History Characters / RavagesOfTime

* UnwittingPawn: Pang Tong's [[spoiler:for his chain stratagem gambit in volume 23-24]] and Guo Jia's [[spoiler:for his RedHerringMole gambit against Yuan Fang in Guandu arc]].

* BullyingADragon: Extorts money from Sima clan, all the while knowing very well that they have a deadly squad of assassin under their thumb and a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] on par with his three Geniuses, and on top of that ''are well-known for killing extortionists''? Bad idea, but kinda averted in that [[spoiler:the whole business about the Sima mutiny and sending the Crippled Legion's assassins after him was not Sima Yi's idea, but Pang Tong's]]. [[Futureshadowing It will eventually be played straight]] with [[spoiler:his massacre of Sima clan]], though.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: [[spoiler:His part in Xiao Meng's death might be the start of a series of circumstances that eventually prompts Huo to kill him as seen in chapter 1.]]

* ThePromise: Sima Yi's [[spoiler:accountability in Xiao Meng's death]] notwithstanding, he would still abide by his young master's plan and set Liu Bei up to be Cao Cao's greatest enemy, thus providing Sima Yi the career advancement opportunities he needs. [[spoiler:And he will see to it that Sima Yi's prophetic dream come true in the end.]]

* BreakTheHaughty

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Averted, as he's no less of a MagnificentBastard than the three Geniuses serving him and only lacks their flair for elaborate {{plan}}s. Shuijing, their teacher, even comments that much of their successes can be attributed to his leadership skills. The aversion truly takes it to the top in the Battle of Guandu, [[spoiler:when he fights Yuan Fang's Feng-hou Eight Formation Diagram evenly with an improved version of Sun Tzu's formation, whereas Guo Jia spectacularly lost.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist

* SoProudOfYou: When the true scope of Yuan Fang's {{plan}} in the Battle of Guandu finally dawns on him ''while he's being shot at'' by [[spoiler:Yuan Fang's archers]]. See Yuan Fang above.

* MeaningfulEcho: "Foolish masses..what are you thinking?"

* XanatosSpeedChess: Has a remarkable talent for it.

* AintTooProudToBeg: He unashamedly admits that this is what he would do, if it means he gets another chance to start anew.

* AdultChild

* ThePlan: Has a remarkable talent for it.His crowning ones are the Guandong faction vs. Dong Zhuo arc [[spoiler: in which he ultimately turned every defeats of the Guandong faction, mainly suffered by other minor warlords, into critical strategic advantages for his clan]]. In the Battle of Guandu, he pulls another, on an infinitely more epic scale, that can give Pang Tong a run for his money. [[spoiler:Had it succeeded, it would have resulted in the simultaneous removal of his greatest obstacles (his father, half-brothers and Cao Cao), the union of Yuan clan and the victory against Cao Cao's faction]]. And note that in the events after [[spoiler: his death]], it was revealed that he had [[XanatosGambit even accounted for the probability of his plans being foiled]], and had calculated so that even then, there would be no harm done to him and his opposing factions would shoulder all the blame.

* XanatosSpeedChess

* TheArcher: A deadly one. He outmatches Gan Ning, a famous general and archer, who compares his skills to [[CoolOldGuy Huang Zhong]]'s, an even more famous general and better archer.

** BadassBookworm: He and Zhou Yu are the only ones among the Eight Geniuses who are both strategist and general, which already gives him a definite advantage over "table strategists" like Guo Jia.
** BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Displayed in all its glory in Guandu. [[spoiler:He beat his three underclassmen, each of them a genius, in their playing fields - Xun Yu was stuck dealing with countless insiders in the court and the Cao clan that Fang has planted beforehands, Jia Xu was delayed by the insurrection in Runan he was supposed to have taken care of thanks to Fang's incitement, Guo Jia got his ass handed to him right in their first battle on account of Fang's sheer superior tactical genius, and Sima Yi the spy was tricked by Fang's counterintelligence gambit and brought back a sacrifical mole.]] [[spoiler:Eventually subverted by Guo Jia, who had planted a mole much deeper by his side.]]

