Yasuke: 10 Mind-Blowing Historical Facts From The Netflix Anime
1. Yasuke Himself (The Historical Black Samurai)
Yasuke was a historical figure whose life story is the subject of much speculation.
His origin in the series as coming from the Yao people is one of many popular theories. He was a free man when he first came to Japan, though he may have spent his earlier years as a slave. He fought as one of Nobunaga's samurai in multiple historical battles, the first recorded foreign samurai, and was so congenial and spoke Japanese well enough that Nobunaga enjoyed talking to him at length.
He was around 189 cm or 6'2", extremely tall for the average Japanese person at 158 cm. He was described as extremely dark skinned; the scene in which Nobunaga asks if he inks his skin is accurate to the accounts. The outfit he wears upon arriving in Japan, acting as Alessandro Valignano's bodyguard, seems to be based on ancient paintings.
It's traditionally held that Yasuke was present at Nobunaga's death, possibly protecting his head from being taken by the enemy. He also joined Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada, in an attempt to fight against Mitsuhide's forces, but was eventually captured, supposedly delivered to a nearby Jesuit mission. His fate after that is unknown.