Behind her playful girl-next-door look, Xiao Wu hides a secret: she is a 100,000-year soul beast, a Soft Bone Rabbit that has taken human form. She meets Tang San at their very first academy and becomes his sworn sister, then the love of his life.
Personality
Lively, teasing and full of energy, Xiao Wu likes to act as everyone's "big sister" and defend her friends with well-placed kicks. Beneath this lightness lies a great fear of being discovered, and an absolute willingness to sacrifice herself for those she loves.
Powers & abilities
Her martial soul, the Soft Bone Rabbit, gives her exceptional agility and flexibility. She fights at close range with throws, holds and charm techniques, and her nature as an ancient soul beast gives her hidden power far beyond her apparent rank.
History
Transformed into a human to escape the Spirit Hall, which killed her mother, Xiao Wu blends in among apprentice soul masters. She grows up alongside Tang San, from Nuoding Academy to Shrek Academy. When her true nature is revealed, she sacrifices herself to save Tang San, who then moves heaven and earth to bring her back.
Relationships
Her relationship with Tang San evolves from sworn siblings to love and is the saga's great romance. She forms a close trio with the other girls of the Seven Monsters, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, and has a deep distrust of the Spirit Hall.
Key moments
- Meeting Tang San at school, where she declares herself the class's "big sister".
- The revelation of her true nature as a 100,000-year soul beast.
- Her sacrifice for Tang San, one of the most memorable scenes in the whole saga.
In the adaptations
The donghua puts special care into her acrobatic fights and cheerful personality. In the drama Douluo Continent (2021) she is played by Wu Xuanyi. The novel focuses more on her constant fear of being unmasked.
Did you know?
- Her soul is a rabbit's, not a fox's, as is sometimes wrongly stated.
- Later in the saga she becomes the mother of Tang Wutong, the heroine of Soul Land 2.
Our take
Xiao Wu brings Soul Land the warmth and humour Tang San sometimes lacks. Her secret gives the story tragic tension, and her sacrifice remains one of the donghua's strongest moments.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan