Unlike one of Koei's flagship series, which greatly romanticizes those in the Sengoku Era, Nioh doesn't pull any punches with how miserable the age was.
- The Yokai in general: All, or nearly all, are indicated to be humans overcome by negative emotions, or who have been exposed to the game's version of Green Rocks, resulting in a transformation into a Tragic Monster.
- One of the standouts is a trio of One-eyed Imps you find on a mission to rescue children who'd gotten lost. Even worse, their final thoughts reveal that their parents had left them there, fully aware of the danger, and the person that had hired you to go find them was nowhere to be found upon your return.
- Throughout the game, as you gather loose pockets of Amrita from the many corpses, you'll also often hear their last thoughts, often cursing the effects of the war or tragically trying to ease their loved ones' fears.
- Kuroda Kanbei has seen much hardship, having experienced the brunt of Nobunaga's rampage which led to his scar, and having been imprisoned for 20 years during Hideyoshi's tyranny. Between Tokugawa and Ishida, he can't help but doubt both of them. But now an old man, he knows his health is failing him. His greatest regret, though, may be that he may not even live to see his son Nagamasa's rise to glory.
- Lady Ginchiyo, who reveals that not only is she Secretly Dying, but that while her husband was away fighting in the war his master Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced her into an affair. Had she refused Hideyoshi's advances, she would have been forced to commit suicide.
- Muneshige's Spirit Division suggests that he might be aware of this injustice, and that regardless of how he feels, he's honor-bound to serve Toyotomi's remnants, and so he can't desert his alliance without staining his clan beyond repair. The best he can do is stay by her side as much as he can.
- All of this compounded by the historical fact that Ginchiyo passed away a mere 2 years after the Battle of Sekigahara. This become confirmed in ''Bloodshed's End'', where Muneshige's profile is updated to reflect on this.
- Nekomata's Heroic Sacrifice to prevent a bunch of unsealed evil spirits from attacking japan by forcefully merging with them, resulting in a boss fight with him. Thankfully, he gets better by the ending.No need for tears. All souls come and go in cycles. Just as the history of war and peace repeats.
- The Ogress boss is as depressing as she is horrifying. When you first encounter her, she is crying blood red tears, which transform into red flowers (spider lilies, by the way, which represent 'loss'), and judging by all the flowers in the boss zone, she had been crying for a while. And if you know how history goes, it's even worse. She's Senahime, Tokugawa Ieyasu's first wife, and their marriage was a rather unhappy one even if she bore him a son, Nobuyasu. Then due to complications with Nobunaga, Ieyasu had to order the execution of Nobuyasu. Combine all those, and it's no wonder Senahime is utterly depressed and ends up becoming the Ogress. This fight is accompanied by what is arguably the saddest track in the game
, cementing the tragic nature of the Ogress' origins.- Immediately following once you defeat her is the Spirit Division with Okatsu, revealing the truth: she's the daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who watched as he executed his son and her brother, Nobuyasu. Years later, she was going to be married off to a feudal lord. She abandoned home, running until she decided to become a ninja. But that resentment for her father and samurai, nor her yearning to be loved never went away.
- If by reading above, you start thinking that Ieyasu is a jerk (and later on proclaim that his daughter's life means nothing to him), he's later seen biting his tongue so hard it bleeds when he ordered to let Mototada sacrifice himself, followed by an exploration of his mind: he's aware that he's definitely not a model for a decent man, acknowledging every of his asshole moments, including Nobuyasu's execution. But peace requires sacrifice and to achieve it, Ieyasu has to keep moving atop of tons of corpses of his allies to ensure that peace will come, even if he's generally hated by a lot and the loss of his close associates hurt him like hell. This reveal, in addition of the first encounter of the real one, finalized William's thought that Ieyasu really is worth helping
- Yuki-Onna is Nouhime, the wife of Oda Nobunaga. Much like Nioh!Ginchiyo, she was infertile, leading Nobunaga to favor his concubines over her
- At the end of the game, Mitsunari was prepared to face his execution to pay for his crimes, inspired by Tenkai's advice. But then, he got an unexpected visitor: A surviving Sakon. However, the last we saw Sakon before, he witnessed Mitsunari agreeing to sacrifice his men to Kelley and trapped Sakon with a horde of Yokai. Sakon only looked at Mitsunari briefly, before walking away in disappointment, and all of Mitsunari's grace completely fell apart and before the sword separated his neck, he briefly tried to reach out Sakon... There goes Mitsunari's attempt at dignity, even if it's understandable, but still a sad one.
- The Defiant Honor expansion shows that it really just plain sucks to be Sanada Yukimura. Yukimura lives up to the honor and prestige modern society gives him, being an honorable leader who outright refuses to use Amrita and is A Father to His Men. He's also allied with the Toyotomi. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Sengoku Era Japan would know what this already means for Yukimura. However. the game twists the knife even further as Maria tries to tempt him with Amrita by taunting him with the poor condition of his troops, as well as revealing that a few in desperation and loyalty to Yukimura had taken it without his knowledge in some desperate hope to turn the tables. The final push to make Yukimura doubt his honor is after his boss fight, when Maria reveals that she moved to and successfully convinced his master, Lady Yodo-Gimi, to take up her offer. The body language he displays, as the horn signalling the armistice and turns to the castle, cements how he realizes that for all his honor, he wasn't able to stop those who would exploit the war for their own ends.
- Bloodshed's End delivers on this. While Yukimura never decides to make his final charge against the Tokugawa forces, he still dies in the fire consuming Osaka, cradling Yodogimi's body after William defeats her during her possession by the Nine-Tailed Fox.
- Hanzo declaring Sanada Yukimura as the greatest warrior to have ever lived after he discovers that Sarutobi Sasuke took his place in the historic charge where Yukimura met his end puts a harsh twist on Nioh's take on history. Because loyalty to one's master, no matter their morals was such a MASSIVE deal for the time, Yukimura's decision to turn against Lady Yodo-Gimi for going too far with the use of Amrita becomes that much bigger of a deal. Hanzo's declaration simultaneously defends Yukimura's honor despite his ultimate decision of betrayal and acknowledges his moral conviction to make the morally correct decision to turn against his now evil master.
