Characters / Dynasty Warriors: Jin Kingdom

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Jin, introduced to the series in DW7, is essentially Wei in its later years, as led by the Sima Clan (Sima Yi and later his sons, Sima Shi and Zhao). By this point, Wei is slowly but surely undergoing a downward spiral, and so Sima Yi strives to restore it to its former glory and shape a new world for the talented to rule at the top. On the surface, they come off as a group of extremely talented but incredibly arrogant officers...but like their predecessor, Wei, there's more to them than just that. They ultimately work towards ending the chaos from going on any further and are, ultimately, the ones who succeed. Although driven by conquest, they are not quite fueled by the same ambitions of Cao Cao; they're driven to prove that they are rightfully the ones who should take over because as they see it, everyone else is too stupid to do it right. (At this point in time, they're not entirely wrong; most of the best and brightest officers from the other Kingdoms are long dead by then.) Arguably, they have the most varied group of officers with very distinct weaponry. Their faction color is a teal blue and the qilin/kirin appears to be their symbol.

Here's the list of characters categorized in the Jin Kingdom in Dynasty Warriors, arranged in their chronological appearance in the series.

Debuting in Dynasty Warriors 2

Sima Yi

"The Virtuoso With Hidden Ambition"

"Witness the wisdom which will one day rule the land."

Voiced by: Tsuyoshi Takishita (Japanese, up to 8), Ryōtarō Okiayu (post 8), Paul Lucas (English; 2), Lex Lang (English; 4), Richard Cansino (English; 5), Kyle Hebert (English; 6-8), D. Padraic (English; 9), Jin Li (Chinese; 9)

Born: 179
Died: 251
Style Name: Zhongda
Japanese spelling: Shiba I "Chūtatsu"
Age: 24
Height: 5'10" (177cm)
Weapon: Dao (2), Feather fan (3-5, 7, 9), Wired gloves (6), Horsehair whip (8)

One of Wei's greatest strategists, Sima Yi planted the seeds for the founding of the Jin Kingdom from the ashes of Wei. He loyally served under Cao Cao and his successor Cao Pi, but his true ambition was to one day establish his own kingdom.

He is known for his maniacal laughter and insulting friend and foe alike as "Fool!" or "Imbecile!" Prideful of his intellect and believing that he has an unsurpassed wit, he regards Zhuge Liang as a worthy opponent. Historically, he's the last common ancestor of emperors of the Western and Eastern Jin dynasties, via his sons Zhao (Western) and Zhou (Eastern).

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• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: In his ending in 9, he supposedly turns his head 180 degrees to look behind him, freaking out his sons. This is a reference to the novel which signifies his watchfulness by giving him, essentially, eyes in the back of his head. ^note Incredibly, his biography in the Book of Jin also had a similar ancedote, with Cao Cao being the person who wanted to see it for himself.
• Action Dad: With the debut of his sons as playable characters, he fights alongside with them.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Historically, he and Cao Pi were quite close, and aided each other several times, particularly with the latter's struggle against his brother, Cao Zhi, over the position as their father's heir. In turn, Cao Pi swiftly defended him against criticism. In the games however, the two merely have a loosely trusting relationship.
• Animal Motif:
  • Wolves.
  • His prior weapons in the Asian ports in 3-to-5 gave him the Qiongqi/Kyūki of the Four Fiends and the Suanxing/Sankyō, possibly to mirror Zhuge Liang's Zhuque/Suzaku and Qinglong/Seiryū motifs for his weapons.
• Anti-Villain: Despite being frequently presented as an Evil Overlord and being spectacularly arrogant, Sima Yi actually has very benevolent philosophies: he dislikes social constructs like divine right to lead or blood succession of rulers, scorns the idea of hiring based on noble standing, and believes in maintaining order by having those with the right talent in power.
• Ascended Extra: Just another member of the Wei Kingdom roster until he becomes The Patriarch of his own "kingdom" in 7, though he makes a brief appearance in Wei's Story Mode during the Hanzhong conflict. Historically it happened, but (along with just about anything after Wu Zhang Plains) it was simply omitted until 7. In 8, he still appears as a member of Wei in Wu and Shu's historical and hypothetical story campaigns. When 9 reverts back to the character-based stories, Simi Yi returns as a Wei officer who helps Cao Pi in forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne.
• Badass Family: He is the patriarch of the Sima clan with two sons, Shi and Zhao, who became the regents of Wei after his death, his daughter-in-law Wang Yuanji and his wife Zhang Chunhua. ^note After Yi's grandson Yan became the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty, Yan elevated all five relatives to the posthumous titles of emperor and empress. Grandfather Yi became Emperor Xuan of the Jin Dynasty, grandma Chunhua became Empress Xuanmu, father Zhao became Emperor Wen, mother Yuanji became Empress Wenming and uncle Shi became Emperor Jing. In addition, while Yi's brothers were not as famous as him, the eight brothers were collectively known as the "Eight Das of Sima" (as all their style names have "da" in them). In particular, his third brother Fu lived to the grand age of 92, well into the reign of Fu's grandnephew Yan, and was noted for his insistence that he remained a loyal official of Wei and not Jin.
• Battle Couple: With Zhang Chunhua.
• Beam Spam: His Musou attack from 3 to 5. This attack returns in 9
• Berserk Button: Three of them.
  • Imbeciles.
  • People who think they're good enough to rebel but are proven wrong.
  • Being called old and unwanted.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Until 6, he was a hair shy of being a full-blown Evil Overlord on a quest to Take Over the World For the Evulz. Recent installments moved him out of this territory by giving him a more human motivation and character growth.
• Catchphrase: He would like to remind you that you are an imbecile.
• Crutch Character: In 8, he starts the Jin story at a higher level than the other characters but is only playable for three stages before he retires. Although he does come out of retirement in the hypothetical route, that’s much later, by which point everyone else has more than caught up.
• Decoy Protagonist:
  • Despite being the main face of Jin, he leaves the spotlight fairly early. It's his son Zhao who's the real focus Jin's story mode.
  • He reenters politics in the hypothetical route of 8 but has more of a supporting role compared to both Shi and Zhao.
• Dishing Out Dirt: His Tome Special in 6 is to drop boulders.
• Energy Weapon: Except in 8, where he instead has Sword Beams.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Evil being relative as Sima Yi's villainy has been progressively downplayed over the course of the series. Regardless of his portrayal, Sima Yi is a firm believer in hiring based on talent and skill regardless of class or social standing, and he greatly dislikes hereditary rule that doesn't take into account the incompetence of potential heirs.
• Everyone Is Related: Historically, his children's spouses came from other famous clans of the era. ^note To wit: his eldest son Shi married a Xiahou (and supposedly poisoned her after she discovered the Sima clan's plan to usurp Cao Wei), a daughter of Wu Zhi (a Wei general; Shi later divorced Lady Wu) and Yang Huiyu, Yang Hu's sister, a niece of Cai Wenji and Xin Xianying and a sister-in-law to a daughter of Xiahou Ba's. Zhao married Wang Yuanji, whose grandfather Wang Lang and father Wang Su were respected officials of Cao Wei. Shi's and Zhao's full brother Gan married Man Chong's daughter. The trio's full sister married a grandson of Xun Yu (paternal) and Cao Cao (maternal). His son Zhou married the eldest daughter of Zhuge Dan; Lady Zhuge survived the fallout of her father's rebellion. His younger daughter married Du Yu, a prominent general who led the Jin campaign against Wu.
• Evil Chancellor: Played straight in 6, where Sima Yi stages a coup, kills Cao Cao, and takes control of Wei during his story. Subverted in 7 onwards where Sima Yi is content to serve Cao Cao and Cao Pi, only overthrowing the Cao family when he concludes that after Cao Rui's death, they've grown too incompetent to lead Wei.
• Evil Counterpart: Played up for all it's worth to Zhuge Liang, even if they historically had little to do with each other. ^note The pair only butted heads a couple of times during Shu's campaign against Wei, which occurred in the twilight years of Zhuge's career. Also, it was Cao Zhen who dealt with Zhuge Liang most of the time.
  • He's also this when compared to contemporary powerful officials Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun; the latter two served their lieges faithfully and did not empower their clan despite exercising great power.
  • See above on animal motifs for the parallels shown in the names of their weapons.
• Evil Laugh: Practically his other catchphrase, famously voiced by the late Tsuyoshi Takishita for over a decade in every game.
• Evil Sorcerer: For a given value of evil. In NEXT, he even relies quite heavily on his smorgasbord of Elemental Powers.
• Final Boss:
  • Of Shu's historical route in 8.
  • Before that, he was the Wei commander at Wu Zhang Plains in 3 and 5, making him the final boss for about half the Shu characters.
• Grapple Move: His Musou Attack since 7, "Spider Web", has him ensnare an opponent then finishes with an explosion.
• Gravity Master: Finally settled as his primary powerset in 8.
• Henpecked Husband: His wife is perhaps the only thing he fears. In-game, non-playable characters often have whispered conversations about how Chunhua is the real man of the Sima house. ^note Historically, Chunhua once murdered one of their maids as the poor girl had spotted Yi being active while he was faking paralysis to avoid Cao Cao. In another incident, Chunhua went on a hunger strike along with Shi and Zhao as a protest. Yi went on record claiming that he relented and apologized because of his sons.
• He's Back!: Sima Yi manages to pull one of these at the start of the Defeat the Rebels battle in 8.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Sima Yi was historically noted to regularly express sympathy and concern for the wellbeing of the people during the chaos of the Three Kingdoms era. It's present but often downplayed in his Warriors counterpart even as his characterization has evolved to be less of an Evil Overlord. Of course, this is mostly a carryover from the novel that vilified him (granted, that happened to most of Wei in the novel, anyway). Historically, Sima Yi was more complex; he's either a Well-Intentioned Extremist at best or Necessarily Evil at worst. ^note It is worth noting that he served three generations of the Cao family loyally before he decided that perhaps, his clan may have a decent shot at the throne, given that he was about 60 when Cao Rui died, Shi was about 30, Zhao was about 28 and grandson Yan was 2-3 years old. More appropriately, it was the promotion of Shi to the post of "Military Protector of the Palace" (中護軍; "zhong hu jun") that in retrospect made it clear that Yi intend to rebel (securing the imperial guard and palace being an important component to succeed in Chinese imperial coups).
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Deconstructed in the first part of Jin's Story Mode, where he laments that fools would govern Wei while his talents would go wasted. Sima Zhao's report of Cao Shuang's performance in the battle against Shu did not help. This pushes him to start a coup d'etat and take power for the Sima clan. Historically, this would prove to be prescient; after his grandson Sima Yan's death, the Sima clan would collapse due to infighting of incompetent leaders, plunging China into another era of chaos.
• An Ice Person: His Aerial Musou Attack, "Flash Snare". Also seen in his original Combination Art 1 and 2 Type Actions in Warriors Orochi 1-to-Z.
• Irony: His ending in 9 has him advising his sons, Shi and Zhao, to raise worthy heirs. The former dies without a son, while Zhao chose his eldest son Sima Yan as heir. While he eventually united China and established the Jin Dynasty, Yan's short-sighted decisions to empower his male relatives into higher positions and make his eldest but developmentally disabled son as his successor led to a Succession Crisis that resulted in the fracturing of Imperial China once again. For greater irony, Yi's other two sons, Liang and Lun, were counted as two of the Eight Princes of the civil war.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yi can be - and usually is - an absolute dick, but he does show pride in his children, love for his wife and daughter-in-law Yuanji, and concern over Guo Huai's illness and family.
• Large Ham: Probably one of the most recognizable in the games.
• Laughing Mad: Although known for his Evil Laugh from 3 onwards, it was only in 6 that he got hit with this. This is averted for 7.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He does have long hair, which is tied up into a bun or with a hairpin and hidden in his hat. It's only in 6 and his death scene in 7 where players get to see his long hair down.
• Mythology Gag: His final stage in 6 sees him overthrowing Cao Cao and ruling China for himself, essentially a condensed version of what happened with their descendants for real, 1 game before we actually get to see a real Jin story mode.

