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“ | Why, you've come alone! You should have just said you wanted to meet me in private! | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo. |
“ | You bloody idiots, are you ready to die? | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo speaking to the Yellow Turbans. |
“ | This spot and every other one like it belongs to me! | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo's victory quote. |
“ | Each day, I grow even closer to my dreams of paradise! | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo when selecting him. |
“ | Lu Bu! Have you forgotten all I've done for you? You shall pay for your treachery! | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo to Lu Bu when being betrayed by him. |
“ | Hah! You fool, Cao Cao! I don't know who put you into this, but you were mad to think you could kill me! | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo to Cao Cao. |
“ | I should never have taken you in... | „ |
~ Dong Zhuo's death by Lu Bu. |
Dong Zhuo (董卓), style name: Zhongying (仲穎), is a historical warlord who while originally was subjugating other lands as an officer, managed to seize power in the Han capital Luoyang during its time of chaos. He would rule with an iron grip for years as a cruel and wicked tyrant before the his own death via an assassination by his adopted son, Lu Bu.
In the most fictional media, he is usually one of the main antagonists in the early chapters of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel and game as well as the early stages of the Dynasty Warriors video game series. This status of his has been played up further via his portrayals in the Knights of Valour video game series in both the third installment and the PS4 installment. Even then said novel and adaptations from its regularly showed that Dong Zhuo to be an obese man, which was possessed notable strength and intelligence. He is also a grandfather of Dong Bai and a father-in-law of Niu Fu and Li Ru.
He was voiced by Yukitoshi Hori in the Japanese version, and by Dean Harrington, Richard Epcar, and Jonas Torres in the English version.
History[]
Han Campaigns[]
During the events of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo stepped in to assume guardianship of the child emperor Xian - his parents having previously died in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Dong Zhuo had been an advisor and land-owner, but with no official guardian assigned for the young emperor, Dong Zhuo's claim could not be legally challenged and he became pseudo-emperor (the true emperor, too young to oppose him or understand the importance of rule). Dong Zhuo kept the emperor in his palace at Luoyang, the royal Han guards and vassals obligated to obey the ambitious tyrant while acting on behalf of the emperor. Virtually no one wanted to served Dong Zhuo, but all official members of the Han were required to due to Dong Zhuo's insidious loop-hole in guardianship.
Yuan Shao - the leader of a militia force that had recruited conscripts for the previous Yellow Turban rebellion, had a massive army still, among them Liu Bei and Cao Cao, as Yuan Shao's troops were not offically part of the Han military, they were under no obligations of duty and could act independently without it affecting their honor and quite the contrary, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Jian, and Yuan Shao all considered Dong Zhuo's abduction of emperor Xian very dishonorable and thus they mounted an assault on Hulao Gate in Luoyang. The united militia forces arrived at Luoyang to forcefully remove Dong Zhuo from powers and lay siege to Luoyang. Dong Zhuo was sends many officers out including his own foster son, Lu Bu, a man said to be the strongest warrior in the land and rumored to be invincible.
The Han forces meet with heavy casualties from Lu Bu especially over the other troops and generals but eventually are able to make their way passed him to Dong Zhuo's palace. The capture of Luoyang is a significant step for the Han as it represents the empire's renewed steps to clean up it's territories, removing implications of weakness and dishonor for the kingdom.
Fall Out[]
The one to show-up and physically save emperor Xian was Cao Cao. While all the forces of Yuan Shao's militia would be rewarded, the cunning Cao Cao benefited the most by endearing himself to young emperor Xian as his personal savior.
Cao Cao would become imperial general under the Han and start his own kingdom of Wei under the blessing of emperor Xian and with such influence Cao Cao would begin removing every potential rival he had, starting with the one who had lead the siege against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian has would follow shortly and found their own kingdoms of Shu and Wu in opposition.
Though his play to kidnap the emperor and become emperor himself by proxy was doomed to failing, Dong Zhuo had inadvertently set in motion a chain of events which would go on to become China's biggest on-going war, the Battle of The Three Kingdoms.
Personality[]
Dong Zhuo is without any competition whatsoever, the most atrocious and reprehensible villain in all of the Three Kingdoms saga. The embodiment of greed, cruelty and malice, while many other Warlords of the time were also primarily out to advance their own agendas, and many envied Zhuo's position, he took it to the most horrific extremes. His iron fisted rule over China was one of, if not the darkest period of the Three Kingdoms era, where everyone suffered and anyone who so much as tried to stand up to him were brutally exterminated.
Ruling through fear, Dong Zhuo went so far as to kidnap the family members of his court, viciously had them all tortured and dismembered, then put their mutilated corpses on display in public and had those very court members go and see the aftermath to keep them in line. He suffered no challenge or question whatsoever, and while he and his elites achieved power and wealth to unfathomable degrees, the rest of the country plummeted further into ruin.
Regarded as a swine by many, Dong Zhuo was a notable pervert and adored having beautiful women with him, women who were visibly shown to be forced to indulge his desires against their will. He would have women kidnapped and forced into his service, and was particularly favorable to Diaochan. Despite the reign of terror he held over the land, Zhuo was still ultimately a coward, and would never engage his enemies directly unless he had no other choice, much preferring to let his strong generals, especially Lu Bu handle them, Lu Bu being one of his main tools for keeping fear of his name among the people as there were none who could challenge him.
His complete disregard for life was evident when he was willing to burn the entire capital city of Luoyang to the ground, killing everyone within and losing his personal paradise if it meant stopping his enemies, as he could just as easily set up a new seat of power elsewhere. While obsessed with Diaochan, in the end, the only person Dong Zhuo ever cared about was himself, and would do anything and everything to further his dream of a personal utopia where he lived in paradise and everyone else be damned.
The only person Dong Zhuo showed any kind of potentially genuine kindness to apart from his lust towards Diaochan was his granddaughter Dong Bai. While this may seem like a lone good deed among a lifetime of atrocities, Bai is just as sadistic and cruel as he is, Zhuo being proud at the monster his descendant became.
Other Media[]
Video Games[]
Dong Zhuo is an enemy boss (in the Hulao Gate levels) and a playable character in the Dynasty Warriors series. He also appearing as the secondary antagonist in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. His faction is also playable in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Total War: Three Kingdoms.
Movies/TV Shows[]
Dong Zhuo is a major antagonist of the 2010 TV Series Three Kingdoms portrayed by Lü Xiaohe, specifically being the main antagonist of the first 10 episodes.
He is also the main antagonist of the 2021 Dynasty Warriors movie portrayed by Lam Suet and the overarching antagonist in the first half of the 2015 TV Series God of War Zhao Yun portrayed by Han Dong.
He is also a major antagonist in both the 1991 Anime Series Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi and the 2009 Anime Series Souten Kouro.
Trivia[]
- It is unknown of Dong Zhuo was historically obese, as his appearance as such is most likely a carry-over from the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.
- His Samurai Warriors counterpart is Yoshimoto Imagawa.
External links[]
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Wei Empire Wu Empire Shu Empire Jin Empire Other Villains Lu Bu's Army Nanman Tribe Yellow Turbans Yuan Shao's Army Zhong Dynasty Others |
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Wei Empire Wu Empire Shu Empire Jin Empire Other Villains Lu Bu's Army Nanman Tribe Yellow Turbans Yuan Shao's Army Zhong Dynasty Others Guest Characters |
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Major Villains Other Villains Dynasty Warriors Samurai Warriors Evil Organization |
Villains | ||
Wei Empire Dong Zhuo's Army Yellow Turbans Yuan Shao's Army Others |