| 1 | The character sheet for VideoGame/JadeEmpire. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | '''Beware of spoilers!''' |
| 4 | ---- |
| 5 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | !The Spirit Monk |
| 8 | [[folder:The Spirit Monk]] |
| 9 | !!The Spirit Monk |
| 10 | [[quoteright:199:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_player_character.jpg]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:199:From top to bottom: Furious Ming, Lu The Prodigy, Radiant Jen Zi, Ling The Scholar, Tiger Shen, Wu The Lotus Blossom, and Monk Zeng]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The PlayerCharacter. Master Li's favorite pupil. Shortly after learning that s/he is the last Spirit Monk, his/her hometown of Two Rivers is [[DoomedHometown destroyed]] and Master Li is captured. This prompts him/her to go on a journey to find Master Li and learn what his/her destiny is. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | There's less CharacterCustomization available for player characters than is usual in [=BioWare=] games — instead of using a character creator to modify appearance and change starting stats, players select one out of six or seven (depending on edition) pre-designed characters. The characters start with different fighting styles, but can learn others in the course of gameplay. They have names attached to them (specifically: Furious Ming, Lu the Prodigy, Radiant Jen Zi, Scholar Ling, Tiger Shen, Wu the Lotus Blossom, and Monk Zeng), although players can change these if they like. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: A Closed Fist Spirit Monk sees themselves as superior to everyone else on account of their skill and strength. |
| 19 | * BareFistedMonk: You start the game with only martial arts attacks. |
| 20 | * CallingYourAttacks: Loudly announces every style they bring into combat. |
| 21 | * CameBackStrong: In Chapter 6, [[spoiler: you return to life after Master Li kills you. You don't need the amulet to channel gems anymore, you are capable of doing new and potent things with your Spirit Monk powers, you finally know who the true enemy is and all the ghosts and demons you fought in the meantime made for wonderful training. Plus, you've had time to correct the flaw in your style that Master Li used to kill you the first go 'round.]] |
| 22 | * CanonName: Each of the Spirit Monks have default names, such as Furious Ming, Lu the Prodigy, Radiant Jen Zi, and so on. The extra character in the ''Special[=/=]Limited Edition'' version of the game is named Monk Zeng. |
| 23 | * TheChosenOne: [[spoiler:DoubleSubverted]]. There's nothing particularly special about you [[spoiler:Spirit Monk]] wise, you're just a kid who was born a few days before shit went down. However with [[spoiler:Sun Li's training]] and your status as the last of your kind you're the only person in a position to end the problem of the walking dead. |
| 24 | * CoolBigSis: How Dawn Star sees you if you're female. |
| 25 | * DeadpanSnarker: In true Bioware tradition, almost every dialogue has a potential snarky response. |
| 26 | * DoomedHometown: Twice, losing Dirge (born) and Two Rivers (raised). |
| 27 | * FakeWeakness: There's a subtle "flaw" built into their style that causes skilled opponents to waste time in the fight trying to exploit it. Several NPC opponents will compliment the character on the cleverness of the gambit. [[spoiler: It turns out to be a real flaw, but only Master Li has the specific knowledge needed to exploit it.]] |
| 28 | * FighterMageThief: When choosing your character, you have four styles to choose from: Wu the Lotus Blossom and Lu the Prodigy are [[JackOfAllStats "Balanced"]], Furious Ming and Radient Jen Zi are [[FragileSpeedster "Fast"]], Monk Zheng and Ling the Scholar are [[SquishyWizard "Magic"]], and Tiger Shen is the only "Strong" character. |
| 29 | * GodEmperor: [[spoiler:In the Closed Fist ending after absorbing the power of the Water Dragon, you become the God Emperor.]] |
| 30 | * InstantExpert: You character can can master new martial arts styles in a matter of a few in-story hours. It's implied that you're a prodigy, and also that Master Li is such a damn good teacher that the fundamentals in which he trained you make picking up everything else a breeze. |
| 31 | * LaserGuidedTykebomb: [[spoiler:Master Li raised the Spirit Monk to kill the Emperor..]] |
| 32 | * LastOfHisKind: The only surviving Spirit Monk. |
| 33 | * MartialPacifist: The "Open Palm" path has you try to avoid conflict unless necessary to save yourself or others. |
| 34 | * MrFanservice: On the male side of things, we have Furious Ming, who is a WalkingShirtlessScene. This is acknowledged in-universe. Lu the Prodigy is also quite easy on the eyes as well, while Tiger Shen and Monk Zeng rock a more tradtional sage look similar to Sagacious Zu, which can be attractive in their own ways. |
| 35 | * MsFanservice: All three female player models have an aspect of fanservice: |
| 36 | ** Wu the Lotus Blossom bares her midriff and hikes up some Grade-A ZettaiRyouiki. |
| 37 | ** Scholar Ling has a CleavageWindow and a bust that [[HiddenBuxom may be even more bountiful than they already appear]]. |
| 38 | ** Radiant Jen Zi has legs as distractive as Dawn Star's. |
| 39 | * MoralityPet: Unless [[spoiler: the full Sagacious Zu subplot is complete, and she learns her father's true identity]], Dawn Star is this even to a Closed Fist character. |
| 40 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: The spiritual powers the Monk has let them defeat all manner of supernatural threats, but aren’t anything special by Spirit Monk standards. If anything, they’re less spiritually potent than than they should be because they couldn’t receive formal training without other Spirit Monks alive. |
| 41 | * TheParalyzer: Through use of Support Styles, which inflict a variety of status effects. |
| 42 | * PantyShot: Doing a forward roll as Radiant Jen Zi or Wu the Lotus Blossom gives you a quick flash of her panties. |
| 43 | * PlayerCharacter: You only control other characters under very specific circumstances. |
| 44 | * SentIntoHiding: Was secreted away and hidden from the world and their siblings by the BigBad, while they concocted a master plan that would involve using the said monk as means to achieve the title of Emperor, and ultimately, godhood and immortal life. |
| 45 | * TheSocialDarwinist: A Closed Fist Spirit Monk believes that the weak have no purpose beyond serving the strong. |
| 46 | * UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:"He trained you to fight a tyrant, but with a flaw. He wanted you to be vulnerable in your moment of triumph"]]. |
| 47 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: One of the more powerful abilities you can pick up, verging on a GameBreaker with the Jade Golem transformation. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | !Followers |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Dawn Star]] |
| 53 | !!Dawn Star |
| 54 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_dawn_star.jpg]] |
| 55 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/KimMaiGuest |
| 56 | |
| 57 | The Spirit Monk's childhood friend. She has the ability to sense spirits that cannot be seen by anyone else. This has led to her being scorned by most of the townsfolk of Two Rivers. She was named after a bright fire that was seen when she was born. A potential love interest for a male Spirit Monk. |
| 58 | ---- |
| 59 | * ActionGirl: According to Master Li, her skills complement those of the player character. |
| 60 | * AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Shunned by many of the villagers who are wary of her ability to communicate with the dead. You can help her to deal with this in two ways: if you're Open Palm, you can persuade her that her powers are a gift and not a curse, and she's not to blame for the others picking on her. Doing this will clear up her emotional issues since she'll start defining herself by the good she does rather than the ignorant opinions of other people. If you're Closed Fist, you can persuade her that the others will stop picking on her if she starts acting powerful and strong, like they're all beneath her and she should take what she wants. Doing this will give her a huge confidence boost [[spoiler: but she'll also start approving of villainous behavior]]. |
| 61 | * AwfulTruth: Finding out that [[spoiler: Master Li is her father]] has a large impact on all of her endings, and not necessarily in a good way. [[spoiler: Notably, if the player takes over the Empire and she ''doesn't'' know, she becomes a moderating influence on them, helping to make the nation a strong, prosperous place that sees to the people's needs, if not their wants. Finding out turns her into a cold, cruel tyrant.]] |
| 62 | * BettyAndVeronica: Dawn Star as the nice, empathetic, GirlNextDoor Betty and Silk Fox as the Veronica. |
| 63 | * ChildhoodFriendRomance: The Spirit Monk is her oldest friend and she's a potential love interest for a male Spirit Monk. Whether she's victorious or unlucky depends on the player. |
| 64 | * TheEmpath: She is sensitive to the spiritual world. This sometimes causes problems in places like, for example, Tien's Landing, which is filled with the spirits of all the people who were killed in the flooding. |
| 65 | * FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:If you romance Dawn Star after having persuaded her to follow the Way of the Closed Fist, she'll back you up when you do morally questionable things like bind Death's Hand or take the Water Dragon's power for yourself. However, it's relative based on whether she learns that Sun Li is her father and never cared about her. If she never learns the truth, then she becomes [[MoralityPet a tempering influence]] on the Spirit Monk, and together they lead the Empire into a strong and prosperous future. However, if she does learn the truth, she becomes very bitter and grows to be just as cruel as the Spirit Monk, leading the Empire into a totalitarian age.]] |
| 66 | * FireForgedFriends: Spends much of the game arguing with Silk Fox, but they come to respect each other after fighting together at the bridge of Dirge. |
| 67 | * TheHeart: Even if she undergoes CharacterDevelopment into a Closed Fist character, she remains largely compassionate and caring. [[spoiler: Finding out Master Li's true identity, however, is quite a blow to her.]] If she [[spoiler:never learns the truth about Sun Li]] and is romanced by the Spirit Monk, [[spoiler:she manages to turn even the evil ending into something of a good ending as by tempering the Spirit Monk's more forceful actions with compassion, they together lead the Jade Empire into a prosperous age.]] |
| 68 | * HeroesPreferSwords: She uses a militia blade called Gujin's Favor. If you control her in Dirge, she has a chance to gain a stronger sword called [[LegendaryWeapon Thorn and Shining Carp]]. |
| 69 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: With the female Spirit Monk. The two of you are very close and she loves you like a sister. |
| 70 | * KissingCousins: With [[spoiler: Silk Fox, her father's brother's daughter, in the three-way romance path, although it is [[SurpriseIncest unwitting on both parties' ends]] at the time.]] |
| 71 | * LegFocus: If you have her with you when you recruit the Black Whirlwind, he jokes that she could [[ShowSomeLeg distract their enemies by flashing her legs]]. |
| 72 | * {{Leitmotif}}: Her theme music is named after her. It sounds very rural and calm, like the time before you two lose your home. |
| 73 | * LikeBrotherAndSister: If you're playing a male Spirit Monk and you don't romance Dawn Star (either because you're romancing Silk Fox or Sky or have chosen to forgo romance entirely), you and Dawn Star have this kind of close relationship. |
| 74 | * LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:Subverted when Master Li doesn't believe her and tells her that he wouldn't care if he did.]] |
| 75 | * MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:Her name is a reference to the fires of Dirge burning, which, from the place of her birth, gave the appearance of a sunrise]]. |
| 76 | * UnhappyMedium: Her sensitivity to the supernatural realm caused her to be ostrazicized and causes her some pain. The Spirit Monk can encourage her to make peace with her power. |
| 77 | * YoureNotMyFather: She has a chance to tell this to [[spoiler:Master Li]] during the final confrontation in two ways (depending on whatever she remains an Open Palm or has been turned into a Closed Fist character). |
| 78 | -->''(Open Palm version)'' "I'm not sure what I expected my father to be, but I remember a time when I hoped he was someone like you. Not any more." |
| 79 | -->''(Closed Fist version)'' "I always thought I had been abandoned. It was not until just now that I knew for certain. If I am dead to you, then you are dead to me." |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Sagacious Zu]] |
| 83 | !!Sagacious Zu |
| 84 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_zu.jpg]] |
| 85 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/RobinAtkinDownes |
| 86 | |
| 87 | A hermit who the Spirit Monk meets in the swamp outside of Two Rivers. After Two Rivers is destroyed, he admits to being a former Lotus Assassin and agrees to accompany the party for his own reasons. |
| 88 | |
| 89 | ---- |
| 90 | * TheAtoner: Your friends speculate that the reason he's doing his best to help you is to make up for [[spoiler: being complicit in the genocide of the spirit monks.]] |
| 91 | * BadassBoast: Gives one in his introduction scene to Gao's mercenaries before killing them. |
| 92 | -->''"I am no common bandit! I've been hunted by far worse than you!"'' |
| 93 | * BlamedForBeingRailroaded: Downplayed. He dislikes that you need to infiltrate the Lotus Assassins in order to find evidence of their wrong doings. You don't really have any alternative, but Zu doesn't hold it against you. |
| 94 | * DeadpanSnarker: His sense of humor is extremely biting and sarcastic. |
| 95 | * DefectorFromDecadence: He once believed in the ideal of being an assassin for the greater good, but was able to understand how far his order was falling [[spoiler: when he was ordered to kill Master Li's infant daughter]]. |
| 96 | * EnemyMine: [[spoiler: In the Closed Fist ending, he still pulls his NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay ploy to save you. He knows that you ''may'' become a tyrant after you kill Sun Li, but Sun Li ''is'' a tyrant, and killing him has a chance of making things better.]] |
| 97 | * FakeDefector: [[spoiler:Leaves your party to go to the Lotus Assassin fortress, but helps you while there]]. |
| 98 | * GoodScarsEvilScars: A weird mixture of the two, but he IS covered in them, head to toe. |
| 99 | * HeelRealization: [[spoiler:As a Lotus assassin, he honestly thought he was doing necessarily evil acts to keep the empire in order until the above incident.]] |
| 100 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:He gives you enough time to escape Death's Hand by tricking Death's Hand into destroying the pillars holding the ceiling up, but Sagacious Zu is killed in the process.]] |
| 101 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Is stabbed by the sword of Death's Hand before they're buried by rumble.]] |
| 102 | * MartialArtsStaff: He fights with a staff that bears resemblance to the Demon Staff that's accessible to the player in the PC version only. |
| 103 | * MyMasterRightOrWrong: [[spoiler:Even knowing that the Lotus Assassins are evil, he often finds himself defending the Emperor and denying that he could know about the Assassins' wrongdoing]] |
| 104 | * NonIndicativeName: Zu's title is the same as of the first emperor, Sagacious Tien. Upon first hearing it, the player can question the compatibility. |
| 105 | -->'''The player''': I don't picture a thoughtful and perceptive emperor fighting in a swamp. |
| 106 | -->'''Zu''': I see your point. There are differences. Tien was a knowledgeable man, whereas I feel that a person can sometimes think too much. |
| 107 | * NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: During the final battle, [[spoiler:his spirit shows up and frees you from Li's mind trap.]] Justified by the [[spoiler:cycle of souls being blocked, preventing all spirits from moving on until the Water Dragon's power is released]]. |
