Yukimura Sanada

Yukimura Sanada (真田幸村) is a character introduced in Samurai Warriors. Like Zhao Yun, he is the "poster boy" for the Samurai Warriors series usually being placed on the cover/manuals of the games. His full historical pen name is Sanada Saemon-no-Suke Yukimura (真田 左衛門佐　幸村). In the first game, he is nineteen years old.

Samurai Warriors
Yukimura throughout the game is mostly seen following the orders of Shingen Takeda. In the first Samurai Warriors, Yukimura has a strong friendship with Kunoichi, who follows him into many battles. His rival of sorts is Hanzō Hattori. After Shingen's death, Yukimura begins to lose hope and feels he should die. In one of his endings, he is sitting around when Kunoichi comes and the two of them begin to fight a multitude of Sky Ninjas.

However, in his real ending, he is shown surrounded by many soldiers, and does the impossible by getting into Tokugawa's main camp. Tokugawa bestows him the title of one of Japan's greatest heroes after marveling at his feat in reaching the camp. After hearing this, Yukimura smiles and dies due to exhaustion with the last moments of the ending showing his spear pointed to the sky. This is a dramatization of one of his historically significant achievements.

In Samurai Warriors 2, Yukimura begins his tale on the losing Takeda side during Nagashino. Moments before he is shot down by Oda troops, Keiji defects and saves the struggling youth. After they fight their way to safety, the wild man encourages him to find a reason for living besides honor and duty. Yukimura tries by believing in friendship and allies himself with Kanetsugu Naoe and Mitsunari Ishida.

Despite his efforts to hold these bonds of friendship, Mitsunari dies at Sekigahara and Kanetsugu severs their ties by allying himself with Tokugawa at Osaka Castle. Valiantly standing on the frail Toyotomi side, Yukimura leads the resistance and spares Kanetsugu's life. Moved by their friendship, Kanetsugu leads the victory charge against Ieyasu's camp. While the army continues to scatter the fleeing Tokugawa troops, Yukimura and Keiji have a one-on-one duel. Once Yukimura wins their bout, he thanks Keiji for teaching him to treasure the things truly important to him. Kanetsugu and him smile as they watch Keiji walk away.

In his dream stage, he arrives on time to support the Western cause at Sekigahara. Kobayakawa has already defected and several Toyotomi generals are heavily surrounded. Thanks to Yukimura's efforts, they change the tides of the battle and miraculously claim victory. Mitsunari thanks his friend for his support.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, he is lost and confused on the battlefield. After hearing a false rumor, he believes an evil ghost is terrorizing the land and goes to slay it. However, thanks to the sound reasoning from the Shu forces, he learns his folly and joins their cause.

Kessen
Yukimura appears as a hero mid to late game in the first Kessen. Early on, he is best known for leading a deadly army of kunoichi (female ninja). A trio of kunoichi -named Saizo, Sasuke, and Kosuke- serve him at all times. After the death of his father, he became a shining star of hope for the Western army. If Josui Kuroda or Mitsunari Ishida lose their lives fighting for the Toyotomi side, Yukimura becomes the leading commander to replace them. His prime battle is the defense of Osaka Castle. If he wins the battle, he will face Ieyasu one more time at Sekigahara.

He appears as a minor enemy along side his father in Kessen III.

Quotes

 * "Yukimura Sanada returns to battle!"
 * "Rest assured, Hanzō, that my spear will protect those dear to me... From your stained blade of darkness."
 * "Attempt to stop me if you wish. You will fail."
 * Yukimura and Hanzō; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "An army of millions and not a man among them. How pathetic. I shall end this war in one stroke!"
 * Yukimura the night before Osaka's defense; Kessen

Development
The designers initially wanted him to represent the "standard hero" and adorned his armor red for historical accuracy and aesthetic tastes. They gave him a darker wardrobe underneath it to make it seem like he was cutting through darkness. For his redesign in the sequel, the team emphasized the symbolic significance of his crimson armor. With bold gold and white accents, they remark that he looked more ready for action and less generic.