Fung Wan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fung Wan 風雲 (also known as Tin Ha 天下) comic series is a popular on-going comic series in Hong Kong. The author of this comic series is Ma Wing Shing (馬榮成).
The 1998 film The Storm Riders was based on the series. It also spawned an MMORPG titled Fung Wan Online.
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[edit] Story Summary
The (fictional) story takes place in China when still under the ruling of Ming Dynasty. It revolves around the 2 genius martial arts practitioners, Bou Keng Wan (nicknamed Cloud) and Nip Fung (nicknamed Wind), as they learn their ways in martial arts and moved up to become legendary figures in the martial arts world. As the comic progressed, more and more characters are introduced (and died) in plenty of engrossing story arcs filled with excellent battles, especially swordplay.
[edit] Tin Ha Wui Arc
In this first story arc, the two protagonists was inducted into the most powerful martial cult of that time, Tin Ha Wui and becomes the right-hand men for its leader Hung Ba. Hung Ba does so to follow a prophecy, and recruit them since they were children. With the aid of Cloud, Wind and another lieutenant named Frost, Tin Ha Wui managed to become the most powerful martial arts cult in the whole of Ming Dynasty's China. This is where Cloud and Wind learned their palm (Cloud Palm Stance) and kick (Kick Stance of the Wind God) martial arts techniques from Hung Ba, respectively. Although it is to be remembered that Hung Ba did not teach the last stance of each style to them for his own selfish reasons.
At the peak of his power, the Buddhist prophet who gives the first half of the prophecy appeared and tells Hung Ba that Cloud and Wind will bring about his downfall just like they bring him up to the peak of power, completing the prophecy. Learning that prophecy, Hung Ba has started to secretly plotted a plan to kill Cloud and Wind by using a beautiful servant girl named Kung Chi and manipulating them in a love triangle soap opera. Hung Ba then arranged a marriage between Kung Chi and Frost as provocation to Cloud and Wind when suddenly an obstacle comes up to foil the plan.
That obstacle, is the Sword Saint I who reappear from retirement after his older brother's martial arts cult were wiped out by Wind, under the command by Hung Ba a few years ago. He easily defeats Wind and Cloud, and issues a publicly-announced challenge for a duel between him and Hung Ba. The wounded Cloud and Wind desperately wanted to return to Tin Ha Wui mainly because of Kung Chi, before the duel is about to take place.
Meanwhile, before the duel, Sword Saint I issues a private challenge to Mou Ming before the duel with Hung Ba, to settle an old grudge that forces him into retirement in the first place. Mou Ming did not appear, but instead his pupil Kim Sun takes his place. After duelling for a short while, Sword Saint I knows that he will not be able to defeat Mou Ming if he shows up, and retreats to prepare for his duel with Hung Ba.
When the duel day arrives, Saint Sword I, Cloud and Wind arrives at Tin Ha Wui independently. Cloud kidnaps Kung Chi, but was stopped by Wind. As Hung Ba duels with the invincible spectre of the dying Saint Sword I, Cloud and Wind duels against each other. The winning Cloud tried to kill Wind, but was stopped by Kung Chi at the cost of her life. Cloud then ran away with her corpse, and attacks the standing corpse of Saint Sword I in the process. That, indirectly saved Hun Ba from certain death at the hands of Sword Saint I.
Insane from the death of his beloved Kung Chi, Cloud tried to find methods to preserve her decaying corpse, which he eventually succeeds with the aid of a mysterious artifact called Snow Soul. He then brought her corpse to a royal mausoleum, which is under construction for the royal family of the emperor. He evicts the construction workers, buried Kung Chi inside the magnificent tomb and sealed the mausoleum. He then vowed to return to her after he killed Hung Ba.
He returns to Tin Ha Wui, and tried to kill Hung Ba but failed, mainly because he has mastered a new martial art stance (3 qi in one). Cloud lost his right arm, but still managed to escape with Sword Saint I's sword with the aid of Jokerman, an aide of Frost. He was saved at the riverbank by a blacksmith who have a beautiful daughter named Chu Chu (an important character for much of the series).
The blacksmith then decided to donate his right hand, which is tainted with the fire kirin power, to Cloud. The blacksmith then dies at the hand of a royal inspector from the capital, who hunted him for a murder case that happened a long time ago. Cloud then eventually defeats the inspector, surprisingly with a Mou Ming sword technique, and then went back to the mausoleum alongside Chu Chu. He tried to destroy the stone slab that seals the mausoleum with the Saint Sword I's sword, but the sword broke, thus he has failed to fulfil his promise to Kung Chi.
