Series / Three Kingdoms

Not your father's Three Kingdoms...

Turbulent times bring about unpredictable changes
The arrow on the bowstring must be shot
Brave and wise men, split the kingdom into three
Would they reveal their bold ambitions?

— The show's Expository Theme Tune, "Give Me Back A World At Peace", by Zhao Jinping.

Three Kingdoms (Original title "三国", or San Guo) is a Chinese TV series made in 2010 and yet another work based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, though it also adapts personalities closer to the actual historical Three Kingdoms.

Probably the most expensive project ever made for Chinese TV, Three Kingdoms is a milestone of the Chinese media industry. Even longer than the much-praised 1994 TV series (95 episodes compared to its predecessor's 84) it tells a more character-driven story of the political intrigues, multiple betrayals, and fleeting loyalties of the turbulent Three Kingdoms era, and often strays from the original novel's (limited) characterization to humanize its main characters.

While the story begins with a focus on Cao Cao's ambitions and military rise, the other two factions - the honor-bound Sun family and the idealistic Liu Bei and his followers - are soon introduced, and their sides of the story told as well. The end result is an RoTK adaptation with a more balanced focus and carefully crafted characters which should appeal to newcomers and old fans alike. Of course, this is still Romance of the Three Kingdoms after all; those who want to watch legendary heroes kicking ass Dynasty Warriors-style won't be disappointed either.

While the official release has fairly shoddy English subtitles, a fansub group has released the entire series subbed and downloadable by torrent.

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Three Kingdoms contains examples of:

• Adapted Out: Many battles and events, even people, are left out simply out of pragmatism. For example, Zhuge Liang's first battles are completely off-screen, and only the aftermath (an embarrassed Cao Ren reporting to a displeased Cao Cao, is shown.
  • Some of the choices are a bit puzzling. For example, the battle of Wancheng was one of the occasions where Cao Cao was outright outsmarted and almost killed. It's also where his mighty bodyguard Dian Wei and his oldest son Cao Ang were killed in a Heroic Sacrifice, and also where the cunning Jia Xu, who would become an important part of Cao's government, first demonstrated how dangerous and useful a tool he could be. Cao Ang is only mentioned during Cao Cao's death scene (when he appoints Cao Pi as his official successor), and neither Dian Wei nor Jia Xu appear (or are even mentioned) at all.
  • Likewise, Xiahou Dun is normally portrayed as Cao Cao's most trusted right hand man, but in this series he's only makes occasional off-screen appearances and his role is taken up by Xun Yu. His only big scene is during Guan Yu's escape, when he manages to hold Guan Yu off until Zhang Liao tells him Cao Cao allowed Guan to leave. He doesn't even get his infamous "Xiahou Dun devours his eye" moment.
• Adaptational Badass: Compared to previous depictions as a morals-bound weepy idiot, Liu Bei is shown as much more perceptive, honorable, and capable. Lu Su gets an even stronger boost; no longer a hapless go-between for Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu's squabbling, he's now a skilled politician in his own right who still manages to be kind, just, and loyal. Furthermore, he's the only person in the series who can hold his own against Zhuge Liang in a verbal sparring match.
  • Instead of being taken hostage by Guan Yu to escape an ambush set by Lü Meng, Lu Su informs Guan Yu of the ambush, which was against his wishes, and offers himself as a "hostage" so Guan Yu can safely escape the banquet. This impresses Guan Yu so much that he calls Lu Su "the only gentleman of Wu", and agrees to hand over the three commanderies of Jingzhou that he'd been refusing to earlier.
  • Sun Quan's sister matches Liu Bei in a swordfight, and nearly stabbed him in the throat before he ostensibly "won" by removing her veil.
  • Ma Su, known in the original novel as 'that idiot that lost Jieting', got upgraded to being Zhuge Liang's most loyal student and ends up pulling off a dangerous diplomatic mission to Wu with aplomb. Unfortunately, he still loses Jieting for the same reasons as in the novel.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Lü Meng. In the novel, he has Undying Loyalty to Sun Quan and carries out his assigned duties to the extent of his ability. Here, he openly ignores Sun Quan's orders in order to pursue his personal vendetta against Guan Yu and Shu (as he holds them responsible for the death of his mentor Zhou Yu).
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the novel, Lü Meng never had anything to do with Zhou Yu other than being part of the same army. Here, he's introduced as Zhou Yu's subordinate and mentee, to the point after Zhou's death he's so determined to make Shu pay he willfully ignores Sun Quan's instructions (such as ignoring orders to cease pursuit of Guan Yu).
  • Sima Zhao is Sima Yi's oldest son, with his brother Sima Shi making only sporadic appearances. In both the novel and his history, Shi was Yi's oldest son (and confidant), with Zhao considered too unreliable to be trusted.
• Affably Evil: If you consider Cao Cao evil, he's this. He laughs and executes people in the same breath, then tells them he'll provide for their families - and means it too. He also holds tea parties to discuss the state of the world with his main rivals, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao, in both cases soon before he curbstomps them in battle. He often comes across as a genial, yet huge Troll, with Lü Bu, Yuan Shao, Xu Shu, and even Sima Yi not exempt from his antics.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Cao Cao's death; that is, if you consider him evil. His dying episode is one of the most somber in the series; the Hero of Chaos, now a tired, ill old man on his last legs, laments how his work remains unfinished despite everything he did and everyone he lost or betrayed, and finally faces death calmly after appointing Cao Pi as his successor.
• Ambadassador: Zhuge Liang and Lu Su are the most prominent examples.
  • Although he's (at the time) young and inexperienced and representing a lord with no troops and a record of mostly losses, Zhuge Liang verbally destroys Southland ministers disparaging Liu Bei's cause and helps ensure the formation of the Sun-Liu coalition against Cao Cao.
  • While Lu Su doesn't retrieve Jingzhou by himself, each of his diplomatic visits gains a little more for Wu; he ends up forcing Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang to concede that they are only "borrowing" Jingzhou from Wu, and that they'll return it as soon as they have other lands.
  • Ma Su gets some glory as well for convincing Wu to stay out of Wei's five-pronged attempted invasion of Shu.
