Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong (onyomi: Son Gokū) is one of Sanzang's famous traveling disciples in Journey to the West. Originally born from a stone atop a mountain and having studied under Subhuti who gave him his current name, Wukong prided himself on his immortality, strength, and stature as the Handsome Monkey King. After various accounts that caused animosity between him and the Heavenly Palace, he was imprisoned for 500 years and then later forced to protect Sanzang on the way to India and back to atone for his past grievances. He is popularly known for using his mischievousness, optimism, and his wily cleverness to protect his master while developing a closer relationship to both him and his fellow disciples in spite of his abrasive attitude.

His Warriors Orochi incarnation can be unlocked during his debut by clearing Wei's scenario. Players can unlock him in Warriors Orochi 3 by viewing all of the game's endings.

The English port of Saiyuki: Journey West keeps the Japanese readings for the character names, so he is called Son Goku throughout the script. He visually appears to be 15 years old.

Role in Games

 * "Enjoy this hellish plain, monkey."
 * Orochi; Warriors Orochi 2

Warriors Orochi
Prior to the events of the main series, Sun Wukong was originally tasked with Nezha to hunt down demons, after Orochi emerged and killed the Heavenly Emperor. After Orochi's imprisonment, he and Sanzang were tasked with guarding him from any sympathizers at the Wuhang Mountains. Unfortunately, Da Ji and her army of demons arrived and defeated the two, setting the Serpent King free.

Freed from his servitude by Kiyomori, he seeks to repay the gigantic favor by serving under him. He is very dedicated in his new task yet shows no personal interest in resurrecting Orochi. During battle, he usually creates clones of himself to help defend and attack oncoming armies.

During Shu's story mode, he leads an army to escort a captured Mitsuhide and daughter Gracia to Kiyomori. A small force led by Xing Cai and Ina stop him at Wuhang Mountains. During the Battle of Jia Meng Gate, he also tried to halt Guan Yu and Zhang Liao's armies with his doubles. At the Battle of Koshi Castle, he is defeated along with his master.

In Wei's story mode, Wukong first appears at Battle of Si Province leading an army with Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo is called a "monkey-handler" by Cao Cao. He greets Nu Wa in earnest to which Cao Cao asks if Nu Wa knows the monkey, she callously refuses. He is defeated here, and shows up as a persistent menace for most of Wei's story before having his final defeat alongside his master at Tong Gate.

He appears in Wu's story under Kiyomori at Itsukushima and Yamazaki, where he assists with the poison gas. In the Samurai story, Sun Wukong appears at Hasedo attempting to recruit Kanetsugu Naoe to Kiyomori's side, but Kanetsugu is rescued by the coalition and Fu Xi who stops Wukong's trickery. He then assist Lu Bu at Liang Province, cutting off the allied path of reinforcements, before showing up under Kiyomori at both Hulao Gate and Baidi Castle.

During Sanzang's Gaiden dream stages, he is surprised to see his old master looking for him in the new world created by Orochi. However, he feels indebted to Kiyomori and uses it as an excuse to avoid reuniting with Sanzang. He also appears on Kiyomori's order to save Da Ji during Benkei's dream stage, bluntly replying that he is the reason why they escape the peril caused by the coalition forces.

In the Nan Zhong dream stage with Sanzang and Himiko, he is reluctant to follow his master's trip back to India and is annoyed with the idea of rescuing the stranded generals along the way. As Sima Yi concentrates on putting out the fire, Wukong helps bide time by creating duplicates of himself. When he tries to leave Sanzang, Himiko tattles on him and he teases her height. Wanting her companions to get along, Sanzang uses an incantation on Wukong's headband and soon has him sprawling on the ground in pain.

Wukong is still serving under Kiyomori in Warriors Orochi 3. Empowered by his master's strengthened spells, he helps Kiyomori maintain the mind-control spell on their defeated victims and leads enemy troops throughout the dimensional realm. Hoping to prevent Sanzang from being dragged into the wars, he imprisons her and her companion with a spell at one point. Whenever he can, Wukong also seeks to help his friend, Nezha, in his fight against the coalition. By the end of the war with the Hydra and Kiyomori, it is not seen whether he was captured or killed.

