Characters / Sengoku Basara Toyotomi Clan

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Date Clan | Takeda Clan | Maeda Clan | Uesugi Clan | Oda Clan
Azai Clan | Tokugawa Clan | Toyotomi Clan | Western Clans
Nation Of Xavism | Other Characters | Area Warlords
Crossover
Teppen (2019)

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Toyotomi Clan

Debuting in Sengoku Basara 2

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Christopher Sabat (anime)

"Nothing can escape the grasp of my hand!"

Introduced in SB2, Hideyoshi is not the little monkey other fictions portray him as. He's a frickin' gorilla-sized man ^note which is funny because the real Hideyoshi was short even by the average height of the age, completely ruthless and will stop at nothing until Japan is conquered. However, behind his ruthless attitude, he harbors a goal to reinforce Japan and make it a strong and prosperous nation.

He used to be friends with Maeda Keiji, but eventually received a series of Humiliation Conga by Matsunaga Hisahide, which caused him to be Drunk with Power and become the ruthless guy he is today. He's assisted in his endeavors by his strategist Hanbe.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Depending on the games/anime, his hair is either brown or gray (and sometimes a mixture). This opens up countless questions about his age.
• Artistic License – History: As opposed to the historical records where Hideyoshi was formerly a sandal-bearer of Nobunaga, this Hideyoshi didn't have such record in his life. After meeting Hisahide, he built up his power from zero into a large enough force to be rivaling Nobunaga.
• Cool Horse: When mounting a horse, the regular white horse is switched out for a massive black charger.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In the anime, all his fights against the heroes are very one-sided until Masamune cuts him down in the climax following a Heroic Second Wind.
• The Corrupter: He convinces Katsuie to follow his example and throw away all deeper emotional attachments in order to become a king in his anime route, which leads him to kill Oichi before allowing himself to be killed by Yoshiteru.
• Death Equals Redemption: Possibly the case in the anime. At least Keiji seems to think so.
  • Made more apparent in the English dub.
  Hideyoshi: "Your little friend delivered this (Nene's charm) to me, but I am no longer worthy of having it...do me the honour of holding onto it for her, Keiji."
• Dishing Out Dirt: Some of his attacks can make a large chunk of rock appear from the ground.

• Extremity Extremist: He's a fist-fighter like Ieyasu. However, while Ieyasu focuses on punches, Hideyoshi's fighting style puts more emphasis on brute force and grappling.
• Expy: Of Raoh. He even has a special mount that's basically Kokuoh.
• A Father to His Men: He cares deeply for his subordinates, which is one of the reasons he is able to inspire intense loyalty to him. Nobunaga's terrible treatment of his troops is the main reason why Hideyoshi was so opposed to him in SB2. Even Sakon admitted that within the army Hideyoshi's especially nice to him.
• Genius Bruiser: He hits hard and he's far from dumb.
• Grapple Move: His specialty. Almost all of his regular moves are grapples of some sort and can be chained together to slam the enemy around repeatedly.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Can pick up hapless mooks and use them as weapons to crush other hapless mooks. His moveset in 4 is almost entirely based around using his opponents as impromptu bludgeoning weapons.
• Historical Beauty Update: The real Hideyoshi was a small (about 150 cm), monkey (or rat)-faced man, nothing like the muscle-bound, hulking 10 feet tall Hunk he is in the game.
• Hot-Blooded Sideburns: Aren't they magnificent?
• Invulnerable Knuckles: As a Required Secondary Power to his titanic strength.
• I Regret Nothing: Hideyoshi tells Keiji in Keiji's drama route that he doesn't regret killing Nene and allowing himself and Keiji to distance themselves from each other, as they became the men that they are now.
• Killed Off for Real: Major plot point of the third game, since it was necessary to set Sekigahara into motion. He returns in the fourth game due to it being set in a parallel universe.
• Kill It with Fire: In Ieyasu's drama route in SB4. He's holding Matsunaga above the ground, apparently victorious - Matsunaga retaliates by suicide nuking Hideyoshi from point blank range in front of Keiji and Ieyasu, effectively turning Hideyoshi into a grilled corpse. Keiji doesn't take it well at all.
• Large and in Charge: Easily the biggest character in the game. The anime takes this to extremes with having him nearly 4 times the size of Masamune (though this is hilariously inconsistent).
• Leitmotif: In the anime, called "This is a Fight To Change the World". The composer must have been challenging himself to outdo Nobunaga's.
• Light Is Not Good: He is a light elemental but is obsessed with power, albeit quite well-intentioned.
• Love Is a Weakness: Why he decided to kill Nene.
• Metronomic Man Mashing: One of the new moves he gains in his return as a playable character.

