姜维
Jiang Wei first appears in Chapters 92 and 93 as a Wei military officer serving in Tianshui Commandery during Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition. When Zhuge Liang tries to trick Ma Zun, the Administrator of Tianshui, to lead his troops out of Tianshui to save the Wei general Xiahou Mao in Nan'an Commandery, Jiang Wei sees through Zhuge Liang's ruse and advises Ma Zun to remain in Tianshui and set a trap for the enemy. When the Shu general Zhao Yun shows up to take Tianshui, he falls into the trap and briefly duels with Jiang Wei before Shu reinforcements arrive and save him. Zhao Yun tells Zhuge Liang that he is impressed that Tianshui has such a talent like Jiang Wei. When Jiang Wei successfully repels another Shu attack, Zhuge Liang is even more impressed and eager to recruit Jiang Wei to serve in Shu. He tricks Ma Zun into believing that Jiang Wei has defected to Shu in order to prevent Jiang Wei from going back to Wei, and then springs a trap for Jiang Wei. When Jiang Wei gets cornered, he attempts suicide but Zhuge Liang stops him and manages to convince him to surrender and join Shu.