Cast
- Jet Li as Nameless (simplified Chinese: 无名; traditional Chinese: 無名; pinyin: Wúmíng): An unknown prefect of a small province, orphaned at an early age. Forged into a master swordsman over years of training, Nameless possesses the singular technique "Death at Ten Paces" allowing him to strike precisely within that distance. He is the primary conspirator to assassinate the king, but ultimately decides that China's unification and peace are more important than vengeance. Hero also saw Jet Li's first appearance in a film produced by mainland China, after his debut in Shaolin Temple.
- Tony Leung as Broken Sword (simplified Chinese: 残剑; traditional Chinese: 殘劍; pinyin: Cánjiàn): Broken Sword and Flying Snow are the only assassins to ever infiltrate the king's palace, killing hundreds of his personal guard and very nearly the king himself before halting at the last moment. Of all the assassins, Broken Sword is the only one whom Nameless considers his equal in swordsmanship.
- Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow (simplified Chinese: 飞雪; traditional Chinese: 飛雪; pinyin: Fēixuě): A skilled assassin, Flying Snow is Broken Sword's lover and his near-equal as a swordsman. She has vowed revenge upon the King for killing her father in battle. When Broken Sword convinces Nameless to abandon the assassination attempt on the king, Flying Snow kills him and later herself.
- Chen Daoming as the King of Qin (Chinese: 秦王; pinyin: Qín Wáng): An ambitious leader who desires to become the first Emperor of China. Following an assassination attempt, he withdraws into his palace, which he vacates of all but his most trusted advisors, and always wears his battle armor. In speaking, he uses an ancient way of saying "I" (Chinese: 寡人; pinyin: guǎ rén), which literally means "lonely person", but consists of the two Chinese characters "寡" which means less, or lacking, and "人" which means man, or person, in ancient Chinese. This has the meaning of "a man who lacks morals" (Chinese: 寡德之人; pinyin: guǎ dé zhī rén), and may resemble the Western "Royal 'We'" or Pluralis majestatis.
- Donnie Yen as Long Sky (simplified Chinese: 长空; traditional Chinese: 長空; pinyin: Chángkōng): an accomplished spearman, Sky is the first to be "defeated" by Nameless, who takes Sky's broken spear as proof of his defeat to the king. He is the least-seen assassin in the film.
- Zhang Ziyi as Moon (Chinese: 如月; pinyin: Rúyuè): Broken Sword's loyal apprentice, skilled in using twin swords.
Read more about this topic: Hero (2002 film)
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