Liu Biao

Liu Biao (onyomi: Ryū Hyō) is the Governor of Jing Province and one of the eight geniuses of Jiangxia. He is the father of Liu Qi and is Cai Mao's brother-in-law. Thanks to him, Jing was led to a time of stability during the chaos in the Central Plains. His indecisive nature prevented him from capitalizing on critical moments such as Cao Cao's conflict against Yuan Shao, very much to the ire of Liu's own allies, and to the predictions of many strategists of the era.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms paints Liu Biao in a slightly better light, as he is portrayed as someone more perceptive, being able to tell of his wife's increasing insolence to Liu Qi and Liu Bei. Nevertheless, he is still an indecisive character, following the same failures of actual history.

Role in Games
In the Dynasty Warriors series, Liu Biao oftens acts as an enemy commander in Jing Province. He is one of the foes Sun Jian fights against on his way home from the fighting in Luoyang, yet Sun Jian himself dies before he can reach Liu Biao at the hands of Huang Zu. If the player happens to play as Sun Jian, he is killed by him.

In Kessen II, he will offer shelter to a fleeing Liu Bei from Cao Cao's forces and let the former borrow Xin Ye after the Battle of Ru Nan. After he passes away, Liu Bei is given the option to recruit the distressed men and bolster his forces.

In Dynasty Tactics, Liu Biao pretends to willingly shelter Lu Bu in order to hand him over to Cao Cao. Lu Bu learns of the plot and kills his host before a horrified crowd at a welcome banquet.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms has him mostly appear as the governor of Jing. He has decent domestic stats, but lacks skills in battle. He is usually a very unaggressive ruler who tends to take free cities around him and man them with insufficient numbers of troops, making him an easy prey for the likes of Sun Ce or even Liu Zhang at times.

Voice Actors

 * Michael Lindsay - Dynasty Warriors 7 (English)
 * Spike Spencer - Dynasty Warriors 8 (English)
 * Keiichiro Yamamoto - Dynasty Tactics (Japanese)

Quotes

 * "I will never give in to tyranny! In the name of the Liu family, you shall not pass!"
 * "My ambush troops have been thwarted…? This isn't good at all…"

Historical Information
Liu Biao hailed from Shanyang in Yan Province. He was said to have been quite handsome and placed among the "Eight Talents", a group of eight prominent scholars during the late Han Dynasty. He earned a great reputation during his youth and when he entered the service of the Han, he was appointed as a colonel in He Jin's staff. After the death of Emperor Ling, Liu Biao was made Governor of Jing Province to replace Wang Rui, who had been killed by Sun Jian. When the coalition against Dong Zhuo was established, Liu Biao raised an army at Xiangyang but did not lead his troops north to join the other lords. After the coalition disbanded, Yuan Shu plotted with Sun Jian to take over Jing Province, but Sun Jian was killed and his troops scattered.

Dong Zhuo's former generals Li Jue and Guo Si has taken Chang'an in 192 and attempted to ally with Liu Biao. They appointed him "General who Suppresses the South" and made him Marquis of Chengwu. In 196, he sent messengers to Xuchang to pay tribute to the emperor, but he also plotted with Yuan Shao at the same time. One of his administrators, Deng Yi, advised against such a move and when Liu Biao ignored him, Deng Yi retired and left the province for good. During the same year, Zhang Ji led his troops to attack Rangcheng in Jing, but was killed by a stray arrow. While his officers rejoiced, Liu Biao said, "The reason why Zhang Ji came to Jing province was because he had no other alternatives elsewhere. As the hosts of Jing province, we did not treat him with due courtesy by following the customary rites and the clash of arms resulted. This is certainly not the outcome, which I, the Governor of Jing province, would like to see in the first place. Hence, I would only accept your words of condolences for Zhang Ji and I would not accept any congratulation for the victory". He thus allied with Zhang Xiu, Zhang Ji's nephew and provided him with reinforcements.

Around that time, Liu Biao's officer Zhang Xian rebelled in Changsha. Liu Biao personally led his forces to suppress the rebellion, but after besieging Changsha for more than a year, he was forced to withdraw. Zhang Xian went on to capture the other three commanderies of Jingnan, but passed away in 200. He was succeeded by his son Zhang Yi, who proved no match against Liu Biao's forces. Jingnan was pacified and Liu Biao's territory extended to several thousand li and his forces numbered around 100,000 men.

Later that year, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao engaged in battle at Guandu. Yuan Shao asked Liu Biao for reinforcements and while Liu Biao agreed to help him, he did not send any troops. Instead, he sat back and observed the situation. His advisor Han Song, among others, tried to persuade Liu Biao to surrender all of Jing Province to Cao Cao, stating that he would eventually defeat Yuan Shao and then lead a campaign into Jing. Liu Biao was unable to make up his mind and instead sent Han Song to Xuchang in a diplomatic mission to observe the situation better. When Han Song returned, he praised Cao Cao and tried to persuade Liu Biao to send his son Liu Cong as a hostage to Xuchang. Liu Biao became angry, accusing Han Song of conspiring with Cao Cao and ordered his execution. However, when he interrogated Han Song's subjects so severly that they died, he was convinced of Han Song's innocence and spared him. Thus, while appearing humble and scholarly on the outside, Liu Biao proved to be quite narrow-minded and suspicious on the inside.

Some time later, Liu Bei sought shelter under Liu Biao and was welcomed with great formalities. Liu Biao, however, was suspicious of Liu Bei and did not fully trust him, so he sent him north to defend Xinye. In 208, Cao Cao led an expedition into Jing Province. Liu Biao died in August, shortly before Cao Cao's forces arrived. Due to him favouring Liu Cong, who was born by his wife, over his oldest son Liu Qi, Liu Cong became his successor. However, after Cao Cao defeated Liu Bei at Xinye, Liu Cong surrendered at the advice of Kuai Yue, Fu Xun and others.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Biao was contacted by Yuan Shao and ordered to take the Imperial Seal away from Sun Jian, so he ambushed Sun Jian and his men when they passed through Jing Province in order to return home. Contrary to actual history, Liu Biao developed a good friendship with Liu Bei and decided to entrust him with the affairs of Jing Province before he died, but Liu Bei turned the offer down. While Cao Cao was away fighting the Yuan family, Liu Bei urged Liu Biao to lead an attack on Xuchang, but Liu Biao hesitated and did not attack eventually. On his deathbed, he decided to make Liu Qi his successor, but Cai Mao prevented Liu Qi from seeing his father. Liu Biao then passed away and Lady Cai and Cai Mao set up Liu Cong as his successor.