History VideoGame / DynastyWarriors

** In ''4'', the first mandatory stage is the Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Han side. The last stage of the entire game? The Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Yellow Turban side. [[note]]The Yellow Turban story is unlocked by completing all the other stories: Shu, Wei, Wu, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo and Nanman (which is unlocked by beating Meng Huo and/or Zhu Rong in a duel in the Nanman Campaign stage for Shu or Wu)[[/note]].

** In ''4'', the first mandatory stage is the Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Han side. The last stage of the entire game? The Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Yellow Turban side. [[note]]The Yellow Turban story is unlocked by completing all the other stories: Shu, Wei, Wu, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo and Nanman (which is unlocked by beating Meng Huo and/or Zhu Rong in a duel in the Nanman Campaign stage for Shu or Wu)[[/note]]

** In ''4'', the first mandatory stage is the Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Han side. The last stage of the entire game? The Yellow Turban Rebellion on theYellow Turban side. [[note]]The Yellow Turban story is unlocked by completing all the other stories: Shu, Wei, Wu, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo and Nanman (which is unlocked by beating Meng Huo and/or Zhu Rong in a duel in the Nanman Campaign stage for Shu or Wu)[[/note]]

** Some people will view the words "Do not pursue Lu Bu" as an invitation. They will most likely get their asses handed back to them.

* ShmuckBait: Rather infamously, ''4'' introduces players to the Duel System at Hulao Gate, where officers can fight one-on-one in an isolated environment with significantly shortened health bars. This being [[EarlyGameHell Hulao Gate]], the very first opponent you can duel? [[OptionalBoss Lu Bu]], who is already devastating enough in a regular encounter by this point in the series, and is so utterly rigged with how powerful he is that he ''will'' annihilate you on a fresh playthrough without some serious skills or [[ArtificialStupidity cheese]].

* ShmuckBait: Rather infamously, ''4'' introduces players to the Duel System at Hu Lao Gate, where officers can fight one-on-one in an isolated environment with significantly shortened health bars. This being Hu Lao Gate, the very first opponent you can duel? [[OptionalBoss Lu Bu]], who is already devastating enough in a regular encounter by this point in the series, and is so utterly rigged with how powerful he is that he ''will'' annihilate you on a fresh playthrough without some serious skills or [[ArtificialStupidity cheese]].

The games feature a colorful cast of characters, most of whom are part of the storyline's three main warring factions, the Kingdoms of Wei, Wu, and Shu. There are also a few other characters thrown in, including the unsavory usurper Dong Zhuo and his [[EvilMinions Evil Minion]] UsefulNotes/LuBu, the greatest badass in all of Ancient China.

* ''Dynasty Warriors'' (UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}})
* ''Dynasty Warriors 2'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStation2)
* ''Dynasty Warriors 3'' ([=PlayStation 2=], UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}})

** ''Dynasty Warriors'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable)
** ''Dynasty Warriors: Advance'' (UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance)

** ''Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires'' ([=PlayStation=] 2, UsefulNotes/Xbox360)

** ''Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle'' (UsefulNotes/NintendoDS)

* ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, Xbox 360, PC)

** ''Dynasty Warriors Next'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita)
** ''Shin Sangoku Musou VS'' (UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS)

** ''Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends'' ([=PlayStation=] 3, [=PlayStation=] Vita, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, PC)
** ''Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires'' ([=PlayStation=] 3, [=PlayStation=] 4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, [=PlayStation=] Vita, PC, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch)

** ''Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires'' ([=PlayStation=] 4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, Nintendo Switch, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, PC)

* AdaptationalBadass: Many of the playable characters are rulers, strategists, advisors, politicians, old men, wives, daughters and other non-combatants. In order to function in the game's fast-paced action setting, they're upgraded from NonActionGuy status to [[BadassBookworm Badass Bookworms]], RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething and [[ActionGirl Action Girls]].

** from ''7'' on this is at least a DownplayedTrope as generic officers of importance are given unique looks in the variation of "using a character customizer to generate the unique look". You'll still see plenty of the same armor, faces, and colors but each character tends to be unique enough you could pick Cao Shuan out of a line up from Cao Rui and Cao Mao despite all being wei officers.

-->"The almighty Gate Captain!!" ~Random Website/YouTube Comment

** Ma Chao was originally characterized as a patriot motived by [[{{Revenge}} revenge]], impassioned but possessing a dry wit. ''4'' introduced his affinity for [[ForGreaTJustice justice]] and every entry since [[{{Flanderization}} has made it his defining character trait]].

