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- He was the eldest son in the family, so responsibility of caring for his mother and younger siblings fell to him when his father was killed.
- His father had been caught by the Qiang and executed as a warning to spies. Zhang Liao was only 7 when that happened.
- His desire for strength was instilled by his father from an early age. It was important back then to learn how to defend yourself, especially when bandit raids were happening with such alarming frequency, but what started as basic self-defence suddenly became a life-long obsession. Zhang Liao doesn't remember the exact moment when he desired to be the strongest in the land; it might've been the time when he beat up the thug who bullied his younger brothers and said some rather nasty things about his mother and his sisters. Suddenly all his training paid off and he realised that the only way to protect those you cared about was to be stronger than everyone else.
- He remembers and speaks very little of his younger years. If asked, he'll just say he started his training from an early age and joined the army at age 15. Even as a young child, he was always very seriousand boring.
- His first kill was a robber who broke into his house.
- His desire to join the army was again prompted by his quest for pure might, but he didn't join up till his younger brothers were old enough to protect his mother and his sisters.
- He climbed the army ranks pretty fast.
- He takes the five relationships really seriously; no matter how much he was secretly disgusted by Dong Zhuo, he refused to break the first relationship between a lord and a servant.
- He first met Guan Yu and Cao Cao at the Battle of Hulao Gate, but he kept his awe of both men to himself.
- He actually met Xu Huang when the Xu Huang was serving Li Jue. They didn't get a lot of chances to chat, but Zhang Liao enjoyed their brief training sessions.
- He disagreed with Lu Bu and a lot of his betrayals, but kept silent. If he wasn't strong enough, then he had no right to speak up.
- He did look up to Lu Bu quite a fair bit, so Lu Bu's cowardice before his death really upset Zhang Liao more than he let on.
- His relationship with Diaochan was...complicated. He was a gentleman when in her presence, but he tried his best not to hang around her too much for fear that he might develop inappropriate feelings. She was Lu Bu's girl, after all.
- He actually enjoyed Chen Gong's company, and was greatly saddened to hear of Chen Gong's death.
- His first few months under Cao Cao were very lonely months. A lot of Wei soldiers were wary of him and he had to prove his loyalty to many of the generals. It's no wonder that he and Guan Yu became friends, when most people were eyeing him with such distrust.
- Zhang Liao, Guan Yu and Xu Huang were good friends, and Zhang Liao maintained his good relationship with Guan Yu even after Guan Yu left Cao Cao's service and became an enemy of Wei. This of course did not mean that either man let each other off easily if they happened to meet during a battle.
- Of all the Wei officers he hadn't met before, Xiahou Yuan was easily the most welcoming. Xiahou Yuan invited him to drinks at the tavern, hunting parties and training sessions; although they were very different, they got along alright. The other warriors took some time especially Xiahou Dun, but the easier-going Xiahou advised him not to take it too much to heart: "Dun just lost an eye, he's bound to be a little grumpier than usual." Once Zhang Liao participated in the battle of Guandu and proved his loyalty to Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun relaxed his slightly cold treatment of Zhang Liao.
- His father had been caught by the Qiang and executed as a warning to spies. Zhang Liao was only 7 when that happened.
- His desire for strength was instilled by his father from an early age. It was important back then to learn how to defend yourself, especially when bandit raids were happening with such alarming frequency, but what started as basic self-defence suddenly became a life-long obsession. Zhang Liao doesn't remember the exact moment when he desired to be the strongest in the land; it might've been the time when he beat up the thug who bullied his younger brothers and said some rather nasty things about his mother and his sisters. Suddenly all his training paid off and he realised that the only way to protect those you cared about was to be stronger than everyone else.
- He remembers and speaks very little of his younger years. If asked, he'll just say he started his training from an early age and joined the army at age 15. Even as a young child, he was always very serious
- His first kill was a robber who broke into his house.
- His desire to join the army was again prompted by his quest for pure might, but he didn't join up till his younger brothers were old enough to protect his mother and his sisters.
- He climbed the army ranks pretty fast.
- He takes the five relationships really seriously; no matter how much he was secretly disgusted by Dong Zhuo, he refused to break the first relationship between a lord and a servant.
- He first met Guan Yu and Cao Cao at the Battle of Hulao Gate, but he kept his awe of both men to himself.
- He actually met Xu Huang when the Xu Huang was serving Li Jue. They didn't get a lot of chances to chat, but Zhang Liao enjoyed their brief training sessions.
- He disagreed with Lu Bu and a lot of his betrayals, but kept silent. If he wasn't strong enough, then he had no right to speak up.
- He did look up to Lu Bu quite a fair bit, so Lu Bu's cowardice before his death really upset Zhang Liao more than he let on.
- His relationship with Diaochan was...complicated. He was a gentleman when in her presence, but he tried his best not to hang around her too much for fear that he might develop inappropriate feelings. She was Lu Bu's girl, after all.
- He actually enjoyed Chen Gong's company, and was greatly saddened to hear of Chen Gong's death.
- His first few months under Cao Cao were very lonely months. A lot of Wei soldiers were wary of him and he had to prove his loyalty to many of the generals. It's no wonder that he and Guan Yu became friends, when most people were eyeing him with such distrust.
- Zhang Liao, Guan Yu and Xu Huang were good friends, and Zhang Liao maintained his good relationship with Guan Yu even after Guan Yu left Cao Cao's service and became an enemy of Wei. This of course did not mean that either man let each other off easily if they happened to meet during a battle.
- Of all the Wei officers he hadn't met before, Xiahou Yuan was easily the most welcoming. Xiahou Yuan invited him to drinks at the tavern, hunting parties and training sessions; although they were very different, they got along alright. The other warriors took some time especially Xiahou Dun, but the easier-going Xiahou advised him not to take it too much to heart: "Dun just lost an eye, he's bound to be a little grumpier than usual." Once Zhang Liao participated in the battle of Guandu and proved his loyalty to Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun relaxed his slightly cold treatment of Zhang Liao.
