Truly one of the best things about Sun Wukong as a character is that he’s so versatile and lends himself to interpretation so much that people have gone hog wild on which parts of his personality and story they want to focus on so you have every iteration from a mischievous baby
to a tacky grandpa
Let’s start adding other wukongs to this.
Might i add edgy boy
Haha nice and yes let’s hopefully get this one thousand and one Wukongs post rolling! In addition to the 2009 baby Wukong, 2021 grandpa Wukong, and upcoming edgy boy “I really heart eyeshadow” Wukong I’d also like to give a shout out to:
2015 angsty “crap I’m a dad now” Wukong
1996 pretty boy Wukong
2021 little lego man Wukong
and one of the oldest images of og classic Wukong, who is of course screaming his little immortal monkey heart out.
That reminds of
Funny yet responsible Wukong
pokemon wukong
teen wukong
The Wukong that was a part of pretty much every Chinese(-American) kid’s childhood. (He was in mine, anyway). From the 1999 Journey to the West animated series.
Another animted one, from the 1961 movie 大闹天宫
Reblogging for this last addition particularly because it really was a gross oversight on my part to have not included the 1999 Wukong or, one of my top favorites for lovingly stylized animation and sheer audacious monkey energy, 1961′s “I caused havoc in heaven and got away with it” Wukong
Yesssss I was hoping to see that somebody added my boi 1999 Sun Wukong!! He was my childhood hero and I will always love that show (and its absolute banger of an opening theme!).
https://youtu.be/8CtY3x0J83o
I’m also glad to see 1961-1964’s Sun Wukong added to the list. I’ve always enjoyed him as a classic icon, but I’ve definitely grown an even bigger soft spot for him since I focused on him in my undergraduate thesis (along with Nezha 1979 and Princess Iron Fan).
Speaking of Princess Iron Fan though, might I include the Sun Wukong from her film?
He’s very 1920s American rubberhose animation-inspired!
The biography film of Osamu Tezuka, godfather of anime and creator of Astro Boy, even paid homage to him since he (and Sun Wukong in general) served as a big inspiration for him.
https://youtu.be/36OfEZ3e4xY
Also gonna add Sun Wukong from Lotus Lantern 1999!
On this post’s specific topic though, I totally agree! It’s amazing how many interpretations of him can coexist.
I talked a bit about it in my thesis because it really is fascinating just how many iterations of Sun Wukong and now other mythical characters from China there are. They’re constantly just being reimagined, and it’s really cool! Like, people have called Sun Wukong China’s Mickey Mouse, and yet the beauty of it is that he’s an iconic character anyone can create with and change and yet still be recognizable. 🥰
Bonus:
This Bilibili user who does a lot of JttW animations/animatics and has drawn multiple iterations of the Monkey Kings interacting in their videos. They also have this cool artistic JttW video, although tw: for a bit of blood! 👀
Reblogging for the last links provided by @ kukuandkookie . Thank you for all of that info and cool videos! And yes! It is indeed really amazing how many transformations Sun Wukong has gone through in the human imagination while still being undeniably the monkey king.
Lol a very small unknown one in the music scene Monkey Bee from the band Gorillaz. Music very alternative and indie
Heavenly peach banquet a fav track
Here to add Koei-Tecmo’s Warriors Orochi 3 Wukong too
Thank you to @xeraeus and @heretic-saint-taliesin for your contributions to this Monkey King gallery!
Also kicking myself because I just realized I COMPLETELY forgot to add Peking opera Sun Wukong, aka some of the coolest (and fanciest!) versions of the monkey king out there:
The New Wukong Game, Not much that I know bout him But he seems like a tired Warrior type
Oh and this one from a Webtoon called Omniscient Reader, he doesn’t do much other than being passively describe in the narratives, but he’s lowkey loves drama, he got a cool nickname too, but kinda sad
“Prisoner of the Golden Headband”
Technically Dragonball was based off of Journey to the West so we get Anime Reinterpretation Son Wukong:
Might I offer Tactical RPG Sun Wukong?
Meanwhile I’ll offer up two. Firstly, the Disney-esque version known to Western viewers as “Alakazam The Great”…
…and the “Not Your Daddy’s Monkey King!” version who starred in 2000′s “Monkey Magic”
It’s so cool seeing all these different interpretations of this character out there! I’m gonna throw my hat into the ring with the Final Fantasy XIV Sun Wukong, “Qitian Dasheng”
Who also comes in pocket-sized form
I refuse to let Yall Sleep on this one
From the comic Fei Ren Zai, I absolutely love this comic, though I haven’t read up until Wukong’s introduction
SCREAM always a delight to see this (hopefully some day!) One Hundred Sun Wukongs post make another round! Many thanks to @madammonkie, @ifra-strawberii, @gojira007, @starlitskvader, and @lovelyladylavie for their contributions!
And to add on some Sun Wukongs brought up by other rebloggers, thank you to @game-boy-pocket for bringing up “Nintendo’s ‘Funny parody’ version of Saiyuki, Yuyuki, which will probably never see an English translation due to the vertical text”:
@roddaprime for submitting League of Legends Sun Wukong in his “many flavors”:
Original:
Volcanic
General Wukong
Jade Dragon
Underworld
Radiant
Lancer Stratus
and Battle Academia
And finally @rootbeergoddess for submitting “mobile app game Sun Wukong”!
