Born in 1160, eldest son of Taira no Norimori, a nephew of Kiyomori. Celebrated as the Taira clan's supreme warrior and master archer, his fearsome reputation reached even the Minamoto camp. At Ichi-no-Tani (1184) he demonstrated his power, and at Yashima (1185) he shot dead Sato Tsugunobu, Yoshitsune's loyal retainer, from shipboard, nearly cornering Yoshitsune himself. At the final battle of Dan-no-ura that same year, he fought with singular ferocity, his only goal to kill Yoshitsune. The legend of Yoshitsune's "eight-boat leap"—jumping from boat to boat to escape—was born from Noritsune's relentless pursuit. When the battle was lost beyond all hope, he refused surrender. Shouting that he would take enemies with him to the afterlife, he seized two Minamoto warriors under his arms and leaped into the sea, dying in a blaze of warrior glory. He was 26. The Tale of the Heike portrays him as the Taira's greatest fighting man, and his final moments rank among the most celebrated scenes in classical Japanese literature.