Takakage Kobayakawa

Takakage Kobayakawa is Motonari's third son who was adopted into the Kobayakawa family at an early age. After Motonari passed away, he and his older brother, Motoharu Kikkawa, were responsible for Terumoto's upbringing. Takakage was the particularly harsh and stricter guardian of the two. Although he could have been severely punished for his actions, Terumoto appreciated him and saw him as his father figure. He had no children but adopted two, one of which includes Hideaki.

Before his playable Samurai Warriors appearance, he was a generic NPC since Samurai Warriors: State of War.

Samurai Warriors
Takakage first appears in Samurai Warriors: State of War to oppose the Oda army. He next appears in Samurai Warriors 2: Empires alongside one of his brothers, Hidekane. Takakage participates in all of his father's and nephew's campaigns in Samurai Warriors 3. At Kizugawa, Motochika will try to kill Takakage as repentance for Mitsuhide's mistake. If Nobunaga is being controlled, Takakage will be commanding the fireball attack. He and his older brother can protect their nephew at Kozuki if Motonari manages to beat Ittetsu Inaba with full health. During Kanbei's Chugoku Invasion, Takakage lures his opponent, Kanbei, into a trap.

Kessen
Kessen III reduces Takakage's role to a minor enemy general serving under Terumoto.

Mōri Motonari: Chikai no Sanya
In Mouri Motonari: Chikai no Sanya, Takakage serves his father as one of his main generals. He follows the common perception of him in fictional media as a wise, considerate advisor and strategist. He continues to provide support for Terumoto and survives the wars as a trusted veteran for the Mōri.

Development
Mieda explained that they wanted to create an intellectual father-and-son duo for the series. Takakage is the most famous of Motonari's sons to allegedly match his father's wit so he made a perfect fit. He believes that their method of teamwork and strategic foreplay contrasts their rivals, Kanbei and Hanbei.

Personality
Like his father, the playable Takakage is an intellectual youth brimming with knowledge. He is concerned with creating strategies which will benefit the people, not samurai or the war effort.

Character Symbolism
In the Samurai Warriors series, he is symbolized by the kanji for "pity" (怜) and "intelligence" (聡).

Takakage's rare weapon has Awanagi, a Japanese deity, act its namesake. According to the characters used to spell his name, he is a type of water deity who resided in the heavens. He is best known as a sea god who is Izanagi's father. Awanagi has been fabled to have later descended from the heavens to pacify and give his blessings to the Chugoku region.

His heirloom, Three Arrows Oath, can either be a reference to another game or the legend of Motonari and his three eldest sons, Takamoto, Motoharu and Takakage. As the story goes, Motonari challenged each of his sons to break a singular arrow, a task easily fulfilled by each son. He then bound three arrows together and repeated his inquiry, adding that they needed to snap through them simultaneously. Each son had different results –maybe breaking through one or two at best– but couldn't complete their father's challenge. Motonari explained that the arrows were a metaphor for the bonds he expects his sons to share. Even if they are being separated into different families, he expected the brothers to continue supporting one another and the Mōri legacy, tying into his motto that anything is possible when people unite for a cause. Variations may replace Takamoto with Terumoto, yet modern historians are skeptical if the episode ever happened. Anything which does mention it was made at least one hundred years after Motonari's death during the mid-to-late-Edo period.

Voice Actors

 * Troy Baker - Samurai Warriors 3 (English)
 * Hiroshi Okamoto - Sengoku Musou 4
 * Kenji Nojima - Mouri Motonari: Chikai no Sanya

Quotes

 * "Fall back! The enemy fights with merciless ferocity!"
 * "Our plan has worked! Surround them!"

Charge Moveset

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Mounted Moveset

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