Though Tripitaka is the pilgrim chosen to retrieve scriptures, and therefore the protagonist of Wu’s story, Monkey receives the most backstory, and his personality is the most fleshed out of any of the major characters. Monkey starts life as a stone monkey born from a magical stone egg. Through his boldness and leadership, he becomes the Monkey King, bringing his subjects to live in the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. While other monkeys go about their lives, Monkey understands his own mortality and seeks to overcome it, venturing into the world to seek a religious teacher. Having found a teacher, Monkey learns not only longevity, but also 72 magical transformations and cloud-soaring.

Monkey’s accomplishments lead him to become too vain and invested in his own powers and what he feels the world “owes” him. He tries his luck too many times with the powers of Heaven and is punished by being placed under a mountain for 500 years. When he is finally released, he has the opportunity to repent, join the Faith, and works his way towards salvation, which he does, ultimately becoming a Buddha alongside Tripitaka.

Monkey represents “the restless instability of genius” (8).