Samurai Warriors/YMMV

• Complete Monster - Surprisingly not Oda Nobunaga under most respects (except a few cases in the first game). No, that "honor" goes to Fuma Kotaro, resident Ax Crazy Blood Knight Ninja who is ultimately out to cause as much havoc and suffering as (in)humanly possible.
  • Kojiro Sasaki. In Musashi's story mode he goes around assassinating officers at Sekigahara as if he was simply swatting flies. He helped start up a blood bath in a capitol city, turned two lords against one another, and all of it for his obsession with killing Musashi. There are no reasons ever given for his actions, other than, "I can kill people very well, and I like to do so.
• Crazy Awesome - Hojo Ujiyasu. He'd have to be to pull off some of the insane stuff he does.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming - Motochika's final cutscene in SW2:XL, when all his allies (Yoshihiro, Ginchiyo and Mitsunari) comfort him over Ieyasu's death.
• Crowning Music of Awesome - Yukimura's last stage, Siege of the Osaka Castle in SW3. Fight until Hideyori is killed by Hattori Hanzou and then listen.
• Ensemble Darkhorse - Mouri Motonari. He wasn't officially revealed until one day before the release, didn't get mixed in the whole Ho Yay/Foe Yay stuff either and he is also nothing close to a Musou bishounen. Yet fan artists just love him.
• Game Breaker - Spears in Katana can critical against nearly every enemy in the game, 1-hit-killing all but a select few of them without any stat raising.
  • In 2 Empires, we have the wheel formation. Not only does it give you the normal speed and morale boost if it's the better formation, but it also Doubles Your Attack And Defense, effectively turning almost any battle into a Curb Stomp Battle if your enemy doesn't have anything to counter it (which is a 1 in 3 chance for every formation they still have).
  • Also the five scrolls in the first game. If you equip all five, your elemental attacks becomes One-Hit Kill attacks that severely damages officers. On a similar note the "Demon" element from the second game, which was changed in Xtreme Legends.
  • Matzukaze, Keiji's horse, will make you One-Hit Kill anything that your ride over if going at top speed.
  • In SW1, Okuni's charge attacks (notably charge 2) possess ridiculous amounts of power.
• Historical Hero Upgrade / Historical Villain Upgrade - The first game makes Oda Nobunaga a cackling Evil Overlord, but has since mellowed him out to be more of an Anti-Hero; all of the characters are varyingly heroic or villainous depending on whose story more you play.
• Ho Yay: Pretty much present wherever there isn't Foe Yay.
  • Sanada Yokimura has some of this with Mitsunari, Keiji, and Kanetsugu.
  • In Warriors Orochi his interactions with Zhao Yun contain plenty of subtext; Yukimura hero-worships the Chinese warrior, and they are their series' respective spear-wielding poster boys.
  • Oda Nobunaga With Ranmaru. Lines like this only add fuel to the fire. This is inspired by their historical connection.
  • Akechi Mitsuhide:
    • His relationship with Ranmaru in SW 1 could only be more explicit if Samurai Warriors were a hentai game.
    • In SW3, he has this with Motochika instead. The subtext is so heavy it might as well just be text.
  • Hanbei with Kanbei. Likely inspired by their close historical relationship.

Despite being married, Muneshige seems very fond of Kiyomasa. Many of the things he says to him could be considered very flirty indeed. He also teases Mitsunari quite a bit.

• • Kyiomasa with Muneshige and Mitsunari.
  • Motochika has plenty of this with Mitsuhide in SW3. The XL expansion and Empires game have him refer to Mitsuhide as his 'soulmate' several times!
  • Kanetsugu with Mitsunari. Especially with scenes such as this! Also with Keiji, Yukimura, and Masamune in SW3.
  • Nagamasa with Ma Chao's JUSTICE and Kanetsugu's HONOR.
• Les Yay
  • Okuni's various endings in SW1 have her going home with different warriors as escorts, and one of these warriors is Nohime!!
  • She flirts with plenty of ladies in SW2 and Warriors Orochi as well.
• Mary Sue - Gracia's SW2:XL story seems to play out as if she were one.
• MST3K Mantra - Spears in cannons that fire laser beams, ancient Nipponese shoop-da-woops from Ofuda scrolls, ninja with arms straight out of Gumby, European plate mail in 16th century Japan... just turn your brain off before playing. For your own sake.
  • Take it easy eh? Sengoku Basara got away with it with more ludicrous examples. Compared to that, the anachronism here isn't half as bad.
  • Truth in Television on the plate mail part. Armors in the late 16th century Japan was in fact influenced by Western plate armors after things like muskets start to show up. Nobunaga himself was historically a foreign artifact fanatic and had worn quite a few so called "Nanban" style armors in occasions.
• No Export for You - It's been announced that Samurai Warriors 3 XL/Z will not have an international release.
• Replacement Scrappy - Despite having her own fanbase, Nene has earned the ire of some fans for replacing Kunoichi (who was removed) in SW2. The fact that they have similar movesets (especially as Nene was never a ninja in real life) doesn't help her case. While Kunoichi does return in SW3, the fact that her role is more centered towards Yukimura (and, to a degree, Kaihime) while Nene is shown to do more ninja activities (including sharing a rivalry/relationship with Hanzo) doesn't put an end to the "Nene shouldn't be a ninja" debates.
  • Kunoichi actually lampshades this by calling Nene her "Spiritual Successor" in a Warriors Orochi 2 Dream stage.
• Ruined FOREVER - Many fans are declaring this to be in Samuari Warriors 3 after the removal of three characters (Gracia, Kojiro, and Musashi) and regulating five characters to free mode only status (Not counting Ranmaru and Okuni, who were free mode characters in SW2).
  • Even before that, the moment SW3 was announced as a Wii-exclusive (though of course that doesn't preclude Koei from releasing an expanded version for the Play Station 3).
  • However, the announcement of the PS 3 expansion pack, which will include Gracia, Aya, and Masanori as fully playable characters, along with the Free Mode characters getting story modes has now softened the rage.
    • Unless you don't live in Japan (See No Export for You).
• Take That, Scrappy! - After the battle of Sekigahara Masanori survives only in three story modes (his own, Kiyomasa's and Sakon's).
• That One Level - In Katana, the second Saika mission with Ina. You have to defeat 15 enemies [including transport units] in 4 minutes (slightly extendable via the Magatama item). The ninjas are invincible when they prepare to teleport out of your sight. Curiously enough, the game actively avoids Luck-Based Mission here and instead hits Guide Dang It. How? Any specific enemy appears ONLY when you enter a certain intersection from a certain direction. Once this is realized, The level becomes more a case of plotting out your exact route through the map so as to get the most amount of ninjas to appear in the shortest amount of time.
  • Runner-up is the last mission in Fumo's second stage - If you take any damage, the stage ends and you automatically receive a D rank.
• The Scrappy - Fukushima Masanori in the 3rd title. He may count as a Dojikko as well, considering his special connection with wood.
  • However, Masanori still managed to be more popular in a popularity poll of 3 compared to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although Ieyasu being dead last in that popularity poll could be contributed that the top 2 characters are the biggest historical Tokugawa haters, Mitsunari and Yukimura.
• The Woobie - Many characters could be considered this depending on what story you are playing through. Ranmaru in SW1 is a good example; everyone he cares about is trying to kill each other.

