Mitsuhide Akechi

Mitsuhide Akechi debuted as a playable character in Samurai Warriors. He is one of Nobunaga's trusted vassals. He is Gracia's father and mentions of his wife can be found in conversations for Samurai Warriors 2: Empires. He is best known in history for betraying Nobunaga at Honnoji. However, the reasons behind his betrayal are ambiguous and are still debated amongst historians.

In the first game, he's 25 years old. In the Samurai Warriors series, he's symbolized by the kanji for "flash" (閃), the kanji for "punish" (誅), and white feathers.

Samurai Warriors

 * "Mitsuhide, you are clearly capable of more than you realize."
 * ―Sima Yi; Warriors Orochi 2

In Samurai Warriors, Mitsuhide acts as the reluctant warrior for Nobunaga's army. He is a mentor for Ranmaru and an old acquaintance of Nouhime. When Mino falls, both him and his apprentice prove their strength and ally themselves with Nobunaga. After witnessing Nobunaga's cruel slaughter of the Ikko sect at Nagashima, Mitsuhide questions his lord's integrity. Desiring to save the land from Nobunaga, he rebels at Honnoji. If he fails to kill Nobunaga, he will continue to hunt the villain in his lower path story. He does so by taking Azuchi Castle and stages a final showdown at Yamazaki. Convinced that he is stopping a madman, he implores Ranmaru to believe in him yet fails to fully convince his student. At the battle's conclusion, he spares Nobunaga's life due to Ranmaru's plea and is satisfied with claiming his lord's power for his own.

Should Mitsuhide succeed slaying Nobunaga at Honnoji, he will face a vengeful Hideyoshi in his upper path scenario. He fends off Nobunaga's former vassals and defeats his opponent. However, Ranmaru takes Gifu Castle and forces Mitsuhide to reclaim it. He ascends the castle to try to make peace with his student but his negotiations are in vain. In their final battle, Mitsuhide lands the fatal blow and is sadden by Ranmaru's death. Before he tries to take his own life, he hears Nobunaga and No's chuckles. Not wanting to make their deaths in vain, he decides to live as the land's new ruler.

In Samurai Warriors 2, Mitsuhide is a ronin looking to serve a worthy lord who will end the land's wars. After he witnesses Nobunaga's resounding victory at Okehazama, Mitsuhide joins his ranks as a loyal officer. Even so, he often finds himself doubting his lord's methods and tries to vie for an alternative solution. He offered Nagamasa a chance to formerly plead for surrender but Nagamasa instead commits suicide in front of his brother-in-law. After the battle of Saika village, Mitsuhide realizes that he participated in a massacre and finds himself questioning his desires. Deciding that he would be the one to end the chaos, he leads a revolt at Honnoji and duels Nobunaga in the burning compound. However, he finds himself unable to deal the decisive blow and tearfully states that he still wishes to see the land Nobunaga would create. Seeing their guard down, Magochi snipes Nobunaga and Mitsuhide is blamed for his lord's death. Bearing the burden of the false claim, he makes a stand at Yamazaki, defeats Hideyoshi's troops, and avenges his lord's death by killing Magoichi. After this battle, Mitsuhide becomes the shogun of Japan and the land is peaceful.

In his dream mode, he deals with the Anti-Mitsuhide coalition lead by Ieyasu. His forces include the Date troops, the remaining Uesugi troops, and the Sanada clan. Kotaro also ambushes Mitushide in his goal for chaos.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Mitsuhide loyally follows Nobanaga being an initial character. He is often social to the enemy often talking to those serving under Orochi, he tends to ask questions rather than insult them in a fight.

In the second installment, Mitsuhide is rescued and subsequently fights for Shu. Sun Wukong captures him and his daughter for Kiyomori. They are trying to build up an army to resurrect Orochi. Xing Cai and Inahime notice his flags (which are pointed out by a Samurai Warriors Character) as they pass by and decide to help him out. After they break him out he says he knows nothing of Kiyamori but Sun Wukong may and attempts to capture him, though he is unable. Following this he helps lead a seige on Koshi Castle, where he is one of the strategist but is willing to go out into the fray himself, capturing a garrison in the south to enable for troop reinforcements and taking over the cannon fortress that fires on Sun Wukong.

Kessen
Mitsuhide appears as an allied unit and later becomes the main antagonist in Kessen III. He is very skilled with a musket, which easily impresses Nobunaga. Like Samurai Warriors, he is symbolized in some way by a white hawk. He was formerly Kicho's bodyguard until he protested her marriage to Nobunaga. Due to his "insolence" on the manner, he was banished from Mino and left to drift across the land. He joins Nobunaga with plans to crush him from the inside and secretly works with the shogunate to destroy his rival. He frequently requests for Kicho to join him and become his lover, especially when he volunteers to keep an eye on the Tamba Province before the Battle of Nagashino.

