Lady Masako is an onna-bugeisha, or female warrior, in the action-adventure video game Ghost of Tsushima based in medieval Japan. She is a longtime friend of Jin Sakai, the game’s protagonist, and joins his fight against the Mongol forces on the island of Tsushima.
Lady Masako (voiced by Lauren Tom in English, Mabuki Ando in Japanese) is an important support character with her own unique story arc spread out throughout the game, with revenge over her slain family and clan as the main focus. She lost her family on the night of the invasion, her husband by the Khan, and the remaining by traitors.
She is gifted in combat and with a bow often charging into battles overcome with anger and allowing little time to plan an attack. Within the story, Lady Masako’s bisexuality is mentioned in a very brief conversation but is one of the most important relationships in the game.
They track down a former servant, Mai, with whom Lady Masako had a relationship. Their relationship became known to Lady Msako’s husband who wanted Mai beaten, so Masako had her leave. From this, Mai felt a strong rejection and sided with those against her family not knowing what the outcome would be.
Masako tells her she would have left with her if she could but could not be labeled a traitor against her family as she belonged to an important lineage. “I was the lady of Clan Adachi, and you were a thief.” In the conversation, they are able to have closure and share how they felt about their relationship, and ultimately Masako spares Mai’s life. She later tells Jin she cared for her husband but also cared about Mai and that she always would.