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Zhou Cang
Dynasty Warriors 9 artwork
Character Information
Force(s): Yellow Turbans
Shu
Height:
181 cm (5'11")
Weapon Type: Longtou Dazhadao
Significant Battle(s):
Playable Debut: Warriors All-Stars
Historical Information
Real name:
Zhou Cang
Chinese name:
周倉 - 周仓
Style name:
Unknown
Chinese name:
n/a
Born:
?
Died:
220
Fictional character.

Zhou Cang (onyomi: Shū Sō) is a fictional general of the Yellow Turbans who pledged his loyalty to Guan Yu after hearing his exploits. He is known as a masterful swimmer and a swift runner who could travel the same distance as Red Hare in a single day.

Before his playable Warriors appearance, he has been a generic officer since the second Dynasty Warriors game. He placed tenth with fans in Gamecity's Shin Sangoku Musou Blast first card promotion poll. His Warriors character has a character image song, Die Together!.

In Kessen II, his height is 180 cm (almost 5'11").

Role in Games

Dynasty Warriors

"...I've never seen someone run so fast..."
~~Zhao Yun; Dynasty Warriors 9.

NPC Zhou Cang usually appears in battles involving the Yellow Turbans and Shu. However, he does not appear in the Yellow Turbans' army onwards until the fourth installment.

Zhou Cang's first chronological appearance in Dynasty Warriors 9 is during Zhang Jiao's story, where he stands up to various Han officials. He is rescued from their wrath by Zhang Jiao and immediately joins the Yellow Turbans as a result. The Yellow Turban Rebellion threatens the Guangzong area, prompting imperial troops to contain it. Zhou Cang and Liao Hua protect the gates of Guangzong, protected by tornados and lightning bolts. After Zhang Jiao's defeat, Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao become bandits. He battles Liu Bei and Guan Yu, impressing their strength and asking to be his disciple. After eliminating Yuan Shu, Zhou Cang finds Guan Yu and Pei Yuanshao, and they become subordinates. Guan Yu leaves Cao Cao's army and eliminates officers to repay debt. Zhou Cang finds Pei Yuanshao dead, and despite his claims, flees when Zhao Yun attacks him.

Zhou Cang's story begins once Guan Yu's forces finally reunite with Liu Bei before retreating to Jing Province and the protection of Liu Biao. Seeing them as a threat, Cao Cao orders Cao Ren to eliminate them at Xinye, but the army's new strategist, Xu Shu, provides the plans needed to break Cao Ren's Eight Gates Formation and defeat him.

After their victory, Xu Shu departs out of concern for his mother and is replaced by the famed Sleeping Dragon, Zhuge Liang. Sensing this threat, Cao Cao orders a second army under Xiahou Dun to attack them at Bowanpo, but Zhou Cang and the others are able to prevail thanks to Zhuge Liang's strategies, then engage Cao Cao at Changban to buy the people time to escape before fleeing again.

Having had enough, Cao Cao begins leading his massive army against Liu Bei once more, and Zhou Cang and the others are forced to flee to Liu Biao's domain at Jing Province. Once they ally with the nearby Sun Quan, Liu Bei is finally able to stop Cao Cao's advance south at Chibi. As the warlord flees, Zhou Cang and Guan Yu are able to halt Cao Cao's escape. Despite this, Guan Yu's honor stays his hand, and both he and Zhou Cang choose to return home. After Chibi, most of Sun Quan and Cao Cao's men were battling at Nanjun, and Zhuge Liang orders Liu Bei's forces to seize the southern cities before either party can react.

Thanks to the efforts of Zhou Cang, the cities are taken and provide Liu Bei with his first foothold, much to outrage of Zhou Yu and Sun Quan. Nonetheless, due to the threat posed by Cao Cao, they allow Liu Bei to keep the counties until he can get land of his own.

