Samurai Warriors (series)

Samurai Warriors (戦国無双, Sengoku Musou) is the second franchise of Warriors games created by Omega Force first published in 2004. It is set in the Japanese Warring States period. The first Warriors series, Dynasty Warriors, crosses over with this one in the Warriors Orochi universe.

After Hisashi Koinuma worked on Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends, he sought to create a Warriors title that represented one of his original interests in Koei. He thought that if Dynasty Warriors is the action version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it would be natural to create a version based on the Nobunaga's Ambition franchise. When he pitched the title, Koinuma directed his concern to "refresh" the one versus a thousand theme.

Changing the setting alone created more leeway for focusing on the characters and their future, he argued. Compared to the Three Kingdoms' giant battlefields, the Warring States could become more concentrated on smaller incidents and sieges. He has also wanted to create a game where the player could witness each character's fates within a united story, one that doesn't completely follow history or common portrayals found within fiction. Doing so was his belief of making historical figures within this game unique and interesting. With these ideas in mind, Koinuma supported the creation of this series. He actively listens to the responses from fans in Japan and works to make their biggest requests possible.

His choices to move the series to Nintendo's systems are usually motivated by his desire to tinker with new hardware for the company and series. His desire to create Samurai Warriors Chronicles on the Nintendo 3DS began after he tried a test demo of the Animal Crossing title for the hand-held console. Although skeptic, he was blown away and sought to ignite the same experience with Samurai Warriors fans.

Characters
Koinuma commented that characters are initially chosen based on their fame with the masses and are altered to follow each entry's particular design theme. The development team seeks to follow history to a degree, but Koinuma stresses that they want to present the era from ever-changing angles to make it interesting for developers and players. This is the reason why character relationships may change between each main installment. The Samurai Warriors team listens to fan feedback through the company's social medians and events and try to meet their demands with their decisions.

Characters are organized by the game where they make their first appearance as a playable character. The expansions and spin-offs are merged with their respective games.

Guest Characters

 * Lu Bu (Samurai Warriors, Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3)
 * Dynasty Warriors 4 cast (Samurai Warriors: State of War)
 * Takamaru (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Lord Aosame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Lord Akasame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Lord Ryokusame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Lady Momosame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Murasame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Yoshitsune Minamoto (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd)
 * Benkei (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd)
 * Shuten Dōji (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd)
 * Gyūki (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd)
 * Orochi (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3)
 * Sun Wukong (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3)
 * Kyūbi (Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3)

Unique NPCs
This list refers to uniquely designed non-playable characters. Most of them become playable at one point in the series.


 * Dōsan Saitō (Samurai Warriors, Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Yoshimoto Imagawa (Samurai Warriors, became playable in the expansion)
 * Nagamasa Azai (Samurai Warriors, became playable in Samurai Warriors 2)
 * Ieyasu Tokugawa (Samurai Warriors, became playable in Samurai Warriors 2)
 * Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Samurai Warriors, became playable in the expansion)
 * Kennyo Honganji (Samurai Warriors)
 * Teacher, Saya, and Dokkimaru (Samurai Warriors)
 * Katsuie Shibata (Samurai Warriors 2, became playable in the expansion)
 * Kojiro Sasaki (Samurai Warriors 2, became playable in the expansion)
 * Gonnosuke (Samurai Warriors: Katana)
 * Ji (Samurai Warriors: Katana)
 * Aya (Samurai Warriors 3, became playable in the expansion)
 * Masanori Fukushima (Samurai Warriors 3, became playable in the expansion)
 * Ayame (Samurai Warriors 3)
 * Kagetora Uesugi (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Jōun Takahashi (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Katsuyori Takeda (Samurai Warriors 4, became playable in Sanada Maru)
 * Tatsuoki Saito (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Takanobu Ryūzōji (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Yoshiaki Mogami (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Yoshiaki Ashikaga (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Yoshikage Asakura (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Harukata Sue (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Takakane Hironaka (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Tazu Iio (Samurai Warriors 4)
 * Hidetada Tokugawa (Samurai Warriors 4-II, became playable in Sanada Maru)
 * Hideyori Toyotomi (Samurai Warriors 4-II)
 * Yoshiteru Ashikaga (Samurai Warriors 4-II)
 * Commodore Perry (Derby Musou)
 * Lady Muramatsu (Samurai Warriors: Sanada Maru)

Games

 * Samurai Warriors
 * Samurai Warriors: State of War
 * Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends
 * Samurai Warriors 2
 * Samurai Warriors 2: Empires
 * Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends
 * Samurai Warriors: Katana
 * Samurai Warriors 3
 * Sengoku Musou 3: Moushouden / Sengoku Musou 3 Z
 * Samurai Warriors Chronicles
 * Sengoku Musou 3: Empires
 * Sengoku Musou 3 Z: Special
 * Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd
 * Samurai Warriors 4
 * Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3
 * Samurai Warriors 4-II
 * Samurai Warriors 4: Empires
 * Samurai Warriors: Sanada Maru
 * 100man-nin no Sengoku Musou - by GREE; services ended March 18, 2013. New characters/events in this game have no impact on future Samurai Warriors titles.
 * Sengoku Musou Shoot
 * Samurai Derby
 * Sengoku Musou Medal Ranbu
 * Pachislot Sengoku Musou
 * CR Bikkuri Pachinko Sengoku Musou MAX EDITION
 * Pachislot Sengoku Musou ~Moushouden~
 * Pachislot Sengoku Musou 2
 * CR Sengoku Musou

Related Media
When the series came out, the two franchises shared a similar publication titled Musou Fan Field (無双FanField). A drama CD called Sengoku Musou Hyakka Kyouen was released on September 23, 2009.

A ten year anniversary concert celebrating the series's music is scheduled February 8, 2015.