| 108 | * PragmaticHero: He's not above killing enemy minions who have surrendered. As a whole, he represents the Closed Fist in its more philosophical, less-evil forms. |
| 109 | -->'''Hui the Brave''': Zu is an honorable man. Not a good man, perhaps, but an honorable one. |
| 110 | * RedRightHand: His hands are visibly discolored with black ink, marking him as a former Lotus Assassin. Since he was part of the order before they became corrupt it may be dyed with dye, not blood as with more recent members. |
| 111 | * RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Apart from the killing of Li's family, he has no remorse about what he did.]] |
| 112 | * ShellShockedVeteran: He hides it under a cynical and unpleasant attitude, but he's had years and years to reflect on the thing's he's done, and they haven't always been kind. |
| 113 | * StealthExpert: He's so good at stealth that he [[spoiler:sneaks out of your camp without anyone noticing, makes it inside the Lotus Assassins' fortress without the Watcher, the Lotus Assassins' doorkeeper who can spot all but the most skilled infiltrators, being any the wiser, and no one but you is aware of his presence until the arrival of Death's Hand]]. |
| 114 | * StealthHiBye: [[spoiler:Frequently in the Lotus Assassin Fortress.]] |
| 115 | * WhamLine: After mentioning the Lotus Assassins with accuracy, he says "I... I was one." |
| 116 | * ZenSurvivor: Despite his brutal worldview and private remorse, he has still attained a kind of enlightened non-attachment. [[spoiler: His spirit even remains whole and sane after his death to assist you in the final battle.]] |
| 117 | [[/folder]] |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[folder:Silk Fox]] |
| 120 | !!Silk Fox |
| 121 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_silk_fox.jpg]] |
| 122 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/MasasaMoyo |
| 123 | |
| 124 | A ninja-like figure who attacks the party after their flier crashes, believing them responsible for the destruction of Two Rivers. A potential love interest for a Spirit Monk of either gender. |
| 125 | ---- |
| 126 | * ActionGirl: She exhibits cool moves when the animation is less rigid. |
| 127 | * BettyAndVeronica: Silk Fox as the feisty, mysterious [[spoiler: rich and powerful]] Veronica and Dawn Star as the Betty. For the [[GayOption female PC]], she's also the Veronica to Sky's Betty. |
| 128 | * BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Let's just say her father is NOT being manipulated by Death's Hand (indeed, it is the exact inverse) and she is not happy to find that out. She wonders if the revelation that Li was the mastermind [[RebuiltPedestal absolves him]], but realizes that it does not.]] |
| 129 | * ContinueYourMissionDammit: She dislikes it when you go around accepting sidequests instead of continuing on your main quest, often voicing her displeasure. |
| 130 | * DatingCatwoman: Well, the dating part occurs afterwards, but you meet her as an enigmatic enemy until she realizes that you are both seeking to achieve the same goal. |
| 131 | * DeathGlare: Gives one to Kang when he's being disrespectful to her. |
| 132 | * DefrostingIceQueen: While open to the idea of working with you because your goals are similar, she doesn't trust you and has a mild disdain for your colleagues. Her relationship with them improves as the game goes on. |
| 133 | %% * EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Borderline case, in-game. |
| 134 | * FireForgedFriends: Spends much of the game arguing with Dawn Star, but they come to respect each other after fighting together at the bridge of Dirge. |
| 135 | * GayOption: For lesbian characters. |
| 136 | * HappilyMarried: In her epilogue if romanced by the male character. |
| 137 | * HeroesPreferSwords: She uses a long sword called Captain's Blade. If you take control of her in Dirge, she has a chance to gain a stronger sword called [[LegendaryWeapon Blade of the Broken Bough]]. |
| 138 | * ItWasAGift: [[spoiler:As the Princess, has an attendant give you]] a gem at the start of Act III. |
| 139 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Typically snipes at the other party members, especially Dawn Star, but cares strongly about doing the right thing. Her "journal entry" during the segment of the game the player can play as her actually has her making a few backhanded compliments towards Dawn Star. |
| 140 | * KissingCousins: With [[spoiler: Dawn Star, her father's brother's daughter, in the three-way romance path, although it is [[SurpriseIncest unwitting on both parties' ends]] at the time.]] |
| 141 | * {{Leitmotif}}: Named after her, it's mysterious but with a certain gravitas befitting her. |
| 142 | * McNinja: An unusual non-white example. Silk Fox's character design is heavily based on the ninja stereotype of an agile stealthy assassin in a black suit and mask, but that stereotype is ''Japanese'' rather than ''Chinese''. |
| 143 | * MysteriousVeil: She uses one to cover the lower half of her face. [[spoiler:She eventually stops wearing it from the 4th chapter onward.]] |
| 144 | * RebelliousPrincess: [[spoiler:Double subverted. Her activities, while unorthodox, are all undertaken as part of what she sees as her princessly duty to the Empire. Unfortunately for her, circumstances eventually demand that she rebel for real.]] |
| 145 | ** [[spoiler: Also, there's an example in her ending that can either be playing this trope straight or subverting this trope. If you follow the Way of the Open Palm and persuade Silk Fox that all of the restricting traditions actually have a good use, she'll become a wise ruler when she inherits the throne, because in Jade Empire's setting, rebelling against the heavenly order isn't a good thing. This subverts the trope. On the other hand, if you follow the Way of the Closed Fist and persuade Silk Fox that she should do whatever she wants, she plays the trope straight as a princess and as a ruler, she becomes a tyrant.]] |
| 146 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Secretly, admittedly, but she ''does'' try to act as a vigilante against Death's Hand's schemes. [[spoiler: She drops this on the Open Palm path... but only because she turns out to be a talented administrator, preserving the spirit of the trope.]] |
| 147 | * SitComArchNemesis: She seems to really dislike Dawn Star for whatever reason, perhaps because Dawn Star is a compassionate commoner whereas Silk Fox is a pragmatic princess. |
| 148 | * {{Tsundere}}: Downplayed, but she's still clearly very used to getting her way, and doesn't always react well to the player's lack of courtly manners. |
| 149 | * UptownGirl: To the protagonist, if the romance option is pursued. This is discussed in their dialogue. |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder:Sky]] |
| 153 | !!Sky |
| 154 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_sky.jpg]] |
| 155 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/CamClarke |
| 156 | |
| 157 | A LovableRogue who seeks revenge on the crime lord Gao the Greater. A potential love interest for a Spirit Monk of either gender. |
| 158 | ---- |
| 159 | * BerserkButton: Slavery of any kind. ItsPersonal, you see. He may not give a rip about [[spoiler:The Laws of Heaven, but he is pretty ticked about the Brothers Sun enslaving a goddess.]] |
| 160 | * BettyAndVeronica: The chill and gentle Betty to Silk Fox's Veronica. |
| 161 | * DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Late in the game, Death's Hand and the Lotus Assassins, off-screen, offer Sky a deal where they offer to restore his dead wife and daughter back to life if Sky would first lead the Spirit Monk into their trap. He does lead you into their trap, so at first it ''looks'' like he took the deal...only to reveal that he set his ''own'' trap, and he uses explosives he rigged earlier to kill the assassins, so you only have to fight Death's Hand. This was Sky's plan all along when he seemed to accept their offer.]] |
| 162 | * DualWielding: Fights with two curved swords at once when set to attack enemies. |
| 163 | * DyingAlone: In the unused ending for Sky, he dies alone after drinking poisoned wine, and is implied to have said the Spirit Monk's name as he died. |
| 164 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: He gets the drop on some of Gao's men, then proceeds to taunt the others and mentions that you're with him, drawing you into his fight. This establishes him as a skilled fighter who's headstrong and tends to make cunning if reckless plans on the fly. |
| 165 | * FakeDefector: [[spoiler:Lets Death's Hand into the inner Dirge Temple under offer of his daughter being brought back to life, so that he can spring a trap on him]]. |
| 166 | * GayOption: If the player is a gay male. |
| 167 | * GentlemanThief: He's one of your nicer companions, but isn't above petty robbery. |
| 168 | * GoodCounterpart: To Gao the Greater. They both lead a life of crime, but while Sky is a LoveableRogue who hates anything related to slavery, Gao makes profit out of it as the leader of the Guild. They both want revenge after they lose [[spoiler:their children]]. Depending on the player's choices, Sky [[spoiler:takes Gao's position as the Guild's leader and either [[GoodRunningEvil turns them on a more honorable path]] or [[MeetTheNewBoss keeps them the same]]]]. |
| 169 | * GoodRunningEvil: [[spoiler:Takes over the Guild in every ending, assuming he's still alive. If he's Open Palm, it's this, with him taking the syndicate back to its honorable, semi-honest roots.]] |
| 170 | * HeartbrokenBadass: Despite his laid-back demeanor, he clearly [[spoiler: misses his deceased wife and little girl with all his being]]. |
| 171 | * HideYourGays: In order to have a same-sex romance with him, you have to make it absolutely clear that you are not interested in neither Dawn Star nor Silk Fox (which pretty much means you have to insult them) and then say the right things to him. Even then, the scene where you kiss is censored (but easily restored on the PC version.) |
| 172 | * {{Leitmotif}}: Named after him, it's playful and mischievous, much like his character. |
| 173 | * LadykillerInLove: Starts of playfully flirting with you, but he doesn't know quite what to make of you at first. It will eventually evolve into love if you return his affections. |
| 174 | * LovableRogue: He's generally a sort of Han Solo figure, a compassionate criminal with standards and sympathetic motives. [[spoiler: If you're a female Closed Fist player and you romance him, the ending mentions that he becomes a villain instead.]] |
| 175 | * MeetTheNewBoss: [[spoiler:If he's Closed Fist, this is what happens when he takes over the Guild at the end of the game.]] |
| 176 | * RetiredBadass: He was an adventurous thief in his youth, but after the death of his wife in childbirth left him a single father, he settled down to [[CallToAgriculture be a peaceful farmer]] for many years. Then the death of his daughter forced him to employ his old skills again as part of his RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 177 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: On one when the player meets him. In cut content, [[spoiler:if the player decides not to forgive him for his betrayal, he resumes fighting against the people behind Gao until he ultimately gets poisoned]]. |
| 178 | * TheSneakyGuy: He tends to perform reconnaissance without informing the rest of his companions. He ends up getting in a tussle the last time he tries this, but it's nothing too serious. |
| 179 | * VengeanceDenied: [[spoiler:Sky does not manage to reach Gao the Greater until after the player kills him.]] |
| 180 | [[/folder]] |
| 181 | |
| 182 | [[folder:The Black Whirlwind]] |
| 183 | !!The Black Whirlwind |
| 184 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_black_whirlwind.jpg]] |
| 185 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/VictorBrandt |
| 186 | |
| 187 | A mercenary who is most famous for storming a fortress while [[FullFrontalAssault naked]], [[ScreamingWarrior screaming]], and [[DrunkenMaster drunk.]] |
| 188 | ---- |
| 189 | * AbusiveParents: His father, whom he killed as a very young man. |
| 190 | * AxCrazy: Heh. More seriously, he isn't usually ''crazy'' unless he's drunk. (He's usually drunk.) |
| 191 | * BloodKnight: He loves to fight, so much so that even the announcer starts calling him on it if he [[spoiler: slaughters over one-hundred enemies during his personal battle sequence at the Siege of Dirge]]. |
| 192 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: His stories usually involve him committing horrifying acts of violence, drunk or not. He doesn't seem to comprehend your issues with his past actions. |
| 193 | * BoisterousBruiser: Whirlwind is loud, impulsive, and happiest when he's either drinking or fighting. If he can do both at the same time, he considers it even better. |
| 194 | * BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: He's a mad man who enjoys drinking and fighting more than anything else. He wields [[DualWielding two axes]]. |
| 195 | * ButLiquorIsQuicker: After a drinking spree, he sometimes finds himself in someone's bed with no idea how he got there. |
| 196 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: He mistakes you for a ghost and attacks you. After you beat him up, he joins out of admiration. |
| 197 | * DisproportionateRetribution: He once conquered the entire southern continent just because one of its inhabitants stole his wine. |
| 198 | * DrunkenMaster: Played with, in that his being a drunk makes him a better fighter, but has led to many life problems. Still, during the [[spoiler: Dirge battle sequence]], he can top off his pools by chugging some wine. |
| 199 | -->'''Spear Catches Leaf''': How can you fight so well when all you do is drink? |
| 200 | -->'''The Black Whirlwind''': It's harder to drink your watered down swill than face those ghosts. |
| 201 | * DumbIsGood: Fully averted. The Black Whirlwind isn't a ''stupid'' man, per se, but while he exhibits all the impulsive naivete associated with this trope, it tends to end in tears for other people and not getting money or wine for him. |
| 202 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: His meeting with you showcases his love of combat and his tendency to act before thinking. |
| 203 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Disgusted by a man forcing a girl to go into the dangerous crypts to pay back her debt under threat of being sent to the Wall. He also dislikes the treatment of the [[spoiler: dead Water Dragon,]] believing she, like any opponent, deserved a clean and final death, not being [[spoiler: strung up like a trophy]]. |
| 204 | * {{Expy}}: Of the Black Whirlwind Li Kui from Literature/WaterMargin. They're identical right down to appearance and armament. |
| 205 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Your companions are generally terrible at combat, and you'd really only use them for support skills or to distract the bad guys. Black Whirlwind is no exception. |
| 206 | ** GameplayAndStoryIntegration: However, [[spoiler: when you actually get to play as him]], he effortlessly cuts through swathes of Lotus Assassins. |
| 207 | * ICallItVera: His axes, the Twins. |
| 208 | * JudgmentOfSolomon: Spoofed in one of his stories. He didn't ''threaten'' to cut a love triangle's woman in half - he straight up ''did it''. Understandably, both sides weren't happy with this and attacked him, only to be cut down as well. |
| 209 | * LetsYouAndHimFight: How you first encounter him. The forest he is in has become filled with hostile ghosts, and when you first meet Black Whirlwind, he thinks ''you're'' a ghost, and immediately attacks without listening to reason. |
| 210 | * MathematiciansAnswer: If asked how could he have passed on the JudgmentOfSolomon above, he answers that it was easy because of the woman's petite built and the sharpness of his axes. |
| 211 | * MercyKill: [[spoiler:His finishing off his brother, who was brainwashed to serve as the Ravager]] can be interpreted as this. |
| 212 | * OneManArmy: He has faced entire armies more than once in the past. And you gain control over him against the Imperial Army in Dirge, giving you the chance to slay more than one hundred opponents. |
