Overview: When I was looking into Chinese Pantheon and Mythology in general, I wanted my main character Danny to be someone who people were aware of and that also was interesting character wise and writing wise. I was excited when I found the Monkey King as firstly I knew the character and he fit was I was Looking for.
Note The following is notes and research I gathered about The Monkey King so which I will try to include in my script.
Name: Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King
Pantheon: Chinese
Deity Type: Trickster/Magic God.
Abilities: Immortality, 72 Di Sha transformation, Jin Dou Cloud, Unbreakable Body, Eye of Truth.
Weapons: Ruyi Jingu Bang (magical staff) Translated as: "The Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod,"
Research/Background: Only like other gods that I will use for my characters The Monkey King is actually a character from literature more specifically 16th century Chinese classical novel Journey to the West. While he is one of most enduring Chinese literary characters, his origins go back to the White Monkey legends from the Chinese Chu kingdom (700–223 BC) which in turn gave rise to stories and art motifs during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD).
Sun Wukong was initially developed as a Taoist immortal before being incorporated into Buddhist myths. As referenced in Hera S. Walker paper, "Indigenous or Foreign?: A Look at the Origins of the Monkey Hero Sun Wukong,". The paper also talks about the belief by some scholars to be influenced by elements of both Chinese folklore and one particular Hindu Deity called Hanuman god of Devotion, Power, Humanity, Protection, Discipline.
Here is an image of Hanuman (On The Right) compared to an image of Sun Wukong (On The Left).
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