History Creator / DonnieYen

Donnie Yen (born Yen Ji-Dan (甄子丹, "Zhen Zidan" in Hanyu Pinyin), 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, China) is a UsefulNotes/HongKong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist. Apart from being a well-known film and television actor in Hong Kong, Yen has also gained international recognition for appearing in many films together with other prominent and internationally-known actors such as Creator/JackieChan, Creator/JetLi and Creator/MichelleYeoh. He is trained in Wushu, Karate, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Brazilian JiuJitsu, Hapkido, Sanda, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Jeet Kune Do, Shaolin Kung Fu and Muay Thai.

* AuthorAppeal: He likes variety in his choreographies, and often throws in moves of very diverse martial arts such as Judo, Wrestling and Brazilian JiuJitsu alongside more conventional styles like Taekwondo, Karate and Muay Thai. He also favors MMA, particularly in recent films like ''Sha Po Lang'', ''Flash Point'', ''Special ID'' and ''Big Brother''.

* AuthorAppeal: He likes variety in his choreographies, and often throws in moves of very diverse martial arts such as Judo, Wrestling and Brazilian JiuJitsu alongside more conventional styles like Taekwondo and Muay Thai. He also favors MMA, particularly in recent films like ''Sha Po Lang'', ''Flash Point'', ''Special ID'' and ''Big Brother''.

* BruceLeeClone: While he doesn't do it as much, he sometimes shows mannerisms related to Bruce Lee, mostly as a nod as his love for him. He also played one of Lee's iconic characters Chen Zhen, twice in ''Fist of Fury'' TV series and the film ''Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen''.

Donnie Yen (born Yen Ji-Dan (甄子丹, "Zhen Zidan" in Hanyu Pinyin), 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, China) is a UsefulNotes/HongKong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist. Apart from being a well-known film and television actor in Hong Kong, Yen has also gained international recognition for appearing in many films together with other prominent and internationally-known actors such as Creator/JackieChan, Creator/JetLi and Creator/MichelleYeoh.

* AuthorAppeal: He likes variety in his choreographies, and often throws in moves of very diverse martial arts. He also favors MMA, particularly in recent films like ''Sha Po Lang'', ''Flash Point'', ''Special ID'' and ''Big Brother''.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: He's well versed in wrestling techniques and often uses moves like body flips, drop kicks and armlocks in fights.

!!'''Tropes applicable to him:'''

* ArchEnemy: On-screen, he has opposed Creator/JetLi several times. In real life, they are very close friends.

* BruceLeeClone: While he doesn't do it as much, he does sometimes show mannerisms related to Bruce Lee, mostly as a nod as his love for him. He also played one of Lee's iconic characters Chen Zhen, twice in ''Fist of Fury'' TV series and the film ''Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen''. They're both compared to each other fairly often in RealLife, and Yen is considered by many to be his successor within cinema nowadays.
* BullyingADragon: Donnie has an anecdote in which he and his girlfriend were harassed in a Hong Kong club in the 1990s by a troublesome gang. Yen calmly warned them to leave them alone, but the thugs [[TooDumbToLive opted to attack him]], which ended up with Donnie thoroughly kicking their asses in the street. The incident got Yen arrested for a night and solidified his reputation as a real life dangerous martial artist.

* CulturedBadass: He's quite good at playing the piano, and he [[TheCastShowoff gets a chance to do so]] in the movie ''Film/LegendOfTheFistTheReturnOfChenZhen''.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu?: During the film of ''Film/IPMan3'', he managed to fracture one of Mike Tyson's fingers with an elbow block. Tyson even acknowledged Yen as one of the few people who could legitimately beat him in a fight.
* GeniusBruiser: In addition to his extensive martial arts skill, he's also a classically trained pianist.

* MrFanservice: Gets bare-chested in a lot of his films, including ''Film/FourteenBlades'', ''Film/{{Flash Point|2007}}'', ''Film/LegendOfTheFistTheReturnOfChenZhen'', ''An Empress and the Warriors'' and ''Film/TheLostBladesman''. Heck, Donnie himself used to be an underwear model at some point in real life!
* MuggingTheMonster: In the early 90s Yen was in a Hong Kong nightclub with his then girlfriend when members of a local gang started harassing her. Despite Yen warning them to back off and then deciding to leave before the situation got out of hand they followed Yen and his girlfriend out of the club and the eight strong group attacked him. Yen put all of them in hospital.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: He has trained in Tai Chi, Wushu, Boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, UsefulNotes/WingChun, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Sanda, UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, amateur wrestling and LeParkour under various trainers. All of them receive a positive demonstration in ''Flash Point''.

* ''Film/JohnWick4'' as Caine

** ''Film/Tiger Cage 2'' as Yau. Yes, he plays different characters in both movies and no, they are NOT twins or related in any way.

** ''Tiger Cage 2'' as Yau. Yes, he plays different characters in both movies and no, they are NOT twins or related in any way.

* MrFanservice: Gets bare-chested in a lot of his films, including ''Film/FourteenBlades'', ''Film/FlashPoint'', ''Film/LegendOfTheFistTheReturnOfChenZhen'', ''An Empress and the Warriors'' and ''Film/TheLostBladesman''. Heck, Donnie himself used to be an underwear model at some point in real life!