This opportunity comes in the form of Fa Zheng, a strategist of Liu Zhang, who wishes to support Liu Bei and invites him to take the province from his relative. Once they succeed, Lu Su arrives once again to stake Wu's claim over the disputed districts within Jing. Although he agrees to Guan Yu's suggestion of returning Guiyang and Changsha first in order for both of their forces to launch joint attacks on Hanzhong and Hefei respectively, Lu Su warns them that the people of Wu have become more impatient due to the constant delays to their promises as well as a growing radical faction.

Guan Yu later sends Zhou Cang to aid his brothers at the Hanzhong campaign against the Wei forces while Sun Quan is busy attacking Hefei. Thanks to these timely reinforcements, Cao Cao is forced to return back to his capital of Xuchang while the Shu forces solidify their grasp over Hanzhong.

With Cao Cao back at Xuchang, Guan Yu decides to march with his family and Zhou Cang for Fan Castle in order to take the central plains. In spite of Zhou Cang and Guan Ping's concerns of leaving the province, as well as Lu Su being succeeded by Lu Meng as Sun Quan's primary strategist, one of the radicals that they were previously warned of, Guan Yu remains confident that the Wu forces would not dishonor their agreement as they had failed to take Hefei thanks to Cao Cao sending reinforcements there to aid Zhang Liao with defending the area from Wu, thus Guan Yu had no need to return Wuling and Lingling to Wu because they would only be returned if Wu took Hefei.

Thanks to his children and Zhou Cang, Guan Yu proceeds to flood Fan Castle, forcing the surrender of Yu Jin and the capture of Pang De. While many are celebrating the victory, Zhou Cang tells Guan Yu of his fears of the castle's fall being part of an enemy trap, which Guan Yu believes to be more Wei reinforcements.

After taking the castle, Guan Yu provides Zhou Cang with a new horse. As soon as Zhou Cang compliments his horse's speed, Guan Yu has Red Hare gallop at its full extent, leaving Zhou Cang behind. With little choice, Zhou Cang carries his horse and continues to charge forward, still obligated to fulfill his promise of following Guan Yu.

After his story, Zhou Cang's fears ring true as Lu Meng breaks their alliance with Liu Bei and seizes Jing Province anyway. Unable to hold on to Fan Castle thanks to the betrayal of the Wu forces and the arrival of Xu Huang's reinforcements, Guan Yu, Zhou Cang, and the others all flee to Mai Castle. When the Wu forces continue their pursuit, Guan Yu, Zhou Cang and Guan Ping choose to stay behind and cover the escape of the others.

Though Guan Yu apologizes to both Zhou Cang and Guan Ping for leading them to their deaths, both refuse the apology as it was their commitment that brought them to this end and are proud to stand with him until the end. Thanking them for their final show of loyalty, the trio charge to their deaths at the hands of Wu soldiers.

The group's death is later reported to Liu Bei, who immediately begins planning a war against Wu for their betrayal.

Warriors Orochi

In the first Warriors Orochi game, he can be seen in Shu's Story Mode guarding Edo Castle under the orders of Zhuge Liang. After losing against the Resistance, Zhou Cang and his allies rejoin their former comrades to rescue their lord from Orochi's grasp.

Warriors All-Stars

When he first arrives in the Warriors All-Stars world, Zhou Cang and Zhao Yun defend themselves from the monsters surrounding them. Once they regroup, they duel Lu Bu and Wang Yuanji until Tamaki pleads to them to cease their aggression. After hearing about their new surroundings, Zhou Cang quips at the other royal members' irresponsibility and joins Tamaki.

Kessen

Zhou Cang appears as reinforcements for Shu at the Battle of Ru Nan in Kessen II. His first appearance helps bolster Zhao Yun's morale. He rides a spear unit into battle and serves as a secondary general for either Guan Yu or Mei Sanniang. Though he possesses rather uninspired officer skills, he is a decent support unit for raising army morale.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Within the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, Zhou Cang is depicted as a militarily-oriented officer with his best stat being his war which lands in the low to mid 80's while his leadership and charisma rank in the 60's. Conversely, his intelligence and politics rank fairly low in the 40's to 30's. Despite his initial background as a bandit, Zhou Cang features none of the negative traits usually associated with his contemporaries and offers several traits valuable to Zhang Jiao or Liu Bei's faction, that being a slightly higher affinity for battling on water and an increased likelihood in capturing enemy officers, both references to his contributions within the novel.

