What makes a man or a woman a legend? Genji™: Days of the Blade, a launch title for the eagerly anticipated PLAYSTATION®3, traces the life of one of Japan’s greatest Samurai leaders Genkuro Yoshitsune; a man who in his short time as leader of the Genji earned his place in the history books. Today his story is the stuff of legend. We take a look at five figures of legend and get down to the facts…
Legend: Robin Hood, England
Who: Tights-wearing, swash-buckling outlaw who lived in Sherwood Forest, robbed the rich to give to the poor and made many (posthumous!) appearances in film.
Myth: The son of Herne the Hunter or a Lord stripped of his lands by the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham. An outlaw who lived in the forest with aristocrat Maid Marian and a gang of so-called Merry Men, feasting on venison and stealing money to give to the needy. He stole from Abbots, dressed as a tramp to rescue innocents from the gallows, and won an archery contest by firing an arrow that split his opponent’s in two.
Fact: No-one has managed to prove that Robin Hood existed. A gravestone at Kirklees Priory is marked ‘Robert Hude’, but ‘Robehood’ was a name given to medieval criminals when they stood trial.
Verdict: Ultimate Man of Myth
Legend: Rasputin, Russia
Who: The ultimate ‘evil monk’; Russian hero, beard wearer and bogey man. Influential in the early 20th-century Russian court and, of course, celebrated in a song by Boney M.
Myth: A psychic from early childhood. After a vision of the Holy Virgin Mother he traveled to the Russian court in 1905, where he ‘cured’ the heir to the throne of haemophilia. He used his fame and psychic powers to bed a string of aristocrats including the Tsarina but with power came danger and he was assassinated. The original bullet-proof monk his assassins had to feed him enough cyanide to kill ten men, then shoot him several times, run him over and finally drown him. All done to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy playing on the gramophone.
Fact: Rasputin never claimed to be a monk, though he was interested in a sect which sought salvation through sin! His charisma led many to consider him a holy man and the Tsarina believed that only he could help her son. As his power grew she began to ask Rasputin’s advice making him hugely influential, especially once the Tsar left to fight World War I. He was murdered in 1916. The true details of his death are unclear but one thing is for sure - his death has become as famous as his life.
Verdict: Half man, half myth
Legend: Joan of Arc, France
Who: The cross-dressing ‘Maid Of Orleans’. Teenage visionary and military genius who led the 1429 French struggle against English rule and got her hands, and herself, seriously burnt.
Myth: At 13 Joan of Arc began having visions in which various saints told her to lead the French against the English rulers. She travelled to court where, after examination by theologians, she was declared a prophet and given command of the army. Following her spiritual guides, and insisting on the moral purity of her soldiers, she led the army to divinely-ordained victory. Eventually betrayed she was raped and convicted of heresy. Even her executioners wept as she was burned at the stake.
Fact: Born a peasant, Jehanne Darc persuaded the French military to give her leadership of the army. She was skilled in deploying artillery, and led the army that raised the siege of Orleans. Things went downhill and she was captured in 1430 when her army raised a drawbridge too soon and left her behind. Tried for heresy by an English inquisition she was convicted of illegally wearing men’s clothes, and sentenced to death at the age of 19.
Verdict: More woman than myth
Legend: Genghis Khan, Mongolia
Who: 13th-century Mongolian warlord, hard man and conqueror of Asia, and all done from the back of a horse. Last seen as a goodish guy in ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’.
Myth: Genghis spent his childhood as a slave before escaping and taking control of his tribe. Then he set about conquering everything, becoming so feared that hundreds of thousands killed themselves rather than do battle with him. By the end of his reign he had killed more than 60 million people. He was buried with 60 baby camels, and the soldiers who built his tomb were murdered to stop them revealing its location.
Fact: Timujin (Genghis Khan meaning ‘Universal Ruler’) lived from 1162-1227. He united the nomadic tribes of Mongolia and used them to conquer the largest continuous empire in world history. At its peak it stretched from Poland to China in the north, and from Baghdad to Hanoi in the south. Genghis’s tactics included fast-moving light cavalry, advanced siege machines, and astute psychological warfare. He also instituted the region’s first stable political system, and was regarded as a wise ruler by many.
Verdict: Argument continues, nutter or natural leader?
Legend: Genkuro Yoshitsune aka Genji, Japan
Who: 12th-century Japanese samurai hero with a loyal band of followers. Japanese celebrity and star of films, paintings, poems and plays. Often confused with Japanese court playboy ‘Genji’. Legend continues with Yoshitsune going digital in his own PlayStation games.
Myth: Genkuro was trained in swordsmanship by forest goblins! Short and weak he used his brains and speed to win the loyalty of huge warrior monk Benkei by defeating him in a duel. An ancient Batman and Robin, the two fought to defeat Yoshitsune’s enemies, finally achieving an appallingly bloody victory at Dannoura where the enemies’ spirits ended up inhabiting the island’s crabs. Betrayed and forced to commit ritual suicide, Benkei shielded Yoshitsune whilst he killed himself and ended up riddled with arrows. Bizarrely his corpse remained standing for 10 minutes after he died. Some say the deaths were faked and that Yoshitsune fled to Mongolia to become Genghis Khan.
Fact: Genkuro Yoshitsune (1159-1189) was from the Genji clan. His father and two oldest brothers were killed by the Heishi, a rival clan, in the Heishi Rebellion of 1159. When he grew up he and his brother led an army against the Heishi. He first engaged them in 1184 at the battle of Ichinotani, and finally destroyed them in a naval battle at Dannoura in 1185. He was betrayed 1189, and committed suicide while Benkei held off the enemy.
