Characters / Flag Flying High

Juniors

Harry Potter

Potter Hali, A-Li, Senior Lili

• Berserk Button: Abusive Parents or guardians trigger him bad, courtesy of having survived his own Resentful Guardian in spite of everything.
• Big Brother Mentor: He naturally assumes the leadership when the junior disciples go on a night hunt, since he can boast more experience from fighting a war.
• Brought Down to Normal: He completely lost his magic after his Heroic Sacrifice and resurrection at Hogwarts' Battle, and decided to ask the cultivators for help.
• The Caretaker: He did his best to make Mo Xuanyu happier and saner. Unfortunately, he still was a teenager and as such struggled with his own limitations, often feeling frustrated and thinking about leaving the other man behind.
• Closet Key: For Lan Sizhui.
• Covered with Scars: Seeing him without a shirt makes people freak because of the amount of his former injuries and their cursed nature.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Raised by abusive relatives, forced into a war in spite of being barely more than a child, his soul mercilessly targeted by a genocidal madman — any cultivator hearing the story (even without the details) is horror-struck.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He favours dark clothing, is completely traumatized from a lifetime of abuse and fighting and could have a predisposition for necromancy, but Harry is one of the sweetest young men you could ever meet.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: After learning people thought his short hair meant he was a criminal or a disinherited child, Harry uses a Rapid Hair Growth potion to gain a thigh-length braid and better fit in at Cloud Recesses.
• Extremely Protective Child: He's fiercely defensive of Mo Xuanyu's happiness and well-being as no one else would care about some unfortunate lunatic, outright confronting much powerful people over their treatment of the man. The Lan sect approves his filial devotion.
• Friend to All Children: He laments the fact he had to forswear his godson Teddy's custody in order to seek a cure for his Black Flag curse and still frets about the boy. He also finds himself temporarily responsible for half a dozen kids at Cloud Recesses and quickly gains their admiration and love.
• Friend to All Living Things: Wei Wuxian's donkey Little Apple obeys him without a fight, he adores cuddling the rabbits at Cloud Recesses and Fawkes the phoenix took a shine for him after Dumbledore's demise.
• Generation Xerox: He shares so much similarities with Wei Wuxian it's a mite uncanny — both of them being severely underestimated at first, both of them having problems with having their cores ripped out/surgically removed, both of them some form of master over the dead, both war generals as teenagers, both orphans, both Bi as hell, both have issues with dogs hurting them as small children, both adopting small children as teenagers, both considered genii of some kind, both fall in love with a main family Lan boy.
• Gorgeous Gaijin: His European features intrigue three potential lovers.
• Has a Type: His canonical First Love was the Asian and athletic Cho Chang, and his romantic interest currently lies with the Chinese Sizhui who can lift him up with a hand.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: He first colludes with the Lan sect looking like a destitute criminal with his short hair and weird clothes. Given a bath, Rapid Hair Growth and borrowed clothes, Harry looks much more presentable and demure, with two persons at least admiring his beauty.
• Innocent Fanservice Guy: Because he's completely unfamiliar with the cultivators' standard for modesty, Harry spouts dirty talk, propositions his agemates with lurid acts and wanders in a scandalous state of undress by sheer accident. He's rather embarrassed when people point it out.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: He's rather physically frail compared to a cultivator, has a very nurturing personality that shines in his interactions with kids, looks very short and delicate with a long braid of hair, and his main alignment is yin (feminine energy). The other junior disciples sometimes tease him about being "maidenly".
• Locked Out of the Loop: He's completely unaware that Mo Xuanyu killed himself and was replaced by Wei Wuxian.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: In order to blend in with the cultivators, he uses a Rapid Hair Growth potion and gains thigh-length hair he keeps in a braid. At least two people think it enhances his looks.
• Mundane MacGuffin Person: A lot of cultivators are interested by this brand-new apothecary, especially since his recipes are so revolutionary, and Nie Libo relentlessly pursues him because she thinks such a maidenly boy would be a perfect husband for her.
• Older Than They Look: The juniors are startled to learn he's older than all of them, since they genuinely believed he was only fifteen years old.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: When properly wound-up, Harry spits such a flurry of curses that it blisters everyone's ears. Wei Wuxian almost fainted from the contrast between his delicate looks and sailor's mouth.
• Spotting the Thread: He noticed "Mo Xuanyu" was much more settled after his relatives' demise. At first, he believed it merely was Sanity Strengthening, but he starts to feel uneasy after their reunion in Yi City.
• Squishy Wizard: Absolutely no martial training, but he more than makes up with potions and chi manipulation.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: In his relationship with Mo Xuanyu and Wei Wuxian, he tends to be the reasonable one in spite of being the minor of the pair.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: His eyes attract a lot of attention from his would-be suitors, with frequent comparisons to the finest cut of jade.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Dogs are a huge exception to his usual Friend to All Living Things shtick. It's hard for him to like them since Marge Dursley enjoyed siccing her bulldogs on him, and his later experiences with Fluffy and the Grim did nothing to sweeten the pot.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Because of Umbridge's cursed quill and his inner character, Harry defaults to honesty. Of course, it doesn't mean he can't use Exact Words...

