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He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Shadows and Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Iga no Monogatari. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. |
Hattori Hanzō (服部 半蔵, 1542 – 1596) was a vassal for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the last of feudal Japan's three great unifiers (三英傑). A famous samurai and ninja, Hanzō was also a Master Assassin of the Kakushiba ikki, the Japanese branch of the Assassin Brotherhood.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Born in 1542 in the Mikawa Province of Japan, Hattori Hanzō was the son of the samurai Hattori Yasunaga.[2] He later became a vassal of the daimyō Tokugawa Ieyasu, and a ninja trained in Iga.[3][4]
Meeting Fujibayashi Masayasu[]
In 1560, a teenage Hanzō was apprenticed to the legendary shinobi Momochi Sandayu, who saw great potential in the young man but also feared his arrogance and callousness. While passing by a village in Iga, Hanzō and his mentor witnessed two corrupt samurai threatening the villagers and demanding tribute. Immediately jumping into action, Hanzō assassinated one of the samurai, saving Fujibayashi Masayasu, a farmer who had attempted to fight off the attackers but found himself overwhelmed.[5]
Masayasu and Hanzō preparing to fight
Masayasu, awed by Hanzō's reputation and skills, pleaded to be trained as a shinobi, but Hanzō harshly refused, dismissing him as an unfit farmer and suggesting he would be better off serving a local daimyō. However, Sandayu, not caring about Masayasu's status, was willing to give the young farmer a chance to prove himself and suggested a sparring contest between Masayasu and Hanzō.[5]
During their fight, Hanzō quickly gained the upper hand and managed to throw Masayasu down a small cliff. He then began to boast about his skills while insulting Masayasu, only to be interrupted by a young girl, Chiyo, who insisted that Masayasu was a hero who had protected their village from harm.[5]
An annoyed Hanzō grabbed Chiyo and threatened her by saying that, if they were on the battlefield, he would not hesitate to kill her, as it was not uncommon for innocents to perish during wartime. Terrified, Chiyo began to cry, which motivated Masayasu to come to her aid. Using underhanded tactics, he managed to defeat Hanzō, impressing Sandayu, who decided to train Masayasu as a shinobi.[5]
The Kakushiba ikki[]
During their training together, Hanzō and Masayasu were able to put their differences aside and develop a more amicable relationship. Sandayu also introduced both of them to the Assassin Alvaro Catarribera and his apprentice, Tsuyu,[6] who informed them about their conflict with the Templar Order and enlisted their help to stop the spread of Templar influence in Japan.[7] Hanzō and his fellow ninja thus became allies of the Brotherhood and shared their knowledge with them, teaching the Assassins new skills and techniques.[8]
Hanzō, Sandayu, and Nagato swearing to Tsuyu's creed
In time, Hanzō, Masayasu – who became known as Fujibayashi Nagato – and Sandayu all joined the Kakushiba ikki, the brotherhood founded by Catarribera and Tsuyu,[9] which the latter assumed control of following her mentor's departure.[10] Hanzō and the others swore an oath to the Creed to protect the Imperial Regalia of Japan, which Tsuyu had been entrusted with, and hid the artifacts within a kofun in Izumi Settsu.[9]
In 1565, Hanzō had a son, Hattori Masanari, who was also trained as an Assassin.[11] However, Hanzō was never able to accept the fact that Tsuyu had fallen in love with Nagato and started a family with him. Out of jealousy, he left the Kakushiba ikki and became a mercenary, gaining notoriety as "Oni Hanzō". Years later, he returned to Iga, hoping his exploits would impress Tsuyu, only to find that she and Nagato had a daughter, Naoe.[9]
Filled with rage and believing that her new family had weakened Tsuyu, Hanzō betrayed his old allies by selling information on the location of the Imperial Regalia,[9] unknowingly to the Shinbakufu, a group founded by the deposed Ashikaga shōgun, Yoshiaki, as a means of regaining his power.[12] Immediately regretting his actions, Hanzō contacted Tsuyu to inform her that the regalia's location had been compromised, and joined her and other Assassins as they fought the Shinbakufu to protect the artifacts; however, most of the Assassins were killed, with only Hanzō, Tsuyu, and Sandayu surviving.[9]
After Tsuyu entrusted the jewel Yasakani no Magatama, which she had managed to protect from the Shinbakufu, to Nagato, she left to search for the other two regalia, but never returned. Hanzō looked for her in vain, and secretly kept watch on Nagato and Naoe, out of the shame he felt for dooming the Kakushiba ikki. Occasionally, he would sing Tsuyu's favorite song on the tsuchibue, to maintain the illusion that Tsuyu was alive and the one watching over her family.[9]
Fight for the Sword[]
In parallel to the Kakushiba ikki's operations, the Japanese Assassins established an alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and together they formed a plan to retrieve a Sword of Eden and aid Ieyasu in conquering the land.[1] Hanzō, loyal to his lord, worked closely with Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu, who often acted as a contact on Ieyasu's behalf.[13]
