stylistic:style_transfer, quality:corruption
In popular culture

In recent years, Nobunaga appears frequently in fiction and continues to be portrayed in many different anime, manga, video games, and cinematic films, very often wearing a Western-style mustache and a red European cape allegedly gifted to him.

However, it was after World War II that Oda Nobunaga became popular. Nobunaga had previously appeared as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's lord in various Taikōki in which Hideyoshi played a leading role, such as Ehon Taikōki published in the Edo period and Yoshikawa Eiji 's historical novel Shinsho Taikōki, written during World War II, but in short he was a supporting character. Nobunaga was often portrayed as a tyrant in variations of the Taikōki, where his lack of virtue and narrow-mindedness were often emphasised, although his abilities were appreciated. An exception is Eiji Yoshikawa's Taikōki, in which he was a firm but benevolent lord.

The post-War image of Nobunaga began with writer Sakaguchi Ango 's Oda Nobunaga. He described Nobunaga as a rationalist to the bone.

Nobunaga first gained popularity in Japan with the hit film Fū-unji: Oda Nobunaga (1959), an adaptation of the novel Oda Nobunaga (1955–60) by historical novelist Yamaoka Sōhachi.

The popularity of Nobunaga was determined by the success of Shiba Ryōtarō 's novel Kunitori Monogatari (1963–1966). Shiba positioned Nobunaga as a revolutionary with a clear will, a rarity in Japanese history, and established an image of Nobunaga in which light and shadow coexisted, not only evaluating his innovativeness but also criticising his brutality. However, he was not yet absolutely popular at the start of the serialisation and was a double starring with Akechi Mitsuhide. On the contrary, the original protagonist was his father-in-law, Saito Dōsan, and Nobunaga was not planned to appear. However, due to its popularity, Shiba was not allowed to finish the series and had no choice but to bring out Nobunaga and make it a two-part series. In 1973, Taiga drama based on this story was made. After that, many Taiga dramas were made with him as the main character.

Tsuji Kunio 's novel The Signore: Shogun of the Warring States (安土往還記, 1968), in the form of a letter by the crew of a ship carrying missionaries to Japan, won the Ministry of Education's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists.

Nobunaga in Kurosawa Akira 's film Kagemusha (1980) is not the protagonist, but he is the originator of the image of him in current fictional works, wearing a mustache, a cloak and western armour and drinking red wine.

Mayumura Taku 's SF novel Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger (1977–1978) is the originator of the plot in which a modern man travels back in time to the Sengoku period and meets Oda Nobunaga, and was made into an anime in 1986.

His rise is chronicled in the Netflix docufiction series The Age of the Samurai, the Bloody Origins of Japan released in 2021 and then in Keishi Ōtomo 's film The Legend and Butterfly released in 2023.

The anime Yōtōden (1987–1988) was the forerunner of the type of work in which the 'Demon King' Nobunaga stands in the way of the protagonists. From this anime onwards, more and more films portrayed him not just as a villain or a brutal figure, but literally as a demonic being.He is portrayed as evil or megalomaniacal in some anime and manga series including Samurai Deeper Kyo and Flame of Recca. Yamada Masaki 's novel Ōka Ninpōchō: Basilisk Shinshō (2015) and its anime and manga Basilisk: Ōka Ninpōchō, based on Yamada Futaro 's novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls and its anime and manga Basilisk, portray Nobunaga as a literal demon in addition to a power-mad warlord.

In video games, the branding of Nobunaga began in the 1980s with Koei 's Nobunaga's Ambition series. And it was not until the 21st century that Nobunaga played the role of the Demon King in the video game world, starting with Capcom 's Onimusha (2001) and Sengoku Basara (2005) and Koei's Samurai Warriors (2004). The Samurai Warriors design for Nobunaga is also seen in Pokémon Conquest (2012), known in Japan as Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition

While many works portray Nobunaga's character as a cruel monarch or demonic in nature, there are just as many works that portray him in a positive or neutral light.This is particularly true of Japanese live-action films and TV dramas.

Nobunaga has been portrayed numerous times in a more neutral or historical framework, particularly in the taiga drama series produced and broadcast by NHK in Japan.

The film Goemon portrays him as a saintly mentor of Ishikawa Goemon.

Nobunaga is also portrayed in a heroic light in some video games such as Kessen III, Ninja Gaiden II, and the Warriors Orochi series, while in the anime series "Nobunaga no Shinobi" Nobunaga is portrayed as a kind person as well as having a major sweet tooth.

By contrast, in the novel The Samurai's Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard, he is portrayed as an antagonist "known for his merciless cruelty".

Nobunaga is portrayed as evil, villainous, bloodthirsty, and/or demonic in many video games, such as the Onimusha series, Ninja Master's, Maplestory, Inindo: Way of the Ninja, Atlantica Online, the Samurai Warriors series, the Sengoku BASARA series (and its anime adaptation), and the Soulcalibur series.

Oda Nobunaga appears in the manga series Tail of the Moon, Kacchū no Senshi Gamu.

Historical representations in video games (mostly Western-made strategy or action titles) include Shogun: Total War, Total War: Shogun 2, Throne of Darkness, the eponymous Nobunaga's Ambition series, as well as Civilization V, Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, Nioh, and Nioh 2. Kamenashi Kazuya of the Japanese pop group KAT-TUN wrote and performed a song titled "1582" which is written from the perspective of Mori Ranmaru during the coup at Honnō temple.

Nobunaga has also been portrayed in fiction, such as when the figure of Nobunaga influences a story or inspires a characterization.In James Clavell 's novel Shōgun, the character Goroda is a pastiche of Nobunaga.In the film Sengoku Jieitai 1549, Nobunaga is killed by time-travelers.Nobunaga also appears as a major character in the eroge Sengoku Rance and is a playable character in Pokémon Conquest, with his partner Pokémon being Hydreigon, Rayquaza and Zekrom.

Nobunaga Oda exists also in the lore of the mobile game Fate/Grand Order and the manga series Fate/KOHA-ACE, as a playable character under various depictions and oftentimes shown with a very brash and carefree personality.