The Return of the Condor Heroes

"The Return of the Condor Heroes" (zh-tsp|t=神鵰俠侶|s=神雕侠侣|p=shén diāo xiá lǚ) is a classic wuxia novel written by Jin Yong, first published on May 20, 1959 in the first issue of "Ming Pao" and ran for about three years. This is the second novel of the "Condor Trilogy". The story revolves around Yang Guo and his lover Xiaolongnü in their adventure in an unfamiliar world that does not approve of their taboo love between master and apprentice.

Alternate English titles are "The Giant Eagle and Its Companion" and "Divine Eagle, Chivalric Companion". The Legend of Condor Hero: The Complete Saga as released on amazon is actually a misrelease of Return of the Condor Heroes (anime). [It is a 26 episode version beginning with an orphaned boy, and ending rather sadly with the Heartless Valley section. Legend of Condor Hero, the novel, has at least 52 episodes and involves Yang Guo's parents.]

Chapters

Jin Yong revised the novel in 1970 and again in 2004. There are 40 chapters in the 2nd and 3rd revisions of the novel. Each chapter has a 4-character title. Most of the revisions are either clarifications or minor alterations of character motivations. These are the titles for 3rd revision, slightly different from 2nd revision of the novel.

# 風月無情 — No Love Under the Wind and the Moon
# 故人之子 — A Friend’s Son
# 投師終南 — Seeking Tutelage at Mount Zhongnan
# 全真門下 — Under the Teaching of Quanzhen Sect
# 活死人墓 — The Tomb of Living Dead
# 玉女心經 — Manual of the Jade Maiden
# 重陽遺刻 — Chongyang’s Markings
# 白衣少女 — Girl in White
# 百計避敵 — Escaping from the Enemy
# 少年英俠 — Young Heroes
# 風塵睏頓 — A Pause from Roaming
# 英雄大宴 — The Heroes’ Feast
# 武林盟主 — The Chancellor of Martial Clans Wulin
# 禮教大防 — Defending against Custom and Tradition
# 東邪門人 — The Disciples of Eastern Heretic
# 殺父深仇 — Avenging a Father’s Death
# 絕情幽谷 — The Secluded Passionless Valley
# 公孫谷主 — Valley Master Gongsun
# 地底老婦 — The Old Woman of Underground
# 俠之大者 — A Hero’s Top Imperative
# 襄陽鏖兵 — Battle at Xiangyang
# 危城女嬰 — A Baby Girl Born in a Falling City
# 手足情仇 — Sibling Rivalry
# 意亂情迷 — Turbulent Emotions
# 內憂外患 — Domestic Strife, Foreign Aggression
# 神雕重劍 — Divine Eagle’s Heavy Sword
# 鬥智鬥力 — Fighting Strength with Wisdom
# 洞房花燭 — Wedding Festivities
# 劫難重重 — Ultimate Disasters
# 離合無常 — Strange Encounters
# 半枚靈丹 — The Other Half of the Antidote
# 情是何物 — What Entity is Love
# 風陵夜話 — Tales in the Night
# 排難解紛 — Settling a Dispute
# 三枚金針 — The Three Golden Needles
# 生辰大禮 — The Birthday Celebration
# 三世恩怨 — Gratitudes and Grudges of Three Generations
# 生死茫茫 — Life and Death are Boundless
# 大戰襄陽 — Great Battle of Xiangyang
# 華山之巔 — The Summit of Mount Hua

The main characters are Yang Guo (楊過) and Xiaolongnü (小龍女). Yang Guo is the orphaned son of Yang Kang (楊康) and Mu Nianci (穆念慈), both characters of the prequel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". He never knew his father and could barely remember his mother. But their legacy, especially his father's, made him an outsider in the Martial Arts World.

Xiaolongnü is a mysterious girl of unknown origin and whose past is slowly revealed in the plot.