Nohime: " Ranmaru... did you ever know.. happiness?"

• They Changed It, Now It Sucks - The whole Free Mode Only Characters debacle in SW3.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot - Koei ignored the reason Gracia's famous in the first place in favor of an original story with her and Magoichi.
  • The Other Wiki has a good article on her actual history.
    • They pay a little more attention to her history in SW3:XL. Though they still skip on the reason she's famous. Chances are it's to avoid any religious controversy.
  • In a subtle case of Fridge Brilliance though, one of the interludes in Warriors Orochi 2 (the English version of Maou Sairin) Mitsuhide beckoning that Gracia greet another character, the English VA using a "talking to a little child" voice. Whether or not the VA himself knew it, Mitsuhide was historically Gracia's father.
    • He probably knew it, considering that she calls him Father several times in the stage directly proceeding that interlude, and his ally quotes to her include calling her "[his] girl". Plus, he seriously got mad when Dong Zhuo is making advances on Gracia.
  • Well, there has been a call for adding Hosogawa Hideaki in the next installment, you know, Gracia's husband, as a playable. If they do that then probably they might go with the wasted plot instead.
• Unpopular Popular Character - Katsuie's relationship with Oichi (historically, it's rumored that they were engaged to be married before Nobunaga decided that a political alliance with Nagamasa was more profitable) is severely downplayed to the point of it being nearly non-existant in favor of her relationship with Nagamasa. However, if fighting the Battle of Shizugatake (Katsuie vs. Hideyoshi to "succeed" Nobunaga) she is on Katsuie's side.
  • Also, Masanori. Despite being considered the strongest and most valiant of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake in Real Life, in game he becomes just a dorky-looking oaf who swings around a club and get overshadowed by Kiyomasa.
• Viewer Gender Confusion - It's easy to mistake Mori Ranmaru for a girl.
  • As a matter of fact, it seems to be a running gag in the series. He uses female motion sets, is voiced by a woman in the Japanese games (and in English as well, starting from the second), and is frequently used to Drop A Bridget On Chivalrous Pervert Saika Magoichi and other such characters.
    • In Samurai Warriors 2: Empires, Ranmaru is sometimes aware of this, but there's a conversation between Ranmaru and Kanetsugu where somehow Ranmaru is oblivious to his own femininity (even if just in appearance).

Mori Ranmaru: I will put on a disguise and slip into enemy territory!
Naoe Kanetsugu: I would advise against it, Ranmaru. You've failed at playing dress-up once before; remember, when you once attempted to pass as a monk.
Mori Ranmaru: I still don't understand how the enemy spotted me that time.... They said something like, 'there are no girls in the priesthood'. What could that possibly mean?...

• • In Noh and Oichi's SW2 Gaiden stages, they fight every other female character in the game in order to settle who was the most beautiful woman in the land. One of your opponents is Ranmaru.
  • Has also happened with Hanbei.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds - The third game finally delves into Masamune's backstory and his reason for being an ambitious jerk ass. Whether or not this works depends on the viewer, but being forced to murder your own dad for political stability has GOT to suck.
  • Not necessarily murder, Shoot the Hostage is more appropriately describing the situation.
• Woolseyism: - In the Japanese version, defeating an enemy general makes the character exclaim "Tekishou, uchitottari!" AKA "Enemy Officer Defeated!". Dynasty Warriors mostly go with direct translation, but Samurai Warriors translates with variations to the point that by the 2nd game, NOBODY ever said exactly "Enemy Officer Defeated!" when they defeat a general.
  • Now in the 3rd game, each character has two variable "Enemy officer defeated" lines with the first one being the standard "Tekishou uchitottari" and the second one tailored to the character's personality.
• What the Hell, Casting Agency? - Your mileage may vary, as it depends on which version you played first; it certainly doesn't help that the roster gets cleaned out with every numeral.
  • Most seem to agree that Keiji's VA in SW2 was a definite downgrade from his well-loved one in SW1.