• Not Allowed to Grow Up: He looked about right for his age when he was first introduced, but since then, he's stayed the same physically to the point where he looks younger than even his own sons.
• Obviously Evil: Parodied. In the crossover, characters like Hisahide Matsunaga welcome who they think is another "evil-looking" comrade, prompting Sima Yi to actually get offended.
• Older Than They Look: Already in his fifties (at least) in Jin's Story Mode, and finally dies at 72 with no gray hair in sight. Lampshaded by Zhong Hui during his rebellion in Jin's hypothetical route in 8, where the rebellious general calls Sima Yi an old and unwanted man. Predictably, Sima Yi will have none of that; earlier, his wife pushes for him to retire at least partly out of concern for their age.
• Out of Focus: From Wei's perspective starting in 7. His visibility in the Wei campaigns was significantly scaled back when he was made part of the new Jin faction.
• Pyrrhic Victory: 7 and to a lesser degree 8 hype him up as the true victor amongst the Three Kingdoms era. Unfortunately, it's all for naught; just thirty years after his grandson unified China, the dynasty collapses and leaves China in strife yet again. Most ironic was how many imbeciles wound up fighting for the throne as a result.
• Power Floats: His second EX Attack.
• Razor Floss: He uses gloves that shoot this out in 6.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: In Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends, because Sima Yi's original voice actor, Tsuyoshi Takishita, had passed away at the time, Sima Yi is only referred to in passing, if at all, in the new stages. Ryōtarō Okiayu would take over starting in 8: Empires.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives these out like candy in Jin's Story Mode. Sometimes, he's even considerate enough to let the rest of his family join in.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While his methods might not be as benevolent as leaders of Shu, his appearances in recent installments have made him more human and reasonable than his old "evil and ambitious egotist" depiction.
• Regent for Life: Historically, after Cao Rui's death, he is regent of Wei until his death, sharing regency with Cao Shuang until the Gaoping Tombs Incident.
• Retired Badass: With a shade of Retired Monster. In Jin's hypothetical scenario in 8, he's quite happy to chill in restful tranquility after ceding the kingdom to his sons and is deeply irritated when Zhong Hui's attempted coup drags him back into the fray again.
• The Rival: Zhuge Liang, who Sima Yi calls a Worthy Opponent to his intellect.
• Sanity Slippage: Related to Laughing Mad - he started off in 6 as very reluctant to take any part in the chaos sweeping the land until being press-ganged by Cao Cao into service, but soon got a taste for ambition from him, as well as a rivalry with Zhuge Liang. It pretty much went downhill from there. Although he never went completely mad, Sima Yi's ending makes him quite reasonable, despite the previous scene, where he took a bit too much pleasure in having defeated and assassinated Cao Cao.
• Screw the War, We're Partying: When informed of Zhong Hui's rebellion in 8, his immediate reaction is "eh, let my sons take care of it, I'm busy eating meat buns." Only when Zhang Chunhua confiscates the meat buns and gently reminds him that Shi and Zhao are quite busy does he reluctantly take to the battlefield with a bit of realization.
• Ship Tease: With Wang Yi in Warriors Orochi 3, before his wife became a playable character.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Like "The Reason You Suck" Speech above, he tends to give a lot of this when portrayed more positively, especially towards foes worse than him. The best is perhaps the one he gave to Zhong Hui, when the latter complained his rebellion has been foiled by "old and unwanted men".
• Shut Up, Kirk!: To Jiang Wei in Shu's final story stage for 7:
  Jiang Wei: Give it up, Sima Yi! This world needs benevolence that you can't provide!
  Sima Yi: Benevolence!? You imbecile! Who wants to live in a world based on flimsy idealistic garbage?!
• Smug Snake: Downplayed in later installments, as we see more of his competence and respect for the occasional Worthy Opponent who crosses his path. In 8, the death of Zhuge Liang puts him into a terrible funk.
• So Proud of You: In the seventh and eighth games, he is aware that he might not live long to see the country reunited so he entrusts his sons to continue the job, knowing that they can do it. In the hypothetical route in 8, he's very proud to see them doing their tasks very well.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Lives to rule over a united China in the Jin campaign of NEXT. In the hypothetical route in 8, he's alive but retired from public life until Zhong Hui ruins his quiet life, forcing him and his wife to come out of retirement.
• The Starscream:
  • He was so cocky about this in 5 and 6 that one wonders why Cao Cao kept him around. Ultimately acts as one to the Wei emperor, though after 7 there's enough context there to make him somewhat sympathetic.
  • In earlier Warriors Orochi titles, Sima Yi gladly joins Orochi to "prove his genius" and betrays the Wei kingdom for that. Of course, he suddenly took a 180 turn in 3 and becomes the more sympathetic self as in 7 onwards.
• The Strategist: One of the best in the era.
• Take Up My Sword: His death scene in 7 has him doing this to Shi, both literally and figuratively.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: It's easy to forget that Sima Yi was, at worst, an aloof ally in 2, 3 & 4; he certainly was inclined to a little brusqueness against his enemies (and one in particular), but he was otherwise a fairly level-headed character with a cool demeanor. Cue 5, where he's a hair short of being an Obviously Evil Smug Snake, with all of his negative qualities in prior installments jacked up.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Since 7, the games have focused more on his relationship with his family, and while not the best father and husband, these interactions certainly do show a more sympathetic side to him.
• Trademark Favorite Food: If a cutscene in 8 is any indication, he likes meat buns, too. It Runs in the Family.
• Treacherous Advisor: He somewhat gives off this vibe, that is until later games. Historically, Sima Yi could be said to be this as well.
• Tsundere: Just bond with him in Conquest Mode for 7 or in the Hideaway scenes for 9. Bonus points if you let yourself get injured in battle. As a bodyguard in 8, he has this gem of a quote:
  Sima Yi: Do not misunderstand. I am only helping because I have nothing else to do.
• The Unfettered: Takes the pragmatic approach of the Cao clan up a notch.
• Weapon Specialization: He had various weapons used throughout the games, but the most commonly used weapon is a Combat Hand Fan. He also uses Razor Floss in 6, with strings emerging from his fingers. As a likely Call-Back, he uses these in his Musou Attacks in 7. Then in 8, he is given a horsehair whip (the feather fan being naturally associated with Zhuge Liang).

Debuting in Dynasty Warriors 7

Sima Shi

"The Genius Without A Purpose"

"One day, this entire land will be under my rule."

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese) Jessie James Grelle (English; 7-8), D. Padraic (English; 9), Kang Liu (Chinese; 9)

Born: 208
Died: 255
Style Name: Ziyuan
Japanese spelling: Shiba Shi "Shigen"
Height: 5'11" (180cm)
Weapon: Rapier (7, 9), Lightning sword (7:E-8, 9 DLC)

Son of Sima Yi and elder brother to Sima Zhao, Sima Shi is a man with magnificent intelligence who is skilled in both the military arts and various literary studies. Always pressing onwards to the future with a composed focus, he acts as the strategist and commander for his people.

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• Alliterative Name: Sima Shi. Note that the actual phonemes are pronounced much more-similarly than they appear when transliterated.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us:
  • Said a variant of this phrase at Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin's rebellion in 8 if you managed to capture all fortresses surrounding Guanqiu Jian's main camp.
  • Historically, he managed to take most of their territories like so to surround them without giving the order to press their attack, causing the rebel army to fall apart in confusion and fear as most of the men fled without a fight; Wen Qin in particular had his men outnumbered and slaughtered in a nightly sneak attack by both Deng Ai and Sima Shi, which caused both rebel leaders to flee with some of their relatives.
• Aloof Big Brother: He's normally dismissive of Zhao due to his carefree attitude, and tends to boss him around. He nevertheless thanks Zhao for coming to see him on his deathbed, and accepts Zhao as the next heir of the family.
• Ascended Meme: The fandom took to the meat bun incident so much that Tecmo Koei began to indulge it in official materials. For example, with the "Xtreme Family Feud" stage in 7: Xtreme Legends, and in 8 even Sima Yi ends up with a meat bun scene, showing that it runs in the family.
• Berserk Button: Don't steal his meatbuns, period.
• Big Damn Heroes: In 9, he saves Zhao who is cornered by Jiang Wei at the Battle of Mt. Tielong. However, as they escape, an arrow hit Shi's face.
• Cool Mask: After the incident which injured his eyes.
• Decoy Protagonist: In 7 and the historical route of 8, where he dies and passes the torch to Zhao. Averted in the hypothetical route of 8, where Sima Shi survives the uprising at Xuchang and maintains his central role in the story.
• Disapproving Look: If you rescue Sima Zhao while playing as Sima Shi in 8, Zhao makes a comment that implied Shi giving him this look.
  Sima Zhao: [struggling] Brother, don't look at me like that. I'm trying to do my best here.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In Sima Zhao's Legend Stage in 7, he sent an army after his brother and Zhuge Dan because they ate one of his meatbuns.
• Evil Laugh: Like Father, Like Son, but he's less of a Large Ham about it, although one of the 8 "what-if" cutscenes has them sharing an extended laugh that ends up with Sima Zhao looking away awkwardly and their mother Zhang Chunhua facepalming.
  Sima Shi: I can't hold back any longer... Mwahahaha! Forgive me. My family is prone to such fits of laughter on occasion.
• Eye Scream:
  • The reason why he wears that mask around his left eye is due to being struck by a sword.
  • Historically, he had an eye infection (possibly a cataract or commonly stated to be an eye tumor). That very infection caused him to be bed-ridden after surgery, that is until the rebellion plotted by Guanqiu Jian came up and forced him to take action. It was generally discussed that should Sima Shi had more rest at the time, he wouldn't have to die so early from the condition he was in (as he was quickly transported back to Xuchang after the battle while Jia Chong oversaw the cleanup operations in his place).
• Felony Misdemeanor: Once scenario had Shi try to kill Zhao over meat buns.
• Grapple Move: His second Musou in 7, which also becomes his Type Action in Warriors Orochi 3.
• Handicapped Badass: Even with his malfunctioning left eye, he's still a competent fighter and ruler.
  • Historically, Sima Shi was trying to recover from his prior eye surgery. Despite people's pleas to send someone like Sima Fu on the expedition due to his possible poor health at the time, he (mainly on the suggestions by Fu Jia, but also Wang Su and Zhong Hui of all people) decided to lead his army himself to crush the aforementioned rebellion.
  • Historically, he was handicapped on another level: he did not manage to sire a son (although he had five daughters). As such, his brother's son You was made his heir. This later became one cause for the War of the Eight Princes. ^note Although he was made Shi's heir, You's brother Yan worried about him inheriting or seizing the throne, especially since Yan's own heir Zhong was intellectually deficient. You, angered by his brother's suspicions of him, died in 283 at the age of 37. You's son Jiong, in turn angered by his father's untimely death, bore a grudge and later became one of the Eight Princes in the civil war.
• Implausible Fencing Powers: He stops Xiahou Ba's BFS midway of its swing with his rapier, and enters a deadlock with him. While a common occurrence because of Gameplay and Story Segregation, take note this is done during a cutscene. He also wields a sword almost as thin as a rapier as of 7: Empires, but makes fiercer two-handed swings with it.
• Improbable Use of a Weapon: His weapon in 8 is designed mainly for thrusting (with long, thin, narrow blade and elaborate handle which purpose is to get the point of balance closer towards the hilt for easier control) yet his moveset consists mainly of slashing motions with just a few thrusts.
• Ironic Echo: In Jin's Story Mode:
  Sima Yi: [on his deathbed, throws Shi an ornament sword] Use it as you see fit.
  Sima Shi: You're just leaving it all to me?
  • Later, when Shi is ill and dying:
    Sima Shi: [on his deathbed, throws Zhao the ornament sword] Use it as you see fit.
    Sima Zhao: You're just leaving it all to me?
    Sima Shi: [chuckles] I've heard that somewhere before.
• Just the First Citizen: The real power in Later Wei.
• Large Ham: Not quite to the extent of his father, but he has his moments.
• Lost Food Grievance: Sima Shi reacts badly to anyone who steals his meatbuns, no matter who they are.
• Make an Example of Them: In the hypothetical route, he does this to Wen Qin, thus preventing any more rebellions from occuring and solidifying the Sima Clan's authority in Wei.
  • In 9, he decides to not only execute Gongsun Yuan, but his family as well to prevent further rebellions in Wei.
• Milking the Giant Cow: Particularly in the hypothetical route, accompanied by "My destiny!"
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Executing Cao Shuang was one thing, yet arguably still something justifiable for him to do since almost everyone agreed he had it coming a long time due to his corruption and incompetence. But the decision to execute Xiahou Xuan solely for being related to him is what convinces Xiahou Ba, now believing that he could possibly be executed due to Guilt by Association, to defect from Wei.
• Not So Above It All: Dynasty Warriors has a lot of colorful characters. You wouldn't realize it by looking at him, but Shi is one of the sillier ones once conversation turns to matters of food. Man's passionate about his eats.
• Pet the Dog: In 8, if certain hypothetical criteria is acquired, he will call on Zhuge Dan, who is far too preoccupied by his pride as a member of the Zhuge clan, to realize that it's not his heritage that makes him the person he is, but his talent and deeds.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Seemingly the blue (cold and callous) compared with his brother's red.
• Regent for Life: Regent of Wei from Sima Yi's death until his own, a period of about four years; by comparison, his brother was regent for ten years. Historically, he was a really good one.
• Serious Business: The whole meat bun incident.
• Ship Tease: With Wang Yuanji in 7, despite her relationship with Sima Zhao. Much of the in-game camp dialogue implies A LOT of Unresolved Sexual Tension between the two. In 8, it's lampshaded in the "what-if" route when Wang Yuanji mentions Shi's recent actions being strange, and Zhao seems to be a bit jealous of her fawning over his brother. She denies it, of course.
  • Then again, his first historical wife Xiahou Hui died very early on him ^note See the surname? Allegedly, Shi had her poisoned after she found out about her husband's family's intentions to usurp Cao Wei. Considering that Lady Xiahou died in 234 CE, years before Cao Rui's death, the Sima clan hid their intentions well for years. However, Sima Guang, compiler of Zizhi Tongjian, is skeptical of the posion theory. He argued that when Lady Xiahou died, Sima Yi had just gained Cao Rui's trust and thus had no reason to be disloyal, let alone his sons., and he re-married twice before setting with the second one, Yang Huiyu ^note a niece of both Xin Xianying and Cai Wenji (he divorced the middle one).
• Sibling Team: With Zhao. ^note Historically, Zhao's son You was made Shi's heir as Shi had no sons of his own; Shi only had five daughters.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Many of his physical traits match those of his father.
• The Strategist: Just carrying on the family tradition.
• Take Up My Sword: His death scene in 7 has him doing this to Zhao, both literally and figuratively.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He has more than a few snarky comments, often directed at either Zhao or the various opponents he faces during his reign.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Jiang Wei in Warriors Orochi 3, and lampshaded when the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. Maximizing their bond meter helps them get over this somewhat.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Meat buns, to the point of notoriety. Jin's special stage in 8:XL has him get everyone to hunt for the best meat bun ingredients so he could have it all for himself.
• The Unfettered: He sure does execute a lot of people, even if a lot of them kinda had it coming (albeit even historically).
• Verbal Tic: A big fan of "destiny" as the word pops up frequently when he speaks.
• Weapon Specialization: He uses a Royal Rapier in 7 which changed in 7: Empires into the "Swift Thunder Sword" (AKA Lightning Sword), a large, long-bladed rapier-like weapon. Notably, some of its attacks have been re-colored to be black and red to match Sima Shi's connection to the "Slay" element.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: While this trope made him seem like a villain in some historians/detractors' eyes, he still got rid of people worth getting rid of as a whole; Cao Shuang was corrupt^note he and his partisans were executed, Li Feng (a man Sima Shi greatly trusted) and his cohorts with Dowager Guo were plotting to assassinate him^note Li Feng got killed during torture, while Sima Shi had to find and execute the ones that Li Feng named that were involved and emperor Cao Fang was screwing around and unfit to be a ruler^note thus even in front of Dowager Guo and He Yan's eyes, Cao Fang was begging to be removed from power. The former two involved offing his former real-life childhood friends, He Yan (who grew corrupt with Cao Shuang) and Xiahou Xuan (plotted to kill him and faced his execution with no complaint and/or regrets).
• The Wise Prince: More ruthless than average, but still qualifies. 8 in particular stresses that he makes a far better ruler than his younger brother Zhao, and his death is what causes things to go completely to hell for a while in the historical route.
  • He definitely was this historically; Sima Shi was a very fine scholar of his time and eventually, when he was forced to act as the regent in the Wei court, he handled it very efficiently. Not to mention he was also the only person his father, Sima Yi, trusted at all for any of his plans^note Historians are of the view that it was securing the post of "Military Protector of the Palace" (中護軍; "zhong hu jun") for Shi that in retrospect made it clear that Yi intend to rebel (securing the imperial guard and palace being an important component to succeed in Chinese imperial coups)..

