Ashikaga Takauji
@ Ashikaga Takauji 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 19 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d6, Weapon 2d6, claw quest-artifact-stealing 2d6 |
| Base level | 15 |
| Base experience | 488 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 40 |
| Alignment | −13 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Stoning |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
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Ashikaga Takauji:
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| Reference | monst.c#line3298 |
Ashikaga Takauji, @, is the Samurai quest nemesis. He guards the Bell of Opening and the Samurai quest artifact, The Tsurugi of Muramasa.
Generation
Ashikaga Takauji awaits at the center of his keep on the quest goal level, with the quest artifact and Bell of Opening underneath him.
In line with the flavor text produced from his defeat (as seen on the Samurai quest article), Ashikaga Takauji will never leave a corpse.
Strategy
Like all humans, Ashikaga Takauji ignores Elbereth. He has unimpressive base damage with two weapon attacks and an artifact-theft attack, but he will be wielding your quest artifact, which has high damage and can potentially bisect you. This makes him one of the most dangerous quest nemeses to face in melee range, and there is no shame in considering leaving Takauji alone unless you have options to actually deal with him. More cautious players may wait until they have a more thoroughly assembled kit with at least fallback measure, usually an amulet of life saving; the samurai player monsters and ninja on the quest often carry useful attack wands.
It is very easy to approach Ashikaga Takauji without disturbing him from his meditation, due to the layout of the level - the final entrance before the inner section gives you a clear shot with any ranged weapon from far enough away that he will not immediately wake up. Since Ashikaga Takauji has no elemental immunities or extrinsic magic resistance, a wand of death can kill him immediately if the ray hits. A wand of sleep may also work, but carries the risk of him resisting the ray and waking up to swing the Tsurugi at you; an elemental attack wand can possibly do enough damage that he warps to the stairs without picking up the Tsurugi; you may optionally leave a strong pet near the upstair to finish him off.
Another option is to awaken him from the upstairs using a cursed potion of invisibility from the safety of a boulder fort, then kill him with ranged attacks. You can also do a controlled polymorph into any large-sized or bigger monster to avoid bisection. The black dragon is the most ideal form, since using disintegration breath via the #monster command will easily kill Ashikaga Takauji without destroying the Tsurugi or the Bell of Opening.
History
Ashikaga Takauji first appears with most other quest nemeses in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first shōgun (a title for military dictators of Japan during 1185-1868) of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, marking the beginning of the Muromachi period, and ended with his death in 1358. According to Zen master and intellectual Musō Soseki, Takauji had three qualities: first, he kept his cool in battle and was not afraid of death; second, he was merciful and tolerant; and third, he was very generous with those below him.
Takauji was the leader of a rebellion against the imperial court of Emperor Go-Daigo, who had sought to restore previous imperial power and culture through the warrior class in a movement known as the Kenmu Restoration. Takauji sought to create a new warrior-led military regime modeled after the Kamakura shogunate, and in 1336 he proclaimed the beginning of a new shogunate; he was forced to retreat to Kyūshū after the imperialist forces of Kitabatake Akiie attacked and defeated him near Kyoto. This betrayal officially started the Nanboku-chō War and blackened the name of Takauji in later periods of Japanese history, such that his rebellion is considered a prime determinant in the Restoration's failure. His rebellion and role in kickstarting the Nanboku-chō War may be the basis for his villainous portrayal in NetHack.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the disarm technique can get Ashikaga to drop the Tsurugi with fairly decent frequency, in case a melee fight is unavoidable. Attacking will then make him teleport to the stairs and heal, leaving the Tsurugi behind.
Encyclopedia entry
Ashikaga Takauji was a daimyo of the Minamoto clan who
joined forces with the Go-Daigo to defeat the Hojo armies.
Later when Go-Daigo attempted to reduce the powers of the
samurai clans he rebelled against him. He defeated Go-
Daigo and established the emperor Komyo on the throne.
Go-Daigo eventually escaped and established another
government in the town of Yoshino. This period of dual
governments was known as the Nambokucho.
[ Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition, by Cook ]
On July 8, 1336, he and his samurai entered Kyoto, forced Go-Daigo
to retire, after which he seized power himself and installed a
puppet prince on the throne (the current Japanese imperial family
are the descendants of this puppet emperor that Ashikaga
installed).
Go-Daigo escaped, though, wouldn't admit to have been defeated,
and opened a new "capital" in Yoshino (south of Kyoto), where he
and few of his descendants claimed to be running a government,
known as the "Southern Court". The period between 1337 and 1392,
when Japan was ruled by two courts, is known as the Nambokucho.
That "government" disappeared, naturally, after a few generations,
and Ashikaga's Muromachi regime lasted for a long time. The last
Ashikaga daimyo in power was the 14th descendant of Takauji.
