Kojiro Sasaki

Kojiro Sasaki 1st appeared in Samurai Warriors 2.

Samurai Warriors
In Samurai Warriors 2, Kojirō appears as reinforcements for the Eastern army at the Battle of Kuzegawa. He is one of the generals who guards their escape point. During Ginchiyo's story mode, he also appears to reinforce Yoshihiro Shimazu and traps Sakon Shima at Shoryuji. He continues to appear in select dream stages surrounding Edo Castle. He also appears in the Village Rescue stages and various other dream modes. In Musashi's story mode, he acts as his rival's foil and taunts him at any given opportunity. He is killed in their duel at Ganryu Island. If he is impressed during Musashi's dream mode, he will appear as the stage's last challenger. When he's defeated, he dubs his rival as the land's greatest warrior with his dying breath. His recruitment mission in Survival Mode is an open call for a sword instructor, an opportunity he will take if the objectives are completed successfully. His story in Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends explains how the two swordsmen meet one another. Kojirō, after witnessing villagers being slaughtered by pirates, decides to satisfy his boredom by defeating the brigands. During his unintentional rescue, Musashi appears to help him. At the battle's conclusion, Kojirō sees Musashi as his greatest opponent and becomes obsessed with showing his rival a "truly beautiful" death. After the other swordsman flees, Kojirō's talents were scouted by the Tokugawa clan and they hire him to frame Hideyori's for scheming to take Ieyasu's life in Kyoto. Unexpectedly, an assassination was actually planned and Kojirō is ordered to kill Hideyori instead. Yukimura Sanada and Musashi help the young heir safely escape. More interested in dueling his rival, Kojirō's focus shifts to Musashi and he beats him. Curious to know how a sword can move people, he gives Musashi a year to hone his craft. Kojirō later duels Musashi at Ganryujima and miraculously survives his defeat. He then joins the ranks to destroy Osaka Castle. Once the Tokugawa army claims victory, the two swordsmen have one last match together. In his ending, Kojirō is thrilled to finally achieve his goal but is simultaneously stricken at losing his greatest rival. In his dream mode, Kojirō and Musashi work together to defeat many of the land's greatest swordsmen. They additionally compete with one another to see who can score the most fame.

Voice Actors

 * Maxime Mensah - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Antoine Yared - Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Yuji Ueda - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)

Samurai Warriors

 * "I will give you all a beautiful end."
 * "Are you excited at the chance to be slain by me?"
 * "My blade shall relieve you of this tired life."
 * "I'll kill you in ways you never imagined."
 * "Ahh... The killing has begun, I shiver in anticipation."
 * "I'll look forward to slaying you the next time we meet."
 * "You wouldn't have been worth the stain on my blade."
 * "Don't get too close, I'd hate to get your entrails on my beautiful blade." ~Taunt
 * "Hmph, does this mean I don't get to kill anymore?"
 * "Just promise me they'll be plenty of fools to slaughter."
 * "Me and my blade lust for blood."
 * "Taste my blade!" ~Musou Attack
 * "Time for pain!!" ~True Musou Attack
 * "It feels so nice..." ~True Musou Attack (Finish)
 * "Sorry I'm late everyone, I didn't miss anything good did I?"
 * "Just hold them at bay for now."
 * "Gather around me my minions!"
 * "Go forth. Slice and dice!"
 * "You're tying me up? How quaint."
 * "My, you're quite strong. I'm getting goosebumps."
 * "Your life is in my hands."
 * "Tsubame Gaeshi!"
 * "A beautiful end."
 * "There are so many more fools who need cutting down."
 * "Wake me up when the fighting starts."
 * "Finally..."
 * "Try again, and I'll give you the greatest gift- a beautiful end."
 * "I didn't think it was possible but I just keep getting better."
 * "You're all lucky I wasn't trying."

History
Sasaki Kojirō was a supposedly talented swordsman who is best known in modern times as Miyamoto Musashi's ultimate rival. While fiction commonly portrays him as a handsome and young prodigy, not much is personally written on Kojirō's life to suggest that this is true. Each source that does mention him states conflicting accounts from one another, mainly due to the fact that each record was written during the early to mid Edo Period (long after Musashi's death). One of the glaring faults with relying on the popular opinion about him is that there are no written records that actually name him as "Kojirō". At most, these records only vaguely mention Sasaki or Kojirō's assumed alternate name, "Ganryū" (巌流). His possible grave even states "Sasaki Koshirō" or "Sasaki Koshirau" (佐々木 古志らう).

With many facts regarding his early life left unknown, skeptics are questioning if a man actually known as Sasaki Kojirō truly existed. There are several theories suggesting that Kojirō could have possibly been an entity completely different than the one known in fiction. One plausible theory about the real Kojirō was that he was much older than Musashi and could have actually have been in his fifties or seventies by the time their duel took place. This theory mainly plays on the idea that Kojirō was Toda Seigen's student, who was said to have had taught an elderly man around the time of the Ganryūjima duel.

Another proposes that the Koshirau inscribed on his grave is linked to the alleged Christians living in the area. After he lost to Musashi, this story states that the dying Kojirō converted to Christianity before his final moments.