* TheFaceless: Fans have been so longing to see what he looks like since volume 3, his unmasking has achieved a memetic level of inducing manic rage and speculations. ''Fourty-three'' volumes later, the author finally shows mercy.

Zhuge Liang's friend and confidante. At Zhuge Liang's request, he arrived in Jingzhou to side with Liu Bei when the latter got involved in the power struggle between Liu Biao's two sons, Liu Qi and Liu Cong.

** He risked it to save [[spoiler:Gao Shun]] after their botched siege on Cao Cao's camp while he himself was being hotly pursued, and his distressed reaction to [[spoiler:Gao Shun's death at Cao Chun's hands]] also told a lot.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: With his sons, who also resemble each other.

* BewareTheNiceOnes

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Xiao Meng would probably be a lot happier about himself if he didn't look like a girl that much.

* SymbolMotifClothing: A jacket he's regularly seen wearing bears a phoenix emblem on its back.

[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/73907_4456.jpg]]

* TheFaceless: To the fandom's frustration, for ''fourty-six'' volumes Zhuge Liang has never been seen with his mask down and once he does take it down, the lower half of his face remains stubbornly hidden by whatever he has in his hands at the moment.

* GoodIsDumb: [[spoiler:He gets over it.]]

* TheMessiah: [[spoiler: And is showing traits of a DarkMessiah.]]

** ImprobableAge: He leads the Sun army on a swift conquest of the Eastern region, defeating and outwitting men twice his age, and successfully establishing the influence of the Sun clan in 81 states in five years. Historically he's only around 24-25 [[spoiler:when he dies.]]

* SiblingRivalry: The worst case of this series. Yuan Shao's three sons Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang constantly squabble among themselves to get into their father's favors in the hope of becoming the sole heir. They disregard brotherly bonds, discredit and backstab each other to hell and back, and each relentlessly cultivates his own factions at the risk of incurring internal war within the clan. And if you count [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Yuan Fang]] into the equation, it catapults this trope [[UpToEleven beyond the impossible]]. [[ItGotWorse And then comes the Battle of Guandu...]]

* CuteShotaroBoy: Ling Tong.

* WhatAnIdiot: Said this almost word-for-word about Liu Bei, who (prior to [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]]) was naive enough to jump at the chance to carry out the orders of the Emperor (at that point already a puppet on Cao Cao's strings) against a much stronger Yuan Shu. [[spoiler:He changes his mind somewhat, after meeting Liu Bei in person and seeing for himself that Liu Bei's kindness actually serves a bigger purpose.]]

* TookALevelInBadass

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Ling Tong and Cheng Pu, after some direct contacts with Yue Ji.]] [[spoiler:And subverted with Cheng Pu.]]

** OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We only get to see the beginning and end of his conquest of the Eastern region, which is said to last five years, made of pure awesomeness, and have granted him legendary fame among the battle-weary Eastern warlords.

* [[spoiler:BodyDouble]]: [[spoiler:He pulls an epic one with Ling Cao, and everyone is fooled.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The "Sun Ce" that Gan Ning killed is actually Ling Cao, who acts as a bait to fool Yuan Shu into thinking Sun Ce is dead, so that the real Sun Ce (so far disguised as a distant cousin) can escape safely.]]

** ImprobableWeaponUser: When he gets serious, he likes to toss some-inches-long kunais at the enemies with deadly accuracy and very impressive sound effects (hell, he can even ''fatally spit'' them at his opponents). When he gets absolutely badass, he uses a ''hoe'' and still kicks BIG asses.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait

** Apparently Guo Jia is taking the cake now: [[spoiler:the last schemes he's planning for Cao Cao before his death involve thwarting Sima Yi's predicted insurrection and somehow preventing Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Zhou Yu from kicking Cao Cao's ass in Chibi. It's not made clear exactly what's his plan for Chibi, but we know at least that Sima Yi would not revolt for another 42 years (thanks to him, very likely).]]
* [[CoatHatMask Garb, Hat, Mask]]: Their identical uniform, designed with the purpose of making it impossible for people to tell them apart.

