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Kagetora Akame (赤目影虎 Akame Kagetora) is a former samurai and deceased ruler of the Fudo province during the events of Way of the Ninja and Tales of the Ninja.
Akame has gained a fearsome reputation for his short temper and violent nature, and is known to swiftly execute those who fail or betray him. Believing Utakata to be the first step towards conquering Japan, he has wasted no time in mobilising his armies for a military offensive against the House of Ichijo. Akame has become familiar with Goh's reputation as an efficient assassin, who reminds him of himself as a young man. Upon hearing of Goh surviving the extermination of the Asuka ninja, he is highly impressed. Although distrustful of Goh, Akame recognises the advantage an Asuka ninja would afford him during the invasion of Utakata and attempts to recruit Goh's services, offering vast wealth and power beyond imagination should he choose to accept.
Like all lords in the game, Akame can put up a difficult fight when directly confronted.
History[]
Backstory[]
Akame used to be a samurai at the service of the previous Fudo daimyo, and became his successor. After attaining the title of daimyo himself he retired and founded the House of Akame, aided by the vast fortune he made from negotiations in China.
An ambitious man, he had dreams of conquering Japan under his banner, which were only accerbated by his declining health and numbered days. After hearing news of the Asuka's massacre he makes a direct attack at Utakata with the intent of usurping its daimyo, Nobuteru Ichijo. Like Ichijo, he tried to recruit Sadame to his side, to no avail.
Way of the Ninja[]
Through a soldier spying in Utakata Castle, he got to know of the survival of Goh, and impressed by this tries to recruit him to his side, claiming to admire that kind of strenght that reminds him of his youth.
At the beginning of the game he is the most aggresive and well-armed of the daimyos. He will ofter contract bodyguards and ninja mercenaries to reinforce his army, and try to equip his soldiers with the best weapons as quickly as he can, but will run out of money quickly for the same reasons; if aided he may recover from financial losses just as fast, but he is prone to food shortages due to indulging himself and his troops too often.
Unlike his rival daimyos he often requests the hunting of bears, claiming the animals as a menace to the populace of Utakata or as a test of power for the Asuka. If Goh gains high favor with Akame he will reveal the actual reason: the blood and hearts of bears are the main ingredient in his medicine, needed to ease his heart condition and give him enough time to fulfill his dream of conquest.
Depending on the player's actions and loyalties his ultimate fate may differ:
- If all daimyo are alive with a favor above 70% and little difference of favor between them: He will accept a truce with the Ichijo Clan and the Amurita Faith to dispose of their common enemy: Gamuran. After the sorcerer is defeated he and Sadame reaffirm their previous antagonism, to Ichijo's dissapointment. This is considered the Canon ending.
- If Goh remains loyal to another daimyo: Akame is killed by the Asuka and his army retreats to Fudo.
- Or...
Akame's Ending[]
If Goh remains loyal to Akame, then he will triumph over the Ichijo Clan and the Amurita Faith over control of Utakata. His political enemies defeated, he orders Goh the extermination of Gamuran.
Goh kills Gamuran, but dissapears from Utakata soon after. While Akame expresses dissapointment over this, the victory of his campaign has given him and his troops reason for rejoice and revives their determination for national conquest.
Tales of the Ninja[]
The first mission in the game is sent by Sadame, demanding the recover of a box of important documents stolen by Akame; she refuses to elaborate on the contents but emphatises their importance. After succeding Akame chides the Asuka for blindly trusting Sadame, and warns them of her manipulations.
Midway through the game he will request a rescue operation from the Asuka. His son Toramaru had accidentally entered Utakata territory while hunting deer, and thus was seized and imprisoned by Ichijo soldiers. As the soldiers captured Toramaru unaware of his identity Ichijo won't use him as leverage against Akame yet, but the Asuka have to rescue him quickly before he is identified.
In the penultimate mission the contents of the stolen documents are revealed: it was a diary written by Sadame herself detailing the creation of the myth of Amurita and bragging to herself for the success of her deceit. Akame planned to use the documents to disacredit her to the public, but since the Asuka returned the diary to her it may have been destroyed already. How did Akame obtain the diary is unknown, as the priestess Miroku and a trio of rogue generals of the Ichijo Clan had it in their possession first.
Revenge of Zen[]
He appears again in Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen wearing a wolf cowl. It's shown in the credits roll that he was defeated and his territory conquered by Kazama, probably with the aid of the House of Hojo.
But Akame is tenacious, and won't give up his ambitions. He manages to secure an alliance with the barbarians (probably taking some of his soldiers with him) and plans to find all the Tenma Mirrors for himself. Before he manages to escape with the Rasetsu Mirror he is confronted and murdered by Zen.
Abilities[]
He claims he used to be a warring samurai in his youth, though it is hard to believe considering his present condition. It's possible his heart disease forced him to retire early from the field and avoid physical labor, making him unfit and overweight. Nevertheless, he is shown to be competent in a fight, and always carries a gun and some bombs with himself in case of confrontations.
He is a cunning businessman. He built his own clan and army with the finances he obtained from his trades in China. In gameplay this is also reflected in him being the quickest of the daimyo to recover from financial losses and acquire new weapons and abilities for his soldiers, and starting with the better armed and more numerous army.
Gameplay[]
In combat he uses the same attack pattern as the Merchant, with some differences: he only runs to make space for attacks and won't trip on his own feet, tries as possible to not turn his back on the player, can throw Knockout Spheres and can cause considerably damage by striking with the handle of his gun if the player gets too close. As all bosses, he is very resilent.
Personality[]
More than anything, Akame is an extremely ambitious man. He wishes to conquer Japan for himself before he dies, and not even the loss of his domain will stop him.
Akame is a violent and highly volatile individual quick to execute those who betray him, as shown by him snapping and shouting when presented with evidence that Goh may not be loyal to him and his frequently ordering the deaths of unloyal merchants.
He has absolutely no respect towards rivals and enemies. If one of the rival daimyo dies before him, his letters will mock them and claim that their deaths could have been avoided if they had become subservient to him.
Though he also hides some desperation. If Goh earns enough respect from him, he will explain the reason for his continuous bear-hunting missions: the bears' blood and hearts are an important component in his heart medicine. He will beg Goh to at least help him live long enough to conquer Utakata.
In one of the missions in Tales of the Ninja, his son Toramaru is captured after accidentally entering Utakata territory while hunting deer. Akame sends the Asuka to rescue him, whenether or not this is out of worry for his son or to avoid unadvantageous situations (as he claims) is not known, as Akame likes to mask his more vulnerable behavior as disinterest.