why can't he learn to share?
  Hanzo: Crazy woman.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He's using darkness-based powers, nearly anything that comes from his mouth is about either 'Darkness' or 'Shadow', and doing a damn good job in annihilating those that comes across him. However, he's using that to protect his Lord (Ieyasu), allies (Tadakatsu, Ina, Naotora) or... occasionally, 'someone else' (Nene in 3).
• Doppelgänger Attack: From 2 onwards, he gains the ability to make clones of himself, which copy the player's button inputs.
• The Dragon: For Ieyasu in the first game, as Tadakatsu was still an NPC.
• Dragon-in-Chief: In Kunoichi's story mode, the Siege of Osaka is automatically won by the Toyotomi if Hanzō's defeated, even if Ieyasu is still alive.
• The Dreaded: For Goemon in the first game (see Goemon's entry as well). It's because in that game, Goemon is said to be a former Iga ninja who deserted his position to become a thief.
• Fragile Speedster: Plenty quick and can deal a good number of hits as well, but he can't hold up in combat for long.
• Hand Seals: When casting . Bonus point for actually saying the right spells of Kuji-in while casting (Rin-Hyo-To-Sha-Kai-Jin-Restu-Sai-Zen).
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: In his first game's story mode.
• Incurable Cough of Death: In 4, Sanada Story, before the 2nd battle of Ueda Castle, Hanzo started to suffer this, and although this has no effect in gameplay, Hanzo just refuses to stay down and even as Ieyasu tells him that he deserves some rest, he decided to take down Yukimura before he becomes a threat to the Tokugawa... only to die because of the trope before even carrying out his job.
• It's Probably Nothing: If he ever so much as makes a noise in his attempts to protect his master, his reaction is just "It's probably just a wild boar...". His cover is blown by Ieyasu later, and Ieyasu is very grateful for his protection.
• Mask Power: The latest game shows off his mouth, but he otherwise cover his visage with a mask and is a powerful shinobi.
• Me's a Crowd: Shown this powers during cutscenes in the first game and finally during the gameplay from the second game onward.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Although Tadakatsu and Ina are also very loyal to Ieyasu, perhaps Hanzō is the only one who almost never questioned his lord's method.
• Mythology Gag: In Spirit of Sanada during Battle of Mikatagahara, he attempted to infiltrate Takeda main camp through ninja path to attack Shingen, prompting you to stop him. In the first game, this is how he killed Shingen.
• Ninja: The most traditional one.
  • His design in 4 subverts it as the mask looks really un-ninja-ish and more like a masked dark knight. Though this may be touching with his historical origin that he's also a samurai who happens to command a battalion of ninja and also knows ninjutsu.
• Not So Stoic: He sheds a single tear for Sasuke in the final chapter of The Spirit of Sanada. In Tadakatsu's dream from the second game, he sounds genuinely elated at the thought of challenging Tadakatsu to a duel.
• Out-of-Character Moment: In the first game, it is not rare for Hanzō to show up as a boss during certain (usually castle) levels against a character who technically shouldn't be on his list at all. For examples, in both the versions of the final showdown of Kawanakajima he appears helping either the Uesugi or the Takeda with no explanation given. This is probably because of the shortage of characters and the only other available ninja is Kunoichi, who's seen more as a Good Bad Girl under Yukimura's services. Fuuma picked up the slack after he's introduced at 2.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to both Yukimura and Kunoichi in 1, and also to Fūma Kotarō.
• Ship Tease: With Nene in the third game.
• The Rival: Kotarō in most games except 1. Exclusively in 1, he had rivalries with Kunoichi and Yukimura, especially the latter after Hanzō assassinated Shingen. In 3, he also has a rivalry with Nene, overlapping with Friendly Rivalry this time.
• Sinister Scythe: Most of his kusarigama attacks are like a scythe's.
• Stock Ninja Weaponry: He uses either kunai or shuriken (they are thrown very fast, so it's rather hard to be seen correctly) as his jump attack.
• Spared By Adaptation: Real Life Hanzō was not alive anymore during the Sekigahara and Osaka campaigns. But in the game, he is often heavily involved in those battles. Interestingly enough, because historically his son and successor, Masanari, actually participated in the Osaka campaign and was killed in that battle. Averted in 4, where he dies off-screen due to illness much like his historical records have stated. Double-subverted in Spirit of Sanada, where he managed to live long enough to confront Sasuke in the Siege of Osaka before dying together.
• Spikes of Doom: He seems to get more spikes and horns in his designs with each game, to the point that he looks more like The Shredder than an actual ninja.
• The Stoic: He rarely shows emotions at all.
• Teleport Spam: He seemingly attacks like this in cutscenes in the first game, cutting down soldiers in a jiff.
• Undying Loyalty: For Ieyasu Tokugawa.
• Verbal Tic: All about 'Shadow', 'Death' and 'Darkness'. Lampshaded sarcastically when Shingen asks him if he "has come to tell him spooky things about shadows and darkness" upon meeting him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Yes, he's ready to mercilessly cut down anyone, man, woman or child in his way, but only does so in order to create a peaceful world.

