CANON HISTORY: Motochika was born heir to the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa, on the island region of Shikoku, during the warring states period of Japan. 

After he became the clan's head he united all of Shikoku under his rule. Around the same time, Oda Nobunaga of Owari conquered the east of Japan and became the biggest military power in the country.

One of Nobunaga's chief retainers, Akechi Mitsuhide, was a dear friend of Motochika's since childhood. When the Oda army moved to quell an uprising lead by the Mōri clan at Kizugawaguchi, Mitsuhide requested Motochika's aid. Motochika brought the Chōsokabe navy to help stating that he would not turn Mitsuhide down. 

During the battle of Kizugawaguchi, Motochika observed both Nobunaga and his friend. He found Nobunaga to be a remarkable man, whose sheer ambition resonated with him, and so he decided to ally with the Oda stating that perhaps what the land needed right now was not empathy, but ambition great enough to swallow the chaos whole. Yet he was under no illusion of Nobunaga's ruthless nature, and what that meant for Mitsuhide and himself. Following the surrender of peasant militia who were escorted to safety by Mitsuhide only to be slaughtered by another general at Nobunaga's orders, one of Nobunaga's other retainers, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, left the battlefield. Seeing Mitsuhide's shock at Nobunaga's cruelty, Motochika challenged his friend's resolve, saying: 'I'm waiting for you to run away too. Or are you man enough to stay?'. When Mitsuhide chose to stay, Motochika then challenged Mitsuhide to prove his commitment to Nobunaga's cause. 

After they won at Kizugawaguchi, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo opposed Nobunaga. Nobunaga's general Shibata Katsuie was cornered by the Uesugi army at Tetorigawa and Nobunaga himself lead the reinforcements. Motochika joined the battle too, once again at Mitsuhide's behest. During the battle, when setting some of the Uesugi strongholds aflame, Nobunaga purposely set one of his own alight: the very same one that Mitsuhide occupied. Motochika understood that it was Nobunaga's way of testing Mitsuhide's ambition, and so he encouraged his bewildered friend to rise to the challenge and prove his ambition real by overcoming the flames and securing victory for the Oda. When Hideyoshi once again retreated from the battlefield, Motochika said to Mitsuhide: 'Hideyoshi does as his conscience demands... Mitsuhide, what does your soul command you to do?'. Like at Kizugawaguchi, Motochika saw Mitsuhide's repressed inability to reconcile with Nobunaga's methods and observed that Nobunaga would use any method necessary to ensure the future that he envisaged was made.

Together they won. But Motochika had suspicions that his alliance with the Oda would soon come to an end. With the Uesugi no longer a threat, Motochika expected Nobunaga to set his sights on Shikoku. Mitsuhide protested the idea, though his faith in Nobunaga had wavered. Motochika informed Mitsuhide that if they wanted to survive then they would have to keep a step ahead of Nobunaga, and returned home. 

Just as Motochika had predicted at the end of the battle of Tetorigawa, Nobunaga broke their alliance and began to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku. Mitsuhide came to Shikoku to warn Motochika, and Motochika was left with two choices: destroy Nobunaga or be wiped out. 

Motochika challenged Mitsuhide's presence in Shikoku, exposing his friend's faltering loyalty to Nobunaga. Aware of Mitsuhide's inner conflict, he pushed Mitsuhide's doubts to the surface and challenged his friend to confront them. Nobunaga's ruthless methods were already crushing Mitsuhide's gentle soul and were on the precipice of destroying his friend. Motochika urged Mitsuhide to heed his own desire to create a peaceful, compassionate land, an impossible dream under Nobunaga's dominance. 

Together Motochika and Mitsuhide went to the temple of Honnōji where Nobunaga had stopped to rest apart from the majority of the Oda forces. There they fought for their future. 

The act was especially hard on Mitsuhide and so Motochika constantly reassured his friend and encouraged him to keep moving forward as they drew ever closer. Along the way they were forced to fight some of Mitsuhide's old comrades; one in particular, Mori Ranmaru, incorrectly accused Motochika of staining Mitsuhide's white hands (with blood). Yet Nobunaga's wife, Nō, spoke of Nobunaga's anticipation and encouraged Mitsuhide to proceed as Nobunaga wished before her end. They managed to corner Nobunaga even as Honnōji went up in flames, and together defeated him.

