Goemon Ishikawa

Goemon Ishikawa is a character who appears in Samurai Warriors. He is a professional thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He is believed to be a former ninja of the Iga clan.

In Samurai Warriors, his exact age is unknown though he is approximately in his thirties. He's symbolized by the kanji for "ruin" (壊) and "bomb" (爆).

Role in Games

 * "Way to roll, big guy."
 * ―Huang Gai; Warriors Orochi 2

Samurai Warriors
Goemon is the self proclaimed King of Thieves who usually spends his days pillaging the country's castles for land's greatest treasure, the Plover Urn. On his off days, he defends "his turf" from any local rough-housing. During such an occasion, Keiji and the local thugs are brawling. Their fight is briefly interrupted by Okuni, whom Goemon instantly became infatuated with. In his lower path ending, he follows the priestess as her bodyguard. After they are separated from one another at Ise, Goemon hears a rumor that she was held captive at Azuchi Castle and goes to rescue her. When he reaches the top floor, he finds Keiji and her together and beats the ruffian for taking her away from him. He continues to follow Okuni in his ending.

In his upper path scenario, he will travel back to his homeland, Iga, to claim the reward for a bounty placed on Ieyasu's head. As he corners the general, Ieyasu pleads to spare his life and tells Goemon the Plover Urn's location. Learning the treasure was kept by the land's strongest ruler, Hideyoshi, Goemon infiltrates Osaka Castle to claim it. Waiting for him there is Hanzō who threatens to silence him. If Goemon quietly defeats him, the thief can claim his prize without waking Hideyoshi. Since the famed urn failed to live up to its rumored expectation to sing, Goemon loses interest in it and says he'll just make it his goal to find more loot.

Should Goemon use his cannon while fighting the ninja, Hideyoshi will awaken and Goemon will be apprehended. He is ordered to be executed by being boiled alive at Kyoto. During his execution, however, the thief bursts through the hot iron pot and defies Hideyoshi. He plunders the conqueror's treasures while gaining Keiji and Okuni's support. Once he defeats his executioner, Goemon prides himself as the man who stole the entire land.

He isn't playable in Samurai Warriors 2 but he appears in the mini game Sugoroku. He randomly swipes someone's gold and gives it to the person with the lowest amount. Goemon also appears in Samurai Warriors: Katana as a sub-enemy on the map. He is usually trying to flee with treasure and the player is given the mission to stop him.

Warriors Orochi
He appears in two different scenarios in Warriors Orochi. During the Shu storyline, he steals treasure from Wei Yan and tries to flee from him. Since the stolen goods were gifts from Liu Bei, the general pursues him. Before being caught, he manages to dupe passing swordsman Musashi Miyamoto into attacking the "thugs" pursuing him. He slows down if the player retrieves the treasure boxes he leaves around the field.

In the Wei Storyline, Goemon apparently tried to steal from Nene's ninja army and was locked in a cage. If the player frees Goemon, he'll agree to help Dong Zhuo's army undo Nene's ninja magic.

In the sequel, he joins another thieving and similarly-weighted character, Dong Zhuo. He briefly terrorizes with his new ally during the first stage of the Samurai story mode. In Wu's scenario, he is confronted by Okuni, whom he tries his best to resist listening to. He is eventually beaten and is persuaded by the priestess to join Sun Jian's army. He later helps Huang Gai carry out his plan to steal the Date cavalry for themselves at Okehazama. During the Ueda Castle dream mode, he is seen trying to beg Ling Tong for his freedom. If he's saved by the player, he'll join the sneak attack as a third party member.

In Warriors Orochi Z, he appears with all the other ninjas in a dream stage cutscene. When the others leap off however, the overweight Goemon is comically left having to waddle after them on the ground. He helps open the eastern gate of Edo Castle, allowing his allies to infiltrate the castle unnoticed.

Kessen
Goemon appears as a recruitable unit in the third Kessen. He needs to be defeated on the battlefield before he agrees to join Nobunaga's forces. He is one of the earliest ninja units in the game. He does not work well when he's paired with Hideyoshi.

Development
Goemon was made to be the off-the-wall yet multi talented character. Designers remark that his final design is actually toned down from his even more bizarre concepts and joke that his cannon was literally pasted onto his back. Though they recognize that his particular character archetype may not be conventional, Goemon's actions and motions were kept to bring a funny and interesting contrast to the cast. Overall, they strove to make him the powerful yet chubby and charming action character.

When asked about the reasons behind his cut, the director said that it was simply too difficult to devise a "what-if?" story for him based on the sequel's new timeline.

