List of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer characters

• Linghu Chong (令狐冲; Línghú Chōng) is the happy-go-lucky protagonist of the novel. An orphan, he was raised and trained by Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze as their first apprentice. He learns the Nine Swords of Dugu from Feng Qingyang and becomes a formidable swordsman. His sudden leap in swordplay prowess causes his master to suspect him of having stolen the Bixie Swordplay Manual and mastered the skill. Even after his expulsion from Mount Hua, he remains loyal and respectful towards his former master. However, they ultimately become enemies after Yue Buqun is revealed to be a power-hungry hypocrite. Linghu Chong eventually retires from the jianghu to lead a peaceful life with Ren Yingying.
• Yue Su (岳肅; Yuè Sù) and Cai Zifeng (蔡子峰; Cài Zǐfēng) were two Mount Hua School swordsmen who became rivals and respectively founded the Qi and Sword factions. See also their connections to the Sunflower Manual.

Qi faction

• Yue Buqun (岳不羣; Yuè Bùqún) is the leader of the Mount Hua School. Although he is nicknamed "Gentleman Sword" (君子劍) for his gentlemanly conduct, he gradually reveals his true personality – a bigoted, narcissistic and power-hungry hypocrite. He lusts for the Lin family's Bixie Swordplay Manual and plots an elaborate scheme to seize it, after which he castrates himself to fulfil the prerequisite for learning the swordplay. He is also secretly jealous of Linghu Chong for his sudden leap in swordplay prowess, refusing to accept the fact that his apprentice has surpassed him. He is incidentally killed by Yilin during the final battle with Linghu Chong while attempting to trap and kill his rivals inside a cave on Mount Hua.
• Ning Zhongze (寧中則; Nìng Zhōngzé), nicknamed "Heroine Ning" (寧女俠), is Yue Buqun's chivalrous and kindly wife. She regards Linghu Chong as a son and is also the only person who believes his innocence in the theft of the Bixie Swordplay Manual. She loses her will to live after seeing her husband reveal his true colours and learning of her daughter's death, and eventually commits suicide out of shame at her husband's actions.
• Yue Lingshan (岳靈珊; Yuè Língshān) is Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze's daughter and Linghu Chong's first romantic interest. She falls in love with Lin Pingzhi later and marries him. However, she eventually learns that she is actually a pawn in a struggle for power between her husband and her father. Lin Pingzhi kills her after she refuses to follow him to join Zuo Lengchan in taking revenge against Yue Buqun. Before dying, she makes Linghu Chong promise to spare her husband's life.  
• Lin Pingzhi (林平之; Lín Píngzhī) is Lin Zhennan's son and the sole survivor of the Lin family, who was massacred by the Qingcheng School. Yue Buqun saves him, takes him in as an apprentice, and arranges for a marriage between him and Yue Lingshan. Driven by hatred and resentment after discovering Yue Buqun's ulterior motives, he becomes increasingly vicious and brutally kills his family's murderers in revenge, but is blinded by Mu Gaofeng. He is eventually defeated and permanently disabled by Linghu Chong, who imprisons him in an underground dungeon so that he can neither harm others nor be harmed by others.
• Lao Denuo (勞德諾; Láo Dénuò), nicknamed "Old Man Sa" (薩老頭), is Yue Buqun's second apprentice who is actually a spy sent by Zuo Lengchan to steal the Violet Mist Divine Skill manual from Yue Buqun. He murders Lu Dayou and attempts to push the blame to Linghu Chong. After Zuo Lengchan's death, he attempts to learn the Bixie Swordplay on his own but fails and ends up losing all his inner energy. During Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying's wedding, Ren Yingying reveals that the Sun Moon Holy Cult has captured and forced Lao Denuo to live among monkeys.
• Liang Fa (梁發; Liáng Fā) is Yue Buqun's third apprentice. He is killed by Mount Song School members.
• Shi Daizi (施戴子; Shī Dàizǐ) is Yue Buqun's fourth apprentice.
• Gao Genming (高根明; Gāo Gēnmíng) is Yue Buqun's fifth apprentice.
• Lu Dayou (陸大有; Lù Dàyǒu) is Yue Buqun's sixth apprentice who is nicknamed "Sixth Monkey" (六猴兒) for his monkey-like behaviour and affinity with primates. A close friend of Linghu Chong, he is murdered by Lao Denuo, who attempts to push the blame to Linghu Chong.
• Tao Jun (陶鈞; Táo Jūn) is Yue Buqun's seventh apprentice.
• Ying Bailuo (英白羅; Yīng Báiluó) is Yue Buqun's eighth apprentice. After he witnesses his master trying to harm Lin Pingzhi, his master kills him outside the Lin family residence in Fuzhou.
• Shu Qi (舒奇; Shū Qí) is the youngest among Yue Buqun's apprentices.

