Samanosuke Akechi (Nankobo Tenkai)
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Hidemitsu Samanosuke Akechi is the main protagonist for Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, and a supporting character for Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. He also appears in the fighting game Onimusha Blade Warriors.
Samanosuke is a ronin (masterless samurai) who has played a major role in the Onimusha game series in his quest to stop the Genma clan's ambitions for world conquest. Samanosuke's face is that of the Japanese/Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro in the first and third games. Kaneshiro also did the Japanese voice talent for Samanosuke in both Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege.
He is also known as the Red Onimusha and later, as Nankobo Tenkai.
He was voiced by Ted Fong in Onimusha: Warlords and in Onimusha Blade Warriors and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege by Robin Atkin Downes and Joshua Keaton did the voice of Tenkai in Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.
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[edit] History
[edit] Samanosuke's background
Samanosuke was born in the year 1535, during Japan's Sengoku Period. Where he was born is unknown but he was born into the Saito clan, which was located in the Mino (now Gifu) Province of Japan. As he grew up, he trained in the ways of the samurai and sometime after he turned 20; he decided to see the world, traveling to Asia (as seen in Onimusha: Warlords). As he travelled over Japan and the Far East, he came across a female ninja named Kaede, who was a member of the Iga ninja clan. Originally, she was sent to assassinate Samanosuke for reasons unknown, but she did not kill Samanosuke for reasons that were also unknown, but she decided to join him on his travels as his loyal partner and confidant. Over the next 4 to 5 years they both develop trust, honor, respect and deep feelings of love for each other (as seen in Onimusha Blade Warriors).
[edit] Battle of Okehazama
While Samanosuke was away from home, an ambitious warlord named Nobunaga Oda began a campaign to unite all of Japan under his rule while Samanosuke was still a teenager, he had already unified the Owari Province and eliminated all who had opposed him. In 1560, Nobunaga, outnumbered met his rival Yoshimoto Imagawa on the fields of Okehazama. A brilliant strategist, Nobunaga used the lands as a factor in the ensuing battle. Aided by a sudden thunderstorm, Nobunaga's forces attacked and defeated Imagawa's forces, taking the defeated warlord's head as a bonus. However, before Nobunaga could relish his overwhelming victory, a stray arrow struck Nobunaga in the throat, killing him instantly.
Watching the battle from a cliff was Samanosuke. After fighting off several soldiers (which side they were on is unknown at this point, but since Samanosuke’s uncle Mitsuhide Akechi and Nobunaga were still allies, they could have been Yoshimoto’s soldiers. Although the way they were dressed they didn’t look like Yoshimoto’s soldiers but more like Nobunaga's. Or they could have been the Iga Ninja in disguise that were sent to assassinate him since Kaede didn’t, but that is pure speculation as there is no proof to that), he witnessed Nobunaga's demise. However, Nobunaga's death did not stop the chain of events that were soon to follow. Guildenstern, the Genma clan's scientist resurrected Nobunaga, who pledges his loyalty to the Genma clan in exchange for military power and technology from the Genma clan. After Samanosuke defeated the genma lord, Fortinbras, Nobunaga soon took over that role as genma lord.
[edit] Assault on Inabayama Castle
A year later in 1561 as Nobunaga's forces moved across Japan, Princess Yuki, of the Saito Clan sends a distress letter to Samanosuke, who also happens to be her cousin, asking him for assistance. Samanosuke, along with Kaede, rushes to where Yuki is hiding, only to find that she was already kidnapped by several Genma. He gives chase and rescues Yuki. The reunion is cut short when a huge Genma named Osric kidnaps Yuki and knocks Samanosuke aside like a rag doll. While unconscious, Samanosuke meets the members of the Oni (or Ogre) clan, who tell him of their ages-long battle with the Genma and gives him a gauntlet on his right arm, along with the ability to absorb the souls of the Genma he slays along the way. But Samanosuke is completely unaware of what other powers and abilities the gauntlet possesses.
Regaining consciousness, Samanosuke makes his way to Inabayama Castle, which is already overrun by Genma, in his search for Yuki. Along the way, he defeats Osric and encounters the Genma scientist Guildenstern. Inside the castle, he runs into a vassal of Nobunaga's, Tokichiro Kinoshita, who will unite all of Japan 37 years from now under the name Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokichiro asks Samanosuke to join Nobunaga's forces, saying that Nobunaga would welcome such a great warrior as him, but however, Samanosuke rejected his offer.
