History Characters / SheWhoBecameTheSun

* NotSoDifferent: Zhu and Chen Youliang have more in common than Zhu might like to admit. She initially holds quite a bit of admiration for his ambition and skill at plotting, but quickly becomes repulsed at what he's willing to do for power. Even as she makes more and more ruthless decisions in the name of her goals, she tries to convince herself she's not as far gone as he is -- but also acknowledges that some of his tactics are things she would have done herself.

* BaitTheDog: Zhu uses the [[spoiler: the Prince of Radiance]] as a sign of her right to rule the rebels and initially seems willing to leave him alive. However, only [[spoiler: someone with the Mandate of Heaven]] can become Emperor, so he will become an obstacle for her eventually. While she makes it quick and painless, she [[spoiler: murders him in front of the moon]] to her own sorrow, cementing her willingness to be as cruel as necessary, even if it comes at great cost to herself.
* TheChessmaster: While everyone in the novel schemes, ''nobody'' schemes quite like Zhu Chongba. From youth she grows into cunning just to survive, and by the time she's in the court she proves to be a brilliant and charming strategist who can play a battlefield and a court alike. By the end, [[spoiler: she plays Liu Futong into her hands and claims the throne]] through her planning skills.
* {{Determinator}}: Nothing dissuades Zhu when she has a goal in mind, and she will do anything to claim victory no matter how hard. While she sometimes falters, her commitment and determination never disappears for long. No setback can prevent her from gaining the rulership. Zhu is ''defined'' by determination, clawing herself from the depths of nameless peasantry by forcibly claiming a Mandate of Heaven, and soon forcibly claiming victory.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Zhu may be ruthless and brutal, but she pales in comparison to Chen Youliang. Youliang never shies from the more brutal option and when [[spoiler: Right Minister Guo]] rebels, Youliang has him ''flayed alive.''
* HandicappedBadass: Even after losing a hand, she personally leads armies, infiltrates hostile camps and re-learns fighting with her left hand.

* QueerRomance: [[spoiler: Ma Xiuying]] becomes willing to marry Zhu once she realizes Zhu is actually a woman.
* TheStrategist: Though Youliang may have better control over the courts, Zhu has total control of the battlefield. She is a brilliant and ruthless planner whose tactics and outside-the-box thinking lead her side to multiple victories.
* TragicVillain: Zhu's entire life is hell, driving her to villainy when she decides to claim power-- and even as she rises the tragedy doesn't stop, as when she [[spoiler: successfully claims her throne]] it comes at the cost of [[spoiler: having murdered a child]]. Even Zhu ends the novel somewhat dejectedly noting that [[spoiler: she will at least rule well to ensure her descent into evil wasn't in vain]].

* WarriorMonk: Zhu is a monk due to her training in a monastery, but she is also a solid fighter in her own right, albeit one bested by a hardened warrior like Ouyang.
* WouldHurtAChild: She [[spoiler: murders the Prince of Radiance]] to secure her rise to power.

The second protagonist of the novel, Ouyang is a general of the Yuan who himself seeks to claim vengeance upon the Temur family for the loss of his family and his castration, enslavement, and humiliation. This is complicated by his tempestuous relationship with Lord Esen-Temur.

* MasterArcher: Ouyang can shoot a bow with insane skill, to the point where Zhu [[spoiler: relies on this skill to help them outplay Chen Youliang]].

* PetTheDog: Ouyang may want the entire Temur bloodline dead, but when Baoxiang points out that [[spoiler: Baoxiang himself is only an adoptive Temur]], Ouyang surprises even himself by [[spoiler: showing mercy and letting him go]].

* VillainKiller: Ouyang racks up a body count of the book's villains through his plotting by gradually wiping out the Temur bloodline and [[spoiler: successfully killing them all at the end]].
* VillainProtagonist: Ouyang is a ruthless Yuan general who is far from afraid to get his hands dirty in battle. The very second instance we see Ouyang is when he [[spoiler: burns down Wuhuang monastery]] to avenge a slight by the abbot years earlier. In parts II and III of the book, Ouyang takes a protagonist role from the second act onward, the story focusing on his twisted mind and willingness to kill, while simultaneously explaining why he's become so hardhearted.

* ArchEnemy: To Zhu, who realizes quickly that Youliang is her biggest obstacle to success and comes to hate him.

