Jin Yong: Difference between revisions

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'''Jin Yong''' (the [[Pen Name]] of LuisLouis Cha) is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists. He is currentlywas the best-selling living Chinese author alivebefore his death in 2018. He is well known for his historical [[Wuxia]] fiction--he pretty much single-handedly raised the [[Wuxia]] to a "legitimate" art form ([[Wuxia]] novels having gained an unfair reputation as "things teenagers and immature adults read") and is the standard against which all other [[Wuxia]] novelists are compared--and a great many [[Live Action Adaptation]] series have been made based on his books. Some of his novels have been officially translated into English.

* ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''

* ''[[The Deer and Thethe Cauldron]]''

* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Some adaptations of his series can be ''very'' guilty of this. A rather pronounced example can be found in the recent 2008 version of ''Legend of the Condor Heroes''. Despite Guo Jing normally being described as stout and muscular, and ''certainly'' not well known for being incredibly handsome or refined, he ends up being played by teen heart throb Hu Ge. And Hu Ge is pretty much the equivalent of a [[Real Life]] [[Bishonen]]. It can be rather wince-worthy when characters mention how "manly" and "plain" Guo Jing is (including several instances where people compare his relationship with Huang Rong as being [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife|"A beautiful flower planted in cow dung"]] - yes, he was even being likened to ''cow dung''), when Guo Jing {{media-|[[U 1735 P 28 T 3 D 1319149 F 326 DT 20061108153936]]Media:U1735P28T3D1319149F326DT20061108153936.JPGjpg| can}}]] {{media-|[[Media:200837173742479.jpg| look}}]] {{media-|220H553P07_small[[Media:220H553P07 small.jpg| prettier}}]] than some of the female cast.

* [[Banned in China]]: Initially, his works were banned in [[Useful Notes/Taiwan|Taiwan]].

* [[Brother -Sister Incest]]: What Duan Yu's relationships with his love interests keep turning out to be. Unfortunately for them, close incest like that wasn't well accepted in ancient China ([[Kissing Cousins|cousins, on the other hand...]]) Of course, later on, it turns out that {{spoiler|they're all actually cousins, because of a very complicated mix up of who his father was}}.

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Zhou Botong. Despite his [[Cloudcuckoolander|insane, childish personality]], the members of the Quanzhen Sect have no choice but to accept his silly ways. Reason being that, not only is he [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|insanely strong]], he's also the member with the most seniority.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Lots of side characters. Most notably Zhou Botong.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Ren Wo Xing's [[Reign of Terror]] is suspiciously similar to purges that were happening in [[Red China]] at the time of the novel's writing.

* [[Door StopperDoorstopper]]: A [[Harry Potter]] book can be put into one or two movies. A Jin Yong novel takes a TV series that spans 20-odd episodes for the shorter ones, or up to 60 episodes for the longer ones.

* [[Everybody Was Kung -Fu Fighting]] - What do you expect? It's [[Wuxia]]. Even the most harmless looking of old men will inevitably turn out to be a hidden kung fu master.

* [[Eye Scream]] - Blindness is a common effect of especially deadly poisons. After Ah Zi was [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|blinded by her own poison]], the opportunity came to heal her sight if only she had a donor...You Tanzhi cheerfully volunteers. When she decides to [[Together in Death|join Xiao Feng in death]], she plucks out said eyes and throws them back to You Tanzhi.

** Ironically, although this is her stated reason, she herself eventually gets a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|suitor]] that loves her very, very obsessively. But of course, You Tanzhi doesn't count, because he's ugly.

* [[Good Adultery, Bad Adultery]]: Ying Gu's affair with Zhou Botong is shown from her point of view and is very much a product of love rather than lust. None of the other characters, not even her ex-husband, blame her for the affair either.

* [[Green -Eyed Monster]]: Qing Qing from ''Sword Stained With Royal Blood'' is the queen of this. It's a rather unusual instance where the most jealous and narrow-minded woman in the series is the female lead.

* [[Handicapped Badass]]: Yang Guo, {{spoiler|who lost an arm about halfway through [[The Return Of The Condor Heroes]]}}, grows into a [[Badass]] who eventually learned to become a true [[Bare -Fisted Monk]] by making his {{spoiler|one remaining arm}} so strong and cultivating enough internal energy that swords ''simply can't stand up to his palm strikes''. He eventually got [[Badass]] enough that his power was considered equal to Guo Jing, protagonist of the prequel and considered the biggest [[Badass]] of the period. He even got elected to join in the ranks of the Four Great Masters (North, East, South, West, he's Center).

* [[Hey, ItsIt's That Guy!]]: Ba Sen, who played Genghis Khan in 2003's TV adaptation of LOCH, is also the guy who, appropriately enough, played Genghis Khan in the Genghis Khan TV series. Also counts as [[Hilarious in Hindsight]], since that show came out in 2004.

