Jiang Wei

Jiang Wei is a character who continued to appear in the series since his debut in Dynasty Warriors 2. He is also one of the characters cut from Dynasty Warriors 6, but he returns in Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2. Formerly a Wei soldier, he was tricked to joining Shu in order to become Zhuge Liang's successor. He eventually becomes one of the shining hopes for Shu's future.

In the Dynasty Warriors series, he is 19 years old and his height is 180 cm (approximately 5'11"). In Kessen II, his height is 175 cm (close to 5'9").

Dynasty Warriors
Jiang Wei is the son of a reputed general who excels in martial arts and scholarly studies. Originally an officer of Wei, his talents are noticed by Zhuge Liang and, impressed by the strategist's abilities, he joins Shu. He contributes greatly to Shu's later campaigns against Wei and Wu. In the newest title, Jiang Wei continues to stand by Shu after Wu Zhang Plains and loyally fights for his kingdom until his last.

His Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends is the Defense of Jian Ge, in which he needs to defend the cowardly Liu Chan from Wei's army. Fearsome generals such as Cao Ren, Xu Huang and Xu Zhu attack the Shu army. Liu Chan, who cannot stand the bloodshed and warfare any longer, flees from his home to surrender. Jiang Wei, wanting to uphold his promise to his mentor, does everything in his power to prevent this from happening by closing gates along the way. When he reaches Zhong Hui, the Wei general implores him to not throw his life away and return to Wei. Jiang Wei responds by reaffirming his loyalty for Shu and drives the opposition back.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, Jiang Wei starts his story as an officer in Wei. Since his father passed away when he was young, he spent his childhood being raised by his mother. For her sake, he joins the military but soon sees his talents unappreciated by his commanding officers. Though disappointed by Ma Zun's leadership, Jiang Wei takes part in the offensive against Zhuge Liang's army. During the battle, an impostor of Jiang Wei attacks the defending army, making Ma Zun doubt Jiang Wei's integrity and further forcing the youth to prove himself. Upon defeating the strategist, however, he grows to respect Zhuge Liang's faith in him and joins Shu. As his protege, he tries to prove his worth against Sima Yi's tactics. While Zhuge Liang is busy with preparing for the final battle of the Northern Campaign, Jiang Wei leads a decisive victory against Wu at Bai Di Castle. He continues to lead the Shu army after his mentor's passing, successfully unifying the land under Shu. He acts as Liu Chan's advisory after the battle, wielding Zhuge Liang's fan as a keepsake.

He shares his Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends with Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan at the Battle of Mt. Qi. During Shu's Northern Campaign, Zhuge Liang surprisingly orders a retreat from the mountain. In Jiang Wei's version of the stage, he assists the Prime Minister's strategy by luring the three advance troops towards the mountain. Once three Wei generals hold their positions, Shu's army feigns a retreat but Jiang Wei remains on the field. If he successfully hides his presence from Wei's scouts, the Shu army reappears on the field and launches an ambush from three points on the map. They can easily entice Zhang He forward and cause the general's demise. Should Jiang Wei be spotted, Sima Yi catches onto the ruse and the Shu army will need to issue a real retreat due to lack of supplies. Jiang Wei will then fight the entire Wei army by himself.

Warriors Orochi
Jiang Wei is one of the many who opposes the Orochi forces in Warriors Orochi. He previously joined the resistance lead by Ma Chao and fought against the army lead by Sun Ce. After this he is surrounded by the serpent army at Nanzhong. With Yoshihiro's aid, they successfully trap the officers leading the frontal assault and demoralize the Orochi army. Grateful for his ally's assistance, he joins Zhao Yun's army.

In Warriors Orochi 2, he leaves Shu to test himself and finds service under Yuan Shao. When Zhang He attacks Yuan Shao at Shizugatake, Jiang Wei is given the chance to test his mettle. They soon realize that his sons are fighting amongst one another and Yuan Shao entrusts Jiang Wei with a letter to clear the struggle. When the Shu officer is caught, he defects to Wei and convinces Yuan Xi to join him. At Yamatai, he and Toshiie attempt to locate and capture Da Ji and Himiko. However, they were unaware of Da Ji's well prepared defenses. However, they are given aid by Nagamasa and his allies, the Asakura. In the end, Himiko escapes but they capture Da Ji.

