Journey to the West (西游记 Xīyóujì pronounced roughly shee-you-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 Inspired By 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 explained concisely in English), at the request of the goddess Guan Yin, 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, vamps, 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 Shout Out, and some go for outright plunder (from Gensomaden Saiyuki to, of all things, Dragon Ball). One Japanese live-action adaption of the 1970s, and its thoroughly gender-bent cast (the role of Xuanzang/Tripitaka/Genjo Sanzo is traditionally played by a woman), is still fondly remembered simply as Monkey in English-speaking countries from the irreverent (almost Gag Dub) BBC translated version, with its annoyingly catchy disco theme-song "Monkey Magic" (directly taken from the Japanese broadcast where it was also sung in Surprisingly Good English).While it is popular in Japan, it's omnipresent in its native China. For example, there was a 1980's Journey to the West TV series in China that was so popular, it's said that to this day there's always at least one television station rerunning it anywhere in the nation. The show is amusing even if you don't understand Chinese. Jeff Lau's Chinese Odyssey films renewed the popularity of the novel for young Hong Kong audiences during the mid-90's.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 Crowning Moment of Awesome, would be that after Jason is explained by Jackie Chan's character to be 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 Tank Girl 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.Now has a character sheet!Works based on Journey to the West include:
Kǒudài Xīyóujì (An MMORPG, known in English as Ether Saga Online)
Monkey King (An unsubbed, undubbed Chinese cartoon.)
A Chinese Odyssey (Two movies directed by Jeff Lau staring Stephen Chow. A later Jeff Lau film, Chinese Odyssey 2002, has no relation to Journey to the West.)
Princess Iron Fan (China's first feature length animated film.)
The Shaw Bros. films Monkey Goes West, Princess Iron Fan (not the animated one above), Cave of the Silken Web, and The Land of Many Perfumes.
The graphic novel American Born Chinese ties together Monkey's story with the tale of a Chinese-American boy's coming of age story and the sitcom-like hilarity of an all-American jock plagued by his painfully stereotypical Chinese cousin. And the Christmas story. So much Better Than It Sounds.
Journey to the West: Legends of the Monkey King, an animated series co-produced by CCTV and Cinar, and aired in Canada in the late 1990's via Teletoon. More recently aired on This TV.
Son Son, a 1984 Capcom arcade game; the title character('s grandaughter) appears in Marvel Vs Capcom 2 and has Sun Wukong's powers from the original story
One episode of Lupin III, where the Lupin gang are cast as the characters from the tale. It's likely a Homage to Monkey, which debuted shortly before the Lupin version came about. To be specific: Fujiko is Sanzo (carrying forward the gender-bending casting gag), Jigen is Hakkai, Goemon is Gojo, and Lupin is, of course, Son Goku.
The short story "Sir Harold and the Monkey King", from the Harold Shea series of fantasy short stories
One of the productions of the Imperial Theater Troupe in Sakura Wars.
The title character of Paprika manifests at one point wearing Sun Wukong's trademark outfit.
The first chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt is written in the style of Journey To The West.
Go Go Sentai Boukenger, 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 second Ouendan game.
The Bladedancer stories of the Whateley Universe, especially the first one, in which Chou's journey to 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 Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Hanumachine from Mega Man Zero.
The time travelers in Dinosaur King spend several episodes visiting with Sanzo Hoshi, aka Tripitaka.
In Big Bird Goes to China, Sun Wukong in full theater glory gives Big Bird the clues to find the Phoenix i.e. Feng Huang.
A Villain of the Week in the Inu Yasha anime's 6th season is a boar demon who claims to be a descendent of Zhu Bajie, while he hauls around a goofy looking kappa and monkey that he insists are, likewise, descendents of Sha Wujing and Son Wukong respectively.
At the end of Lucifer, Yahweh tells the title character a story about the Monkey King (drawn as a literal monkey in golden armor, able to leap from one end of the universe to the other in a single bound) and the Buddha.
Recurring character Monkey Khan in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book.
A Sci Fi Channel Original Movie where bad special effects and worse writing conspire to force a scholar who has devoted his life to the story to go through a shallow ripoff of its plot after an argument with his wife about it.
An episode of Mighty Max invovled him teaming up with four "washed up" literary/legendary figures from around the world; one of them was Sun Wukong, who had given up life as the Monkey King to laze about at a zoo.
In Ronin Warriors Kento of the Hardrock (diamond) is a clear homage of Sun Wukong from his Chinese origin (in the original version,) gold headband, element, headband, staff, antics and comparisons (in both versions) to being a monkey.
The Handsome Monkey King is one of the gods included in the Celestial Bureaucracy in Scion, and is available as a player character's divine parent.
