| Lu Bu | |
| |
| Character information | |
|---|---|
| Force(s): | Dong Zhuo Forces Yuan Shao Forces Liu Bei Forces Lu Bu Forces |
| Weapon : | Halberd |
| Advanced + : | Berserk |
| Historical information | |
| Real name: | Lü Bu |
| Chinese name: | 呂布 - 吕布 |
| Style name: | Fèngxiān |
| Chinese name: | 奉先 |
| Born: | ? |
| Died: | February 7, 199 |
Lu Bu first appears in Dynasty Warriors and continues to appear in every title of the series. He is one of the icon characters in the series as he is usually known for having the highest statistics in the games (bar Zuo Ci in the fifth installment) and a vastly superior move set. He's difficult to kill in the Dynasty Warriors series —alluding to his reputation as an unmatched and highly skilled warrior- and is always seen riding Red Hare. The exclamation "It's... It's Lu Bu!" is fondly remembered by fans.He sometimes shares the spotlight with the series's other iconic character, Zhao Yun.
In the Dynasty Warriors series, he is 29 years old and his height is 208 cm (close to 6'10").
General Information
While serving Lu Bu you will gain
Military + 10
Attack + 7
Personality
Lu Bu is typically depicted as an extremely aggressive, brutish, and bloodthirsty warrior who fights for the sole purpose of finding an opponent worthy of challenge. He believes himself to be the "Mightiest Man Alive", and believes that the only true justice in the world is not found in any court, but when one fights for one's life on the battlefield, where the strong survive and the weak are crushed. More of a man of action than talk, he disregards strategy and politics as a waste of his time. Despite his repeated betrayals, Lu Bu is a rather honest man, having little faith or respect in politicians, bureaucrats, and those who use deceptive words to gain power and hide like cowards behind the law for their own protection. For this same reason, Lu Bu despises sycophants and suck ups and was resentful of having to be a lackey of Dong Zhuo.
Lu Bu considers Dong Zhuo an arrogant pig and repulsive coward who is undeserving of his wealth and status, and only joined him because the pay was obscenely substantial. His resentment is even further inflamed when the greedy tyrant takes the beautiful Diao Chan for his own. The closest thing he has to a friend in the series is Zhang Liao. He treats him with with more respect than his other soldiers in his army and has never berated him for any of his actions, even when Zhang Liao once insisted that he join Lu Bu in a battle when he wanted to fight alone.
If Lu Bu has any weakness, it’s women. When he first met Diao Chan, he was left speechless by her beauty, and her kind words, her encouragements, and her gentle nature quickly endeared her to him. Throughout Diao Chan's campaign, his motive is to create a world where Diao Chan can be happy, and worries about her getting hurt on the battlefield. He displays this same protectiveness towards his daughter in Dynasty Tactics 2.
Character Symbolism
Lu Bu's name in Chinese is used to refer to an incoming thunder storm. His style name, Fengxian, when broken into separate characters means "Immortal Phoenix".
Lu Bu's iconic weapon in Three Kingdoms media is the Fangtian Huaji or Houtenkageki, commonly translated as "Heavenly Halberd" or "Sky Piercer". It was a weapon used by Lu Bu within Romance of the Three Kingdoms and is represented as his third weapon in the Dynasty Warriors series. His Standard cross spears in Dynasty Warriors 6 are also named after his iconic weapon, in spite of it not resembling the common perception of the armament. Though many of the weapons in the novel date from the Song or Ming Dynasty, Lu Bu's weapon is thought to have not truly existed - though the Book of Tang claims an incident where a weapon like it was seen. A common postulation for his weapon's origins is the fatianji, a weapon of the Northern Song Dynasty that is a type of ji. Attached to one end of the weapon was a type of bladed tip shaped in the form of a crescent. Lu Bu's version reportedly improves the weapon's slashing and stabbing power by increasing the number of crescent blades or sharp edges. Its length, weight, and other characteristics are not clearly known, though the weapon is said to require great skill to master and wield. As a side note, the other famous user of the same polearm would be found in the Water Margin; within the tale, the character in question, Lu Fang, resembles and admires Lu Bu.
