TheDynasty Warriorsfranchise has become well known for its absolutely gigantic roster size. Each entry in the franchise takes on an average ten characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and implants them into the Musou gameplay formula. As ofDynasty Warriors 9, the franchise has nearly 100 characters in its roster and that number looks like it’ll never slow down.
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With that many characters, all of whom play differently from each other, it can be nearly impossible to answer the question of whom the best one is. Although the answer will naturally come down to whoever is your favorite, there are other factors by which to judge them, such as how unique their moveset is, their popularity with the fanbase, and how important they are to the Dynasty Warriors franchise itself. If one uses these as a basis to judge, then the following list of the best Dynasty Warriors characters can be formed.
10Sima Zhao
Founder of Jin
Dynasty Warriors 7 took the franchise into a bold new direction by not just including the main Three Kingdoms, but also adding a storyline for the kingdom that came after them: Jin. The founder of Jin and the main character of this storyline is Sima Zhou; unlike all the other ruler characters in the game, Sima Zhou is very laid back and goes with the flow through life. This nonchalant attitude he carries brings a very welcome change from how Dynasty Warriors stories are typically told.
Sima Zhou’s moveset is also as chill as he is. He may just be using a sword, but he can use said sword to knock down enemies and ride them like a surfboard through the battlefield. Despite how cool he is and the much-needed resolution the Jin storyline adds to Dynasty Warriors’ story mode, Sima Zhou ranks low on this list due to how Romance of the Three Kingdoms fans specifically view him. Many see him as an irredeemable character for what he does during his storyline, which puts him down a few ranks.
Lover of Lu Bu
Next up on the roster is the first-ever female character added to the Dynasty Warriors roster: Diaochan. This lovely woman has been around since the first game in the franchise and has undergone a myriad of changes both to her design and her main weapon of choice. Currently, Diaochan’s main weapon is a whip (a weapon that was restricted to women in Dynasty Warriors 7 but is now usable by all genders) but that may change in future games that feature her release.
Being the first woman on the roster isn’t the only reason Diaochan made this list, as her role in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms cannot be understated. Her relationship with Lu Bu and the betrayal that results from that can in many ways be considered the spark that sets the plot in motion. While the player will never get the chance to play as her in the actual story modes of these games, Diaochan surely deserves some placement on this list.
Founder of Shu
Next up on the list is Liu Bei, the de facto main character of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and a Dynasty Warriors mainstay since the franchise began. While Liu Bei isn’t given the most importance in Dynasty Warriors’ gameplay, as the story modes of these games will often put you in control of his brothers or companions, his presence is always felt in the story as the entire Kingdom of Shu is working to fulfill his dream of benevolence.
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Liu Bei’s moveset for the past few Dynasty Warriors games has been a stylish pair of twin swords which he can both stab forward with or use to spin around in circles to slash a wide range of enemies. While these weapons and the way he wields them is pretty simple compared to many others which have some sort of unique attributes, Liu Bei’s simplicity works out in his favor as a character who players will often need to use during the tutorial, thus having a more basic weapon makes sense. Though, on the other hand, said simplicity is why he ranks in the lower half of this list.
7Sun Shangxiang
The Bow-Waisted Princess
Next up on the list is the ‘bow-waisted princess’ and the best member of the Sun family: Sun Shangxiang. Despite her nickname, Sun Shangxiang’s main weapon has always been a pair of chakrams which she simultaneously throws around and beats enemies with. These weapons of hers have always been one of the best to play with in Dynasty Warriors and even earned the franchise a shout-out in a History Channel documentary on ancient weapons!
Sadly, despite being one of the franchise’s most well-known characters, having debuted in Dynasty Warriors 3 and even being the only playable female character inDynasty Warriors Advance, the games often have very little for Sun Shangxiang to actually do. Often, the player will get to play as her once or twice at the beginning of the Wu story before she marries Liu Bei and vanishes altogether. For this reason, Sun Shangxiang doesn’t make the very top of this list.
6Xiahou Dun
The Bodyguard
Next up on the list is Cao Cao’s closest ally and arguably the true main character of the Wei storyline: Xiahou Dun. Xiahou Dun may seem like a boring character at first, just being a bodyguard and soldier who serves his lord. However, as the story progresses and the player gets to see Xiahou Dun say cool one-liners and get into more and more fights with him, it’s almost impossible not to love him by the end of the storyline.
His moveset is as simple as he is, as Xiahou Dun was one of the first characters to ever be added to the roster. Being around since the franchise’s first title, he’s not going to be doing more than slicing enemies with a large sword. Despite that simple moveset, Xiahou Dun is so cool that when his eye got shot with an arrow, he not only continued the battle he was in but also ate said eye after it was all over. A character who does something that amazing absolutely needs to be placed on this list.
