[ HEADCANON ]
I really need a life one of these days... anyway, just random thoughts about stuff in canon regarding Date coming from my head. Will be added and edited whenever I feel like it. Of course, note that this being Sengoku Basara history is very very much ignored in many areas, so forgive me if this happens.
HISTORY
☇ Before being known as Masamune, Date was first simply known as 'Bontenmaru'; he only would come to receive the name of Date Masamune at the age of fourteen when he went into his first battle for the Date clan.
☇ Koujurou became his retainer when he was six years old; Date will never know this, but Koujurou being given to him was his father's (Date Terumune) one true last attempt at stopping Yoshihime from utterly destroying his firstborn son - something which did, in a way, eventually succeed.
☇ From young, Yoshihime had always drilled the fact that Date was 'unworthy' into his head; but through Koujurou's encouragement and his own motivation he strived himself to be a person who would be worthy of his clan and of his family just like his father. And more importantly, he wanted his mother to finally acknowledge him properly.
☇ While he lost the eyesight in his right eye from a very young age (around four or five), Date never took out the eye because of the risks it had and the lack of anaesthesia during those times. In a bid to make himself 'worthy' though, he had Koujurou remove his eye around the age of eight. Needless to say, the process was hardly that all pretty, especially with the lack of any form of anaesthetics.
☇ To his father and his younger brother, Date never had anything against them - his father was a figure he looked up to, and while he and Kojirou (his brother) were never so close, at least they could live with each other. His mother, however, was the one who never stopped in constantly inflicting mental agony on Date, and the scars still remain even until today.
☇ Has a habit to kind of 'hold' onto something (be it physically or mentally) to hide behind whenever he's uncertain or afraid. It manifested as a kid due to the treatment he received from his mother, and while he has mostly grown out of it by now it still comes from time to time. Nobody can really notice that though, unless of course its Koujurou.
☇ At the age of fifteen or so, Date's recklessness caused his father to be kidnapped; the resulting conflict that arose from this caused the death of his father, and Date's first big regret in his life. While he did deal with those involved with this incident in time, to this day it remains as one of the biggest things that haunts him.
☇ After the death of his father relationships with both his mother and brother became worse than ever, to the point where the clan was divided between those who supported Date and those who supported Yoshihime. Things got so bad that Yoshihime, desperate to take Date out in becoming the head, attempted to poison and kill him. Fortunately the plot was discovered in time, but for Date who had been striving this whole time until now for the sake of his mother to acknowledge him... well, saying that he took is badly would be an understatement.
☇ Things hardly got better from there however, as it was clear that neither of the factions would not be giving into each other anytime soon. And so Date, after much deliberation and to the second biggest regret in his life, ordered the death of his younger brother. Of course, Koujurou was the one who did the proper planning and all - but the intention was still there, and this death greatly haunts Date even to this day.
CURRENT
☈ Because of how broken his family is, for Date he has never truly understood the concept of what 'family' means for him; in a way more or less, he regards his men and his army as a family, but on a very basic level of sorts.
☈ Has not much real interest in starting a family or having any sort of loving relationship with women - he considers himself just a little too jaded for anything lovey-dovey and also doesn't think himself so capable of having one, especially not in the times that he's living in and how he himself grew up. He'll probably only really think about it when he's done with the fighting and wars and when he's a lot more older than how he is now.
☈ While he may act all wild and certain and kind of arrogant on the outside, on the inside however Date has a very low opinion on himself - he thinks of himself as the 'bad guy', because by his own hand he's torn apart his entire family in order to get where he is today. In that same vein, that's where his belief of 'power not solving anything' comes in; because he's been there, and he knows for a fact that it doesn't work.
☈ For his whole life Date has built himself up to be nothing else but the head of Oshu; without that, he wouldn't know who or what else he can be. Similarly, its because that now he's the head of Oshu all Date can do now is to continue moving forward no matter what - because for him, for somebody who already lost everything to get where he is now, there's nothing for him to turn back to.
☈ The main reason for Date's constant recklessness and the ways he does things stems from the confidence he has in himself and the abilities of Koujurou as well. Its precisely because he knows that his retainer can guard his back does he allow himself to go all out without a single shred of concern and worry.
☈ To be honest, Date doesn't really look at Yukimura as his rival - he sees the other as a younger version of himself, a him who still possesses that bit of innocence within him that is still untouched and unmarred. In a way, he's envious that the other still has that, while he himself was forced to lose it because of the life and family he was born into. But that aside, he does hope that Yukimura can keep that innocence in him for as long as he can, because such things are rare enough to see in such turbulent times.
