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( AMATOMNES ) application.
CHARACTER FACTS;
» Name: Li Dian, ‘Li’ being the family name and ‘Dian’ being his given. Chinese names are particular especially in their times; when introducing themselves, they will always call themselves by their full name, followed by their styled name, which in Li Dian’s case is Mancheng. Never would anyone other than a close friend, a family member or a significant other refer to one another as their given name, as the given name is precious and it’s considered rude to have it used so freely.
» Canon: Dynasty Warriors 8
» Reference: ( Bam! )
» Canon Point: Chapter 12 (Historical), after the Battle of Hefei
» Gender: Male
» Age: Appears to be in his late twenties, though it’s possible that, given his canon point, that he’s more towards his mid-thirties, as age in Koei/Warriors games is extremely complicated to figure out. None of the characters age despite the fact that Dynasty Warriors’ stories cover more than centuries worth of time.
CHARACTER INTERPRETATION;
» Appearance: Li Dian stands at 5’11” (180cm), though one has to wonder how much of that is his actual height and how much is thanks to his hair. He appears as though he was taken straight out of a Dragonball episode -- his dark, frizzy hair seems to stick straight up, giving it an afro-like effect. Producers of the game suggest that they styled his hair in a way that reflects his laidback personality, which makes sense because apparently he’s too laidback to brush his hair in the morning.
He’s muscular throughout his body, as his choice weapon is a ridiculously large halberd with two large spiked wheels mounted onto it. Its size forces him to utilize every muscle in his body, especially his abdomen, which makes his attacks slower than others, but he’s strong and definitely looks it.
Despite his age never being mentioned in the game (nor will Koei games ever dignify them with one), Li Dian is clearly in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. Finally, Like most of his Wei counterparts, Li Dian has light blue eyes. ( Photo Reference. )
» Suitability: Not applicable
» Orientation: Li Dian is one of the more unique additions to Dynasty Warriors, specifically for the strange things that comes out of his mouth most times. His sexuality, I believe, is heavily reflected upon his several foot-in-mouth moments. Li Dian is well-known for his quirkiness, and while he does say some strange things when caught up in the moment, he tries to recover himself immediately afterwards, as if he recognizes that the things he says are strange.
Dynasty Warriors has a whole voice lines system that triggers certain characters to say certain things in certain conditions, and they’re categorized by what they’d say to their superiors, to their inferiors, as well as people who the selected characters has a special bond with (in Li Dian’s case, his bonds are with Yue Jin and Zhang Liao). In cases of affection bonds and lines, it’s separated into male and female, meaning if one nourishes the bonds enough, they will have some special lines indicating their growing fondness. The same-sex quotes are platonic, indicating the target character has grown trust or expresses their desire to stay by your character’s side, while the opposite-sex ones are more blatantly romantic. Inferiors and superiors are considered general quotes that can be applied to anyone, no matter the sex, so you’d think that Li Dian, like nearly all other characters, would have some more general things to say when he praises another officer.
Li Dian, to a superior when praising.
Recognizing how strange it may sound whether or not the person he’s speaking to is male or female, he immediately backpedals, and is obviously embarrassed by it. This tells us that he’s aware of his quirkiness, and that he’s easily excited by a fellow officer’s performance and strength.
Li Dian, “Affection” line to male bond (nurtured to level 3)
“Hey. Are we about finished with these games yet? I can’t take being rebuffed by you any more! Anyway, I have a feeling today’s a big day. Don’t you?”
Li Dian, “Affection” line to female bond (nurtured to level 3)
His affection quotes are also ambiguous in its own way, and leaves more questions than answers about his sexuality. When speaking to his male bonds, he explicitly calls it a relationship, and furthermore, fated. It seems that Li Dian is more bound to be more physically attracted to the opposite sex, while able to have strong emotional, self-declared fated ties with the male bonds. As you will all be able to see in the personality section, Li Dian survives purely on instinct, and relies on his sense of feel above all else. This implies that he isn’t concerned about what is on the outside, the physical attraction, but he’s more moved by what he feels emotionally and what his heart feels is right, no matter the gender.
That being said, despite the fact that there could be a relatively strong case that Li Dian is possibly pansexual, I believe it’s prudent to label his sexuality Unknown or Sexually Ambiguous at this moment with much room for development. In game, he has not stated clearly what he prefers, nor do I believe he ever will, but being in a sex-or-die situation will certainly help accelerate the process and is something I will definitely explore in game if accepted.
» Personality:
Li Dian, Battle of Hulao Gate (Pre-battle/Shishui Gate)
… Believe it or not, the quote alone pretty much summarizes Li Dian as a whole. While he’d initially been recruited for his strength on his battlefield, his lord Cao Cao -- as well as many others -- learns quite quickly what makes him such a valuable warrior. To be concise, Li Dian is a man who puts his intuition above all else. How he feels about the battleplan, a premonition, or even food -- he can rely on his illogically accurate intuition to determine his course of action in response to it. And the best thing about it? He’s usually always right. There’s no rhyme or reason to them, either; “it’s just a hunch,” he’d explain without providing sort of evidence to support them. But it’s not to be confused with fortune-telling. Li Dian laments from time to time that his hunches are “completely useless when money is involved,” and that his life would’ve been different if it weren’t for that. As with his historical counterpart who has never favored war, it’s a possibly implying that, if he could have it any other way, he would not be out on the battlefield.
