The Monkey King from Journey to the West, a legendary figure of transformation, rebellion, and self-discovery.
Born from a magic stone on Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong becomes a king, a student of secret arts, and a rebel against Heaven. Imprisoned beneath a mountain, he later joins Tang Sanzang’s pilgrimage and learns to place brilliance and force in the service of others.
Wukong joins folk religion, Buddhist and Daoist imagery, comic rebellion, and the appeal of a hero who refuses imposed limits.
He is one of world literature’s most recognisable trickster heroes and a lasting model for transformation narratives across East Asian media.
A magic stone on Flower Fruit Mountain gives rise to the stone monkey.
He studies transformation, cloud-somersaulting, and the pursuit of immortality.
Denied the status he demands, Wukong challenges the celestial order.
The Buddha confines him beneath Five Elements Mountain.
Freed to protect Tang Sanzang, he turns power toward the work of pilgrimage.
Wukong protects Tang Sanzang while repeatedly testing—and being tested by—his moral authority.
View characterTheir rivalry supplies comedy, but their contrasting strengths also make the pilgrimage possible.
View characterWukong’s volatility is balanced by Wujing’s patient, practical loyalty.
View characterA compassionate but vulnerable pilgrim travelling west to recover sacred scriptures.
A fallen heavenly marshal travelling in a half-human, half-pig form.
A banished heavenly general who becomes the group’s most dependable companion.
A claimant who builds authority through kinship, reputation, and an ideal of humane rule.