☈ It is without a doubt that Koujurou is his greatest strength and weakness at the same time; the man has been with him since he was small, and he's the only guy he saw through everything he went through and was with him in every single step of the way. That coupled with the fact that Date didn't ever have much of a family, he very quickly relied on Koujurou rather than anybody else - that reliance snowballed through the years, and even until now its there without any intention of budging away. For Date, his greatest fear is having to live in a time when Koujurou isn't with him properly and he can't do anything about it. He's really glad that BREW brought him here.
☈ "From you, sir, I will take the future." This line pretty much sums up Date's own desires in a nutshell, in a wat; he fights with a desire to create a future of which he envisions; a future where peace is abundant and families are whole and there will not be a need to have anybody like him, because one of him is enough - and nobody needs to go through what he does and end up like him. What Date wants is for no more monsters like himself to be born.
OTHERS
☇ Date has a very big interest in the world outside of Hi-No-Moto, but he's more concerned with taking over the lands (obviously). But now that he's not in Hi-No-Moto and is in a place where there are so many new and shiny things, he's found himself immensely occupied. A lot of the things in Death City and the future do interest him.
☇ Why six swords, you ask? Well... there's no real reason, other than the fact that Date believes that more swords means more damage (which is kind of true). Also hey, he does look cool when using all six of them. Just try to pull off something more cooler than that. Also considers his helmet and horse as the coolest things ever. Anybody who says its not is totally lying.
☇ While this is not an often thing, Date does smoke hashish from time to time, more usually when he's not busy in a campaign and conquering shit. Its one of the few vices he really allows himself to have, along with an unfounded and eternal love for miso. Especially Koujurou's miso.
☇ Does not, and will never look down on women and/or girls. Especially after Itsuki. If they can prove themselves worthy in a fight to his eye, then Date will give them the proper respect they deserve. He also has a soft spot for kids, not that he will ever admit this out loud.
☇ Is bad at gardening. Like. Very, very bad. He doesn't have the patience for it in the slightest. He attempted it a few times, but quickly gave up on it.
☇ Because of the fact that he's spent his life in shaping himself as the head of Oshu (not to mention his rather enclosed childhood), Date is kind of bad at social things that isn't on a professional level; he's just not equipped to deal with events that are personal to him. Back in Hi-No-Moto he could deal with just about everything on his title as head of Oshu, but in Death City where that title doesn't actually work... well, things have been a lot more harder for him to mange that he will say, especially now that he knows that in this world, he does not get to be the one who rule Japan.
HISTORY
☇ Before being known as Masamune, Date was first simply known as 'Bontenmaru'; he only would come to receive the name of Date Masamune at the age of fourteen when he went into his first battle for the Date clan.
☇ Koujurou became his retainer when he was six years old; Date will never know this, but Koujurou being given to him was his father's (Date Terumune) one true last attempt at stopping Yoshihime from utterly destroying his firstborn son - something which did, in a way, eventually succeed.
☇ From young, Yoshihime had always drilled the fact that Date was 'unworthy' into his head; but through Koujurou's encouragement and his own motivation he strived himself to be a person who would be worthy of his clan and of his family just like his father. And more importantly, he wanted his mother to finally acknowledge him properly.
☇ While he lost the eyesight in his right eye from a very young age (around four or five), Date never took out the eye because of the risks it had and the lack of anaesthesia during those times. In a bid to make himself 'worthy' though, he had Koujurou remove his eye around the age of eight. Needless to say, the process was hardly that all pretty, especially with the lack of any form of anaesthetics.
☇ To his father and his younger brother, Date never had anything against them - his father was a figure he looked up to, and while he and Kojirou (his brother) were never so close, at least they could live with each other. His mother, however, was the one who never stopped in constantly inflicting mental agony on Date, and the scars still remain even until today.
☇ Has a habit to kind of 'hold' onto something (be it physically or mentally) to hide behind whenever he's uncertain or afraid. It manifested as a kid due to the treatment he received from his mother, and while he has mostly grown out of it by now it still comes from time to time. Nobody can really notice that though, unless of course its Koujurou.
☇ At the age of fifteen or so, Date's recklessness caused his father to be kidnapped; the resulting conflict that arose from this caused the death of his father, and Date's first big regret in his life. While he did deal with those involved with this incident in time, to this day it remains as one of the biggest things that haunts him.
☇ After the death of his father relationships with both his mother and brother became worse than ever, to the point where the clan was divided between those who supported Date and those who supported Yoshihime. Things got so bad that Yoshihime, desperate to take Date out in becoming the head, attempted to poison and kill him. Fortunately the plot was discovered in time, but for Date who had been striving this whole time until now for the sake of his mother to acknowledge him... well, saying that he took is badly would be an understatement.
