| Genre: | Esports Youth |
| Based On: | The King's Avatar by Hu Dielan |
| Director: | Shi Yiyue |
| Opentheme: | "Light From The Ashes" by Cai Weize |
| Endtheme: | "Glory Battlefield" by R1SE |
| Country: | China |
| Language: | Mandarin |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 41 |
| Producer: | Fang Fang[1] Yang Xiaopei |
| Composer: | Roc Chen |
| Executive Producer: | Teng Huatao |
| Location: | Shanghai Hangzhou |
| Runtime: | 45 mins |
| Company: | Tencent Penguin Pictures Linmon Pictures Phoenix Entertainment |
| Channel: | Tencent Video |
The King's Avatar is a 2019 Chinese live-action streaming television series based on the web novel of the same name by Hu Dielan. It stars Yang Yang as the main character. It premiered on Tencent Video on July 24, 2019.[2]
The series depicts a fictional esports scene in China where the story revolves around a multiplayer online video game called Glory. It chronicles the fall and rise of Ye Xiu, a top-tier player of Glory.
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yang Yang[3] (young : Huang Yi) | Ye Xiu (叶修) | Lord Grim (君莫笑) | unspecialized | Former captain of Team Excellent Era. Current captain of Team Happy and the leader of the Chinese Glory Team. He is known as the 'Glory Textbook', as well as one of the Four Master Tacticians |
| Ye Qiu (叶秋) | One Autumn Leaf (一叶之秋) | Battlemage | Wealthy, younger twin brother of Ye Xiu. When Ye Xiu registered to be a pro player, he used Ye Qiu's identification instead. He has no interest in video games. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jiang Shuying[4] | Chen Guo (陈果) | Chasing Haze (逐烟霞) | Launcher | Owner of Happy Internet Cafe and Boss of Team Happy. She helped Ye Xiu rebuild his career and rise again. | |
| Li Muchen[5] | Tang Rou (唐柔) | Soft Mist (寒烟柔) | Battlemage | Friend of Chen Guo. Competitive person who learns to play Glory after visiting Chen Guo. One of the first members of Team Happy, led by Ye Xiu. She is known for her fast hand speed and aggressive attack style. | |
| Lai Yi | Bao Rongxing (包荣兴) | Steamed Bun Invasion (包子入侵) | Brawler | A warehouse manager that Ye Xiu met online. A simple minded person, but unpredictable player. | |
| Fan Jinwei[6] | Qiao Yifan (乔一帆) | One Inch Ash (一寸灰) | Ghostblade | A former sub player from the Team Wei Cao. He is highly skilled, but lacks confidence. | |
| Sun Ning[7] | Luo Ji (罗辑) | Concealed Light (昧光) | Summoner | A student and mathematical genius known for his analytical skills and meticulousness, but lacks experience in gaming. | |
| Yang Tingdong[8] | Mo Fan (莫凡) | Deception (毁人不倦) | Ninja | A infamous scrap picker from the game. He is quiet and introverted, but is highly skilled and observant. | |
| Bai Xiang[9] (young : Cheng Jian) | Wei Chen (魏琛) | Windward Formation (迎风布阵) | Warlock | Former and the very first Captain of Team Blue Rain. An old player who wishes to recreate his former glory.Original owner of "Swoksaar" | |
| Song Hanyu | Wu Chen (伍晨) | Dawn Rifle (晓枪) | Launcher | A former player of Team Everlasting and the best launcher of the team. After his team was eliminated by Team Xing Xin, he joined Xing Xin as their association president. | |
| Li Junchen[10] | An Wenyi (安文逸) | Little Cold Hands (小手冰凉) | Cleric | A former member of the 7th Branch Guild of Tyrannical Ambition, before being scooped away by Ye Xiu to join Team Xing Xin. He appears self-centered but always gives his all in crucial moments. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lai Yumeng[11] (young : Han Mi) | Su Mucheng (苏沐橙) | Dancing Rain (沐雨橙风) | Launcher | A young lady who rose to be a professional Glory player through Ye Xiu's guidance. She is known as the best launcher player. She stays by Ye Xiu's side as his biggest supporter. She is the little sister of Su Muqiu, original user of Ye Xiu's Lord Grim best partner. | |
| Liang Yimu[12] | Sun Xiang (孙翔) | One Autumn Leaf (一片秋叶) | Battlemage | A former member of Team Conquering Clouds before he transfers to Team Jia Shi, and replaces Ye Xiu as captain of Team Jia Shi. | |
| Zhao Chulun[13] (young : Sun Hawen) | Tao Xuan (陶轩) | Battlemage | Manager of Team Jia Shi. He was a friend of Ye Xiu since the creation of the club but with time, their opinions clashed and he plotted to remove Ye Xiu. | ||
| Ling Jiyuan | Xiao Shiqin (肖时钦) | Life Extinguisher (生灵灭) | Mechanic | Former Captain of Team Thunderbolt who transferred to Team Jia Shi. He is one of Four Master Tacticians. | |
| Zhai Zilu | Qiu Fei (邱非) | Combat Form (战斗格式) | Battlemage | Ye Xiu's loyal fan and disciple. He is loyal to Team Jia Shi and dedicates his effort to preserving and rebuilding the team. | |
| Hao Shuai | Chen Yehui (陈夜辉) | Total Darkness (完全黑暗) | Spellblade | Guild leader of Jia Shi. He is a selfish player, who cares more about himself than others. He dislikes Ye Xiu to the point of always trying to find ways to sabotage him and his new team. | |
