Warriors Orochi/Recap

The storyline of the Warriors Orochi, in summarized format. (in chronological order)

Orochi's Campaign (prequel to series, though first available to play in Warriors Orochi 2)

 * 1) Battle of Odawara Castle - Not long after Da Ji frees Orochi and his followers from the Mystic Realm and Orochi fuses the worlds of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors together, he decides to go on an asskicking rampage across the now fused China-Japan pocket universe. Dong Zhuo is the first to figure out Orochi is behind it all and decides to join up with him so he can achieve his own dreams of paradise (read:rape and pillage for his own greed), and Orochi is basically like Sure Why Not. Not long after, they march on Odawara castle, where the forces of Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Hojo have teamed up. As Orochi starts grinding the Hojo under his scaly boot, this attracts the interest of Keiji Maeda and Kotaro Fuma, with the former surrendering to Orochi after his defeat and Kotaro defecting to Orochi's forces due to seeing how Orochi is able to control chaos. Around this time, Nene attempts to defend the castle but is overwhelmed, and thanks to Da Ji launching an successful assault on the castle's supplies, Hideyoshi is forced to make a desperate attack on Orochi that fails and both he and Nene are forced to flee, leaving Orochi the victor. Keiji and Kotaro officially agree to serve Orochi after the battle, with Keiji sensing Orochi has a bigger reason for his conquest than just simple "conquer everything because I can".
 * 2) Battle of Cheng Du - Orochi decides to march against the forces of the Shu next. He manages to catch them with their pants down and quickly has his forces march from the south and seize the southern garrison. About this time, Zhuge Liang realizes who is the real target of enemy attack and advises Liu Bei to flee so they can regroup their forces at a later date. Liu Bei doesn't feel like leaving the civilians in the crossfire, so Zhuge Liang tells him to flee with them and has Zhao Yun act as Liu Bei's bodyguard. Meanwhile, Orochi's forces force their way past the southern garrison's gates (which were blocked by an engineering squad) and resume the assault on the main garrison of Cheng Du Castle in the west, hoping to demoralize the Shu forces (and Liu Bei especially) into surrender by taking out the commanding officers of the Shu forces. Zhuge Liang attempts to deter the Orochi forces by deploying several defensive units to bog down their advance, but they serve as mere speed bumps at best. Zhao Yun then attempts to use himself as a more effective defender unit to cover Liu Bei's escape, but is overwhelmed and captured. The Nanman forces (led by Meng Huo and Zhurong) show up to fight Orochi's forces in an attempt to assist the Shu forces, but are also overwhelmed. As a last ditch effort, Zhuge Liang attempt to deploy a sorcery unit as a distraction to aid Liu Bei's escape, but this seen through and defeated, and Liu Bei is overwhelmed and captured. Zhuge Liang promptly surrenders to Orochi in an attempt to guarantee Liu Bei's safety, and Da Ji promptly informs him that they are perfectly aware of the intent behind his surrender and that he now has no choice but to serve Orochi now.
 * 3) Battle of Kawanakajima - Not long after the fall of the Shu, the rest of the warlords of the other factions start to grasp the severity of the threat Orochi's forces represent, and while the facts behind the merger of the worlds still don't make sense, several rivals decide to ally to oppose the greater threat to humanity, such as the Takeda and Uesegi, led by Shingen and Kenshin respectively. Their movements are spotted by Orochi reconnaissance forces led by Dong Zhuo, prompting Orochi and Da Ji to respond. Kenshin decides to overwhelm the Orochi forces with a cavalry blitzkrieg, which Shingen decides to augment with his own forces. Orochi's forces anticipate this move and while some of Orochi's dig in and fortify the main camp, the rest aim for the officers controlling the cavalry units, attempting to disrupt their operations. This turns out to merely be a feint, as Takeda sends his forces to overwhelm the secondary garrisons of the Orochi forces with his own troops, led by his lieutenant, Yukimura Sanada. This is quickly spotted by Dong Zhuo, and the Orochi forces there manage to hold out long enough for the main assault force to repel the Sanada forces and secure the secondary garrisons. Once the Sanada assault is repelled (which forces Yukimura to retire the field), the Orochi forces go on the offensive to repel additional waves of enemy troops. This turns out to have merely been another strategy to make Orochi forces lower their guard as they advance on the Stone Sentinel Maze to the south, which Shingen set ablaze as Kenshin deploys his main forces to overwhelm Orochi's main camp. The main body of Orochi's forces barely manages to escape the trap as Kenshin's forces bear down on the defenders of Orochi's now depleted garrisons. They barely manage to make in time to repulse Kenshi Uesegi forces, and make it in even less time to stop Kenshin lieutenant, Kanetsgu Naoe, from assaulting the southern garrisons as they secure the north. Shingen decides to open the gates to his own garrison in the south and appears to be deploying his forces, but this is all a feint to force the now weakened Orochi forces to have to reenter the still burning Stone Sentinel Maze to assault his fortified position. However, the fire dies down by this point, allowing the weakened by still formidable forces of Orchi to overcome Shingen and force him to retreat, allowing Orochi's forces to be victorious once more. Later, Da Ji order Zhuge Liang (who has been held in reserve) to mop up any remaining resistance. Meanwhile, Keiji asks Dong Zhuo what he makes of Orochi. Dong Zhuo cites his belief Orochi's power could help him achieve his dreams, and while Keiji concedes the truth of that statement, he realizes Orochi seems to have death wish behind his desire to fight humanity's greatest warriors, which he clearly admires.
