| Hideyoshi Toyotomi | |
 | |
| Clan(s)/Alliance(s): | Oda Toyotomi |
|---|---|
| Weapon Type: | SW1XL-SW4: Sanetsu SW5: Naginata |
| Significant Battle(s): | Inō Inabayama Castle Kanegasaki |
| First appearance: | Samurai Warriors |
Hideyoshi Toyotomi was first introduced as a unique general under the Oda clan in Samurai Warriors and became a playable character in Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends.
Role in the Games[]
Samurai Warriors[]
In Samurai Warriors, Hideyoshi starts as a simple general under Nobunaga Oda, first serving as a vassal at Inabayama Castle. He builds the one-night castle at Sunomata and gives the signal for Mino Trio to defect when he storms inside the castle. Once Mino is under Nobunaga's rule upon Yoshitatsu Saito's defeat, the Oda army moves on to conquer Echizen. The moment he is on the verge of victory against the Asakura, the Azai suddenly betray Nobunaga and forces the invader to retreat. As their lord flees, Hideyoshi volunteers for the rear guard. When Magoichi Saika asks him why, Hideyoshi admits that he wants to be promoted under Nobunaga so that he can one day have the power to do something great for the people. He asks Magoichi to help him with his vision and the mercenary agrees. After they work together to defeat Nagamasa Azai and Yoshikage Asakura's armies, they safely retreat together back to the capital. Years later, Nobunaga decides to crush the Ikko Rebels and the Saika Renegades, marching to Sakai where Magoichi awaits them. Hideyoshi wants to see the land of peace his lord desires, but not at the cost of so many lives. When the mercenary attempts to snipe Nobunaga, Hideyoshi is given the mission to stop him.
If Hideyoshi fails, Nobunaga is shot and confusion spreads throughout the battlefield. It then becomes a manhunt on Magoichi's head and as well as the complete annihilation of every rebel present. After the battle, Hideyoshi meets his beaten friend to tell him that he's giving up on his original dream. Several of his allies begin to notice that he is beginning to resemble Nobunaga. Even with his menacing parting words, the sniper refuses to give up on Hideyoshi and tries to stop him from becoming a tyrant. After he slays Mitsuhide Akechi at Honnoji, Hideyoshi immediately resumes his attacks on the Mouri. Consumed with ambition, he abruptly makes peace with them and hurries back to Azuchi Castle to slay Nobunaga. Killing Magoichi, many Oda officers, and Nobunaga signals the end of his dream for universal happiness.
Should Hideyoshi prevent the sniping at Sakai, he instead insists that his friend surrender to prevent a massacre. After his defeat, Magoichi relents to Hideyoshi's wishes and once again joins his friend's side. When Nobunaga is killed at Honnoji, Hideyoshi hurries to intercept Mitsuhide's army at Yamazaki. His forces appear before Mitsuhide arrives so they use their time to defeat Toshimitsu Saitō and claim Mount Tenno. Avenging his lord, Hideyoshi unifies the land and becomes the supreme ruler. However, Ieyasu despises him and rebels at Komaki - Nagakute. With Magoichi and Keiji Maeda's help, Hideyoshi routs his rival. He asks for Ieyasu's surrender and the land is at peace.
Samurai Warriors 2[]
In Samurai Warriors 2, details his life as a conqueror as he starts his story by avenging his lord's death at Yamazaki. Hideyoshi then swears to make a land where everyone can be happy and fights to quell misgivings in battles. Oichi, who disagrees with Hideyoshi's rise to power, convinces Katsuie Shibata to attack him at Shizugatake. He barely wins over them and fights with Ieyasu for right of the land. In order to completely conquer the land, Hideyoshi then heads toward Kyushu to subdue the powerful family on the island, the Shimazu. Gaining his Tachibana and Shimazu allies, his forces are larger than ever before. Left opposing him are the Hojo and the Date families. As Hideyoshi begins to surround Odawara Castle, Masamune Date surrenders before the siege. With Ujimasa Hojo and his son dead, the land is unified and Hideyoshi's dreams are realized.
