History Characters / RavagesOfTimeSimaClan

* [[ProudMerchantRace Proud Merchant Clan]]

* [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning Our Death Is Just The Beginning]]

* [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Did You Just Punch Out Lu Bu]]

* [[KickChick Kick Dude]]

* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My True Companion]]: [[spoiler:A futile variance, which cost him his remaining leg.]]

* [[OlderThanTheyLook Older Than He Looks]]:[[spoiler: By the time he dies]] he is married and has [[HistoricalDomainCharacter a son]].

* '''''TheChessmaster''''': Definitely on par with the Eight Geniuses in this regard.

** '''CrazyPrepared''': Competes with the [[MagnificentBastard Eight]] [[TheChessmaster Geniuses]] (and beats them, very likely) to be the king of this trope in this series. The fact that he has more hidden pieces to be used at the last moments to save the day than anyone else on the same gameboard is lampshaded for God knows how many time, and quite a number of fans have been frustrated by his over-the-top resourcefulness to the point they consider him the resident DeusExMachina.

* '''''BadassCrew''''': [[spoiler:Alas, no more.]]

* [[spoiler:BodyguardBetrayal: The final leader of the Handicapped Warriors, Xu Ding, is actually on Cao Cao's side along with a majority of Sima clan's own men-at-arms.]]

* [[spoiler:DarkestHour]]: [[spoiler:Volume 25]].

* [[spoiler:EverybodysDeadDave]]: [[spoiler:Sima Lang and Sima Yi are the only known survivors; not even the Sima clan brats have been seen.]]

* [[spoiler:KillEmAll]]
** [[spoiler:CameBackStrong]]: [[spoiler:With the resources and backup from Shan Wuling's godfather, legitimized by Sima Yi's marriage with her, he's able to revive their wealth and unite the merchant clans in Cao Cao's home base. By 207 AD, the Sima clan has returned to being top dog.]]

* [[spoiler:SacrificialLion]]

* [[spoiler:DecapitationPresentation]]: [[spoiler:The fate of Sima Yi's Fourth uncle when the Sima clan's mutiny is sabotaged.]]
* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]: [[spoiler:...and the fates of the remaining clansheads, two of which are results of SelfDestructiveCharge.]]

* [[spoiler:[[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning Our Death Is Just The Beginning]]]]

* [[spoiler: BestServedCold]]: [[spoiler:His plan for the eventual payback against Cao Cao... too bad that Cao Cao pretty much could tell (or at least guess) from the beginning and even ends up making use of it to ''his'' own end.]]

* [[spoiler: DwindlingParty]]: [[spoiler:Post-200 AD, only Zhang Lei and San Chuan from the original party remain in the service of Sima clan; it's suggested that Zhang Lei now just raises Guo Ang and Wang Gang's sons[[note]]Guo Huai and Wang Shuang, future generals of note for Wei[[/note]], both Xiao Meng and Guo Ang are dead, San Chuan hasn't been mentioned since, and Liaoyuan Huo permanently moved to Liu Bei's camp.]]

* AFatherToHisMen
* [[spoiler:TheAtoner]]

* [[spoiler:HeartbrokenBadass]]: [[spoiler:When Xiao Meng went missing and after finding out about his death]].
* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]: [[spoiler:He finally makes the turn in chapters 386 through 388, 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. In a BigDamnHeroes moment, he defies his JerkAss teacher Liu Da's commands to hold Liu Bei's family hostage, releases Lady Gan and saves Liu Bei's infant son (albeit by running Lady Mi through in order to stab Liu Da's shoulder so as to prove that he's even more ruthless than Liu Da). 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: StreetUrchin]]: [[spoiler: Was one before he was taken in by the first generation leader of the Crippled Legion, Liu Da.]]

* [[spoiler:UnwittingPawn]]: [[spoiler:Became Pang Tong's in volume 23, much to his horror upon realization in volume 24.]]
* [[spoiler:TragicBromance]]: [[spoiler:If you don't somehow count his relationship with Xiao Meng as an outright romance, then at minimum it's this.]]

* [[spoiler:WeUsedToBeFriends]]: [[spoiler:To Sima Yi.]]

* [[spoiler:YouCantGoHomeAgain]]: [[spoiler: Twice. He first imposed this on himself when he vowed to find Xiao Meng and left the Sima clan. On the second time, Sima Yi flat-out told him he no longer had any use for him there, and urged Huo to go find another suitable master and serve him against Cao Cao.]]