He shares his dream stage with two other young strategists, Lu Xun and Sakon, as they strive to prove themselves to their masters. Jiang Wei sees through Zhuge Liang's ambush and counters by using the area for his own purposes. Feigning an all out offensive, he tricks his master to run into his trap. Impressed, Zhuge Liang praises that his student finally surpassed him.

Kessen
In Kessen II, Jiang Wei is a young man who wishes to fight with Liu Bei. He is a man of simple origin and appears when Zhao Yun returns to Shu. His defeated quote implies that he greatly respects Zhuge Liang, but this isn't expanded on in the game's story. He rides into battle as reinforcements and continues to serve Liu Bei from then on. He serves as a political adviser and fights with a volunteer army consisting of men from Tian Shui. He is good with both magic and warfare, making him one of the more balanced units in battle.

Personality
Steadfast and a bit hot-blooded, Jiang Wei is a formal perfectionist who strives to always act his best. Lionizing Zhuge Liang as "Prime Minister", he hopes to someday make his mentor proud. Though competent in war and strategies, he suffers from a slight inferiority complex when he experiences failure and is known for profusely apologizing to Zhuge Liang when this occurs. However, these setbacks do not completely dwarf his spirit and he is always eager to learn from his mistakes. He is depicted as a bud of fresh talent; depending on the scenario, he is either too green to overstep his idol's shadow or is more than capable of leading Shu after Zhuge Liang's death.

A faithful student to his mentor, he sometimes forgets his composure and zealously shouts his defense for Zhuge Liang if someone berates him. Zhuge Liang, though appreciating his enthusiasm, may chide him to restrain himself. Aside from the Prime Minister, Jiang Wei is respectful towards his other allies in Shu, addressing them with the terms "master" or "lady". His politeness carries into the Warriors Orochi series, wherein he additionally praises Nagamasa, Ranmaru, and Mitsunari.

Since he takes his mentor's place in the later battles of the era, he is often a rival to Sima Yi as they clash wits at Wu Zhang Plains. Dynasty Warriors 5 and its spin-offs imply a minor rivalry between him and Lu Xun, the former mainly denouncing the latter's "mistaken" reputation. Within the Warriors Orochi series, he treats Sakon, Ieyasu, and Taigong Wang as his cross universe rivals.

Character Symbolism
Jiang Wei's weapon of choice for his older appearances is the same weapon for a character who appears within Journey to the West and Fengshen Yanyi, Erlang Shen (known as Yang Jian in the latter source). It is a type of heavy spear also called the Three Point Double Edge Blade or the literal alternative, the Second Son Saber.

The original name for his Level 11 weapon is either a reference to the Four Divine Beast of the Constellations or the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. In the latter case, the truths is a type of philosophy for meeting, identifying, confronting, and eliminating suffering in life. These four truths are sometimes categorized with aging, life, illness, and death. To live is to suffer; to experience and accept suffering is a part of life. The second part of his weapon's name implies that the victim of his swings will feel the sensations of all four entities/events within an instant.

His third and fourth weapons possibly alludes to one of Zhuge Liang's famous nicknames. Within Chinese legends, a dragon was said to hide a treasured gem within its mouth. If his mentor is the "Sleeping Dragon", then Jiang Wei is its treasure -or in this case, jaw.

Voice Actors

 * Richard Cansino - Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires (English)
 * Joshua Seth - Dynasty Warriors 5, Kessen II (English)
 * Darrel Guilbeau - Dynasty Warriors 7, Warriors Orochi series (English)
 * O In-Seong - Dynasty Warriors 2 (Korean)
 * An Yong-uk - Dynasty Warriors 3 (Korean)
 * Bang Seong Joon - Dynasty Warriors 4~5 (Korean)
 * Hisayoshi Suganuma - Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Yōko Iwasaki - Kessen II (Japanese)
 * Yasunori Masutani - Sangokushi Koumeiden
 * Ryō Horikawa - Romance of the Three Kingdoms drama CD series

Quotes

 * See also: Jiang Wei/Quotes


 * "I will risk everything and vanquish you, Serpent King!"
 * "Jiang Wei is here!"

