YMMV / Water Margin

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The 108 outlaws aren't simply a group of merry men, but whether they're genuinely trying to preserve justice in an unjust society or a mob of brutish marauders really just comes down to perception.
  • Song Jiang claims to "Deliver Justice on Heaven's Behalf" but many consider his actions and intentions to be anything but selfless. He had always desired to be an official from the start, but couldn't get to any position above a magistrate's assistant due to a scholarly deficiency and a lack of public connections. Jin Shengtan, a Qing Dynasty literary critic who had established much of the public consensus regarding the book, had interpreted his leadership of the outlaws to be little more than a means of fulfilling that desire, and by leading far more capable warriors to their deaths whilst fighting against enemies of the Song, he could effectively gain the credit for Liangshan's victories and secure a position in the imperial court.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Wu Song, despite being a major character, has been turned into basically the face of the entire book, with numerous traditional stories dedicated to just him.
  • In Wu Song's backstory is Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, two of the most iconic characters that aren't members of the outlaws.
  • Shi Qian, the slick, smooth-talking thief whose second-to-last rank never hindered his notability.
  • Hu Sanniang. It's easy to forget, but Sanniang was very much a Breakout Character whose enduring popularity was helped by the numerous adaptations, thanks in part to being a standout Action Girl. In the book her role was pretty miniscule, having only two lines, and was mostly a Satellite Love Interest for Wang Ying.
  • The 120-chapter version of the text, which details the campaigns before Fang La, has some minor characters that nevertheless achieved some recognition. These include the warlord Wang Qing's Ax-Crazy wife Duan Sanniang, Tian Hu's own take on Gongsun Sheng in Qiao Daoqing, and especially Qiongying, the other Lady of War who would eventually become Feathered Arrow Zhang Qing's lover.
  • And of course Li Kui, who doesn't even show up for more than 70 chapters, but still makes enough of an impression to get progressively more attention than most of his compatriots. Some critics have suggested that the entire story may have started out as a peasant tale about a Barbarian Hero named Li Kui, and that other characters like Song Jiang may have been only added after it passed into literary circles who decided they needed a more fitting Audience Surrogate.
• Evil Is Cool: Though it is a stretch to call them "evil", several of the outlaws count, such as Li Kui and Zhang Heng as well as the numerous Earthly Fiends. The bandit king Fang La and his men also count. Cai Jing, despite being a Corrupt Politician, gets this a bit since both this version and his real-life counterpart were renowned calligraphers. And also the adulterous couple of Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, whose schemes were adapted and expanded into Jin Ping Mei.
• Fair for Its Day: The 71 chapter revision written during the Ming Dynasty is largely criticized today for its bowdlerising, including the removal of more than a third of the original's chapters and several poetry passages, and rather heavy handed condemnation of rebellions. With that said, it also made the book more accessible to commoners by simplifying the language and removing lots of filler, and some even prefer the revision for its improved characterizations of the major outlaws.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Like fellow Chinese classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin is widely read in Japan, helped influence Japanese literature in the 17th century, and led to derivatives such as Suikoden.
• Ho Yay:
  • Partly due to the Values Dissonance, but almost all the males tend to prefer the presence of other males than women.
  • How about Song Jiang and Li Kui? The fact that Li Kui happily dies with Song Jiang, and Song Jiang agrees to be buried with Li Kui instead of his wife?
• Older Than They Think:
  • It's likely that the Ur-Example of Just Like Robin Hood is not in fact Robin Hood (whose first published story postdates the first publishing of Water Margin by a slim century or so), but the folk tales of Song Jiang that Water Margin was based on.
  • The novel brings together a stable of tropes that would centuries later become the trademarks of the Film Serial: Cliffhangers, On the Next, Find Out Next Time, and a generous helping of As You Know.
• Signature Scene: Wu Song fighting the tigers is usually the first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think of this book. In fact, the story is so famous that it's basically become a staple of Chinese folklore, and to many people, hearing the name "Wu Song" is likely to bring up that particular story into their minds before the novel of origin.
• Stealth Pun: Wu Yong's name is pronounced the exact same way as a Chinese phrase meaning "Useless". The pun is doubled if one considers the man's nickname, "the wise/resourceful star". Becomes Harsher in Hindsight when you realised that Wu was helpless in preventing the tragic fates of the Liangshan outlaws.
• Values Dissonance: Some of the heroes, seeking revenge or to fight corrupted officials, will kill EVERYONE of the victim's family, from old to infant.
• The Woobie:
  • What makes Lin Chong such a memorable character.
  • Also Hu Sanniang, who was forced to join the very people who murdered her family and marry a Serial Rapist before being killed trying to help these people.
  • Wu Dalang, Wu Song's estranged older brother, spent his whole life being horribly bullied for his dwarfism, which was made even worse after he was forceably married to the most beautiful woman in town after she rejected the advances of her husband. Life seemed to change for the better when Wu Song arrived in Yanggu County, but as soon as he leaves his wife hooks up with a handsome rich guy with the help of his nextdoor neighbour, and things would only go downhill from here.

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