Gu Long and duality

[Ken Cheng]

Gu Long seemed to have a recurring motif of character duality that ran through a number of his stories: he would often introduce two characters in the same story who have similar temperament and abilities, and set them against each other as foils and rivals. Case in point, we have Sai Mun Chui Sheut and Yip Goo Sing from the LUK SIU FUNG stories, Ah Fei and Ging Mo Meng in SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, RUTHLESS SWORD, and Tse Hiu Fung and Yin 13 from THIRD YOUNG MASTER'S SWORD. I wonder what point Gu Long was trying to make with this recurring duality motif.

[wkeej]

Perhaps, he want to bring forward the point that same nature and nurture do not end in the same outcomes.

There are twins who by the same nature and nurture but still different. E.g. in army I have encountered two sets of twins. In one set, one only have secondary school education and another university. In another set, one is easy going and another more ambitious.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

I think GL was trying to create the Batman/Joker dynamic ie. opposite sides of the same coin.

It also helps us sympathize with the antagonist as having them be so similar to the protagonist (minor/major), we can see that they could have been a hero if for a few different choices or opportunities.