Gao Ze is the main antagonist of the 2016 Chinese TV Series God of War Zhao Yun/Chinese Hero Zhao Zilong, loosely based on the 14th-century classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
He was portrayed by South Korean actor Kim Jeong-hoon.
Biography[]
Gao Ze was a gifted man and a highly skilled martial artist who was known as a prodigy since his youth. His father was a General named Gao Xun. Gao Ze soon joined the military and quickly rose through the ranks. He and a girl named Xiahou Qingyi were arranged by their parents to marry and a friendship started between the two. At the time, Gao Ze was serving under the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo. He was personally recommended by the mighty general Lu Bu who was aware of his skills. He was ordered to find and steal the legendrary Qing Gang and Yi Tian swords for his lord. That eventually put him against another skilled warrior and owner of the swords named Zhao Yun, who met Xiahou Qingyi by accident and a love triangle between the three started. A rivalry between Gao Ze and Zhao Yun also started and the two often fought each other but also at time joined forces against the likes of Lu Bu and a group of bandits who terrorized cities. It was later revealed though that Gao Ze was actually pretending to be helpful in order to gain Zhao Yun's trust but was secretly dealing with the bandits and their leader Du Jue. Gao Ze wanted revenge from Zhao Yun for stealing Qingyi's heart dspite being inferior to him in most ways and also wanted to steal the two legendary swords for his own use.
The bandits were finally defeated, but Gao Ze eventually betrayed Zhao Yun and his friends and killed one of Zhao Yun's childhood friends named Liu Qing'er but failed to kill Zhao Yun who survived and trained under an old master who used to teach his own master Li Quan. Gao Ze went on to serve under warlord Cao Cao who had the strongest army at the time. He, along with his minion Geng Chun continued to hunt down Zhao Yun and his friends and allied with another enemy of Zhao Yun, Qingyi's father Xiahou Jie. Gao Ze and Geng Chun murdered Zhao Yun's master Li Quan, one of his desciples Zhou Huaizhong and a friend of Zhao Yun named Zhao Shimei. Gao Ze later personally killed Xiahou Jie who was already wounded by Zhao Yun following a fierce duel, in order for Zhao Yun to be framed and thus make Qingyi hate him. Years later, around the time of Battle of Changban, Zhao Yun explained to Qingyi that he didn't kill her father but instead tried to save him.
Gao Ze later appeared and confessed that he was the one who killed him. Gao Ze attempted to stab Zhao Yun, but Qingyi got in the way and got killed instead. Zhao Yun then chased and defeated Gao Ze who was close to dying but was saved by the same old master who trained Zhao Yun. Gao Ze trained under him but eventually betrayed him and poisoned him. He went on to return to Cao Cao's service, who was angry with him for stealing one of his precious swords. Cao Cao gave him a chance by telling him to eliminate Pang Tong, whom he blamed for his crushing defeat at Chi Bi. Gao Ze helped General Zhang Ren to kill Pang Tong and once again gained Cao Cao's trust. In 219 he appeared in front of Zhao Yun, who was surprised to see him alive during the Hanzhong Campaign. Gao Ze managed to best Huang Zhong, stole the Yi Tian sword from him and once again battled Zhao Yun. He even admitted with no remorse that he murdered his martial master. Gao Ze proved to be slightly stronger than Zhao Yun (even managing to break the Qing Gang sword in half) but was outsmarted and stabbed in the chest by Zhao Yun's Qing Gang sword remains, dying instantly. Before he died he told Zhao Yun that it was an honor to die by his sword.
Personality[]
Gao Ze was a dishonorable person, who had no allegiance to anyone and served whoever suited his interests and had the greatest power such as Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao. He was even bold enough to enter Cao Cao's camp and steal a sword. He was willing to kill with no remorse, no matter if his victims were women or elderly people. He is also a deceiver who pretended to be friendly to Zhao Yun but was plotting against him behind his back. He was in deep love with Xiahou Qingyi, so much that he even killed her own father to frame Zhao Yun in order to gain her love again. Even after narrowly escaping death and being saved by the old master who told him that he should change his ways, he refused to change and continued to murder innocent people including a non-combatant woman. He even went as far as shooting his ally and cousin of Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan in the back while he wasfighting Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, only in order to anger Cao Cao enough to seek revenge to Zhao Yun and Liu Bei.
Skills[]
Gao Ze was highly skilled since his youth. He was an excellent swordsman as well as marksman and his martial arts were equally good. He was initially much more skilled than his arch-rival Zhao Yun, but Zhao managed to close the gap quickly and even surpass his skill managing to best him in combat and nearly kill him. After being saved and trained by Zhao Yun's martial master, Gao Ze's skills improved greatly managing to defeat a highli skilled warrior like Huang Zhong with one strike and go toe to toe with Zhao Yun, even gaining the upper hand. Despite his skill, his arrogance led to his demise.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Geng Chun
- Xiahou Jie
- Cao Cao
- Dong Zhuo
- Lu Bu
- Du Jue
- Zhang Ren
Enemies[]
- Zhao Yun
- Liu Shen
- Li Quan
- Gongsun Baoyue
- Liu Qing'er
- Li Feiyan
- Zhao Shimei
- Zhou Huaizhong
- Shi Yan
- Liu Bei
- Guan Yu
- Zhang Fei
- Huang Zhong
- Pang Tong
[]
 Villains
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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 | ||