Motonari Mori

SB3 Motonari — Motonari in *Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes*.

Motonari Mori is a character from the Sengoku BASARA series. He first appeared in Devil Kings (known as "Kahz" in the US version) as a non-playable character. He made his playable debut in Sengoku BASARA 2. Motonari's weapon of choice is a ring blade and his element is light.

Profile[]

Motonari is depicted as a young, genius daimyo who only cares about winning. He will use any strategies that can lead him to victory, including those that sacrifice his soldiers, without any hesitation. To reflect this personality, his attacks in Devil Kings can also hit his own allies, though no actual damage is dealt. Motonari also has a belief in the Sun (which he calls 日輪 Nichirin), and he tends to refer to himself as 日輪の申し子 "Child of the Sun". He has a fierce rivalry with Motochika Chōsokabe of Shikoku, whose personality is the opposite of him.

Story[]

In Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes Motonari is allied with Mitsunari Ishida against the Tokugawa Army. Though he is at bad blood with the Chōsokabe, Motonari convinces Motochika to join the Toyotomi loyalists to fight the Tokugawa.

Following the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the country fell into chaos. In both the red and blue paths, Motonari fights for the Western Army.

The red path has Motonari assisting in the final battle against Ieyasu Tokugawa. He arrives in time to see both Ieyasu and Yoshitsugu Ōtani badly beaten. Yoshitsugu was glad to see Motonari arrive, but the latter calls the former pitiful. This angers Ieyasu, who stands up and ask how Motonari could turn on his "friend". After beating Ieyasu, Mori relishes in the fact that order has come to Shikoku. Yoshitsugu recovers enough to put a curse on Motonari before dying. However, the sunlight appears and removes Yoshitsugu's magic off Motonari.

The blue path plays out very differently. Motonari's first move was to have a ceasefire with rival Motochika Chōsokabe. He did so by writing a letter that pinpoints Ieyasu responsible for the attack on Chikoku. Yoshitsugu was pleased with Motonari's move to turn Motochika against Ieyasu, stating that Kanbe Kuroda was the actual culprit behind the attack. Motonari warned Yoshitsugu that his mouth could lead to his death, but the latter assures Mori that he would be fine. Motonari then sets forth to conquer the north. One of his opponents was Yoshiaki Mogami, who was willing to split the country between the two of them. But, Motonari refused and Yoshiaki died in the battle with Mori. As the campaign progresses, Mitsunari and Yoshitsugu try to request reinforcements from Motonari on two occasions. Motonari praises Yoshitsugu for realizing that reinforcements will help in defeating Muneshige Tachibana and Yoshihiro Shimazu. However, he refuses to carry out both requests, the first by being too busy and the second by saying he's fallen ill. The first refusal angers Mitsunari slightly, but Yoshitsugu see that Motonari was probably too busy from the northern campaign. The second time angers the both of them, with Yoshitsugu wandering what Motonari was up to.

By the time Motonari's campaign is completed, Motochika has slain Ieyasu. Mori uses the opportunity to attack Mitsunari. Yoshitsugu berates Mori for betraying Mitsunari and swears to kill him. Motonari reveals that he had intended to betray Mitsunari from the start, angering Yoshitsugu more. But Ōtani himself was killed, where Motonari comments that he warned the former about his mouth. When Motonari fought Mitsunari, the latter demanded to know why the former allowed Motochika to carry out his own biddings. Motonari revealed it was all to keep his rival away from him. Realizing that Mori has betrayed him, Yoshitsugu and Motochika, Ishida was more determined to make the strategist pay for his actions. When Mitsunari is knocked to the ground, he realized that Mori had intended to destroy his rival from the start. But, he collapses and dies before he can attack Motonari.

News of these events reached Motochika, who is shocked by his rival's actions. As Motonari attacks Motochika's army, both Motochika and his men are angry at Motonari's deception. Before fighting Mori, Motochika calls him out for being disloyal. But Motonari accuses Motochika of doing the same thing, and revealing that it was he and not Tokugawa that was responsible for the attack on Chikoku. Upset and angered, Motochika fights Motonari in one last battle. Defeated, Chōsokabe breaks down and gets upset about the deaths of Ieyasu and his own men. He then charges towards Motonari, who responds by slashing Motochika in the chest. Before dying, he realises that everything he did was wrong and falls to the floor. Mori calls him "a fool to the end".

Gameplay[]

Weapons[]

Motonari initially used a saihai baton in Sengoku BASARA, in the style of Kenshin Uesugi, but when he became playable in Sengoku BASARA 2 and so on, he uses a ring blade. His "joke" weapon is a rainbow.

(As of Samurai Heroes)

Last Eidolon - Motonari's basic weapon.
Quantum Mirage - 5% chance of extra light based attack damage.
Gravity Rainbow - BASARA gauge fills quicker than normal.
Celestial Havoc

Skills[]

Bowmen - calls on bowmen to give support fire.
Whirlwind - jumps and spins in the air, sending enemies flying with split ring blade.
Barrier - makes arrow-proof wall. Hit wall to move it. (Unlocked at Level 5)
Decoy - creates a hologram that fools enemies into attacking it. The hologram explodes after a fixed amount of time. (Unlocked at Level 10)
Brainwash - converts enemies into allies. Lasts until the player takes damage. (Unlocked at Level 20)
Ray - throws ring blade into the air and fires down a beam of searing light from it. (Unlocked at Level 30)

Historical information[]

Motonari Mōri (毛利元就, 1497–1571) was a prominent daimyō in the west Chūgoku region of Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century.

Sandwiched between the powerful Amago and Ōuchi clans, Motonari led the clan by carefully balancing actions and diplomacy. Eventually, Motonari succeeded in defeating both and controlled the entire Chūgoku area. In his late years, he crushed the Ōtomo clan of Bungo province.

He had three sons, Takamoto Mōri, Motoharu Kikkawa, and Takakage Kobayakawa, whom he encouraged to work together for the benefit of the Mōri clan. In one instance, he is said to have handed each of his sons an arrow and asked each to snap it. After each snapped his arrow, Motonari produced three arrows and asked his sons to snap all three at once. When they were unable to do so (according to a legend still taught today), Motonari explained that one arrow could be broken easily, but three arrows held together could not.

Trivia[]

So far, Motonari has the most number of elemental weapons, having a total of four elemental weapons. In addition to the two "default" elemental weapons, his "joke" weapon and his last weapon are also elemental.