• Ambition Is Evil: Discussed by several characters, and Cao Cao plays it straight if you consider him evil. Ambition is considered to be an evil, but necessary ingredient or "spark" to leadership, changing the status quo and becoming a true "hero" of the realm. Lü Bu is considered to be a man of great power but little ambition, holding him back from greatness. Liu Bei is idealistic, but that idealism is, by the end, considered to be secondary to his ambition. In the end, Cao Cao's heirs lose their entire kingdom by underestimating Sima Yi's ambition.
  • In a subversion, Zhuge Liang tells Liu Bei a story about Hua Xin (one of Cao Cao's high-ranking officials) and how in his youth he and another student were studying when an imperial officer's carriage passed by. Hua was so inspired to ride in such a carriage he joined the imperial service, eventually rising to high position in Cao's administration (Zhuge mentioning the carriage he rides in is far more impressive than the one that inspired him so long ago). Meanwhile, his fellow student kept to his studies, and as far as Zhuge knows still lives in his little village doing nothing but studying. Liu Bei claims that clearly this other student was a better man, since Hua sold his dignity to work for a villain like Cao Cao. Zhuge disagrees and points out that even though Hua serves a villain, he still used his intelligence to improve the world, while the other student has done nothing worthwhile with his brains and his learning.
• Animal Motifs: The phoenix is Pang Tong's, the dragon Zhuge Liang's. Since the dragon is also the symbol of the Emperor, this becomes an issue later when Zhang Fei tries to cast aspersions on Zhuge Liang's loyalty to Liu Bei by claiming he has greater ambitions.
• Antagonist in Mourning: Zhuge Liang to Zhou Yu, even after indirectly causing his death. While this mourning is completely for show in most adaptations, in this case Zhuge Liang seems to actually mean it, referring to Zhou Yu afterward as a worthy adversary and "a kindred spirit".
  • Sima Yi mourns Zhuge Liang after his death, using Zhuge Liang's wooden statue as a stand-in for his actual body.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Incompetent, rather. Yuan Shao has an illustrious family name, but it and the armies it gets him can't save him from his own indecisiveness. For imperial relatives, Liu Biao dodders while his own wife and brother-in-law scheme against him, and Liu Zhang is too busy painting pretty women to handle ruling Yizhou properly.
  • In contrast, all three kindgoms' rulers — and Zhuge Liang — were men who rose from fairly low birth; in particular, although Sun Quan had the help of a brother who "founded" the kingdom and thereby set up a really good foundation, Sun Quan knew enough to recognize this advantage for what it was^note read: not having to do with his own merit and therefore to let his talented subordinates get on with things without his interference for the most part.
• Armor Is Useless: Even being in anachronistic full iron armor doesn't prevent soldiers from dying from armor-piercing arrows and blades.
• Arranged Marriage: This is a major subject of the Jingzhou arc, occurring between Liu Bei and Sun Quan's sister and used by Zhou Yu as a scheme to capture Jingzhou, kill Liu Bei, or both.
• Arrowgram: As in the novel, Cao Cao had archers shoot messages over the wall of Xiapi promising a reward for the capture of Lu Bu. In the show, this indirectly results in his men rebelling as a result of the punishment he administered, hearing them read the notes and suspecting they would betray him.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: This is the case for most of Liu Bei's generals, including his two sworn brothers. Zhuge Liang points out though that while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are good fighters, they both lack the humility and patience needed to be good leaders of men, which is why he favors Zhao Yun.
• Authority in Name Only: Even once he grows to adulthood, Emperor Xian is little more than a figurehead under the thumb of those who hold the real power at court, most notably Cao Cao.
• Bad Boss: Yuan Shao harshly punishes his advisor, Tian Feng, for giving unwanted advice. The first time he does it, Yuan Shao demotes him to a stableboy. The second time, Yuan Shao imprisons him and tells him that he'll execute him sooner or later. His habits come back to bite him in the ass when Xu You defects to Cao Cao after he's accused of committing a crime. Xu You tells Cao Cao the location of Yuan Shao's war supplies.
  • Zhang Fei has a bad habit of punishing his subordinates far too harshly for failing to carry out his orders, even if said orders are impractical. Zhuge Liang tries to get him to move past this. Ultimately it's for naught, and he winds up being killed by two of his own officers when he goes too far in his demands and punishments.
• Batman Gambit: Many times, following both the source material and actual history. Some examples include:
  • Wang Yun allows Lü Bu to meet Diaochan, trusting that he'll fall in love. He also introduces Diaochan to Dong Zhuo, knowing he won't be able to keep his hands off her. This is all in order to drive a wedge between the two men.
  • When he discovers the Imperial Seal, Sun Jian decides to take his forces and retreat to his seat of power in the Southlands. When he goes to explain his reason for withdrawing from the Anti-Dong Zhuo coalition (he claims illness), he strongly expects Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu won't just let him leave (especially if they catch wind of his discovery). Sure enough, the Yuans call in their guards, only for Sun call in his.
  • Sun Quan dispatches Zhuge Jin to recover the three counties of Jingzhou "loaned" to Liu Bei until he had his own territory, and has his entire family taken hostage to encourage him to succeed. It's implied he doesn't actually intend to carry out his threat, but calculates that the sight of the otherwise cool-headed Zhuge Jin tearfully and desperately begging Liu Bei to return the counties will cause Liu to agree (it doesn't hurt that Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei's chief advisor, is Zhuge Jin's younger brother). Notably, Zhuge Liang suspects this is the case, but understandably doesn't want to take the risk.
  • Cao Cao knows that Ma Chao is a hot-blooded, hot-tempered idiot, and so deliberately makes it seem as though Han Sui (a member of Ma Chao's coalition and old friend of Cao himself) is planning to defect. He writes a completely innocuous letter to Han before deliberately blotting the ink to make it look like someone tried to obscure the actual content, which Ma takes as proof of Han's duplicity.
  • Lü Meng's entire plan do retake Jing Province hinges on the fact that Guan Yu believes in his own hype so much that he likely won't believe reports that Wu is attacking due to fear of his prowess, even though he's planning an invasion of Wei's territory. Sure enough, Guan initially brushes off reports until he's informed that Jing Province has fallen.
