Characters / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Nie Clan of Qinghe

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Character Index
Main Characters: Wei Wuxian | Lan Wangji
Five Great Clans: Lan Clan of Gusu | Jiang Clan of Yunmeng (Jiang Cheng) | Jin Clan of Lanling (Jin Guangyao) | Nie Clan of Qinghe | Wen Clan of Qishan
Other Characters: Other Clans | Yi City Group | Miscellaneous Characters

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Nie Clan of Qinghe | 清河聂氏

^{Click here to see the Nie Clan's sigil in the Japanese audio drama art} 

^{Click here to see the Nie Clan's sigil in The Untamed} 

Leader: Nie Huaisang (current), Nie Mingjue (past)
Residence: Unclean Realm | 不净世
Region: Qinghe | 清河 (based on modern Hebei)

One of the four great clans, the Nie Clan had seen better days since its founding by a butcher who slaughtered his way into the cultivation world. Their motif is a animal-head pattern. Defined by their practice of the dao (Chinese sabre), the Nie Clan's overwhelming focus on power and bloodlust also awakened their sabres, and successive generations of clan leaders were driven to death when the spirits of their own sabres caused them to suffer from cultivation backlash.

Under the leadership of Nie Mingjue, the Nie Clan reached the height of its power and influence. Following the conclusion of this war, the Nie Clan became one of the chief obstacles to the Jin Clan's aims of taking the cultivation world under its hegemony. After Nie Mingjue's death, the Nie Clan has since fallen behind in influence. Only the support of Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao behind the current head Nie Huaisang has kept it afloat thus far.

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General Tropes

• The Berserker: The clan is particularly ferocious in battle, partly due to their focus on power and bloodlust and partially due to the resentful energy stored in their sabres. Nie Mingjue wasn't exempt from this, and still isn't even as a zombie since he now acts on pure killing instinct.
• BFS: Downplayed. The Nie Clan wields the dao (sabre) rather than the jian (sword) other clans use, reflecting their bloodthirsty nature. They are huge compared to the other swords but are still of a realistic size and practical.
• Blessed with Suck: The Nie Clan's cultivation practice powerful yet also uniquely ill-fated, as their sabres will eventually overpower and kill their wielders through cultivation backlash.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Their robes are primarily dark green in the novel and most adaptations and dark gray in The Untamed.

Nie Huaisang (聂怀桑) — Warning: Walking Spoiler

Voiced by (Mandarin): Liu Sanmu (animation), Qi Sijia (audio drama), Ji Li (web series)
Voiced by (Japanese): Natsuki Hanae (animation, web series), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (audio drama)
Voiced by (Korean): Kim Myung-joon (animation)
Played by: Ji Li (web series - adult), Xu Weiluo (web series - child)

Height: 172 cm

"I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know!"

The current head of the Qinghe Nie Clan. As the younger brother of the late clan leader Nie Mingjue, he rarely strives towards anything, maintains an attitude of ineptitude in presiding over the sect, and often asks Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao for help.

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Tropes that apply to Nie Huaisang in general

