Mitsuhide Akechi

Mitsuhide Akechi debuted as a playable character in Samurai Warriors. He is one of Nobunaga's trusted vassals. He is Gracia's father and mentions of his wife can be found in conversations for Samurai Warriors 2: Empires. He is best known in history for betraying Nobunaga at Honnoji. However, the reasons behind his betrayal are ambiguous and are still debated amongst historians.

In the first game, he's 25 years old. In the Samurai Warriors series, he's symbolized by the kanji for "flash" (閃), the kanji for "punish" (誅), and white feathers.

Samurai Warriors

 * "Mitsuhide, you are clearly capable of more than you realize."
 * ―Sima Yi; Warriors Orochi 2

In Samurai Warriors, Mitsuhide acts as the reluctant warrior for Nobunaga's army. He is a mentor for Ranmaru and an old acquaintance of Nouhime. When Mino falls, both him and his apprentice prove their strength and ally themselves with Nobunaga. After witnessing Nobunaga's cruel slaughter of the Ikko sect at Nagashima, Mitsuhide questions his lord's integrity. Desiring to save the land from Nobunaga, he rebels at Honnoji. If he fails to kill Nobunaga, he will continue to hunt the villain in his lower path story. He does so by taking Azuchi Castle and stages a final showdown at Yamazaki. Convinced that he is stopping a madman, he implores Ranmaru to believe in him yet fails to fully convince his student. At the battle's conclusion, he spares Nobunaga's life due to Ranmaru's plea and is satisfied with claiming his lord's power for his own.

Should Mitsuhide succeed slaying Nobunaga at Honnoji, he will face a vengeful Hideyoshi in his upper path scenario. He fends off Nobunaga's former vassals and defeats his opponent. However, Ranmaru takes Gifu Castle and forces Mitsuhide to reclaim it. He ascends the castle to try to make peace with his student but his negotiations are in vain. In their final battle, Mitsuhide lands the fatal blow and is sadden by Ranmaru's death. Before he tries to take his own life, he hears Nobunaga and No's chuckles. Not wanting to make their deaths in vain, he decides to live as the land's new ruler.

In Samurai Warriors 2, Mitsuhide is a ronin looking to serve a worthy lord who will end the land's wars. After he witnesses Nobunaga's resounding victory at Okehazama, Mitsuhide joins his ranks as a loyal officer. Even so, he often finds himself doubting his lord's methods and tries to vie for an alternative solution. He offered Nagamasa a chance to formerly plead for surrender but Nagamasa instead commits suicide in front of his brother-in-law. After the battle of Saika village, Mitsuhide realizes that he participated in a massacre and finds himself questioning his desires. Deciding that he would be the one to end the chaos, he leads a revolt at Honnoji and duels Nobunaga in the burning compound. However, he finds himself unable to deal the decisive blow and tearfully states that he still wishes to see the land Nobunaga would create. Seeing their guard down, Magochi snipes Nobunaga and Mitsuhide is blamed for his lord's death. Bearing the burden of the false claim, he makes a stand at Yamazaki, defeats Hideyoshi's troops, and avenges his lord's death by killing Magoichi. After this battle, Mitsuhide becomes the shogun of Japan and the land is peaceful.

In his dream mode, he deals with the Anti-Mitsuhide coalition lead by Ieyasu. His forces include the Date troops, the remaining Uesugi troops, and the Sanada clan. Kotaro also ambushes Mitushide in his goal for chaos.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Mitsuhide loyally follows Nobanaga being an initial character. He is often social to the enemy often talking to those serving under Orochi, he tends to ask questions rather than insult them in a fight.

In the second installment, Mitsuhide is rescued and subsequently fights for Shu. Sun Wukong captures him and his daughter for Kiyomori. They are trying to build up an army to resurrect Orochi. Xing Cai and Inahime notice his flags (which are pointed out by a Samurai Warriors Character) as they pass by and decide to help him out. After they break him out he says he knows nothing of Kiyamori but Sun Wukong may and attempts to capture him, though he is unable. Following this he helps lead a seige on Koshi Castle, where he is one of the strategist but is willing to go out into the fray himself, capturing a garrison in the south to enable for troop reinforcements and taking over the cannon fortress that fires on Sun Wukong.

Kessen
Mitsuhide appears as an allied unit and later becomes the main antagonist in Kessen III. He is very skilled with a musket, which easily impresses Nobunaga. Like Samurai Warriors, he is symbolized in some way by a white hawk. He was formerly Kicho's bodyguard until he protested her marriage to Nobunaga. Due to his "insolence" on the manner, he was banished from Mino and left to drift across the land. He joins Nobunaga with plans to crush him from the inside and secretly works with the shogunate to destroy his rival. He frequently requests for Kicho to join him and become his lover, especially when he volunteers to keep an eye on the Tamba Province before the Battle of Nagashino.