Ranmaru Mori

Voiced by: Naomi Shindo (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English, 1), Wendy Jewers (English, 2), Tara Platt (English, 3), Niko Macoulis (German, 1), Lee Myeong-seon (Korea, 1)

Born: 1565
Died: June 21, 1582

Nobunaga's faithful retainer who wields a sword longer than he is tall, always protecting his master against anyone who stands against him. While Ranmaru can be kind and gentle, he can be quite merciless towards his enemies.

In Samurai Warriors, Ranmaru's story focuses on his relationship with his mentor, Mitsuhide, but from Samurai Warriors 2 and onwards, Ranmaru's most important person is instead Nobunaga. His friendship with Mitsuhide is usually still present as his second-most important, if very minor, relationship. In Ranmaru's 3:XL story mode, he develops a friendship with Gracia, and in Samurai Warriors 3:Empires, he and Toshiie become close.

He fights with a nodachi.

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• Adaptational Sexuality: Japanese folklore tends to portray Ranmaru as one of Nobunaga's favorite lovers. The series doesn't do that but does allude to it several times.
• Adapted Out: Ranmaru is among the many characters who are omitted from 5, which is especially odd considering he was notable for being one of his named attendants at Honnoji, as well as the subject of much folklore. His role as Nobunaga's bodyguard has been replaced by Yasuke.
• Awesome, but Impractical: One of his special moves in 2 consists of a quick slash imbued with the "Demon" element. Sounds great, but it's difficult to use in combat and the Demon element damage depends on the target's life points.
• Avenging the Villain: In the Takeda what-if story in SWC3, Shingen kills Nobunaga, and Ranmaru dedicates himself to avenging him at any cost. In the bad ending, he succeeds.
• Badass Boast: Spoken while defending Honnōji in the first game.
  Ranmaru: This body is a sword, and this place, a burial ground. Those who wish to die, come forth!
  Ranmaru: As long as I stand here, not one soul shall pass!
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Essentially why he's so loyal to Nobunaga.
• Berserk Button: Being mistaken for a woman.
  • Another one is commenting on his appearance, especially his legs. His response to this? He'll either get really flustered or he'll outright threaten to murder whoever said it.
  Munenori: You're older than me, right? Nice legs there!
  Ranmaru: I-I'll kill you!

