Characters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms who are primarily associated with the kingdom of Shu.
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The Imperial family
Liu Bei
Liu Bei
Founder of the Kingdom of Shu. Portrayed as a loyal servant of the Han Empire and its people. After the Han's downfall, he continues the Han lineage as the ruler of Shu-Han.
- Blue Blood: He claimed to be a descendant of Duke Liu Sheng of the Han Dynasty. Except said Duke lived 300 years ago before Liu Bei's birth, and had at least 120 sons. This made his claim impossible to verify.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He's served under Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao, and subsequently turned against all of them. Lampshaded by one of Sun Quan's officers.
- Dual Wielding: His rarely seen fighting style. His weapons are introduced as "a pair of ancient swords."
- Gonk: If you take his description in the novel literally, it is hard to believe he was even human. His eyes were able to look at the back of his head, for starters.
- Historical Hero Upgrade
- Honor Before Reason: Many times throughout the story, he's refused opportunities that would greatly improve his position just because they would be dishonorable things to do.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: Was the person who pointed out Lu Bu's Chronic Backstabbing Disorder when Cao Cao considered sparing the former.
- Messianic Archetype: He's played up as the heroic protagonist of the story, pitted against the villainous Cao Cao.
- Refused by the Call: The way the story builds Liu Bei up paints him as the chosen hero to unite the land and banish tyranny. Unfortunately for him, Chinese history did not turn out that way.
- Revenge Before Reason: Everything that happens after Guan Yu's death.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: On Wu. It failed.
- Sworn Brothers: He swears an oath of brotherhood in Zhang Fei's peach garden with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, making the three sworn brothers.
Liu Shan
Liu Shan
Second and final emperor of Shu. His bungling is largely blamed for Shu's downfall.- Childhood Brain Damage: His father threw him on the ground as a baby in anger for nearly losing one of his generals. Many believe that this had an effect on his eventual rule.
- The Hedonist: Liu Shan has been living in its capital city Luoyang for some time after surrendering to the kingdom of Wei. When Sima Zhao asks him if he misses the country that used to be under his rule, Liu Shan responded that he is so happy living here and enjoys the music, wine, and the dancing women that he doesn't miss his former land at all.
- The Load: Even his father would rather have Zhuge Liang rule his kingdom if he proves to be incompetent as a leader.
Liu Feng
Liu Feng
Liu Bei's adopted son. Was executed after failing to supply Guan Yu with reinforcements on Meng Da's advice.
- Honor Before Reason: Liu Feng refused to follow Meng Da in deserting to Wei. This isn't enough to save him from execution, but Liu Bei does regret executing him once he finds out about this.
- Revenge Before Reason: A victim of this: Liu Bei would eventually regret ordering his execution.
The Five Tiger Generals
Guan Yu
Guan Yu
One of Liu Bei's oath brothers. Famous for his moral rectitude and incredibly long beard. The leader of the Five Tiger Generals.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: A lifetime of badassery resulted in him ascending to become a War God after death.
- The Big Guy: The taller and more imposing brother. According to the novel, he was 9 chi tall, making him roughly 208 cm tall or 6 ft 10 inches tall.
- Cool Horse: The Red Hare, or Chi Tu Ma...the steed that originally belonged to Lü Bu.
- Genius Bruiser: His Fan Castle tactics made him one.
- Later subverted as he was easily tricked by Lu Meng.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: What happens to most of his enemies.
- Honor Before Reason: Much like Liu Bei, there are many times Guan Yu refuses to do something that would give him advantages because they're not honorable things to do.
- Iconic Item: His signature weapon is a large glaive known as the Greed Dragon Crescent Halberd (靑龍偃月刀).
- Made of Iron: He plays a game of Weiqi and drinks a few cups of wine when he undergoes surgery because his arm was shot by a poison arrow. This man doesn't even flinch and even smiles when the surgeon carves out the toxin off his bones, though the other player and bystanders couldn't help but cringe at the disturbing sight.
- Manly Facial Hair: His most distinguishing characteristic is his long beard, and he is one of the deadliest warriors in the setting.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Earlier, Guan Yu is pretty loyal, also humble and well-meaning. Late on his life, he got more callous in his position and treated his subordinates poorly (in particular Mi Fang and Fu Shiren). This eventually bit him in the ass and led him to his defeat and death.
- Super-Strength: He bisects people in half with ease. He also wields a weapon that weighs 82 catties (49 kilograms).
Zhang Fei
Zhang Fei
The youngest of Liu Bei's oath brothers. He had a fiery personality and a love of alcohol that got him into trouble at times. A member of the Five Tiger Generals.
