Zhang Jue

Zhang Jue was the founder of the religious Taoist movement called the Way of the Taiping, and he led his followers in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," it is said a sage gave him tomes titled "Taipingjing," or "Scriptures of the Great Peace." These writings purportedly helped Zhang Jue learn various kinds of sorcery, such as control over weather. Later, Zhang Jue was said to employ various items, such as enchanted water called fúshuǐ, to save many people, and he soon came to call himself "Great Teacher." His reputation helped him build a large following, and the group came to be known as the Yellow Turbans, owing to their headwear.

In the year 184, the Yellow Turbans finally rose up in rebellion against the corrupt Han Dynasty, which mistreated the people and were thought to be the cause of the many disasters plaguing the nation. Zhang Jue gave himself the title "General of Heaven," his younger brother Zhang Bao "General of Earth," and Zhang Liang "General of the People."

But during the conflict, Zhang Jue died of illness. After his death, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang fell in battle, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion approached its end.

Height/Weight: 158cm, 55kg

Origin: History, Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Region: China

Alignment: Chaotic-Good

Sub-Attribute: Human

Gender: Male

Favorite Color: Yellow

Though Zhang Jue's ends are noble—bringing peace to the world and happiness to all people—he is ruthless in the means he employs. He will resort to using religion, military force, assassinations, cowardly plots...whatever will get the job done. In essence, he believes one can justify throwing the world into chaos for a time, if it is done in service of bringing peace to the people of the world.

"Misuse this book's teachings, and you will be punished accordingly." True to the sage's warning, the Yellow Turbans who followed Zhang Jue's teachings and caused trouble across China may well have ended up dying miserably before their goals had been realized. Zhang Jue, however, refuses to accept that fact. He believes he is fully in the right, and that there is no such thing as divine punishment for doing the right thing. According to him, any Yellow Turbans of his who happened to die from disease were simply unlucky, nothing more. A troublesome old man who is not only willing to use questionable means, but refuses to reflect or repent if he believes his ends are justified.

General of Heaven: B-

A skill taken from Zhang Jue's title as the high commander of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. His younger brothers, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, were in turn known as "General of Earth" and "General of People." Indicates the leadership and authority he held as the one who led hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans into battle. Similar to Charisma, this skill's benefits are best demonstrated in its user's military capabilities. Its rank is a little on the low side since Zhang Jue fell to disease before he could finish his fight, and because his Yellow Turbans' rebellion got off to a slow start thanks to them betraying their former comrades.

Great Teacher: A

A skill that exemplifies the things which made Zhang Jue such a revered leader, such as founding the Way of the Taiping and using fúshuǐ to cure plagues. It encompasses his talent for folk remedies, his techniques for winning over people as a religious leader, his eloquence, his evangelistic abilities...all of his interpersonal rather than military skills, really. Maybe that is why it's ranked higher than his first skill.

『Cāngtiān Yǐ Sǐ, Huáng Tiān Dāng Lì』

Rank: A

NP Type: Anti-Army

Range: 1 - 100

Maximum Targets: 500

The Azure Sky Dead, The Yellow Sky Rises.

A Noble Phantasm that takes its name from the slogan which became the Yellow Turbans' rallying cry. It is nothing less than the embodiment of the turbulent times that drove people to take up arms against the empire oppressing them. Simply put, Zhang Jue uses his brothers' arts for controlling the weather to summon storms, thunder, hail, fog, and other natural phenomena that can be used for large-scale military offensives. This Noble Phantasm can also control puppet soldiers under Yellow Turban manipulation arts and peasants allied with their cause. Together, these two groups can stand up to even the government's own army.

Zhang Jue has always hated hearing his Yellow Turbans referred to as "bandits." He insists that they are nothing of the sort, but rather, ordinary people who came to believe in the Way of the Taiping. That said, the Yellow Turbans did harbor a significant secret. As their seemingly impossible numbers would suggest, not every one of them was human. Some were actually puppet soldiers Zhang Jue controlled directly with Taoist arts!

Thanks to his Taipingjing, Zhang Jue had learned how to use yellow cloth as a conduit that would give him control over anything the cloth was wrapped around, both living and nonliving. This means that the Yellow Turbans' three hundred thousand members were not comprised solely of those who believed in the Way of the Taiping, but also of mechanical puppet soldiers and people being controlled by such cloth.

Incidentally, the puppet soldiers were humanoid, and given to chanting "Azure Sky...dead... Yellow Sky...rises..." as part of their base programming.