Shiro Tokisada Amakusa

''In this Japanese name, the family name is "Amakusa". "Shiro" is his given name, and "Tokisada" is his imina, a posthumous personal name.''

Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, sometimes called Shirou Amakusa or simply Amakusa, is a recurring boss and playable character in the Samurai Shodown series, the first known agent of the series' major villain, Ambrosia.

Development
He is an alternate portrayal of the historical figure of the same name. The historical Amakusa led a Christian rebellion in the Shimabara region of Japan where the bakufu army crushed his revolt and executed him.

He is portrayed as an evil sorcerer wielding the Palenke Stone. The portrayal shows hints and views of what the Japanese at the time period perceive Christianity as: an unnatural force of evil and a tool for conquest from outside forces.

Though this series' portrayal of him bears similarities with the Amakusa in Makai Tensho, the developers haven't confirmed if he was particularly based on him. According to Gamest Mook, he was a possible candidate for the Samurai Shodown 64 lineup but was taken out due to time constraints. The developers of Samurai Shodown (2019) are aware that fans want Amakusa in the game, but due to the new installment taking place before Samurai Shodown his inclusion isn't chronologically possible. However, fan demand may have prevailed and he is now a part of the game's roster as a DLC character.

Story
Prior to the events of Samurai Shodown, Amakusa is resurrected by the dark god Ambrosia. He incarnates into the world of the living in preparation for his own revival. He soon ursurps the evil that held Shizuka Gozen and gains more power. To fully incarnate with his power, he uses the body of Shinzo Hattori (one of Hanzo's sons) and possesses him. His main plot involves him stealing the Palenke stone, which he intended to use to bring Ambrosia to the mortal world. Haohmaru prevents this from happening by defeating him. In Galford's ending in the same game, it is shown that Amakusa isn't truly evil, thanking Galford for freeing him from Ambrosia's clutches.

Upon his resurrection in Samurai Shodown IV, his spirit splits into two halves: one good and one evil. Amakusa seeks to reunite with his more powerful and malevolently evil other half, who was bent on dominating Shimabara and eventually the whole world, as well as reining in this evil power, but was unsuccessful as his evil counterpart was slain by Kazuki. His continued existence after his evil half is destroyed is mostly because of his host body Shinzo.

During the events in Samurai Shodown II, he saves certain characters from Mizuki's wrath but because of the demise of his evil half, he isn't as powerful as he once was and is defeated, leaving only Shinzo's body for Hanzo to claim.

Personality
He's a mad and vengeful spirit, resurrected by Ambrosia as a being of destruction to put up a new world order. Once he is relieved of the dark god's possession, he reverts to his living persona as a kind and merciful soul of righteous constitution. He is a narcissist by nature, which is what originally lured him to Ambrosia's temptations.

True to the historical Christian Amakusa, he speaks of sin, mercy and salvation, especially in later appearances.

Powers

 * Levitation - Amakusa has the power to levitate his weapon and other characters off the ground.
 * Teleport - Amakusa can teleport himself.
 * Multiple Attacks: Amakusa can deliver several slaps at once.
 * Fire Projectile: Amakusa has the ability to project a fiery image of a demon.

Fighting Style
Amakusa fights his opponents by attacking them with a levitating gem. He can direct the gem with an impressive range, able to smash his enemies from the air and ground level from nearly any distance easily.

At times, his gem may not compensate for opponents close to him so he also has hand attacks that often involve a multi-hitting slap attack. To confuse his adversaries, he may also teleport and hover above them before diving upon them with a damaging attack. He also projects fiery projectiles in the image of demons or electric balls to his foes, making him a formidable long-distance fighter.

He has slow jumping speed and can be laggy in the air, but possesses powerful basic attacks in exchange. Also, he can triangle jump.

Being up-close to your opponent can be a problem when playing as Amakusa, so he tends to play a mostly keep-away game, and relying on reflexes to attack or counterattack.

