History YMMV / TheUntamed

* HilariousInHindsight: In ''Dance of the Phoenix'', which aired a year after ''The Untamed'', Wang Haoxuan (Xue Yang) plays a character who dresses all in black and plays the flute. Cue the jokes that Xue Yang is pretending to be fellow demonic cultivator Wei Wuxian, another flute player who wears black robes.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: While many fans were definitely curious about how the series would fare long before it aired whether it's in the optimistic or the morbid way, nobody expected it to become the widespread multinational hit that it became in the span of less than two months.

* BrokenBase: There is a vicious discourse between the novel fans and the live-action only fans whether ''The Untamed'' is a well-done adaptation that's better than the source material in spite, or even because, of the censorship hurdles, or a messy story that added unnecessary story plots (like the yin iron storyline) or changed characterizations so much that they are InNameOnly. Some live-action fans would even go so far as to accuse the novel of reading like fanfiction due to the sexually explicit scenes[[note]]While sexually explicit scenes are nothing new to the ''danmei'' genre, the show's status as a GatewaySeries caused a flood of Western fans [[ValuesDissonance who are not familiar with danmei]] to pick up the books and be shocked that novel Wangxian acts [[InsatiableNewlyweds very differently]] to their drama counterparts. It doesn't help that the two protagonists have a con non-con kink that many would find uncomfortable, causing this discourse[[/note]], whereas novel fans would criticize the live-action for removing the GrayAndGrayMorality that makes the story more compelling. The only thing these fans can agree on is the subtext between the two leads is well done.

%%* GatewaySeries: For danmei, xianxia, and Chinese entertainment in general among non-Chinese audiences.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Months before ''The Untamed'' had aired, many were skeptical on whether Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo (best known for their idol work at the time) would do the protagonists justice, especially as they only had one other major acting role beforehand. After the series aired, everyone agreed that they ''are'' the quintessential choices for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, respectively, in spite of the many changes done to the plot and the cast's overall characterizations. Xiao Zhan was able to encapsulate every aspect about Wei Wuxian in both facial expression and physical movement, and Wang Yibo perfectly captured Lan Wangji's duality of cold stoicism and passionate emotion. The fact that both won awards for their performances just hammers in this trope.
* HilariousInHindsight: In ''Dance of the Phoenix'', which aired a year after ''The Untamed'', Wang Haoxuan (Xue Yang) plays a character who dresses all in black and plays a flute. Cue the jokes that Xue Yang is pretending to be fellow demonic cultivator Wei Wuxian, another flute player who wears black robes.

** It would take a while for fans of both Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and priest to realize that the female ghost in Episode 20 is played by the same actress who would go on to play Chen Qingxu in the LiveActionAdaptation of ''[[Literature/ShaPoLangNovel Sha Po Lang]]''.

** The Tortoise of Slaughter is looks even worse than how it was rendered in the ''donghua'', especially since it looks unconvincing when other characters are trying to attack it.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: ''The Untamed'' is '''''not''''' the original story to which the novel and the ''donghua'' are adaptations of. This is especially egregious since a simple research would prove that the novel was published in 201'''5''', the ''donghua'' began in 201'''8''', and the live-action drama aired in 201'''9'''. For extra good measure, the ''manhua'' was released in late 201'''7''', while the audio drama was released around a month before the ''donghua'' aired. Heck, the final episode of the live-action series even credits Creator/MoXiangTongXiu as the ''original'' creator of the characters and setting.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: Fans' main gripe with the ''The Living Dead'' is how it basically recycled the plot of the Yi City arc but with a completely different set of characters who aren't even from the novel -- to the point of stating that it would have been better if the production crew had just made it into a half-recap, half-expansion movie about the Yi City storyline.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: It's a Chinese drama, so sub-par CGI effects are par for the course.

