Ning Yi in Rise of Phoenixes is a well-written character, there’s no doubt about that. What we’re doing here is just figuring out HOW STRONG he is with our usual questions.
What we will be doing in this post is just figure out HOW strong he is with the usual ten questions that cover flaws, consistency, development, etc. To each question, the answer would be either Yes (1 point), No (0 point), or Kind of (0.5 point).
*Our analysis is based strictly on the character Ning Yi as seen in the drama Rise of Phoenixes, not his counterpart in the novel.
WARNING: this analysis 1) contains spoilers 2) is humor-free
1. Does he have a story to tell besides romance? / 2. Does he make things happen or do things happen TO him? / 3. Does he take action to accomplish his goals?
Yes, yes, yes (+3)
We will go ahead and award Ning Yi 3 points for the first 3 questions since they do not need answers to.
In short:
Yes, of course Ning Ye has a story to tell before besides his (unsuccessful) romance with Feng Zhiwei; many, in facts. Never at any instance does he sit and wait for things to happen; Ning Yi is the writer of his own story. Most of his goals are successfully achieved.
3/10
4. Does he have an interest? Kind of (+0.5)
Ning Yi is often seen to weave and occasionally engage in chess games. His playing chess is seen throughout the drama and is very consistent. Chess also serves as a way for him to communicate with certain people – the King and Feng Zhiwei, for instance. His weaving is less consistent and relatively less relevant.
As far as “interest” goes, weaving fits more as his interest than chess. Chess seems to be something Ning Yi does because of his upbringing. Every single prince in this drama knows how to play chess and does it at one point. However, weaving and Ning Yi’s love for patterns becomes less and less consistent as the drama goes.
This, and many other elements, are the result of the drama’s lack of a direction in the end.
3.5/10
5. Does he act in accordance with his beliefs? Yes (+1)
Certainly. Besides the fact that Ning Yi is out to avenge his wrongly accused brother, he also demonstrates many beliefs that qualify him as a great ruler. Ning Yi believes in justice and equality. He also believes that evil should be removed from the root and is never lenient toward disloyalty.
4.5/10
6. Does he develop throughout the story? No (+0)
We’ll say that Ning Yi does not have a lot of development. It may look like he BECOMES soft and emotional after he encounters Feng Zhiwei and after his mother returns; but from a certain perspective, he’s always already soft and emotional, what happens is: he just makes this side of him more visible after each turn of events. Yes, it makes him slightly different from the Ning Yi we see in the first episode, but not enough to be called development.
4.5/10
7. Does he have a flaw? Yes (+1)
Ning Yi possesses many flaws that hinder him along the way. His sentimentality is one of them. Although appearing to be indifferent, teasing, and ruthless, Ning Yi is an extremely emotional being inside. Overall, Ning Yi is a great strategist and is able to adapt well with changes; However, his emotions get the better of him on multiple occasions, namely whenever Feng Zhiwei is in danger, or when he receives news about his mother being alive.
Ning Yi takes extreme measures whenever he gets emotional, making himself an easy target during those instances. The Seventh Prince, Ning Qi, takes advantage of Ning Yi’s connection to his nanny to set up a plan and frame him. Ning Yi’s father, The King, uses his affection for Feng Zhiwei to control him several times.
5.5/10
8. Does he have meaningful relationships with other characters besides his love interest? Yes (+1)
Ning Yi maintains a relationship with pretty much all characters. Some notable examples are: his father, Zhu Yin, and Xin Ziyan.
With his father, it is hardly a normal father-son relationship. The King and Ning Yi both understand each other to some extent and constantly attempt to manipulate each other to get what they want. At the core, they love each other – or we should say Ning Yi loves his father more than his father loves him – but imperialistic life does not allow this kind of love to dominate over other things.
Ning Yi and Xin Ziyan are friends with the same vision and life missions. Their relationship actually has its ups and downs and also development. Xin Ziyan is Ning Yi’s advisor, guide, the person sho shares his happiness and sadness, even though they may not always agree.
Zhu Yin is also a friend of Ning Yi. How they met or why she is important to him is unknown. However, it is clear from their conversations that Ning Yi understands what she wants from life, cares about her opinion, and is devastated when she dies.
Other examples of characters who are an influence to Ning Yi’s decisions are: Yale (his mother, not the school…), most of the princes, Lingying the nanny, etc.
