How Dynasty Warriors Origins’ Female Character Stories Fared

The Dynasty Warriors series, despite taking place in a historical period with numerous male heroes, has been known for also featuring many female figures who appeared in the same era. However, Koei Tecmo and Omega Force somehow opted to omit many of them in Dynasty Warriors Origins—including even those who are still relevant in the covered period. There are still several female characters appearing in Dynasty Warriors Origins, but their relevancies in the game's storyline and its connections to historical and folklore sources vary.

Out of the four recurring female characters who return in Dynasty Warriors Origins, Sun Shangxiang is arguably the one who has the most spotlight; partly because she is also the only female character available as a playable companion. Shangxiang also stands out as the heroine of the Sun Wu faction, as she helps encourage her brother Sun Quan and other officers in the faction following the historical deaths of Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Those well-versed in the Chinese Three Kingdoms lore will know that Sun Shangxiang is destined to marry one of the two other major faction leaders. However, that event is still irrelevant for the timeframe covered in Dynasty Warriors Origins. As such, I find her approach toward the protagonist Ziluan in her bond events completely acceptable within the game's scope.

Yueying, or as I prefer to call her by her full name Huang Yueying, is the sole female character in Liu Bei's eventual Shu Han kingdom who appears in Dynasty Warriors Origins. She is also the only one whose husband—Zhuge Liang—is also present. But I just find it a bit perplexing why Omega Force hid their marriage status before their formal appearances, even when the player could visit both of them earlier via bond events.

In the Dynasty Warriors series, Yueying is also usually credited for inventing machines like the Juggernauts, which are better explained by their Japanese name: Tiger Tanks. However, such armaments are not relevant yet in Dynasty Warriors Origins' timeframe, as they would usually appear later after the Shu kingdom has been established.

Yueying's bond events in this game also describe her mechanical doll inventions, but we didn't actually see those in motion either, so I can't help but feel like her opportunity to stand out in the storyline does not appear as much.

I already had some reservations when Koei Tecmo confirmed the appearance of Zhenji but without Cao Pi joining her. So I was instead expecting the team to delve deeper into her earlier life when she was married to Yuan Xi. That expectation unfortunately ended up going off-mark as well.

When you first meet Zhenji in the game's story, she was still living with her own family before she was then wedded to the Yuan clan. However, the game does not even cover her life in the latter clan outside of two encounters during battles, and she was not even accompanied by her then-husband on either occasion. Those factors ultimately made the encounter between Zhenji and Yuan Xi during Cao Cao's final battle against the Yuan clan very shallow.

The short point here is: If you only care about Zhenji as *your* waifu, you will undoubtedly enjoy her bond events, where your character gets to develop a relationship with her. But as someone who has invested deeply in the history of the Chinese Three Kingdoms period, I feel like Zhenji's appearance becomes way too detached from the game's overall lore.

I still stand by my initial wishlist where Cai Wenji would have fit much better as the female representative for the Cao Wei faction in Dynasty Warriors Origins' roster. Other than possible contributions towards stages that involved rescuing her from foreign tribes, Cai Wenji could have also complemented Cao Cao's passion for poetry as close friends.

I would say Diaochan has the most interesting depiction among the female characters appearing in Dynasty Warriors Origins. The appearance of her foster father Wang Yun as a semi-unique character does also help flesh out her personality further, but I'm particularly amazed that Omega Force opted to depict her as the true love interest for the game's protagonist Ziluan.

I've also noticed that the team has been toning down Diaochan's relationship with Lu Bu ever since it added his daughter Lu Lingqi in Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends. After all, Diaochan and Lu Lingqi are not related at all. But even when Lu Lingqi is completely absent from Dynasty Warriors Origins, Diaochan still preferring Ziluan over Lu Bu sounds like a very bold decision from the game's development team.

The interpretation of Diaochan in Dynasty Warriors Origins, however, is greatly hampered by omissions in the depiction of the successful assassination of Dong Zhuo which is more relevant to history books and novels. The game does not even give the player an option to side with Dong Zhuo in the Hulao Gate campaign. That means those who are newly learning about the historical period end up getting deprived of details on Wang Yun's ultimate mission for Diaochan to seduce both Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu to create a rift between the two, which was actually elaborated more in the series' prior mainline entries.

And of course, we do actually have a fifth female character with the new addition of Zhuhe. Just like the other people from the Guardian of Peace group, she is a completely fictional character made up for the original protagonist's background story. However, talking about Zhuhe's overall involvement in this game's storyline would constitute major spoilers.

So without touching that aspect, I would rather argue that Zhuhe could have been well-placed as an alternative playable female protagonist for Dynasty Warriors Origins. I could totally see her swapping positions with the game's established protagonist Ziluan in all cutscenes, including those involving their past.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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