Xingcai

Xingcai (星彩, onyomi: Seisai) is an original character who debuted in Dynasty Warriors 5. She is a fictional interpretation of Zhangshi and her younger sister Empress Zhang, who was wife of Liu Shan and youngest daughter of Zhang Fei, making her Xiahouji's daughter and Zhang Bao's sister. Together with her childhood friend, Guan Ping, she is portrayed as the future of Shu. She was one of the newcomers to be cut in the following title but returned in Dynasty Warriors 7.

Gamecity's Dynasty Warriors 7 character popularity poll has her at fifteenth place; she placed twenty-fourth in the Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends popularity poll. In Famitsu's character survey, she placed ninth in the girlfriend category. The latest poll for the eighth installment puts her in thirty-fifth. The character poll for overseas fans puts her in sixth place for the Shu division. She has a character image song, Shining Star.

Before 2012, Koei titles separated the Chinese characters for her character's name and called her "Xing Cai". Her given name is now properly localized in the games.

Role in Games

 * "You are an inspiration to women everywhere!"
 * Oichi; Warriors Orochi

Dynasty Warriors
Wanting to protect her homeland, Xing Cai decides to join the Shu army. She starts as a novice at the battle of Cheng Du and is taught how to fight by warriors matching the might of her father. She learns quickly and is compared to another young warrior who also grew in ranks, Guan Ping. Her vigor in battle earns Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's trust. Once her father, Guan Yu and Guan Ping lose their lives at Fan Castle, she is entrusted to guard Liu Bei at Yi Ling. By then, she is seen as an accomplished warrior and her lord gives her his final wish to safely guard Liu Shan. With the future of her home on her shoulders, she is one of the last hopes for Shu against Wei and Wu. At the battle of Bai Di Castle, Xing Cai fiercely guards the castle's southern gate along with Zhang Bao. In her ending, she continues to serve Liu Shan and acts as his personal training instructor.

She shares her Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends with Guan Yu and Guan Ping. Seeing her allies heavily surrounded at Mai Castle, she cuts open a path through the Wu and Wei armies to rescue them. Lu Xun and several other generals attempt to obstruct her path. If she chooses to open a path for the reinforcements, Zhang Bao will appear. When she reunites with her childhood friend, they are relieved to see one another safe and invoke hope in one another. Lu Meng and Cao Ren planned to trap the Shu army in a pincer, but Xing Cai's intervention changed their plans and results in the former's death. After the battle's conclusion, she is glad to see her comrades safe for future battles to come.

Xing Cai's ending scene in Dynasty Warriors: Online has the player find her lying on the grass stargazing as their comrades celebrate their recent victory with drinks. Content to watch the stars on her own, she is surprised yet glad to see her companion doing the same.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, she is briefly mentioned as "the daughter of Zhang Fei" who is reported to be marching against Lu Bu in his ending.

During Shu's Story Mode in the Dynasty Warriors 7, Xing Cai makes a minor appearance at Tianshui. Players will see her appear frequently as an opponent of Wei during Jin's Story Mode. Like the other defenders for Shu, Xing Cai dies during their final stand at Chengdu.

For her first Legendary Battle, she and other young warriors test their mettle against generals from the previous generation (Zhao Yun and others). Her secondary Legendary Battle takes place after Liu Bei's death with Shu planning to eradicate Wu to avenge her father and Guan Yu's deaths. As Wu falls, Wei becomes their next target for unification in her third Legendary Battle. Upon their victory, Liu Shan swears to usher in an age of absolute virtue.

The Xtreme Legends expansion adds a Hero Scenario for her in which she assists Jiang Wei's plan to attack Guanzhong. They desire to take the fortification away from Deng Ai's forces. Heavily overwhelmed, the Shu forces push from the south to take the fortification. The Qiang people, who are discontent with the thought of being used by Jiang Wei, rebel to take the ally main camp. To complicate their siege, Deng Ai orders archers to shoot at the invaders in the east and sends fire breathing contraptions to confuse western invaders. Xing Cai's objective is to defeat Deng Ai, Sima Zhao, and Wang Yuanji in order to claim victory. Due to the stress on their troops, Jiang Wei calls off further plans for invasion.

