Ginchiyo Tachibana

Ginchiyo Tachibana first appears as a playable character in Samurai Warriors 2. She is the lord and lady of the Tachibana clan. Her father was the "Lightning God" Dōsetsu. To demonstrate the pride of her family, she works with Muneshige in battle.

Her height in the Samurai Warriors series is 172 cm (approximately 5'8"). She's symbolized by the words "quick" (迅) and "lightning" (雷) and by scattered flower petals and leaves.

Samurai Warriors
With the Shimazu conquering the majority of her family territory in Kyushu, Ginchiyo and her clansmen struggle in several conflicts with their foes and are on the brink of annihilation. With time, Hideyoshi appears and offers aid to her cause. Hoping to avenge her losses and her father, she enters the fray. Once the island is conquered, Hideyoshi greatly praised her efforts and the Tachibana's reputation grew. Unsuccessful in obtaining her vengeance, Ginchiyo decides to follow the path she thinks is most just by fulfilling her obligations to Hideyoshi. After the eastern siege of Odawara Castle, Hideyoshi unites the land but passes away soon after. Like her hated enemy, Ginchiyo decides to stay loyal to the Toytomi family. Though fighting for the same cause, she reminds Yoshihiro in these battles that she will never accept him as her true ally.

After the Western army wins Kusegawa, Ieyasu's army retreats and threatens Hideyori's position by marching towards Osaka Castle. Mitsunari pursues and both armies confront one another at Sekigahara. Insulted and baffled by Mitsunari's actions, many officers in the Western army are discontent by the current state of affairs. Yoshihiro is among the many who are unsatisfied with their leader and refuses to move during the conflict. Realizing that it maybe necessary to have him join the battle, Ginchiyo personally provokes him to move and they are able to turn the tides of battle. Their victory causes Ieyasu to flee for his life back to Edo. Yoshihiro, wanting to settle their grudge once and for all in an all-or-nothing gamble, joins forces with other loyal Toyotomi officers and defects. They continue to march for Hideyori, intent to crush both Mitsunari and Ieyasu at once. Wanting the chance to defeat Yoshihiro, Ginchiyo aids the pursuit at Yamazaki. Slaying her adversary with utmost respect, she swears to honor his wishes to place the Shimazu in her good care.

Her dream stage is an epilogue to the Western army's victory at Sekigahara, in which they continue to pursue Ieyasu at Edo Castle.

In Samurai Warriors 3, her story starts in a similar manner except that she now fights together with Muneshige. His biological father, Shōun Takahashi, was her father's good friend and was also killed by the Shimazu. As Shōun's death caused a noticeable collapse for their family, the two youths work together to retain what is left of their home. Able to defeat their enemy with Hideyoshi's reinforcements, they subjugate the Hōjō at Odawara Castle with fellow Toyotomi forces. Opposing Ieyasu, the Tachibana continue to serve the Toyotomi after Hideyoshi's death. As representatives of the same clan, Ginchiyo and Muneshige part ways to better assist the Western army campaigns. While saying their farewells to one another, Ginchiyo acts as though she is pleased with facing death and states that Muneshige is a thorn in her side. Muneshige calmly responds that he wants to see her live past the wars, making her visibly distraught.

She joins the siege at Fushimi Castle, intent to show her own strength for once. Although she performs well in her campaigns, it isn't until that she fights at Kusegawa that the idea of being alone makes her falter. Motochika, who sees past her tough front, gets to the point and tells her to only care about the things truly important to her. Therefore, when the Western army loses Sekigahara and they flee for their lives, he joins her in defending her family at Ishigakibaru. Desiring to protect her home, even against the impossible odds they face, she regroups with Muneshige to defeat Kanbei's army. Even after his defeat, Kanbei retorts that they have already fallen into his trap and the Eastern army continues their march inward. Surrounded, Muneshige chivalrously reaffirms his wishes for her to live and forces her to flee from horseback. Ginchiyo, who finally decides to be honest with herself, tearfully rides back to his side and admits that she can't lead the Tachibana by herself. She orders him to realize that they will fight and live together from now on.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Ginchiyo is under attack by Cao Ren's forces and leads a lone resistance against the Orochi forces. She is saved by the fleeing Yoshihiro, Zhao Yun, and Xing Cai. Tied by honor, she agrees to help their cause.

Okuni drags her into Wu in the sequel. It is here where she follows through with her debt and helps Wu with their cause. In one of the game's dream modes, she forms an unlikely alliance with Xing Cai and Yoshimoto. With Yue Ying and Hideyoshi's help, they go to rescue Yuan Shao's struggling army at Chen Cang. Ginchiyo elaborates on Yoshimoto's history with the young maiden and they heroically encourage the isolated generals to fight -including Dong Zhuo.

Kessen
Ginchiyo can be recruited in Kessen III if Kicho rides out in battle to meet her. She is actually a fan of Kicho and acts as a rather sweet maiden. In some ways, she mirrors her idol's abilities.

