So ranking the characters. this is going to be massive. First off, i don't particularly wanna include the legends like da mo, du gu qiu bai, dong fan bu bai, xiao yao zi etc cos they didn't even fight. my criteria to be ranked is that the character must at least fight with someone, or there's no confirmation.
And if they actually fought but its outside of the ones i watched, of course i can't comment also.
The most famous ones are tian long ba bu, and the condor trilogy she diao yin xiong zuan, shen diao xia lu, yi tian tu long, xiao ao jiang hu, lu ding ji. I didn't watch xiao ao jiang hu so that one is out of this ranking. Lu ding ji, its so late in the series that the kungfu already degen like crazy. Wei Xiao Bao is my fav jin yong protagonist, but he sucks compared to all the other protagonist, so there's no point in adding ludingji characters into the ranking also since they will all be at the bottom. So just tian long ba bu and the condor trilogy.
First off, lets get this out of the way. The famous "sweeper monk", the one that fought at the end of tian long ba bu. He is #1, nobody else comes close. Facts. Yes, Jin Yong publicly stated that yang guo is #1, but i interpreted what he said as #1 of the protagonists. it would be freakin weird if he said to the reporter "sweeper monk" who is such a minuscule character i dunno if jin yong even remembers him.
Next, to compare between eras, i feel the best way is to compare the protagonists, since we have the most info about them.
Tian long ba bu: qiao feng, duan yu, xu zhu. Xu zhu has the best nei li, and duan yu learnt the best kungfu, but comeon, there's no comparison here, qiao feng is #1 among the 3 and it isn't even close, xu zhu is dumb (facts), duan yu is lazy. At 30, i would say qiao feng is actually the number 1 protagonist among all the 4 novels, but unfortunately he died young so he maxed out at a young age whereas the others continued improving. Therefore, i can't put him above yang guo.
However, if we look past the fact that qiao feng/xiao feng died at 30, qiao feng is the true greatest of all time in the jin yong series. He is the true legend, even above da mo and sweeper monk. At age 30, he already dominated the wulin world, in an age where the kung fu was not lost yet (quite early in the jin yong series). If he lived to an old age like the other legends, he would probably have surpassed them all. I'm talking about the legends that cannot even be compared, like du gu qiu bai, da mo, sweeper monk. Xiao feng was such a prodigy that he was the only actual character in the series who had the potential to surpass those people. Nobody else, not even yang guo, had the rate of growth that xiao feng did. And note that he did this all on his own. Without any random kung fu super secret manual, or an old master passing his abilities to him. He did this completely through his own hard work and intellect. That is a true master. And above all, he was the only one who sacrificed himself for decades of peace for the citizens. Nobody in the jin yong series will ever deserve to be compared to xiao feng. He stands alone, above every one else in both kung fu and character. He is Jin Yong's attempt at a completely perfect person, someone who will never exist in real life. And Jin Yong did a damn good job, because Xiao Feng is basically perfect.
She diao yin xiong zhuan: guo jing. He's the least impressive protagonist for me, the kid is dumb (facts). He's still badass, but he pales in comparison to yang guo.
Shen diao xia lu: Yang guo. Yang guo is #1 among all 4 (qiao feng, guo jing, yang guo, zhang wuji). Comeon, even jin yong said it himself. And to me, its obvious from the start. Yang guo is obviously the most intelligent among all of them, and its not even close, he might be one of the smartest characters in the entire jin yong universe. He also knows A TON of world-beating kungfu, including jiu yin zhen jin for nei li and freaking du gu jiu jian's sword skills. Yes, the guy does have a major handicap compared to the rest with only 1 arm (thanks guo fu, althou he probably wouldn't reach this level without that happening), but he has the biggest freakin sword and he somehow can fight with his sleeve also probably cos xiao long nu's kung fu involves fighting with your clothes rofl
Yi tian tu long ji: Zhang wu ji. He's supposed to be smart but simple. Comeon, that doesn't even work for me. Yang guo is smart. Simple people aren't smart. If they are, they're hardworking. Thats a fact of life. Because hardworking people will surpass lazy smart people everytime. But someone who is smart AND hardworking like yang guo destroys zhang wu ji every single time. And ZWJ isn't even the strongest guy in his novel, for me zhang san feng is superior to him although i know he's a weak fat guy in the famous jet li adaptation, but he's a badass. the guy created tai ji, u see old kung fu masters practicing that at your basketball court every morning comeon. Whereas for Shen diao, yang guo has surpassed every one of the old masters by the end of the series (hong qi gong, ou yang feng, huang yao shi). Also, ZWJ is a chickendick. He's really kind but letting his parents' killers go is freakin faggy. i agree with like zero of his decisions.
