
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Traditional: 三國演義; Simplified: 三国演义; Pinyin: Sānguó Yǎnyì) is a 14th-century Chinese epic novel about the century of war, turmoil, and bloodshed known as the Three Kingdoms Period (188-280 AD), written by Luo Guanzhong, based on the historic records, "Records of the Three kingdoms" (Traditional: 三國志; Simplified: 三国志; Pinyin: Sānguó zhì). It is considered one of the "Four Great Classical Novels" of Chinese literature
alongside Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of the Red Chamber — and for good reason. This epic is renowned for its beautiful style, complex and heroic characters, and enduring motifs and themes that remain relevant even in modern society. It not only left its influence throughout the Chinese culture, language, and literature, but also that of other Sinosphere countries (i.e. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam), and has spawned many, many derivative works in various media (some more derivative than others) throughout the world.
The tale begins in the last days of the corrupt Han Dynasty, showing how the government and Emperor lost the "Mandate of Heaven" (天命), and the land fell into anarchy, with various warlords carving out their own territories in a struggle for supremacy. Gradually, out of the chaos, three kingdoms take shape: the kingdom of Shu, led by the virtuous Liu Bei (a distant cousin of the Emperor) and his sworn brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei; the kingdom of Wei, led by the scheming Cao Cao; and the kingdom of Wu, led by the ambitious Sun family. All seek to unify the nation for one reason or another, and claim the right to rule for their own. And so the three kingdoms contend with one another over the century, and heroes rise and fall in the strife, until the nation is finally reunified.
And, as you'd expect from a pivotal work like this, it's managed to gather quite a collection of tropes. Interested tropers can find the full text of an older English translation, now in the public domain, here.
The site has added some annotations to help readers keep track of events and characters.
Tropes pertaining to the novel itself:
- Divided for Publication: Most publishers break the novel up into multiple parts, thanks to its length: at 800,000 words and 120 chapters, it's a Doorstopper.
- Stealth Parody: Despite having been written to satisfy the Imperial guidelines, Luo Guanzhong managed to sneak in a few subversions on the nature of loyalty. Blink and you'll miss them, though.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: One early editor referred to it as 70% fact and 30% fiction. Luo Guanzhong's sources included not only historical records, but period Chinese operas, poetry and folktales as well. Some of the scenes in the book never really happened, or did not happen as described; That Other Wiki has a list.

Tropes within the novel:
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Sima Yi could supposedly turn his head 180° to look behind him.note
- Abusive Parents: Liu Bei's infant son, Liu Shan, was lost at Chang Ban, so Zhao Yun made a selfless charge into enemy lines to bring the kid back. So what does Liu Bei do? He throws his kid to the ground, pissed that he nearly lost a great general. The kid later grows up and loses the kingdom, and is considered by most readers to be completely useless. Probably because he was dropped on his head as a kid. In a major example of Values Dissonance, no one in the story calls Liu Bei out on this. Then again, he's the one who quoted lore as saying that "Brothers are as hands and feet; wives and children are as clothing. You may mend your torn dress, but who can reattach a lost limb?"
- Action Girl:
- Zhurong, Meng Huo's wife, goes into battle against Shu and manages to capture a couple of Shu generals before getting captured herself - which is a pretty good record for the Nanman.
- Lady Sun (whom you might know better as Sun Shangxiang in most opera adaptations and Dynasty Warriors), Sun Quan and Sun Ce's sister, practiced swordplay, has an entourage of a hundred maids decked out in armor and weapons, scared Liu Bei half to death on his wedding night, and scolds her brother's generals into submission when she eventually elopes with her husband. Historically, she raised havoc on a regular basis and had to be monitored by Zhao Yun.
- Lady Wang Yi note , Zhao Ang's wife, was the only woman to be recorded as actually fighting in that period when she took up arms and attempted to murder Ma Chao after he slaughtered her husband.
- Adult Adoptee: Lü Bu is adopted by Dong Zhuo as an adult. Likewise, Guan Yu adopts the adult Guan Ping as his son. Historically, Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu were merely described as "being as close as father and son" rather than there being an actual adoption, and Guan Ping was actually Guan Yu's biological son.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Cao Cao receives one of the longest poems in the book upon his death, almost entirely complimentary. The final lines run:Ah! The ancients' splendid deeds or secret thoughtsWe may not measure with our puny rule.But criticize them, pedants, as ye mayThe mighty dead will smile at what you say.
- All Just a Dream: Dong Cheng summons his servants, gathers his co-conspirators, marches on the Prime Minister's palace, and runs Cao Cao through with his jeweled sword...And just then he woke up and found it was all a dream, but his mouth was still full of curses.
- Annoying Arrows: Guan Yu and Xiahou Dun - but averted by the large number of characters who actually do get killed by arrows. And while even Guan Yu plays this trope straight most of the time, he does get knocked off his horse by an arrow, requiring extensive surgery to heal the wound.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Zhang Song drops one of these on Cao Cao that almost gets him executed."O Prime Minister, I know well that when you march out your army, you always conquer. I knew it when you attacked Lu Bu at Puyang; and when you fought Zhang Xiu at Wancheng; and when you met Zhou Yu at the Red Cliffs; and when in Huarong Valley you encountered Guan Yu; and on that day when you cut off your beard and threw away your robe at Tong Pass; and when you hid in a boat to escape the arrows on the Yellow River. On all these occasions, no one could stand against you."
- Artifact of Doom: The Imperial Seal comes off like that. Before the novel it was thrown into a lake as a sacrifice to stop a storm and held by at least two emperors who were rebelled against. During the novel, it's held by a woman who escapes the burning capital by jumping into a well. Then it is retrieved by Sun Jian, who died shortly after. It was then inherited by Sun Ce, who traded it to Yuan Shu for troops, dying young awhile later. Then Yuan Shu used it to establish himself as emperor, causing many of his supporters to turn on him. Despite its purported divine providence, the artifact seems to be bad luck for anyone who holds on to it for too long.
- Arranged Marriage: A staple of the times, not uncommonly forced, but Liu Bei's marriage to Sun Quan's sister is a hilarious subversion of the trope: Zhou Yu convinces Sun Quan to organise it as a pretext to capture Liu Bei, only for Zhuge Liang to turn the entire situation around into a Humiliation Conga for Zhou Yu instead.
- Arrow Catch: Jiang Wei. See below for more details.
- Arrowgram: As Cao Cao besieged a flooded Xiapi, he had a number of messages shot over the wall, promising a reward for the capture of Lu Bu, though Lu Bu's officers were already disillusioned with him by then and were in collusion with Cao Cao to take the city.
- Arrows on Fire: A staple of any fire attack.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Following Guan Yu's death, he gets promoted to minor deity by a later emperor, but not before scaring Sun Quan by possessing and killing Lu Meng, who "fell over dead with blood gushing from the seven orifices of his body." To this day, you can still find altars to Guan Yu in many Chinese-speaking areas.
- Asshole Victim: Dong Zhuo, who serves as the Big Bad in the first part of the story, is betrayed and killed by Lv Bu when Wang Yun's scheme comes to fruition. Due to being a monster, he is not only unmourned, but his death is widely celebrated.
- "Ass" in Ambassador:
- Mi Heng, a talented but rude scholar, came out swinging in his only appearance and manages to insult the courts of Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Huang Zu, all in a single chapter. So how did anyone think he'd be a good ambassador? Afraid of directly executing a popular figure, Cao Cao hoped that Liu Biao would execute Mi Heng for him; Liu Biao saw through Cao Cao's trick and sent him to Huang Zu with the same intent.
- Zhang Song is one of these to Cao Cao (see Armor-Piercing Response ), but is much more cordial to Liu Bei.
- Automatic Crossbows: Zhuge Liang is credited in-novel with inventing these. Historically, the Zhuge crossbow was useful only if the projectile is covered with poison or when used for close range combat, as it did not have much penetrative power on its own.
- Badass Cape: The "battle gown" worn with the armor of the time, wide enough to cover the arms.
