Edit Characters (Samurai Warriors)

Edit mode characters is a feature that was introduced in Samurai Warriors. Players are given the option to create their own characters and play as them in Free Mode or in an original story.

Customization
Edit characters start with sword, spear, and naginata move sets. Characters in the first game are limited to four preset models of both male and female variations. Their movesets are cloned and blended from the game's playable characters. The weapons they use are decided during the training phase.

In Samurai Warriors 2: Empires, players are given a wider range of models to build their character. They are also given the option to choose a voice, a special skill, a family crest, weapon, warrior type and kanji shown during the edit character's true musou.

Edit characters return in Samurai Warriors 3. For males there are seven face types, fourteen head types and six models: light samurai, heavy samurai, European samurai, ronin warrior, strategist, and ninja costumes. For females there are three face, six head types and three models: female warrior, princess, and female ninja costumes. Players can also unlock all of the playable characters' weapons except for Kotaro Fuma's move set. There are also four different voice options for each gender and players can change the body types of their edit characters: average, thin, big boned, muscle/voluptuous.

Naming
In the Japanese version of Samurai Warriors and Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends, custom characters can receive additional bonuses if they are creatively given a certain name. Although the kanji for these names are technically named after certain figures, they need to be implemented in a particular manner before they are accepted by the game.

Writing "Yamada~" (やまだぁ) and "ω" also gives bonuses but it's unclear which stats are boosted when this occurs.

Training
In the first game, players must train their edit character before they are able to play them and access their story. They are given a year to hone their skills and are given a final exam to test their abilities. Each turn during this phase is considered one month's worth of training. While training, trainers will give several tasks which will change a character's attributes to suit a player's preferences and increase certain traits. However, increasing one stat will decrease a corresponding attribute. For example, increasing the character's attack will decrease one's defense. Health lost during each training exercise is not restored, allowing players to opt to rest for that month instead. Players are forced to rest for the month if they have failed a previous training session.

During this time, players have the option of training with a spear, sword or naginata. Practicing with certain weapons can improve select attributes. The character's final weapon is determined depending on which weapon was used more often during this phase. Also certain events with the stage's original characters can take place such as falling ill which will increase or decrease the character's stats. They maybe confronted by their teacher, Saya (the teacher's daughter), or Dokkimaru (teacher's other student). As a side note, Saya is the woman who appears during Magoichi's opening movie and is the shopkeeper in Samurai Warriors 2. Dokkimaru also appears during the Survival Mode in the sequel, appearing in the mission to protect the shopkeep.

The final exam is presented by a general from a different clan with two different tasks. The clans are listed as follows: Oda, Takeda, Uesugi, Tokugawa, Date, Honganji, Azai, Imagawa, Hojo. Each exercise assesses and evaluates the player's skill, allotting a certain amount of points based on their performance. Failing to complete the exam will dismiss the character and the player will have to restart the entire training process.

Original Story
In Samurai Warriors 3, edit characters can participate as an anonymous solider in the Historical Mode. These scenarios are available in the Japanese version as downloadable content, needing 300 Wii points to get all three sections of the history featured. There is no actual reward for completing this mode, and it is limited as a single player mode.

Each section is separated by the rough time periods emphasized in the game and features a basic outline of events between each time period. The player often joins the side that had the highest morale or were historically able to turn the tides of the battle. A few instances contrast this trend, mainly the Oda army at Honnoji. Stages within this mode offer unique conversations, exclusive battle briefings, and slightly different mission objectives. When a player completes these versions of the stages, they will be rated based on the number of seals they obtain. Seals are based on the missions the player completes and their overall performance, and they are present to show the player's personal progress.

Since these stages strive to be "historically accurate", these versions of the stages often omits several of the generals who only appear in select character stories from the normal story mode (i.e: Motonari in any battle, Kiyomasa at Sekigahara, Sakon appearing as reinforcements at Osaka, and so on). Exceptions to this trend are female characters -who continue to stand by their respective sides- and certain relations established within the characters' stories (such as Sakon being with the Takeda and Motochika being friends with Mitsuhide). As a side note, Sekigahara also includes the playable Tachibana characters for the Western army.

Weapons

 * See also: Edit Characters (Samurai Warriors)/Weapons

Voice Actors

 * Hikaru Midorikawa - Edit man, Samurai Warriors (Japanese)
 * Ai Maeda - Edit woman, Samurai Warriors; Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)
 * Kouta Nemoto, Keisuki Baba, Takeshi Mori, Kouhei Fukuhara - Edit men, Samurai Warriors 2: Empires (Japanese)
 * Makiko Ōmoto, Fumiko Inoue, Masumi Kageyama - Edit women, Samurai Warriors 2: Empires (Japanese)
 * Takeshi Kusao, Takahiro Fujimoto, Hiroshi Kamiya - Edit men, Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)