The Ravages of Time (火凤燎原 lit. The Fiery Phoenix Razes the Steppes) is an epic Hong Kong manhua series created by Chan Mou. It's a retelling of the events leading from the late Han Dynasty to probably the foundation of the Jin dynasty, wht the Three Kingdom period in-between, as well as an adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It is the year 190 AD., China. The Han dynasty is in turmoil. After decades of mismanagement from the government whose emperor had become a mere pupper to the "Ten Attendants" (eunuchs who governed in the Han Emperor's stead), the population had revolted and so ensued the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" which was squashed by different warlords/vassal of Imperial Han. The eunuchs are deposed and exterminated. Then worse, the old emperor dies and the warlord Dong Zhuo seizes power by installing the young heir (like what a six year old boy?) as a puppet and trying to control things. However, the court manages to write and send a formal call to arms to all the warlords of China who will unite to punish the malevolent disloyal Dong Zhuo, at least in theory. Ensues a lot of battles, bloodshed, politicking, plans and gambits both small and large, as well as the rise of falls of heroes and scoundrels alike.
The story is centered around two people. The first is Sima Yi, future founder of the Jin imperial dynasty but right now just the very clever heir of the Sima merchant clan. The second is Liaoyuan Huo, Sima Yi's best assassin, a young boy who just can't feel pain and who is destined to become one of the most famous generals of his time. The two will try to survive, thrive and find their true calling in this tumultuous era.
Sima Clan & Handicapped Warriors
The Sima clan are a wealthy merchant clan mostly based in Henei, central northern China. Their leader is Sima Yi, a lazy bum but also a true genius who can analyze and anticipate what will happen in China. He mostly uses his genius to advise his clan on what to anticipate in order to have the best commercial trades possible and avoid warlords demanding tributes to them. The Sima clan tend to manipulate things from the shadows to further their interests but soon their game turns against them.
Notable members:
- Sima Yi, the protagonist. Fated to found to imperial Jin dynasty. At the beginning, he dreams about his future, sitting on the throne and someone with an eyepatch attacking him.
Handicapped Warriors
The Handicapped Warriors are the private assassins of the Sima Clan, although anyone can buy their services. They are composed of various assassins who are handicapped in one way or another and they are famous for never missing their target. The Handicapped Warriors are said to be led by a one-eyed assassin. They are the best assassins in China too. Any of their member is a deadly fighter, though the strongest is their leader Liaoyuan Huo, a young lad who can't feel pain.
Notable Members:
- Liaoyuan Hao: the current head of the Handicapped Warriors. His handicap is that he can't feel pain, which is actually nice for him. Very cunning and a fearsome fighter. He is fated to become Zhao Yun, one of Liu Bei's generals.
- Xiao Meng, or sister Meng. A eunuch and Chinese trap. Very good with a bow, and uses his great beauty to pose as a woman. Insists he's a man but like nobody seem to care. Very important secondary character.
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Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo is a warlord based in Luoyang, the current capital of China but his real power base is East. He's a powerful warlord who deposed the eunuchs but then openly displayed his ambitions by placing a puppet emperor and being generally a chad who doesn't give a fuck about protocol or being respectable. Will go down as a malevolent pig in History. Is currently in trouble because most of the other warlords in China are against him, an official "rebel".
Notable Members:
- Dong Zhuo. Faction leader. A powerful and cunning warlord who openly shows his ambition of hegemony. A chad who doesn't give a fuck about anything but his own interests but sadly doesn't have enough brains.
- Xu Lin: Dong Zhuo's top advisor.
Lu Bu Faction
Lu Bu's clique. If Dong Zhuo was an alpha, Lu Bu is the sigma to end all sigmas. Lu Bu is initially an officer serving under Dong Zhuo but he'll betray Dong Zhuo and become one of the most famous warlords in Chinese history, known for his disloyalty and his combat prowess. Lu Bu's nicknamed the "God of War" because no one except a couple of guys in China can beat him. He manages to gather some good men around him and wrecks havoc in the North of China.
Notable Members:
- Lu Bu: the sigma, the ubermensch, the Lu Bu amongst men. A mega-chad with a lot of ambition and who doesn't give a fuck about morality, he wants power and will take it. One of the one-man-armies in the setting, there's only a couple of guys who can match him in a fight. He's also very cunning as a complotist and a general. Somewhat burdened by the fact that he's betrayed two people so far and so everybody knows he's a backstabbing bastard.
