Sun Wukong (Character)

Sun Wukong

CHARACTER» Sun Wukong

The infamous Monkey King

Sun Wukong is a famous character across East Asia (Location), including China (Location), Korea (Location), and Japan (Location), where he is known as Son Goku. As a legendary Chinese deity, his origin story has several different versions. The most popular version is the story in the classic novel Journey To The West. In this novel, Sun Wukong is born out of a divine rock as a monkey. He became the leader of a monkey tribe and titled himself, Monkey King. He then decides to learn magic from an immortal saint, and it turns out that he is a quick learner. He mainly learns immortality, invulnerability (making his body impenetrable like metal), flying by driving clouds, and the 72 transformations that allow him to shapeshift into 72 different objects (possibly more). He also is given the name Sun Wukong which means awaken to the void. After he mastered all his magics, he dives underwater to seek the Dragon King of the East Sea to borrow a weapon that matches his strength. Dragon king introduces him to a giant pillar at the bottom of the sea, thinking Sun Wukong won't be able to lift it. It turns out that this pillar is a magic pole that can change its size according to the owner's wish. Sun Wukong successfully controls this weapon and claims it as his own. Dragon King regrets his decision and reports to the emperor of heaven to catch Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong turns against the whole heaven, and he single-handedly defeats most deities, forcing the emperor of heaven to call the Buddha for help. The Buddha throws a mountain at Sun Wukong and uses a spell to trap him at the bottom, keeping Sun Wukong a prisoner under the mountain. 500 years later, Sun Wukong is released by Xuanzang (Character) to be his protector on the journey to the West for exchange. Xuanzang is given the mission by the Chinese emperor to travel to the land of Buddha in the west to collect sacred scriptures. Sun Wukong slays demons who threaten Xuanzang on the journey and finally ascends as the god of war (or the Buddha of war) after he finished his mission. Sun Wukong was the inspiration behind the character Son Goku, from the Dragon Ball franchise of Japanese manga,anime, and games. In turn, Sun Wukong himself is believed to have been influenced by the Indian Hindumythological character Hanuman (Character). In video games, Sun Wukong has appeared in a number of East Asian video games, as well as a few Western video games, such as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

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