^{Click here to see Nie Huaisang as a teenager} 

• Adaptational Badass: Implied. Nie Huaisang is stated to only collect fans and carry them around as a hobby. But in the donghua, after the protagonists learn that every Nie clansman falls victim to qi deviation due to their style of cultivation, Wei Wuxian muses that it's why Nie Huaisang chooses to wield a fan rather than a sabre. Notice the choice of words.
• Animal Motifs: Symbolised by birds, an animal he keeps as a pet in most adaptations.
• Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster: Purposely plays up to people's perceptions of him as an indecisive idiot to make them do what he wants, usually under the logic of "if even that moron can tell it's a good/bad idea, then it must be."
• Beneath Notice: Because of his reputation as a dawdler, he's the last person to ever be suspected when something sketchy occurs. Nie Huaisang milks this for all its worth by being blatantly present at the scene without anyone realizing he's enacting his plans against his brother's murderer at the same time.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Nie Huaisang is polite and amicable. However, that won't stop him from seeking revenge against his brother's murderer by orchestrating a complex plan that not only kills both the murderer but also sees his repuation ruined. Nie Huaisang will even manipulate others and put their lives at risk to do it.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He may appear to be a mostly comical character who's so useless that he received the monikers "Head-Shaker" and "Good-for-Nothing", but he is actually frighteningly calculating and manipulative.
• Big Brother Worship: While he didn't like his brother forcing him to attend classes or burdening him with responsibilities related to their clan, he still greatly looked up to Nie Mingjue and appreciated that he allowed him to pursue his interests in the arts while he himself handled the sabre. It's because of his brother's death that Nie Huaisang spent over a decade planning his revenge on Jin Guangyao for killing him and even gets away with it.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. Despite his kind and meek personality, he is surprisingly ruthless and not above using other people as tools for the sake of revenge, if Wei Wuxian's speculation about him being The Chessmaster behind Jin Guangyao's downfall is correct.
• Brains and Brawn: As someone who highly appreciates the arts, he's the brainy brother to the powerful fighter Nie Mingjue's Brawn.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: While he is definitely not reliable on the battlefield, there are several hints that Nie Huaisang has all the other makings of a capable clan leader, such as political savviness and knowledge of character. However, he would rather spend his days collecting art and reading literature than manage a clan.
• Butt-Monkey: In The Founder of Diabolism Q, he's frequently the one who gets hurt in some way due to either the others' antics or his own bad luck.
• Catchphrase: Whenever he's under pressure or being needled about something, he always responds with, "I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know!"
• Character Tics: He likes to tap his fan against his hand.
• The Chessmaster: It's implied that he was the one who manipulated majority of the events in the present timeline, from kickstarting Wei Wuxian's resurrection to setting Jin Guangyao's downfall.
• The Collector: He has a large collection of fans and of any artwork or poetry book that he fancies.
• Combat Pragmatist: He's not a fighter, but the first Flashback Arc shows him agreeing with Wei Wuxian's idea of using a new fourth method to deal with unusual supernatural cases — a sentiment that the rest of their class didn't share. And when it comes to his schemes, Nie Huaisang is not ashamed of using every possible trick he can think of.
• The Dandy: As a clan leader, he dresses in an overly ostentatious manner and always carries around an elegant fan.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Nobody sees the vengeance of the supposedly inept and cowardly Nie Huaisang coming.
• A Father to His Men: There are hints that Nie Huaisang genuinely looks out for his men, which is part of the reason why none of them are ever shown questioning any of his orders or even sighing at his antics in spite of his reputation as the "Head-Shaker". For example, in the donghua, he's shocked and alarmed when he sees that the men he sent to fix the Man-Eating Fortress were killed.
• Hero of Another Story: All the things he plotted, manipulated, and enacted for the sake of Jin Guangyao's downfall would fit in a story almost as long as the protagonists' journey.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Downplayed. Nie Huaisang carries out an elaborate plan to bring down a morally questionable villain and avenge his brother; however many of his gambits are morally dubious themselves, as they involve risking collateral damage and getting innocent bystanders involved (whether it be as bait or to help do his work for him).
• Hidden Depths:
  • Implied. Despite his slacker attitude as a student and having very low aptitude in cultivation to the extent that he formed a golden core much later than his peers, even in his thirties he still looks very youthful. This is a physical trait one would expect from cultivators with a high power level.
  • Despite his meek personality, his cunning nature was apparent even as a kid. He not only bribed Wei Wuxian into helping him cheat on tests, he also got away with it as all of the blame fell on the latter (granted, this could have something to do with Lan Qiren's biases against Wei Wuxian).
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: While most of the big-name cultivators in the story are famous for their combat prowess, Nie Huaisang is known for his love for art, poetry, and fans. He's also emotional and lacks the aggression other cultivators in his generation have.
• In Vino Veritas: Downplayed. He's even more emotional than he usually is when he's drunk.
• Karma Houdini: While he has good reasons for wanting to kill Jin Guangyao, Nie Huaisang still does a lot of sketchy actions to enact his revenge, and has even spilled the blood of others (albeit indirectly) to achieve his goals. However, as only the protagonists are aware of the role he played in Jin Guangyao's demise and have no evidence to use against him, he doesn't receive any karmic retribution as everyone else remains blissfully unaware of what he's done.
• Last of His Kind: With his father and his brother dead, and with no mention of either of his mothers, Nie Huaisang is implied to be the last of the Nie family.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Nie Mingjue never told Nie Huaisang about the sabre spirits despite the younger brother being the heir and the Nie Clan's fate to dying young from qi deviation due to their sabre swords, as he wanted to protect him. Considering Nie Huaisang is the person who explains the sabre spirits to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, he at least eventually found out some time later.
• Master Actor: If his meek personality or "good-for-nothing" demeanour is an act, then he's just as good as Jin Guangyao or even better in fooling everyone around him.