  —Samurai Warriors Chronicles 2 / 3
• BFS: Ranmaru's weapon is a nodachi.
• Blind Obedience: He'll follow Nobunaga to the ends of the earth. This attitude puts him at odds with Hanbei and Toshiie in SW3:Empires.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: He's Nobunaga's bodyguard. Truth in Television, as the pageboys of samurai were also expected to act as their bodyguards.
• Dark and Troubled Past: In one of Ranmaru's Chronicles events, it's revealed that his peers alienated and spread rumors about him because they found him to be too eerily perfect. Ranmaru describes himself as having felt "inundated by darkness" as a result. The only person who he felt could understand his thoughts at the time was Nobunaga, which is why he chose to devote his life to him.
• Death Seeker: Frequently talks about wishing to die in service to Nobunaga. Several characters in the series try to convince him to value his life.
• Demoted to Extra: From 2 onward, he is one of the few characters without a story mode. He stars in his own story mode in the Japan-only 3:XL.
• Double Consciousness: Is shown to be cold, merciless, and driven with hatred at times; on the other hand, there's also naiveté, warmness, and happiness with the right people.
• Diagonal Cut: His special attack in the second game has him performing a super fast slash imbued with Demon element regardless of his current element.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: And completely oblivious to it.
• The Dragon: To Nobunaga Oda. He shares this with Nō from time to time.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: He goes down fighting like a demon at Honoji. He got one historically, too, fulfilling Nobunaga's alleged Last Request that nothing remain of his body for Akechi to claim; Ranmaru helped set the temple ablaze and committed seppuku to join his lord in death.
• The Empath: In Chronicles, Ranmaru subconsciously senses others' thoughts and acts according to them, though he doesn't realize he's doing it and claims he's not capable of mind-reading.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Towards Mitsuhide, especially in the first game. Their enmity is more impersonal in the sequels, as their Senpai/Kohai relationship was dropped.
• Fanservice: His legs. According to the Word of God, they are his charm points.
• Fragile Speedster: He's both fast and hard hitting, but sadly he's also a Glass Cannon, which makes him vulnerable.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Has no sense of self-worth and has convinced himself that he's entirely unremarkable, in spite of being very multi-talented.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: with Mitsuhide in 1.
• Interrupted Suicide: In one SWC3 event, Ranmaru makes a very slight blunder while making tea for Gracia and the protagonist. He feels his mistake has disgraced Nobunaga, so he immediately attempts to commit suicide; thankfully, Gracia stops him.
• In-Series Nickname: In the Japanese versions of the games, Nobunaga calls him Oran (attaching the o-honorific in front of someone's name implies closeness). Perhaps notably, the only other person Nobunaga addresses this way is his wife.
• Mistaken for Gay: In Warriors Orochi, by Lu Meng, when he makes a "bad choice of words" while describing Keiji Maeda.
• Morality Pet: For Nobunaga, by his own admittance.
• Nintendo Hard: Unlocking his upper path finale in the first game is awfully difficult, thanks to an egregious case of Guide Dang It!.
• Noble Top Enforcer: Especially in the first game.
• One-Man Army: When defending Honnōji's South Gate in his story mode. If done correctly, even Mitsuhide is impressed.
  • In WO, his skills impressed his opponent after he gets captured.
• Razor Wind: One of his specialties.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Gracia in his own story for 3:XL.
• Pretty Boy: To the point of looking extremely feminine. Even Oichi complained about the fact that he's "making us women look bad" by comparison. In the Japanese version of 4, Koshosho outright calls him a Bishōnen, too!
• Samurai Ponytail: Starting from the second game onward, Ranmaru wears his hair in a ponytail.
• Spin Attack: His Musou attack, which is also fast, hits everything around him and allows him to move a little, becoming an excellent crowd-clearer.
• The Stoic: To the point where the Oda clan story mode in Samurai Warriors 3: Empires is primarily dedicated to Toshiie and Hanbei trying to do something about Ranmaru's emotional repression problem.
• The Remnant: In 1, he leads a coup against Mitsuhide in his scenario, after the latter won the battle of Yamazaki and legitimated his right to rule the land.
• Sword Beam: The last strike of his Charge 3 combo. In the first game he also has a variation where he creates a drill-shaped one with a stabbing motion of his sword.
• Sword Drag: His Charge 3 combo has this.
• Third-Person Person: In Japanese, he refers to himself in third person often.
• Undying Loyalty: He's totally devoted to Lord Nobunaga, no matter what happens.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: In-Universe, he's mistaken for a woman by several characters, including Magoichi, Guo Jia, and Nagamasa.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In 1, Yukimura outright tells him that his faithfulness and devotion are wasted with somenone like Nobunaga.
• Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: His fifth weapon in 2 is a large shinai (bamboo sword).

• You Killed My Father/Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against the Azai-Asakura alliance and, specifically, Nagamasa.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Honnōji's South Gate battle.

Custom Character

The first Samurai Warriors allowed the player to create their own personal samurai, with up to eight possible styles (two male and two female defaults, but four others could be unlocked), using a possibility of three different weapons: Sword, Spear, and Naginata.

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• Action Girl: The female characters would need to be.
• And the Adventure Continues: If siding with the Tokugawa, Hanzo approaches the player after the game is complete, and trains them to be a ninja. The main character appreciates having the work.
• Armor Is Useless: Some character models wear armor, though only an unlockable female one does feature a realistic full-body armor, but they do not influence the character's defense much.
• Badass Boast: Yukimura claims that they are truly blessed by the heavens for their abilities if siding with him.
• Badass Preacher: Unlockable costumes allow the player to play a Buddhist monk or nun.
• Baddie Flattery: They admire Yukimura and the loyalty and bravery of the Sanada, even as a Tokugawa.
• Character Development: They undergo a monologue during the Siege of Ueda Castle when they think about Yukimura and his potential. By the time they reach the inner sanctum and meet Yukimura fighting Hanzo, they have the choice of staying loyal to the Tokugawa or betray them and defeat Hanzo, saving Yukimura's life.
• Enemy Mine: After the Battle of Nagashino (where the player served the Takeda), Ieyasu recruited them into his army.
• Hero Killer: In their scenario, they either kill Ieyasu, or Yukimura.
• Miko: One of the default options can give the female characters the appearance of one. Far more obvious in 2.
• Multi-Melee Master: Depending on which weapons you used the most, you can either wield swords (least damage, Fire element, good for comboes at short range), spears (most damage and great reach, but unsuited against masses, Thunder Element) or naginata (medium damage, range and good comboes, Dark element).
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The player abandons the Imagawa Army after they defeat the Oda ambush, stating that they do not believe Yoshimoto was up to the task of ruling Japan.
• Training from Hell: Character customization had a story, in which the main character trained for twelve weeks before being enlisted as a samurai by passing two trials with a certain score. Failure caused the character to be scrapped.