And finally finally, to bring some attention to upcoming animated versions of the Monkey King, we can look forward to a stoic head-bonking Sun Wukong in the upcoming film “The Four Monkeys: The Return of Sun Wukong” which will presumably focus on the Monkey King in his role as one of the four World Wreaking Monkeys (alongside the Red-Bottomed Horse Ape, the Bare-Armed Gibbon, and the Six-Eared Macaque):
We’ve also got what looks like an angst-filled upcoming film in “The Monkey King: The Demon Monkey” where apparently Sun Wukong gets uhhhhh fuggin’ possessed:
And last but certainly not least there’s the animation “Great Sage Equaling Heaven: True or False Sun Wukong,” which looks like it focuses on the conflict between Sun Wukong and his (in this film) Huaguoshan brother the Six Eared Macaque as a way to explore the many different facets of the Monkey King, his struggle with having to choose between them, and the consequences thereof:
Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this post, and here’s looking forward to seeing it grow as more Monkey Kings are revealed!
Also magical girl anime Sun Wukong, in which he is baby. And also gets possessed by evil because his story got all mixed up/someone took his spot in the story but just watch the movie it’s cute.
There is also 21st century Jourjey to the West Wukong as well which
Pretty boi manhua wukong
Wow! We’ve got another massive influx of monkey kings (and all leading up to Monkey King Monday no less!), so let me began by thanking @twinklecupcake for their contribution of magical girl anime Sun Wukong and @nanashinana for bringing pretty boy manua Sun Wukong to our attention. Also I have to give a shout-out to @dennydraws for submitting Hallmark mini-series Sun Wukong from “The Lost Empire”:
@asleepz22 , @eclipsedmoon87 , and @janetbrown711 for offering Overly Sarcastic Production Sun Wukong
@kotturstjarna for suggesting Animal Crossing Sun Wukong in the form of Tiansheng:
@funkehouse for bringing up Subway Surfers Sun Wukong:
@piyosplayhouse for submitting girl Sun Wukong in the form of Sonson from Marvl vs. Capcom:
@lostredsupergiantstars for introducing Netflix Sun Wukong from The New Legends of Monkey:
@mirkaaaluv for submitting another anime Sun Wukong in Goku from Saiyuuki:
@wildwitche for offering NUMEROUS movie Sun Wukongs, these being the monkey kings from:
Wu Kong:
Monkey King: The One and Only:
The Monkey King: The True Sun Wukong:
Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back:
They also presented another video game Sun Wukong from Unruly Heroes:
@itsatravesty for suggesting evil little bastard Sun Wukong from Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (as well as the aforementioned the Demons Strike Back):
as well as 70s live action Sun Wukong from Monkey:
@justastoryteller for bringing up Jet Li Sun Wukong from The Forbidden Kingdom:
@flippythegodzilla for submitting Jackie Chan Adventures Sun Wukong:
@reallifemonkiekid for bringing up many different monkey kings with Mystic Manor Sun Wukong (aka “Jade Monkey Satue”):
giant mecha Sun Wukong in Wukong Impulse Gundam:
and Miraculous Ladybug Sun Wukong with King Monkey:
And finally thank you to @destructiveemily for offering Warframe Sun Wukong:
This was an enormous amount of submissions for this post documenting the Monkey King multitudes, and everyone who brought up a version of everyone’s favorite Great Sage has my gratitude for helping that number grow!
Reblogging again because of my massive, MASSIVE, oversight in not giving due credit to one of THE most influential and complete retellings of Xiyouji with Sun Wukong from 1986 Journey to the West:
Well everyone, we’re now halfway through 2023 and you know what that means: even more Sun Wukongs to draw attention to since the last update!
First we have a hyper-aggressive Sun Wukong in the form of Rajang from Monster Hunter along with some Monkey King themed armor from the same game, submitted by @presidentstarscream:
We’ve also got big humanoid bruiser Sun Wukong from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, submitted by @sucksinlosers:
Next up is an extremely humanoid Monkey King from A Korean Odyssey, submitted by @tickledpink31:
@jztherabbit submitted the much more monkey-ish Sun Wukong from 2005′s A Chinese Odyssey, which has apparently become something of a classic:
@ladyzerodark offered up a whole barrel of monkeys! So to start here’s some Sun Wukongs from the mobile games League of Pantheons, Heroes of Mythic Might, AFK ARENA and Dragalia Lost:
They also sent over an elderly Sun Wukong from High School DxD
And a golden snub-nosed monkey Sun Wukong from the Kung Fu Panda tv series
@restlessdsm likewise submitted many monkeys, although these are all variations of the Monkey King from the MegaTen/Persona games:
In the theme of video games, @pazeia sent over the Sun Wukongs from Son Son 1&2:
@sciencethot sent over the Sun Wukong from God of Highschool:
@mshexley sent in Smite Sun Wukong:
@tp2-byes gave us this cutie Sun Wukong from El Origen de Goku:
@doodleferp submitted Archie Sonic Sun Wukong:
Continuing the comic representation, @halfdeadhalfpaniced sent over DC Comic’s Sun Wukong from Monkey Prince:
And I’ll end this thread with one of my favorite recent comic versions of the great sage in Chaiko Tsai’s Sun Wukong from 2023′s The Monkey King:
Thank you to everyone who submitted a Sun Wukong! We are getting close to having 100 distinct versions of the Monkey King on this thread, so keep the monkeys coming in and here’s looking forward to all the versions of the Great Sage the future has in store!
