Ranmaru

Ranmaru (蘭丸 Ranmaru) is a character from Sakura Taisen 4. He later appears as the secondary antagonist of Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love. As the loyal follower of Oda Nobunaga, Ranmaru leads a group of demons loyal to Nobunaga to attack New York City in hopes of reviving their lord. Ranmaru serves as the antagonist of Chapters 1 and 6 and as Gemini Sunrise's nemesis.

Appearance
Although he is male, Ranmaru takes the appearance of a small Japanese girl with pale skin and red eyes. He has short green hair and white rabbit-like ears.

Ranmaru dresses in a black dress with red sandals and carries a large golden scythe.

Personality
Ranmaru is a wicked and bloodthirsty demon with the sole desire of destroying mankind. He has no qualms about causing pain and death as long as it benefits his plans. When confronting Geminine, he has shown apathy for Mifune's death and her desire for revenge, calling her the student of an old fool.

Ranmaru is immensely loyal to Nobunaga and made it his full intention to revive his lord in the human world no matter the cost. Even as he layed dying due to Nobunaga 's arrow, Ranmaru never showed any opposition to Nobunaga's actions and words and declared that he happily accepts death as long as it served Nobunaga's ambition. His loyalty and determination towards his lord is so strong that Gemini remarks that it looks like some kind of love.

Ranmaru sometimes speaks in a sarcastic tone while interacting with Nobunaga 's other servants. Despite this, Ranmaru has shown to have some empathy for his demon comrades, at least to some degree. While he considers Nobunaga to be the most important person in his life, he had some regret over his comrades' deaths and hoped that Nobunaga's victory could allow them to rest in peace. When Nobunaga calls it inconsequential nonsense, Ranmaru is shown to be slightly affected by it as he remains silent.

Ranmaru is also shown to be a coward when Gemini threatens to kill him. The demon pathetically begged to be spared even saying he never intended to kill Mifune despite actually trying to.

Background
Ranmaru is one of the demons serving under Oda Nobunaga, Demon Lord of the 6th Heaven. At some time in medieval Japan, Ranmaru and Nobunaga fought against the original Five-Ring Warriors at Azuchi Castle. Seeing that Nobunaga was too powerful, the Five-Ring Warriors were forced to use the Five-Ring Mandala to seal the Demon Lord at the cost of one of them dying. With Nobunaga sealed away, Ranmaru disappeared and made it his cause to revive his lord to the human world.

Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love
In 1926, Ranmaru appears in Texas, USA in search of the Book of Five Rings, an artifact holding information on the Five-Ring Warriors. The Book is revealed to be in the possession of Mifune, an elderly samurai. Ranmaru confronts Mifune and his student, Gemini Sunrise, near a waterfall and declares his intention to take the Book. In a last resort to prevent this, Mifune sacrifices himself and takes Ranmaru down the waterfall with him as Gemini watches in despair. However, Ranmaru survived the fall and has gotten half of the Book while Gemini has the other half. His actions causes the wrath of Gemini's sister Geminine, who lived within her sister as a split personality, who makes it her own purpose to get revenge on the demon.

In 1928, two years after his confrontation with Mifune, Ranmaru makes his way to New York City, the city that never sleeps. Since New York is the largest city of the world, it holds a huge amount of Pneuma, making it the perfect place to resurrect his lord Nobunaga. As such, Ranmaru, starts leading attacks on the Big Apple.

Chapter 1 : A Samurai Makes His First Stand
Ranmaru first appears in Wall Street where he witnessed a bank robbery being foiled by the Masked Woman. Following the swordswoman's departure, Ranmaru chuckles and disappears into a nearby alley.

Ranmaru later appears leading enemy machines near the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. He mocks the whole concept of liberty as a worthless ideal and intents to destroy the island. New York Combat Revue 's Star Division then arrives and starts fighting the enemy robots. After seeing his minions get destroyed, Ranmaru calls the Revue mindless fools for defying him and throws his scythe in the sky, summoning his battle robot Garan. As Captain Ratchet reacts with horror at the robot's appearance, Ranmaru mocks the group by stating they have plenty of time to die. When Shinjiro demands the demon's identity, Ranmaru replies that it doesn't matter as their lives are nearly at an end. Garan then swings his scythe down to attack the group. Everyone dodges except Ratchet who couldn't move due to her lack of Pneuma. The hit incapacitates Ratchet who gets sent into a nearby wall. As Ratchet struggles to move, Ranmaru laughs evilly and expresses the desire to hear her scream and taste her fear. Garan then swings his scythe again to kill Ratchet but fails as Shinjiro immediately moves and saves Ratchet, angering the demon.

