Yamazaki

The Battle of Yamazaki (山崎の戦い, Yamazaki no Tatakai), also called the Battle of Mount Tennō (天王山の戦い Tennōzan no Tatakai), is the well-known conflict that follows the Incident at Honnōji. As the Oda officers were spread across the land during Nobunaga's assassination, few could reach their lord to assist. Hideyoshi, who was ordered to suppress the Mōri, quickly dealt with his opposition through peace negotiations. With his new allies, he raced back to Kyoto and targeted the man responsible for Nobunaga's death, Mitsuhide. The battle served as Hideyoshi's first step for power.

Samurai Warriors
In the first game, this stage usually serves as a final showdown against Nobunaga Oda for various factions. The Takeda version has Shingen Takeda work together with Kenshin Uesugi to dispel the Oda army's top generals, including Keiji Maeda and eventually surround Nobunaga using the fog of the Emyouji river as a cover. Shingen wishes to spare Nobunaga and use him in the future of the land but Nobunaga laughs it off and kills himself. Nobunaga also can defend himself from Mitsuhide here, Mitsuhide has entrenched his forces in Mt. Tenno, and Nobunaga's forces slowly surround it. People who have bore grudges against Nobunaga, such as Magoichi Saika and Yukimura Sanada appear to attack Nobunaga. Once the player reaches Mitsuhide, there is a possibility that Ranmaru Mori may defect if he meets with his mentor. The Akechi scenario has Mitsuhide defend Mt. Tenno from all sides against the Oda before intercepting Nobunaga's final charge. He also can convince Ranmaru to join him but he is not reinforced by warriors holding grudges against Nobunaga.

For the historical depiction, the player can only be alongside Mitsuhide. They have to raid Mt. Tenno before Hideyoshi's forces to do to gain the advantage in battle. Defeating Kazuuji Nakamura secures the mountaintop, peasants appear throughout the caves led by Keiji to attack Mitsuhide. Nagahide Niwa also arrives in the south to meet up with the Hashiba main unit, defeating him before the rendezvous greatly lowers enemy morale. Oichi also appears here but does nothing of note. In another scenario, Magoichi, falls back from the defeat at Ise and together with Kennyo Honganji launches a desperate resistance against Nobunaga to prevent him from clearing the western garrison and heading to Kyoto. The player can snipe Nobunaga through the caves to gain an advantage.

However, in the Xtreme Legends expansion, the player can fight on the Hashiba side. Magoichi fights alongside Hideyoshi and sets an ambush to the cave halfway through the battle. Mitsuhide has not yet arrived so his army is considerably less organised and Hideyoshi plans to take full advantage. In Ina's story, if she fails to help the Tokugawa retreat from Iga in the previous mission, they get caught between both the Hashiba and Akechi armies at Mt. Tenno. The tired Tokugawa army is put on the defensive and tries to deal with each army one at a time. Tadakatsu Honda also gets a final showdown against Nobunaga's forces here but unlike most scenarios, the Tokugawa are constantly outmatched when trying to defeat Nobunaga. Tadakatsu's sheer strength makes up for the numerical disadvantage and after all is said and done, he has a final decisive duel with Keiji before putting down his spear for good (symbolically not killing the dragonfly) in the unified Japan.

In the second game, the stage is quite different as there are more unique characters on the Hashiba side and the stage is split into four garrisons. Like in the previous game, the player starts by trying to seize Mt. Tenno. Successfully capturing the mountain results in cannons firing on the enemy main camp, but if it is captured by the enemy they will start firing cannons at the allied main camp. Playing on the Hashiba side gives an option to cut off the Akechi's escape route at Shoryuji. In the middle of the battle, Sakon Shima will reinforce the Hashiba troops, but when playing in his story scenario, the battle has not so much progressed yet. This scenario also serves as the stage for Mt. Usa, where the Azai-Asakura forces fight against the Oda forces. Only Mitsuhide gets the Akechi side as part of his story, while Magoichi, Hideyoshi, Mitsunari, Sakon, and Nene gets the Hashiba side as part of their story.