Ultimate has Wukong on the run from the Coalition with Da Ji and Himiko accompanying him. The three of them are led to Hinokawa by a mysterious voice, who Wukong assumes to be that of the real Orochi. He leaves Da Ji's side after discovering the Killing Stone, stating that he can vaguely remember the stone, and has a bad feeling about it. One of the side scenarios of the seventh chapter reveals that he and Seimei once aided Tamamo during her escape after Orochi's death, though the two later betrayed her and helped seal her within the Killing Stone. Another scenario has him fictionally aid Susano'o and Nezha in their attempt to catch Da Ji at Jiange.

In Warriors Orochi 4, Wukong is back to serving the demons and by proxy, Odin and the Norse faction. He appears several times as a menace in the story, with particular notes of distinction at Osaka Castle where he helps hide Perseus, who is secretly Loki from the coalition, also fighting off Athena at the last juncture to do so. He is startled off by the appearance of his master Sanzang, who joins the coalition soon after. He also appears at Itsukushima, commanding horrors and some body doubles along with Kiyomori, trying to break the guards of the mystic realm.

He appears in side stages to torment the allied forces, with one revising the brainwashing spell from the previous game. He uses this at an allied stronghold in Kyushu to great effect, brainwashing several allied officers with distinct personalities, even when they are freed, Kunoichi notes that they act the same as they did previously. Once Wukong's game is found out, he desperately tries to flee but due to the efforts of the allies who have recovered, he is soon surrounded and made to pay for his treachery.

Though the demon army follows Orochi X, he is defeated by the real Orochi at Olympus, who is later slain by the Coalition. Without their master, and having had their fill of chaos, Sun Wukong and the rest of the demon army join the Coalition to keep themselves from getting destroyed by Odin's plans for Yggdrasil.

Sun Wukong retains his service under the Demon army in Ultimate, and he leads multiple raids against the Coalition. He leads his illusions to attack the Mystics at Xu Province, but this only draws the attention of Yang Jian, who helps the others defeat Sun Wukong.

Similarly to the main story, he surrenders after the deaths of Orochi and Orochi X at Kanegasaki to avoid getting caught up with Yggdrasil.

If Perseus was revived before the final battle, he will inform the Coalition of Hades's deception and will have them try to rescue Odin at the Spring of Mimir. They fail in the task, and Sun Wukong proceeds to help the Coalition's members escape Hades at Chencang-Ueda and is surprised when Yang Jian is forced to use his divine form to slow Hades's pursuit. Sun Wukong and the rest of the demons later reinforce the Mystics at Changshan in order for them to for the proper barrier to restore Kaguya's time-traveling abilities.

In the side stages, he and the rest of the Demon army under the Coalition join forces to defend Ōsaka Castle from Odin's forces. He and the Demon army also appear during the mock battle between the Gods and Mystics, interfering in the battle to amuse themselves.

Dynasty Warriors
He appears as an optional character in Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2 and can only be played when players have accumulated enough Community Points for him. The same game includes a bonus downloadable scenario in which he and Sanzang team up to face the player's party.

In direct allusion to the other Sun Wukong/Son Goku from the Dragon Ball series that was both directly modeled and named after him, the collaborative project with V Jump allows for an unlockable Turtle School-styled gi outfit for the original monkey king.

Saiyuki: Journey West
Goku continues to be a jack-of-all-trades and Sanzo's companion in Saiyuki: Journey West. Shortly after Sanzo leaves his/her home, his/her guards are killed by monsters. Goku, asked by Lady Kannon to aid the monk, tells Sanzo to release him from his rock prison. Once he is freed, he vanquishes the monsters and tries to make a quick exit. Lady Kannon stops him and bids the monkey to act as Sanzo's guide. When he refuses, she demonstrates the spell she placed on the golden headband around his forehead and teaches it to Sanzo. Stuck with the monk, Goku guards Sanzo to India. Along the way, he causes mischief in the various towns they visit and picks fights with any bandit groups they meet. As they near the doorway to heaven, he fears for the safety of his friends and admits his worries to them, showing new found affection for his comrades. After heaven is saved, Goku decides to head back to his homeland, which is the Flower Mountain.

In Saiyuki: Journey West, Goku is all-around character. He is great both physical and magical, not to mention he is one of the fastest character. His spell, Cloud, allows him to travel through higher terrains which usually can be explored by flying characters (Ryorin & Kikka). His Wereform takes the form of gigantic monkey with red fur, subbed "Great Ape". His WereAttacks have smaller radius than Gojo, but gives more damage on enemies. Being the fire elemental, Goku is highly advantageous against Metal element enemies.

