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Born in 1534 at Nagoya Castle in Owari Province as the eldest son of Oda Nobuhide. His eccentric behavior in youth earned him the nickname "the Great Fool of Owari," yet after inheriting the clan he unified Owari. His surprise victory over the massive Imagawa army at Okehazama in 1560 made his name famous nationwide. In 1568 he marched on Kyoto under the pretext of restoring the Muromachi Shogunate with Ashikaga Yoshiaki and seized control of the capital. In 1573 he expelled Yoshiaki and effectively ended the Muromachi Shogunate, racing toward national unification under the banner Tenka Fubu ("spread martial rule under heaven"). At the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 he destroyed the Takeda cavalry through organized volley fire, achieving a tactical revolution. He revitalized commerce through the rakuichi-rakuza free-market system, abolished tollgates, burned Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei, and suppressed the Ikko-ikki uprisings — boldly challenging existing religious and economic authority. He built Azuchi Castle, erecting Japan's first towering donjon. On June 2, 1582, on the verge of completing national unification, his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled (the Honnoji Incident) and he died by suicide at Honnoji in Kyoto at age 49.

An innovator unbound by convention, with both the imagination and the will to act. Though ruthless toward enemies, he valued meritocracy and promoted capable men regardless of birth. His curiosity about Western culture and new technologies such as firearms, combined with his fearlessness in the face of change, swept through the warring states era.

He charted the path to national unification, providing the foundation on which Hideyoshi and Ieyasu would complete it. His firearms tactics fundamentally transformed warfare in the warring states period, and the free-market system laid the groundwork for early modern commercial economy. The Honnoji Incident, his dramatic end, is deeply etched in Japanese history and continues to inspire countless literary and screen adaptations.