Marume Nagayoshi

Marume Nagayoshi (, Marume Nagayoshi) is one of the main antagonists of Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!. He is a General in the army of the Tokugawa Clan, who fought during the Battle of Sekigahara.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Marume appears to be a man in his late-40's. He has greying black hair, which he keeps tied up in a top-knot. His facial hair is styled into a goatee.
=== Attire ===
Throughout most of the story, Marume wears his Tokugawa General's red gusoku armor without its kabuto helmet. During his meeting with Miyamoto in Yagyu village, he is seen wearing a dark blue kamishimo.
=== Personality ===
Marume is a very stern man who rarely gives away his emotional state. He is initially deeply ambitious and is willing to betray his masters in the pursuit of gaining status, but eventually the crimes he must commit to further his rise to power wear on him. When he is asked to murder a ten year-old girl as part of his ally Nankobo Tenkai's conspiracies, this proves too much for him and he instead begins to undermine his former partner in crime's machinations to atone for his past misdeeds.
== Background ==
Marume was born in Higo Province to a lesser noble family of vassals to the Sagara Clan, in the late Warring States period. In his youth, he met and befriended several warriors who would go onto become legendary for their fighting prowess, including Yagyu Sekishusai, Hozoin In'ei and future shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sekishusai in particular became one of Marume's closest friends and trained him to become a master in the sword-fighting style he developed, called Shinkage-ryū.
Eventually, as the triple alliance between the Oda, Toyotomi and Tokugawa Clans consolidated and began their campaign to unify Japan under their rule, Marume joined the Tokugawa Clan's army and quickly became one of Tokugawa's most trusted commanders.
== Involvement ==
=== Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!: 1600-1605 ===
However, by the year 1600, Marume's ambitions for power grew too great for him to be satisfied with being a mere vassal of the Tokugawa Clan. When he was approached by the Imperial emissary in the Tokugawa court, Nankobo Tenkai, with a plan to betray Tokugawa, Marume agreed to participate in the conspiracy. Tenkai intended to assassinate Tokugawa's heir, Yuki Hideyasu, in order to guarantee that his much more naïve and easily-manipulated younger brother, Tokugawa Hidetada, would inherit the Clan instead. To achieve this, the emissary and his protege, Sasaki Kojiro, tasked Marume with putting together a special unit of soldiers to carry out the plan right before the upcoming battle between the Tokugawa Clan and the Toyotomi Clan. 
The night before what would come to be known as the Battle of Sekigahara, this unit attacked the front gate of Yuki's estate to cause a distraction while two of their members, Miyamoto Musashi and Majima Gorohachi, snuck in through the back and murdered Yuki. After the crime had been committed, Marume and Sasaki found the two assassins hiding at a nearby temple as instructed. The two conspirators tried to kill both men to ensure they would not reveal who tasked them with the murder, but Miyamoto and Majima managed to escape their ambush.
In 1601, while working for the Tokugawa in Omi Province, Marume heard news that Miyamoto had supposedly murdered a woman in a nearby village. Feeling pity for Miyamoto and believing that he didn't have it in him to kill an innocent woman, he traveled to the village and stole a sword which Miyamoto had left at the scene of the murder in an effort to curve the rumors. This was for naught, however, as the rumors persisted regardless.
Years later, in 1605, Tenkai discovered that Yuki had a daughter, Haruka, who'd been sent into hiding to protect her from her father's killers. Since he wished to eradicate Yuki's line to ensure Hidetada's claim to the shogunate would not be questioned, Tenkai ordered Marume to kill the girl. Marume proceeded as instructed and attacked the girl and their foster family while they traveled through Omi Province, but when the time came to kill the girl, he could not go through with it and instead let her escape.
After years of doing Tenkai's dirty work for him, Marume had grown tired of their ruthless, violent scheming and decided to turn against his co-conspirator. He approached his old friend Sekishusai (who was also Sasaki's father) and requested his help in stopping Tenkai's plots. From then on, Marume continued to work for Tenkai while secretly undermining him so that Sekishusai and the Tokugawa could gradually dismantle his network of conspirators.
Weeks later, Marume and Sasaki were tasked with attacking a feast to be held in Gion, Kyoto in honor of the capital's governor, Itakura Katsushige. Their mission there was to assassinate Itakura and Haruka, who'd ended up working as an apprentice courtesan at the pleasure district's largest brothel, Tsuruya. To facilitate their attack, Sasaki bribed the brothel's most popular girl, Yoshino, with enough money to buy her freedom so that she would cause a distraction by starting a fire in the courtesan's quarters. During the attack, Marume found Itakura fleeing with Haruka in tow. The General proceeded to murder the governor but once again spared Haruka. He was immediately confronted by an angered Miyamoto; who'd since moved to Gion, and the two men briefly fought before Marume fled.
Wishing to secretly get in contact with Miyamoto, Marume helped his old friend Hozoin In'ei spread rumors that the infamous ronin duelist "Miyamoto Musashi" would attend that year's Hozoin Temple martial arts tournament. In'ei wanted to use this deception to attract mighty warriors to the tournament in the hopes that one of them would defeat and humble his successor Hozoin Inshun, while Marume hoped that the real Miyamoto would come to confront the imposter using his name. After the real Miyamoto attended and won the tournament, Marume approached him and warned him about Tenkai's plans to kill Haruka.
Miyamoto and Marume would meet one last time a few weeks later. When Miyamoto traveled to the home of Yagyu Sekishusai, the swordmaster and Marume met with him to fully explain Tenkai and Sasaki's plans, and to plead for his help in stopping them. In order to help Miyamoto for his showdown with Sasaki, Marume dueled against him one more time using the Shinkage style that Sasaki used. Ultimately, Miyamoto ended up persuading Sasaki to betray Tenkai and together, the two samurai defeated Tenkai and his forces.
In 1615, Marume is seen commanding a battalion of Tokugawa soldiers during the Siege of Osaka. He and a rehabilitated Sasaki are recruiting soldiers for a special mission to rescue Shogun Hidetada's adoptive daughter from the Toyotomi Clan rebels, when they witness several soldiers volunteer; inspired by the legend of Miyamoto Musashi.
== Trivia ==
* Marume is loosely based on the historical person of the same name. However, there are several differences between this version and his real-life counterpart; chief among them being that the real Marume likely did not fight in Sekigahara and has never met Miyamoto Musashi.
== Gallery ==
RGGK! - Character Render - Marume Nagayoshi.png|Full-body Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! render of Marume
RGGK! - Character Render - Marume Nagayoshi (Yagyu Village).png|Full-body Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! render of Marume in the Yagyu Village
screenshots_rggkenzan_8404481126_o.jpg
wallpaper22_kenzan_8386533781_o.jpg
Marume Nagayoshi.png
Category:Tokugawa Clan
Category:Historical Figures
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! Characters
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! Antagonists
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! Bosses