Wen Zhong

Wen Zhong is King Zhou's older foster brother and a loyal general of the Shang Dynasty. He is also an old comrade of Huang Feihu and Tongtian Jiaozhu's star pupil. He acts as the secondary protagonist in most of his game appearances. In Mystic Heroes, he is called Kai in the English port.

Role in Games
During their childhood years, King Zhou lost his mother due to illness. Wen Zhong's mother agreed to look after the child and the boys became close brothers. Wen Zhong, who is slightly older than the king, always watched after his younger brother's safety and grew to be fiercely protective of the lad ever since. Before Fengshen Yanyi takes place, Wen Zhong was sent to deal with rebellions far north of Morning Song. Consequently, he was unable to prevent Da Ji from corrupting the king and his homeland.

When he returns, he is informed by the ministers about King Zhou's abrupt change of character and Da Ji. Hearing that Huang Feihu had also deserted the kingdom, he confronts the king and demands the witch to leave from the capital at once. During their conversation, Da Ji's spell over the king momentarily weakens and Wen Zhong discovers the fox demon's true identity. Not wanting to put the king in jeopardy whilst in Da Ji's clutches, he agrees to send troops to detain Huang Feihu. However, he plans to join forces with his comrade to rescue Morning Song and the king from Da Ji. When his pleas fail to convince Huang Feihu, Wen Zhong realizes that he is the last true defender the king has left and swears undying loyalty to the Shang Dynasty. He sees his old friend traveling with Taigong Wang and determines the youth to be one of his greatest threats.

After his first defeat, he is gravely wounded and ascends back to his master to recuperate. When his wounds are completely healed, his master hands him a divine paopei that has massive destructive properties. By the time he descends back into the human world, he sees his loyal subordinate killed by Taigong Wang's party. To avenge his comrade's death, he unleashes his paopei's power and freezes the entire area. The attack kills all of Taigong Wang's comrades but the hero escapes death and flees. In their second confrontation, Taigong Wang counters his paopei with a fire element paopei and simultaneously resurrects his friends. After Wen Zhong refuses to switch his allegiances, the two rivals engage in a fierce battle. Defeated a second time and to Huang Feihu's dismay, he uses the last of his energy to burn his body to death. As a spirit, he pleads with the sane King Zhou to rid the land of Da Ji. Once the king states that he truly loves Da Ji, Wen Zhong realizes that entirely blaming her for the corruption of the Shang Dynasty was a grave error. Before he can try to convince his liege to start over, Da Ji walks in and captures his spirit.

She uses his spirit to make him her new minion. When she and her sisters turn against Tongtian Jiaozhu, they use Wen Zhong to execute him. As Da Ji's loyal servant, he kidnaps Ji Fa and forces Taigong Wang to make a sharp detour from Morning Song to rescue him. Wen Zhong awaits them within a magical castle filled with traps and monsters. Taigong Wang and his party eventually defeat him a third time. Regaining his humanity before he dies, he tells them Da Ji's plans to resurrect Chi You. He pleads with Huang Feihu to rescue the king with his final breaths and dies.

In Fengshen Yanyi 2, Wen Zhong is resurrected by a fellow member of the Nine Dragon Sect, Chun Lei. However, since the ritual was interrupted, he experiences amnesia and only remembers his name. When a shocked Chun Lei escapes, he is confronted by Ziya. Wanting to know his past and the reason why everyone claims that he died, he travels with Ziya's party to find the woman who resurrected him. His revival also brought his other half -the side of him that was controlled by Da Ji- into the mortal realm as well. Later in the game, Wen Zhong meets his evil counterpart who taunts his other half for his listless memory. Their encounter gradually restores his memories yet, rather than return to the Nine Dragon Sect, he continues to stay loyal to Ziya.

When Chun Lei and the red-eyed Wen Zhong confront the party again, it ends with the evil Wen Zhong protecting Chun Lei with from a fatal blow. Before he and Chun Lei can reconcile, she is sucked into the world that Shou Wang created and trapped against her will within a monster. They are reunited after the monster is destroyed and she dies in his arms. With renewed determination, he vows to slay the distorted Shou Wang.

According to the prologue of Mystic Heroes, his evil counterpart was sealed away with King Zhou, Da Ji, and E Lai.

Wen Zhong is referenced in Saiyuki: Journey West as the original wearer of the scattered Emperor armor. Known as "Lord Bunchu", a local blacksmith spots the fine helmet and says that the hero died while wearing it. Though said to have been designated as the Emperor of Heaven, his spirit was punished for his pride and has yet to find peace. Collecting his armor is an optional side quest for Sanzo's party.

