Ramblings on the Condor Heroes characters (LOCH and ROCH)
Disclaimer: I am basing these only on the 2006 and 2008 adaptations of ROCH and LOCH respectively. I have not read the books so book purists, don't hunt me down.
I am on ep 8 of Legend of Condor Heroes and find myself faintly puzzled (in a good way :P) - for wuxia there has been so very little angst. So far it's just been picaresque adventures of sweet dim boy and unscrupulous clever girl and their assorted associates. By episode 8 of Return of Condor Heroes, Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu had already had more misery than an entire run of a kdrama. I am not complaining because YG and XLN had enough angst and hurt/comfort for 20 people, but it does seem strange :P Still, I don't trust it too much - I've been told Ariel Lin and Hu Ge's previous collaboration Little Fairy, had 10 solid eps of fluff and then plunged into Unparalleled! Angst! Of! Doom! with suicide attempts, slavery, amnesia and death by flying carpet. :P
I wonder if the lightness, so far, comes from the fact that Guo Jing himself is such an uncomplicated, sweet person - he is not tormented and conflicted - even the vengeance he has to achieve for the death of his father - he goes after it because it's his duty but there is no corrosive loathing hatred in him. Yang Guo of ROCH is a much smarter, darker, complex person, IMO.
Ironically in light of her long-standing distrust of him due to his parentage, which made his life a misery for quite a while, Yang Guo reminds me of nobody so much as a male version of Huang Rong. Both come from deeply dubious moral backgrounds (Huang Rong's father is a borderline villain and so is Yang Guo's), both have the same off-kilter, reckless, practical joke sense of humor, both are clever, both will put care for those they love above abstract good, both had potential for becoming villains themselves (and came close). Both got saved from that possible fate by those they chose to love - Huang Rong became a better person because she fell in love with Guo Jing who is pure good, and Yang Guo dedicated his life to Xiao Long Nu who is not like Guo Jing, but she has principles on a basic level and his love for her (which is a good thing) always trumped anything else that could have been questionable.
I think I like them both so because they both became ultimately good with no guideposts in childhood - Huang Rong being brought up by her father, and Yang Guo having a childhood from hell or just a plain odd one, first with Guo Jing and Huang Rong (who are the world's worst parents in general, but about that more below), then with evil monks who could inspire one to become an atheist, and then in a cave.
Yang Guo is a lot closer to what I'd imagine Huang Rong's kid to be then her own daughter, Guo Fu. I found it ironic that Huang Rong never trusted Yang Guo, never really opened her heart to him, didn't teach him martial arts either, because she was worried he'd take after his father and go all Anakin, all the while not noticing that she was the one growing a real monster in her daughter. I have no words for my loathing of Guo Fu - I don't think I have ever hated a non-OTP interloper as much. She crippled Yang Guo and caused a close to two-decades of separation for YG and XLN (the man almost killed himself, and not for lack of trying) and she got rewarded with a nice husband and a happy life! Ugh. I found her being so useless, selfish, immature, and impulse-control-phobic pretty realistic though. I doubt Guo Jing and Huang Rong had a lot of hands-on time bringing her up - saving the world repeatedly doesn't leave much time for childrearing. And she got brought up as the only child of the two greatest heroes of her age, adored by proxy, never with a want she couldn't have fulfiilled before she even thought about it, and none of it based on her own merit. And much as I love Guo Jing and Huang Rong, their personalities couldn't have made it any better - Guo Jing is so kind and straightforward that unless she was blatantly ripping wings off flies in his presence, he'd not notice her badness. And Huang Rong would notice but it all goes towards her relationships with those few she loves - she would spoil and do anything. So Guo Fu grows up into this terrible human being (who can't even back herself up by having enough talent to be a villain). Well, at least they learned from their mistakes and brought up the twins properly.
Not really related to the above but I always found the ending of ROCH a little sad, however understandable. At the end of LOCH, Guo Jing and Huang Rong are out in the world, doing cool things. At the end of ROCH, Yang Guo and XLN are in that cave, to live there forever and ever and never bother with the outside world again - just be with each other. I don't particularly blame them, all they got since leaving the cave was misery, but I still find it a little sad.