• Neck Lift: It's one of his moves. He pulls it out repeatedly in the anime, mostly against Masamune.
• Noble Demon: Sort of. Hideyoshi may be ruthless to those against him, however, if they're supporting him, he treats them well. No wonder Hanbe and Mitsunari are slavishly loyal to him. Also, despite Hideyoshi's ruthless tactics, he's truly kind to those who don't stand in his way or purposefully pose a threat to him, which is shown mostly in Heroes - he speaks respectfully to Matsu and Toshiie in Versus mode and even sincerely asks for Matsu's forgiveness when she brings up Keiji; he brags about his friend Hanbe almost as much as he talks about strength; he's one of the few people to show kindness to Oichi in his story mode and even has constant friendly banter with Keiji if he decides to choose him as an ally.
• No-Sell: In the anime, most characters' attacks simply have no effect on him.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: Hideyoshi's anime leitmotif. It's actually a mix of English and German (contrasting with Nobunaga's German), but it's used in the exact same manner.
• Only Friend: In the fourth game he claims that Hanbe is the only friend he has and will ever need. To the extent that when Hanbe dies, Hideyoshi insists he won't make friends with anyone else ever again.
• Parrot Exposition: Plays this to Hanbe in the anime during strategy talks.
• Pet the Dog: His attitude towards Hanbe. In SB3, Ieyasu reveals that Hideyoshi thought of Hanbe as he lay dying. It's enough to make Keiji forgive him.
  • One tie-in manga depicts Hideyoshi rescuing a boy who'd been tied up and left to die of starvation. That boy grew up to be Mitsunari.
  • SB4 shows that Hideyoshi treated Mitsunari very well and thought of him in high regards.
• Power Fist: It's a wonder his opponent's heads don't just explode...
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His final move in 2, which had him do a Fist of the North Star-esque series of punches. Considering his size and attitude, this has likened him to Raoh. This was dropped in the fourth game since punching is now Ieyasu's gimmick, though he replaces it with a Shun Goku Satsu-style attack.
• Red Baron: The Supreme King.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Interestingly, they appear to be brown in flashbacks, so they could represent his change from good to bad.
• Spinning Piledriver: One of his new moves in 4. His new Basara Art ends with a powered up version.
• Stab the Sky: Does this by punching into the air for an introduction in the anime, causing the clouds above him to part and a ray of light to shine down while the rest of the battlefield are stuck under an overcast sky.
• Start of Darkness: He was actually born normal. Damn that Hisahide.
  • It's implied by Hanbe and Hideyoshi himself that even if he hadn't met Hisahide, he would have eventually awakened to his current beliefs along the line - his encounter with him was just the impetus.
• Vertical Mecha Fins: And he's not even a mecha. Well, maybe mecha-sized.
• Visionary Villain: Hideyoshi is driven by his vision for a stronger Japan.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wishes to unite the people and together make Japan into a world-wide power.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…:: Showcased in the anime. Hideyoshi has a very, shall we say, hands-on approach to dealing with things.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Completely loses it after his "humiliation", sacrificing emotions (and his own wife Nene) for strength.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Uses mostly grappling moves, such as powerbombs, piledrivers and chokeslams.
• Villainous Friendship: A Type I with Hanbe. It's hard to tell who's worse at times.
• Your Size May Vary: Can be just One Head Taller than someone, and be on par with Tadakatsu in the same scene.

Takenaka Hanbe

Takenaka Hanbe

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Chris Cason (anime)

"Just one more step until the dream can be fulfilled."

Hideyoshi's right hand man. A cold, cruel genius who enjoys taking people out with his Whip Sword and looking fabulous. Suffers from tuberculosis.

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• Agent Peacock: He may be a fabulous Bishōnen but he's no less the cruel, intelligent fighter.
• Always Someone Better: To Kanbe, evidently.
• Badass Bookworm: Often seen reading in the anime.
• Badass Cape: And fabulous too!
• Better to Die than Be Killed: In the anime, he commits suicide in the face of imminent defeat by Kojuro. In the Samurai Legends manga he does the same against Yukimura, except this time he attempts Taking You with Me.
• Blood from the Mouth: A result of his illness. Varies in quantity from the realistic to the absurd.
• Casting a Shadow: His element has always been darkness, serving as the shadow to Toyotomi's light.
• Chessmaster Sidekick: Hanbe would probably be clever enough to outwit the more-brawn-than-brains Hideyoshi if he wanted to, but remains devoted to his dream. Together, they have both the brawn and the brains.
• Combat Pragmatist: As he puts it, he hasn't got the time to play nice, which frequently leads to In the Back.
  Honour's all well and good, but there simply wasn't time for it tonight.
• Determinator: Considering Hanbe's a dying man yet still manages to run the show on very little sleep and kick serious ass on the battlefield, he does pretty well for himself.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight:
  • He dies in Mitsunari's arms in Bloody Angel. After Mitsunari stabbed him.
  • In his drama route in Sengoku Basara 4, Hanbe dies in Mitsuari's arms while Holding Hands...after Mitsunari cuts him down for seemingly betraying the Toyotomi. Hanbe was just teaching him a lesson before he succumbed to his illness.
• Defeat Means Friendship: He first met Hideyoshi after the latter stormed and took his castle single-handedly.
• The Dragon: Though he's technically a strategist, Hanbe still poses a big threat on the battlefield and will readily fight for or alongside Hideyoshi.
  • Co-Dragons: He and Mitsunari are regarded as Hideyoshi's right and left hand men respectively. Mitsunari is still Hanbe's protege though.
• Eviler than Thou: The only person capable of making Motonari squirm.
• Glass Cannon: Hanbe is swift and deadly with his chain sword, able to wipe out large swaths of enemies at a distance, but he needs to keep that distance or his own frailty will be his downfall.
• Hair Flip: More than once. It's so pretty, who can blame him?
• Homoerotic Subtext: He's completely selfless when it comes to Hideyoshi, would do anything to please him and great admires what he does.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Subverted as it's more or less confirmed to be tuberculosis, since that's what his historical self died of.
• Kick the Dog: Usually defeating people isn't enough - he'll manipulate then and make their lives a misery, just because he can.
• Killed Off for Real: For the third game, along with Hideyoshi, although his death is only mentioned in passing. Like Hideyoshi, he returns in the fourth game due to the whole "parallel universe" thing.
• The Last Dance: Vows to bring Hideyoshi to the top of Japan before tuberculosis claims him. It's explained in 3 that he eventually did make him ruler, and died peacefully soon afterward.
• Mask Power: And it really serves no visible purpose other than to look cool.
• Miles to Go Before I Sleep: His time is short, and he's gonna devote every second of it to putting Hideyoshi in charge of Japan.
• Morality Pet: To Hideyoshi, who treats him with utmost respect and kindness.
• Pretty Boy: Even Kyogoku Maria says that she would rather not do anything to damage Hanbe's face. This puts him up there with Kenshin in terms of prettiness.
  • Driven home even further in the Cross manga, where in one chapter Hanbe and Kenshin have a duel as Hideyoshi and Kasuga watch and argue about who is the most graceful.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Appears to wear lipstick, though by SB4 it's less noticeable.
• Smug Snake: He can hold his own in a fight, but when things don't go his way his smugness is lessened somewhat.
• Spell My Name With An S: His name is spelled "Hanbee" in kana, which Samurai Heroes romanized as "Hanbe". However, the anime dub used "Hanbei" instead.
• The Strategist: Implied to be the cleverest of the lot, save from the fact that his illness somewhat limits his capabilities. He successfully besieged Inabayama Castle with only sixteen men before he even met Hideyoshi, and that was five years before the Siege of Odawara, some time after Hideyoshi killed Nene. That's right, he was practically only pushing 20 at the time.
• The Svengali: Hanbe seems to be the one who actively takes charge of Mitsunari, and, while it's hinted he does care for him, he also exploits his loyalty and encourages brutality, treating him as a tool to further his plans.
• Tragic Villain: All his actions are motivated by genuine devotion to Hideyoshi and desire for a stronger world, and on top of being doomed to die young he's forced to see his talents go to waste, often without knowing if the dream was ever achieved.
• Whip Sword: His primary weapon. He can switch between whip variations and sword variations of his attacks.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Of a different kind to Mitsuhide - rather than bloodthirsty, Hanbe is just unscrupulous.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Things aren't going according to his plan? No matter, he's got a scheme for every possible outcome. Invoked in the Samurai Legends manga where he hands Hideyoshi a whole stack of "contingency plans" he made for him.
• Your Days Are Numbered: The number itself differs greatly between the games, anime, and manga etc. From when he starts coughing blood, he seems to have anything from a few weeks to potentially a few years.