* CoolMask: Will drop this when they join side with a warlord.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait
* GoodIsNotNice: Given how the Geniuses' shared goal is the ultimate peace for the people and how their acts have stabilized the country's condition, they certainly ''are'' a force of good. However, all of them - even the "good guys" like Xun Yu - consider manipulating, deceiving, betraying and/or sacrificing some hundred thousands of lives legitimate means to the accomplishment of said goal. This trope is averted with Yuan Fang, who eventually slips into the territory of an EvilGenius and puts his efforts into [[TakeOverTheWorld something else entirely]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch

* CallBack: [[spoiler:He dies in the exact same way Jia Xu told him he should during his first appreance in volume 10 - serving the country and Cao Cao 'til the last second, nevermind the fact that his name can be sullied beyond comparision after a lifetime of killing people for his PayEvilUntoEvil justice.]]

** [[spoiler:He also ordered the murder of Liu Bei's firstborn with the intention of keeping Guan Yu from returning to Liu Bei's side out of shame. Even Cao Cao was somewhat unsettled by it.]]

* That, and now with the confirmed fact that he's one hell of a silver-tongued manipulative bastard who can turn fire-forged allies against each other, you can see where it's going for Cao Cao in Chibi.

* TookALevelInJerkass: By the beginning of Chibi, his mask is not the only possession of his righteous self that he has gotten rid of.

!! Yang Qing/[[spoiler:Yang Xiu]]

The GodOfWar of the series, an indomitable fighter and a capable strategist. Ambitious and power hungry, he seeks to murder Dong Zhuo for power, just as he did to his previous foster-father. [[spoiler:He succeeds, but soon finds himself a foe to the Third Genius Jia Xu and loses to his schemes]]. After that he tries to become a dominant power in northern China with the help of his advisor Chen Gong.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:He's first mentioned in the hostage rescue arc (volume 1-5_ as a dubious legend which has pretty much been overshadowed by his successor Liaoyuan Huo. Then he shows up in volume 15, very much alive and still kicking ass, ''and'' he introduces himself as Dian Wei's boss.]]

** The whole deal with overthrowing Dong Zhuo, as it turned out, sent at least three mortal enemies hot on his heels, all of whom would later contribute to his downfall(s). [[spoiler:He was dealt three crippling defeats by the ThanatosGambit of Jia Xu, Li Ru's oath brother and Dong Zhuo's advisor; his daughter was killed by Xu Chu, the son of Xu Lin whose death he had indirectly caused (by sending Xu Chu away right at the moment the Crippled Legion was targeting him); and finally he was captured at the White Gate Tower due to the betrayal of Hou Cheng, Song Xian and Wei Xu, who were former subordinates of Dong Zhuo's general Huo Xiong, whom Zhang Liao assassinated on his orders.]]

* BestServedCold: [[spoiler:Hua Xiong's subordinates Song Xian, Wei Xu and Hou Cheng, who joined Lu Bu's army to have a chance at revenge for Huo Xiong and Dong Zhuo.]]

* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome]]: [[spoiler: Chen Gong and Gao Shun]]. The former [[FaceDeathWithDignity faced death with sheer badass dignity]], and the latter charged into a horde of enemy while ''paralegic'' to rescue his master, and [[spoiler:refused to die until the leader of the opposing charge, Cao Chun, delivered the mercy kill.]]

** SmugSuper: He looks down on Sun Tzu's teachings and its learners, and will not give up a chance to tell them how much better his choice of military teachings are. [[spoiler:Backed up. He knows the Feng Hou Eight Diagram Position formation, and if you've read [[RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms the novel]] or watched [[RedCliff the movie]] and are aware of its fame as Zhuge Liang's ''invicible'' formation, you know shit's coming.]]

