Liú Bèi (Chinese: 劉備; pinyin: Liú Bèi) (161 – 223), courtesy name Xuándé (玄徳), was a powerful warlord and the founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. Having risen up from the commoner class, he was initially a small player in the massive civil war leading up to the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In 214, using the stratagems of his chief advisor Zhuge Liang, Liú Bèi conquered Yizhou (益州, present day Sichuan and Guizhou) and at last established the foundation for his kingdom. In 221, Liú Bèi declared himself emperor in an effort to carry on the lineage of the Han Dynasty. He was succeeded by Liú Shan, who eventually surrendered to the Kingdom of Wei in 263.

Guan Yu (關羽) (160–219) was a military general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Kingdom of Shu, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.

Zhang Fei (c. 167 - 221 AD) was a general of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Zhang Fei was shown to have been a masterful general rather than simply a warrior. He treated his superiors with respect, but had little respect for his underlings. This is in contrast with Guan Yu, who treated his subordinates well but often disrespected his peers.

Zhuge Liang (181 - 234) was one of the greatest Chinese strategists of the Three Kingdoms era, as well as a statesman, engineer, scholar, and inventor. Zhuge is an uncommon two-character compound family name. His name (or even just his surname) has become synonymous with intelligence and wit in Chinese culture.

Huang Zhong (148 – 220) was a leading military general of the Kingdom of Shu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. He was most noted for his victory in the Battle of Mount Dingjun, in which his force routed that of Xiahou Yuan, who was slain in the battle. For his merits, Huang Zhong was ranked among the five leading generals of Shu, later popularized as the Five Tiger Generals.

Ma Chao (176 - 222) was the eldest son of Ma Teng and a general of the Three Kingdoms Period. In Luo Guanzhong's novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms he received the nickname "Ma Chao the Splendid" due to his elaborate armour and skill as a warrior. Ma Chao is remembered as one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu, popularised by The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Guan Ping (關平, ? – 237) was the first son of the 3rd century Chinese military general Guan Yu and elder brother of Guan Xing. He had also served a military post in the Kingdom of Shu during the period known as Three Kingdoms. Little about him could be found in historical records (not even his style name was documented) except that he was captured along with his father in the kingdom of Shu. In the 14th century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Guan Ping was said to have been adopted by Guan Yu when he was seventeen (Chapter 28), as his true father requested to have him follow and assist the renowned general. Without a son then, Guan Yu took Guan Ping as his own.

Wèi Yán (魏延, 175–234), courtesy name Wéncháng (文長), was a distinguished officer of Shu.

The novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms suggested that Wei Yan originally served as a mid-ranked military officer of Liu Biao, but the history books didn't officially recognize that.

He joined Liu Bei's army after Liu captured Changsha in about 209. His talent helped him to become a major general of Liu's Army in very few years. Liu Bei offered him the place of chief executive at Hanzhong (漢中) in 219, making him the sixth most important military man of the kingdom after the Five Tiger Generals.

After Liu Bei's death in 223, Zhuge Liang employed him for the war with Wei. He had suggested some radical plans in order to win the war but Zhuge Liang rejected them.

When Zhuge Liang died in 234, some officers under him (including Jiang Wei) killed Wei Yan, in the title of "rebellion".

Both the history and the novel suggested that Wei Yan intended to attack Sima Yi, the general of Wei, but people including Jiang Wei objected to the plan and ordered Wei Yan to retreat. Wei refused and thus attempted to kill those officers by burning down the wooden walkway and preventing them from returning to Shu. Those officers thus claimed him "rebelling" and killed him with a plot.

In the novel, Zhuge Liang had foreseen Wei Yan's revolt before his death, and secretly left instructions to be carried out to deal with it when it came. When Wei Yan rebelled, Ma Dai pretended to join him, and earned his trust, so that later, following Zhuge's instructions, he was able to strike down Wei Yan from behind without the latter suspecting.

According to Sanguo Zhi, Wei Yan was a very arrogant man and others tended to avoid him. Some people believe that Wei Yan was an aggressive person, which is incompatible to Zhuge Liang. Moreover, Wei Yan's personality made Yang Yi fear him and finally decide to get rid of him. He was killed by Ma Dai.