Introduced in Xtreme Legends

Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Voiced by: Munehiro Tokida (Japanese, 1), Hideo Ishikawa (Japanese, 2 onwards), Richard Cansino (English, 1), Danny Coleman (English, 2), Brian Beacock (English, 3), Jeffrey Schmidt (English 2015 Anime), Kai Taschner (German, 1), Thomas Balou Martin (German 2015 Anime), Kim Kwang-guk (Korean, 1)

Born: February 2, 1536 or March 26, 1537
Died: September 18, 1598

Called "monkey" by Nobunaga, and born as a peasant who changed his names many, many, many times (he also shows up as "Hideyoshi Hashiba" in the earlier battles), Hideyoshi is an ambitious man who wants to unite Japan so that everyone can be happy. In due course, he gets even closer than his former master; Nobunaga - being the second of the Three Unifiers and sets down a lot of the groundwork that Ieyasu would later expand upon and build a better foundation.

Fights with a Sansetsukon upon becoming playable.

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• Animal Motifs: The monkey. Somewhat flanderized in that in real life, he was only called this by Nobunaga, and in a letter Nobunaga wrote to Hideyoshi's wife, he refers to him as "rodent".
  • Except for Goemon in 1
  Goemon: " It's THE RODENT!!!"
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Although some fans state that he undergoes Adaptational Badass, which means he is not a very good warrior in Real Life, and mainly depends on politics.
• Battle Couple: with Nene, his historical wife.
• Cool Helmet: And how! His original hat in Xtreme Legends was small, if somewhat curious, but now, it very elaborate and fancy. Heck, just look at this.◊
• Despair Event Horizon: In SW:XL, his lower path.
• Dirty Old Man: Though he really loved his wife, he’s much of a pervert that he enjoyed watching women fighting in Gracia’s storyline in 4-II.
• Glass Cannon: He may not be very resilient, but with his staff he can whip the shit out of his opponents with ease.
• Happily Married: with Nene.
• Henpecked Husband: Not the same extent as Sima Yi but Hideyoshi is afraid of Nene who would always scold him for being a pervert to other women or doing something illegal such as hiding tons of gold from her.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In 4 he gets a new layer of introspectiveness to his personality; as the stages move closer to Sekigahara he makes numerous statements that seem to indicate he's aware he can only go so far and that Ieyasu will likely be the one to take up the cause once he's gone.
  • In Mitsunari's story in 4-II, he told Mitsunari that the reason he keeps Toshiie, whose mind was still attached to his past loyalty with Katsuie, is to "maintain his humanity".
• Historical Hero Upgrade: While Hideyoshi isn't generally regarded positively, the games have decided to be kind to him. Ironically when he was still a unique NPC in the first game, he was closer to his historical self.
  • He does show a more pragmatic and morally ambiguous side in '2:XL'. In Toshiie's story, he implies that he will take advantage of Nobunaga's death by replacing him and continue to unify the land. When Toshiie accused him for being happy about Nobunaga's death, however, he immediately denies.
  • In the third game, Kanbei acts as a Psycho Supporter to Hideyoshi in a similar manner to how Jia Chong did it for Sima Zhao in Dynasty Warriors 8. Kanbei is the one who implies that Hideyoshi needs to take over Japan if he doesn't want to be a "spark" to be put out by other warlords.
  • Moreso, like many other games that involve him, there's no such thing as 'Korean Campaign' with this Hideyoshi.
  • Almost subverted in one cutscene in 4 has him saying that he might end up as ruthless as Nobunaga if he had to which is, more or less, almost true to history. Thankfully, Magoichi managed to convince him otherwise, playing the trope straight again.
  • Unfortunately, this also omits the more-believable reason why many Toyotomi retainers defect or surrender to Tokugawa during and after Sekigahara, to the point that Hideyori barely gets any supporters in the Osaka Campaign. Historically, Hideyoshi isn't really a benevolent boss like he is in the game, which is why many of his retainers eventually got fed up with him and sought the Tokugawa's servitude almost as soon as Hideyoshi died, and didn't reconsider to protect Hideyori in the Osaka Campaign (although Kiyomasa's Undying Loyalty to Hideyori might be an exception here).
• I Have Many Names: He appears in Oda-Focused stages as "Hideyoshi Hashiba", which isn't his birth name either (it was actually Kinoshita Toukichirou). Survival Mode in 2 references this.
• The Lancer: For Ma Chao in some stages in Warriors Orochi 3. He tends to give advice to the more hot-blooded Ma Chao.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: He has many concubines and often lusts after Oichi.
• Monkey King Lite: He has enough monkey motifs to go and fights with a Sansetsukon, which can evoke a staff that elongate, as well as being a servant of Nobunaga. He's also kind of bumbling. Which gets a lampshade when he encountered the actual Wukong in Warriors Orochi.
• Mr. Vice Guy: 2 gives us this, as while Hideyoshi is depicted quite sympathetically, his abilities and weapons encourage money and item farming, and his portrayal in Survival Mode suggests he's rather greedy. Not to mention he's kind of a perv, which is even Lampshaded by his wife a few times.
• Parental Substitute: For Chacha in Spirit of Sanada, along with Nene. According to them both, they do this for Nagamasa, Oichi, and Katsuie.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: gives a surprisingly impressive one to Mitsuhide at Yamazaki in 3. Gave one far less impressive in Samurai Warriors during Mitsuhide's story.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Thanks to Historical Hero Upgrade.
• Shipper on Deck: Along with Nene, he encourages Yukimura to befriend Chacha in Spirit of Sanada.
• Shout-Out: to Sun Wukong of Journey to the West, from his weapon, monkey-like moveset, etc. In Warriors Orochi, they actually meet. Hilarity Ensues.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: His SW:XL story starts off on the Idealism side, but it can possibly slide to Cynicism.
• Took a Level in Kindness: When he's just an NPC in the first game, he's very much an unsympathetic Smug Snake who thinks only of himself. However, as he becomes playable, ideals like making a land where people can be happy are added which stick with Hideyoshi for future games, making him much more lovable and sympathetic.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Many attacks with the sansetsukon are whip-like. Tying into his monkey motif from above, the developers noted it to be akin to a monkey's tail being swung.
• Wife Husbandry: Possibly, though depending on the source. Chacha, his concubine (who also is Nagamasa and Oichi's daughter), according to certain historical sources, is taken in by Hideyoshi as his foster daughter. When the maiden came of age, he made her his concubine and mothered Hideyoshi's heir, Hideyori. The games usually don't take note of this particular relationship and only mention Chacha as his concubine and possibly mother of Hideyori. In all fairness, such thing is apparently not exactly uncommon around this era.
  • Averted when Chacha finally becomes playable in Spirit of Sanada. She's more like a daughter figure for both Hideyoshi and Nene. As a result, Nene is nicer and motherly to her as well.