His 1st WereAttack is Claw, slashing enemies in front of him within 3 square horizontal. His 2nd WereAttack is Boulder Bash, where he summons forth blazing boulder from sky and damage enemies exactly 4 squares in + shape in selected area. His 3rd WereAttack is Howl, as he shouts a piercing shriek which damages the enemies around him which can inflict numb. His 4th WereAttack is Fire dance, as he summons 5 blazing boulders which fall and explodes on impact, damaging the enemies. His 5th WereAttack is Inferno, as he summons small explosion on enemies, finished with higher single explosion. His 6th and final WereAttack is Wereclone. He calls small fireballs on the battlefield, and as the fireballs shine, he summons 8 more clones of Great Ape which howl and stomp the ground as small, 3 lines of fire slashes across the battlefield. He does the some once more, but the 3 fire lines slashes on different way. As he and the clones shout for the last time, a huge column of fire blasts the battlefield, heavily burns and explodes the enemies around his vicinity with fire damage.

Personality
Along with an almost always jolly demeanor, Sun Wukong is a non-malevolent villain. Faithful to his legends, he is the lovable and charismatic trickster who is extremely arrogant, confident that he can win over nearly anyone. He takes offense at being called a simple monkey and loves his new found freedom. He is obedient to his new master Kiyomori, who gives him a great deal of leeway in his missions. He fears his old master, Sanzang, who still has control of his magical slave circlet. Though he does not want to openly admit it, he still appreciates her kindness.

As they come from the same realm, he is also old acquaintances with Nuwa and Fu Xi though they do not warmly receive him. Both he and Da Ji have a mutual distaste for one another, the latter especially suspicious that he wants to take Himiko for himself. Wukong thinks Hideyoshi is a kindred spirit since he mistakes the conqueror to be a monkey, which the latter takes offense to. In the third game, Wukong shares a friendly rivalry with Nezha. He sympathizes with Tamamo due to their mutual desire to cause mischief and similar run-ins with the mystics, but is still willing to go against her for the greater good.

The Saiyuki: Journey to the West Sun Wukong/Son Goku is very dependable, and cares a lot of the team. He is shown to want to protect the team at all cost, especially on Sanzo. He likes to tease the energetic Ryorin, probably because of her selfish & hot headed temper. He is also to be considered as Taurus' younger "brother", but as Taurus asked him to offer Sanzo to Taurus, he shows his loyalty towards Sanzo although he respects Taurus a lot. He is somewhat likes to cause mischief a lot for the sake of fun, although in the end the team must be responsible for his mischievous act.

Character Symbolism
The Ruyi Jingu Bang (lit. Compliant Gold-Rimmed Pole) is one of Wukong's iconic weapons from Journey to the West, acts as his third weapon in Warriors Orochi. It was previously used by Da Yu, the first ruler and founder of the Xia Dynasty of China, who used it to measure the depth of flood waters that were destroying China. The Monkey King uses it as a weapon through his brute strength, as he was suggested by a fellow monkey to find a weapon akin to it due to normal weapons breaking under Wukong's aforementioned strength. In modern conventions, it is about 7.7 tons of a very rare "crow iron", a type of black iron for its base, and highly resilient. Wukong keeps it shrunken within one of his ear canals and some adaptations of the staff also portray the weapon with a mind of its own in tandem with another ability to transform into other objects if needed.

Wukong's fourth weapon in the Asian ports however is directly named after his moniker used during his prologue saga from Journey to the West, the "Equaling Heaven Great Sage". Given to him to stop his rampage and/or bestowed upon himself by his own, it serves little purpose in Heaven aside from appeasing the Monkey King's ego, though his prior transgressions in heaven and his overall notoriety have added extra weight to it since then; the said title is also used in the Musou Warriors portrayal of him by other characters who respect him (such as Kaguya). Meanwhile, his two new weapons in the fourth Orochi installment are other variations of his "great sage" title, being either a sage of thundering heaven or one of a pleasant heaven.

His mystic weapon however is a play on his title of "Handsome Monkey King" (Meihouwang), changing "king" to "hermit" (Meihouxian). Though one title he did not take kindly too was his time as the "Heavenly Stable Boy" due to his skill in handling mounts, which is likely referenced in his rather versatile horse moveset.