In conclusion, have a Yang Guo/XLN mv. They are so my favorite wuxia couple.
I am on ep 8 of Legend of Condor Heroes and find myself faintly puzzled (in a good way :P) - for wuxia there has been so very little angst. So far it's just been picaresque adventures of sweet dim boy and unscrupulous clever girl and their assorted associates. By episode 8 of Return of Condor Heroes, Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu had already had more misery than an entire run of a kdrama. I am not complaining because YG and XLN had enough angst and hurt/comfort for 20 people, but it does seem strange :P Still, I don't trust it too much - I've been told Ariel Lin and Hu Ge's previous collaboration Little Fairy, had 10 solid eps of fluff and then plunged into Unparalleled! Angst! Of! Doom! with suicide attempts, slavery, amnesia and death by flying carpet. :P
I wonder if the lightness, so far, comes from the fact that Guo Jing himself is such an uncomplicated, sweet person - he is not tormented and conflicted - even the vengeance he has to achieve for the death of his father - he goes after it because it's his duty but there is no corrosive loathing hatred in him. Yang Guo of ROCH is a much smarter, darker, complex person, IMO.
Ironically in light of her long-standing distrust of him due to his parentage, which made his life a misery for quite a while, Yang Guo reminds me of nobody so much as a male version of Huang Rong. Both come from deeply dubious moral backgrounds (Huang Rong's father is a borderline villain and so is Yang Guo's), both have the same off-kilter, reckless, practical joke sense of humor, both are clever, both will put care for those they love above abstract good, both had potential for becoming villains themselves (and came close). Both got saved from that possible fate by those they chose to love - Huang Rong became a better person because she fell in love with Guo Jing who is pure good, and Yang Guo dedicated his life to Xiao Long Nu who is not like Guo Jing, but she has principles on a basic level and his love for her (which is a good thing) always trumped anything else that could have been questionable.
I think I like them both so because they both became ultimately good with no guideposts in childhood - Huang Rong being brought up by her father, and Yang Guo having a childhood from hell or just a plain odd one, first with Guo Jing and Huang Rong (who are the world's worst parents in general, but about that more below), then with evil monks who could inspire one to become an atheist, and then in a cave.
Yang Guo is a lot closer to what I'd imagine Huang Rong's kid to be then her own daughter, Guo Fu. I found it ironic that Huang Rong never trusted Yang Guo, never really opened her heart to him, didn't teach him martial arts either, because she was worried he'd take after his father and go all Anakin, all the while not noticing that she was the one growing a real monster in her daughter. I have no words for my loathing of Guo Fu - I don't think I have ever hated a non-OTP interloper as much. She crippled Yang Guo and caused a close to two-decades of separation for YG and XLN (the man almost killed himself, and not for lack of trying) and she got rewarded with a nice husband and a happy life! Ugh. I found her being so useless, selfish, immature, and impulse-control-phobic pretty realistic though. I doubt Guo Jing and Huang Rong had a lot of hands-on time bringing her up - saving the world repeatedly doesn't leave much time for childrearing. And she got brought up as the only child of the two greatest heroes of her age, adored by proxy, never with a want she couldn't have fulfiilled before she even thought about it, and none of it based on her own merit. And much as I love Guo Jing and Huang Rong, their personalities couldn't have made it any better - Guo Jing is so kind and straightforward that unless she was blatantly ripping wings off flies in his presence, he'd not notice her badness. And Huang Rong would notice but it all goes towards her relationships with those few she loves - she would spoil and do anything. So Guo Fu grows up into this terrible human being (who can't even back herself up by having enough talent to be a villain). Well, at least they learned from their mistakes and brought up the twins properly.
Not really related to the above but I always found the ending of ROCH a little sad, however understandable. At the end of LOCH, Guo Jing and Huang Rong are out in the world, doing cool things. At the end of ROCH, Yang Guo and XLN are in that cave, to live there forever and ever and never bother with the outside world again - just be with each other. I don't particularly blame them, all they got since leaving the cave was misery, but I still find it a little sad.
In conclusion, have a Yang Guo/XLN mv. They are so my favorite wuxia couple.
Click to view