THE 36 STRATEGIES / STRATAGEMS

Ruses de guerre, gambits, schemes... Anonymous Asian lore from the Warring States era (Sengoku jidai, Zhànguó shídài) gathers thirty-six stratagems that would be great for intrigue and/or military fiction as well as for real life (for instance, entrepreneurship). No matter whether you are an Iago or a Tywin Lannister, make sure that you --as a schemer-- keep them all close to yourself.

1. Fool the Heavens to Cross the Ocean: the more obvious something seems, the more secrets it can conceal, and people pay more attention to the unusual; thus, mask your real goals by using the excuse of a fake goal; when the enemy has taken this pretense for granted and lowered their guard, strike showing your true colours (the open feint: point west/left in public when your real goal, in pectore, is to the east/right. Also "crying wolf" to lull the enemy into taking for granted that it's still a hoax the time you finally strike, like Hitler threatened the UK and France time after time right before the unexpected, not-taken-seriously real invasion).
2. Besiege One State to Rescue Another: To defend against attack by limbs, strike straight for the heart, the throat, or the solar plexus (this is a metaphor); find out and attack your enemy's weak points. (Like the previous one... this one is easy. Iago, or Baelish, always finding and hitting the soft spots of others, may be a perfect example. In warfare, taking a keystone fortress or a ford/pass, or taking advantage of the enemy's flaws -Gustavus Adolphus against the tercios- may be the perfect example)
3. Kill with a Borrowed Sword: have others -third parties- do your dirty work to keep your own hands clean; also use the resources of said third parties in your own benefit (Thus did Tywin employ the Freys as "borrowed swords" at the Red Wedding).
4. Wait at Leisure while the Enemy Toils / is Exhausted: war of attrition; encourage the enemy to burn up their strength in futile quests, starve, thirst, freeze... while your own troops keep their health and strength intact. Then strike when the enemy is exhausted and losing all their morale! Fabian tactics, avoiding open battle until the enemy is exhausted. (Scorched earth tactics: the reason why never to get involved in a land war in Russia -or Dorne-. Wallenstein did the same to the Swedes at the Old Keep in the summer of 1632)
5. Loot a House on Fire at Your Ease: take advantage of internal dissension between factions on the enemy side, of epidemics, revolutions... attack the enemy right when it's weakened the most by crisis/force majeure (the great powers -mainly France and Sweden- taking advantage of the squabble between the Kaiser and electors, and between some electors and others, during the 30 Years' War; Franco similarly defeating the Second Spanish Republic torn from within by schism; the kingdoms around France declaring war on the newborn republic during the Revolution; or Tywin Lannister in the War of Five Kings).
6. Make a Noise in the East, but Strike in the West: the surprise factor. Confuse the enemy with a feint, then strike them down when and where they least expect it (the Wronsky feint, in quidditch, when a seeker makes it look like he's diving for the snitch...).
7. Create Something Out of the Blue: Make them believe there is something when in fact there is nothing (the Swedish scarecrow sentinels on the walls of Poltava). Or that there is nothing when in fact there is something. Or spread rumours until they snowball and, just like in the telephone game, they are taken for granted. Use an illusion (again, Iago is a master of this, for instance in making Cassio appear as the instigator of the brawl, and then as Desdemona's lover).
8. Openly Repair the High Road, but Sneak Through the Secret Passage: deceive the enemy with a very obvious and predictable approach that will take a very long time (making them concentrate on the decoy and lower their guard), then surprise them by taking an unexpected shortcut and a lightning sneak attack. This is an extension of "Noise in the East, but Strike in the West," but using easy-to-see and suspicion-evading physical decoys (a Wronski-feinting seeker, carrying out the feint in broad sunlight, may have a co-conspirator in the nearby audience using a hand mirror or other snitch-looking shining object as the decoy snitch... does that abide by the rules?).
9. Watch the Fires Burn Across the River / Watch the Tigers Fight One Another: Wait at the edge of the battlefield. Delay entering the field of battle until all the other players are exhausted by fighting. Then, storm in at full strength and pick up the pieces, curbstomping them (the dissensions in between the factions of the wavering Second Republic, between those in favour of surrender and those against it, made Franco await the result of the internal schism until he finally attacked).
10. Hide a Knife Behind a Friendly Smile: gain the trust, and maybe even the love, of your enemy, with courteous words and manners -or whatever the victim appreciates in a person-. Again, Iago may be the textbook example in literature, and Wallenstein in real-life history (Hans in Frozen, Petyr Baelish, Sosuke Aizen... follow in Iago's trail).
11. Sacrifice the Plum to Spare the Peach: sacrifice short-term goals in favour of long-term goals. Scapegoating, including the Caiaphas principle (Caiaphas principle: to sacrifice the individual to save the community; for example, Jaime Lannister slitting Aerys's throat to save King's Landing); another example would be sacrificing a forlorn hope used as decoy in order to attain victory, or to save as many resources as possible during retreat.
12. Take Every Chance to Pilfer a Sheep: take every opportunity that presents itself, no matter how small it may be, and avail yourself of any profit, no matter how slight. After all, a sheep is not a cow, yet it may still do as resources. Every mistake the enemy makes must be taken advantage of (Iago taking advantage of the unexpected victory and the celebration thereof -not to mention the faux-pas his victims make-, Wallenstein of the fact that the Swedes will reach Saxony in November...).
13. Stomp the Grass to Scare the Snakes: do something spectacular to provoke an enemy response, to arouse the enemy's suspicions and disrupt their thinking (Wallenstein burning the Old Keep and marching into Saxony to make Gustavus Adolphus react). Also, if stealth is required: Do Not Stomp the Grass to Scare the Snakes: an imprudent act will give your position/intention away to the enemy.
14. Borrow a Corpse to Resurrect the Soul: "resurrect" a technology, a method, an ideology... that has become discarded for being "old-fashioned," reinterpreting said resurrected artifact for your own purposes (the Nazis appropriating the swastika -originally a Sanskrit lucky charm- and some Norse myths, aside from racial biology, to create their lore of the Aryan race).
15. Lure the Tiger Off its Den: lure the opponent away from their position, separating them from their source of strength; one can also lure the tiger into one's own turf (the scorched earth tactics mentioned before also take advantage of the unfamiliar extreme climate -whether of Russia or Dorne-, for which the enemy is not prepared).
16. Let Loose in Order to Capture: to avoid bloodshed, "al enemigo que huye puente de plata"; since a cornered victim will make a desperate strike to win or die, leave the one you have cornered a tiny shred of hope to escape, a hope spot which is actually a ruse. When the "hope" of freedom is proven a falsehood that had hitherto been taken for granted, the broken enemy will surrender without a fight.
17. Toss Out a Brick to Get Jade: bait the enemy; make them believe they gain something, or just make them react to them, and actually gain something more valuable (like information) in exchange. (This was the scheme Bellatrix Lestrange used on the leading cast in The Order of the Phoenix, that led to the demise of Sirius Black -the "brick" bait being the prophecy about the chosen one-). The Trojan Horse ruse also fits this kind of strategy.
18. Defeat the Enemy by Taking the Leader: go straight for the leader, for his demise may throw the whole enemy host into demoralisation. This only works if the men do not love the leader, who holds the disorganised group together as a keystone, controlling them by fear (torture, punishments) or by offering them rewards (soldiers of fortune). If the followers truly love and respect the leader, however, they will retaliate (as Wallenstein found out at Lützen!).
19. Steal the Firewood From Under the Pot: deny your enemy the resources needed to oppose you, sapping their strength to weaken their morale (another staple of scorched-earth tactics, seen in the Russian -burning the crops- as well as Dornish/Wallenstein cases -poisoning the springs-; attacking supply lines and caravans of provisions/ammunition is another example). It can also be a human resource -an advisor, a pathfinder...- This works best when the enemy is already wavering, to weaken them even further.
20. Trouble the Waters to Catch Fish: use confusion to further your own goals. When the enemy is dealing with uncertainty, create more chaos to confuse the enemy even more, using stealth and/or distraction to strike them with their guard down. It's more or less like Looting a House on Fire, only that you have fanned the flames into conflagration in the first place (in the former strategy, the "fire" is completely force majeure and internal schisms). Thus, Richelieu and Wallenstein employed intrigue to develop the schisms within the Habsburg Empire -between the Kaiser and the electors, between the Catholic electors and the Society of Jesus, between Catholic and Protestant electors...- The Cardinal even took advantage of Wallenstein's asking the Crown and the Church for a share of the "Edict of Restitution cake" to orchestrate the cashiering of the Duke of Friedland from his position as the Kaiser's first sword.
21. Shed the Cicada's Golden Shell: disguise as someone/something inconspicuous or masquerade as someone/something else (false flag ruses, such as Gustavus III's Swedish "Cossacks" or Hitler's Operation Himmler to justify invasion of Poland; also the age-old trope of Dressing as the Enemy to infiltrate or escape them -whether Winkies, Stormtroopers, or whatever; it's been also used in real life, by Cervantes breaking Moorish prison dressed as a janissary!-).
22. Lock the Door to Catch the Thief: let the enemy ensnare themselves, let them get hoist by their own petards. Tempt them into situations that lead to a flight forwards, and then cut off their supply lines. Once the prey is trapped, lock the door for good. Set a trap and make it click completely when the enemy has fallen hook, line, and sinker (again, Wallenstein marching into Saxony to attract Gustavus Adolphus, for the latter to give battle in November).
