Yang Zhi is descended from Yang Ye, a general in history made famous by the folk story Generals of the Yang Family -- a saga of the family's patriotism stretching from him to his great-grand child. Seven "chi" tall, Yang Zhi has red whiskers on his chin and a blue birthmark on his face, which earns him the nickname "Blue Faced Beast". A highly skilled fighter and archer, he combats with either a long sabre or a spear. He serves as a middle-ranking officer under Grand Marshal Gao Qiu in Dongjing (東京; present-day Kaifeng, Henan), the imperial capital of the Song Empire.