In 1571, on Ieyasu's orders, Hanzō assassinated the daimyō Mōri Motonari, a strong opponent of Ieyasu's ally Oda Nobunaga, in order to allow Nobunaga to conquer the Mōri clan's lands.[13] Two years later, after the Tokugawa and Oda forces fought the Takeda clan at the Battle of Mikatagahara, Hanzō and Ieyasu's vassal Honda Tadakatsu entered Takeda Shingen's camp.[14] Shingen was killed during the ordeal, and Hanzō retrieved the Sword of Eden from him.[1] Five years later, on 19 April 1578,[15] Hanzō assassinated another rival daimyō, the Templar Uesugi Kenshin.[1]
In September 1581, Hanzō returned to Iga to warn Fujibayashi Nagatao, Momochi Sandayu, and the other members of the Iga ikki that Oda Nobunaga's forces were planning an invasion of the region. He promised them Ieyasu's protection if they swore loyalty to his lord, but they refused. While the shinobi prepared for the defense of their land, Hanzō followed Nagato to a nearby outpost occupied by Nobunaga's army, where he encountered his Naoe. He saved the girl from an ambush by an enemy swordsman and formally introduced himself before trying to convince the young shinobi to join him, but Naoe refused as she was distrustful of him.[16]
When Nagato arrived shortly after, Hanzō handed him a letter revealing that the Shinbakufu were after the Jewel that Nagato was safeguarding on Tsuyu's behalf. Nagato and Naoe subsequently went to recover the artifact so they could protect it, and Hanzō wished them good luck in their mission before taking his leave.[16] That would be the last time Hanzō and Nagato ever saw each other, as later that night, the Shinbakufu killed Nagato and stole the artifact, while Nobunaga's forces conquered Iga.[17]
In June 1582, word reached the Tokugawa that Akechi Mitsuhide planned to betray his lord Nobunaga, who possessed the Sword of Eden. Hanzō stayed with Ieyasu to ensure his lord's safety, and tasked another Assassin, the monk Yamauchi Taka, to travel to Honnō-ji and retrieve the Sword from Nobunaga. Taka succeeded in his mission and brought the Sword to the Chinese Assassin Liu Yan, who took it with her to China.[18]
Later life[]
After Nobunaga's death, his vassal Toyotomi Hideyoshi became his master's successor. Hideyoshi later defeated Ieyasu, who then pledged loyalty to the Toyotomi. Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu tried to secretly set up a trade route to bring supplies to Ieyasu, a task which Hanzō aided by eliminating one of the patrolling Toyotomi kashira.[19]
It was during this time that Hanzō again encountered Fujibayashi Naoe after she had successfully recovered the stolen Jewel upon eliminating the Shinbakufu. Hanzō presented her the second Imperial Regalia – the mirror Yata no Kagami – recovered by Ieyasu from the Templars, and confessed his role in the Shinbakufu's attack on the Kakushiba ikki, prompting a furious Naoe to attack him. After defeating him, Naoe decided to show Hanzō mercy and invited him to help her search for Tsuyu and achieve redemption for his past actions. Hanzō accepted and swore loyalty to Naoe and the Assassins.[9]
In the 1590s, Hanzō was tasked with assassinating the Japanese Templar Mochizuki Chiyome, a female ninja who had formerly worked for Takeda Shingen. Based on intel retrieved from Kiyonobu, Hanzō tracked her down to her residence in Shinano, where he assassinated her.[20]
Hanzō was ultimately killed in a fire[21] by his rival Fūma Kotarō [citation needed] in 1596,[1] in the Tokugawa capital of Edo.[22]
Personality and traits[]
An arrogant youth, Hanzō had a low opinion of low-born individuals, believing the opportunity of becoming a shinobi should be reserved for those of reputable status or background. He also showed disrespect for those older than him, and could be easily irritable.[5]
Skills and equipment[]
Hanzō was an expert in hand-to-hand combat and was proficient in the use of the kunai.[5] Aside from the ninja arts, Hanzō was also trained as a samurai, and his skill with the yari was considered legendary even during his lifetime.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Hanzō, 半蔵, is a Japanese name combining the characters 半 (han, meaning "half, middle, odd number, part-, semi-") with 蔵 (zou, meaning "own, possess, storehouse"). Hattori, 服部, is a common Japanese surname meaning "clothing guild".
Although the cards in Assassin's Creed: Memories say Hanzō died in 1596, historically, he succumbed to an unspecified illness on 2 January 1597. The discrepancy may arise from the fact that the 22-volume Kansei Chōshū Shokafu (寛政重修諸家譜), a genealogical record of important samurai commissioned by the Tokugawa clan in 1812, records his death date as 4 November 1596, which differs from what is written on his gravestone at the Buddhist temple Sainen-ji and accepted by the Hattori clan, as the contemporary lunar calendar used then notes his death was on the 14th day of the 11th month of the Keichō era, or, 2 January 1597 CE using the Gregorian calendar.[22]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Memories (first appearance)
- Echoes of History – Shadows (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Shadows
- Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Iga no Monogatari
References[]
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