After the battle, Xing Cai is seen back in Shu angrily searching for the absent Liu Shan. He is supposed to be attending to matters regarding the state. When she finds him, she is pleasantly surprised to see him practicing his fencing in secret. Regardless of her feelings, she forces a reluctant Liu Shan to attend to his duties in office.

Xingcai makes her appearance late in Dynasty Warriors Next during the final chapters of each kingdom. Shu's last scenario has her participate in the subjugation of Nanzhong and Xuchang alongside her father. She is seen with Liu Shan in their faction's ending as they walk underneath the peach blossoms side by side. During Jin's chapter, she personally leads Chengdu's last line of defense when the Sima clan have taken the rest of their remaining bases.

In the Dynasty Warriors 8, Xingcai fights at Tianshui as she accompanies Liu Shan. At Chencang, she can only look in grief as her brother dies in Guan Xing's arms. Xingcai then fights in the Wuzhang Plains and continues her service under Liu Shan. In Shu's hypothetical route, she accompanies Zhuge Liang to Lukou and fights the Wu forces.

During Jin's historical route, she collapses from her wounds during Shu's final stand at Chengdu, prompting an enraged Liu Shan to order her taken from the battlefield for safety. In Jin's Hypothetical route, she participates in the defense of Chengdu against Sima Shi, and must be defeated before the player can face Liu Shan. Unlike most of Shu's second generation officers, she refuses to join Jiang Wei's rebellion against Wei, presumably due to her bond with Liu Shan, who had agreed to become a vassal under Wei. As a result, she is one of the few Shu officers who is still alive following Jin and Jiang Wei's final battle at Chibi.

In the Xtreme Legends expansion she is playable in three of Shu's hypothetical stages. The first one has Xingcai assist Fa Zheng's strategy to rescue Liu Bei at Mt. Dingjun. The second has her join the defense against Sun Quan's army at Yong'an, while Zhuge Liang is away. The third one shows Xingcai tagging alongside Guan Yinping and Bao Sanniang to find Red Hare.

Dynasty Warriors: Unleashed has Xingcai spend quality time with Zhao Yun and Liu Shan during her bond stories. Having been taught the story of Goujian by Zhao Yun during their training sessions, she hopes to one day emulate both her mentor and father by taking up the polearm as a weapon, though the former thinks his student is better off wielding the sword and shield due to her protective nature.

Although content with her marriage to Liu Shan, Xingcai finds herself consumed with vengeance towards her father's killers and seeks revenge against them. She is dissuaded of this notion by Liu Shan who reminds her of happier times like when they used to catch frogs as children. In return for comforting her, she later encourages her husband to open up his doubts to Zhao Yun so that he won't feel burdened with the weight of his inheritance.

Dynasty Warriors 9 has her begin her service to Shu alongside her brother Zhang Bao at Chengdu, where they help keep the peace after Liu Bei conquers it. She aids Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng's campaign of Hanzhong, but the victory at Hanzhong comes at the cost of Guan Yu being surrounded and killed by the Wei and Wu forces at Fan Castle in Jing Province, along with Guan Ping and Zhou Cang, with Guan Xing, Guan Suo, and Guan Yinping escaping safely back to Chengdu to break the bad news to Liu Bei. Her father soon falls deeper into alcohol and eventually manages to convince their lord to lead a punitive expedition on Wu.

She, like the rest of her family, attend Zhang Fei's banquet to celebrate the announcement of the expedition, but grows concerned over her father's more volatile nature as of late. Unknown to them, Zhang Fei would be murdered behind their backs, with the killers fleeing to Wu. Xingcai initially helps in the lead up to the battle at Yiling, but Lu Xun's fire attack immediately forces them to flee back, and Liu Bei dies filled with regret for foregoing virtue in pursuit of vengeance.