The item affiliated with Wukong in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, the Banana Leaf Fan, may reference his encounter with Princess Iron Fan and in the original novel, due to the fact that the flames of Fire Blaze Mountain, a location that Wukong and co. needed to pass through, could not be put out without the said fan; another copy of this very fan in tandem with other famous mythological treasures was also used by the Gold-Horned and Silver-Horned Great Kings.

Voice Actors

 * Christopher Corey Smith - Warriors Orochi 2 (English-uncredited)
 * Rikiya Koyama - Warriors Orochi series, Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2 (Japanese)
 * Yūji Ueda - Saiyuki Journey West (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also: Sun Wukong/Quotes


 * "Ohh... Just when I was getting ready for a nice nap."
 * "It's time to paint the town red!... And I'm all outta paint!"
 * "I'm not slowing down to let you lot catch me, I'll see ya later."
 * "I am no ordinary monkey. I am the great, supreme, wonderful and illustrious Lord Sun Wukong the magnificent."


 * "Wow! A real monkey! Can I pet you?"
 * "If you can keep up with me, girl... I might let you touch my fur."
 * Xiao Qiao and Sun Wukong; Warriors Orochi 2


 * "(Grr! I'm not an errand boy! I'm going to stand my ground and tell her off!)"
 * "Are you okay, Wukong? That was a rather fierce battle earlier. If something happened to you, I..."
 * "...Drat it all, I can't stay mad after that. I guess I'm always going to be her little monkey."
 * Sun Wukong and Sanzang; Warriors Orochi 3


 * "You must be glad to be free from that stone! There's nothing worse than being confined in such a tight space."
 * "I suppose you might be the only one who understands my everlasting pain."
 * "We've both been sealed away inside a rock. So, I don't suppose you hold any kind of grudge against me as well?"
 * Sun Wukong and Tamamo; Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate


 * "...Have some beans."
 * "Wow, I love beans! Ooh ooh, ooh ooh! ...Hey, I'm not a monkey! I'm Sun Wukong!"
 * "...Have some more beans."
 * "Ooh ooh! Beans! I love beans! ...Hey! Like I already said, I'm not a monkey, I'm Sun Wukong! Do it again and I'll get really mad. ...Um, Kagekatsu? You have to say something. I hate awkward silences. You have to say something to me. Anything."
 * "...Have some beans."
 * "Ohh! Yes, yes, yes, beans-- my favorite! Ooh ooh, ooh ooh!"
 * "...Cute little monkey."
 * Kagekatsu and Sun Wukong; Warriors Orochi 4

Warriors Orochi

 * undefined: A dark horizontal wind tunnel and a leaping turning swing. Looks around for briefly after landing.
 * , undefined: A staff-propelled lift accompanied by a twin-upward donkey kick. One of the few C2 attacks that cannot activate elements.
 * ,, undefined, (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined): A rolling dance with afterimages, followed by a leaping somersault staff-smash to the ground causing a stunning quake. Looks around for a while just after the quake.
 * ,, , undefined: A few spins with the staff over his shoulders in a crowbar-like fashion with the staff extended. Briefly kneels down and looks around for a while after the attack ends. Inflicts crashing knockback.
 * ,, , , undefined: A staff-twirling, spinning leap into the air, accompanied with a lifting gust of wind. Has a double jump effect if canceled into a jump during the peak of the attack.
 * ,, , , , undefined: Holds the staff with both hands, extends it forward and awkwardly spins around with a shifting-yet-battering swing to the right just slightly off balance into another turn. Puts the staff back over his right shoulder and scratches his left bottom during the ending animation. Inflicts crashing knockback.
 * ,, , , , : Twirls staff to left then right while advancing, pushes forward with whole staff in a crouching position, plants staff towards left side to rapidly kick foes in a vaulting position, sweeps low to the left as he lands. Wukong then finishes with a hopping staff slam in front of himself, creating a small quake that knocks back.
 * ,, , , , , , , : After the fifth blow, Wukong repeats his C4 chain. This chain replaces his standard one after his full moveset is unlocked. Does not activate elements unlike his original C4 attack on the final blow.


 * , : An airdash that makes him temporarily invincible. Wukong rolls forward.
 * , : Downward swipe that sends out a cutting wave downward from the opposite end of staff.
 * Dashing : Twirls staff forward in a windmill fashion in front of him as his rides on his cloud. Gives him a small speed boost during the attack and can be done in a continuous fashion.
 * , undefined: Horizontal drilling spin while twirling his staff forward wildly and sends him a far distance.
 * Rides on his signature Jindouyun (Somersault Cloud) while spinning his two copies of his staff on both sides. Leaps off the cloud as he kneels down to observe it flying high up a certain height, where it then rains down a purple lightning bolt right behind him. Each hit can stun targets.
 * (True): Continuous jade raindrops pour from the cloud in the place of the lightning bolt. The raindrop graphics are also shared by both Cao Pi's C6-EX-SP Type Action and Kanetsugu Naoe's Extra Counter Type Action.


 * R1: Somersault-hops backward and blows a wad of hair ripped from his body to create two miniature replicas of himself via his magic. They perform his whole C3 chain into his C4 (minus the prior normal attack chains) until they disappear. Uses some Musou.
 * R1 + (simultaneously): Just after somersaulting back, Wukong instead pounds his chest and grows into a giant version of himself (which creates quakes around himself). He smashes the ground a few times for more quakes while he hops forward. He reverts to his normal size on the final smash. Uses some Musou, and Wukong is completely invincible during the attack.
 * Direction + R1: Spins once while perching himself atop his upright staff and doing his signature/iconic sight-seeing gesture. Lets loose jade raindrops from his cloud from above similar to his True Musou finisher, only the cloud moves forward during the attack. Uses some Musou.


 * Triple Attack 1: Fires five energy waves traveling in a fan formation.
 * Triple Attack 2: Causes the ground to tremble by slamming it with sufficient might.
 * Triple Attack 3: Immediately creates a giant tornado.


 * Horse Moveset
 * undefined: Splits his weapon in half, and while perched on his horse on the balls of his feet, he stabs rapidly on both sides sending out energy darts. Reattaches his weapon together and returns to normal mount position shortly after.
 * ,, , , , : Sun Wukong holds his staff in the middle and strikes enemies on both sides of the horse for each attack, he batons his staff between his hands after each swing.
 * Splits his staff into two and continually stabs in front of the horse on either side.

Character type changed from Speed to Wonder. Loses the ability to air dash and to jump cancel, but gains the ability to Spirit Charge and to critically hit; reprises a previous Type Action.
 * Warriors Orochi 3


 * ,, , , undefined: Same as before, but in Ultimate, Wukong is still considered on the ground until the very end of the animation while he's landing. Thus, Spirit Cancelling it will cause him to remain on the ground or in the air depending on the version played as well as how soon or late he Spirit Cancels the attack.
 * Same as before, only instead of a single lightning bolt for the normal version, it rains multiple bolts at once. Now has Mystic-styled Musou Attack graphics and only lasts for a set duration.
 * Dashing : Same as before, only it is limited to one attack and the burst of speed is drastically reduced.
 * , : Same as before, only the cutting wave has a chance of launching targets a distance forward on a grounded hit.
 * R1: Same as before via his Combination Art 1, but is now a combination of both his Art 1 and secret Combination Art (R1 + ) as the clones he sends out perform the latter move minus the quakes. The doubles count as separate invincible units that can be pushed around, are now the same size as Wukong. Unlike before, the animation only deals damage when the clones start to charge forward, and inflicts small spiraling knockdown per hit that can continuously juggle targets. The lasting hitboxes of the clones can allow Wukong to Spirit Cancel any of his attack animations before their hitboxes come out. Cannot be directed/turned.
 * (Cancel): Dashes forward with a flying kick forward via his signature/iconic pole vault (which is staple for several portrayals of him).
 * , R1 (Ultimate only): Twirls his staff in his right hand in midair for a delay and then elongates it. Then holding it with two hands Wukong strikes the ground while landing down via a slamming blow. The impact knocks away enemies via a large quake in front, which also leaves an aftermath tremor further in front in a cone-formation of three small ground-hitting quakes which give it extra range (and also spiral launch targets). Very little-to-no turning/directing ability upon execution.
 * The description in-game also states the move can also slightly extend Wukong's staff-attack-range for a short while as a buff, though it may be via a programming error that this isn't implemented.
 * The description in-game also states the move can also slightly extend Wukong's staff-attack-range for a short while as a buff, though it may be via a programming error that this isn't implemented.

