i propose adding kyoshiro mibu (Samurai deeper kyo) to the list - at least in the early chapters he deceives the reader to a degree.

So what do you call a character who does this simply by being completely honest, because he knows nobody will take his excuse of "Oh, I'm late because I was fighting the forces of darkness" seriously?

What is the picture from/of?

"** Except the Shu-Han stayed alive mainly because of the legendary generals running the country's army. When the last of the legendary Five Tigers, Zhao Yun, died, Shu-Han barely lasted past his death."

First off, as you say, Shu Han only lasted 34 years after Zhao Yun's death. But that ignores the fact that Shu Han hadn't existed for that long before hand (Wiki makes its total length at 42 years, although you could probably count some of the time before he actually became Emperor). The point is that the state was a relatively new one (its claims to succession of the Hans set aside) and therefore extremely vulnerable, especially considering that the two rival states were so much larger. Really, I'd say all hope was lost after Jing was lost and Guan Yu killed, and then compounded with the horrific defeat at Yi Ling. The surprising thing is that they lasted as long as they did, while still managing to keep up an aggressive military policy.

Second, I'd say that the country owed less to the Five Tiger Generals, and more to Zhuge Liang. Zhuge was the real pillar of the force. Note that Liu Bei barely had any territory at all, even with two or three of the five on his side, until he finally picks up Zhuge. Zhuge made everything work.

Also, you say (when you replaced the lines after my first deletion): "The point stands, however, as it WAS the legendary generals of Shu who kept the country alive after Liang died." Who was still around after Zhuge Liang died? He survived pretty much all the major military officers, even lampshading it on the death of one of Guan Yu's (or was it Zhang Fei's?) sons (paraphrased, "Old men linger, while the young are taken untimely"). There's Wei Yan, but he rebelled and died shortly thereafter. Ma Dai kind of just fades away. That leaves Jiang Wei, who could never seem to score even the partial victories that Zhuge did, and who merely whittled away what resources Shu had.

Wait, shouldn't this be 'obfuscating intelligence?' Because obfuscate means to hide or obscure.

I think that the "real life" part should be YMMV, or parts of it, at least. It seems to be, when contemporary celebrities come up, little more than a vehicle for fans to say "The person I like ain't stupid. They are just pretending! Haters are the stupid ones!"