Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure video game that takes place in the Sengoku period in Japan. The protagonist of the game is a shinobi known as Wolf, or Ookami. Wolf serves the Divine Heir, Kuro, and is bound by honor. He is composed and reticent, but also has the ruthlessness to complete his mission by any means necessary. Wolf has already lost his life to the Ashina clan leader Genichiro Ashina in the prologue, losing the young lord he was charged with protecting and his left arm. Later, he was given a prosthetic arm by the Sculptor at the Dilapidated Temple.

Wolf was found by Owl in the calmed battlefield, seemingly orphaned from Isshin Ashinas coup and reclamation of his clans homeland. Owl dubbed him Wolf and took the boy in as a foster son while having him trained to become a Shinobi. Owl indoctrinated Sekiro with the Iron Code, which bids that Father is Absolute, and a master comes close second. Sekiro was at one time, appointed as Shinobi of the Divine Heir, which bound him to a lifetime duty of protecting his young lord. This responsibility took Sekiro under difficult times when Hirata Estate fell under a very timely attack by a bandit group under Juzou the Drunkard which unbeknownst to many, had the backing of Interior Ministrys agents and Sekiros own traitorous father.

The exact thing that transpired that night is unknown since Sekiros memory of the event itself was gone from him, but it can be accepted that Sekiro was fooled by his foster father to think that hes about to pass away from wounds and was tasked with a dying wish to retrieve the Divine Heir, Kuro, from the hidden shrine beneath Hirata Estates main building. For whatever reason, Sekiro was antagonistically greeted by Lady Butterfly, who does not seem to be content with Sekiro getting away with Kuro, and was forced to kill his former mentor. Victorious, Sekiro was somehow stabbed from the behind by a large Odachi and he fell to a near-death state. It was at this time, Kuro gave him his oath-bound immortality, allowing Sekiro to survive the harrowing event. With no recollection of that night, Sekiro was left with no purpose to live. He was branded a rogue by the Ashina military, possibly due to accusations of betrayal involving Hiratas destruction that wasnt his doing. For an unknown amount of time, Sekiro spent his time in a well not far from Ashina Reservoir, wasting his life away in solitude. The soldiers and guards who came to know his presence went as far as to tolerate him, believing he lost his will to live. Yet, a letter from a tenant of Ashina Castle made its way into the well one day, informing Sekiro that his master is alive and need saving, from which point the game unfolds.