Lan Sizhui

Lan Yuan, Wen Yuan

• Adoption Angst: Lan Yuan is deeply insecure about not being a "true" Lan, often wondering if he's defective for not upholding their ideals with ease. The possibility of becoming a full-blooded member deeply appeals to him as a consequence.
• Beneath the Mask: Sizhui appears very serene and sweet, but hides a lot of inner turmoil and feelings under this.
• Child by Rape: Apparently was conceived when the unwed daughter of a Wen lieutenant was "offered" to Wen Ruohan after the loss of his two sons.
• Happily Adopted: For all his insecurities about wearing the Lan name, Sizhui is perfectly secure in Lan Wangji's affection for him. He loves his shizun so much, he considers asking him to officialize their bond with a blood-adoption.
• Heir Club for Men: The reason why he was conceived at all, since Wen Ruohan had lost his two sons in the Sunshot Campaign.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: Even blushing up a storm, he indulges into reading gay porn and daydreaming about doing kinky things with Harry.
• Like Father, Like Son: Both Lan Wangji and Sizhui hide behind composed masks, struggle with their sect's values, are surprisingly kinky and fall head over heel for a dark-clad outsider.
• Not So Above It All: His growing crush on Harry is so obvious it's just embarrassing, especially when he's blatantly daydreaming about his love.
• Nurture over Nature: In spite of being Wen Ruohan's youngest son, Sizhui takes so much after his adoptive father Lan Wangji that nobody would guess they're not biologically related.
• Princely Young Man: Very sweet, well-mannered and noble twice through the fact he's Wen Ruohan's last living child and his adoption into the Lan clan by their heir.
• Second Love: Harry already dated Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley when he stumbles into the cultivation pocket dimension.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: He went to Mo Village to gain some experience regarding ordinary people — only to be utterly shocked and disgusted by Mo Xuanyu's treatment to his own family's hands.
• Uptight Loves Wild: He's a very repressed youth who desperately wants to be a proper gentleman, yet helplessly falls for a crude outlander who just won't stop swearing and accidentally dropping innuendo.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: A sure way to get him pissed is Harry being distressed. He actually broke a goblet in his fury when he learnt how the outlander was tortured by a dark mage.
• Virgin in a White Dress: Gender inversion. Sizhui is a very sweet guy who wears pale shades as befits a Lan Sect member and is currently struggling with his sexual and romantic awakening. It's actually lampshaded by Harry admitting the Lan robes remind him of a European wedding dress — a symbol of purity.

Lan Jingyi

• Boisterous Bruiser: He shows his affection through vigorous slaps and cheerfully throws himself into fighting demons.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Gets hammered after drinking one cup of alcohol. That's a Lan thing.
• Like Parent, Like Child: His mother was a Nie maiden before marrying into the Lan sect, and Jingyi definitely took after her.
• Shipper on Deck: He not-so-discreetly encourages Sizhui to fess up and confess his love to Harry, while loudly singing Sizhui's praises to Harry.

Yao Yanxuan

• Child Hater: Admits he doesn't care for kids.
• Freudian Excuse: It's hinted he sympathizes more with Nie Libo than Harry because she reminds him of his sister, who's unable to get married because of circumstances beyond her control.
• Hope Is Scary: Sizhui notes his voice sounds "fragile" when he asks confirmation for the existence of a mean to cure his beloved sister's infertility.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: In spite of being affiliated with the Lan sect — held as paragons of righteousness — Yao Yanxuan sneers at the possibility of a boy his age being raped and is casually homophobic.
• Token Evil Teammate: He shows No Sympathy whatsoever towards Harry right after the other youth got sexually assaulted and is described as a troublemaker when drunk.