* [[spoiler:BuryYourGays]]

* [[spoiler: CruelAndUnusualDeath]]: [[spoiler: His final assassination attempt on Cao Cao fails when he's stabbed in the stomach by a thrown lance from Xiahou Dun, falls from a tower's roof, gets stripped half-naked by Cao Cao's soldiers, then Cao Cao kills him and his body is skewered and minced under dozens of spears. Ouch.]]
** [[spoiler:GoryDiscretionShot]]: [[spoiler:The author was merciful to make it largely a DeadHandShot, but the scene of Xiao Meng's hand raised amidst a dozen spears skewering his body is enough nightmare.]]
** [[spoiler:ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice]]: A meta-CallBack to the very first chapter -- [[spoiler:Sima Yi doomed Xiao Meng to this end, but decades later Liaoyuan Huo would "return the favor".]]
* [[spoiler:DoomedByCanon]]: [[spoiler:Being Diaochan means he would no longer be around after Lu Bu's arc.]]

* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]]: [[spoiler:He willingly threw himself down a cliff to save Huo's life. IronicEcho abounded in this entire sequence: Huo once nearly died to save Xiao Meng when he stubbornly suspended Meng over a cliff ''while being besieged on all sides'', even though Xiao Meng begged him to let go; this time Xiao Meng returned the favor by letting go of Huo even though Huo told him not to, allowing Guo Ang to pull Huo up.]]
* [[spoiler:KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade]]: [[spoiler: Sorry Xiao Meng, Sima Yi can't save you this time. He orders his Dragon to set up your death because he still has to play nice to Cao Cao for the sake of his long-term revenge.]]

* [[spoiler: KillTheCutie]]
* [[spoiler: LetThemDieHappy]]: [[spoiler:He could have died with the regrets of having failed to avenge the Sima clan, but the well-timed appearance of Jia Kui, Sima Yi's infamous [[TheDragon dragon]], made him realize that Sima Yi had not lost the will to pursue revenge. His last thought indicated that he did not blame Sima Yi, and that he died in peace.]]

* [[spoiler:SenselessSacrifice]]: [[spoiler: His assassination attempt on Cao Cao at White Gate Tower, on so many levels. 1) He willingly stakes his life for what he perceives as a final duty for Sima clan because he believes Sima Yi has given up on vengeance, except that Sima Yi has been nursing his grudge too and he's got a better, more-beneficial-in-the-long-terms plan. 2) Sima Yi's plan for revenge is to bend the knees to Cao Cao and slowly destroy his empire from within but at the moment Guo Jia is still on guard and Cao Cao has little trust in him, which means any tricky move on Xiao Meng's part can undo his efforts; Xiao Meng on the other hand doesn't care to afford any discretion while sniping Cao Cao and shows his face for everyone to see. In short, Xiao Meng would have served his master better by not doing anything at all, as he painfully realizes while being dragged around, stripped half-naked and humiliated by Cao Cao's soldier. Sima Yi barely averts a disaster befalling the rest of his family when he tips Cao Cao of the assassination to exempt himself from further suspicions and Jia Kui incites the soldiers to call for Xiao Meng's execution on the spot, which might be some sort of consolation for Xiao Meng but not to the reader. To sum it up, at the end of the day Xiao Meng dies a pretty shaggy dog's death that he could have avoided if he'd had a little more faith in his master and bothered to contact him first, or more simply, been less prone to impulsive RevengeBeforeReason and DeathSeeker mentality.]]

* [[spoiler:TakingYouWithMe]]: [[spoiler:Tried this to Gan Ning, during the latter's siege to kill 'Sun Ce' and Liaoyuan Huo, and failed. At the White Gate Tower, he almost did this to Cao Cao, but was thwarted mid-attempt by Xiahou Dun.]]

* [[spoiler:YouCantGoHomeAgain]]: [[spoiler:Became a victim when he was thrown off a cliff while trying to save Huo and ended up in Lu Bu's camp. After the Sima family's and Crippled Legion's destruction, he lost any desire to return and instead chose to pursue revenge via proxy by helping Lu Bu's defense against Cao Cao's 2nd Xuzhou campaign.]]

* [[spoiler:AnArmAndALeg]]: [[spoiler: His handicap went from one to two legs after the fight with Xu Ding.]]

* [[spoiler:[[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My True Companion]]]]: [[spoiler:A futile variance, which cost him his remaining leg.]]

* [[spoiler:ConversationCasualty]]
* [[spoiler:DeadSidekick]]

* [[spoiler:GoryDiscretionShot]]

* [[spoiler:SacrificialLion]]: [[spoiler:The second known casualty of Sima clan during the massacre; the first was Sima Yi's fourth uncle.]]