Appearing initially as a member of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhou Cang will appear as a free officer based at Runan after the rebellions conclusion and will serve Liu Bei's faction once the latter has migrated his forces to Runan. Eternally loyal to Guan Yu, Zhou Cang will see better performance when he is deployed alongside Guan Yu in combat.

Character Information

Development

Zhou Cang is in Warriors All-Stars before his debut Dynasty Warriors because Furusawa, the producer of Warriors All-Stars, thought it would be an interesting twist to the usual formula. He wanted to add Zhou Cang due to the incident where he loses to Zhao Yun in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, thinking that the interaction would make the base for a good relationship in Warriors All-Stars. Developers for Dynasty Warriors 9 worked with the Warriors All-Stars team, with Suzuki specifically critiquing them on their proposed changes or additions. Furusawa and Suzuki joke that he almost looks Mexican in Warriors All-Stars because they "went overboard" with the size of his hat and his outfit. Zhou Cang is meant to be a powerful and speedy character. His Dynasty Warriors debut differs with more details on his scarf to better emphasize his flashy hat.

Furusawa later commented that Zhou Cang's command inputs may be different in Dynasty Warriors, but everything about his character will be nearly the same in that series. He also said that the team's ground rules to avoid bias for their own IPs were "only three characters max from one IP", but they deliberately bent that for Zhou Cang's inclusion.

Sawashiro remarked that he played Zhou Cang to be energetic. Since his character has a lot of dialogue, every recording session was tiring to him. He hopes players find their favorite character in Warriors All-Stars.

Personality

Strong and loyal, Zhou Cang prides himself on his speed. He tends to be positive and upbeat, though he is snide and uneasy towards Zhao Yun due to a prior misunderstanding between them and the late Pei Yuanshao.

Awestruck by Guan Yu's strength and majesty, Zhou Cang develops a quick relationship with the general, whom he respectfully, but casually refers to as "boss". His close relationship with Guan Yu also spills over to his children, with Guan Xing and his younger siblings looking up to Zhou Cang for his experience, while Guan Ping respects his colleague's reliability, but will tease him of his fear of Zhao Yun on occasion.

Character Symbolism

During Guan Yu's ending in 9, Zhou Cang briefly mentions going off to take some supplies from the Wu forces in order to help their campaign at Fan Castle. This was done historically by Guan Yu during the siege of Fancheng and was one of the incidents that eventually caused him to incur Sun Quan's wrath. Ironically, however, this event was completely omitted from Romance of the Three Kingdoms which emphasized the dispute over Jing and the failed marriage proposal between Sun Quan's son and Guan Yu's daughter.

Voice Actors

  • Chiharu Sawashiro - Warriors All-Stars, Dynasty Warriors 9 (Japanese)
  • Tommy Cooley - Dynasty Warriors 9 (English)
  • Xiao Lang - Dynasty Warriors 9 (Chinese)
  • Takahiro Yoshimizu - Kessen II (Japanese)
  • Tōru Sakurai - Sangokushi Legion (Japanese)
  • Yūko Sasamoto - Youkai Sangokushi (Japanese)
  • Yūki Ishikari - Sangokushi Hadou (Japanese)
  • Takeshi Ōba - Sangokushi Three Kingdoms TV series

Live Action Performers

Quotes

See also: Zhou Cang/Quotes
  • "You truly are a marvel on horseback, Master Guan Yu. But please try to think of those who have to keep up with you."
"I know you're fast enough to keep up. That's why I can continue to go full speed."
"I am honored you feel that way! In that case, I will follow you to the ends of the earth."
~~Zhou Cang and Guan Yu; Dynasty Warriors 8
  • "Lord Liu Bei! My name is Zhou Cang. My men and I have come to help you save and rebuild the Han Empire!"
~~Kessen II

Gameplay

See also: Zhou Cang/Movesets

Dynasty Warriors 9

『真・三國無双8』周倉アクション動画

『真・三國無双8』周倉アクション動画

Keys: Square Flow Attack • Triangle Reactive Attack • Circle Musou X Jump/Mount

Zhou Cang is affiliated with the great sickle in this title. When equipped with it, Zhou Cang can perform the following unique attacks listed below.