☇ Things hardly got better from there however, as it was clear that neither of the factions would not be giving into each other anytime soon. And so Date, after much deliberation and to the second biggest regret in his life, ordered the death of his younger brother. Of course, Koujurou was the one who did the proper planning and all - but the intention was still there, and this death greatly haunts Date even to this day.
CURRENT
☈ Because of how broken his family is, for Date he has never truly understood the concept of what 'family' means for him; in a way more or less, he regards his men and his army as a family, but on a very basic level of sorts.
☈ Has not much real interest in starting a family or having any sort of loving relationship with women - he considers himself just a little too jaded for anything lovey-dovey and also doesn't think himself so capable of having one, especially not in the times that he's living in and how he himself grew up. He'll probably only really think about it when he's done with the fighting and wars and when he's a lot more older than how he is now.
☈ While he may act all wild and certain and kind of arrogant on the outside, on the inside however Date has a very low opinion on himself - he thinks of himself as the 'bad guy', because by his own hand he's torn apart his entire family in order to get where he is today. In that same vein, that's where his belief of 'power not solving anything' comes in; because he's been there, and he knows for a fact that it doesn't work.
☈ For his whole life Date has built himself up to be nothing else but the head of Oshu; without that, he wouldn't know who or what else he can be. Similarly, its because that now he's the head of Oshu all Date can do now is to continue moving forward no matter what - because for him, for somebody who already lost everything to get where he is now, there's nothing for him to turn back to.
☈ The main reason for Date's constant recklessness and the ways he does things stems from the confidence he has in himself and the abilities of Koujurou as well. Its precisely because he knows that his retainer can guard his back does he allow himself to go all out without a single shred of concern and worry.
☈ To be honest, Date doesn't really look at Yukimura as his rival - he sees the other as a younger version of himself, a him who still possesses that bit of innocence within him that is still untouched and unmarred. In a way, he's envious that the other still has that, while he himself was forced to lose it because of the life and family he was born into. But that aside, he does hope that Yukimura can keep that innocence in him for as long as he can, because such things are rare enough to see in such turbulent times.
☈ It is without a doubt that Koujurou is his greatest strength and weakness at the same time; the man has been with him since he was small, and he's the only guy he saw through everything he went through and was with him in every single step of the way. That coupled with the fact that Date didn't ever have much of a family, he very quickly relied on Koujurou rather than anybody else - that reliance snowballed through the years, and even until now its there without any intention of budging away. For Date, his greatest fear is having to live in a time when Koujurou isn't with him properly and he can't do anything about it. He's really glad that BREW brought him here.
☈ "From you, sir, I will take the future." This line pretty much sums up Date's own desires in a nutshell, in a wat; he fights with a desire to create a future of which he envisions; a future where peace is abundant and families are whole and there will not be a need to have anybody like him, because one of him is enough - and nobody needs to go through what he does and end up like him. What Date wants is for no more monsters like himself to be born.
OTHERS
☇ Date has a very big interest in the world outside of Hi-No-Moto, but he's more concerned with taking over the lands (obviously). But now that he's not in Hi-No-Moto and is in a place where there are so many new and shiny things, he's found himself immensely occupied. A lot of the things in Death City and the future do interest him.
☇ Why six swords, you ask? Well... there's no real reason, other than the fact that Date believes that more swords means more damage (which is kind of true). Also hey, he does look cool when using all six of them. Just try to pull off something more cooler than that. Also considers his helmet and horse as the coolest things ever. Anybody who says its not is totally lying.
☇ While this is not an often thing, Date does smoke hashish from time to time, more usually when he's not busy in a campaign and conquering shit. Its one of the few vices he really allows himself to have, along with an unfounded and eternal love for miso. Especially Koujurou's miso.
☇ Does not, and will never look down on women and/or girls. Especially after Itsuki. If they can prove themselves worthy in a fight to his eye, then Date will give them the proper respect they deserve. He also has a soft spot for kids, not that he will ever admit this out loud.
☇ Is bad at gardening. Like. Very, very bad. He doesn't have the patience for it in the slightest. He attempted it a few times, but quickly gave up on it.
☇ Because of the fact that he's spent his life in shaping himself as the head of Oshu (not to mention his rather enclosed childhood), Date is kind of bad at social things that isn't on a professional level; he's just not equipped to deal with events that are personal to him. Back in Hi-No-Moto he could deal with just about everything on his title as head of Oshu, but in Death City where that title doesn't actually work... well, things have been a lot more harder for him to mange that he will say, especially now that he knows that in this world, he does not get to be the one who rule Japan.