Sword faction

• Feng Qingyang (風清揚; Fēng Qīngyáng; 'wind', 'clear', 'raise') is an elderly swordsman from the Sword faction. During the school's internal conflict, he was lured away by the Qi faction, who used the opportunity to defeat and force the Sword faction into exile. Feeling disgraced for being deceived, he leaves the school and leads a reclusive life in a secluded area on Mount Hua. He meets Linghu Chong by chance and teaches him the Nine Swords of Dugu as he is very impressed with Linghu Chong's good character and intelligence. His name is derived from a poem in the Classic of Poetry.[1]
• Feng Buping (封不平; Fēng Bùpíng) is the leader-in-exile of the Sword faction. Zuo Lengchan instigates him to return to Mount Hua to challenge Yue Buqun for the position of leadership of their school. He is defeated by Linghu Chong and forced back into exile.
• Cheng Buyou (成不憂; Chéng Bùyōu) is Feng Buping's junior. He is torn into four pieces by the "Six Immortals of the Peach Valley".
• Cong Buqi (叢不棄; Cóng Bùqì) is Feng Buping's junior. He is defeated by Linghu Chong.

• Zuo Lengchan (左冷禪; Zuó Lěngchán) is the ambitious and ruthless leader of the Mount Song School and chief of the Five Mountain Sword Schools Alliance. He practises a skill, Freezing Inner Energy, which allows him to freeze his inner energy to sub-zero temperature and increase its power tremendously. He had sent Lao Denuo to infiltrate the Mount Hua School and steal the Bixie Swordplay Manual from Yue Buqun; Lao Denuo steals a fake copy of the manual for him and he practises the swordplay without knowing it is not the real one. After that, he calls for a special assembly of the alliance on Mount Song and attempts to intimidate the other four schools into submitting to him. However, he is defeated and blinded by Yue Buqun, who uses the real Bixie Swordplay against him. After his defeat, he pretends to concede his position as the alliance chief to Yue Buqun. Later, he leads his followers to Mount Hua to kill Yue Buqun, who sees through his plan and traps them inside a cave. The trapped swordsmen start killing each other out of paranoia and mistrust; Zuo Lengchan is killed by Linghu Chong during the frenzy.
• Zuo Lengchan's juniors:
  • Ding Mian (丁勉; Dīng Miǎn), nicknamed "Pagoda-Bearing Hand" (托塔手).
  • Lu Bai (陸柏; Lù Bǎi), nicknamed "Heavenly Crane Hand" (仙鶴手).
  • Fei Bin (費彬; Fèi Bīn), nicknamed "Great Songyang Hand" (大嵩陽手), is killed by Mo Da.
  • Deng Bagong (鄧八公; Dèng Bāgōng), nicknamed "Divine Whip" (神鞭).
  • Gao Kexin (高克新; Gāo Kèxīn), nicknamed "Colourful Lion" (錦毛獅).
  • Tang Ying'e (湯英鶚; Tāng Yīng'è), nicknamed "Red and White Sword" (紅白劍).
  • Zhong Zhen (鍾鎮; Zhōng Zhèn), nicknamed "Nine Sections Sword" (九曲劍).
• Yue Hou (樂厚; Yuè Hòu), nicknamed "Great Yinyang Hand" (大陰陽手), is one of the martial artists who attacks Xiang Wentian. Linghu Chong comes to Xiang Wentian's aid and injures Yue Hou.
• Bu Chen (卜沉; Bǔ Chén), nicknamed "White Haired Old Immortal" (白頭仙翁), is killed by Linghu Chong in Fuzhou while attempting to steal the Bixie Swordplay Manual.
• Sha Tianjiang (沙天江; Shā Tiānjiāng; Saa1 Tin1-gong1), nicknamed "Bald Eagle" (禿鷹), is killed by Linghu Chong in Fuzhou.
• Shi Dengda (史登達; Shǐ Dēngdá), nicknamed "Thousand Zhàng Pine" (千丈松), is killed by Zuo Lengchan during the special assembly on Mount Song.
• Wan Daping (萬大平; Wàn Dàpíng) is Shi Dengda's junior.
• Di Xiu (狄修; Dí Xīu) is one of Zuo Lengchan's apprentices. He is killed by his master during the special assembly on Mount Song.