No longer able to fight, Ratchet retires from the battlefield and orders Shinjiro to lead the Star Division in her stead. Shinjiro, Cheiron and Subaru then engage Ranmaru and his robot in the skies above Liberty Island. Heavily damaged, Garan falls and crushes on Liberty Island. Ranmaru, who survived the fall, then tells the Star Division they're tougher than expected but that it doesn't matter. As Shinjiro asks again for his identity, the demon tells him to savor their last days on Earth as their doomsday is close at hand. Ranmaru then laughs again and escapes alongside Garan.

Later on, Ranmaru watches over New York calling it the largest, most chaotic city in the world. He also declares it's just begging to be overrun by their lord before laughing maniacally.

Chapter 2 : Law of the People, For the People, By the People
Ranmaru meets up with the Black Dragon Princess Kokuryu who watches as Harlem gets divided in their recent conflict with Steam Frontier. The young girl agrees with the woman as she tastes the filth of Harlem's inhabitants in the air. When Kokuryu asks if he has any news for her, Ranmaru says he doesn't as he wanted to make sure she wasn't slacking off. When the Black Dragon Princess declares her intention to cleanse every inch of New York to resurrect their lord, Ranmaru mocks her title by asking her what's her plan. Kokuryu then says she intends to deliver her own laws to the world and create a new law order.

Chapter 5 : A Melancholy Intellect
Ranmaru meets up with her comrade Tsugarubi aboard a luxury cruiser after he turned women into stone statues by sucking their Pneuma.

Chapter 6 : Gemini the Twin
Following the demise of her comrades, Ranmaru is left alone to resurrect Nobunaga. The demon is confronted by the Masked Woman Geminine who fights Ranmaru. Geminine declares revenge for the death of her master Mifune who was killed by Ranmaru in Texas two years ago. As the swordswoman declared her intentions, Ranmaru then concludes that Geminine holds the other half of the Book of Five Rings that he stole from Mifune.

One day, Ranmaru attacks the area around Times Square as he has located the New York Combat Revue's base in Littlelip Theater. He also creates a fake duplicate of himself to lure Geminine away to the Brooklyn Bridge. As Geminine runs in pursuit of the demon, Shinjiro goes after Geminine to stop her rampage while the rest of the Star Division goes after Ranmaru's forces. Unfortunately for the Star Division, the enemy forces were too numerous as the girls get captured on the rooftop of the nearby buildings.

Following his defeat and retreat, Ranmaru breaks into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and steals the Demon Blade which is the last missing piece needed to resurrect Nobunaga. With his plans now in its final steps, Ranmaru hopes to sow fear and dread, and reap the souls and hope of every living man with Nobunaga. He resents the Star Division for humiliating him but says his lord will have the last laugh before vanishing.

Project X Zone 2
Ranmaru is one of the enemy Sega characters in the crossover tactical-roleplaying game, Project ✕ Zone 2.

Powers and abilities
Master Scythe Wielder: Ranmaru is able to wield his scythe in battle. He's so skilled he was able to hold back against the Masked Woman Geminine, a highly skilled swordswoman.

Teleportation: Ranmaru can teleport to any location he desires.

Immense Resistance: Compared to his demon comrades, Ranmaru is highly resistant to the point that he can survive the destruction of his robot Garan three times.

Equipment
Golden Scythe: Ranmaru's main choice of weapon.

Garan: Ranmaru's battle robot. It takes the appearance of a giant scythe-wielding horned robot.


 * Cannon Burial: Ranmaru's strongest attack.
 * Hell Crown: Garan's head which can send energy blasts.
 * Death Flare: A collar around Garan's neck that is equipped with cannons. It creates explosions around the robot.
 * Steam Unit: A special steam-powered pack that can heal Garan's wounds.

Trivia

 * Ranmaru is based on Mori Ranmaru.