| Alt Name: | 終極一家 zhōng jí yī jiā |
| Genre: | School, Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Romance, Wuxia |
| Creator: | Qi Yang Lin |
| Director: | Zheng De Hua Lin Qing Fang |
| Starring: | Pauline Lan Jiro Wang Calvin Chen Aaron Yan Chen Bo Zheng Na Wei Xun Danson Tang Sunnie Huang Chen De Xiu a Chord |
| Opentheme: | "出神入化" (Chu Shen Ru Hua) by Fahrenheit |
| Endtheme: | "最愛還是你" (Zui Ai Hai Shi Ni) by Danson Tang (episodes 1-30) "不會愛" (Bu Hui Ai) by Fahrenheit (episodes 31-55) |
| Country: | Republic of China (Taiwan) |
| Language: | Mandarin |
| Num Episodes: | 55 |
| List Episodes: | List of episodes of The X-Family |
| Executive Producer: | Wang Xin Gui (王信貴), Wang Chuan Ren (王傳仁) |
| Producer: | Chen Zi Han (陳芷涵), Jerry Feng (馮家瑞) |
| Location: | Taipei, Taiwan |
| Runtime: | 45 mins |
| Company: | Comic International Productions |
| Channel: | Gala Television (GTV) |
The X-Family is a Taiwanese drama starring Pauline Lan, Jiro Wang, Danson Tang, Sunnie Huang, Calvin Chen, and Aaron Yan. It is the sequel to the 2005 drama KO One and is produced by Comic International Productions (可米國際影視事業股份有限公司).[1] The series started filming in June 2006 and wrapped in April 2007. It was broadcast on cable TV Gala Television (GTV) Variety Show/CH 28 (八大綜合台) on August 8, 2007, to October 23, 2007.
The prequel KO One was broadcast on November 26, 2005, to May 27, 2006, and a further sequel, K.O.3an Guo, was broadcast on February 28, 2009, to February 27, 2010, on cable TV Gala Television (GTV) Variety Show/CH 28 (八大綜合台).
There are twelve dimensions and a Mojie, a dimension where evil resides. Mojie has taken over ten dimensions in a series of showdowns between good and evil. The inter-dimensional war in the Gold dimension resulted in a tie in which both Mojie forces and KO fighters suffered great damages. Now, the story continues in the Iron dimension where the outcome has yet to be decided.
Following the loss of the KO fighters' powers in KO One, Xiu was given a mission to find the KO fighters’ alternate selves in his dimension, the Iron dimension, in order to restore their powers and turn the tide against the dark forces. His search leads him to a boy named Xia Tian, Wang Da Dong's counterpart, who has the potential to become a savior of worlds, a Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren.
Xia Tian's incredible power is sealed away by a Feng Long Tie on his neck making him essentially a Ma Gua, or a muggle. Any attempt to use his power would awaken Gui Long, an evil entity in him. But, Gui Long is not the only obstacle Xia Tian has to overcome to become the Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren. His family's objections and his own lack of interest in becoming the savior of worlds are also obstacles. However, his attitude begins to change after he meets a girl from his childhood, Han. To save her life, he boldly goes into Mie to recover her soul. Then and there, he realizes he needs to become stronger so he can protect his loved ones.
Although Xia Tian has the determination to become the Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren, he must go through many more tests and trials. He is also not the only one with such potential.
See main article: List of The X-Family characters.
As the sole bread winner in the family and owner of a truck company, she takes on the roles that traditionally belonged to fathers and sons.
Despite her tough exterior, she desires the closeness and comfort of a normal family life.
She wants her children to lead normal lives, so she sealed Xia Tian and Xia Mei's powers with a pair of "Feng Long Tie" (封龍貼 / Seal Dragon Patch) since they were young. Among her 3 children, she worries about Xia Tian the most.
She loves to cook, but most people are repulsed by her cooking because she makes the worst food. The only people who enjoy her cooking are Demon Hunter, Jiu Wu and herself, which explains why she doesn't stop making food even though everybody else protests about her cooking.
She divorced Ye Si Ren because he was irresponsible as a father and unfaithful as a husband. But though her marriage fell apart years ago, she still loves Ye Si Ren and desires his company. When Ye Si Ren reveals his identity as a member of the evil Ye He Na La Family, she finally expresses her true feelings and the two of them become closer than before. But obstacles don't stop coming in-between them.
