Emperor Yoshiro

""You will bow before us or you will cease to exist.""

- Emperor Yoshiro's threat to the Soviet Union

Emperor Yoshiro of Japan is the long time ruler of the Empire of the Rising Sun, and presides over the Empire at the zenith of its power as one of the three superpowers of Red Alert 3. He is cherished as a living god by his people.

Personality
"Survival is not a matter of chance. Rather, it is a matter of choice."

- Emperor Yoshiro addressing the Allied Nations

Emperor Yoshiro is a traditionalist who strictly follows the code of bushido, the samurai way of the warrior. He fundamentally believes that the Empire's destiny is to rule the entire world, that he was Emperor by divine right and that his fate was preordained. He rarely shows emotion and often spoke in a seemingly wise tone.

He holds the ideologies of the other two world powers in contempt, regarding them as barbaric compared to the perceived superiority of Japanese culture and ideals.

His hobbies include drinking tea, practicing with his Katana, cultivating bonsai trees, practicing calligraphy, and empire building.

Approach To War
"Wars are not won on the battlefield alone, my son, but in the hearts and souls of our adversaries."

- Emperor Yoshiro speaking to Prince Tatsu

The Emperor knew the value of morale and propaganda, and believed that a War is won by winning hearts and souls of his enemies and/or breaking their will to fight. Thus, during the invasion of the Soviet Union he carefully chose to strike at symbolic targets such as monuments and statues. He also ordered an invasion of California to seize American media centres to broadcast Imperial propaganda across the United States. This contrasts with the approach of his son, Prince Tatsu, who advocated a more straightforward military doctrine of attacking important military targets and not allowing the enemy the option of surrender.

Allied campaign
In the Allied perspective of the war, Yoshiro saw both Tanya and Natasha teaming up to defeat his three Shogunate generals, Shinzo, Naomi and Kenji, and told them that "the river of destiny" cannot be stopped - but the deadly duo proved him otherwise. After the Battle of Tokyo Harbor, and the destruction of the Shogunate Headquarters, he is possibly captured, or killed.

Soviet campaign
Having repulsed the initial Imperial assault in the Soviet Union, the Soviets launched an attack on the Imperial Palace at Mount Fuji to assassinate Yoshiro. The initial assault took heavy casualties and was reduced to infiltrating the Palace; the Emperor's decoy was killed. A heavily reinforced assault broke into the Palace and Yoshiro was forced to confront the invaders in a personalized King Oni. The Emperor was defeated in combat and his walker destroyed. The Empire of the Rising Sun quickly capitulated afterwards without its leader.

Rising Sun campaign
""Thank you Commander. You have honored your ancestors." "And defeated our enemies.""

- Yoshiro and Tatsu, thanking the Commander for winning the War

In the Rising Sun perspective of WWIII, he commands the Shogun to slowly attack the Soviets and Allies, mostly by using propaganda in order to wear down their spirits. He is being of morale and spiritual beliefs convinced that the downfall of their foes will come first from their spirit breakdown. He's shown care for his homeland, since he called for the defense an invasion force by the Allies as opposed to continuing to launch assaults against the Allies and Soviets like Tatsu advised. Yoshiro is a fatalist and a firm believer of the Empire's sacred mission to bring unity to the world. When Dr.Zelinsky contacts the Allies and informs them that the Soviet leadership returned in time and thus violated the space-time continuum, Yoshiro becomes disenfranchised. The facts clearly demonstrating that the Empire was not destined to become enemies with the barbarians after all (at least not the Allies) At the same moment, the Allied High Command and the Soviet Union launched a full scale attack on Yokohama harbor which affected greatly the Emperor.He resigns after he realizes his failure, and having doubts about his destiny. The Ruler of Japan abdicates in favor of Tatsu. He outweights over his guilt, agreeing with Tatsu about the Empire creating their own destiny. During the final destruction of the Soviet leadership, he is seen giving the Shogun and Kenji the order to destroy the Time-Machine resulting in the termination of Premier Cherdenko and General Krukov. During the siege of Armsterdam, he grants the Shogun a full battalion of Elite King Onis to facilitate the crumbling of the Future Tech HQ. He is last seen in the Empire's victory celebration, giving the Commander the title of Supreme Shogun.

Entombment
Yoshiro did not survive the defeat of his empire and was buried in a tomb on Oki Island. A post-war assault on the tomb by the Soviets was repulsed with the aid of Steel Ronin. Although Tatsu seems to believe his father's death is affective it is still in doubt how and when did the Emperor fall? It is in question since when the Allies attacked Tokyo they aimed at the Shogunate HQ. Yoshiro was never reported killed in action and no tragic and memorable funerals seem to have taken place. At the end of the Thir World War, the final victory of the Allies was over the Soviets Leadership and no news covering the death of Yoshiro is shown.

It is possible his death was faked to better establish his rise in an eventual future.

Behind the Scenes
He is played by actor George Takei, known as subject "Hikaru Sulu" in the Original Series "Star Trek".