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WARNING: Unmarked spoilers ahead, please self-advise. Various tropes here contain major plot spoilers!
Despite being a puppet show, a lot of the deaths are incredibly graphic with lots of Body Horror and bloody explosions. The manga however takes the Gorn up to eleven.
Season 1
Yao Tu Li, the Demon God from the War of Fading Dusk
Episode 1: Code of Umbrellas- Mie Tian Hai's soliloquy can be this when he makes his introduction." All life is a prelude to death. To serve me until you are a corpse, or to be cut down and become one. You have only two options before my blade."
- The scene where Dan Fei's brother sacrifices himself in order to buy her time to escape with the guard of the Tian Xing Jian. Mie Tian Hai blows up Dian Ming with just his hand.
- After Can Xiong finds out the name of his opponent, he decapitates himself so that his master can read his severed head's memories.
Episode 2: Attack of the Xuan Gui Zong!
- The scene where two of Shou Yun Xiao's arrows land on the mooks with one piercing through the neck and the second through the chest.
Episode 3: The Woman in Night Devil Forest
- According to Shou Yun Xiao and Juan Can Yun about Xing Hai, she makes young elixirs from fresh butchered livers of children and chopped up 100 beautiful boys to make an ideal living doll. That's a rumor about her.
- The rumors they heard from are actually confirmed in the novel.
Episode 5: The Sword Devil, Sha Wu Sheng
- Xing Hai's suggestion of getting the Soul Echo Flute from Sha Wu Sheng is a spell that turns the blood of a corpse into acid and then bursting forth. She was thinking using this on Sha Wu Sheng while still alive. Once dead, his remains would be melted into nothing, along with his foe.
- Sha Wu Sheng's soliloquy before facing off with Shang Bu Huan."Although ravens now bring news of life and death, people still persist uncertainly; since none can truly fathom fate, I shall end it with one stroke of the sword."
Episode 12: A Blade That Doesn't Cut
- Diao Ming's death, where Shang Bu Huan makes his rib-cage explode out of this body... through his back!
Episode 13: A New Duty
- Yao Tu Li's full appearance after the seal was broken thanks to Mie Tian Hai's major breakdown after his fight with Lin Xue Ya.
- Yao Tu Li's appearance resembles a humanoid praying mantis skeleton corpse with their mouth their forehead. And it has multiple tongues.
- Though it's useful in banishing Yao Tu Li, Shang Bu Huan reveals that many of the dangerous swords he guards were created by rogue smiths and magicians on a whim. To wit, someone created a sword that tosses people into space just because they could, and if Shang's dialogue from when he used it against the demon lord is of any indication, it's been used for that purpose at least once.
Season 2
Episode 1: Xiān Zhèn Fortress
- After Ling Ya informs Shang Bu Huan about Xie Yingluo arriving in Dong Li, he has a horrible realization that one of his dangerous enemies has been following him without noticing, and he just left the Sorcerous Sword Index unguarded.
- In the end, Shang Bu Huan ends up losing part of the Sorcerous Sword Index to Xie Yingluo. Who knows what she's planning to do next.
- What's worse, thanks to Xiao Kuang Juan's manipulation, now the government of Dong Li is now chasing down Shang Bu Huan.
Episode 3: Princess of Cruelty
- After Shang Bu Huan and Lang Wu Yao escaped, Xiao Kuang Juan and his men slaughter the villagers who are mind-controlled by Xie Yingluo.
- What's worse is that Shang Bu Huan assumes the villagers are alright for now because the mind control ends if they are knocked out or naturally lose consciousness during sleep, but he never realizes that the villagers are killed by Xiao Kuang Juan and his men.
Episode 5: Hellfire Valley
- When the Death King appears, the first thing he does is killing and eating his kind in the most bloody and horrifying way. It shows that he's the most dangerous and cruel dragon who lives in Hellfire Valley and one of the reasons why no one has escaped his territory.
Episode 8: The Song That Dooms Evil
- Xie Yingluo's mind has been completely corrupted by the Seven Blasphemous Deaths as she began slaughtering her master and subordinates. However, it turns out to be a nightmare. It chills her to her spine after waking up.
Episode 10:Demonic Swords/Holy Swords
- In the end, it is revealed that Lou Zhen Jie's main goal is to destroy all of the Shen Hui Mo Xie so nothing can threatened the Seven Blasphemous Deaths. If he had been able to do so, there would have been no recourse against an invasion from the demon realm.
Season 3
Episode 5: Legend of The Demon Princess
- Zhao Jun Lin pretended to be a human and seduced the Xi-You Emperor, proceeding to corrupt him into a brutal tyrant who killed countless people at her whim and his. She implies this is the reason he dynasty became so corrupt and bloodthirsty, even to this day, effectively making her the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire series.
- Zhao Jun Lin's soul is trapped inside a holy sword wielded by one of the Hu Yin Shi guardians and placed inside a storehouse for 150 years. She waits until she encounters the unnamed Hu Yin Shi who is a descendent of the Hu Yin Shi guardian who stabbed her. To exact her revenge, she brainwashes his descendent and make him butcher his entire family (wife, parents, siblings, and children) with their blood splashing all over his home. She sees him imprisoned as a crazed murderer and no one suspects it was the sword that bewitched him. She wants make sure his legacy ends with the murderer she brainwashed.
