Zhang Fei bursts onto the scene in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms after he hears Liu Bei breathing a sign, and immediately challenges him. “You’re not out there serving your country, so what are you sighing for?”. Zhang Fei certainly makes an impression: the novel describes his panther-head, round eyes, swallow-chin, tiger-beard, a thunderous voice and the force of a galloping horse. In the novel, Zhang Fei has a reputation for harshness among the rank and file, meting out draconian punishments. He is also a heavy drinker, which sometimes affects his judgement. Yet his martial valour and fighting prowess are never in doubt. One iconic scene from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms sees Zhangfei covering Liu Bei’s retreat by standing on the banks of a river and challenging the entirety of Cao Cao’s army to face him in battle. Cao Cao’s troops are suitably cowed and Liu Bei’s armies are able to get away.

Guan Yu would become one of Liu Bei’s generals, both in the novel and in real life. Celebrated for his military nous, Guan Yu passed into popular religion as a god of war. In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he is spotted by Liu Bei pushing a cart along the road, before entering the tavern where Liu Bei and Zhang Fei sit and demanding a drink, as he’s off to join the army. Physically imposing, with a long beard, he is also described in the novel as having distinctly reddish colouring, with skin the colour of a dark date, red lips, and eyes like a red phoenix. This may account for the fact that he is often depicted with a bright red face in statues and opera.  Guan Yu is often shown wielding a two-handed pole weapon known as a guan dao (關刀) that he is said to have invented, but this may well be an anachronism. Whatever the truth, Guan Yu’s guan dao had the distinctly cool name of Green Dragon Crescent Blade (青龍偃月刀).