Oda Nobunaga

"Oda Nobunaga"

- imparting advice to Rance that he'd never forget.

About
Oda Nobunaga was a warlord of JAPAN and the head of the Oda House.

He lived during the 7th Sengoku era of JAPAN, and was a very skilled and beloved leader of his clan, but he retired from the battlefield after he gradually weakened more and more over the years from an illness.

Personality and Appearance
Nobunaga was a compassionate man and a charismatic leader. He had a very laid-back attitude and just wanted to live in peace and happy with his young sister Kou. He was a very protective older brother, being closer to a father figure for her, but his relaxed demeanour causes her more stress. He loves to pat her in the head all the time, to the point she claims it's one of his hobbies. He's a good man, rational and sensible, but he's not against killing or invading other territories for her House's convenience, seeing it as an inevitable outcome for war. He still believes that he would only take as much territory as it was necessary for his clan to survive, but doesn't go against Rance for doing the opposite and respects his approach in the matter.

He's also a very calmed man that is almost never seen mad, and laughs most of the time. He gets along surprisingly well with Rance, which is really amazing for a man. Nobunaga trusts a lot in Rance, which was a surprise for him since he admited that he didn't expect him to get so far. He does have another serious and gloomy side that doesn't usually show. The death of his wife years ago impacted him much more than he shows, and he's still depressed by her departure.

Despite his lack of motivation to expand or wage war during a Sengoku Era, his subordinates still hold an incredible amount of respect for him, not only for his skills as a leader or a combatant, but as a human being, since the house still retained a considerable number of loyal supporters that fought for him to the death even when the Oda House was at its weakest point befor Rance's arrival.

Abilities
Being the lord of the Oda house, he has control over everyone in the Oda army and in the territory of Owari. He's gained fame and praise due to his impressive ability in combat and posseses many versatile skills. His illness has removed him from the battlefield but even with his current weak body he can still pull incredible feats in combat.

H e is incredibly skilled in the art of  Jiujitsu and posseses a Lv2 skill in it. He's capable of  disarming with ease individuals who possess higher skill levels in sword combat than him, such as  Rance, in single combat, even though he can barely move, although he's easily exhausted after a short spar. He also has Lv1 skills in both Sword Combat and Bow Combat, giving him great versatility in battle. He enjoys fighting and claimed that his spar with Rance improved his health because he was having fun.

He's also a very capable cook with a Lv1 Cooking skill. He's the one that cooks in his Dango shop while Kou attends the clients. Even Rance didn't want to admit that his cooking was actually delicious, because he doesn't like eating food made by men.

Appearances in the Rance Series
Inheriting the name Oda Nobunaga from his father, Oda Kazusanosuke is one of the warlords of JAPAN, taking the mantle of the Oda House after his father died in the Great Youkai War.

His wife Kichou (帰蝶) died early, leaving him no heir. And after he found out he had an incurable disease, his younger sister Princess Kou became the focus of his life. He wants to ensure a future full of happiness for Kou, wishing her to live a peaceful life safe from quarrels and conflicts, and became disinterested in wars or politics. This caused the influence and power of his house to decline significantly compared to his father's time.

In LP0005 he met Rance and the two became instant friends as they are both very easy-going, and quickly entrusted Rance with running the Oda House. Later, one of the seals of Dark Lord Xavier was broken by his monkey, and Nobunaga became possessed by Xavier. Despite being possessed, his will still resisted Xavier from within. During the Honnou Temple Incident when Xavier was weakend by Rance and Kentarou, Nobunaga managed to partially reclaim control over his body, trying to wound himself further so that Rance could kill Xavier. However, Xavier ultimately escaped in his body, and his soul died in the process.

Xavier, along with Nobunaga's body, was finally destroyed at the Battle of Tenman Bridge.

Nobunaga in Kichikuou Rance
In Kichikuou Rance, Nobunaga was a completely different character. He's a cruel and merciless despot and conqueror that unified JAPAN  unified   JAPAN   under his rule sometime during   LP 0004. He keeps his enemies's heads and drinks in their skulls, he's a monster with no thoughts of compassion or pity. He considers anyone that opposes him a fool that deserves to be crushed but he's not irrational. He can negotiate and is willing to form allies. He's a smart and charismatic leader that knows how to lead. He possesses one of the pieces of the sealed Dark Lord Xavier, which turns him into a Dark Lord. He is the father of Princess Kou. She's terrified and saddened by her father's cruelty. He's extremely strong and durable. He wields a spear in combat and is surrounded by flames all the time. Since he's a Dark Lord, he has the invincibility field, which makes him an extremely difficult foe.

Much of his character's design was used in the current timeline for Dark Lord Xavier.

Trivia

 * Nobunaga is one of the few male characters that has managed to befriend Rance.
 * The famous Oda Nobunaga in Japanese history is known for his cruelty. That might be the inspiration of making the Nobunaga in Kichikuou Rance a Dark Lord.
 * The monkey on his shoulder, Toukichirou, is a parody of  Toyotomi Hideyoshi  whose nickname is Monkey (based on the Novel "Taiko" by Eiji Yoshikawa) because of his bad looking face. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a follower of Oda Nobunaga who rose to power after Nobunaga's death. In Sengoku Rance, there are two monkeys that were on Nobunaga's shoulder and their names Toukichirou (藤吉郎), Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸) also were Hideyoshi's names (Kinoshita Toukichirou was the name before he lived as Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Hiyoshimaru was his childhood name).
 * Nobunaga's wife,  Kichou, inspired from the  historical figure with the same name , was said to resemble the  female   Rance  too much, both in Rance's Nightmare as well as the Joke Ending.
 * Nobunaga is the only member of Miracle's dream group that was dead.