** Romance is an undeniable part of the story ([[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loose or not]], it was based on history), but whether it's because of artistic choice or censorship (which is hardly believable, given that the whole point of the series is for you to [[MookHorrorShow lay waste on a battlefield with hundreds of mooks]]), physical affection is kept to a minimum. This leads to cases like Sima Zhao and Wang Yuanji acting like close friends, whereas their real-life counterparts were a HappilyMarried couple. Somewhat justifiable in that the source material is basically a militaristic semi-documentary of China's Three Kingdoms period. There's barely even any women mentioned in.

** You've got anachronistic weapons like a [[ThisIsADrill powered drill]] or the rocket powered Siege Lance, plus plenty of simply unlikely weapons like RazorWire, two [[MusicalAssassin Musical Assassins]] (one consists of smacking enemies with a flute), one gentleman who uses an "arm blade" (it's a boat), a pool cue user, one guy uses a brush... there's quite a few bizarre weapons.

** There's even a case of a ShoutOut to a Chinese ''idiom''--"[[Main/SpeakOfTheDevil Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will appear]]". ''Dynasty Warriors 8'' has a running gag in the Wei story mode where people keep commenting on Cao Cao's uncanny ability to appear soon after he's mentioned, and how he must have an incredible information network to accomplish this.

* ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbuMusou'', based on ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu''. \\

* ''VideoGame/OnePiecePirateWarriors'' (''One Piece: Kaizoku Musou''), based on ''Manga/OnePiece''. It has three sequels. \\

* DeathOfAThousandCuts: Generally how you take on most of the harder enemies. It may also happen to a severely annoying [[JustForPun xtreme]] in [=DW4=]'s Xtreme Mode, thanks to having to buy your AfterCombatRecovery at progressively higher costs, and the enemies' tendency to GangUpOnTheHuman and throw MookChivalry out the window.

* ''Touken Ranbu Musou'', based on ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu''. \\

* KillItWithFire: Wu owes two of its most famous victories to this tactic; and not unsurprisingly, most of its character roster is aspected to the fire element.

** ''Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires'' ([=PlayStation=] 3

** One of Wang Yuanji's alternate costumes via her school uniform has her dressed almost like [[Literature/{{Haganai}} Sena Kashiwazaki]]. Both characters are voiced by [[Creator/KanaeIto Kanae Itou]].

** One of Wang Yuanji's alternate costumes via her school uniform has her dressed almost like [[LightNovel/{{Haganai}} Sena Kashiwazaki]]. Both characters are voiced by [[Creator/KanaeIto Kanae Itou]].

* WorldOfBadass: Everyone, full stop. Those who weren't necessarily battlefield type badasses were turned into them for the sake of the setting and gameplay.

* CharacterisationMarchesOn: Some (perhaps ''most'') characters have undergone significant personality adjustments as the series has gone on. Some notable example include:

* ''VideoGame/AttackOnTitan'' (''Shingeki No Kyoujin'') is a ''Warriors''-style game based on [[Franchise/AttackOnTitan the manga/anime of the same name.]]

** ''9'' introduced Xin Xianying, who is a verified real-life example of this. She was born in 191 (during the Allied campaign against Dong Zhuo) and died in 269, outliving nearly all playable characters with the exception of Ding Feng, Liu Shan, Jia Chong, and Wen Yang, all of whom, with the possible exception of Ding Feng, are a generation younger. 78 years might not sound much these days, but we're talking about warfare-laden ancient China here.

Compare and contrast ''VideoGame/DynastyWars'', which this franchise is more or less a remake of.

''Dynasty Warriors'' (''真・三國無双 Shin Sangoku Musou'' [[note]]Literally "True -- Three Kingdoms Unmatched"; the first game was titled simply ''Sangoku Musou''[[/note]] in Japanese, [[OfficiallyShortenedTitle often called simply]] ''Musou''[[note]]"Unmatched"[[/note]]) is a series of HackAndSlash action games produced and published by Creator/{{Koei}}, developed by their own Omega Force studio. The games' storylines are loosely based on the ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', which covers one of the most turbulent eras of ancient Chinese history (and the basis for [[VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Koei's popular series of hard strategy games of the same name]]).

* FurAndLoathing: In ''9'', bandits/brigands around Northern/Northwestern China such as Liang Province wear fur clothing as they're usually depicted in other ''Three Kingdoms'' works (such as ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'').