Characters / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Jiang Cheng

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Character Index
Main Characters: Wei Wuxian | Lan Wangji
Five Great Clans: Lan Clan of Gusu | Jiang Clan of Yunmeng (Jiang Cheng) | Jin Clan of Lanling (Jin Guangyao) | Nie Clan of Qinghe | Wen Clan of Qishan
Other Characters: Other Clans | Yi City Group | Miscellaneous Characters

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Jiang Cheng (江澄) - Wanyin (晚吟) - Sandu Shengshou (三毒圣手)

Voiced by (Mandarin): Guo Haoran (animation - adult), Gao Shang (animation - child), Peng Yao ^note  Credited as Santu Bian (audio drama - adult), Zhao Xiaojiang (audio drama - child), Wang Kai (web series)
Voiced by (Japanese): Hikaru Midorikawa (animation - adult, audio drama, web series), Rie Hikisaka (animation - child)
Voiced by (Korean): Jang Min-hyuk (animation)
Played by: Wang Zhuocheng (web series - adult), Huang Zhenchen (web series - child)

Height: 185 cm
Weapons: Sandu | 三毒 (jian), Zidian | 紫电 (whip)

^{Click here to see Jiang Cheng as a teenager} 

"Just how much did the Jiang Clan give you? I'm supposed to be his son, I'm supposed to be the heir of the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng, yet all these years I've been outdone by you at every single thing!"

The current leader of the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng, Jin Ling's maternal uncle, and the son of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. He is capable and handsome — but he also has an arrogant behavior and fearsome temper. He grew up with Wei Wuxian, and they were once as close as brothers. Sadly, the future did not turn out as they hoped, and Jiang Cheng was the one who led the First Siege of the Burial Mounds.

