Toshiie Maeda

Toshiie Maeda 1st appeared in Devil Kings. He is normally seen alongside the Oda or the Toyotomi Clan.

Samuarai Warriors
Toshiie first appeared as a generic in the 1st and 2nd titles. In Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends he becomes a main character and is very loyal to Katsuie Shibata. He joins his mentor at the sucicdal ambush at Okehazama and then parts ways with him rising up at various Oda campaigns with Hideyoshi. After the Honnoji incident he joins Hideyoshi and helps pacify Shikoku because Katsuie regrets to let Toshiie to fight alongside him. Toshiie tries to join Katsuie at Shizugatake, but to no avail and Toshiie cries in rage when Katsuie commits suicide in the burning castle. In this game he wields 2 spears and a sword.

Devil Kings
In this game Toshiie's name is Lark. He has a romantic relationship with Matsu Maeda who's name is Damble. In this game he wield a large fork.

Kessen
Toshiie is one of the starting generals in Kessenn 3. He is an expert spear man who wears outlandish clothing and dabs of red and white paint under his eyes. He's a rude, tough-as-nails brawler who is a childhood friend of Nagahide Niwa and a good comrade of Katsuie. Like Goemon Ishikawa in the Samurai Warriors universe, Toshiie acts like a kabukimono whilst joking around and dances during the army's celebration banquets. During such an occasion, he solidified the nickname Nobunaga gave to Nagahide, "Potato Samurai". He continues to fight for Nobunaga's cause even after his lord's apparent death at Honnoji.

Nobunaga's Ambition
In Nobunaga's Ambition he is always alongside the Oda. When Mitsuhide kills Nobunaga and Hideyoshi and Katsuie start there own clans Toshiie still remains loyal to the Oda.

Voice Actors

 * Dan Jeannotte - Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Takeshi Kusao - Samurai Warriors 2 (Japanese)
 * Katsuyuki Konishi - Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends~3 and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Wataru Takagi - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "I'm heading up in the world!"
 * "Notch that one up to me!"
 * "Did you see that, he's still got it!"
 * "I'll show you how the devil Shibata's army fights!"
 * "Come back when you've learned how to fight!"

Early life
Toshiie was born in Owari Province, the fourth son of Maeda Toshimasa, who held Arako Castle. Toshiie served Oda Nobunaga from childhood (first as a page) and his loyalty was rewarded by being allowed to be the head of the Maeda clan, very unusual for a fourth son with no apparent failures among his elder brothers. Just like Nobunaga, Toshiie was also a delinquent, usually dressed in the outlandish style of a kabukimono. It is believed he also became a friend to Kinoshita Tokichiro (later Hideyoshi Toytomi) in their youth. Just as Hideyoshi was known as Saru, 猴 or "monkey," it is believed that Toshiie was called Inu, 犬 or "dog" by Nobunaga. Due to a long-standing belief that dogs and monkeys are never friendly to each other, Toshiie is often depicted as reserved and stern, in contrast to Hideyoshi's talkative and easy-going nature.

Military career
Toshiie began his career as a member of the akahoro-shū, the unit under Oda Nobunaga's personal command. He later became an infantry captain (ashigaru taishō) in the Oda army. During his military career, Toshiie made the acquaintance of many important figures, such as Hashiba Hideyoshi, Sassa Narimasa, Akechi Mitsuhide, Takayama Ukon, and others. He also made some enemies and rivals such as Mitsuhide, who went on to assassinate Nobunaga; Toshiie also was a lifelong rival of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After defeating Asakura, Maeda fought under Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku area. He was eventually granted a han (Kaga Domain) spanning Noto and Kaga Provinces. Despite its small size, Kaga was a highly productive province which would eventually develop into the wealthiest han in Edo period Japan, with a net worth of 1 million koku; thus, it was nicknamed Kaga Hyaku-man-goku.

Toshiie benefited from a core group of very capable senior vassals. Some, like Murai Nagayori and Okumura Nagatomi, were retainers of long standing with the Maeda.

After Nobunaga's assassination at Honnō-ji by Akechi Mitsuhide and Mitsuhide's subsequent defeat by Hideyoshi, he battled Hideyoshi under Shibata's command in the Battle of Shizugatake. After Shibata's defeat, Toshiie worked for Hideyoshi and became one of his leading generals. Later somewhere during this time he was forced to fight another of his friends, Sassa Narimasa. Narimasa was greatly outnumbered and felled by Toshiie, following the major Maeda victory at the Battle of Suemori Castle. Before dying in 1598, Hideyoshi named Toshiie to the council of Five Elders to support Toyotomi Hideyori until he was old enough to take control on his own. However, Toshiie himself was ailing, and could manage to support Hideyori for only a year before he died as well.

Toshiie was succeeded by his son Toshinaga.