As Samanosuke and Kaede make their way into the castle, they discover why Yuki was kidnapped by the Genma: in order for Nobunaga to gain unlimited power, a Dark Ceremony is to take place, where according to Guildenstern's notes, ' the blood is taken from a chosen sacrifice. Then the demon lord bestows his evil blessing upon it. Once the animal that what's to make a contract as a boss animal drinks the blood from a grail made from a human skull, the evil powers will be given to him.' Yuki is chosen for such a ceremony because of her 'pure heart,' as Guildenstern writes. As Samanosuke makes his way throughout Inabayama Castle he comes across ancient scrolls and books. They tell stories of the war between the Oni clan and the Genma, of a powerful Oni gauntlet that seal the souls of the Genma, of Fortinbras, the lord and ruler of the Genma, of past Oni warriors, long before Samanosuke's time and even going back centuries into the past.
After dispatching several of the high-ranking Genma monsters, Samanosuke manages to gain entry to the Demon Realm. Inside the main chamber, he finds both Yuki and her adopted brother Yumemaru (who appears in Onimusha: Blade Warriors under the name Keiji Maeda) chained together. Before he could free them, the serpent-like Genma King, Fortinbras, makes his entrance. Following the ensuing battle, Samanosuke frees both Yuki and Yumemaru. However, Fortinbras wasn't defeated. He grabs Samanosuke into a vise-like grip within his coils, until Samanosuke coughs up blood, which falls onto the gauntlet's 'eye.'
When that happens, Samanosuke transforms into Onimusha Form and literally slices Fortinbras apart. The Genma Lord was no more. As Yuki, Yumemaru and Kaede escapes the Demon Realm, Samanosuke comes face-to-face with Nobunaga himself. The next chain of events are unknown, but it is certain that Samanosuke escapes the Demon Realm. It is later explained that Samanosuke says that he hid himself away from everyone. After Samanosuke destroyed Fortinbras he couldn’t remember what had happen to him when he woke up and saw Nobunaga looking down at him. He saw that Fortinbras had been killed but not by human hands. He then feared that if he was in his full Oni form again that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he started hurting the people he loved, mainly Kaede. Samanosuke went away for 10 years until Kaede found him. Samanosuke discovered that Marcellus was once an Oni-Warrior during the Oni-Genma Wars and killed in the battle resulted by treachery, that Guildenstern took Marcellus's dead body and modified him into what he is. Samanosuke feared that if he didn’t find a way to understand the Oni powers inside of him then he could have become what Marcellus was. But during those 20 years, Samanosuke was able to understand and fully mastered the mystic powers of his Oni gauntlet.
But in the end Samanosuke didn’t have anything to worry about. As long as Samanosuke remained true to himself he would not end up like Marcellus or Gargant. But because Samanosuke was given such a more powerful gauntlet the powers it possessed it demanded Samanosuke to completely know and understand such a thing. Samanosuke knew the powers he had been given were going to take much responsibility.
Inabayama Castle finally fell to Nobunaga's forces in the year 1567, thus ending the Saito clan's rule over the Mino province. Princess Yuki and Yumemaru, taking Samanosuke's advice, went on to explored the known-world. Upon his return somewhere in 1571 (months if not almost a year after the events in Onimusha 2) Samanosuke and Kaede return to assist his uncle, Akechi Mitsuhide, in an absolute secrecy. For the next 11 years Samanosuke and Kaede travel all over Japan, slaying Genma wherever they may find them.
[edit] The Demon Siege
Following the events at Inabayama Castle, Nobunaga, has assumed control of the Genma clan following Fortinbras' death. He was defeated again in 1571 by a ragtag band of warriors lead by master swordsman Yagyū Muneyoshi, better known as Yagyū Jubei, but that only stopped him momentarily as he was not powerful enough and didn't have an Oni gauntlet to take Nobunaga's soul. Nobunaga was able to resurrect himself. In 1582, Nobunaga ordered Mitsuhide Akechi to meet up with his top general, Hashiba Hideyoshi (formerly Tokichiro Kinoshita) to assist him in conquering the rebellious Mori Clan, and has sent a Genma tank unit as reinforcement's support (Around this time Jubei has gone into hiding, to avoid been hunt down by genma minion of Nobunaga), sensing that Nobunaga is up to something no good, Mitsuhide secretly plot for the rebellion against Nobunaga that been harboured for a long time, by sending his nephew to intercept and destroy the Genma Tank.
Samanosuke appears, his swordsmanship skills and Oni powers have increased and improved a great deal, he fights his way to the inner sanctum of the massive Genma tank. Inside he encounters many Genma and two giant Orc like creatures armed with dual-bladed spears, Samanosuke fights the two of them at the same time. But after an intense sword fight, the fight goes unfinished when Gargant, an Oni swordsman who betrayed the Oni Clan and pledged his allegiance with the Genma, appears. After a furious sword battle, Samanosuke succeeds in destroying the tank and escaping. Outside, in the midst of the wreckage and many dead Genma, Samanosuke and Gargant fight once again, but Gargant is easily defeated within a second. Upon Gargant's defeat Nobunaga becomes aware that Samanosuke is coming for him.
