Wen Ning / Wen Qionglin / The Ghost General (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deadwenwalking) wrote2021-02-20 08:19 pm
deadwenwalking) wrote2021-02-20 08:19 pm
Entry tags:
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Name: Lauren
Age: 37
Contact details: PM or![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
laverinth
Other characters: n/a
Name: Wen Ning, courtesy name Wen Qionglin (surname first)
Canon: The Untamed
Canon Point: End of series, prior to the movie.
OU/AU/CRAU/OC: OU
Age: ~35, stopped aging at ~19
World Information: The world of the Untamed is set in some indeterminate period of time in a fantasy equivalent of ancient China. There is no way to determine the actual date, and given the items and technology used there's a whole thousand year timeframe it could take place between. In the show, they even model the robe styles of the different clans on different period styles so it is completely unattached to any real place in history. (Certain items and vegetables that wouldn't have been in that part of the world at any possible decade this could take place in also exist for the heck of it - like potatoes.)
It uses a lot of elements found in "wuxia" series, which are popular in China. Many themes and terms go unexplained because they would be familiar from the many other examples of the genre, the same way certain terms aren't explained every time they're used in western fantasies because it's assumed we know them already. A small glossary of these terms can be found listed here.
Cultivation is basically the magic of this world, with the main cultivator clans being in charge of different regions. They use their abilities to hunt demons, restless spirits, and other similar creatures. In the live action adaptation, demonic cultivation doesn't involve the raising of the undead, but rather the manipulation of resentful energy as well as the creation of "puppets". They're kind of zombies, but not. Wen Ning is technically still alive, since any form of necromancy is taboo in mainland Chinese media. (The original book is by a Taiwanese author.)
Personal History: wiki link - I'm apping from the live action series rather than the book, so please note the differences mentioned further down the page.
Personality: Something of a weakling from a young age, Wen Ning was content to spend most of his life in his sister's shadow. He is extremely grateful to anyone who's helped either of them and will always go out of his way to repay any debts. He's very subservient, having few ambitions of his own until the end of the series where he finally intends to go off and live a life for himself.
Wen Ning is fiercely sentimental. He doesn't have many earthy possessions, so he doesn't hold onto physical items in memory of others, but he does keep thoughts of his family close to his heart. He loved his little part of the clan very much. When he learned A-Yuan was still alive he was over the moon, though hesitant in his approach. He was disappointed to learn that the boy didn't have many memories of him at first, but it's enough that he remembers any of them at all.
He knows when to keep a secret, but also when something needs to be shared for his friends' sake. For example, he kept the fact that Wei Wuxian had his golden core transferred to Jiang Cheng for years, but when the latter was showing a large amount of animosity toward his adopted brother when they returned to Lotus Pier after fighting off puppets at the Burial Grounds he revealed this secret in order to keep Jiang Cheng from doing something he might come to regret. On the other hand, he has trouble keeping anything from his sister period, and will cave the moment she infers that he might be.
His social skills aren't the best. Early on he was prone to stammering and being hesitant to even talk to dominant-acting people like Wen Chao. If it's not a conversation where his input is explicitly needed he tends to stand back and allow others to do most of the talking.
However, he is very serious when it comes to defending those he cares for. When he fights he's no-nonsense, dealing with the enemy as necessary and easily taking instructions. In a verbal argument he'll hold his own without the usual hesitation. They don't happen often, but he'll stand up for his friends if he's believed they've been wronged or if they need protection.
As a sentient Puppet, he's unique. There is one other in the series but Wen Ning is the only one created from the full power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet. He knows this, and rather than being angry at being brought back from the brink of death into this state he's grateful to Wei Wuxian for allowing him to have more time with his sister and family. Because of this he's extremely loyal to the man.
But he does feel guilt for many of the things he's done while being controlled, even though he couldn't help what happened. He still blames himself for the outcome. While it was not Wei Wuxian but another who actually took control and directed him to kill Jin Ling's father, he accepts punishment for the action as though it had been on purpose.
By the end of the series he's started to come into his own, able to take control of some situations. He doesn't intend to continue following Wei Wuxian and the others, rather he wants to give his family a proper send off and then go on alone. (In the movie he and Lan Sizhui are hunting as a pair without any other assistance.) He's lost the naivete and dependence that might have held him back.