Sima Zhao

"The Extravagant Second Son"

"I'm sure I can find better ways to spend my time..."

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English; 7-8), Ian Coleman (English; 9), Huang Bin (Chinese; 9)

Born: 211
Died: 265
Style Name: Zishang
Japanese spelling: Shiba Shō "Shijō"
Height: 6'3" (190cm)
Weapon: Dao

Son of Sima Yi and younger brother to Sima Shi, Sima Zhao acts as the light-hearted contrast to his stern older brother. He may act as though he is goofing off, but he supports his brother's desires for unification in their name. Historically, he was the only Duke of Jin (for about five months), before becoming the first King of Jin about 16 months before his death. His son Sima Yan founded the Jin Dynasty after his death.

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• All-Loving Hero: Shows shades of this in 7; he even borders on being a Martial Pacifist near the end of Story Mode. In 8, not so much.
• Battle Couple: With Wang Yuanji.
• Berserk Button: In-game, if you beat Wang Yuanji before him, he'll go after you.
  • Not knowing what you want or misjudging yourself really ticks him off. Zhuge Dan learns that the hard way.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He is generally nice, unless you push his berserk buttons above.
• Big Little Brother: He's bigger and taller than Shi.
• Body Sled: One of his EX attacks involves kicking down a hapless victim and surfing him/her around the battlefield.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Jin's Story Mode starting with 7 paints him as this and a Idiot Hero, simultaneously. He grows out of both when things stop being easy and he realizes he needs to step up. He retains this somewhat in 8's hypothetical mode due to Sima Shi still being alive to lead Wei, but does mature noticeably.
• Catchphrase: "What a pain!" or "What a bother!" when he's tasked with something. Also "Okay, okay!" or "I know, I know" when someone scolded him.
• Character Development: His character arc is the same in his main series appearances. He begins as a lazy heir apparent, but is motivated by his brother's death, calling for him to step up. With Jia Chong's introduction, his character becomes darker, somewhat more in line with his portrayal in the novel and historically. He's the villain, and has to rule with an iron fist, but he doesn't exactly like it.
• Characterization Marches On: Prior to becoming a playable character, Zhao was depicted as "Sima Yi-Lite", complete with stealing his father's favorite insult. Arguably, it could be said that this characterization was used to make Sima Shi, instead.
• Closest Thing We Got: In the historical route of 8, he's the closest thing China has to a decent, competent ruler, and the only man with a chance of uniting the land and stopping the Forever War of the Three Kingdoms. He manages it, but it's really not pretty.
• Commonality Connection: With Liu Shan. Both of them are forced to take up a higher position of their predecessors and are aware that they are not up to the task. Likewise, they both have the tendency of being lazy and was able to see each other as having untapped potential within themselves. In the Conquest Mode, he even suggested to him that they should have a drink next time.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Highlighted in 7 where he begins his plans for a new age only to abruptly die a year later. It coincides with his historic death but the bluntness of it can be shocking to those unfamiliar with his story.
• Dumbass Has a Point: While not necessarily dumb, Zhao's intelligence shines through his laziness sometimes.
  • It's his decision to accept Wen Yang's surrender in the hypothetical route that saves his brother's life during Wen Qin's uprising in Xuchang.
• Henpecked Husband: It must run in the family. His mother may even have engineered it: in 8 she is responsible for introducing Wang Yuanji as his "supervisor." Some Japanese fanart shows his future wife leading him around on a leash.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: His weapon is broadsword in 7. In 8, his weapon is called as "striking sword," to differentiate it from similar movesets.
• Heroic Build: Gets to show off that chest in 7. His father may be their poster boy, but he's the protagonist.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: More noble in the games than he was in Real Life, where he was an arrogant, power hungry, emperor-bullying Jerkass who went on murdering people left, right, and center (though he was discerning for people with the proper skills on the job, he was also infamous for both his well-timed good-image-to-the-public propaganda and his taboo law regarding his given name of "Zhao"^note Hence the change in Cai Yan's style name to "Wenji" from "Zhaoji" by historians). In general, he made his father, brother, and son all look tame by comparison. Lampshaded after he kills Cao Mao as he states history will record him as a killer, though in 8, Jia Chong is the one who does the deed. In general, while 7 put a very rosy spin on his actions, 8 makes his actions much darker and more ambiguous, a reluctant tyrant who can't see any other way to achieve peace and security, though this too is a bit of an upgrade. 9 retains much of his characterization from the previous games but becomes a bit ambitious with a slight intention to overthrow the Cao Wei kingdom after learning that Cao Mao is secretly backing the rebellions against his family and in his ending, he tells Liu Shan that he won't hesitate to kill him if the latter becomes more assertive to hold Shu.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Positively towers over Yuanji.
• Hunk: His good looks and muscular build are a bit more... rugged than the average.
• Idiot Hair: Minor case and not noticeable outside of cutscenes in 7.
• Just the First Citizen: The real power in Later Wei after Shi's death, though he doesn't explicitly take the throne for a while. Even if it means installing a new puppet emperor after assassinating the last one. Truth in Television in that some historical records have stated the real Sima Zhao built up his good image from some sly propaganda. Subverted in that his real intentions were considered widely known to all even as they played along, so much so that a Chinese idiom goes "Sima Zhao's intentions? Even the street pedestrian knows!" (Original: 司马昭之心，路人皆知 Sima Zhao zhi xin, lu ren jie zhi)
• The Kingslayer: In the seventh game, he personally kills Emperor Cao Mao and takes responsibility for it knowing that there would a public backlash. He puts Cao Huan as emperor which some interpret as an "atonement" for killing Cao Mao. In the later games, the one who kills the emperor is Jia Chong who became playable but Shima Zhao still installs Cao Huan on the throne.
• Large and in Charge: One common joke is that his transformation from the short generic character model in 5 and his current massive build in 7 onward involved lots of steroids. Even in Warriors Orochi 3, he's classified as a Power-type character.
• Not Me This Time: In a DLC stage of Warriors Orochi 3, Sima Shi (wrongly, as it really wasn't him this time.) accuses him of stealing his meat buns again. Zhao answers with this trope verbatim, although it does not save him from getting pummeled by Shi.
• Odd Couple: With Jia Chong. A bizarre friendship given their different personalities, but they respect and trust one another.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Played for Laughs in Jin's hypothetical ending. Zhao, unlike his older brother and father, isn't into calling people imbeciles. However, listening to Jiang Wei's benevolence rhetoric got on his nerves one time too many, and he joins in Shi and Yi in yelling at Jiang Wei for being an imbecile.
• Playing with Fire: His Musou and EX Attacks gave out blue fire.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red (happy go-lucky) compared with his brother's blue.
• Regent for Life: Regent of Wei from Sima Shi's death until his death.
• Reluctant Ruler: Deconstructed in the historical route for 8-he doesn't want to be a ruler because he is ill-suited to be one. While he can rule if necessary, it'll result in a pile of corpses, including many of his friends, and in a hideous mental and physical toll being exerted upon him. In fact, it's hinted in the historical ending that the stress and guilt from his unwanted role will drive him to an early grave. ^note Historically, he died in his early 50s, which was younger than his parents when they passed.
• Sibling Team: With Shi.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Where Shi takes after their father, Zhao takes after their mother. Out-of-universe, since Zhang Chunhua was introduced into the series later, Word of God states that she was deliberately designed to resemble Zhao.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Downplayed, but he clearly loves meat buns, too, since he took the risk of angering his brother just to eat them.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He's a strategically brilliant mind just like his father and brother yet regards himself as a worthless idiot son. In 8 and 8:XL, he still underestimates himself, but he's right to believe that he's not truly the best choice for the job.

Wang Yuanji

"The Beauty with the Piercing Eyes"

"My role is to see the hidden truth that lies beneath each battle."

Voiced by: Kanae Itō (Japanese), Tara Platt (English; 7-8), Kate Poisson (English; 9), Yi Zhu (Chinese; 9)

Born: 217
Died: 268
Japanese spelling: Ō Genki
Height: 5'3" (160cm)
Weapon: Throwing daggers

Granddaughter of Wang Lang, and daughter of Wang Su, Wang Yuanji is a caring and gentle woman to the weak and innocent. With her husband Sima Zhao, and any authority figure however, she spares them no sympathy and is rather curt. Historically, she became empress dowager without first becoming empress ^note Such cases occured when an emperor ascends the throne as the founder of a new dynasty, or by not being a son or full brother of his predecessor., and was noted for her frugalness as empress dowager^note This is a big contrast compared to the extravagent behaviour of her younger brother Wang Kai, whose tales of extravagance are recorded in Shishuo Xinyu. Granted, Wang Kai may have let himself loose after his sister's death (he outlived her by at least 23 years)..