23. Befriend Someone Far and Attack Someone Near: distant allies make good allies for it is unwise for one to invade them, while the easiest lands to attack are those closest to one's own (in the Holy Land, Israel was and is allied with Western powers -the US, the UK, and so forth- while waging war against the Palestine territories).
24. Obtain a Common Enemy: if you have two of your enemies at each others' throats, ally with one of them and borrow the resources of that ally to attack the common enemy, promising them that they'll be rewarded once they've defeated the third party; then, once said common enemy is defeated, use those resources to turn against your temporary ally (Wallenstein surely had this in mind for Sweden, hoping to ally with Gustavus Adolphus against the Kaiser!).
25. Replace the Pillars with Rotten Timbers: Damage the sustaining structures, physical or ideological, on which the enemy depends, and replace them with systems which you control; making them dependent on you, discrediting their allies/friends/advisors and/or gaining monopoly of their resources... This can only work if you have got their trust. (Again, Iago is a master at this, and so is Baelish. Also, in 1631, the Catholic League relied completely on the granaries of Friedland, leading to a debt with Wallenstein that had to be paid... hence the taking of Magdeburg and Leipzig... which led to the League's defeat at Breitenfeld).
26. Point at One to Curse Another: use indirect means of getting your way; use third parties as intermediaries; threaten or punish -physically or emotionally- the weak to keep the strong in awe of you; make an example of those who oppose you by using disproportionate punishment (many cases of scapegoats who had to "drink the hemlock" for their executioners to frighten others into submission, such as Hans Hermann von Katte -beheaded by the Sergeant King of Prussia to shock his son Frederick- or Elia Martell and her children -gruesomely killed on the orders of Tywin Lannister-. Also the Aragonian king Ramiro the Monk and his notorious "bell of Huesca," beheading twelve feudal lords; Charles IX of Sweden also executed the most notorious of his brother John III's partisan lords to keep himself on the throne he had usurped).
27. Wear the Mask of a Fool While Remaining Smart: for who believes the fool, who is never taken seriously? It's the least suspicious person! Pretend you are stupid, or insane, or intoxicated, or physically weak, or not left- or right-handed (as Íñigo Montoya does), but keep your wits about you. Then strike when they least expect it, showing your true wit or strength when it's time to attack! There must be method in the madness (The most vivid example I can come up with is Hamlet feigning insanity during his revenge on a usurper stepfather; "method in the madness" indeed. Tyrion Lannister is also a master at wearing, in his case, the mask of a lush as well as that of a fool. Likewise, Gretel plays stupid to lure the wicked witch into the oven. Used when it applies to physical strength/skill, I would go for Íñigo Montoya switching sword hand and revealing that he is not left-handed! Ryoma, in The Prince of Tennis, usually plays right-handed, but switches racket hand -he's a born lefty- when the going gets tough!).
28. Lure Them Onto the Roof, Then Pull the Ladder Away: ensure there is no going back; employ ruse to lure the enemy into dangerous terrain, then, having cornered them completely, cut off their route of escape, communication, and resources; rendering the enemy isolated, unable to retreat, and bereft of supplies... (Again, scorched earth tactics... trying to get involved in a land war in Russia or Dorne... but also, to coax one's own allies to follow one, the burning of bridges after crossing streams and the burning of ships after having landed ashore to ensure that there's no turning back and that the dice are cast -"quemar las naves", as both Hernán Cortés and Nymeria did upon landing-).
29. Deck the Trees with Artificial Blossoms: appear powerful when you have far less power. Make it appear that you have more resources to keep a stronger enemy at bay (Tordenskiöld's soldiers marching around Carlsten Fortress, ostensibly 20000 strong but actually 500 strong; the Swedish scarecrow "guards" on the walls of Poltava. Another example would be the gruffalo story, in which the mouse and the gruffalo travel together through the woods, the gruffalo frightens the predators, but does not realise he is the dreaded one, and believes that the mouse is the one the predators fear, as the mouse herself had told the gruffalo beforehand when the two of them met), or appear weaker and lacking more resources to dissuade the enemy. Make a trifle appear valuable / something worthless appear useful by the use of ruse.
30. Exchange the Roles of Host and Guest: usurp leadership in a scenario in which you would be subordinate; create dependency, reversing the roles so that the more powerful opponent finds themselves in a subordinate position. Pretend to be the guest to be accepted, but develop and become the owner from within (Here, the Duke of Friedland and Iago give some textbook examples: Wallenstein offering the Count of Tilly Friedland grain to create a debt that Tilly would have to pay, to weaken the Catholic League -as said in Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers- / Wallenstein offering the Kaiser the money and the provisions to raise "the Empire's own" army; Iago convinces all of his victims, who outrank him, that he is the perfect confidant, then -thanks to their trust- has them over a barrel. In Judges 4, Yael welcomes a fleeing, vanquished General Sisera and caters to his every need -exhaustion, thirst, concealment from the enemy-, then, when he has let his guard down the most, she literally hammers home a point!).
31. Honey Trap: send the enemy irresistible pleasures of the flesh, such as offerings of money, wenches, or drugs (strong drink, opium...) as a gift with pretenses of peace, to distract them and sow confusion among them. The leader and/or the officers, having given in, will neglect their duties and lower their guard; also, suspicious individuals on the enemy side will find themselves at odds with those who have given in to the honey trap, creating internal dissension and even intrigues (This is, in a nutshell, Queen Medb's MO in the Táin: more specifically, she uses the promise of her daughter's hand, mead, and bards to lure new allies. In the Old Testament, Yael's killing of Sisera and Judith's of Holofernes may also count in. In the Gesta Romanorum story 88 this is combined with the Empty Fort when an outnumbered general feigns surrender, retreats, and resigns his castle or campsite, with all the provisions therein, into the hands of the outnumbering enemy: "Now the castles -or campsites- were furnished with casks of wine empoisoned with the seed of a certain herb; insomuch, that whosoever drank of it immediately fell asleep. He knew that his opponents were starved; and that, overjoyed to find such excellent quarters, they would drink to excess, and fall into the half death-like quiet of sleep. They did so, and the general, returning, put them all to death.").
32. Fling Open the Gates to the Empty Fort: when you are vulnerable, make the enemies think twice about attacking you; double bluff the enemies by pretending weakness, as if to entice them to attack. Appear ready to fight, but make the enemy suspect there is a ruse when in fact there is none. When the enemy is superior in numbers and your situation is such that you expect to be overrun at any moment, then drop all pretense of military preparedness, act calmly and taunt the enemy, so that the enemy will think you have a huge ambush hidden for them. It works best by acting calm and at ease when your enemy expects you to be tense. This ploy is only successful if in most cases you do have a powerful hidden force and only sparsely use the empty fort strategy. (The ruse at the storming of the Marienberg Fortress, ostensibly garrisoned by unarmed Jesuits, which Gustavus Adolphus, however, quickly saw through; Tywin Lannister opening the gates of King's Landing to the rebels, ditto Vibhishana in Sri Lanka - In the Gesta Romanorum story 88, this is combined with the Honey Trap when an outnumbered general feigns surrender, retreats, and resigns his castle or campsites, with all the provisions therein, into the hands of the outnumbering enemy: "Now the castles -or campsites- were furnished with casks of wine empoisoned with the seed of a certain herb; insomuch, that whosoever drank of it immediately fell asleep. He knew that his opponents were starved; and that, overjoyed to find such excellent quarters, they would drink to excess, and fall into the half death-like quiet of sleep. They did so, and the general, returning, put them all to death.").
33. Use the Enemy's Own Spies to Sow Dissension: recruit moles, or double agents, or fifth columnists, or turncoat informers (Judas Iscariot); and employ them to "sow weeds among the wheat." When preoccupied with settling internal disputes, the enemy's ability to confront external threats is compromised. Then, after the stratagems have been successfully carried out, reward these expendable moles as a traitor deserves.
34. Injure Yourself to Gain the Enemy's Trust: the Wounded Gazelle Gambit. Win their trust through sympathy, pretending you have been hurt. A variant is to take extreme risks (ie "suicide" risks) to prove yourself to them. On one hand, the enemy is lulled into lowering their guard, since you are not being regarded as an immediate threat. The second application is a way of ingratiating yourself with your enemy by pretending the injury was caused by a mutual enemy (like the stepsisters do in Disney's Cinderella, by accusing her of stealing their accessories; or the twin cats incriminate Lady in front of Aunt Sarah, by making her appear as the real culprit. Iago also employs the Wounded Gazelle Gambit, being injured as he tried to restrain a drunken Cassio, by making it appear that he was overly concerned about the lieutenant's alleged addiction).
35. Chain Multiple Stratagems: pile up two or more of these strategies which have been explained before, either as a cause-and-effect chain or having Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so forth as backup (Iago, Wallenstein, and Baelish have made such chains of stratagems).
36. If Everything Else Fails, Retreat. Nothing more remains to explain than the same axiom in Swedish: "Bättre fly än illa fäkta" (Better to Flee than Sadly Fighting Be).  Sounds even better than "better safe than sorry" or the "Joestar signature tactic," right? Retreating, unlike surrendering, is temporary -you'll lose the battle, but still be able to win the war-; and everyone learns more from their mistakes.