| Chen Shuai | Li Rui (李睿) | Devils (鬥魔師) | Battlemage | A sub-team of the Team Jia Shi. He is an apprentice to Sun Xiang for match to Tang Rou in Glory All-Star. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gao Hanyu[14] | Yu Wenzhou (喻文州) | Swoksaar (索克萨尔) | Warlock | Captain of Team Blue Rain. He is one of Four Master Tacticians. He has much lower hand speed compared to many of the other pro players. |
| Jiang Long[15] | Huang Shaotian (黄少天) | Troubling Rain (夜雨声烦) | Blade Master | Vice captain of Team Blue Rain. The top Blade Master user in the pro circuit, and is known as the Sword Saint and core player of the team. He is famous for his rapid fire speech dialogue in combat to confuse his opponents. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liu Qiushi | Xu Boyuan (许博远) | Blue River (蓝河) | Blade Master | Member of Blue Brook Guild. He is known as one of the Five Great Experts within the guild and Guild Leader on the 10th Server. |
| Jiang Xueming[16] | Yan Xizhou (演系舟) | Bound Boat (系舟) | Cleric | Member of Blue Brook Guild. He is a friend and adviser to Xu Boyuan. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gu Yufeng[17] | Wang Jiexi (王杰希) | Vaccaria (王不留行) | Witch | Captain of Team Wei Cao. He is famous for a very erratic play style dubbed as the Magician. |
| Chen Hongzheng | Gao Yingjie (高英杰) | Kind Tree (木恩) | Witch | Main player of Team Wei Cao. He is a future successor of Vaccaria. |
| Ji Xiangyu | Zhou Yebai (周烨柏) | Rangoon Creeper (使君子) | Ghostblade | Sub player of Team Wei Cao. |
| Yu Zhe | Xiao Yun (肖云) | Euphorbia (大戟) | Battlemage | Sub player of Team Wei Cao. |
| Quan Peilun | Che Qianzi (车前子) | Plantango Seed (车前子) | Witch | Guild Leader of Wei Cao Garden on the 10th Server. He idolizes Wang Jiexi. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gu Youming[18] (young : Gao Erjin) | Han Wenqing (韩文清) | Desert Dust (大漠孤烟) | Striker | Captain of Team Tyranny. He is considered as Ye Qiu's true rival in the professional scene. | |
| Qu Haojun[19] | Zhang Xinjie (张新杰) | Immovable Rock (石不转) | Cleric | Vice captain of Team Tyranny. He is one of the Four Master Tacticians. | |
| Kuang Muye[20] | Leng Qishi (冷骑士) | Cold Night (夜度寒潭) | Knight | Guild Leader of Tyrannical Ambitions on the 10th Server. |
| Actor | Character | ID | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yin Yi | Su Muqiu (苏沐秋) | Autumn Tree (秋木苏) | Sharpshooter | Ye Xiu's best friend and Su Mucheng's brother. |
| Li Xiaopang | Chang Xian (常先) | Sleeping Moon (沉睡的月亮) | Blade Master | He is a magazine reporter and one of Ye Qiu's biggest fans. |
| Lu Senbao | Chen Guo's father. | |||
| Gao Jinghan | Li Xuan (李軒) | Crying Devil (哭泣的恶魔) | Ghostblade | Captain of Void club team. He is best known as master of Choppin Tricks. First time in league match to Qiao Yifan on Glory All-Star. |
| - |
The live-action series was first announced in February 2017 via a production conference held by Linmon Pictures; and would be co-produced with Tencent Penguin Pictures. The author of the novel Hu Dielan was invited to be the overall planner of the series.[21]
On June 13, 2017, Yang Yang was announced as the lead actor in a press conference.[22] In November, Song Zu'er was announced as the female lead Su Mucheng,[23] but backed out in March 2018 due to scheduling conflicts.[24]
The series began filming in April 2018, and wrapped up in September 2018.[25] A Dungeon Fighter Online professional player was engaged to serve as instructor to the cast. The production embraces a number of technological advances, e.g. motion capture, face capture, and their integration with virtual shooting using Unreal engine for real-time preview.The voice actors of the donghua were invited to dub the actors in the television series.[26]
The series was an instant hit among young audiences due to its fresh storyline centered around esports, as well as the quality of the visual effects. It won praise from People's Daily as well as several industry professionals for its spiritual focus and creative value.It attracted more than 3 billion views on Tencent Video, and more than ten million views on overseas market platforms such as WeTV and YouTube.[27]
| Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th Chinese American Film Festival | Best Web Series | The King's Avatar | [28] | |
| Best Producer | Yang Xiaopei | |||
| Best Actress (Web series) | Jiang Shuying | |||
| 3rd Yinchuan Internet Film Festival | [29] | |||
| 7th The Actors of China Award Ceremony | [30] | |||
| Best Actor (Web series) | ||||
| China Entertainment Industry Summit (Golden Pufferfish Awards) | Best Drama | The King's Avatar | [31] | |
| 20th China Video Awards | Hot Drama of the Year | [32] | ||
| Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival | Best Web Series | [33] [34] | ||
| Top Ten Web Series | ||||
| Best Actor | Yang Yang | |||
| Best Actress | Jiang Shuying | |||
| Baidu Fudian Awards | Top Ten Television Series | The King's Avatar | [35] | |
| Tencent Video All Star Awards | Producer of the Year | Yang Xiaopei | [36] | |
| TV Actor of the Year | ||||
| Quality Actor of the Year | Jiang Shuying | |||
| Most Promising Actor | Zhai Zilu |