During his attack on Honnoji, he personally faces Nobunaga in the burning temple and shoots him with his rifle. He is heartbroken by Kicho's unshaken loyalty to her husband and suffers a stab wound that refuses to heal. Scenes regarding Mitsuhide's viewpoint prior to Honnoji can be seen during the game's second playthrough.

Though his assault at Honnoji failed, he gains support from Nobunaga's enemies and the fallen Ashikaga shogun. He also gets a formidable foreign ally named Petro, a former acquaintance of Amalia. With his political influence, he declares Nobunaga an enemy of the state and aims to take his life. During the ending, a dying Mitsuhide reveals that he wanted to uphold a promise he made to a young Kicho: he would someday make a land where she wouldn't need to fight. He hears Kicho's voice saying that she understands his intentions and dies with a smile on his face. After his death, Nobunaga entreats a soaring white hawk to fly higher and free in the sky. His gravestone is visited by Yoshino years later.

Development
Designers for the game made him the "lone wolf" samurai to fit the nature of his unexpected betrayal. His western stylized armor in the first game was to help imply his ties with Nobunaga. They strove to make him appear as a "manly yet sad" character. His unique sword-wielding fighting style was made to be one of his defining traits. These ideas carried into his redesign, but they also wanted to add a touch of inexperience to his character through his new story scenario.

Appearance
His Samurai Warriors alternate outfit has him dressed in a black uwagi, teal cloth gauntlets, two golden elbow guards, and a white hakama. His hair is tied back in a ponytail. His second color scheme in Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends uses white and black to replace his usual light and dark purples.

Voice Actors

 * Michael Gough - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Kevin Symons - Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Leroy Simon Bean - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Cam Clarke - Kessen III (English)
 * Darrel Guilbeau - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Hikaru Midorikawa - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series, Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "You were wrong to oppose me."
 * "The enemy is at Honnoji!"
 * "Why do you rush to death ! I suppose it is fate !"
 * "Whenever I look to the moon, I remember the wife I left behind. To assist me in my time of need... She sold the very hair off her beautiful head."
 * "I, too, owe my wife a great debt, for helping me impress our lord. With the money given to her by her father, she purchased me a magnificent horse."
 * "For both of us, then... Our wives have made us who we are."
 * Mitsuhide and Kazutoyo Yamanouchi; Samurai Warriors 2 Empires


 * "A woman's charms are like this flower, bound to wither away and die. And yet, how sweet the smell. If only I could believe that this moment was true..."
 * Mitsuhide's thoughts regarding Kicho; Kessen III

Personal Info
A man of mystery to this day, Akechi Mitsuhide is a hard man to completely profile. He was a man said to have been trusted and praised by Nobunaga. Various historical sources suggest that they believed in one another and got along well. Maeda Toshiie, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Sakuma Nobumori and Niwa Nagahide also admired his integrity. Since he governed his provinces fairly, he was said to have been a man loved by the people for his kindness. A few historical sources state that he was also a noble man of compassion who treated his vassals and countrymen dearly. During one of the many encounters with the Ikko-iki, he held a respectful funeral at Saikyo-ji for the eighteen men he lost. Even after he performed his famous assassination at Honnoji, his men were still genuinely loyal to him and did not betray him in anyway. They decided to face death bravely even with their inferior numbers at Yamazaki. When Mitsuhide tried to escape, a few sources record that at least 200 men volunteered to guard him and risked their lives for their lord's safety.

The other image of Mitsuhide that is popular in fiction has him as a bitter scoundrel who planned to obtain power. This particular shade of his personality is a probable twist on the generous rewards he received after the Incident of Honnoji. Additionally, he was accused by Nobunaga's other loyal retainers as a heartless betrayer. At one point in his life, he was said to have offered his services to the Mōri clan. Mōri Motonari refused him and supposedly sent him away fearfully with monetary rewards. He said, "Indeed, he is overflowing with bravery and has an intelligent wit. But his countenance is like a sleeping wolf, expressionless and hiding its bones until he decides to act. His quiet state of mind is rather unbecoming." Luís Fróis described him in his notes as "a man who favored deception; favored cruel capital punishment; possesses high endurance; expert at strategy, tactics, and complicated formations; a fierce warrior in battle." Modern historians are currently questioning the neutrality of Fróis' writings since he was a honored friend of Mitsuhide's lord. It is not known when exactly he wrote these notes as it could have been after Nobunaga's death. Nevertheless, these particular descriptions are usually used as a basis for the "villainous" Mitsuhide seen in movies and novels.