In his dream stage, a curious Hideyoshi fakes his death after the land's unification to see who among his vassals are truly loyal to him. Mitsunari stands loyally for the Toyotomi family, but he falters against Ieyasu's troops at Sekigahara. Hideyoshi makes his presence known and rides to punish the ones who betrayed him and his family. With Hideyoshi alive, the Mōri generals remain loyal to the Western army. Insulted by his trick, however, Yoshihiro Shimazu and Ginchiyo Tachibana switch sides. Even when he wins, Hideyoshi begins to worry about what will happen when he actually dies.
In Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends, Hideyoshi participates in the battle of Okehazama. During the battle Hideyoshi manage's to find a hidden route towards the Imagawa main camp with the help of a local peasant. In the conquest of Shikoku, Hideyoshi leads his own army twice in order to pacify the island for the Oda and the second time under the Toyotomi.
Samurai Warriors 3[]
In Samurai Warriors 3, Hideyoshi is mentioned to have been a sandal bearer for Nobunaga. However, his master saw his worth and promoted him as a general. Enthusiastic with his master and swearing to follow him anywhere, he assists the front at Okehazama by distracting the Imagawa army away from the ambush party and by convincing Ieyasu to become independent. After Nobunaga gains a reputation for himself, he decides to invade Mino. As Hanbei Takenaka acts as the de facto leader at Inabayama Castle, Hideyoshi is given the task of capturing it with his wife, Nene. Telling Kanbei to set fire to the castle, Hideyoshi routs Mitsuhide. However, he realizes that it's a trap and escapes to avoid having his plan work against him. As the Saito army scatters, Hideyoshi meets Hanbei in person and is amused by the younger strategist's wit. He offers Hanbei to serve him for a world where everyone can be happy and the impressed strategist jokingly amends it to better fit his own ideal.
After he protects Nobunaga's safe escape at Kanegasaki, time passes and Nobunaga dies at Honnoji while Hideyoshi is subjugating Chugoku and Shikoku. Provoked by Kanbei Kuroda to seek his own vision for the land, Hideyoshi drops the campaigns and hurries back to the capital. Confronting his rival at Yamazaki, Mitsuhide claims that he still wants to make a world that Nobunaga had desired. Dissatisfied, Hideyoshi declares that anyone without a dream of their own design has no right to rule. With this same determination, he also defeats Ieyasu at Komaki-Nagakute. Although he knows that his vision of the land is the same as Nobunaga's dream, he refuses to follow his master's methods by taking the rebellious Ieyasu's head. Instead, he helps his old comrade to his feet and asserts his determination to live his own path in life.
Samurai Warriors 4[]
Samurai Warriors 5[]
In Samurai Warriors 5, Hideyoshi Hashiba wishing to serve the Oda clan, meets Toshiie Maeda and introduces him to Nobunaga Oda in which he accepts. Hideyoshi fights his first battle under the Oda in the Battle of Inō in which he finds an alternative route towards Nobuyuki Oda's main camp. After the battle of Inō, Hideyoshi participates in the battle of Okehazama which resulted in the death of Yoshimoto Imagawa. After the battle of Okehazama, Nobunaga Oda sets his sights on the Saitō clan in Mino. During the siege of Inabayama, Hideyoshi comes up with a plan to build a castle at the centre of the battlefield and with the help of his newfound ally Sandayū Momochi, Hideyoshi succesfully manages to build the castle of Sunomata in one night. Due to Hideyoshi's efforts, the Oda clan are victorious and sees the death of Yoshitatsu Saitō's and demise of the Saitō clan. After the Siege of Inabayama, Hideyoshi makes acquantance with Hanbei Takenaka and offers Hanbei to join him under the Oda clan in which he agrees.
