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[[caption-width:400:Sun Wukong.]]

''Journey to the West'' (西游记 ''Xīyóujì'' pronounced roughly ''she-yo-jee'') is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, and first published in the 1590s, although it is plainly based on much older folk-legends. It is InspiredBy the pilgrimage undertaken by the Tang dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who nearly a thousand years earlier travelled to India to study Buddhism at its source and obtain accurate copies of Buddhist texts known in China only through inaccurate nth-generation copies.

In the novel, Xuanzang (also called Tripitaka, a Chinese-Sanskrit bilingual pun that can't be concisely explained in English) is accompanied by three supernatural beings who have been assigned to guide and protect him as penance for past misdeeds. Zhu Bajie, pig-like in appearance and a greedy hog in behaviour, and Sha Wujing, a river monster whose fierce appearance belies his thoughtful nature, are former heavenly dignitaries exiled to their current existences. The third companion is Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong deserves a paragraph to himself. Warrior, magician, and trickster, the Handsome Monkey King (by acclamation of his subjects) and Great Sage Equal of Heaven (self-proclaimed) gets seven chapters devoted to his rise and fall before the novel's nominal hero first appears, and continues to steal the limelight throughout with practiced ease. Every reader has a favourite story -- the one about his bet with the Buddha is particularly popular -- but alas, this page is too small to do them all justice.

There's also Yulong, a dragon who eats Xuanzang's horse and in restitution is required to transform into horse shape and carry Xuanzang the rest of the way. But even the author seems to forget most of the time that he's not just a horse.

After many adventures, in which Sun Wukong and his allies defend Xuanzang from thieves, robbers, cannibals, false priests, and monsters of all varieties (not to mention the horrifying affair of the escaped goldfish), they reach India and everybody lives happily ever after. Yay!


''Journey to the West'' has been adapted to television many times - especially in Japan, where the story is called ''Saiyuki'' and the characters are Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojo, and Son Goku. Many anime series have at least one ShoutOut, and some go for outright plunder (from ''[[{{Saiyuki}} Gensomaden Saiyuki]]'' to, of all things, ''{{Dragonball}}''). One Japanese live-action adaption of the 1970s, and its thoroughly gender-bent cast, is still fondly remembered simply as ''Monkey'' in English-speaking countries from the irreverent (almost GagDub) [[TheBBC BBC]] translated version, with its annoyingly catchy disco theme-song ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg "Monkey Magic, Monkey Magic"]]).

The movie ''The Forbidden Kingdom'', adapts the encounter of Xuanzang and Sun Wukong, complete with the "main" character being named Jason ''Tripitakas'', and just like in ''Journey to the West'', Xuanzang/Jason has the carpet pulled out from under him by the Monkey King. Possibly the prime example thereof, and arguably a Jet Li CrowningMomentOfAwesome, would be that after Jason is explained by Jackie Chan's character to be [[spoiler:the "Seeker" and thus the nominal hero, the Silent Monk -- a familiar created by the Monkey King -- looks him over before openly laughing in his face]].

The team responsible for {{Gorillaz}}, Damon Albarn (he of {{Blur}}) and Jamie Hewlett (of ''TankGirl'' fame), adapted the story into an opera in 2007. They also did a two-minute animated version for the 2008 Olympic Games, which was used as a title sequence for the BBC television coverage of the event.

Series based on JourneyToTheWest include:
* ''{{Saiyuki}}''
* ''{{Dragonball}}'', particularly the early episodes
* ''Monkey Magic'', animated series.
* ''Gokuu Midnight Eye''
* ''Monkey'' series
* ''Starzinger'' is ''Journey to the West'' InSpace! (Dubbed into English as ''Spaceketeers;'' TheThreeMusketeers InSpace!)
* ''Alakazam the Great''
* ''Game/{{Saiyuki}}'' (PS1 video game)
* ''The Monkey King: The Legend Begins'' (Wii video game)
* ''TheForbiddenKingdom'' (2008 movie starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan)
* ''Secret Journey'' (ongoing {{Shotacon}} hentai manga by {{Poju}})
* ''{{Shinzo}}''
* ''Kǒudài Xīyóujì'' (An {{MMORPG}}, known in English as ''Ether Saga Online'')
* ''Monkey King'' An unsubbed, undubbed Chinese cartoon.

