Gan Ning

Gan Ning was a rogue, pirate, murderer, and thief who before joining the ranks of Wu, served Huang Zu due to his opinion that he was weak and hopeless. It is at this battle where Ling Cao, Ling Tong's father was slain by Gan Ning's very blade. Ling Tong swore vengeance. After the Battle of Xia Kou, Gan Ning parted ways with the defeated Huang Zu, and shortly after joined the ranks of Wu. It is at the Battle of He Fei where Gan Ning would make an impression upon the forces of Wu, and on Sun Quan, Wu's ruler at the time. Single handedly with a small crew of rogues he managed to push back the Wei forces considerably, even being able to overwhelm the likes of Zhang Liao. Gan Ning is the only considerable fear Cao Cao had about Wu.

Eventually reaching a decisive battle between grudges, Ling Tong and he decide to have one last confrontation at the Battle of Yi Ling. After this success for the forces of Wu, Gan Ning and Ling Tong have one more "battle" at a game of Go.

In the Dynasty Warriors series, he is 23 years old.

Kessen
Gan Ning appears as a general for Wu in Kessen II. He is a bare-chested, tattooed general who is mentioned to being a former pirate. He is often seen alongside Sun Quan and acts as one of his closest generals. He's often worried by his lord's actions and will lightly question his judgment. He leads an archer unit in battle and is a solid physical fighter. If Cao Cao issues a scheme to weaken the trust between Liu Bei and Sun Quan at Chi-Bi, both he and Zhang Fei will get into a bloody scuffle. They will lose men and lower ally morale.

Personality
Gan Ning is a man of action who doesn't like to adjust to proper etiquette. Wild and fearless, he is merely satisfied with a good brawl in battle. He's confident in his abilities and declares that the bells he wears "warn" his enemies of their impending doom (he sometimes calls himself "Gan Ning of the Bell" in the Japanese script). Though he seems arrogant, he has a good head on his shoulders and knows when to rely on teamwork. However, he's fickle about who he'll take orders from as seen in the Warriors Orochi series.

His relationship with Ling Tong is strained at first, mostly on the latter's end regarding his father's death. Gan Ning is personally more agitated by Ling Tong's haughty attitude and persistent insults than the past. Their aggressions for one another eventually turns into a civil rivalry between comrades, each one trying to outmatch or outwit the other in combat. Their sour ties are downplayed in Dynasty Warriors 6. His rival forgives him and they're good comrades in the end.

He respects Lu Meng as his good word helped him enter Wu. They share a mentor-student relationship in recent games, as Lu Meng often chides him for his reckless and nonuniform behavior. Gan Ning acts as though he doesn't care and often shrugs off the strategist's concerns. He nicknames Lu Meng, "Old man", a term that displeases the veteran as he's just in his late twenties.

Voice Actors

 * Doug Stone - Dynasty Warriors 4~6, Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * Shiyoki Kitatani - Dynasty Warriors 2 (Japanese)
 * Hiroaki Miura - Dynasty Warriors 3~6 and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Yasushiko Tokuyama - Dynasty Tactics (Japanese)
 * Munehira Tokida - Dynasty Tactics 2 (Japanese)
 * Mahito Ōba - Kessen II (Japanese)

Gameplay
In Dynasty Warriors 6, Gan Ning is arguably the quickest character in the game. His skills emphasize speed and his attacks are naturally fast at any Renbu level. His weapons are two short knives, which has a slightly shorter range than his previous scimitar. Offensive strategies continue to work best with Gan Ning and his new undefined -a short range punch to the ground that emits a small geyser- allows him to keep up the pressure near his enemies. Though he lacks reliable crowd control attacks and has a relatively weak defense, his agility will more than likely balance these out in the end. The names of his three weapons are "Crescent Moon", "Dancing Dragon", and "Wing Blade".

Dynasty Warriors 4

 * Ultimate Weapon: Sea Master
 * Base Attack: 47
 * Stage: Battle of Xia Kou
 * Requirements: Before the ships moves, defeat Su Fei and Gan Ning, or Chen Shen if he appears. Ling Cao and Ling Tong must survive.

Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends

 * Level 11 Weapon: Leviathan
 * Base Attack: 50
 * Attributes: Level 20 Speed Scroll, Level 11 Horned Helm, Level 16 Seven Star Sash, Level 19 Herbal Remedy
 * Stage: Battle of Ru Xu Kou
 * Requirements: Defeat Li Dian and Yue Jin before they regather their troops, and defeat either Cao Xiu or Zhang Liao after they appear. Achieve an 140 K.O. count.

Dynasty Warriors 5

 * 4th Weapon: Sea Master
 * Base Attack: 38; Weight: Light
 * Stats: Charge +15, Luck +18, Speed +15, Attack +19, Musou +15
 * Stage: Battle of Xia Kou (Huang Zu's forces)
 * Location: Near the boats at the center of the map.
 * Requirements: Defeat Ling Tong and Ling Cao within 2 minutes of the stage starting.