Masamune Date

Masamune Date is one of the main characters and one of the main protagonists in the Sengoku BASARA franchise.

Masamune as portrayed as the energetic and fearless young ruler of the Date Clan. He was known as "One-Eyed Dragon".

Appearance
Masamune in the anime very closely resembles his in-game character design, with medium-long brown hair, a black eye-patch over his right eye, and the classic helmet with its golden crescent moon.

Personality
Masamune tends to speak a mixture of English and Japanese and the way he and his men are portrayed resembles a Yakuza Clan or a stereotypical motorcycle gang (due to hellosome of the hairstyles of the men, their way of talking, and other details). Additionally, in Episode 9 of the second season of the anime, Chosokabe Motochika describes Masamune's army as a "biker gang." Date Masamune is presented as a cocky and ambitious warlord, usually wielding a single katana, though when fighting seriously he can use up to six swords at once (three in each hand, held between the fingers). His reputation for using six swords, and his overwhelming strength in battle, have given him the nickname "One-Eyed Dragon," with his swords being his "Dragon's Claws."

While extremely energetic, optimistic, and rather rash on the battlefield, outside of it he is generally quiet, mild, and thoughtful. He discusses his plans and difficulties openly with his men, and often weighs the counsel of his second in command, Katakura Kojuro, before making any major decisions.

Additionally, his loyalty to his men is unmistakable; he has shown more than once to deeply care for all of them, especially for his right hand, Kojūrō.

Despite his rivalry with the young Sanada Yukimura, the two have a deep respect for one another for the other's respective combat abilities, and for the other's passion. Additionally, they were also able to form an alliance in order to take down the Devil King Oda Nobunaga.

Abilities
Masamune fights using regular 6 Katana, master of Six-claw technique that he could use and assess depending on situation. one of the few characters to have an alternate mode- his regular mode and his 6-Sword mode.

In his regular mode, Masamune uses only one of his swords for his regular attack string. His S-String comprises of common 8hit slashes and is comparable to most other characters in terms of attack speed and range. He utilizes some of his skills such as Death Fang for decent area attack and air-follow up, Crazy Storm for Combo-wise, Magnum step for closing in, Jet-X for sweeping, Phantom Dive for path opener, Hell Dragon and Testament to deal massive damage regularly. He is not that fast and his recovery speed is mid-tier during regular mode, his evasive technique is not that decent either as its quite slow compared to his servant, Katakura Kojuro.

In his 6-sword mode, Masamune uses all six swords. This mode is activated by equipping his personal item, using his Basara Attack, using War Dance or automatically in certain stages in the story. Masamune will return to his regular mode when hit, after certain amount of time has passed, or when using most of his skills. While in this mode, his S-String will deal more damage in addition to being faster and longer (range-wise) than his regular S-String. His S-String also covers more area, than his regular one. However, while in this mode, Masamune cannot guard or evade, making it risky to use in some situations. Prior to Sengoku BASARA 3, unless his personal item is equipped, this mode would be canceled once Masamune gets hit or using any skills other than War Dance. Also, in Sengoku BASARA 3, Masamune gets a new regular air attack and his skills get upgraded while in this mode, and his War dance no longer being deactivated when he uses another skills.

On Sengoku Basara 3 and above, War Dance mode will affect not only his regular S-String, but also most of Masamune skills significantly that will give more advantage to him. Some of his skills name will change as well (Founded in the game website and from the anime as well) during this mode.

Masamune Basara arts, is a regular close range Basara attack which deals moderate damage. The finisher will automatically activates Masamune War Dance for a short time.

Masamune personal item for Sengoku Basara 2, Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes and Sengoku Basara 3 effect is permanently making him on War Dance mode.

Trivia

 * Kazuya Nakai, Masamune's Japanese voice actor, seems to have an affinity with voicing rambunctious sword users (Roronoa Zoro, Mugen, Travis Touchdown, even the one-eyed Xiahou Dun), which funny enough, the actor is uncomfortable with sharp objects. (In that same point, his character Hijikata Toshirou in Gintama, references this Masamune quite a lot.)
 * In the anime his eyes are blue but in game they are brown.
 * Date Masamune's six sheaths (which he carries his swords in) resemble dragon wings.
 * Date's horse has handlebars and exhausts that resemble a motorcycle.
 * Date Masamune was planned to be a playable character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but in the end he wasn't included.