• The "Three Elder Nuns" are the leaders of the Mount Heng School.
  • Dingjing (定靜; Dìngjìng) is the most senior of the trio, but she willingly gives up the position of leadership to her junior, Dingxian. Zuo Lengchan sends his henchmen to ambush her and force her to let the (North) Mount Heng School be absorbed into the Mount Song School. She refuses to capitulate and dies from her wounds before Linghu Chong can save her.
  • Dingxian (定閒; Dìngxián) is the benevolent and wise leader of the school. She is mortally wounded by a masked Yue Buqun in Shaolin Monastery. Before dying, she passes on her leadership position to Linghu Chong.
  • Dingyi (定逸; Dìngyì) is the most junior of the trio and the most hot-tempered one. She and Dingxian are murdered by a masked Yue Buqun in Shaolin Monastery.
• Yilin (儀琳; Yílín) is Dingyi's apprentice and the daughter of Monk Bujie and Mute Granny. She falls in love with Linghu Chong after he rescues her from Tian Boguang's sexual advances, but has to suppress her feelings because she is forbidden by her vow of celibacy. Her mother tries to force her to marry Linghu Chong but she refuses.
• Tian Boguang (田伯光; Tián Bóguāng) is a bandit nicknamed "Lone Traveller of Ten Thousand Li" (萬里獨行). Notorious for his lecherous behaviour and for raping many women, he makes sexual advances on Yilin but is stopped by Linghu Chong. Having lost a bet to Linghu Chong, he has to uphold a promise to leave Yilin alone from then on. Later in the novel, Monk Bujie semi-castrates Tian Boguang and forces him to become a Buddhist monk, renaming him to Buke Bujie (不可不戒; Bùkě Bùjiè), which means "cannot have no rules". He ultimately joins the Mount Heng School.
• Bujie (不戒; Bùjiè) is a Buddhist monk and Yilin's father. He fell in love with Mute Granny and renamed himself "Bujie", which means "no rules". He attempts to cure Linghu Chong of his internal wounds by injecting two streams of inner energy into his body to suppress the six streams of energies, saving Linghu's life momentarily.
• Mute Granny (啞婆婆; Yǎ Pópó) was a Buddhist nun who fell in love with Bujie and bore him their daughter, Yilin. She has remained close to her daughter all this time by pretending to be a mute caretaker working for the (North) Mount Heng School.
• Yihe (儀和; Yíhé) is the most senior of the school's members of the Yi generation.
• Yiqing (儀清; Yíqīng) is Yihe's junior who succeeds Linghu Chong as the school's leader.
• Yizhi (儀質; Yízhì) is Dingjing's apprentice.
• Yizhen (儀真; Yízhēn) is Dingjing's apprentice. She delivers medicine to Yue Lingshan in Fuzhou.
• Yiling (儀靈; Yílíng) accompanies Yizhen to deliver medicine to Yue Lingshan.
• Yiguang (儀光; Yíguāng) is Yilin's senior.
• Yiwen (儀文; Yíwén) is Dingxian's apprentice.
• Qin Juan (秦絹; Qín Juàn) is a secular apprentice of Dingjing.
• Zheng E (鄭萼; Zhèng È) is a secular member of the Mount Heng School.
• Aunt Yu (于嫂; Yú Sǎo) is originally Dingxian's servant. Dingxian accepts her as an apprentice later.

• Mo Da (莫大; Mò Dà) is the mysterious leader of the Mount Heng School who is known for playing melancholic tunes on a huqin, where his sword is concealed. His swordplay techniques, which correspond with musical themes, are very fast and unpredictable. Although he is part of the alliance, he disapproves of the Mount Song School's overreaching actions and, at one point, disobeys their order to kill Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang. He sees that Linghu Chong is a decent man and helps him out. At the end of the novel, he is the sole surviving member from his school.
• Xiang Danian (向大年; Xiàng Dànián) is Liu Zhengfeng's first apprentice. He is killed by Ding Mian.
• Mi Weiyi (米為義; Mǐ Wéiyì) is Liu Zhengfeng's second apprentice.
• Fang Qianju (方千駒; Fāng Qiānjū)
• Lu Lianrong (魯連榮; Lǔ Liánróng)