Personality
Wen Zhong is a diligent and virtuous man who radiates an air of dignity. He is highly respected for his noble character and skills in the military arts. He is good friends with Huang Feihu and, though they were once enemies, their proper reunion in Fengshen Yanyi 2 remedied any broken faults they experienced. The time he additionally spent with Ziya helped bolster his confidence and he is able to regain his reputation as a hero.

His tragic flaw is his loyalty to King Zhou as he does not desire to abandon his brother. This is slightly subverted in Mystic Heroes.

Fighting Style
Wen Zhong is a strong overall character who can adapt to most situations well. He has a hardy defense and good stamina. His only drawback is his somewhat below average speed. In Fengshen Yanyi 2, his attacks have an additional earth element attached to them and some of his abilities may possibly poison enemies. He can also levitate after his resurrection.

Fengshen Yanyi
Wen Zhong was the Grand Tutor of the Shang Dynasty and the man who attended to his kingdom's civil affairs, having served three generations of royalty. He had a third eye in the middle of his forehead, rode into battle atop his black dragon mount and fought with a golden whip (two golden staves in some chapters). He spent fifty years honing his taoist talents with immortals and became a master in various mystical arts.

At the start of the novel, he served the dying King Da Yi and was entrusted with passing the throne's power to Zi Shou. Zi Shou became King Zhou and Wen Zhong served him faithfully on the behest of King Da Yi. The king ruled fairly and created a kingdom so vast that it additionally needed four dukes to rule its borders. With threats of giants and monsters in the north, King Zhou desired a peaceful solution to protect his people. Therefore, he sent Wen Zhong and a small army to stop them, hoping that wisdom and strength would create end the conflict with the least amount of bloodshed. Since the king had greatly depended on Wen Zhong's advice in the past, the king felt a bit at a loss with Wen Zhong gone. What followed was an unfortunate string of rebellions and corruptions, which eventually lead King Zhou to be coaxed by the fox spirit who possessed Daji.

Victorious from his campaign, Wen Zhong returned to Morning Song after Bi Gan's death and was surprised to see funerals for two of the king's most trusted dukes. When Huang Feihu told him of the torture devices and the string of unjust deaths in the capital, Wen Zhong was outraged and demanded to see the king at once. Upon hearing King Zhou's selfish and irresponsible explanation for the deaths of his vassals, Wen Zhong scolded the king and told him to retire. For once, the king obeyed without question. The Grand Tutor spent three days to put imperial affairs on hold and investigate the reasons for the king's actions. On the fourth day, he presented ten proclamations to King Zhou that would help restore order. The king signed seven of them but refused three: removing the Happy Terrace (an expensive tower that Daji created and was used to work people to death for its construction), disposing Daji, and executing Fei Zhong and You Hun as a warning to future sycophants. Fei Zhong and You Hun protested his judgments and deemed his orders to be an insult to the king. Upon learning their names, Wen Zhong punched them and ordered for their heads to be cleaved off immediately. Before their heads hit the ground, news that King Ping Ling of the East Sea declared independence stopped them. Wen Zhong took counsel with Huang Feihu and they both agreed to have the elder deal with the external threat. Huang Feihu would remain to attend to internal affairs.

He returned after this campaign and was worried to see his friend not present. He soon heard that Huang Feihu had staged a rebellion and deserted Morning Song. Knowing that his comrade would have a good reasons for his actions, Wen Zhong agreed to have Huang Feihu return only if his actions were not against the king. Despite cries of outrage demanding that the rebel was to be executed, Wen Zhong left with an army to capture his friend. He ordered the Green Dragon and Good Dream passes to block Huang Feihu's path. Fooled by Master Virtue of the Pure Void's magic, however, he loses track of Huang Feihu. Astounded for failing to see through a simple trick, he resolved that he was not destined to capture his friend, no matter what he may have tried to do. As his friend traveled farther away from Morning Song, Wen Zhong became even more infuriated by King Zhou's incompetence. However, he chose to uphold his oath to the former king and ensure the eternal prosperity of the Shang Dynasty, even if it cost him his life.

