Nagamasa Azai

Nagamasa Azai 1st appeared in Samurai Warriors as a unique non-playeble charecter.

Samurai Warriors
Nagamasa is the virtuous lord of Bizen and Odani Castle. In Samurai Warriors, he is supportive of his young wife and often apologizes for any grief he may cause her. During her lower path ending, he openly states his wish for her to not fight her own family. She replies that it is inevitable and runs away from his embrace. In Oichi's true ending, he also appears regretful for betraying his brother. In the second game, he strongly believes in love and honor. When he is forced to betray Nobunaga, he becomes conflicted between honoring his family's trust with the Asakura and his alliance with the Oda clan. In a dream, he sees the possible scenario where he postulates on whether he should uphold love and honor by attacking Nobunaga at Anegawa and Mt.Usa. His hesitation leads to a final confrontation between them at Odani Castle, in which he slays his brother-in-law. Guilt-ridden by his actions, he asks Oichi to leave him for abandoning his beliefs. However, Oichi's support remains and he uses this momentum to defeat the remnants of the Oda army at Shizugatake. His dream ends with him as the undisputed leader of the land. When he awakes, a soldier informs him that he is at Kanegasaki, moments before his pursuit of the fleeing Nobunaga. Thanks to his dream, he knows that Oichi will love him no matter his actions. Chasing the Oda army, he decides to first fulfill his duty to the Asakura by capturing Nobunaga. When he is successful, Nagamasa stays true to his ties with the Oda clan and defeats the Asakura. After their victory, Oichi is worried about him betraying his ideals. Nagamasa assures her that he is fine as Oichi is the one he truly wants to protect. His dream stage is a continuation of his story mode. Nagamasa becomes a trusted ally of Nobunaga and assists his lord's final unification of Japan. The battle takes place at Sekigahara against the Takeda-Uesugi-Date alliance coalition. Despite cannon fire by Yukimura Sanada and overwhelming reinforcements led by Kanetsugu Naoe and his lord, the Oda-Azai force triumphs, making Nobunaga the grand unifier of Japan. Nobunaga continues to look forward to the youth's accomplishments. Samurai Warriors 3 has Nagamasa start as a neutral party from Oumi Province. With Nobunaga on the threat of being attacked by Yoshimoto Imagawa's larger army, Nagamasa decides to protect the Oda at Okehazama. Before the encounter, he has a chance meeting with Oichi and shares his dream to one day see the fields of battle peacefully blooming with flowers. After Yoshimoto's defeat, Nagamasa falls in love with Oichi and he marries her. To aid his wife and new brother-in-law, he helps besiege Inabayama Castle. Upon Hanbei's defeat, he and Oichi swear to work together for a land of happiness. In due time, Nagamasa receives a report that Nobunaga has invaded Echizen and is threatening the Asakura. Knowing that he is the only ally that Yoshikage can rely on, Nagamasa rides to the Asakura's rescue. Even though he resists Nobunaga, he feels no hatred or regret towards his relative. Instead, Nagamasa only wants to end the war between them so they may have a country where everyone can smile once more without conflict. Winning Kanegasaki and Anegawa, Yoshikage eventually falls against Nobunaga's forces. Although he believes that he can achieve his dream, Nagamasa asks Oichi to return to the Oda for her own safety, which causes his wife great distress as she leaves. He then fights the Oda army at Odani Castle. Disarming Nobunaga in their final duel, he spares his brother-in-law's life and asks Nobunaga to take care of Oichi for him. Believing that Nobunaga will honor his wish, Nagamasa turns and leaves for the burning Odani Castle.

Kessen
Nagamasa appears in Kessen 3 as the polite yet skillful youth who marries Oichi. He is dressed in the proper etiquette of the setting and has the traditional topknot hairstyle. Although allied with Nobunaga, he provides no military support and is first seen in battle as an enemy at Kanegasaki. When Odani Castle is engulfed in flames, both him and Oichi are still inside. Though they both planned to die together, Nagamasa entrusts his wife and daughter to return with Hideyoshi Hashiba. He is last seen walking into the castle's burning wreckage.

Devil Kings
Nagamasa appeares in the 2nd game.

Voice Actors

 * Skip Stellrecht - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Jason Moran - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Darrel Guilbeau - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Michael Gough - Kessen III (English)
 * Takayuki Sasada - Samurai Warriors (Japanese)
 * Hiroshi Kamiya - Samurai Warriors 2 and Warriors Orochi series, Kessen III (Japanese)
 * Keiichiro Yamamoto - Nobunaga's Ambition Online (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "Faith shall lead the way forward!"
 * "In battle, one must heed to one's beliefs."
 * "In the name of all that is good and right!"
 * "I will play for honor and love!"
 * "You mangy curs that prey on the innocent! Face me!"

