History Literature / DemiGodsAndSemiDevils

%%* BloodBrothers: Xiaofeng, Duan Yu and Xuzhu. The scence where they proclaim their brotherhood on Shaolin Temple in one of the most memorable in Chinese media.

** Tianshan Tonglao's Immortal Skill. It grants her great power but one of its side effects is that she will maintain her present body size regardless of age. She is already in her 90s when the events of the novel take place, but since she started practicing the skill in her childhood, her body is that of a child's. Also, every 30 years she will lose all of her power for a period of time, the next will be longer than the last. This makes her extremely vulnerable for attacks. Although these side effects would disappear and continue growth normally upon complete mastery, but due to her love rival's intentional disruption during a critical moment, she became stuck at this level.

The novel -- or at least, ''parts'' of it, are adapted into a high-flying fantasy ''{{wuxia}}'' in 1977 by Creator/ShawBrothers studios, titled ''Film/TheBattleWizard''.

%%* ActionGirl: Several, Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglao are the most notable. This is a rare example of female fighters being incredibly strong, rival that of male characters in wuxia novel.

%%* AmbitionIsEvil: Murong Bo's desire to restore Yan state causes the majority of misery in the novel. %%That describes VillainsActHeroesReact, but says nothing about Bo having ambition.

* ConflictingLoyalty: Xiaofeng is torn between his duty with the Liao Kingdom, his country of origin and the Song Empire, the place where he was raised and the majority of his acquaintances live. [[spoiler: This eventually drives hime to suicide.]]

** Tianshan Tonglao's Immortal Skill. It grants her great power but one of its side effects is that she will maintain her present body size regardless of age. She is already in her 90s when the events of the novel take place, but since she started practicing the skill in her childhood, her body is that of a child's. Also, every 30 years she will lose all of her power for a period of time, the next will be longer than the last. This makes her extremely vulnerable for attacks. Although these side effects would disappear and continue growth normally upon complete mastery, but due to her love rival intentional disruption during a critical moment, she became stuck at this level.

* DeusExMachina: The nameless monk, an impossibly strong character who only appears in one scene to solve the conflict between Xiao family and Murong family. Without him, there is nothing could prevent the confrontation from devolving into bloody combat.

%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

%%* {{Adorkable}}: Duan Yu.

The novel's title has been a challenge for translators for years. The major characters in the novel are based on the eight races of non-human demi-gods and semi-devils described in Buddhist cosmology. In Buddhism, these demi-gods and semi-devils are ranked higher than mortals but are still bound to Saṃsāra by their own desires. It is said that Jin Yong originally modelled each major character after one of the races, but, as he continued writing, the complexity of the story made it impossible for such a simplistic mapping. An alternative English title of the novel is Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon.

"Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is the 11th novel of Creator/JinYong and widely considered to be his most critically acclaimed work. The story follows the adventures of three protagonists: Xiaofeng, Duan Yu and Xuzhu. The complex narrative switches from the initial perspective of Duan Yu to those of the other main characters and back.

* TheAce: Xiaofeng.
* ActionGirl: Several, Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglao are the most notable. This is a rare example of female fighters being incredibly strong, rival that of male characters in wuxia novel.
* {{Adorkable}}: Duan Yu.
* AlmightyJanitor: The nameless monk. He's the cleaning guy for the library in Shaolin Temple, most of the higher-up monks in Shaolin didn't even know about him, and he ends up being the strongest character in the entire Jin Yong universe.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Murong Bo's desire to restore Yan state causes the majority of misery in the novel.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Lots. It's a staple of Wuxia novel.
* AssholeVictim: Kang Min, Ding Chunqiu, etc.
* BadPowersBadPeople: Ding Chunqiu. He has a skill that dissolve the inner energy of anyone he touches. Naturally, everyone loathes the bastard.
* BareFistedMonk: Shaolin Temple monks, of course. Several others from other countries.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Wang Yuyan, Azhu, etc. Totally subverted with Azi and Kang Min.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Wang Yuyan. She has been through some serious stuff but still looks like a goddess.
* BloodBrothers: Xiaofeng, Duan Yu and Xuzhu. The scence where they proclaim their brotherhood on Shaolin Temple in one of the most memorable in Chinese media.
* BrokenAce: Xiaofeng. For all his prowess in martial arts, he couldn't save his family, master and finally his lover. All he got left to do is raising Azi to adulthood then commit suicide to join Azhu.
* ButtMonkey: You Tanzhi. He is basically Azi's slave.
* TheCasanova: Duan Zhenchun.
* ChickMagnet: Duan Yu and Duan Zhengchun, his father. It leads to a rather hilarious reveal that majority of Duan Yu's love interests are actually [[spoiler: the his half-"sisters", courtesy of Duan Zhengchun's various affairs.]] Fortunately, Duan Yu himself is [[spoiler: the bastard child of Duan Yanqing, which makes the love interests cousins]].
* ClingyJealousGirl: Azi. Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglao are clingy jealous ''grandma''.

