Oda Nobunaga (Kichikuou Rance)

''Note: This article describes Oda Nobunaga from non-canonical Kichikuou Rance, who was rewritten as the canonical father of Oda Nobunaga from Sengoku Rance. For the younger Oda Nobunaga, refer to Oda Nobunaga.''

Canonical
Although he does not make a direct appearance in canon, Oda Nobunaga was the head of the Oda House in both canonical and non-canonical timelines. He had tremendous ability as a commander and was known to be a driven, as well as a somewhat ruthless warlord.

In the canonical events preceding Sengoku Rance, he successfully rallied the human forces of JAPAN behind the Oda banner to fight back Machijoten, who led the Youkai against humans in the Great Youkai War. He never interacted with Xavier and thus never took on the demonic traits or viciousness of his non-canonical counterpart.

Nobunaga, in canon, had 3 children, Oda Kazusanosuke, Oda Kou, and an unnamed eldest son. During the conflict with the youkai, Nobunaga and his unnamed first son would lose their lives, forcing Kazusanosuke to become the Head of Oda and replace him and inherit his name of Oda Nobunaga in the process.

Despite spending much of his rule fighting with the youkai army, Nobunaga does not appear to have discriminated against youkai who allied with him. Not only did he form an alliance with One-Eyed Masamune, who fought against Machijoten with him, but one of his closest subordinates, 3G, appears to have been in charge of overseeing much of his administration and even the wellbeing of his children. Oda Kichou who was first Nobunaga's second son, Kazusanosuke's maid and whom Kazusanosuke would later marry after inheriting the Oda House is one of 3G's adopted children.

Nobunaga was also known to have a lord-vassal relationship with the Iga House. One of the most talented of the ninjas, Gekkou, was so fiercely loyal to Nobunaga that he did not complain of Danjou's actions and even willingly blew himself up as a last ditch tactic against the Youkai. There was no lack of talents, however, as another of the Iga ninjas who served Nobunaga, Kousaka Yoshikage, after Nobunaga's demise, would leave Iga to become one of the 4 fearsome Takeda generals.

Nevertheless, Nobunaga left oversight of the Iga House to Gumo Danjou, a subordinate known for his great cruelty towards the ninjas under him. In fact, Danjou appears to have been abusing ninjas not just to satisfy an inferiority complex, but also because he intended to create a ninja army loyal only to himself, which later events demonstrate to develop into the Hollow Ninjas.

Although Oda Nobunaga was almost certainly oblivious of Danjou's clandestine operation to create the Hollow Ninjas, he likely had some knowledge of his cruel treatment of his ninja subordinates. It is likely his ruthless ambition to win his battles at all costs, prioritizing results over means, that allowed Danjou to thrive under his rule, during the conflict against the Youkai.

Non-canonical Kichikuou Rance
Oda Nobunaga is most well known for his non-canonical presence in Kichikuou Rance where the Dark Lord Xavier, likewise sealed for centuries by the Tenshi Sect, tempted him into consuming his Demonic Blood Soul. Xavier had intended to take over Nobunaga, similarly to what happened with his son during the events of Sengoku Rance, but, unexpectedly, Nobunaga overcame Xavier's will and took over his demonic powers.

As a Dark Lord, Oda Nobunaga eradicated all opposing JAPANese Lords after a fierce civil war, leaving himself as the only remaining Lord. He declared himself Emperor, though it is unknown from the non-canonical Kichikuou Rance, if he gathered the 3 sacred treasures.

Nobunaga makes his first appearance in Kichikuou Rance after Leazas, under the leadership of the recently crowned King Rance, conquered all the Free Cities and reached Portugal, the City State adjacent to JAPAN. His trusted subordinate Shibata Katsuie initially wanted to wage war with Leazas, expanding their Empire towards the mainland, but Nobunaga decided to form an alliance with the larger kingdom. Shibata was sent as an emissary to negotiate with King Rance. The player's choice will influence JAPAN's actions: Rance will either accept the alliance or reject it, however, accepting will require handing over Leila Grecni to serve as Nobunaga's concubine, resulting in permanently losing her and serving as her Unhappy Ending. Additionally, Nobunaga will still declare war against Leazas soon afterwards, breaking the agreement. Rejecting the alliance will result in an immediate war against JAPAN.