- The Alcoholic: Even for the standards of his time. He knows about his reputation for this, and uses it to his advantage in several battles.
- Bad Boss: He had a reputation for being harsh with his men, even beating or killing them if enraged.
- Badass Boast: "I am Zhang Fei of Yan! Who dares to challenge me?!"
- Blood Knight: He lives to fight, and he's damn good at it. He tends to get himself into trouble and debauchery when he doesn't have a battle to occupy him.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Basically his defining trait.
- The Dreaded: So much that he held a bridge against Cao Cao's entire army by himself because nobody wanted to fight him, to the point that one of Cao Cao's men died from fear. That, and he was smart enough to make it look like he had reinforcements on the other side even though he only had about twenty men, causing Cao Cao to hesitate.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Every single time something bad happens to him. This leads to his untimely death by assassination.
- Genius Bruiser: During Liu Bei's conquests of Shu and Han Zhong.
- Manly Tears: His emotional volatility sometimes induced these.
- Took a Level in Badass: Goes from an incredibly strong drunkard to a crafty general.
- Undying Loyalty: His defining trait, after his alcoholism and skill. He's unshakably devoted to his Sworn Brothers Liu Bei and Guan Yu.
- You Shall Not Pass!: He manages to make Cao Cao's army retreat simply through Victory Through Intimidation when one of the generals died of shock from excessive fear.
Zhao Yun
Zhao Yun
A former servant of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan. He joins Liu Bei when the latter is fleeing from Yuan Shao. A member of the Five Tiger Generals.
- The Ace: One of the most skilled warriors in the book, arguably rivaling the likes of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. But what makes him stand out is that he is reasonable and has a cool head, making him one of the best generals in the book. He is also courageous, loyal, handsome, intelligent and honorable to boot. Cao Cao was so impressed by Zhao Yun's skill that he ordered his men to capture him.
- Badass and Baby: Rescues an infant Liu Shan in Changban, plowing through Cao Cao's army by himself. Later in the book, he rescues a very young Liu Shan a second time from being taken away by Lady Sun.
- Cool Sword: He picks up Cao Cao's personal sword, the Qinggang Blade (also known as the Blue Blade), after defeating Xiahou En in single combat. The sword has been said to be able to cut through metal with ease.
- The Fettered: The main reason he joins Liu Bei.
- Knight In Shining Armour: The closest equivalent of this trope in the book. Almost fits this trope to a T. He rides a white horse, is clad in white and is a skilled and honorable warrior.
- Light Is Good: Zhao Yun's predominant color has always been white, and is synonymous with his historical counterpart. His clothing in white serves as a sign of his purity - a man who is good, loyal, and somewhat faultless.
- Old Soldier: Later on in the book he defeats 4 generals in a duel, and then kills their father. This frightens 80,000 soldiers to the point where they couldn't fight. He was said to be 70 at the time.
- One-Man Army: He was able to plow through Cao Cao's army just to rescue Liu Shan. Furthermore, Cao Cao was so impressed by his combat prowess that he ordered his men to capture him. To quote the book, Zhao Yun fought his way through Cao Cao's forces seven times at the battle of Changban alone, and rescuing Liu Shan only accounted for three of those skirmishes. And yet Guan Yu still receives credit for being the biggest badass in the book.
- Undying Loyalty: He is extremely loyal to Liu Bei, to the point where he risked certain death to rescue his family from enemy forces.
- Vague Age: When he rescues Liu Shan in 208, he is said to be "two score and two years" (40-41 years old, 42 years old in East Asian age reckoning), yet 20 years later when he defeats 4 generals he is said to be 70.
Ma Chao
Ma Chao
The eldest son of Ma Teng, the ruler of the Liangzhou region in northwest China. When his father is assassinated by Cao Cao, Ma attempts to fight off the Wei army on his own, but fails and is forced into the service of Zhang Lu. He would eventually defect to Liu Bei's force, where he would become one of the Five Tiger Generals.
- Adaptational Sympathy: In the novel, Ma Chao rebels against Cao Cao for executing his father. In reality, Cao Cao executed his father because Ma Chao rebelled.
- Anti-Hero: His "heroic" actions are against the man who had his father killed, and at one point, he even wipes out an entire city just because it was the home of a man that wronged him.
- Bling of War: Nicknamed "The Splendid" for his elaborate and flashy armor.
- Despair Event Horizon: His repeated defeats by Cao Cao, as well as him having to watch his family slaughtered, led him to give up on his wish to kill Cao Cao and instead made him an underling to Zhang Lu.
