Okay this really needs to be said apparently.
LMK's version of JTTW is entirtely different from JTTW.
I keep seeing people saying the book canon is the same as LMK's JTTW, using it to fill in blanks and make assumptions on characters.
Here's a list of what I can remember is different between the two:
Wukong is a mentor. He mentored 4,700 of his subjects into his monkey army. He is not new to mentoring in the slightest. Also, he adopted all of them, they are his children. His nation of Suns. Wukong gets called Yeye (grandpa) on the regular.
Azure, Peng, and Yellowtusk where never part of Wukong's brotherhood. They appeared later in the story in JTTW. Azure and Yellowtusks where escaped mounts of gods, and Peng is the uncle of the Budda himself. Peng was the leader of the group in the book. Peng was forced into serving the Budda and the other two returned as mounts.
The real brotherhood consists of:
牛魔王平天大圣 (Bull Demon King: The Great Sage Leveling Heaven)
蛟魔王覆海大圣 (Flood Dragon King: The Great Sage Covering the Sea)
鹏魔王混天大圣 (Penglín Demon King: The Great Sage Mixing the Heavens) - Very sorry I kept remembering him as a Puffin lol.
狮驼王移山大圣 (Lion Camel King: The Great Sage Ventilating the Ventilation)
猕猴王通风大圣 (Macaque King: The Great Sage Moving Mountains) - Imagine if LMK Six-Eared Macaque had the power to move mountains. These aren't the same character btw, more on that below.
禺狨王驱神大圣 (Snub Nosed monkey King: The Great Sage Exorcising Gods)
美猴王齐天大圣 (Monkey King: The Great Sage Equaling Heaven)
The Lady Bone Demon appears after Sun Wukong has rightfully been punished by the circlet several times. This was the first time where he was punished wrongly, and it was a character growth moment between Wukong and Tripitaka. She was killed by Wukong in her final attempt at trying to eat Tripitaka. Tripitaka learns to trust Wukong more past this point.
In the book Redson is Redboy, and it is his milkname because he is still a child. His mother saw how gifted he was and trained him herself to harness the Samadi fire. The Samadi fire is not something you are born with, it takes a lot of special skill and training to achieve. He fights Wukong and comes a hair close to killing him, one of the few villians to do so. He is defeated by Quanyin, and renamed Shancai after she forces takes him on as her deciple. Five rings are used on his neck, wrists, and ankles to keep him in check. The Samadi fire was never removed.
DBK left PIF for another woman. Only coming back for the fan, which eventually leads to PIF deciding she's done with him and going on her own quest for redemption. She's an insanely powerful wind god btw. DBK is fought by Wukong and Heaven's army until he's captured and punished.
The Six-Eared Macaque was not among the brotherhood as far as the book goes. Unlike the cautious LMK Macaque, he's basically old Wukong. Violent, power hungry, and prideful. He plans to take all of the Pilgrim's places by killing them and using Wukong's subjects as the other pilgrims. Wukong defeating him represented his growth as a character, and his decision to actively change as a person. The circlet, as far as I know, is not used again after this event.
There where seven demoness spider sisters. The Hundred-Eyed Demon Refused to give up Tripitaka for them and Wukong killed them. All of them. Not one was left. The Hundred-Eyed Demon also was forced to work for a goddess as punishment for his crimes. So he's not in the pagoda either.
I think the biggest difference is that, in JTTW, all the Gods and Spirits both fear and respect Sun Wukong. He calls on them all the time for aid, and some of them he's really good friends with. Wukong isn't alone no matter what he faces. He's got Heaven wrapped around his finger XD. Even after his journey is done, it's not likely they would let him stay on his mountain as a hermit. Heaven was scared of him becoming bored, ain't no way they wouldn't fear him stewing on his mountain too lol.
Wukong can't sit still for shit, and would never be able to stay on his mountain without deciding to bother somebody at some point. He likes parties, he enjoys talking to friends, and he's no stranger to making new ones. And, again, he has a kingdom to run! He's got allies to secure and keep relationships with, trade routes to sort, new monkeys to train, etc.