The original name to Lu Bu's Level 11 weapon and Strength weapon may be literally translated as "Demon God". It is thought these spectres are vengeful in nature, hardly a speck of mercy left within them. They are supernatural beings who look half man, half demonic or beast-like. There are many myths of these spirits, but a common element shared with them is that they died an unclean death and continue to haunt the mortal realm due to an improper burial. With the introduction of Buddhism, their nature morphed to instead be man-eating entities capable of monstrous power. Calling someone by this name isn't necessarily a compliment, but it is a fearful and weary type of recognition for the addressee's might.
His fourth weapon may literally translate to "Peerless One Under Heaven", which has a character pattern and meaning similar to the four character idiom, "Guoshi Wushuang" (国士无双) or "Kokushi Musou" (国士無双). The phrase is used for a person of superior skill who has no equal or better throughout the land. Historically, these same words were uttered by Xiao He to his lord Liu Bang. Liu Bang was questioning Xiao He's judgment in granting him a single runaway, Han Xin, from thousands of other fleeing candidates. Xiao He responded by greatly commending Han Xin's talents and specifically used the phrase to emphasize the general's strengths. His lord was convinced and Han Xin was admitted into Liu Bang's services.
"Flying General", Lu Bu's historical nickname, is the original name of his Skill weapon. The name has its origins trace back specifically to Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Li Guang was exceptional with archery and polearm weapons, striking fear into the Xiongnu tribes with his prowess. Since Lu Bu was said to have had shared the same formidable traits, Chen Shou wrote the nickname down for him. Whether he was feared in battle like Li Guang is hard to say, but Lu Bu did hold a reputation of being powerful.
Historical Information
Lu Bu was a military general and minor warlord during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. According to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Bu was a master in horse riding, archery, and armed combat, and was thus known as the Flying General. His image as a handsome and mighty warrior wielding a ji (halberd) on top of his steed Red Hare was later popularized by the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Besides being matchless on the battlefield, Lu Bu was also notorious for having betrayed his guardians, Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan. However, in actuality, he was not the adoptive son of Ding Yuan. Contrary to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, Lu Bu did not face the Three Sworn Brothers all at once in the Battle of Hulao Pass.
Lu Bu did not betray Dong Zhuo because of Diao Chan . Dong Zhuo once threw a halberd at Lu Bu and often got angry at him. Lu Bu also had an affair with one of his master's maids, which made him anxious. Wang Yun eventually incited Lu Bu to betray him.
Lu Bu was eventually defeated and captured by Cao Cao in the city of Xiapi and hanged afterwards at Liu Bei's suggestion. Having little trust in the capricious character, Cao Cao had Lu Bu strangled despite his pledge of service.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
With a stroke of his sword Lu Bu cut down his master and father's head, which he brought to Dong Zhuo the next morning. Lu Bu then took Dong Zhuo as his new adoptive father, who was overjoyed and showered his newly adopted son with more gifts. The constant presence of Lu Bu at his side deterred future assassins. For his personal safety, Dong Zhuo relied heavily on Lu Bu, who had by then been promoted to Knight General. The son would be seen beside the father almost all the time. Lu Bu would serve as the vanguard of the army to supress the rebellion called by Cao Cao. He personally held off the coalition at the Battle of Hulao Pass, even fighting a mounted duel against Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei before having to retreat.Lu Bu was said to be a master of all of the martial arts, a crack shot with the bow, and a peerless rider. His most major flaws were his impatience and his temper, and he preferred action to talk and diplomacy, and made a rather poor general and politician. The adopted son of Ding Yuan, he led the army that his stepfather brought to oppose the usurping Dong Zhuo. Before the negotiations even ended, Lu Bu got impatient and with a yell he charged alone into Dong Zhuo's front line, causing the panicked infantry to flee. The fat tyrant realized that he would never defeat Ding Yuan so long as Lu Bu served him. Li Su, a general under Dong Zhuo and a fellow villager of Lu Bu, then volunteered to persuade the formidable warrior to defect. Bringing along a famous steed named the Red Hare, a thousand taels of gold, dozens of pearls and a jade belt (which would amount to a $1,000,000 bribe in today's market), Li Su came to see Lu Bu, who was encamped outside the city. It did not take much persuasion to convince Lu Bu to betray his master, who felt that his career was going nowhere under Ding Yuan. That very night, Lu Bu carried a sword into the tent of Ding Yuan, who was reading under the candlelight. Ding Yuan questioned him as to why he was holding the sword. Quickly sensing that Lu Bu had switched sides, Ding Yuan tried to escape but was unsuccessful.
