Fa Zheng

Fa Zheng (onyomi: Hō Sei) was a vassal who first worked for Liu Zhang. After Liu Bei invaded the province, he served his new lord as a master strategist. He was greatly favored by Liu Bei and was considered one of his closest advisors. Historically, he is credited for being the main strategist behind the success of the Hanzhong campaign. Zhuge Liang had even stated that the disaster of the Battle of Yiling would not have occurred if Fa Zheng was still alive.

Before his playable Dynasty Warriors appearance, he was a generic NPC since its third installment. In Famitsu's second most wanted Dynasty Warriors character poll, he placed ninth with 76 fan votes. The latest poll for the eighth installment puts him in thirteenth. The character poll for overseas fans puts him in seventeenth place for the Shu division. This counterpart has image song titled DEADLY POISON.

His character's height in Kessen II is 180 cm (5'11").

Dynasty Warriors
Fa Zheng mainly appears during the transition stages of power for Shu in the series, such as the Battle of Hanzhong and Battle of Mt. Dingjun. He used to be a subordinate general under Liu Bei, but he leads his own unit in later titles. In Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends, he is among the generals who help Yue Ying test her husband and is presumably one of her possible suitors. The sixth title includes him as one of the Shu defenders of Jing Province. He leads the resistance with Pang Tong and Wei Yan along the east path in Dynasty Warriors 7 when they moved out to secure Luo Castle.

In Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends, Fa Zheng first appears as a supporter of Liu Zhang during the assault on Chengdu only to be impressed by Shu that he quickly turns on his master in favor of Liu Bei. He plays a major role in the battle for Hanzhong, assisting the Shu forces in taking Mount Tiandang from Xiahou Yuan by using Liu Bei as bait to draw out the Wei forces. Before dying, the Wei general uses his remaining strength to fire an arrow towards Liu Bei. Fa Zheng shields his lord from the attack, apologizing before receiving encouragement from him. Fa Zheng is also given another scenario where he is present at the Battle of Yiling, where Fa Zheng correctly anticipates Lu Xun's fire attack. On Fa Zheng's advice the Shu army allows the Wu army to initiate the fire attack, and then goad the enemy into attacking by falsely stating Liu Bei's death. Zhu Ran then moves out to execute the fire, while the Shu forces withdraw and hide in order to ambush the enemy. As planned, Sun Quan moves out as soon as word reaches out of Liu Bei's death, allowing Liu Bei to ambush the Wu forces and securing Liu Bei's vengeance. He later joins Liu Bei and other Shu officers in paying their respects to Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. Fa Zheng also appears in the final battle against Wei in Wuzhang Plains where he will move to stop the enemy's boulder throwers.

In Wei's expanded route, Fa Zheng will still appear at Mt.Dingjun, and will drop boulders on the Wei army as they approach Shu's camp. He will also appear at Zitong, another battle during the Hanzhong campaign and he makes another appearance during Wei's hypothetical Xinye where he appears under the command of Guan Yu and commands his allies to assault Cao Ren's position.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, Fa Zheng serves as Zuo Ci's replacement officer when players assume the latter's role. Musou OROCHI Z has him do the same for Xing Cai in one of the original dream stages.

During the events of Warriors Orochi 3, he is among those present during the war against the demon army at Chengdu. He will set up an ambush against incoming enemy reinforcements if players defeat the first few generals beforehand. He also serves as Pang Tong's replacement officer at Komaki-Nagakute.

Dynasty Tactics
He appears as an optional general during the Dynasty Tactics series and shares good relations with Pang Tong and Zhang Song. Players can also hire him if they have Huang Zhong or Yan Yan as they generally like his company.

Kessen
In Kessen II, Fa Zheng is described by the developers as an even tempered yet bold strategist. No one knows exactly what his motives are as he quickly formulates plans at an exceptional rate. Although he proudly stands beside his lord, Liu Zhang, he sadly reports his lord's death to Liu Bei after the conclusion at Cheng Du. On the behest of his master, he then joins Liu Bei as a secondary general, political adviser, and war strategist. During battle, he supports Mei Sanniang, Sun Li, or Zhao Yun with his foot troops. For an officer under the intellectual category, he has a stronger defense than other sorcerers as his Rally and Iron Wall skills help protect morale. He has a high Magic stat, but he doesn't have access to higher leveled spells, limiting his use as an offensive spell caster slightly.