- Balance of Power: The kingdoms of Wei and Shu develop a rivalry, while Wu functions as the Wild Card, allying with one or other of the realms as is convenient to keep either of them from getting powerful enough to overwhelm Wu.
- Batman Gambit: Zhuge Liang, who shows a near-psychic ability to predict people's actions based on their character.
- Beardness Protection Program: Cao Cao loses his cape and beard in quick succession after Ma Chao's men start looking for "that guy in the red cape" and (soon after) "that guy with the long beard". And then they start looking for "that guy with the shaved beard"... whereupon he decides to give up on the disguises and just run.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Several examples. Notably, Guan Yu's subordinates Zhou Cang and Wang Fu after Guan's capture and execution.
- Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts: Mi Zhu picked up a woman in his carriage who was actually a spirit of fire, sent to burn his house down. His kindness towards her caused her to warn him of this, however, early enough that he was able to hurry home and save his valuables and his family's lives.
- Big Book of War: The Art of War and various contemporary texts. Oddly enough, it's treated somewhat sceptically — while a worthwhile strategist will study the texts, he should also be able to improvise. Meanwhile, characters who rely exclusively on theories and ideas they derive from ancient texts are more likely than not to be General Failure.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Zhang Fei - and subverted when he used his enemies' knowledge of his love for wine to lure them into a trap. (Unfortunately both before and after this, his love for wine — or rather, the Unstoppable Rage that could come about — did cause negative consequences for Liu Bei, the last one being his death when his last two victims had their revenge. That, and there's the time that in stealing Lu Bu's war horses, he single-handedly broke an alliance that Lu Bu might have actually kept.)
- Bookends: At the opening of the novel: "The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide." At the end: "The empire, long united, must divide; long divided, must unite."
- Burn the Witch!: Taoists. Sun Ce hates superstitions, and Cao Cao just hates people who speak against him. As seen later on, things don't turn out too well for either of them.
- Call to Agriculture: Subverted, when Liu Bei had to share temporary lodging in the same city as Cao Cao, he deflected suspicion from himself by taking up gardening in his yard as a disguise.
- Catch and Return: Jiang Wei (having accidentally spilled his quiver) catches an arrow fired at him by Guo Huai and then fires it back at the shooter, killing him.
- Chaste Hero: Multiple characters either directly or by proxy in ensuring that their charges aren't violated.
- The most fortunate to do so may have been civil official Mi Zhu (who served Tao Qian and Liu Bei)... since the woman revealed herself to be the Goddess of Fire and that she had a command to burn his house down that night. Thanks to her early warning, he kept his life, health, and his valuables.
- And there's Zhao Yun, who turned down an offer to marry a beautiful woman in favor of serving his lord. Of course, what complicated matters was: 1.) She was the widow of the brother of 2.) a recently conquered vassal who 3.) had recently sworn brotherhood with him. Though it is not depicted in the novel itself, that move paid off later when said recently conquered vassal fled from Liu Bei, and Zhao Yun avoided considerable trouble.
- And Liao Hua, who refused to take Liu Bei's captured wives for himself, killed his partner (who did want to take them) and then promptly turned himself and his partner's head over to Guan Yu. An excellent career choice, as he outlives most of the other characters — an accomplishment for one who turns up that early in the novel.
- Another famous example is Guan Yu refusing to sleep with Liu Bei's wives while in Cao Cao's custody, as one of his three conditions for surrendering to Cao Cao was the protection of Liu Bei's wives. Then again, the incident — and all of his privileges — were attempts to sway his loyalty to Liu Bei, and Guan Yu was probably aware of this. (Later, when presented with ten maids, Guan Yu turned them over to his sisters-in-law.)
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Multiple characters:
- Lu Bu stands out among them. Lu Bu's penchant for treachery was well-known, having betrayed his two adoptive fathers Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo. This eventually comes back to haunt him, courtesy of Liu Bei.
- Liu Bei: Not repaying Lu Bu, planning to assassinate Cao Cao, claiming he had no interest in Yi province, backstabbing Liu Zhang who asked for Liu Bei's help in fighting Cao Cao to take over Yi province, refusing to return the cities Sun Quan lent him...
- Characters Dropping Like Flies: Due to the hundred years that the story spans across, it's not much of an exaggeration to say that two characters are introduced and two die every chapter. Characters die in their sleep, characters die in battle, some get full poems dedicated to their passing and even some are introduced and then killed off seemingly in the same breath, with little fanfare. By the time the story finishes, no character that was alive at the start is still alive at the end.note
- Cliffhanger: Every single chapter ending, which fits with the oral tradition similarly to the Arabian Nights - so that the storyteller could keep the audience hooked and coming back for more.
- Combat by Champion: Far too many examples to count. Needless to say, if there's a battle, there most likely will be one of these. Notable examples include the three brothers (Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei) vs Lu Bu at Hulao Pass note , Zhang Fei vs Ma Chao at Jiameng Pass note , Sun Ce vs Taishi Ci at Qu'e County note and much much more. These do eventually start dying down after the famous heroes such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei start dying off but the early 60 or so chapters are practically littered with these.
- The Compassionate Executioner: In the aftermath of Lü Bu's defeat at the siege of Xia Pi, Cao Cao had the defeated warlord and his generals brought before him. Cao Cao tried to offer mercy to Cheng Gong in exchange for his service, but he refused and wished to Face Death with Dignity. His willingness to die drove Cao Cao to tears, and he ordered that Chen Gong's remains to be treated with honors in addition to his family to be looked after.Cao Cao’s heart still leaned toward mercy, but Chen Gong turned and walked away, repulsing the attendants who would stop him. Cao Cao rose from his place and walked with Chen Gong, the tears falling from his eyes. Chen Gong never looked at him... The condemned man heard him but uttered no word. He stretched out his neck for the blow. Tears sprang to the eyes of all present. His remains were honorably coffined and buried in Xuchang.
- Cool Horse: Red Hare, said to be faster and stronger than the horses of its day (the Chinese term is "thousand-li horse"), and whose body and hair are entirely "glowing-sun red." May or may not go three times as fast as a regular horse.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu : Woe betide any soldier not identified by name.
- Cycle of Revenge: Guan Yu gets executed by the kingdom of Wu. Liu Bei, enraged, renews hostilities with Sun Quan leading to a disastrous military campaign and his eventual death after the failure. In the meantime, Guan Yu's ghost comes back to kill Lu Meng, the general who planned the trap. And Liu Bei's wife - who is also Sun Quan's sister - drowns herself on hearing the news.
- Dark Horse Victory: The eventual unifier of the Three Kingdoms? None of them. It's the Jin Dynasty, founded by the descendants of Sima Yi - Cao Cao's strategist.
- Death by Despair:
- Zhuge Liang managed to irritate Zhou Yu to death. He managed to Hannibal Lecture two other Wei officials into a fatal fit later on as well. Happens to others as well.
- Zhuge Liang himself is victim to this at the very end, after the freak rainstorm at Mount Qi that saved Sima Yi's butt from a trap that quite literally took ten years for him to set up. This wound up being the thing that finally pushes Zhuge Liang's already fragile health at the time over the edge. It also didn't help that later on when he was at the end of a ritual that he did to possibly extend his lifespan, Wei Yan rushed in to warn him of a Wei attack, knocking the main ritual lantern over, rendering everything useless.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Huang Zhong, Xu Chu, and Taishi Ci amongst others.
- Defensive Feint Trap: If you think you're winning against Zhuge Liang, that means it's time for the ambush to come out. Other characters use this as well.
- Disposable Woman: Thanks to a colossal helping of Values Dissonance, female characters tend to end up as collateral damage, examples to discourage others, or, in one case, emergency rations.
- Disproportionate Retribution: When his father is robbed and killed by one of Tao Qian's officers who went bandit, Cao Cao raises an army and ravages Tao Qian's territories. Tao Qian only managed to escape personal injury thanks to Cao Cao withdrawing his armies when his home territories came under attack by Lu Bu.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Sun Ce crushed Yu Mi to death while trying to take him prisoner.
