Weapons of the Gods (comics)
Encyclopedia
Weapons of the Gods is a Hong Kong
comic book
series by Wong Yuk Long
which began in 1996
. It was translated into English by Bob Allen for ComicsOne
. A role-playing game
version was published by Eos Press
in 2005.
The story is set during the turbulent transitional period of Jin Dynasty to Sixteen Kingdoms
eras, and traced the contention of various pugilists for the divine weapon known as Heaven's Crystal (天晶). The pair of crystalline blades, crafted by the celestial goddess Nüwa
, were used to eradicate demons and devils during the primeval era, and in turn, was said to be cursed by them.
In addition, the criminal underworld was dominated by the sinister Heaven-Earth Alliance (天地盟), aka Hell Clan. Its countless minions infiltrate every part of society, and it was widely feared for its brutal methods enforced by most highly skilled members.
The prelude of the tale began in AD 318, with the presentation of Heaven's Crystal by the Imperial Court to Nangong Yi, acknowledged as pugilist master of the southern lands. In the midst of the festivities of the occasion, his wife, Dongfang Xiong (东方雄), was lamenting over the loss of her husband's affection to his concubine, Jade Swallow (玉燕).
The cool, shrewd and proud Dongfang Xiong, nicknamed Heartblade (心剑), was acknowledged to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but was not able to bear her husband a son early in their marriage, prompting him to dote on Jade Swallow who bore him a son. Though Heartblade later gave birth to a son too, her husband became estranged from her, and she did not join in the celebration.
At the great hall, despite being warned by Heartblade not to accept Heaven's Crystal because of its curse, Nangong Yi did and unsheathed the blades. Inferior weapons in the vicity shattered at the presence of the divine weapon. The Sky-Lord of the Hell Clan arrived to seize it. He had been issued a specially crafted weapon, Thunder Cudgel, for his mission, leading to the Thunder Cudgel clashing in full force against Heaven's Crystal.
The result was a cataclysmic blast that devastated the entire Sword Island, killing everyone present except a handful of survivors led by Dongfang Xiong. She immediately sought out Jade Swallow, only to find the latter had been buried after dying during childbirth.
A month later, a wagon driver arriving at the Beiming foundry in the north discovered the child, Nangong Wentian (南宫问天), nursing a baby girl with blood from his finger, at the gate. Despite barely graduating from being a toddler, Wentian exhibited great inner strength.
One thread began with two separate threads, one focussing on Dongfang Xiong's reclaiming her legacy, being Dongfang Yinian's firstborn, from her half-brother. Having gathered the survivors of Nangong clan from the cataclysm 18 years before, she returned with vengeance, with her grown-up son, Dongfang Tiexin, to her childhood home where she suffered ignominy for being born a girl.
The other thread focussed on Wentian, having grown up in the Beiming clan with his sister, Wenchai. The Beiming clan was exploring the prospects of a marriage alliance with the Xicheng clan, and Xicheng Hao's son, Xicheng Xiushu (Great Oak) arrived as an emissary.
The Hell Clan took advantage of the two convergences of the greatest sects of the realms to send their most powerful minions to destroy the four clans, or at least cripple them. The master diviner, Zhuo Bufan, had predicted the re-emergence of Heaven's Crystal, and the Hell Clan was intent to wiping out its closest rivals.
As the story developed, more and more divine weapons and instruments were revealed, each having unique powers. There were ten most powerful artefacts created not by mortal hands:
The story went far into realms of fantasy, with presence of fantasy legendary creatures like sentient dragon-like beasts.
A sequel was made with the plot being dealing with attempts to revive a long gone evil overlord. Wentian had to combine the prowess of all ten Weapons of the Gods to deal with the ultimate evil. New artefacts emerged, primarily in the form of ten demonic pearls which thrived on the negative emotions of human beings.
A second sequel was made with the story set hundreds of years later, with a new cast of characters, involving the reunifying the crystal shards from the shattered Heaven's Crystal in a new era of heroes and villains. Poor sales led to the writers making crossover references with another ongoing comic series - Legends of the Sons of Heaven (天子傳奇). However, it was unfavourable received by fans who panned it in online forums as being "neither here nor there".