Development
In terms of design, Fa Zheng was given a villainous face to match his vengeful personality and casual clothes to help distinguish him from the other Shu strategists.

Personality
Fa Zheng openly refers to himself as a "deviant trickster", using his craftiness and intelligence to devise highly unorthodox strategies for the benefit of Shu. Fa Zheng is a double-edged sword: he always remembers to repay his debts (whether morally just or unjust) yet never forgets those who have wronged him, making him an outsider with a sinister edge to other Shu characters. Despite his willingness to place Liu Bei into danger, Fa Zheng is genuinely loyal to his lord.

In his eyes, all people have inherent doses of retribution within themselves, though Fa Zheng admits that his perception is different from most. Shu soldiers at Hanzhong report that Fa Zheng had left Liu Zhang simply because of being served a cold meal. Among Shu's strategists, Fa Zheng shows respect to Zhuge Liang, but at the same time he may also belittle him as well.

Voice Actors

 * Tony Oliver - Kessen II (English-uncredited)
 * Peter Doyle - Warriors Orochi series (English-uncredited)
 * Marc Diraison - Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (English-uncredited)
 * Tomohisa Hashizume - Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (Japanese)
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu - Kessen II (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also: Fa Zheng/Quotes


 * "My lord, are you alright? You've been shot!"


 * "You are by far one of the best strategists. No one can come close to your abilities in battle. I have great respect for you."
 * "If that's the case, why don't you live your life more like me? Do whatever you want, whenever you want."
 * "To do something without fearing what others may think of my actions...? That is something I cannot do."
 * "I can tell you are a good person. Not to worry, you won't fear what others think of your actions once you lose your inhibition."
 * Xu Shu and Fa Zheng; Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends


 * "You march alongside the one who killed your father, don't you? How do you keep it together?"
 * "I'm not happy about it, of course. But he's my ally now, so what can I do?"
 * "What do you think? Pay back all of your suffering, tenfold! The only natural answer. Let them experience the same suffering, the same loss that you have. I'll even give you a hand, if you like!"
 * "Well, let me think about it. I just can't see an upside to taking revenge, to be quite honest."
 * "Honestly, I can't understand your thinking. Well, let it brew a little longer, then unleash it all at once."
 * Fa Zheng and Li Dian; Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers

Gameplay
Fa Zheng is affiliated with the woven cloth in this appearance. When he is equipped with it, he can perform a unique attack exclusive to him. Upon performing his Musou techniques, he will automatically use the weapon in his attacks.


 * EX Attack 1:, undefined, undefined: Wraps fabric around the target in mid-air and slams them on the ground behind Fa Zheng before repeating the process to the front.
 * EX Attack 2:, , , , undefined, undefined: Causes laid fabric to spin rapidly and inflict additional damage to enemies caught by it. Does not work if there are no fabrics present on the battlefield.
 * Musou - Spinner (次迫陣): : Fa Zheng holds his cloth out then slings it out to rapidly hit enemies like a tornado.
 * Alternate Musou - Binder (始伏陣): R1 + : Fa Zheng lashes his cloth left and right four times with powerful slaps, then slams his cloth down, knocking back enemies.
 * Aerial Musou - Shocker (終砲陣):, : Fa Zheng sends a cloth down from the air to spin slowly but give powerful hits to enemies.
 * Awakening Musou:

Weapons
Fa Zheng uses the woven cloth as his default weapon.

Historical Information
Fa Zheng originated from Fufeng Province. His father was Fa Guang and his son was Fa Miao.

Due to a famine that struck his home, he and Meng Da left to serve Liu Zhang in Yizhou. New to the capital and his surroundings, he was not summoned to the court and was appointed to be governor of Xindu. However, since the military lacked mentors, he was quickly demoted as military captain and was sent to advise the junior officers. Although he was talented, Liu Zhang never called upon his services and he felt unappreciated. He and Zhang Song, who he shared good relations with, were dissatisfied with their master's capabilities and judgment.

While Zhang Song was ordered to be messenger for Cao Cao, Fa Zheng was recommended to convince Liu Bei to cooperate with Liu Zhang. Upon meeting Liu Bei, he became impressed with the governor's character and planned to secretly betray his master. He said to Liu Bei, "Your abilities are considered excellent by His Highness's people, yet Liu Zhang is a bright master with no willpower. Rely on Zhang Song for secret connections to others and plunder the plentiful Yizhou for its riches. Follow this plan and it will all be simple." Liu Bei took note of his words and Fa Zheng returned to Liu Zhang. He held secret talks with Zhang Song to discuss their plan.