Character information[]
Vioce Actors[]
- Richard Cansino - Samurai Warriors (English)
- Danny Coleman - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
- Munehiro Tokida - Samurai Warriors (Japanese)
- Hideo Ishikawa - Samurai Warriors 2 and Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)
Quotes[]
- "No more monkeying around!"
- "Serves you right for getting in my way!"
- "Not scared of me, you say...? How 'bout now?!"
- "Hey, it could happen!"
- "Okay, maybe this is just a bit much..."
- "I'll take care of this land for you, so why don't you die for me?!?"
- "Hmph, why do things always fall apart when I'm not around?"
- "You won't keep me from the treasures I desire!"
- "Meet Hideyoshi Toyotomi! Genius extraordinaire!"
- "Sorry I don't feel dying today. Sayonara!"
- "I won't lose! Of course, the enemy is probably thinking the same thing."
- "Now the Shimazu will bow down to me too! Dang, I'm good!"
- "One last fight and Japan will be all mine...This was easier than I thought."
Titles[]
Samurai Warriors 2[]
Level 1 - 10: Stable Master
Level 11 - 20: Monkey
Level 21 - 30: Commander
Level 31 - 40: Clever Diplomat
Level 41 - 49: Great Dreamer
Level 50 - 69: Unifier
Level 70: Everyman's Champion
History[]
Very little is known for certain about Hideyoshi before 1570, when he begins to appear in surviving documents and letters. His autobiography starts in 1577 but in it Hideyoshi spoke very little about his past. By tradition, he was born in what is now Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, the home of the Oda clan. He was born of no traceable samurai lineage, being the son of a peasant-warrior named Yaemon. He had no surname, and his childhood given name was Hiyoshi-maru ("Bounty of the Sun") although variations exist.
Many legends describe Hideyoshi being sent to study at a temple as a young man, but he rejected temple life and went in search of adventure. Under the name Tōkichirō Kinoshita, he first joined the Imagawa clan as a servant to a local ruler named Yukitsuna Matsushita. He traveled all the way to the lands of Yoshimoto Imagawa, daimyo of Suruga Province, and served there for a time, only to abscond with a sum of money entrusted to him by Matsushita Yukitsuna.
Around 1557 Hideyoshi returned to Owari and joined the Oda clan as a lowly servant. His cheerful disposition, tact and intelligence helped him become promoted to a samurai. He became one of Nobunaga Oda's sandal-bearers and was present for the Ambush at Okehazama in 1560 when Nobunaga defeated Yoshimoto Imagawa to become one of the most powerful warlords in the Sengoku period. He supervised the repair of the Kiyosu Castle and managed the kitchen. In 1561, Hideyoshi married Nene Toyotomi.
Hideyoshi was very successful as a diplomat. In 1564 he managed to negotiate, mostly with liberal bribes, the defection of a number of Mino warlords from the Saito clan, including the Saito clan's strategist Hanbei Takenaka. Despite his peasant origins, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Chikuzen no kami (Hashiba, Lord of Chikuzen). That name was derived from two characters, each taken from one of Oda's two other right-hand men, Nagahide Niwa and Katsuie Shibata.
Hideyoshi also led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, in which Nobunaga Oda allied with Ieyasu Tokugawa to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans. In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi Daimyo of three districts in the northern part of Omi province. Initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo, located on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port city Imahama on Lake Biwa. From there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunimoto firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Asai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi's administration, the factory’s output of firearms increased dramatically.
After the assassinations of Nobunaga and his eldest son Nobutada Oda, at the hands of Mitsuhide Akechi in 1582 in Incident at Honnoji. Hideyoshi later defeated Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki and established his de facto succession to Oda's military rule. At the Kiyosu Meeting, held to decide on a legal successor, Hideyoshi cast aside the apparent candidate, Nobutaka Oda and his advocate, Oda clan's chief general, Katsuie Shibata , by supporting Nobutada's young son, Hidenobu Oda. Having won the support of the other two Oda elders, Nagahide Niwa and Tsuneoki Ikeda, Hideyoshi established Hidenobu's position, as well as his own influence in the Oda clan.