Raised briefly by Guo Jing and Huang Rong, Yang Guo was later sent to train under the Quan Zhen Sect ("All True Religion"). Fleeing from bullying and abuse at Quanzhen School, he met Xiaolongnü of Ancient Tomb Sect ("Gumu Pai"), who became his teacher. When they first met, Yang Guo was an impetuous and mischievous 14-year-old while Xiaolongnü was a cold, unemotional 18-year-old. After years of living and training martial arts together in the Ancient Tomb, they eventually fell in love with each other.

Plot

The orphan

The story begins with the introduction of a new plot line and new characters. Li Mochou (李莫愁),a powerful and vicious woman, massacred the entire Lu family due to her humiliation after a reneged marriage vow. Lu Wushuang (陸無雙), a youngster in the Lu family, was abducted by Li Mochou during the fights while her cousin Cheng Ying was saved by Huang Yaoshi (黃藥師) (one of the Five Greats of the martial arts world and a significant character in The Legend of the Condor Heroes).

The main character Yang Guo (楊過) was then introduced as an orphan, living the life of a scavenger. He was accidentally hurt by one of Li Mochou's poisonous needles in the fight. Fortunately for him, he encountered Ouyang Feng (歐陽鋒) (another member of the Five Greats, and a powerful villain in the previous story, and since gone insane). Ouyang Feng offered to help Yang Guo purge his poison, with the odd condition that he take the title of Ouyang Feng's adopted son. After Yang Guo was cured, their companionship did not last long as Ouyang Feng would enter one of his fits of madness and wander off. During the brief time they stayed together, Yang Guo received instruction in Ouyang Feng's legendary fighting style, which would later prove to be both a blessing and a curse.

When Yang Guo encountered the couple Guo Jing (郭靖) and Huang Rong (黃蓉), they immediately noticed that young Yang Guo bore an uncanny resemblance to Guo's sworn brother, Yang Kang (楊康). Upon learning that Yang Guo was in fact Yang Kang's son, the couple took Yang Guo under their care. However, Yang Guo did not get along with Guo Jing's daughter Guo Fu (郭芙) and his disciples (brothers Wu Dunru (武敦儒) and Wu Xiuwen (武修文)). Furthermore, out of the fear that Yang Guo would follow the footsteps of his late father (a man who wielded the power of his martial arts for evil ends), Huang Rong taught Yang Guo the teachings of philosophy and literary arts, instead of martial arts. Realizing that he was being treated differently from the other disciples, Yang Guo keenly felt the injustice, and slowly (for reasons of his own) began to doubt Guo Jing and Huang Rong.

One day, a fight broke out between Yang Guo and the Wu brothers. Upon being beaten, Yang Guo unexpectedly revealed his"Toad Leap" (蛤蟆功), taught to him by Ouyang Feng, and injured Wu Xiuwen badly. When questioned later by Guo Jing and Huang Rong, Yang Guo refused to reveal how he learned the Toad Leap. In any event, the answer was self-evident, as the only living person who knew the art was Ouyang Feng (who had killed five of Guo Jing's masters Jiangnan Qi Guai (江南七怪) and committed countless other crimes in the past). The couple decided at last that Yang Guo would inevitably learn martial arts in his own way, and that it would be better to at least have him taught properly in mainstream arts rather than risk corruption by any of the countless other "evil" styles. Yang Guo would be sent to the Quan Zhen Sect (全真教) for better guidance and also for instruction in one of the most "mainstream" styles of the time.