THE DAY THAT PADFOOT DIED

THE DAY THAT PADFOOT DIED
31st of January MMXVIII, 
as the author, Sandra Dermark, turned 26
A Cathartic Afterthought on Life, the Universe, and Everything
as the author reminisces about her adolescence.


Long, long time ago...
I can still remember
all those things that used to make me smile...
That maybe if I had a chance
to spread bright colours, song and dance,
I'd make everyone happy for a while...
But one day in the bleak November,
that I distinctly still remember...
bad news on the doorstep...
couldn't take one more step...
I can't remember if I cried,
but I couldn't take that scene in stride...
for something touched me deep inside
the day... that Padfoot died.

I started singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days all have been waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die...
This will be the day that I die..."

Did you expect to come of age,
and change your part upon the stage,
if life's script would tell you so?
And... are you a prisoner on parole
or a husk of flesh without a soul?
Time without distractions, why is it real slow?
Well I know that nothing is the same,
and that status quo is always lame...
Thus came the moment of truth,
when I was the least ready in sooth...
I was a lonely teen left on her own,
always worlds away from the Iron Throne,
but I first knew I was all alone
the day... that Lars, José, and Ana died.

I started singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days all have been waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die...
This will be the day that I die..."

Now for three years I was left on my own,
with Maths for a Sisyphean stone...
but that's not how it used to be...
in those days I dreamt that Sirius Black
would storm in on his bike to take me back
and I would clasp his waist and feel real free...
And right then, the dowager Lestrange
had turned push to shove, to shock, to change...
I looked on, frozen, with dread...
in the hope that he wouldn't be dead!
And while weariness weighed down my heart,
I read like Lieutenant Bonaparte,
and I felt free as I drifted apart
the day... that Padfoot died.

I still was singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days all have been waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die...
This will be the day that I die..."

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
creeps on at this petty pace of sorrow
still, from day to day, till "not today!"
The Bastille had fallen; et voilà,
came all those Amis led by Enjolras,
rallying against the ancien régime from their café...
From the barricades, the tricolore
would flutter on for evermore...
Yet empty chairs by empty tables
they left, with each surname on a label!
And while Georgie cradled his brother Fred,
two left their orphan boy called Ted,
and my Potter-head felt heavy as lead
the day... les Amis, Moony, Tonks, and Fred died.

I kept on singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days all have been waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die...
This will be the day that I die..."

Now as the world felt still half empty,
the day had come when I reached twenty:
those at Lützen slain encouraged me to win...
yet my loving elders would never see
their girl make it to University...
and she knew decay, one day, would dwell beneath her skin...
Yet, as I stood upon that stage,
I was full of joy, bereft of rage:
they all would listen to me as one...
a lot of Sandra in the sun!
And, in that golden afternoon,
in the youthful, long-lived sun of June,
I saw everyone entranced, in tune,
the day... my old self died.

I whispered, singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days all have been waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die...
This will be the day that I die..."

