… the definitive guide for your Journey to the West
Monkey Powers
King over the other Animals
Dec 10th
Japanese Print inspired by Sun Wukong's Adventures
THE BROTHERHOOD
In his travels, he became friends with many and six in particular became his sworn brothers. Just like a mafia, Sun Wukong would meet with his brothers- the heads of the other animals regularly just to chat, sing, dance, eat and make merry. The members of Sun Wukong’s pledged brotherhood included: Strong Buffalo, Hydra, the bird Roc, King of Lions, King of Maggots, and King of Wolves. Although they are all called “demons” in the book, they are not demons in the sense that Western society perceives them because they also try to do good but prefer to get away with what they can.
Click here to find the discourse on why the term “demons” is a misnomer.
Unassuming Strands of Hair
Dec 2nd
Unlike any other super hero, Sunwukong’s hairs are also his weapons. Each strand of his 84,000 hairs can become an animal, an inanimate object, another human being/demon, and even a replica of himself, replete with his powers. Strike it, and it will disappear, but in the mean time it can also do damage to you while you’re trying to figure out where the real Monkey King stands.
Amazingly, he can never run out of hairs because he can all them back to himself once they are no longer of use. One real weakness though is fire- he cannot use his hairs when confronted with this element.
In this picture, Jet Li portrays Sunwukong in the movie The Forbidden Kingdom, and has just chewed a strand of his hair and is blowing it towards his enemy. A single strand can turn into several (up to a thousand I think) clones.
His other incredible ability is shapeshifting!
"The strange fact is that the world goes on against all reasonable odds. A hundred years, and even unimaginable evil is just called history."
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