| 213 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The name of "the Black Whirlwind" was probably gained during one of his raids (he can't remember for sure) and it stuck. |
| 214 | * ParentalAbandonment: He killed his abusive father, and his mother disowned him. |
| 215 | * PreAsskickingOneLiner: Should the Kai Lan sidequest happen and Lucky Cho attacks you, Whirlwind makes an epic line while brandishing his axes. |
| 216 | -->''"I've been waiting for this. Time to cut off the Serpent's tail!"'' |
| 217 | * RedBaron: Unlike most examples of this trope, Whirlwind goes by his title in his everyday life. It was considered intimidating enough to pass as his [[spoiler:Imperial Arena fighter]] alias. During the battle of Dirge, he gains several more titles as he kills more and more Lotus Assassins; "Bringer of pain", "Destroyer of lives" and "Ravager of the ages". |
| 218 | * RefugeInAudacity: His backstory and his ending. Never have killing and mutilating lots of mostly innocent people sounded more fun! |
| 219 | * SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: The opposite of Henpecked Hou, Whirlwind has no support form and can only attack, and he's not exactly what you'd call smart, although he does have a certain brutal wit. He makes up for this by being very, very good at fighting. |
| 220 | * SelfMadeOrphan: He killed his abusive father. |
| 221 | * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The manly man to Henpecked Hou's sensitive guy, being the BoisterousBruiser with an affinity for drinking while Hou's a babbling NonActionGuy. |
| 222 | * TokenEvilTeammate: This man revels in wanton violence and has committed a number of atrocities that can barely be justified. The only reason one wouldn't mark him as completely evil is because he doesn't actually believe anything he's doing is wrong. |
| 223 | * WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Deconstructed. Black Whirlwind does not recognise any forms of conflict resolution that don't involve blood and violence. While he has managed to parlay this attitude into a somewhat successful career as a mercenary, it is made painfully clear just how much that attitude has cost him socially, emotionally and financially. |
| 224 | * YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Ostensibly he's working for you as a mercenary, but it never really comes up much and he gets treated like any other companion. But he calls you 'master' when asking to fight Kai Lan because he really, ''really'' wants to kill him. |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 | |
| 227 | [[folder:Wild Flower]] |
| 228 | !!Wild Flower |
| 229 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_wild_flower10.jpg]] |
| 230 | [[caption-width-right:300:With Chai Ka, top; and with Ya Zhen, below.]] |
| 231 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/NickyPugh |
| 232 | |
| 233 | A little girl who channels two opposing demons, Chai Ka and Ya Zhen, each of whom is a separate combat/support follower. The two demons only appear in combat, however -- the rest of time, Wild Flower will be the one following you. |
| 234 | |
| 235 | ---- |
| 236 | * BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:She was killed during the flooding of Old Tien's Landing, but was resurrected by Chai Ka. In the Open Palm ending, Chai Ka leaves her body and allows her to live on as a normal girl after finishing what needs to be done.]] |
| 237 | * BadassAdorable: A small young cheerful girl who transforms into a giant demon in combat. |
| 238 | * BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The final confrontation between Chai Ka and Ya Zhen.]] |
| 239 | * CheerfulChild: In fact, as she can explain in dialogue, it was Chai Ka who told her to be cheerful. |
| 240 | * CreepyChild: Not so much when Chai Ka is speaking through her, but with Ya Zhen, she has a sneering male voice and furious red aura. Also, she was intentionally designed to have unsettling facial features. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], since [[spoiler: she's a resurrected corpse who was rotting for ten years]]. |
| 241 | * ChildrenAreInnocent: Decidedly Open Palm in her responses to moral decisions. Also, even when the player isn't making a decision, Wild Flower has a noticeable distaste for {{Jerkass}} behavior in others. She can call Master Gang a jerk, or alternatively she can decide that Gang uses big words but seems small and lets others fight for him. She can also threaten Lotus Acolytes with the Guardian for being "bullies". |
| 242 | * KillerRabbit: She may be small, but once Chai Ka/Ya Zhen come out, it's ''over''. |
| 243 | * LittleGuyBigBuddy: The kid is pretty helpless on her own, but Chai Ka looks out for her and she thinks of him as her Guardian and friend. It's never stated outright how the big fellow actually sees her, but he is nice to her. |
| 244 | * WillingChanneler: To Chai Ka. She likes the big guy (although admittedly, it helps immensely that [[spoiler: Chai Ka ''brought her back to life'', so she has good reason to pay him back by letting him borrow her body sometimes]]). Ya Zhen is a different matter entirely. |
| 245 | * UnhappyMedium: She and Chai Ka have a good partnership and she thinks of the big guy as a friend, but she is ''not'' happy about Ya Zhen's treatment of her or having to be a host for him. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
| 247 | |
| 248 | [[folder:Chai Ka]] |
| 249 | !!Chai Ka |
| 250 | |
| 251 | A benevolent demon that is channeled by Wild Flower. He is often called "The Guardian." |
| 252 | |
| 253 | ---- |
| 254 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: Like Silk Fox, he demands a fight before he'll join you, as a result of mistaking you for an enemy. In his case, you find him right after the Lotus Assassins steal the amulet piece from him, and he mistakenly assumes you're one of them. |
| 255 | * GentleGiant: He ''looks'' monstrous, but he's gentle enough for a little girl to repeatedly speak of him in glowing praise and rely on him for advice on life. [[spoiler: Unless you take Ya Zhen's offer; then Chai Ka turns on you and you have to beat him.]] |
| 256 | * HybridMonster: Has the body of a bipedal lion, the face of a shisa, the [[HornedHumanoid horns of a goat]], and feathers growing out of his shoulders. |
| 257 | * LittleGuyBigBuddy: It's ambiguous as to how he actually sees Wild Flower, but he does look after her and treats her nicely. |
| 258 | * MightyGlacier: Slower than most of your combat companions, but able to sling people around with his horned headbutt. |
| 259 | * MyMasterRightOrWrong: He dislikes the actions taken by a Closed Fist Spirit Monk, but has sworn to serve him/her. [[spoiler:He changes his mind if you side with Ya Zhen.]] |
| 260 | * PapaWolf: Often fights with Ya Zhen and suppresses him so he doesn't take over Wild Flower. He isn't called "The Guardian" for no reason! [[spoiler:He even acts against his instructions by turning on you if you decide to free Ya Zhen and let him destroy Wild Flower's mind.]] |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:Ya Zhen]] |
| 264 | !!Ya Zhen |
| 265 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/GordMarriott |
| 266 | |
| 267 | A Toad Demon and Chai Ka's EvilCounterpart. He is trying to forcibly take over Wild Flower. He is often called "The Other." |
| 268 | |
| 269 | ---- |
| 270 | * AdmiringTheAbomination: When he sees [[spoiler:the Water Dragon's corpse that's cut open]], he is fascinated by it, and openly states that what it represents, the ambition to enslave one's own makers, is admirable. |
| 271 | * AmphibianAssault: He's a large toad that poisons his enemies with clawed flippers and tongue. |
| 272 | * AsLongAsThereIsEvil: He boasts that he'll endure as long as there's corruption in the mortal realm. |
| 273 | * AxCrazy: He freely admits that he hates everyone and wants to kill them. Good thing he's sufficiently pragmatic/restrained not to act against you or your party unless you side with Chai Ka against him. |
| 274 | * BastardUnderstudy: [[spoiler:If the played keeps Ya Zhen and goes through with the Open Palm ending, the demon keeps his word and serves the last Spirit Monk until they die, proceeding to follow his own ambitions afterwards. If the Spirit Monk becomes a tyrant in the Closed Fist ending, Ya Zhen proudly serves them while patiently biding his time.]] |
| 275 | * BrutalHonesty: One of the few remotely respectable things that can be said about him is that he doesn't try to lie about his evil intentions. |
| 276 | * CardCarryingVillain: He proudly admits he's thoroughly evil and murderous. |
| 277 | * DeadpanSnarker: He has a very dry and wry sense of humor. |
| 278 | * DealWithTheDevil: Offers one to the Spirit Monk: get rid of Chai Ka and let him possess Wild Flower, and Ya Zhen will make himself useful to the Spirit Monk. Unusually, he holds to the agreement quite peaceably, and serves the protagonist loyally without betraying them. |
| 279 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted; he has a higher pitch than Sagacious Zu and speaks in a sinister snake-like tone, while Chai Ka holds the deepest voice in any of your companions but speaks in a gentle, well-mannered tone. |
| 280 | * FatBastard: This vile demon has a bulky appearance that's noticeable when compared to the much leaner physique of the similarly sized GentleGiant Chai Ka. |
| 281 | * FrogMen: He's an anthropomorphic toad twice the height of humans. |
| 282 | * GreenAndMean: Your TokenEvilTeammate's skin is dark green. |
| 283 | * {{Jerkass}}: Even without the fact that he's a malevolent demon, he's always mildly condescending at minimum. |
| 284 | * MightyGlacier: Like the other Toad Demons, he's a hulking brute that doesn't walk very quickly but packs quite a punch. |
| 285 | * ObviouslyEvil: How could he be mistaken to be anything but vile and selfish? |
| 286 | * PaletteSwap: He's distinguishable from the other Toad Demons by having differently colored eyes and skin. |
| 287 | * PragmaticVillainy: He's willing to pledge himself to the player in exchange for his freedom because since he's immortal, he can simply wait for the player to inevitably kick the bucket. |
| 288 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: When he's talking through Wild Flower, her eyes glow red. |
| 289 | * ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Or amphibians, anyway. He is a Toad Demon and openly malevolent. |
| 290 | * SealedEvilInACan: He's been repressed by Chai Ka since they started channeling through Wild Flower, but if the player learns about Ya Zhen through conversations, combined with the demon drawing evil energies from the Imperial City, Ya Zhen gains the ability to talk to the player and eventually becomes a follower of his own right. [[spoiler:Upon first entering the Imperial Palace where evil is even stronger, Ya Zhen becomes powerful enough to make an attempt to finally defeat Chai Ka and completely possess Wild Flower. You can either help him gain his freedom or help Chai Ka thwart him, in which case he simply becomes too weakened to act out anymore.]] |
| 291 | * SmugSnake: While smart and knowledgeable, Ya Zhen is too arrogant for his own good. |
| 292 | * TheSocialDarwinist: It's clear Ya Zhen is just an evil bastard, but he sometimes uses rhetoric along these lines to justify himself. |
| 293 | * TokenEvilTeammate: He might not be the only Closed Fist party member in an Open Palm player's party, but he's easily the most evil. All the other Closed Fist party members are [[BoisterousBruiser reasonably]] [[PragmaticHero well-rounded]], but not Ya Zhen. |
| 294 | * WouldHurtAChild: He would gladly destroy Wild Flower's mind either to get his freedom or out of sheer pettiness. |
| 295 | * YellowEyesOfSneakiness: His true form's eyes are even of brighter yellow than those of the regular Toad Demons, and he is a schemer. |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
| 297 | |
| 298 | [[folder:Henpecked Hou]] |
| 299 | !!Henpecked Hou |
| 300 | |
| 301 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_hou.jpg]] |
| 302 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/JoshDean |
| 303 | |
| 304 | A former DrunkenMaster who currently works as a [[TeamChef cook.]] While his abusive wife forbids him from drinking and fighting, he is still able to give wine to the Spirit Monk to allow him/her to use the Drunken Master style. |
| 305 | |
| 306 | ---- |
| 307 | * AlliterativeName: Well, the first one's a nickname, so the one might've created the other. |
| 308 | * AwesomeButImpractical: His Drunken Master style. It might be twice as strong as the other styles at their base level, but unlike them, it can't be leveled up and is quite sluggish compared to them. It's more or less just a flashy novelty. |
| 309 | * ButtMonkey: Nothing in his life ever seems to have gone right. [[spoiler: Until he makes his escape in the ending]]. |
| 310 | * ChefOfIron: A former DrunkenMaster turned bun master, although he has sworn off fighting. |
| 311 | * CowardlyLion: Turns out he's willing to fight back after all, following [[spoiler:a power-up should the Spirit Monk opt to keep the Water Dragon enslaved.]] |
| 312 | * CrutchCharacter: Instead of fighting directly he lets you use the Drunken Master style. While it's effective early on, it doesn't level up like the other styles so you won't have much use for Hou in combat late in the game. |
| 313 | * DeadpanSnarker: Especially on the subject of his wife, of course. |
| 314 | * DomesticAbuse: He's on the receiving end. |
| 315 | * DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: His domineering wife poisoned him, to the point where he lost so badly that he had to retire. They're still together, and it's all PlayedForLaughs. |
| 316 | * DrunkenMaster: Retired. Not entirely by choice, mind you. His backstory also deconstructs it: He used to be a top-tier arena fighter, but his constant drinking to facilitate his fighting style ravaged his health and eventually left him destitute, forcing him to take a job shoveling dung in the arena's creature cages to make a living. |
| 317 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Henpecked Hou fears his wife more than anyone in the world...except [[spoiler: a protagonist who's willing to bind Death's Hand or bind the Water Dragon's power. Henpecked Hou would almost prefer to be with his wife rather than such a person]]. |
| 318 | * GameBreakingInjury: He was badly beaten and never fully recovered after his "duplicitous dove" spiked his wine in a match, in a bid to curtail his drinking and fighting. |
| 319 | * GeekPhysiques: A scrawny nebbish, about half the size of other [=NPCs=]. |
| 320 | * TheGhost: The unseen, overbearing specter of his beloved wife, who only appears in the stories Hou tells. |
| 321 | * HenpeckedHusband: Heck, it's in his ''name''. |
| 322 | * ItemCaddy: His only ability as a party member is to toss out wine that lets you use the Drunken Master style. |
| 323 | * NonActionGuy: He's no longer in any shape to fight as a result of his wife's efforts to get him to stop, which means he can't draw heat off of you during fights. [[spoiler:Unless you try to sacrifice him.]] |
| 324 | * PluckyComicRelief: He's been beaten down over the years, but he's not out yet, and his apparently unbearable domestic life is mostly mined for slapstick comedy. |
| 325 | * ReadTheFinePrint: How he ended up stuck with his wife. After hitting on hard times, a promoter offered him a chance to stage a comeback in the arena. Hou readily agreed and signed the contract--failing to notice the small print which said that he would have to marry the promoter's neice in return. |
| 326 | * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The sensitive guy to Black Whirlwind's manly man, Hou's a babbling NonActionGuy while Black Whirldwind is a BoisterousBruiser with an affinity for drinking. |
| 327 | * SickeningSweethearts: Subverted. Hou has any number of nicknames for his wife which are a combination of terms of endearment and insults. |
| 328 | * SupportPartyMember: He's completely out of condition and has lost all of his former fighting ability, so he can only be put in Support Form, during which the only thing he does is toss out jugs of wine which allow you to use Drunken Master style. |