  • When Guan Yu launches his Jing campaign, the high morale of his forces manages to drive Cao Ren back and into the city of Fancheng. While Xu Huang arrives with reinforcements, he's given direct orders by Cao Cao not to engage. Even when a desperate soldier manages to reach Xu's camp after breaking through the siege, Xu bitterly tells him he can't attack until he's allowed to do so, even as the soldier collapses to his knees and grasps Xu's robe. Cao Cao himself arrives and explains why he'd held Xu back: he knew that Sun Quan, who disliked Liu Bei and especially hated Guan Yu, wouldn't be willing to let Guan actually succeed in his campaign. As they spoke, Lü Meng was moving against Guan's bases in Jing Province, meaning it was now time to strike back.
• Battle of Wits: Zhuge Liang vs. Zhou Yu, from the moment they meet until Zhou Yu's death, which was itself caused by Zhuge Liang winning so many of these.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Averted, although Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong illustrate two ends of this trope. Both are intelligent and loyal to the death, but the former's an elegant white-robed sage and the latter has a face like a potato.
• Big Brother Mentor: Cao Cao is this to Cao Ren. Liu Bei tried to be this to Zhang Fei, always encouraging him to control his temper. It doesn't work- Zhang Fei's temper eventually gets him killed by his own men.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Cao Cao's kids scheme against each other constantly for the sake of being named Cao Cao's heir, to the point that Cao Pi has to murder his youngest brother to both obtain Sima Yi's assistance and thin out the competition. Cao Cao's own reaction to this is a good reminder that even the "hero of chaos" is only human when confronted with family.
  • Yuan Shao's children vying to be named Leader of the Vanguard before Guan Du. Xu You and Guo Tu lampshade they're actually vying to be named Yuan Shao's heir. Yuan Shao does not know what to do so he solves this by appointing himself.
  • Also Liu Biao's family with his scheming second wife, her brother Cai Mao, and his first son Liu Qi. Lady Cai and Cai Mao want Liu Qi dead so Liu Biao - an old man by this time - names her child as his successor.
• Boss Subtitles: Every important character gets them, every episode. It's practically a necessity, given the numerous characters present.
• Blood from the Mouth: This is the main indicator of illness, severe injury, poisoning, shock, and every other ailment that results in a character collapsing or dying shortly afterward.
• Bond One-Liner: When the newly enthroned Cao Pi orders Xu Chu to bring his brother Cao Zhi to him, Xu is confronted by Cao Zhi's guards. One of him calls him a brute compared to their master (Cao Zhi being a noted poet), daring him to put even a scratch on one of Cao Zhi's guards. In response, Xu Chu draws his sword and kills him with one swing, contemptuously retorting, "There. A scratch."
• Break the Haughty: Being from a long and illustrious noble family, Yuan Shao never viewed the lowborn Cao Cao as a credible threat until Cao Cao destroyed his army at the Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao in turn got a hot dose of this upon underestimating the Sun-Liu coalition and being soundly defeated at Chibi.
  • Wang Yun thought he could easily crush the remnant of Dong Zhuo's generals after having Dong Zhuo killed. It ended in his own death.
  • Guan Yu is painfully aware that the loss of Jingzhou is completely on him, and kills himself as his few remaining loyalists (including his son) are cut down around him. ^note  In the novel, he's actually taken alive and executed
  • Liu Bei's final loss at Yiling ended his growing arrogance after becoming emperor.
• The Cassandra: Xu You is shown giving Yuan Shao sound and correct advice on multiple occasions, only to be ignored each time, despite Yuan Shao admitting regret at not listening to his advice to receive Emperor Xian. He doesn't have the heart to leave Yuan Shao until being wrongly accused of embezzlement during Guandu, after which he finally defects to Cao Cao.
  • Poor Chen Gong. He warned Wang Yun that not pardoning Li Jue and Guo Si would make them desperate. Wang Yun didn't listen, Chang'an was lost, and Wang Yun ended up dead (and the Emperor a hostage again). Later he warned Lü Bu that he should attack Cao Cao before the rainy season began at Xia Pi. Lü Bu didn't listen, Xia Pi was lost, and Lü Bu ended up dead.
  • Ma Liang keeps warning Guan Yu that he's letting his ego get the better of him and that there's something very suspicious about how Wu Grand Commander Lü Meng falling ill and getting replaced by the much more inexperienced Lu Xun just before Guan launches a campaign against Cao Cao's territory that will leave their own holdings in Jingzhou undermanned. Guan assures him that Wu is too terrified of him to even think about invading. After everything comes to pass (Jingzhou falls, the Fancheng campaign fails, and Wu forces are in pursuit) during his retreat with the scattered remnants of his once mighty army, Guan Yu laments not listening, and wonders if Ma Liang is even alive.
• The Cavalry: Just as Liu Bei's ragtag band is trapped on the riverbank and preparing for a final stand against Cao Cao, Liu Qi's fleet sails down the river and carries them to safety at Jiangxia.
• Combat by Champion: Some battles begin with bouts between generals or other champions. Examples of this include Lü Bu vs Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei, Sun Ce vs Taishi Ci (incidentally one of the only duels that actually took place historically), and the memorable bout between Ma Chao and Xu Chu, where both combatants had to break off to switch horses in order to continue fighting.
• The Chessmaster:
  • Cao Cao, often. Wang Yun, with the plot against Dong Zhuo, although that ended up being his single stroke of brilliance, and his subsequent arrogance from that achievement proved his downfall.
  • More appropriately later, Zhuge Liang. Some of his battles are plotted out in such detail in advance that the show doesn't even give them screentime, because they happened Exactly As Planned.
  • Wu has Lu Xun, who first escaped the danger of having Sun Quan suspect him after Lü Meng's death ^note it is hinted Sun Quan poisoned Lü Meng by suggesting not to appoint another Grand Commander, as Sun Quan wished to be free from his Grand Commanders' control, and later acting insane by "prophesizing" Wu's defeat in the war against Shu knowing that Sun Quan would name him Grand Commander.
  • Sima Yi starts by sleeping during Cao Cao's speech after the Red Cliffs, knowing Cao Cao would imprison him so he could investigate Sima Yi's conduct. Later in the series, he successfully deceives every Cao ruler after Cao Pi's death, feigning illness before Cao Rui so that they wouldn't think of him as a threat, and showing how much Wei needs him after the Cao commanders turn ineffectual. He kills his maidservant/wife Jingshu on learning she's been spying on him and appears griefstricken and on the verge of death... only to ambush Cao Shuang with Emperor Cao Fang mere days after.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Poor Lü Bu, his CBD is so bad even other characters in-universe notice it. Cao Cao finally decides not to extend the chain and executes him.
