| abstract
| - A series of four action-adventure samurai games by Capcom set in feudal Japan. The series begins with infamous real life Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga being felled by an arrow in the midst of his greatest triumph. However, Nobunaga's skill and brutality had already caught the eyes of the demon king Fortinbras who offers a deal to Nobunaga: he can come back to life and as a powerful demon if he agrees to conquer Japan on behalf of the demons and turn it into, in effect, a massive feeding ground. Nobunaga accepts, and events get off and running. The first game sees protagonist Samanosuke racing to attempt to rescue a princess of the Saito clan, who has written to him of strange disappearances and events around their castle, and how she suspects demonic involvement. When he arrives the castle is already under mass attack from demons and the princess has been kidnapped to be sacrificed as part of the ritual for resurrecting Nobunaga. Initially at a severe disadvantage against the demons, Samanosuke receives a power up from a demon clan that rivals the one backing Nobunaga, and which has been virtually destroyed. This allows him the use of supernatural weaponry and suck out the souls of defeated demons and use their power to aid him. Unable to stop the ceremony any other way, he eventually faces and kills Fortinbras. The epilogue, however, reveals that Nobunaga manages to come back to life anyway, and conquers the Saito clan territory while Samanosuke mysteriously vanishes and is presumed dead. The second game has fewer survival horror elements and more pure action-adventure. Nobunaga is solidifying his hold on Japan at the head of a demon army, making rapid and cruel conquests. One of these conquests is Yagyu village, which causes Yagyu Jubei, (not the historical Jubei but his grandfather, in the game the name Jubei is a title given to the head of the Yagyu clan) the half-demon head of the Yagyu clan and a renowned swordsman, to swear vengeance on Nobunaga. This game also features a supporting cast of four characters, each an outstanding warrior in his or her own way (or at least important to the plot) who, depending on the relationships Jubei forges with them, may be important in aiding him in his quest, or have the potential to be opposition. Despite seemingly being bested by Jubei, Nobunaga swears to return and continue to wreak havoc. The third game returns to having Samanosuke as the protagonist. In 1582 he is attempting to destroy Nobunaga's demon army and slay Nobunaga himself, but before he can Nobunaga opens a portal that, ala Samurai Jack, sends Samanosuke into the future. In 2004 France, where the demon army has launched an attack. There French policeman Jacques Blanc is attempting to aid the French military in holding back the demons. When Samanosuke arrives from the portal, he manages to save Jacques and a wounded friend until the time portal reopens and those two are sent back in time to an alternate timeline about a week before Samanosuke left it. The player switches back and forth between the two characters and eras attempting to defeat the demons. At the end Samanosuke defeats Nobunaga and absorbs his soul, preventing him from returning once again. In the fourth installment, Dawn of Dreams, Nobunaga's chief general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, takes his place. He unifies Japan and spreads demons everywhere. However, his illegitimate son, known as Soki, takes up arms to defeat him with his friends. Dawn of Dreams expanded the RPG elements and gameplay depth, moving away from the "Tank-style" control methods the previous games had used to something more manageable, while removing many of the annoying puzzles to make a more satisfying experience. Two spin-off Onimusha titles exist: Onimusha Tactics, a strategy for the Game Boy Advance - a side story featuring a new oni warrior named Onimaru, with returning characters Ekei, Magoichi and Kotaro from the second game, and Onimusha Blade Warriors, a non-canonical fighting game in the style of Super Smash Bros for the Playstation 2. It features characters from the first two games (as well as Gargant, who first appears in the third game). Soki has recently appeared as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Tatsunoko vs Capcom.
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