Oda Nobunaga



Credited as being the first of the Three Unifiers of modern Japan, Nobunaga was one of Japan's most successful warlords. He started as a son of a minor daimyo (and earned the nickname "The Fool of Owari" due to his childhood and teenage antics), with a number of factions within his own province opposing him, eventually he would not only crush those factions but also proceed to conquer over a third of Japan, with the rest well positioned to fall to him. That ended on June 21, 1582, when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide attacked him at Honno temple; Nobunaga, his bodyguards and his wakashu Mori Ranmaru died that night.

Although noted for many things, including a mastery of tactics, (most famously, at the Battle of Okehazama, Nobunaga's forces, numbering at most 3000, defeated an army of around 25,000 through a combination of daring, misdirection, a brilliant surprise attack, and more than a little luck) revolutionizing the ways Japanese armies used firearms, and completely changing the economic system of and the way wealth was counted in Japan, Nobunaga is chiefly remembered for his ruthless and brutal nature, and it is these traits that dominate most depictions of him in any period pieces or games. Nobunaga's actions leave him ripe for playing the part of the villain, as his most infamous deeds include the burning of powerful Buddhist temples critical of him, and the slaughter of the thousands of men, women and children that lived in them. Even the kinder portrayals of him tend to show him as a man fueled by ambition and greed, in many others it is either speculated or explicitly said that he has either become a demon or made a literal Deal with the Devil to carry out his ambitions.

Although he did not live to see the conquest of all Japan finalized, Nobunaga's actions all but ended over a century of near-constant civil war among the lords of Japan for dominance. After his death, his general Hashiba Hideyoshi (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) finished the conquest, and another general, Tokugawa Ieyasu, founded the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan from 1600 until 1868.

Amusingly enough, his most famous descendant, Oda Nobunari, is one of Japan's top male figure skaters, and is most known for crying at the drop of a hat, and getting caught driving his moped drunk.

Compare with other historical figures Miyamoto Musashi and Yagyu Jubei. Almost always a Big Bad, Evil Overlord and 0% Approval Rating dictator when he is receiving a Historical Villain Upgrade in fiction. And a Magnificent Bastard as well (though this one can be applied in real life too).

Tropes associated with the historical Nobunaga:

 * Ambition Is Evil: Nobunaga is the most ambitious of the unifiers, and is the most ruthless. Of course this is one source of his villainization.
 * Oddly enough, there were a number of other people in the same time period, with the exact same ambition that tend to be portrayed positively. Nobunaga might not have been any more ruthless than them, but he was the one that actually ended up in the position to commit those ruthless acts.
 * It doesn't help that by most accounts it seems he was rather a Jerkass...
 * Badass: Admit it. Evil or not, this man was badass.
 * He was only 26 when he won the Battle of Okehazama where his army of 1500 (other sources say 2000 or 3000) men defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto's army of about 25,000. Sure, Nobunaga attacked the main encampment that held "only" 5-6000 soldiers, and he got really lucky, but his army crushed the enemy and killed Yoshimoto and most of his generals, which led to a complete victory. So it was pretty badass.
 * Badass Creed: Tenka Fubu -- "Take the country by military power."
 * Badass Moustache: Just look at the page picture.
 * Bad Boss: Nobunaga did not treat even his inner circle well, being notably cold and tactless even to his highest ranking generals. Perhaps he was paranoid about betrayal or disloyalty, but if so Nobunaga might have turned it into a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
 * He apparently also had a habit of making fun of his subordinates, such as mocking Akechi Mitsuhide's poetry (which was actually considered pretty good), and calling Toyotomi Hideyoshi "monkey" and "bald rat" (because of his shortness and peculiar face).
 * And there's a story that says that Nobunaga executed a hostage whom Mitsuhide had promised safety. In turn, the hostage's enraged family accused Mitsuhide of betrayal, and as a revenge, murdered his mother. This, plus the aforementioned mocking and other insults by Nobunaga (who allegedly went as far as kicking him) make it easy to see why Mitsuhide wasn't Nobunaga's biggest fan.
 * He might be an example of this only as Common Knowledge rather than an actual example.
 * He promoted Toyotomi Hideyoshi based on his competence. This was basically unheard of at this point in Japanese history. In fact, a lot of the hatred for him came from noble families that Nobunaga embarrassed repeatedly by elevating lowborn peasants who displayed actual competence rather than choosing his followers based on noble blood.
 * He was known for not putting much faith in his lieutenants, but this was not entirely true. He didn't put much trust in the nobility that served him. The people he put his trust in were a ronin, peasant, and traitor. All people traditionally loathed in Japanese culture, but all of which proved extremely competent.
 * The situation with Mitsuhide is not actually well known. There is a gigantic gap in information between "Nobunaga and Mitsuhide are the best of pals" and "Nobunaga is publicly insulting Mitsuhide." Mitsuhide's mother being killed only provides a possible explanation for his actions, but not Nobunaga's.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass / Obfuscating Stupidity: In his early life, he's called "The Fool of Owari". Then Okehazama happens, Nobunaga sheds the "Moron" part and becomes a complete Badass.
 * A disguise he might have been all too happy to keep up, had his original province of Owari not been in the path of an eastern warlord marching westward to Kyoto, forcing Nobunaga to make a stand or capitulate.
 * Determinator
 * Driven to Suicide: He himself did this to Matsunaga Hisahide when he finally had enough of Hisahide betraying him. It's said that when Nobunaga had Hisahide cornered in his castle he sent a message to him, demanding his head and a priceless tea kettle in his possession. Hisahide answered by destroying the tea kettle and blowing himself up.
 * Historical Villain Upgrade: Probably the biggest victim of this in all Japanese history. Of course, as mentioned repeatedly on this page, there are plenty of reasons why he usually plays the villain...
 * Actually, it is a safe bet to say that Minamoto no Yoritomo has this worse. There are neutral and good portrayals of Oda Nobunaga. Good luck finding a positive portrayal of Yoritomo
 * Kick the Dog: The burning of the temples on Mount Hiei. Buddhist warrior monks from this and other sects had been meddling in politics for centuries, and soon became vocal critics and enemies of Nobunaga. Nobonuaga responded by surrounding the culturally significant temple at night and attacking from all sides, working upwards. By the next day the sprawling temple complex was ashes and thousands lay dead, with not even innocent women or children safe from Nobunaga's wrath. Becomes a Moral Event Horizon to many historians, which kickstarted his long run of villainization in fiction.
 * Less famous but arguably more horrifying than the destruction of Mt. Hiei was the burning of Nagashima, a fortress of another warrior monk sect. The group resisted a siege by Nobunaga for several years, but were eventually forced back within their entirely wooden inner fortifications. Nobunaga built a wall around the building, then set it on fire. With nowhere to run, not a single one of the 20,000 inhabitants survived. Note that once again, many of these inhabitants were noncombatants, including both women and children.
 * Kill It with Fire: Nobunaga had a rather disturbing tendency to burn and raze the strongholds of his enemies... with his enemies still inside them.
 * Lucky Bastard: Not one but two lords and tremendously skilled generals (Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin) died under mysterious circumstances soon after having initial success in their campaigns against Nobunaga. Needless to say, conspiracy theories about these deaths abound.
 * Magnificent Bastard
 * Otaku: An inversion. He was tremendously interested in Western culture. He is accepted to be one of the first men to wear Western clothes, collected Western trinkets and supported Christian missionaries, though he didn't convert. He also saw the advantage of gunpowder weaponry and used them to great effect, more so than other Daimyos.
 * Satan: According to Luís Fróis, it was Nobunaga who nicknamed himself "Dairokuten maou", lit. "Devil King of the Sixth Heaven", which is essentially the same as calling himself Satan. He was probably being ironic, but later generations were eager to take it literally...