Liu Shan's beginning as Shu's emperor is greeted by Cao Pi, who leads five armies to simultaneously attack Shu. Helping Zhuge Liang's plots, Xingcai and the others successfully defend their home, and later accompany Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns. The strategist's illness, however, soon overtakes him and he dies at the campaign at the Wuzhang Plains, leaving control of Shu's military division to Jiang Wei.

As Jiang Wei soon launches failed campaign after failed campaign with Mt. Xingshi, Mt. Tielong, Duangu, and Taoyang against Wei, Xingcai notices her lord's growing frustrations with the results and sympathizes with how they seem to be waging war incessantly and against their values of peace. Nonetheless, she provides aid to Jiang Wei's northern campaigns, but the conflict between the commander and the civil faction of Huang Hao eventually leads to Wei launching their campaign on Shu after all its resources had been exhausted and they can no longer support their war effort or their defensive lines.

Despite pushing the assault force at Chengdu back, Liu Shan, having had enough of the fighting, ultimately opts to surrender to Sima Zhao. Xingcai, having survived the conflict, accompanies Liu Shan's relocation to Luoyang under escort from Sima Zhao, Wang Yuanji, and Jia Chong. Although feeling homesick, the wars for Liu Shan and Xingcai finally end and they are able to live in peace within Wei's conquered lands. Seeing that he is no longer a ruler and of importance, Liu Shan dismisses Xingcai from her duties and has her travel around the land, promising to wait for her when she finally returns.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi, Xing Cai leads an anti-Orochi resistance at Odani Castle. Defending the castle's main keep, she tried to utilize Gan Ning and Ling Tong's talents to assist her. However, the former pirate grew sick of listening to her and did as he pleased. Due to Sakon's plot, the castle's defenses are breached when the wall of the central garrison is blown apart. She leads a final charge yet is defeated by Sun Ce's army. She makes her appearance in Shu's story as one of the three warriors who help Zhao Yun escape from Ueda Castle.

In Warriors Orochi 2, her first battle is the Battle of Wuhang Mountains where she and Ina are asked to lead reconnaissance troops. During their expedition, they notice flags they have never seen before and a carriage with a single flag. The flag's insignia is soon identified to belong to Mitsuhide, and the two women hurry to rescue him and Gracia from being taken away by Sun Wukong's troops. Xing Cai stands as the resilient defense along the eastern flank to cover the army's rescue effort.

She teams up with the unlikely duo, Yoshimoto and Ginchiyo, for their dream mode to rescue Yuan Shao's struggling army from Dong Zhuo at Chencang. Xing Cai personally urges Nagamasa to keep up the fight.

During Musou OROCHI Z or PSP version of Warriors Orochi 2, she is given a new dream stage with Gracia and Da Ji, where she and the other female warriors prove their worth against the men of the world at Shizugatake.

Xingcai was one of Liu Shan's steadfast traveling companions in Warriors Orochi 3. At one point in their travels, her party was overwhelmed by the serpent army and Xingcai is taken prisoner. She remains held hostage at Xuchang until Nagamasa and company rescue her from Dong Zhuo. She mainly protects and supports Liu Shan in his stage appearances after they join the coalition.

Concerned for the well being of her other friends, however, Xingcai pardons herself from her lord's side once she realizes no one knows Guan Ping's whereabouts. Regretting her failure to discourage him from leaving Shu, Xingcai leads a team to travel back in time to the last place she remembers seeing him alive to convince the young warrior to stay. She also assists the search for Ina.