* CantUnHearIt:
** If you're informed on who voices who before watching ''The Untamed'', hearing Jiang Cheng talk in the series can be unsettling since you're also hearing Lan Xichen from the audio drama, and their temperaments couldn't be any more different.
** It's even more unsettling to hear Jin Guangyao talk when you realize that he shares the same voice with Jin Ling from the ''donghua''. You might as well be listening to a grown-up and evil version of Jin Ling.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
** Months before ''The Untamed'' had aired, many were skeptical on whether Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo would do the protagonists justice, especially as they only had one other major acting role beforehand. After the series aired, everyone agreed that they ''are'' the quintessential choices for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, respectively, in spite of the many changes done to the plot and the cast's overall characterizations. Xiao Zhan was able to encapsulate every aspect about Wei Wuxian in both facial expression and physical movement, and Wang Yibo perfectly captured Lan Wangji's duality of cold stoicism and passionate emotion. The fact that both won awards for their performances just hammers in this trope.
** Wang Zhuocheng as Jiang Cheng also deserves a mention. Everyone already thought that he was a great choice to play the character from his looks alone, and he proved them completely right. Even with the occasional overacting (specifically when crying is involved) and the argument that the live-action incarnation of Jiang Cheng was significantly softened compared to his novel counterpart, no one disagrees that Wang Zhuocheng did a great job acting out the character's wide range of emotions, and in some ways, even made the character appear more likable to the audience.
** When it comes to voice actors, Lu Zhixing and Bian Jiang had already proved themselves before in the audio drama and the ''donghua'', respectively. However, Su Shangqing -- who some might recognize for his previous casting as Jin Ling in the ''donghua'' -- surprises the audience with how well he can change his range when he migrates from voicing a RoyalBrat with a HiddenHeartOfGold to voicing a nigh-sociopathic ManipulativeBastard, allowing him to complement an already excellent performance from Zhu Zanjin.
** Nobody likes Wen Chao, but everybody ''loves'' the way He Peng played the character and praised him for capturing every despicable aspect about the character perfectly. On a lesser note, many have said the same about Lu Enjie in her role as Wang Lingjiao.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** In ''Dance of the Phoenix'', which aired a year after ''The Untamed'', Wang Haoxuan (Xue Yang) plays a character who dresses all in black and plays a flute. Cue the jokes that Xue Yang is pretending to be Wei Wuxian. And as if ''Dance of the Phoenix'' wasn't already funny or strange enough for ''The Untamed'' fans, Guo Cheng (Lan Jingyi) also appears in it.
** Liu Beichen is the voice actor of Su She, a clan leader working as TheDragon of the BigBad, in the live-action series. Then one year later, he voiced a sect leader yet again in another adaptation of [[Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong one of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novels]], but this time his character serves the role of the BigGood.
** Meng Ziyi (Wen Qing) and Wang Zhuocheng (Jiang Cheng) went on to play two of the main characters in the 2020 series ''Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos''.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many who are introduced to C-dramas through ''The Untamed'' typically express surprise that the entire drama is actually dubbed, with all the dialogue spoken by voice actors instead of the original actors. However, this is actually a common trend in C-dramas, partly to get rid of any issues of differing dialects. But the main reason is because plenty of dramas are being shot at around the same time in the same filming studio, hence the dubbing is necessary.

** In yet another LiveActionAdaptation of Priest's novels, while his appearance in ''The Untamed'' is short, fans become surprised when they learn that Wen Xu is played by the same actor who portrayed Han Ying in ''Series/WordOfHonor''.

** This was the fans' initial reaction when they heard that ''The Untamed'' wouldn't be adapting the romance between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, but after the first six episodes aired this opinion died down since even without the romance, there's still a ton of subtext (and that's still an understatement) in the live-action drama coupled with the great chemistry between both the actors and their dub-over actors.

* HypeBacklash: Over time, the opinion of long-time ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' fans towards ''The Untamed'' began to sour, although this has less to do with the drama always being talked about and receiving constant praise, and more to do with how the overall fandom has slowly began to treat ''The Untamed'' as the "true canon story" of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' in spite of its many deviations from the source material, brought about by either censorship or differing creative choices (in particular heavily toning down the leads' romantic relationship, which is central to the plot).

