History YMMV / MoDaoZuShi

For YMMV tropes that pertain specifically to the LiveActionAdaptation, go [[YMMV/TheUntamed here]].
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!! The following have their own pages:

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* [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/MoDaoZuShi Alternative Character Interpretation]]
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[[folder: Tropes that apply to ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' in general]]
* {{Adorkable}}:
** The childishness Lan Wangji displays whether he's sober or drunk (but ''especially'' when he's drunk) is as hilarious as it is endearing.
** Even after becoming a fierce corpse, Wen Ning retains his timid and awkward demeanor, which fans love along with his kindness.
** Lan Xichen, when drunk, is essentially a hyperactive and happy goofball.
** The ''manhua'' and some of the ''donghua's'' promotional artwork show a younger Jiang Cheng melt in the presence of dogs, and it's sweet to see.
** Jin Ling's brattiness and his [[{{Tsundere}} hot-and-cold attitude]] makes him both hilariously annoying yet also lovable.
** Although Jin Zixuan doesn't seem to be adorkable material at first, the {{Tsundere}} side that emerges in later flashbacks turns him into affectionate joke material. It becomes even more transparent whenever he tries to romance Jiang Yanli or performs romantic gestures for her.
* AngelDevilShipping: The pure-hearted good samaritan Xiao Xingchen (angel) is often shipped with the cruel and violent criminal Xue Yang (devil).
* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Yu Ziyuan. One third of the fans like her for being an IronLady and a powerful ActionMom; another third aren't as fond of her because of her hatred of Wei Wuxian, which also led her to constantly lash out at either him, her husband, or her son; and the last third see her as an interestingly complex character but also have reservations about how she deals with her family and especially with Wei Wuxian. Everyone does agree, however, that she's not going to win the "Mom of the Year" award any time soon.
** Jiang Fengmian is rather divisive in the fandom due to the impact he had on his family's dynamic including with Wei Wuxian. No one's going to argue about the fact that while he's not a ''bad'' person, he's in no way a great ''father''. However, there are some who argue as to whether he's still likable in spite of his poor parenting skills or the other way around. And then there's the debate of whether he's worse than his wife or not, which can turn into a lengthy discussion. This is complicated by the fact by ''Asian'' standards Jiang Fengmian isn't anything special as a parent, fitting into the actual position and approach to parenting that real-life Asian fathers do; something which is naturally lost on Western audiences as it is outside their own experiences.
** Jiang Cheng. Everyone unanimously agrees that he's a deeply flawed character. What everyone ''doesn't'' unanimously agree on is whether they love or hate him for it. The former find his flaws to be well-written and feel that they add to his complexity as a character; whereas the latter side thinks that he's too flawed to be likable or sympathetic. A third party, however, agrees that they both love ''and'' hate him at the same time because of his qualities.
** Xue Yang is one among the villains of the novel. He's either a layered and twisted villain who has a great amount of depth and a surprisingly tragic background, or he's just nothing but a vile madman who deserves no understanding or sympathy.
* BrokenBase:
** The ''Incense Burner'' extras are controversial especially amongst the Western fandom due to the questionable nature of the sexual content and whether they're tasteful or not.
** There are mixed feelings towards [[spoiler:the golden core transplant or when Wen Ning reveals it]] and whether they were the appropriate things to do in-series. Notably one's opinions about this tend to correlate with their feelings towards BaseBreakingCharacter Jiang Cheng, as he plays a central role in these instances.
** The resolution of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship in the end. Either you think that it's realistically the best ending they could ever get despite its bittersweet tone, or you think that it's too depressing and they were cheated out of a reconciliation.
** The fact that Mo Xiang Tong Xiu had stated that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are the only characters in the story who are interested in men.[[note]]There's also Mo Xuanyu, but he dies at the start of the novel.[[/note]] Many fans don't really pay attention to this much and ship who they like, which is something that the author even shrugs off. Even then, there are those who can get testy about it, especially when topics related to the LGBT+ community (specifically those who aren't aware of how different LGBT+ rights are viewed in the East and the West) are involved.
** It's difficult to find a single word that can succinctly describe the relationship between Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Sizhui. The Eastern fandom widely agrees that from a technical standpoint, both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are Lan Sizhui's guardians and as such, Lan Sizhui is essentially their ward. On the other hand, while the Western fandom is mostly in agreement that their relationship is familial in nature, many fans are disputed on whether Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji can also qualify as Lan Sizhui's adoptive ''fathers'', as the role of parents and guardians are, while similar, not entirely the same. However, other fans had pointed out that whatever term is used, it doesn't downplay the significance of the deep relationship that the three share and thus it shouldn't be a point of contention.
* CargoShip:
** Despite the fact that a scene involving both only happened ''once'' in the novel, Lan Jingyi's love for chicken is a go-to joke.
** Due to certain wild ''events'' in the Incense Burner extra, Wei Wuxian and Bichen are shipped as a joke.
* CatharsisFactor:
** Regardless of your opinion on [[BaseBreakingCharacter Yu Ziyuan]], admit it, you cheered her on when she beat the smack out of Wang Lingjiao. What adds to this is how Wei Wuxian deals with her in every adaptation, [[spoiler: whether it's making her choke on wood, have her EatenAlive by corpses, or compelling her to cut and hang herself]].
** Wen Ning dropping the bomb about [[spoiler: how Jiang Cheng really got back his golden core]]. Is it emotionally painful to read? ''Yes.'' Is it also immensely satisfying, whether because it's the first time Wen Ning stood his ground on his own terms or because you think Jiang Cheng needed to be taken down a peg? ''Yes again.''
* CrackPairing:
** Regardless of what little likelihood there is of them interacting with each other let alone liking each other, fans like to ship many of the non-canon older generation cultivators with one another. Such as [[GrumpyOldMan Lan Qiren]] with ''anyone''.
** Although they're never stated to have met InUniverse, there are some fans who have taken to shipping Mo Xuanyu and Xue Yang together since both were disciples of the Lanling Jin clan and were potentially both there around the same time.
** Mo Xuanyu is sometimes shipped with Nie Huaisang given the possibility of the [[spoiler: latter's involvement in the former's revenge plans against his abusive family]].
** Some fans have taken to [[LesYay shipping together Jiang Yanli with some of the other female characters who she hasn't had even a single interaction with in the novel]], namely Wen Qing/Jiang Yanli and Jiang Yanli/Luo Qingyang.
%%* DeathOfTheAuthor: You'd be surprised (or not) about how rampant this trope in is all sides of the fandom, such as how several fans read the novel or view its adaptations yet bash Mo Xiang Tong Xiu for a multitude of reasons.%%needs more context
* DracoInLeatherPants: Xue Yang is one of the villains of the story with the most heinous crimes, yet he's very popular among the fans and tends t be toned down in fanworks.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** The Yi City group (Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, Ah-Qing, and yes, even Xue Yang). While they only appear for a few chapters and their story is more of a side arc in the overall plot, their complex characterizations and tragic backstories still made them easily memorable among fans.
** Although his only role is to talk on the unnamed juniors' behalf whenever they're around, Ouyang Zizhen immediately became a fan favorite simply for being an {{Adorkable}} and NiceGuy that's very supportive of Wei Wuxian. Fans would also half-jokingly and half-affectionately dub him the "president of the Wei Wuxian fanclub" for the same reason.
** Luo Qingyang, better known as Mianmian. Her role in the story is very minor, but the readers loves her for being one of the very few who stood up for Wei Wuxian and the only female character who survives the story ''and'' gets to have a happy ending.
** Fairy is well loved simply for being a CanineCompanion who contributes to some of the novel's funny moments where they scare Wei Wuxian. Fairy became even more popular after ''Series/TheUntamed'' aired, since the dog portraying them is very friendly and cuddly.
* EpilepticTrees: The true circumstances of Wei Wuxian's death is left for the reader to decide, but what's known is that nothing of him was found by anyone after the First Siege has ended. Some fans speculated that his body [[spoiler: was thrown in the blood pool alongside the corpses of the massacred Wen survivors]], and that [[spoiler: it's the first one to emerge out of the pool during the Second Siege when Wei Wuxian's life was in danger]].
* EvilIsSexy:
** Wei Wuxian's Yiling Patriarch era is the darkest time of his life due to his brutality towards others when using demonic cultivation as well as his sanity slippage. Still, every single fan finds his appearance there to be extremely attractive, even in moments where he's downright terrifying.
** Xue Yang's good looks and charisma is why he has a sizable fanbase despite being a villain and one of the most violent characters in the novel.
* FandomEnragingMisconception: Be careful to not call the novel and some of its adaptations "''Series/TheUntamed'' [novel/animation/manhua]", which is the title of [[LiveActionAdaptation the live-action drama]]. Whether you did it by mistake or not, fans will quickly remind you why that's something you should avoid doing, especially since while ''Series/TheUntamed'' generally follows the plot of the novel, it still took plenty of liberties that sets it apart from the source material. Additionally, if you claim in any way that the novel and its other adaptations is only an adaptation of ''The Untamed'' and is not the original canon, expect the backlash to be vicious.
* FanficFuel:
** As the story makes good use of the butterfly effect as one of its {{Central Theme}}s is that every action has an intended and/or unintended consequence, it's no surprise that fans would want to write about what would have happened instead if a certain scenario had happened differently or if the circumstances were changed entirely.
** Since the author never showed the events surrounding Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's marriage becoming official, the fans are given free rein to depict how it went.
** Besides a few certain facts, the novel never extensively narrates what Lan Wangji or Jiang Cheng had been doing in the thirteen years Wei Wuxian was dead. This leads to several fanfics which cover the fans' several takes over what happened in that time period.
** Many love to entertain the idea of Wei Wuxian forming and leading his own sect, which is dubbed the Yiling Wei Sect by many fans.
** The novel leaves the state of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship on an open but bittersweet note. Naturally, fans like to rectify this with fanworks where the two properly reconcile, or at least gain some better closure, after the events of the epilogue.
* {{Fanon}}: If one is exposed to ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' through what the Western fandom posts about it, they can be forgiven for initially assuming that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are officially recognized InUniverse as the Twin Prides of Yunmeng Jiang much like how the Lan brothers are also known by the other cultivators as the Twin Jades of Gusu Lan. In truth, Wei Wixian and Jiang Cheng were never called such; that moniker was something they ''hoped'' they would be in the future, but because of a multitude of reasons, that hope never came to pass.
* FoeYayShipping:
** Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao share an extremely complicated history that ended with [[spoiler:Jin Guangyao secretly causing Nie Mingjue to die via qi-deviation]], but are nevertheless shipped despite (or rather because) of it.
** Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng mutually dislike each other and are so blatant about it sometimes that their shippers like to see it as BelligerentSexualTension.
* FriendlyFandoms: The fans of ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' and ''Literature/TheKingsAvatar'' get along really well, since both the animated and live-action adaptations of both shows are one of the first to become mainstream and catch the attention of viewers outside China. That, and several voice actors from the former show were also cast in the latter.
* GatewaySeries: ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' is the other series besides ''Literature/TheKingsAvatar'' that got Western fans into ''donghua''. Although whereas ''The King's Avatar'' attracted Western viewers due to its focus in real-life gaming without the isekai and fantasy aspects, ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' introduced many fans to ''xianxia'', as well as ''danmei'' genres (which is similar to yaoi since they're both BoysLove, but ''danmei'' works differ in how they play their tropes and ship dynamics).
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: It has quite a following in Thailand and Vietnam. In Thailand, fictional gay romances already enjoy a lot of popularity while the Vietnamese generally enjoy Chinese historical pieces. It’s also garnered much love from Boy's Love fans in the West despite it being a Chinese work.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Every instance of people demanding Wei Wuxian stop using demonic cultivation or scold him for not using his sword, whether out of jealousy or actual concern, becomes much more bitter and heartbreaking [[spoiler:when it is revealed Wei Wuxian gave up his golden core to Jiang Cheng and is incapable of cultivating as normal.]] This is true even in-universe in the case of Lan Wangji.
** Back during their time at Cloud Recesses, a teen Lan Wangji told Wei Wuxian to "Get out!" after a prank. It's hilarious even in-universe (due to out of character it is) but takes on a bitter tone when [[spoiler:you learn that the last thing Wei Wuxian said to Lan Wangji, when completely out of it due to trauma, in his previous life was "get out!" no matter how much he pleaded and begged.]]
** After the finale reveals how Jiang Cheng got caught by the Wens, the part in the flashback where Jiang Cheng asked Wei Wuxian, "Why did you save me?" becomes much more emotionally difficult to read/watch.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Every interaction between Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui become endearing after one reads the finale since the reader is actually seeing [[spoiler: A-Yuan and his "Brother Xian" bond once again]].
* HypeAversion: Due to the ''incredible'' popularity of the series and each adaptation, some people find themselves overwhelmed by fan content and discussion of the series and attempting to run away from it completely.
* IronWoobie: Wei Wuxian is one of the biggest {{Woobie}}s of the novel, suffering so much that he doesn't even get a peaceful death. And yet when he gets brought back to life, he rarely shows outwardly just how he shoulders all the pain he went through and the guilt he harbors for all that happened.
* JerkassWoobie:
** No one can deny that Jiang Cheng's very spiteful and angry and has committed several horrendous actions, but his backstory does a good job explaining exactly why he's so bitter and make the audience feel bad for him.
** Jin Ling may be bratty and still has much growing up to do, but he didn't have an easy life due to having neither parents to raise him. Thankfully, he gets better throughout the story thanks to his experiences with Wei Wuxian.
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Despite being an OfficialCouple with Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian still tends to get shipped with many other characters, such as Jiang Cheng, Wen Ning, and Jin Zixuan.
* MemeticLoser: Despite being an enchanted weapon owned by a powerful cultivator, the fandom likes to pokes fun at Bichen and exaggerate a embarrassing incidents its gone through -- being used as a seam ripper to cut pants off corpses, as a shovel, [[spoiler: as a dildo]]...
* MemeticMutation: While not as prevalent as in the English side, the Chinese fandom is teeming with memes:
** Referring to Wei Wuxian by his FanNickname Wi-Fi[[note]]Wi-Fi (无线) and his courtesy name Wuxian (无羡) ar homonyms[[/note]], as taken from the author notes.
** Lan Wangji's "Everyday" (天天).[[note]]Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji he wants to sleep with him everyday during his LoveConfession; when they finally consummate their relationship in Chapter 111 and the former jokingly begs the latter to forget about what he said, Lan Wangji ends the chapter with, "Everyday means everyday."[[/note]]
** Lan Xichen as Brother-Reading Machine.[[note]]He is one of the few (and initially the only one) who can understand his brother's facial expressions, which [[TheStoic have little to no variation]].[[/note]]
** Jiang Cheng's status as a bachelor is memed UpToEleven - "single dog" (单身狗) sometimes refers to him, since it's a derogatory way of referring to someone who is single.
** A series of videos on Bilibili sets up the characters singing their POV to the tune of [[Music/OneDirection "What Makes You Beautiful".]]
** Rabbits. Not only are rabbits a reference to Lan Wangji's pets, they're also a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu%27er_Shen Tu'er Shen, the Chinese protector deity of homosexual love.]]
** Poking fun at Jin Guangyao being one of the shortest man in the male cast is a popular subject of fanarts.
** In the Latin American corner of the fandom, deforming the character's names because of their similarity with words in Spanish. Such as the Wi-Fi for WWX, "lancha" (lit. 'boat') for Lan Zhan, "Guayaba" ('guava') for Jin Guangyao and calling Jian Cheng "Juan Carlos" because the initials are the same.
** In the Latin American fandom, calling Jin Guangyao all manner of weird nicknames based on his shortness. Such as "the Murder Flea" or "el Chaneque" (Chaneques being creatures from Mexican folclore that were short and mischievous, appearing near bodies of water to play pranks on anyone who got close. Nowadays the name is used to refer to people who are both short and annoying, or just short).
* MisaimedFandom:
** There are members of the Western fandom [[NoYay who don't take kindly to shipping Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng together]] due to believing that Wei Wuxian was adopted into the Jiang family. Though they were certainly close enough to be family in the past, they were martial brothers which are entirely different from adoptive brothers, and they saw each other more as brothers-in-arms.
** One of the most popular gags that the fandom likes to bring up is how Lan Xichen is the biggest ShipperOnDeck for [=WangXian=]. However, anyone who reads the complete canon material will realize that it's actually inaccurate; while Lan Xichen did encourage his younger brother to befriend Wei Wuxian in the past, his opinion of Wei Wuxian became more and more negative over time, and under the misassumption that Wei Wuxian knew of Lan Wangji's feelings but continued to toy with him, called him the only mistake (or the reason behind the only mistake) his brother ever made. While those words were said out of BigBrotherInstinct, they're still not the words you'd hear from a ShipperOnDeck, right?
* {{Moe}}:
** The bunnies! You ''will'' find yourself getting cute aggression over the fluffballs no matter what adaptation you read or watch.
** Wen Yuan. Every fan agrees that he's adorable and precious in every adaptation. The audio drama added to the cuteness factor by having a real toddler voice him, and ''The Untamed'' pitches in by casting an actor who has the most pinchable cheeks.
** Wen Ning is considered to be very precious due to his kind and meek personality, both as a human and as a zombie.
** Young Lan Wangji. [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/f6e1a3f14b2ce8c003c4fea1743255cb/tumblr_ptlu2dN36Y1s2uu4y_540.jpg Just look at him!]] And if we're being honest, he still has a lot of adorable moments as both a teenager and an adult.
** Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were just ''precious'' when they were kids, having the squishiest faces and the cutest-sounding voices.
** Lan Xichen when he's drunk. He's so merry that it's endearing.
** The papermen Wei Wuxian creates in situations where he needs to sneak around. Admit it, you wished that you could own one of them.
* MoralEventHorizon:
** Xue Yang has crossed the line repeatedly. [[spoiler: Massacring the Chang clan in revenge for one lost pinkie crossed it once. Massacring the White Snow Temple and blinding Song Lan crossed it again. The third time was tricking Xiao Xingchen into killing innocent civilians and Song Lan]]. Even Wei Wuxian, who had done some unsavory things during the Sunshot Campaign, summarized it best: ''"Xue Yang must die"''.
** If persecuting Wei Wuxian in the Nightless City wasn't enough, then [[spoiler: massacring a group of innocents and throwing their corpses in a pool of blood definitely counts]] for almost everyone of the cultivation world. Besides Lan Wangji, almost no one is exempt from being guilty of this.
* {{Narm}}: Lan Wangji's title of Hanguang-Jun is translated as "Gankou-Kun" in Japanese, which can sound funny to those who strongly associate the ''kun'' with the modern [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics Japanese honorific]] usage of it.
** For English-speaking fans, Wei Wuxian's birth name of Wei Ying being translated to "Gi Ei" can be hard to take seriously if said quickly due to sounding like a certain word that describes him perfectly.
** Filipino fans can't help but laugh at Jiang Cheng's sword's name of Sandu being renamed to Sandoku in Japanese, since it sounds just like "sandok", the Tagalog word for a ''ladle''.
* NeverLiveItDown:
** Few will forget Lan Jingyi eating chicken then having a chicken wing shoved back into his mouth by Lan Sizhui (in reaction to seeing Wei Wuxian's hands tied by Lan Wangji's ribbon), due to the hilarity of the entire scene.
** Remember that one time when Wei Wuxian used Lan Wangji's sword [[spoiler:as a dildo]] in that one extra chapter? It's likely that you do, and the fandom will definitely make sure that you ''won't'' forget it.
* OneTrueThreesome:
** Many fans tend to ship Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling, and Lan Jingyi altogether rather than ship two out of the three, as they are the main junior characters (nicknamed the Junior Trio by fans) and Jin Ling eventually becomes on friendly terms with the two Lans.
** Fans tend to ship the Venerated Triad due to their strong relationships with one another as sworn brothers.
** Depending on who you're asking, Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, and Song Lan are often shipped together (provided the person doesn't protest shipping Xue Yang with either of the other two).
* PortmanteauCoupleName:
** [=WangXian=], which is also the name of the song that Lan Wangji composed for Wei Wuxian in-canon. Lan Wangji was clearly LeaningOnTheFourthWall here...
** [=ChengXian=] or [=XianCheng=] for Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.
** [=XuanLi=] for Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli.
** [=SongXiao=] for Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen.
** [=XueXiao=] for Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen.
** [=ZhuiYi=] for Lan Sizhui and Jingyi.
** [=ZhuiLing=] for Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling.
** [=XiYao=] for Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao.
** [=XiCheng=] for Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng.
** [=NieLan=] for Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen.[[note]]This one is an interesting case since the ship name makes use of the two's last names rather than their given names, despite having relatives who are also prominent characters in the story, making their ship name confusing for those who aren't familiar with the story or the characters yet.[[/note]]
** [=NieYao=] for Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao.
** [=SangCheng=] for Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng.
** [=NingXian=] for Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian.
* RonTheDeathEater:
** While no one's going to disagree that Jiang Fengmian was anything but a perfect father, there are some fans who tend to demonize him and talk about him as if he spent every day making Jiang Cheng's life miserable and being the root cause for all of his son's and Wei Wuxian's problems, as well as burdening Jiang Yanli with the sole responsibility of being her younger brothers' emotional support. His passivity and his more lenient treatment of Wei Wuxian did have the unintended effect of leaving everyone with some issues, but fans quickly forget that his wife is just as (or even more) responsible for contributing to the DysfunctionJunction that is their entire family.
** You'd be surprised to learn that Wen Ning has been vilified by a few fans for revealing to Jiang Cheng [[spoiler: the truth about his "healed" golden core]], with those fans stating that he did that just to be cruel. Except that Wen Ning had kept his word to not say anything to Jiang Cheng for years, and only broke his word after witnessing [[spoiler: Jiang Cheng [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown brandish Zidian at an unconscious and bleeding Wei Wuxian]]]].
** Some fans dismiss Wei Wuxian and accuse the entire story of ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' running on a ProtagonistCenteredMorality, simply due to the fact that the story ends in a BittersweetEnding where Wei Wuxian gets his happy sendoff whereas Jiang Cheng doesn't. They may even accuse him of robbing Jiang Cheng of his happy ending, deliberately screwing him over since they were children, as well as not giving a fig about his feelings -- all of which sound similar to the lies that the other clans had been feeding Jiang Cheng to weaken his relationship with Wei Wuxian.
** To an extent, the Wen refugees get dismissed by the fans who claim that Wei Wuxian was completely in the wrong to leave Jiang Cheng's side to save and protect them. A few would even go so far as to add that even if they're innocent, Wei Wuxian should have let the Jins kill them instead.
* TheScrappy:
** Clan Leader Yao. He's a very minor character, yet is easily seen as a HateSink because no one knows anything about him besides being a brown-nosing bandwagon-rider, a condescending sexist, and having nothing good to say about Wei Wuxian or anything and anyone else for that matter... and that's why ''nobody'' likes him. Aside from Jin Guangshan, he's the only other character who makes Wen Chao look outright decent. What's worse is that he's a KarmaHoudini who doesn't even get to at least lose an arm (or his tongue, for that matter), although some fans might find some reprieve in the final arc when [[TakeThatScrappy Jin Ling yells at him to shut his mouth]] when the bastard [[RealMenDontCry chides him for crying]].
** Sure, she's a nameless BitCharacter who's only given prominence for either three sentences or thirty seconds maximum, but don't expect anyone to have any positive opinions about the female cultivator who decried Lan Wangji during the Second Siege arc. The best that can be said about her is that her question of "What wicked means did [Wei Wuxian] use to get you on his side?!" is used as a running joke in the fandom.
* ShipMates: Majority of the fans who ship [=WangXian=] tend to ship [=XiCheng=] and/or [=XiYao=] as well, with both Lan brothers having partners and going on double dates being the main appeal.
* ShipsThatPassInTheNight:
** [=XiCheng=] is a ''very'' popular ship in both the Western and Eastern fandoms, despite the fact that that Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen never had a proper one-to-one interaction and are only seen standing side-to-side in a few frames ''at best''.
** Even though their only InUniverse interaction had them fighting each other, there's a small part of the fandom that ships Song Lan and Wen Ning, since they're both fierce corpses with tragic backstories. The few fics that feature said ship tend to have the two meeting by chance after the events of the novel.
* ShipToShipCombat: Due to Xiao Xingchen having been a very important figure to both Song Lan (his old friend) and Xue Yang (a criminal who nevertheless spent a few years living with him and was determined to bring his soul back), the argument of whether [=SongXiao=] or [=XueXiao=] is the better pairing of the two can get heated if you don't ship both.
* StoicWoobie:
** Lan Wangji. Just because he always seems composed and his ordeals aren't given as much focus as Wei Wuxian or Jiang Cheng's, it doesn't mean he didn't suffer any less than them in the past.
** Song Lan is a PerpetualFrowner if not TheStoic yet has a tragic backstory. Out of grief, he drove away his closest friend, which he quickly came to regret, [[spoiler: and he died before he got the chance to apologize and reconcile with said friend. It doesn't help that his final fate is bittersweet ''at best'', since he's now a mute, sentient zombie who decides to spend his days WanderingTheEarth while waiting for his friend to reincarnate.]] Even if you don't know much about him, you ''will'' cry for him.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Considering that Wei Wuxian was established to be a pretty damn good archer and Wen Ning was also observed to be surprisingly good, it would have been good opportunities for them to use a bow and arrow as other means of fighting.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** There's no denying that Yu Ziyuan did love her children and had somewhat understandable grievances with her husband for his distant relationship with their son. But any compassion that can be invoked from that is outweighed by her extremely horrible treatment of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, which makes her come across as hypocritical. Not to mention, the last words she imparted to Wei Wuxian did more lasting damage to her son than she would have ever anticipated. Even those who aren't fond of Jiang Cheng's character acknowledge that they could see where his more unlikable traits came from.
** While Jiang Cheng is unanimously agreed to be [[JerkassWoobie a flawed and complex character]] with a tragic history, fans are quick to remind others that his past ''does not'' give him a free pass on either his present treatment of Wei Wuxian or some of his less morally grey actions.
* ValuesDissonance:
** Simply put, the fans who grew up in the West are likely going to have a lot of problems with the novel given the difference in standards and opinions of how to raise a family, the importance of full consent in a relationship, referring to a same-sex married couple as "husband and wife" [[note]] Which isn't technically inaccurate as the characters 夫妻 generally translates to "married couple", but when translated separately 夫 translates to "husband" and 妻 means "wife". [[/note]], and several other reasons.
** The ''manhua'' depicts Lan Wangji slapping (instead of merely shoving) Wen Ning in a fit of jealousy the first time he gets drunk. While Western fans wouldn't bat an eye at this at first, Chinese fans dislike this change as slapping someone has harsher and more demeaning connotations in China.
** Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's sexual life has clear undertones of a dominant-submissive dynamic, with Wei Wuxian being the submissive and Lan Wangji being the dominant. While such a dynamic is commonly portrayed in Chinese media, whether in ''danmei'' or in other genres, many fans from the Western fandom easily make the misassumption that [=WangXian's=] relationship follows the cliches in the yaoi genre that are widely considered to be problematic. However, those who are familiar with the aforementioned dynamic that [=WangXian's=] relationship is entire equal, and one is simply the bottom while the other is the top in bed because it's their preference.
* TheWoobie:
** Xiao Xingchen suffered one of the worst fates out of the good characters, and it all happened because he just wanted to help and do good. It just got worse and worse for the poor priest until [[spoiler: he literally gave up on life]] and unlike Wei Wuxian, he didn't get a second chance.
** Qin Su seems to be one of the few genuinely good members of the Jin clan who has the misfortune of [[spoiler:having her child killed during the TimeSkip and later finding out her husband is her half-brother; the shock is so bad that she's DrivenToSuicide]]. What's worse is that she did nothing wrong and knew nothing about the horrible truth about her parentage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tropes that apply to the ''donghua'' and audio drama]]
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The second season of the ''donghua'' received some criticism due to its short length, which cramped up some crucial parts of the story such as Wei Wuxian's downfall as the Yiling Patriarch, which is one of the most important plot points of the novel. Season 3 went back to the more generous 12 episodes (shorter than Season 1's 15-episode run but longer than Season 2's 8-episode run).
** Many viewers felt that Wen Yuan's appearance in the ''donghua'' was woefully short. This is rectified in the LighterAndSofter spin-off, where he plays a bigger role in the episodes that focus on Wei Wuxian's life as the Yiling Patriarch.
* BrokenBase:
** The ''donghua'' is considered the most contested adaptation. Some see it as another great adaptation that, even with its restrictions due to China's censorship laws and its limited episode count and runtime, still does well in translating the source material into an animated format. Other fans see it as subpar because it's not as faithful as the audio drama and rearranged the order of events that played in the past and present time.
** The casting of Creator/TatsuhisaSuzuki as Wei Wuxian in the Japanese dub of the audio drama. Even with the fact that he's Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's favorite Japanese voice actor and her preferred choice for Wei Wuxian, the fanbase is split on whether he's a perfect casting choice for the character or the complete opposite; while the former think he shows off his personality well, the latter think that Suzuki's voice doesn't fit Wei Wuxian at all despite being a good actor.
* CatharsisFactor:
** The manner in which Wei Wuxian dealt with Wen Chao in the novel might be a little hard to stomach for some readers, to the point that some readers (albeit understandably) feel a bit sorry for the latter. However, the way Wei Wuxian executes his revenge in the ''donghua'' leaves all the viewers with no problems in watching Wen Chao get his gruesome comeuppance.
** While Yu Ziyuan doesn't do anything to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng in the chibi spinoff, when one remembers how much of a harridan she can be in canon -- combined with the abuse and negative influence she left on both young men -- the mishaps she gets thrown into in Episode 11 can count as some form of comeuppance for the fans who have a less-than-positive opinion of her.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The flashback featuring a younger Lan Wangji gifting his rattle drum to Wei Wuxian is sweet enough on its own, but ''Mo Dao Zu Shi Q'' adds another level of touching to the scene when it reveals that the rattle drum was originally a gift from Lan Wangji's mother.
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
** While the ''donghua'' contains an AllStarCast of some of the most prolific and well-renowned Chinese voice actors, the performances are highly praised even by fans who either don't speak Mandarin, have never watched a ''donghua'' before, or are highly partial to Japanese-dubbed anime due to the voice actors perfectly delivering the emotion and nuance of their characters in every line. For one specific example, Zhang Jie is one of ''the'' most prolific voice actors in China, and his voice is easily recognizable anywhere after you hear only one or two of his roles. However, in the ''donghua'' he gets to show off just how much range he has as Wei Wuxian with how differently and effectively the tone and depth of his voice sounds depending on Wei Wuxian's mood and age.
** Putting aside the fact that it's the more complete adaptation of the novel, the audio drama's also on equal footing with the ''donghua'' in terms of voice acting chops, which is noteworthy especially since (unlike the ''donghua'') they don't have a visual medium to work with.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Su Shangqing, Jin Ling's voice actor in the ''donghua'', expressed his interest in voicing Jin Guangyao if he wasn't cast as Jin Ling. Two years later, he would eventually voice Jin Guangyao in ''Series/TheUntamed''.
** In the audio drama Wang Kai voiced Lan Xichen, who is an overall NiceGuy and a CoolBigBro to Lan Wangji. Wang Kai would later go on to voice Jiang Cheng in ''Series/TheUntamed'', and everyone knows that Jiang Cheng is anything ''but'' a NiceGuy and has an extremely poor relationship with Lan Wangji.
** This wouldn't be the last time Wu Lei voices a Mo Xiang Tong Xiu character who [[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong suffers the fate of losing his eyes and tongue (in the original iteration of the in-universe plot, at least)]]. Likewise, it wouldn't be the last time Wu Lei plays a role in a ''danmei'' adaptation [[Literature/QianQiu involving a blind Daoist priest]].
* ItsShortSoItSucks: While several fans agree that Season 2 is not a ''terrible'' season, the fact that it's only eight episodes long yet covers so many plot points (particularly from the past events which detail Wei Wuxian's downfall) causes it to suffer from pacing issues and a few rushed plotlines -- problems which didn't plague Season 1. It doesn't help that the audio drama and ''Series/TheUntamed'' had already adapted most or all of the novel's plot, and aren't nearly as restricted as the ''donghua'' when it comes to covering the novel's story.
* MemeticMutation:
** Lan Wangji embedding paperman-Wei Wuxian with the Gusu Lan Clan seal containing his spiritual energy in the ''donghua'' gave birth to many Japanese fanarts of the real Wei Wuxian having the seal somewhere on his body. The confirmation that the seal was put on the paperman's back especially lead to a lot of fanart having the seal placed on his lower back akin to a tramp stamp.
** Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji covering their robes with blood when using themselves as Spirit-Attraction Flags during the Second Siege in the ''donghua'' lead to instant popularity of fanart and jokes about the two getting married in that scene or in those outfits (as red garments are traditionally worn for Chinese weddings). 忘羨結婚 ("[=WangXian=] wedding") even trended in Japan after the episode was released for VIP members.
* {{Moe}}: While it's a given considering they're all drawn in chibi, the entire cast is nothing short of adorable and precious in ''Mo Dao Zu Shi Q''.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
** Almost every instance Wei Wuxian would say "Lan Zhan!" sounds endearing to the heart.
** Any time Wen Yuan speaks or makes any kind of sound will have even the casual fan {{Squee}} from sheer unbridled cuteness.
** While it's only heard once in both adaptations, Lan Xichen calling Lan Wangji "''didi''" is likely to be one of the most precious things you've ever heard.
* NarmCharm: The Cornetto commercials are hilariously jarring since they're often placed in the middle of the episodes and almost looks like they're part of the scene, but they are very endearing nevertheless since the characters are enjoying some dessert while sharing a nive moment together.
* SignatureScene: For most of the fans who watched the ''donghua'', Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng's respective introductory scenes are considered iconic, especially since the direction, soundtrack, and overall atmosphere during said scenes can already tell the audience a lot about their characters under one minute.
* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: It never becomes a BrokenBase, but every now and then there are discussions about the fans' favorite voice actor for certain characters.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** Because the narrative flow of the ''donghua'' deviates from that of the novel's, it's inevitable that fans are split on the changes. Especially applies to the second season since it strays further from the novel, although the complaints stem less from the narrative changes and more from the past events being noticeably condensed and rushed through.
** Some fans are unhappy about the ''donghua'' following the same approach the live-action drama used in downplaying the GreyAndGrayMorality of the story (although it's more subtle about it than the latter), which is due to the strict censorship laws in China regarding morally grey characters.
* ToughActToFollow: The audio drama isn't the first adaptation to come out (the ''donghua'' began some months earlier), but it is touted by several fans as ''the'' best adaptation of the novel, which inevitably casts a shadow over the later adaptations.
* UncannyValley:
** The animation team did well in [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects blending the CGI into 2D]] and making it work. Even then, there are a few instances when it just ''doesn't'', with the [=3D=]-rendered Tortoise of Slaughter in the first season as a noteworthy example.
** The way animals are drawn in the ''donghua'' can look unsettling for some viewers, since the animals are drawn with human eyes instead of the standard animal eyes.
** The ''donghua'''s way of drawing children can look rather odd. It doesn't have anything to do with OffModel shots; rather, it's more of how their heads are drawn a little bigger than what's normally proportional for the rest of their petite bodies.
** Whenever anyone tries running in the ''donghua'', the viewer will immediately notice how floaty the characters look since they move as if their feet aren't connected to the ground.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
** By YaoiGenre anime standards, the ''donghua'' is ''the'' most well-animated. By general anime or ''donghua'' standards, it's still one of the most well-animated works of 2018, with fans praising every aspect of the animation from the scenery to the battle choreography to the integration of CGI into hand-drawn animation [[UncannyValley (despite a few missteps)]].
** Even if they make use of only nendoroids, clay, and a few simple props, the stop-motion skits that the animation team would occasionally create is still impressively smooth in terms of movement.
[[/folder]]
----