Invading the West
Knowing that his home lacked the provisions for a prolonged expedition, Wen Zhong's first priority was to gather intelligence of the western area. He sent the capable Chao twins to cover the area, but they were defeated and defected to West Qi. Realizing that hostilities would only increase, Wen Zhong continued to have mystics and other generals try to qualm the rebels. When they were killed years later, he was infuriated by Ziang Jiya's army and decided to ride into battle himself, even though it may cause further decay to the Shang Dynasty. Before he left, his mount reared him off his saddle, which foretold a bad omen for his future. He dismissed the incident on his mount's idleness and proceeded towards West Qi with an army over 300,000. While he was marching towards the Western Foothills, he subdued four bandit chiefs, Xin Huan, Deng Zhong, Tao Rong, and Zhang Jie. Earning their respect, he gained four loyal generals and 10,000 men for his cause.

When Wen Zhong reached West Qi, he challenged Jiang Ziya to meet him in battle in three days time. On the appointed day, he ridiculed the Prime Minister's treasonous actions against King Zhou and ridiculed Ji Fa's independent enthronement. As soon as the Prime Minister patronized him for serving a corrupt ruler, Wen Zhong ordered the immediate capture of the rebel, Huang Feihu. While he fought vigorously against the resistance, he suffered a grave defeat due to the celestial beings loyal to West Qi. His original army of 300,000 was cut down by over 20,000 in a single night raid. In a bid to counter his opponents, Wen Zhong temporarily left his army to visit Golden Turtle Island. Remembering there were powerful Taoist masters who were compassionate to King Zhou, he hoped to recruit them and gain the upper hand against Jiang Ziya. Although he had to make a detour to White Deer Island, ten Taoist masters were awaiting his arrival. Each commanded a dangerous and divinely powered battle formation, which they gladly agreed to use for Wen Zhong. As soon as he returned, he issued a challenge for Jiang Ziya to counter the ten death traps.

Though the traps succeeded in killing Jiang Ziya and Ji Fa on separate occasions, both men were revived and Wen Zhong's allies were slain. Wen Zhong had additionally called for his good friend, Zhao Gongming, to aid him, but he and his sisters were also killed in battle. After the death of Zhao Gongming's sisters, Jiang Ziya and Wen Zhong clashed during a night raid on the Shang camp. Although he dueled the Prime Minister, he and his men could not withstand the mystical weapons their enemies wielded and suffered defeat. He fled with 30,000 of his men and two of the surviving bandit chieftains, Xin Huan and Deng Zhong. Two of the Western Qi mystics, Grand Completion and Pure Essence, halted their advance. Furious with the second mentioned divine being for foiling his allies in the past, Wen Zhong opened his third eye and fought him. Pure Essence countered with his Yin-Yang Mirror, which was known to have caused death when it shone red light. Though he was naturally immune to the mirror's other effects, Wen Zhong retreated before the mirror shone red.

He was trapped a second time by Nezha and other mystic generals the following day and suffered the loss of his other generals. 20,000 of his men had then defected to Western Qi and the remaining were exhausted by the constant pursuit. Disheartened, he was encouraged by Xin Huan to return to Morning Song so they may try to avenge their losses. While they slept to regain their strength, Wen Zhong lost his disciple, Yu Qing, to Jiang Ziya's attack. The Grand Master awoke to see the Prime Minister and Ji Fa drinking victorious on a nearby mountain top and mocking him with their laughter. He tried to perform a spell but was attacked by Lei Zhenzi, who killed his dragon mount. Wen Zhong was able to escape thanks to Xin Huan.

Upon his return to the scene, Wen Zhong saw Xin Huan's dead body and wept profusely for the lives lost for the Shang Dynasty. He cried to the heavens and wondered if they had forsaken him and his good deeds for King Da Yi. He and his remaining troops were housed by an elderly man named Li Ji, who told them the quickest path for them to return to Green Dragon Pass. When they headed there the next day, they were stopped by Master of the Clouds. Confident in his magical abilities and might, Wen Zhong hurried to attack his foe. However, he was trapped within a magical barrier that was hard as diamond. Believing that he could surpass its walls with magic, he sadly only succeeded in ramming his head into them and fell dead. News of Wen Zhong's death delighted Jiang Ziya.

His spirit visited King Zhou, who was heavily intoxicated and drowsy with wine. The Grand Old Master told the king to become more virtuous and repent for his vile manners in his absence. As his soul disappeared, King Zhou awoke during the night startled and, though he scantly remembered it, told Daji about his dream of Wen Zhong. Daji thought nothing of it and convinced the king to forget it ever happened.

When Jiang Ziya was naming gods, Wen Zhong was the eighth god to be named and became the Chief of Thunder Gods, Puhua Tianzun (普化天尊).