I met a lady who'd inspire
me to control this inward fire...
who, throughout five years, encouraged me...
And, for a lustrum, I found my niche
and life was no longer that pastiche...
the fruit of my harvest is this Translation degree!
I have hurt and healed, many times I've screamed,
and by night and day frequently I've dreamed...
Now all of those good friends have scattered,
and I pick up the pieces that shattered...
And from Pushkin I've learned, as I thrived,
that "THE GOOD DIE ERE THEY REACH FORTY-FIVE,
FOR MIDLIFE AIN'T WORTH STAYING ALIVE"
the day... Youth, Lensky, died.

And I stopped singing...
Bye, bye, you were such a cool guy...
I was so weary and so teary, and my throat was so dry...
The good old days are someday waving goodbye,
singing "this will be the day that I die..."

THE 36 STRATEGIES / STRATAGEMS

Ruses de guerre, gambits, schemes... Anonymous Asian lore from the Warring States era (Sengoku jidai, Zhànguó shídài) gathers thirty-six stratagems that would be great for intrigue and/or military fiction as well as for real life (for instance, entrepreneurship). No matter whether you are an Iago or a Tywin Lannister, make sure that you --as a schemer-- keep them all close to yourself.

1. Fool the Heavens to Cross the Ocean: the more obvious something seems, the more secrets it can conceal, and people pay more attention to the unusual; thus, mask your real goals by using the excuse of a fake goal; when the enemy has taken this pretense for granted and lowered their guard, strike showing your true colours (the open feint: point west/left in public when your real goal, in pectore, is to the east/right. Also "crying wolf" to lull the enemy into taking for granted that it's still a hoax the time you finally strike, like Hitler threatened the UK and France time after time right before the unexpected, not-taken-seriously real invasion).
2. Besiege One State to Rescue Another: To defend against attack by limbs, strike straight for the heart, the throat, or the solar plexus (this is a metaphor); find out and attack your enemy's weak points. (Like the previous one... this one is easy. Iago, or Baelish, always finding and hitting the soft spots of others, may be a perfect example. In warfare, taking a keystone fortress or a ford/pass, or taking advantage of the enemy's flaws -Gustavus Adolphus against the tercios- may be the perfect example)
3. Kill with a Borrowed Sword: have others -third parties- do your dirty work to keep your own hands clean; also use the resources of said third parties in your own benefit (Thus did Tywin employ the Freys as "borrowed swords" at the Red Wedding).
4. Wait at Leisure while the Enemy Toils / is Exhausted: war of attrition; encourage the enemy to burn up their strength in futile quests, starve, thirst, freeze... while your own troops keep their health and strength intact. Then strike when the enemy is exhausted and losing all their morale! Fabian tactics, avoiding open battle until the enemy is exhausted. (Scorched earth tactics: the reason why never to wage a land war in Russia -or Dorne-. Wallenstein did the same to the Swedes at the Old Keep in the summer of 1632)
5. Loot a House on Fire at Your Ease: take advantage of internal dissension between factions on the enemy side, of epidemics, revolutions... attack the enemy right when it's weakened the most by crisis/force majeure (the great powers taking advantage of the squabble between the Kaiser and electors, and between some electors and others, during the 30 Years' War; Franco similarly defeating the Second Spanish Republic torn from within by schism; the kingdoms around France declaring war on the newborn republic during the Revolution; or Tywin Lannister in the War of Five Kings).
6. Make a Noise in the East, but Strike in the West: the surprise factor. Confuse the enemy with a feint, then strike them down when and where they least expect it (the Wronsky feint, in quidditch, when a seeker makes it look like he's diving for the snitch...).
7. Create Something Out of the Blue: Make them believe there is something when in fact there is nothing (the Swedish scarecrow sentinels on the walls of Poltava). Or that there is nothing when in fact there is something. Or spread rumours until they snowball and, just like in the telephone game, they are taken for granted. Use an illusion (again, Iago is a master of this, for instance in making Cassio appear as the instigator of the brawl, and then as Desdemona's lover).
8. Openly Repair the High Road, but Sneak Through the Secret Passage: deceive the enemy with a very obvious and predictable approach that will take a very long time (making them concentrate on the decoy and lower their guard), then surprise them by taking an unexpected shortcut and a lightning sneak attack. This is an extension of "Noise in the East, but Strike in the West," but using easy-to-see and suspicion-evading physical decoys (a Wronski-feinting seeker, carrying out the feint in broad sunlight, may have a co-conspirator in the nearby audience using a hand mirror or other snitch-looking shining object as the decoy snitch... does that abide by the rules?).
9. Watch the Fires Burn Across the River / Watch the Tigers Fight One Another: Wait at the edge of the battlefield. Delay entering the field of battle until all the other players are exhausted by fighting. Then, storm in at full strength and pick up the pieces, curbstomping them (the dissensions in between the factions of the wavering Second Republic, between those in favour of surrender and those against it, made Franco await the result of the internal schism until he finally attacked).
10. Hide a Knife Behind a Friendly Smile: gain the trust, and maybe even the love, of your enemy, with courteous words and manners -or whatever the victim appreciates in a person-. Again, Iago may be the textbook example in literature, and Wallenstein in real-life history (Hans in Frozen, Petyr Baelish, Sosuke Aizen... follow in Iago's trail).
11. Sacrifice the Plum to Spare the Peach: sacrifice short-term goals in favour of long-term goals. Scapegoating, including the Caiaphas principle (Caiaphas principle: to sacrifice the individual to save the community; for example, Jaime Lannister slitting Aerys's throat to save King's Landing); another example would be sacrificing a forlorn hope used as decoy in order to attain victory, or to save as many resources as possible during retreat.
12. Take Every Chance to Pilfer a Sheep: take every opportunity that presents itself, no matter how small it may be, and avail yourself of any profit, no matter how slight. After all, a sheep is not a cow, yet it may still do as resources. Every mistake the enemy makes must be taken advantage of (Iago taking advantage of the unexpected victory and the celebration thereof -not to mention the faux-pas his victims make-, Wallenstein of the fact that the Swedes will reach Saxony in November...).
13. Stomp the Grass to Scare the Snakes: do something spectacular to provoke an enemy response, to arouse the enemy's suspicions and disrupt their thinking (Wallenstein burning the Old Keep and marching into Saxony to make Gustavus Adolphus react). Also, if stealth is required: Do Not Stomp the Grass to Scare the Snakes: an imprudent act will give your position/intention away to the enemy.
14. Borrow a Corpse to Resurrect the Soul: "resurrect" a technology, a method, an ideology... that has become discarded for being "old-fashioned," reinterpreting said resurrected artifact for your own purposes (the Nazis appropriating the swastika -originally a Sanskrit lucky charm- and some Norse myths, aside from racial biology, to create their lore of the Aryan race).
15. Lure the Tiger Off its Den: lure the opponent away from their position, separating them from their source of strength; one can also lure the tiger into one's own turf (the scorched earth tactics mentioned before also take advantage of the unfamiliar extreme climate -whether of Russia or Dorne-, for which the enemy is not prepared).
16. Let Loose in Order to Capture: to avoid bloodshed, "al enemigo que huye puente de plata"; since a cornered victim will make a desperate strike to win or die, leave the one you have cornered a tiny shred of hope to escape, a hope spot which is actually a ruse. When the "hope" of freedom is proven a falsehood that had hitherto been taken for granted, the broken enemy will surrender without a fight.
17. Toss Out a Brick to Get Jade: bait the enemy; make them believe they gain something, or just make them react to them, and actually gain something more valuable (like information) in exchange. (This was the scheme Bellatrix Lestrange used on the leading cast in The Order of the Phoenix, that led to the demise of Sirius Black -the "brick" bait being the prophecy about the chosen one-). The Trojan Horse ruse also fits this kind of strategy.
18. Defeat the Enemy by Taking the Leader: go straight for the leader, for his demise may throw the whole enemy host into demoralisation. This only works if the men do not love the leader, who holds the disorganised group together as a keystone, controlling them by fear (torture, punishments) or by offering them rewards (soldiers of fortune). If the followers truly love and respect the leader, however, they will retaliate (as Wallenstein found out at Lützen!).
19. Steal the Firewood From Under the Pot: deny your enemy the resources needed to oppose you, sapping their strength to weaken their morale (another staple of scorched-earth tactics, seen in the Russian -burning the crops- as well as Dornish/Wallenstein cases -poisoning the springs-; attacking supply lines and caravans of provisions/ammunition is another example). It can also be a human resource -an advisor, a pathfinder...- This works best when the enemy is already wavering, to weaken them even further.
20. Trouble the Waters to Catch Fish: use confusion to further your own goals. When the enemy is dealing with uncertainty, create more chaos to confuse the enemy even more, using stealth and/or distraction to strike them with their guard down. It's more or less like Looting a House on Fire, only that you have fanned the flames into conflagration in the first place (in the former strategy, the "fire" is completely force majeure and internal schisms). Thus, Richelieu and Wallenstein employed intrigue to develop the schisms within the Habsburg Empire -between the Kaiser and the electors, between the Catholic electors and the Society of Jesus, between Catholic and Protestant electors...- The Cardinal even took advantage of Wallenstein's asking the Crown and the Church for a share of the "Edict of Restitution cake" to orchestrate the cashiering of the Duke of Friedland from his position as the Kaiser's first sword.
21. Shed the Cicada's Golden Shell: disguise as someone/something inconspicuous or masquerade as someone/something else (false flag ruses, such as Gustavus III's Swedish "Cossacks" or Hitler's Operation Himmler to justify invasion of Poland; also the age-old trope of Dressing as the Enemy to infiltrate or escape them -whether Winkies, Stormtroopers, Dai Li, or whatever; it's been also used in real life, by Cervantes breaking Moorish prison dressed as a janissary!-).