* CulturedBadass: Leader of Carefree Sect tends to be one. Xuzhu is an exception.
* CycleOfRevenge: The nameless monk explains this to Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo. Murong Bo's scheme leads to the death of Xiao Yuanshan's wife, so Xiao Yuanshan killed everyone involved and intends to kill Murong Bo to avenge his family. Then, Murong Bo's son will kill Xiao Yuanshan in return, and so on. The monk's solution: he will kill both Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo to end the cycle for good. [[spoiler: It's actually a ploy to treat their wounds. It's complicated.]]

** Tianshan Tonglao's Immortal Skill. It grants her great power but one of its side effects is that she will maintain her present body size regardless of age. She is already in her 90s when the events of the novel take place, but since she started practising the skill in her childhood, her body is that of a child's. Also, every 30 years she will lose all of her power for a period of time, the next will be longer than the last. This makes her extremely vulnerable for attacks. Although these side effects would dissapear and continue growth normally upon complete mastery, but due to her love rival intentional disruption during a critical moment, she became stuck at this level.
* {{Doorstopper}}: The second longest novel of Jin Yong, after The Deer and The Cauldron, clocks at 1,211,000 words.

* DownerEnding: For Xiaofeng's story.
* DrivenToMadness: Murong Fu. After failing various schemes to restore the Yan state, Murong Fu finally snaps and thinks he's already the King of Yan, dressing like royal and addressing local children as his subjects. It's actually quite sad.
* DrivenToSuicide: Xiaofeng
* EvilIsPetty: Ding Chunqiu, the leader of Xingxiu Sect, universally recognized as the most reviled villain in the jianghu. He has a band of thugs constantly singing praises to him and murder anyone who did not show respect to him.
* EvilPlan: Murong Bo's plan to restore the Yan state.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Anyone subjected to Tianshan Tonglao's "Life and Death Talisman", which causes unbearable pain without special medicine from her.
* ForTheEvulz: Azi. She is a sadistic little girl that enjoys causing chaos and pain.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: You Tanzhi, from street urchin to leader of Beggars's Sect.
* GrayRainOfDepression: Happens when [[spoiler:Azhu dies.]]
* KissingCousins:
** Wang Yuyan's one-sided crush on Murong Fu.
** All of [[spoiler: Duan Yu's]] love interests turn out to be this.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* LovesAShadow: Duan Yu's infatuation with Wang Yuyan; he saw the statue of an incredibly beautiful woman ([[spoiler: Wang Yuyan's maternal aunt]]) and was instantly smitten, so when he saw a flesh and blood person who resembled that woman he wanted to be with her forever. This is made much more explicit in the new edition, where he himself eventually comes to that realization.

* ChickMagnet: Duan Yu and Duan Zhengchun, his father. It leads to a rather hillarious reveal that [[spoiler: the majority of Duan Yu's love interests are actually his half-sisters, courtesy of Duan Zhengchun's various affairs.]]

* KissingCousins: Wang Yuyan's one-sided crush on Murong Fu.

* ManipulativeBastard: Murong Bo. [[spoiler: He spreaded rumours about a group of elite Khitan warriors attacking Shaolin Temple to steal the martial art scriptures stored there. The abbot Xuanci hastily gathered a group and ambushed the Khitan warriors, actually Xiao Yuanshan's entourage, at Yanmen Pass which lead to the death of Xiao's wife. This caused conflicts between Song and Liao martial art communities. After thirty years, he offers Xiaofeng, now a high ranking noble in Liao Kingdom, the chance to kill him in exchange for the Liao army under Xiaofeng's command to attack Song Empire, allow Murong Bo's descendant the chance to reestablish Yan state. Xiaofeng doesn't buy it.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Xiao Yuanshan went to great length to avenge his family. [[spoiler: First, he sneaked into Shaolin Temple and read all the martial art scriptures there. Then, he kidnapped the illegitimate son of the abbot and placed him in the temple garden so the monks would adopt him, reenacted what happen to his own son. After he finished reading all the scriptures in Shaolin, he started killing the people responsible for the death of his wife, one by one. Then, he revealed the affair of the abbot Xuanci, who is actually the Leading Big Brother of the group that attacked his family years ago, to the jianghu members present, forcing Xuanci to commit suicide. Then he threatened to bring Shaolin martial arts back to Liao Kingdom so the Liao army could learn martial arts and gain advantage over the Song army.]]