Oda Nobunaga in fiction

There have been many fictional depictions of Oda Nobunaga, the 16th century Japanese warlord. While most of these depictions show Nobunaga to be villainous or demonic, a few show him in a far more positive light.

Film

*In the Japanese science fiction film "Sengoku Jieitai 1549" Nobunaga is killed by time-stranded Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers in battle while he is still young; his identity is assumed by the leader of the soldiers.
*Nobunaga is played by Daisuke Ryu in Akira Kurosawa's movie "Kagemusha".

Print

* Tsuji Kunio's historical fiction "" depicts Nobunaga's life.
* Nobunaga is a central character in Eiji Yoshikawa's historical novel "Taiko ki", where he is shown as a firm but benevolent lord.
* Nobunaga appears in the Yoshihiro Takahashi manga "Kacchu no Senshi Gamu".
* Nobunaga is a minor but critical character in the manga (and later anime) "Flame of Recca", where he is shown to be responsible for the annihilation of the Hokkage ninja clan.
* A artifact spirit impersonating Nobunaga serves as the primary villain in the manga "Tenka Musō".
* The novel "Yōtōden" depicts him as a demon warlord who slays all who stand in his way and who can only be defeated with three mystical weapons from three different ninja clans. The anime "Wrath of the Ninja" is based on this novel.
* In James Clavell's historical fiction novel "Shogun", the character Dictator Goroda is a pastiche of Nobunaga.

Anime

* In the anime and manga "Samurai Deeper Kyo", Nobunaga, known as Dai Rokuten Maou (The sixth Heavenly Demon king, "His Majesty" in the dub), wants to take over the world. A literal demon in this depiction, a good portion of the anime shows Nobunaga attempting to gain a new body which would make him immortal and invincible.
* Oda Nobunaga was briefly mentioned in anime and manga "Flame of Recca" as the man who led his army to exterminate the Hokage ninjas, causing the successor, Recca, to be sent through time 400 years later to the present by his mother.

Video games

*The video game series "Samurai Warriors" defines Nobunaga by his ambitious and resolute unscrupulous means of thinking, as primarily depicted in his infamous slaughter of the Ikko rebels. Unlike in actual history, Nobunaga does not disdain Nō for being married to him but instead treats her with the etiquette of any typical retainer. Meanwhile, he haughtily belittles others such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who he continuously calls "monkey". In manner of his appearance and social persona, Nobunaga is contrasted by others as a demon king or someone of ruthless nature, which is romanticized into the glowing mystical sword that he respectively wields (this appearance has led to some game reviewers to jokingly refer to him as Darth Vader). More than anything else, Nobunaga's most dominant of appearances is within the Honnoji Incident, in which he openly declares before Akechi Mitsuhide to prove that he is the better leader among men by attesting whether he can take his life and show to the country that his justice is absolute.
* Contrasting the above, in the related video game series "Warriors Orochi", Nobunaga is shown as a heroic general whose ferocity and legend as "the Demon King" belies the fact that he fights to free the land from the titular villain of the series - as a leader of the Resistance - making the one of the main protagonists and later in the game, mastermind of Orochi's defeat.
* Nobunaga is a major villain in the first three games of the "Onimusha" game series and the spin-off game "Onimusha Tactics". Within the series, Nobunaga is portrayed as a bloodthirsty villain who upon death was brought back to life by a demon to serve as the general of an army of demons. Additionally, he is a selectable character in the related fighting game "Onimusha Blade Warriors"
* The video game "Kessen III" is a romanticized fantasy version of Nobunaga's attempt to unify Japan. The game paints a heroic and noble picture of Nobunaga's life, and then enters a "What If" scenario showing what might have happened if he had survived the betrayal by Akechi Mitsuhide. It shows Nobunaga gaining back his power base, and then defeating Shogunate forces lead by the Akechi clan and other clans of Western Japan on the shores of Kyushu, ending with Nobunaga founding a new shogunate.
* A far different depiction of Nobunaga is shown in the game "", where in the "Kyoto" scenario, the player (as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) must rescue Nobunaga, making the latter a "damsel in distress".
* Nobunaga (or his faction) is a selectable character in the games "", "Throne of Darkness", and the eponymous "Nobunaga's Ambition" series.

Television

* Takashi Sorimachi portrays Nobunaga in "Toshiie to Matsu", a series about the life of Maeda Toshiie.
* Naoto Ogata portrays him in the biographical series "".
* In the series "Oda Nobunaga", Takuya Kimura portrays him as a young, foolish individual whose unorthodoxy belies his sharp mind and ambition.