- Don't Wake the Sleeper:
- When Liu Bei visits Zhuge Liang for the third time, Zhuge Liang is asleep. Liu Bei forbids anyone from waking him up, and patiently waits for him to wake up on his own. This respectfulness is part of the reason Zhuge Liang ultimately joined Liu Bei.
- Cao Cao was so paranoid of assassins that he warned his attendants not to try to wake him up, because he was likely to kill people in his sleep. During one of his naps, his blanket fell off. The attendant that saw it and tried to put it back on was killed by Cao Cao.
- The Dragon: Basically Lu Bu while in Dong Zhuo's service, as his defection eliminates the last check on Dong Zhuo's rise to power and he's recognized as the linchpin that holds the regime together even moreso than the army and other officers.
- Driven to Suicide: Xun Yu opposed Cao Cao's ascension to the rank of Duke. When Xun Yu pled illness to get out of being sent on an expedition, Cao Cao sent him a box like those that normally hold presents. Opening the box to find it empty, Xun Yu took the hint and committed suicide.
- Dueling Messiahs: The three emperors. All three want to unify China, but their methods and motivations are incompatible with each other.
- Dragon/Phoenix Juxtaposition: Pang Tong (known as the "Young Phoenix") and Zhuge Liang (known as "Hidden Dragon") are capable men based on real-life historical figures who are considered equal to each other. Pang Tong is a brilliant military strategist. Zhuge Liang is a clever Chinese politician, military strategist, writer, and inventor. Sima Hui notes how effective the two are together and references the symbolism when saying, "Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix. If you can get either of them, you'll be able to pacify the empire."
-
Easily Forgiven: Cao Cao is surprisingly amenable to letting people who wronged him go easy, under certain circumstances.- Zhang Xiu betrayed Cao Cao once (after Cao Cao took the widow of Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu's distant relative and liege lord, as concubine) and was responsible for deaths of Cao Ang, Cao Cao's firstborn son, and Dian Wei, his favorite bodyguard (who sacrificed himself so that Cao could barely escape with his life during Zhang Xiu's original betrayal). Yet, Cao Cao graciously accepted his service when he surrendered (granted, his surrender came with the services of a very talented advsior, Jia Xu, whom Cao really wanted.)
- After the defeating Yuan Shao's forces at Guandu, Cao's forces captured a chest full of correspondences showing that many of his subordinates have been in secret contact with Yuan. Cao declined even to look at the papers, remarking "Yuan Shao was so strong that even I could not be sure of safety. How much less other people?" Instead, he ordered that the papers be burned and the topic to be never brought up again.
- Easy Adoption:
- Justified in many cases, as it's often an important personage adopting someone as a son. Example include Dong Zhuo adopting Lu Bu, or Liu Bei adopting Kou Feng (making him Liu Feng).
- Guan Yu adopts Guan Ping during his 1000-li March, as Ping's father knows of Guan's reputation and thinks that it would be a better future for his son. There is no need for any ceremony or approval from a governing body, the two men simply discuss the matter and it's settled there and then.
- Eunuchs Are Evil: When you find a eunuch, they're never going to be portrayed as decent:
- In the very first chapter, the Ten Regular Attendants abuse their power, leading to the uprising of the Yellow Scarves.
- Huang Hao is regarded as the one who brought downfall to Shu by influencing Liu Shan, Liu Bei's Sucksessor.
- Cen Hun was stated to be the 'Huang Hao' for Wu's last emperor Sun Hao, although this is novel-exclusive.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Dong Zhuo. That's pretty much his only positive trait.
- Eyepatch of Power: Xiahou Dun gets hit in the eye with an arrow - and eats it.
- Eye Scream: Xiahou Dun. See the above.
- Faking the Dead: Played straight by Cao Cao against Lu Bu, and by Sun Ce against Liu Yao. Invoked and subverted by Zhuge Liang: he really was dead, but manages to convince Sima Yi that he was only Faking the Dead to cause him to retreat.
- Familial Fame Frustrations: A recurring theme in the later chapters of the book involve the children (primarily the sons) of famous generals or officials trying to live up to their fathers' names.
- During the fall of Shu, the son and grandson of Zhuge Liang resolve to fight to the death, as they would rather die with Shu than live with the shame of allowing it to be conquered. That Zhuge Liang is a
Mary Tzu with outright supernatural powers and helped build Shu not just from a backwater province but a proper contender for the empire especially weighs upon them. - Upon being introduced as an adult, Liu Shan is derided as being a useless successor to his father Liu Bei. Where Liu Bei essentially clawed his way up from nothing with a combination of courage, cunning, audacity and honour (thus earning the loyalty of many capable men), Liu Shan has practically no redeeming features. He does, however, have one very important skill: he knows to stop useless struggles, and he knows to just keep his head down so people don't think he's a threat that needs to be permanently dealt with. After the fall of Shu, he lives the rest of his life in comparative peace and luxury.
- During the fall of Shu, the son and grandson of Zhuge Liang resolve to fight to the death, as they would rather die with Shu than live with the shame of allowing it to be conquered. That Zhuge Liang is a
- False Flag Operation: Done several times by various sides. Cao Cao's raid at Wuchao is a particularly important one.
- Fear of Thunder: Inverted: Liu Bei uses it as an excuse to cover up his shock when Cao Cao predicts that the two of them are the only true heroes of the age.
- Flanderization: EVERYBODY. It says a lot that the highly stylized and idealized Dynasty Warriors has a claim to being just as historically accurate as this novel.
- First-Name Basis: It was common practice for men to take "style names": Guan Yu was Yunchang ("Long Cloud"), Zhao Yun was Zilong ("Young Dragon"), Zhuge Liang was Kongming, Zhang Liao was Wenyuan, and so on. Relationship titles may also be substituted for names. How one character addresses another one can indicate a great deal about their relationship.
- Forced Overwork:
- Weaponised quite often during sieges, where the besiegers are often described taking potshots at sentries on the city walls or launching raids and probing attacks so as to keep the defenders on edge. A major example is at the battle of Xiapi that results in the death of Lu Bu: the defenders are so exhausted and low on morale that one of Lu Bu's generals holds a small party to celebrate the recapture of some horses despite Lu's strict forbidding of any drinking and celebration, just to try to keep their spirits up. Lu punishing the officer for the celebration (having him flogged in lieu of executing him) is a major reason why many of his officers eventually decide to ambush him and take him prisoner, opening the gates for the besiegers.
- Also weaponised by Cao Cao after he fails to defeat Sun Quan at Ruxu, thus ensuring he will not be able to cross the Han River to invade Sun's territory to the south. He instead opts to leave behind Xiahou Dun with command over 28 separate armies, spread all along the border with Sun's lands. Xiahou is a master of logistics and manages to build up the land under his control to basically make the armies self-sufficient, but conversely Sun lacks both the manpower and suitable land to try to do the same. His forces eventually weaken due to having to remain at a high state of alert, and the fact that Xiahou's forces apply pressure all along the border means that Sun can't rotate his troops out to properly rest and resupply. Sun eventually decides it would be better to offer a nominal surrender to Cao, as he fears his domain will collapse otherwise. Cao for his part accepts the surrender and has Xiahou stand down, partially because Cao himself is now concerned with consolidating his power and restoring the ravaged lands of the empire over straight up conquest.
- Played with during the defense of Hefei, where Sun Quan attempts to take the fortress of Hefei. The fortress is defended by Zhang Liao, Li Dian and Yue Jin with only a few hundred soldiers against the tens of thousands Sun has brought with him. Following orders left behind by Cao Cao, Zhang Liao and Li Dian lead a raid that successfully devastates the Sun forces, inflicting casualties so disproportionate that the Sun forces essentially cede the initiative to the defenders. Despite being completely outnumbered and under repeated attack, the defenders' morale is so high that they are able to hold the fortress (even when their food stockpiles are almost completely exhausted) until Sun Quan is compelled to retreat by news that Cao Cao is coming with a massive army of his own.