Battle with Three Heroes at Hulao Pass
Since he placed the puppet Emperor Xian in the throne, Dong Zhuo's tyrannical and cruel ways had angered many warlords around the country. The warlords formed a coalition under Yuan Shao in 190 and came for Dong Zhuo in the capital Luoyang to vanquish him.
However, they were stopped at Hulao Pass, 50 li from Luoyang. Riding forth on his Red Hare, his halberd in hand, dressed in the finest silver armor and wearing a twin pheasent-tail headpiece, Lu Bu taunted for challengers to duel him. Every warrior who came within range of his halberd were either maimed horribly or met a swift, bloody death. Amid the chaotic screams of panic and death, Lu Bu heard a loud, bass voice call him a "bastard slave with three last names". Wielding his Eight-Zhang Serpent Spear, Zhang Fei shouted the insult at Lu Bu to get his attention and galloped out to fight him. Zhang Fei was said to have wielded the strength of a hundred men in battle, but he struggled against Lu Bu for more than fifty bouts, either side unable to gain an advantage. Then Guan Yu , brandishing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, dashed out to assist his brother. The [[Peach Garden Oath|three fighters] were engaged in another thirty bouts, but still Lu Bu held his ground. Then Liu Bei, holding up his Dual Swords, also joined the battle.
Like a merry-go-round, the three brothers galloped in a circle caging Lu Bu inside, who finally began to tire. Whenever Lu Bu tried to attack one, the other two would ride in and attack his exposed flanks forcing him back on the defensive, and soon he became exhausted. Unable to face the combined efforts of his three opponents at once, Lu Bu then made a feign at Liu Bei, whose martial ability he determined was the least of the three, and retreated through the resulting gap back to the pass gate. The Trio chased after Lu Bu but due to the speed of Red Hare, his horse, they could not keep up with him. However they abandoned the chase after they spotted Dong Zhuo and then pursued him unsuccessfully.
Romance with Diao chan and Slaying Dong Zhuo
Inviting Lu Bu over one night, Wang Yun asked Diao Chan to serve wine to the guest. Lu Bu was immediately left speechless by the girl's beauty. Well aware of this, Wang Yun then promised to marry Diao Chan to the mighty warrior.After Dong Zhuo moved the capital to the more strategically sound Chang'an, Minister of Interior Wang Yun started to contemplate a plot to assassinate the tyrant by using Diao Chan, a song girl who was brought up in his household but whom he treated like his own daughter, to plant the seed of dissension between Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu.
A few days later, however, Wang Yun laid a feast for Dong Zhuo and repeated the feat. Like Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo could not lift his eyes off Diao Chan, who also displayed her prowess in song and dance. Dong Zhuo then brought Diao Chan home and made her his concubine.
When Lu Bu heard about this the next morning, he headed for Dong Zhuo's bedroom and peeped in through the window. There he saw Diao Chan sitting up grooming her hair while Dong Zhuo was still asleep. Seeing Lu Bu's reflection in the pond near the window, Diao Chan then put up a sorrowful expression and pretended to wipe tears off her eyes with a handkerchief.
When Dong Zhuo fell sick a month later, Lu Bu took the chance to see Diao Chan on the pretext of asking after Dong Zhuo's health, but this time Dong Zhuo woke up in time to see Lu Bu staring fixedly at Diaochan. The arrogant and ungrateful Dong Zhuo then had Lu Bu shoved out and forbidden to enter the inner chambers henceforth.