Meanwhile, Wind returns to the cave where his father has died, retrieved the Blizzard Sabre and tamed the Fire Kirin beast.
The devastated Cloud received an invitation from a mysterious martial art cult to become a witness to the birth of the most powerful sword ever. Many of the powerful swordmaster in the martial arts that has powerful swords are also invited, such as Kim Sun who has the Peerless sword and also Duen Long with his Fire Kirin sword.
After much fighting, where Duen Long managed to break Kim Sun's Peerless sword, Cloud managed to get his hand on the sword. The black-coloured sword, named Ultimate Superior Sword, has a soul of its own and will only serve under the command of the chosen master which would be Cloud. The Failure-Death sword, a golden-coloured older sibling of Ultimate Superior Sword forged at the same place and which master is Yi Fung, also sports the same characteristics. All attempts by the mysterious cult to take away the sword failed, mainly because separating the sword from its master is a curse by itself.
Cloud tried to leave the island where the cult is located, an only succeeds after Wind appears and helped him. But at the sea, a fleet of ships block Cloud's party way to the mainland China. The fleet is led by Hung Ba, and Cloud and Wind battles with Hung Ba which results in Hung Ba's loss. Hung Ba lost his fingers, and he has to escape, and subsequently betrayed by his new subordinates. Hung Ba then was saved by Mou Ming, providing that Hung Ba cancelled all his martial arts stances, and Mou Ming agreed to save his daughter from Tin Ha Wui HQ away from the betrayers.
After saving Hung Ba, Mou Ming then started to deal with Cloud and his new sword because his pupil has failed. He managed to take away the sword from Cloud and puts it in a Buddhist temple. They then agreed to a duel for the sword, and Cloud just barely managed to win that duel. Mou Ming returned the sword back to Cloud and takes him to see Hung Ba.
Upon the meeting between Cloud and Hung Ba, Hung Ba offered that Cloud can kill him as long as he spared his daughter. Cloud, who was nervous at that time, hesitates whether he should spare the defenceless Hung Ba. Eventually, Hung Ba commits suicide by throwing himself at the Ultimate Superior Sword, and his daughter also died by suicide from sadness. It was at this time that Cloud learns how pitiful revenge can be. With Hung Ba's death, this arc draw to a close with the newer one coming.
[edit] The Japan Invasion Arc
In this arc, Cloud, Wind and Mou Ming has to stop the Japanese Juet Mou San and his sons from conquering China. Juet Mou San is the strongest warrior in Japan, and even the Japan government are afraid of him.
[edit] Protagonists
As the name suggests, the main protagonists of the series are:
- Nip Fung (聶風) i.e. Wind and
- Bou Keng Wan (步驚雲) i.e. Cloud
The next most important character is Cloud's master Mou Ming (無名) (Translation: Nameless).
[edit] Arch Villains (in chronological order)
- Hung Ba (雄霸)
- Juet Mou San (絕無神)
- Dai Seik Tin (帝釋天) the phantom menace
- Duen Long (斷浪) - the most powerful arch villain
[edit] Good characters
- Hiro (慕應雄), Nameless' foster brother
- Po Kuan (破軍), Nameless's elder brother in martial arts
- Ghostly Tiger (鬼虎), Nameless's faithful servant
- Second Dream (第二夢), Wind's wife
- Frost (秦霜), Wind and Cloud's elder brother in martial arts
- Huai Kong (懷空) former wielder of the Heaven's Sin blade
- Royal Shadow (皇影) former wielder of the Lonely blade
- Shen Feng (神鋒)- Duen Long's kind-hearted son, current owner of the Lonely sword
- Xiao Wu (小武)- Invincible Wu's son, owner of the Heaven Path War Weapon
- Huai Mie - Huai Kong's elder brother and the first master of Yi Fung
[edit] Neutral characters
- Invincible Wu (武無敵), the legendary master of all 10 martial arts stances
- Sword Saint I (老劍聖) owner of the Peerless sword
- Shen Yi (神醫), the highly-skilled but mischievous medicine man
- Yi Fung (易風) - Wind's son, and current master of the Evil King sword
- Sword Saint II (新劍聖), reincarnation of the first Sword Saint, owner of the Tien Ha sword
- Bou Tin (步天)- Cloud's son
- Wu Tien Ha (武天下)- Older cousin of Xiao Wu, and the master of Evil King's arch-nemesis, the Destiny Sword
