Ma Su

Ma Su is an officer of Shu who served Liu Bei. His talents were admired by Zhuge Liang, but Liu Bei did not approve of Ma Su and warned that he not be highly praised. In modern times, he is considered the youngest of the Five Changs in the Ma family (the others including Ma Liang and his older brothers), individuals who shared the chang (常) in their names and were talented intellectuals. He is best known for losing the battle at Jie Ting and causing Zhuge Liang to cry tears of grief when he ordered Ma Su's execution.

His height in Kessen II is 170 cm (5'7").

Roles in Games
Ma Su participates as a lesser-officer in many battles in the Dynasty Warriors series. In Dynasty Warriors 5 at the battle of Yi Ling, Ma Su, along with Wang Ping, will appear as reinforcements under Zhuge Liang, after the Wu army has succeeded in their fire attack and Liu Bei has escaped through the stone sentinel maze and arrived safely in the main camp. However, his major role comes at Jie Ting, when he leads the Shu army against the Wei army lead by Sima Yi. Similar to what occurred historically, Ma Su sets up the main camp upon a hill, allowing the Shu forces to be surrounded. The goal for the Shu army in the battle is to hold off the Wei forces and protect Ma Su until Zhuge Liang arrives with the main unit. The goal for Wei is to defeat him before the unit can arrive. In some scenarios, he will also appear at the Battle of Wu Zhang Plains.

In Kessen II, Zhuge Liang introduces him to Liu Bei after their victory at Chi Bi. Though described as fresh talent, Ma Su is skittish and his voice cracks as he talks. He starts with below average stats but may become a good magician in higher levels.

Voice Actors

 * Takehiko Watanabe - Kessen II (Japanese)
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu - Romance of the Three Kingdoms drama CD series

Quotes

 * "It's important to adjust one's strategy. Zhuge Liang will understand."
 * "The battle isn't over yet! The warriors of Shu are not so easily beaten!"

Historical Information
Ma Su (190–228) was a military general and strategist of the state of Shu Han  during the  Three Kingdoms  era of Chinese history. He was the younger brother of Ma Liang. Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang. However, a tactical blunder by Ma Su at the Battle of Jieting resulted in Shu being dealt a huge defeat by Zhang He, a general of the rival state of Wei. Though he survived the battle, Ma Su's army was nearly annihilated (Wang Ping was able to regroup some scattered forces), so he was soon arrested and was killed by Zhuge Liang as a way to soothe the mass. However, the addendum to Ma Liang's biography concerning Ma Su's death says Ma Su eventually died of illness in prison before an execution was actually carried out. Yet, another record from the biography of Xiang Lang stated that Xiang, as a close friend of Ma Su, assisted the latter in escaping by covering up Ma's jailbreak. In any case, Ma Su was deemed by Zhuge Liang as a major cause of the failure of the first northern expedition. However, Ma Su's wife and children were said to be taken good care of by Zhuge Liang after Ma's death.