Then one day, while Dong Zhuo was holding a conversation with Emperor Xian, Lu Bu stole to his adoptive father's residence and met with Diaochan in the Fengyi Pavilion. Weeping, Diaochan pled with Lu Bu to rescue her from Dong Zhuo vowing to drown herself in the pond rather than spend another minute with the horrid tyrant. Taken in by Diao Chan's act, Lu Bu placed his halberd aside and held Diao Chan in his arms while comforting her with promises for her rescue.
Back at the palace, Dong Zhuo realized that Lu Bu had slipped away. Returning to his residence, he found the Red Hare horse outside and realized that Lu Bu had gone against his orders and reentered the inner chambers. In a huff, Dong Zhuo entered his residence to find the duo in the pavilion. The startled Lu Bu turned to flee, forgetting to retrieve his halberd in the process. Dong Zhuo grabbed the halberd and gave chase. Being too obese, Dong Zhuo could not catch up with the agile Lu Bu. He then hurled the halberd at Lu Bu but the latter fended it off and got away.
After the incident, Lu Bu was becoming increasingly fed up with Dong Zhuo's egotistical arrogance. This displeasure was further enticed by Wang Yun, who suggested subtly that Lu Bu take Dong Zhuo's life. Lu Bu attempted to argue for Dong Zhuo's paternal relationship to himself, but Wang Yun dismissed it, saying, "His surname is Dong and yours is Lu. Where were the paternal feelings when he threw that halberd at you?" Upon this, Lu Bu decided that he'd had enough and made up his mind to kill Dong Zhuo.
The conspirators then sent Li Su to fetch Dong Zhuo from his castle in the county of Mei under the pretense that the emperor intended to abdicate the throne to the warlord. Despite repeated ill omens, the overjoyed Dong Zhuo came to the palace gate, where his troops were barred from entering. As Dong Zhuo's carriage neared the palace building, soldiers loyal to Wang Yun surrounded the carriage and stabbed Dong Zhuo with spears.
Dong Zhuo was however injured only in the arms due to the breastplate he had taken the caution to wear that day. He then cried out for Lu Bu, giving him a "Imperial order to slay the traitor!". Unfortunately for Dong Zhuo, he was impaled in the throat by Lu Bu's halberd like a wild pig, while Lu Bu sarcastically proclaimed, "Then by imperial order I'll slay the traitor!" It was said that Lu Bu not only skewered his stepfather, but also the carriage as well, with the bloody tip of his halberd sticking out the back. Not content with this slaughter, Lu Bu called for the death of Li Ru as well.
Days of exile
After the death of Dong Zhuo, rumors spread that the court intended to execute all his former troops from Liangzhou (涼州). When a royal decree of pardon was not issued, former subjects of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, staged a coup and defeated Lu Bu within ten days. Escaping from Chang'an, Lu Bu went to Yuan Shu in Yangzhou (楊州). Deterred by Lu Bu's fickleness, however, Yuan Shu declined to keep him.
Lu Bu then headed north to seek a position under Yuan Shao. Having been given some troops by the northern warlord, Lu Bu successfully flushed out the banao Chant army under Zhang Yan. However, with his own force growing in strength, Lu Bu was beginning to seem like a threat to Yuan Shao. Sensing this himself, Lu Bu then bid his short-term master farewell. Yuan Shao sent assassins after Lu Bu but it was for naught; Lu Bu managed to slip away.
In 194, while Cao Cao was away on a campaign against Tao Qian in Xuzhou (徐州), his subjects Zhang Miao and Chen Gong rebelled and handed Yanzhou (兗州) to Lu Bu. When Cao Cao heard the news, he quickly turned back and laid siege on Lu Bu in Puyang. After more than a hundred days of stalemate, a famine breakout forced Lu Bu to give up his position.
Occupation of Xuzhou
Thinking that by forcing Cao Cao's retreat from Xuzhou he had done it a favor, Lu Bu then headed for Xiapi to take refuge under Liu Bei, who was Xuzhou's governor. He often referred to Liu Bei as "little brother" which Liu Bei's oath brothers, particuarly Zhang Fei, found disrespectful. In 196, however, after a number of misunderstandings (many caused by the resentful Zhang Fei), Lu Bu turned on his host and took over Xiapi, proclaiming himself the governor and sending Liu Bei to the nearby town of Xiaopei (小沛, present day Pei County, Anhui).