Quanzhen sect

Despite the goodwill between Guo Jing and the elders of the Quanzhen Sect, things got off to a bad start. The younger Quanzhen members attacked Guo Jing in a case of mistaken identity, but their best efforts were easily defeated by the single man. Even after clearing up matters with the Quanzhen elders, there was still considerable grudge. Yang Guo was poorly treated, and his master Zhao Zhijing (趙志敬) perceived Yang Guo as rebellious and would not teach him proper martial arts. Teaching the boy only the verse and not the maneuver, Zhao Zhijing was able to fool his elders into believing that Yang Guo was just a poor student. After an incident where Yang Guo again used the "Toad Leap" and injured another student, the entire sect (who held countless grudges against Ouyang Feng in the past) turned against him with a vengeance. Yang Guo fled and escaped unknowingly into the nearby Tomb of the Living Dead, the home of the Gumu Pai ("Ancient Tomb Sect", 古墓派), and was taken in by Xiaolongnü (小龍女). Due to previous agreement between Wang Chongyang (王重陽) and Lin Chaoying (林朝英), the respective founders of the Quanzhen and Gumu Pai, the Quanzhen priests were prohibited from going after him into the Tomb.

Ancient Tomb sect

Xiaolongnü imparted her skills to Yang Guo and they eventually ended up practicing the "Art of Jade Maiden". At one point, they had to strip their bodies to practice but was chanced upon by Yin Zhiping (尹志平, 甄志丙 in later editions) and Zhao Zhijing. With her energy disrupted, Xiaolongnü was injured severely. At this critical moment, Li Mochou returned to look for the "Art of Jade Maiden".

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü sparred with Li Mochou and her disciple. They were pursued relentlessly by Li Mochou, and sealed up the only exit with a block of 500 kg stone, called Breaking Dragon rocks in the end. Li Mochou held Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü captive. After being tortured, Yang Guo finally said that he would die for Xiaolongnü. Li Mochou seized this opportunity to say to Xiaolongnü that she could exit the tomb now since she has finally found a man who truly loved her. However, Xiaolongnü saw through Li Mochou's trick, saying that she doesn't think there is another way out.

They were pursued again and they managed to shake off Li Mochou. Thinking that her death was near, Xiaolongnü asked Yang Guo to place her in one of the coffins in the room in the gumu. After Yang Guo climbed into the coffin with her, they found a secret lever. They fell through the coffin and ended up in a room which contained secret martial art manuals and many stone soldiers. Li Mochou found the opening in the coffin and sought them. They exited the tomb together through a waterfall. Li Mochou returned to her house and found Lu Wushuang missing along with her one of her martial art manuals, and vowed to kill Lu Wushuang.

Meanwhile, Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo learned a skill from the "Sacred Scriptures of Nine Negations" left behind by Wang Chongyang. One day, Yang Guo's godfather, Ouyang Feng, came to look for Yang Guo. After Yang Guo realized that it was his godfather whom Xiaolongnü was engaged in a fight with, he stopped them and pointed out to the both of them that Ouyang Feng was his godfather. Ouyang Feng was overjoyed and immediately wanted to continue imparting his martial skills to Yang Guo. Not trusting Xiaolongnü, Ouyang Feng immobilized her, not wanting her to look at them practicing. Taking advantage of Xiaolongnü's immobilized state, Yin Zhiping raped her and ran away, worrying that Xiaolongnü would kill him if she found out that it was him. However, Xiaolongnü thought it was Yang Guo, who had been with her. When Yang Guo returned from practicing with Ouyang Feng, he became confused with Xiaolongnü's actions towards him. After he refused to address her appropriately as his wife, she ran away in a furious and sad state.

Love Flower

In the novel, there is a flower called the Love Flower (情花) which although beautiful, has hidden thorns. The thorns are very poisonous and it could be fatal if pricked by even one of them. Upon any thoughts of love, the victim would be hurt by the poison. Years ago, the love flowers were supposed to be extinct but it seemed that they still continue to thrive in a hidden place called the Passionless Valley, whose master is the ruthless Gongsun Zhi (公孫止). There is only one antidote to the poison of this flower, the passion pill, and there are only two such pills in existence. One was eventually put into the pocket of Yang Guo and the other was kept by the wife of the Valley Master. In the English version on KTSF 26, these flowers bore the same name, but the valley and the pill were renamed "Heartless Pill" and "Heartless Valley"

