Tadun

Tadun (onyomi: Tōton) is the leader of the Wuhuan tribes. An ally of Yuan Shao and his sons, he took up arms against Gongsun Zan, cementing their alliance, and the Wuhuan cavalry was praised as "Greatest cavalry under heaven". When Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shao's sons at Hebei, Tadun retaliated by quickly mustering up his soldiers, but he was slain in the ensuing battle by Cao Chun in history, and Zhang Liao according to the novel. Tadun's devastating defeat eventually led to the demise of the Wuhuan tribes.

Role in Games
Tadun appears during Wei's story at Liyang in Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, having isolated Cao Cao from the main unit, forcing the rest of the warlord's troops to find a hidden path to rescue him. If Cao Cao is not rescued in time, Tadun will kill the warlord, and the battle ends in defeat.

In Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends, Tadun appears in Guo Jia's Hero scenario against the Yuan family. He is among the Wuhuan officers who protect Yuan Xi at the southern mountain.

Tadun also appears in Dynasty Warriors 8. At the Battle of Mt. Bailang, he arrives with other Wuhuan generals as reinforcements for the allied forces in the northwest after Yuan Xi is killed. Guo Jia will then move to defeat them. Protecting Guo Jia during this fight and defeating Tadun and his generals is the requirement for the star objective.

Tadun is an officer in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He is usually given high leadership and war stats, with his other stats being considerably lower. While appearing as a free officer in the previous games, Tadun is an unplayable special officer in Sangokushi 12, often acting as the leader of the Wuhuan tribe in the north.

Historical Information
Tadun was the nephew of Qiuliju, the Wuhuan chieftain during the 190's. When Qiuliju died, his son Louban was too young to rule, so Tadun came into power. He quickly established his authority over the remaining Wuhuan chiefs and allied himself with the warlord Yuan Shao. After participating in defeating Gongsun Zan, Tadun and the other Wuhuan chiefs were rewarded with ribbons and imperial seals. A short time later, Louban came to age and was appointed as another Wuhuan chief, while Tadun was given command of the Liaoxi area in You Province.

During the reign of Tadun, the Wuhuan became very close to Yuan Shao, serving him as horsemen mercenaries while the chiefs married the daughters of some of Yuan Shao's vassals. Yuan Shao often sent them to pillage other territories within Han territory and they captured many people. When Yuan Shao died in 202, Tadun and the Wuhuan continued to support his youngest son and successor Yuan Shang.

During the following years, the succession war with his brother Yuan Tan allowed Cao Cao to take the opportunity to attack Hebei. Yuan Shang was defeated and forced to flee to Yuan Xi, while Yuan Tan was killed by Cao Cao in 205. In the same year, rebellions led by Xianyu Fu and others in You Province forced Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi to flee further north into Wuhuan territory. Tadun harboured the two Yuan brothers and opposed Cao Cao. Cao Cao was advised by his strategist Guo Jia to attack the Wuhuan. Tadun and his allies, although spotting the attack only late, were able to muster up thousands of cavalry to fight Cao Cao. The two sides clashed at White Wolf Mountain, where the Wuhuan were defeated by Zhang Liao. Tadun himself was captured and killed during the battle by Cao Chun.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel, Tadun appears in chapter 33. He led a force of 10,000 cavalry together with Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang against Cao Cao at White Wolf Mountain. Seeing that the enemy had no military formation whatsoever, Cao Cao ordered his men to charge. During the attack, Tadun was slain by Zhang Liao and the Wuhuan forces were defeated. In chapter 40, Wang Can mentiones Tadun's defeat to Liu Cong as one of the reasons why he should surrender to Cao Cao.