TAKEDA THE ARCHER
Takeda the Archer was originally meant to be a MTCC Exclusive back around 2001, a sort of Series 19 MTCC Exclusive but it never did materialised, that's what the advertisement meant when it said this is the long-awaited figure. Image is from spawn.com.
April 2004 Retail Exclusive: Spawn the Samurai Warriors
Before there is a Samurai Spawn, there is Takeda. He is the third human-turned-spawn figure to appear in Spawndom after Al Simmons and Cogliostro. His story goes like this:
Japan. 1185 AD. A time of great and violent upheaval. A land torn apart by famine and war. Blood bathed the once-tranquil landscape. Famine was an ever-present danger. Brother fought brother over scraps of land and rice, and armies fell by the thousands at the edges of razor-sharp swords. The feudal lords, the Daimyo, powerful, righteous men, called upon the unyielding Samurai warriors to band together and wade into the battlefield; to draw their swords and destroy their enemies. Among these warriors was a novice Bushi named Takeda. He was a fearless hero who ignored the key instruction of the Samurai way: never draw your sword in anger. To draw in anger blinded the warrior's soul and enabled the devils to control a bushi's weapon. Takeda was young and brash, and he allowed the anger to boil in his veins. He disliked being "one of many" and wished to rise quickly through the ranks of the Samurai. To do this, Takeda used his rage to ruthlessly slaughter numerous enemies and allowed his anger to control him in battle.
There is a great review of this figure in OAFE.net.