* TheChessmaster: Whenever someone slips up, Youliang is there to take advantage. His plots have let him dominate the court for years, and when his rivals appear Youliang has little trouble either working with them or dispatching them. Ultimately, he's the largest obstacle to Zhu's rise due to ''just how smart'' he proves to be.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Don't ''ever'' trust Youliang. [[spoiler: Guo the Elder]] discovers this the hard way when Youliang uses an opportunity to cut off his rebellion by turning against him, and Zhu knows his treachery but [[spoiler: ends up forced to try and work with him. Sure enough, he betrays her]], but she [[spoiler: has figured this out and knows exactly the counterplay she needs to make]].

* FauxAffablyEvil: Youliang is as trustworthy as a serpent. He may pose as a kindly man, but the reality is that he's a blackhearted, evil man who would just as soon see his own allies flayed alive as successful. His real success is not in being trusted, but in making himself so essential that one simply ''cannot'' go without his aid when he offers it.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Youliang does not waste time. He'll help you if he needs to, kill you if it benefits him, and betray you the moment you're no longer convenient. If you're a rival, he'll get into your good graces and [[spoiler: frame you for treason]]. Chen Youliang's skill is only matched by his willingness to do whatever helps him gain more power.

* PragmaticVillainy: Baoxiang's pragmatism is so definitive that it's easily mistaken for cowardice. He prefers to stay behind the scenes and keep his cards close to his chest, so much so that nobody knows whose side he's on until [[spoiler: he reveals he's been aiding Ouyang all along]].

* AffablyEvil: Zhu's friendliness, kindness, and civility is absolutely genuine and she'll even repay her debts and show kindness. By the end, however, she's also ruthless enough to [[spoiler: murder a child]] to secure her ascent.

* TheChessmaster: Ouyang manages to work out a plan that gradually eliminates his targets and hide who does it, culminating in organizing a large-scale coup in his final target's own home. While he may not be Zhu, his skill is nothing to scoff at.

* EunuchsAreEvil: An eunuch (the only mayor one in the story) and ruthless, callous and driven by his desire for revenge.

* MadeASlave: Ouyang is enslaved by the Temur family after his father commits treason and the rest of the family is executed. The bargain for Ouyang's survival is that he had to be castrated.

* ManipulativeBastard: Even when he's genuinely supporting people, Youliang is just using them as his pawns to claim a victory through them. Chen Youliang is a master at taking advantage of others' flaws to achieve his own ends with them, whether through supporting them, betraying them or even flat-out killing them.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Youliang does not waste time. He'll help you if he needs to, kill you if it benefits him, and betray you the moment you're no longer convenient. If you're a rival, he'll get into your good graces and [[spoiler: frame you for treason]]. Youliang's skill is only matched by his willingness to do whatever helps him gain more power.
* PragmaticVillainy: The scariest thing about Youliang is probably that it's all business to him-- while he'll kill you the moment it's convenient, he'll also unconditionally support people who benefit his ends.
* ShadowArchetype: Youliang is all of Zhu's worst ambition with none of her good traits. His willingness to do anything to achieve his ends is punctuated only by his constant manipulation and betrayal of his allies. Where Zhu has compunctions and loved ones, Youliang has ''nothing'' but an evil mind and the desire to rule that they both share.

Zhu Chongba's eventual beloved, and the kindest woman among the Red Turbans.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Between both sides, Ma is one of the most firmly gentle and kind characters in the entire story who shows the most compassion out of most of the characters.

Ouyang's owner and commander, the son of the Prince of Henan and the successor of the Temur bloodline.
* AntiVillain: Esen has ''no idea'' that he's a villain, contrasting him with men like Youliang or even Ouyang and Zhu themselves, who know they're evil.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Venting to Oujang (whose family was killed and he himself castrated) how annoying a family is or saying he is "as beautiful as a woman" may not be the most sensitive thing to say, even if he does mean no harm.
* KarmicDeath: Esen is betrayed by [[spoiler: Ouyang, the man he never could have predicted turning against him]], his eyes firmly set on the people he resents rather than the man he loves. In the end, [[spoiler: Ouyang creates a coup and personally executes Esen]].

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The perfect proud mongol warrior-prince, which leads to Baoxiang and Oujang both unfavourably comparing themselves to him.

The adoptive son of the Temur line, who resents the others for their success and serves as a HiddenAgendaVillain for Ouyang's plot.

