Zhang Bao

Name: Zhang Bao

Age: 23 (Born 202 AD)

Appearance: Zhang Bao is a tall, handsome young warrior with spiky brown hair and light brown eyes. He's often clad in layered green and gold armor with silver accents, including a prominent breastplate, ornate pauldrons, and a yellow-ochre sash. His attire is completed by red pants and ornate greaves and boots. Like his father, he often bares his arms, showing prominent muscle.

Personality: Zhang Bao is an adventurous youth who harbors a strong sense of responsibility and enjoys taking care of his friends. Inheriting his father's caring nature, and combining his passionate personality often helps build morale for troops and allies alike. As a member of Shu's younger generation, he feels indebted to the previous generation, and, like his father, believes that taking action is the best way to give thanks. Believing in duty over personal feelings, Zhang Bao feels grudges, but will still aid those he dislikes when the call is made to do so.

His lively personality runs as a contrast to his sister's and his sworn brother Guan Xing's stoic and detached behaviors. Unfortunately, Zhang Bao's caring personality is occasionally misinterpreted by Guan Xing as babying at times. With his sister, Zhang Bao's attitude rarely strays from his usual cheery personality, and is usually able to break through Zhang Xingcai's calm nature, but is occasionally seen as the passing down of their father's reckless behavior. Hilariously, Zhang Bao himself gets anxious when others are being reckless around him, and he’s often uneasy when he doesn’t have anyone to take care of, with a subtle caretaker complex.

Despite this, Zhang Bao has a good head on his shoulders, and absolutely zero desire to repeat his father's mistakes (such as his drunken rages and kidnapping of his mother). Zhang Bao loves his mother Xiahou Ji greatly, and makes an effort to care for her as much as he can. His weapon of choice is a meteor hammer, but he’s also trained in his father’s serpent spear.

Background: Zhang Bao is the son of Zhang Fei and Xiahou Ji. Zhang Fei abducted Xiahou Ji from Wei when she was 13, taking her as his wife. Zhang Bao grew up alongside the forces of Shu, which operated much like a large family-- Zhang Bao was raised and trained alongside his (technically not blood related) cousins Guan Ping, Guan Xing, Guan Suo, Guan Yinping, Liu Shan, and Liu Feng.

As a child, he wanted nothing more than to follow his father Zhang Fei. Told to stay behind and keep his mother and sister company, the young Zhang Bao was given weapons to occupy himself. When his father was home from war, Zhang Bao would spend equal time training with him and hiding his sister from their father’s drunken rages, often seeking solace with his ‘uncles’ Liu Bei and Guan Yu. Despite their opposite personalities, he became inseparable from Guan Xing as children.

As he grew older, it became apparent that his wild personality did not mesh well with school life, so his mother enrolled him in martial arts lessons. Having grown strong and powerful, he ended up thrashing a gang of bandits who attempted to harass him and his family during their trip to Jingzhou. He became rather curious of their lifestyle and later became their leader, whipping them into shape and convincing them to join Shu.

Zhang Bao does love and miss his father, who died in 221, but acknowledges his father was a deeply flawed man, capable of both love and rage. He made an attempt to avenge his father alongside Guan Xing, but failed. Zhang Bao has been struggling with the legacy he has been given, as the son of such a polarizing man and the older brother of the young empress Xingcai, but finds strength in his duty as the older brother figure, especially after the death of Guan Ping in 220.