In the initial episodes, she wears a metal glove called "Qilin Shou" (麒麟手 / Qilin Glove) to cast a family spell called "Qi Lin Mai Chong Guang Tao Can" (麒麟脈衝光套餐).
Later, she uses a gun named "Wu Feng" (烏風 / Zaocys), which was given to her by the God of Guns years ago.
He dreams to follow his father's footsteps and become a guitarist, which is met with his mother's strong opposition. As the drama progresses, he convinces her to allow him to follow his dream.
To control his powerful but unstable abilities, a "Feng Long Tie" (封龍貼) was placed on his neck making him no different from a "Ma Gua" (麻瓜 / Muggle).
Xiu believes Xia Tian has the potential to become a "Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren" (終極鐵克人/ Ultimate Iron Man), a savior of worlds, so he teaches Xia Tian how to play guitar and control Gui Long (鬼龍 / Ghostly Dragon) - his evil half with greater power, who on several occasions, attempts to destroy Xia Tian in order to become the dominant personality.
His biggest motivation for developing his power and guitar skills is Han, a girl that he met when he was a child and has liked her ever since.
When he takes off the Feng Long Tie, he transforms into Gui Long and becomes unable to control his actions. Gui Long's main weapon is a guitar pick called "Gui Long Pi Ke" (鬼龍鎞克 / Gui Long Guitar Pick).
When Lan Ling Wang first appears in the story, he just appears and disappears around the Xia family and Dong Cheng Wei (東城衛). He was ordered to find "Sou Hun Qu" (蒐魂曲 / Soul Collecting Melody) and "Xi Hun Qu" (洗魂曲 / Soul Cleansing Melody).
His family was killed when he softened to the Xia Lan Xing De family and he tried to take revenge on the killer, but his powers were drained by a "Gui Ling Yan Huo Qiu" (鬼靈焰火球 / Ghostly Fireball) and becomes a Ma Gua (麻瓜) for a time throughout the series, until the Master of the Ye He Na La family executes his plan to dominate the world. Lan Ling Wang casts an ancient spell to ruin his plan, which results in the restoration of the Ye Ha Na La family's power and his powers.
When Lan Ling Wang first lost his powers, he learned that someone had put a "Qi Xin Zhou" (七星咒 / Seven Stars Curse) on his family six generations ago. If he, the seventh generation, cannot lift the curse before the eighth generation is born, then the following generations will lose their true powers and become slaves of the Ye He Na La Family forever. However, if he can lift it, he will gather up the energy of hatred that his ancestors have collected over the centuries and turn him into a "Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren" (終極鐵克人 / Ultimate Iron Man).
Lan Ling Wang carries a sword from the spiritual realm known as "Lan Ling Zhan" (攔靈斬). It can gather the destructive energy and produce a powerful blast called "Fen Jian Da Fa" (弅劍大法), which can eliminate everything within 100 miles, including himself.
When he first appears, he has a deep, strange voice which makes him seem powerful and out of the ordinary. But after about twelve episodes, his powerful voice returned to a normal one.
He has a younger brother named Jiu Lai, who has the appearance of an old man due to his misuse of supernatural powers. Because he rarely reveals himself, people that know his brother assume that their appearances and ages would be alike; some even refer their names to be similar.
As the ruler, his main responsibility is to preserve "Fang Hu Ci Chang" (防護磁場 / Defense Magnetic Shield) that protects their world from outside attacks: if he gets hurt, the shield will weaken, allowing evil to invade their world; but as he keeps on preserving the force field, it also weakens him in the process, making him unable to use his powers under certain circumstances.
Jiu Wu has been famous since young for his "Jiu Bu Qin Gui Shou" (九步擒鬼手), which indicates the ability to find the opponent's Achilles' Heel within nine steps. No one has ever escaped this attack until he meets the father of the Ye He Na La Family.
Xia Liu (because his name sounds like "pervert" (下流), his name is often dragged into that theme) literally sleeps under the house as the entrance to his bedroom is located under the living room table. Xia Liu is the guardian of the entrance to the ghostly dimension, Mie (滅). He may be senile, but he is also the most powerful member in the family: that is before Xia Tian becomes the superior member. His poor memory is often a laughing point.
