Liu Yao

Liu Yao (onyomi: Ryū Yō) is the governor of Yang Province and Liu Dai's brother. He once employed Taishi Ci as one of his vassals, and was friends with him, but did not use him to his fullest potential as he feared people may suspect him of favoritism. Despite being a highly successful civil administrator, his incompetent military skill led to his defeat against Sun Ce, and Liu Yao fled to Yuzhang.

Role in Games
In the Dynasty Warriors series, Liu Yao mainly appears as the or one of the enemy commanders at Wu Territory. In some games, he may flee when Sun Ce's forces approach his castle and leave the battle to Taishi Ci. In Dynasty Warriors 6, he will also oppose Lu Bu in his story at Shi Ting, but is defeated and begs for mercy. He is ultimately slain alongside the other warlords at Hu Lao Gate. The third chapter of Dynasty Warriors Next has Liu Yao appear as Sun Ce's first adversary. His attempts to thwart the enemy's advance with ambushes are single-handedly derailed by their leader. Left with no other option, he coerces Taishi Ci to lead the troops on his behalf before retreating.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he is an average officer who rules over Jianye in the third scenario. His force is usually quickly conquered by Sun Ce. His best stat is his politics stat, his other stats, however, fall low in comparison.

Quotes

 * "How could I allow a young fool like Sun Ce to take the land of Wu?"
 * "We must stand together against Lu Bu! Move in tandem and surround him!"
 * "We cannot allow them to beat us! Call for aid! We must drive Lu Bu away!"

Historical Information
Liu Yao was born in Donglai County of Qing Province. He was a member of the imperial family, his uncle being Grand Commandant Liu Chong and his older brother being Liu Dai, the Inspector of Yan Province. At the age of 19, he accompanied his father Liu Wei in subduing some bandits and was recommended as Xiaolian. He was appointed Gentleman of the Palace and, due to being a good administrator, became the Inspector of Yang Province later. At that time, Yuan Shu had built a power base in Huainan and Liu Yao feared him so much that he would not dare to exercise his authority over him.

Eventually, Liu Yao wished to conquer the commanderies of Danyang and Qu'a, which were held by Yuan Shu's generals Wu Jing and Sun Ben respectively. This caused Yuan Shu to lead a campaign against Liu Yao. Liu Yao ordered his officers Zhang Ying and Fan Neng to block Yuan Shu's advance, which was successful until Yuan Shu sent Sun Ce to deal with them. The resistance was quickly broken and Liu Yao retreated to Huiji. There, he sent Zhang Ying north again to hold the river and Ze Rong to kill the Grand Administrator Zhu Hao. Ze Rong, however, was defeated and killed. Liu Yao declared himself Grand Administrator of Danyang and died shortly afterwards of illness.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
During the events of the novel, Liu Yao sent Taishi Ci to aid Liu Bei and Kong Rong in their conflict against the Yellow Turbans. In chapter 15, he constantly battled Sun Ce, but his officers suffered many defeats when he refused to appoint Taishi Ci as his commander. Finally, at Niuzhu, Liu Yao joined with Ze Ron to lead a final assault on Sun Ce, but his generals Yu Mi and Fan Neng were quickly slain and the battle lost. Liu Yao fled to Yuzhang, where he tried to seek shelter under Liu Biao, but died shortly afterwards.