- Acting for Two: Happens very frequently for English and Japanese voice-overs throughout all installments due to a large cast.
- Japanese
- Kazuya Nakai - Xiahou Dun and Dian Wei; whereas the former sounds brash and fierce, the latter speaks more joyfully to reflect his Boisterous Bruiser traits and a bit more loose.
- Hirohiko Kakegawa - Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci; Zhang Fei's voice is full on loud and brash while Taishi Ci normally fits Kakegawa's normal voice tone.
- Masaya Onosaka - Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang; Onosaka states trying to make the two sound different is a challenge for him, especially when it comes to the latter's voice (see Playing Against Type below).
- Takahiro Yoshimizu - Xu Zhu and Zhou Yu; one is akin to a Dumb Muscle, while the other is a refined tactician.
- Yoshiyuki Kou'no - Zhang He and Meng Huo; the differences are quite massive in comparison; the former being supposedly campy as hell and the latter being quite the loud family-loving bruiser.
- Tetsu Inada - Huang Gai and Lu Bu; the latter remains more stern.
- Yasuhiko Kawazu - Huang Zhong and Zhang Jiao; the former is a screaming warrior with a bit of growling while the latter is a loud preacher with very different voice tones.
- Yasuhiko Tokuyama - Sun Jian and Xiahou Yuan; the former is more civil, while the latter uses arrogant Japanese speech patterns while being a nice lively guy.
- Yasunori Masutani - Guan Yu and Wei Yan; given the latter uses Hulk Speak, it's easy to tell whom Masutani is speaking as without looking.
- Takahiro Kawachi - Pang Tong and Sun Ce; like Dian Wei, Ce has a boisterous, cheerful tone of voice while Pang Tong sounds like an aging hermit.
- Hisayoshi Suganuma - Jiang Wei and Sun Quan; the latter has slightly deeper-and-restrained voice than the former.
- Junko Shimakata as both the Qiao sisters, with the difference being the younger is a Genki Girl with the appropriate tone of voice.
- Yukitoshi Hori - Dong Zhuo and Lu Meng; Dong Zhuo's voice is certainly more intensive.
- Ryouhei Nakao - Ding Feng and Guan Ping; the vocal range is evident when Feng sounds gruff compared to Ping's expressive youthfulness.
- Hiroaki Miura - Gan Ning and Guan Suo; the former is boisterous while the latter is soft and humble.
- Osamu Ryuutani - Ma Dai and Yuan Shao; Ma Dai sounds like a simple joker while Yuan Shao is flamboyant.
- Taiki Matsuno - Ling Tong and Liu Shan; the former sounds smooth and cool-headed, while the latter is rather goofy yet humble in tone.
- Hideo Ishikawa - Jia Xu and Zhou Tai; the latter speaks softly and stoically, unlike Ishikawa's usual tone of voice.
- As of the Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, Ryōtarō Okiayu for Sima Shi and Sima Yi, the latter due to Died During Production (see below); Okiayu states he's trying his best to make Sima Yi sound different from his son.
- Originally, Yuuko Sumitomo and Kenji Nojima voiced Nuwa and Fu Xi, respectively, alongside Zhenji and Lu Xun. Subverted when the former two reappeared in Warriors Orochi with new voice actors (Yuki Makishima and Hiroki Yasumoto, respectively).
- English. Most characters between 4 and 8 shared a voice actor with at least one other character. Several of them also provide additional voices for minor characters.
- Terrence Stone - Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci in 4 and 5.
- John Snyder - Guan Yu and Cao Cao in 4.
- Bob Papenbrook - Zhang Fei and Wei Yan in 4 and 5.
- Lex Lang - Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi in 4; Zhuge Liang and Ling Tong in 5.
- Daniel Woren - Liu Bei and Lu Bu in 4, and Guo Huai and Zuo Ci in 8.
- Richard Cansino - Pang Tong and Sima Yi in 5.
- Kirk Thornton - Xiahou Dun and Meng Huo in 4 through 8.
- Beau Billingslea - Dian Wei and Cao Ren in 4 through 8.
- Doug Stone - Xu Zhu and Zhang Jiao in 4 through 8, as well as Gan Ning in 4 and 5.
- Michael Mcconnohie - Zhang Liao and Zhou Tai in 4 and 5.
- Steve Blum - Xiahou Yuan and Sun Jian in 4 and 5.
- John Demita - Zhang He and Zhou Yu in 4.
- Michelle Ruff - Zhenji and Sun Shangxiang in 4 and 5.
- Paul St Peter - Xu Huang and Yuan Shao in 4.
- Skip Stellrecht - Sun Quan and Lu Xun in 4 through 6.
- Wendee Lee - the Qiao sisters in 4 and 5, then Daqiao, Xing Cai, and Zhenji in 7 and 8.
- Carrie Savage - Diao Chan in 5 through 8, Xing Cai in 5, and Xiao Qiao in 6 through 8.
- Yuri Lowenthal - Zhang He and Sun Ce in 5 through 8.
- Kim Strauss - Xu Huang and Cao Pi in 5.
- Eddie Frierson - Xiahou Yuan and Lu Meng from 5:Xtreme Legends to 6.
- Douglas Lee - Huang Gai and the narrator in 5 through 7.
- Dave B. Mitchell - Guan Yu and Liu Bei in 6 through 8.
- Steve Kramer - Zhang Fei and Lu Su in 8.
- Tony Oliver - Xiahou Yuan and Lu Meng from 6:Special to 8.
- Alan Shearman - Huang Zhong and Wei Yan from 6 to 8.
- Travis Willingham - Xu Huang and Zhou Tai in 6 and 7.
- Kyle Hebert - Sima Yi and Ding Feng in 7 and 8, as well as Xu Huang and Zhou Tai in 8.
- Michael Sinterniklaas - Zhou Yu and Gan Ning in 6 through 8.
- Darrel Guilbeau - Xu Shu and Yue Jin in 8.
- Matthew Mercer - Taishi Ci and Jia Chong in 8.
- Quinton Flynn - Zhong Hui and Guo Jia in 7:Xtreme Legends and 8.
- Keith Silverstein - Pang De and Zhuge Dan in 7:Xtreme Legends and 8.
- Vic Mignogna - Jia Xu and Xiahou Ba in 7 and 8.
- Japanese
- All-Star Cast: The English dub for 4 to 8 are composed of recognizable voice actors who are known for their roles in a lot of anime dubs, cartoons, and video games such as Yuri Lowenthal, Kyle Hebert, Doug Erholtz, Richard Cansino, Laura Bailey, Spike Spencer, Quinton Flynn among others.
- Creator's Favorite: The series producer, Akihiro Suzuki, admitted that Xiahou Dun is his favorite character because he admires his stoicism and being dutiful.
- Creator's Pest: Suzuki admitted that his regrets character-wise were Wei Yan and the two Qiaos (Daqiao and Xiaoqiao). The former as, despite having a good design, his Hulk Speak made his presentation difficult despite being a major general (especially in regards to conversations). The latter two as their purpose was to fulfill the need of a Token Mini-Moe, only to realize something was wrong when they were shown together with their husbands Sun Ce and Zhou Yu respectively as next to them they look like small children. Ironically, 9 introduces another Mini Moe, Xiahou Ji, who not only looks much younger then her husband Zhang Fei, but her children Xingcai and Zhang Bao.
- Died During Production: In 2013, Sima Yi's original Japanese voice actor, Tsuyoshi Takishita, unexpectedly died due to injuries he sustained from a bad fall while on his way home much to the shock of his fellow Dynasty Warriors cast members and the Koei Tecmo production team. Because of this, Sima Yi never appeared in the new stages for 8: Xtreme Legends. In 2014, Ryōtarō Okiayu, who did Sima Shi's voice role, took over the role of Sima Yi and stated he would try his best to capture Takishita's performance and not make it similar to his performance as Shi.
- Dueling Games: Subverted with Sengoku Basara since its setting places it directly against Spin-Off Samurai Warriors better than Dynasty Warriors.
- He Also Did: One of Zhang Chunhua's voice actress Masumi Asano's other prominent roles include Sonsaku Hakufu from Ikki Tousen, an ecchi anime whose synopsis is entirely a modern incarnation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
- No Dub for You: The seventh to ninth games' Empires spinoffs never had an English dub.
- No Export for You:
- All of the strategy guides, merchandise (save for ultra-rare exclusions), and half the Downloadable Content for Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires have never seen release outside of Japan.
- Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2, which is a sequel to Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, was never released outside of Japan.
- The Switch port of Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, made in celebration of Omega Force's 20th anniversary, has yet to leave Japan since its release in 2017.
