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Romance of the Three Kingdoms (novel): Difference between revisions
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (novel) (view source)
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** Zhurong is the only female character to actually fight. She manages to capture a couple of Shu generals, then gets captured herself several times, but compared to the other female characters (who sometimes regard ''themselves'' as [[Disposable Woman|disposable]]) she does pretty well.
*** Lady Wang, Zhao Ang's wife, also fought, both historically (in fact, she was the only woman to actually historically be recorded as fighting in that period, when she took up arms and attempted to murder Ma Chao after he slaughtered her husband) and in the novel, though that part's far less prominent.
* [[Exclusively Evil]]: When you find an eunuch, they're never going to be portrayed as decent. Case in points: Huang Hao (the one who brought downfall to Shu by influencing the already [[Suck Sessor]] Liu Shan) or Cen Hun (stated to be the 'Huang Hao' for Wu's last emperor Sun Hao, although this is novel-exclusive).▼
* [[An Aesop]]: The first part of ''Romance'' that any Chinese-language elementary student will learn in school is the "Seven Steps Poem", a story about Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi and his more popular son Cao Zhi. It's often presented as an [[Anvilicious]] fable about sibling rivalry.
* [[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.
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* [[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. {{spoiler|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.
** He's even in the Celestial
* [[Ass in Ambassador]]: Mi Heng manages to take this to the next level. {{spoiler|Until he crosses the line and gets executed.}}
* [[Automatic Crossbows]]: Zhuge Liang is credited in-novel with inventing these.
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* [[Cliff Hanger]]: Every single chapter ending, which fits with the oral tradition similarly to [[Arabian Nights]] (so that the storyteller could keep the audience hooked and coming back for more).
* [[Combat by Champion]]
* [[Cool Horse]]: Red Hare, said to be faster and stronger than the horses of its day (the Chinese term is "thousand-''li'' horse"). [[Mobile Suit Gundam|May or may not go three times as fast as a regular horse.]] Either way, though, it's a stallion whose body and hair are ''entirely'' [[Law of Chromatic Superiority|"glowing-sun red."]] The steed of
* [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]] : Woe betide any soldier not identified by name.
* [[Cycle of Revenge]]: {{spoiler|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 that caused Guan Yu's death. 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? {{spoiler|The Jin Dynasty, founded by the descendants of Sima Yi - Cao Cao's [[Treacherous Advisor|strategist]].)}}
* [[Death by Despair]]: Zhuge Liang managed to
**
* [[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.
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* [[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.
* [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas]]: Dong Zhuo.
▲* [[Exclusively Evil]]: When you find an eunuch, they're never going to be portrayed as decent. Case in points: Huang Hao (the one who brought downfall to Shu by influencing the already [[Suck Sessor]] Liu Shan) or Cen Hun (stated to be the 'Huang Hao' for Wu's last emperor Sun Hao, although this is novel-exclusive).
* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: Xiahou Dun gets hit in the eye with an arrow - and ''eats it''.
* [[Eye Scream]]: (Xiahou Dun: see the above.)
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* [[Gambit Pileup]]: With that many factions opposing each other, this is unavoidable.
* [[Genghis Gambit]]: How Yuan Shao took Han Fu's territory.
* [[Gentle Giant]]: Xu
* [[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.
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** It should be noted that it was [[Values Dissonance|against the filial piety values of the time to cut one's hair.]] So any haircut could be viewed as exceptional.
* [[Incendiary Exponent]]: Most famously, the Fire Ship attack at the battle of Chi Bi. Legendary and effective.
** Fire attacks were a beloved strategy of Wu in general.
* [[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 {{spoiler|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.
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** There is also the case of Du Yu, a Jin general near the end of the book, which leads to many a poor joke. Of course, no list is complete without mentioning the most unfortunate one of all, a very obscure man who served Gongsun Zan: Wang Men.
* [[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.
* [[Villainous Glutton]]: Dong Zhuo.
* [[You Rebel Scum]] : Everyone calls everyone else this. It makes sense in an odd way. If you claim to be rightful emperor by extension you claim opponents are rebels.
* [[Warrior Poet]]: Cao Cao and his sons were renowned poets, and founded one of the major styles of poetry of the time.
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