Liu Dai

Liu Dai (onyomi: Ryū Tai) is the governor of Yan Province who tried to defend his land against the Yellow Turbans. He was the older brother of Liu Yao. In the novel, Liu Dai survived his historical death and served Cao Cao after the conquest of Yan Province.

Role in Games
In Dynasty Warriors 7, Liu Dai appears in all versions of the Battle of Hulao Gate. He is usually found in the northern part of the map holding off enemy officers from attacking Yuan Shao's main camp. If not helped out, he tends to get defeated. He further appears at Xu Province in Shu's Story Mode and ambushes the player while taking the western route after conquering the central garrison. He additionally serves as a minor officer at Guandu and Xuchang.

His role in Dynasty Warriors 8 is smaller than in the previous game. During Shu's Defense of Xu Province, he will appear in one of the southern bases to block Zhang Fei's path towards the catapults. He must be defeated in order to set up the ladders. He further appears in Dong Zhuo's and Yuan Shao's versions of Hulao Gate and Guandu respectively. In Xtreme Legends, he often appears as an enemy officer in Lu Bu's story mode.

Dynasty Warriors: Unleashed has Liu Dai attack Liu Bei when the latter's attempted assassination of Cao Cao is revealed. His death at Yan Province paves the way for Cao Cao to gain further prestige from the vacuum of power.

Liu Dai is a below-average officer in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His war stat is his best asset, but at low 60's it's average at best. His other stats tend to be around low 50's or lower. He leads his own force in the Dong Zhuo scenario and, akin to the novel, serves Cao Cao later on.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV continues Liu Dai's portrayal as a poor commander by offering him only negative character traits where his unit will not retreat after fufilling its assigned commands (Ambitious), will consume more supplies when marching (Extravagant) and will suffer reduced stats when retreating (Indolent). He can die via an event portraying his death at the hands of Yellow Turban remnants in 192, but also appear in later scenarios serving Cao Cao as far as Chibi exceeding his death year in reference to the novel where he depicts two seperate characters with the same name.

Historical Information
Liu Dai was born in Donglai Commandery of Qing Province. He was the older brother of Liu Yao. He started his career as a Palace Attendant within the Han court and was later promoted to serve as the Inspector of Yan Province. In 190, he joined Yuan Shao's coalition against the tyrant Dong Zhuo. Later that year, he requested supplies from the Administrator of Dongjun, Qiao Mao, but the latter refused to send any reinforcements. As a result, Liu Dai had Qiao Mao killed and replaced him with Wang Gong.

Following this, Liu Dai allied himself with both Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, who were fighting each other in northern China, and arranged marriages with both warlords' families. Yuan Shao allowed his family members to stay with Liu Dai, but Gongsun Zan sent his officer Fan Fang with troops south to aid Liu Dai. Gongsun Zan wanted Liu Dai to drive away Yuan Shao's family, otherwise he would withdraw the troops and attack Liu Dai after eliminating Yuan Shao. Liu Dai's advisor Wang Yu advised Liu Dai to consult Cheng Yu, who told Liu Dai to side with Yuan Shao. Gongsun Zan was soon defeated at Jieqiao.

In 192, many Yellow Turban rebels from Qing Province swarmed into Yan Province and gathered in Dongping. Liu Dai wanted to attack them, but his officer Bao Xin advised against such a move. Liu Dai ignored Bao Xin and attacked the Yellow Turbans. He was killed in battle and Bao Xin invited Cao Cao to govern Yan Province.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel, Cao Cao conquered Yan Province while Liu Dai was still in office, forcing the latter to surrender to him. Unlike in actual history, Liu Dai did not die fighting the Yellow Turbans. When Liu Bei rebelled in Xu Province, Liu Dai was sent with Wang Zhong and 50,000 men to attack Liu Bei, although Cao Cao described the move itself to his advisors as a feint when they doubted the two generals' abilities. Liu Dai and Wang Zhong were no match for Liu Bei's army, defeated by Zhang Fei and Guan Yu respectively and captured. Liu Bei released them both and told them to explain his execution of Che Zhou. Upon their return, Cao Cao got so angry with them that he ordered their execution, but they were spared when Kong Rong spoke on their behalf.

Historically, the Liu Dai who attacked Liu Bei together with Wang Zhong was different from the governor.