Some of My Favorite Danmei Characters of ALL Time:
(i can't fit all of them in one post but let's see)
chu wanning (the husky and his white cat shizun/erha): the BEST main character ever written in the history of fiction. one of the many things meatbun EXCELS in is making her ukes (and seme too, incase of yuwu) precious GEMS of human beings despite their cold and aloof exteriors and she succeeds in completely changing the reader's perception of the character in the sequence of events but NEVER at the cost of the character's true nature. they don't change in any way, but the way WE perceive them, their love interests perceive them changes. chu wanning is a prodigy, a genius, a seemingly cold person with a heart of gold and a will of iron. he is deeply caring, empathetic, loving, loyal, selfless, forgiving and beautiful. he has self-esteem issues to the point of isolation and genuinely does not care about himself. this man has always been feared, respected, revered and only ever perceived as a god-like figure, someone to be put on a pedestal and approached ONLY when someone needs him to solve their problems. very few people truly care for him as a person, and not just bcs he is sooooo good at what he does. so it comes as no surprise when he falls in love with mo ran, who actually appreciates him as a person, who SEES his kindness, his inner beauty and his selflessness. he compares himself with shi mei, bcs he feels insecure and is convinced that, since he does not look like shi mei, does not behave like him, mo ran would never love him. he is completely blind to how fucking amazing he is. i love, love, love, love him y'all. my favvvvvv.
jiang cheng (mo dao zu shi): he is literally my favorite mdzs character and is completely UNDESERVING of the level of hate that he gets. as much as i LOVE wei wuxian and admire him for all he did to help the wens, and i know that he was not to blame for the massacre of lotus pier, or for jiang yanli's death, i can understand why jiang cheng resents him for those. jiang yanli's death was an accident, but jiang cheng's anger towards wei wuxian intensified, i suppose, as his sister literally DIED to save wei wuxian. he felt that she wouldn't have died if wei wuxian hadn't caused all this trouble, but this is obviously not logical thinking. jiang yanli should've NEVER entered a fucking BATTLEFIELD anyway, and for whatever reason. she shouldn't have ever done that. but jiang cheng blames wwx for that, similarly, the wens would have massacred lotus pier anyway, even if wwx and lwj did not stay in the xuanwu cave, it would not have mattered. his and wwx's relationship is so much more complex than hate or love. some people say that jc always viewed wwx as a glorified servant who was only ever meant to follow him, and some people say that jc always considered wwx as his brother and felt betrayed when wwx abandoned him for the wens. this can BOTH be true. jiang cheng is a hyper-independent person who is very, very insecure. his mother always belittled him, compared him to wwx, and made him feel like he was worth nothing. his father never liked him, and only ever cared about the person he should be and not who he was. jiang fengmian always criticized him about not "having the jiang spirit" in him or not "understanding the motto of the jiang sect" but this man literally REBUILT the whole sect under the age of 20. he is capable, he is so so capable, but his father never got to see it. his mother never got to see it. jiang cheng loves wei wuxian for being the only person to believe in him, hates him for abandoning him when he needed him the most, resents him for choosing the wens over him, is jealous of his natural brilliance. it breaks my heart how madam yu poisoned the bond they could've had. she made jiang cheng into a person who is uncomfortable in his own skin, who is suspicious of everyone. no one ever chose him—not his father, sister, not wei wuxian, no one. no one ever loved him the MOST. he raised jin ling by himself—he RAISED a hundred days old baby himself since when he was not even twenty yet. but no one ever talks about that. he is hated, he is feared, he is respected, but he is not loved. he was never anyone's first choice—he was never a choice at all. he is a loser with an inferiority complex. i love him.
murong chuyi (remnants of filth/yuwu): hmm are you guys sensing a pattern? my first thought after finishing vol 6 was "he did not deserve this" (as i was bawling my eyes out) and he truly didn't. his love for yue chenqing was always something that required no grand gestures just silent protection. he meets a tragic end, but he dies with his dignity intact. murong chuyi severely misunderstood, died an early, undeserved death but his kindness lived through his creations. he was kind, selfless, dignified. and all of that would live through yue chenqing—the person who he loved the MOST. i'm baffled by how similar he is to chu wanning. almost all of his characteristics are similar to chu wanning—the way they love, the way they behave, even their relationships to a certain extent. i really love tsunderes as y'all can guess. jiang yexue i HATE you. i HATE you. i HATE you.
lu feng (little mushroom/xiao mogu): from the first moment he appeared, i was terrified of him. he was sooo unpredictable, so elusive. i was racking my brains to guess what he would do next. everytime an zhe and him met, i was wondering what he would do next. would he arrest an zhe? shoot him on spot? figure out an zhe's identity? and he never did any of that. lu feng is ruthless, alarmingly good at his job. i suppose he understands an zhe in a way that no one else does. both of them are inhuman—bcs an zhe is a literal mushroom, and lu feng bcs he sacrifices soo much of his humanity to keep humans safe. the way he was constantly criticized for showing no vulnerability while doing his job despite being loathed by everyone, including his own mother, just showed how committed he was to his duty and had dedicated every last bit of his heart and mind to protect humans bcs "humanity takes precedence over all else". if he had not killed those people on spot, their base would have been infected immediately, but no one acknowledged that. no one wanted to listen to logic. bcs we are truly dumb and blind when it comes to protect our own loved ones, but lu feng protects EVERYONE collectively. and he is seemingly uncaring of being hated by everyone. lu feng is SUCH a multi-layered, complex, well-written character. i wished to read atleast 1 or 2 chapters from his POV.
shen qiao (thousand autumns/qian qiu): in the very beginning of the story, we are exposed to the most vulnerable, weak and worst version of him. despite losing his position as a sect leader, his reputation plummeting and earning ridicule from many, yan wushi's constant attempts of trying to corrupt shen qiao's morals, he remains resolute and firm in his beliefs and principles—kind and empathetic throughout. as though he is untouched by other people's negative opinions of him, in a very nuanced way. he is sometimes ruthless and rigid, but also kind and compassionate. forgiving and unforgiving. he is not someone to be trifled with, not someone that would allow himself to be betrayed over and over again. even when shen qiao regains his position as sect leader, his beliefs remain unwavering. but like every other wise person, he did change. he understood the importance of money, the importance of material things and did not hold onto foolish, impractical ideals. he understood balance and learnt, picked up good things from morally dubious people like yan wushi. he changed, he adapted, but he remained righteous and kind throughout.
