History Animation / NeZha

Compare and contrast ''Film/NeZha'', a duology from Creator/ShawBrothers, and ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'', earlier adaptations made in the 70s.

** Played with for the Dragon King. In ''[[Literature/FengshenYanyi Investiture of the Gods]]'', he is DrunkOnPower which led to him forsaking his duties as a rain god and causing many disasters, even invoking HumanSacrifice just to oblige him into not said causing disasters. In here, he didn't cause as much misery as he along with the other dragons are too busy being trapped as wardens of a prison which contains demons and [[spoiler:other dragons. When he hears of Ao Bing's death in TheStinger, he swears revenge]].

* FireIceJuxtaposition: The aggressive and impulsive Ne Zha's magic mostly manifests in the form of fire and flames, while the focused and deliberate Ao Bing's focuses on creating and manipulating ice.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Ne Zha is depicted as much more of a misfit as the film studies the possible difficulties raising a superhuman child could present.

* AntiAntichrist: Taiyi and Ne Zha's parents try to make the boy's doomed and very short existence less sad and rage-filled by raising him with care and, less admirably, telling him that he is in fact the earthly vessel for the Spirit Pearl rather than the Demon Pill. Even after learning the truth, all the effort and love they put into his life causes Ne Zha to come around in the end.

%%* BadassAdorable: Ne Zha.
* BagOfHolding: Taiyi's pants, referred to as "Treasure Pants" by Ne Zha (at least in the English dub), contain a pocket space where he can store a considerable amount of sizable objects.
* BigFun: Taiyi Zhenren is an overweight [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] Taoist immortal who takes it upon himself to teach Ne Zha how to use his demonic powers for good by trapping him in a painting and using a magic paintbrush to rearrange their environment.

* ChildrenRaiseYou: Taiyi begins the story as a vain, gluttonous lush, but training and raising Ne Zha (who he originally wanted to slay from the get-go) gradually causes him to drop many of his vices.

* DestructiveSavior: Deconstructed. During his training in [[ItMakesSenseInContext Taiyi's painting]], Ne Zha routinely flunks his demon-fighting tests as he winds up grievously injuring the people he tries to rescue and destroying the town he tries to save. Ne Zha tries to wave off his failures by virtue of the fact that all the damage he caused were to illusions, but his first attempt at demon-slaying in the real world results in a lot of collateral damage.

* DualWielding: Ao Bing's primary weapons are a pair of maces made from ice with which he can channel his powers through.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: As mischievous and destructive as Ne Zha can be, he deeply adores his parents.
* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The magma of the Dragon Palace contains all the barely imprisoned and still very much alive demons the Dragon Kings managed to defeat over the eons. [[spoiler:It is revealed that in TheStinger, ''some of the prisoners are dragons as well'', which explains even more as to why the Dragon King wants his kind to be free of their burden by ascending Ao Bing as a deity]].

* LongestPregnancyEver: By the time she finally gives birth to Ne Zha, Lady Yin's been pregnant with him for ''three years'' (which, luckily for her, is half-a-year less than how long it was in the original myth).
* MadeOfEvil: Ne Zha is essentially a collection of demonic magic incarnated as a human being. His real personality is more mischievous than sincerely evil, though.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: In their initial battle, after Taiyi freezes their hands together, the Chaos Pearl overwhelms him by growing four more arms and beating the tar out of him with only one pair.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Chaos Orb's first act as a sentient being is to attempt to devour the sun.

* OxymoronicBeing: The Chaos Pearl is a fusion of heavenly and demonic magic, and manifests as a being of fire contained within a shell of ice.

* RestrainingBolt: Subverted. The collar Taiyi manages to get around Ne Zha's neck can barely hold back his power, and he's still strong enough to shatter the face of a mountain with a kick. [[spoiler:Just before the climax, Shen tells him the magic words to remove it, which Ne Zha initially revels in, but ultimately alters so that his SuperpoweredEvilSide is kept in check while allowing him access to his full suite of powers.]]

* ShoutOut: To Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay , when the musicians of Chentang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Orb incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Ne Zha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.

* ToiletHumor: A lot of the humor from Taiyi's part involves his messy eating habits and sundry bodily functions.

* WarriorPoet: When bored or feeling particularly lonely, Ne Zha whittles the hours away by composing rather depressing poetry.
* WouldHitAGirl: After she strikes him with an oar, Ne Zha punches a woman so hard she flies several meters.

* GoKartingWithBowser: Before they formally become rivals/enemies, Ne Zha (avatar of the Demon Pill) and Ao Bing (incarnation of the Spirit Pearl) bond over a game of jianzi.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bezha_poster_1_furyosa_7.jpg]]

-->-- '''Nezha'''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nezha_poster_1_furyosa_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"If fate is unfair, then fight it to the very end."]]

''Ne Zha'' (Chinese: ''哪吒之魔童降世'', Pinyin: ''Nézhā zhī Mótóng Jiàngshì'') is a 2019 Chinese feature-length [[FantasyAnimatedFilms animated fantasy]] film. Featuring the popular Chinese mythological character Nezha, the plot is loosely based on the classic novel ''[[Literature/FengshenYanyi Investiture of the Gods]]'', attributed to Xu Zhonglin.

Machinations by the Dragons resulted in the Demon Pill being placed in the belly of Li Jing's wife, resulting in the birth of Nezha, a boy with great power and violent personality. Meanwhile, the Dragons merged the Spirit Pearl with one of their eggs, resulting in the birth of Ao Bing.

** Unlike the version of him from the original myth, Li Jing remains a loving father to Nezha throughout.
** Unlike the original myth, Ao Bing is also given a more "heroic" role with him opposing his father's ways and befriending Nezha.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Nezha is depicted as much more of a misfit as the film studies the possible difficulties raising a superhuman child could present.
* AdaptationOriginConnection: In this story, Nezha and Ao Bing were technically SplitAtBirth, as they both have their powers originating from splitting the Chaos Pearl.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Unlike the original myth, Nezha and Ao Bing were mortal foes that fight each other without remorse. However, in this adaptation, they start off as friends until they discover their destiny of fighting each other where they only become temporary enemies. [[spoiler:In the end, their spirits come at peace where they are friends once again]].

* AntiAntichrist: Taiyi and Nezha's parents try to make the boy's doomed and very short existence less sad and rage-filled by raising him with care and, less admirably, telling him that he is in fact the earthly vessel for the Spirit Pearl rather than the Demon Pill. Even after learning the truth, all the effort and love they put into his life causes Nezha to come around in the end.
* AssShove: During their climactic battle, Nezha attempts this on Ao Bing. Twice. The first time is done in earnest but fails because of his foe's dragon scale armor. The second time is done because he wants to annoy him.
* BadassAdorable: Nezha.
* BagOfHolding: Taiyi's pants are such, referred to as "Treasure Pants" by Nezha (at least, in the English dub).

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Both Ao Bing and Nezha's mortal bodies are destroyed but their souls are saved in the device Taiyi used to contain the Chaos Pearl. Taiyi survives but loses his immortality after getting hit by divine lightning. Gongbao and the Dragon King are still alive and plotting to revolt against the gods with the help of the demons the dragons previously imprisoned.]]

** As a child, Nezha stuffing his hands into his pockets is a fairly clear indication that he's nervous in spite of what he might want others to think.

* ChildrenRaiseYou: Taiyi begins the story as a vain, gluttonous lush, but training and raising Nezha (who he originally wanted to slay from the get-go) gradually causes him to drop many of his vices.
* DestructiveSavior: Deconstructed. During his training in [[ItMakesSenseInContext Taiyi's painting]], Nezha routinely flunks his demon-fighting tests as he winds up grievously injuring the people he tries to rescue and destroying the town he tries to save. Nezha tries to wave off his failures by virtue of the fact that all the damage he caused were to illusions, but his first attempt at demon-slaying in the real world results in a lot of collateral damage.
* DragonsAreDemonic: Unlike most portrayals in Chinese myths where dragons are revered as gods, jerkass or otherwise, in here dragons are considered just as bad as demons to the extent that they are considered another kind of demon altogether. [[spoiler:Just ask Ao Bing when Li Jing exposes him by removing his hood.]]

* ElementalPowers: Fire for Nezha and Ice for Ao Bing.
* EldritchOceanAbyss: The Dragon Palace is a volcanic crater where the dragons have sealed away all sorts of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and primordial monsters on behalf of the gods... but are themselves prisoners, since if they leave the monsters will escape.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: As mischievous and destructive as Nezha can be, he deeply adores his parents.

* GrievousHarmWithABody: Nezha beating up a Sea Yaksha with the (mostly) petrified Ao Bing.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Before they formally become rivals/enemies, Nezha (avatar of the Demon Pill) and Ao Bing (incarnation of the Spirit Pearl) bond over a game of jianzi.
* LetThemDieHappy: The core conflict of Nezha's parents as the divine curse that will strike down Nezha is inevitable. They struggle to determine whether it is better to be honest with him or to fabricate well-meaning lies to make his short existence a happy one.
* LonelyRichKid: Both Nezha and Ao Bing. Nezha has loving parents but spends most of his time cooped up in the family estate (and eventually, Taiyi's painting). Ao Bing is allowed to travel the world, but it's all in service of training his powers, he's forbidden from interacting with other people too much to hide how he's a dragon in disguise, and his father is very distant and cold to him.
* LongestPregnancyEver: By the time she finally gives birth to Nezha, Lady Yin's been pregnant with him for ''three years'' (which, luckily for her, is half-a-year less than how long it was in the original myth).
* MadeOfEvil: Nezha. His real personality is more mischievous than sincerely evil, though.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Chaos Orb's first act as a sentient being? Attempting to devour the sun.
* OnlyFriend: Nezha and Ao Bing view each other as this after their first meeting. It's even lampshaded [[spoiler:days before they temporarily become enemies.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Nezha is the hot headed red while Ao Bing is the more calm blue.
* RestrainingBolt: Subverted. The collar Taiyi manages to get around Nezha's neck can barely hold back his power, and he's still strong enough to shatter the face of a mountain with a kick. [[spoiler:Just before the climax, Shen tells him the magic words to remove it, which Nezha initially revels in, but ultimately alters so that his SuperpoweredEvilSide is kept in check while allowing him access to his full suite of powers.]]
* ScrewDestiny: Zigzagged with Nezha's ultimate fate. [[spoiler:After Li Jing learned that Nezha's curse was indeed unbreakable, he decided to circumvent it with a fate-swapping talisman so his son could live on.]] [[spoiler:Nezha, after learning both his real identity and of his father's sacrifice, opts to accept his own death until Ao Bing joins him to reunite the Chaos Orb's powers and absorb the force of the lightning that would have killed the both of them.]]
--->'''Ne Zha:''' If fate comes at you swinging, then you hit back!
* ShoutOut: To Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay , when the musicians of Chentang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Orb incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Nezha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.
* TheStinger: Three of them. One involving a {{brick joke}}, the second [[spoiler:with one of the dragons swearing revenge on the world above]], and the third introduces [[spoiler:Jiang Ziya, the protagonist of the sequel]].

