Weapons of the Gods (Comics)
| Weapons of the Gods | |
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Cover of Weapons of the Gods, volume 1
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神兵玄奇 (shén bīng xuán qí) |
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| Author | Wong Yuk-long |
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| Original run | 1996 – 2005 |
| Volumes | 9 |
Weapons of the Gods (神兵玄奇; hanyupinyin: shén bīng xuán qí) 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.
There were four dominant pugilistic clans hailing from the four cardinal directions of the realms:
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 Yi Nangong, acknowledged as pugilist master of the southern lands. In the midst of the festivities of the occasion, his wife, Hong Dong (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, Yi Nangong 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.
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Wikipedia