History Characters / Shogun2024

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Described as such by the official podcast, with some justification. After all, he turns out to be prescient regarding the danger Toranaga poses to the Taiko's heir, Yaechiyo.

* VillainHasAPoint: Questions Toranaga's loyalty to the heir as he is slowly expanding his territory and readfying his army. [[spoiler: He is right Toranaga planned to unify Japan under the title of Shogun the whole time but wanted to do it in a way he won't come as a tyrant]].

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Beautifully PlayedWith. While he is, at the end of the day, a good man who looks after his own and seems a far more capable leader than the Regents as a whole, he reveals to Yabushige in the finale that he driven entirely by ambition, and quite literally planned ''everything'' that's occurred in the series, right from the start by knowing that Ishido will immediately try to have him ousted from the council and taking advantage of that to sow discord among them. While he didn't directly order every act, he ''knew'' exactly what would happen, when, how it would play out and how to take advantage of it. And despite showing him kindness, it becomes quite apparent that Blackthorne is nothing more than a useful asset to him, and has no plans of letting him ever leave Japan. This squarely places him as a VillainProtagonist.]]

* TheChessmaster: Throughout out the series, he's carefully manipulated every single person and situation , with no one the wiser of what's really going on until it's too late. By series end, he's on the path to becoming the future Shogun, exactly as he planned.

* WarriorPoet: All samurai are expected to be this but Mariko's poetry is considered the best among the cast and complements her skill with the naginata.

* CharacterDevelopment: While rightfully grieving her family's loss, Fuji's relative isolation makes her somewhat self-centered. It takes Mariko's continued emotional support, her grandfather Hiromatsu's reminders of her duty, and her appreciation of Blackthorne's necessity to allow her both to a) endure the indignities of Toranaga's escape from Osaka; and b) eventually commiserate with Blackthorne as his consort, even if there's zero love or chemistry between them so far.

* WellDoneSonGuy: In his very first scene with his father Hiromatsu, he was actively denied to join Toranaga's dinner and calls on Mariko instead--already suggesting that the wife he verbally abuses has more political weight to his father and Toranaga than him. The sequence leading to [[spoiler:Hiromatsu's seppuku leads to him being chosen as his father's second, ''but'' denied his desire to follow him in death. Hiromatsu subtly lets his son know that this is partly because he has disappointed him by his character and his treatment of his wife]].

* DareToBeBadass: Her first conversation with Toranaga shows her surprisingly encouraging him to pursue his Minowara legacy and claim the title of Shogun--in the name of finally stabilizing Japan. This is more notable, considering this would mean upending any real political power her husband's heir Yaechiyo would ever exercise as Regent.
* InherentInTheSystem: She seems to express this belief--at least of why the authority of her husband the Taiko won't long survive him. As mentioned above, she is interested in seeing Toranaga claim shogunal authority even at the expense of the legacy of the house of Nakamura (who are ''de facto'' rulers due to holding the office of Taiko/Kampaku). She believes only shogunal authority could put the land at peace and end the wars. She would even try to direct Lady Ochiba along this line. The younger woman, however, has [[ItsPersonal deeper personal reasons]] for her decision to hound Toranaga instead.

* AppropriatedAppellation: Throughout his time in Toranaga's court, every other people call him "Anjin", i.e. the Japanese word for his occupation, "pilot". In his climactic confrontation with Toranaga in "A Dream of a Dream", [[spoiler:as he tries to save the villagers of Ajiro via suicide-by-protest, he explicitly calls himself "Anjin" and uses the same FamousLastWords as Mariko when she died--symbolically accepting his place within the Japanese world that has changed him]].
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Toranaga is the first Japanese of any authority who has shown any interest in helping or protecting him. On two and possibly three occasions, Blackthorne risks his life to protect Toranaga, even getting wounded by a shinobi assassin he presumes has come to kill him. When Blackthorne pulls him out from under feet of soil after a sudden earthquake, Toranaga's surprised, grateful expression evidences his solidifying trust and admiration for the man he once considered a mere "barbarian".

