Cáo Pī 曹丕

Translated description:
"The Dominating Successor 霸业的继承者 (bà yè dè jì chéng zhě)"

Wikipedia link: Cao Pi Wiki

Who is he:
The successor to Cao Cao 曹操, Cao Pi's ascension to the throne of Cao Wei 曹魏 is fraught with controversy. Cao Cao literally had a litter of male children, all of which were eligible to succession. The most promising among them were Cao Ang 曹昂, Cao Zhang 曹彰, Cao Zhi 曹植, Cao Chong 曹冲 and Cao Pi. Cao Ang was killed in action early on at the battle at Wan Cheng 宛城之战. Cao Chong was a child prodigy and reportedly Cao Cao's favorite son. This was where the controversy starts.Cao Chong died mysteriously of an illness at age 13 and it is believed that Cao Pi had something to do with it. After Cao Cao's death, Cao Zhang appeared to be planning to seize power from Cao Pi. Cao Pi promptly sent Cao Zhang back to the frontlines, far from the capital. Cao Pi then crushed many talented staff of Cao Zhi to cripple his power. He even wanted Cao Zhi executed, which led to Cao Zhi's famous "7 step poem". Ultimately, Cao Pi was two extremes of achievements: he dissolved the Han Dynasty 汉朝 became the first Emperor of Wei, yet was quite a failure both domestically and in war.

Character ability 1: "Unnatural Death 行殇 (xíng shāng)"
You can immediately take possession of all the cards (both on-hand and equipped) of any player that dies.

Character ability 2: "Banish into Exile 放逐 (fàng zhú)"
Everytime you suffer damage, you can force any player (except yourself) to draw X number of cards. X being the units of health you have lost (measured from your max health level) after the damage has been taken into account. By doing so, this player will have to "Flip Character Card" (please click on link for more info).

Character ability 3: [Ruler ability] "Exalt the Powerful 颂威 (sǒng wēi)"
Whenever any Wei Character (other than yourself) makes a judgement, if the judgement card that takes effect is the suit of "clubs" or "spades", that character can choose to let you draw 1 card from the deck.

Ability's relation to story:
"Unnatural death" makes for interesting discussion. It definitely has link to the story, but it is not clear in which context. Many characters have died prematurely whose deaths are attributed to Cao Pi, even his own wife Zhen Ji 甄姬. This forms the basis for the game ability to take all the cards, since it implies he was the puppet master behind the scenes and their death is his advantage. However some argue that Cao Pi himself died an "unnaturally early" death at the age of 39.

"Banish into Exile" is significantly mentioned in the story as Cao Pi's preferred punishment for his political opponents. His victims include his (half) brothers Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang, as well as the last Emperor of Han Dynasty.

There does not seem to be any clear link for "Exalt the Powerful". Probably just a generic add-on by the game makers.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - Becoming Emperor of Wei after demolishing the Han Dynasty. Though Cao Cao had this in his sights for years, he decided to let his descendants form the empire and Cao Pi fulfilled that role. In an interesting twist of fate, Si Ma Yi 司马懿 copied Cao Cao by personally building the foundation of the Jin Dynasty 晋朝, but allowing his descendants to follow through. It is ironic that the first of the three kingdoms to fall to Si Ma Yi was Cao Wei.

2. Cause of death - Cao Pi died of illness at age 39. It is believed that his failure to defeat Sun Wu 孙吴 and Shu Han 蜀汉 led to embarrassment, something which Cao Pi severely resented. Unable to swallow his pride, this unhappiness precipitated into illness which killed him.

FAQ and Disambiguation

1. As Ruler, will Cao Pi still be able to draw a card if a Wei's character's judgement for Eight Trigrams card is black?

Ans: Yes. Although the Eight Trigrams judgement failed if it is black, it is still the judgement card that comes into effect.


2. If Cao Pi makes a judgement that is a black card, can he draw a card also?

Ans: No. It only applies for Wei Characters other than Cao Pi himself.


3. Can Cao Pi ask one guy to flip his card twice if he suffers 2 units of damage ? Such that the player flipped can draw a lot of  cards and still be able to play the next turn ?

Ans: No. Flipping character card is based on number of instances he receives damage , not on the number of units of damage.


4. Is it compulsory to use Cao Pi's '' Banish into Exile'' ability?

Ans: No. Cao Pi can choose not to use it.


5.  If Cao Pi is a Ruler and mistakenly killed a Loyalist, does he discard all his cards? This means his 1st ability  is useless to acquire the dead person's cards?

Ans: In that scenario the following sequence occurs:

     1. Cao Pi (Ruler) first acquires all the cards from the dead Loyalist .
     2. Then Cao Pi discards all his cards,including those he just picked up from the deal Loyalist , as   punishment for killing his loyalist.

End Result= Cao Pi will still end up with no cards on- hand or equipped.


6. When Cao Pi gets hit and is on the brink of death , could he use his Banish ability on an ally to receive receive cards so that they can use a peach to save Cao Pi?

Ans: No. When ''brink of death'' occurs , every other ability halts untill he is rescued. So only after he is rescued can he use Banish .


7. Does Cao Pi get to gain the Judgement cards awaiting judgement that are placed on a character before that character died (eg, the character still has a lightning on him but he died before his turn)

Ans: I have no firm answer to that. This is still being debated. One one hand ,no, the cards in the Judgement Area are not considered owned by any player. On the other hand, yes, because Si Ma Yi is allowed to grab a card from the judgement area just like using STEAL or DISMANTLE.


8. Can Cao Pi re-flip a character card with his abilty?

Ans: Yes. Cao Pi can re-flip such that the turn will not be missed.