The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin eight genius]] military advisors who are students of Sima Hui 'Shujing' (commonly translated as 'Water-Mirror'), a famous teacher who educated many famous strategists in the previous decades. Their abilities far surpass the common men of this age, and thus their service is much sought after. Whichever warlord faction, no matter how diminutive, is chosen by one of the Eight will soon become a competitive force in the race to conquer and unite China. Once a Genius has chosen a lord, he will take off the mask and uniform (which was designed identically with the purpose of hiding their respective identities) and leave the school.

** [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Omnidisciplinary Strategist]]: Extremely adept at warfare and politics ? Check. Well-versed in an esoteric battle formation that overpowers Sun Tzu's [[TheArtOfWar Art of War]] and nearly every offensive tactics ever recorded to last him three months on the attacks against Cao Cao's camps ? Check. Honor student of Shujing, teacher of many famous strategists [[spoiler:and Zuo Ci, one of the Eight Eccentrics and a leader of Taiping cult]]? Check. People, meet the First of the Eight Geniuses.

The Third Genius. A friend of the Fourth Genius Guo Jia, Jia Xu is a fervent believer in the 'Darkness ideology', the belief hailing actions of utmost cruelty, rather than of benevolence, as the ultimate mean to pave way for peace and prosperity. This causes his rupture with the way of justice Shujing taught, which he deems obsolete, and his premature graduation from the school of Shujing. He has a positive opinion of ruthless and cunning warlords who have the will to wage wars to bring peace to the people.

The Seventh Genius, holder of the prized title "Crouching Dragon" and supposedly the best of the Eights. He's shown to be an upright individual who places great ethical value in loyalty and patriotism, and holds like-minded men like Liu Bei in very high regards. His stated goal is to restore the rule of Han, which he sees as an exemplary act of anti-segregation made for the sake of future generations. Due to his dissatisfaction with the way selfish warlords run the country with civil wars, he has declined to choose a master and opted to live as a reclused teacher in Shujing's military school. [[spoiler:As of recent chapters, he has been convinced to choose Liu Bei and is working for him now.]]

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Averted, as he's no less of a MagnificentBastard than the three Geniuses serving him and only lacks their flair for elaborate {{plan}}s. Shujing, their teacher, even comments that much of their successes can be attributed to his leadership skills. The aversion truly takes it to the top in the Battle of Guandu, [[spoiler:when he fights Yuan Fang's Feng-hou Eight Formation Diagram evenly with an improved version of Sun Tzu's formation, whereas Guo Jia spectacularly lost.]]

** OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: During a few months that we never got to see, he turned the Guandong warlords against each other and obliterated all but one of them. Gongsun Zang's final defeat at his hands got the same treatment, [[spoiler:and apparently the entire ordeal was bad enough to mind-break the once-proud warlord, drove him to murder his family, commit suicide, and curse Fang as the "demon king" in his last breaths.]]

The First Genius. A member of the prominent Yuan clan, Yuan Fang's primary goal is to expand his clan's territory in the north, and acts as First advisor to the clan leader Yuan Shao. He is Yuan Shao's illegitimate son, but since his brilliance far surpasses his three half-brothers (Yuan Shao's legitimate sons), Yuan Shao inwardly acknowledges Yuan Fang as the true heir and spares no efforts to strengthen his position within the clan; [[spoiler:he even kills Yuan Fang's childhoos sweetheart to force him into a marriage he wants no part of]]. Although Yuan Fang never truly forgives his father for this, over the years he starts to relent to Yuan Shao's plans, and gradually manifests the ambition to take over the clan and overthrow Imperial Han. The course of the story also observes Yuan Fang's transformation into a ruthless man unhesitant to eliminate anyone in his way, even his former classmates.