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Tropes A-C

• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. While his core bitter personality remains, the Animated Adaptation makes Jiang Cheng less of a jerk (or at least less questionably moral) by tweaking or removing some of his more despicable actions, especially when his former martial brother's concerned. He was less critical of Wei Wuxian after the latter saved the Wen survivors, he doesn't stoop as low as his novel counterpart when confronting him in the present timeline, and in critical situations such as the Second Siege and the confrontation at the Guanyin Temple, he's more pragmatic when it comes to showing his grudge towards both Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning.
• Allegedly Dateless: Despite listed as one of the top gentleman cultivators and being forced in a few blind dates, his lack of tact and Brutal Honesty keeps putting off potential dates that he's blacklisted by all female cultivators, thus remaining single. An audio drama extra even highlights how bad he is at wooing women while an episode of The Founder of Diabolism Q and MXTX's notes reveals he has extremely high requirements for his potential spouse.
• All Take and No Give: The root of his relationship with Wei Wuxian. While both of them had reason to envy each other as they possessed advantages the other didn't and were favored (at least allegedly) by the other parent, Jiang Chen never overcame his perceived inferiority and bitterness. Jiang Cheng overlooked his mother's far more horrific treatment of Wei Wuxian and occasionally also lashed out whereas Wei Wuxian tried to comfort him in similar situations. While they were on the run Jiang Cheng physically and emotionally took his anger out on Wei Wuxian even though Wei Wuxian risked his life to save him. Finally, Wei Wuxian gave away his golden core to Jiang Chen but he betrayed Wei Wuxian as soon as he could emotionally justify it.
• Always Second Best: In Wei Wuxian's first life, he was always one step ahead of Jiang Cheng as cultivators. He was the head disciple of the Jiang Clan, more talented, more handsome, had a higher ranking in the gentleman's cultivator list... This got deconstructed as they grew older, as Jiang Cheng's resentment and insecurities overcame him, and in the present he still continues to stew his hatred and fail to develop as a person as a result.
• Anger Born of Worry: In the past, he often showed both annoyance and concern every time Wei Wuxian got in hot water with someone. In the present, he does this with Jin Ling instead.
• Arch-Enemy: Although not the Big Bad, he plays an antagonist role and is the person Wei Wuxian has the most conflict with in the present timeline of the story. After the latter's resurrection, the plot doesn't shy away from showing that they now stand on opposite sides and come to (mostly verbal) blows every time they meet, with Jiang Cheng starting the confrontation.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: For all his blusters and threats, Jiang Cheng truly cares for his nephew, and beneath his hatred for Wei Wuxian lies the same brotherly love he once had for him years ago.
• Baritone of Strength: Jiang Cheng's Mandarin voice actors in both the donghua and the audio drama give him a slightly youthful yet clearly low and masculine voice that has a rough and threatening edge to its timber, and his Korean donghua voice is the deepest of them all. The baritone voice is befitting of an accomplished and powerful (even if cranky) cultivator and sect leader.
• Being Good Sucks: Invoked. Jiang Cheng believes that nothing good comes out of being magnanimous and selfless. He prefers looking out for himself and he always prioritizes ambition and practicality over charity and sentiment.
• Beneath the Mask: Even though he loudly proclaims that he has no interest in getting married anytime soon, the audio drama and the donghua's chibi spinoff hints that deep down, he actually wants to get Happily Married to the woman of his dreams.
• Berserk Button: Given his temper, even a few harmless things easily set Jiang Cheng off.
  • Although The Dark Arts aren't a malicious practice overall (even if looked down upon), just the mere presence of demonic cultivators alone irritates Jiang Cheng and makes him want to drag them to Lotus Pier for punishment, due to him associating them with Wei Wuxian.
  • Ranking fifth in the list of gentleman cultivators from his generation is impressive in itself, yet it pisses Jiang Cheng off so much that everyone knows better than to mention it in his presence. Why? Simply because Wei Wuxian ranks one place above him.
• Big Eater: Some of the adaptations hint at Jiang Cheng having quite the appetite.
  • In the animated chibi spinoff, when Wei Wuxian suggested that they could circumvent the Cloud Recesses' rule of "no more than three bowls of rice a day" by eating three extra large bowls of rice per day, Jiang Cheng took advantage of the loophole to the point that he became overweight.
  • In the audio drama, after they managed to steal a single chicken as teens, Jiang Cheng quickly became angry when Wei Wuxian offers to share only the chicken butt with him.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Inverted as he's the little brother to Jiang Yanli. He wouldn't allow any harm to come to her nor stand for anyone talking badly of her, which is why he initially disliked Jin Zixuan and was wary of the prospect of his sister marrying him. When Jiang Yanli headed to the Nightless Imperial Capital to search for Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng immediately did whatever he could to protect her, and in the end he's incredibly heartbroken when he watched his sister get killed.
  • Inverted when he was the younger sibling figure to his then-martial brother Wei Wuxian (albeit only by a few days). He often acted like a mother hen to him as teens, in spite of their differences and tensions. Things gradually changed once Jiang Cheng succeeded his father's position as the Jiang Clan leader and both politics and their differing beliefs got in the way of their friendship. However, his impulsive decision to stop Wei Wuxian from getting hurt at Guanyin Temple (and consequently getting wounded by Jin Guangyao, who exploited this trope) implies his protective instinct is still present deep down.
• Big Little Brother: By the time he was teen, he was a head taller than his sister Jiang Yanli, who is a few years older.
• Big Sister Worship: He thought highly of his older sister Jiang Yanli and loved her dearly.
• Braids of Action: His donghua and manhua designs include small braids tied on the sides of his head, and he's a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: As a child, both his parents failed to give him any proper attention or affection; he and his father were distant, and his mother would criticize and lambaste him all the time. As an uncle and something of a Parental Substitute to Jin Ling, he comes into the realm of parenthood completely blind, with no good examples to learn from. While there are times when he repeats his parents' — especially his mother's — mistakes in regards to parenting, there are signs that he's making an effort to do better in taking care of Jin Ling than how his parents handled him.
