Muneshige Tachibana

Muneshige Tachibana is a character newly featured in Samurai Warriors 3. Adopted by Dosetsu into the Tachibana clan, he works with Ginchiyo to demonstrate their family pride. He is known as "A Valiant of Chinzei" (剛勇鎮西一).

Kessen
Muneshige appears as one of the generals who is convinced to join Josui in Kessen. Although his allegiance implies that he would betray Mitsunari at any given time, he will not give into Ieyasu's plea to defect. While playing as the West, he will protest and give the players a rough time. Depending on the player's actions, he will eventually join the East during the final stages of the game.

Personality
Muneshige is a genius and brilliant warrior of his time who always wants to act like a cool hero. Eager to hop into action, he is simultaneously plagued with various doubts about the era, such as his clan's decline and the loss of lives. His sometimes reticent personality clashes with Ginchiyo's headstrong and prideful warrior's spirit.

Voice Actors

 * John Murphy - Kessen (English)
 * Hiroki Tōchi - Samurai Warriors 3 (Japanese)
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu - Kessen (Japanese)

Fighting Style
Muneshige is a quick attacker with an equal balance between offense and defense. He can guard attacks with his shield and, if the timing is correct, counter by ramming his shield forward. His Rengi cancels allow him to access various jumping attacks.

Personal Info
Tachibana Muneshige was known as a true gentlemen who was always modest about his accomplishments. He always encouraged his men to protect the weak and never take from the poor. Though kind and gentle, he doubled as a fierce man of war who could persevere through any hardship in battle. He strangely had no particularly brutal war strategies and won his men's loyalty with genuine benevolence. Out of all the times he charged into battle, there are no records of him shouting the words "To the death!" or "Charge!" to his army or to his foes. A few tales say that this was because he deeply valued his adopted father's army and did not want to see any of them lose their lives. His charismatic personality and undying endurance earned Hideyoshi and Ieyasu's praise. He was said to have been Kyushu's "Honda Tadakatsu".

He was skilled in academics and was also a master swordsman. He was trained by Marume Nagayoshi, the inventor of the Taisha-ryu, and practiced in earnest to eventually create his self-taught techniques. These techniques were later adapted by Tempu Nakamura. He also excelled in traditional archery, singing, renga, the Japanese tea ceremony, kōdō, kemari and kyōgen. He had one wife and two concubines. It is generally accepted that he had no children but his younger brother, Naotsugu (Munemasu), had enough children to continue the Tachibana clan.

Early Life
Muneshige was born as the eldest biological son of Takahashi Shigetane, an Ōtomo retainer who named his son, Munetora. When he was eight years old, he attended a freak show. A dispute happened between the performers and a man was killed during the act. While the crowd panicked and scurried for the exits, Munetora showed no signs of fear. As he was dragged away from the site, he taunted the audience for leaving the show early and hurried back to the scene.

His interesting behavior attracted Tachibana Dosetsu's attention and, in 1581, Dosetsu strongly adhered to adopt him. Shigetane strongly refused the adoption, even when Dosetsu begged him constantly. He wanted Munetora to marry his daughter, Ginchiyo, and become his heir. With time, Shigetane's insistence weakened and Dosetsu had his request granted. Munetora's name was changed to Tachibana Muneshige.

In July or November the same year, Muneshige attended his first battle with his adopted father. The Ōtomo were pursing the Akizuki family at the Battle of Honami. Muneshige rode on horseback and shot the left arm of the Akizuki's valiant retainer, Horie Bizen. Horie ripped the arrow from his arm and charged at Muneshige with a long sword for the kill. He was unexpectedly overpowered when he wrestled with Muneshige and was distracted long enough to be killed by Hagio Daigaku. In 1584, he joined his father and adopted father in the campaign to recapture Chikugo Province. After he went to the battle front with Dosetsu, he was entrusted to guard the Tachibana Mountain Castle. When Akizuki Tanezane's 8,000 man army closed in, Muneshige defeated him with a night raid and fire attack. Either after his first battle or his victory against Tanezane, he was enumerated during the army's victory banquet. Muneshige was pleased to have fought beside his biological father and mistakenly addressed Shigetane as "Father". Shigetane responded by berating and publicly disowning him, declaring that Muneshige was and always has been a Tachibana. Some speculate that this was because Muneshige was actually born a Tachibana, but this idea is debated and unsupported by most historians.

Dosetsu had planned to marry Muneshige to Ginchiyo immediately but his passing caused a disturbance in the affair. For reasons not entirely known, it supposedly took Muneshige much longer than usual to be considered the clan's proper successor. There is a popular theory that Ginchiyo refused to accept him as even being related to her and barred him from seeing her. Though they were married, they were said to have lived in separate castles -or provinces- to avoid seeing one another. Rumors say that Muneshige divorced her soon after and tried in vain to obtain a second wife, but there are no historical records that suggests this occurred.