Dirty Pair TV episode 4 briefly showed a pro wrestling match with one wrestler in a Sun Wukong costume (including the circlet and staff).
In Dragon Cauldron, and the other books in the same series, Monkey makes an appearance as a main character, constantly referencing the events that led to his imprisonment under a mountain.
Some Word Of God in Top Dog (in the author's FF.net forum) has Son Wukong as one of the Amerai clanlords, mentioned in context as an insanely-powerful Supernatural Martial Artist. Given Top Dog's Mega Crossover nature, it's uncertain whether this is a reference to Journey to the West or to Dragon Ball, though if it's the latter the name Wukong as opposed to Goku certainly at least acknowledges the character's origin.
One of Soulcalibur V's new fighters, Xiba, is very clearly inspired by (if not outright implied to be) Sun Wukong.
This story provides examples of:
Achilles in His Tent: When Wukong quits himself from the quest (sometimes at the same time as being fired by Tang Sang Zang) he goes back to his kingdom of monkey demons.
Almighty Janitor: 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 to become the deity who is charged with actually eating all of the food and drink that is sacrificed to Buddha from every altar in the world, for the rest of eternity. Buddha explains that Bajie, for all he improved, is still far too crude and earthy to become a Boddhistva like the others, but he still deserves a reward and it was hoped that this would suffice. Needless to say, as far as Bajie is concerned, he has the best job in Heaven.
Big Damn Heroes: Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie do it all the time.
Blow You Away: One Fetch Quest was to get a magical fan so that they could blow out a supernaturally powerful volcano and pass through the area unharmed. Unfortunately, said magical fan was owned by the mother of Hong Hai Er, whose ass Wukong had soundly kicked in an earlier story arc.
Boring Return Journey: The journey to the West takes 86 chapters. The return to the East (with supernatural assistance loaned by the Buddha) takes 1.
Bring My Brown Pants: Literally happens to Baije during one run-in with a monster though he has the decency to drop trou.
Carry a Big Stick: Oh, yeah. 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 to do with it. Which was then shrunk with monkey magic. And put behind Wukong's ear.
Casanova Wannabe: 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.)
In one translation, he actually committed sexual harassment/tried to rape her. His punishment was much more fitting than that of Wujing, who was banished from Heaven and turned into a flesh-eating river monster for dropping a full cup of wine at a feast during his days as a celestial servant.
Celibate Hero: 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 immortality.
The big however is that the ''female'' demons only want him for sex, which depending on the monster is either physically harmless (Xuanzang does consider it A Fate Worse Than Death) or Out with a Bang. Either way, they want him to make the first move and keep it consensual.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: The Garuda King in the Three Monsters arc. By virtue of being Buddha's pet and the brother of Buddha's foster mother, he knows everything there is to know about Sun Wukong's tricks and how to counter them. He was also the demon that came the closest to actually eating Xuanzang. Wukong only subdued him by calling in the Buddha himself to control Garuda.
Deus ex Machina: Whenever Wukong can't resolve something himself, he generally goes to Guan Yin for help, or if it's beyond her abilities, Buddha himself. He's also lodged his share of complaints against the Celestial Court.
In addition, Wukong talks to local gods so frequently and casually that they're the equivalent of mere bystanders.
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.
Disproportionate Retribution: Shā Wùjìng, a general of heaven, was beaten with a rod 800 times, forced to reincarnate into a flesh-eating demon, and everyday swords would come from heaven to stab him. The only way he could avoid this last part was to hide in a river. His crime? Accidentally breaking a valuable vase.
Inspired By: 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.
Sun Wukong, before his imprisonment, literally beats up, steals from, and terrorizes nearly 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 hand over a bunch of blank scrolls after realising that the pilgrims didn't bring any gifts, although Buddha does comment that blank scriptures like them are true scriptures. Zen, eh?
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: 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 Jerkass Stu.
Knight Templar: Sun Wukong when it comes to dealing with demons and bandits whom all he sees as evil monsters who prey on the weak (especially those who want to eat Xuanzang). This is most notably seen during the White Bone Demon and the Doppleganger chapters. In some adaptations, Xuanzong kicks Wukong out not because what he did (like killing an innocent human which was actually a demon in disguise or a group of bandits), but because of his Knight Templarish attitude.
Let's You and Him Fight: Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing each fight Sun Wukong before discovering that they're on the same side.
Last of His Kind: The 6-eared Macaque. Then Wukong makes sure the species is extinct.
Lost Forever: One page of the scripture gets permanently stuck to a rock when they fall into a river and the pages get wet.