Samanosuke then reunite with his uncle Mitsuhide at Honnoji Temple. Even though Samanosuke's chronological age is 47, he still looks the same from the Inabayama Castle assault twenty years ago (Samanosuke was 24 years old in Onimusha Warlords). Assisting Mitsuhide with his powerful Oni weapons, Samanosuke leads the assault on Honnoji Temple. Inside the burning temple along with his page, Mori Ranmaru, is the new Genma Lord himself, Oda Nobunaga.
Samanosuke dispatches the inexperienced Ranmaru without breaking a sweat and faces off against Nobunaga. The Genma Lord, however, is still slightly more powerful than Samanosuke and gains upper hand when the duel was ensued. Before he can finish Samanosuke off, the Oni warrior is caught in a time rift and is sent into the future, leaving Nobunaga baffled.
Samanosuke comes to and discovers that he is in a strange land, far away from his home, which happens to be Paris, France in the year 2004, where the Genma are running amok and killing anyone they can find. Exiting the alley, he comes to the aid of a French SA military officer named Jacques Blanc, who unfortunately, gets transported back into Samanosuke's time, much to his dismay. However, he must put his personal thoughts to the side as he realises that the Genma are here in the same time period with him.
Arriving at the Arc de Triomphe, Samanosuke comes across several more gun-toting policemen, one of which is Jacques' fiancée, Michelle Aubert. Michelle and her men storm the Arc, only to end up being slaughtered and Michelle narrowly escaping with her life. Samanosuke takes the woman to safety and finishes the job that the police have started. Once on the rooftop of the Arc, Samanosuke encounters Guildenstern, who explains to him of their present location and that he was responsible for the time warp device that brought him here. Guildenstern then leaves Samanosuke with a biomechanical Genma named Brainstern to finish Samanosuke off, but Samanosuke manages to defeat the monstrosity.
Upon reaching the bottom of the Arc, Samanosuke checks on Michelle. As he does so, a Crow Tengu by the name of Ako appears, claiming that Jacques is in Samanosuke's time fighting the Genma along side with Samanosuke there (Jacques arrives in feudal Japan 10 days before the attack on Honnoji Temple). Thanks to Ako's powers, the language barrier between Michelle and Samanosuke is removed. and they can understand each other perfectly. Samanosuke, along with Michelle and Ako, make their way through the Paris sewers until they reach the end, rescuing several of Michelle's comrades from a grisly fate at the hands of the Genma.
The trio returns to Jacques' apartment where Jacques's son Henri is waiting for his father to come home. Ako explains the current line of events to Henri, who understands. They also notice the hostility that Henri shows to Michelle. While planning their next move, Michelle gets a call from her cell and passes the item on to Samanosuke. It's Guildenstern, and he wants Samanosuke to come to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where underneath the famous landmark, the Genma have converted the underground tombs to their personal use.
Inside Guildenstern's chamber, Samanosuke encounters the mad scientist and gives chase, following him through the time warp and into another area, while Michelle stays behind to look after Henri. Samanosuke finds himself inside the underwater Oni Base, while at the same time, Jacques is also in the same area, only it's 500 years in the past.
Working his way through the underwater base, Samanosuke runs into Ranmaru once again, only this time, Ranmaru is more Genma-like than human, since he has fused up Genma blood into his body. Even with his new abilities, Ranmaru is still no match for Samanosuke and retreats. However, as Samanosuke prepares to escape the Oni base, Ranmaru appears and with a cheap shot, captures Samanosuke and later, Henri when he and Michelle arrive at Notre Dame to rescue Samanosuke.
Michelle rescues both Samanosuke and Henri, only to have Guildenstern capture both Michelle and Henri. Now Samanosuke must repay the favor in kind by rescuing his new friends from Guildenstern. Samanosuke, with the help of Michelle, realises that his next stop is Mont Saint Michel, an abbey located in Normandy that has been turned into a Genma stronghold. It is also where Guildenstern's time warp device is located. Samanosuke and his two friends head for Mont Saint Michel.
Samanosuke arrives at Mont Saint Michel and through Ranmaru, discovers that the time warp is at the Eiffel Tower. Through the main time warp, Nobunaga will enter Paris and conquer the world there. Samanosuke and his companions barely escape with their lives as Mont Saint Michel is destroyed following a battle with Gertrude, a two-headed Genma watchdog. Arriving back in Paris, Samanosuke scales the Eiffel Tower, fighting through the Genma's final defenses, until he reaches the top of the historical landmark. There he faces off against Ranmaru, for one last time.