While killing Nobunaga had ensured their survival it made Mitsuhide a target for all those who had served the Oda. One in particular, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, near immediately sought to take revenge upon Mitsuhide. Motochika stood firmly at Mitsuhide's side and together they took to the battlefield at Yamazaki. Killing Nobunaga had taken a grave emotional toll on Mitsuhide; as the battle began, Motochika acknowledged Mitsuhide's despair but encouraged him to take it and use it to strive for a better future instead of being consumed by it. 

Hideyoshi had captured Mt. Tennō and so the Toyotomi army held the tactical advantage. Despite this, Motochika and Mitsuhide fought on. After they used Chōsokabe boats to reach Hideyoshi's main camp in secret, Motochika parted from Mitsuhide and moved to take Mt. Tennō. While Mitsuhide successfully attacked the Toyotomi main camp, Motochika was ambushed at Mt. Tennō and suffered a mortal wound. With his last breath, he tells Mitsuhide: 'the living must carry on. That is the only way to honour the dead'.

CANON PERSONALITY: Motochika is an indomitable, rebellious man. Proud, strong-willed and with a concrete sense of self-identity he is defiant to his core. It is exactly as he states when he meets Motonari in battle at Kizugawaguchi: 'I have no intention of changing who I am for anyone'. Motochika is fiercely independent and does as he pleases regardless of any opposition on any scale. He is even willing to defy fate itself. In fact, he seems to actively enjoy having the odds against him. In his owns words, 'This will be a battle against the odds – just how I like it'. He revels in defiance. Motochika's independence has its drawbacks, however. Motochika is reluctant to admit weakness, having expected better of himself. He is a man who look out for others, not vice versa.

Motochika's unshakable confidence allows him to motivate others regardless of how dire the situation is and lends him the self-assurance to keep moving forward, a sentiment which he often imparts onto others. It also allows him to dismiss and even subvert criticism directed his way: the most famous example is when he is decried as bat and then assumes it as a nickname, bearing it with defiant pride. In a classic show of his almost overbearing force of conviction, Motochika goes as far as to refer to himself as if he is a bat: 'my fangs sink in deeper yet'. Another example is how he takes no offence when Ranmaru and Hideyoshi accuse him of manipulating Mitsuhide, since he knows that is simply not true. It also means that he has no fear of being blunt, and unerringly blunt he certainly is. He speaks his mind without restraint or subtlety. Motochika is a man of intense conviction, who actively responds to challenges and in turn challenges others' views. When he sees Mitsuhide begin to doubt in Nobunaga, Motochika directly challenges Mitsuhide's position, and by bringing Mitsuhide's suppressed feelings to the surface it results in them turning on Nobunaga at Honnōji. Any sort of hesitancy or uncertainness he notices he will challenge, however grand or small it may be. Strong conviction is a trait that Motochika is drawn to. Even when he does not share a person's outlook, he still admires the force of their belief.

Directly honest, Motochika doesn't coddle or sugar-coat his words for people, even those he cares for. Yet he also values compassion highly: as he says to Mitsuhide after encountering Aya at Tetorigawa, he believes that 'without kindness, we become no more than animals', and during the confrontation at Anegawa he outright states that it is Mitsuhide's extent of compassion that makes his friend the right person to rule the land. He is never needlessly sharp. He merely says what he means, nurturing without softening the impact of unpalatable truths. When he supports someone he does so with utter dedication. He is a steadfast friend through thick and thin, a source of unyielding support and strength and ready to risk all.

Cool-headed and calm, Motochika is both perceptive and mature. He has no illusions about Nobunaga's nature even as he makes an alliance with the Oda, and accurately predicts that once the Uesugi are defeated that Nobunaga will turn on him; he recognises both Mitsuhide's inner conflict over Nobunaga's methods and that Nobunaga's provocation is meant to push Mitsuhide into action. He is a realist rather than an idealist and sees the world in shades of grey. Motochika is neither a petty nor a naïve man, and as a consequence he is mentally and emotionally resilient. Yet he also believes that sometimes it is necessary to get blood on one's hands for the greater good, such as killing Nobunaga at Honnōji, which has lead other characters to question his integrity. But integrity is something he does possess. Always true to himself, he dislikes hypocrisy.