Nene

Nene

"Keiji, it's not like that... don't blame him."

Hideyoshi's deceased wife, who was also friends with Keiji in the past. Hideyoshi was the one who killed her.

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• Disposable Woman: Basically existed to create a rift between Hideyoshi and Keiji.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Hideaki mentions enjoying her cooking.
• First Love: Hideyoshi was hers. She was Keiji's.
• Just Friends: She and Keiji, who apparently never told her how he felt.
• The Lost Lenore: For Keiji at least. Hideyoshi, not so much. Though the anime implies he still loves her.
• Love Martyr: It's implied she went willingly to her death for love of her husband.
• Posthumous Character: Appears in two separate flashbacks (one in the game, one in the anime), but is mentioned by Keiji often and has a big effect on him.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Hideyoshi isn't much to look at, while flashbacks show Nene to be quite beautiful and delicate.

Debuting in Sengoku Basara 3

Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Troy Baker (Samurai Heroes, season 2, The Last Party), Matthew Mercer (End of Judgement) (English)

"Lord Hideyoshi, grant me the cruelty to make them suffer!"

Playable character in Sengoku Basara 3. A fanatically loyal subordinate of Hideyoshi, he does not take Hideyoshi's defeat well and swears revenge on Ieyasu. The fastest character in the series so far, he uses a nodachi in the style of iaidou, similar to Kenshin.