** Consequently, Jiang Fengmian is rather divisive in the fandom. No one's going to argue about the fact that while he's not a ''bad'' person, he's in no way a great ''father''. However, there are some who argue as to whether he's still likable in spite of his poor parenting skills or the other way around. And then there's the debate of whether he's worse than his wife or not, which can turn into a lengthy discussion. This is complicated by the fact by ''Asian'' standards Jiang Fengmian isn't anything special as a parent, fitting into the actual position and approach to parenting that real-life Asian fathers do; something which is naturally lost on Western audiences as it is outside their own experiences.

** Also falls under ShipsThatPassInTheNight - any of the older-generation pairings except as written in canon. Or [[GrumpyOldMan Lan Qiren]] with ''anyone''.

** The Yi City group (Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, Ah-Qing, and yes, even Xue Yang). While they only appear for a few chapters and their story is more of a {{Sidequest}} in the overall plot, their complex characterizations and tragic backstories still made them easily memorable among fans.
** Although his only role is to talk on the unnamed juniors behalf whenever they're around, Ouyang Zizhen immediately became a fan favorite simply for being an {{Adorkable}} and NiceGuy that's very supportive of Wei Wuxian. Fans would also half-jokingly and half-affectionately dub him the "president of the Wei Wuxian fanclub" for the same reason.

** The novel left the state of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship on an open but bittersweet note. Naturally, fans would rectify this with fanworks where the two properly reconcile, or at least gain some better closure, after the events of the epilogue.

** Jiang Cheng, ''without a doubt''. No one can deny that he's very spiteful and angry and has committed several horrendous actions, but his backstory does a good job explaining exactly why he's so bitter.
** Jin Ling. He may be bratty and still has much growing up to do, but he didn't have an easy life due to having neither parents to raise him. Thankfully, he gets better throughout the story thanks to his experiences with Wei Wuxian.

* MemeticLoser: For an enchanted weapon owned by a powerful cultivator, Bichen has been through a surprising number of frankly embarrassing uses. As a seam ripper to cut pants off corpses, as a shovel, [[spoiler: as a dildo...]]

** Lan Xichen as Brother-Reading Machine.[[note]]He is one of the few (and initially the only one) who can understand his brother's facial expressions, which [[TheStoic have little to no variation]].]]

* {{Narm}}:
** While DubNameChange is inevitable as Mandarin and Japanese are radically different languages, some of the re-translated names are hilarious.
*** Lan Wangji's title of Hanguang-Jun is translated as "Gankou-''Kun''" in Japanese just sounds funny to fans who are either casual fans of anime or have knowledge about UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics.
*** For English-speaking fans, Wei Wuxian's birth name of Wei Ying being translated to "Gi Ei" is equally gut-busting. Try saying the name under one breath.
*** Filipino fans can't help but laugh at Jiang Cheng's sword's name of Sandu being renamed to Sandoku in Japanese, since it sounds just like "sandok", the Tagalog word for a ''ladle''.
** The official translations of the drama adaptation tend to literally translate the characters' titles (eg. "Light-Bearing Lord" instead of "Hanguang-Jun", "Brilliance Overgrowth Lord" instead of "Zewu-Jun"). Due to how cringe-worthy it is, fans ignore the translated titles like the plague and stick to using the original Chinese titles.

** Depending on who you're asking, Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, and Song Lan are often shipped together. Provided the person doesn't protest shipping Xue Yang with either of the other two, as that can be a very contentious issue, especially in the Western fandom.

** [=ChengXian or XianCheng=] for Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.

** [=NieLan=] for Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen. [[note]] This one is an interesting case since the ship name makes use of the two's last names rather than their given names. While this also applies for [=XueXiao=] and [=SongXiao=], their family names are unique to them only, whereas Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen have relatives who are also prominent characters in the story, which would make their ship name confusing for those who aren't familiar with the story or the characters yet. [[/note]]

* ShipToShipCombat: The argument of whether [=SongXiao=] or [=XueXiao=] is the better pairing of the two can get heated if you don't ship both, especially if you bring up anything that implies either ship having problematic elements, with the [=XueXiao=] ship especially taking the brunt of it (although this applies mostly to the Western fandom, due to ValuesDissonance).

* TranslationTrainWreck: It's a reoccurring trope in any of the official translations of the novel's adaptations. It involves either incomprehensible grammar, severely erroneous mistranslation of names, titles, and terms, or both. By contrast, the {{Fan Translation}}s are a lot more accurate (even if some terms of phrases still inevitably get LostInTranslation, which the translators do take time to explain one by one if needed).

** '''Xiao Xingchen.''' It's a fact that he needs a hug and deserves ''none'' of the bad things that happened to him, and it all happened because he just wanted to help and do good. It just gets worse and worse for the poor priest until [[spoiler: he literally gives up on life]] and unlike Wei Wuxian, he doesn't get a second chance.

** The second season of the ''donghua'' received some criticism due to its short length, which cramped up some crucial parts of the story such as Wei Wuxian's downfall as the Yiling Patriarch, which is one of the most important plot points of the novel. In the director's livestream on February 16, 2020, Xiong Ke confirmed that Season 3 would be twelve episodes long (although whether that's the total or the minimum length is still ambiguous). However, Tencent later confirmed that Season 3 will be the last, leaving many fans worried and skeptical once again.

** The audio drama certainly isn't lacking; putting aside the fact that it's the more complete adaptation of the novel, it's also on equal footing with the ''donghua'' in terms of voice acting chops, which is noteworthy especially since (unlike the ''donghua'') they don't have a visual medium to work with.

** Some fans are unhappy about the ''donghua'' following the same approach the live-action drama used in downplaying the GreyAndGrayMorality of the story (although it's more subtler about it than the latter), which is due to the strict censorship laws in China regarding morally grey characters.

** Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao share an extremely complicated history that ended with [[spoiler:Jin Guangyao secretly causing Mie Mingjue to die via qi-deviation]], but are nevertheless shipped despite (or rather because) of it.

** Sure, she's a nameless BitCharacter who's only given promimnece for either three sentences or thirty seconds maximum, but don't expect anyone to have any positive opinions about the female cultivator who decried Lan Wangji during the Second Siege arc. The best that can be said about her is that her question of "What wicked means did [Wei Wuxian] use to get you on his side?!" is used as a running joke in the fandom.

** The ''donghua'' is considered the most contested adaptation. Some see it as another great adaptation that, even with its restrictions due to China's censorship laws and its limited episode count and runtime, still does well in translating the source material into an animated format. Other fans see it as terrible because it's not as faithful as the audio drama and rearranged the order of events that played in the past and present time.

* [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped/MoDaoZuShi Some Anvils Need to be Dropped]]

** There are mixed feelings towards [[spoiler:the golden core transplant or when Wen Ning reveals it]] and whether they were the appropriate things to do in-series. Notably one's opinions about this tend to correlate with their feelings towards BaseBreaker Jiang Cheng, as he plays a central role in these instances.

** It's a given with his kind heart and shy demeanor, and even the fans unanimously agree that Wen Ning is an utter sweetheart.

** Not that many get to see Jin Zixuan act as such, until his {{Tsundere}} side shows itself. It becomes even more transparent whenever he tries to romance Jiang Yanli or performs romantic gestures for her.
* AlasPoorVillain: Wen Chao is an offputting villain and HateSink, but some do feel pity for him in his final moments in the novel. Given what's been done to him, even if he deserved it, it's understandable.
* AngelDevilShipping: [=XueXiao=] qualifies for the trope, with Xiao Xingchen as the angel and Xue Yang as the devil.

** If you're part of the English-speaking fandom, you would do better to not mention anything about [[spoiler: the golden core transplant or when Wen Ning reveals it]], especially if you're bringing it up to someone to someone who has strong feelings about Jiang Cheng, whether they're positive or negative.
** The resolution of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship in the end. Either you think that while it's bittersweet, it's realistically the best ending they could ever get; or you think that it's too depressing and they were cheated out of a reconciliation.
** The fact that Mo Xiang Tong Xiu had stated that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are the only characters in the story who are interested in men [[note]] There's also Mo Xuanyu, but he dies at the start of the novel. [[/note]]. Many fans don't really pay attention to this much and ship who they like, which is something that the author even shrugs off. Even then, there are those who can get testy about it, especially when topics related to the LGBT+ community (specifically those who aren't aware of how different LGBT+ rights are viewed in the East and the West) are involved.