Yoshimoto Imagawa

Voiced by: Takahiro Kawachi (Japanese), Richard Cansino (English, 1), Dan Jeannotte (English, 2), Vic Mignogna (English, 3)

Born: 1519
Died: June 12, 1560

The leading daimyō whose surprise defeat by Oda Nobunaga effectively kicked off the beginning of the end of the Sengoku era, characterized in the second game as a happy-go-lucky guy who just wants to play kemari (Japanese hackey-sack, effectively) with everybody.

He fights with a sword and said kemari ball.

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• Butt-Monkey: In his story for 2:XL, he helps many other warlords to win their battles and in exchange he wants them to play kemari with him. But they keep refusing his offer.... not the offer to help them but his offer to play kemari. And they specifically refuse that exact offer after Yoshimoto helps them win their battles.
• Characterization Marches On: He had a rather unflattering first appearance as an NPC, his personality only being rounded out after becoming playable.
• Composite Character: He has some aspects of his son, Ujizane. His liking of kemari was actually Ujizane's favorite, historically. Also, his assistance for the Eastern Army at Sekigahara may nod to his son eventually serving the Tokugawa when the Imagawa clan was weakening.
  • In a rather strange zigzagged variation, Ujizane appeared as a generic warlord in 2:Empires.
• Crouching Moron Hidden Bad Ass: Extremely well hidden. Even Zhang Liao notes this in the first Warriors Orochi. He shows bit of competence in his Dream Stage in 2 Xtreme Legends, where he has moments of snark and, upon winning the battle, will sincerely thank all his men for their effort.
• Demoted to Extra: He has no story mode in 3, though not many are complaining. Though he got a story in 3:XL, his appearances in the Story Mode of 4 are all non-playable, making his character taking on similar dimensions as Okuni, Goemon, Musashi and Kojirō, though he still appears more often then those guys.
• Determinator: Say what you like, but if he wants to play Kemari with someone, he's easily capable of turning the tides of whole battles. And they still won't play with him after he helped them!
• Difficult, but Awesome: He might have a strange attack style since he uses a katakana and a kemari in combat, but if you've learned how to play him, he can take out a group of mooks very easily with his Musou attack and with proper placement of his other moves.
• Dirty Coward: In the first game. He is also more of a Smug Snake than the goofy, happy-go-lucky person he's portrayed as in later games.
• Dumbass No More: His redesign on SW5 makes him more like the intimidating warlord in history rather than the Kemaro-loving simpleton of the previous games.
• Dying as Yourself: In 4, his death quote is said in the same "demonic" voice he used in his cutscene with Ieyasu, implying this really is Yoshimoto's real self rather than the goofy kemari-loving one.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: He was a Smug Snake as UNPC in the first game. His love for kemari wasn't established yet, either.
• Evil Uncle: Played for comedy to Houjou Ujimasa (who calls him out on it) in 2:XL when Yoshimoto helps Toyotomi attacking Odawara.
• General Failure: Even when he's non-playable, he's shown to be extremely incompetent at the head of his army, relying on extremely simple tactics to win, while other strategist characters like Nobunaga or Shingen will try to employ more elaborated schemes in battle. At least the Tokugawa, however, respect him as their daimyō and are devastated by his demise.
• Guyliner: His faced is caked in the traditional makeup worn by nobility, in this case to underline how "old-fashioned" he is, contrasting the less-conventional Nobunaga.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Inverted, story-wise. He was historically one of the most powerful daimyos in his era. But Samurai Warriors fans mostly remember him as "the first daimyo Nobunaga defeats in his quest for power".
• I Know Madden Kombat: Almost all of the things he does with his kemari ball, from juggling to dribbling to bicycle kicking, are soccer techniques rather than anything resembling actual kemari.
• Improbable Weapon User: Downplayed, he uses a sword for most of his comboes, but also uses his kemari ball for charge attacks.
