The Art of Tragedy in the Chinese Paladin Series

Abstract

This paper mainly studies the tragic plot of the Chinese Paladin (one generation, three generations, and four generations as the main research objects), combining with the time and pioneer of its distribution, from the three aspects of emotion between characters, collective righteousness, and fate, to explore how the tragic plot of the role-playing game of swordsmen and swordsmen touches the players, and at the same time briefly discusses the Chinese players' influence on swordsmen and swordsmen The tendency of plot in theme game. Looking forward to the future of the domestic martial arts fairy Hero Theme role-playing game plot expression.

Keywords： Role-playing game, Fairy chivalry, Game plot, tragedy

Table of Contents

Abstract

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. A brief analysis of the tragic elements in the plot of the Chinese Paladin series

2.1 Chinese Paladin I

2.2 Chinese Paladin III

2.3 Chinese Paladin IV

3. The direction of the tragic creation of the Chinese Paladin series

3.1 Emotions among characters

3.1.1 Love

3.1.2 Affection

3.2 Collective greater good

3.3 Destiny

4. Conclusion

The Art of Tragedy in the Chinese Paladin Series

Tan Yizhang

1. Introduction

In recent years, after more than a decade of silence, China's single-player game industry has once again seen the beginnings of vigorous growth, riding on the spring breeze of economic development and the improvement of people's lives. Looking back at the origins of Chinese single-player games, which emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century in response to the popularity of computers, the emergence, development, and decline of the classic role-playing game "Xian Jian Qidao" to its current status as a generation classic, one cannot help but ponder: what is it that makes such a single-player game, whose gameplay is not outstanding and whose graphics are no match for those of its international contemporaries, be regarded as a classic? From the point of view of the elements of a role-playing game, combined with the Chinese people's preference for cultural products, it is all about the characters, the plot, and so on. After delving deeper into the series, I found that the most impressive aspect of the Chinese Paladin series is the tragic plot. So, today, we will explore what the classic Chinese martial arts role-playing game Chinese Paladin has to offer as a guide to Chinese single-player games from the perspective of the art of tragedy.

2. A brief analysis of the tragic elements in the plot of the Chinese Paladin series

2.1 Chinese Paladin I

The plot of Chinese Paladin I can be said to lay the foundations for the tragedy of the entire Chinese Paladin series: the tragedy of the mythological heritage of the protagonist's duties, as in the case of Zhao Linger; the tragedy of the protagonist's sacrifice for the greater good of the community, as in the case of Lin Yueru; the tragedy of emotional entanglements, and most importantly, the core of the tragic story: the tragedy of a sword with a traditional Chinese mythological background.

2.2 Chinese Paladin III

The plot of Chinese Paladin III builds on the more martial-arts oriented storylines of Chinese Paladin I and II, and further ties in with the word 'immortal'. The whole of Chinese Paladin III has the theme of "reincarnation" - one of the human hypotheses on the origin and destination of life. As the plot progresses, using the magic sword as a clue, players will discover that Jing Tian was once a royal son who gave his life to defend his collective clan and that his sister, Long Qi, also gave her life to die for her country in the Sword Casting Pond. Then it is revealed that Jing Tian was a heavenly deity before he plunged into reincarnation and that the first female, Tang Xuemei, was also a deity. The other pair of the main group, Xu Changqing and Zi Xuan reissue associated with mythology and reincarnation, while Zi Xuan's mythological background brings her a heritage that brings about her emotional tragedy with Xu Changqing. Although there is an eventual ending in which the three Jing Tian live happily ever after, the tragic ending of Zi Xuan, who is a descendant of Nuwa, still gives a deep sense of powerlessness.

2.3 Chinese Paladin IV

The core of the plot of Chinese Paladin IV is the "search for immortality", which brings with it the desire for immortality and the inaccessibility of the "immortals" in traditional Chinese mythology. These two types of plots often lead to tragedy, and these are often full of a sense of oppression and despair. In addition, Chinese Paladin IV delves into another tragic dimension of Chinese mythology: the hell of the dead. At the same time, Han Lin Sha, one of the protagonists, evokes the importance that the Chinese people attach to the afterlife by linking her life as a family of thieves to the atonement for her sins after death, and the punishment of tomb robbers who disturb the dead is nested in the persona of a young girl with a heart of love and a sense of righteousness and a quirky spirit. In the tIn end, the appearance of the Nine Heavenly Maidens shatters the almost morbid pursuit of immortality by Xuanxiao, Yaohua, and the entire immortal discipline, making the villain's story a tragic one in which man cannot prevail over heaven. The whole tragic story seems to be a ridiculous farce in the eyes of the gods, and the player on the sidelines can't help but feel a strong sense of sadness. In the end, Yun Tianhe has a long life but loses his lover, and his friend leaves for his duty, so he can only stay alone on Tianqing Peak, which is a testament to Wang Guowei's belief that "the essence of life is nothing but desire. It is only desired. The nature of desire is inexhaustible, but its origin is in inadequacy. The state of inadequacy is also suffering. The concluding lines, "Why not go back to the red dust with a smile, and together we will carry flowers on our sleeves? This is the plot verse of the four generations, but unfortunately, except for the third generation where half of the protagonists reach a happy ending, all the other protagonists are left with tragedy. But it is precise because of this tragedy that a generation of classics has been created. The charm of tragedy shines brightly in the game's plot, too.

How to combine tragedy with various emotions, collective justice, traditional culture, myths, and legends is something that the creators of future Chinese single-player role-playing games need to think about and practice.

3. Perspectives on the creation of tragedy in the Chinese Paladin series

3.1 Emotions between characters

The important focus of the tragic plot of the Chinese Paladin series is the delicate emotions of the characters. Many of the tragedies in The Legend of the Chinese Paladin, such as the tragedy of Zixuan, who is the heir to the great god Nuwa, having to cut her ties of love, can only be appreciated by those who understand Chinese mythology and legend.

3.1.1 Love

As in most Chinese martial arts books, many of the tragedies in the Chinese Paladin series are based on love: the companionship of Lin Yueru, the devotion of Ling'er and the entanglement of Anu all revolve around the love for Li Longyao, a story that the Chinese are happy to see in the rivers and lakes of the sword, but in theend thee, ey are separated from each other by fate. In the third generation, Tang Xuemian and Jing Tian, Zi Xua,n and Xu Changqing's entanglement through reincarnation lead to very different endings. The four generations of love and friendship are entangled, but in tthe endd they are separated from each other, leaving behind the tombstone of their "beloved wives" and the emotional entanglement of three people, the Qin Ji, in a straight line, who are separated from each other. The tragedy of love is universally applicable to human beings, whose desire for love is far more profound than that of other animals, and adding a tragic ending to a love story is certainly more memorable. It is not difficult to understand why, before the turn of the century, Chinese Paladin I left an indelible memory in the hearts of the people of that era.

3.1.2 Affection

As a game with Chinese cultural roots, the plot of Chinese Paladin is inevitably an exploration of kinship: the first two generations of uncles and aunts in place of parents, the third generation of Tang Xuejian's grandfather's loving care for Xuejian despite the lack of blood, the fourth generation of Yun Tianqing's seemingly wanton but still well-intentioned teaching of Tianhe, Uncle Liu's unrequited love for Liu Mengli, Han Linxia's search for the truth about her family's early death, and finally? The main line of the Chinese Paladin series is always positive, but it always ends tragically, with the protagonist looking back after resolving the events and finding himself alone in the end.

3.2 Collective justice

For a large part of the 5,000 years of China's history, the rulers' brainwashing of the people has remained in their bloodstream and cannot be eradicated overnight. In addition, the Chinese attach great importance to unity, as China is the most populous unified multi-ethnic country in the world. For thousands of years. National unity and unification have always been the main theme of the Chinese nation. The great integration of the various Chinese ethnic groups, which has been formed through migration,gathering,d warfare, has never been interrupted .hebeforee, the Chinese people have a deeper sense of responsibility for the collective good of the nation. In addition, many stories in Chinese myths and legends are also related to the collective, and the tragic genre of the 'sacrifice of the scholar' exists in classical drama

), and even the creation of the myth of a god to save the collective as Nuwa mends the heavens. In the Chinese Paladin, the mission of the identity of the "Nuwa heir" becomes synonymous with the dedication to collective justice, and in the Chinese Paladin series, the mythical figure of the "female snail" is first invoked in the divine realm, leading to the "female snail tribe "The snail is a mythological figure in the divine realm. The myth of the female snail mending the heavens and the creation of man is still a household word today, and the female snail is set in the game as a "human-headed snake", a cultural trait inherited from ancient totem worship. The ancient totem of the snake is the original image of the dragon. In the Chinese creation myth, the snake is one of the ancient gods, and both Fuxi and the female snail are human-headed and snake-bodied. In mythology, the female snail is a loving figure who has been guarding the Chinese nation for generations, so in the game, the female snail tribe is carrying on the legacy of female Juan to bless the people.

] but also because of this, the sacrifice of several main characters who are descendants of Nuwa is so normal and tragic in the plot, in the eyes of the nation that has inherited the culture of Nuwa. Moreover, the same can be said for the sacrifice of Long Qi and Wen Qi for their country. The tragedies from the collective greater good always hit the point where Chinese people are sad but not angry and thought-provoking.

3.3 Fate

Fate, or "destiny" as it is more commonly known in China, may have its roots in inevitability or principle, but when the plot is happening in front of you, there is not so much to think about, and when immersed in the world brought to you by the game, fate is so powerless that the player can only be touched by it and cannot intervene, and it also inspires the player to think about the "maybe" of changing the fate of the character.

References

[ Zhang Zhiwei, "Sacrifice: An Essay on the Spirit of Tragedy in Classical Chinese Drama" [D] Literary and Artistic Studies, August 2011, 49

[ Zhang He Ting, "A Study of the Traditional Culture Embedded in RPG Games - Taking the Chinese Paladin and Wonderful Legend Series as an Example" [D ] Mudan, 2016, No. 9X 109-112

[ Yang Xin Xie Ping "National unity is as precious as air" [D] Civilization 2010, No. 1 28-29]

[ Wang Guowei, "Commentary on <Honglou Meng>" [Z] 1904 ]