->''Among men, Lü Bu. Among horses, Red Hare.''
-->-- The ''Cao Man Zhuan''

Style/courtesy name: Fengxian.

One of the most well-known historical figures of ImperialChina, Lü Bu (呂布 or 吕布; the ''ü'' pronounced as in ''über'', Unknown birth - 199 AD) was a military general and warlord of the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Three Kingdoms]] period, infamous for his many acts of backstabbing against his superiors.

Public perception of Lü Bu was heavily influenced by the work ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. The work dramatizes many aspects of his life and adds in many fictitious elements, exaggerating his personality [[note]]but not by much. In his ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', Chen Shou wrote: "Lü Bu possessed the might of a tiger, but he lacked the planning skills of a talented person. He was frivolous and temperamental, and was only concerned about the gains he could make. Throughout history, there had never been such persons like him who did not end up being destroyed."[[/note]] and eventually portraying him in the public consciousness as one of China's most powerful warriors, but also a [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder ruthless backstabbing traitor]].

What is known about his time is that he's a powerful asset to the forces of Dong Zhuo and enabled a majority of his atrocities by being a mighty general on his side. He was formerly an aide of warlord and politician Ding Yuan (the novel depicts Lü Bu as an adopted son), but he accepted a bribe to kill Ding Yuan and moved over to Dong Zhuo. However, Lü Bu soon had an affair with one of Dong Zhuo's coveted handmaids (the novel gives her the name "Diao Chan", who went on to be counted as one of the UsefulNotes/FourBeautiesOfAncientChina, and stories about their fictional romance became quite widespread). Fearing retaliation, Lü Bu murdered Dong Zhuo and fled to become a wandering warlord, until he's eventually defeated and executed by Cao Cao.

It's commonly said that Lü Bu was someone who was [[DumbMuscle good at fighting, but lacking in strategic thinking]]; most media depicts him as easily fooled and a victim of the ploys of others, offsetting his physical prowess. Historically, he was also someone who lacked control over his own soldiers (they acted akin to village-pillaging bandits, and were disunited misfits who had no real loyalty to him), making him an ineffective general at best. [[note]]While describing the events of the Battle of Xiapi, Chen Shou wrote: "Although Lü Bu was a valiant and powerful warrior, he lacked wisdom and was constantly suspicious of others. He was unable to control his subordinates even though he trusted them. His men had their personal motives and were very disunited, which was why he kept losing battles."[[/note]]

His iconic weapon is his Fangtian Huaji/Houten Gageki ("Evened Heaven Stroking Halberd"), a weapon of considerable-yet-not-accurately-recorded weight that was an anachronism at best no thanks to his ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' version wielding it. He also has a signature helmet, usually with two long feathers protruding like an insect antennae (many would liken it to a cockroach antennae, thus his head gear is nicknamed 'cockroach hat/helmet'), to make him more distinguished in battle. This particular helmet gets further fame when there's another figure who's often depicted with the same helmet and noted for his battle prowess: [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong.]]

Another of his prized possession is the steed Red Hare, an extremely powerful horse able to gallop across cities and leaping through moats with ease (and the origin of the quote on the beginning of this page). The name comes from its unusually red skin color. This horse was Lü Bu's steed of choice during a time when he helped Yuan Shao subdue warlord Zhang Yan after Lü Bu murdered Dong Zhuo before his own demise against Cao Cao. Aside of being extraordinarily powerful, not so much was known about the horse. Naturally, ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' exaggerated the presence of the horse and its relations with Lü Bu.[[note]]In the novel, the horse originally belongs to Dong Zhuo and is used to bribe Lü Bu into murdering Ding Yuan and defecting to Dong Zhuo. It works and eventually, both creatures of strength bond over their strength. After Lü Bu dies, the horse becomes untameable unless it sees [[TheChosenOne someone it recognizes as its new master.]] That person is UsefulNotes/GuanYu. And after Guan Yu dies, it fails to find someone worthy as a new master, so it starves itself to death.[[/note]]

For someone who was actually short-lived in that era, Lü Bu has actually [[SmallRoleBigImpact made quite the impact to the Chinese culture and eventually the world.]]