* '''{{Badass}}''': Deserves special mention for the healthy amount of CrowningMomentOfAwesome he's responsible for in the series. [[spoiler: And also for being Zhao Yun.]]
** AsskickingEqualsAuthority
** CombatPragmatist: He always aims for the leader of the opposing charge, as nothing breaks army morale than having a leader killed in their midst.
** CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He played up the "moron" part in the hostage rescue arc (volume 1-5) to fool Sun Shu and Yuan Fang, but out of their sight and he immediately returned to being the badass he was. [[spoiler:Case in point: He and Sun Shu were cornered by 15 low-ranked generals of the Ministry of Military right in the middle of their homebase. Shu tried to fight back, but bit off more than she could chew and was about to be raped. Then whoop! In a matter of seconds, from the moment a signboard touched the ground until it completely fell over and revealed the carnage, Huo killed all 15 generals by their own swords and his little kunais, then threw the sword to a vase-seller, who ran away at the sight of him and caused Sun Shu to mistake that guy to be her savior.]]
** DualWielding: At [[spoiler:Changban]] he literally wields a spear in one hand and a glaive in the other hand against [[spoiler:Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Han Hao, Li Dian, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang, Yu Jin, Yue Jin -- basically every surviving top warrior of Cao Cao's except for Xiahou Dun and Xu Chu --]] at once.

** CurbStompBattle: He really brings it down on nameless mooks and foot soldiers but doesn't do as well against certified {{Badass}}es like Lu Bu, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Zhang Liao, Yan Liang or Wen Chou[[note]]though the last two were teaming up against him[[/note]]. It becomes less so as he [[TookALevelInBadass takes his level in badass]], going from squashing some unnamed generals to nearly annihilating an entire ''army'', and culminates in the iconic one-against-thousands battle [[spoiler:at Changban]].
** FeelNoPain: His handicap, responsible for his ImplacableMan status and the [[NoOneShouldSurviveThat flabbergasted and horrifed]] [[WhyWontYouDie reactions]] of anyone who has ever fought him.
** FoeTossingCharge: As required of an OneManArmy in ''Ravages''.
** FutureBadass: Yes, even more badass than he already has been, [[spoiler:as general Zhao Yun]].
*** [[spoiler:At Changban he seems to completely adopt the latter identity and move even more to "''present-day badass''"]].
** GeniusBruiser: You know he got the genius when he's promoted to the leader position of the most dangerous assassin squad in China in his teens. Aside from that, he's been shown from time to time to possess political savvyness and remarkable tactical abilities. And let's not get to [[GeniusBonus all the sage texts he quotes]] in later chapters.
** HandicappedBadass: Though to be fair, the author hasn't subjected him to the usual downsides of an inability to feel physical pain. If anything, it actually works in his favor - you can't technically lose a battle if you're always the last one standing.
** HeroicWillpower: Sometimes it's not his handicap that keeps him running (and to get it run out of, you need troubles on the magnitude of Lu Bu) but this which pulls him back up for another round.
** 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). He can use a ''hoe'' and still kicks BIG asses.
** SubmissiveBadass
** SuperSenses: In particular, his hearing, which is also incredibly good at picking up (fake) accents.
** SuperToughness: You've gotta admit not even his FeelNoPain handicap can carry him so far in battles if he himself isn't already MadeOfIron.
** TookALevelInBadass: More like, jumps and leaps levels in badass.
** TranquilFury: Still enough to send Yuan Tan and his force of ten thousands to run for their lives.
* BecomingTheMask: To quote his teacher Liu Da, "Liu Bei's pretentiousness has rubbed off on [him]," when they confront each other for the final time [[spoiler:at Changban, as Huo kills the swordsman holding Lady Gan hostage, explaining his preference for "the wealth of sagely words" to "the wealth of gold as inheritance", then 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. The chapter concludes with him vowing to protect the Liu family -- referring to himself as Zhao Yun]].
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: As Liaoyuan Huo he wants two things: to get out of his precarious, no-future lifestyle as an assassin and find a "brighter path" for himself, and for his young master to grow a backbone and gain some ambitions to make the most of the talents he's blessed with. In due time he gets both of them, but at an atrocious price. [[spoiler:Sima Yi loses most of his family in Cao Cao's massacre of the Sima clan which is the catalyst to break him out of {{Dismotivation}} and act on his political ambition for the sake of revenge. Huo's alienated from his remaining family and friends and loses his identity as Liaoyuan Huo when Sima Yi dismisses him from service and orders him to build a career as Zhao Yun at Liu Bei's side. Later, Sima Yi has to kill Xiao Meng to secure his future inside Cao Cao's faction, which permanently ends their friendship.]]
* BigEater: Only when injured.
* ChickMagnet: Sun Shu's smitten with him, and Xiao Meng (although not a chick) is deeply in love with him. He seems to be quite popular with the courtesans in Luyang as well.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Indulges this. Sometimes it works out well, but other times it leads to dire consequences. [[spoiler:Such as when he aided the Xuzhou defense against Cao Cao's campaign and thus gave Cao Cao the clue and evidence he needed of the ties between Sima clan and Crippled Legion]]. Or [[spoiler:when he stayed to fight alongside 'Sun Ce' against an army of hostile rebels, which turned out to be for naught as 'Sun Ce' was still killed and he was not even the ''real'' Sun Ce. The Crippled Legion also suffered severe loss, including Xiao Meng going MIA, to get him out of this mess alive.]]
* 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:At Changban, he decisively turns towards Liu Bei, then goes further and proclaims Adou (the future Liu Shan) "my only young master! The only young master!" right before Sima Yi's eyes]].

