Lady Hana (花; Hana) is a minor antagonist in Ghost of Tsushima, serving as the primary antagonist of Masako Adachi's Tale. She is the elder sister of Masako and the mastermind of Clan Adachi’s destruction.
Biography[]
As a Japanese noble, Hana had strong ambitions growing up, and had expectations that would be realized upon her marriage to a samurai. When it came to her relationship to Masako, the sisters were never close, but had at least been cordial to each other.
One day, when she and Masako were young, bandits attacked their family's estate. While Hana hid with their parents, Masako took up a sword and personally fought the bandits. As Masako fought, a samurai guard under Lord Harunobu Adachi’s command appeared to help. Hana saw Harunobu as a way to fulfill her dreams; unfortunately for her, however, Harunobu only had feelings for Masako, admiring her bravery and skill, culminating in a marriage between the two despite Masako being the younger sister.
In order to ease her sister's heartache, Masako helped arrange a marriage between Hana and a respected Clan Kikuchi retainer named Ikeda. As a result, Hana had to move into the Kikuchi's land in the frigid landscape of the Kamiagata region of Tsushima.
Unbeknownst to most however, Hana had long since held a searing hatred of Masako, blaming her for the direction her life had taken and being greatly jealous of her sister's status. Allegedly, Ikeda was an honorable man, but in truth Ikeda was a drunk who was abusive to Hana, and Hana herself hated the cold weather of Kamiagata. She came to view Masako as someone who had stolen the life that should've been hers whilst forcing her out of her family's home. Outwardly, though the two would seldom meet through Lord Shimura's Conclaves, in which Hana would still retain a civil attitude towards Masako, with the latter being none the wiser to her sister's true feelings.
The long unvented hatred Hana kept drove her to run an elaborate conspiracy to eradicate all living members of the Adachi clan, where she enlisted the help of various individuals that similarly felt wronged by the clan: Masako's former lover Mai, former Adachi headman Sadao, a monk named Sogen, the two sons of former Adachi supplier Omura, and former Adachi retainer Kajiwara. Kajiwara was put in charge of recruiting enough assassins for the massacre, while Omura's sons supplied weapons for the assassins. Sogen scouted out the estate ahead of the attack, and finally, Mai was put on reserve for after the attack, when she would loot the Adachi estate for heirlooms that Hana was possessive of.
Hana counted on the fact that the Adachi warriors would leave to fend off the Mongols at Komoda Beach. Yasunari and his two sons were killed, leaving no bulk of Adachi warriors to protect the rest of the family. Hana was present during this massacre, feigning to wait for her husband alongside her sister and nieces-in-laws so she can witness the genocide herself. During the attack, Hana fled with Masako's grandchildren, feigning intentions to escape to safety with them when she had in fact intended to have them killed to. Much to her dismay, Masako survived, and Hana is forced to fake her death by donning the disfigured corpse of a peasant woman with her signature golden sash, whilst having it placed alongside the corpses of the children. The ruse proves effective, and manages to fool Masako for some time.
Hana, with her abusive husband dead at Komoda, later secretly established a new clan in Clan Kikuchi's abandoned fort, functioning the place as a refugee's haven to gain the good will of the Kamiagata people. As Hana worked to cover up this achievement, Omura's two sons attempt to blackmail Hana for more money, leading Hana to have her co-conspirators killed after luring them into a false meeting. Hana also attempts to obtain the heirlooms that Mai had taken from the estate, but this effort are is foiled by Masako, who is unraveling Hana's conspiracy with aid from Samurai Jin Sakai.
Eventually, Masako discovers Hana's treachery after she tries obtaining information about Masako's whereabouts from local monk Junshin, and tracked her all the way to Kikuchi's fort with Jin's help. In her futile last stand, Hana had her new clan's warriors fend off Jin while Masako cornered her in the new estate. After a bitter exchange with her sister, Hana attempted to goad Masako into having her revenge by killing her. Masako refused, instead giving Hana her tanto so she could "end her suffering" by killing herself. After mocking Masako one last time, Hana stabbed herself in the gut and quickly succumbed to her wound.
Personality[]
Hana can be described as a vengeful, envious and hateful woman who only cared about her own ambitions. She and Masako were never close, but after Lord Adachi chose Masako over Hana in their youth, Hana became very envious of Masako. She felt that the life she deserved had been stolen from her.
She was very deceitful, easily hiding her true intentions and hatred for her sister for a long time and faking her death when Clan Adachi was destroyed. When confronted by Masako about her planning the destruction of Clan Adachi, Hana blames Masako for stealing the life she felt was hers.
Her lack of shame or regret for killing Masako's family, including a newborn baby, her refusal to acknowledge her wrongs, and her blaming Masako for her misfortunes heavily implies that she is a sociopath.
Trivia[]
- Records found in Sago village reveals several other details regarding Hana's situation in Kamiagata:
- Hana didn't live at Fort Kikuchi during her married life, but the village, where she would brood most of the time.
- It was confirmed that Ikeda was indeed abusive and resented Hana, seeing her as useless beside being "a place of warmth"; that is even only when Ikeda is drunk, as he's unwilling otherwise.
- Hana's conspiracy was built over secret meetings during the night at her place when her husband was absent; her co-conspirators never all visit at the same night; a servant caught whispers of their conversation but could only make out that Masako was repeatedly mentioned.