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!Lü Bu in other media, which has him transliterated as "Ryo Fu" in anything that's Japanese:
* ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdomsKoei'' by Koei, in which Lü Bu is a mainstay and usually well known for his impressive WAR stat. His only drawback is his dumbass INT, which makes him suspectible to ploys.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''. Lü Bu (named as Ryo Fu in Japanese on'yomi with his style name being rendered as "Housen", since ''Dynasty Warriors'' is a Japanese series) is usually an antagonistic super boss, serving Dong Zhuo before striking on his own. There is a saying: "[[MemeticMutation Don't pursue Lü Bu.]]" You'd be best to heed that when you hear that being said. Although in your hand, he's usually a GameBreaker. Famously voiced by Creator/TetsuInada ever since the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness very first fighting game installment]]. Most of the time, this version is the most iconic for his gruff demeanor and rather brutish approach on things (especially in the later games); often also dubbed as an "Ogre God" in the Asian versions in the dialogue and in the series as symbolism to his might.
** This carries over in ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' where Lü Bu sided with Orochi to find worthy opponents throughout the ages. He finds two: Honda Tadakatsu in the first game, and Minamoto no Yoshitsune in the second game. Poor Orochi didn't take account of Lü Bu's backstabbing record, so he ended up betraying Orochi at one point.
* As with the genderflip ''Manga/IkkiTousen'', Lü Bu's counterpart is Ryofu Housen (his name rendered in Japanese on'yomi), a troubled buxom girl who served under Toutaku (Dong Zhuo), but ended up betraying him and dying together with her lover Chinkyuu (...Chen Gong!?). She came back temporarily for the 3rd season. Voiced by Creator/AkenoWatanabe.
* And again with genderflipping, in ''VisualNovel/KoihimeMusou'', Lü Bu/Ryo Fu (real name being Lian/Ren) is instead an EmotionlessGirl who likes animals. This is really contrasting to the historical/novel impulsive and hotheaded Lü Bu. Another close associate of Lü Bu present in the series is Chen Gong/Chin Kyuu (real name Nenene), but most absurdly, Diao Chan is present... as [[GenderFlip a muscular, mostly bald man]] (he still has two pigtails with pink ribbons!) who's only wearing a speedo and voiced by Creator/NorioWakamoto with the most flamboyant CampGay voice he could muster (you would think that such voice and body stature could have belonged to Lü Bu instead). [[BrainBleach Here's something that can help you after imagining it.]]
* A third genderflipped version exists in manga / anime ''Yawaraka Sangokushi Tsukisase!! Ryofuko-chan'' in which the titular general and Chinkyuu / Chen Gong find themselves transported to Japan in the modern day... and transformed into elementary school girls. Hijinks ensue as the two precocious (and still technically heterosexual) warriors try to get home and or get their hands on their teacher's massive breasts.
* ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'' features 'Lü Bu' as a playable character, once again rendered as "Ryo Fu" in Japanese on'yomi.
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', Lü Bu becomes a Berserker class Servant under Rani VIII. Voiced by Creator/KunihikoYasui, though his lack of sanity caused by being summoned in the Berserker class results in him [[TheUnintelligible being limited to just yelling in semi-robotic roars]]. However, his lack of sanity is actually completely deliberate on his summoners part: Lü Bu is summonable as other classes, where he will gain his sentience... as well as his inherent ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, so he's summoned as a Berserker so he won't betray his Master. ''Videogame/FateGrandOrder'' would later make his horse Red Hare a Rider class Servant as a sentient centaur with a horse head (though he insists that he's Lü Bu), as well his premiere strategist Chen Gong as a Caster class Servant. Strangely, for how much she influences the Lü Bu myth from the novel, Diao Chan was completely absent in the ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' although Lü Bu doesn't appear in person, Feng Wei has a move called 'Spear of Lü Bu'[[note]]even though its Japanese name is completely different[[/note]] and he can be customized to look like he's wearing Lü Bu's attire.
* In the Panda Entertainment fighter/strategy game series ''VideoGame/SangoFighter'', Lü Bu is a rather unremarkable ''Dragon'' to Cao Cao in the first game (having more moves than everyone else helps though), but gets a HistoricalBadassUpgrade in the second. For starters, he has 3 bars(300HP) compared to everyone else's 2 in the strategy mode. For another, if you can't kill him in a single "round"(defined as every faction taking a turn), he completely heals up by the next, even if he was down to a single HP. Everyone else has to settle for 20/25/30 HP healed per turn. For gameplay balance, that's justifiable, since he's the only faction that has no backup generals, so if he loses, it's game over for his owner(CPU or player). He also has 3 different ways to use up his super bar(projectile/uppercut/grab), compared to most others' 1 or 2. Those with projectiles get upgraded projectiles, some have super grabs, others, like Xu Ju(the fat guy with the yellow do-rag) have ONLY the super grab(which makes him dangerous up close, as he won't accidentally use up his bar on anything else).
