Swordsman (2013) Linghu Chong Character debate and review

[AkiraNasuki]

Heya my first ever post... not sure if this is entirely allowed but I felt I needed someone to rant about things related to Wuxia drama and stuff...

Ok before I get started... I first first got interested in the series when I was a child watching the anime version of Return of Condor Heroes. In recent years I've gotten myself stuck in the modern drama's and I've seen Legend of Condor Heroes (2008), Romance of Condor Heroes (2014) and just completed Swordsman (2013).

Not sure if I should watch Dragon Sabre and Heaven Sword might wait for the 2015 adaption... (my memories of TVB's version is vague).

So basically I'm aware the drama has changed some aspects of the novels but I feel between Dugu Qiubai, Yang Gou and Linghu Chong. LHC isn't all that great... he's a decent protagonist but at same time I felt let down by his character.

To me Linghu Chong is like a mix of Yang Guo and Guo Jing. Being playful and unintentionally womanising with the girls and getting them to fall in love with him like Yang Guo and becoming more serious in the affairs of Wulin in the later parts of the story. As to why I've also compared him to Guo Jing, is because he is also somewhat naive, righteous and merciful towards others.

As a Hero, I don't think he lives up to other protagonist... Or to be specific I just don't see how he is recognized as a great swordsman in 'The Deer and the Cauldron' from what I've heard. I've basically picked up this series because I heard Linghu Chong learns Dugu Nine Swords Style. As a swordsman of his era he is indeed the best but when compared to Yang Guo and Dugu Qiubai it seems inferior. (i'll explain why)

As for Skills like Qi I think Linghu Chong is strong but still not there... his greatest asset is the Great Star Sucking Skill that drains Qi but when face against someone with high reserves of Qi it's becomes less effective. It's threatening but it's not a skill that completely nullify Qi or cannot be over come. If the drainage was high then it would be incredibly deadly but there are villains who came out mildly unaffected by the drain and Qi restoration doesn't seem to be all that great.

When compared with Yang Guo who also practice Dugu's sword techniques in particular strengthening his Qi and strength using his training methods that Dugu used. I think Yang Guo has the better reserve and Qi powers. His original Qi was cultivated by Ancient Tomb Sect teaching and then furthered strengthen by Dugu's training style, but in the end whilst Linghu Chong has the advantage of draining Yang Guo of Qi, it shouldn't be too big of a deal since despair will make Yang Guo stronger if he counters with his Melancholic Palms.

Dugu in his elderly days should have impressive Qi, though maybe not as much as Yang Guo. It should be more potent than Linghu Chong who merely recovered his lost Qi and formed a basis for his Qi Gong.

As for Sword Skill... Well I've seen past debates from years ago on Linghu Chong vs Yang Guo and I personally feel as a swordsman Yang Guo (at the end of the story) is better than Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong was taught the essence and the Dugu Nine Sword Style to overcome different styles of offense. Indeed this is potent but at the same time, I feel this is a style used by the Young Dugu who relied on Speed, offense and Formless style to overcome his enemy.

The reason why I say this is the Young Dugu's sword techniques is because if his style was revived, then who ever found his monument can only learn fis fundamental techinuques. This is because the Heavy Iron Sword was taken and later turned into the Dragon Sabre/Heaven Sword thus removing the chance to master the more advanced sword style techniques of Dugu. (I wouldn't be surprised if Yang Guo took the essence and revived the technique as Dugu Nine Sword Style)

For Yang Guo, whilst he didn't learn the Nine Sword Style. He clearly got to learn the essence of his technique but rather than focus on them to overcome weaponry, he was taught by the condor on how to wield the Heavy Iron Sword and gain a over whelming power boost to compensate his handicap in having one arm. By the end of the series Yang Guo in theory had already mastered the Sword without Sword style and due to weight training from handling the sword he would have faster and more powerful strokes and hit than Linghu Chong.

As for Dugu Qiubai, his younger self would be a even match with Linghu Chong but his elderly self would beat the young hero. As for Yang Guo, I think he would put up a good fight but the handicap will cause him to lose in the end.

Either way I think I deviated to much. As for the drama itself, I like Dongfong Bubai in the drama adaption but where they rewrote her too much it had a negative effect on LHC relationship with RYY. I enjoyed the series as a whole and Linghu Chong was a great guy but I feel he left me unsatisfied.

Anyways... does anyone have any decent adaptions for me to watch?

[liubang1992]

Well, the best version to always watch is 1996 State of Divinity. Not only does it keep most of the plot intact, but it retains much of the humor and aloofness of SPW without hamming up the drama and depression that Linghu Chong experiences. I feel in Chow Yun Fat and Li Yapeng’s version, they get way too depressed when they get kicked out/friendzoned by Yue Lingsan. It’s normal to be sad, but the greatest thing about Linghu Chong is that he manages to stay aloof, sarcastic, critical against hypocrites, and fun enough to impersonate a general in spite of his circumstances. It can be annoying how naïve and merciful he is across all versions, but I feel how much of a smartass he can be combined with naivety makes him endearing to me. In the versions that ham up the drama, he is WAYYYY to merciful and naïve. But I feel like it’s justified in the ones I love. Regarding greatness, it’s relative to the Qing dynasty. I doubt those folks have heard about a cave recluse like Yang Guo or Dugu Qiubai. You can just see from Qing era greats like the nun that Linghu would easily outclass them as a legendary great hero. I’m sure Linghu’s era would refer to Yang Guo as great and have no idea about Xiao Feng’s existence. It’s just relative to their martial world knowledge.

[AkiraNasuki]

That sounds interesting, I might check it out when I have time.

Personally I find the drama where Linghu Chong getting depress to be rather humanistic and rather natural, but whether or not they take it too far is another debate. Some people can tolerate it, some people can't.

When watching the new 2013 series, I just kept getting the vibe that they were making Linghu Chong more like Yang Guo but with Guo Jing's merciful and naive attitude towards his foes.

In terms of fame, I think these heroes individually is a well known if not legendary hero that was the best of their era. Yang Guo of course being a biggest recluse of the three Dugu swordsman was more well known for his titles than his actual person. Unless someone like Guo Xiang spread his name in stories whilst searching for him.

As for Skill in terms of Dugu swordstyle, I believe Linghu Chong is the weakest. Since the Nine Swords of Dugu seems very basic and primary set of skills that set the foundation for the more advance style like Heavy Iron Sword and it's Qi cultivation training and Sword with no Sword style.