References to JourneyToTheWest are made in:
*One villain in the ''ReadOrDie'' OAV series
*A group of villains in ''YuYuHakusho''
*A children's play staged by the main characters of ''LoveHina''
*[[TurtlePower Kamemon's]] [[DubInducedPlotHole Perfect form]], Shawujingmon, in ''DigimonSavers''.
*A SchoolPlay staged by the characters of ''UruseiYatsura''
*One episode of ''LupinIII''
*The short story "Sir Harold and the Monkey King", from the ''HaroldShea'' series of fantasy short stories
*One of the productions of the Imperial Theater Troupe in ''SakuraWars''.
*The title character of ''{{Paprika}}'' manifests at one point wearing Sun Wukong's trademark outfit.
*The first chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson's ''[[YearsOfRiceAndSalt The Years Of Rice And Salt]]'' is written in the style of ''Journey To The West''.
*''GoGoSentaiBoukenger'', where Wukong's size-changing staff was one of the treasures sought by hero and villain.
*The theme to the above-mentioned ''Monkey'' series was included as a bonus stage in the first ''{{Ouendan}}'' game.
* The Bladedancer stories of the WhateleyUniverse, especially the first one, in which Chou's journey to [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] is closely based on Xuanzang's journey. Sun Wukong has in fact been established as a recurring supporting character, and he's ''still'' good at stealing the show each time he pops up.
*The Genesis Unit of Wily Tower in the Sega Genesis remake collection MegaMan: The Wily Wars.
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This story provides examples of:
*AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Xuanzang and company after they successfully bring back the sacred scriptures.
*AlmightyJanitor: Wukong gets assigned the job of Heavenly... Stable Boy. This becomes a [=~Chekhov's Skill~=] later in the story because all horses gain an innate respect/fear for Wukong because of this.
** Bajie's reward for completing the quest is becoming a janitor in Buddha's temple.
*BigDamnHeroes: Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie do it ''all the time''.
*BadAss: The book's ninety-nine chapters long, and every major character gets a chance to be one at least once.
*{{BFS}} - Big Fucking Staff: Wukong's weapon is an iron rod that is able to grow very ''humongously'' and is said to weigh ''8100kg''.
** Acquired, full size, from an undersea dragon king that had no idea what do do with it. Which was then shrunk with monkey magic. And put behind Wukong's ear.
*CaveBehindTheFalls: Sun Wukong's home
*CelestialBureaucracy
*CelibateHero: Xuanzang is a celibate monk, but keeps getting abducted by beautiful women and female demons who find him attractive, good to eat, or ''both''.
** Good to eat because it is said that a single bite of his flesh will grant the eater ten thousand years of life.
*CrazyAwesome: Many of the characters in the Tsai Chih Chung comic adaptation.
*CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Some of the greatest in literature.
*DeusExMachina: Whenever Wukong can't resolve something himself, he generally goes to Buddha for help (but he's also lodged his share of complaints against the Celestial Court).
**Guan Yin has to bail him out a lot too.
** It should be noted that all of ''Heaven'' called upon the Buddha to help them contain Wukong when literally everything they tried ended up failing or making him ''worse''.
*DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Oh, come on. A ''magical rod'' that ''expands'' at will? Clearly, the Dragon Kings (and Sun Wukong, [[IncrediblyLamePun by extension]]) must be CompensatingForSomething.
*EnsembleDarkhorse: Sun Wukong is, at least technically, not the main character.
*EvilTwin: The whole team ends up with their own Dopplegangers; naturally, Sun Wukong's is the hardest to deal with.
*FiveManBand:
**Sun Wukong = TheHero
**Zhu Bajie = TheLancer
**Xuanzang = TheChick (and usually TheLoad, if not TheMillstone)
**Sha Wujing = TheBigGuy
**Yulong = The TeamPet, sometimes TheSmartGuy.
*GodModeSue: The first part of Sun Wukong's history basically has him running roughshod over both humans and deities before Buddha [[HilarityEnsues puts a stop to the madness]] and even after he is released he gets many a CurbStompBattle before they reach their destination.
*ImpossibleTask: Jumping out of the Buddha's palm.
*IndyPloy: What Sun Wukong usually did after Xuanzang [[DistressedDamsel got kidnapped again]]
**Only his go off like he's really CrazyPrepared.
*InspiredBy: The historical journey of Xuanzang to India--except he did it with a handful of human assistants and even made a few legs of the trip by himself.
* JerkassGods: Sun Wukong, before his imprisonment, literally beats up, steals from, and terrorizes everyone he meets. He scares a Dragon God to such an extent that he gives Wukong ''the nail holding the Milky Way in place'' just to get him out of his house. He gets better. ...sort of.
