Samurai warrior Jin Sakai, the last surviving member of his clan, who must set aside the traditions that have shaped him as a warrior to wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Tsushima.
At the end of the second act, your loyal horse that has been with you from the beginning of the game tragically perishes in an emotional, tearjerking scene
The games' "Ghost Stance", a powerful tool that can instantly kill up to three enemies in quick succession, depicts Jin severing the arms of his enemies.
Furthermore, several enemies are shown to be decapitated, either by the player's hand or by others.
Several, including Jin himself. Though the most overt method is psychological torture. During act 1, Khotun Khan dangles the decline in Jin's honor in front of Lord Shimura as a method to try and get him to surrender the island.
During act 2, Jin is captured by the mongols and forced to watch his friend Taka die brutally in front of him.
And in the games Ikki Island DLC, the entire time, Jin is under the effects of a psychogenic poison that taunts him with the death of his father Kasumasa, and how the people he's working with are his father's killers.
No matter what you do, how honorably you fight. Jin is branded a traitor by the Shogun for his dishonorable methods as The Ghost, and you are forced to battle Lord Shimura.
In victory, you are left with two options, neither of which are happy, you can either spare Shimura's life, denying him a warrior's death. Or you can kill him, showing him in his last moments that Jin is not completely devoid of honor.
In both the main game, and the Ikki Island DLC, we see the death of Kazumasa Sakai, Jin's father, multiple times. He was killed by having his throat slit open.
This trend continues throughout the game as stealth takedowns include stabbing enemies in the neck, and during standoff kills, you can see enemies grabbing at their necks as blood spurts from them
Kazumasa Sakai, Jin's father, dies before the events of the game, but the event itself is shown multiple times
Depending on player action, Lord Shimura, Jin's uncle, can die by your hand
Taka, Yuna's sister, is killed by Khotun Khan
The entirety of Lady Masako's storyline is about her getting revenge for the death of her entire family.
It's hard to say for certain. In the Legends game mode, definitely. But in the main game it's likely just hallucinations, but when getting the Heavy Bow, there is myth around the bow being possesed by a demon
There are myths and legends surrounding them in the main game, and The Legends game mode certainly depicts ghostly visages.
But ghosts themselves aren't explicitly real in the game
However, Jin Sakai is given the title of "The Ghost" due to his sneaky, unseen approach to fighting the Mongol invaders
The first on screen death, as a matter of fact
Harunobu Adachi is doused in alcohol by Khotun Khan, and set alight after challenging the Mongol's strongest warrior, in a display of the lack of honor amongst the invaders.
Additionally, there is a scene where, to prove his loyalty to Khotun Khan, Ryuzo is forced to burn two people alive at the stake in order to force those sheltered inside Castle Shimura to open the gate.