** Although they're never stated to have met InUniverse, there are some fans who have taken to shipping Mo Xuanyu and Xue Yang together.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Xue Yang is one of the villains of the story, and he's very popular among the fans. To be fair, he's someone the fans either love or LoveToHate. They don't deny how terrible his crimes are, but they also find it hard not to feel for him due to either his past or his complicated relationship with Xiao Xingchen. In fact, he's rather popular among the cast of ''The Untamed'', as several of the actors auditioned to play Xue Yang before they got cast as someone else.

** Ouyang Zizhen immediately became a fan favorite simply for being an {{Adorkable}} NiceGuy and a complete supporter of Wei Wuxian. Fans would also half-jokingly and half-affectionately dub him the "president of the Wei Wuxian fanclub" for the same reason.

** Fairy, simply for being a CanineCompanion who contributes to some of the novel's funny moments where they scare Wei Wuxian. Fairy becomes even more popular after ''The Untamed'', since the dog portraying them is very friendly and cuddly.

** Wei Wuxian is less of a VillainProtagonist and more of an AntiHero. Still, every single fan finds his appearance as the Yiling Patriarch to be extremely attractive, even in moments where he's downright terrifying.
** This trope is part of why Xue Yang has a sizable fanbase despite being a villain and one of the most violent characters in the novel.
* FandomEnragingMisconception:
** Be careful to not call the novel and some of its adaptations "''The Untamed'' [novel/animation/manhua]", which is the title of [[LiveActionAdaptation the live-action drama]]. Whether you did it by mistake or not, fans will quickly remind you why that's something you should avoid doing, especially since while ''The Untamed'' generally follows the plot of the novel, it still took plenty of liberties that sets it apart from the source material. Additionally, if you claim in any way that the novel and its other adaptations is only an adaptation of ''The Untamed'' and is not the original canon, expect the backlash to be vicious.
** Connected to the above is calling referring to the character's titles using the more questionable translations (i.e. "Second Childe Lan" instead of "Second Young Master Lan", "Light-Bearing Lord" instead of "Hanguang-Jun", "Brilliance Overgrowth Lord" instead of "Zewu-Jun", etc.). Make this mistake, and you're likely to be reminded to strictly avoid doing that because of how cringe-worthy it is.

** Since the author never showed the events surrounding Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's wedding, the fans are given free rein to depict how it went.

* FoeYay:
** Given the extremely complicated history that Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao share with each other, this trope quickly comes into play whenever their relationship is brought up in any way.
** Played with between Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng. While there are only very few fans who do ship them romantically or sexually, everyone else simply enjoys watching the scenes that hint or show how they mutually hate each other but do not see any BelligerentSexualTension in their animosity.

** Back during their time at Cloud Recesses, a teen Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian to "Get out!" after a prank. It is hilarious even in-universe (due to out of character it is) but takes on a bitter tone when [[spoiler:you learn that the last thing Wei Wuxian said to Lan Wangji, when completely out of it due to trauma, in his previous life was "get out!" no matter how much he pleaded and begged.]]
** After the finale reveals how Jiang Cheng got caught by the Wens, the part where Jiang Cheng asks Wei Wuxian, "Why did you save me?" becomes much more emotionally difficult to read/watch.

* InformedWrongness: Some fans claim that Wei Wuxian was nothing but disrespectful when he appeared at Koi Tower and intimidated Jin Zixun into telling him where he imprisoned the surviving members of the Wen Clan, and thus he deserves the public scorn of the cultivation world. However, if one looks into the scene properly, Wei Wuxian was aware that he crashed a party that he was not invited to. He also approached everyone in a calm and respectful manner, and initially asked Jin Zixun that they talk in private so as to not disturb anyone else. It's only after Jin Zixun repeatedly rebuffs him and talks to him in a rude and boisterous tone, with Jin Guangshan making his sinister intentions known by publicly asking him for possession of the Yin Tiger Seal, does Wei Wuxian decide to forgo the politeness and proceed to use a blunter approach. Even then, it still takes a few more aggressive comments from Jin Zixun until Wei Wuxian actually threatens to use force unless Jin Zixun tells him what he wants to know. When Jin Zixun finally caves, Wei Wuxian lampshades that the entire situation could have been avoided had he just been willing to speak with him civilly from the start.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Downplayed, but Wei Wuxian (despite being an OfficialCouple with Lan Wangji) still tends to get shipped with the other characters, such as Jiang Cheng, Wen Ning, and Jin Zixuan, to name a few.
* LesYay: There are some who ship Yu Ziyuan and Madam Jin together. It helps that they're close friends and get along with each other better than they do with their husbands.
* MemeticLoser: For an enchanted weapon, Bichen has been through a surprising number of frankly embarrassing uses. As a seam ripper to cut pants off corpses, as a shovel, [[spoiler: as a dildo...]]

** Wei Wuxian's FanNickname as Wi-Fi - taken from the author notes.
** Lan Wangji's "Everyday" (天天).
** Lan Xichen as Brother-Reading Machine.

** In the Latin American corner of the fandom, deforming the character's names because of their similarity with words in Spanish. Such as the aforementioned Wi-Fi for WWX, "lancha" (lit. 'boat') for Lan Zhan, "Guayaba" ('guava') for Jin Guangyao and calling Jian Cheng "Juan Carlos" because the initials are the same.
*** Also from the Latin American fandom, calling Jin Guangyao all manner of weird nicknames based on his shortness. Such as "the Murder Flea" or "el Chaneque" (Chaneques being creatures from Mexican folclore that were short and mischievous, appearing near bodies of water to play pranks on anyone who got close. Nowadays the name is used to refer to people who are both short and annoying, or just short).

** There are members of the Western fandom [[NoYay who don't take kindly to shipping Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng together]] due to believing that they're technically foster brothers, even though martial and adoptive brothers are entirely different from the other. There are others who argue that they are nevertheless not related by blood in any form and they see each other more as brothers-in-arms than actual brothers.
** One of the most popular gags that the fandom likes to bring up is how Lan Xichen is the biggest ShipperOnDeck for [=WangXian=]. However, anyone who reads the complete canon material will realize that it's actually inaccurate; while Lan Xichen did encourage his younger brother to befriend Wei Wuxian in the past, his opinion of Wei Wuxian became more and more negative over time, and under the misassumption that Wei Wuxian knew of Lan Wangji's feelings but continued to toy with him, called him the only mistake (or the reason behind the only mistake) his brother ever made. While those words were said out of BigBrotherInstinct, they're still not the words you'd hear from a ShipperOnDeck, right?
** Many fans run with the idea that Jiang Cheng was the one who took care of Jin Ling since the latter was still a baby. However, many forget that Jin Ling is of the ''Jin'' Clan and thus would grow up and spend most of his time in Lanling, not in Yunmeng. While Jiang Cheng undoubtedly helped raise and mentor Jin Ling, he's not his primary guardian.

** Wen Ning, both as a human and as a zombie.

** While we're at the main characters in their youth, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were just ''precious'' when they were kids, having the squishiest faces and the cutest-sounding voices.

* {{Narm}}: While DubNameChange is inevitable as Mandarin and Japanese are radically different languages, some of the re-translated names are hilarious.
** Lan Wangji's title of Hanguang-Jun is translated as "Gankou-''Kun''" in Japanese just sounds funny to fans who are either casual fans of anime or have knowledge about UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics.
** For English-speaking fans, Wei Wuxian's birth name of Wei Ying being translated to "Gi Ei" is equally gut-busting. Try saying the name under one breath.
** Filipino fans can't help but laugh at Jiang Cheng's sword's name of Sandu being renamed to Sandoku in Japanese, since it sounds just like "sandok", the Tagalog word for a ''ladle''.

** Few will forget Lan Jingyi eating chicken then having a chicken wing shoved back into his mouth by Lan Sizhui due to the hilarity of the entire scene.
** Remember that one time when Wei Wuxian used Lan Wangji's sword [[spoiler:as a dildo]]? It's likely that you do, and the fandom will definitely make sure that you ''won't'' forget it.

** Many fans tend to ship Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling, and Lan Jingyi altogether rather than ship two out of the three.
** Likewise, fans tend to ship the Venerated Triad.

** Once in a while you might come upon a post where a fan dismisses Wei Wuxian and accuses the entire story of ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' running on a ProtagonistCenteredMorality, simply due to the fact that the story ends in a BittersweetEnding where Wei Wuxian gets his happy sendoff whereas Jiang Cheng doesn't. They would even go to accuse him of robbing Jiang Cheng of his happy ending, deliberately screwing him over since they were children, as well as not giving a fig about his feelings -- all of which sound similar to the lies that the other clans had been feeding Jiang Cheng to weaken his relationship with Wei Wuxian.