• Break the Haughty: His whole life, he wanted to prove himself better than Wei Wuxian or at least as good as him in his own way — a drive that didn't go away even long after the latter's death. He also made himself believe that no matter what happened, his former martial brother always (and intentionally) committed the worst actions, and that he himself had no fault in anything. Therefore, the realization that his "repaired" golden core is actually Wei Wuxian's is a devastating blow to his pride since he gets (metaphorically) slapped hard in the face about how he was more wrong than right in his views of the man he hates. It also means that to him, all his achievements in the Sunshot Campaign and everything else that followed was only possible due to another's sacrifice, rather than his own — and Jiang Cheng hates getting help from others.
• Broken Ace: Jiang Cheng is a powerful leader and cultivator, ranking among the top of the gentlemen cultivator's list and making the impressive feat of rebuilding a completely eradicated clan after having just become the leader at a young age. However, a lot of trauma is linked to both his upbringing and the circumstances of his clan's downfall, and things got worse when he later lost his sister and assumed Wei Wuxian betrayed him. This has left him embittered after 13 years of stewing over this perceived betrayal and the loss of nearly his entire family, all despite having gained the respect of his peers and bringing his clan to beyond its former glory.
• Brought Down to Normal: During the Sunshot Campaign, he was captured by the Wen Clan and had his golden core melted off by Wen Zhuliu. Fortunately he was able to solve the issue thanks to Wei Wuxian's help, although not in a way he first thought.
• Brutal Honesty: Downplayed. While capable of being tactful in formal events, even he admits he never cares about watching his language. The audio drama reveals that his blunt comments on his potential suitors are why he can't find a wife.
• Bystander Syndrome:
  • In the past, he wavered on whether to stand by Wei Wuxian's side or stay on good terms with the other clans in order to maintain the Jiang Clan's reputation, since both choices were difficult and mutually exclusive — although he ended up choosing the latter. Jin Guangyao even points out that his reluctance to take proper action, combined with his pride, played a huge part in Wei Wuxian's downfall. Jiang Cheng is unable to argue with that.
  • When Wang Lingjiao attacked Mianmian in the Xuanwu Cave, he both avoided helping her and physically restrained Wei Wuxian when he tried to. After the incident, he yelled at the latter for risking the Wens' anger to defend Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji.
  • He barely made any effort to defend the surviving Wens from the other major clans, despite owing Wen Qing and Wen Ning a massive debt for saving his life and smuggling his parents' bodies out of Lotus Pier so they could be given a proper burial.
• Cain and Abel: As close brother figures, his relationship with Wei Wuxian slowly worsened due to his insecurities against him plus other factors, and he eventually led the First Siege against him (with most people believing he was the one who landed the killing blow on his former martial brother). In the present timeline, he's at least hellbent on capturing Wei Wuxian again for a good while.
• Can't Take Criticism: Due to his Inferiority Superiority Complex, Jiang Cheng doesn't take criticism very well. More often than not, any remark given to him that is not automatically a compliment or a statement of approval will hurt him and make him harbor doubts about himself. One example is when Jiang Fengmian lectured him for lambasting Wei Wuxian's selfless actions and told him that he must be careful with what he says or else he still has yet to understand the Jiang Clan's virtues — to which Jiang Cheng immediately took said lecture as a personal attack and more "proof" that his father didn't love him and saw him as an Inadequate Inheritor. Yu Ziyuan's influence also worsened his inability to take constructive criticism as it is.
• Character Development: One of Jiang Cheng's greatest conflicts is trying to let go of the past. While too much had happened at once for him to properly process everything on his own, he nevertheless allowed his trauma to consume him, causing his personality and outlook to turn bitter. After receiving a Humble Pie and some much-needed emotional catharsis in the finale, Jiang Cheng decides to stop holding Wei Wuxian to old debts, let him be happy with Lan Wangji and not tell him the Awful Truth, and he acknowledges that their paths have now diverged — all of which hints that he's learning to move on.
• Character Tics: He had an automatic response every time he saw Wei Wuxian being his troublesome self as teens. In the donghua and manhua, he would facepalm.
• Childhood Friends: Wei Wuxian was taken into the Jiang Clan at a young age, so he and Jiang Cheng grew up together. As teens they had a Vitriolic Best Buds dynamic, annoying each other in some way but still evidently close and protective of one another. Unfortunately, various circumstances and Jiang Cheng's issues eventually doomed their friendship, and in the present timeline the two are at odds with each other throughout the story.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: When they were younger, Jiang Cheng tried to keep Wei Wuxian in check whenever the latter would be his mischievous and outspoken self and would remind him to be on his best behavior.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: For the past 13 years, Jiang Cheng hunted, tortured, and also likely killed any demonic cultivator he would encounter, on the charges that they practiced The Dark Arts, or they may be a reincarnation of Wei Wuxian, or both.
• Combat Pragmatist: No matter the situation, Jiang Cheng doesn't care about fighting fairly. For example, when Jin Guangyao tries to attack him with Magic Music, Jiang Cheng drowns the sound out by scratching two swords together.
• The Comically Serious: If Jiang Cheng isn't being dour and angry, then he's being plain serious. So it's really funny to see him react to Wei Wuxian's antics and trouble-making as a teen.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: He didn't take it well when Wei Wuxian rescued him after the Wen Clan took him as their prisoner, even outright asking the latter in a despairing tone, "Why did you save me?" This is because by the time he was saved, his golden core had already been destroyed and Jiang Cheng's pride wouldn't allow him to live the rest of his life as a powerless muggle. The epilogue also reveals that he willingly drew the Wens' attention to save Wei Wuxian's life, meaning that it would had been all for naught if his martial brother hadn't been careful in saving him.
• Compressed Hair: The manhua and donghua shows that his hair is very long (as per tradition in ancient China) when let down, longer than what his tight hair bun would lead you to believe.
• Conflicting Loyalty: His position as the protector of the Jiang Clan and the actions Wei Wuxian took in the aftermath of the Sunshot Campaign soon placed Jiang Cheng in the difficult spot of keeping both his family and his clan safe. However, the influence of the other clans, as well as the difference between his and Wei Wuxian's stances on protecting the Wen refugees, caused him to eventually disown his martial brother.