22. Lock the Door to Catch the Thief: let the enemy ensnare themselves, let them get hoist by their own petards. Tempt them into situations that lead to a flight forwards, and then cut off their supply lines. Once the prey is trapped, lock the door for good. Set a trap and make it click completely when the enemy has fallen hook, line, and sinker (again, Wallenstein marching into Saxony to attract Gustavus Adolphus, for the latter to give battle in November).
23. Befriend Someone Far and Attack Someone Near: distant allies make good allies for it is unwise for one to invade them, while the easiest lands to attack are those closest to one's own (in the Holy Land, Israel was and is allied with Western powers -the US, the UK, and so forth- while waging war against the Palestine territories).
24. Obtain a Common Enemy: if you have two of your enemies at each others' throats, ally with one of them and borrow the resources of that ally to attack the common enemy, promising them that they'll be rewarded once they've defeated the third party; then, once said common enemy is defeated, use those resources to turn against your temporary ally (Wallenstein surely had this in mind for Sweden, hoping to ally with Gustavus Adolphus against the Kaiser!).
25. Replace the Pillars with Rotten Timbers: Damage the sustaining structures, physical or ideological, on which the enemy depends, and replace them with systems which you control; making them dependent on you, discrediting their allies/friends/advisors and/or gaining monopoly of their resources... This can only work if you have got their trust. (Again, Iago is a master at this, and so is Baelish. Also, in 1631, the Catholic League relied completely on the granaries of Friedland, leading to a debt with Wallenstein that had to be paid... hence the taking of Magdeburg and Leipzig... which led to the League's defeat at Breitenfeld).
26. Point at One to Curse Another: use indirect means of getting your way; use third parties as intermediaries; threaten or punish -physically or emotionally- the weak to keep the strong in awe of you; make an example of those who oppose you by using disproportionate punishment (many cases of scapegoats who had to "drink the hemlock" for their executioners to frighten others into submission, such as Hans Hermann von Katte -beheaded by the Sergeant King of Prussia to shock his son Frederick- or Elia Martell and her children -gruesomely killed on the orders of Tywin Lannister-. Also the Aragonian king Ramiro the Monk and his notorious "bell of Huesca," beheading twelve feudal lords; Charles IX of Sweden also executed the most notorious of his brother John III's partisan lords to keep himself on the throne he had usurped).
27. Wear the Mask of a Fool While Remaining Smart: for who believes the fool, who is never taken seriously? It's the least suspicious person! Pretend you are stupid, or insane, or intoxicated, or physically weak, or not left- or right-handed (as Íñigo Montoya does), but keep your wits about you. Then strike when they least expect it, showing your true wit or strength when it's time to attack! There must be method in the madness (The most vivid example I can come up with is Hamlet feigning insanity during his revenge on a usurper stepfather; "method in the madness" indeed. Tyrion Lannister is also a master at wearing, in his case, the mask of a lush as well as that of a fool. Likewise, Gretel plays stupid to lure the wicked witch into the oven. Used when it applies to physical strength/skill, I would go for Íñigo Montoya switching sword hand and revealing that he is not left-handed! Ryoma, in The Prince of Tennis, usually plays right-handed, but switches racket hand -he's a born lefty- when the going gets tough!).
28. Lure Them Onto the Roof, Then Pull the Ladder Away: ensure there is no going back; employ ruse to lure the enemy into dangerous terrain, then, having cornered them completely, cut off their route of escape, communication, and resources; rendering the enemy isolated, unable to retreat, and bereft of supplies... (Again, scorched earth tactics... trying to get involved in a land war in Russia or Dorne... but also, to coax one's own allies to follow one, the burning of bridges after crossing streams and the burning of ships after having landed ashore to ensure that there's no turning back and that the dice are cast -"quemar las naves", as both Hernán Cortés and Nymeria did upon landing-).
29. Deck the Trees with Artificial Blossoms: appear powerful when you have far less power. Make it appear that you have more resources to keep a stronger enemy at bay (Tordenskiöld's soldiers marching around Carlsten Fortress, ostensibly 20000 strong but actually 500 strong; the Swedish scarecrow "guards" on the walls of Poltava. Another example would be the gruffalo story, in which the mouse and the gruffalo travel together through the woods, the gruffalo frightens the predators, but does not realise he is the dreaded one, and believes that the mouse is the one the predators fear, as the mouse herself had told the gruffalo beforehand when the two of them met), or appear weaker and lacking more resources to dissuade the enemy. Make a trifle appear valuable / something worthless appear useful by the use of ruse.
30. Exchange the Roles of Host and Guest: usurp leadership in a scenario in which you would be subordinate; create dependency, reversing the roles so that the more powerful opponent finds themselves in a subordinate position. Pretend to be the guest to be accepted, but develop and become the owner from within (Here, the Duke of Friedland and Iago give some textbook examples: Wallenstein offering the Count of Tilly Friedland grain to create a debt that Tilly would have to pay, to weaken the Catholic League -as said in Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers- / Wallenstein offering the Kaiser the money and the provisions to raise "the Empire's own" army; Iago convinces all of his victims, who outrank him, that he is the perfect confidant, then -thanks to their trust- has them over a barrel. In Judges 4, Yael welcomes a fleeing, vanquished General Sisera and caters to his every need -exhaustion, thirst, concealment from the enemy-, then, when he has let his guard down the most, she literally hammers home a point!).
31. Honey Trap: send the enemy irresistible pleasures of the flesh, such as offerings of money, wenches, or drugs (strong drink, opium...) as a gift with pretenses of peace, to distract them and sow confusion among them. The leader and/or the officers, having given in, will neglect their duties and lower their guard; also, suspicious individuals on the enemy side will find themselves at odds with those who have given in to the honey trap, creating internal dissension and even intrigues (This is, in a nutshell, Queen Medb's MO in the Táin: more specifically, she uses the promise of her daughter's hand, mead, and bards to lure new allies. In the Old Testament, Yael's killing of Sisera and Judith's of Holofernes may also count in. In the Gesta Romanorum story 88 this is combined with the Empty Fort when an outnumbered general feigns surrender, retreats, and resigns his castle or campsite, with all the provisions therein, into the hands of the outnumbering enemy: "Now the castles -or campsites- were furnished with casks of wine empoisoned with the seed of a certain herb; insomuch, that whosoever drank of it immediately fell asleep. He knew that his opponents were starved; and that, overjoyed to find such excellent quarters, they would drink to excess, and fall into the half death-like quiet of sleep. They did so, and the general, returning, put them all to death.").
32. Fling Open the Gates to the Empty Fort: when you are vulnerable, make the enemies think twice about attacking you; double bluff the enemies by pretending weakness, as if to entice them to attack. Appear ready to fight, but make the enemy suspect there is a ruse when in fact there is none. When the enemy is superior in numbers and your situation is such that you expect to be overrun at any moment, then drop all pretense of military preparedness, act calmly and taunt the enemy, so that the enemy will think you have a huge ambush hidden for them. It works best by acting calm and at ease when your enemy expects you to be tense. This ploy is only successful if in most cases you do have a powerful hidden force and only sparsely use the empty fort strategy. (The ruse at the storming of the Marienberg Fortress, ostensibly garrisoned by unarmed Jesuits, which Gustavus Adolphus, however, quickly saw through; Tywin Lannister opening the gates of King's Landing to the rebels, ditto Vibhishana in Sri Lanka - In the Gesta Romanorum story 88, this is combined with the Honey Trap when an outnumbered general feigns surrender, retreats, and resigns his castle or campsite, with all the provisions therein, into the hands of the outnumbering enemy: "Now the castles -or campsites- were furnished with casks of wine empoisoned with the seed of a certain herb; insomuch, that whosoever drank of it immediately fell asleep. He knew that his opponents were starved; and that, overjoyed to find such excellent quarters, they would drink to excess, and fall into the half death-like quiet of sleep. They did so, and the general, returning, put them all to death.").
33. Use the Enemy's Own Spies to Sow Dissension: recruit moles, or double agents, or fifth columnists, or turncoat informers (Judas Iscariot); and employ them to "sow weeds among the wheat." When preoccupied with settling internal disputes, the enemy's ability to confront external threats is compromised. Then, after the stratagems have been successfully carried out, reward these expendable moles as a traitor deserves.
34. Injure Yourself to Gain the Enemy's Trust: the Wounded Gazelle Gambit. Win their trust through sympathy, pretending you have been hurt. A variant is to take extreme risks (ie "suicide" risks) to prove yourself to them. On one hand, the enemy is lulled into lowering their guard, since you are not being regarded as an immediate threat. The second application is a way of ingratiating yourself with your enemy by pretending the injury was caused by a mutual enemy (like the stepsisters do in Disney's Cinderella, by accusing her of stealing their accessories; or the twin cats incriminate Lady in front of Aunt Sarah, by making her appear as the real culprit. Iago also employs the Wounded Gazelle Gambit, being injured as he tried to restrain a drunken Cassio, by making it appear that he was overly concerned about the lieutenant's alleged addiction).
35. Chain Multiple Stratagems: pile up two or more of these strategies which have been explained before, either as a cause-and-effect chain or having Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so forth as backup (Iago, Wallenstein, and Baelish have made such chains of stratagems).
36. If Everything Else Fails, Retreat. Nothing more remains to explain than the same axiom in Swedish: "Bättre fly än illa fäkta" (Better to Flee than Sadly Fighting Be). Retreating, unlike surrendering, is temporary -you'll lose the battle, but still be able to win the war-; and everyone learns more from their mistakes.

