Nō

Lady Nō or Nōhime (濃姫) is a character who first appears in Samurai Warriors. She is Nobunaga's wife and the daughter of Dosan Saito. Her marriage was made in a political attempt to make a truce between Nobunaga's father and Dosan. There are various conflicting historical accounts regarding the true purpose behind her marriage. In the first game, she's 20 years old. She symbolized by the kanji for "voluptuous" (艶) and "butterfly" (蝶).

Samurai Warriors
No is a sadistic yet elegant lady who revels in the battlefield's chaos. She is an old acquaintance of Mitsuhide and a mentor figure for Oichi. In Samurai Warriors, her father ordered her to kill Nobunaga. She didn't agree to the request immediately, replying that she would personally need to judge if he is unworthy enough to live. During her stay with Nobunaga, she became enchanted with him and struggles with her judgment.

In her upper path story, she eventually turns against her husband at Honnoji. However, Nobunaga anticipated her attack and set her up with a decoy. On the run, No becomes obsessed with killing him and will stop anyone else who tries to take the honor away from her. When she finally has him at her mercy, she can't find herself to do the deed and instead becomes more fascinated with her helpless mate.

She acts as Nobunaga's faithful yet vain wife in Samurai Warriors 2. She is willing to give her life for him and follows him unquestioningly. In her dream mode, she challenges her sister-in-law to a beauty contest, which is really a battle made to irritate Oichi. Eventually, other women in the game catch word of it and are also determined to earn the title of the most beautiful woman in the land.

Kessen
No appears as a playable unit under her other historical name in Kessen III. Kicho is a graceful maiden who has excellent martial arts skills. She wields her customized light-weight spear and is frequently symbolized in some way by a butterfly. Like Samurai Warriors, both her and Nobunaga are in love with one another. To dissuade Mitsuhide from betraying her husband, she left Nobunaga with hopes to pacify him. Her efforts are in vain and Mitsuhide carries out his assault on Honnoji.

When she arrives at the site, she spots a dead Nobunaga and stabs Mitsuhide with a knife in vengeance. Surprisingly, before she decides to join him in the afterlife, Nobunaga stops her and reveals that the metal hair clip she left behind saved him from Mitsuhide's shot. While the couple escape the burning temple, a wounded Mitsuhide shoots Kicho. She admits afterwards that she didn't want to lose either men as they are both important to her. She survives her wounds and appears by the end of the game to once again help her husband.

Development
Both of No's designs are based on the concept of a beautifully clothed high class beauty. The visual draw for both outfits are the butterfly shaped motif for her sleeves and later obi. While the first game decorates her with butterfly accessories, her revamp accents her outfit with gold prints and a lavish gradient. In both games, she is meant to be a strong and gorgeous woman.

Voice Actors

 * Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Samurai Warriors (English)
 * Alicia Ruiss - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Cindy Robinson - Warriors Orochi (English)
 * Mariko Suzuki - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Aya Hisakawa - Kessen III (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "Such a tempting invitation."
 * "Aw, over so soon?"
 * "To hell and back, if necessary."
 * "You think this dress is sinful? You should see what I'm wearing underneath..."
 * "As usual...I take whatever I want."
 * "Mitsuhide has revealed his claws. I can't wait to show him mine."
 * "The epitomy of beauty. That is what it means to be the Demon King's wife."
 * "Mmmnn...I love you when you're covered in blood."
 * "Shall we wreak suffering together, my love?"
 * "I've already tamed Nobunaga. Everyone else is just...simple."
 * "Mitsuhide you will not have my husband's life. His life belongs to me!"
 * "Your dream of flames. It appears to be both your past and future."
 * Kicho's thoughts about Nobunaga's dream; Kessen III

Personal Info
Nouhime was Saito Dosan's daughter and her mother was Omi no Kata, the daughter of Akechi Mitsutsugu. Her other names include Kicho and Sakiyama-dono. The former is said to be a common name with Mino's noblewomen and the latter is a deviation of one of the castles she stayed in. Legends state that Akechi Mitsuhide and her acted like siblings during her childhood. Like many stories regarding her life, however, it is unclear if they were actually close.

Any real historical records of Nouhime is very scare and she is a great mystery in the eyes of historians. Since little is written about her, her life and personality is an open subject for art, literature, and film. Generally, descriptions regarding her behavior is mixed between two accounts. The contemporary image of her, which started during the 1960's, paints her in an intelligent and prosperous image, the ideal match for Nobunaga. Otherwise, she is depicted as a bitter wife who scolds her husband for being apart from one another.

Legends and Speculations
Since historical records regarding her life are sparse, this section will also include some of the conflicting theories regarding her life.

On March 23, 1549, Nouhime was married to Oda Nobunaga. Many people believe that their marriage wasn't a happy one since Nouhime was apparently barren. However, many of Nobunaga's children were born from an unknown mother, making the theory that she was could bare children feasible. Within their family tree, there is a daughter that is connected to the couple but it isn't used as a primary source of information -mainly because there are no other accepted sources to support it.

Her life has many conflicting accounts when Nobunaga invaded Mino in 1569. In the Tokisugu Kyoki, written by an aristocrat alive during the time, Nouhime continues to be mentioned as Nobunaga's only wife. This is supported by the Oumi-kuni Yochitsushi, which also states that she visited a temple with him during the previous year. The Seishuu Gunki remarks that Nobunaga made Nouhime his son's foster mother since he wanted to respect her father's wish to make her heiress. It is also guessed that she became his foster parent to strengthen the Mino and Owari ties with Nobunaga's new allies. In an edited version of Mitsuhide's biography, Akechi Gunki, Nouhime kept a calm composure during the time but was torn by her husband's vassals distrust. After Nobunaga conquered Owari, the book states that he divorced her.

Rumors state that Nouhime, after having an argument with her husband, left the Oda clan to reestablish Mino's reputation. As the rightful heir of the Saito clan, she banded together with her brother, Saito Yoshitatsu, to defend her home. Their allies were apparently the Akechi and Toki clans. Before her force could claim any territory, however, it is said that Nouhime died to illness. For this theory to be true, Yoshitatsu would have to be proven Dosan's son and her allies would need to report the instance. Neither have happened yet.

The Oda Nobunaga Bugencho describes a woman named Azuchi-dono, who is sometimes postulated to be Nouhime. She was known as a patient woman who blessed Tokuhime's marriage and highly respected Nobunaga's mother. She continued to live in Azuchi Castle and stayed in Nobukatsu's care after his father's death. Again, the possibility of Azuchi-dono being Nouhime is disputed since there is little mention of her interacting with these people in other sources. The Myoujishi in particular discredits this account since it states that Azuchi-dono died whilst in Hideyoshi's care at age 78 (July 26, 1612).

Both the Ujisato Iki and the Sonken Iten Oizen Iki state that after the Incident at Honnoji, the "midaidokoro" and the "kita no kata" were seen in Azuchi Castle. If the reader assumes that the midaidokoro is referring to Nouhime, many analysts state that it would be physically impossible for Nouhime to have been at Honnoji. The subject of her dying along side her husband at Honnoji is prevalent in many historical novels.