Nobunaga Oda

Nobunaga Oda 1st appeared in Samurai Warriors. He is normally controlling His own army in all games.

Samurai Warriors
In the 1st game Nobunaga'a 1st battle is in Okehazama. In the 2nd game his 1st battle is at Nagashino.His dream stage is an extension of his story mode and Nobunaga begins his final conquest to unite the warring states. Since the attack at Honnoji caused universal confusion with his ranks, Ieyasu gathered a "Anti-Nobunaga" coalition with the greatest daimyo in the land. This included the remaining Uesugi forces, the Date army, and the Shimazu clan. Nobunaga, inspired by Mitsuhide's vision, decides to only fight worthy battles and orders for none of the enemy generals to be killed. Once Nobunaga defeats them, he becomes the grand unifier of Japan. He spares Ieyasu's life and beckons him to rule Mikawa for him. Nobunaga weilds a purplele glowing sword.

Devil Kings
In this game Nobunaga's name is Devil King. He controls his own army. His retainers in the game are: Nohime (Lady Butterfly), Ranmaru Mori (Hornet) and Mitsuhide Akechi (Reaper).When almost at the end of his unification Mitsuhide rebels and will face him at Honnoji. He weilds a sword and a shotgun.

Onimusha
In all games ecapt for the final 2, Nobunaga is the main villian. He rules an army of genma warriors. He is the 2nd genma warlord. Every game you'll have to face him in the final stage. He weilds a sword.

Kessen
Nobunaga briefly appears in the first Kessen as an aspiration in the sky. Moments before Ieyasu departs for Sekigahara, Nobunaga wishes for his dream to live on with Ieyasu. His message to Ieyasu continues to inspire him throughout his campaigns. In Kessen 3, the roles are switched and Nobunaga is the main protagonist. He is very close to his wife, Kicho, and is well liked by his generals. Unlike his Samurai Warriors counterpart, he is symbolized in some way by a hawk. As far back as he can remember, Nobunaga has an ongoing dream of his death in a fiery room. He sees two blurred figures in it and believes that they will probably shape his fate. He confides this dream to Kicho, who believes that it maybe a premonition. At Honnoji, his life is saved by Kicho's metal hair clip, a memento she left behind for him and kept close to his chest. With all of his enemies joining Mitsuhide, he leads a resistance to destroy his rival and save the land from any further warfare. In the extra ending for the game, he eventually travels overseas and makes peace with Spain. He also allows an overseas village to be built and expresses wishes for all of Japan to learn about Christianity and European history.

Voice actors

 * Douglas Rye - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Brent Schaus - Samurai Warriors 2, Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power (English)
 * Chris Kent - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * John Murphy - Kessen (English)
 * Crispin Freeman - Kessen III (English)
 * Yukimasa Kishino - Dynasty Warriors (Japanese)
 * Jūrōta Kosugi - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu - Kessen, Kessen III (Japanese)
 * Hideo Ishikawa - Nobunaga's Ambition Online (Japanese)

Samurai Warriors

 * "The world needs Nobunaga... At least until I have eliminated all who oppose me."
 * "I have come to make this land my own."
 * "Worthless!"
 * "Useless!"
 * "You have earned my praise, warrior!"
 * "Now get out of my sight!"
 * "It seems you are of some use to me."
 * "Time to turn this battlefield into a hell on earth...if I can get motivated."
 * "Return to dust!"
 * "Advance, rip out their throats!"
 * "Time for something...a little unorthodox."
 * "All too easy..."
 * "It's just that simple"
 * "Is that so?"
 * "Turn this battlefield into the netherworld itself!"
 * "Why did you dogs resist me?"
 * "Time for a little.......Unorthodox."

Devil Kings

 * "Heaven and Earth under my sword!"

History
Nobunaga was born under the childhood name, Kippoushi, at Shobada Castle. His father was Oda Nobuhide and his mother was Toda Gozen, who is believed to be the one of Toda Tsuchida Masahisa's daughters. His clan is speculated to be descendants of either the Taira clan, the Fujiwara clan, or Saiko Kichinosuke but the details regarding these claims are sadly lacking. Early records suggest the second option since, at one point, Nobunaga curiously adopted the Fujiwara name. When Nobunaga was born, his father was serving the governor of Owari, Shiba Yoshimune, and defended their territory from Imagawa Yoshimoto.