- The PSP ports of 6, 6: Empires and 7 were never released outside Japan.
- The Other Darrin
- Subverted with particular characters, who sound noticeably different between games, but retain the same voice actor, such as Diaochan between 5 and 6 and and Sun Shangxiang between 6 and 7.
- This was the case for the whole English cast who acted from 4 to 8, since 9 was dubbed by another LA based group (VOXX Studios), replacing all the VAs for the characters with new ones.
- Throughout the series, even dating back to the first game, almost all of the characters retained the same Japanese voice actors.
- One exception is Zhang Liao in Dynasty Warriors 2, who was replaced afterwards.
- In 2013, Sima Yi's Japanese voice actor Tsuyoshi Takishita passed away, with Ryōtarō Okiayu subsequently replacing him.
- Jun'ichi Miyake did not return to voice Guo Jia for Dynasty Warriors 9, due to ongoing medical issues. Daichi Kanbara took over his role instead.
- In the localization of Dynasty Warriors 5, Xingcai was voiced by Carrie Savage, but beginning with the crossover, Savage was replaced by Wendee Lee, who imitated her tone of voice from previous games (Savage would simultaneously replace Lee as Xiao Qiao). Beginning with 7, Lee shifts to a significantly deeper, throatier voice, making the difference not just noticeable, but striking. Justified in order to match the characterization provided by Junko Noda, making Xingcai a stoic girl, as Savage made her sound more cheery and high-pitched.
- Bob Papenbrook voiced Zhang Fei in Dynasty Warriors 4 and 5, Dynasty Tactics and Kessen II, when most other characters had changed voice actors in that span. He passed away in 2006 and was replaced by Steve Kramer.
- The Other Marty: Early information from actors' resume, Instagram posts and IMDB stated that Matt Fowler would voice both Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang while VOXX regular, Frank Gerrish would voice Cheng Pu. In the final game, however, Matt's voice as Zhao Yun got replaced by Gabriel Sousa and Frank's role was also likely replaced by Smokey Miles.
- Playing Against Type: Masaya Onosaka is primarily known for his Butt-Monkey and comic relief roles, but his dual voiceovers for Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang eschews humor for stoic, taciturn personalities, especially the former and his "serious, warrior traits". In particular, Onosaka notes it's far more of a challenge to voice Liang.
- Promoted Fanboy: A couple examples from the new English cast of 9.
- Matt Fowler (new voice of Zhuge Liang) said that he's been a fan of the series since Dynasty Warriors 3 and he's very excited in having performed for the game.
- Vic May (Lu Bu and Pang De) has said that he’s been a long-time of Lu Bu
, and was quite ecstatic to voice him.
- Real-Life Relative: In Dynasty Warriors 5, Zhang Fei and Guan Ping are voiced by father and son, Bob and Bryce Papenbrook. It's heartwarming in a sense that Zhang Fei is the sworn oath brother of Guan Ping's father, Guan Yu. But it's also sad, being that Dynasty Warriors 5 is the only game they were in together before Bob passed away in 2006.
- Role Reprise:
- Takashi Aoki, Yuuko Mikutsu and Eri Ozeki, who voiced Man Chong, Xiahou Ji and Dong Bai respectively in the Dynasty Warriors Blast card game, reprise their roles for Dynasty Warriors 9.
- For the Japanese dub of the live-action adaptation, all the voice actors from the games reprised their roles except for Cao Cao's who is voiced by Kazumasa Fukagawa instead of Yukimasa Kishino.
- Troubled Production: According to the Dynasty Warriors 9 English voice actors, Eli Godfrey (Xun Yu) and Maxwell Chase (Li Dian and Guan Suo), the reason why the English dub has stagnated dialogue and mispronounced Chinese names is due to the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) which prevented them from rehearsing their lines and the limited budget and time for the voice actor to record, rehearse and research on the characters and the name pronunciation.
- Uncredited Role:
- Except for DW9, none of the English voice actors were credited in the games.
- Most notably, most of the cast for the English dub of 2 and 3 are still unknown.
- Updated Re-release: Dynasty Warriors 6, which originally came out for the Playstation 3 and X Box 360, later had a "special" edition made for the Playstation 2. It added seven musou modes, but removed swimming and duels from the game. Not to mention the worse visuals due to the game being ported to a Daddy System.