* CombatPragmatist: He's completely unfamiliar with eastern weapons, [[WhatTheFuAreYouDoing holding a katana like a cutlass]] when Yabu demands to spar. His pistols are another story -- in one fight, he can hear an assassin on the other side of a door, so he takes a blind shot at its center. When another moves to investigate the shot, Blackthorne reaches through the hole to pull the man against the wall, where he can aim a shot closer to the head.
* CunningLinguist: He speaks English, Dutch, Spanish, and after a brief couple of months, is able to speak Japanese shockingly fluent just by observing his captors. Case in point, Blackthorne is ''really'' good with language.
* DespairEventHorizon: Blackthorne crosses this when after Mariko's death and he sees his ship destroyed. His pride finally breaks and doesn't really care if he lives anymore.

* GoingNative: Downplayed. John Blackthorne is a white Englishman who finds himself in Sengoku Japan, and though he is strongly motivated by regaining his ship and returning home, he actually makes it quite far in Japanese society. He becomes fluent in the language, adjusts to things like wearing robes and carrying swords, and even becomes a high-ranking samurai. This is exemplified by meeting one of his old crewmates -- the other European remains an uncouth, lowlife outsider, in contrast to Blackthorne's relative comfort. [[spoiler:And finally, Toranaga ensures that Blackthorne has no choice but to remain in Japan by destroying his ship.]]

* HateSink: While Buntaro is a flawed man and a devoted Samurai to Toranaga, behind closed doors he's an abusive, bad-tempered bastard who treats his wife like his own property and doesn't even try to connect to her due to her relationship with her father. [[spoiler:He physically abuses Mariko in "Broken to the Fist", and based by Fuji's reaction heavily implies he's done this many times in the past. He's emotionally distant towards her and their son, and treats Blackthorne like shit solely because he's an outsider and because of how jealous he is on how close he and Mariko are. Even after making a genuine effort to reconnect to Mariko in "The Abyss of Life", he demonstrates to having never understood her even years of marriage and she understandably, ''bluntly'' rejects his advances, leaving him crying in despair as she leaves. He ''finally'' begins to shed some of this by the finale, as one realization after another of what an enormous douchebag he's been have sobered up his personality some.]]

* DecoyProtagonist: While the plot of the series begins with his arrival in Japan and his presence and the weaponry he brings with him is a game-changer, [[spoiler: by the final episode it's very clear that this is Toranaga and Mariko's story, ''not'' Blackthorne's.]]

* WhereDidWeGoWrong: He's often understandably frustrated by his HotBlooded son Nagakado's reckless antics. The young samurai is angling to prove himself useful to his father, but Toranaga thinks his son is still too consumed by a simplistic BlackAndWhiteMorality that prevents him from acting strategically. [[spoiler:His assessment seems proven right with Nagakado's premeditated massacre of Jozen and his men, although it turns out that he's more annoyed that Nagakado was a pawn of Omi as opposed to thinking of it himself. However, Toranaga is genuinely heartbroken when his son dies in an accident]].

* DomesticAbuse: While Lord Toda is always cold and dismissive of Mariko, [[spoiler:"Broken to the Fist" reveals that he is physically abusive towards her.]]

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Gives Toranaga a knowing smirk just before the former chops his head off as part of the ''seppuku'' process]].

* HypercompetentSidekick: In most of their scenes together, Omi appears way brighter than Yabushige, seeing the asset that Blackthorne and his weaponry represent, seeing the value of behaving and remaining onside with Toranaga, while at the same time positioning himself (and therefore Yabushige) in a way that will help them maintain links with Toranaga's enemy Ishido. He begins to notice this, and even begins to listen to Kiku when she suggests [[TheStarscream maybe things would be better off if he were Lord of Izu instead of his uncle]]. Toranaga himself begins to notice this, and -- in the fallout of Nagakado's massacre of Jozen -- strips his son of command of the artillery and then gives it to Omi.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: He died a year prior to the series, but set up the Regency Council to govern until his son comes of age. By the time the series begins, the Council is at each other's throats and are maneuvering to try and usurp/backstab one another to seize power.

* DeadpanSnarker: Her very first line is a blunt rebuke to the Catholics' insistence on performing sacraments for the Taiko -- which is pretty inappropriate considering the predominant Buddhist faith of samurai at the time.
--> Maybe God's Kingdom is up your own ass... Have you thought of that?