When he was two years old, he was sent to Nagoya Castle and spent most of his youth there. He acted unruly for someone of his status and dressed himself in bright and outlandish clothing. He took an interest in matchlock rifles, played as a commoner with the townsfolk, and adopted the local slang, calling his parents "Dad" and "Mom". Since his conduct was considered bizarre and rude to the court, he was quickly nicknamed The Fool of Owari (尾張の大うつけ or たわけ). He entered battles at an early age by serving as his father's reserve guard. During this time, he met Imagawa Yoshimoto's hostage, Matsudaira Takechiyo (later known as Tokugawa Ieyasu).

In the year 1546, he experienced his coming of age ceremony at Furuwatari Castle and was named Oda Kazusanosuke Nobunaga (織田上総介信長). When he was thirteen, he was also called Saburo Nobunaga by his mother and other nobles in the court. He was married to Nōhime when he was fourteen to create an alliance between the Owari and Mino provinces. When his father died in 1551, Nobunaga became the head of the clan. However, he refused to attend his father's funeral, which caused an outright uproar amongst the Oda vassals. When he did pay his respects to his father's alter, he threw the ceremonial ashes in the same way a sumo wrestler throws salt to purify the ring. Hirate Masahide, a loyal servant who looked after his young lord's future, committed suicide to protest Nobunaga's disrespectful actions. The event was the first reported incident of Nobunaga showing regret for his behavior. Since then, he adopted better etiquette but he continued to be sarcastic and eccentric. In a meeting regarding the displeasure amongst his retainers, he reportedly only said "Is that so?" (であるか) to the complaints.

Due to several retainers conflicting opinions regarding Nobunaga, the Oda clan split in a civil conflict. He was challenged by his uncle, Oda Nobutomo, and his younger brother, Oda Nobuyuki. Nobutomo and Nobuyuki joined forces to conspire Nobunaga's downfall and manipulated Shiba Yoshimune to be their puppet ruler. Yoshimune secretly sympathized with Nobunaga and when Nobutomo learned of this, he was killed. His heir, Shiba Yoshikane, barely escaped Nobutomo's men while crossing a river and went to Nobunaga for safety.

To gain the power needed to overthrow the conspirators, Nobunaga allied with his other uncle, Oda Nobumitsu, who slew Nobutomo at Kiyosu Castle. Nobumitsu mysteriously died soon after in 1556 and many speculated that he was assassinated in some way by his nephew. In the same year, he also sent reinforcements to help Nōhime's father, Dosan, against his rebellious son. It was a lost battle and Mino's daimyo became Saito Yoshitatsu. With Yoshikane in his good fortune, Nobunaga also allied with Imagawa Yoshimoto since they were lords in the same province. This allowed some protection along the Oda's eastern boarders.

A few months later, Nobuyuki staged a rebellion with Oda vassals Shibata Katsuie, Hayashi Hidesada, and Hayashi Mochitomo. To counter, Nobunaga gained the support of Mori Yoshinari, Sakuma Nobumori, and Sakuma Morishige. On August 24 the same year, Nobunaga -in spite of facing overwhelming odds- defeated his brother at the Battle of Ino. Their mother intervened on the conspirators' behalf and they were pardoned. The next year, however, Nobuyuki again planned to rebel. When Nobunaga was informed of this by his new vassal Katsuie, he faked illness to get close to Nobuyuki and assassinated him in Kiyosu Castle.

In 1560, Yoshimoto gathered an army of 25,000 men and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate. The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province was also to join Yoshimoto's forces. In comparison, the Oda clan could rally an army of only 1,800, and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. Under such dire circumstances, Nobunaga was said to have performed his favorite Atsumori dance, before riding off with only a few attendants to pray in a shrine.

The Oda clan's generals did not believe that they would win this impossible war. Only the night before, Katsuie had tried in vain to change Oda Nobunaga's mind about a frontal attack; he kept reminding Nobunaga of the joint army's complete lack of manpower compared to the Imagawa soldiers, who, according to rumors, numbered 40,000 men. Hayashi Sado no Kami Hidesada, the remaining adviser from Nobuhide's days, even argued for surrender without fighting, using the same reasoning as Katsuie.

Nobunaga was right; Yoshimoto deliberately leaked the highly exaggerated number of his soldiers out to scare the Oda clan, and the official chronicler of the Imagawas put it down as was usual in medieval battle records to exaggerate numbers. While Yoshimoto's men were celebrating their early victories over the Oda troops, Nobunaga and his men charged down the mountainous terrain from Zenkoji. Aided by the heavy thunderstorm and the unprepared Imagawa troops, Nobunaga's ambush was a startling success. His victory dispelled most doubts about his capabilities and labeled him as a genuine threat to Owari's neighbors.