** And after they ''do'' collect the scriptures, the Buddha's servants [[spoiler: hand over a bunch of blank scrolls]] after realising that the pilgrims didn't bring any gifts.
*JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Wukong, after he was stuck under a rock for a few centuries, is so grateful to Xuanzang that he swears everlasting loyalty (though Xuanzang, being a monk, doesn't approve of Wukong's more violent problem solving methods). Previous to his attitude adjustment, Wukong was more of a JerkassStu.
*JamesBondage: Being abducted -- [[ImAHumanitarian for food]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean or otherwise]], [[TheDitz deceived]] and [[ButtMonkey generally harassed]] seems to be a main occupation of Xuanzang. Usually [[TheWorfEffect just to show]] how {{badass}} Sun Wukong is.
*LawfulStupid: Xuanzang, SO very much. Every time a demon disguises itself as a human in peril, you can wager your donkey that Xuanzang will insist on helping said disguised demon. Despite knowing that demons can take human form, and that Wukong can see through their disguises, Xuanzang gladly ignores Wukong's advice because he's just that compassionate of a guy. Only once in the entire book, in one of the later chapters, does he consider that Wukong might be right...only to revert back to Lawful Stupid when the demon (disguised as a child) puts on the puppy dog eyes.
*LeisureSuitLarry: Bajie, who started the series blackmailing a girl to serve as his eventual bride and fights a continual battle against gluttony and lust. (The whole reason he ended up as a pig-demon in the first place was that he made inappropriate remarks to a fellow goddess.)
*[=~Let's You And Him Fight~=]: Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing each fight Sun Wukong before discovering that they're on the same side.
*LostForever: One page of the scripture gets permanently stuck to a rock when they fall into a river and the pages get wet.
*{{MacGuffin}}
*MadeOfIron: Wukong survived being thrown into a godly fire, said to be able to '''kill immortals and gods''', for '''49 days'''!
*MisterSeahorse: Although it was averted before something actually happened, there are multiple chapters later in the book(s) about Sun Wukong [[spoiler: going to retrieve a pregnancy antidote because Zhu Bajie and Xuanzang unknowingly drank magical pregnancy inducing river water flowing through a town filled with nothing but women]].
*MonsterMagnet: Again, Xuanzang, because monsters believe that eating him will gain immortality.
*{{Munchkin}}: Sun Wukong's abilities are utterly over the top.
*NotInThisForYourRevolution: The other main characters are all bound to Xuanzang.
*OlderThanSteam: All tropes here that aren't from a modern adaption.
*OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace: During a hilarious incident in a kingdom entirely populated by women. Slight subversion: they can reproduce without him via a magic spring, but they understandably want men too. Poor, poor [[CelibateHero Xuanzang]]...
*OneManArmy: Wukong, Just Wukong.
**How, You ask? When you are able to fight and defeat just about everyfricking' Mook, Elite Mook and the Dragon of the heavens, each fight said to be like fighting God, [[SoYeah ...]]
*OutOfFocus: As one DeviantArt user said, "No one likes you, Yu Lung. Not even your dad."
*PurpleProse: It's not purple ''prose'', it's friggin' purple '''''poetry''''', but descriptive asides peppering the novel defy any other definition.
*RageAgainstTheHeavens: Sun Wukong takes on the Celestial Bureaucracy single-handed... and almost wins.
** ''Almost?'' Wukong ''does'' kick the Celestial Bureaucracy, Jade Emperor included, out of Heaven, and ''then'' they ask Buddha (who's above separate from them) to help. Let's face it, if Buddha wasn't, well, ''[[TheMessiah Buddha]]'', Wukong'd still be sitting on his monkey-ass in the Jade Emperor's throne.
*RestrainingBolt: Sun Wukong has a circlet around his head which contracts if Xuanzang says the command phrase.
*SpellMyNameWithAnS: Sun Wukong's teacher, Bodhi/Bhuti/Subhuti.
*TakeThat: Apparently, some scholars believe that the work is one big TakeThat against the decadent government at the time.
** Not to mention its frequent bashing of indigenous Taoist/Confucian beliefs.
*TheQuest: The whole premise and reason for the novel. Xuanzang has to bring the holy books from India, and he needs protection and help on the way, opening the way to a lot of wacky hijinks.
*ThisWasHisTrueForm: Inverted -- Many of the antagonists are wild animals that have learned to mimic human form (the Chinese version of the ''henge'' described on the ''{{obake}}'' page); they revert to their true form when killed.
*TricksterArchetype: Sun Wukong. Who else?
*WeWantOurJerkBack / WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Happens each time Wukong gets expelled from the group (or quits himself).
*WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Killing a human is very bad. Killing a monster or wild animal, even one that has demonstrated human levels of intelligence, self-awareness, and emotion, is no problem.
*ValuesDissonance: A lot of motivations and justifications for the heroes' behavior look definitely odd to a modern reader.
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