When at war with Leazas, Nobunaga employs brutal tactics against the invading armies - mostly brutal to his own people. He regular spurs untrained civilians to stand against Leazas' military in hopes of gaining time for his army to regroup. Eventually, after Nagasaki is conquered by Leazas, he will appear as a Commander in the battlefield to defend the capital at Osaka, revealing his true nature as a Dark Lord. Because of his status as a Demon, Dark Lords Meglass and Satella, who had refused to fight for Leazas in wars between humans, will agree to fight for Rance upon discovering Nobunaga's real form. If Nobunaga is successfully able to defend against invasion, that night he will send his two top ninjas Gekkou and Shinobu to assassinate key figures within Leazas. Gekkou will attempt to assassinate several Generals, such as Rick Addison and Cordoba Burn, but will only succeed if they've been deployed in battle and are exhausted as a result. Shinobu will go after Rance's instead and will succeed if Rance fought on the battlefield as well. Eventually, despite his immense power, Nobunaga is killed in the battlefield. JAPAN falls and ends up annexed to Leazas after the war's end.

Personality and Appearance
A Dark Lord with the appearance of a middle-aged man in a kimono and JAPANese armor, Nobunaga's was easily confused with a regular human. He had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and fierce red eyes. Nobunaga was a very fit and muscular man, having spent the majority of his life as a warrior on the battlefield. He had tan skin and often wore a slightly sadistic smile. He was always seen with his loyal pet monkey Toukichirou on his shoulder, who accompanied him even into battle.

His personality exhibited the ruthlessness of a Demon. Nobunaga ruled as a cruel and merciless despot, holding no feelings of empathy towards his subjects. JAPAN's bloody unification served as a time of great enjoyment for him. He is known to keep his enemies' heads on a wall in his private room and regularly drank from their skulls. By human standards, he resembled a sociopath with no compassion. He considered anyone who opposed him to be a fool deserving to be crushed. Nobunaga would sacrifice the lives of his subordinates with no hesitation, believing it to be their duty to give their lives for their lord. He's cared nothing even for civilians, having no reservations sacrificing them to give his armies a slight advantage in war. He disliked foreigners, seeing them all as possible threats that wished to take the country he built through bloodshed. He's also rather lecherous with women, having openly admitted to the sexual abuse of countless women and showed little remorse for it.

Despite all these savage traits, Nobunaga remained a rational leader. He showed a willingness to negotiate and form alliances to empower his forces. He was a smart and charismatic commander that knew how to lead his subordinates with efficiency. While willing to send any subordinate to their death with no second thought, Nobunaga had respect for his soldiers.

Despite the many rapes he committed he only had one child survive until birth, the princess of JAPAN Kouhime. His relationship with her is rather complicated. It is uncertain if he has a genuine human love for her, but he has shown signs of paternal responsibility. Kouhime, unlike her father, is an incredibly compassionate and kind woman who is terrified and saddened by her father's cruelty. Nobunaga had a hard time dealing with her, as he was incapable of understanding such feelings.

Abilities
Nobunaga was an experienced Warlord, having fought countless battles in a long civil war. Over the years he opposed and conquered numerous enemies. His strength and talent for warfare were tremendous, being a formidable warrior and a decisive leader. As a human, he was adorned in heavy armor that few warriors would be able to move in, which granted him a high defense against physical attacks. His wielded a spear in combat with outstanding skill, boasting a Spear Combat Lv2, a rare talent.

Upon becoming a Dark Lord his strength reached new levels, gaining an Invincibility Field that allowed him to fight against entire armies on his own and still come out victorious. After his transformation his Level Cap rose to the absurd limit of 200 and by the events of Kichikuou Rance he'd already achieved a Level as high as 89. He also gained some control over fire and was constantly surrounded by flames on the battlefield. With Nobunaga's new abilities, his already impressive strength had risen to place him as one of the strongest fighter's in the world. He was surpassed only by the world's strongest foes, such as the Four Elite Dark Lords or Rance.

Trivia

 * In the canon timeline, much of his design was reused for the Dark Lord Xavier.
 * He's largely based on the real-life Oda Nobunaga, who's often compared to a demon and represented as such by popular culture.
 * His monkey Toukichirou is a reference to the real-life Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was one of Nobunaga's most valuable subordinates and had the nickname "Kozaru" (meaning "little monkey").