Samurai Shodown/Characters

This is a list of characters in Samurai Shodown.

Haohmaru
Our main hero who's out just mainly so he can get some kicks out of fighting those who are strong. Likes to booze off with drinks and of course, fight. A a young man, he once lost against Yagyu Jubei and gets pumped up to get stronger. After said loss, he studied under Nicotine alongside Genjuro, and ends up being chosen as the school's successor much to Genjuro's dismay. In his travels to find worthy opponents, he finds himself entangled with many events, first by Amakusa, then adopting Shizumaru, helping to tame his demon self, eventually later being targeted by Mizuki for his soul, and then getting captured and enslaved by Yuga, until someone (either Nakoruru, or even Genjuro) breaks him free and later, makes an inspiration for Takechiyo in his quest to fight Golba. Oh, and he's got a Yamato Nadeshiko lover named Oshizu.

Tropes associated with Haohmaru:
 * The Alcoholic: You never see him in a game without a jug of sake. From Samurai Shodown II on, one of his specials involves whacking you with it too!
 * "Alcoholic" is even the title of his Samurai Shodown III theme.
 * Anime Hair: And how! It even gets bigger every game.
 * Badass Grandpa: In the Distant Finale.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Usually in the backstories of other characters that he will hardly interact with outside of endings (i.e. Shizumaru and Takechiyo).
 * The Big Guy: Crossovers tends to portray him as this, being someone who is slow in combos, but deals massive damage. In the NGPC SNK vs. Capcom, he's even paired with Street Fighter's Zangief.
 * Blood Knight: A slight variation in that Haohmaru is fueled not by sadism, but by the sheer thrill of a good fight.
 * Blow You Away: His traditional Fireball, which sends out a compact spinning tornado which throws opponents high into the air on contact.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: A more idealistic version, as well as one of the rare main charas who follow the trope.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: In Samurai Shodown 64 by Yuga.
 * Dude in Distress: Thank you, Yuga.
 * Duty First, Love Second: He's dedicated entirely to fighting, as Shizu and later Charlotte came to learn. He actually lampshades it in his ending in the second game, where he and Oshizu kiss as he mentally apologizes to her.
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Oshizu, or sometimes Nakoruru when they're paired off in series covers. Granted, Haohmaru isn't THAT huge, but not only his hair is huge, but both girls are tiny.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the Red, while Genjuro is the Blue.
 * Rule of Cool: One of his winposes has him throw his sword upwards, spin its sheath as the sword accurately enters the sheath back. What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?. To call it "awesome" would be an understatement.
 * Shout-Out: Based on Miyamoto Musashi.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": "Haohmal". Some arcade stickers include the romanization "Haōmaru".
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: His preference on women, which Oshizu happens to be

Tachibana Ukyo
The series' Bishonen, master of Iaijutsu, and formerly the main rival of Haohmaru until Genjuro appears. Ukyo is a complete Chick Magnet who attracts ladies wherever he goes. He suffers from Tubercolosis and has a crush on a certain Yamato Nadeshiko named Kei Odagiri. He fights for her happiness, but not to win her love because of his short lifespan. He also has a link with Kurokouchi Yumeji, a successor of his master's Iaijutsu school and went out of his way to bring him/her back to the cause of good, and later convinced him/her to become a nun. He was supposed to die after Samurai Shodown 64-2, but due to his popularity it was retconned in Edge of Destiny.

Tropes associated with Ukyo:
 * Badass Back: He usually faces backwards when fighting, but if you ever see him face forward... let's just say you're dead
 * Bishonen: He has a beautiful, feminine-like face, complimented with his slender frame and long blue hair.
 * Blood From the Mouth
 * Chick Magnet: In almost all games, Ukyo escapes off the screen when a lot of screaming girls chase after him, all of them are also Yamato Nadeshiko as his beloved kei.
 * Demoted to Extra: Somewhat. In the first game, he was Haohmaru's true rival. When Genjuro comes in, everything went downhill as eventually he is never very relevant to the plot again and reduced into something of a Cannon Fodder for Haohmaru (see Haohmaru's ending in Samurai Shodown IV).
 * Diagonal Cut: His Fatality, which is also ludicrously fast.
 * Iaijutsu Practitioner: His fighting style, which also compliments his Badass Back stance.
 * Ill Boy: Incurable Cough of Death included.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Most of his fighting purposes. More exactly, his relationship with Kei Odagiri.
 * Reverse Grip: Started using it in the third game, usually for his most damaging normal attacks and a couple specials.
 * Shout-Out: If Haohmaru is Miyamoto Musashi, Ukyo is Sasaki Kojirou. He even got Kojirou's Tsubame Gaeshi as his move.
 * The Stoic: If there's someone who'd let out Visible Silence so often, it's him.
 * Sword Beam: The ground based projectile used by his Bust/Rasetsu incarnations is this.
 * Victory Is Boring: "The moment I drew my sword, the fight was over. Ho-hum."
 * Warrior Poet: The only two languages Ukyo speaks are Visible Silence and Haiku.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: His preference of women, which his lady-in-liege Kei Odagiri happens to be.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: With Kei, oh booooooy.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: For one: blue hair should be nonexistent in feudal Japan, they haven't gotten the necessary materials.

Nakoruru
The heroine of the series, most of the time the one being concerned in defeating the Big Bad (compared to Haohmaru, who's in just for the fight itself). She is a beautiful young priestess of the Ainu tribe who fights in order to protect Mother Nature herself, residing in the village of Kamui Kotan. Usually, she abhors fighting and is a Friend to All Living Things, but eventually she comes to terms on it and becomes more eager to fight, if it is to protect. She's usually accompanied with her pet hawk Mamahaha. Has a little sister named Rimururu. As it turned out, she made a contact with the spirit of nature to become their champion. She aided Haohmaru a lot in his quests, but after the battle against Mizuki, she sacrificed herself to restore the harmony of Nature.

SNK retconned her "death" in Edge of Destiny (which is after the Samurai Shodown 64 series). Her spirit only wakes up whenever there is trouble against Nature.

Tropes associated to Nakoruru:


 * The Beast Master: Mamahaha and Shikuru.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Played straight till V Special, where she was immune to fatalities.
 * Brutally averted thereafter, where she (and the other female characters) are susceptible to fatal attacks. Killing Nakoruru with certain attacks can decapitate her, slice her in half, impale her in the crotch or disembowel her, among other things.
 * Celibate Heroine: Very aware of Galford's crush, but is adamant into never getting into a relationship since her mission is her priority..
 * The Nakoruru: Ano Hito Kara no Okurimono game has her explaining that her priestess nature doesn't allow her to think or desire for her own happiness, because it would be a distraction from her duty..
 * Clothing Damage: Killing Nakoruru with slash attacks will slice her kimono top off, exposing her breasts as her body collapses. Vertical slashes will also cut the waistband of her trousers, causing them to slide down her thighs and expose her white panties.
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Fragile Speedster: She's almost as fast as the ninjas, but gets killed very easily due to her low defense.
 * Friend to All Living Things
 * Hime Cut: To further emphasis her femininity. She's not of royal blood, however.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Bordering on Canon Sue at times.
 * Mascot: Alongside Terry Bogard, she is SNK's other mascot. Unlike Athena, however, if they ever get into crossovers, Nakoruru just feels indifferent with Terry.
 * Nature Heroine: All her fights are dedicated to the protection of Mother Nature.
 * The Neo Geo DJ Station drama CD pokes fun at this in one skit. It involves Nakoruru stewing horrendously mismatched ingredients whilst going on about how they're all natural, therefore bound to taste delicious together.
 * Nature Spirit: She ended up like this after Samurai Shodown II. Which might excuse why she appeared in her youthful form long after her death. Even at The King of Fighters.
 * Onee-Sama: She pretty much is one for Rimururu and Mikato.
 * Reluctant Warrior: If it's possible, she'd rather not fight.
 * Reverse Grip: Uses it often.
 * Ship Tease: Despite her dedication on Nature, there is a lot of teases about her and Galford.
 * Undignified Death: Tied to the above Clothing Damage trope when Nakoruru is killed by slash attacks, as her body will sprawl dead with her breasts and panties exposed.
 * Wall Jump: Capable of doing such thing even when she's not a Ninja.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko

Galford D. Weiler
American sailor/surfer dude turned into McNinja, fighting for justice. He trained under the same master as Earthquake, and completed his training to become a full fledged ninja. He is mostly accompanied with his pet dog Poppy. Is very much in love with Nakoruru, though she is way too focused on her mission on nature to focus on that. For some reason, has an ability to generate lightning. Although at first seems like someone who doesn't have a focus except enforcing justice here and there, Edge of Destiny reveals that he had a father who was like him, a justice lover... who got killed by Draco. Since he's also, well, evil, Galford sets out to kick his ass, for both justice and revenge.

