"Although it has its roots in Chinese literature, wuxia as a genre has grown to prominence worldwide almost exclusively through the medium of film. Starting as far back as the silent era and continuing to the present day, wuxia films tend to have certain aspects in common.
They are always period, pre-20th Century stories, dwelling on the exploits of martial heroes. These heroic knights, often armed with swords though they are sometimes proficient with more unusual methods of combat, sometimes also possess skills that can only be described as supernatual—they may fly, focus their chi to such an extent that they can destroy an enemy from a distance, or perform even stranger feats. Wuxia films are not exclusively fantasies, but more often than not fall into that category, even when the story is grounded in some historical reality".
FIlms are in reverse order.
