Deng Zhi


 * Warning: Contains blood, coarse language and dark themes. Read at your own Risk.

Deng Zhi (177 - 251) is an officer of Shu. He is well known for his involvement in renewing the alliance between Wu and Shu and is also the one responsible for earning Sun Quan's trust. He is often considered as a dangerous threat due to his intellect, his predictability, his creative insults and his savage words despite that he was well liked by his own men

He is the main protagonist in Episode 2 of Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines and is one of the main protagonists in Final Chapter.

Description

 * "A Strategist who's wit is as fast as his savagery. Notable for his intelligence, he would often find ways to satisfy the Shu army with his creativity"

Appearance
Deng Zhi is a young man with short brown hair, a beard that covers his entire chin, black-hazel eyes, and an athletic build. He wears are dark green

As time went on, his hair grew a bit shorter,

Personality
Deng Zhi is a calm, composed and, though it happens at times, ruthless strategist who intellect is rivaled to those of Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Shingen Takeda, Kenshin Uesugi and Hanbei Takenaka.

He also has little trust in people that are either annoyances or just pure idiots as stated in his conversation with Kai in Warriors Orochi 5 when her constant talking annoyed him, adding that Naotora's constant apologizing angered him to the point that he intentionally left her behind.

When married to Yinping, however, he has grown mellower and kinder due to her presence. Though he has retained his savagery and killer instinct, he comes to appreciate people more

He is worried about his daughter and the path she will take if he dies. His fears were proven correct when Deng Yin went on a path he and Yinping refused to allow her: Becoming a vengeful, mourning warrior. Despite this, he's at least happy that she got some form of justice given to her after Zhong Hui's rebellion.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 5, he has conversations with Guan Yinping (Like Deng), Fa Zheng, Xiahou Ba, Jia Chong,

Story
He often appears as a part of Zhuge Liang's forces in most of the latter's battles and is always involved in the Battle of Jieting, acting as Ma Su's strategist. His final appearance is during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. Afterwards, he retired and lived a happy life with Guan Yinping.

Episode 2
His story has been extended due to being the main protagonist of the main story, which takes place before the Pacification of Chengdu.

He also advised Zhuge Liang to be cautious of Wu during their alliance with them.

He was also part of the Shu reinforcements in the Battle of Fan Castle, but was too late in saving Guan Yu and Ping from the Wu/Wei alliance.

He severely criticized Liu Bei's actions against Wu and was completely against Zhang Fei bossing him around. After Liu Bei's death, Zhi offered a solution: Make amends with the Wu army.

During his visit to Wu, he, along with Lu Su, who is somehow alive, came into agreement with Sun Quan, and the Wu-Shu alliance was reformed.

In the Battle of Jieting, he and Wang Ping act as strategists for Ma Su. Despite that the both of them did well, Shu still lost, due to Ma Su camping on the hill despite that he was advised not to go there, and Zhuge Liang was forced to execute Ma Su for his failure. In spite of this, Zhi continues to provide support for Shu.

At 251 AD, Zhi, Yinping and their daughter were at peace, enjoying a cup of tea when they were under attack by Jiang Wei, who called him a traitor (In reality, Zhi left Shu on his own terms and retired from fighting). Left with little options, Zhi faces off against Wei and his small army, while ordering Yinping and his daughter to hide. Zhi fought the army off as long as he could, but was killed by a volley of arrows, caused by Wei's archers. As he laid dying, he looks at the necklace his daughter gave to him....smiling before he draws his last breath.

After his death at the hands of Jiang Wei, his daughter, Deng Yin, becomes part of the Shu army. Unbeknownst to him, however, she vows to avenge her father while looking after Liu Shan.

The Re-Do
Due to Deng's time reset, Zhi relives the events of what happened before, except this time,

Revival
Along with Sun Deng, Xiahou Mao and Tian Feng, Zhi was

Warriors Orochi
Due to the time distortion, Deng Zhi arrives to help Guan Yinping, who was about to be overwhelmed by the Orochi army.

(TO BE ADDED)

Theme Song

 * LORD OF HEAVEN - Zhi's official theme.

Voice Actors

 * Kenji Akabane - Dynasty Warriors series, Warriors Orochi 5 (Japanese)
 * Khary Payton - Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines: Episode 2, Warriors Orochi 5 (English)

Moveset
Despite being unplayable in the vanilla game, Zhi ends up receiving a shared move-set with other characters, similar to Katsuie Shibata.

Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines (Unique)

 * Triangle: Does a front kick, that stuns the enemy.
 * Square, Triangle: Throws the blade to send the enemy up in mid-air
 * Square, Square, Triangle: Does a set of rotating slashes, ending in a downward slash, stunning the enemy
 * Square, Square, Square, Triangle: Delivers a jab with his sword. He pulls the blade out, making him kick the target away.
 * Square, Square, Square, Square, Triangle: Summons a dark green blade, making the enemy go up in the air.
 * Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, Triangle: Rotates twice, delivering two shock waves in the shape of an X
 * Flow Attack - Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, Square: Inward swing to the left, diagonal-downward swing to the right, inward-crossing leftward rod swing, crossing outward swing to the right, upward scooping swing to the right, then finishes with a leaping-turning slam that emits a small quake that knocks back
 * Trigger Stun - R1 + Square: Kicks his sword away. When he grabs the sword back, the Follow up is the same as Sima Zhao, but the end has him flick his sword around, as a crowd clearer.
 * Trigger Launch - R1 + Triangle: Does a spinning crescent kick, sending the enemy straight to the air. Follow up is the same as Liu Shan, Sima Shi and Yuan Shao, only for him to descend downward with a strike, causing a shockwave.
 * Trigger Knock Down - R1 + X: Does a sweep with his sword. Follow up is the same as Sun Jian and Xiahou Dun, only for the end to have him deliver a drop kick to send the enemy flying.
 * Special Technique - Presses his foot down on the downed target, using him as a slide to drag his/her body in a straight line. Follow up is the Launch of the Rapier
 * Musou Animation - Does a set of downward slashes, in a X pattern.
 * Musou Attack: The Kick of Heaven - Zhi smirks before he plunges his sword straight into the target's stomach. As the target is stunned, his legs get covered in lighting. From there, he looks upward before delivering a lightning induced roundhouse kick, which not only stuns the target, but also clears away the soldiers.
 * Aerial Musou: Cyclone - He does a Lariat that turns into a Dark Green Tornado

Episode 2

When he finally becomes playable in this episode, he is given a new

Quotes

 * Now. It's time for me to plan out my Strategies - Character Select
 * I have already anticipated your every move - Deng Zhi's intro quote 1
 * I walked through the Path of Heaven, where I will rule over everything - Deng Zhi's intro quote 2

Outfits

 * Default
 * Informal
 * Swat Soldier
 * Butler

Weapons
He uses a Sword in Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines, and the Throwing Knives when he's finally playable. Since he's the protagonist of Episode 2, he has five weapons with two DLC ones.

Episode 2

 * 1) Iron Sword
 * 2) Steel Cleaver
 * 3) Emerald Dragon
 * 4) Distinction
 * 5) Golden Glimmer
 * 6) Backscratcher (Joke Weapon)
 * 7) Kabuto Zecter (Kamen Rider Kabuto skin)
 * 1) Kabuto Zecter (Kamen Rider Kabuto skin)

Warriors Orochi 5

 * 1) Iron Cleaver
 * 2) Steel
 * 3) Emerald Dragon
 * 4) Distinction
 * 5) Distinction X (RARE)
 * 6) Chinese Cleaver (Joke)
 * 7) Heavenly Machete

