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Thread: Was Lam Ping Tze a secondary protagonist in SPW?

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Was Lam Ping Tze a secondary protagonist in SPW?

    SPW is ostensibly the story of Ling Wu Chung, but nine episodes into the 1984 TVB adaptation of the story, it seems to me that the focus is just as much if not more on Lam Ping Tze. Was Lam Ping Tze meant to be a secondary protagonist in SPW?

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    A guy seeking revenge for his family and finally learns a power MA and ends up with a beautiful wife .... hmmm

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    NO. LPT is one of the villains in the story, not a protagonist. A protagonist would NOT kill his wife who loves him with all her heart. He deserves what he got in the end. I don't feel sorry for his tragic ending.

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    LPZ role similar with YK I would call them "anti-hero" not "villain"..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Trien Chieu View Post
    NO. LPT is one of the villains in the story, not a protagonist. A protagonist would NOT kill his wife who loves him with all her heart. He deserves what he got in the end. I don't feel sorry for his tragic ending.
    We're not there yet. In the early stages of the story, we have no idea what he eventually does or becomes. He's actually quite a sympathetic character until he begins making a series of tragic errors. He's hardly evil to the core when he's first introduced.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Western Eccentric View Post
    LPZ role similar with YK I would call them "anti-hero" not "villain"..
    So far, Lam Ping Tze is yet to demonstrate the evil personality characteristics that defined Yeung Hong. I find that Lam Ping Tze to be more similar to Sung Ching Sheu in some ways, though he is (thus far) more sympathetic than Sung.

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    I get this strange feeling that Jin Yong started out writing THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER with the original intention of having Lam Ping Tze be the protagonist, but somehow changed his mind a few chapters in and decided to make the story about another guy named Ling Wu Chung instead.

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    Jinyong said that he wrote SPW as a allegory for politics. In Lin Pingzhi, I see those who are oppressed by those in power. However... once they come into power and turn the tables, they turn out to be no better than their oppressors were. This has happened many times in history - e.g. Li Zicheng after sacking Beijing, or the French revolutionaries after they had cut off a few royal heads.

    LPZ started off as a decent man (if a bit spoiled) who was helpless against those with power (Qingcheng, Mu Gaofeng, Huashan). On acquiring power of his own though (via Bixie swordplay), he became drunk with power, taking his revenge in the cruelest way he could think of (which backfired on him big-time, leaving him blind and disfigured), jealous and scornful of others with comparable power (LHC), and paranoid that others wanted his power (though it didn't help that it was true to an extent).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doc Kwok View Post
    Jinyong said that he wrote SPW as a allegory for politics. In Lin Pingzhi, I see those who are oppressed by those in power. However... once they come into power and turn the tables, they turn out to be no better than their oppressors were. This has happened many times in history - e.g. Li Zicheng after sacking Beijing, or the French revolutionaries after they had cut off a few royal heads.

    LPZ started off as a decent man (if a bit spoiled) who was helpless against those with power (Qingcheng, Mu Gaofeng, Huashan). On acquiring power of his own though (via Bixie swordplay), he became drunk with power, taking his revenge in the cruelest way he could think of (which backfired on him big-time, leaving him blind and disfigured), jealous and scornful of others with comparable power (LHC), and paranoid that others wanted his power (though it didn't help that it was true to an extent).
    Sounds like ol' Ping Tze pulled an Anakin Skywalker. In these early episodes, he's likable enough.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng View Post
    Sounds like ol' Ping Tze pulled an Anakin Skywalker. In these early episodes, he's likable enough.
    It's not the first time JY made a U-turn. Rumor is that LOCH was originally gonna be joint male leads with GJ and YK sharing the lime light, while in ROCH YG was supposed to end up with with Guo Xiang and in DSHS ZWJ was supposed to have had a dark side and even started off plotting to avenge his parents.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mandred Skavenslayer View Post
    It's not the first time JY made a U-turn. Rumor is that LOCH was originally gonna be joint male leads with GJ and YK sharing the lime light, while in ROCH YG was supposed to end up with with Guo Xiang and in DSHS ZWJ was supposed to have had a dark side and even started off plotting to avenge his parents.
    YG & GX ... What's the age gap there? He would have liked like a pedophile.

    ZWJ with a darker side would have been more interesting.
    Last edited by Stance; 11-06-20 at 06:35 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stance View Post
    YG & GX ... What's the age gap there? He would have liked like a pedophile.
    I'm fairly sure it was Yang Guo and Guo Fu, not Guo Xiang. Anyway, this was just a rumour.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stance View Post
    ZWJ with a darker side would have been more interesting.
    This actually happened in the first edition. ZWJ talked about killing Cheng Kun's family in retaliation for killing Xie Xun's family, and noted everyone present at his parents' suicide with the intent of taking bloody revenge on them all when he grew up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doc Kwok View Post
    This actually happened in the first edition. ZWJ talked about killing Cheng Kun's family in retaliation for killing Xie Xun's family, and noted everyone present at his parents' suicide with the intent of taking bloody revenge on them all when he grew up.
    Sorry for being off topic, obviously it never happened after he grew up? What made him change this thought?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stance View Post
    Sorry for being off topic, obviously it never happened after he grew up? What made him change this thought?
    His good nature, I would surmise.

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