* HeroicBystander: All too often, and see ChronicHeroSyndrome to know why sometimes he should have just left others to their business.

* [[spoiler:WeUsedToBeFriends]]

* FakeDefector: He frequently makes use of his grudge with Cao Cao to become buddy with the enemy side and feed them the wrong information.
** At Guandu, Yuan Fang sees through it [[spoiler:but not the fact that Sima Yi's actually a RedHerring to distract Yuan Fang from the ''other'' mole, Yang Qing/Yang Xiu.]]

* TheTeamBenefactor: To both Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

* WorthyOpponent: To the Eight Geniuses.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Kind of averted with Xiao Meng, who is not female.

* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]: [[spoiler:..and the fates of the remaining clansheads, two of which are results of SelfDestructiveCharge.]]

* IFightForTheStrongestSide: More like, 'invest' in the strongest side. And will turn on them the moment things look unsavory. [[spoiler:Too bad serving Cao Cao just doesn't work that way.]]

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney And [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections Connections]]: Filthy rich and is very well-connected in the court.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: He's far from being an idiot and shown to be quite competent at his job, but still no match for his brother Yi.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Didn't officially appear in historical records until after the event of Chibi, and for ''Ravages'' records has [[spoiler: joined with Lu Bu in scheming Dong Zhuo's death, repelled Guo Jia in Cao Cao's 1st Xuzhou campaign, participated in Cao Cao's 2nd Xuzhou campaign and plotted Lu Bu's downfall, and personally killed Yuan Shu.]]
* [[spoiler: BestServedCold]]: [[spoiler:His plan for the eventual payback against Cao Cao... too bad Cao Cao pretty much could tell (or at least guess) from the beginning.]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: In his early appearances, he sleeps through family meetings whenever he finds them boring and in one occasion plays pranks on his elders when pretending to doze off, but others still readily excuses his behavior once he presents a good idea.

** BookDumb: According to one of his old classmates, he could barely pass because his grades were so bad. It might just be a case of BrilliantButLazy, though, as the same classmate admitted he never beat Sima Yi in maths.

** TheManBehindTheMan: Oh so much.

** As Cao Cao's DragonWithAnAgenda, he seeks every opportunity to prove his worth to Cao Cao and if there's no opportunity present, [[TheManBehindTheMan he creates them by lending secret help to Cao Cao's enemies]]; his final order to Liaoyuan Huo was to use Sima clan's money and his personal abilities to fund and empower a lord to become such an imposing rival to Cao Cao as to facilitate Sima Yi's rise... though Sima Yi probably knew ahead of time that Huo would pick Liu Bei.

** Also, he's the one who ordered Huo to pick a worthy lord to empower so that the threat of that lord could allow Sima Yi to move up the ranks in Cao Cao's army to create the opportunity for an eventual coup. Whether or not he anticipated that Huo would pick Liu Bei, he didn't seem to anticipate [[BecomingTheMask Huo to buy into Liu Bei's public persona]], and at Changban slope [[spoiler:Huo openly renounces Sima Yi to his face by declaring Adou[[note]]the future Liu Shan[[/note]] to be "my ''only'' Young Master!"]]

** At Guandu, Yuan Fang sees through it [[spoiler:but not the fact that Sima Yi's actually a RedHerring to distract Yuan Fang from the other mole, Yang Qing/Yang Xiu.]]

** Later he sends Huo away to serve another lord (in this case Liu Bei), facilitate his rise in power and create a powerful enemy for Cao Cao. As he and Liu Da find out, spending too much time with Liu Bei eventually rubs off on Huo and he no longer wants to return to his old way, and [[spoiler:at Changban slope, Huo would openly cut his ties with him to protect A Dou]].

* [[spoiler: DwindlingParty]]: [[spoiler:Post-200 AD, only Zhang Lei and San Chuan from the original party remain in the service of Sima clan; it's suggested that Zhang Lei now just raises Guo Ang and Wang Gang's sons, both Xiao Meng and Guo Ang are dead, and then Liaoyuan Huo permanently moved to Liu Bei's camp.]]

* IfItsYouItsOkay: He absolutely hates being called a girl, but he's overjoyed when Liaoyuan Huo does it [[spoiler: in their parting moment.]]

* [[spoiler: LetThemDieHappy]]: [[spoiler: He could have died with the regrets of having failed to avenge the Sima clan, but the well-timed appearance of Jia Kui, Sima Yi's infamous [[TheDragon dragon]], made him realize that Sima Yi had not lost the will to pursue revenge. His last thought indicated that he did not blame Sima Yi, and that he died in peace.]]