 * 4) Battle Of He Fei- Having defeated the Takeda and Uesegi forces, Orochi turns his attention to the forces of Wu at He Fei. Da Ji had Zhuge Liang lead the vanguard forces, partially as a test of his loyalties and partially to sow chaos amongst the human resistance by forcing them to have kill other fellow humans. Later, as Zhuge Liang is explaining to his generals that the Wu will be extremely difficult to dislodge, Ina (daughter of Honda Tadakatsu, whose lord Ieyasu Orochi overwhelmed in the opening movie, though since he isn't beaten until the fifth battle, she was apparently captured at some earlier unspecified time, which creates a minor Plot Hole since she's on the non-Orochi team in the battle against Ieyasu, though this only happens in the PSP version, Keiji is who Zhuge Liang is speaking to in the PS2 version) asks him if he has no other reason for his assault on the Wu aside from his concern for Liu Bei's safety, but Zhuge Liang brushes aside her probing questions as they begin the assault. Sun Jian and the rest of the Wu forces notice the movements of the Orochi forces, and orders the Wu strategist, Zhou Yu, to coordinate the counterattack. Zhuge Liang anticipates this and orders the Orochi forces pacify the western and northern sectors of the battlefield. As that is underway, Zhuge Liang sends a message to some reserve troops into acting on a prearranged battle plan. This spurs the reserve forces of Orochi to join the battle, which Zhou Yu notices and counters by having Gan Ning and Zhang Liao (there to assist on order of Cao Cao) spring into action and has them assault the Orochi forces, planning to overwhelm then now that their guard has been lowered. Zhuge Liang counters that by summoning engineers to destroy the main bridges to the Orochi forces garrisons and thus stop their advance and box them in for an easy counterattack. Gan Ning and Zhang Liao are driven back, but they were merely a diversion for the rest of the Wu forces to launch their assault, and Gan Ning temporarily withdraws while Zhang Liao withdraws to report to Cao Cao. The plan to destroy the bridge can either succeed or fail, but regardless, Sun Ce arrives from the southwest as reinforcements and Zhou Yu and Sun Jian decide to join up with Sun Ce to storm Orochi's forces. This turns out to be a foolhardy exercise, as the Orochi forces prove too strong and the senior commanders of Wu, including Zhou Yu and Sun Jian are captured. After the battle, Zhuge Liang informs them they can either surrender to Orochi or die, and despite Sun Ce's outrage at Zhuge Liang's apparent selling of his soul to Orochi, Sun Jian decides to surrender in exchange for the safety of the others, offering himself as a hostage to seal the deal. Zhou Yu is happy about that, but Sun Jian tells him that they always can reclaim what is theirs later so long as they are alive. Zhuge Liang accepts the surrender, and the people of Wu are thus forced into Orochi's service.