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE SATOMI HAKKENDEN

Well, not just a word or two, but rather the whole buzz. You may be wondering what this Satomi Hakkenden thing is; well, let me answer it's one of the most underrated epic fictions in the public domain. And thus, let us begin where we should, by summing it up in a nutshell:
Eight special young people, all of them different, each one associated with a positive quality. Each one with a different sob story involving star-crossed love, orphanhood, abusive guardians, or all of them above.
Raised worlds apart from one another, they barely know one another, yet, as chance brings them together, they discover that they share a common legacy that stretches decades, maybe even half a century, before their calling.
Now forming a team or party and putting all of their skills together, they have to fight epic battles against dramatic evil and ultimately defeat the usurper that bereft them of their rightful place...

Sounds familiar? Like... My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, if we count in Spike and Starlight? Digimon Adventure? Corrector Yui? The Waterfire Saga, if we count in Vrâja and Orfeo as well? The first arc of the Ringstetten Saga, before nearly all of the Happy Few were killed off? The Ocean's trilogy, if we expand the number of leading characters involved from eight to 11/12/13, respectively?
Well, it turns out that, before these sagas, there was a nineteenth-century Japanese epic that inspired all of the above. Maybe it was the first fiction ever starring an ensemble of companions of equal importance...

Satomi Hakkenden, the Chronicles of the Eight Warriors of House Satomi/the Satomi Clan, an 106-volume epic --and its days' counterpart of A Song of Ice and Fire, War and Peace, or the Potterverse when it comes to length and complexity-- takes place in the Warring States era or Sengoku jidai (simultaneous with the days of the Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Thirty Years' War in Europe). The convoluted premise is essentially the story of the Awa kingdom or county-state being fought over by clans led de facto by Tamazusa Anzai --the rightful lady of the shire (or is she?)-- and Satomi Fusehime, Lady Fuse Satomi --the usurper's only daughter (or is she?)--. A curse (to only mother wayward bastards) placed by the former on the latter's household after the coup causes Fusehime to take a bullet to the heart from her spurned suitor/intended fiancé Daisuke Kanamari, leading a detachment of her clan's own men; her heroic sacrifice and the purification rituals she had undergone before to free herself from the curse cause eight beads of her rosary to scatter and become eight children, each of them associated with a different virtue of confucianism and with a peony birthmark on a different body part. The bulk of the epic centers on the Debut Queue of these diverse characters meeting one another and learning about their shared destiny, aside from the fact that the spirit of Fusehime comes back from the afterlife to help them when in the direst straits, and their subsequent struggle against a resurrected Tamazusa, who has wrested their rightful place --or is it?-- from the Satomis in a bloody counter-coup, since Kanamari abdicated as penance for accidentally shooting his bride down... and the climax is the confrontation of the leading ensemble against the villainess in the fortress tower that is the epicentre of all this legendary Anzai-Satomi war for Awa...

