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I am Cao Cao, the descendant of the famous Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, who was recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

–Cao Cao to the Occult Research Club, Light Novel Volume 9, Life.3 The Group of Heroes has Arrived

Cao Cao is the descendant of Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms era and the leader of the Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction. After Sun Wukong stepped down from his position as Indra's vanguard, Cao Cao became his successor and Indra's new vanguard. He is the possessor of the first and ultimate Longinus; the True Longinus.

Appearance

Cao Cao is a handsome young man with short black hair and blue eyes. He wears a combination of a Japanese school uniform (more specifically, the gakuran worn by Japanese schoolboys in the fall) and ancient Chinese hanfu attire. He also lost his right eye while escaping from the Kyoto incident but later gained one of Medusa's eyes, restoring his sight. After his battle with Issei Hyoudou in Volume 12, he lost his Medusa's eye and since Volume 18, he has worn an eyepatch. His height is [177 cm] and his body weight is [71 kg].

Personality

Cao Cao is a charismatic and manipulative person, as he was able to convince many Sacred Gear users to join the Hero Faction either from their own will or by brainwashing them. He also believes that it is his responsibility as a descendant of a hero to destroy beings like Devils, Fallen Angels, and Dragons which he believes are threats to human beings. Due to being a descendant of a famous historical hero and being born with the Holy Spear, he believes that he was chosen by the world thinking that he is the hero of the world along with his comrades. Like his ancestor, he has the eyes to find people with good potential and considers them valuable talents. However, Cao Cao only accepts Humans with Sacred Gears in the Hero Faction and wants to see how far his faction can go against supernatural existences as he wants to test the limits of what humans are capable of.

He is also cocky and arrogant, as he claims that he alone is enough to fight a god, and mocks opponents who are weaker. He tends to lose his control and composure when he is injured by someone unexpectedly or caught by unexpected unluckiness and things, as is seen when he gets infuriated when Issei hits his eye, and nearly loses his composure and self-control. Sun Wukong and Vasco still consider his views and abilities to be amateurish, childish, lacking, and still have some development.

His cockiness would be his greatest downfall, according to Vali, as he refuses to kill both Issei and Vali, and put his objectives first rather than them at that time, thus allowing Issei to defeat him during their third encounter. But still, has some respect for those he deems worthy, those that manage to get his interest and he considers strong, such as Issei, Azazel, Vali, and Vasco. Like Georg, he tends to overthink things if some things do not tend to happen, the way he expects them to be, as is seen when he overthinks Issei's survival with the help of Great Red and Ophis.

He also believes in fate, where he believes that there is a reason why he met Issei, Vali, and other various strong people who exist. It extended to the point that he mentioned in Volume 18, that the reason why he returned is that he wants to know why the True Longinus was given to him and why it chose him despite his past mistakes.

During his return in Volume 18, he is shown as willing to cooperate with the DxD against Qlippoth and during the Evil Dragon war, where he is shown helping various people including the last stand against Trihexa and the Evil Dragons as Indra's order, and align himself with the Grigori as its agent along with Tobio.

After his talk with Vasco Strada, He started reevaluating what being a 'hero' is despite being a descendant of a famous historical hero, he wasn't chosen by the people and created miracles simply pretending to be a hero which he even admits that he is a villain due to his past actions. He showed remorse for his past actions willing to pay for it for the rest of his life like sending support money for the reconstruction of every city that he and his comrades destroyed while they were affiliated with the Khaos Brigade, which led them to perpetual poverty. On his second visit to Kyoto, he and his team apologize to Yasaka and Kunou for the trouble they've caused and are willing to protect Kyoto.

History

Cao Cao was born in a remote village on a mountain in China to a traditional family of farmers. One day after getting lost in the mountain while playing with his friends, he encountered a monster he heard about in stories. Faced with death, he summoned the True Longinus for the first time and slew the monster. Half a year later he would meet Sun Wukong who would reveal his ancestor Cao Cao to him. After being sold by his parents to strange men, he ran away from home but was chased down by men wielding weapons, human traffickers, and wild animals.

After a few years on the run, he left China for another country and learned how to use True Longinus and come to know it is a Longinus and one of the Holy Relics. He abandoned his birth name for the name of his famous ancestor "Cao Cao". Returning home, he learned of his parents' death due to a huge amount of debt in money and left thereafter to form the Hero Faction, becoming acquainted with Indra through Sun at some point.

Powers & Abilities

Immense Speed: Cao Cao has shown incredible speed, greater than even well trained humans, matching Azazel in his Downfall Dragon Another Armor. Another testament to his speed was when he fended off the combined assault of Vali and Azazel in their respective Balance Breaker armors without being hit once. In conjunction with his gifted senses, Cao Cao can timely evaded attacks that are hard to avoid, such as Sairaorg 's Breakdown the Beast enhanced speed and Sonnelion's Crushing demonic power.

