Saika Magoichi

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Saika Magoichi, also called Saiga Magoichi or in western order Magoichi Saiga/Saika, was the name given to the leader of the Saika Mercenaries. The Saika Mercenaries were members of the Saiga monto ("monto" meaning "believer" in Japanese), a Buddhist people of Kishu (kii province). Suzuki Sadayu and Suzuki Shigehide were examples of people who held this title. Suzuki Shigehide is perhaps the better known of the two, known for supporting the Ikko resistance against Oda Nobunaga. He later joined sides with the Western Army in Sekigahara and is credited in taking down Torii Mototada at Fushimi Castle. Prior to the defeat of the Western Army, Magoichi would become a ronin.

[edit] Magoichi in Video Games

In Onimusha 2 Saika Magoichi is a calm musketeer trying to protect Saiga village from Nobunaga's army. He feels indebted to the women of the village because his mother died at a young age, so the women raised him. He raises doubts among Ankokuji Ekei and Yagyu Jubei when Tokichiro Kinoshita/Toyotomi Hideyoshi accuses him of serving Nobunaga. This same Magoichi is also in Onimusha: Tactics, as well as Onimusha: Blade Warriors. He also served as a mentor to O-Hatsu, Oichi's/Oyu's daughter, from Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, that tutored her with all his skill to wield rifles in the elite ways.

Magoichi is also a playable character in Samurai Warriors Series wielding in both installments a musket. Magoichi is laid back, dressed in a trench coat and bears no resemblance to either Suzuki Shigehide nor Suzuki Sadayu (in fact, he cannot be Suzuki Sadayu; Suzuki is a separate character in the sequel). He fights to protect the people he cares about most, and even makes a friendly rival out of Maeda Keiji. He has a slight womanizing obsession, but more along the lines of Vash from Trigun. In the second installment, he is friendly with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and serves, in the first part of his story, as a Saika mercenary serving Oda at Anegawa and then opposing him in a later stage at Osaka. Angered by Oda, he rushes over to Honnoji where, amidst the chaos, he shoots and kills Nobunaga, and repentant Akechi Mitsuhide is the one to take the blame. Ironically enough he is then later shot and killed by the end of his story. In the last stage, he is revealed to have survived from his injury and is also in Masamune's late stage which is after when he was shot.

He is also a hidden playable character in Visco Games' arcade shoot-em-up Vasara 2, and is the grandfather of the female Saika Magoichi in the prequel game, Vasara. In both games, Magoichi uses a pair of fans in addition to the standard shooting attack, which light on fire and whirl around him/her for a short time; This attack has a far shorter range in Vasara 2 than in Vasara, however (possibly due to Vasara 2's larger change in scale in comparison to the prequel), requiring Magoichi to get almost point-blank with opponents to inflict damage.