Nie Libo

• Abhorrent Admirer: She makes Harry very uncomfortable with her refusal to respect his personal space, tends to degrade him by pointing how weak he currently is and ultimately tries to fondle him against his will, refusing to accept his rejection afterwards to stalk him.
• Black Sheep: Following the public disgrace caused by her assault on another disciple, her cousin Nie Gongzhu formally apologizes to Harry and makes clear the whole clan is unhappy with her.
• Freudian Excuse: After losing her parents in the Sunshot campaign, she was raised by her Lanling Jin grandmother who told her No Guy Wants an Amazon and as such she would be left an old maid. It made Libo desperate to marry anyone as long as they're suitably compatible with her yang energy.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Even after getting an explanation to her behaviour, her harrassment of Harry is portrayed as repulsive and creepy.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Invoked — Nie Libo naturally is forceful and agressive because of her strong yang energy, so needs for a yin-alignated husband. She decides the physically weaker and nurturing Harry would do.
• The Medic: She assists Lan Qihua in her duties, but unfortunately uses her position to perv on Harry.
• Not Good with Rejection: So the boy she tried to sexually assault doesn't want her around? She's going to stalk him!
• Raised by Grandparents: Deconstructed as her grandmother was very traditionally minded and impressed on Libo that she wouldn't get to be a bride because of her tomboyishness.
• Stalker with a Crush: Following her failed assault, she's barred from interacting with Harry again but refuses to let it stop her from seeing him.
• Tomboy Angst: She genuinely fears her lack of feminine softness will see her an Old Maid, something that Ancient China considered a Fate Worse than Death.
• Villainous Crossdresser: In order to stalk Harry without being stopped, she disguises herself as a male Lan disciple.
• Weakness Turns Her On: She constantly pokes at Harry's physical frailty, comparing him to a bird and a piglet. It backfires against her since Harry feels belittled by her comments.

Jin Ling

• Clashing Cousins: Unbeknownst to him and Harry, they're related through Jin Ling's martial uncle adopting the Outlander. So far, their interactions have been rather fraught with tension.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Harry refuses to give him a pass for being a little shit merely because he grew up without parents. After all, Harry was orphaned too and he's not behaving so horrendously.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: He almost yanked Lan Xichen's forehead ribbon off when he was younger — basically, he pantsed a Sect Leader. Jiang Cheng forced him to run sword drills for several hours as a punition, Jingyi and Sizhui react to his confession with mortified horror, and Harry muses this is the kind of story people would remind Jin Ling on his wedding day because it's so embarrassing.
• Orphan's Ordeal: People tend to give him a wide berk because they don't want to upset him too badly over his lack of parents. Unfortunately, it only feed into his Spoiled Brat attitude.
• Spoiled Brat: His uncles indulged him to the point he's a complete horror, throwing tantrums when he's pissed off.
• Troubled Teen: Not only he's still very much affected by his parents' absence from his life, he's secretly terrified by his uncle Jiang Cheng's temper and would rather steer away from the man.

Seniors

Wei Wuxian

Wei Ying, the Yiling Patriarch

• Dead Person Impersonation: Deconstructed with him claiming to be Mo Xuanyu, as he feels horrendously guilty about enjoying Harry's love under false pretenses and knows the boy will probably never forgive him for replacing his original friend.
• Doting Parent: He really enjoys cuddling Harry and loudly singing his praises as a loving, filial young man.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He's horror-struck when Harry admits he's cursed to be a Black Flag — condemned to attract ghouls until they kill him. When Wei Wuxian wanted revenge, he always made it quick and didn't dragged things for maximum torture.
  • Lan Qihua acknowledges that for all his open practice of The Dark Arts, the Yiling Patriarch never stole or consumed another living person's chi.
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: Harry starts to feel genuinely wary around Wei Wuxian when the Lanling Jin sect is mentioned and "Mo Xuanyu" doesn't even twitch, in spite of his paternal relatives being responsible for a huge part of the lunatic's trauma to the point he would have screaming fits every time he heard about them.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After learning his adopted son was harassed by Nie Libo to the point he ran away in a night hunt rather than stay at Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian bitterly regrets the impossibility to get blackout drunk.
• Mistaken for Pedophile: Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling are shown pondering over the exact nature of his bond with Harry, courtesy of Mo Xuanyu's acknowledged homosexuality. Wei Wuxian is immediately shocked and disgusted since he views the boy as a son rather than a lover.
• Papa Wolf: Mo Xuanyu bound the Yiling Patriarch to watch over Harry, and that's a mission Wei Wuxian intends to fulfill.
  • He immediately inflicts a Neck Snap on a Mo servant who was beating the boy and regrets not making it hurt more.
  • Snarls he will rip Mo Ziyuan's arm from his socket if the bully persists to threaten Harry, right after publically calling him out for stealing the boy's things.
  • Berates Jin Ling for laying a trap in which Harry fell and broke his arm, and for assuming Harry was a weak and useless cultivator instead of someone to help.
  • Almost gets revealed as Wei Wuxian because he was too focused on keeping the Dancing Goddess away from his adoptive son to not use his "signature" techniques.
• Preferable Impersonator: Harry is very happy to not have to appease violent mood swings or fret about self-harm or endure unwanted touching anymore. Of course, he doesn't actually know Wei Wuxian pulled a switch with Mo Xuanyu...
• Put on a Bus: Wei Wuxian is a responsible parent (seriously, he is) and won't drag his physically frail son on a hunt for corpse parts, leaving Harry in the safety of Cloud Recesses instead.
• Obfuscating Insanity: He's clearly having a blast impersonating a lunatic, but he's still a very dangerous man.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Played for Laughs with him being a bit of a Manchild who enjoys making Harry spoil him while loudly doting on the boy.