Mitsuhide was a man of culture who pursued various arts and hobbies. He loved attending to civil affairs and tried as much as possible to honor the departed. He was an avid practitioner of Waka poetry and the Japanese tea ceremony. According to the Akechi Gunki (edited biography from the Edo period), he was also apparently skilled with the matchlock gun. A story states that he only used one bullet to perfectly hit a flying bird from about 45.5 meters away. His skill with the gun is what made daimyo notice him. His other names include Jubei (十兵衛) and Koretafuhyuga no Kami (惟任日向守). Nobunaga gave him the self-explanatory nickname, Bald Head (キンカ頭, Kinka Atama). He had two wives, one possible concubine, presumably five sons and six known daughters. One of his debatable living descendants is a vocalist.

Relations with women
Sometime during his time in Mino, Mitsuhide was said to have had good relations with Yamagishi Mitsunobu. It was said that Mitsunobu was actually the younger brother of Mitsuhide's mother. One day, his uncle introduced him to the sixteen-year old maiden, Chigusahime (千草姫). Mitsunobu actually wanted Mitsuhide to inherit the Yamagishi clan but his nephew had no particular interest with the proposal. Chigusahime, though born with enchanting beauty and a charming wit, spent a majority of their engagement being thoroughly ignored by her fiancé. The situation did not improve when Mitsuhide spent more time with his other wife, Hirokohime. As Chigusahime was actually in love with Mitsuhide, there is a story in which she forced him in a room and profusely confessed her feelings for him. Though he rejected her, the two were able to eventually reconcile. While considered his first wife, it's unknown if the two actually got married.

Hirokohime or Tsumaki Hiroko (妻木煕子) was said to be Tsumaki Norihiro's daughter, a retainer of the Toki clan. She was engaged to Mitsuhide in 1545 but, since she had scars from smallpox still present on her body, her father was prepared to offer her younger sisters as compensation. However, Mitsuhide refused the offer and gladly took Hirokohime as his wife. Mitsuhide treasured her and is famous for claiming that he needed no concubines with Hirokohime beside him. She valued him in turn and it is generally accepted that they had a harmonious relationship. When Mitsuhide had to start over once they lost their home, she was said to have shaved her black hair in order to restore his name in the court. They had one known child together, Akechi Tama. Though he constantly tried to nurse her back to health, one story of her death states that she passed away due to illness during Mitsuhide's lifetime. Others state that she died in 1582 at Sakumoto Castle or that she survived at least until the Battle of Sekigahara took place.

As for whether or not he actually had concubines, the idea is certainly debated. Speculators suggest that he could have had at least one concubine before meeting Hirokohime since he had a relatively large amount of children. He was said to have had Fushiyahime as his concubine, but this story was spread during the Edo period. Fushiyahime is also said to actually be his daughter with no romantic relations attached yet the truth either statements are still unknown. His other rumored concubines -as well as Chigusahime- are also speculated to be his honored yet not romantically involved sisters, daughters or cousins with different names.

Early Life
Details regarding early points of Mitsuhide's life remain relatively unclear. According to the Akechi Gunki, he was a descendant of the Seiwa Genji and was Akechi Mitsutsuna's son, who was a vassal of Saitō Dōsan. Ryōtarō Shiba's novel, Kunitori Monogatari, states that his childhood name was Momomaru (桃丸) but there are no known historical sources that actually record it. It's believed he originated from Gifu province yet there are three different sectors that are generally named. He either originated from Akechi Castle in Kani, Miyama in Yamagata, or the Akechi Castle in Akechi city. Mitsuhide was said to have been childhood friends or cousins with Nōhime but this story's legitimacy is highly debated.

In spite of the unknown areas of his youth, it's commonly believed that he belonged to the governor of Mino Province, the Toki clan, and served Saitō Dōsan. When Saitō Yoshitatsu fought with his father in 1556, Mitsuhide allied with Dōsan. However, Yoshitatsu attacked Akechi castle and scattered Mitsuhide's family. Since his mother fled to depend on the Wakasa-Takeda clan, Mitsuhide served another clan. These candidates range from the Asakura clan, Ashikaga Yoshiteru (or at least a man with the Akechi name and originated from Mino did), the Imagawa clan or the Mōri clan. The Nobunaga Gōki wrote that he could have fabricated his origins and presented himself favorably to the court instead.