- Four-Star Badass: Too many to count — generals routinely lead their troops from the front and meet on the battlefield. Probably the best example is Lu Bu, whose knowledge of military tactics and strategy, and in fact any talent he may have as a military leader, is dwarfed by his personal combat ability.
- Gambit Pileup: With that many factions opposing each other, this is unavoidable - for each strategist that's shown developing a plan, odds are that the next scene will be another strategist developing a countermeasure to it.
- Generational Saga: To some extent. While a good half of the novel focuses on the first generation and their heroics, as a whole, the novel can be viewed as the story of the three kingdoms - how the first generation of each kingdom establishes the ideals on which their kingdom should be built, how the second generation try to build on the first's ideals but ultimately starts to stagnate and how in later generations, the stagnation has grown too far to be stopped, ultimately resulting in the kingdom's collapse and fall.
- Gentle Giant: Xu Chu. He was at least 6 foot 5, with a 52 inch belly, but he was known by names such as Sleeping Tiger, Tiger Fool, etc. because while in battle, Xu was like a tiger, while outside of battle he was known as being simple-minded and honest.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: Guan Yu's beard was reputedly fabulous to the point where Cao Cao gave him a beard bag. Oh, and when confronted by bandits, his taking off the bag caused them to promptly surrender and their leaders to beg to join him — albeit this was probably also because they recognized him for the badass that he was.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Dian Wei's last stand had him using enemy soldiers as bludgeons.
- Hate Sink: In between many-many characters, three of them stand out as the kind of characters meant to be hated:
- Dong Zhuo, the repulsive, hedonistic warlord who took over Luoyang and started a reign of tyranny for his own pleasure.
- Huang Hao, an eunuch that manipulates the weak Liu Shan and made Jiang Wei's campaign a failure, dooming Shu. After escaping execution via bribery, Sima Zhao caught him and executed him on spot, disgusted at his actions.
- Sun Hao, the last Emperor of Wu, who began as a promising ruler, but suddenly turned into an extreme tyrant that is either on par or worse than Dong Zhuo, that Jin's invasion under Sima Yan is seen as a salvation and the people of Wu turned him over to Jin.
- Historical Badass Upgrade
- Zhuge Liang was historically considered the top political and domestic administrator, not the supreme tactician and strategist he is in the novel... on top of his political and administrative prowess.
- Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's sons Guan Xing and Zhang Bao are portrayed in the novel to be some of the greatest warriors of Shu in their later years. In reality, Guan Xing never entered a battlefield, and Zhang Bao died young without proving himself - he got outlived by his father.
- Historical Downgrade:
- Zhang Fei gets hit with a Historical Hero Downgrade, going from historically being the most strategically accomplished of Liu Bei's main generals to a blundering drunkard. While he's still smart enough to utilize some war strategies such as during the battle to take Cheng Du, he's portrayed as more of a Boisterous Bruiser Battle God in the novel.
- Liu Bei himself was actually a competent commander and not the weeping wreck we most often see, and some of the strategies in the novel attributed to Zhuge Liang were actually his own.
- In the official Chinese histories, Cao Cao and his successors are generally considered the bearers of dynastic legitimacy. In the novel, they are portrayed as the main villains even if a family of Magnificent Bastards.
- Cheng Yu is depicted as an intelligent military strategist rather than as a great warrior and field commander. Historically, he is recorded as being a tall man with a magnificent beard, and got his start by rallying the locals of his area to defend against the Yellow Turban rebels. He led troops in battle several times before and after entering Cao Cao's service, and distinguished himself with his courage on the field of battle.
- Cao Zhen is depicted as a general who - while not exactly incompetent - is completely outmatched by Zhuge Liang, necessitating his replacement by Sima Yi. In reality, Cao Zhen was an able commander who was responsible for defeating Zhuge Liang's first two Northern Expeditions against Wei. Sima Yi only took over command of the front after Cao Zhen's death from illness in 231 CE. Author Luo Guanzhong downplayed Cao Zhen's ability and contributions as for dramatic effect, as he wanted to set up Sima Yi as Zhuge Liang's nemesis.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: This trope applies to Shu-Han as a whole. In the post-Three Kingdoms era, Liu Bei's faction had always been painted as an obstruction to the reunification of China (after all, the Jin Dynasty had succeeded the Wei Kingdom the way Wei had succeeded Han, and so it benefited them to be seen as a legitimate successor). This perception only changed during the Song Dynasty, when after losing half of the empire to the Northern Jurchens, remnants of the Song government required a political justification to relocate and retain a dynasty in the south. For this purpose, they chose Shu-Han as a precedent. Thus Liu Bei's negative aspects were diminished, and eventual heroic status cemented (also they want him to be a relatable hero for Confucian standards, so some of his traits that do not fit the standard, even if they're not generally bad, got replaced too). On the other hand, this meant applying a Historical Villain Upgrade for Cao Cao as seen below for usurping the throne from its rightful owner.
- The historical Guan Yu was brave and capable (as seen by Liu Bei trusting him with guardianship of Jing Province during Liu's invasion of Yi). However, he was unfortunately also extraordinarily arrogant, to the point that he managed to turn many of Jing's leading men against him and also unnecessarily aggravated Sun Quan (during his invasion of Fan, he straight up attacked one of Sun's supply depots to resupply his troops). This directly led to the invasion of Jing by Sun's forces and Guan's own death. Traditional opera and certain biased emperors played up his heroism, which influenced his personality in the novel. Most of the heroic deeds attributed to him in Romance were either performed by other people note or completely fabricated note , not to mention his apotheosis.
- Zhang Fei in the novel is described as becoming belligerent and violent when drunk. Historically, he was simply a violent and brutal man, known for mistreating his soldiers for any failures or mistakes. Liu Bei is recorded as having repeatedly warned him about his behavior, and to Zhang's credit he is described as trying to change, but sadly would often fall back into his bad habits. An example from the novel concerns the official Cao Bao during Liu Bei's governorship of Xu Province: in the novel Zhang Fei tried to get Cao Bao to join him in drinking and became enraged when Cao refused, brutally beating him and causing him to betray Xu to Lu Bu. Historically, Zhang Fei got into an argument with Cao Bao and murdered him. Unluckily for Zhang Fei, Cao was an extremely popular local official and the outraged populace rose up in revolt and drove him out with Lu Bu's aid.
- Zhuge Liang was undoubtedly a genius in regards to governance and law, being able to quickly build Shu-Han up to a contender for overall hegemony. However, while well-read and intelligent this didn't translate to being a particularly skilled military commander, a far cry from his portrayal as an unbeatable strategist in the novel. In addition, historically he often preferred to make use of his personal acquaintances, proteges and sycophants in place of experienced and capable generals (most on display with Ma Su at Jieting). He was also one of the major voices that recommended Liu Bei command Liu Feng to commit suicide for failing to aid Guan Yu, something completely omitted from the novel. note
- Ma Chao in the novel rises in revolt after Cao Cao has his father Ma Teng and several members of his family (as they were involved in a plot against Cao's life). Historically, Ma Chao rose in revolt when Cao Cao's forces approached Liang Province on their way to Yi Province, and he suspected Cao was going to try to invade. In response, Cao had Ma Teng and his family members (who were living in the capital at the time) executed as the standard punishment for rebels.
- Jiang Wei is portrayed as the final protagonist of the novel, being Zhuge Liang's hand-picked successor and fighting out of a desire to restore the Han Dynasty in memory of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Historically, Jiang Wei was one of several Wei officers who were abandoned during one of Zhuge's invasions and forced to defect, and was simply one of Zhuge's many protégés or hangers on. Following Zhuge's death, he was a notorious warmonger to the point that Fei Yi, Zhuge Liang's successor as chancellor, saw fit to restrict how many men he could take with him on campaign. Fei even bluntly pointed out that neither he nor Jiang Wei were a match for Zhuge Liang, and if Zhuge could not defeat Wei what chance did they have? When Fei was assassinated, Jiang began mobilising Shu-Han's forces in earnest, but all he accomplished was to deplete the kingdom's manpower and cause the populace to become dissatisfied with their government.
