Sengoku Basara/Characters/Maeda Clan

Maeda Clan

Maeda Toshiie

Voiced by: Tomohiro Tsuboi (Japanese), Andrew Jackson (Devil Kings), Chuck Huber (anime), Jackson Robinson (Samurai Heroes)

"It would be great if there was a world where everyone can eat in peace..."

A vassal of Oda Nobunaga, which is surprising considering what a nice guy he is. Uncle of Keiji and husband of Matsu. The butt of many jokes.

Known as Lark in Devil Kings.

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• Adult Child: Reacts with childish wonder to new places and concepts.
• Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Especially when it comes to food.
• Battle Couple: With his wife, Matsu. They're even referred to as the "Strongest Couple in the Land".
• Big Brother Mentor: As Keiji's guardian, he's a mixture of this and Bumbling Dad. They care about each other a lot and though Toshiie seems content to let Keiji make his own decisions, he always keeps an eye on him.
• Big Eater: He's always hungry and can't fight unless his stomach is full.
• Booze Flamethrower: A few of his attacks involves him taking a drink from his jug before spitting out flame, including his Limit Break.
• Butt Monkey: Keiji's pranks usually end with Toshiie being beaten up or otherwise suffering somehow.
• Cloudcuckoolander: His first reaction after seeing a ninja is to decide that he wants to fly too.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Even more so than his nephew. He may be a bit slow and simple-minded, but the man will protect his clan until the bitter end.
• Demoted to Extra: Like several others, Sengoku Basara 3 made him into an NPC, but hey, he's back in Utage!
• Does Not Like Shoes
• A Father to His Men: To complement how motherly Matsu is toward them, Toshiie's troops say that in this sense he is a perfect general.
• Happily Married: Which makes him the straightest man in the whole verse!
• Henpecked Husband: In the manga. He also admits that Matsu is scary in the games.
• Hot Uncle: Scars and all.
• Japanese Pronouns: 'Soregashi'
• Loin Cloth: Basically the only clothing he wears.
• Panty Shot: An unfortunate side-effect of the above garment.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Despite being Nobunaga's vassal, neither he nor Matsu (and especially Keiji) did a whole lot for him. Nonetheless they were relatively loyal (until he came back in 3 as an Omnicidal Maniac, where he's freaked out that his boss is Back from the Dead). They did however plan to avenge Nobunaga by going after Mitsuhide in Nouhime's storyline in the second game.
• Playing with Fire
  • Fireballs: Can spit these out by drinking what is probably alcohol.
• Prongs of Poseidon: Wields a trident, although he still refers to it as a spear.
• Scars Are Forever: Poor Toshi, he's covered in them! Likely a result of getting attacked by bears...
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: The anime portrays him as this, due to the horrors he experienced while serving under Nobunaga. Strange considering the above trope.
• Team Dad/A Father to His Men
• Too Many Belts: Wears them around his arms and legs as well.
• Walking Shirtless Scene

Matsu

Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Tabitha St. Germain (Devil Kings), Jamie Marchi (anime), Erika Weinstein (Samurai Heroes)

"Even though I am a woman, do not dare take me lightly!"

Toshiie's wife, usually tasked with keeping track of their renegade nephew Keiji. Has been described as "the ideal housewife", though she can still kick butt if she wants to.

Called Bramble in Devil Kings.

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• Badass
  • Badass in Distress: In the third game she is kidnapped to try and convince Toshiie to join the Eastern army.
• Battle Couple
• The Beast Master: She can summon hawks, boars, moles, wolves and bears to attack.
• Big Badass Birds of Prey: Taromaru.
• Big Badass Wolf: Her most powerful summoning, Shiromaru.
• Blade on a Stick: A naginata. Her ultimate weapon also add a little of Double Weapon and Sinister Scythe to the mix.
• Blow You Away
• Cool Big Sis: "Matsu-nee-chan!"
• Demoted to Extra: Joins her husband in NPC land in Sengoku Basara 3, but is back in Utage.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Neither her gloves nor her stockings match.
• Happily Married: Borders on Sickeningly Sweethearts.
• Hime Cut: Without her bandana.
• Horse of a Different Colour: She gains the ability to ride her bear Goromaru in Utage.
• Hot Chick with a Sword: In Devil Kings, where she wields a katana with an odd sheath and has a move-set similar to Kenshin's.
• Lady of War
• Mama Bear: While a firm believer in tough love, you'd better not harm her family.
• Noblewoman's Laugh
• Parenting the Husband: Hard working as he is, Toshi probably wouldn't really get anywhere without her, seeing as she's Closer to Earth.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: How else do you explain why the moles wear hats?!
• Team Mom: The whole clan view her as a mother figure.
• Third Person Person: Sometimes, particularly when talking with her husband.
• Through His Stomach: Lucky for her, Toshi's is bottomless.
  • In the anime she even manages to befriend some enemy soldiers by cooking for them.
• Transformation Sequence: This is parodied in the second game when she changes from her regular kimono into her battle clothes.
• Tsundere: She's very strict with Keiji, but starts acting incredibly cute and affectionate whenever Toshiie is involved.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: The perfect wife, in every way. She even uses a naginata!
• Zettai Ryouiki: Grade B combined with mini shorts.

Maeda Keiji

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (Japanese), Eric Vale (anime), Matthew Mercer (Samurai Heroes)

"In both love and fights, it feels good when hearts communicate."