* FandomEnragingMisconception: ''The Untamed'' is '''''not''''' the original story to which the novel and the ''donghua'' are adaptations of. This is especially egregious since a simple research would prove that the novel was published in 201'''5''', the ''donghua'' began in 201'''8''', and the live-action drama aired in 201'''9'''. For extra good measure, the ''manhua'' was released in late 201'''7''', while the audio drama was released around a month before the ''donghua'' aired.

* HypeBacklash: Over time, the opinion of long-time ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' fans towards ''The Untamed'' began to sour, although this has less to do with the drama always being talked about and receiving constant praise, and more to do with how the overall fandom has slowly began to treat ''The Untamed'' as the "true canon story" of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' in spite of its several deviations from the source material brought about by censorship and other creative choices or differences.

* GatewaySeries: For danmei, xianxia, and Chinese entertainment in general among non-Chinese audiences.

* ActorShipping: The protagonists' actors Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo have their fair share of shippers due to their chemistry on and off-screen and how well they understood the characters they played. For similar reasons, the second most popular actor pair after them is Song Jiyang and Wang Haoxuan (Xiao Xingchen and Xie Yang), followed by Liu Haikuan and Zhu Zanjin (Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao).

* CantUnhearIt:

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Really popular in Thailand. So much so that it became a trending Twitter topic in Thailand and even a fan-meeting with the actors visiting Thailand happened.

** Months before ''The Untamed'' had aired, many were skeptical on whether Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo would do the protagonists justice, especially as they only had one other major acting role beforehand. After the series aired, everyone agreed that they ''are'' the quintessential choices for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, respectively. Xiao Zhan was able to encapsulate every aspect about Wei Wuxian in both facial expression and physical movement, and Wang Yibo perfectly captured Lan Wangji's duality of cold stoicism and passionate emotion. The fact that both won awards for their performances just hammers in this trope.
** Wang Zhuocheng as Jiang Cheng also deserves a mention. Everyone already thought that he was a great choice to play the character from his looks alone, and he proved them completely right. Even with the occasional overacting (specifically when crying is involved), no one disagrees that he did justice in portraying Jiang Cheng, and in some ways even made the character appear more sympathetic and likable to the audience.

** In ''Dance of the Phoenix'', which aired a year after ''The Untamed'', Wang Haoxuan (Xue Yang) plays a character who dresses all in black and plays a flute. Cue the jokes that Xue Yang is pretending to be Wei Wuxian. And as if ''Dance of the Phoenix'' wasn't already funny/trange for ''The Untamed'' fans, Guo Cheng (Lan Jingyi) also appears in it.

* HypeBacklash: Over time, the opinion of long-time ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' fans towards ''The Untamed'' began to sour, although this has less to do with the drama always being talked about and receiving constant praise, and more to do with how the overall fandom as slowly began to treat ''The Untamed'' as the "true canon story" of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' in spite of its several deviations from the source material brought about by censorship.

** The fact that almost every character almost always hold their swords even when they're not fighting, instead of attaching their swords to their waists or carrying them behind their backs, can be this mainly because of how inconvenient it is.

** The Tortoise of Slaughter is worse-looking than how it was rendered in the ''donghua'', especially since it looks unconvincing when other characters are trying to attack it.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Fans are quick to say that ''Fatal Journey'' is the superior web movie compared to ''The Living Dead'', as it actually focuses on the canon-original characters (specifically, the well-beloved Nie brothers) and provides them with more screentime and character depth. Even the one CanonForeigner introduced in the film immediately became an EnsembleDarkhorse in his own right, in contrast to the three {{Canon Foreigner}}s in the first film who -- while not necessarily badly written -- are mostly forgettable, especially since their story is almost a rehash of the plot of the Yi City arc.

YMMV tropes that apply to either ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' as a whole or the other adaptations of the novel go [[YMMV/MoDaoZuShi here]].