Before a stage, Li Dian always has something to say about the “feel” of the battle. He’s able to sense traps and ambushes -- when he has a bad feeling about something, his allies can rely on him to utilize his skill to help win the battle. His laidback attitude often makes it seem as though he is not as passionate about Wei and Cao Cao as others who serve him. The truth is, he is likely more concerned about his comrades than the bigger picture. Even though he sometimes has premonitions, it doesn’t stop him from charging into the frontlines his allies. He believes that there’s always a way to change the outcome if something is done. It’s possibly the only time he breaks free from his cheery exterior and make it a mission to rescue them no matter the cost. Suddenly, it seems he’s surging with a passionate resolve to aid them. In that sense, as strange as Li Dian tends to be, he’s a very genuinely nice guy.
Li Dian is as great of a comrade as he is a friend. He’s usually shown with a goofy grin and speaks informally (not even calling Cao Cao “Lord”), and tries his best to raise the morale of the men and women who fight alongside him... even though the majority of the things he says out there can be pretty damn strange. Xiahou Dun had put it well when he introduced the man to Cao Cao:
Xiahou Dun to Cao Cao, Battle of Hulao Gate (pre-battle/Shishui Gate)
And boy is that an understatement. Li Dian remains one of the few characters who has some head-turner lines to say about his fellow officers. Things from, “I think I’m in love...” to, “Being near you makes me feel safe...” And as mentioned in the Sexuality section, he does recognize how strange it sounds and immediately takes it back. His foot-in-mouth moments like that is a part of his quirkiness. He’s cheery and gets along with most of his allies, because for someone who lives on vibes, it’s simply better that way. That’s the same reason why he enjoys a lively scene, seen in the Ambition Mode being happy that the place is getting more traffic due to your (the player’s) town renovations.
He’s a person that is strongly driven by emotions, and due to that, he’s quite easily moved by something as simple as town developments. When the player finally complete Ambition Mode, he is so overjoyed that he actually starts crying. As he would when he says something strange to a fellow officer, however, Li Dian would actually try to backpedal and hide it like so:
“Wow, I think I might start crying... Don’t look! Don’t look at me!”
Li Dian, “Base Development” lines to Superior and Inferior, respectively.
This suggests that he has some “tsundere” qualities to him, as well. Because he’s so in tune with his feelings and intuition, Li Dian must also recognize that there is a weakness to all of that. He likes to appear cool and on top of things, and being overly sentimental perhaps takes away from that on a significant level. In fact, it’s that very sentimentality that has made someone like him have distaste for a fellow warrior, Zhang Liao, who served under Lu Bu. He had a disagreement with the battleplan and fought vehemently against it, despite it being a direct order from Cao Cao:
Li Dian to Zhang Liao, Hefei Castle
Keep in mind that Zhang Liao serving Lu Bu had been a thing of the long past, and the point where this conversation took place was already several years after Lu Bu’s time. It’s the fact that he’s so emotionally invested that he’d kept the grudge with him for so long, and even though Zhang Liao isn’t directly responsible for his uncle’s death. You’d think that Li Dian would be able to get over something like that, especially when it’s war and people from both sides do die. Something so fundamentally little reduced him into a rude child, refusing to obey orders.
There’s a conflict of emotion versus intuition here. He implements his intuition into the battlefield whenever he can, but his case with Hefei is quite particular. While emotion and intuition are usually interchangeable with him, his grudge was so strong that he’d allowed his emotions to overwhelm his intuition, which was to do what was right and follow his orders, he decides against it because he simply doesn’t like Zhang Liao.
As easy as it was to stay one his blacklist though, a sentimental guy can’t always stay angry. The Battle of Hefei may have been the very peak of his display of distaste toward Zhang Liao, but it only took the end of it for him to finally come to a truce. It helps that Zhang Liao is a duty-type to begin with and awe-inspiring patience and tolerance to someone who acted as immature as Li Dian in the battle, of course... but even moreso, Li Dian was perhaps moved by Zhang Liao’s strength as he battled through the enemy while being ridiculously outnumbered and finally came to terms with his grudge, leading him to go along with Yue Jin to assist him.
Li Dian to Zhang Liao, the Battle of Hefei
His hunches are almost always on point, but he realizes that above that is duty, and fighting alongside Zhang Liao seems to help him see the much bigger picture. That there is a whole new world in the present time instead of what his hunches tell him about the future, or what grudges he might have developed from past events. In the end, grudges tossed aside, the two of them share mutual respect for one another, and it’s clear that Li Dian admires Zhang Liao’s strength (his praise line to him is: “Who wouldn’t compliment you, Zhang Liao?”).
While being generally friendly with everyone, he perhaps gets along with Yue Jin the most. The pair had been recruited at the same time by Xiahou Dun, and they’ve been fighting alongside ever since, appearing together in battles nearly all the time. Because Yue Jin has an inferiority complex, Li Dian always feels it necessary to give him confidence and to stop being so modest and obsessed with his shorter height. To that end, the two of them are as close as two people can be without being family.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot to him when we first meet him - he just seemed like a quirky guy with unnaturally keen senses. What makes Li Dian such a great addition to the Dynasty Warriors roster is that he is actually, a genuine guy. He doesn’t care about coming out first, he doesn’t care about reputation, recognition, or money. At the end of the day, he just wants to keep the casualties low and win the war. Everything else... well, in his own words: “Those results come later.”