Tropes D-I

• Deadpan Snarker: He's been incredibly snarky ever since he was a teen, although his sarcasm took a more bitter tone as he got older.
• Death Glare: He can give a very mean look, and the narration even states that his glare gives off the impression that he's ready to spit out a sword and stab someone.
• The Determinator: His greatest strength. Jiang Cheng manages against overwhelming odds through sheer force of will.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He despises receiving assistance or sympathy from other people, even from his own family.
• The Dreaded: His intimidating and unapproachable nature is brought up a few times by background characters. A group of cultivators pin him and the Jiang Clan as the one leader/clan that one shouldn't offend, and the civilians in Yunping City are too terrified to seek help from him despite being under the Jiang Clan's jurisdiction because one of them once witnessed him torturing a demonic cultivator.
• Dual Wielding: He wields Zidian in his left hand, and Sandu in his right. While he usually alternates between the two, sometimes he will use both weapons at the same time.
• Et Tu, Brute?: His resentment towards Wei Wuxian stems from feeling betrayed by the latter in the past. From Jiang Cheng's point of view, he was abandoned by his friend on a whim, and said friend — even if unintentionally — caused great controversy for him politically, which drew negative attention to his clan, and he was eventually pressed to disown him (albeit at Wei Wuxian's suggestion). Later, Wei Wuxian caused their sister's husband Jin Zixuan's death, and Jiang Yanli died taking a blade meant for him — both of which Jiang Cheng saw as the ultimate betrayal.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Jiang Cheng started braiding his hair in a manner similar to his father's after taking over the Jiang Clan, signifying a new and tense stage in his life as the heir-turned-leader.
• Feet-First Introduction: The donghua shows his legs first as he enters the scene in his debut, followed by him Emerging from the Shadows.
• Flaw Exploitation: The Jins, as well as most of the other clans, preyed on his inferiority complex and his need to prove himself multiple times in the past when he had just become the new clan leader.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Wei Wuxian doesn't harbor a grudge against Jiang Cheng for leading the siege against him in the past, and understands why their friendship has fallen apart. However, it doesn't mean he's not aggrieved by what happened, and Jiang Cheng's actions unquestionably drove a permanent wedge in their relationship.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: There is no doubt that he didn't have a pleasant childhood and suffered plenty of losses, making it easy to see why it left him embittered. However, as a few characters like the Big Bad and Lan Wangji point out, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is in the right whenever he acts on his hatred and prejudices, and the finale has his pride and conscience suffer the consequences for it.
• Friendless Background: Implied in the present timeline. Unlike other clan leaders and major characters, he's not shown having any close relationship with anyone who's not his relative.
• Friend Versus Lover: The enmity between Jiang Cheng (Wei Wuxian's former friend and martial brother) and Lan Wangji (Wei Wuxian's love interest) is mutual, and their dislike for each other mostly stems for their past and current relationships with the man in question. Jiang Cheng in particular resents Wei Wuxian for "choosing" the Lan clansman over himself in the present (amongst other reasons).
• Fury-Fueled Foolishness: Whenever Jiang Cheng's anger gets the better of him, neither his actions nor his words tend to be sensible or helpful, both to himself and to others. In the end, he realizes how much his rage has cost him more than it has benefited him.
• Generation Xerox:
  • Jiang Cheng almost entirely resembles his mother, something that was evident enough since childhood but has become more apparent in the present time where he's lost a lot of his soft edges.
  • Like his father, he inherits a clan with a friend serving as his right hand, before said friend eventually leaves him for love. What's different is their reactions to this — Wei Changze and Cangse-sanren remained on good terms with Jiang Fengmian, while Wei Wuxian's friendship with Jiang Cheng dissolved for convoluted reasons before the two ultimately distance themselves from each other at the story's end and Lan Wangji has blatant disdain for him.
• Giver of Lame Names: You think that Jin Ling naming his dog Fairy (Xianzi) is bad? Jiang Cheng named his own dogs Jasmine (Moli), Princess (Feifei), and Little Love (Xiao-Ai) — names that Wei Wuxian likened to that of high-class prostitutes.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Jiang Cheng has a severe Inferiority Superiority Complex thanks in no small part to being constantly compared to Wei Wuxian. Any time he feels envious about something or someone, it almost always involves Wei Wuxian in some way.
• Hates Being Alone: Hinted at. After losing his parents at the most unexpected circumstances and at a young age, it's implied Jiang Cheng was left with abandonment issues and became afraid of losing what's left of his family. There are also implications that he sees Wei Wuxian leaving his side as the worst betrayal, as evidenced in his breakdown at Guanyin Temple which ends with him tearfully reminding the latter of when he said that they would become the Twin Prides of Yunmeng.
• Haughty "Hmph": Just like his mother, he has a tendency to make a contemptuous scoff whenever he's affronting someone.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Downplayed. In the epilogue, it's revealed the reason he got caught by the Wen Clan was because he deliberately drew the Wens' attention to himself so they wouldn't capture Wei Wuxian, putting his cultivation career into jeopardy when he lost his golden core as a result.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Jiang Cheng's flaws and how he acts on them are what hinders him from improving as a person, resolving his conflicts, making peace with himself, and coming to terms with his past.
• Horrible Judge of Character:
  • As he grew older and got more wrapped in the cultivation world's politics, it wasn't so difficult for the other clans to sway Jiang Cheng into turning his back on Wei Wuxian with just a few threats and lies, and his own Inferiority Superiority Complex towards the latter didn't help matters. This goes to show that Jiang Cheng, in spite of how guarded he is, doesn't have the best judgement when it comes to evaluating how trustworthy other people are and how reliable are the things they would say.
  • Jiang Cheng has a poor understanding of Wei Wuxian, as he assumed nothing but the worst of his old friend and still does at the beginning of the story. In the 13 years that passed after the latter's death, Jiang Cheng convinced himself that Wei Wuxian screwed him over on purpose, didn't harbor any notions of loyalty, intended to cause his family's demise and doesn't feel bad about their deaths nor does he feel any gratitude towards them. In the finale, he slowly comes to realize just how mistaken he is.
• Hypocrite:
  • Despite ragging on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji for their lack of morals or manners, Jiang Cheng himself is — while knowledgeable of social graces — someone who's more easily defined by his short temper and sharp words.
  • Even when he's aggressively confronting someone in an attempt to pick a fight with them, he gets mad when they get fed up and fight back against him.
  • For his lamentations about how he felt that his father didn't appreciate him because he didn't embody the Jiang Clan's values, he was never seen or mentioned making an effort to change that. If anything, based on his actions after the Sunshot Campaign, he decided to eschew the Jiang Clan's teachings to follow his mother's instead.
  • Although he became widely known for his persecution of any rumored demonic cultivators, Jiang Cheng is a conspicuously absent voice during Xue Yang's trial during the years Wei Wuxian was dead, despite Xue Yang's massacre of a whole sect using demonic cultivation.
  • He holds Wei Wuxian in contempt for his family's death, yet completely disregards that he willingly took part in a siege that killed the innocent Wen survivors, who Wei Wuxian also saw as family.
  • Jiang Cheng is upset with Wei Wuxian for (allegedly) forgetting his promise to stay by his side, and accuses him of having no sense of loyalty. However, as Jin Guangyao points out at Guanyin Temple, he failed to trust Wei Wuxian enough, or worse, at all.
  • While he gets extremely upset when he feels that the debts others owe him are left unpaid, he himself is unwiilling to fulfill the debts that he himself owes others.
  • He calls out Wei Wuxian for never telling him about the golden core transplant, yet he never told Wei Wuxian how he got captured by the Wen Clan and resolves to keep the truth to himself in the finale. His decision to stay silent on the matter implies that he now understands why Wei Wuxian did what he did.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: As a child, Jiang Cheng was jealous of Wei Wuxian under the perception that the latter received all of his father's attention, and implicitly wished that his mother had shown him more kindness. This tied in with his fear of being left on his own, both of which he started executing in a more unhealthy manner as time went on.
• Improbable Weapon User: Zidian is a ring which can turn into a whip. In addition to being a handy cultivation weapon, it can also expel ghosts out of the bodies that they possess. It cannot, however, whip out spirits from a body that was willingly offered to them, which was how Wei Wuxian evades detection the first time around.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He was always overshadowed by Wei Wuxian, which fed his insecurities and caused him to lash out.
• Innocently Insensitive: Played for Laughs in the audio drama, where he doesn't realize how his Brutal Honesty towards the last three women he's been set up to meet with is considered rude and is the reason why he's still single.
• In Vino Veritas: The animated spinoff implies he's more truthful than he's willing to be when drunk. In the episode where he drinks, he ponders about whether or not he should get married despite him telling Wei Wuxian that he's fine on his own.
• Ironic Name: His family name stands for "river" and his birth name means "clear". His complete name would then translate to "clear river", which is usually associated with an emotionally and mentally peaceful state — something that's at odds with Jiang Cheng's emotional and mental state in the present timeline.
• It's All About Me: Downplayed. While he's not entirely devoid of noble traits, Jiang Cheng can still often be short-sighted and selfish. For example, while he cares for Wei Wuxian deep down and has done selfless acts of brotherly love for him before, there are plenty of times when he acts on the belief that the latter's life revolves around his own. It's implied that he got this mindset from his mother, who believed that the least Wei Wuxian could do was doing everything for them as repayment for the Jiang family taking him in. In the final arc, Jiang Cheng starts to get rid of this mindset after he's faced with some harsh facts that he can no longer forget or deny. When he tells Jin Ling that they should let everyone go back to where they wish to go, it's his way of finally acknowledging that Wei Wuxian has a life of his own and that he will stop getting in the way of that.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While Jiang Cheng resents Wei Wuxian and antagonizes him due to the death of his family, the epilogue confirms that what he's truly the most upset about is the latter leaving him for other people. However, he's made to reevaluate several of his opinions about the latter once he finds out his martial brother gave him his golden core. In the end, he decides to not to tie him down with their past anymore and lets him live his new life with Lan Wangji, if his choice to not tell Wei Wuxian of his own sacrifice is any indication.