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• Achilles' Heel: Of course, given the weak power of each projectile, even the modest combat resistance of higher difficulties mean that her knives rarely cause any flinching, forcing a player to play smart or be counterattacked to death.
• Action Girl: In battle, she can be extremely deadly with her throwing knives.
• Babies Ever After: Her bio for 8 makes sure to list Yuanji being the mother for many of Sima Zhao’s children as her lasting accomplishment, historically a whopping total of six children (5 boys and a girl), two of which are the acclaimed Sima Yan and the noted Sima You.
• Badass Bookworm: Historically, she was known for her learning. She was one of two women who saw Zhong Hui's eventual betrayal, the other being Xin Xianying.
• Battle Couple: With Sima Zhao.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: The storylines of 7 and 8 feature Yuanji exasperatedly wishing that Zhao would step up and take responsibility. In the historical paths where Zhao's personality darkens noticeably due to being saddled with so much responsibility after the deaths of his father and brother, she's clearly worried for him despite remaining supportive.
• Broken Pedestal: Played for humor, in the ludicrous final mission for the XL batch in 8 where Sima Shi orders his officers to secure legendary ingredients to cook the heavenly food (yes, meat buns), Yuanji sighs throughout the whole mission, she couldn’t imagine Shi had this side to him, in the end she sarcastically says Sima Shi and Sima Zhao aren’t so different after all.
• The Confidant: As his wife, she plays this role whenever Sima Zhao has some doubts about himself.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts/Scratch Damage: in 8 her knives deal absolutely pitiful damage and have a very short range for a projective, but hit many times very quickly, exploiting rapid hitstun for all its worth and quickly filling her rage gauge, which makes her invincible and allows her to mow down many enemies at once, and musou gauge. And her three musou attacks are some of the most varied and high-utility in the game.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Slowly becomes more tolerant and respectful of Zhao, and by the end they seem quite happy together.
• Flechette Storm: The basis of her moveset.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde hair, and heart of gold of Tsundere variant.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Maybe justified, since she seems to be a bit younger than him, but she's still very petite next to her strapping husband.
• Lady of War: A pretty young one, but she still fits.
• Lap Pillow: In the last scene of her ending in 9, Sima Zhao rests his head on her lap. She doesn't mind about it though.
• Mukokuseki: She provides the series' one ot the most blatant example, sporting entirely Western amber eyes and ash-blonde hair while still having oriental facial features.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her outfits are quite suggestive where her default outfit has quite a lot of Cleavage Window and her R1 Musou involves some visible bounce. Her fantasy Downloadable Content costume in 7 is a Pimped-Out Dress, including a Joshikousei-esque ensemble.
• Nice Girl: Most of the time; she IS a Tsundere, after all.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female in a kingdom with one big Cast Full of Pretty Boys until her mom-in-law Zhang Chunhua was introduced in 8.
• Ship Tease: Though she and Zhao are an Official Couple, she has loads of it with Sima Shi in 7. In Warriors Orochi 2: Special, this also occurs with Abe no Seimei.
  • Becomes mostly averted by 8 onwards, as she has several touching cutscenes with Zhao that cement their relationship.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: In Warriors Orochi 3, her son Sima Yan may sometimes appear as a generic officer, and despite his in-game appearance using the young strategist design, Yuanji perhaps looks younger than him. The third installment of the crossover uses Time Travel as a plot point, thus one can assume that Yan comes from a future timeline.
• Tsundere: Type B - usually curt towards Zhao, but gets embarrassed when he teases or compliments her; however she's pretty nice and courteous with almost everyone else. Her mother-in-law introduced her as his "handler." The developer stated she is based on the archetype. Lampshaded in her quote on being chosen as the most popular character ever:
  Wang Yuanji: I'm first place? I thought it was some kind of joke, not that there would be any good reason to... It's not like I'm happy or anything... Don't misunderstand me...

Zhuge Dan

"The Obstinate Dog"

"I carry the pride of my entire clan with me!"

Voiced by: Takuya Kirimoto (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English; 7-8), Thom Rivera (English; 9), Su Yu (Chinese; 9)

Born: (Unknown)
Died: 258
Style Name: Gongxiu
Japanese spelling: Shokatsu Tan "Kōkyū"
Height: 5'6" (168cm)
Weapon: Feather fan (7, 9), Short rod (8)

Zhuge Dan is a member of Zhuge Liang's family (history is unclear whether he is Liang's nephew or cousin). A serious and upright individual, he has trouble accepting opinions that clash with his own and is known for opposing Sima Zhao. Historically, he was an in-law of Sima Yi; Yi's son Zhou married Zhuge's eldest daughter. ^note It was not known for sure if this marriage was arranged during Yi's lifetime, as he was already in his late 40s when Zhou was born to Lady Fu. Sima Rui, the first emperor of the Eastern Jin, was their great-grandson, Rui's paternal grandmother being Lady Zhuge.

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• Butt-Monkey:
  • Feels he's treated this way in Jin. Hilariously, when Zhuge Liang is selected as his sworn ally in 7's Conquest Mode, he will even wonder if he's really related to him.
  • This is even more pronounced in 8, where Jia Chong frequently makes condescending compliments towards Zhuge Dan, who completely fails to notice it.
• Characterization Marches On: In 8, he has a stronger motivation to rebel than in the previous game. Even after being defeated by Sima Zhao and company, Dan will tell Zhao to Get It Over With and Face Death with Dignity. It's revealed later that Dan's rebellion was secretly backed by the Wei Emperor Cao Mao.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Notable in 8, where his characterization as a champion of the people is played up, and his invasion of Wu only fails because he uses what he knows to be a tactically inferior strategy to avoid catching the local peasants in the middle.
• Despair Event Horizon: In 8, losing Sima Shi will finally make him cross it, as he's seen on his knees, slamming his fist to the ground in despair. Predictably, the next historical stage afterwards is his rebellion where his sanity starts cracking after getting a message from the Emperor backing him up.
• Establishing Character Moment: The eighth game introduces him by showing him helping a large crowd of peasants with various requests before refusing a tactically-superior strategy that would put them in danger and trample their fields.^note Which isn't a brilliant priority, according to The Art of War. In fact, prioritizing immediate concerns of the people—of whatever class—over finishing the conflict quickly is one of the five most perilous flaws a general can have according to it, as a prolonged conflict is even worse to the people over the long run. Especially since Dan had just been portrayed being genuinely lenient about taxing people whose troubles weren't their own fault! No wonder Jia Chong thought Dan was an idiot.
• Grapple Move: His sword baton moveset revolves around pinning foes down and breaking their limbs with martial arts.
• He Who Fights Monsters: His desire to wrest Wei back from the Sima family and what he sees as Sima Zhao's laziness and incompetence ends with him siding with one of Wei's enemies and his obsession makes him far more incompetent (and crueler) than Zhao; along the way, his attempt to kill Wen Qin for his betrayal leads to Wen Yang's defection to the Sima faction.
• Hero-Worshipper: Might be one to Zhuge Liang, since he has special praise for Liang.
  • Also one for Sima Shi; Shi's death along with what Zhuge Dan perceives as Zhao's incompetence in comparison is one of the major factors leading to his betrayal and rebellion.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: See Throw the Dog a Bone below.
• An Ice Person: His Aerial Musou Attack "Tundra Blast" and Alternate Musou Attack "Icy Valor"
• Jerkass Has a Point: In 8 he does correctly point out that Sima Zhao is a far less capable leader than Shi and that the former's skills are not suited to steering the land through turbulent times. It proves to be prescient after his death; Zhao manages to conquer Shu and stabilize the land somewhat but it's messy. The Jin Dynasty he establishes collapses after just thirty years.
• Never My Fault: This played in Zhong Hui's Legend stage in 7. After he is defeated by Zhong Hui, Zhuge Dan believes he's done nothing wrong and blames his death on the Heavens.
  Zhuge Dan: I am... doing nothing wrong. Why have the Heavens forsaken me?
  • If his army gets annihilated, he delivers a slap to Sima Zhao in 8 after his plan fails at Dongxing (The East Gates Battle in this one) and blames him for it. Zhao, however, just takes it in.
• Palette Swap: Sports a red outfit when he rebels against Jin under Sima Zhao and joins Wu.
• Perpetual Frowner: Zhuge Dan is a man of many motivations, but his expression is always serious and down.
• The Resenter: Harbors a deep resentment towards Sima Zhao, blaming him for Wei's disastrous defeat at Dongxing. After Sima Shi's death, this resentment causes him to rebel against Zhao.
• Serious Business: For him, being a Zhuge clan member is a serious business. He can be seen occasionally boasting this in several Legend Stages in 7. Heck, even one of his Legend Stage depicts his attempt to prove he's worthy to come from the Zhuge clan and better than Zhuge Liang.
• Shared Family Quirks: Apparently, being an officer of Wei doesn't stop him in using the Arc Word "benevolence", although he claims that it's the philosophy of his family, Zhuge, instead of an exclusive Arc Word of Zhuge Liang's own for Liu Bei and Shu.
• Shock and Awe: His "Firefly Bomb" Musou Attack and his first EX Attack, via his ties to the Zhuge clan (Zhuge Liang also had lightning attacks).
• The Starscream: Doesn't highly regard Sima Zhao. He eventually rebels, joins Wu, and ends up fighting Zhao. Subverted in 8's hypothetical route, where he notes Zhao's newfound maturity and starts to respect him.
• Token Good Teammate: Initially presented as one of the few Jin officers who gives a damn about the little guy, creating a considerable amount of tension between him and his more callous and irresponsible comrades. As Sima Zhao and his buddies get nicer through Character Development, though, his own festering grudge slowly pushes him off the deep end until he's the callous Bad Boss they have to put down for the good of the land. Notably, you can forestall this by meeting the right criteria in 8, letting him remain one of Jin's most moral officers.
• Taking You with Me: Tries to do this to Zhao by trapping him in a room and setting it ablaze. It does not work.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • No pun intended, but he does get some genuine praise from his cousin Zhuge Liang in Warriors Orochi 3.
  Zhuge Dan: Master Zhuge Liang, I am a talentless dog...I have dirtied the name of our clan...
  Zhuge Liang: Dragons and tigers obey no one, yet dogs are forever loyal.
  Zhuge Liang: If you are a dog, Zhuge Dan, then you are the pride of our clan. There's nothing to be ashamed of.
  • In 8 his other cousin, Zhuge Jin also tells him being compared to a dog isn't always a bad thing.
  Zhuge Jin: Do you know how the rest of the world views the Zhuge clan?
  Zhuge Dan: Master Zhuge Liang is a dragon, you are a tiger. And I am a... dog.
  Zhuge Jin: What's wrong? There's nothing to be discouraged about. Dogs can be very clever.
  Zhuge Dan "Yes... I will do my best to ensure I don't end up as an inferior canine."
• Too Dumb to Live: Surprisingly it's not about his rebellion, but the way he stole Sima Shi's meat buns. Judging from his quote to Sima Zhao, it's clearly that he realize stealing the meat buns will anger Sima Shi, but Zhuge Dan still stole the meat buns anyway.
  Sima Zhao: Zhuge Dan? Why are you being chased, too? Is it for the same reason as I am?
  Zhuge Dan: Yes, unfortunately so. I just can't resist its silky smooth exterior.
• Tragic Hero: According to the developers, he was written to be this trope.
• Undying Loyalty: To Sima Shi. He doesn't trust Sima Zhao to lead due to his lax behavior. Shi's death hit Zhuge Dan really hard which cause him to rebel against Zhao.
• Villainous Breakdown: Post-Face–Heel Turn, his sanity starts taking a nosedive, culminating with his murder of his subordinate, Wen Qin, for a perceived plot against him.
• Weapon Specialization: His first weapon from 7 is a Combat Hand Fan similar to Zhuge Liang's except it's red, and in 8, he wields a sword-sized baton and a number of martial arts moves to emulate a law-enforcement fighting style. 9 sees him get his fan back.

Guo Huai

"The Sickly Minister"

"I do not fear death if it comes on the field of battle."

Voiced by: Satoru Kamata (Japanese), Dan Woren (English; 7-8), Philip Hersh (English; 9), Da Xiang (Chinese; 9)

Born: 187 ^note Historically, the year of Guo Huai's birth and his age when he died were unrecorded.
Died: 255
Style Name: Boji
Japanese spelling: Kaku Wai "Hakusai"
Height: 5'9" (176cm)
Weapon: Arm cannon (7-8), Shooting bladespears (9)

Guo Huai rose to prominence under Cao Pi and defended Wei many times from Jiang Wei's advances. He is an individual plagued by illness during the campaigns against Shu, but even with his weakened state, Guo Huai is truly a reliable warrior to have on the battlefront. Loyal to Wei above all else, he feels indebted to Xiahou Yuan and Sima Yi. Historically, his niece (also named Guo Huai) was Jia Chong's second wife. ^note Jia divorced his first wife Li Wan as a show of loyalty to Sima Shi; Wan was a daughter of Li Feng, who was executed by Shi in 254 for allegedly conspiring with the Wei emperor Cao Fang to unseat Shi from power.

