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. Move sets are reliant on the weapon the player chooses to use so two characters wielding a spear would act exactly the same. While basic in their execution, each weapon possessed attacks that were different from the playable cast and therefore, in a sense, "unique". Characters in the first game are limited to four preset models of both male and female variations. However, it is possible to unlock four more models by getting the player's attack and defense to reach 90 by the fourth month. The unlocked models are Armored Male, Armored Female, Priest Male, and Priest Female. 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. Player made characters also had the option of wielding weapons from the playable cast, giving them the ability to clone their character of choice.

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 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

Character Symbolism
Swords for Edit Characters are mainly named after famous swordsmiths or actual famous swords whom gained their reputation at least two hundred years before Samurai Warriors setting.
 * Swords

Ishikiri, the second sword for players' characters sword wielders, is a sword named in Heiji Monogatari. It was a short sword wielded by Minomoto no Yoshihira. During the Heiji Rebellion, he crept with a small battalion barely consisting of 300 horsemen to attack his Heike foes. After boldly declaring his name to his foes, he ruffled his hair loose and let Ishikiri swing through his startled foes. His brazen attire struck fear into his enemies at Rokuhara. Taira no Kiyomori observed the intruder's courage and confronted Yoshihira upon his capture. He offered a chance for the warrior to surrender to him. He tried to convince Yoshihira by stating the Heike's imposing numbers, but Yoshihira recited Xiang Yu's downfall as his bold defiance to Kiyomori's offer. Dying as a part of the Genji clan, Yoshihira was beheaded soon after.

The swordsmith named in their third sword -fourth in the first title and Normal in the third- is Masamune, a swordsmith who gained his fame during the Nanboku-chō period. Commonly known as one of the best swordsmiths, legends depict his skills to be unmatched as his blades are fashioned with beautiful precision. In Samurai Warriors 3, the same sword is named in honor of two grand swordsmiths from the same time period, Gō no Yoshihiro (Power) and Sadamune (Speed). Yoshihiro holds the honor of being one of the Three Great Swordsmiths (along with Masamune) whose crafts were unattainable by any daimyo. His history is largely unknown as not even the villagers who lived near him ever saw his face. Sadamune strove to make his swords with beauty and for his customized sword tips.

Their fourth sword -fifth in the first title and Unique in the third- is called Dōjikiri. According to myths and folklore, the sword is heralded as one of the Five Great Swords of Japan. Forged during the Heian Period by the swordsmith, Yasutsuna, it was wielded by Minamoto no Yorimitsu. He used it to behead a shuten-dōji, a supernatural being often called the strongest type of Japanese demon. Passed down through various clans, it has been said to have once been given to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and other famous daimyo of the Warring States period. It was reportedly used during the Edo Period to test its sharpness, effortlessly slicing through six corpses of executed criminals.

Mikazuki Munechika is the rarest original sword that can be obtained by the players' character and is known as one of the legendary Five Great Swords. Like Dōjikiri, it was crafted during the Heian Period by swordsmith Sanjo Munechika. Out of the five blades, it is the one favored for its beautiful structure and is considered a special rarity within the five. According to legend, Ashikaga Yoshiteru used this sword as he fought to his last in battle. Miyoshi Masayasu claimed it and it eventually was passed down to Kodai-In. She gave it to Tokugawa Hidetada, and it has been housed with the Tokugawa clan ever since.

A spear favored by Sakai Tadatsugu, one of the Tokugawa Four Guardian Kings, acts as the third original spear for player's characters. Its name is Kametooshi-yari or Bindooshi-yari, a spear so named due to its ability to penetrate through the thick shell of a water urn. One of his unlucky opponents tried to use a urn as a shield but was killed when the spear's sharp tip punctured through it.
 * Spears

The Three Great Spears of Japan all appear as available weapons for the player's spear wielders. Hinomoto-gō acts as the fourth or final spear in the third title while Tonbogiri appears as the fifth for characters in the first game. Otegine is the sixth weapon for the first Xtreme Legends game and the first rare spear for the third title. It was crafted by swordsmith Gojo Yoshisuke during the Muromachi period. According to legend, it gained its name for its characteristic scabbard and was the longest spear of the Three Great Spears. Because of its length of plus 2 meters, it was hard to carry and not too many people could use it. Regrettably, the original was lost in a fire during the fighting in WWII. Reconstruction efforts for the treasured spear have been a work in progress.