Removing people's memories is one of Xia Liu's many abilities, and is the first one to be used on screen.
His main weapon is a pair of cymbals called "Ke Mo Ba" (剋魔鈸), which he uses to attack with sound waves and to cast spells. His most notable attacks are eight spells that are mainly used for fighting evils, called "Xiang Mo Ba Jue" (降魔八訣).
Ye Si Ren (sounds close to "死人" / Dead Man) owns a pub called "The Ass Pub" (老屁股) and is a very gifted musician.
Because of his naïvety and unfaithfulness, he and Xia Xiong's marriage ended years ago, but he still has feelings for her. He is constantly interfering with Xia Xiong's dates. Even though he was not a very good husband, he is a very good father, and will do anything in his capacity to protect his family.
At the start, he appears as a Ma Gua (麻瓜), but when Xia Yu's dark powers begin to manifest, he reveals himself as the head member of the Ye He Na La family (葉赫那啦家族) and plays the Xi Hun Qu (洗魂曲 / Soul Cleansing Melody) in order to cleanse Xia Yu's evil instincts and powers.
Despite being the person everyone trusts and relies on, he resents being the only "Ma Gua" (麻瓜) in the family and doing the menial jobs around the home.
Evil sees his jealousy and uses that to turn him evil by giving him a ring to absorb other people's powers. The ring unwittingly unlocks Xia Yu's sealed power. As it turns out, he is not a Ma Gua by birth. Rather, his father secretly sealed his power upon birth because he exhibited the pure evil genes. When he fully comes into his powers, his dark instincts start to take over. The situation forces his father to use "Xi Hun Qu" (洗魂曲 / Soul Cleansing Melody) to cleanse his soul and seal his power again, which they remain until his paternal grandfather's plan of world domination backfires causing a beam of dark energy to strike directly at him, turning him into "Gui Feng" (鬼鳳 / Ghostly Phoenix).
Initially, she has a crush on Xiu, the guitarist of Dong Cheng Wei (東城衛), but later falls for Lan Ling Wang. She is so obsessed with Lan Ling Wang and is willing to sacrifice anything for him.
By partially ripping off her Feng Long Tie (封龍貼), Xia Mei can use her power of electricity to attack people; Ren Chen Wen often falls victim to her attacks. However, since her powers belong to basic level, she cannot do any serious damage.
When she rips off her Feng Long Tie completely, she becomes Gui Wa (鬼娃 / Ghostly Doll), and becomes able to scare people with Zhen Zi (貞子 - a demon from the movie "The Ring"), a ghost-like demon with pale skin and a green glow, which she conjures with a little puppet that appears along when she transforms.
At first he thought that Xia Tian was just a Ma Gua (麻瓜), but when he sensed his special powers he started suspecting that Xia Tian might have the potential to become the legendary Zhong Ji Tie Ke Ren (終極鐵克人), so he becomes Xia Tian's guitar teacher and later trainer.
Xiu has the ability to force someone to act according to his commands, a spell that every member in his family, the Hu Yan Jue Luo family, is capable of.
His special weapon is a guitar pick called "Shen Feng Pi Ke" (神風鎞克 / God's Wind Guitar Pick), which allows its master to increase his magical abilities and produce healing energy.
Years later, Han reappears when Xia Tian and his father are attacked by loan sharks and unwittingly rescues them (although she does hit Xia Tian on the head).
He recognizes her as soon as he sees the picture that he took with her and her mom on the same day he rescued her. However, she had completely forgotten about her friendship with Xia Tian along with everything else that happened before she was kidnapped.
Han has the power to read one's mind. Her primary weapon is a pair of drumsticks known as "Jing Lei" (驚雷 / Frightening Thunder) which she has transferred her soul in order to make them both powerful and spiritual.
a Chord's primary weapon is a tuning fork called the "Gui Zhan Yin Cha" (鬼戰音叉), which he uses to attack with sound waves.
