Okuni

Okuni (阿国)is a character who first appeared in Samurai Warriors. She is a traveling priestess seeking funds for her shrine. She is best known in history for founding the Japanese dance style, Kabuki.

In the first Samurai Warriors, she is 17 years old. Her height in the series is 172 cm (approximately 5'8"). She's symbolized by the kanji for "dance" (舞) and "elegance" (麗) as well as peach blossom petals.

Samurai Warriors
Okuni unknowingly wanders onto battlefields, and being a priestess, usually tries to stop the violence or solicit money by putting on a dance. Her dances work to a degree but ultimately fail to stop any fights. Although she is infatuated by Keiji, she wears her heart on her sleeve and can be fascinated with various men and women. She often wants the one she is infatuated with to return with her to Izumo. Because of this, she has the most alternate endings in Samurai Warriors.

In Samurai Warriors, she helps her close friend Goemon to steal treasure in Kyoto. While in the city, she meets Keiji and falls in love. Leaving Kyoto, she resumes her mission to collect funds for the Izumo shrine. She arrives at Osaka only to find it under attack by Oda forces. In an effort to lift the people's spirits, she performs a dance which catches Magoichi's attention. With Goemon's help, she defeats the mercenary to rout the Oda army.

Scattering the forces at Osaka causes the pair to become fugitives as Mitsuhide pursues them to avenge the loss. They escape to Ise to flee across the Iga passage with Goemon eventually volunteering to stay behind and stall Mitsuhide. She continues on without him and reaches Kawanakajima to stumble upon Shingen and Kenshin. She dances to entertain the two warlords but ultimately does not stop them from fighting. After her performance, Okuni collects enough funds to repair the Izumo Shrine and decides to head home. Before returning however, she visits Azuchi Castle to reunite with Keiji much to a "rescuing" Goemon's chagrin.

In her movie ending, she entertains Keiji and Goemon with a dance. During her performance, the object of her affections walks out as he wants to return to the battlefield. When she's done, she goes with Goemon to look for the missing Keiji.

Okuni is a hidden character in Samurai Warriors 2 who can be unlocked after a winning play in the Suguroku minigame. Like Ranmaru, she lacks a personal Story Mode. She rarely appears in other character's story scenarios except for certain dream stages such as Mitsuhide's struggle, the beauty competition for No, Oichi -and later Gracia, and others. Her other appearances are mostly limited to Survival mode.

While she again lacks a personal story in Samurai Warriors 3, she does make an appearance at Kyoto during Mitsunari rescue scenario. She is also seen dancing at Osaka in Kunoichi's ending.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, she, along with Xiao Qiao, Zhang Jiao, and Sakon Shima, joined forces at Kyushu to stop Nobunaga. Okuni, claiming to be the "Queen of Dance", helps to raise the army's morale and lure the enemy. Although the plot to stop Nobunaga's army failed, she and her defeated allies are pardoned. She and the others later join the Coalition force. She becomes close to some of the men while in the army, mostly Ling Tong and Guan Ping. She also appears in one of Shu's Gaiden stages, helping to delay Goemon from escaping with a treasure he stole from Wei Yan.

In Warriors Orochi 2, she follows Ling Tong to join the Wu forces. She assists Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu's plot to lure Dong Zhuo out from hiding. When the tyrant sees Okuni's graceful movements, he praises her dance to be as pretty as Diao Chan's but claims that she lacks the latter's charms. Okuni responds by elegantly attacking him. She will also have beauty competitions with other beautiful female characters in the cast. If she meets Goemon or Keiji in game, she will quarrel with them. Her dream stage has her collect charity donations from people, along with Meng Huo and Goemon. She will appear in many other Dream Modes that focus exclusively on women including the new stage introduced in Warriors Orochi Z

Development
Okuni's first design was made as the simplified priestess outfit found in Japan. Her alternate design was a race queen inspired outfit with priestess motifs. Her revamp design accentuates this concept by adding gold and the colors of the rainbow to her outfit.