- The novel depicts Gan Ning as a pirate and how he was known to tear up and leave silk all over after a feast to show how wealthy he was. He also managed to become Bash Brothers with Ling Tong after saving his life, despite killing his father Ling Cao in battle years earlier. Historically, he was known to be a murderous pirate, even after becoming a general. He once murdered a servant of his despite promising Lu Meng he would not, which so enraged Lu Meng he mustered his personal guards to try and kill him. Ling Tong similarly never forgave Gan Ning and maintained an animosity with him until he died.
- Gongsun Zan historically was a brutal warlord who overthrew his superior, put him on display at a market place while mocking him that if he was righteous Heaven would save him, and then executed him alongside his family and anyone who spoke up in his defense. He also spent much of his time feasting as his war with Yuan Shao turned against him, and eventually resorted to killing his family before committing suicide. In the novel, as he is linked to Liu Bei he is portrayed as being a brave and noble warrior, and his defeat and death treated as a tragedy.
- Historical Villain Upgrade:
- In one of the most famous examples in history, Cao Cao is cast as the
Designated Villain and so his negative qualities played up (or even straight up created out of nothing). This is to make him a proper foil to Liu Bei, who was rewritten to display the "correct" Confucian virtues. For example, in the aftermath of Guandu historically Cao executed surrendered Yuan soldiers who tried to escape and rejoin Yuan Shao's forces (i.e. basically faking surrender), while the novel has him bury all of them alive. Cao was also known to be a writer who included several annotations to Sun Tzu's Art of War, but the novel changes it to him straight up plagarising from someone else. - Downplayed example with Xiahou Dun. While known to be a righteous but violent man (he famously killed a man for insulting his teacher... while only being 13 years old), he was also known to be frugal, generous and humble. He kept little wealth for himself, was willing to carry dirt and work the soil alongside his men, and often brought his teachers with him on campaign so he could continue learning and bettering himself. But as he was Cao Cao's Number Two, he is at best shown to be a Punch-Clock Villain, at worst a Butt-Monkey.
- Han Xuan gets turned into a loud, rude and cruel person, while he historically was known to be quiet and kind... and he gave up instead of getting slain.
- Zigzagged with Wei Yan. Historically, he was known to be arrogant and on bad terms with one of Zhuge Liang's favoured subordinates. Following Zhuge's death, Wei Yan tries to force the Shu army to continue the campaign rather than retreat, while Zhuge's subordinates intended to withdraw. Wei Yan went so far as to try to destroy the plank roads to cut off their path of retreat, but this was a step too far and so his soldiers deserted him and he was killed. In the novel, Wei Yan accidentally foils Zhuge's attempt to extend his life, and after Zhuge's death muses about taking the Shu army and defecting to Wei for high rank or even setting himself up as an independent warlord.
- Zigzagged with the kingdom of Wu, which is relegated to a secondary position because they're fighting the
Designated Villain half the time and the Designated Hero the rest of it.
- In one of the most famous examples in history, Cao Cao is cast as the
- Hollywood Healing: Huang Gai, who had himself whipped as part of a plot against Cao Cao as a Fake Defector. He healed fast enough to participate in the battle... only to get wounded again!
- Honey Trap:
- Diao Chan, with Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo, the latter eventually coming to his downfall because of her.
- Zhou Yu attempted one of these on Liu Bei with Lady Sun, but thanks to Zhuge Liang, it failed.
- Honor Before Reason: Following the battle at Chi Bi, Guan Yu trapped Cao Cao in one of Zhuge Liang's ambushes. But because Cao Cao had treated him well previously when he was in service, Guan Yu lets him go.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Chen Gong, who believes that first magnificent bastard Cao Cao and then Lü Bu are righteous heroes worthy of ruling the land.
- Humiliation Conga: Meng Huo's seven defeats and Cao Cao's retreat from Chi Bi, among others.
- Hypocritical Humor: Perhaps unintended. But for some reason every time one of the characters plots a conspiracy or a civil war, or other such things, it is "for the good of the State".
- I'm a Humanitarian: Liu Bei, on the run and starving, is given some meat by a local peasant. The source? The peasant's wife. Liu Bei is ignorant at the time, but
grateful when he finds out... not to mention the fact that when he tells Cao Cao about it, Cao Cao rewards the peasant with a hundred ounces of silver. - Important Haircut: It should be noted that it was
against the filial piety values of the time to cut one's hair.- Played straight by Cao Cao, cutting his hair to show loss of face after he lost control of his horse, which trampling over some crops after he'd issued an edict that any soldier who trampled over crops would lose his head.
- Subverted by Zhou Fang, who cut off his hair to impress Cao Xiu with his trustworthiness. He was lying, and it really shows how far he's willing to go for his true lord, Sun Quan.
- Incendiary Exponent: Most famously, the Fire Ship attack at the battle of Chi Bi. Legendary and effective.
- Ironic Echo: "I trust you have been well since we last parted?" First spoken by Guan Yu, taunting Cao Cao about his escape back to his sworn brothers. Later Cao Cao says it upon being presented with Guan Yu's severed head.
- I Shall Taunt You: Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were all fond of doing this... and usually with each other. Zhuge Liang, however, kills people via taunting.
- "Just Joking" Justification: The most common excuse for changing your mind about executing people/handing your concubine to your adoptive son/threatening to expose an assassination plot. Honestly, they need to work on their routine a little.
- Kill It with Fire: Fire attacks are a common staple of combat strategy. Two of the biggest and most successful fire attacks occur at the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Yiling.
- Laser-Guided Karma: It doesn't take long for Sun Jian to reap the consequences of lying about the Imperial Seal. He dies in the very next chapter.Sun Jian pointing toward the heavens as an oath said, "If I have the Imperial seal and am hiding it myself, may my end be unhappy and my death violent!"
- Love Ruins the Realm:
- Played with by the whole Diao Chan incident, where the realm was at a nadir anyway and getting rid of the tyrant was an attempt at making things better. Unfortunately, it inadvertently trades the tyranny of Dong Zhuo for the chaotic rivalries of the regional warlords, while his puppet emperor simply comes "under new management."
- Invoked in the buildup to the battle of Chi Bi, where Zhuge Liang provokes Zhou Yu (and the kingdom of Wu) into fighting by claiming that Cao Cao was lusting after the Qiao sisters, one being Zhou Yu's own wife and the other, his late best friend and sworn brother Sun Ce's widow.
- MacGuffin: The Imperial Seal is supposed to signify the Mandate of Heaven and the right to rule the land. People fights for it, Sun Jian dies on account of it. Sun Ce trades it off for an army which he uses to found the kingdom of Wu, although Yuan Shu (who had made that trade with Sun Ce) ended up using it as the basis for founding his stillborn dynasty. The seal eventually passes to the kingdom of Wei, and while it's still used to claim the right to rule, nobody really cares at that point.
- Made of Iron: Several characters, including Zhou Tai (who takes twelve wounds defending Sun Quan from bandits when Quan was a child) and Dian Wei.
- The Magnificent: Sun Ce became known as the "Little Conqueror", after scaring one enemy officer to death and crushing another one between his arm and torso.
- Master Archer: Many people throughout the story get to show off their archery skills. Perhaps the most famous is Huang Zhong, whose skill is described as "equal to piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces."
- At a feast held by Cao Cao for his officials at the Bronze Pheasant Tower, he offers a silk robe hanging from a willow branch to one of his generals who can hit the branch with an arrow, in response to which several of his generals, including Cao Xiu, Zhang He, Xiahou Yuan, and Xu Huang put up a dazzling display of archery skills of ever increasing difficulty. The competition becomes rowdy as the generals argue over who won this competition, but impressed by the skill demonstrated by his officers, Cao Cao gave identical robes to all his generals.