Serving Toyotomi
In 1586, Shimazu Tadatane and Ijuin Tadamune invaded Chikuzen Province with an army of 20,000, intiating the Siege of Iwaya Castle. Muneshige, who was stationed within Tachibana Mountain Castle and knew that Shigetane was at Iwaya Castle, wanted to send reinforcements to his father but was stopped by Yoshida Sakyo, who honorably faced death in Muneshige's stead. Sakyo died with the 763 retainers (sometimes debated as 600) at Iwaya Castle and Muneshige paid his deepest respects to the twenty families who lost their loved ones. Before long, Shimazu Yoshihisa ordered his men to take Tachibana Mountain Castle. Muneshige defended his position bravely and heavily relied on guerrilla warfare to drive the Shimazu back. At one point, Muneshige lead a surprise attack on the Shimazu main camp and decapitated several (hundreds according to some stories) Shimazu soldiers. The Shimazu army suffered from fatigue and withdrew. Muneshige pursued them, captured Takatorii Castle and retook Iwaya Castle and Hōmanzan Castle. Ōtomo Sōrin praised him as a peerless warrior to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After the Shimazu army fled, the Toyotomi army of 20,000 appeared in Kyushu. Muneshige took an active role in the following campaign to suppress Kyushu. He, Kuroda Kanbei and others asked several times for the tired Shimazu army's surrender but were denied each time since the Shimazu vassals did not want to betray their clan's customs. When they did surrender in 1587, Muneshige was rewarded with Yanagawa Castle in Chugoku Province. The amount of koku varies in different accounts, but most tend to agree that he received at least 132,200 koku. Esteemed as a powerful clan, the Tachibana soon declared independence from their masters, the Ōtomo clan. Around this time, Hideyoshi said, "That bravery and military skill is truly among the greatest in Kyushu."

Later, when Sassa Narimasa experienced riots in Kyushu, Muneshige volunteered to stop the insurrections and slayed several violent rioters. When he worked to suppress the riots in Higo Province, he met Kobayakawa Takakage and his adopted son, Kobayakawa Motofusa (Mori Hidekane). Both men served with great renown and took a liking to one another when they shared similar accomplishments. Motofusa and Muneshige became sworn brothers and they were both promoted a year later. After serving in the siege of Odawara Castle in 1590, Hideyoshi praised him further and he earned the admiration of several daimyo present. The Taikō declared, "Just as how the east has Honda Tadakatsu as the greatest warrior of the land, the west surely has Muneshige for the same right."

Korean Campaign
During Hideyoshi's First Korean Campaign in 1592, Muneshige became a captain to one of the six 2,500 squadrons with Kobayakawa Takakage. They initially planned to capture Jeolla and sail south from Chungcheong, but they were fiercely pushed back and defeated several times near Geumsan by the righteous armies lead by Jo Heon and Yeong Gyu. Since neither army could gain a stronger foothold over the other, both sides were forced into a nerve-racking deadlock. In July, the Ming army marched from Liaodong and lead an offensive from Pyongyang. Since Takakage had just transferred his troops to Hanseong, Muneshige tried to barricade the roads in Muju County in an effort to protect his troops. However, since soldiers were still in the midst of being transported, his plan failed and he could not maintain his position in Korea.

In 1593, Li Rusong was temporarily driven back by Konishi Yukinaga and Pyongyang was captured. The daimyo decided to take an advantage of this momentum and Muneshige lead a vanguard unit at the Battle of Byeokje Gwan. With 3,000 men, he and his younger brother lead a surprise attack with their army's rifles and repulsed Sadae Su's army of the same number. Takakage was able to assist and they were able to defeat a portion of the Ming army. Muneshige and Takakage also acted as the fifth battalion during the second Siege of Jinju, but neither played a major part in the battle and were ordered to act as standby reinforcements.

In 1597, Muneshige continued to act as a defensive unit. Without merging with the invading army, he was sent to protect Angol-po during the Siege of Ulsan Castle. However, since he was concerned for his Mōri allies, his original plan to head to Busan was changed to guard Goseong Castle. He presumably participated in the defense of Waeseong or Goseong. When the Ming and Joseon armies organized a three-way attack from Ulsan, Sacheon and Suncheon-si, Muneshige was ready to defend his position. However, he received a letter from Shimazu Tadatsune regarding an attack from the east and, to aid his ally's position and resources, he did not participate in battle.

