Shu Warrior
Zhang Fei, the Thunder of Changban
張飛died 2214 star
In short
Zhang Fei (died 221) followed Liu Bei from the beginning, with Guan Yu. At Changban in 208 he covered Liu Bei's flight with twenty horsemen, broke the bridge, and shouted across the river that he was Zhang Yide and anyone could come and die. No one came. He beat Zhang He in Ba in 215. In 221, as the army gathered to attack Wu, two of his own officers murdered him in his tent.
| Lived | died 221 |
|---|---|
| Name in Chinese | 張飛 |
| Courtesy name | Yide |
| Served | Liu Bei |
The history
Zhang Fei was from Zhuo commandery, Liu Bei’s own country. He was a few years younger than Guan Yu and treated him as an elder brother. Cao Cao’s adviser Cheng Yu called both of them a match for ten thousand men.
In 196 Liu Bei left him to hold Xiapi, and he lost it to Lu Bu after a quarrel with another officer. He followed Liu Bei through every defeat that came after.
At Changban in 208 Liu Bei abandoned his family and ran. Zhang Fei, with twenty riders, held the stream and cut the bridge. He shouted that he was Zhang Yide and they could come and fight to the death. The pursuit stopped, and Liu Bei lived.
When Liu Bei went into Yi Province, Zhang Fei marched up the river and captured the old general Yan Yan. Yan Yan told him to take his head and stop shouting, and Zhang Fei freed him and treated him as a guest. In 215 Zhang He came south into Ba. Zhang Fei faced him for fifty days, then led picked troops by a side road and beat him so badly that Zhang He escaped on foot over the hills with a dozen men.
Liu Bei made him General of Chariots and Cavalry in 221. Before the campaign against Wu began, Zhang Da and Fan Qiang killed him. When Liu Bei heard that a messenger had come from Zhang Fei’s camp, he said only: Fei is dead.
Two of his daughters became empresses of Shu.
The novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms gives him the serpent spear, a black face and a tiger’s whiskers. He whips an inspector, roars Cao Cao’s officer Xiahou Jie to death at the bridge, and drinks. The general who outwaited Zhang He for fifty days is harder to see.
Zhang Fei in the game
In Warlords of the Three Kingdoms Zhang Fei is the Thunder of Changban: a 4 star warriorof Shu. The game's line for him: “He held the bridge at Changban with twenty riders and a shout, and Cao Cao's army did not cross.”
| Kingdom | Shu |
|---|---|
| Role | Warrior |
| Rarity | 4 star |
| Base attack and defense | 28 and 19 |
| Where from | Summoned at the Imperial Summon, for Jade. The odds are shown before every summon. Before launch, anyone who brings three friends to the waitlist starts with this General. |
A warlord sworn to Shu fields him 10% stronger, as every General of their own Kingdom. Wei, Shu or Wu has what the choice changes.
Serpent Spear is his signature: holding it raises his attack and defense by 15%.
Four star is where he starts. Duplicates become shards, shards add stars, and each star adds a tenth to both numbers.
Questions
How did Zhang Fei die?
He was murdered in 221 by two officers of his own command, Zhang Da and Fan Qiang, who took his head down the river to Sun Quan. Liu Bei had warned him that he flogged his men and then kept them near him.
What happened at Changban Bridge?
In 208 Zhang Fei held the river crossing with twenty riders while Liu Bei escaped. He stood with his spear level, glared, and called out his name and a challenge. The history says none of Cao Cao's men dared approach.
Was Zhang Fei only a brawler?
The novel draws him that way. The history shows a general who out maneuvered Zhang He in the mountains of Ba, and says he respected gentlemen and was harsh to common soldiers, the reverse of Guan Yu.
How do you get Zhang Fei in Warlords of the Three Kingdoms?
Summoned at the Imperial Summon, for Jade. The odds are shown before every summon. Before launch, anyone who brings three friends to the waitlist starts with this General.
Sources
The history follows Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, written in the third century, with Pei Songzhi's annotations of the fifth, and Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han for the years before the Han court fell apart. What the page calls the novel is Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, of the fourteenth century. Where the two disagree, the page says which is speaking. For more on him, see Zhang Fei on Wikipedia.
Written by Gitkonek Studio, .
Keep reading
- Guan Yu, the Saint of WarHe cut down Yan Liang amid ten thousand men at Baima, and later ages raised temples to him as a god of war.
- Zhao Yun, the Dragon of ChangshanAt Changban he carried Liu Bei's infant son through Cao Cao's whole army and out the other side.
- Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping DragonLiu Bei called at his cottage three times, and was given the Longzhong Plan and the next twenty-seven years.
- Huang Zhong, the Veteran of DingjunPast sixty when he cut down Xiahou Yuan at Dingjun Mountain, he took it as proof that he was not yet old.
- Liu Bei, the Imperial UncleA sandal seller of royal descent who lost nearly every battle he fought and still founded an empire.