Hantei the 39th

Legend of the Five Rings card from 1,000 Years of Darkness

Card Type

Personality

Force

10

Chi

10

Honor Requirement

-

Gold Cost

20

Personal Honor

0

Clan

Unaligned

Keywords

Unique, Emperor, Nonhuman, Shadowlands, Vessel of Fu Leng

Card Text

Will only join a Shadowlands Horde player.
Other players may not take Political actions.
Before Hantei the 39th is destroyed, if The 12th Black Scroll has not been destroyed this game, bow Hantei and move him home instead of destroying him.
After Hantei the 39th is destroyed, you lose the game.

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• If he is reduced to 0 Chi, he remains bowed in your fief. [JA, 15 October 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 98

Rules Q&A

• Q: - If some cards in the losing army would not be destroyed due to a trait on those cards, EG "Hantei the 39th" or "Hida Sozen", may you play Pick your Battles?
  No.
  A: Until I here otherwise, that ruling stands. If some of your units or cards won't be destroyed, then it won't qualify as the Army being destroyed, not for your Pick Your Battles, nor for an opponent's Ikoma Sume.
  Army = all Units. Unit = Personality + all attached cards.
  If Sozen's destruction is Negated, you haven't destroyed the Unit. It you fail to destroy all the Units, you've failed to destroy the Army. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 July 2004", 2 Jul 2004
• Q: Got to wondering about Hantei the 39th. If his massive 10 chi got lowered by 9 [Doom of Fu Leng], then an opponent played Shukumei and targeted him, which would kill him, only he says he does not bie, but returns to your fief bowed, what happens then? He still has 0 Chi, so he dies again, but his trait says he goes to your fief bowed. Seems like an infinite loop, so does he essentially just become bowed, and continue with the game? Or am I missing something?
  A: Jeff's already been there, done that, and bought the T-Shirt.
  "If he is reduced to 0 Chi, he remains bowed in your fief. [JA, 15 October 2002]" (Accumulated Rulings, "Hantei the 39th") Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 June 2004", 21 Jun 2004
• Q: - If some cards in the losing army would not be destroyed due to a trait on those cards, EG "Hantei the 39th" or "Hida Sozen", may your use Yu?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 12 March 2004", 13 Mar 2004
• Q: - If some cards in the losing army would not be destroyed due to a trait on those cards, EG "Hantei the 39th" or "Hida Sozen", may you play Pick your Battles?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 12 March 2004", 13 Mar 2004
• Q: If you possesion Hantei the 39th and iuchiban, and the resulting abobination is destroyed, do you loose the game?
  A: Heh. I should probably leave this question for Jeff because it has a Diamond component, but Iuchiban isn't relevent to the combo. And I know Jeff hates Posession questions, so he'll *owe* me for answering these...
  No ("All traits are replaced..."). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 3 October 2003", 4 Oct 2003
• Q: Does Hantei the 39th remember who he was, and come back into play to your feif?
  A: No ("the Oni Personality returns to play..." -- i.e., the combined Personlity fully hits the graveyard). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 3 October 2003", 4 Oct 2003
• Q: There must be something i'm not correctly understanding about the rule that says "you cannot bring a unique card into play if a unique card with the same name is already in play". A few month ago, i asked Jeff the following question : If "Hantei the 38th" is given the monk trait, then attaches Shiryo No Tetsuya, thus becoming "Hantei the 39th", is it possible to bring "Hantei the 39th" into play, as it is unique, and there's already a unique card with the same name in play? If i remember correctly, Zen answered "no", and Jeff "yes" (so i assume "yes" is the final answer), but none offered explanation, so i'm still wondering why ?
  A: I've never been a fan of the fact that numbers in Experience levels and card titles can be changed by things like Shiryo no Tetsuya, but apparently I'm in the minority among the Rules Team on that issue. Hantei the 38th really would block the "real" 39th from entering play in this situation. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 January 2003", 29 Jan 2003
• Q: Second question, and a bit (lot?) sillier... If I make the Hantei the 39th a ninja (via Ronin Dojo or whatever) and then attach a Night Medallion to him, does it now require that the 14th black scroll be destroyed for him to die, making him unkillable (without killing the Night Medallion)?
  A: Yes. Strange but true. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 November 2002", 28 Nov 2002
• Q: I have several questions about rulings.
  1) When Hantei the 39th(kyd) is sent home instead destroyed, does he keep his attached cards?
  A: It depends whether he was being destroyed by something that would have killed just him (Iaijutsu Duel, Kolat Assassin, Occult Murders) or eliminated his entire unit (To Do What We Must, being in a losing army at resolution). In the first case, his attached cards survive. In the latter, they do not. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 November 2002", 19 Nov 2002
• Q: Is it legal to destroy hantei the 39th with the sacaf altar to produce 20 gold and lose 10 honor or becuase he is not destroyed that messing up the whole action.
  A: He is not destroyed, so the attempt to generate gold is canceled. No gold is produced and no honor loss happens.
  This all assumes the 12th Black Scroll hasn't been used, of course. If it has, Hantei the 39th really does die, and you still don't get your gold because you lose the game first. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 November 2002", 14 Nov 2002
• Q: Follow up question,
  what happens if I managed to cast "Capturing the Soul on him" Does removeing from the game translates as destroyed? Or is he just removed from the game? Does the owner lose the game?
  A: Neither "discarded" nor "removed from the game" count as being destroyed. His controller would not lose if these happen to him. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 October 2002", 15 Oct 2002
• Q: Parasitic Oni +2F +2C 0HR 3G -PH Oni * Nonhuman * Shadowlands Lose 2 Honor. Destroy this Personality if Parasitic Oni is destroyed. "Yori is not the most powerful of the Dark Masters, but he is certainly the most creative" - Hantei the 39th 2F Diamond, Gold Legal
  - My question is, if this follower gives it's force directly to the Personality, can it be destroyed by a ranged attack?
  A: Sure. It's a Follower, isn't it? Jeff Alexander, "post for 30 September 2002", 1 Oct 2002
• Q: [OBH] Question. Can Hantei the 39th pay the destroy cost of To Do What We Must? 39th 's trait says "Before Hantei is destroyed" so no destruction takes place? Or does the destruction still take place but 39th's trait substitutes bowing and moving?
  A: He cannot. There is no destruction. Substitution replaces the original effect before/without it happening. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 16 Apr 2026