The fuck? Chou Garyuu was awesome, lol
Anyway, so the baseline I use to scale these guys is Kyou En. Kyou En was the head of military for a smaller state that was conquered by Renpa, directly comparing Kyou En to the Juukou gang is valid because they all had similar rolls.
It’s a testament to how great people like Renpa are that they have actual former GGs/heads of small state militaries serving them lol.
So anyway, I would say:
Keisha
Gyou'un
Chougaryuu
Shunsuiju
Bananji
Rinko
Kyou En
1. Keisha-it is tough to really scale Keisha but generally I think he belongs above all of these other guys. He was outright said to be close to achieving a Great Heaven seat, and as much hype as these other guys have, I think that portrayal in and of itself is better. As an overall commander I would favor him above these guys even if they each have individual attributes above that of Keisha. Do not forget that Keisha severely outplayed Duke Hyou in the Coalition war to the point that Riboku thought Duke Hyou was check-mated, I question if any of these guys could’ve done Duke Hyou like that.
2. Gyou’Un-and what sort of Gyou’Un High Priest would I be if I didn’t put him up next lol. But nah seriously I do think he’s earned this spot, he shouldered the primary martial burden of a 3GH tier army and was Rinshoujou’s right hand man. In war I think he was an outright 3GH tier offensive power but lacked the versatility of a true Great Heaven. He was outright compared to Rinko and Kaishibou in terms of ability so I think Gyou’Un being slightly above Kyou En is the right spot for him.
And the rest of these guys are really really really tough for me to rank because they’re pretty much all equal, even Gyou’Un is pretty much equal to these guys but fuck it here goes:
3. Shunsuiju-I think Shunsuiju is the true sleeper of this tier. This guy literally has feats against multiple Qin 6 members and looked damn good while doing so. He was the one who first sniffed Shouheikun’s deception when no one else in Zhao did. He was able to manipulate Yotanwa’s battlefield to such a severe extent that she was outright pushed to “extreme diff” at Roumou. He made Ousen take 3x the predicted casualties at Atsuyo when Ousen is a notoriously strong siege general. Yes Riboku was involved in Shunsuiju’s feats against Yotanwa and Ousen but still. The fact that Rinko broke through Ouki’s iron defense and landed a single blow on Ouki was hyped up as a massive feat, and this doesn’t even compare to what Shunsuiju did to Ousen and Yotanwa. So yeah I really think Shunsuiju is extremely dangerous.
4. Bananji-and Bananji haters thought I would rank him last lol. Nah, Bananji is very impressive. He survived against the Xiongnu for decades while the vast majority of Zhao generals die against the Xiongnu, he had Ousen wide eyed and in shock when Ousen was trying to stop him but couldn’t, and Riboku outright did not want to risk losing Bananji against Kanki. All this and we still haven’t seen Bananji’s true ability yet. He was put in the same strength tier as Kaishibou and Renpa and from the start that was all we really needed to know, but Bananji may be one of those weighted generals when he actually goes hard.
5. Rinko-Hara distinguished Rinko from the rest of the 4HK when he said that Rinko was the one Renpa always had dive heardfirst into the most ferocious battles and yet Rinko overcame them every single time. He was taught tactics by Genpou just like Renpa himself, and I think these factors by themselves are enough to put Rinko as the foremost Heavenly King.
6. Kyou En-and my favorite Heavenly King goes this far down the list unfortunately. Oh well. On top of being a former head of state, he also fought 4 of the Qin 6 and Renpa several times, and Renpa even said he had been burned by Kyou En before. And of course being one of the Ten Bows is a pretty unique claim for a general.
7. Chougaryuu-it is almost criminal to put Garyuu this low. Like I said I think there really aren’t strength gaps here, I think Garyuu pushes Gyou’Un to extreme diff or can even win depending on circumstance. He was Rinshoujou’s left hand man, could use 3GH level tactics, and was directly compared to the Heavenly Kings. So yeah his hype was extreme and I think he showed great feats , but probably just a bit less so than everyone else here.
