Every Major Character’s Age, Height, And History In Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Like any adaptation of the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors: Origins has a massive cast of characters. These larger-than-life warlords and their vassals, with their shifting loyalties and deeply-held beliefs, all believe that they’ll come out on the right side of history when the dust settles.

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While Origins does a better job than previous games of introducing the major players in a digestible way, there are still a lot of names to learn. Here are the twelve most important characters in the story, besides the Wanderer himself, and some useful information to know about them.

8

Zhang Jiao

Leader Of The Yellow Turban Rebellion

Zhang Jiao was a doctor and mystic who spent his life curing diseases with a blend of medicine and spiritualism. He rose to popularity in the 170s espousing his “Way of Great Peace” and performing ritual healings, gaining status as a cult leader.

In 184 CE, Zhang Jiao encouraged his followers, wearing yellow turbans as a uniform, to rebel against the Han Dynasty and fight against oppressive taxes and tyranny. In the game, Zhang Jiao is portrayed as noble but misguided, while the historical Zhang Jiao was likely no better than the warlords he fought against; he peddled charms and medicines to his own soldiers before battles, insisting they would protect them from blades and arrows.

The Yellow Turbans were defeated before the end of the year, but unlike his brothers, Zhang Jiao was not captured. He died – ironically – of illness shortly after his army’s decisive defeat.

7

Guan Yu

The Giant With The Peerless Beard

Guan Yu is one of Liu Bei’s sworn brothers, and considered one of the mightiest warriors in the history of China. The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms describes him as standing at an enormous nine chi tall; while the exact measurements might have varied, that puts Guan Yu at seven feet tall!

While his height was probably exaggerated, two things are certain about this legendary man; he was a fearless fighter, and his beard was the envy of all. One of the few actual historical records we have about his appearance describes his beard as “peerless,” and the Romance claims that it was two chi (about a foot and a half) long.

Both historically and in the game, Guan Yu is an honorable and heroic figure, fiercely loyal to Liu Bei. Historically, he met his end when he was captured by the Kingdom of Wu. Although Sun Quan had misgivings about executing such a noble man, he pragmatically beheaded Guan Yu and sent the head to Cao Cao, who arranged a worthy funeral.

6

Dong Zhuo

The Tyrant Of Luoyang

Dong Zhuo is usually an antagonist in retellings of the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, and Dynasty Warriors: Origins is no different. The game portrays him as a brutish, cunning man who believes that only the strong deserve to survive. He applies that philosophy to himself as well, and accepts defeat on the rare occasions when he suffers it.

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In both the game and history, Dong Zhuo was called upon to overthrow the Ten Attendants who had taken control of the Imperial capital at Luoyang. His army arrived late, and was able to capture the fleeing Attendants and take the Emperor into his protection. In the game, this was a calculated play for the throne by Dong Zhuo; in the real world, he probably just got incredibly lucky and took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to seize power.

Dong Zhuo proved to be a sadistically cruel ruler, prompting a coalition of nobles to try and overthrow him. When that failed, Minister of the Interior Wang Yun orchestrated his assassination by one of Dong’s own vassals, the mighty Lu Bu.

5

Yuan Shao

Commander Of The Coalition

In the first half of the game, Yuan Shao is China’s most respected military commander, and Cao Cao personally asks him to lead the Coalition against Dong Zhuo. As a member of a powerful noble family, Shao is used to being treated with deference, and his arrogance ultimately leads to conflict with the other warlords.

Historically, Yuan Shao was looked down on by his half-brother, Yuan Shu, for being born from their father’s affair with a servant. Nevertheless, Shao was older and the favorite son, and the two were rivals for their entire lives. The family tradition of sibling squabbles would continue when Shao himself died of illness while at war with Cao Cao in 202, leaving his own three sons to argue over his estate.

4

Lu Bu

The Flying Warrior

Lu Bu is the most feared character in all of Dynasty Warriors. In every game, he’s an unstoppable force of nature until you’ve leveled up enough that you can return to past battles and stand against him. While he can’t have been the supernatural terror the game portrays him as in real life, he was still respected as one of China’s fiercest fighters, and his horse Red Hare was considered one of the finest steeds alive.

In both Dynasty Warriors and history, Lu Bu served many lords. He famously murdered Dong Zhuo, ending his tyrannical reign. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the game suggest that Diaochan (a fictional character) seduced him into doing so, and it’s possible that Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo’s many disagreements may have partially been over a woman, but the pair are known to have gotten into fights frequently once Dong Zhuo took power. It’s likely that one would have killed the other eventually, no matter what.

Lu Bu’s habit of switching sides to support the most powerful faction throughout the 190s finally caught up to him in 199; he was captured when Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shu at Xiapi, and put to death on the spot.

3

Sun Quan

The Victor At Red Cliffs

The second son of Sun Jian, Quan is one of the youngest characters in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Although he is a capable fighter as expected of a noble of Wu, his real strengths lie in diplomacy and administration. Since he isn’t a frontline commander like his father and elder brother, he is filled with doubt about his legacy and his place in the kingdom.

Historically, Quan took the throne of Wu at the age of eighteen after the death of his brother Sun Ce in 200. As he grew into his reign, Quan was able to avenge his father’s death in 207 by defeating and killing Huang Zu, and would go on to stop Cao Cao’s advance south at the decisive Battle of the Red Cliffs two years later.

Sun Quan would outlive both Cao Cao and Liu Bei by decades, ruling with the title Emperor of Easter Wu well into the Three Kingdoms Period.

2

Liu Bei

The Protector Of The People

Liu Bei is usually framed as the hero of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and that tradition continues in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. He and his companions always strive to help those in need, even putting themselves in great danger to do so. The real Liu Bei was respected by the nobility and loved by the people, and at least publicly carried himself with virtue.

The game downplays Liu Bei’s status as a noble, probably to make him feel more like a folk hero, but he was actually a distant relative of a former Emperor. He didn’t have any land or titles at the start of his career despite that, but his service during the Yellow Turban Rebellion and his inheritance of Tao Qian’s estate gave him the resources to start building his own kingdom. His alliances and ability to gather the brightest minds in China around himself helped him to establish the Shu Kingdom to counter the growing powers of Wu and Wei… but that’s a story for a later game.

Liu Bei would eventually go to war with Sun Quan to avenge the death of his oath-brother Guan Yu. During this war, Liu Bei saw an omen in the sky and shortly thereafter fell ill and died. He asked Zhuge Liang to look after his young son and rule Shu as regent.

1

Cao Cao

The Lord Of Wei

Cao Cao is the most prominent figure of the Three Kingdoms, in the Romance, Dynasty Warriors, and in history. After organizing the armies that defeated both the Yellow Turbans and Dong Zhuo, he held enough power and prestige to challenge the long-standing nobles of the Han Dynasty and gain control over the Emperor. His political and military power led to him being appointed Imperial Chancellor – effectively the ruler of China – but he met with resistance from other rising factions. His Kingdom of Wei would go to war with Wu and Shu; hence, the Three Kingdoms Period.

Both the in-game Cao Cao and his real-life counterpart are cunning and ruthless, though Dynasty Warriors: Origins portrays him as a benevolent dictator in the making rather than an unpredictable tyrant. His seemingly unstoppable subjugation of all opposing warlords was stymied at the Battle of the Red Cliffs in 209, and he spent the last decade of his life fighting wars against the victorious Wu and Shu Kingdoms. He died in 220, and his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to step down, ending the Han Dynasty for good and formally establishing the Wei Kingdom.

Systems

Released

January 17, 2025

Developer(s)

Omega Force

ESRB

Teen // Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

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