The World of Kung-Fu 1.5: The Way of the Good Guy

The compassionate nature of good guys has produced a culture that regards it as dishonorable to kill or maim enemies. Neither the Wulin nor the Vigilantes have a killing culture, rogue sets apart. Killing is viewed as something bad guys do. Even guys in the middle generally regard it as dishonorable to kill. The Circle of Iron don’t kill and neither does Karate, not even in the heat of the Karate Wars. IFF fighters rarely express reservations about killing, but if it came down to it, some would and some wouldn’t. Ronin might do anything, but even they tend towards choosing not to kill. Ninja, of course, kill without hesitation.

The refusal of the good guys to kill leaves them with the problem of what to do with defeated evil-doers. If the defeated are wanted by the police, they are left for the police to find. The Wulin deal with those they regard as too dangerous for regular prison by handing them over to the Shaolin, who maintain a special prison of their own in the Songshan mountains. Conditions in Shaolin prison are notoriously humane and pleasant, due to the legendary compassion of the jailor monks. While the prison is the hardest in the world to escape from, sometimes, exceptional prisoners do escape and have to be re-apprehended. Have you ever tried to keep a Ninja locked up?