* [[Kill 'Em All]] - ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils''

* [[Love At First Sight]]: Thankfully, Jin Yong tends not to use this trope as much, and normally fleshes out the characters' romance. However, there ''is'' Duan Yu towards Wang Yuyan, which culminated in him acting like a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] towards her. The use of this trope is probably also part of the reason why their relationship is viewed by many as being [[Strangled Byby the Red String]]. There are also one-sided examples, which are mostly viewed negatively.

* [[Love Martyr]] - There are ''lots''. Yue Buqun's wife, Yue Lingshan towards Ling Ping Zhi. A ''very'' messed up one is You Tanzhi towards Ah Zi, to the extent where he accepts her [[Cold -Blooded Torture|torturing]] him (including melting a scalding iron mask onto his face), and is willing to kill ''anyone'' for her.

* [[Luke, You Are My Father]]: All the time. The three biggest come in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, where the true lineage of three of the main protagonists all represent major turning points in their lives - Xiao Feng {{spoiler|is revealed to be a foreign prince, causing him to spend the rest of his life torn between the duties to his biological family and his bonds with his former friends, whom he still feels obligated towards despite being forsaken by all but a few}}; Duan Yu {{spoiler|turns out to be the result of a one night stand between Duan Yan Qing and Duan Yu's mother, who was pissed at her husband for being such a playboy}}, and Xu Zhu {{spoiler|is revealed to be the product of an affair between the head monk of his temple and a woman who became a serial baby kidnapper/killer because of this event}}.

* [[One -Man Army]]: Most martial artist masters. There are battle strategies that basically throws them into the midst of the enemy and just let them rip.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü in ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''.

* [[Single -Target Sexuality]]: A lot of his characters are. Including ''villains''.

* [[So Beautiful ItsIt's a Curse]]: The ''most'' beautiful women in the Jin Yong universe tend to have the unfortunate fate of getting raped. The most obvious examples being {{spoiler|Xiao Long Nu}} and {{spoiler|Ah Ke}}. And then there's what happened to Princess Fragrance, whose beauty ended up catching the unfortunate attention of the Emperor, which later caused her to {{spoiler|commit suicide}}.

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]] - Inevitable given the multiple romanization systems and alternate translations for the novels.

* [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]]: No matter how you look at it, Duan Yu ''was'' a stalker towards Wang Yuyan. A more sinister example would be Yin Zhiping, who keeps the antidote bottle Xiao Long Nu gave him, constantly tries to stalk and watch her, and eventually out-and-out {{spoiler|rapes her}}.

* [[Star -Crossed Lovers]]: Numerous TV adaptations of ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood'' change Yuan Chengzhi and Ah Jiu's relationship into this. In the books, however, it was much more on Ah Jiu's side, considering that Yuan Chengzhi actually loved Qing Qing more.

** And then there's Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu's romance. [[Star -Crossed Lovers]] pretty much describes what most of that series consists of. {{spoiler|Heck, it took more than a decade to finally resolve the situation.}}

** In ''Legend of the Condor Heroes'', there was Lu Guanying and Yang Jia, whose little sidestory was the equivalent of a Chinese Romeo and Juliet ([[Everybody Was Kung -Fu Fighting|except with more kung fu]]). Only, with a happy ending.

* [[Sweet Onon Polly Oliver]]: Ironically, despite Jin Yong's works having ''so many'' [[Sweet Polly Oliver|Sweet Polly Olivers]], this is almost always [[Subverted]]. Normally, the main characters will be [[Dumb Is Good|so insanely dense]], they won't even ''have'' the "primordial sense" to subconsciously be attracted to them. And typically, it won't be until the girl reveals her true gender that the male protagonist will start showing a romantic attraction to her.

* [[Wall of Text]] -: Jin Yong will sidetrack so often to pontificate about the [[Backstory]] of the most recently arrived character that it's very easy to lose track of the main plot.

* [[Worlds Most Beautiful Woman|World's Most Beautiful Woman]]: Jin Yong is quite fond of this trope. Most of his series has a designated "world's most beautiful woman" set during that period. Special mention goes to Xiao Long Nu, Princess Fragrance, Wang Yuyan, and Ah Ke along with her mother Chen Yuanyuan (who was Chinese history's equivalent of Helen of Troy). Expect [[Serious Business|many heated arguments]] among Jin Yong fans about who is most beautiful.

* [[Yandere]] -: Ah Zi towards Xiao Feng fits this trope to a "T". She has the cute, innocent, [[Genki Girl]] looks... and the incredibly horrifying, [[Ax Crazy|sadistic]] personality. Guo Fu was also one towards Yang Guo. And then there's Zhou Zhiruo towards Zhang Wuji, among others.