The Ravages of Time: "A capable minister in times of peace; a crafty hero in a troubled land."

[grazzt]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms was assembled from a variety of works, historical and fictional, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the character of Cao Cao. The post's title is one description of him by a famous judge of character, and Cao Cao bore it out splendidly. He's a mess of contradictions: fair and unjust, clever and easily fooled, capable of inspiring great loyalty and terrific hatred. At times he's the tragic tyrant, at others, he's very little more than a caricature to be made a fool of for the amusement of the reader. Even the historical Cao Cao is subject to these contradictions: his power was built on a foundation of slaughter and agricultural and educational reform, and he was not only a warlord but also a respected poet.

In any case, whether he's playing the fool, the anti-hero, or the villain, Cao Cao rarely fails to entertain. The version of him in The Ravages of Time is no exception, although he's a bit more understated than Cao Cao usually is. This is mostly so that a bit more focus can be brought onto the people under him, the talented generals and crafty strategists that were the foundation of his powers. Cao Cao's twin nature is more clearly reflected in his staff. Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and Xun Yu are all depicted as rather noble and honourable. And then...there are these three.



Reads right-to-left.

Allow me to set the scene. Cao Cao's advisor (and one of the Eight Geniuses, a term I'll go into more description of later) Guo Jia is undertaking the siege of a city belonging to Tao Qian. Tao Qian is currently being supported by Liaoyuan Huo, an assassin of incredible skill. Naturally, Liaoyuan sees an easy solution to their predicament: kill Guo Jia, and Cao's forces will be severely crippled.

Unfortunately, there's a complication for Liaoyuan. You see, earlier in the story he killed a man named Xu Lin. Which is unfortunate, seeing as how Guo Jia's bodyguard is:





Yep, that's Xu Zhu. Historically, he was the head of Cao Cao's bodyguard, and reknowned for being a simpleton off the battlefield and a maniac on it, earning him the nickname "Tiger Fool". This version of him has the added bonus that he can't feel any pain. The backstory involving Xu Lin is also an addition to the traditional story.

In any case, things don't go particularly well for our assassin.





Oh, nice try. I won't bother with the rest of their fight. I think there's enough up to showcase what he's capable of.

Cao's other major bodyguard is Dian Wei. While Xu Zhu is more outwardly a monster, Dian Wei is a former assassin and can actually be scarier than Xu Zhu. A good example of this would be the Battle of Pu Yang. To set up the scene: Cao Cao's generals received a thrashing at the hands of Lu Bu. And I don't mean Lu Bu's army, I mean just Lu Bu. If you don't know who Lu Bu is, that probably says everything about him right there. Now, Cao Cao is presumed dead, the rest of his generals have been backed into a corner, and Dian Wei is in even worse straits:



Dian Wei falls prostrate, while the soldiers surrounding him think it means he's going to surrender. Unfortunately for them, what it really means is that he's gone absolutely insane.











Love the scary smile, there.

The final monster we'll examine here is Guo Jia. Guo Jia is one of Cao Cao's most gifted strategists, and is completely ruthless. For instance, while discussing the invasion of Xuzhou, one of Cao's generals brought up that Cao would need an excuse to make his invasion righteous. Guo Jia has a perfect one:



Everything is justified to Guo Jia, so long as it brings war to an end earlier. Blood will be spilled one way or the other, so might as well make sure it's not wasted.



The massacre isn't quite satisfactory for Guo Jia's tastes:









As you can imagine, he's good at psychological warfare. Watch him confront a person pretending to be a god:



Those are some of Cao Cao's scarier assets, reflections of the darker part of his persona. Up next: Sima Yi's assassin group, the Handicapped Warriors.

Comments

[renface]

Another interesting post :)

I always found it hard to like Cao Cao, respect him for the great but terrible things he did, sure, but he does come across as so unsympathetic.

Loving the design of Xu Zhu here.

[grazzt]

"I always found it hard to like Cao Cao, respect him for the great but terrible things he did, sure, but he does come across as so unsympathetic."

Oh definitely. I never said he was likable: he's just entertaining. If he was likable, things like him fleeing from Red Cliffs or the whole Zuo Ci episode wouldn't be as fun. Or, a Ravages of Time specific example, him getting bitch-slapped, literally, by Emperor Xian.

[magnetdance]

This Dian Wei is kinda sexy...

[meatwhichdreams]

I like the feathered inkwork, especially when the mangaka uses it on their facial expressions. It's almost like a drypoint etching.

[grazzt]

Yeah, the artwork on this is generally considered better than most manhua, and closer to the manga style.

[meatwhichdreams]

It's really very solid, very hefty. It's funny how that delicate feathering can add to that quality.