Yang Guo, courtesy name Gaizhi, is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.
His mother taught him some of the skills she learnt from his grandfather, Yang Tiexin, and the Beggars' Gang's former chief, Hong Qigong.
A romantic relationship between master and apprentice is regarded as highly taboo according to the prevailing norms of the wulin (martial artists' community).
Yang Guo's impulsive personality and lack of respect for other senior martial artists, compounded by the rebellious streak in him, makes the situation worse.
Throughout the novel, Yang Guo encounters several elite martial artists, including Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong, who teach him some of their skills.
At the end of the novel, he is reunited with Xiaolongnü, temporarily halts the Mongol invasion by slaying Möngke Khan, and becomes a legendary hero, finally redeemed his family's name.
His descendants are charged to oversee Huang Rong's plans and seeking a worthy successor to inherit Guo Jing's heroic path as China's protector and formidable skills.
At the end of the novel, Yang Guo becomes the most powerful martial artist of his time and is compared favourably to the "Five Greats" of the era, who are older and more experienced than him by a considerable margin.
However, due to his young age and his mother's demise, Yang Guo was unable to fully master those skills nor utilise them in combat until he meets Hong at Mount Hua years later.
When he first met Guo Jing and Huang Rong, the latter managed to deduce that he is the son of Yang Kang and Mu Nianci by observing his movements because of them had also learned from Hong.
He is determined not to instruct Yang Guo in practical martial arts and merely teaches him the literary and verbal forms to disguise his neglect.
Yang Guo only learnt how to apply those verses in martial arts after he joined the Ancient Tomb School.
Some of the skills are listed as follows: Yang Guo was saved by Cheng Ying after he was injured in a fight against Jinlun Guoshi.
Lu Wushuang passes Yang Guo the Five Poisons Secret Manual (五毒秘籍; wǔdú mìjí), which she stole from Li Mochou, and tells him to memorise the book before destroying it.
In an early chapter, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü were fleeing from Li Mochou when they stumble upon a secret chamber in the Ancient Tomb.
Although Yang Guo does not manage to fully master all the skills in the manual, he integrates the fragmentary knowledge he gained from those carvings into his own martial arts and his prowess improves tremendously.
Yang Guo meets Huang Yaoshi once while he is escaping from Li Mochou together with Lu Wushuang and Cheng Ying.
Huang Yaoshi likes Yang Guo because of their similar disdain for rules and customs, and teaches him the Finger Flicking Skill (彈指神通; tánzhǐ shéntōng) and Jade Flute Swordplay (玉簫劍法; yùxiāo jiànfǎ).
The Condor was once a companion of Dugu Qiubai, a great swordsman who lived long ago and whose skills were unparalleled in his time.
The Condor helps Yang Guo recover from his wound and leads him to the items left behind by Dugu Qiubai.
Yang Guo trains with the Condor in the rain which dramatically improves his inner energy to fit the heavy sword.
He overcomes his disability to wield the Heavy Iron Sword with one arm and also he had been consuming snake gallbladders every day for over a month.
Yang Guo confronts Jinlun Guoshi, Da'erba and Huodu on Mount Zhongnan later and defeats them easily with the Heavy Iron Sword.
Notable actors who have portrayed Yang Guo in films and television series include Patrick Tse (1960), Alexander Fu (1982), Leslie Cheung (1983), Andy Lau (1983), Louis Koo (1995), Christopher Lee (1998), Richie Ren (1998), Huang Xiaoming (2006) and Chen Xiao (2014).