Personality
Okuni is a flirty yet graceful maiden who is easily allured by the land's impressive generals. She strives to add a touch of elegance to the field, a feat which impresses most of her audience. In the Japanese dub, she speaks in an upbeat Kyoto dialect.

She is slightly more cynical in the second game and uses her coy attitude to hide her anger. Okuni cares more for her own personal beauty, wanting everyone to watch her dance. She is also more selective about who will impress her as she isn't charmed by Ieyasu's flirts. If the players use her in stages with Nagamasa and Oichi present, Okuni will tease the married couple and play with Nagamasa's loyalty. During Survival Mode, she breaks the fourth wall by saying that she was upset for not having a story mode in the game.

Voice Actors

 * Melissa Fahn - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Erin Agostino - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Karen Strassman - Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Wakana Yamazaki - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also: Okuni/Quotes


 * "Halt there! Are you the one spreading tomfoolery around?"
 * "Keiji's the name. Pleasure to meet you miss."
 * "Now don't you know that slandering Master Keiji's good name shall force a lady to teach you a lesson in manners?"
 * "Oh great..."
 * Okuni and Keiji; Samurai Warriors


 * "Ah, an ill-tempered boy; here to help me carry all this gold home!"
 * "Hey, I am an ill-tempered man! Wait, I mean...Argh!"
 * Okuni and Masumune; Samurai Warriors 2


 * "Hmm... You're trembling."
 * "I can play the role of seductress as well as anybody! Won't you come with me, young lady? We could have such fun together."
 * "I don't believe this. Everything just keeps getting more ridiculous!"
 * Nō, Okuni, and Oichi; Samurai Warriors 2


 * "Without Oichi, I am overcome with a vast longing, an emptiness... It's as though a part of my very soul were missing."
 * "Poor baby... You just come to mama... When this is all over, I'll make you forget you ever had anything to be sad about."
 * Nagamasa and Okuni; Samurai Warriors 2 Empires

Ground Moveset

 * undefined,(undefined),(undefined): Casts her umbrella towards to the enemy.
 * ,undefined,(undefined),(undefined),(undefined): Kicks her enemy into the air, attacks three times and rotates them on the top of her umbrella.
 * ,,undefined,(undefined),(undefined),(undefined): Taunts the enemy, the aura she creates around herself then hits the enemy.
 * ,,,undefined,(undefined),(undefined),(undefined): Rotates the enemy on the top of her umbrella and then casts her umbrella to spin around her.
 * ,,,,,,,: Attacks three times and spins before pushing the enemy away.
 * ,:(Samurai Warriors series only) Uses her umbrella to float across the battlefield.
 * ,undefined: Jumps down to create a shockwave.
 * ,: Jumps and strikes.
 * Stands still to cast her umbrella to spin around her.

Mounted Moveset

 * ,undefined: Several hard swings that launch enemies into the air.
 * ,,undefined: Another hard swing which stuns enemies.
 * ,,,undefined: Throws her umbrella around the horse, hitting enemies a short distance away from her.
 * ,,,,,,,: Swings her weapon back and forth and ends with her holding it straight out and opening and closing her umbrella several times.
 * Swings rapidly towards the right and finishes with a downward swing.

Samurai Warriors 2
Moveset remains relatively the same except the damaging aura at the end of her C3 is omitted. Like the rest of the cast, her horse musou changes to a damaging stampede by her horse. She gains a Level 3 Musou, R1 skills, and a new charge attack in the Xtreme Legends expansion.
 * ,,,,undefined:(Xtreme Legends only) Shoots three fireballs at the same time which spread out.
 * Her musou actions remain the same. During the level 3 versions, various auras will emit around her, buffing nearby allies.
 * R1 + : Increases the strength of allies's attack.
 * R1 + undefined: Taunts enemies, lowers enemies's defense but raises their attack.
 * Personal Skill: (Recoil) Counters indirect attacks when guarding.

Warriors Orochi
No C5 or Level 3 Musou. She has two new R1 abilities.
 * R1: Increase the strength of team's attack.
 * R1 (counter): Push enemies away.