Tension quickly escalated between Hideyoshi and Katsuie, and at the Battle of Shizugatake in the following year, Hideyoshi destroyed Katsuie's forces and thus consolidated his own power, absorbing most of the Oda clan into his control.
In 1583, Hideyoshi began construction of Osaka Castle. Built on the site of the "impenetrable" Ikkō-ikki temple Ishiyama Honganji, which had been destroyed by Nobunaga.
Nobunaga's other son, Nobukatsu Oda remained hostile to Hideyoshi. He allied himself with Ieyasu Tokugawa, and the two sides fought at the inconclusive Battle of Komaki-Nagakute. It ultimately resulted in a stalemate, although the Hideyoshi forces were delivered a heavy blow. Finally, Hashiba made peace with Nobukatsu, ending the pretext for war between the Tokugawa and Hashiba clans. Hideyoshi sent Tokugawa Ieyasu his younger sister and mother as hostages. Tokugawa eventually agreed to become a vassal of Hashiba.
Hideyoshi wanted the title of shogun so that he could be truly considered the active ruler of Japan. However, the emperor was unable to grant such a title to someone of Hideyoshi's lowly origins. Hideyoshi then appealed to the last Muromachi shogun, Yoshiaki Ashikaga, to accept him as an adopted son, but was refused. Unable to become shogun, in 1585 he took the more prestigious position of kampaku, as the Fujiwara Regents had done. In 1586, Hideyoshi was formally given the name 'Toyotomi' by the imperial court. He built a lavish palace, the Jurakudai, in 1587 and entertained the reigning Emperor Go-Yozei the following year.
Afterwards, Hideyoshi subjugated Kii Province and conquered Shikoku under Motochika Chosokabe clan. He also took control of Etchu and conquered Kyushu. In 1587, Hideyoshi banished Christian missionaries from Kyushu in order to exert greater control over the Kirishitan daimyo. In 1588, Hideyoshi started a sword hunt that forbade ordinary peasants from owning weapons. The swords that were collected were melted down to create a statue of the Buddha. This measure effectively stopped peasant revolts and ensured greater stability at the expense of individual freedom. The 1590 Siege of Odawara against the Late Hojo clan in Kanto was the last resistance to Hideyoshi's authority.
In February 1591, after several disagreements and perhaps for other reasons that are still unknown, Hideyoshi ordered Sen no Rikyu to commit suicide. Rikyu had been a trusted retainer and master of the tea ceremony under both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga. Under Hideyoshi's patronage, Rikyu made significant changes to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony that had lasting influence over many aspects of Japanese culture. Even after he ordered Rikyu's suicide, Hideyoshi is said to have built his many construction projects based upon principles of beauty promoted by Rikyu.
The possibility of a stable Toyotomi period after Hideyoshi's death was put in doubt with the death of his only son Tsurumatsu in September 1591. The three-year-old was his only child. When his half-brother Hidenaga Toyotomi died shortly after his son, Hideyoshi named his nephew, Hidetsugu Toyotomi, his heir, adopting him in January 1592. Hideyoshi resigned as kampaku on February 11 to take the title of taikō, and Hidetsugu succeeded him as kampaku.
After his death, the other members of the Council of Five Regents were unable to keep the ambitions of Ieyasu Tokugawa in check. Members of Seven Spears of Shizugatake, Kiyomasa Kato and Masanori Fukushima had fought bravely during the war, but after a Toyotomi clan auditor, Mitsunari Ishida, gave their performance a poor evaluation, they sided with Ieyasu Tokugawa. Hideyoshi's underaged son and designated successor, Hideyori Toyotomi, lost the power his father once held, and Ieyasu was declared shogun following the Battle of Sekigahara.
Gallery[]