One of Wen Ning's greatest strengths is also a weakness - he's so loyal to his friends and family that it can be used against him. He will, without fault, put them before himself or his own needs - especially the people he feels he owes a debt to. He'll take on their punishments if it'll help them.
There's a part of him that still considers himself a monster, capable of becoming something worse than he is. He mentally settles this fairly easily in the movie, but as I'm ignoring most of that canon and pulling him from before that point anyway it's still an issue that can be addressed.
Even with all his growth he's a bundle of insecurities that he doesn't address, and one of the main reasons he functioned so well as a puppet/fierce corpse is because of how he'd kept all those negative emotions bottled up and was finally able to release them. It's easier for him to keep resentful energy stored away to be used when necessary.
Key themes: Wen Ning has more of a presence in the drama than the original book. That, on top of the fact that he's not undead, changes his key themes slightly from the source material - at least in my opinion. His main theme is personal growth. He starts off in the series as a delicate individual who has to be protected from his own family by his sister. By the end of it he's someone that the protagonist is confident handing his sword to in order to defend his friends. He's not allowed to be a coward anymore.
Main Motivation: When he's with those he cares about then his main priority is keeping them safe. He has been a weapon to be wielded by others and he doesn't mind acting as a sort of bodyguard. However, he's also not following anyone around like a puppy anymore. He's willing to seek out ways to help others on his own.
Skills:
Physical/Learned Skills:
- Archery: Though he hasn't practiced them in a while, Wen Ning had exceptional archery skills growing up.
- Medical Knowledge: His sister might be the real doctor among them, but he's picked up some medicinal know-how along the way. He uses some of it to help both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, and once drugged everyone at the Lotus Pier to help the latter escape.
Supernatural skills:
In the original book Wen Ning is a "fierce corpse", basically a very strong zombie with a conscience. However necromancy is taboo in mainland Chinese media, so in the live action he only nearly died and was made into a "puppet" instead. He's alive, but they kept certain aspects from the zombie version like not being able to cry, leaving him in this sort of half-life state that isn't completely explained. I am working with what we've been given in the show to set the ground rules I'll be using.
- Enhanced strength: Wen Ning can bend iron and lift boulders. He destroyed a large rock statue in a single move and is often left on his own to defend the others from large groups of puppets.
- Spiritual Senses: In the show, because of a unique disposition he has as a result of being attacked by an enchanted statue as a child, Wen Ning is sensitive to the presence of certain spiritual objects. Though the trustworthiness of this is sometimes suspect.
- Cultivator abilities: Though not used in the main series, and even though I'm ignoring the movie for the most part, he is shown to have the potential to manipulate objects to fight evil creatures and he chooses a set of chains as his weapon. He does not use golden core cultivation and does not have a sword of his own. I list this here as a potential skill set that he might seek to pick up since technically it's a possibility in the live action canon and he does fight with his chains physically in the book.
Also, like many of the fighters in this series, Wen Ning can "fly" short distances. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style. (He can not fly long distances on a sword like some cultivators.) He has some rough martial arts skills that basically involve just a lot of flipping around and kicking people.
As far as how his body functions, he can still eat and sleep but he doesn't need to do it as much as others. He can't cry, but he can bleed and he does feel pain even if his tolerance for it is high. He may be more resistant to basic drugs and intoxicants. As a Puppet, he is highly susceptible to various forms of mental control - especially music with the appropriate spiritual energy behind it. Wards against evil and negative spiritual beings will also have some effect on him.
Wen Ning's eyes turn black when he's under control by someone else (except in the case of being controlled by Su She, in which case he gained two irises in each eye instead). However in the movie he turns them black himself when fighting an opponent, which could infer that it's possible for him to gain the ability to bring out his own full potential without being controlled by others.
Item: There's nothing he owned at the point I'm taking him from that he'd be very connected to. He doesn't even have his own weapon.
Sample: TDM thread
Notes: "Wen Ning" is always used together when addressing him, as is typical of a Chinese birth name. He would not be called just "Ning" by anyone familiar with the culture, though he might be called A-Ning by those close to him and can be addressed as Wen with some sort of honorific attached. (Wen-gonzi. Master Wen.) He can be called just Qionglin, but he rarely uses his courtesy name in the series.