Music

 * Ankoku (Darkness) - Samurai Shodown
 * Kyoutai (Madhouse) - Samurai Shodown III
 * Movement to Tranquility - Samurai Shodown IV
 * Crazy Behavior 1, 2, 3 - Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Agitated Calm ~SAMURAI SHODOWN ver.~ - Samurai Shodown (2019)

Voice Actors

 * Eiji Yano - Samurai Shodown ~ Samurai Shodown IV, Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono, Samurai Shodown VI (Anthology Redub), The King of Fighters: All Star
 * Yū Daiki - Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture
 * Marcy Rae - Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture (English voice)
 * Kaneto Shiozawa - Samurai Shodown Dengeki drama CD series
 * Misuaki Madono - Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Takashi Ōhara - Samurai Shodown V Special
 * Junji Majima - Samurai Shodown VI
 * Shusaku Shirakawa - Samurai Shodown (2019)
 * Show Hayami - Samurai Spirits Oni
 * Ryotaro Okiayu - Ninja Resurrection
 * Yasunori Matsumoto - Sins of the Sisters

Game Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown - playable in the Sega Genesis and SNES versions
 * Samurai Shodown III
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden - as one of the main villains
 * Samurai Shodown!
 * Samurai Shodown IV
 * Samurai Shodown V Special
 * Samurai Shodown V Perfect
 * Samurai Shodown VI
 * Samurai Shodown (2019) - DLC character
 * Samurai Spirits Oni
 * Samurai Spirits ~Kengou Hachi-ban Shoubu~
 * Quiz King of Fighters - unplayable boss

Mobile Appearances

 * Samurai Spirits - Shimensouka (enemy character)
 * Samurai Spirits - Makai Rineki
 * Grandblue Fantasy
 * The SAMURAI Kingdom
 * Samurai Shodown Online
 * Kingdom Story
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * Samurai Shodown Tenkadaiichi Kenkakuden
 * The King of Fighters: All Star
 * SNK Fighting Age

Cameo Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown II - during cutscenes
 * Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono
 * SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium - during Akari's super
 * Samurai Spirits (pachinko)
 * Samurai Spirits Gaiden: Cham Cham
 * Samurai Spirits 2: Asura-Zanmaden (OVA) in Shiki's visions

Anime Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture
 * Ninja Resurrection
 * Sins of the Sisters

Trivia

 * The pattern of his normal attacks are never the same for any given game and is totally different in every game in he has appeared so far. This trend thankfully ceased by the time of Samurai Shodown (2019), where he adapts his attack patterns from his previous appearance in Samurai Shodown V (and by extension, VI, Special and Perfect).
 * His Polish lover was a tomboyish childhood friend who picked on him when they were younger. She grew up to be a fair yet strong lady. Apparently, he is beginning to forget what her expressions were like.
 * When asked "The path of the sword is?", Amakusa's response is "Finding ways to atone for his sins."
 * Due to his largely effeminate looks, he was once mistaken for a female, evident in the English dub of the Samurai Shodown anime. His voice in Samurai Shodown VI seems to poke fun at this with a matching effeminate voice that borders actual femininity.
 * This was averted in Samurai Spirits Oni where he takes on a more masculine look.
 * He bears a deep grudge against the Tokugawa bloodline, the one responsible for his original death, as seen in one of the cinematics of Samurai Shodown. This is a callback to his historical inspiration where the Tokugawa-led Bafuku executed him. It is for this reason he is extremely hostile to the current Tokugawa in the series, Yoshitora Tokugawa, seeking a slow and painful death to the Tokugawa successor and kin.
 * If he is victimized by Kusaregedo's overkill move, the youkai will spit out Amakusa's head after devouring, referencing the fate of his historical inspiration, who was beheaded, with his head put on a pike as a warning against further insurrection against the Shogunate.
 * While Amakusa is rarely used as a family name in modern times, several fictional characters with this family name (and unrelated to this character or its source) have emerged from different games over the years.

Similar Characters

 * Aku Amakusa