Liu family

• Liu Zhengfeng (劉正風; Liú Zhèngfēng), nicknamed "Third Master Liu" (劉三爺), is Mo Da's junior. He plays the dizi and befriends Qu Yang of the Sun Moon Holy Cult, who shares the same passion for music with him. The duo compose the musical piece "Xiaoao Jianghu" together. He intends to leave the jianghu and invites fellow martial artists to witness his retirement ceremony. During the event he is confronted by Zuo Lengchan and his followers and comes under attack. While fleeing together with Qu Yang, he meets Linghu Chong and passes him the music score for "Xiaoao Jianghu". He and Qu Yang then commit suicide by bursting their arteries with their inner energy.
• Mrs Liu (劉夫人; Liú Fūrén) is Liu Zhengfeng's wife who is killed by Di Xiu.
• Young Master Liu (劉公子; Liú Gōngzǐ) is Liu Zhengfeng's elder son who is killed by Di Xiu.
• Liu Jing (劉菁; Liú Jīng) is Liu Zhengfeng's daughter who is killed by Wan Daping.
• Liu Qin (劉芹; Liú Qín) is Liu Zhengfeng's younger son.

• Tianmen (天門; Tiānmén) is the leader of the Mount Tai School. He is betrayed and overthrown by Yujizi and others, who have been bribed by Zuo Lengchan, during the special assembly on Mount Song. He then fights with Qinghai Yixiao and perishes together with him.
• Yujizi (玉磯子; Yùjīzǐ) is a junior of Tianmen's master. He has been bribed by Zuo Lengchan to seize his school's leadership position from Tianmen during the special assembly. He debates with the Six Immortals of the Peach Valley on who should be the rightful leader of the alliance, and attempts to fight them but ends up having his limbs torn from his body.
• Yuqingzi (玉磬子; Yùqìngzǐ) and Yuyinzi (玉音子; Yùyīnzǐ) are the juniors of Tianmen's master. They are killed in the cave on Mount Hua.
• Yuzhongzi (玉鐘子; Yùzhōngzǐ) is killed by Zuo Lengchan in the cave on Mount Hua.
• Tiansong (天松; Tiānsōng) is Tianmen's junior who is injured by Tian Boguang.
• Tianyi (天乙; Tiānyì) is among the group of martial artists who attacked Xiang Wentian. Linghu Chong comes to Xiang Wentian's aid and knocks Tianyi unconscious.
• Chi Baicheng (遲百城; Chí Bǎichéng) is one of Tianmen's apprentices who is killed by Tian Boguang.
• Jianchu (建除; Jiànchú) is Tianmen's second apprentice.

Several years ago, ten senior elders of the cult attacked the Five Mountain Sword Schools on Mount Hua but were lured into a trap and ended up being trapped inside a cave, where they eventually died. Before they died, the elders figured out new techniques to counter the swordplay movements of the five schools and carved them on the cave walls. Several years later, Linghu Chong entered the cave by chance and discovered their remains and the carvings. Some of the elders were:

• Zhang Chengyun (張乘雲; Zhāng Chéngyún), nicknamed "White Ape Devil" (白猿神魔), specialised in using pole weapons.
• Zhang Chengfeng (張乘風; Zhāng Chéngfēng), nicknamed "Golden Monkey Devil" (金猴神魔), was Zhang Chengyun's brother. He also specialised in using pole weapons.
• Fan Song (范松; Fàn Sōng), nicknamed "Great Strength Devil" (大力神魔), specialised in using axes.
• Zhao He (趙鶴; Zhào Hè), nicknamed "Sky Soaring Devil" (飛天神魔), specialised in using clubs.

• Qu Yang (曲洋; Qū Yáng) is an elder of the cult who plays the guqin. He befriends Liu Zhengfeng, who shares the same passion for music as him, and composes the musical piece "Xiaoao Jianghu" with him. He commits suicide together with Liu Zhengfeng when both of them are cornered by Zuo Lengchan's followers. Before dying, the two of them pass the score of "Xiaoao Jianghu" to Linghu Chong.
• Qu Feiyan (曲非煙; Qū Fēiyān) is Qu Yang's granddaughter. She is killed by Fei Bin.