Yang Guo was poisoned by this flower when he came to the valley while Xiaolongnü was badly injured in the later part of this novel. Since Yang Guo would not take the pill which was given to him because he thought Xiaolongnü was going to die, Xiaolongnü jumped off a cliff, leaving a message to Yang Guo, who could still be saved. The message read: "She was going to meet Yang Guo 16 years later and during the time she is gone, he must take care of himself and wait for their reunion.". Her plan was to make him forget about her so that he would take the antidote and live for at least sixteen more years.

ixteen Years Later

Yang Guo waited for sixteen years. He spent his time developing his martial arts with that divine bird, the Condor (culminating in creating the Melancholic Sad Palms) and then wandering the land, becoming a well known hero, the Condor Hero. On the day he was supposed to meet Xiao Long Nu, Yang Guo found out that Nanhai Nun did not exist and that Xiao Long Nu actually jumped off the cliff, so he jumped off the cliff to join her in death. To his surprise, the bottom of the valley had a lake.

Xiao Long Nu had actually survived and slowly recovered while at the bottom of the pit. She had no way of getting out and so lived her life like she did in the cave she grew up in. Yang Guo also survived the fall and they reunite. She and Yang Guo were very happy to find each other. They then left the pit and found out that Guo Xiang (Guo Jing's daughter whom he had a close bond with) was in danger. They rescue her and take part in a battle to protect Xiangyang from the Mongolian armada led by Möngke Khan. Yang Guo fought with General Jinlun Guoshi and eventually won. He then eliminated Möngke Khan, disbanding the entire Mongolian army, caused a civil war that disrupted the unity and invincibility of the Mongol Empire, and halting their invasion for another thirteen years until the succession of Kublai Khan. Yang Guo made his peace with all the warriors. Xiao Long Nu and Yang Guo are recognized as heroes and they left on their own. As it was about 40 years since the last competition at Hua Mtn, all the heroes gathered at the peak to pay respects to Hong Qigong who had died and was buried there. Here, they renamed the 5 Greats since the prior North, West and Central Greats had died and the Southern King had abdicated.

In most if not all adaptations of the novel, the last chapter was removed. It depicted the entire group of heroes leaving Mount Hua and encountering Jue Yuan and Zhang Jun Bao who would play an important role in the conclusion to the trilogy.

The story would conclude on the "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記)."

Characters

The Condor (Giant Eagle)

The Condor (神鵰) is a giant eagle living alone in a valley. It used to have a companion but he was long dead before it met Yang Guo. The Great Eagle's companion was actually a great sword master, nicknamed "the Sword Devil (劍魔)", by the name of Dugu Qiu Bai (獨孤求敗) or The Lonely One-Who-Begs-For-Defeat. After roaming China in search for someone to rival his great swordmanship, Dugu Qiu Bai came to a cave in the middle of a forest and lived there as a hermit with only the condor for a companion. In doing so, he took on the name "Qiubai (求敗)" ("begging for defeat"), perhaps out of arrogance, or more likely as a dogged quest to find the limit of his skills. After his death, the Great Eagle lived alone, and only came to encounter Yang Guo one night during a fight with a giant snake.

From the Condor Yang Guo learned his swordplay. Because his right arm had been severed by Guo Fu, the spoiled daughter of his surrogate uncle Guo Jing in a fit of anger, Yang Guo trained relentlessly with his one arm under the waterfalls to wield the great sword of Dugu Qiu Bai. Eventually, when he achieved high skills in martial art, he and the condor ventured out to search for his lover who is also his martial art's master, Xiaolongnü (小龍女).Although it is described as a rather unattractive or ugly bird, the Condor however, possesses near human intelligence and fighting skills that can rival some of the best in the martial art world.

