(CR) Thunderbolt Fantasy

[B214]

Yeah there are rule, code of honor etc that they have to attend to.

An example would be like 人情/恩 (favor) like maybe if Man A rescues Man B's wife or kid before, he owns Man A a favor, then if they cross path again perhaps as enemies, Man B would be bound by honor to let Man A go.

[Tak]

Though this has been compared to your typical wuxia gig, I am not too sure how 'Chinese' or Wuxia of a setting this one is. Its got characters with names no Chinese person would ever have (they are more like statements) and obvious Japanese motifs. At this point, I'd just call this piece Eastern Fantasy, and leave it at that.

Then again, even TB's predecessors had been deviating from the traditional wuxia route for quite a while.

- Tak

[jeroz]

Originally Posted by felix

Can you elaborate on your thoughts on the term?

here's a good quote I found:

"Jianghu is a word that appeared during the Ming dynasty, and is used to describe the world of the you-xia (wandering heroes). The word originally referred to places where hermits lived, but eventually came to designate what has been termed as the Underworld, the World of Vagrants, or sometimes the World of Martial Arts. For Once Upon a Time in China the literal translation of River-lake will be used. The historical River-lake, refers to the world of secret societies and bandits. The fictional River-lake includes the Wulin, and is composed of wanderers of slender means, with no fixed abode. Its denizens include xia, lumpen intelligentsia, adventurers, monks, priests, rebels, cultists, unemployed peasants and laborers, itinerant peddlers, beggars, disbanded soldiers, gangsters, smugglers, and other outcasts of society. To these people, the River-lake provided a substitute lineage, which offered them the assistance and protection that they did not receive from mainstream society."

Essentially similar to the Underbelly but with a lot more adherence to the Confucius/Buddhist way of behaviours instead of the ruffian western values. Oh and a lot more martial artists instead of mobs with guns. Way less organised crimes if at all, but more of martial art training and so on.

Ip Man has some cool demonstrations (as with many other martial art films) about the culture.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by jeroz

Way less organised crimes if at all, but more of martial art training and so on.

I am not sure that applies for the Pili universe.

There is a major character who's career involves burying all the dead people left to rot on the streets, and his payment is whatever possessions that the dead guy had on him. He is comedic relief, but the nature of shows like these is that there is always a lot of murder going on.

[chaos_animagic]

Originally Posted by Tak

Though this has been compared to your typical wuxia gig, I am not too sure how 'Chinese' or Wuxia of a setting this one is. Its got characters with names no Chinese person would ever have (they are more like statements) and obvious Japanese motifs. At this point, I'd just call this piece Eastern Fantasy, and leave it at that.

Then again, even TB's predecessors had been deviating from the traditional wuxia route for quite a while.

- Tak

actually... a lot if not all of Chinese Wuxia novels all have names like them in it... They always try to make it as "cool" sounding as possible.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by chaos_animagic

actually... a lot if not all of Chinese Wuxia novels all have names like them in it... They always try to make it as "cool" sounding as possible.

I think that highly depends. I am a bit old school, so my memories are rather fixed on classics like Condor Heroes trilogy and other works by the same author. Names in there are rather... 'normal', imo.

- Tak

[chaos_animagic]

Lets see, main character's names.

Condor Hero:
郭靖 Guō Jìng
黃蓉 Huáng Róng
楊康 Yáng Kāng
穆念慈 Mù Niàncí

Thunderbolt Fantasy:
凜雪鴉 Lǐn Xuě Yā
殤不患 Shāng Bù Huàn
丹翡 Dān Fěi

Naming looks pretty similar sounding

Also, apparently I just noticed Thunderbolt Fantasy's names are also to suggest their "looks"

Lǐn Xuě Yā = Snow Crow (cause he has feathers around his neck)
Shāng Bù Huàn = Unconcerned with Dying (fits his personality where he doesn't give a shit most of the times, lol)

Dān Fěi = actually not sure on this one, suppose to be "Red something"

[Tak]

丹翡 Dān Fěi means Red Kingfisher (a type of bird)

As for the names you listed for Condor Hero? Its not the sounds. Its how its written, the written-character composition. Characters in the Condor Heroes have very usual Chinese family names and naming composition. Whereas Thunderbolt Fantasy presents names that aren't any of that and more akin to callsigns & nicknames.