Maybe i'll have some biasness towards yang guo just cos i find his personality most similar to mine. Some of the other characters can really annoy me with their decisions, but yang guo seems to always do the thing i would do too (even the mistakes.) I like the way he stands by his unpopular decisions too. oh except when he threw away the medicine xiao long nu got for him. that was a dick move, yang guo. i dun care that the author told u secretly that you would be getting the medicine later anyway, ur chick risked her life to get u that medicine, you fking eat it up!
and the worst person ever is guo fu. and for someone who's actually okay with the universally agreed evil ah zi thats saying alot. probably the reason i can't stand guo fu is because she's so realistic, while someone thats so evil like the villains isn't particularly realistic in real life. there are rarely people who are bad to the bone. but someone like guo fu is a dime a dozen. gong sun lue, cheng ying and lu wu shuang are so much better. girls, when you like someone, don't annoy them to get a response like guo fu. actually thats bad advice; i won't deny that that kind of nonsense actually works on some guys. its a fact that masochists like guo fu. annoying guys you like is primary school stuff. i've always fallen for girls who are nice to me when they like me. and even if i dont like them back in the end, i've been so good to them that we're like siblings. and i've dealt with my fair share of girls who annoy me to provoke a response because i ignore them and the ignoring makes them feel crappy. i don't care if thats just going to make them provoke me more, i don't need any more guo fus in my life. who cares if you're hot or even a model, wang zhikai is not that type of man.
Anyway enough digressing. Back to the comparison.
So Yang Guo > Qiao Feng > Guo Jing > Zhang Wu Ji
yi tian tu long, being the latest in the series, but not that long after shen diao tbf (guo xiang created e-mei and mie jue was only the 3rd generation, althou she was old af), would reasonably have the weakest kung fu. However, using the main protagonist to compare is unfair. Naturally, we cannot use the mini characters like the sweeper monk in tian long ba bu and yang guo's great great great (number of greats is a calculated guess) grand daughter in yi tian tu long to compare, because they had so little air time we know nothing about them, except that they were on a different level from the strongest of their respective eras. However, we do know enough about Zhang San Feng to use him as comparison, and ZWJ is inferior to ZSF, I can't see ZSF losing to Guo Jing, although it is an impossible comparison.
All these just goes to show that comparing between eras is insane, and the only conclusion I can draw is that Yang Guo is the king due to protagonist hax (which ZSF does not enjoy), a long lifetime of training (which Qiao Feng does not enjoy) and high intellect (which Guo Jing and Zhang Wu Ji do not enjoy). I would put Qiao Feng above Guo Jing and ZWJ based on timeline. Tian long ba bu is so much before she diao, shen dia and yi tian tu long that the kung fu at that time would be higher, since unlike technology nowadays where it improves, in those times, in ancient china it was a much different mentality, where people were secretive and hid their techniques, thus you actually lost good kung fu overtime instead of refining it.
Also, Yang Guo has the hottest wife.
Now, to compare within the Eras themselves.
Seeing as Yang Guo is already #1 among the protagonists, lets start with shen diao xia lu.
Yang Guo is #1 in the series. There is no sweeper monk in this series. The only one is du gu qiu bai and he wasn't even alive in the show. Also, Yang Guo probably mastered dgqb's kungfu, with his high intelligence and the fact that he probably did nothing but train dgqb kungfu in the 16 year separation from xiao long nu.
#2 is a tough choice between jin lun and guo jing. guo jing was stronger for most of the series, but its obvious that jin lun took a big step in the 16 year separation as well, being strong enough to hold off yi deng, huang yaoshi and zhou bo tong at the same time, although probably none of them were going all out because at that level, its embarrassing to gang up on a guy. If forced, because of this, i'll put Jin Lun Guo Shi as #2 and Guo Jing as #3, but its close.