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• Awesome, but Impractical: His R1 Musou Attack in 8 causes More Dakka, but its cooldown time is rather long and it ends with him coughing.
  • Not to mention the More Dakka part of the Musou actually hits upward, only damaging those too close to him.
• Bash Brothers: with Guo Jia in Warriors Orochi 3.
• BFG: His weapon is an arm cannon which is a giant, studded tonfa with a bayonet on one end that also serves as a Gatling gun and rocket launcher, though it fires arrows instead of bullets.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His historical-self was possibly just as great as this portrayal who's always sick enough to drop to the ground and then get back up; there was one time where his wife was being held captive by local tribes (because she was visiting her brother, Wang Ling's grave^note who was also Guo Huai's brother-in-law that was dead via treason, and only Lady Wang was spared due to close friendship between Guo Huai and Sima Yi) that forced Guo Huai to retreat from his post to save her. Sima Yi gave him no demotion or punishment at all due to Guo Huai being that good at his job throughout his military career (and because Sima Yi agreed with Guo Huai's words in the letter he sent to him in that "because of course he had to save her"), and despite the fact that abandoning his post when Shu was attacking Wei yearly was technically illegal to do.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Some of his moves have LONG after-animations (coughing, tripping over himself, etc.) as part of Gameplay and Story Integration of being sick, whilst his other moves have nonsensical mechanics or have openings bigger than a warehouse sale. Get used to them, however, and you have a reliable character at close to medium range with great Musou buildup.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: In the games, he is portrayed as a sickly man who keeps on coughing. According to Word of God, he's a workaholic when fighting loyally for Wei, so much so that it exhausts his body. Historically, he was only sick in two major events, which are the campaign in Mt. Dingjun^note Guo Huai being sick was the only reason why Xiahou Yuan was in charge of that campaign in the first place and Cao Pi's coronation^note which despite legitimate reasons, Cao Pi even threatened to execute Guo Huai due to his lack of attendance.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Due to his sickly physical appearance.
• Fanboy: Of Xiahou Yuan. This is the main reason why he's so upset about Xiahou Ba's defection to Shu.
• Goth: His appearance.
• Grapple Move: Both of his ground Musou.
• Handicapped Badass:
  • When off-duty, Guo Huai deals with his crippling Incurable Cough of Death by getting lots of healthy exercise in the fresh air... through wrestling tigers.
  • In 8, when seen in earlier points in the timeline, his mannerisms are a lot less ill. That said, in the Jin storyline, his health and vocal energy has deteriorated.
• Incurable Cough of Death: An odd example - he's alive throughout a significant portion of the conflict, with his health utterly unchanging, but he dies due to Annoying Arrows via Jiang Wei's hand. In the novel however, Jiang Wei instead caught one of his arrows and fired it right back at him.
• Lag Cancel: A key to his playstyle. Otherwise, get ready to cringe as you watch your character get whaled on because they were acting like they walked out of the ICU.
• Large Ham: In part to his Japanese voice actor.
• Life Drain: His regular Musou Attack.
• Overranked Soldier/Almighty Janitor: Tying into Bunny-Ears Lawyer above, his historical self basically managed to achieve one of the highest ranks possible from the very bottom of the ranking system. While his Musou Warriors portrayal barely touches on it, he was that much of a tenacious soldier in real life.
• Spared by the Adaptation: If Guo Huai is saved at Mt. Tielong and the historical route is taken in 8, he's the only character whose fate remains unchanged. He's still alive when Sima Zhao marches on Chengdu, but barely. But knowing what happens after Shu is conquered by Wei if know your research, played 7: Xtreme Legends, or read the novel, you know this is possibly a very depressing ending.
• Token Good Teammate: Designed to contrast with many of the more-vicious characters in the faction.
• Undying Loyalty: To Wei; probably for the best that he didn't live long enough to see where the Sima clan would take the country.
• Violation of Common Sense: His weapon is, for all intents and purposes, a ranged weapon; it's even listed under "Projectiles". Best way to make use of it? Get close. Real close.
• We Used to Be Friends: He was extremely close with Xiahou Ba before the latter's defection to Shu. It gets him killed in both 7 and 8, though in different circumstances. Not helping in that the historical Xiahou Ba hated Guo Huai for upstaging him.

Zhong Hui

"The Precocious Strategist"

"There is a reason I'm destined for greatness!"

Voiced by: Ichitarō Ai (Japanese), Quinton Flynn (English; 7-8), James Butler (English; 9), Huang Zhen Ji (Chinese; 9)

Born: 225
Died: 264
Style Name: Shiji
Japanese spelling: Shō Kai "Shiki"
Height: 5'9" (175cm)
Weapon: Flying swords (7-8), Fan sword (9)

A young, studious man who has the respectable ability to instantly read the battlefield, but due to his personal arrogance, there aren't many fellow officers who trust Zhong Hui. The direct opposite of Deng Ai in every respect, he harbors a seething resentment for the veteran.

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• Ambiguously Gay: 8 drops a few hints that there might be a bit more to his attitude towards Deng Ai than just rage and jealousy.
• Anachronism Stew: Not Hui himself, but rather his father Yao, who, in the game, aided him in his battles despite being historically dead when Hui was about 5 years old.
• Brainy Brunette: Has light brown hair, and he is an Insufferable Genius.
• Butt-Monkey: In the Warriors Orochi games, he gets the short end of the stick where he becomes Dong Zhuo's lackey and later, gets hounded by Okuni. He even gets this funny music as his Leitmotif, much to his chagrin. Then, he gets pulled into Hideyoshi's shenanigans of searching some beautiful goddess. It's like the whole universe wants to punish Zhong Hui for being a narcissist dick.
• Child Prodigy/Teen Genius: Said to have displayed enormous talents from early age.
• Driven by Envy: His core motivation essentially boils down to "finally one-up and disgrace Deng Ai," though "assume Sima Zhao's place as the new generalissimo of Wei" takes a close second.
• Face Death with Dignity: When he is led away to his execution in 8:XL, he is just as smug as ever, and tells Deng Ai and Wen Yang that he only did what his ambition led him to do, insinuating that they lack the will to try for glory themselves.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Talented, beautiful, and not afraid to flaunt it. Hilariously, one of his DLC outfits basically makes him Narcissus.
  Zhong Hui: I will not lose against dullards.
• Foil: To Deng Ai. Zhong Hui is arrogant and from privileged and influential family in Wei, thanks to his father being high-ranking official. Deng Ai is humble and from working-class family who worked his way up in his career for Wei. Zhong Hui eventually rebelled against Wei after he slandered Deng Ai, who remained loyal.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: His outfits are very tight-fitting, considering it's basically armor.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • Liu Shan's Legend Stage in Conquest Mode for 7 implies Zhong Hui is this. In the Main Camp, one officer states that hardly anyone ever liked him due to his arrogance and his betrayal finally gives them an excuse to kill him.
  • Played with in 8:XL, where some of the troops mentions that he was actually well-liked due to treating them well, despite his wretched demeanor towards the other officers.
• A God Am I: He likes to call himself "The Chosen One".
• Green-Eyed Monster: While he always had a (one-sided) rivalry with Deng Ai, camp conversations imply that Deng Ai being appointed Prefect of Chengdu was the final straw. He partly rebelled to slander Deng Ai in hopes of getting him executed for treason. Historically, Deng Ai's new title that got Zhong Hui jealous was Grand Commandant (太尉). There's no historical record that stated Deng Ai becoming Prefect/Administrator of Chengdu.
• Hair Flip: Yes, you have pretty hair. Stop touching it.
• Hidden Depths: A minor example. Look at his official artwork◊ for 8, where he's seen holding a paintbrush. That's because the historical Zhong Hui is a talented calligrapher. Ironically, he's not very skilled with using Ma Dai's brush, due to it being categorised as a Whirlwind weapon rather than a Dash weapon.
  • It also works in his favor since he historically slandered his foes using some nasty forgery, with both Zhuge Ke and Deng Ai being notable victims.
• Hypocrite: Often mocks Xiahou Ba and Zhuge Dan as filthy traitors, while he himself also betrays Wei later. The irony is that both Xiahou Ba ^note  genuinely feared for his and his family's life after Sima Shi executed Xiahou Xuan just for being related to Cao Shuang; as it is, his family only barely avoided the execution-for-treason-by-proxy punishment and Zhuge Dan ^note  Angered by what he sees as Sima Zhao's incompetence and tyranny, not to mention hitting a Sanity Slippage after Sima Shi dies in the historical route defected for more or less selfless reasons, while Zhong Hui's motives in doing so are completely selfish.
• Insufferable Genius: None of his talent and learning justifies his sheer arrogance.
• It's All About Me: Phenomenally arrogant and self-centered, he starts a violent rebellion just to satisfy his over-inflated ego.
• Jerkass: Due to his mountain-sized ego, he tends to be a huge asshole to pretty much everyone who isn't him.
• Joke Weapon: His joke weapon in Warriors Orochi 3 is a set of Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels.
• Master of the Levitating Blades: His usual weapon is a set of five swords hovering behind him that he commands to strike.
• Momma's Boy: Zhong Hui's "special training" was a strict regimen done by his mother in real life. Her teachings had a profound influence in Zhong Hui's professional and personal life. ^note Historically, the reason why his mother remained known to history was because he wrote a biography of her, which was included by Pei Songzhi in his Annotations. Tragically, without her influence, Zhong eventually bit off more than what he could chew, and died a mere six years after her.
• Never My Fault: Due to his ego, he never blames himself for his faults.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Though he and Jiang Wei couldn't be less alike in anything but their talent for strategy, they actually become rather close friends once Wei conquers Shu, to the point that Jiang Wei actually helps with his rebellion in 7. Downplayed in 8:XL, whose new stages based on the rebellion instead paint them as uneasy allies with conflicting goals and motives united against a common enemy. It's further downplayed in his DLC hypothetical scenario from 9 where he blackmails Jiang Wei into serving him.
  • In his hypothetical scenario, he coerces Xiahou Ba not to defect to Shu, making them close confidantes. Because of this gesture, Xiahou Ba supports him in his battle against Sima Zhao and his ascension as emperor. This is in huge contrast to the original storyline where Zhong Hui mocks Xiahou Ba for his betrayal.
• Pretty Boy: And he likes to brag about it. He's so pretty that in Warriors Orochi 3, Okuni chases him around and beats up his soldiers just to get a good look at his face, much to his flustered irritation. She is quite impressed with his looks...it's just a shame about his personality.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tries to give this to Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua in Jin's hypothetical stage in 8. It doesn't work.
• The Rival: Considers Deng Ai this; the latter doesn't seem to notice.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Appearance-wise, he is the "sensitive guy" to Deng Ai's "manly man".
• Smug Snake: His abilities are quite serviceable, but they could never match up to his ego. When he tries to take over Wei in a Jin hypothetical stage in 8, Sima Yi is less annoyed that he's betraying them than at how incompetently he's doing it.
• The Starscream:
  • His ego was so big that he naturally rebelled against Jin shortly after the fall of Shu, as chronicled in Legend Mode for 7: Xtreme Legends (in the Story Mode of 7, Zhong Hui has always been a loyal subordinate of Wei/Jin despite his acrimony with Deng Ai since its story concludes with the capitulation of Shu) and 8: Xtreme Legends. His betrayal also pops up in some legendary missions in Conquest Mode, such as Wang Yuanji's (in the novel and historically, she predicted that he would rebel) and Deng Ai's (as Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei began their rebellion by defaming him, leading to his arrest and eventual execution). He's also the only one who's not allied to Orochi or the Resistance in Warriors Orochi 3 and tries to create his own kingdom. He tries this again in the "what-if" scenario of 8, only to be thwarted by Sima Yi and Zhang Chunhua. And although not shown in-game, there's another character that can detect his eventual rebellion in the novel and history: Xin Xianying.
  • His ending in 9 shows him preparing for his rebellion against Sima Zhao with the help of Jiang Wei. As stated in history, the rebellion failed and he and Jiang Wei were killed. In his hypothetical scenario, he blackmails Zhuge Ke and Jiang Wei to help him destroy Sima Zhao. After that, he forces Emperor Cao Fang to abdicate, crowning himself as emperor which causes the Cao loyalists and the remnants of Shu and Wu to rally against him. Zhong Hui crushes them all and with all his opponents gone, he declares himself as the Chosen One.
• Storm of Blades: His Musou Attacks in 7.
• The Strategist: Although quite arrogant about it.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Aside from his Musou Attacks, one charged attack involves pinning the opponent in place with one sword while he impales them with the other four. In 8:XL, he gets a new Ex attack to go with this string: it has him launch his opponent into the air before impaling the victim with all five swords simultaneously.
• Tsundere: Albeit an odd example, but Zhong Hui comes off as a Type A. Usually callous towards others because of his ego, when he expresses his intimate adoration for someone, he becomes unexpectedly bashful. His conquest devotion dialogue and monologue during the marriage event in 7: Empires is proof of this.
• The Usurper: In his hypothetical scenario DLC, he manages to strong-arm the officers who used to rebel against the Simas (Xiahou Ba, Wen Yang and Zhuge Dan) and finally crushes the Simas and their retainers while forcing Emperor Cao Fang to abdicate and crowning himself as emperor of China.
• Weapon Specialization: Since 7 until 8, Zhong Hui's main weapon is five flying swords.
• Wild Card: In his hypothetical scenario DLC, he's loyal to no one but himself. He only sticks to Sima Shi and Zhao and Emperor Cao Fang to increase his goals and blackmails Zhuge Ke and Jiang Wei to work with him for a short time.

Deng Ai

"The Self Made General"

"I will give my life in pursuit of duty and honor!"

