Hantei Genji

Legend of the Five Rings card from Dawn of the Empire

Card Type

Personality

Force

5

Chi

5

Honor Requirement

0

Gold Cost

8

Personal Honor

5

Clan

Unaligned

Keywords

Double Chi, Unique, Courtier, Disciple, Emperor, Kami, Samurai

Card Text

Genji has the additional cost, "Discard the Imperial Favor or bow your Personalities and Followers with 13 or more total Force" to enter play.
Repeatable Political Limited, w: Target a face-up Personality in a Province. He enters play controlled by the Province's player, ignoring costs and restrictions.

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Hi,
  New wording on some personalities, does it still refer to restriction of bringing them into play? Can Hantei Genji use it ability if Yodin Sensei is in play, I control more personalities than any other other player and I have already put into play a personality ?
  If I am not a Shadowland player and Fu Leng is my province. Can Hantei Genji put him into play? Fu Leng reads : Will not be controlled by a non-Shadowlands Horde player. Is that a restriction to bring him to play? Fu Leng reads : Will not enter play unless two or more Personalities have been destroyed or given the Shadowlands keyword this turn. Is that a restriction to bring him to play?
  Is the Loyal trait a restriction of bringing a personality into play?
  => It seems to be YES. Isn't it the "Fu Leng's first trait" the translation for Faction without Faction keyword?
  Card texts: Fu Leng: Will not be controlled by a non-Shadowlands Horde player. Will not enter play unless two or more Personalities have been destroyed or given the Shadowlands keyword this turn.
  Hantei Genji: Political Limited: Any number of times per turn, bow Genji and target a face-up Personality in a province: He enters play controlled by the province's player, ignoring costs and restrictions.
  Yodin Sensei: The player (or players) with the most Personalities in play cannot bring a Personality into play if he or she has brought a Personality into play this turn.
  Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
  A: Yes is the answer to all the questions.
  See Restriction, definition. Brook Cunningham, "Bringing into play a personality : restriction", 10 Mar 2012
• Q: I'm pretty sure about this, but I need confirmation due to some dissenting opinions in my play group.
  Hantei and Hantei Genji are cards last printed without the Lotus or Samurai bug. Are their actions (not explicitly worded once per turn) exempt from the "once-per-turn" rule? That is, can Hantei use his reaction any number time per turn? Can Hantei Genji use his ability more than once per turn (provided a way to straighten him, of course)?
  Relevant texts:
  Hantei Unaligned Kami. First Emperor. Samurai. Courtier. Cavalry. Double Chi. Naval. Tactician. Unique Will not enter play unless a Kami Personality is in play. Reduce the Gold cost of cards attaching to Hantei to 0. Reaction: After a Political Action is taken: cancel it. Limited: Once per turn, target a non-Kami Personality. Gain permanent control of the target.
  Hantei Genji Unaligned Emperor. Disciple of the Kami. Samurai. Courtier. Double Chi. Unique You must discard the Imperial Favor or bow Personalities and Followers you control with more than 12 total Force as an additional cost of playing Hantei Genji. Political Limited: Bow Genji: Target a face-up Personality in a Province. Bring the Personality into play controlled by the Province's player, ignoring costs and restrictions.
  For cards last printed without the LOTUS or SAMURAI EDITION bug: Abilities and actions * An action may be taken any number of times per turn unless otherwise stated on the card.
  A: Yes.
  The Legacy Rule you quote does indeed allow Hantei's Reaction and Genji's action to be taken any number of times per turn. Brook Cunningham, "Hantei, Hantei Genji", 31 May 2009
• Q: Hantei Genji and Hantei the 38th both have additional costs that can involve discarding the favor. Can Ide Tadaji use his reaction to negate the paying of that cost?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Ide Tadaji vs. Hantei Genji and Hantei the 38th", 24 Jun 2007
• Q: The other day, a post was made by Marty, stating that "Loyal" and "Singular" are not restrictions.
  Would this mean that Hantei Genji's ability cannot bring a Loyal person from another faction into play under your control? I believe it was answered that he could in an earlier post, when we were all under the impression that Loyal was a restriction.
  Ever since Zen pointed out that "control restriction" wasn't an official term, I was viewing Loyal and Singular as a "non-entering play restriction", since entering play restrictions have been coined before in official terminology. Thanks for clearing up that they're not restrictions after all.
  A: Yes, as Zen pointed out, "restriction" is a reserved Game Term with a glossary definition. Neither Loyal nor Singular have rules that qualify as a "restriction" so Genji's abilty will not ignore such traits.
  He will ignore the Uniqueness Rule, though. Martin Lund, "Loyal, Singular, and Hantei Genji", 5 Mar 2005
• Q: [OBH Legacy] Just seeking confirmation that Hantei the XVI Inexperienced is the only Hantei personality with the "Imperial" keyword or should the other Hanteis (i.e. Hantei Genji) also have "Imperial"?
  A: As incongruous as it seems (and admittedly is), "Emperor" was never implicitly equivalent to "Imperial". They weren't printed with, or errated to add, "Imperial" so they are technically not. Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 25 Mar 2026
• Q: [OBH Legacy] Just seeking confirmation that Hantei the XVI Inexperienced is the only Hantei personality with the "Imperial" keyword or should the other Hanteis (i.e. Hantei Genji) also have "Imperial"?
  A: As incongruous as it seems (and admittedly is), "Emperor" was never implicitly equivalent to "Imperial". They weren't printed with, or errated to add, "Imperial" so they are technically not. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 25 Mar 2026