An eccentric and happy-go-lucky man, who likes festivals, sake and chasing girls. He is the adopted nephew of Toshiie and Matsu. He also has a pet monkey named Yumekichi. An old friend of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, until he becomes Drunk on the Dark Side.

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• The Ace: He's got a well rounded personality, good-looks and popularity with girls, gets along with almost everybody, is a more than competent fighter and possesses diplomatic skills to boot.
• Badass
  • Badass Pacifist
• BFS: Not as bulky as most, but it's over six foot long (taller than he is) and he wields it one-handed.
  • And when things gets serious, he can connect the hilt and the empty scabbard, turning it into a Blade on a Stick.
• Big Damn Heroes: Does this in fine style at Sekigahara Invasion. When Ieyasu and Mitsunari refuse his request to end the conflict, he takes them both out with a headbutt to make them listen!
• Bishounen: Nicknamed "Pretty Boy" and "Lady Killer" by Masamune.
• Blow You Away
• Boisterous Bruiser: He's loud, fun-loving, rebellious, friendly, thinks about nothing except fighting, parties and girls.. yep, that's Keiji!
• Booze-Based Buff: One of his skills involves him drinking huge amounts of sake in between attacks, which restores health.
• Butt Monkey: The second season of the anime sees his dreams of a peaceful Japan gets increasingly overshot by Hideyoshi's ambitions, climaxing in being forced to fight Toshiie when the Maeda ally with the Toyotomi and then run over by Hideyoshi when he tries to give him a Last Second Chance.
• Catch Phrase: "Make love, for life is short!"
• Cherry Blossoms: Randomly appear wherever he goes.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Just check out his comments on Kasuga's poledancing...
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite commonly being mistaken for an idiot due to his carefree nature, Keiji is not a guy to be messed with.
  • Demonstrated nicely during the movie. He's able to handle a 2 against 1 fight against Masamune and Yukimura, with surprising ease.
• Curtains Match the Window
• Dance Battler: His moveset has elements of this, based on kabuki dance.
• Determinator: In the OVA, after breaking free from his bonds with strength alone, he attacks Motonari with his arms still tied, is shot at repeatedly, fakes his own death, then turns up just in time to stop Motonari and Motochika killing each other.
• Double Entendre: Likes making these, particularly around the more naive characters.
• Empathy Pet: Yumekichi often copies his movements.
• Everything's Better with Monkeys
• Faking the Dead: He has a move that cancels his own death.
• Fashionable Asymmetry
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: In SB3 Keiji seems to have entirely forgotten Hideyoshi since his death, and is mostly plagued by boredom and a lack of something to do. It's subverted once you play Keiji's purple path, in which Keiji admits he's just been using that to run away from having to face Hideyoshi's death.
• Hair Decorations: Feathers, chopsticks and, in the third game, a FLOWER.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Tries to get Hideyoshi to come to his senses (by punching him in the face no less). It doesn't work.
• Japanese Pronouns: 'Ore'
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Long, beautiful and flowing. Heck, most of the girls have shorter hair than him, Oichi being his only rival.
• Love At First Sight: The start of his relationship with Magoichi in SB3. At first she dismisses it as a lie, but it eventually proves to be true.
• The Matchmaker: Seems to have made himself unofficial love guru to the masses, dishing out advice to anyone he thinks needs it.
• Nice Guy: Keiji only wishes for everyone to get along. He's even friendly and relaxed towards Nobunaga (though it comes with the territory that his family serves him).
  • Beware the Nice Ones: You do not want to make him angry, oh no.
• Parental Abandonment: Implied, as Matsu and Toshiie appear to be all the family he has.
• Parrot Pet Position: Yumekichi often occupies this.
• Petal Power: If creating a hurricane of cherry blossoms that can cut you to pieces counts.
• The Power of Love: Believes in this without fail.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Aside from clothing that is either pink or just really gaudy, he also wears flowers in his hair and enjoys dancing.
• Rummage Sale Reject: His historical counterpart was known for dressing "flamboyantly", so...
• Self-Restraint: In the OVA, he purposefully lets Mouri capture him in order to try and negotiate. It doesn't go quite as planned.
• Shipper on Deck: In the anime he's convinced that Kenshin and Kasuga love each other and wholeheartedly supports the relationship, despite Kasuga's embarrassed protests.
• Single Tear: In the third game he cries one for Hideyoshi after finally coming to terms with his death.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: He's firmly on the idealistic end and seems to believe that everyone can be reasoned with. Even before Hideyoshi came into the picture, he had tried to talk Oda Nobunaga out of his plans, and later he risked his life trying to get Mouri and Motochika work together against Oda.
• Stepford Smiler: Concerning his past. Eventually comes to realise this isn't the way to deal with it.
• The Tease: Especially when it comes to Kasuga and Yukimura.
  • You Need to Get Laid: Outright tells the latter that it's high time he settled down and got married in 3.
• Technical Pacifist: Though he dislikes war and killing, Keiji's always up for a good brawl.
• Took a Level in Badass: See Determinator.
• Tragic Keepsake: The good luck charm necklace Keiji wears actually belonged to Nene before. No wonder it looked girly even for him.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Nene, his best friend's wife.
• Walking the Earth: He's known as the "The Maeda Wanderer" for a reason.
• We Used to Be Friends: With the Toyotomi.