• Meaningful Name: "Huaisang" translates to "resting in mulberry". The mulberry tree often symbolizes patience and wisdom due to its blooming patterns. It's an effective nod to Nie Huaisang's true nature.
• Morality Chain: Downplayed with the temperamental Nie Mingjue, who was harsh towards Nie Huaisang but was also at his kindest around. When he finally succumbed to qi deviation and blindly attacked everyone in sight (since he could only see their faces as Jin Guangyao's), he momentarily calmed down when his younger brother called out to him... before dying shortly after.
• Morality Pet: In spite of Jin Guangyao's role in Nie Mingjue's death, Nie Huaisang is one of the few people that he genuinely showed kindness to. Of course, him being his brother's murderer spoils what could have otherwise been a great friendship between the two.
• Mr. Exposition: He explained the rules and family history of the Lan Clan to Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian in the first flashback arc. He also explains to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji the dark truth behind the Nie Clan's fighting style.
• Mysterious Backer: While he acts purely for his own goals, his big mastermind plan indirectly aids the protagonists in solving the main problems of the story, starting from the mystery behind the demonic arm that haunted Mo Village.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: While Nie Huaisang helps Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji with exposing Jin Guangyao and taking him down, he does it all out of revenge rather than justice like everyone else is.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Despite attempting to cheat through class and stand out as little as possible, Nie Huaisang helped Wei Wuxian in pranking Lan Wangji by procuring the pornography books needed to scandalize the latter.
  • While he's mostly concerned with getting revenge on Jin Guangyao and is neutral towards the protagonists, he shows amusement at seeing the senior cultivators get put in their place by the junior disciples in the aftermath of the failed Second Siege.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He's generally considered useless and his response to most questions is to say he doesn't know anything; even after the Time Skip, he's said to be incapable of handling a situation without Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen's help. Yet the fact that he planned almost everything after the Time Skip that allowed him to bring Wei Wuxian back to life and take down Jin Guangyao shows he's more cunning than he lets on.
• Odd Friendship: The quiet and skittish Nie Huaisang became fast friends with the loud and unorthodox Wei Wuxian when they studied at the Cloud Recesses. Their unique ways of thinking and desire to just goof off is what appeared to help them bond, with Nie Huaisang even lending Wei Wuxian his porn books to prank Lan Wangji.
• Only Sane Man: At the Second Siege, he's the only participant (weak emphasis on "participant" as he only brings his clan for the numbers) who completely listens to Wei Wuxian whenever he catches on to something, while the rest of the adult cultivators are too prejudiced, panicked, or angered to pay attention.
• Rank Up: He had no plans to lead the clan but ended up doing exactly just that after the death of his brother during the Time Skip. Additionally, an interview with Mo Xiang Tong Xiu confirms that he is the best candidate to lead the cultivation world (since Jiang Cheng needs to find a wife to qualify and Lan Xichen is busy being in seclusion).
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He is gentle and timid, which contrasts his brother's tough and brash personality.
• Sketchy Successor: A Qinghe civilian remarks that while the Nie Clan used to prosper under the ferocious and mighty Nie Mingjue, it's now dwindled thanks to the current leader Nie Huaisang aka the "Head-Shaker" being too unreliable to seek help from. Sure enough, he frequently nags Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen for help with his duties, and he prefers to cower in the background when the other cultivators are confronting an intense situation or fighting for their lives. However, his uselessness is hinted to be an act, and the epilogue implies he's willing to step it up and become a more proactive leader now that Jin Guangyao has finally been dealt with. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu confirmed that he's the best candidate to be the next Cultivation Chief.
• The Slacker: He came off as unmotivated during his teenage years; he avoided answering Lan Qiren's questions, wanted to study at Yunmeng for the sole reason of goofing off, and even orchestrated a plan for Wei Wuxian to help him cheat on a test. He still has some of these traits in adulthood, but it's left ambiguous whether this is just part of his act or not.
• The Social Expert: Nie Huaisang is more than capable of reading people like they're books. As such, he can manipulate certain situations to his advantage by predicting how others would react.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Despite their different personalities, as students Nie Huaisang agreed with Wei Wuxian's suggestion that resentful energy could be used. He also seemed to have the similar prank ideas as him, since he was the one to give Wei Wuxian the porn book to annoy Lan Wangji with because he wanted to know what reaction it got out of the latter.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • Downplayed with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. The trio used to hang out often at the Cloud Recesses when they were teenagers and appeared to be the closest to each other. As adults, however, Nie Huaisang barely has a relationship with either men; he's rarely seen interacting with Jiang Cheng in the present timeline which implies they've drifted apart, and (while they don't dislike each other) the things he and Wei Wuxian went through have shaped them into fundamentally different people. Wei Wuxian becoming aware of what Nie Huaisang is truly capable of makes it even less likely they'll rekindle their friendship any time soon.
  • Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao were mentioned to have gotten along well, especially because the latter supported Nie Huaisang's pursuits of his preferred interests. While the two are still close in the present, it's an act on Nie Huaisang's part since learning of the Jin Clan leader's role in Nie Mingjue's death naturally soured his opinion of him — however, Jin Guangyao is left unaware of what the younger Nie brother has planned for him until the very last minute.
• Wild Card: While Nie Huaisang may be The Chessmaster behind almost everything that happens in the story, he doesn't have any particular allegiance with the protagonists nor antagonists (nor anyone else in between). He has his own intentions and is on his own side, but he isn't necessarily evil.
• Willfully Weak: Nie Huaisang possessing a golden core indicates that he must hold some serious cultivation skills and would make a good combatant if he made the effort. However, he chooses to not make use of his cultivation and fighting potential, as his interests are mostly aligned with the arts. That, and he doesn't want to meet his predecessor's fates of dying early caused by his clan's method of cultivation.