* ActorShipping: Not exactly, but several fans enjoy seeing the interactions between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo due to their chemistry on and off-screen and how well they understood the characters they played. For similar reasons, the second most popular actor pair after them is Song Jiyang and Wang Haoxuan, followed by Liu Haikuan and Zhu Zanjin.

** Likewise, it would be even more unsettling to hear Jin Guangyao talk when you realize that he shares the same voice with Jin Ling from the ''donghua''. You might as well be listening to a grown-up and evil version of Jin Ling.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Nie Zonghui, Nie Mingjue's right-hand man who appears only in the second film of the series.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: ''The Untamed'' is '''''NOT''''' the original story to which the novel and the ''donghua'' are adaptations of. This is especially egregious since a simple research would prove that the novel was published in 201'''5''', the ''donghua'' aired since 201'''8''', and the live-action drama aired in 201'''9'''. For extra good measure, the ''manhua'' was released in late 201'''7''', while the audio drama was released around a month ''before'' the ''donghua'' aired.
* FriendlyFandoms: Because the earliest fans of the ''The Untamed'' were Chinese entertainment consumers, they were also fond of the Korean pop group, {{Music/EXO}} which had a strong Chinese fanbase due to its old Mandarin subunit, EXO-M. Much of the cast for ''The Untamed'' are also EXO fans with lead actor Xiao Zhan citing Sehun as his favorite EXO member. The Chinese fanbase for ''The Untamed'' gets along very well with the EXO fanbase but it has generated some drama in the international ''The Untamed'' fanbase as EXO's [[FandomRivalry fandom rival]] {{Music/BTS}} is far more popular outside of China. Some fans of Chinese entertainment (known as 'C-ent fans') completely disavow any connections to [[KoreanPopMusic K-pop]] fandoms for how loud and arguably disrespectful they are (particularly those on Western "stan Twitter") and do not like K-Pop fans being involved in C-drama or C-Pop fandoms.

** When it comes to voice actors, Lu Zhixing and Bian Jiang had already proved themselves before in the audio drama and the ''donghua'', respectively. However, Su Shangqing -- who some might recognize for his previous casting in the ''donghua'' (see CantUnhearIt above) -- surprises the audience with how well he can change his range when he migrates from voicing a RoyalBrat with a HiddenHeartOfGold to voicing a nigh-sociopathic ManipulativeBastard, allowing him to complement an already excellent performance from Zhu Zanjin.

** In the novel, Nie Huaisang praised Wei Wuxian's idea of harnessing resentful energy due to its practicality and its benefits. In the ''donghua'', Nie Huaisang is voiced by Liu Sanmu, who would then be the dub-over actor for Xue Yang in ''The Untamed''.
** For the Western fandom, there's the added subplot of Lan Wangji breaking into the forbidden archives to find other songs that can help Wei Wuxian combat the adverse effects of demonic cultivation. This is because a [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/16635728/chapters/39001631 fanfic]] published months prior to the release to ''The Untamed'' had already done this.
** In ''Series/GoodbyeMyPrincess'' Zhu Zanjin (Jin Guangyao) plays a scheming government minister who arranges the death of his rival. Replace "government minister" with "Chief Cultivator", and that also describes his character here.
** In ''Dance of the Phoenix'', which aired a year after ''The Untamed'', Wang Haoxuan (Xue Yang) plays a character who dresses all in black and plays a flute. Cue the jokes that Xue Yang is pretending to be Wei Wuxian. And as if ''Dance of the Phoenix'' wasn't already funny[=/=]strange for ''The Untamed'' fans, Guo Cheng (Lan Jingyi) also appears in it.

* HypeBacklash: Over time, the opinion of long-time ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' fans towards ''The Untamed'' began to sour, although this has less to do with the drama always being talked about and receiving constant praise, and more to do with how the overall fandom as slowly began to treat ''The Untamed'' as the "true canon story" of ''Mo Dao Zu Shi'' in spite of its several deviations from the source material brought about by censorship.
* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: In a way. As stated below (see TheyChangedItSoItSucks), one of the fans complaint's about how the series adapted the novel's plot involves the Yi City arc being rushed. Consequently, the fans' main gripe with the ''The Living Dead'' is how it basically recycled the plot of the same arc but with a completely different set of characters who aren't even from the novel -- to the point of stating that it would have been better if the production crew had just made it into a half-recap, half-expansion movie about the Yi City storyline.