Made of Indestructium: Wukong survived being thrown into a godly fire, said to be able to kill immortals and gods, for 49 days! That he had previously gorged himself on the Peaches of Immortality, the Elixir of Immortality, and the Pills of Immortality helped. In fact, all the fire did (having originally been used to produce the immortality medicines) was cause them to harden inside his body, making him not just immortal but Made of Diamond as well.
The smoke of the fire also affected Wukong's eyes, granting him the ability to see through illusions, disguises and transformations. Some versions of the story however state that Wukong survived because he stood in the currents of wind made by the fanning of the servants to keep the fire going. Either way, Heaven really screwed itself over big time.
Mr. Seahorse: Although it was averted before something actually happened, there is a section of the novel (beginning in chapter 53) about Sun Wukong 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.
Morphic Resonance: An extreme case — although his 72 transformations include many perfectly shaped animal disguises, Sun Wukong can only turn his head into that of a human and must conceal the rest of his body.
Not Quite Flight: Wukong travels via very, very powerful jumping.
Only You Can Repopulate My Race: 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 Xuanzang...
One-Man Army: During the journey, Wukong is able to fight and defeat just about every Mook, Elite Mook and the fricking Dragon of the Heavens, each said to fight like a god himself. Before that, he fought the heavenly army of 100,000 strong, let it rip through heaven's greatest champions and not just survived every single thing they had to throw at him, but HE GOT EVEN STRONGER. By the time he was punished by the Buddha, he was on the brink of actually becoming the Emperor of heaven himself.
Only The Chosen May Wield: The Dragon King of the Eastern Ocean has in his armory a piece of magic iron that was used to measure the depth of the Milky Way. It is 20 feet long and as thick as a barrel. No dragon can lift it. Then one day it begins to glow, and soon Wukong arrives seeking a weapon. He picks up the rod and tells it to become smaller: it shrinks to fit him (but is still as thick as a rice bowl and weighs many thousand pounds). He can get it to be any size he wants, and when not in use, he reduces it to the size of a needle and stores it in his ear.
Out of Focus: As one deviantART user said, "No one likes you, Yu Lung. Not even your dad."
The author even seems to occasionally forget he's not a real horse and what few moments of action he actually does are only because Wukong's gone and everyone else has been captured.
Purple Prose: It's not purple prose, it's friggin' purple poetry, but descriptive asides peppering the novel defy any other definition.
It gets downright florid when they reach Thorn Ridge and Xuanzang takes part in essentially a freestyle poetry jam.
Physical God: Ironically, The Buddha matches this much, much better than the actual gods. Though this may be as much translation issues than anything else as Eastern gods aren't really equivalent to the Western idea of such.
The Quest: 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.
Rage Against the Heavens: Sun Wukong takes on the Celestial Bureaucracy single-handed... and almost wins.
Restraining Bolt: Sun Wukong has a circlet around his head which contracts if Xuanzang says the command phrase and is most often used when Wukong goes on a There Is No Kill Like Overkill rampage. Rather hilariously, his demon companions trick Xuanzang into saying the word every chance they get.
It becomes particularly relevant to the plot when dealing with the Evil Twin.
Side Quest: Take a drink every time Wukong and company get sidetracked because 1) Xuanzang got kidnapped and/or 2) the locals are being menaced by a demon.
Stock Shout Out: The modus operandi of many East Asian artists seems to be: "When really, really, really stumped for ideas, nick them from Journey To The West."
Stupid Good: 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 Stupid Good when the demon (disguised as a child) puts on the puppy dog eyes.
Take That: Apparently, some scholars believe that the work is one big Take That against the decadent government at the time.
This Was His True Form: 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.
Too Dumb to Live: Xuanzang is incapable of seeing through the disguises of the demons that kidnap him. Understandable since he's a human. But you would think after the first few times of his blindness getting him kidnapped and almost raped or eaten he would wise up and listen when Sun Wukong and the others tell him not to trust the pitiful looking stranger seeking their assistance.
Touched by Vorlons: Any animal within earshot of a practicing Taoist or Buddhist whether the religious figure intends it or not will gain some degree of the same powers as the travelers. This is what led to the incident with the Scorpion-Woman, as even Buddha and Guanyin didn't want a damn thing to do with her. The Dragon-Horse even points this out when the group needs his piss to make a medicine that even if he pisses in a stream, the fish will turn into dragons.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: 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.
Guanyin outright says this to Wukong after one of his numerous freakouts as even innocent Half-Human Hybridchildren are fair game.
Worf Effect: Bajie and Wujing pretty much only exist to get the crap beaten out of them to show that Wukong needs to swoop in and save the day again.
Zerg Rush: Wukong can create numerous clones of himself. And given that this is Mister God Mode Sue we're talking about here, a Zerg Rush of Wukong clones is nothing to sneeze at.
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