Awesome / Yona of the Dawn

Spoilers Off applies to all Moment of Awesome pages, so all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

• When Hak first swoops in to save Yona from Su-won's guards at the end of the first episode/chapter. He takes out several men with a single swing of his spear.
• Early on in the manga/anime, Tae-Jun's army has Hak and Yona cornered on a cliffside. Despite being injured and poisoned, Hak manages to fight off many of the soldiers by himself, and looks impressive doing so.
  • Later, once the army finally does begin to overwhelm him, Yona swoops in with a sword and slashes the enemies away. She barely knows how to wield the sword, but it's the mere fact that she cut her hair out of Tae-Jun's grip and stood up to armed guards—despite her inability to fight at that point—that makes the action so awesome.
• The first fight with bandits that happens just after Kija joins the group. It's the first time the audience—and Hak, Yona, and Yun—is introduced to the spectacle that is Kija's dragon claw.
  • We also get see Hak fighting just as well as ever despite his chest wound—prompting an awed Kija to wonder if he's a monster.
  • The fight is also the first time we see Yona wielding her bow—with the help of Yun—in battle. She only knocks a dagger out of one of the bandit's hands, but it still sends the guy fleeing.
• Ao. Just... Ao. He was not only a total badass, but continued to be badass even after he was ALMOST COMPLETELY BLIND. And let's not forget that he was the one who taught Shin-Ah how to fight. Even if he wasn't around got long, just watching him helped Shin-Ah grow to be a master swordsman that can keep up with Hak and the other dragons without using his powers.
• During the Awa arc:
  • We are introduced to Jaeha, and get to see his power in action for the first time.
  • Yona is willing to scale the narrow edge of a cliff just to prove to Captain Gigan she's useful in the efforts to stop Kum-ji... And then when she doesn't quite succeed, she's willing to do it again.
  • Yona and Yun go undercover to expose and signal which ship Kum-ji keeps the women he kidnapped from Awa, and are ultimately successful.
  • Yona is the person who shoots the killing blow to Kum-ji and it's pretty much her Moment of Awesome.
• The ending of the anime shows the entire Happy Hungry Bunch fighting in unison against an army, complete with Yona wielding her bow atop a cliff.
• The armies of the Fire tribe and the Sen province are mounting a combined attack against Soo-Won, who counters with tiger cavalry. No wait, horses dressed up as tigers, but they fall for it anyway.
• Whenever Zeno fights, it's a mix of awesome and Body Horror.
• After Lili and Yona are captured, 3 generals, 2 members of the Wind Tribe, Soo-Won, Hak, and 3 of the dragons take on an army of a thousand and win with no casualties.
• In chapter 121, in order to save Lili, who is about to be hanged, Suwon can shoot an arrow to break the rope around her neck, but he needs someone to catch her. With a raging battle everywhere, the only one to catch Suwon's desperate glance is Hak, who knows instantly what Suwonn intends to do. Regardless of the history between the usurper King of Kouka and the exiled Thunder Beast, in that moment they move together perfectly to save Lili. It's an awesome but bittersweet moment, as Yona laments what the two could have accomplished together.
• When Yotaka is just about to land the killing blow on Jaeha, Yun swoops in out of nowhere and jumps between them. Not only does he do this without a moment's hesitation, but he actually manages to talk Yotaka down from killing anyone.
• Chapter 140: Yona is confronted by Su-won's army and Keishuk, who orders her to be killed. Without fear or hesitation, Yona tells him off with her signature Death Glare, reveals his involvement in father's murder, and demands to get an audience with Suwon.
• Chapter 141:
  • Yona demands that Soo-Won immediately cease preparing for war and work out a peaceful solution with Princesses Kouren and Tao. When he refuses, because Kouren will never accept peace with Kouka, Yona asks if he knows what his father, her Uncle Yu-hon, did to the war prisoners of Xing. Namely, decapitating them all and throwing their heads over the castle wall. Soo-Won says he does, and when she asks him if he thinks that is acceptable behavior, he says that in times of war, yes it is. Yona looks him dead in the eyes and says "I see now why Uncle Yu-hon could not be king," artfully burning both him and his father in front of all his soldiers.