- Lv Bu also shows off his skill at archery by hitting the blade of his own halberd from a distance of 150 paces (about 110 - 120 metres or so). This was part of a wager he made with Liu Bei and Yuan Shu's general Ji Ling to stop the fighting between them. Bound by the terms of the wager and awed by his skill, both sides agree to a ceasefire.
- Mooks: Galore, of course, with special mention going to the poor messengers. Those poor, poor, messengers...
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Lu Bu eventually kills his patron and adoptive father, Dong Zhuo, for the sake of Diao Chan.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Cao Cao had several:
- When Cao Cao was on the run following a failed assassination attempt against Dong Zhuo, his father's sworn brother gives him shelter. Due to a series of misheard statements, Cao Cao mistakenly assumes that his hosts plan to kill him and slaughters the entire household. This is however subverted that shortly after, Cao Cao lets out his famous quote that excuses his actions and defines his character:
Better I betray the world rather than have the world betray me!note- He had one when he had Ju Shou executed ("I just killed the one guy who isn't a backstabbing freak... even if his loyalty was for the other guy and he tried to run away!")
- He had another when his leading admirals were executed for treason during the campaign against Sun Quan, only to realize right afterward that he'd been had.
- It seems to run in the family, with two examples in Cao Pi's case:
- Trying to execute his poetic intellectual brother Cao Zhi (who at worst was merely a layabout with his drinking buddies), but gives him a chance by challenging him to compose a poem, then another, without using certain words. Both poems reminds him what a Jerkass he's being, and having been called to account, he lessens Zhi's punishment to exile.
- When taking his son Cao Rui to a hunt, he kills a deer's mother and tells Rui to kill the child, but Rui asks why he should kill the son when the mother is already killed. This led to Cao Pi possibly remembering about that he'd ordered Rui's mother (Lady Zhen) to commit suicide, and he eventually named Rui his successor.
- Cao Cao had several:
- Not My Driver: Meng Huo, fleeing from Shu forces, jumps on what appears to be a Nanman boat. Since he was up against Zhuge Liang, the boat was predictably manned by Shu troops.
- Nothing Personal: Chen Lin, one of Yuan Shao's retainers who wrote the deeply insulting manifesto as a declaration of war to Cao Cao, simply said this to the latter when he was finally captured. Cao Cao took the hint and gave him a desk job in his administration, perhaps out of pity.
- Off with His Head!: Many characters, notably Guan Yu, both committing (with the most named victims!) and falling victim to this trope. His ghost is admonished: "[W]ho will also return the heads of your several victims—Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and the commanders of the five passes?" He takes the hint.
- Old Soldier:
- Huang Zhong's first appearance in the novel is at the age of 60 - and tellingly, when his horse suddenly keels over in his fight against Guan Yu, his excuse is that "The horse is too old." He served Shu as a top general for 15 whole years after that. Unfortunately, in his attempt to prove that he can still kick ass with the next generation of generals, he gets lured into a Wu ambush and dies from his wounds.
- Later on, Zhao Yun at age 70 when he personally kills three generals and captures one, all of them brothers, in the same engagement and rendering an army of 80,000 Qiang tribesmen (working for Wei) frozen with fear, then kills their father in a second engagement and winning that skirmish too. The reason? "[T]he Prime Minister thought me too old and did not wish to employ me. I had to give him a proof."
- Zhang He fought the Yellow Turban Uprising, which began in 184. During Zhuge Liang's fourth Northern Expedition in 231, he decides that Zhang He (fighting for the other side) is too dangerous and must die, and arranges for this to happen. Zhang He must have been close to seventy by then, if not even older.
- One-Man Army: The battle of Chang Ban gives two for the price of one, with Zhao Yun crushing his way through Cao Cao's forces to rescue Liu Bei's son and attempt to save his wives and reach safety (Chinese retellings often have him diving into enemy ranks seven times to try and ensure the safety of the son and wives, though this is not explicitly stated by the actual text), while Zhang Fei covers his retreat and scares off the whole army at the bridge. note
- One-Steve Limit: Averted, sort of. There are a lot of characters with similar sounding names, most of which have distinct characters which have the same romanisation. Plus, many character names sound just like place names. Much of the novel is filled with lines like "Zhang Fei fought at Chang Ban". It's easy to get confused after a while.
- Only Smart People May Pass: Cao Cao was fond of word games, even going so far to give inconsequential instructions (the disposition of some cheese, his opinion on a door) in codes. Yang Xiu solved both those mentioned, but in a subversion his intelligence (along with his support of one of Cao's younger sons for succession) made Cao fear him and would eventually lead to Yang's downfall.
- Only the Chosen May Ride: Red Hare, a huge Cool Horse so named because "it can run fast as a hare and is colored red", only ever allowed Lu Bu and later - after Lu Bu's death - Guan Yu to ride him, as no one else could tame him.
- Oracular Urchin: Luo Guanzhong liked to put street children in just for the sake of singing ominous songs, usually hinting at subsequent events. However, there's at least one time where it's a character (who needs to steer his mark towards a certain course of action) merely claiming that such children exist and are singing such songs. This was alleged to have happened historically throughout Chinese history, with claims that people (including children) are singing songs about important events.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Liu Bei and Lady Sun (at least as far as the novel is concerned), were perfectly content with their political marriage.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Intercession for close friends and relatives was common in the novel, but there were exceptional examples where generals and commanders would appeal on behalf of captured Worthy Opponents.
- A famous example was Guan Yu's and Liu Bei's intercession on Zhang Liao's behalf after the fall of Xiapi Castle, ironically just after Liu Bei had thrown Lu Bu under the bus (though Lu Bu probably had it coming). Zhang Liao would end up being the envoy who would convince Guan Yu to surrender to Cao Cao.
- Inverted when Zhuge Liang ordered Guan Yu's execution for sparing Cao Cao in Huarong Valley — at which point Zhuge Liang's own lord Liu Bei begged for his sworn brother's life.
- Poison Is Corrosive: Cao Cao spills a poison meant for him, and "the bricks upon which it fell were split asunder".
- Portent of Doom:
- In the first few chapters, the end of the Han dynasty is seen in some very bad portents (a horrible plague among one of those things), kicking of the chain of events that leads to decades of war.
- For some reason, Dong Zhuo is sent several bad portents that could have warned him to expect betrayal, though he's convinced to ignore them.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: When Cao Cao is debating whether or not to declare war on Yuan Shao, Guo Jia lays out ten ways in which Cao Cao is better. However, Guo Jia was also a gifted strategist (smart enough to set off a My Death Is Just the Beginning plot) and not above questioning his boss from time to time (when he let Liu Bei go to take on Yuan Shu, for instance).
- Rags to Royalty: Liu Bei, despite being connected to the Han Dynasty lineage, starts off so poor that he weaves mats and sells shoes early in his life. It takes a long time, but he eventually becomes the Emperor of one of the Three Kingdoms. In-story, his poor status is justified: his common ancestor with the Imperial line goes back several decades, far back enough that he can't really claim any imperial relation. As many imperial princes and related nobles perish over the course of the story, however, this distant blood tie becomes more relevant. note
- Rain of Arrows: Exploited when Zhuge Liang "borrowed" Cao Cao's arrows by sailing out dummy ships laden with straw.
- Recruit the Loser: Zig-zagged. After Lü Bu's defeat at the battle of Xiapi, Lü Bu and one of his generals, Zhang Liao, were brought before Cao Cao. Lü Bu attempted to offer his fealty to Cao Cao, which drew the ire of his subordinate for cowardice, but Cao Cao instead had Lü Bu dragged away to be hanged and chose to spare Zhang Liao. Having valued his loyalty and righteousness, Cao Cao personally released Zhang Liao from his restraints and gave Zhang his coat and a seat — the sincerity of which moved him and he swore his allegiance to Cao Cao.