Tropes J-P

• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • In the past, he delivered a harsh truth to Wei Wuxian about the Fair-Weather Friend mindset of the other cultivation clans and how doing heroic deeds can invite more troubles than rewards in a world that's unjust. The flashback arcs show that the former was indeed quickly abandoned and belittled as quickly as he was praised, all because he chose to oppose the cultivation world about their treatment of the Wen survivors.
    Jiang Cheng: When you're standing on their side, you're the bizarre genius, the miraculous hero, the force of the rebellion, the flower that blooms alone. But the second your voice differs from theirs, you've lost your mind, you've ignored morality, you've walked the crooked path. You think you can be immune to all those condemnations as you stay outside of the world and do whatever you want?
  • He's quick to make condescending accusations about Wei Wuxian's current relationship with Lan Wangji being romantic, despite his former martial brother's denial. Barely a day later, it becomes clearer than ever that the protagonists' feelings are anything but platonic towards each other.
  • While Wei Wuxian had sympathetic reasons for withholding the truth about the golden core transplant from Jiang Cheng, the latter is angry about being kept in the dark the entire time. The narration describing Wei Wuxian's guilt for doing it implies that he acknowledges the latter has the right to be mad.
• Jerkass Realization: Jiang Cheng has multiple revelations about his malicious behaviour towards the finale thanks to other characters' comments — when Wen Ning tells him about the golden core transfer, Wei Wuxian's sarcastic comments about the Jiang leader's previous lack of care for him, and when the Big Bad reminds him why he's partly responsible for Wei Wuxian's ruination. Jiang Cheng reacts poorly each of those times, as he's forced to fully comprehend that he wasn't the stalwart and supportive brother and friend he thought he was to the latter.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jiang Cheng is domineering, sharp-tongued, and hot-tempered. However, there's no doubt that he has a compassionate side, even if it's reserved for his family and his family only.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Jiang Cheng serves the role of an antagonist, as his personal issues have driven him to commit several reprehensible deeds no matter his intentions (such as being a main force in the First Siege and belittling Wei Wuxian throughout the story). By the epilogue, he's still alive with his reputation mostly intact and he doesn't directly face any legal repercussions; however, his relationship with Wei Wuxian becomes neutral and distant at best since it's too late for him to take back the things he's said and done against him, and he feels some pain from this.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: His instincts tend to choose fight over flight more often than not, but he knows when he's not going to win in a confrontation and would rather walk away and save his energy. However, he can forgo this thinking once he's angered enough that he starts ignoring the possible consequences of his actions.
• Lack of Empathy: Downplayed. While Jiang Cheng is capable of empathy, his pride also often leads him to believe that he's someone who's only been wronged but has never done any wrong, making it difficult for him to sympathize with anyone else's plights but his own. For example, he resents Wei Wuxian for all the times he believed his former martial brother wronged him, without ever stopping once to consider the latter's situation by either hearing him out or seeing things from his point of view. He's also never contemplated on how he himself might have also wronged Wei Wuxian, and he often brings up how much the latter owes him or his clan.
• Last of His Kind: Jiang Cheng is the last member of the Jiang family, his nephew notwithstanding.
• Locked Out of the Loop: For most of the story, he doesn't know that not only did he truly lose his golden core in the past, but the current core in his body was previously Wei Wuxian's, which was excised by Wen Qing. The people in question purposely hid this from him, since Wei Wuxian knew that 1) Jiang Cheng's pride would not allow him to handle the truth well, 2) Jiang Cheng would have been honor-bound to protect him and the Wen siblings, and 3) it would have overtaxed the Jiang Clan in the current political climate.
• Meaningful Name: The "three poisons" in his title and in his sword's name refers to a Buddhist teaching about the three root causes of human suffering: greed, anger, and ignorance/ill will; and the overall plot shows that Jiang Cheng is guilty of all three. Sandu Shengshou even translates to "Master of the Three Poisons".
• Misery Builds Character: Downplayed. Almost the entirety of Jiang Cheng's character is based around his losses and his flaws. While he certainly has his fair share of strengths, the narrative focuses more on how vindictive he is and the reasons as to why, many of which are understandable but not necessarily justifiable.
• Misery Poker: Jiang Cheng went through plenty of tragic ordeals, but it's because of this that he tends to believe that what anyone else had suffered doesn't matter compared to what he went through. This is part of why he has a distinctive Lack of Empathy and has a hard time understanding that Wei Wuxian may have had his own share of trauma and deep-seated issues. It reflects a lot in their interactions in the present time; he would talk about what he thinks Wei Wuxian put him through, but he never once considers about the situation in reverse.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Many believed that he felled Wei Wuxian in the First Siege. When Wen Ning brings this up, the latter corrects him by saying that he died from backlash and Jiang Cheng had nothing to do with his death.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Implied. After the events of the finale, how he handles the political crisis Jin Ling is thrown into hints that Jiang Cheng is making sure to not repeat the mistake he made with Wei Wuxian about not protecting his family by failing to standing up to the other cultivators for the sake of politics. Even with the consideration that his political standing is far more stable now, it still says something that he risks losing face and making enemies out of other clan leaders by openly challenging anyone who tries to usurp Jin Ling's position.
• The Needs of the Many: As the leader of his clan, he'll prioritize the safety of the hundreds of lives at Lotus Pier even if that means letting other innocents suffer or die. Except Jin Ling. Nobody messes with Jin Ling.
• Never My Fault: Jiang Cheng is the type of person who automatically lashes out at everyone around him in his moments of distress or misery and tries to deflect the blame on anyone or anything else that isn't him. An example of this is after the Fall of Lotus Pier, when he strikes Wei Wuxian and blames him for the Wens attacking, despite the Wens having previously done the same to smaller sects and having brought an entire army to Lotus Pier to establish Supervisory Offices, despite initially claiming they only wished for Wei Wuxian to be punished.
• Not So Above It All: Although he was usually a stern and serious heir-turned-leader in the past and would scold Wei Wuxian for his mischief, he wasn't above joining in shenanigans and being a troll himself. He would join in the mischief with his martial brothers in Lotus Pier and also messed around during his day-offs at the Cloud Recesses (such as drinking and reading pornography), and he once gave Wei Wuxian a bowl of soup... after he ate all the meat in it. In The Untamed, he even pranked Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Nie Huaisang by hiding behind a statue and pretending to be its voice.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Because of his tactlessness and utter lack of filter, more often than not he's likely to make things worse than better when he takes charge of a conversation, particularly if the conversation is about personal matters.
• Papa Wolf: Do not hurt, threaten nor insult Jin Ling in Jiang Cheng's presence unless you want to feel his wrath. This crosses over with Hypocritical Heartwarming, as he constantly chews out and berates his nephew — he just won't let anyone else do it.
• Parental Substitute: Jin Ling's parents died when he was an infant and his paternal grandparents followed not long after, leaving him in the care of his maternal uncle Jiang Cheng (as well as Jin Guangyao). Jiang Cheng's behavior towards his nephew is reminiscent to that of an overly strict and protective father.
• Parents as People: Downplayed. Jiang Cheng is the closest father figure Jin Ling has besides Jin Guangyao. He's clearly protective of his nephew and loves him, but his mother's strict and damaging parenting influenced him in the worst way possible.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: If he verbally attacks someone without having to shout at or threaten them, he'll resort to passive-aggressive comments instead.
• The Perfectionist: Jiang Cheng sets extremely high expectations on himself and easily gets frustrated when he falls even slightly short of them.
• Perpetual Frowner: He's either scowling, glaring daggers, or both.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Downplayed. He's an antagonist and exhibits homophobic behavior not uncommon from other cultivators. He reacts with disgust when someone informs him Mo Xuanyu was kicked out of the Jin Clan due to his homosexuality, and his inner monologue makes it clear he's genuinely shocked and put off that Wei Wuxian might be in love with a man.
• Poor Communication Kills: Because he almost always lets his anger direct his words, Jiang Cheng's ability to properly speak out his thoughts and feelings without giving off the wrong impression is downright atrocious. As a consequence, he always ends up shooting himself in both his feet.
• The Power of Hate: Jiang Cheng uses his rage and hate to fuel his determination. He basically rebuilt his clan and became a powerful cultivator out of sheer spite and refusal to let the Wen Clan win. However, clinging onto his rage has clearly taken a huge emotional toll on him and has alienated a lot of people, including Wei Wuxian.
• Pride: The vast inner strength and will that drives Jiang Cheng is simultaneously his greatest strength and weakness. It allowed him to rebuild his clan and lead it through a war. It also makes him quick to anger, slow to forgive, blind to reason, emotionally fragile and incredibly insecure.
• Promotion to Parent: After the death of his sister and Jin Zixuan, he took over as one of the main parental figures for their son Jin Ling.