A couple of prequels were also published, focussing on the grandfather and father of Wentian.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by Wong Yuk Long
Wong Yuk Long
Tony Wong Yuk-Long is a Hong Kong based Manhua artist, publisher and actor who wrote and created Little Rascals and Weapons of the Gods. He also wrote adaptations of Louis Cha's Wuxia novels such as The Return of the Condor Heroes , Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, and Ode to Gallantry...
which began in 1996
1996 in comics
-Year overall:* Malcolm Jones III commits suicide at circa age 37.* Boody Rogers, creator of Sparky Watts, dies at c. age 92-January:* January 19: Bernard Baily, co-creator of The Spectre and Hourman, dies at age 79.* January 28:...
. It was translated into English by Bob Allen for ComicsOne
ComicsOne
Comics One was an American distributor of Asian Comics , established in 1999. ComicsOne was based in Fremont, California...
. A role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
version was published by Eos Press
Eos Press
Eos Press was an American game publisher, originally established in 2001 in Seattle, Washington, as Hawthorn Hobgoblynn Press. Eos has expanded and now has operations in Taiwan, Singapore, and Suzhou, China...
in 2005.
The story is set during the turbulent transitional period of Jin Dynasty to Sixteen Kingdoms
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereign states in China proper and its neighboring areas from 304 to 439 AD after the retreat of the Jin Dynasty to South China and before the establishment of the Northern Dynasties...
eras, and traced the contention of various pugilists for the divine weapon known as Heaven's Crystal (天晶). The pair of crystalline blades, crafted by the celestial goddess Nüwa
Nüwa
Nüwa is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven.-Primary sources:...
, were used to eradicate demons and devils during the primeval era, and in turn, was said to be cursed by them.
Prelude
There were four dominant pugilistic clans hailing from the four cardinal directions of the realms:- North : The Beiming (北冥) clan, manufacturer of the best weapons in the realms, led by Beiming Zheng (北冥正), an ambitious man who dreamed of becoming master of the world.
- South : The Nangong (南宫) clan, based on the Sword Island in Lake Tai, led by Nangong Yi, known to be an honourable and supreme swordsman.
- East : The Dongfang (东方) clan, which held sway over the entire coastal region of Bohai SeaBohai SeaBohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China. It is approximately 78,000 km2 Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of...
, led by Dongfang Yinian (东方一念). Its great wealth from its maritime trade could rival those of kingdoms and empires. - West : The "Xicheng (西城) clan, its fabulous riches came from controlling the strategic trading route between East and West from its home in the Xiyu. Its leader, Xicheng Hao (西城豪), despite being highly-skilled, was a rather boorish individual.
In addition, the criminal underworld was dominated by the sinister Heaven-Earth Alliance (天地盟), aka Hell Clan. Its countless minions infiltrate every part of society, and it was widely feared for its brutal methods enforced by most highly skilled members.
The prelude of the tale began in AD 318, with the presentation of Heaven's Crystal by the Imperial Court to Nangong Yi, acknowledged as pugilist master of the southern lands. In the midst of the festivities of the occasion, his wife, Dongfang Xiong (东方雄), was lamenting over the loss of her husband's affection to his concubine, Jade Swallow (玉燕).
The cool, shrewd and proud Dongfang Xiong, nicknamed Heartblade (心剑), was acknowledged to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but was not able to bear her husband a son early in their marriage, prompting him to dote on Jade Swallow who bore him a son. Though Heartblade later gave birth to a son too, her husband became estranged from her, and she did not join in the celebration.
At the great hall, despite being warned by Heartblade not to accept Heaven's Crystal because of its curse, Nangong Yi did and unsheathed the blades. Inferior weapons in the vicity shattered at the presence of the divine weapon. The Sky-Lord of the Hell Clan arrived to seize it. He had been issued a specially crafted weapon, Thunder Cudgel, for his mission, leading to the Thunder Cudgel clashing in full force against Heaven's Crystal.