Player Information
Name: Lauren
Age: 37
Contact details: PM or
Other characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Wen Ning, courtesy name Wen Qionglin (surname first)
Canon: The Untamed
Canon Point: End of series, prior to the movie.
OU/AU/CRAU/OC: OU
Age: ~35, stopped aging at ~19
World Information: The world of the Untamed is set in some indeterminate period of time in a fantasy equivalent of ancient China. There is no way to determine the actual date, and given the items and technology used there's a whole thousand year timeframe it could take place between. In the show, they even model the robe styles of the different clans on different period styles so it is completely unattached to any real place in history. (Certain items and vegetables that wouldn't have been in that part of the world at any possible decade this could take place in also exist for the heck of it - like potatoes.)
It uses a lot of elements found in "wuxia" series, which are popular in China. Many themes and terms go unexplained because they would be familiar from the many other examples of the genre, the same way certain terms aren't explained every time they're used in western fantasies because it's assumed we know them already. A small glossary of these terms can be found listed here.
Cultivation is basically the magic of this world, with the main cultivator clans being in charge of different regions. They use their abilities to hunt demons, restless spirits, and other similar creatures. In the live action adaptation, demonic cultivation doesn't involve the raising of the undead, but rather the manipulation of resentful energy as well as the creation of "puppets". They're kind of zombies, but not. Wen Ning is technically still alive, since any form of necromancy is taboo in mainland Chinese media. (The original book is by a Taiwanese author.)
Personal History: wiki link - I'm apping from the live action series rather than the book, so please note the differences mentioned further down the page.
Personality: Something of a weakling from a young age, Wen Ning was content to spend most of his life in his sister's shadow. He is extremely grateful to anyone who's helped either of them and will always go out of his way to repay any debts. He's very subservient, having few ambitions of his own until the end of the series where he finally intends to go off and live a life for himself.
Wen Ning is fiercely sentimental. He doesn't have many earthy possessions, so he doesn't hold onto physical items in memory of others, but he does keep thoughts of his family close to his heart. He loved his little part of the clan very much. When he learned A-Yuan was still alive he was over the moon, though hesitant in his approach. He was disappointed to learn that the boy didn't have many memories of him at first, but it's enough that he remembers any of them at all.
He knows when to keep a secret, but also when something needs to be shared for his friends' sake. For example, he kept the fact that Wei Wuxian had his golden core transferred to Jiang Cheng for years, but when the latter was showing a large amount of animosity toward his adopted brother when they returned to Lotus Pier after fighting off puppets at the Burial Grounds he revealed this secret in order to keep Jiang Cheng from doing something he might come to regret. On the other hand, he has trouble keeping anything from his sister period, and will cave the moment she infers that he might be.
His social skills aren't the best. Early on he was prone to stammering and being hesitant to even talk to dominant-acting people like Wen Chao. If it's not a conversation where his input is explicitly needed he tends to stand back and allow others to do most of the talking.
However, he is very serious when it comes to defending those he cares for. When he fights he's no-nonsense, dealing with the enemy as necessary and easily taking instructions. In a verbal argument he'll hold his own without the usual hesitation. They don't happen often, but he'll stand up for his friends if he's believed they've been wronged or if they need protection.
As a sentient Puppet, he's unique. There is one other in the series but Wen Ning is the only one created from the full power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet. He knows this, and rather than being angry at being brought back from the brink of death into this state he's grateful to Wei Wuxian for allowing him to have more time with his sister and family. Because of this he's extremely loyal to the man.
But he does feel guilt for many of the things he's done while being controlled, even though he couldn't help what happened. He still blames himself for the outcome. While it was not Wei Wuxian but another who actually took control and directed him to kill Jin Ling's father, he accepts punishment for the action as though it had been on purpose.
By the end of the series he's started to come into his own, able to take control of some situations. He doesn't intend to continue following Wei Wuxian and the others, rather he wants to give his family a proper send off and then go on alone. (In the movie he and Lan Sizhui are hunting as a pair without any other assistance.) He's lost the naivete and dependence that might have held him back.