Next, we have the 5 greats, yi deng, huang yao shi, zhou bo tong, ou yang feng and hong qi gong.
These 5 are impossible to rank. Their abilities are so close i believe that the only fair thing to do is to make them all equal. However, if we use logic, it is possible to get a clear ranking.
Firstly, Ou Yang Feng and Hong Qi Gong were evenly matched at their death, this was extremely clear in their final battle. Also, they were by far the earliest of the greatest to die. This means the other greats had an additional 20-30 years to train (depending on how long they lived for), and doubtlessly surpassed these 2 in the end.
#7=#8=Ou Yang Feng + Hong Qi Gong
for #6, the obvious choice is Zhou Bo Tong, he was the latest to become a great (the great he replaced was his senior), although his left-right technique is incredible.
For 4 and 5, i'll have to put yi deng as #4 and huang yao shi as #5. Yi yang zi (yi deng's go-to technique) is known to be superior to tang zi shen tong (hys' go-to technique), so yi deng wins on that basis.
Either way, between the 5 greats, the comparison is for the sake of comparison, and aside from ZBT, we all know they are basically equal.
Next, below the greats we have huang rong, xiao long nu and li mo chou. All 3 chicks, coincidence? Tsk tsk jin yong
I have xln #9, huang rong #10, and li mo chou #11, although there is quite a gap between #8 and #9. But xln is a badass, although she got weakened after yg and her got back together, just like yg got weaker cos they lost their hatred and loneliness which fueled their techniques. But that one-limit-break before she got back together with yg was so damn IMPRESSIVE that she has to be the next after the greats. When she took on jin lun, his cronies, and qiu chu ji and all his cronies. No way huang rong would ever be able to do that. Also, xln has zhou bo tong's left-right technique. She's on a diff level from the other 2. Huang rong is obviously superior to li mo chou, and after that there's really no one in the series worthy of being in the rankings. In fact, li mo chou is pushing it, but damn she's hot.
Next, lets get yi tian tu long ji out of the way. Everyone who's seen the series or read the novel knows this. ignoring the mini chars like yang guo's great great ... grand daughter, #1 and #2 Zhang San Feng and Zhang Wu Ji, whichever way you want to put it (its hard to argue this) have a MASSIVE gap from everyone else in this novel. Lets get the fights out of the way: Yes, Zhou Zhi Ruo beat ZWJ, but its obvious that he was holding back like mad cos he had the major hots for her (why wouldn't anybody, ZZR >>> ZM in hotness and wifeyness, althou she was slightly psychotic but that adds to the excitement... doesn't it? DOESN'T IT???). Yes, the 3 monks guarding Xie Xun were pretty badass but ZWJ could handle all 3 by himself, even if he struggled, thats a power gap if not anything else; one on one he would crush any of them. So on average, Yi tian tu long ji is really low in kung fu ability compared to the other 2 series (even the highest ranking shaolin monks seemed like uneducated punks, and the 3 "legendary" monks like retards compared to the enlightenedness of the sweeper monk in tian long ba bu), and only the #1 and #2 ranked are comparable to the other novels. ZWJ is obviously the hero and thus has protagonist hax, and ZSF trained and studied his entire life, and was a kung fu genius, creating one of the best techniques of all time. I can't see ZWJ defeating ZSF, tbh, and i can see ZSF totally schooling ZWJ with technique and experience. Either way, lets rank em:
#1 Zhang San Feng (as argued above)
#2 Zhang Wu Ji
#3 Yang Guo's great great great granddaughter
Hard to compare this one but i dun wanna put a minor char above ZSF and ZWJ unless they really proved their overpoweredness like sweeper monk. Yang Jie Jie didn't really do that amazing, she fragged ZZR once in the whole show.
MASSIVE GAP
#4 3 shaolin elder monks
#5 Zhou Zhi Ruo
There's no doubt she was below #3 and #4, while ZWJ was pwning one of the monks, she was getting pwned by the other monk (the last monk was kinda chillin'). Also, she got pwned by Yang Guo's great... granddaughter which wasn't surprising, descendant of yg and xln is obviously OP.
To be continued.
1 comment:
You forgot Wang Chongyang who's is can beat the 5 greats you listed. He was reaching old age, but beat the others.
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