| 329 | * ThrowTheDogABone: [[spoiler:If you finished the game following the Way of the Open Palm, and thus weren't forced to kill Henpecked Hou, his ending reveals he ''does'' finally escape his overbearing wife: he takes a new job as a deliveryman after he and his wife have several daughters. However, he never comes back from his first delivery, and it's heavily implied that he simply took the opportunity to escape.]] |
| 330 | * TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler: If you try to sacrifice him, the Water Dragon grants him her strength, allowing him to fight the party.]] |
| 331 | * {{Workaholic}}: He became a bun master and spends as much time at work (and away from his wife) as he possibly can. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Kang the Mad]] |
| 335 | !!Kang the Mad |
| 336 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_kang.jpg]] |
| 337 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/PaulEiding |
| 338 | |
| 339 | A MadScientist forced to develop flyers for Gao the Greater. He eventually decides that [[TheDogBitesBack he has had enough of Gao's mistreatment]] and joins the party. |
| 340 | |
| 341 | Kang doesn't join the Spirit Monk in ground-based combat, but is your copilot and mechanic aboard the Marvelous Dragonfly. |
| 342 | |
| 343 | ---- |
| 344 | * AmnesiacGod: His quest to find Lord Lao ends [[spoiler: with his discovery that he ''is'' Lord Lao]]. It... doesn't change much about him. |
| 345 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: He is a very strange little man. He is also a peerless engineer. |
| 346 | * CloudCuckoolander: He apparently wants to invent [[spoiler: sharks armed with laser pistols]]. |
| 347 | * DemolitionsExpert: While he never fights, he's very proficient at making explosives. |
| 348 | * {{Dissimile}}: He loves this Trope, such as suggesting the player [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident have Gao the Greater experience "a combat-related accident" "like falling down a flight of punches."]] |
| 349 | * TheDogBitesBack: Turns on Gao and Lim over being mistreated. |
| 350 | * FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:It's possible for him to do this in his ending, either to get away from the masses or to avoid having a Way of the Closed Fist protagonist abuse his work; specifically, he arranges for an explosion and makes it look like he died in that explosion.]] |
| 351 | * GadgeteerGenius: His inventions are the greatest of their kind in the Empire. [[spoiler: And, possibly, in the cosmos.]] |
| 352 | * MadScientist: Sort of. He's not ''insane'', just... detached from the moral implications of his inventions. |
| 353 | * {{Magitek}}: His inventions, including his flying machines, stretch into this. And that's not even getting into [[spoiler:Lord Lao's Furnace]]. |
| 354 | * NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: [[spoiler:In his ending, regardless of whether or not he remembers that he is Lord Lao, Kang eventually decides that he can't make his best inventions unless his life is in danger, so he starts making weapons to give to the mobs that chase him.]] |
| 355 | * NonActionGuy: Toward the end of the game, you have to protect him as he blows up a bridge. |
| 356 | * SupportPartyMember: Gameplay-wise, his only contribution as a party member is maintaining the [[CoolPlane Marvelous Dragonfly]]. |
| 357 | * UniquenessDecay: The reason he will not mass-produce his amazing inventions. One Marvelous Dragonfly is a technological marvel and work of art. Many of them would make them commonplace and dull. |
| 358 | * TheWonka: He's ''completely'' off his gourd, scrambles his words, is rather oblivious to danger, [[StuffBlowingUp has an unhealthy relationship with gunpowder]], and looks like a Ming Dynasty version of RummageSaleReject. [[spoiler: Then again, he's not operating on with the same thought process or morality of a mortal - he's an inventor god]]. |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | |
| 361 | [[folder:Zin Bu]] |
| 362 | !!Zin Bu the Magic Abacus |
| 363 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/BrianStepanek |
| 364 | |
| 365 | A member of the CelestialBureaucracy. He used to be responsible for determining where people stand on the wheel of life, but his inability to keep up with the actions of the Spirit Monk caused him to be demoted. He decides to sell Essence Gems to the Spirit Monk to prove to his superiors that he is competent. |
| 366 | |
| 367 | ---- |
| 368 | * AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: He overcharges you for you buy from him, compared to other merchants, and underpays you for what you sell. This is fairly understandable, considering that you got him demoted, so he actually ''does'' have it in for you. |
| 369 | * BeleagueredBureaucrat: He couldn't keep up with the paperwork that you created, and took the fall when you were assigned an entire department of the CelestialBureaucracy for tabulating your karma, just like Black Whirlwind. |
| 370 | * SupportPartyMember: His only purpose is to act as a shopkeeper that you can access at any time. |
| 371 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: His only appearance is in his introduction, and while he does show up in the follower menu, he doesn't appear anywhere else, he doesn't even have his own ending slide in the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. |
| 372 | [[/folder]] |
| 373 | |
| 374 | [[folder:Abbot Song]] |
| 375 | !!Abbot Song |
| 376 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/ArminShimerman |
| 377 | |
| 378 | The ghost of the Abbot of the Temple of Dirge. He has been forced to relive the Battle of Dirge for the last twenty years due to the imprisonment of the Water Dragon. |
| 379 | |
| 380 | ---- |
| 381 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He was the abbot of the Spirit Monks while he was alive. He survived the massacre slightly longer than most of the order. |
| 382 | * AwesomeButTemporary: His support ability regenerates all three of the Spirit Monk's bars simultaneously. Having to go back to only one at a time when he leaves is disheartening. |
| 383 | * BarredFromTheAfterlife: Like many other spirits of the dead, he's unable to enter the Great Wheel because of the Water Dragon's absence. [[spoiler:Purification of the Dirge from the Other's taint allows him and the other loyal Spirit Monks to ascend.]] |
| 384 | * BlueIsHeroic: Abbot Song wears the blue shirt the Spirit Monks wear and is a devoted servant of the goddess of rebirth. |
| 385 | * ClosedCircle: Following his death, Abbot Song has been trapped in Dirge's outer courtyard for twenty years, forced to witness the spirits of his fellow Spirit Monks and Imperial soldiers locked in a never-ending battle without being able to change it and leave the Dirge or enter it through the sealed gates. This changes only when he joins the player in the restoration of Dirge's fountains. |
| 386 | * DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler:This happens to Abbot Song and the other deceased Spirit Monks when they're freed from the endless battle of Dirge.]] |
| 387 | * GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Several less moral Spirit Monks such as Xian Wu were bribed to betray their order. Abbot Song noted strange behavior in them, but he never suspected betrayal from them because duty and honor are ingrained values of Spirit Monks. |
| 388 | * GuestStarPartyMember: He is the only party member (aside from Zin Bu) who can be used during the fifth chapter. He won't be available for any other chapter. |
| 389 | * InTheBack: He died by being cut down from behind by [[spoiler:Sun Li]]. |
| 390 | * IsThatWhatHeToldYou: [[spoiler:Reveals that virtually everything Sun Li told you about his own actions was a lie.]] |
| 391 | * MrExposition: He has a lot to tell you, having been holding it in since his death. |
| 392 | * ShovelStrike: He fights with a monk's spade. |
| 393 | * SympathyForTheDevil: Even though some of the Spirit Monks betrayed the order, Abbot Song still feels sorry that Emperor Sun Hai bound their spirits to guard the Dirge's fountains. |
| 394 | * ThisIsAsFarAsIGo: This trope is invoked on Abbot Song rather than him pulling it off unprompted. Before the player enters the temple of Dirge, Abbot Song is instructed by the Water Dragon to remain in the courtyard and lead his fellow Spirit Monks out of the endless battle. The abbot doesn't believe he's up to the task after twenty years of failure and asks to be allowed to face the Other with the player, but he changes his mind after some encouraging words from the Water Dragon. |
| 395 | * UndyingLoyalty: He served the Water Dragon faithfully in life and fought to the death to protect her temple. Twenty years of separation from her as a restless ghost hasn't changed that loyalty. |
| 396 | * WarriorMonk: The Spirit Monks were the Water Dragon's servants and protectors. |
| 397 | * YouShallNotPass: He died while trying to buy time for the player character (who was an infant at the time) and the Spirit Monk caring for the baby to escape by facing off Sun Kin and [[spoiler:Sun Li]]. |
| 398 | [[/folder]] |
| 399 | |
| 400 | !The Lotus Assassins |
| 401 | |
| 402 | [[folder:Death's Hand '''(Massive Unmarked Spoilers)''']] |
| 403 | !!Death's Hand |
| 404 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_deaths_hand.jpg]] |
| 405 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/ShermanHoward |
| 406 | |
| 407 | The leader of the Lotus Assassins and [[EvilChancellor is widely believed to be corrupting the Emperor]]. |
| 408 | |
| 409 | He used to be Sun Kin, the Hand of Heaven, the youngest of the Brothers Sun and former leader of the Order of the Lotus (the precursor to the Lotus Assassins). He was killed by Sun Hai when he tried to commit fratricide himself as Hai was draining the Water Dragon's power. Sun Hai then bound his soul to Master Li's discarded armor. After he is defeated, the Spirit Monk has the opportunity to bind his soul, gaining him as a party member. |
| 410 | |
| 411 | ---- |
| 412 | * AndIMustScream: Having your soul bound is not a pleasant experience. |
| 413 | * AnimatedArmor: His forces are manufacturing armies of golems out of human souls. And there's nothing left of ''him'' but his will, trapped in someone else's armor. |
| 414 | * TheAtoner: If the Spirit Monk binds his soul but kills the Water Dragon, Sun Kin regains control and becomes one. |
| 415 | * AssholeVictim: To an extent. Sun Kin willingly participated in the invasion of Dirge, and joined with Sun Li in an attempt to double-cross Sun Hai for power. |
| 416 | * BlackKnight: An enigmatic and intimidating swordsman in a black armor who leads the Emperor's elite enforcers. |
| 417 | * BlackSwordsAreBetter: Fights with two black blades devastatingly. It's [[{{Foreshadowing}} no coincidence]] that it was Prince Sun Kin and not the person wearing the armor of Death's Hand who carried those same weapons in flashbacks. |
| 418 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: It turns out Death's Hand is a walking distraction who is forced to be completely loyal to whoever holds his strings. |
| 419 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: More in the sense that he isn't the BigBad than the traditional one; he's still a ClimaxBoss fought very late in the game. |
| 420 | * TheDragon: To Sun Hai, then Sun Li and potentially to the Spirit Monk. |
| 421 | * TheDreaded: Nobody in the capitol even likes ''talking'' about him if they don't have to. |
| 422 | * DualWielding: A long sword and a curved dagger. |
| 423 | * EleventhHourRanger: If recruited, he's usable in the final chapter only. |
| 424 | * EnemyWithout: The Spirit Monk defeats him by releasing the spirit of Sun Kin to fight Death's Hand. |
| 425 | * EvilChancellor: Subverted. He turned the Lotus Monks into a gleefully evil army of thugs called the Lotus Assassins, and feeds the worst instincts of the Emperor. As it turns out, not only was Death's Hand simply enacting Sun Hai's orders, it turns out that he is fundamentally incapable of ''not'' having UndyingLoyalty to his current master. |
| 426 | * EvilMakesYouMonstrous: If you keep Death's Hand and take the Water Dragon's power for yourself, the epilogue reveals that your increasing power affects Death's Hand, causing him to transform into something physically horrifying that is unable to be contained within Sun Li's armor. |
| 427 | * EunuchsAreEvil: Symbolically fits this role, as Chancellor of the Empire, head of the Lotus Assassins, and right hand man of the Emperor, complete with a crushing physical impairment that makes him less than a full man. It's just that in his case, [[AnimatedArmor he is missing significantly more of his body than merely the parts a Eunuch would lose]]. He's also arguably a deconstruction of this trope, since he not only is BrainwashedAndCrazy but also bluntly implies all kinds of questions about [[EvilOverlord what sort of Emperor]] would employ [[ObviouslyEvil such an obviously evil chief advisor.]] |
| 428 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Quite impressive for a guy with no lungs. |
| 429 | * HateSink: Invoked. As the brutal leader of the utterly hated Lotus Assassins and feared by pretty much everybody, people conclude he is behind what is wrong with the Empire. Which serves the people who are actually behind what is wrong just fine, since it means the attention is on an empty suit of armor serving as an unwilling puppet rather than on them. |
| 430 | * HeroKiller: As Sagacious Zu can attest. |
| 431 | * ImplacableMan: As long as his controller channels the Water Dragon's power through him, Death's Hand will rise from every defeat. Only freeing Sun Kin's soul will put him down for good. |
| 432 | * KarmaHoudini: Downplayed. There's only one ending to his personal quest that allows him to avoid atoning in a good playthrough, and even then it's mostly because [[IDieFree he's ceased to exist]]. Even then, it's arguable how much moral agency he has in his actions, given how "Death's Hand" is more or less an extension of Sun Li's magic and is incapable of free will. |
| 433 | * KilledOffForReal: There is a way for Death's Hand to die without atoning for his sins. If you fail to win against Death's Hand as Sun Kin, Death's Hand will cease to exist as he can't survive without his other half, falling to the floor. Doing this will not allow you to let his poor spirit rest, or to control him. |
| 434 | --> ''"Oblivion... is preferable."'' |
| 435 | * LackOfEmpathy: Subverted. This is stated by Master Li... misleadingly. While Death's Hand acts without remorse or pity, that is because it cannot act otherwise due to being controlled by the Emperor. He turns out to be the Li brother with the most remorse and pity, and if he remains in existence but has his control cut, he wanders the Earth seeking to atone. In contrast, Master Li is the original owner of the armor and actually fits the description. |
| 436 | --> ''"That is the armor of a man who knows no remorse, no pity."'' |
| 437 | * MeaningfulName: The feared head of an organization of killers in service to the Emperor. Sun Hai himself states that Death's Hand is ''his'' Hand shortly before he's [[DeadAllAlong revealed to be a ghost]]. What's more, Death's Hand is himself a decedent. |
| 438 | * ObviouslyEvil: RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Check. Head of the secret police who massacres dissidents like it is going out of style? Check. It doesn't take geniuses to conclude he is behind what is wrong with the Empire. Which is why he is both a subverted and invoked example, being used as a patsy by his brothers to avoid scrutiny for their real plans. Sun Kin himself was not exactly a saint, but he was by far the least evil of his brothers and the only one to have genuine remorse over what he did. |
| 439 | * ObviousVillainSecretVillain: The most obvious of the obvious villains in game. He's a Fantasy Wuxia Darth Vader, and so it's no surprise he's not exactly an angel. Which is why he serves as such a useful distraction for his brothers, and why the reveal of his true nature is a surprise. |
| 440 | * OptionalPartyMember: Right before the final stretch of the game, he can be enslaved to the player's will. |