* HiddenAgendaVillain: It's not clear what Baoxiang ''wants'' from Esen and Ouyang, only seeming to perpetually {{troll}} them for his own amusement until [[spoiler: Ouyang performs his final coup]] and Baoxiang reveals that exactly that result was his plan all along-- [[spoiler: just as Ouyang, he wanted the Temurs dead for his own grudge]].
* HiddenDepths: Despite being introduced as a straightforward {{troll}} and even seeming to be a homophobe, Baoxiang later admits he has more [[CommonalityConnection sympathy for Ouyang's plight]] than he lets on, being himself branded a coward and put down for his status as an outsider. [[spoiler: So much so that he's been backing Ouyang's plot all along]].

* NervesOfSteel: Whether facing a wolf or held captive at threat of death, Baoxiang will be nervous-- and that's the end of it for how fearful he becomes. This is particularly shown when he [[spoiler: manages to talk Ouyang out of killing him while visibly terrified and held at knife-point; he doesn't mewl or beg, and instead calmly explains his logic to Ouyang, persuading him to spare his life]].

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In the beginning, Baoxiang is content with administrating Henan to support his family and the empire, until his brother unfairly blames him for their father's death. Then, the scheming starts.
* {{Troll}}: Baoxiang relishes messing with both the Temurs and Ouyang, and there are few lows he will not stoop to just to offend them. This reaches the point that pretty much everyone being unsure of whose side Baoxiang is on-- which is exactly what Baoxiang wants.
* WildCard: Nobody is sure whose side Baoxiang is on at any given moment, as he seems to despise both Ouyang and the Temurs. [[spoiler: He's on Ouyang's side out of pragmatism, sharing his goal of eliminating the Temur line, and manages to leave unscathed when Ouyang pulls his coup while never explicitly joining either side]].

[[folder:Lady Zhang]]
A former courtesan married to Ricepot Zhang and lover of General Zhang who is the real mover- and shaker in the powerful Zhang family whose salt exports keep the empire alive.

* BehindEveryGreatMan: She is the one with the ambition and the brains in her family, but due to the strict gender norms she has to work in the background and the outside mostly attributes her sucesses to her husband and brother in law.
* FemmeFatale: Uses her wiles to control her husband and brother in law, if the need arises.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started as a humble concubine, now the mistress of the richest family in the empire.

* BehindEveryGreatMan: She is the one with the ambition and the brains in her family, but due to the srrict gender norms she has to work in the background and the outside mostly attributes her sucesses to her husband and brother in law.

* BaitTheDog: Zhu comes in to her murderous scheme with the full intent to leave [[spoiler: the Emperor's son]] alive. Seeing him, however, she realizes the danger he poses and changes her mind. While she makes it quick and painless, she [[spoiler: murders him in front of the moon]] to her own sorrow, cementing her willingness to be as cruel as necessary, even if it comes at great cost to herself.

* WouldHurtAChild: Albeit reluctantly, she [[spoiler: murders the Emperor's son]] to secure her rise to power.

* VillainKiller: Ouyang racks up a body count of the book's villains through his plotting, gradually wiping out the Temur bloodline and [[spoiler: successfully killing them all at the end]], as well as playing a crucial role in [[spoiler: Youliang's death]].
* VillainProtagonist: Ouyang is a ruthless Yuan general who is far from afraid to get his hands dirty in battle. The very second instance we see Ouyang is when he [[spoiler: burns down Wuhang monastery]] to avenge a slight by the abbot years earlier. In parts II and III of the book, Ouyang takes a protagonist role from the second act onward, the story focusing on his twisted mind and willingness to kill, while simultaneously explaining why he's become so hardhearted.
* WorthyOpponent: Ouyang acknowledges that Zhu is an incredible warrior and [[spoiler: is willing to ally with her to kill Youliang]].

The main antagonist of the novel, and Zhu's rival in the Imperial court. Noted for his completely cold nature and brilliant mind.

* KarmicDeath: A man who climbs up the social and political ladders through manipulating and betraying his (often improbable) allies before killing them [[spoiler: has the exact same thing happen when Zhu realizes his scheme and allies with Ouyang, the one ally he could ''never'' predict, to kill him]] from afar. Were it not him on the receiving end, Youliang probably would've been proud.

Zhu Chongba's eventual beloved, and the kindest woman among the Imperial court.
* DisappointedInYou: Upon realizing she backed and loved Zhu, who ended up [[spoiler: murdering the Emperor's son]], Ma can only express her shame and disappointment in Zhu's actions.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Despite falling in love with Zhu even though she's a woman, Ma shows little sign of being anything but straight initially.

