Monday, August 13, 2007

More Sangokuden Heroes

After seeing some character designs from Sangokuden, particularly Shibai Sazabi, I become more and more interested in its story and characters. After some digging, here are some characters you might be interested to know as well:


Top, from left: Zhou Yu (周瑜) Hyaku Shiki, Kong Ming (孔明 or Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮) ReGZ, Jiang Wei (姜维) with Zaku head
Bottom, from left: Zhao Yun (赵云) Gundam, Xiahou Dun (夏侯惇) Berga Giros, Jiang Wei with Gundam head

Zhao Yun Gundam is a newly announced character that has yet to appear on Sangokuden's official page. I can't make out which Gundam his design is based upon. He looks like Wing, or God Gundam but not quite. His armament has yet to be revealed as well, but according to the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun was a warrior highly skilled in using a lance. Not sure if his weapon of choice will be inherited in Sangokuden or not.

Also, Jiang Wei, one of Zhuge Liang's successors, and the most successful one as well, is designed with a Zaku head initially when he is under Cao Cao (曹操). After being defeated by Liu Bei (刘备)'s army, he is given a Gundam head (via plastic surgery? XD) But he does look quite powerful and complex. If you haven't notice them already, there are three little knifes mounted on his left shoulder armors.


Top, from left: Huang Tian (黄天) The O, Lu Xun (陆逊) Z Plus, Gongshun Zan (公孙瓒) Gundam Ez8, Lu Zhi (卢植) GM Cannon
Bottom, from left: Zhang Jiao (张角), Zhang Bao (张宝), Zhang Liang (张梁)

Fans of the original novel might not be familiar with the two characters on the top right: Gongshun Zan and Lu Zhi. To be brief, Lu Zhi was the teacher to both Gongshun Zan and Liu Bei. In the novel, Gongshun Zan became successful much earlier than Liu Bei. He lead an army which fought against Yuan Shao (袁绍), but was defeated and committed suicide in the end.

Lu Zhi on the other hand, was a wise and noble adviser to the emperor before Dong Zhuo (董卓) menaced the Han Dynasty. He was the only minister in the palace brave enough to voice displeasure over Dong Zhuo's dictatorship. Dong Zhuo tried to assassinate him but was fooled by the old man's tricks and lost his trail. Eventually, Lu Zhi went into exile and became teacher to the like of Gongshun Zan and Liu Bei.

The three mono eye characters on the bottom are brothers actually. Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang lead the people who fight against the weak Han emperor and his corrupted government. His army wore yellow headgear, thus being called the Rebellion of Yellow Headband (黄巾叛乱). Their uprising kicked start the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, since warriors like Liu Bei, Guan Yu (关羽), Zhang Fei (张飞) and even Cao Cao began their long way to each other's throne rooms from fighting the Army of Yellow Headband. In Sangokuden, the three brothers are Titans' MSs, particularly Paptimus Scirocco's designs on his personal carrier, the Jupitris. Gundam fans should have no problem recognizing them as Palace Athens, Bolinoak Sammahan and Messala respectively. Together, they form Huang Tian The O, which is the most powerful MS of Scirocco. Now that's fun ^^ not only the size of The O will be thrice the average Sangokuden models, this is the first transformable one in the series as well.

Let's hope Bandai will put this in their plan~


From left: Chao Chao (曹操) Gundam, Lu Bu (吕布) Tallgeese, Sun Quan (孙权) Gundam

Between the three characters above, Lu Bu's mighty halberd seems to be extremely eye-catching. Cao Cao and Sun Quan on the other hand, seem quite average, maybe their special equipments are not shown yet?


Left: Dong Zhuo (董卓), right: Diao Chan (貂蝉). Image from Sangokuden's official page

Dong Zhuo is easily the character with the heaviest firepower among all the Sangokuden characters so far. Just look at the tri-cannon at both his shoulders. There are caterpillars on his feet, so I wonder if he is transformable into a tank or something. On the other hand, Diao Chan, probably the most beautiful girl in the story ^^ is designed after Haman Kahn's Qubeley. A natural choice actually, since that's a very feminine MS, even in her normal version to begin with. Look kind of cute, but I wonder how Bandai is going to design her eyes to make her look cute as a model. Muahahahaha~