** Su She. It's up to the reader to decide whether the author deliberately wrote him to be a HateSink or not, but no one will protest if someone says that while he serves his role well in the story, he can still be very grating. Even if anyone felt a smidgen of pity when Su She [[spoiler: bites the dust, it's only because his death is surprisingly quick and anticlimactic]].

* ShipMates: Majority of the fans who ship [=WangXian=] tend to ship [=XiCheng=] and/or [=XiYao=] as well.

* ShipToShipCombat: The argument of whether [=SongXiao=] or [=XueXiao=] is the better pairing of the two can get heated, especially if you bring up anything that implies either ship having problematic elements, with the [=XueXiao=] ship especially taking the brunt of it (although this applies mostly to the Western fandom, due to ValuesDissonance). However, there is the third party that decides that nothing's wrong with shipping both.

** Lan Wangji. Just because his ordeals aren't given as much focus as Wei Wuxian or Jiang Cheng's doesn't mean he didn't suffer any less than them.
** Song Lan. Out of grief, he drove away his closest friend, which he quickly came to regret, [[spoiler: and he dies before he gets the chance to apologize and reconcile with said friend. It doesn't help that his final fate is bittersweet ''at best'', since he's now a mute, sentient zombie who decides to spend his days WanderingTheEarth while waiting for his friend to reincarnate.]] Even if you don't know much about him, you ''will'' cry for him.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Considering that Wei Wuxian was established to be a pretty damn good archer, it could have been a good opportunity for him to use a bow and arrow as his other means of fighting. The same thing goes for Wen Ning.

** Zigzagged with Jiang Cheng, whose past is unanimously agreed to be tragic and sympathetic, and [[JerkassWoobie whose character is undeniably flawed and complex in a well-written way]]. However, some fans are quick to remind others that his past ''does'' '''''not''''' give him a free pass on either his present treatment of Wei Wuxian or some of his less morally grey actions.

** Simply put, the fans who grew up in the West are likely going to have a lot of problems with the novel given the difference in standards and opinions of how to raise a family, the importance of full consent in a relationship, referring to a same-sex married couple as "husband and wife" [[note]] Which isn't technically inaccurate as the characters 夫妻 generally translates to "married couple", but when translated separately 夫 translates to "husband" and 妻 means "wife". [[/note]], and several other reasons. While understandable at times, one should be cautious of when the discussion gets excessively heated.
** One specific instance occurs when the Chinese fans complained about how the artist for the ''manhua'' drew Lan Wangji slapping (instead of merely shoving) Wen Ning in a fit of jealousy the first time he got drunk. At first, Western fans thought that they were merely overreacting because the scene didn't go exactly like it did in the novel; but as it turns out, slapping someone has harsher and more demeaning connotations in China.

** Qin Su, definitely. What's worse is that she did nothing wrong and knew nothing about the horrible truth about her parentage.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds:
** Xue Yang. No one's wrong in calling him an asshole for what he did to Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and A-Qing, and for all the other people he killed. However, it's not hard to feel sorry for him when you know why he became so screwed up, even if you acknowledge that it doesn't justify his actions.
** [[spoiler: Nie Huaisang]]. No one will deny that his actions are extremely ruthless and got a few people killed, and there would have been more casualties had the protagonists not interfered. However, one must remember that he did it all to [[spoiler: avenge his brother, whom he was close to and whose death he had the misfortune of witnessing]].
** Wei Wuxian himself, in his first life. The Nightless City Massacre is horrifying by any measure, but considering [[TraumaCongaLine everything that led up to it,]] it was honestly kind of inevitable.
* {{Woolseyism}}: Jinlin Tower. (金鳞台) reads as "Golden Scale Tower", but the Exiled Rebels translation switched to Koi Tower halfway through the ongoing translation, and the translation in the official subtitles of ''The Untamed'' went with "Golden Unicorn Tower" (though that could be one of the many results of TranslationTrainWreck). To be fair, Jinlin (金鳞) and Jinlin (金麟) have appeared throughout the online edition, which makes it hard to pin down any specific translation since which is an honest transcription error versus which is the name that was meant, is unclear.

* BetterThanCanon: One of the things that many fans unanimously like about the ''donghua'' is that it has the [[AdaptationalBadass strongest incarnation]] of Wei Wuxian, since it really drives in why he's the titular grandmaster of demonic cultivation who the other cultivation clans fear.

** Every fan agrees that they love the audio drama because it's the most complete adaptation of the novel, but there are fans who are torn on their opinions on the ''donghua'', which is the most contested adaptation. Some see it as another great adaptation that, even with its restrictions due to China's censorship laws and its limited episode count and runtime, still does well in translating the source material into an animated format. Other fans see it as terrible because it's not as faithful as the audio drama and rearranged the order of events that played in the past and present time.
** The casting of Creator/TatsuhisaSuzuki as Wei Wuxian in the Japanese dub of the audio drama. Even with the fact that he's Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's favorite Japanese voice actor and her preferred choice for Wei Wuxian; the fanbase is split on whether he's a perfect casting choice for the character or the complete opposite, with those having the latter opinion stating that while Suzuki is a great voice actor, his voice doesn't fit Wei Wuxian at all.
* CantUnhearIt: Downplayed, especially when compared to ''Literature/TheKingsAvatar''. Most viewers who are unused to hearing Chinese-dubbed animation are able to watch the ''donghua'' just fine because the story is set in ancient China, therefore it's only natural for the characters to speak Mandarin as it adds a layer of authenticity. Additionally, anyone who was initially skeptical about the quality of the voice-acting is usually won over by the cast's powerful performances.

** Downplayed, considering the LighterAndSofter nature of the spinoff ''Mo Dao Zu Shi Q''. While Yu Ziyuan doesn't do anything to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng in the spinoff, when one remembers how much of a harridan she can be in canon -- combined with the abuse and negative influence she left on both young men -- the mishaps she gets thrown into in Episode 11 can count as some form of comeuppance for the fans who have a less-than-positive opinion of her.

** That isn't to say that the audio drama is lacking either. Putting aside the fact that it's the more complete adaptation of the novel -- it's also on equal footing with the ''donghua'' in terms of voice acting chops, which is noteworthy especially since unlike the ''donghua'', they don't have a visual medium to work with.

** Su Shangqing, Jin Ling's voice actor in the ''donghua'', expressed his interest in voicing Jin Guangyao if he wasn't cast as Jin Ling. Two years later, he would eventually voice Jin Guangyao in ''The Untamed''.
** Similarly, in the audio drama, Wang Kai voiced Lan Xichen, who is an overall NiceGuy and a CoolBigBro to Lan Wangji. Wang Kai would later go on to voice Jiang Cheng in ''Series/TheUntamed'', and everyone knows that Jiang Cheng is anything ''but'' a NiceGuy and has an extremely poor relationship with Lan Wangji.
** This will not be the last time Wu Lei voices a Mo Xiang Tong Xiu character who [[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong suffers the fate of losing his eyes and tongue (in the original iteration of the in-universe plot, at least)]]. Likewise, it won't be the last time Wu Lei plays a role in a ''danmei'' adaptation [[Literature/QianQiu involving a blind Daoist priest]].
* ItsShortSoItSucks: Downplayed. Several fans agree that Season 2 is not a ''terrible'' season. However, the fact that it's only eight episodes long yet covers so many plot points (particularly from the past events which detail Wei Wuxian's downfall) causes it to suffer from pacing issues and a few rushed plotlines -- problems which didn't plague Season 1. It doesn't help that the audio drama and ''Series/TheUntamed'' had already adapted most or all of the novel's plot, and aren't nearly as restricted as the ''donghua'' when it comes to covering the novel's story.

* While it's only heard once in both adaptations, Lan Xichen calling Lan Wangji "''didi''" is likely to be one of the most precious things you've ever heard.
* NarmCharm: The Cornetto commercials are hilariously jarring since they're often placed in the middle of the episodes and almost looks like they're part of the scene, but they are very endearing nevertheless since the characters are enjoying some dessert.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: It never becomes a BrokenBase, but every now and then there would be discussions about the fans' favorite voice actor for certain characters.

** Because the narrative flow of the ''donghua'' deviates from that of the novel's, it's inevitable that some fans will have this kind of opinion. Said opinion becomes even more heated after the second season aired, although the complaints stem less from the narrative changes and more from the past events being noticeably condensed and rushed through.
** Some fans are ''not'' happy about the ''donghua'' following the same approach the live-action drama used in downplaying the GreyAndGrayMorality of the story. Other fans are quick to point out, however, that this is due to the strict censorship laws in China regarding morally grey characters; and that the writing team of the ''donghua'' is doing their best to keep the theme while being subtler about it whereas the writing team of ''The Untamed'' had to remove it almost entirely.
* ToughActToFollow: The audio drama isn't the first adaptation to come out, but it is touted by several fans as ''the'' best adaptation of the novel, which inevitably casts a shadow over the other three adaptations, especially the ''donghua''.

