Dark and Troubled Past: Hoo boy, to put things one way, one of the fillers showed an image of them at their most traumatic memories, everyone but Goku was covered in blood. And that's just because Goku's memories of the covered-in-blood incident got erased.
Fan Nickname: The Sanzo-ikkou, an honorific indicating a group, especially a group of religious pilgrims. Kougaiji, Lirin, Yaone, and Dokugakuji are often referred to as the Kougaiji-tachi, a group honorific with a connotation of "team".
A short tempered Buddhist monk that smokes and carries a revolver. He was abandoned as an infant and found by the Sanzo priest Koumyou, who raised him and named him Kouryuu. He was granted the supreme rank of Sanzo, guardian of one of the Sutras from the Dawn of Time, at 14, becoming the youngest to ever attain the title. Shortly afterword, Koumyou was brutally murdered in front of Sanzo and his sutra stolen, setting Sanzo on a quest to recover the sutra and avenge his master that has lasted his entire adult life. His behavior is classic Jerkass but he's the legitimate emissary of the gods and on the side of Good.
Badass in Distress: More badass than his original, ever-gullible counterpart but still has quite a few James Bondage moments. As the only non-youkai in the group, he is physically the most vulnerable. As the bearer of 20% of the source code for the universe, he's the ultimate target of most attackers. Result: Sanzo takes a lot of damage and the others frequently have to run interference for him.
Celibate Hero: By Word Of God, the one monastic vow he has never broken...but not out of piety. He just doesn't like being touched "that way". In fact, Sanzo recoils from pretty much any touch at all, with some degree of exception for his traveling companions, especially Goku. See Rape As Backstory below for a possible explanation.
Purple Eyes: Remarked on in-series as being both exotically appealing and deeply unsettling.
Rape As Backstory: In the Burial Arc, the first time he ever killed another person, he shot a thug who was trying to rape him. There are many other implications of creepy attention based on his attractiveness as well. This puts Sanzo's responses to touch and to sexual advances in a different light.
Sexy Priest: But call him one and your ass is toast.
Strong As They Need To Be: The first anime series mostly depicted him close to the manga, but had a couple moments where his strength was greatly inflated, such as once when he knocked Lirin out with a single punch and blocked a punch from Goku's Super Powered Evil Side.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Or at least “long since bored past the point of caring” bureaucrat with OCD. He never seems terribly impressed with Heaven’s regime but he’s very serious about his job—until Goku gives him something better to be serious about.
A being born from the Earth, and imprisoned 500 years prior to the series by the gods. He knew the past incarnations of the rest of the Sanzo party, but his imprisonment erased his memory. He was eventually let out by Genjo Sanzo, and since then followed him everywhere, though Sanzo never admits to caring for Goku. Is the most childish of the group and has a child-like enthusiasm for fighting. Of all the characters, Goku has probably changed the most over the course of the series.Has a Superpowered Evil Side that comes out if his diadem is ever removed, in which he attacks everything in sight and his enjoyment of fighting turns into a sadistic joy of inflicting pain on others.
Ax Crazy: Not only will his Superpowered Evil Side attack anything it sees, it's flat-out sadistic and will pummel enemies even when they can't fight back, and sometimes also bite them, which avoids being Narm because it results in a lot of blood.
Lightning Bruiser: His Superpowered Evil Side moves so fast other characters can't even see him, shrugs off virtually everything thrown at him, and has bent Gojyo's magical shakujou just by grabbing it.
Name's the Same: He is not Goku from Dragon Ball, but the mistake is understandable because both stories are based on Journey to the West: both Gokus are based on Sun Wukong (indeed, 'Son Goku' is in the first place merely the Japanese rendering of 'Sun Wukong').
Nigh Invulnerable: in his true form he can call on energy from the Earth to heal himself whenever he's injured (shown in his fight with Hakkai's true form) which makes him near immortal.