Character type changed back to Speed. Loses the ability to Spirit Charge and to critically hit, but regains his ability to air dash and to jump cancel.
 * Warriors Orochi 4

Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2
Sun Wukong mainly uses the long pole moveset in this title.


 * Support Skill - Increases party's attack strength
 * Joint Party Ability - Distinguished Service: while near allies, increases likelihood of earning distinguished honors after defeating enemies
 * Card - Warrior type, Wood element, +18 to Studios

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, he is the fastest character in the game as he can dash almost as fast as mounts in the game. The Monkey King has an excellent horse moveset that is fast and powerful. Wukong's charge attacks are great for crowd-clearing. His C1 attack goes in a straight line, and with a high attack, kills weak enemies. His C3, C4, and C5 are good officer killers with the last hits has activating elements. His weaknesses include his hampered attack speed, brittle defenses, a difficult-to-aim normal Musou Attack with a delayed finisher, and poor recovery time from his attacks; the very latter often enforces use of jump cancelling and solid re-positioning.

Element recommendations include Multi, Bolt, Might, Brave, Flash, and Absorb. One element not recommended for the Monkey King is Range, as it does not affect his charge attacks. A notable fact is that any form of speed boost, be it from natural stat boosting or from a battlefield item does not affect his normal movement speed and only affects his guard-strafing.

The recent Warriors Orochi title greatly decreases his speed and overall mobility gimmicks, and his new Wonder cancels negates cancels from his previous character type. As a trade off, Wukong gains much needed sturdiness, and more range on the finishing blow of his Musou Attack (but his Musou Attack somehow now deals less damage). His R1 takes more time to deal damage, but the doubles allow for better trapping. Ultimate gives him a new midair R1 Type Action that is optimal for launching setups, but very difficult to direct. Overall, his effectiveness in higher difficulties has been diminished, often relying on his charge attacks for quick sustain, though his midair R1 Type Action is also solid in damage when cancelled into. His jumping charge-into-Spirit Cancel back and forth also allows him to rack up combo overhead on targets, and Agility in all versions also effects his overall attack speed on his whole base moveset as a bonus.

Saiyuki: Journey to the West
Goku is an all-round character. He is a very balanced character which makes him the best melee fighter in the main team. His main downside is that his magic doesn't inflict status effects like Gojo or Kikka (who can cause Poison or Charm which is very useful). He has a mini quest of Aikanki Band, a group of band which causes mischief through the journey. After the team help the redeemed Aikanki leader, the Aikanki leader gave a final side quest which gives Goku the special scroll of Clone, which allows Goku to summon mini-Gokus to attack enemies.

His Wereform takes the shape of gigantic monkey with muscular feature, under the name "Great Ape". His attacks are strongest amongst the main team Wereform, but his downside is that his attacks don't have large range as Gojo's. His attacks involves fire, burning boulders and explosions.

His 1st WereAttack is Claw, where he scratches enemies 3 linear line in front of him. His 2nd WereAttack is Boulder Bash, as he summons large burning boulder which falls upon enemies. His 3rd WereAttack is Howl, as he creates howling screams which can numb the enemies around his vicinity. His 4th WereAttaxk is Fire Dance, where he summons 5 blazing meteorites which explodes on impact upon enemies. His 5th WereAttack is Inferno, where he summons explosions of anger which damages the enemy. His 6th and final WereAttack is WereClone. He creates 8 other clones is square pattern around him which howls and stomps upon enemies as they summon lines of flames, before the clones finally howling for the last time, summoning large pillar of fire which explodes and heavily burns the enemies in large area of his vicinity.

Weapons

 * See also: Sun Wukong/Weapons

Rare Weapon Acquisition

 * Stage: The Rescue of Perseus

Journey to the West
In the story, Sun Wukong possesses an immense amount of strength, being able to lift his 13,500 jīn (8,100 kg, or roughly 7.7 tons) Ruyi Jingu Bang with ease. He also has superb speed, traveling 108,000 li (54,000 kilometers) in one somersault. He can ride a cloud that can travel at blinding speeds.

Wukong knows 72 transformation styles, which allows him to transform into various animals and objects; he is, however, shown with slight problems transforming into other people, since he is unable to complete the transformation of his tail which always gives him away. It also gives him the power to transform his hairs into clones of himself via breathing his life energy into them, so it is almost impossible to outnumber him. He is a skilled fighter, capable of holding his own against the best generals of heaven. Each of his hairs possesses magical properties, and is capable of transforming into a clone of the Monkey King himself, or various weapons, animals, phantom soldiers, and other objects. He also knows various spells in order to command wind, part water, conjure protective circles against demons, freeze humans, demons, and gods alike. In Japanese interpretations of his character, he often has the power to transform into a giant ape.