"Best of Both Worlds" has Xingcai and her sword-and-shield wielding teammates join forces in a mock battle against her father. She loses her temper when Zhang Fei insults their weaponry at the start of the map and demands recognition from him after his defeat. Xingcai and Liu Shan are one of the bickering couples in "Domestic Disputes", as she patronizes stick to his training; she eventually fights by his side in the stage. "The Search for Liu Shan" has Xingcai chase down Liu Shan for shirking her training regimen, eventually having to save him from Da Ji.

In Ultimate, Xingcai is one of the Shu officers sent to confront the Oda at Honnōji upon hearing of their supposed alliance with Da Ji from Jiang Wei. After subduing Nobunaga, the real Jiang Wei arrives to clear up the misunderstanding which convinces both armies to strengthen their ties.

Xingcai was a part of Liu Shan's party in Warriors Orochi 4 when the prince was captured and imprisoned by Athena. Unlike the rest, Xingcai helps act as one of Liu Shan's prison guards at Ōdani Castle. When the Coalition is tipped off to Liu Shan's imprisonment, they send their ninja unit, accompanied by Bao Sanniang, to try and rescue the prince while the main army is creating a diversion at Sekigahara.

Xingcai attempts to initially fight back against the Coalition, but is eventually convinced by Bao Sanniang to join their rescue attempt. She and Liu Shan join the Coalition after his liberation and immediately make for Sekigahara, where they are able to convince Zhao Yun and the other officers to defect to the Coalition as well. She, Guan Suo and Pang Tong later accompany the mystics back into their realm, where they find Athena fighting against demons.

Eventually, Da Ji appears alongside the resurrected Orochi X, and Xingcai helps the mystic army escape the onslaught.

Development
When asked why she has an affinity with Guan Ping, the producer stated that Guan Ping and Xingcai are sparring partners. Though it would be natural to think Guan Ping would prefer to train with his father, the developers thought it best to introduce someone on the same level as the young warrior. Therefore, Xingcai was added to the cast.

Personality
Xingcai is a mentally resilient woman who bears the responsibility of enduring several hardships. While many worry for her safety, her strong determination prevents her from depending too much on them. She is a calm and collected warrior, more so in her overseas appearance than her English counterpart. Though described as one who doesn't display much emotion, she is passionate for guarding the safety of her home. She acts passively to her father's concerns and expresses filial respect for him by keeping true to her duties as a warrior.

Her relationship with Guan Ping can be interpreted as close comradeship or a platonic romance. Both warriors are the same age, act very respectful to one another, and share similar responsibilities to their country. Their ideals on the field occasionally clash with one another and they are prone to minor bickering. At one point Guan Suo tells Xingcai that Guan Ping is attracted to her; Xingcai acts unresponsive. Their relationship is toned down to be reliable comrades in arms for the seventh title.

She also has a strong bond with Liu Shan. Being his personal bodyguard in the fifth title, she is dedicated to watching over him and helping him with his combat training. She is hinted to have a deeper connection with him in Dynasty Warriors 7 since she places faith in his qualities as a person and does not hesitate to scold him should he shirk his duties from time to time. Unlike the ambiguity that surrounds Xingcai's reactions for her father or Guan Ping, she openly expresses her fondness and respect for Liu Shan. She also acts bashful whenever Jiang Wei mentions her actions in battle will please their ruler. In the ninth title, she, alone, is able to sense her lord's pain regarding Shu's eventual ruin and disillusionment.

In the Warriors Orochi series, she shares special conversations with Nuwa, Benkei, Keiji, Oichi, Magoichi, Hanzo Hattori, Yoshimoto, Ginchiyo, and Ina. Her respect for the lady archer is emphasized in later titles as they both share the same devotion for their respective lords and fathers. In the fourth installment, her stiff nature is repeatedly poked at by Kunoichi. She respects Zhou Tai's commitment to his duty in spite of how their respective loved ones are too problematic on occasion.

Character Symbolism
Her name literally means "star color/rainbow" or "star glory". The original name for her third weapon can be translated as halation or halo, specifically referring to the ring of light that can occasionally be seen surrounding the sun on a cloudy day. Xing Cai's fourth weapon literally translates to Luminous Heaven and may have been created to contrast the meaning of her name.

