Due to being a fictionalised version of history, this comes up quite a bit.
- For some reason, Guan Ping (eldest son of Guan Yu) is introduced as Guan Yu's adopted son as opposed to his flesh-and-blood son as in history. Among numerous theories for this, one suggestion is that this was done so Guan Ping could be introduced as an adult and take part in Guan Yu's adventures, while another is that as The Romance also incorporated various folktales, it's possible this was a folktale from the region that helped link the legendary Guan Yu to local families.
- Ling Tong is introduced seeking vengeance against Gan Ning for his father Ling Cao (who Gan killed in combat). Ling would later be rescued by Gan, leading him to forgive Gan and becoming Fire-Forged Friends. Historically, Ling Tong hated Gan Ning till the day he died, partially motivated by the fact Gan was an unrepentant pirate and murderer known to raid their own territory For the Evulz. It was only the direct command of their liege lord Sun Quan that prevented Ling from taking any opportunity to kill Gan. Even after Gan kind of repented after Lu Meng treated him for dinner after what's considered his biggest Kick the Dog moment, Ling still held his bitterness to the end.
- Zhou Yu is portrayed as being insanely jealous of Zhuge Liang, even plotting to have him killed. Historically, during Zhou's heyday Zhuge Liang was simply too unimportant to have bothered with (Zhou was the highly accomplished and admired chief commander of Sun Quan's military forces as well as his chief advisor, while Zhuge was just an advisor to a landless wandering warlord), and was only notable for being the younger brother of Zhou's friend and colleague Zhuge Jin.
- In the novel, Liu Bei and Sun Quan's younger sister Lady Sun are married as part of a political alliance. Lady Sun falls in love with Liu due to his goodness and nobility, and when she's forced to return to her homeland when the alliance falls apart she's inconsolable. She's mentioned as dying not long after the death of Liu Bei himself, the implication being Death by Despair. Historically, Liu is mentioned as being terrified of Lady Sun, partially because she always had a group of fully armed and armoured warrior maidens outside her living quarters. Also, her fate after returning to Wu was unknown.
- The novel makes Xu Huang and Guan Yu close friends (despite them barely sharing any scenes together). This makes it all the more dramatic when Xu is the one who leads the army that shatters Guan's forces and sends him into the retreat that ends with his death. Historically, Xu was famous for being such a Consummate Professional, he didn't have any close friends, even with men he'd worked with for years like Cao Ren or Zhang Liao.
- Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi are portrayed as arch foes, with the latter half of the novel revolving around their battles. Historically, Sima Yi only fought Zhuge Liang twice, and Zhuge was instead repeatedly repelled by other generals such as Cao Zhen or Hao Zhao. The second time Sima and Zhuge fought was coincidentally the campaign where Zhuge passed away, and so it's suspected that Sima was given the role of Wei commander so as to make their single confrontation the climax of a long rivalry instead.
- Jiang Wei is introduced as a talented young officer Zhuge Liang explicitly wants to recruit as his protégé, and later trains him as his successor. After Zhuge's passing, Jiang tries to carry on his will and invade the northern Wei Kingdom. Historically, while Jiang was recruited by Zhuge following one of the Northern Campaigns, he was simply one of Zhuge's cronies and hangers on. He did eventually succeed Zhuge as chancellor, but only after the leadership of Jiang Wan and Fei Yi. He also proved to be incompetent in the role, as while Jiang Wan and Fei Yi opted to focus on internal affairs (leading to what was described as Shu's Golden Age), Jiang Wei launched repeated failed invasions that drained Shu's resources and slowly turned the populace against the government. note