- Regent for Life: Between the eunuchs, Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, the last emperors of the Han Dynasty had absolutely no power and even less luck. Dong Zhuo overtly has one emperor deposed and then forced to drink poison, while the empress dowager is literally thrown out the window. On Xun Yu's advice, Cao Cao rescues Emperor Xian from the excesses of Dong Zhuo's followers with the intention of using him as a puppet emperor to compel obedience from the other warlords; when the emperor later plots a coup with his loyal minister Dong Cheng (no relation to Dong Zhuo), Cao Cao has Dong Cheng killed and the emperor's pregnant concubine - Dong Cheng's daughter - strangled in response. Cao Cao's son Cao Pi eventually dispenses with the charade and forces Emperor Xian to abdicate in favour of himself in 220 AD, officially ending the Eastern Han Dynasty and establishing the state of Cao Wei.
- The Cao clan would get its comeuppance, however. After the death of Emperor Ming of Wei (Cao Rui, son of Cao Pi), the renowned strategist Sima Yi would launch a successful coup against Cao Shuang, a distant relative to the line of Cao Cao who was acting as regent for the new child emperor. Cao Shuang was captured and executed, and members of the Sima clan then proceeded to rule as regents for a series of increasingly weak puppet emperors until Sima Yan (grandson of Sima Yi) deposed the final Wei emperor Cao Huan to establish the state of Jin in 266 AD.
- The novel also shows Zhuge Liang acting effectively as this to Liu Shan, who is depicted as a well-meaning but weak and simple-minded man all too willing to defer to the judgement of his foremost advisor.
- Religion Is Magic:
- As Cao Cao and Sun Ce learnt, do not under any circumstances screw around with Taoist mystics - even if you kill them, they inevitably come back to haunt you, and usually to death.
- Subverted by Zhuge Liang who claimed to summon the east wind at the battle of Chi Bi, but really just did the whole ritual to waste time since he'd predicted the change in weather previously.
- Revenge Before Reason:
- Liu Bei marches on Sun Quan to seek revenge for the death of Guan Yu. Everyone besides Guan Yu's immediate relatives and Zhang Fei tries to convince him to focus on Wei, but Liu Bei insists on invading Wu. Even after Sun Quan makes a large number of concessions, he refuses to back off and focus on Wei. The result is a massive defeat for Shu.
- Zhang Fei is even more obsessed with avenging Guan Yu than Liu Bei, angrily confronting his elder brother when Liu Bei decides to postpone the invasion of Wu. Driven by vengeance and grief, he orders two of his officers to prepare thousands of sets of mourning attire for the army within an unreasonably short time frame and has them badly beaten when they fail. The two officers murder him in response and flee to Wu, further feeding Liu Bei's grievances against Sun Quan.
- Cao Cao attacks Tao Qian when he had other, more serious enemies (such as Lu Bu and Yuan Shao) to deal with, because Cao Cao's father died while in his territory. Some historians suspect that historically, Cao was genuinely furious and motivated purely by revenge as a filial son, as the campaign was brutal even by Cao's standards and lacked his normal careful preparations.
- Rule of Cool: Most of the liberties taken with history in the novel.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Cao Cao does this at Wang Yun's "birthday party" once he and the guests weep at the decline of the Han dynasty, saying that crying isn't going to kill Dong Zhuo.
- Satellite Character: Whilst even the most minor officers often get their own motives and little details fleshing them out, this is the default personality template for female characters.
Female agency wasn't much of a thing in literature back then. - Shoot the Messenger: If you were the bearer of bad news in the novel, expect your life to be nasty, brutish and short.
- When Cao Cao demands that Wu kingdom surrender, the following exchange ensues:
"When two countries are at war, their emissaries are not slain," said Lu Su. "Messengers are slain to show one's dignity and independence," replied Zhou Yu. The unhappy bearer of the letter was decapitated, and his head sent back to Cao Cao by the hands of his escort.- On another occasion, an example of Please Shoot the Messenger ensues. Mi Heng is an Insufferable Genius who insults everyone he meets. However, since Cao Cao does not wish to kill a famous man of letters himself, he sends him as a messenger to Liu Biao, who, in turn, sends him to short-tempered Huang Zu, who finally has him executed after being publicly insulted.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The entire fate of Kingdom of Shu. Beginning with the execution of Guan Yu and the assassination of Zhang Fei, they more or less begin to face collapse. Not too long after declaring himself emperor, Liu Bei dies, his rule passing to his possibly mentally handicapped Puppet King of a son Liu Shan. After Zhuge Liang, who ruled the kingdom on the emperor's behalf dies, a group of eunuchs, including Huang Hao, ruin the war plans of the final protagonist Jiang Wei which eventually led to his murder and the kingdom being subsequently taken over by Wei. So in whole, the efforts of the romanticized main characters of the Three Kingdoms story to reunite China fail, with all their accomplishments resulting in nothing (although it would eventually be reunified by the Simas under the Jin Dynasty). With the context of why the novel was written, it may be downplayed, however. While the Shu Kingdom eventually fell first, they would more likely go down as a Tragic Hero and Doomed Moral Victor, those who struggled to restore the rightful dynasty (Han) to the throne but was denied the chance of success by fate, therefore hopefully leaving a greater legacy.
- Smug Snake: Cao Cao never really gets a chance to shine in the novel, thanks to being the designated villain of the story. Historically, Cao was a Renaissance Man with multiple talents in warfare, governance and poetry, but as he is the designated villain several of his successes or Pet the Dog moments go unmentioned note , or historical details twisted note .
- Sole Survivor: Possibly Xin Pi. Xin Pi had seen the writing on the wall for the Yuans while being sent as an envoy from Yuan Tan to negotiate a shaky alliance with Cao Cao, so he suggested to Cao Cao to seize the opportunity and attack Yuan Shang's base in Ye. Shen Pei responded by massacring eighty of his kin within the city walls of Ye, while his older brother Xin Ping died of distress after his lord Yuan Tan started suspecting him. Despite this traumatic tragedy, Xin Pi continued serving Cao Cao and the state of Wei as a high ranking official until his death and is survived by his two children Xin Xianying and Xin Chang.
- As his daughter Xin Xianying was born in 191 and is about 12-13 years old at the time of the massacre in Ye, this ultimately becomes a downplayed example.
- Speak of the Devil: Or, as the Chinese say, "Speak of Cao Cao and he appears." This is due to Cao's apparent tendency to arrive just as people are talking about him, normally in a disparaging way (i.e. "There's no way Cao Cao's forces could get here so quickl- what do you mean Cao Cao is attacking?!")
- Stealth Insult: Cao Cao weeping for Guo Jia's death after his defeat at Chi Bi. All of his advisors realize that he is making fun of the fact that none of them was able to see through the fire attack in time. Which is hypocritical because his advisers did try to warn him about a potential fire attack, but Cao Cao blew off their concerns because the winds were blowing the wrong direction.
- Sworn Brothers: The Oath at the Peach Garden between Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu is one of the most famous incidents in the novel. Note though that they're not the only such brotherhood (Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are as well), just the most famous and celebrated.
- Tender Tears: Characters will cry out of sorrow, happiness or despair at least once per chapter - even the most battle-hardened of generals. If Liu Bei is in a chapter, the odds of someone crying out of gratitude become even higher.
- Thanatos Gambit: As an old Chinese saying goes, a dead Zhuge Liang scared a live Sima Yi in the battle of Wuzhang Plains. Zhuge calculated that Sima would realise he was dead and so arranged for his forces to assume a formation when Sima inevitably ordered a pursuit of the retreating Shu forces, correctly assuming that Sima would be thrown off and assume it was a trap. note
- The Horde: The Yellow Scarves are a popular but disorganised uprising led by the charismatic mystic Zhang Jiao and his brothers, and the early chapters are all about the kingdom's attempt to put their insurrection down. They continue to plague the land for several decades after.
- The Strategist: Everyone's got at least one, but Zhuge Liang is the King of Strategists in the novel, routinely outshining all his peers. His death is portrayed as reminding the reader that Zhuge is good, but compared to the will of Heaven he's nothing (as all his attempts to prolong his life are foiled and his final great scheme to kill Sima Yi is undone by rain).
