Nobutada Oda

Nobutada Oda is Nobunaga's eldest son and successor. He followed his father into many of his campaigns, even being entrusted to lead a few battles without Nobunaga's supervision. His promising future was cut short due to the Incident at Honnōji. Fiction posthumously popularized him as a loyal if incompetent heir.

His Nobunaga's Ambition counterpart is sixty-third place in Gamecity's character popularity ranking for 2015.

Samurai Warriors
In Samurai Warriors 2, Nobutada is often featured during Honnōji. Surrounded at Nijo Castle, the player will be given a mission to either rescue him or kill him depending on which side of the conflict they serve. Sengoku Musou 3: Empires has him adopt speech patterns similar to his father's during conversation events. Nobutada will continuously send reinforcements to his father and try to send messengers outside Honnoji in Samurai Warriors 4. His death is a requirement to continue the stage.

The social game 100man-nin no Sengoku Musou features Nobutada as a gentle and compassionate young man who is moved by the people's griefs. He has an inferiority complex when other people compare him to his father, often struggling to decide whether he should inherit Nobunaga's ruthlessness or not.

An event titled Nobutada's Ambition details a "what-if" scenario regarding his life and exploits. In spite of his wife's ties to the Takeda, he leads the Takeda Hunt to exterminate the clan. Although his father wanted him to slaughter everyone present, Nobutada makes efforts to rescue his wife from the carnage. His father later entrusts him to deal the final blow to Hisahide Matsunaga. The young man feels he is the helping to create a new age until the elderly gentleman remarks that he is the same as his father; their encounter leaves the young man distraught.

When Nobutada receives news that his father had perished at Honnōji, he desires to live and breaks through the Akechi army at Nijo Castle. He survives with a handful of faithful Oda retainers and leads the counteroffensive against Mitsuhide at Yamazaki. When Mitsuhide falls to his blade, Nobutada gains the confidence step out of his father's shadow. His vision is to create a peaceful world using fairer methods and mediations than his father. He convinces Hideyoshi that he is still the rightful Oda heir and keeps the Oda clan united under his rule. With Hideyoshi's support Nobutada gradually moves westward to convince Motonari and Yoshihiro to lay down their arms for the sake of peace. After he proves his convictions to Ieyasu at Komaki-Nagakute, Nobutada is recognized as the daimyo who unified the land. He tells his aunt he wishes to stabilize the era of harmony for generations. The event's Gaiden scenario has Nobutada face his father in a fight for dominance.

Warriors Orochi
Nobutada is seen with his father during the Warriors Orochi series. If Nobunaga is in the player's party, Nobutada will substitute his NPC position.

Nobunaga's Ambition
Nobunyaga no Yabou highlights his kitty counterpart during the ''Dokii! Himedarake no Neko Senki'' scenario. He is seen leading the annihilation of the remaining Mikeda. He does this in spite of his wife, Matsuhime-nyan, being one of Shingen's daughters. When Nobutanyah later fails to resist the Akechi army at Honnōji, he and his wife decide to die together. The Cat God gives the player the mission to fight the wedded couple for both mentions.

Nobutada stars in Nobunaga no Yabou 201X's Strange Tale of Mikatagahara event. To protect their alliance with the Matsudaira and address the Takeda's suspicious movements, Nobutada is sent to Mikatagahara as his father's representative. His personal goal for himself is to test his honed strengths and tactics. He meets Tadazane Honda as planned before the UMA invade.

The SLO agents and Nobutada bump into one another by chance. Before they can exchange pleasantries, they notice Matsuhime and hurry to rescue her. Nobutada shields her from an UMA and carries her to safety, hiding the grievousness of his wound to avoid worrying his comrades. As she stammers to thank them, Nobutada quickly deduces that she is his arranged fiancée who he has yet to have met. Believing that their ties could jeopardize the Oda-Matsudaira alliance, Nobutada hushes Tadazane and Matsuri from referring to him by his real name. To protect his identity, Nobutada adopts a pseudonym which borrows from his and his father's childhood names: Kimyousai Mizutani (吉法奇妙斉).

As they fight beside their allies, Nobutada tries to make good on his goal. He slays as many UMA as possible but can't do fight as well as Tadazane. He displays his command but isn't as assured of his authority as Nobuharu. He concocts a strategy but isn't as cutthroat as Shingen's mastery. Whenever he starts to feel inadequate, Matsuhime shyly compliments his efforts. Even though he knows he is her fiancé, Nobutada initially mistakes her actions as infidelity. She realizes his discomfort and apologizes to her friend; Matsuhime unintentionally clarifies her faithfulness to him by singing her praises for Nobutada. Realizing his foolishness, Nobutada drops his doubts towards her and genuinely appreciates her company.

By the time the party have reached Mikatagahara, Nobutada has come to terms with himself and his capabilities. He is content to stand in the reserve and protect the Takeda princesses.

Quotes

 * "I pledge my loyalty to you, Father... And to total domination!"
 * "...Is that so?"
 * Nobutada and his father; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "Nobutada, you greatly resemble Brother when he was your age."
 * "Is that so? But I'm afraid that's all we have in common. I can't stomach ruling in the same way as Father."
 * "You are so kind and sweet. Try another path to reach Brother's goal. You don't need to become him; you can just be yourself. "
 * "Be myself... Thank you very much for your advice. First, I need to know my own path. And, maybe one day, I'll be able to surpass Father."
 * Oichi and Nobutada; 100man-nin no Sengoku Musou