History Tearjerker / Nioh

Unlike one of Creator/{{Koei}}'s [[VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors flagship series]], which greatly romanticizes those in the [[JidaiGeki Sengoku Era]], ''Nioh'' doesn't pull any punches with how miserable the age was.

* 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 [[spoiler: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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiD6VGcu1TM what is arguably the saddest track in the game]], cementing the tragic nature of the Ogress' origins.

** ''Bloodshed's End'' delivers on this. [[spoiler: 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.]]

* 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: [[spoiler: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

** All of this compounded by the historical fact that [[ForegoneConclusion Ginchiyo passed away a mere 2 years after the Battle of Sekigahara...]]

* 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 AFatherToHisMen. [[AntiVillain He's also allied with the Toyotomi]]. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Sengoku Era Japan [[ForegoneConclusion would know what this already means for Yukimura]]. However. the game twists the knife even further as [[GreaterScopeVillain 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, [[spoiler:when [[GreaterScopeVillain 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, [[AllForNothing he wasn't able to stop those who would exploit the war for their own ends]].

* At the end of the game, [[spoiler:[[GracefulLoser 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.]]

* At the end of the game, [[spoiler:[[GracefulLoser 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 undeads. 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.]]

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. During their [[spoiler:[[DualBoss Dual Boss]]]], it's shown that they're very much in love. [[spoiler:Nobunaga]] even returns to the afterlife to be with her, and she's happy to assist [[spoiler:her husband]].

* 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: [[spoiler: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.]] It was this reveal that made William decide he's worth fighting alongside with.

* 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 [[spoiler: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.]]

* 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 GreenRocks, resulting in a transformation into a TragicMonster.
** Speaking of which, [[spoiler: [[ExpositionFairy Nekomata's]] HeroicSacrifice to prevent a bunch of unsealed evil spirits from attacking japan by forcefully merging with them, resulting in a boss fight with him.]]

* 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.

* 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, and judging by all the flowers in the boss zone, she had been crying for a while.

* The yuki-onna is heavily implied to be Nouhime, the wife of Oda Nobunaga. Much like [[spoiler:Nioh!Ginchiyo]], she was infertile, leading Nobunaga to favor his concubines over her

** Speaking of which, [[spoiler: [[ExpositionFairy Nekomata's]] HeroicSacrifice to prevent a bunch of unsealed evil spirits from attacking japan by forcefully merging with them, resulting in a boss fight with him.]]

** Speaking of which, [[spoiler: [[ExposistionFairy Nekomata's]] HeroicSacrifice to prevent a bunch of unsealed evil spirits from attacking japan by forcefully merging with them, resulting in a boss fight with him.]]

* 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 GreenRocks, resulting in a transformation into a TragicMonster.

* 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, and judging by all the flowers in the boss zone, she had been crying for a while.