Tropes

 * Adaptational Villany - While not to the extent of both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he is actually a lot more dangerous in Bloodlines than what he is in history.
 * Ascended Extra - From being a Generic with no importance, aside from being one of the people responsible for repairing relations between Wu and Shu, to being Promoted to Playable in Episode 2, being the main protagonist, to playing a major role in Warriors Orochi 5. That's one hell of a resume on his part from simply being part of Liu Zhang's forces.
 * A Day in the Limelight - He's the main protagonist of the second Episode in Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines. In Warriors Orochi 5, he's one of the few people that knew about Abyss' presence, making him one of the main protagonists.
 * Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy - this is expected knowing who he was inspired on.
 * Badass Baritone - Has a deep voice (Especially compared to Marie).
 * Badass Beard - Surprisingly, he has a full beard that covers his entire face. And he has the skills to back it up.
 * Berserk Button - In Warriors Orochi, the mention of Naotora li is enough for him to be put on edge considering her constant apologizing.
 * Brainy Brunette - Is one of the smartest characters in the Warriors series, on par with Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi. To the point that even Orochi himself is impressed with Zhi's intelligence.
 * Breakout Character - To a lesser extent as Marie, but he still counts. He became popular for being a refreshing newcomer from the divisive Shu adds (Aside from Guan Yinping, Xu Shu and Fa Zheng) as of late, making him just as popular as Guan Yinping.
 * The Bus Came Back - In Warriors Orochi 5, instead of getting killed by Jiang Wei, he simply found his way into the merged world after he saw Nuwa in his own reality.
 * The Casanova - He ends up beating Zhang Fei in a dating competition, which made him end up with several girls. However, he politely declined their requests for Yinping's sake.
 * Catchphrase - Since he's an expy of Souji Tendou, he has some of his catchphrases.
 * Character Development - At the start, Zhi came off as uncaring It wasn't until he was introduced to Guan Yinping that got him change for the better. By the time his story ends, he's arguably nicer than what he was initially.
 * Clark Kent Suit - ?
 * Cool Old Guy - His men all like him for being down to earth and for being reasonable.
 * Expy - Several cases. He's similar to I AM WILDCAT, Souji Tendo (Kamen Rider Kabuto) and Huang Zhong in a sense.
 * Fatal Flaw - His somewhat cocky arrogance. Due to him bragging about how he always receives guidance from the heavens, a lot of people felt that he's just over his head, which led to Zhuge Liang growing a huge dislike to him since Zhi always finds a way to be proven right. Ironically, on all accounts, Jiang Wei
 * The Friend No One Likes - The majority of the Shu forces, except Guan Yinping, Fa Zheng, Liu Shan, Xingcai, Yueying, Pang Tong, Guan Ping, Huang Zhong and Xu Shu, all despise him for being that much of a Jerk to everyone present, as well as him defying orders to suit his goals. Even if he actually had a change of heart did little to convince Jiang Wei to stage an invasion on his own home (Though that has to do with him carrying out Zhuge Liang's final order).
 * Good is Not Nice - Is one of the meanest protagonists, but he's far from villainous.
 * Grumpy Old Man -
 * The Hero - The protagonist of Episode 2 in Dynasty Warriors Bloodlines.
 * The Hero Dies - He dies protecting Guan Yinping (His wife), and Deng Yin (His daughter) from Jiang Wei, who launched an attack on his home.
 * Hunk - Let's see. Short Brunette hair. Full set of facial hair. Chiseled Physique. Check!
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold - As savage, uncaring and mean as he is, he doesn't always act like who he is initially. He's well liked by his men, is rather respected by Liu Shan for his take on current affairs, and he can be caring if he wants to as long as they understand what he's talking about.
 * Karma Houdini - Considering how the events turned out, he actually doesn't get punished for causing the Battle of Fan Castle due to him hating Guan Yu for screwing up the alliance between Wu and Shu because he refused to hand over Jing Providence as what he was supposed to do.
 * Leitmotif - His theme, LORD OF HEAVEN, is a remix of the song from Kamen Rider Kabuto: LORD OF THE SPEED, from Rider Chips.
 * Light is Not Good - Despite that his appearance takes notes from Xun You and Zhao Yun, the latter due to the color, he's the complete opposite of the two mentioned. The light represents his personality as to how he believes in the heavens.....at least before his Character Development went through.
 * Mr. Fanservice - Considering the series, it's bound to happen.
 * Older than he Looks - Downplayed. At around the Pacification of Chengdu, Zhi was in his forties yet he had no facial hair at that time.
 * Promoted to Playable - He becomes playable in Episode 2 as well as being the lead main protagonist.
 * The Rival - To Jiang Wei. Both of them hate each other because they share different goals.
 * Smug Snake - Downplayed. He's considerably smug, but it's only if he's either being a Souji Tendou expy or him proving his intelligence. No one actually knows what his true loyalty lies
 * Took a Level of Kindness - Guan Yinping's influence made him decide to change his ways. While he's still the savage roaster strategist we all know, he's arguably nicer. Compare his first appearance to his current.
 * Undying Loyalty - To Guan Yinping after he saved her at the Battle of Fan Castle.
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom - His actions in the entire Episode turned out to be a cataclyst for the downfall of the Shu Kingdom. In addition, His death played a huge role in his daughter's quest for vengeance. He didn't even realize she was affected by it that badly until he was informed by Taigong Wang in Warriors Orochi 5.

Trivia

 * Deng Zhi is often similar to YouTuber I AM WILDCAT due to how similar the two act. Unlike Wildcat, however, Deng Zhi is calm and composed while retaining the same creativity and savage tone.
 * He is also similar to Souji Tendou, aka Kamen Rider Kabuto, mainly due to the similarities in his personality, his win animations, and one of his musous. One of his enemy encounter animations is similar to his Henshin pose
 * The inspiration for Deng Zhi was a Strategist who is serious, but is also an expert in luring other people into his strategies.
 * Zhi's Bloodlines outfit shares some similarities to Xun You's DW9 outfit.
 * His weapon, the Royal Sword, can be considered as a variation of the Striking Sword.
 * His informal outfit takes notes from his ROTK 12 look.
 * In the Behind the Scenes video, Kenji Akabane, who is the Japanese voice of Deng Zhi, stated that he was surprised upon being called up to voice him because it was a different role than he usually voices.
 * Some of Deng Zhi's charge attacks are a nod to Chuck Greene's skill moves in Dead Rising 2.
 * His death oddly mirrors John Marston's death in Red Dead Redemption.