History Literature / WaterMargin

* JustLikeRobinHood: The Liangshan Marsh bandits do occasionally steal from the rich and give to the poor, especially under Song Jiang's leadership. More often, though, their game-plan is either 'steal from the rich, ignore the poor' or 'steal from the rich, slaughter the poor'. Since the historical Song Jiang was active in 1121, and he became a legendary folk hero long before the novel was written, this likely makes the trope [[OlderThanTheyThink older than Robin Hood himself]]; ''Water Margin'' or the stories it was based on may be the UrExample.

The earliest surviving example of the {{Wuxia}} genre, ''Water Margin'' has been translated many times, and adapted to other media such as film, television and comics. Probably the best known adaptation is the successful 1973 Nippon Television series which was broadcast in many countries, effectively introducing this epic work to Western popular culture. Perhaps the ''second'' best known, and much much looser, adaptation is the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' video game series (more accurately, only the first game, with the rest of the series simply repeating the motif of 108 protagonists). Other video game adaptations include Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s TurnBasedStrategy game ''Bandit Kings of Ancient China'' and Creator/DataEast's FightingGame ''Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty''. The ''third'' known adaptation of the story is the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/Hero108''.

* CulturalTranslation: Adaptations for western audiences are often pitched as "the Chinese ''RobinHood''".

The earliest surviving example of the {{Wuxia}} genre, ''Water Margin'' has been translated many times, and adapted to other media such as film, television and comics. Probably the best known adaptation is the successful 1973 Nippon Television series which was broadcast in many countries, effectively introducing this epic work to Western popular culture. Perhaps the ''second'' best known, and much much looser, adaptation is the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' video game series. Mostly just the first game, with the rest drawing basically ''nothing'' from the original story other than the concept of 108 protagonists. (Other video game adaptations include Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s TurnBasedStrategy game ''Bandit Kings of Ancient China'' and Creator/DataEast's FightingGame ''Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty''.) The ''third'' known adaptation of the story is the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/Hero108''.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Bribery is not just for the rich, but for everyone, so it's more like "The Rules Screw You If You Don't Have Money". Venality is portrayed as a way of life in the Song Dynasty[note]]more specifically, during Huizong's reign[[/note]], to the point that officials often expect a "tip" just for doing their jobs correctly. Even relatively honorable characters will sometimes accept a bribe just to avoid giving offense. Note that the "rules" that are screwed by money aren't limited to those of the government, but sometimes include the chivalrous tenets of the "gallant fraternity". For example, Wang Lun tries to buy off men who want to join the Liangshan outlaws if he's afraid they'll show him up.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Wu Song's brother and his wife, Wu Dalang (also known as "Three Inches of Mulberry Bark") and Pan Jinlian (also known as "Golden Lotus"). Neither is enormously happy with the situation. Apparently their neighbors know this trope as "a luscious piece of meat landing in a dog's mouth".
** There's also the marriage between the marriage between Wang Ying, [[DepravedDwarf a bandit known for his]] [[{{Gonk}} odd looks,]] [[DepravedDwarf short height and also for being a bit of a pervert]], and the notably beautiful LadyOfWar Hu Sanniang. While Wang was obviously enthralled (though not exactly in a romantic way), Hu was unsurprisingly unhappy, though it worked out eventually.

* KarmaHoudini: Gao Qiu and his cadre of corrupt officials, who are never punished for any of their misdeeds during Emperor Huizong's reign, up to and including poisoning Song Jiang. TruthInTelevision, as Emperor Huizong did not take any action against them. [[note]]Historically, Gao Qiu died in 1126, during the first year of Emperor Qinzong's reign (Huizong abdicated due to the Jurchen Jin invasion). His death went unmourned and he was posthumously stripped of his titles. Cai Jing was exiled and later died en-route to his place of exile. Tong Guan was executed and his head displayed in the capital. [[/note]]

* OneSteveLimit: Played with. There are two notable Zhang Qings, who are both part of the bandits, that appear in the story. The first to appear was "Gardener" Zhang Qing, the owner of an InnOfNoReturn, and the second, "Feathered Arrow" Zhang Qing, was an imperial officer who turned to the outlaws. Clarity is only provided to a certain degree in that the "Qing" is altered by three strokes to seperate the officer (“张清”) from the inkeep (“张青”), and the fact that both characters are pronounced the same means that their monikers are almost always going to be mentioned to mitigate the confusion.
** Also played with in the three characters named "Madam Wang", each more fleshed out than the last. The first Madam Wang, Lin Chong's, was little more than a name in the crowd. The second, Song Jiang's, was a matchmaker who played a minor role in his story. The third Madam Wang, the teahouse owner, is the most prominent of the three, as she was instrumental in facilitating the murder of Wu Dalang. There are hints that these three Madam Wangs are one and the same, though it's left up to reader interpretation. [[note]]In the TV adaptations, the latter two "Madam Wang"s are made to be seperate characters, possibly to remove the need to turn Song Jiang's into the full-fledged HateSink that Wu Song's is notorious for being.[[/note]]

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Bribery is not just for the rich, but for everyone, so it's more like The Rules Screw You If You Don't Have Money. Venality is portrayed as a way of life in the Song Dynasty [[note]]more specifically, during Huizong's reign[[/note]], to the point that officials often expect a "tip" just for doing their jobs correctly. Even relatively honorable characters will sometimes accept a bribe just to avoid giving offense. Note that the "rules" that are screwed by money aren't limited to those of the government, but sometimes include the chivalrous tenets of the "gallant fraternity". For example, Wang Lun tries to buy off men who want to join the Liangshan outlaws if he's afraid they'll show him up.

* BigThinShortTrio: The three top leaders of Liangshan, Song Jiang (short), Lu Junyi (big) and Wu Yong (thin).

* BigBad: Gao Qiu, the Song Emperor's corrupt and none-too-competent EvilChancellor, although Emperor Huizong probably was a better candidate for the role. [[note]]The author downplayed Huizong's role in a probable attempt to get the novel past censors. Historically, Huizong allowed corruption to grow so massively that his reign saw the rise of what became known as the "Six Evils", which included Cai Jing and Tong Guan. In addition, his reign so weakened the Northern Song that less than two years after his abdication, the Jurchen Jin managed to capture Kaifeng and abducted basically everyone belonging to his branch of the imperial Zhao clan. This included himself and his successor Qinzong. Only his ninth son escaped capture, and later became Emperor Gaozong of the ''Southern'' Song.[[/note]]