| 441 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: A ruthless killer in a red mask and black armor. To quote Master Li, that is the armor of a man who has no remorse or pity. Except that the armor belonged originally to the speaker of those words, not the soul bound to it. |
| 442 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: Was once subjected to this by his brother the Emperor. Can ''potentially'' be subjected to it by you, the player. |
| 443 | * TheStarscream: Relatively sympathetic example. He plotted with his brother Sun Li to betray their brother, the Emperor, both for power and out of Sun Kin's concern about their eldest brother growing power hungry. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished it does not go well for him.]] |
| 444 | * TinTyrant: He completes the look well, because his armor is ''empty''. |
| 445 | * TragicVillain: He's the brainwashed and corrupted spirit of Sun Kin after his own elder brothers betrayed, murdered, and had him ReforgedIntoAMinion; what's left of his original personality hates himself and what he's become. |
| 446 | * ThatManIsDead: His reaction to being called Prince Kin. |
| 447 | * TheUnfought: Subverted. The first time you come face-to-face with him, he's beyond your ability to fight, but then Sagacious Zu's HeroicSacrifice kills him. But then Sun Li revives him, seeing him as too useful to give up. Next time you encounter him, you've fully awakened your Spirit Monk powers and can fight him on an even footing. |
| 448 | * WalkingSpoiler: The fact that he isn't actually the BigBad is a major, major spoiler. |
| 449 | * WhiteSheep: Of the Brothers Sun, he is the only one to have had remorse for his role in the Dirge genocide and even had second thoughts about his role in seizing power. He was rewarded by being killed and made a slave to the Emperor, and then Master Li. |
| 450 | --> ''"I believed the words of my brother, thinking him wise beyond my understanding. Had I known what would happen, I would have fought to stop them both."'' |
| 451 | [[/folder]] |
| 452 | |
| 453 | [[folder:Grand Inquisitor Jia]] |
| 454 | !!Inquisitor Jia |
| 455 | |
| 456 | Death's Hand's top lieutenant in the Lotus Assassins. |
| 457 | ---- |
| 458 | * BadBoss: She has killed even master Assassins for even ''appearing'' to show disrespect towards her. |
| 459 | * BlowYouAway: She uses the Tempest magic style. |
| 460 | * ClimaxBoss: You fight her right after her JustBetweenYouAndMe speech reveals that everything you knew about the plot was backwards. |
| 461 | * CoolMask: She spends most of her appearances in a mask and takes it off only when you confront her. |
| 462 | * DeathlyUnmasking: It's almost immediately after her unmasking that you duel and kill her. |
| 463 | * TheEvilGenius: She's the one overseeing that the Assassins are carrying out the orders of [[spoiler:Emperor Sun Hai (with Death's Hand being actually a possessed minion)]]. |
| 464 | * EvilOldFolks: You eventually get to see her with her mask off. She looks like an aged crone underneath. |
| 465 | * EvilSorcerer: Fights with magic and oversees the construction of an army of golems. |
| 466 | * JustBetweenYouAndMe: [[spoiler:She reveals that the Emperor knew about what the Assassins were doing shortly before your battle.]] |
| 467 | * MalevolentMaskedMan: Or woman, in this case. Beneath the mask, she looks as hideous as she is morally. |
| 468 | * {{Necromancer}}: Building an army of golems fueled by the tortured souls of kidnapped peasants and political dissidents. |
| 469 | * NumberTwo: She leads the Lotus Assassins when Death's Hand is not present. |
| 470 | * PoisonousPerson: She uses the venomous Viper martial style. |
| 471 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers a short one to the Lotus Assassins under her, saying that their infighting rendered them ill-prepared to realize the enemy has infiltrated them. |
| 472 | * VillainousValor: She's quite evil, but she's willing to lay down her own life without a second thought if that's what the Emperor or Death's Hand requires, and does so when you encounter her [[spoiler: to buy time for Death's Hand to arrive and take you down permanently]]. |
| 473 | [[/folder]] |
| 474 | |
| 475 | [[folder:Inquisitor Lim]] |
| 476 | !!Inquisitor Lim |
| 477 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/PeterJessop |
| 478 | |
| 479 | A Lotus Assassin agent who is hunting pieces of the Dragon Amulet near Tien's Landing. |
| 480 | ---- |
| 481 | * ArcVillain: The main antagonist of Chapter 2. |
| 482 | * BaldOfEvil: Like all Lotus Assassins. |
| 483 | * TheBrute: Despite his ambitions, Jia regards him as little more than expendable muscle, a blunt instrument for a blunt task. |
| 484 | * DishingOutDirt: While the Assassins prefer the Tempest magic style, Lim is exceptional in that he uses Stone Immortal instead. |
| 485 | * DualBoss: If you finish the main quests in the ruins of Old Tien's Landing and the Great Southern Forest before coming to Gao the Greater's base, you'll fight Gao and Lim at the same time. |
| 486 | * GoodScarsEvilScars: Evil scars are on his face, including an eyepatch. |
| 487 | * KnightTemplar: Possibly. Contrary to the other Assassins, Lim uses the Stone Immortal style which works better with the followers of the Way of the Open Palm, a path which, according to Smiling Mountain, enforces oppression and tyranny in evil hands. If you call the Assassins evil upon confronting Lim, his response alludes to this mindset. |
| 488 | -->'''Inquisitor Lim''': Evil? What does youth know of evil? Do you remember the Long Drought? The thousands who died each day? No, you do not, because we keep the peace. We uphold the Emperor's will, and if his will holds that a few must suffer so that the many can enjoy peace, then it ''is'' correct. |
| 489 | * TheStarscream: Intends to personally deliver the amulet fragment to Death's Hand in order to get back at Jia. |
| 490 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: He and Gao the Greater dislike each other, and tend to insult each other, argue, and shift blame when faced with the higher-ups in the order. |
| 491 | * YouHaveFailedMe: Threatens to leave Kang with the captive demons if he doesn't finish the Marvelous Dragonfly in time. This is possibly deconstructed when he realizes he'll be killed for his failures if he returns and decides to kill the Spirit Monk and take the other amulet fragment in the hopes that it will make up for it. He fails and loses the amulet fragment, which not only means his own death but a setback to the Assassins' plans. |
| 492 | [[/folder]] |
| 493 | |
| 494 | [[folder:Master Gang]] |
| 495 | !!Master Gang |
| 496 | |
| 497 | A trainer at the Assassins' fortress. The player is assigned as his acolyte while infiltrating the Assassins. |
| 498 | ---- |
| 499 | * AffablyEvil: Despite his cowardice and general disregard for his acolytes' lives, he appears to genuinely value the player's competence and seems sincere in wanting to help them advance in exchange for advancing him without any plans of a double-cross. One of his acolytes acknowledges that Gang is generous to those acolytes who please him. |
| 500 | * ButtMonkey: He's considered at best a mediocre Assassin, his efforts to advance himself are constantly sabotaged by his superior Master Shin who also reports Gang's failures to Grand Inquisitor Jia, and when he finally gains an acolyte who gets rid of Shin for him, he ends up being used and killed by said acolyte who's actually the troublesome enemy the Assassins are after. |
| 501 | * DirtyCoward: He's willing to send others to their deaths and wants to ensure there'll be no risks to himself. All of your followers dislike him for this reason. |
| 502 | * DualWielding: He fights with two axes. |
| 503 | * PoisonousPerson: Like most of the Assassins, he can fight with the venomous Viper martial style. |
| 504 | * TooDumbToLive: He's far too quick to trust his newest acolyte who quickly proves themselves to be a much better fighter than the majority of the new recruits. [[spoiler:He also doesn't think to watch out for a falling golem which you can drop on him.]] |
| 505 | * UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler:Right after staging an embarrassing death for Master Shin, you can assassinate Gang himself by crushing him under a falling golem, a death considered most unbecoming in an Assassin.]] |
| 506 | * UnwittingPawn: Little does he realize that his promising new acolyte is using him to gain access to the inner circle of the Assassins. |
| 507 | [[/folder]] |
| 508 | |
| 509 | [[folder:Master Shin]] |
| 510 | !!Master Shin |
| 511 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/VicPolizos |
| 512 | |
| 513 | A master assassin and Master Gang's superior at the Assassins' fortress. Gang orders the player to murder him. |
| 514 | ---- |
| 515 | * BaldOfEvil: He's a bald Lotus Assassin. |
| 516 | * BlowYouAway: He uses the Tempest style. |
| 517 | * EvilOldFolks: This senior is a successful Lotus Assassin. |
| 518 | * PoisonousPerson: Like most of the Assassins, he fights with the venomous Viper martial style. |
| 519 | * StealingTheCredit: In his first scene he chides Gang for falling behind, and says that, "If your work does not improve, I will have to stop taking credit for it." |
| 520 | [[/folder]] |
| 521 | |
| 522 | !The Sun Brothers |
| 523 | |
| 524 | [[folder:Sun Li '''(Unmarked spoilers)''']] |
| 525 | !!Master Li / Sun Li the Glorious Strategist |
| 526 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_master_li.jpg]] |
| 527 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/BarryDennen |
| 528 | |
| 529 | The Master of Two Rivers school, the unofficial mayor of Two Rivers and the Spirit Monk's Master. He reveals early on that he is Sun Li the Glorious Strategist, who betrayed the Emperor by attempting to stop the massacre at Dirge. Shortly afterwords, Two Rivers is burned and he is captured. |
| 530 | |
| 531 | ---- |
| 532 | * AffablyEvil: Even after revealing his sinister nature, he still acts in a composed and polite manner for the most part. He's genuinely respectful toward you, but don't mistake that for kindness. |
| 533 | * AgentProvocateur: He constantly berated Gao the Lesser to make him a GreenEyedMonster towards the player, and had him run to his dad and his Lotus Assassin buddies when he let him overhear that he was Sun Li himself. |
| 534 | * TheAtoner: Subverted. He says he feels guilty over planning the genocidal campaign against the Spirit Monks and that he defected in a failed attempt to save them, but it's all a lie. He has no remorse over his actions and his claims of guilt are just another one of his manipulations. |
| 535 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the figurehead of Two Rivers, the former leader of the Imperial Army and eventually the Jade Empire's new Emperor. |
| 536 | * BareFistedMonk: Favors Martial Styles over weapons, though he is also proficient in magic, and used to wield a sword as the Emperor's general. |
| 537 | * BigBad: Master Li turns out to be the true overreaching antagonist and PostFinalBoss of the game. He orchetrated the player's journey so that they could kill Hai and allow him seize the throne and the Water Dragon's power for himself. Also, it was only thanks to the Glorious Strategist's ingeniousness that Sun Hai managed to steal the Water Dragon's power in the first place, being the true villain of the work. |
| 538 | * BlackKnight: His real nature. He was the original owner of the armor worn by Death's Hand, and returns to the aesthetic after his coup succeeds. |
| 539 | * BrokenPedestal: To the Spirit Monk and Dawn Star after Sun Hai's downfall. |
| 540 | * TheChessmaster: While he does play on people's emotions as well, his major strength lies in manipulating events. |
| 541 | * TheChooserOfTheOne: He, not the Water Dragon, was the one who set up the conditions for you to be TheChosenOne. |
| 542 | * CreateYourOwnVillain: {{Invoked}} if the Spirit Monk shifts from Open Palm to Closed Fist [[spoiler: after their death at Sun Li's hands and subsequent [[BackFromTheDead revival]]]]. Betrayed by Sun Li's teachings about helping everyone turning out to be nothing but lies, they usurp Li's stolen power and emerge as the next Emperor by enslaving Death's Hand and all of their followers (Dawn Star, Silk Fox, Henpecked Hou and Sky), then killing most of them after they disagree against taking the Water Dragon's power for their own. They then poison her power with their own blood, cutting Sun Li off from his power source. |
| 543 | * DeadpanSnarker: Although it's easy to miss. |
| 544 | * EvilCostumeSwitch: After murdering his protégé and assuming the throne, Li trades his mentor robes for a helmetless and slightly differently colored version of the armor Death's Hand wears -- which he himself wore while ransacking Dirge and abandoned to assume the WiseOldFolkFacade. |
| 545 | * EvilCounterpart: To the Spirit Monk if the Way of the Open Palm is taken. In fact, if you listen to his MotiveRant and recall Smiling Mountain's lecture about the dangers of the Way of the Open Palm back at the beginning, you'll realize that Li's the perfect example of the "dark" side of the Way of the Open Palm that Smiling Mountain had described. |
| 546 | * EvilerThanThou: The main plot of the game is essentially a long, long path allowing him to pull this on his brother the Emperor. |
| 547 | * EvilVirtues: As the Water Dragon states, the Glorious Strategist knows the value of patience. |
| 548 | * ExactWords: He actually explains his entire plan and most of the twists up to his betrayal in his ExpositionDump in the prologue, disguised as generic "Wise Mentor" platitudes. If the player starts asking pointed questions instead of respectfully going along with it, he gets visibly nervous. |
| 549 | ** Reinforced by some dialogue that seems to be referring to Death's Hand but in fact [[UsingYouAllAlong is not.]] |
| 550 | -->''That is the armor of [[AndThatLittleGirlWasMe a man]] who [[TheSociopath knows no remorse, no pity.]]'' |
| 551 | * FatalFlaw: Pride. Sun Li assumes his strategies are infallible. To be fair, Sun Li is extremely good at forming an expertly calculated inital plan and covering contingencies to an absolutely astonishing degree. However, when a SpannerInTheWorks such as the Water Dragon reviving his dead student happens to derail his plan he has a hard time playing XanatosSpeedChess to respond because the idea that his inital plan could have failed never occurs to him and thus he doesn't plan for it. |
| 552 | * AGodAmI: After becoming the new Emperor, he boasts about being a god like his elder brother did. However, since Li's able to become more powerful than Hai ever was thanks to the Dragon Amulet, he's got more ground to back up his words. |
| 553 | * GracefulLoser: Takes his final defeat by the Spirit Monk and failure of his 20-year-long gambit for absolute power surprisingly well, choosing to indirectly compliment his student at his dying breath. |
| 554 | -->'''Sun Li''': You surprise me yet again. I'm a better teacher... than I thought... |
| 555 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: As he admits through his last words, he trained the last Spirit Monk too well. |
| 556 | * HyperCompetentSidekick: Organized the Emperor's armies for him before his fall from grace. He's a deconstruction; he started his scheme when he realized that he would be a far better emperor than Sun Hai. |
| 557 | * LackOfEmpathy: He is incapable of seeing people as anything more than tools. He claims that his initial reaction at learning that Sun Hai executed his family was anger at his brother for destroying his possessions without permission. If you tell him that Dawn Star is his daughter, his reaction is a mere "Interesting but don't care." |
| 558 | -->''"That is the armor of a man who knows no remorse, no pity."'' |
| 559 | * LongGame: Sun Li's plan to overthrow his brother and claim the Water Dragon's power involved laying low for the better part of ''twenty years'', raising the Spirit Monk from infancy to be a TykeBomb. |
| 560 | * TheManBehindTheMan: In a manner of speaking. He did manipulate events in his favour, but by the time the forces of evil answer to him, he has already stepped out in the open. |
