Oda Nobunaga (Kichikuou Rance)

''Note: This article describes the Oda Nobunaga from the non-canon Kichikuou Rance. For the canonical version of the character refer to Oda Nobunaga.''

About
Oda Nobunaga was the Lord of the smaller country that is kept afloat by the Tenma Bridge at the bottom right of The Continent, JAPAN. Immersed in civil war, the isolated nation has always faced inner conflict with many of its clans warring against each other for control in periods of time known as Sengoku Eras.

Some time prior to the events of Kichikuou Rance, Oda Nobunaga, the Lord of the Oda House, came across Dark Lord Xavier, who had remained sealed for several centuries. Rather than ignoring the dangerous demon, he decided to consume his Demonic Blood Soul and turned into a Dark Lord as a result upon overcoming Xavier's will. With his newfound power, Xavier was able to crush all the opposing leaders and managed to conquer and unify JAPAN under his name, effectively becoming the absolute ruler of the country. He makes first appearance in Kichikuou Rance soon after Leazas, under the leadership of the recently crowned King Rance, had expanded all over the Free Cities and reached Portugal, the city adjacent to JAPAN. While initially his trusted subordinate Shibata Katsuie wanted to wage war to Leazas in order to expand their Empire towards the main land, Nobunaga decided to negotiate with the larger kingdom and form an alliance, sending Shibata to negotiate with King Rance instead. The player can either accept the peacy treat or reject it, however, accepting it will require in handing over Leila Grecni to serve as Nobunaga's wife, resulting in her Unhappy Ending. Additionally, Nobunaga will still declare war against Leazas soon afterwards, breaking the agreement with no hesitation. Rejecting the treatment will result in a war againt JAPAN immediately after.

When at war with Leazas, Nobunaga will employ brutal and horrifying acts in an attempt to fight the invading armies, such as using regular civillians to fight off trained soldiers to gain time for his army to assemble. Eventually, after Nagasaki is conquered by Leazas, he himself 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, Dark Lords Meglass and Satella, who had refused to fight for Leazas in wars between humans, will accept to fight for Rance upon finding out Nobunaga's real form. If Nobunaga successfully defends his country from the invasion, on the night he will send his two top ninjas Gekkou and Shinobu to assassinate key figures of Leazas. Gekkou will attempt to assassinate several commander such as Rick Addison and Cordoba Burn, but will only succeed if they'd been deployed on the battlefield and end exhausted as a result. Shinobu will go after Rance's head instead, and will succeed if Rance fought on the battlefield as well. Eventually, despite the immense power he carried, Nobunaga ends up being killed in the battlefield, resulting in the immediate fall of the country, which ends annexed to Leazas after the war is over.

In the canonical timeline, he never became a Dark Lord and lived a years prior to the events of the games as the previous head of the Oda House and the father of Oda Kazusanosuke, Oda Kou and an unnamed son heir of the house. In the year GI1012, he participated in the Great Youkai War after forming an alliance with One-Eyed Masamune, waging war against the Youkai King Omachi. During the conflict he would eventually lose his life along with his eldest son, forcing Kazusanosuke to become the Head of the House to replace him, inheriting his name of Oda Nobunaga in the process.

Personality and Appearance
A middle-aged man wearing a kimono and a JAPANese armor, he was a Dark Lord with an appearance that made him easily confused with a regular human. He had a long brown hair tied into a ponytail and fierce red eyes. Due to being a trained warrior that had spent the majority of his life on the battlefield, Nobunaga was a very muscular and fit man. He had skin skin and often sported an intimidating and maybe slightly sadistic smile. He was always seen with his loyal pet monkey Toukichirou on his shoulder, who accompanied him even on the battlefield.

His personality is what one would describe as a real full-fledged demon. He's a cruel and merciless despot that holds no feelings of love or empathy towards anyone. He's a brutal and vicious monster that enjoys crushing anyone that opposses him with all his might. He keeps his enemies's heads on a wall in his personal room and regularly drinks from their skulls. He's a socipath that knows of no compassion or pity. He considers anyone that opposes him a fool that deserves to be crushed, and he sacrifices the lives of his subordinates with no hesitation, believing it to be their duty to give their lives for their lord. He's merciless even with civillians, and is perfectly fond of the idea of sacrificing common people to give him in an advantage on war, even if it's just a very small and insignificant one. He dislikes foreigners, believing them all to be evil creatures that wish to destroy the country he's built through bloodshed. He's also rather sadistic and barbarous, having disgusting and rude behaviours, and being lecherous with women. He himself openly admits that he's sexually abused countless women, and shows little remorse for it.

Despite all these horrible personality traits, he's not completely irrational. He can negotiate and is willing to form allies in order to empower his forces. He's a smart and charismatic leader that knows how to lead his subordinates with efficiency. When not at war, he proves to be a diligent and serene leader that works for his country. While he will send any subordinate to his death with no second thought, he treats them with a surprising amount of respect when not in the battlefield, forming casual bonds with his soldiers that are not necessarily restricted to that of Lord and subordinate. Also, despite the extensive acts of brutality he's willing to employ, he's a largely rational and composed man that's rarely controlled by emotions.

Despite the fact that he's abused a large number of women, to date he has only had one child, who acted as the princess of JAPAN Kouhime. His relationship with her is rather complicated. It is uncertain if he has legitimate feelings of love for her, but he has shown signs of paternal responsability for her and he's expressed concern over his daughter's behavior. Unlike her father, Kouhime is an incredibly compassionate and kind woman that's   terrified and saddened by her father's cruelty. Nobunaga has a hard time dealing with her, as he's incapable of understanding her feelings or thoughts.

Abilities
Nobunaga was an incredibly experienced Warlord that had fought countless battles in a warring country, facing an immesurable number of enemies over many years. His strength and talent for war were absurdly great, being both a formidable warrior and a charismatic and decisive leader. He was clad in a heavy armor that granted him a high defense against physical attacks, and few warriors would be able to comfortably move in combat with such protective gear due to its weight. His wielded a spear in combat with an outstanding skill, boasting a Spear Combat Lv2 that made him a superb genius.

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. He was extremely strong and durable, and was able to fight for extended periods of time with no issue. After his transformation, his Level Cap raised to the obscene value of 200, and by the events of Kichikuou Rance he'd already reached a Level as high as 89. He also gained control over flames, and he was constantly surrounded by fire on the battlefield. With his new abilities, his already impressive strength was furtherly boosed to become one of the strongest fighter in the world, topped only by the strongest foes such as the Four Elite Dark Lords.

Trivia

 * His character's design was used in the current timeline for 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").