History
Azai Nagamasa (浅井長政?, 1545 - August 28, 1573) was a Daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japan. His clan, the Azai, were located in northern Ōmi Province, east of Lake Biwa. He was both the brother-in-law of Oda Nobunaga, starting in 1564, and one of Nobunaga's enemies from 1570-1573. Nagamasa and his clan were utterly destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in August of 1573. Major battles of Azai Nagamasa include the battle of Anegawa in 1570 and the many sieges of Odani castle between 1570 and 1573.

Azai Nagamasa was the son of Azai Hisamasa, from whom he inherited clan leadership in 1560. Hisamasa had been compelled to step down by many of his retainers in favor of his son, Nagamasa. Hisamasa retired, and would later commit suicide along with his son in August of 1573. Nagamasa successfully battled both Rokkaku Yoshitaka and Saitō Tatsuoki between 1560 and 1564. He is remembered as being a capable commander of troops on the battlefield.

He married Oda Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564. Nobunaga desired peaceful relations with the Azai clan because of their strategic position in between Oda clan land's and the capitol, Kyoto.

In 1570, Oda Nobunaga declared war on the Asakura family of Echizen. The Asakura and Azai had been allies since the time of Nagamasa's grandfather. This sudden war between two Azai clan allies is reported to have divided the clan. Many retainers wished to honor the alliance with the Asakura, while Nagamasa himself is reported to have favored staying neutral, essentially siding with Nobunaga. In the end, the Azai clan chose to honor the generations-old alliance with the Asakura and came to their aid. Initially, this decision caused Nobunaga's army, which was marching upon the Asakura's lands to retreat back to Kyoto. However, within a few months the forces of Nobunaga were again on the march, but this time they marched on Azai lands.

In the summer of 1570, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu brought an army estimated between 20-30,000 men into Northern Omi. The Azai called upon their allies, the Asakura, for assistance. The Asakura responded by sending troops. In either June or July, the two sides met at the battle of Anegawa. The combined Azai and Asakura force numbered between 15-20,000 men. The outcome is recorded elsewhere, but briefly: The battle was strongly contested by both sides. Nobunaga is recorded as having decided that his force should directly confront the numerically inferior Azai clan force, while Ieyasu would engage the Asakura. While the Oda were being held at bay, and perhaps even slowly losing ground to the Azai - who had fought against numerically superior forces in the past - Ieyasu's force was apparently quickly gaining the advantage against the Asakura. Ieyasu, or perhaps one of his battle commanders, decided to send part of the Tokugawa force into the Azai flank, forcing the Azai to retreat, and guaranteeing victory. However, the battle was strategically indecisive because the Oda shortly withdrew.

Over the course of the next two years, with the exception of occasional interventions by the Shogun, Azai Nagamasa was under constant threat of Nobunaga aggression into Omi. Often these threats manifested into sieges of the Azai Capitol, Odani. During this period the Azai are seen as being loosely aligned with numerous anti-Oda forces, including the Asakura, the Miyoshi, the Rokkaku, and several religious complexes.

In 1573, Oda laid siege to Odani. Although the Asakura sent a relief force, Nobunaga defeated this force and chased the Asakura into their lands. Shortly thereafter, the Asakura were destroyed. Nobunaga then returned south to prosecute the siege of Odani. Nagamasa had no hope of winning, and chose to commit seppuku. Before dying, he sent out his three daughters and his wife, Nobunaga's sister. They were allowed to live. His only male heir, Manpukumaru, was likely put to the sword by Nobunaga. It should be noted that there are reports that Nobunaga bore a strong grudge against Nagamasa for his perceived betrayal of their alliance. It has also been reported that Nobunaga had the skulls of Nagamasa, Hisamasa, and the Asakura leader lacquered so that they could be used as cups. Whether this report is historically accurate, or merely made up to inflate the reputation of Nobunaga is debatable at this time.

Three of Nagamasa's daughters are famous for marrying famous men. They were
 * Chacha, or Yodo dono, also known as Daiko'in, second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and mother of Hideyoshi's heir Hideyori
 * Hatsu, wife of the sengoku daimyo Kyogoku Takatsugu
 * Oeyo, or Sūgen'in, wife of the second Tokugawa shogun Hidetada and mother of his successor/son Iemitsu.