There are three different power systems in Journey to the West. They can overlap with one another, but none is inherently superior to the others.
1. Martial Skill
If we're talking purely about combat skills, only a few characters in the entire novel can match Sun Wukong evenly:
- Erlang Shen
- Bull Demon King
- Yellow Brows
- Zhenyuanzi
- The Seven Lion Spirits of Bamboo Joint Ridge
- The Blue Lion and White Elephant fighting together
To be clear, I won't discuss characters who never fought him.
Also, Sun Wukong basically has unlimited stamina. His "mana bar" and "health bar" seem endless. His feats of carrying mountains and chasing the moon speak for themselves.
The reason some demons can exchange a few moves with him is that Sun Wukong enjoys fighting and usually doesn't want to kill his opponent with a single strike. But if you truly make him angry, it's a different story.
For example, the Jade Rabbit Spirit was fighting him quite evenly at first. Then she insulted him by calling him "Bimawen" (Stable Keeper), and Sun Wukong nearly beat her to death.
2. Magical Powers
Characters whose magical abilities are equal to or stronger than Sun Wukong's include:
- Tathagata Buddha (Rulai)
- Guanyin
- Zhenyuanzi
Among those who actually fought him using magical powers, only these few qualify.
Against Guanyin and Zhenyuanzi, Sun Wukong could still escape.
Against Tathagata, he couldn't.
Sun Wukong's magical abilities are extremely overpowered.
1. Body Outside the Body (Clone Technique)
His clones have the same combat power as the original.
This ability is incredibly broken.
If he's fighting you one-on-one and suddenly creates six more copies of himself, it's essentially seven Sun Wukongs attacking one opponent.
Of course, this technique has weaknesses. It struggles against powerful area-of-effect attacks such as the Samadhi Divine Wind.
When fighting the Seven Lion Spirits, he was initially evenly matched. But after hearing that Tang Sanzang had been eaten, he became furious, activated this technique, and instantly defeated the seven lions.
2. Law of Heaven and Earth (Gigantic Transformation)
After transforming, he becomes tens of thousands of feet tall with a fearsome appearance.
In the original novel, only two characters are clearly shown using this technique:
- Erlang Shen
- Sun Wukong
The Bull Demon King's thousand-foot white bull form is simply his true form rather than this technique.
The fact that the Bull Demon King could confront Sun Wukong's gigantic transformation using only his thousand-foot original form is also very impressive.
3. Samadhi Fire
Many people don't know this, but Sun Wukong can also use Samadhi Fire, and arguably uses it better than Red Boy.
After causing havoc at the Peach Banquet and consuming Laozi's elixir pills, he used Samadhi Fire to refine all those celestial treasures into one, forging his indestructible body.
The Heavenly Court exhausted every method they had and still could not kill him.
In the entire novel, the only item clearly capable of killing Sun Wukong is the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle belonging to Gold Horn and Silver Horn.
Even then, the bottle is extremely heavy and has to be carried by lesser demons. If Sun Wukong had not been careless, they never would have captured him.
4. Somersault Cloud
One somersault covers 108,000 li.
In the original story, only the Great Roc Demon is faster than him.
5. Great Heavenly Immortal Formula
Most people couldn't even handle the discipline and self-restraint required for this cultivation method.
Once mastered, it grants immortality, though the practitioner must still face the Three Calamities.
6. Seventy-Two Transformations
This is actually one of his smaller abilities.
The Seventy-Two Transformations do not mean seventy-two different spells, as many people believe.
It literally means transforming into seventy-two different forms.
The main purpose of this technique is to avoid the Three Calamities.
3. Magical Treasures
This is where Sun Wukong is somewhat lacking.
1. The Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden-Hooped Staff)
It weighs 13,500 jin.
It can grow larger or smaller, longer or shorter, and is virtually indestructible.
2. Sleep Bugs
There are two kinds.
One is the magical Sleep Bug he won while gambling with the Four Heavenly Kings, which is more powerful.
The other is the weaker version created from his own hairs.
3. Three Life-Saving Hairs
Given to him by Guanyin.
These hairs saved his life on several occasions.
Overall, these three treasures are not particularly impressive. They can be seen as one of the author's ways of balancing an otherwise overpowered character.
Additional Attributes
1. Incredible Learning Ability
Sun Wukong often deliberately drags out battles so he can learn his opponent's techniques.
For example, the Hebei Spear-and-Staff technique and the Hidden-Hand Staff technique were both learned from enemies.
There is even a possibility that he learned the Law of Heaven and Earth during his battle with Erlang Shen.
2. Unlimited Stamina
This is another extremely overpowered trait.
The Black Bear Demon could match him for a short period, but over time Sun Wukong simply outlasted him.
3. Immense Physical Strength
He can carry mountains and chase the moon.
The significance of this feat hardly needs explanation.
If it were not for Tathagata's seal, Sun Wukong would have long since broken free from the Five Elements Mountain.
Based on the original Journey to the West, Sun Wukong's overall strength ranks among the top five characters in the entire story.
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