The Niwa Clan[1] was an Inazuman family and a practitioner of the Isshin Art, one of the schools in the Raiden Gokaden.
Overview[]
The Niwa Clan is distantly related to the Kaedehara Clan, although it is unknown how far back their shared lineage goes.
Over 500 years ago, Niwa Nagamitsu apprenticed under Futsu Masayoshi alongside Kaedehara Kagemitsu and Akame Mitsunaga. The three later became known as the "Isshin Sansaku," or the great three masters of the Isshin Art.[2][3][Note 1]
400 years ago, the head of the Niwa Clan was Niwa Hisahide, who was the Armory Officer at Tatarasuna. While Mikoshi Nagamasa was the Inspector at Tatarasuna, his yoriki Katsuragi discovered a masculine puppet inside Shakkei Pavilion and brought him back to Tatarasuna with him. Despite his human-like appearance, this puppet had no idea how to live like one, and so the bladesmiths at Tatarasuna took him in as one of their own, naming him "kabukimono" and teaching him all sorts of different things.[4]
However, as part of their machinations, the Fatui Harbinger Pierro sent Il Dottore to sabotage Tatarasuna and cause chaos that would bear fruit in the future. Under the guise of a Fontaine mechanic named Escher, Dottore contacted the Akame Clan and with their influence, successfully introduced a new smelting technique to Tatarasuna. This technique was designed in such a way that it released the Tatarigami inside Crystal Marrow, with devastating effect on the Tatarasuna area. Hisahide, who had been suspicious of "Escher" from the start and had people look into his background, attempted to sacrifice himself using a device which Escher promised would absorb the filth released into the area. However, Dottore murdered him and placed his heart into the device, then gave it to the kabukimono, telling him that the Tatarasuna workers had assigned him the task of cleansing the filth. Due to his physical constitution, the kabukimono survived the ordeal and afterwards, opened the device to find a withered heart. Escher claimed that Niwa killed a subordinate and placed his heart into the device, and had fled with his family for safety. Enraged by this perceived betrayal, the kabukimono left Tatarasuna bearing a deep grudge against the Tatarasuna bladesmiths. Meanwhile, Escher repeated this lie to the rest of the people at Tatarasuna. Nagamasa, as the next person in charge after Hisahide, would have faced capital punishment for the events that unfolded at Tatarasuna, so Katsuragi willingly took the blame — and the punishment — on himself.[4]
Around 100 years ago, the head of the Niwa family disappeared and his son, Niwa Yoshinori, was adopted into the Kaedehara Clan. Yoshinori was later part of the group investigating Scaramouche's sabotage of the Raiden Shogun's Goshintou forging diagram. While pursuing the swordsmiths who fled out of fear of the Shogun's punishment, Yoshinori, the Yashiro Commission head, and their accompanying samurai were intercepted and defeated by Scaramouche. Upon noticing Yoshinori's appearance, Scaramouche questioned whether he had any relation to the name "Niwa." After receiving an affirmative, Scaramouche decided to spare them, leaving only a vague message: "Tell her this. My name is Kunikuzushi."[5] This event came to be known as the Case of the Eccentric.
Revised History[]
During the events of Archon Quest The Night-Bird Falls at the Curtain's Call in Interlude Chapter: Act III - Inversion of Genesis, Scaramouche learns the truth of the Tatarasuna incident and erases his own existence in Irminsul in an attempt to change the past and save his friends, believing that the Fatui likely targeted Tatarasuna due to their interest in him. While he successfully erased himself from history, the ultimate conclusions to the events he was involved him remained the same, but occurred for different reasons.
Tatarasuna: A "mechanic" (presumably still Il Dottore) still interferes at Tatarasuna. Without the kabukimono around to be involved with the Fatui's plans, Hisahide and another swordsmith sacrificed themselves to save the furnace.
Case of the Eccentric: Rather than being a long series of machinations by Scaramouche, an unnamed swordsmith from the Hyakume School went mad and slew as many swordsmiths as he could, only being stopped after Commissioner Kamisato and Yoshinori successfully killed him.
Known Members[]
Over 500 Years Ago[]
400 Years Ago[]
Around 100 Years Ago[]
- Kaedehara Yoshinori (born Niwa Yoshinori)[5]
- Kaedehara Yoshinori's father[5]
Trivia[]
- In Kagotsurube Isshin's description, the Niwa Clan is said to have been masters at clay tempering.
Etymology[]
- The family name Niwa (Japanese: 丹羽) is possibly derived from the Niwa clan (Japanese: 丹羽氏), a Japanese samurai clan which rose to prominence during the Sengoku period.
- At least nine generations of the Niwa clan used Naga- (Japanese: 長) as the first character in given names. Niwa Nagamitsu, one of the two named members of the Niwa Family, uses that same character in his given name.
- The names Kagemitsu, Nagamitsu, and Sanenaga (Mitsunaga) are direct references to three master swordsmiths of the Osafune School, collectively known as the "Three Great Masters" (Japanese: 三作 sansaku).
Notes[]
- ↑ While the characters in 三作 literally translate to "three works," which is how the English localization interpreted its usage in Haran Geppaku Futsu's description, the term sansaku in Japanese swordsmithing tradition refers to the swordsmiths themselves. Later, in Wanderer's Story Quest Inversion of Genesis, the English localization explains sansaku to refer to the swordsmithing schools.
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Niwa Clan | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 丹羽一族 Dānyǔ-yīzú | — |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 丹羽一族 Dānyǔ-yīzú | — |
| Japanese | 丹羽一族 Niwa-ichizoku | — |
| Korean | 니와 가문 Niwa Gamun | — |
| Spanish | Clan Niwa | — |
| French | Clan Niwa | — |
| Russian | Клан Нива Klan Niva | — |
| Thai | ตระกูล Niwa Tra-kun Niwa | — |
| Vietnamese | Gia Tộc Niwa | — |
| German | Familie Niwa | — |
| Indonesian | Klan Niwa | — |
| Portuguese | Clã Niwa | — |
| Turkish | Niwa Klanından | From Niwa Clan |
References[]
- ↑ Weapon: Kagotsurube Isshin
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weapon: Haran Geppaku Futsu
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Archon Quest, Interlude Chapter, Act III - Inversion of Genesis, Part 1: The Night-Bird Falls at the Curtain's Call ("A Brief Analysis of Possible Events of Historical Importance in the Tatarasuna Area")
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Archon Quest, Interlude Chapter, Act III - Inversion of Genesis, Part 1: The Night-Bird Falls at the Curtain's Call
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Event Hues of the Violet Garden Quest, True Tales of the Violet Garden: Act IV - The Palace, Dyed in Black, Part 1: The Palace, Dyed in Black