** The ''donghua'' also has any of the characters when they were children, as they can look rather odd. It doesn't have anything to do with OffModel shots; rather, it's more of how their heads are drawn a little bigger than what's normally proportional for the rest of their petite bodies.

** By BL anime standards, the ''donghua'' is ''the'' most well-animated. By general anime or ''donghua'' standards, it's still one of the most well-animated works of 2018, with fans praising every aspect of the animation from the scenery to the battle choreography to the integration of CGI into hand-drawn animation [[UncannyValley (despite a few missteps)]].

* AlasPoorScrappy:
** While they're not exactly [[{{Scrappy}} scrappies]], Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan are two of the most controversial characters of the novel. Even then, it's hard not to feel sorry for them when they got killed by the Wen Clan, with many fans saying while they're far from GoodParents, they didn't deserve to die the way they did. However, there are some who, while they don't take any glee in what happened, don't feel sad about it either and only find the tragedy in Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's reactions to their deaths.
** Wen Chao is less of a scrappy and more of a HateSink, which only makes sense since he's a villain. But some do feel pity for him in his final moments in the novel. Given what's been done to him, even if he deserved it, it's understandable.

* AngstAversion: Neatly averted, actually. Given how many characters die in the story and the trials and tribulations the protagonists had to go in their younger years, it would be easy to assume you'd be turned off by all the death and tragedy. But the author knows how to pace her story such that every moment ''will'' always leave an impact on the reader, whether or not it's expected. Fans even pointed out that multiple rereads of the novel or rewatches of the adaptations doesn't lessen the blow.
* AudienceAlienatingPremise: While the franchise is a massive hit in China, it has trouble attracting the same amount of viewers outside the country due to the simple fact that it's officially marketed as BoysLove (or ''danmei'' in China), which is viewed as a controversial genre in the west. Despite this, the novel and its adaptations rose to popularity in the West, garnering a fanbase for its intricate storytelling and complex characters.

** For some people (specifically in the Western fandom), the ''Incense Burner'' extras are this. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And that's all we're saying about that.]]

** Lan Jingyi and chicken, despite the fact that a scene involving both only happened ''once'' in the novel.
** Wei Wuxian and Bichen, for... reasons. See MemeticLoser below.

** Speaking of Mo Xuanyu, other fans also ship him with Nie Huaisang given the possibility of the [[spoiler: latter's involvement in the former's revenge plans against his abusive family]].

* DeathOfTheAuthor: You'd be surprised (or not) about how rampant this trope in is all sides of the fandom, such as how several fans read the novel or view its adaptations yet bash Mo Xiang Tong Xiu for a multitude of reasons, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment all of which are for an entirely different discussion]].

** Be careful to not call the novel and some of its adaptations "''The Untamed'' [novel/animation/manhua]", which is the title of [[LiveActionAdaptation the live-action drama]]. Whether you did it by mistake or not, fans will quickly remind you why that's something you should avoid doing, especially since while ''The Untamed'' generally follows the plot of the novel, it still took plenty of liberties that sets it apart from the source material.
*** Adding to the above, if you claim in any way that the novel and its other adaptations is only an adaptation of ''The Untamed'' and is not the original canon, expect the backlash to be vicious.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Played with. ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' is Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's second novel, but it is the first of her novels to receive an adaptation. Hence, it's the most popular and well-recognized among her three (currently) published works; albeit ''Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong'' and ''Literature/TianGuanCiFu'' are also seen as well-written works in their own right and have their respective adoring fandoms as well.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: It has quite a following in Thailand and Vietnam. In Thailand, fictional gay romances already enjoy a lot of popularity while the Vietnamese generally enjoy Chinese historical pieces.
** It’s also garnered a rather large following in the western Boy’s Love enjoying community despite it being a Chinese work.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Every interaction between Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui become this after one reads the finale since the reader is actually seeing [[spoiler: A-Yuan and his "Brother Xian" bond once again]].

** There are members of the Western fandom [[NoYay who don't take kindly to shipping Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng together]] due to believing that they're technically foster brothers, even though martial and adoptive brothers are entirely different from the other. There are others who argue that they are nevertheless not related by blood in any form and they see each other more as brothers-in-arms than actual brothers. Other than that, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment tread carefully when you're discussing your opinion about this ship.]]

** Xue Yang has crossed this repeatedly. [[spoiler: Massacring the Chang clan in revenge for one lost pinkie crossed it once. Massacring the White Snow Temple and blinding Song Lan crossed it again. The third time was tricking Xiao Xingchen into killing innocent civilians and Song Lan]]. Even Wei Wuxian, who had done some unsavory things during the Sunshot Campaign, summarized it best: ''"Xue Yang must die"''.

** Lan Jingyi eating chicken then having a chicken wing shoved back into his mouth by Lan Sizhui. See CargoShip above.
** Remember that one time when Wei Wuxian [[spoiler: used Lan Wangji's sword as a dildo]]? It's likely that you do, and the fandom will definitely make sure that you ''won't'' forget it.

** Likewise, fans also tend to do the same to the Venerated Triad.
** Depending on who you're asking, Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, and Song Lan also get this treatment. Provided the person doesn't protest shipping Xue Yang with either of the other two, as that can be a very contentious issue, especially in the Western fandom.

** Once again, this is only from the minority, but once in a while you might come upon a post where a fan dismisses Wei Wuxian and accuses the entire story of ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' running on a ProtagonistCenteredMorality, simply due to the fact that the story ends in a BittersweetEnding where Wei Wuxian gets his happy sendoff whereas Jiang Cheng doesn't. They would even go to accuse him of robbing Jiang Cheng of his happy ending, deliberately screwing him over since they were children, as well as not giving a fig about his feelings -- all of which sound similar to the lies that the other clans had been feeding Jiang Cheng to weaken his relationship with Wei Wuxian.
** To an extent, the Wen refugees also get this treatment from the fans who claim that Wei Wuxian was completely in the wrong to leave Jiang Cheng's side to save and protect them. A few would even go so far as to add that even if they're innocent, Wei Wuxian should have let the Jins kill them instead.

** The second season of the ''donghua'' received some criticism due to its short length, which cramped up some crucial parts of the story such as Wei Wuxian's downfall as the Yiling Patriarch, which is one of the most important plot points of the novel. In the director's livestream on February 16, 2020, Xiong Ke confirmed that Season 3 would be twelve episodes long (whether that's the total or the minimum length is still ambiguous, however) and that the team would take the time it needs to properly adapt the necessary material for the oncoming season -- much to the fans' collective relief.
*** However, Tencent would soon undo this by revealing that the third season of the ''donghua'' will be the last, which leaves many fans worried and skeptical as to how B.C. May will be able to cram the rest of the story into 12 episodes even with their best efforts. It didn't already help that 45 episodes was initially promised before ExecutiveMeddling whittled it down to 35 episodes instead in spite of the revenue that the ''donghua'' is netting Tencent.

** While the ''donghua'' contains an AllStarCast of some of the most prolific and well-renowned Chinese voice actors, the performances are highly praised even by fans who either don't speak Mandarin, have never watched a ''donghua'' before, or are highly partial to Japanese-dubbed anime due to the voice actors perfectly delivering the emotion and nuance of their characters in every line.
*** For one specific example, Zhang Jie is one of ''the'' most prolific voice actors in China, and his voice is easily recognizable anywhere after you hear only one or two of his roles. However, in the ''donghua'' he gets to show off just how much range he has as Wei Wuxian with how differently and effectively the tone and depth of his voice sounds depending on Wei Wuxian's mood and age.

* NarmCharm: The Cornetto commercials. Watch them and you'll see why.
* SignatureScene: For most of the fans who watched the ''donghua'', Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng's respective introductory scenes are this, especially since the direction, soundtrack, and overall atmosphere during said scenes can already tell the audience a lot about their characters under one minute.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: While the franchise is a massive hit in China, it has trouble attracting the same amount of viewers outside the country due to the simple fact that it's officially marketed as BoysLove (or ''danmei'' in China), which is a controversial genre. Despite this, the novel and its adaptations rose to popularity in the West, garnering a fanbase for its intricate storytelling and complex characters.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Considering that Wei Wuxian was established to be a pretty damn god archer, it could have been a good opportunity for him to use a bow and arrow as his other means of fighting.

* AdaptationFirst: Played with. It took a year after the release of the first season for Tencent to start streaming the ''donghua'' internationally. However, even months prior, thanks to the help of FanTranslation the ''donghua'' had already been drawing in more fans and introduced them to the novel and its other adaptations.

** This will not be the last time Wu Lei voices a Mo Xiang Tong Xiu character who [[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong suffers the fate of losing his eyes and tongue (in the original iteration of the in-universe plot, at least)]].