History Characters / TheLegendOfTheCondorHeroes

* AntiHero: Downplayed in ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheCondorHeroes''. Although Guo Jing is normally a regular hero, his attempt to chop off his eldest daughter's arm in retribution for her mutilation of Yang Guo wasn't that great as this could have sent him down the path of a villain protagonist had it not been for Huang Rong's interference in his punishment of his daughter.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Downplayed. While not an actual jerkass in ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheCondorHeroes'', the fact that he wanted to get even with his eldest daughter may be understandable as she cut off Yang Guo's right arm [[ForTheEvulz out of pure spite]], although amputating her would end up making him just as bad as her in the first place (who he ironically passed down his lack of intelligence to in the first place). Despite this, [[EasilyForgiven he forgave her for what she did to Yang Guo years ago]] and [[TookALevelInKindness becomes the nice guy he usually is]] later in the novel.

* HumiliationConga: He goes through a rough patch more than halfway through the story where he makes several plays to advance the Jin empire's agenda and suffers for it. Claiming to be the new Chief Beggar initially works but [[spoiler: the entirety of the Beggar Clan lines up to hock a loogie on him; a new Chief is spat on by the clan as part of the inauguration.]] He thinks he's going to show off by exposing the legendary Qiu Qianren's fraudulent reputation with a bone-crushing handshake [[spoiler: and almost gets his hand torn off when it turns out to be the ''real'' Qiu Qianren, who really can do all the incredible things his ConMan identical twin claims he can. This also serves as the real Qianren's introduction.]]

* CombatProtagonist: Uses dirty tricks rather than adhering to the honor of the wulin. He sets up a trap to poison Wang Chuyi, his shifu’s martial brother, in retaliation for getting between him and Guo Jing in A Hero’s Born.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Freaks as a whole aren't very good teachers--they're largely too impatient and their diverse skills emphasize divergent areas of expertise and development. It's mentioned that if Zhang A'sheng had lived, he would have been the best teacher for Guo because of his kindness, patience, and fellow-feeling for Guo Jing--both of them are slow learners who have to work hard to understand things, so Zhang would have been able to break martial concepts down and feed them in at a pace that wouldn't overwhelm the poor kid. Sadly, things went another way and Guo Jing spent a lot of time being confused and overwhelmed by the surviving Freaks, who were feeling the pressure of their bet with Qiu Chuji and weren't always able to keep their frustrations buttoned in.

* HumiliationConga: He goes through a rough patch more than halfway through the story where he makes several plays to advance the Jin empire's agenda and suffers for it. Claiming to be the new Chief Beggar initially works but [[spoiler: the entirety of the Beggar Clan lines up to hock a loogie on him; a new Chief is spat on by the clan as part of the inauguration.]] He thinks he's going to show off by exposing the legendary Qiu Qianren's fraudulent reputation with a bonecrushing handshake [[spoiler: and almost gets his hand torn off when it turns out to be the ''real'' Qiu Qianren, who really can do all the incredible things his ConMan identical twin claims he can. This also serves as the real Qianren's introduction.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His actions in the first novel would only ruin his son's future in the sequel...

* BladeOnAStick: His weapon is a merchant's scale, but he also teaches Guo Jing how to use a spear.

The founder of the Quanzhen Sect and Zhou Botong's senior, titled the Central Divinity for his incredible martial skills and saintly character. He found the Nine Yin Manual and created the first martial arts contest on Mount Hua to determine the manual's owner. Died before the events of the novel. Also a real historical figure (if exaggerated enormously here).

!!Qiu Chuji

* ArrangedMarriage: Tries to match his daughter Lotus with Ouyang Ke, Ouyang Feng's nephew. It fails. Later on, he conducts and witnesses Lu Guaning's and Cheng Yaojia's marriage after cheerfully bullying them into the idea. They loved each other from first sight, Huang argues, so they might as well do something about it and flip the bird at societal norms which would dictate a tactful and lengthy courtship.

Formerly the King of Dali Kingdom[[labelnote:*]]now Yunnan Province in southwestern China[[/labelnote]], Duan Zhixing abdicates the throne and becomes a Buddhist monk. Now known as Reverend Yideng, he has mostly withdrawn from the outside world and focuses on study and meditation. One of the Five Greats, he is known as Southern Emperor. He is famous for his signature martial arts technique, the Yiyang Finger. [[spoiler:He reunites with his concubine Liu Ying and lives together with her and Zhou Botong in the sequel, ''Return of the Condor Heroes''.]]

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: [[spoiler:He's the former king of the nation of Dali, a nation to the south of the Song Empire. He's also one of the Five Greats and aids Guo Jing on his journey and translates a final portion of the Nine Yin manual that's been written in Sanskrit.]]