Tropes associated with Galford: ""SHADDAP! NEVAH FORGEVE JUSS LAEK YUU!""
 * The Beast Master: Some of his specials sic his huskie Poppy on opponents.
 * Big No: He usually lets it out when he's beaten.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: An American who's into justice and has the excitement on battles.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Towards Nakoruru. Puns not intended. In a mild subversion:.
 * Eagle Land: Type B, but mostly on a heroic light.
 * Fun Personified
 * Generation Xerox: Aside of the ninja stuff, he is pretty much a justice lover like his father.
 * Gratuitous English: Well, is the sky blue?
 * Justice Will Prevail: Lives by his father's ideals.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Quite literally, as he actually uses lightning.
 * Love Freak
 * McNinja: He's dressed in what is almost an exact palette-swap of Hanzo, but in personality, he's as American as apple pie.
 * Parental Abandonment: He ran away from home, leaving his mother and his four older sisters. And his father got killed by Draco.
 * Ryu and Ken: With Hanzo, he is mostly set as the Ken.
 * Scarf of Asskicking: His most prized possession, from his sensei Ayame.
 * Shock and Awe: "Plasma Blade!"
 * Toshihiko Seki: In the Dengeki drama CD series.
 * Wall Jump: He's a ninja. It's pretty much a requirement for this game.
 * Wataru Takagi: In the movie.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: His preference of women... and Nakoruru just happens to be one.
 * You Killed My Father: Draco, as we finally learn in Sen. In his own words:

Hattori Hanzo
The legendary Ninja in services of the Tokugawa shogunate, and is pretty much the enemy of anyone who opposes them. Super serious. He is good friends with Jubei and Yoshitora. In the events of the first game, he witnessed his son Shinzo possessed by Amakusa and he sets off to rescue him, only getting his body, not his soul. In the second game, he successfully retrieved his soul, but not after his Action Mom wife Kaede performed a Heroic Sacrifice. Said son will later succeed him in the distant future that is Warriors' Rage. Also makes a anachronistic appearance in King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2.

Tropes associated with Hanzo:
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Humility isn't really his thing.
 * Badass Grandpa/Cool Old Guy: Despite not being that old.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: The few times he's been seen without his mask, we can see a BIG scar across one of his eyes.
 * Hitman with a Heart Well, he is a ninja.
 * Invisibility: One of his moves is to turn invisible.
 * Legacy Character In the Distant Finale, one of his sons (widely believed to be Shinzo) takes over the name of Hattori Hanzo and becomes head of the clan.
 * Ninja: He also eats with his mouth.
 * Ninja Log: Probably used the first playable fighting version of this trope.
 * Papa Wolf: To Shinzou, and by extension to his pupil Kanzou.
 * Playing with Fire: Though not his main repertoire, Hanzo possessed an ability to punch the ground to create fiery explosions, as shown in one of his moves, Bakuen Ryu.
 * Ryu and Ken: With Galford, he is the Ryu.
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * The Stoic: He doesn't speak much.
 * Wall Jump

Yagyu Jubei
Another legendary Samurai (mostly based on Mitsuyoshi), once defeated a young Haohmaru and sent him off to Nicotine for honing his potential. Jubei serves the Tokugawa shogunate, and was Yoshitora's sword instructor. Also a good friend of Hanzo, but by the time of the first game, he's out in retirement for inner enlightenment. He helps out in defeating Amakusa, but later on, his soul, alongside with Haohmaru's, Kyoshiro's and Sieger's, is targeted by Mizuki to revive Ambrosia. He is saved by the good Amakusa, and later returns to help defeat Mizuki. Fandom is a bit naughty on him, due to his slightly comical tone of voice, making him somewhat a Butt Monkey in some fan comics.

Tropes associated with Jubei:
 * Badass Grandpa: He's a middle-aged samurai.
 * Butt Monkey: Fandom only.
 * Dual-Wielding: With his daisho.
 * Eyepatch of Power Legend has it that Yagyū Jūbei had the use of only one eye; most legends state that he lost it in a sword sparring session where his father Yagyū Munenori struck him accidentally. However, portraits from Jubei's time portray him as having both eyes. Several authors of late have chosen to portray Jūbei as having both eyes, though the classical "eyepatch" look remains standard.
 * Handicapped Badass: Blind in one eye, but no less of a deadly warrior.
 * Kiyoshi Kobayashi
 * Rated "M" for Manly: A gruff, older man in a series with plenty of younger, more classically handsome men.
 * Samurai: Along with Haohmaru, he's the most clear-cut example in the series.

Earthquake
Overly obese Texan McNinja. Earthquake used to learn under Galford's sensei Ayame, but quit early due to his greed. He later becomes a bandit, leading his gang to cause mischief here and there. His fart is said to be poisonous. He's always working for the bad guy, but later enters Makai, lured by the treasures there and vanished, never to be heard again.

Tropes associated with Earthquake:
 * Ass Kicks You: Or more like, 'Ass Stomps You'.
 * Bald of Evil: A bald, evil and notorious bandit.
 * Dumb Muscle: Earthquake is evil and driven for the money, but not certainly smart. Seen in his Samurai Shodown II ending when he went to Makai with their mooks by the offer of money, only to get trapped there forever. Or at least until SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos when he and their minions get out, his main plot on this game.
 * Eagle Land: Type B... well, mostly.
 * Epic Flail: He has a kusarigama as his weapon of choice.
 * Fartillery: His epic kick grab in the first 2 games.
 * Gonk: It's also his complex: "His face looks like an old woman's."
 * Lightning Bruiser: Especially since the second game, when he gained a few ninja abilities.
 * McNinja: Like Galford, he's coming from America, in this case, from Texas.
 * Mighty Glacier: The slow-but-strong character from the first 2 games, as well the biggest character of them that can't be throwed by any opponent.
 * Stout Strength: That gigantic size does come with great strength.
 * Wall Jump: Gained this ability in the second game.

Shiranui Gen-An
An... uh... goblin-like monster who claims himself 'The King of Demons' and does his best to do evils here and there, while being quite inept at it. Has a hot, very much humanly wife named Azami, and she bore him a lot of kids... LIKE HIM. During the first game, he is killed, but the second game had him resurrected by Mizuki. Eventually, however, under the begging of Azami, Gen-An stops fighting and settles down. Hinted to be the distant ancestor of that Stripperiffic Ninja Mai Shiranui.

Tropes Associated with Gen-An:
 * Bald of Evil: Supports his 'evil goblin' persona.
 * Cartoon Creature: In a series that debuted with a cast of fairly realistic human characters (some even based on real-life, historical figures), he stands out as a completely fantasy-based, goblinoid creature.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: One of his moves and his eventual super involves spinning.
 * Gonk: The series' ugliest!
 * I'm a Humanitarian
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: When your winposes are somewhat mirroring Haohmaru, you know you're not serious.
 * Ted Baxter: He likes claiming himself 'The Demon King'.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: And descendant, some say.
 * Wall Jump: Gained this ability in the second game.

Charlotte Christine de Colde
French fencer who came to Japan thanks to the trouble brewing there (starting from Gaoh). During the course of the first game, she became a good friend with Nakoruru. After the first Samurai Shodown, she returns to France and participates in the French Revolution, later coming back to Japan after hearing Amakusa's return, then she meets Haohmaru, whom she eventually falls for, but she was unaware of him having a lover already. She returns in the second game to fight off Mizuki, now with longer hair maybe to impress him, but found out that he's already taken. Facing the bitter truth, Charlotte cut her hair off and returned to France, hoping to be stronger.

Tropes associated with Charlotte: ""Juéé t'êêêêêm? Madeumwazzêêêlll?""
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Her crush on Haohmaru.
 * Battle Ballgown: She's quite modestly dressed for a fighting-game female, and sports a long, tunic-like skirt with her armour-plate.
 * Boobs of Steel: Subverted. Slightly above average at best, never really emphasized in the games. Her other assets, on the other hand...
 * Cyanide Pill: Her suicide move from Samurai Shodown IV seems to be this.
 * Everyone Looks Sexier If French: If she really was supposed to be introduced as the 'sexy' Foil of the cuter Nakoruru. She came off as pretty damn Badass instead.
 * Gratuitous French: Has gone from ear-grating to amusing to just short of decent. "O-ribuaaa?"
 * One NPC in her SSV intro takes it a couple dozen steps further, to the utter hilarity of many a French fan.