As a dominant ruler in Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires, she and Zhen Ji call their five greatest warriors the "Five Grand Generals".

Voice Actors

 * Junko Noda - Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Carrie Savage - Dynasty Warriors 5 (English-uncredited)
 * Rhee Hyeon Jin - Dynasty Warriors 5 (Korean)
 * Wendee Lee - Dynasty Warriors 7~8, Warriors Orochi 1~2 (English-uncredited)
 * Rachel Delante - Dynasty Warriors 9 (English)
 * T.K. - Dynasty Warriors 9 (Chinese)
 * Yeo Min Jeong - Dynasty Warriors: Unleashed (Korean)

Quotes

 * See also: Xingcai/Quotes


 * "I can't lose. Not with the whole kingdom depending on me."
 * "This road is for dead men only, none alive shall pass."
 * "Liu Shan is a kind and benevolent leader. Those who call him feeble minded simply don't know him like I do."
 * "I don't care who the enemy is. I will do what I have to in order to protect Lord Liu Shan."


 * "I hope you're ready to fight to the death, little lady!"
 * "Of course! Duty before all else."
 * Huang Zhong and Xing Cai; Dynasty Warriors 5


 * "I know you're almost a woman now. I'm sure lots of guys must be giving you trouble."
 * "Well, everyone knows I'm your daughter, so..."
 * "Great! So they know I'll crush any idiot that bothers you!"
 * "Yes, Father... I kind of wish you wouldn't, though."
 * Zhang Fei and Xing Cai; Dynasty Warriors 7


 * "Ugh... You're so serious. You remind me of somebody..."
 * "Be quiet. I don't have time for your wisecracks right now."
 * Sima Zhao and Xing Cai; Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends


 * "Xingcai! Nanzhong sure is hot... It's going to be tough dressed like this..."
 * "I'm fine. Besides, it's better to dress this way so we can avoid direct contact with sunlight."
 * "I see! Yeah, that makes sense..."
 * Guan Ping and Xingcai; Dynasty Warriors 8


 * "Hello there, pretty lady. What's your name?"
 * "All you need to know, is that I'm way out of your league!"
 * "Yoww... Are all the women of Shu like this?"
 * Magoichi and Xing Cai; Warriors Orochi


 * "My thanks! I pledge my lance in support of your cause."
 * "Anyone can say such words. It is action that counts."
 * Nagamasa and Xing Cai; Warriors Orochi 2


 * "Your father is so openhearted and so cheerful, Xingcai. I'm a little jealous of you..."
 * "But Master Tadakatsu is so imposing! He never loses himself in wine, either. I think he is a wonderful father."
 * "Say, Xingcai. Why don't we swap fathers? Just for a little while."
 * Ina and Xingcai; Warriors Orochi 3


 * "You're so strong and brave and beautiful, Xingcai, it really is so wonderful to be able to fight alongside you."
 * "Is that right...?"
 * "Hey, that's not much of a reaction."
 * "When you speak like that, you don't really mean what you say. You told me as much before."
 * "But that doesn't mean I'm lying."
 * "You praise me and make me feel better, all so that you can take it easy in the next battle. Am I about right?"
 * "Uh-oh... You saw right through me."
 * "But I am still so glad to be able to fight with you. When you are beside me, I feel totally confident."
 * "...Hey, that's a little unfair. I mean, what I said before wasn't really untrue... I did actually kind of mean it, you know."
 * "Did you...? That's nice."
 * "And now you just laugh it off. You really are too tricky for me."
 * Kunoichi and Xingcai; Warriors Orochi 4

Gameplay

 * See also: Xingcai/Movesets

Weapons

 * See also: Xingcai/Weapons

Dynasty Warriors 8
Xingcai still uses the sword and shield as her default weapon in this title.