Anime and Manga

 * In an early episode of Inuyasha, Kagome is startled when a handsome, idealistic young samurai gives his name as Nobunaga. She eagerly asks for his autograph, only to see in disappointment that he is Amari Nobunaga; when she asks about Oda Nobunaga, the other Nobunaga objects to being mistaken for "that idiot." This has been used by fans to put a date to the Inuyasha story, since there's a very limited period of time when Oda Nobunaga was known, but considered not to be a big deal.
 * Nobunaga doesn't directly appear in Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma, but the story takes place at the height of his conquests, and he influences the story since the main character is a ninja serving the Takeda clan when it opposes Nobunaga, and because the brutality of Nobunaga's conquests is giving power to the Yoma demons. At one point the main character thinks about Nobunaga's brutality and wonders if he is a demon. While he's doing this, Nobunaga and his army are seen in a montage, and all of them have glowing red eyes.
 * In Wrath of the Ninja Nobunaga appears to be the chief antagonist for the 3 heroes, conquering Japan with demonic help and seeking to be transformed into a demon himself.
 * Nobunaga is a major antagonist in Samurai Deeper Kyo.
 * In the Black Lion OVA, Nobunaga is actually possessed by alien invaders who equip his armies with high-tech armaments so he can conquer Japan as a beachhead (probably; the backstory isn't covered much).
 * In Drifters Nobunaga is one of the titular Drifters, famous personalities from Earth taken from their rightful time to do battles in other worlds. As one of the main characters he is portrayed as a Cool Old Guy and, despite very much revelling in his role of "Devil King", is one of the Drifters that are on the side of humanity.
 * Oda Nobunaga is the reason Recca's clan all but perished in Flame of Recca; at the end of the series
 * A rowdy young man implied to be Nobunaga appears in the Axis Powers Hetalia strip "The World of War and the Fool of Owari," in which he tells the anthropomorphic personification of Japan "This is the face of your future ruler." The anthropomorphic personification of Owari is skeptical.
 * Nobunaga is gender flipped into a violent redhead with a big sword in Sengoku Otome. She's also one of the main characters, seeking out the pieces of the Crimson Armor to unite Japan.
 * In the historical comedy manga and anime Hyouge Mono, Nobunaga is the liege lord of main character Sasuke. He is presented pretty much as he was in life: A very ambitious (and slightly megalomaniac) warlord with designs to rule Japan, and then conquer China and Take Over the World. He has an interest in western culture, wearing Portugese clothing and citing the myth of the Tower of Babel. He also seems to be highly dismissive of most of his vassals, with the exception of Sasuke whose foolishness amuses him.
 * Another Gender Flip variant occurs in Sengoku Collection. This Nobunaga is a Fish Out of Temporal Water, and a little more naive than the Otome version. Still portrayed pretty positively, though.

Film

 * In Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha, Takeda Shingen, a powerful rival of Nobunaga's, (and perhaps a better general) uses a lookalike thief to pretend to be healthy instead of in an attempt to discourage an attack on his clan.
 * In the film for Ghost Sweeper Mikami, both Oda Nobunaga and his vassal blamed for his death, Akechi Mitsuhide, appear. In a uncommon aversion, a ghostly Akechi defends his apparent betrayal by explaining that Nosferatu killed the original Oda, transformed himself and took his place, leading to the famed brutality.
 * Nobunaga is a target of the ninjas in Shinobi no Mono.

Literature

 * The historical novel Taiko Ki traces the rise of Nobunaga's general Toyotomi Hideyoshi from peasant to general and regent for the Emperor. Nobunaga, as Toyotomi's lord for much of his life, plays a large role. His defining characteristics are ambition and constant fury.
 * The Adventures of Samurai Cat tells the epic tale of Miawaro Tomokato's quest to avenge the death of his lord, Odo Nobunaga, who true to form had irritated a lot of people in his youth.
 * Nobunaga is the Big Bad in the novel Blood Ninja, set in 1500s Japan.
 * Appears very thinly disguised as Goroda the Dictator in the backstory of Shogun. Notably, Mariko is Akechi's daughter