  • Yona throws Soo-Won for a hell of a loop and frankly terrifies Keishuk. Soo-Won's first thought upon seeing Yona is to wonder where Hak is, surprised to see her acting essentially alone - she's only accompanied by a foreigner, Algira. When Yona insists on saying her piece, Soo-Won and Keishuk realize that she is the one who instigated the Fire Tribe (specifically, Kan Tae-Jun, the General's younger brother) into setting off their distress signal and dividing their forces by diverting them into a wild goose chase.
  • When Lili rides up and sees the soldiers threatening Yona, she loudly proclaims Princess Yona to be her dear friend and announces that it was due to Yona's heroism that her people were able to make such strides against the drug trade, going so far as to tell her father's soldiers, who comprise half of the assembled troops, that harming her would be dishonoring their loved ones who died in the drug epidemic. This further divides Soo-Won's forces and diminishes his resources and ability to act.
  • This means that Soo-Won's goal of uniting all five tribes to make the country stronger is impossible, unless he cooperates with Yona. Which he immediately does, because he has no other choice. Not bad for a girl who used to spend all her time fussing over her clothes and makeup to impress him, right?
• In chapter 146, the dragons are down, Hak is badly injured and Yona has put herself between Princess Kouren and a volley of mercenary arrows. There's nothing and no one to protect her until the spirits of the four dragons combine into one enormous spiritual dragon as her shield.
• After Kouren's assassination is thwarted, Yoon sets about treating everyone including her. When asked why he would treat someone who imprisoned him and his friends, he says he doesn't want to lose war and violence, showing his strong conviction and strength of character.
  Yoon: When healing people, there are no friends or enemies.
• In chapter 152, Hak has had enough of all the miscommunication and misunderstandings between him and Yona. So when one more comes up (he had a "fianceé" back in the day who is 1) no longer his fianceé and 2) happily in a relationship with someone else), he clears everything up by shouting an emphatic "THE ONE THAT I LOVE IS YOU!!" at Yona.
• In chapter 156, Yona and the group come to help Tae-Jun and the Fire Tribe soldiers fight off the Kai soldiers and doing in front General Kan Kyo-ga who is shocked to see the legendary Dragon Warriors and the fact that Yona and Hak is still alive.
  • Yona introducing herself to General Kan Kyo-ga and letting him know that Soo-Won knows that they're alive despite knowing that she can arrested.
• Chapter 164: When Gobi attacks Yona, aiming to trigger the Dragons' power, she promptly takes him down with a kick to the head. This acts managed to shock Yun, Zeno and Jaeha.
• Chapter 165: Jaeha showing off his dragon powers to Ying Kuel-Bo's army and managed to even shock Ying Kuel-Bo himself.
• Chapter 167: Hak gives a epic speech about going to battle with the Kai empire to the Fire and Sky Tribe's soilders showing that despite the fact he's no longer a general himself and never been in a real war how much effective of an leader he is. Hak even managed to shock both Tae-Jun, Keishuk and Han Ju-doh.
• In chapter 172, Yona manages to defend herself and Yoo-lan from Gobi's men despite that her feet were chained.
• Back in chapter 141, Keishuk realized that Yona is capable of completely undermining Su-Won's authority as king. The five tribes of Kouka Kingdom are the Wind, Fire, Earth, Water, and Sky tribes, with Su-Won of the Sky tribe holding the throne. Regarding those five tribes, some quick political calculus, as of chapter 178:
  • The Wind tribe only tentatively supports Su-Won, because its general, Tae-woo, doesn't want to bring down the wrath of the rest of the kingdom on his people. His only goal is keeping his people alive, but he has no respect for Su-Won, because Su-Won betrayed Hak, his predecessor as general. If Yona and Hak were to tell Tae-Woo to side with them over Su-Won, Su-Won would lose control of the Wind Tribe. Tae-woo has offered to rebel against Su-Won for Hak's benefit at least once.