 * Hair of Gold
 * Hot Chick with a Sword
 * Important Haircut: When she sees that Haohmaru does love Oshizu despite his dedication to fighting, she decides to get over it and starts by cutting her long hair with her rapier.
 * Lady of War: She's a sophisticated, classically beautiful woman who elegantly wields an epee in combat.
 * Patriotic Fervor: Following the events of the first game, she returns to France to participate in the French Revolution.
 * Royal Rapier: She wields an epee in combat, which complements her elegant, French character.
 * Sakiko Tamagawa: In the movie.
 * Shout-Out: Her look is very much inspired with Oscar Jarjayes from Rose of Versailles (but not her crossdressing tendencies).
 * Stripperiffic: Notably averted. Her bulky combat armor is only two heels away from realistic.

Tam-Tam
Hero of the Greenhell tribe in South America, protecting the Tanjil and Palenke Stones, which is responsible of keeping Ambrosia to be brought to the world. He was actually slain by Gaoh in the past, but one tribesman brought his mask to him, which resurrects him. Later, during Amakusa's return, Tam Tam hunts down the Palenke stone and retrieves it, but on the other hand, his sister Cham-Cham lost the other stone, thereby subjecting Tam-Tam to be punished... .

Tropes associated with Tam-Tam:
 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Back From the Dead: Look below.
 * Badass Boast
 * Badass Bystander/Legacy Character: Tam-Tam in the fifth game is a mere villager who came to find the revered hero Tam-Tam slain by Gaoh.
 * The Big Guy: Tall even by Western standards, so much indeed that he is constantly crouching while fighting. Once he stands up, he towers over everyone in the game.
 * Breath Weapon: He can breathe fire.
 * Butt Monkey: The fourth game turns him to this, first there's Galford's ending where his puppies took away his mask; then there's his ending where.
 * Hot-Blooded: His winquote describes it all: "My Boiling Blood Bubbles For Battle!"
 * Mask Power: Enough to revive him.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Takehito Koyasu: In the movie.
 * Wild Man

Senryo Kyoshiro
Kabuki actor who thinks Kabuki dancing is Serious Business. The evil presence kept disturbing his performances, so he usually fights to preserve his dancing stage. The second game provides a much bigger threat for him when his fellow performer got possessed, and he's forced to kill him, and later, he discovers that his soul is required by Mizuki to bring back Ambrosia. After being saved by Amakusa, he joins in defeating Mizuki, and then adopts the priestess Bizuki, whose body were possessed by Mizuki, turning her into his fellow Kabuki dancer.

Tropes associated with Kyoshiro:
 * Anime Hair: Look at it. Look at it.
 * Blade on a Stick: Wields a naginata named "Caring Wife".
 * Breath Weapon: He can breathe fire.
 * Handicapped Badass: He only uses one foot to stand while fighting. Even more amusing, when he defeats his palette-swapped counterpart in Samurai Shodown I, he calls him "ham".
 * Paper Fan of Doom
 * Serious Business: "A method of acting that is a matter of life or death."
 * Took a Level In Badass: Compare his Samurai Shodown II and Samurai Shodown III sprites.
 * Very Large Ham: Emphasis ours. Kabuki, people!

Wan-fu
Chinese Warlord out to unify China. Despite his seemingly evil idea, he is merely a good guy trying to make best of the situation, and to protect his land, which leads him to fight off the evil forces that ravaged the land. Seems to change his weapon in every installment (uses a huge scimitar in the first game, stone pillar in the second, huge mace in the fifth game). Doesn't seem to know that there is a fourth wall.

Tropes associated to Wan-fu: ""Life is a dream. And it's Morning for you!""
 * Ass Kicks You: One of his aerial kicks, one of his standing kicks and one of his grabs.
 * Badass Boast:


 * BFS
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Probably even more than Haohmaru.
 * Hot-Blooded: At least in the first game, his Rage gauge fills up faster than anyone else's, and stays maxed out for the longest, as well.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He usually acts like a Jerkass and sometimes as a Casanova Wannabe, but he has a good heart and fights for his people as well he's a good ally for Haohmaru's group.
 * Lightning Bruiser: He's not much of a Mighty Glacier compared to Earthquake.
 * No Fourth Wall: Second game's ending.
 * Take Over China: "OF COURSE!"
 * Use Your Head: Has a move in the second game which involves repeatedly slamming his head into his stone pillar to raise his extra gauge while losing a small amount of health.
 * Weapon of Choice: Notable for averting this; each game saw him using a different weapon.

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada
Based on the Christian rebel with the same name, Amakusa made a pact with Ambrosia on his death due to his unjust execution. He possessed Hanzo's son Shinzo and returned to the land, spreading chaos. Ultimately, he is defeated and banished back to Makai, leaving Shinzo's body... then his soul is split in half, one is the good Amakusa who wants to truly atone for his sins, the other is the evil Amakusa, still hating the world. The evil one later kidnaps a Barrier Maiden named Hazuki Kazama, placed her inside a seal to sap her out of her life energy, and tried to use her to bring Zankuro Minazuki Back From the Dead and keep him on the leash... until Hazuki's brothers Kazuki and Sogetsu kick his ass and destroy him permanently. The good Amakusa, still using Shinzo's body, tried to make amends, but was later sealed by Mizuki. He breaks free just in time to save Haohmaru, Jubei, Kyoshiro and Sieger from having their souls stolen by Mizuki, but after that he is killed by Mizuki permanently, leaving Shinzo's body for Hanzo to rescue.

Tropes associated with Amakusa:
 * The Atoner: His good self.
 * Back From the Dead: Twice.
 * Enemy Without: Aku Amakusa.
 * Heel Face Turn: Is a bad guy in the first game; afterwards, there has been a Split Personality issue where Aku Amakusa wants to continue his evil ways, but his default self wants to atone for his sins.
 * Noblewoman's Laugh: No wonder many are fooled.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His first reason for coming back and the basis of his evil self.
 * Shout-Out
 * SNK Boss: In the first game at least. Less noticeable than other bosses since The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard in Samurai Shodown I (effectively making every character a boss fight) and because of a Good Bad Bugs case that allowed the player to win the first round against him easily. Still, he remains a very cheap enemy, as his special moves have zero recovery time, can break out of combos and can dizzy you quite easily.
 * Split Personality/Super-Powered Evil Side: Aku Amakusa.
 * Voice of the Legion: Aku Amakusa again.
 * Wall Jump

Kibagami Genjuro
Haohmaru's true rival. An assassin for hire, with very much enjoyment in killing those who are weak. He starts out a decent man, training alongside Haohmaru, but has a hunger for power, which got him failing to be the school successor and even got himself expelled from the dojo. He also has a deep-seated hatred for Haohmaru, not just because he's his 'goody-goody' rival, but also because he looked like a man Genjuro killed because said man slept with his mother, which eventually led his mother to attack him, forcing Genjuro to kill her in self-defense. Said mother also looked like Shiki, and Genjuro has a soft spot on her, since at least he loved his mother. In Samurai Shodown 64-2, he unwittingly played the hero since Haohmaru got Brainwashed and Crazy by Yuga, and he presumably is the one to break him out of control and was about to kill him, until a little kid whose father he killed stabbed him on the back, killing him... Then SNK retconned that AGAIN, since in Edge of Destiny he's alive and kicking.

Tropes associated with Genjuro:
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Oh boy. Genjuro is very proud of his skills as a hitokiri and looks down anyone who in his eyes look weak.
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait: Yeah.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Supplemental materials suggest that Genjuro regrets it bigtime... which explains his soft spot to Shiki, a dead-ringer for her.
 * Expy: He is sometimes likened to a 'Samurai Iori Yagami', though they're not related and despite Genjuro being created before. SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos makes fun of this.
 * Freudian Excuse: Son of a prostitute. Killed a client who was mistreating his mother. Mother went loopy and tried to kill her son, who ended up having to kill her in self-defense. No fuckin' wonder the dude is pissed off.
 * And to twist the knife to the wound? Said client looked like Haohmaru. It's not Haohmaru's fault in the least, but still.
 * The Gambler: His stage, special moves and winposes in his debut game are all hanafuda references.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Towards Haohmaru.
 * Psycho for Hire: Hitokiri, to be more exact.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Subverted. The Blue to Haohmaru's Red at first sight, Genjuro is solely in it out of sadism.
 * The Rival: For Haohmaru.
 * Self-Made Orphan: Not exactly by choice.
 * Shout-Out: Inverted. Watsuki being a bigtime fan, Genjuro's design was what inspired the design of pre-mummy Makoto Shishio.
 * Social Darwinist: He excuses his killing by rationalizing that people who piss him off are stupid, and stupid people defile the world by their existence; therefore, he does everyone a favor by killing them.
 * Wouldn't Hit a Girl: In Samurai Shodown V, the reason he didn't cut down Sankuro at first sight was because he didn't want to kill the girl in front of him.