- Kick the Dog: Murdered the mother of a Wei officer, as well as every denizen of her town.
- La Résistance: He led one, for a short time. It didn't end well...
- Meaningful Name: Coincidentally, Ma is a homophone for the Chinese word for Horse, and the whole clan was famous for its cavalry skills.
- Red Baron: They called him "Ma Chao the Splendid" for his magnificent armor and regalia and peerless skills in battle.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: At one point in the novel he chased Cao Cao and his forces relentlessly, dueling several of Cao Cao's best warriors and winning, slaughtering most of Cao Cao's men and coming very close to killing him.
- You Killed My Father: He has a vendetta against Cao Cao for the death of his father Ma Teng.
Huang Zhong
Huang Zhong
A veteran general who has to deal with being discriminated against because of his age. Famous for his ability with a bow. The last of the Five Tiger Generals.
- Cool Old Guy: He is known to be much older than the other Tiger Generals. He kills Xiahou Yuan in a duel at 71 years old.
- Master Archer: He was said to be one of the greatest archers of the time. His skill is described as "equal to piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces."
- Old Master: One of the oldest people who still actively fought in battle.
- Those Two Guys: With Wei Yan when they first join Shu.
Military Leaders
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang/Kongming
A master strategist, politician, scholar, and inventor, possibly the greatest of his age. He joined with Liu Bei after Liu made three visits to his cottage, and served him and his son loyally until his death. Rose to the position of Prime Minister of Shu.
- Antagonist in Mourning: Invoked. Most of his relationship with the Wu strategist Zhou Yu consists of fending off the latter's jealous plots while scamming, manipulating, and humiliating him (with eventually lethal consequences). Despite this, he appears mourns his rival at his funeral with surprising eloquence and loads of faked sincerity, to the point where those who witness it can barely conceive of the two being enemies.
- Automatic Crossbows: An invention of his.
- Batman Gambit: He's damn good at making strategies, but he cannot account for a person 100%; and if they act differently than what he plans they would do; he usually comes up with a backup plan twice as quickly.
- Blow You Away: In addition to his intimate knowledge of the science of weather forecasting, he's familiar enough with Taoist magic to be able to create helpful weather if he knows it's not going to arrive in time. This proves particularly crucial in the legendary fire attack at Chibi/Red Cliff, where he engages in an elaborate ritual to summon a wind of impossibly unseasonable direction and strength, letting him and his allies destroy Cao Cao's fleet in a manner they never could have predicted.
- Fatal Flaw: Zhuge cannot account for people 100%. He never once thought Wu would betray their alliance for Jing Province which in turn sent Liu Bei into a fury he couldn't quell. Even before that, Zhuge Liang didn't think that they'd lose Pang Tong so early in the story, which put more work and stress on him.
- Kill It with Fire: Most of his tactical masterstrokes involve setting something large and important on fire. This is a greater feat of intellect than it sounds - his gift for reading terrain and predicting (and occasionally creating) the weather means he's better than anyone else at knowing where and when to stoke a blaze for maximum damage, and his talent for setting up ambushes and subterfuge means that he can generally get his arsonists exactly where he wants them (and can set up secondary traps by calculating the routes by which his enemies will flee from the flames).
- Oh, Crap!: Not outright stated, but the loss of Pang Tong meant Zhuge Liang had to pull double duty as both the political and the military strategist; and his military strategy while sufficient was not the same as Pang Tong. Also, this ended up overworking him and would eventually take a toll on his health. Doubly so when Liu Bei loses Guan Yu and Liu Bei goes mad with grief.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one so good, the recipient died from exasperation.
- The Smart Guy: Especially in comparison to everyone else.
- The Strategist: He is one of the archetypes against which other strategists in fiction are measured.
Jiang Wei
Jiang Wei
An officer of Wei who defected to Shu because of the machinations of Zhuge Liang. He would be the main support of Shu for most of the last quarter of the story.
- Arrow Catch: When Guo Huai shoots an arrow at him while he's retreating, Jiang Wei catches it and shoots it back, killing him.
- Badass Bookworm: In his first appearance he outsmarts Zhuge Liang and outfights Zhao Yun.
- Catch and Return: How he killed Guo Huai.
- Keeping the Enemy Close: After Liu Shan's surrender, Jiang Wei befriended Zhong Hui and encouraged his ambition for independence in the hopes of betraying him and restoring Liu Shan to power.
