History Characters / RavagesOfTime

* MadnessMantra: [[spoiler:"It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge '''''IT DOESN'T HURT''''']]]]

* Determinator: During [[spoiler:his last hurrah against Xu Ding]], he has one demand: "[[spoiler:Kneel. Kneel to the dead.]]"

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Believing Sima Yi has given up on revenge for the Sima family, Xiao Meng decides to assassinate Cao Cao in broad daylight as his last duty to the clan. Only, Cao Cao still lives, he fails to get anything done, gets mortally injured and falls into Cao Cao's hands. Even worse is that we know (and he quickly realizes later) that regardless of whether the kill succeeds or not, by merely attempting it he can make things worse for Sima Yi since Sima Yi ''has'' a plan for revege, a plan so long-term that it requires him to bend his knees to Cao Cao and any tricky move on Xiao Meng's part would cost everyone's lives. Sima Yi barely manages to avert the ShootTheShaggyDog scenario going into full effect when he tips Cao Cao of the assassination and consequently exempts himself from further suspicions, which might be some sort of consolation for Xiao Meng, but at the end of the day Xiao Meng still dies a pretty shaggy dog's death that he could have avoided simply by having a little more faith in his master and bothering to contact him before trying anything.]]

* CallBack: [[spoiler:Just like Ling Cao 19 volumes earlier, Sun Ce meets his end with an arrow to the head, and the last sane thought passing through his mind is also the narration line hanging in Ling Cao's death scene]].

* ParentalSubstitute: To Wang Shuang ang Guo Huai [[spoiler:after their fathers' deaths.]]

* {{Transsexual}}: An eunuch transsexual, which makes his gender identity issue even more complicated.

* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask]]: In chapter 386 when [[spoiler:to quote his teacher Liu Da, "Liu Bei's pretentiousness has rubbed off on [him]," as Liaoyuan Huo kills the swordsman holding Lady Gan hostage at Changban, explaining his preference for "the wealth of sagely words" to "the wealth of gold as inheritance"]], then in the next chapter [[spoiler:fights his way through Liu Da's men to get to Liu Da before stabbing him ''through'' Lady Mi, to snatch Adou from Liu Da's grasp]]. After [[spoiler:Lady Mi absolves him for mortally wounding her]], the chapter concludes with him vowing to protect the Liu family -- referring to himself as Zhao Yun.

* {{Bishounen}}

The most famous - and widely reputed to be the most fearsome - assassin squad of the current age, placed under the control of Sima clan and Sima Yi. They consist of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin handicapped fighters]], who weaponize their handicaps and [[GenreSavvy take advantage of the fact that people tend to underestimate the disabled]] to carry out their missions, with a success rate close to 100%. Their leader is the notorious "one-eyed leader", [[spoiler: currently]] Liaoyuan Huo. Other members are Guo Ang (whose handicap is an amputated arm), Zhang Lei (whose handicap is an amputated leg), and Xiao Meng [[spoiler: who is an eunuch]]. Another is San Chuan, a muted assassin who rarely appears.

* TeamMom: Although he will turn you into a pincushion if you call him a girl or even girly-looking, this is what he acts like to the other Crippled Legion members.

* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask]]: In chapter 386 when [[spoiler:to quote his teacher Liu Da, "Liu Bei's pretentiousness has rubbed off on [him]," as Liaoyuan Huo kills the swordsman holding Lady Gan hostage at Changban]], explains his preference for "the wealth of sagely words" to "the wealth of gold as inheritance", then in the next chapter [[spoiler:fights his way through Liu Da's men to get to Liu Da before stabbing him ''through'' Lady Mi, to snatch Adou from Liu Da's grasp]]. After [[spoiler:Lady Mi absolves him for mortally wounding her]], the chapter concludes with him vowing to protect the Liu family -- referring to himself as Zhao Yun.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: He's known for aiding warlords and igniting multiple wars just to expand his family business. It doesn't please a lot of people, including his friend and subordinate Liaoyuan Huo.

* BecomingTheMask

* ConflictingLoyalty: What he's slowly realizing that he will have to face - between his righteous lord, Liu Bei and his true master, Sima Yi.