  • Zhang Fei notes that Lü Bu brought terrible luck to all of his adoptive fathers, including Wang Yun (his father-in-law), to which Liu Bei (intending to receive Lü Bu as a guest) has to remonstrate, "I only want to be his friend, not his father!"
  • Liu Bei lampshades this after Lü Bu pleads to him to speak in his favor to Cao Cao: "Lü Bu has called three men his adopted fathers. The first was Ding Yuan. The second was Dong Zhuo. The third was Wang Yun. All of them have much to thank Lü Bu for. Today I dare, lord Cao Cao, to plead for you to be Lü Bu's fourth adopted father." Cao Cao laughs and pats Liu Bei's shoulder, then sends Lü Bu to die.^note Although in fairness to Lü Bu, he had nothing to do with Wang Yun's death. It was due to Wang Yun's own arrogance in making Li Jue and Guo Si desperate after the death of Dong Zhuo.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: As the series progresses, the armies of each of the Three Kingdoms end up uniformed in distinct colours: Wei troops use black and grey, Wu troops dress in maroon tunics with white plumes while their commanders are all in white, and Shu troops dress predominately in dark blue with bronze/gold armour.
• Combat by Champion: Used to raise the morale of the troops behind the winning champion. Generally a foregone conclusion if one of the champions involved is a big-name character.
• Composite Character: Some characters have this happen to them because of the Compressed Adaptation, such as Xun Yu and Sima Zhao. In the original novel, Guo Jia gives the "10 reasons Cao Cao is better than Yuan Shao speech", in the show it's Xun Yu. Sima Zhao also has this happen with his brother Sima Shi, in the novel Sima Shi fought alongside Zhao and Yi, but in the show, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao become one character during the Northern Campaigns. Interestingly, Sima Shi DOES appear, but it's only in the final episode.
• The Consigliere: Every ruler has a trusted military advisor who serves in this capacity. Zhuge Liang is Liu Bei's, Xun Yu was Cao Cao's until he began disagreeing with Cao Cao's authority, and Lu Su was Sun Quan's until his death.
• Darkest Hour: After Cao Cao conquers Jingzhou, Liu Bei is confined to Jiangxia with few forces and little land, and stuck between a southward-looking Cao Cao and Eastern Wu. Zhuge Liang, however, points out that "now that we are at our lowest point, we have nowhere to go but upward."
• David Versus Goliath: The leader of every faction has been 'Goliath' at least once, and lost accordingly.
  • Yuan Shao ended up as the first Goliath when his much larger army was annihilated by Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Guandu.
  • Cao Cao got cast as Goliath himself at the Battle of Chibi, when his much larger fleet was decimated by the tiny Sun-Liu coalition and a lot of fire.
  • Sun Quan was next, having his army of ten thousands soundly routed at the Battle of Hefei by Zhang Liao's tiny squad of a few hundred defenders.
  • Finally, Liu Bei's vengeful crusade against Wu with hundreds of thousands of soldiers was ended by a 'mere bookworm', Lu Xun, at the Battle of Yiling.
• Decomposite Character: Happens to Sima Yi's wife, Zhang Chunhua with an exclusive character to this show, Jingshu. In history, Sima Yi starts his coup under the guise of mourning his wife's death, in the show it's Jingshu's. Sima Yi's wife does seem to be a thing, but she is not seen onscreen, and we know this because before Cao Pi introduces Jingshu to Sima Yi, he already has two sons.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • Yuan Shao, after realising that his gigantic army has been basically annihilated with only a few hundred horsemen accompanying him. He's almost Driven to Suicide, but he's talked down. He's later mentioned as having passed away after a second attempt at an attack fails too.
  • Liu Bei nearly crosses this twice in quick succession. First, after losing battle after battle against Cao Cao and being confined to a small town in Jingzhou, and upon finding that Cai Mao was approaching to kill him, he merely sighs and asks, "must I keep running?" Luckily, Liu Qi convinces him to escape, and he acquires Xu Shu's aid soon thereafter. However, he would have nearly crossed this again when Xu Shu is forced to leave due to Cao Cao threatening his mother, but for Xu Shu telling him at the last moment that a certain Master Sleeping Dragon lived nearby.
  • Zhuge Liang, after six northern campaigns, finally succumbs to despair after a sudden rainstorm destroys the fire trap he had just barely forced Sima Yi into.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Guan Yu. Rather than being captured and executed by Wu, here, on being surrounded by Wu troops, he chooses to cut his own throat with his sword.
  • Lü Meng is also subject to this trope. Rather than a supernatural event causing his death, he instead dies of a sudden, unexplained illness after a feast. It's heavily implied that Sun Quan had him killed as punishment for disobeying his orders to spare Guan Yu's life.
• Disease Bleach: On learning of the loss of Jingzhou, being forced to retreat from Fancheng, and the pain of his wound continuing to weaken him, Guan Yu's hair and beard turn white, seemingly overnight.
  • Similarly, Zhuge Liang goes from having streaks of grey in his hair and beard to walking around bent over and with pure white hair between scenes.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Zhou Yu to Sun Quan. The former hates Zhuge Liang with every fiber of his being, is willing to go to war with Liu Bei over the slightest provocation (and likely get both Sun and Liu factions wiped out by Cao Cao), and controls the majority of the Southland's soldiers, so Sun Quan only controls them through Zhou Yu, so Sun Quan ends up having to ensure Zhou Yu's obedience through extremely delicate maneuvering.
  • But it turns out Zhou Yu was mostly doing it for the good of the Southland, at least in his own somewhat-biased way... nevertheless, upon the death of Zhou Yu's protege Lü Meng and Lu Xun's subsequent suggestion to not appoint another Grand Commander, Sun Quan admits to his civil advisor Zhang Zhao that he's relieved at finally being free of his Grand Commanders' control after almost twenty years of them^note In between Zhou Yu and Lü Meng was the brief tenure of Lu Su, although Sun Quan got along with him.