Fighting Style
Okuni's moveset resembles the dances usually performed on hanamichi stages. In the Samurai Warriors series, she can use her umbrella to float across the battlefield each time she jumps.

She has deceptively decent reach and relatively good coverage in almost all attack directions. Offsetting this however, is her low attack strength and peculiar musou attack- this is arguably one of the harder ones to use properly due to its stationary position and very specific hitbox (as only contacting the umbrella itself will cause damage). Her attacks are also slightly delayed as she has to open and close her umbrella each time she hits.

Early Years
Okuni grew up in the vicinity of the Izumo shrine, where her father, Nakamura Sanemon, worked as a blacksmith, and where several other family members served. Eventually Okuni joined as a miko, where she was known for her skill in dancing and acting, as well as her beauty. As it was a custom of the time to send priests, miko and others to solicit contributions for the shrine, she was sent to Kyoto to perform sacred dances and songs.

It was during her performances in Kyoto that she also became known for her performances of nembutsu odori (or nembutsu dance) in honor of the Amida Buddha. Though this dance traces its origins to Kūya, a tenth-century evangelist of Pure Land Buddhism, by Okuni's time it had become a largely secular folk dance, and her particular adaptation tended to be known for its sultriness and sexual innuendo. Other popular themes for Okuni's acts included humorous skits about lover's trysts at various public establishments and meetings between men and prostitutes. Between these and other dances and acts, she garnered much attention and began to draw large crowds wherever she performed. Eventually she was summoned to return to the shrine, a call she ignored, though she continued to send money back.

Founding Kabuki
Around 1603, Okuni began performing on the dry riverbed of the Shijōgawara (Fourth Street Dry Riverbed) of the Kamo River and at Kitano Shrine. Gathering up the female outcasts and misfits of the region, particularly those involved in prostitution, Okuni gave them direction, teaching them acting, dancing and singing skills in order to form her troupe. Several theories exist as to the etymology of the word kabuki, one being that it is derived from those who, oddly dressed and swaggering on the street, had been dubbed kabukimono (from kabuku "to lean in a certain direction", and mono, "people"). Another possible origin is katamuki, which means "slanted" or "strongly-inclined."[1] In either case, others labeled Okuni's troupe's performances kabuki due to their eccentricity and social daring. The earliest performances of kabuki were dancing and song with no significant plot, often disdained as gaudy and cacophonous, but equally lauded as colorful and beautiful.

As mentioned above, Okuni's troupe was exclusively female. Thus, she required her actors to play both male and female roles. In particular, Okuni herself was best known for her roles as samurai and Christian priests. As her troupe gained fame, she was emulated by many others, particularly brothels, which offered such shows to amuse wealthy clients, as well as to gain prostitutes who had marketable acting and singing skills. This new style of exclusively female troupes became known by the alternate names of shibai, onnakabuki, (from onna, the Japanese word for "woman" or "girl") and Okuni kabuki.

Later Years
Eventually, with the aid of Ujisato Sanzaburō, who supported Okuni financially as well as artistically, kabuki evolved into a more dramatic style. On a more personal level, Sanzaburō was also said to be Okuni's lover, though they did not marry. After his death she continued without him, continuing to merge the drama with the music and dance. Eventually, her fame and that of her kabuki troupe spread throughout Japan.

Okuni retired around 1610, and after that time she disappeared. In 1629, due to public outcry of morals, those under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu forbade women from performing in kabuki. This was quickly replaced by the use of young men as actors/"actresses," though this was quickly banned as well due to some of the same issues of prostitution and corruption of morals, restricting the performances to those by older men, which is a standing practice in the official theatres even today.

In November 2002 a statue was erected in her honor and to commemorate 400 years of kabuki. It is located on Kawabata Street at the north of the Shijō Ōhashi, near the shore of the Kamo River in Kyoto.

Cultural impact
In addition to her founding of kabuki, Okuni contributed to Japanese theatre in general. She is said to have introduced the forerunner of the hanamichi (path of flowers), a runway leading from the rear of the theatre and crossing between the audience to the stage. This has been incorporated in several Japanese theatre arts beyond that of kabuki.