| 561 | * ManipulativeBastard: He uses the Spirit Monk, his favored student, as a pawn to kill Sun Hai and take his power. Even Gao the Lesser is manipulated by being allowed to hear of Sun Li's true identity so he can report it and trigger the attack on Two Rivers. |
| 562 | * MirrorBoss: He taught you to use [[BulletTime Focus]]. He's also the only enemy in the game who can use it. |
| 563 | * MrExposition: He's the one to first tell the player about their destiny that involves the restless spirits of the dead, Death's Hand, and your people, the Spirit Monks, who were slaughtered by Li's brother, Emperor Sun Hai. However, he doesn't tell you about his true role in the Spirit Monk genocide and plans to usurp his brother with your help. |
| 564 | * NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: His idea of an "utopia" is an Orwellian dictatorship where he's in control of everything and everyone, ruling as a god. |
| 565 | * ObviousVillainSecretVillain: Is at the very inner, most secretive layer of the "Obvious Villain/Secret Villain" Matryoshka Doll involving his brothers, being the Secret Villain to Sun Hai's Obvious Villain. |
| 566 | * OldMaster: The elderly teacher of the Spirit Monk and other students at the Two Rivers dojo, and he demonstrates his credentials by effortlessly slaying a Lotus Assassin and sinking a ship with his bare hands. |
| 567 | * PapaWolf: Do not harm his students, at least until he needs you to. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Although he'll probably kill you anyway even if you do everything he says]]. |
| 568 | * PreAsskickingOneLiner: Master Li gives one at the beach before killing the Lotus Assassin with just four strikes. |
| 569 | -->''"Your search is over, Assassin, but no one will hear of your success."'' |
| 570 | * PsychoticSmirk: He gives this once his face is revealed during the true flashback regarding the fall of Dirge. |
| 571 | * PureIsNotGood: His personality is an evil reflection of the Open Palm's purity. Even Smiling Mountain's lecture describes the Open Palm as not always being the good path. |
| 572 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Gao the Lesser loses in a fair duel against the player and [[SoreLoser tries to attack them with a style he was explicitly forbidden to use]], Master Li puts him in his place with a harsh tone. |
| 573 | -->'''Master Li''': Gao! I have made enough concessions to you today! I thought I could guide you away from your corrupted path, but you are too much the son of Gao the Greater! You are no longer welcome among my students, and your father's house shall have no more business here, despite his influence.\ |
| 574 | '''Gao the Lesser''': I was not beaten! Not by this peasant!\ |
| 575 | '''Master Li''': You were defeated by your own foolish ambition and predictable temper. I will speak with you in my chambers about your expulsion. Go now! |
| 576 | * {{Sabotutor}}: He deliberately integrated into the Spirit Monk's fighting style flaws that only he could exploit the moment he wanted them dead. |
| 577 | * SoProudOfYou: He tells this to the Spirit Monk after they've killed Sun Hai. It turns into a cruel twist when he kills them after this. |
| 578 | %%* TheSocialExpert |
| 579 | * TheSociopath: An extremely high-functioning example. He spent twenty years raising a LaserGuidedTykebomb from infancy while masquerading as a kind and wise parental figure, but doesn't hesitate to kill them once their purpose is served. As the new Emperor, he retains his outward sensibility that is ''not'' supported by his actions. He cannot feel true attachment even for his own family, which he confesses at a time he has nothing to lose from it. Even the discovery that his murdered daughter is alive and has for all these years been his second best pupil doesn't soften him up at all. He gives rational explanations for his actions, yet admits at the height of his power that he slaughtered thousands of Spirit Monks just for a chance to be a god. His idea of a utopia includes control and obedience at the cost of individuality, and he believes that he can force the spirits of the dead to rest. |
| 580 | * TheSpock: Master Li is regarded as a highly capable man even by his enemies. While he's composed and polite, he doesn't display much emotion even when congratulating his protege. He also rarely raises his soft yet deep voice, but when he does, you know you're in trouble. Raising a LaserGuidedTykebomb for twenty years behind a facade of a caring teacher and killing them without trouble once they've served their purpose speaks of an especially dark example of this trope. What's more, he's incapable of caring even for his family beyond practical value. |
| 581 | * TheStarscream: Decidedly unsympathetic example. He conspired to murder the Emperor and seize his power in order to rule the Empire, and the entire plot amounts to his Plan B to achieve this. It works, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard though not necessarily for long.]] |
| 582 | * SternTeacher: It's said that he doesn't praise his students overly much, but inwardly cares for their development. In truth, he doesn't care at all, beyond his own plans. |
| 583 | * TinTyrant: He was the original owner of the armor of Death's Hand when he ransacked Dirge, but after failing to overthrow Sun Hai, he abandoned the armor while escaping with the last Spirit Monk. After becoming the new Emperor, he dons a new armor that's just like his old one, only colored slightly differently and lacking a helmet. |
| 584 | * TreacherousAdvisor: Your good teacher is just using you to overthrow the current emperor so that he can rule as a god in his brother's stead. |
| 585 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His actions attract all sorts of malevolent beings, namely the darkness that even he will have no ability to control if and when he succeeds at godhood. [[spoiler:He also [[CreateYourOwnVillain incenses the Closed Fist Spirit Monk by killing them]], leading to them killing him and replacing him as the GodEmperor of the Jade Empire.]] |
| 586 | * UsingYouAllAlong: One of the greatest examples in gaming history. Almost everything the Spirit Monk does is part of his grand design. |
| 587 | * VillainsActHeroesReact: His entire BatmanGambit makes up the entirety of the first two thirds of the game; the Spirit Monk bringing him down makes up the rest. |
| 588 | * VillainousBreakdown: After he is cut off from the Water Dragon's power, he lets out a very satisfying scream of rage. Unfortunately, he's largely recovered by the time you fight. |
| 589 | * WalkingSpoiler: Very much so, [[GreaterScopeVillain with good reason]]. |
| 590 | * WeCanRuleTogether: He offers the Spirit Monk the chance to die a martyr for his utopia. |
| 591 | * WiseOldFolkFacade: He's introduced as your stereotypical {{old master}}, but he's actually a power-hungry madman who murders without hesitation his protégé once they have fulfilled the purpose for which he trained them for their entire life. |
| 592 | [[/folder]] |
| 593 | |
| 594 | [[folder:Emperor Sun Hai]] |
| 595 | !!Emperor Sun Hai |
| 596 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jade_empire_emperor.jpg]] |
| 597 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/ArminShimerman |
| 598 | |
| 599 | Eldest of the Brothers Sun and ruler of the Jade Empire. He presided over the empire during the Long Drought. Now, problems are plaguing the kingdom, and it is feared that he is ineffectual in the face of Death's Hand's manipulation. |
| 600 | |
| 601 | ---- |
| 602 | * AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:He uses a shock wave to knock his daughter out along with the others when she confronts him about his evil actions.]] |
| 603 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He handles himself rather well for a guy in a mianfu. |
| 604 | * BarrierChangeBoss: [[spoiler:One of your types of moves will be ineffective against him at any given time, and he changes which one it is. If he's wielding a weapon, all weapon-based damage will have him negate it and vice versa for unarmed stances. Though if you use a [[TakeAThirdOption transformation state, such as the Jade Golem]], it [[ArmorPiercingAttack completely bypasses]] this otherwise-annoying trait completely.]] |
| 605 | * BeardOfEvil: Combined with a classical Fu Manchu mustache. |
| 606 | * BigBad: Sun Hai rules the Jade Empire with an iron fist, and is represented primarily by Death's Hand and the Lotus Assassins, who [[DoomedHometown burn Two Rivers]] in their search for Master Li. His attack on Dirge years ago, to steal the power of the Water Dragon, [[DeathTakesAHoliday directly caused the plague of angry, increasingly insane ghosts that now ravages the Empire]]. [[spoiler:Sadly for him, Sun Hai turns out to be a UnwittingPawn to the ''true'' villain of the story Sun Li, who carefully orchestrates the Spirit Monk's rise to usurp his brother and claim the Water Dragon's power himself]]. |
| 607 | * BlowYouAway: Tempest is his choice for a magic style.]] |
| 608 | * BrightIsNotGood: His clothes are bright in color, which is not telling of his selfish personality. |
| 609 | * BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:To his daughter Silk Fox once she realizes he's responsible for everything wrong in the Empire.]] |
| 610 | * ClimaxBoss: The battle with him can be quite difficult, and comes as a conclusion to [[spoiler: the first part of the game]]. |
| 611 | * DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:He died a while ago, but continues to rule as a ghost. He seems to use sorcery to keep up appearances, but when the Spirit Monk confronts him, [[GameFace the mask comes off]].]] |
| 612 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: His defeat [[spoiler: and your death]] signifies a lot of unexpected twists. |
| 613 | * DivineRightOfKings: His motive. [[spoiler:Specifically, the heavens ''revoked'' his divine right to rule, and sent the Long Drought to end his dynasty. All of Sun Hai's villainy is an effort to ScrewDestiny and retain his power at any cost. This references China's idea of the Mandate of Heaven, which is similar to the European idea of the trope, but is considered to be revoked from rulers who fail their responsibility to keep the kingdom prosperous (which in turn is used by their enemies to justify overthrowing them).]] |
| 614 | * DuelBoss: He paralyzes the party with sorcery, forcing the Spirit Monk to fight the Emperor and his lackeys alone. |
| 615 | * EvilIsPetty: |
| 616 | ** He [[spoiler:bound the spirit of his nearly dead youngest brother to Li's armor]]. The reason? [[spoiler:To taunt Li.]] |
| 617 | ** After his brother Li turned on him, Sun Hai ordered the Lotus Assassins to execute Li's innocent wife and newborn child. The sheer pettiness of it was enough for [[spoiler:Sagacious Zu to turn on his comrades, save the baby, and go into hiding]]. |
| 618 | * FemmeFatalons: Has long sharpened nails to reinforce his classical evil emperor appearance. |
| 619 | * GameFace: [[spoiler:He's actually a ghost masquerading as human, but when confronted he reveals his ethereal true form, which sports a TorsoWithAView housing the crystal heart of the Water Dragon.]] |
| 620 | * AGodAmI: [[spoiler:[[BadassBoast "I AM GOD-EMPEROR SUN!"]]]] |
| 621 | * TheGoodKing: Is widely known as this and is generally beloved by his people. [[spoiler: He WAS this earlier in his reign, but by the time of the game it is a facade concealing a corrupt, brutal usurper with a God Complex. who is bringing down existence as it is known by his actions.]] |
| 622 | * {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler:He demands others to remember their place in the order of things, even though he himself stepped beyond his own station by killing a goddess and stealing her powers.]] |
| 623 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: After taking the Water Dragon's heart, he gets figuratively and literally stabbed in the back by his brothers, but it does nothing, and Li runs away, abandoning Kin.]] |
| 624 | * ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler: He sees himself as entitled to the throne and refuses to accept that his rule or his empire will end.]] |
| 625 | * JerkassHasAPoint: As arrogant and selfish as Sun Hai is when finally introduced, he questions how conveniently the Spirit Monk has arrived before him by following the path set by his brother. [[spoiler:As soon as Hai dies, Li murders his student who has fulfilled their part in his master plan.]] |
| 626 | ** He points out that he ruled dutifully in accord with the Celestial Order, and [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished was beaten down by drought and plague that threatened to destroy the Empire and his dynasty for no fault of his own.]] [[spoiler: So he decided to upturn the natural order and *Make* the Empire stable.]] |
| 627 | * LightIsNotGood: He wears golden clothes, glows golden, uses flashy magic, has the powers of a divine being, and is cold and selfish. |
| 628 | * NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:Since he's a ghost, he dissolves to nothing upon his defeat.]] |
| 629 | * ObviousVillainSecretVillain: Is oddly BOTH. He is the Secret Villain to Death's Hand's Obvious Villain (which the Emperor brutally exploits in order to hide his true nature and misdirect). In turn, he is the Obvious Villain [[spoiler: to his brother Sun Li the Glorious Strategist.]] |
| 630 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Sun Hai is the elder brother of the whitehaired Master Li, yet he has black hair and the looks of a man in his forties. [[spoiler:As a result of absorbing the Water Dragon's power, he hasn't aged in 20 years, although his true ghostly form hints at the terrible price.]] |
| 631 | * TheManInFrontOfTheMan: [[spoiler: It seems like he is just a pawn for Death's Hand, but in fact he is the real one pulling the strings.]] |
| 632 | * ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler: Just about the only sympathetic trait he has. He was once a good, dutiful Emperor who obeyed the will of the Celestial Order up until said order decided his dynasty had to end because reasons. Faced with the ruin of the Empire, its people, and his House, decided that if the could not work with the Celestial Order he would [[MadeASlave make it work for him.]]]] |
| 633 | * TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler:The crystaline heart of the Water Dragon is embedded in Sun Hai's ribcage, which is fleshless and missing its sternum. He normally keeps this feature hidden under his clothes, but [[RedRightHand his true spirit form bares it]].]] |
| 634 | * PoisonousPerson: The venomous Viper martial style is one of the styles he uses. |
| 635 | * RebuiltPedestal: Subverted. [[spoiler:Silk Fox, after learning that Li was the mastermind, wonders if it absolves her father, but concludes that it does not.]] |
| 636 | * ThisCannotBe: He shouts this word-for-word shortly before his defeat. |
| 637 | * {{Ubermensch}}: Represents the Will to Power writ large. NOTHING will stop him from his attempt to keep his dynasty and the Empire it rules together. [[spoiler: Spirit Monks refuse to help? Storm Dirge with fire and sword. The Celestial Order denies all appeals to save his realm? Break it and force it to serve him. Brothers betray him? Show them who is boss. Daughter turns on him? Treat her like any other enemy.]] |
| 638 | * TheUnfettered: His dominant trait. [[spoiler: When faced with famines designed to end his dynasty, he stepped beyond his station to usurp the power of the Water Dragon and never looked back. He will upend the natural order of the world and cosmos to stay in power.]] |
| 639 | * UnwittingPawn: Said to be one to Death's Hand, [[spoiler:but he's actually the one who is moving the pieces. However, he actually turns out to be one to his brother the Glorious Strategist, though not easily]]. |
| 640 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: Most of the Empire adores him for putting a stop to the Long Drought, unaware of the terrible things he did for that end and is ordering the Lotus Assassins to do in the present. |
| 641 | * WalkingSpoiler: Talking about him after he appears in the game will spoil that [[spoiler:he's a villain, but not the main villain]]. |
| 642 | [[/folder]] |
| 643 | |
| 644 | |
| 645 | [[folder:Prince Sun Kin]] |
| 646 | !!Prince Sun Kin |
| 647 | |