As Cao Cao invaded to search for Hanzhong, Liu Zhang was frightened until Fa Zheng advised Liu Bei to stop him. He then told Liu Bei to take Hanzhong for himself and went together with him to claim it. From there, Fa Zheng covertly advised the capture of Yizhou. Liu Bei entered Jiameng Pass and was able to gain the upper hand against Liu Zhang's army. After the area was suppressed, Fa Zheng was promoted as the Governor of Shu and army strategist. Fa Zheng became the governor since he favored executing those who participated in rebellious riots –even ones considered trivial by observers– without question, resulting in the deaths of numerous people. Since he was greatly enumerated by Liu Bei for his deeds, not even Zhuge Liang, who controlled internal affairs, could reprimand or stop him. Together with Liu Ba, Yi Ji, and Li Yan, they became the main masterminds under Liu Bei.

In 217, Fa Zheng advised his lord to take Hanzhong and fresh troops were led to conquer the area. He was the army strategist for the campaign. Their invasion apparently went smoothly, as Liu Bei was never forced to retreat from the area or argued with his strategist's plans. When the situation did become disadvantageous to them, both men kept their composure as they ordered a temporary withdraw. In the battle of Mount Dingjun, he advised using deception by building a decoy camp to lead the enemy astray. Xiahou Yuan fell for the trap and Fa Zheng replied to Liu Bei, "Now it is necessary to attack." Taking action, the army commander ordered Huang Zhong to take the field, resulting in a victory for Shu. According to the Huayang Guozhi (華陽國志), Cao Cao apparently said, "I thought I had collected all the deceitful intellectuals in the land, but how could I not have Fa Zheng?"

After Liu Bei declared himself ruler of Hanzhong, he promoted Fa Zheng to be his Chief of Staff and General who Protects the Army. A year after his promotion, however, Fa Zheng died due to illness at age 45. Liu Bei wept endlessly for days after his passing and made him the only person to be given a posthumous rank of marquis by Liu Bei, which was the Marquis of Wing. When Shu suffered their grievous loss at Yiling, Zhuge Liang was said to have wished that Fa Zheng were there, as he would have been able to stop their lord from partaking in the campaign.

Although he was sorely missed by Liu Bei, the historian Chen Shou assessed Fa Zheng only as a man with uncommon talent in strategy and judgment; he found nothing redeeming about his morality or personal character, which naturally earned him the ire of many of his colleagues; recorded evidence of this often stated that upon Liu Bei conquering Yizhou and giving Fa Zheng his position, the latter abused it in order to execute old enemies of his as well as often ignoring the law. Liu Bei however, took no action against Fa Zheng due to him being the sole reason Liu Bei had Yizhou in his hands in the first place.

As such, a common myth out of this was that no one liked Fa Zheng enough to mourn for his passing (something noted in his characterization as mentioned below in Romance of the Three Kingdoms), though Liu Bei in particular was said to have wept at his funeral while the other officials realized that they lost one of their biggest assets.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Fa Zheng first appeared in chapter 60 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and roughly mirrored the activities of his historical counterpart. He colluded with his friends, Zhang Song and Meng Da, to unseat Liu Zhang and conspired with Liu Bei to take Yizhou. The novel emphasized that their respective enmity for Cao Cao and admiration for Liu Bei's benevolent character were the main reasons for their defection.

Liu Bei, who was torn between honoring his familial ties and establishing his independence, refused multiple times to concede to their plot. Believing in the young lord's good character, Fa Zheng persevered in his loyalties to Liu Bei and continued with the historical steps for taking Yizhou without Liu Bei's approval. He was so faithful in the younger lord that he sent Liu Zhang a denouncing letter, half-warning and half-taunting the warlord to consider joining forces with Liu Bei to avoid a grisly demise. Prideful and angered by the letter's audacity, Liu Zhang branded Fa Zheng as a traitor and had him imprisoned. After Ma Chao's defection, however, Liu Zhang's influence was crippled severely and he was forced to surrender control of Yizhou to Liu Bei.

Fa Zheng's activities after Liu Bei entered Shu roughly mimics his historical exploits except the novel had him collaborate with Zhuge Liang and Huang Zhong during the Hanzhong Campaign, having him act as a supportive role under them rather than being the main authoritative figure behind their army strategies. When he died in the novel, no one mourned his passing.

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