The result was a cataclysmic blast that devastated the entire Sword Island, killing everyone present except a handful of survivors led by Dongfang Xiong. She immediately sought out Jade Swallow, only to find the latter had been buried after dying during childbirth.
A month later, a wagon driver arriving at the Beiming foundry in the north discovered the child, Nangong Wentian (南宫问天), nursing a baby girl with blood from his finger, at the gate. Despite barely graduating from being a toddler, Wentian exhibited great inner strength.
Plot
The story is told 18 years after the prelude is narrated through several concurrent developments which occasionally intersects.One thread began with two separate threads, one focussing on Dongfang Xiong's reclaiming her legacy, being Dongfang Yinian's firstborn, from her half-brother. Having gathered the survivors of Nangong clan from the cataclysm 18 years before, she returned with vengeance, with her grown-up son, Dongfang Tiexin, to her childhood home where she suffered ignominy for being born a girl.
The other thread focussed on Wentian, having grown up in the Beiming clan with his sister, Wenchai. The Beiming clan was exploring the prospects of a marriage alliance with the Xicheng clan, and Xicheng Hao's son, Xicheng Xiushu (Great Oak) arrived as an emissary.
The Hell Clan took advantage of the two convergences of the greatest sects of the realms to send their most powerful minions to destroy the four clans, or at least cripple them. The master diviner, Zhuo Bufan, had predicted the re-emergence of Heaven's Crystal, and the Hell Clan was intent to wiping out its closest rivals.
As the story developed, more and more divine weapons and instruments were revealed, each having unique powers. There were ten most powerful artefacts created not by mortal hands:
- Heaven's Crystal (天晶)- A pair of 'mother-son' blades, cursed by the demons it banished.
- Tiger's Soul (虎魄) - a vampiric halberd crafted by Chi You.
- Grand Void (太虛) - a single-wheeled chariot crafted by the Yellow Emperor that derived its strength from the righteousness of the user.
- Tablet of Annihilation (十方俱滅) - made by Fuxi, it could manipulate time and space.
- Shennong's Rule (神農尺) - A jade broadsword capable of healing and poisoning.
- Spirit Devourer (噬魂) - A three section staff crafted by RakshaRakshaIn Hindu mythology, a Rakshas is a kind of evil demon.-Ramayana:According to the Ramayana, the Raksha people were the mythical inhabitants of Sri Lanka who were said to have lived among the Naga, Yakkha, and Deva, and governed Sri Lanka in 2370 BCE...
, capable of dealing with the spiritual creatures. - Heaven's Executor (天誅) - A crossbow crafted by Raksha's sister. It had nine different arrows, each with unique powers.
- Evil Shocker (驚邪) - a two-pronged fork created by the gods of thunger and lightning, with electrical and sonic prowess.
- Divine Dance (神舞) - a pipa made from divine wood formed from Nuwa's arm, capable of sonic attacks as well as hypnosis.
- Phoenix (鳳皇) - An axe crafted by the Great Yü, and could control liquids.
The story went far into realms of fantasy, with presence of fantasy legendary creatures like sentient dragon-like beasts.
Sequels
The first story focussed primarily on the Ten Weapons of the Gods, and on Nangong Wentian.A sequel was made with the plot being dealing with attempts to revive a long gone evil overlord. Wentian had to combine the prowess of all ten Weapons of the Gods to deal with the ultimate evil. New artefacts emerged, primarily in the form of ten demonic pearls which thrived on the negative emotions of human beings.
A second sequel was made with the story set hundreds of years later, with a new cast of characters, involving the reunifying the crystal shards from the shattered Heaven's Crystal in a new era of heroes and villains. Poor sales led to the writers making crossover references with another ongoing comic series - Legends of the Sons of Heaven (天子傳奇). However, it was unfavourable received by fans who panned it in online forums as being "neither here nor there".
A couple of prequels were also published, focussing on the grandfather and father of Wentian.