6.5/10
9. Is he consistent? Yes (+1)
Ning Yi is very consistent. He is intelligent, occasionally ruthless, but with a straight moral compass throughout. And for the most part, Ning Yi treasures family love above everything else. He is skillful at reading people and almost always has the upper hand, but whenever it involves someone he loves, Ning Yi tends to stumble and make rash decisions.
7.5/10
10. Can you define his character by his personality? Yes (+1)
Absolutely, Ning Yi is a resourceful and manipulative prince who fights for the throne with the wish of clearing his brother’s name and becoming a just ruler.
SO HOW WELL-WRITTEN IS NINGYI?
8.5/10
SCORE: 8.5/10
Conclusion: if nothing else, Rise of the Phoenixes presents very well written characters with clear motives and personalities. Ning Yi, being the male lead, is the main driving force of this story. Being kept under watch and suffering injustice due to his father’s distrust in him and his brothers’ fight for the throne, yet Ning Yi conquers people’s hearts left and right, pulling them toward his side and eventually achieves most of the things he set out to do.
Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to cast your vote below!
Ning Yi is such a strong, dimensional character. I do love me a good anti-hero! Your analysis is right on point, and a full analysis of Ning Yi would probably take pages and pages, he’s so complex.
Me being so partial towards Ning Yi, I would have given him the full 10/10… Even though his character development is relatively stagnant throughout the show, he’s still a strong male lead. Poor baby has been through so many hardships and wrongs before the show even begins, he has most likely already gone through the kind of development we see in Feng Zhiwei. (Also in terms of your “interests” criteria, our Prince of Chu is known for raising raccoons 😉 ) That being said, I agree with your analysis and wish we could see more male leads even half as multi-faceted as this one.
(Aside: Ning Yi reminds me of Siege in Fog’s Yi Lian Kai. Both prodigal sons hide their genius, engage in an inter-brother power grab from conflicted fathers in order to keep their loved ones safe…and have some serious mommy issues… except Yi Lian Kai is much softer and is more of a hero than an anti-hero, while Ning Yi is more mature and more morally grey.)
Touché! His development’s a little shaky but Ning Yi is no doubt a layered character; and he’s very much matched by the female lead of course. There are certainly some similarities between him and Yi Liankai. Both dramas suffer from editing but their characters are intriguing to watch.
Thanks for pointing out the raccoon business😄😄.
Great analysis overall. I agree with most everything you wrote, except the bit about his interests. I don’t see how having or not having interests is necessary to be a strong male lead. I would go so far as to say that if anything, “survival” (or politics) was his main interest after he was released from captivity. It’s pretty difficult to engage in other activities when you need to concentrate on staying alive, lol.
Thanks for stopping by! Glad you like the analysis. “Interest” along with goal, belief, etc, are used here to measure how well fleshed out a character is. It has nothing to do with whether Ning Yi is strong as a PERSON, but more about how diverse and consistent the aspects of his characterization are. Not having an interest doesn’t make him weak, but having a consistent one (or even only a constant wish to engage in something) would make him even more well-written. Hope this helps 🙂
I am your fan. Although you keep saying your reviews are unhelpful, I think they are the most helpful. Being new to C-dramas and especially historical dramas I love all your analyzes and it helps me see characters in a new light and truly appreciate and enjoy dramas. Thank you for your reviews. On that note can I trouble you with some questions. Who are the other Ning Yi’s you have come across? Are there any dramas like tRoP you recommend? Thank You
Hi Suganiya! Thanks for reading and I’m glad you liked the analyses. Yep, Ning Yi is one of a kind, isn’t he?😁
About dramas with similar males leads, my group and I came across Royal Nirvana and Ming Dynasty; the male leads in these dramas are not necessarily like Ning Yi, but they are intriguing enough, they carry the same mysterious/reckless/passionate/clever air and they have a lot of things going on in their lives besides romance. I can’t be sure about their development because we haven’t seen the end of those 2 dramas yet. If you like historical dramas, you can also check out Three Kingdoms (2010), there’s no single “male lead” in that one and no leading couple, but every single character is well executed all the way.
That he is 😀 Thank you for the recs. It is sorta hard to move on from tRoP and Ning Yi and his mischievous eyebrow. Looking forward to reading more of your reviews.
PS: I laughed so hard while watching the videos on your YouTube channel and mum thought I was possessed 😀
Thanks😂, we had so much fun making those videos too, you can never run out of things to say about this drama.