Nicknamed "Divine Mathematician". She was Duan Zhixing's concubine but he neglected her due to his obsession with martial arts. She had an affair with Zhou Botong and bore him a son, but the child was severely injured by a masked attacker (Qiu Qianren). She pleaded with Duan to save her son but he refused and the infant died. Since then, she has been leading a reclusive life in the Black Swamp while plotting revenge on Duan and searching for Zhou Botong and her son's killer. During this time, she tutors herself in mathematics and martial arts. [[spoiler:She reunites with Zhou Botong and live together with him and Yideng in the sequel, the Return of the Condor Hero.]]

Nicknamed "Reclusive Fisherman of Diancang", he's disguised as a fisherman and was previously an admiral of Dali's navy.

The highest ranking members of Beggars' Sect after the leader. Take care of day-to-day business. They are Lu Youjiao, Elder Peng, Elder Jian and Elder Liang. Lu Youjiao eventually becomes the Beggars' Sect leader after Lotus Huang.

* WorldsStrongestMan: Becoming this after winning the second Mount Hua martial art contest, defeating Apothecary Huang, Hong Qigong and Guo Jing, only to goes insane immediately.

The sixth prince of the Jin Empire. He meets and falls in love with Yang Kang's mother, Charity Bao, and is determined to gets married with her despite knowing she's already married. To win over her, he bribes Song troops to kill Charity's husband, Ironheart Yang, so he can arrive to be a KnightInShiningArmor and rescue her during the attack. He marries her and raises Yang Kang as his own son. He is obsessed with finding the Book of Wumu as he intends to use the knowledge acquired from the book to eliminate the Jin Empire's enemies and become a hero of his people. His plans are foiled by Guo Jing and Lotus Huang, who obtain the book instead. He later travels to Samarkand to form an alliance between the Jin Empire and Khwarezm Empire as part of a last-ditch effort to counter the Mongols. He is eventually captured by Mongol forces and meets his end.

Known as the "Butcher of a Thousand Hands", he's an infamous and feared bandit leader.

!!Huang Shang

An officer in the Song army, he's corrupt and takes orders from Wanyan Honglie. His troops are the ones who attack on Miu Village at the Jin prince's behest, leading to the death of Skyfury Guo and the separation of the parents of the main characters. A coward who's smart enough to know when he's outmatched, he manages to evade and bareface his way out of any lethal trouble after the attack--even if he does get captured by the Jin with Lily Li and made to march to the border with Mongolia--and even comes back to the Song Empire and gets promoted past his old rank in the eighteen years that pass. When he's finally caught, he tells Guo Jing and Yang Kang the facts of the attack and the reasons for it, and Yang Kang kills him while he's gibbering apologies and begging for mercy.

* ChessmasterSidekick: To Ke Zhen'e. Zhu Cong can also make some harsh calls, but he's not nearly as hotheaded and touchy as his elder martial brother. He's also frequently the one to make what they need happen--he disarms Qiu Chuji's temper, tricks an antidote out of Tiger Peng to save Ma Yu's life, figures out Qiu Qianren's tricks, and snatches the vital clue to reveal [[spoiler:who the murderer of the Seven Freaks is as he's dying]].

* DubNameChange: {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the English translation. While "Ryder" is most certainly a Western name, his original Chinese name ''does'' translate to "treasured foal", and both names evoke his specialty in horsemanship.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Ryder Han is roughly three feet tall, but he's almost as wide as he is tall. Despite his height, he's one of the best horsemen in the novel and he's strong enough to catch a ceremonial metal urn filled with wine--all together weighing upwards of two hundred pounds--and return it up a set of stairs.

* AdaptationNameChange: In the 1983 TV series, the name displayed on his tombstone is 張亞生. {{Downplayed|Trope}} in that "亞" and "阿" sound virtually the same, especially in Cantonese.

Nicknamed "Hidden Hero in the Busy City" (鬧市俠隱; "Cloaked Master of the Market" or "Masked Haggler" in the English translation), he's a merchant who fights using the different pieces of a merchant's scale--the balancing arm, the weights, and the plates. Killed by Ouyang Feng on Peach Blossom island.

* MeaningfulName: In the English translation, his name in the character listing is translated as "Gilden Quan the Prosperous, Clocked Master of the Market". Much like Ke Zhen'e and Zhu Cong, [[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord the meaning of his name is stated after it]] but is also combined with his translated given name--"gold profit/prosperity". He also happens to be a merchant.

* MeaningfulName: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Qiu Chuji, who named Guo Jing and Yang Kang after the Jingkang Incident when the northern Song dynasty fell, to "remind them of the humiliation of the year Jingkang, when Kaifeng was sacked and the Emperor captured by the Jin". Guo Jing's given name of 'Jing' translates to 'Serenity'.

