List of The Return of the Condor Heroes characters


The following is a list of characters from the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. Some of these characters are fictionalised personas of, or are based on, actual historical figures, such as Wang Chongyang, Qiu Chuji, Duan Zhixing, Kublai Khan and Yelü Chucai.

Main characters

The Divine Condor is a giant eagle-like creature living alone in a valley and a former companion of the swordsman Dugu Qiubai. After roaming the land for years and failing to find someone who can rival him in swordplay, Dugu Qiubai came to a cave near a forest and spent the rest of his life there as a hermit. Several years after his death, the Condor encounters Yang Guo by coincidence while he was fighting with a giant serpent. Yang Guo learns Dugu Qiubai's swordplay techniques from the Condor. As he has lost his right arm, Yang Guo trains relentlessly and overcomes his disability to use Dugu Qiubai's Heavy Iron Sword with only one arm. After accomplishing a high level of proficiency in swordplay, Yang Guo ventures out with the Condor to search for Xiaolongnü and reunite with her.

Guo family and associates

  • Guo Jing
  • Huang Rong
  • Guo Fu is Guo Jing and Huang Rong's elder daughter. Even though she is beautiful and attractive, she is spoiled and insolent and has been rather unfriendly towards Yang Guo since they were young. At one point, she gets into a heated quarrel with Yang Guo while confronting him about how he lied to the Wu brothers that her parents have agreed to let him marry her, and ends up cutting off his right arm with a sword. She marries Yelü Qi and reconciles with Yang Guo in the end.
  • Guo Xiang is Guo Jing and Huang Rong's younger daughter. When she was a newborn baby, she was abducted by Li Mochou but was saved by Yang Guo, whom she has a crush on when she grows up. She is nicknamed "Little Eastern Heretic" after her maternal grandfather, "Eastern Heretic" Huang Yaoshi. In her middle age, she becomes a Buddhist nun and establishes the Emei School.
  • Guo Polu is Guo Xiang's twin brother. The sequel, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, reveals that 14 years after the events of The Return of the Condor Heroes, he died along with Guo Jing and Huang Rong during the Battle of Xiangyang.
  • Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen are Wu Santong's sons. After their mother died, their father became insane and went missing for years. The boys were then raised by Guo Jing and Huang Rong, who also taught them martial arts. Both of them have a crush on Guo Fu and, at one point, nearly fight each other to the death to win her love. However, Yang Guo resolves their dispute by lying that Guo Fu's parents have agreed to let him marry her. The Wu brothers believe Yang Guo and give up on Guo Fu; they eventually marry Yelü Yan and Wanyan Ping respectively, and are said to be expecting children with their wives near the end of the novel.
  • Yelü Qi is a son of Yelü Chucai and a descendant of the imperial clan of the former Liao Empire. He is also Zhou Botong's secret apprentice. Towards the end of the novel, he marries Guo Fu and succeeds Lu Youjiao as the chief of the Beggars' Gang.
  • Yelü Yan is Yelü Qi's younger sister who marries Wu Dunru.
  • Wanyan Ping is a descendant of the imperial clan of the former Jin Empire, making her related to the first novel's antagonist Wanyan Honglie. Her parents died when the Jin Empire was conquered by the Mongols and she swears vengeance on Yelü Chucai, whom she blames for her losses. She fails to assassinate him and loses to his children in a fight. She eventually reconciles with the Yelüs and marries Wu Xiuwen.

    Mongol Empire

  • Jinlun Guoshi is one of the antagonists in the novel. Originally a Tibetan lama, he becomes the Imperial Adviser of the Mongol Empire and represents the Mongols in challenging the Han Chinese wulin. He is defeated by Yang Guo during the Battle of Xiangyang and dies while saving Guo Xiang from being burnt alive. The "Golden Wheel" is a reference to his weapon, which resembles a gold-coloured chakram. Despite his evil nature, he is shown to be gentle towards Guo Xiang, whom he favours because of her intelligence, and has been considering taking her as his fourth apprentice.
  • Huodu was born in Mongolia and is a Mongol prince, but not related to Genghis Khan but to his military partner Jamukha, and Jinlun's third apprentice. His martial art is quite well especially with his folding-hand fan as weapon. He is infatuated with Xiaolongnü's beauty and proposes to her but gets rejected immediately. A cunning and witty person, he is not very loyal to his master. When Jinlun, Huodu and Da'erba are fighting with Yang Guo at Chongyang Palace, Huodu realises that they are losing so he betrays and abandons his master and flees. Later, he disguises himself as a beggar, He Shiwo, murders Lu Youjiao, and tries to become the chief of the Beggars' Gang. However, Yang Guo exposes his real identity and leads Da'erba to him. Da'erba defeats and kills him for betraying their master.
  • Da'erba is a Tibetan monk and Jinlun's second apprentice. In contrast with Huodu, he is honest and loyal towards his master even though he is slow-witted. Having been outsmarted by Yang Guo at one point, he has since believed that Yang Guo is the reincarnation of his senior. When Jinlun, Huodou and Da'erba are fighting with Yang Guo at Chongyang Palace, Huodu abandons his master and flees while Da'erba tries his best to protect his master life, Yang Guo realises that he is truly a good person so he spares his life. 16 years later, he helps Yang Guo eliminate Huodu. After that, to repay Yang Guo for sparing his life, he promises to return home and never step out of Tibet again.
  • Möngke is the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and a son of Tolui. He personally leads his army to attack Xiangyang and is slain by Yang Guo in the final battle.
  • Kublai is a Mongol prince and Möngke's younger brother. He is the chief commander of the Mongol army attacking Xiangyang. After Möngke's death, he eventually succeeds his brother as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
  • Yelü Chucai is the Premier of the Mongol Empire and a descendant of the imperial clan of the former Liao Empire.
  • Yelü Jin is Yelü Chucai's elder son.

