Naoe Kanetsugu

Likes: Echigo  Dislikes: Self-serving rulers  Natural Enemy: Tokugawa Ieyasu, Date Masamune    A person who laughs when he is happy, and cries when he is sad. An unmistakable example of the fleeting existence known as humans.  A likable and honest personality that is difficult to hate, but also someone who isn’t afraid to throw harsh-yet-accurate insults all with a smile on his face.  In life, both the as well as his own were, more or less, emotionally stunted. Kenshin, who did not understand emotions, and Kagekatsu, who felt emotions but chose not to express them.  By being a mere human who genuinely loved people, he managed to understand both of them where nobody else could.  He smiles enough for an outsider to see him and Kenshin, and assume they are similar people. However, he smiles not because it is something he feels he must do, but because he genuinely loves the world.  Someone who fights not for himself, but to protect others, and tries his best to uphold ideals of honor and righteousness regardless of whether he lives in the age of betrayal.   In ideology, he is truly the successor to Kenshin.    If you want a concise description, he is the only well-adjusted member of society when it comes to Sengoku figures here.

A comic about the past of the Uesugi clan, ft. a certain Nagao Kagetora...

Blade of Cutting Calamity

A prized Uesugi sword that Kanetsugu favoured, famous for the anecdote where he used this sword to prevent floods. Its name stems from the belief that water gods were the cause of flooding, so one could prevent a flood by cutting down a water god.  In his life, he worked hard to ensure the survival and prosperity of the Uesugi clan through many trials: moving their livelihood from Echigo to Aizu to Yonezawa, through the changing tides of the time. Even as the aftermath of Sekigahara left their holdings cut down a quarter of what it had previously been, he did not lay off any retainers, instead working hard to frugally balance what they had left to survive. Through carefully managing their domain, he succeeded in keeping the Uesugi alive. Of course, this includes flood management due to the importance of crops for their livelihood, which likely became the basis of the story it carries.  Though the sword he uses at default is a different blade of the same name (Takemata Kanemitsu), it transforms into the Suijingiri through release of this Noble Phantasm’s name.   It can ward off anything carrying the concept of a “natural disaster”, and disappears and turns back into the original sword after its usage. It can also be used as a normal sword with conceptual effectiveness against Divinity with authority over water.

Fighting for Others Through a War-Torn Era

The iconic helmet Kanetsugu wore adorned with the character for love/ai (愛). Assumed to be a tribute to a god - often Aizen Myouou, the god of love. The auspicious imagery of the character floating on a cloud shape makes this all the more believable, and perhaps it is what he wanted others to think.  In this incarnation, he chose the character because he feels “love” is the real reason he fights. To continue fighting for the sake of others — for the Uesugi clan that he so dearly loved — rather than his own personal gain, is the crystallization of his legend.  This Noble Phantasm brings forth a blessing that temporarily boosts his parameters while temporarily granting the Divinity skill. The stronger the reason to fight for others, the stronger the rank of Divinity. 

Naoe Letter A+

An irrefutable challenge that provokes the opponent into battle, inflicting mental debuffs on the enemy. It can be resisted with Skills like Disengage.  An ability to critically analyze the state of the opponent to create a speech that provokes battle.  Derived from the anecdote of a letter he had sent to Tokugawa Ieyasu in the leadup to the fateful Battle of Sekigahara. It was said that his scathing letter is what became the final straw that instigated the legendary battle. 

The chief retainer of the Uesugi clan in the later Warring States.  Born to the Higuchi family in service of the Ueda Nagao, he was noticed by the elder sister of Uesugi Kenshin and brought into his [her] service at a young age. Initially a page of Uesugi Kagekatsu, he served as Higuchi Kanetsugu for several years, until Kenshin died suddenly amidst their campaign against the Oda.   Kenshin had failed to name a successor out of his two adopted sons, and civil war broke out between Uesugi Kagekatsu and . Kagetora was being backed by his birth clan, the powerful Houjou, who were in turn allied with the illustrious Takeda. Through his quick thinking, Kanetsugu brought the Takeda to Kagekatsu’s side and successfully reunited the retainers under his lord. Soon after, he married into the Naoe family, becoming chief retainer of the Uesugi at only 22 years of age.  Offering his unwavering support through the turbulent final years of the Sengoku period, he helped Uesugi Kagekatsu pilot the Uesugi clan through many trials. Later, he helped spark the final battle between Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu that led to a united nation. Although their side lost the battle and the Uesugi were almost dispossessed, Kanetsugu fought hard to establish it as a prominent house of the Edo period.  He was named as one of the Seven Spear Pillars of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, seven generals praised as both talented spearmen and valuable retainers.  It is also said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi once claimed that one needs wisdom, courage, and magnanimity to conquer a nation, and that though there was nobody else in the nation with all three, there existed three generals with two of the traits: Nabeshima Naoshige who lacked magnanimity, Kobayakawa Takakage who lacked courage, and Naoe Kanetsugu who lacked wisdom. Such a statement leaves much room for interpretation, but it also shows respect for his ability. 

A design I had initially made for an RPG with friends where we would try and emulate a Holy Grail War. I was given the Lancer class to design a Servant for, and suddenly remembered there was potential for an interesting interaction with a fellow Servant in the war (who had been Katou Danzou, another Servant with a connection to the Uesugi). As such, I left his iconic “ai” helmet out of his default design as to not be an immediate giveaway.   In the design, I slightly referenced Tenchijin for the hairstyle. It’s pretty rare for (adult) men to have bangs in historical drama, so I thought that was a rather cute detail he had for some reason. He dresses appropriately for the snowy province of Echigo in the second ascension. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy bought a Bi(shamonten) T-shirt for his casual gear.  Personality-wise, I was (again) heavily inspired by Tenchijin, keeping in mind his relationships with Kenshin and Kagekatsu in respect to Fate. Understandably, he was likely not completely the honorable samurai he is so often depicted as, but I thought it would be nice for his Fate version to play off the characters of the Nagao Kagetora we were given as well as Uesugi Kagekatsu, whose stoicism is very famous…  By the way, his other class is Saber (would he show more of his side as a plotter there?) given the fact that he has no shortage of name swords. I imagined his appearance in Fate/GO would be as a welfare for an event.