Tsuneoki Ikeda is Terumasa's father and Kazumasu Takigawa's cousin. Serving Nobunaga since their youth, he is said to have had been one of the young lord's playmates. He served in many campaigns in Mino before he supported Hideyoshi's rise to power. Tsuneoki rose to become an influential general during his lifetime, often called the "number four" man under Hideyoshi. The Nobunaga no Yabou 201X poll for 3-star officers puts him in nineteenth place.