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]: [[spoiler:He finally makes the turn in chapter 387, when he decides he's too fed up with the life of an assassin with no future and the absence of morals in Sima Yi's philosophy and constant exposure to Liu Bei's righteousness has finally convinced him that GoodFeelsGood, with BigDamnHeroes style in keeping with CrowningMomentOfAwesome standards to boots (he defies his JerkAss teacher and saves Liu Bei's son in the process). That said, given his history with the Sima family and years of treating Sima Yi like a brother, it still comes as a tear-jerking decision for him.]]

* [[spoiler:BodyguardBetrayal]]

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Came very close to crossing it during the years they were made Cao Cao's personal money bag, and finally crossed it in the near-total annihilation the Cao soldiers and insiders carried out on them in volume 25.]]

** [[spoiler:CameBackStrong]]: [[spoiler:It is now ally with the Zhang and Shan clan thanks to Sima Yi's marriage to Shan Wu Ling (aka Zhang Chun Hua) and, by Sima Yi's machinations, has united the merchant clans in Cao Cao's homebase.]]
* LegacyOfService: The father and son of Jia family who take turn serving as Sima Yi's [[TheDragon Dragon.]]

* UndyingLoyalty: A virtue commonly found in their servants, though the Sima clan returns the favor, with Sima Yi's brother Sima Lang going so far as to [[spoiler:plead with his servants to take his head and thereby save themselves during Xu Ding's assault on the residence]].

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:When Xiao Meng botched his final atttempt on Cao Cao's life and doomed himself in the process, he decided to pull the trigger by ordering Jia Kui to explot the Cao soldiers' hatred of eunuches so that Cao Cao would be pressured to publicly execute Xiao Meng on the spot. In his defense, it might also be seen as a MercyKill since Xiao Meng was already at the verge of death and living any longer would just guarantee him further tortures at Cao Cao's hands.]]

* RevengeBeforeReason: This habit of Xiao Meng coupled with his mistrust in Sima Yi and a blatant DeathSeeker tendency prevent him from ever uniting with the people he loves. [[spoiler:Case in point: he has many chances to find his way back to Sima Yi, especially after Lu Bu is besieged at Xiapi and his soldiers are fleeing, but instead he chooses to stay with Lu Bu. When Cao Cao enters Xiapi, it's another chance to find Sima Yi and shares his thoughts about the revenge, instead he goes off assassinating Cao Cao solo. At the top of White Gate tower where everyone can see him. With Cao Cao's bodyguards present. It ends as well as you expect.]]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Briefly, when he realized that his futile attempt to kill Cao Cao could have risked the entire Sima clan being endangered again and foiling Sima Yi's plan for revenge. He was glad to know that it didn't.]]

* TheDragon: To their pledged lord.

* GenreSavvy: All of them are, but [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy of particularly devastating efficacy]] are Yuan Fang, Jia Xu and Guo Jia.

* LightIsNotGood: White-haired, white-robed, and a backstabbing [[spoiler:patriacide]]-[[spoiler:fratricide]] [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]].

* HelloNurse: Produces this effect on every males he meets, to his chagrin.

* ReplacementGoldfish: In the novel Xiao Meng, the child Xiao Meng was adopted by two influential eunuches in the court because he looked like an Emperor's concubine one of the eunuches had feelings for.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Believing Sima Yi has given up on revenge for the Sima family, Xiao Meng decides to assassinate Cao Cao in broad daylights as his last duty to the clan. Only, Cao Cao still lives, he fails to get anything done, gets mortally injured and falls into Cao Cao's hands. Even worse is that we know (and he quickly realizes later) that regardless of whether the kill succeeds or not, by merely attempting it he can make things worse for Sima Yi since Sima Yi ''has'' a plan for revege, a plan so long-term that it requires him to bend his knees to Cao Cao and any tricky move on Xiao Meng's part would cost everyone's lives. Sima Yi barely manages to avert the ShootTheShaggyDog scenario going into full effect when he tips Cao Cao of the assassination and consequently exempts himself from further suspicions, which might be some sort of consolation for Xiao Meng , but at the end of the day Xiao Meng still dies a pretty shaggy dog's death that he could have avoided simply by having a little more faith in his master and bothering to contact him before trying anything.]]

* PrideBeforeAFall: He was first introduced as the mastermind behind the Guandong hostage rescue mission and his plans performed outstandingly enough [[spoiler:until Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu successively countered all of them, and then Sima Yi topped it off by countering Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu with a well-timed move from a well-planted mole - Liaoyuan Huo.]]