* ''The Manhua/RavagesOfTime'' has quite the subversion of the novel in its depiction of Lü Bu: [[spoiler:he's [[GeniusBruiser brawn ''and'' brains]], though just as backstabbing-prone...[[CreatorsPet not that the author minds that]]]].
* Lü Bu is a warrior hero in the MOBA game ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'', accompanied with Diao Chan as a mage hero. He was also previously in the original iteration of the game, ''VideoGame/HonorOfKings'', although in that game he took the kit that would become the kit for [[BigRedDevil Maloch]] (True Damage enchant, lifesteal plus slow, a mighty leap)[[note]]For irony's sake, Diao Chan's kit is then transplanted to Lauriel, a divine angel who's the opposite of Maloch.[[/note]]. Lü Bu's current kit (triple strike, long range projectile, attack steroid) is ironically taken from ''Honor of Kings''[='=]s rendition of his executioner, Cao Cao.[[note]]Meanwhile, Diao Chan in ''Arena of Valor'' takes her kit from a fellow Four Beauties of Ancient China, Wang Zhaojun, who's completely unrelated to Cao Cao or Lü Bu.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' gave a Lü Bu-inspired skin to Reaper in the 2019 Lunar New Year event. This is fitting, as Reaper is a deadly character in the right hands, and Gabriel Reyes joined the terrorist group known as Talon after the fall of Overwatch. His former allies continue to question why he betrayed them.
* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' spinoff ''Yo-kai Sangokushi'' has Orcanos Lü Bu as a boss. He returns as one of the six befriendable "Commander Yo-kai" in ''Yo-kai Watch 3''.
* Lü Bu is a starting lord under Dong Zhuo in ''VideoGame/TotalWarThreeKingdoms''. As a Vanguard-type lord (a frontliner intended to break apart hordes of high-armour melee infantry but vulnerable to debuffs and archers), his immense Instinct stat (which governs melee damage) makes him a OneManArmy in the character-centric Romance Mode balanced by his immense unreliability: After Dong Zhuo's death, he usually becomes a wandering lord hireable on the open market who is liable to backstab anyone who hires him. In the more realistic Records Mode, his stats makes his personal bodyguard of heavy cavalry quite formidable as well (especially as they are Unbreakable), but his poorer non-Instinct stats means he's a rather subpar general for an entire army.
** In the ''A World Betrayed'' start date, he comes with his own unique mechanics.
* He’s given a quick reference in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', with a portrait of him appearing in the Hall of Former The Guys. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Said portrait has a flame trap built into it]], and he has an EyeTake when that happens, courtesy of another of The Guy from the previous room, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], launches a fire breath on it.
* Lü Bu appears in ''Manga/RecordOfRagnarok'' as one of the representatives of humanity in the tournament. Unlike most depictions of the character, Lü Bu lacks the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder he was known for, instead being portrayed as a [[BloodKnight battle-loving]] but ultimately decent guy whose negative reputation is the result of an in-universe case of HistoricalVillainUpgrade. He's the first human warrior to fight in the tournament, with [[Myth/NorseMythology Thor]] as his opponent. [[spoiler:He ultimately loses the battle, ending up as the tournament's first casualty]].
* Lü Bu is featured as a major character/opponent in ''VideoGame/WoLongFallenDynasty'', where he keeps his reputation as the strongest warrior of the land, and somehow his helmet also doubles as a mask. This makes him some sort of [[{{Expy}} Char Clone]], since he's still accompanied by Red Hare, and [[spoiler:the identity of Diao Chan is refitted to be his long lost sister, whose actual identity is the game's original companion character, Hong Jing.]] The portrayal also turns out to be [[spoiler:one of [[AdaptationalHeroism the more heroic portrayals]] of Lü Bu, where his backstabbing tendencies are removed almost completely; he only looks antagonistic because he serves Dong Zhuo and strikes out on his own, but instead of doing it for fame and glory, he's secretly hunting the main antagonist whom he sees as a threat to others and doesn't want to involve the people in his village. He only literally backstabs Dong Zhuo to death, but that's because of [[AssholeVictim Dong Zhuo threatening to kill Diao Chan/Hong Jing]], triggering his own BigBrotherInstinct.]]
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