Guan Suo

Guan Suo is a fictional officer of Shu and Guan Yu's third son. He was a famous subject for Beijing opera and is known for having four exotic wives.

Role in Games
Usually appearing beside his father, Guan Suo is a secondary general for Shu throughout the Dynasty Warriors series. Depending on the title, he may appear as early as Chang Ban and will continue to appear for the later battles for Shu, such as Yi Ling and Nan Zhong. He performs a similar task in the Warriors Orochi series.

He can be recruited as an optional general in Dynasty Tactics 2.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms has him as a fictional general for the game, often joining Liu Bei's army around the same time he does in the novel. He boasts above average stats as an officer, a good choice for supporting military affairs. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI features his wives (from the Hua Guan Suo Chuan and Hua Man) as extra fictional officers.

Chinese Fiction
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Suo is the third son of Guan Yu. He doesn't appear until Zhuge Liang begins his campaign against the Nanman. He explains that "After the fall of Jingzhou, I was hidden by the Bao family from where I wanted to go to the River Lands to ask the First Ruler for a revenge against my father. But I fell in illness, which was long and severe, and I only just recovered. I was then travelling towards Chengdu to meet with the Latter Ruler, when I met the army in the south expedition. I know that vengeance has been taken upon the murderers of my father. And now I want to present myself to the Prime Minister."

Zhuge Liang sent word of his arrival to the court and gave Guan Suo a post as Van Leader. He made several contributions in the southern campaign, but was not referred to in the novel again after the surrender of Meng Huo.

In 1967, eleven volumes of stories were discovered in a grave dating from the Ming Dynasty in the Jiading District, Shanghai. Four of the volumes centered on Guan Suo, which described his history while loosely based in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms setting. These four volumes have been transcribed and compiled into what is now known as Hua Guan Suo Chuan (花関索伝). While the state of the original text is difficult to decipher, it is generally believed that these tales were a collection of hearsay and gossip made in an attempt to expand Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

After Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu swore their brotherhood to one another, the Hua Guan Suo Chuan says that they decided to make their family ties official. They did so by inviting every member of their biological families to a banquet in order to kill them. As Zhang Fei raced toward Guan Yu's family, he saw a single pregnant woman named Hu Jinquan -also argued as one of Guan Yu's mistresses. Not having the courage to strike her down, he allowed only her to escape. She returned to her home with the Hu family and gave birth to a boy.

When the boy was seven, he was stranded from his mother and was picked up by Squire Suo. Two years later, Squire Suo was told by his master to adopt the boy into his family and the boy was named Suo Tong. Suo Tong was taught by Squire Suo's master, Master Huayue, until he was eighteen. As he was coming home one day, he bravely fought off bandits in the mountains. His master was aware of his potential and Suo Tong left his master to make a name for himself. He reunited with his mother, who told him that he was actually Guan Yu's son. Although his father from the Hu family looked nothing like the famed general, Suo Tong decided to honor his mother's story. From then on, he called himself Hua Guan Suo to honor the prominent male figures in his life. Wanting to reunite with his father, Hua Guan Suo made his way to Xichuan. During his journey, he killed Song Jingang and married his three wives.

One day, Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang had a dream regarding Hua Guan Suo. Pang Tong conducted a divination that revealed that a prominent general would have a new third son and Zhuge Liang concluded that general would be Guan Yu. Meanwhile, Yao Bin, a vassal of Wu, surrendered to Guan Yu. Guan Yu accepted the general and they became sworn brothers. Yao Bin, however, disguised himself as Guan Yu and stole Guan Yu's horse on the same night to escape. Guan Yu was alarmed by the betrayal and a manhunt for the fugitive spread throughout Liu Bei's army. Yao Bin had met Hua Guan Suo on the road and tried to pass himself off as Guan Yu. Hu Jinquan saw through the ruse and Zhang Fei arrived shortly to inform them of the situation. With this knowledge, Hua Guan Suo pursued Yao Bin and cut him down. During their pursuit, Cao Cao's army attacked Guan Yu and Hua Guan Suo helped his brother and Zhao Yun to claim victory. Upon meeting his father, Guan Yu couldn't believe Hu Jinquan's story. Hua Guan Suo was upset and threatened to join Cao Cao's troops to force his father to accept him, but Guan Yu eventually believed Hu Jinquan when Zhang Fei supported her. He was then designated as Guan Yu's third adopted son.

Hua Guan Suo continued to fight beside his father's forces until he fell ill. He and his wives were transported to Yunnan to recover until Jiang Wei visited him to inform him of Guan Yu's death. Hua Guan Suo was then brought to Master Huayue and his illness was cured. He lead troops to avenge his father and uncle, encountering Lu Xun and Yan Zhao. Suffering defeat, he lost his brother, Guan Ping, and Zhang Yi. In despair, he fainted and met his father's spirit in the spiritual realm. Gaining his father's permission to use the blade at his grave, Hua Guan Suo eventually found it, killed Yan Zhao, and captured Lu Xun. He also captured Lu Meng and killed the two generals who betrayed his father, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang. Sacrificing Lu Xun and Lu Meng before Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's graves, he avenged his family.

Soon after, Liu Bei died of illness and Zhuge Liang decided to resume his training in hermitage. Hua Guan Suo succumbed to illness as well and his wives and subordinates disbanded. Although the original story allegedly ends here, different editions expand the story to have Hua Guan Suo instead die in battle during the Nanman campaigns or during Shu's later fall. He sometimes only succeeds in defeating Lu Meng in certain editions.