Other Warriors
Mi Zhu
Mi Zhu
An officer under Tao Qian who joined Liu Bei when Tao left his city to Liu. Protected Liu Bei's family from Lu Bu.
- Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts: When he picks up a woman on the side of the road, he looks straight ahead, never once turning to look at her. She reveals herself as the Goddess of Fire who was sent with orders to burn his dwelling, but his politeness caused her to warn him in advance, which gave him time to save his possessions and his family.
- Non-Action Guy: In battle, he's mostly left behind to protect Liu Bei's family, since he's the brother of one of Liu Bei's wives.
- Officer and a Gentleman: His gentlemanliness saves his possession and his family from being destroyed in a fire.
Mi Fang
Mi Fang
Brother of Mi Zhu. When Wu invaded Jing province, he defected to avoid a threatened punishment from Guan Yu.
- Evil Counterpart: To Mi Zhu.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: His first treason went off well. But when he tried to get back into Liu Bei's good books by bringing him the head of one of Guan Yu's killers, Liu Bei had him executed.
Wei Yan
Wei Yan
Defected from Han Xuan because of Han's shoddy treatment of Huang Zhong and his own desire to serve Liu Bei. Served Liu Bei loyally and skillfully, but after Liu Bei's death he became dissatisfied. Zhuge Liang was able to keep a leash on him, but on Zhuge's death he revolted and was eventually killed.
- Ambition Is Evil: Zhuge Liang knew about Wei Yan's ambition, and took some measures to be effected posthumously against it.
- Too Dumb to Live: After having spent most of his later live serving Zhuge Liang, he should have known that the guy had taken some precautions against potential traitors.
- Unknown Rival: To Huang Zhong when they first join.
Ma Dai
Ma Dai
A cousin of Ma Chao, who served under him. He served in Zhuge Liang's Southern and Northern Campaigns, often playing crucial roles.
- Not My Boat Captain: When Meng Huo flees to what looks like a Nanman ship, Ma Dai is actually the captain.
Liao Hua
Liao Hua
A bandit who quits banditry to serve Guan Yu. Briefly survived the fall of the Kingdom of Shu.
- Chaste Hero: When he kidnaps Liu Bei's wives, his partner wants them to marry the two women. When Liao realizes who he's kidnapped, he kills his partner and returns the wives, along with his partners head, to Guan Yu as an apology.
- Cool Old Guy: He's first seen as a bandit and a former Yellow Turban rebel, meaning he was at least of fighting age in 205CE. He would be at least in his fifties when he chased Sima Yi alone into a dense forest and, despite being unable to kill him, returned to Zhuge Liang with his helmet. It would be at least another thirty years before he died, having been part of Shu since the very beginning and outliving all of his contemporaries.
- Death by Despair: Died of grief when Liu Shan surrendered Shu to Wei.
Meng Da
Meng Da
An officer of Liu Bei's who defects to Wei after Fan Castle to escape execution. He is killed by Sima Yi as he tries to return to Shu.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: He had defected to Wei to save himself from being killed by Liu Bei for not aiding Guan Yu. When he wanted to defect back to Shu, however, he was entrapped and killed by Sima Yi before he could.
- Too Dumb to Live: Was told multiple times by Zhuge Liang not to fight against Sima Yi and winds up being killed for it.
Strategists
Pang Tong
Pang Tong
A strategist of Shu. Was turned away from Wu for being too ugly. Died relatively young in an ambush by Liu Zhang's forces.
- Gonk: Since it was said that fledgling phoenixes were ugly and they were to grow to be majestuous creatures, he gained the nickname of "Young Phoenix".
- Meaningful Name: He finds himself at a place called the "Fallen Phoenix Slope." The name becomes apt as he is killed in an ambush there.
- The Mole: Zhou Yu had him join Cao Cao in order to convince him to chain their ships together to make the fire attack at Chibi more effective.
- The Strategist: Well, more like "a strategist". But he was considered incredibly skilled: it was said that if you could control both him and Zhuge Liang, you could reunite China. His early death means this was never really tested.
Civil Officials
Sun Qian
Sun Qian
Another officer of Tao Qian that Liu Bei inherited on Tao's death.
- Ambadassador: He is usually the guy to go on diplomatic missions for Liu Bei.
Huang Hao
Huang Hao
A corrupt eunuch who is favored by Liu Shan.
- Eunuchs Are Evil: He's a eunuch and is completely corrupt, undermining Jiang Wei's efforts to invade Wei and even preventing Liu Shan from learning about Wei's final invasion.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: In the novel, Sima Zhao executes him for the grievous harm he dealt to his state.note