  • Lü Meng deserves a special mention, as despite orders not to pursue Guan Yu, he ended up cornering him and having Guan Yu commit suicide. It is hinted in his death scene that the "illness" he succumbed to was due to "the will of Heaven". Thankfully, Lu Xun takes the hint and advises Sun Quan not to appoint another Grand Commander, at least for the time being.^note Lu Xun ends up as Grand Commander anyway, after the first battles in Shu's invasion are lost.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Sima Yi seems to hold genuine affection for his maidservant, Jingshu, and when the two eventually marry, he appears to be nothing but sincere in his love for her. It's not enough to stop him murdering her and their unborn child - in such a way to appear she dies in childbirth - when he learns his enemies have had her spying on him. Ultimately the trope is played with as he's seen to continue mourning her even years after her death.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The gatekeeper who turned in his cousin as one of Ma Teng's conspirators, thereby saving Cao Cao from Ma Teng's revolt, did so because he was having an affair with his cousin's concubine. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao immediately orders the gatekeeper's execution, stating that given how many wives and concubines he had, there was no way he could trust someone willing to betray his own family for a woman.
• Evil Chancellor: Dong Zhuo executes ministers at the slightest suspicion, rapes imperial concubines at will, and enforces his self-appointed rule as Chancellor with a Xiliang army apparently just as bad as he is.
  • Most of Cao Cao's rivals consider him to be this, although aside from murdering the Imperial Consort^note in retaliation for her perceived role in an assassination attempt on his life and treating the Emperor like a pawn, his rule as Chancellor was actually fairly beneficial to the realm.
• Evil Laugh: Sima Yi is prone to an incredibly creepy, wheezing laughter.
• Fake Defector: Huang Gai used this ploy to get Cao Cao to let down his guard before the Battle of Chibi, as per the novel.
• Family Extermination: Dong Zhuo frequently orders the wholesale slaughter of the families of disloyal retainers (or those simply more loyal to the Han than to him), including women and children.
• The Farmer and the Viper: With Lü Bu as the viper and his string of masters culminating in Liu Bei as the farmers. Interestingly enough, Liu Bei gets accused of this by quite a few people as well in the years after.
• Fatal Flaw: In the blink-and-you'll-miss-it sense, but Zhuge Liang was not much of a people person when he was younger. Where Xu Shu would patiently explain his actions to skeptics, and Pang Tong would go drinking with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to cement his position as "one of the bros", Zhuge Liang preferred to use his intelligence to wow critics into submission. Unfortunately, this made people more resentful and suspicious of him in the long run, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei never fully trusting him and eventually infecting Liu Bei with this mentality, leading to disaster after Liu Bei refused to listen to Zhuge Liang and marched on Wu.
  • Zhang Fei's belligerent nature is there from the very start, when he threatens people or claims to be willing to beat people he doesn't like up. Even when this causes disaster (for example, Liu Bei loses Xu to Lü Bu because Zhang Fei brutally beat a man who declined to drink with him, the man informing Lü that Xu is undermanned), Zhang refuses to change, despite repeatedly claiming he's learned his lesson. This comes to a head when two of his officers protest they need time to complete his orders to outfit the entire army with white cloth (symbolising mourning over Guan Yu's death), and his response is to have them whipped before threatening to kill them. As a result, they murder him in his sleep.
  • Guan Yu's is his arrogance, which slowly but surely grows over the course of the show. It becomes especially notable during the Fancheng campaign wherein he dismisses warnings and negative reports and commits several crucial blunders that ultimately end in the loss of Jingzhou and his death, as well as the death of his son.
• Frontline General: Many characters, naturally.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: Lü Bu. Everyone fears him as an undefeatable warrior in melee combat, yet he doesn't seem to have any ambitions or motivations aside from his love for Diaochan, and his would-be conquering is mainly thanks to Chen Gong's direction; Lü Bu's actor Peter Ho confirmed in an interview that this was the director's intent.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: When Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei were arguing who would attack Guiyang, Zhuge Liang suggested that they draw slips to choose. The impulsive Zhang Fei grabbed his slip first to find that it said "stay", so Zhuge Liang promptly declared Zhao Yun the winner... even though Zhao Yun's slip also said "stay." When Zhao Yun privately voiced his concern of favoritism despite being the beneficiary, Zhuge Liang pointed out that the trick only simply revealed Zhang Fei as too impulsive and brash for the task in the first place.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Liu Bei's morals prevent him from conquering Xichuan from its inept ruler, Liu Zhang. Pang Tong solves this problem by provoking Liu Zhang into setting an ambush and knowingly walking into it, so Liu Bei could use his death as an excuse to attack. Also doubles as one heck of a Tear Jerker
• Historical Relationship Overhaul:
  • During Guan Yu's failed Fancheng Campaign, he dispatches messengers to get support from Meng Da and Liu Feng, only for the messengers to return and state that they were actively chased out. Guan's advisors express disgust at this, noting that this was especially vile as Meng and Liu are members of Liu Bei's family and so ought to view Guan as family. Historically, while Liu Feng was indeed Liu Bei's adopted son ^note  he was adopted by Liu partially as part of an alliance with a powerful local family, and Liu at the time had no son of his own , Meng Da had no such relationship with the family at all. ^note  In addition, it wasn't so much they didn't want to send help as it was they couldn't, as Guan's failure had left their own territory vulnerable and they were bracing for an attack themselves.
  • Lu Meng is introduced as having an obsession with fulfilling the deceased Zhou Yu's desire to unify the Southlands under Sun Quan's rule, even being willing to ignore Sun's actual commands and desires. After he successfully kills Guan Yu (and deliberately avoided Sun's messengers who were trying to pass on orders that under no circumstances was Guan meant to be harmed), his next appearance is as a corpse with the implication Sun had him killed for his disobedience (Sun claims it was "illness") and Sun even expresses happiness at Lu's death. Historically, Lu was much closer to Sun Ce, Quan's older brother and predecessor, who gave him his big break. In addition, Lu was such a loyal and dependable subordinate that when Lu fell ill with what would eventually be his final illness, Sun did everything he could to try to cure him (to the point that when Lu seemed to be recovering, Sun would be so pleased he'd hold a feast to celebrate).
  • Sima Yi is portrayed as an advisor to Cao Cao, providing ideas and advice. Historically, Sima was one of Cao's protégés and adjutants (partially because Cao himself had been mentored by Sima's father Sima Fang), rather than an advisor.
