Return of the One-Armed Swordsman is a 1969 wuxia movie starring Jimmy Wang Yu as the titular One-Armed Warrior.
After defeating Long-Armed Devil and Smiling Tiger in the previous movie, Fang Kang retires from the action and looks forward to a peaceful life as a farmer with his wife Xiaoman. Unfortunately, trouble comes brewing when a new organization of villains, the Eight Kings, threaten to take over China's swordsmen clans.
Tropes applying to Return of the One-Armed Swordsman:
- Asshole Victim: Shan Xiong, the student who kidnaps Xiaoman to coerce Fang Kang into fighting the Eight Kings. He gets a Cruel and Unusual Death from Ape's Arms.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The Eight Sword Kings who have unique weapons and fighting styles:
- The Furtive King has an extendable sword which he hides under his sleeve.
- Hercules uses a BFS and simple, brute strength.
- Ape's Arms wields a bladed hook-and-chain.
- Spinning Wheels and his disciples have bladed shields which they can also throw.
- Flying Fighter and his Nine Flying Pupils can jump great heights to take enemies by surprise.
- Hell's Buddha and his Seven Earth Bullies tunnel underground to ambush unsuspecting victims.
- Poison Dragon has a sword that can release smokescreens and fire projectiles.
- Thousand Hands Lady keeps many knives under her dress
- Big Good: Fang Kang reluctantly becomes this.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Despite living in seclusion, everyone eventually finds out who and where Fang Kang is.
- Captured on Purpose: Fang Kang poses as a sword student who's lost his arm in order to enter the Big Bad's fortress and break out the imprisoned masters inside while their students invade from the outside.
- Combat Pragmatist: Some of the tactics used to counter the Eight Kings's unusual fighting styles, such as setting spike traps for Flying Fighter or throwing a net over Hercules before surrounding and finishing him off.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Fang Kang doesn't like being called "master", or by his moniker, "One-Armed Swordsman".
- Evil Plan: The villains kidnap the masters of all the sword schools under the pretense of a tournament and order the students to chop off their right arms or else they will kill the masters.
- Faux Action Girl: Aside from throwing knives, Thousand Hands Lady relies more on seduction and back-stabbing rather than any actual fighting skill and is quickly dispatched after being exposed.
- For the Evulz: The Eight Kings have no real motive for their Evil Plan. Thousand Hands Lady even says "No reason. Just for fun".
- Heroic Sacrifice: One of the students gives in to the villains' demands and hacks off his sword-arm. This act finally convinces Fang Kang to help the students.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ape's Arms and Spinning Wheels are killed by their own distinctive weapons.
- Legendary in the Sequel: Fang Kang's victory over Long-Armed Devil has made him famous even after 2 years.
- Pyrrhic Victory: By the end of the movie, all the villains are dead, but so are all the students (except the one who sacrificed his arm and withdrew from the rest of the conflict).
- Sequel Escalation: Larger setpieces and battles with more characters fighting onscreen.
- Starter Villain: The Black and White Swordsmen who "invite" other sword disciples to the Big Bad's tournament and kill whoever refuses, are easily curbstomped twice by Fang Kang.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: In the intro, Fang Kang only gets 2 bites of his meal, which disappears when another master visits his home to provide Exposition for the film.