Cham-Cham
Little sister of Tam-Tam, and a somewhat likes to act like a cat, or playing and getting shocked by electric eels. She accidentally lost the Tanjil stone during a trip to play and in compensation, tried to retrieve it, accompanied by her pet chimpanzee Paku-Paku. In the end of her story, she found out that.

Tropes associated with Cham-Cham:
 * Ass Kicks You: One of her aerial "kicks".
 * The Beast Master: Controls her pet monkey Paku-Paku.
 * Catgirl Often compared with Felicia and even has her color scheme.
 * Cute Bruiser: Adorable, and fights in a far more feral manner than her fellow females.
 * Genki Girl: This girl is always in high spirit.
 * Jungle Princess: Her look: unlike her brother, her design takes no cues from the Mayincatec aesthetic.
 * Precision-Guided Boomerang: Her melee and projectile attacks employ her boomerang, which returns back into her hands even if she's being thrown.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Somewhat: she is the replacement of her older brother. She is much more well received though.
 * Wild Child: So much so that she actually dresses like a jungle cat, and her movement patterns suggest an animal, not a human.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

Neinhalt Sieger
Leader of the Prussian Red Lion Knights. He protects his country from Mizuki, and his soul happens to be one of the souls that Mizuki sought to resurrect Ambrosia. He is, however, saved by Amakusa and later contributed in Mizuki's defeat. He returned home victorious and marries Princess Elizabeth, his liege's daughter.

Tropes associated to Sieger:
 * Badass Baritone: Rather deep voiced. Very Badass.
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Bodyguard Crush/Duty First, Love Second: To Elizabeth, who loves him back. They end up Happily Married in his ending.
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait/Foreign Fanservice: Yes, really.
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Princess Elizabeth.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Is one of the biggest and most muscular characters amongst the cast, but is quite quick on his own.
 * Love Freak: Possibly, based on his win quote, "Love is the best weapon in the world", unless it's just really one Blind Idiot Translation.
 * Patriotic Fervor: He's undyingly loyal to the Prussian Crown.
 * Power Fist/Swiss Army Weapon: His gauntlet doesn't just punch, it shoots things and sets his body on fire.
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: In an attempt to appeal to female fans.

Kafuin Nicotine
An old priest, formerly the master of both Haohmaru and Genjuro. He expelled Genjuro due to his bloodlust, and keeps in check about Haohmaru, especially when Mizuki starts targetting him. Nicotine later goes to battle to kill Mizuki and protect Haohmaru. He retires from the battle after the second game. Later in the Samurai Shodown 64 series, he is entrusted with Shiki's daughter Mikoto; and he raised her, helped with Haohmaru and his grandson Gaira.

Tropes associated with Nicotine:
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Interface Screw: One of his attacks will reverse your joystick controls for a brief time.
 * Old Master
 * Playing with Fire/Shock and Awe: More talisman-based, but you get the idea.
 * Punny Name: Also known as Caffeine, usually his name is written in katakana.

Rashoujin Mizuki
A vengeful spirit who made pact with Ambrosia, somehow made famous as one of the first female Big Bad in fighting game history. She was later challenged by the priestess Bizuki, whom she defeats and possessed. She took over Amakusa's effort to revive Ambrosia, and dispatched him when he betrayed her when she tried to extract the souls for the Tanjil stone (Haohmaru's, Kyoshiro's, Jubei's and Sieger's). She is eventually defeated, but left the corruption so bad that Nakoruru had to do a Heroic Sacrifice to set things right again. With Mizuki leaving Bizuki's body, she returned to normal life and was later drafted by Kyoshiro to assist him in his kabuki performances.

Tropes associated with Mizuki:
 * Baleful Polymorph: One of her attacks will briefly turn you into a helpless animal, usually a pig.
 * The Beast Master: With her beast Maju.
 * Big Bad
 * Body Snatcher: Poor, poor Bizuki.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: with Kyoshiro.
 * Interface Screw: One of her moves will have your direction control reversed.
 * Miko: Or more exactly, the woman whose body she stole was this.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Why she joined Ambrosia in the first place.
 * SNK Boss: She's fast and her weapon can't be broken, for starters.
 * Voice of the Legion: Less distorted than the typical example though.
 * Wall Jump

Kuroko
A mysterious fighter that acts as the judge of the fights in a few of the games. He has four other brothers that dress identical to him, making them indistinguishable from each other. He is a powerful fighter, but rarely enters the arena. While he appears in the first game, he reveals himself as a fighter until the second.

Tropes associated with Kuroko:
 * Bonus Boss: In Samurai Shodown II, you will fight him either randomly or by fulfilling certain conditions.
 * No Name Given: His name is obscured in the Samurai Shodown II credits. Recently ist's been revealed that his real name is Sukihiro ["Kuroko" is just an alias].
 * Shout-Out: Mostly to other SNK games, and how! He is the embodiment of this trope.
 * SNK Boss: He is strong and extremely fast. Plus, in Samurai Shodown II, his weapon can't be broken.

Hisame Shizumaru
An amnesiac boy who is deemed as a "demon", only naming himself after his sword. He had a traumatic past as detailed in the fifth game. He usually trains and seeks advice from Haohmaru and eventually after learning about a great 'demon' named Minazuki Zankuro, he travels with Haohmaru and defeats him. Unfortunately, he found out that he is also a demon, as he found out that he also has his fit of bloodlust like Zankuro. Thankfully, he manages to make peace with it and proceeded to live in peace.

Tropes associated with Shizumaru:
 * Amnesiac Dissonance
 * And Then John Was a Zombie: He's been called a 'demon' (only called), hunts demons, but eventually found out that he does have a demon bloodlust on him.
 * Apologetic Attacker: Some of his win-poses has him make a double take, mutter an apology and bow respectfully to his fallen opponent. Also, after performing his Tesshun Ougi, the poor boy will be horrified to see his rival dead and collapse in tears.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Granted, he is mostly based on both Himura Kenshin and Kurama. This was given a nod . See it at 6:07.
 * Parasol of Pain: He wields an oil-paper parasol, which acts as his primary weapon, along with a wakizashi.
 * Ship Tease: He is often put into this with Nakoruru's sister Rimururu.
 * Shrinking Violet: Male exemple.
 * Troubled but Cute: Sweeter than the standard, but with a VERY Dark and Troubled Past.

Rimururu
Nakoruru's adoptive little sister. She is also a priestess of Ainu, and instead fights using an ice spirit named Konru/Konril. At first, Nakoruru forbid her from fighting, but she managed to build up enough resolve to be acknowledged by Nakoruru by the time of the third game. After the second game, when Nakoruru dies... wem goes into a deep sleep, Rimururu officially takes over her main duty as the protector of Nature.

Tropes associated with Rimururu:
 * An Ice Person
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Played straight along with the other female characters till V Special, and averted thereafter. While also subject to extremely brutal deaths, hers were notably less undignified than her sister's, as even though killing Rimururu with slash attacks caused her clothes to be cut, the sensitive parts of her body are never exposed.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Distress Ball: PS 1 Warriors Rage hands her this one when Oboro captures her so she doesn't interfere to his plans. Nakoruru had to take action and urge the rest of the warriors to rescue her.
 * Drop the Hammer: Her fatality consist in her smashing the opponent in the ground with a small iceberg on a stick.
 * Just a Kid: And she doesn't like being treated like that.
 * Names to Know in Anime: Thus far, she had at least once being voiced by Hitomi Nabatame (fifth game) and Rie Kugimiya (sixth game).
 * Not Blood Siblings
 * Plucky Girl

Kubikiri Basara
A restless spirit who was killed alongside his lover Kagaribi by the hands of Zankuro. Turns out that she was killed by Basara himself, but in denial, he continued to blame Zankuro, enough to come back to the mortal world to hunt down Zankuro... and swiftly killed again. Then Amakusa revived him, but he proves to be rebellious and attempts to kill him again. Amakusa later lures him into a trap and imprisons him in a stone pillar.

Tropes associated with Basara:
 * Ax Crazy
 * Fuuma Shuriken: Wields a giant shuriken attached to a length of chain.
 * Ghost Lights: Can summon one as a projectile.
 * Gorn: His fatality. Enough said....
 * He Who Fights Monsters
 * Love Makes You Evil: Oh God, poor Kagaribi...
 * Precision Guided Fuuma Shuriken
 * Psycho for Hire
 * The Undead
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Even after you die.
 * Youkai: A Yurei.

Kafuin Gaira
Nicotine's very huge grandson, and also not so bright. After an argument with Nicotine, Gaira ran off from the temple to train, and saw Zankuro's massacre, but too afraid to stop him. To make up for it, he tried to defeat him. However, he's already defeated and Gaira eventually built a shrine for his grave... only to be raided by Amakusa and used for his plans. Later on, after Amakusa and Zankuro are defeated for good, Gaira eventually returns in peace to the temple, after much training.