  • In one of the most jarring and pointless examples of this, Sima Yi's son Sima Zhao is portrayed as his older son in place of his elder brother Sima Shi (who is Demoted to Extra). The reason this is so strange is because historically Sima Shi is the one who ensured the Sima clan maintained their importance following Yi's death, and Zhao only stepped into the role because Shi died fairly young. It's possible that this is because Zhao in the series acts as The Watson for Sima Yi, but even historically that role was taken up by Shi (with Zhao apparently considered so unreliable they didn't even inform him of the coup they were planning to launch until the actual day).
• Honor Before Reason: Most of Liu Bei's problems are caused by his being unable to overcome personal honor for a greater goal, whether by refusing to wrong his "relatives" by conquering their lands, refusing to abandon peasants while fleeing from a larger force, or refusing to accept Wu's peace terms without fully avenging his brothers.
• Hope Spot: After five Northern Expeditions, Zhuge Liang has finally trapped Sima Yi in an inescapable firestorm and eliminated his last barrier to reconquering the Central Plains... and then it rains. Notably, this is portrayed from both sides, with the scene from the Sima side essentially treating the rain like a case of Big Damn Heroes.
• Idealist vs. Pragmatist: As the series progresses, the formerly close relationship between Cao Cao and his advisor Xun Yu falls apart due to Cao adopting more Pragmatist stances (believing that consolidating power in his hands allows him to end the war and bring peace sooner) and Xun opposes him from an Idealist standpoint (believing that Cao concentrating so much power in himself makes him no better than the reviled Dong Zhuo). Xun later takes his own life when he believes he's lost Cao's friendship (and protection) for good, while Cao rails at him during his funeral for no longer trusting in his good intentions like he did when they were younger.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Liu Bei views his son, Liu Shan, as this, describing the kid as 'mediocre' and clearly not having high hopes for him as a future ruler. When Liu Shan inherits the throne after Liu Bei's death, he indeed starts out weak-willed, unsure and even painfully naïve, and it's up to Zhuge Liang to do the bulk of the heavy lifting of ruling Shu.
  • However, this trope is eventually downplayed as Liu Shan also has moments of being a Reasonable Authority Figure ^note He's always willing to listen to his advisors along with Zhuge Liang, even when the latter is accused of harbouring treasonous ambitions and even shows signs of being The Good King ^note  at one point he has genuine difficulty understanding why the Three Kingdoms - large, powerful and prosperous states by any reasonable stretch of the imagination - cannot simply co-exist in peace. In his last appearances, he conducts himself with more maturity and authority than he had previously, demonstrating his own Character Development. ^note  Historically, while Liu Shan was regarded for the longest time as Liu Bei's Inadequate Inheritor, modern historians have taken a kinder view, noting how his reign was one of the longest and most stable of the Three Kingdoms era, with his court largely free of the bloody political infighting that marked the other two states.
• Info Drop: It would take far too long to show how Lu Su came to be so trusted by Sun Quan that he's considered the third most important person in Wu; let's just have Zhuge Liang tell Liu Bei all about it. We can assume he got the info by gossiping with Zhuge Jin.
• Join or Die: The Sun-Liu alliance began and continued out of a mutual fear of invasion by Cao Cao.
• Kangaroo Court: In the imperial hierarchal sense, not the judicial sense; while Emperor Xian nominally has final say over all issues raised at court, Cao Cao's power as the Chancellor lets him "strongly discourage" any decisions not advantageous to himself.
• Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: Liu Bei to Lü Meng, over Lü Meng's participation in an assssination plot against Liu Bei due to outrage at Liu Bei's land grab. Subverted, since Lü Meng actually does take a swing at him, but thank goodness for Zhao Yun's kung fu skills!
• Kingmaker Scenario: To protect its own survival, Wu sides with whichever of the other two kingdoms is weaker at the moment.
• Laughably Evil: Dong Zhuo might be the most clearly villainous character in the series, but that doesn't mean he's good at it; all of his military plans fail dramatically, forcing him to abandon the capital, and he only succeeds for as long as he does because everyone's afraid of Lü Bu, while the coalition against him has enough trouble keeping its own members off each others' throats.
  • In asking Wang Yun for Diaochan's hand, even Lü Bu outright admits that he's only with Dong Zhuo for political expediency, and for the sake of Diaochan's hand he'll consider Wang Yun his real adoptive father. (Unfortunately for him after his capture at Xiapi, Liu Bei implicitly points out to Cao Cao how temporary Lü Bu's loyalties were by naming both Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, and Ding Yuan before them, culminating in Liu Bei sarcastically asking Cao Cao to be the fourth adoptive father.)
• Long Runner: At 95 45-minute episodes, and originally speculated to be 120 episodes given how many scenes and story events were still left out, this series is the longest show adaptation of RoTK to date.
• Mama Bear: Lady Wu is not letting her 17-year-old daughter be married to a man three times her age without a damn good explanation.
• Manchild: Zhang Fei at times comes across as this, with his boisterousness, wild emotions and fierce temper sometimes more suited to a big kid than a fully-grown man. It ends up being his Fatal Flaw as, after Guan Yu's death, he's so deep in grief that he begins to act ever-more erratically and sincerely doesn't seem to understand that he can't beat his officers half to death, then expect them to laugh it off with him over drinks. It winds up costing him his life.
• Meaningful Echo: Compare Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me" to Liu Bei's "Let the people flee me when the battle starts, but I'll never forsake the people."
• Never My Fault: Among his other gifts, Cao Cao demonstrates a staggering talent for refusing to take the blame for his acts of villainy, starting with his murder of Lü Boshe, which he spins as not being murder at all, but a tragic death resulting from the chaos engulfing the realm. He dips into it again when standing before Xun Yu and Guan Yu's graves, but this time it comes across as more of a psychological coping mechanism.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success:
  • Yuan Shao is head of the Yuan family, controlling the entire northern part of the Han Empire. As a result, he can't accept the idea that Cao Cao, his childhood u and formerly his de facto subordinate, is now giving him orders in the Emperor's name. His advisor Xu You notes that he'd warned Yuan that not taking the Emperor into his care would result in someone else doing so, and Yuan is forced to concede the point. Simply having the Emperor in his power propels Cao Cao from "merely" one of many warlords into one of the top contenders.
  • Yuan Shu is also part of the Yuan family and refuses to even consider that the likes of Cao Cao (at best a minor noble) or Liu Bei (a penniless peasant claiming to be related to the Imperial line) can possibly be any threat to someone of such superior breeding as him. As such, he's outraged that Cao somehow managed to become Prime Minister, putting him well above Yuan himself.
