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First Appearance: Dynasty Warriors (February 28, 1997)
Latest Appearance: Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (December 2019)
Render from Dynasty Warriors 9
What is Dynasty Warriors?Latest Appearance: Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (December 2019)
Render from Dynasty Warriors 9
Originally a 3D Weapon Based Fighting Game, Dynasty Warriors is an Action Hack-and-Slash game developed by Omega-Force and published by Koei. The series is based off of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, which is set near the end of the Han Dynasty through the Three Kingdoms period of China. As mentioned before, Dynasty Warriors started off as a 3D fighting game exclusive to the PS1 and was named Sangoku Musou in Japan. By the time the PS2 was coming around, Dynasty Warriors director, Akihiro Suzuki, was working on a direct sequel to the series that was going to stay as a fighting game but was instead changed into the Hack-and-Slash game it is today. This would lead to the series being called Shin Sangoku Musou in Japan while being called Dynasty Warriors 2 in the west for brand recognition. Since then, Dynasty Warriors has 9 mainline entries, 5 Xtreme Legends expansions, 5 Empires Installments, and various spinoffs such as Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce and Dynasty Warriors Mahjong. The series has also sprung various Warriors franchises/titles such as Samurai Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors, Dragon Quest Heroes, Persona 5 Scramble, and so on.
Who is Zhao Yun?
Zhao Yun was a general who served under Shu as 1 of Liu Bei's right hand men. He is often portrayed as a warrior of virtue and justice, and in folklore, he is praised as 1 of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu. Zhao Yun has appeared in various battles such as the Battle of Xu Province, Battle of Chibi, Battle of Yiling, and so on, but the battle with his most defining feat was the Battle of Changban where he lone charged into the battlefield against the mass numbers of Wei's army to rescue Liu Bei's son, Liu Shan.
Why Zhao Yun?
Aside from Koei-Tecmo's work with various Nintendo IPs over the years, he is the poster boy of Dynasty Warriors and 1 of the most popular characters of the series in Japan. While there are other potential candidates that could also rep Dynasty Warriors like Liu Bei, Gaun Yu, Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Sima Yi, Lu Bu, Wang Yuanji, and many more, Zhao Yun is considered the "main hero" by Omega-Force as he was known to charge the battlefield by himself against thousands of soldiers. To simply put, he defines what the series is mostly about: mowing through enemies by the numbers and completing objectives.
But wait! He existed in real life! Doesn't that mean he's a non-video game character and would make him ineligible for Smash?
Dynasty Warriors has an interesting case in this regard. While it is true that the series is based off of both ancient Chinese history and the ROTK novel, Dynasty Warriors has always been a video game franchise since the very beginning, and there are no known licensing issues hindering their chances in Smash as they are public domain. The Zhao Yun from Dynasty Warriors is also Koei-Tecmo's interpretation of the character and is distinct enough to be more of a video game character than any non-video game character from licensed anime and comic franchises.
What would he bring to Smash?
Unlike any character in Ultimate, Zhao Yun wields a spear, and if he were to be in Ultimate, he would be Smash's first spear-based fighter. If you want an idea of what his moveset might look like in Smash, here are a few videos of Zhao Yun in Dynasty Warriors: