Blog #42: Genre Analysis- Xianxia

Many can understand how to ruin a Xianxia just by reading a bad review on Novelupdates about them.

They have repetitive arcs, repetitive 'young masters' who are looking for a beating, bland main characters, and so on... Though most of it is because Webnovel Authors in the east sometimes don't care about quality and add more quantity.

Their audience are a bunch of slobs who want a good underdog story that has a daily release schedule. They want template main characters they can project themselves onto without any consideration for character growth and so on.

When looking for Webnovels, you may see a lot of stories that have titles that is just 'Cultivation' but with a gimmick added on in the end. Maybe it's a Xianxia in an Apocalypse or maybe the main character is a spaceship. Anyway, what most people do when they tune in to read a Xianxia is see the face-slapping unfolding every five to ten chapters. They haven't come for a 'Great Tale'.

Now you may be confused by what I mean by saying this, so let me explain: Just like in my Underdog Trope Analysis, there are a lot of characters in Xianxia who fit the model of an underdog since this is a breeding factory for them.

The setting is just perfect for such a story. There is a divide between the talentless and the talented, it always features a corrupt government that favours the strong, there's petty injustices everywhere, and some virtuous people wanting to put a stop to it.

The magic aspects of a Xianxia work extremely similar to a LitRPG, but they use different ways of explaining level ups eastern culture. Since people like martial arts in the east, they bring that to the forefront and make imaginary levels and 'ranks' for those play out in an underdog story. This is a particular flavour of 'Underdog' you all know well.

They are not thoughtless, but they are also short-tempered. These Underdogs know the injustice of the world but can't do anything about it since common sense in a Xianxia promotes violence.

It is hard for organisations to stay strong when you are also having to consistently spend money on levelling up your members everyday... The 'Heavens' in these stories is basically like a Game Master who gives everyone a hard time in life.

There is a common misconception people of the west have when writing Xianxia, and that is that the cultural stuff added in a 'Immortal Hero (Xianxia) Genre Webnovel' are necessary for it to be good.

But I will come back to that explanation later as right now it is best to explain the common tropes:

Just like how you see in the common Hero's Journey format, the protagonist of these stories always has something he want to achieve, and most of the time in Xianxia's, that is enlightenment to become a Celestial entity above other people.

They start off from a low point and fight evil people, but fighting injustice is never their main goal. They seek understanding of culture and life through their battles, which can be considered more 'graceful' than fighting for fighting's sake.

The reason 'Immortals' (Eastern version of this word meaning more of a godly entity) mostly look like scholars in Xianxia is because their aesthetic is being able to fight but not seeking battle themselves. They only do and learn what they want to learn, unlike warriors who seek battle and generals who seek political and tactical might.

You will hear the 'Dao' mentioned a lot in these stories as they seek basically what Sun Wukong sought in Journey to the West: Enlightenment that can solve the initial problems they have at their core. Until they've found their answer or have done what they have had the ambition to do since the beginning, they won't stop their journey whatsoever. The ending of every good Xianxia is normally spiritual enlightenment that lets them live with their family peacefully or attaining their goal.

To reach that goal, they will overcome and survive any trials in their way. They will meet new people and go on their epic journey. You can consider Xianxia part Epic Fantasy like The Lord of the Rings in the regard. Though their personalities vary.

Some love the wonders of the world despite the cruelty that comes along with it, some are indignant and are unable to stop themselves from treating everyone as a potential enemy. This is why there are those that give off a slightly juvenile feel.

To go back to an earlier point, there is no need to worry about certain tropes people see all over this genre as long as you remember the core points of a Xianxia, and that is the 'Medicine Journey' structure before Mark Campbell transformed this ancient story template into a familiar collection of tropes we call the Hero's Journey in the present.

The Medicine Journey has 3 stages like this:

1. A problem exists which our ordinary understanding of the world cannot solve.

2. The protagonist must travel elsewhere to find the solution and search for the answers himself.

3. He returns back with the solution in hand. (The reason this is called the 'Medicine' Journey.)

Most Xianxia have added a bunch of eastern tropes to this to see the common format you see today.

Although deific figures, ancient heroes with big egos, martial arts, and mysterious forces of unknown or demonic origins have been in this genre since the beginning, power levels are different. Even how you conceptualise these tropes I've just listed out can be altered to fit a more western look if you feel like it as it's THAT EASY.

People read Xianxia for the action, but there are some experienced readers who have read all the tropes a million times before who just want something fresh every time they read it.

Story's like My Disciple Died Yet Again are parodies of Xianxia but it isn't like it's hard parodying a genre that constantly makes us in the west frustrated by certain tropes. My point is know whether your story is for new readers or more experienced readers before you write as there is always a chance you'll have to repeat arcs.

Just remember that in the end of the day, rather than copying jokes from a culture you are not familiar with, try turning the things you see into stuff that would give both you and the audience a look of intrigue. Like add 'Holy Swords' instead of Flying Swords and try using other kind of magic currency that is the standard Spirit Stones.

Techniques can also be westernised to a certain extent as long as the core of the story's journey doesn't change. The magic system in Xianxia's are known to be so soft that literally anything will work as long as you explain it with a glib tongue.

You only gotta be great at being persuasive when speaking of magibabble and literally most people will ignore inconsistencies. After keeping all this in mind, you will be ready to write your story.

Thank you for reading and request more Analysis blogs like this in future! See you guys later~