Tropes that apply to Nie Huaisang in The Untamed only

^{Click here to see Nie Huaisang as a child} 

• Adaptational Badass: While it never made it to the final cut, a trailer for Fatal Journey shows Nie Huaisang sparring with his brother using a war fan which confirms there is some combat skill in him.
• Ascended Extra: He has additional screentime in the events preceding the Sunshot Campaign, such as joining in Wei Wuxian's shenanigans and accompanying (or bumping into) him in some of his adventures. He's also the main character of the sequel movie Fatal Journey.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Downplayed. After the Time Skip, he gets rid of the two strands of hair that used to hang in front of his face — this subtly hints at him adopting a more cunning side as he planned Jin Guangyao's downfall.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Jin Guangyao states that while Nie Huaisang's swordsmanship is subpar, he's highly proficient in casting cultivation spells.
  • In spite of not being a much of a fighter and intentionally avoiding mastering his clan's sabre techniques, he's fond of hunting. He tracked a goldfinch for three days to catch it and keep as a pet; he accompanied Wei Wuxian in catching fish by a pond in the Cloud Recesses; and he got excited at the opportunity to catch a chicken and cook it.
  • Fatal Journey shows that Nie Huaisang is a good painter, confirming he has talent in the more sophisticated areas despite his lack of motivation as a student.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Nie Huaisang wasn't aware of the truth about his clan's method of cultivation up until some time during the Time Skip. When he finds out in Fatal Journey, he's both horrified and angered.

