Why does Samurai Warriors interprit Oda Nobunaga as eviil?

Question

Samurai Warriors is a video game for PSP, and, I think, PS2. I thought he was just a leader, not some tyrannical dictator.

Answer 1

He wasn't one to avoid "collateral damage". Just one example would be the burning of the Enryakuji monastery in 1571. Twenty to thirty thousand died, including women and children. By 2007 standards he definitely committed crimes against humanity. However it is just a video game.

Answer 2

Perhaps one of the reasons for this could be that Buddhism was at its height of influence in Japan during the Sengoku Jidai or the warring states period in Japan. Buddhist sects were highly infulential in both the religious and political spheres of Japanese society and Buddhism as a religoin was very popular and widespread among the Japanese population.

At this time Oda Nobunaga was on his way to unifying Japan and one of the largest obstacles in his way were the warrior monks of Mt. Hiei, or the Enryakuji temple complex, as it is better known. These warrior monks were not only a strong political influcence but also a potential military opposition to Oda and thus he decided to get rid of them once and for all by burning the entire temple complex to the ground and slaying a large number of monks.

These monks have certainly put up some resistance so its not exactly a mass killing of innocents although the bloodshed is indeed numerous. However, since monks were revered figures in Japan due to the widespread popularity of Buddhism at this time, the people may have considered Oda as having committed a grave sin by killing so many members of the clergy.