* OnlyOneName: Xiao Meng is literally "Little Meng", with no surname attached. The comic is unclear on his backstory prior to entering the palace, while the novel explained that he was an orphan before he was sold to the palace to become an eunuch, and Meng is the name his adoptive uncles gave him.

** CurbStompBattle: He really brings it down on nameless mooks and foot soldiers but doesn't do as well against certified {{Badass}}es like Lu Bu, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Zhang Liao, Yan Liang or Wen Chou (to be fair, the last two were teaming up against him). It becomes less so as he [[TookALevelInBadass takes his level in badass]], going from squashing some unnamed generals to nearly annihilating an entire ''army'', and culminates in an epic one-against-thousands battle [[spoiler:at Changban]].

** FoeTossingCharge: As required of an OneManArmy in Ravages.

*** [[spoiler:At Changban he seems to completely adopt the latter identity and move even more to "present-day badass"]].

** HandicappedBadass: Though to be fair, the author hasn't subjected him to the usual downsides of an inability to feel physical pain. If anything, it actually works in his favor - you can't technically lose a battle if you're always the last one standing.
** HeroicWillpower: Sometimes it's not his handicap that keeps him running (and to get it run out of, you need troubles on Lu Bu's magnitude) but this which pulls him back up for another round.

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Inverted. [[spoiler:Although none of them were happy with Cao Cao's extortions, the family head Sima Yi was adamant in keeping up his end of the bargain and continued to provide for Cao Cao's war efforts even as it drove his family to near bankruptcy. Their doomed rebellion against Cao Cao was instigated by Pang Tong, who framed them with attempted assassination and pretty much pressured Sima Yi into his scheme by creating a (seemingly) perfect scenario for mutiny.]]

** The motive for his political backup of Cao Pi is more apparent that he'd have liked as well. In Chapter 393 [[spoiler:Cao Cao reveals that he does pretty much get the gist of what Sima Yi is planning, thanks to recognizing Liaoyuan Huo yet again[[note]]"Right now, as I just want to ask, as outstanding as that man is, is he Liu Bei's subordinate Zhao Yun, or Sima clan's Liaoyuan Huo?"[[/note]] but he's going to allow Sima Yi a measure of revenge after all by "allowing" Sima Yi to back one son in the eventual succession struggle -- since it'd be at the expense of the other -- because, as Sima Yi guesses, Yang Xiu's already picked a son to back so Sima Yi's going to have to go through Yang Xiu first.]]

* [[spoiler:ActionSurvivor]]

* BlessedWithSuck: He's more beautiful than any man (or eunuch[[note:or ''woman'']], for that matter) has any right to be, which can be of great use given his profession (and would have made him very popular in the court, had he stayed there). But his looks also nearly got him raped in a mission and constantly attracts unwanted attention, and absolutely no one takes his attempts to identify himself as a man seriously.

* BlessedWithSuck: He's more beautiful than any man (or eunuch, for that matter) has any right to be, which can be of great use given his profession (and would have made him very popular in the court, had he stayed there). But his looks also nearly got him raped in a mission and constantly attracts unwanted attention, and absolutely no one takes his attempts to identify himself as a man seriously.

* TranquilFury: Huo exhibits this towards Yuan Tan's troops when he's [[spoiler:in the mass grave looking for Xiao Meng's bones]]. He coldly and calmly keeps telling them to scram while knocking them away. However, [[spoiler:when he sees them trample over a set of bones that had Xiao Meng's bow, meaning they just trampled his corpse]], he goes [[TheBerserker FULL BLOWN BERSERKER]]. Ten thousand routed troops later, Youan tan is a nervous wreck and his campaign against Cao Cao is a complete failure.

* BrokenBird: Among Meng's many issues and DarkAndTroublePast are his crippling inferiority complex, which stemmed from being an eunuch in an aggressively anti-eunuch setting and contemporary sentiment, and gender identity disorder (he looks and acts like a woman, identifies as a man, and is gay). It's revealed in a flashback that in his teens he occasionally abused drugs to cope with the ensuing depression. Then we add his suppressed romantic feelings for a sworn brother that apparently [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone]] [[ObliviousToLove but the guy in question]] is aware of, and said brother's engagement 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:EverybodysDeadDave]]: [[spoiler:Sima Lang and Sima Yi are the only known survivors; not even the Sima clan brats have been seen...]]

** [[spoiler:CameBackStrong]]: [[spoiler:It is now allied with the Zhang and Shan clans thanks to Sima Yi's marriage to Shan Wuling (aka Zhang Chunhua) and, by Sima Yi's machinations, has united the merchant clans in Cao Cao's home base.]]

* HotDad: He's confirmed to have a child as of chapter 393.

