Characters / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Lan Wangji

aka: Mo Dao Zu Shi Main Characters Lan Wangji

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi - 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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Lan Zhan (蓝湛) - Wangji (忘机) - Hanguang-jun (含光君)

Voiced by (Mandarin): Bian Jiang (animation, web series, mobile game), Wei Chao (audio drama - adult), Shan Xin (audio drama - child)
Voiced by (Japanese): Shinnosuke Tachibana (animation, web series), Satoshi Hino (audio drama - adult), Madoka Hirade (audio drama - child)
Voiced by (Korean): Ryu Seung-gon (animation)
Played by: Wang Yibo (web series - adult), Chen Junkai (web series - child)

Height: 188 cm
Weapons: Bichen | 避尘 (jian), Wangji | 忘机 (guqin)

^{Click here to see Lan Wangji as a teenager} 

"I do not know if Wei Ying was right or wrong. But no matter what, I am willing to shoulder all the consequences with him."

The second young master of the main Lan family. Together with his older brother Lan Xichen, they are called the Twin Jades of Lan. He ranks second on the list of the top five cultivator gentlemen of his and Wei Wuxian's generation, and has an excellent reputation as a heroic cultivator for "being where the chaos is".

Wei Wuxian remembers that they never got along, especially after he founded demonic cultivation. Of course, people change with time, but he is rapidly finding out that the "Lan Zhan" from his youth has changed a lot since he died...

