Total War: Three Kingdoms shows off its most villainous leader

Dong Zhuo is Total War: Three Kingdoms' larger-than-life villain and the subject of the latest let's play from Creative Assembly. Historically, he briefly sowed chaos throughout China after installing a puppet on the throne, but he was assassinated by Lu Bu. Check out the video above to see how he gets on in this do over. For more on the other factions and warlords featured in the game, check out our Total War: Three Kingdoms—Everything we know article.

The big fella doesn't have many fans. Most of China seems to dislike him, but he doesn't care; he's rich and powerful, and that's what really matters. His economy is the strongest at the start of the game, and he has access to advanced mechanics and units early on. This almost makes up for everyone hoping he falls off his horse. 

He's a great example of the big changes Creative Assembly have made to their leader system. He's got a personality and reputation both historical and legendary that inform the systems he uses to conquer China. 

Reflecting his unpleasant reputation, Dong Zhuo plays like a tyrant. You've got to throw your weight around, killing off officials, forcing people to make shitty deals and snatching up vassal states. You've got the Emperor in your pocket, remember. 

Being a bully in Three Kingdoms doesn't just mean gobbling up loads of territory and getting into fights, though it helps. There's an intimidation meter that rises as Dong Zhuo murders employees, burns down a settlements or commits other evil acts. It's a resource, essentially, that he can use to coerce other leaders and passively increase public order. 

Check out an overview of his features below.

You won't be able to step into Dong Zhuo's shoes straight away, but defeating his army in battle or reaching the rank of Emperor will unlock him. His starting position, despite his advantages, promises to be a tricky, so having a campaign under your belt should make it go a little bit smoother. 

Total War: Three Kingdoms is due out on May 23.

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

Latest in Action
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The First Berserker: Khazan review - Blade Phantom
How to claim The First Berserker: Khazan pre-order bonus and deluxe edition DLC
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened