Katsuie Shibata (Samurai Warriors)

Katsuie Shibata is one of Nobunaga's loyal generals who is historically recognized as one of his lord's closest generals. He famously opposed Hideyoshi's rise to power after Nobunaga's death, a rebellion which caused a rift with the remaining Oda family and retainers. He historically became Oichi's husband to forge a marital alliance with his Oda supporters. After his death, Edo period folklore attributed Katsuie with the name "Devil Shibata" (鬼柴田) in ode of his supposed fearlessness in battle. His first appearances in the Samurai Warriors series were regulated to NPC roles, being a generic in the starting entry and a unique NPC and bodyguard in its sequel. Like Kojirō, he became a playable character with a mixed moveset in the series's first Empires title. Katsuie gains a new moveset, weapons, and personal story in Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends. Gamecity's Sengoku Musou 3: Empires character popularity poll lists him as thirty-fourth place. For the Samurai Warriors 4 poll, he placed forty-first. His Nobunaga's Ambition counterpart is eightieth place in Gamecity's character popularity ranking for 2015. The Nobunaga no Yabou 201X poll for 4-star officers puts him in sixth place.