Yang Guo
Yang Guo, courtesy name Gaizhi, is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.
Birth and heritage
Yang Guo traces his lineage to Yang Zaixing, a Song general who participated in the Jin–Song Wars against the Jin Empire. His father, Yang Kang, is the antagonist in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and was notorious for committing several atrocities. However, Yang Guo is oblivious of his deceased father's past and growing up believing that he was as honorable as their ancestor. His mother, Mu Nianci, was Yang Kang's lover. She left Yang Kang after seeing how unrepentant and incorrigible he was, but was already pregnant with Yang Guo at the time. She kept the baby because his grandfather was also her adoptive father, Yang Tiexin, who, unlike his son, was a good man and thus under her obligation to the Yang family. She hopes that her son growing up to be more like his grandfather instead of his father.Yang Guo's birth is briefly mentioned at the end of the first novel. Mu Nianci met Guo Jing and Huang Rong shortly after giving birth to her son. Guo Jing, who was Yang Kang's sworn brother, hoped that Yang Kang's child will not follow in his father's footsteps. He named the baby boy "Guo", which means "wrong" or "fault", and gave him the courtesy name "Gaizhi", which means "to correct". Guo Jing hopes that Yang Guo would redeem the Yang family's name, which has been tarnished by Yang Kang's villainy. He also promises Mu Nianci that he will teach Yang Guo martial arts when the boy becomes older.
Early life
Yang Guo became an orphan at the age of 11 after his mother died. His mother taught him some of the skills she learnt from his grandfather, Yang Tiexin, and the Beggars' Gang's former chief, Hong Qigong. He roams the jianghu after his mother's death and meets Guo Jing and Huang Rong by coincidence. They recognise him as the son of Yang Kang and Mu Nianci after seeing that he resembles his parents. Their suspicions are confirmed when Yang Guo demonstrates some combat skills that only Mu Nianci knew. The Guo couple then take him under their care. Huang Rong is initially suspicious of Yang Guo as she sees that he bears an uncanny resemblance to his father and worries that he will turn out to be like his father, while Guo Jing sees him as a surrogate son and hopes that one day that Yang will become his son-in-law, wanting to bring his and the boy's family bloodlines into a marital union. She strongly opposes her husband's decision to instruct Yang Guo in martial arts and only teaches him literary arts such as poetry and Confucian classics.Guo Jing brings Yang Guo to the Quanzhen School on Mount Zhongnan for better guidance and tutelage in orthodox martial arts and moral ethics. In an earlier misunderstanding, Guo Jing fought and defeated several Quanzhen students, who mistook him for an enemy. After Guo Jing left, the Quanzhen students vent their frustration on Yang Guo by picking on him and bullying him all the time. Yang Guo's martial arts teacher, Zhao Zhijing, is prejudiced against him and does not teach him any practical martial arts. Yang Guo is unable to stand the ill treatment so he flees from Quanzhen after injuring one of the bullies.
Yang Guo ventures into the nearby Tomb of the Living Dead and meets Xiaolongnü and Granny Sun. Xiaolongnü refuses to let him stay in the tomb and asks Granny Sun to send him back to Quanzhen. Granny Sun dotes on the boy and defends him from the bullies. The scuffle gradually escalates into a fight between Granny Sun and the Quanzhen School. Hao Datong, one of the "Seven Immortals of Quanzhen", accidentally kills Granny Sun during the fight. At this critical moment, Xiaolongnü shows up and rescues Yang Guo.
Love relationship with Xiaolongnü
Yang Guo joins the Ancient Tomb School as Xiaolongnü's apprentice and they live together in the Ancient Tomb for many years. During this time, they develop a romantic relationship, rendering their master-apprentice relationship merely superficial. Yang Guo meets Guo Jing and Huang Rong later and they immediately oppose his decision to marry Xiaolongnü. A romantic relationship between master and apprentice is regarded as highly taboo according to the prevailing norms of the wulin. Yang Guo's impulsive personality and lack of respect for other senior martial artists, compounded by the rebellious streak in him, makes the situation worse. He then leaves with Xiaolongnü.Yang Guo becomes an outcast of the wulin and is despised by fellow martial artists. However, he saves Guo Jing's family from danger on different occasions as he still respects the Guo couple as his surrogate uncle and aunt. He is briefly separated from Xiaolongnü numerous times throughout the novel, usually over misunderstandings but they are always reunited again later.
