Crying Head Immortal

Crying Head Immortal (叫首仙, pinyin: Jiàoshǒuxiān; onyomi: Kyōshusen) is a secondary antagonist in Saiyuki: Journey West and serves as one of King Taurus's minions.

Although his character is original, Crying Head Immortal's actions is similar to another shape-shifting being in Journey to the West. During the latter account, the accused troublemaker was an azure lion who took the form of King of Wuji three years before Xuanzang's arrival. Although the king's spirit insists he was a demon, the lion was actually a kind yet amnesic immortal sent to earth on orders from Buddha. His goal while posing as the king was to restore much needed order to the lands of Wuji. Though nameless in the original novel, he is sometimes called Lion Demon King (獅魔王).

Role in Game
Sometime before Sanzo's arrival to Pteron, Master Baa used his transformation powers to infiltrate Pteron's palace. Acting as the king's minister, Master Baa advised the ruler to pay a visit to the local town area. He accompanied the liege to the town inn and forced the king's spirit out from its host at nightfall. Forcing the king to dwell in the nearby well, Master Baa returned to the palace while posing as the king.

A month later, the king's ghost tells his distress to Sanzo who promises to deal with the monster after a night's rest. Master Baa had anticipated the monk's arrival and invited him/her into the palace with the pretext of learning the monk's teachings. To get closer to their target, Goku and the others act obedient to the false king's request. Once inside the chamber, they draw their weapons and Master Baa realizes the jig is up. He reveals his true form and unleashes his "greatest trap" on the heroes, which breaks apart the flooring and drops the unlucky ones into a pit. In spite of his years of planning, Master Baa is beaten and subjected to Goku's rough interrogations. To escape the pain, he squeals he was ordered to pose as the king by Taurus so they could create a kingdom for Weres.

After he tells them the location of Taurus's hideout, Master Baa retreats and reports his loss back to his boss. He then receives new orders to build a better trap at Storm Mountain with Old Man Nyoi and Rhinon. With the help of the other monsters, he builds a room shoots a giant iron ball to flatten invaders. Half a year later, Master Baa joins his comrades in their revenge battle against the monk's party. Like the others, he flees upon being defeated.

Personality
A crafty and scheming monster, Master Baa places his entire trust in his dastardly inventions. He believes that each work is a masterpiece. When they fail to protect him, he turns timid and a bit cowardly.

Fighting Style
Primarily a magic user, Master Baa hurls high-leveled earth spells to damage the party. His magic can pose a massive threat to Gojo or Reikan, so the players will need to keep an eye on their health if they choose to deploy them. He doesn't move unless he wants to target a party member with spells. Although his high MP will keep him casting spells for a long time, low health and subpar defense won't save him.

The biggest obstacle while fighting him are his concoctions on the map. His first trap automatically disables Ryorin and Kikka as selectable characters and continues to cut portions of the flooring away. If anyone is standing in the falling portions, be they ally or foe, they will drop out of battle. The room will slowly cut away until there is no flooring left, making the first battle a timed one for the player. The second trap can be ignored entirely, but the iron ball is a damaging random element. Fortunately the iron ball can hurt enemies as well, so it can potentially be used to the player's own advantage.