Is Hanzo based off of anyone from actual history?

Jowy Atreides · Last edited by Jowy Atreides on Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:51 am; edited 1 time in total

Might Hanzo be based upon anyone from history?

Providence Luc · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:06 pm Post subject:

Well, from my knowledge, Hattori Hanzo (I prefer to use the Japanese style of mentioning names, surname first) was a legendary ninja of sorts. Not much is actually mentioned about him in encyclopedias since he was ninja. But here's a short excerpt from The Quest Center which should give you a rough sketch of what he was like. Click the link for the full article.

Hanzo was a member of the Hattori family, the leaders of the ninja community of Iga Province in feudal Japan. It is thought that there may have been as many as four ninja who took the name Hanzo Hattori. The ninja who made famous the identity of Hanzo Hattori was named Masanari. He was said to have begun training on Mt. Kurama north of Kyoto at the age of eight, and became a full-fledged ninja at age twelve, and was known as a master ninja at age eighteen. His father Yasunaga served Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, the lord of Mikawa and the grandfather of future shogun leyasu Tokugawa. Though Hanzo was born and raised in Mikawa, he often returned to Iga, home of the Hattori ninja family.

And so you see... the name Hattori Hanzo has been used and abused for many ages just as many things become popular.
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Jowy Atreides · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:14 pm Post subject:

I am not seeking a history lesson.

Vextor · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject:

Yes, Hanzo is based on Hattori Hanzo. "Hattori Hanzo" itself is a name that has been passed on through a number of differen "Iga" ninjas, so it doesn't point to one single person. However, the most famous of them is the second Hattori Hanzo, whos real name was Iwami-no-Mori Masanari. The "no-Mori" means 'governor" and thus this means he was born as a samurai (and Iwami being a teritorry belonging to the Tokugawa clan, he automatically served Yokugawa Ieyasu).

What's great about him is that he really wasn't a ninja. The first Hattori Hanzo didn't teach him much ninjutsu, and instead taught him soujutsu (spear techniques), which he thought would be more useful for his son in the comming age. Fortunately, this becomes true, because as the personal bodyguard of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hattori has saved his lords life many times because of his spear. He also led his ninja clan in battles (they acted more as foot-soldiers, wearing armor, etc).

Some of the other ninjas in Suikoden are based on historically well known ninjas, such as Fuma, who is based on Fuma Kotaro, a name passed on among leaders of the Hojo ninja clan, and Sarutobi Sasuke, a famous ninja who served Sanada Yukimura.

kuwaizair · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:01 am Post subject:

wow, thats intersting. Is this Info in the SARs, info center? If not it should be. I mean, it makes things intersting to parts of the game have basis from history.
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MMan9000 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:58 pm Post subject:

I never really thought of that, but now that you mention it....were any of the female ninjas (Mizuki, Kate, Kasumi, Ayame) based off of the female ninjas that Yukimura was said to have? I could be the only one that thinks this, but Kunoichi's alternate outfit from Samurai Warriors reminds me of Kate in a strange way (except Kate has more clothing on).
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Vextor · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:03 pm Post subject:

Female ninjas were rare, but were often utilized in the Takeda ninja clan and the Kouga clan. Yukimura's stories are always half mythical so it's hard to say how much of it is true. Sarutobi Sasuke is a fictional character, for example.

Masaya · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:43 pm Post subject:

Vextor · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:52 pm Post subject:

Yeah, the Sanada family has always been rather powerful, but Yukimura went beyond that. He had his own ninja clan helping him out, and he was a great strategist as well.
Most of the 10 braves of Sanada are fictional characters though, including Sarutobi Sasuke. It is assumed that a famous Koga ninjya who went by the name of Shimotsuge no Kozaru (Zaru is the same "monkey" kanji as "saru")was actually Sarutobi Sasuke, because his real name was Kamizuki Sasuke.

Masaya · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 7:16 pm Post subject:

I could agree with that. And mostly for the fact that in that time peroid, for the fact that they were ninja's, their name wasn't really needed, or it definantly wouldn't help them or their familys if it was known. What I love most about him was his stated somewhere "unorthadox" stratagies for that time peroid. I'm not sure what that means, but it must be tricks ect, that helped him first when agaisnt Tokugawa, and then again against Date Masamune(another love of mine, let alone his helm is one of the most reknown).
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