To set the backstory clearly: think of the kingdom of Awa as Westeros, the Anzais as the Lannisters, and the Satomis as the Starks. The original rulers of the realm (think of them as both the Targs and Baratheons) had been decimated, and the vacant rulership usurped, by the upstart Anzais, led by Lady Macbeth figure Tamazusa. The Satomis, exiled retainers of the rightful rulers, defeat the Anzai Clan and gain control of the realm (rising to power just like the Stuarts and the Tyrells). On the chopping block, Tamazusa curses young Fuse, the only daughter and heir of Lord and Lady Satomi, to only mother wayward bastards. At this time, Fuse is still a child.
Years later, an adolescent Fuse finds on the castle doorstep a white spitz puppy with eight black spots and decides to take him in as a pet. Unbeknownst to everyone at court, Eightspots (Yatsufusa) is the reincarnation of Tamazusa. Fuse is also betrothed to Daisuke Kanamari, the most dashing of the Satomi bannermen, until he is left for dead upon the battlefield against the Anzais, that then advance towards the castle and lay siege. Rationing of food and especially water ensues, just like at Storm's End or Stalingrad; a desperate Lord Satomi vows to betroth his daughter to the one who brings back the severed head of the Anzai warlord from the enemy camp across the gates. Surprisingly, Eightspots is the one who fulfils the deed. Constrained to fulfil their promise, while also tarnished their reputation by impending zoophilia, the Satomi parents and child appear to be doomed... until Fuse surprisingly decides to leave the castle and retreat into a cave as a hermit nun with Eightspots for a watchdog, wearing no jewels but her rosary. This goes obviously against her parents' wishes, yet afer much coaxing they give in and let her lead such an ascetic life.
In the meantime, Daisuke, recovered from his battle wounds, returns to the castle and is shocked by the relation of everything that happened in his absence. Shouldering his arquebus and fearing the worst, he leaves for the cave and shoots both Fuse and Eightspots through the heart with one and the same bullet. Then, to prove that she has had no intercourse with her watchdog, a dying Fuse tries to gut herself with her first suitor's sword... only that she dies right before, cutting her rosary, and causing eight of its 108 beads to scatter abroad across the land.
Daisuke, now a wandering monk, embarks on a quest of penance as the beads land next to eight newborn children, all of them marked with the peony crest of House Satomi; many of them born unto barren women and subsequently orphaned, not to be cared for by the best of guardians --each and every one of the Eight Warriors has a different cathartic sob story--. In the meantime, the last Satomis, Fuse's parents, are killed and their throne usurped by Tamazusa, reincarnated as a human noblewoman who has claimed her post at the head of the Anzais; thus a reign of terror begins... until those eight "wayward bastards" gradually come together and realise the ties that bind them and their common destiny to defeat the usurper who wrested their rightful place from them!

One of the reasons for the Hakkenden's staying power and its influence on anime --and, by extension, animesque-- is its diversity and character development. From the eight protagonists available (including counterparts of Shakespeare's Othello and Laertes [the latter with more reminiscences of Oberyn Martell], the classical Hercules, a transsexual Count/ess of Monte Cristo, and a child prodigy in the leading party!), it comes as no surprise that you will find yourself identifying with at least one of them; each and every one of these heroes, all of them good-looking young men, has got the birthmark on a different body part, a different virtue, a different lifestyle and personality... aside from a different sob story and character arc that would make Lemony Snicket, George R.R. Martin, AND Charles Dickens look like they're talking about idyllic elven romances!

Mind also that the Hakkenden is not an "ensemble" piece in the vein of  the cliché found in Pixar (Said group full of wacky members with their own quirks? Check.) or Hallmark movies (a few quirky but bland small town friends), but rather a true ensemble piece, like War and Peace or A Song of Ice and Fire, in which all the quirky characters are fully developed, equally interesting, and share the same amount of spotlight cake, playing off one another's strengths and weaknesses on and off the battlefield, as their respective mental and emotional lives evolve. And that without losing "the limp and the eyepatch" that tell the child prodigy from the leader from the strongman from... without losing their own quirks. Diverse and quirky but not bland. And none of them as side character / ancillary character "friends" or "companions" to a pair of central leads, but all eight warriors taking the same prominence. What's more, their whole lives are covered until their deaths, tying all the plot strands neatly into a lovely bow.

Taste the hero rainbow. You'll at least identify with one of them.

Pictures from the most faithful and recent Hakkenden retelling anime, obviously titled Hakkenden.