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Tropes #-C

• Accent Slip-Up: Downplayed. Since Lan Wangji was born in Gusu, he can speak in the Gusu (or Suizhou in real life) dialect. ^note the Japanese dub has the Gusu residents speak in the Kyoto dialect Although he usually speaks standard Chinese, he once slipped into in the Gusu dialect in the audio drama as a teen, where he muttered a different translation for "pathetic" after Wei Wuxian pestered him one time too many about loquats.
• Act of True Love:
  • After wrestling between his love for Wei Wuxian and loyalty to his clan, Lan Wangji chose love over his clan by taking the former away from the aftermath of the Nightless City Bloodbath and defying his elders for the first time to protect him, that he's willing to bear his sins with him even if he isn't sure if he's right. Learning his actions 13 years later is also the final push for Wei Wuxian to confess his feelings.
  • Unlike 13 years ago, he's willing to throw away his reputation to protect Wei Wuxian after his identity was exposed in the Golden Carp Tower, even after the latter tries to discourage him from following him for his own sake.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. He's already said to be incredibly powerful in the novel, but the donghua shows in full just how powerful he is thanks to additional scenes showing his fighting skills in full.
• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • His core personality remains the same in the donghua. However, he's a bit less repressed in showing his emotions. While he's frostier in his first few interactions with Wei Wuxian, once he sees Wei Wuxian as more than just an annoying classmate, he shows a greater deal of emotions than he did in the novel. He also acts less antagonistic towards Jiang Cheng, but a few key scenes show that he still keeps his disdain for the other man and is simply subtler about how he expresses it.
  • Due to the donghua and the live-action series being Tamer and Chaster than the novel, some of Lan Wangji's Crazy Jealous Guy tendencies are either downplayed or nonexistent in both adaptations.
• Affectionate Nickname: Wei Wuxian fires off plenty of affectionate names for him under one breath during Their First Time, although his go-to name is the more formal Lan er-gege — while this literally means "Second Brother Lan", the word gege (哥哥) can be used in a flirtatious context.
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: While he seems like his usual self at a glance when drunk, it turns out his logic gets all messed up under the influence of (little) alcohol. He may wear his shoes the wrong way, shamelessly use his forehead ribbon to tie Wei Wuxian's hands and then show it off to other people despite knowing the significance behind the gesture, and even steal from people's yards. Although his idiocy is usually harmless, the first time he drank was more horrifying — while grieving Wei Wuxian's death, he got hold of the Wens' branding iron and gave himself the same scar his companion got at Xuanwu Cave.
• Always Someone Better: In the "Lotus Seed Pod" extra, Jiang Cheng snarked that having Lan Wangji visit his hometown would just result in his mother comparing himself to him. Unfortunately for him, this trope would plague him later on in regards to their relationships with Wei Wuxian and their reputations as cultivators.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Downplayed. He's a paternal figure to Lan Sizhui and is usually well respected by the teen. However, his parenting role modelling can go off the rails when Wei Wuxian is involved; Lan Sizhui is mortified when his mentor shows up with Wei Wuxian tied up with his forehead ribbon, and he often has cover up for them after they get together and become Sickeningly Sweethearts.
• Am I Just a Toy to You?: One reason why he didn't like it when Wei Wuxian flirted with others in the past was because it gave off the impression that the latter wasn't taking people's feelings seriously, including his interactions with Lan Wangji himself. This issue comes up again in the present timeline when they have their first physically intimate moment; Wei Wuxian's poor phrasing ruins the moment as he makes it sounds like he was only showing his gratitude to Lan Wangji, making the latter question how his companion truly values him. What doesn't help afterwards is that Wei Wuxian brushes it off by saying that such things are normal and that it can happen to anyone, which leaves Lan Wangji stung and hurt.
• Anger Born of Worry: Lan Wangji's feelings for Wei Wuxian doesn't stop him from confronting the latter when he sees that he's compromising his own safety and calling him out in some of his actions. However, this is what makes him the person Wei Wuxian can trust the most, since he's assured that Lan Wangji always acts in his best interests. He even acknowledges that this is how he realized that Lan Wangji has always cared for him.
  But what [Wei Wuxian] hadn't expected was that when everyone feared him and flattered him, Lan Wangji scolded him right in his face; when everyone spurned him and loathed him, Lan Wangji stood by his side.
• Animal Motifs:
  • A series of animal-themed artworks from the donghua team includes Lan Wangji with a couple of cranes. In Chinese culture, they symbolize nobility and elegance, both of which are easily associable with Lan Wangji and by extension, his clan as well. They also represent perseverance and balance, which is also fitting for Lan Wangji given how he never gave up on searching for Wei Wuxian, and how part of his Character Development involves him learning more about the Grey-and-Gray Morality of the world and accepting all the complementary and contrasting aspects of himself.
  • He owns a herd of rabbits, which started out when two were gifted to him from Wei Wuxian. Rabbits are the god of homosexuality in China and nortorious for their breeding. Appropriately, Lan Wangji is Wei Wuxian's love interest, and given the two's nightly activities at the end of the story...
  • One of the official merchandise features Lan Wangji as a dragon. Dragons are revered as divine creatures in Chinese culture and are associated with nobility. They're also symbols of prosperity and power, and their image is often engraved into various objects as protective charms. Lan Wangji is held in high esteem by the cultivation world, hails from one of the elite cultivation clans, and is adored by the common folk for his reputation of "appearing wherever the chaos is", which he more than lives up to.
• Attractiveness Isolation: Lan Wangji is one of the most esteemed, talented, and handsome cultivators of his time. But it is exactly because of this that it's difficult for other people to approach him, and his lack of social skills doesn't help either. One of the reasons he and Wei Wuxian make a perfect pair is because they approach each other as equals and as human beings, not as figures of acclaim or notoriety.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Lan Wangji can effectively analyze situations and detect whether something's amiss or matching up. Wei Wuxian is able to do the same, allowing them to work well together when they investigate the mystery behind the dismembered corpse.
• Backstory Horror: That scar below his collarbone, near his heart? He did that in a drunken meltdown after Wei Wuxian died.
• Badass Boast: While he rarely intends to brag, some of his responses in tense situations show just how low-key impressive he is and how he's not someone who goes down easily. One such example is when Wei Wuxian asks him if he's injured during a scuggle, and Lan Wangji replies in an offended tone, "How is that possible?"
• Baritone of Strength: Lan Wangji has a deep and rich voice especially in the Korean dub, and it immediately lets one know he's no weakling. His Japanese voice actors have him speak with a lighter register, especially with Shinnosuke Tachibana's vocals, but it's still very much masculine and brims with regality.
• Battle Couple: Whether they're solving a mystery or fighting someone, he and love interest Wei Wuxian work well together as they're almost completely in sync with how the other thinks and acts. The trope comes into full force in the climactic arc after they confess to each other and have to deal with Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: His relationship with Wei Wuxian during their youth often had romantic tension despite their frequent clashes (not that the latter was aware of it). Much of the vitriol goes away when Wei Wuxian comes back to life and has a more cordial dynamic with Lan Wangji (some teasing aside), but the Unresolved Sexual Tension remains up until the end.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Lan Wangji was never treated badly, but he still had an extremely restricted childhood. His high rank, icy appearance and quiet demeanor have caused many to keep their distance from him or regard him as a noble one shouldn't just casually approach. While there are several reasons he fell for Wei Wuxian, one of the things that sparked his interest in the man was how the he kept approaching him and talking to him like he was just anyone else. While he found it annoying at first, the Time Skip made it clear that Lan Wangji began to treasure those moments.
• Beneath the Mask: While mismatching outer and inner personalities sums up the Lan Clan as a whole, Lan Wangji is a perfect example of the phrase "cold on the outside, passionate on the inside".
• Berserk Button: Hearing the words "thank you" or "sorry" from Wei Wuxian is a bit of a sore spot for him, since in the past things between them would sour after every time Wei Wuxian thanked him.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Despite his quiet demeanour, he can be truly frightening when angered. It's one thing if you're Wei Wuxian and successfully got on his nerves at certain days. It's a whole other thing if you're someone else who's a threat to either his clan or Wei Wuxian.
• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. Lan Xichen is normally the one who shows his protectiveness over him, but Lan Wangji also immediately shows concern whenever his older brother is in danger.
• Big Brother Worship: Lan Xichen is the older and stronger of the two, but both brothers respect and love each other and interact as equals. As such, Lan Xichen is one of the few people Lan Wangji can talk to without needing to repress his emotions.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed: Wei Wuxian sees that Lan Wangji is far from lacking down there, much to his elation. After a few moments of struggle due to inexperience and lack of knowledge, the two enjoy Their First Time and are shown to have an active and satisfying sex life.
• Blue Is Calm: Blue is part of his robe colours, and he is very calm and stoic.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: He voluntarily chooses to protect Wei Wuxian, who welcomes it even when he's more than capable of handling himself in spite of the small power downgrade he got from reincarnating in a physically weaker body.
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Implied. As a child, he faced Parental Neglect due to his father being in seclusion, his mother forbidden to raise him and his uncle placing very high expectations on him. However, he appears to have been a good influence on Lan Sizhui ever since he became a guardian to him, making sure to raise the young boy with good values and not be overly restrictive.
• Broken Ace: Downplayed. Lan Wangji is undeniably one of the most skilled and powerful cultivators of his generation — even his opponents don't deny his strength. He also went through a lot of emotional turmoil when Wei Wuxian became the Yiling Patriarch and broke down when the latter was proclaimed dead. However, while he did greatly mourn his death, he wasn't left as a broken shell of the man he once was. Instead, he kept Wei Wuxian's memory close to his heart while continuing to live by his principles and achieving many things throughout. Even with the perspective that there's a piece of him that's been missing in the 13 years that Wei Wuxian was dead, he certainly still fared exceptionally well in the coping department and is more well-adjusted than other cultivators of his generation.
• Brutal Honesty: Downplayed. Lan Wangji is always straight to the point with his words, neither holding back nor Saying Too Much. It can be hurtful depending on what he's commenting on, but he's genuinely just preaching his clan's rule to never lie and doesn't intend any malice.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Downplayed. He's a capable cultivator and usually clear-headed, but even he has his own little personality quirks and isn't above putting a kid into a pile of rabbits as part of childcare.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: The Lan Clan has already been noted to have low tolerance for alcohol given their rules. Lan Wangji is no exception, and can get hilariously drunk after drinking one cup of wine.
• Casual Kink: According to Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, he has a habit of tying up Wei Wuxian with his forehead ribbon whenever they have sex. Additionally, he also seems to enjoy biting Wei Wuxian; lucky for him, the latter likes it both soft and rough.
• Catchphrase:
  • His go-to response is "mn", which is his verbal expression of nodding. Wei Wuxian even lampshades how it's almost the only thing he says as a reply.
  • When he was younger, Lan Wangji would say "frivolous" (also translated as "boring" or "pathetic") in response to Wei Wuxian's antics. In the Japanese dub, he would say "くだらん", which translates to either "how foolish/idiotic".
• Character Development:
  • One of his core conflicts is that he took after his father in the romance department and for a long time he dithered on pursuing his feelings for someone his clan doesn't approve of, along with the assumption said person hated him. Ironically, Wei Wuxian himself thought that Lan Wangji despised him. This caused him to have a hard time getting his feelings across, be it through either words or actions. In the present time after reuniting with Wei Wuxian, he's determined to not make the same mistake again. While he will not overextend his boundaries and force his feelings, he no longer hesitates in speaking his thoughts or showing his affection to Wei Wuxian, subtle he may be.
  • He was a bit of a Principles Zealot when he was younger and was strict to himself and others about upholding the Lan Clan's rules, but he was already a righteous and selfless person by heart, having a sense of justice and never hesitating to act for a good cause. As he grew older, however, he learned that the rules are not absolute, not everything is black and white, and that many conflicts stem from how those who are right tend to be perceived as wrong and vice-versa. He eventually resolved his dilemma by understanding that he should follow the heart rather than the letter of the laws of his clan and of society.
  • During the Time Skip, he becomes completely lenient towards demonic cultivation. He opposed it in the past not because it was immoral, but because he feared the effect it would have on Wei Wuxian (and his fears weren't entirely unfounded). In the present time, however, he grows to accept that there's nothing inherently wrong with demonic cultivation and it all depends on how and why one uses it, and he's implied to have been teaching at least the junior disciples to have more of an open mind with The Dark Arts. What helps is that Wei Wuxian is now more careful with how he uses his powers due to his past experiences.
• Character Tics:
  • A closer reading of the novel would have one notice that Lan Wangji twitches his eyebrows whenever he gets jealous.
  • His ears turn red when he's embarrassed. The manhua, donghua and its chibi spinoff emphasise this further.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: His handstand training made him develop extraordinary physical strength. While all cultivators have some level of high physical power, Lan Wangji (and by extension, his fellow clansmen) are on a whole other level, and the final arc shows him being able to carry weight that amounts to a ton (or a thousand kilograms) with just his one (and non-dominant) hand.
• Chick Magnet: Downplayed. Lan Wangji is known for his skill as much as he is for his looks, and many women were quick to shower him with flowers at the Phoenix Mountain Hunt. However, his reputation as an Ice King has also kept many of them from actually approaching him and attempting to court him.
• Child of Forbidden Love: Downplayed. He and his brother are sons of two cultivators who went through the proper wedding ceremonies but have shady circumstances behind their marriage, with the father's love going unreciprocated (at least initially) and the mother being placed under house arrest for the remainder of her life.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: He has a reputation of "being where the trouble is", even going to smaller-scaled troubles with no expectations of reward.
  Powerful cultivators from prominent clans usually didn't care to pay attention to lower-level preys. However, Lan Wangji was an exception. He never cared for the prey of a night-hunt, and wouldn't refuse to go just because the creature was not threatening enough to increase his fame. If anyone wanted help, he would be there.
• Combat Pragmatist: Lan Wangji is capable of using his surroundings to his advantage if the situation calls for it. He can also be ruthless in a fight, and won't hesitate to go straight for the limbs.
• The Comically Serious: It's really funny to see the normally stoic man get drunk and act like a goofball while still keepng his serious demeanour, or keep a straight face when dealing with Wei Wuxian's antics.
• Conflicting Loyalties: His feelings for Wei Wuxian place him in a difficult position of loyalty with his clan, and in the past it reached the point where he was forced to choose between love and duty.
• Courtly Love: This perfectly describes Lan Wangji's affections for Wei Wuxian prior to the events of Chapters 99-100. Even when he thinks that his feelings will never be returned and that Wei Wuxian is merely toying with him, he's still willing to protect him and do everything for him, never making a move to touch him even when the latter keeps on teasing him and testing his restraint.
• Covered with Scars: Lan Wangji's back is covered in whip scars, and he also has a branding iron scar on his chest that's identical to Wei Wuxian's from his first life. The 33 whip scars were punishment for injuring 33 elders while protecting Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji inflicted the chest scar on himself while he was drunk and grieving his loved one's death.
• Covert Pervert: Stoic and reserved he may be, but he's actually the more proactive of the pair when it comes to physical intimacy:
  • He holds Wei Wuxian to his promise of them sleeping together everyday.
  • Wei Wuxian is the one who has read more heterosexual porn, but Lan Wangji is the one who's looked up how to have sex with men.
  • In the "Incense Burner" extra, he and Wei Wuxian are able to see the other's dreams. While Wei Wuxian's dream consists of them having a domestic life after retiring from cultivation, Lan Wangji's dream is much kinkier in nature.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Downplayed. Lan Wangji subtly gets miffed whenever Wei Wuxian interacts with other people (both women and men), with not even Wen Ning being immune from this. He is also shown to be a bit possessive — when Wei Wuxian asks a drunk Lan Wangji what he thinks of him, he answers, "Mine." Despite his jealousy fits, they usually only reach petty levels at most; he doesn't hold a grudge against Mianmian herself, as he protected her from Wen Chao and genuinely respects her for speaking in Wei Wuxian's defense (although he was still petty enough to steal her medicine pouch from Wei Wuxian and use it as his wallet for the years ahead), and he doesn't necessarily dislike Wen Ning and trusts him as an ally.

