Nobufusa Baba

Nobuharu Baba is a member of Shingen's Four Guardian Kings in the Takeda army.

Nobuharu has been featured prominently in Koei's titles as Nobufusa Baba. His Nobunaga's Ambition counterpart is fifty-first place in Gamecity's character popularity ranking for 2015. The Nobunaga no Yabou 201X poll for 4-star officers puts him in eighty-fifth place.

Role in Games
In Samurai Warriors, he mainly appears on the Takeda side of their famed battles Kawanakajima, Mikatagahara, and Nagashino. In the latter unlike his friends Masakage Yamagata and Masatoyo Naitō, his death will not be reported to players on the Takeda side. He may live past Nagashino if the player is Shingen himself. One example is that Nobufusa could fight against the Oda at Azuchi Castle. Another is that he would fight against the Oda in the final battle at Yamazaki.

Samurai Warriors 2 has his roles remain the same albeit with changes. When players use Yukimura at Nagashino, Nobufusa can be saved. Even if he does survive the battle, he will inevitably die. Baba may even appear at Shingen and Kenshin's version of Sekigahara for their final battle. At Mikatagahara, Kotarō can kill Nobufusa at his version of the battle.

His first chronological battle appearance in Samurai Warriors 3 is in the Suruga-Sagami Conflict on the Takeda-Imagawa side.

During Spirit of Sanada, Nobufusa's earliest appearance is at the final stages of the Kawanakajima campaign in Shingen's battles. Following Kawanakajima, he joins his lord's next battles against the Imagawa-Hōjō at Suruga and the Tokugawa at Mikatagahara.

Following Shingen's death, Nobufusa is among the cavalry commanders tasked with sieging Nagashino. In the open battle at Shitaragahara, he joins Masatsugu Tsuchiya and Masakage Yamagata's charge on the enemy palisades to buy time for Katsuyori's escape after Nobutsuna Sanada's death. The three die together, with Baba being the last of the trio to fall to the enemy muskets. Their deaths demoralize Nobukimi Anayama and cause him to desert the battlefield.

For his appearance in Kessen III, Nobufusa is featured as a minor antagonist fighting for the Takeda. He dies at Nagashino along with Masatoyo and Masakage.

During Nobunaga no Yabou 201X's Strange Tale of Mikatagahara event, Nobuharu is commanded by his lord to raise an army to fetch Shingen's runaway daughters. It should have been a simple task until the daughters make an unorthodox trek into Matsudaira territory. During the soldiers' hesitation to create further misconceptions about their appearance, the UMA attack and endanger both sides.

Nobuharu forgoes formalities when the daughters scatter, immediately heading into the heart of the swarm. He finds the SLO agents and Nobutada's party around Matsuhime and assumes the worst. Nobuharu demands for her kidnappers to return her to the Takeda. The sheepish Matsuhime identifies them as her saviors and convinces him to stand down. Though he has his suspicions of Nobutada, Nobuharu addresses that their situation is dire. Their battalion is fewer in number and the princesses' whereabouts are unknown. He does know where Kikuhime is and requests their assistance. As they work together, Nobuharu notices Nobutada's concealed injury and privately warns the lad to know his limits. If he can't trust his comrades, Nobuharu reasons, he can't be expected to protect others.

Once the sisters are reunited, Nobuharu wants them to stay within the liberated Inui Castle for their safety. Kikuhime reasons that the idea would be impractical due to the lack of troops to defend them. Nobuharu must also report the news to Shingen and lead the Takeda resistance efforts. Seeing truth in her words, Nobuharu reluctantly entrusts the princesses' safety to the protagonist's party. He later regroups with Shingen's unit to exterminate the UMA at Noda Castle.

Voice Actors

 * Claus Brockmeyer - Samurai Warriors (German)
 * Steven Blum - Kessen III (English)
 * Ryohei Nakao - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "The only thing that is left for us to do is to fight and die well."
 * "Let's teach them to fear the sight of the Takeda banner!"
 * "I am the immortal Demon of Mino. Kill me if you can! I'll take you all with me to hell!"
 * "THE TAKEDA SPIRIT WILL... LIVE FOREVER!"