Liu Bei (KoV3)

Liu Bei "Xuande" (Ryuu Bi "Gentoku") (劉備/刘备 "玄德")

< Liu Bei

Fighting Style
As mentioned before, Liu Bei is by far one of the more radically portrayed Three Kingdoms historical figures in the game. As opposed to fighting famously with his twin-swords as mentioned in the novel, he fights with hand-to-hand combat.

A majority of his moves involve hand swipes and swift kicks, but he also makes use of martial arts-based moves, such as explosive stomps and palm attacks. In terms of elements, Liu Bei has many spinning based moves that allow him to generate winds, from mere whirlwinds to notable tornadoes (especially with his Super Moves). Several of his moves are also techniques from Chinese martial arts performed by others in various video games.

Originally, Liu Bei was a boss in The Seven Spirits. His Knights of Valour 3 portrayal borrows from that version with a revamped movelist.

Gameplay
To select Liu Bei, one must have the arcade machine read an IC Card; otherwise, both him and Lu Bu are locked.

Liu Bei often possesses short stationary range on his moves, but often makes up for it with massive combo potential and solid coverage on some attacks; many of his moves are very easy to cancel for one-man offense, but is often eclipsed by those such as Zhou Yu.

For his weapons, Liu Bei possess different sets of robes to wear, where some will affect his basic combo.


 * Note: All moves are written in Traditional Chinese and are romanized in Mandarin/pinyin.


 * Note: Move inputs via left-and-right directions are dictated as initially facing to the right. If facing left, then those directions are flipped around.

Moves

 * Xiángfēi Liánjiǎo (翔飛連脚, Soaring Flying Chain Legs): → + (A) x3
 * Liu Bei performs a hopping spin kick, which accumulates to another spin kick while flying diagonally into the air; the finishing input is an axe kick at the apex of his flight.
 * Can be upgraded to Xiángfēi Liánjiǎo Èr (翔飛連脚 II, Soaring Flying Chain Legs II), where two more inputs are added for a total of four prior spin kicks before the finisher.


 * Shùnbù Bēngquán (順歩崩拳, Order Step Crumbling Fist): ↓ → + A
 * Palms forward with his leading hand.
 * Can be upgraded to Shùnbù Shuāngzhǎngpò (順歩雙掌破, Order Step Twin Palm Break/Blast), where two more inputs with A are added being a background-facing dual hammer fist strike and a forward-stepping twin palm thrust finisher that causes a wallbounce.
 * All inputs are cancel-able at any point, allowing this to be a versatile combo tool (Liu Bei can even cancel into a forward dash to chase targets with it again after the third input). However, it cannot be cancelled into itself, and must be done so into another special, a super or a movement option.


 * Měnghǔ Fúyá (猛虎伏崖, Fierce Tiger Lying Cliff): ↓ ↑ + A
 * Liu Bei's own variation of the technique of the same name, where he extends both arms out while rising into the air with a dual-armed lariat. Anti-air technique and does multiple hits.


 * Tōngbèiquán (通背拳, Passing Height Fist): Midair ↓ + A
 * Variation of the technique of the same name where Liu Bei performs a downward diving version of the above move all the way to the ground. Can be cancelled into from Xiángfēi Liánjiǎo and Měnghǔ Fúyá at any connecting hit.


 * Xīnyìbǎ (心意把, Heart Mind Bundle): ← → + A

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 * Bàohǔ Guīshān (抱虎歸山, Holding Tiger Returning Mountain) : ↑ ↓ + A
 * Liu Bei's personal variation of the technique of the same name. Anti-air grab, where Liu Bei jumps straight upward to grab an airborne target, places them under his feet, then drill-stomps them to the ground. Has a better chance of connecting when distanced properly as a followup to Shùnbù Shuāngzhǎngpò's wallbounce.
 * Tiěshānkào (鐵山靠; Iron Mountain Leaning): → ↓ + A
 * Liu Bei's variation of a very popular technique seen in video game media. Leans with his back/shoulder after a turn. Can be chained into itself indefinitely should each input connect.

Supers
- - - - - -
 * Shuāngfēng Guàněr (雙風貫耳, Twin Wind Bracing Ears): A + B
 * Liu Bei's own variation of the discombobulation technique of the same name. Liu Bei somewhat cowers then spins around stationary with both arms out to unleash a surrounding tornado during the said spin. Does multiple hits and has four seconds of notable invincibility allowing for solid use as a reversal.
 * If cancelled with a movement option, the tornado will remain for a split-second before dissipating on its own; cancelling it with an attack ends the whole super outright.
 * Based off of one of the moves/animations used from his prior boss version in The Seven Spirits.
 * Páishān Dǎohǎi (排山倒海, Expelling Mountain Tossing Sea): → + A + B
 * Liu Bei rears back and swings his arms inward to send forth twin whirlwinds at a set distance. Erupts into two large tornadoes that launch any targets upon contact.
 * Páishāndǎohǎi is a term for either "overwhelming", an earthshaker or to "move mountains and drain seas".
 * Based off of one of the moves/animations used from his prior boss version in The Seven Spirits.
 * Měnghǔ Tiàojiàn (猛虎跳澗, Fierce Tiger Leaping Valley Stream): ↓ + A + B
 * Liu Bei's variation of a very (in)famous attack. Upon gliding towards his target while bringing up one leg, Liu Bei and his target fade away invisibly through black silhouettes and a 10-hit combo is performed. After the attack is finished, the target ends up lying on the ground.
 * While the attack is unblockable, it can only connect on a single target and may require some solid aiming.
 * Měnghǔ Yìngpáshān (猛虎硬爬山, Fierce Tiger Stiff Mountain-Climb): ↓ → + A + B
 * Liu Bei's own variation of a popular martial art technique of the same name; thrusts forward with his leading palm akin to Shùnbù Bēngquán, only to followup with an extra explosive palm thrust from the same position and with the same prior hand.
 * Causes wallbounce, but is often not worth trying to followup with Bàohǔ Guīshān due to its recovery. Furthermore, this will not work on targets that are already dead, but have not hit the ground yet (where the second part will not come out). This super towards the second part can also be interrupted by bosses who enter their reversal period, even though Liu Bei remains invincible throughout as his target breaks free.
 * Fúhǔ Chuíliánjí (伏虎捶連撃, Lying Tiger Smacking Chain Attack): ← → + A + B
 * Liu Bei's own variation of the technique of the same name. Same as Shuāngfēng Guàněr, but instead lasts a bit longer with a more-intense-multi-hitting lightning tornado instead where his ending animation knocks targets away (but has less lasting invincibility frames). Knocks away targets only at the very end.
 * If cancelled with a movement option, the tornado will remain for a split-second before dissipating on its own; cancelling it with an attack ends the whole super outright. Due to having more hits able to connect compared to Shuāngfēng Guàněr, this super is often the source of Liu Bei's combos.
 * Míngjìng Zhǐshuǐ (明鏡止水, Bright Mirror Still Water): ↓ ↓ + A + B
 * Páshān Liàngtiāndì (爬山量天地, Climbing Amount of Heaven & Earth): (↓ ↑ + A + B) x3
 * Liu Bei's strongest attack. This is a three input super that only drains meter on the first one. Liu Bei rears slightly back for a single leading-palm thrust (his running attack), then follows up with a Tiěshānkào into a Shùnbù Shuāngzhǎngpò finisher.
 * Does a lot of damage, but each input needs to be properly timed or any part of it can miss. It is wise to not perform this on a target that's been juggled to a high height.

Weapons
In terms of weapons, Liu Bei's primary weapon is a robe, despite technically fighting unarmed with martial arts.