Ginchiyo's version serves this as the Pursuit of Yoshihiro stage. Yoshihiro is camped on Mt. Tenno raining cannon fire. He also has a few Tokugawa officers on his side. If Mitsunari or Sakon are defeated or either Toyotomi camp is taken, the battle is a loss. Ginchiyo must first help by capturing Shoryuji. Kojiro also ambushes Sakon and must be defeated. Kotarō attempts to aid the Shimazu by taking the southwest Toyotomi camp. Once the tide turns, Yoshihisa will aid his brother. Once the obstacles are eliminated, only Yoshihiro remains.

In Samurai Warriors 3, the battle remains relatively same expect Motochika fights on the Akechi side, while Hideyoshi receives a few more unique characters like Kiyomasa Katō and Masanori Fukushima. The main difference between the previous incarnations is that Hideyoshi initially refuses to avenge Nobunaga, but Kanbei convinces him not to miss this chance to continue Nobunaga's ambition. Hideyoshi, Nene, and Kanbei gets the Hashiba side for their story, while Mitsuhide and Motochika gets the Akechi side.

In the Moushouden expansion, Gracia gets Yamazaki as her second stage, though only for the Akechi side. The battle is going smoothly, but after Hideyoshi's defeat, Mitsuhide gets ambushed and the player lost track of him. Gracia will then need to defeat the officers that ambushed Mitsuhide, while escorting Motochika to the south gate of the map. After that, Hideyoshi returns with another army, in which Motochika suggests that Gracia should escape from the battlefield. Gracia would head east, while Motochika would hold off the enemy reinforcements coming from Mt. Tenno. However, Motochika was killed as a result and the remaining Akechi Army all fled. Gracia then has two option, she can defeat Hideyoshi once more along with his enemy reinforcements and then head towards the escape point, or avoid the enemy reinforcements and head towards the escape point immediately. When Gracia reaches the escape point, Tadaoki will stop her from doing so. The player will need to defeat her husband in order for Gracia to reach the escape point.

Motonari's version is exclusive to his story as the final battle against Nobunaga. He starts at Mt. Tenno with the Tokugawa trying to take it. After dealing with some of the Tokugawa forces, Motonari races to Ieyasu's camp, only to find that the Mikawa lord had put Hanzō in his place. Ieyasu then appears by the river alongside Kai and remnants of the Hōjō, and they charge towards the undermanned mountain. Defeating them will cause Nobunaga's main forces to arrive, though the player may counter this by eliminating Ieyasu's double with an Ultimate Musou to trigger the appearance of allied reinforcements. As the Oda army advances, the undermanned garrisons and Hideyoshi must fall to face the enemy commander.

In Samurai Warriors 4, only Hideyoshi's side is available and is the first stage of the Land United storyline. While relatively the same, Yoshitsugu Ōtani is also present for Hideyoshi's side. The Hashiba Army will also reinforcements from the Tsutsui led by Sakon, who will open up the path to the Akechi Army main camp. Hideyoshi, Mitsunari, Nene, Kiyomasa, Kanbei, Masanori, and Yoshitsugu are the option as playable characters. In Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3, the protagonist, alongside Hideyoshi, Nene, and Kanbei need to face off against Mitsuhide's army following his betrayal against Nobunaga at Honnoji on the Hashiba side. In addition, the Akechi side is also available with a hypothetical twist, in which the Tsutsui, lead by Sakon, decides to support the Akechi instead, as well as the Chosakabe, lead by Motochika. Together with Mitsuhide and the protagonist, they will need to face off against Hideyoshi's army. Gracia, Munenori, and Koshosho will also support Mitsuhide as well. In Samurai Warriors 4-II, this stage only appeared in the Tides of Fate storyline on the Hashiba side. It plays out the same as the original title, except that Yoshitsugu has way more focus then before and must be selected as a playable character. In addition, Kanbei is not an option as a playable character, but Sakon is playable instead.

In Spirit of Sanada, the Hashiba side is again playable, with the map being what used to be Shizugatake instead of the Yamazaki map from SW4, Takatora Tōdō is also present among the Toyotomi ranks. The battle starts with the Hashiba army in the north and Mitsuhide's forces in the south. The Hashiba rendezvous with Hidenaga at the main camp and protect him from Koshosho who advances from the east and Motochika who is leading the western flank of the Akechi. Defeating Munenori Yagyu also lowers a bridge, allowing Hashiba forces to advance to the south portion of the battlefield. As day breaks, Gracia appears with the rear guard of the Akechi forces who are determined to make a fierce last stand, Kanbei sends in a messenger to spread rumours of Nobunaga being alive to lower their morale. Soon, the Akechi crumble and Mitsuhide is no more, setting up the Hashiba's rise to power as the Toyotomi which is important to the Sanada's tale.

In Samurai Warriors 5, the battle is the final stage for Mitsuhide's Story and the final battle in the game, chronologically speaking. For Musou Mode, the player is limited to playing with Mitsuhide and Mitsuki with Toshimitsu defending the Akechi base at Shoryuji Castle in the northeast of the map. The battle starts with Kanbei and Kazuuji besieging the castle with waves of Hashiba soldiers while Hideyoshi has yet to arrive which concerns Mitsuhide. As the Akechi forces press onwards through the Enmyouji River to the Hashiba main camp in the southwest, Mitsuhide and Mitsuki soon get trapped by Nagahide Niwa and Nobutaka Oda in the Hashiba main camp while Hideyoshi arrives at Mt.Tenno on the northwest. Kanbei ambushes Toshimitsu in Shoryuji castle and eventually slays him, the rest of the Akechi forces are pincered on both sides and gradually falling to the relentless assault by the Hashiba forces. Once Kanbei is routed, Mitsuhide realises his options are limited and launches a final desperate charge on Hideyoshi's position. The player only has 8 minutes at this point to complete the battle and Hideyoshi is the only enemy in the game to have 3 full health gauges, so time is of the essence. Once Hideyoshi is routed, the following cutscene shows Hideyoshi on the ground, about to meet his end, before a mysterious saviour throws a weapon at Mitsuhide, the distraction allowing Hideyoshi to get the finishing blow. He, Kanbei and Kazuuji go off to celebrate their success while Mitsuhide dies somberly underneath a tree reminiscing of Nobunaga and Nō, with Mitsuki acting as his last witness.

The Hashiba side is also available after completing the Akechi version and Takamatsu Castle on the Oda route. It mostly plays as Hideyoshi encroaching Shoryuji Castle with his forces through the Enmyouji river, Toshimitsu ultimately leads a valiant last stand which buys Mitsuhide enough time to seize Mt.Tenno in the northeast, securing the place for a final duel. Of imporant note is Dengo Fujita convincing Kiyohide Nakagawa and Shigetomo Takayama abandoning their positions and defecting to the Akechi side. The following cutscene from the battle is the same as the Akechi version, albeit only up to the point where Hideyoshi's forces depart to celebrate their victory.

Yamazaki is also the site of the final battle for the Hypothetical Stage, The Great Unifier. With the Oda Army as the only side available, the enemy combatants include Yoshiaki's army, the Saika Renegades led by Magoichi, the Mōri led by Takakage and the Iga Ninjas led by Sandayū. The first reinforcements led by Oichi and Nagamasa come to rescue Hideyoshi. The second one is Shikanosuke, come to handle Mori army. Hisahide, who is present in the battle, will also betray Nobunaga in an effort to kill him, but failed. Sensing that Motonari appears, Mitsuhide warns that he's not the real one. The only way to do is to defeat imposter. The third one is Tokugawa army led by Ieyasu and Sena. However another Ieyasu and Sena also appeared and confuse Mitsuhide. Same as imposter Motonari, defating imposter Ieyasu and Sena will clear those misunderstanding to know which the real one of them. And the last reinforcements is Toshiie and Katsuie who begin to prepared the cannon attack by defeating Magoichi once and for all. If succeeds, the cannon attack begins to lowering Takakage's morale. Killing Sandayū and Takakage will end the battle. As a result Nobunaga and Mitsuhide live peacefully in the end as well with Mitsuki and Kicho.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, it serves as the second to last stage for Wei where they fight against the Orochi forces. However, Da Ji defects to the enemy forces. If she is defeated it will open the last Gaiden stage for Wei. In the end, Cao Cao reappears after being gone for the whole story. He, along with Dian Wei, joins Cao Pi's forces flr the final battle against Orochi.