Tropes D-H

• Dating Catwoman: In modern terms, Lan Wangji was the class representative and Wei Wuxian the troublemaker when they were in school. After the Time Skip, they eventually get together.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: He becomes official with Wei Wuxian and elopes with him in the epilogue, much to the disdain of his uncle, who can't stand the latter.
• Defrosting Ice King: While flashbacks show he was incredibly cold to the point of scaring others from befriending him, in the present, he's become softer and a nurturing mentor to his junior disciples. Wei Wuxian returning to his life also sees him mellow out further.
• Determinator: Even when Lan Wangji was still recovering from the pain of 33 lashes — which required at least three years of rest — as soon as he heard that Wei Wuxian was dead he immediately set out for the Burial Mounds to find any trace of him.
• Deuteragonist: He's second to Wei Wuxian in terms of focus and role in the plot.
• Devoted to You: He has singlemindedly devoted to loving one person for his entire life, to the point where he remains loyal to Wei Wuxian even years after his death. After the love of his life is revived, Lan Wangji prioritizes Wei Wuxian's well-being above all else and will stick by his side even if he thinks his crush is cruel to him on purpose. Luckily for him, Wei Wuxian does return his feelings after the misunderstandings are cleared up and they end up Happily Married.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: Downplayed. Thanks to his training, Lan Wangji acquired what basically amounts to superhuman strength. Normally, he can control his strength — it's only that his control slips whenever he has sex with Wei Wuxian. One telling example is the several broken bathtubs that Wei Wuxian mentions in the "From Night to Morning" extra.
• The Dreaded: To his allies and the common people, the mention of his title brings the feeling of relief. But to his enemies, it is an indicator that they have signed up for death, especially if they're threatening his family (and that includes Wei Wuxian).
• Dual Wielding: Although he usually wields his sword and guqin separately, his battle against Xue Yang shows he's capable of using both weapons simultaneously.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Lan Wangji comes a long way from living a life of coldness and isolation to warmth and companionship. He lost both his parents to tragic circumstances, then lost his beloved to the cultivation world's injustice without ever being able to communicate clearly to him even once. The punishment he received for defending his beloved also left him bedridden for three years, preventing him from intervening or averting the tragedies that occurred at that time. In the end, however, he comes out on top; after he recovers, he does his best in mentoring the junior disciples and helping anyone in need, making him a well-respected cultivator that inspires hope and safety in both the cultivation clans and the common folk. On top of that, he also unexpectedly gets reunited with his love, and after a few more bouts of misunderstanding and miscommunication, he realizes that his love is reciprocated, and the narrative confirms that they're guaranteed to live the rest of their lives in contentment and peace, whether they're living a domestic life in the Cloud Recesses or traveling the world and helping people wherever they go.
• Easily Forgiven: Minor example. Lan Wangji stole Wei Wuxian's First Kiss, but he was so infuriated with himself that he was punching and slicing down trees when Wei Wuxian found him. Even in the present day, he's far from proud or giddy about it and even admits to the latter that what he did was completely wrong. Wei Wuxian doesn't mind in the slightest, and congratulates him for being the first and only person to have kissed him.
• Emotionally Tongue-Tied: One of Lan Wangji's biggest flaws is how he often has trouble expressing his innermost feelings out loud when it comes to both mundane and serious matters. His stoic silence is often mistaken for cold indifference, and when he does express his thoughts, he still struggles with properly getting himself across without having his words interpreted with the wrong context. He does make an effort to improve his communication skills, and while he's made some progress at present, he still has some ways to go.
• Endearingly Dorky: Due to Lan Wangji's reserved personality, Wei Wuxian found a lot of amusement in annoying him in the past to bring the flustered Not So Stoic side out of him and still does in the present. This gets amped up when the latter's drunk, due to the alcohol bringing out his more childish side.
• Empty Eyes: His first on-screen appearance in the donghua features him with lightless and distant eyes, showing how much he suffered following Wei Wuxian's death. His eyes show more luster in his following appearances, especially after he finds out that Wei Wuxian has returned.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Wei Wuxian isn't ashamed of admitting how handsome Lan Wangji is long before he's fully aware of his feelings for him, and even the junior disciples in the manhua cheer about how he's so good-looking amongst other things.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Lan Wangji was one of the first to agree that the Wens must be stopped, but he balked at the methods Wei Wuxian employed in dealing with them. He was also the only one who agreed with the latter about how the innocent Wens don't deserve death just because of their lineage.
  • In his youth, he was strict about following the rules and making sure his peers did the same. As such, he didn't approve of anyone acting out. However, he didn't chastise any screaming or crying if it's because someone's triggered by a phobia or is in mourning.
  • In spite of his reputation to help anyone in need, he will not extend his help — at least, not immediately — if the other party is being dishonest with him for the wrong reasons.
  • Played for Laughs regarding his sex life. As kinky as he and Wei Wuxian are and as much they're willing to try a lot of things, there are a few things that they are definitely not up for, such as making out in front of a child. And while they are initially curious about the idea of upside-down sex, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu revealed that they agreed to not do it again after trying it out.
• Every Scar Has a Story: Both the discipline scars on his back and the brand mark on his chest have something to do with Wei Wuxian and are key to revealing just how much topic in question affected him.
• Family Theme Naming: The Lan brothers share in their birth names the water radical (氵). Their titles also have an association with light; 泽 (ze) from Zewu-jun means "lustrous", while 光 (guang) from Hanguang-jun means "light". As the jewels of the Lan Clan, they are called the Twin Jades of Lan.
• First Love: Despite Wei Wuxian's urban legend love life, he eventually realizes that not only is he in love with Lan Wangji, but he's never loved anyone else before that.
• Fool for Love: Despite being an icy and cynical teenager that was resistant to the idea of getting close to anyone, he eventually became hopelessly in love with Wei Wuxian, to the point of fighting against his clan to protect him.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Downplayed. Both Lan brothers are usually dutiful and diligent, with Lan Xichen only having more responsibilities since he's the elder sibling and the leader of the Lan Clan. However, in the matters involving the Big Bad, it becomes obvious that Lan Xichen is the less reasonable of the two siblings; he has too much trust in the Big Bad (who has spent many years secretly manipulating him and tricking him as his sworn brother), whereas Lan Wangji knows better as he acts on both fact and gut instinct.
• Friendless Background: Given his background, it's heavily implied that he never approached anyone nor was approached by others with the intention of befriendment, before Wei Wuxian or the juniors came along.
• Friendship Denial: Lan Wangji would rebuff every one of Wei Wuxian's attempts to befriend him when they were younger, out of equal parts embarrassment and confusion. However, this eventually backfired on him when he tried to talk him out of using demonic cultivation, since by then Wei Wuxian believed Lan Wangji hated him and was trying to turn him in, which strained their relationship for a while.
• Friend to All Children: While he doesn't openly display it, his affection towards children is palpable, such as when he voluntarily bought Wen Yuan some toys after Wei Wuxian trolled him about getting him one. There's also his reputation among the junior Lan disciples; while he was The Dreaded as a classmate, he's highly regarded as a teacher as they are comfortable in his presence but still treat him respectfully.
• Friend to All Living Things: He gets along just fine with any animal, and is even able to get the rowdier ones to behave with one look (such as Little Apple or any dog that would terrorize Wei Wuxian). The bunnies kept at the Cloud Recesses in particular are attached to him, emphasising that he really is a kind and gentle man despite his aloof demeanour.
• Friend Versus Lover: Although they were initially indifferent at worst as teenagers, Lan Wangji (Wei Wuxian's love interest) and Jiang Cheng (Wei Wuxian's martial brother and close friend) became more hostile to each other as time passed (especially on Jiang Cheng's side), mostly due to their relationships with the aforementioned man in question. Jiang Cheng in particular blames Lan Wangji for the destruction of Lotus Pier since Wei Wuxian went out of his way to save him. After Wei Wuxian comes back, Jiang Cheng becomes even more resentful towards the Lan clansman as it becomes clear that Wei Wuxian has chosen the latter over his former martial brother.
• Generation Xerox: Following in his father's footsteps, Lan Wangji fell in love with someone the rest of the Lan Clan saw as an enemy. However, unlike his father, who put Honor Before Reason and isolated himself from his wife after (allegedly) forcing her into a marriage, Lan Wangji never forces his intentions on Wei Wuxian and they marry of their own free will and live together, either going out on night-hunts or mentoring the junior disciples.
• Genius Bruiser: Lan Wangji is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, but one shouldn't forget that he is as intelligent as he is powerful.
• Gentleman Snarker: He's capable of delivering sass in a verbal manner if he feels like it, even while retaining his courteous demeanour.
  Wei Wuxian: So, I'm actually really curious. Just how did you recognize me?
  Lan Wangji: I am also really curious as to why your memory is so bad.
• Good Is Not Soft: Lan Wangji is a fair and moral man and normally approaches most situations with diplomacy rather than violence. However, like most of his fellow cultivators, he fought in a war before and had taken several lives in said war. And when he knows that he's dealing with enemies that are completely dangerous and can't be reasoned with or stopped by normal means, all bets are off.
• Good Parents: Downplayed. While they don't explicitly refer to each other as father and son nor are they officially recognized in-universe as such, Lan Wangji taught and raised Lan Sizhui from childhood to teenagehood after rescuing the latter — known as Wen Yuan at the time — and adopting him into the Lan Clan and gave him his courtesy name. Lan Sizhui says that the older man has been like a father and brother to him, and his character at present shows how well he was taken care of.
• Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter: Lan Wangji stands out among the cast for speaking in a poetic/rhythmic manner. More specifically, he tends to speak in tetrameter (four-meter measured verses), which is normally used to address someone of high rank in China. This establishes that while Lan Wangji does struggle in communication, he is well-spoken and every word he utters has tremendous weight in them.
• Happily Married: He and Wei Wuxian elope shortly after the events of Guanyin Temple and they are more than happy in their life as a married couple, now that they've resolved all their misunderstandings and are making up for lost time.
• Hates Being Touched: Lan Wangji admitted to not liking getting into any form of physical contact with others in the past, demonstrated by him only willing to retrieve Wei Wuxian by the collar and nothing else. This is why the latter's shocked in the present day when Lan Wangji doesn't bat an eye at Wei Wuxian's attempts to piss him off by invading his personal space. Although Lan Wangji still seems to not like physical contact, Wei Wuxian eventually becomes an exception, and he doesn't mind either when Lan Sizhui pulls him into a hug.
• Hates Small Talk: He wasn't fond of exchanging pleasantries the past, especially if it was Wei Wuxian who would try to strike up a conversation with him. Not so much at present, however; while he's far from chatty, he doesn't mind listening to the latter talk about anything and will even nod along every now and then.
• Heroic Ambidexterity: As if his cultivation skills weren't already impressive on their own, it's also implied that Lan Wangji is ambidextrous. Although he usually relies on just the one hand in combat, it takes a great deal of proficiency to wield a sword with one hand and to perfectly play an instrument with the other (which he demonstrates in Yi City).
• Heroic BSoD: Wei Wuxian's death had him go through a brief fit of grief by getting drunk for the first time and scarring himself with the Wen Clan's branding iron, showing how he was at a big loss without his loved one alive anymore.
• High-School Sweethearts: Inverted. He and Wei Wuxian first met back when they were around teens; while it's implied they subconsciously became attracted to one another around then, they were not on good terms and everyone assumed they hated each other. It's only after many years and several misunderstandings that they realize their mutual feelings and reach their "sweetheart" phase.
• Hope Bringer: His title translates to "to hold light", and is a testament to his reputation for "being where the chaos is".
• House Husband: Between him and Wei Wuxian, he's the one who helps clean the house, prepare baths and cook meals. Even in a dream, the latter imagines Lan Wangji doing majority of the housework while he would be in charge of farming and fishing.
• Humble Goal: Although his dream in the "Incense Burner" extra doesn't exactly show it, he enjoys seeing Wei Wuxian's dream about them retiring from cultivation and living in peace and reassures the latter that his dream isn't boring, hinting that he shares his partner's desire for a life of domesticity.
• Humble Hero: He goes on night-hunts simply to help out those in need rather than for accolades or fame.
• Hyper-Awareness: Lan Wangji is highly perceptive of his surroundings and can observe details others would easily miss, which is advantageous during life-threatening situations.
  • He was the first to notice that there's another way out of the Xuanwu Cave when he and the other cultivators that the Wen Clan held hostage were trapped inside.
  • While investigating the sudden death of the Wen armies, he accurately deduced that it's because the effects of the exorcism talismans were reversed to attract rather than repel resentful energy and ghosts.
  • Lan Wangji already had his suspicions about Jin Guangyao even before Wei Wuxian came back to life, not out of prejudice but purely sharp perception.
  • After Wei Wuxian took up demonic cultivation, Lan Wangji was the only one to semi-correctly suspect that his cultivation may had been impaired whereas everyone else thought that he was simply acting arrogant and going on an evil Power High.
  • He's the first one who notices the scars on Su She's chest, causing the latter to accidentally out himself as the culprit who inflicted the Hundred Holes Curse on Jin Zixun.