From rebellious youth to legendary hero
Throughout the novel, Yang Guo encounters several elite martial artists, including Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong, who teach him some of their skills. He employs the skills he mastered to his advantage and uses them for greater purposes as he gradually matures. He creates a new palm technique called 'Melancholic Palms', an extremely powerful skill incorporating elements of all the skills he learnt earlier.Yang Guo initially suspects that Guo Jing and Huang Rong are responsible for his father's death. He meets Jinlun Guoshi and agrees to help the Mongols kill Guo Jing. However, he becomes so impressed with Guo Jing's loyalty and strong sense of chivalry that he refrains from killing Guo Jing on a few occasions when he has a chance to. Because of a misunderstanding, Guo Jing's daughter, Guo Fu, cuts off his right arm with a sword in a heated quarrel. Yang Guo later hides in a cave, along with the Condor, practicing martial arts. Then, with the Condor, he saved many people in trouble and was honored as the Condor Hero, whose reputation parallels Guo Jing's
He eventually learned about his father's villainy and misdeeds from Ke Zhen'e, and that the culprit responsible for his family's misfortunes and whom his father had blamed and sought revenge while dying, Wanyan Honglie, was long dead at Samarkand after Guo Jing captured him. Thus, his father's karmic retribution had already been avenged. Yang Guo still maintains filial piety for his father despite his shame, knowing it would be hypocritical for him to hate his father on account of his past temptations for revenge that nearly led to his similar path of villainy, and later acknowledges that Guo Jing's fatherly devotion saved him from this fate. He replaces the original headstone on his father's grave with a new one bearing the words: "Yang Kang, my late father. Erected by his unworthy son, Yang Guo," and seeks to atone for his father's crimes. Shifting focus from vengeance to redemption, he takes Guo Jing's side and participates in defending the city of Xiangyang from Mongol invaders. At the end of the novel, he is reunited with Xiaolongnü, hinders the Mongol invasion by slaying Möngke Khan, and becomes a legendary hero, finally redeeming his family's heritage.
In the sequel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, it is implied that, before Xiangyang's fall to Kublai Khan's army, Yang Guo met with the Guo Family and provided them Dugu Qiubai's Heavy Iron Sword and the Ancient Tomb Sect's Lady Sword to forge two weapons: the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber. His descendants are charged with overseeing Huang Rong's plans and seeking a worthy successor to inherit Guo Jing's heroic path and formidable skills, as well as helping heroes and the people liberate China from the Mongols' oppression.
Martial arts and skills
At the end of the novel, Yang Guo becomes the most powerful martial artist of his time and is compared favourably to the "Five Greats" of the era, who are older and more experienced than him by a considerable margin. His martial arts are an eclectic mix of the numerous skills he gains under the tutelage of several legendary masters. At the end of the novel, Huang Rong names Yang Guo the "Western Passionate" of the new generation of the "Five Greats", replacing his deceased godfather, "Western Venom" Ouyang Feng.Mu Nianci
Yang Guo's mother, Mu Nianci, taught him some of the martial arts she learnt from Yang Tiexin and Hong Qigong. However, due to his young age and his mother's demise, Yang Guo was unable to fully master those skills nor utilise them in combat but built a good foundation for his future trainings and until he meets Hong at Mount Hua years later. When he first met Guo Jing and Huang Rong, the latter managed to deduce that he is the son of Yang Kang and Mu Nianci by observing his movements because of them had also learned from Hong.Ouyang Feng
At the beginning of the story, Yang Guo encounters the insane Ouyang Feng, who likes him and accepts him as a godson. Ouyang Feng was a gifted but vicious Kung Fu practitioner and one of the older generation of the "Five Greats". In the Legend of the Condor Heroes, he became crazy after learning from a fake martial arts manual which limited his potential. He is still very strong though but can never go back to his old form.Ouyang Feng teaches Yang Guo the Toad Skill. Yang Guo used this skill once in his childhood on the Wu brothers when he was bullied by them and he injured Wu Xiuwen. He uses the skill again when he is bullied in Quanzhen School and knocks out one of the bullies Lu Qingdu. He meets his godfather for the last time when the latter is fighting with Hong Qigong. Ouyang Feng teaches him the Serpent Staff techniques before his death.
Quanzhen School
In Quanzhen, Yang Guo becomes an apprentice of Zhao Zhijing, one of the apprentices of one of the senior members of the "Seven Immortals". However, Zhao holds a grudge against Guo Jing after the latter defeated him in an earlier misunderstanding. Zhao Zhijing then vents his frustration on Yang Guo after Guo Jing left. He is determined not to instruct Yang Guo in practical martial arts and merely teaches him the literary and verbal forms to disguise his neglect. Yang Guo is able to recite the verses smoothly but has not been taught how to apply them in actual combat.Yang Guo only learnt how to apply those verses in martial arts after he joined the Ancient Tomb School. He uses the verses to help himself and Xiaolongnü master the Swordplay of Jade Maiden.