* CreepyGood: With heavy emphasis on creepy, as in "creepy-looking" - even Jia Xu thinks Pang Tong's brains is not his only frightening asset. Pang Tong himself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] it!

* SelfMadeMan: The man who, with his genius, has single-handedly built a glorious politics and military career in the name of Cao, a family which produced [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Teng a famous eunuch]] and was initially of low social standing among the warlords due to the unpopularity of eunuches at that time. His lineage becomes a minor, but important, plot point during the climax of a story arc.

* TraumaCongaLine: [[spoiler:Nearly ran his ass off on one in volume 24.]]

* InadequateInheritor: The problem with Yuan Shao's three sons.

* TheUnfavourite: Yuan Shao's three sons, all of whom he holds in contempt compared to [[spoiler:Yuan Fang]].

* ChekhovsMIA: [[spoiler:He's first mentioned in the hostage rescue arc (volume 1-5) as a legendary assassin whose mantle Huo has taken up. Then he shows up in volume 15, very much alive and still kicking ass, ''and'' he introduces himself as Dian Wei's boss.]]

* UndyingLoyalty: A virtue commonly found in their servants.

* {{Bishounen}}

* TheMole: Is one for Sima Yi on Liu Bei's side. However, given his ConflictingLoyalty and what we already know will become of his friendship with Sima Yi, it seems to be only a matter of time until he drops this act for good.

* BrokenBird: He struggles with crippling inferiority complex and gender identity disorder, reveals in a flashback that in his teens he occasionally abused drugs to cope with the ensuing depression, and that's not including the romantic feelings for a family member that he has bottled up since god knows when yet cannot let them out. Oh, and then that family member decides to get married to another woman, who loses no time to rub it into his face. [[spoiler:Then his adoptive family are murdered as a result of a blackmail scheme he was unintentionally a part of]]. It's no wonder that by the end of Lu Bu's story arc, Xiao Meng has become a DeathSeeker.

* [[spoiler: CruelAndUnusualDeath]]: [[spoiler: His final assassination attempt on Cao Cao failed. He's stabbed in the stomach by a thrown lance from Xiahou Dun, falls from a tower, [[DropDeadGorgeous gets stripped half-naked]] by Cao Cao's soldiers, then Cao Cao kills him and his body is skewered and minced under dozens of spear. Ouch.]]

* {{Bishonen}}

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: His reason for [[spoiler: betraying Xiao Meng to Cao Cao]]. Liaoyuan Huo is, naturally, not placated.

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:Poor Xiao Meng, though he couldn't really help it.]]

* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler:The titular phoenix who will be the eventual winner of this war.]]

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]: [[spoiler:Once he decides that he's had enough with being an assassin with no future, he has come to detest the absence of morals in Sima Yi's every action, and being on Liu Bei's side convinces him that GoodFeelsGood.]]

* BrokenBird: He has gender issues.

* DeathSeeker: Especially after he met Lady Sun.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Xiao Meng would probably be a lot happier about himself if he didn't look like a girl (or rather, more beautiful than a girl) that much.

* TheBusCameBack: Disappears after the Luoyang arc, then returns briefly to announce her engagement with Liaoyuan Huo [[spoiler:as a ploy to gain Sima clan's supports for the Sun clan's return to the Eastern regions]].

* [[spoiler:BrokenPedestal]]
* 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.]]

* TheDreaded: He's implied to be the best of the Eights way before he gets involved in anything big, and his winning the title of Dragon is only an icing on the cake. Small wonders the first thing that Guo Jia and Jia Xu try during the preparation stage for Chibi showdown is making sure he cannot get involved, even via killing him if necessary.

* [[spoiler:DeathByDespair]]: [[spoiler:When Yang Xiu finally spills the beans about what happened to Yuan Fang.]]

* MysteriousBacker: To [[spoiler:Liu Bei]]. [[spoiler:Though it isn't exactly a mystery, Liu Bei has been clued in on his identity ages ago.]]

* '''{{Badass}}''': Deserves special mention for the healthy amount of CrowningMomentOfAwesome he's resonsible for in the series. [[spoiler: And also for being Zhao Yun.]]