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• Angrish: On more than one occasion, he just dissolves into snarling "I'll kill you!" over and over again. Lampshaded by Kanbe:
  Kanbe: "Such a pretty mouth on you."
• Arch-Enemy: It alternates between Ieyasu or Masamune, though Ieyasu is the most frequent target of Mitsunari's undying wrath for the death of Hideyoshi.
• Awesome, but Impractical: His "Reverence" super art, without his personal kanji equipment. Mitsunari's attacks become wide arching swings, and the more times his enemies are hit, the quicker he moves. However, should he miss or take any damage, he trips, reverts back to normal, and becomes vulnerable for a while. Meanwhile, dishing out the damage and combos in his normal mode via his other skills is comparatively more effective.
• Ax-Crazy: In his less stable moments, Mitsunari displays an almost complete disregard for human life, and may even burst into laughter while cutting down everything that moves.
• Bad Boss: In contrast with Hideyoshi, Mitsunari tends to rely more on fear and intimidation when dealing with subordinates and is not above screaming death threats or beating them into submission, though he treats friends like Yoshitsugu well enough.
• Berserk Button: The primary one is Ieyasu (mentioning him is bad enough, let alone allying with him), with his other one being those who "disrespect" the memory of Hideyoshi (mere irreverence earns a death threat while straight-up insults will have him drop everything to butcher said culprit). Worst of all is betrayal, which is absolutely unforgivable in his eyes.
• Bird Run: When running in his Super Mode. He holds his blade in his teeth.
• Blade Spam: His preferred method of attacking.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Unlike Yoshitsugu, Mitsunari genuinely believes himself to be in the right and that those around him (except Yoshitsugu) are vile sinners for having denied Hideyoshi. He also believes that since his revenge is justified it must be done honourably.
• Boss Subtitles: "Mitsunari Ishida - Out for Blood"
• Breakout Character: He was introduced as a new poster boy, but his startling popularity vastly outstripped the main character, Ieyasu, and has resulted in him getting his own spin-off manga. Later on, Mitsunari was revealed as one of the main characters of Sengoku Basara 4, thus beating out several much more established characters like Yukimura.
• The Brute: It seems that his primary role in the Toyotomi Army is just to slaughter as many troops as possible.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday:
  • Masamune's entire red story in SB3 is a revenge-driven rampage against Mitsunari for defeating and humiliating him. Mitsunari doesn't even remember who he is.
  • Turned on its head in Mitsunari's blue story, which is a revenge-driven rampage against Masamune for insulting Hideyoshi once. Masamune doesn't think that to be a very big deal.
• Casting a Shadow: Darkness is his element, fitting his lunar theme and opposition to Ieyasu.
• Coup de Grâce: His "Decapitation" Super Art. Enemy gets grabbed, pushed to floor, gets scabbard poked in face, Mitsunari draws sword, head leaves body time. One of the most long-winded attacks in the game, but hideously damaging (overkill versus practically everything except bosses) and an undeniably awesome-looking way to finish a fight. Don't ask us how anyone you finish with his move subsequently stand up again in the following cutscenes.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: After Hojo makes the suicidal mistake of insulting Hideyoshi and Hanbe to his face, Mitsunari threatens to sew his eyelids shut, cut him to pieces and eat his heart. Whether he goes through with this is left up to the gamer's imagination...
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In the backstory of Sengoku Basara 3, Mitsunari's encounter with Masamune during the Siege of Odawara was one of these. Mitsunari doesn't even remember having done it.
• Cutlass Between the Teeth: He carries his sword and/or sheath in his mouth when using ziplines and his Basara Attack.
  • Attempts this against Nobunaga in the movie, as his arms are injured, and successfully slices his neck open.
• Dark and Troubled Past: If his flashbacks from the manga Bloody Angel are anything to go by, this was the case before he met Hideyoshi.
• Deadpan Snarker: Possibly not even aware when he does so.
  Motonari: "Tell me, where does all that rage come from?"
  Mitsunari: "I don't know what you mean."
  • It's more common (and deliberate) in the fourth game when he's dealing with Sakon.
    Sakon: "Concentrate, Mitsunari-sama! Concentraaaaaaaaaaate!"
    Mitsunari: "If you died, all of my distractions would disappear."
• Death Seeker: Of a kind. Says that he died along with Hideyoshi, and wishes to take revenge on Ieyasu ASAP so it can finally end.
  "Go ahead, kill me, leave me to die in a pool of my own blood!"
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Has practically none beyond "kill Lord Hideyoshi's enemies". In the red story, he suffers a Villainous Breakdown when he realizes he had nothing but his (now-fulfilled) vengeance. In the blue one, he decides to follow in Hideyoshi's footsteps and conquer the world, all to spite those who called him an unworthy successor to Hideyoshi.
• Determinator: The only thing that can give him pause is the knowledge Yoshitsugu and Motonari went behind his back in Motochika's green route.
  Yoshitsugu: "It is useless to try to force us to retreat. Mitsunari will never retreat."
• Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": Part of what makes him a Villainous Demotivator. Even when someone pleases him, he's unable to properly express it and only ends up acting more jealous towards them because they've become valuable.
• Et Tu, Brute?: If there's one thing he can't stand, it's betrayal. And unfortunately he experiences a lot of it.
• Even Evil Has Standards: If he finds out about Yoshitsugu and Motonari's role in the destruction of Shikoku, he's so disgusted that he ends his campaign on the spot and offers himself up for execution. He also shows disgust toward betrayal. Although that doesn't stop Motonari from double-crossing him, Yoshitsugu AND Motochika in Motonari's blue path.
• Expy: Of Vergil. His fighting style is very similar to Dark Slayer. It's to the point that people modded◊ Mitsunari's costume to match Vergil's color scheme in the 3rd game. Also, Vergil's costume is DLC in the 4th game.
• Fallen Angel: Word of God describes him as such, and his alternate outfit has a pair of wings adorned on the back. It's never revealed if he was good or not before meeting Hideyoshi, or if he was always so messed up, so it's difficult to interpret.
• First-Name Ultimatum: Most definitely not played for comedy.
• Flash Step: He's so quick, he literally disappears from sight before attacking, re-appearing only after the damage is done. He's even fast enough to force the camera to chase him, if you play him correctly.
• Fragile Speedster: He's the fastest character in the series (capable of outrunning horses in his Super Mode) and has a lot of attack speed, but he can't take a hit.
• Friend or Foe?: Mitsunari's emotional frailty gives him a terrible tendency to do this in the fourth game, to the point where he kills Sakon and even Hanbe in their respective stories. Both expose how Mitsunari isn't in control of his feelings. Just goes to show how far he will go for Hideyoshi.
• Glass Cannon: He has a lot of reach and attack speed, but he can't take a hit.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom/Red Eyes, Take Warning: His final skill "Reverence" turns him into a demonic being covered in darkness and with burning crimson eyes. Also, when Kanbe takes over Osaka Castle in the third game the camera zooms in on Mitsunari to show his eyes turning red.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: To the point of near-psychosis. Sometimes you only have to be standing there and it pisses him off enough to try and decapitate you.
• Heel Realization: In the movie, followed by a Heel–Face Turn.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Historically he was much more of a bureaucrat and administrator (and a good one at that) than a warrior and military commander.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Sometimes he seems to have admired Hideyoshi just a little much. Key point, referring to him as "my everything".
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: And his raw attack speed beats Kenshin into the ground.
