Hotaru (Geten)

Hotaru (ほたる) is the main protagonist and player character in Geten no Hana. Her name can be changed to the player's preferences in the game, but she will be known by her default name in official media. If the player uses her default name, it will be audibly spoken by characters.

Throughout the game's script, Hotaru may be alternatively known under one of her aliases: Kikyō (桔梗) as a princess or Shichisuke (七介) as a man.

Role in Games
Hotaru is a descendant of the Fujibayashi clan, one of the three influential branches of the Iga ninja. Her father taught her how to transform, but both he and her mother died when she was six years old. She would have kept crying at their tombstone, but Momoji was ordered by their village elder to take care of her. He raised and trained her as his sole apprentice.

Though his training was strict, Hotaru enjoyed a happy childhood by his side. When she was twelve years old, Momoji mysteriously left the village on a mission without saying goodbye to her. His sudden departure was painful to her, yet it simultaneously encouraged her to continue her training with renewed interest. She felt she needed to honor his teachings in his absence. Out of the ninja in her village, she became the most proficient ninja with transformation spells. She arms herself with kunai when she wishes to defend herself.

Azuchi Castle's infiltration is Hotaru's first field mission, a job she gladly accepts from the village elder at the start of the main story. Since her chief fears for her safety, she gives Hotaru a powerful transformation scroll from their village's inventory. The elderly woman warns that the scroll will severely drain the user's life force if used and that it must be reserved as a last resort.

After Hotaru accepts it, she transforms into a bird to sneak inside the castle in order to locate her anonymous contractor. Mitsuhide, her employer, immediately apprehends her in private and clarifies his identity to her. He explains that ninja from an unknown benefactor have been targeting Azuchi Castle; he believes they are likely sent by one of Nobunaga's many enemies. Mitsuhide hires Hotaru to capture them and gather information on their master. To allow her easy access to the castle's surroundings, he orders Hotaru to pose as Kikyō, his fake younger sister from Sakamoto Castle who is visiting him for the month. Mitsuhide introduces her to his lord and cohorts as an "odd princess" to help explain her wandering tendencies and her occasional misconduct. He simultaneously issues a public post calling for the immediate capture and brutal torture of any ninja found on the premise to deter her from deserting her mission.

For the following two weeks, Hotaru juggles between her disguise as Kikyō and her real kunoichi duties. She routinely reports any suspicious activity to Mitsuhide and successfully defeats two enemy ninja, Shigure and Rekka. While she pursues Rekka's retreat, she learns Nobuyuki is the true ringleader of the assassination attempts on Nobunaga's life. Hotaru is therefore shocked when Mitsuhide reveals he is colluding with Nobuyuki. He then orders her to assassinate the young lord during a firefly viewing banquet, a festival which is spontaneously planned to be celebrated before Nobunaga leaves for the capital.

During her time spent as Kikyō, Hotaru learns Nobunaga's noble if idealistic dream to unite the land for peace. As she is able to witness his character in person, she echoes the wishes of his retainers to make it possible. Her mission to assassinate the land's possible savior leaves her visibly distraught. As she prepares for the best spot to fire her kunai during the banquet, her mood and concentration gradually worsens. She continues to stipulate over the consequences of Nobunaga's death even when the promised time of his assassination presents itself.

The player can choose to either carry out her mission faithfully or stall at this point; both options lead to a similar conclusion but throwing the kunai closes other story paths which could be unlocked. Should she throw it, Nobunaga deflects it. If she stalls, Momoji patronizes her hesitation and throws one of his own towards Nobunaga. He is hit, but he survives since it was a shallow cut. Hotaru flees from the scene to avoid capture and reconvenes with the conspirators to accept her punishment. In the latter scenario, she feels she has betrayed her master's trust yet confidently believes in protecting the Oda's dream. Hotaru boldly proclaims her thoughts to explain her failure.

While Mitsuhide threatens to torture the kunoichi for her disobedience, Nobuyuki stands in her defense and assures that another chance will come in the future. His act of kindness causes him to be exposed to Nobunaga, who concealed himself and overheard their conversation. Mitsuhide then explains that the assassination and his feigned allegiance to Nobuyuki is an elaborate ruse to expose the younger brother's treachery to Nobunaga, who refused to believe the claim unless he saw it himself. Nobunaga is the sole person besides Mitsuhide to be aware of the plot in advance and trusted his retainer enough to feign ignorance. Realizing that he had been betrayed, Nobuyuki loses his composure and draws his sword to attack Mitsuhide. Hotaru intervenes and successfully protects her master.

Nobunaga leaves for the capital at daybreak and his retainers return to their respective duties away from Azuchi. Mitsuhide is charged with protecting the castle in his lord's absence. Since Nobuyuki is locked away in the castle's gaols, Mitsuhide frees Hotaru from her contract and congratulates her on a job well done.