Live Action TV

 * Another non-evil version in the Kamen no Ninja Akakage (Red Shadow) live action Japanese TV series. (Three Compilation Movies were released in English as "Watari".)
 * Toshiie to Matsu gives a largely sympathetic portrayal, though it doesn't shy away from Nobunaga's worse moments, either. (It helps that the actor portraying him is quite handsome.)
 * A homonculus version of Nobunaga appears in Kamen Rider OOO's first movie. Exactly what he is is hard to tell - Nobunaga himself revived by Medals, or a Greeed that thinks it's Oda Nobunaga? He is portrayed as ambition incarnate, but a pretty nice guy to his friends. However, at times, he, and is seemingly unaware of this when not actively engaged in it. Core Medals given to him by Dr. Maki corrupt him into a Greeed-like being that Eiji has to stop. And even then, he's not really stopped, as his Core Medals go on to create an even bigger problem.

Tabletop RPG

 * Even the Cthulhu Mythos is up against Nobunaga. In the Call of Cthulhu supplement Secrets of Japan, it's revealed that Nobunaga is but one of Nyarlathotep's thousand masks, and that the Outer God still occasionally pulls him out for, of all things, business meetings.

Toys

 * Bandai's SD Sengokuden Bushin Kourin Hen toyline, dedicated to making SD Gundams based on known Warring States characters, has deliberately made Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu at a larger "deluxe" size than the regular line. Oda is naturally the first to be released.