Rapidly weakening, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu, despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans. Tradition dates this battle as the time that Nobunaga first noticed the talents of Kinoshita Tokichiro who would eventually become Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After Saito Yoshitatsu's death, Nobunaga set his sight on the weakened Saito clan ruling Mino. The current ruler of Mino was the comparatively incompetent Tatsuoki Saito. To simultaneously aid his territory's defense and add to his military strength, he issued an alliance with Azai Nagamasa and solidified their pact by marrying his sister, Oichi, to him. This allowed him to concentrate on crushing the Saito clan. Five years after their first conflict, Nobunaga took various castles within Mino and gained the trust of the influential Mino trio (Inaba Yoshimichi, Ujiie Bokuzen, and Ando Morinari). He forced Tatsuoki to retreat to Nagashima, Mie in 1567 and completely subjugates the Mino clan in 1568. Tatsuoki survived until he was later killed by Nobunaga's men in 1570. To avoid military conflict with Mino's ally, Takeda Harunobu, the Oda and Takeda clan made a matrimonial alliance between Matsuhime (Harunobu's seven year old sixth daughter) and Oda Nobutada (Nobunaga's eleven year old eldest son).

At age 33, Nobunaga had successfully expanded his territory and designated Inabayama Castle to be his new base of operations. He renamed his new home to be Gifu and started to use the personal seal, Tenka Fubu (天下布武), to signify his new ambition. It is literally translated as "unite the land under military might" or "below the heavens (rain), warriors cover all". To follow suite, he attacked Kitabatake Tomonori in the neighboring Ise sector in late 1568. By 1570, after a brave fifty day resistance, Kitabatake surrenders after his retainers betray him and he refuses to agree to the treaty requirements to make Nobunaga's second son, Nobuo, his heir. He becomes a monk and his daughter, Yukihime, became Nobuo's wife for any possible offspring.

In September 1568, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu to ask Nobunaga to start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered thirteenth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, Yoshiteru, and wanted revenge against the killers who had already set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide. Nobunaga agreed to install Yoshiaki as the new shogun and, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, started his campaign. An obstacle in southern Ōmi Province, however, was the Rokkaku clan. Led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, the clan refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shogun and was ready to go to war. In response, Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles. Their decisive encounter was the Battle of Kannonji Castle, one of the early military accomplishments for Nobunaga's retainers: Kinoshita Tokichiro, Nagahide Niwa, and Kazumasu Takigawa. Shortly after, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city. Yoshiaki was made the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Historians generally agree that Nobunaga had the entire Kansai Region under his control by 1569.

Nobunaga began his plans to invade the Shikoku region, obtained by Motochika Chosokabe, for summer the same year. Oda Nobutaka, Niwa Nagahide, Hachiya Yoritaka were sent in advance to begin preparations for their campaign.

On April 4, Ieyasu visited Azuchi Castle to celebrate his victory during the Takeda subjugation. Nobunaga ordered Mitsuhide to entertain him on the 8th and 10th. His vassal continued to act as an entertainer for his guests until June 6, when Hideyoshi requested reinforcements. According to the Akechi Gunki (Mitsuhide's edited biography from the Edo Period), Nobunaga was gravely dissatisfied with Mitsuhide's performance by this time and gave him a rather harsh scolding and beating. He replaced the latter's position with his page, Mori Naritoshi, and ordered Mitsuhide to reinforce Hideyoshi.

Meanwhile, on June 19, Nobunaga prepared the troops that were scheduled to be sent to the Chūgoku region. After this, he paid a visit to Honnō-ji. Mitsuhide, who was supposed to be marching towards Hideyoshi, suddenly turned back to Kyoto. From here, the following events are generally split between two different stories. It is assumed that Nobunaga fought the invading troops with a spear and Naritoshi sacrificed his life for his lord's safety. He was overwhelmed, however, when the Akechi troops set fire to the temple. The other account prevalent with the Akechi troops was that Nobunaga saw the threat and, when hope was lost, set fire to the temple himself and stayed within the flames. He either committed suicide through the traditional method or voluntarily let the flames engulf him. He was either 48 or 49 when he died. Hideyoshi later dedicated a shrine to his lord at Daitoku-ji. On November 17, 1917, Nobunaga was given the posthumous rank of Shou-ichi, a distinguished and honorable rank to commend the daimyo's contributions for Japan.

Akechi Hidemitsu recorded that he tried searching for Nobunaga's remains but lamented that they weren't found. This has lead to some speculation regarding the daimyo's actual whereabouts during this time. Some say that he escaped the disaster and committed suicide in a completely different location. Others state that Nobunaga did die at the temple yet his remains were respectfully hidden and buried by a priest who admired him. Mitsuhide captured the pious man but released him when he couldn't find anything suspicious about him.