Verdict: Play the game, then you decide.
Become part of legend with Genji: Days of the Blade exclusively on PLAYSTATION 3.
Legend: Robin Hood, England
Who: Tights-wearing, swash-buckling outlaw who lived in Sherwood Forest, robbed the rich to give to the poor and made many (posthumous!) appearances in film.
Myth: The son of Herne the Hunter or a Lord stripped of his lands by the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham. An outlaw who lived in the forest with aristocrat Maid Marian and a gang of so-called Merry Men, feasting on venison and stealing money to give to the needy. He stole from Abbots, dressed as a tramp to rescue innocents from the gallows, and won an archery contest by firing an arrow that split his opponent’s in two.
Fact: No-one has managed to prove that Robin Hood existed. A gravestone at Kirklees Priory is marked ‘Robert Hude’, but ‘Robehood’ was a name given to medieval criminals when they stood trial.
Verdict: Ultimate Man of Myth
Legend: Rasputin, Russia
Who: The ultimate ‘evil monk’; Russian hero, beard wearer and bogey man. Influential in the early 20th-century Russian court and, of course, celebrated in a song by Boney M.
Myth: A psychic from early childhood. After a vision of the Holy Virgin Mother he traveled to the Russian court in 1905, where he ‘cured’ the heir to the throne of haemophilia. He used his fame and psychic powers to bed a string of aristocrats including the Tsarina but with power came danger and he was assassinated. The original bullet-proof monk his assassins had to feed him enough cyanide to kill ten men, then shoot him several times, run him over and finally drown him. All done to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy playing on the gramophone.
Fact: Rasputin never claimed to be a monk, though he was interested in a sect which sought salvation through sin! His charisma led many to consider him a holy man and the Tsarina believed that only he could help her son. As his power grew she began to ask Rasputin’s advice making him hugely influential, especially once the Tsar left to fight World War I. He was murdered in 1916. The true details of his death are unclear but one thing is for sure - his death has become as famous as his life.
Verdict: Half man, half myth
Legend: Joan of Arc, France
Who: The cross-dressing ‘Maid Of Orleans’. Teenage visionary and military genius who led the 1429 French struggle against English rule and got her hands, and herself, seriously burnt.
Myth: At 13 Joan of Arc began having visions in which various saints told her to lead the French against the English rulers. She travelled to court where, after examination by theologians, she was declared a prophet and given command of the army. Following her spiritual guides, and insisting on the moral purity of her soldiers, she led the army to divinely-ordained victory. Eventually betrayed she was raped and convicted of heresy. Even her executioners wept as she was burned at the stake.
Fact: Born a peasant, Jehanne Darc persuaded the French military to give her leadership of the army. She was skilled in deploying artillery, and led the army that raised the siege of Orleans. Things went downhill and she was captured in 1430 when her army raised a drawbridge too soon and left her behind. Tried for heresy by an English inquisition she was convicted of illegally wearing men’s clothes, and sentenced to death at the age of 19.
Verdict: More woman than myth
Legend: Genghis Khan, Mongolia
Who: 13th-century Mongolian warlord, hard man and conqueror of Asia, and all done from the back of a horse. Last seen as a goodish guy in ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’.
Myth: Genghis spent his childhood as a slave before escaping and taking control of his tribe. Then he set about conquering everything, becoming so feared that hundreds of thousands killed themselves rather than do battle with him. By the end of his reign he had killed more than 60 million people. He was buried with 60 baby camels, and the soldiers who built his tomb were murdered to stop them revealing its location.
Fact: Timujin (Genghis Khan meaning ‘Universal Ruler’) lived from 1162-1227. He united the nomadic tribes of Mongolia and used them to conquer the largest continuous empire in world history. At its peak it stretched from Poland to China in the north, and from Baghdad to Hanoi in the south. Genghis’s tactics included fast-moving light cavalry, advanced siege machines, and astute psychological warfare. He also instituted the region’s first stable political system, and was regarded as a wise ruler by many.
Verdict: Argument continues, nutter or natural leader?
Legend: Genkuro Yoshitsune aka Genji, Japan
Who: 12th-century Japanese samurai hero with a loyal band of followers. Japanese celebrity and star of films, paintings, poems and plays. Often confused with Japanese court playboy ‘Genji’. Legend continues with Yoshitsune going digital in his own PlayStation games.
Myth: Genkuro was trained in swordsmanship by forest goblins! Short and weak he used his brains and speed to win the loyalty of huge warrior monk Benkei by defeating him in a duel. An ancient Batman and Robin, the two fought to defeat Yoshitsune’s enemies, finally achieving an appallingly bloody victory at Dannoura where the enemies’ spirits ended up inhabiting the island’s crabs. Betrayed and forced to commit ritual suicide, Benkei shielded Yoshitsune whilst he killed himself and ended up riddled with arrows. Bizarrely his corpse remained standing for 10 minutes after he died. Some say the deaths were faked and that Yoshitsune fled to Mongolia to become Genghis Khan.
Fact: Genkuro Yoshitsune (1159-1189) was from the Genji clan. His father and two oldest brothers were killed by the Heishi, a rival clan, in the Heishi Rebellion of 1159. When he grew up he and his brother led an army against the Heishi. He first engaged them in 1184 at the battle of Ichinotani, and finally destroyed them in a naval battle at Dannoura in 1185. He was betrayed 1189, and committed suicide while Benkei held off the enemy.
Verdict: Play the game, then you decide.
Become part of legend with Genji: Days of the Blade exclusively on PLAYSTATION 3.
Games:
Genji: Days of the Blade