Dynasty Warriors is based off The Romance of the Three Kingdoms NOT the historical events precisely, and since it is credited to someone who was descended from a Shu officer…Y HALO THAR Shu bias! OF COURSE it’s going to project Shu and it’s officers in a more positive light, as the Han loyalists believed that Liu Bei did have a stronger claim to succeed rather than the Cao or Sima clans, as they were not related to the reigning dynasty.
One thing everybody seems to forget it - THE THREE KINGDOMS ERA WAS TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO! Seriously, different times, different morals and principles. Back then, it was totally acceptable to see your family as being of lesser importance than your generals, because capable generals were harder to come by than any random woman to marry and have your sons. You just can’t judge the people from that era by our standards.
As for Liu Bei’s marriage to Sun Shangxiang. In the book it’s just a trap set by Zhou Yu and Sun Quan, and it’s only when word of it reaches Queen Mother Wu that it becomes real. So honourable of Wu, trying to trick someone who was still formally their ally into a marriage then plot to kill him with it.
And in all fairness, Tecmo Koei have given facelifts to nearly all their characters. Compare Xiahou Dun from DW1 to DW7. Hell, compare Sun Quan in DW5 to 7! While Liu Bei’s change from DW5 to DW6 is one of the most dramatic, it isn’t the only character design to have changed, and it seems petty just to go for him. I’m probably in the minority but I really like his new design.
Why is Liu Bei constantly the only one singled out for what he did? ALL the leaders did eyebrow raising stuff that looks strange from our more modern perspective. Dong Zhuo cooking the people who challenged his authority in a pot…Cao Cao killing his father’s sworn brother and whole village…the extremely high backstabbing rate of Lu Bu…yet it is only Liu Bei who gets regularly condemned for stuff like the Liu Shan throwing incident or eating that guy’s wife, even though at the time, such things would most likely have been approved.
Seriously.
Stop with the Liu Bei hate you guys. I don’t care if you don’t like him, but picking him out of everyone for ‘bad’ behaviour is just such a waste of time.
