Ranmaru Mori

Ranmaru Mori (森 蘭丸) is a character who first appears in Samurai Warriors. He is Nobunaga's page. His persona is thought to reflect on his incredibly effeminate appearance, as he is usually mistaken for a woman by some characters in the game. Although teased for that, he is nonetheless a passionately loyal retainer to Nobunaga and will ultimately die for him. In the first game, he is 19 years old. He's symbolized by the character "honesty" (誠) and "morality" (義).

Samurai Warriors
In Samurai Warriors, Ranmaru begins his story as Mitsuhide's pupil. Both were serving in the Mino domain when Nobunaga conquered it. Since they were able to prove their might to him, they joined the Oda forces. Ranmaru then became loyal to Nobunaga which conflicted with his relationship with Mitsuhide, who wasn't pleased with his Lord's rule. Ranmaru protected his lord from the betrayal at Honnoji and is faced with the thought of having to kill his mentor. In his lower path ending, he unquestionably completes the deed (despite his attempt to murder Nobunaga) and continues to defend Nobunaga from various assassins.

In his real ending, he hesitates to kill his mentor at Anegawa and the army continues to pursue him at Gifu. Ranmaru decides that he must be the only one who can end Mitsuhide and charges into the castle for a duel. While his mentor dies in his arms, Ranmaru tries to confess his affection for him. Mitsuhide's last words are his desire to meet Ranmaru in the next life, a request that the teen answers in his thoughts.

Ranmaru is a hidden character for Samurai Warriors 2 that can be unlocked by doing the first two "Ranmaru's Request" and "Mitsuhide's Request" jobs in Survival Mode. Like Okuni, he doesn't have a personal Story Mode. However, he does make appearances during other characters scenarios. He is usually found trying to avenge his father's death while facing the Azai forces or defending Nobunaga in various campaigns. He also humorously appears in the beauty competition for No and Oichi's dream stages where he intends to stop the two girls' fight and to "tell Nobunaga" on No if she threatens to hurt him.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Ranmaru joins Ma Chao to oppose the Orochi forces. The leader of the attack at the time was Sun Ce. Once he is defeated, Ranmaru is captured and ready to accept a bitter fate. Instead, Sun Ce releases him and tells him to do whatever the boy likes. Admiring his kindness, Ranmaru decides to follow Sun Ce. He often has a hard time relating with the Little Conqueror, often questioning his fickle methods.

He continues to loyally serve Wu in Warriors Orochi 2, where he also became close friends with Yoshitsune Minamoto. Ironically in his dream mode, it was stated that Ranmaru still protects Nobunaga, despite his new life in Wu.

Kessen
Ranmaru appears as a playable unit in Kessen III. He is much more masculine than his Samurai Warriors counterpart and even sports a topknot hairstyle. Ranmaru is first seen tearfully reporting his father's death to Nobunaga. He gladly replaces his father but inevitably dies while assisting his lord's escape from Honnoji. His older brother replaces him after this incident.

Development
Ranmaru's appeal in his design is that his sword should look longer and bigger than his body. To make this visual clearer to the audience, they envisioned Ranmaru as having a line drawn across the back of his body. His body shape was slimmed down to make an attractive silhouette for this concept. The result made him look effeminate, younger, and "cuter" than some developers originally planned. His second design kept these concepts and accented his outfit with white to express his inner spirit. His charm point is his clothed leg guards, which were made to look like loose socks.

Personality
Ranmaru is a naturally a naive and selfless person where he only thinks of his Lord's safety and nothing else. His talents are highly valued by Nobunaga and the two share a close relationship with Ranmaru standing vigilant at his lord's side. He is often flustered when mistaken for a girl and can be at times entirely oblivious to his own "beauty".

