Omitting Lu Xun in Dynasty Warriors Origins Is a Mistake

Dynasty Warriors Origins has been largely regarded as having a generally positive reception, thanks to the properly rebooted action gameplay system. However, those who already have long-time attachments to the series, especially to the characters and historical events, would find a good number of gaping holes in the new game’s storytelling due to the more-than-necessary cuts of recurring unique characters. One such character whose absence in Dynasty Warriors Origins is very noticeable is Lu Xun from the Sun Wu faction.

Lu Xun has been one of the popular mainstay characters of the Dynasty Warriors series ever since he appeared in the original PS1 fighting game. However, the historical figure was arguably best known for commanding the Wu army in launching a chain fire attack on the Shu camps at the Battle of Yiling in 222 AD.

Perhaps Omega Force referred to that feat as the primary reason for forgoing Lu Xun in Dynasty Warriors Origins, which only covered events up to the Battle of Chi Bi / Red Cliffs in 208 AD. Even though Lu Xun also had several campaigns against the unruly Shanyue tribe, which is also featured more prominently in the Sun clan’s storyline in Origins, those skirmishes took place in the mid-210s. However, he historically started serving the Sun clan from around 203 AD, which is actually within the period covered in the new game.

In addition, as Omega Force claimed that Dynasty Warriors Origins has an extensive focus on the shorter period, it included several battles that were not covered in prior series entries. One of them just so happened to feature figures from the same clan as Lu Xun, which makes the latter’s exclusion far more perplexing.

The battle in question is the Siege of Lujiang, which ran for two years and concluded in 195 AD. Even though this battle was barely mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, Sun Ce historically appeared and commanded the attacking side of the battle when he was still serving as a vassal of Yuan Shu. The leader of the defending side was none other than Lu Xun’s granduncle Lu Kang, whose name in kanji/hanzi (陸康) is different from Lu Xun’s future son (陸抗).

The historical relationship between the two key figures was not good either. When Sun Ce paid a visit to Lu Kang far before the siege, the latter disrespected him by not meeting him in person and sending a subordinate instead.

Lu Kang historically died roughly one month after the siege concluded, though not before he appointed Lu Xun as the new head of the clan. When Lu Xun eventually decided to serve under Sun Quan, the liege had him later marry one of Sun Ce’s daughters as a measure to mend the relationship between the Sun and Lu clans.

When I previously published a list of period-relevant characters missing in Dynasty Warriors Origins‘ unique character roster, I initially assumed that Cao Ren would be the most jarring exclusion because he originally filled the enemy commander role in the Battle of Xinye. However, the game’s producer Tomohiko Sho has since tweeted his defense of the decision, noting that he wants to depict Cao Ren closer to his deeds from historical sources rather than the fodder general persona as shown during the aforementioned battle in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.

But I digress slightly. As the Dynasty Warriors series generally features a loose retelling of the Chinese Three Kingdoms-era history and folklore, Origins did also have some changes to the detailed relationships, especially since Omega Force portrayed Sun Ce in a better light as one of the game story’s main characters.

With the Dynasty Warriors Origins rendition of Lu Kang noticing Sun Ce’s difference from Yuan Shu when the former spared him, he may have conveyed the observation to Lu Xun when he was about to have the latter succeed him. However, Lu Xun ended up never appearing in the game when he should have as Sun Quan’s reign starts in a later chapter.

I would consider this a missed opportunity even worse than Cao Ren’s absence from the Battle of Xinye. It would have shown how Sun Ce’s compassion earned him respect from a clan he had defeated previously, especially amid the regional animosity that led to the battle that featured his historical death scene.

The latest mainline Dynasty Warriors entry that featured Lu Xun is Dynasty Warriors 9, which Koei Tecmo released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018. The newer entry Dynasty Warriors Origins has been available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC since January 2025, but its unique character roster does not include Lu Xun.