 * 5) Battle Of Edo Castle - With the Wu beaten, and Sun Ce and Sun Quan now forced to fight against their fellow man in exchange for their father's safety. Meanwhile, upon hearing of Wu's defeat, the other resistance movements become even more determined to oppose Orochi, who is amused by this. As they approach Edo Castle, Da Ji decides to troll Sun Ce by reminding him how much Zhuge Liang kicked his ass, but Sun Ce bites off his urge to tell her to shove it and merely asks what she wants of him. Da Ji then orders him to lead the assault on Edo Castle and Tokugawa Ieyasu. As the battle commence, Sun Ce still isn't happy, but leads the assault as ordered. Masamune Date shows up to lead a sneak attack on Orochi's forces, but is quickly driven back. As he retires to the castle keep to come up with a new plan of attack, Sun Ce decides to put his reservations on park and resumes the fight with a little more vigor. As the western castle walls are breached, Ieyasu orders his troops to dig in and wait for a chance to turn the tables. Around the same time, Masumune regroups and order and ambush force to assault the now overconfident Orochi forces. Sun Ce anticipated such a move and orders a fire attack on Ieyasu's castle to murder their morale. Ieyasu expected the fire attack and quickly has his forces put out the flames. The ambush attacks continue as Ieyasu opens the main gates so Hanzo Hattori can lead a counter assault. However, the Orochi forces keep fending off the assault units Masamune deploys, pissing him off to no end. Ieyasu plays his last trump card at this point, which is to deploy sneak attack forces he had waiting in reserve to blitzkrieg the Orochi main camp, led by Ina (since her father Tadakatsu Honda isn't around). Sun Ce again moves to stop assault and does so successfully. At the same time, Masamune realizes he has no other choice except assaulting the Orochi forces directly. Masamune is defeated, with Masamune realizing Orochi's power far eclipses anything he has ever experienced. Meanwhile, Ieyasu realizes he's out of options, except to take on Orochi himself, which Orochi is enthusiastic about. He and Hanzo take on Orochi, with Ieyasu lamenting Tadakatsu's absence, and both are overwhelmed by Orochi himself. Orochi bluntly tells Ieyasu to surrender and serve him or die, and Ieyasu reluctantly accepts the former, with Sun Ce letting Ieyasu he's knows how he feels about such a disgraceful but necessary alternative. Later, Da Ji rubs this in Ieyasu's face a little more, and Ieyasu repeats to her what he said to Orochi, with Ina and Hanzo being pissed but resigned to their fate, as they now have to serve Orochi by proxy. Meanwhile, the defeated Masamune figures Orochi is the biggest badass around and that he has no choice but to accept that, and offers his loyalty. Da Ji is condescending but is willing to accept Masamune's offer, and Orochi muses about how some see him as a god, others a demon, and basically shrugs his shoulders and accepts Masamune into his forces.
 * 6) Battle Of Yi Ling - Having annihilated the Tokugawa, Orochi looks for more opponents to defeat, and accuses Lu Xun (a member of the now subservient Wu forces who had returned from a reconnaissance mission in the PSP version, yet another Plot Hole since Lu Xun is on the rebel team in the first game, while it's Sun Quan in the PS2 version, which makes more sense) of hiding information about Cao Cao and the Wei forces from him. Lu Xun apologizes and assures him he merely forgot to mention it. He then asks Sun Quan to confirm the Wei forces are ahead, and he confirms it by recognizing the battle standards of Wei in the distance. Orochi then decides to see just how Cao Cao earned his title "Hero of Chaos". As the battle starts, Orochi advances towards the front line, prompting Cao Cao to meet the challenge, and for his trouble, Orochi's forces start a cannon barrage, giving Cao Cao pause . As the Wei forces panic, Cao Cao tells his forces not to piss themselves and orders a strategic withdrawal to the Stone Sentinel Maze to regroup. Sun Quan advocates using the cannon fire caused panic to cut off the Wei retreat, thus the Orochi forces give chase. The Wei forces manage to withdraw most of their officers as Dian Wei attempts to buy Cao Cao time, but is overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Cao Cao proves a quick study and deduces how cannon fire works, and decides to blow up the gunpowder that makes them so deadly, planning to turn the tables on the Orochi forces. The Orochi forces, bogged down by the maze and forced to thin themselves giving chase don't make it in time when the Wei forces launch a fire attack on the cannons, and it proves very successful at nullifying the cannon attack and causes massive damage to all Orochi cannon fortifications, as well as causing panic in the Orochi ranks. Cao Cao immediately decides to seize the initiative and orders his now regrouped forces to attack Orochi's forces head on. Orochi regroups his own forces, just barely in time to meet the Wei advance. Cao Cao's forces, despite attacking from two directions, are soundly repelled. Cao Cao decides to come up with a Plan B, and Sun Quan soon realizes Cao Cao has made himself unusually scarce and figures he's hiding in the maze. As Orochi's forces suss out the maze, they encounter and defeat several sorcery units. As the final unit is defeated, Cao Cao's location at the southwestern part of the field is revealed, but the sorcerers were just buying time for Cao Cao to regroup his assault forces, which he sends in an all out assault on Orochi's army. However, Orochi's forces prove more powerful, and the Wei forces are crushed. A cutscene plays shortly after with Dian Wei carrying the apparently dead Cao Cao on his back away from the now body littered battlefield, weeping for his lord. Meanwhile, Orochi is not impressed with the effort the Hero of Chaos threw at him, and Da Ji shows up to inform him Ieyasu spotted the Oda Army setting up camp at Mikatagahara, throwing in that Oda Nobunaga refers to himself as the "Demon King". Orochi is interested and orders they march on Mikatagahara. Meanwhile, Masamune Date is impressed by Orochi's curbstomping of Cao Cao, but Keiji counters that Orochi didn't seem all that happy. Masamune dismisses this and says the defeat of Nobunaga is sure to be a better prey for Orochi.