Ground Moveset

 * undefined: Releases a fire orb that explodes after a few seconds.
 * , undefined: An upward strike that knocks enemies into the air.
 * ,, undefined (undefined, undefined, undefined): Slices forwards and then reverses with the blunt end, ended with a spin and lash with the spear.
 * ,, , undefined: Holds his spear forward and pushes forward using it like a bar.
 * ,, , , undefined: Slashes upwards releasing a small white tornado that knocks enemies upwards.
 * ,, , , , undefined: Dashes forwards lancing opponent, then turns around and makes a huge slash.
 * Holds spear diagonally down then start spinning
 * , : Jump, then a wide swipe downwards.
 * , undefined: Jiang Wei jumps, followed by multiple thrusts downwards while hovering in the air.

Horse Moveset

 * undefined: Jiang Wei leans to each side, and swings his weapon to each side.
 * ,, , , , : Three attacks to the right side, three to the left.
 * Repeating slashes to all sides as the Musou gauge empties.


 * Warriors Orochi
 * ,: An airdash that makes him temporarily invincible. Jiang Wei rolls forward.
 * R1: Using some musou, he rapidly thrusts his spear forward, casting a spell that emits a wave of lightning bolts in front of him.
 * direction + R1: Quick spinning kick to his front. Unblockable.

Dynasty Warriors 7
Jiang Wei is affiliated with the spear in this appearance. When he is equipped with it, he can perform a unique attack exclusive to him. When he performs his musous, he will automatically use the weapon in his attacks.


 * EX Attack: ,,undefined,undefined: Spins a couple times with his spear and does a powerful slash charged with lightning.
 * Musou 1: : Jiang Wei pushes the butt of his spear into an enemy. If it connects, he rushes forward, pushing the the victim along the way, hits him/her into the air with the tip of the spear, then slams the victim back onto the ground complete with a lightning bolt.
 * Musou 2:, R1 + : Throws the spear into the ground while airbourne, hitting enemies with a lightning bolt.

Fighting Style
In Dynasty Warriors 4 and onward, Jiang Wei is an exellent beginner character and is good in many situations. His C3 is one of the best crowd-clearing attacks in the series, and is good at opening certain defenses. His second special in Warriors Orochi can be considered cheap, since it's a fast attack that is unblockable and costs little to no musou. One of his only weaknesses is that musou is hard to aim fully, but gets easier with each installment.

Weapons

 * See also: Jiang Wei/Weapons

How to Obtain Blink

 * Stage: Battle of Tian Shui (Wei)
 * Location: In the route leading west of the castle.
 * Requirements: Defeat the reinforcement general, Gao Xiong.
 * Strategy: When the battle starts, there will be two bases under attack, do not go save them. A fake Jiang Wei will appear and the commander will be suspicious. Later, the commander will try to escape by going to the Northeast corner of the map. Gao Xiong appears. Slay him.

Historical Information
Jiang Wei was born during the late Han Dynasty and was from Tianshui Commandery. His father Jiang Jiong (姜冏) was a military officer who was killed in battle during a Qiang rebellion, early in Jiang Wei's life. Because of what happened to his father, Jiang Wei became a military officer himself for Cao Wei, Han's successor state.

For reasons unknown, when Liu Shan's regent Zhuge Liang had his first northern expedition in 228, Jiang Wei's commanding officer suspected him of secretly wishing to join Zhuge Liang, and once, when Jiang Wei was outside the city walls with his troops, they closed the city gates and would not allow Jiang Wei to re-enter. Jiang Wei was forced to indeed defect to Zhuge's army, leaving his mother in Cao Wei. Even though Jiang Wei hadn't shown his military skills on the battlefield, he had already been praised by Zhuge Liang as a capable officer, and was quickly made Zhuge's leading officer at the age of 27, probably out of political consideration.

After Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Jiang Wan succeeded him as regent. He continued to value Jiang Wei's understanding of, and connections in the Liang Province, and he commissioned Jiang Wei with the title of the governor of Liang Province (涼州, modern Gansu), which Shu Han did not control, but effectively giving Jiang Wei the authority over the northwestern border. After Jiang Wan's death in 245, Fei Yi succeeded him and made Jiang Wei his chief assistant.

Jiang had constantly desired to revive Zhuge Liang's strategy of actively waging wars against Cao Wei, but Fei disagreed, because the resources put into large-scaled wars had already been too much. Instead, Fei kept Jiang Wei on a short leash, and authorized the latter to lead a detachment of 10,000 troops to harass Cao Wei's border. Jiang appeared to be fairly effective under Fei's command, and was successful in persuading a number of non-Han tribes to resist Wei.

After Fei Yi's assassination in 253, Jiang took over Fei's position, making him the head of the army -- but unlike his deceased supervisor, his influence on domestic matters was limited, as those matters appeared to be dominated by Liu Shan's trusted eunuch Huang Hao, and Zhuge Liang's son, Zhuge Zhan. Jiang Wei, however, was the supreme authority in military matters. Jiang Wei attempted to weaken Wei, however, there was dissension within the highest ranked officials, because both Zhuge Zhan and Huang Hao feared Jiang Wei would use the military campaigns as a mean to increase his personal influence. Besides the political hinder, several generals also pointed out the strategic shortcomings of waging wars against a stronger state. Thus, Jiang Wei's northern expeditions faced opposition from within the Kingdom of Shu.

Ignoring the oppositions, Jiang Wei immediately revived Zhuge Liang's northern strategy after he gained full control of the army, and in 253 he set up a coordinated effort with Eastern Wu's regent Zhuge Ke to attack Cao Wei on two fronts -- Shu Han on the west and Eastern Wu on the east. Jiang Wei attacked the border city of Didao (狄道, in modern Dingxi, Gansu) as Zhuge Ke launched a massive attack on Hefei. Cao Wei's regent Sima Shi correctly judged the Wu force to be the more serious threat and personally led the main Cao Wei force to the eastern front while sending a smaller detachment to relieve Didao. As the first sign of what would eventually recur, Jiang, while sieging Didao, ran out of food supplies and had to withdraw. Eventually, Zhuge Ke's army suffered a great loss due to an unsuccessful long-term siege and plagues, leading to Zhuge Ke's downfall later that year.

In 254, Jiang, after Li Jian (李簡), the county magistrate of Didao secretly declared that he would defect, again advanced on Didao and took the city, but was hindered from a local resistance force led by Xu Zhi (徐質). Jiang Wei kidnapped some local residents and returned back to a stronghold in Longxi, before Guo Huai arrived the battlefield.

In the summer of 255, despite the opposition from Zhang Yi (under the rationale that Shu Han could not sustain continuous campaigns against Cao Wei), Jiang again attacked Didao, and was highly successful in his initial battles against the Cao Wei Yong Province (雍州, modern Shaanxi) governor Wang Jing (王經), nearly annihilating Wang's troops. Zhang Yi again tried to persuade Jiang Wei to stop his campaign at this point, but Jiang refused. Instead, he sieged Didao again and eventually was forced to lift the siege when additional Cao Wei forces arrived under the command of Chen Tai. Jiang and Chen 's forces remained in a stalemate throughout the entire winter. In the summer of 256, as Jiang Wei shifted his strategy to advance instead on Shanggui (上邽, in modern Tianshui, Gansu), his move was anticipated by the Wei general Deng Ai, who intercepted him and dealt him a major loss -- a loss that would cause the people of Shu to begin to resent Jiang.

In 257, when Cao Wei was dealing with the rebellion of Zhuge Dan (who had anticipated an usurpation by Sima Shi's brother and successor Sima Zhao and wanted to resist it), Jiang Wei again attacked, this time advancing all the way to Mangshui (芒水, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), but could not induce Cao Wei's forces, commanded by Deng Ai and Sima Wang, to engage him in battle. After Zhuge was defeated in 258, Jiang withdrew.