Tropes I-O

• Ice King: He has the reputation of being cold and aloof, what with him never smiling and being The Stoic.
• Ignored Expert: Lan Wangji already gained a lot of respect from the other cultivators and received his title at around the same year when Wei Wuxian became the Yiling Patriarch. Despite this, his attempts to defend Wei Wuxian and advise everyone to not be so rash towards him when the political tide soon started to turn against the latter's favor were always ignored or refuted in some way.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Downplayed. Because of his sheltered and restrictive upbringing, Lan Wangji never took the time to make friends. Although he focused on his studies and would spend time with his brother, there are hints that he also wanted to know what it was like to have a group of people to have fun with. There's how his personality becomes a lot more childish when he's drunk, and while taking a walk in the "Lotus Seed Pod" extra he stopped to take a look at a few toddlers who were playing.
• Indifferent Beauty: He's the second most handsome cultivator of his generation, and is even described as an "incomparable beauty who only appeared once in a blue moon". However, while he takes care to look presentable, he doesn't care much about his looks much since he's not superficial.
• Insufferable Genius: Subverted. To some, he gives off the impression of being an unlikeable and cocky genius because of the impassive expression on his face. However, when Wei Wuxian (and readers) get to know him better, it's shown that he's far from arrogant; he is aware of what he can and can't do, and he never brags about his accomplishments nor does he flaunt them to anyone.
• In Vino Veritas: Wei Wuxian quickly learns that when drunk, Lan Wangji becomes more unrestrained in his actions and will honestly answer any question he would ask him. However, the one answer he can't coax out of Lan Wangji is how he recognized him at Dafan Mountain.
• I Regret Nothing: He never says it outright, but the way he sticks by Wei Wuxian's side no matter what in the present timeline hints that he has no regrets about defending him from his clan even if he willingly accepted punishment because he knew that he wronged his family. To hammer it home, the track that plays when he was being struck with the discipline whip in the audio drama is titled "No Regrets".
• Ironic Name: His courtesy name is a Daoist phrase that roughly meanins "to not seek fame or wealth, forget about worldly matters, and be at peace with the world". He managed to resolve everything except his attachment to Wei Wuxian who, at the time, was dead.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Before the events at the Guanyin Temple, Lan Wangji thought that Wei Wuxian remembered the events of the Nightless Immortal Capital bloodbath — where he was strongly hinted to have confessed his feelings to him. Even then, after reuniting with Wei Wuxian years later he gives him anything he needs, is endlessly patient with his antics (unlike before), defends him from anyone who crosses him, and lets the latter repeatedly flirt with him. Lan Wangji does all of this under the impression that Wei Wuxian knew of his true feelings the entire time and has been cruelly stringing him along, simply because he's that devoted to him and wants to look out for his well-being.
• I Will Find You: The lyrics of several official songs from the novel's adaptations have at least one line implying that Lan Wangji has been playing Inquiry ever since Wei Wuxian's death, suggesting he was trying to reach out to him in some way during the Time Skip. The novel itself, however, never hints at this and indicates that Lan Wangji was willing to move on and accept his death despite the pain.
• I Will Wait for You:
  • Due to the history of how Lan Wangji's parents got married, both he and his older brother were only allowed to see their mother once a month. She died when Lan Wangji was six, but it didn't stop him from visiting her house every month even after he realized she's truly gone.
  • Downplayed in the novel at best. There are signs that a part of him hoped to see Wei Wuxian again (such as the Emperor's Smile jars hidden in his room and the lack of paper money offerings), but Lan Wangji otherwise didn't spend 13 years constantly pining over him.
• Jerkass to One: Downplayed. While Lan Wangji is typically distant and kept towards almost everyone else except the very few people he's close to, he's still courteous to everyone. However, Jiang Cheng is the one exception as he has something close to contempt for him. Although initially on neutral terms, his opinion of him soured after the events of Qiongqi Path (both when Wei Wuxian rescued the Wens from the prison camp and when Jin Zixuan got killed). When Wei Wuxian even asks him of his opinion of Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji frowns and scoffs, confirming his dislike for the clan leader. He doesn't become a jerk himself, but he keeps his formalities towards the Jiang leader to the bare minimum — he never acknowledges him, looks at him in the eye, nor speaks to him if he doesn't need to, and the only exception is when he's directly challenging him.
• The Lancer: He acts as this for Wei Wuxian after his return; he's usually the one fighting enemies and protecting the latter while the other prefers a supportive role via talisman and corpses. Their dynamic is very interesting as they are each other's opposites in many ways, yet is noticed by a few characters to be very similar with each other.
• Leitmotif: In the donghua, whenever he appears, he's usually followed by the sound of guqin strings.
• Light Is Good: While his entire clan wears white and light blue clothes and is meant to be the most morally good out of the major clans, Lan Wangji fits the symbolism the best as he's one of the most morally upstanding characters in the novel.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Downplayed. In Wei Wuxian's second life, although he doesn't realize it at first, he slowly becomes dependent on Lan Wangji for emotional support especially when his dark past comes back to haunt him. While he's more at peace compared to his first life and is completely capable of being on his own, Lan Wangji becomes deeply ingrained in his life to the point that Wei Wuxian just doesn't want a life without him.
• Living Legend: During the Sunshot Campaign, he managed to accomplish so much that he received a title with the honorific "-jun" — which is usually reserved for clan leaders — meaning that his achievements were nothing short of impressive in nature. While civilians may not always know who he is, most cultivators are at least aware of his feats and usually go out of their way to respectfully greet him.
• Loners Will Stay Alone: His upbringing caused him to not have many opportunities to interact with other people. His aloofness and reputation as an unfriendly icy teenager caused others to avoid interacting with him unless necessary. Lan Wangji did have his brother and uncle, but it's obvious that they were the only company he was familiar with and comfortable with for years. However, Wei Wuxian's presence soon breaks him out of his shell, and in the present, he gets along well with the junior disciples.
• Love Hurts: He started falling for Wei Wuxian when the latter was becoming more emotionally distant, thanks to a war that robbed the him of nearly everything and forced him to discover The Dark Arts to survive and enact vengeance. Their previous interactions also left Wei Wuxian with the belief that Lan Wangji intended to persecute him when that couldn't be further from the truth, and this misassumption caused tensions in their relationship. Once the entire cultivation world started targeting Wei Wuxian, the emotional burden it had on both men became worse. It only took a resurrection for Lan Wangji to have a proper chance with Wei Wuxian without fear of unwanted intervention.
• Love Makes You Evil: Lan Qiren incorrectly assumes that this trope is happening to his nephew thanks to his assumption that Wei Wuxian is evil. While the latter is of course a good guy, the older man thinks that Lan Wangji has become negatively influenced by his supposedly evil companion due to his love for him.
• Master of the Mixed Message: While it becomes clear throughout the story that both protagonists have fallen for each other (and as early as when they were teens), Lan Wangji's cold and aloof demeanour while simultaneously trying to reach out to Wei Wuxian has always confused the latter. This is justified as he has difficulty expressing his emotions, which is not helped by his strict upbringing and implied internalised homophobia. Additionally, he's under the assumption that Wei Wuxian remembers his implied love confession after the events at the Nightless Immortal Capital yet doesn't reciprocate his affections, so he doesn't properly recognise the latter's feelings nor pushes his own feelings, either.
• Mistaken for Gay: Inverted. When Lan Wangji got upset over Wei Wuxian remarking how Mianmian was likely to never forget him after he took a blow meant for her, Wei Wuxian assumed that he was acting so emotional because he also liked the girl. This drove Lan Wangji up the wall, since at the time, he was already wrestling with his growing attraction for him.
• The Mourning After: Even after Wei Wuxian died, Lan Wangji never even considered romantically pursuing anyone else.
• Mr. Exposition: He's the one to explain to Wei Wuxian a few plot-relevant details that occured during the 13 years he was away, thus also providing readers necessary background information. This includes the entire fiasco surrounding Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen and Jin Guangyao having a son who was killed by one of his political rivals.
• Mr. Fanservice: Downplayed. He doesn't usually have scenes that show off his body, but the few that do make it even more clear how beautiful he is. The scenes of him bathing in the Cold Springs both in the past and the present are described in great detail, and every visual adaptation features them to show off how slender yet fit his body is. The donghua plays this up more, adding more tone and muscles to his figure when he grew into an adult.
• My Greatest Second Chance: After the flashback arcs are all shown, it becomes clear that Lan Wangji's renewed attitude towards Wei Wuxian after the latter's resurrection is his attempt to patch things up between them and not make the same mistakes as he did pre-Time Skip. Back then, majority of the miscommunication between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in the past was attributed to the former's distant attitude and difficulty in getting his feelings across, and what didn't help the latter's selflessness and unwillingness to ask others for assistance. By the time Wei Wuxian is brought back to life, Lan Wangji remains stoic but is no longer as aloof as he used to be with him, and is determined to help him and stick by his side through thick and thin even when the former initially tries to discourage him from doing such.
• Neat Freak: A few scenes demonstrate that he avoids getting dirt or even water on his clothes as much as possible. Wei Wuxian observes that this also extends to the rest of the Lan Clan, as each member is mysophobic to some degree.
• No-Sell: Played for Laughs. Lan Wangji has become a lot more immune to Wei Wuxian's pranks and attempts to annoy him in the present. A shining example is when he brings "Mo Xuanyu" to the Cloud Recesses and barely bats an eye when the alleged lunatic does everything to put him off in order to be kicked out. Eventually, Wei Wuxian doesn't bother trying anymore.
• No Social Skills: Downplayed. In spite of his taciturn nature, he can interact with people just fine albeit when his conversations with others are related to cultivation. However, he tends to have trouble with properly expressing himself verbally or otherwise, and is not one for initiating or engaging in small talk.
• Not So Above It All: He's wise and straight-laced, but not even he's devoid of a childish and more shameless side.
  • His drunken side shows that he wishes to goof around once in a while. As Wei Wuxian lampshades, Lan Wangji always followed the many constrictive rules of his clan, but naturally there's some hidden desire for him to just act without any regard for those rules.
  • Jealousy can make him surprisingly immature. Some examples are when he bit Wei Wuxian's arm after the latter mistakenly thought he was angry because he had a crush on Mianmian, and when he kicks and rolls over a pebble when his companion chats with some women and gives them rouge (even though he's just getting information about Yi City).
  • He has some sense of humor, and subtly shows amusement at some of Wei Wuxian's jokes and misadventures. At times, he even joins in on the fun in his own Comically Serious way.
  • When he and Wei Wuxian confess to each other and finally get together, he isn't the least bit ashamed to act and talk affectionately towards the latter even as they're directly confronting their enemies — who, alongside a few of the protagonists' relatives, are also witnesses to their flirtations.
  • Despite coming off as a prude and acting so appalled when coming across a porn book as a teen, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu revealed in an interview that Lan Wangji started reading homosexual porn at some point, which provided him with knowledge on how to take care of Wei Wuxian in bed.
• Not So Stoic:
  • While he's perfectly mastered putting up a cool and stoic demeanor after the Time Skip, he was more susceptible to anger and embarrassment when he was younger, courtesy of Wei Wuxian. The latter is generally one of the very few people who's able to elicit any emotion out of him both then and now.
  • He acts less stoic than usual whenever his family is involved. He started shedding tears while confiding to Wei Wuxian about the state his father and his brother's disappearance after the Wen Clan attacked the Cloud Recesses — which was also why he was in a very irritable mood at the time.
• Oblivious to Love: Despite being deeply in love with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji is ironically blind to the latter slowly but surely reciprocating his feelings. This stems from him misunderstanding that Wei Wuxian remembers his love confession from after the Nightless Immortal Capital bloodbath and simply doesn't reciprocate.
• One Head Taller: While he was already taller than Wei Wuxian in the past, the height gap increases to almost a head after the latter's brought Back from the Dead since Mo Xuanyu's body height is six centimetres shorter than Wei Wuxian's original height.
• One-Man Army: Nobody doubts that he's one of the best cultivators of his generation, and even his enemies are wary of clashing with him. He's able to put down the hundreds of walking corpses that Xue Yang sics on him in Yi City, and during the Second Siege he manages on his own against nearly a thousand of them.
• Only Sane Man: He's often the most rational one in his clan, as he's not naive (like his brother) nor so bent on following the rules to the point of being absurd (liks his uncle and most other Lan clansmen).
• Opposites Attract: He's quiet and very reserved, but he ends up falling for Wei Wuxian, who is literally the opposite of him personality-wise.