• Jekyll & Hyde: In 4, he is shown to have a more sinister side as seen when a nearby tree is hit by lightning and falls near his carriage. Upon being approached by a concerned Ieyasu (who instinctively avoided the lightning strike, therefore unintentionally and very briefly abandoning Yoshimoto's safety), he darkly implies his vassal's intention of killing him despite the former's denial. In a chilling tone, he claims that a daimyo must be willing to sacrifice others to achieve his goal and asks if Ieyasu has the determination to do so. Before receiving a reply, he quickly reverts back to his carefree self.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Wields a katana one-handed with a rather simplistic moveset, though his high-level weapon add a massive handguard to the weapon, making it resemble a cutlass.
• Kicked Upstairs: In his story mode of the third installment's expansions, Masamune encourages him to spread his Kemari-Mania to the world... so Yoshimoto departs via ship, leaving Japan to the other warlords.
• Lethal Joke Character: He might seem like a Joke Character at first, and against officers, this might seem true. But when he's up against a large number of Mooks, he can be a force to be reckoned with. His Musou attack is perfect for taking out large numbers of enemies and even if his normal attack isn't anything to write home about, he can still hold his own against an officer if you know how to play him. In said game he's also one of the few characters whose fourth weapon is aligned with the dreaded Demon Element (which, however, was nerfed in the expansion).
• Lighter and Softer: Everyone Lives (well, almost everyone, at least) in his ending for 2:XL, and they finally agree to play kemari with him. This includes the likes of Houjou Ujimasa (survives his defeat at Odawara) and Mitsunari (survives his defeat at Sekigahara).
• Manchild: Although largely harmless by himself.
• Not Completely Useless: In the second game, one of his special abilities is to play dead. Which seems really laughable until you realize that this move increases the length of your musou attack by a massive amount.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: According to Kanetsugu in 2:XL and the Wei forces in the crossover.
• Pet the Dog: A small moment in his Dream Stage, where, after defeating Nobunaga, he sincerely compliments all his men for their bravery in battle. His retainers are surprised...
  • Also in the end of his Story mode in 3:XL he encourages Masamune to complete his dreams.
• Playing Possum: One of his iconic special skills since the second installment, where he plays dead to avoid anything that doesn't hit OTG. Makes him a pretty deadly character if combined with his Level 3 Musou (since he can cause the fireworks during it to extend for as long as he stays down). He instead regains some HP and/or Musou back instead as of the third title.
  • In Warriors Orochi 3 as his Type Action however, he adds a spinning getup kemari kick that creates a tornado (and also makes him completely invincible for the move's whole duration as well).
• Running Gag: In 2:XL, people keep being Ungrateful Bastards and refusing his request to play kemari with him after he helps them. (see Butt-Monkey and Determinator above)
• Serious Business: For him, kemari is more important than, say, conquering and unifying the land.
• Sore Loser: First game only. He bitterly blames his defeat on the stormy weather and promises Nobunaga that one day he'll suffer the same fate as him. To his credit, he's arguably right on both counts; even Nobunaga agrees about the latter.
• Spared By Adaptation: In all his story modes, he survives Okehazama. Averted in the first game during the New Officer story mode: even if he defeats the Oda thanks to the playable character's efforts, it's mentioned that he was still killed later in another ambush. Also averted in 4.
• Spectacular Spinning: A lot of his attacks involve either twirling his ball, or some form of spinning motion.
• Split Personality: In 4. His other personality speaks with a demonic, menacing voice.
• Took a Level in Badass: Masterminds an extremely clever plot to isolate and destroy a large portion of the Orochi army in the first Warriors Orochi game, and even manages to rope in Shingen and Kenshin to help.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Although he is still irritatingly cocky, he has certainly become nicer since becoming playable.
• Upper-Class Twit: Has a tendency to dismiss people as his lessers in the course of SW, and embarrasses his officers with his kemari obsession while demonstrating little to no tactical acumen or bravery.
• Verbal Tic: He likes to add "no" to the end of his sentences in Japanese.
• We Can Rule Together: In the New Officer story mode in SW he asks the hero/heroine to be his right hand man/woman during his conquest of the land. However, the officer refuses, by hitting him with his/her weapon and claiming that he's "not up to this".