Others believe that Zhuge Liang was unfairly biased against Wei Yan, beginning when Wei Yan rescued Huang Zhong from execution and surrendered a city to Liu Bei, slaying the prefect in the process. While Zhuge Liang welcomed Huang Zhong, he ordered Wei Yan executed, saying that anyone who would betray their lord so easily was untrustworthy. Liu Bei ordered Wei Yan's life spared and welcomed him into his forces. This is from the novel, of course. Wei Yan never slain Han Xuan because Han Xuan surrendered.

Based on the one example of Zhuge Liang's entrusting his student Ma Su to an important task despite Liu Bei's warning that he was unsuited for anything important, Wei Yan's supporters believe that this was simply another example of Zhuge Liang's poor judgement of character as opposed to his supreme judgement of warfare. It was said that even the great general Zhang He respected and feared Wei Yan's abilities.

In legend, Zhuge Liang was said to ask for an extension of his life in Wuzhang Plains, pointing to a candle and saying, if the candle continues to burn, he will continue to live; if it was extingushed, he would perish. However, Wei Yan knocked the candle over, and Zhuge Liang died shortly after.

Páng Tǒng (龐統) (178-213AD), courtesy name Shìyuán (士元), was an advisor to Liu Bei during the Later Han period. His Taoist name was Young Phoenix (鳯雛; Fèngchú). The epic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms portrays Pang Tong as a genius military tactician, and describes him and strategist Zhuge Liang in equal terms. Indeed, Sima Hui first recommends Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang to the hero Liu Bei with the following introduction:

"Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix: with either one you can settle all under heaven."

Pang Tong was born in Xiangyang and initially served the lord Sun Quan. In this capacity, Pang pretended to defect to Cao Cao in the build-up to the Battle of Red Cliffs, and advised Cao to chain his warships together, ostensibly to stabilise them and reduce sea-sickness among the soldiers. As a result, when Wu attacked the ships with fire, the fire spread quickly to destroy Cao Cao's entire fleet.

After the death of Wu's commander-in-chief Zhou Yu, Zhou's successor Lu Su recommended Pang Tong to Sun Quan as a chief advisor. However, Sun Quan was prejudiced against Pang due to his ugly appearance, and the young man took offense. When asked how his learning compared to the late commander Zhou Yu, Pang haughtily replied that his abilities were not to be compared to those of Zhou Yu.

Pang Tong then went to serve Liu Bei, and mapped out the occupation of Liu Zhang's territory in Yizhou (modern Sichuan), which Zhuge Liang had decided years ago to be the heartland of Liu Bei's kingdom. Pang suggested to Liu Bei to surprise Liu Zhang at their first meeting and kidnap him; Liu Bei declined, reasoning that it was too big of a risk to take at that stage, given his own unfamiliarity with the province. (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalized this event into an attempt by Pang Tong to have Liu Zhang assassinated through Wei Yan's pretence of a sword dance, but was prevented by Liu Bei who saw Liu Zhang as a kinsman, however distant, and instead tried to help fight Zhang Lu when he attacked Liu Zhang.)

However, Liu Zhang was persuaded not to send troops to reinforce Liu Bei, and Liu Bei decided no longer to help Liu Zhang and to take the strategically important Fu Pass. At the Fu Pass, Liu Zhang's generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei tried to assassinate Liu Bei, but were caught and put to death by Pang Tong. Liu Zhang then ordered his generals to attack Liu Bei, and as Liu Bei's two armies marched towards Luocheng, Pang Tong was ambushed in the Valley of the Fallen Phoenix (落鳯坡), where he was mistaken for Liu Bei because he had been given Liu Bei's white horse. He and his men were killed in the shower of arrows. He died at the age of thirty-five.

Liu Bei was left hemmed in at the Pass, and so Zhuge Liang had to leave Jingzhou to relieve him. Lord Guan then had to hold the entire region of Jingzhou alone, leading eventually to defeat when Cao Cao and Sun Quan allied to attack Jingzhou from both north and south.

Huang Yueying (黄月英) is the fictional name for the wife of the Shu strategist Zhuge Liang, and daughter of Huang Chengyan. Her true name is unknown, as no name for Zhuge Liang's wife survives in history.

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