After Hideyoshi passed away, the Japanese fleet ordered a full-scale retreat. Before they could withdraw, the fleet needed to rescue Konishi, who was stranded at Suncheon Japanese Castle and had his escape route blocked by Chen Lin's naval brigade and the great Yi Sun-sin. Muneshige assisted Shimazu Yoshihiro's fleet and they were able to rescue Konishi.

Sekigahara
Although he disliked Ishida Mitsunari, Muneshige loyally served the Western army. Before the battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu pleaded with him to join his army by offering promises of a ludicrous amount of awards. Muneshige is famous for outright rejecting the proposal and stayed loyal to the departed Hideyoshi. He gave his men the choice to depart for whichever side and only a single house elder, Komono Masatoki, left to join the Eastern army. To this end, he swore to them that they would fight for unconditional victory and marched his armies into Ise Province.

He joined his sworn father and brother, Tsukushi Hirokado, Sō Yoshitoshi and Tsuetsugu Motoyasu to defend Ōtsu Castle with a 15,000 man army. On October 13, 1600, he fought with Kyōgoku Takatsugu. His army used a tactic from Dosetsu's book and mainly used rifle troops. The particular manner in which he stationed them allowed the gunners to theoretically reload three times faster than normal. Muneshige was unable to fight at Sekigahara due to the siege and, when news of Ieyasu's victory reached their ears, the Western army abandoned Ōtsu Castle. After his troops withdrew, he wanted to defend Osaka Castle. Mōri Terumoto advised him to drop the idea due to Ieyasu's inevitable invasion and suggested a hasty retreat back to Yanagawa. Muneshige agreed but he unexpectedly met one of the men responsible for Shigetane's death, Shimazu Yoshihiro, at the docks. Yoshihiro, battered and with troops worse for wear, confronted Muneshige and offered his head by saying, "This is the only chance you'll get to avenge your real father." Contrary to the general's expectations, Muneshige replied, "Slaughtering a defeated army is not an honor for any samurai", and worked together with Yoshihiro to escape safely back to their respective homes. As thanks, a small Shimazu vanguard escorted Muneshige back to Yanagawa.

It wasn't long until his home was attacked by Katō Kiyomasa, Nabeshima Naoshige and Kuroda Josui. Bravely leading an army of 32,000 against 40,000, Muneshige split his army into two factions and gave each of his officers at least 3,000 to fight with. Despite earning a few bouts of early success, supplies depleted quickly and casualties became high. Muneshige, though also wounded during the conflict, was able to spring a final surprise attack to save his men. By the end of the struggle, he lost at least five generals and several of his clansmen. A soldier had to support him to his horse when he retreated to Yanagawa Castle. Though greatly fatigued, he was still prepared to resist his home's invaders. Naoshige first lead an offensive strike, but eventually Kiyomasa and Josui decided to use the powers of persuasion to calm Muneshige. Giving into reason, he formerly surrendered.

As a side note, Yoshihiro had returned to his home and, as a sign of gratitude, he sent troops to reinforce Yanagawa. Sadly, by the time they arrived, the Tachibana were already on their third day of surrender.

Edo Period
After the Battle of Sekigahara, Muneshige was labeled a political criminal to the country and was stripped of his lands. As a rōnin, Kiyomasa and Maeda Toshinaga regretted to see his talents go to waste and offered him service. He refused all offers but Kiyomasa continued to fight for Muneshige's recognition to Ieyasu. Ieyasu also thought it was a waste as he knew Muneshige's capabilities in battle, but he was weary of the wanderer's loyalty to the Toyotomi. Even so, in 1603, the shogunate gave Muneshige 5,000 koku and allowed him to become a daimyo once more. By 1610, he received 35,000 koku and was formerly introduced to Ieyasu.

Though it was hard to convince him to join the front, Ieyasu ordered Muneshige to assist the Siege of Osaka. He served under Tokugawa Hidetada's troops and clashed with Mori Katsunaga. He was awarded his old territory, Chikugo-Yanagawa, and 109,200 koku by the shogunate in 1620. With this he was able to reestablish himself as a feudal lord. Ordered by Hidetada to look after Iemitsu, Muneshige and several other feudal lords were charged with educating the youth. Since Muneshige immersed himself in the arts and culture in Edo, he hardly had time to return to his original home. He was able to establish a go-between and worked with the local lords to maintain peace in his absence.

He showed his bravery and battle prowess a final time during the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. After his service, he passed on clan leadership and properties to his adopted son, Tadashige. He passed away in his local residence in Edo during 1643. He was 76 years old at the time of his death and became heralded as a man who braved many changes in his life.

Trivia

 * He is described in the magazine scan image as an "ikemen" (イケメン), Japanese slang for an impossibly, good-looking man that would only appear in movies. As far as Sengoku-jidai related video games goes, this term is also frequently used by the media to describe the male cast in the Sengoku Basara series.