History Characters / JourneyToTheWest

** DeathbyAdaptation: Inverted. In at least one TV Show, Erlang lands the killing blow onto the Nine Headed Monster instead of the latter running away.

* DeathByAdaptation: At least one TV series has him dying fighting Erlang, rather than running away.

** SparedByTheAdaptation: In one TV adaptation Pigsy spares them instead after some threats, not that he would let them off so easily in the first place.

* TrademarkFavouriteFood: He can't say no to watermelons, which allows Maireya and Sun Wukong (disguised as a farmer and a watermelon) to trick him.

* YoungerThanHeLooks: Resemble an old ogre, but he's actually the young assistant of the Pusa Maitreiya, who wanted to take a break from his job.

* WouldntHitAGirl: While he does threaten and even fight female demons, he rarely kills them (except for Gold Horn and Silver Horn's mother), and during the Spider Women act he refuses to attack the seven unarmed demonesses, as such an act will dishonor him.

* OutOfFocus: Sandy is usually a secondary character in all the stories, usually beacause he's tasked by Sun Wukong to protect Tripitaka during battles.

* 11thHourRanger: He and his brothers became this during the Jiutochong (The Nine Headed Monster) arc. Basically, they had just returned from a hunting trip and were passing through when Monkey had requested his help. It was a good thing they had accepted, as Monkey and Pigsy were down on their luck by the time they passed.

* BadassFamily: His family members hold important positions in Heavenly Court: His eldest son Jinzha is Buddha's disciple, His second son Muzha is Guanyin's disciple, his third son Nezha is one of Heaven's top generals. He also has an adopted daughter who turns evil and kidnap Xuanzang.

* TheUnfought: In a way, he's not defeated by Sun Wukong, fights briefly Sandy and Pigsy and in the end he's subdued and taken away by his own brother and imprisoned.

* OhCrap: He becomes afraid and tries to run away when Buddha succesfully identifies him. With good reasons too, since Sun Wukong squashes him flat the second he takes hi real form back.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Easily the most memorable of Sun Wukong's adversaries.

* 11th-HourRanger: He and his brothers became this during the Jiutochong (The Nine Headed Monster) arc. Basically, they had just returned from a hunting trip and were passing through when Monkey had requested his help. It was a good thing they had accepted, as Monkey and Pigsy were down on their luck by the time they passed.

* Fire-ForgedFriends: Becomes this with Monkey during the afore-mentioned Nine Headed Monster arc. Initially Monkey was hesitant into asking for his help as Erlang had defeated him 500 years ago, but Erlang at this point has no more animosity toward Monkey, being pleased that the latter has chose to redeem himself.

* Foreshadowing: His name is the same as the 10th disciple of Buddha, the previous incarnation of Xuanzang. It's heavily implied that he knew Monkey's destiny from the beginning and prepared him accordingly.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Invokes this on the half-drunk Yellow Robed Monster by tunring into a woman to distract him with servings of wine and a sexy dance before stealing his sword and using it against him. Unfortunately, the Monster is more than a match for him and the Horse is injured as a result.
* OutOfFocus: Even the original author seems to forget he exists more often than not. Yu Lung's big character moment is when he first appears and eats Tripitaka's horse, then has to turn into a replacement horse. After that, he's in the background until they reach the end of the Journey and he can turn back into a dragon and fly off home. This turned out very badly for him. Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls him "the horse" or "the dragon prince", insists there are four main characters, and doesn't have a page on him. ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'' claims that there are four main characters, and that their fifth is a totally original creation. Most local theatre productions of the story leave him out entirely.

* YouAreFat: Wukong basically calls her a fat ass when he sees the Red Boy sitting on her Lotus Throne.

* CainAndAbel: With his cousin, Kid Croc. Oddly, he and his actual brother Yu Long never interact
* MeaningfulName: His name is a corruption of "Makara" or "Capricorn"
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Crown Prince of the Western Sea, helps out Monkey a few times
* SiblingYinYang: A responsible and intelligent older brother, and a repentant arsonist younger brother

[[folder:Li Jing/Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King

* ChineseDragon

[[folder:Lao Zi]]

* IHaveNoSon: For his crime of setting fire to the throne room, Yu Long's father disowns and reports him to the Heavenly Authorities
* MakingASplash: The four of them rule the seas and act as rain deities
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Their offspring are dragons just like them

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His father was murdered by a bandit and his mother taken away. He did get revenge later and reunited with his mother. Then his mother hanged himself out of shame.

Sun Wukong's first master, who taught him 72 transformation art and 108-li sommersault.
* Foreshadowing : His name is the same as the 10th disciple of Buddha, the previous incarnation of Xuanzang. He's actually a Taoist monk in this incarnation.

* Foreshadowing: His name is the same as the 10th disciple of Buddha, the previous incarnation of Xuanzang. He's actually a Taoist monk in this incarnation.

* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: A majority of his abilities come from decades of strenuous training and meticulous study. Unfortunately, the weren't necessarily packaged with wisdom.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Just after meeting the monk Sun Wukong pretty effectively demonstrates his character when he beats a tiger's head in so hard that it [[YourHeadASplode literally explodes]]. "One strike caused its brain to burst out like ten thousand red petals of peach blossoms, and the teeth to fly out like so many pieces of white jade." Tripitaka [[OhCrap does not]] [[RapidFireNailBiting react well]].

* JerkassGods: He is one, and he also showcases just how the other gods in heaven can be ones.

** NotQuiteFlight: His cloud jumping allows him to reach Heaven InASingleBound or cross an ocean. Though he is capable of actual flight as well.

** SelfDuplication: One of Monkey's signature moves has him pulling out a bunch of his hair and blowing on them, resulting in each hair turning into a clone of him.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Monkey is only interested in joining the pilgrimage in the first place because it was join, or stay under the mountain for the rest of eternity. Afterwards, he comes along only in hopes of getting the Circlet of Headaches off his head. Eventually he comes to ''genuinely'' care about Tang Sanzang as a father figure that he loves and respects.

* WomanInWhite: Along with a dash of GoldAndWhiteAreDivine. It emphasizes her purity.
* TheMentor: Becomes one to Red Boy after his HeelFaceTurn and is the one who teaches him to become a benevolent Buddhist.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: A major religious figure who often acts to calm down and peacefully resolve situations.

* WomanInWhite: The sinister version. White has conotations with "death" in certain areas of Asia.

* Chinese Dragon

* TricksterArchetype: He is the classical Chinese trickster-figure. He upsets authority and plays tricks on people but his greatest achievement is bringing new scriptures to China.

* EvilAlbino: Her original form, at least, is an albino rat.

* BreakoutCharacter: Despite Triptaka technically being the protagonist, it's Son Wukong who everyone remembers.
* CavalierCompetitor: He approaches everything with the same laid back manner due to the fact that he thinks he can take any challenge on with ease.