Protagonists

* Yang Guo (楊過) - the main hero of the story. He is the orphaned son of Yang Kang (楊康) and Mu Nianci (穆念慈) who are both characters of the first part of the trilogy, The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
* Xiaolongnü (小龍女) - is Yang Guo's love interest. She is a disciple of the secret martial art sect, Gumu Pai ("Ancient Tomb Sect", 古墓派).
* Guo Jing (郭靖) - is the sworn brother of Yang Guo's father, Yang Kang. He took care of Yang Guo when his mother died.
* Huang Rong (黃蓉) - is Guo Jing's clever wife and Yang Guo's surrogate aunt. She refused at first to teach martial arts to Yang Guo, fearing that he would turn out to be like his father.
* Lu Wushuang (陸無雙) - is the spirited daughter of the Lu House, which is a prominent family in Jiang Nan. When she first saw Yang Guo, she thought he was half-mad and dim-witted and called him "Sha Dan" " - (idiot)". Later on, she began to develop strong feelings for him.
* Cheng Ying (程英) - is Lu Wu Shuang's mild-mannered cousin and a disciple of Peach Blossom Island Master Huang Yaoshi (黃藥師), the East Heretic and Huang Rong's father. She helped Yang Guo rescue Lu Wushuang from Li Mochou (李莫愁). Like her cousin, she also has affectionate feelings for Yang Guo.
* Wanyan Ping (完顏萍)- is a member of the royal family of Jin Dynasty. Her whole family was killed by the Yelü (耶律) Family and to avenge their deaths, she swore to kill Yelü Chuchai (耶律楚才) who was the prime minister of Mongolia. She reminded Yang Guo of Xiaolongnü and because of this, he taught her martial arts to defeat the prime minister's son, Yelü Qi (耶律齊).
* Guo Fu (郭芙) - is the spoiled daughter of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. She continued look down on Yang Guo since they were younger and in part due to Yang Guo's unwillingness to comply to her whim. Right after Yang Guo saves her husband Yelü Qi at the end of the novel, she made her peace with Yang Guo. She grew up with Wu Dunru (武敦儒) and Wu Xiuwen (武修文). They were sons of Wu Santong (武三通) and later became her first suitors. Since Guo Fu had trouble choosing which of the brothers to marry, Dun Ru and Xiu Wen fought a duel to the death. In order to prevent this fratricide, Yang Guo lied to the Wu brothers saying that Guo Jing and Huang Rong had already betrothed Guo Fu to him. Guo Fu regarded this lie as an insult to her reputation . She struck Yang Guo with the Yunü Sword which Xiaolongnü gave her out of anger. In his weakened state, Yang Guo grabbed a sword to block her strike. The superior Yunü Sword severed both Yang Guo's sword and his right arm.
* Gongsun Lü'e (公孫綠萼) - is the daughter of the evil Passionless Valley master, Gongsun Zhi (公孫止) and the cruel Qiu Qianchi (裘千尺) who was known as the Iron Palm Lotus Blossom. She fell in love with Yang Guo even though he could not return her love. Eventually, she made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up her life to save him from the Love flower poison.
* Guo Xiang (郭襄) - is the gentle daughter of Guo Jing and Huang Rong and Guo Fu's younger sister. As a baby, she was kidnapped by Li Mochou and was fed by a female leopard. Later, the evil Tibetan monk, Jinlun Fawang (金輪法王) also tried to kidnap and make her his disciple after realizing that he cannot depend on his current disciples to carry on his legacy. It was Yang Guo who finally saved her and returned her to her mother. (Note: In the 3rd revision, Guo Xiang reluctantly becomes Jinlun Fawang's disciple while she tries to escape. Her martial art progresses faster than all of Jinlun Fawang's other disciples. Jinlun Fawang loves her like a daughter. In the end, he gave up his life to save hers).

