Sengoku UkiyoSengoku Ukiyo
Language
Download for Free
← Back to the character index Mikawa Tokugawa
Sakakibara Yasumasa Sakai Tadatsugu
Ii Naomasa
Ii the Red Demon

Ii Naomasa

Mikawa Tokugawa
Ii Naomasa
Life 1561–1602 (aged 42)
Title Ii the Red Demon
Faction Mikawa Tokugawa
Places associated with this character Tōtōmi (1575–1589), Kōzuke (1590–1599), Ōmi (1600–1602)
Voice and speech His voice is stern and incisive, shadowed by survival; it rises when he speaks of gratitude to those who recognized him.
Family An orphan of Iinoya raised to prominence by Ieyasu, he became the youngest of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings. Leading former Takeda retainers, he was feared as “Ii the Red Demon.”
← Back to the character index

“An orphan who survived Iinoya, he was chosen by Ieyasu and became a Red Demon leading the red-armored troops. Support him as he earns the trust of former Takeda retainers, leads charges, and recovers from his Sekigahara wound while planning a new castle; he will repay your loyalty and treat you as family.”

Life

The Tokugawa Red Demon

Ambition

Lead the elite red-armored troops in crushing enemy lines and raise the nearly extinguished Ii house into one of the realm’s great daimyo families.

His father was murdered, and while he and his mother fled, his adoptive mother Naotora protected him. He will repay Lord Ieyasu, who took him in, and make the Ii red armor’s name known throughout the realm.

If he retreats even a step on the battlefield, veteran Mikawa retainers who look down on him as a newcomer will condemn him without mercy.

Obstacles of the era
  • The challenge of winning over the proud former Takeda retainers
  • The intense jealousy and opposition of hereditary Mikawa families
  • Constant injuries from charging into the heart of enemy lines

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

The crimson Ii Red Armor troops, inheritors of Takeda Shingen’s legacy, and his great vermilion armor.

Turning point

His childhood terror as the Imagawa executed the men of his clan one after another, bringing the Ii name close to extinction.

How he treats others

His endless gratitude to his adoptive mother Naotora of Iinoya, who sheltered him at risk to her life and educated him as a warrior.

Principle he will not yield

Bringing disgrace to the Ii red armor and letting another house lead the charge.

Historical path

1575 - 1583
An orphan who survived Iinoya and was selected by Ieyasu as a young retainer
His voice is hard and direct, carrying the gloom of a survivor; it rises when he speaks of the favor he received.
1584 - 1589
The Tokugawa Red Demon, leading former Takeda retainers and the Ii red armor
His severe voice keeps the Red Guards under strict discipline; he is merciless when speaking of charges and military order.
1590 - 1599
The daimyo of Minowa in Kōzuke, granted 120,000 koku to secure the Tokugawa north
He tempers severity with diplomatic judgment, speaking sharply of battle and guardedly of politics.
1600 - 1602
The Red Demon wounded at Sekigahara, transferred to Sawayama with 180,000 koku and planning Hikone Castle, which he never saw completed
Illness weighs on his severe voice; his words flare when he speaks of victories and his new castle, but he cannot hide his pain.

Final chapter

1602 (aged 42)

At Sekigahara in 1600, he fought at the head of the eastern army. While pursuing Shimazu Yoshihiro’s retreating force, he was badly wounded in the right shoulder by the Shimazu rearguard’s gunfire. He worked on postwar diplomacy, but the wound never healed; he died of tetanus in Hikone on the 1st day of the 2nd month, Keichō 7 (1602), aged forty-two.

Enduring severe pain, he concluded peace negotiations with the Shimazu after the war, but died before seeing his new Hikone Castle completed.
“The young Red Demon, who rendered outstanding service at Sekigahara and bore the burden of postwar settlement, died in his early forties when a single battlefield gunshot wound worsened. He did not live to see peace fully established.”