| 648 | The youngest of the Brothers Sun. Prince Kin is the Hand of Heaven, and head of the Order of Lotus Monks. Sun Kin [[PosthumousCharacter died during the Siege of Dirge]], supposedly having been killed by Death's Hand. |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[/folder]] |
| 651 | |
| 652 | !Other Characters |
| 653 | |
| 654 | [[folder:The Water Dragon]] |
| 655 | !!The Water Dragon |
| 656 | |
| 657 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/JocelynAhlf |
| 658 | |
| 659 | The Goddess who is responsible for seeing that souls are able to pass between this world and the next. She was killed at the Battle of Dirge, but her spirit appears to provide guidance to the Spirit Monk. |
| 660 | |
| 661 | ---- |
| 662 | * AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:After Sun Hai killed the Water Dragon, her body was cut open and preserved in an eternal state between life and death to give endless amounts of water to the Jade Empire and power to Sun Hai and Sun Li after him. Her separated spirit has been forced to witness her body's desecration for twenty years in a nearly powerless state.]] |
| 663 | * BigGood: The plot of the entire game goes back to the Water Dragon. She was revered by an order of monks, of which the player character is the last living member. The Long Drought was ended when Master Li's brother, Emperor Sun Hai, brought her down and gained water [[spoiler:from her bleeding body]] to sustain the Jade Empire. She's also responsible for guiding the dead to rebirth, and her demise has left the Empire filled with restless ghosts that grow in numbers. [[spoiler:The good ending has the Water Dragon allowed to reborn and the natural order restored.]] |
| 664 | * TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:She morphs Master Li's entire plan into one of her own to restore herself and the natural order. Of course you have to be a celestial being to best the mortal whose title of the Glorious Strategist is well-earned.]] |
| 665 | * DeathTakesAHoliday: The Water Dragon is the Jade Empire's {{Psychopomp}}, and her disappearance prevents the souls of the dead from passing on to the afterlife. With nowhere else to go, they now wander the countryside and slowly descend into violent madness. [[spoiler:It's revealed to be because her living body has been suspended in an agonizing half-life, and the solution is to destroy the machines keeping her alive so she can "pass on" and resume her job.]] |
| 666 | * DragonsAreDivine: The Water Dragon is a major goddess in the CelestialBureaucracy, being responsible for equal distribution of rainfall across the world, and the safe passage of dead souls to the afterlife. |
| 667 | * EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: From the moment the Spirit Monk gains the Dragon Amulet, the Water Dragon appears at different points to offer vague advice and once to grant your first Magic fighting style (either Dire Flame or Ice Shard). It's after [[spoiler:the Spirit Monk's death]] that she becomes less ambiguous. |
| 668 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: It's not clear who the ghostly woman in blue is at first, but she's blue and keen-eyed players will note that, incongruously, part of her "skin" has ''scales''... |
| 669 | * HeavenlyBlue: She is a goddess and makes her appearances as a bluish woman. |
| 670 | * GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler:Though her intentions are noble, she gives the last Spirit Monk vague advice and uses them as a pawn to restore herself and the natural order after they are killed by Master Li. Justified in that as the goddess of rebirth, her perspective on human life is quite different from that of mortals.]] |
| 671 | * JerkassGod: Downplayed in a GoodIsNotNice fashion. [[spoiler:Though she attempts to bring the cycle of life and death back on track, she does it by using the last Spirit Monk as her pawn.]] |
| 672 | * MsExposition: She guides the player through the game. |
| 673 | * {{Psychopomp}}: Her job is to guide souls to the afterlife. |
| 674 | * SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:In the moments between when the Spirit Monk kills the Emperor and Master Li kills the Spirit Monk and starts to drain her power through the Dragon Amulet, she recovers enough strength to bring the Spirit Monk's spirit to a place in the afterlife where she can speak to them, and then send them to Dirge, where they can help her start regaining her power. That's one of the few things the Glorious Strategist could not have anticipated.]] |
| 675 | * TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:She tells the Spirit Monk how s/he can drain her power while cutting Li off from it. Granted, Abbot Song had already told the Monk how traitorous Spirit Monks used blood in the same manner, but this still isn't very smart, assuming the Spirit Monk is Closed Fist.]] |
| 676 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:She uses the last Spirit Monk as a pawn of her plans like Master Li. In the Closed Fist walkthrough, this bites her in the ass when the Monk taints her body with blood, allowing them to take her power for themselves as revenge at her for using them just like Master Li did to them.]] |
| 677 | [[/folder]] |
| 678 | |
| 679 | [[folder:Gao the Lesser]] |
| 680 | !!Gao the Lesser |
| 681 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/NathanFillion |
| 682 | |
| 683 | One of Master Li's strongest students at Two Rivers, but has a terrible attitude and dabbles in dark magic. |
| 684 | |
| 685 | ---- |
| 686 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: He's better than most of the students, but he's not the best. Rest assured, he's a dick about both of those things. |
| 687 | * BigNo: When you catch up to him in the cave. |
| 688 | * DuelBoss: In the match at the school, and potentially in the cave. |
| 689 | * EntitledBastard: A good bit of his rotten personality stems from his certainty that the world ''owes'' him things. [[spoiler: He's right once, however, not that it justifies his behavior: Master Li really did owe Gao better training. But Gao the Lesser was wrong to assume the neglect was because Master Li particularly ''liked'' the protagonist.]] |
| 690 | * EntitledToHaveYou: He's rich, handsome, and well-connected, and he doesn't really get that Dawn Star isn't into him despite that. Later, having "saved her life" by kidnapping her, he thinks that that qualifies for a RescueRomance. Suffice it to say, he doesn't take rejection well. |
| 691 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: He's able to take down an ogre in a few hits and knock it under collapsing rubble. He uses Dire Flame to do it, a style well-suited to fighting ogres. |
| 692 | * HateSink: Gao is a very despicable man who spends almost all of his time being a jerk to other people. His despicable acts include cheating in a match with the spirit monk (which he deservedly got expelled for), kidnapping Dawn Star, and murdering a student by torching him with Dire Flame. His last name of the lesser just blatantly symbolizes the fact that he is a scumbag. |
| 693 | * HatedByAll: Everyone in Two Rivers despises him. |
| 694 | * IHaveYouNowMyPretty: He kidnaps Dawn Star in order to romance her. She is not impressed. |
| 695 | * InformedAttractiveness: Dawn Star and another female student note that he's attractive enough, but his personality completely negates that. His character model is near-constantly scowling or sneering. On the other hand, he qualifies vocally given his voice actor. |
| 696 | * JerkAss: Frequently tries to hit on Dawn Star in a very unwelcome fashion and acts superior to everyone else. |
| 697 | * NeverMyFault: Played straight most of the time: he blames the protagonist for his being kicked out of the academy (the man friggin' ''cheated in a sparring match''), he blames Dawn Star for being trapped in a cave (''he kidnapped Dawn Star to begin with!''), etc. Dawn Star even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope, it's always someone else's fault with Gao. [[spoiler: There's actually one subversion, however: exactly ''one'' of Gao the Lesser's Never My Fault claims turns out to be absolutely correct. Which one? The one where Master Li plays favorites with the protagonist and neglects Gao and the other students. That one is actually ''true'', though not for the reason Gao thinks.]] |
| 698 | * PlayingWithFire: This is how he cheats during his sparring match with you. First you beat him fair and square, but he can't accept losing, so he tries to throw a Dire Flame spell at you while your back is turned. Also, you can see him fight an ogre with Dire Flame in the cave. |
| 699 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: He's entirely correct that Master Li favors the Spirit Monk over all the other students--but he sees it as simple favoritism and has no idea of what Li's true plan for [[UnwittingPawn the Monk]] is.]] |
| 700 | * RivalTurnedEvil: He was always a dick, but it was only after [[spoiler: the player humiliated him in a duel and Master Li kicked him out of the school for trying to cheat that he decided to use his dad's criminal connections to help raze the town]]. |
| 701 | * StarterVillain: He's the first person whose face you would want to cave in. |
| 702 | * UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Master Li let Gao overhear the conversation where he confesses his true identity to the Spirit Monk, knowing that Gao would tell his father, resulting in Li's capture and Two Rivers' destruction. All to set the Spirit Monk on his/her quest.]] |
| 703 | * VillainousBreakdown: He has one when he sees, not that someone has come to rescue Dawn Star, but who it is. |
| 704 | -->'''Gao''': [[LittleNo No]]. ''[[BigNo NO]]!'' Not you. Anyone but you! What are you doing here? |
| 705 | [[/folder]] |
| 706 | |
| 707 | [[folder:Gao the Greater]] |
| 708 | !!Gao the Greater |
| 709 | |
| 710 | A crime boss controlling a group of pirates and slavers, allied with the Lotus Assassins. |
| 711 | |
| 712 | ---- |
| 713 | * DualBoss: If you finish the main quests in the ruins of Old Tien's Landing and the Great Southern Forest before coming to Gao the Greater's base, you'll fight Gao and Inquisitor Lim at the same time. |
| 714 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His son, Gao the Lesser. This trope is the reason why he's even a boss: he fights you to avenge his son's death. (He's unaware of the exact circumstances in which Gao the Lesser was killed, but probably wouldn't care even if he did find out the protagonist killed Gao the Lesser in self-defense while defending Dawn Star.) |
| 715 | * EvilCounterpart: To Sky. They both lead a life of crime, but while Sky is a LoveableRogue who hates anything related to slavery, Gao makes profit out of it. They both want revenge after they lose [[spoiler:their children]]. Depending on the player's choices, Sky [[spoiler:takes Gao's position as the Guild's leader and either [[GoodRunningEvil turns them on a more honorable path]] or [[MeetTheNewBoss keeps them the same]]]]. |
| 716 | * EvilSorcerer: While many characters can use magic, Gao is specifically talked of as a dark magic user. |
| 717 | * PapaWolf: For all his many, ''many'' faults, he did love his son and is furious with you for killing him. |
| 718 | * PlayingWithFire: Like his son, Gao the Greater can use Dire Flame. |
| 719 | * SelfMadeMan: Gao the Lesser admires his father for this reason, boasting that he turned a ragged bunch of bandits and slave traders into a thriving criminal enterprise. |
| 720 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Inquisitor Lim. He doesn't care for the Lotus Assassins, and says he does not take orders from Lim or his mistress Jia. |
| 721 | * VillainousBreakdown: After hearing of his son's death, he flies into a rage and retires to his quarters. He's in such a bad mood that he considers [[DisproportionateRetribution killing the Spirit Monk just for disturbing him]]. |
| 722 | [[/folder]] |
| 723 | |
| 724 | [[folder:Kai Lan]] |
| 725 | !!Kai Lan the Serpent |
| 726 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/SimonTempleman |
| 727 | |
| 728 | Former champion of the Imperial Arena. He is now a high ranking member of the Guild who uses his influence to rig the Arena matches for his own profit. |
| 729 | |
| 730 | ---- |
| 731 | * ArcVillain: He's responsible for all the crap the Spirit Monk has to go through in the Arena subplot. |
| 732 | * ArchNemesis: The Black Whirlwind blames him for [[spoiler:the death of his brother]] and will request that the Spirit Monk let him fight the Serpent in their place. |
| 733 | * BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: During the private meeting with him, the player can outright refuse to cheat in fights on Kai Lan's behalf. |
| 734 | -->'''Kai Lan:''' "Cheat" is such a pedestrian term. I prefer to think of myself as a creative engineer. |
| 735 | * EvilSorcerer: Like Gao the Greater, Kai Lan is singled out as a sorcerer, and he's rumored to have been taught by the Lotus Assassins. [[spoiler:He used his sorcery to turn the corpse of Raging Ox into the Ravager, a powerful and unquestioning slave to his will.]] During the match against him, he summons two Horse Demons and covers himself in a wall of flames which restores him back to full health. |
| 736 | * HateSink: He's one of the most unlikable characters in the game, being smug, cruel and lacking any admirable or redeeming traits. He's one of the few evil [=NPCs=] encountered in sidequests who cannot be sided with under any circumstances. |
| 737 | * {{Heel}}: An in-universe example. While competing in the Arena, he deliberately built up a reputation as a douchebag so the crowd would love to hate him. He continues to play this up now that he's the boss, and this backfires on him in the most direct way possible: when the PC climbs into the Gold Division, he can't stop them from challenging for the championship because the crowd ''will'' be rooting for a {{Face}} to defeat his invincible champion. |
| 738 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: His substituting a fighter for a demon as part of a publicity stunt bites him in the ass when it sets a precedent that allows the Black Whirlwind to fight him in the Spirit Monk's place. |
| 739 | * AnIcePerson: He uses the Ice Shard magic style. |
| 740 | * {{Necromancer}}: [[spoiler:He's studied with the Lotus Assassins and learned their technique for reviving the dead. He used this to bring back the recently deceased Raging Ox as the Ravager.]] |
| 741 | * PoisonousPerson: He uses the venomous Viper martial style. |
| 742 | * PlayingWithFire: He doesn't use the Dire Flame style in combat, but when he first loses more than half of his health, he uses pyrokinetic magic similar Dire Flame to summon two Horse Demons to fight for him. Until they’re killed, he's protected by a flaming cover from which he emerges in full health. |
| 743 | * SmugSnake: Not only does he have a snake motif, but his schemes never seem to work out, and he's arrogant and abrasive. |
| 744 | * TheStarscream: His ultimate goal is to seize power in the Guild. Naturally, the Guild is not too fond of him. |
| 745 | [[/folder]] |
| 746 | |
| 747 | [[folder:The Ravager]] |
| 748 | !!The Ravager/[[spoiler:Raging Ox]] |
| 749 | |
| 750 | The current champion of the Imperial Arena known for his brutal strength, refusal to speak and perpetual habit of wearing a mask. |
| 751 | |
| 752 | ---- |
| 753 | * AmbiguouslyHuman: It's wondered at the Imperial Arena if he's human at all, and his skin appears to be unhealthily yellow. [[spoiler:He is an undead human.]] |
| 754 | * BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: He's such a brutal fighter he often comes close to killing his opponents, and he fights with two axes much like the Black Whirlwind, [[spoiler:which is no coincidence since they're brothers]]. |
| 755 | * DeathlyUnmasking: [[spoiler:After his mask comes off upon his defeat and Kai Lan reveals what he did to Raging Ox, the Black Whirlwind kills his possessed brother.]] |
| 756 | * DramaticUnmask: His mask comes off once you defeat him, revealing him to be [[spoiler:the Black Whirlwind's resurrected brother who's bound to Kai Lan's will]]. |
| 757 | * DualWielding: He uses two axes in a style called Tang's Vengeance. The player learns this after defeating the Ravager. |