Motochika is very much a person who looks ahead without regrets: 'What's done is done; we have no choice but to move on'. That does not mean that he ignores the past, however. He is concerned with legacy and the notion of carrying forward the lessons of the past: he encourages Mitsuhide to do the same and they learn from Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu's ambitions as they end them. He believes in responsibility and takes it seriously. What Motochika does not allow the past to do is to hinder the ability to move forward in the first place. As he says to Mitsuhide before Yamazaki, 'Let the dead be. Life is for the living'. He is conscious of making history and leaving a mark behind, intending never to be forgotten once his time is done, and to do so, one must actively shape the future. Like he tells a dying Ranmaru at Honnōji: 'We survivors must move on'.

It is obvious that Motochika is an artistic person, given that his weapon of choice is a shamisen. Musically inclined, he is often found playing his shamisen when he is otherwise idle or unoccupied, or when he wishes to create a certain atmosphere or express a certain mood. It is second nature to him, and he is a true master of the shamisen in terms of both talent and prowess. He is never without his music and performing is one of his greatest joys. He considers his music an expression of his soul, which highlights just how important it is to him and how essential a part of himself he considers it. His speech also reflects his artistic nature: he can be a poetic speaker when he wants to be, normally utilising metaphors of water and sound.

Very much related, Motochika possesses a wide dramatic streak. Not only is it evident in his striking appearance, but when he wishes to make a big point he dresses it up not only with music but with bold actions as well, such as snapping his shamisen's strings one by one as he plays while exposing Mitsuhide's resolve before Honnōji, or casually dropping backwards off of a balcony to make a point about his loyalty to Mitsuhide in his story mode ending. There is nothing subtle about Motochika and that is precisely how he likes it. Unfortunately, as dropping off the balcony proves, he has a tendency to get carried away.

Motochika is man who very much embodies the nature of the sea. Like the waters he has mastered as Lord of Shikoku and head of a strong naval force, Motochika is sometimes calm and sometimes turbulent, deep and constant, always in motion and never tamed. 

SKILLS/ABILITIES: Motochika's fighting abilities are as unconventional as he is. His weapon of choice is his shamisen, and he has the innate ability to convert the sounds it produces into energy attacks which take varying forms:-
- Sound waves. He can either send them out directly in front of him as quickly as he can strum them out, or have them ripple out from himself, 360 degrees, for close-range damage.
- Sound bubbles. Able to be released alone or as many at once, they are compressed bubbles of energy that drift outwards and explode, sometimes automatically and other times only when triggered by a certain note played on his shamisen. While not especially powerful as individual attacks, they still have the ability to stun and knock enemies over without fail. In the case of the latter type, if they are not exploded after a while they fade away harmlessly. They cannot exist indefinitely.

Motochika has an strong affinity with water and can not only summon projectile orbs of water, but also large surging waves.

Characters in Samurai Warriors have what's known as musou -- slowly built through combat, musou is an energy which, when unleashed once fully charged, grants temporary invulnerability (about ten seconds), increased attack strength and adds an elemental effect to all attacks, before ending with a powerful attack. His normal musou consists of him rapidly stumming projectile soundwaves, dealing heavy damage. For his true musou, he slams his shamisen into the ground and brings forth a short-lived but wide and powerful geyser, which erupts from the point of impact and deals even heavier damage.

Otherwise he wields his shamisen like a club – it's supernaturally hardy – and utilises the occasional kick and flip. For all of his battle skill, however, Motochika is only human and therefore subject to all human frailties.

As far as wider skills go, Motochika is a truly excellent swimmer. Not only does he talk about his favourite rivers to swim, but according to one conversation he has even swum from Tosa to Kyoto. In one of his events he escapes a trap set for him by leaving his shamisen coated in fake blood while he stays underwater holding his breath for long enough that everyone believes he is dead.

As a daimyo, he is a skilled commander, on land and at sea. As head of his own navy, he is a talented seafarer.

Finally, as one might expect of someone whose weapon is a shamisen, he's an exceptional musician and a true master of his instrument.