During his attack on Honnoji, he personally faces Nobunaga in the burning temple and shoots him with his rifle. He is heartbroken by Kicho's unshaken loyalty to her husband and suffers a stab wound that refuses to heal. Scenes regarding Mitsuhide's viewpoint prior to Honnoji can be seen during the game's second playthrough.

Though his assault at Honnoji failed, he gains support from Nobunaga's enemies and the fallen Ashikaga shogun. He also gets a formidable foreign ally named Petro, a former acquaintance of Amalia. With his political influence, he declares Nobunaga an enemy of the state and aims to take his life. During the ending, a dying Mitsuhide reveals that he wanted to uphold a promise he made to a young Kicho: he would someday make a land where she wouldn't need to fight. He hears Kicho's voice saying that she understands his intentions and dies with a smile on his face. After his death, Nobunaga entreats a soaring white hawk to fly higher and free in the sky. His gravestone is visited by Yoshino years later.

Development
Designers for the game made him the "lone wolf" samurai to fit the nature of his unexpected betrayal. His western stylized armor in the first game was to help imply his ties with Nobunaga. They strove to make him appear as a "manly yet sad" character. His unique sword-wielding fighting style was made to be one of his defining traits. These ideas carried into his redesign, but they also wanted to add a touch of inexperience to his character through his new story scenario.

Appearance
His Samurai Warriors alternate outfit has him dressed in a black uwagi, teal cloth gauntlets, two golden elbow guards, and a white hakama. His hair is tied back in a ponytail. His second color scheme in Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends uses white and black to replace his usual light and dark purples.

Voice Actors

 * Michael Gough - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Kevin Symons - Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Leroy Simon Bean - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Cam Clarke - Kessen III (English)
 * Darrel Guilbeau - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Hikaru Midorikawa - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series, Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "You were wrong to oppose me."
 * "The enemy is at Honnoji!"
 * "Why do you rush to death ! I suppose it is fate !"
 * "Whenever I look to the moon, I remember the wife I left behind. To assist me in my time of need... She sold the very hair off her beautiful head."
 * "I, too, owe my wife a great debt, for helping me impress our lord. With the money given to her by her father, she purchased me a magnificent horse."
 * "For both of us, then... Our wives have made us who we are."
 * Mitsuhide and Kazutoyo Yamanouchi; Samurai Warriors 2 Empires


 * "A woman's charms are like this flower, bound to wither away and die. And yet, how sweet the smell. If only I could believe that this moment was true..."
 * Mitsuhide's thoughts regarding Kicho; Kessen III

Personal Info
A man of mystery to this day, Akechi Mitsuhide is a hard man to completely profile. He was a man said to have been trusted and praised by Nobunaga. Various historical sources suggest that they believed in one another and got along well. Maeda Toshiie, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Sakuma Nobumori and Niwa Nagahide also admired his integrity. Since he governed his provinces fairly, he was said to have been a man loved by the people for his kindness. A few historical sources state that he was also a noble man of compassion who treated his vassals and countrymen dearly. During one of the many encounters with the Ikko-iki, he held a respectful funeral at Saikyo-ji for the eighteen men he lost. Even after he performed his famous assassination at Honnoji, his men were still genuinely loyal to him and did not betray him in anyway. They decided to face death bravely even with their inferior numbers at Yamazaki. When Mitsuhide tried to escape, a few sources record that at least 200 men volunteered to guard him and risked their lives for their lord's safety.

The other image of Mitsuhide that is popular in fiction has him as a bitter scoundrel who planned to obtain power. This particular shade of his personality is a probable twist on the generous rewards he received after the Incident of Honnoji. Additionally, he was accused by Nobunaga's other loyal retainers as a heartless betrayer. At one point in his life, he was said to have offered his services to the Mōri clan. Mōri Motonari refused him and supposedly sent him away fearfully with monetary rewards. He said, "Indeed, he is overflowing with bravery and has an intelligent wit. But his countenance is like a sleeping wolf, expressionless and hiding its bones until he decides to act. His quiet state of mind is rather unbecoming." Luís Fróis described him in his notes as "a man who favored deception; favored cruel capital punishment; possesses high endurance; expert at strategy, tactics, and complicated formations; a fierce warrior in battle." Modern historians are currently questioning the neutrality of Fróis' writings since he was a honored friend of Mitsuhide's lord. Additionally, it is not known when exactly he wrote these notes as it could have been after Nobunaga's death. Nevertheless, these particular descriptions are usually used as a basis for the "villainous" Mitsuhide seen in movies and novels.

Mitsuhide was a man of culture who pursued various arts and hobbies. He loved attending to civil affairs and tried as much as possible to honor the departed. He was an avid practitioner of Waka poetry and the Japanese tea ceremony. According to the Akechi Gunki (edited biography from the Edo period), he was also apparently skilled with the rifle. A story states that he only used one bullet to perfectly hit a flying bird from about 45.5 meters away. His skill with the gun is what made daimyo notice him.