Restraining Bolt: His diadem, which is many times stronger than a normal youkai limiter and can only be remade by the Maten sutra or direct divine intercession.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Goku is the Manly Man to Hakkai's Sensitive Guy and the Sensitive Guy to Gojyo's Manly Man.
A half-yokai that grew up with an abusive mother that eventually tried to kill him, but his older brother Jien killed her right in front of him to save him. Is womanizing and frequently gets into fights with Goku. As a result of the abuse he endured as a child he's quick to defend children.
Urban Legend Love Life: In the manga Gojyo is a notorious flirt, but he's yet to become romantically involved with any women in-series. This only fuels speculation.
Heroic Bastard: He's the child of an extramarital affair.
Heterosexual Life Partners / Ho Yay: With Hakkai. They are very very married but it could be in the ‘’Leave It To Beaver’’ way with separate twin beds.
House Husband: Back in the day, Kenren was the one who kept Tenpou’s office clean and made sure he remembered little things like sleeping and bathing.
With Due Respect: Kenren is not exactly known for holding his tongue and he’s the first one to lash out against the Heavenly authorities…but the others immediately back him up when he does.
Cho Hakkai
Originally named Cho Gonou, he lived with his sister, who he shared a romantic relationship with. One day she was kidnapped by youkai, and Gonou proceeded to singlehandedly kill them all, only to find his sister had been raped, and not wanting to give birth to a youkai child, killed herself right in front of him after he had fought so hard to rescue her. In the process, he got the blood of a thousand youkai on him and became a youkai himself. Later he meet with Gojyo and the two were found by Sanzo and Goku who were tasked to bring Hakkai for trial for his murdering the youkai. It turned out for Hakkai that as Buddhism forbids killing (not that ever stops Sanzo), he is instead given a new identity as Cho Hakkai. He is generally the most polite and intelligent of the group, but even they find him terrifying when he's angry. Occasionally he removes his power limiters and fights as his youkai self, but does so rarely as it can potentially expose him to the influence of the Minus Wave.
Akira Ishida: Was described as "voiced by Akira Ishida" in an early manga volume and the role was cast accordingly in the anime adaptation.
Badass Abnormal: He single-handedly killed more than a thousand people (youkai and human) while still fully mortal. Armed with what looked like a fruit knife. Before he learned any ki attacks or healing. Imagine what he’s capable of now. Then go hide under the bed.
Beware the Nice Ones: Hakkai is easily the most polite and soft-spoken member of the group. He's also a walking font of potential violence.
Dissonant Serenity: Almost every time he fights. If he's acting otherwise his opponent is in big trouble.
Eye Scream: In the manga, he tears out his eye and throws it at somebody. The anime "tones it down" to scratching the eyeball up while still in the socket.
Heterosexual Life Partners / Ho Yay: With Goyjo. Knowing Hakkai, they probably DO have a china pattern picked out, whichever way you see their relationship.
Never Gets Drunk: He can drink anyone under the table without showing the effects. An audio drama actually does show him rambling to Hakuryuu when it's just the two of them and claiming that he's had too much, however, indicating that it might be less about not getting drunk and more about having so much self-control that his behavior never changes. Either way, it just adds to his Uncanny Valley factor.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Complete with Influence Judo - watch the group's antics carefully, and you'll see that while Sanzo is nominally in charge, if Hakkai wants something done, it happens. He'll also break your arm without ever losing his smile... but only if you're threatening innocents or his Nakama.
Tranquil Fury: Rather than Hakkai’s loopier Dissonant Serenity. Tenpou will go absolutely icy cold when he’s mad but without crossing over into smiling psychopathy.
Trash of the Titans: Kenren keeps having to clean his office for him, because Tenpou will never do it himself.
Reincarnation: Jeep is likely the reincarnation of Goujun, the Dragon King of the Western Seas, who was not a conspirator in the celestial rebellion but became a casualty of it after leaving a written account of the events.