Antagonists

*Jinlun Guoshi (金輪國師) / Jinlun Fawang (金輪法王) - is known as the Living Buddha of Tibet and Mongolia's Defense Master. At the heroes' gathering in Da Shen Guan, he tried to take the title of "Head of Martial Arts" to stop the Song Dynasty (960-1279) citizens from raising arms against the Mongolians. He was later defeated by Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü who teamed up and used the Jade Maiden Heart's Swordplay. Later in the novel, he wished to take Guo Xiang as his disciple after he realized that all his martial arts creations will be gone with him once he's die. His star disciple died before the novel begin. His second disciple, Da’erba, though honest, is dim-witted. His last disciple Huo Du has demonstrated times and times again that he is loyal only to himself.
*Li Mochou (李莫愁) - is known as the Serpent Deity. The apprentice sister of Xiaolongnü, she was expelled from the sect because of her love for a man who later betrayed her. She roamed China, striking fear in men's hearts and ruthlessly causing trouble when the mood strikes her.
*Gongsun Zhi (公孫止) - is the merciless master of Passionless Valley. His ancestors were once important officials of Tang Dynasty who fled to a fortress in the hidden valley to avoid persecution. While gathering some herbs, he chanced upon the unconscious Xiaolongnü and fell in love with her.
*Qiu Qianchi (裘千尺) - is Gongsun Zhi's wife and known as the Lotus Blossom of Iron Palm Sect. She is also Qiu Qianren's sister. Everyone thought she was dead but in truth, Gongsun Zhi disposed of her in a deep pit under the Passionless Valley. She was trapped in the pit as the tendons and ligaments to her arms and legs were cut by Gongsun Zhi when he wanted her dead. She survived by consuming the prunes that fell near her and trained herself to spit out prune seeds with deadly result. She also knows the location of the hidden antidote for the poisonous plants in Passionless Valley.
*Zhao Zhijing (趙志敬) - is a third-generation disciple of Quan Zhen Sect (全真教) and also the master of Yang Guo when he was still studying there. He nearly destroyed his own school when he enlisted the Mongolian conquerors to help him become master of Quan Zhen Sect. He finally died from poison bees.
*Da’erba - is a Tibetian monk and a disciple of Jinlun Fawang. He is honest and loyal but very dim-witted.
*Huo Du (霍都) - is a prince of Mongolia and a disciple of Jinlun Fawang. He is intelligent but not loyal. He'd run in dired situation, leaving his allies and master behind.
*Möngke Khan (蒙哥汗)- is a Mongolian ruler who personally lead the attack on the city of Xiangyang. He was killed by Yang Guo at the end of the novel. His death resulted in internal conflict of succession within the Mongolian empire in which Kublai Khan won, temporary halting the Mongolian invasion for years.
*Kublai (忽必烈) was a governor of the southern territories of the Mongol Empire and its military general. He tried to persuade Guo Jing to switch his loyalty to the Mongol Empire again. After his brother Möngke Khan died at the hand of Yang Guo, he and his brother Hulagu started a civil war that disrupted unity of the empire. Eventually, Kublai won and became a Khan and Yuan Dynasty founder.
*Jinlun's Helpers - four other martial artists, Yin Ke Xi, Ni Mo Xing, Ma Guang Zuo, Xiao Xiangzhi, who were invited by Kublai from different countries to help the Mongolian with their invasion. Though at first, each wishes to be the leader of the group, they begrudgedly followed Jinlun Fawang after realizing he is superior. Ma Guang Zuo left after Yang Guo reminded him that someone with his compassinate nature shouldn't be around the rest of the group. Jinlun Fawang amputated Ni Mo Xing's legs after he stepped on Li Mochou's poisoned needle trap set by Yang Guo. He's killed by Yang Guo 16 years later. Yin Ke Xi and Xiao Xiangzhi returned at the very end of the novel, setting the stage for the next and last part of the trilogy The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