Development
Quite simply, Ginchiyo was created to be the first woman in the cast to wield a sword. Originally, she was going to resemble a Valkyrie with wings, but this was discarded to better fit with the setting of the Warring States. To reflect her strength and to reference her father surviving a lightning strike during a snowstorm, she was given a lightning bolt motif. The director states that the idea to include her in the game initially puzzled the development team.

Personality
Ginchiyo is a tough and sometimes callous woman who lives with a samurai's code of honor. As Dōsetsu's daughter, she wields his sword in combat and is very proud of her father's legacy. She is so proud that she often replaces any first person pronouns for herself with "Tachibana" in Japanese. A headstrong person of action, Ginchiyo berates cowardly tactics and believes that all battles should be won with pure integrity. Her chivalry and bravery easily gains the respect of her allies, but her sharp tongue and brutally honest nature sometimes leads to minor disagreements. She has a difficult time showing her faults to others, often bashful when she displays any form of weakness.

She admires Ina's earnest nature and praises the younger woman, even when they're enemies. In her second appearance, she has a strong fancy for Muneshige. While she does treasure his dreams for the family and appreciates his company, she usually can't find the right words to express herself to him due to her warrior upbringing. She usually settles for a form of formal yet commending compliment whilst in battle. In the Warriors Orochi series, she respects hardened and skilled individuals such as Xing Cai, Xiahou Yuan, Zhu Rong, Da Qiao, and Zhou Tai.

One of her strongest motivations for entering battles in her debut is finishing the score with her hated enemies, the Shimazu. She despises Yoshihiro in particular and is disgusted by his brutish "devil" lifestyle. He is also responsible for causing the death of her father and clansmen. As she fights with him, however, she begrudgingly admits that she understands his methods and respects her adversary over time. Since he resembles her father, Ginchiyo also shares a minor rivalry with Tadakatsu and wants to prove her worth to him. Both of these relationships are abated to a smaller extent in her newer appearance.

Voice Actors

 * Freya Ravensbergen - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Naomi Shindō - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "For glory!"
 * "Onward for unconditional victory!"
 * "Onward...from the depths of the heart..."
 * "I'm as tough as they come!"
 * "I think you'll find that I'm as tough as they come!"
 * "Were you expecting anything less from me?"
 * "I refuse to move any direction but forward."
 * "Even Japan's strongest man is no match for me!"
 * "I have no qualms about giving you the chance to prove such a bold claim!"
 * Tadakatsu and Ginchiyo; Samurai Warriors 2


 * "Lord Mitsunari, I think you should know that I did not want to join you at first. But then I saw how you changed. You became a better person."
 * "You have changed, too, Lady Tachibana. You're as beautiful now on the inside as you are on the out."
 * Ginchiyo and Mitsunari; Samurai Warriors 2


 * "Principles, material goods... All are as petals in the winds of time. Choose life... give in to your desires."
 * "Your words, Demon King, are very close to my own beliefs. The things men embrace in this world are heavy chains. They bind our souls, and keep us from being truly free."
 * Nobunaga and Ginchiyo; Samurai Warriors 2 Empires

Historical Information
Tachibana Ginchiyo was "Lightning God" Tachibana Dosetsu's daughter, a strong and respected warrior. Ginchiyo was personally named by her father with her name roughly meaning, "one who would not listen idly to others". This proved true to some extent as she grew up refusing to believe in her mother's "ladylike" teachings. She practiced many common teachings for boys and is said to have been a stern and strict figure with noteworthy communication skills.

When Dosetsu was ailing and had lost his other children to illness, he was pleased to see Ginchiyo well and healthy. Despite their suggestion to pass his leadership onto one of his distant relatives, he told his retainers to make Ginchiyo his heir following his death. He died battling the Shimazu clan at Neko'o Castle on November 2, 1585. His wishes were respected and Ginchiyo became the unconventional lord of the Tachibana clan. A woman ruling a clan during the Warring States period was rarely seen or fathomed before then. Feeling under threat of possible invaders, Ginchiyo trained her maids to wield swords at all times, which intimidated many possible suitors. Five years after her rule, she was married to Tachibana Muneshige and he continued to lead the clan. Ginchiyo passed away at the age of 34.

Three tales surround Ginchiyo's life as a samurai. One states that she summoned Toyotomi Hideyoshi to her home and scared him witless by the sight of her heavily armed maids. A second tale states that she was equipped to defend her home with her maids whilst her husband was away. The third takes place after Sekigahara and the Eastern Army reportedly began to march towards her doorstep. She faced them whilst dressed in armor and many of her enemies were said to have felt threatened by the sight. However, there is little historical evidence to validate any of these events and some historians believe that these stories are romanticized fables from the Edo period.

Trivia

 * An event centering on Ginchiyo's beloved white cat was released for Nobunaga's Ambition Online in September 2009. Muneshige asks the players to help him find it for her.