Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Hideyoshi Toyotomi first appeared as an unique general in Samurai Warriors and becomes a playable character in its expansion. He also appears as a bonus character in Dynasty Warriors under the name Toukichi. This particular version of him is actually one of his incarnations from the Taikō Risshiden series.

He is the most famous peasant-samurai who eventually unified Japan. He started as Nobunaga Oda's sandal holder, moved onto being his retainer, and became the second of the three unifiers in Japan (the third being Ieyasu Tokugawa). Nobunaga gave him the nickname "Monkey" (サル, Saru) in ode to his monkey-like physique. Nene is his wife and his successor is Hideyori Toyotomi. Though he is married, he has a fancy for other women and an unrequited fondness for Oichi. In the first game, he's 35 years old. He's symbolized by the kanji "determination" (志) and "peace" (昇).

Samurai Warriors
After he proves his cunning at Okehazama, Hideyoshi starts as a general who assists Nobunaga during the siege of Inabayama Castle in Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends. His plan to create a makeshift castle and baffle the otherwise impenetrable fort earns him respect with Nobunaga. As he serves his lord, Hideyoshi realizes that he has his own ambition to do something more for the common folk. He admits this dream to Magocihi and Ieyasu and they pledge to work to save the land. When Nobunaga clashes with the Saika renegades, Hideyoshi tries to prevent his friend from giving into anger. If he fails, Hideyoshi gives up on his dream of a land for the people and becomes a harden skeptic. He rescues Nobunaga from Honnoji and quickly dispels the Mōri. Giving into ambition, he betrays Nobunaga and slays him at Azuchi Castle. After his lord's death, he says a final farewell to his dream of unity and peace.

In his upper path ending, he is shocked to hear that Mitsuhide killed his lord and rushes to avenge him at Yamazaki. Afterwards, he inherits Nobunaga's right as ruler of the land. Ieyasu, who thought Hideyoshi to be unfit to follow in his lord's footsteps, clashes with Hideyoshi at Komaki-Nagakute. Once he defeats Ieyasu, Hideyoshi successfully unified the land with several characters alive to see peace.

Samurai Warriors 2 depicts Hideyoshi as a conqueror and three of his trusted retainers -Masanori Fukushima, Kiyomasa Kato, and Mitsunari Ishida- are brought to the spotlight. After he avenges Nobunaga's death, he leads a conquest to unify the rest of Japan. He deals with Nobunaga's former generals, Katsuie Shibata and Ieyasu, and continues to conquer Kyushu. After he trumps the Hojo clan, Hideyoshi has accomplished his goal of a happy land for everyone. In his dream stage, he decides to test the loyalty of his followers after the unification of the land and fakes his death. Once he sees his followers animosity for one another escalate at Sekigahara, Hideyoshi comes out of hiding to stop the ruckus and any traitors of the Toyotomi family. Additionally, a special request in Survival Mode also depicts a summarized scenario of his progression to a daimyo.

Warriors Orochi
In both games, Hideyoshi is Nobunaga's loyal retainer. In Warriors Orochi, he is a starter character in the Samurai force. He is an active member of Nobunaga's resistance and carries out various tasks for him. He also brings Zhang Jiao and Okuni along on a Gaiden mission to intercept an Orochi Army shipment of gold being sent as payment to Dong Zhuo at Si Shui Gate. Stealing all the gold shipments makes Dong Zhuo defect to the Samurai army, whome he thinks will pay him better. To this Hideyoshi replies "All I really wanted was the gold, but good for you!"

In Warriors Orochi 2, Hideyoshi appears at Hu Lao Gate with his lord to reinforce Sakon Shima's attempt to eradicate the dangerous villain, Kiyomori Taira. He shares special dialogue with Sun Wukong, as the two have a major relationship with monkey-like appearances.

Lastly, Hideyoshi shares his Dream stage with the other Unifiers of Japan who have a contest against the rulers of the Three Kingdoms. He partakes in the contest by asking Tadakatsu to unleash the floodgate and drown their enemies out. In this stage, he is the Samurai Warriors counterpart to Sun Quan.

Kessen
By the time the first Kessen occurs, Hideyoshi has already passed away. His concubine, Lady Yodo, and his son appear as the figurative leaders of the Toyotomi side. Mitsunari mentions him in passing as "the late great Taiko", Hideyoshi's self-appointed rank before his death.

As the third game focuses on Nobunaga's life, Hideyoshi first makes an appearance as Tokichiro Kinoshita, his first known name in history. He uses his acrobatic stunts to advertise his wares to a passing Nobunaga (which includes super-deformed Da Qiao and Yukimura dolls). Impressed with the daimyo's charisma, Tokichiro grew to admire him and wanted to join Nobunaga in battle. Using his street smarts, he tricks the bandit, Koroku Hachisuka, to help his desire to serve Nobunaga. Eventually, Nobunaga is amused by Tokichiro's determination and adds him and Koroku to his ranks.