郭靖 Guō Jìng
黃蓉 Huáng Róng
楊康 Yáng Kāng
穆念慈 Mù Niàncí

All these names have very standard Chinese naming composition, with very usual last names. They wouldn't be out of place in today's world. But not many ppl, if any, is going to have a name resembling anything close to 殤不患.
- Tak

[B214]

Well i'm 殺無生 is the best example of all.

[Ottocycle]

Wuxia naming convention is of course, up to the writers. However character names (not nicknames which usually come with a reputation and lore) which dovetail with their overall theme and demeanour are not unheard of prior.

Hong Kong's Louis Cha, who wrote the Condor Heroes series isn't really known for making outlandish names which are unique and generally indicative of their theme/allegiances/motivations. Closer to Thunderbolt Fantasy's native Taiwan though, there's the other wuxia luminary Gu Long who does have at least some penchant for naming his characters as such:

楚留香
花满楼
西門吹雪

etc etc.

[Tak]

I have to admit, my favorite name from wuxia gigs is:

東方不敗


THE EAST IS INVINCIBLE!

- Tak

[qwerty3w]

At least 楚, 花, 西門, 東方 are real life Chinese surnames. But Taiwanese TV puppet shows tend to have names like 亂世狂刀, 愁落暗塵 or 劍君十二恨, which is another level. They no longer sound like names, more like nicknames or titles.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by qwerty3w

At least 楚, 花, 西門, 東方 are real life Chinese surnames. But Taiwanese TV puppet shows tend to have names like 亂世狂刀, 愁落暗塵 or 劍君十二恨, which is another level. They no longer sound like names, more like nicknames or titles.

Many of these people tend to not have any families we know of. So the assumption IMO is that these people have long since abandoned their birth names and adopted nicknames.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by qwerty3w

At least 楚, 花, 西門, 東方 are real life Chinese surnames. But Taiwanese TV puppet shows tend to have names like 亂世狂刀, 愁落暗塵 or 劍君十二恨, which is another level. They no longer sound like names, more like nicknames or titles.

The settings are also very often fictional, and not adhering to any historic Chinese dynasties.

And now with guns.

- Tak

[qwerty3w]

Originally Posted by Tak

The settings are also very often fictional, and not adhering to any historic Chinese dynasties.

Yeah, now with guns.

- Tak

金光布袋戲 was adhering to Ming dynasty China before 決戰時刻, and it didn't stop the show maker using the names like 藏鏡人 or 黑白郎君. Ming dynasty already have firearms, so guns are not that out of place.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by qwerty3w

金光布袋戲 was adhering to Ming dynasty China Before 決戰時刻, and it didn't stop the show maker using the names like 藏鏡人 or 黑白郎君. Ming dynasty already have firearms, so guns are not that out of place.

You sorta expect muskets ya know, not semi-auto magic bullets.

- Tak

[qwerty3w]

Originally Posted by Tak

You sorta expect muskets ya know, not semi-auto magic bullets.

- Tak

That show stopped being setted in China after 三弦 took the position of lead writer anyway.
But the gun in the show was made by 魯家, they made plenty of wood and bronze robots in Taiwanese historic RPGs.

[RobotCat]

My favorite crazy Wuxia name is Gu Long's 西門吹雪

Mostly because I watched this one movie with his character in english subtitles and they translated his name to 'Simon the Snowblower'

[felix]

What does it actually translate to?

[erneiz_hyde]

I don't read Chinese, but I know enough Japanese to actually laugh at that lol. The snowblower straightforward "avalanche", but that Simon is written with "west gate". I laughed because it does sound like Simon when read