Mochizuki Chiyome

"While the husband was out playing war, the wife was at home raising an army of her own."

―Hattori Hanzō regarding Chiyome, 1590s

Mochizuki Chiyome (望月 千代女, died 1590s) was a noblewoman who lived during Japan's Sengoku period. After the death of her uncle-in-law she joined the Japanese Rite of Templars.

Biography

Leading the kunoichi

She was credited with creating an all-female group of ninja, kunoichi, for her husband's uncle Takeda Shingen. Numbering over 100 strong, Chiyome's girls were used as spies and assassins; by posing as couriers, servants, and even prostitutes, they created the illusion they were everywhere. Despite its legendary status, her kunoichi organization was unable to prevent Tokugawa Ieyasu's general Honda Tadakatsu and the Assassin Hattori Hanzō from infiltrating Shingen's camp in 1573, after which Shingen was killed. Two years later, her husband Mochizuki Nobumasa fought at the Battle of Nagashino against Nobunaga's army but was killed.

Joining the Templars and death

Chiyome was eventually recruited by the Templars, who had attempted to expand their influence in Japan but found themselves hindered by the constant wars between clans, as well as their hostility toward outsiders. Through Chiyome's spy network, the Templar philosophy spread further throughout the land, which made her a target for Hattori Hanzō. Sometime in the 1590s, he proved successful in assassinating her.

Gallery

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  Chiyome with her kunoichi

Behind the scenes

File:Mochizuki Chiyome ACRPG.png

Promotional image of Chiyome

Mochizuki Chiyome is a historical figure first introduced to the franchise in the now-defunct 2014 mobile game Assassin's Creed: Memories, where she was depicted as a Templar whom Hattori Hanzō killed in the 1590s. However, in 2023 promotional material for the Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game, she is shown in a tutorial sequence to have formerly been an Assassin working alongside Oda Nobunaga in the late 1550s to steal arquebuses from the Portuguese Empire but ends up recovering a Piece of Eden from the Templar João Machado. This was changed before the official release in 2024, with the sequence's narrative being tweaked some and her role in it being given to the Chinese Assassins' Mentor Shao Jun.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Memories (first appearance)