During the sequel, the Wu army faces off Kiyomori Taira's massive army here, only to find that they are being led to a deathtrap. The cannon fire from the Taira main camp and the poisonous gas from the sorcerers are troubling Wu and they are trapped by wave after wave of Taira soldiers and believed that death is imminent when Lu Bu decided to march. But later, Lu Bu decided to defect along with his army, Lu Bu himself is not content serving under Kiyomori and decided to take over by force. Wu, with the help of Lu Bu, kills the sorcerers and turned the tide of the battle to their side and finally finishing off Kiyomori. But, the Wu forces fail to stop the Serpent King's rebirth.

The stage returns in the third chapter of Warriors Orochi 3. It begins after the event at Fan Castle, Cao Cao's army finally assemble with Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Shingen, Kenshin, Nobunaga and Ujiyasu, who made a preparation to Koshi Castle. This is the place where Sima Zhao, Sakon, Wang Yuanji, Taigong Wang and Kaguya clashes with the mystic army, led by Nezha and Susano'o. Lu Bu will briefly appear to challenge Nezha only to withdraw after their duel. If player use Diao Chan, she still believe in herself for having another chance to meet him again.

In Ultimate, Sun Jian, Sun Quan, and Kai visit the area, but are attacked by doppelgangers of Sun Shangxiang with other members of the Wu army. The battle starts with saving Magoichi and the Oda army in the field. As the allied troops attempt to move to Nobunaga's aid, Song Qian causes a rockslide, and Zhou Fang and Sun Xiu will ambush the allied army during their ascent. Once the Oda army has been rescued completely, the combined armies charge together against Sun Shangxiang's encampment. After Sun Shangxiang's defeat, Shennong and Kaguya will report that they have found the mirror realm's exit.

Kessen
The area appears as a bonus battle in Kessen III, only appearing during the story on the second and following playthroughs for chapter 13. A year after Mitsuhide's death, Nobunaga has started to spread Christianity and other European teachings with a small establishment in the land. As Luis Frois thanks him during their tour of a church, Toshiie reports that Yoshiaki Ashikaga has joined forces with Petro Cortez to threaten their new rule of peace. Calling on his retainers for one last battle, Nobunaga and his generals faces them in a climatic battle at Yamazaki.

Players are allowed to choose eight units to take on the instigators and Ashikaga sympathizers. The army is split into three divisions with Nobunaga placed in the west and two other formations placed in the center and east. Ieyasu and Tadakatsu also appear to reinforce the central unit and can be ordered to assist on the player's whim. Since rivers separate each force, the three divisions will need to work individually to proceed through the map. As each squadron defeats the set of enemies before them, the gates guarding Yoshiaki's position throughout the map will be opened. With the long time limit players are given, they can take their time to heal or prepare for each confrontation. Eastern ally forces face the most enemies along their path but they are not as fierce as the opposing units in the west and center, which include Magoichi, Miyoshi Trio, and Yoshihiro's forces. If the player loses as much as one unit, they will lose, making the battle even harder.

Upon their defeats, Petro and Yoshiaki die in the conflict. Nobunaga can then continue his peaceful reign and his international relations with Spain, meeting Philip II in person years later.

Yamazaki is also the setting for an optional map in Battle Scrolls mode, a fierce dream match that stars generals such as Shingen, Kenshin, Nagamasa, and others. The map is different than the previous battle as it contains a wide open field in the center with a few mountain valleys in the east and west. Nobunaga, stationed near the bottom of the center, is alone at the start of the battle while he faces Shingen's cavalry. He needs to wait for ally reinforcements to come to his aid as the battle progresses. Clearing the map rewards the player with the ability to use an advanced horse unit at the start of a continued new game.