• Ignored Epiphany: He's aware that Kanbe is quite undeterred by having a giant friggin' ball attached to him and is conspiring against him, yet he never thinks to keep an eye on Osaka Castle. Did he honestly expect him to NOT snatch it?
• Kubrick Stare: Well, his hair does get in the way.
• Laughing Mad:
  • After he finally kills Ieyasu during his red ending. However, he quickly realises that he has just destroyed his only reason for living and has a heart-rending mental breakdown.
  • He can also be heard laughing in the background during Magoichi's blue ending upon Ieyasu's defeat. This time without the associated breakdown.
• Lean and Mean: He apparently Forgets to Eat, so it's no surprise he's so skinny. He's also lightweight, which probably helps augment his brutal attack speed.
• Leeroy Jenkins: His idea of tactics boils down to "charge in and kill as many as you can".
• Leg Focus: Mitsunari's long and slender legs are a rare male example, as the anime and particularly the third manga like to emphasize.
• Like a God to Me: Mitsunari worships Hideyoshi as God for saving his life as a child and giving that life meaning as his retainer. Mitsunari is always praying to Hideyoshi's spirit to give him the blessing or drive to seek out revenge in his name.
• Limp and Livid: More or less his default state of existence; he often moves as if half-asleep while screaming his lungs out. His "Reverence" Super Art cranks this up even further.
• Lunacy: Has a fair amount of symbolism involving the moon to contrast Ieyasu's sunniness, noticeably in the crescents that his slashes take the form of, and the prevalence of the moon in his castle stage. Plus the fact that he's insane.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Very much the case with his SB3 story mode. Though with a great deal more angst.
• "No More Holding Back" Speech: Delivers a pretty epic one in End of Judgement.
• No Social Skills: Thus he is Brutally Honest and has No Sense of Humour.
• Off with His Head!: His preferred method of execution.
• One-Man Army: Probably the most notable example in the series - he cleared Masamune's army all by himself in the Siege of Odawara before SB3.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Is revealed to feel this way about Ieyasu. Hisahide decides that the greatest despair he can inflict on Mitsunari is to rob him of his revenge by killing Ieyasu.
• Perpetual Frowner: He only smiles properly once in the entire third game, and that was in Yoshitsugu's imagination. Oddly enough, he sports a Psychotic Smirk in the opening movie.
• Psycho Supporter: To Hideyoshi, who is effectively God as far as Mitsunari is concerned.
• Pure Is Not Good: During Mitsunari's short cameo in the anime season two, Kenshin describes him as disconcertingly pure.
• Red Baron: The Dark King/The Great Malevolence (King of Misfortune in Japanese). In flashbacks he's known as Toyotomi's Left Arm.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Sakon Shima. But when with Ieyasu, he is the volatile red to Ieyasu's mellow blue. As shown the interaction, he prefers frontal and reckless methods.
• The Remnant: After Hideyoshi's death, it falls to Mitsunari to lead what's left of their forces in his quest for vengeance.
• Revenge Before Reason: Revenge is all that matters - his health, his clan, his duties, his allies, nothing else is worth thinking about until he's delivered retribution.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Both his campaigns. His red one is against (surprise, surprise) Ieyasu, while his blue one is against Masamune because he off-handedly insulted Hideyoshi.
• Say My Name:
  • "IIIEEEEYAAAASUUUU!!!"
  • And "DAATEEE MAASAAAMUUUNEEEEEE!!!" in The Movie...
• Sleepyhead: He suffers from insomnia, and as a result (according to Yoshitsugu) tends to conk out in random places. The second infiltration of Osaka Castle has him sleep through most of the stage before Yoshitsugu decides to wake him up by telling him an ally of Ieyasu's has arrived.
• Spam Attack: In contrast to Ieyasu, who uses Charged Attacks. Although not as good at it as Yukimura, Mitsunari has one of the fastest attack and recovery speeds in the game and several of his skills are multi-hit.
• Stepping Stones in the Sky: In the manga, he slashes a group of soldiers into the air then uses them as stepping stones to reach a second-floor balcony.
• Super Mode: His "Reverence" super art, which takes away his ability to block, dodge and do anything but attack in return for knockback and increased attack speed and damage. With his personal kanji equipment, Mitsunari can stay in this mode permanently and also run while in it, which takes his Fragile Speedster nature even further and lets him outrun horses on foot.
• Unusual Eyebrows: His eyebrows are heavily swooped, making his expression even more severe.
• Tears of Blood:
  • His red ending in SB3, after he kills Ieyasu. Due to the Black Blood, some fans joked that it's just his mascara running.
  • Also in The Movie, after Yoshitsugu's death.
  • The ending of End of Judgement's Episode 1 has the camera focusing on the floor, then on Mitsunari's left eye to show him shedding tears of blood.
  • In Sakon's anime route in SB4, after finding out that Ieyasu killed Hideyoshi and Hanbe.
• This Is Unforgivable!: If he isn't screaming "IEYASU!" or "I'll Kill You!" at the top of his lungs, expect him to be screaming this.
• Toxic Friend Influence: It's difficult to gauge just how much of his bloodlust is brought on by Yoshitsugu's goading, but it is safe to say that while he'd still be angry, he'd probably be a hell of a lot less violent and unstable in his absence.
• Troubled, but Cute: A meta-example. As angry, violent, ruthless and stubborn as he is, at heart he's but a very confused and misguided man who has suffered a huge loss and is now desperately trying to find his reason for existing. Some also find his honesty and awkwardness Moe.
• Undying Loyalty: To Hideyoshi. As someone who puts deep value in loyalty, he generally expects a similar level of devotion from his allies and barely tolerates backtalk.
• Unstoppable Rage: Just try and get between him and Ieyasu. Go on. I dare you.
  • Even Yoshitsugu, probably the one person on Earth whom Mitsunari wouldn't rather kill on sight, has a moment where he's audibly dreading the man's anger:
    Yoshitsugu: "Oh dear. Mitsunari, I'm afraid I have some dreadful news, so you may wish to calm down for a moment and... n-n-not that you need to calm down..."
  • "Reverence" is pretty much the embodiment of this trope.
• Unwitting Pawn: Doesn't realize that Yoshitsugu is manipulating him for his goal of screwing over the entire human race. In the movie his arrival at Sekigahara with the Toyotomi forces was planned by Tenkai and Yoshitsugu to cause the battle they needed to resurrect Oda.
• Villainous Breakdown: It can probably be said that he spends the entirety of the third game in one. Most routes usually have him getting worse.
• Villainous Demotivator: Is not what you would call 'a good motivator' by any stretch of the imagination. This is a nod to his Real Life counterpart, who by all accounts wasn't a 'people person' either and insulted several of his allies into abandoning him or turning sides during Sekigahara.
• Villainous Friendship: A mutual one with Yoshitsugu. Yoshitsugu mentions at one point that when Hideyoshi's other retainers mocked him for being The Grotesque, Mitsunari beat them to a pulp.
• We Used to Be Friends: It's revealed in the last battle of Mitsunari's drama route ending that what wounded him more than Ieyasu betraying Hideyoshi was Ieyasu betraying himself. Mitsunari genuinely believed that as long as he and Ieyasu were comrades they could accomplish anything - if Hideyoshi failed to bring peace to the people, he and Ieyasu could as a team. So for him, Ieyasu leaving the army by himself was the same as Ieyasu believing he could do a better job sorting out the country alone than he could with Mitsunari by his side. While Ieyasu agrees with him, they do battle anyways because of Mitsunari's loyalty to his lord and the fact that he doesn't see Ieyasu as the friend he used to have anymore.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Yet another one! Hideyoshi clearly has a thing for these.
  • Hilariously invoked in the movie dub when Masamune calls him a "sullen prettyboy". Mitsunari proceeds to completely lose it.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Makes it a point of pride not to lie or use deceptions of any kind. He despises people who lie as well, but is completely unaware that Yoshitsugu is a compulsive liar.
  Ieyasu: Magoichi... What is your view of Mitsunari?
  Magoichi: An ignorant man full of pretension and shortcomings... with no competence in deception.