All of the rarer naginata (third, fourth, fifth, Uniques) are named after figures who only wield the weapon in legends and folklore.
 * Naginata

The first person mentioned is the legendary woman warrior of the Genpei War, Tomoe Gozen. Famed for her strength with the sword and bow, she had long, luscious black hair and fair features. She armed herself for war and rode as a warrior within the Genji ranks. According to Heike Monogatari, she was just a soldier within Minamoto no Yoshinaka's army who fought during the Battle of Ujigawa. She reluctantly acted upon her master's command to save herself, abandoning her warrior ways to become a nun. In the better known Genpei Seisuiki account, she was Yoshinaka's wife and a steadfast, imposing general who stood beside him during his campaigns. Based on this version of her roots, Tomoe is sometimes depicted as being skilled with a naginata to fit the typical image for a samurai wife. She was twenty-eight years old as her husband was chased away from the capital. After her husband died, Tomoe was spared from Minamoto no Yoritomo's wrath due to her gender. By Yoritomo's order, she was remarried to Wada Yoshimori and lived to be a prosperous grandmother of ninety years. Yoshinaka did have a historical wife, but nothing of her history -not even family roots- matches Tomoe's description within these war epics. Since Tomoe only appears within these epics and has no mention within historical records, there is a prominent belief that she is a completely fictional character. Skeptics reason that she may have actually existed by using other historical women to support their theories, but, so far, there is no solid proof that Tomoe -at least a maiden even coming close to the one seen in the epics- was real.

Musashibō Benkei is the second figure to be mentioned. Like Tomoe, he finds his roots in the gunki monogatari, or war epics, and folklore surrounding the Jishō-Juei War. Famously known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune's giant warrior monk companion, Benkei was a collector of various weapons. Among the ones he collected, he is said to have favored a naginata forged by Sanjo Munechika called Iwatooushi. Using the large polearm in his duties, he died with it in his hands while protecting the location of his master's suicide. Benkei's naginata is not an actual weapon historically, but it's his constant trademark weapon within various fictional mediums.

The third person who appears in these weapons is a recognized historical figure, Prince Moriyoshi. He was a principle figure for toppling the Kamakura shogunate. Using his royal influence, he attempted to restore political power back to the Imperial family. However, his relations with the Ashikaga shogunate soured and his plans couldn't come to fruit. When he was only twenty-eight years old, the prince was killed by one of Ashikaga Tadayoshi's vassals. Based on his account in the Taiheki, the prince likened to martial arts since his youth. During his childhood, he was raised with temple upbringings within Sanzen-In. Within the same temple today lies a naginata named Sanemorizukuri. Urban legends state the weapon was once used by the prince during his daily training sessions or that he used in his rebellion against the Kamakura shogunate. The polearm didn't actually appear in the shrine until the 1930s, however, so tales tied to the naginata might be baseless exaggerations or far-fetched folklore.

Izanagi appears within the male protagonist's rarest weapon. Izanagi is a Japanese deity tied to the Japanese creation myth. Both he and his wife, Izanami, were the last pair of gods to be created within the age of gods. Together with Izanami, they gave birth to several gods and land formations for Japan. Grieving his wife's death when she gives birth to Kagutsuchi, he decided to venture into the dreaded Yomi-no-kuni to see her again. Frightened by the sight of her reanimated corpse, Izanagi made a panicked escape for his life. While his wife bitterly cursed him and his children, Izanagi swore to continue creating life to undo her damage. From him, the moon, heavenly plains, and sea are said to have been created. His name has been speculated to personify invitation, bravery, or masculinity.
 * Chronicle

To match with Izanagi, Izanami appears for the rare weapon of the female protagonist. She shares her husband's origins and gave birth to many of their children. While she was giving birth to Kagutsuchi, she was burned to death by her child's flames. As her spirit wandered into Yomi-no-kuni, her mutilated corpse reanimated itself in a burst of lightning within the realm. Ashamed and humiliated by her husband's reaction, Izanami angrily chased Izanagi away from her eternal dwelling. When her husband escaped, she cursed him and his children to forever suffer death and unhappiness. Retreating back to her new home, her relation with Izanagi was severed and she reigns within Yomi-no-kuni. Aside from overseeing the land of the dead, Izanami is also known as a goddess for the sea, creativity, and guidance.

Izanagi and Izanami are known to reign in two opposite realms. Though they are separated, their actions are intertwined with the other's so that life and death can coexist within the world. The gods' relationship with one another may additionally be tied to the sun and moon imagery for the main protagonists. Male heroes are affiliated with the sun while the moon is given to the main heroines.

Voice Actors

 * Hikaru Midorikawa - Edit man, Samurai Warriors (Japanese)
 * Ai Maeda - Edit woman, Samurai Warriors (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, Shunzō Miyasaka - Edit men, Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)
 * Ai Maeda, Mariko Suzuki, Yūko Nagashima, Masami Suzuki - Edit women, Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)
 * Hiroshi Kamiya, Umeka Shōji - Samurai Warriors Chronicles protagonists (Japanese)