History VideoGame / NineMonkeysOfShaolin

Wei Cheng was saved by a group of Shaolin monks who witnessed the carnage in the village, and regains consciousness in the Shaolin Temple. Desiring revenge, Wei Cheng started a long training regiment with the monks to defeat the Wukou, hoping to avenge his loved ones, but later on discovers a far greater conspiracy ahead.

* BladeOnAStick: The awesome Shaolin Monk Spade is the first power-up Wei Cheng can get, and can deal far better damage than his default staff. As he progress, he can obtain a ''guandao'' called the Singed Dragon, a three-pronged trident called the Three Steel Widows, and a powerful silver-tipped spear called Icy Ruin, each of them doing varying degrees of damage to Wukou mooks.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Hannya, despite being the villain who murdered Wei Cheng's grandfather and nearly killed Wei Cheng, turns out to be fighting for her father and her clan's honor after they're forced to serve Fudou, the true main villain. She actually expresses regret for her actions and apologized to Wei Cheng for what she had done after her defeat, with her death portrayed as the only sympathic one among all the bosses]].

* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: [[spoiler: Upon returning from the Okinawa mission, Wei Cheng and his comrades found out the Shaolin Temple was attacked by Fudo and his army, seeking the He Shi Bi Jade shard, with numerous monks left as DeadGuyOnDisplay and the senior monk, Guangli, having [[EyeScream having his eyes burnt off]] by White Fire]]. Cue the final stage.

* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler: Hannya, the Red Wukou leader, when her reason for slaughtering Wei Cheng's village is to restore her clan's honor. She actually apologized for her atrocities and commits {{seppuku}} before the hero, and is the only boss villain whose demise is played for sympathy]].

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Hannya, the leader of the Red Wukou clan who killed Wei Cheng’s grandfather in the backstory serves as the second boss, and was defeated barely one-third the way into the game. [[spoiler: She's only one of the minions serving under Fudou, the game's true villain]].
* DismantledMacGuffin: The shard of the He Shi Bi Jade recovered by Wei Cheng after defeating Kasshiki, a Shimazu samurai clan sorceror, turns out to be one of two pieces [[spoiler: Fudou, the true villain, is seeking for his ritual, the other piece currently in Fudou's possession]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: Fudo, the leader of the Enryaku-ji who commands the Wukou, who is seeking to unite the He Shi Bi Jade in order to attain ultimate power to rule over the Eastern lands]].

** Hannya, the Red Wukou leader, wears a horned {{Oni}} mask, to the point that the game refers to Hannya as "the White Masked Warrior". It serves to hide the [[spoiler: SamusIsAGirl]] reveal later on.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler: Master Monk Zonglei, and most of the senior monks who trained Wei Cheng after saving him in the backstory, would fall afoul to Fudou and his minions when they invade the temple, with all of them except Guangli dying]].

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: Hannya, the Red Wukou captain who killed Wei Cheng's grandfather, is a woman]]. Wei Cheng actually responds in surprise at the revelation.

* TeleportSpam: There are teleporting enemy ninjas who will repeatedly port around trying to ambush Wei Cheng. They are among the most annoying enemies in the game, to say the least. Also [[spoiler: Fudo in the first phase of the final battle will keep appearing and reappearing around the area to attack with his projectiles, until Wei Cheng destroy the He Shi Bi altar]].

* TragicVillain: [[spoiler: Hannya, the Red Wukou leader who killed Wei Cheng's grandfather, nearly killed Wei Cheng, and had her men slaughter his hometown... turns out to be a mere servant of Fudou, whose clan was conquered by Fudou and the Enryaku-ji, and is fighting to restore her clan's honor and the memory of her father]].
--> '''[[spoiler: Hannya]]''': Forgive me father, I have failed. [[spoiler: [commits {{seppuku}}] ]]

--> '''Master Monk Zonglei''': You have finally gotten reenge on the person who killed your grandfather and burned down your village. How do you feel now?
--> '''Wei Cheng''': For me, [[spoiler:she]] was evil incarnate. Everyday, I imagine how I would take [[spoiler:her]] life with my own hands. I wanted [[spoiler:her]] nearest and dearest, people I'd never met, to die a painful death. You probably expect me to say that [[spoiler:her]] murder didn't change anything, that I don't feel any better and other such banalities. However, I ''do'' feel better, although ''not'' because I got my revenge. [[spoiler: She was only human. She commited all these murders because she was unable to accept her father's death. I feel better because I was able to discard my hate towards her, and feel sorry that she is dead.]]

* SimpleStaff: Wei Cheng's oak staff, which he used as his fishing pole, is his StarterEquipment. It does decently against the low-level Wukou but is quickly replaced by the Monk Spear after the first two levels.