After Ranmaru is defeated, Jacques appears. His task back in Samanosuke's time finally complete, it is time for Samanosuke to return to his time. Bidding farewell to his new friends, Samanosuke returns to his own time. He finds himself back where he started, in the midst of the Honnoji Temple assault. There, he challenge against Nobunaga for a final showdown. After a dramatic battle, Samanosuke defeats the twisted warlord and absorbs his soul into the gauntlet. Oda Nobunaga is finally no more.
After the battle, Ako decides to stay with Samanosuke. Using her vest's powers, she grows from a fairylike Tengu to a human's height. The pair then walk down the worn path together, thinking that the battle is finally over. However, with Nobunaga's death, this paves the way for his loyal vassal, Hashiba Hideyoshi to finish the job that Nobunaga had started, which is unifying Japan.
[edit] As Nankobo Tenkai
Samanosuke along with Ako decided to set up a hermitage inside Lazuline Hall (the temple on Mt. Hiei). He ascends the path of Buddhism by assuming the name of Nankobo Tenkai, while Ako calls herself Arin. Together they still work in an absolute secrecy by ridding the remnant legion of the Genma across Japan. Even though Tenkai is in his sixties (63 to be precise), he still looks amazingly young; save for his hair, which has turned white, thanks to the mystic energy of the Oni-Gauntlet. Instead of his swords, Tenkai has switched over to Shakujo staves as his weapons. Also somewhere along his life Samanosuke has apparently picked up the ability to speak fluent Spanish.
Fifteen years have passed since Nobunaga's demise. In 1596, Hideyoshi had fallen under the influence of the Genma Triumvirate, which consists of Claudius, Rosencrantz and Ophelia, who are hell bent on annihilating the mortals' world once again. Having sensed that the threat of Genma has been revived once again, Tenkai decides to take matters into his own hands. He encounters Ishida Mitsunari, the Toyotomi's Clan Retainer (who was actually Claudius in disguise). In the midst of their battle, Mitsunari hints of the Dark Stones, two Genma relics that are the source of Hideoyoshi's power, due to his slipshod, Tenkai was counter-attacked and defeated by Mitsunari. He then retreats.
Two years later, a mysterious Omen Star appear in the skies above Japan. At the same time, Hideyoshi begans to gather cherry trees over the Japanese countryside and using a combination of powerful Genma magic and women, transforms them into Genma Trees. During this time, Tenkai sensed an unusual but familiar aura roaming across the mortal realm, the aura is actually from a lone swordsman by the name of Soki (real name Yuki Hideyasu), wandering the countryside, burning and destroy the Genma Trees along the way. At the same time, a young woman named Yagyū Akane, the granddaughter of Yagyū Jubei Muneyoshi (taking the name of Sekishusai) and also bearing the elite title of her grandfather, also travels, looking for her uncle, Yagyū Munenori who betrayed the clan and left several of its members dead.
Both encounter Tenkai, and after Soki defeats him in battle, Tenkai joins them. They rescue a man named Roberto Frois, a Half-Japanese-Spanish orphan with the ability to defeat the Genma with his bare hands and they launch an assault on Hideyoshi's abode in Kyoto in an attempt to destroy the blossoming Genma trees. The attack, however, fails, and Tenkai is killed by Hideyoshi's assault.
However, like Nobunaga before him, Tenkai is not dead for long. As he quotes when returning to the group after assisting them in stopping a possessed warrior named Sakon from destroying their ship. His only explanation is "Hell spat me back out," meaning that he can not die until his task is complete. As before Tenkai lends his assistance in thwarting the Genma's plans. Tenkai also participates in the Shimabara assault and encounters his old nemesis, Mitsunari, or rather Claudius. Tenkai and the others defeats Claudius for a second time and with less than a day left before the Omen Star descends onto Kyoto, bringing apocalypse about the rebirth of Fortinbras, the Genma God of Light.
The group rushes back to Kyoto, with only hours to spare. While Tenkai faces off against Claudius, Soki puts a stop to Hideyoshi's plans concerning the Genma Trees, but that is not enough to stop the descent of the Omen Star. Fortinbras is reborn by fusing with Munenori's essence, and Tenkai lends his assistance by giving Soki his Oni Gauntlet to transform into the Onimusha. Soki accepts the gift and proceeds to defeat Fortinbras for the first time. The victory is short-lived, as a blond man dressed from head to toe in white descends from the sky.
This man in white is the true form of Fortinbras, forged with the invincible power of an ultimate immortal that even the powers of the Onimusha are no longer a match for. Tenkai, along with the others, use every ounce of their strength and nearly their last breaths, had finally marked the demise of Fortinbras, once and for all. Once Fortinbras was vaporized into thin air, Soki ascended towards the heavens, vanishing from the face of the earth, never to be seen again. Only Jubei witnessed this event.
The last we hear from Tenkai is that he, along with Arin, are off on another journey, this time, to seal the Oni Gauntlet, once and for all.
