Wonder

Wonder (ワンダー or 閃; lit. "Flash") is a character type introduced in the third entry of the Warriors Orochi series. Characters within this category are represented by the color violet, with R1 Type Actions that focus more on either being combined with Spirit Cancels or enhancing attack strings in various ways; some are notably buff-based which had once been the hallmark of Power-type characters. Many Wonder-types also happen to have a plethora of crowd-clearing attacks at their disposal.

One of the traits of Wonder-type characters is the ability to perform a Spirit Charge Cancel (AKA the "Shadow Art" in Japanese) like in Samurai Warriors 3 (often dubbed as the "Wonder Dash" by the community). By tapping during a combo, players can rush at a foe and guard-break them while consuming a small portion of Musou. This can also be used to cancel attacks at any given moment, and can be aimed in any direction towards or away from enemy targets.

Unlike in its native title, the Spirit Charge Cancel sacrifices a few prior properties in trade for others:
 * While it no longer inflicts any damage on its own nor can it knockdown, it can instead inflict multiple hits. Each hit can inflict stagger on grounded hit.
 * The hitbox while no longer based around the user, is arguably much larger (especially vertical) which can strike multiple targets at once in the way, especially in midair from above.
 * Unlike in Samurai Warriors 3, it can no longer cancel into itself over and over again, while only having Hyper Armor properties. Getting hit during a Spirit Charge's earlier frames allows the user to cancel right into another one however.

Said Spirit Charge Cancel while not normally qualifying as a normal or charge attack, is even able to activate certain weapon attributes like Echo and Storm. In Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, cancelling into a Spirit Charge while performing charge attacks that send the user airborne will have them rush on the ground instead if done soon enough.

Because the Spirit Charge is a quintessential feature of a Wonder character, they constantly need to replenish or conserve their Musou gauge at all times. While their stats are generally geared more towards high Musou growth, certain abilities and weapon attributes can lessen the burden. Ultimate renders this problem moot if the player is lucky enough to own a weapon with the Wrath attribute. Even then, the Spirit Charge/Wonder Dash especially when paired with Echo and/or Storm allows large forms of combo generation on many a crowd to proc the combo-based attributes (such as Aggression and Bastion) with ease.

Characters within this category can inflict critical hits on staggered targets within a certain period with charge attacks. This trait works well with their Spirit Charge ability as it gives them the opportunity to deal greater damage than normal so long as the critical modifier is in effect. It also helps that the modifier's duration lasts for at least 4 seconds even after the target recovers, and can apply to active hitboxes hitting affected targets so long as the user inputs a charge attack within the window.

This character type is exclusive to Warriors Orochi 3 and does return in its sequel, though the spirit charge ability is instead given to Technique-type characters.

Trivia

 * The Jin Kingdom is the only kingdom in the third Orochi entry that somehow has no Wonder-type characters in its roster.