In the same year, Yuan Shu sent a force led by Ji Ling to attack Liu Bei. Fearing that the defeat of Liu Bei would expose his backdoor to Yuan Shu, Lu Bu made camp south of Xiaopei and brought Ji Ling and Liu Bei together. The Flying General then had a halberd erected at the campground gate. Urging peace between both parties, Lu Bu extracted their promises to withdraw troops if he could hit the sharp tongue of the halberd with an arrow. From afar, Lu Bu fired a shot and the missile came in squarely on its target. Awed by such mastery in archery, the two sides then held true to their words.
To ward off the expansion of Cao Cao's power, Yuan Shu then offered to ally with Lu Bu. Lu Bu initially agreed but soon regretted. He even sent men to retrieve his daughter, who was on her way to be married to Yuan Shu's son. She was the daughter of Lady Yan, Lu Bu's first wife. Lu Bu also imprisoned Yuan Shu's envoy and sent the captive to Cao Cao as a token of friendship.
Lu Bu's downfall
In 198, Cao Cao and Liu Bei formed a short-term alliance and laid siege on Lu Bu in Xiapi. The siege dragged on for two months without significant gains. Two advisors to Cao Cao, Xun Yu and Guo Jia, then suggested flooding the city with water from the Yi River (沂水) and Si River (泗水).
As the water level rose and submerged the city gates, Lu Bu's subjects rushed to inform their leader, but Lu Bu dismissed the threat on account that his Red Hare could run as well in water as on land. Thereupon he returned to his wine cups and consorts. However, heavy indulgence in alcohol and women had wasted his health away such that one day Lu Bu looked into the mirror and found himself looking thin and pallid. Making the resolution to quit drinking, Lu Bu then passed an order for all within the city to keep off wine.
One day, Hou Cheng, an officer under Lu Bu, caught a defector who attempted to steal fifty horses and give it to the enemy. Hou Cheng then prepared barrels of wine to celebrate with his colleagues. Fearing wrath of Lu Bu, he then had five bottles sent to his superior to appease the latter, which turned out to a terrible mistake. Seeing the bottles of wine, Lu Bu was enraged at the opposition to his alcoholic ban, and had Hou Cheng thrashed sixty times as punishment.
The unhappy Hou Cheng then plotted with two colleagues, Song Xian and Wei Xu, to betray Lu Bu to the enemy. Under the cover of the night Hou Cheng stole Lu Bu's Red Hare and galloped out of the only gate not submerged in water towards Cao Cao's camp.
The next morning, Cao Cao's troops launched a fierce attack on the city. Lu Bu had to personally take part in the defense of the walls. The battle dragged into high noon and the attackers backed off for a rest. The exhausted Lu Bu then slept in a guardhouse on top of the wall.
Taking the opportunity, Song Xian and Wei Xu very carefully tied Lu Bu with chains and hoisted a white flag. The two also threw Lu Bu's halberd down the wall as proof. Seeing the signals, Cao Cao's troops then poured into the city and seized it in no time.
After he had been captured he was taken in front of Cao Cao. Lu Bu attempted to appease Cao Cao, claiming that together, they would conquer China and the world beyond easily. Cao Cao, who had a penchant for recruiting powerful officers, was nearly swayed. To reinforce his point, Lu Bu then tried to get Liu Bei to plea for him. Liu Bei, however, had seen through him, and said to Cao Cao, "Don't you remember what happened to Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo?" Although Lu Bu threatened to kill Liu Bei like a dog for this, it turned out to be his last words, and Cao Cao then had Lu Bu strangled and then beheaded.
Quest's Strated by Lu Bu
Destroy the Facility - 1 Player Quest
Capture the Messenger - 1 Player Quest
A Soldier Prizes Speed - 1 Player Quest
Training at the Stronghold - 2 Player Quest
Communication of the Minds - 2 Player Quest
Weapon
Lu Bu's Weapon of Chocie is the Halberd