Tropes associated with Gaira:
 * Dumb Muscle: A strong guy, but not certainly the smartest of the group.
 * Improbable Weapon User: He fights with his beads.
 * Mighty Glacier: He's positively enormous, and very slow with it.
 * Taken for Granite: His Fatality turns the enemy into stone. He then proceeds to shatter him/her.

Minazuki Zankuro
Third game's final boss. Trying his hardest to perfect is swordsmanship, he became a brutal manslayer, likened to a demon. He went to slaughter people here and there until he finds one girl named Shiori and couldn't bring himself to kill her (she is actually his daughter). Realizing what kind of man he has become, he calls quits and retires into his hermitage, swearing only to raise his sword to fight Worthy Opponent. Said daughter eventually approached Haohmaru and Shizumaru, informing them about Zankuro, and eventually, Zankuro fought them. Both defeated him, but Zankuro has yet to give up... until a roaring thunder struck him dead. Gaira later found his corpse and built a gravestone for him. Shortly after, Amakusa attempted to bring Zankuro back to life and tried controlling him. Zankuro broke free of the control and tried to continue his battle, but this time he is Killed Off for Real by Sogetsu.

Tropes associated with Zankuro:
 * Anti-Villain: He was once a huge bastard, but as it stands now, he has retired and won't kill people discriminately. Yet he's still the Big Bad.
 * Blood Knight: A brutal version.
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In Samurai Shodown III, where combos are restricted and doing them from behind is one of the few allowed ways, he can't be comboed from behind, as he will magically block any second hit you might attempt to land on him, leading to some heavy retribution. From that same game, he has a True Final Boss round, where you must knock him down a third time, the cheating part being that even if you have not been knocked out before, you'll lose if he wins the round, and if you win by time out, you also lose the game. Finally in the fourth game, his Desperation Attack is a one hit kill if it catches you in the air.
 * Hijacked by Ganon/Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Samurai Shodown IV (subtitled AMAKUSA'S REVENGE for crying out loud) revolves around a new plan by a re-reawakened Classic Villain, so you would think said classic villain would be the final boss. Nope, after defeating Aku Amakusa, the big stone thing in the background explodes, Aku Amakusa gets sliced in half, and in walks a newly resurrected Zankuro, who in Samurai Shodown III--it should be noted—was just a normal human who was killed by lightning! Funnily enough, he's not the final battle of the game either. You gotta beat a character-specific rival after beating him.
 * My God, What Have I Done?
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: What he becomes after his death in the third game... which Amakusa tried to open.
 * SNK Boss: By Samurai Shodown IV, he had the greatest reach and base strenght of all bosses, as well as great speed.
 * Sword Beam: His fatality in Samurai Shodown V consists of a superpowered slash that fires a green wave of death at his foe, totally obliterating him/her except for the lower parts of their feet.
 * True Final Boss: In Samurai Shodown III, as mentioned above. Subverted in Samurai Shodown IV, since he is the last boss unlocked, but a special regular match follows.

Kazama Kazuki
A ninja of the Kazama clan, younger brother of Sogetsu, way too much Hot-Blooded. When Amakusa kidnaps his Barrier Maiden sister Hazuki, Kazuki left the clan to become a nukenin, with his brother hot on trail to punish and execute him. They end up fighting alongside each other against Amakusa and Zankuro (Kazuki beats Amakusa) to save Hazuki and for that, Sogetsu lets him off while keeping his death fake. Then... poor Hazuki gets kidnapped AGAIN (girl has NO luck, indeed) by Yuga the Destroyer, prompting Kazuki to save her again, and also tapping on the power of Enja who is trapped in his weapon. He goes berserk for awhile, but completed his mission and subdued Enja, then he can finally live in peace again with Hazuki.

Tropes associated with Kazuki:
 * Anime Hair
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: He's wearing a frigging RED costume and is on fire... what else do you ask for? He doesn't even quite bother with blending techniques...
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Knight Templar Big Brother: Hurt Hazuki in any way, and he'll crisp you.
 * Large Ham
 * Playing with Fire
 * Redheaded Hero
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Obviously, he's the Red Oni for Sogetsu the Blue Oni.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang

Kazama Sogetsu
Kazuki's Bishonen of a big brother, much more aloof and calm. When Hazuki gets kidnapped and Kazuki ran off, Sogetsu was assigned with the mission to kill him for running away from the clan, he complied to the mission but ended up fighting alongside Kazuki to save Hazuki from Amakusa and Zankuro (Sogetsu gets to beat Zankuro). Then he faked killing Kazuki and made a false report to his clan, ensuring that Kazuki and Hazuki would be able to live freely. Inside his weapon is another beast named Suija, which is sealed the same way as Enja is sealed on Kazuki's weapon. Sogetsu is later forced to call it off during the battle against Yuga, but he quickly overcame the possession, and returns to his clan, now recommended as the clan leader.

Tropes associated with Sogetsu:
 * Aloof Big Brother: To Kazuki and Hazuki.
 * Bishonen
 * Making a Splash
 * Ninja: Unlike Kazuki, he's not so much visible since he can hide himself in water.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the Blue Oni.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang
 * Take a Third Option: Faking your rebellious little brother's death so he and your sister can run away is way more useful than either letting him go and being marked as a failure by your clan, or killing him and definitely losing both of your siblings.

Hazuki Kazama
The younger sister of Kazuki and Sougetsu, and a member of the Kazama ninjas. She seems to be a kind, sweet person without much fighting abilities; instead, she has great spiritual powers that let her use powerful sealing techniques. Unfortunately, Amakusa realizes the last detail fast and takes a hold of Hazuki for his own purposes, which kicks off the subplot with Kazuki running off to save her and Sougetsu having to stop and kill him...

Tropes associated with Hazuki:
 * Barrier Maiden: Unlike her brothers, she doesn't seem to have any fighting skills. On the other hand, she is the one who "tamed" and then sealed Suija and Enja in their swords.
 * Curtains Match the Window: Has green hair and Green Eyes.
 * Damsel in Distress/MacGuffin Girl: The kid has been kidnapped due to her powers HOW many times by now?
 * Girl Next Door: Ninja version, sorta.
 * Satellite Character: Always seen around Kazuki or Sogetsu.

Shiki
One of the main heroines in the Samurai Shodown 64 series. Ever since birth, she was tailored to be Yuga's servant and when she came to age, she became Brainwashed to his servant and hunted down the male counterpart that Yuga needs for a perfect body: Haohmaru. Fortunately, Haohmaru managed to kick Yuga's ass beforehand, thereby freeing her soul and granting her amnesia about her time with Yuga, which she uses to become a fortune teller by the name Kanae. Unfortunately, Yuga soon revives and sends in Asura's Shadow to kidnap her, but they end up falling in love. The original Asura and his shadow defeats Yuga and later Shiki gave birth to her daughter from Shadow Asura: Mikoto. She left her in care with Haohmaru and Nicotine (and presumably Gaira as well), then vanishes, possibly dying eventually.

Tropes associated with Shiki:
 * Babies Ever After: Any of her endings in crossovers or spinoff games will ALWAYS involve her giving birth to Mikoto.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Emotionless Girl
 * Expy: Somewhat thought to be an Expy for Rei Ayanami.
 * Mismatched Eyes
 * Sexy Backless Outfit
 * Stripperiffic
 * Tyke Bomb

Yuga the Destroyer
The Big Bad of the Samurai Shodown 64 games. Yuga is an ancient evil persumablely from the demon world and is now attempting to use Shiki and Haohmaru to create a perfect body for to be a 'God of Destruction' and unite the Demon and Human world. Yuga and its powers are themed around dual energies of yin/yang, and similarly it can employ male and female bodies for itself.

Tropes associated with Yuga the Destroyer:
 * Big Bad: Of the Samurai Shodown 64 series.
 * Demonic Possession:.
 * Gender Bender: Yuga switches between both male and female forms throughout the series.
 * Marionette Master: Begins with stealing babies from wombs, giving them supernatural powers and brainwashing them later in their lives to be his mindless servants via puppet show.
 * One-Winged Angel: Well, he/she is a SNK Boss.

Asura
A dark entity who battled Yuga over title of Demon World's Strongest, but got defeated and sealed, and he was later cloned, the clone becoming Yuga's servant. Yuga's first defeat weakened the seal, thus the original broke free and set out for revenge. Meanwhile, the clone (Shadow Asura), on the orders of Yuga, kidnapped Shiki and restored her memories as Yuga's servant, but in process, fell in love. The original Asura confronted the shadow, and the two ends up banding together to defeat Yuga for good. As the clone is vanishing due to being empowered with Yuga's magic, the original merged with him, turning into Yuda.

