Changes: Shiro Tokisada Amakusa

Revision as of 17:12, 27 April 2018

In this Japanese name, Amakusa is his family name/surname. Shiro is his given name and Tokisada is his middle name

Shiro Tokisada Amakusa (天草四郎時貞, Amakusa Shirō Tokisada) is a recurring boss and playable character in the Samurai Shodown series, being 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.

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.

Story

Prior to the events of Samurai Shodown, Amakusa is resurrected by the dark god Ambrosia; he uses the body of Shinzo Hattori (one of Hanzo's sons). His main plot involves him stealing the Palenke stone, which he intended to use to bring Ambrosia to the mortal world. The player prevents this from happening by defeating him. Upon his resurrection in Samurai Shodown IV, his spirit splits into two halves: one good and one evil. His evil counterpart is slain by Zankuro in the same game but his good side lives on thanks to Shinzo. During the events in Samurai Shodown II, he saves certain characters from Mizuki's wrath but 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. 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

Voice Actors

Eiji Yano - Samurai Shodown ~ Samurai Shodown IV, Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono, Samurai Shodown VI (Anthology Redub)
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
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 VI
Samurai Spirits Oni
Samurai Spirits ~Kengou Hachiban Shoubu~
Quiz King of Fighters - unplayable boss

Mobile Appearances

Samurai Spirits - Shimensouka (enemy character)
Samurai Spirits - Makai Rineki
Grandblue Fantasy
The SAMURAI Kingdom
Kingdom Story
Kimi wa Hero

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

Trivia

Pattern of his normal attacks changed in every game in he has appeared so far.
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.