* FallenPrincess: [[spoiler: "Ladies of the Willow World" reveals that she is the daughter of the warlord Kuroda Nobuhisa, and was born with the rank of ''hime'' (analogous to 'Princess' in English). Her father was assassinated by Akechi Jinsai, Mariko's father, and after his murder, she had few options but to be a consort to the new Taiko.]]

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Sugiyama's based on Maeda Toshiie, an actual member of the Council of Regents. He reportedly held more neutral stances than the other lords at the time. [[spoiler:He also didn't last long enough to affect policy despite his good intentions.]]

* TheGrotesque: Lord Ohno converted to Catholicism after the Jesuits helped him survive leprosy. They were not able to protect him from the ravages of the disease, and thus he often hides his face from the other Regents.

* NervesOfSteel: During her attempt to leave Osaka, she and Toranaga's men are confronted by Ishido's army at the gates. After Toranaga's men all fall to the soldiers and archers, Mariko takes it in her stride and begins advancing by herself, studiously ignoring the arrows fired within ''inches'' of her feet, and the numerous spear-wielding soldiers blocking her path, as she knows damn well that they can't ''actually'' harm her directly, which Kiyama points out. Even the soldiers [[OhCrap look more afraid of her than she is of them]], and she's ''unarmed''...until she's handed a ''naginata'', at which point [[DoNotGoGentle she does her best to cut down as many as she can, even while hugely outnumbered]]. She eventually gives in to prevent any more of her retinue from being harmed.

* HateSink: While Buntaro is a flawed man and a devoted Samurai to Toranaga, behind closed doors he's an abusive, bad-tempered bastard who treats his wife like his own property and doesn't even try to connect to her due to her relationship with her father. [[spoiler:He physically abuses Mariko in "Broken to the Fist", and based by Fuji's reaction heavily implies he's done this many times in the past. He's emotionally distant towards her and their son, and treats Blackthorne like shit solely because he's an outsider and because of how jealous he is on how close he and Mariko are. Even after making a genuine effort to reconnect to Mariko in "The Abyss of Life", he demonstrates to having never understood her even years of marriage and she understandably, ''bluntly'' rejects his advances, leaving him crying in despair as she leaves. Hard to feel sorry for him]].

* WellDoneSoneGuy: In his very first scene with his father Hiromatsu, he was actively denied to join Toranaga's dinner and calls on Mariko instead--already suggesting that the wife he verbally abuses has more political weight to his father and Toranaga than him. The sequence leading to [[spoiler:Hiromatsu's seppuku leads to him being chosen as his father's second, ''but'' denied his desire to follow him in death. Hiromatsu subtly lets his son know that this is partly because he has disappointed him by his character and his treatment of his wife]].

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:His corpse topples over a cliff after he commits ''seppuku''.]]

* FirstContact: Omi's encounter with the ''Erasmus'' in the opening scenes of "Anjin" is framed as such, what with him being the first samurai in the show to encounter Blackthorne's Dutch crew (who are dying of starvation) and discovering the booty/wealth they possess.

* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead [[spoiler: At the meal following Nagakado's funeral, the older lords speak of the boy in disparaging and mocking tones. Omi, who, for all his manipulations of the young man, had truly valued Nagakado as a friend, is upset by this, and puts an end to it with a heartfelt speech about Nagakado's courage and sense of duty, as well a dire reminder to the others of the perilous state they are now in.]]

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Omi lends a ready ear to the HotBlooded Nagakado, who resents being left out of Toranaga's strategies. It's due to their conversation and their mutual suspicion of Nebara Jozen that leads to Nagakado raining cannonballs on Jozen's retinue, killing them as an act of provocation. He is noticeably pleased in seeing the carnage the cannons caused. [[spoiler:Even still, he genuinely cared for Nagakado as a friend, and took his death the hardest in "The Abyss of Life" as he fights back his tears at his funeral]].

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: If Toranaga is Tokugawa Ieyasu, then Yaechiyo corresponds to Toyotomi Hideyori.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Some of Toranaga's more cruel moments are downplayed or removed. Instead of ordering the execution of a samaurai and infant the samurai does it himself. He is less easily angered and openly ambitious. He is less willing to sacrifice others for his cause. His whole demeanor is less warlord and more sagelike.