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Dynasty Warriors: Originshas a very large cast of characters, and one of the most influential personalities in the story appears only very late in the game. Zhuge Liang, the so-called “Sleeping Dragon,” helps transform Liu Bei from an idealistic hero into a rising king capable of shaping China’s future.
For all his brilliance, Zhuge Liang remains a fairly mysterious figure, and there’s always a sense that he knows more than he’s letting on. Here, we’ll explore Zhuge Liang’s role in Dynasty Warriors: Origins and how it relates to the real person from history.
Zhuge Liang In Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Zhuge Liang’s Background
Ziluan has a few brief meetings with Zhuge Liang midway through the game, butuntil midway through Chapter Fourhe lives a life of solitude on his farm in Jing Province. Prior to that, he was apupil of Sima Hui at the Shui Jing Retreat, alongside Xu Shu and Pang Tong.
Both Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong were considered Sima Hui’smost brilliant students, and their mastery of strategy, deception, and diplomacy could potentially alter the course of history. They became known as the Sleeping Dragon and the Fledgling Phoenix, respectively. Since neither wanted to steer China down the wrong path, each chose instead toremain neutral in the ongoing warsas the Han Dynasty collapsed around them.
Pang Tong stayed at the Shui Jing Retreat, performing administrative duties and helping impressive young talents network. Zhuge Liangmarried Yueying and went into seclusion.
Why Does Zhuge Liang Join Liu Bei?
Xu Shu, who is much humbler than Pang Tong or Zhuge Liang, joins Liu Bei’s army because he deeply believes in the hero’s cause, but isquickly blackmailed into switching to Cao Cao’s side instead. Xu Shu tries to help Liu Bei wherever he can without being caught, andrecommends that Liu Bei seek out Zhuge Liangfor guidance in planning his war strategy.
Liu Bei personally travels to Zhuge Liang’s home,but is turned away twice.At Xu Shu’s insistence, he visits a third time, and Zhuge Liang agrees to hear him out.
Zhuge Liang is impressed by Liu Bei’s vision of a peaceful realm and his determination to make it happen, and agrees to help. Turning Liu Bei away was part of Zhuge Liang’s test, to prove that Liu Bei was willing to keep taking the long mountain road to seek his help.
Zhuge Liang’s Personality
Zhuge Liang is a charismatic but soft-spoken man, andcompletely certain of his extraordinary abilities. This causes some characters - particularly Zhang Fei - to see him as arrogant, buthis uncanny foresight means he’s always right.
Zhuge Liang is a genius - possibly the most brilliant person alive in the world of the game - and he knows it. He sees his intelligence as a responsibility, knowing that whichever faction he joins will likely come to rule all of China. In the end, his decision to join Liu Bei is only partially because he believes in Liu Bei’s ideas; ultimately, his goal is to enact the Longzhong Plan, engineering the beginning of the Three Kingdoms Period.
What Is The Longzhong Plan?
Zhuge Liang’s ultimate goal is to carry out what he callsThe Longzhong Plan.By the time he joins Liu Bei, Cao Cao has gained enough power that his absolute control over the realm is assuredif he can subjugate Wu.The Sun Clan, who rules Wu, is an underdog in that fight, but if they win and drive back Cao Cao, then the war will simply become a stalemate.
Zhuge Liang’s plan, therefore, is tointroduce a third factioncapable of weakening both Wei and Wu; Liu Bei, whose virtue and charisma have earned him the love of the people, is a perfect candidate. The ensuing three-way conflict will be bitter, but Zhuge Liang believes that he can lead Liu Bei’s rising kingdom to ultimate victory and a lasting peace.
The Battle Of Chibi
Thesuccess of the Longzhong Plan rides onstopping Cao Cao from crossing the Yangtze River at Chibi. Zhuge Liang arranges an alliance between Liu Bei’s army and the Sun Clan, and develops an intricate battle plan to blunt Cao Cao’s overwhelming advantage in numbers.
Through cunning espionage, disciplined fighting, and risky tactics, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are able to rout Cao Cao’s army and pursue the defeated warlord along Huarong Pass. There,the final piece of Zhuge Liang’s plan falls into place;at Zhuge Liang’s suggestion, Liu Bei sends Guan Yu to cut off Cao Cao’s escape.
Guan Yu, who was briefly captured and pressed into service by Cao Cao years before,lets Cao Cao liveas a way of repaying his debt for the kindness the warlord showed him during that time. Zhuge Liang anticipated this; any other warrior who captured Cao Cao would have killed him on the spot. With Cao Cao living to fight another day, there is a check to the Wu Kingdom’s growth, allowing room for Liu Bei’s Shu Kingdom to also begin its rise.
This means thatLiu Bei’s storyline is the canon route.
Was Zhuge Liang A Real Person?
Zhuge Liang, like most of the characters in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, isbased on a real person from history.In fact, many of the anecdotes about Zhuge Liang in the game aretaken from the Records Of The Three Kingdoms, including:
The Records also indicate thatZhuge Liang was about six feet talland extremely good-looking. One thing that Dynasty Warriors: Origins doesn’t note about Zhuge Liang isthat he’s very young compared to the other characters.Born in 181 CE, he’sactually a child during the early chapters.When Liu Bei visits him (believed to be around 207), he’s about 26, making himonly a year older than Sun Quan, the youngest character in the game.
For comparison, Liu Bei is 46 at the time of the three visits.
Zhuge Liang would go on to be a key part of Liu Bei’s Shu Kingdom, serving as its Chancellor and ruling as regent after Liu Bei’s death in 223 CE.
Fictional Stories Of Zhuge Liang In The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms
During the Battle Of Chibi mission, Zhuge Liang laments thathistory will remember him as a trickster rather than a tactician.The stories around him, which almost certainly area blend of legend and fact, all showcase his talent for trickery.
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
At that same battle, for example, the Coalitionfires huge volleys of arrows to halt Cao Cao’s advance.There is a famous story that Zhuge Liang"borrowed" one hundred thousand arrowsfrom Cao Cao’s army by sailing boats full of straw dummies across the river on a foggy morning, to make it look like an attack and trick the enemy archers into firing at them, butthis story only appears in the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, published over a thousand years after the fact.
The Empty Fort
Another famous Zhuge Liang story that wouldn’t be in in the game since it takes placeafter the final battleis the “siege” of Xicheng. Zhuge Liang saw that his rival Sima Yi’s army was approaching, and he had no troops with which to defend the city. So, he simplyopened the gates and greeted Sima Yi, telling him the truth; that he could just walk in and take Xicheng. Sima Yi, who of course knew Zhuge Liang’s reputation for deceptive tactics,believed this was a trapand withdrew.
While this so-calledEmpty Fort Strategyis used by Cao Cao in the Records Of The Three Kingdoms, there is no historical indication this particular encounter between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, detailed in the Romance, ever actually happened.
