Members of the legendary Sanada Ten Brave are portrayed as bodyguards:
• Sarutobi Sasuke (as Ninja)
• Kirigakure Saizō (as Fire Ninja)
• Mochizuki Rokurō (as Fire Ninja)
• Anayama Kosuke (as Samurai)
• Kakei JÅ«zō (as Musketeer)
• Miyoshi Seikai (as Sumo)
• Miyoshi Isa (as Sumo)

In the English version of the game, Sakon Shima's gratitude and defeat quotes are references to Elvis Presley. This is likely due to the character's appearance being very similar to the famous singer.

Mitsunari's character was greatly inspired by Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang from Dynasty Warriors. Originally he was going to have a maniacal laugh like Sima Yi. This idea was likely discarded because the developers were not trying to portray Mitsunari as a villain. He was also going to have a feathered fan, however since there was no records of feathered fans in Japan, the weapon was changed to a folding fan.

Nobunaga's feather collar was added to emphasize his symbolic items in the series, which are black feathers. The collar was removed in later titles, however the feather motif was still maintained.

In Chapter 2 of Tadakatsu's Tale, the prologue states "his skills are comparable to that of the legendary Zhang Fei of ancient China." This is a reference to the character of the same name in Dynasty Warriors.

In one of Shingen's death scenes, he states "This would have never happened to Sima Yi." This is a reference to the character of the same name in Dynasty Warriors.