Immense Durability: While his durability is inferior to Issei's and Vali's, Cao Cao has shown great tolerance to damage and pain, having an arm chopped off by Issei's Ascalon only to calmly retrieve it and restore it back with a Phoenix Tear, as well as surviving a punch from Triaina Rook by blocking with the True Longinus, with the impact of his fall breaking the ground. Later on, he was able to survive the fatal pain of having his Medusa's eye destroyed by Samael's curse. In Volume DX.4, Cao Cao was able to withstand a punch from Sairaorg Bael in his Breakdown the Beast by blocking with his spear, albeit Sairaorg himself was in a grievously injured state.

Immense Combat Skills: Despite being a human and physically weaker than most supernatural beings, Cao Cao has shown immense skills in combat which allowed him to single-handedly take down the Gremory team whilst simultaneously protecting Georg and Samael. While using his Balance Breaker, Cao Cao was able to easily defeat both Vali and Azazel in their Balance Breaker armors, which resulted in Vali calling him the "Strongest Human". By working together with the Gremory team, he was able to take down Ladon, a legendary Evil Dragon without showing full power. Cao Cao is one of two humans who could equally fight against Vali's Juggernaut Drive at full power, the other being Tobio Ikuse and. Vali even considers him one of the five candidates for the strongest human. He could fight evenly against Sairaorg Bael's Breakdown the Beast armor. In DX.7, further testament of his combat prowess is when he fought Team Black's King Surtr, a powerful god-class opponent, and won, although the latter resigned in order to prevent further injuries.

  • Cao Cao vs Azazel

    Cao Cao vs Azazel

    Master Spearman: Cao Cao has immense skill and talent in spearmanship has displayed in his usage of the True Longinus. His skills were all self-taught and honed from his experience from childhood leading to adulthood fending off his pursuers, power users, devils, and dragons. As a testament to this, he fought on par with Azazel, a veteran with centuries worth of experience donned in his dragon armor. Cao Cao later fended off the entire Gremory Group, Vali, and Azazel, defeating all of them without injuries; in Vol 12, he held the upper hand against Issei in his Crimson Armor, all while using his balance breaker. In Vol 21, Cao Cao could defeat armies of mass-produced evil dragons with a single swing in balance breaker. In DX.4, he fought against Sairaorg in his beast armor, avoiding all his attacks while precisely counterattack with Balance Breaker enhanced Holy Spear, their battle itself being described as almost god-like. In True Vol. 3, he overwhelmed Sonneillon, a Satan-Class Devil who had potential to become a Super Devil, slicing off his arm and killed him by stabbing him through the chest.
  • Master Technician: Cao Cao is a technique-type fighter who polishes his technique to utmost perfection. Vali has acknowledged Cao Cao as the ultimate technique-type combatant.

Enhanced Senses: Cao Cao is shown to have extremely sharp senses by nature which he further honed to the absolute limit. Coupled with his combat and analytic progress, he can sense and see through many things that are usually hard or impossible to avoid or detect like Vali and Azazel high-speed attacks or Ladon's barrier weakness. In Volume DX.4, during his battle with Sairaorg, Sona Sitri pointed out that he can fight on par with Sairaorg purely through his natural gifted senses to avoid both his aura-enchanted punches well as shockwaves generated from them.

Genius Intellect: Cao Cao has been described as a peerless genius multiple times by devils, fallen angels, and gods alike. In several situations, he's been able to work out the inner workings and secrets behind his opponent's own techniques, which allowed him to almost defeat Issei, losing in almost all their previous battles in the end due to his own arrogance. However, following his personal growth, he has become more of a dangerous foe against a number of supernatural beings.

  • Enhanced Perception: He is extremely perceptive, deducing the works of most attacks and techniques in almost an instant. Near the start of of Volume 11, Cao Cao could work out all the forms and weaknesses of Issei's Illegal Move Triaina. In Volume 18, he deduced Ladon's barrier-based abilities, in addition to all their regeneration speed and how to defeat him. During his battle against Sairaorg in DX4, he could calculate the distance of the shockwaves caused by his fists and avoid them. In True Volume 3, Cao Cao was able to gauge the range of Sonneillon's Crushing ability and use that to avoid his gravity attacks.
  • Master Tactician: Cao Cao is a calculative and observant genius strategist, as he studies and researches his enemies before he battles them so he can read their movements and attack and counter them effectively. He has shown being able to successfully outsmart Azazel, Vali and Ophis as shown when he and Georg successfully locate ambushed the real Ophis in order to use Samael to weaken and steal her powers.

Magic: It is stated by Vali that Cao Cao has some skill in magic. He has used such to fly during his fight with Azazel in Volume 9.

Equipment

True Longinus (黄昏の聖槍(トウルー・ロンギヌス), Tōrū Ronginusu): Cao Cao's sacred gear and main weapon, which is the first and the strongest Longinus, being the same spear St. Longinus used to pierce Jesus Christ, bathing in his blood. It can piece Gods and Buddhas, shaving off their power and split powerful attacks, and holding the potential to destroy the world. As the holiest relic, believers can be driven insane looking at it, and vaporize High-Class Devils and also damage Satan-Class Devils. Despite being a spear, it can release powerful light blasts and wrap its aura around its blast; extend and retract based on his will; and shield himself from attacks from even Issei and Sairaorg.

