I absolutely love how The Untamed deliberately fucks with our expectations when it comes to Wen Ning.
Like, when we first meet him, he's the Ghost General. His name is spoken in whispers. He's this terrifying undead powerhouse with edge-to-edge black eyes and black veins. He can plow through dozens of trained cultivators like it's nothing. Someone wrapped him in yards of chain to try and contain him and it's not working.
And so, when we meet him when he was alive in the flashback to the Cloud Recesses, and he's this shy, sweet, kinda dorky guy, it's like, awww, no, now I like him, and I already know this poor dude's going to die and end up a zombie. :(
And this just gets worse as we get to know Wen Ning further, and witness how much he adores his sister and how devotedly and bravely he's willing to stick his neck out to help Wei Wuxian, just based on a little initial kindness. Oh, nooooo - now I love this character, and I still know he's going to die and end up a zombie!
And then, of course, we do see him die, and it's fucking devastating. And the show ratchets up the tension as Wen Ning is suspended in limbo, with Wei Wuxian trying to revive him. We've all seen this play out before, in countless other stories. This is the Came Back Wrong trope. The grieving loved ones try any kind of dark power at their disposal to get the departed person back, but what they manage to revive is... hollow, or soulless, or changed in some hungry, terrible way. A violent abomination, wearing their loved one's face. We've already seen what Wen Ning turns into. It's a foregone conclusion.
... AND THEN HE DOES COME BACK AND HE'S THIS:
THIS MASSIVE FUCKING DORK:
He is an undead powerhouse, but he's still fundamentally himself: goofy, sweet, brave, and inclined to use his new abilities only to defend the people he loves. It's a great twist in itself, and also sets up an even more unsettling mystery (if death didn't turn Wen Ning into the figure we met in the beginning of the show, what did?).
Just. I fucking love this. :D