Tropes Q-Z

• Redemption Equals Affliction: Downplayed. By the epilogue he realizes the error of his ways and expresses some remorse, but it's already too late for him to make amends for what he's done. He makes the long-overdue decision of letting go of his deep-rooted resentment — but to do so, he has to accept that he and Wei Wuxian can't go back to how their friendship used to be and so lets him be happy with his new life while remaining distant from him, even if he's somewhat reluctant about it.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: In normal circumstances, he comes across as the cold and stern Blue Oni to Wei Wuxian's easygoing and friendly Red Oni, especially in the past when he tried to prevent the latter from causing mischief and reprimanded him whenever he got in trouble. But in the more dangerous situations, he becomes the Red Oni to Wei Wuxian's Blue Oni, as he easily gives in to his emotions whereas the latter tries to keep a clear head and rein in Jiang Cheng's temper.
• The Resenter: His father seemingly preferring Wei Wuxian for his accomplishments and for being able to follow the Jiang Clan motto and his mother's constant comparison to him planted seeds of resentment towards his martial brother. While he does love his martial brother deep down to even sacrifice his golden core to save him, various events would tear the two's close relationship apart, and it took his sister dying to turned his resentment into outright hatred that didn't disappear even after Wei Wuxian died.
• Revenge Before Reason: When it comes to those he has a vendetta against, the last thing Jiang Cheng is likely to do is be rational or spare his targets a second of leniency. While not without reason, most of the time it causes more problems for him and everyone else.
• Sadist: Jiang Cheng shows a sadistic streak towards anyone he hates. He was pleased rather than horrified at the various brutal ways Wei Wuxian dealt with the Wens, and there's how he's inflicted Cold-Blooded Torture on all the demonic cultivators he's captured instead of just killing them on sight.
• Scars Are Forever: He has a scar across his chest that will never fade, as he was struck with a discipline whip when Wen Chao tortured him.
• Selective Obliviousness: Jiang Cheng has a tendency of ignoring or overlooking facts that contradict his views or go against what he wants to believe, no matter how obvious they are to him.
• Self-Made Man: Zig-zagged. Jiang Cheng was already in line to be the next leader of the Jiang Clan even before the events leading to the Sunshot Campaign, so it was to be expected that he would take up the mantle after his father's death. However, the Wens' destruction killed nearly the entire Jiang Clan and burned almost all of Lotus Pier down, which meant that he needed to rebuild and revive his clan from almost nothing. He succeeded thanks to his diligence and determination, although he also needed some support from a few clans.
• Shared Family Quirks:
  • His questionable naming sense managed to make its way to his nephew Jin Ling, something Wei Wuxian snarks when he learns that the latter was the one to name his dog Fairy.
  • He shares his mother's habit of fiddling with Zidian out of anger or annoyance.
• Shock and Awe: He uses Zidian's lightning to great effect and can clear an entire room of cultivators with its lightning alone.
• Slave to PR: Jiang Cheng highly values maintaining his reputation and prioritizes saving face, since he is expected to always follow the proper decorum as a clan leader. It would reflect badly on him and his clan if he speaks or acts out of line even when he would be in the right to do so, because politics is implicitly given as much importance as cultivation. However, his inability to protect both his clan and Wei Wuxian is what made it easy for the Jin Clan to turn him against the latter, who's a Defector from Decadence.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: His rage and loathing, which he outwardly shows, hides a broken young man who is in denial of his wrongs and still hasn't found closure with his family's deaths, with his closest friend, and with himself.
• Spanner in the Works: By trying to pick a fight with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, he causes them to leave Lotus Pier earlier than intended, to which they decide to head to Yunping City... where Jin Guangyao just so happens to be. In short, had Jiang Cheng not acted on his belligerence, our heroes might have arrived at a much later time and the Big Bad would have already gotten away scot-free.
• Strong Family Resemblance: The donghua shows that Jiang Cheng's facial features as an adult are essentially those of Yu Ziyuan without makeup on and a few sharper edges. But other scenes show that he also looks a lot like his father.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Jin Guangyao reveals that the other clans actually feared and coveted Jiang Cheng's power since he had already managed to achieve so much in his first year after succeeding his father, and he had the backing of another powerful cultivator such as the Yiling Patriarch. This led them to plant the seeds that would lead to the fallout between the two, since (according to Jin Guangyao) weakening the Jiang Clan would bring strength to their own.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Jiang Cheng's always struggled with anger and envy, but over a decade of grief and bitterness took away a lot of his soft edges and redeeming features.
• Tough Love: He's incredibly strict towards Jin Ling and even threatens physical violence as a disciplinary measure. However, the latter states that he's never followed through on said threats, and Jiang Cheng does treasure his nephew and tries to make sure that he can take care of himself.
• Tragic Dream: The conflict between him and Wei Wuxian runs deep, but Jiang Cheng never forgot about when his former martial brother said that he would stand by his side and support him. However, the final arc firmly establishes that it's never going to happen, and Jiang Cheng knows this all too well.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • Zidian is one of the last things Jiang Cheng has left of his mother.
  • It's ambiguous what his true reasons for it are, but the final arc reveals that Jiang Cheng kept Chenqing with him after Wei Wuxian's death in playable condition, even though one would expect him — given their history — to have destroyed it instead. He gives it back to him at Guanyin Temple, with the implication that it was his way of letting the latter go.
• Tranquil Fury: When he's expressing his anger, Jiang Cheng does so in an explosive or at least loud and direct manner most of the time. However, there are the rare occasions where he's beyond pissed but still keeps his calm.
• Tsundere: Jiang Cheng clearly values his close ones but either hides or expresses it with his grouchy nature. He usually showed his concern for Wei Wuxian as teens with irritation, and in the present he basically threatens Jin Ling one minute and then shields him from danger the next.
• The Dutiful Son: Played with. A large motivator behind Jiang Cheng's beliefs is his filial piety and duty to his sect, with many of his actions stemming from his desire to avenge his family and sect. But at the same time, he fails to understand the Jiang Sect motto (Directly translated as to "Attempt the impossible", but a more accurate translation taking in the context would be "To do what is right, even if you know it is impossible") as his father once cautioned him.
• The Unapologetic: Due to his refusal to acknowledge the faults in either his personality or his actions, he rarely feels guilty, let alone apologizes, for any instance he might have wronged other people until it's too late for him to make up for what he had said or done. At Guanyin Temple, it's thus significant that he actually apologises to Wei Wuxian for the way he treated him. However, the most his apology can do is only settle their relationship, with the two officially parting ways afterward.
• The Un-Favourite: Downplayed and discussed. Jiang Fengmian was more lenient, caring, and openly affectionate with Wei Wuxian (who the Jiang family raised after taking him into the clan) than his own son. Consequently, Jiang Cheng felt unloved by his father compared to his martial brother. Wei Wuxian, however, argued that Jiang Fengmian specifically acted this way because the former wasn't his child, and his sterner upbringing of Jiang Cheng was his way of showing Tough Love and his determination to raise him well as a future leader. While Jiang Fengmian did certainly seem to have a more favourable impression of Wei Wuxian at times (to the point that it frustrated his wife), it became evident that he definitely didn't love his son any less; when he sent the teens away before going to Lotus Pier, he gave Jiang Cheng a loving farewell and asked him to stay safe, while his final words to Wei Wuxian were to watch over his son.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • While Jiang Cheng knew that Wen Ning and Wen Qing saved his and Wei Wuxian's lives and did briefly try to vouch for them when their lives were at stake, he still wanted to get Wei Wuxian back on everyone's good side by trying to make him hand over the Wen survivors to the Jin Clan, despite fully knowing what will happen to them. He grew to genuinely detest them after his martial brother cut ties with the Jiang Clan to protect the refugees, and still doesn't show much appreciation even after he finds out that Wen Qing (with Wen Ning's assistance) was responsible for the restoration of his golden core.
  • He also did not express much gratitude towards Wei Wuxian after allegedly impersonating the latter to get his core restored by Baoshan Sanren, despite this likely being the only favour Wei Wuxian had left of his dead mother.
  • Along with the other adult cultivators, he doesn't so much as give a grudging "thanks" to Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning even after they save everyone from the army of corpses at the Demon-Slaughtering Cave, and he still treats the duo with disdain for a while.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Jiang Cheng as a teen was (while still grouchy) a lot more relaxed, capable of smiling and having fun every now and then. Then the attack on Lotus Pier happened, and since then he had an ever-growing chip on his shoulder.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: Even after he led the First Siege which resulted in Wei Wuxian and the Wen refugees' deaths, the novel makes it clear that it didn't make him feel any better. If anything, it had the opposite effect, given how bitter he's become after the Time Skip.
• Villainous BSoD: As an antagonist, Jiang Cheng held firmly onto certain perceptions of Wei Wuxian and has been using his hatred as a drive to achieve and live on. When it all gets turned on its head by Wen Ning after he reveals that his "repaired" golden core was originally Wei Wuxian's, Jiang Cheng has a nervous breakdown as almost the entire foundation he built himself on has immediately shattered from the truth. He calms down after a while, but he's still clearly affected from The Reveal.
• Violence is the Only Option: Jiang Cheng handles most, if not all, of his personal matters with severe aggression. Naturally, nothing gets fixed; however, Jiang Cheng lacks enough emotional awareness to realize that doubling down with more anger just makes everything worse.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: The underlying source of Jiang Cheng's envy. He desperately wanted to live up to his role as the Jiang Clan's heir but he felt that he always failed to meet his father's standards. His mother was also terrible at showing affection and praise, and she always projected her issues and biases onto him and Wei Wuxian. No matter whose approval he was seeking, Jiang Cheng's always fallen short which was exacerbated by Wei Wuxian effortlessly showing him up.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • He and Wei Wuxian were close in the past, but at present Jiang Cheng harbors a burning hatred towards him and only barely tolerates him in situations where they're forced to be civil or work together. By the end of the novel, he no longer despises Wei Wuxian and their relationship receives some closure, but they can never regain the friendship they once had.
  • Implied with Nie Huaisang. The two were decent friends during their teenage years, but they're not shown interacting again following their studies at the Cloud Recesses, which suggests they drifted apart afterward.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: At Guanyin Temple, Jiang Cheng rages about how he feels that his achievements, the time he spent hating Wei Wuxian, and the actions he took that were centered around that hatred are all invalidated by the Awful Truth about his golden core.
• Would Harm a Senior: Implied. Jiang Cheng led the First Siege despite knowing that the Wen survivors included the elderly, suggesting he wasn't above killing them.
• Would Hit a Girl: When he saw the state of Wang Lingjiao's corpse, he mutilated said corpse even further out of hatred and spite, considering the role she played in the Lotus Pier massacre. The First Siege he led against the Wen survivors also implied he wasn't against harming the women there either.
• Would Hurt a Child: The first time he meets A-Yuan, the adorable toddler living at the Burial Mounds, he is described as regarding the child with no compassion. His later role during the Siege of the Burial Mounds also suggests he had no qualms about killing a child.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Jiang Cheng calls Jin Ling "A-Ling" whenever he gets worried about him to the extent that he can't even be stern or angry about it.
• Young and in Charge: He rebuilt his entire clan almost from scratch at a young age after the death of his parents, and Jin Guangyao even states that Jiang Cheng is the youngest cultivator yet to become a clan leader. This trope was deconstructed when he started out, however, as Jiang Cheng had trouble navigating politics due to 1) his inexperience and lack of guidance and 2) the fact that no one respects a clan leader that is so young.
• You Owe Me: Many of his grievances with Wei Wuxian are centered around the concept of obligation. It's another aspect he inherited from his mother, and it's also the main reason why his friendship with Wei Wuxian doesn't ultimately work out. While they do care for each other, their relationship could not withstand the burdens of owing lifetime debts to the other and the very fact that they're not regarded as equals either by themselves (especially from Jiang Cheng's viewpoint) or by other people.