Tadakatsu Honda

Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese, 1:XL to 4 and Spin-offs), Douglas Rye (English, 1 XL), Nigel Stern (English, 2), James Babson (English, 3), Philip Weber (English 2015 Anime), Gerhard Acktun (German, 1), Tobias Brecklinghaus (German 2015 Anime)

Born: March 17, 1548
Died: December 3, 1610

The strongest warrior to ever exist in the Sengoku era, never being wounded in over 100 battles. Honda Tadakatsu is a man searching for the mightiest so he can test his own might against them. He is also very loyal to his liege Ieyasu, making him somewhat like a morally straight Lu Bu.

Wields his Tonbokiri in all his playable appearances.

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• Ascended Extra: Surprisingly, out of all people, he was a generic NPC in the first game. He is given special mention at certain points though. He finally becomes playable in the Xtreme Legends expansion.
• Action Dad: He and his daughter made their playable debut and they usually fight together.
• Badass Family: Besides Ina, there are still his generic-faced sons who are also famous in their own right. Also, his son-in-law is Nobuyuki Sanada.
• Battle Butler: to Ieyasu.
• Big Damn Heroes: To his daughter in her final stage in 1:XL.
• Blood Knight: During his story mode in the first game this actually becomes a plot point if Tadakatsu fails to save his companions at Mikatagahara and is forced to kill Shingen. Following this, Ieyasu actually takes advantage of his fighting prowess to conquer the land with brute strength.
• Badass Boast: In some games, he has an actual attack where he shouts "I am Tadakatsu!" while brandishing his weapon. This not only damages nearby enemies, it also charges up his Musou meter.
• Blow You Away: He can summon gusts of wind not by magic, but simply by swinging his huge spear at the enemy!
• Cool Helmet: Dragon-shaped and decorated with antlers. His historical counterpart had a similar helm.
• The Dragon: To Ieyasu for the "Anti-Tokugawa" characters. Also a little of Visual Pun due to his armor's design. He also can be seen as The Brute.
• The Dreaded: Most of the time, whenever Tadakatsu becomes active in battle, the opposing commander will tell his enemies to stay the hell away from Tadakatsu and go straight to Ieyasu via discretion, rather than letting Tadakatsu do a number on their soldiers with ease.
• Implacable Man: In some scenarios, he will decide to charge at the enemy camp. During this period, he's stronger than usual and should be avoided rather than fought.
• The Lancer: To Ieyasu. He can also be seen as The Big Guy.
• One-Man Army: In his dream stage, specifically.
• Papa Wolf: Not really shown in subsequent series, but in his debut, should you endanger or kill his daughter Ina, then get ready to be cleaved by his Tonbo-giri when he enters Super Mode.
  • In 4, this extends to even attacking his lord. ^note As Nobuyuki and Ina plead for Yukimura's life to be spared, Tadakatsu notes that if Ieyasu decides to wipe out the Sanada line, he would also have to kill Nobuyuki and Ina.
  • In Spirit of Sanada, he actually supports Nobuyuki's plea to spare Masayuki and Yukimura from execution with his reason being that he considers Nobuyuki as his own son ever since he married Ina. However, Ieyasu still rejects the plea.
  • In one side mission in Warriors Orochi 3, Guo Jia tries to flirt with Ina in front of him, causing Tadakatsu to confront him. At least, Nobuyuki gets a free pass in '4' as he is nice to Ina.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Naomasa's red.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Naomasa's Sensitive Guy.
• Shock and Awe: His True Musou attack causes lightning to shower down on the enemies.
• Theme Music Power-Up: Gets his theme played any time you fight against him.
• Weapon Specialization: As playable character, he wields the "Giant Spear" weapon type, which starts as a broad-tipped yari and gradually evolves into a massive halberd-like weapon with a wide blade. It is identified in game as "Tonbo-giri", regardless on the weapon's rank.
• World's Best Warrior: Considered to be the finest warrior of his period in Japan, Tadakatsu is presented as a juggernaut who smites everyone in his way with ease.
• You Shall Not Pass!: when he's protecting Ieyasu's escape in Mikatagahara.

