Imagawa clan

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The Imagawa clan (今川氏, Imagawa-uji) was a Japanese samurai family that held power during the Sengoku period.

History

Decline in power and alliance with the Templars

In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto planned to march and to overtake Kyoto with a legion of 25,000 troops, yet this required a travel through Owari, where his rival Oda Nobunaga held power. While invading Owari, his troops initially proved successful as they all took forts from the Oda clan. With a few thousands troops left, Yoshimoto and his men rested and celebrated at Dengakuhazama. However, that night, it began to rain which provided Nobunaga the opportunity to launch a direct assault. Realizing too late, Yoshimoto was captured and subsequently executed, while his remaining soldiers fled.

With his father's death, Imagawa Ujizane took the reins of leading his clan, despite its fall from power. Within the same year, he was then visited by Italian Jesuit Paulino Massa, who soon became a regular visitor. Within their conversations, Massa revealed his true nature as a Templar and recruited Ujizane into the Order. Together, they planned to attain the Imperial Regalia and use its significance to have the Imagawa clan rise into power again. They later commissioned a team of shinobi led by Toza and rōnin Kuroiwa Gonjou-rou to infiltrate Iga and investigate Momochi Sandayu's rumored affliation with the Assassins. However, all but Gonjou-rou died on the mission but he gave information of the Assassins' presence and the Imperial Regalia's location having to be nearby.

In 1561, Imagawa Ujizane and Massa abducted Matsudaira Motoyasu's wife Sena and her children Nobuyasu and Kamehime to hold power over Motoyasu. Ujizane held them in his family mansion while he and Massa planned for Motoyasu to send one of his retainers on a rescue mission. With the help of his retainer Udono Nagateru, he held Motoyasu's family for nearly a year and waited for their rescuers.

However, one night, Ujizane ordered Nagateru to take Sena and her kids to Kaminogō Castle. When the shinobi and Motoyasu's retainer Hattori Hanzō came and saw a dead woman in Sena's cell, Ujizane came and taunted on whether he would succeed in finding Motoyasu's family. Before it could go further, Ujizane was knocked out by his soldier Amano Kageyasu, who aided Hanzō to escape, much to Ujizane's ire. Meanwhile, Nagateru rode Sena to the castle while Hanzō followed them alone.

Inside the castle, Hanzō caught up with Nagateru and nearly killed him, only for Massa to save him. Yet, Massa subsequently killed Nagateru, who had made an insulting remark of the Templar's presence, and held Sena and her kids at gunpoint. He later gave Hanzō a choice for Motoyasu's family or the location of the Imperial Regalia while the castle was under siege by Motoyasu, who sought his family's return.

Aiding the Kumari clan

By 1582, Imagawa clan member and samurai Imagawa Tomeji was the right-hand man under daimyō] and Japanese Templar Kimura Kei. Becoming a true believer in the Templar Order like his lord, he pledged his loyalty to Kei. Yet, he followed Kei's order to safeguard Kei's daughter and fellow Templar Kimura Yukari, who did not fully believe in the Order like he did. Within the same year, Tomeji and Yukari learned of her father's demise at the hands of Nobunaga's former retainer and Kakushiba ikki member Yasuke. As a result, Tomeji's pledge to Kei transferred to Yukari, much to his dislike.

Controlling Awaji

By 1585, Tomeji had followed Yukari to Awaji, where she became the concubine of the island's daimyō. When the daimyō and her men left, she became the de facto ruler. While there, Tomeji, along with spymaster Yasuhira and feral shinobi Nowaki, became Yukari's taishō (大将, lit. "general") of her collective, the Sanzoku Ippa. Being her personal enforcer, he led a group of his own captains to enforce Yukari's control across the whole island. During their tenure, they soon came across the Master Assassin Fujibayashi Tsuyu and captured her, learning that she knew the location of the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, one of the Imperial Regalia. Despite their harsh torture and interrogation methods, Tsuyu never divulged the sword's location.

Thus, Yukari set up a plan by launching puppet shows to the mainland to lure Tsuyu's daughter Fujibayashi Naoe, who established her own Kakushiba ikki league. Yukari's plan worked as Naoe arrived in Awaji while they had Tsuyu caged within Sumoto Castle, Tomeji's base of operations. Soon, Naoe came to rescue Tsuyu but was captured by Tomeji and Yukari. With this, Yukari gave an ultimatum to Tsuyu, the sword's location for her daughter's life. But, their plans were thwarted when Yasuke came and freed them.

While they all tried to escape, Yasuke soon came to face Tomeji alone. Tomeji then challenged Yasuke to a duel in honor of his oath to Kei. Yet, Yasuke fared better and bested Tomeji, who conceded but signaled his soldiers to surround him. Almost victorious, Tomeji failed due to Tsuyu providing an opening, ultimately leading the Assassins to flee from the castle.

Despite this setback, Tomeji, along with his fellow Templars, joined Yukari as they tracked Naoe and Yasuke to Myōshō-ji, where they later subdued Yasuke when he was alone. Waiting outside a temple, they all met with Naoe, holding the sword's box, while holding Yasuke hostage. In exchange for Yasuke's life, Naoe gave the Templars the box but Yukari reneged on the promise, ordering Tomeji to kill Yasuke. Yet, Hanzō and his allies, including Konatsu, arrived and they loosed multiple arrows against the Templars and their Sanzoku Ippa soldiers. While Naoe and her allies fought the soldiers, Nowaki quickly used a smoke bomb to cover the Templars' escape.

With the sword Regalia in Templars' hands, Tomeji continued the search for the Assassins, sending out his captains to search. However, Naoe and Yasuke assassinated the captains before confronting him at Sumoto Castle, with Konatsu's help. Tomeji soon commended them on their efforts but grudgingly agreed with Yukari's notion to stop their efforts. Engaging the pair to a duel, Tomeji was ultimately defeated and killed, ridding Yukari of her enforcer. Ultimately, the Assassins stopped and killed Yukari, recovered the sword and later returned all the Imperial Regalia to Emperor Ōgimachi.

Genealogy

Imagawa Yoshimoto

Jōkei-in

Unknown

Imagawa Ujizane

Imagawa Tomeji

Notable members

• Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519–1560)
• Imagawa Ujizane (1538-1615)
• Imagawa Tomeji (?–1585)
• Lady Tsukiyama (?-1579)

Notable retainers

• Matsudaira Motoyasu
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Udono Nagateru

Appearances

• Echoes of History – Shadows (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (mentioned in Database entry only)
  • Claws of Awaji
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Tales of Iga (first appearance)