 * 7) Battle Of Mikatagahara - Da Ji asks Katsuie Shibata about Nobunaga (in the PSP version, Plot Hole again, it's Hanzo Hattori in the PS2 version), and he tells her Nobunaga is a badass. Da Ji is thrilled, figuring defeating him will kill off humanity's last hope. As the battle begins, Orochi's forces surge forward, and the initially smug Oda forces start to panic as the advance team sent to stop Orochi is defeated. The Oda retreat to their fortifications to a siege, but Da Ji figures raiding their storehouses will force them into the open, so the Orochi forces turn their attention to the enemy supply garrisons. Some ambush troops appear to stop this attack, but Da Ji realizes this isn't the main force and wonders what their real plan is. That is soon evident as signal fires are spotted in the enemy garrisons, which Da Ji plans to screw over with sorcery units. Mitsuhide Akechi orders to signal fire troops to get Nobunaga's attention PDQ, and Da Ji realizes they still have some time before the smoke is noticed in the snowy weather. Nobunaga soon orders his forces to advance from the garrisons, which Da Ji takes with a smile, ordering the sorcery troops to continue their advance on the storehouses. She then summons phantom soldiers to aid in the advance, and Nobunaga is unimpressed. However, this is but a distraction as the sorcerers capture the storehouses and teleport the Orochi Army amidst the enemy positions, which causes severe chaos to their morale. Ranmaru Mori panics, but Nobunaga merely orders his main forces to advance on the enemy camp. Da Ji orders a rifle unit to surprise Nobunaga, and as they throw the Oda forces in disarray, the Orochi forces move in for the kill. Nobunaga is defeated, but manages to withdraw, noting Orochi actually let it happen. Later, after the battle, Da Ji notes everyone who could pose a threat has been defeated, but that when reports of the Mystics, the ones who initially imprisoned Orochi, reach his ears, and Orochi is downright pissed and orders his forces to march on them.
 * 8) Battle of Hinkowa - Taigong Wang announces its time to stop Orochi, noting he's impressed at Oorchi's creation of the fused world while his fellow mystics Fu Xi and Nuwa curbstomp Orochi's warriors. As they finish, they all agree Orochi needs to be stopped ASAP. Meanwhile, Zhurong asks Da Ji who the newcomers are (which creates another minor Plot Hole, since the Nanman forces are part of the resistance in the first game, which this is prequel to, while it's Masamune who asks the question in the PS2 version), and a mad Da Ji confirms they are the Mystics, who screwed over Orochi long ago, and Orochi is pissed as hell they decided to crash his party, and orders his forces to give them a well deserved ass kicking. As the battle begins, the Orochi forces advance to meet the Mystic Army. Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans have allied with the Mystics, and Zhang Jiao summons phantom soldiers to join the battle against the Serpent King. Fu Xi is amused by the drama and tells Taigong Wang to add his weight to the assault. As Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans are defeated, Zuo Ci joins the battle and summon doubles of himself to assault the Orochi forces. Taigong Wang soon adds his sorcery to the mix, causing some of the Orochi forces to attack their own allies. Da Ji manages to thwart Taigong Wang's magic, so he uses his next trick: turn part of the Orochi forces to stone. Fu Xi then summon doppelgangers of Da Ji and Orochi to join the fight, and that's when Da ji counters by summoning the reserve forces. Zuo Ci and the petrification sorcery is soon stopped, as are the doppelgangers. Fu Xi finally decides it's time to get serious, and agrees to Orochi's request to quit playing games, so he and Nuwa set out to do battle from the northeastern garrison. Nuwa starts throwing around lightning bolts at the Orochi forces and Fu Xi summons juggernauts to attack the Orochi army, which still continues to press on. All three leading Mystics warn all who aid Orochi share share his fate, but this goes ignored as all three are viciously assaulted on all sides by the Serpent King's forces. Eventually, all three Mystics are defeated. Later, as Orochi is chilling on his throne with a smile on his face, Masumune notes his good humor, and Da Ji confirms he's pleased because Cao Cao is dead, Shu is now Orochi's vassals, as are Wu and the Tokugawa . Keiji then asks the question if Orochi is still going to look for someone who can end him, and Oorchi admits he doesn't feel this is the last gasp of humanity yet, and starts laughing to himself as says the one who may end him is probably "closer than he knows".