Lancer of Providence

Elemental Affinity: Zhou Yu's elemental affinity is fire & water.

Zhou Yu was born the son of a prefect of the imperial capital, Luoyang. In 190 his family was relocated to Shu County during his campaign against Dong Zhou, where he befriended Sun Ce, later offering his services to the Sun family. In 194 Zhou Yu joined Sun Ce in his conquests of Hengjiang & Dangli. They crossed the Yangtze River, conquered Moling & defeated Liu Yao's forces under Ze Rong & Xue Li. They also conquered Hushu, Jiangcheng, & Qu'e. Liu Yao fled in the wake of his defeat & the strength of Sun Ce's forces increased to tens of thousands. In 196 Yuan Shu wanted to recruit Zhou Yu to serve under him, but Zhou Yu foresaw his downfall so he pretended to ask for the appointment of Chief of Juchao while secretly planning to leave Yuan Shu & join Sun Ce. After Yuan Shu approved his request, Zhou Yu travelled to Wu Commandery via Juchao. In 198, Zhou Yu arrived in Wu Commandery, where Sun Ce appointed him as General of the Household Who Establishes Might & put him in command of 2,000 troops. Zhou Yu was 23 years old at the time, and he was nicknamed "Zhou Lang" (Zhou the youth) by the people in Wu. He was garrisoned in Lujiang Commandery & later moved to Niuzhu before assuming his appointment as the Chief of Chungu County. When Sun Ce planned to attack Jing Province, he appointed Zhou Yu as Central Protector of the Army & the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery. Zhou Yu accompanied Sun Ce in the conquest of Wan. In Wan, they met a certain Elder Qiao, who had two daughters who were famed for their beautiful looks. Sun Ce married the elder sister while Zhou Yu married the younger one. Zhou Yu then joined Sun Ce in attacking Xunyang County, where they defeated a minor warlord Liu Xun. They then invaded Jiangxia Commandery & subsequently pacified Yuzhang Commandery & Luling Commandery. Zhou Yu later returned to Baqiu & garrisoned there. In 200 Sun Ce was assassinated by the followers of Xu Gong. His younger brother, Sun Quan, succeeded him & took control of his territories. Zhou Yu rushed back to Wu Commandery to attend Sun Ce's funeral & remained in Wu Commandery afterwards. As Sun Quan was still relatively young & inexperienced then, Zhou Yu assisted him in overseeing affairs in Jiangdong. In 202, Cao Cao wrote a letter to Sun Quan, demanding that Sun Quan send one of his sons to the imperial capital Xu as a hostage, so as to secure an alliance. Sun Quan gathered all his subjects for a discussion, but they could not arrive at a conclusion. Sun Quan then had another discussion with only his mother Lady Wu & Zhou Yu. Both of them advised against & Sun Quan agreed. In 206, Zhou Yu & Sun Yu, Sun Quan's cousin, attacked bandits at Ma & Bao counties, killed their chiefs, & captured thousands of enemies. Later that year, Huang Zu, the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery, sent his subordinate Deng Long to lead a few thousand troops to attack Sun Quan's forces in Chaisang Commandery. Zhou Yu attacked Deng Long, captured him, & sent him as a prisoner to Wu Commandery. In the spring of 208, Sun Quan ordered an attack on Jiangxia, which was defended by Huang Zu. Zhou Yu was assigned as the Chief Commander of the Front Army & he, along with Lü Meng, Ling Tong & others, scored a major victory over the enemy. Huang Zu was killed by Sun Quan's forces when attempting to escape. In the late autumn of 208, Sun Quan's men heard that Cao Cao had obtained tens of thousands of Jing Province's land & naval troops, they were all very afraid because they knew Cao Cao's next target was Sun Quan's territories in Jiangdong. Sun Quan then received a letter from Cao Cao again requesting his surrender. Many of Sun Quan's subjects wanted to abide by Cao Cao's demands, except Zhou Yu. Sun Quan took Zhou Yu's advice, slashing the table holding Cao Cao's letter in half. Around the time Liu Bei, who had recently been defeated by Cao Cao, requested an alliance with Sun Quan. Sun Quan agreed & the two factions rendezvoused at Red Cliffs, where Zhou Yu met Zhuge Liang. Together the two factions destroyed multiple of Cao Cao's ships & scored a major victory against his army. After his defeat at Red Cliffs, Cao Cao returned to Xu & left Cao Ren behind with an army to defend Jiangling County, the capital of Nan Commandery. Zhou Yu & Cheng Pu led their troops towards Nan Commandery & were separated from Cao Ren's forces by the river. Liu Bei lended some forces to Zhou Yu & they proceeded to attack Cao Ren's rear. Zhou Yu later ordered Gan Ning to station at Yiling. Cao Ren sent a separate cavalry force to besiege Yiling, so Gan Ning sent an urgent request to Zhou Yu for reinforcements. Zhou Yu followed Lü Meng's advice & left Ling Tong to defend his current position while leading Lü Meng & others to help Gan Ning. After the siege at Yiling was lifted, Zhou Yu & his troops crossed the Yangtze River & attacked Jiangling. He was hit on his right side by a stray arrow & had to retreat due to the severity of the wound. When Cao Ren heard that Zhou Yu was wounded & bedridden, he led his troops to Zhou Yu's camp & taunted his troops from the outside. Zhou Yu got out of bed, personally inspected & encouraged his men to raise their morale. Cao Ren saw that & retreated. By 209, Zhou Yu & Cao Ren had held up against each other for over a year & both sides had sustained heavy casualties. Cao Cao could no longer afford the continuous losses in personnel and materiel, so he ordered Cao Ren to withdraw from Jiangling. After the victory at the Battle of Jiangling, Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as a Lieutenant-General & the Administrator of Nan Commandery. Zhou Yu's headquarters were at Jiangling County while he was in charge of Xiajun, Hanchang, Liuyang, & Zhouling counties. Liu Bei assumed the appointment of Governor of Jing Province with his administrative centre at Gong'an County. When Liu Bei later met Sun Quan at Jing, Zhou Yu wrote to Sun Quan, suggesting that they split apart Liu Bei, Guan Yu, & Zhang Fei & defeat them one at a time. Sun Quan considered that Cao Cao was still a threat in the north, so he thought it would be better for him to have more allies instead of creating hostility between him and Liu Bei. Besides, he was also worried that Liu Bei's men might not submit to him, so he rejected Zhou Yu's idea. Around 210, Liu Zhang was serving as the governor of Yi Province, & faced the threat of his rival Zhang Lu in Hanzhong Commandery. Zhou Yu went to see Sun Quan & proposed that he & Sun Yu invade Shu to attack Zhang Lu, then Sun Yu would form an alliance with Ma Chao, & Zhou Yu would attack Cao Cao at Xiangyang. Sun Quan agreed, & Zhou Yu headed back to Jiangling County to make preparations for the campaign. However, he died of illness at Baqiu on the way back at 36. Before his death, he recommended Lu Su to be his successor. In 229, nearly two decades after Zhou Yu's death, when Sun Quan declared himself the emperor of the state of Eastern Wu, he told his subjects: "I wouldn't have become an emperor today if there wasn't Zhou Gongjin to assist me.