Episode 9 - The Cross-Time Guardian
- After Bù Huàn and Wū Yáo intervene and prevent Xíng Hài from using their initial time travel, Xíng Hài suspects Xuě Yā was behind this scheme and calls him in to interrogate him. He initially tries to smooth talk his way through, but then she tricks him into looking at the Seven Blasphemous Deaths, which he's unable to resist and becomes her new wielder.
Episode 10 - Secrets of Sacred Swords
- It's both a tearjerker and nightmare fuel. Azibělpher shows Lang Wu Yao a glimpse of the future where the demon god Yao Tu Li is released from its seal and begins destroying Dong-Li, since if Lang Wu Yao changes the past in order to save Mu Tian Ming, Shang Bu Huan won't have any reason to leave Xi-You and won't able to re-seal the demon god again and prevent him from destroying the world. Lang Wu Yao chooses not to interfere and change the past since he can't risk that his actions will result in a bad future to save the just to save the person he cares the most and erase Shang Bu Huan's reason for leaving them.
Episode 13 - Zhào Jūn Lín
- After being stabbed by the original sword that became Seven Blasphemous Deaths, Zhào Jūn Lín and Lou Zhen Jie are sent to space where the latter dies and the former is left all by herself trapped in the sword and with Lou's corpse for company. This makes Zhào Jūn truly trapped and alone in space with no one to find or help her. There's no way to contact anyone due to her soul being trapped inside the sword. This is far worse than being kept stored in the storehouse and sealed inside the the Sorcerous Sword Index.
Manga
Chapter 4
- The village chief begs Mie Tian Hai to spare his grandson and village, and gives him a sword that was left by a blacksmith's stock. His response was using said sword to cut the chief in half. After that, he killed the grandson out of boredom.
Chapter 6:
- In the manga, rather than Shou Yun Xiao letting Lie Mei retreat from battle, he attempted to finished her off as he was seen pulling out his dagger, showing that he's less merciful than his show counterpart.
Chapter 7:
- After Lie Mei's defeat by Shou Yun Xiao and disgrace of the Onyx Demons, Mie Tian Hai punished her by using one of his techniques to force her to relive the scene if she hadn't been able to escape. She looks terrified and repeatedly gets shot by the illusion of Shou Yun Xiao, getting wounded through the chest, leg and one of her eyes. Lie Mei's suffering is so bad that you may feel sorry for her.
Chapter 15:
- After Chyou Mei reports Lie Mei's condition, Betsutengai considers peeling off her skin as another way to wake her up.
Chapter 16:
- In the manga adaption where Lie Mei's death is completely different from the puppet show, Setsuamusho cuts her in half vertically with one slash.
Chapter 19:
- The expression Diao Ming made toward the end of the chapter is very disturbing while carrying an unconscious Dan Fei. He tells Xuan Gui Zong members that they will escort her to Mie Tian Hai.
- Not only does Dan Fei get captured by the Xuan Gui Zong, but neither Shang Bu Huan nor Lin Xue Ya realize it even happened, having flown off beforehand.
Chapter 20:
- After Dan Fei refuses to submit on handing over the second half of Tengyouken to Diao Ming, he gives her an unpleasant and disturbing look. He lowers her chains and pins her down to the ground. Diao Ming takes off his robe and tears off Dan Fei's dress from the back. The scene makes it look like he was about to rape her.
- Subverted in the next chapter.
- Diao Ming wants to find out how long Dan Fei would last before he proceed to torture her. He also said if she refused to submit to his master, then she will submit to him instead.
Chapter 21:
- In the manga, it is much different than the episode it's based off of. Dan Fei gets captured by the Oxyx Demons, and is tortured and traumatized so badly that she passes out.
- Dan Fei is horrified after waking up only to discover her brother's head right in front of her. This comes after having a dream about him being alive and well.
- After Diao Ming steals the second half of Tengyouken, he explains he grew impatient of asking her, so he decide to search where she hid it, and he tells her that he saw every "hidden part" of her body. The expression he made doesn't make the scene any better. Dan Fei is horrified and completely shuts down afterwards.
Chapter 29:
- Diao Ming's death is different than the show, having a giant bloody hole blasted through his chest after being killed by Shang Bu Huan.
Chapter 31:
- During Xing Hai's ritual, it is revealed that she mutilated Shou Yun Xiao's corpse and used his blood as another method to reawaken You Ja Rei.
Novels
Thunderbolt Fantasy Gaiden:
- In the novel reveals Xing Hai's past:
- A human girl named Luan Niangzi, Xing Hai partner up with she seduced men, kill and butcher them and give her body parts she need to make her dolls, puppets and corpses she summons. The rumors that Shou Yun Xiao and Juan Can Yun stated in both the show and manga are actually true. Although the first rumor was sort of true about her making young elixirs, but the materials she used to make it wasn't fully stated.
- Luan Niangzi ends up meeting her tragic end after Lin Xue Ya manipulated Xing Hai of hating her by given her an reversal elixir that revert back to her true age or turning her into unattractive old woman. Not only she had her pride destroyed by Lin, but she end up killed by one of her men she seduced.
Film
Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death
- Sha Wu Sheng reciting his soliloquy towards the end of the film."Although ravens now bring news of life and death, people still persist uncertainly; since none can truly fathom fate, I shall end it with one strike of my blade."