Otani Yoshitsugu

Otani Yoshitsugu

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (Japanese), Michael G. Sorich (Samurai Heroes), Mark Stoddard (anime)

"May misery rain down upon us all!"

Another new character in SB3. Mitsunari's friend and ally, who suffers from leprosy. Because of this, he has to be transported round on a special platform, which can somehow float. Due to going mad from said disease, he holds a grudge against other human beings. So far, only Mitsunari is okay with him.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: He's ridiculed for his sickness. He doesn't take it well.
• Animal Motif: Seems to be butterflies due to his helmet, sigil, and Oichi calling him "Swamp Butterfly", though moths may not be out of the question.
• Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Averted, he's a esper yet fully armored from head to toe (with the ecxeption being his left arm).
• Armour-Piercing Question:
  • In Yoshitsugu's final blue path map, Motonari asks Yoshitsugu what his objective is. Yoshitsugu answers that it's to bring misery to all humans. Motonari asks if this includes him. Yoshitsugu replies that it does. Motonari then asks if this includes Yoshitsugu himself. Yoshitsugu replies that it does. Motonari then asks if this includes Mitsunari. Yoshitsugu gets stunned into silence and is unable to answer. He spends the entire map mulling this over.
  • The same question is directed at him towards the end of Judge End, but by Kojuro instead. This time, however, Yoshitsugu can answer that he would not allow Mitsunari to suffer any more misery, mere seconds before his palanquin is shattered by Kojuro's attack. Even Kojuro admits that in that moment, he was probably the kindest soul among the Western Army for his concern for Mitsunari.
• Baddie Flattery: He only uses it to get his own way, particularly when it comes to bending Mitsunari or Tsuruhime to his will. However some of his comments to Motonari seem genuine.
• Bandage Mummy: Wrapped head-to-toe in bandages due to his illness.
• Berserk Button: Yoshitsugu is a cackling villain who resents Ieyasu and the world at large, maintains a Faux Affably Evil front, and wants to inject misery and suffering into everything, himself included... but not Mitsunari. Never Mitsunari. And if anyone does threaten, betray, or harm Mitsunari in any way (as in Motonari's blue path), expect Yoshitsugu to well-and-truly lose it.
• Boss Subtitles: "Yoshitsugu Otani -Time to Suffer"
• Black Eyes of Crazy: Black sclera and, just to make it even more eerie, white irises.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He refers to his plans as "evil schemes". Come on.
• Casting a Shadow: As a manipulator who desires only suffering to all, his power is darkness.
• Character Catchphrase: The words "misery" or "suffering" generally comes up fairly often whenever he's speaking.
• Chessmaster Sidekick: As the soldiers point out, the Dark King's forces only ever got as far as they did because of him, rather than Mitsunari.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Seems to have this attitude towards Mitsunari, who really isn't big on this whole 'self-preservation' thing. At one point in Mitsunari's blue path, he comments that he'll always be right behind Mitsunari because "someone has to keep you alive..." On the other hand, Yoshitsugu in many ways makes Mitsunari behave worse than he otherwise would.
• Co-Dragons: With Sakon to Mitsunari in Sengoku Basara 4. However, it seems that Yoshitsugu has seniority over Sakon.
• Cool Helmet: Adorned with butterfly (or moth) wings and antennae.
• The Corrupter: To Oichi in her blue path, shaping her into his greatest weapon.
• Creepy Monotone: In the Japanese dub. Tachiki's delivery is extremely hollow and raspy and places inflections oddly or leaves them out altogether, making Yoshitsugu sound almost completely devoid of emotion except when somebody's pushed his Berserk Button.
• The Dragon: To Mitsunari. Chances are you'll have to defeat Yoshitsugu before you reach his master.
• Even Evil Has Standards: For all his vices — and he has quite a few — Yoshitsugu is disgusted when he learns of Motonari's betrayal to Mitsunari in the latter's blue path. After Motonari twists the knife by saying that he planned to kill Yoshitsugu and Mitsunari from the start, Yoshitsugu actually goes as far as to say this to Motonari:
  Yoshitsugu: "You… You make me ill. I despise the very sight of you."
  • He is also disgusted by Nobunaga because he has given up humanity and can no longer understand the nature of suffering.
    • Averted in the movie. He was working with Tenkai to resurrect the Demon King and only opposed him since Mitsunari joined the fight.
• Evil Chancellor: As the Ishida Army's "general assistant" he takes over command when Mitsunari's too busy angsting/avenging.
• Evil Cripple: Due to his illness, he relies on his floating palanquin to get around.
• Evil Laugh: While smashing mook heads open. Especially disturbing since his illness obviously makes it difficult to laugh, resulting in a hoarse, spasmodic cackle.
• Eviler than Thou: Learns the hard way that Motonari is more cunning and ruthless than he was in the latter's red and blue paths.
• Expy: Possibly of Shishio Makoto from Rurouni Kenshin. Not only do they look alike, they're also morally bankrupt, manipulative and scheming, and batshit crazy, so...
• Fake Defector: Initially sides with Motonari against Hanbe in a route for Sumeragi, only to turn against him when his guard is down to aid Hanbe.
• Faux Affably Evil: In the English dub. Sorich's delivery is far more emotional than his Japanese counterpart and makes Yoshitsugu sound courteous and charming, or at least like he's constantly faking being courteous and charming, underlining his manipulative and treacherous nature.