After Ashikaga Yoshiaki fled from Takeda Yoshizumi to the Asakura clan in Echizen Province, Mitsuhide met with the fleeing shogun sometime in 1568. Since Asakura Yoshikage's mother was from the Wakasa-Takeda clan and Mitsuhide's mother attended to Takeda Yoshizumi's younger sisters, Yoshiaki ordered for Yoshikage to be his official protector. Yoshikage would not agree to rescue the shogun so Yoshiaki appealed to Mitsuhide directly. In order to return to the capital, Mitsuhide negotiated with Yoshiaki and agreed to guide him to another possible candidate, Oda Nobunaga.

Serving Nobunaga
After they arrived in Nobunaga's care, Mitsuhide switched his allegiances to the Oda clan. He either was convinced by Yoshiaki to do so or left on his own accord. He was apparently one of the generals who guarded Nobunaga's disastrous escape from Kanegasaki. In 1571, Mitsuhide was believed to have participated in Nobunaga's campaign to burn Mount Hiei. To prepare for the event, Mitsuhide previously talked to the kokujin, Wada Hidejun, and formerly addressed that the man was convinced to join Nobunaga's army. Wada gave Mitsuhide ammunition, troop supplies, and exchanged hostages at Ogoto Castle. This route helped the Oda army's march towards Enryaku-ji. Since he was somewhat farther away than other generals, it is speculated that he did not participate in the actual massacre at the temple. However, he did partake in a secondary follow up conflict, the Miyake-Kanemori battle, in which he defeated Kanamori Nagachika's troops with Oda cavalry and burned down a Buddhist temple in Ōmi Province. For his services, he was one of the five generals who earned immense praise and was rewarded the Shiga District (which was approximately worth 50,000 koku). Promoted to being a higher ranked lord, he designed and built Sakamoto Castle.

He was given a government post in Hyūga Province during 1575. At his new post, he defended Kuroi Castle from the invading Akai clan. During the first battle, Nobunaga's main unit was fighting with other rebels so Mitsuhide was given no reinforcements against Akai Naomasa's army from Tamba Province and suffered defeat. Nobunaga was impressed by Naomasa's valor but worried that the cunning general would pose a threat in the future. His plans for the Akai were put on hold due to Matsunaga Hisahide's betrayal. With Hosokawa Fujitaka and Tsutsui Junkei, Mitsuhide was scheduled to take part in the Siege of Shigisan in 1577. They were able to march ahead of the Oda main army by passing through Hōryū-ji. Settling in a mountain castle, the main army used it as one of their bases for the siege.

In 1578, when Araki Murashige rebelled, Mitsuhide was one of the three generals sent to investigate Arioka Castle. He was supposedly chosen due to ties of kinship, as one of his daughters was married to Murashige's son, Muratsugu. His messenger was willingly accepted and Muratsugu agreed to send his mother as a peaceful hostage to Azuchi Castle. Apparently, she was sent to wait for a time at Ibaraki Castle, but the Dateiriki-Sakyo no Sukenyūdō Ryūsaki records that the real reason for the hostage transfer was to force the woman to commit seppuku. Regardless of the circumstances and the possible defiance displayed by Muratsugu's mother, Mitsuhide's daughter was returned to him. He was one of the generals who participated in the November battle at Ibaraki Castle but he suffered defeat from the Araki army.

After Matsunaga and Araki's respective downfalls, Mitsuhide and Fujitaka were ordered to retake Kuroi Castle in 1579. Amassing an army of 10,000 with four other reinforcements, they succeeded and fortified their position once more in Tamba Province. He was rewarded with territory that gave him a total of 340,000 koku and restored Fukuchiyama Castle, Kameyama Castle and Shūzan Castle. With easy access to Tōkaidō and San'indō, Mitsuhide was granted an important position in the central part of the main island.

Incident at Honnoji
Mitsuhide was ordered to entertain Tokugawa Ieyasu at Azuchi Castle on April 8th and 10th in 1582. Ieyasu was being rewarded for his part to subjugate the Takeda clan. On June 6, however, Hideyoshi requested reinforcements to help subjugate the Mōri clan so Mitsuhide was pardoned from his duties to prepare for battle. He retired to Sakamoto Castle and properly equipped his men at Kameyama Castle on June 17. Two or three days later, he wrote his infamous renga poem entailing his ambitions at the shrine, Atago-goken Hakuin, in honor of the Sangoku-shingō and shugendō faith. It was literally written as "The time is now. The fifth month when the rain falls." Another interpretation of the same poem is "Toki shall now rule the realm under the sky."

