It's been several years since I started playing the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and everytime I play I find it sometimes difficult to decide which family is my favorite. Each has their plusses and minuses, but overall, I think that the Wu family has become the most preferred.
Cao Cao's Wei family has always fought for conquest, and in some senses, Cao Cao's ambitions are at odds with his supposed intentions. Still, Cao Cao is one of the most interesting characters in the franchise mainly because he is not evil; rather amoral. It is Cao Cao's desire to rule the land and end the chaos, but in so doing, he's willing to battle everyone who stands in his way. Yet Cao Cao firmly believes he's somehow the correct individual for China.
Cao Cao is, in some ways, the most powerful of the leaders. It was Cao Cao who questioned Yuan Shao's "birthright" and eventually warred with him. It was Cao Cao that brought down the mighty Lu Bu. And, it was Cao Cao that battled Liu Bei and Sun Jian's forces simultaneously.
Liu Bei's Shu family, alternately, leads a force for virtue and justice. Liu Bei's character is the hardest to understand, because of his morality. Liu Bei understands that there are those, like his former ally Cao Cao, that wish to conquer the land. Liu Bei believes he's the one to stop them. During his adventure, though, he finds that he cannot align his altruism with necessity. Through his path to power, he has to dominate lands that are strategic to stopping Wei; he weeps when peasants fight and die for him; and he wars with his staunch ally - Wu - because of the death of his brother-in-arms, Guan Yu. Truly, Liu Bei is conflicted.
Liu Bei, it seems to me, is most favored by the creators of Dynasty Warriors, mainly because he seems to be the "hero" of the land; a Robin Hood. Still, though, his path is the most realistic of the leaders because as Liu Bei becomes more powerful, he becomes more self-centered and incorrigible.
Then there is Sun Jian, father of the Sun family that fights for its own. Sun Jian is perhaps not the bravest of the leaders, but the most noble. Sun Jian became famous fighting along with the coalition that included Liu Bei and Cao Cao to topple the tyrant, Dong Zhou. Together with his powerful sons and daughter, Sun Jian assisted Liu Bei in the fight to stop Cao Cao's quest for the land. When Sun Jian dies on the battlefield, his fight is continued by his children. An unfortunate alliance is developed between Wu and Wei, though, that leads to the death of Shu's Guan Yu. It is this event that ends Shu's alliance with Wu and war results. Also unfortunate is the dissolution of proposed marriage between Liu Bei and Sun Jian's daughter, Sun Shang Xiang. This leads to a somehow poignant scene where Sun Shang Xiang must choose between love and family, and Liu Bei stands at another crossroads in his turbulent life.
So, where every family has an interesting story, I feel that the Wu family is the most memorable overall. From Sun Jian's courage to Sun Quan's spirit, the Wu family retains its status as most honorable.
