Character

Hai'yang comes off as quite charming, but a little quiet. He's a talented manipulator and comes off rather likable to strangers. However, he does not have an open heart and his own goals are his main motivators. He's morally grey, not necessarily evil, but not particularly good either. Despite his goal-driven nature, however, he isn't opposed to "taking his time" and "taking in the sights", so to speak. In more brutal terms, he is somewhat distracted by frivolous things that don't assist his goal, like board and card games, of which he plays far too many and is practically incapable of turning down a challenge. 

He has been called 小海 (xiǎo hǎi) once or twice. He hates this with a passion, as “海洋” is his given name, given to him by 狐仙, with no 姓 (surname). It is recommended to not address him in this way. 小海洋 is acceptable, but not preferred. 洋洋 (Yáng Yáng) is acceptable to very, very close friends. 

He has little integrity and is almost never honest. He does not let his fox-facade slip and is thus rarely being genuine. It is difficult to tell if he has always been this way, since he is so very secretive about his past. He sticks by rules, however. At least the ones that are not arbitrary, in his opinion. In games he is a by-the-book player, but in law and magic he has his own opinions. However, he has thus far been loyal to 狐仙's rules. But will he remain forever loyal?

Aesthetic

Tang dynasty Origins?

By Yinghua's account, Hai'yang most likely originates from the Tang Dynasty, despite the fact his ideals and aesthetics do not match it. Hai'yang is quite bothered by her accuracy.

Perhaps she is correct. Perhaps, Hai'yang truly is a Huli Jing masquerading as a taoist. With the information that we know about Hai'yang, we can make an estimate of where his true origins lie.

The Tang Dynasty was between 618AD and 906AD, so we can assume he is, at the very least, a thousand years old despite his appearance. If he truly is a Huli Jing, we can assume he was, at some point, born a lowly fox in Northeast China, probably Liaoning, Shenyang. His affinity for water suggests that, perhaps, the trivial creature pitifully drowned in the, then called, Shen River (now the Hun River). His lacking shapeshifting abilities also suggest that he was perhaps not born a Huli Jing and perhaps was of low status.

Furthermore, it is likely that Hai'yang (海洋）is, in fact, not his true name, and was instead gifted unto him by the Huxian as a symbol of his transition from a lowly mortal, wild animal to a more refined being. This seems to make sense, as his name is a Chinese word, not often a given name, simply meaning "rivers and oceans", reflecting the championing of his own death and ascent to spiritdom. 

So, with this information we can start to understand Yinghua and the Hero of Flowers House's theory better. The Huxian Sect was more or less dismantled and no Huli Jing have been heard of or mentioned for a few hundred years, but the prophecy did make some statements about this being impermanent. In fact, the word ”海洋 (haiyang)“ was used in this prophecy, which is one of many links to Hai'yang. 

the Huxian's blessing

This theory is a strong one. Hai'yang was born a small, lowly fox in Shenyang many, many years ago and he did drown in the Shen River, but these memories are hardly accessible now. He knows this is his origin, but does not remember that life as it was such a different life state and experience to now.

And he does have two names. 白湘 (Bai Xiang) is his true name, but is barely used to refer to him, nor is it even really known by many. And despite the rather pathetic, worthless life he led originally, the Huxian was oddly fond of the little fox and gave him her blessing, which is how Hai'yang came to be. Exorcists, taoists, tongji alike wiped out the sect a very, very long time ago, including all the people Hai'yang had known, as well as the Huxian herself and he is aware of his duty to revive the sect and the Huxian...... There's just one problem.

That takes like... a lot of work?

Hai'yang is selfish and lazy. He often uses his immortality to enjoy new things, play games and generally indulge in fun activities. Destiny can wait! He has an eternity, anyway! Right? Right?

The longer he procrastinates his duty, the more he knows everyone will be SO mad when they're back around. But, who said it had to be right now, anyway?

DESIGN Notes

• the talismans are attached via tang dynasty coins, they're not bells!
• his clothes, not the talismans, are just the water radical “水”
• his tail moves like water and it is very vast, because it is actually made of 9 separate tails as if typical of hulijing. the combined tail is his way of blending in.
• his eyes are red with a hint of gold
• the talismans on his ears, etc are usually written to simply say ”是鱼还是狐狸？“, but they can say anything... it's just a silly sentence

Relationships

Mizuno  [ 恋人？好朋友？]

Hai'yang calls him 小鱼 (xiǎo yú) or 小水珠 (xiǎo shuǐ zhū) more than he says his name. Sometimes he will use the Chinese reading of "水野" as well (shuǐ yě). It began with simple intrigue, Mizuno seemed to have some sort of potential dwelling beneath the surface. It became an appreciation and tolerance... Don't misunderstand, Hai'yang is still misleading Mizuno as much as he misleads others, but there is something to take comfort in there too... Could it be affection? Surely not......

Yinghua  [ 对头 ]

Hai'yang knows Yinghua is suspicious of him and that she is clever. He does consider her a worthy adversary, but he is certain she is not a threat to Huxian Sect and its revival in the long run. 

Xunhua  [ 姐姐]

Hai'yang refers to Xunhua as his big sister and she has taken on the role quite fondly. While Hai'yang doesn't have much room in his heart for many people, his big sister is one of the few. Even still, he keeps many, many secrets from her. Don't tell her he's at least a thousand years older than her...