Otori Shigeru

Lord Otori Shigeru is the adoptive father (and bioligical uncle) of Otori Takeo, and was (before his displacement) the legal heir to the Otori Clan, as the son of the previous Lord Otori Shigemori. The main character of Heaven's Net is Wide, he becomes Takeo's mentor and father figure in Across the Nightingale Floor.

Raised in the noblest of the warrior class' traditions (reinforced by his training under the legendary warrior-monk Matsuda Shigen) Shigeru's rise in stature (with the exception of his blatant preference for his mistress, Akane, over his wife) coincided with the Otori's dominance of the Three Countries being threatened by the Tohan Clan and its' new head Iida Sadamu, who would become his nemesis. Despite the scheming of his uncles and the indecision of his father, Shigeru's strategies for dealing with Sadamu seemed sound. But his and his allies' carelessness concerning the Tribe (and some of the Otori's own vassals) enabled the Tohan to crush the Otori at the Battle of Yagaehara, in which Shigemori was killed. Saved from death by a Tribe acquaintance, Muto Kenji (who would later become one of his closest friends), Shigeru renounced his rights to the succession in order to form a secret, long-term plan of revenge against Sadamu. His subsequent noble, enlightened and simple lifestyle (which earned him the nickname "The Farmer") earned him great affection from the people of the Middle Country, and inflamed resentment against the Tohan, leading to several assassination attempts against him by Sadamu and even his own uncles. Over the years, Shigeru secretly began compiling records of information on the Tribe through Muto Shizuka. He also reinforced his secret alliances with Arai Daiichi and Lady Maruyama Naomi, the latter of whom he began a secret romance with, after his wife's death.

In Across the Nightingale Floor, Shigeru discovered that he had a biological nephew with Tribe abilities, living in a Hidden village in the Eastern Country. Rescuing the boy from Tohan raiders, Shigeru re-named him Takeo (in honor of his recently-deceased brother, Takeshi) and raised him in Hagi. Slightly over a year later, he was requested to marry Lady Shirakawa Kaede, as part of an alliance between the Tohan and Otori. Knowing it was a pretext for his uncles and Sadamu to kill him, Shigeru went along with it in exchange for Takeo being formally adopted as his heir. His intention was for Takeo, with his Tribe abilities, to assassinate Sadamu in his capital of Inuyama, creating chaos and enabling Shigeru to take back his position and the clan's lost territories, allied with the Arai and the Maruyama. Unfortunately, Takeo was abducted by the Tribe just before the scheduled assassination, and in the meantime Shigeru was forced to go along with the marriage to protect Maruyama Naomi. However, once Sadamu learned of Shigeru's conspiracy with Naomi (who had drowned trying to escape Inuyama with her daughter) he stripped Shigeru of his warrior's privelege and strung him by the arms from the castle wall.

Rescued by Takeo and Kenji, the dying Shigeru requested to be brought Sadamu's head, and charged Takeo to eventually take up his Otori inheritance, and to look after Kaede. Takeo then ended Shigeru's suffering by beheading him with the ancestral Otori sword, Jato. Shigeru's death sparked outrage across the Three Countries, leading to uprisings against the Tohan in Yamagata. It also coincided with Iida Sadamu's death at the hands of Kaede, the destruction of his castle in Inuyama by Takeo and the Tribe, and an invasion of Tohan territory by Arai Daiichi, ensuring the downfall of the Tohan Clan.

Shigeru was buried with honor at the temple of Terayama, as he had wished. Takeo later overthrew his treacherous uncles and took leadership of the Otori clan, fulfilling Shigeru's final request.