Voiced by: Masato Obara (Japanese), Matt Lasky (English; 7-8), Jose Saldana (English; 9), Xudong Gao (Chinese; 9)

Born: 197
Died: 264
Style Name: Shizai
Japanese spelling: Tō Gai "Shisai"
Height: 6'7" (200cm)
Weapon: Drill spear (7-8), Revolving crossbow (8:E), Battle axe (9)

Deng Ai is a Wei general who once acted as a minster in office. After witnessing Sima Yi's intellect, he decided to return to the battlefront and watch over the troops during the campaigns against Shu. He has a hobby of looking at maps and, to preserve their accuracy, he is cautious of the war changing the geography of the land.

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• Abled in the Adaptation: In historical records, Deng Ai was noted to have quite a stutter that made it very difficult for him to be taken seriously until Sima Yi reached out to him by chance. His Warriors version has no traces of such a thing.
• Badass Bookworm: Former clerk... no, really. Zhong Hui can't help but notice he's rather... built for a paper pusher.
• Bayonet Ya: He often attacks enemies with the very pointy part of his weapon.
• Brainy Brunette: Has an almost intuitive understanding of the terrain.
• The Big Guy: For the Jin faction, both figuratively and literally.
• Comically Serious: In the "Seek the Secret Ingredients" stage of 8: XL, he stoically declares that it is his duty to complete missions and obey his master, despite Sima Shi's increasing irrationality in matters culinary.
• Foil: To Zhong Hui. Zhong Hui is arrogant and from privileged and influential family in Wei, thanks to his father being high-ranking official. Deng Ai is humble and from working-class family who worked his way up in his career for Wei. Zhong Hui eventually rebelled against Wei after he slandered Deng Ai, who remained loyal. Even if historically he briefly became arrogant following his promotion after Wei's conquest of Shu, Deng Ai never had any intention to rebel.
• Genius Bruiser: At one point, a flustered Zhong Hui wonders how a clerk and intellectual got that kind of physique!
• Gentle Giant: Averted, actually. Deng Ai isn't particularly gentle, but he isn't particularly cruel either. He's just a normal general who happens to be a giant.
• Grapple Move:
  • When he wields his lance, his Alternate Musou, "Bonecracker", has his grappled opponent in an armbar then breaks theirs, the ensuing shockwave knocking down several others as well.
  • When he wields his Revolving Crossbow, his Alternate Musou, "Hold and Break", simply has him grappling his opponent with his legs then crushing them from underneath.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Downplayed. Historically, after capturing Cheng Du, Deng Ai started exhibiting great arrogance, notably in his correspondence with Sima Zhao and control of the city.^note Granted, his growing arrogance has Jerkass Has a Point vibe since he was advising Sima Zhao how to invade and conquer Wu right after they managed to conquer Shu so the land can be united as soon as possible. Unfortunately, when Sima Zhao delivered his advice to the Imperial court instead of immediately agreeing, Deng Ai was openly voicing his frustration, which made Sima Zhao wary of Deng Ai's apparently growing arrogance. Zhong Hui used this to his advantage, successfully engineering his arrest and eventual execution, ridding a potential obstacle in his rebellion. If only Sima Zhao gave enough credit to Deng Ai by listening to his advice, Zhong Hui probably had less chance to rebel and they could've conquered Wu earlier. But thanks to the growing distrust between Sima Zhao and Deng Ai, Wei/Jin didn't conquer Wu until approximately 16 years after their conquest of Shu, and both of them are no longer alive by that point. However, it should also be noted that when Jin conquered Wu in 280, the process went very smoothly, thanks to the misrule by Sun Hao, who began his reign almost a year after the fall of Shu. In the games, Deng Ai is never anything but steadfastly loyal and humble in his service to Sima Zhao.
• Humble Hero: All he wants to do is doing his job well, and he pretty much doesn't care about glory and he never brag about his abilities and accomplishments despite being a legit Genius Bruiser with tons of accomplishments under his belt.
• Hunk: His rugged, unshaven good looks are quite unusual for a series that mostly operates on a sliding scale between "elderly Gonk" and "young, beautiful Bishōnen". Even his Unknown Rival Zhong Hui can't help but notice them, much to his own discomfort.
• Machine Monotone: The cadence of his voice barely changes, making him seem as mechanical as his usual choice of weapons.
• Self-Made General: Worked his way up from low-level clerk to high-level general on talent and training rather than connections and family.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Appearance-wise, he is the "manly man" to Zhong Hui's "sensitive guy".
• Spared by the Adaptation: One of the first steps towards Zhong Hui's rebellion was to frame his rival and drag him down with him. It never happens in 7, 8's historical route and 9 ends right before the rebellion takes place, and 8: XL's new set of stages centered on it opens with Deng Ai and Wen Yang fighting their way out with their families and rejoining the Sima clan's forces. This is averted in Zhong Hui;'s hypothetical DLC scenario where the latter kills Deng Ai as he betrays Sima Zhao.
• The Stoic: He puts his duty before his personal feelings, even when doing something difficult like designing the strategy to kill Xiahou Ba.
• The Strategist: Specifically, he has a natural talent for placing troops and organizing land according to terrain.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: His first Musou Attack in 7
• Trademark Favorite Food: According to his 9 ending it's pig feet.
• Unknown Rival: Zhong Hui practically seethes with envy at his accomplishments, but Deng Ai is largely unconcerned with him. During the former's rebellion in 8: XL, he even blames himself for not seeing what was going to happen earlier. And he does seem rather regretful when the fellow's about to be executed.
• Weapon Specialization:
  • From 7 to 8: XL, Deng Ai wielded a lance that's basically a drill.
  • In 8: Empires, Deng Ai wields a revolving crossbow, which is basically a Gatling gun if it shot crossbow bolts.
• Working-Class Hero: Not outright stated in the game, but nonetheless depicted in his very polite behaviour to his allies whom he tends to address with honorific. He's even polite to Zhong Hui! Historically, Deng Ai was from a farmer family and eventually started his career in Wei as a low-ranking agricultural officer. When Sima Yi was satisfied with his work, he promoted Deng Ai into higher ranking position.
• Wrestler in All of Us: His second Musou Attack in 7 and Musou finisher in 9 is an armbar.

Xiahou Ba

"The Baby-Faced Warrior"

"My armor protects me from any and all dangers!"

Voiced by: Kenji Akabane (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English; 7-8), Jared Price (English; 9), Jing Li (Chinese; 9)

Born: (Unknown)
Died: Between 255-259
Style Name: Zhongquan
Japanese spelling: Kakō Ha "Chūken"
Height: 5'3" (160cm)
Weapon: Zhanmadao (7, 9), Siege spear (7:E-8)

Xiahou Ba is Xiahou Yuan's second son and a military general for both Wei and Jin who ultimately rebelled against Sima Zhao and defected to Shu.

He is a bright young man who inherits his father's integrity and will. To hide his age, he clads himself in full armor. Xiahou Ba is striving hard to live up to the expectations of his reputed family. Historically, he is related via marriage to many characters, including Sima Shi, Cai Wenji and Xin Xianying. ^note One of his daughters married Yang Hu, a general of Jin. Yang's mother Lady Cai was a sister of Wenji's; his sister Huiyu was Sima Shi's third wife. Yang's uncle Yang Dan was Xianying's husband.

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• Ambiguously Related: When his cousin, Xiahou Ji, became playable in 9, this bridges the familial relationship between him and Xingcai as seen in his ending when the latter acknowledges him being her relative due to being very similar to her mother. However, she regarded him as her "cousin" instead of "uncle" despite that he and Xiahou Ji are cousins and his father, Xiahou Yuan, is acknowledged in-game as the latter's uncle. It doesn't help that Xiahou Ba's youthful appearance made the familial relationship very muddled.
• Arch-Enemy: Becomes one to all of Jin after he defects for Shu. He usually protects Jiang Wei. Averted in 8, where, even on the historical route, he and Sima Zhao seem more regretful than anything else.
• Artistic Age: When he defected to Shu, he was old enough to have a wife and at least a daughter, which married Yang Hu on his brother Wei's advice.
• Bash Brothers: with Jiang Wei, who previously defected from Wei to Shu.
• Battering Ram: His rocket-propelled "Siege Spear" is built and wielded more like a two-handed battering ram, but with a pointed tip.
• Big Damn Heroes: Jumps from out of nowhere to save Jiang Wei. This occurs again in Warriors Orochi 3 when his father's in a pinch. Back-to-Back Badasses ensues.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Nearly gets into one in his Legend Mode chapter, until Jiang Wei bails him out.
• Catchphrase: "Well well well..." or "Ittokuka!" (In one go!)
• Chainsaw-Grip BFG: How he wields his siege spear.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Torn between his loyalty to his family and to the Sima Clan. It eventually leads him to flee to Shu, fearing for his life after Sima Yi and Shi has his relative Cao Shuang killed.
• Cool Helmet: Although he doesn't always wear it.
• Deadpan Snarker: In the Japanese version; following Wei's collapse, he becomes much more sarcastic towards his former allies, responding dryly to all their accusations against him. Averted in 8, where both he and they are very melancholic about it.
• Defector from Decadence: Flees to Shu when the Sima clan begin to seize power within Wei by killing his kinsman, though this can be averted in 8; historically, he pretty much had trouble fitting in, which was one reason he defected aside from the chaos between Cao Shuang and Sima Yi's fight for the throne.
• Face Death with Dignity: After being defeated for good in the historical route of 8, Xiahou Ba apologizes to Sima Zhao, recalling their good memories and accepts the execution orders with a calm face.
• False Friend: In the historical route of 8, he (or, if he was previously convinced to stay loyal to Wei, Li Jian) puts on Wei colors and convinces Guo Huai that he is going to try to return to Wei. Guo Huai, overjoyed, immediately throws open the gates for his old friend and is promptly stabbed in the back. Xiahou Ba feels bad about it, but doesn't really seem to regret it, per se.
  • It does not help that historically, Xiahou Ba was actually quite bitter towards Guo Huai, which in tandem with their historical selves really seems to really put this trope into full effect.
• Get It Over With: Says this to Guo Huai in 7 before the latter is killed by archers.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: In 8, he attempts to defect to Shu once Sima Shi ascends to power, but with effort, Ba can be convinced to stay. Failing to save Sima Shi and hitting the historical route puts Ba back to defecting to Shu again.
• I Am Not Pretty: In Warriors Orochi 3, after Magoichi Saika calls him handsome, Ba denies it and says he has no confidence in his looks.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Never looks back or regrets his actions.
• I Owe You My Life: In Warriors Orochi 4, Lady Hayakawa saves him when he got lost in the newly rebuilt world. To repay for her kindness, Xiahou Ba aids her in facing her father.
• Intergenerational Friendship: He and Guo Huai are rather close, despite the age gap. Unless on the hypothetical route in 8, this ends in tragedy and betrayal; sadly, this also makes historical sense in that Xiahou Ba was actually very bitter towards Guo Huai.
• In Spite of a Nail: Even if you get him to stay in your side at 8, he will still betray you if you go historical.
• Like Father, Like Son: Ba is given Yuan's eyes and his father's laid back, playful personality, although Ba is certainly less Hot-Blooded than his father (which fits his heavier weapon).
• Lovable Traitor: Betrays Wei/Jin and joins Shu for what he believes is right. Historically, he betrayed Wei for three reasons.^note First: many of Xiahou Ba's deeds went unnoticed. Second: He was very bitter towards Guo Huai. Third: Sima Yi and Cao Shuang were duking it out for the throne at the time which led to a lot of instability, which even led to Xiahou Ba abandoning his kids, who narrowly avoided the execution-for-treason-by-proxy punishment.
• Nice Guy: He tells the enemy that it's a pleasure to meet him/her before engaging. He means it, too - just because he's on the opposite side doesn't mean he has any malice.
• Older Than He Looks: Looks about the same age as his niece Xingcai, not to mention he should be Xiahou Yuan's second oldest son and his generic brothers all look older than him.
  • Some people estimates his birth year to be 185 or 186 (based on some historical records), easily makes him 11 or 12 years older than Deng Ai, which is one of the oldest looking Jin characters, and, if one of those numbers is true, makes Ba the second-oldest Jin character next to Sima Yi.
• Palette Swap: Wears a green outfit after his defection to Shu.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: For such a little guy, he sure has a thing for huge weapons and heavy, thick armor.
• Ramming Always Works: His first Musou Attack with the siege spear.
• Rocket Jump: A frequent part of his siege spear moveset.
• Shock and Awe: His EX and Musou Attacks with both his BFS and his siege spear, which often contrasts his dad's ties to Wei due to Wei often using ice attacks.
• 24-Hour Armor: Can sometimes be heard complaining about how heavy it is. It's lampshaded in 8: Empires:
  Xiahou Ba: Alright! Let's relax and have some fun! Oops... I'd better remove my armor first.
• Ugly Guy's Hot Son: Yuan may not be hideous, but he's no looker either. Ba, on the other hand, is gorgeous.
  • Lampshaded by Zhang Fei (who ironically has his own attractive child), complaining that Ba bears no resemblance to his father. Said attractive child is related to Yuan and Ba, no less.
  • Yuan seems to acknowledge this in Warriors Orochi 3:
    Xiahou Yuan: Just when I was wondering who this handsome guy is, turns out it's my son!
• Warrior Prince: Not merely due to his family connections to Cao Cao. Xiahou Ba is also the uncle of the Zhang sisters (whom Xingcai is a composite of). This familial link is also one of the reasons why Xiahou Ba is so easily accepted into Shu despite his past as a Wei officer, along with the support of fellow Wei defector and chief general Jiang Wei.
• Weapon Specialization: He wields a BFS from his debut until 7: Empires, he switches out to a "siege spear", a two-handed mechanical contraption with a sharp stake with built-in jets, which must be activated by pulling back on a lever.
• Weaponized Exhaust: Some of the siege spear's attacks involve letting the heated gasses within flare into enemies.
• You Can't Go Home Again: After his betrayal, this seems to bother him a little, since he feels he's let his father down by siding with the kingdom responsible for his death, something that Guo Huai particularly holds strongly against him.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: His defection from the Wei Kingdom becomes zig-zagged in 8. The player can play it historically and have him turn traitor or they can fulfill the requirements for the "what-if" scenarios and have him remain in Jin. However, doing the latter then playing the rest of Jin's story historically, Ba will still flee to Shu after the Battle of Xu Chang.