  • Throughout the series, Cao Cao himself scoffs at this attitude whenever it's brought up that an opponent is from a famed or wealthy family, as he correctly points out that it doesn't matter how great the family is if the opponent he's actually facing is trash. He likewise notes that even if an enemy is a comparative unknown, that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Zhuge Liang lays out a complex plan to lure Cao Cao's troops into a firetrap in Xinye. The next mention of the battle shows Cao Ren, looking sooty and depressed, getting chewed out by Cao Cao for losing so badly.
  • Were you looking forward to Zhuge Liang's seven defeats of Meng Huo? "Now that you've defeated the Nanman and pacified the south, Prime Minister..."
  • Were you looking forward to Dian Wei's Heroic Sacrifice for Cao Cao? You'll have to settle for a conversation between Xun Yu and Xu Chu about Cao Cao's fondness for other men's wives costing the life of Dian Wei. This happens when discussing Cao Cao's intent to keep Diaochan.
• Off with His Head!: Preferred method of execution; throwing a head into the hall is a nice dramatic way of showing the death of an enemy general.
• Old Retainer: Zhang Zhao, who spends all of his entire 20+ years in-series looking 70.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted due to linguistics. Most names in this series are two-syllable, there are only so many syllables in Chinese, and there are even fewer allowed in names or style names. Good luck remembering all of the Lius (not all of whom are related to the Imperial family) or distinguishing between the style names Wenchang, Wenyuan, Youchang, and Yunchang (Wei Yan, Zhang Liao, Ma Su and Guan Yu respectively).
• Parental Favoritism: Cao Cao to... pretty much every son that isn't Cao Pi, at least until Cao Pi starts trying to prove both his abilities as a schemer and his loyalty to Cao Cao.
• Passing the Torch: Knowing he has little time remaining after his collapse at Shangfang Valley, Zhuge Liang passes on to Jiang Wei both his books of military strategy and his vision of restoring the Han.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Happens very frequently to people who are threatened with execution, and often times their associates would beg their superiors to spare their lives.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Zhang Fei wobbles between being this and a drunken lout when off the battlefield, and often does both in rapid succession around Zhuge Liang.
  • This is best shown soon after Liu Bei ascends the throne, with Zhang Fei visiting him at night and railing against Zhuge Liang's strong advice against going to war with Wu.
  • Xu Chu for Wei. Even when Cao Cao is angry at him for killing his old friend Xu You, for making disparaging remarks about Cao Cao while drunk. Cao Cao screams "Unacceptable!", and Xu Chu simply answers "Just replace his head with mine!" without batting an eye.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Just as in history and in the Romance, Sima Yi is the ultimate victor of the series, ending with his family effectively in control of the state of Wei and all those who could stand against him - notably Zhuge Liang - either dead or powerless. However, he's forced to murder his concubine Jingshu (and while she was pregnant with his child, no less) despite his apparent genuine love for her. The death of Zhuge Liang leaves him without a Worthy Opponent to measure himself against and he admits, in private, that he now feels truly lonely. His advanced age means that he dies not long after his usurpation, and his last scene shows how in old age even his remarkable intellect has left him, as he's so deep into senile dementia that he can barely follow a conversation.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Tian Feng is one of many characters demoted to menial positions for getting on the boss' bad side.
• Refusal of the Call: Xu Shu notes that Zhuge Liang has done this consistently even as all of his friends went off to serve different lords, but hopes that Liu Bei will be the one to end it. He's right.
• Regent for Life: Although officially Chancellor, Cao Cao successfully becomes this to Emperor Xian.
• Request for Privacy: On several occasions a character meaningfully glances at other people present when addressing someone. Depending on who is involved, one of three things may happen: a) the other characters may take the hint and excuse themselves ^note An example can be seen when a subordinate of Liu Bei urgently interrupts a conversation between Zhuge Liang (Liu's chancellor) and his brother Zhuge Jin (who serves Liu's rival warlord Sun Quan and is visiting as an emissary). The subordinate meaningfully glances at Zhuge Jin, who politely excuses himself and walks a short distance away so the subordinate can deliver his report without being overheard. , b) the person being addressed assures the speaker they can be trusted ^note  When a messenger arrives with a message for Cao Cao, his advisor Xun Yu moves to excuse himself. Cao tells him to stay and commands the messenger to deliver his message. or c) the addressee orders the others to leave ^note  When a group of conspirators meet up to discuss an assassination attempt against Cao Cao, they dismiss their servants to speak privately.
• Revenge Before Reason: While Liu Bei was still mostly reasonable after Guan Yu's death from Wu's conquest of Jingzhou, Zhang Fei's death finally pushes him completely over the edge. He tries to execute an official who warns him against the invasion, discards the advice of Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang (who he had formerly trusted greatly), and even rejects a plea for peace from Wu which would have returned Jingzhou and his wife to him.
• Royal Blood: Liu Bei is a distant descendant of the imperial line and takes it, and the duty it imposes on him, very seriously.
• Rule of Three: The three Peach Garden Oath brothers and the three kingdoms themselves.
• Sacred Hospitality: Averted. Banquets are a great place for ambushing or poisoning someone unawares.
• Say My Name: Sima Yi roars Cao Cao's name when he thought that Cao Cao had died from head pain after charging Sima Yi with the upkeep of his legacy. Cao Cao got better.
• Scenery Porn: Zhuge Liang's cottage in Longzhong, built over a still pool running over a waterfall and surrounded by lush greenery.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Cao Zhi is the educated and cultured scholar, and Cao Zhang the muscleheaded and brash warrior. Cao Pi falls squarely between them and has a bit of an inferiority complex about it; in history, he was as cultured a poet and scholar as Cao Zhi.
• Significant Name Shift:
  • Sometimes it's used to show how someone has undergone Rank Up, like Cao Cao originally being addressed as "Master" or "Lord" by his subordinates, but by the end of his life is addressed as "Your Highness" as Prince of Wei.
  • Sometimes used to show contempt, as seen when several characters throughout the show's run address or refer to Cao Cao as "Cao Ah-Man", using his childhood name as an insult. Xu You, an old friend of Cao Cao, makes the mistake of publicly addressing him by the name (a huge faux pa in that culture) after helping him defeat Yuan Shao. Xu Chu, one of Cao's generals, winds up killing him in a fit of rage for the disrespect.