Nie Mingjue (聂明玦) - Chifeng-zun (赤锋尊)

Voiced by (Mandarin): Guan Shuai^note Credited as Yin Xia Lao Gui (animation), Feng Sheng ^note  Credited as Tute Hameng (audio drama), Zhao Yi (web series)
Voiced by (Japanese): Hiroshi Shirokuma (animation, web series), Kenjiro Tsuda (audio drama)
Voiced by (Korean): Lee Hye-on (animation)
Played by: Wang Yizhou (web series - adult), Xuan Yuewen (web series - child)

Height: 191 cm
Weapon: Baxia | 霸下 (dao)

"A proper man should carry himself with proud righteousness."

The late Nie Mingjue was the previous head of the Nie Clan. Taking over the leadership at a young age after his father died from the Wen clan's overbearing tactics, Nie Mingjue made his name at the frontlines of the Sunshot Campaign, and his reputation gave the Nie Clan influence to rival the Jin Clan. He swore an oath of brotherhood with Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, and was the eldest brother. Together, they were called the Venerated Triad.

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Tropes that apply to Nie Mingjue in general

• The Ace: Wei Wuxian, who's an incredibly powerful cultivator himself, notes at one point that Nie Mingjue is one of the three strongest cultivators he has ever known. Nie Mingjue made up the Venerated Triad with two other ace cultivators.
• Adaptational Badass: A posthumous example in the donghua. Both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are given several upgrades in the adaptation, but so does Nie Mingjue as a corpse. Even before his limbs get reattached, the duo have a much harder time suppressing him because of the insane amount of resentful energy that's stored in his left arm alone. And once he reclaims his head, he becomes insanely powerful that even Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, whose abilities have also been given a massive boost in the animation, are having a hard time trying to restrain him.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the donghua, Lan Wangji states that Nie Mingjue didn't immediately believe the others' claims that Wei Wuxian casted the Hundred Holes Curse on Jin Zixun and agreed that the matter should be looked into first. He didn't do anything of the sort in the novel, where his Black-and-White Morality caused him to easily buy the other cultivation clans' claims about Wei Wuxian becoming a menace.
• Baritone of Strength: All his voice actors make sure to give him the deepest voice among the entire cast in order to hammer in how Nie Mingjue was one of the most powerful military leaders of his time. Wei Wuxian even noted that Nie Mingjue was one of the most powerful cultivators he had encountered.
• Big Brother Bully: Downplayed. He was strict on his younger half-brother Nie Huaisang and always yelled at him. However, while he often threatened or scolded him, he never once acted on said threats. According to Jin Guangyao, he spoiled his brother despite acting strict with him. This was then tragically played straight later on when Nie Mingjue's temper suddenly worsened, subsequently causing him to lash out at Nie Huaisang and even have some of his belongings burned.
• Big Brother Instinct: Despite his stern upbringing of Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue was also just as protective.
  • In his last moments before he fell to his qi deviation, despite his berserk rage causing him to see everyone as Jin Guangyao, he snapped out of his hallucinations when Nie Huaisang called out to him.
  • When Nie Huaisang calls for help at Guanyin Temple, Nie Mingjue breaks free of Wei Wuxian's control to protect his little brother.
• The Big Guy: In terms of muscle and size, he's a bit more intimidating looking than most of the other clan leaders because of his stature.
• Black-and-White Morality: He tended to see the world in black and white and couldn't understand the Realpolitik world that Jin Guangyao lived in. He wasn't wrong, but his uncompromising personality and lack of social graces meant that he couldn't rein the latter in. This also placed him on the wrong side when the cultivation clans started to conspire against Wei Wuxian.
• Blood Knight: He's described to had been focused mostly on fighting and killing the Wens. This is reflected in his title, which translates to "crimson blade" (or contextually speaking, "blood-soaked blade").
• Brains and Brawn: Nie Mingjue was the mighty battle-loving brother, which contrasted with the art-loving Nie Huaisang.
• Education Mama: Downplayed. Nie Mingjue was stringent with both his brother's education and his swordsmanship. He even had Nie Huaisang retake his courses in the Cloud Recesses if his grades weren't good enough. However, he outright said to him that he wasn't asking for him to excel, only to learn enough that he would do fine on his own. This was a contrast to how most other senior figures treated their charges (such as Lan Qiren to his nephews and Yu Ziyuan to Jiang Cheng).
• Even the Guys Want Him: Downplayed and Played for Laughs when Wei Wuxian can't help but marvel at how ripped Nie Mingjue is just from looking at his dismembered torso alone. Nie Mingjue was also noted to have been more popular among the male rather than the female cultivators, and this is implied to be due to his sheer masculinity and fighting ability.
• Fatal Flaw: He was strongly set on the belief that every action and situation could easily be classified as only either "right/good" or "wrong/bad". This made him nearly incapable of hearing the other party out, give people the benefit of the doubt, or understand — let alone acknowledge — the nuances behind certain events. This was part of what sparked the chain of events that would cause Jin Guangyao to finally get rid of him.
• A Father to His Men: Nie Mingjue's anger at Jin Guangyao during the final moments of the Sunshot Campaign was partially due to the fact the latter killed a few Nie disciples while undercover and pretending to be on Wen Ruohan's side.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Downplayed. He was often riled up whenever he thought someone did him wrong, and it would get so bad that his friends had to regularly soothe him with various spells.
• Honor Before Reason: At times, he could be too principled and rigid that the concepts of pragmatism and moral particularism may as well have gone over his head.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Downplayed. Despite his correct suspicions about both Jin Guangyao and Jin Guangshan, he nevertheless saw them as the lesser evil compared to Wei Wuxian when the latter's actions were far less malicious. And yet, because he was the second person after Wei Wuxian who openly spoke against the Jin Clan, he was the next to lose his life.
• Hypocrite:
  • Nie Mingjue firmly insisted that Wen Qing was as guilty as Wen Ruohan as she did nothing to stop the latter's plans even if she disagreed with his ways. Said words came from the same man who did nothing to oppose Jin Guangshan when he was essentially trying to fill in Wen Ruohan's shoes. While he objected against the Jin Clan's protection of Xue Yang, neither the novel nor any of its adaptations mentioned Nie Mingjue protesting to any of the other misdeeds that the Jin Clan had openly committed.
  • While he had a point about Xue Yang deserving nothing less than the death penalty (as the latter killed an entire clan for the actions of its late leader), Nie Mingjue himself was complicit in the massacre of a family of innocents because of the actions of a man they were distantly related to.
• The Juggernaut: As a fierce corpse, what he lacks in sentience or intelligence, he makes up for with raw power and ferocity. Neither Wen Ning (another powerful fierce corpse) nor even Wei Wuxian or Lan Wangji can land any lasting damage on him, and the only thing anyone can do is seal him for eternity.
• Keeping the Enemy Close: He only became sworn brothers with Jin Guangyao to keep an eye on him.
• Large and in Charge: He was the previous leader of the Nie Clan, and his hulking build towered over most of his men. He was in fact the tallest of the main cast with a height of 191 cm (around 6.3 feet).
• The Leader: He was a fiery but honourable leader of the Nie Clan and led everyone during the Sunshot Campaign.
• Logical Weakness: When his limbs (save for the head) reassembled shortly after the events in Yi City, Wei Wuxian observed that it's easy to stay out of his way because without the head, Nie Mingjue can't see or hear his surroundings. However, Wei Wuxian also notes that he can't move too quickly either since his movements could create a draft that would stimulate Nie Mingjue's sense of touch and alert him to his location.
• The McCoy: He's the most outspoken and temperamental of the Venerated Triad. He's also the most uncompromising, making it difficult for anyone to come to an understanding with him and vice-versa.
• Moral Myopia: While Nie Mingjue was strict and moral, his standards of morals caused him to fail to see the big picture in many situations and focused only on the end result. That often meant he criticised people's misdeeds but saw nothing wrong with his own despite being similar. This came up in an argument with Jin Guangyao, who was upset that he was still resented for killing the subordinates that wronged him when his eldest sworn brother himself also killed many people during the Sunshot Campaign.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Downplayed with the Venerated Triad. Nie Mingjue was brash and quick to anger, and he was often at odds with Jin Guangyao, a polite man who means well but sometimes set him off with his questionable choices such as his multiple murders. The kindest of the trio, Lan Xichen, often had to play the peacemaker between the two of them.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: As a fierce corpse, his skin is so impenetrable that not even powerful spiritual weapons can land a single scratch on it.
• Odd Friendship: The headstrong and temperamental Nie Mingjue didn't seem like the kind of person who would get along with the gentle Lan Xichen, but the two surprisingly were close enough to the point of fighting side-by-side during the Sunshot Campagin and even becoming sworn brothers.
• Perpetual Frowner: By default, even if he was in a calm mood, he always looked like he was ready to glare daggers at anyone who crossed his path. If he ever smiled, it's because he's being smug about something.
• Posthumous Character: He's dead when the story begins, but the flashbacks he appears in play a big role.
• The Power of Hate:
  • Downplayed during the Sunshot Campaign. Much of his motivation for fighting against the Wens was due to his personal hatred for Wen Ruohan, who was responsible for his father's death.
  • His hatred for Jin Guangyao was what literally kept him from passing on, and being cut up and having his body parts scattered across the land only kept him at bay for some time.
• Principles Zealot: He believed that everyone should follow the righteous path and only the righteous path when it came to cultivation, politics, and everything else. Once someone slightly deviated from that path, he would immediately see them as unrepentant criminals.
• Promotion to Parent: He raised Nie Huaisang as a teenager after their father died. He took the job very seriously, if his Big Brother Instinct and Education Mama ways were of any indication.
• Properly Paranoid: Although he may had come off as unreasonable to keep distrusting Jin Guangyao, who helped them win the Sunshot Campaign, his suspicions of his sworn brother were confirmed too late when the man in question decided to kill him.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: In spite of his temper, there were times when he could be diplomatic.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When he went into a qi deviation, Nie Mingjue's eyes became blood red in color and was a warning sign.
• Revenge Before Reason: He hated the Wen Clan because Wen Ruohan was responsible for his father's death. But even with the latter dead, his anger wasn't sated and he believed that any Wen who didn't directly oppose their deceased leader were just as despicable. His participation in the First Siege implies he played an active role in killing the Wen survivors.
• Sanity Slippage: Nie Mingjue's temper got increasingly worse in the latter stages of his life, exemplified in his treatment of his brother. While he threatened Nie Huaisang, he never harmed him and always protected him. As his temper worsened, their relationship consequently soured — culminating in him destroying his brother's possessions and eventually attacking him during his qi deviation.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The firm and powerful Nie Mingjue was the Manly Man, while his gentle and meek younger brother is the Sensitive Guy.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: As a side effect of his worsening qi deviation, which was intentionally induced by Jin Guangyao, Nie Mingjue started acting harsher towards his younger brother.
• Tough Love: He was hard on Nie Huaisang and threatened to physically punish him. However, he acted this way because he didn't want others to take advantage of him nor look down on their clan, and he wanted the assurance that his brother could take care of himself in case he died an early death.
• Unskilled, but Strong: In contrast to Wen Ning and Song Lan, as a fierce corpse Nie Mingjue lacks a consciousness of his own and runs on sheer instinct and rage. However, he has more raw strength than that of every other fierce corpse (sentient or otherwise) combined. He's also practically unkillable, and the most that anyone can do is just restrain and seal him.
• Unstoppable Rage: Due to Jin Guangyao's misdeeds or provoking comments, Nie Mingjue attempted to kill him multiple times out of anger. The violent anger built up was so immense that he became a fierce corpse and had to be dismembered so he couldn't run amok; in the epilogue he doesn't pass on even after killing Jin Guangyao, the primary target of his resentment and why he came back as a fierce corpse.
• We Used to Be Friends: He once considered Jin Guangyao a close confidant and ally, but once he caught him killing a fellow cultivator who had scorned him for being a Son of a Whore, Nie Mingjue refused to listen to any of his excuses and cut ties with him then. He only kept close tabs on him afterward out of sheer suspicion.
• You Killed My Father: The primary reason behind his hatred for Wen Ruohan and, by extension the entire Wen Clan, was because the Wen Clan leader was responsible for his father's death.
• Young and in Charge: He's only five to six years older than Nie Huaisang yet was already leading their clan in the first flashback arc, since he was just a teenager when his father died. He was a lot younger than the other major clan leaders (who all had teenage sons) pre-Sunshot Campaign era.

Tropes that apply to Nie Mingjue in The Untamed only

^{Click here to see Nie Mingjue as a teenager} 

• Adaptational Jerkass: Up until the events of the Nightless Immortal Capital attack, Nie Mingjue was portrayed in the novel to be mostly neutral about the matter with Wei Wuxian. While he openly disagreed with Wei Wuxian's rescue of the Wen refugees due to his own personal hatred for the Wen Clan, he was never mentioned condemning Wei Wuxian for practicing demonic cultivation. This isn't the case in The Untamed, where he outright spoke against Wei Wuxian's use of The Dark Arts and even warned Jin Guangyao to not follow his example.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He's provided with a few more humanizing moments here:
  • While Nie Mingjue still caught Jin Guangyao killing another cultivator, afterward he simply kicked him out of his clan rather than vowing to kill him the next time they meet, and he even looked anguished when he chose to send Jin Guangyao away. During the Sunshot Campaign, he also asked Jin Zixuan about the other's whereabouts out of concern.
  • Despite his hatred for the Wen Clan and later disagreement with Wei Wuxian rescuing them, when the last of them were captured the adaptation adds a scene where he agreed with Lan Xichen's suggestion that the truly defenseless and uninvolved prisoners should be spared.
  • In the novel, Nie Mingjue was purely angry — and at times murderous — when he realized how unfettered Jin Guangyao was when it came to his ambitions. While he still had his angry outbursts in this adaptation, he's shown to be equally upset that Jin Guangyao was nothing like who he thought he was.
• Big Brother Instinct: In Fatal Journey, he's immediately at Nie Huaisang's side to protect him whenever the latter gets into trouble, and even as children he allowed his little brother to focus on studying on arts because he knew he didn't have much interest in learning how to fight.
• A Father to His Men: In Fatal Journey, he breaks down in tears when Nie Huaisang told him that all the disciples that accompanied them to their ancestral hall had died.
• Hypocrite: Nie Mingjue sided with the other clans against Wei Wuxian because of the belief that the latter's "unorthodox" method of cultivation was completely evil and dangerous. The Nie Clan's method of cultivation however is rather unorthodox itself, which Nie Huaisang bluntly lampshades when he chews out his brother in Fatal Journey. By contrast, even though Nie Mingjue participated in both the Nightless Immortal Capital bloodbath and the First Siege in the novel, he's never mentioned chastising Wei Wuxian directly or indirectly for using demonic cultivation.
• Manly Tears: Is prone to these. He's openly weeping as he kicks Meng Yao out of the Nie Clan and cries at least once during the Empathy flashback. He also spends most of the second half of Fatal Journey with tears in his eyes or actually crying.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In Fatal Journey, when he was a young teen, Nie Mingjue was more supportive of his little brother's decision to pursue the arts over cultivation.

Appears in The Untamed: Fatal Journey only

Nie Zonghui (聂宗辉)

Played by: He Xiang (web series)

Nie Mingjue's second-in-command when he was still alive, and at times he also served as Nie Huaisang's bodyguard.

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• Canon Foreigner: He's a character unique to Fatal Journey, a movie from the web series adaptation.
• Dual Wielding: Nie Zonghui fought with two sabres, which is an unusual fighting style in both the Nie Clan and the cultivation world as a whole.
• Number Two: He was Nie Mingjue's right-hand man in the film.
• Remember the New Guy?: He's never seen nor mentioned in The Untamed yet was a significant figure to the Nie brothers in the movie. His death near the end didn't do him any favours.
• Undying Loyalty: No matter what happened, his faith in both Nie brothers never wavered.

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