* SceneryPorn: Many the location sets in the show are gorgeous to the last detail, even if it falls victim to SpecialEffectsFailure once in a while.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Played with, since both movies aren't directly linked to each other and occur at different periods in the story's timeline [[note]] ''The Living Dead'' takes place after the finale whereas ''Fatal Journey'' takes place during the TimeSkip between the past and present stories [[/note]]. However, fans are quick to say that ''Fatal Journey'' is the superior web movie compared to ''The Living Dead'', as it actually focuses on the canon-original characters (specifically, the well-beloved Nie brothers) and provides them with more screentime and character depth. Even the one CanonForeigner introduced in the film immediately became an EnsembleDarkhorse in his own right, in contrast to the three {{Canon Foreigner}}s in the first film who -- while not necessarily badly written -- are mostly forgettable, especially since their story is almost a rehash of the plot of the Yi City arc.

** A lot of fans who had already read the novel prior to watching ''The Untamed'' aren't happy about how the GreyAndGrayMorality theme is heavily toned down, such as making Wei Wuxian entirely blameless and making some of the villains even more evil than they were in the novel. Some fans are more understanding, however, since Chinese censorship laws target not only the portrayal of any blatant (or even subtle) homoromanticism but also morally grey characters and storylines.
* TranslationTrainWreck: Not as bad as, say the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Literature/TheKingsAvatar'', but the official [=WeTV=] subtitles of ''The Untamed'' has a lot of gramatically-incorrect or poorly phrased translations to be found. While this is downplayed in the Viki and Netflix subtitles, the problems ''still'' exist.
* ValuesDissonance: A [[https://twitter.com/MoDaoVSZuShi/status/1151838663556382721 post collected various misconceptions that many viewers]] have over the plot and core relationships of ''The Untamed'', all of which are alarmingly erroneous -- such as Lan Wangji ending up as Wei Wuxian's enemy or Jiang Yanli being Wei Wuxian's love interest. To anyone who's already read the novel, the theories definitely seem completely silly and far-fetched. However, [[https://twitter.com/chiharuzushi/status/1151911110620176384 this post explains]] why such misconceptions exist (it must be noted that the misinterpretations came from mostly ''Eastern'' viewers) and how the production crew of ''The Untamed'' uses them to their advantage.

** Depending on who you're asking, there are also some fans who don't like how the crew decided to give both Nie Mingjue and Wen Ruohan a mustache, pointing out that they look more silly than intimidating and would actually come across as more properly imposing if they ''didn't'' have the facial hair.

* WinTheCrowd: Months before ''The Untamed'' aired, people were skeptical that the series would do justice to the source material, whether in terms of the script or the acting. Then when the first four episodes came out, the [[SoOkayItsAverage initial consensus was lukewarm]], but the reception got increasingly more positive as time went on. While it's definitely not the most faithful adaptation of the novel and has some pacing and script issues, it's nevertheless entertaining to watch. Part of the fun is seeing how the actors portray their characters and how some of the pivotal scenes in the novel are played out or given more detail. It helps that the team behind ''The Untamed'' made sure to put their own spin on said scenes rather than mimic how they're adapted in audio drama and the ''donghua'', and are also very respectful to the novel.

** Liu Beichen is the voice actor of Su She, a clan leader working as TheDragon of the BigBad, in the live-action series. Then one year later, he voiced a sect leader yet again in another adaptation of [[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong one of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novels]], but this time his character serves the role of the BigGood.

** In yet another LiveAcationAdaptation of Priest's novels, while his appearance in ''The Untamed'' is short, fans become surprised when they learn that Wen Xu is played by the same actor who portrayed Han Ying in ''Series/WordOfHonor''.