Three Kingdoms
Legacy in popular culture

Numerous people and affairs from the period later became Chinese legends. The most complete and influential example is the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong during the Ming dynasty. Possibly due to the popularity of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Three Kingdoms era is one of the most well-known non-modern Chinese eras in terms of iconic characters, deeds and exploits. This is reflected in the way that fictional accounts of the Three Kingdoms, mostly based on the novel, play a significant role in East Asian popular culture. Books, television dramas, films, cartoons, anime, games, and music on the topic are still regularly produced in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

Japanese video game developer Koei (later merged with Tecmo to form Koei Tecmo) introduced multiple generations of young gamers in the West to the Three Kingdoms period through its retelling of the history across its long and successful franchises of Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy games and Dynasty Warriors action games. The games evoked a fascination with the period among many Western players, similar to the interest stoked among East Asians by local pop culture and media, albeit to a lesser extent in the West.
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