On June 19, Nobunaga inspected the reinforcements for Hideyoshi's troops and retired back to Kyoto at Honnō-ji. The same day, his eldest son, Nobutada, settled at Myokaku-ji. While Nobunaga spent the following day conducting a tea ceremony, Mitsuhide had gathered an army of approximately 13,000 people to join his cause and marched from Kameyama Castle during sunset. Before the dawn of June 21, Mitsuhide was said to have yelled, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!" His army surrounded Nobunaga's position by sunrise and they eventually set the shrine on flames. Nobunaga's body was not found, but Mitsuhide immediately turned his attention to Nobutada. Slaying one of Nobutada's guards, Murai Sadakatsu, he chased Nobunaga's son to Nijō Castle. One of Mitsuhide's generals, Ise Sadaoki, won great fame for causing Nobutada's downfall.

Reasons for Betrayal
No one knows exactly why Mitsuhide went against his lord, but here is a short list of the many argued theories for the coup d'état.
 * Ambition - Mitsuhide wanted the land for himself and did not want to be under anyone's authority. A variation adds that he was too impatient to wait for a promotion and killed Nobunaga to get ahead.
 * Held a grudge - here are some of the popular clauses for this one.
 * When Ieyasu complained about the food he was served during his stay at Azuchi Castle, Nobunaga ruthlessly threw Mitsuhide's priceless dinnerware into the garden pond.
 * During the battle at Yagami Castle in 1575, Mitsuhide let his mother die for Nobunaga's cause.
 * When the Oda first won victory during the subjugation of the Takeda, Mitsuhide praised his colleagues at a banquet. Nobunaga considered his comment superficial and kicked him.
 * In the Kawasumi Taikōki, Kobayakawa Takakage supposedly said that Mitsuhide did not easily forgive people and was the type to hold grudges.
 * Nobunaga asked him - trusting Mitsuhide to cut him down if he got too ruthless, this legend states that Mitsuhide was only fulfilling an oath he previously made with his lord.
 * Shikoku relations - during the 1581~1582 campaign to subjugate Shikoku, Chōsokabe Motochika allegedly befriended Mitsuhide's vassal, Saitō Toshimitsu. The trio planned to work together to reclaim the Shikoku territory with Mitsuhide asked to kill Motochika's antagonist from afar, Nobunaga.
 * Tricked by Hosokawa Fujitaka - Fujitaka was said to have promised to aid Mitsuhide but was really reporting the betrayer's plot to Hideyoshi (although they arrived too late to save Nobunaga as they planned).
 * For the Jesuits - advocated by historian, Tachibana Kyoko. She reasons that it was a scheme to allow the Jesuits to gain independence as Nobuanga reportedly used them as puppet leaders for his own "demonic" influence. In her theory, their final goal was to ask aid from the Ming Dynasty and create their own military power.

Other theories state that he was either asked or influenced by Mōri Terumoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Nōhime, the Shimazu clan or Emperor Ōgimachi.

Battle of Yamazaki
With Kyoto suppressed and some of the castles surrounding the region under his command, Mitsuhide sent an open plea for other feudal lords to join him. However, he failed to gain more supporters and was confronted by Hideyoshi's larger army by June 29th. Mitsuhide strategically relocated to Yamazaki in an effort to better his chances for defense. Two days later, both armies prepared for a large siege and fought on July 2. The Akechi troops used excellent arquebus tactics to drive their foes back, but the situation looked grim when the siege lengthened and their numbers waned.

Seeing the battle turn against them, Mitsuhide ordered a retreat for Shōryūji Castle. He broke through enemy lines and a handful of his soldiers were able to escape. While en route to Sakamoto Castle, he barely managed to fight off headhunters from Kyoto. Exhausted, he was said to have committed suicide by his own blade soon after. Another story states that he hid from his pursuers but was found by the farmer samurai headhunter, Nakamura Chōbei, who stabbed him to death with a bamboo spear. His body was said to have been found when it was grossly decayed by the intense summer heat. Hideyoshi's vassal, Mizō Shigemoto, reported that there was no head and that a bamboo spear was plunged into the corpse's neck. His head was said to have been seen rotting in three separate locations but each place reported that it was heavily disfigured.

Since the recovered corpse was hard to properly identify, there has been some speculation that Mitsuhide actually survived Yamazaki. The most popular legend is that Mitsuhide assumed identity of the priest advisor with mysterious origins, Tenkai. There are many interesting conjectures that suggest that this maybe true (such as Tenkai claiming that he felt attached to the Akechi name and both men being the supposed basis for Kagome Kagome) but, so far, this theory presents too many radical contradictions to be accepted as fact and is only true in fiction.