Debuting in Dynasty Warriors 8

Zhang Chunhua

"Whether it's with battles or people, I always get my way."

Voiced by: Masumi Asano (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English; 8), Kyla Garcia (English; 9), Xiao Lian Sha (Chinese; 9)

Born: 189
Died: 247
Japanese spelling: Chō Shunka
Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Weapon: Wired gloves (8), Urumi (9)

Sima Yi's wife, Zhang Chunhua is a cunning woman who, while supporting her husband, doesn't seem to mind to commit assassinations for it (like she did to one certain maid). There are rumors that she's the one truly wearing the pants in their marriage by either outsmarting Yi or scaring him.

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• Action Mom: The first female character in the Warriors franchise to have her children alongside as playable characters. She was also one of a very small group of women during the era who actually killed someone on record.
• Almighty Mom: Her whole family fears her and while Sima Yi is still as nutty as he always was, she clearly has a leash on him. Historically, when Yi found a new favorite concubine (Lady Bai) and ignored her, she hid their children and stopped eating, demanding a written apology from him. She got it.
  Mother, you are strong! No wonder Father is afraid of you!
• Ascended Extra: After being voted in as a special "create-a-warrior" character in 7: Empires, 8 makes her a playable character with a unique design.
• Battle Couple: With Sima Yi.
• Cool Big Sis: For her daughter-in-law Yuanji; she even calls Yuanji smarter than Zhao, her "imbecile son", and camp dialogues imply they only hooked up after she introduced her as her son's "supervisor."
• Dissonant Serenity: Her default expression is a calm, patient smile, and she never raises her voice, even in the heat of battle.
• Evil Laugh: Though she lacks the propensity for full-blown evil laughter shared by her husband and elder son, she does do her fair share of sinister chuckling.
• Lady of War: Never loses her composure even in battle.
• Lethal Chef: While her cooking is excellent, in one Ambition Mode dialogue, she hears that her husband is sick, and prepares some tea for him; Sima Yi, however, states that he'd rather fake not being sick than drink her tea. ^note The trope could be a Stealth Pun on her historical maid killing, as she took over the poor girl's cooking duties, and impressed her husband.
• Ms. Fanservice: With the outfit that includes Navel-Deep Neckline and Sexy Backless Outfit, it's inevitable.
• Mukokuseki: Yet another example for the Jin Kingdom - Chunhua doesn't look remotely Chinese and sports Western facial features with brown hair. Moreso than Wang Yuanji if you can believe it. This is likely to show that Sima Yi and Zhao have similar preference in choosing their respective wives.
• Mum Looks Like a Sister: Given that she fights alongside her sons and doesn't look much older than them.
• Older Than She Looks: Just like her husband.
• Passing the Torch: In her ending in 9, she entrusts her daughter-in-law to take care and watch over her sons, knowing that she and her husband might not live long enough.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Her casual attire◊ has wearing her hair tied in a bun which shows that she's the dominating matriarch of the Sima clan. Of course, she lets her hair down when she goes into battle.
• Razor Floss: Inherited Sima Yi's weapon set from 6 as her own weapon in 8.
• Shared Family Quirks: While she Facepalms at her husband and son's Evil Laugh, she's Not So Above It All regarding the family's use of the word "imbecile."
• Statuesque Stunner: Is beautiful and at 170 cm, is one of the tallest female characters and is tall for an Asian woman.
• Supreme Chef:
  • As revealed in her ending in 9, her meat buns are very delicious which might have explained her eldest son and husband's obsession with it. In Guo Huai's ending, Sima Yi confesses that he would definitely miss her meat buns after she passed away.
  • Warriors Orochi 4 showed her renowned cooking skills where she helps Aya make meat buns and requests Yueying's help to build an instrument that can make the meat buns warm.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Through facial features, Word of God intentionally made her look more like Sima Zhao. Goes to show she's really indeed his mother.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Historically died 2 years before Sima Yi's coup on Cao Shuang, while in her late 50s. However in Guo Huai's ending in 9, it is mentioned that she passed away some time after the coup.
• Team Mom: A rather literal example, but she does fill the role, keeping everyone working together towards a common goal and convincing them when to quit.
• Tough Love: This seems to be her relationship with Zhao. She certainly doesn't hesitate to call him her "imbecile son". This may also double to her husband as she can easily convince him to sit down even if he doesn't want to.
• Tranquil Fury: She never becomes visibly angry, yet her entire family is terrified of her temper.
• Whip of Dominance: She was given a Urumi in 9, which fits with her bossy and domineering demeanor and her Tough Love dynamic with her family, especially her Henpecked Husband.
• Whip Sword: In 9 she can use an Urumi / Steel Whip-sword, which is a bladed whip.
• Why Are You Not My Son?: She prefers Wang Yuanji to be her daughter due to being more competent than her sons, most especially Sima Zhao.

Jia Chong

"You can rest easy now that I'm here."

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese), Matthew Mercer (English; 8), Josh George (English; 9), Xiao She (Chinese; 9)

Born: 217
Died: 282
Style Name: Gonglü
Japanese spelling: Ka Jū "Kōryo"
Height: 6'1" (185cm)
Weapon: Throwing axes (8), Shooting bladespears (9)

A Jin advisor who has served the Sima family since the days of Wei (his father Jia Kui was also a Wei official), Jia Chong continues to serve them all the way through the formation of Jin. As the Sima family's political officer, he is in charge of negotiations, alliances and the handling of prisoners. His deep, sincere loyalty to the Sima family contrasts starkly with his methods, both pragmatic and often cruel, but nonetheless he has an essential role in the eventual unification of all China. Historically, his daughter Jia Nanfeng was Sima Zhao's granddaughter-in-law, and Sima Zhong's (Emperor Hui's) first empress; Nanfeng's mother Guo Huai was a niece of the similarly-named Guo Huai. ^note Lady Guo was Jia's second wife; Nanfeng was born when Chong was about 40 years old. Lady Jia married Sima Zhong in 272CE, when she was about 15. Another daughter Jia Bao (mother was Lady Li Wan, Jia's first wife) was Sima Zhao's daughter-in-law as she married Sima You (who was made his uncle Sima Shi's heir, as Shi had no sons of his own).

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• Affably Evil: Zig-zagged with Faux Affably Evil. He's a genuinely dedicated, pragmatic advisor who understands that unifying a divided country cannot be done without shedding blood, and is polite to a fault. but he's also very willing to brutally execute enemy officers, and may have an apparent enjoyment of doing so.
• Anti-Villain: Jia Chong is quite ruthless, but he is a dedicated officer to the Sima family, and his advice and actions ultimately lead to the unification of China.
• Consummate Professional: Dead serious about his role; any decision or advice he gives is, when all's said and done, in Wei/Jin's best interests.
• Creepy Good: Good being relative, but close enough. In a cast full of pretty boys, bishōnens and bikini-clad women he stands out as the most creepy looking character in the entire roster. Despite this he's staunchly loyal to the Sima clan and Zhao in particular, going out of his way to do the dirty work in Zhao's stead.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: To complement both his creepiness and his untrustworthy air.
• Deadpan Snarker: Very frequently, particularly towards Sima Zhao and Zhuge Dan. Towards Zhao it's in a friendly manner, whereas he's condescending to Zhuge Dan (who fails to notice it).
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Eerily resembles a vampire. 9 darkened his complexion somewhat, though it's still rather pale.
• Enigmatic Minion: It's hard to look at him and not think that he's planning something shifty... and most of the time, he is.
• Evil Chancellor: Averted; Jia Chong is genuinely sincere in his support of the Sima family and Wei (and eventually Jin). His methods may be skewed, but his loyalty is unquestioned.
• Evil Wears Black: Unlike his fellow Jin officers, his outfit has more black than blue/cyan on it, and while he's not truly evil, he's evil enough.
• Goth: As close as someone from Ancient China can get to this, complete with a very modern jacket.
• The Extremist Was Right: For all of Jia Chong's ruthlessness, brutality and unfettered nature, his actions significantly contribute to the relative stabilization of Wei, its eventual conquest of Shu, and the establishment of Zhao as a relatively capable leader. It may not be pretty, but his actions result in the most peaceful point thus far in the Three Kingdoms era.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Due to Sima Zhao's Historical Hero Upgrade, some of historical Zhao's horrible traits are transferred to Jia Chong. Historically, he did not kill Cao Mao personally and instead had one of his subordinate officers do the dirty work for him, but also he had the subordinate did it as a case of I Did What I Had to Do; whereas the games depict this as "execute the foolish emperor". Also, his reputation was quite ruined to the point that when Jin conquered Wu, the former Wu emperor Sun Hao, of all people, brought up the topic to insult and shame him in front of the Jin Emperor (Sima Yan). ^note To be fair, it was Jia Chong who initially wanted to humiliate the recently-deposed Sun Hao in front of Sima Yan. As Jia was by that time in his early 60s and totally not acting like a respectable elder, Sun (who was more than two decades younger than Jia) decided to put the old man in his place. Also, there were the machinations of his daughter Nanfeng after his death, which contributed greatly to the civil war that was the War of the Eight Princes.
• The Kingslayer: He's the one who kills Emperor Cao Mao in 8 and no one ever calls him out for committing regicide. This is in contrast to history where he had the emperor killed by his subordinate instead of doing it personally. Yet, the public wanted him to be punished for emperor-slaying. While his subordinate was executed along with his family, Jia Chong was spared but his reputation is ruined.
• The Lancer: To Sima Zhao.
• Looks Like Cesare: He's not too disheveled, unlike most examples of the trope, but otherwise fits.
• Manipulative Bastard: In Jin's Story Mode for 8, he tries to influence Sima Zhao into a ruthless, cold-blooded ruler by forcing him to kill those who oppose him, although he always does the dirty work.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: The rare exception where the trope is not played for laughs. He's readily willing to have enemy officers executed instead of imprisoned as an example to enemies and would-be betrayers, and personally does the deed with the Wei Emperor and Zhuge Dan. His allies question his methodology and suggest lenient punishment, but the fact is that what his methods lack in "niceness", they make up in effectiveness.
• Necessarily Evil: Serves as the one person who does the dirty work the Jin leaders are not willing to do. While his actions work, they're damn ruthless. Exemplified by his lack of hesitation in having Guanqiu Jian executed, even when Sima Shi and Zhao were considering something lenient other than death. Chong reasons that the Simas must show they're more than willing to execute those who oppose them in their quest to rule, so that others will get the message.
• Obviously Evil: Subverted. Jia Chong certainly looks evil at first glance despite his sincere loyalty towards the Sima clan and Sima Zhao in particular.
• Odd Couple: With Sima Zhao. A bizarre friendship given their different personalities, but they respect and trust one another. The oddity increases with them becoming related by marriage, albeit after Zhao's death.
• Officer and a Gentleman: Supremely well-mannered and never loses his composure even when he has every right to.
• The Spock: Quite dislikes rash behavior and prefers meticulous strategy. Usually proven right, since the more emotional Zhao and Zhuge Dan often get into trouble for not following his advice.
• The Stoic: He regularly disparages outbursts of emotion as counterproductive.
• Strategy Versus Tactics: More of a political advisor than an outright strategist, and counsels his leaders on how to act outside the battlefield.
• The Strategist: More of a tactician than a strategist, but he's the closest thing to a strategist Jin has after Sima Yi passes leadership to Sima Shi. ^note Historically, he wasn't a good strategist, which can be seen when he opposed his emperor's decision to invade Wu in 279. This, when Jin held lands formerly under Wei and Shu and Wu was on the brink of collapse after 15 years of tyranny under Sun Hao. Unsurprisngly, after the invasion was successful and without any major hiccups, many people thought Jia to be a fool.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: At 6'1", he's relatively tall when compared to most of the cast, and good looking, though in an eerie, mysterious sort of way.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: See Deadpan Snarker above.
• The Unfettered: To the point where Sima Shi, who is himself pragmatic to a fault, is intimidated at how ruthless Jia Chong can be.
• Token Evil Teammate: Sima Yi and Shi may be pragmatic to a fault, but they have ultimately noble intentions. Jia Chong, however, intimidates even Shi with his extreme ruthlessness.
  • This looks even more prominent when you realize who he will be a father of historically: Jia Nanfeng, the woman who instigated the War of the Eight Princes after Sima Yan passed away. (She also appears in Shin Sangoku Musou: Blast, looking extremely evil.) No wonder Jia Chong needs to have the 'evil' personality for Nanfeng to eventually inherit and abuse. ^note Historically, besides regicide, Jia also slandered fellow official Ren Kai; Ren was eventually dismissed from service. Two years after Jia's death in 282, Ren died of depression; in 283, Wei Shu, an official whom Ren had recommended to the Jin court, received a promotion. Even fellow officials felt pity for Ren, whom as a referee is now of a lower rank than the person he recommended.
• Toxic Friend Influence: An unusually sympathetic example. His role is to do Sima Zhao's dirty work so Zhao doesn't have to, and to push Zhao to be the type of harsh ruler needed to end the chaos.
• Trademark Favorite Food: According to a soldier, he apparently likes to drink freshly squeezed fruit juice in the morning. It's a pun on his name's Japanese pronunciation that is, of course, Lost in Translation.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: His rationale for his underhanded actions. He's convinced that to make an omelet, or in this case build a kingdom, you have to break some eggs.
• Vocal Dissonance: His Japanese, Chinese and original English dub voices has a smooth and suave tone which denotes his mysterious demeanor. His English dub voice in 9 added a rasp which tries to portray him as a "suspicious evil fellow".
• Weapon Specialization: He wields two throwing axes, which contrasts somewhat with his appearance. In 9, he uses the two shooting spears.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His manipulations are for the most part done to shape Sima Zhao into a competent ruler and make Wei a powerful kingdom. He once expressed the importance of saving Guo Huai because Wei needs him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Generally less of a fan than one would think, since he prefers to "stockpile resources," though after Liu Shan convinces Jiang Wei to surrender to the Wei forces and assist in putting down Zhong Hui's rebellion in 8: XL, Jia Chong immediately lets out an evil laugh and gloats about arranging to execute him in a few days.