Daughter of Zhang Fei
Dynasty Warriors 5 introduced the world to Xingcai, the battle-hungry daughter of Zhang Fei. While she was one of the first Dynasty Warriors characters to have no basis in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it’s hard to judge the game harshly for that when the roster was desperately in need of more female characters. Xingcai’s moveset was always surprisingly fun for a character who wields a sword and shield. Not only does she slice enemies with that sword, but she can also throw her shield around like a boomerang and even slice it like a surfboard!
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Xingcai is such a cool character that even when she was cut from the roster in Dynasty Warriors 6, the game still made sure to reference her existence in certain cutscenes. Luckily, she reappeared in Dynasty Warriors 7 and has since been a mainstay character, even being featured in the opening cutscene of 7 Xtreme Legends! With there being so few sword-wielding women in gaming as cool as Xingcai, it would have been an absolute crime not to include her on this list.
4Wang Yuanji
The Newcomer
When the Kingdom of Jin first debuted in Dynasty Warriors, they had only a handful of playable characters and, as such, their story mode had quite a few moments where the player would play the same characters. However, this may have been an advantage as nowadays, these few Jin characters are almost all fan favorites in the Dynasty Warriors fan community, such as the original woman of the faction: Wang Yuanji.
Ever since her debut inDynasty Warriors 7, Wang Yuanji has become one of the most popular characters in the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Her ice-cold stare and unique throwing knives moveset won over the heart of gamers and gave her a place in crossover titles such as Warriors All Stars. In many ways, she has replaced Diaochan as Dynasty Warriors’ leading female character. This alone was enough of a reason to put her on this list. The fact that her throwing knife combos raise the combo meter faster than any other character in the game is only an added bonus.
The Tyrant
Next up on the list is Cao Cao, the tyrant who set in motion the foundation of the Wei kingdom and arguably the antagonist of the Shu and Wu storylines in Dynasty Warriors. Cao Cao’s storylines in Dynasty Warriors are always interesting, as the first third of them tend to endear the player to Cao Cao and how he treats his officers, only to pull the rug out from under you when he begins to make many downright evil decisions later in the storyline.
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When it comes to movesets, Cao Cao has always been one of the simpler characters in Dynasty Warriors. However, this tends to work in his favor, as he truly feels like the type of ruler to cut down peasants with a sword. This cold demeanor of Cao Cao’s was further emphasized when Dynasty Warriors 8 added two attacks to his moveset which saw the tyrant summon ice to freeze enemies. Of the three founders of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao is easily the coolest and deserves a high placement on this list.
The Better Half of the Qiaos
Placing second on the list is Xiaoqiao from Wu. This cute girl may not make many people’s top ten lists, but she has consistently had one of the best and most unique movesets in Dynasty Warriors history via her dual fans. Combo-ing dozens of enemies into the air and even staying airborne for long periods of time herself via the animation where she spins the fans to gather wind feels incredible every time the game player does it. It’s no wonder she was one of the few characters to keep their weapon inDynasty Warriors 9.
Despite almost never being relevant to the story mode, Xiaoqiao has miraculously appeared in every single Dynasty Warriors game since her debut (even when her twin sister was cut from 6). Her joyful, childlike, attitude toward life and the fun quotes she has when defeating enemies have made her a very endearing character among fans. While she may not be making the top of this list, her fans can likely look forward to her continued appearances in the franchise.
Xiaoqiao was this list writer’s first gaming crush, which may have bumped her up a place or two on the list.
Do Not Pursue Him
Placing first is, of course, Lu Bu himself. This absolute monster of a man has become the inspiration for many memes as every encounter players have with him, no matter the game, is extremely memorable.
He even got to star in a Pepsi ad during the promotion ofDynasty Warriors Next.For several games, Lu Bu was almost a pseudo-mascot for the franchise, as he was featured in several opening videos and even had his own storyline in Dynasty Warriors 8. Ironically enough though, Lu Bu has almost never had a consistent moveset as his main weapon has changed several times over the years.
Lu Bu may be the most important character in the Dynasty Warriors franchise, not for his moveset or playstyle, but for what he represents: being the nearly indescribable brick wall of an opponent in a franchise all about defeating thousands of enemies at once, punishing players who dare attempt to pursue him with a game over. Seeing Lu Bu appear on the battlefield should sprout fear into the minds of players.
So much so that whenever a newDynasty Warriorsspinoff is made, there is always a character assigned the same role and presence as Lu Bu. For this role he plays, his near mascot status, and his popularity among fans, Lu Bu absolutely needed to top this list.
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