Xia Ke (侠客) vs Ying Xiong (英雄)

[mariecln]

I've heard of GJ being mentioned as Jin Yong's No.1 侠客 (Xia Ke), while XF is Jin Yong's No.1 英雄 (Ying Xiong) . What's the difference between 侠客 (Xia Ke) and 英雄 (Ying Xiong) ? I'm not very familiar with the deeper layers of GJ's personality and GJ as a character, though I've read a poster's (I believe it's Laviathan's?) comments, as well as the counter-arguments, about this character not being very well-written. TIA!

[Dennis Chen]

Xia Ke is a knight. Yin Xiong is a hero.

Lancelot is a knight. Robin Hood is a hero.

[Black Night Sea]

XF would’ve made a great Xia Ke, if his identity weren’t revealed.

[mariecln]

Thank you for the explanation! But I must apologise for not phrasing my question properly I’m aware that 侠客 means knight and 英雄 means hero It’s just that I’ve always thought that they can be used interchangeably in these wuxia novels - 大侠 and 英雄. From the statement I read about GJ being JY’s No.1 侠客 as opposed to XF being JY’s No.1 英雄, I gather there’s a stark difference between these 2 terms?

[XiaoYe]

I would classify GJ as 大侠 but not really 侠客. I would probably classify LHC as 侠客. XF is 英雄 no doubt, but can also be 大侠.
I can't really explain why. To me it feels 英雄 is someone where anyone can go ask for help and knows where to find him, where as 侠客 is a wanderer who may help people along the way.

[Luxiaofeng]

My opinion would be as same as XiaoYe's. Sometimes it's a gut feeling that we cannot really explain. Just know as it is.

Cheers,
LXF.

[GazingStar5]

I disagree with some of you guys on whether Guo Jing or Xiao Feng should take the top rank for either being a Xia Ke roughly meaning Heroic Hero and or being a Ying Xiong roughly meaning Hero.....

I think both rank for being the top Heroic Hero Xia Ke Ying Xiong Hero should go to Shi Po Tian in Xia Ke Xing Ode to Gallantry.

Because Shi Po Tian is willing to go into solving the problem for anyone whether they are his friends or not.
Unlike Shi Po Tian, both Xiao Feng and Guo Jing have too many things to think about..... While Shi Po Tian is just as simple as things can be.....

As for Xia Ke vs Ying Xiong, I think they're pretty much the same as long as the person is doing something righteous but I do like the name Heroic Hero more than just being a Hero.....

What do you guys think?

[CC]

I will just add that you need not be a Xiake to be a YingXiong. e.g. someone like Yue Fei. You need not be in wulin.

[wkeej]

If you are a Hero, you do not need to be a Knight. How's about the reverse? If you are a Knight, you do not need to be a Hero. One simple way is to be a Bad Knight?