A band of four youkai that were unaffected by the minus waves, but for reasons that come from following Kougaiji they serve as rivals to the Sanzo party.
Anti Villains Type V, they could very easily be heroes in another series.
A Noble Demon that was the son of Gyumaoh. He has no interest in reviving him and has nothing against humans or the Sanzo party, but as Gyokuman Koushu promises to revive his mother if he helps complete his plans, he none the less aids her.
Too Dumb to Live: Has some moments of this in the anime exclusives, most notably in one instance where he tried fighting Goku's Super Powered Evil Side despite nearly getting killed the first time.
Kougaji's younger half sister. Can be best described as a female Goku; replace his relationship with Sanzo with hers with Kougaiji minus that he treats her much better, except she's a bit of an airhead. Also has surprisingly large breasts despite her young age.
Big Eater: a running joke being that she is easily distracted by food, even in the middle of a fight
The youkai that aims to Gyumaoh, and Lirin's mother. As a Foil to the Kougaiji Party, she appears completely evil, caring for nothing and nobody apart from achieving her goals, even her own family mean nothing to her.
Complete Monster: She has yet to display any redeeming qualities.
An extremely eccentric yet very threatening human mad scientist attempting to revive Gyumaoh for unknown reasons. As of the end of Reload is also known to be Ukoku Sanzo, the heretical keeper of the Muten sutra and an old friend of Koumyou Sanzo...and possibly also his murderer.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Almost literally, but do NOT mistake this guy for harmless due his eccentric behavior, he has plenty of Kick the Dog moments in his pursuit of mad science. That's not even counting the destructive power of the Muten sutra and the fact that he was able to use Buddhist magic to kill fellow monks with no more than a wave of his hand even BEFORE he was elevated to Sanzo.
Eye Scream: End of the Reload manga. Still waiting for canon confirmation of the extent of the damage.
Hyper Competent Side Kick: Gyokuman Koushu may be the one that came up with plan to revive Guymoah, but Nii is the one that allows her plan the possibility of succeeding, and as a whole is far more crafty than she is.
Klingon Promotion: Ken'yuu rose in rank to Ukoku Sanzo by killing his master, Goudai. While his master had in fact declared that succession would be decided by a battle to the death, Ken'yuu had been specifically disqualified from participating. This results in Ukoku's strange heretical status: the Muten sutra recognizes him as its owner but he has never received the chakra mark that indicates approval from the gods.
Magnificent Bastard: It seems to be heavily hinted at that his entire involvement with the Gyumoah revival was part of a bet with the late Koumyou Sanzo.
Ravens and Crows: His symbol in the series, along with the darkness of night. His Buddhist dynastic name is "Ukoku", "a crow cawed", after the bird that cried out when he killed his master.
Enemy Within: He's been possessed by the demon Valhalla since it killed his master when he was a child, though he doesn't know it. This is implicitly the doing of Ukoku Sanzo, who was visiting at the time.
Foil: To Sanzo. They have a similar history, both having lost their mentors/father figures to youkai attacks and devoting their adult lives to vengeance. However, Hazel pursues his vengeance by seeking to eliminate youkai entirely, even those unaffected by the Minus Wave like young children. Hazel’s magic amulet holds out a kind of false hope because for every human life it restores it must destroy the soul of a youkai. Sanzo, while very willing to kill anyone youkai or otherwise who tries to impede his quest, has not simply generalized that hatred to the entire species. He’s seeking to shut down the Minus Wave and end the problem at its source, restoring the possibility of coexistence between humans and youkai.
Kansai Regional Accent: In Japanese...because he's from "The West". It gets changed to a mild, Southern accent in English translations.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He believes in the obliteration of all youkai, berserk or no, since his master's murder.
Gatty "Gat" Nenehawk
Back from the Dead: Gat was Hazel's first human victim, by accident. Hazel used his power to bring him back to life. Seems to have been an Unwanted Revival.