Here, the default storyline can split into three different endings. If she threw the kunai at the banquet, the kunoichi returns home. When she arrives, her chief tells her that Nobunaga was killed at Honnōji several days prior. Bewildered, Hotaru wonders if she could have prevented his demise.

If she refused to carry the assassination, Hotaru decides to return home at nightfall. Once she arrives, the chief receives a report that Nobuyuki's army is marching towards Honnōji. Hotaru hurries towards the temple with the hopes of saving Nobunaga, but she arrives too late to save him. Ranmaru dies while fighting Nobuyuki's troops, the Oda siblings perish due to their duel, and a broken Mitsuhide commits suicide to join his lord. With no one to command the Oda, the land falls into another dark age of war.

The third path can be seen after completing the other good endings within the game. Rather than leave Azuchi Castle, Hotaru chooses to stay on her own will, as she worries that Momoji might be plotting something. She implores Mitsuhide to cancel the other retainers' trips and to escort Nobunaga to Honnōji with a well supplied army. Despite his initial suspicions for her plea, he agrees and explains her true identity to the rest of the Oda retainers during the trip. When they arrive at the temple, she asserts her genuine loyalties to Nobunaga and is warmly accepted by the young lord.

Due to her precautions and Nobuyuki's reluctance to raise arms, the trip to Honnōji ends after many days without incident. Hotaru henceforth decides to be the secret guard of Azuchi Castle. Several months later, the Oda soldiers begin to believe they are being protected by a benign spirit. Hotaru has earned the nickname "The Shield of Azuchi" (安土の盾, Azuchi no tate) with rival ninja.

Yumeakari has her stay true to her belief in Nobunaga's dream of unification after Honnōji. She chooses to stay at Azuchi on her free will.

Alternate Fates
The player may choose to alter the game's events by interacting with other characters. Different scenarios may trigger depending on their ties with Hotaru.


 * If a male character has a high affection rating and their personal events are successfully completed, Hotaru can stay by the character's side in their good ending. The assassination, the revealing of her identity, and Honnōji's events will be different in each scenario.
 * If a male character has a high affection rating yet doesn't have all of their events completed, he can say goodbye to Hotaru after Nobuyuki's incarceration in the default storyline. He gives her a present and a fond parting message as she leaves the castle. These endings can be seen after unlocking their good ending.
 * Should a male character have a high doubt rating, he will suspect that Hotaru is an enemy kunoichi which leads to her imprisonment.
 * Failing to win duels during key events or failing to meet the requirements needed for the main story events leads to several premature bad endings.

Personality
On one hand, Hotaru is focused on completing her job. She believes in the ideal of a flawless, graceful shinobi who never commits error. Constantly driven to become her perceived image of perfection, she is compelled to strictly follow the tenets she was taught since childhood. Her master is the lone law she is obligated to abide. Training the body is a means of training the spirit. Deception is mandatory for the mission. Outsiders should never learn her true identity least she desires death. The mission only ends once her contract to her employer is over. To her, these perceptions for her duty are obvious means of proving her worth to her elders with the Iga ninja. Her dream and ninja abilities empowers her with confidence and pride, causing her to criticize those she deems to be lazy. Many of her bad ending routes magnifies these traits to sound negative and soulless.

Yet, canonically, Hotaru is an optimistic dreamer fresh in her profession. When not on the job, she is fascinated by the world around her and enjoys the quaint comforts of warm camaraderie. Due to her sheltered upbringing, she tends to be inexperienced with proper social conduct of the time period, which may lead to clumsy or awkward moments during her disguises. Her intensive, strict training did nothing to kill her compassion for fairness and nothing to stifle her honest selflessness. Though her behavior may be considered odd by observers, Hotaru's genuine concern for others is always welcomed. The emotional dilemma of following her duties under the stress of lying to those around her is a hurdle she must overcome in every story path. In the good ending routes, she stays true to her heart and desires for peace. Even if it means failing her mission and being shunned for her actions, Hotaru doesn't want to follow an idea she deems unjust. Her pure passion shapes her ideals for her profession into a personal goal for herself.

Throughout the story, Hotaru's fixation to mature into a reliable shinobi can be traced back to her profound respect and admiration for her mentor, Momoji. She addresses him as "Master" (師匠, shishou) at all times and dreams to be his expert successor. Regardless of whether the player romances him or not, Momoji's approval is dear to her. If she feels that his safety is threatened, Hotaru gladly sacrifices herself to protect him. In the cases in which their relation is platonic, she considers him her lone family. She still remembers the trauma she experienced with her parents' deaths and doesn't want to experience it again with Momoji's sudden demise.

Character Symbolism
Hotaru's symbolic flower is the spotted bellflower. The flower also doubles as her namesake within the game. Her pseudonym, Kikyou, is an archaic spelling for the Japanese bellflower; it is often argued to be the model for the Akechi coat of arms.

Gallery
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