Naotora Ii

Naotora Ii is one of the few women of the Warring States period known to have ruled as lord of her clan. Naotora reigned as the twentieth clan head after her father perished at Okehazama and his designated heir's death to scandal. However, she was allegedly given the title "Female Landlord" (女地頭) rather than the formal title as clan head. She is Naomasa's foster mother.

In Koei-Tecmo's Facebook Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd character popularity poll, her Samurai Warriors counterpart tied for sixth place with three other characters. She is among the top ten characters in the Samurai Warriors 4 poll, ranking in ninth place.

Samurai Warriors
Naotora fears war and any sort of conflict. She is first encouraged to fight by her close friend, Tazu, who is Tsuratatsu Iio's wife. Hoping to protect Tazu from danger, Naotora builds enough confidence to fight at Okehazama. Due to the actions of her relatives, however, the Iio clan turn on the Ii clan. The Ii clan vanquish the Iio clan, Tazu dying as a result. Soon after, her clan loses its castle with the Imagawa's fall. Although despondent to have lost her home and friend, Naotora swears to persevere for Toramatsu's sake.

She decides to follow Tazu's past advice to rely on Ieyasu should anything disastrous happen to her family. Ieyasu regrets being unable to save the Iio family and gladly accepts Naotora. With his support, Naotora willingly becomes the Ii clan head under his service. Shouldering the wishes of her departed friend, Naotora wants to realize an era of peace beside Ieyasu.

Samurai Warriors 4 identifies her as the Ii clan head at the start of the Tokugawa story. Her friend from the Iio family, Tazu, tells her to trust in Ieyasu's potential as leader, so Naotora fights at Okehazama. After Yoshimoto dies, Naotora worries about her clan's future due to its internal conflicts. She suffers a stomach ache from the stress; so does Ieyasu as he shares the same dilemma.

In the Kantō scenario, she is still hesitating to decide her family's future but decides to ride for Ujizane Imagawa's defense at Suruga. After listening to Ujiyasu and Lady Hayakawa's advice during their brief alliance, Naotora becomes resolved to side with Ieyasu. During the Tokugawa chapter, she reaches her decision when the Iio family is wiped out by internal warfare. Naotora decides to keep supporting the Tokugawa to respect her friend's wisdom and the kindness she sees in Ieyasu. She continues to appear as Tokugawa reinforcements throughout the other scenarios.

During the Oda's version of Okehazama, Naotora fights with the hopes of protecting her father, Naomori. Suspicious of an ambush, she stations herself at the northern base and must be defeated for the ambush's success. While Naotora wishes the best for her father as she flees, he perishes in battle. She inherits the Ii clan afterward. Before the conflict at Sekigahara, she gives Masanori, who is reluctant to fight his old friend, a pep talk that sometimes in war friends have to face each other, reminding herself of Tazu.

The Shimazu's version of Sekigahara has her and Tadakatsu defend their lord from the attacks of Yoshihiro and Toyohisa. She pursues the fleeing men and pins Toyohisa to the ground only to be shot when the latter pulls out a rifle, presumed dead. But in the Eastern Army's version, she is shown having survived the battle. She is last seen helping Takatora tend to the grave of his late friend, thinking of paying her friend's grave a visit as well.

Nobunaga's Ambition
She is one of secret characters included in Nobunaga no Yabou Tendou with Power Up Kit; Naotora can be unlocked after the player completes the Hotogisu no Yukue scenario. Since her war and troop attributes are average, her stats are ideal for domestic affairs. If the player wishes to use her in battle, Naotora is best used as a supportive unit rather than leading her own army.

In the social game adaptations of the series, she is instead an above average warrior with high intelligence ratings. She is one of the stronger female warriors in these games. 100man-nin no Nobunaga no Yabou includes a special combination combo with the other members of the Ii clan and features her as a stern warrior and mother during the first Fostering Event.

Nobunyaga no Yabou highlights her kitty counterpart during the ''Dokii! Himedarake no Neko Senki'' scenario. After Yoshimoto's death, Tazu-nyan (Otatsu-no-Kata) decides to purge the Ii clan by killing Naotora's great-grandfather and her fiancé. A young Naotora tearfully avenges them by personally leading an army to lay waste to Hikuma Castle. The narration describes that she has been raised to be like a man in order to become leader.