* BlessedWithSuck: He's more beautiful than any man (or eunuch, for that matter) has any right to be, which can be of great use given his profession (and would have made him very popular in the court, had he stayed there), but his looks also nearly got him raped in a mission and constantly attracts unwanted attention, and absolutely no one takes his attempts to identify himself as a man seriously.
* 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 apparently [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone]] [[ObliviousToLove but the guy in question]] is aware of. 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.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ever wonder how the Sima clan had a royal attendant like an eunuch in their lot ? Xiao Meng originally was adopted by two influental eunuches in the palace, who died during a power struggle involving the Ten Attendants. He was exiled for a few years, barely getting by on the streets, before Sima clan took him in.

* [[spoiler:SenselessSacrifice]]: [[spoiler: His assassination attempt on Cao Cao at White Gate Tower, on so many levels. 1) He willingly stakes his life for what he perceives as a final duty for Sima clan because he believes Sima Yi has given up on vengeance, except that Sima Yi has been nursing his grudge too and he's got a better, more-beneficial-in-the-long-terms plan. 2) Sima Yi's plan for revenge is to bend the knees to Cao Cao and slowly destroy his empire from within but at the moment Guo Jia is still on guard and Cao Cao has little trust in him, which means any tricky move on Xiao Meng's part can undo his efforts; Xiao Meng on the other hand doesn't care to afford any discretion while sniping Cao Cao and shows his face for everyone to see. In short, Xiao Meng would have served his master better by not doing anything at all, as he painfully realizes while being dragged around, stripped half-naked and humiliated by Cao Cao's soldier. Sima Yi barely averts a disaster befalling the rest of his family when he tips Cao Cao of the assassination to exempt himself from further suspicions and Jia Kui incites the soldiers to call for Xiao Meng's execution on the spot, 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 if he'd had a little more faith in his master and bothered to contact him first, or more simply, been less prone to impulsive RevengeBeforeReason and DeathSeeker mentality.]]

* HoYay: He knows Xiao Meng is an eunuch but treats him like a girl, and Xiao Meng is deeply in love with him.

* MoralityPet: The entire clan, and to some extent even the Crippled Legion (especially Liaoyuan Huo), to Sima Yi.

** GeniusBruiser: You know he got the genius when he's promoted to the leader position of the most dangerous assassin squad in China in his teens. Aside from that, he's been shown from time to time to possess political savvyness and remarkable strategic abilities. And let's not get to [[GeniusBonus all the sage texts he quotes]] in later chapters.
** HandicappedBadass: Though to be fair, we're yet to see a negative effect to his handicap, except that it steadies his feet on the battleground when he should have quit long ago, and the author hasn't subjected him to the usual downsides of an inability to feel physical pain.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: As Liaoyuan Huo he wants two things: to get out of his precarious, no-future lifestyle as an assassin and find a "brighter path" for himself, and for his young master to grow a backbone and gain some ambitions to make the most of the talents he's blessed with. In due time he gets both of them, but at an atrocious price: [[spoiler:Sima Yi loses most of his family in Cao Cao's massacre of the Sima clan which is the catalyst to break him out of {{Dismotivation}} and act on his political ambition for the sake of revenge, while Huo's alienated from his remaining family and friends and loses his identity as Liaoyuan Huo when Sima Yi dismisses him from service and orders him to build a career at Liu Bei's side, pushing him onto the bright path he wished for as Zhao Yun. Later, Sima Yi has to kill Xiao Meng to secure his future inside Cao Cao's faction, which permanently ends their friendship... since Xiao Meng and Liaoyuan Huo were in love with each other, and Huo had previously abandoned the Sima clan to look for Meng.]]

* ChickMagnet: Sun Shu's smitten with him[[note]]and briefly engaged to him -- though as part of a ploy to split Liu Bei and Zhao Yun, a decade later Lu Su proposes that they be wedded again[[/note]], and Xiao Meng (although not a chick) is deeply in love with him. He seems to be quite popular with the courtesans in Luyang as well.

* AnimalMotif: He's often compared to a wolf [[spoiler:and has a neck like one, which once saved his life from a NeckSnap]], but his true animal motif is the phoenix. In-universe, Pang Tong is the only one who seems to realize this and has commented on it[[hottip:*:In volume 24, when he was about to go to Sima clan in Henei to persuade them to join the mutiny, he specifically said that he was going to visit "the phoenix that has thrown itself into the fire"]]. He should know, since Sima Yi beat him in solving a puzzle, the reward for which was the two title Fledgling Phoenix and Crouching Dragon. The only other one to solve the puzzle correctly, Zhuge Liang, got the Dragon title - meaning the Phoenix title might very well have been Sima Yi's, had he been one of the Eight.

