Elephant

The Elephant is a very large mammal and member of the pachyderm family, descended from the ancient mammoths. It hails from Africa and Asia, and can grow to very large sizes. Its tusks are coveted by many, especially poachers, for the ivory in them to make various jewelry.

Role in Games
Elephants first appear in Dynasty Warriors 3 on the Nanman Campaign stage, being used by many of the Nanman officers, including the Nanman King and Queen, Meng Huo and Zhurong. The elephants prove to be very formidable, able to take large chunks out of the player's health if rammed head-on or sideswiped by them, and knocking off their riders can prove difficult for even a trained archer to pull off. This is the only stage they appear in. The elephants are the only ones capable of breaking through the large, flimsy barriers scattered around the middle of the map, including one necessary to reach Meng Huo to defeat him for the fifth time out of the seven necessary to force his surrender and unlock him as a playable character in Free Mode.

Elephants return in Dynasty Warriors 4, once again under the Nanman, but only appear in the Nanman Campaign stage for the Shu and Wu Musou Modes, and the Defense of Nanman stage for Wu, where clearing it before the Battle of Xiakou enables Ling Tong to bring the elephants into battle there to reinforce Sun Jian's troops and his father Ling Cao. The elephants are the only ones capable of smashing through the barriers of downed trees blocking shortcuts through the map, and destroying the Nanman archer towers by knocking them over with brute strength.

Elephants return again in Dynasty Warriors 5 with them appearing in more stages now, but still under the command of Meng Huo and Zhurong. The elephants fall under the control of King Wutugu and King Mulu with the Beastmasters, who Meng Huo and Zhurong have to defeat alongside King Duosi to convince them to unite the Nanman tribes under one Great King before having to deal with Yong Kai, Zhu Bao, and Gao Ding and slaying them. Later, the elephants face off with the Yellow Turbans as Zhang Jiao attempts to destroy respect for the new Great King Meng Huo by turning his own forces against him with his sorcery, such as neutralizing the poisonous swamps and unleashing his Phantom Soldiers on the unsuspecting Nanman soldiers. Meng Huo and Zhurong defeat Zhang Jiao's sorcery and slay him, ending his threat to the Nanman and Nanzhong. Later, Wu invades Nanzhong, but the elephants are used to breach and attack Sun Quan's main camp once it is isolated, forcing Wu into retreat. Finally, it is Shu that makes their move to attack Nanzhong under Zhuge Liang. The elephants face their greatest threat here when they and the Beastmasters are confronted by Yueying and her Juggernauts, but despite the threat posed by the flame-spewing tanks, the elephants and the rest of the Nanman forces are able to break through Shu's defenses and slay Zhuge Liang. Afterwards, as Meng Huo and Zhurong celebrate their hard-fought victory protecting their homeland from invasion, Meng promises that with the Nanman armor troops, elephants, and tigers by his side, he will be the greatest Great King of Nanman of all.

Although elephants make a return appearance in the ninth installment of the series, they are rarely seen in Nanzhong, with only a few seen in the Nanman capital of Jianning in southwestern China. The only way to acquire one is through the use of the large box traps and capture bait, due to being friendly to playable characters, so tranquilizer arrows won't work on them, and even then, it is a matter of luck if an elephant falls for the trap or not. If one is captured, it can be used in battle alongside the player. The elephant comes with the skill "Headlong Rush" that allows it to straight-up face the enemy and rush in to attack them. It can be of three types: Power, Defense, or Stamina, just like with Bears, Tigers, and Wolves, with a random starting stat in health, attack, and defense, and gains experience as it is used in battle. It can also be sold to acquire the item "Elephant's Delicacy" that can be traded for upgrade points for use on making the elephants the player keeps stronger, and more gold can be earned for selling a high-level elephant that has been used in battle often by the player.