In 262, Jiang Wei, despite Liao Hua's opposition, again attacked Wei, targeting Taoyang (洮陽, in modern Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Hezuo), Gansu), but was defeated by Deng Ai. He withdrew to Tazhong (沓中, also in modern Gannan), and, apprehensive that Huang Hao might take this opportunity to damage him politically, did not dare to return to the Shu Han capital Chengdu, but remained at Tazhong, perhaps to carry out one strategy that Zhuge considered late in his campaigns -- have soldiers grow wheat to use as next year's food supply. Why Jiang was particularly apprehensive of Huang at this point was that he had unsuccessfully tried to persuade Liu Shan to execute Huang Hao earlier that year, and Huang was trying to find an opportunity to replace Jiang Wei with his friend Yan Yu (閻宇).

In 258, Jiang Wei had suggested the following strategic plan be drawn up in case of a major Wei attack -- that the border cities do not try to resist, but instead have the main forces to withdraw to the mountain passes to wait for Wei forces to be worn out, and then close up their path of withdrawal. Liu Shan approved the strategy and made it the official plan to follow in case Cao Wei attacked.

Late in 262, aggravated by Jiang's constant attacks, Sima Zhao considered hiring assassins to kill Jiang Wei. At his strategists' suggestion, he decided instead to try to wipe out Shu Han once and for all, and commissioned Deng Ai and Zhong Hui to lead the Cao Wei forces against Shu Han. Jiang Wei quickly realized that Wei was about to attack and petitioned Liu Shan to send forces to block off the key passes, but Huang Hao, believing in fortunetellers, disagreed and persuaded Liu Shan to take no actions on Jiang Wei's petition.

In 263, while Jiang was still at Tazhong, the Cao Wei attack was launched. Liu Shan ordered that Jiang Wei's plan from 258 be carried out -- but much to Liu Shan's surprise, the Wei forces took no heed of Shu Han border cities at all and headed directly for the key passes. Jiang Wei quickly withdrew his forces to try to defend against the attack, and after some initial failures, was finally able to block off Zhong Hui's forces at Jiange (劍閣, in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan). Zhong Hui considered retreating, but Deng Ai led a smaller detachment through a treacherous mountain pass descending on Jiangyou (江油, in modern Mianyang, Sichuan), defeating Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan and heading directly for the Shu Han capital Chengdu. Surprised and believing that Chengdu was defenseless, Liu Shan surrendered and ordered Jiang Wei to surrender to Zhong Hui, even though Chengdu was still manned by hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Zhong Hui treated Jiang Wei with respect and quickly made him a key advisor.

Jiang Wei quickly saw that Zhong Hui had other ideas -- Zhong considered his abilities superior to all Cao Wei generals, even Sima Zhao, and wanted to overthrow Sima. Jiang Wei encouraged Zhong to rebel against Sima Zhao, and Zhong agreed. Zhong Hui first falsely reported to Sima Zhao that Deng Ai was planning a rebellion, and forged letters to and from Deng to increase the tension between Sima Zhao and Deng Ai. In early 264, Sima ordered that Zhong arrest Deng and seize his troops -- but at the same time led a force personally, heading toward Chengdu from the Cao Wei capital Luoyang. Zhong Hui, after seizing Deng Ai's troops, realized that Sima Zhao had seen through his intentions, and declared a rebellion.

Jiang Wei had other plans, however. He tried to persuade Zhong Hui to kill all of the high level Cao Wei officers, with his own plan that after Zhong did so, he would kill Zhong Hui and then all of the Wei soldiers and redeclare Shu Han's independence. He wrote letters to Liu Shan explaining his actions. Zhong Hui tentatively agreed with Jiang Wei's suggestion to kill all of the key officers, but hesitated in carrying the plan out. The plan leaked, however, and Zhong's soldiers turned against Jiang Wei led Zhong's personal guards against the rebelling soldiers, even Jiang Wei's own wife; Huan Bei (洹北)(Lady Huang) sacrfice her own life as she attempted to aid in their esacpe. but eventually Jiang, and then Zhong, were killed. As well along with his daughters and Zhong's family.