See main article: List of episodes of The X-Family.
| Characters | Ma Gua Name | Actor | |
| Xia Lan Xing De Xiong (夏蘭荇德 雄) Xia Lan Xing De ancestor (夏蘭荇德祖先) | Xia Xiong (夏雄) none | Pauline Lan (藍心湄) | |
| Xia Tian (夏天) none none none none | Jiro Wang (汪東城) | ||
| Ye He Na La Si Ren (葉赫那啦 思仁) Duan Chang Ren (斷腸人) Hei Long (黑龍) Himself | Ye Si Ren (葉思仁) none none none | Na Wei Xun (那維勲) | |
| Xia Lan Xing De Liu (夏蘭荇德 流) Xia Lan Xing De ancestor (夏蘭荇德祖先) | Xia Liu (夏流) none | (陳博正) | |
| Xia Yu (夏宇) none none | Danson Tang (唐禹哲) | ||
| Xia Lan Xing De Mei (夏蘭荇德 美) Gui Wa (鬼娃) Herself | Xia Mei (夏美) none none | Sunnie Huang (黃小柔) | |
| Gu La Yi Er Lan Ling Wang (古拉依爾 蘭陵王) Wang Ya Se (王亞瑟) | Lan Ling Wang (蘭陵王) none | Calvin Chen (辰亦儒) | |
| Jiu Wu (灸舞) none | Aaron Yan (炎亞綸) | ||
| Hu Yan Jue Lo Xiu (呼延覺羅 脩) Hu Yan Jue Luo Tie Er Shi (呼延覺羅鐵勒士) | Hu Yan Xiu (呼延脩) none | Shu Chen (陳德修) | |
| Han Ke La Ma Han (韓克拉瑪 寒) Han Ke La Ma Bing Xin (韓克拉瑪 冰心) Han Ke La Ma Min Min Bing (韓克拉瑪 綿綿冰) | Han (寒) Bing Xin (冰心) none | (蔡函岑) | |
| none | a Chord (謝和弦) | ||
| none none | George Hu (胡宇崴) | ||
| none | Wu Chun (吳尊) | ||
| Ren Chen Wen (任晨文) | Zhang Hao Ming (張皓明) | ||
| Xia Mi (瞎祕) | Lu Jian Yu (陸建宇/小辣) | ||
| Wa Ge (蛙哥) | Ah Mai Er (阿脈兒) | ||
| Jiu Lai (灸萊) | Lin Yi Xun (林奕勳) | ||
| The Master (老掌門) | Wang Dao (王道) | ||
| Ye Si Si (葉思思) | Li Jie Sheng (李傑聖) |
| Characters | Actor | |
| Professor G | Renzo Liu (劉亮佐) | |
| Qiu Er (球兒) | ||
| Li Ang Lin (利昂霖) | ||
| Xia Jing Ting (夏靖庭) | ||
| Xue Zhi Zheng (薛志正) | ||
| Xia Gu Rou Qing (黠谷柔情) | Huang Wan Ting (皇琬婷/婉兒) | |
| Bing Dao (兵刀) | Chien Te-men(乾德門) | |
| Wang Qiao Zheng (王巧埩) | ||
| Den Cheng Ju (單承矩) | ||
| Huang Wan Bo (黃萬伯/K一吧) | ||
| De Yang (德楊) | ||
| Dong Cheng Wei-Deng (東城衛-鐙) | Deng Hua Dun (鄧樺敦) | |
| Dong Cheng Wei-Ming (東城衛-冥) | Li Ming Han (李明翰) | |
| Dong Cheng Wei-Jie (東城衛-戒) | Michael Chen (陳志介) | |
| Shi Ba Tong Ren (十八捅人) | Li Bing Yi (李秉億) | |
| Amazing Little Nurse (神奇小護士) | Chang Ai Wen (常愛芠/愛兒) | |
| The Messenger (信哥) Gu La Yi Er Zhou Wang (古拉依爾 宙王) | Jian Han Zhong (簡翰忠) | |
| Li Da Xiong (李大雄) | Li Guo Chao (李國超) | |
| Comic book store owner | Cai Ba (蔡爸) | |
| Ni Pei Wei (倪裴薇) | ||
| Scriptwriter A | Ye Hui Zhi (葉惠芝) | |
| Scriptwriter B | Hong Qi Yang (洪綺陽) | |
| Loyal servant (忠僕) | Lin Shu Hong (林書弘) | |
| Ah Fei (阿飛) | Zhang Zhi Wei (張志偉) | |
| Han's mother (寒媽) | Zhang Yi Lin (張以琳) | |
| Gangster boss (流氓老大) | Wu Zhen Ya (吳震亞) | |
| Gangster | Chen Jun Hui (陳俊輝) | |
| Gangster | Liu Guo Shao (劉國卲) | |
| Gangster | Hong Wei Xin (洪維信) | |
| Bartender | Wu Feng Qing (吳豐卿) | |
| Little Xia Yu (小夏宇) | Wu Yan Xuan (吳彥諠) | |
| Little Xia Tian (小夏天) | Xiang Bo Tao (相博濤) | |
| Little Xia Mei (小夏美) | Xu Qiong Yun (許瓊云) | |
| Little Han (小寒) | Xu Yu Ling (許育菱) | |
| Little Dao Ba Jie Sen (小刀疤傑森) | Lin Yi Cheng (林奕丞) |
| Producers | Chen Zi Han (陳芷涵) Jerry Feng (馮家瑞) Wang Xin Gui (王信貴) Wang Chuan Ren (王傳仁) | |
| Directors | Zheng De Hua (鄭德華) Lin Qing Fang (林清芳) Liao Fei Hong (廫猆鴻) Liu Xing (劉行) | |
| Screenwriters | Qi Yang Lin (齊鍚麟) Liu Shi Yuan (呂蒔媛) Deng Li Fen (鄧莉芬) Lin Xin Hui (林欣慧) Liu Rue Xuan (劉蕊瑄) Huang Wei Rong (黃微容) |
