I have never read the romance of the three kingdoms, but I am researching the period now just out of interest. I have studied enough historical biography to know not to trust everything written about a historical figure, and I'm getting a lot of suspicious feelings around the character of Liu Bei. He seems too good to be true while Cao Cao has a garbage reputation, despite being revered as a genius. He is revered more as an evil genius. While I don't really doubt that he had enormous ambitions my scepticism refuses to let me believe that that wasn't also true of Liu Bei. Liu Bei's acquisition of first Tao Qians province and then Liu Biao's province both seem particularly suspicious. At the very least I feel like he was a more complicated character then history and the romance scenes to depict him as. My question is this; does the romance of the three kingdoms depict him in a more complicated and realistic light, or was he historically a guy who just seemed to be at the right place at the right time? Thank you!
Good guy in terms of what? You should be more clear and concise. Good is such anbritrary term.
Rafe De Crespigny writes on Liu Bei as thus
Behind the ostensible realities of history and the exaggerations of romance, we may perceive a man who could inspire great loyalty and admiration, and whose recovery from repeated set-backs in an age when defeat so frequently brought death reflects personal qualities and a presence which can no longer be properly reconstructed. From humble background with an erratic record, Liu Bei was a man of remarkable character: certainly courageous, surely untrustworthy to superiors and rivals, but clearly loyal to his subordinates; in many respects an ideal hero for an age of individuals.
Chen Shou appraisals as thus
The Former Lord's magnanimity and determination, tolerance and generosity, his judgment of men and treatment of elites assuredly had the air of Emperor Gaozu and the measure of a hero about him. When he entrusted the state and his son to Zhuge Liang, his mind was without ambivalence. It was truly the ultimate of selflessness of a ruler and his minister, and it is an excellent model for all time. Though he was able to respond to situations and was an able strategist, he could not match Emperor Wu of the Wei (i.e., Cao Cao), and as a consequence his dominion was restricted. Though he might be broken, however, he would not yield, and in the end he could not be subjugated. Perhaps, he surmised that [Cao Cao] would be incapable of accepting him. He was not only competing for advantage but also simply sought thereby to avoid harm.