One of Wen Ning's greatest strengths is also a weakness - he's so loyal to his friends and family that it can be used against him. He will, without fault, put them before himself or his own needs - especially the people he feels he owes a debt to. He'll take on their punishments if it'll help them.
There's a part of him that still considers himself a monster, capable of becoming something worse than he is. He mentally settles this fairly easily in the movie, but as I'm ignoring most of that canon and pulling him from before that point anyway it's still an issue that can be addressed.
Even with all his growth he's a bundle of insecurities that he doesn't address, and one of the main reasons he functioned so well as a puppet/fierce corpse is because of how he'd kept all those negative emotions bottled up and was finally able to release them. It's easier for him to keep resentful energy stored away to be used when necessary.
Key themes: Wen Ning has more of a presence in the drama than the original book. That, on top of the fact that he's not undead, changes his key themes slightly from the source material - at least in my opinion. His main theme is personal growth. He starts off in the series as a delicate individual who has to be protected from his own family by his sister. By the end of it he's someone that the protagonist is confident handing his sword to in order to defend his friends. He's not allowed to be a coward anymore.
Main Motivation: When he's with those he cares about then his main priority is keeping them safe. He has been a weapon to be wielded by others and he doesn't mind acting as a sort of bodyguard. However, he's also not following anyone around like a puppy anymore. He's willing to seek out ways to help others on his own.
Skills:
Physical/Learned Skills:
- Archery: Though he hasn't practiced them in a while, Wen Ning had exceptional archery skills growing up.
- Medical Knowledge: His sister might be the real doctor among them, but he's picked up some medicinal know-how along the way. He uses some of it to help both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, and once drugged everyone at the Lotus Pier to help the latter escape.
Supernatural skills:
In the original book Wen Ning is a "fierce corpse", basically a very strong zombie with a conscience. However necromancy is taboo in mainland Chinese media, so in the live action he only nearly died and was made into a "puppet" instead. He's alive, but they kept certain aspects from the zombie version like not being able to cry, leaving him in this sort of half-life state that isn't completely explained. I am working with what we've been given in the show to set the ground rules I'll be using.
- Enhanced strength: Wen Ning can bend iron and lift boulders. He destroyed a large rock statue in a single move and is often left on his own to defend the others from large groups of puppets.
- Spiritual Senses: In the show, because of a unique disposition he has as a result of being attacked by an enchanted statue as a child, Wen Ning is sensitive to the presence of certain spiritual objects. Though the trustworthiness of this is sometimes suspect.
- Cultivator abilities: Though not used in the main series, and even though I'm ignoring the movie for the most part, he is shown to have the potential to manipulate objects to fight evil creatures and he chooses a set of chains as his weapon. He does not use golden core cultivation and does not have a sword of his own. I list this here as a potential skill set that he might seek to pick up since technically it's a possibility in the live action canon and he does fight with his chains physically in the book.
Also, like many of the fighters in this series, Wen Ning can "fly" short distances. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style. (He can not fly long distances on a sword like some cultivators.) He has some rough martial arts skills that basically involve just a lot of flipping around and kicking people.
As far as how his body functions, he can still eat and sleep but he doesn't need to do it as much as others. He can't cry, but he can bleed and he does feel pain even if his tolerance for it is high. He may be more resistant to basic drugs and intoxicants. As a Puppet, he is highly susceptible to various forms of mental control - especially music with the appropriate spiritual energy behind it. Wards against evil and negative spiritual beings will also have some effect on him.
Wen Ning's eyes turn black when he's under control by someone else (except in the case of being controlled by Su She, in which case he gained two irises in each eye instead). However in the movie he turns them black himself when fighting an opponent, which could infer that it's possible for him to gain the ability to bring out his own full potential without being controlled by others.
Item: There's nothing he owned at the point I'm taking him from that he'd be very connected to. He doesn't even have his own weapon.
Sample: TDM thread
Notes: "Wen Ning" is always used together when addressing him, as is typical of a Chinese birth name. He would not be called just "Ning" by anyone familiar with the culture, though he might be called A-Ning by those close to him and can be addressed as Wen with some sort of honorific attached. (Wen-gonzi. Master Wen.) He can be called just Qionglin, but he rarely uses his courtesy name in the series.