** Also, he's the one who ordered Huo to pick a worthy lord to empower so that the threat of that lord could allow Sima Yi to move up the ranks in Cao Cao's army to create the opportunity for an eventual coup. Whether or not he anticipated that Huo would pick Liu Bei, he didn't seem to anticipate [[BecomingTheMask Huo to buy into Liu Bei's public persona]], and at Changban slope [[spoiler:Huo openly renounces Sima Yi to his face by declaring Adou[[hottip:*:the future Liu Shan]] to be "my ''only'' Young Master!"]]

** The motive for his political backup of Cao Pi is more apparent that he'd have liked as well. In Chapter 393 [[spoiler:Cao Cao reveals that he does pretty much get the gist of what Sima Yi is planning, thanks to recognizing Liaoyuan Huo yet again[[hottip:*:"Right now, as I just want to ask, as outstanding as that man is, is he Liu Bei's subordinate Zhao Yun, or Sima clan's Liaoyuan Huo?"]] but he's going to allow Sima Yi a measure of revenge after all by "allowing" Sima Yi to back one son in the eventual succession struggle -- since it'd be at the expense of the other -- because, as Sima Yi guesses, Yang Xiu's already picked a son to back so Sima Yi's going to have to go through Yang Xiu first.]]

* ChickMagnet: Sun Shu's smitten with him[[hottip:note:and briefly engaged to him -- though as part of a ploy to split Liu Bei and Zhao Yun, a decade later Lu Su proposes that they be wedded again]], and Xiao Meng (although not a chick) is deeply in love with him. He seems to be quite popular with the courtesans in Luyang as well.

* LegacyOfService: As with his father he's Sima Yi's minion, and [[HistoricalDomainCharacter he will eventually father]] Jia Chong[[hottip:*:who would serve Sima Zhao in subverting Wei after Sima Yi's death, leading to the ascension of Sima Yi's grandson to the throne]].

** The motive for his political backup of Cao Pi is more apparent that he'd have liked as well. In Chapter 393 [[spoiler:Cao Cao reveals that he does pretty much get the gist of what Sima Yi is planning, thanks to recognizing Liaoyuan Huo yet again[[hottip:*:"Right now, as I just want to ask, as outstanding as that man is, is he Liu Bei's subordinate Zhao Yun, or Sima clan's Liaoyuan Huo?"]] but he's going to allow Sima Yi a measure of revenge after all... by "allowing" Sima Yi to back one son in the eventual succession struggle -- since it'd be at the expense of the other -- because, as Sima Yi guesses, Yang Xiu's already picked a son to back... so Sima Yi's going to have to go through Yang Xiu first.]]

* SixthRanger: He's the sixth addition to Cao Cao's main advisor team (the first five are the three Cao-aligned Water Mirror Geniuses, Cheng Yu and Xun You[[hottip:note:nephew of Xun Yu, Second of the Eight Geniuses and first to choose Cao Cao]]). Considering [[TheStarscream his eventual role]], [[SixthRangerTraitor it's probably not incidental]].

* TheStoic: His levelheaded facade only visibly cracks twice in the whole series so far - [[spoiler:when he heard Xu Ding'd killed most of his family[[hottip:note:he outright orders his men to hold him down before Old Jia can verbalize what Sima Yi knows will be said]], and when Huo ''publicly'' cut his ties with him in Changban[[hottip:note:by declaring Adou "my ''only'' young master! The ''only'' young master!"... 'young master' having been Sima Yi's term of address from Huo for ''over twenty years'' before that.]]

* TreacherousAdvisor: Whose treachery is an OpenSecret to Cao Cao and his most prominent advisors[[hottip:note:with Cao Cao outright admitting at Sima Yi's "capitulation" that he's only keeping Sima Yi alive because said most prominent advisors -- two of the three anyway -- advise him to]]. Seeing that he's still too valuable an asset to just get rid of immediately, Guo Jia kept him under his thumb and hindered his personal operations as much as he could, which ran the gamut of sending spies after Sima Yi, keeping his [[spoiler:surviving]] family hostage in several occasions and [[spoiler:as part of his ThanatosGambit]] trying to infiltrate and take over the Sima clan business.

** He goes even further when they're not yet an official couple after she's beaten by Yuan Shu's unnamed advisor and [[UnfortunateImplications left to his men to do as they like]] in Chapter 137 when he speaks up for her and praises her conduct.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Thorough and exact in his calculations as he tries to be, not even Sima Yi is spared old grudges knocking at his door. [[spoiler:He ordered the assassination of Xu Lin at the beginning of the story for the sake of his family's future, but he lost most of them and was driven out of his home anyway when Xu Lin's living sons came extracting revenge. He orchestrated Xiao Meng's execution to ensure his long-term plan for revenge could go on without a hitch; while this move generally worked it also turned Huo against him.]]