Development
The producer of the Samurai Warriors series wanted to answer fans' requests for new characters while appealing to the team's desire to include characters who could fit the multiple scenario options in the main story mode. He comments that these characters feel as though they would not normally fit in a typical Samurai Warriors title. In Naotora's case, she was designed to be a contrast to previously established female characters in the series. The ladies in the cast more or less choose to fight, yet Naotora was conceptualized to be the woman forced against her will to battle. Koinuma remarks that this is derived from her historical inheritance as clan head, which seems as though it was imposed on her merely because she was the only surviving applicant. The developers are fond of her and call her "Naotora-chan".

She is visually modeled after Japanese actress Satomi Ishihara who Koinuma is noted to favor.

Personality
Naotora remains positive and hopeful in spite of shouldering the new responsibilities as clan successor. She has many doubts and fears regarding her position, but she will endure them if it means she can fight for an era of peace.

Character Symbolism
Her Samurai Warriors counterpart is symbolized by the kanji symbols for "consideration" (想) and "ephemeral" (儚).

Naotora's basic weapons are named after flowers. Her Normal weapon is named after a wisteria vine. A tree peony is named in her Power weapon. Rabbit-ear iris is named in her Speed weapon, a flower which is famed to grow in Mikawa (modern day Aichi Prefecture). The flower is often tied to a tale within the Manyoushu as a flower of expectations. Two lovers were torn apart from one another, but one of the lovers waited anxiously for their loved one's return. As the anonymous writer created a poem in their period of waiting, they used the flower as a synonym for their longing. A similar poem is found in the Ise Monogatari with Ariwara no Narihira yearning for the vivid dreams of his distant wife to be made a reality. Today the flower often means waiting for good fortune to occur or eloquence in the flower language. In this case, the flower is symbolic encouragement for anticipated reunions between lovers or friends.

Yamatohimenomikoto forms the namesake of Naotora's first unique weapon. The quasi-historical figure was known as the first princess of royalty to worship Amaterasu. She was known as Amatersu's oracle who wished to construct a proper place of worship for Amaterasu. She searched for years through five different prefectures before she finally settled on Ise. Yamatohimenomikoto later granted Yamatotakeru with the sacred sword, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. Once Amaterasu left her, the princess lived a chaste and secluded life away from society to remain forever spiritually pure for the deity. The weapons' name is a reference to Naotora living a chaste life and raising Naomasa.

Her second unique weapon is named after Seoritsuhime, a goddess who appears in ritual Shinto chants. She is commonly known as the goddess who cleanses a person's karma in divine purifying river, often appearing with three other gods for the ritual. As a result, she is often known as a deity of water or purification. Alternatively she is celebrated as a waterfall or river goddess during festivals.

Voice Actors

 * Yuka Saitō - Samurai Warriors series (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also Naotora Ii/Quotes


 * "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry someone as hopeless as me got this rank...! But, I'm kinda happy..."

Ground Moveset

 * X, (X): Does a vertical kick followed by a rising somersault.
 * Y, X, (X): Flings opponent up via upward kick followed by a barrage of rapid kicks.
 * Y, Y, X, (X): Performs a sideways flip kick that conjures mild swirls of wind. The next hit sequence follows this up with a back flip that causes a large petal whirlwind to rise up.
 * Y, Y, Y, X, (X): Does a horizontal drill kick before launching a roundhouse kick while surrounded by a petal tornado.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Initiates a short hop kick that releases a red wave of energy.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Launches a series of kicks at varying directions, ending the attack with a vertical kick to the head.


 * A (Musou): Unleashes a series of rapid kicks that send out waves of energy forward.
 * A (True Musou): Similar to Musou attack but with three flip kicks added for further damage.
 * A (Ultimate Musou): Does four powerful flip kicks that unleash magenta-colored slash effects, ending the attack with a massive petal tornado.


 * B, Y: Performs an aerial roundhouse kick.
 * B, X: Slams the ground with right foot up.
 * Dashing Y: Does a spinning slide kick forward.


 * Deadlock Attack: Jumps into air, sits on the opponent's shoulders, squeezes their head between the user's thighs and hurls them away.
 * Spirit Cancel:
 * Special Skill 1: Enhances attack range by gathering power from the winds.
 * Special Skill 2: Reduces enemy's attack and defense.