Lan Wangji

Lan Zhan, Hanguang-Jun

• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Even after fighting a horde of fierce corpses and being drenched in rainwater, the Second Jade of Lan manages to look elegantly sexy. That's just as infuriating as it sounds.
• Casual Kink: He has fancy bondage gear on hand when asked for rope or cord to secure a prisoner. The one requesting the rope is his new stepson, who is less than amused.
• Child by Rape: Potentially. His parents' marriage happened in extremely skeevy circumstances and left his mother basically imprisoned for life, so the Twin Jades could be the product of Marital Rape License. Lan Zhan certainly is rather unhappy about the subject.
• Good Parents: Sizhui may be horrendously insecure regarding his status as an adopted Lan sect member, but he never doubted of Lan Wangji's love for him and even plans to ask the man to blood-adopt him.
• Good Stepmother: Poised to become family to Harry through his relationship with Wei Wuxian, the boy's adoptive father. Lan Wangji is extremely patient and understanding towards Harry, gracefully accepting to be threatened into behaving himself and later demonstrating protectiveness over the youth.
• Longing Look: Harry notes the way he looks at "Mo Xuanyu" is extremely expressive, to such a degree that the youth worries about Lan Wangji making a pass at his mentally fragile guardian.
• Love at First Sight: Since the Lan bloodline can identify their Fated Ones when they first lay eyes on this person, it's likely Lan Zhan fell for Wei Ying immediately after meeting the other teen.
• Not So Stoic: Subtle but there. He was shocked beyond measure to learn Wei Wuxian had been reincarnated within a living body (Sizhui describes him as gaping and pale) and Harry notes he looks at "Mo Xuanyu" in a manner that's everything but innocent. He also falls back on breathing exercices to control his anger after being informed of Nie Libo's harassment of Harry. While drunk he tries to groom Harry's hair and upon being scolded he looks very much like a kicked puppy.
• Put on a Bus: He leaves in order to hunt corpse parts with Wei Wuxian.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Having read Mo Xuanyu's Last Request letter, he's fully aware that Wei Wuxian has been resurrected but really isn't keen to lose the love of his life immediately after being reunited with him so keeps quiet.
• Tranquil Fury: Wei Wuxian can see he's livid regarding Nie Libo's harassment because he's using breathing exercises.

Lan Qiren

• Adaptational Nice Guy: He's much more agreeable and patient with Harry than he ever was with Wei Ying, but it's easily explained by Harry's Outlander origin and genuine effort to follow Cloud Recesses' rules.
• Here We Go Again!: He's noted to look resignated as he watches Lan Sizhui — who's basically his grand-nephew — pining after the dark, foreign Harry, having obviously realized the current Generation Xerox.
• Love Is a Weakness: Firmly believes this after seeing three persons he cares for suffer because of a romance — there was his brother's disaster of a wedding, his close friend Lan Qihua lost her husband barely a year after meeting him, and his younger nephew was helpless to save his beloved's life after failing to dissuade Wei Wuxian from practicing The Dark Arts.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's quite accepting of Harry's struggles to integrate and later waits to hear everyone when Nie Libo assaults the youth before taking a decision. Wei Wuxian also comments he never would let an injustice happen when he has the power to make it right.
• Shared Family Quirks: Just like his nephews, his ears blush pink when he's embarrassed.
• Spotting the Thread: He immediately suspects something fishy when Lan Wangji has no reaction whatsoever to a reminder of his lost love.
• Stern Teacher: Admits he's this to Harry who reassures he already had one with McGonagall and as such won't get scared off.
• This Is Unforgivable!: For trampling on his youngest nephew's heart by dying a despised villain, after making Lan Zhan believe they could have been happy together, Lan Qiren won't spare a shred of mercy for Wei Wuxian.

Lan Qihua

• Cool Old Lady: Even Lan Qiren respects her skill.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Hearing Harry's history traumatizes her to the point she's barely able to explain her discoveries to her superiors.
• The Medic: For all of Cloud Recesses. Her latest project is to ensure Harry's recovery from being used as a cultivation tool.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Harry's Dark and Troubled Past is so awful that it reduces her to Inelegant Blubbering, an indication for Lan Qiren and his nephews of the situation's direness.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Lan Qiren considers her a precious friend, occasionally sharing tea and conversation with her.

Others

Mo Xuanyu

A-Yu

• Abhorrent Admirer: He started to lust after Harry, which manifested in unwanted physical contact but he still was sane enough to not go too far and be horrified by his own behaviour.
• Abusive Parents: His maternal relatives treated him as their punching-ball and his paternal relatives apparently gave him screaming nightmares — no matter which side, Mo Xuanyu can't win.
• All Gays Are Pedophiles: Subverted. He was eying Harry as a potential lover but mainly because the boy was the only person to not treat him as scum and reacted with genuine horror and self-loathing for trying to seduce a minor when informed of Harry's minor status.
• Ascended Extra: Canon didn't take his characterization beyond "persecuted gay lunatic who offered his body to the protagonist".
• Because You Were Nice to Me: He grew unhealthily attached to Harry for being the only person who gave a damn about him.
• Depraved Homosexual: More than a few people consider him this, merely because of his sexual preference. In the facts, he certainly was pushy enough with Harry to make the youth noticeably uncomfortable.
• Despair Event Horizon: He finally broke down after Harry rejected him as a romantic partner and confessed he was a minor according the local legislation.
• Driven to Suicide: His death strongly reeks of this, as his diary reveals he suffered a complete breakdown from learning he was lusting after a minor.
• Everyone Has Standards: Mo Xuanyu certainly suffered from mental difficulties and a rather loose sexuality, but he nonetheless was sane enough to be disgusted by his own unconscious predation on a boy ten years younger than himself.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: At his core, this is Mo Xuanyu's greatest tragedy. He lets himself be manipulated into becoming a demonic cultivator to gain his paternal relatives' approval, and winds up harassing a minor for being the only person to not treat him like crap.
• Minion Manipulated into Villainy: He would have rather become a more traditional cultivator instead of studying the demonic path, only for his paternal relatives to prey on his desire to be loved and appreciated in order to gain their own Black Mage.
• Mood-Swinger: Harry mentions he was constantly balancing between two extremes, from terrifying mania to fits of anxiety and despair.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He was horrified when Harry confessed he was only seventeen years old, as it meant he was sexually harassing a minor — it's implied it was the last straw for his sanity, and he committed suicide through Forbidden Dangerous Technique.
• Nervous Wreck: So anxious that he was second, triple and fourth guessing everything he did.
• Papa Wolf: It's hard to evaluate how aware he was of the consequence for his soul, but Mo Xuanyu was so desperate to protect Harry that he sought to summon the Yiling Patriarch in order to gave the boy the biggest, baddest guardian possible.
• Posthumous Character: Mo Xuanyu still is very present in Harry's thoughts — but it's played with, since the youth currently ignores his demise.
• Prone to Tears: Apparently suffered crying jags every time he was upset. And he was very easily upset, considering his crappy life.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Even if it ultimately couldn't convince him to live, Mo Xuanyu got to be cared for by someone genuinely invested in his wellbeing.
• Trauma Button: He descended into hysteria at the mere mention of the Lanling Jin sect. Wei Wuxian not reacting this way starts to make Harry suspicious.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Played for Drama with his relationship with Harry, as Mo Xuanyu was completely unable to care for himself and needed a constant watch.

Jiang Cheng

• Evil Uncle: For both his nephews.
  • His first (and so far only) interaction with his adoptive nephew Harry was to violently assault him and his guardian under the assumption one of them was the Yiling Patriarch (correct but still) and threaten to drag them off to Lotus Pier for interrogation. Understandingly, Harry really doesn't like him.
  • His biological nephew Jin Ling is secretly living in fear of Jiang Cheng losing his temper against him and tries to stay as long as possible on a night hunt to not come back home.
• Nephewism: He raised his sister's only child at Lotus Pier for ten years before letting the Jin sect have the boy back.
• Parents as People: He does genuinely love Jin Ling and would never hurt a single hair on the boy's head, but he spoiled his nephew stupid and his temper is so awful that Jin Ling actually fears him.
• Weapon Specialization: Carries his mother's whip Zidian on him and is very adept with it.
• Would Hurt a Child: He didn't hesitate to assault Harry on the possibility that the boy was possessed by the Yiling Patriarch.