Personality
Goemon acts in a standard kabukimono fashion. He strikes exaggerated poses, speaks in a loud and sing-song manner, and often mentions his full name and self-proclaimed title with pride. On the other hand, he can also be cowardly when faced with a greater danger, putting a dent in his theatrical bravado. He is bashful while in Okuni's company and considers Keiji his rival for her affections.

As an allusion of his previous ninja life, Hanzō calls him a runaway. Since ninja conduct dictates that deserters should be executed, Goemon strives to never be caught by the Iga ninja and is usually fearful when Hanzō spots him. He also considers Kunoichi his protege though it is a one-sided acknowledgment.

Voice Actors

 * Bob Papenbrook - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Hisao Egawa - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Kentarō Itō - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "I'm Goemon Ishikawa, King of Thieves! Clearly you've heard the name before."
 * "Fire in the hole...Kaboom!"
 * "Hanzo... Hattori... The Iga ninja?!? Oh no!
 * "Yeah, I'm starting to gain some clout."
 * "Goemon Ishikawa, King of Thieves, at your service!"
 * "Watch Goemon Ishikawa, King of Thieves in action!"
 * "Hey, you're that ninja girl's master right? You've got to teach that girl some manners!"
 * Goemon expressing his opinion to Yukimura

Historical Information
Ishikawa Goemon was a bandit during the Warring States period. Little is known about Goemon's origins and he is meagerly mentioned in historical writings. He is generally believed to have been born in Iga, Kawachi Province. Other stories say that he came from Tango or Kawachi Province and wasn't one of the fabled nukenin (or runaway) Iga ninja. According to legend, his reputation as a bandit began when he successfully stole three swords from Ishikawa Akashi when he was 16. He then sold the swords for profit.

Various theories and stories surround Goemon's life. One tale depicts that his possible childhood name was Gorokizu (五郎吉) and he lost his parents when he was in his mid teens. From there, he was briefly taught by an Iga ninja before he ran away with the wife of a servant. Another says that he is related to Momochi Tamba who taught him Iga ninjutsu. After Goemon committed adultery with the wives of three political heads, he fled for his life after he killed one of their concubines. During his flight, he gained several companions who despised Hideyoshi and was heralded as a hero. Kimura Shigekore stated that Goemon was trying to sneak into Hideyoshi's chambers but was apprehended when the sensors in the room were triggered. Goemon was apparently requested to assassinate Hideyoshi and one of his subordinates revealed his other crimes when he was being interrogated. When he was being broiled, he also brought a child in with him though some stories suggest that it was a human shaped flotation device.

Goemon's mention in historical records, however, is limited to his execution. Even so, each one says a different circumstance and location regarding his death.

Avila Giron wrote that fifteen bandit leaders who were living along Sanjo River were captured and boiled alive in a cauldron in Kyoto. Petro Morejon wrote "Ixicava goyemon" was put into a boiling pot of oil during the summer of 1594 and was executed when ten or twenty other people were crucified. Yamashina Tokitsune, an aristocrat at the time, wrote a slightly different account. He stated that the thief, ten pickpockets, and one other person were boiled alive. Nineteen people facing a similar crime were crucified. The execution took place between Kawahara and Sanjo bridges on October 8, 1594. Hayashi Razan wrote that Goemon was labeled a burglar, criminal, and villain of the country after he was caught by Maeda Gen'i. His twenty accomplices -one of which is said to be Goemon's mother- named their leader and they suffered the same punishment near the Maeda household in Kyoto.

Due to the room of error between these accounts, some speculation regarding his possible survival exists.

Goemon in Fiction
Since little is written regarding his actual behavior, he is an open book for several artistic adaptions.

In various fictional mediums, Goemon is acknowledged as a famous thief who commonly acts as the "Robin Hood" of the era. He is highly romanticized in Joururi and Kabuki plays, in which he is usually a man who wants to take down Hideyoshi and place Ieyasu as ruler. He is the star of the Kabuki play, Sanmon Gozan no Kiri (jp), in which he becomes a charismatic thief of adventure with high hopes in life. His line, "The spring view is worth a thousand gold pieces, or so they say, but 'tis too little, too little. These eyes of Goemon rate it worth ten thousand!" is particularly famous. In the play, he meets his end in 1628 at Nanzen-ji, Kyoto and was given a posthumous Buddhist name.

Trivia

 * In Warriors Orochi, Goemon is one of the random characters who comment during the opening sequence of Shu's Gaiden stage, Escape from Chi Bi. He'll claim that it feels like he is "being boiled alive!"