More than any other character we have yet encountered in Outlaws of the Marsh, Li Kui stands apart as a one-man force of nature, a primal being in human form whose greatest talent is for upsetting anyone's attempt to implement order or restriction on him. Whether it's telling him where to live, how to eat, or even the proper way to address strangers, there is no common courtesy of civil society that Li Kui won't rage against if he feels the urge. Even his allies and friends realize that when Li Kui is on one of his rampages, the best option is to stay out of his way and hope, as with such natural forces as a hurricane or a tornado, that his wrath is pointed in another direction.

But Li Kui is not an animal, he's a man. And the more we come to know about him, the more apparent it is that he is not impervious to human feelings like love and loss; that, like those around him, there is a place in his life where he is truly vulnerable: his affection for the mother he left behind many years before. When Li Kui insists that his mother should be allowed to live with him in LiangShan, it's a touching reminder that he was once a child, and that the familial bonds instilled in him at the age have not entirely abandoned him. When he grows increasingly excited by the idea that he and his mother will live together in comfort and safety for the rest of her days, it's obvious that Li Kui is capable of being a nurturing figure to those around him, and the affection he displays to her makes for a truly poignant moment.