| 758 | * EvilRedhead: He's in league with Kai Lan and has red hair. |
| 759 | * LightningBruiser: He hits fast and hard with his axes, has a lot of stamina and won't stop his attacks even when he himself is being hit. |
| 760 | * MalevolentMaskedMen: The masked champion of the Imperial Arena nearly kills his opponents and [[spoiler:works for Kai Lan the Serpent. While he already fell in with Kai Lan as Raging Ox, he was much more personable when he wasn't carrying out his Guild duties in disguise]]. |
| 761 | * NoSell: He's immune to the magic styles and Spirit Thief. |
| 762 | * ThePigPen: Implied; Sung Bu claims that the Ravager smells like he's sick. [[spoiler:His undead state would explain the awful scent.]] |
| 763 | * TheQuietOne: He's never shown speaking to anyone, but he does make sounds during the duel against him and in the cinematic taking place immediately afterwards. |
| 764 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: [[spoiler:After Raging Ox was fatally wounded by the Black Whirlwind, Kai Lan revived him as his unquestioning brute, hid his identity behind a mask, and had him fight his way back into championship as the Ravager.]] |
| 765 | [[/folder]] |
| 766 | |
| 767 | [[folder:Sir Roderick]] |
| 768 | !!Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard |
| 769 | |
| 770 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/JohnCleese |
| 771 | |
| 772 | Outlander[[note]]FantasyCounterpartCulture of the British Empire, although Roderick wears typical Conquistador armor[[/note]] explorer and adventurer that has decided to 'educate' the Jade Empire after being shipwrecked there. |
| 773 | |
| 774 | ---- |
| 775 | * ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Gold isn't practical for use as currency without a large enough supply, which can be used as an argument against him. |
| 776 | * {{BFG}}: Mirabelle. |
| 777 | * CombatPragmatist: He shoots down his original challenger while the latter is assuming a martial arts stance. |
| 778 | -->''As amusing as your savage dances are, once again I have proven the superiority of setting your nose to the grindstone and not mucking about.'' |
| 779 | * CulturalPosturing: Appears to be his raison d'etre. |
| 780 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: See CombatPragmatist. |
| 781 | * EvilColonialist: His appearance seems to have been inspired by examples of this trope, though he's in no condition to colonize the Jade Empire. He's not really ''evil'', so much as unable to accept that his culture might not be superior in all things. |
| 782 | * GlassCannon: He's almost helpless in close range, but his gun does ''a lot'' of damage. |
| 783 | * GracefulLoser: Reacts to losing the "debate" by blustering and accusing the judges of bias, but if he loses the trial by combat he accepts defeat in a surprisingly dignified manner. He'll even give you his beloved Mirabelle if you demand it. |
| 784 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Complains about how the judges are biased against him and can't comprehend that people would have a different opinion on things. Uh huh. |
| 785 | * ICallItVera: He named his gun Mirabelle. |
| 786 | * InstantWinCondition: In the "debate", if you get all five judges to vote in your favor at the same time, you win. |
| 787 | * JerkAssHasAPoint: In the "debate" he brings up a few legitimate criticisms of the Empire, as well as lampshading how the {{Magitek}} shouldn't really work. The scholars even note that while his arguments aren't without merit, he's still a nuisance who needs to be dealt with. |
| 788 | * KickTheDog: If the player loses the duel he says that a dog has to be put down, and executes them. He's also first seen killing his challenger with Mirabelle, as shown under CombatPragmatist. |
| 789 | * LaserGuidedKarma: His epilogue states that he might eventually be killed by the Black Whirlwind, who is the exact kind of uncultured brute he rails against. |
| 790 | * MightyWhitey: He's a parody of this concept as a pompous foreigner from the setting's equivalent of Europe who attempts to assert his dominance by alternately making loud, opinionated arguments to the locals about the superiority of his culture and shooting people in the face. Roderick is largely treated as an annoyance by the locals. While he does have legitimate points of criticisms about the Jade Empire, he's also a believer in various crackpot theories. (Most notably, the Duchess of Ulmsbottom's Rules of Engagement is a BigBookOfWar full of HollywoodTactics that shows you how ''not'' to fight battles, and his Manual Of Trepanation boosts your spirit because you assume [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough since the text flies completely in the face of all established medical practice, it must be metaphorical]]). |
| 791 | * NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight: Played with in that his gun is indeed powerful but as pointed out in the debate against him, if his enemy closes the distance with him then there's not much he can do. |
| 792 | * OverlyLongName: Sir Roderick Ponce Von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard could be a complete sentence on its own. |
| 793 | * QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Of the snobbish variety. |
| 794 | * SelectiveObliviousness: Flatly refuses to believe the Emperor's palace can fly, even though you can see it in the air from where he's standing. |
| 795 | * SmugSnake: Even though his name [[MagnificentBastard indicates otherwise]]. |
| 796 | * StayInTheKitchen: If confronted by a female Spirit Monk, he states that unless they're the queen, the women know their place where he's from. |
| 797 | * StiffUpperLip: Being a British stereotype, he's pompous and stuffy to the extreme. His epilogue states that he would eventually find the Fountain of Couth. |
| 798 | * TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: He's apparently been living out of the Scholar's Garden while trying to "educate" the locals, completely oblivious to his hosts' unsubtle hints that they want him out. He finally leaves, much to the relief of everyone, after the player bests him in a debate and a duel. |
| 799 | * ThisCannotBe: Delivers a statement to this effect if you [[InstantWinCondition get all five judges in your favor at the same time]]. |
| 800 | -->''"What? My monocle must be fogged! I can't see a single vote in my favor!"'' |
| 801 | [[/folder]] |
| 802 | |
| 803 | [[folder:The Forest Shadow]] |
| 804 | !!The Forest Shadow |
| 805 | |
| 806 | ->'''Voiced by''': Creator/JanAlexandraSmith |
| 807 | |
| 808 | The guardian spirit of the Great Southern Forest, and a Fox Spirit. For some reason she has been killing people from the Pilgrim's Rest Inn, and the Innkeeper is willing to pay half a year's worth of taxes for her to die. It turns out that she bound the demon known as "The Mother", which is corrupting the inn people to cannibalism, centuries ago and now seeks the Spirit Monk's help in defeating her once and for all. |
| 809 | |
| 810 | ---- |
| 811 | * AsianFoxSpirit: She and her servants are humanoid fox spirits with two tails. |
| 812 | * BarrierMaiden: She powers the seal holding the Mother, and if you decide to kill her, it is released. Or she can release it willingly so you can slay her archenemy. |
| 813 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: Aside from attacking the Spirit Monk to recruit them, if asked she gives an example of a "[[http://jadeempire.wikia.com/wiki/Fox_Spirits#Example_of_a_Fox.27s_Trick morality lesson]]" that her fox spirits may give to mortals that seems rather contradictory. |
| 814 | * TheChessmaster: |
| 815 | ** She attacks the Spirit Monk in order to pique their curiosity about the inn and her and ensure they'll come to her, whether to help her or kill her. |
| 816 | ** The first time she bound the Mother, she tricked the kingdoms claiming the forest into burning the blighted woods down, thus weakening both her and the Mother and allowing the prepared fox spirit to bind her. She did this by telling the kings that their neighbors planned on burning the forest, so they made "pre-emptive strikes". Since they were each preparing to burn down the forest themselves, they had things like forest fire breakers and such to prevent it from damaging their own developed holdings (villages, etc). With nowhere to go but inward, Mother's power base was torched. |
| 817 | * CunningLikeAFox: Like the other fox spirits, she is a trickster who'll often test humans. |
| 818 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: First time she appears, she turns a cannibal into a statue and shatters him, then pins the Spirit Monk to the ground and petrifies them, but they break free and she flees. If you choose to fight her, she is still formidable but does not try that again. |
| 819 | * HugeGuyTinyGirl: With her elephant demon bodyguard Shining Tusk. |
| 820 | * MsExposition: She explains that the blue spirit is the Water Dragon and that the Spirit Monk is the one who must save her. |
| 821 | * ShockAndAwe: Her area-effect attack. |
| 822 | * WhatTheHellAreYou: When the Spirit Monk {{No Sell}}s her Stone Immortal attack, she asks quizzically, "What are you?" |
| 823 | [[/folder]] |
| 824 | |
| 825 | [[folder:The Mother]] |
| 826 | !!The Mother |
| 827 | |
| 828 | A grotesque demon that serves as a primal force of an ancient hunger as well as the Forest Shadow's balancing counterpart in the Great Southern Forest. She turns men into cannibals, her man-eating minions. She's been trapped for millennia, but the increased number of ghosts has woken her up. |
| 829 | ---- |
| 830 | * AncientEvil: She and the Forest Shadow were first anchored to the Great Southern Forest centuries before the Jade Empire was founded. |
| 831 | * ArcVillain: The main antagonist of the Great Southern Forest questline. |
| 832 | * ArchEnemy: She's the Forest Shadow's personal nemesis. |
| 833 | * TheCorrupter: She turns men into her monstrous minions by whispering dark promises of power in the ears of impressionable men and teaching them to draw strength by eating human flesh. She also sickens the forest's trees as her power grows. |
| 834 | * EmotionEater: After the restless spirits' feelings of anger and hunger for release awoke the Mother, she's been feeding on these dark emotions, growing more powerful as more and more ghosts have been filling the forest. |
| 835 | * EvilCounterpart: She's literally the dark to the Forest Shadow's light. The Forest Shadow tests the spirit of humanity, while the Mother corrupts that which the Forest Shadow tests. |
| 836 | * FisherKing: When the balance of power between her and the Forest Shadow dips in the Mother's favor, the trees of the Great Southern Forest blacken and twist out of sickness. |
| 837 | * FlunkyBoss: She has her "children" to fight alongside her, and no matter how many you kill, there will be replacements appearing from tunnels. |
| 838 | * LeakingCanOfEvil: Though still kept trapped in the hill, the Mother can corrupt humans and trees as well as send her demon servants to attack the Forest Shadow's sanctuary. |
| 839 | * LoadBearingBoss: Inverted. The Mother can be killed only by dropping her entire cave on her. |
| 840 | * ManiacTongue: Her tongue hangs out of her mouth to give her an even more deranged demeanor. |
| 841 | * MightyGlacier: Walks slowly, but packs a serious punch and is immune to all your attack styles. |
| 842 | * NighInvulnerability: She has the honor of being the game's only opponent who's immune to absolutely every fighting style you can master. Only by bringing her entire cave down on her will kill her. |
| 843 | * OneBadMother: She's just known as the Mother. The Mother of the race of flesh-eating monsters. |
| 844 | * PuzzleBoss: You can't hurt the Mother directly. Instead, you have to destroy three of the pillars supporting the cavern. |
| 845 | * SealedEvilInACan: When the Mother was weakened by the forest fire that burned the trees she had invested a large portion of her power in, she fell into a torpor and was sealed in a hill by the Forest Shadow. Though now able to try to extend her influence again, she'll still remain trapped until the Forest Shadow either dies or releases her. |
| 846 | * ToServeMan: Judging by the bones she'll sometimes throw up during the boss fight, she also likes the taste of human flesh like her "children". |
| 847 | * VomitIndiscretionShot: During her boss battle, she'll occasionally pause to throw up. |
| 848 | [[/folder]] |
| 849 | |
| 850 | [[folder:Judge Fang]] |
| 851 | !!Judge Fang |
| 852 | |
| 853 | An Imperial judge who is trying to take action against the Lotus Assassins. The Inquisitors want to stop him by any means necessary |
| 854 | ---- |
| 855 | * AssholeVictim: If he's killed or disgraced, it's technically a victory for the Lotus Assassins, but it's hard to feel bad considering how awful Shang is. |
| 856 | * DepravedBisexual: He has a perverse interest in both men and women. |
| 857 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: As awful of a person as he is, he still knows the Lotus Assassins are evil, and warns you that you'll come to regret joining them. |
| 858 | * EvilVersusEvil: He's anti-Lotus Assassin, but he's so awful he can't be considered remotely heroic. |
| 859 | * HateSink: He's designed to be as detestable as possible. The only thing he has resembling a redeeming trait is that he opposes he Lotus Assassins. |
| 860 | |
| 861 | [[/folder]] |
| 862 | |
| 863 | [[folder:Minister Sheng]] |
| 864 | !!Minister Sheng |
| 865 | |
| 866 | A government official in charge of Tien's Landing. |
| 867 | ---- |
| 868 | * AssholeVictim: Downplayed. He's rather incompetent and pathetic, but deserves being killed or disgraced less than Judge Fang does. |
| 869 | * CouldSayItBut: He tells the Spirit Monk about how he's unable to help them close the dam, before stuffing the key into their pack. |
| 870 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: He happens upon a thief stealing a sword from a merchant's shop by yelling at the man to put the sword back. The man complies and walks off, and when the merchant complains that Sheng should be arresting the man, Sheng [[CantTakeCriticism protests having to hear people's complaints]] and makes excuses. |
| 871 | * ThirdPersonPerson: He refers to himself as "Minister Sheng" to highlight how self-important he is. |
| 872 | |
| 873 | [[/folder]] |
| 874 | |
| 875 | [[folder:Master Radiant('''Unmarked Spoilers''')]] |
| 876 | !!Master Radiant |
| 877 | |
| 878 | The head of the Black Leopard School. |
| 879 | ---- |
| 880 | |
| 881 | * BrainsEvilBrawnGood: He's not stupid, per se, but he's physically stronger than the more intellectual Smiling Hawk, and is the good one of the two. |
| 882 | * DeadAllAlong: Master Smiling Hawk drained his spirit and reduced him to a ghost. |
| 883 | * NoOneSeesTheBoss: Only First Brother communicates with him, to hide the fact that he's dead. |
| 884 | * WalkingSpoiler: It's almost impossible to discuss him without revealing that he's dead. |
| 885 | * YouAreInCommandNow: Names First Brother his successor in the Open Palm ending to his questline. |
| 886 | |
| 887 | [[/folder]] |
| 888 | |
| 889 | [[folder:Master Smiling Hawk]] |
| 890 | !!Master Smiling Hawk |
| 891 | |
| 892 | A teacher at the Black Leopard School who opposes Master Radiant, resulting in a schism that divides their students against one another. |
| 893 | ---- |
| 894 | |
| 895 | * BrainsEvilBrawnGood: He's described as more of an academic than Radiant is and is definitely the evil one. |
| 896 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: He's not all that hard of a boss, but he punches the Spirit Monk through the wall in a pre-battle cutscene. |
| 897 | * ObviouslyEvil: He's openly contemtpuous of Master Radiant, obviously follows the Closed Fist path, and when questioned about Second Brother's disappearance, all but outright states that he killed Second Brother for refusing to join him. |
| 898 | * SquishyWizard: Described as more of an academic than a fighter. |
| 899 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Absorbs Third Brother's energy when he's low on health, thus killing his follower. |
| 900 | |
| 901 | [[/folder]] |
| 902 |
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