Video Games

 * In the Onimusha game series Nobunaga is mortally wounded by an arrow during his great victory at Okehazama, but makes a deal with the demon king to return to life as a demon and conquer Japan on behalf of the demons.
 * In the first game, you kill said demon king, but guess what? Nobunaga takes over the demonic realm for most of the series. Incidentally, he does pull a One-Winged Angel into a demonic form as well.
 * Thrice. He goes One-Winged Angel thrice. Twice in the second game, once in the third.
 * If this Troper is not mistaken, Nobunaga did actually take an arrow to the neck during the battle, which is part of the origin for his unsavory reputation. Surviving a seemingly lethal wound is apparently unnerving to most people.
 * Capcom loves Evil Nobunaga. So in Sengoku Basara, he's once again a cruel, ruthless S.O.B with a sword, a shotgun and a nasty cape that can attack enemies. He's also possibly the most Obviously Evil depiction of him, a Tin Tyrant decked out in Spikes of Villainy and often seen reclining on his throne of skulls. When you have Norio Wakamoto as the voice actor, of course ham is to be expected.
 * The anime turns this Up to Eleven: Dramatic Thunder and Ominous German Chanting follow Nobunaga whenever he makes an appearance.
 * And the third game does even better when Nobunaga returns Like a Badass Out of Hell, having apparently taken over the sixth underworld and turned his epithet into a literal description. As a playable character, his story pretty much involves killing everyone else in Japan before returning to Hell again.
 * In Kessen III, Nobunaga does a rare turn as the protagonist, depicted in much more idealized fashion, making the traitor whose attack would kill him the antagonist, while using relatively conventional depictions of the rest of the cast. (Unlike Samurai Warriors however it actually deals with the shogunate at the time.) This game surprisingly contains a lot of Take That to treatments toward Nobunaga in general fiction...
 * He appears in the first Kessen in a cutscene, also in a non-evil depiction, as a vision of the idealistic Tokugawa Ieyasu speaking of his dream of a unified Japan. Well-Intentioned Extremist of sorts?
 * Samurai Warriors has Nobunaga as one of many playable characters. He has a reputation for brutality and is called "The Demon King"; however, perhaps uniquely to the Samurai Warriors (1st game) depiction, his wife wavers between wanting to kill for him and wanting to kill him (their marriage was a setup for his assassination, but she hasn't completely adhered to this nor turned away from that), and at the same time he has a relationship with his page Mori Ranmaru; as he was also noted in Japan for this relationship, this perhaps is one of the few instances if any of a male video game character being openly bisexual, even if not overtly.
 * He also gets paired up ironically in the second game with Akechi Mitsuhide, his future killer. However, in his ending he actually.
 * Koei also really, really likes to show off his evilness by having him shed pitch black feathers all over the place despite having no visible wings.
 * It really should be noted that the Koei games in general tend to portray Nobunaga as a pragmatist and a Magnificent Bastard more than anything else. Sure, he still has the 'evil feather' thing going, but this portrayal of him really shines in the Warriors Orochi Spin-Off. There, Nobunaga sheds most of the 'evil demon' crap that surrounds him even in the Koei games and is more of a Magnificent Bastard... with a heart of gold. It somehow makes sense in the game.
 * In game, Oda is shown more in the context of "This guy (Orochi) is a complete bastard with a disregard to all things around him, and people hate him a so much that I just seem petty by comparison". It could be guessed from ingame events and text that because of Orochi's single minded and incredibly cruel attitude to EVERYBODY, possibly even going out of his way for it, so Oda then becomes just a bastard to make sure that everybody didn't die.
 * One shouldn't take the Dynasty Warrior series as Koei's only game, or in fact, their trademark game. Most of the time, he is just a Magnificent Bastard.
 * Additionally, Nobunaga wields a sword which is visibly infused with Black Magic.
 * He gets less evil with each incarnation, and even Magoichi Saika, a man who loathes him with a passion, finds the rule of Nobunaga preferable to the chaos that happens after his death.
 * Nobunaga is the final boss of the Neo Geo fighting game Ninja Master's, complete with a pair of flaming swords and a posessed demonic cape.
 * In Inindo, Nobunaga is, naturally, the Big Bad. But through careful play, he can die when historically supposed to (Shocks!) and be replaced by a random guy who appears for no reason with his demon-pet. Woowee!
 * A rare case of a non-evil Oda Nobunaga: the Koei strategy video game Nobunaga's Ambition, which lets you play as Nobunaga or any of three dozen other daimyo trying to claim the Japanese crown. Nobunaga generally has the best attributes of all of them, though.
 * In the series' crossover with Pokémon, known as Pokémon Conquest in America, Nobunaga is one of the main antagonists. His Badassery is not lost here, as he gets to control not one, but two Legendary dragons (first Shiny Rayquaza, then Zekrom) through the course of the game.
 * The Taikou Risshiden RPG/strategy series, where Hideyoshi is the main character, has Nobunaga shown as an magnificent lord defying the norm by trusting a peasant-born warrior.
 * Shogun: Total War has a non-evil Nobunaga, in the linear campaign the player gets to command several of his more famous battles.
 * Nobunaga makes a very brief appearance at the beginning of a historical campaign mission in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, in which he is assassinated. The player then receives control of Hideyoshi's troops and the goal is to destroy three castles in Kyoto to avenge Nobunaga's death.
 * In the erotic game Sengoku Rance, Nobunaga is shown to be a very compassionate leader and loves his sister dearly. His genocidal tendency are caused by being possessed by a literal demon.
 * Nobunaga gets referenced in Soul Calibur as the one who cut off Yoshimitsu's arm, or at least was there when it happened, and is the one responsible for Yoshimitsu's Doomed Hometown.
 * Oda Nobunaga is the Japanese leader in Civilization V, his skill (Bushido) allows damaged units to be able to fight on as if they had full strength, with the right Social Policies damaging units actually makes them tougher to kill, therefore it's highly debated whether his ability is overpowered or not.
 * Nobunaga in Ikusagami inverts this
 * Nobunaga appears as the immortal demon lord Big Bad in Sakura Wars: So Long My Love. (Ranmaru, meanwhile, is The Dragon and appears as a bunny boy in a dress.)
 * In Robo Aleste, Nobunaga is revealed to be the reincarnation of Lucifer, who will try to destroy the world by revealing his true form. Or so Astaros claims; the ending isn't quite clear.
 * In Persona 2 there are monsters/Persona based on Nobunaga called "Demon King", in Japanese, it's called "Dairoku Tenmaoh". Later, in Persona 4, Kanji Tatsumi's evolved Persona is a shortened version of these demon/Persona: "Rokuten Maoh".

Web Original

 * Travis of Four Player Podcast has a loud, blood-thirsty alter ego that he uses sometimes in games of Halo named Nobunaga. Whether or not he's related at all to Oda Nobunaga has yet to be confirmed.