You may be Kenpachi, the leader and by far the most popular member of the team, whose peony is on the corner of his left eye and whose signature virtue is integrity; a short-tempered, eccentric, and sarcastic badass military officer (with a mouth that can rival Deadpool, Tyrion Lannister, Astrid Kolfinnsdóttir, and those two guys in Pulp Fiction) who has survived several suicide attempts after being left by his beloved fiancée... true leader material indeed. Something like a more badass, able to resurrect every time he's killed (and this is far more serious than South Park Kenny, yet not that angsty Dondarrion resurrection blues), version of Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel... (Kenpachi even reminds me of some favourite female eccentrics like Pippi Lângstrump, Benio Hanamura, Rikku, Ty Lee, Luna Lovegood, Pinkie Pie, and Roald Dahl's Matilda! Only as a wittier, snarkier, more hard-drinking, and male version of this personal catnip!)
You may identify more with Kobungo, Kenpachi's innkeeper "best friend" wearing the peony mark of brotherhood on the left half of his derrière (obviously a bit awkward)--a pacifist gentle giant, excellent chef, and cat lover with a dark and troubled past involving fatal drunken violence --killing parents and siblings included--, who makes up with all of his friendliness and (Herculean!) physical strength for his lack of wit... as much bestie material as Kenpachi is leader material. Definitely the Sancho to Kenpachi's Quixote, being far more realistic.
Or you may be the graceful crossdressing actor Keno, also known by his drag queen stage name of Asakeno: so feminine in appearance and demeanor that he is often mistaken for a lady at first glance... beautiful and elegant yet deadly, as determined as Edmund Dantès or Oberyn Martell to avenge the fact that s/he was brutally orphaned to get a hold of their clan's ancestral flute. S/He's even got his own Count-of-Montecristo-style convoluted intrigue to get revenge on those scoundrels, which involves said drag queen act on stage not to be recognized by the victims! Just like Dantès, (Asa-)Keno gradually discovers, as s/he takes down their enemies one by one, that revenge is not precisely the best of strategies to deal with life gives you the worst hand. Keno wears the mark of wisdom on their left pectoral, a bit above the nipple.
Or you may be kindred spirits with Daikaku, the skilful cat-loving artisan, reserved and taciturn and ostensibly cold as ice --yet, as seen when he makes lovely toys, and when he pets his cats and even sacrifices himself for them, with a heart of gold--; blame his late abusive stepmother for all that façade of emotionless introversion. More of an artist than an artisan, the ostensibly stoic Daikaku gradually defrosts as he grows into his new role as the warrior of good form (also rendered as etiquette or courtesy), whose peony is on his brow as a third eye that allows him to see spirits and other supernatural creatures. Also, like Othello, while still living in his village and bearing his given name of Kakutaro, he is put to the test with the local rumour, spread by his own stepmother (who disapproved, besides, of his choice of wife), that his beautiful and faithful wife Hinagiku has had an affair and is expecting the bastard child (when she actually swallowed the bead of good form to protect it from her stepmother-in-law, which made Hinagiku's belly swell) --and Kakutaro, just like the Moor, wavers at the end of the day. Upon confronting his wife and seeing Hinagiku commit ritual suicide to prove her own innocence and intact maidenhead, and thus discovering his true virtue of good form when he regains the bloodstained bead, he renames himself Daikaku and joins the other chosen ones.
But I identify far the most with Shinobu (AKA Shinbei, his name can be transliterated either way), the kind-hearted kid prodigy and the baby of the team; whose virtue is kindness/benevolence and whose marking is on his left shoulder. Adopted by Kobungo and Kenpachi after losing his parents and then grandmother guardian (making this one of the first cases in fiction with a gay couple adopting an orphan and forming a rainbow family!), Shinobu, whose real name is Daihachi (he had to be renamed post-adoption due to persecution... long story), this stripling is an arm and a leg of bright, aside from the glue that holds the whole octet of heroes together... and the most powerful, aside from the youngest, of the eight warriors!
There are, obviously, another three:
Shino, the warrior of devotion or piety, the earnest stripling and second youngest (a young adult who still looks and acts like a child, aside from having quite asexuated looks and personality), with his peony on his right upper arm. Sent to the shogun's court to bring his clan's ancestral sword to a new owner, and forced to cross-dress as a girl to evade his pursuers, he is often --and for quite a good reason--, mistaken for a real maiden. Shino is obviously the audience surrogate as well as the most frequent POV character; as the innocent farm boy born from a barren woman's wish and raised well by loving parents before calamity --personified as the local lordlings of the feudal shire-- takes them away forever (ritual suicide once more). We see Shino, like the Hogwarts students and the Stark children (especially like a gender-flipped Arya), struggle and survive in a hostile world: most readers, male or female, identify with Shino while they idealize Kenpachi.
Sósuke, the warrior of duty, is said local shire-lordlings' abused indentured servant of an orphan nephew. Born unto courtier parents, his world shattered as a very young child when advice his father gave to the new shogun was mistaken for treason, which led to Sósuke's father's ritual suicide and his widowed wife's exile, with a child Sósuke in tow, back to her parents' home in the provinces. However, a snowstorm claimed the life of Sósuke's mum during that wintry journey as she protected her boy from the cold. Sósuke was found after the snowstorm had calmed by his aunt and uncle, who blamed him for the clan's fall from grace and worked him into submission, treating him as an indentured servant, with a combination of physical and psychological abuse: this Cinderelliot was called "Gaku," which translates more or less to "Runt," by his foster family. In his twenties, when he realises his destiny, he has left his provincial home to return to court and carve out a niche of his own, to restore his surname's reputation; finding however far more than what he expected... Sósuke is a cool cat, but far less eccentric and closer to earth than Kenpachi: making Sósuke the oniisama or ideal older brother of the group, made far stronger by all the suffering he has had to endure. His peony is on his left upper arm, mirroring Shino's.
Dousetsu, the warrior of loyalty, a travelling healer, was also an indentured servant in the same feudal household where Sósuke was forced to share his fate; but Dousetsu was treated equally badly for being the master's bastard son of a whore --bastard, orphan, son of a whore...-- His stepmother even repetitively put poison in his drink and then, seeing him deeply unconscious, left him out to freeze in the winter cold. She didn't care that the boy had survived, partly having acquired poison immunity à la Oberyn Martell and partly being saved by a snow queen (or at least the youkai counterpart of this character). For a snow queen's ward, however, the hot-blooded Dousetsu can literally spit fire. An impulsive and slightly ditzy character in pursuit of his trueborn stepsister Hamaji, the only trueborn child and heir to the feudal clan and, most importantly, the only person (not counting the snow queen, who is not human) who was ever nice to him (besides, Hamaji is also Sósuke's cousin and Shino's fiancée --until her parents called off the engagement for a more lucrative lordling of a suitor)... When Dousetsu finds Hamaji, she has been taken prisoner by outlaws; taken off-guard by their illusory tricks, he accidentally stabs his beloved half-sister to death. This greatest failure will haunt him no matter how much he tries to put on a brave face, since it has barely changed his innate impulsive temperament. There are definitely parallels between Dousetsu and Shakespeare's Laertes as hot-blooded young men who dearly love their estranged little sisters and are broken by guilt upon directly or indirectly making them die (ps. a hot-blooded badass who cuts quite a figure, yet still haunted by the death of his lovely li'l sister... Oberyn, we're looking at you as well, and also due to the poison immunity!)... Dousetsu's peony is on the nape of his neck.
As for the villainess... Tamazusa is as much love-to-hate material as the Thénardiers and Iago put together. In fact, in my mind's eye she looks just like Bellatrix Lestrange... but given her power-behind-the-throne status and ruthlessness, she also reminds me of Lady Macbeth. Beheaded for high treason at the start of it all, she disappears for a while and subsequently resurrects, reincarnated, with a thirst for vengeance, wresting the castle and shire of House Satomi from right under their feet after Fusehime has died without trueborn heirs and her husband has abdicated as penance for killing her. This sinister femme fatale maintains her youth --and subsequently her health and good looks-- by washing in, and drinking, maidens' blood à la Erzsébet Báthory, which lends her character even more cruelty and ruthlessness... Undead, vampiric, and beautifully sinister, Tamazusa is obviously a force to be reckoned with.
It comes as no surprise that the Satomi Hakkenden has endured through the ages and been adapted left and right all over the place, from more faithful retellings to loosely inspired ones like Corrector Yui (the eight original Correctors' characters) and Digimon Adventure (the eight original Chosen Ones). And even into my own fiction, where it's not impossible to see traits of the Hakkenden warriors in the Happy Few; Gerhard Wilhelm von Ringstetten as obviously Kenpachi, Erik and Liselotte both having inspiration from Kobungo (but Alois taking on the role as right-hand-man), resident scholar Kurtius as Shinobu...

The eight warriors in a 1980s Hakkenden OVA.

The eight Correctors flanking the titular character in Corrector Yui.

The original Chosen Ones in the 1990s Digimon Adventure finale.

The eight original Chosen Ones in the present-day 20th-anniversary OVA Digimon Adventure Tri.

Eight Hakkenden-inspired warriors play a relevant part in the videogame Okami.

You may be able to identify, in all of these hypertextual media examples, the parallels to the warriors I have mentioned in my review...