• Foil: To Hanbe. They serve the same dragon rolls to the Supreme King and Dark King. However, while Hanbe is earnestly working to make Hideyoshi's goal a reality, Yoshitsugu is mostly using Mitsunari to further his own agenda.
• Functional Magic: Or whatever it is that he uses. Mitsunari mentions something about Buddhism, and since here Buddhism is magic, it makes sense.
• Gallows Humour: Whenever the army gets into a bad situation he tends to quip about it rather than panic.
• The Grotesque: Looks pretty scary, and is quite tragic in a sense. It also makes him immune to attacks with grabbing properties since no one wants to touch him with a 10-foot pole.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: He had leprosy in real life, and was famously good friends with Mitsunari. The 'evil psychic planning eternal misery on humanity' part, not so much.
• Improbable Weapon User: His mysterious floating blue "beads". However, he actually equips palanquins as his weapons.
• It Amused Me: He'll do whatever he can to help the war to go on as long as possible. That way more people suffer, and the more fun he has.
• Maddened Into Misanthropy: The Samurai Heroes bio states that Yoshitsugu went insane because of his leprosy and the scorn he received from people because of it.
• Manipulative Bastard: Well, it is his goal to screw over the entire human race using anyone he can get his hands on.
• Master Poisoner: He has a penchant for using poisonous incense in battles where you have to fight him.
• Mind over Matter: Seemingly only applies to his beads and the palanquin. Unless it's secretly a Sengoku-era hovercraft (which frankly, we wouldn't put past the writers...)
• Misanthrope Supreme: Yoshitsugu believes that humanity deserves nothing more than to suffer in endless misery.
• Morality Pet: Mitsunari. Subverted in that he still does nothing but sow misery, even deceiving Mitsunari at several points along the way.
  • His blue route has him question Ieyasu on "bonds he wishes to protect" and he ends up sacrificing himself to save Mitsunari.
  • Motonari's blue route has him decide to abandon his goal of screwing over the entire human race to instead inflict all the human suffering he had planned upon the only person he thinks deserves it: Motonari. Due to Motonari betraying Mitsunari.
  • Mitsunari being in danger in The Last Party while facing the reborn Demon King is what makes Yoshitsugu abandon his goal and fight against the very Demon King he helped resurrect.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: In the Japanese version, he is called "Gyobu" by those that know him, which is a reference to his historical court title.
• Pet the Dog: No matter how much he hates the world, or how much he ridicules the boy's straight-forward nature, he still shows a kind of strange affection for Mitsunari.
• Power Floats: Applies to both his palanquin and his beads.
• Power Glows: His beads (and whatever they touch) glow yellow when he enchants them. His whole body glows the same sickly yellow when he really pours it on.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery: Though this is more of a case of "Put them all in as much misery as me". His goal is to spread as much misery and suffering through the world as he is in due to his leprosy.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His alternate costume. His Infinity -1 Sword also has a red and black color scheme.
• Redemption Equals Death: In The Last Party when he dies protecting Mitsunari and reflects that they are the same.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In his alternate costume.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Towards Ieyasu in the end of his red and blue paths. Also towards Motonari in the latter's blue path during his betrayal.
• The Sociopath: Has a near-total disregard for human life save for Mitsunari, but the way in which he spurs on and encourages Mitsunari's bloodlust and penchant for violence is quite possibly even less endearing.
  • On the other hand, Yoshitsugu seems to be fascinated by the idea of suffering, and repeatedly shows he does not have a Lack of Empathy... He has lots of it, in fact, and uses it to take delight in the misery of others.
• Squishy Wizard: All his offensive special attacks are ranged and have enormous range and juggling potential. On the flip side, his movement speed, turning speed, hit points, defence and attack are amongst the lowest in the game and his special attacks all require breathing space due to charge times. He can also apply a "Curse" status effect on enemies, which applies additional effects when hit with attacks (generally involving the beads Roboteching the enemies).
• Status Buff: His Rahu Weakens Super Art raises his attack power for the cost of some of his health.
• Taking the Bullet: In his second ending he gets impaled on Tadakatsu's drill after pushing Mitsunari out of the way of the attack. Ouch.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He's the one who encourages Mitsunari to be so vicious and destructive, taking advantage of his fragile mental state.
• Tractor Beam: One of his air attacks has him deploy one of these from beneath his palanquin to suck up mooks and squash them.
• Villainous Breakdown: If Hideaki accomplishes his betrayal in Sekigahara, Yoshitsugu, Mitsunari and Motonari if he's there go through a collective one.
  • He also goes through one in Motonari's blue path, when the latter turns against Mitsunari. He voices his anger towards Mitsunari to the point of wishing to see him dead
• Villainous Friendship: With Mitsunari, who is probably the only person Yoshitsugu cares about at all in most routes. He also refers to Motonari as "my friend", though, if it is anything more than mere courtesies, Motonari does not reciprocate.
• Wheel o' Feet: Can do this with his beads, turning his palanquin into a two-wheel dragster. It even outruns horses.

Debuting in Sengoku Basara 4

Shima Sakon

Shima Sakon

Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura (Japanese).

"And now, the gamble's set!"

Playable character introduced Sengoku Basara 4. A loyal supporter of Mitsunari who always enjoys a good gamble, and seems to treat battles as such. This flippancy lends itself to his moveset, switching between two blades and flying kicks.

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• Alliterative Name: Only in English (since in Japanese it's "shi" and "sa"). Also, his real name is Shima Kiyooki.
• Anime Hair: Short, red and tidy on the left side; longer, brown and unkempt on the right.
• Berserk Button: He has contempt for people he considers cheaters, most notably Ieyasu and to a lesser extent, ninjas.
• Blow You Away: His speed is great enough to kick up gusts of wind when he fights.
• Boisterous Bruiser: It makes him stick out like a sore thumb in the serious Toyotomi Army. Hanbe says that he reminds him of Keiji.
• Co-Dragons: Serves this role to Mitsunari along with Yoshitsugu. Yoshitsugu is technically the superior of the two, however.
  • According to Hanbe, Sakon is Mitsunari's left hand. Mitsunari considers him his little finger at best.
• Collared by Fashion: Wears a thick gold necklace to this effect.
  • In the High School AU, he wears an actual dog collar.
• Companion Cube: His dice. At one point he even talks to them for a full minute before Mitsunari snaps him out of it.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Possibly the reason why he latches onto the Toyotomi despite not sharing their goal - Sakon felt lost, and following Mitsunari will at least give him some sort of direction to go in.
• Dual Wield: Two short swords, which are usually held in Reverse Grip when he's kicking.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Introduced as a generic NPC general on Mitsunari's stage in 3 before being Promoted to Playable in 4.
• Extremity Extremist: Includes high-speed kicks in his moveset.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Hair aside, neither his shoulder guards, wrist guards, nor trouser legs match.

• The Gambling Addict: Kiyooki gambled for lack of something better to do, until Keiji came along and gave him the motivation to go find a job.
  • The Gambler: And Sakon still carries a trio of dice to symbolize that a battle can only have two outcomes; odd or even. The way he switches between blades and kicks is also based on this. He also has a super art in which he tosses some dice, and depending on what they roll up he'll gain some buffs or he'll have his HP reduced to one.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Has one with Mitsunari in his anime ending. Ieyasu's killed Hideyoshi and Hanbe's died, leaving Mitsunari stuck in Reverence mode, crying tears of blood and trying to tear apart anything that moves. Sakon takes all of Mitsunari's anger until he comes to his senses, but collapses with a smile a few moments later, much to Mitsunari's dismay. Mitsunari does this A LOT.
• Jive Turkey: Speaks in a modern Japanese equivalent. To the point that the very polite Yukimura barely understands a word he says.
• Keet: He's very bouncy and excitable, much to Mitsunari's ire.
• Painted-On Pants: There's a reason one of Sakon's most talked-about features is his derrière.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red oni to both Mitsunari's and Katsuie's blue oni.
• Stance System: Can switch between using his blades or legs in combat.
• That Man Is Dead: He gives up his former name, Kiyooki, in favour of Sakon (which means "close to the left", i.e close to Mitsunari) in the hopes he can make a new start.
• Undying Loyalty: To Mitsunari and no other. He's so loyal that he's willing to die at his hands in order to snap him out of his rage.

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