Wukong is next to impossible to kill. Being born from stone, his skin is as hard to pierce as rock, and he can survive being dismembered, disemboweled, and beheaded. He has also originally wiped his name out from the Book of Death, and consumed a number divine foodstuffs meant for the Jade Emperor to top it off. Despite this, there are times where Wukong can be defeated by those stronger than him despite being unable to age.

His power makes him very arrogant and confident. His sense of humor makes him a trickster and a prankster, and he caused havoc in the heavenly court of the Jade Emperor simply to amuse himself. However, his cleverness and power were no match for the wisdom of Buddha, who imprisoned him under a mountain. The only way that he can be freed is if he agrees to aid the one who frees him. In Journey to the West, he was freed by the monk Xuanzang, and became a great help to him on his mission to bring the Buddhist sutras from India to China. After being freed from the eight-trigram cauldron of Lao Tzu, Wukong gained the ability to sense evil in all forms via his Gold Pupil Fire Eyes (金睛火眼).

Birth of a King
Wukong was born from a mystical stone from the sky, on the Flower Fruit Mountain. Within the mountain, were many hidden areas. To display his own bravery, the stone monkey nominated himself to jump through a large waterfall in order to find out what was behind it. The monkey boldly leaped through the waterfall, and described his findings as almost celestial. A cave was behind the water, with exotic plant life, emerald-green moss, comfortable stone beds and chairs, a mystical colored fog, and much more. A stone tablet was featured in the middle of a bridge, carved with the words, "Happy Land of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain". The clans of monkeys soon inhabited the cave. After the event, the stone monkey is recognized by all inhabitants of the mountain as king, specifically known as the "Handsome Monkey King". Soon, the mountain became civilized, and became extremely prepared for future conflicts. The mountain would continue to strive for centuries.

However, soon, the Monkey King realized that, though he was past the others in rank, he was not beyond them in mortality. On a quest for immortality for both himself and his fellow monkeys, he traveled on a raft to more civilized lands, where through constant traveling, the Monkey King gained human speech and manners. He later found a Buhddist monk named Bohdi/Subhuti at his academy temple with various other students. Bodhi was reluctant to teach the Monkey, as he was not human, but, through determination and will from the other party, decided to. It was around this time that Bodhi gave him the name, "Sun Wukong". Sun, relating his monkey origins, and Wukong, or aware of emptiness. With the monk, Wukong gained favoritism of his teacher, and learned many magical abilities while also being made clear of the Wukong's wit. The Monkey King gained confidence, and bragged about his new powers, so Bodhi expelled him out of the temple. Before this, Bodhi made Wukong promise to never tell where he got his new abilities, and sending him a good note through harsh words that Wukong managed to correctly interpret as he bid his master farewell and much gratitude for his teachings.

Back on the Flower Fruit Mountain, Wukong finds himself as one of the most influential demons globally while flourishing his rule further. However, weapons he would wield would always break under the stress of his mighty strength, causing him to be frustrated. At the suggestion of one an elder monkey he was close with, Wukong would began a search for a weapon that he thought would be worthy of himself, which, after searching into the sea, was the Ruyi Jingu Bang, a staff treasured by the Dragon King of the East Sea (beforehand, even the weapons that the king offered Wukong would break as well). The act caused beings of the sea, as well as the sea itself to be driven to fear and confusion, because of the Jingu Bang's properties of being a sea needle. The staff started to glow as Wukong would approach it, meaning that its new master has been found. From there, Wukong defeated the four dragons of the four seas in battle, with the elements of the Ruyi Jingu Bang. He then forced them to give them their ultimate battle armor, a golden chain mail, cloud-walking boots, and a phoenix feather cap. After, Wukong resisted Hell's attempt to reap his soul. Therefore, the Monkey King did not reincarnate as all others did, and he wiped his, and all other monkeys' names out of the "Book of Life and Death". The Dragon Kings and Kings of Hell reported him to the Jade Emperor of Heaven for the Monkey's outrageous acts.