--> Far to the East lies the Middle Kingdom. The Homeland of great thinkers and incredible artists. The land of mighty rivers, majestic mountains and mysterious forests.
--> The legendary temple of South Shaolin first appeared here hundreds of years ago. It's inhabitants perfected their ancient techniques for centuries, training the body, mind and soul every day.
--> Fearless monks defended the temple from both ruthless bandits and the forces of darkness.
--> But the greatest challenge was the invasion of the Wukou, pirates from the East, who landed on the country's Southern shores.
--> … for the young fisherman Wei Cheng, and his village, trouble followed trouble, seemingly without end.

''9 Monkeys of Shaolin'' is a {{wuxia}}-themed BeatEmUp action game co-produced between three-countries - Russia, China and Japan, and a loving homage to old-timey martial arts movies made popular by Creator/ShawBrothers and Golden Harvest back in the 70s.

Set in 16[[superscript:th]] Century China, in the twilight of the [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing Ming Dynasty]] - legions and legions of raiders from the East have invaded the Chinese coast, terrorizing ports and slaughtering entire villages of fishermen to raid the civilains of their goods. Dubbed the "Wukou" (Chinese: 倭寇 Wōkòu; Japanese: Wakō) by locals, civilians lived in fear while hoping for the Emperor to take actions. But the royal court is hopelessly corrupt, and the news of the Wukou's raids could hardly reach the Capital City.

* ChargedAttack: By holding down the attack button, Wei Cheng can execute a deadly thrush that deals greater damage to enemies. It even works with the oak staff.

* ManOnFire: The second stage have Wei Cheng fighting near a forge, with pipes and steel dragon heads blowing fire constantly. Both Wei Cheng and Wukou mooks can be set on fire if they happen to get too close, so be careful!

* NeverTrustATitle: Despite the title, there are no monkeys anywhere in the game, and the Shaolin martial arts Wei Cheng uses is based on the Tiger and Crane styles. The Title does not have any sort of relevance towards gameplay or story, save for the TitleDrop at the end of the game.

* RaisedByGrandparents: Wei Cheng the hero is raised by his grandfather, who seems to be his only surviving relative.

* TeleportSpam: There are teleporting enemy ninjas who will repeatedly port around trying to ambush Wei Cheng. They are among the most annoying enemies in the game to say the least. Also [[spoiler: Fudo in the first phase of the final battle will keep appearing and reappearing around the area to attack with his projectiles, until Wei Cheng destroy the He Shi Bi altar]].

* TitleDrop: The final line:
--> But you and I know that it was all thanks to the Nine Skilled and Brave Warriors… the Nine Monkeys of the Shaolin.

** Shikami, the first boss, wears a scary-looking tengu mask, and is the leader of the green Wukou clan who's in the middle of ransacking a village he massacred.
** Hannya, the Red Wukou leader, wears a scary {{Oni}} mask, to the point that the game refers to Hannya as "the White Masked Warrior". It serves to hide the [[spoiler: SamusIsAGirl]] reveal later on.
** Wei Cheng can collect scary-looking masks later in the game, when the levels shift to Okinawa, allowing him to disguise himself as fearsome demons while fighting enemies. When masked his defense will increase, depending on the types of enemies he's facing.

* BladeOnAStick: The awesome Shaolin Monk Spade is the first power-up Wei Cheng can get, and can deal far better damage than his default staff. As he progress, he can obtain a ''guandao'' called the Singed Dragon, a three-pronged trident called the Three Steel Widows, and a powerful silver-tipped spear called Icy Ruin, eaach of them doing varying degrees of damage to Wukou mooks.

Set in 16[[superscript:th]] Century China, in the twilight of the [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing Ming Dynasty]] - legions and legions of raiders from the East have invaded the Chinese coast, terrorizing ports and slaughtering entire villages of fishermen to raid the civilains of their goods. Dubbed the "Wukou" (Chinese: 倭寇 Wōkòu; Japanese: Wakō) by locals, civilains lived in fear while hoping for the Emperor to take actions. But the royal court is hopelessly corrupt, and the news of the Wukou's raids could harly reach the Capital City.

[[caption-width-right:350:The path to revenge is a long one/]]

--> ''"Wei Cheng''': Wait, you're a woman?

--> '''Wei Cheng''': For me, [[spoiler:she]] was evil incarnate. Everyday, I imagine how I would take [[spoiler:her]] life with my own hands. I wanted [[spoiler:her]] nearest and dearest, people I'd never met, to die a painful death. You probably expect me to say that [[spoiler:her]] murder didn't change anything, that I don't feel any better and other such banalities. However, I ''do'' feel better, although ''not''because I got my revenge. [[spoiler: She was only human. She commited all these murders because she was unable to accept her father's death. I feel better because I was able to discard my hate towards her, and feel sorry that she is dead.]]

* MeaningfulHaircut: Wei Cheng, for the first few stages, had a head full of long hair, a thick beard and a fine 'stache. All those are shaved off after he fully embraced the way of life as a Shaolin monk and a warrior.

--> The legendary temple of SOuth Shaolin first appeared here hundreds of years ago. It's inhabitants perfected their ancient techniques for centuries, training the body, mind and soul every day.