Tropes that apply to Jiang Cheng in The Untamed only

^{Click here to see Jiang Cheng as a child} 

• Adaptational Jerkass: While his personality is overall softer, the series also gives more focus to his less redeeming qualities.
  • Jiang Cheng is more rude and aggressive towards Wen Ning.
  • Wei Wuxian made the pledge to be his right-hand man in a less emotionally-charged moment, so Jiang Cheng being so hell-bent on keeping him to his oath is more puzzling.
  • While the novel made it clear he wasn't the one who killed Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng's actions are more directly linked to the latter's death in this adaptation.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Even while he still Took a Level in Jerkass after the Time Skip, The Untamed gives him a more sympathetic portrayal by making him less malicious than his novel counterpart. He was more concerned for Wei Wuxian and not as cruel towards the Wen refugees in the past, he's not as harsh with Jin Ling, and he's at times more remorseful towards his former martial brother in the present. In the finale, he even wishes Wei Wuxian well and is more at peace with letting him go.
• Animal Motifs: In its sealed form, Zidian takes the form of a vambrace with a snake decoration encoiled around it, and Sandu's hilt is also engraved with the symbol of a snake. This is fitting, since snakes are one of the three animals (besides the rooster and the pig) representing the three poisons (sandu) of Buddhism, and snakes are known as an animal with several poisonous species. More importantly, each animal represents a certain poison, with the snake representing anger — an issue Jiang Cheng especially has.
• Character Tics: He would roll his eyes whenever Wei Wuxian was up to mischief.
• Cuteness Proximity: Cooing over a rabbit when he got the chance to hold one at the Cloud Recesses as a teen suggested he had a soft side for the animal.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: When it comes to training his disciples, he's as harsh as his mother was.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: He previously had a right sidebang in his younger years. This went away after he succeeded his father as clan leader, subtly indicating his determination to revive his clan.
• Love Cannot Overcome: Jiang Cheng's affections for Wen Qing clashed with his desire to protect his clan, especially since the Wen Clan had become hated by the cultivation world. Wen Qing was also aware that any feelings he may have had for her weren't enough to motivate him to save both her and her family.
  Wen Qing: If I had encountered you first in Lanling, would you not have hesitated to help me rescue A-Ning?
• Tragic Dream: His dream while he was regaining his golden core hinted he wished for his family life to be far more functional and joyful. In the dream, his parents were happy in their marriage, they showered their children with love, and they actually treated Wei Wuxian like a son — all three which rarely if ever happened in reality.

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