* MysteriousBacker: With Huo acting as his proxy, he's been providing funds for Liu Bei's soldier recruitment before Lu Bu sees fit to kick him out of Xuzhou for good. Later Xu Shu implies that Liu Bei has been clued in on his identity ages ago, and one of the reason he keeps Huo around is to maintain this secret alliance with Sima clan.
* NiceToTheWaiter: Hangs around the Crippled Legion, who are technically the family servants, and addresses them on equal terms. Also like his brother, [[spoiler:he'd rather tell his subordinates to escape for their lives than keep them around to be annihilated when the purge bloodily escalated.]]

* OhCrap: [[spoiler: When he realized Pang Tong's plan had backfired on him and his family.]]
* OpenSecret: His TheStarscream gambit above in the quote? It was first relayed by Liaoyuan Huo to Zhuge Liang, then Xun Yu knows it through Zhuge Liang. Guo Jia correctly guesses it and Jia Xu knows it as well from Guo Jia. Heck, while he may not grasp the details Cao Cao also suspected it (though as the lord who approved the Sima clan purge, it might have been more surprising if he ''didn't'' suspect it). When they finally met face to face, Cao Cao outright told him that he only accepted his pledge because Xun Yu and Guo Jia told him to make use of Sima Yi's talents. In other words, the man that Sima Yi plans to overthrow and the greatest obstacles to that plan of overthrowing now know exactly what he's up to. His worth as a financial backer and advisor is [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou the only thing that keeps him alive for the moment]].
** The motive for his political backup of Cao Pi is more apparent that he'd have liked as well. In Chapter 393 [[spoiler:Cao Cao reveals that he does pretty much get the gist of what Sima Yi is planning, thanks to recognizing Liaoyuan Huo yet again: "Right now, as I just want to ask, as outstanding as that man is, is he Liu Bei's subordinate Zhao Yun, or Sima clan's Liaoyuan Huo?" but he's going to allow Sima Yi a measure of revenge after all... by "allowing" Sima Yi to back one son in the eventual succession struggle -- at the expense of the other -- because "may the best man win"]].

* SixthRanger: He's the sixth addition to Cao Cao's main advisor team (the first five are the three Cao-aligned Water Mirror Geniuses, Cheng Yu and Xun You). Considering [[TheStarscream his eventual role]], [[SixthRangerTraitor it's probably not incidental]].

* TheStoic: His levelheaded facade only visibly cracks twice in the whole series so far - [[spoiler:when he heard Xu Ding'd killed most of his family, and when Huo publicly cut his tie with him in Changban.]]

* TreacherousAdvisor: Whose treachery is an OpenSecret to Cao Cao and his most prominent advisors. Seeing that he's still too valuable an asset to just get rid of immediately, Guo Jia keeps him under his thumbs and hinders his personal operations as much as he can, which runs the gamut of sending spies after him, keeping his family hostage in several occasions and [[spoiler:as part of his ThanatosGambit]] trying to infiltrate and take over his family business.

** He goes even further when they're not yet an official couple after she's beaten by Yuan Shu's unnamed advisor and left to his men to do as they like in Chapter 137 when he speaks up for her and praises her conduct.

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Crossed it when Xiao Meng goes missing and Liaoyuan Huo runs off to search for him.]]
* [[spoiler: DwindlingParty]]: [[spoiler:Post-200 AD, only Zhang Lei and San Chuan from the original party remain in the service of Sima clan; it's suggested that Zhang Lei now just raises Guo Ang and Wang Gang's sons, Xiao Meng and Guo Ang are dead, and then Liaoyuan Huo permanently moves to Liu Bei's camp.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: As Liaoyuan Huo he wants two things: to get out of his precarious, no-future lifestyle as an assassin and find a "brighter path" for himself, and his Young master would grow a backbone and gain some ambitions to make the most of the talents he's blessed with. In due time he gets both of them, but at an atrocious price: [[spoiler:Sima Yi loses most of his family in Cao Cao's massacre of Sima clan which is the catalyst to break him out of {{Dismotivation}} and act on his political ambition for the sake of revenge. Huo's alienated from his remaining family and friends and loses his identity as Liaoyuan Huo as Sima Yi dismisses him from service and orders him to build a career at Liu Bei's side, pushing him onto the bright path he wished for as Zhao Yun. Later, Sima Yi has to kill Xiao Meng to secure his future inside Cao Cao's faction, which eventually ends their friendship.]]
* ChickMagnet: Sun Shu's smitten with him, and Xiao Meng (who's technically not a chick) is deeply in love with him. He seems to be quite popular with the courtesans in Luyang as well.

* 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:At Changban, he decisively turn towards Liu Bei, then goes further and proclaims Adou (the future Liu Shan) "my only young master! The only young master!" right before Sima Yi's eyes]].

* FutileHandReach: [[spoiler: His famous scene of parting with Xiao Meng.]]