  • Is sometimes inverted to show which relationship is stronger. Zhuge Liang and his older brother Zhuge Jin serve different lords. During their final meeting, Zhuge Liang is now the Chancellor of the state of Shu while Zhuge Jin has a comparatively low rank as a diplomat. Despite this, they still address each other as "Eldest Brother" and "Second Brother" respectively. They even do this in the presence of their lords during informal chats, but during formal events or discussing official business properly use their titles (e.g. "Chancellor Zhuge"). ^note  Historically Zhuge Jin and Liang both took pains to never meet in private due to fears people would accuse one or the other of plotting with his brother.
  • Cao Zhi pulls this after his older brother Cao Pi becomes Emperor of Wei. Xu Chu is sent to bring him to court (he refused to attend when summoned by Pi), but when Xu addresses him as "Young Master" Zhi sneers that his proper title ought to be "Your Imperial Highness" and refuses to go along until Xu addresses him in that way. Pi orders his execution almost as soon as he arrives, though he's eventually talked down.
• Smart People Play Chess: Go, or Weiqi, seems to be Zhuge Liang's game of choice; he's seen playing it with both Liu Bei and Ma Su, but the only time Ma Su ever beats him is when he's distracted.
• The Starscream: Sima Yi to the Wei emperors after Cao Pi, although by overthrowing them he's effectively made himself Cao Cao's spiritual successor.
  • At least a few characters insinuate to Liu Bei (and then Liu Shan) that Zhuge Liang might be this. He's not.
• Tempting Fate: Watching on as Sima Yi seems about to succumb to a well-placed fire trap in Shangfang Valley, Zhuge Liang comments, "even Heaven can't save him now." Cue sudden rainstorm.
• The Stoic: Liu Bei in the first third of the series, to such an extent that the Chinese fandom took to calling him "Mister Facial Paralysis." Granted, he had good reason for concealing his emotions and ambitions around both Yuan Shao's coalition and Cao Cao, and he got much better after meeting Xu Shu and then Zhuge Liang.
  • Lu Xun after he's named Grand Commander, and has to deal with his own generals who resent his repeated orders to retreat. He maintains the same expression even when executing Fu Jun for continually disobeying orders and jeopardizing his strategies, despite the generals' cautions that he is Sun Quan's brother-in-law. He snaps out of it with an emotional reaction after Sun Quan publicly signals his support by burning every written protest against him in front of him.
  • Sima Yi as well, in a way that makes him unnerving and appear endlessly calculating and legitimately sociopathic.
• Took a Level in Badass: Despite being 'absolutely terrible at swordsmanship' in his father's own words, Cao Pi manages to hold his own alongside his more martial brother, Cao Zhang, while defending Cao Cao from rebels at Wufeng Tower. This (as a clear show of loyalty to boot) impresses Cao Cao enough to decide to make Cao Pi his heir.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • Practically everyone who ends up joining Liu Bei, including nameless peasants. Liu Bei was so respected in Xu province that the commoners, when given money and food to flee for their lives from Cao Cao's invading army, instead chose to follow Liu Bei's forces in their retreat.
  • Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to each other. While this is usually heartwarming, it also leads to Liu Bei's ill-fated crusade against Wu for being responsible for his brothers' deaths.
    • When Lu Su calls out Guan Yu for releasing Cao Cao at Huarong Road, Zhuge Liang is obligated to order Guan Yu's execution — however, Liu Bei then vows that he must die alongside his brother, at which point both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei offer their lives in trying to talk Liu Bei out of it. Lu Su privately admits to seeing this scene as being all an act — at least on Liu Bei's part, if not his brothers' — but having gone along with it anyway.
  • During Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's near-coup in Jingzhou in Liu Bei's absence, Zhuge Liang states his willingness to die if it would prove his loyalty to his lord. This is averted by Liu Bei's timely return, but later fulfilled anyway as Zhuge Liang devotes the rest of his life to carrying out Liu Bei's last wishes of reviving the Han.
• Verbal Tic: Dong Zhuo constantly says "Hao, hao," or "Good, good," when he's excited.
  • Cao Cao: "Heh heh heh.", and "Huh?" mid sentence.
• Viewers Are Geniuses: Parts of the story aren't given nearly as much detail as they are in the novel, as their imagery is supposed to be so iconic for Chinese audiences that they're expected to be aware of what's referenced.
• Villainous Breakdown: Cao Cao is so incensed by Liu Bei's 'easy' occupation of Xuzhou — a direct result of all the blood and effort expended by Cao Cao's own attempts to conquer it — that Cao Cao briefly goes into a rage coma^note Liu Bei's forces broke through Cao Cao's siege from the outside without taking much damage, then he received the inheritance of governor Tao Qian's post upon the latter's death.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to Xu Chu, Cheng Yu, and the rest of Cao Cao's surviving old guard after his death? Pretty much the only familiar face in Wei during Cao Pi's reign was Sima Yi.
  • Yuan Shu's main advisor was a white-bearded sage who, despite his distinctive character design, is never named or mentioned again after Yuan Shu's ignominious death.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Sun Quan and Cao Chong, although the latter isn't quite wise enough to hide his cleverness in front of his ruthless eldest brother...
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Zhou Yu towards Zhuge Liang, though it's often obscured by Zhou Yu's jealousy. Zhuge Liang later reveals to Pang Tong that he reciprocated this and considered Zhou Yu to be a kindred spirit.
  • Cao Cao to Liu Bei. While the two were still on the same side in Yuan Shao's coalition, Cao Cao had already realized that Liu Bei was no ordinary man, and tried to sway Liu Bei's loyalty from the Han to him. After his failure, he came to regard Liu Bei as this.
  • In the end, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi held this towards one another — in their final encounter, Sima Yi resolved himself to death with such composure that Zhuge Liang (out of earshot of Sima Yi) called him admirable, heroic and honorable. After Zhuge Liang's death, Sima Yi ordered his son Sima Zhao to retrieve Zhuge Liang's wooden statue and privately mourned him, stating that they were "a match not made in a thousand years".
• You Have Failed Me / You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Lü Meng suddenly 'falls ill' after a feast, and dies soon after. It's heavily implied that Sun Quan had him removed due to the headstrong general ignoring and disobeying his orders not to pursue or slay Guan Yu.

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