Appearance
He wears a general lavender color scheme in the series, donning a simple top and light armor adorned with his family's crest. His legs are left exposed and his sword sheath is left tied at his back. His alternate outfit in the first game takes a Victorian influence. His Samurai Warriors 2 palette swap uses pinkish colors, while his Warriors Orochi swap is red, to symbolize his new life in Wu. He also sports the typical valet ponytail and, in his Kessen III appearance, a shaved top.

Voice Actors

 * Tony Oliver - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Wendi Jewers - Samurai Warriors 2, Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power (English)
 * Tara Platt - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Terrence Stone - Kessen III (English)
 * Naomi Shindō - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Masakazu Morita - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "I shall serve with unwavering devotion!"
 * "I grow stronger with every victory!"
 * "I think I've just found the most beautiful girl in all Japan! You won't get away from me, pretty lady!"
 * "Stop it! I'm a man! Why can't you see that?"
 * "A man...? Uh... Are you sure about that?"
 * Magoichi and Ranmaru; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "The side which controls information controls it's enemy. Therefore, I will put on a disguise and slip into enemy territory."
 * "I would advise against it, Ranmaru. You've failed at playing dress-up before, remember, when you once attempted to pass for a monk."
 * "I still don't understand how the enemy spotted me that time... They said something like 'There are no girls in the priesthood.' What could that possibly mean?"
 * Ranmaru and Kanetsugu; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "Ran, you have a great imagination. Enjoy it while you can."
 * Nobunaga's reply regarding Ranmaru's concern; Kessen III

Ground Moveset

 * undefined(undefinedundefined):Ranmaru charges his sword and cut the air in front of him making a wave of energy. The more he charges the bigger the wave, and it will break his opponents guard.
 * undefined(undefinedundefined):Ranmaru stabs the enemy and tosses them in the air. He then runs past them with his blade striking them back into the air, and runs back before they hit the ground.
 * undefined(undefinedundefinedundefined): Ranmaru does a quick down slash. He then does a slash from right to left, and another from left to right knocking them back. He then runs forward with a shockwave trailing from his blade and lets it loose as he meets them.
 * undefined(undefinedundefined): Ranmaru does a powerful falling diagonal strike, followed by a rising strike to send them flying. He then turn around and makes a huge slash cutting a wave in the air in front of him.
 * :Ranmaru does several diagonal slashes followed by several horizontal ones.
 * A downward strike from the air.
 * undefined: Ranmaru runs his sword in the ground making a little shockwave.
 * Ranmaru slashes in wide arcs in a small circular area around him. His level 3 musou imbues his attacks with the element on the weapon he has currently equipped.
 * R1+:Ranmaru does an extremely fast forward strike that leaves a doppelganger behind for a second.
 * R1+undefined: Ranmaru assumes a stance to up his attack but lowers his defense.

Horse Moveset
Ranmaru's moveset remains the same except he loses many of his Samurai Warriors 2 additions. He also has a new R1 ability.
 * Warriors Orochi
 * R1: Ranmaru slashes the ground making several shockwaves cleave in front of him.

Fighting Style
Ranmaru is main strength is crowd clearing as his attacks have huge range and area of attack due to his nodachi. Coupled with his prominent attack stat and his projectiles, he can kill crowds with ease. Ranmaru's strength also makes him good against generals, but his lack of guard breaks prevents him from being from being in the top tier. Ranmaru's main two weakness are his speed and defense, leaving Ranmaru an easy target and vulnerable to attacks. Players must be careful and to try to not be in the middle of a crowd when facing a general and stay towards the edges of a crowd.

His C1 can be charged and used if a large group is headed towards Ranmaru to break them up. The C2 will damage a general and weaken the crowds around him. His C3 can help to separate generals from a crowd. His C4 is an all purpose attack that can damage generals greatly and crowds. His Musou absolutely rips up crowds with great power, speed, range and area, and is fairly damaging to generals too. His R1+ is a mainly used against generals as it hits hard and fast. His R1+undefined is for quickly dealing with a group or general, but should not be used if Ranmaru is overwhelmed as it weakens his defense further.