Tropes associated with Asura:
 * Anti-Hero/Anti-Villain
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Heel Face Turn: His shadow.
 * Love Redeems: His shadow becomes a good guy after falling in love with Shiki.
 * Swiss Army Weapon: His katana can turn into a jousting spear, a bow and arrow, a poleaxe, etc...
 * Theme Naming: His attack names are named after demons.
 * Asura's shadow's special attacks are all named after angels in Gratuitous English, spelled backward.

Morozumi Taizan
A demon-sealing warrior armed with a giant spear who seeks to avenge his wife killed by Yuga. When needed the tip of his spear can turn to brush to write kanji symbols using own blood as an ink. Then, meaning of whatever was written becomes reality (like word "Fire" becomes a fiery explosion).

Tropes associated with Morozumi Taizan:
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Blade on a Stick: His Bust/Rasetsu form replace his calligraphy brush with this.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Come on, a giant callygraphy bush!?

Kuki Seishirou
The new main character to the Distant Finale, is the son of a legendary family and samurai known as Kuki. He was trained alongside his brother Tohma and his father's student Jushiro, but due to his natural talent and his dedication was shown to be nearly peer less at sword fighting. One day his father was found dead and his father's sword, Blade of the Flaming Sun stolen. Suspecting his brother Tohma, he takes his father's Full Moon Blade and joins Jin-Emon Hanafusa's mission to Riten Kyo, where Tohma along with the Razor Trio are known to be attacking the government and terrorizing the inhabitants.

Tropes associated with Kuki Seishirou:
 * Anime Hair: As per Samurai Shodown main character tradition.
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
 * Cain and Abel: The Abel to Tohma's Cain.
 * Good Is Not Nice: He is extremely rude to almost every character in the game.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Has the habit of falling asleep anywhere and at anytime he feels like it. Including other characters' monologues.
 * I Work Alone
 * Knight Templar
 * Kuudere
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue Oni to Tohma's Red.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: The Yin to Tohma's Yang.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Was already a Badass, but after beating the game, he takes the name Kuno Seishirou and a Game Breaker separate character form is available to select.
 * You Killed My Father: Somewhat subverted, in the fact that Seishirou seems more concerned about getting back HIS father's sword and proving his superiority then avenging his father's murder.

Kuki Tohma
The older son of the legendary Kuki, Tohma, like Seishirou trained extensively throughout his life. Except unlike his fellow sparring partners under his father's teaching, he became more interested in the power that comes with being the strongest. One night, believing it to be a source of great power, he takes the Blade of the Flaming Sun and kills his father. He then began traveling searching for worthy opponents and killing them or whoever crossed him along the way. During his travels he meets up with Mikoto, who travels with him and later the two join up with Oboro, forming the feared Razor Trio of most of Riten Kyo. As the most openly violent of the three, Tohma becomes known as its strongest and most feared warrior, as well as the main target of the Bafuku government.

Tropes associated with Kuki Tohma:
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
 * Blood Knight
 * Cain and Abel: The Cain to Seishirou's Abel.
 * The Dark Side
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Even in his own ending, the duel between him and Seishirou always ends with Tohma defeated and HIS father's sword being taken back.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Oblivious to Love: Barely acknowledges or doesn't comprehend Mikoto's feelings for him.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Seishirou's Blue.
 * Self-Made Orphan: Kills his father to prove his strength and take the sword.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: The Yang to Seishirou's Yin.
 * Social Darwinist: His belief that only the strong should survive and rule leads him to joining the Razor Trio and taking over Riten Kyo.
 * This Cannot Be!: After his defeat by Seishirou and Seishirou's "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy

Yoshino Rinka
The proud daughter of the honorable and wealthy Yoshino family. Unexpected jealousy and betrayal among the shogunate, lead to the Yoshino bloodline's economic collapse as well as its members being placed on the shores of Riten Kyo, to slowly fade from history and society. However, Rinka returning from her secluded training to what was left of her family, decides to fight back, joining Jushiro and Saya, in the "Atom Rebels" anti-shogunate group.

Tropes associated with Yoshino Rinka:
 * Action Girl
 * BFS: Not really that big compared to most to be called a BFS but literally much bigger then a 5'1" girl of her size could yeild effectively in combat.
 * Clear Their Name: Rinka joined the "Atom Rebels" as a means to reestablish her family's honor and free the island.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Her blueish mouse friend named Tetsunosuke.
 * Tsundere
 * Waif Fu

Sakaki Jushiro
A young talent government's samurai, he was sent to train under the legendary samurai Kuki, where he trained alongside Seishirou and Tohma. Both were distant towards others, so Jushiro mainly developed the best of friendships with Jin-Emon Hanafusa. Jushiro also met and fell in love with a female samurai named Karen, but both Karen and Jushiro were loyal samurai and Karen decided to put duties before personal happiness as was expected of them. When it was learned Oboro had designs on the princess, Karen offered to be the princess' Body Double in a trap. However, Oboro's power was more then expected and Karen along with the soldiers involved were slaughtered. Jushiro was the first to arrive at the site and when others found him alone, became the prime suspect. Leaving the government, he went into hiding on Riten Kyo. Forming the "Atom Rebels", along with Rinka and Saya, he becomes marked for extermination by his former employers. He later modified his sword with parts of gun he picked up from Oboro's party which killed Karen.

Tropes associated with Sakaki Jushiro:
 * Jade-Colored Glasses
 * Loveable Rogue
 * The Mourning After
 * Rebel Leader: Even if it is basically just a small number of people.
 * Rebellious Spirit
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against nearly everyone, Oboro for kill Karen, Tohma for killing his master and the Bafuku for sending Karen on the mission and thinking he was responsible for the massacre because he was the first on the scene.
 * Swiss Army Weapon: The handle of his sword is a pistol.

Hanafusa Jin-Emon
One of the most loyal servants to the Bafuku government and a life long friend of the master swordsman Kuki. He has served as a samurai for many years, living to protect his master. He used to train under Kuki's tutelage and there met with the younger samurai such as the young hopeful Sakaki Jushiro and the two sons of Kuki, quiet Seishiro and fiery Tohma. All who helped him retain his youthful spirit, especially Jushiro who he became best of friends with. Things however have since gone bad, with Jushiro's apparent betrayal of the government and Kuki's death at the hands of his son. Being the most experienced samurai, he is naturally given the dangerous mission of retaking control of Riten Kyo and terminate all the rebellious factions there. Along with Seishiro, he heads forward to complete his mission.

Tropes associated with Hanafusa Jin-Emon:
 * Blade on a Stick: A special spear with the form of a crucifix.
 * Casanova Wannabe: Or seems like it around Saya.
 * Failure Is the Only Option:.
 * Honor Before Reason: Steady loyal to his master and the traditions of samurai.
 * Older Sidekick: Although, technically he is Seishirou's superior.

Oboro

 * Social Darwinist: Often repeats sayings like "Strong will live, while weak should die. Obey the law of nature!"

Jigen Taishi

 * Social Darwinist

Tokugawa Yoshitora
Heir of the Tokugawa regime... if only this guy isn't very much rebellious and party crazy and would rather hit on women. He is called back to the rulership when his master Gaoh pulls a rebellion and he took him down, helped by Hanzo and Jubei. Finally realizing that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, Yoshitora took the position of Shogun and almost recruited Haohmaru to serve him. He probably lost, considering Haohmaru is still a wandering Blood Knight afterwards. He is also responsible of arranging the tournament behind the sixth game.

Tropes associated with Yoshitora:
 * Anachronism Stew: Well, certainly none of the Tokugawas were Handsome Leches.
 * Anime Hair: Wild even for this series, he sports hair like a huge, coiffed broom.
 * Badass: Seven friggin' swords! Four daggers, two regular-length swords, and one giant sword as long as he is tall. He's able to Dual Wield these blades at will and slice with them almost too fast to see. Shame he's a pretty mediocre character in the newer games.
 * Comes Great Responsibility: The weight of having the Tokugawa surname.
 * Every Japanese Sword Is a Katana: Averted he also uses four Tanto (daggers) and a Nodachi (BFS).
 * Handsome Lech
 * King Incognito: He likes playing this.
 * Rebellious King
 * Rule of Cool: Way too many swords to handle.
 * Shout-Out: Was designed by Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin fame, and is made a tribute of Cho, from the multiple swords and broom hair... but not the Shogun heritage.
 * Theme Naming: All his attacks are named after flowers.

Majikina Mina
A girl blessed with a certain demon-hunting power. She is revered as a Goddess, but ends up being shunned due to their fear for her power, thus she ends up being unable to express emotions and just doesn't like being near people around. Her only companion is a... creature... thing... named Chample, whom she met after her village was leveled after she went home from a certain demon hunting trip. She became determined to take revenge on her village and tries to kill as many demons as she can, but eventually... she found out that it's Chample who did it. She killed it, but after realizing that she just killed her only friend, she is Driven to Suicide.