- Zhang Liao: Lu Bu's right hand man, a young general who'll become and surpass Lu Bu's prowess in time. For not, he's a loyal dog for Lu Bu. Very strong and very cunning. Loves to say that nobody survives the reach of his sword but he's taught a lesson or two.
- Gao Shun: leader of the chargers, an elite cavalry unit.
- Chen Gong: an aging military strategist who's as renowned as the 8 geniuses. He's very good because he's particularly meticulous and covers every eventuality. Like think 100 moves in advances and then rethink again for if X or Y changes.
Cao Clan
The Cao Clan, initially a minor clan in the North of China, but full of talents. Their leader is Cao Cao, the "evil chancellor" of China, fucking brilliant at many things included warfare and poetry but also ambitious and evil. He's infamous in the legend because he held the Emperor hostage too at one point and did some really disgusting things like having the ears of POW cut off to destroy the enemy's morale. Here, he's also a man of integrity who decides to be as savage as possible in times of war to end them quickly and be a benevolent ruler in peace. He goes from minor warlord to most powerful warlord in the North of China, accumulating many many talented and loyal subordinates. Seriously, he's got 50% of the characters that really matter and 3 geniuses on his side. His clan will found the Wei kingdom.
Notable Members:
- Cao Cao: The "big bad", the "evil chancellor" to beat all evil chancellors. He's actually a loyalist who decides to be as brutal as possible in times of war to shorten then and he's also a very good ruler in times of peace. He's not a notable fighter but an excellent leader who gets the best out of his men as well as one of the greatest military commander, with an unmatched grasp of military maneuvers. He's actually from the Xiahou clan but got adopted, often reminding people that as a descendant of an eunuch clan, he had it rough. He's also a good writer and a womanizer.
- Cao Ren: A clan brother. General who protects the rear.
- Cao Chun: leader of the elite Tiger & Leopard cavalry unit.
- Xiahou Dun: Cao Cao's cousin. A pretty awesome general who's got an excellent eye and can throw a spear hundreds of meter and still impale you. Will lose his good eye but that won't slow him down on bit. He even ate his eye, just to scare his enemies.
- Xiahou Yuan: Another of Cao Cao's cousins. He's a good general notably in terms of deploying his units.
- Dian Wei: an assassin and a scout. Extremely loyal and can't feel pain either.
- Xu Chu: Xu Lin's son. He's a big heavy guy. Very strong as a warrior but tends to talk slowly so everyone thinks he's just muscles.
- Recurring generals: Han Hao, Li Dian, Yu Jin, Yue Jin
Liu Clan
The Liu Clan is a big but disparate clan. They are actually Imperial scions, and the Han Dynasty comes from their clan. However, most of them are just minor warlords and renowned for their "indecisiveness".
Liu Bei
Liu Bei, the future founder of the Shu Han kingdom in the South-East of China. Liu Bei is the "benevolent underdog" of the three major factions, renowned for his loyalty, integrity, benevolence, and for being continously being shat on by the other factions though he manages to do something of himself. Liu Bei begins really low on the social ladder as a shoe seller. However, he can count on the might of his two sworn brothers Guan Yu (the real God of War) and Zhang Fei. He's a distant relative of the Emperor but that won't mean shit until he becomes famous and adulated by the populace. In the story, he becomes a top-notch politician who knows how to build his fame and then milk his popularity for all it's worth.
Misc. Lius
Some guys who obey to other Lius that aren't Liu Bei. Mostly randoms. However, Gan Ning and Huand Zhong will become famous generals and they are badass.
Yuan Clan
A big powerful clan based on the North of China. They are really big and powerful and are renowned as a family of "loyalist" with three generations of Yuan serving as Prime Ministers (top dog in the government). The Yuan clan is actually so big and its members numerous that it's prone to disputes and infighting for the clan's own riches. The two factions that really matter and Yuan Shao's and Yuan Shu's.
Yuan Shao's faction
Yuan Shao is the head of the Yuan Clan. He's renowned as the head of the Guandong Alliance that was called to fight Dong Zhuo and is officially a loyalist. In reality, he's understood that imperial Han is finished and is laying the groundwork to seize power and thus, he's trying to fuck over everyone. He's bet everything on his most brilliant son, a bastard named Yuan Fang who's one of the eight geniuses.