He serves as a secondary protagonist in the game and visually matures like Nobunaga. His achievements in battle generously follows his historical exploits on the battlefield. Midway through the game, he changes his name to Hideyoshi Hashiba and marries Nene. Even so, he and Katsuie often vie for Oichi's affections. Later, he confesses his feelings to her only to be politely rejected in turn. Unexpectedly, he soon gains an admirer through Nobunaga's foreign lady warrior, Amalia. He joyfully serves Nobunaga until the end of the game.

Saihai no Yukue
Like the first Kessen, Hideyoshi is dead before the game takes place. However, he appears in various characters' flashbacks as a shadowy yet loving figure. Sometime before he died, he asked Mitsunari to look after Lady Yodo and his son, wishing for their happiness. It is often their ties with Hideyoshi that helps inspire Mitsunari's men to fight with him.

Development
Hideyoshi's design started as a literal interpretation of Nobunaga's nickname. Some aspects of his monkey-like design were inspired by Sun Wukong from Journey to the West. Though he wielded a normal spear in his first appearance, his weapon of choice as a playable character gives him a wider range of efficiency and also mimics the swing of a monkey's tail. His second design shifts its focus on Hideyoshi's life as a daimyo and unifier. Some details to his design -such as his fur tipped shoes and greedy nature- continue to allude to his nickname and reflect his time serving Nobunaga. On another note, he is also the shortest character in the second game, coming in at 5'1" (155 cm). On several places he is also adorned with both the Toyotomi and Hashiba mon.

Personality
Hideyoshi is a happy-go-lucky guy who has an inkling for gold, women and ingenuity. Commonly known as "Monkey" by several of Nobunaga's generals, Hideyoshi gains respect for his craftiness in battle (while he screeches and yelps like a monkey in the first game, his monkey mannerisms are downplayed in the sequel). He wants to fight to end the people's suffering and create a happy Japan. With eyes set on this prize, he is willing to make any sacrifice that is necessary, no matter how painful it may be. Usually, he is willing to negotiate with his enemies for them to surrender and treats them kindly in return. At the same time, his gigantic wealth and extraordinary number of vassals are also the cause for fear and concern with others.

His affable nature can sometimes break to show his cryptic, sinister side.

Voice Actors

 * Richard Cansino - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Danny Coleman - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Munehiro Tokida - Samurai Warriors (Japanese)
 * Hideo Ishikawa - Samurai Warriors 2~3 and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Kentarō Itō - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "No more monkeying around!"
 * "Serves you right for getting in my way!"
 * "Not afraid of me, you say...? Well, how about now?!?"
 * "I'll take care of this land for you, so why don't you die for me?!?"
 * "Hmph, why do things always fall apart when I'm not around?"
 * "Meet Hideyoshi Toyotomi! Genius extraordinaire!"
 * "Sorry I don't feel dying today. Sayonara!"
 * "I won't lose! Of course, the enemy is probably thinking the same thing."
 * "Now the Shimazu will bow down to me too! Dang, I'm good!"
 * "One last fight and Japan will be all mine...This was easier than I thought."
 * "Time to attack the Azai and end this once and for all!"
 * "Monkey! This isn't easy for her. Have you even thought of Lady Oichi's feelings?"
 * "Think about her feelings? What good would that do? We're the ones who did this to Lady Oichi in the first place. All that matters is that it comes to an end."
 * Hideyoshi and Katsuie at Odani Castle; Samurai Warriors 2


 * "Here's the gold I owe you. Just don't go bragging about it, okay?"
 * "Whad'ya know. Easiest cash I ever made."
 * Magoichi and Hideyoshi; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "My lord. The crane you were keeping in the garden has escaped. Would you like to send some men to search for it?"
 * "Eh, forget it. The whole land will be mine eventually. Why bring the crane back to my garden when I can bring my garden to it?"
 * Mitsunari and Hideyoshi; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "Hmmm, little monkey... You're wasting your talents among these humans."
 * "Why thank yo- Hey! At least I don't have a tail!"
 * Sun Wukong and Hideyoshi; Warriors Orochi 2.


 * "A tiger losing to a mere monkey would be a travesty... I could never again show my face to my father!"
 * "Don't worry, I'll tell him how badly you felt about it."
 * Sun Quan and Hideyoshi at Fan Castle; Warriors Orochi 2

Samurai Warriors
Hideyoshi's combat style in Samurai Warriors 2 is designed for unpredictability. Most of his strikes involve deceptive movement in utilizing his weapon that can effectively hit farther than it would seem. Although not the most powerful character in the game, he can dispatch many enemies before he can get touched. His musou also runs with this idea as it has him constantly landing jump attacks seemingly at random. He has deceptively long range, good speed, and can combo extremely well - however, his overall strength is on the lower side and landing certain moves might take some practice as they come practically out of left field.

Due to his treasure-hoarding nature in the games, a number of his weapons are designed for high luck; making him a great character for item and money farming purposes - Samurai Warriors 2 particularly exemplifies this.

Obtaining the fifth weapon

 * Stage: Attack on Azuchi Castle.
 * Requirements: Defeat all generals and sub-generals on both the Oda and Saika side. Then defeat either Magoichi Saika or Nobunaga Oda after the player defeated all generals and sub-generals. Supply team appears in the north.