The Villain Problem
Most fiction has a villain problem: the bad guys are less interesting than the good guys. They exist to be defeated, and their motivations are often thin — greed, power, revenge, generic evil.
Jin Yong does not have this problem. His villains are frequently the most compelling characters in their respective novels, because he gives them the same psychological depth he gives his heroes.
Ouyang Feng: Madness as Freedom
Ouyang Feng, the Western Venom, is one of the Five Greats — the five most powerful martial artists in the world. He is also, by the end of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, completely insane.
His madness is not random. It is the result of practicing a martial arts manual backwards — literally reversing the flow of his internal energy. The technique makes him more powerful but destroys his mind. He can no longer remember who he is.
What makes Ouyang Feng fascinating is that his madness frees him. The sane Ouyang Feng was calculating, cruel, and obsessed with being the strongest. The mad Ouyang Feng is unpredictable, occasionally kind, and no longer burdened by ambition. Jin Yong seems to suggest that losing his mind was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Yue Buqun: The Hypocrite
Yue Buqun in Smiling, Proud Wanderer is the most realistic villain Jin Yong ever created. He is the leader of a "righteous" sect. He is respected, dignified, and principled. He is also a fraud.
Yue Buqun's villainy is not dramatic. He does not cackle or monologue. He simply makes a series of rational decisions to protect his power and reputation, each one slightly more compromised than the last, until he has betrayed everyone who trusted him.
This is terrifying because it is recognizable. We have all known a Yue Buqun — someone whose public virtue conceals private corruption. Jin Yong's insight is that the most dangerous villain is not the one who openly embraces evil but the one who sincerely believes he is good.
Ren Woxing: The Honest Tyrant
Ren Woxing, the former leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult, is a tyrant. He demands absolute obedience. He punishes disloyalty with death. He is, by any measure, a terrible leader.
But he is honest about it. Ren Woxing does not pretend to be righteous. He does not claim moral authority. He says, essentially: I am powerful, I want power, and I will take it. In a novel where the "righteous" faction is led by a hypocrite, Ren Woxing's honesty is almost refreshing.
Jin Yong uses Ren Woxing to ask an uncomfortable question: is an honest tyrant better than a dishonest democrat? The novel does not answer definitively, but the fact that it asks is what makes it great.
The Pattern
Jin Yong's best villains share a common trait: they reveal something true about the world the heroes inhabit. Ouyang Feng reveals that the pursuit of supreme power is a form of madness. Yue Buqun reveals that institutional virtue is often a mask. Ren Woxing reveals that the difference between a hero and a villain is sometimes just a matter of branding.