Yuan Shu's Zhongjia Empire
Yuan Shu is a little half-brother of Yuan Shao. He understood too that Han was finished but he decided to do the stupid thing and declared himself Emperor, building a small empire in the centre of China. So no he's both a traitor to Imperial Han and an overt competitor for hegemony. Basically no one likes him and he's treated like an incompetent idiot, though he had some things right.
Misc Yuans
Sun Clan
The Sun Clan, a renowned warrior clan from the South. They come in rather late and need a bit of explanation to get what they are about.
The Sun Clan are a famous clan from the South and expert in naval warfare, especially in their turf which is known for erratic weather. Their late leader was Sun Jian, the "last of the true loyalist", a too-good-for-this-sinful-Earth guy who was really loyal to imperial Han. During the fight between Dong Zhuo and the Guandong alliance, Sun Jian found the Imperial Seal (basically a jade stamp that shows the Emperor is the clerk from the Heavens, China loves a good bureaucracy) and understood that Yuan Shao was a traitor. Sun Jian hid the seal to protect it though his secret got out. Sun Jian still wanted to play the part of a loyal warlord and Yuan Shu fucked him over by telling him to go fight a battle he couldn't win and Sun Jian died.
So now, his children all say "fuck loyalty" and decide to build a new South-Eastern kingdom which will begin the Kingdom of Wu. They are pretty awesome, with strong fighters all around and a flair for outmaneuvering their foes. They are descendants of Sun Tzu and have mastered the Art of War, and they got the help of a genius in Zhou Yu. They are also really not doing fucking shady stuff and even want to fuck over allies of convenience that they can't absorb.
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Watermirror and the Eight Genius
Once upon a time, a retired military strategist named Sima Hui or "Master Watermirror" decided to build a school to teach strategy. He succeeded.
Here come the eight "Geniuses", exceptionally intelligent guys to whom Watermirror's taught every aspect of strategy and tactic. Now those eight geniuses are much sought after because they're basically a cheat code that allows a warlord to see and gain strategic advantages. They are actually historical figures but also masked at the beginning and so it's kinda a big deal to wait and see who they join and what they look like.
Think of a fictional character who you think is intelligent. They're chumps compared to the eight geniuses. This series is arguably more about these eight genius playing 4D chess + Total War than Sima Yi. The eight geniuses are so OP in terms of "Just as planned" that it becomes ridiculous and yet it's too awesome not to be awed by the sheer "genius" of their plans. Seriously, these guys don't come with just simple plans, they think about everything. Military deployment? Yes. Logistics? Yes. The landscape? The local weather? Goddamn yes. Managing the morale of the soldiers? Yes. Setting up spy networks across China? Yes. How to get the civilians on their sides? Yes. Court politics? Yes! How to manipulate you and your people? Yes. They've already planned everything and have seen your next fifteen moves at the minimum. If they haven't placed an insider ten years ago who's now become your BFF, they're being sloppy and short-sighted. They'll let you do your plan and return it against you at the last moment. They're one of the best examples of how to write smart people in fiction not just because of the intricacy of their plans but because each of them has actually a specialty in what kind of plan they excel at. There's the politics expert, the guy who specalizes in shady stuff like assassination or using massacres to frighten the opposition, or the military deployment ace. These guys are the stars of the series, and if there's one reason to read "Ravage of Time", it'd be because of them.
Misc Clans
Miscellaneous warrior clans. Heh, the only clan that isn't a random here is the Ma Clan, because Ma Chao is fated to because one of the most famous generals of his time.
Some warlords of the Guandong alliance against Dong Zhuo. They are randoms who get fucked over.
Taiping aka Yellow Turbans
The Taiping or Yellow Turbans are a faction of peasants and mystics who rebelled against the established order of imperial Han, stating that "Heaven is dead" and saying that they is no point with the Han dynasty. They were causing a lot of trouble in the past but various warlords decimated them. Now there are remnants that still have the ambition to rise to the top.
The movement is mostly superstitious peasants and lords who follow an order of mystics. These guys know medicine and how to manipulate the masses and use a few trick to pass off as sorcerers. Very dangerous though they're old farts and a bunch of fanatics.
Misc
The Emperors of China and some courtiers. Last of the Han dynasty. They're puppets but at least there are some sympathetic scenes over their powerlessness.
Mountain Bandits, mostly fodder.
Real miscellaneous characters. Pay attention to Hua Tuo, who's an ace doctor, Kong Rong who's a warlord and Shan Wu Ling who's fated to be Sima Yi's wife.
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