- Too Clever by Half: Several characters are done in because they're just a bit too clever.
- Yang Xiu is a clever official who twice manages to infer the hidden meaning behind Cao Cao's word games (e.g. when Cao added a single stroke to a door, Yang realises that Cao wants the door widened as the stroke, when combined with the Chinese character for door, means "widen"). His insight into Cao's thinking leads him to disaster: during the conflict at Hanzhong Cao Cao is considering whether to fight or withdraw, and off-handedly makes "chicken ribs" the night watch password. Yang orders the army to begin preparations for retreat, explaining that "chicken ribs" are things that are useless but are still things someone is reluctant to throw away, the same way how Hanzhong isn't particularly useful to Cao. Yet in the end chicken ribs are still thrown away, so Cao must be planning to retreat. An enraged Cao Cao has him executed for daring to issue orders to the army in his stead, when Cao himself was still merely weighing the pros and cons of remaining or withdrawing. He eventually concludes withdrawing is the correct course of action.
- Ma Su, Zhuge Liang's protégé, decides to set up his camp on the top of a hill in order to defend an important road junction. Wang Ping protests, suggesting they instead camp nearby the junction itself. Ma responds that the top of the hill would allow them to see the enemy coming, and that charging downhill would give them the momentum needed to drive off any attempt to surround said hill. Unluckily for Ma, his opponent Zhang He simply has his troops surround the hill but station themselves far enough away that Ma's forces would not be able to charge them from above. Ma's forces are quickly weakened by a lack of water, and only a desperate attack by Wang Ping's troops (who had been stationed at the junction) allows some of Ma's men to escape. Zhuge has Ma executed for his blunder, and has himself demoted for being stupid enough for entrusting so vital a role to someone so unsuitable for it.
- Treacherous Advisor:
- Chen Deng advised Lu Bu very poorly, as he was plotting to sell him out anyway.
- Sima Yi and his descendants against Wei after Cao Rui's death. One of his descendants even had the reigning Wei emperor murdered in broad daylight.
- A rare heroic example: Xu Shu (for Cao Cao) was one by neglect, keeping quiet upon discovering that Pang Tong was involved in the Liu Bei-Sun Quan alliance's plot leading up to the Battle of Chi Bi.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, then Liu Shan. Liu Bei tells him on his deathbed that should he find Liu Shan unfit to rule, he can overthrow Liu Shan and govern as emperor in his own right. Zhuge Liang is horrified at the prospect of betraying the Liu imperial house and serves Liu Shan with the utmost loyalty until his own death.
- Many of Cao Cao's followers are deeply loyal to him, but two in particular stand out: Dian Wei and Xu Chu. Both served as Cao Cao's personal bodyguard, being absolutely willing to put their lives on the line for their lord. Dian Wei dies protecting Cao Cao in the Battle of Wancheng, killing dozens of Zhang Xiu's men to buy his lord time to escape before succumbing to his wounds. Xu Chu is constantly at Cao Cao's side, kills Xu You for disrespecting his lord, and volunteers to duel Ma Chao in an effort to bring Cao Cao victory in the Guanzhong campaign.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Done several times. Might be the reason for Zhuge Liang's habit of handing his plans to his subordinates in brocade sacks, to be revealed only at the very last minute. The most famous example in the novel would be Zhuge Liang's three instructions to Zhao Yun regarding the Lady Sun affair.
- Villain Has a Point: Despite the fact that he is a murderous tyrant, Dong Zhuo has a point about deposing Emperor Shao in favor of the Prince of Chenliu. During their flight from the capital, Shao was almost entirely incapable, where as the Prince was strong willed, charismatic, and kept them both safe. Chenliu definitely demonstrated more leadership skill than the young emperor.
- Villainous Glutton: Dong Zhuo. An official lit a wick in his corpse, and it burnt for days thanks to his fat.
- Villain Respect: Cao Cao may be a bastard, but he honors those who can outsmart or outmaneuver him. Most notably Chen Gong, who stands up to Cao Cao's verbal abuse to his very death.
- You Rebel Scum! : Everyone calls everyone else this. It makes sense in an odd way. If you claim to be rightful emperor, your opponents are rebels by extension.
- Warrior Poet: Cao Cao and his sons were renowned poets, and founded one of the major styles of poetry of the time.
- Weather Saves the Day: The deciding battle between Sun Chuan and Cao Cao's forces is decided by the weather at the Battle of Red Cliffs. Cao Cao's navy attacks Sun Chuan's in a line formation with the wind in his sails. This is so that if Cao Cao's flagship catches on fire, the wind will blow the fire away from his other ships (also, Sun Chuan's navy is downwind). Liu Bei, however, has a friend who can predict the weather, and his choice whether to intervene between the two warlords now or to wait means everything.
- Worthy Opponent:
- When Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both in the capital, they held a famously-depicted "talk of heroes" in Cao Cao's garden where Cao Cao discounted several "heroes" that Liu Bei suggested before declaring that "the only two heroes in the world under heaven are you and I!" It causes Liu Bei to have an Oh, Crap! moment as he realizes that Cao Cao just implicitly declared him the only real threat to his rule.
- Cao Cao sees Guan Yu as this. He makes great efforts to win over the great warrior after retaking Xu Province and forcing Guan to surrender. Guan Yu agrees to serve Cao Cao on the condition that he be allowed to leave Cao's service to join his sworn brothers once he gets wind of their whereabouts. Cao Cao does his best to make Guan change his mind, offering him high official positions and numerous luxuries, but Guan stands firm. Guan Yu helps Cao Cao defeat Yuan Shao by killing two of Yuan's best generals - Yan Liang and Wen Chou - then leaves his service as promised thereafter as he has gained information on Liu Bei's whereabouts. Cao Cao's treatment of Guan pays off later, as Guan is moved by gratitude to allow him to escape with the remnants of his army in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Red Cliff.
- Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang see each other as this, with Sima in particular praising Zhuge's abilities several times throughout the novel.
- You Killed My Father:
- Subverted by Ling Tong, who intended to kill Gan Ning for killing his father Ling Cao (before Gan Ning's surrender to Sun Quan). Sun Quan interceded during Ling Tong's attempt and forbade any further attempts, and the two eventually became friendly rivals.
- After Ma Teng is executed for his involvement in an assassination plot against Cao Cao, his son Ma Chao declares war for this very reason.
- After Cao Cao's father (and many other relatives) are killed by a subordinate of Tao Qian who turned bandit, Cao wages a brutal war of vengeance against Tao, only to be stopped by Lu Bu's attack on his own territory.
- A variant in case of Xu Shu. One of Cao Cao's advisors was a childhood friend of Xu and, knowing him to be devoted to his mother, fakes a letter from his mother asking him to come to the capital, where Cao Cao rules behind the emperor. Xu's mother is ashamed and kills herself. Xu considers Cao to be the murderer of his mother and never performs useful service for him (see above under Treacherous Advisor.)
- You Shall Not Pass!:
- Dian Wei holding off Zhang Xiu's forces.
- Zhang Fei at the Battle of Chang Ban, where he shouts a challenge for anyone in Wei's army to come and pass, and no one comes forward, allowing Liu Bei time to escape.
- Defied in case of the commanders of the five fortified passes that Guan Yu needs to pass through to reunite with Liu Bei, after Guan Yu spent some time in Cao Cao's service. Every one of them tries to prevent Guan from passing through their territories (some invoking the trope verbatim) and they all fail and lose their heads in process. Cao, however, admires Guan's loyalty and lets him leave in spite of losing several officers. (This sets the scene for a humorous scene where Xiahou Dun, Cao's chief general in the North, confronts Guan Yu after the latter had passed the five passes and slain their commanders. A succession of messengers arrive bearing Cao's command that Guan should be allowed to pass peacefully, with Xiahou asking each of them whether the command still applies after all the trouble Guan caused en route (killing the commanders of the passes and such), until the final messenger, Zhang Liao, confirms that, yes, it does.)