Unique Attacks
Unique Flow Attack Finisher: Enemy Stunned + Square Square Square Square: Charges forward at high speed and tumbles sideways to unleash an overhead strike to knock down enemies.
Unique Trigger Attack: R1 + X: Zhou Cang runs at a quick pace while holding his weapon to the front, ramming at foes continuously until they get struck down via quick slicing motion. Can easily mow down enemy crowds in a pinch. Taken from his sixth charge attack in Warriors All-Stars.
Special Technique: R1 + Circle: Moves forward and drives great sickle to the ground, generating an electric radial shockwave to attack surrounding foes. A brief surge of lightning is produced once Zhou Cang pulls his weapon out from the earth.
Musou Attack: Circle: Launches several wide arcing swings to the front while rushing forth at a rapid pace. Zhou Cang ends the assault by doing a powerful ram charge followed by an upward swing, two rotating vertical slashes, and a powerful slam that causes surrounding enemies to scatter while they sustain wind damage.
Aerial Musou Attack: X Circle: Performs four wide fiery swings done at different angles with the last one causing flames to briefly burst on the ground, instantly setting foes on fire as they disperse from Zhou Cang's location.
Horse Maneuvers
Summon Horse: L2: Summon horse to the battlefield. Holding L2 as the horse approaches will allow the character to automatically mount them.
Auto-Run: Riding Mode + L2: Automatically runs towards a specified destination. If a destination has not been set, the horse will instead run towards the location of the player's currently selected mission.
Sprint: Riding Mode + Direction + R1: Causes horse to run at a faster pace. Doing so depletes their stamina each time.
Jump: Riding Mode + Direction + R2: Causes horse to jump high while running.
Horse Fast Attack: Riding Mode + Square: Performs a fast and seamless attack while mounted. The attack itself varies depending on what type of weapon is equipped and whether the enemy is grounded or airborne.
Horse Trigger Attack: Riding Mode + Triangle: Performs an attack that sends enemies flying into the air. May vary depending on what type of weapon is equipped.
Horse Musou Attack: Riding Mode + Circle: Causes horse to sprint by consuming Musou instead of stamina.
Dismount Horse: Riding Mode + X: Dismounts from horse and resumes default fighting stance.
Bow Maneuvers
Shooting Mode: 🡻: Pulls out bow and assumes archery stance. Can be cancelled by tapping 🡻 again.
Switch Arrows: 🡸 or 🡺: Switches between different types of arrows.
Bow Attack: Shooting Mode + Square: Fires current arrow at a target. Can lock on targets by tapping R3.
Lower Bow: Shooting Mode + X: Lowers bow while squatting down.


Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Introduced in the 28th chapter of the novel, Zhou Cang is a powerful fighter whose notable features are his dark complexion and curly beard. Originally affiliated with the Yellow Turbans, he and Pei Yuanshao took refuge in Mt. Wo Niu after losing their leader. The two of them live a life of banditry until they come across Guan Yu who had been escorting Liu Bei's family to safety. Having admired the God of War since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhou Cang vows to change his ways and offers his services to him. The rest of his followers agree to join as well.

Now a general in Liu Bei's army, he supported Guan Yu, often serving as his swordbearer, and intervened in negotiations. His naval skills helped capture Wei general Pang De, but their victory is short-lived when Wu's forces intervene, resulting in Guan Yu's death. When the Wu Army revealed Guan Yu's head, Zhou Cang committed suicide.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Dynasty Warriors 9 Zhou Cang's artwork pose resembles his Warriors All-Stars render and early concept pose.
DWstub This Dynasty Warriors related article is a stub. You can help the wiki by expanding it.
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