Dong Zhuo

Dong Zhuo is a terrifying man. Not because of his actions (well actually some of it is his actions) but because he is right. Han fell because of the corruption in the courts. The eunuchs got too much power and the ministers did nothing to help. Dong Zhuo actually does the right thing by getting rid of the corrupt officials, but the warlords with their interests stopped him. This guy is actually making things better for the people.

Dong Zhuo's storyline makes up a good part of the storyline of The Ravages of Time. Dong Zhuo repeatedly outsmarts every warlord that tries to stop him. The Guandong alliance fails because it has no head. Yuan Shao is almost killed because Dong Zhuo lured him into Luoyang. First genius Yuan Fang loses to Dong Zhuo's schemes. And even Lu Bu has trouble outsmarting Dong Zhuo.

Facing hostility from both inner and outer affairs, it is no surprise that Dong Zhuo dies. For a moment though (if you do not know the story) you might actually believe that Dong Zhuo will win.