Tropes associated with Mina:
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * The Archer: Mina has incredible range, but is VERY vulnerable up close.
 * Clothing Damage: Killing Mina with slash attacks will usually slice off her bra and skirt, exposing her breasts and white panties as her body sprawls on the ground.
 * Driven to Suicide
 * Emotionless Girl: Not as extreme as Shiki, but you get the idea.
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Mukokuseki: Blue eyes??
 * Panty Shot: Mina's skirt flaps up to expose her white panties when she fires an arrow, kicks, and jumps.
 * Notably, when Mina is killed, her body will fall through the air with her buttocks facing the screen, her white panty-clad crotch exposed. If Mina is defeated by Kusaregado, he will drag her offscreen and devour her dead body, after which he will spit out her white bra and panties.
 * Shout-Out: She is likely named after revered Okinawan scholar Anko Majikina.
 * Stripperiffic: Aside from the long skirt she ties around her waist, she's basically wearing a bikini.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl
 * Yoko Asada: Was actually The Other Darrin for Satsuki Yukino, who voiced Mina in Samurai Shodown V. Who then got darrin'd by Rie Tanaka for Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos.

Liu Yunfei
An old warrior who can fly with the power of winds. Once, through lust of power, he made a Deal with the Devil, but ends up berserking him and killing his wife, it takes eight of his students to eventually seal him. Years later, said Devil left him and went to possess Gaoh. He went on to travel again and tries to make amends for his past crimes. Eventually, he forced that devil to possess himself and asked Gaoh to kill him, and he did.

Tropes associated with Yunfei:
 * The Atoner:
 * Redemption Equals Death: Unfortunately.
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Blow You Away
 * Deal with the Devil
 * Shout-Out: Wire Fu at large.
 * Soul Power: His fatality allows him to extract the soul of the victim and cut it in half, killing him/her.

Youkai Kusaregedou
A literal Complete Monster. A giant Gaki who was once a kind man... except for his Cannibalism tendencies (caused by the Great Tenmei Famine), which cursed him into the thing he is now. All he cared about is to eat, eat and eat, and he likes eating humans... especially little girls. One day, he happens to smell Rimururu and proceeded to chase her, only to be stopped by his daughter Hakana, who pleaded him to come back to the man he is. Kusaregedou manages to remember her... then proceeds to EAT her. That bastard!

Tropes associated with Kusaregedou:
 * Bald of Evil
 * Child Eater
 * Gonk: According to the producer, he is based about the thought of 'combining Earthquake and Gen-An into one'. He's Gonkier than both of them indeed.
 * I'm a Humanitarian: His becoming a gluttonous youkai in the first place is punishment for cannibalism in his lifetime, though his backstory's great emphasis on his former kindness brings some doubt as to whether it was of his own volition.
 * Karma Houdini: For a cannibal like him, he's just never heard again after all his crimes. Maybe he got away scots free, or whether he died, we don't know who killed him; they just list him as 'Never seen again'.
 * Villainous Glutton: His killing instinct is led by his insatiable appetite.
 * Youkai: Do we need to bother?

Rera
During the early days of Samurai Shodown, the palette swap of Nakoruru is often seen with a naughty/malicious grin, instead of her innocent face. This builds up until she started to get unique enough that when the Slash/Bust system was introduced, she got a wolf named Shikuru instead of Mamahaha. People think this is the Evil Twin of Nakoruru, but eventually, this character is fleshed out further by SNK by being turned into the girl they called Rera. That's her origin story.

Rera is Nakoruru's Super-Powered Evil Side, but actually not evil, just a Well-Intentioned Extremist, who was very much sickened with Nakoruru's apparent lack of will to hurt people when she wants to reach her goal. When she tried to find her missing father, Nakoruru's pacifism smacks her on the head when she failed to tame one wild bear and got knocked out. Pissed off at Nakoruru's weakness, Rera took over her body, kills the bear and goes around finding Nakoruru's father along with Shikuru, killing those on the way if necessary. Eventually, she came to understand that sometimes peaceful methods can be a viable option to solve problems, not just fighting, thus she returned Nakoruru's body. As of the future days, Rera never possessed Nakoruru's body again, hinting that she got better and matured, thus there's no need to possess her again.

Tropes associated with Rera:
 * Anti Heroine: She loves nature as much as Nakoruru does, but is more extreme in her ways to protect it.
 * Ascended Extra: She was only a palette swap at first, and eventually becomes more and more integral to Nakoruru's story.
 * The Beast Master: As Nakoruru, she manages the wolf Shikuru.
 * Evil Twin: At first sight. She's more of an Anti-Hero actually.
 * Expy: Somewhat justified.
 * Grand Theft Me: A slightly necessary version.
 * The Stoic
 * Super-Powered Evil Side: Technically. She's less evil and more ruthless, and seriously misunderstands Nakoruru's actual POV.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist
 * What the Hell, Hero?: To Nakoruru in her opening sequences, before going ahead and possessing her.

Rasetsumaru
A demon released from Makai when Amakusa made a deal with Ambrosia. He's just around so he can kill more and more, reflecting his red blood blade. Hearing about Haohmaru, who looks like him, he hunts him down, but later meets his end by Yumeji.

In dream match game, his storyline further updated, explaining him being Amakusa's attempt to create Haohmaru (who is officially stated to be Amakusa's favourite type of warrior), but ended up a failure. Since he was created in Demon World, he's essentially just a demon with his body shaped akin to Haohmaru's. In this storyline, he hates not only Haohmaru but also Amakusa for creating him.

Tropes associated with Rasetsumaru:
 * Ax Crazy: Oh jeez...
 * Beat Still My Heart: HIS Zetsumei Ougi.
 * Bloody Murder: One of his special moves involves cutting himself in the chest area to max his POW gauge in exchange for losing a bit of his health.
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Likes doing this to his victims.
 * Enemy to All Living Things
 * Evil Knockoff: According to some sources, Rasetsumaru was Amakusa's failed attempt at creating his own minion modeled after Haohmaru.
 * Expy: His moves is based on Bust/Rasetsu Haohmaru.
 * Licking the Blade
 * Slasher Smile
 * Super-Powered Evil Side: Subverted, since he's a completely unrelated character.

Enja
Once he was Yunfei's pupil who sealed him, but in process, he became a demon himself and got sealed. Along with his brother Suija, he broke free a thousand years later (though separated), which took notice of the Kazama ninja clans, but he quickly decimated them, and possessed one of them. Enja's goal is to seal the spell of that devil who possessed Gaoh, then reunite with Suija, and with the spell, they can possess humans in a quicker method. He almost possessed Kazama Kazuki, but got sealed by Hazuki into his weapon. Later during the Yuga saga, Kazuki willingly lets Enja possess him, and he wreaks much havoc, but unfortunately, Kazuki has gotten better in self control and now manages to cow him out. Enja, probably due to years and years of being with Kazuki, somehow got a Heel Face Turn and instead congratulates his willpower.

Tropes associated with Enja:
 * The Berserker
 * Evil Twin
 * Heel Face Turn: ...somehow.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Playing with Fire
 * Screaming Warrior
 * The Unintelligible: But then, it's not that he actually says anything.

Suija
Enja's brother, and unlike his berserker of a brother, Suija is a much more composed person... with an ambition to become a God. Like Enja, he possessed a Kazama ninja and later aims to possess Sogetsu Kazama. However, he ends up being sealed into Sogetsu's weapon by Hazuki. Later, Sogetsu taps on his power to fight Yuga, but due to more experience, Suija couldn't become the dominant one with Sogetsu.

Tropes associated with Suija:
 * Anime Hair
 * Evil Twin
 * A God Am I
 * Kill It with Water

Kurokouchi Yumeji
Child of Ukyo's mentor, with... very much unidentified gender. Apparently based on Oda Nobunaga's Uke Mori Ranmaru, who just looks as equally feminime. Yumeji got expelled from her dojo and ends up becoming Gaoh's right hand man/woman. Ukyo later defeats him/her and instead cut his/her hair rather than kill her. He/she later becomes a nun and is responsible on permanently killing Rasetsumaru.

Tropes associated with Yumeji:
 * Ambiguous Gender: Yumeji is unique to the roster due to having no definite canon gender; the developers to the game, Yuki Enterprise, entreated players to "believe whatever you believe Yumeji to be." To add to the confusion, Yumeji speaks in gender neutral Japanese in both official story and in-game text, and Yumeji's voice actor is known for voicing both genders. Due to the openness of the statement, players still argue over Yumeji's gender to this day.
 * The Dragon: To Gaoh.
 * Heir to the Dojo: For a while.
 * Shape Shifter: In his/her debut, his/her special move is by morphing into other fighters
 * Yes-Man: He/she is pretty much this for Gaoh.