    Mercenaries hired by the Mongols

  • Xiaoxiangzi is a martial artist from Xiangxi. He steals the Nine Yang Manual from Shaolin Monastery with Yinkexi and hide it inside the stomach of a white gorilla. They become suspicious and kill each other eventually.
  • Yinkexi is a merchant and martial artist from Persia.
  • Nimoxing is a martial artist from India. He has his legs amputated after falling into a trap set by Yang Guo using Li Mochou's poison needles. He is slain by Yang Guo in Xiangyang 16 years later.
  • Ma Guangzuo is a martial artist from Xinjiang. Unlike the other mercenaries, he is not always a villain and he has helped Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü before. Yang Guo later persuades him to leave the Mongols.

    Passionless Valley

  • Gongsun Zhi is the master of Passionless Valley. Although he appears extraordinary, noble and gentlemanly, he is in fact cold-hearted, ruthless and lecherous. A highly skilled martial artist, he wields a pair of blades in combat. After he first meets Xiaolongnü, he tries to make her marry him until Yang Guo shows up and stops him. His true colours are revealed as the story progresses, particularly after his wife returns to seek vengeance on him. He flees the valley after he is blinded in one eye, but returns later to take revenge on his wife and dies together with her when they both fall off a cliff.
  • Qiu Qianchi is Qiu Qianren's younger sister and Gongsun Zhi's wife. An insolent and domineering woman, she gradually fell out of her husband's favour and he decided to get rid of her. After drugging her, he broke her limbs and threw her into an underground pit and left her for dead. While struggling to survive, she mastered a skill which allowed her to overcome her disability by using her inner energy to suck distant objects into her mouth and fire them as projectiles towards enemies with extreme force and accuracy. Several years later, Yang Guo encounters her by chance and brings her back to confront Gongsun Zhi, revealing his dark past and true nature. She ultimately falls to her death off a cliff along with her husband.
  • Gongsun Lü'e is Gongsun Zhi and Qiu Qianchi's daughter. Unlike her parents, she is kind-hearted and compassionate. She has a crush on Yang Guo and eventually sacrifices herself to help him.
  • Fan Yiweng is Gongsun Zhi's most senior apprentice. He has a long white beard and becomes the "Long Bearded Ghost" later.
  • Rou'er was a servant girl whom Gongsun Zhi fell in love with. Qiu Qianchi discovered their illicit relationship and forced her husband to kill Rou'er.

    Ancient Tomb School

  • Lin Chaoying was the school's founder. She was both a rival and lover of Wang Chongyang, and equalled him in martial arts prowess.
  • Li Mochou, nicknamed "Red Fairy", is Xiaolongnü's senior. She was more powerful in martial arts than her junior at the start of the novel. Although she is beautiful in appearance, she morphs into a vicious killer after her lover betrayed her. However, she appears as a motherly figure to the baby Guo Xiang, whom she kidnaps from her parents. She is seen trying to take the Jade Maiden Sutra from Xiaolongnü on several occasions at the beginning of the novel, but has never been successful. She commits suicide by throwing herself into the fire in Passionless Valley.
  • Granny Sun is an old woman who lives with Xiaolongnü in the Ancient Tomb. She saves Yang Guo from the bullies at Quanzhen School and wants to help him fend off the priests. She is accidentally killed by Hao Datong during the scuffle. Before her death, she makes Xiaolongnü promise her to take care of Yang for the rest of his life.
  • Hong Lingbo is Li Mochou's apprentice. She is rather sympathetic to Lu Wushuang, who was Li's slave then. She is used as a cushion by her master to escape from the love flowers and dies after being pricked by the poisonous flowers.