Being raised in a noble background, Zhou Yu had an intellectual upbringing since a young age.

Zhou Yu is primarily known for his leading role in defeating the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs in late 208, & again at the Battle of Jiangling in 209. Zhou Yu's victories served as the bedrock of Sun Quan's regime, which in 222 became Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms. He was also said to have been gifted with musical talent in his youth. Rumored to hear a mistaken note of a group performance even whilst drunk, turning his head directly to the lone performer who missed their part. There was a saying at that time to describe this: "If there is a problem with the tune, Zhou Yu will look up."

Zhou Yu was regarded as one of the best strategists not only in Wu, but in the entirety of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is thanks to him that Sun Ce & Sun Quan achieved multiple victories.

Likes: I quite enjoy music. Whether it be making it or listening to it. Would you like to hear me play the flute?
Dislikes: The thing that I hate the most would arrogant strategists who think they know better than anyone else. Especially the type who

Wu: Being apart of the Wu faction he has relationships with multiple people such as;

• Sun Ce: Since they are childhood friends, Zhou Yu acts as the voice of reason for the hot-headed Sun Ce. They share a strong bond & both comrades can rely on the other in times of need.
• Sun Quan: When Zhou Yu became close friends with Sun Ce, Sun Ce's mother Lady Wu told Sun Quan to treat Zhou Yu like an elder brother. After Sun Quan succeeded Sun Ce, his subordinates did not observe the full protocol when they paid their respects to him. Zhou Yu was the first & only person to follow all the formalities & etiquette when he paid respect to Sun Quan.
• Cheng Pu: Cheng Pu was much older than Zhou Yu. Despite Cheng Pu's constant insults & belittling, Zhou Yu tolerated him. Eventually Cheng Pu started changing his attitude towards him & started treating him respectfully. He even remarked: "Being with Zhou Gongjin is like drinking the finest of wines. You get carried away & become drunk before even realizing it."
• Lu Su: Zhou Yu respected Lu Su & even recommended Lu Su become his successor.

Three Kingdoms: Zhou Yu crossed paths with multiple people in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, including;

• Cao Cao: Zhou Yu views Cao Cao as being arrogant, kingly, & condescending. He also says that Cao Cao has a fondness for women, especially other men's wives.
• Zhuge Liang: Zhou Yu despises Zhuge Liang, rumored to cursing his existence on his deathbed. This hatred is enhanced by the body he is hosting.

Son of Zhou Yi. Husband of Xiao Qiao. Father of Zhou Xun, Zhou Yin, & Lady Zhou.