Yorozu Sankuro
A lowly thug who's looking for an easy way to make very quick, and BIG bucks. He is a gang leader, consisting of him, Goshichi, Fuyo and Ippachi, all three appear to assist him in attacks, in fact, while he has Genjuro's animations, his moves includes calling those three, eat some sushi, or shoot a revolver once. And BOY is he very annoying to fight against. In Samurai Shodown V, he hired Genjuro to kill Gaoh so he can take over. However, eventually his cover was blown, but Genjuro almost spared him due to his disinterest on slicing up a woman. Ungrateful as he is, Sankuro tried shooting him down, but Genjuro intercepted, and then Sankuro was never seen again. Maybe he died.

Tropes associated with Sankuro:
 * Dirty Coward
 * Drop the Hammer: His Weapon of Choice is a big wooden hammer.
 * Funny Afro
 * Numerical Theme Naming: His own name is made of the kanji for three (San), nine (Kyu/Ku) and six (Roku/Ro). His associates are Goshichi (Five-Seven), Fuyo (Two-Four) and Ippachi (One-Eight). Sort of fitting that they all debut in Samurai Spirits Zero.
 * Smug Snake
 * Ted Baxter: Goes so far to call his style 'The Strongest Style'. He failed to garner the charm that Dan Hibiki exhibited though.

Kyougoku Hinowanokami Gaoh
Based on the Demon King Oda Nobunaga himself, Gaoh is a general of Tokugawa who got sickened with how the shogunate goes, and not to mention the heir Yoshitora, whom he mentored, is also an uncaring slacker. To stir up his responsibility, Gaoh led a rebellion, assisted with Yumeji. Along the way, he got possessed by the demon that made a deal with Yunfei. Yunfei later hunts him down and helps him free of the demon's influence and banished it. He is later beaten by Yoshitora, and in his death, he finally gets to see Yoshitora maturing up.

In the dream match, there's his version called 'Gaoh, Oppressor of Demon World', which is a continuation of him and Kuraki Sumeragi being defeated and baninshed to Demon World by Yunfei in previous game. There, demons attacking him proved to be no match for Gaoh, and he proceeded to defeat at them while using Kuraki Sumeragi's powers at wider extent, eventually transforming into demon itself. He ends up conquering Demon World and ruling it as Demon King, with his next objective being to conquer "the world above".

Tropes associated with Gaoh:
 * And Then John Was a Zombie: His sixth game's status. In the default game, Gaoh didn't end up being a demon completely, Yunfei's interference restored his humanity enough to face Yoshitora like a human. In the dream match, Yunfei's exorcism also sent him to the Demon World, and then Gaoh started to relish his demonic power.
 * Badass Moustache: Since he's based on Oda Nobunaga, he had to have the mustache.
 * Blade on a Stick: To be more precise, 3 blades on a stick! It also magically grows in size when Gaoh transforms into the Dark Emperor!
 * Like a Badass Out of Hell: His intro image in the dream match, whereas he beckons the player while stomping on Satan's head.
 * Noble Demon: A villain that nonetheless had the best interests of his nation. And he's not amused with some of the more obvious evil characters in the game, like Kusaregedo.
 * Oda Nobunaga
 * One-Winged Angel: The Dark Emperor/Kuraki-Sumeragi.
 * Shout-Out: Gaoh is one enormous shoutout to Fist of the North Star, from being voiced by Kenji "Raoh" Utsumi to shouting such things as "Tenha Kassatsu!" and "Hikanu!", two famous lines of Kenshiro and Souther respectively.
 * SNK Boss
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: He saw the Shogunate growing corrupt, and his student, the heir Yoshitora, was being a slacker that had almost no interest in ruling. For that, he conducted a rebellion to either fix the state or make that slacker take responsibility befitting of his position.

Andrew
He is portrayed as an American soldier who goes to Japan to stop a new menace to his relatively young country. In his ending, he befriends Yoshitora. He is a serious and dedicated individual, always thinking about his job to his country above all else.

Tropes associated with Andrew:
 * Andrew Jackson: Who the character is based on: an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress.
 * Recycled in Space: Andrew Jackson as A WHITE HAIRED PRETTY BOY WITH GLASSES.
 * Bifurcated Weapon: He uses a bayonet.
 * Eagle Land: Variant 1.
 * Patriotic Fervor
 * Stoic Spectacles

Iroha
She is a crane who transforms herself into a Japanese maid. She serves her master and appears to think of him as the most important aspect of her life. Her master is unknown (rumored to be Andrew), but is likely to be the player him/herself as she often bows and speaks to the player before and after her fights. Creators have confirmed this in an interview, adding that she is specifically talking to the male players.

Iroha is an obedient and cheerful maiden. She deeply cares for her master, trying her hardest to stay in her human form whilst in front of him. Despite debuting only in a dream match, Iroha then goes on to star in many Meido based spinoff games.

Tropes associated with Iroha:
 * Animorphism: Between Crane and human forms.
 * Shapeshifting Lover: She tries her best to maintain her human form for her master in front of him/her.
 * Battle Strip/Full-Frontal Assault: One of her super moves (which happens in shadow) involves her stripping off her clothes resulting in her silouette appearing nude, then beating the crap out of her opponent with her bare hands before morphing into her crane form momentarily to cause some more damage, then morphing back to her human form, still nude, to lay the final blow.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: ...and during that whole sequence, her opponent is just standing there letting her beat the crap out of him/her.
 * Boobs of Steel
 * Hourglass Hottie: Iroha has a curvaceous figure complemented with very large breasts and fairly wide hips measuring at B91 W59 H85.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Seriously, she has quite literally no purpose whatsoever besides sexing up the game. Even her seiyuu specializes in hentai!
 * Ninja Maid
 * No Fourth Wall: This woman won't let something like that keep her from serving you.
 * Stripperiffic: Skimmy kunoichi-inspired French maid wardrobe that reveals her cleavage and some sideboobs? Check. Wide hips out in the open? Check. Toeless thigh-highs? Double check.

Matsuribayashi Sugoroku
A large, jolly man who really enjoys festivals and fun.

Tropes associated with Matsuribayashi Sugoroku:
 * BFG: Wields a huge cannon used for shooting Fireworks!!
 * Big Fun: He's extremely cheery.
 * Fan Disservice: He wears an open jacket, fundoshi and form-fitting sarashi like bandages... and sadly is quite fat.

Takechiyo
A wandering warrior armed with a wooden sword.

Tropes associated with Takechiyo:
 * Captain Ersatz: His background and name are referred to Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai.
 * Combat Pragmatist
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Fights with a bokuto, made for "smashing things".

Suzuhime
Tropes associated with Suzuhime:
 * BFS: The massive sword she swings around is even bigger than her.
 * Musical Assassin: Her other weapon is a flute, albeit it doing very minimal damage.
 * Rebellious Princess
 * Panty Shot: Suzu's panties are often visible when she fights due to the short kimono skirt she is wearing; they are cream-colored (pink in her 2P costume), with flowery lace designs on the front. Especially noticeable when Suzu is killed, as she tended to sprawl dead on the ground with her legs spread apart wide, exposing her panty-clad crotch.
 * Ship Tease: With Takechiyo.

Kim Hye-Ryen
Tropes associated with Kim Hye-Ryen:
 * This Is Unforgivable!: Wouldn't be a Kim in an SNK game if he didn't have this.

Draco
Tropes associated with Draco:
 * Blood Knight: His pre-match dialogue suggests he is this.
 * Guns Are Worthless: Subverted oh-so-hard, especially for a video game. His usage of a rifle as a weapon brings him so much closer to SNK Boss territory than Golba—who actually is the final boss—that it isn't funny.

Golba
Tropes associated with Golba:
 * Norio Wakamoto

Manari
Tropes associated with Manari:
 * Ayako Kawasumi
 * Dojikko
 * Nice Hat
 * The Storyteller: She and her clan.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: For Yantamu.

Yantamu
Tropes associated with Yantamu:
 * Accidental Pervert
 * The Archer
 * The Chief's Daughter: Genderflipped.
 * Takehito Koyasu
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Nakoruru. ..
 * Takehito Koyasu
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Nakoruru. ..

Mikato
Tropes associated with Mikato:
 * Cute Mute: Although the game has fully voiced dialogue, she rarely speaks and mainly communicates through text. Yukiko Yanou's lines are mostly there for exposition.
 * Miyu Matsuki
 * Mysterious Waif/The Empath: She sees things that others in her village can't and possesses some spiritual powers.