Tropes P-Z

• Papa Wolf: Even before The Reveal that Lan Wangji adopted Wen Yuan into the Lan Clan and gave him the name Sizhui, there's already signs of him being a protective father figure early in the story. At Mount Dafan, Lan Wangji uses the Silencing Spell on Jin Ling when the latter acts rude towards Lan Sizhui, and doesn't budge even when this incurs Jiang Cheng's anger.
• The Paragon: Lan Wangji is heroic in every sense of the word, which has earned him the admiration and respect of many and inspires other people (especially the Lan juniors) to follow in his footsteps. To hammer it in, Lan Wangji's title basically means that he's a Hope Bringer.
• Parental Neglect: Ever since he was born, his father was already in seclusion and his mother was only allowed to see both him and his brother once every month (although not by her choice). He was mostly raised by his uncle, who had good intentions but gave the Lan brothers a strict upbringing.
• Parental Substitute: Downplayed. Lan Wangji took Wen Yuan in and adopted him into the Lan Clan. While Lan Sizhui tells Wen Ning that Lan Wangji helped raise him and treated him as if he was his father or brother, they're not officially recognized as father and son. Regardless, their relationship has familial undertones and there is no doubt that they deeply care for each other.
• The Perfectionist: Not to an unhealthy degree, thankfully. Due to his teachings, Lan Wangji does a lot of things perfectly or at least very efficiently. This is reflected in his handwriting, where Wei Wuxian observes that he only made a single mistake among the thousand scriptures he had to write/copy (and that was only due to a certain someone's constant bugging), and he was made to rewrite it down a hundred times.
• Plain Palate: Thanks to the Lan Clan's very simply vegetarian diet, Lan Wangji is said to have a mild palate and is unable to tolerate any strong or spicy food. This confuses Wei Wuxian, since he remembers him ordering only spicy food the last time they had a meal together. What he doesn't know is that Lan Wangji ordered the food solely for Wei Wuxian himself..
• Poor Communication Kills: When you're a man of little words and have never been good with expressing yourself, some dangerous miscommunication is bound to happen. This was one of the main sources of his and Wei Wuxian's clashes in the past. While Lan Wangji has gotten better during the Time Skip, he's still mostly kept and occasionally struggles with speaking his mind even when it comes to the little things.
• Power Perversion Potential:
  • What to do with prodigious arm strength? Handstand sex. According to Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, they've tried it once and have mutually agreed to never do it again.
  • Wei Wuxian suggests that Lan Wangji uses the Silencing Spell on him to keep him from getting too loud whenever they have sex, since he isn't exactly the quiet type in bed.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • Downplayed. He never outright curses, but there are select instances when he says "滚!", which is an extremely rude way of telling someone to leave. He only says this when he's well and truly angry — while the first time was Played for Laughs, the second time is not.
    • He was so outraged at Wei Wuxian's pornography prank that he told him to scram, which can be considered harsh and borderline profane, and not anyone In-Universe would expect someone as poised and stoic as Lan Wangji to say. Both Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang even lampshade this.
    • He says "滚开!" to Jiang Cheng when the latter tries to stop them from leaving Lotus Pier. This has even harsher connotations than "滚!", since "滚开" can also translate to, "Fuck off!" This reflects the gravity of the situation Lan Wangji is in, as he's trying to protect an injured Wei Wuxian from someone who's approaching them both with every bit of hostility he can summon.
  • In the Japanese dubs he says "失せろ!", ^note which also means "Get lost!" but can also translate to "Get out of my sight!" which has milder connotations than the original Chinese term but nevertheless serves the same purpose of an angered Lan Wangji speakingly unusually foul.
• Principles Zealot: When he was a teenager, he acted as the disciplinarian of his clan and watched out for any rule breakers — and as seen in his clashes with Wei Wuxian, he was completely strict about his role. He grew more lenient over time, and sometime after they elope he tells Wei Wuxian that he's an exception when it comes to breaking the rules.
• Punny Name: His name, phonetically speaking, can be misheard as lang wang ji (狼望鸡) or "wolf looking at a chicken". In the donghua, Wei Wuxian teased Lan Wangji by addressing to him with a drawing of the two animals in question.
• The Quiet One: He's so quiet that a lot of his actions need to be understood in context, even if they're as outlandish as kicking random stones, glaring at people, or suddenly dragging random maniacs who may or may not be Wei Wuxian back to his family home.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: While most of the characters are described or shown to be fair-skinned to go with their black hair in several adaptations, part of why Lan Wangji and his brother are called the Twin Jades is because they stand out among the rest in terms of beauty. This trope is more notable in his case since he has a paler complexion than his brother's.
• Real Men Can Cook: Despite being traditionally masculine, the "Banquet" extra reveals that Lan Wangji is a good cook, although Wei Wuxian only learns about this in the "Dream Come True" extra.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Although seen as fairly masculine in a traditional sense, he still shows some interest in non-manly things:
  • He raises rabbits, and the sight of a stoic and icy man holding these cute critters is enough to make Wei Wuxian laugh.
  • Wei Wuxian notices that Lan Wangji's money pouch is delicate in design, which isn't what he'd expect from the latter. This is because said money pouch was originally a medicine pouch that Mianmian gave to him, and Lan Wangji stole the pouch out of jealousy.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Lan Wangji may not be a clan leader or elder, but he is still a mentor figure in his clan and a cultivator of high rank and renown. He is also one of the most sensible characters in the story; unlike the clan leaders of the previous and current generations, he's not plagued with ambition and/or revenge; he cares more about helping people than making connections in the cultivation world's political circle; he never makes judgments without getting all the facts and seeing the full picture; and he never sits on his hands when something has to be dealt with. There's a reason why his title essentially means "to hold/bring light".
• Rebellious Spirit: Downplayed. While he was a Principles Zealot at first, he became more defiant to the rules after the Time Skip. Like Wei Wuxian, he's willing to acknowledge if what is considered right by society isn't necessarily right by moral and ethical standards, and he follows his own path rather than conform to the majority. While he remains loyal to his clan and to his family, he is far less hesitant about expressing any disagreements he may have with them.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Downplayed. Lan Wangji's eyes become bloodshot when he's furious about something. This also happens whenever he gets overwhelmed with lust.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Wei Wuxian is the wild and boisterous Red Oni while Lan Wangji is The Stoic and elegant Blue Oni.
• Respected by the Respected: Due to his reputation for helping out the common folk and his contributions to the Sunshot Campaign, he becomes well respected in the cultivation world that even elder cultivators will defer to him even in his youth. He's so highly regarded that Wei Wuxian muses people will make excuses for him after finding out he's protecting someone as vile as the Yiling Patriarch without saying a word.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's an important figure of the Lan Clan, being the brother to the clan leader and next in line to the title. In contrast to the prominent clan leaders, Lan Wangji actually puts himself out there and helps the common folk with problems both big and small — something that a cultivator is supposed to do.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Lan Wangji grew up to become a skilled swordsman, powerful cultivator, and an all-around ace in education and many other areas. However, he also grew up with a Friendless Background and in an environment where he is expected to always excel and repress many things about himself, leaving him with lacking social knowledge and communication skills.
• Scars Are Forever: The scars he gained during the Time Skip — the 33 scars on his back and the chest scar with the Wen Clan's insignia — are still present in the current timeline and are unlikely to fade away any time soon even with magic healing, due to the severity of the injuries they came from.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He's usually rule-abiding, but if the rules put him in a situation of To Be Lawful or Good, he will choose the latter without hesitation.
• Selective Obliviousness: Wei Wuxian notices that when Lan Wangji's drunk he'll only listen when he likes what he's hearing, otherwise he'll pretend he didn't even hear anything.
• Seme: He is the dominant partner, or gong, of the pair. Contrasting Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji is stoic, taller, and more sophisticated.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: He and his older brother Lan Xichen are almost polar opposites. Unlike most examples of the trope, they have a close relationship.
  • While Lan Wangji is aloof and distant, Lan Xichen is friendly and approachable.
  • While Lan Wangji is not the most sociable person, he always maintains a keen awareness regarding who to trust and who to be wary of. On the other hand, Lan Xichen may be more experienced in approaching and talking to people, but more often than not he's naive about the true natures of the people around him and thus can easily be fooled by them.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: After their Unresolved Sexual Tension finally gets resolved, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have no shame in showering each with affection and being lovey-dovey. Case in point, in the final arc, they're either physically glued together or not-so-subtly flirting with each other while they're confronting the Big Bad.
• Signature Scent: The story (especially when noted by Wei Wuxian) frequently comments on Lan Wangji smelling like sandalwood.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Wei Wuxian is the only person he's ever formed an attraction to, which was tragic because he never expected his feelings to be returned, and then the love of his life died. Good thing Wei Wuxian came Back from the Dead.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: A same-sex example. Before he met Wei Wuxian, the only time Lan Wangji gave any consideration to his romantic life was in an audio drama extra where he briefly contemplated on the meaning of "cultivation partner" during his childhood. And for most of his life, he was sheltered and his status caused others to treat him as less of a person and more of an idol or an ideal in human form, which left him with almost no one to genuinely connect with. Then came Wei Wuxian, who was the first to treat him as a person and share his noble and selfless ideals, and Lan Wangji soon fell in love with him. While he initially struggled with the realization at first due to how he's been raised for most of his life, the older he grew, the more he came to terms with his feelings for the other.
• Smells Sexy: His Sandalwood scent tend to arouse and distract Wei Wuxian whenever they're close later on in the story, which also hints to his growing feelings for Lan Wangji.
• Socially Awkward Hero: In contrast to Wei Wuxian, who is a people person, Lan Wangji isn't great at expressing himself and socialising with others. The fact that he was raised by his strict and rule-abiding uncle and spent a few years cultivating in seclusion didn't help with Lan Wangji's lack of friends and interpersonal skills. It doesn't stop him from being likeable and admirable though, as he's well-respected by everyone and is on good terms with the junior Lan disciples.
• Spock Speak: He's always very formal yet simple and direct with his wording. Wang Yibo (his live-action actor) even describes him as the kind of person who will not convey a message with three words if he can convey it with two.
• The Stoic: Only his older brother can tell what's really going on behind his emotionless expression. Later, Wei Wuxian is also able to read him and know what he's truly thinking.
• Strong and Skilled: Having both immense strength and sharp cultivation skills is to be expected from most cultivators, but Lan Wangji stands out among the rest. No matter the situation, people hesitate to cross blades with him even when they'd be fighting him a hundred to one — and this is coming from the same people who are arrogant enough to believe that they can defeat someone of Wei Wuxian's caliber.
• Strong Family Resemblance: One would be forgiven for thinking at times that he and Lan Xichen are twins (like Wei Wuxian did in the past) due to how similar they look, even though the latter is actually older than him by a few years.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He shows the "ice" side by default but is warmer towards his brother, Lan Sizhui, and (most importantly) Wei Wuxian. The latter as a teen correctly pointed out (even though he was only teasing at the time) that Lan Wangji would hide his emotions beneath an icy veneer. According to Lan Xichen, he has always been that way since he was a child — the more he's teased, the more guarded he acts.
• Sweet Tooth: Lan Wangji's implied to have a fondness for sweet food. In the "Dream Come True" extra, he stubbornly bites onto a candied haw Wei Wuxian gives him. The audio drama also features a flashback where a young Lan Xichen got him to smile by promising him some candy later.
• Sword and Sorcerer: While both are proficient in both combat and cultivation, in the present time Wei Wuxian serves mainly as the Sorceror due to his use of demonic cultivation while Lan Wangji acts as the Sword and primarily fights as a swordsman if not as a guqin player.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Lan Wangji is tall, has raven black hair, and is considered handsome. His stoic disposition and his reputation as a cold and distant man contributes to the image further.
• Team Dad: Alongside Wei Wuxian, he takes an active role protecting and guiding the junior disciples (both within and outside his clan), but he's far more stern and a bit more distant than his partner.
• The Teetotaler: Like the rest of his clan, he refrains from drinking to abide by the clan rules (which is beneficial for him as his low resistance to alcohol proves to cause him a lot of trouble). However, he makes a few exceptions of sharing a cup with Wei Wuxian.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • During the Sunshot Campaign, Lan Wangji cooperated with Wei Wuxian but were not on the best of terms due to their disagreements over demonic cultivation. After the war ended, their relationship become more civil, but they remained distant due to the same issue. Wei Wuxian does note that while they had their disagreements, they didn't argue as often and intensely as the outsiders believed them to be.
  • Downplayed with Wen Ning. While it's shown from Lan Wangji's drunk episodes that he doesn't like how close Wei Wuxian is with the man in question, he doesn't dislike Wen Ning and in fact completely trusts him in protecting both his companion and junior disciples. The two even share an amicable moment after Wen Ning defends Wei Wuxian from Jiang Cheng and reveals that he knows about Lan Sizhui's true identity.
• Thicker Than Water: Downplayed. When Lan Wangji injured 33 elders of his clan to stop them from turning in Wei Wuxian to the other clans, he did not regret protecting the latter. However, he also knew that he committed a grievous crime against his own family, and so willingly went back to his clan and let himself be punished with the discipline whip.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Almost all his life, Lan Wangji was taught to compose himself and to never act on emotions, causing him to be repressed. After his experiences with Wei Wuxian and his Character Development, his icy exterior slowly thaws. His core personality remains the same, but he's learned to become livelier, especially with the love of his life. The "Dreams Come True" extra even has him smiling more than once at the affection Wei Wuxian showers him with.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • The donghua has him keep Wei Wuxian's Clarity Bell, which he found while looking for him after the latter's disappearance during the Sunshot Campaign and after the Lotus Pier massacre. This comes in handy later on when Wei Wuxian is nearly overwhelmed by the effects of the Curse Mark and only recovers after the bell restrains the curse. Lan Wangji hands it back to him afterward, but gets told to keep it as a Friendship Trinket, which he is touched by.
  • A donghua flashback shows a young Lan Wangji with a rattle drum, which he gave to the Street Urchin Wei Wuxian in an act of compassion (although neither of them remember. One of the trailers for the chibi spinoff hints that it originally belonged to his mother.
• Tranquil Fury: He's much more expressive in showing his anger if it's simply due to Wei Wuxian annoying him. If he's angry for other reasons, however, he shows it via a scarily calm demeanour.
• Tsundere: Although he usually has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality, Wei Wuxian specifically brought out his more irritable side when the two were students. As a result, Lan Wangji would often appear angry at the other teen even while trying to fight his feelings. However that didn't stop his softer side from occasonally emerging around his crush, such as when they were trapped together at Xuanwu Cave.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Downplayed. Throughout the entire story, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji remained at least subconsciously in love with the other. However, during the former's first life, they both attempted to approach the other only to be rejected or ignored before their positions were later reversed.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Even when their feelings become painfully clear, to the point that even the story's antagonists can see it, various misunderstandings and circumstances prevent Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji from realizing their mutual love and getting together until the end.
• When She Smiles: Being The Stoic, Lan Wangji has never smiled or really have shown much of an expression (with his brother being the only one who can read him). So when he finally does, everyone is stunned, even his brother.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Downplayed. Whether inebriated or sober, Lan Wangji sticks to saying only the truth. If he's confronted with a question he doesn't want to answer, he stays quiet. However, he's capable of lying if he wants or needs to, such as covering up for someone else (like in the audio drama when he caught Wei Wuxian being harassed by a dog).
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Gender-inverted. He and his brother are considered two of the most good-looking male cultivators of their generation. However, the narration notes that while both are seen as equally handsome, Lan Xichen's geniality gives him an edge over his younger brother in terms of charm.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Wei Wuxian usually refers to Lan Wangji by birth name. The few times he does call him by his courtesy name, he's either furious with him or having a very serious and intense moment with him.

Tropes that apply to Lan Wangji in The Untamed only

^{Click here to see Lan Wangji as a child} 

• Adaptational Backstory Change: In the series, he received his whip scars not from attacking the Lan Clan elders but from acting against the Jin Clan in the aftermath of Wei Wuxian's death.
• Adaptation Personality Change: He's still an Ice King in and eventually becomes a Defrosting Ice King, but as a teen he warmed up to Wei Wuxian a lot faster than he did in the novel. While he's still The Stoic, he has less difficulty speaking out his thoughts and feelings, and is also more expressive.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Downplayed. While Lan Wangji is indifferent towards Su She (who has a one-sided hatred for him) in the novel, he downright dislikes him in the web series. This is explained by Su She's Adaptational Backstory Change that involved him nearly endangering the entire Lan Clan had it not been for Lan Wangji turning himself in to the Wen Clan. Any interactions the two had after the event involved Lan Wangji being outright cold to the latter, and in the final arc Lan Wangji bluntly tells Su She that he doesn't tolerate traitors.
• Big Good: He is one of the morally righteous characters in the show and succeeds Jin Guangyao as the Cultivation Chief.
• Character Tics: Whenever he gets jealous of someone else catching Wei Wuxian's attention for a bit too long, he starts abruptly walking away.
• Even the Guys Want Him: There's a whole scene of Nie Huaisang admiring Lan Wangji's looks and waxing on about it.
• Eyes Always Averted: When faced with people he dislikes or he finds annoying, he never looks at them directly in the eye. When he does, it's either because he's directly addressing them, they managed to push some of his buttons, or because he's confronting them back.
• Friendless Background: In the series, he directly told Wei Wuxian that he's used to doing everything alone, making his lack of social life more explicit.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Although he and Wei Wuxian are no longer love interests in The Untamed due to Chinese censorship, much of their original dynamic remains intact and they are so close to one another that they consider each other soulmates. ^note the original term is zhiji, which can mean soulmate but has less romantic/intimate connotations than the English word and leans more towards "kindred spirits"
• I Will Find You: Jiang Cheng directly asks Lan Wangji if he's been spending the past few years "searching for someone", to which Lan Wangji doesn't answer. Later on, he confirms to Wei Wuxian that he did look for him by searching the Nightless Immortal Capital for any remains.
• My Greatest Second Chance: While drunk, he tells Wei Wuxian that he feels guilty for not standing by his side during the battle at the Nightless Immortal Capital, which is why he's so insistent on helping him in the present.
• Noiseless Walker: Lan Wangji has very graceful mannerisms and always maintains a perfect posture, and this is reflected in how he almost glides while he walks.
• Perpetual Frowner: While he's still The Stoic, one can't be blamed for thinking that he has a permanent look of cold disapproval due to his resting face.
• Reverse Arm-Fold: He tends to walk with one hand behind his back and the other hand holding his sword.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Unlike the novel, the series has him summon his instrument out of thin air whenever he needs to use it. Confusingly, however, there are a few instances where he does carry it with him.

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