* [[spoiler:UnwittingPawn]]: [[spoiler:Became Pang Tong's in volume 23, much to his horror upon realization in volume 24.]]
* TheAtoner
* TheFettered
* TheMole: Is one for Sima Yi on Liu Bei's side. However, given his ConflictingLoyalty and what we already know will become of his friendship with Sima Yi, it seems to be only a matter of time until he drops this act for good.
* ThePromise: Sima Yi's accountability [[spoiler: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.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: They all aspire to bring an end to the endless wars, and are more than willing to wage more wars to achieve it. Subverted with Yuan Fang and Zhou Yu, whose motives are somewhat [[TakeOverTheWorld more personal]].

** 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.]] ''But'' he just also happens to be a classic example of winning the battle but losing the whole war, because [[spoiler:Guo Jia planted a mole by his side ''waaaaaaaaaaay'' back then, who is know his most trusted confidante. Who killed him as soon as the Battle of Guandu is over.]]

* {{Bishounen}}: Has a nickname for it.

* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: The most spectacular example to death, bordering on plot-triggering. [[spoiler:Until Pang Tong comes his way and plots the sacrifice of Sima Yi's family, Sima Yi didn't even think about joining Cao Cao's team.]]

** It's said that only two of the Eight Geniuses study and give the Feng Hou formation priority over Sun Tzu's. One is Yuan Fang, and you get no points guessing who the other is.

* PowerTrio: With Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]

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

* AFatherToHisMen: Especially to the other Legion members (save for San Chuan perhaps), whom he considers his family.

* ConflictingLoyalty: What he's slowly realizing that he will have to face - [[spoiler: between his righteous lord, Liu Bei and his true master, Sima Yi.]]

* [[spoiler:HeartbrokenBadass]]: For a short while, [[spoiler:after Xiao Meng's death.]]

* CannotSpitItOut: He loves Liaoyuan Huo, but is so conscious of his body's condition that he's convinced they will not have a chance together.

** 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:He's eventually beaten by Guo Jia, who had planted a mole much deeper by his side.]]

* LightIsNotGood

** JerkassFacade: Rocky as their partnership might be, [[spoiler:Guo Jia genuinely wants to protect Sima Yi, as he appreciates Sima Yi's extraordinary talents and does not wish Cao Cao to waste them, at least not when Cao Cao's antagonist Zhuge Liang is bound to enter the scene right after his - Guo Jia's - death.]]

* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler:The real nature of almost every dickish move he pulls on Sima Yi. He needs to know Sima Yi's facade of loyalty lasts as long as post-Chibi.]]

* [[spoiler:SacrificalLion]]

* PetTheDog: He can be a dick to a lot of people, but Sima Yi truly cares about the welfare of his family and those he considers friends, for self-serving purposes or no. So far, we've seen him [[AFriendInNeed helping out old friends like the Chen family and Wang Yun]], [[BenevolentBoss pardoning Liaoyuan Huo's blunders many times]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHe
ro (granted, he was also at faults in some occasions)]], or [[ShooTheDog even cutting ties with his business partners and the Crippled Legion when things turned sour so that they wouldn't be dragged down into his mess]].

* [[spoiler: CruelAndUnusualDeath]]: [[spoiler: His final assassination attempt on Cao Cao failed. He's stabbed in the stomach by a thrown lance from Xiahou Dun, falls from a tower, gets stripped half-naked by Cao Cao's soldiers, then Cao Cao kills him and his body is skewered and minced under dozens of spear. Ouch.]]

* StoicWoobie

* PersonOfMassDestruction: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]]. To put it in Yu Ji's words - "In terms of bringing chaos, how are the Eight Geniuses different from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Attendants Ten Attendants]] ?"

* AntiHero: Type V.

* MagneticHero: YMMV on "hero", but you can bet he is!

* PetTheDog: He can be a dick to a lot of people, but Sima Yi truly cares about the welfare of his family and those he considers friends, for self-serving purposes or no. So far, we've seen him [[AFriendInNeed helping out old friends like the Chen family and Wang Yun]], [[BenevolentBoss pardoning Liaoyuan Huo's blunders many times]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero (granted, he was also at faults in some occasions)]], or [[ShooTheDog even cutting ties with his business partners and the Crippled Legion when things turned sour so that they wouldn't be dragged down into his mess]].

* GenreSavvy
** DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Most notable are Yuan Fang, Jia Xu and Guo Jia.