Ina

Voiced by: Makiko Ohmoto (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English, 1 XL), Katie Snetsinger (English, 2), Jessica Straus (English, 3), Morgan Garrett (English 2015 Anime), Ute Bronder (German, 1 XL), Fabienne Hesse (German 2015 Anime)

Born: 1573
Died: March 27, 1620

Tadakatsu's daughter who is also Yukimura's sister-in-law (due to her marriage with Sanada Nobuyuki, Yukimura's brother). Ina is the series' first Lady of War, graceful in battle and strives to live up her father's reputation as the mightiest general ever.

Wields a bladed bow that can slash/clobber the enemy when she's not shooting things.

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• Action Girl: A justified example. She is one of the few female characters who actually fought (or at least, has martial arts and/or military background) in history.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: In some games, Tadakatsu even stated that she will be interested in Nobuyuki for his ability.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: especially in her lower-path story in her debut. The aloof part is being downplayed in later installments.
• Battle Couple: with Nobuyuki
• Breast Plate: Especially in the third game.
• Cool Big Sis: Yukimura respects her a lot, and calls her with the honorific 'sister'. Of course, since Ina is married to his older brother.
  • In 4, she attempts to be this while talking to young Toramatsu (the kid who will be known as Ii Naomasa in his adulthood) in a hilariously Comically Serious way, much to Naotora's awkwardness.
  • In the anime, she plays this role to Kunoichi.
• Daddy's Girl: More prevalent in the second game.
• Designated Girl Fight: with Kunoichi in her debut.
• Distress Ball: In Warriors Orochi 3, during a solo training session, Ina got ambushed and kidnapped by a bunch of Demon army soldiers (though she fared a bit better than others that would end up dead in such ambushes). A team led by Xingcai and Guo Jia rescue her.
• Double Weapon: As its name suggests, her bladed bow is, basically, a dual-bladed sword.
• Elemental Powers: One of her moves in 2 allows her to power up the elemental charge of her attacks.
• Fanservice Pack: Gets Hotter and Sexier for every new installment.
• Heroic BSoD: The alternate path in the first game had her suffer this because she gave in to her battle lust and made the Tokugawa fail to completely avoid Mitsuhide in Iga.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Her upper-path ending in SW:XL implies that Kunoichi regularly visits her household to help nurturing Ina's child.
• Hime Cut: Her hairstyle for alternate outfit in SW:XL.
• Hotter and Sexier: Just compare her outfit design from SW:XL to the version in 4.
• Hot-Blooded: In the earlier times in 4, Ina is a lot more gung-ho in battle and was especially pissed about Nobunaga lording over Ieyasu in Anegawa, to the point that Naotora has to restrain and calm her down on the request of Tadakatsu. She calms down about it at the end of the battle.
• I Am X, Son of Y: "I am Ina, daughter of Tadakatsu Honda."
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Despite all these warrior traits, Ina states in Gracia's story mode that she wants to be cute.
• Meaningful Rename: While she was known as Ina and Inahime in real life, they were her childhood names, as when she got older, it was changed to Komatsuhime.
• Ms. Fanservice: What she has become over the years, having been given a less armor and more revealing outfits in recent titles.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: With Nobuyuki Sanada.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the red to Nobuyuki's blue. However, she's the blue to Yukimura's red.
• Samurai Ponytail: Her occasional hairstyle.
• Lady of War: Pretty much the first and proper one for the series.
• Leotard of Power: Her DLC outfit in 4.
• Lovely Angels: With Sun Shangxiang and Xingcai in the crossover. She has a Commonality Connection with them due to being daughters of strong warriors (Sun Jian and Zhang Fei respectively) and in Shangxiang, being an archer.
• Ship Tease: Despite her marriage to his brother, she has this with Yukimura at times. The third installment of Warriors Orochi takes this to higher level with her maxed bond with the flirtatious Guo Jia.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Inverted, most of her standard attacks involve whacking the enemy with her bow in melee. Justified as it's visibly quite sturdy for a bow and has blades built into it.
• Token Wholesome: Only in her debut. Averted in most other games.

• Tsundere: Once she married Nobuyuki, she showed signs of this, at least earlier on. She'd still act like a tough "I-don't-need-your-help" kind of gal, but when Nobuyuki is calling it a day, she shows her gratitude quite prominently.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: After marrying Nobuyuki, she tries her best to be proper wife and daughter-in-law. In Spirit of Sanada, she even looks adorable when she greets Masayuki.