Recently, it seems as if the world has just discovered that at one point there was an African Samurai. Yes, you read that correctly: A black man named Yasuke was a samurai in feudal Japan at one point. He will be the subject of an upcoming Netflix anime and a live-action movie. He will also be appearing in a new game. No, it won’t be a Ghost of Tsushima-like game, although that would be awesome. Instead, it will be the next Samurai Warriors game, Samurai Warriors 5. In a new trailer, it is revealed that Yasuke will be a playable character in the game along with many other characters, some of whom were previously announced.
Listed below is every playable character announced so far:
- Hanbei Takenaka
- Hanzo Hattori
- Hideyoshi Hashiba
- Hisahide Matsunaga
- Ieyasu Tokugawa
- Kagetora Nagao
- Kanbei Kuroda
- Katsuie Shibata
- Kazuuji Nakamura
- Nagamasa Azai
- Magoichi Saika
- Mitsuhide Akechi (Youth / Mature)
- Mitsuki
- Motonari Mori
- No
- Nobunaga Oda (Youth / Mature)
- Oichi
- Sandayu Momochi
- Sena
- Shikanosuke Yamanaka
- Shingen Takeda
- Tadakatsu Honda
- Takakage Kobayakawa
- Toshiie Maeda
- Toshimitsu Saito
- Yasuke
- Yoshimoto Imagawa
Yasuke’s role in the game will the same he had in real life. He will serve as a samurai bodyguard to Nobunaga Oda, who is also playable. The game’s official website reveals the following about this depiction of Yasuke:
After becoming intrigued by Nobunaga’s commanding presence, Yasuke became employed by him as a samurai. While he is from a foreign country, he has mastered the Japanese language. He is genuine in nature and firmly stands by Nobunaga, regardless of his lone wolf tendencies.”
The website also has a description for two different versions of Nobunaga Oda. Here is the young Oda description:
The young head of the Oda family, Nobunaga is referred to as ‘Owari’s Great Fool’ thanks to his wild actions and insolent attitude. Nobunaga’s goal is to destroy the cause of the world’s turbulent times as he sets out on his quest to reform all of Japan.”
This is the description of mature Oda:
In order to topple the rules set forth by the turbulent era he lives in, he cast aside his compassion for his enemies and became ‘The Demon King.’ Alongside his right-hand man Mitsuhide, he aims to reform all of Japan.”
These character descriptions seem to indicate the game will be a time skip of some sort. We’ll find out if there is and more about Samurai Warriors 5 when it releases on July 27 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Does Yasuke’s presence make you interested in this game? Let us know in the comments below.