Although, The X-Family had a strong sci-fi/ fantasy feel, the production crew viewed it as a futuristic wuxia film. Their goal was to show the way wuxia would be when it's in the present day and in the future.[2] In the first episode they paid homage to the wuxia genre by having Xiu transfer his energy to the KO Fighters in an effort to restore their powers. This "transferring of energy" to help others is a recurring theme in The X-Family.
While working on this show, the writing team made a conscious effort to continue the comic book theme from KO One, as well as to incorporate video game elements popular with their teenage viewers. To do this, they gave almost all their Iron Dimension characters special powers and weapons that were more powerful than their Gold Dimension counterparts.[3] For example, Lan Ling Wang has "Lan Ling Zhan," a huge sword that can obliterate a city block when his entire life force is channeled into it. While, his Gold Dimension counterpart Wang Ya Se has "Shi Zhong Jian," a little sword in a rock, that merely enhances his fighting power. To show the effects of different powers and weapons, special effects were used, which tagged on additional filming and post-production time. As result, it took eight months, from September 2006 to April 2007, to finish shooting this show.[4]
The plot may be unrealistic, but the characters are partly based on the actors and actresses who portray them. In the show, Dong Cheng Wei (東城衛) is a unit of the Iron Protection Team that protects the Iron Dimension with its music. In real life, Dong Cheng Wei is a rock band started by Chen De Xiu and Jiro Wang back when they were in high school.[5] Xiu is a current member of this band; Jiro is both a member of this band as well as Fahrenheit.
Also, the actors make references by casually talking about how to act a certain way, use scriptwriting threats, and the production team. This is used for a subtle humour tactic in the story.
Days before its airing date, a wave of opposition against the show played out on the net. Taiwanese netizens pointed out the costume for the character Lan Ling Wang had a high degree of similarity to the character Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII[6] and blasted the network for its blatant copyright violation.[7] Executive producer Wang Xin Gui was dismayed by the accusation and denied its validity.[8]
Netizens were dissatisfied by the producer's answer and proceeded to send petitions to boycott the show. The producer responded by issuing a public apology through Comic International Productions Co., Ltd, and stated that they were in the process of negotiating with Square Enix about intellectual property rights. It also stated the similarity between Lan Ling Wang and Cloud Strife was purely coincidental.[9] As result of the uproar, HIM International Music postponed the original soundtrack release date due to its CD album had contained images involved in the copyright dispute.[10] The show and its companion books were released as scheduled.
A third installment titled, K.O.3an Guo (終極三國)[11] was broadcast on 28 February 2009 to 27 February 2010, on cable TV Gala Television (GTV) Variety Show/CH 28 (八大綜合台) and Formosa Television (FTV) (民視) for 53 episodes.
It starred George Hu and other members of Wu Hu Jiang, Chen De Xiu and Kirsten Ren, the little sister of Selina from S.H.E. Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen and Aaron Yan from Fahrenheit appeared as guests stars.