  • Polar Night Longinus Chakravartin (極夜なる天輪聖王の輝廻槍(ポーラーナイト・ロンギヌス・チャクラヴァルティン), Pōrā Naito Ronginusu Chakuravarutin): Cao Cao's Sub-Species Balance Breaker, which creates a light halo behind him and seven identical orbs, the Seven Treasures that has different abilities; making it difficult to tell the difference between them. The orbs can move based on his will and turn into spears to attack, and penetrate Ladon's barrier. Instead of summoning his Seven Treasures, Cao Cao can concentrate Polar Night Longinus Chakravatin's power into solely strengthen his True Longinus's offensive power, making it possible to pierce Sairaorg's beast armor and damage him.[1]
    • Hatthiratana (象宝(ハッティラタナ), Hattiratana): It grants the wielder to levitate an object the sphere touches. It also is shown that Cao Cao has the ability to fly and was able to lift Ladon into the air.
    • Itthiratana (女宝(イッティラタナ), Ittiratana): It has the ability to completely stop the special abilities of women for a short time.
    • Maniratana (珠宝(マニラタナ), Maniratana): It has the ability to redirect an attack sent towards the user to another target.
    • Assaratana (馬宝(アッサラタナ), Assaratana): It has the ability to teleport a person the wielder chooses. It can also be used on Cao Cao himself, allowing him to teleport to the place of his choice.
    • Cakkaratana (輪宝(チャッカラタナ), Chakkaratana): It has the ability to destroy all weapons.
    • Kahabateiratana (居士宝(ガハパティラタナ), Gahapatiratana): It creates warrior-like existences and acts in the same way as Blade Blacksmith's Balance Breaker: Blade Knight Mass.
    • Parinayakaratana (将軍宝(バリナーヤカラタナ), Parināyakaratana): It has a strong attack with high destructive powers. The strongest ability of the seven. It seems to have some sort of restriction on how often it can be used. Issei speculated that it needs some sort of requirement for activation.
  • Truth Idea (覇輝(トゥルース・イデア), Turūsu Idea): It can create miracles, though it depends on the user of the spear, as it is the will of the God from the Bible that decides if Truth Idea can be used. It can repel a great number of mass-produced Evil Dragons and cause immense pain to Apophis, an immensely powerful Evil Dragon.[2]

Medusa's Eye: After he lost his right eye to Issei's attack,[3] and later replaces the lost eye with Medusa's eye, letting him turn anything to stone.[4] Cao Cao lost the Medusa's eye when Issei used Samael's curse on it.[5]

Artificial Eye: At some point, Cao Cao received an artificial eye to replace the one he lost, then Medusa's Eye. It was revealed in their fight against Surtr, Rias theorized it has some special power.[6]

Quotes

  • "If it's a God then I will kill it with this spear. Come, let the battle begin." (Volume 9, Life 3)
  • "……So you are telling me you have returned, Hyoudou Issei. From the information I got from the Old-Maou faction, Shalba Beelzebub was supposed to have an arrow covered in Samael's blood with him." (Volume 12, Life 5)
  • "……Unbelievable. If you were to receive that poison, then your chance of survival should have been zero. And you are telling me you recreated your body with Great-Red's help and returned by yourself……! Even meeting Great-Red isn't something that you can just refer to as luck……!" (Volume 12, Life 5)
  • "……I see. So that is your "will". –So you have picked Sekiryuutei's dream over my ambition." (Volume 12, Life 5)

Trivia

  • Cao Cao's birthday is on December 24th[7].
  • His first name Cao (操) means "chastity", in addition to also meaning "fidelity", "honor", and "faith".
    • His last name Cao (曹) means "clan", "group", "family".
    • His original name wasn't Cao Cao, but was changed to match his ancestor's.
    • In Japanese, Cao Cao's name is read as "Sousou". This is common since the Japanese language uses kanji derived from the Chinese language.
  • His team name for the Azazel Cup is Spear of Indra in reference to him being the team leader.
  • Cao Cao enjoys hot milk and grass dumplings.[8]
    • He is seen ordering Hot Milk from the Black Dog Bar. [9]
  • In the "DxD" popularity election, he came in 7th in the male character category. In the best bout category, his second battle with Issei (Volume 12) was selected for 7th place.[10]

References

  1. Light Novel DX.4, Power MAX vs Technic MAX The Lion King's Iron Fist and the Hero's Holy Spear
  2. Light Novel Volume 21, Life.2 Team [DxD] Attacks!, Part 3
  3. Light Novel Volume 9, Life.4 Showdown, Gremory Group VS Hero Faction! In Kyoto., Part 5
  4. Light Novel Volume 11, Life.3 The Rebellious Heroes, Part 2
  5. Light Novel Volume 12, Life.1 Crimson Promise, Part 2
  6. Light Novel Dx.7, Extra Life: Ancestor is a Trickster!?
  7. https://twitter.com/ishibumi_ddd/status/939147011802009600
  8. https://twitter.com/ishibumi_ddd/status/1014360944728666113
  9. Light Novel Volume 24
  10. Dragon Magazine May Issue 2021

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