The Five Greats

Here are the five martial arts fighters, known as the Five Greats ("Wu Gao Shou") decided by Huang Rong at the end of the novel:
* Zhou Botong (周伯通) - is known as the Old Mischievous Child (老頑童). At the end of the novel, he reluctantly took central position of the Five Greats as 'Zhong Wantong' (中頑童) which used to belong to his apprentice brother, Wang Chongyang (王重陽) aka Zhong Shentong.
* Huang Yaoshi (黃藥師) - is known as the Eastern Heretic (東邪), a man who dislikes the rules of that era and has a mercurial disposition. Also respectfully called TaoHua Daozhu (Master of the Peach Blossom Island) for where he lives, though he tends to wander around in this novel (as opposed to in Legend of the Condor Heroes, where he stayed primarily in Taohua Dao).
* Yang Guo (楊過) - is known as the Western Eccentric (西狂), in reference to his flouting of the conventions forbidding marriage to his master. As the name suggests, he gets along well with the Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi. Successor to Ouyang Feng (歐陽鋒), the Western Venom (西毒) who is also his foster father.
* Yideng Dashi (Grandmaster Yideng, 一燈大師) - is known as the Southern Monk (南僧). He used to be called the Southern Emperor ("Nan Di", 南帝), because he was the king of the Kingdom of Dali (大理國) until he abdicated and entered the monastery to become a monk.
* Guo Jing (郭靖) - is known as the Northern Hero ("Bei Xia", 北俠), for his compassion and devoted efforts in helping defend fort Xiangyang over the years against Mongolian invasion. A successor to Northern Beggar Hong Qigong (北丐, 洪七公), his teacher, who died after a fight with Ouyang Feng.

Adaptations

This novel is one of the best known among Jinyong's works. Many adaptations have been made and produced on the "Condor Trilogy".

TV series

Comics

* Asiapac Publishing acquired the rights to produce an illustrated version of The Return of the Condor Heroes in 1995. Artist Wee Tian Beng, with the approval of author Jinyong, produced an 18 volume series chronicling the adventures of Yang Guo. The lavishly illustrated series, which was translated by Jean Lim, won the Prestigious Award in 1997 during the Asian Comics Conference held in Korea. There are also cute gag strips that poke gentle fun at some of the story's events.
* In 2002, Comics One published the first official English translation of "Legendary Couple" which is a retelling of Return of Condor Heroes. Louis Cha is credited as the writer with Tony Wong handling the illustration duties.

Video games

* Soft-World released a RPG based on the novel for DOS. The game is only available in Chinese language and cover the first half of the novel until Yang Guo met the divine eagle.
* "New Shen Diao Xia Lü" (2000) for Windows
* "New Shen Diao Xia Lü 2" (2003) for Windows
* [http://www.isgame.com.tw/game/eagle1/default.htm ISGame.com] created this interactive version of the novel. Chinese Language only.
* [http://www.isgame.com.tw/game/eagle2/ ISGame.com] followed up the success of the first game with this sequel. Again, it's Chinese Language only.

See also

* The Condor Trilogy

References

External links

* [http://www.wuxiapedia.com/novels/jin_yong/divine_eagle_gallant_knight Divine Eagle, Gallant Knight] - COMPLETE TRANSLATION of the novel at Wuxiapedia.com
* [http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/productions.php?pID=567 TVB Return of the Condor Heroes 1983 Reviews at spcnet.tv]
* [http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/productions.php?pID=569 TVB Return of the Condor Heroes 1995 Reviews at spcnet.tv]
* [http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/productions.php?pID=568 CCTV Return of the Condor Heroes 2006 Reviews at spcnet.tv]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287704/ TVB Return of the Condor Heroes 1983 Reviews at imdb]
* [http://jinyong.ylib.com.tw/ Jin Yong Teahouse] - fansite of Jin Yong's novels in Cinese
* [http://www.qiqi.com/cgi-bin/bk2.pl?fd1=book&fd2=wx&fd3=jinyong&in=jinyong QiQi.com] - fansite of Jinyong novels
* [http://geocities.com/roch1983/ Return of Condor Heroes (1983 - TVB)] - fansite of the 1983 TV adaptation.
* [http://taykis.tripod.com/roch_versions.html TV adaptations] - fansite