With a plan to make the Monkey King more stable, the Jade Emperor invited Wukong to Heaven. Instead of the divine promotion to a god which Wukong expected, he was made a Head of the Heavenly Stables. After realizing the actual rank his title held, the annoyed Monkey King in a fit of rage out of feeling as though he was duped, decided it would be more fun to rebel instead and made an alliance with some of the most powerful demons in the world while naming himself "Equaling Heaven Great Sage". The attempts of Heaven at subduing the rebellion failed, and once again they decided to give him another position in heaven that was far out of reach from their usual affairs. However, Wukong eventually found out that he was not invited to an upcoming banquet as he was guarding a royal garden of peaches. Soon after, he decided to raid the preparations by consuming much of the wine and food, as well as the longevity pills meant for the emperor from the magical cauldron of Taishang Laojun. He decided to return to his mountain with food in tow to hone a personal feast with all of his fellow monkeys.

After finding out about Wukong's next transgression, they decided enough was enough and Heaven decided to prepare for a full-on war against the Monkey King's forces. The second battle versus heaven however, had Wukong on par with many of their generals with chains of crushing defeats, proving himself equal to even Heaven's greatest general. Though eventually, with the combined forces of both Taishang Laojun and Erlang Shen they defeated and incapacitated Wukong, with his prior forces being defeated as well. After repeated failed executions thanks to the longevity-based foods Wukong ate before (each attempt only amused the monkey), he was locked into the aforementioned magical cauldron to be made into an elixir. After seven weeks, the cauldron burst open, with Wukong more powerful than ever, now with eyes known as the Gold Pupil Fire Eyes that could recognize evil in any form (which also made his eyes water when exposed to smoke).

Wukong then started to make one more stand against heaven with even some of the remaining major generals being unable to restrain him. With the Jade Emperor out of options and heaven being in a ruined state, he appealed to the Buddha, the only one with any possible knowledge of how to defeat Wukong. The Buddha fooled the Monkey King into thinking that he could actually complete the Buddha's own challenge of leaping out of his own hand, even bothering in many adaptations to leak out urine in order to mark his territory along with writing "Sun Wukong was here" on a set of pillars which he believed was "the end of the universe" (which in reality was Buddha's fingers disguised as the said pillars). The Buddha then sealed him into an mountain imprisonment for five centuries at Five Finger Mountain, telling him to wait as his time of atonement would come.

Journey to India
Five centuries later, the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, was searching for disciples to protect a pilgrim, Xuanzang Sanzang, in search for Buddhist literary compositions from India. Wukong accepted the offer in exchange for freedom. Guanyin fully understood Wukong's uncontrollable capabilities (suspecting that Wukong would probably ditch Sanzang at the first opportunity), so she gave Sanzang a headband from Buddha, and tricked Wukong into wearing it. The headband could never be removed, and would cause extreme pain via tightening with a special chant. Guanyin gave the Monkey King three hairs, to be used in the most dangerous of situations. Accompanied by priest Sanzang, Wukong was allowed to journey to the West.

During the journey, Wukong faithfully served Sanzang despite the fact that both of them had personal conflicts which each other in their beliefs and how to resolve most dilemmas (with Wukong even occasionally ditching Sanzang at certain points due to their said conflicts). At Guanyin's request they were accompanied by two others who wished to repent for their sins, Zhu Bajie (whom Wukong teased with the nickname "Bacon Brain"), and Sha Wujing (whom he nicknamed "Sandy"). The group of four (including the priest's horse who was actually a dragon prince) had similar issues with each other which put them on their path to atonement in the first place, and were constantly attacked by demons and supernatural beings who believed that Sanzang's flesh would grant them immortality. In this situation, the Monkey King was granted access to the powers of Heaven, and occasionally for some of his adversaries would have to call on the help of his former foes from heaven as well as having connections with other lesser gods. Despite their many trials and personal issues (including Wukong at times deciding to ditch the party to head back to his mountain after occassional major disagreements), they've grown accustomed to each other as faithful companions and focused as much as they could to complete their mission. They, after eighty-one trials, finished the mission, then returning to China. The Monkey King was granted the passage to Nirvana, or perfect enlightenment, for his service.

Trivia

 * Sun Wukong is lightly parodied by a character named Monkichi in Garakutale.
 * One of the alternate outfits for Inori in 100man-nin no Harukanaru Toki no Naka de is a Son Goku costume and his staff.

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