| Drunken Hero | |
|---|---|
VCD cover art |
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| Also known as | Drunk Kung-fu Master |
| Genre | Wuxia |
| Written by | Huang Jincang Lin Yuefang |
| Directed by | Su Yuanfeng Qiu Yinghong |
| Starring | Vincent Zhao Max Mok Kristy Yang Yang Ruoxi |
| Opening theme | Hua Tai Xiang (花太香) performed by Richie Ren |
| Country of origin | China |
| Language(s) | Mandarin |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Chen Weili |
| Producer(s) | Lee Kang-sheng |
| Location(s) | China |
| Running time | 45 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original airing | 2002 |
| Drunken Hero | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 大醉俠 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大醉侠 | ||||||
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Drunken Hero is a 2002 Chinese television series that tells of two brothers who were separated at birth, raised differently, and forced to become rivals due to their differing backgrounds. The 40 episodes long series starred Vincent Zhao, Max Mok, Kristy Yang and Yang Ruoxi in the leading roles.
Wentian and Wanxin are the sons of the Jianwen Emperor, and are separated at birth when the emperor's uncle, Zhu Di, starts a military coup to seize power. The emperor forces Wentian and Wanxin to consume the magical Water and Fire orbs respectively and orders his bodyguards to bring the infant princes out of the palace before he disappears. During the chaos, Wanxin is taken away by the chief eunuch Chu Tianxing, while Wentian is delivered to safety by the bodyguards.
Wentian is raised by Mi Jiutou (one of the bodyguards), while Wanxin becomes the godson of Chu Tianxing. Wentian grows up to become a morally upright pugilist who values friendship and righteousness. On the other hand, Wanxin develops a cruel, cold and power-hungry personality under the influence of his evil godfather. The orbs in their bodies often cause them to experience strange fits of agony; Wentian suffers from chills while Wanxin feels like he is on fire. However, their prowess in inner energy have also increased due to the power of the orbs.
Wentian and Wanxin meet each other by coincidence and strike up a friendship, becoming sworn brothers in the process without knowing each other's true identity. Both Wentian and Wanxin fall in love with Bai Yutong, a girl from a wealthy family who doubles as "Golden Swallow", a bandit who robs the rich to help the poor. Xiaowan, the daughter of Mi Jiutou, is also in love with Wentian, having spent her childhood with him. Their love relationships become more complicated and Wentian and Wanxin eventually realize that they are actually brothers.
In a dramatic twist of events, Wanxin is castrated on the orders of his godfather, causing him to be emotionally scarred, and he gradually becomes consumed by his darker personality. After Chu Tianxing is killed by an enemy, Wanxin takes over his godfather's place as the chief eunuch and continues with his brutal and ruthless ways. Meanwhile, Wentian masters a set of martial arts, based on different styles of Drunken Fist, with each style named after a type of alcoholic drink. The warm effect of alcohol helps him to suppress the cool energy from the Water Orb, relieving him of his agony. He roams the jianghu as a youxia to uphold justice and help the poor with his new skills, earning himself the nickname of "Drunken Hero". At the end of the series, Wentian faces Wanxin in a final fight-to-the-death to put an end to his brother's evil ways.