  • The Fire tribe is led by General Kan Kyo-ga, the son of the previous general, Soo-jin. Soo-jin was privy to Su-Won's coup and supported his assassination of Il, but then turned around and attempted to overthrow Su-Won and become king himself. When Kyo-ga became general after the Fire tribe's rebellion was quashed, he was terrified that Su-Won would punish him and his family and his people, and has unquestionably obeyed Su-Won for the most part of the story. However, his younger brother, Tae-jun, is firmly in Yona's camp and has enough of his own authority to subvert Kyo-ga if the situation calls for it. What's more, Kyo-ga and Tae-Jun's mother, Iguni, is sympathetic to Yona as well, because she recognizes the aid Yona has given not only her son, but the Fire tribe's people. With Iguni and Tae-jun influencing him, plus the fact that Fire tribe citizens truly believe that Yona is the reincarnation of Hiryuu and idolize her and the Four Dragons, Kyo-ga has had to rethink his otherwise unquestionable obedience to Su-Won.
  • The Water tribe is passive to a fault. Its general, An Joon-gi, is likewise, and will never act if he can react later. His main interest in Su-Won is that he hopes Su-Won will marry his daughter, Lili. Lili is, like Tae-jun, a great friend of Yona, and, also like Tae-jun, is capable of usurping the general's authority and neutralizing any action he takes against Yona. Because she is more dynamic and liable to act than he is, we've seen her override his actions and she's also directed her father's armies to protect Yona, because Yona is their savior. While she is friendly with Su-Won, she acknowledges that he gained the throne illegitimately and she idolizes Yona.
  • Besides her native Sky tribe, the Earth tribe is the only tribe where Yona has no partisan in its ruling family, although she does have a potential power base in Awa, where she met Jaeha and stopped the slave trade. General Geun-tae is the only general Su-Won has gone out of his way to endear himself to, but Geun-tae's only priority is that he be allowed to fight wars. He admires strength, and he specifically admires Hak's. Yona herself is no slouch in the strength department, although it's been her policy to, like her father, prevent people dying in needless war, which Geun-tae is dismissive of. Also, Geun-tae is also aware that Su-won lied about Hak killing Il and Yona.
  • That leaves the Sky tribe, of which Yona herself is a member, but Su-Won is the king and Ju-doh is the general. Han Ju-doh has an active grudge against Hak for Il giving him preferential treatment over Ju-doh, but does have a level of positive regard for Yona herself.
  • In summary, Yona has a serious amount of political clout for a useless princess who was chased out of the castle. She also has allies among the Xing royalty, with Xing now being a vassal state of Kouka. It's clear why Keishuk now sees little option besides allying with her, or getting her under his control.
• In chapter 179 The Dragon warriors returning to the Hiryuu castle after 2,000 years and being awe when they reach the castle grounds.
• In chapter 181/182 shows just how strong Gija and Jaeha are when unleashing their dragon powers as both of them have the strength to destroy an entire stage in which caused a lot people to run. This display of power managed to even scary the Sky and Earth Tribe's general and didn't know how to stop them. Also, the main reason why the went on a rampage was because they wanted to protect Zeno and Sinha from showing off their powers in the tournament because it might scary the citizens.
• Yona filling in for Su-won in a diplomatic meeting he's too ill to attend. She calmly points out that sending a sick king out to negotiate with an enemy nation will only make them look weak, and, following that line of reason, asserts herself as the only other living member of the royal family who can stand in for him. Su-won's advisors are horrified and chagrined, but she is literally their only option and while they initially send her out, resplendent in her regalia and seated on Su-won's throne, just to stall, she masterfully knocks the diplomats down a peg by proving that she's much better informed than they think and that they can't pull any tricks on her, by forcing them to acknowledge their country's prior acts of aggression against Kouka, using the exact same disarming casualness that Su-won does. Yona negotiates from a position of power, smashing for good and all any belief that the sheltered, useless princess isn't fit to be a monarch in her own right.
  • Yona's actions during the meeting are so effective that Keishuk can't help but start considering her the next ruler after Su-won's impending death, as while there are other potential heirs Yona is as skilled, charismatic, and respected by the other tribes as Su-won, something nobody else can claim.

---