Ouyang's owner and lover, the son of the Prince of Henan and the successor of the Temur bloodline.

* ManlyGay: A strong Yuan lord who's got plenty of accolades and is seen as a model example of a Mongol... and who carries on a relationship with Ouyang. This is a point of contention among the court, who see this as tarnishing an otherwise good leader.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Esen has no idea that what he's doing to Ouyang is ''wrong''. As far as he sees it, taking a slave is just the way of things and he doesn't see how engaging in a sexual relationship with said slave is just a display of his care for him.

* OnlyFriend: He adopts Zhu as a friend as soon as she arrives at the monastery and looks out for her ever since.

* HeManWomanHater: He's as close as he can be to the Yuan warrior ideal, but his point of view frequently describes his revulsion for women. Madame Zhang speculates that he prefers manly men because they're what he wishes he could be, and as furious as he is, he has no rebuttal.

* StraightGay: Despite falling in love with Zhu even though she's a woman, Ma shows little sign of being anything but straight initially.

* MrViceGuy: Despite his monastic precepts, he lost his virginity at age 13 and has been extensively popular with women ever since.

* HiddenDepths: Despite being introduced as a straightforward {{troll}} and even seeming to be a homophobe, Baoxiang later admits he has more sympathy for Ouyang's plight than he lets on, being himself branded a coward and put down for his status as an outsider. [[spoiler: So much so that he's been backing Ouyang's plot all along]].

* SecretKeeper: He realizes that Zhu is a woman while they're still novices and quietly helps to keep other people from finding out. Overlaps with SecretSecretKeeper, since Zhu didn't tell him herself and only had a hunch that he knew -- the most he says on the subject is that he can't share a bunk with someone for years without noticing a few things.

[[folder: Zhu Chongba]]

[[folder: General Ouyang]]

[[folder: Chen Youliang]]

[[folder: Ma Xiuying]]

[[folder: Esen-Temur]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: For all it's an example of StockholmSyndrome with a huge power imbalance, he does genuinely care about Ouyang and could never even

[[folder: Wang Baoxiang]]

* DirtyCoward: Ultimately {{subverted}}. Though Baoxiang is branded a coward and his shady nature makes him seem like one to the warlike Mongols, he actually has NervesOfSteel and is simply a better courtier than a fighter-- not that he wouldn't fight just as any other, as he goes for his bow to fight off a pursuing wolf and even is willing to take it on personally, and [[spoiler: keeps his cool despite visible nervousness when Ouyang's men have him at blade-point]].

* ManlyGay: Ouyang is a masculine Yuan general who can take lives with the best of them. He is also a gay man whose fraught relationship with Esen is a central tenet of his character.

* QueerRomance [[spoiler: Ma Xiuying]] becomes willing to marry Zhu once she realizes Zhu is actually a woman.

* MadeIntoASlave: Ouyang is enslaved by the Temur family after his father commits treason and the rest of the family is executed. The bargain for Ouyang's survival is that he had to be castrated.

* StockholmSyndrome: Ouyang's genuine love of Esen is marred by the fact Esen's father enslaved him and forced him into submission. Esen appears to have completely forgotten this fact and repeatedly unknowingly points out to Ouyang how little he understands about Ouyang's situation despite their closeness.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Zhu may be ruthless and brutal, but she pales in comparison to Chen Youliang. Youliang's first response to almost any inconvenience is murder, often gruesome murder, and

The second protagonist of the novel, Ouyang is a Yuan "eunuch general" who himself seeks to claim vengeance upon the Temur family for the loss of his family and his castration, enslavement, and humiliation. This is complicated by his tempestuous relationship with Lord Esen-Temur, the man he loves who nonetheless holds power over him.

* StockholmSyndrome: Ouyang's genuine love of Esen is marred by the fact Esen has enslaved him and forced him into submission-- Ouyang seems to catch on to this fact, but the perpetually ObliviouslyEvil Esen never realizes the horror that their relationship actually is.
* VillainKiller: Ouyang racks up a bodycount of the book's villains through his plotting, gradually wiping out the Temur bloodline and [[spoiler: successfully killing them all at the end]], as well as playing a crucial role in [[spoiler: Youliang's death]].
* VillainProtagonist: Ouyang is a ruthless Yuan general who is introduced burning down Zhu's monastery-- and who takes a protagonist role from the second act onward, the story focusing on his twisted mind and willingness to kill, while simultaneously explaining why he's become so hardhearted.

[[/folder]]