- What Could Have Been:
- Wang Yi's weapon (Twin Trishula) was originally planned for a Downloadable Content release in 7 along with the Great Axe. This can be seen via a notable space next to the Great Axe treasure weapon stage in "Conquest Mode", which seems to support thisnote . Due to the infamous "PlayStation Network Crash", the DLC release was delayed, thus the Great Axe was released alone and the weapon was given to her in the Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends expansion.
- According to Word of God, Pang De was supposed to return in 7, having skipped an appearance in 6, but wound up not being featured in the plot for Story Mode in the middle of development, thus was cut entirely. Notably, Cao Ren and Xu Huang lead the defense at the Battle of Fan Castle in place of Pang De, yet Xiahou Dun is the playable character. The excuse is strange since many characters don't appear in Story Mode for 7 at all.
- During the development of 7, Jin's color was supposed to be magenta, but it was changed to cyan (light blue) to show that their foundation came from Wei.
- At some point, the Nanman tribe was probably considered for 6, as the Battle of He Fei theme resembles a potential Nanman battle.
- According to Kaiji Tang, who voiced Sima Zhao in the seventh and eighth games, he and the rest of the original dubbing cast were initially contacted to reprise their roles for 9, but there was radio silence on the other side. Then, to much of his surprise, the entire English cast is recast with new ones.
There's a bit of confusion regarding the localized titles of the games: Dynasty Warriors is the export title; Shin Sangoku Musou (and plain old Sangoku Musou) is the Japanese title. The full list, to help clear it up:
- Dynasty Warriors / Sangoku Musou (PSX)
- Dynasty Warriors 2 / Shin Sangoku Musou (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors 3 / Shin Sangoku Musou 2 (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends /Shin Sangoku Musou 2: Moushouden (PS2)
- Mobile Shin Sangoku Musou (phone)
- Dynasty Warriors 4 / Shin Sangoku Musou 3 (PS2 / Xbox)
- Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends / Shin Sangoku Musou 3: Moushouden (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors 4: Hyper (PC)
- Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires / Shin Sangoku Musou 3: Empires (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors Online / Shin Sangoku Musou Broadband (PC)
- Dynasty Warriors Advance / Shin Sangoku Musou Advance (GBA)
- Shin Sangoku Musou PSP (Japan-only port / remake of 4 to PSP)
- Dynasty Warriors 5 / Shin Sangoku Musou 4 (PS2 / Xbox)
- Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends / Shin Sangoku Musou 4: Moushouden (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires /Shin Sangoku Musou 4: Empires (PS2 / Xbox / PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Shin Sangoku Musou 4 Special (PC / Xbox 360)
- Dynasty Warriors 5: Volume 2 / Shin Sangoku Musou 2nd Evolution (PSP)
- Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle / Shin Sangoku Musou DS: Fighter's Battle (DS)
- Shin Sangoku Musou Mahjong (PS2 / PSP)
- Dynasty Warriors 6 / Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Dynasty Warriors 6 / Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PC: Japan and EU only)
- Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires / Shin Sangoku Musou 5: Empires (PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce / Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid (PSP: Japan / EU only)
- Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce / Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid: Special (PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2 (PSP)
- Shin Sangoku Musou 5: Special (PS2)
- Dynasty Warriors 7 / Shin Sangoku Musou 6 (PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends / Shin Sangoku Musou 6: Moushouden (PS3)
- Shin Sangoku Musou 6: Special (PSP)
- Dynasty Warriors NEXT / Shin Sangoku NEXT (PSV)
- Dynasty Warriors VS / Shin Sangoku VS (Nintendo 3DS)
- Dynasty Warriors 8 / Shin Sangoku Musou 7 (PS3 / Xbox 360)
- Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends / Shin Sangoku Musou 7: Moushouden (PS3 / PS4 / PC)
- Shin Sangoku Musou Blast (Mobile)
- Dynasty Warriors 9 / Shin Sangoku Musou 8 (PS4)
This culminates with the "anniversary campaign" in 2016, beginning with Shin Sangoku Musou Eiketsuden/Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers, where Japan celebrates the series’ 16th anniversary, which matches with the release of Shin Sangoku Musou/Dynasty Warriors 2, the de facto first game for the franchise. In the West, this anniversary celebration would have to be the 19th anniversary instead, due to Sangoku Musou/Dynasty Warriors being considered the first game in the series internationally.