Mounted Attacks

 * Y, X:
 * Y, Y, X:
 * Y, Y, Y, X:
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y:

Samurai Warriors 4


Mighty strike is the same as her Deadlock Attack. Keeps relatively same moveset as the previous entry with the following changes.


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 * Rage Attack/Musou Gokui effect:

Hyper Moveset

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Weapons

 * See also: Naotora Ii/Weapons

Rare Weapon Acquisition

 * Stage: Battle of Sekigahara (Eastern Army)

Historical Information
Her father was Naomori, the eighteenth head of the Ii clan, and her mother was known as Yuushun-in; she came from an unknown background. Naotora was their only child. "Ii Naotora" is the name their daughter received once she momentarily inherited the Ii clan. She was first given the name Jiro-Houshi (次郎法師) when her grandfather passed away, as temporary insurance for the name of successor. She is not known to have married or to have given birth to any children. Not much is personally known about her, but the fuss over the clan's succession became a famous affair.

It was decided that Jiro-Houshi was going to marry her father's cousin, Naochika, when she was at a young age and that he would inherit the clan if Naomori perished. Due to slander from the Ii vassal, Ono Ichitaka, the fuss for successor reached Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ii Naomitsu's ears. Both parties opposed Naomori's plans and refused the offer. Believing the negative opinion established by Ichitaka, Yoshimoto ordered for Naochika's suicide. The young man decided to flee to Shinano. He did eventually return to the Imagawa clan, but he had already married into another house whilst away and his obligations to his wife's clan ruined Naomori's plans regarding succession of the Ii family. When Naomori passed away, Naochika momentarily ruled the Ii clan. He was killed once again due to slander made by the Ono retainers. Jiro-Houshi was placed in the care of her mother's uncle, Niino Chikanori, to help keep her side of the family afloat.

The only rival left for claiming right of the Ii clan was Jiro-Houshi's great-grandfather, Naohira. The results of Okehazama had left the rural lords of Totomi Province in a chaotic state with Yoshimoto's death. According to the Ii Naohira-ko Ichidai-ki, Naohira was ordered by the Imagawa clan to attack Iio Tsuratatsu at Hikuma Castle in 1563. Tsuratatsu had a wife known as Otatsu-no-Kata (or Tsubakihime). She apparently invited Naohira to a meeting with her husband and schemed to eradicate him to claim prominence in Totomi, thinking that Jiro-Houshi was not a threat to the Iio clan. Otatsu-no-Kata then poisoned Naohira's tea and he perished soon after. His death incurred the Imagawa clan's wrath and Tsuratatsu was ordered to commit suicide soon after.

Jiro-Houshi was named clan successor and lord in 1565; her name was changed to Naotora. Similar to her previous name, the forged masculinity was created to avoid associating a feminine tone for the clan head. The renaming was tied with the medieval belief of women being little more than political property. Traditional customs also call for the lord to inherit the characters of their ancestors, which were not present in her previous name. Naotora's name is commonly considered to be a simple formality rather than recognizing her as the true leader.

From here there are two argued accounts of her activities. The first scenario has her do nothing. It was trusted Ii retainers whom helped forged the Ii clan's reputation with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu approved of their actions and sought the service of the Ii clan immediately. He was fascinated by the services of Naochika's son, Toramatsu, and respectfully addressed him as head of the Ii clan.

The second-less-likely scenario has Naotora herself impress him with her bravery and leadership. Ieyasu sought to approve her independence and dispelled whatever negative slander the Ono retainers had prepared by establishing her as the lord of the Ii clan. The Tokugawa forces later besieged Hikuma Castle, the place Naohira failed to take and the place where the widowed Otatsu-no-Kata lay waiting. Naotora is fabled to have participated in the siege with Ieyasu's men to avenge her great-grandfather. Otatsu-no-Kata ordered a resistance, but the men were overwhelmed by the larger Tokugawa forces and committed suicide.

In any case, Naotora was said to have had moved east and resided at Iinoya Castle. Her residence was placed into danger during Takeda Shingen's conquests within Mikawa in 1572. When Yamagata Masakage attacked, he killed the nearby Ii Sugunari in battle. Naotora and the castle residents then fled to Hanamatsu Castle. They were near the battles of Mikatagahara and Noda Castle, but Naotora is not noted to have participated in them.

Naomasa was eventually entrusted to her and he was raised as her step-son. He became the clan successor after her death.

Gallery
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