BFG: About 3 times the size of Sanzo's little Smith and Wesson. Gat asks Sanzo, after Hazel's talisman is broken, to carry the guns once he can no longer be revived. Sanzo replies that they're guns only someone with Gat's strength could use: the recoil alone would probably numb Sanzo's entire arm. One of them gets used quite dramatically in the climactic battle of Reload, against Ukoku. Result: The most successful attack against Ukoku yet—he’s probably lost an eye. Sanzo had to use both hands just to be able to aim the thing.
Hermaphrodite: In the manga, Kanzeon as a "perfected" boddhisattiva is both fully male and fully female. In the anime, Kanzeon is portrayed as fully female like in Chinese tradition.
Intrigued By Humanity: While she's definitely arrogant, her Butt Monkey man-servant once implying that she's an egotist even compared to the other gods, she regards Earth and its dynamic, constantly changing inhabitants as far more interesting and compelling than static, eternal Heaven. Woe betide you if she finds you especially interesting...like the Sanzo-ikkou.
Physical God: In Saiyuki Gaiden, she's shown to be even stronger than Goku with his power limiter removed.
Jerkass Gods: She sends the Sanzo party out for her own amusement rather than any desire to do good, and only rarely ever helps them. And believe it or not, she's actually one of nicer gods seen in the series.
Badass Longhair: Goes from being just long enough to tie back as a novice, to a waist-length ponytail in middle age, to waist-length even when braided at his death.
Cloudcuckoolander: The description used in Ibun is “a little stray cloud off in his own world”. Koumyou claims to be less reliable than the moon. He’s got a real thing for paper airplanes and forgets to hide the pipe and the booze from the other monks. At one point he quotes Dragon Ball Z to explain his strategies. I am not making this up.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: As a novice, Houmei was known as “the demerit monk” for his chronic rulebreaking and laziness. He was also stronger in Buddhist magic than any of the other sanzo candidates. As Koumyou Sanzo, he’s still blowing off lectures and sneaking alcohol…while also being the youngest person ever to reach that rank and the only one ever to be entrusted with ‘’two’’ sutras.
Master-Apprentice Chain: Learned from Jikaku as a novice, and transmitted his teachings to his successor, Genjyo Sanzo.
My Death Is Only The Beginning: Ukoku has suggested that Koumyou’s death in a youkai attack may have been intentional, as he was more than strong enough to fight such intruders off. This raises the possibility that Koumyou knew the effect his death would have on Genjyo and set him on that path on purpose.
Valley Girl: Houmei talks more like a Nagoya schoolgirl than a grown man—using cutesy nicknames and honorifics (i.e., “Momo-chan”), referring to oneself in the third person, and using “boku” and “anata” pronouns are all young, girlish verbal traits in Japanese.
Blessed with Suck: Genkai’s prophetic talents were exploited by his parents and he foresaw the deaths of many, but could not protect his parents when they were in danger.
Oracular Urchin: Genkai’s body stopped growing very early and he’s about the size of a 4 year-old.
Jikaku
Arc Words: Jikaku was the first to make the comparison between Ukoku as “the dark of the night” and Koumyou as “the light of the moon”. The full significance of the comparison is still unclear.
The Gump: Jikaku's a senior monk at a major temple the first time we see him in Saiyuki Ibun, and was the abbot of Keiun (the largest monastery in China) before Genjyo Sanzo. But what's MORE interesting about him is that he met at least 8 sanzo priests in his lifetime (3 unnamed former sanzos, Koumyou, Goudai, Genkai, Ukoku, and Genjyo).
Master-Apprentice Chain: Jikaku instructed both Koumyou and Goudai as novices. In turn, Koumyou taught his successor Genjyo and Goudai taught his successor Ukoku. Genjyo and Ukoku are now on opposite sides of the Minus Wave conflict.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Don’t ever teach Genjyo Sanzo a valuable lesson if you want to survive to the end of the story arc.