* MeaningfulName: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Qiu Chuji, who named Guo Jing and Yang Kang after the Jingkang Incident when the northern Song dynasty fell, to "remind them of the humiliation of the year Jingkang, when Kaifeng was sacked and the Emperor captured by the Jin". Yang Kang's given name of 'Kang' translates to 'Vitality'.
[[hardline]]

* MeaningfulName: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Qiu Chuji, who named Guo Jing and Yang Kang after the Jingkang Incident when the northern Song dynasty fell, to "remind them of the humiliation of the year Jingkang, when Kaifeng was sacked and the Emperor captured by the Jin". Guo Jing's given name of 'Jing' translates to 'Serenity'.
* NiceGuy: He really is. He's generous, loyal, kind, and selfless. Growing up and having to function and travel on his own makes him wiser, but he loses none of his great heart. Zhou Botong comments on it, and says that Wang Chongyang would have ''liked'' Guo Jing and would have taught him everything.

** He gets hold of the Book of Wumu--which is a sort of military equivalent to the Nine Yin Manual--and becomes more than competent in formations and tactics (with some advice and pointers from Lotus who understands what it's getting at, usually).

[[spoiler:Guo Jing is eventually killed during the Battle of Xiangyang along with the rest of his family except for his youngest daughter--some time before the event of ''Literature/HeavenSwordAndDragonSabre''--but not before he created the titular weapons that appear in that story.]]

[[/folder]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Because she spoiled her eldest daughter into the monster she was, she ended up chopping off Yang Guo's arm and indirectly separating him from Xiaolongnu; for ''16 years''...

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Because she spoiled her eldest daughter into the monster she was, she ended up chopping off Yang Guo's arm and indirectly separating him from Xiaolongnü for ''16 years''...

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Temujin is ready to name him a general after Guo Jing's capture of an enemy's heir lets Temujin survive a trap.

%%* ArrogantKungFuGuy
%%* CombatPragmatist

* {{Foil}}: To Hong Qigong. Hong is righteous, rough, straight-forward and all-around a heroic character; Ouyang Feng is polite, well-mannered and a complete and utter dick. Hong is a beggar, Ouyang Feng is a rich landlord.

* UngratefulBastard: Hong Qigong saves Ouyang Feng from flaming debris during their fight at sea. He returns the favor by making his snake bites Hong Qigong ''immediately'' after.

* NeverMyFault: When Guo Jing gets angry at Huang Rong for spoiling their daughter and defending her when she CLEARLY DID SOMETHING WRONG IN THE FIRST PLACE, Huang Rong acted as if Guo Fu was an innocent girl who didn't know any better (even though she does since she's old enough to control her temper), even wanting to do the same thing to Yang Guo had she been in her daughter's place!

* TookALevelInJerkass: Becomes this in ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheCondorHeroes'' as she not only becomes openly antagonistic towards Yang Guo, but even spoiled her daughter who had the audacity to chop off Yang Guo's arm. And what does she do about it? [[NeverMyFault SHE OPENLY BLAMES YANG GUO FOR HAVING GOTTEN HIS ARM CHOPPED OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN SHE CLEARLY SPOILED HER DAUGHTER THAT INDIRECTLY LED TO SAID EVENTS HAPPENING!!!]] Despite this, [[TookALevelInKindness she does somewhat become much nicer after the timeskip]]...

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Because she spoiled her eldest daughter into the monster she was, she ended up chopping off Yang Guo's arm and indirectly separating him from Xiaolongnü for 16 DAMN YEARS...

* CoolPet: He has two. First is his horse, Ulaan, which is a rare crossbreed of exceptional speed and stamina. Then there are the white condors he helped raise from chicks. They're smart enough to remember and find specific people to carry messages and big enough Guo and Lotus manage a safe descent off a mountain by hanging onto one of the birds.

* {{Jerkass}}: Was this when she was much younger. However, [[TookALevelInKindness despite going through some character development that made her less of a jerk in the sequel than she was before the events of the first story]], she remains antagonistic towards Yang Guo [[SinsOfOurFathers just because he's the son of the main antagonist of the first book]].
** Hell, she even admitted to planning on chopping off Yang Guo's arm if she were to ever be in her daughter's position! No wonder why [[EveryoneHasStandards Guo Jing was pissed]]...
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite the above mentioned, she is still a kind and caring mother who eventually becomes nicer as the novel passes by.

* BladeOnAStick: His WeaponOfChoice is a merchant's scale, but he also teaches Guo Jing how to use a spear.

* WeaponOfChoice: His serpent staff.