** The initially emotional Li Jing adopts this as his primary persona after Nezha is born to act as a warm and assuring figure of strength and wisdom for his son, even as Nezha's impending death weighs heavily on his soul. [[spoiler:He breaks character when Nezha tears up the secret fate-swapping talisman that would have caused the curse to hit him instead.]]

* ToiletHumor: Quite a bit on Taiyi's part.
* VocalDissonance: A male villager has a ridiculously high-pitched voice.
* WarriorPoet: When bored or feeling particularly lonely, Nezha whittles the hours away by composing rather depressing poetry.
* WouldHitAGirl: Nezha punches a woman so hard she flies and lands in the water. Granted she does strike him with a paddle.
* YinYangBomb: [[spoiler:Nezha and Ao Bing can temporarily replicate the Chaos Orb's powers if they work together.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Nezha spends much of the film moving, speaking and thinking at a much higher level than the average one-to-three year old. Ao Bing, who is a day younger than Nezha at least, looks and acts even older. In contrast, Yaya, who met Nezha when he was a few months old, consistently acts like a regular toddler.

* ShoutOut: To Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay , when the musicians of Chenggang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Orb incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Nezha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.

* ShoutOut: To Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay , when the musicians of Chenggang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Pearl incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Nezha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.

* ShoutOut: To Terminator2JudgementDay, when the musicians of Chenggang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Pearl incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Nezha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.

* ShoutOut: To Film/Terminator2JudgementDay, when the musicians of Chenggang Pass, having just witnessed the Demon Pearl incarnate into the body of Li Jing's and Lady Jin's child, begin playing something remarkably similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ2NShfCE8 the musical theme to that movie]]. (A glare from Taiyi and Li Jing makes them cut it short.) There's even a small burned-out crater beneath Nezha like the one that forms when a Terminator-franchise time traveler arrives.

* EldritchOceanAbyss: Overlapping with GildedCage. The Dragon Palace is a volcanic crater where the dragons have sealed away all sorts of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and primordial monsters on behalf of the gods... but are themselves prisoners, since if they leave the monsters will escape.

A {{sequel}}, ''Animation/JiangZiya'' (also known as ''Legend of Deification''), was scheduled for release on 25 January 2020 but was canceled after the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic COVID-19]] outbreak. The film was released globally on 1 October 2020. A dub was issued alongside the digital release on 9 February 2021.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Unlike the version of him from the original myth, Li Jing remains a loving father to Nezha throughout.
** Ao Bing is also given a more "heroic" role with him opposing his father's ways and befriending Nezha. Unlike the original myth.

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Unlike the original myth, Nezha and Ao Bing were mortal foes that fight each other without remorse. However, in this adaptation, they start off as friends until they discover their destiny of fighting each other where they only become temporary enemies. [[spoiler:In the end, their spirits come at peace where they are friends once again.]]

* BigFun: Taiyi Zhenren is an overweight [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] Taoist immortal who takes it upon himself to teach Ne Zha how to use his demonic powers for good by trapping him in a painting and using a magic paintbrush to rearrange their environment]].

* CharacterTic: As a child, Nezha stuffing his hands into his pockets is a fairly clear indication that he's nervous in spite of what he might want others to think.

* EldritchOceanAbyss: The Dragon Palace is a volcanic crater where the dragons have sealed away all sorts of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and primordial monsters on behalf of the gods... but are themselves prisoners, since if they leave the monsters will escape.

* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The magma of the Dragon Palace contains all the barely imprisoned and still very much alive demons the Dragon Kings managed to defeat over the eons.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: Nezha beating up a Sea Yaksha with the (mostly-)petrified Ao Bing.

* TheStoic: The initially emotional Li Jing adopts this as his primary persona after Nezha is born to act as a warm and assuring figure of strength and wisdom for his son, even as Nezha's impending death weighs heavily on his soul. [[spoiler:He breaks character when Nezha tears up the secret fate-swapping talisman that would have caused the curse to hit him instead.]]