Wen Yang

"I live for the thrill of battle."

Voiced by: Yuki Ono (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English; 8), David Jonas (English; 9), Jin Li (Chinese; 9)

Born: 238
Died: 291
Real Name: Wen Chu (Yang is his childhood name)
Style Name: Ciqian
Japanese spelling: Bun Ō "Jiken"
Height: 6'6" (198cm)
Weapon: Javelin (8), Longtou dazhadao (9)

Son of Wei general Wen Qin and often compared with Zhao Yun, Wen Yang (also known as Wen Chu) ^note "Yang" is his name when he was young; as an adult, his name was "Chu". participates in Guanqiu Jian's rebellion and had a part in causing Sima Shi's death. When Zhuge Dan rebelled and subsequently tried to put Wen Qin to death, Wen Yang was outraged and defected to Jin, becoming one of its greatest generals.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: An unusual example, given that the trope is expressed through his name (the other character in DW that is addressed using their childhood name is Liu Shan at Changban in 9 who is referred to as Adou, but that's because he was an infant at the time). He's also this trope on a meta level. ^note  He's so young that Chen Shou, the historian who compiled Records of the Three Kingdoms, was five years his senior. Sima Yan, Yi's grandson and first Jin emperor, was two years his senior. Along with Jia Chong, he's also one of only 2 playable characters to actually live to see the land united again.
• Cool Helmet: Which covers most of his head, especially his hair.
• End of an Era: His victory comment upon defeating an enemy officer ("Are there no heroes left in this land?") bemoans how, by his time, all the great heroes are going away. And, examining the in-game timeline, one can notice that he outlives every playable character in the game. He is the only playable character who served Emperor Hui (a.k.a. Sima Zhong, Sima Yan's developmentally disabled son) and witnessed the early stage of the War of the Eight Princes where he is falsely accused of high treason and he and his clan were executed^note Sima Yao, who is Zhuge Dan's grandson, bears a grudge on Wen Yang for being one of the figures responsible for his grandfather's downfall and falsely accuses him for conspiring with the ousted regent, Yang Jun, who is the father of Empress Yang Zhi, Sima Yan's second wife who never gets along with her daughter-in-law, Empress Jia Nanfeng, a daughter of Jia Chong.
• Guide Dang It!: Prior to the release of Patch 1.04, unlocking him in 9 is a complicated process as he's only playable in the last chapter of the game. Most players use Sima Zhao, Wang Yuanji, Jia Chong, Guan Yinping, Liu Shan, Xingcai or Jiang Wei to complete the last chapter but they were unable to unlock him. The only way to unlock him is to play as Deng Ai or Zhong Hui where after defeating Zhuge Dan in Chapter 12, Wen Yang would join Sima Zhao. But it doesn't guarantee that he's unlocked yet. Before the end of the chapter, Sima Zhao splits his force into two where he, Yuanji and Jia Chong would face Emperor Cao Mao while he orders Deng Ai, Zhong Hui and Wen Yang to confront Jiang Wei. Completing the battle against Jiang Wei would unlock Wen Yang.
• Hero-Worshipper:
  • Just max his bond with him as a male character in Conquest mode, he will see you as someone he respects and his goal.
  • He also seems to view Zhao Yun as his predecessor. If the player chooses Zhao Yun to fight him in Conquest mode, he will express his admiration to be able to duel with his idol.
• Heel–Face Turn: Once his father finally bites the dust, Wen Yang moves joins the Sima faction, where he finds himself much happier.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • He doesn't like underhanded tactics, and this isn't played for stupidity. When his father insists on making him a hidden "ace in the hole" during his rebellion while his allies fall here and there—and the reason he's keeping Yang back is that he's intentionally drawing the battle out so the Wu and Wei forces can completely efface each other and leave everything to the Wen—this disgusts Wen Yang so much that he defects, one of the prerequisites of the hypothetical route.
  • Oddly enough, to complete the hypothetical conditions to recruit him earlier, you have to ascribe to this: The stage where he's in has a mission wherein you use a pincer attack against the enemy to open the castle. In order to get the hypothetical condition, you have to ignore it and go Leeroy Jenkins, leaving Wen Yang and his dad one of the last three officers in the field.
• I Am X, Son of Y: "I am Wen Yang, son of Wen Qin."
• Javelin Thrower: His main weapon is the javelin. He usually throws it with charge attacks.
• Knight in Shining Armor: He seems to be designed this way.
• Reincarnation: His strong sense of justice and his unmatched combat skill leads several people to believe he may be Zhao Yun reborn.
• Sibling Team: With Wen Hu.
• Super-Persistent Predator: While officers temporarily withdrawing and returning later in the fight is nothing new, Wen Yang manages this at least 3 times in 2 consecutive missions in Jin's 8 Story Mode.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: At 6'6" tall, he towers over everyone else in Jin besides Deng Ai. Unlike Deng Ai, however, he's a full-on Bishōnen.
• Token Good Teammate: Of sorts, although he really has very little appearance in cutscenes. Word of God also states that he is made to be the "heroic figure" of Jin.
• White Sheep: His family has a history of cowardice and betrayal, but Wen Yang is a man of honor and valor. On the hypothetical route, he talks his brother into defecting too.

Debuting in Dynasty Warriors 9

Xin Xianying

"We live in such dark times. I hope to be the bringer of light."

Voiced by: Shino Shimoji (Japanese), Meghan Lewis (English), Yue Ye Qiao (Chinese)

Born: 191
Died: 269
Japanese spelling: Shin Ken'ei
Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Weapon: Ji

Xin Xianying ^note Xianying was her style name; her name has been lost to history is the daughter of Xin Pi, an adviser of Yuan Shao. Eventually, Xianying followed her father as he joined Cao Cao. An intelligent woman, she was quite keen in politics. She has a knack to make comments that were taken in by her father and influenced the course of battle, one of such which prevented Sima Yi to make a reckless charge in response of Zhuge Liang's taunt during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains, the latter ended up dying one month later. Xianying survived through the era of Jin and like Wang Yuanji, she can sense that Zhong Hui is plotting to rebel against Sima Zhao. Historically, she married Yang Dan, an official of Cao Wei; her great-granddaughter Yang Xianrong was Emperor Hui's second empress, after Jia Nanfeng's death.

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• Brainy Brunette: She spends her childhood reading and studying, which was rare for girls during that time period. Many historians praised her for her extraordinary wisdom.
• Catchphrase: Exclusively in the Japanese, she tends to add a pun of her own name in her self-introduction or sorts, "Shin Ken'ei, shinken (...)", due to her Japanese name sounding like the sentence. This translates to "Xin Xianying, (doing something) seriously.", so it's not carried over in the English translation.
• Cool Aunt: She's actually the cool aunt of one of Jin's latter top generals Yang Hu (Xianying's husband Yang Dan's nephew, and also Sima Shi's brother-in-law via Shi's third wife Yang Huiyu.^note Interestingly, both are also Cai Wenji's maternal nephew and niece since their mother is Cai Wenji's sister. Through Yang Hu, Xianying is also related by marriage to Xiahou Ba, as Yang married a daughter of Ba's.), who was quite protective of her and his actions amused her. Due to Yang Hu being a generic at the time of her debut, it also makes Xianying look more like his sister.
• Daddy's Girl: She clearly loves her father, considering he's the one who let her read, and historically confides in her court matters/ issues. In her ending, she's devastated when he died. ^note Historically, Xianying was at least 44 years old when Xin Pi passed away; Pi was known to be still alive in 235 CE.
• Everyone Is Related: Besides the connections listed under the Cool Aunt entry, Xianying has another connection to Xiahou Yuan, which is more direct. Said connection also meant that Xianying is also related to Eastern Jin royalty, both politically and culturally. ^note Her daughter Lady Yang married Xiahou Zhuang, one of Yuan's grandsons. Zhuang's son Zhan later wrote a biography on his maternal grandmother, which was used by Pei Songzhi in his Annotations as additional material for Xin Pi's biography (Xianying only received her own biography in the Book of Jin). Zhuang's daughter Guangji was Sima Rui's mother; Rui later became the first emperor of the Eastern Jin. Another of Zhuang's daughters was the grandmother of Wang Xizhi, a master of Chinese calligraphy.
• Demoted to Extra: She appears in the Battle of Chibi and yet, her story ends in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. Despite being a Jin character, she never plays any role during the Jin storyline. She does appear in the battles after Wuzhang Plains but she's merely on the background. ^note The omission was probably a nod to her age; by the time Wei invaded Shu in 263, she was in her early 70s.
• Genius Bruiser: A woman who's more known for intelligence and political sense, yet she is a capable warrior on the battlefield as well.
• Girly Bruiser: In addition of being able to swing a long, big axe enough to rupture the ground, she's not a tomboy, having girly and intellectual interests.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Historically, she was just a daughter of an official who occasionally gave advice, and never held a position of her own or engaged in battle. Here, she's just as capable a warrior as any other character.
• Idiot Hair: Yes, she has one on top of head. And no, she's not an idiot.
• Long-Lived: Born during the Allied campaign against Dong Zhuo, participated in the Battle of Chibi, and lived to see the collapse of the Han, the creation of all Three Kingdoms, Wei's conquest of Shu (and Zhong Hui's subsequent rebellion) and the establishment of the Jin Dynasty. ^note Incredibly, if records are accurate, Xianying gave birth to her son Yang Xiu (not the son of Yang Biao who has a similar sounding name) at the age of 45. She passes away at the age of 78, making her the longest-lived playable character in the entire series (at least for those whose birth and death dates are both known), beating out Jia Xu by a year.
• Older Than She Looks: Despite her youthful appearance, she's actually older than nearly the entire Jin roster (barring only Sima Yi, Guo Huai, and Zhang Chunhua)
• Perpetual Smiler: Word of God says she was designed with "sunny cheerfulness" in mind, hence her constant smile.
• Statuesque Stunner: Is beautiful and at 170 cm, is one of the tallest female characters and is tall for an Asian woman. What’s interesting is that she shares the same height with another woman, Zhang Chunhua, and they aren’t related, like Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao.
• Waif-Fu: She flips around and swinging an axe about as big as Xu Huang's while possessing a petite body.
• Women Are Wiser: Given the time period, she was wise enough for her family to listen to her advice. Her advice regarding the Battle of Wuzhang Plains also prevented unnecessary casualties on the Wei forces and led to an inconclusive result after Zhuge Liang died of illness.

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